1993 Atlanta Braves Retrospective: The Last Pennant Race

[selmaborntidefan]

And so we stand at the threshold of another baseball season, one that signals both hail to the new and farewell to the old. In the former category, baseball adds two expansion teams this year for the first time since 1977 as Denver gets the Colorado Rockies while Miami gets the Florida Marlins, owned by "Blockbuster Video" founder H. Wayne Huizenga. In the farewell department, 1993 will be the last pennant race for baseball's foreseeable future as 1994 brings wildcard teams into the post-season for the first time ever. This will also be the last year of the Atlanta Braves as members of the NL West. With the demise of the Soviet Union, there is apparently no longer any fear the Russians might nuke Atlanta or Cincinnati, so the Braves will move to the NL East next year while the Reds play in the newly created NL Central. I'm not quite sure how you put Atlanta in the East and the more easterly Pittsburgh Pirates in the Central (and Cincinnati is pretty much a straight line north), but I learned long ago baseball isn't geography. This season also likely marks "farewell" to the Pittsburgh Pirates' ability to be even remotely competitive. The Sid Bream slide that stole the NL pennant from Jim Leyland and the Bucs last year likely tore a gaping hole into the heart of a franchise that clearly cannot compete in the new money era. The Pirates have lost Jose Lind and former Cy Young winner Doug Drabek, but both pale in comparison to the loss of Barry Bonds, who has gone to San Francisco via free agency. Combined with the loss of Bobby Bonillia after the 1991 season and now with a knuckleball pitcher (Tim Wakefield) as the staff ace, the Pirates figure to walk the plank and stay submerged for years to come.

And in BOTH departments, we have the arrival of Cy Young winner Greg Maddux on the staff of the game's greatest pitching staff, the Atlanta Braves. It has been many years since a pennant seemed such a foregone conclusion before the season even began, but it may not work out that way. Yes, the pitching is good, but the Braves have some major holes to fill. In the past two seasons, the Braves have an overall post-season record of 13-14, with two pennants and two World Series' lost. The Atlanta bullpen has lost no fewer than seven of those contests, including five in extra innings. To drive the point home: put Toronto setup man Duane Ward, who the Braves traded to the Blue Jays in 1986, on Atlanta the last two seasons, and more likely than not they are going for a third straight World Series win...without Greg Maddux.

So we'll spend the next few days preparing for the April 5 opener, but the Braves are going off as heavy favorites to win it all.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Previews will begin tomorrow with the AL East, but first let's take a closer look at things that will be different this year.

THINGS THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT IN 1993

1) Expansion teams
Baseball has finally - FINALLY - narrowed the distance to see a major league game if you live between Kansas City and the West Coast. Denver adds a Colorado Rockies franchise about 600 miles west, reducing the driving distance for those in the Mountain West, whose closest teams have been Kansas City and San Francisco (1800 miles, or 300 miles more than Boston to Miami). The thin air promises lots of home runs, and as baseball moves away from the cookie cutter disastrous experiment of the 1960s - where teams built a multi-purpose stadium that didn't really work very well for either baseball or football - the Rockies will go back to the future in their own way by playing in the Broncos' Mile High Stadium until their baseball only digs open in 1995. The Marlins, awarded to Miami, have decided to stake their own claim to the entire state by calling themselves the FLORIDA Marlins, a moniker that may enable them to easily play in other venues besides Joe Robbie Stadium, cities such as Jacksonville, Orlando, or the Tampa/St Pete area where we find....

2) New Giants Owners And a Team Still In San Francisco
And what a mind-blowing mess less than four years after the team finished twice in three years. It seems that ever since that earthquake hit them during the World Series, the Giants are in a stupor of incompetence. First, owner Bob Lurie announced last August that he was selling the team to investors that would move the Giants to the Tampa Bay/St Petersburg area because he couldn't get a new stadium to replace that insult to fan sensibilities known as Candlestick Park. AL owners were ecstatic at the prospect of having the Bay Area all to the Athletics, but the owners still shot down the proposed move on numerous grounds, most notably that Miami was about to have their inaugural baseball season. Tampa has been the proposed destination du jour in recent years with the Twins, Mariners, and Athletics themselves suggesting moves there as well as Tampa making the final cut in selections for awarding new franchises a few years ago. But the league then voted down the transfer of the team to Tampa, and Peter Magowan stepped in and saved the Giants. He then added one of the game's best players, Barry Bonds, which has the potential of at least energizing the Bay Area for a year or two until a new park can be built.

3) Baseball's "interim" commissioner is an owner, and we are heading towards a world class disaster.
Let's be brutally honest about what happened last fall. Baseball's owners, who have been lapped at the negotiating table every year since 1966, decided the way to play hardball is install an owner - a used car salesman at that - as the impartial arbiter between the players and owners. They tossed Fay Vincent out unceremoniously because the labor agreement expires at the end of this year. Let's give the owners credit for one thing here: rather than hiring a lackey to make it look like he's impartial (as they did with Ray Grebey), the owners are going full bore over the side of the mountain with one of their own as commissioner. People this drunk on power and revenge are not rational, and the game is heading for a severe reckoning unless someone has the courage to pull this plane out of its straight downward trajectory. Eventually, you hit the ground, and baseball is heading for the worst strike in its history - and the previous strong owners (Steinbrenner, for example) aren't around to stop this. Remember - the only reason we have two more teams is because the owners conspired to rip off the players of nearly $300 million. The fact the owners didn't learn from that fiasco means we are heading for the destruction of a league if someone doesn't pull the plane out of the dive.

4) The Atlanta Braves have gone from league laughingstock to elite management.
Just two years ago today, the Braves were the butt of every "lousy baseball team" joke imaginable. But Bobby Cox was quietly assembling his machine while nobody noticed. When John Schuerholz came aboard, everyone wanted to view him through his final two free agent signings that bombed in Kansas City rather than his many years of success prior to the end. The Braves signed .230-hitting Terry Pendleton, light-hitting Rafael Belliard, oft-injured Sid Bream, and a cache of past-their-prime free agents. The result has been the Braves have gone from the worst record in baseball in 1990 (65 wins) to the best in only two years (98 in 1992). Atlanta is 192-132, a full 60 games over .500, with two pennants, a Cy Young, and two excruciating World Series losses. And damned if they didn't add the 1992 NL Cy winner to their already powerful team. Most preseason magazines and predicting Atlanta to tear through the regular season and capture that elusive flag. However...

5) Toronto reloaded, and we may have a World Series rematch
As insane as this sounds, the best Blue Jays team in their history (1992) tossed off parts, put on new ones, and is probably - probably - even better than last year's championship winners. They kept five core players that have won the last two AL pennants, added a leigt Hall of Famer (Paul Molitor), added the best unrewarded pitcher of the last five years (Dave Stewart), tossed off the older Tom Henke for the younger closer Duane Ward, and now all the pressure is off because they were no longer the "Blew" Jays, cashing in on Atlanta's bullpen woes to capture the World Series. Until the Braves develop a lights out closer, Toronto is the team to beat in all of baseball.

6) Good-bye gentlemen, we will miss you.
As always, some guys will have the first summer of their lives off this year as they have moved on from baseball to other life endeavors. Bert Blyleven, now 41, is gone and may head to the Hall of Fame someday. Carney Lansford, Ken Oberkfell, and Willie Randolph have packed up their bats and gloves for the last time. Maybe the most stunning is the rapid decline and disappearance of Pedro Guererro, one of the most feared sluggers of the mid-80s, who is done at the young age of 36. But we cannot leave without using this section to comment upon..

7) The Cleveland Indians boating tragedy will affect the sport for years.
The recriminations aren't even known yet but just nine days ago, closer Steve Olin and middle reliever Tim Crews lost their lives and Bob Ojeda was severely injured when Crews drove his boat at about 40 mph into an unlighted pier that jutted out into Lake Nellie on Cleveland's only day off during spring training. Beer and vodka bottles in the boat suggest that Crews was operating the boat while intoxicated, although we must await toxicology results to confirm. Either way, neither man is coming back to the team, and Ojeda's career may be over as well. The Indians, a franchise even more moribund than the Braves since the mid-60s (Atlanta actually won pennants in 1969 and 1982), appeared to be coming of age, climbing to 76 wins while Olin developed into one of the game's best closers, snagging 29 saves and an 8-5 record with a 2.34 ERA in 1992. The Tribe were probably a year and 1-2 solid players away from winning a pennant, but they may be set back another 5-8 years with the losses.

8) The draft assures the Rockies and Marlins will not be as horrific as their predecessors.
Teams got to protect 15 players prior to the November draft, and Atlanta - perhaps the one team that could afford it - lost up-and-coming starter David Nied, who was 3-0 in two starts (with a relief win) and a 1.17 ERA. Nied would have had a tough time cracking the starting pitching staff of the Braves, so this may work out well for him. However, the poor guy is going to be pitching at the highest altitude in MLB history - and may wind up with a horrific ERA to show for it, too.

9) The Oakland dynasty is dead.
Yes, the Athletics won four of the last five AL West flags, and made the World Series three times. But they have quickly become a shell of themselves. They unloaded Jose Canseco (Rangers) and Walt Weiss (Marlins), Carney Lansford retired, and Dave Stewart left via free agency. And if they aren't in the hunt at the All-Star break, look for them to unload Rickey Henderson to a contender as his contract is up after this season. Their ace closer, Dennis Eckersley, remains, but a closer can't close if he doesn't have a lead. The injuries of Mark McGwire and age on Dave Henderson may well catch up to them as well.

10) Can the Dodgers recover from the worst year in franchise history?
Okay, technically the Dodgers have had a few years worse than 1992, but how many 95 year olds do you know who can remember it? Since their first World Series berth in 1916, the Dodgers have only cleared 90 losses twice, and one of those was during WW2 and doesn't "really" count as their good players were saving civilization and did win. Just two years ago, the Dodgers were favorites to win the whole thing after they signed Darryl Strawberry. They won't be as bad as last year - but they'd have to try very hard to be that bad, too. Ever since that unforgettable moment two years ago when Strawberry uttered the phrase, "I'm not worried about Atlanta," the Dodgers have been horrible while the Braves have been fantastic. LA is not likely to worry Atlanta much this year, but they should be much better than the team that lost 99 games last year, too.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

AL EAST PREVIEW: TORONTO THE FAVORITE BUT NOT INVINCIBLE

After four near misses that included three LCS losses and a final week pennant collapse (1987), the Blue Jays finally took that last elusive step last year and became the first non-United States based team to win the World Series. Depending on whom you read, the Jays have a solid core or they lost just enough to not repeat, and make no mistake: the last team to win three AL East titles in a row was the 1969-71 Baltimore Orioles, so the Jays are swimming upstream against history. On the other hand, they possess enough talent to become the first repeat World Series winner since the 1977-78 Yankees, too. And naturally, it is from those Yankees they will receive their biggest challenge.

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1) Toronto Blue Jays - the Jays will enter the 1993 season looking largely like the team that won the 1992 World Series, even considering who is to be replaced. Juan Guzman, Todd Stottlemyre, and the aging Jack Morris will be joined in the starting rotation by Dave Stewart, baseball's most consistent pitcher from 1987-90, but only 23-21 the last two seasons. Closer Tom Henke is gone, replaced by setup man Duane Ward. But the biggest loss of all may be Jimmy Key, who signed with the Yankees and whom they hope will be the difference in their attempts to catch Toronto. Key is a solid starter who averages 13 wins a season. If the Yankees can just add those and Toronto cannot replace those, New York wins the pennant. The Blue Jays also replaced 42-year old Dave Winfield with 35-year old Paul Molitor, who hopes to emulate recent MLB history, where an aging veteran joins a team and wins a ring.

2) New York Yankees
Remember how every year the Yankees would be set to contend - and maybe win - the pennant, but George Steinbrenner would have a public meltdown, insult his manager, fire the guy, and then he'd hire someone who had to start all over from scratch? Well those days are long gone thanks to a tragedy, the death of Billy Martin in a truck crash on Christmas Day 1989, and the lifetime banishment of Steinbrenner himself. Uninterrupted, Buck Showalter has the Yankees on the rise. Of course, "lifetime" guarantees ain't what they used to be - and Steinbrenner is back as of a month ago, so fully expect a meltdown that costs his team the flag.

3) Baltimore Orioles
GM Roland Hemond had minimal maneuverability with the suspected impending bankruptcy of Orioles owner Eli Jacobs, who figures to lose the team at auction after just four years as owner, but Hemond did add a Cy Young winner to the fold Fernando Valenzuela (1981), which won't help given his best days are long gone. But the O's did add a couple of solid players, both named Harold - as in Reynolds and Baines. With a pitching rotation featuring Mike Mussina, whose 18-5 sophomore season is hoped to promise a bright future, Rick Sutcliffe (16 wins) and Ben McDonald, the reality is that Baltimore may come up one player short of a pennant simply because their moves are limited due to outside financial issues. They will be good, but they won't win the pennant.

4) Detroit Tigers
Does any manager get as much out of an average team as Sparky Anderson? Unlikely. Sure, everyone looks back at the Big Red Machine and notes all the Hall of Fame candidates that proliferated on that team, but don't forget that in 1970, Sparky won 102 games and a pennant as a rookie manager with a pitching staff that had career W/L records of 81-86, 67-77, and 36-31 as 3/4 of his starting rotation as well as Tony Perez playing out of position at third and an outfield that included Bobby Tolan and Bernie Carbo (rather than George Foster and Ken Griffey). They'll need him to do it again this year as Detroit puts an overweight as always Cecil Fielder, 36-year old Lou Whitaker, and "off the bench and past their primes" Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell on the field occasionally and has added two solid pitchers, David Wells and Mike Moore, in hopes of getting a pennant. Detroit, like Baltimore, is one superstar away from being able to win this thing - and unlike Baltimore, they won't be constrained from making the move. But it won't be enough in this division.

5) Cleveland Indians
This was supposed to be the year the Tribe moved into contention and, with a few breaks, maybe pulled off a shocker along the lines of Atlanta and Minnesota two years ago, but odds are those chances vanished in the boating accident that took the life of closer Steve Olin and middle reliever Tim Crews plus took out (for at least awhile) Bob Ojeda. As the details of the tragedy and inquiry play out over the next few months, Cleveland is going to be distracted, plain and simple. Chalk this year up as a lost one, but the Tribe are setting the pieces in place for a run. The only question is whether the losses set them back one year, five, or another decade for a franchise that hasn't put a consistently decent team on the field since the Eisenhower years. This will be a developmental year for their young players, both as players and as men.

