HOFL World Series - Boston comes from behind to win again!

The team with the 3 non-HOF ringers came back from a 3 games to 2 deficit for the second consecutive series behind Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez to win the HOFL World Series.

Game 1 - Boston wins 4-3. Greg Maddux gave up a home run to Babe Ruth and 2 homers to Lou Gehrig but nothing else. The NinetyAughts, who got a 1st inning solo HR from Tony Gwynn, put together an 8th inning rally for the win. Robbie Alomar and Barry Larkin singled to start the inning, and after Larkin stole 2nd, Rickey Henderson doubled them both home to tie the game and tire Christy Mathewson. Henderson moved to 3rd on a ground out and scored when George Sisler booted a ball at 1b.

Game 2 - New York wins 11-5. Nolan Ryan gave up 8 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in only 3 innings. Pete Alexander got the win to even up the series. Honus Wagner homered and drove in 4. For Boston, Tony Gwynn went 4-5 and drove in 2 and Wade Boggs hit a 3-run homer late.

Game 3 - New York wins 9-8. Babe Ruth hit 3 home runs, including one in the 9th to break the 8-8 tie. Cy Young wasn't great, but went the distance for the win.

Game 4 - Boston wins 7-6. Gwynn and Griffey homered for Boston. Ruth and Hornsby homered for New York. Pedro Martinez got the win, with a great save from Dennis Eckersley. In the top of the 9th, with the NinetyAughts leading by 1, Eckersley faced the top of the PreThirties lineup. Ty Cobb grounded out, Honus Wagner struck out, and Babe Ruth walked bringing up Lou Gehrig. Eckersley struck out Gehrig to end the game.

Game 5 - New York wins 6-4. Christy Mathewson had to get some 9th inning help to stop a rally, but Cy Young came in to get Griffey to fly out with the bases loaded. The Series heads back to New York with a 3-2 lead. Boston faced a similar situation when they came back and beat St. Louis.

Game 6 - Boston wins 4-3 in 10 innings. Frank Thomas homered in the top of the 10th for the game winner. Randy Johnson, moving up a spot in the rotation, took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, but Lou Gehrig homered to end that. Babe Ruth knocked the Big Unit out in the 9th with a game-tying 2-run homer in the 9th. Nolan Ryan finished the game and got the win. We will see you tomorrow night!

Game 7 - Boston wins 10-5. Pedro Martinez was excellent - Cy Young was not.

Hall of Fame Inductions 2014

This is an especially enjoyable induction class: Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, both 300 winners. Frank Thomas, who had his arm amputated, causing a NASOMA murder attempt. And managers Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox, and Joe Torre, numbers 3-5 in all-time wins. Not to mention author Roger Angell and Texas Ranger radio icon Eric Nadel.

The Mullen brothers are both there to enjoy the celebration. I just hope the Snakeman takes plenty of pictures so the Beeboy can see what he missed.

Zaps 6, Mavs 1

Game 1-Gallardo was in control until Machado hit a 2 run-tater in the
6th and Miggy hit another 2-run bomb in the 7th. Greinke and the pen
kept the Mav bats in check for a 4-1 win in the opener.
Game 2- The Mavs were cruising until a five-run seventh and a two-run
8th completely changed the game for a 9-4 Zaps victory.
Game 3-The Zaps broke open a tie game with a solo run in the seventh and
a three-run eighth to finish the sweep of the first series 7-3.
Game 4-Gallardo got his revenge for losing the previous series opener by
dominating through seven as the Mavs won 4-2.
Game 5- Guthrie gave up sevens runs in the first three innings and
Liriano pitched a complete game 8-0 shutout.
Game 6-The Zaps scored seven runs in the middle three frames to win a
slugfest 10-6.
Game 7-The game was tied until Billy Miller hit a solo shot that proved
to be the difference in a 4-3 triumph in the finale.

