GOWDY 86: PENNANT RACES HEAT UP FOR FINAL ROUND

                                     SCHMIDT'S GRAND SLAM DOWNS METS 

The Gowdy 86 project now has 7 rounds in the books with round 8 left to play for the race to the playoffs.  Over 175 games are in the books and the races for playoff spots offer some exciting possibilities down the stretch.   A King of the Hill format is used in every round of divisional play.

 Baltimore and Philadelphia are making surprising runs for the playoffs.  The Orioles picked up wins over Toronto and Atlanta to give them 11 wins and the lead in the Eastern Division while the Phillies, Red Sox and Mets are right behind them  with 9 wins.  The Phillies entered the race in the East by reeling off 4 impressive wins.  Shane Rawley limited the Orioles to 1 run over 6.2 IP for a 5-1 win over Baltimore.  Bruce Ruffin threw a 4 hit complete game shutout for a 2-0 win over the Yankees.  Kevin Gross, not to be outdone, added a complete game 4 hit shutout over the Red Sox while Mike Schmidt launched an early grand slam off Bobby Ojeda for a dramatic 4-3 win over the Mets.  Phillies' wins over the Orioles and Mets are important given head to head records are one of the tie breakers  when deciding who goes to the playoffs. 

Detroit maintained its lead in the Central division despite a 1-1 record.  Kansas City lefty Charlie Liebrandt stunned Tiger nation with  a 5 hit complete game shutout  for a 5-0 Royals win.  The game raised some eyebrows among Gowdy 86 analysts because it indicated the Tigers may have trouble against lefties.  Nevertheless, the Tigers have a commanding 6 game lead in the Central with only 8 games left to play.

The dogfight continues over in the West.  The Giants and Padres both have 9 wins and also are tied at 1-1 in head to head matchups.  The Giants hold a 18-13 run differential in these contests for a razor thin advantage.  The Angels are 1 game out while the Astros and Twins are only 2 out with 8 division games left to play.

Jack Morris remains the leading candidate for the Cy Young award.  The Tiger ace leads the project in wins, innings, strikeouts and complete games.  Other pitching leaders include Vern Ruhle ( ERA and WHIP) and Ed Wojna ( Games and Saves).

Tigers continue to dot the leader board on the hitting ledger.  Kyle Gibson leads the league in PA and hits while Lance Parrish leads in HRs and RBIs.  Other leaders include Fred Lynn (Runs) and  Vince Coleman (SBs).   There are two names who are surprising leaders on the hitting board.   Ron Oester, the Reds 2B, leads the project with a 429  AVG and a 500 OBP while Cory Snyder leads in SLG and OPS. 

Fred Lynn is out with an injury for 8 games and cannot play again unless the Orioles make the playoffs.  John Shelby is expected to replace Lynn but Shelby is no Fred Lynn.

Finally, a tip of the cap to the Inside Pitch board game and Digital Diamond board game companion.  IP gives me realistic results based on every players' skill set for every facet of the game and strategy has consequences on the final result of a game.  Digital Diamond makes score keeping and stat tracking a breeze.   All in all, the project is simply a blast.

STAT BOARD 

STANDINGS

WEST

Giants 9-6
Padres 9-6
Angels 8-5
Astros 7-6
Twins 7-6
Athletics 5-7
Rangers 4-7
Dodgers 3-8

CENTRAL

Tigers 14-6
Brewers 8-7
Royals 7-7
Cardinals 6-7
White Sox 6-7
Reds 5-5
Angels 4-6
Indians 2-7

EAST

Orioles 12-7
Red Sox 9-6
Mets 9-6
Phillies 9-6
Expos  4-6
Braves 4-7
Blue Jays  3-8
Yankees 2-6


PITCHING LEADERS
* several players

WINS

Morris DET 4
LaCoss SFG 4
McGregor BLT 4
Higuera MIL 4
Blyleven MIN 3*

ERA

Ruhle CAL .71
Gross PHL .79
Cox STL 1.04
Tewksbury NYY 1.12
Candeleria CAL 1.37

SO 

Morris DET 39
Clemens BST 37
Scott HOU 31
McCaskill CAL 31
Rijo OAK 28

IP

Morris DET 44
Terrel DET 40
King DET 36
McGregor BLT 35.2
Blyleven MIN 35

Saves

Wojna SDP 2
S. Davis BLT 2
M.Haas OAK 2
K. Downs SFG 1 

Games

Wojna SDP 7
Boddicker BLT 5
S. Davis BLT 5
K. Downs SFG 5
E. King DET 5*


HITTING LEADERS

AVG

Oester CIN 429
Franco CLE 405
Fernandez TOR 396
Ashby HOU 392
Ward TEX 386

OBP 

Oester CIN 500
Clark STL 446
Smalley MIN 444
Pettis CAL 444
McReynolds SDP 441

SLG 

Snyder CLE 806
Rice BST 712
Smalley MIN 708
Brock LAD 688
Oester CIN  679

OPS 

Snyder CLE 1.184
Oester CIN 1.179
Smalley MIN 1.153
Rice BST 1.130
Brock LAD 1.109

Runs 

Lynn BLT 18
Evans DET 16
Gibson DET 15
Parrish DET 15
Rice BST 14

Hits 

Gibson DET 30
Whittaker DET 27
Lacy BLT 26
Beniquez BLT 25
Lynn BLT 24

HR 

Parrish DET 8
Gibson DET 6
Evans DET 6
Kittle CWS 6
Lynn BLT 5*

SB 

Coleman STL 8
Wiggins BLT 8
Pettis CAL 7
Henderson NYY 7
E. Davis CIN 6