Arena The Second Baseball Draft

Game Five
Performance Enhancers at USA Network All-Stars
Yankee Stadium - Bronx, New York

Monday, Novembtwits Eleventh
First Pitch: 8:07 Eastern
Forecast: 39 degrees, Mild winds, no precipitation

First Pitch Thrown Out by: The Ghost of George Steinbrenner
National Anthem By: Ronan Tynan

Both teams would have chances in the first inning, and come to waste them.

Ty Cobb would reach base to leadoff the game on an error from Billy Hamilton. He'd steal second to give the Enhancers a quick runner in scoring position. But, Pete Alexander would strike out Alex Rodriguez for the first out of the inning. A Barry Bonds fly out would move Cobb to third, but but Alex Rodriguez would ground out and strand him there.

Billy Hamilton tried to make up for his error, doubling to lead off the bottom of the first. King Kelly lined out to short, and Hamilton moved to third as Babe Ruth grounded out for the second out of the inning. And, Hamilton would get stranded at third as Old Hoss Radbourn struck out Rogers Hornsby.

The second inning would see Performance Enhancers threaten - again - and this time come through. Alex Rodriguez singled to open the inning, and after a Mark McGwire strikeout, Larry Walker singled to put runners on the corner with one out. King Kelly had a passed ball, and Rodriguez scampered home for the first run of the game, before Mike Piazza singled and scored Walker. Old Hoss laid down a sacrifice bunt - it's possible he thought Jon Stewart was literally asking him to kill himself - to move move Piazza to second , but it was for naught as Pete Alexander got Ty Cobb to hit a shallow fly out to end the inning.

Old Hoss would work around a two-out walk in the second, Alexander would work around a leadoff walk in the third, and Old Hoss would work around a two-out single by Kelly in the bottom of the third, and we entered the fourth inning with the score 2-0.

Alexander got a 1-2-3 top of the inning, and Hornsby got a leadoff double in the bottom of the inning. Radbourn got Jimmie Foxx to fly out to left for the first out, but Tip O'Neill singled to score Hornsby and halve the lead. Radbourn ended the rally there, though, striking out Jose Bautista and getting Hughie Jennings to bounce to short to end the inning.

Alexander got another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth, and his offense took advantage again.

Alexander himself got an infield single to leadoff the inning, and a single by Hamilton and a walk to Kelly loaded the bases. Radbourn got Babe Ruth to ground out to second, but Performance Enhancers couldn't turn the double play, and Alexander scored to tie the game. Hornsby followed with a single to right, scoring Hamilton, and USA Network All-Stars took their first lead of the game. Jimmie Foxx hit a sac fly to score Ruth, and make it 4-2 to USANAS. A walk to Tip O'Neill followed, but Radbourn got Bautista to foul out to third to end the inning and limit the damage.

Alexander got another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, giving him twelve in a row retired, and Radbourn got back on track with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the sixth.

Mark McGwire drew a walk to leadoff the seventh, ending the streak of retired batters by Alexander, and a single by Larry Walker followed. Mike Piazza grounded out, but both runners advanced, putting runners on second-and-third as Stewart sent up Mark McGwire to pinch hit. Alexander, though, got the better of that duel, getting McGwire to line out for the second out of the inning. Alexander would not, though, fully escape the jam, as Ty Cobb singled to score McGwire, and Alex Rodriguez singled to score Walker.

Michael Westen saw enough at that point, and took the ball from Alexander, and called up on Koji Uehara. And, Uehara delivered, getting Barry Bonds to line out and end the inning, with the score tied at four.

Billy Wagner had what was ultimately a successful inning in relief. He walked King Kelly to start the inning, but he was erased trying to steal second, as Mike Piazza continues to make his case as a potential World Series MVP. Wagner then walked Babe Ruth, only to have him erased as Hornsby bounced into an inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play.

Uehara worked the top of the eighth with no issue, retiring two Alex Rodriguezes and a Mark McGwire to give him four-up, four-down - two via strikeout - on the night on just fourteen pitches.

Jon Stewart turned it to Keith Foulke in the bottom of the eight, and he came in and struck out Jimmie Foxx. But, Tip O'Neill hit a home run to left, and USANAS lead 5-3 in the eighth, with Dennis Eckersly and Mariano Rivera both warming in the bullpen. Jose Bautista and Hughie Jennings singled off Foulke, putting runners on the corners with one out, and giving USANAS a chance to blow the game open. But, Stewart stuck with Foulke and he rewarded his confidence - striking out the pinch hitting Hank Greenberg, and getting Hamilton to ground out.

