GREAT MOMENTS IN STRAT
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HE’LL NEVER FORGET THIS ONE
My greatest Strat comeback ever. I was losing 8-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning
with Aaron Heilman to start the inning against me. I
quickly loaded the bases with two walks and a HBP and my opponent went to his
lefty Dennis Reyes to face Jason Giambi, who
then K’d. Next pitch: J. D Drew hits
one out of the park for a grand slam, changing the score to 8-5
with 1 out. Reyes leaves and in comes J.J Putz, who
is lights out! Chase Utley singles and Bandits owner J. Grace is noticeably
upset, glistening in the forehead. At this point I am pulling out all stops,
pinch-hitting for Aramis Ramirez with Adrian Gonzalez,
who promptly delivers a ballpark single on 1-7. My opponent slams his fist down
in disgust. Putz whiffs my next batter and then walks
Furcal to load the bases with 2 outs. Putz, now fatigued, is relieved by A. Otsuka
who gives up a deep blast from Paul Konerko to centerfield
and over the wall to win it for the Fredricos, 9-8.
Yes, I hit two grand slams in the 9th inning to comeback and win. After this
devastating loss, the Bandits lost 7 in a row, and 10 out of 11 to fall to last
place in our six-team, face-to-face Strat league. A
ninth inning like none I ever experienced! It does not get much better then
Strat-O-Matic Baseball.
PS: I
have to comment on how nice it was to wait in line for 3 hours this past
winter only to be invited into the headquarters and share a few great Strat moments with Hal Richman. It was an extreme treat.
The Sleepingbag
Guy! James from CT
15 RUNS + 22 HITS = LOSS?!
A little less than a year ago, I
wrote in explaining I had had my best game of Strat
Baseball ever. Well, I just topped it. A seemingly innocuous matchup
between the ‘06 Marlins and the ‘06
The Marlins quickly scored 4 runs
off of the hapless Kim. In the bottom of the 4th, Garrett Atkins launched a
grand slam to tie the game at 4. The
Marlins responded by scoring 2 runs in the 5th, 3 in the 6th, and 2 in the 7th,
while the Rockies scored 2 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th, giving the Marlins an
11-7 lead after 7 innings. In the top of
the 8th, the Marlins appeared to put the game away by scoring 4 more runs,
going ahead 15-7 with only 6 outs remaining for
But this is Coors Field. The
At least, that was the idea. After retiring J.D. Closser,
Borowski ran into some trouble. Jamey Carroll and Corey Sullivan hit
back-to-back singles, and a walk issued to Todd Helton loaded the bases with
just one out. Borowski
hit Matt Holliday with a pitch, plating Carroll, making the score 15-13, and
loading the bases for, you guessed it, Garrett Atkins. I will give you one guess as to what
happened. In the words of Phillies announcer Harry Kalas: “Swing
and a long drive! It might be! It could be!
It’s outta here!” Garrett Atkins' third homerun of the night
and SECOND grand slam spurred the
game in which they had 22 hits and led 15-7 after 7.5 innings.
The line score reads like something out of a video game. I'm not sure what the most total hits is in a 9-inning game, but the 40 total here has to be close. Absolutely incredible game that left me completely shocked to see my Marlins lose in such an unfathomable fashion. However, I'm quite proud of the fact that while I've never had a no-hitter (although I made it to the 8th the other day – closest I've ever come), I have now had a player hit multiple grand slams in a single game. Considering it has only happened 12 times in the history of Major League Baseball, it is even more unlikely than a no-hitter.
Scott Dicken,
AMBULANCE DRIVERS MISSED MOST OF THIS GAME
My 128-team tournament rolls on, eight teams from each of
the years 1969-1984. Some 24
of the final 32 slots are final. Eight best-of-five series to go in Round 2.
This
morning’s match-up pits the ‘74 Cincinnati Reds (.605) against the '79 Houston Astros (.549). Game 1 was a classic pitcher's duel,
JR Richard against Don Gullett. With one out in
the 1st, Rose doubled, Driessen singled him in - and
that ended up being the ballgame, Gullett blanking
the Astros on three hits, making that run stand up
for a 1-0 win.
Game 2, Joaquin Andujar against
Clay Kirby. Morgan leads off the
game with a homer. Later in the inning, Bench singled, and Geronimo tripled
him in. 2-0 Reds, as the ‘Stros come to bat in
the first. They’ve got their lineup loaded with lefties against Kirby,
who gets Landestoy on a fly to right – and is
injured!
Meanwhile,
Andujar retires the Reds in order in the 2nd, and
gets Morgan to open the 3rd - on a
Sambito relieves
the injured Niemann, and blanks the Reds through the
8th. Meanwhile, Nelson relieves a tired
Cinci goes quietly
against Rick Williams in the top half. Tom Hall comes in to face the
Astros righty-killers to
start the 9th. But Landestroy singles to lead
it off, and after a Puhl pop, Cruz walks.
