GOWDY CH8: NOT EVEN THE YAZ CAN TURN AROUND THE DROWNING RED SOX


          CARL YASTRZEMSKI (429/727/1156) A ONE MAN MACHINE 


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 


CHAPTER 8 NOTES 

The top 6 teams in the race for the playoffs:

Team     W-L   ERA    OPS  DEF     
Phillies  22-7    5th      4th    3rd 
Pirates   16-8    4th      8th    14th 
Giants    14-8    1st       1st    20th 
Cards     14-8    7th     15th  13th 
Yanks     12-8    9th     2nd    12th 
Angels     11-7   3rd     7th     10th 


Chapter 8 Notes 

PHILLIES 22-7

Phillies were an impressive 4-1 in the Chapter: 
PHL 3  ATL 1
PHL 4  PIT 2 
PHL 6   STL 2 
PHL 4   CAL 1 
NYY 8   PHL 5 

3 wins over playoff contenders should give the Philly faithful confidence a Gowdy 67 title is within reach and not a repeat of the MLB 64 nightmare. With a 6 win lead over the second place Pirates, Philadelphia has a great chance of winning the #1 seed in the playoffs. 

Starting Dick Allen at SS has not hurt the Phils defensively given their 3rd ranking in defense. There is alot of controversy about how to measure a team's defense especially when dealing with a small sample size.  I decided to take total runs allowed -earned runs allowed then divide by games played.  The formula seems to work well in this project. 

3 wins over playoff contenders should give the Philly faithful confidence a Gowdy 67 title is within reach and not a repeat of the MLB 64 nightmare. With a 6 win lead over the second place Pirates, Philadelphia has a great chance of winning the #1 seed in the playoffs. 

Pitchers 
Bunning (4-3) 2.25 52k
L. Jackson (5-2) 2.16  33k 
Short  (4-1)  3.59  34k 
Wise  (5-1) 2.89  30k 
Farrell (2-0-4) 0.00 9k
D. Hall  (1-0-3) 1.20 9k 

Hitters 
D. Allen 966 
D. Lock  974
Briggs  817


PIRATES  16-8 

The Pirates played 1 game in Chapter 8 and lost 4-2 to Philadelphia. Pittsburgh is now 0-3 against the Phillies and need to improve their 14rh ranking in fielding to turn this record around in the playoffs.  They have a precarious 2 win lead over the Giants and Cardinals so Chapter 9 will be a key factor in the Pirates defense of their Gowdy 66 title.  

Pitching 
McBean (2-1) 2.98 23k
Veale (3-2) 2.40 37k
Sisk  (3-0) 1.77  12k
Blass (2-0-2) 0.66  6k
Dal Canton (3-1-2) 2.02 11k 

Hitters 
Clemente 938
Mazeroski 806


GIANTS  14-8 

San Francisco went 4-1 in the Chapter and beat the hated Dodgers as well.  The Giants are the project leaders in OPS and ERA but last in Fielding.  Look for Hal Lanier to get more starts with Jim Davenport moving over to 3B and Jim Ray Hart starting in LF.  Giants beat the Cardinals in their only matchup in the project. 

Pitchers 
G. Perry (4-1) 1.08 45k
Marichal (3-2) 3.15  33k
Sadecki  (2-1) 0.42 13k

Hitters 
McCovey 1007
Davenport 910
JR Hart 840 
O. Brown 805 

CARDINALS 14-8 

The Phillies downed the Cards 6-2 in Chapter 8.  If St. Louis wants to remain in the playoff race, they need to improve on their 15 rank in OPS.  Dick Hughes is doing a good job filling in as the staff ace while Gibson is moved to the #4 man in the rotation based on IP.  Lou Brock has a 10-6 lead over Campy Campaneris for the project lead in SBs. 

Pitchers 
Hughes (4-2) 1.29 41k
Carlton (3-1) 2.90 33k 
Willis (0-1-3) 1.74 3k

Hitters 
Brock 846  10 SBs


YANKEES  11-7 

The Yanks beat the Phillies 8-5 then lost 9-8 to the Giants.  While they retain a 1 game lead over the Angels for the 5th slot in the playoff race, teams like Minnesota (9-8) are getting hot and pose a legitimate threat to the Yankees playoff hopes. 

I was 10 years old in 1967 and used to watch the game of the week on TV with my Dad.  Mantle used to barnstorm in the offseason when he was in the minors and faced off against the Ban Johnson All Stars from KC.  Dad was a pitcher on that squad and had the honor of getting trounced by Mantle's barnstorming team.  Later in life I would learn my father in law delivered some of Mantle's children when he was here in Joplin playing for the Miners.  My wife told me a great story about Mantle.  Mantle autographed a baseball for her father and my wife decided to practice her cursive writing skills on the baseball. When her father told her how valuable the autographed baseball was, she told her father the ball was now twice as valuable now that she had signed it.    At any rate, Mantle was the first baseball hero in my life so it is a thrill to play this project with the Mick in the Yankee lineup. 