Eckersly got the call for the ninth from Michael Westen, with USANAS needing three outs to take a series lead on the road to queens.

Eckersly would give up consecutive singles to Larry Walker and Mike Piazza to start the inning, but would rebound to strike out the pinch hitting Barry Bonds, putting his team two outs away from a series lead. Ty Cobb would ground out, but the third baseman - Bautista - would go to second with the throw to retired Piazza, allowing Walker to score and tie the game. Eckersly struck out Alex Rodriguez to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Stewart went to John Franco, and the MVP candidate proved his chops again. He got Kelly to ground out, Ruth to pop out, and Hornsby to ground out ... and we were once again heading for EXTRA INNINGS in the World Series.

In the tenth, Westen went to Wade Davis. Davis got two quick outs - a fly out from Barry Bonds and a strike out of Alex Rodriguez. But, he still needed to face another Alex Rodriguez. And this Alex Rodriguez ... hit a home run, crushing one way over the wall in right-center, and putting his team on top 6-5, and making his case for Series MVP.

Davis walked McGwire, but struck out Walker, and we headed to the bottom of the tenth, USANAS in danger of losing two-of-three at home, and dropping to 0-3 in the series when they don't shut out Performance Enhancers. But 2-0 when it doesn't go to extra innings.

Stewart called upon the trust Greg Holland. Holland struck out Jimmie Foxx. He got Tip O'Neill to ground out. And he got Jose Bautista to ground out.

And, two days after looking lifeless and dead in the water, Performance Enhancers were taking a 3-2 series lead back home, with two chances to win one game at home, and repeat as champions.

Player of the Game, brought to you by Pud Galvin's Animal Testicle Elixir: Alex Rodriguez (2001)
Final: Enhancers 6, USANAS 5 (10 innings)
Win: Franco (3-0)
Loss: Davis 0-3)
Save: Holland (2)

Performance Enhancers lead the best-of-seven series three games to two.

 

Jesus, John Franco...

 

I think the larger story here is the sudden emergence of Mike Piazza's rocket of an arm, to be honest. You'd think running on him - especially with your speed - would be more of an advantage. You've lost three games in extra innings, and in all of them, Piazza has thrown out King or Hamilton and that has significantly reduced your xRuns for the inning.

EDIT: By the way, both game six and game seven (if necessary) will be done in the same format as game seven between heels and dp was, in three inning (or less) batches, since either could be the final game of the season.

 

It's not like his arm was rated "D" or anything... OH WAIT IT WAS...

Anyways, GAME 6 STARTER: Three-Finger Brown (1908)

@Point Given

 

Normal lineup...

 

oh my god we're on the brink of... BASEBALL DRAFT 3!!!

 

My consolation prize if I lose the WS is ... drafting second overall! (then, if ten teams, 19th, 22nd, 39th...)

 

Why not just roll into season 2 with the rules posted in the other thread?

 

i believe inty said that the winner would get to pick first but the rest of the order would be random. sorry!

(and we're doing 12 teams again)

i'm pretty sure the reason is that inty wanted people to know about the keeper rules going into the draft because it could have a major impact on strategy. i know i would have handled all of my midseason trades differently for instance.

edit: thinking about it more it also just wouldn't really work. like we have two players with pedro and both would probably like to keep him, but with the new rules there can only be one pedro.

 

Narc.

 

being called a narc by dp is my consolation prize.

 

I'd only play in order take Babe Ruth and make him a Boston player forever

 

Game Six
USA Network All-Stars at Performance Enhancers
Shea Stadium - Queens, New York

Wednesday, Novembtwits Thirteenth
First Pitch: 8:07 Eastern
Forecast: 29 degrees, Mild winds, no precipitation

Issuing a leadoff walk can be incredibly dangerous. Issuing a leadoff walk to Billy Hamilton can take you from playing with fire, to dancing with a gas can in the middle of a volcano.

And yet, that's how Roger Clemens opened this game - a walk to Hamilton.

Hamilton stole second, but Clemens struck out King Kelly and got Babe Ruth to pop out. That kept Hamilton on second with two outs, and gave Clemens a chance to escape the volcano with no burns. But, Rogers Hornsby burned him, lining a single to left, and scoring Hamilton for an early 1-0 lead. Clemens struck out Jimmie Foxx to end the inning, and send the Performance Enhancers up to bat down 1-0.

