ALCS: '06-DET rallies to defeat '95-CLE 4 games to 2

The American League championship Series would feature the two wild card teams, the second and third place finishers in the American League East, Cleveland and Detroit. Cleveland would be coming in with three days rest while Detroit would only have a day off following their five game series with New York.

Game 1: Kenny Rogers would face Dennis Martinez in the first game of the series. Albert Belle opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with his 9th homer of the season. The Tigers answered in the 4th when Vance Wilson, playing for a weary Pudge Rodriguez, doubled home Craig Monroe who had walked. The Tigers added three more in the fifth on a Magglio Ordonez single and a two run double by Marcus Thames. Cleveland came back with two of their own in the bottom of the fifth with four singles and a Guillen error. The Tigers picked up two more in the 7th when Brandon Inge tripled home Ordonez and then scored on a Chris Shelton sacrifice fly. The Indians refused to go away and added two runs on Belle’s second homer of the game. Zumaya and Todd Jones closed out the final three innings and the Tigers took the first game.
Det 6 Cle 5 w, Rogers 5-4, l, Martinez 5-3 s, Jones 8

Game 2: Justin Verlander against Orel Hershiser. The Tigers struck first in the top of the first when Guillen doubled home Omar Infante. But the Indians struck back harder in the bottom of the first as Jim Thome hit a three run homer. The Indians added two more in the bottom of the third to chase Verlander. Mike Maroth would come in and threw 5.1 innings of one hit scoreless relief but Hershiser, Plunk, Poole and Jose Mesa held the Tigers to three runs and five hits, including solo homers by Ordonez and Monroe and Indians evened up the series.
Cle 5 Det 3 w, Hershiser 4-2 l, Verlander 1-4 s, Mesa 10

Game 3: Mark Clark and Nate Robertson. Homers by Alomar and Albert "Don't call me Joey" Belle were too much for the Tigers who could only manage a homer by Guillen. Guillen is also intentionally walked in the fifth to pitch to Ordonez with two on and two out. The maneuver succeeds and Ordonez pops out. The failure to do this in Game 6 possibly changed the course of the series. Ken Hill gets the win with 4.1 innings in relief of Clark
Cle 5 Det 2 w, Hill 3-3 l, Robertson 2-5 s, Mesa 11

Game 4: Chuck Nagy vs. Jeremy Bonderman. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Monroe hit his second homer of the series and his fifth of the season. In the 4th, Guillen hits a homer for the second consecutive day, his fifth of the season. Marcus Thames adds another homer, his 7th, and the Tigers have a 3-0 lead on 3 homeruns. Kenny Lofton gets the Indians on the board in the fifth with his first homer of the season. Detroit will add solo runs in the 6th and 8th inning, but Cleveland can only manage an 8th inning homer by Belle, his third of the series and 11th of the season.
Det 5 Cle 2 w, Bonderman 6-2 l, Nagy 6-4 s, Jones 9

Game 5: Martinez vs Rogers. A rematch of game 1, with different results, Neither starter gets a decision. Eddie Murray and Craig Monroe each hit solo homers and the teams trade 2 run ninth innings, but the Tigers rally in the ninth falls short and Cleveland takes a 3-2 series lead
Cle 7 Det 6 w, Tavarez 3-0 l, Miner 1-2 s, Assenbacher 2

Game 6: Verlander vs. Chad Ogea. Cleveland needs only to win one of two at home at they will go to the KOD3 World Series. Verlander is chased in the fourth after solo homers by Lofton and Thome and a two run shot by Thome in the first giving the Indians a 5-3 lead after four. The Tigers runs had come in the third when Craig Monroe homered for the fourth time in the series and for the third consecutive game and Granderson doubled home two. Cleveland adds a run in the bottom of the 6th when Tony Pena squeezes home Eddie Murray. In the top of the seventh, Infante and Rodriguez singled with one out. Granderson grounds out to bring home Infante. Vizquel throws away Polanco’s ground ball and Rodriguez scores to cut the lead to 6-5. With Carlos Guillen coming to the plate, Ross decided to pitch to Guillen, rather than follow the strategy that had worked so well in Game 3. Guillen respond with a two run homer to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead. Jamie Walker and Fernando Rodney close out the game and the Tigers tie the series
Det 7 Cle 6 w, Zumaya 4-2 l, Poole 0-1 s, Rodney 4

