JOHNNY BENCH AND THE REDS TAKE AN EARLY LEAD IN CH 2
The 1968 Curt Gowdy Memorial Project honors the late great broadcaster. Gowdy knew his baseball but also was able to convey the triumphs and struggles of the major league ballplayer. He knew where they were born and the personal journey the ballplayer made to arrive at the big leagues.
PROJECT TOOLS
1. Inside Pitch classic board game and 1968 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
1967
WS Champs : San Francisco Giants
MVP: Willie McCovey
CYY: Gaylord Perry
CHAPTER 2 REPORT
I was 11 years old when I purchased Johnny Bench's rookie card. I rode my bike back home so fast I actually got stopped by a cop who told me to slow down. He laughed at the reason for my speeding. Naturally, I shared my good fortune with my local gang. I was still learning how to trade baseball cards and somehow one of my "friends" convinced me a Tom Haller card was better than my Bench card because Haller played with Willie Mays for the San Francisco Giants. My father pointed out the problem with that logic. I have been a Bench fan ever since.
The Reds lead the project after I have played 40 of the 180 games in the regular season schedule. One of the great aspects of using the Digital Diamond software to keep the project stats is the software keeps tabs on the MVP and CY Young races. I am not sure what formula they use but it works very well. Tony Perez leads the MVP race while Cincinnati ace George Culver leads the Cy Young race.
1968 was the year of the pitcher and the project is demonstrating exactly why. Out of the 40 games in the books, 8 shutouts have been posted and pitchers have limited the losing squads to 1 run in another 10 games.
While it may be difficult to keep the Reds out of the playoff picture, all other teams still have a chance at the playoffs.
If the playoffs were to start now, here would be the 6 seeds:
1. Cincinnati 9-2
2. Baltimore 4-2
3. Cleveland 4-2
4. Philadelphia 4-2
5. California 4-2
6. Houston 4-2
These teams dominate the leaderboards
LEADERBOARDS
MVP
Tony Perez Cin 21
Johnny Bench Cin 19
Lee May Cin 17
HITTING
AVG
Tim McCarver Stl .625
Tony Taylor Phl .522
Maury Wills Pit .500
HITS
Alex Johnson Phl 16
Pete Rose Cin 15
Lee May Cin 13
HR
Johnny Bench Cin 2
Russ Gibson Bst 2
Roger Maris Stl 2
Tony Perez Cin 2
RBI
Tony Perez Cin 9
Dennis Menke Hou 7
Mike Shannon Stl 6
OBP
Tim McCarver Stl 625
Tony Taylor Phl 560
Maury Wills Pit 538
SLG
Tim McCarver Stl 1000
Roger Maris Stl 857
Tony Taylor Phl 826
OPS
Tim McCarver Stl 1625
Tony Taylor Phl 1386
Mike Shannon Stl 1286
SB
Lou Brock Stl 2
Fred Patek Pit 2
Maury Wills Pit 2
PITCHING
CY YOUNG
George Culver Cin 25
Dave Giusti Pit 25
Jim Maloney Cin 20
WINS
George Culver Cin 2
Dave Giusti Hou 2
Jim Maloney Cin 2
ERA
Bob Gibson Stl 000
Al McBean Pit 000
Blue Moon Odom 000
SO
Luis Tiant Cle 19
Chris Short Phl 18
Jim McGlothin Cal 17
G
Ted Abernathy Cin 4
several with 3
WHIP
Luis Tiant Cle 0.65
Jim McGlothin Cal 0.74
Chris Short Phl 0.87
CG
Luis Tiant Cle 2
Jim McGlothin Cal 2
Gerry Arrigo Cin 2
George Culver Cin 2
Saves
Ted Abernathy Cin 2
Vincente Romo Cle 2
several with 1
That is the Chapter 2 update. On to Chapter 3.
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