World Series is set Yankees win Game 163 (17)

 Joe Dimaggio 2-run homer in the top of the ninth broke up a 2-2 ball game. And the White Sox couldn't get anything in the bottom of the inning to send the Yankees to the World Series against their across the Harlem River rivals - the Giants.

League Leaders (Averages require 50+ plate appearances)

Batting Average

Batter	Avg	Team
Cobb	0.397	Det
Jackson	0.366	CWS
Mays	0.354	Giants
Cabrera	0.339	Det
Mantle	0.338	NYY
DiMaggio	0.338	NYY
Collins	0.338	CWS
Weaver	0.321	CWS
Sandoval	0.306	Giants
Kaline	0.304	Det

On Base Percentage

Batter	OBP	Team
Cobb	0.444	Det
Mantle	0.434	NYY
Jackson	0.423	CWS
Appling	0.406	CWS
Ruth	0.397	NYY
Collins	0.395	CWS
Cabrera	0.383	Det
Mays	0.382	Giants
DiMaggio	0.375	NYY
Kaline	0.361	Det

Slugging Percentage

Batter	Slg	Team
Jackson	0.648	CWS
Ott	0.610	Giants
DiMaggio	0.581	NYY
Hornsby	0.581	Cubs
Cabrera	0.571	Det
Mays	0.569	Giants
Ruth	0.556	NYY
Cobb	0.552	Det
Kaline	0.536	Det
Banks	0.500	Cubs
Sandoval	0.500	Giants

OPS

Batter	OPS	Team
Jackson	1.071	CWS
Cobb	0.996	Det
Ott	0.959	Giants
DiMaggio	0.956	NYY
Cabrera	0.955	Det
Ruth	0.953	NYY
Mays	0.952	Giants
Kaline	0.896	Det
Hornsby	0.894	Cubs
Mantle	0.884	NYY

Hits

Batter	H	Team
Jackson	26	CWS
Collins	25	CWS
DiMaggio	25	NYY
Mantle	24	NYY
Cobb	23	Det
Mays	23	Giants
Cabrera	19	Det
Frisch	19	Giants
Gehrig	19	NYY
Sandoval	19	Giants

Miguel Cabrera led with 7 doubles

Shoeless Joe Jackson led with 3 triples

Home Runs

Batter	HR	Team
Hornsby	6	Cubs
Ott	6	Giants
Rodriguez	4	NYY
Ruth	4	NYY
Banks	3	Cubs
DiMaggio	3	NYY
Gehrig	3	NYY
Jackson	3	CWS
Kaline	3	Det
Mays	3	Giants
McCovey	3	Giants
Posada	3	NYY

RBI

Batter	rbi	Team
Jackson	20	CWS
DiMaggio	14	NYY
Kaline	14	Det
Collins	12	CWS
Ott	12	Giants
Hornsby	11	Cubs
Cano	10	NYY
Kuenn	10	Det
Mantle	10	NYY
Ruth	10	NYY

Strikeouts

Batter	K	Team
DiMaggio	14	NYY
Ruth	14	NYY
Felsch	12	CWS
Konerko	12	CWS
Gehrig	11	NYY
Maddox	11	Giants
Quentin	11	CWS
Kell	10	Det
Ott	9	Giants
Posey	9	Giants

Walks

Batter	BB	Team
Appling	15	CWS
Ruth	15	NYY
Mantle	11	NYY
Banks	7	Cubs
Collins	7	CWS
Gehrig	7	NYY
Jackson	7	CWS
Ott	7	Giants
Jeter	6	NYY
Konerko	6	CWS
Rodriguez	6	NYY

Stolen Bases

Batter	SB	CS	Team
Dahlen	11	3	Cubs
Mays	9	1	Giants
Frisch	8	3	Giants
Aparicio	5	3	CWS
Podsenik	5	5	CWS
Jeter	4	5	NYY
Terry	3	1	Cubs
Stirnweiss	2		NYY
Banks	1		Cubs
Hornsby	1		Cubs
Maddox	1	1	Giants
Stratton	1		Cubs
VanHaltren	1	1	Giants

Pitching

ERA (16 innings required)

Pitcher	ERA	Team
Fister	0.93	Det
Newhouser	1.47	Det
Lyle	1.62	NYY
Alexander	1.80	CUBS
Cicotte	1.85	CWS
Hubbell	2.03	Giants
Marmol	2.12	CUBS
Harden	3.15	CUBS
Fidrych	3.24	Det
Bowory	3.45	CUBS

Gerry Staley led the league with 15 appearances

Eddie Cicotte and Whitey Ford with 5 starts

Hank Bowory pitched 3 complete games

Innings Pitched

Pitcher	IP	Team
Cicotte	39	CWS
Ford	32 1/3	NYY
Bowory	31 1/3	CUBS
Newhouser	30 2/3	Det
Alexander	30	CUBS
Fister	29	Det
Hubbell	26 2/3	Giants
Chandler	25 1/3	NYY
Fidrych	25	Det
Bevens	22 1/3	NYY

Wins

Pitcher	W	L	S	Team
Lyle	4			NYY
Hubbell	3			Giants
Alexander	2	1		CUBS
Chandler	2	1		NYY
Cicotte	2	1		CWS
Newhouser	2	1		Det
Staley	2	1		CWS
Thornton	2	1		CWS
Willhelm	2	1		Giants
Gumpert	2			NYY

Saves

Pitcher	S	Team
Rivera	4	NYY
Marmol	3	CUBS
McMahon	3	Giants
Humphries	2	CWS
Romo	2	Giants
Crain	1	CWS
Miller	1	Giants
Hiller	1	Det
Valverde	1	Det
Keegan	1	CWS
Sale	1	CWS
Sallee	1	Giants

Strikeouts

Pitcher	K	Team
Newhouser	25	Det
Marmol	20	CUBS
Verlander	20	Det
Lincecum	19	Giants
Alburquerque	17	Det
Romo	15	Giants
Harden	14	CUBS
Lyle	13	NYY
Chandler	13	NYY
Gomez	13	NYY
Fister	13	Det

Walks

Pitcher	BB	Team
Chandler	9	NYY
Antonelli	9	Giants
Harden	8	CUBS
Fidrych	8	Det
Lyle	7	NYY
Newhouser	7	Det
Alburquerque	7	Det
Gomez	7	NYY
Williams	7	CWS
Matthewson	7	Giants
Lincecum	7	Giants
Bevens	7	NYY
Verlander	7	Det

Giants take 2 from the Yankees to vault into first place.

 Mel Ott and Willie Mays shined in the battle of Hall-of-fame lineups. Mays scored in the first inning of both games, posting the Giants to early leads. Ott homered in both games - breaking open a tight game 1. and closing the door to any comeback from the Bronx Bombers in the final game of the series.

