1983 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Fort Worth vs. Washington –
The American League Championship series begins at Washington as the Past Timers host the defending World Champion Fort Worth Panthers.
Both teams played to a 14-14 season series tie.
GAME #1
The eventual Cy Young candidate, Mario Soto started for Forth Worth against the star lefthander Fernando Valenzuela of Washington.
Barry Bonnell started the scoring with a solo homer in the 2nd inning.
FORT WORTH 1 – WASHINGTON 0 2ND
That score held up until the bottom of the 4th when Washington errupted for 3 runs.
FORT WORTH 1 – WASHINGTON 3 4TH
This proved to be enough to give Valenzuela the win, as Fort Worth could only
scratch out another run in the 9th.
FINAL SCORE: FORT WORTH 2 – WASHINGTON 3
In the excitement of Washington breaking out to a 1-0 lead in the series, it proved to be a bittersweet victory, because MVP candidate Lloyd Moseby was injured during the game and will not return until game #5.
GAME #2
This game featured Charlie Hudson of Fort Worth against Paul Splittorff of Washington. What started out as another pitcher’s duel, turned out to be anything but that. Fort Worth exploded for 5 runs in the 4th inning, knocking out Splitorff.
FORT WORTH 5 – WASHINGTON 0 4TH
Lansford added 2 more in the seventh on the strength of a 2-run homer.
Washington’s lone run came on Herndon’s solo shot in the bottom of the 7th.
FORT WORTH 7 – WASHINGTON 0 7TH
This proved to be too much for the Past Timers to overcome as the Panthers evened the series
FINAL SCORE: FORT WORTH 7 – WASHINGTON 1
The teams now travel to Forth Worth with Washington limping into town without their pride and joy, LLoyd Moseby, who will miss games 3 & 4.
FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 5, LEGENDS 4
Game 3
FWP – John Stuper 1983 season – 13-11 3.27
WAS – Dave Stieb 1983 season – 20- 8 3.27
In the top of the third Davis led off with an infield single for Washington and stole 2nd, but was later thrown out at the plate on a single by Brett by Panther CF Miller. However, the Past Timers very next hitter was their cleanup hitter and Aikens hit it where no outfielder could make a play, “And the pitch … there’s a drive to right center … it might be … it could be … it is! holy cow, did AIKENS ever cream that ball” Washington leads 2-0.
In the home half of the third Washington led off with Ft. Worth’s first hit. Peters followed with a hit and run single then Hernandez walked. But Past Timers ace David Stieb got Lansford to hit into a double play and survived the third by only allowing 1 run after the no outs bases loaded situation. Washington 2, Ft. Worth 1
In the 4th both teams had opportunities with two outs but failed to score. Washington couldn’t capitalize with runners on the corners and Ft. Worth couldn’t do anything with a 2 out double from Mumphrey.
In the 5th Brett got a one out double for the Past Timers, but then was picked off to end the inning
Ft. Worth ties the game in the 6th when Mumphrey delivers a 2 out RBI singling home Miller. It was Mumphrey’s 5th hit of the series and his first ribbie. tied 2-2
In the next inning Washington got two runners on with one out but the Panthers defense got a double play to end that threat with Brett on deck.
In the bottom of the 8th Lansford led off with a double then after the two Panther lefty sluggers walked Mumphrey hit a sac fly to give Ft. Worth the lead. Ft. Worth 3, Washington 2
In the 9th Pena led off with a double for Washington, but Manning struck out, and Davis and Smith both grounded out to Smalley.
FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 3, PAST TIMERS 2
Game 4
FWP – Dave LaPoint 1983 season – 12-8 4.46
WAS – Jeff Heathcock 1983 season – 3-3-3 2.28
With one out in the top of the first Washington got back to back singles by Herr and Brett. A wild pitch put them both into scoring position for the Past Timers cleanup hitter, but Aikens hit into a double play when Smalley leaped to catch his blooper and threw to 2nd to get Brett. Ft. Worth couldn’t do anything in the bottom of the first after Lansford doubled with one out.
The Past Timers had another chance in the 2nd after they got runners on first and third with two outs, but McGee made a running catch preventing Smith from getting his third hit of the series.
The Panthers took the lead in the second inning when Bonilla singles home Smalley who had led off with a double. Bonilla was thrown out trying to go to third after the ball hit off Pettis glove. Ft. Worth 1, Washington 0
Washington couldn’t score after Moreland doubled with one out in the 4th. In the home half after the Panthers got runners on the corners thanks to a throwing error by Heathcock Bonilla lined into a double play to end that threat.
