motnahp
Posts: 1837
Joined: 8/22/2005 Status: offline
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1977 regular season compete, and it provided one of the best pennant races I've enjoyed. The Phillies led most of the way and took the East. On September 19, with two weeks remaining in the season, there was a three-way tie in the West. LA, Houston, and Cincinnati were all 78-71. The Giants were two back. Going into the final weekend, Houston had assumed the lead, with LA two back, SF three back, and the Reds eliminated and 5 back. Houston hosted SF and the Dodgers traveled to Cincy. Both Houston and LA won their Friday night games, with the Houston win eliminating the Giants. On Saturday, the Giants bested Houston 6-4 in 10 innings, while the Dodgers squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Reds. Entering the last day, Houston held a one-game lead over LA. The Giants played spoiler in the Astrodome, topping Houston 2-1. LA, knowing they must win to tie, used a combined three-hitter from Burt Hooton, Charlie Hough, and Elias Sosa to blank the Reds 1-0. LA went 13-5 against Houston during the season and was awarded first place. EAST PHA 100-62 MON 94-68 PIT 86-76 STL 81-81 CHC 77-85 NYM 70-92 WEST LA 86-76 HOU 86-76 SF 84-78 CIN 80-82 ATL 66-96 SD 62-100 Ted Simmons could not keep up his first-half pace, but still won the batting title at .335. Reggie Smith and Bill Madlock followed at .307 and .306, respectively. Reggie captured the home run crown with 41, three better than George Foster and five better than Willie Stargell. Mike Schmidt topped the league in RBI with 123. Foster had 114 and Simmons 111. Andy Messersmith had the lowest ERA at 2.16 (9-6). Jerry Reuss had 2.23 (15-7) and Jerry Koosman ended up at 2.46 (11-13). San Diego's Randy Jones led the league in wins at 17-5 (2.85). Four pitchers had 16: Randy Lerch (16-5, 3.13), Wayne Twitchell (16-6, 3.33), Pete Falcone (16-16, 3.63), and Don Sutton (16-4, 3.28). The Giants' John Montefusco led the league in strikeouts with 184. Phil Niekro had 174 and J.R. Richard had 172. It will be LA vs Philly in the postseason, mirroring real life.
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