Here’s your
morning baseball briefing:
Game of the Weekend for Friday August
16 – Sunday August 18:
New York Yankees 9, Boston Red Sox 6
In a
drama–filled game where passionate Red Sox fans berated Yankee third baseman Alex
Rodriguez with chants of “cheater” and other names unfit for print, and where
benches emptied as a brawl almost ensued, New York eventually prevailed and won
the weekend series with a comeback win that would make any Yankee fan
proud.
The excitement began in
the top of the second inning with New York trailing 2-0, when Rodriguez faced
Boston starter Ryan Dempster for the first time. Dempster’s first pitch, a 92-mph fastball,
sailed behind Rodriguez’s legs, followed by two more balls, then one more fastball
that that drilled him in the left elbow.
Both benches spilled onto the field as players exchanged heated words,
and Yankee manager Joe Girardi was eventually tossed by the home plate umpire
as he stuck up for his maligned third baseman.
No other ejections followed, and both teams were issued warnings.
Dempster, who has hit
only five batters in 145 innings pitched this year, clearly was throwing at
Rodriguez, as if to say he doesn’t like alleged cheaters, but Rodriguez would
get his revenge in the sixth inning when he blasted a home run to center off
Dempster, cutting Boston’s lead to 6-4.
Brett Gardner tripled in three more in the inning to give New York the
lead for good. They would add two more runs
in the following innings and hold on for a 9-6 win, taking two of three games
in Boston and leaving with some pride and some team unity. Rodriguez may never face the kind of scrutiny
and hatred only Boston can supply, but he is vital to the Yankees if they are
to make a surge for a playoff spot. If
only he doesn’t get hurt by a fastball first.
Rest
of the weekend scores:
Consecutive
days with a walk-off win (where the home team scores the winning run in the
ninth inning or later that immediately ends the game): 8. On Friday, the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee
Brewers each walked-off winners; Saturday the Detroit Tigers and the Los
Angeles Angels walked-off winners, and yesterday the Philadelphia Phillies,
Tampa Bay Rays again, San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins all walked-off
winners.
Longest
Winning Streak: 3, by the Chicago White Sox
Longest
Losing Streak: 3, by the Minnesota Twins
A.L. MVP
Watch: Alfonso Soriano, OF, New York Yankees
Last Week:
Hit .600 with 5 HRs, 18 RBI and 9
runs scored
Season: .264, 25 HRs, 77 RBI
and 66 runs scored
On pace
for: .263, 33 HRs, 103 RBI and 88 runs
scored
N.L. MVP
Watch: Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks
Last Week:
Hit .259 with 3 HRs, 5 RBI and 5
runs scored
Season: .295, 30 HRs, 96 RBI and 80 runs scored
On Pace
For: .294, 40 HRs, 128 RBI and 107 runs
scored
A.L. Cy
Young Watch: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
Last Week:2 starts, 1-0, 15.3 IP, 8 hits, 4 runs and 22 K’s
Season: 12-5, 214 K’s and a 2.68 ERA
On Pace
For: 15-6, 281 K’s and a 2.68 ERA
N.L. Cy
Young Watch: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Last Week:
2 starts, 2-0, 14 IP, 10 hits, 4 runs
and 17 K’s
Season: 14-7, 173 K’s and a 2.68 ERA
On Pace
For: 18-9, 231 K’s and a 2.63 ERA
News &
Notes: On Friday the Philadelphia Phillies let go (preferring not
to say fire) manager Charlie Manuel and replaced him with their minor league
coach Ryne Sandberg. Manuel, the
winningest manager in Phillies history and 2008 World Series champion, was in
the final year of his contract and the Phillies are having a disastrous
season. He has been offered a position
in the organization but feels he can still manage a few more years. Sandberg, a Hall of Fame player with the
Chicago Cubs, was promoted to his first major league manager position.
New York Yankee outfielder Alfonso Soriano set a major league
record last week when he recorded 18 RBI in four games.
On Saturday, Kansas City Royals third baseman and 2001 A.L.