Mavs 4, Zaps 3

April 18^th:  Greinke against Buchholz.  A pitcher’s duel is broken up when Eggs Ackley and Bryce Harper go yard in the bottom of the seventh.  The Mavs hit a total of 4 games but the coveted Betty’s Brothel Blow of the Game goes to Eggs Ackley for the homer 1-9 chance on his own weak card.  Four Mav pitchers scatter four hits and the Zapper is heard to exclaim “Eggs Ackley??  C’mon.”  Mavs 6-0

April 19^th:  Mavs fans shudder as Jeremy Guthrie gets the nod to face Francisco Liriano.  It is a beautiful spring day and Ernie Banks is heard to say “Let’s play two.  Wait – Guthrie is going?  Someone get me a couple of beers and a racing form.”  In the first Miguel Cabrera chokes in the clutch as Hal says “who cares about your triple crown – that is just a bunch of hype.”  Predictably though the Zaps get to Guthrie for two taters.  Liriano scatters five hits in seven innings to win the Grumpy’s Bail Bonds (“You ring, we spring”) player of the game.  Zaps 4-1.

 

April 20^th:  Homer Allowed Bailey takes the hill against John Lackey.  Homer Bailey developed a blister and had to leave after five.  Garrett Richards came in to soak up some innings, followed by Robbie Ross.  Remarkably it was still a scoreless game despite the trifecta of batting practice pitchers used by the Mavs going into the bottom of the eighth.  The Mavs got two on but stranded them both as Zeigler shut the door.  The Mavs bring Holland in to pitch a perfect top of the ninth but strand another runner in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth.  After another perfect inning from Holland Hal brings in Bobby Parnell to pitch to the Mavs in the bottom of the tenth.  Who the hell is he?  Perfect inning from Parnell.  Followed by one last perfect inning from Holland and another perfect inning from Parnell.  The Mav fans are getting restless, beer sales were cut off four innings ago and the Mavs are bringing Doolittle in for the 12^th.  I know the card looks good but the results aren’t pretty.  Doolittle mows them down.  Fourth perfect inning in a row for the Mavs.  Hal brings Brett Cecil in to pitch.  Surely we can get to him.  Headly gets a two out single but can’t get the lead.  Elvis singles behind him.  That leaves Cecil facing Harper in the clutch.  Shudder.  The Mavs can pinch hit Barnes and hope that Hal doesn’t realize how unbalanced Barnes is.  No we’ll try the double steal.  Rats Hal won’t throw through.  OK we’ll pinch hit Barnes.  Hal stays with him and Cecil hits Barnes.  Now the bases are loaded for Country Breakfast.  Hal stays with Cecil and the roll is 2-11, not 2-10 and we go on to the 13^th.  The Zaps get their first base runner in ages.  And with runners on first and second Hal has Reyes hit and run with one out?  But they at least move up.  But Goldschmidt strands them.  The Mavs strand two more in the 13^th and we’re on to the 14^th.  Doolittle’s last inning.  The Zaps get two more hits and the Mavs bring in their last reliever, Justin Wilson.  But the Zaps can’t touch him.  On to the bottom of the 14^th.  The Mavs get a baserunner but he is thrown out on a 1-18 stealing second.  In the fifteenth the Zaps strand two more.  In the bottom of the seventeenth, Hal inexplicably brings Neal Cotts in to pitch to Brandon Barnes with Elvis on second and Barnes singles home the winning run.  It was a great game but there are some at bat and innings problems building.  Mavs 1-0

 

April 21^st:  Scherzer against Cain.  In a much less dramatic game the Zaps make three errors leading to two unearned runs which is about all the Mavs need as four Mav pitchers scatter six hits and the Mavs win 5-2.  Chris Davis wins the Grumpy’s Bail Bonds Player of the Game award with a three RBI performance.

July 11^th:  Hammels against Buchholz.  The vaunted Zap bats finally wake up.  Goldschmidt wins the Grumpy’s Bail Bonds Player of the Game with a double and a homer yielding three RBI’s.  Zaps win 7-3.