In the bottom of the 6th Ft. Worth fails to score after Parrish doubles with two outs. For Parrish it was only his 2nd hit of the series.
Parrish throws out Smith trying to steal 2nd to end the 7th inning for Washington. Parrish would throw out 3 Past Timers runners.
In the bottom of the 7th the Panthers got an insurance run when Hernandez doubles home Bonilla with two outs. Ft. Worth 2, Washington 0
In the 8th LaPoint strikes out the side after Pettis led off with a single. Washington kept the game close when they got a double play off the bat of pinch hitter, Gamble after the Panthers first two hitters in the bottom of the 8th had reached.
LaPoint has no trouble in the 9th as he gets the complete game shutout as Ft. Worth goes up 3 games to 1 in the series.
FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 2, PAST TIMERS 0
Game 5
FWP – Mario Soto 1983 season – 27-4 3.10
WAS – Scott Garrelts 1983 season – 4–0 2.93
In the top of the first the Past Timers got a 1 out double from Pena, but Washington left him stranded. For Pena it was his 4th hit and 2nd double of the series.
In the bottom of the first Hernandez led off with a triple for the Panthers. He scores on a single by Lansford. Bonnell and Durham followed with hits to load the bases. Parrish strikes out for the first out in the inning and then the Panthers SS stepped up,” Infield deep … the pitch to SMALLEY … swung on … it’s smashed deep to left center MOSEBY is racing over … LANSFORD scores … BONNELL is right behind him … DURHAM rounds third … they’re waving DURHAM in … here comes the throw home … here’s the play at the plate … and he’s … just safe under the tag and DURHAM just outran the ball … and SMALLEY holds with a double” It was the first 3 run knocked in of the series for Smalley who got his 2nd double.
At the end of one Ft. Worth 4, Washington 0
Singles by Parrish and McGee bring 2 more runs home for the Panthers in the third as they chase Garrelts from the game. After allowing the single to McGee Past Timers reliever, Citarella gets a much needed double play to put an end to the threat. Ft. Worth 6, Washington 0
Over the next several innings neither team offered much of a scoring threat and it looked like Soto was going to cruise to a second consecutive complete game shutout for the Panthers, but the Past Timers weren’t dead yet.
In the top of the 9th Pena led off with a walk for Washington followed by a single by Moseby. Then Aikens came to the plate and ended the shutout bid, “Here comes the pitch … hit hard toward the gap in right center … and it drops PENA’s rounding third … chugging and puffing … and the shutout is gone … he’ll score MOSEBY will make third … the throw in to second … and AIKENS holds at first … RBI single” It was Aikens third hit and third ribbie of the series. After Washington’s next hitter Brett strikes out Herndon doubles home Moseby while Aikens stops at third. Soto then strikes out Moreland for the 2nd out. On the next hitter Soto snaps Oester’s bat in two, but the ball pops over second into shallow right scoring Aikens. Zachry comes one to get Smith to pop out to first to end the game and series. Ft. Worth clinches their second consecutive American League Title.
FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 6, PAST TIMERS 3
It turns out that Zachry was only reliever used by the Panthers and he only pitched 1.1 innings. Ft. Worth only used 5 pitchers compared to 10 for Washington. Ft. Worth had a team ERA of 1.84 and Washington had an ERA of 4.29. The Panthers hit .275 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, and 19 RBI’s. They stole 2 bases. The Past Timers hit .233 with 8 doubles, 2 home runs, and 9 runs driven in. They stole 3 bases, but were caught stealing 5 times.
Brett was the hitting star for the Past Timers hitting .438 with an on base of .526 and a slugging average of .563. Brett was 7 for 16 with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI. Bonnell was the MVP of the ALCS for Ft. Worth as he hit .500, got on base at a .533 clip, and slugged .786. Bonnell went 7 for 14 with 3 runs scored, 1 double, 1 homer, and 2 runs driven in.
I really didn’t expect a short series after the two teams had split the season series 14 games a piece. Ft. Worth’s starters dominated a good Washington offense that had finished 2nd in the league in hitting during the regular season. They were hampered with the injury to Moseby who missed half of the first game and didn’t return until game 5. Also Parrish throwing out 5 Past Timers runners was huge. Other than two big innings the Panthers didn’t do much against the Washington hurlers.