Game 7: Maroth vs. Hershiser. It is Robertson’s turn but he has already been beaten once in this series and also lost to Cleveland during the season. Mike Maroth shut down Cleveland in relief in game 2 and had not been scored on during the season in two long relief appearances. The decision to start Maroth did not look so good one hitter in to the game as Carlos Buerga hit the second pitch into the seats. But then Maroth settled down and redeemed his manager’s decision by not allowing another run through 6 innings. The Tigers get a pair of two run homers from Thames and Monroe and take a 5-1 lead after 7. Zumaya , Walker and Rodney again close out the game. Cleveland gets two runs in the 8th but go out 1-2-3 in the ninth and Tigers go to the World Series
Det 5 Cle 3 w, Maroth 1-0 l, Hershiser 4-3 s, Rodney 5

ALDS: '06-DET outlast '03-NYY 3 games to 2

Game 1: The Yankee "formula" prevails as Roger Clemens goes 7 shutout innings and Mo throws an inning and a third of scoreless relief. Reyes came in and was shaky, which is why Mo had to come in early to get 5 outs. Middle relief is not the bombers stong suit. Bonderman, who went 6 2/3 took the loss after yielding 3 runs. Ruben "high" Sierra hit a 2 run shot in the 2nd to put the Bombers up 3-0.

Game 2: The Tigers even the series behind the pine tar control of Kenny "the Gambler" Rogers, who tossed 6 innings of shutout ball before yielding to Zumaya and Rodney to close it out. Mike "the moose" Mussina was stellar in a losing effort. Detroit scored 2 in the second thanks to a Soriano error at second. They also scored 2 key insurance runs in the 9th as Thames doubled home Guillen and Monroe followed with an RBI single of his own. Karim Garcia hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 9th, but the Bombers fell 3 runs short as Detroit evened the series.

Game 3: The Yanks tied the game up in the bottom of the 8th as pinch hitter John "Flash" Flaherty singled home Jason Giami off of reliever J.Walker, who could not record an out. Rodney was forced to come on early and keep New York at bay. In a curious move Yankee manager Ed Mikhli allowed Felix Heredia to start the 9th instead of Mariano Rivera. Heredia proceeded to give up 2 runs to Detroit and give away the game. All of Detroit's hitting occurred with 2 out. Monroe singled with 2 outs and Inge doubled him in as he hit one to the wall in death valley. Curtis Granderson came off the bench to single Inge home and Rodney protected the lead in the bottom of the 9th as New York stranded Jeter on 2nd after he doubled with one out.

Game 4: With their backs up against the wall the boys in pinstripes desperately needed a victory. What they got was a 6-2 dominating performance to force game 5 in Detroit. Andy Pettitte, who is known as a big game pitcher scattered 4 hit in over 7 innings of 1 run work. Not taking any chances Mo came on to pitch the 9th to ensure victory. The top of the order for NY (Jeter, Williams, Matsui) went 7 for 12 and scored 5 of the Yanks 6 runs. Nate Robertson took the loss in 5 innings of below average work.

Game 5: The Bombers pinned their hopes on a repeat performance from Clemens. What they got was the ultimate choke job. The Rocket fizzled in a huge clutch situation giving up 6 runs in less than 6 innings worth of work. Detroit's Bonderman wasn't stellar either, but he did yield 2 less runs (4) than Mr. HGH. Brandon Inge went 2 for 3 with two huge homers off of Roger the injector. Mags went 4 for 4 with 3 Ribbie's. Ledezma threw 3 innings of shutout ball in relief of Bonderman and Zumaya, not Todd Jones closed out the series to eliminate the best team in the AL and head to the ALCS vs Cleveland.

