GOWDY1967IP PROJECT CH 9: MINNESOTA TWINS USE LATE SURGE TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS !!!!

 

       HARMON KILLEBREW (429/635/1064) LEADS TWIN CHARGE 

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 
WS Champs:  Milwaukee Braves 
MVP: Willie Mays SFG 
CYY:  Tony Cloninger MIL 

1966
WS Champs:  Pittsburgh Pirates 
MVP:  Jim Lefebvre LAD 
CYY:   Don Sutton LAD 

PLAYOFF TEAMS ARE SET 

The 1967 regular season has concluded and after 180 games have been played, 6 teams have survived the regular season to qualify for a ticket to the playoffs and a chance at the 1967 World Series crown.  Player analysis is based on OPS and ERA.  Here is a look at the contenders:


1. Philadelphia Phillies 

W-L:  23-9
OPS:  4th
ERA: 4th
FLD:  2nd

Top Hitters 

Don Lock of  954
Dick Allen if  934 
Cookie Rojas if  813
John Briggs  of  810

Top Pitchers 

Jim Bunning  (4-3) 2.25 
Larry Jackson  (5-2)  2.16
Chris Short (5-1)  3.02
Rick Wise  (5-2)   3.44
Turk Farrell  2W 4SV 0.00 
Dick Hall 1W 3SV  1.20 


Why the Phillies can win 

 the best regular season record 
 the #1 seed in the playoffs and do not play until the final playoff round 
 the best combination of pitching, hitting and defense 
 a 8-4 record against playoff opponents 
Dick Allen is 4th in the MVP race 
Larry Jackson and Chris Short are tied for the lead in the CY Young race 
they have an outstanding bullpen 


Why the Phillies can lose 

The randomness of a 7 game series 
The possible momentum an opponent can have entering the final round 
A 10th power ranking during the 1967 MLB season
Are the Phillies just playing over their heads and may regress to the mean ??



2. Pittsburgh Pirates 

W-L  18-9
OPS  6th 
ERA  3rd
FLD  13th

Top Hitters 

Roberto Clemente of  914
Bill Mazeroski  if  820 

Top Pitchers 

Bob Veale  (5-2) 2.39
Tommie Sisk  (4-0)  1.74
Al McBean  (2-1)  2.98 
Steve Blass 2W 2SV 1.04
Bruce DalCanton 3W 2SV 2.40 


Why the Pirates can win

Defending World Series Champs 
2nd best record in the league 
5-5 record against playoff opponents 
Clemente ranks 2nd in MVP voting 
Sisk ranks  4th in CY Young voting 
3rd best pitching in the league 
2nd seed in the playoffs 

Why the Pirates could lose 

1-3 record against the Phillies 
ranks 13th in fielding 
randomness of the playoffs 
difficulty in repeating as World Series champs 
ranked 11th in MLB 67 wins, playing over their heads ??



3.  St. Louis Cardinals 

W-L  17-9 
OPS  13th 
ERA  5th 
FLD   14th 

Top Hitters 

Lou Brock  of 898  11SB
Curt Flood  of  810

Top Pitchers 

Dick Hughes  (5-2) 1.11
Steve Carlton  (3-2) 2.68
Bob Gibson (2-1)  2.97
Ron Willis  3SV  1.59

Why the Cardinals could win ....
The winners of the 1967 MLB World Series 
4-4 record against playoff opponents 
Lou Brock leads the MVP voting 
Orlando Cepeda and Tim McCarver  could get hot in the playoffs 

Why the Cardinals could lose 
13th ranking in OPS 
14th ranking in FLD 
Mike Shannon has a 1.17 rating at 3B


4.  San Francisco Giants 

W-L  14-9
OPS  1st 
ERA  1st 
FLD  20th 


Top Hitters 

Willie McCovey 1b  985
Jim Davenport  if   865
Jim Ray Hart  ut  852
Ollie Brown of 804 

Top Pitchers 

Gaylord Perry (4-1)  1.08
Ray Sadecki  (2-1)  0.42


Why the Giants could win 
Best ERA ranking 
Best OPS ranking 
McCovey ranks 6th in MVP voting 
Sadecki ranks 1st in ERA 
G. Perry ranks 3rh in ERA 
a 5-5 record against playoff opponents 
Willie Mays breaks out of a 640 OPS slump 

Why the Giants could lose 
20th ranking in fielding 
4th seed in playoffs is a hard hill to climb
Starting Hal Lanier at SS does not solve the fielding rating. 


