Anyone reading this who wants me to do a comparison on a specific AL player or players, just reply to the post.
Just wanted to chime in and let you know that someone out there is really enjoying your reports. I look forward to reading them when there is something new!
A few players that I would be curious about:
Carlton Fisk - basically done after 1991, curious about comparative number for a catcher
Fred Lynn - 300+ career HRs with only 1 season 30+ real life
Reggie Jackson - missing a couple of early seasons, but did he get to 500+ HRs?
Bert Blyleven - played a couple seasons in NL, but did he give up 400+ HRs and K 3,500+?
Rollie Fingers - how many saves did he get?
Thanks for your interest in this "project". Just so you'll know, I have used the closer option since the assn started. In fact, I don't think I had an option at the time (it was added after I started). For the players whose careers started before this assn., I just subtracted their real stats from their totals. Here they are:
Carlton Fisk (still active in PS)
AL '69-'90______.272 AVG_____354 HR_____1231 RBI_____128 SB
PS '69-'90______.254 AVG_____245 HR______811 RBI_______5 SB
Fred Lynn (1990 NL season included in real stats)
ML '74-'90______.283 AVG_____306 HR_____1111 RBI_____72 SB
PS '74-'90______.280 AVG_____351 HR_____1263 RBI____116 SB
Reggie Jackson (member of PS Hall of Fame)
AL '69-'87______.264 AVG_____533 HR_____1622 RBI_____213 SB
PS '69-'87______.282 AVG_____407 HR_____1300 RBI______87 SB
If Reggie's power stats seem low, it may be because he spent ALL of 1983 in the minors and then PS "retired" him. I had to import him into another assn and copy his ratings for 1984 and create him into MY assn. PS used this created player for both '84 and '85. I then had to do the same thing for both '86 and '87, following additional "retirements". His HOF election was based solely on his '69 to '83 stats.
Bert Blyleven (still active in PS) (real stats include his NL stats also)
ML '70-'90______W 279 L 238_____3.32 ERA_____3631 K_____1293 BB_____413 HR
PS '70-'90______W 242 L 141_____2.68 ERA_____2985 K_____1211 BB_____282 HR
Rollie Fingers (real stats include his NL stats also)
ML '69-'85______W 114 L 118_____2.89 ERA_____1299 K_____491 BB_____341 SV
PS '69-'85______W_76_L__66_____2.80 ERA_____1077 K_____439 BB_____592 SV (most in PS)
One side effect of having an AL assn with no DH is that the pitchers seem to get lifted for pinch hitters too early. This results in fewer wins for the starters, fewer complete games, and more appearances for the relievers. Some mediocre middle reliever named Schwabe just set the appearances record in 1990 with (gasp) 147. In his brief two-year MLB career, he made a grand total of 14 appearances. In his two-year PS career, he made 248 appearances.
On a couple occasions, I have suggested something that would prevent this sort of anomaly from happening. In an ideal PS world, the program would recognize a player's ACTUAL at-bats or innings pitched, perhaps based on a percentage of a team's AB or IP. Players would not be able to exceed their ACTUAL numbers without a serious performance and/or injury risk. The AI would be forced to bring up some players during the year who had only a few AB or IP, instead of automatically leaving those 5-point scrubs in the minors. It would also prevent AI from burying players in the minors who actually had a significant number of AB/IP for their teams (see Reggie Jackson 1983 above).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
All-Star Break, 1991. In the East, Boston sits at 52-28, 1/2 game ahead of Toronto. Baltimore is a distant third, 10 GB. In the West, Seattle has returned after taking 1990 off. The Mariners are 52-30, with Chicago 8 GB and California 10 1/2 GB.
Seattle's Ken Griffey, Jr. leads hitters with a .355 AVG. Bo Jackson's second at .344. Juan Gonzalez and Rob Deer lead with 24 HRs. The RBI/MVP race is really tight, as Bo Jackson has 60, Kent Hrbek has 59, and Gonzalez & Frank Thomas have 58.
