Arena The Baseball Draft Three - Baseball Dynasty

Sunday, Intytober 19th

A Shaq of Their Own at stone temple seattle pilots

Doc White vs. Jack Taylor for the #1 seed ...

and Taylor blinked first.

Arky Vaughan and Tris Speaker singled to open the second inning, putting runners on the corners. Taylor got mostly out of the jam, inducing a double-play ground ball from Jack Clements, though it scored Vaughan to make it 1-0, and a ground out from White.

That 1-0 score would hold until the fourth.

Wee Willie Keeler - who some would have you believe is owed to the MVP trophy for the same reasons Mel Ott won it last year - got a leadoff single, and after a Vaughan fly out stole second. Tris Speaker singled, and Keeler scored, doubling the Shaq lead to 2-0. Speaker was caught stealing, Clements singled, and White grounded out to end the inning, with Taylor doing a remarkable job of limiting damage.

And the pitching would hold for a good while from there, with Taylor dancing in out and trouble, scattering nine hits and allowing those two runs, and White not allowing himself into trouble, giving up no runs on four hits as we entered the top of the seventh.

Taylor would find himself in a jam once again. Clements singled to open the inning, and after White hit into a fielder's choice, singles from John McGraw and Shoeless Joe Jackson loaded the bases. Taylor wouldn't find magic this time, and the jam got him, with a bases-clearing double from Ted Williams, and an RBI single from George Sisler. Wee Willie Keeler singled to move Sisler to third and stole second, with a single from Vaughan scoring them both, and ending the night for Taylor, with Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan going to Chad Green. Green gave up a single to Speaker and a two-run double to Clements before retiring White and McGraw, but the damage was done, and a Shaq of Their Own held a commanding 10-0 lead.

White wouldn't give them any hope of a comeback, exiting after eight-and-one-third inning, scattering eight hits, allowing no runs, striking out none and walking three. Hong-Chih Kuo would get the final two outs, striking out Lou Gehrig and getting a weak fly ball from Hugh Duffy to bring the regular season to a close.

John Smoltz was heard wondering on the broadcast if Shaq-as-Barnes-as-Dugan had pulled White to prevent the complete game shutout and help Addie Joss win the Cy Young.

A Shaq of Their Own would turn to scoreboard to find out their first round opponent, while stone temple seattle pilots now knew they were locked in to face ASSES.

Player of the Game, Brought to you by Everyday is Halloween: Doc White
Final: Shaq 10, pilots 0
Win: White (25-4)
Loss: Taylor (17-8)

Incheon Hash Slingers of New York at Sudden Valley Cornballers

The task for Incheon Hash Slingers was known - avoid too much scoreboard watching, win your game, and hope for help from the devil himself.

Standing in their way? The legendary Bob Gibson.

Also standing in their way? Tim Keefe ****ing the bed.

Which is exactly what Keefe did, unable to make it out of the first inning.

A Billy Hamilton single, Rogers Hornsby walk, and Jeff Bagwell hit by pitch loaded the bases, a walk to Babe Ruth scored the first run, a Luis Gonzalez single scored two more, a Gabby Harnett single scored another, and a George Davis sac fly scored another and was finally the first out of the inning. Ken Caminiti walk, and Gibson laid down a bunt to move the runners up, before a Hamtilon RBI single and a two-run double from Hornsby finally got Izzy Mandelbaum to remove Keefe, down 8-0, in favor of Sean Doolittle, who retired Jeff Bagwell to end the inning.

Bob Gibson was ... fine ... especially staked to an early 8-0 lead. He tossed a complete game, as the Hash Slingers couldn't crawl out of the early deficit, giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits, with no walks and six strikeouts.

And for the teams watching this scoreboard, they could settle back into their own games early.