Mordecai "Three Fingers Brown" took the mound in the bottom of the first, full of confidence with his dominant game three performance and already having a lead tonight. He used that confidence and mowed through the Enhancers. Ty Cobb grounded out to second. Alex Rodriguez grounded out to third. and Barry Bonds lined out to first. 1-2-3, and USA Network All-Stars were eight innings away from forcing a game seven.

Clemens got two quick outs to start the second. Tip O'Neill hit a grounder back to Clemens for the first out. Add, Jose Bautista grounded out to Alex Rodriguez at third base. Hughie Jennings got a single to left-center, and then stole second base, giving USANAS a runner in scoring position with two outs. But, Clemens got Brown to chase a pitch out of the zone for strike three to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Alex Rodriguez walked to give the Enhancers their first base runner of the game. Brown struck out Alex Rodirguez for the first out of the inning, and then got Mark McGwire to bounce into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Not learning from an earlier mistake, Clemens walked Hamilton - again - to lead off the third. And, Hamilton - again - stole second base. Kelly grounded out to second, moving Hamilton to third, putting an insurance run ninety feet away with just one out. Clemens walked Babe Ruth, and then walked Rogers Hornsby, loading the bases with one out, and giving USANAS a chance to put some distance between themselves and the Enhancers. But, Clemens froze Jimmie Foxx, striking him out looking, and then did the same to Tip O'Neill, ending the inning with USANAS squandering what had been a 65% probability of scoring at least one run.

At least through three, it looked like Brown wouldn't see them punished for their wastefulness, as he had another dominant inning. Larry Walker grounded out to second, mike Piazza lined out to third, and Clemens struck out.

Through three innings, Brown had faced the minimum, and was tossing a no hitter. Would it be enough to send USANAS to a game seven?

Through three innings: USANAS 1, Enhancers 0

 

Roger Clemens is also pitching a no-hitter through three!

 

aside from the rbi single by rogers hornsby in the first and the single by hughie jennings in the second, yes he is.

 

I keep thinking that's R/H/E like a normal human being...

 

stop skimming the recaps dp, this could be your last game!

 

Through Three Innings ...

Team R | H | E
USANAS 1 | 2 | 0
Enhancers 0 | 0 | 0

Roger Clemens continued to have some control issues, as Jose Bautista drew a leadoff walk in the fourth inning. Bautista was replaced on base by Hughie Jennings, who hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice for the first out of the inning, and moved into scoring position as Three Fingers Brown laid down a sacrifice bunt. Billy Hamilton - surprise! - didn't walk this time, instead hitting an infield single to put runners on the corners with two outs. But, Clemens induced a ground ball to third base by King Kelly, and Alex Rodriguez fired it to Mark McGwire in time, and the inning - and threat - were ended.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Enhancers were being no-hi no more, as Ty Cobb got a lead off single on an infield hit to first base (he must have really been hustling). Knowing hits and runs would be at a premium with the way Brown was pitching, Cobb tried to steal second base, but King Kelly threw him out, and we had the first out of the inning. Alex Rodriguez lined out to short, and Barry Bonds lined out to first, and through four innings, Brown had still faced the minimum - just twelve batters.

Clemens got two quick outs to start the fifth, getting Babe Ruth to fly out to right and striking out Rogers Hornsby. Jimmie Foxx lined a two-out single to left, but a Tip O'Neill ground out left him stranded.

The bottom of the fifth saw two different Alex Rodriguezes line out short, and Mark McGwire foul out to the catcher, a quick inning for Brown. Clemens responded with a quick inning of his own in the top of the sixth, getting a fly out from Jose Bautista, a ground out from Hughie Jennings, and a strike out of Brown. And, in the bottom of the sixth, Brown made it 18 batters faced through six innings - again, just the minimum - as he got ground outs from Larry Walker and Mike Piazza and struck out Clemens.

It was shaping up to be one of the best post season pitching performances we've ever seen. If - and this is a big if - Brown could do it for three more innings.

Through Six Innings: USANAS 1, Enhancers 0

 

Through Six Innings ...

Team R | H | E
USANAS 1 | 4 | 0
Enhancers 0 | 1 | 0

Roger Clemens retired Billy Hamilton on a line out to start the inning.

He, and fans of the Performance Enhancers, hoped that would be a good omen for the inning.

It ... would not be.

King Kelly hit a one-out triple - the first extra-base hit of the game for either team - and Clemens issued a free pass to Babe Ruth. That brought up Rogers Hornsby. The double play was in play, thanks to the walk. But, with Kelly's speed, nearly any other ball in play would score an important insurance run.