Minnesota reliever Rick Aguilera leads the league in ERA with a 1.65. Juan Guzman is the closest starter with a 2.11. Baltimore's Bob Milacki leads in wins with a 10-2 mark. Six pitchers are tied with 9, the most impressive being Seattle's Erik Hanson (9-0, 2.17). Nolan Ryan is once again leading in the pack with 126 Ks. The 44-year-old has led the AL in strikeouts in 16 of his 19 seasons. His K total, including this season, sits at 4442, almost 1500 Ks ahead of everyone else.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
1991 regular season complete, and we have a rematch from 1989: Toronto vs Seattle. Toronto was never seriously challenged in the East, finishing 103-59. Boston ended up 6 back and Baltimore was 3rd, 9 games back. In the West, Minnesota caught fire in the second half and actually took the division lead a couple times in September. The Twins, unfortunately, had to face Toronto in a 3-game series at the end of the season. They dropped 2 of 3, while Seattle took 2 of 3 from Chicago to break a tie heading into the final Friday of the season. Seattle won the division on the season's final Sunday, beating the White Sox 2-1 on a Tino Martinez walk-off HR. Minnesota finished second, one game out, while the White Sox were 3rd, 6 GB.
Ken Griffey, Jr. captured the batting crown with a .322 AVG. Rickey Henderson was second at .311. Texas' Juan Gonzalez locked up the MVP by winning both the HR and RBI crowns at 43/117. Bud Black won a very close ERA title. Bud finished 13-5, 2.25. Also in contention were Bret Saberhagen (16-11, 2.28), Nolan Ryan (13-8, 2.28), and Mike Mussina (18-4, 2.29). Bob Milacki led in victories (19-5, 2.63). Ryan captured his 17th strikeout crown in 20 AL seasons.
On the ugly side of things, Detroit finished 54-108. Edwin Nunez finished 3-21 with a 9.09 ERA. Kevin Ritz fared just as bad (0-15, 11.22). For Ritz, it marks an improvement over last year (0-19, 11.91).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
World Series Game One matchup: Seattle's Mike Moore (9-10, 3.62) against Toronto's Jimmy Key (13-6, 2.79).
Jimmy Key starred on the mound and at the plate as Toronto easily took game one 7-0. The Toronto ace pitched a 6-hit shutout, striking out eight Mariners and walking none. Key's 3-run homer in the bottom of the 6th off Seattle reliever Dennis Powell capped the scoring. Key also had an RBI groundout in the 4th inning. Toronto batters pounded out 12 hits, including 8 off Seattle starter and losing pitcher Mike Moore. Moore was charged with 4 earned runs in 4-plus innings.
Game Two will see Seattle's Scott Bankhead (12-8, 3.18) take the mound against Toronto's Dave Stieb (also 12-8, 2.76).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Scott Bankhead went the distance on a 4-hit shutout as Seattle evened the series with Toronto at a game apiece with a 4-0 victory. Tino Martinez smacked a bases-clearing triple in the top of the first inning, then scored on a Rich Amaral groundout. Seattle was aided in the first inning by two Toronto errors and three Stieb walks. Stieb surrendered 7 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Bankhead was brilliant, allowing only one runner to reach third base, striking out six and walking two.
The series shifts domes to the Kingdome for game three. Toronto will send rookie Juan Guzman (13-6, 3.20) against Seattle's tall lefty Randy Johnson (13-8, 3.18).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Henry Cotto blasted a walk-off home run to left field leading off in the bottom of the 11th to give Seattle a thrilling 9-8 win and a 2-1 series lead. Cotto also homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 8-8 and send it to extra innings. In what was supposed to be a low-scoring matchup of power pitchers, both teams pounded out 12 hits. Both Juan Guzman and Randy Johnson were gone before the 4th inning was over, each surrendering 7 earned runs.
Toronto opened the scoring in the top of the first. Following two walks, Derek Bell swatted a three-run HR to give the Jays the early lead. The Mariners wasted no time in their half of the first. Edgar Martinez drove in two with a single. Rich Amaral followed with an RBI single. Dave Valle gave Seattle the lead 4-3 with his RBI groundout.
In the top of the second, Joe Carter's RBI triple, Kelly Gruber's two-run HR and John Olerud's RBI single chased Randy Johnson after 1 2/3 innings as Toronto regained the lead 7-4. A Ken Griffey, Jr. HR in the bottom half of the second brought Seattle to within 7-5. In the home half of the third inning, Edgar Martinez and Dave Valle hit solo homers to tie the score at 7-7. Following Cotto's lead-off single in the bottom of the 4th, Toronto finally went to the pen.