July 12^th:  Greinke against Gallardo.  Well I thought this was just going to be another Zap laugher but in the ninth it all falls apart for California’s favorite boy.  Here is how it went.  The Zaps leading 7-4.  Hal brings in Bobby Parnell.  Lucroy doubles.  The Mavs think about pinch-hitting for Heyward to save an at bat but don’t.  Heyward singles.  The Mavs pinch hit Kendrick for Eggs Ackley hoping for a 2-4 tater.  Get a 1-6 single instead.  Now we’re going to deal.  Hal brings in Cotts.  The Mavs bring in Gattis looking for the game winning homer.  Gattis fouls out but Andrus follows with a ballpark single.  Bases loaded and Mavs down two.  Pinch hit Barnes against Cotts hoping for lightning in the bottle again.  Fielder’s choice out at home.  Butler walks though.  So now the Mavs are down one with two outs, the bases loaded and Davis at the plate.  5-5 walk off Cotts game tied.  Hal brings in Kluber, Mavs counter pinch-hitting Soto.  Looking for the walk.  4-4.  Walk off single off of the pitcher’s card.  Mavs win 8-7

July 13^th:  Series finale has Liriano against, take a deep breath and say it, Guthrie.  It actually turns out to be a close well pitched game but in the ninth a Kendrick error opens up the door and the Zaps come from behind to win the game 4-3.  Chase Utley wins the Grumpy’s Bail Bonds Player of the Game with a 3-4 performance.  According to Hal manager Bob Marley emerged from the Mav locker room after a long while and said “Fellows, sorry I'm not in a very talkative mood tonight, as I think you'll understand.  I'm sure you'll find the banter a lot more light-hearted over in the TRISTAN locker room.”

HOFL Playoffs - Round 2

The Boston NinetyAughts stay hot, upsetting the St. Louis LeftOuts in 7 games. And while the Boston hitting finally held up its end, the pitchers were again the story, striking out at least 14 LeftOuts in each game. The highlight of the series was the shutout by Randy Johnson in game 6. He scattered 5 singles, walked only 1, and struck out TWENTY.

The Boston pitching was the most evident in how they shut down the meat of the St. Louis order. Barry Bonds 4/28 with 19 strikeouts and only 1 HR. McGwire was 5/28 (although with 4 homers) and 14 Ks. But the biggest flop of all was Edgar Martinez. He finished 8th in the league with a .333 batting average, but against Boston pitching was held to 3 hits in 28 at bats and struck out 15 times.

Griffey homered 5 times in the series. The Big Hurt homered twice and, along with Wade Boggs, led everyone with 13 hits.

Game 1 - Boston wins 8-3. Eddie Cicotte gives up 3 homers.
Game 2 - St. Louis wins 3-2. Luis Tiant continues the regular season success he had.
Game 3 - Boston wins 9-3. Griffey homers twice, and Schilling gets routed. Pedro Martinez, despite giving up 3 home runs gets the easy win.
Game 4 - St. Louis wins 8-6 in 15 innings. Greg Maddux took a no-hitter and a 5-0 lead into the 6th inning. He lost the no-no in the 6th, and then completely came apart in the 7th, giving up a 3-run shot to McGwire and solo homers to ARod and Piazza. Lee Smith threw 6.2 innings of 1-hit shutout ball for the win.
Game 5 - St. Louis wins 6-4. Cicotte settles down; Nolan Ryan gives up taters to Joe Jackson, McGwire, and ARod. The LeftOuts head home with a 3 games to 2 lead, needing only 1 more win to advance.
Game 6 - Boston wins 3-0. Randy Johnson was dominating, striking out 20 and getting the NinetyAughts to a game 7 and a favorable matchup of Pedro vs Schilling.
Game 7 - Boston wins 9-8. Well, it wasn't a pitcher's duel. Pedro surrendered 5 long balls, but got McGwire out with 2 on in the bottom of the 9th to end the game.


Boston advances to the World Series to face the New York PreThirties. And while NY dominated most of the HOFL (including 17-1 against the Cincinnati SeventyEighties!), they only went 9-9 against Boston.

The box scores...

HOFL Playoffs - First Round

The Boston NinetyAughts shocked the Brooklyn FiftySixties, winning in 5 games. The NinetyAught pitchers were just too much for Brooklyn to handle.

Boston advances to take on St. Louis later today for the right to go to the World Series.

Brooklyn took game 1 in 10 innings, 4-3, but that would be their last hurrah. Ryan, the Big Unit, Pedro, and Maddux dominated them over the next 4 games winning 4-3, 7-2, 3-1, and 7-3. All 4 SP went 1-0, with Pedro striking out 17 in only 7.2 innings. Ryan struck out 13 and Randy Johnson fanned 10.

There were no big hitting stars of the series. Tony Gwynn, who had gone 1/17 in the first 4 games, homered twice off of Don Drysdale in the finale. Hank Aaron had the best series at the plate, but he went 0-for-4 in the final game.

The box scores...

HOFL Playoff Preview

The Boston NinetyAughts face the Brooklyn FiftySixties in Round 1. Here are their rosters and final regular season stats:

The pitching matchups:
Gm 1 - Greg Maddux vs Don Drysdale
Gm 2 - Nolan Ryan vs Sandy Koufax
Gm 3 - Randy Johnson vs Bob Gibson
Gm 4 - Pedro Martinez vs Warren Spahn

Games 5-7 will probably be the same as 1-3. We'll see.

The winner of this series faces the St. Louis LeftOuts. Their roster and final stats:

Their rotation will be:
Gm 1 - Eddie Cicotte
Gm 2 - Luis Tiant
Gm 3 - Curt Schilling
Gm 4 - Roger Clemens

The World Series will pit the winner of the previous series against the New York PreThirties. Their roster and final stats:

The New York rotation:
Gm 1 - Christy Mathewson
Gm 2 - Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander
Gm 3 - Cy Young
Gm 4 - Walter Johnson

HOFL Regular Season Wraps Up - PreThirties on top

The PreThirties clinched the title on 9/11 with a win over St. Louis. The LeftOuts, despite that loss, pulled away to easily outdistance Brooklyn for 2nd place. The FiftySixties held onto 3rd place but limped to the finish line, losing 4 of their last 5 and 6 of their last 8. The race for 4th place came down to the last day. Chicago needed a win and a Boston loss to claim a tie for 4th, but both teams lost on the final day, giving the spot to the NinetyAughts.

The playoffs will be tomorrow with the World Series on Sunday to correspond with the 2014 MLB Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

In the first round, Brooklyn will host Boston. The winner advances to play St. Louis. That winner will play New York in the World Series. All series will be a best of 7 in a 2-3-2 format.

Here are some season ending stats...

 

Sidewinders 3, Zaps 2

5/2 Moss hits a 2 run shot in the 1st and Colon makes it stand up 3-1 over Scherzer.

5/3 Zaps sweep the DH 4-3 AND 11-7. McCutchen hits 2 bombs in the nightcap.

7/26 Snakes win 5-3. All the runs were scored in the first 2 innings. Hamels goes the distance.

7/27 Colon beats Greinke 6-1. Bruce drives in 5 runs. Greinke goes the distance.

Magic Number down to 5

With 12 games left in the regular season, the New York PreThirties have all but clinched first place and a bye into the World Series.

The real race is between St. Louis and Brooklyn for 2nd place. The two teams faced off for 3 games to start this set. The St. Louis lineup dominated Bob Gibson in game 1, winning 12-1. It was a close game until the 8th, when the LeftOuts scored 9. Edgar Martinez had 4 hits. The first 3 were doubles; the last hit was DO 1-17, but he missed it. Roger Clemens got the win with help from Lee Smith, who recorded an 8-out save.

In game 2 of the STL/BRK series, the FiftySixties, behind Warren Spahn, led 4-2 going to the 9th. Mark McGwire walked and Edgar Martinez singled him to 3rd. A double by Mike Piazza made it 4-3 and tired Spahn. Whitey Ford came in to face Alan Trammell, who singled off an open triangle reading on Ford's card to tie the game. Craig Biggio bounced into 2 to end the inning, and Curt Schilling got thru the 9th to send the game to extra innings. A McGwire double sent Shoeless Joe Jackson to third, where he scored on a BP single by ARod. Lee Smith got the last out to save Schilling's win.

Brooklyn finally got the better of St. Louis in game 3 thanks to Sandy Koufax (The LeftOuts avoided Don Drysdale in this series). The FiftySixties got 5 home runs off of Jack Morris (2 by Ernie Banks) and won the game 8-3.

In other highlights, Richie Ashburn of Baltimore became the first player this season to get 6 hits in a game. Babe Ruth (NY) had a 5-hit game. Koufax, in his first game after beating St. Louis, threw a 2-hitter against Boston. Pete Alexander had a 2-hit shutout over Chicago, allowing only 2 singles by Billy Williams.