The Z card did strike the Giants again, this time punishing their bull-pen. Starting Pitcher Johnny Antonelli, was cruising through 4, when a close play at first on a slow roller from Mickey Mantle cause quite a rhubarb. After Mantle was called safe, Antonelli, along with first-baseman Willie McCovey and catcher Buster Posey were all tossed for arguing with the umpire. Mantle reached base safely each time in the game, but the Yankees were unable to get him home and the Giants cruised to a 6-1 win

This lead to early than expected bullpen use, and with the Yankees knocking Tim Lincecum out of the second game in the 4th, the Giants bullpen is pretty empty for their next outing. Stu Miller closed out a 7 pitcher performance in the second game for the 7-5 win. 

With Johnny Mize still recovering from his injury - the Giants will likely look for some bull-pen help from their alternate site.

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
GIANTS	3	1	0.750	-
WHITE SOX	2	1	0.667	0.5
CUBS	0	0	NA	1
TIGERS	0	1	0.000	1.5
YANKEES	0	2	0.000	2

Statis-Pro Baseball is Back

For this season we have 5 competitors. My brother-in-law, Paul, his son-in-law, Matt, my old friends Leo and Joe and myself.

We again used the free cards available here.

We each chose on franchise and could pick any player on that franchise available on any of those seasons.

Paul went with the Cubs, Matt went with the Yankees, Leo the White Sox, Joe the Tigers and I, keeping my Garry Maddox streak alive, went with the Gants.

So far we have played 3 and a half games - why a half - I'll get to that.

Eddie Cicotte outdueled Hal Newhouser in the first matchup a 2-0 win for Leo's Sox. Their second game was had much more offense - and controversy. 

After falling behind 5-1, the Tigers bats finally came alive in the 7th inning scoring 5 runs on a grand slam from Magglio Ordonez and a solo homer from Miguel Cabrera. The Sox tied it up in the 8th, fell back behind in the top of the ninth before seeming to secure victory with 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 8-7 victory. 

It was then that I noticed the Sox roster was in violation of the rules. 24 White Sox players had played in the 2 games, but Leo still had a back-up catcher and an unused relief pitcher on the bench. We are limited to 25 players, must have at least 2 catchers and our pitching staff rules that made it clear 11 pitchers was an advantage over fewer.

Leo's illegal advantage was not involved in the Cicotte shutout, but one of Jim Thome or Morrie Martin were illegal in game 2. Thome pinch-hit for starting pitcher Billy Pierce in the 6th and Martin had come in to pitch to Cabrera in the 7th and surrendered that home run. Since Thome was also a late inning defensive replacement in game 1, the commissioner ruled, Martin was the player that violated the rules and the game will be restarted immediately after the Ordonez grand slam - tied at 6 with no out in the top of the 7th.

The Sox have fixed their roster going forward - sending Thome down to the alternate site and bringing Martin on going forward. Martin will not be eligible for the remainder of the Tigers-Sox game.

While awaiting for the Tigers schedule to clear up the Sox moved on to a 2 game series with the Giants.

The Palehouse hammered Christy Matthewson and Hoyt Wilhelm for 8 runs through 4 innings in the opener. Mel Ott homered in the 5th to cut the lead to 8-4. The Giants added 2 in the 6th and 1 in the 8th. Johnny Humphries worked a perfect 9th to secure the 8-7 victory moving the Sox to 2-0.

Carl Hubbard and the Giants bullpen shut out the South-siders in game 2 of the series 3-0, spoiling a good outing from Lefty Williams. It wasn't all good news in game 2 for the Giants however. Johnny Mize was hit by a pitch in the 8th inning and left with an injury that will keep him out for 5 games. 

Here are the current standings:

TEAM	W	L	PCT	GB
WHITE SOX	2	1	0.667	-
GIANTS	1	1	0.500	0.5
TIGERS	0	1	0.000	1
CUBS	0	0	-	1.5
YANKEES	0	0	-	1.5

COVID-19(73) Baseball, Version 3, World Series, Game 6

Ken Holtzman our pitched Andy Messersmith in game 3 and was hoping to again in game 6 to keep his team alive.

The Matts got all they needed in the first and then came back for more.

• With one out Manny Mota singled
• Joe Ferguson hit a sinking liner that got by Bill North on right and the ball bounced around in the corner long enough for Ferguson to end up on third with a triple.

In the fourth inning, likely series MVP Merv Rettenmund homered to make it 2-0

• The fifth inning ended any suspense
• With one out Messersmith singled
• Davey Lopes followed with a walk
• Mota collected his third hit, scoring Messersmith
• With runners in second and third Holtzman uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Lopes and ending his night
• Ferguson greeted Horacio Piña with a single, scoring Mota
• Rettenmund grounded into a force, erasing Ferguson
• Chris Speier has trouble on, Bobby Grich's hard shot, kicking it into short left. Grich got to second and Rettenmund to third
• Piña intentionally walked Al Bumbry to load the bases and Ron Cey made him pay with a run scoring single for a 7-0 lead

Messersmith, Bob Reynolds and Grant Jackson scattered 4 hits and 7 total base runners for the shutout and 4-2 series victory

As I said above Rettenmund is most certainly the MVP 

The Alteses are now the statis-pro version of the 1990s Atlanta Braves with their 3 consecutive World Series loss

With some sports, particularly baseball back, this may be our last season for the summer, if we come back it might be for a fall classic.

Thanks to Leo, Madds, Paul and Matt for letting me relive my nerdy youth. And thanks to Melissa for not being too angry at the nights spent on Zoom 

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 World Series Game 5

 The first elimination game of our World Series was a rematch of the game 2 starters - Jim Palmer for the visiting Matts and Catfish Hunter, trying to keep the Mikes hopes alive

Hunter got out of the first with only a base hit allowed to red-hot Merv Rettenmund (increased his average from .500 to .545 in game 5) before retiring the side. Palmer was not so lucky.