ALDS: '95-CLE sweeps '80-KC in controversial series

Game 1: The Tribe's bats came were in full throttle as they tagged KC starter Larry Gura for 7 runs and never looked back. Every Cleveland starter, except Herb Perry, had a hit. KC was actually leading 2-0, until the Tribe exploded for back to back 3 run innings starting in the 5th. El Presidente', Dennis Martinez went 5 and gave up only 2 earned runs to notch the win as the bullpen held down the fort. George Brett hit a solo shot for the Royals for his 10th of the season.

Game 2: All tied up at 2 heading into the 7th this looked to be a classic pitcher's duel between Orel Hershiser and Dennis Leonard, but just like that the Cleveland bats went into turbo mode and posted 5 runs in the 7th and the Tribe never looked back. Hershiser allowed only 1 run on 2 hits in 6 stellar innings of work. The Tribe batted around in the 7th as catcher Tony Pena led off the inning with a single and made the final out.

Game 3: Here's where the controversy occurred. KC looked to stave off elimination, but host manager Allan Silverwood forgot to turn on the "warm in bullpen feature". This allowed the Royals to bring in a reliever who silenced the Indian bats and enabled the Royals to stay alive. Being the man of integrity that Mr. Silverwood is he called himself on this infraction and agreed immediately to forefit the game, which cost his team a chance to remain in the series. Such displays of sportsmanship are what KOD is all about.

NLDS: '77-LA sweeps '27-PIT

This scrappy 1977 LA Dodger team edged out the 1970 Cincinnati Reds for the final Wild Card spot in these here KOD3 playoffs and forced a tie with 1996 Atlanta Braves. As fate would have it, the 77 Dodgers will now travel to 1927 Pittsburgh in order to secure a chance to play in the NL Championship. Despite having a power lineup containing the fearsome foursome in Dusty Baker (30 HR), Ron Cey (30), Steve Garvey (33), and Reggie Smith (32), this Dodger team actually made these playoffs on scrappy hits and timely defense – and the solid pitching staff held opponents at bay.

Game 1 would see Dodger ace Burt Hooton (who went 3-0 and had an ERA hovering around 1.80) square off against Pittsburgh ace Ray Kremer (who went 7-1 himself during the regular season but had an ERA over 3.00).
The Dodgers went down 1-2-3 to start the game…..but Pittsburgh came out swinging in the bottom of the 1st inning, as Lloyd Waner smacked a double on the very first pitch from Hooton – and Joe Harris would then Single him Home – and Pittsburgh quickly led 1-0 after 1.
Dusty Baker led off the 2nd inning with a Walk. But with 2 outs and Baker still sitting on First, Rick Monday smacked a Single sending Baker to Third – and Yeager would follow next with a Single sending Baker Home – and the Dodgers tied the game 1-1 after 2.

The story of this game was Burt Hooton. He survived the rough start and settled down after giving up 3 hits in the 1st inning by giving up only 6 hits for the remaining 8 innings – as he pitched the complete game. In fact, Pittsburgh would only reach 2nd Base only once during that stretch as Glenn Wright Doubled in the 6th inning - but he was stranded there as the Pittsburgh bats went COLD.

Kremer pitched well himself by containing the LA lineup – until the 6 inning – when the Dodgers scored again on back-to-back-to-back-to-back Singles – 4 straight hits from Baker, Smith, Cey, and Monday (who got the RBI with the bases loaded). The Dodgers actually had the bases loaded with 1 out, so Johnny Miljus came in for Kremer to put out the fire. Miljus got his quick 2 outs to end the threat and Pittsburgh got out of that jam by giving up only 1 run. The Dodgers now led 2-1 after 6 – and Baker would end up scoring both runs for the Dodgers in this game.
Miljus pitched well to hold the Dodgers off, but the Pittsburgh Offense disappeared and LA held on to win 2-1 – and Hooton got the Game MVP for the complete game.

