S-O-M 1961

This took 7, so it'll take a while... G1: Tenace picking up where he left off. A's 5, Reds 0 G2: Grim, as in Grimsley performance for the Reds as the A's just merely teed off for a 2-0 series lead. A's 7, Reds 3 G3: Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home for the Reds as Morgan, Billingham silence the A's. Reds 5, A's 0 G4: A's Benched, as in Johnny as Gullett outduels Holtzman. Reds 5, A's 2. Series tied at 2. G5: Let's just say the Reds were a bit "Blue".   A's 5, Reds 0. A's lead 3-2. G6:  They had the champagne on ice in Oakland, but Billingham stole the show with 6.2 hitless innings. I did say this took 7... Reds 4, A's 3. G7: Turns out, the champagne ended up in a different dressing room. Congrats to the Reds, who predated the 75 club with the C&D title in 7. Billingham series MVP. Reds 8, A's 2. One telling sign: Pete Rose spent more time on the pitcher's card than his own card, striking out 7 tim...

  The thing about C&D replays, you expect to see a different outcome as determined by the dice. In the case of the Oakland A's (and Gene Tenace) it was picking up where one left off. After Cincinnati's 1st and 2nd start of back-to-back singles by Pete Rose and Joe Morgan blew up in a Tony Perez double play, the A's went right back to work, Bert Campaneris reaching on a Denis Menke error, followed by a 2-run homer by Joe Rudi. After Sal Bando struck out and Reggie Jackson flied to center, up came the hero of 1972, Gene Tenace. Before you can say deja vu, it was 3-0 A's on Tenace's 5th home run in 8 WS games, all against a bewildered Reds team. The A's would get additional runs in the 3rd and 8th, backing up a solid pitching performance by Ken Holtzman, who held the high-powered and certainly frustrated Reds to 6 hits. Holtzman also helped his own cause in the DH-less series by going 1-3 with a single and RBI sac fly. Don Gullett went 4 innings and was followe...

NLCS: The Mets tried but could not replicate the magic of '73 as the Reds behind Jack Billingham beat the Flushing Magicians 4-2 to win the NLCS in 5 games. The score was tied 1-1 in the 6th when after a lead-off walk and subsequent caught stealing of Pete Rose, Joe Morgan launched a double off Tom Seaver. Then rookie Dan Driessen torched Seaver for a 2-run homer which ended up being the difference in the game as the Reds and Mets matched runs late and Sparky Anderson's ballclub outdueled Yogi Berra's to win the 1973 pennant. Seaver did go down fighting, striking out 10 Reds despite the also ran finish.   Which means Sparky will set out to avenge... ALCS: Those Oakland Athletics, who behind the pitching of Catfish Hunter, reeled in Earl Weaver's Baltimore Orioles by a 3-1 final to return to the Fall Classic. The ballgame was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th when Jesus Alou led off with a single. Alou would then be forced out on a Ray Fosse grounder to 2nd; Fosse was th...

Ed Kranepool's pinch single in the bottom of 9th scored Don Hahn with the winning run as the Mets forced game 5 against the Reds in a Shea Stadium thriller, 6-5. Hahn, who had earlier hit a 2-run homer, led off the inning with a walk, then was bunted to 2nd by Bud Harrelson. Yogi Berra began working his bench and turned up a grizzled veteran named Willie Mays, who pinch-hit for Tug McGraw and hit a fly ball deep enough to move Hahn to 3rd with 2 outs. Then Yogi brought up Kranepool for Wayne Garrett and rattled a single up the middle to bring home Hahn with the series-tying run, forcing a winner-take-all game 5. Tug McGraw got the win for starter George Stone, while Clay Carroll took the heart-breaking loss for Sparky Anderson's club. The Reds got a home run from Tony Perez and got 2 runs in the top of the 8th to tie the Mets. In addition to Hahn, John Milner also slugged a 2-run shot for the Mets.

Nestor Chylak didn't pay Vida Blue many favors on this day. The Oakland lefty, needing just one win to finish off the Orioles, instead got finished off thanks to a strike zone that just wasn't there. 2/3ds of an inning, 5 walks, 2 strikeouts and a wasted opportunity as Baltimore turned that BLUE outing into a 5-run 1st inning outburst en route to a series-evening 7-1 win in front of a stunned Oakland Coliseum crowd. Of the 5 Bird runs, 3 scored when Chylak bellowed "Ball Four."  Blue Moon Odom and Paul Lindblad brought out the mops as Baltimore righty Jim Palmer turned another pancake breakfast into a CG 5-hitter, striking out 6. Bert Campaneris would cross the plate for Oakland in the first when Sal Bando grounded into a Brooks Robinson DP. The series now heads to a deciding game 5.  

