1984 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW
| CATCHERS | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | OSBP |
| Lance Parrish – FWP | .265 | .305 | .492 | 142 | 506 | 65 | 134 | 16 | 0 | 33 | 97 | 0 |
60.4 |
| Dave Engle – CKZ | .273 | .326 | .371 | 118 | 399 | 35 | 109 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 0 |
68.8 |
Engle has an advantage in average and on base percentage while Parrish has more power and was a bit better in throwing runners out. Also the Panther’s were the better running team stealing bases at a 70.6% rate for the 1984 season compared to 67.1% for Clem Advantage FWP
| FIRST BASEMEN | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Leon Durham – FWP | .269 | .370 | .479 | 132 | 424 | 82 | 114 | 24 | 4 | 19 | 83 | 11 |
| Steve Balboni – CKZ | .275 | .333 | .561 | 127 | 415 | 54 | 114 | 24 | 1 | 31 | 84 | 0 |
If the power numbers were similar you could give the edge to Durham, but that’s not the case.
Both first sackers are good offensive players. Durham’s edge in defense isn’t enough to make him the better player. Advantage EVEN
| SECOND BASEMEN | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Jack Perconte – FWP | .321 | .381 | .399 | 149 | 604 | 102 | 194 | 26 | 6 | 3 | 55 | 32 |
| Ron Oester – CKZ | .286 | .341 | .369 | 132 | 412 | 45 | 118 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 7 |
Perconte beats Oester in nearly every category. Oester doesn’t hurt his team on offense.
He’s just matched up against a player who had his career year. Advantage FWP
| SHORTSTOPS | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Roy Smalley – FWP | .207 | .288 | .362 | 113 | 348 | 39 | 72 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 46 | 0 |
| Ron Washington – FWP | .267 | .284 | .442 | 89 | 172 | 25 | 46 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 2 |
| Dave Concepcion – CKZ | .247 | .326 | .342 | 146 | 474 | 64 | 117 | 34 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 8 |
The two Panther shortstops hit more combined homers, but Concepcion is the better overall player.
He also contributes more on defense. Advantage CKZ
| THIRD BASEMEN | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Carney Lansford – FWP | .288 | .321 | .420 | 150 | 584 | 74 | 168 | 28 | 5 | 13 | 78 | 4 |
| Joel Youngblood – CKZ | .220 | .261 | .332 | 84 | 214 | 12 | 47 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 1 |
| Greg Pryor – CKZ | .186 | .237 | .310 | 80 | 145 | 13 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
| Jim Presley – CKZ | .182 | .215 | .279 | 65 | 165 | 12 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0 |
No contest here. Lansford is easily the best hot corner man in the World Series. Advantage FWP
| OUTFIELDER | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Willie McGee – FWP | .251 | .298 | .370 | 145 | 521 | 76 | 131 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 49 | 47 |
| Mickey Rivers – FWP | .359 | .372 | .470 | 91 | 315 | 43 | 113 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 47 | 6 |
| George Vukovich – FWP | .271 | .349 | .372 | 117 | 328 | 35 | 89 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 33 | 0 |
| Milt Thompson – FWP | .286 | .407 | .439 | 46 | 98 | 23 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 6 |
| George Hendrick – FWP | .278 | .325 | .379 | 73 | 198 | 21 | 55 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 0 |
| Lou Piniella – FWP | .402 | .442 | .536 | 36 | 97 | 12 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| Willie Wilson – CKZ | .265 | .317 | .326 | 133 | 536 | 70 | 142 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 33 | 35 |
| Darryl Strawberry – CKZ | .218 | .289 | .421 | 152 | 532 | 78 | 116 | 23 | 5 | 25 | 83 | 20 |
| Ron Kittle – CKZ | .184 | .285 | .340 | 105 | 282 | 35 | 52 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 28 | 1 |
| Dave Bergman -CKZ | .268 | .326 | .341 | 56 | 164 | 18 | 44 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 2 |
McGee is the only legitimate starter and except for stolen bases may be the weakest link for Ft. Worth.
Old man Rivers is hoping to keep enjoying the fountain of youth as he had an outstanding 1984 season.
Clem has more home runs from their outfielders, but it looks like its strength in numbers for Ft.
