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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12/16/14

1980 EOBHR REPLAY#37 DAY 17 N.L.

Game 193: Was this a secret Santa gift from Gary the Kid to all of yon readers?
Game 195: Scott-freed Cardinal... look at 'im soar!

1980 EOBHR REPLAY #37 DAY 17 NL

+ Cub  (8-8), Phils (8-8), Giant (5-11) Summaries

 

 

196 CN (7-9/4th) 7-10-0  AB (4-12/Last) 5-8-3

In this high-scoring contest, the Reds take the lead with a 4-run T4th, 3 of the runs scoring with 2 out off loser Doyle Alexander (1-2/2.28), who nonetheless is more of a victim of fate and bad fielding than a poor effort on his part, as Doyle allows no earned runs but 7 unearned runs in his 7 2/3rds innings of work!!

In the nigh-decisive 4-run uprising of the Reds T4th, Brave 2B Jerry Royster fields a Dave Collins grounder but his throw pulls 1B Chris Chambliss off 1st (E4) for the woebegone Braves.  Collins predictably then swipes his 6th base of the replay, placing him in scoring position when Dan Driessen lines a hard single that moves Collins to 3rd, from which he scores ....when Brave SS Larvell Blanks (E6) bobbles a George Foster grounder and has to take the force at 2nd, allowing Collins to whiz home with the go-ahead run. 

A Ken Griffey Sr. 2-out single followed by a Ray Knight slicing 2-run double expand the Red lead to 3-0 T4th and when Ron Oester loops an RBI  single it's already 4-0 Reds against the woeful Braves.

But the Braves do cut this lead in half almost immediately, B4th, on solo homers by Dale Murphy, who is batting very close to .400 (23 for 59) as well as a Biff Pocoroba bopp into the stands...surprisingly both against the great Red starter Mario Soto

4-2, Reds.

Amazingly, Soto goes on to allow 2 more homers (Bob Horner B6th for 3 runs on 3 homers. and also a 2-run homer by Jeff Burroughs B8th, which cuts the Cincy lead to just 6-5 over the HR-dependent Braves... But the Brave scoring is over, as the Resd tack on an insurance run thanks to a 1B Chris Chambliss miscue T9th.

For fans who are turned on by Erratica

 

195  SC (8-7) 3-10-0  PT (9-7) 2-12-1

The Cardinals, one small step from elimination, keep one step barely ahead of the Buccos throughout this game, finally pulling out the win, 3-2, in the last frame.  If the Cardinals win their final game, a rescheduling of a rained out game against San Diego, there will be four teams tied for 1st in the N.L. East with 9-7 records.  Just one game back, the 8-8 Cubs and actual World Champ Phillies will be out of the picture, tied for 'last'.

Like parity?  Well, you got it, pal! 

In the case of a 4-way tie for 1st in the East, the Cardinals (currently 8-7) will be the team denied of a Tourney berth because they will have had the worst record against the other N.L. East teams (4-6).... So, in other words, a win which will put the Redbirds in a 4-way for 1st still leaves them out in the December cold.

This game is decided by a Tony Scott (.132 '80 replay BA) line sac fly T9th, scoring Cardinal utility infielder Mike Ramsey from 3rd, as he slides around C Ed Ott's (Ott 2-3/BB in this game/.275 '80 replay) tag at home.  In turn, Mike Ramsey isn't on 3rd on his own batting prowess, but rather from being a pinch-runner for Ken Reitz, who is the one who rips the big leadoff double T9th!!

In the T3rd, great SS Garry Templeton (.254) puts the Cards ahead, driving home C Terry Kennedy (leadoff double high & deep CF).  But Omar Moreno doubles and scores on a sac fly by Bill Madlock in the bottom of the frame, back to Square 1. . Dane Iorg doubles home another go-ahead  Cardinal run T4th, and it takes until the B8th for C  Manny Sanguillen double to re-tie things... only to lose in the 9th... 

The game ends when C Ted Simmons guns down PH and offensive machine Lee Lacy (one out single: .320) trying to steal 2nd two out B9th!

Scott Frees Cardinals from Brutal Extra Inning Labor against evil Pirates

 

194  PH (8-8/T-last) 10-15-3-12  NM (9-7/T1st) 7-9-0-6

The actual World Series Champ Phillies stay alive in the EOBHR '80 N.L. East division race with this seesaw slugfest win over the despised Mets.  The Metskis take the lead B1st against talened but unreliable Phillie lefty starter Randy ('He leaves you in the') Lerch on a Stevie Henderson leadoff free pass, the classic Lerch opening to any start, a one out single by 'Hollywood' Lee Mazzilli, and a two out ribbie hit by John 'Cool Dude' Stearns.

