PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #1

Michigan wins six of seven vs. Sugar Land. Brady Anderson scores 10 runs, hits 3 HR, and drives in 8, but is only 7 for 32.(.219, only one single, only two walks).

Opening Series to the 1992 season!

Greg Maddux would hold the Panther’s hitless the first time through the lineup, but in the 4th McGee led off with a double. He would later score on a fielder’s choice.
Travis Fryman would tie the game with a solo homer in the 5th. Three straight singles (McGriff, Sheffield, and Winfield) would give Ft. Worth the lead in the 7th and then Kelly doubles home an insurance run.Final Score: Panthers 3, Flying Squirrels 1B. Tewksbury (W, 1-0)
J. Austin (S, 1)
G. Maddux (L, 0-1)
HR: T. Fryman (1)

Great pitching duel between Brown and Cone. Neither starter gave up a run, but Brown outlasts Cone. Joyner gets his first hit of the season with a lead off double in the 10th and Parrish drives him home. Brown goes 10 innings allowing just 2 hits while striking out 5.Final Score: Panthers 1, Flying Squirrels 0

K. Brown (W, 1-0)
B. Scanlan (L, 0-1)

Ft. Worth quietly scores a run on a fielder’s choice in the first inning and that would be all the scoring for the whole game! Ft. Worth has their 2nd 1-0 shutout.Final Score: Panthers 1, Flying Squirrels 0

Z. Smith (W, 1-0)
G. Hibbard (L, 0-1)

Ft. Worth sweeps Flossmoor. Not much hitting by either side although Flossmoor does hit 7 home runs – 3 by Fryman. Each Panther starting pitcher won a game. In 36.1 IP Ft. Worth starters have a 1.49 ERA. Next week Ft. Worth goes on the road against Corktown while Flossmoor has their home opener against Detroit.

Mexico City takes the series against Janesville 6-1. All close games!

NO HITTER ALERT!!!!

The Detroit Stars, 54-108 in 1991 (last place) travel to Portland to visit the Mavericks, 95-67 in 1991 (1st place). The Stars add first round pick Jeff Kent to the mix. Will it be enough to put the Mavericks down, or will be Portland who knocks the Stars out of the sky?

Melido Perez 14 X DET vs Ken Hill 14 Y POR
Detroit strolls to an easy 6-2 win to start the season out on a positive note. Perez has a great game. Butler is the offensive hero with two double RBIs.

Jack McDowell 13 YZ DET vs Greg Swindell 12 YZ POR
Swindell pitches a heck of a game for Portland, giving up just one run on 4 hits, but McDowell is every better, pitching a masterful 5 hit shutout with no walks to give the Stars the 1-0 win.

Chuck Nabholz 10 Y DET vs Dave Fleming 11 Z POR
Stars get 2 in the 7th, but Portland answers back with two of its own in the bottom half of the inning, but both runs are unearned. In the 8th inning, right fielder Lance Johnson throws out Dan Walters at first. Ouch!Nabholz advances to 20 against a Portland offense that just hasn’t hit its stride, but gets pulled in the 9th. Game goes to extras tied at 2. Joe Carter gives Portland their first win of the year with a triple RBI in the bottom of the 11th.

Mike Harkey 16 DET vs Steve Avert 11 POR
Greg Briley blasts a 2-run HR for Portland in the second inning. Portland loads the bases vs Harkey with no outs in the 5th, and can’t get out of the inning without giving up two more. 4-0 Portland after 5.  Portland leads 6-0 with two outs in the 9th, but Big John Kruk blasts a three run blast to cut the lead in half, but Portland still gets the win.

Pete Schourek 8 Z DET vs Frank Castillo 10 YZ POR
Vince Coleman of all people, hits a 2-run shot in the first. 2-0 Stars, but Portland answers back with three in the bottom of the inning. And then Stars answer back with FOUR in the top. And then Portland answers back with… none. =) 6-3 Stars after just two innings and Castillo is reduced. Castillo gets

Melido Perez 14 X DET vs Ken Hill 14 Y POR
Wilkens gets knocked out of the game for Portland on a collision at the plate as Stars jump to 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Perez gets his NINTH walk of the game (but just one hit) Yet Portland has zero runs to show! That changes when Will Clark gets his first hit of the year plating 2. 2-1 Portland after 4.
Stars can’t draw even from there on as Portland gets the 4-2 win.