6) Milwaukee Brewers
Years from now you almost predict that interim commissioner Bud Selig will decide that the reason the other owners were so glad to have him in office will be because it distracted from the attention he could pay to his club, which was a contender. And while their name doesn't exactly show up as solid, the Brewers HAVE, in fact, been close in recent years. In 1987, they won six games more than their geographical archrivals the Twins - only to watch the Twins win the World Series. They were just out of reach of the pennant in 1988 (losing by 2 games), had a two-year dip, and then last year finished only four games behind Toronto despite hitting only 82 home runs. They've added Tom Brunansky which may help with the latter, and they have two good pitchers in Chris Bosio and Jaime Navarro. But Selig is clearly focused on preparing for the "now seems inevitable" strike next year on a team that has always been, well, just a shade below the best teams in the league. Look for a drop in the standings this year as the distractions become too much.

7) Boston Red Sox
Only Boston could have two recent Cy Young-award winning pitchers (Roger Clemens, Frank Viola) and be picked last, but that's because the rest of their rotation is an absolute disaster. That and Viola has had one good season since his 1988 CYA year, when he won 20 games in 1990. He's 59-55 since then, so Boston's pitching staff is Clemens and, well, nothing. This team won three flags in five years and were one strike away from winning a World Series but last year was Boston's worst full-season record since 1966, and they're returning the same team, well, except they lost 80s hitting machine Wade Boggs to the Yankees and Brunansky to Milwaukee. Losing two of your best players in a division where you just finished last? Might as well finish last again.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

TOUGHEST DIVISION TO PICK MAY PRODUCE A RACE FOR THE AGES

It happened so subtly, so quickly that nobody even noticed: the AL West, a division that so often produced a sacrificial lamb for the "Beast in the East" to consume en route to winning the World Series, became baseball's toughest division in the blink of an eye. Or did it?

Except for Oakland's dynasty run in 1972-74, the AL EAST has been considered baseball's best division since the advent of the LCS in 1969. But whether that reputation has been justified as we enter the final season of that era is actually questionable. Yes, Baltimore and Detroit were powerhouse winners in 1983 and 1984 - and Milwaukee even looked good when they took a 3-2 series lead in 1982. Toronto's rise to the top in 1985 meant we had four different powerhouse AL East teams in four years - and that number rose to six if you included the Yankees in 1980-81 and Boston in 1986. And nobody bothered to look closely.

Kansas City's 1985 championship was written off as a combination of good luck that the LCS extended to 7 games and the World Series MVP performance of umpire Don Denkinger. Minnesota won two years later, and it was written off as, "The Twins were just plain lucky they got the home-field advantage for both series." Even when Oakland won the AL West's third World Series in five years - something the AL East NEVER managed to accomplish despite allegedly being the superior division - it wasn't the WEST that was praised but rather, "Wow, Oakland is really good." Minnesota then made it four AL West World Series winners in seven years, matching the 1978-1984 period for the AL East. But if analysts would have turned their focus in another direction, they would have noticed a key point everyone overlooked: if California simply got just one more strike in Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS, the AL West would have won seven AL pennants in a row. For all the "Kansas City and Minnesota were lucky" talk, nobody ever put together that FOUR different AL teams would have won the West in four straight years - and possibly the World Series 4 of 5 times. In 1991, the AL West pulled off something that seems impossible as all seven teams finished with records of .500 and above. And it is this particular problem that makes projecting a winner in the AL West very dicey at best, but we will try. Picking a winner in this division is like playing Russian roulette with five bullets in a six-shooter.

1) Chicago White Sox
Because why not?

Here are Chicago's win totals the last three seasons: 94, 87, and 86. When the Twins won the World Series two years ago, it was Chicago who finished second albeit eight games back and with no pennant race, nobody remembers it. They have one of baseball's three best "new and young" players in Frank Thomas, one of the all-time best veterans in Tim Raines, a solid centerfielder in Lance Johnson, a veteran clubhouse presence in Carlton Fisk, who is still catching on occasion at age 45. If Wilson Alvarez and Alex Fernandez can develop some of that promise they appear to show, the White Sox could - and should - win the West.

2) Texas Rangers
Another team one could well ask "why not," especially as Nolan Ryan takes his farewell tour at 46.

Quick trivia question: Name the only pitchers during the Cy Young Award era who have over 300 career wins but who have never finished in the top 2 in the CYA voting? Don Sutton and Nolan Ryan. Bear in mind that if Ryan loses 13 games this year, he will become only the third pitcher to LOSE 300 games. And Ryan is about a .500 pitcher at best - not just in his old age but for his career. Kevin Brown appears to have the makings of a star, and if Kenny Rogers can figure out when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, he has potential aswell. They've added a solid but aging starter in Charlie Leibrandt plus a closer in Tom Henke. Combine this with one of the most powerful offenses in baseball that added slugger Jose Canseco, and the Rangers may have the wherewithal to win it all. Or at least the division.

3) Minnesota Twins
Because the Twins - as world champions no less - were the only 1991 pennant winner to not repeat in 1992, fans assume they must have collapsed. But despite losing staff ace Jack Morris, the Twins only won five fewer games than their championship season. The Twins were leading the West by 3 games last year on July 26 when Oakland came to the Metrodome and battered the starter in the opener then had a six-run 7th to steal the second game and - with first place in the West on the line - Rick Aguilera blew the save when, one out from victory, he gave up a three-run bomb to Eric Fox that put Oakland in first. Two five-game losing streaks in August ended the Twins' dream of a repeat.

Much of last year's team returns, though. Indeed, the only starting every day players changed from two years ago are Pedro Munoz in place of Dan Gladden and Pat Meares at shortstop in place of the departed free agent Greg Gagne. Munoz is a wash, but losing Gagne is serious for a fast infield surface. Kevin Tapani and Scott Erickson return, but replacing John Smiley (gone to the Reds)- who capably replaced Morris last season - might be too much. Rick Aguilera returns as closer, so a solid year by Kirby Puckett and some good defense may be enough with two solid pitchers to contend.

4) Kansas City Royals
The Royals took a 72-win team from last season, improved the infield defense by adding two superstar gloves in Jose Lind and Greg Gagne - and reacquired David Cone, a now 30-year old who always seems on the verge of being the next superstar pitcher. Combining Cone with Kevin Appier (15 wins in 1992) and Hipolito Pichardo (9-6, 3.50 in 1992) as the first three starters, one of the game's best closers (Jeff Montgomery) and a guy who can fill in if Montgomery goes down (Tom "Flash" Gordon) and the final year of George Brett's spectacular career, and it's not impossible to see KC winning it. With the pressure off to get the 3,000th hit he achieved at the end of last season, Brett can pick his spots and maybe lead KC to a flag.

5) Oakland Athletics
I may regret picking Oakland to do so poorly following four first-place finishes in five years, but it's when you look at that is gone - and what remains - that this is where the "teams who in all honesty have next-to-no shot" begin, and it's only fair Oakland rates at the top of that group.

Look at what is gone:
- the two starters who won all four games in the 1989 World Series
- Jose Canseco
- Carney Lansford, a near .300 career hitter who played solid defense
- the double play combination of Tony Phillips and Mike Gallego

Look what remains:
- a 38-year-old closer who gave up a playoff series turning bomb in his last outing despite a 5-run lead
- a brittle and injury prone Mark McGwire
- a 30-year old catcher whose best days behind the plate are behind him
- Rickey Henderson in a contract year, who is thus likely to half-speed it until Oakland unloads him, probably to a contender, at the trade deadline

And Oakland is likely to lose altitude simply due to the perception they're losing altitude.
Don't be surprised if skipper Tony LaRussa starts looking about for a new job

6) Seattle Mariners
Prior to last year, the Mariners were on the uphill surge that we see with Cleveland. Ever since adding Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989, the Mariners had gone from 68 wins in 1988 to 73, 77, and 83, meaning 1993 should put them in first, right? Instead, Seattle dropped 19 wins off the pace and appear to be right back where they started. They have some pop with Griffey and Jay Buhner, but unless Randy Johnson can show more than his 49-48 career mark up to this point, Dave Fleming can produce another 17-win year like last year, and Tim Leary lives us to the promise he showed on the 1988 Dodgers, Seattle will simply bide time until Griffey leaves for a team that actually wants to win baseball games.

7) California Angels
There may not be a more star-crossed franchise than the Angels and while being a victim may work in some political arenas, it never works in sports.

In just the last 11 seasons, the Angels have:
- become the first team to blow a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five LCS
- blown a 3-1 LCS lead when one mere strike from the World Series after entering the inning with a 3-run lead
- seen the pitcher who gave up the series-turning home run commit suicide
- lost their superstar rookie for the biggest series of the year due to a staph infection
- gone through seven managers in the last six seasons
- suffered a crash of the team bus that cost them their last manager for 90 games last year and injured five players plus legend Rod Carew
- bounced up and down the standings with finishes (after the 1986 collapse) of sixth, fourth, third (91 wins), fourth, and last despite a .500 record (1991)
- watched the best closer in team history likely lose his career

The Angels have two solid pitchers in Mark Langston and Chuck Finley, an over-the-hill future Hall candidate (Bert Blyleven), an inspirational story with the placement of one-handed Jim Abbott on a major league roster, and a couple of up-and-comers in Tim Salmon and J.T. Snow. They have no offense, no closer, and two solid starters who are inconsistent, and it all adds up to a last-place finish and a new hire in most analyses.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

NL EAST - THE METS BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAS TO WIN IT

For the last decade, the New York Mets have been the perennial favorites in the NL East. Not bad for a franchise with as many pennants as the Minnesota Twins have World Series championships in the same time frame. The Mets are the favorites yet again this year, but the fortunate thing for them is that not only is the NL East now the weakest division in baseball, but nobody expects anyone to beat the Braves anyway, which means a first-place finish will be praised as an accomplishment.

1) New York Mets
You'd think a team that lost its best pitcher after a 72-90 year wouldn't be favored to win the division, but it only shows how weak the division is and how much the rest of the lineup is expected to compensate. It's an odd-numbered year, which means Bret Saberhagen is likely to have a stellar season. The former two-time Cy Young winner (AL) has an incredible 74-30 record in odd numbered years, which includes both Cys, a World Series win and MVP, and a no-hitter. 1993 is an odd numered year, so Sabes is due to look like he should be Atlanta's third starter (and most every other team's ace). Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman return and hopes are high that Jeff Kent, picked up in the trade that dumped David Cone just ahead of free agency, can be an upgrade from the 38-year old (and now retired) Willie Randolph. Throw in Howard Johnson and longtime consisten producer Eddie Murray, and the Mets may be able to produce a pennant winner given there's no pressure on them to do anything beyond.

2) St Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals return the core starting lineup that got them 83 wins last year but with two changes as Andres Galarraga and Felix Jose are gone while Gregg Jefferies and Mark Whiten are in the lineup. Jefferies and Jose were traded for each other (Kansas City), and Galarraga was let go to the Rockies just prior to the expansion draft. The Cards also return ace Bob Tewksbury and three pitchers capable of giving a decent number of starts with enough sufficiency to win close games: Rheal Cormier, Donovan Osborne, and Rene Arocha. Get a lead, take it to the ninth, and turn it over to Lee Smith seems like a sound strategy. The plan has one major flaw: Ray Lankford led the NL with 147 strikeouts last year and Whiten strikes out about as often. Hard to get a lead when you don't make contact. The veteran leadership of all-time shortstop Ozzie Smith and Manager Joe Torre, who has won before with minimal talent, means that with a few breaks the Cards can grab the flag.

3) Montreal Expos
There's a lot of talent on the field.
There's also a bit of controversy that may be enough to cost Montreal a serious run at the pennant.

The general consensus is that Montreal overachieved last year through the contributions of youngsters like Marquis Grissom, Delino DeShields, and Larry Walker as well as veterans such as Dennis Martinez and Gary Carter, and an ace closer in John Wetteland. And how did that turn out? Carter retired at age 38 and will head to the Hall of Fame (good), but rumors abounded all winter long that Martinez was there for the taking if some team would just make the right offer. Put this against the backdrop of a team rarely shown on American television, the fact the dollar differential between countries makes players hesitant to go, and the ongoing Quebec Sovereignty Movement, and it will be amazing if the youngsters can block out all the distractions and have a decent year. Montreal has both a lot of talent - and a lot of ongoing drama - and it will depend on which prevails to see how they do.

4) Philadelphia Phillies
A team on the upswing, yes, Philly finished last in 1992, but there are glimmers of hope, too. Curt Schilling had a breakthrough season (14-11, 2.35) and - well, sometimes - Mitch Williams is able to close the deal. They added Danny Jackson, a pitcher who has had several big moments in his career but hasn't gotten quite the recognition he would were he a Yankee. In the do-or-die Game 5 of the 1985 ALCS, Jackson threw a complete game shutout to keep KC's hopes alive. In do-or-die Game 5 in that year's World Series, he again threw a complete game and allowed just one run. He pitched very well in both starts in the 1990 NLCS (and the Reds won both games), although his two post-season starts since then were nothing to write home about. And he went 23-8 in 1988 but nobody remembers it because his name wasn't Orel Hershiser. Jackson is basically a .500 career pitcher, but the guy he's replacing (Kyle Abbott) was 1-14 last year. If Jackson could just go 9-9 (and there's no reason he can't) and the Phils can get some substantial progress from the two pitchers they got from Atlanta, Tommy Greene and Ben Rivera, the Phils can contend. The everyday lineup is pretty much the same, and with a few breaks, they could actually win the division.

5) Chicago Cubs
Chicago's recipe for success following a 78-84 campaign APPARENTLY is:
a) let your best pitcher (Maddux) leave due to free agency because he sees you're not a contender
b) lose your best player and franchise foundation for who knows how long due to a broken finger to start the season (Ryne Sandberg)
c) let the guy who was #2 on your team in homers (Andre Dawson) leave to free agency
d) leave your best catcher unprotected and lose him in the expansion draft (Joe Girardi)
e) employ the worst defensive outfield in baseball (Candy Maldonado, Willie Wilson, Sammy Sosa)
f) replace all these guys without spending money except to overpay for a pitcher (Jose Guzman) who has been a cut below a la David Cone his entire career

The Cubs won't win the division. They won't come close.
The only reason they aren't picked for last is because there's an expansion team and whatever is left after that nuke finishes smoldering in Pittsburgh

6) Pittsburgh Pirates
The steel industry is dead and so are the Bucs. Spare me what a great leader Jim Leyland supposedly is, this team is dead and buried and needs to be thanking their Supreme Being this is an expansion year.

