Stat break; 69 Orioles

Hitters

Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Belanger           120   12   26      8       4    1      0    13      1      .217
Blair                  114    16   36   19       6    1      4      6      1      .316
Buford               127   27   42   13       7    1      5    17      2      .331
Dalyrmple             4      1     1     0       1    0      0      0      0      .250
Etchebarren       39      2     6     3       0    0      1      3       0     .154
Hendricks           79      7   22    13       2    0      2     7       0     .278
D Johnson        137    23   50   12     13    0      2    11       0     .365
D May                29       4    7     3        2    0      0      0       1     .241
Motton                28      2     4     1       3    1      0      0       0      .143
Powell              137    15   36   37     11     0     8    10       0       .263
Rettemund         23      4     5     3       2     0     0      6      0       .217
B Robinson      130    12   34   16       7     0     6    10      0       .262
F Robinson      112    25   33   22        7     0    8     17     0       .295
Salmon              15      1     2     2       0     0     0      0       0       .133

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Cuellar              9      9    65       50   19    17    12     26        0      3     2      2.35
D Hall             12      0     15.6    17     7      6      7     10       2      0     1       3.45
Hardin               7      2    22.3    22     5      5      4       8        0     3     0       2.02
Leonhard          5      0    14         1     0      0      0       7        0      1      0      0.00
Lopez               8      0    19.3    19      7      7      5     15        0      0     0      3.26
McNally            9      9     55.3    56   22    21    17     27        0      7     0      3.42

Palmer             8      8     58       50   22    19    21     40         0     5     2      2.95

Phoebus          8      4     22.3    42   30    27     11     18        0      1     3    10.88

Richert           12      0     15.6      8     2      2       1     18       6       0     0     1.15

Watt               10      0     15.6      7    1       1       5     10       3      4     0       0.57

Championship: Orioles (69) defeat Giants (87) in six games

Game One: 69 Orioles 4, 87 Giants 3
WP: Watt (4-0)
LP: Garrelts (3-1)
HR: W Clark (9), Hendricks (2), B Robinson (6)

Game Two: 69 Orioles 8, 87 Giants 4
WP: McNally (6-0)
LP: Downs (2-1)
HR: Maldonado (2)

Game Three: 87 Giants 11, 69 Orioles 3
WP: Dravecky (5-1)
LP: Palmer (5-2)
HR: C Davis (8), Brenly (3), Mitchell (3), Blair (3)

Game Four: 69 Orioles 7, 87 Giants 1
WP: Hardin (3-0)
LP: LaCoss (2-1)
HR: W Clark (10), Blair (4), F Robinson 2 (8)

Game Five: 87 Giants 5, 69 Orioles 2
WP: Reuschel (8-3)
LP: Cuellar (3-2)
Save: Lefferts (4)
HR: Maldonado (3)

Game Six: 69 Orioles 4, 87 Giants 1
WP: McNally (7-0)
LP: Downs (2-2)
Save: Richert (6)
HR: Mitchell (4), Buford (5)

The 1969 Baltimore Orioles didn't win the World Series. They did win the 40-Years Tournament.

Game One of the championship series,played in Candlestick Park, was the best of the six games. The Orioles parlayed a pair of singles and a groundout into a first-inning run off Rick Rueschel. Mike Cuellar sliced through the Giants lineup for seven innings of shutout ball, allowing just four hits in that space. Reuschel was almost as good, but Elrod Hendricks homered in the eighth for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the eights, pinch-hitted Joel Youngblood led off with a walk. Rob Thompson singled, and Will Clark homered for a 3-2 Giants lead. Cuellar was replaced by Watt, who got the next three hitters. Scott Garrelts took the hill for the ninth, and he retired Frank Robinson and Paul Blair around a walk to Boog Powell. But Brooks Robinson homered to put the O's back in front, and Watt threw a perfect bottom of the ninth to nail down the win.