• Bill North greeted Palmer with a line drive to left, it looked like Al Bumbry might make the play, in fact if a runner had been on first, he would have held up to see if it was caught. But North was full out from the start and when the ball dropped in he was safe at second
• North took a long lead from second and broke for third on Palmer's first move
• Palmer rushed the throw to Ron Cey at third and Cey couldn't dig it out, North again running with reckless abandon, turned for home and Bumbry had no chance to get him at home.
• Bobby Bonds patiently worked a walk as Palmer was still a little unsure of what had happened so far, Bonds then stole second 
• Making matters worse, Palmer walked Willie McCovey
• He finally settled down and got Gene Tenace on a weak fly ball to center field
• Now with some confidence, Palmer struck out Sal Bando for the second out
• Garry Maddox hit one back through the middle, scoring Bonds
• Chris Speier, recovered from his collision with the tarp/wall yesterday, ended the inning grounding out to second

Boog Powell lead off the second with a base hit but was erased on a 6-4-3 double play from Cey

 Palmer found the rhythm setting down 12 in a row at one point

The Borris offense finally sparked in the top of the 4th

• Rettenmund singled on the infield to start
• Willie Crawford followed with a single to right, Rettenmund taking third
• Bobby Grich hit a hard liner that went in and out of Speier's glove at short, while he was trying to pick up the dropped ball, Crawford was able to scramble to second and Grich was safe at first to load the bases
• Unbelievably, a near identical situation occurred on Powell's line smash to McCovey at first
• McCovey had it and lost it then kicked the droop ball around long enough for everyone to advance a base and Powell was safe, re-loading the bases and cutting the lead to 2-1
•  Cey followed with his second 6-4-3  in as many at bats, but this one scored Crawford, tying the score
• Joe Ferguson flew out to left to end the inning

A third 6-4-3 double play in the top of the 6th off the bat of Grich ended a minor chance for the Matts

The bottom of that inning ended up determining the game 

• McCovey got his 3rd hit and first that wasn't a homer of the series
• Tenace flew out to left for the first out
• After taking a close potential strike three, Bando pulled a line drive just over the wall in left for a 2-run homer and the 4-2 lead
• Ferguson was not happy with Augie Donatelli for that ball call before the home run and spent the next at bat - a Maddox single and the first few pitches to Speier letting Donatelli know about it
• Augie had finally had enough and tossed Ferguson for arguing balls and strikes
• Earl Williams replaced Ferguson
• Palmer retired Speier and Tito Fuentes to end the inning
  

Hunter and Don McMahon allowed only 2 more hits and 3 more base runners the rest of the way - McMahon picking up the first save of the series along the way

Game 6 will move us back to Matt's home (Dodger/Memorial Stadium) with Ken Holtzman attempting to fend off elimination for the Mikes against Andy Messersmith

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 World Series Game 4

The Bay Area Alteses looked to even the series at 2 games each, sending Vida Blue to face Don Sutton. It started well enough for the home team:

• With two outs in the bottom of the first Willie McCovey hit his second home run of the series making it 1-0 Mikes

Sutton had more trouble in the third:

• With one out Bill North walked then stole second base
• Bobby Bonds sent a single to center
• North was sent home and beat the throw from Merv Rettenmund to stake Blue to a 2-0 lead
• McCovey hit another screamer, but this one was right to Bobby Grich who had been cheating behind Bonds to hold him close
• Grich beat Bonds to the bag for the inning ending double play

Through 3 innings Blue had been stellar, in the 4th the Matts started to find their way:

• With one out Joe Ferguson worked a walk
• Rettenmund then doubled to center, but Maddox got the ball in quickly and held Ferguson at 3rd
• The Altese brain trust decided to intentionally walk Grich to face the left-handed hitting Al Bumbry
• Bumbry flew out to Bonds in right field, Ferguson bluffed home, but stayed at third
• Blue got Ron Cey looking to end the inning

The 5th inning was when the Borrises did their real damage:

• Boog Powell singled to lead off the inning
• Sutton's bunt to Sal Bando was well positioned and advanced Powell to second
• Davey Lopes tripled to the gap in left center, cutting the lead to 2-1
• Manny Mota hit a liner to left field, Bonds couldn't bring it in and when the dust cleared, Mota was on second with a double and the score was tied
• Blue crossed up Gene Tenace with a wild-pitch sending Mota to third
  
• Ferguson continued the hit barrage with a run scoring single for the 3-2 lead
• Blue settled down to strikeout Rettenmund
• Ferguson went to third on a base hit from Grich
• Al Bumbry flew out to center to end the inning

Blue went out to start the 6th

• Cey singled
• Powell was a strikeout victim
• Sutton placed an even better bunt, giving Bando no play to put runners on first and second and ending the night for Blue
• Horacio Pina continued his great work this series getting lopes and Mota to line out to McCovey 

The 7th inning brought more intrigue

• Pina walked Ferguson to start the inning
• Rettenmund popped up to Chris Speier at short for the first out
• Grich hit a foul ball into the area behind third base and Speier misjudged the wall and injured himself trying to make a play on the ball. Bert Campaneris had to come in to replace Speier.
• Grich then singled to center
•  Ferguson tried to take third on the play, but North made a great throw to Bando for the second out
• With Grich taking second, Pina intentionally walked Bumbry to face Cey and recorded a strikeout
  

 After cruising through the middle innings, Sutton faced a little trouble in the 7th

• Gene Tenace worked a walk to lead off the inning
• Gary Matthews was sent in to replace him on the base-paths
• Bando struck out
  
• Maddox was given the hit-and-run sign with 2 strikes and swung through a high fastball for strike three
• Ferguson then fired to Grich to catch Matthews trying for second base to end the inning

In the eighth, the Alteses threatened again 

• Campaneris singled and looked to get a large lead to take second
• Sutton threw wildly to first on a pickoff play and Campy ended up on third
• Sutton really showed his mettle here
• Tito Fuentes couldn't find a Sutton curve for strike three
• Dave Rader had replaced Tenace and was batting in the 9th spot popped up to short
• North finally hit the fly ball that would have scored Campy, but it was for the third out

Sutton worked a quick ninth for the complete game victory

 

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 World Series Game 3

The COVID-19(73) World Series shifted to the Bay Area for game 3. Ken Holtzman took the mound for the Alteses facing off against former Alteser - Andy Messersmith.

Bill North singled in the bottom of the first to stop the streak of 9 hit-less innings for the Matt pitching staff. But both pitchers cruised until the bottom of the 4th.

• Willie McCovey worked his 3rd walk in as many games to start the inning
• Gene Tenace followed that by depositing a Messersmith fastball into the left field seats for the 2-0 lead
• Sal Bando struck out for the first out of the inning
• Garry Maddox hit a come-backer to Messersmith, but he dropped it and by the time he got back in control he couldn't get the speedy Maddox at first
• The pitcher's best friend a 4-6-3 double play grounder from  Chris Speier ended the inning

The Borrises fought back in the top of the 5th:

• Bobby Grich singled to start the inning
• Holtzman struck out Willie Crawford for the first out
• Ron Cey grounded to Fuentes but Grich slid hard into Speier to stop any potential double play
• With Cey at first Boog Powell singled to right moving Cey to third
• The Matts sent Don Baylor up to pinch-hit for Messersmith and he succeeded with a double to right field
• Cey scored and Powell was sent home as well by Lasorda coaching third
• North gathered the ball in the corner and threw to Tito Fuentes
• Fuentes made a perfect replay to Tenace to get Powell at home, end the inning and preserve the lead 2-1

Jim Brewer made his second appearance on the Series, replacing Messersmith in the 5th