Germantown vs. Hollywood –
11-10…that was the season series record for Germantown and Hollywood, won by the Vampires. It’s obvious that this series is a matchup of 2 very equal teams. The only reason that Hollywood won the series was because their wasn’t a 22nd game. The last 3 years, Germantown was the division winner and Hollywood was the Wild Card. In 1983, the tables are turned…Who will make their return to glory enroot to the World Series.
Game 1: Lea vs Madden.
1st inning: Andre Dawson reached on a Madden error, but was erased. In the bottom of the 1st, Pedro Guerrero walked with 2-outs. With the hit and run on, Eddie Murray singles to deep left…Pedro tried to score (MM sent him not me) and Jose Cruz threw him out!
2nd inning: Ken Landreaux singles with 1-out and is thrown out trying to steal. Hollywood goes 1-2-3
3rd inning: Jose Cruz doubles with 2-outs, but Robin Yount grounds out. Garry Templeton singles to lead off the bottom half. Mike Madden sacrifices him to second. Templeton is stranded
4th inning: Andre Dawson leads off with a homer to give Germantown a 1-0 lead. Doug Decinces than singles, but is stranded there. Carlton Fisk ties the game with a solo shot of his own!
5th inning: Both teams make no threats….
6th inning: Robin Yount triples with 1-out. Dawson is walked intentionally, then in a surprise move, Lee Smith is brought in looking for a K or a double play. He gets the double play. Dale Murphy singles with 1-out but is stranded.
7th inning: Lee Smith sets them down 1-2-3. Fisk walks to lead off the bottom half. He is pinch run for with Alan Wiggins who promptly steals second. Rucy Law sacrifices Wiggins to 3B. Jim Gantner is intentionally walked for. The infield is bought in for Templeton. Rusty Staub pinch hits for Templeton and hammers a SF to center to give Hollywood a 2-1 lead. Chris Smith pinch hits for Lee Smith and strikes out to end the inning
8th inning: Al Holland is brought in to provide (hopefully) a 2-inning save. He sets them down 1-2-3. Rickey Henderson walks to lead off the bottom half. He steals second. He is stranded as Murphy pops out, Guerrero grounds out and Murray is intentionally walked for Jack Fimple, who pops out.
9th inning: Robin Yount triples to lead off the 9th. Andre Dawson pops out to third. Decinces hits a SF of his own to tie the game at 2. And Cecil Cooper flies out to DEEP right. Hollywood goes down 1-2-3
10th inning: With 2 outs, Len Sakata walks, but is stranded. Rickey Henderson singles with 1-out. Dale Murphy follows with a double off the wall and Rickey trots home with the 3-2 Hollywood walk-off win.
Game 2: Burns vs Haas
1st inning: Jose Cruz leads off the game with a single. After Yount pops out, Dawson doubles him to third. Cooper his a fly ball to center, Rudy Law racing him, dives, gets the out and doubles off Dawson who strayed too far. Game 1-Hero Murphy doubles with 1-out, but is stranded
2nd inning: The Grays go 1-2-3, as does Hollywood.
3rd inning: The Grays go 1-2-3. Rickey walks with 2-outs but is stranded.
4th inning: Dawson singles with 1-out and steals second. He then moves to third on a passed ball. Haas K’s Cooper then gets Landreaux to ground out to end the threat. Eddid Murray singles but is thrown out trying to steal. Rudy Law then singles and moves to second on a PB. Fisk flies out to end the inning
5th inning: Darrell Porter singles to lead off the inning and is sacrificed by Johnny Ray, but Phil Garner grounds out and Britt Burns K’s to end the inning. Garry Templeton singles with 1-out. Moose Haas pops up the bunt and Templeton is doubled off.
6th inning: Dawson gets his 3rd hit of the game, but this time is thrown out trying to steal. Murphy singles with 1-out and steals second. However Guerrero and Murray can’t bring him in, so we move to the 7th scoreless.
7th inning: Grays go 1-2-3. Law singles to lead off the bottom half, he steals second which prompts an intentional walk to Fisk. Jim Gantner than comes up with a BIG RBI single to the right center gap. Rudy Law scores to give Hollywood a 1-0 lead. Garry Templeton lays down a sacrifice bunt. Haas is pulled for Rusty Staub. Staub hammers a fly to left..Landreaux under it, pulls it in and throw home to get Fisk trying to score!
8th inning: After a 2 hour meeting break, play resumes and Lee Smith enters the game. Grays go 1-2-3. Hollywood goes 1-2-3.