The Orioles controlled Game Two all the way. Powell, Blair and Hendricks hit doubles in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Candy Maldonado homered to narrow the margin, but the Birds scored an unearned run in the top of the third and plated three runs in the fourth on four singles, a stolen base and another Giants error. Don Buford and Davey Johnson each scored a pair of runs for the Orioles, while Blair drove in three runs.

The series moved to Memorial Stadium, and the Giants bounced back big. They scored three runs in the second (two unearned) off Jim Palmer and tacked on another in the third for a 4-0 lead. Palmer left after five innings, and the Giants ripped Tom Phoebus for six more runs in 1.6 innings. Bob Brenly drove in four runs and scored twice, while Dave Dravecky held the Orioles scoreless until Blair hit a three-run homer in the eighth.

Jim Hardin was superb for the Orioles in Game Four, allowing just four hits in seven innings. The O's got him three runs before Mike LaCoss retired a batter in the first -- doubles by Buford and Johnson followed by a homer by Frank Robinson. The Orioles tacked on single runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. The Giants' sole run came on a Clark homer in the eighth off Pete Richert.

Reuschel got the series back to San Francisco by outpitching Cuellar in Game Five. Kevin Mitchell doubled home Thompson in the third inning, and Maldonado homered in the fourth. The Giants strung together three singles for a run in the sixth and added solo runs in the eighth and ninth, while the Orioles could get only two runs in the seventh on Chico Salmon's two-out pinch-hit single.

The Giants scored the first run of Game Six on a Mitchell homer. But that was all they got off McNally, Dave Leonhard and Richert. Kelly Downs held the O's scoreless until the sixth, when they bunched two singles, two walks and an error for two runs and the lead. Buford homered in the eighth, and Richert struck out three of the six men he faced to secure the save and the title.

Player of the Series: Paul Blair had seven RBIs and five runs while going 9-for-26.

Player of the Tournament: His 09 Reds were eliminated in the semifinals, but Joey Votto scored 20 runs and drove in 23 while hitting .340. There were players who scored more runs, and there were players who drove in more, but Votto carried an unlikely team to the Final Four.

Stat break: 69 Orioles

Hitters

Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Belanger           100   10   22     7       3    1      0      9      0      .220
Blair                    88    11   27   12       4    1      2      6      1      .307
Buford               111    22   37   11       6    1      4    12      2      .333
Dalyrmple             3     1     1     0       1    0      0       0      0      .333
Etchebarren       33      2     6     3       0    0      1       2      0     .182
Hendricks          64       6   18     9       1    0      1      5       0     .281
D Johnson       109    19   42   10      12    0      2    11       0     .385
D May                27       4    7     3        2    0      0      0       1     .259
Motton                27      2     4     1       3    1      0      0       0      .148
Powell              111    12   30   35       8     0     8      9       0       .270
Rettemund         19      4     5     3       2     0     0      5      0       .263
B Robinson      108    10   29   14       7     0     5      5      0       .269
F Robinson        92    20   26  18        6     0     6     10     0       .282
Salmon              11      1     1     0       0     0     0      0       0       .091

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Cuellar              7      7    51       35   13    11    10     22        0      3     1      1.94
D Hall             10      0     12       11     5      4      6       6       2      0     1       3.00
Hardin               6      1    15.3    16     5      5      2       4        0     2     0       2.94
Leonhard          4      0    12         1     0      0      0       7        0      1      0      0.00
Lopez               7      0    16.6    17      6      6      5     14        0      0     0      3.24
McNally            7      7     44       46   18    18    14     19        0      5     0      3.68

Palmer             7      7     53       46   18    17    20     37         0     5     1      2.89

Phoebus          5      4     19       27   23    20     11     17        0      1     3      9.47

Richert           10      0     13.6      7     1      1       1     15       5       0     0     0.66

Watt                 9      0     13.6      7    1       1       5       8       3      3     0       0.66

