In which I chronicle my adventures in solitaire Strat-O-Matic Baseball. Current project: A 64- team tournament with four teams selected from the NeL set and 60 teams picked (mostly) at random from the 1924, 1961, 1969, 1973, 2009, 2017 and 2019 sets.
Monday, February 1, 2021
Stat break: 1973 San Francisco Giants
Stat break: 2019 St. Louis Cardinals
Hitters
Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SB Avg,
Bader 88 14 19 7 5 0 1 9 2 .216
M Carpenter 94 8 24 9 4 0 2 10 2 .255
DeJong 128 16 25 19 3 0 3 9 4 .195
Edman 116 12 40 15 9 4 2 7 2 .345
Fowler 110 10 22 10 3 1 2 10 4 .200
Goldschmidt 136 23 44 26 7 0 11 20 1 .324
J Martinez 37 5 3 4 0 0 1 9 0 .081
Molina 127 14 32 10 5 0 2 10 0 .252
Munoz 28 4 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 .178
O'Neill 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .077
Ozuna 134 17 29 18 8 1 5 17 1 .216
Wieters 17 7 9 9 2 0 4 2 0 .529
Wong 135 15 35 12 7 1 1 14 7 .259
Pitchers
Flaherty 11 11 65 51 24 21 19 55 0 5 2 2.91
Gallegos 17 0 16 4 0 0 4 12 0 4 0 0.00
Gant 14 0 16.6 17 10 10 15 11 0 2 1 5.40
C Martinez 12 0 14 8 2 2 5 13 6 0 0 1.29
Wacha 7 0 20 14 4 4 5 11 1 1 0 1.80
Wainwright 8 8 34 42 21 20 13 24 0 2 2 5.29
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Finals: 1973 Giants win title in seven games over 2019 Cardinals
Game One: Cardinals 6, Giants 4
WP: Flaherty (5-1)
LP: Bryant (3-5)
Save: Hicks (4)
HR: Goldschmidt (10), McCovey (9)
Game Two: Giants 5, Cardinals 4
WP: Moffitt (1-1)
LP: Gant (2-1)
Save: McMahon (1)
HR: Molina (2)
Game Three: Cardinals 11, Giants 2
WP: Mikolas (3-2)
LP: Bradley (5-3)
Save: Wacha (1)
HR: Kingman (9), Matthews (4), Wong (1), Bader (1)
Game Four: Giants 11, Cardinals 3
WP: Bryant (4-5)
LP: Wainwright (2-2)
HR: Goldschmidt (11), McCovey (10)
Game Five: Giants 3, Cardinals 1
WP: Barr (6-2)
LP: Flaherty (5-2)
Save: Moffitt (6)
HR: Maddox (4)
Game Six: Cardinals 4, Giants 3
WP: Gallegos (4-0)
LP: Sosa (0-2)
HR: Edman (2)
Game Seven: Giants 3, Cardinals 2
WP: McMahon (2-0)
LP: Webb (0-2)
Save: Moffitt (7)
The 1973 San Francisco Giants emerged at the unlikely champions of Tournament Three. The final series was their third series that went the full seven games.
The homestanding Cardinals took control of Game One early, knocking Ron Bryant out after three innings and taking a 5-0 lead. Two of the runs off Bryant were unearned. Willie McCovey homered in the fourth off winner Jack Flaherty and tripled in a two-run ninth in which the Cardinals needed three pitchers to get three outs and secure with win.
The Cardinals held a 4-0 lead after six innings of Game Two, but the Giants scored three in the seventh off Andrew Miller and two more in the eighth off John Gant to take a 5-4 lead. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, Paul Goldschmidt walked and Marcel Ozuna doubled off Elias Sosa; Don McMahon relieved to strike out Harrison Bader, who had entered the game for defensive purposes when the Cardinals had that 4-0 lead.
The series moved to 1973 and Candlestick Park, and the Cards bombarded Tom Bradley and reliever Jim Willoughby for 11 runs in fourth through seventh innings. Bader and Kolton Wong each hit three-run homers for St. Louis. Miles Mikolas went five innings for the win, and Michael Wacha threw four innings for the save.
