EOBHR

Entirety of Baseball History Replayed!

Love baseball.... but sick of the 3+ hour games  and all the pampered $10+ MILLION/YEAR players...while you now have to skip lunch every other day plus have also completely stopped changing the oil in, or servicing,  your family car just so you can pay for your MLB cable package?!?  Then you may need to use a healthy supplement to reduce or even replace the current 25% of your waking hours watching draggy baseball games, plus the unhealthy brain-warping diet of erectile dysfunction, gout water, automobile, beer, and insurance ads that accompanies them: YES YOU NEED to experience  the efficient, , never-boring, digest-sized baseball world  of EOBHR (The "Entirety of Baseball History Replayed" project)....Wherein a unique possible but not actual history of baseball unfolds in an unpredictable but totally plausible,  entertaining, fascinating, relaxing, mind-blowing, time-efficient way.  EOBHR is now replaying the 1906 season.  Each season consists of a 16 game per team regular season, followed by an NCAA-like tournament among teams that finish in the top half of their organizational unit's standings.   The tournament games count in team win-loss and also in player statistics.   Really, would you rather spend a year plowing  through the HARD-COPY, HERNIA/SLEEP-INDUCING,  NO-HOT-PHOTOS, HARD-COPY 500,000 word  TOME of Tolstoy's War & Peace -- or see a 2-3 hour movie of the same story, loaded with plenty of hot , blouse-ripping actresses -- hunky, ripped actors -- and colorful, head-banging violence??  EOBHR began the project on July 11, 2006 and has now replayed 1903, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1917, 1918, 1923, 1928, 1933, 1937, 1941, 1944, 1949, 1954, 1955,  1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,  2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 MLB seasons.  EOBHR staff hands-on manage both sides and records game details real-time as each contest progresses.  You can relive each game by reading the entertaining, succinct, picture-assisted, irreverent game writeups...  A few hours of occasional reading will enable you to relive an entire season in a plausible way that actually ADDS to your appreciation of real baseball by its presentation of surprising what-ifs.... AND IF YOU ENJOY EOBHR, YOU'LL  LIKELY BE IN NIRVANA  WHEN YOU  CUDDLE UP WITH THE SKUNKVILLE SAGA!!! The world's longest (well over 1,500,000+ words), most pictorial (5,000+ photos), with more than 1,000 archived episodes to enjoy...  funniest novel ever written in English or any other language, including Swahilian!.. Kirkus Reviews compares The Skunkville Saga to the works of James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, & John Barth.  FONT>

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7/29/14

1980 EOBHR REPLAY #37: A.L. DAY 3

Bugsy, annoyed: 'HEY! Why is everybody staring at me??!! You never saw me make a save before?
'Let's face it, Twins, we were Trammelled into the ground this game...'
Spills: Ugggghhhh... Sometimes I have an upset stomach after a win -- But it's more than worth it in the long runs!
Splits: 'I was of two minds regarding what to do with my frustration after this game -- go out with the boys and drown my misery?...but instead I went and split some wood at home as a more productive outlet.'
Pat Putnam: 'Yep, my job is put'nam (balls) into the seats -- You see, it's the best way of put'nam (fans) into the seats.

1980 EOBHR REPLAY #37:  A.L. DAY 3

 

33  MB (2-1/6xT1st!!) 8-14-1  CW (2-1/2xT2nd) 2-8-0 

This game is a no-holds-barred blowout, as the Brewers score in six different frames against the Pale Hose, and have as many runs as they will prove to need to win (3) by the T2nd.  But 5-11/185lb good-field   ???-hit 1B Mike Squires does briefly thrill the home Sox fans with a first inning homer -- his 2nd dinger of this 1980 replay in his 3 games played.  In real MLB, in contrast, 'Mikey' had a total of 6 homers in 779 games played, so he's running a bit ahead of schedule so far in EOBHR!

But after Squires' shocking solo homer, the Chisox don't score again until the B7th, when they manage with great effort to chip the Brewer lead from 6-1 to 6-2...Bottom line: the Pale, White Hose offer the red-blooded Brewers offense and CG-winner Lary Sorensen little resistance in swallowing this hearty, foamy, expertly brewed one-sided loss, like it or not. 

Along with Sorensen's fine, no-nonsense (e.g.,4K:2BB) complete game hurling and the leadoff batting of 2B and all-around-star Paul Molitor (4 for 5 with 2 homers, 2 stolen bases, and 4 runs scored) there just wasn't not much room for much in the way of lame Chisox scoring shenanigans.  (I mean, playing in their white socks for one thing, when the Brewers had those long keg spikes on their shoes shining...) 