• Brewer walked Fuentes
• Holtzman attempted to bunt Fuentes to second
• Joe Ferguson could not field the bunt cleanly and everyone was safe
• Cey and Grich teamed up for a great double play erasing Holtzman and getting the speedster North at first to calm things down
• The Matts had a conference on the mound to discuss pitching to Bonny Bonds or walking him to face the left-handed hitting McCovey, they chose poorly
• Bonds homered to make the score 4-1

With two outs in the 6th the Matts mounted another threat 

• Red-hot Merv Rettenmund singled in the infield 
• Holtzman lost a long at-bat to Ferguson in a base on balls
• With two out and two on, the Alteses contemplated taking Holtzman out with Grich coming to the plate
• Holtzman stayed in and made it pay off - striking out Grich to end the inning

Holtzman and Rollie Fingers limited the Coastal-Script-Jerseys to 2 singles the rest of the way for the 4-1 win, tightening the series to 2 games to 1 

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 World Series Game 2

 After a lengthy delay - maybe someone was in COVID quarantine? We finally played game 2. Jim Palmer took the hill for the Matts dueling with Catfish Hunter for the Mikes

It was a shaky first inning for Palmer:

• Bill North led things off with a walk - then stole second base
• After Bobby Bonds flew out to center field, Willie McCovey homered to post 2 runs on the board
• Palmer then retired Gene Tenace on a comebacker for the second out
• Sal Bando singled to keep the inning alive
• And scored when Garry Maddox tripled to the gap 
• Chris Speier grounded out to end the inning

Hunter was shaky as well:

• With one out Merv Rettenmund singled
• Willie Crawford followed with a single as well
• Rettenmund beat the throw to third and Crawford took second on the throw 
• Bobby Grich walked to load the bases
• Boog Powell hit a grounder that drew Speier to his right
• His only play was to try to force Crawford at third
• Bando not only got the force at third but relayed to McCovey at first to get Powell for the double play

Speier started another double play in the second after Ron Cey led off the inning with a base hit.

In the third Hunter finally paid for his troubles:

• Palmer led off the inning with a triple
• Al Bumbry got him home with a sacrifice fly to North in right

The top of the 4th got even worse for Hunter:

• Powell singled to start things off
• Ron Cey homered to tie the game at 3 

Defense behind Hunter kept the game tied in the 5th

• With one out, Hunter hit Rettenmund
• Crawford grounded to second, but Tito Fuentes could only make the play at first moving Rettenmund to second base
• Willie Crawford singled to right field 
• Third Base coach Tommy Lasorda, sent Rettenmund, but North's throw to Tenace was perfect, keeping the score tied at 3 and ending the inning

 Since the 3-hit, 3-run first, Palmer had only allowed one other baserunner, a third inning walk to Tenace through the 5th inning. The 6th was a little more interesting, however:

• McCovey walked to lead off the inning
• Palmer then struck out Tenace and Bando
• Maddox then worked another walk to put two on with two out
• Steve Ontiveros came in to pinch-hit for Speier, but could only manage a tapper back to Palmer to end the threat
  

 Not only was that the last threat, Maddox was the last Bay Area Batsman to reach base in the game...

Hunter gave way to Horacio Pina in the 7th, who walked Bumbry with two outs, but Tenace erased him, trying to steal second

 

In the 8th, the Matts threatened again:

• Rettenmund tripled off Pina to start the inning
• Pina was replaced by Darold Knowles
• The lefthander stuck out Crawford before walking Grich intentionally
• Knowles then struck out Powell as well
• Don McMahon came in to face the right-handed hitting Cey and got him to ground out to Fuentes

 Game 1 winner, Grant Jackson had replaced Palmer after 7 innings and was spotless through the 10th

McMahon had an easy 9th, but not so in the 10th

• Bumbry's base hit started the inning
• Rettenmund singled sharply to left, even the speedy Bumbry couldn't get the extra base
• McMahon was not happy with a ball four call to Crawford that loaded the bases for Grich
• Grich made the first out with an infield popup to Bando
• Powell hit a grounder to Campaneris that looked like it might end the inning or at least was hit sharply enough for a close play at the plate
• Perhaps all that was going through Campy's mind as he bobbled the ball and couldn't get it out of his glove allowing Bumbry to score the winning run 
  

 Palmer allowed 3 hits in the first, then he and Jackson combined to no-hit the Mikes for the next 9 innings

After holding the Gotham Pauls to 4 runs and a .167 team batting average in the NLCS, the Script-Jerseyed Matts have allowed 4 runs in two games, but have held the Mikes to a .132 batting average. 

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 World Series Game 1

The NLCS Champs - the Coastal, Diagonal Script Jerseyed Matts hosted the ALCS Champs the Bay Area Mikes in Game 1 of the COVID-19(73) Statis-Pro World Series.

Don Sutton, who dominated the Gotham Pauls in the ALCS took the bump against Vida Blue, who also won 2 games in the LCS, against the Leo RedSox.

Sutton was a little shaky in the first - giving up two singles, but a double play grounder ended that mini threat.

Blue was his equal until the bottom of the 4th:

• With 2 outs, Bobby Grich drew a walk
• Grich moved to third on Willie Crawford's base hit
• Ron Cey put the Matts on the board with another base hit

After Sal Bando lead off the 2nd with a single, Sutton put down 9 straight Altesemen before giving up a lead-off walk to pinch-hitter Steve Ontiveros in the 6th.

Sutton eliminated the next 4 in order before Sal Bando tied the game with a solo home run to left field with 1 out in the 7th.

Bob Reynolds for the Matts and Horacio Pina, Darold Knowles and Don McMahon for the Mikes held the score at 1-1 until the 10th.

• Charlie Hough opened the 10th with consecutive screwball strikeouts of Garry Maddox and Chris Speier before giving way to Jim Brewer to face the switch hitting Tito Fuentes
• Fuentes battled Brewer and eventually hit a seeing-eye single
  
• Jesus Alou, pinch-hitting for McMahon singled Fuentes to 3rd, ending the night for Brewer
• Grant Jackson came in and retired Bill North to hold the score at 1 apiece

Rollie Fingers relieved McMahon and got two quick outs, but 2-out Matt Magic struck again

• Lopes singled and stole second base
• Merv Rettenmund then knocked a base-hit out to Bobby Bonds in left
• The speedy Lopes just beat the throw for the 2-1 win

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 ALCS game 7

We come to Game 7. This series has had several reverses of fortune, what did the final match-up bring - more of the same!

Vida Blue was going for the Alteses and the Leos countered with Roger Moret, in a surprise start over Jack Billingham. Neither starter were involved in the decision.