The Phils then reply viciously, with a total of five runs in the 2nd & 3rd against Ray Burris, the Mets' knock-off version of Randy Lerch, although at game's end Burris' ERA is only 5.91 compared to Lerch's 6.50.

The big blow in the Phillies' 5-run T2nd/T3rd explosion is a Garry Maddox 3-run homer into the LF seats T3rd which, due to the impact of this blow, signals the end of Ray Burris' brief 3 inning start. 

By the B6th, the Phils hold an insubstantial 5-3 lead, shaky given that Lerch is still on the mound for the Phils.

And, in fact the Mets post a 3-spot B6th, on a dramatic 3-run homer by talented, speedy, powerful, athletic 25-year-old L.A. native and OF Claudell Washington... 6-5 Metskis!!

And so it is, entering the 9th, Phils down by one, 6-5, but in undoubtedly better shape now that the great, charismatic Tug McGraw (2-0/0.61) is in the midst of a four-inning workhorse relief effort wherein only one hit and one walk will he allow...nonetheless the Mets tallying a bitter-for-the-Phils-to-swallow B9th game-tying score.  

Ex-Metropolitan Tugger, holding a 7-6 lead fans 3-run homer star Claudell Washington like he was yesterday's news, never to be repeated, but then allows a walk to veteran ex-Cub OF, PH Jerry Morales.  Ominously, the Mets needing a run, Mookie Wilson comes in to run for slow-moving Morales... Frank Taveras grounds out to McGraw as Mookie makes 2nd the easy way.

But then the always surprising and never-to-be-taken-lightly 'Hollywood' Lee Mazzilli smokes a single into RF, and with Mookie running, this ballgame is tied, 7-7 B9th!

And on it goes, careening into the 11th inning, where the Phils finally step up:  Bake McBride leadoff walk, '80 replay whiff leader Greg Luzinski changes his act, drops his K-gig and instead hits one on which the Met outfielders are just unhappy spectators, hands on hips, heads slumping down.

Phil lefty Kevin Saucier (1.69) picks up his 2nd save, this one of reliever Tug McGraw's (2-0/0.61) 2nd victory of EOBHR '80!

Kevin, after the win:  'Well, Tug, want to Saucier over to that nightclub right down the way from our hotel??'

  
193  ME (9-7/3rd) 10-10-0  CC (8-8/4th) 0-2-2 

Why Day 17?  In this extremely hard to schedule team configuration (2 more teams in A.L. than in N.L.), there will actually be 19 days in the schedule.  But the last, 19th day will consist of only a single game, as the A's (currently 7-8 and tied for 3rd in the 6-team A.L. West; 97 regular season wins in 'real' 1980), will face the Chisox (currently 7-7).  With only one of the 7 teams in that division currently above .500 (K.C., at 10-4, WAY above .500)... So the tail-dragging last game may actually have some real meaning.  I mean, who wants to write off the actual 2nd place A's....(K.C. in fact did run away with the real 1980 A.L. West)...

In this extreme blowout, the great 'Kid', Gary Carter, bashes a pair of 2-run homers early in the contest, one  with 2 out in T1st and the other with no one out  T3rd... While Expo starter Charlie Lea and reliever Stan Bahnsen shut the Cubs (I'd say 'pathetic Cubs', but then, they are 8-8 in this replay) out on 2 singles and a few harmless walks.  Mike Kelleher (.364 as sub) was the Chicagoans top offensive producer in the game with a single and two free passes.

Kidz Bopz

  

 

SEASON WRAP: CHICAGO CUBS (8-8)

In the parity-ridden N.L. East, the six teams either finished 9-7 (Montreal, N.Y. Mets, Pittsburgh) or 8-8 (Cubs, actual World Champ Phillies).  The Cardinals (8-7) are still undecided about which group to join, but they have an up-coming game against the Padres that will settle whether they are in the lovely, promising 9-7 bucket or the ledd desirable, dead-and-gone 8-8 one.  Plus, if there are four 9-7 teams, one will need to be eliminated in a Pre-Tourney game before the official Tourney Starts, since only exactly half of the members of a division can make the Official Tourney, if the divisions have an even number of teams.