To be fair, it's not ALL Leyland's fault or even that of the organization. Pittsburgh rose from the ashes of the 1985 drug trials and its concurrent 104-loss season to three straight division titles, two in which they were not really challenged much. But take a look at what they lost from those titles:

1990 - starting first baseman Sid Bream, reserve infielder Rafael Belliard (both...to Atlanta)
1991 - starters Bobby Bonilla and Steve Buechele, 20-game winner John Smiley
1992 - starting second baseman Jose Lind, Cy Young winner Doug Drabek, MVP Barry Bonds

All you'd need is a centerfielder and you have the parts right there for a division champion with two solid starters. THAT is what is missing from Pittsburgh heading into 1993. All that's really left from their championship years are two good players (Jay Bell, Andy Van Slyke), two pitchers who had a career year and flamed out otherwise (Zane Smith, Randy Tomlin), a young player who may do well (Orlando Merced), and a young pitcher thought to have a good future who is going to get saddled with hard luck losses pitching for a bad team (Denny Neagle). This team CAN'T win a pennant, WON'T win a pennant, and may well finish last. Except for.

7) Florida Marlins
This is a gimme, right? Expansion teams finishing last? It usually happens. When it doesn't, it's because you have two expansion teams and only one can finish in last (1961 AL, 1962 NL, 1969 AL West). Otherwise, expansion teams finish last. But not so fast my friend!! The Marlins MIGHT - I said MIGHT - finish 6th or, with a tiny bit of luck, 5th.

This is not the old days of expansion. The draft enables teams to not start quite so far behind nowadays, and Florida's owner is one of the richest guys in the world. Their infield includes a former Rookie of the Year (Walt Weiss), a three-time Gold Glove catcher (Benito Santiago), former Golden Spikes winner in college who hasn't panned out but then again he was with the Mets so it's expected (Dave Magadan), a 3-time leader in Japan in home runs (Orestes Destrade), and a youngster who won a gold medal in 1988 but hasn't had the chance to start full-time yet (Brett Barberie). Unfortunately, the outfield is a hitter who can't field (Jeff Conine), a base stealer who can't hit (Chuck Carr), and one of three guys who can't cut the starting lineup elsewhere. Plus, their closer is the "probably not gonna play at an elite level again" former Angel Bryan Harvey. And not to pick on their manager but Rene Lachemann has done no better leading a team than he did making errors for them in his 118-game big league career. Let's face it: even though I'm skeptical that Leyland is as good as his press clippings, even I know Leyland is far better than Lachemann.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

NL WEST - BRAVES AIM FOR ELUSIVE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH POWERHOUSE AND QUESTIONS

1) Atlanta Braves
The last team to win three division titles in a row was the recent Oakland dynasty. The last - before Atlanta - to win two NL pennants in a row was the 1977-78 Dodgers. And the last team to lose the World Series three years in a row were the New York Giants of 1911-12-13. Atlanta has gone from baseball's laughingstock to playing for the history books in less than two full seasons, and they return much of a young team with a platoon at nearly every position. The Braves have two problems, one more urgent than the other: 1) they have too many outfielders as they will attempt to cram four players into three positions; 2) they still don't have a closer of unquestioned reliability. And given that the Braves have lost 14 post-season games the last two years - and fully half of those were due to bullpen issues - you'd think the Braves, with all their future talent in the minors could acquire one. Other than Juan Berenguer, who saved 17 games in 1991, the Braves have gone through five closers. There's nobody with a hold on the job although Atlanta did sign former Dodger closer Jay Howell (who, in an eerie irony, replaced Pena as the closer on the Dodgers) and brought back former starter and 1987 Cy Young winner Steve Bedrosian, but neither figures to hold that job for any length of time. If David Justice can just stay healthy for a full season for once and the Braves get a closer, this one could make the last pennant race season a stroll in the park.

2) Cincinnati Reds
The Reds - quietly (okay, except for Marge Schott) - have the second best team in baseball and at certain positions they are better than Atlanta. Match their lineup by talent, and the only infield position the Braves MIGHT win is at third base (Terry Pendleton over Chris Sabo) and you'd take Justice over Reggie Sanders but only if Justice was healthy. Cincy's top two starters (Jose Rijo, John Smiley) are dead even with Atlanta's - a bit behind at most - and their bullpen, while not as good as the title year in 1990, still has flame throwing Rob Dibble, whom you'd take over an Atlanta closer wannabe. That's why ON PAPER at least, Cincinnati has a real chance at staying with Atlanta and giving us a pennant race for the ages. That is, except, the front office clown show that has run things ever since Marge Schott bought the Reds and hired Pete Rose as manager. That famous picture, taken less than eight years ago, features two people who have both been banished from the game, and the dog saw enough and croaked, too. The Reds have hired Cincinnati legend Tony Perez as their new manager, a hire with all the stench of an affirmative action end around with trouble brewing last year that suggests the "I have no problem with X" is at the root of this. He got the job - in part - because he's a Cincinnati legend who (I'm not making this up) doesn't mind Schott's dog running around on the field before the games. We have no track record to gauge Perez - just as we did not with Rose in 1984 - and in perhaps the ultimate insult, he was given all of a one-year contract. The Reds are Atlanta's mirror image on the field when Rijo is healthy, but they are the Bizarro world polar opposite of Atlanta's front office organization. You know, just like the 1970s when the Red were winning and Atlanta was, well, whatever it was called. The Reds should be good, but the Braves should beat them for the flag, too.

3) Houston Astros
They have become the trendy sleeper pick for those who want to watch the world burn. Manager Art Howe's youngsters put together a fun season that ended with a .500 record despite being stripped of their veterans and spending damn near a month on the road so the Republicans could use the Astrodome to nominate another loser, former President Bush. The new owner forked over money for raises in hopes of seeing Luis Gonzalez, Craig Biggio, and Steve Finley play even better and then added former Cy Young winner Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell as starters. And I haven't even mentioned Jeff Bagwell or another solid contributor (literally) Ken Caminiti. Their biggest weakness is a shortstop (Andujar Cedeno) who makes a lot of errors, and the fact they have a lot of anonymous names behind Drabek and Swindell whose prospect ratings were pretty good but have not yet materialized, including Darryl Kile, Pete Harnisch, and Mark Portugal, who looks the size of the country quite frankly. Houston isn't likely to win the flag because most analysts think they played over the heads last year. But they've added enough that if Drabek can return to his 1990 form and a couple of other starters come through, Houston can make some noise in the division.

4) San Francisco Giants
After an off-season that saw the Giants nearly move to the Tampa area, the Giants are staying in the dump known as Candlestick and signed the chump known as Barry Bonds. Okay, that's a strong assessment. Barry is a good player, but failing to drive in an RBI in two full post-seasons and then, oh yeah, doing it in games where you blow out the opposition anyway is just lame. But ya gotta admit, in the regular season he's pretty awesome, too. Two MVP awards that could have been three - and he ca$hed in for a life in the windy city by the bay. Barry will hit among Will Clark, one of the throwbacks, and Matt Williams, so the Giants should be able to score a lot of runs, which they couldn't do last year when they were next-to-last in ALL OF BASEBALL in scoring. The Giants have a solid core of position players, Royce Clayton and Darren Lewis being the only "we really need someone better than him out there" on the team. But the pitching staff, with the possible exception of Bill Swift (10-4, 2.08 ERA when healthy) is, well, pretty bad. Rod Beck saved 17 games, but he looks like an out-of-work male porn star who is out of work because he gained so much weight. The rest of the staff could get lost in a phone booth, and oh yeah, they have their own version of an affirmative action hire named Dusty Baker. Okay, that's not entirely fair. Dusty has no MANAGERIAL experience but he has been the first base and batting coach with the players whom he will now lead. And Dusty has been active ever since the Al Campanis comments in noble efforts to increase the number of minorities in the game's front offices. Is adding Bonds enough to lift the Giants? Not by itself. Only if he can make his teammates around him play better and, wouldn't you know it - that's his biggest weakness.

5) Los Angeles Dodgers
The old folks home of baseball had a near death experience last year, and the question now is where this is an aberration or the start of a long-term decline. Tommy Lasorda had one other season approaching this. Actually, that's not true. He had about HALF OF A SEASON like last year in 1979, but he righted the ship and won two division titles and was in the pennant race on the last day of the season the other two years. Whether he can make the comeback this time is the issue.

Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis are childhood chums. Now, they tend to be hospital roommates, too. The Dodgers have SIX everyday starters (that's out of eight remember) over the age of 30. This may give rise to whether or not Lasorda can reach the younger generation. His pitching staff has a few has-beens such as Orel Hershiser, Tom Candiotti, and Ramon Martinez as well as a "never has been" in Ramon's younger brother, Pedro. Don't expect much, Dodger fans. That way, you won't be disappointed.

6) San Diego Padres
There are already rumors that a fire sale of players is approaching. San Diego made an unexpected though brief appearance in the pennant race last year after the Braves dusted off the Reds in early August. Tony Gwynn, Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, and Derek Bell all return, and word on the street is that the Padres are looking to unload Bruce Hurst and his $12 million-plus salary "free to a good home." But rumor also is that Hurst is injured, so nobody in their right minds is making an offer. The most interesting aspect would be if Gwynn was sent to a contender. Indeed, there is no reason to not pick the Padres to finish dead last given their pitching makes the Giants' look like Atlanta in comparison. But that's because...

7) Colorado Rockies
Welcome to baseball, Colorado!

Pick up your commemorative "we had a losing season and finished in last but hey, it's the fault of the football stadium where we play!" Colorado's team has several Atlanta Braves, including one (Vinny Castilla) that Atlanta was hoping would get passed in the draft. The Braves have had visions of Castilla at third with "most hyped Brave in the minors since Brad Komminsk" legend Chipper Jones getting ready to come to the big leagues at shortstop. But along with pitchers David Nied and Armando Reynoso, Vinny will give a definite "Atlanta West" look to the Rockies.

They won't do much this year, but maybe by 1995 when they open the new stadium - a circumstance which sort of gives them a little longer honeymoon period than teams usually get - they will be in line to move towards the front. But not this year. Maybe with a little luckk they can finish ahead of San Diego.

NLCS: Braves over Mets in 6
ALCS: Blue Jays over White Sox in 5
World Series: Braves over Blue Jays in 6

Opening day is tomorrow.
Play ball.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 5, 1993
Atlanta Braves 1 (W: Maddux, 1-0; SV: Stanton, 1)
Chicago Cubs 0 (L: Morgan, 0-1)
1-0
1st place

MADDUX BEATS IDOL MORGAN AT WRIGLEY;
TRIBE HONORS ACCIDENT VICTIMS IN EMOTIONAL OPENER;
CLINTON THROWS OUT HIS FIRST PITCH

Greg Maddux won the opener at Wrigley Field for the second straight year, but this time he was pitching for the opposition. Maddux beat one of his old friends from high school, Mike Morgan, who didn't pitch badly but got saddled with a 1-0 loss in a game that saw both pitchers walk 3 batters and give up five hits. Morgan won the strikeout battle, 5-4, but Maddux won the innings pitched battle (8.1 to 7) - and the most important thing, the game.

Atlanta's only run came in the top of the first when Ron Gant singled past the shortstop and went to second on a wild pitch. After a walk to Terry Pendleton, Gant scored Atlanta's first run of the season when David Justice singled him home. It seemed like a small thing at the time, but it loomed larger as the game progressed. Maddux faltered only at the end, when he gave up a one-out single to Sammy Sosa, who stole second. A walk to Steve Buechele resulted in Maddux getting pulled in favor of lefty Mike Stanton, who induced a grounder from pinch-hitter Tommy Shields that forced Buechele but put Sosa on third with the tying run. But Stanton retired Jose Vizcaino to save the opener in what Atlanta hopes is a successful quest for the World Series championship.

Eighteen teams had their openers today, including two new expansion teams.

========================================

Florida 6 LA Dodgers 3
45-year old knuckleballer Charlie Hough, who once pitched for the Dodgers and grew up near Miami, gave up six hits and three runs in six innings of work before a sellout crowd with perfect Miami weather as the Florida Marlins remain the only team in MLB history with an unblemished record in a 6-3 win over 1988 Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser and the Dodgers. Tim Wallach homered for the Dodgers, and Bryan Harvey got the save for Florida.

NY Mets 3 Colorado 0
No such luck for the expansion Rockies at Shea as Doc Gooden channeled his own glorious past with a complete game four-hit shutout that saw Bobby Bonilla homer off Rockies first draft pick and Opening Day starter David Nied.

Phillies 3 Astros 1
Terry Mulholland spoiled Doug Drabek's debut as an Astro despite the fact both starters only allowed four hits. But two key hits, a double by Darren Daulton and a single by Jim Eisenreich drove home two Philly runs and were enough. Mulholland went the distance for the win.

Reds 2 Expos 1
Marge Schott is suspended for the year as a hands-on owner, but sure enough, she was in the booth (not the box) and delivered a taped message to the fans that sounded like Pete Rose might have written it. Fans cheered the owner as the traditional baseball opener in Cincinnati saw Jose Rijo give up five hits and no runs in eight innings before turning over a 2-0 lead to flamethrower Rob Dibble, who got the first two batters in the ninth out before giving up a solo shot to Larry Walker that cut the lead in half before Dibble struck out Frank Bolick to end the game. Elbow problems limited Rijo to two complete games in 1992, but his performance ignited memories of his performance in the 1990 World Series. Rijo when healthy is one of the five best pitchers in the game.

Yankees 9 Indians 1
The second largest Opening Day crowd of over 73,000 fans witnessed the emotional pregame ceremony where the Indians presented the jersey of Steve Olin and Tim Crews, the Cleveland pitchers killed in a boating crash two weeks ago. The Indians then went out and slept walk through a 9-1 rout at the hands of the Yankees and new acquisition Jimmy Key. A three-run homer by Matt Nokes was the key blow in a rout that also saw Pat Kelly and Danny Tartabull go deep for New York.

Red Sox 3 Royals 1
A bases loaded triple by Mike Greenwell was all Roger Clemens needed as "the Rocket" scattered six hits in a 3-1 win over Kevin Appier.

Rangers 7 Orioles 4
President Bill Clinton continued a tradition going back to 1910 of the Chief Executive throwing out the first ball at a game near Washington (President Reagan missed the chance in 1981, but let's admit he had a good excuse). He threw a loping toss to Chris Hoiles, but it wasn't as bad as the tosses from former Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe, three of which landed fair in the seats for home runs tallied six scores as the Rangers beat Baltimore, 7-4.

Oakland 9 Detroit 4
Bob Welch beat Mike Moore in a battle of Athletics' teammates from the glory years in Oakland. Troy Neel and Eric Fox went deep for Oakland.

OTHER BASEBALL NEWS
Joe Coscarart, who had a brief 190-game career with the Boston Braves in 1935-36, died today in Sequim, Washington at the age of 83. A utility infielder on Babe Ruth's last major league team, Coscarart hit .241 with three home runs in a part-time role.