Moret had a shaky first inning:

• Bill North walked
  
• Johnny Bench caught North straying a bit too far off of first after a pitch to Garry Maddox and picked him with a perfect throw to Tony Perez
• Maddox singled and consecutive walks to Willie McCovey and Gene Tenace loaded the bases
• Sal Bando singled scoring Maddox and McCovey to make it 2-0
• Gary Matthews ground out put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out
• Moret made one more mistake, hanging a slider to Chris Speier and Speier deposited it in the seats for a 3-run homer making it 5-0.
• Moret retired Tito Fuentes, but the inning seemed to drain the RedsSox crowd of energy

Not for long...

• Joe Morgan leadoff the bottom of the first with a single
• After Dave Concepcion struckout, Reggie Jackson hit a moon shot over the rightfield fence to make it 5-2
• Tony Perez made the second out on another hard hit ball that was right at Bando
• Red-hot George Foster then matched Reggie with a home run of his own, cutting the lead to 5-3
• Reggie Smith continued the ripping, with a double
• Carl Yastrzemski completed the team cycle in the first inning with a triple to the gap in center, scoring Smith and cutting the lead to one
• Johnny Bench his a grounder to Speier at short that looked like it would end the inning, but Speier threw it away, scoring Yaz and putting Bench on second
• Phil Gagliano, pinch hitting for Moret grounded out to McCovey ending the inning, but the score was 5-5

Billingham relieved Moret and held the Bay Area squad in check until the 4th

• Fuentes singled to start the inning
• Bobby Bonds had replaced Matthews in left after a double switch walked to put runners on first and second
• Morgan made a great play on North's grounder, stepping on the bag and making the throw to Perez to double up the speedy North, Fuentes moved to third
• Maddox came through with a 2-out single to score Fuentes and put the Mikes back on top 6-5

Horacio Pina and then Catfish Hunter had replaced Blue on the bump and had held the RedsSox to 5 until Yaz leadoff the 6th with a line drive homerun into the seats in right, tying things back up at 6

Ray Culp, Mel Stottlemeyer, Bob Veale, Bobby Bolin and Luis Tiant followed Billingham for the Leos. Tiant was working his second inning in the top of the 9th, still tied at 6

• With two outs, Maddox singled
• McCovey followed with a double and Maddox beat the throw from Pete Rose, to take the 7-6 lead

Don McMahon came in in the bottom of the 9th looking to get the series ending save, Darold Knowles, Glenn Abbot and Rollie Fingers had held the Leos to this point

• Concepcion singled to start things off, but was erased on a fielder's choice by Jackson
• McMahon then walked Tony Perez, putting the tying run on second and the winning run on base
• Dan Driessen popped up for the second out
• Andy Kosco, pinch-hitting for Tiant, became the last hope for the Leos
• Kosco kept the series alive with single, scoring Jackson
• Tommy Harper couldn't end it though as he popped up to Bando for the 3rd out

Into extra innings we went, Pedro Borbon came in for the RedsSox and allowed only a hit batter in the 10th and worked a perfect 11th

McMahon got out of a jam in the 11th

• After allowing a 2-out double to Perez
• McMahon intentionally walked Driessen
  
• With no hitters left, Borbon went out trying to help himself, but could only manage a popup to Dave Rader behind the plate to end the threat

Borbon had some trouble himself in the 12th

• McCovey walked to start he inning
• McMahon moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt
• After Bando walked, Borbon hunkered down and got the last tow outs to end the threat

McMahon had a quick 12th bringing us the 13th inning

• Chris Arnold had taken over at second base for Fuentes back in the 10th leadoff the inning with a single
• Bert Campaneris - the last hitter on the bench for the Mikes - came in to run for Arnold
• Campy stole second
• Borbon was rattled with the baserunner and walked Bonds and North to load the bases
• Maddox made the first out of the inning, but it was productive - a deep fly to left, scored Campy to make it 8-7
• Tom Hall came in to face the lefthanded McCovey, but failed at his job, McCovey doubled scoring Bonds, but North held at third - 9-7
• McMahon hit a grounder to Morgan who throw home, but North slid in under the tag making it 10-7, still only one out
• Hal walked Bando to get to the left-handed hitting Rader
• Rader followed Maddox's example, with sacrifice fly to left, scoring McCovey - making it 11-7

McMahon came out in the 13th with his second chance to seal the game - the 4-run lead was more precarious than it seemed as McMahon would likely have to come out if he allowed anyone to reach base, the bull pen remainders for the Mikes all have serious flaws vs one side of the plate

But McMahon was able to get Morgan, Concepcion and Jackson to end the game and the series

The Mikes move on to face the NLCS Champion Matts later this week - schedule tbd

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 ALCS game 6

The RedsSox facing elimination back home in game 6, sent game 2 winner, John Curtis to the bump to face-off with Ken Holtzman.

The Bay Area Mikes threatened in the second:

• Sal Bando lead off the inning with a single
• After Bobby Bonds struck out, Chris Speier continued his hot hitting and doubled, but Bando was held at third
• Curtis got Tito Fuentes to pop up to Joe Morgan for the second out
• Ken Holtzman came to the plate and foul tipped one into Johnny Bench's bare hand - the pain was too much and Carlton Fisk had to replace Bench
• Holtzman the ended the rally by popping up to Fisk

The Leos were more successful in their half of the second

• With one-out, George Foster, getting his first start of the series, doubled
• Reggie Smith singled, moving Foster to third
• Carl Yastrzemski hit a hard ground ball to Bando at third, he knocked it down, but had not play, Yaz was credited with a single and Foster scored
• Holtzman retired Fisk and Curtis  to end the inning

The lead was short-lived

• With one-out in the top of the third, Garry Maddox singled and Curtis walked Willie McCovey
• After Gene Tenace popped up to Fisk, Bando singled and Maddox came around to score from second and tie the game 1
  
• Bonds struck out again to end the inning

Holtzman was undone in the bottom of the third

• With one out Dave Concepcion doubled
• Jackson singled and Concepcion beat the throw home to make it 2-1
• Holtzman looked like he might get out without further damage as he got Tony Perez to foul out to Tenace
• But George Foster struck again, this time with a 2-run home run to make it 4-1
• Smith grounded out to end the inning

Curtis was very good but had a little trouble in the 6th

• Bando collected his third single of the game to lead off the inning, but was erased on a ground ball from Bonds
• Bonds beat the relay back to first
• With Speier at the plate, Bonds strayed to far trying to steal second and Curtis picked him off for the second out
• Speier singled but Fuentes flew out to Smith to end the inning

The Leos added an insurance run in the 8th

• Perez lead things off with a double against reliever Elias Sosa
• Pete Rose batted for Foster and singled moving Perez to third
• Don McMahon game in for Sosa and gave up another hit, a single to Smith, scoring Perez
• After Yaz popped up to McCovey, Fisk squibbed an infield single to load the bases
• Andy Kosco batting for Curtis lifted a fly to shallow left, but it was too shallow to score Rose
  
• McMahon then induced Morgan to ground out to McCovey to end the inning, but the score was now 5-1

Pedro Borbon, has had troubles throughout the series, but he pitched a perfect 9th to seal the win and forcing a deciding game seven tomorrow at 2pm CDT

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 ALCS game 5

Bill Spaceman Lee faced Jim Catfish Hunter in a crucial game 5 of the ALCS. But Hunter wasn't around very long.