Considering all this, maybe the Cubs are happy to finish with a solid as a rock, impartial .500 record and be out of all the Tourney nonsense.  Plus, if yer outscored 74-60, as the Windy City N.L. boys were, maybe you should be grateful to finish at 8-8!  From the 7th inning on, though, the Cubs outscored their opponents 17-11....after being throttled 38-22 in the game's middle innings (4th-5th-6th)!

Overall the Cubs batted ,235 but with a pretty good .140  on Isolated Power (SA-BA).  But their on-base % of .287 was nothing to cheer about.

According to the Runs Created data, the Cubs had three approximately equally offensive pillars.

Leading the way was 'Kong', Met import Dave Kingman.  Never a man known for high or even normal batting averages, and aided by Wrigley Fields cozy confines, Dave batted a juicy .349 with 4HR/9RBI and an almost unbleievable 6K:4BB walk/punchout ratio.  Then there was one of the big surprises of the replay, Phillie reject OF Jerry Martin... a better all-around player than Kong for sure, but not generally considered a slugger.  Yet Jerry easily outconked Kong on homers, blasting 7 and accumulating a team-leading 13 RBI... though, in Kong-like fashion, batting only .241... while his contact ratio was terrible: 17K:4BB.  But much can be forgiven of a man with a 54AB/7HR/13RBI slate!

Third in the hitting parade, and really very close to Kong and Martin in runs created was leadoff man, so-so third sacker (.909/4 errors/0DP) Lenny Randle.  3B Lenny got Cub games off to a good start batting .328 in the leadoff slot, with 7 walks (.387 OBP), 7 runs, a double, a homer, 5 robbies, and one swipe.

Starter Rick 'The Whale' Reuschel (2-1/3.60) was the clubs' only 2-game winner.  But for Earned Runs Prevented, 'The Inspector' Bill Caudill (0.53 ERA) and the great HOFer Bruce Sutter (0.79 ERA) were phenomenal, combining to win 2 games and save 2 games without any losses or blown saves!

But just as typical of the Cub hurling was workhorse starter Dennis Lamp... Lamp lit up opponents' bats to the tune of 14 runs in 20 innings of work, as he went 1-2/5.85/6K:12BB.  While somehow avoiding any dingers, starter Lynn McGlothen (0-2/5.59) was equally mediocre.

 

CUBS STARS OF THE GAME (WINS ONLY)

GAME 1  CC 6  PT 2  C Tim Blackwell 2-out 2-run go-ahead HR B2nd supports Reuschel CG win

GAME 3  SF 1  CC 8    OF Jerry Martin 2HR/5RBI supports Mike Krukow CG win

GAME 5  CN 2  CC 3  B7th Tim Blackwell pulls game-tying triple into RF corner as Caudill pitches 3 innings of 1-hit relief to earn win

GAME 8  ME 6  CC 9   Dave Kongman 3-run HR B4th makes it 6-1

GAME 9  CC 3  HA 0  Rick Reuschel win #2, a 6-hitter

GAME 10  CC 9  SC 4  Jerry Martin 3-run Birdnest bomb B1st (Personally, though I am not a sicko who would advocate blowing up a real bird's nest)

GAME 14  SC 3  CC 4 in 11  After three season-killing losses in a row, Jerry Martin jolts his 7th circuit clout of this replay off Jim Kaat to abruptly end extra inning game in Cubs' favor  

GAME 15  CC 5  NM 1  Dennis Lamp (5.85 ERA) and Bill Caudill (0.53 ERA) combine for 6-hitter... well, but it is against the Mets, never mind

Turn off the Lamp, Momma, it's time to try to go to sleep, to forget

 

 

SEASON WRAP: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (5-11)

 Somehow, it's hard to think of the Giants as 5-11... as a franchise, even, for any season.  But they did finish next to last in the N.L. West in the two-division world of 1980 baseball, and they really did stink it up bad in this replay, only one game ahead of the putrid Braves (4-12).  They stunk at home (2-6) and on the road (3-5); in the beginning (2-4) and later on (5-11).

I mean, if you're outscored 98-55, and by 40-24 just in the first 3 innings, and 24-10 JUST in the 7th inning alone, and by a total of 46-19 in the last four innings of their games*.... Well, there's not much room to maneuver as far as far as developing a plausible 'we just didn't get the breaks' excuse, unless 'the breaks' mean stuff like the break of having a bad team, having poor management, sufferinng with a poor farm system of their own device, poor choice of scouts, poor players, poor fans, etc.

*  And yes, I grudgingly admit that the Giants did somehow outscore their foes by 12-6 in the 4th-5th frames.... probably by lulling them into overconfidence by their 24-40 opening three frames!