Game 2 would now see Tommy John of LA (who went 5-1 with an ERA around 2.00) face Carmen Hill of Pitt (who went 1-4 with an ERA over 3.00).
The game would see some action – as Pittsburgh was looking to avenge the loss in Game 1 and to regain Home Field advantage – but the Dodgers had a plan of their own.

The Dodgers scored in the top 1st off back-to-back-to-back Singles from Bill Russell, Steve Garvey, and Dusty Baker. Pittsburgh ended the threat with a great doubleplay.
Pie Traynor Singled and scored in the 2 inning for Pitt off a sacrifice from Johnny Gooch. The score was tied at 1-1 after 2. Tommy John led off the 3rd inning for LA and reached base on an error by Joe Harris (1B). John would eventually score on a Garvey Single. LA now led 2-1 after 3. Both pitchers were pitching well, but the Pittsburgh crowd was now getting a little antsy – a slow hum or buzz could be heard amongst the fans.

The buzz rattled John a bit – as Pittsburgh came out swinging to start the bottom 4th inning. Glenn Wright hit a Triple, so John intentionally Walked George Grantham. But, Wright would eventually score on another Gooch sacrifice because LA could not turn the doubleplay. Gooch sitting alone on 1st Base would end up scoring on back-to-back-to-back Singles from Hill (who would also score this inning), Kiki Cuyler, and Clyde Barnhart. Pitt scored 3 runs here and now led 4-2 after 4. John survived the inning and came off the mound shaking his head. He was seen slamming his glove into a water cooler – and the umps were watching – so the LA team rallied around their pitcher in the dugout to avoid an ejection. There was more game to be played – but Hill was humming along with that 4-2 lead, as he retired the side 1-2-3 in both the 4th and 5th innings. Pittsburgh was finally hitting and pitching – together.

Then came the 6th inning...Russell led off for LA with a Single and scored on a Garvey Double. Baker and Smith then followed with Singles of their own to score Garvey – which was 4 straight hits again for LA, who now tied the game at 4-4 after 6. The game was not out of reach – but Pittsburgh could not muster any answers and the bats went COLD again. Pitt would not score again. John held Pitt to those 4 runs for 7 full innings. Mike Garman came in for LA and blanked Pitt in the 8th and 9th inning.

Hill pitched a complete game for Pitt – but could not hold the 4-4 tie. LA would score 4 quick runs in the 8th inning off a solo shot from Smith and a 3-run shot from Lacy, who would pitch-hit for John and allow Garman to come in. What a timely blow. LA now led 8-4 after 8…and they added another run in the 9 inning when Russell scored by reaching base on an error from Traynor. LA went on to win the game 9-4…….and now head back to LA with a 2-0 series lead.

Game 3 had Lee Meadows (4-3 during the year) going for Pitt and Rick Rhoden (4-2) going for LA. Both of these average pitchers came out throwing smoke – and this game would be a duel from these unlikely candidates. These pitchers wore their pride and went the distance.

Both pitchers buzzed along for 3 innings. There was limited action in this game until the bottom 4th, when LA scored 3 runs off a Walk to Dusty Baker, a Single by Reggie Smith, and a 2-run Triple by Ron Cey – who would score himself on a sacrifice. LA led 3-0 after 4. Meadows did settle down after that rough patch and allowed only 4 hits all game.
However, that is all LA would need, as a frustrated Pitt team could not counter at all. Rhoden allowed only 4 base runners all game – giving up 3 scattered Singles and 1 Walk – and nobody reached 2nd Base for Pitt. Rhoden pitched a complete game shutout and took home the MVP.

LA did add an insurance run in the 8th inning for the 4-0 win – and took the series 3-0.

LA is now set to once again face the Atlanta Braves for the NL Championship and the right to represent the NL in the KOD3 World Series. If there was such a thing as an Arch Nemesis in baseball, then this is it…LA vs ATL…George vs Marc…the only compelling issue here is that neither side can be considered the Dark Side…as both teams and both managers are very aware and respectful of each other. It should be a great battle.