• After walking Pete Rose and then Joe Morgan to lead off the 1st inning, Hunter started griping to the home plate umpire Ron Luciano - he then may or may not have thrown a spitball to Tony Perez - but that was enough for Luciano and Hunter was sent to the showers.
• Thrown in to the fire Horacio Pina saved the situation against Perez and struck him out. The he felt Luciano's wrath walking Reggie Jackson and then Carl Yastrzemski to score Rose
• Reggie Smith followed with a sharp single that scored Rose but Jackson was held at 3rd, keepign it 2-0
• Pina settled down to get Dave Concepcion and Johnny Bench to end the inning and strand 3 base-runners

The Alteses struck back in the bottom of the first:

• Bill North singled and stole second to start the inning, he moved to third on Garry Maddox's grounder to the right side
• After a walk for Willie McCovey, Gene Tenace hit a deep flyball that was able to score North and cut the lead to 2-1

Rose and Morgan walked again in the second inning, but Pina got out of it without them getting further.

The Leos threatened again in the 3rd against Tom Bradley

• Yaz singled and Smith followed with a double, but Yaz stopped at third
• Bradley struck out Concepcion and walked Bench to force a decision with Lee due up next
• Lee was pitching well enough that he was sent up hoping to squeeze home a run
• Lee missed the pitch and Yaz - may have missed the safety squeeze sign - was out at home
• Lee then struck out to end the threat

The Alteses tied it up in the 4th

• With one out, Sal Bando walked
• Chris Speier followed a Bobby Bonds popout with a single to right - moving Bando to third
• Steve Ontiveros pinch-hitting for Bradley singled and Bando scored

A great defensive play from Reggie Jackson kept it tied in the bottom of the 6th

• With two outs Speier walked
  
• Jesus Alou, pinch-hitting for Darold Knowles doubled to right
• Jackson got to the ball quickly and hit Morgan for the relay to Bench for the final out keeping the score 2-2

The bottom of the 7th ended Lee's night

• With one out North, again singled and stole second
• Maddox reached on an infield single, North taking third
• Lee pitched around McCovey walked to load the bases
• Mel Stottlemeyer relieved Lee and induced a ground ball from Tenace, but Morgan had to range to his left and had no play other than Tenace at first, allowing North to score the lead run.

It stayed that way until the top of the 9th

• Rollie Fingers came in to try to get the save and allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitting Carlton Fisk
• Tommy Harper came in to run for Fisk, Fingers held him close and got Rose to fly out to leftfield
• With Morgan up, Harper strayed too far off first and was picked off for the second out
• Morgan then singled, bringing Perez, up as the last hope
• Morgan took off for second, and saw that the throw from Tenace was far off line. He made the turn for third, and by the time Maddox corralled the poor throw, Morgan had come home to tie the score at 3
• Fingers snagged a line shot from Perez to end the inning

Pedro Borbon pitched a spotless 9th and Fingers matched him in the top of the 10th. The bottom half was a different story for Borbon

• McCovey walked to start the inning and was replaced by Gary Matthews to run
• Tenace flew out to Rose in left
• Bando singled and Matthews just beat the throw into third base. This allowed Bando to take second base.
• With first base open, Borbon intentionally walked Bonds to face Speier
• Speier was the hero with his third hit of the game scoring Matthews and giving the Bay Area Alteses the 4-3 win

Game 6 will be Saturday evening in Cincinnati/Boston with the RedsSox facing elimination. Expected starters are Ken Holtzman for the Alteses and John Curtis for the Leos

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 ALCS game 4

After a few "rain outs" we finally got to game 4 in the ALCS. The Leo RedsSox went with their 4th-starter Luis Tiant against game 1 starter Vida Blue for the Bay Area Alteses.

The Alteses did make a couple lineup changes swapping in Bobby Bonds for Gary Mathews and Chris Speier for Bert Campaneris. Both moves paid dividends.

In the bottom of the 1st, Bonds homered to make it 1-0.

Tiant had more trouble in the second:

• Sal Bando leadoff with a single and moved to second on Garry Maddox's gound-ball
• Speier hit one into the gap, Bando scored and Speier ended up on third with a triple
• Tito Fuentes singled him home to make it 3-0
• After Blue sacrificed Fuentes to second, Bill North singled and Fuentes scored
• North then scored on Bonds second extra base hit in as many innings - a double making it 5-0

The RedsSox fought back in the top of the 3rd:

• With 1-out Pete Rose walked
• Joe Morgan then doubled - Rose holding at third
• The red hot Tony Perez then singled to left, scoring Rose, Morgan to 3rd
• Blue got out of the inning with a Reggie Jackson foul popup and Carl Yastrzemski grounding out to Willie McCovey at first

Tiant got in more trouble in the 3rd loading the bases with singles by Gene Tenace and Bando and walking Maddox. Roger Moret came in and got 3 outs without allowing a run to keep it close at 5-1

The Leos stuck again in the top of the 5th:

• Perez singled with one-out
• After Jackson struck out, Yaz singled
  
• Perez then scored on a base hit from Reggie Smith
• Blue struck out Concepcion to end the inning, but the score tightened to 5-2
  

Back-to-back walks to Johnny Bench and Andy Kosco start the 6th inning ended the night for Blue

• Darold Knowles made his first appearance in the series got a ground out from Rose that moved the runners up to second and third
  
• Knowles then got a key 3rd strike call on Joe Morgan
• With Perez coming to the plate, Knowles came out and and Horacio Pina came in to face him. Perez smashed a hard liner - but right to Bando at 3rd base to end the inning.

That defensive spark opened the flood gates in the bottom of the 6th:

• With 1-out Fuentes singled, Chris Arnold, pinch-hitting for Pina singled as well and the North followed with the 3rd straight single off of Bobby Bolin to load the bases.
  
• The the strike zone shrunk
• Bolin walked Bonds, scoring Fuentes
• Ray Culp came in to face the left-handed hitting McCovey, and walked him, scoring Arnold
• Mel Stottlemeyer then came in to face Tenace and again walked him, scoring North before recording the final outs of the inning.
  