Player of the Game, Brought to you by ****ing the bed in the final game of the season: Rogers Hornsby or Bob Gibson, you pick
Final: Cornballers 12, Hash Slingers 4
Win: Gibson (7-8)
Loss: Keefe (9-13)

Game of Throws at Every City Bandwagoners

The task for Every City Bandwagoners was known - avoid too much scoreboard watching, win your game, and hope for help from the devil himself.

Standing in their way? The legendary Corey Kluber.

Also standing in their way? C. C. Sabathia ****ing the bed.

While I wouldn't call it ****ing the bed, Sabathia did not give his team the start they wanted, hitting trouble in the fourth inning.

Jason Giambi singled to open the inning, and Chris Hoiles laced a one-out single to put Giambi on second. Corey Kluber then helped his own cause, singling to score Giambi. Robin Yount doubled to score Hoiles, and Robbie Alomar made it 4-0 with a single to score Kluber and Yount. Alomar stole second, and a Joe Dimaggio ground out was followed by a Carl Yastrzemski prompting Judge Judy to pull Sabathia. She went with Goose Gossage, and he got Hack Wilson to ground out and end the inning.

Albert Pujols lead off the bottom of the inning with a homer, slicing the deficit to 4-1, and a Mike Schmidt single was followed by a Larry Walker double, scoring Schmidt to make it 4-2. Buster Bluth walked, and Eddie Collins singled home Walker, but a strikeout of Honus Wagner, a Gossage sac bunt, and an Ichiro ground out ended the rally, with the Bandwagoners still trailing 4-3.

Carl Yastrzemski added an RBI single in the top of the sixth to push the lead to 5-3, but Walker homered to leadoff the bottom of the inning, keeping Every City within a single run.

Rock Beck and Jonathan Papelbon gave hope to the Bandwagoners, putting up goose eggs in the 7th and 8th, and when Judge Judy remembered Mariano Rivera was on the roster, she used him to get to the ninth, still trailing by a score of a 5-4.

The Bandwagoners were down to their final three outs, and it wouldn't matter what happened in New York if they couldn't get a run (or more) here.

Trevor Hoffman was the call from Jon Snow, and he gave up a leadoff single to Ichiro, and he moved to third on a single from Mickey Mantle. In the most heels way possible, the Bandwagoners tied the game, with Albert Pujols hitting into a double play, but Ichiro scoring to tie the game at five, and a Mike Schmidt strikeout sending us to extra innings.

Rivera started the tenth, walking the pinch hitting Ralph Kiner, before getting a fielder's choice from Robin Yount and striking out Robbie Alomar. Judy decided to go to Francisco Rodriguez, probably she knows heels is going to fire her unless she wins the World Series, and Rodriguez gave up a single to Joe Dimaggio and walked Carl Yastrzemski, loading the bases with two outs.

Hack Wilson hit a screamer of a line drive ... Honus Wagner leapt ... and made the catch! The inning was over, the Bandwagoners escaped the jam, and they had a chance to win it in the bottom of the tenth.

Jon Snow gave the ball to Francisco Cordero.

And Larry Walker connected with the fourth pitch he offered, sending it high, sending it deep, and sending it to souvenir city well beyond the wall in right field for a walk-off homer to keep playoff hopes alive.

Player of the Game, brought to you by THE DRAMA OF THE BULLPEN: Larry Walker
Final: Bandwagoners 6, Game of Throws 5 (10 innings)
Win: Rodriguez (4-4)
Loss: Cordero (5-10)

ASSES at Performance Enhancers

The ASSES knew they were in.

The Performance Enhancers knew they had a tomorrow - either as the #4 seed, or in a tiebreaker game. If they won, they'd get in, and if they lost they'd be watching the scoreboard to learn their fate.

Old Hoss Radbourn gave the Enhancers everything he had and every chance to win, going eight innings, giving up two runs while scattering eleven hits, striking out one and walking one.

A Troy Tulowitzki RBI single in the fifth and an RBI triple from Marlon from Finding Nemo in the seventh were the only runs the ASSES could scrape out.