 

 

32  SE (3-0/1st) 4-15-0  CA (0-3/3xT:last) 3-9-0  in 11

Well, the Angels may be where no earthly being wants to tread, in a 3-way tie for last place, but they certainly give Seattle a real battle, as the great (at least in EOBHR) Angel of a C Brian Downing (22 career RBI and 27 free passes in just 130 ab entering this 1980 replay!/.277BA/.763OPS) smokes a last gasp game-tying double B9th to left, sending this game into extras. 

But in the T11th a speedy Mariner 2B Julio Cruz beats out a grounder for his 3rd hit, then Julio steals HIS 3RD BASE OF THE GAME ('I guess I was on Cruz control,' Julio quips after win),  and scores what proves to be the game-winner on a line single by Seattle CF delivered by M's OF 'Joe Ellen' Simpson.

As far as Angel heroics, they trail 3-0 B9th, but then the Mariners hit a dry spot when Rod Carew walks, Joe Rudi is hit by a Rick Honeycutt inside pitch, and little Freddy Patek, who showed some power in real 1980, rips an RBI double down the LF line,,.and Brian Downing rips his 2-run game-tying double as duly mentioned above.

Winning P Honeycutt works the entire 11 inning game, pitching a 9-hitter, no triples or dingdongers, and just 3 walks, one intentional.  

Speaking of himself, as ballplayers on occasion will do, Rick comments after the game to a female 'inside story' interviewer...

Rick, Honey, <is> Cutt out to work as many innings as it takes to earn his team the only thing that matters -- the W.   

 

31  TX (1-2/4th) 5-13-1 TO (2-1/4xT2nd) 2-10-2 

When the Tourney finally rolls around after each team has played their 16 regular season games, the Top 3 teams from each of the six-team N.L. divisions will make the Tourney, but in the A.L., due to the 7-team divisions, the 4th place team with the better record will also make postseason play.

Of all things, a Buddy Bell no out GDP gives the Rangers their 2nd, tie-insuring  run -- although I doubt Buddy was proudly celebrating and talking up his questionable contribution after the game....  Their first, go-ahead Ranger run comes on a power-hitting 1B Pat Putnam homer.  But the big shot (in two senses) in this game is HOF'er Maury's more powerful son, Bump Wills, who goes deep to RF with his 2nd big shot of the '80 replay, a decisive 3-run donger, thanks to a Putnam leadoff walk and C 'Sunny Jim' Sundberg's (.333 in this replay, 43-164/.262 in prior ones) 2nd hit of this game.

The Jays then stage a late inning rally, scoring singletons (not Ken though) in the B8th and B9th before succumbing to the relief stylings of closer John Henry Johnson (a young fellow with the same name as the great HOF Pittsburgh Steeler fullback, who suffered brain damage from all of the heavy hits he took during his lengthy career, 1953-56/1960-66).  Another reason I like following baseball a lot more than football.

There are 18 men enduring the sadness of being left on base in this contest, won by HOFer Fergie Jenkins over Paul Mirabella (out for rest of 1980 replay), who is run over by Ranger OF Jim Norris while trying to field Norris' bunt down the baseline.

Pat: 'Yes'm... I do enjoy put'nam (HR baseballs > fans) in the seats!

 

30  BR (2-1/4xT2nd) 5-8-1  NY  (2-1/4xT2nd) 4-6-1

Yes, the A.L. West is playing so badly (most teams 0-3 or 0-2) that the Red Sox (2-1) and the Yankees (2-1) are in a congested (as the L.I.E.) 4-way tie for 2nd with their 2-1 records. 

The Indians (1-2) are the only sub-.500 team in the East (where the Jays are currently 1st at 2-0).....And in the West, the Chisox & Mariners are 2-0, K.C. 2-1 and the other four teams winless (as already mentioned).

The Yankees go ahead 2-0 B1st on a titanic 2-run homer way high way far and way out by Reggie Jackson.... But by the time the Bronx Bombers strike again, they are behind by a substantial 5-2.  At this juncture, a great-fielding Yankee 3B Aurelio Rodriguez line single, a C Rick Cerone bloop single, and an error by good-hit/poor-field (but he can play a lot of different positions poorly) 2B-1B-OF-3B Red Sock Dave Stapleton cuts the Sox lead to 5-3.