Jack McDowell 13 YZ DET vs Greg Swindell 12 YZ POR
What can McDowell do to match his brilliant shutout in game two? HOW ABOUT A FREAKING NO HITTER!!!!!!! What’s next for McDowell… a perfect game? =) Wow what a start to the season for Black Jack, and oh by the way… the Stars win 3-0.

Stars take the series 4 game to 3. The Stars are much improved in 92, and will surely be in the mix in the AL West. The have the pitching… the hitting… just a very nice rounded team that will be tough to stay with. Portland hit a dismal .192 for the series. Detroit doubled Portland’s double total for the series, 20-10. And how about that Jack McDowell!!!

Well. That went according to plan. Or not…

Valdosta 6, Missouri 2
Pagnozzi 2 hits, HR, 2 RS, 2 RBI
Wallach 2-run HR
Karros solo HR
Osborne 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Valdosta 2, Missouri 1
Pagnozzi RBI ground out
Bombers steal 6 bases
Wilson 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Smiley 8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Valdosta 3, Missouri 2
Karros 2 hits, 2 2B, RBI
Nixon H, SB, RS, RBI
Brocail 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
Gross 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Valdosta 6, Missouri 4
Reynolds (SP) 4-4, 2 RS, RBI
Reynolds 7 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Nixon 2 hits, 2 RS
Bonds 2-run HR in the loss

Missouri 2, Valdosta 1
Bears win!
Bonds 2 hits, 2B, SB, BB, RS, RBI
Petralli 2 hits, RS
Portugal 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Burba 7 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Valdosta 5, Missouri 2
Karros 2 hits, HR, RS, 2 RBI
Pagnozzi 3B, BB, 2 RS
Nixon 2 hits, RBI
Osborne 7.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Bichette 3 hits, 2B, BB, 2 RBI

Missouri 3, Valdosta 1
Van Slyke 2 hits, solo HR
Morris H, RBI
Morris 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Wilson 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Injury: MBB – J. Wetteland (0 days)

Bombers take 5 of 7 from the Bears and with a couple of timely hits could have easily swept the series. Ouch. So much for being good this year.

Winnipeg the 1991 champion and are fielding a better team in 1992 than 1991. But Germantown was way better than Winnipeg last year but just didn’t hit in the playoffs. This year Germantown might be even better but Winnipeg is better so it should be a closer race this year.

Germantown sent Appier and Winnipeg counted with Schilling. Appier was great 2 hits one unearned run in 6 innings. Schilling 5 innings two runs. Both teams have great pens so it did make sense to pull the aces. Selkirk was down 3-1 when Hernandez fell apart allowing 4 runs and a 3 run pinch hit homer by Wedge. Selkirk up 5-3. I comes
Rojas the 21XZH to close well he sucked as Mack hit a 2 run homer to tie the game 5-5. But in the 9th Montgomery allowed Bip Roberts to steal home to get the run off win. WPG 6 GER 5

W-Rojas(1-0)
L-Montgomery(0-1)

Glavine got hit hard for Winnipeg allowing 5 in 7. With a 5-1 lead Morgan and Aguilera allowed 4 runs to Winnipeg to tie the game. But this time it was Germantown getting a big error and a run off Beck in the 10th for the 6-5 win.

W-Fetters(1-0)

Montgomery(1) the save.
L-Beck(0-1)

Candiotti got hammered for Winnipeg got six runs in 2 innings off the knuckleballer, But Winnipeg kept battling and got 7 runs off Smoltz and the pen to take a 7-6 lead. But Germantown tied it off Howell. Winnipeg to an 8-7 lead off Wohlers but the 21XZ Rojas again was horrid allowing 4 runs to Germantwon to give them the 11-8 win.
Wohlers W (1-0)

Montgomery S(2)

L-Rojas(1-1)

Needing a big pitching game Benes provided it for Winnipeg 8 shutout innings vs the powerful grays, McGwires 2 run homer off Fetters gave Winnipeg a 5-0 lead.

