1967 GOWDY IP PROJECT: CHAPTER 6: PHILLIES TAKE THE LEAD

                         Larry Jackson takes the lead in the Cy Young Race 

The project series  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 


The Pennant Race 

Team (W-L) (OPS) (ERA) 

1. Phillies (18-6) (6th) (2nd) 

Top Players 
Lock OF  1118 
Allen IF   940 
Briggs OF 904 

Bunning (3-2) 2.28 
L. Jackson (5-1) 1.54 
Short (4-1) 3.76 
Wise (4-1) 3.03 
Farrell  4SV  0.00
D. Hall  3SV 0.44 

Notes:

Phillies went 6-1 in Chapter 6 and 5-1 against the top 6 playoff teams. 
Bob Gibson and the Cardinals stopped the streak with a 4-2 win over the Phils. 
Larry Jackson holds a commanding lead in the Cy Young race with 15 more votes than the second place candidate Dick Hughes. 
Dick Allen leads the MVP voting with a 5 point lead over Lou Brock.  
It will be tough to keep Philadelphia out of the playoffs unless they have a total meltdown similar to the 64 Phillies.  That is a nightmare Philadelphia fans want to forget. 

2. Cardinals  (14-6) 7th OPS  11th ERA 

Top Players 
McCarver C 1059
Brock OF 901 9SB
Cepeda 1B 836 
Flood OF 801

Hughes (4-1) 0.82 
Washburn (3-1) 2.65 
Carlton (3-1) 2.97 
Willis 3SV 0.00 

Notes: 

St. Louis broke through the rankings in Chapter 6 with a record 8-1 chapter record.  The 8 consecutive wins in a chapter has never been accomplished until now.  The Cardinals are living up to their reputation, combining outstanding starting pitching, a lights out bullpen, explosive speed, superior defense and some clutch hitting. 
Despite this success, Kansas City has handed St. Louis their last 2 losses with scores of 9-1 and 10-7.  The Cardinals rank 7th in OPS and 11th in ERA so there is plenty of room for improvement. 



3. Angels (10-5) 2nd OPS  13th ERA 

Top Players 
Reichardt OF 788 

Brunet (3-1) 1.41
J. McGlothin (3-1) 2.61 
R. Clark (3-0) 1.32 

Notes: 

The Angels OPS and ERA ratings do not match up with their reputation as the home of outstanding pitching.  Granted, their starters are still top shelf and their hitters are doing better than expected but you wonder if a one trick pony can make it to the playoffs.  So far the answer is yes. 


4. Yankees (10-6) 5th OPS  6th ERA 

Top Players 
Whitaker OF 940 
Mantle 1B 898 
Pepitone OF 867 

Stottlemyre (3-1) 1.74 
Peterson (3-1) 1.57 
Ford 4SV 1.17 

Notes:

Mickey Mantle was the first baseball hero I can remember and it is a blast playing a baseball sim with Mantle in the lineup.  Granted, he is in the twilight of his career and he no longer roams the outfield but the Mick can still hit (333/565/898).  It helps when you have a solid supporting cast when playing a King of the Hill schedule. You don't win, you don't play.   

The Yankees can beat you with a 1-2 punch of Stottlemyre and Peterson and the experiment of moving sore armed Whitey Ford to the bullpen seems to be working. 
The Yanks have 60 games left to hold their position in the playoff race. 


5. Giants (9-6)  1st OPS  1st ERA 

Top Players:
McCovey 1B 1155 
W Mays OF 525 

G. Perry (3-0) 0.55 
Sadecki (1-1)  0.00 

Notes: 
You wonder how come the Giants are not in 1st place given they have the best team OPS and ERA.  While they beat the teams they are supposed to beat, they are only 2-3 against the other playoff leaders and they seem to score runs in large bunches. Ollie Brown hit 3 HRs in a game against the Cubs in Wrigley and McCovey launched 3 bombs during a 11-1 rout of the Pirates. 

The big issue is the Willie Mays slump (525 OPS).  Granted, Mays is on the downside of his career but look for him to heat up in time for the playoffs. 

6. Pirates (9-6) 4th OPS  20th ERA 

The Pirates have always hit and that is one reason they won the 1966 Gowdy World Series.  The other reason was they had some great pitching but the pitching staff is aging overnight and it is questionable if they can hold on to their playoff ranking. 