The Mariners signed Wally Backman, and the Twins signed Steve Ontiveros as free agents.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 6, 1993
Chicago Cubs 1 (W: Guzman, 1-0)
Atlanta Braves 0 (L: Smoltz, 0-1)
1-1
3rd place
1/2 game behind

GUZMAN LOSES NO-HITTER WITH 2 OUT IN 9TH BUT CUBS UPEND BRAVES, 1-0

If you had "Jose Guzman does better in his first Cubs start than Greg Maddux in his first Braves start or any start he ever made with the Cubs" on your Bingo card, you need to go buy a lottery ticket. In a reverse mirror image game - almost - of yesterday, the Cubs raced out to a 1-0 first-inning lead and the tension built all afternoon as Guzman, acquired from the Rangers in the off-season largely to replace Maddux, allowed no hits and only two baserunners until he was but one out from a no-hitter. That's when Otis Nixon lined an 0-1 pitch to left that ruined the no-hitter. Then, in what has come to be a typical Cubs moment, Guzman balked the National League's best base-stealer to second base with Jeff Blauser at the plate. Fortunately for the Cubs, Guzman induced a game-ending popout to the shortstop, and the Cubs held on for a 1-0 win.

(Note: on days when pressed for time, I will summarize the other games with clips).

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 7, 1993
Atlanta Braves 5 (W: Howell, 1-0)
Chicago Cubs 4 (L: Scanlan, 0-1
2-1
1st place

CUBS EXPLOIT ATLANTA'S VULNERABILITY, LOSE ANYWAY IN 10;
ROCKIES SCORE FIRST RUN BUT LOSE AGAIN

That cakewalk the Braves are going to have to the World Series championship this year may or may not commence eventually, but every analysis of the Braves tells the same story: this team's one obvious glaring vulnerability is the lack of an established closer. And teams better than the Cubs will likely be more successful than the Cubs were today when they partially exploited it only to fall victim to their own lack of bullpen prowess.

For 7 2/3 innings today, Steve Avery looked like the impressive young southpaw who dazzled the baseball world two years ago with two masterpiece starts against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, lifting Atlanta to their first World Series. At that point in the game, Avery was enjoying a 3-0 lead and had given up only as many hits as he had strikeouts (five) while walking none. But three rapid singles by pinch-hitter Tommy Shields, who got his first major league hit, Willie Wilson and Rey Sanchez plated Chicago's first run. A Mark Grace single off reliever Mike Stanton scored Wilson, cutting the lead to 3-2 as the game entered the ninth.

The Braves went back to the future - or whatever the hell you call it - by sending former starter Steve Bedrosian out to save the win for Avery. Bedrosian's last pitch in the majors was, in fact, on the Atlanta mound in game 5 of the 1991 World Series, when he retired Lonnie Smith while pitching for the eventual world champion Twins. Bedrosian immediately gave up a double to Sammy Sosa and watched Sosa go to third on Steve Buechele's successful bunt. Bedrosian gave way to Kent Mercker, who struck out Derrick May and was one out away from pulling off the save when Matt Walbeck singled back through the box, scoring Sosa to tie the game at three. Shields got his second career hit with a single to left, and on came Jay Howell, the former Dodger reliver who signed for a million bucks this year on January 22. Howell got Wilson to ground out, and both teams had their first extra inning contest of the year. Despite having lost their last two trips to extras - including Game Six of last year's World Series - the Braves persevered, thanks in part to a horrible call by first base umpire Larry Poncino, who called a clearly out Jeff Blauser safe at first with one out in the tenth. Ron Gant made it count when he smashed a 2-1 fastball right over the plate from Bob Scanlan into the left-field seats for a two-run homer that made it 5-3 in favor of Atlanta. Howell came on and gave up an unearned run when Grace reached on an error and Sosa singled Grace home, but he nailed down the save and a series win for Atlanta by getting Buechele to fly out to end the contest. Atlanta's starters opened the year by pitching 24 innings and giving up all of one run prior to Avery's tiring in game three. The bullpen, by contrast, has pitched three innings and given up five hits and two runs plus a third run that was charged to Avery. Although the pen did nail down saves in both opportunities, they also have a blown save for today's game as well. The Braves head back to Atlanta for their home opener tomorrow night against the Dodgers. Tom Glavine will take the hill for Atlanta and knuckleballer Tom Candiotti starts for LA.

Los Angeles 4 Florida 2
The expansion Marlins lost their first game, striking out 11 times, leaving nine runners on base, blowing multiple scoring opportunities against starter Kevin Gross and had two runners thrown out on the basepaths. Eric Karros broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run single to beat Chris Hammond.

NY Mets 6 Rockies 1
Dante Bichette hit the first home run and scored the first run in the history of the Rockies franchise with a 418-foot shot into the bullpen at Shea, the only bad pitch former two-time Cy Young winner (AL) Brett Saberhagen made as he went eight innings and gave up only two hits in New York's 6-1 win over Bruce Ruffin and the Rockies, whose next game is their home opener Friday against the Expos. Mike Maddux pitched one scoreless inning in his Mets debut.

Expos 5 Reds 1
Moises Alou hit a two-run tie-breaking homer in the sixth while Ken Hill gave up only three hits in seven innings as Montreal topped John Smiley in his Cincinnati debut. Mel Rojas pitched two perfect innings for the save.

Cardinals 6 Giants 2
Geronimo Pena had three hits to continue his hot start, the most devastating a three-run bomb that gave Rheal Cormier the win. Barry Bonds hit his first home run as a member of the Giants.

Phillies 6 Astros 3 (10 innings)
Milt Thompson's bases loaded double off Xavier Hernandez chased three runs across the plate in the tenth and put an exclamation point on Philly's comeback from a 2-0 deficit after six. Mitch Williams got his second save.

Blue Jays 2 Mariners 0
With Dave Stewart scratched from the start due to an arm injury, Al Leiter pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits as the Jays won their first game of the season when Roberto Alomar's double in the eighth scored Devon White. Duane Ward pitched the ninth for the save.

Red Sox 3 Royals 2
Frank Viola beat David Cone, who was victimized by four Kansas City errors. Jeff Russell gave up a run in the ninth but still got the save.

Twins 6 White Sox 1
Dave Winfield banged out four hits, the same number surrendered by Minnesota starter Jim Deshaies, the last a bases loaded double that drove home three runs to clinch the win. Rick Aguilera pitched 1.1 for the save.

Rangers 3 Orioles 1 (11 innings)
Doug Strange, a career .204 hitter, smashed a two-run shot off closer Gregg Olson in the 11th to lift Texas to the win.

Oakland 12 Tigers 7
Trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, the Athletics exploded with a nine-run inning, three coming on a home run by Terry Steinbach. 41-year old Goose Gossage pitched one inning and struck out two Tigers.

Indians 4 Yankees 2
Jim Abbott changed scenery, but the song remains the same as he gets no support despite striking out three and scattering nine hits. Albert Belle's two-run bomb off John Habyan in the 8th sealed the win for Cleveland.

Brewers 3 Angels 2
BJ Surhoff broke the tie with a 9th inning single and Cal Eldred allowed one run on three hits in eight innings as the Brew Crew beat the Halos. Doug Henry earned his first save of the season by giving up only one run when he had a two-run lead.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 8, 1993
Atlanta Braves 6 (W: Glavine, 1-0)
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 (L: Candiotti, 0-1)
3-1
1st place

BRAVES GET NL RINGS AND WIN; LEE SMITH TIES ALL-TIME SAVES RECORD;
BAERGA 1ST TO HOMER FROM BOTH SIDES OF PLATE IN INNING

And so the Braves complete their first journey through baseball's best four-man rotation, and the results were pretty much as expected. "The Big Four" gave up 3 runs on 20 hits in 30 innings pitched while striking out 18 and walking 11, compiling a 0.90 ERA. The only stunning result is the Braves are "only" 3-1 because Jose Guzman outpitched John Smoltz two days ago. The Braves are on a pace to win 121 games which, of course, won't happen. But they're off to a good start.

A crowd of over 46,000, including newly elected Vice-President Al Gore, most recently a Tennessee Senator, who wore a navy blue Braves jacket and threw out the game's first pitch, came out to see the Braves get their 1992 National League champion rings, get their first look on the Jumbotron at the second most-famous hit in Atlanta history (Francisco Cabrera's single scoring Sid Bream from second), and see a 20-game winner each of the last two years make his first contribution to this year's pennant race.

Tom Glavine is a mixed bag when it comes to a good start. He's notorious for first-inning woes, like getting bombed in last year's All-Star Game and Game Six of the NLCS, but he's also one helluva pitcher record-wise from April through August. Glavine was a mixed bag tonight at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta's home opener, going six shutout innings but walking an uncharacteristically high six batters as the Braves' cold bats from the Cubs series began to warm up in a 6-1 triumph that saw Atlanta's hitters get five doubles, two from Deion Sanders. Otis Nixon broke the game open with a two-run double in the sixth when he pinch-hit for Glavine, chasing starter Tom Candiotti who wound up the losing pitcher.

Glavine found trouble quickly after retiring Jose Offerman to lead off the game. Brett Butler singled and then Glavine loaded the bases by walking the lethal combination of Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry. But he got Tim Wallach to bounce into a 1-2-3 double play. It was also significant as Wallach was 7-for-10 last year against Glavine and has slammed five career home runs off the lefty. Glavine found trouble in the second, too, again thanks to a walk, but with two runners in scoring position, he got Offerman out to again end the inning without damage. Glavine loaded the bases with three walks again in the fifth, and he again got Wallach out to end the inning, this time on a 3-2 pitch.

The Braves were already leading, 1-0, after Ron Gant walked, stole second, and scored on a Terry Pendleton double in the bottom of the first. They added a run in the fifth when Candiotti's fielding error put Glavine at first, and he scooted to third on a Deion double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gant. An inning later, Nixon's double scored two more runs and put the game away, well, if the bullpen did their jobs. And they did okay, although a Strawberry double and Eric Karros single off reliever Jay Howell got LA their sole run, but the Braves were never threatened as they ended with a 6-1 triumph.

Rookie catcher Mike Piazza missed the game with lower back pain and closer Todd Worrell was placed on the disabled list today after team Dr. Frank Jobe - coincidentally in Georgia attending the Master's golf tournament - drove to Atlanta and evaluated Worrell with X-rays and an MRI. There is no tear, but Worrell's injury is quite painful, so he's out for a bit.

Cardinals 2 Giants 1
Lee Smith tied Jeff Reardon's all-time saves record with the 357th of his career in a 2-1 St Louis win over the Giants. Reardon set the record only ten months ago, but Smith will break it the next time he completes one. New acquisition Mark Whiten broke a 1-1 tie with a 408 foot seventh inning home run that proved to be the game winner.

Expos 14 Reds 11
What a wild game. Trailing 1-0 in the second, Montreal erupted for four runs in the top of the second only to give up five in the bottom of the inning. After tying the game with a two-run third, the Expos drove eight runs across the plate in the fourth to take a 14-6 lead then held on for dear life as the Reds picked up a run here and there to get the game close enough that Chris Sabo came up with a chance to tie it in the ninth but popped out to right, giving Mel Rojas his second save of the year.

Pirates 5 Padres 4
Two-run doubles by Andy Van Slyke and Jeff King were enough to overcome three dingers by San Diego.

Indians 15 Yankees 5
Carlos Baerga entered the books of baseball history as the first player to hit homers from both sides of the plate in the same inning in Cleveland's 15-5 rout of the Yankees. During a nine-run second inning, Baerga hit a two-run shot off of Steve Howe batting righty to increase Cleveland's lead to 8-5 then hit a solo homer from the left side of the plate off of Steve Farr to cap the scoring. After Baerga's first homer, Albert Belle was hit by a pitch and when Farr did the same after Baerga's second homer, he was ejected from the game. It was the 92nd time a player has homered from both sides of the plate in a game, including a record ten each by Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray.

Tigers 3 Oakland 2
With a one-run lead and the bases loaded in the ninth, closer Mike Henneman got Jerry Browne to hit into a game-ending double play to preserve the win for Detroit.

Red Sox 9 Royals 4
Scott Cooper, who replaced the departed Wade Boggs at third, had three hits and 4 RBIs as Boston completed their first three- sweep at Kansas City. The Royals also released Randy Ready.

White Sox 9 Twins 4
Ron Karkovice and Tim Raines each hit two-run bombs as Alex Fernandez got his first win of the season over Pat Mahomes.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 9, 1993
Atlanta Braves 2 (W: Smith, 1-0; SV: Stanton, 2)
Los Angeles Dodgers 0 (L: Astacio, 0-1)
4-1
1st place
2 games ahead

SMITH GOES 8, BREAM HOMERS IN BRAVES SHUTOUT WIN;
RECORD NL CROWD FOR ROCKIES' OPENER;
INDIANS REQUEST NO MORE MOMENTS OF SILENCE;
BO RETURNS WITH HOMER

Just when you thought the Braves had four superstar pitchers, Pete Smith reminds us that when he's on his game, they have five.

The inconsistent and troubled righty channeled the same ability and energy that led him to a 7-0 record in the second half of the 1992 season as he scattered just three hits and allowed no runs in eight innings while striking out five Dodger hitters en route to a 2-0 Braves win that has them in first place by two games already. Smith even helped himself with a seventh inning sacrifice fly that scored Bill Pecota and closed out the scoring. Pedro Astacio pitched well for Los Angeles, throwing only one bad pitch that Sid Bream launched into the bleachers for a solo home run, but Smith outdueled him for eight innings before turning the game over to Atlanta's questionable bullpen. Mike Stanton was at his best, retiring Brett Butler, Eric Davis, and Darryl Strawberry to end the game and notch his second save. Stanton has shown these flashes of brilliance before, but the past two years have shown him to be inconsistent at best once he gets named closer, too. Saturday's game features a treat for the fans as 1988 Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser will square off against newcomer and 1992 Cy Young winner Greg Maddux.

Rockies 11 Expos 4
In Colorado's home opener, Eric Young and Charlie Hayes belted first inning home runs en route to Colorado's first win in franchise history, an 11-4 laugher nowhere near as close as the final score. Colorado led, 11-0, entering the ninth before the largest crowd in National League history, 80,227, who marked Denver's 30-year journey to a major league franchise by their attendance.

Padres 2 Marlins 1
Bryan Harvey is not the lights out closer he was in California, and it cost Florida their first shutout in franchise history. Gary Sheffield greeted harvey with a game-tying home run, and Fred McGriff followed Sheffield with a single as did Derek Bell. McGriff then - to the shock of everyone - stole third base and came home on Dan Walters' sacrifice fly. The Marlins went from a shutout win to a loss in only four batters.