WPG 5 GER 0

W-Benes(1-0)

L-Guzman(0-1)

Winnipeg had a 4-2 lead in the 7th when Rojas blew it again his third blown save. With a game tied 4-4 Devereaux took Hernandez deep to give Winnipeg a 5-4 lead. This time Beck held it.

Win 5 Ger 4
W-Rojas(2-1)

S-Beck(1)

L-Hernandez(0-1)

Appier was great again 2 runs in 8 innings on just 4 hits. But Schilling was better 1 run in 8 innings on 5 hits. Beck closed it.

WPG 2 GER 1

W-Schilling(1-0)

L-Appier(0-1)

S-Beck(2)

A Gagne error really hurt as Loften hit a 3 run homer for Winnipeg after. Morgan allowed 5 runs but just 1 earned. Winnipeg had a 1 run lead 5-4 in the 9th but Beck the 20ZG blew it as this was Winnipegs 5th blown save by their super closers. But Germantown did not score again and the game ended on an 11th inning when Mike Scoiscia
triples and Redus the pinch runner scores on a squeeze bunt by Browne, Winnipeg 6 Ger 5 – in 11 innings.

W-Howell(1-0)

L-Aquilera(0-1)

Winnipeg wins 5 of the 7 games but really this series played like a split. Winnipeg seemed to recover better from bad relief outings and won 4 of the 5 1 run games batter of the series Roberto Alomar (GER) .444 9 runs and 4 rbis and 2 steals. Pitcher Benes (WPG) 8 innings 5 hits 1 walk 5 K’s the win and no runs vs a very powerful Germantown team. Both Killer bullpens sucked as Winnipeg blew 5 of 7 saves and Germantown 2 of 4 with a near 6 era, Goldeyes are thrilled to have won this series and know that Germantown will be back to avenge these tough losses.

In what used to be a NL pennant rivalry, but lately has dropped off as Manhattan is in rebuilding mode, the Steel City Sluggers come to the big Apple to take on the Gas Hornets as the 1992 season gets underway. Great series – 3 1 run games (2 of the extra innings) and 2 2 run games …

Dennis Martinez tosses a 4 hitter for 7 innings and loses 1-0 as Dave Stewart tosses a 4 hitter over 8 innings and gives up no runs. Huson gets 2 hits, scores the run and Gilkey’s error is the culprit.
SCS 0-5-1 LP D.Martinez (0-1)
MGH 1-4-0 WP Stewart (1-0) S Jones (1)

Darling gets the nod for Steel City and pitches fine through 6. He’s staked to a 3-0 lead on a 2 run Sandberg HR (1) and a Stanky rbi single. In the 7th Santiago hits a 2 run HR (1) to cut the lead to 3-2. Walker then leads off the bottom of the 9th off Lilliquist and hits a game tying homer (1). Bottom of the 10th, Alicea walks, McReynolds in to PR, Polonia singles him to 3rd. Bankhead in to relieve, Cordero in to PH, Schofield in to PR at 3rd and Cordero hits one through short and the drawn in infield and it’s over.
SCS 3-7-0 LP Lilliquist (0-1) BS (1) 10 innings
MGH 4-7-1 WP Edens (1-0)

OK, the 1 run games are over and the Gas Hornets win this one off Nolan Ryan, with a bit more ease. 12 hits were too much for Steel City to handle, but a 2 run 9th inning Sandberg homer (2) makes the final look closer than it was – Welch looked like the Bobby of old! Sandberg was 2 for 4 with 3 rbis.
SCS 3- 7-1 LP Ryan (0-1)
MGH 5-12-0 WP Welch (1-0)

Steel City finally takes control of a game and wins it netting single runs in the 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th to constantly stay ahead of the Gas Hornets attempts to tie and comeback. Hurst goes 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run.
Offensively the Sluggers got solo homers from Hollins (1) and Nokes (1), the Hollins blast was a nice insurance touch that depressed the home team.
SCS 2-8-2 WP Hurst (1-0) S Henke (1)
MGH 2-5-0 LP Witt (0-1)

Manhattan opens with a 4-1 series win over Steel City – home fans happy but organization not losing sight of the reality to come over the long haul unless some moves were to be made.