Semifinals: Orioles (69) defeat Reds (09) in four games

Game One: 69 Orioles 3, 09 Reds 2
WP: Cuellar (3-1)
LP: Arroyo (2-2)
Save: Richert (3)
HR: Buford (2)

Game Two: 69 Orioles 9, 09 Reds 2
WP: McNally (5-0)
LP: Cueto (4-2)
HR: Buford (3), Johnson (2), B Robinson (4), J Hairston Jr. (1), Hendricks (1)

Game Three: 69 Orioles 3, 09 Reds 1
WP: Palmer (5-1)
LP: Harang (3-2)
Save: Richert (4)
HR: Buford (4), B Robinson (5)

Game Four: 69 Orioles 5, 09 Reds 3
WP: Hardin (2-0)
LP: Bailey (0-2)
Save: Richert (5)
HR: Powell (8), J Hairston Jr (2)

The unlikely run of the 2009 Reds hit a stout wall in the tournament semifinals as the 1969 Orioles allowed just eight runs in the four games while hitting eight home runs themselves.

Game One, played in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, was as close as the Reds got to a victory in the series, and that was very close indeed. A hit-and-run double by Brooks Robinson in the second inning gave Mike Cuellar the lead, and Don Buford's homer in the second inning made it 2-0. The two teams exchanged unearned runs in the seventh, and the Orioles pinch-hit for Cuellar in the process. Marcelino Lopez took the mound in the eighth and gave up a run before Dick Hall entered to get the final out of the inning. But in the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Chris Dickerson doubled and Dew Stubbs walked. Pete Richert entered and immediately threw a wild pitch to put the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second. But pinch-hitter Alex Gonzalez popped up for the first out, and Joey Votto's line drive was snared by second baseman Davy Johnson, who then caught Stubbs off second for the final out.

The Orioles drew four walks in the first inning of Game Two off Johnny Cueto to take a quick lead. Jerry Hairston Jr. tied it with a two-run homer off Dave McNally in the top of the fourth, but Johnson hit a two-run bomb of his own to give the O's a fresh two-run lead. Brooks Robinson and Elrod Hendricks hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and later in the inning Buford hit a two-run shot to make it 8-2.

Buford led off Game Three, in Cincinnati's Great American Park, with his third homer of the series. Brooks Robinson hit another homer in the second. The Orioles didn't score again off Aaron Harang until the eighth, but they didn't need to; Jim Palmer and Richert combined to allow just one hit, a fourth inning single by Brandon Phillips that set up the sole Cincy run, which scored on a double play.

The Orioles went with Jim Hardin for Game Four and staked him to a 2-0 lead before he took the mound. Buford walked off Homer Bailey and stole second before Frank Robinson walked. Both men moved up on a wild pitch. Boog Powell singled Buford home, and Brooks Robinson plated Frank Robinson with a deep fly. But Hardin struggled early himself; the first two batters singled, and he escaped the first on a triple play off the bat of Phillips. In the second inning, Jay Bruce singled and Hairston homered to even the score. The Reds took their first lead of the series in the third inning as Dickerson, Votto and Bruce singled. Hardin and Bailey threw scoreless ball after that into the eighth. Chico Salmon hit for Hardin and singled to lead off the frame. Bailey retired Buford but walked Johnson. With Dave May (who had replaced Frank Robinson for injury) and Powell due up, the Reds brought Arthur Rhodes. Merv Rettemund hit for May and fanned, but nobody hits for Powell, and the lefty slugger won the duel with the lefty specialist with a three-run homer and a 5-3 lead. Richert threw two scoreless innings of relief to wrap up the sweep.

Player of the series: With apologies to Buford (three homers) and Brooks Robinson (two homers and five RBIs), we'll go with Richert, who got out of that critical jam to end Game One and worked four scoreless innings for three saves overall.

Player availability: Frank Robinson will again be good to go for the final series. The Orioles pitchers will all be fully rested for the championship series.

