1967 INSIDE PITCH CURT GOWDY PROJECT: CHAPTER 4 REPORT

 

          ALLEN LEADS PHILLIES INTO 1ST PLACE AFTER 80 GAMES 

The project is named in honor of the great broadcaster Curt Gowdy. 

PROJECT TOOLS 

1. Inside Pitch board game and 1967 player cards 
2. Google dice roller 
3.  Digital Diamond Board Game Companion (DDBG) 
4.  IP Liberty League Rulebook revised for project 
5.  King of the Hill Scheduling Format
6.  Unique All Star Tournament 
 

SCHEDULING 

REGULAR SEASON 

This year I will use a straight KOH schedule.  I start by listing the teams based on total wins in the season.  Second,  the NL and AL champs will play the first 2 games of the season.   The regular season schedule includes 180 games broken up in  9 chapters of 20 games each. 

PLAYOFFS 

Top 6 teams qualify for the playoffs.  Teams are ranked 1 through 6. 

1.  6 at 5:      best of 3
2.  W1 at 4:  best of 3 
3.   W2 at 3:  best of 5 
4.  W3 at  2:  best of 7
5.   W4 at 1:  best of 7 


PAST CHAMPIONS 

1965:  Milwaukee Braves 
1966:   Pittsburgh Pirates 

CURRENT PLAYOFF LEADERS 

1. Phillies  11-4
2. Angels    9-3
3. Pirates   9-4
4. Giants   7-4
5. Dodgers  7-4
6. Yankees  6-4

HITTING LEADERS 

OPS 

1. BROCK   STL 1321 
2. CASH  DET 1159
3. PINSON CIN 1134 
4. W. DAVIS LAD 1118
5. D. LOCK PHL 1118 

SLG 

1. BROCK STL 783 
2. CASH DET 731 
3. PINSON CIN 714 
4. LOCK PHL 697 
5. F. ROBINSON BLT 674 

AVG 

1. BROCK STL 478
2. W. DAVIS LAD 433
3. WARD CWS 417
4. FLOOD STL 400 
5. MORGAN HOU 389 

HR 

1. F. ROBINSON BLT 5 
2. MANTLE NYY 4 
3. O. BROWN SFG 4 
4. SEVERAL TIED 3 

RBI 

1. MANTLE NYY 10 
2. WHITAKER NYY 10 
3. B. WHITE PHL 10 
4. SEVERAL TIED 9 

SB 

1. MORGAN HOU 2 
2. HARPER CIN 2 
3. SEVERAL TIED 1 


PITCHING LEADERS 

WINS 

1. R. CLARK CAL 3 
2. L. JACKSON PHL 3 
3. J. MCGLOTHIN CAL 3 
4.  OSTEEN LAD 3 
5.  PHOEBUS BLT 3 

S0 

1. PHOEBUS BLT 30 
2. SHORT PHL 23 
3. VEALE PIT 23 
4. BUNNING PHL 22 
5. CUELLAR HOU 22 

ERA 

1. R.CLARK CAL 0.43
2. D. HUGHES STL 0.53
3. PETERSON NYY 0.56 
4. G. PERRY SFG 0.82 
5. T. SISK PIT 0.90 

WHIP 

1. HUGHES STL 0.41
2. L. JACKSON PHL 0.64
3. VEALE PIT 0.65 
4. BRUNET CAL 0.74 
5. S. HAMILTON NYY 0.78 

SAVES 

1. FORD NYY 3 
2. DRABOWSKY BLT 2
3. J. WEAVER CAL 2 
4.  D. HALL PHL 2 
5.  SEVERAL TIED 1 

MVP 

1. MANTLE NYY 25 
2. ALLEN PHL 25 
3. SEVERAL TIED 24 

CY YOUNG 

1. J. MCGLOTHIN CAL 40 
2. PHOEBUS BLT 40 
3. R. CLARK CAL 40 
4. OSTEEN LAD 35 
5. SEVERAL TIED 25 


CHAPTER 4 NOTES 

Phillies 11-4 
OPS  17
ERA  3 
FLD  9 

The Phillies went 7-1 in the chapter to take the lead in the playoff race.  Philadelphia's pitching staff threw 3 shutouts while Bunning, L. Jackson and Short threw complete games.  Dick Allen is tied with Mickey Mantle in the MVP race thanks to a 368/500/868 slash line.  MGR Gene Mauch's experiment of starting Allen at SS seems to be working so far.  A key factor in the Phillies long term success is a bullpen which must continue to over achieve for a trip to the playoffs.


Angels  9-3 
OPS 7 
PIT 1 
FLD 18 

California leads the league in pitching so look for them to rely on a rotation of Jack Hamilton, Ricky Clark, George Brunet and Jim McGlothin for a playoff ticket.  Minnie Rojas, Bill Kelso and Jim Weaver form a top notch bullpen.  An area of concern is a defense which ranks 18th out of 20 teams.  Hopefully, they can improve in that area over the rest of the project. 


Pirates 9-4 
OPS 11 
PIT  2 
FLD  17 

The Pirates are the defending 1966  Gowdy Project champs but they have the rest of the league scratching their heads because Pittsburgh usually has top notch hitters and average pitching.  So far the opposite seems to be the case so you can look for the Pirates hitting to heat up while Pirate nation hopes the pitching staff continues to overperform. It is reasonable to assume a rotation of Veale, Sisk, Ribant and McBean can do well in a playoff format while a lineup which features hitters like Matty Alou, Manny Mota, Roberto Clemente and Wille Stargell is always capable of winning back to back Gowdy championships.  

Giants 7-4 
OPS 8 
PIT  5 
FLD 15 

It is amazing the Giants are in the playoff race while Willie Mays ( 224/213/437) continues to battle a career worst slump.  In the meantime  Willie McCovey (862) and Ollie Brown ( 804) are picking up the slack.  Gaylord Perry and Juan Marichal can win playoff games.  You have to hope the Giants can improve on a 15 fielding ranking. 

Dodgers 7-4
OPS 2 
ERA 11 
FLD  14 

The Dodgers enter the post Koufax year still managing to hold down a playoff slot through 4 chapters.  Dodger nation can not expect their hot hitters to continue their #2 OPS ranking but they should improve on their 11th ERA ranking and 14th FLD ranking.  Willie Davis ( 452/667/1118) leads the offense while Drysdale (2.81) and Osteen ( 1.12) lead the rotation.   

Yankees  6-4
OPS 8 
ERA  6 
FLD  13 

Mantle is tied with Dick Allen for the MVP title and Whitey Ford has posted 3 saves and has managed to avoid any major injuries.  You have to root for Mantle to make a playoff appearance in the twilight of his career. 

In other news....

Lou Brock ( 1321) leads the league in OPS... 
Frank Robinson leads the league with 5 HRs...
Ricky Clark (CAL) leads the league in Wins and ERA..
Jim Bunning has a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 IP


And that's the way it was in Chapter 4 and it's on to Chapter 5...