The Giants returned the favor in Game Four, evening the series with an 11-3 win. Bryant went the distance despite a two-run homer by Goldschmidt. San Francisco got four extra-base hits off Adam Wainwright in one-plus innings -- doubles by Chris Speier and Ed Goodson, a triple from Garry Maddox and a homer by McCovey.
Jim Barr gave up one run in seven innings in Game Five, with McMahon and Randy Moffitt each tossing a hitless frame. Maddox threw out Goldschmidt at the plate to end the fourth inning, then led off the bottom of the inning with a hit and scored the first run of the game. Maddox hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Barr and the relievers took it from there.
Back in St. Louis, the Giants shifted plans and gave the start to Juan Marichal, giving the Hall of Famer a chance to wrap up the series. The Dominican Dandy allowed three runs in six innings, leaving with the game tied at three. Elias Sosa went the rest of the way for the Giants, surrendering the winning run on a two-out ninth-inning single by Dexter Fowler. Giovanny Gallegos was credited with his fourth win of the tournament after getting the final two outs of the ninth.
Game Seven pit Bryant and Mikolas, and there were no runs through four innings. Tito Fuentes led off the fifth with a single. The Giants put on the hit-and-run, and Dave Rader singled Fuentes to third. Bryant bunted Rader to second. St. Louis pulled the infield in, and Bobby Bonds singled past shortstop Paul DeJong to plate both runners. The Cardinals tied it in the sixth; Fowler singled to lead off and advanced on Goodson's error. DeJong singled Fowler home and stole second ahead of Goldschmidt's walk. After Wong fanned, Jose Martinez walked to load the bases, and Speier couldn't complete the double play on Tommy Edman's grounder. The tie held into the eighth. Tyler Webb entered at the start of the inning to strike out McCovey. He then walked Gary Matthews and got Goodson to ground out, with Matthews advancing to second. John Brebbia came into face Speier, but Spieir doubled to bring home Matthews with the final run of the tournament. McMahon, who entered to get the final out of the seventh, pitched a scoreless eighth, and Moffitt allowed a leadoff single in the ninth but then got a double play and a strikeout to end the game, the series and the tournament.
Monday, January 25, 2021
Stat break: 2019 Minnesota Twins
Hitters
Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SB Avg,
Adrianza 36 5 10 7 2 2 3 1 0 .278
Arraez 69 9 20 8 3 0 2 7 0 .290
Astudillo 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500
Buxton 82 16 23 8 8 2 1 5 1 .280
J Castro 41 7 8 1 1 1 0 3 0 .195
Cave 19 3 6 5 1 0 1 4 0 .316
Cron 59 12 18 3 7 0 1 4 0 .305
N Cruz 105 13 27 22 11 0 6 3 0 .257
Garver 66 17 22 14 4 0 6 14 0 .333
M Gonzalez 78 10 22 15 2 0 3 4 0 .282
Kepler 117 20 27 16 4 1 6 14 0 .231
Polanco 125 19 42 22 11 1 5 11 1 .336
Rosario 106 13 30 18 7 0 3 4 0 .283
Sano 54 10 11 8 1 0 4 10 0 .204
Schoop 56 4 12 5 3 0 2 3 0 .214
Pitchers
Duffey 14 0 14.3 10 5 5 6 14 0 1 1 3.14
Littell 12 0 13 16 5 5 4 14 0 1 0 3.46
Perez 10 2 20 33 18 14 8 13 0 0 3 6.30
Rogers 11 0 17.3 11 2 2 2 17 3 1 0 1.04
Stat break: 1973 San Francisco Giants
Hitters
Pitchers
Final Four: 1973 Giants defeat 2019 Twins in six games
Game One: Giants 15, Twins 8
WP: Willoughby (2-0)
LP: Perez (0-3)
HR: Bonds (5), Gonzalez (3), Kingman (7), Cruz (6), Polanco (5)
Game Two: Giants 2, Twins 1
WP: Barr (5-1)
LP: Odorizzi (3-2)
Save: Sosa (5)
HR: Speier (2)
Game Three: Twins 7, Giants 3
WP: Pineda (4-0)
LP: Bradley (4-2)
HR: Bonds (6), Garver (5), Rosario 2 (3)
Game Four: Giants 12, Twins 8
WP: Marichal (4-1)
LP: Harper (1-1)
Save: Moffitt (5)
HR: Bonds (7), Goodson (2), McCovey (7), Garver (6), Kepler (5)
Game Five: Twins 3, Giants 2
WP: Berrios (4-1)
LP: Barr (5-2)
Save: Romo (2)
HR: McCovey (8), Kepler (6), Adrianza (3)
Game Six: Giants 11, Twins 4
WP: Bradley (5-2)
LP: Odorizzi (3-3)
HR: Bonds (8), Maddox (3), Thomasson (1), Kingman (8), Arraez (2)
The Giants scored in double digits in three of their wins, blasting 11 homers in the six games of the series to match the powerful Bomba Squard in four-baggers while adjusting their pitching plans on the fly.
Game One, in Target Field, was quite the slugfest. Bobby Bonds hit a three-run homer in the second as the Giants took a 5-0 lead. The Twins scored three in the second, with Marwin Gonzalez hitting a two-run homer. Gonzalez drove in two more in the third with a double as the Twins knocked Ron Bryant out of the box. But Jose Berrios couldn't survive the fourth, and the score was tied at seven after four innings. The Giants blasted three Twins relievers for six runs in the fifth inning, with Dave Rader, Bonds, Gary Matthews and Ed Goodson each hitting RBI doubles. John Willoughby held the Twins to two runs in six innings of relief for the win.
Game Two was a pitchers duel. Jake Odorizzi allowed one hit in the first four innings but left in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out. The Twins couldn't turn the double play on a Dave Rader grounder, and the Giants took a 1-0 lead. Chris Speier homered in the seventh off Sergio Romo. The Twins got a run in the seventh off Jim Barr, but Sam McDowell retired Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco with the tying run on second to escape the inning, and McDowell and Elias Sosa didn't allow a runner the rest of the way.
Eddie Rosario had a big day in Game Three, hitting homers in his first two Candlestick Park at-bats and diving in five runs in all. Michael Pineda allowed two earned runs in seven innings for the win.
The Giants bats exploded again in Game Four. Goodson capped a four-run first with a three-run homer off Kyle Gibson, and San Francisco took a 5-0 lead into the fourth. The Twins then ralled for seven runs, with the first eight hitters reaching base against Bryant (one on an error). Bryant walked two and hit a batter. The Twins added a run in the fifth to lead 8-5. But Gary Thomasson doubled in two runs pinch-hitting for Don McMahon to make it a one-run margin, and Juan Marichal, pressed into relief duty because of all the short starts, worked two scoreless innings. Bonds and Willie McCovery each slugged two-run homers in the seventh to take the lead, and Randy Moffitt sealed the win with two scoreless innings.
The Twins staved off elimination with a 3-2 win in Game Five. Ehrie Adrianza and Kepler homered in a three-run fifth ofr a 3-2 lead. Berrios and relievers Tyler Duffey and Sergio Romo made that margin stand up.
But that was the last lead for the series for the favored Twins. Goodson doubled in a pair of runs in the first for the visiting Giants in Game Six, Bonds doubled in another run in the second, Dave Kingman homered in the third and the Giants had five runs off Odorizzi. Rosario doubled in two runs in the bottom of the third, but Bonds and Garry Maddox hit back-to-back homers in the fifth of Martin Perez. The Giants scored two runs in each of the last two innings. Tom Bradley went seven innings, allowing four runs on 12 hits, with Sosa getting the final six outs.
Player availability: No injuries, and the Giants bullpen will be fully available for the first game of the finals.
Projected rotation: Unsettled. Marichal pitched two games in relief in this series, but is available to start Game Two if needed. Bryant will start Games 1, 4 and, if necessary, 7. Preliminary plan: Bryant-Barr-Bradley-Bryant-(Barr)-(Bradley)-(Bryant)
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Stat break: 2019 Washington Nationals
Hitters
Pitchers
Scherzer 8 8 48.6 32 10 10 16 55 0 4 1 1.85
Monday, January 18, 2021
Stat break: 2019 St. Louis Cardinals
Hitters
Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SB Avg,
Bader 69 10 13 4 4 0 0 9 2 .188
M Carpenter 67 5 18 9 4 0 2 8 2 .269
DeJong 102 13 20 13 2 0 3 4 3 .196
Edman 96 9 33 11 7 3 1 7 2 .344
Fowler 86 9 19 9 3 1 2 8 3 .221
Goldschmidt 110 20 38 23 7 0 9 16 1 .345
J Martinez 26 4 3 4 0 0 1 5 0 .115
Molina 99 9 24 7 4 0 1 10 0 .242
Munoz 21 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 .190
O'Neill 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .077
Ozuna 113 12 22 16 8 1 5 12 1 .195
Wieters 14 7 9 9 2 0 4 2 0 .643
Wong 110 12 28 7 7 1 0 12 5 .255
Pitchers
Flaherty 9 9 52.6 38 19 17 12 43 0 4 1 2.90
Gallegos 13 0 12.3 3 0 0 4 9 0 3 0 0.00
Gant 12 0 14.6 14 8 8 10 10 0 2 0 4.91
C Martinez 11 0 13 8 2 2 3 12 6 0 0 1.38
Wacha 6 0 16 9 3 3 5 10 0 1 0 1.69
Wainwright 7 7 33 36 13 13 10 24 0 2 1 3.55
Final four: 2019 Cardinals defeat 2019 Nationals in five games
Game One: Cardinals 6, Nationals 5 (15 innings)
WP: Gant (1-0)
LP: Fedde (1-1)
Save: Hicks (1)
HR: Robles 2 (3), Ozuna (4)
Game Two: Cardinals 3, Nationals 1
WP: Gant (2-0)
LP: Doolittle (0-3)
Save: Hicks (2)
HR: Wieters (3), Goldschmidt (8)
Game Three: Nationals 9, Cardinals 6
WP: Corbin (5-0)
LP: Mikolas (2-2)
Save: Hudson (3)
HR: Wieters (4), Suzuki (2), Edman (1)
Game Four: Cardinals 8, Nationals 6
WP: Wainwright (2-1)
LP: Sanchez (1-1)
Save: Hicks (3)
HR: Eaton (2), Ozuna (5), Goldschmidt (9)
Game Five: Cardinals 4, Nationals 0
WP: Flaherty (4-1)
LP: Scherzer (4-1)
The impressive run of the 2019 Washington Nationals -- 16-2 through the first four rounds -- ended rapidly against the 2019 St. Louis Cardinals.
Game One was a bullpen-draining 15-inning marathon in Nationals Park. Victor Robles homered twice for the Nats -- a two-run shot in the second to give Washington the lead, and another in the 11th to even the score after St. Louis had taken the lead. Marcel Ozuna homered in the top of the 15th for another lead, and Jordan Hicks made it stand up.
Paul Goldschmidt homered in the second inning of Game Two, and the Nats tied it in the sixth off Andrew Miller. The score remained 1-1 until the ninth, when Matt Wieters homered leading off against Sean Doolittle. For the second game in a row, John Gant was credited with the victory, with Hicks retiring the side in the ninth for the save.
Game Three in St. Louis was a high-scoring affair. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run double in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. Wieters pinch-hit a two-run homer in the fifth, but the Nats took advantage of three walks by Gant in the sixth to score two runs and expand the lead to 6-2. Cabrera blasted a two-run homer in the eighth off Michael Wacha. The Cardinals scored twice in the ninth to force Daniel Hudson into the game but could not get a hit off him.
The Cards won their own slugfest in Game Four. Ozuna drove in four runs with a double and homer, and Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter each drove in a pair. Adam Wainwright picked his way through five innings, and even though Miller wild pitched two runs home, the St. Louis bullpen was just good enough.
Jack Flaherty and three relievers combined for a six-hit shutout in Game Five. Ozuna scored two runs for the Cardinals. Flaherty left with one on and one out in the seventh; Tyler Webb struck out Geraldo Parra, then Giovanny Gallagos fanned Brian Dozier. John Brebbia worked the eighth and ninth innings, allowing one single and striking out five.
Player availability: No issues for the Cardinals going into the finals
Projected rotation: Flaherty-Hudson-Mikolas-Wainwright-(Flaherty)-(Hudson)-(Mikolas)
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Stat break: 2019 Minnesota Twins
Hitters
Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SB Avg,
Adrianza 32 4 9 6 1 2 2 1 0 .281
Arraez 49 7 16 6 2 0 1 6 0 .327
Buxton 58 12 18 6 6 2 1 5 1 .310
J Castro 32 6 7 1 1 0 0 3 0 .219
Cron 44 8 14 3 4 0 1 3 0 .318
N Cruz 87 12 23 20 9 0 5 3 0 .264
Garver 54 12 18 11 4 0 4 12 0 .333
M Gonzalez 61 9 19 11 1 0 2 4 0 .311
Kepler 93 15 19 11 2 1 4 11 0 .204
Polanco 99 16 35 21 11 1 4 10 1 .354
Rosario 82 10 23 10 4 0 1 3 0 .280
Sano 54 10 11 8 1 0 4 10 0 .204
Schoop 42 4 9 4 1 0 2 2 0 .214
Pitchers
Duffey 10 0 10 8 5 5 3 9 0 1 1 4.50
Littell 10 0 10.3 8 2 2 3 13 0 1 0 1.74
Perez 6 2 15.6 17 13 9 6 10 0 0 2 5.17
Rogers 8 0 13 10 2 2 1 13 3 1 0 1.38
Stat break: 2009 Toronto Blue Jays
Hitters
Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SB Avg.
Barajas 83 9 18 13 6 1 4 3 0 .217
Bautista 79 14 10 4 0 0 2 8 0 .127
Encarncion 24 5 6 6 0 0 4 5 0 .250
Hill 97 18 28 20 5 0 4 2 0 .286
Inglett 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Lind 91 12 36 24 9 0 6 4 0 .395
McDonald 8 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .375
Millar 3 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 .333
Overbay 78 12 21 11 8 0 6 9 0 .269
Rolen 72 10 21 6 4 0 2 3 0 .292
Ruiz 10 4 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 .300
Scutaro 88 16 20 10 8 0 1 11 4 .227
Snider 72 9 16 8 4 0 2 9 0 .222
Wells 94 12 21 13 3 0 3 5 0 .223
Pitchers
Carlson 11 0 8 6 2 2 3 5 0 3 0 2.25
Frasor 6 0 8 5 2 1 0 7 2 0 0 1.13
Halladay 7 7 48.6 48 19 19 5 35 0 4 1 3.51
Richmond 4 4 19.6 20 13 13 7 9 0 1 2 5.95
Great Lakes bracket: 2019 Twins defeat 2009 Blue Jays in six games
Game One: Blue Jays 9, Twins 7
WP: League (1-0)
LP: Perez (0-2)
Save: Frasor (2)
HR: Arraez (1), Adrianza (1), Overbay (5)
Game Two: Twins 6, Blue Jays 2 (11 innings)
WP: Rogers (1-0)
LP: Janssen (0-1)
HR: Polanco (3), Barajas (4)
Game Three: Twins 6, Blue Jays 3
WP: Odorizzi (3-1)
LP: Richmond (1-2)
HR: Kepler (3), Cruz (5), Overbay (6), Encarncion 2 (4), Adrianaza (2)
Game Four: Twins 9, Blue Jays 4
WP: Gibson (2-0)
LP: Tallet (1-3)
HR: Hill (4), Polanco (4)
Game Five: Blue Jays 5, Twins 2 (15 innings)
WP: Camp (2-0)
LP: Duffey (1-1)
HR: Lind (6), Snider (2)
Game Six: Twins 9, Blue Jays 1
WP: Pineda (3-0)
LP: Romero (2-1)
HR: Garver (4), Kepler (4)
The Jays almost matched the Bomba squad in homers but couldn't keep up in total runs; the Twins scored 15 more in the six games.
Game One in Target Field set the high-scoring tone. The visiting Blue Jays scored four unearned runs over the final two innings as Miguel Sano committed a pair of errors at first base behind Sergio Romo and loser Martin Perez. Vernon Wells scored four runs and Jose Bautista three while Travis Snider and Rod Barajas each drove in a pair at the bottom of the Toronto order did a lot of damage.
Jorge Polanco's bottom of the 11th grand slam evened the series and made a winner of Taylor Rodgers, who worked three perfect innings with six strikeouts. Barajas drove in the two Toronto runs with a double and homer off Michael Pineda.
Max Kepler homered to lead off Game Three in Rogers Centre. Lyle Overbay and Edwin Encarncion hit back-to-back homers in the second to even the score at 2. But in the fourth the Twins pummeled Scott Richmond for a pair of doubles and a two-run homer by Ehire Adrianaza. Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer in the fifth. Jake Odorizzi went 7.1 innings for the win. Encarncion hit a second solo homer in the ninth for the Jays.
Kyle Gibson took a shutout into the seventh inning of Game Four, by which time the Twins had built a 9-0 lead. Polanco hit a three-run homer in the third off Brian Tallet. Aaron Hill hit a grand slam in the seventh off Tyler Duffey for the Toronto runs. Perez finished the game for Minnesota with two perfect innings.
The Jays kept the series alive with a 15-inning win in Game Five. Adam Lind hit a three-run homer off Duffey in the bottom of the 15th after Jason Frasor (two innings) and Shawn Camp (four innings) combined to retire the final 18 Twins hitters. Ryne Harper had a remarkable escape in the 14th; after Vernon Wells singled and Overbay doubled, the Twins walked Encarncion intentionally to load the bases with no outs. Harper then struck out Bautista, Snider and Barajas.
The series returned to Target Field for Game Six. Toronto scored an unearned run off Pineda in the first, but the Twins scored two in the bottom of the inning and led the rest of the way. Marwin Gonzalez and Max Kepler each drove in a pair of runs in the sixth as the Twins scored five runs off loser Ricky Romero and Scott Downs. Mitch Garver capped the game with a two-run homer in the eighth.
Player availablity: Miguel Sano is out through Game Four for the next round and may be deactivated. The Twins bullpen will be fully rested for the opener.
Projected rotation: Berrios-Odorizzi-Pineda-Gibson-(Berrios)-(Odorizzi)-(Pineda)
Friday, January 8, 2021
Stat break: 2009 Colorado Rockies
Hitters
Barmes 86 16 22 13 5 0 5 2 1 .255
Helton 84 12 25 7 6 0 1 12 0 .298
Tulowitzki 87 15 25 7 6 1 3 13 0 .287
Pitchers
Betancourt 10 0 8.3 9 4 4 2 6 1 0. 0 4.32
Conteras 4 0 10 13 7 7 3 4 0 0 0 6.30
Cook 4 4 23 32 18 18 4 10 0 2 1 7.04
Daley 13 0 10.3 7 2 2 2 13 0 0 0 1.74
de la Rosa 5 5 26.3 26 17 16 12 32 0 3 1 5.47
Jimenez 8 8 57 33 15 13 21 45 0 1 4 2.05
Marquis 6 6 39 26 12 12 10 25 0 4 2 2.77
F Morales 6 0 9.6 15 8 7 6 17 0 2 0 6.51