The long relievers, Jim Acker for Toronto and Floyd Bannister for Seattle, put zeroes on the board through the 6th inning. Kelly Gruber's second homer of the game, a solo shot off Seattle reliever Billy Swift in the top of the seventh, gave Toronto an 8-7 lead. Toronto's Acker pitched his 4th scoreless inning in the seventh and Toronto turned the game over to its normally lights-out combo of Duane Ward and Tom Henke. Ward retired the Mariners in order in the eighth with two strikeouts. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Cotto drove Tom Henke's second pitch over the left field wall. The normally automatic Henke (56 saves and only 5 blown saves on the season) was clearly rattled. Following a John Olerud error and two singles, Henke faced Mariners' pinch hitter Mike Kingery with two outs and the bases loaded. Kingery's bid at heroism fell about 5 feet short as his long drive was caught on the center field warning track.
Cotto, who had only 6 home runs during the season, lined a David Wells fastball over the left field fence to etch his name in the record books. Known primarily for his speed on the bases, Cotto is obviously the early front runner for series MVP. He is 7-for-15 with 5 stolen bases and several broken Toronto hearts through the first three games.
After the game three excitement, the teams regroup with Toronto's Bud Black (13-5, 2.25) facing Seattle's Erik Hanson (17-3, 2.63). Although relegated to the number four spot in the rotation, Hanson shined in his last three starts of the season. He won them all and is riding an 18 2/3 scoreless innings streak. The Seattle manager's decision to keep him in the #4 slot stirred a lot of talk in the Seattle community, but if Hanson wins and puts Seattle up 3 games to 1, things will be looking good for that manager (AI).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
The Toronto Blue Jays evened the series at two games apiece with an 8-6 win in Seattle. Joe Carter, Greg Myers and Kelly Gruber each smacked two-run homers to lead the Jays at the plate. Neither starting pitcher lasted five innings. Toronto's David Wells picked up the win in relief, despite surrendering a 3-run homer in the 9th to Jay Buhner. Seattle starter Erik Hanson lasted only 2 1/3 innings and took the loss. Toronto closer Tom Henke relieved Wells in the ninth and earned the save.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
The teams head back to Sky Dome with Seattle up 3-2 in the series following a 4-2 victory in game five. Henry Cotto's lead-off HR in the bottom of the first gave the Mariners a lead they would not relinquish. Scott Bradley's RBI single in the sixth put Seattle up 2-0. Toronto cut the lead in half in their seventh inning on an Ed Sprague RBI single, but Cotto once again sparked the Mariners. Cotto walked, stole second and third, then scored on a Jay Buhner double. Seattle increased their lead to 4-1 in the 8th on pinch hitter Greg Briley's RBI infield single. Mariner closer Mike Schooler allowed a Kelly Gruber solo shot in the 9th. Seattle starter Mike Moore went six effective innings for the win. Toronto's Jimmy Key lasted only four innings and took the loss.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
The Toronto Blue Jays got up off the canvas to even the series at three games apiece. Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the 9th, Toronto's bats woke up, winning 3-2 on a walk-off single by Rance Mulliniks.
Seattle's tandem of Scott Bankhead and Floyd Bannister held the Jays to only two hits through eight innings. The Mariners opened the scoring in the top of the sixth on Bankhead's triple and Ken Griffey Jr's single. They added to their lead in the seventh on an Edgar Martinez RBI single.
In the decisive bottom of the ninth, Seattle closer Mike Schooler retired pinch hitter Lloyd Moseby for the first out. Manny Lee singled and stole second. Lee scored on a George Bell triple. John Olerud tied the score at 2-2 on his RBI single. After Billy Swift replaced Schooler, Joe Carter reached on shortstop Mike Blowers' error. Swift then walked Kelly Gruber to load the bases. Pinch hitter Mulliniks chopped a ball over third. Seattle third baseman Edgar Martinez could only wait for the ball to come down from the sky. By the time the ball landed in Edgar's glove, the game was over. Schooler was charged with all three runs in 1/3 of an inning and took the loss. Jim Acker pitched two scoreless innings in relief and picked up the win.