California travels to Stockton to open the season with 7 games

CAL 10 – STO 2

WP: Harnisch
LP: Mussina
SV: Pall

HR: CAL–O’Neill (2, including a GS); STO–Hrbek

CAL came out with guns blazing, scoring six in the first, including O’Neill’s grand slam. O’Neill put it out of reach with a three-run shot in the 4th.

STO 10 – CAL 8

WP: Drabek
LP: A. Fernandez
SV: Eckersley

HR: CAL–Molitor; STO–Larkin (GS)

CAL jumped out to another 1st inning lead, but STO answered with a tying run on the bottom of the 1st and a Larking grand slam in the 2nd. Molitor’s 3-run shot mad it close, and STO kept adding to the lead. CAL made it close in the 9th with three runs, but STO held on for the win, Eck coming in to shut the door.

Canseco injured 5 days

STO 6 – CAL 2

WP: Erickson
LP: Saberhagen

HR: STO–Larkin, Hrbek

Another game with early runs. Larkin’s three RBI paced the Wings’ attack. Anthony had 3 hits filling in for the injured Larry Walker.

Walker injured 2 days

STO 11 – CAL 1

WP: Astacio
LP: Gordon

HR: STO–Anthony, Larkin

Astacio pitched great in his debut, and the WIngs scored early and often. Anthony had four RBI to go with his three hits in Game 2. Larkin added three more on another home run. C. Davis contributed Stockton’s first two RBI.

CAL 5 – STO 4

WP: Pall
LP: Wickander
SV: Harvey

HR: CAL–Stanley, Olerud, Incaviglia; STO–Hrbek, Hayes

STO jumped out to an early lead, but couldn’t hold it. The Quakes went deep three times. Home runs accounted for six of the nine runs.

STO 2 – CAL 0

WP: Mussina
LP: Harnisch
SV: Eckersley

HR: none

Mussina follows up his disastrous Opening Day start with a gem, scattering three hits over 7.1 IP. STO score their runs on a FC and
a groundout.

CAL 5 – STO 3

WP: A. Fernandez
LP: Drabek
SV: Harvey

HR: STO–C. Davis

No score until the top of the 6th, when CAL pushed across two. They added three more in the seventh. Chili Davis’s three-run shot was too little, too late for STO in the bottom of the 9th.

STO takes the series 4 games to 3.
Lots of hitting stars in this series. Two Grand Slams among the 15 HRs.

Chicago heads to Southwest Detroit to take on the Bootleggers in their first ever home game as part of the MWWL.

Corktown 4-2
W. Rijo 1-0
L. Clemens 0-1
S. Hernandez (1)

Corktown 3-2
W. Hernandez (1-0)
L. Hershiser CG (0-1)

Chicago 1-0
W. Barnes CG (1-0)
L. Cook (0-1)

Corktown 7-2
W. Gooden 1-0
L. Hesketh 0-1

Chicago 8-3
W.Militello CG (1-0)
L. Olivares (0-1)

Chicago 4-2
W. Timlin 1-0
L. Rijo 1-1
Timlin came in off in injury as a 2… Went 7 innings, two of them as a 1 pitcher. Gave up an impressive 1 run on 5 hits.

Corktown 5-3
W. Downs 1-0
L. Hershiser CG (0-2)
S. Hernandez (2)

Corktown takes the game deciding game 7. SP Roger Clemens got hurt in game 1 and Chicago had 4 complete games by starters after that. Taking 3 was impressive after Corktown won 3 of the first 4.

The Bandits win 3 of 7 vs. the veterans Titans in their first ever home game as part of the MWWL.