9th inning: Lee Smith gets them 1-2-3, striking out Dawson to end the game. Hollywood wins 1-0
Hollywood is up 2-0.
Game 3. Vampires score first in the 2nd. Law tripled and Fisk brought him home on a ground out. In the 6th Templeton single, advanced on a McWilliams SAC and Henderson singled him home. Grays get one back in the 7th. Cruz singled and came all the way around on a Yount 2-out double. Grays tie it in the 8th as DeCinces singled, stole and PR Garner scored on a Landreaux double. Grays take the lead as Hassey bangs one off the wall scoring Landreaux. Grays hold on to the win, 3-2.
Game 4. Vampires score first in the 3rd. Templeton doubled and scored on a Henderson single. Vampires add another in the 4th. Law walked, stole second and third and scored on a Gantner single. Grays get one back in the 6th. Tellmann singled, PR Sheridan stole and scored on a Cruz triple. Fisk put it away in the 8th with a 2-run blast. Vampires win 5-2.
Game 5. Grays strike first this time. Yount and dawson walk, DeCinces fills the bases with a single and Cooper bangs a 2-run double. A couple of batters later Ray doubles in 2 more. Grays 6-1.
The game swings west for game 6.
Game 6: Burns vs Haas.
Andre Dawson goes deep for a solo shot in the 1st for a Germantown 1-0 lead. Then after a single by Cecil Cooper, Ken Landreaux goes deep for a 3-0 lead. With 2-outs, Pedro Guerrero, Eddie Murray and Carlton Fisk single consecutively to cut the lead to 3-1. Dawson singles home Robin Yount to extend the lead to 4-1. Than Darrell Porter goes yard for a 6-1 lead. Than in the 4th inning the rout is on when Yount goes yard to make it 8-1. Hollywood is hammered 12-7, but it wasn’t that close.
Game 7: After Hollywood is hammered in game 6 by Germantown, they send Larry McWilliams to the mound against Mike Flanagan, to hopefully send them to the World Series.
Hollywood jumps on top this time with a single, stolen base, by Wiggins who scores on a Fisk single. Hollywood goes up 2-0 in the 4th when Jim Gantner doubles home Wiggins. Larry McWilliams cruises through 8 innings, giving up just 1-hit before handing the ball to Lee Smith. Lee Smith gets them 1-2-3 in the 9th and HOLLYWOOD IS GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!
| Fort Worth vs. Washington –The American League Championship series begins at Washington as the Past Timers host the defending World Champion Fort Worth Panthers. Both teams played to a 14-14 season series tie. GAME #1 The eventual Cy Young candidate, Mario Soto started for Forth Worth against the star lefthander Fernando Valenzuela of Washington. FINAL SCORE: FORT WORTH 2 – WASHINGTON 3 In the excitement of Washington breaking out to a 1-0 lead in the series, it proved to be a bittersweet victory, because MVP candidate Lloyd Moseby was injured during the game and will not return until game #5. GAME #2This game featured Charlie Hudson of Fort Worth against Paul Splittorff of Washington. What started out as another pitcher’s duel, turned out to be anything but that. Fort Worth exploded for 5 runs in the 4th inning, knocking out Splitorff. The teams now travel to Forth Worth with Washington limping into town without their pride and joy, LLoyd Moseby, who will miss games 3 & 4. Game 3 In the top of the third Davis led off with an infield single for Washington and stole 2nd, but was later thrown out at the plate on a single by Brett by Panther CF Miller. However, the Past Timers very next hitter was their cleanup hitter and Aikens hit it where no outfielder could make a play, “And the pitch … there’s a drive to right center … it might be … it could be … it is! holy cow, did AIKENS ever cream that ball” Washington leads 2-0. FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 3, PAST TIMERS 2 Game 4 With one out in the top of the first Washington got back to back singles by Herr and Brett. A wild pitch put them both into scoring position for the Past Timers cleanup hitter, but Aikens hit into a double play when Smalley leaped to catch his blooper and threw to 2nd to get Brett. Ft. Worth couldn’t do anything in the bottom of the first after Lansford doubled with one out. FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 2, PAST TIMERS 0 Game 5 In the top of the first the Past Timers got a 1 out double from Pena, but Washington left him stranded. For Pena it was his 4th hit and 2nd double of the series. FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 6, PAST TIMERS 3 It turns out that Zachry was only