Worth as all 6 outfielders listed are expected to see a considerable amount of playing time. Advantage FWP
| POSSIBLE DH | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Keith Hernandez – FWP | .294 | .379 | .458 | 143 | 507 | 68 | 149 | 35 | 0 | 16 | 103 | 0 |
| Victor Mata – FWP | .354 | .358 | .468 | 26 | 79 | 4 | 28 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Lynn Jones – FWP | .286 | .353 | .403 | 29 | 77 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Rod Carew – CKZ | .265 | .348 | .309 | 92 | 162 | 16 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Jorge Orta – CKZ | .250 | .296 | .395 | 102 | 248 | 27 | 62 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 1 |
| Ted Simmons – CKZ | .357 | .400 | .429 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Carew is one of the best hitters of all time and Simmons could be a sleeper during the World Series,
but overall the Panther trios are the better designated hitters. It will be hard to keep Hernandez out of the
lineup when the series shifts to Clem as he always seems to come up with a clutch hit. Advantage FWP
| FWP STARTERS | W-L | ERA | GS | CG | SHO | QS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
| Doyle Alexander R overall | 13-10 | 2.71 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 222.1 | 208 | 85 | 67 | 17 | 5.5 | 2.9 |
| Doyle Alexander R AL | 5-0 | 1.65 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 54.2 | 43 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 5.1 | 3 |
| Mario Soto R | 22-9 | 3.01 | 34 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 248 | 200 | 89 | 83 | 22 | 5.7 | 3.1 |
| Rick Camp R | 11-10 | 3.76 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 150.2 | 134 | 68 | 63 | 12 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| Dave LaPoint L | 13-13 | 5.27 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 188 | 254 | 119 | 110 | 11 | 5.1 | 4.3 |
| CKZ STARTERS | W-L | ERA | GS | CG | SHO | QS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
| Dwight Gooden R | 16-10 | 1.97 | 32 | 10 | 4 | 26 | 246.2 | 148 | 61 | 54 | 17 | 9.4 | 3.3 |
| Mike Witt R | 10-9 | 2.82 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 195.0 | 180 | 76 | 61 | 12 | 7.1 | 3.2 |
| Milt Wilcox R | 9-9 | 3.01 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 185.1 | 148 | 70 | 62 | 13 | 6.0 | 4.2 |
| Joe Cowley R | 4-6 | 3.54 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 86.1 | 68 | 34 | 34 | 7 | 8.2 | 3.4 |
Alexander has been outstanding since coming over in a trade and Soto had another stellar season for the Panthers,
but the Killer Z’s have 3 excellent starting pitchers. Sometimes that’s all you need in the playoffs. Advantage CKZ
| FWP TOP 5 RELIEVERS | W-L-SV | ERA | BS | HLD | G | GF | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
| Kurt Kepshire R Overall | 1-0-0 | 1.67 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 6 | 32.1 | 28 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 6.1 | 3.3 |
| Kurt Kepshire R AL | 0-0-0 | 1.02 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 17.2 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8.7 | 4.6 |
| Dave Von Ohlen L | 1-0-1 | 1.56 | 0 | 17 | 43 | 11 | 40.1 | 25 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| Warren Brusstar R | 3-3-19 | 2.15 | 4 | 11 | 66 | 30 | 71 | 57 | 19 | 17 | 4 | 4.4 | 2.5 |
| Jamie Easterly L | 4-4-4 | 2.21 | 0 | 12 | 51 | 18 | 61 | 51 | 16 | 15 | 4 | 6.3 | 3 |
| Rod Scurry L | 3-2-23 | 2.39 | 1 | 9 | 54 | 36 | 52.2 | 37 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 9.2 | 3.6 |
| CKZ TOP 5 RELIEVERS | W-L-SV | ERA | BS | HLD | G | GF | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
| Rick Lysander R | 5-1-5 | 1.58 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 13 | 45.2 | 37 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 |
| Mike Stanton R | 4-5-15 | 2.67 | 5 | 2 | 55 | 34 | 67.1 | 62 | 21 | 20 | 6 | 9.5 | 2.5 |
| Luis Sanchez R | 7-5-7 | 2.98 | 5 | 9 | 45 | 28 | 57.1 | 52 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Pete Filson L | 5-3-0 | 3.36 | 1 | 6 | 39 | 8 | 72.1 | 57 | 30 | 27 | 4 | 4.5 | 3.1 |
| Bill Scherrer L | 5-1-2 | 3.73 | 2 | 9 | 55 | 20 | 60.1 | 66 | 30 | 25 | 4 | 6.3 | 3.7 |
During the 1984 MWWL season the Panthers were the 2nd best among all MWWL teams in Relieving ERA at 2.60 while the Killer Z’s were number 6 at 3.10. Clem had the 3rd most Relief wins at 28. Ft. Worth only had 18. The Panthers had a huge advantage in holds as their 68 were 2nd best among 20 teams. The margin for saves was a little closer as Ft. Worth’s two headed monster paved the way to lead MWWL in most team saves at 52. Clem wasn’t far off as they finished 3rd in saves with 47. With not one, but two good closers and a long man like Kepshire the Panthers pen looks to be the better of the two teams. Advantage FWP
In summary it looks like a 3-peat for Ft. Worth, but you never know what might happen until you play the games. Clem is hoping the clock doesn’t strike midnight as they try to continue dancing through the post season in glass slippers while Ft. Worth is hoping to become a MWWL dynasty as they seek to be an early favorite for team of the decade for the 1980’s.