The damage was done making it 8-2

As in their game 1 loss, the RedsSox ended on a high note:

• Back-to-back doubles from Perez and Jackson in the top of the 9th off of Tom Bradley ended teh scoring and the game 8-3

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 NLCS game 4

The Gotham Pauls sent Tom Seaver out to try to avoid the sweep, but Don Sutton, once again, proved to be at-least his equal.
Seaver had some troubles with the strike zone, but didn't allow a hit to the Matts until Davey Lopes singled in the 5th.
Sutton had allowed 3 hits in that time, but none got past first base.
For a short time the Matts bats came to life in the top of the 6th

• Merv Rettenmund singled to start the inning
• Willie Crawford followed with another single, moving Rettenmund to third, Crafrod took second on the throw to third
• Bobby Grich then singled scoring Rettenmund, but Matty Alou's throw nailed Crawford at home
• Boog Powell connected for the 4th straight hit against Seaver, scoring Grich for the 2-0 lead

The Pauls had a chance in the bottom of the 6th

• John Milner, pinch-hitting for Seaver singled to start things off 
• After Alou flew out to center, Murcer singled
• Milner took 3rd and Murcer took second on the throw
• Sutton got Thurman Munson to pop up to Cey
• Ron Blomberg grounded out to Lopes to end the threat

Rusty Staub's double to start the 7th looked like potential, but Sutton then struck out Horace Clarke and Bud Harrelson before a Graig Nettles grounder ended the inning

Jim Brewer and Bob Reynolds were perfect in relief for the 2-0 win and a 4-0 series sweep.

Don Sutton, with 2 victories was the series MVP

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version ALCS game 3

The ALCS moved to the Bay Area for game 3 and as with most games in this playoff - pitcher had the advantage and the Alteses couldn't take advantage of base-runners - at least early on.

While Ken Holtzman limited the RedsSox to 2 base-runners through 5 innings, the Mikes:

• Wasted Bill North's lead-off single in the first when Willie McCovey hit into a double-play
• Bert Campaneris stranded 2 runners in the 2nd with a line out in the second
• North walked and stole second in the 3rd inning but got no further
• Jack Billingham lost a little control in the 4th, walking Gene Tenace and Sal Bando to start the inning
• After a Garry Maddox Popup, Tito Fuentes singled and Tenace tried to score from second, but Pete Rose made a perfect throw to Johnny Bench 
• Campaneris lined out again for the 3rd out
• North walked again in the 5th, again stole second, but once again Gary Mathews and McCovey couldn't bring him home

The Leos had their first threat in the 6th:

• Bench lead off the inning with a single
• Tommy Harper pinch ran for hi, stole second and moved to third on a poor throw from Tenace
• With first base open, Holtzman walked George Foster intentionally
• Pete Rose popped up on the infield for the first out
• Joe Morgan hit a comebacker to Holtzman who threw to Campaneris for one and the relay beat Morgan for the inning-ending double play

Holtzman got into trouble in the 7th as well:

• Tony Perez singled
• After Reggie Jackson flew out to left, Carl Yastrzemski singled
• Don McMahon came in to relieve Holtzman and induced a double play grounder from Reggie Smith

The RedsSox finally broke through in the 8th with a Dave Concepcion home-run

The lead lasted for a half inning

• North singled again, but couldn't get a jump against Pedro Borbon 
• He did break up a potential double play with a hard slide into Morgan on Mathews grounder to Dan Driessen
• Mathews moved to second when Carlton Fisk allowed a passed ball from Borbon
• McCovey singled to Yaz, now in left, and Mathews was able to beat the throw home to tie it up

Leos struck again in the 9th as Tony Perez hit his 3rd home-run of the series it 2-1, putting Rollie Fingers in line for the loss

Borbon was given a second chance at a save, and for the second time he gave up the tying run

• With 1-out Jesus Alou doubled, pinch-hitting for Fuentes
• Chris Speier, now in at shortstop, singled and Alou came home to tie the score
• Tom Hall came in for Borbon and struck out Dave Rader
• Bobby Bolin then replaced Hall and walked North 
• Mathews then singled, but Jackson threw out at home Speier to keep the score tied

Fingers came out for the 10th

• He got Smith and Concepcion before giving up a single to Fisk
• Driessen followed with a triple in the gap in right center to again put the RedsSox up 1

Roger Moret came out in the bottom of the 10th hoping for better luck than Borbon

• With one-out the BayArea squad was out of hitters and sent switch hitting Vida Blue up to bat for Fingers - Blue lofted one over Smith, playing shallow in centerfield and ended up on 3rd base with a triple
• With the infield in, Bando hit a grounder to 3rd and Blue was headed for home
• Driessen's throw to Fisk was perfect and Blue was tagged out
• Maddox extended the game, drawing a walk and moving the tying run to second
• Chris Arnold popped up to Driessen to end the game 

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version NLCS game 3

The Mighty Matts scored again in their final at-bats to win a 2-1 squeaker to take a commanding 3 games to 0 lead in the series.

Matt struck first in the top of the 4th

• George Stone hit Merv Rettenmund and walked Bobby Grich with no on out
• Willie Crawford hit into a 5-4-3 double play, but Rettenmund took 3rd
• Ron Cey singled to score Rettenmund

The Gotham Pauls finally scored in the 7th

• Thurman Munson lead off with a double off Tommy John, only the 3rd hit allowed (also the team's final hit of the day...)
• Ron Blomberg walked 
• Munson moved to third on a deep fly ball from Cleon Jones
• Felix Millan hit one even deeper to left on the next pitch, it stayed in the park, but brought Munson home to tie the score

The score stayed that way until the 10th

• Crawford walked off Ray Sadecki 
• Cey followed with single putting runners, putting runners at the corners
• Sparky Lyle relieved Sadecki and the New Yorkers brought their infield in and it paid off as Steve Garvey bounced back to Lyle who held Crawford at 3rd and got Garvey at first for out number 1
• Al Bumbry came in to pinch-hit for Bob Reynolds and hit a sinking liner to Bobby Murcer in centerfield
• Crawford thought it was going to drop in and took off for home - when Murcer made the catch he had to scramble back and just beat the throw to avoid the double play
• With 2 outs, Davey Lopes put the Matts in front with a single scoring Crawford, but Murcer again made a stellar play throwing out Cey at the plate

Grant Jackson pitched a quick 10th for the save and the 3-0 series lead

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 NLCS game 2

Game 2 was billed as a face off between 1973 Cy Young Winner Jim Palmer and lefty Jerry Koosman. The Gotham Pauls used Koosman as an opener to get all the right handed hitters into the Matts lineup.
After Koosman got Davey Lopes to popout in the bottom of the 1st, Manny Mota singled - and that was all for Koosman, right hander Doc Medich came in. Medich induced a double play from Joe Ferguson and set the tone for a low scoring affair.

The Pauls scored first in the top of the 5th.