Cubs 11 Phillies 7
Philly entered the second inning with a three-game winning streak and a 3-0 lead, but Chicago responded with six runs in the next two innings, chasing starter Ben Rivera, and although Philly closed it to 6-5, they couldn't finish as Derrick May homered twice and drove in five runs to spoil the Philly home opener. Tyler Green made his first major league appearance in the ninth for Philadelphia.

Pirates 6 Giants 5
Barry Bonds had a stellar game in his return to Pittsburgh for the first time since signing his free agent pact with the Giants in December, going 2-for-4 with a double, triple, 3 RBIs and a run scored, but he was upstaged by rookie Kevin Young, who drove in four runs, including the game-winner off Giants' closer Rod Beck in the eighth.

Cardinals 8 Reds 2
Geronimo Pena slammed two homers and Rene Arocha won his major league debut as the Cards roughed up Tom Browning for ten hits.

Astros 7 Mets 3 (10 innings)
A four-run tenth capped by Ken Caminiti's three-run bomb lifted Houston to their first win of the season over the Mets at Shea.

Angels 7 Tigers 5
Kirk Gibson's grand slam in the top of the first wasn't enough for Mike Moore, who was gone - along with the lead - in the second. The Angels won late on three singles and an error by Mickey Tettleton.

Rangers 3 Red Sox 1
Nolan Ryan's farewell begins with a win on the support of back-to-back home runs by Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco.

Twins 8 Royals 7
Dave Winfield can still perform well at times, banging out a home run and two doubles to spot Minnesota a five-run lead they held onto - barely - until the end. Kirby Puckett also homered for the Twins.

Yankees 11 White Sox 6
An eighth-inning Jim Leyritz grand slam put the game out of reach, but the biggest loss for Chicago was Tim Raines tearing a ligament in his right thumb on a slide into second that will require surgery. Raines is out for six weeks. The good news is that Bo Jackson finally returned to the field for the first time since 1990 - as a pinch-hitter - and homered.

Mariners 6 Orioles 0
The Mariners had run totals that matched the innings early on: one in the first, two in the second, three in the third. Putting the game away early meant the Orioles could get a look at Fernando Valenzuela, who made his first appearance since June 12, 1991, in a relief role. He claims to be 32, but I seriously doubt it.

Brewers 6 Oakland 5
Dickie Thon had 3 RBIs and Milwaukee scored three runs in the last two innings to come back from a 4-3 deficit after they blew a 3-0 lead in the seventh. Rickey Henderson's errant throw home was the key to the late rally.

Blue Jays 13 Indians 10
It was the kind of game to remind fans how much pitching Cleveland lost in last month's tragic boating accident (more below). The Tribe blew leads of 2-0 and 9-7 as the bullpen collapsed and surrendered six runs in the 7th and 8th innings combined to turn a high-powered offense win into another missed opportunity. It was Toronto's home opener, and the Blue Jays got their World Series championship rings prior to the game.

NOTES
Also prior to the game, the Cleveland Indians asked for NO MORE moments of silence for deceased pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews and also requested the media to not talk about it, Mike Hargrove saying, "It's time to move on." Hargrove may sound like an ingrate, but he's 100% correct here. Do it at your home opener and your road opener - and we can cheer the day Bob Ojeda comes back, if he ever does. But Hargrove is right here.

Not so much Wes Chamberlain, the Philly outfielder who arrived two hours late for today's scheduled game and then refused to address the media. A spokesman claims Chamberlain overslept, but he and Jim Fregosi had a bit of a tiff, which is understandable.

Jim Valvano, just a month after his inspiration speech at the ESPY Awards, is unable to make the trip to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium due to, well, his terminal cancer. Valvano was raised in Queens and graduated from Seaford High School on Long Island, so selecting him for the first pitch in New York City makes a lot of sense. Not so much his replacement, Dean Smith, who earlier this week won his second basketball national championship at North Carolina. Smith is from Kansas originally, but I'm guessing the Yankees want to identify with a champion. Yeah, I know they're friends.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 10, 1993
Los Angeles Dodgers 2 (W: Hershiser, 1-1; SV: Gott, 1)
Atlanta Braves 1 (L: Howell, 1-1)
4-2
1st place
1 game ahead

HERSHISER OUTDUELS MADDUX IN 10-INNING WIN COURTESY OF A BALK;
DRABEK WINS 100th

Count yourself lucky if you were among the 49,000-plus fans that packed into Atlanta Fulton County Stadium tonight to see a pitching battle that belonged in September as opposed to April. Atlanta's new free agent extraordinaire' Greg Maddux pitched nine innings and gave up only one run on five hits while striking out six but was still set to be the game's losing pitcher when Ron Gant pinch-hit for Maddux in the ninth and scored after drawing a walk, moving to second on a bunt by Otis Nixon and tied the game when Deion Sanders doubled him home. But Sanders tried to stretch the double into a triple and was thrown out at third, all but killing hopes for Atlanta to steal another win in the bottom of the ninth. David Justice received an intentional walk and then stole second due to defensive indifference, which moved Tommy Lasorda to walk home run threat Sid Bream and have Hershiser retire "not a home run threat" Damon Berryhill to force extra innings. As wild as the bottom of the ninth was, it paled in comparison to what followed.

Atlanta's beleaguered bullpen made another appearance, this one in the form of former Dodger Jay Howell. With one out, Mike Piazza singled to center, and Tom Goodwin came on to pinch-run for him. Howell then retired Jody Reed on a grounder to first only to learn the out didn't count because first base umpire Steve Ripley called a balk on Howell for not coming to a complete stop in his motion. This put Goodwin on second and given a second chance, Reed singled to center, scoring Goodwin and giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Enraged at the call, Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox unloaded a fusillade of comments towards Ripley from the dugout and was tossed from the game. Jim Gott came on the ninth and retired Atlanta in order to earn the save and Hershiser a much-deserved win.

Maddux has to be shaking his head in disbelief at this point. Last year, his Cubs were shut out in seven of his 11 losses, a key statistic in Maddux winning the Cy Young over Tom Glavine. Thus far, Maddux has gone 17.1 innings, allowed one run - and were it not for the late comeback tonight and one harmless hit in the first inning of the season, he'd be winless despite having done as well as any pitcher in baseball to this point. The series concludes tomorrow with another potential pitcher's duel that matches John Smoltz against Ramon Martinez.

Rockies 9 Expos 5
Former Brave and first overall expansion pick David Nied went seven strong innings, giving up four runs and getting support from Andres Galarraga's three RBIs to earn his first Rockies win in a 9-5 triumph over Montreal. "Only" 62,000 fans attended Colorado's second game at Mile High Stadium that draws their overall record to .500.

Phillies 5 Cubs 4
John Kruk almost single-handedly beat the Cubs, lifting his hitting to 10-for-18 in the young season and driving in four runs, two on an early home run off Cubs starter Mike Morgan to lead Philly to the win.

Cardinals 2 Reds 1 (10 innings)
Lee Smith blew his chance to become the all-time saves leader, blowing the 1-0 lead in the ninth, but the Cardinals won the contest in the tenth when Ozzie Smith singled home Ray Lankford.

Marlins 2 Padres 1
Less than 24 hours after blowing a 1-0 lead when he gave up a home run to Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff, Marlins closer Bryan Harvey was called on to save a 2-1 lead - against Sheffield and McGriff. This time Harvey retired both for the save, lifting Charlie Hough to 2-0 on the year.

Astros 6 Mets 3
The pitching duel didn't rival the other matchup between former NL Cy Young winners, but Doug Drabek, after a rough start, outdueled Doc Gooden to win his first game as a Houston Astro and 100th for his career. Luis Gonzalez went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, one on his third home run of the year.

Giants 12 Pirates 5
Will Clark homered and drove in four runs as San Francisco ended Pittsburgh's three-game winning streak in a rout. Barry Bonds took the collar, going 0-for-4 on the night.

Yankees 12 White Sox 0
With Tim Raines out for six weeks, Bo Jackson replaced him in the starting lineup for the White Sox. Bo went 0-for-3 with a walk while Bernie Williams drove in three runs for the Yankees as Jimmy Key scattered six hits over seven innings to lift his lifetime record over the White Sox to 15-7 and his 1993 record to 2-0.

Twins 3 Royals 2
After starting the 1992 season 1-16, the Royals are matching that pace, dropping to 0-5 after a 3-2 home loss by ace Kevin Appier, who got almost no run support. Willie Banks won for Minnesota while Rick Aguilera got his third save.

Tigers 5 Angels 2
Lou Whitaker belted a two-run home run, and David Wells made it stand up as the Tigers beat the Angels, 5-2, in California.

Oakland 4 Brewers 3
The Athletics blew an early 3-0 lead, but an RBI single by Jerry Browne in the fourth held up as Dennis Eckersley got his second save when Oakland held on to win.

Blue Jays 5 Indians 4
Joe Carter's eighth-inning three-run bomb off Charles Nagy was the difference as Todd Stottlemyre got the win and Duane Ward closed out his third save.

Red Sox 10 Rangers 2
Texas became the last team in the majors to lose as Roger Clemens scattered six hits and made only one bad pitch, a solo home run by Juan Gonzalez. Craig Lefferts was touched for five runs in the fifth.

Orioles 5 Mariners 3
Baltimore's scoreless streak reached 17 innings before a five-run inning keyed by two-run doubles by Harold Baines and Tim Hulett lifted the O's and Rick Sutcliffe to their first win.

The Pirates finally won over a player and got him to stay. After losing Bobby Bonilla, John Smiley, Doug Drabek, Steve Buechele, and Barry Bonds over the last two seasons, Pittsburgh agreed to terms with Jay Bell, who is signed through the 1997 season for $20.1 million.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 11, 1993
Atlanta Braves 3 (W: Smoltz, 1-1; SV: Stanton, 3)
Los Angeles Dodgers 0 (L: R. Martinez, 1-1)
5-2
1st place
1.5 games ahead

With one week gone in the baseball season, we can give a - VERY - early progress report on the Atlanta Braves. The starting pitching is phenomenal, the relief pitching adequate, the defense has made but three errors (none of which have hurt the Braves at all), and the team won each of its first two series. The offense is an area of concern but as nobody can do everything perfectly and it's early, the hope is this will get hotter as the weather does.

John Smoltz went eight shutout innings and gave up four hits while striking out eight en route to his first win of the season. Smoltz pitched spectacularly well in his first start against the Cubs, but the Braves only got one hit, and he got the loss. Today's game, like his last start, was basically over in the first inning when Ron Gant's solo home run gave Smoltz all he would need. Ramon Martinez only gave up two hits in his six innings of work, but his wildness led to six walks even though not one of those runners scored. His brother, Pedro, relieved him and left after putting two runners on in the eighth. With the game on the line - and the bases loaded for Deion Sanders - Ricky Trlicek gave up a two-run scoring single from Deion to put the game out of reach. Mike Stanton worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save, and the Braves had taken three of four from LA. The Cubs come to Atlanta for a three-game series before the Braves head out on a seven-game road trip that will take them to both coasts.


Expos 19 Rockies 9
And this is exactly why folks can't wait until the Rockies move into an actual baseball stadium. Montreal smashed 22 hits, 5 by rookie Mike Lansing, and with the help of 5 Colorado errors, scored in every inning but the eighth - including 7 in the top of the ninth - to avoid a three-game sweep and thump the Rockies, 19-9. The 19 runs are a Montreal all-time record while the 212K plus fans for a three-game series for the Rockies set an all-time major league record for attendance at a three-game series, breaking the record of Cleveland set in August 1948.

Padres 6 Marlins 2
Fred McGriff and Tony Gwynn got six of San Diego's 13 hits, and McGriff scored three runs as Andy Benes got his first win of the season over Jack Armstrong.

Astros 5 Mets 4
Chris James went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs as Houston took their first three-game sweep from the Mets since 1983. Former Indians Greg Swindell and Doug Jones got the win and the save.

Phillies 3 Cubs 0
The anticipated pitcher's duel between Curt Schilling and Jose Guzman was all Schilling, thanks largely to a Candy Maldonado error with two outs in the first that led to two Philly runs. Schilling went the distance and gave up four runs while striking out eight and walking one as Philadelphia took the series from the Cubs.

Giants 4 Pirates 3
John Burkett went 7.2 innings and limited Pittsburgh to four hits while Matt Williams slammed a solo homer that broke a 7th inning tie and beat Pirates ace Tim Wakefield.

Reds 4 Cardinals 3
The Reds had 12 singles in the first four innings as they raced out to a 4-0 lead then held on for the win when Ray Lankford was gunned down at the plate to end the game and preserve Tim Pugh's 4-3 win over St Louis.

Angels 7 Tigers 6
Blowing an early 4-1 lead that appears largely based on the strained rib cage muscle that sent Mark Langston to an early shower, the Angels rallied to win, keyed by a squeeze bunt by J.T. Snow that sent the go-ahead run across the plate. The bullpen held on for the narrow win.

White Sox 6 Yankees 4
Chicago avoided the sweep when Joey Cora's two-run triple in the sixth made the difference. Ace Jack McDowell is now 2-0 for the Sox.

Royals 2 Twins 1
Rookie Phil Hiatt's first major-league home run, a solo shot off Kevin Tapani, was enough to give KC their first win of the season. Jeff Montgomery pitched the final two innings for the save.

Oakland 8 Brewers 2
Six shutout innings by Sean Hillegas and Dave Henderson's first home run since 1991 - off Graeme Lloyd, making his major league debut - were enough to give the Athletics the win. Rickey Henderson hit his 200th career home run.

Mariners 7 Orioles 6 (12 innings)
Jay Buhner's bases loaded single in the 12th lifted Seattle after they entered the last frame trailing by a run thanks to Brady Anderson's solo shot. Mike Devereaux and Chris Hoiles homered for Baltimre.

Rangers 4 Red Sox 1
Kevin Brown came off the DL and gave up five hits in 7.2 innings, the only damage coming from a Mo Vaughn solo shot as Texas beat Boston.

Indians 10 Blue Jays 6
Jack Morris dropped to 0-2 thanks largely to a three-run bomb by Carlos Baerga and three RBIs by Thomas Howard.