It turns out, Kelly's speed didn't matter at all.

Hornsby got a hold of a pitch and drove it deep. He drove it high. He drove it over the fence in left center, just out of the reach of a jumping, stretching Ty Cobb, and just like that it was 4-0 to USANAS.

That homer ended the night for Roger Clemens. Clemens final line was six-and-one-thirds innings pitched, four runs allowed on six hit, with seven strikeouts, but six walks.

Billy Wagner relived and got Jimmie Foxx to ground out, and after he issued a walk to Tip O'Neill, he was caught stealing to end the inning, but the damage was done. Three Fingers Brown finally had a little breathing room.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ty Cobb would collect his second hit of the game, singling to center field. After an Alex Rodriguez fly out to left, Barry Bonds walked, and the Enhancers had two baserunners in the same inning for the first time all game. Alex Rodriguez grounded into a fielder's choice, putting runners on the corners with two outs for Alex Rodriguez. But, Rodiruguez struck out swinging, and for the first time all game the Enhancers left runners on base, but for the seventh time in seven innings, they had a goose egg on the scoreboard.

In the eighth, Wagner retired Jose Bautista on a ground out to third, and Hughie Jennings in the same manner. But, after Brown got a single to left with two outs, Jon Stewart pulled Wagner, opting for Keith Foulke. Foulke gave up a single to Hamilton, but struck out Kelly - swinging - to end the inning.

Brown got a 1-2-3 bottom of the eight, getting shallow fly outs from McGwire and Larry Walker, and striking out Mike Piazza.

Foulke worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth striking out Ruth, and getting both Hornsby and Foxx to ground out to first.

And so ... we head to the bottom of the ninth.

There's no activity in the bullpen. Mordecai "Three Fingers Brown" will get a chance to finish his masterpiece. But, he'll have tough sledding - he'll face Mark McGwire - pinch hitting for Foulke, then Cobb and one Alex Rodriguez ... with Barry Bonds and two more Alex Rodriguezes waiting on deck, should anyone reach base.

Heading into the Bottom of the Ninth: USANAS 4, Enhancers 0

 

All those steroids and not a single run

 

maybe it's just me, but i feel like if nothing happened in the bottom of the 9th inty wouldn't have saved it for a separate post.

 

Heading into the bottom of the Ninth Inning ...

Team R | H | E
USANAS 4 | 8 | 0
Enhancers 0 | 2 | 0

Pinch hitting Mark McGwire stepped in to face Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, who had been absolutely brilliant up to that point.

McGwire put a ball in play, but it was a ground ball to Hughie Jennings, and he threw it on target to Jimmie Foxx for out number one.

Ty Cobb, so far tonight the only batter to get a hit off of Brown, stepped up. He, too, made contact. But, it was a ground ball to Foxx, who scooped it up, stepped on the bag, and the Enhancers were down to their final out. And USA Network All-Stars were one out away from forcing a game seven.

Alex Rodriguez - the 1996 version - stepped up. And Rodriguez found a pitch he liked and he hammered it.

He hit it about 408 feet.

Unfortunately for Rodriguez and Performance Enhancers, the fence in straight away center field is 410 feet away from home plate.

Billy Hamilton settled under the fly ball. He squeezed his glove around it. And USANAS lives to fight another day. Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown had one of the great World Series Lines of all imte in this one: nine innings pitched, no runs allowed on two hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

USA Network All-Stars improve to 3-0 when shutting out Performance Enhancers this series, and remain 0-3 in games where the Enhancers score at least one run.

Performance Enhancers drop to 0-3 in games that end after nine innings, and remain 3-0 in games where we do go to extra innings.

Should USANAS win game seven, Brown will certainly be the favorite to win MVP. In two games, he has tossed eighteen innings, allowed zero runs, given up just five hits, striking out six, walking just five, and needing just 202 pitches over the two games.

USANAS best strategy for game seven might be to pray for a few days of rain. Alas, there is none in the forecast.

Player of the Game, brought to you by Pud Galvin's Animal Testicle Elixir: Three Fingers Brown
Final Score: USANAS 4, Enhancers 0
Win: Brown (2-0)
Loss '05 Clemens (0-1)

The Best-of-Seven Series is tied at three games apiece.

 

if nothing else he just considerably raised his stock for the next draft.

 

Big Train coming.

GAME 7 STARTER: Walter Johnson.

@Point Given