ALCS: Merv Rettenmund got things started for the Orioles with a lead-off homer off the HR check, but Ken Holtzman would keep the Birdmen of Baltimore in check the rest of the game as the A's went to the longball and the smallball to take a 2-1 series lead. The A's tied it in the bottom of the 1st on Sal Bando's round trip. The small ball came via Bert Campaneris, who drew a 1-out walk in the bottom of the 5th and stole 2nd. Joe Rudi chased him home with a 2-bagger, giving the A's a lead they would not give up. Reggie Jackson, Gene Tenace and Deron Johnson saw to that in the bottom of the 8th, chasing Mike Cuellar from the game with back-to-back-to-back home runs. Jackson's homer came with Sal Bando on base. Final: Oakland 6, Baltimore 1. A's lead series 2-1 NLCS: The series-trailing Mets did what they had to do to force game 4, putting together a 12-hit attack to stun the Reds 7-3 at Shea. The Reds jumped off to a 2-0 lead after 2-1/2, putting the Mets on early ...

First of all, let me open by saying I was not expecting 28 views on the introductory post: Which obviously means you want to find out what's going on so far. OK, here it is: ALCS: Angel Mangual figured very prominently in the first 2 games for Oakland. His 2-run homer in the 9th inning of game 1 off Jim Palmer gave the A's a hard-earned 2-1 victory. In game 2, he figured in the worst kind of prominence when his 2-base error in the bottom of the 4th highlighted a 4-run/10-batter 4th inning for the Orioles in a 5-4 win, evening the series at 1 game apiece. Vida Blue, with relief help by Rollie Fingers got the G1 win, while Dave McNally withstood a late A's rally to earn the G2 win over Catfish Hunter. Reggie Jackson leads all LCS hitters with 6 hits through 2 games, all singles, while the Birdmen of Baltimore are just happy to be all squared despite a 9 for 56 batting showing in the 1st 2 games. NLCS: Through 2 games of the real NLCS, it was a 1-all tie: This NLCS so far is a...

  Of the 4 seasons I have, I brought it to a vote in the FB group, so the season that got the most votes for a playoff while I wait for additional seasons is... 1973! I will alternate between the AL and NL, with the AL leading off in Baltimore as Jim Palmer awaits Vida Blue and that East Bay juggernaut also known as the A's. The NL will follow next with the Reds-Mets first game, Jack Billingham for the home team from Cincy against some right-handed bum who says he's "Terrific." All series will be in SADV.

  Vin Scully: "2 outs in the 9th, here's Wills. Wills has a triple, and a run scored. Score tied at 3, Giants once led 3-1. McCormick from the windup, here's the pitch to Wills. Fly ball left field, it's hugging the pole, Cepeda looks up, sees no ball... The Dodger fans are cheering as if Wills has hit a home run, no indication from the umpires, the third base umpire signals home run and the Dodgers win it! Here comes Wills on his trek round the bases and a reception committee is there to greet him at home.  "Prior to tonight, Maury Wills and home run were rarely used in the same sentence. It takes that one dramatic swing and in his 3rd year, Wills got it, and the Dodgers and their delirious fans go home on one of the more dramatic homeruns we have seen since the westward trek. It also ends the homestand on that dramatic note. For the Dodgers, 4 runs, 10 hits, 1 error, 7 left. For the crestfallen Giants, 3 runs, 8 hits, no errors, 8 left. Stan Williams gets the wi...

"Here's a final from Busch Stadium, The Cardinals on a 2-hitter by Curt Simmons shut out the Braves by a score of 5-0. Ken Boyer with a homer for the Redbirds. Here, the Dodgers on a first inning explosion of home runs lead their long-standing rivals from the North by a score of 4-1 in the 2nd."  The explosion would give way to a late Giants rally that forced extra innings and "Say Hey" and his friends a dramatic 6-5 win in 12 innings. Mays himself started the fireworks with a 2-out solo homer off Don Drysdale, then came the Dodgers with a barrage of homers in the bottom of the 1st by Charlie Neal, (solo) Wally Moon with 1 on and another solo by Don Demeter. John Roseboro added another solo shot in the 2nd, making the score 5-1 and giving Giant starter Jack Sanford a deficit his teammates would overcome much to the shock of the LA Coliseum faithful.   The Giants scored runs in the 6th and 7th, cutting the Bums lead to 5-3. Then, with Larry Sherry in for Drysdale...