And the Yankees, playing in the Stadium, inch even closer B7th when PH Bobby Murcer doubles and 2B Willie Randolph singles with one out...This ends Boston starting pitcher 6'-5"/230lb Steve 'Lurch' Renko's generally competent performance, the Yanks still down 5-3 but the tying runs on base...

So ace Beantown reliever Tom 'Bugsy' Burgmeier is hustled into the game, permitting a sac fly to Eric 'The Viking' Soderholm... But that is the end of Bugsy's generosity as, in a fit of efficiency, starting with the above-mentioned sac fly, Tom faces only 7 batters in order to gain the last 8 Yankee outs... Miraculous!! 

Tom goes completely Bugsy after allowing Viking sac fly, retiring more Yankees than he faces....some of them never to be seen again*!!

*  Sent to the minors never to return?  No, I made the last blue part up -- it's untrue.

 

29  MN (0-3/T6th) 8-15-0  DT (2-1/3rd) 10-17-1

Was Tiger Stadium a 'bandbox', at least when wind factors and overhanging upper decks are taken into account?  Well, it may be noteworthy that two of Mickey Mantle's three longest MLB homers were hit in Briggs Stadium.  Exactly 11,111 homers were hit in Tiger Stadium in its history, and I seem to recall that at one point it held the record for most total homers hit in a stadium in a season (~245?) , but I couldn't confirm that fact.  In the 1950's and 1960's, it used to be a standard baseball reference book or magazine exhibit to show the number of regular season homers by each of the stadiums by year of MLB play, starting back at 1901, or whenever the stadium began being used as the home of an MLB team. 

The Mick hit a monstrous 650 foot homer to RF in June of 1953, and seven years later blasted a 643 foot rocket to RF in September of 1960, both times batting left-handed and hitting the ball over the Briggs stadium roof in RCF... In the first case the ball caroming over and out into the streets of Detroit after hitting the roof, and in the second case clearing the roof completely then endangering cars and pedestrians peacefully travelling on Detroit's Trumbull Avenue.  The first blast was deemed longer due to its trajectory -- how far the ball would have carried had the roof not 'intervened'.

In this EOBHR slugfest, the Tigers blow away the Twins 8-0 led by leadoff man LF Ricky Peters in the first three innings, while the Twins defeat the Tigers 7-2 in the last four innings (the 4th & 5th are scoreless!)....

Specifically, the Tigers claw out a 10-8 win on the 2 runs they score to open the B9th vs. Minny closer Doug Corbett:  a slashing single by 3B Tom Brookens (2-5/2RD/.571) followed by a walkoff blast into the upper deck in left by slugging SS Alan TrammellCorbett is now off to a surprisingly bad 0-2/7.36 start...

Yet the Twins until this sudden final turn of events had seemed unstoppable in their comeback from an 8-1 deficit, relentlessly scoring against the homeboys in every inning 6th-9th, and scoring not just a singleton but a pair in all but the T6th, where they start modestly with a solo HR by 3B John 'Clams' Castino

Then the Twinkies switch into a 2-run-per-inning production mode, plating 2 runs each in the 7th, 8th, and 9th -- their deuce in the T9th a result of lefty Glenn Adams' bases loaded 2-run single against Tiger relief expert Aurelio Lopez, the latter whom then achieves a mixed-bag Blown Save Win.

On the prior pitch before Adams' game-tying bases loaded 2-run game-tying bingle, Glenn hooks a potential grand slam just foul but plenty deep into the RF seats!

The only decent pitching done in the game was by the obscure Twin relief tandem of Mike Kinnunen and John Verhoven, who face just 15 batters in pitching the four innings from 5th to 8th, allowing a total of two harmless singles and an equally innocuous walk...with the pair pitching efficiently to contact: fanning only one. 

Compare that to the 13 hits, 3 walks, and 8 earned runs allowed by Twin starter and much bigger shot Roger Erickson in the preceding four stanzas!!

But here's a late bulletin from headquarters, reminding me if I want to keep my job to rave wildly now about the Tigers' speedy AND powerful leadoff batter and game-superstar RF Ricky PetersRicky leads off the B1st and sets the tone for the game with a double driven into the gap in right, later scoring the go-ahead run B1st on a GDP.  Then, in the T2nd, Peters rips a 2-out 2-run rocket into the upper deck in RF to make it 4-0 Tigers.... And Peters does it again in the 3rd, ramming a 2-run triple down the RF line to make it 8-1 Tigers B3rd!!!!  How's that for a way to start yer day??