Projected rotation: Cuellar-McNally-Palmer-???-(Cuellar)-(McNally)-(Palmer)

Stat break: 69 Orioles

Hitters

Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Belanger             86      9   20     6       2    1      0      8      0      .233
Blair                    73      9   21   11       4    0      2      5      1      .288
Buford                96    18   32     6       6    1      1    10      1      .333
Dalyrmple             3     1     1     0       1    0      0       0      0      .333
Etchebarren       31      2     6     3       0    0      1       2      0     .194
Hendricks           53      6   16     7       1    0      0      3       0     .302
D Johnson         93    16   37     7      11    0      1    10       0     .398
D May                25       4    7     3        2    0      0      0       0     .280
Motton                26      2     4     1       3    1      0      0       0      .154
Powell                98    11   28   31       8     0     7      6       0      .286
Rettemund         18      4     5     3       2     0     0      5      0       .277
B Robinson        93      8   22     9       6     0     3      5      0       .237
F Robinson        81    19   26  18        6     0     6      7       0      .321
Salmon                9       0     0    0       0     0     0      0       0       .000

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Cuellar              6      6    43.6    28    12    11   10     19        0      2     1      2.27
D Hall               9      0     11.6    10     5      4      4       6       2      0     1       3.08
Hardin              5      0       8.3      9     2      2      2       3        0     1     0       2.16
Leonhard          4      0    12         1     0      0      0       7        0      1      0      0.00
Lopez               5      0    15       15      5      5      5     13        0      0     0      3.00
McNally            6      6     36       38   16    16    13     15        0      4     0      4.00

Palmer             6      6     45       45   17    16    16     32         0     4     1      3.20

Phoebus          5      4     19       27   23    20     11     17        0      1     3      9.47

Richert             7      0       9.6      6     1      1       1     11       2       0     0     0.93

Watt                 9      0     13.6      7    1       1       5       8       3      3     0       0.66

George bracket: Orioles (69) defeat Dodgers (69) in seven games

Game One: 69 Orioles 6, 69 Dodgers 4 (16 innings)
WP: Hardin (1-0)
LP: A Foster (1-1)
Save: Watt (1)
HR: D Johnson (1)

Game Two: 69 Orioles 3, 69 Dodgers 2
WP: McNally (3-0)
LP: Osteen (4-2)
Save: Watt (2)
HR: Etchebarren (1)

Game Three: 69 Dodgers 5, 69 Orioles 2
WP: Singer (4-2)
LP: Palmer (3-1)
Save: Brewer (5)
HR: F Robinson (7)

Game Four: 69 Dodgers 8, 69 Orioles 2
WP: Sutton (3-3)
LP: Phoebus (1-3)
HR: Kosco (6)

Game Five: 69 Dodgers 2, 69 Orioles 1
WP: Osteen (5-2)
LP; Cuellar (2-1)

Game Six: 69 Orioles 4, 69 Dodgers 3
WP: McNally (4-0)
LP: Singer (4-3)
Save: Watt (3)
HR: Buford (1), Russell (1)

Game Seven: 69 Orioles 6, 69 Dodgers 1
WP: Palmer (4-1)
LP: Sutton (3-4)
HR: Powell (7)

It was a road warrior series, as the visitors won each game. The Orioles prevailed despite being outscored 25-24.Three of the seven games were decided by one run, and another went 16 innings.

That marathon was the opener, played in Dodger Stadium. Boog Powell singled home Don Buford in the first inning, and Buford had an RBI single in the fourth to give the Orioles an early 2-0 lead. The Dodgers  The Dogers used a walk, two singles and a sac fly to tie it in the bottom of the fourth, then took the lead on another sac fly in the fifth. Davy Johnson tied it in the eighth with a homer off reliever Jim Brewer, and the bullpens dueled deep into extra innings. Dave Leonhard threw five scoreless frames for the Orioles, who took the lead in the 12th when Johnson singled off Pete Mikkelsen, stole second and came around on Powell's double. But Pete Richert couldn't hold the lead; Bill Russell doubled and scored on Ted Sizemore's two-out single. There followed three more scoreless innings. In the top of 16th, Hardin singles, Buford walked, Johnson doubled home Hardin and Frank Robinson plated Buford with a ground ball. Eddie Watt relieved Hardin in the bottom of the inning after a one-out single to wrap it up.