But, Walter Johnson had been ... up to this point ... even better than Radbourn, taking a four-hit shutout into the ninth.

But, against the Enhancers, no lead is safe. And Johnson would have to face the heart of the lineup.

Alex Rodriguez got a single to open the ninth, meaning the tying run would come to the plate. Barry Bonds was the first to represent the tying run, but he lined out to the fish playing second. Norm Cash grounded out, with Rodriguez moving to second, but the Enhancers were down to their final out.

And Johnson would get a shallow flyout from Harry Heilman, ending the game, and giving him the shutout win in the season finale.

Player of the Game, Brought to you by needing a few more needles: Walter Johnson
Final: ASSES 2, Enhancers 0
Win: Johnson (24-7)
Loss: Radbourn (10-10)



FINAL STANDINGS

y - A Shaq of Their Own 89 - 43 .674
x - stone temple seattle pilots 88 - 44 .667
x - ASSES 80 - 52 .606
t - Performance Enhancers 78 - 54 .560
t - Every City Bandwagoners 78 54 .560
z - Incheon Hash Slinger 77 - 55 .583
z - Sudden Valley Cornballers 76 - 56 .576
z - Let's Play Two 63 - 69 .477
z - Reseda Free Fallers 58 - 74 .439
z - Amazings 41 - 91 .311
z - Game of Throws 38 - 64 .288
z - Acuña Matata 26 - 106 .197



Following an off Day on Intytober 20th, @Point Given and Performance Enhancers will host a one-game playoff against @heels1785 and Every City Bandwagoners on Intytober 21st. Pitchers who started on the 18th and 19th cannot be started in the one-game playoff. Lineups and starters when you have them ready.

 

damn, gg lloyd. whipped me real good. hopefully that's the wakeup call we needed for the playoffs.

 

Jackie Robinson, 2B
Chuck Klein, RF
Stan Musial, LF
Mel Ott, 3B
Hank Greenberg, 1B
Roberto Clemente, CF
Cal Ripken, Jr, SS
Roy Campanella, C

Doc Gooden
Jacob deGrom
Lefty Grove
Warren Spahn
Kid Nichols
Hal Newhouser

I know I'm not playing any more but the last couple of days seemed like a lot of fun and I just want to feel like a part of it.

Amazing.

 

On the bright side, you do get a jump on scouting for 2021

 

here at long last are the final regular stats for the pilots.

 

Aren't you glad I f'n narced on you now?!?

Also -- @tom I should never have traded you Duffy. And I'm sorry we have to face each other now, I wanted to let Lloyd be the one to knock me out.

 

meh, as you can see above duffy didn't even hit .300 for me and he's not one of my keepers. it was i who shouldn't have traded you cedeno.

 

Wow. I mean, butterfly effect and all, but I'm glad tom said no to that preseason Musial for Brett trade offer. Cams ended up outperforming him in almost every respect except for BA. Didn't expect that.

I'll get the final stats compiled when I get home. I do know that Hamilton had a MONSTER Intytober and is making my final keeper decision stupid-tough. Dude did everything in his power to put the team on his back and be our Sherpa, but we just didn't want it enough.

 

yeah brett was one guy who i thought was a for sure keeper but then gradually worked his way into the doghouse. honestly just about everyone i traded for fell a bit flat, but it was still a big part of the fun.

 

I'm still pissed Wangers didn't trade me Billy Hamilton the Elder because I asked him to think about it riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight before he started taking off and then... he took off.

 

So ends the Incheon Hash Slingers of New York's season. Getting dq'ed by our second round pick, very fitting. Here are the stats:


Lloyd Braun Player of the Year Award
Kenny Lofton

The Festivus Pitcher of the Year
Sean Doolittle

The Frank Costanza TV Guide Award
Jimmie Foxx, for his post all-star game surge

The Bro Award, presented by Kramerica Industries
Hughie Jennings, for the innovative use of his body instead of a baseball bat

 

i really wanted lofton. i remember you picked him right before i was going to.