NLDS: 96-ATL 3, 62-SF 1

GAME 1: Both teams finished out the regular season vs each other. SF cruised to clinching the NL West during that series, while Atlanta was in a dogfight to keep their grip on one of the two wild cards. Pundits had the Giants heavily favored and one could see why since they sport a HOF caliber lineup. In this game they relied on their HOF pitcher, Juan "dandy" Marichal who allowed the Braves 1 lone run on 4 hits as he cruised to a complete game victory. His opposite number, Tom Glavine, struggled through 7 innings of spotty work. One can't blame Glavine too much since he had to face the toughest righty hitting lineup in the league. 7 of SF's 9 starters, including Marichal, got a hit in this one. Mays' homer in the 8th off of Brad Clontz provided a a huge insurance run.


GAME 2: During game 1's post game interview Marichal was asked if he'd be ready start game 4. Quite possibly there was a language barrier or Marichal just misunderstood the question, but his response, "what 4th game" ? didn't' go over to well in the Atlanta dugout. Tom Glavine, who's game 1 performance wasn't fantastic said in response, "I wasn't devastated with this loss, especially since we have a lot of character in this locker room and we'll rise to the occasion. Game 2 saw the Brave bats come to life and knock Giant starter Billy Pierce out of the box by the 5th inning after yielding 5 runs. The Braves notched 4 runs in the top of the 4th as the Braves had 3 doubles. After 1 out in the bottom of the 7th Brave ace, John Smoltz was forced to leave the game due to an undisclosed arm injury. His status is going to be day to day.


GAME 3: The series headed to Atlanta Fulton County Stadium all knotted at 1 apiece. Game 2 would prove to be a classic pitcher's duel between Jack Sanford and Greg Maddux. Sanford carried a 1 run lead into the 8th when the Braves tied it up when Marquis Grissom received a 2 out walk, stole second and scored on a Mark Lemke singe. Lemke got thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double, but the damage was done. Maddux left the game after 8 innings of work scattering 6 hits and allowing 1 run. The Giants were not able to score in the top of the 9th as they faced 3 Brave hurlers (McMichael, Borbon and Clontz). The bottom of the 9th saw McGriff reach base on a terrible hop error by Cepeda. Chipper Jones, who has not had his power stroke all season, hit a knubber down the 3rd base line and barely beat it out. Klesko followed with a seeing eyed single to load the bases with nobody out. With the infield in Javy Lopez swung from the heels and pulled one down the left field line to McCovey who had no chance to get the speedy Grissom at the plate. Sanford lost a heartbreaker on an unearned run as the Braves took a 2-1 lead in the series and looked to close it out in game 4.


GAME 4: Marichal got the call to pitch in the game he didn't think would occur. The Giants now had their proverbial backs against the wall and the weight of the world was on "Dandy's" shoulders. Atlanta countered with lefty Steve Avery vs the big righty bats of San Fran. The Giants scored 1 run in each of the first 3 innings, but still only had a 3-2 lead thanks to Marichal's wildness. The Crime Dog, Fred McGriff homered in the 5th to tie it at 3, which stood until the top of the 7th when the Giants pinch hit for Marichal with runners on 1st and 2nd. Matty Alou delivered a clutch single to plate secondbaseman Chuck Hiller. Just like that the Giants were up by one. Heading into the bottom of the 8th the Giants were still clinging to their 1 run lead when the floodgates opened up. Terry Pendleton led off with a harmless blooper to right off of reliever Don Larsen. Pinch hitter David Justice slammed a double off the right field wall to score Pendleton all the way from first to tie the score at 5. Grissom came to the plate and attempted to lay down a bunt to move Justice over to 3rd. Giant catcher Ed Bailey made an errant throw into left field, which allowed Justice to score. Chipper Jones capped it all off with a huge blast into the visitors bullpen. Mark Wohlers came on to pitch an easy 9th protecting the Braves 3 run lead to notch the save and close out the series. The Giants fantastic regular season came to a screeching halt thanks to a suspect bullpen and some poor fielding. Manager David Moss handled it with class and dignity in his post game interview. He wished Atlanta good luck the rest of the way and reflected back on his team's shortcoming in the bullpen. The Braves will head to the LCS to face the winner of the Pirate/Dodger series.