Despite owing over $4 million to catcher Mike LaValliere, the Pirates released him as part of their cost-cutting efforts. Asked why he threatened a reporter who had written a book, Bobby Bonilla claimed he was concerned "with the integrity of the sport" and said journalist Bob Klapisch had "abused his privilege," whatever that hell that's supposed to mean.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 12, 1993
Chicago Cubs 5 (W: Hibbard, 1-0)
Atlanta Braves 1(L: Avery, 0-1)
5-3
1st place
0.5 games ahead

CUBS BEAT ATLANTA, 5-1;
LARGEST CROWD IN GIANTS HISTORY AS SF WINS HOME OPENER;
ABBOTT GOES DISTANCE IN STEINBRENNER'S RETURN

It was inevitable that Atlanta's phenomenal starting pitching was going to surrender a home run, and Sammy Sosa's solo bomb - the first by an Atlanta starter in 1993 - didn't do much damage in and of itself, merely giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead. But three straight singles and some aggressive baserunning in the third gave the Cubs two more runs and at that point it was a combination of Greg Hibbard's outstanding pitching and Atlanta's horrid early season offense that gave Chicago a 5-1 win over the Braves at Fulton County Stadium tonight. Hibbard went 8.2 innings, scattering 7 hits and walking 3 but never allowing the Braves to cluster those together for runs. Indeed, Atlanta's only run came on back to back doubles by David Justice and Brian Hunter with two out in the ninth that spoiled Hibbard's bid for a shutout. Randy Myers came on and got the final out. Steve Avery struck out three Cubs in six innings, but he scattered nine hits - just close enough to dig the Braves a hole. The bullpen, as usual, was Swiss cheese, as Greg McMichael made his major league debut, and the results were mixed. He inherited a runner on first with nobody out and got out of the jam in the seventh, but he also gave up two hits in the eighth that put the game out of reach. Yes, there are late bloomers, but McMichael is 26 years old - three years older than Avery, who is entering his fourth season as a starter and just a few months younger than Maddux and Glavine, who are already Cy Young winners. This smacks of Bobby Cox's latest attempt to find a closer on the cheap. Marvin Freeman pitched the ninth and reminded everyone why the only time you ever see him pitch is when the game is hopeless either as a blowout win or inevitable loss for the Braves. And he pitched like it, too, giving up three hits and a run.

Giants 4 Marlins 3 (11 innings)
The San Francisco Giants, who were mere minutes away from heading towards Tampa just months ago, opened their new season with their new free agent, Barry Bonds, who did something he's done a lot, drilled a home run. This one was in his first at-bat at home and ignited the Giants, who added a two-run bomb by Mike Benjamin just a few batters later to race out to a 4-0 lead. Florida tied it with a three-run sixth on Benito Santiago's dinger. Rod Beck got the win after he pitched a scoreless 11th and successfully bunted Benjamin to second so that Darren Lewis could end the game with a base hit. At an official tally of 56,689, it was the largest regular season crowd in San Francisco Giants history.

Phillies 5 Reds 4
Lenny Dykstra, off to a sluggish start with a .174 average, drilled a 3-2 pitch into the seats for what turned out to be the difference in a 5-4 win. The Phillies blew a 4-0 lead but were bailed out by Dykstra'***** and a seemingly rare 1-2-3 ninth by Mitch Williams for his fourth save.

Pirates 4 Padres 2
Pittsburgh added Dave Otto to the roster on Sunday; on Monday, he got his first win as an NL pitcher, his first major league hit, and his first RBI in a 4-2 Pirates triumph that spoiled San Diego's home opener. Otto scattered four hits and gave up two runs, and three Pirate relievers closed out the final three innings giving up but one hit. Stan Belinda got the save.

Angels 12 Brewers 5
California finally solved the mystery of Cal Eldred. Twice. They'd scored only one run off Eldred in 17 innings, but they pushed across two in the top of the first when J.T. Snow was hit by a pitch with two outs and Chili Davis ripped a two-run homer. Chuck Finley couldn't hold the lead for even one inning as the Brewers sent eight batters to the plate in the first and only a bases loaded double play off the bat of Alex Diaz kept the score a manageable 3-2 Milwaukee lead. The Brewers added a run in the second courtesy of Darryl Hamilton performing a version of the "Rickey Rally" - base hit, steal second, move to third on an out, score on contact. But in the third, the Angels ripped four straight singles, moved two runners into scoring position on a wild pitch and then scored the go-ahead run when two walks forced in the run. When California added a run early in the fourth to make it 6-4, Eldred got the hook. The game was 6-5 going into the ninth when the Angels unloaded on Doug Henry for a six-run inning aided by a Dickie Thon error. Finley got his first win of the year while Julio Valera pitched 3.2 innings for the save.

Yankees 4 Royals 1
George Steinbrenner made his return to the owner's box after a lifetime suspension of less than three years as part of the largest regular season crowd in Yankee Stadium history since the remodeling done in 1976. They got to witness the inspirational Jim Abbott go the distance on only 85 pitches as he surrendered only one run and outdueled David Cone for his first win as a Yankee.

Twins 3 White Sox 2
Trailing 2-0 entering the eighth, Minnesota pushed three runs across the plate, the key blow an RBI double by Kirby Puckett, that beat Kirk McCaskill and the Pale Hoes, 3-2. Rick Aguilera got his fourth save.

Rangers 6 Orioles 3
As impossible as this sounds, Charlie Leibrandt outpitched Mike Mussina as the Rangers got the fifth win in six games. Juan Gonzalez drilled two home runs including the go-ahead. John Russell also homered for Texas, who lead the majors with 13 bombs.

Mets-Rockies and Indians-Red Sox were postponed due to rain.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 13, 1993
Atlanta Braves 3 (W: Glavine, 2-0; SV: Stanton, 4)
Chicago Cubs 2 (L: Castillo, 0-1)
Atlanta Braves 1(L: Avery, 0-1)
6-3
1st place
0.5 games ahead

GLAVINE, BREAM LEAD BRAVES TO WIN;
SMITH BECOMES ALL-TIME SAVES LEADER
PHILS OFF TO 7-1 START

Word on the street is that you can beat Tom Glavine and the Braves if you get to him early. The Chicago Cubs heeded that advice and did up to a point, so much so that after the game Glavine himself admitted that was a good strategy with a certain degree of truth. Three of Chicago's first five batters ripped base hits and gave the Cubs a quick 2-0 lead. But the flip side of that is also true: if Glavine gets through the first inning, you're usually going to have a tough time scoring. And it proved true as Glavine cruised through the next seven innings giving up only three hits while Atlanta's anemic offense (.188 so far) did just enough to take the lead, and Mike Stanton did just enough to hold it for the Braves' sixth win in nine games, putting them in first place by 0.5 game early in the season. Unlike the last two years when the Braves have stumbled out the gate with losing records (3-6 in 1991, 4-5 last year), they've gotten off to a good start in 1993, as yesterday's 5-1 loss was the only contest that wasn't close; with two hits in two games, the Braves could easily be 8-1.

Frank Castillo, spotted a 2-0 lead before he took the mound, didn't pitch poorly for the Cubs, but he still didn't pitch well enough to beat an offense that so far has lacked timely hitting. He gave up an immediate double to Deion Sanders then got bailed out when Sanders's shoddy baserunning - remember last year's World Series when it got the Braves nailed for a triple play, and Atlanta got a reprieve from a lousy umpiring call? - doubled him off first. Sanders thought Jeff Blauser'***** towards left-center was going to drop for a hit, and he guessed wrong. Candy Maldonado, who coincidentally was playing left field in that game for Toronto, caught the ball and doubled up the speedster at second, ending Atlanta's early threat. David Justice cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second with a leadoff solo shot, and Sid Bream - yes, slow as bread mold Sid - raced all the way around to third when Willie Wilson dove for a sinking liner that got past him to the wall that for some reason was ruled a three-base error. Bream later scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Lemke to tie the game. As weird as that sounds, Bream scored the game winner two innings later when he doubled with one out, moved to third on a single and then scored on an infield ground out by Lemke. Glavine threw goose eggs the rest of the game until Stanton came on, and though he surrendered a two-out single, got the save, his fourth of the year.

Giants 3 Marlins 1
Barry Bonds didn't play, but it didn't matter. Kirt Manwaring's solo homer was the key to the Giants beat Florida, 3-1. Dave Burba got his second win and Rod Beck his third save.

Phillies 4 Reds 1
Tommy Greene gave up 2 hits in 7 innings, one a home run leading off the second to Chris Sabo, and Mitch Williams got his fifth save as Philadelphia improved to 7-1. The only better start in team history was the 1915 team that won the NL pennant, who started 8-0.

Pirates 6 Padres 4
Don Slaught,the new starting catcher after the release of Mike LaValliere, got four hits and pitcher Bob Walk drove home two runs as Pittsburgh lifted their record to 4-0 on the season against the Padres.

Astros 9 Expos 6
Trailing 5-2 entering the 8th, Houston erupted for 7 runs thanks to two RBIs each from Andujar Cedeno and Eddie Taubensee, undoing Pete Harnisch's poor start and sending Mel Rojas and the Expos to a 9-6 final score.

Cardinals 9 Dodgers 7
Lee Smith got his first career save against the Dodgers. And his 300th career save as well. Tonight, Smith got his record-breaking 358th save when he got the final three outs against those same Dodgers. Smith's record-breaker only occurred after the Cardinals blew all of a five-run lead but overcame it on a three-run pinch-hit homer by Gerald Perry and a solo shot in the ninth by Tom Pagnozzi.

New York 8 Colorado 4
The Mets overcame a 4-2 deficit with a six-run 8th highlighted by Todd Hundley's bases loaded triple after the Rockies had issued four walks and thrown a wild pitch. Closer Darren Holmes was bombed for his first loss of the year while Brett Saberhagen got his second win.

White Sox 4 Twins 0
Alex Fernandez pitched a three-hitter while striking out 7 and beat Pat Mahomes for the second time in a week.

Red Sox 6 Indians 2
Scott Fletcher had a two-run homer and Mike Greenwell a two-run triple as Boston won their home opener.

Rangers 8 Orioles 3
Fernando Valenzuela returned as a starter, but he may want to rethink that one as Texas routed the former Cy Young winner and rookie phenom for 7 runs in just 2.1 innings, which included five walks, a wild pitch, and an errant pickoff throw as well as the Rangers' league-leading 14th homer of the year, the first for new Ranger Gary Redus.

Blue Jays 6 Mariners 5
Danny Cox, the former Cardinal hurler whose career was marked by post-season misfortune, finally had some good luck even if in a bizarre way tonight. First, he gave up Toronto's 3-0 lead when Omar Vizquel, who hasn't homered since August 13, 1991, drilled a Cox delivery for his first career grand slam in Seattle's five-run sixth. Darnell Coles tripled home the go-ahead run in the 8th, and Duane Ward got his fourth save.

Tigers 20 Oakland 4
Last season, the Detroit Tigers became the first team in baseball history to lead the league in scoring...and give up more than they scored. Tonight, Rob Deer, Mickey Tettleton, and Travis Fryman each smashed three-run homers to set a Detroit record for the home opener with 20 runs. Cecil Fielder did not join the homer barrage despite getting four hits. Detroit's pitching is every bit as bad as their hitting is good, though; the Tigers scored 39 runs last week to lead the league and went 2-4. Storm Davis faced 18 batters and 8 scored in his 2.1 innings.

Mark Davis won an undeserved Cy Young Award in 1989 with the Padres, and he's been terrible ever since. After a league-leading 44 saves and a 1.85 ERA won him the award, Davis signed a huge free agent contract with the Royals - and has saved all of 7 games the past three seasons. He's now with his third team as the Braves, who could use a good closer, traded him to the Phillies today for Brad Hassinger. Twins pitcher Scott Erickson, who has a rib cage injury, is expected off the DL this weekend. The Phillies optioned Tyler Green to Triple A today. Sammy Sosa was a little miffed when a reporter suggested the Cubs only won yesterday because Steve Avery had an off-night. Sosa disagreed, saying he simply hit a good pitch for his 415-foot home run and that despite their deserved reputation as the league's best staff, "nobody can be perfect every night." Avery, it should be noted, felt he pitched well despite the loss.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 14, 1993
Chicago Cubs 6 (W: Harkey, 1-0)
Atlanta Braves 0 (L: Smith, 1-1)
6-4
1st place
TIED

ATLANTA OFFENSIVE WOES CONTINUE IN SHUTOUT LOSS TO CUBS;
MARLINS WIN 1ST EVER ROAD GAME;
BONILLA UNDER FIRE FOR SLUR

The Atlanta Braves are a good baseball team, but they have two obvious vulnerabilities. The bullpen is well-known, but the Braves are not hitting the ball well or scoring runs at all. The Braves are dead last in all of baseball in runs scored (22, tied with Milwaukee, who have played 3 fewer games), and they're hitting .197 after ten games, not that they would have been able to beat the Cubs tonight. Mike Harkey came off the disabled list and went seven shutout innings, pulled only when Otis Nixon walked with one out in the eighth of an already decided 6-0 contest. He struck out five, and the bullpen got the final five outs to preserve the shutout and win. It is the second shutout of Atlanta to start the season, and the sixth time they've been held to two runs or less.

Chicago got single runs in each of the first three innings, the first two using "small ball" of base hits clustered with productive outs and the third on a solo shot by Mark Grace. Atlanta starter Pete Smith struck out four despite the 3-0 deficit, but Greg McMichael, making his second relief appearance, wasn't much better than in his first. He gave up a leadoff single to Sammy Sosa, balked Sosa to second, threw a wild pitch on strike three to put runners at the corners when Rick Wilkins beat out the throw to first and then put the game out of reach by giving up a double to Jose Vizcaino that made it 5-0 Cubs. Just to show it wasn't only McMichael, Steve Bedrosian came on and let Sosa score his next time up by surrendering a single, a steal of second, and a single to Wilkins. The Atlanta bullpen is by no means their biggest issue at present, but it's a source of concern.

Marlins 6 Giants 4
Rich Renteria's pinch-hit single broke a tie and capped a three-run sixth leading to Florida's first road win in franchise history..

Astros 9 Expos 5
Houston extended their road winning streak to five as Ken Caminiti drove in two runs to give Mark Portugal the win that moves Houston into a first-place tie with the Braves.

Phillies 9 Reds 2
The Phillies are off to their best start in history, 8-1, the best record in the NL. Wes Chamberlain drove home two runs on three hits and threw out a runner at home. Ben Rivera went six shutout innings. The start ties Philly's previous best of 8-1 to start the 1915 season, when they made their first-ever World Series. They also began 10-2 in 1964, the year they had the most famous pennant collapse in baseball history.

Cardinals 2 Dodgers 1 (15 innings)
An infield single by Gregg Jefferies scored Brian Jordan from third and Lee Smith added to his career record saves total in 15 innings in LA.

Mets 6 Rockies 3
If the Mets could play only the Rockies, they'd be undefeated or close. Four wins on the year - all against Colorado. Sid Fernandez went five innings before leaving with shoulder stiffness.

Pirates 11 Padres 7
Andy Van Slyke's career-high 5 RBIs and 3 Padre errors lifted Pittsburgh to another win.

Angels 12 Brewers 2
Trailing 2-1 entering the 8th, California exploded twice, first for 5 runs in the eighth and then for six more in the 9th to turn a close game into a rout. Tim Salmon's three-run shot was the key blow.