Here's a sneak peek at the race for top batting average and best ERA.

HOFL Winding Down

The PreThirties are pulling away. They went 7-2 in this set including a 23-2 rout of the fading Chicago Legends. New York had a 14-run 3rd inning in that game.

Barry Bonds (STL) had his consecutive homer streak end at 9 games, but continues to bash. He leads the league with 74 dingers. Teammate Mark McGwire is second with 59.

In other highlights, Randy Johnson (BOS) tossed a 2-hitter and struck out 16 against NY. Only a 2-run homer from Lou Gehrig marred the otherwise excellent outing. Mike Schmidt (CIN) became only the 2nd player this season to hit for the cycle. Dizzy Dean (PHI) had a 2-hit shutout over Boston. Don Drysdale (BRK) leads the league with a 23-10 record. Sandy Koufax (BRK) threw a shutout for his 20th win. Bob Gibson (BRK) was going for his 20th win to join Drysdale and Koufax. He led lowly Pittsburgh 8-0 thru 5 innings and then imploded, eventually losing 15-14.

There are 21 games left in the regular season. I'll play 9 tomorrow and the last 12 on Friday. Then the playoffs on Saturday and Sunday (to correspond with the actual 2014 HOF inductions.)

One of the interesting things about the cards of the early guys is that they all seem to have some interesting split chances. Lots of HR1,fbB... or TR1,fbB. Like this:



This is Cy Young's card vs RH batters. Almost everybody has stuff like this on their card.

That reminds me, if there are any specific player cards you'd like to see, tell me in the comments and I'll put it on here.

DVs 4, Killer Bees 1

Rather uneventful series played at the DVs home park as the DVs lost game one 7-6, then reeled off 4 straight wins 6-2, 7-1, 6-2 and 9-4

DVs

 

Editor's note: The DVs have a new cell number. It is listed on the Addresses Page. This would also be a good time for you to check your info on that page and confirm that it's correct.

DVs 3, Sidewinders 2

DVs take 3 of 5 from the Sidewinders (all at the Snake Pit) in a hard fought series as 4 of the 5 games were decided by one run.

Game 1 = DVs rekindle the “Spirit of 2012” with 3 solo home runs in the 8^th to win 3-2

Game 2 = Snakes use superior pitching behind Colon, Watson and Kimbrel to take a 2-1 win

Game 3 = A 2 run 9^th after a Valencia error propels the DVs to a 5-4 win.

Game 4 = In the 9^th inning of a tie game, Hamilton pinch runs and swipes second, then is driven in on a Kipnis double to lead the SSW to a 6-5 win

Game 5 = Moss hits a solo shot for the first run in the 7^th, but the DVs play long ball with a Craig 3 run homer in the 8^th and a Morneau 2 run shot in the 9^th makes the DVs 5-1 winner

Bonds Goes Wild

To say Barry Bonds is on a hot streak is an understatement. Of the 9 games played this morning, Bonds homered in ALL NINE of them. He hit 12 homers in the 9 games. He has homered in 14 of the last 16 games and now has 68 home runs for the season.

St. Louis went 6-3 in this set, and it was enough to vault past Brooklyn, who stumbled through a 3-6 stretch. Boston also went 6-3 to jump over Chicago, who went a dismal 2-7.

A couple of the St. Louis games made the highlight list. In one of their losses, Tom Seaver (CIN) struck out 17, the league high. But the weirdest box score was the St. Louis game against Jack Chesbro of Chicago. Chesbro tossed a 2-hitter against the LeftOuts, but the two hits were both homers by Bonds, and Chesbro lost the game 4-1 as part of the LeftOuts' 3-game sweep over Chicago. Bonds also equaled the season high for walks in a game with 5. The one time that game that Chicago DIDN'T walk him, he homered.

Rube Marquard (BAL) won a 1-0 game over Detroit. The following day, Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown tossed a 2-hitter as Baltimore shut out Detroit on back to back days.

HOFL Entering Stretch Run

There's still a race at the top of the league, but the gap between the three playoff-bound teams and the rest is getting wider.

