motnahp
Posts: 1837
Joined: 8/22/2005 Status: offline
|
Three Rivers Stadium is rocking again, as the Pirates defended their title with a 3-0 shutout of the Dodgers in game six. Bert Blyleven handcuffed the Dodgers, allowing only 2 hits over seven innings, while striking out 10. John Candelaria and Goose Gossage once again shut the door in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. As was their norm throughout the series, Pittsburgh struck early. Willie Stargell's two-run homer in the first inning was all the offense the Bucs needed to capture their second straight title and fourth overall. Omar Moreno drove in a run with a groundout in the fifth inning to round out the scoring. Dodger starting pitcher Don Sutton pitched much better the second time around, but was charged with the loss, allowing all three runs in six innings pitched. With this series loss, the Dodgers have come up short in each of the last three postseasons, losing to Philadelphia in 1977 and also losing to Pittsburgh each of the last two years. For the regular season awards, Philly's Mike Schmidt captured MVP honors. The slugging third sacker batted .282, with 36 home runs and 115 driven in. As expected, the Pirates' Don Robinson took home the Cy Young award. Robinson's 25 wins set a new association record, easily surpassing the previous record of 22 set by Atlanta's Jim Nash in 1970, and equaled by LA's Bill Singer the following year. Baseball is about to enter a new decade, the 1980's. Can Pittsburgh keep their machine rolling? They certainly have the bullpen and it's very well rested! Can Atlanta's young sluggers Horner and Murphy give the surprising Braves enough firepower to overcome a mediocre pitching staff? Looking ahead to the 1980 transactions: ATL: picks up 1B Chris Chambliss, but loses SIX PITCHERS from their 1979 roster. They need someone to step up and PITCH. Niekro can't pitch every day. CHC: picks up C/1B Cliff Johnson in June, but not much else. CIN: They get to KEEP real-life free agents Joe Morgan and Fred Norman, There is still loads of talent in their lineup. These are the same guys who won it all in 1975-76. Maybe that's the problem: same guys, 4-5 years older. How did they go 69-93 last year? HOU: No earth-shattering transactions, but J.R. Richard's starts will be limited due to his stroke. He will go from a "never skip" starter to a "skip rarely". Joe Niekro will need to have a great year for Houston to challenge again. LA: Gets to keep real-life FA reliever Lerrin LaGrow, but loses Charlie Hough in July. Not a good trade-off. Also loses reliever Ken Brett. Still have a few years left on their infield. It's about time for them to beat the Pirates. MON: Gets to keep FA's Rudy May and Tony Perez, but loses Rusty Staub (forever this time). Loses starter Dan Schatzeder and picks up OF Ron LeFlore. Picks up pitcher John D'Acquisto in August. He has been good in PS with San Diego. Signs 1B Willie Montanez at the end of August (I had forgotten he ever played for Montreal). If D'Acquisto can hold his PS form and LeFlore can hit .300 and steal some bags, the Expos have a decent chance (to finish third). NYM: Seaver and Koosman are already gone. Kranepool retires. They get to keep FA relievers Andy Hassler and Skip Lockwood (too bad neither can start anymore). They do get OF Claudell Washington in June. In 1979, catcher John Stearns "led" the team in homers with 8. OF Steve Henderson led in RBI with 69. Are these the 1962 Mets? Strawberry can't get here soon enough. PHA: Great talent, but stuck in the same division as the Pirates. They get to keep FA reserve OF Greg Gross (whoopee). Decided they didn't need reliever Doug Bird. Released Tim McCarver, then signed him again in September. Also brings in Sparky Lyle in September. Nothing major happening on this roster. It would take career years by Carlton and at least one other starter to threaten Pittsburgh. Carlton is now a 5-6 inning pitcher in PS. PITT: Dock Ellis and Bobby Tolan retire, but they were bit players anyway. They get to keep FA's Bruce Kison and Rennie Stennett. They also pick up three so-so pitchers, Eddie Solomon, Mickey Mahler, and Odell Jones. Maybe one of the three will actually make their MLB roster. Remember, Gossage and Forster aren't going anywhere anytime soon. A few other small moves later in the season (do they really need Kurt Bevacqua?). This team is still loaded. Guys like Mike Easler, Richie Hebner, and Stennett are on their bench! SD: Seems like another year in the cellar for these guys. They get to keep OF Jay Johnstone, whose best years were 10-12 years ago. They pick up bit players like OF Von Joshua and 3B Aurelio Rodriguez. They also sign Jerry Mumphrey and Willie Montanez (where DIDN'T Montanez play?). Of course, they let Willie go in August, and Mumphrey is not the answer. Gaylord Perry "retires" to a life in the American League. He was a bust in SD anyway, not approaching his real-life 1978 Cy Young level. About the only thing this franchise has going for it is the knowledge that when Tony Gwynn arrives, Dave Winfield will still be here to drive him in. Now......if only one of them could learn to pitch. Was this team so pitching-rich that they could afford to let go of John D'Acquisto and Bob Owchinko. So what if they had weird names. They could get guys out. I wonder what my PS record is for team runs allowed in a season. SD will threaten the record, whatever it is. SF: They get to keep LHP John Curtis. The Giants are the only reason that San Diego is not guaranteed to finish last. The transactions for this team include names like: Johnston, Andrews, Sularz, and Pettini. They lose C Marc Hill, P Ed Halicki, and reliever Pedro Borbon. They bring in P Allen Ripley. Believe it or not, that's the best they could do. I hear the faint footsteps of Will Clark, Robby Thompson and Matt Williams approaching. Unfortunately, they're not here yet. And where's Chili Davis? STL: Although they lose P John Denny and OF Mumphrey, this GM obviously was at least TRYING to win. The Cards spent most of the 70's donating quality players to other teams (Steve Carlton, Dick Allen, Mike Torrez, Jerry Reuss, Reggie Smith). This year, they sign Bobby Bonds (back from the AL), Pedro Borbon, and Jim Kaat. If two of these three can contribute something, the Cards have a good chance to......finish third again. On a sad note, Lou Brock retires after the 1979 season. I checked his ratings and he is still a "50" speed. Not bad for a 40-year-old.
|