Yankees 6 Royals 5
Wade Boggs went 4-for-4 and Bob Wickman went 8 great innings before a Don Mattingly error opened the floodgate in the 9th. Needing only one out for the complete game, Wickman surrendered a three-run shot to Phil Hiatt that closed the game to 6-5. Steve Farr came on for the save to lift Wickman to 2-0 on the year.

Red Sox 12 Indians 7
Mo Vaughan and Scott Cooper had four hits apiece as Boston is off to their best start (6-2) since 1955, when they also didn't win the pennant.

Mariners 10 Blue Jays 9 (10 innings)
Rich Amaral is a rookie after ten years in the minors, and he got his first game-winning RBI with a tenth inning single off reliever Mike Timlin to lift Seattle to a 10-9 win. Toronto made 3 errors.

Orioles 6 Rangers 5
Pitching on the 25th anniversary of his first big league-win, 46-year old Nolan Ryan got his 288th career loss as he gave up 8 hits and 6 runs in just 4 innings of work in 48-degree conditions. Ryan threw 32 pitches in the first inning where he walked 3 batters and gave up 2 hits and 2 runs. Unlike most nights, Ryan did not stick around to watch the endof the game, and Glenn Davis said later that Ryan just didn't have his normal stuff.

Twins at White Sox was postponed due to rain.

Meanwhile, Bobby Bonilla finally found a way to come down on his side despite his anger issues last week. No, Bonilla was not right as it has come out he used THE slur word against gay people you simply shouldn't say, and the NGLAD demanded an apology, which Bonilla sorta gave. Bonilla did not even realize he'd said it until a tape was played for him that clearly embarrassed him. But sure enough, former umpire Dave Pallone - who was basically a "scab" who got his job thanks to the 1979 umpires strike, feuded with players while trying to be an allegedly impartial arbiter, and was one of the lowest rated umpires in the league every year he was in the league - well, Dave had to weigh in and demand that since Marge Schott was suspended one year for racial slurs then Bonilla should be fired for gay slurs. Pallone left the game under a cloud after the 1988 season during which he picked a fight with Pete Rose, getting the gambling legend suspended for 30 days. (Rose had zero business striking an umpire - but it's also true Pallone started it). I can say a lot but let's say it like this: there is a HUGE difference between what someone says in casual speech REPEATEDLY that indicates a clear problem of bigotry and what someone says in the heat of the moment that they don't realize they said. I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying it's different in that sense. Now, if Bonilla had been having a casual postgame interview or whatever and said the word like it was an every day thing, I'd be more inclined to agree with Pallone. Both things can be true: Bonilla was wrong but it wasn't criminal - and Pallone was a lousy umpire who resigned one step before he was fired for being a lousy umpire and not for his private life.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 15, 1993
San Francisco Giants 6 (W: Brantley, 1-0)
Atlanta Braves 1 (L: Maddux, 1-1)
6-5
2nd place
1/2 game behind

BONDS BESTS MADDUX IN FIRST MEETING OF BLOCKBUSTER FREE AGENTS;
RYAN OUT FOR 6 WEEKS IN FAREWELL SEASON;
SPARKY WINS 2,000TH AND LEYLAND 600TH

The Atlanta Braves have gotten the best of Barry Bonds the last two Octobers, holding him to a .200 batting average (10-for-50), one home run, and two RBIs while keeping his team out of the World Series both years. Whether that's about to change is debatable, but maybe we should note Greg Maddux was not on the Braves to face Bonds either of those years. And maybe that's a good thing because in Thursday night's faceoff of the two blockbuster free agents who signed with their new teams one day apart this past December, Bonds easily got the best of Maddux and Atlanta's pitching, and it wasn't particularly close. At the same time, Atlanta's somnolent offense was held below 3 runs for the 7th time in 11 games as Jeff Brantley scattered six hits over 7.2 innings and gave up one run in San Francisco's 6-1 win over the Braves, and it took but one swing from Bonds to decide the game's outcome.

After missing the last two games with a strained right hamstring, Bonds strolled to the plate in the bottom of the first batting fifth behind Matt Williams. Maddux had surrendered two out hits to Will Clark and Williams, bringing up Bonds with two on. Bonds turned on a cutter that crossed into the middle of the plate and drilled it 415 feet to right, the only question from the moment it left the bat being whether it was a home run or a foul ball. The three-run home run was all Brantley would need with Atlanta's batters in a perpetual slump, but the Giants made sure anyway. Otis Nixon misplayed a high popup from Clark into a two-base error in the third, and Clark scored moments later when Bonds singled him home. Bonds followed Clark around the bases, scoring on a Kirt Manwaring single to center to give the Giants a 5-0 lead after three. Bonds later doubled Clark home to close out the Giants' scoring and complete a huge night for perhaps the game's best everyday player: 3-for-5, 5 RBIs, 2 runs scored. The only positive development of the night was after Maddux left the game for a shower at the end of the fourth inning, rookie Greg McMichael came on and faced Bonds as his first batter - and struck out the slugger. After two mediocre outings in relief, McMichael went two innings and didn't allow a baserunner, striking out three of the six hitters he faced with a dancing changeup. Atlanta's scoreless streak reached 21 innings before Deion Sanders ended it with a solo shot in the eighth.

Maddux, for his part, refused any excuses, saying that the first-inning pitches hit by Clark, Williams, and Bonds were all good pitches and that Bonds deserved credit for being able to keep the ball in fair territory as he had turned on it so quickly. Bonds later expressed a common opinion, that it was fortunate San Francisco got to Maddux in the first inning and never let him settle into a rhythm because "if you let him get to the third or fourth inning, he's hard to get to." The loss drops Atlanta out of first place for the first time this season and moves the Giants into first place 1/2 game ahead of both Atlanta and Houston.

Expos 2 Astros 1
Twelve pitches into the game, Montreal ace Dennis Martinez was ejected when he - shall we say "expressed concerns" over the strike zone. Umpire crew chief Harry Wendelstet, among the most respected officials in sports, said that Martinez should have known by this point in his career that he couldn't leave the mound to argue the strike zone and that it was particularly foolish to do so in a 0-0 game with nobody out. But Montral's bullpen was up to the task, giving up only one run and beating newcomer Doug Drabek on a two-run shot by Mike Lansing.

Cardinals 4 Dodgers 2
With LA suffering at bat about like Atlanta has, Manager Tommy Lasorda pulled both Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry from his lineup. It didn't help. Rookie Mike Piazza hit his first career home run, a solo shot in the first, but Lee Smith closed out yet another save as the Cardinals swept the Dodgers.

Pirates 5 Padres 4 (13 innings)
The Pirates have won seven games to start the season, six against San Diego. Carlos Garcia had 3 RBIs, including the game-winner on a 13th inning single for Manager Jim Leyland's 600th career win.

Rockies 5 Mets 3
David Nied, the rookie the Rockies got from the Braves in the expansion draft, has earned another recognition nobody can ever take away from him: first complete game in the history of the Colorado Rockies' franchise. Nied scattered six hits and Freddie Benavides broke out of a 1-for-18 slump with a two-run single as a four-run first inning ended Colorado's three-game losing streak. Coincidentally, Nied beat the Mets for his first MLB win last September with the Braves.

Blue Jays 3 Mariners 1
Once concern with Toronto - a ludicrous one - was whether Joe Carter will get 100 RBIs this year without Dave Winfield hitting behind him. Never mind that Carter has topped 100 RBIs six times in the last seven seasons and only once was Winfield hitting behind him. Carter tonight drove in all three Toronto runs with a solo home run and a two-run single, raising his league-leadingn RBI total to 12 and lifting Toronto to a 5-3 record that is only 1.5 games behind Boston.

Tigers 3 Oakland 2
Chad Krueter's pinch-hit double drove home Skeeter Barnes for a walkoff win for the Tigers, the 2,000th of Sparky Anderson's managerial career. It must have been sweet, too, as Detroit went to bat trailing, 2-1, to face Dennis Eckersley for the bottom of the ninth. And won.
Anderson is ten victories behind Leo Durocher on the all-time wins list. Anderson is a safe bet to pass Durocher and Walter Alston (only 42 wins away) for fifth on the all-time list, but he is unlikely to climb higher than third simply due to time. The win comes against Tony LaRussa, a manger who himself has won over 1100 games.

Red Sox 4 Indians 3 (13 innings)
Boston has begun the season in first place with a 7-2 record and reached that with a dramatic come-from-behind win at home over the Indians. Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the 13th, two singles and a double by Jerry Richardson - acquired from Pittsburgh just 3 days before the season began - scored both runners and lifted Boston to the win. It is the Red Sox best start since 1952.

Royals 5 Yankees 4
Trailing 4-0 after eight innings, Kansas City erupted for seven hits and five runs off the Yankee pen, the key blow a game-tying shot from Mike MacFarlane. It took only four batters for KC to tie the game; it took five to get that last run as Brian McRae's single gave the Royals the lead - and the win.

The Angels-Brewers game was postponed due to rain.

Nolan Ryan, the 46-year old future Hall of Famer on a farewell tour, isn't faring very well thanks to torn cartilage in his right knee. Ryan had surgery today and is out for 3-6 weeks. MLB hired a consulting firm from Dallas to help - get this - find a new commissioner to replace the interim commissioner-Brewers owner-used car salesman-general sleaze bag Bud Selig. Mark my words: they're after blood and revenge here. You simply cannot have an owner who is supposed to function as an impartial commissioner and represent neutral interests, and Selig wouldn't hold that job (nor would any owner) if neutrality was the goal. The owners are mad at losing at the bargaining table in 1972-73-76-81-85-90, and if they have to destroy the game to win, they're going to do it. Enjoy this baseball season, folks, it may be the last one ever.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 16, 1993
San Francisco Giants 1 (W: Burkett, 3-0; SV: Beck, 4)
Atlanta Braves 0 (L: Smoltz, 1-2)
6-6
3rd place
1.5 games behind

BRAVES OFFENSE WOES CONTINUE IN 1-0 LOSS;
PENDLETON AND COX EJECTED;

Poor John Smoltz.

How many times am I going to have to start a recap with those three words?

The Braves have played 12 games. The "Big Four" lefties have two starts and now the righties both have three apiece (plus Pete Smith has two starts).

Here are the stats thus far:

Maddux - 19 IP, 19 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 12 K, 2.11 ERA
Glavine - 14 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 8 BB, 5 K, 1.29 ERA
Avery - 13.2 IP, 17 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 3.29 ERA
Smoltz - 24 IP, 14 H, 2 ER, 8 BB, 21 K, 0.75 ERA

Yes, he's had 3 chances compare to Glavine and Avery's two, but Smoltz has indisputably been the best pitcher thus far for the Braves. Fewer hits in far more innings, fewer earned runs, and way many more strikeouts and a much better ERA...and Smoltz has two losses thanks to Atlanta's offense apparently mailing it in - and his only win was because he pitched a shutout.

It happened again Friday night, Smoltz puts on a 90s impersonation of Sandy Koufax - giving up only 4 hits, walking one, striking out six, and allowing but a solitary run when Barry Bonds doubled and Kirt Manwaring singled him home in the fifth. But we have to modify the criticism a tiny bit as John Burkett, a fourth-year start with the Giants and a career record of 39-27, outpitched Smoltz in a classic pitcher's duel and then turned the game over to closer Rod Beck, who got into trouble and then got bailed out by (take your pick) bad umpiring by Mark Hirschbeck or stupid baseball strategy by Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox, whom Hirschbeck ejected with the tying run at the plate. Smoltz did pitch well enough to win, but Burkett absolutely did not deserve to lose, either.

The microcosm of Atlanta's season at the bat can be seen in the sequence of innings as it played out. Burkett retired every single hitter in the Braves order the first time, striking out four of them. But the second time through at the start of the fourth inning, he gave up singles to Deion Sanders and Jeff Blauser, a table-setting moment for Ron Gant, who has failed to deliver in too many of these situations. His speed avoided a double play, but he forced Blauser at second. With speedy runners at the corners, cleanup batter Terry Pendleton, whose clutch hitting won the 1991 MVP and was the best in all of baseball in 1992 with two outs and runners in scoring position, hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. As it turned out, Atlanta had not yet wasted their last opportunity.

In the fifth, Burkett retired David Justice but then gave up back-to-back singles to Sid Bream and Greg Olson. Pendleton, though, had apparently seen enough and Hirschbeck had had enough of Pendleton, ejecting the team leader during Bream's at-bat for yelling about the strike zone. With another shot at a rally, Mark Lemke bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end yet another Atlanta threat. Atlanta only got one more hit until the ninth, Sanders reaching base with a single before getting thrown out attempting to steal second. Then came the ninth inning and yet another failed opportunity for the Braves.

Beck retired pinch-hitter Otis Nixon and Sanders bringing up Blauser, who doubled to right. Gant - again! - came to bat needing just a base hit to tie the game, but before he could get it, he refused to get into the batter's box, protesting however silently a strike zone call. When Hirschbeck told Beck to go ahead and pitch despite Gant's absence, Cox was ejected based on whatever he said from the dugout. Gant popped to second, and the Giants had the W.

Dodgers 7 Pirates 4
The same night Atlanta's offensive woes continued, Los Angeles banged out a season-high 15 hits, including four from Eric Davis and the first RBIs of the season for Darryl Strawberry on his tie-breaking two-run homer. Orel Hershiser's second win of the season ended a four-game LA losing streak.

Padres 5 Cardinals 1
Another four-game losing streak ended for San Diego as Derek Bell drilled two home runs and Andy Benes pitched eight innings of four-hit ball to stop St Louis.

Cubs 3 Phillies 1
A three-run Chicago first keyed by Mark Grace's two-run double and effective relief from the bullpen in the final two innings was all Mike Morgan needed to end Philly's five-game winning streak.

Mets 3 Reds 1
The Reds are off to their worst start (2-8) since 1966 after Pete Schourek scattered 7 hits over 7.2 innings and home runs by Howard Johnson and Eddie Murray off the usually effective Jose Rijo were enough to lift the Mets to the win in Cincy.

Astros 9 Marlins 3
A bases-loaded triple by Jeff Bagwell and two hits by starter Greg Swindell lifted Houston above the Braves into second place in the NL West.

Expos 3 Rockies 2
Larry Walker returned to the lineup, and his two-run double along with a solo shot by Delino DeShields were enough to overcome two solo shots by Colorado.

Orioles 4 Angels 1
Former NL Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe and three relievers cooled off the hot California bats that had scored 31 runs in the previous three games by holding them to a solitary run courtesy of a Chad Curtis single and J.T. Snow double. Cal Ripken hit his first home run of the season, and Baltimore won consecutive games for the first time this year.