After 17 scoreless innings, can the ‘Stros break
through? Clay Carroll relieves, facing Cedeno,
who pops out. Two down. Art Howe is their last hope.
Carroll gets him to hit a grounder to 3rd, where defensive replacement
Darrell Chaney awaits. Two-base
error! Landestoy scores, Cruz hustles over to
third, Howe to 2nd. Nothing will be easy today, apparently. At
least Carroll is not injured.
Enos Cabell steps
in. 4:8. SINGLE* 1-16, lineout
17-20! Looks like we're gonna have a tie game,
with the lefty Reynolds coming up! The 20-sider
rolls...... 19.
Jim Beauchemin,
ENCORE!
More from the 128-team tourney.
The ‘80
Reds, looking to become the 5th Reds entry in the final 32, nicked the ‘77
Orioles and Jim Palmer for single runs in each of the first four innings, and
he left for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 5th. Meanwhile,
Soto was cruising, with a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning. The O's pushed
across a run, but a second was thrown out at the plate by (+2!) Dave Collins.
Meanwhile, McGregor held the Reds, so it was 4-2 Cinci
into the 7th.
Then it
all came apart for Soto. Bumbry singled,
Singleton homered. (Too bad Bumbry’s
nickname isn’t homer. Then it could’ve been Homer singled, Singleton
homered.). Pat Kelly followed Singleton’s homer with
another, and just like that, it was 5-4 Orioles.
On comes
Orioles relief ace Tippy Martinez. Two quick
outs, but then a single by Griffey and a homer by
Bench! Cinci back on top now, 6-5.
Hume and
With
injuries and defensive subs, Cinci has only lefties
left on the bench, with the pitcher, Geronimo and Griffey
coming up. Mike Flanagan was scheduled to start game 4, but Earl knows an
opportunity when he sees on. On comes Flanagan, he mows down three
lefties, and the O’s win a barnburner, 7-6! One game to
none. Can the rest of the series top this? I need a nap!
Nap over, and the rest was needed for this next one, in which the 1969 Giants (.556), one of the favorite teams of my youth , try to close out the 1975 Pirates (.571) in Game 4 of their series.
The Giants scratched across a run
in the 1st, then McCormick and Kison
traded goose eggs into the 4th. With the
Giants shaky bullpen, disaster struck in the 4th, McCormick injured on a 6:12
roll. Bryant and Herbel
held it through five, but it was still too early for McMahon, my one decent
reliever, so I had to try Sadecki to quiet those
powerful Bucco lefties. Into the 8th, he did, the Giants still
holding on to that 1-0 lead. Robertson
(computer card printed for this series) led off the Pirates 8th with a
walk. Sadecki
fanned Oliver, but Robinson’s flyball X eluded
Amazingly, that double was the Pirates’ only hit off Sadecki, who fanned 8 in 6 terrific innings, before giving way to McMahon in the 12th. Meanwhile, Kison, Moose, Tekulve and Ellis blanked the Giants. The game rolled into the 15th still tied 1-1.
Giusti in
for
Nope. Parker singles, Sanguillen
doubles, and a 3-run homer for Hebner in the bottom
half. 5-5 after 16. Giusti and Linzy battle through the morning, into the 20th
inning! With one out in the 20th, Hunt
walks, and heads for third on Linzy's single, but
Oliver guns him down! Bonds
walks, but
Finally, Linzy's
hits catch up with him. Robinson and
Parker single, and Hebner, the hero of the16th
inning, gets me again with a game-winning single. 6-5 Pirates in TWENTY
innings.
Jim Beauchemin,
QUICK
FINISH
To ensure
that I finished my solitaire league (super-advanced, with cards and dice) with
the “new” 1971 baseball set, I scheduled just a 20-game season, with each team
playing the other five in its division four times. The top two teams in
each division went on to a second round against the other three teams. Finally,
the top team in each division met in a best-of-five Championship Series, just
as in 1971.
The AL East top two teams were Baltimore and
The AL West top two teams were
The NL East top two teams were
The NL West top two teams were San Fran and
That was
how the regular season ended in reality, except for the Angels. So, my
compliments to Strat on the realism! But in early
spring 1971 most writers actually predicted the Angels would take the division,
so their finish in my league was of great curiosity and interest to me.
The Angels had great pitching, and I ran Mickey Rivers and Sandy Alomar every time they were on base, regardless of the
score, and generated a lot of runs that way.
The two
division series pitted the Bucs against the Giants,
and the O’s against the A’s. In game 5 of the NLCS, the Giants took a 3-0
lead into the bottom of the 8th, with Gaylord Perry on the mound. The Bucs scored one run. Going into the bottom of the
9th, with 2 out, reliever Jerry Johnson (Perry had been lifted for a pinch
hitter in the top of the 9th) gave up a single to Rennie
Stennett, plating two runs, and the score was tied
3-3. It stayed that way until the 14th, when Richie Hebner led off the Bucs’ half
with a walk-off, pennant winning homer!
