FEDERALISTS CLAIM 86 GOWDY CLASSIC TITLE

                                                         Confederate Slugger 

 

What if you took the 1986 MLB players and set up a tournament which would mix up the ideas of the World Baseball Classic, the All Star game, give tribute to the Negro leagues and the barnstorming history of baseball in the off season ??

To answer the question, I took the Inside Pitch board game and the Digital Diamond baseball board game companion and divided the 86 MLB players into 4 teams.  The Internationalists consisted of MLB players born outside of the US, the Black Diamonds boasted the top Afro American players, the Federalists drafted the best players born in the Northern and Eastern states while the Confederates picked the best of the players born in the Southern and Western states.

The demographics were interesting.  The Black Diamonds seemed thin at the pitching and catching positions.  The Internationalists seemed to lack power.  The Confederates and the Federalists seemed to have the best balance of the four teams.

Teams played a round robin tournament with the team with the most wins declared the winner.  If some teams were tied at the end of the round robin, they would proceed with a second round, etc.   I used the Liberty Inside Pitch league rule book to determine pitching usage, etc.

Here are the game summaries:

Game 1
Kansas City

Internationalists 3.9.0
Black Diamonds  6.11.0

W:  Gooden 
L:   Valenzuela
HR:  T. Pena (BD)

Notes: 

4 Intl: 1-0: Canseco RBI 2B
4 BD:  1-3: Rice, Pena, Pendleton RBIs 
5 Intl:  3-3: K. Hernandez 2B 2 RBIs
5  BD:  3-4: Brooks 1B RBI
6  BD:  3-6: Rice scored on WP, Pena HR



Game 2
Yankee Stadium

Confederates 2.7.0
Federalists 3.7.0

W:  Haas
L:   Schiraldi
HR: Puckett (CF), M. Hall ( Fed)

Notes:

Clemens (Fed) and M. Scott (CF) battle to a tie in a 8 inning pitching duel before turning the game over to their bullpens.  Dave Winfield hit a walk off RBI double in the 10th for the Federalist win.


Game 3:
Dodger Stadium

Federalists 7.11.0
Internationalists 0-7-0

W:  Morris
L:   Higuera

Cal Ripken hit a 3 run shot in the 6th to give the Feds a 3-0 win.  Winfield hit a 2 run triple and Whitt and Oester added RBIs in the 8th for the 7-0 win.  Jack Morris hurled a complete game shutout to make his case for the Gowdy Hall of Fame.


Game 4
Atlanta

Black Diamonds 10.14.0
Confederates       11.16.1

W:  Rhoden
L:   K. Downs

Kevin Bass launched 3 HRs and drove in 7 RBIs, including a walk off HR for the Confederate win.  Bass left Black Diamond fans wondering why Bass was not on the Diamonds roster.  Candeleria (BD) and Downs (CF) did not last very long in this slug fest.  Steve Sax and Cory Snyder homered for the Confederates.


Game 5
Kansas City

Federalists 5.12.0
Black Diamonds 0.7.0

W: Tudor 
L:   Boyd

HR: Boggs, Schmidt, Lance Parrish 2

Tudor shutout the Diamonds over 7 innings before the Fed pen finished up the shutout.  The win gave the Feds a 3-0 record and the 86  Gowdy WBC championship. 
The Federalists only allowed 2 runs in 3 games for the title.


Game 6
Atlanta

Internationalists 10.13.0
Confederates  0.8.0

W: Cox
L: Hurst

HR: Jose Cruz, Canseco, Virgil

The Internationalists embarrassed the Confederates spraying 13 hits and 7 extra base hits for the win.


Final thoughts:

I think this is a great format for a post season tournament because it combines the best of the World Baseball Classic, the All Star game and provides a tribute to the Negro leagues.  The Inside Pitch board game and the Digital Diamond baseball board game companion makes it all fun and exciting.