MVP Miguel Tejada was suspended 105 games for violating baseball’s drug
policy. It’s the third longest
suspension ever handed down my major league baseball, behind Pete Rose’s
lifetime ban and Alex Rodriguez’s recent 211 games, and Tejada admitted to
using a banned substance to combat his Attention Deficit Disorder. His suspension begins immediately.
History –
1968 World Series
Winner:
The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3.
The 1968 season is dubbed the year of the
pitcher, and both teams fielded exceptional hurlers. St. Louis, looking to repeat as champions,
had the formidable Bob Gibson, who sported an unbelievable 1.12 ERA heading
into the showdown, while Detroit had a 31-game winner in Denny McClain and a
would be hero in Mickey Lolich. 1968 was
also tagged as the last true World Series, because the following year baseball’s
two league would be divided into divisions, and the postseason would include an
extra round of playoffs.
The Cardinals
had home field advantage, and Bob Gibson squared off against Denny McClain in
Game One. Gibson absolutely dominated
the Tigers, allowing just five hits and striking out an amazing 17 batters in a
4-0 win, setting a World Series record that has yet to be equaled. Detroit
stormed back in Game 2, winning 8-1 behind a complete game from Mickey Lolich
who struck out nine Cardinals, and the series was even as the teams traveled to
Detroit for Games 3, 4 & 5.
St. Louis
would win the next two games to take a 3-1 series lead, 7-3 in Game 3 and 10-1
in Game 4, as Bob Gibson extended his prowess with a 10-strikeout complete game
performance, putting the Cardinals just one win away from back-to-back
championships.
In a must win
Game 5 for the Tigers, Lolich took the hill and allowed three first inning runs
to raise the hopes of Cardinals fans, but he would soon settle down and Detroit
sluggers Al Kaline and Norm Cash combined to drive in four runs as they beat
St. Louis 5-3. Lolich completed the game
without allowing another run.
Back to St.
Louis for Game 6, Detroit sent their ace Denny McClain to the mound on just two
days rest, and he was masterful, pitching a complete game, while their lineup
battered Cardinal pitching, scoring an astounding ten runs in the third inning
on their way to a 13-1 romp. Just like
that, the series was tied heading to a Game 7.
St. Louis had
all the confidence in the world as they sent Bob Gibson to the hill where he
was a perfect 8-0 in the World Series, to face Mickey Lolich, who was starting
on just two days rest, but who had thrown two complete games already in the
series. The two traded zeroes for the
first six innings, before Gibson gave up two hits to start the seventh. The next batter, Jim Northrup, smashed a shot
to center that Curt Flood originally rushed in on, only to realize the ball was
over his head and he watched it one-hop the fence for a two-run double,
providing all the runs Lolich would need.
They would add another run in the inning and held a 3-0 lead in the
ninth where St. Louis cut the lead to 3-1 on a solo home run by Mike Shannon,
but Lolich recorded the set the Cardinals down and finish his third complete
game of the series, propelling Detroit to their third championship in franchise
history, and first since 1945.
For the series, Detroit outscored St. Louis 34-27, but were
outhit 61-56. Lolich was named series
MVP with his three complete game wins, and Cardinals shortstop Dal Maxwell went
hitless in 22 at-bats, a World Series record for futility. Hall of Famers in the series included for Detroit:
outfielder Al Kaline and third baseman Eddie Matthews; and for St. Louis: manager
Red Schoendeinst, pitchers Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton, outfielder Lou Brock
and first baseman Orlando Cepeda.
Tomorrow: 1969 World Series – Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Mets
Trivia -
Today’s Question: Detroit pitcher Denny McClain won 31 games in 1968, still
the modern day record, but what pitcher came the closest to 31 wins and is second
on that list? How many games did he win?
Friday’s Question: Who was the last pitcher to throw three
complete games in a single World Series?
Answer: Mickey
Lolich of the Detroit Tigers in 1968.
Lolich won all three games. See History
section above for more details.