The World
Series was a bit anti-climatic after that game. The A’s beat the Bucs 4-2, with Catfish Hunter winning two games, one a
shut-out. Ironically, Vida Blue, the best pitcher in the set, lost both
of the games that the Bucs won.
I
recommend this set to all: the offensive weapons are very balanced – lots of
fast runners who can steal, lots of HR hitters, good bunters; and the pitching vs.
the hitting is very balanced, too. This balance makes for a lot of interesting
and varied strategy in each game!
I can’t
wait until 1951!
Jimmy Jr., Lewisburg PA
ADDITIONAL PLAYERS LEAGUE
(continued from
last month)
So, the
Mud Hens were in. They swept the best team in the league and won the division.
The Blues had the best pitching with a 4.06 ERA, but only hit .267. Without Kinkade, the Blues would have hit .239. The Mud Hens had
the third best hitting at .301, behind the Meerkats
(.302) and the Mastodons (.305). The Mastodons also had the second best
pitching at 4.68. They had the 20-game winning Bartolo
Colon, but he ended up 3-4. The big starters for them were Mike Smith and Stan
Spencer. Both finished at 5-1. Omar Infante was the
singles hitting demon, ended up hitting .415 with 51 hits, but just 3 doubles
and 1 triple. That's 47 singles in 28 games. Not many can do that.
The
Mastodons were facing the worst team in the league in the Lumberjacks, who were
9-16 and had the worst hitting at .240. The Mastodons won game 1 in crazy
fashion. They were down
If the
Mastodons lose 1 of these 3 games, they are out of it. A 6-run lead is safe,
right? Not for the Lumberjacks’ bullpen. In came Scott Kamieniecki.
He was 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. That’s not bad. He was the ‘Jacks’ most reliable
pitcher next to Sataru Komiyama (20 2/3 innings, 2.13
ERA in relief). Not today. It all started with a couple of walks, then it
exploded so fast, the Lumberjacks manager didn’t have time to warm anyone up.
Omar Infante hit a bases-clearing triple to get the
score to 10-7. Hit after hit. Morgan Burkhart then knocked in the tying and the
go-ahead runs on a 2-run single, making it 11-10. Another run would then come
in. That was 8 runs in the top of the 9th inning without the help of a single
homerun. Scott gave up 8 runs in 2/3 innings, walked 3, and somehow struck out
2. That 4.50 ERA Kamieniecki had? Gone.
He finished the season with a gaudy 10.97 ERA. The Mastodons won 12-10. All of
the sudden, it seemed possible.
In game
2, the Lumberjacks scored in the top of the 9th to give the Jax
a 7-6 lead and brought in their closer, Villafuerte. Another comeback victory in the 9th inning? You bet. Villafuerte couldn't save it either, as Julio Ramirez hit a
2-run single to win the game. That was the team's 8th blown save of the season.
3 pitchers blew more than one and that was Villafuerte's
3rd...in 6 games. The Lumberjacks’ bullpen was a
terrible 1-6 with a 6.14 ERA. It was a hitter’s league.
The
Mastodons then cruised to an 8-2 win in game 3 to finish off their season at 18-10.
All 3 teams in the Central division finished at 18-10. This is where the
technical fun comes in.
Earlier
in the season, the Mud Hens took 2 of 3 from the Mastodons, so they had a
better record. Then, they swept the Blues, to be a combined 5-1 against the
other 2 teams. So, the Mud Hens won the division, and would face the 14-14
Quakes in the first round of the playoffs. The Wild Card spot was the only one
left. The Blues won the season series 2-1, but you can’t just give it to them.
They had to earn it in a one-game playoff with the Mastodons. Bartolo Colon
vs. Clay Condrey, who was 6-0 with one of the
league’s six shutouts. It was the expected pitchers duel until Glenallen Hill had an RBI double to give Condrey the lead he needed. Then, Hill hit his 13th homerun
of the season and drove in his league-best 43rd and 44th to give his Blues a
4-0 victory and Condrey the Cy
Young award.
The
playoffs were all lined up. Blues vs. Astronauts and Quakes
vs. Mud Hens.
The
Astronauts continued their late-season dominance, taking Game 1, 5-3 thanks to
a John Jaha double. (Jaha,
by the way hit just .175, but had a .398 OBP in 2000, he was fairly accurate.
He hit .139, but walked 45 times in 28 games, shattering the previous 28- game
record, and was a fun leadoff hitter.) The Astronauts rolled over the Blues
12-1 in Game 2. It was a best of 5 series, so 1 more win and the Astronauts go
from 1-5 all the way up to the World Series. Will the laughing stock of the
first week of the season beat out powerhouse Blues and the Mud Hens, who had 7
players hit over .300? You’ll have to wait until next time.
Eric Krentz,