Chapter 6 Notes 

While the Cardinals hold down the second slot in the playoff race, the Boston Red Sox are languishing with a 3-7 record and a 18 ranking in the standings. Boston ranks 3rd in OPS and 9th in ERA so they should have a better record.  Look for them to make up some ground with a few win streaks and sneak back into the playoff race. 

Lou Brock stole 5 bases against the Tigers and leads the project with 9 steals.  Campy Campaneris is close behind with 5 SBs. 

The Phillies have the leaders in the Cy Young ( Larry Jackson ) and MVP ( Richie Allen) races. 

The Dodgers (7-6) are 2 games out of playoff contention and the obvious problem is replacing Sandy Koufax.  Good luck with that one. 

Tom Seaver gave Mets fans something to cheer about when he opened the season with a 3 hit shutout over the A's but the Red Sox tagged Seaver for 7 runs in 5 innings at Fenway.  The growing pains of a future HOFer is interesting to watch. 

Since I am a KC native, it is interesting to see how the A's would fare in this project while they are still in KC.  Granted, a 3-6 record is nothing to write home about but it is a blast to see Hunter, Jackson, Duncan and company grow up. 

The Gowdy project is in it's 3rd year and I am impressed by the contributions unsung heroes make to their teams.  Guys like Don Lock (PHL) come off the bench and win a game with a clutch pinch hit or Julian Javier hits a walk off inside the park HR to keep a winning streak on course.  It just reminds you how great baseball is and what it owes to all the players who made all our memories. 

On to the stats:

STANDINGS 

1. Phillies 18-6
2. St. Louis 14-6 
3. California 10-5 
4. New York AL 10-6 
5. San Francisco 9-6 
6. Pittsburgh 9-6 
7. Los Angeles 7-6 
8. Baltimore 6-7
9. Houston 5-6 
10. Detroit 4-6 
11. Minnesota 4-6 
12. Cincinnati 4-6 
13. Chicago NL 3-5 
14. Chicago AL 3-6
15. Kansas City 3-6
16. New York NL 3-6 
17. Washington 2-6
18.  Boston 3-7
19.  Cleveland 2-6 
20.  Atlanta 1-6 


HITTING LEADERS 

MVP 
D. Allen PHL 43 
Brock STL 38 
McCarver STL 37
McCovey SFG 36
Mantle NYY 34 

AVG
W. Davis LAD 429
Hunt LAD 386 
McCarver STL 377
Hundley CHC 367
P. Ward CWS  367 

HR 
Mantle NYY 6 
McCovey SFG 6 
F Robinson BAL 5 
D. Lock PHL 5 
McCarver STL 5 

RBI
Mantle NYY 14 
Maris STL 14 
Lock PHL 13 
McCarver STL 13 
McCovey SFG 12 

Runs 
D. Allen PHL 14 
Brock STL 14 
McCovey SFG 12 
Javier STL 11 
Cepeda STL 11 

Hits 
Brock STL 31 
D. Allen PHL 30 
T. Gonzalez PHL 29
McCarver STL 29 
Flood STL 27 

Doubles 
D. Allen PHL 10 
McCarver STL 6 
Flood STL 6 
Schaal CAL 6 
Cash DET 5 

Triples 
Clemente PIT 4 
C. Smith NYY 4 
Mathews HOU 4 
D. Allen PHL 3 
Taylor PHL 3 

SB
Brock STL 9 
Campaneris KCA 5 
Harper CIN 2 
Clarke NYY 2 
Morgan HOU 2 


PITCHING 

CY Yonng 
L. Jackson PHL 65 
Hughes STL 50 
Wise PHL 45 
Short PHL 45 
R. Clark CAL 40 


ERA
Sadecki SFG 0.00
G. Perry SFG 0.55 
Bosman WSH 0.66
D. Hall PHL 0.66 
D. Hughes STL 0.82 

WINS 
L. Jackson PHL 5 
Hughes STL 4 
Short PHL 4 
Wise PHL 4 
Brunet CAL 3 

SO 
Hughes STL 38 
Bunning PHL 37 
Phoebus BAL 34 
Short PHL 32 
G. Perry SFG 30

SAVES 
Ford NYY 4 
Hall PHL 3 
Willis STL 3 
Briles STL 2 
Drabowsky BAL 2 

WHIP 
Hall PHL 0.44
Hughes STL 0.55 
Brunet CAL 0.69 
Bosman WSH  0.73 
L. Jackson PHL 0.75