reliever used by the Panthers and he only pitched 1.1 innings. Ft. Worth only used 5 pitchers compared to 10 for Washington. Ft. Worth had a team ERA of 1.84 and Washington had an ERA of 4.29. The Panthers hit .275 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, and 19 RBI’s. They stole 2 bases. The Past Timers hit .233 with 8 doubles, 2 home runs, and 9 runs driven in. They stole 3 bases, but were caught stealing 5 times. Brett was the hitting star for the Past Timers hitting .438 with an on base of .526 and a slugging average of .563. Brett was 7 for 16 with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI. Bonnell was the MVP of the ALCS for Ft. Worth as he hit .500, got on base at a .533 clip, and slugged .786. Bonnell went 7 for 14 with 3 runs scored, 1 double, 1 homer, and 2 runs driven in. I really didn’t expect a short series after the two teams had split the season series 14 games a piece. Ft. Worth’s starters dominated a good Washington offense that had finished 2nd in the league in hitting during the regular season. They were hampered with the injury to Moseby who missed half of the first game and didn’t return until game 5. Also Parrish throwing out 5 Past Timers runners was huge. Other than two big innings the Panthers didn’t do much against the Washington hurlers. |
| Germantown vs. Hollywood –
11-10…that was the season series record for Germantown and Hollywood, won by the Vampires. It’s obvious that this series is a matchup of 2 very equal teams. The only reason that Hollywood won the series was because their wasn’t a 22nd game. The last 3 years, Germantown was the division winner and Hollywood was the Wild Card. In 1983, the tables are turned…Who will make their return to glory enroot to the World Series.
Game 1: Lea vs Madden. 1st inning: Andre Dawson reached on a Madden error, but was erased. In the bottom of the 1st, Pedro Guerrero walked with 2-outs. With the hit and run on, Eddie Murray singles to deep left…Pedro tried to score (MM sent him not me) and Jose Cruz threw him out! Game 2: Burns vs Haas 1st inning: Jose Cruz leads off the game with a single. After Yount pops out, Dawson doubles him to third. Cooper his a fly ball to center, Rudy Law racing him, dives, gets the out and doubles off Dawson who strayed too far. Game 1-Hero Murphy doubles with 1-out, but is stranded Hollywood is up 2-0. Game 3. Vampires score first in the 2nd. Law tripled and Fisk brought him home on a ground out. In the 6th Templeton single, advanced on a McWilliams SAC and Henderson singled him home. Grays get one back in the 7th. Cruz singled and came all the way around on a Yount 2-out double. Grays tie it in the 8th as DeCinces singled, stole and PR Garner scored on a Landreaux double. Grays take the lead as Hassey bangs one off the wall scoring Landreaux. Grays hold on to the win, 3-2. Game 4. Vampires score first in the 3rd. Templeton doubled and scored on a Henderson single. Vampires add another in the 4th. Law walked, stole second and third and scored on a Gantner single. Grays get one back in the 6th. Tellmann singled, PR Sheridan stole and scored on a Cruz triple. Fisk put it away in the 8th with a 2-run blast. Vampires win 5-2. Game 5. Grays strike first this time. Yount and dawson walk, DeCinces fills the bases with a single and Cooper bangs a 2-run double. A couple of batters later Ray doubles in 2 more. Grays 6-1. The game swings west for game 6. Game 6: Burns vs Haas. Andre Dawson goes deep for a solo shot in the 1st for a Germantown 1-0 lead. Then after a single by Cecil Cooper, Ken Landreaux goes deep for a 3-0 lead. With 2-outs, Pedro Guerrero, Eddie Murray and Carlton Fisk single consecutively to cut the lead to 3-1. Dawson singles home Robin Yount to extend the lead to 4-1. Than Darrell Porter goes yard for a 6-1 lead. Than in the 4th inning the rout is on when Yount goes yard to make it 8-1. Hollywood is hammered 12-7, but it wasn’t that close. Game 7: After Hollywood is hammered in game 6 by Germantown, they send Larry McWilliams to the mound against Mike Flanagan, to hopefully send them to the World Series. Hollywood jumps on top this time with a single, stolen base, by Wiggins who scores on a Fisk single. Hollywood goes up 2-0 in the 4th when Jim Gantner doubles home Wiggins. Larry McWilliams cruises through 8 innings, giving up just 1-hit before handing the ball to Lee Smith. Lee Smith gets them 1-2-3 in the 9th and HOLLYWOOD IS GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!! |