Baseball has produced some great father-son combinations over the years: Bobby and Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., Cecil and Prince Fielder, and many others.
With Father’s Day just a few days away, Strat-O-Matic decided to run the ultimate baseball simulation: a best-of-seven series between the all-time best father and son baseball players.
Every father included in the simulation needed to have his son on the other team’s roster, and vice versa. The best individual season was used for each player. While there were many great father-son pairings to choose from, we had to shrink the list to fit a normal-sized team.
Here are the rosters:
Here are the rosters:
TEAM FATHERS
Pitchers
Floyd Bannister
Pedro Borbon
Tom Gordon
Dave LaRoche
Thornton Lee
Lance McCullers
Julio Navarro
Jeff Russell
Mel Stottlemyre
Dizzy Trout
Clyde Wright
Catchers
Yogi Berra
Bob Boone
Randy Hundley
Infielders
Sandy Alomar
Buddy Bell
Delino DeShields
Cecil Fielder
Dick Nen
Tony Perez
Eric Young
Maury Wills
Outfielders
Felipe Alou
Tony Armas
Gary Matthews
Bobby Bonds
Ken Griffey Sr.
Tony Gwynn
TEAM SONS
Pitchers
Tony Armas Jr.
Brian Bannister
Pedro Borbon
Don Lee
Lance McCullers
Jaime Navarro
Robb Nen
James Russell
Todd Stottlemyre
Steve Trout
Jaret Wright
Catchers
Sandy Alomar Jr.
Todd Hundley
Infielders
Roberto Alomar
David Bell
Aaron Boone
Bret Boone
Prince Fielder
Dee Gordon
Adam LaRoche
Eduardo Perez
Bump Wills
Outfielders
Moises Alou
Dale Berra
Barry Bonds
Delino Deshields Jr.
Ken Griffey Jr.
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Gary Matthews Jr.
Eric Young Jr.
Let’s take a look at the results:
GAME 1
The Fathers made a statement early in the game, with a leadoff walk by Delino DeShields followed by a 2-run HR off the bat of Tony Gwynn in the bottom of the first inning. The Sons would tie the game in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI double by Bret Boone and an RBI single by Sandy Alomar Jr. Drama would ensue in the later innings. With the Fathers up 5-3 and two outs in the top of the eighth, closer Tom Gordon was brought in to face his son (Dee) with the tying runs on base and induced a huge strikeout. The Sons would not go down without a fight in the ninth. Down 5-3 with two outs and the bases loaded, Todd Hundley lined a base-hit to RF… one run came in to score, but Bobby Bonds threw out the potential tying run at the plate to end the game. Who was that baserunner? None other than his son, Barry.
Final Score: Fathers 5, Sons 4
Final Score: Fathers 5, Sons 4
GAME 2
Barry Bonds would atone for his baserunning blunder in Game 1, going 3-4 with two homers in Game 2, but the Fathers pounded out 14 hits including long balls from Eric Young and Felipe Alou en route to an 8-6 win. Other notables: David Bell made a throwing error at 3B on a groundball hit by his father (Buddy), and the game was started by Steve Trout for the Sons (5 ip, 10 h, 6 er, 1 bb, 1 k) and Dizzy Trout for the Fathers (4.2 ip 6 h, 5 er, 1 bb, 2 k’s), though neither fared well.
Final Score: Fathers 8, Sons 6
GAME 3
Game 3 featured a pitcher’s duel by Mel and Todd Stottlemyre. Both pitchers went 7 innings and allowed 3 runs (only two of Todd’s runs were earned). The game would come down to the bullpens. After a leadoff single by Roberto Alomar in the bottom of the eighth inning, Mel Stottlemyre was removed from the game in favor of Clyde Wright, who promptly served up a 2-run HR to Ken Griffey Jr. The Sons would hold on for the win after a perfect ninth inning from Robb Nen.
Final Score: Sons 4, Fathers 3
GAME 4
Another father-son pitching matchup as Floyd Bannister took the hill against his son Brian. The Fathers scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a 3-run HR by Yogi Berra, his third of the series. Ken Griffey Sr. and Bobby Bonds both had two hits in the game, while Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds combined to go 0-9. The Fathers would hang on to win by a score of 4-2 and take a commanding three games to one series lead. Bret Boone had three hits in the losing effort for the Sons.
Final Score: Fathers 4, Sons 2
GAME 5
The Fathers laid the smack down early in Game 5, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning on a grand slam by Tony Perez off Tony Armas Jr. The Sons got a home run from Moises Alou in the bottom half of the first inning, but would only score one more run the rest of the game. Clyde Wright pitched a complete game for the Fathers and was stellar. He allowed 2 earned runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts to close out the series win for the old-timers. The highlight of the game for the Sons came when Ken Griffey Jr. threw out his father at the plate trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park home run.
Final Score: Fathers 6, Sons 2
CLICK HERE FOR GAME 5 BOX SCORE
FATHERS WIN THE SERIES, 4 GAMES TO 1
SERIES MVP: Yogi Berra (.316 BA, 3 HR, 5 RBI)
Strat-O-Matic released a documentary film in time for Father’s Day called MANAGING TO WIN: The Story of Strat-O-Matic Baseball, which delves into the relationship S-O-M Founder Hal Richman had with his father and how it infleunced his creation of the game. To order the MANAGING TO WIN DVD, click here.
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