 

Heart and soul of the team. I know Jocko's numbers are better, and he's the favorite, but who was more clutch than Kenny? No one that I can recall, which is tremendously biased.

He had a 13 game hit streak (bested by Kelley at 16), and 52 games with more than 1 hit (including 19 with 3 or more). 80 RBIs! 40 bags!

I didn't keep track of his fielding, but I'm sure it's tremendous.

 

I sincerely considered throwing the series for the chance.

Narc Bowl is a nice alternative

 

Ugh, almost wish I hadn't compiled my stats. It's too depressing. So I didn't see the spreadsheet asw posted until well into the season, so these stats are extremely imperfect. I have nothing from the dudes I traded for the Babe, I didn't keep track of any of the pinch hitting ABs from... any point at all before Intytober, and I didn't keep track of fun stuff like HBP and the like, so I can't do proper OBP or OPS, if they only made a couple of appearances (like Bartolo) I didn't track it, my entire first series is missing, etc, etc.

Bottom line: My offense was fine. More than fine. My bullpen, despite finally stumbling some towards the end, was fine.

And had most of my rotation been... say... 25% closer to what they're capable of, we probably could've won 95 games.

Rotation Pitchers

Three Finger: IP - 203 / H - 248 / R - 124 / ER - 109 / BB - 70 / SO - 48 / W - 10 / L - 11 / ERA - 4.83 / WHIP - 1.56

Bob Gibson: IP - 149.2 / H - 173 / R - 108 / ER - 84 / BB - 70 / SO - 111 / W - 7 / L - 9 / ERA - 5.05 / WHIP - 1.62

Dutch Leonard: IP - 103.2 / H - 117 / R - 73 / ER - 68 / BB - 53 / SO - 77 / W - 5 / L - 8 / ERA - 5.90 / WHIP - 1.63

Ice Box Chamberlain: IP - 109.1 / H - 101 / R - 49 / ER - 40 / BB - 51 / SO - 31 / W - 7 / L - 2 / ERA - 3.29 / WHIP - 1.39

Ron Guidry: IP - 205.1 / H - 198 / R - 109 / ER - 96 / BB - 92 / SO - 148 / W - 14 / L - 5 / ERA - 4.21 / WHIP - 1.41

Gerrit Cole: IP - 45 / H - 53 / R - 46 / ER - 42 / BB - 22 / SO - 35 / W - 1 / L - 4 / ERA - 8.40 / WHIP - 1.66

Spoiler: language warning

And that's not even counting Doc Gooden, who was just as atrocious for like 4 games. I mean... how does this... but...

Guidry only had that good of a record because he almost never **** the bed in the same way 3F, Bob and Dutch did so very consistently. You could almost always count on him to give up 3-5 runs, but that was more than enough for the offense to carry us to win most of the time. And unfortunately Ice Box became a mortal as the season winded down.

Bullpen

Kenley Jansen: IP - 49.2 / H - 43 / R - 22 / ER - 19 / BB - 9 / SO - 54 / W - 4 / L - 3 / SV - 5 / ERA 3.44 / WHIP - 1.04

Takashi Saito: IP - 39.1 / H - 41 / R - 20 / ER - 20 / BB - 15 / SO - 43 / W - 4 / L - 0 / SV - 0 / ERA 4.58 / WHIP - 1.42

Aroldis Chapman : IP - 76.1 / H - 58 / R - 36 / ER - 29 / BB - 46 / SO - 87 / W - 7 / L - 4 / SV - 2 / ERA 3.42 / WHIP 1.36