Pitchers 
Stottlemyre (3-2) 2.92 18k 
Peterson  (3-1) 2.67  16k 

Hitters 
Mantle 968 
Whitaker 938 


ANGELS 11-7

The Phillies downed the Angels 4-1 in this chapter.  The King of the Hill schedule gives every game the intensity of a playoff game and this game was no exception. If the Angels want to finish with a ticket to the playoffs, they must improve on their 7th ranking in OPS and 10th ranking in Defense.  Otherwise, there will be too much pressure on their 3rd ranked pitching staff. 

Pitchers 
McGlothen (3-2) 2.37  25k
Brunet  (3-1)  1.95  22k
R. Clark (3-0) 1.32 19k 
J. Hamilton (2-2) 2.16  

Hitters 
Reichardt 814 


Other teams of note...

TWINS  (9-8)  
ERA 8th 
OPS  11th 
DEF  4th 

The Twins went 5-1 in Chapter 8 but none of the wins were against playoff teams. 
The King of the Hill schedule gives teams legitimate chances to move up in the standings and Minnesota took advantage of the opportunity.  They are only 2 wins out of the final playoff slot so they still have a shot at the playoffs where anything can happen.  

Pitchers 
Chance (1-0) 1.82  30k
Kaat  (1-1) 2.08  29k

Hitters 
Oliva 1007 
Killebrew 994 


RED SOX  3-9 
ERA 12th 
OPS  3rd 
DEF  16th  

Cleveland beat Boston 4-2 in Chapter 8.   Seven out of the 9 Red Sox losses have been by 2 runs or less.  The curse of the Bambino comes to mind when describing this team. Granted, Boston has a history of knowing how to hit and this year is no exception but the defense is terrible and the pitching is below average. Not even the great Yaz can save this team.  Still,  I enjoy seeing all the cool Italian names on this roster.  In fact, Rico Petrocelli is my favorite player name. 

Pitchers 
Bell  (0-2) 1.59 15k

Hitters 
Yastrzemski 1156
T. Conigliaro  814 


The MVP and Cy Young races

The Digital Diamond Board Game Companion gives out a MVP and Cy Young award for each project. Rick Wise and Larry Jackson are tied for the Cy Young lead with 60 votes while 4 players are in a tight race for the MVP . Mantle (52), Dick Allen (52), Clemente (51) and McCovey (50) all have legitimate shots. 


STANDINGS

1. Phillies 22-7 
2. Pirates  16-8
3. Giants   14-8 
4. Cardinals 14-8 
5. Yankees  12-8 
6. Angels 11-7
7. Twins 9-8 
8. Dodgers 7-8 
9. Orioles 7-9 
10. Astros 6-8 
11. Mets 6-8
12. Cubs  6-9 
13.  Tigers 5-8
14.  Indians 5-8
15. Reds 4-8
16. Athletics 4-8 
17. Senators 3-7
18. Braves 3-7
19. White Sox 3-8 
20. Red Sox 3-9 

MVP 
Mantle 52
D. Allen 52
Clemente 51 
McCovey 50 
O. Brown 40 

Cy Young 
Wise 60 
L.Jackson 60 
G. Perry 50 
Hughes 45 
Short 45 

Hitting 

AVG 
Hunt  404 
Oliva 375 
Pagan 367 
Yastrzemski 364 
Santo 357 

HR 
Mantle 8 
McCovey 8 
O. Brown 6 
Freehan 5 
F. Robinson 5 

RBI 
Mantle 21 
McCovey 18 
Clemente 18 
Callison 17 
Killebrew 16 

OBP 
Hunt  466 
Morgan 439 
Yastrzemski 429 
Santo 419 
G. Scott 412 

SLG 
Yastrzemski 727
Freehan 667 
Pinson 660 
McCovey 632 
Oliva 625 

OPS 
Yastrzemski 1156 
Pinson 1040 
Oliva 1053 
McCovey 1007 
Hunt 1004 

SB 
Brock 10 
Campy 6 
Phillips 3 
Harper 3 
Wynn 2 

Pitching 

Wins 
Wise 5-1
L. Jackson 5-2 
G. Perry 4-1 
C. Short 4-1 
Hughes 4-2

SO 
Bunning 52
G. Perry 45 
D. Hughes 41 
B. Veale 37
T. Phoebus 34 

ERA 
Sadecki 0.42
G. Perry 1.08
Hughes 1.29
R. Clark 1.32 
Osteen 1.38 

WHIP 
Hughes 0.65 
Herbel  0.65 
Brunet  0.78 
Bunning 0.83 
J. Hamilton 0.84

Saves 
W. Ford 5 
Drabowsky 3 
Willis 3
D. Hall 3 
Weaver 2 

And that's the way it was in Chapter 8 of the 1967 Inside Pitch Gowdy Project 




















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