Vegas Bet: Lastly, here’s an
actual bet you can make at a Las Vegas Sports Book: Over/Under 7 strikeouts by Marlins rookie Jose
Fernandez today vs. the Dodgers.
Yesterday’s
Bet: Over/Under
3.5 hours the Yankee-Red Sox game
will take to complete on Sunday night.
Result: Over. The game lasted 4 hours and 12 minutes.
Standings
| American League | National League | |||||||||
| EAST | W | L | GB | STRK | EAST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Boston | 73 | 53 | - | Lost 1 | Atlanta | 76 | 48 | - | Won 1 | |
| Tampa Bay | 70 | 52 | 1 | Won 1 | Washington | 60 | 63 | 15.5 | Lost 1 | |
| Baltimore | 67 | 56 | 4.5 | Won 2 | NY Mets | 56 | 66 | 19 | Lost 2 | |
| NY Yankees | 64 | 59 | 7.5 | Won 1 | Philadelphia | 54 | 69 | 21.5 | Won 1 | |
| Toronto | 57 | 67 | 15 | Lost 1 | Miami | 47 | 75 | 28 | Won 1 | |
| CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Detroit | 73 | 51 | - | Won 2 | Pittsburgh | 72 | 51 | - | Lost 2 | |
| Cleveland | 66 | 58 | 7 | Lost 1 | St. Louis | 71 | 52 | 1 | Won 2 | |
| Kansas City | 64 | 59 | 8.5 | Lost 2 | Cincinnati | 70 | 54 | 2.5 | Won 1 | |
| Minnesota | 54 | 68 | 18 | Lost 3 | Milwaukee | 54 | 70 | 18.5 | Lost 1 | |
| Chicago Sox | 49 | 74 | 23.5 | Won 3 | Chicago Cubs | 53 | 70 | 19 | Lost 2 | |
| WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Texas | 71 | 53 | - | Lost 1 | LA Dodgers | 72 | 51 | - | Lost 1 | |
| Oakland | 70 | 53 | 0.5 | Won 1 | Arizona | 64 | 58 | 7.5 | Won 2 | |
| Seattle | 57 | 66 | 13.5 | Won 1 | Colorado | 58 | 67 | 15 | Lost 2 | |
| LA Angels | 55 | 68 | 15.5 | Lost 1 | San Diego | 56 | 68 | 16.5 | Won 2 | |
| Houston | 41 | 82 | 29.5 | Won 1 | San Francisco | 55 | 68 | 17 | Lost 1 | |
Schedule for Monday August 19 with probable pitchers in parentheses. My picks to win
are highlighted. Weekend Picks: 24-22
Overall:
720-546
Times EST
| 2:10 PM | N.Y. Mets | Gee (8-8) | @ | Minnesota | Gibson (2-3) |
| 7:05 PM | Colorado | Manship (0-2) | @ | Philadelphia | Martin (1-2) |
| 7:05 PM | Tampa Bay | Price (6-5) | @ | Baltimore | Tillman (14-3) |
| 7:10 PM | L.A. Dodgers | Ryu (12-3) | @ | Miami | Fernandez (8-5) |
| 7:10 PM | Arizona | Delgado (4-3) | @ | Cincinnati | Arroyo (11-9) |
| 8:05 PM | Houston | Lyles (5-6) | @ | Texas | Garza (8-2) |
| 8:05 PM | Washington | Zimmermann (14-6) | @ | Chi. Cubs | Samardzija (6-11) |
| 8:10 PM | St. Louis | Miller (11-8) | @ | Milwaukee | Estrada (5-4) |
| 10:05 PM | Cleveland | Salazar (1-1) | @ | L.A. Angels | Weaver (7-6) |
| 10:05 PM | Seattle | Harang (5-10) | @ | Oakland | Parker (8-6) |
| 10:10 PM | Pittsburgh | Liriano (13-5) | @ | San Diego | Cashner (8-7) |
| 10:15 PM | Boston | Lester (10-7) | @ | San Francisco | Lincecum (6-12) |
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