The San Franciscans' .253 BA wasn't bad -- but their 39 walks drawn in 16 games was awful...nothing worse for the stats/W-L than over-anxious batters.  The Giants did steal 11 bases without being caught, which was nice. 

But their team total of 27 walks excluding leadoff man Billy North's 12.... that was terrible and a sure sign of a bad/losing team.,, And as far as the 11 for 11 on steals, North was 8 for 8, leaving the 3 for 3 to the other 24 players.  Yes, my recollection of the games was that North would walk or single (he batted an awesome .357), then steal 2nd, maybe get to 3rd on a groundout or something... and then be stranded.  However, Billy did lead the team with 10 runs scored (20 hits + 12 walks + 8-8 SBs = 10 runs???  pretty sad if it does!).. and sharp-eyed 3B Darrell Evans was second with 9 runs scored in 69 at bats... well, that looks a little nice, until you figure he scored himself four times with his own homers!! 

Meanwhile, the pitchers (5.25 team ERA) also walked 52 men to the 39 S.F. walks drawn by the likes of North & Evans and a couple of other Giants who knew the strikezone and were willing to walk for the sake of the team.

No Giant pitcher won more than one game... Their 5 total wins are scattered across 5 hurlers.  But Bob Knepper, despite a better than team-average ERA of 4.50, had S.F.'s worst record at 0-3.  Great reliever Al Holland (1-0/2 saves/3.18 ERA) 11 hits, 5 walks allowed in 17 IP, was the Giants' saving grace, playing a key role in all but ONE of their wins!!

And, finally, for the coop de goo (as great pro wrestling manager Fred Blassie would have said) the Giants were 2nd to last (just ahead of the similarly inept Cubs, Braves) among all teams, either league, in Fielding Average/Unearned runs allowed (.973/ 12 UER), and ahead of only the dismally abysmal Braves (.964) on FA.

STARS OF THE GAME (WINS ONLY.. uh oh, sorry Giant fans for such a short list...)

GAME 4  SF 10  SD 7  Jack Clark ropes 2-run go-ahead triple T1st, draws bases loaded walk T4th to tie wild game 5-5, lines winning-margin single with 2 out T5th..But in the other 15 games the wonderful Clark is 5 for 36 with 2 walks and no RBI!

GAME 5  SF 4  PT 3  Leadoff man and twice as good as any other Giant in this replay, Billy North smashes 3-run lead-reversing double B5th!

GAME 8  PH 0  SF 1  Al Holland closes down what Vida Blue started, inheriting a runner 2-out B7th and then retiring the last seven Phillies in a row, fanning four of them!  

GAME 9  LD 1  SF 5  Alan Hargesheimer surprising 4-hit complete game win!

GAME 14  SF 6  AB 1  Ed Whitson 2-walk 6-hitter  

 

Giant Mess

 

 

SEASON WRAP: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (8-8)

They may have been actual World Champions, but they didn't win this 16 game Sprint Race.  As of this writing, they finished tied for last.... One game out of a tie for 1st.... In the incredibly bunched-up EOBHR 1980 N.L. East!!  Their big problems were

a.  They faded bad, finishing 3-7 after a 5-1 start. 

b.  Whereas the Mets (currently 9-7, tied for 1st) were 5-0 in one run games, the Phils were 2-3 in same.

c.  They were outscored 13-5 in the 8th inning

d.  They batted .230 and scored less than 4 runs a game

e.  They were 3-7 in one run games

Yes, they choked... or simply didn't have enough of the right kind of talent to finish teams off.

The Phillies batted .230 with 12HR/57RBI(60R) in 560 at bats... Plus, if you pull Mike Schmidt out of the picture, things would really look bad.  Schmidty batted .286, tied for team lead with Luzinski with 7 walks, was second in steals with 3 (Garry Maddox was 4-4) and hit all but five of the team's home runs!!  Batting 3rd (not a good RBI spot, at least in this simulator) he had 7HR/13RBI and also scored an N.L, leading (at the time of this writeup) 13 runs.

The next most productive Phillie hitter was CF Maddox.  Garry batted .293 with remarkably productive 3-0-2-11 power.  But to offset him there was an aging worn-out unproductive leadoff man Pete Rose (.265), 18 hits... but 2 runs and 2 RBI in his 68 at bats!!! 

2B Manny Trillo (.250) showed solid 2-3-0-7 power, had 5 walks to 5 K's; OF Bake McBride (.228) had 2 homers and scored 9 runs... Slugger? Luzinski hit .160 with a .260 slugging average (gag!!) while fanning a currently MLB-leading 22 times!!  Yecch...

Really, pitching was the forte of this team, here and in reality.  All but two of their 12 pitchers (Lyle: 3.86/5IP, Lerch 6.50/18IP) had ERAs at 3.00 or lower.  As in reality, Steve Carlton (2-2/2.18/33IP/19H/34K:11BB) and Tug McGraw (2-0/0.61/15IP:5H/12K:1BB) stole the show!!

PLAYERS OF THE GAME (WINS ONLY)  

Game 1  PH 4  LD 3   Steve Carlton 11K:0BB 6-hitter

Game 2  ME 2  PH 3  Manny Trillo drives in more runs than the Expos score

Game 3  HA 2  PH 6   Mike Scmidt blasts 3 homers (5RBI) in his 4 ABs

Game 4  PH 8  SC 4   Garry Maddox (3-5/2R/2RBI/SB) game-tying double T4th, then he provides winning margin RBI on ground FC T5th

Game 7  PH 9  CC 1  Steve Carlton pitches 3-hitter over 8 innings for easy win and drives in more runs (2-5/2RBI) than Cubs score against him as the Phils say; 'Thank goodness for the Cubs!'

Game 12  PH 8  CC 3  Dick Ruthven 2-hitter over 7 innings of work as Phils say: 'Phew!  Thank goodness AGAIN for the Cubbies!!'

Game 14  ME 0  PH 2  Larry Christenson 5-hit shutout of Expos 

Game 16 PH 10  NM 7 in 11  Towering game-deciding bases loaded double by sub Greg Gross in 11th 

 

And what's this... another writer's view on the Cub season?????

SEASON WRAP-UP: Chicago Cubs (8-8)

Winning half your games is never something to be ashamed of, unless your like the '27 Yankees or playing in a real weak league or division.  On the other hand, the Cubs' 74-60 run scored disadvantage might suggest that their .500 record was on the lucky side.  Then, the naysayer to that stat might point out the Chicagoans 17-11 scoring advantage from the 7th inning on... And in fact their 1.80 team ERA might point to how Bill Caudill (1-0/0.53), Bruce Sutter (1-0/0,79), Dick Tidrow (0-1/1.77), and Doug Capilla (0-0/2.08)throttled the opponents' late inning offenses,  giving the Cubs stronger hope for come-from-behind wins.

Three sluggers and a speedster dominated the Cubs offensive production:  sluggers OF Dave Kingman (.349/4HR/9RBI)  CF Jerry Martin (.241/ but a nearly unbelievable 7 dingers, 13 RBI), and LF Mike Vail (.317/3-0-2-10), plus table-setting leadoff man 3B Lenny Randle (.338/22H/7BB, 7 runs, 2nd to great-fielding SS Ivan DeJesus's 8 tallies and Martin's 8 plate-crossers...of course 7 of those 'self-imposed!').   

As far as pitching, the starters really were the makers or breakers, accounting for 5 wins and 7 losses.  Rick Reuschel (2-1/3.60) had almost half (3) of the staff's 7 quality starts.  And, to be fair, the starting staff were more breakers than makers.

The relief staff had a 3-1-2 record and a stingy 1.80 ERA.  'The Inspector', Caudill, was the top contributor here, with 1-0-1/0.53 and 5.5 earned runs prevented.

CUBS STARS OF THE GAME (WINS ONLY)

GAME 1  CC 6  PT 2  C Tim Blackwell 3-4/2D/HR/2R/2RBI goes berserk against Bucco hurling

GAME 3  SF 1  CC 8   Jerry Martin 2-4/2HR/5RBI monster game!

GAME 5  CN 2  CC 3  Tim Blackwell  pulls game-tying triple into RF corner B7th

GAME 8  ME 6  CC 9  Bruce Sutter pitches 4 innings of shutout, 2-single, 1-walk relief

GAME 9  CC 3  HA 0   Ricky Reuschel 6-hit 2-walk whitewash of Stros

GAME 10  CC 9  SC 4  A Jerry Martin 3-run bomb puts Cubs ahead 4-0 T1st in a game that becomes 9-0 before the rival Cardinals get their 1st tally...Cubs so sad for them

GAME 14 SC 3  CC 4 in 11    The Cubs greatly enjoying sticking it to the Cardinals again, this time at Wrigley, as Jerry Martin clobbers his amazing 7th homer of the 1980 replay to abruptly end the game with no out B11th

 

 
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