Game Two was a shorter affair. Andy Etchebarren hit a two-run homer off Claude Osteen in the second inning. In the seventh, Mark Belanger tripled and scored on a fly ball. Dave McNally carreda three-hit shutout into the eighth, when, with one out, Tom Haller and pinch-hitter Bill Sudakis singled and Maury Wills walked. Reliever Dick Hall induced a popup, but then Willie Davis singled in two runs before Hall got out of the inning. Watt allowed a harmless single in the ninth to secure the win.

The series moved to Memorial Stadium in Baltimore for Game Three, and the Dodgers nicked Jim Palmer for two runs on five singles in the first inning, with Wills stealing second and third. Frank Robinson retaliated in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer, but the Birds wouldn't score again, while Palmer was victimized for three runs in the fifth. Davis and Willie Crawford singled and Wes Parker walked to load the bases. Sudakis singled home the first two runners, and Len Gabrielson's fly ball plated Parker. The Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Brewer got pinch-hitter Curt Motton to bounce into a double play.

The Dodgers evened the series in Game Four by pummeling Tom Phoebus for six runs in five innings. Andy Kosco hit the Bums' first homer of the series in the second inning, but the big damage came in the third. Don Sutton led off with a walk. He took second on a wild pitch and third on Wills' bunt. Sizemore singled Sutton home. Davis walked, and both runners advanced on Crawford's grounder. Parker singled both men home, and Tom Haller brought Parker around with a double. Davis was 3-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored, while Parker had four RBIs. Sutton went seven innings.

Game Five was not only a close contest -- 2-1 Dodgers -- but saw three key players taken out for the rest of the series by injury. Frank Robinson went down in the first inning for Baltimore, while the Dodgers lost Parker in the third inning and Davis in the sixth, The Dodgers scored first in the second inning; Jim Lefebvre singled, went to third on Mike Cuellar's throwing error, and scored on Jeff Torborg's base hit. In the third, Wills singled, stole second, took third on Sizemore's bunt and scored on Davis' single. The Orioles got one back off Osteen in the fourth, but the scoring ended there. Osteen scattered nine hits, all singles.

The series returned to Los Angeles with the Dodgers one win shy of advancing. Buford put the Orioles ahead with a homer in the third, and the Dodgers never caught up. The Orioles added a run in the fifth on Dave May's sac fly, Buford doubled in another run in the seventh and Brooks Robinson homered in the eighth. Bill Russell homered off McNally in the sixth, and the Dodgers scored two in the eighth to make it close.

Game Seven pitted two Hall of Fame hurlers in Palmer and Sutton. It was scoreless for three innings, but in the fourth the Orioles scored three runs -- Brooks Robinson doubled, Paul Blair singled, Johnson and Merv Rettemund walked, Elrod Hendricks singled and Belanger hit a sac fly. Palmer's error set up a Dodger run in the bottom of the inning, but in the fifth Johnson singled, Rettemund doubled, Hendricks singled in Johnson and Belanger brought in Rettemund with a grounder for a 5-1 lead. Powell capped the scoring with a homer in the seventh. Palmer went the distance, allowing just three hits.

Player of the series: Davy Johnson went 15-for-29 with five runs and two RBIs.

Player availability: Frank Robinson will be available for Game One. Palmer cannot pitch until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Cuellar-McNally-Palmer-Phoebus (or Hardin)-(Cuellar)-(McNally)-(Palmer)