5.  New York Yankees 

W-L  12-9 
OPS   3rd
ERA  10th 
FLD  10th 


Top Hitters 

Steve Whitaker of  942
Mickey Mantle 1b  940

Top Pitchers 

Fritz Peterson  (3-1) 2.66
Mel Stottlemyre  (3-2) 2.92
Whitey Ford 5 saves 

Why the Yankees could win 
3rd best hitting lineup 
Mantle is tied for 4th in MVP race 

Why the Yankees could lose 
10th ranked pitching 
10th ranked fielding 
5th playoff seed is a long climb 


6.  Minnesota Twins 

W-L  12-9
OPS  11th 
ERA  9th 
FLD  6th 

Top Hitters 

Harmon Killebrew if  1064
Tony Oliva of 1005 
Bob Allison of 910 

Top Pitching 

Dave Boswell (3-2) 1.33
Dean Chance (1-0)  2.18
Jim Kaat (1-1) 2.45
Jim Perry (1-0) 2.89
Ron Kline 2SV 2.57 


Why the Twins could win...
Harmon Killebrew ranks 3rd in MVP voting 
Tony Oliva has a 14 game hitting streak 
Dave Boswell has a 1.33 ERA
Twins are 9-1 over last 10 games 

Why the Twins could lose..
6th seed in the playoffs has the toughest schedule 
2-5 record against playoff opponents 
11th in OPS 
9th in ERA


PLAYOFF PREVIEW ROUND 1 

The #6 Twins visit the Yankees in the best of 3 playoff. 
All games played at Yankee Stadium. 
The Yankees and Twins have basically the same rankings in run prevention 
The Yankees have the better hitting so look for the Yanks to win in 3 games. 

FINAL SEASON STATS 

1. Phillies  23-9
2. Pirates   18-9
3. Cardinals 17-9
4. Giants  14-9
5.  Yankees  12-9
6.  Twins  12-9
7.  Angels  11-8
8.  Cubs  8-10
9.  Dodgers 7-9
10. Astros 7-9
11. Mets 7-9
12. Orioles 7-10
13. Indians 6-9
14. Tigers 5-9
15.  White Sox 5-8
16.  Athletics 5-9
17.  Reds  5-9
18.  Braves 5-8
19.  Senators 5-9
20.  Red Sox  3-10

MVP  VOTING 

Brock 57
Clemente 55
Mantle 52
D. Allen 51
McCovey 51


CY YOUNG 

Hughes 60
L. Jackson 60
C. Short 60
Wise 55
Sisk  55

HITTING STATS 

OPS

Killebrew 1064
Oliva 1005 
Hunt  1004
Pinson 999
McCovey 985

SLG

Pinson 643
Killebrew 635
McCovey  615
Oliva 611
McCarver 594 

OBP

Hunt 466 
Morgan 429
Killebrew 429
D. Allen  401
Santo 400

AVG 

Hunt 404
Oliva 367
Pagan 353
Harrelson 353
Reichardt 348

RUNS 

Oliva 23
Brock 20
Clemente 17
D. Allen 17
McCovey 17

HITS 

T. Gonzalez 42
Brock 39
Allen 39
Flood 36
Clemente 36 

HR

McCovey 8
Mantle 8
Killebrew 7
McCarver 6
O. Brown 6

RBIs

Killebrew 22 
Mantle 21
Clemente 19
McCovey 18
McCarver 18

SB

Brock 11
Campaneris 6
Phillips 4 
Harper 3 
Morgan 3


PITCHING 

ERA

 Sadecki 0.42
G.Perry  1.08
Hughes 1.11
Boswell 1.33
Osteen  1.38 

WHIP 

Herbel  .65
Hughes .72
Brunet  .78
Tiant     .79
Bunning .84 

WINS

Hughes 5 
L. Jackson 5 
C. Short 5
Wise  5
Sisk  4 

SO

Bunning 52
Hughes 45 
Veale  45 
G. Perry 45
C. Short  42 

Saves 

W. Ford 5
Drabowsky 3 
Kline 2
Verbanic 2 
Weaver  2