K & V Relief Ointment and Adams' 2-run apple bring Twins back from Land of the Lost to tie the game T9th...and Tiger topcat (leadoff man) Ricky Peters achieves 3/4 of the cycle (missing only the lowly single) in the 1st 3 innings!!!!

 

28  KC (2-1/3rd) 0-9-0  CL (1-2/7th/last) 4-11-1

The Indians, the only team with a losing record in the 7-team A.L. East STILL has a losing 1-2 record after this game, but Dan Spillner does shut out the actual 97-win Royals (2-1) in a 4-0 victory.  

Dan's winning secrets, aside from not allowing the Royals to 'bunch' their hits?  He doesn't go for the punchout (he gets 5) but rather for batter contact (of his pitches)... And thus avoidance of walks (Spillner awards only two free, all expenses paid trips to 1st base in his 9 inning CG).  And, while Spills allows nine hits, many are of the chintzy variety (8 singles) with only a harmless CF Willie Wilson double as far as extra base hits.

Toby Harrah's sharp RBI single through the left side one out T4th against loser Paul Splittorff (now 5-2 in his EOBHR career) produces the Tribe's 1st and thus game-winning tally. But the most opponent-demoralizing Cleveland hit is the great Jorge Orta's looping 2-out 2-run double down the LF line T5th, making the score 3-0. 

Entering this replay, IF-OF Jorge (Hor-gay) was hitting .282 and had scored 30 runs in his 44 EOBHR games to date -- and had popped 10 doubles, 4 triples, and 4 homers, while committing 4 steals.

Splits scientifically proven worse than Spills in undermining post-game locker ambience

 

27  OA (0-3/7th:Last) 1-5-0  BA (2-1/3rd) 2-6-0

Despite their 0-3 start in this replay, we must remember that the real '80 A's were a winning team (albeit 83-79) in the real A.L. West of 1980, finishing an impressive  2nd under Billy Martin among the seven West clubs ....Albeit a kind of honorary 2nd place, an excitement-deadening 14 games behind the 1st place Royals under Jim Frey.  And in those days, there were no Wild Cards (thank goodness!) so the A's could nullify the regular season and sneak by the Royals with a couple of close, lucky wins.  Why play such a long, draining season and then nullify the team hierarchy that was properly determined in that scientific setting, and put everything up for grabs again?

What I try to do is consider the real season The Truth.  What happens in The Fantasy part (playoffs, World Series) may be entertaining and help the teams pay their bills, but I try to just treat the post-season as an over-produced, over-hyped side show that may produce some exciting moments and great clutch performances, but has no credibility at all compared to the 162 game regular season.

In the austere offensive days of 1980, this game fit perfectly.  Two of the best teams of this general era played each other and the Orioles inched by the A's.  Matt Keough pitches a 6-hitter for the A's. allowing 2 runs, but Scott McGregor does Matt one better with a 5-hitter, allowing one run instead of two.

But the A's do strike first with a Dave McKay RBI double T2nd, scoring free-swinging C Jeff Newman, who somehow finally drew his 1st EOBHR free pass ever, with well over 60 EOBHR walk-free plate appearances under his belt at the time....(I wondered why his pants kept slipping down as he rounded 3rd and slid home).

But the O's come right back B2nd with a 2-out Al Bumbry game-tying single....that cashes in on a Rich Dauer leadoff single followed by a well executed sac bunt by winning P Scott McGregor (remember, no DH ever in EOBHR!!).

Gary Roenicke follows the Bumbry game-tier with a BTB RBI single smashed by a diving 1B Dave Revering and -- HEY!  That's the scoring for the whole game, with some more innings to go!

There are some moments, though, like when the 'Dipper', Rick Dempsey must have dipped his shoulder as he swung as his bases loaded foul pop ends the B2nd where the O's already had tallied two runs.

And tying run, the amazing Rickey Henderson, the likes of which we haven't seen since, is dancing and prancing off second base, in easy 2-out scoring position, when cleanup batter Dave Revering just gets under a Scotty McGregor cut fastball and sends a towering fly which Oriole 2B Rich Dauer has to backpeddle to reach, having to keep adjusting his exact location as the ball returns from the heavens and finally swoops into his open glove to end the game.

Rich, Dauer, shrugs when interviewed by EOBHR after we explained a little about our project:  'Just another win for our great team -- and not even a real one, for GS!'

 

 
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