BJ Ryan: IP - 67.2 / H - 49 / R - 20 / ER - 18 / BB - 30 / SO - 65 / W - 10 / L - 1 / SV - 1 / ERA - 2.39 / WHIP - 1.16

Fernando Rodney: IP - 30.1 / H - 26 / R - 11 / ER - 9 / BB - 7 / SO - 25 / W - 3 / L - 3 / SV - 18 / ERA - 2.67 / WHIP - 1.08

So what I was going to say about my bullpen a little while back (before I got worried that saying something would jinx things and things then got jinxed anyways) is that even though some of them had gotten shelled on occasion and didn't have the greatest ERA or whatever, that was usually only when a game was already in the bag for the Cornballers or completely out of reach for us. When the game was tight and the pressure was on, they were ALL almost always completely locked in and near un-hittable. And then Intytober happened. 6 critical games lost by the pen and the shine came right off of Rodney.

Ryan was a really nice surprise, though. He got shelled in a few select games, but other than that, he was absolutely lights out. Not bad for a 24th round pick.

Offense

Billy Hamilton: AB - 523 / R - 119 / H - 180 / RBI - 49 / BB - 76 / 2B - 11 / 3B - 9 / HR - 2 / TB - 214 / SB - 67 / BA - .344

Rogers Hornsby: AB - 549 / R -120 / H - 171 / RBI - 104 / BB - 55 / 2B - 29 / 3B - 7 / HR - 22 / TB - 280 / SB - 0 / BA - .311

Jeff Bagwell: AB - 459 / R - 100 / H - 152 / RBI - 102 / BB - 50 / 2B - 17 / 3B - 1 / HR - 29 / TB - 257 / SB - 17 / BA - .331

Babe Ruth: AB - 382 / R - 94 / H - 115 / RBI - 110 / BB - 89 / 2B - 16 / 3B - 4 / HR - 39 / TB - 256 / SB - 3 / BA - .301

Luis Gonzalez: AB - 307 / R - 53 / H - 102 / RBI - 71 / BB - 37 / 2B - 13 / 3B - 5 / HR - 14 / TB - 166 / SB - 0 / BA - .332

Shawon Dunston: AB - 219 / R - 34 / H - 68 / RBI - 47 / BB - 2 / 2B - 4 / 3B - 3 / HR - 7 / TB - 109 / SB - 10 / BA - .311

Gabby Hartnett: AB - 334 / R - 41 / H - 79 / RBI - 43 / BB - 30 / 2B - 11 / 3B - 0 / HR - 13 / TB - 129 / SB - 0 / BA - .237

Ken Caminiti: AB - 419 / R - 58 / H - 118 / RBI - 82 / BB - 45 / 2B - 23 / 3B - 3 / HR - 16 / TB - 196 / SB - 1 / BA - .282

Carlos Delgado: AB - 55 / R - 10 / H - 23 / RBI - 21 / BB - 6 / 2B - 6 / 3B - 0 / HR - 2 / TB - 35 / SB - 0 / BA - .418

Roger Bresnahan: AB - 89 / R - 20 / H - 27 / RBI - 10 / BB - 14 / 2B - 8 / 3B - 3 / HR - 0 / TB - 42 / SB - 7 / BA - .303

Sam Thompson: AB - 214 / R - 29 / H - 58 / RBI - 25 / BB - 23 / 2B - 8 / 3B - 3 / HR - 2 / TB - 78 / SB - 6 / BA - .271

Didn't track/erased the numbers for Musial, Klein, Campanella, A-Rod, Hughie, Doc, Davis, Glasscock, Delahanty and the rest of the Dick Brigade.

They were SO GOOD. The biggest disappointment given the amount of ABs was Thompson. Hartnett's average was low, but he had some pop in his bat, was a major player in number of key games and was amazing on defense all year.

EVERYONE ELSE WAS OVER .300 OR NEAR IT.

Caminiti turned in a better season than George Brett (including BA, I was wrong).

The Babe turned in those insane #s PLUS whatever he had for the Amazings in the first month.

Delgado could've been a starter all year for most teams in the league.