The two teams send game three starters Randy Johnson and Juan Guzman to the hill for the seventh game.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
John Olerud led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo home run over the right field wall to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 1-0 victory and their fourth title. Olerud's blast off of Seattle reliever Floyd Bannister capped a great postseason. Toronto's Mike Timlin picked up the win in relief, combining with Juan Guzman, Duane Ward, David Wells and David Weathers to shut down the Mariners on seven hits. Seattle pitchers Randy Johnson and Bannister held the Jays to only five hits, but the fifth one sailed into the right field seats and gave a capacity Sky Dome crowd reason to celebrate.
For the regular season, Texas' Juan Gonzalez took the MVP award, while Baltimore's Mike Mussina was the Cy Young winner. The 1991 season will be hard to top in terms of excitement, with the AL West and two series games decided on walk-off homers.
Seattle's AI manager caused a stir in the last two games by shuffling his lineup. In game six, Henry Cotto was moved from the lead-off spot to third in the order and went 0-for-4. Cotto was not in the starting lineup for the seventh and deciding game. He did appear as a pinch runner in the top of the 9th, replacing Edgar Martinez, who led off with a single. Cotto stole second with two outs, but was stranded when Scott Bradley flew out to end the inning. For the series, Edgar Martinez led all hitters with a .462 average. Cotto ended up at .321, with 3 HRs and 6 SBs. George Bell led Toronto with a .370 average.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Kirby Puckett leads the league in AVG at .338, with Jim Thome right behind him at .337.
Rob Deer has 31 HRs and Thome has 30. Deer also leads with 69 RBI. Thome, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire all have 64.
Several pitchers are off to good starts in 1992. Minnesota's John Smiley leads in ERA with 1.45 and a 9-2 record. 45-year-old Nolan Ryan sits at 1.54 with a 10-2 mark. Others enjoying good first halves are: Jimmy Key (11-5, 2.58), Hipolito Pichardo (11-3, 2.86), and Frank Tanana (10-1, 4.46).
Roger Clemens has 125 strikeouts. Ryan continues to mow 'em down (he has 114).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Neither Cleveland nor KC could keep their division leads, both giving way in August. In the East, it's Toronto once again. The Jays finished 90-72, holding off Boston in the last two weeks. The Sawx ended up two games back, while Cleveland was third and 4 games back.
In the West, the Chicago White Sox overtook the Royals and finished 93-68. Oakland ended up 4 1/2 games out, while KC was third and 7 1/2 games back. It will be Toronto vs Chicago in a rematch of the 1990 series, won in seven games by the White Sox.
Cleveland's Jim Thome won the batting title at .343. Boston's Mo Vaughn was second at .336. Milwaukee's Rob Deer crushed 54 HRs and drove in 119 runs to win both crowns (and his first MVP award).
John Smiley held off Nolan Ryan for the ERA title. Smiley ended up 16-6 with a 1.84 ERA. Ryan was 18-6 and 1.93. Jimmy Key of Toronto went 19-7, 2.73 to lead the league in wins. Roger Clemens edged Ryan 210-207 for the strikeout title.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Series Game One: Jimmy Key (19-7, 2.73) vs Greg Hibbard (12-8, 3.81).
The Chicago White Sox opened the 1992 series with a 6-4 win over Toronto. Robin Ventura's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 8th snapped a 4-4 tie. Chicago opened the scoring in the bottom of the second on Warren Newson's 3-run homer. Toronto cut into the lead in the top of the third as they plated one run on a Dale Sveum fielding error with two outs. Chicago reclaimed their 3-run lead in the bottom of the third on Bo Jackson's solo homer. Toronto pulled to within 4-3 on Pat Borders' two-run shot in the 4th, then tied the game 4-4 in the 6th on a Roberto Alomar RBI groundout. Ventura's single came off Toronto reliever and losing pitcher David Wells and made a winner of Chicago reliever Ramon Garcia. For the White Sox, Bobby Thigpen struck out the side in the 9th for the save.
In Game Two, Toronto sends Dave Stieb (9-14, 3.34) against Chicago's Jack McDowell (15-9, 2.52). The matchup would appear to favor the Sox, but Stieb has tons of postseason experience. This will be Stieb's 15th postseason start and McDowell's 3rd.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
The White Sox won a back and forth slugfest 10-9 to go up two games to none in the series. Once again, it was Robin Ventura with the key hit. Ventura smacked a bases-loaded double in the 5th to cap a five-run inning and put Chicago up 10-6.
Joe Carter gave the Jays the early lead with a two-run HR in the first. Chicago cut the lead in half in their first inning on Bo Jackson's RBI groundout. Frank Thomas put the Sox ahead in the third with his two-run shot. Manny Lee responded in the 4th with his own two-run shot to put Toronto up 4-3. Chicago starting pitcher Jack McDowell hit an opposite-field two-run homer in the bottom of the 4th to give Chicago a 5-4 lead. A Joe Carter two-run triple in the top of the fifth put Toronto up 6-5 and chased McDowell. After Chicago's five-spot in the 5th gave the Sox their 10-6 lead, they held off an 8th-inning rally by the Jays. Toronto scored on a bases-loaded walk to Pat Borders and a two-run double by pinch hitter Devon White. Bobby Thigpen again picked up a save in the 9th for Chicago.
The two teams now pack and gather their passports for the trip to Toronto. The White Sox send Alex Fernandez (9-10, 3.68) to the hill to oppose Toronto's Todd Stottlemyre (7-8, 3.82).
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
The Chicago White Sox are on the doorstep to a title. The Sox went up three games to none with a come-from-behind 4-3 win in Sky Dome. Toronto led 3-1 going into the ninth and turned things over to closer Duane Ward, who quickly retired the first two batters. Dale Sveum and Craig Grebeck both singled. Pinch hitter Carlos Martinez tied the game on a triple off the center field wall. Tim Raines then drove in the eventual game-winner with his single to left field.
Toronto made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth off Chicago closer Bobby Thigpen. With one out, George Bell doubled down the left field line. After a John Olerud fly out, Joe Carter singled to right. The AI third base coach held Bell at third. With two out and runners on the corners, Derek Bell sliced a sinking liner to right. Dan Pasqua made the catch to end the game.
The White Sox will try for the sweep tomorrow, sending lefty Wilson Alvarez (8-6, 3.75) up against David Cone (3-2, 2.98). Cone, acquired in an August 27th trade with the Mets, was 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in his first three starts for Toronto. He struggled in his final 4 starts of the regular season, going 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA. Alvarez struggled with his control all season, walking 99 batters in 170 1/3 innings. Due to high pitch counts, his longest outing of the season was 7 2/3 innings.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
It took 15 innings, but the Chicago White Sox finished off a 4-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 2-1 win. Nelson Santovenia's RBI single scored Tim Raines with the game-winner. After two outs, Raines doubled and stole third off losing pitcher Mike Timlin. Chicago's Ramon Garcia picked up the win in relief, while Bobby Thigpen retired the Jays in the bottom of the 15th for his fourth save of the series.
Toronto scored first on a Manny Lee sacrifice fly in the 3rd. Chicago tied the score in the 4th on a Dale Sveum RBI single. Both teams' bullpens then shut the door, as the game went scoreless for the next 10 innings. This title is number three for the White Sox, who also won crowns in 1990 and 1974. Toronto is now 4-4 in Series action.
For the regular season awards, Rob Deer, as expected, took MVP honors. There was a surprise in the Cy Young voting, however. Detroit reliever/closer Mike Henneman won the award after posting a mark of 18-11, with 22 saves and a 3.27 ERA. Henneman's Tigers finished a dreadful 65-97 and finished last for the third straight year. Detroit's pitching has been awful.
The season highlight, perhaps, occurred on July 24th at California against the Angels. Much-maligned Detroit pitcher Kevin Ritz picked up his first major league win, allowing one earned run in two innings of relief. Ritz had started his career with a record of 0-39. He did drop his final two decisions of the season to stand at 1-41. For the season, Ritz was 1-7 with a 17.68 ERA. Despite his woeful stats, he was forced to make 19 starts during the year, as the Detroit organization is painfully short on mound talent.