• Bud Harrelson led off with a single but was doubled off on Graig Bettles hard liner to first.
• With 2-out, the Pauls sent Medich up to hit for himself, he took advantage of the situation with a triple.
• Matty Alou singled him home to make it 1-0
• Palmer was shaken and walked Bobby Murcer and gave up a single to Thurman Munson - but Alou was held at third
• A Ron Blomberg ground ball ended the inning

The lead lasted 4 batters

• After a Steve Garvey ground out, Willie Crawford drew a walk from Medich
• Crawford moved to third on a single from Al Bumbry - Bumbry took 2nd on the throw
• Hoping for the double-play, the Pauls had the infield back
• Davey Lopes ground ball seemed to fit the bill, but he was too fast for the relay and Crawford scored to tie it up

Fred Beene, Bob Reynolds, Lindy McDaniel and Grant Jackson kept the score tied into the bottom of the 9th. The gamed seemed destined for extra innings.

• With 2-outs Bobby Grich doubled to center field, bringing Ron Cey to the plate
• Cey hit a hard ground ball to Nettles at third, Nettles misplayed the ball and with 2-outs the speedy Grich came all the way around for the winning run

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 ALCS game 2

Game 2 in the ALCS was ind of  pitchers duel. John Curtis's final stats aren't as pretty as Catfish Hunter's, except for the W vs. the L.

Teams were scoreless into the 5th

• Bert Campaneris led off with a single and stole second
• Hunter successfully sacrificed to 3rd
• Billy North's base hit made it 1-0 Bay Area Alteses

The RedsSox had been limited to 1 hit by Hunter as Pete Rose led off the bottom of the 6th

• Rose walked
• Joe Morgan's hit-and-run single moved Rose to 3rd
• Gene Tenace threw out Morgan trying to steal second
• Tony Perez followed with his second 2-run homer of the series giving the Leos their first lead 2-1

Rollie Fingers relieved Hunter in the 7th

• Fingers walked Reggie Smith
• Tommy Harper came in to pinch-run for Smith and immediately stole 2nd
• Smith moved to 3rd on Dave Concepcion's ground out
•  Fingers walked Johnny Bench intentionally to face Dan Driessen
• Driessen doubled to score both runners and make it 4-1

The Mikes threatened in the 8th Against Bobby Bolin, but came up empty

Pedro Borbon started the 9th hoping to close it out quickly, it did not go as planned

• After Bobby Bonds popped out, North singled and stole second
• Jesus Alou pinch-hit for fingers and singled scoring North making it 4-2
• Willie McCovey walked
• Tenace singled home Alou making it 4-3
• Sal Bando reached on Morgan's error to load the bases
• Mel Stottlemeyer came in to relieve Borbon with the bases loaded
• Garry Maddox popped out in the infield for the second out
• Ray Culp then came in to face the left handed hitting Doug Rader and he struck him out to end the threat and tie the series
• The 3 men left on base raised the LOB total to 13 for the game

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 ALCS game 1

Game 1 of the ALCS was a long sloppy, slugfest, 27 hits, 16 walks, 5 errors, 5 double plays and 12 pitchers used between the 2 teams.

The Bay Area Mikes struck early and mostly never looked back.

• With 2 outs in the top of the first, Willie McCovey singled off of Bill Lee
• Lee then walked Gene Tenace (Tenace walked 4 times in the game)
• Sal Bando singled, scoring McCovey
• Tenace and Bando moved to 3rd and second on the throw home
• Garry Maddox singled to score 2 more before Lee got Tito Fuentes to fly out to end the inning

The RedsSox of Leonardi struck back in the second

• Reggie Jackson led off the bottom of the second with a triple off Vida Blue 
• Bert Campaneris bobbled Carl Yastrzemski's grounder - but was able to hold Jackson at 3rd
• But Reggie Smith singled home Jackson on hte next pitch to cut the lead to 3-1
• After a Dave Concepcion lined out, and a Johnny Bench walk, pinch-hitter George Foster hit into an inning ending 3-6-3 double play

The Leos scratched out another run in the 4th

• Jackson started it again with a single Yaz followed with a walk. 
• Smith erased Yaz and himself with another 3-6-3 DP, but Jax took 3rd
• Concepcion singled home Jackson to make it 3-2

Bobby Bolin couldn't keep the momentum going in the top of the 5th

• With 1-out, Bolin walked Bando
• Maddox followed with a triple, scoring Bando
• Fuentes singled in Maddox to put the Mikes back up 5-2
• In the 6th Bolin walked Gary Mathews, this forced a call to Mel Stottlemeyer
• Stottlemeyer got McCovery on a 3-1 ground out, Mathews moving to second
• Yaz couldn't handle Tenace's ground ball putting runners on 1st and 3rd
• Bando singled home Matthews to make it 6-2

 Bob Veale let it slip all hope slip away in the 7th,

• Chris Speier's base hit led off the inning
• Veale walked Bill North
• After Mathews flew out to left, McCovey hit a 3-run homer to right making it 9-2

 More bullpen failure led to 1-run each in the 8th and 9th

• McCovery singled home Speier in the 8th
• Speier walked with the bases loaded in the 9th making it 11-2

Tony Perez brought a little spark in the bottom of the 9th, homering with Pete Rose on base off of Randy Moffitt, making the final score 11-4

COVID-19(73) Baseball Version 3 NLCS game 1

Opening up this 3rd version of the COVID playoffs was the first game of the NLCS and the Gotham Pauls traveled to Dodger Stadium to take on the Bi-Coastal Script Jersey Matts.

• The Matts struck early in the bottom of the first. After walking Merv Rettenmund, Tom Seaver left a mistake over the heart of the plate and Willie Crawford deposited it in the seats for a 2-0 lead
• Don Sutton was pitching well and it looked like that would hold up until the top of the 6th
• Matty Alou walked, moved to second on Bobby Murcer's deep fly ball and scored on Thurman Munson's single - only the second hit off Sutton.
• Munson took second on the throw to the plate. Then Munson scored on Ron Blomber's single to tie the game at 2.
• The tie held until the bottom of the 7th 
• Boog Powell lead off the inning with a double
• Seaver struck out Ron Cey
• Joe Ferguson singled and Powell was able to score on a tight play
• That ended the night for Seaver 
• Mark Belanger greeted Fred Beene with a single, scoring Ferguson to make it 4-2
• Paul Threatened in the top of the 9th 
• Munson walked toe lead off the inning
• Blomberg singled. putting runners on first and second with nobody out
• Then Cey took over
• Rusty Staub hit a hard grounder to Cey who made the diving stop, tossed to Bobby Grich at second, who then pivoted and relayed to Powell to turn the double play
• Munson moved to third 
• Roy White, pinch-hitting for Bud Harrelson, also grounded to Cey, Cey didn't think he could get the speedy White at first and threw home, Ferguson applied the tag on Munson and sealed the 4-2 win