Dunston... was a step down from Hughie, but still great. Sucky short-seasoner, though.

Bresnahan, while a defensive liability, is a total offensive Swiss Army knife.

Gonzalez was a rock.

Bagwell had a power outage towards the end of the season (partly why I started playing Delgado), but was crazy good start to finish.

Hornsby put up that unbelievable production despite having not one, but TWO off months (Maeby and Intytober).

And Hamilton? Sloppy Aproids, but after that? Baller. Straight baller. He hit .474 in Intytober, doing his best to will us to the playoffs. And we failed him.

How was our pitching so far out of whack?

Shame. Shame. Shame.

 

I truly love the way you all love your teams, and the passion you pour into this game. Stuff like that buoys my spirits and keeps me going through some of the long slogs of a season.

 

Edit: Dammit wrong thread!

 

Tuesday, Intytober 21st

Every City Bandwagoners at Performance Enhancers
First Pitch: 7:07 pm EST
From City Field in Queens, NY

After one-hundred and thirty-two games, nothing separated Every City Bandwagoners and Performance Enhancers, leading to a one-game playoff.

One team would experience the bitter taste of defeat, and go into the off-season, evaluating keepers, draft boards, and new strategies. And the other would get a date with A Shaq of Their Own, starting tomorrow.

With two outs, in the top of the first, Every City Bandwagoners would get the start they were hoping for, as Tom Seaver missed with a fastball, and Albert Pujols put the bat to the ball, and the ball over the fence in left-center, his two-out solo homer giving them an early 1-0 lead.

Bret Saberhagen took the mound, with the 1-0 lead, and immediately gave that lead up. Mike Trout double to open the game, and Alex Rodriguez singled to bring him home. Barry Bonds singled, moving Rodriguez to second, and Norm Cash was on the money, singling to bring Rodriguez home and move Bonds to third. Harry Heilman grounded out to Honus Wagner, but the Hall of Famer made a bad throw, Heilman reached, and Bonds scored. The Enhancers would bat around in the first inning, with Saberhagen striking out Seaver with the bases loaded, but the champs on top 3-1 after one inning.

The second inning saw both teams get runners on the corners with two outs, but neither team able to score.

The top of the third saw Seaver work around a one-out walk to Mickey Mantle, and the bottom of the third saw the Enhancers add an insurance run.

Al Rosen and Joe Mauer walked to open the inning, as Saberhagen struggled with his control. Charlie Gehringer singled, scoring Rosen and moving Mauer to third. But Saberhagen righted the ship, striking out Seaver and getting Trout to bounce into an inning-ending, rally-killing 4-6-3 double play.

Through three innings ...
Performance Enhancers 4, Bandwagoners 1

 

The top of the fourth inning saw Eddie Collins get a two-out single off of Tom Seaver, but no harm came as Seaver got a ground out from Honus Wagner.

The bottom of the fourth saw Saberhagen immediately finding trouble again. Alex Rodriguez doubled to open the inning, and after Barry Bonds struck out, Norm Cash singled to score Rodriguez. However, the Enhancers wouldn't find a big inning, as Cash was caught trying to steal, and a Harry Heilman flyout ended the inning, with just the one run in.

Saberhagen used his bat to try to rally in the fifth, getting a leadoff single, and moving to second as Ichiro delivered an infield single. Mickey Mantle hit into a fielder's choice, with Saberhagen moving to third and Ichiro retired at second, and Albert Pujols grounded out, with Mantle retired at second, but Saberhagen scoring. Mike Schmidt walked with two outs, bringing up Larry Walker with two on and two out, and he caught a pitch from Seaver and sent it high and deep to right-center, but Mike Trout settled under it on the warning track, and it was the third out of the inning.

Saberhagen worked around his own error in the bottom of the fifth, hoping to keep momentum on his team's side as they came to bat in the sixth.

And that momentum would, indeed, stay with the Bandwagoners.