Detroit signed former All-Star Fernando Valenzuela in March, but there was no Fernandomania left in the tank, apparently. The jovial Mexican left-hander never got the call to Detroit and finished 3-12 with a 5.30 ERA at Triple-A Toledo.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
With the 1993 season underway, I was forced to look ahead to the 1994 strike season, which ended in August that year. My first thought was to play the games all the way through for a full season (as I did in 1981). I knew the Brewers changing leagues in 1998 was going to end this association, but I had forgotten one important detail for 1994.
In 1994, both MLB leagues realigned into three divisions. While it would be possible to set up another association starting in 1994, with the historically accurate divisions, I have decided that ending this assn. after 1993 would be a better idea. Ending in 1993 would give me 25 years of "No Free Agency / No DH history to compare with real MLB and I feel that's a good enough amount to be "valuable", if that's the right word.
Next, I plan on doing a National League "No Free Agency" association. It will be fun to see some of those players I missed out on earlier (Schmidt, Bench, Murphy, Sutton, Carlton, J.R. Richard, to name a few). Also, there was NO expansion in the NL from 1969-1992. That will be a relief, not having to deal with the dreaded "team number" problems I encountered when I tried to make up my own historically accurate skeds.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Texas' Juan Gonzalez leads all triple crown categories. His .329 AVG tops teammate Jose Canseco's .317. Juan's 33 HRs are three better than Oakland's Mark McGwire. His 76 RBIs are 8 better than Frank Thomas and McGwire's 68.
John Smiley of Minnesota leads the league in ERA at 2.01. He is also 7-4. Toronto's David Cone is at 2.05 and 7-5. 46-year-old Nolan Ryan is tied for the lead in wins at 10-3, 2.96. This is his (and the assn's) last season and he has never tasted postseason action. His Angels are in last place, so it looks like he never will. Maybe his Mets of 1969-71 will make it in my next assn. Chicago's Jack McDowell is 10-2, 2.56.
Seattle's Randy Johnson leads all hurlers in Ks with 127. Ryan has (finally) started to show his age in this department. He sits in 13th place with 93
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
Milwaukee held off challenges from Baltimore and Toronto to take the AL East. The Brewers ended up 86-76, two better than Baltimore and 4 ahead of Toronto. Everyone else finished below .500.
In the West, Chicago kept the lead throughout the second half. The defending champs finished 95-67. Texas was five back, Seattle 8 back, Oakland 10 back, and Minnesota 14 back and 81-81.
Ken Griffey, Jr. passed Juan Gonzalez and took the batting crown, .346 to Juan's .332. Gonzalez will see plenty of hardware, however, as he led the league in both HR and RBI with 62/133. Mark McGwire was second in both with 55/132. Gonzalez needed a 2-run HR on the season's final day to eclipse McGwire in the RBI/MVP race.
Chicago's Jack McDowell was the ERA leader. Black Jack ended up at 2.52 and posted a 17-7 W-L record. Kevin Appier was 2.64 and Nolan Ryan third at 2.66. Ryan went out with a bang, leading the league in wins at 19-8. He failed in his attempt to win twenty, as he gave up four solo HRs at Minnesota and took the loss on the season's final Friday. Scott Erickson finished 16-7, 2.75 for Minnesota. Seattle's Randy Johnson led in strikeouts with 224. The Yankees' Melido Perez whiffed 216. The great Nolan Ryan finished the season with 187 Ks, 5th place on the season. His career totals are 295-235, with 4,955 strikeouts. Both his wins and strikeouts are the high-water marks for this assn., which will end after 25 enjoyable seasons.
On to the final postseason, with Chicago looking to repeat in the battle for Lake Michigan. Both AI managers have made interesting choices to start the opener. Milwaukee goes with Jaime Navarro (4-6, 4.90). Navarro shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen all season, making 24 starts. His only start against Chicago came on June 19th. Navarro got no decision in a 5-4 Milwaukee win in a game that went 16 innings. Navarro allowed 6 hits and 3 earned runs in 7 innings.
Chicago counters with Tim Belcher (6-5, 5.71), acquired from the NL at the trading deadline. Belcher made 12 starts for the Sox, but allowed 6 or more earned runs in 4 of those starts. Belcher faced the Brewers just once during the season. On September 15th in Chicago, Belcher allowed 12 hits and 7 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 16-5 loss to Milwaukee.
"Better to sleep with old hen than pullet" - Redd Foxx