Brew Crew takes 3 of 4 from KC

Game-1 Milw 4 KC 3: Mil Pitcher Mike Caldwell scattered 13 hits over 7 innings allowing 3 runs while KC had a whopping 18 men left on base! Rollie Fingers closed out the last 2 innings to get the save. KC's Frank White was the big stick of the game going 4 for5 with 2 HR's, his 2nd HR came while he was being PITCHED AROUND!!

Game-2 Milw 3 KC 0: Mil Pitcher Pete Vuckovich carried a no hitter into the 9th inning only to have it spoiled by non other than George Brett, who smacked a 1 out double to right center field to spoil the no hitter.Pete allowed only 2 walks and pitched out of trouble with the Brewers committing 3 errors behind him.Vuckovich gets his 2nd shutout of the season in his 3rd game, the only other game a team has scored on him was his 1st start of the season when he allowed 2 runs in a 10 inning affair vs the Chisox.

Game-3 Milw 6 KC 1: Mil started Don Sutton in place of the struggling Bob McClure, Sutton pitched the 1st 7innings of shutout ball only allowing a run in the 8th, which broke the Brewers consecutive inning shutout streak at 18, he also scattered 8 KC hits.

Game-4 KC 13 Milw 2: Mil P Bob McClure was given an extra day to rest but that didn't help as his pitching woes continued as he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits in 1.1innings pitched. McClure was quickly yanked for Moose Haas who didn't fair any better allowing 8 runs (4 ER)on 6 hits in 5 IP with the Brewer defense committing 5 errors on the day and 11 for the series. Hal McRae was the big gun for KC in this game going 4 for 6 with a solo homer and 4 RBI's. Both teams finished the series with identical 5-7 records. -submitted by Steve Durham-

'27 Bucs split with '96 Braves

Game 1: The Braves roughed up Pirate ace Lee Meadows to the tune of 9 runs en route to a 9-2 win. Pittsburgh struck first when centerfielder Kiki Cuyler blasted a solo shot to left. The Braves answered back with two in the bottom of the inning. Chipper Jones and Jermaine Dye hit their first homers of the season and Steve Avery went 7 with only 2 runs allowed.

Game 2: The Bucs struck back and tagged Greg Maddux for 7 runs (3 earned) in 6 innings of work. Every member of the Pirate starting 9 had at least 1 hit. Shortstop Glenn Wright knocked in 3 runs and had 2 of the Pirates 14 hits. Ryan Klesko hit his 5th of the season and the first time in a game the Braves lost.

Game 3: Finally the series has a close game. Smoltz and Kremer locked up in a pitching duel with Smoltz besting his opponent for 8 innings. With the score 2-1 Atlanta the Pirates plated 2 in the 9th to defeat Smoltz in a heartbreaker. Grantham led of the 9th with a clean single through the box. 2 batters later Smith singled, which was followed by a clean single by pinch hitter Gooch. With the bases loaded Smoltz needed a clutch performance. In what seems to be a lost season for the Michigan native, Smoltz walked the next two batters (Lloyd Waner and Kiki Cuyler) to give the Pirates a 3-2 victory and send the Forbes Field crowd into a frenzy.


Game 4: Tommy Glavine (3-0, 0.76) and Carmen Hill (0-2, 3.67) locked up in the second pitcher's duel in a row. Glavine had a no hitter going for 4 1/3 innings until Harris singled to right for the Pirates. Neither team scored until the Braves broke through with 2 in the top of the 6th. Grissom led off with a single and promptly stole second. McGriff, the crime dog, doubled him home and 2 batters later Klesko singled McGriff home for the second run. Atlanta tacked on one more in the 7th when Grissom singled home Jeff Blauser who walked. The Pirates scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the 8th when Grantham singled home Lloyd Waner. Glavine got the first 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, but looked out of gas as Wohlers came on to get the final out and notch his 4th save.