Yankees 5 Rangers 3
After a 2.5 hour rain delay, the Yankees got solo shots from Jim Leyritz, Randy Velarde, and Pat Kelly and put the game away with a bases loaded walk to Mike Stanley in the 8th.

Indians 13 Blue Jays 1
For the fourth time in the last 7 games - the 2nd by Cleveland - Toronto's pitching was plundered for double-digit runs as Kenny Lofton hit a single, a double, two triples, stole a base, and scored four runs to keep Jack Morris winless.

Tigers 5 Mariners 0
The Tigers are over .500 for the first time since the last day of the 1991 season as Cecil Fielder and Travis Fryman each drove in two runs while David Wells outdueled Randy Johnson.

White Sox 9 Red Sox 4
Ron Karkovice, Robin Ventura, and Ellis Burks - the latter in his first trip back to Fenway Park since leaving - hit dingers with the wind blowing out for Boston's first home loss of the year. Jack McDowell became the first AL pitcher to win three games this year.

Twins 4 Royals 3
A walkoff win for the Twins in the tenth when Shane Mack singles home Mike Pagliarulo. Kent Hrbek hit his first homer of the season.

NOTES
The Mariners recalled Brett Boone from AAA Calgary to replace Wally Backman, who is on the 15-day DL. The Rangers replaced Nolan Ryan on their roster with former Toronto SS Manuel Lee, who has himself been injured since March 22 and has yet to appear. Detroit's Dan Gladden has a torn muscle in his left arm and has been placed on the DL; Alan Trammell has been reactivated in his stead.

REARDON
Then there's the case of 37-year old Jeff Reardon, who is now "merely" a setup man with the Cincinnati Reds after a career as a closer. Reardon admits to being "depressed" about losing the saves record he held for, oh, maybe six actual weeks of baseball to Lee Smith. Reardon, asked about losing the record, said that he feels "like a prize fighter who never got the chance to fight for the big one again." He went further and blamed his current situation on the fact he served up the game losing home run to Ed Sprague in Game 2 of last year's World Series, citing it as the reason no team will give him a chance to be a closer. Of course, Reardon doesn't mention the much larger reason he's not getting offers - it's called, "You're 37 years old and cost a fortune." Furthermore, what the hell does Reardon think his job is? This is the cruel fate of relievers - if you aren't damn near perfect, you're out of work. Who closes baseball games? Generally speaking (there are rare exceptions), it is "guys who can't pitch 6-7 innings because their stuff isn't that good or they don't have the stamina." Closers come in with the game on the line in the most crucial situations, which means "failure is not an option." They're basically like kickers in the NFL; if you miss the game-ending field goal just once or twice, you're out of work. Reardon has had a very good career, but he's 37 and failed spectacularly in the brightest spotlight. He may be right that nobody is bidding for his services because he failed, but why should they? If all you want is a guy who can serve up a game-losing home run, there are plenty of 20-year olds in AAA who will do that for 1/30th the cost of Reardon.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 17, 1993
Atlanta Braves 2 (W: Avery, 1-1; SV: Stanton, 5)
San Francisco Giants 0 (L: Jackson, 0-1)
7-6
3rd place
0.5 games behind

PENDLETON HR SAVES BRAVES;
TIGERS SCORE 20 AGAIN
OAKLAND UNDER .500 FOR 1ST TIME SINCE 1987

The Atlanta Braves just went through a 30-inning stretch where only one run scored. You'd think I'm talking about Atlanta's phenomenal pitching, but I'm talking about their "worst in all of baseball" hitting. On the verge of being shut out for the third time in four games - and only scoring one run in the other - the Braves ended a three-game losing streak late this afternoon with one of their patented ninth-inning comebacks, and the bullpen held in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-0 win that salvaged a victory for Steve Avery, who has pitched way too many good games and come up short in the last year or so. Bizarrely enough, it was the fact the Braves were not hitting that led Dusty Baker to make a calculated gamble that backfired spectacularly. The decision wasn't wrong, but the execution failed.

Trevor Wilson matched Avery pitch-for-pitch for 7 innings, and though he walked 5, the game was scoreless when he left for Kevin Rogers to pitch a four batter eighth where only Sid Bream reached via a walk, but with the game tied, Baker sent out Mike Jackson to keep the game tied. Whether Avery would have stayed in the game - probably not - became a moot point when Mark Lemke drew a walk and gave way to pinch-runner Bill Pecota with Avery due to bat. Deion Sanders went up to bunt Pecota over to second, but the Giants retired Pecota on the bunt instead, leaving Sanders at first with one out. That's when Jackson made his biggest mistake, balking Sanders to second in an effort to prevent him from stealing the base. Otis Nixon grounded out to third with Sanders remaining at second, so needing one out to get out of the jam, Baker now had a choice: do I pitch to last year's best hitter with RISP who is batting .174 (Terry Pendleton) or do I walk Pendleton and pitch to the only Braves batter hitting over .200 (Jeff Blauser, who is ripping the ball at .370, and was already 3-for-5). Baker opted for the batter in a slump, and Pendleton launched a two-run homer that ended Atlanta's 18-inning scoreless skein against the Giants and gave the lead over to new closer Mike Stanton, who retired the Giants in order, leaving Barry Bonds in the on-deck circle as the game ended in a 2-0 Atlanta triumph. The start of the game was delayed 2:17 by a rain delay, and neither time mustered any offense. The game also saw the end of Royce Clayton's 11-game hitting streak, and a truly unbelievable occurence: when Lemke, Nixon, and Avery all reached base on consecutive hits in the seventh inning, it marked the first time this season the Braves got three hits in a row. THAT is how bad the offense has been. The Braves try to earn a split tomorrow as Tom Glavine faces Dave Burba in the series finale.

Mets 4 Reds 1
The last time Cincinnati opened a season this badly, Elvis Presley was just becoming a household name (like, you know, toilet). Frank Tanana, of whom it is said "he threw 90 in the 70s and 70 in the 90s", made his NL debut at 39 years old and after 20 years in the AL, and he got the 227th win of his "I'm about a .500 pitcher every year" career by scattering six hits over six innings and giving up just one run, a first-inning tally when Roberto Kelly tripled and Barry Larkin singled Kelly home. Tanana, who entered the AL the same year as the DH and thus had only one previous career at-bat, played a key role in New York's taking the lead when he successfully bunted Charlie O'Brien to second in the sixth, leading to the Mets' first two runs. Mike Maddux got his second save, and the Reds are off to their worst start since 1955.

Rockies 9 Expos 1
Andres Galarraga again tortured his former team, driving in 3 runs on a pair of doubles. Andres is hitting .571 against Montreal and has driven home 11 of his league-leading 14 RBIs against them.
Marquis Grissom was pulled out with a hamstring injury in the sixth and is day-to-day.

Cubs 6 Phillies 3
Maybe Philly's hot start is over? They lost for the second straight day, 6-3 to the Cubs, the first consecutive losses on the year for the Phils as Dwight Smith and Sammy Sosa each hit solo bombs.

Marlins 9 Astros 4
With a 2-2 score entering the 7th, the Marlins erupted for a seven-run inning, which was more than they'd ever scored in a single game. Benito Santiago's solo shot off Brian Williams was the key blow as Jack Armstrong got the win.

Padres 2 Cardinals 1
Mark Whiten homered for St Louis, but Fred McGriff got the winner for the Padres and Greg Harris.

Dodgers 6 Pirates 3
Pittsburgh raced out to a 2-0 lead but couldn't hold it even one inning as Mike Piazza's three-run bomb in the first was the key blow in a five-run inning that made Ramon Martinez the winner.

Rangers 9 Yankees 0
Kevin Brown, a 21-game winner last year, scattered six hits and struck out three in a complete game shutout win over Jim Abbott.

Brewers 6 Oakland 3
For the first time since September 29, 1987, the Oakland Athletics are under .500 in the standings. B.J. Surhoff hit a three-run double in the first while Dave Nilsson and Kevin Reimer both went yard.

Blue Jays 8 Indians 1
John Olerud and Joe Carter both hit homers.

Red Sox 5 White Sox 1
Andre Dawson and Mike Greenwell each had 2 RBIs as Boston climbed to 8-3, matching their 1978 start, which is fitting since they won't win the East this year, either.

Twins 8 Royals 2
Jim Deshaies is 3-0...and David Cone is 0-3, despite being a big bucks free agent. Kent Hrbek homered again.

Tigers 20 Mariners 3
For the second time in four days, Detroit pushed 20 runs across the plate, the first four against Mike Hampton, making his major league debut. Detroit combined 20 hits with 10 walks, and Travis Fryman scored five times. Amazingly, Detroit only had two home runs.

Angels 7 Orioles 5
Chuck Finley blew all of a 5-0 lead, but single runs in the 8th and 9th - the Angels wasted a chance to blow the game open in the latter - saved the day for California.

IDIOT FANS
One of the dumbest rituals out there right now is this tradition in Wrigley Field of throwing back a home run ball hit by the opposing team. I don't care if it's peer pressure, it's a stupid thing to do -and any fan pressuring another fan who just got a free souvenir from a major league baseball game to throw it back needs strapped inside an outhouse and set on fire in the middle of a busy intersection. And hooray, it cost an idiot big-time.

On Monday, Benito Santiago homered into the left-field bleachers at Candlestick Park against the Giants. Apparently drunk or wanting to be a hero to a bunch of strangers who don't even know him, the fan who caught the ball threw it back onto the field. The stadium applauded him, and he took a bow. What a hero! This guy just invaded Normandy and made Europe safe from fascism. Or something.

Well...except Santiago's bomb was the first-ever in the history of the Marlins franchise, which means this guy threw a ball back that at the least he could have traded for a bit of money or some memorabilia. When Bo Jackson hit his first home run since coming back from his broken hip, the fan who caught the ball made out quite well. Never mind it was little more than a routine home run from an admittedly superstar athlete who strikes out most of the time, it was important as a step on Bo's road back. But this idiot in Candlestick played to the crowd and, well, he probably wishes now he had used his brain.

Let this serve as a warning: don't be throwing balls back onto the field just because a bunch of strangers are yelling at you. This is how criminal activity happens in the real world from people who otherwise wouldn't.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

April 18, 1993
San Francisco Giants 13 (W: Jackson, 1-1)
Atlanta Braves 12 (L: Bedrosian, 0-1)
11 innings
7-7
3rd place
1.5 games behind

GIANTS BEAT BRAVES IN WILD "WHAT THE HELL" GAME ON WILLIAMS WALKOFF;
FANS BOMBARD PLAYERS IN SHOWER OF PROMOTIONAL BASEBALLS;
KLESKO CALLED UP

Every single year, every baseball team has a couple of "what the hell" games, contests that defy all logic and previous evidence and leave fans wondering if they're hallucinating or had their drinks spiked. When the previous normal returns, the game becomes all the more bizarre in retrospect, most memories of it starting with the phrase "I couldn't believe that." Today at Candlestick Park, the Giants and Braves played their first "what the hell" game of the season, and the only thing that matched previous form was Atlanta's bullpen collapsed. Three times, in fact.

Things appeared to be reverting to expected normal for four innings yesterday. The Braves, who have only scored 25 runs in their first 13 games, unloaded on Giant pitching for 11 runs in the first four innings of the game and, with the exception of a three-run bomb by catcher Greg Olson, did it the Braves way, with contact hitting and 11 walks by San Francisco's pitchers. Buried beneath the final score, though, is the brutal reality that the Braves still only had 9 hits despite getting six extra outs.

Dave Burba struck out Otis Nixon to start the game, but he then hit Deion Sanders with a pitch, which apparently was enough to break Burba's concentration. Deion stole second and raced to third when the throw sailed into the outfield. After Jeff Blauser walked, Terry Pendleton bounced into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play - what else is new? - but a Royce Clayton error meant everyone was safe and Sanders scored for a 1-0 lead. Burba then walked David Justice to load the bases for Sid Bream, whose single scored Blauser. Burba, apparently mentally checked out, then threw a wild pitch that scored Pendleton, walked Olson to load the bases, and gave up a sacrifice fly to Mark Lemke, and allowed a fifth run to score when Tom Glavine singled Bream home and was thrown out to end the first trying to extend his single into a double. You would think not even Glavine, who has had off and on first-inning woes his whole career, could blow a 5-0 lead, but you'd be wrong.

He got through the first without any damage. Gino Minutelli replaced Burba on the mound for the second, and the Braves got two on with one out and - naturally - didn't score. Barry Bonds, who has had one helluva series, started the Giants' rally by doubling to lead off the 2nd, moving to third on an infield grounder by Clayton and then scoring along with Clayton when Kirt Manwaring doubled to right. When Willie McGee singled home Manwaring, the Giants had cut Atlanta's lead to 5-3. An inning later, they had the lead.

The Giants' killer heart of the order led of the third, and Will Clark and Matt Williams greeted Glavine with singles. When Bonds doubled to right, scoring Clark and putting two runners in scoring position, Glavine got the hook in favor of Greg McMichael, who gave away the 5-4 lead on a sacrifice fly to center that scored Williams to tie it, followed by Bonds stealing third and scoring on a Clayton single. When Manwaring singled, the Giants had runners at the corners and a 6-5 lead against a pitcher who had faced three batters, all of whom made contact, and given up a stolen base. With a chance to blow the game open, Jeff Reed pinch-hit for Minutelli and grounded into a 6-4-3 rally-killing double play. Bryan Hickerson then took the mound and managed to make all four pitchers preceding him look like Hall of Famers.

Nixon bunted for a base hit, Blauser singled to left, and Pendleton singled to short, loading the bases for Justice. Hickerson walked Justice to tie the game, and Bream lined a single to right that scored two runs and put two on with nobody out. Hickerson got the hook, Kevin Rogers came on - and Greg Olson, who manages a few bombs every season, unloaded a three-run shot that for all intents and purposes appeared to end the game with the Braves leading, 11-6. So much so that on "free ball day," the fans showered the field in anger with their free baseballs, delaying the game for several minutes.
Williams led off the bottom of the inning with a solo shot, but the game was 12-8 when Mike Stanton came on to close out the series in the 9th needing just three outs.

He couldn't get even one.

Lewis walked, Clark singled, Williams singled, and Bonds doubled - and just like that, the Giants had the tying run at second with nobody out as Stanton gave way to Jay Howell, who got the next two hitters to fly out to the outfield, scoring Williams and then Bonds to tie the game at 12. The Braves went in order in both the 10th and 11th when Steve Bedrosian came on for what turned out to be a one-pitch relief appearance. Williams drilled the pitch into the seats, giving the Giants the game, the series, and first place in the NL West. And despite all the runs, the Braves still weren't very good at hitting, particularly clutch hitting. Most of their runs came from the walks and errors. The Braves head to Miami to face the Marlins for the first time ever. Bonds ended the series going 9-for-14 with 8 RBIs.