Eddie Cicotte of St. Louis threw a 2-hit shutout against the Baltimore Stars. Jack Chesbro of Chicago threw a 3-hit shutout against the Detroit Idols. Ty Cobb (NY) and Wade Boggs (BOS) both had 5-hit games. Boggs' effort came against Roger Clemens, which I found funny.

This group of games started with a 3-game set in St. Louis between the LeftOuts and the Brooklyn FiftySixties. I decided to use Quick Spectator on all 3 games and was treated to some interesting baseball. Brooklyn took the first game 5-1 with Warren Spahn outpitching Roger Clemens. Game 2 of the series was wild. By the middle of the third inning, Brooklyn led 17-10. Both teams added a field goal for a final score of 20-13. Jack Morris and Curt Schilling combined to give up a 10-run 2nd inning to Brooklyn, and then Schilling gave up 7 more in the top of the 3rd. Eddie Mathews homered 3 times.

Game 3 of the series was Don Drysdale against Eddie Cicotte. Drysdale and Brooklyn, looking for a sweep, led 4-2 going to the bottom of the 9th. Then this happened...

That's right, after Trammell homered to get the LeftOuts within 1, Drysdale proceeded to hit Biggio, Shoeless Joe, AND Barry Bonds with pitches to load the bases. With 2 outs, Mark McGwire walked off the win in Grand style with a BP homer.

Here are some updated batting stats:

Killer Bees 4, Inmates 1

All games via CM at the Baptist Bowl.

 

Inmates 11 – Bees 3: The high point of the series (for the Inmates) in front of 30 Baptist Bowl faithful. Cliff Lee pitches like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Marte and Segura both single to lead off the Inmate 1^st, then Lee Ks the next four hitters. Fast-forward to the 3^rd; Sanchez and Beltre, then Jones and Rizzo hit back-to-back jacks off of Lee. For good measure, he allows another tater to Beltre in the 7^th. Inmates win in dominant fashion.

 

Killer Bees 9 – Inmates 7 (13 innings): An exciting see-saw game. Parra and Jones both hit HRs in the Inmate 1^st. Inmates hang on until Simmons hits a two-run shot off of Furbush in the 7^th, giving the Bees a 4-3 lead. Jones hit a two-run tater in the Inmate 8^th for a 5-4 Inmate lead. In the top of the 9^th with two out Grilli allows singles to both Simmons and Infante, then a three-run HR to Swisher making the score 7-5 Bees. Last of the 9^th and Cargo and Beltre hit back-to-back sac flies to tie the game at 7-7. Both sides threaten several time but don’t score again until the top of the 13^th when Santana and Encarnacion hit back-to-back bombs off of Norris for the margin of victory. The Inmates go three-up, three-down in the last of the 13^th as a preview of what would be coming the next three games.

 

Killer Bees 21 – Inmates 5: As ugly as it sounds. Chacin and Norris take it up the poop-chute, throwing batting practice to the Bees.

 

Killer Bees 9 – Inmates 3: Lee and Stults trade complete games. Stults shows he can drop trow the same as Chacin and Norris.

 

Killer Bees 5 – Inmates 1: A Cargo RBI single in the 9^th prevents the LDMF from being shut out. Teheran tosses a 4-hitter; Freeman and Nava both tater. Only 23 “fans” show up to see the Inmates suck again.

Big Mac

Mark McGwire had a 3 homer, 9 RBI game. Big Mac hit TWO grand slams in this game.

HOFL - The Race Tightens

New York was cruising along, creating a big gap between themselves and the rest of the league. And when they opened this set with a 3-game sweep of Baltimore, it didn't look to change. But then they traveled to Pennsylvania... The Philadelphia ThirtyForties swept the PreThirties, and then the lowly Pittsburgh Heroes took 2 of 3 from New York. The result... We have a race.

The St. Louis LeftOuts have now won 17 of their last 20 games.

Not many highlights from this set. Eddie Mathews (BRK) had a 3-homer game, and Pedro Martinez (BOS) tossed a 2-hitter, striking out 12 and walking only 1. The 2 hits were both solo homers, but Boston did manage to win the game.

Here are a couple of stat updates...