Eddie Collins drew a one out walk, and Honus Wagner laced a line-drive double to center, scoring Collins. Saberhagen popped out for the second out, but an error by Al Rosen put Ichiro on base, giving Mickey Mantle two-on and two-out. But, the Mick grounded out into a routine 6-4, ending the inning with the score narrowed to 5-3.

Saberhagen worked around a two-out single by Barry Bonds in the bottom of the sixth, and you could really feel the winds of momentum lining up behind the Bandwagoners, as the game shifted to the seventh inning.

Tom Seaver retired Albert Pujols to open the inning, and then hit Mike Schmidt in the knee with a pitch. Larry Walker - who in the fifth just missed on a pitch that could have put the Enhancers on top - didn't miss this time, crushing the last pitch Seaver would throw to right-center and just over the wall for a two-run homer, tying the game at five.

Jon Stewart wasted no time, hooking Seaver for Blake Treinen.

Treinen retired Buster Posey, but then found trouble himself. Eddie Collins singled, and Honus Wagner hit a two-run homer just barely over the wall in left-center, putting Every City on top 7-5. Judge Judy opted to let Saberhagen bat, and he struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done, as the Bandwagoners took the lead with a pair of two-run homers.

Heading into the Seventh Inning Stretch ...

Bandwagoners 7, Performance Enhancers 5

 

Looming large over the Bandwagoners' rally in the top of the seventh was the decision to leave Brett Saberhagen - struggling with control - in the game.

As he took the mound after a stirring rendition of both God Bless America and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, all six Bandwagoners fans nationally held their breath and hoped for the best.

A Harry Heilman ground out opened the inning, putting the Bandwagoners eight outs away from advancing, but Saberhagen issued a one-out walk (his fifth walk issued in the game) to Al Rosen and a single to Joe Mauer, before responding with a strikeout of Charlie Gehringer.

Jon Stewart looked to his bench, and set up not-quite-fat-yet Miguel Cabrera as a pinch hitter for Blake Treinen.

And Cabrera delivered the two-out single, scoring Rosen and keeping runners on the corners with two outs.

Still holding a 7-6 lead, Judy stuck with Saberhagen, who would face Mike Trout.

And Trout would make her and the Bandwagoners regret that decision, hitting a no-doubt-about-it homer to left field, putting the Enhancers on top 9-7, and bringing Judy out of the dugout to finally, reluctantly remove Saberhagen.

Rod Beck emerged and retired Alex Rodriguez, sending this high drama game to the eighth inning.

After Seven ...

Performance Enhancers 9, Bandwagoners 7

 

To start the eighth inning, Jon Stewart turned the ball over to his reliable reliever, Keith Foulke.

Foulke got Ichiro to start the inning ... but that was the only out he'd record.

Mickey Mantle doubled to right off of Foulke, and Albert Pujols hit a two-run, game-tying, towering homer to left, knotting the game at nine.

Stewart left Foulke in for one more batter, a walk to Mike Schdmit, before pulling him in favor of Rollie Fingers.

Fingers provided immediate relief, striking out Larry Walker. Schmidt stole second, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position, but it was for naught at Buster Posey grounded out to second.

Judge Judy stuck with Rod Beck for the bottom of the eighth.

Beck got two quick ground outs from Barry Bonds and Norm Cash, but walked Harry Heilman, putting the potential go-ahead run on base with two outs. But, the danger would pass quickly as Beck got Al Rosen to ground out.

And, that meant we were heading to the ninth inning in a one-game, do-or-die playoff tied at nine.

Each team had three outs left to try to win it before extra innings ...

Heading into the ninth ...

Performance Enhancers 9, Bandagoners 9



(Damn, it doesn't get much closer than that)

Final Lines on the starters:

Tom Seaver - 6.1 IP 5 Runs 8 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Brett Saberhagen - 6.2 IP, 9 Run (8 earned), 12 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts