2004 Fake World Series, Game Six

Introduction and Game One recap
Game Two recap
Game Three recap
Game Four recap
Game Five recap

The Fake World Series shifts back to Fenway for Game Six following a masterful performance by Bronson Arroyo and his bullpen buddies in Game Five. Game Six saw the return of Game Two starters Matt Morris and Curt Schilling.

Let’s see… how best to describe Game Six?… How about this: Had there been a Game Six in the real World Series and had he pitched the way he did in the fake one, Matt Morris would still be a Cardinal. Beloved, even.

Morris’ first three innings were a little shaky. Just one hit in the first, but in the second, Kevin Millar and Trot Nixon reached with singles. Jason Varitek followed with a shallow fly to right, but damned if Bill Mueller didn’t ground into the ol’ 4-6-3 to end the inning.

The Cardinals struck first, in the third inning, on Larry Walker’s two-out laser shot that juuuuuuuuuuuust snaked inside the right-field fair pole. Albert Pujols nearly extended the inning, but Mueller snared his rocket down the third-base line.

The Red Sox third began with MarK Bellhorn grounding to Our Man, who then five-holed (Bucknered? Graffaninoed?) it to allow Bellhorn to reach. Damon followed with a triple, and Cabrera plated him with a sac fly, and just like that it’s 2-1 Sox. But two groundball outs from Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz get Morris out of the inning.

In the Cardinals half of the fifth is where it gets interesting. Reggie Sanders leads off and crushes a Schilling pitch up and WAY over the seats atop the Green Monster (that’s what the dice roll said. Figuratively, of course). Tie ballgame. Mike Matheny follows with a groundout, and So Taguchi reaches with a single. Ever the hustler (that’s with an “-er,” not Ice T’s New Jack version with an “a,” but I digress. Again.), Taguchi takes third on Tony Womack’s single. His effort is rewarded by Larry Walker, whose fly to right is deep enough to score the run to make it 3-2 Cardinals. Woo-HA! With Womack having taken second on Taguchi digging for third, first base is open. Schilling fills it by intentionally passing Pujols. The strategy works as Rolen whiffs for the third time in the game.

Schilling tried that strategy again in the seventh. Taguchi led off with a flyout to left. Womack’s double was then followed by Walker’s meek foul pop to Millar. Schilling put Pujols on again to face Rolen. This time, the Hoosier made him pay with a liner back through the box. The collective heart of Cardinal Nation pounds as Womack slides in safely to make it 4-2. Jim Edmonds’ whiff to end the inning does nothing to dampen the enthusiasm.

Morris, meantime, has been flat-out dealing since that two-run third. A perfect fourth and fifth were followed by a sixth and seventh that saw only one baserunner apiece. A perfect eighth ended Morris’ brilliant evening.

Onto the bottom of the ninth, with Jason Isringhausen facing the 4-5-6 portion of the Red Sox order. First up is David Ortiz, who slaps a hot grounder to Pujols. But Pujols fields this one cleanly and flips it to Izzy for the first out. Kevin Millar? Whiff. Trot Nixon steps up, but a determined Izzy mows him down. Wait… did I read that result right? Yes? YES! BALLGAME!!!!! The Cardinals win! The Cardinals win! The Cardinals win! How incredibly lame is it that I am actually jumping around over the result of a fake baseball game played with dice! It doesn’t matter, though. Sweet, sweet vindication is ours!

I plan to compile the series stats in the next few days. Until then, think about who should be Series MVP. Off the top of my head, I would say Morris deserves it, hands-down, with Izzy and his four saves running close behind and possibly even sharing the award. Feel free to post your MVP.

 

STL N    0  0  1    0  2  0    1  0  0  -   4  9  1 BOS A    0  0  2    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  5  0

BATTING

St. Louis Cardinals   AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Womack 2b              5   1   3   0       0   0 Walker rf              4   1   1   2       0   0 Pujols 1b              2   0   0   0       2   0 Rolen 3b               4   0   1   1       0   3 Edmonds cf             4   0   1   0       0   2 Renteria ss            4   0   1   0       0   0 Sanders dh             4   1   1   1       0   2 Matheny c              4   0   0   0       0   0 Taguchi lf             4   1   1   0       0   0 Totals                35   4   9   4       2   7

FIELDING -  E: Pujols (1).

BATTING -  2B: Renteria (4,off Schilling); Womack (3,off Schilling). HR: Walker (1,off Schilling); Sanders (1,off Schilling). SF: Walker (1,off Schilling). Team LOB: 7.

Boston Red Sox        AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Damon cf               4   1   1   1       0   0 Cabrera ss             3   0   1   1       0   1 Ramirez lf             3   0   0   0       1   1 Ortiz dh               4   0   0   0       0   1 Millar 1b              4   0   1   0       0   1 Nixon rf               4   0   1   0       0   1 Varitek c              3   0   1   0       0   0 Mueller 3b             3   0   0   0       0   0 Bellhorn 2b            3   1   0   0       0   1 Totals                31   2   5   2       1   6

FIELDING -  DP: 1.

BATTING -  2B: Cabrera (3,off Morris). 3B: Damon (1,off Morris). SF: Cabrera (1,off King). Team LOB: 5.

PITCHING

St. Louis Cardinals   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Morris W(1-0)          8     5   2   1   1   4   0 Isringhausen S,4       1     0   0   0   0   2   0 Totals                 9     5   2   1   1   6   0

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Schilling L(1-1)       7     9   4   4   2   7   2 Mendoza              1.1     0   0   0   0   0   0 Myers                0.2     0   0   0   0   0   0 Totals                9      9   4   4   2   7   2

IBB: Schilling 2 (1,Pujols; 2,Pujols).

 

2004 Fake World Series, Game Five

Introduction and Game One recap
Game Two recap
Game Three recap
Game Four recap

UPDATE (3:49pm): Box score is now up.

To counteract a team with momentum, opposing managers will sometimes shake things up by altering their lineup a bit. I thought that in real life, a manager facing a team coming off a late-inning, come-from-behind-win and that could close out a series at home might pull a switch or two to give his own club a spark.

So instead of running Tim Wakefield back out for Game Five, I decided to give Bronson Arroyo the start for the Red Sox. He hadn’t pitched since his 3.2 innings in relief of Wakefield in Game One, so you know he’s “fresh.”

It turned out to be the right decision, at least for the Red Sox. Only in one of his six innings did Arroyo allow a baserunner past second. The Cardinals second opened with a whiff of Scott Rolen and a Jim Edmonds flyball out. Renteria then doubled, Mabry got plunked for the second time this series, and Mike Matheny (returning from his ankle injury) stroked a single to score Renteria. Cardinals hurler Woody Williams whiffed to end it.

Williams, on the other hand, had a start reminiscent of Jason Marquis’ in Fake Game Four: Lots of hits and lots of walks. Only this time, Woody was helped out by three double plays to keep things close. The first inning started with a walk to Johnny Damon. Orlando Cabrera came aboard via fielder’s choice groundout, and then Manny Ramirez earned a walk. But David Ortiz bounced one right back to Williams to start the 1-6-3.

The Red Sox second started out with another leadoff walk, this time to Jason Varitek. Trot Nixon followed with a double that managed to score Varitek from first. Williams managed to escape further damage by whiffing Bill Mueller, intentionally passing MarK Bellhorn, whiffing Arroyo and getting Johnny Damon to pop out to left.

The third and fifth innings were similar to the first for Williams. Cabrera’s leadoff single in the third was followed by a 6-4-3 by Ramirez. A walk to Ortiz was neutralized by another comebacker, this time from Varitek.

A perfect fourth begat Arroyo’s single to lead off the fifth, which of course, was negated by a Damon double-play grounder. The sixth inning saw yet another leadoff hit, this time a double by Ramirez. Williams somehow balked Ramirez to third, not that that mattered, because Ortiz crushed one into the left-field bleachers to make it 3-1. A Varitek strikeout was followed by a Nixon single. Mueller flied out to center, and Bellhorn drew a legitimate walk. But Rolen snatched an Arroyo liner to end that threat. And that was all she wrote for Williams: 6 innings, 6 hits and 6 walks, but only three runs thanks to those double plays.

The Cardinals half of the sixth saw only a meaningless Pujols single. And so it went for the Cardinals until the ninth. With Keith Foulke in to close things out, Rolen led off with a single. Edmonds then guessed wrong and struck out. But Edgar Renteria singled to right, allowing Rolen to take third. Renteria stole second to whip the crowd into a frenzy, but Mabry and Matheny both whiffed. Ballgame. The series now stands at 3-2. Siiiiighhhhh… back to the Fens to face Curt Schilling and possibly Pedro Martinez.

 

BOS A    0  1  0    0  0  2    0  0  0  -   3  8  0 STL N    0  1  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  7  0

BATTING

Boston Red Sox        AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Damon cf               4   0   0   0       1   1 Cabrera ss             5   0   1   0       0   0 Ramirez lf             4   1   1   0       1   0 Ortiz 1b               3   1   1   2       1   0 Varitek c              3   1   1   0       1   1 Nixon rf               4   0   2   1       0   0 Mueller 3b             4   0   0   0       0   2 Bellhorn 2b            1   0   0   0       3   1 Arroyo p               3   0   1   0       0   1   Kapler ph            1   0   1   0       0   0 Totals                32   3   8   3       7   6

FIELDING -  DP: 1.

BATTING -  2B: Nixon (2,off Williams); Ramirez (4,off Williams); Varitek (1,off King) . HR: Ortiz (2,off Williams). Team LOB: 9.

St. Louis Cardinals   AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Womack 2b              4   0   0   0       0   0 Walker rf              3   0   1   0       1   0 Pujols 1b              4   0   1   0       0   1 Rolen 3b               4   0   1   0       0   1 Edmonds cf             4   0   0   0       0   1 Renteria ss            4   1   2   0       0   1 Mabry    lf            3   0   1   0       0   1 Matheny c              3   0   1   1       0   1   Taguchi ph           1   0   0   0       0   1 Williams p             2   0   0   0       0   1   Lankford ph          1   0   0   0       0   0 Totals                33   1   7   1       1   8

FIELDING -  DP: 3.

BATTING -  2B: Renteria (3,off Arroyo); Walker (1,off Arroyo). HBP: Mabry (2,by Arroyo). Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING -  SB: Renteria (1,2nd base off Foulke/Varitek).

PITCHING

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Arroyo W(1-0)          6     4   1   1   0   4   0 Mendoza                1     1   0   0   0   1   0 Myers                  0.3   0   0   0   1   0   0 Timlin                 0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0 Foulke S,2             1     2   0   0   0   3   0 Totals                 9     7   1   1   1   8   0

St. Louis Cardinals   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Williams L(1-1)        6     6   3   3   6   4   0 Calero                 1     0   0   0   0   1   0 King                   1.3   2   0   0   1   1   0 Tavarez                0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0 Totals                 9     8   3   3   7   6   0

BK: Williams (1). IBB: Williams (1,Bellhorn).

 

2004 Fake World Series, Game Four

Introduction and Game One recap
Game Two recap
Game Three recap

With the Cardinals leading the 2004 Fake World Series two games to one, Game Four pits Jason Marquis against Derek Lowe, two renowned groundballers.

And true to form, Marquis starts out the game with a pair of groundball outs, a 4-3 by Johnny Damon and a 3 unassisted by Orlando Cabrera. Marquis then walks Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz but gets Jason Varitek swinging to end the first.

And so it went for Marquis. He got himself into trouble in four of his five innings. His second very nearly featured a cycle from the Red Sox’s 6-1 spots. Trot Nixon led off with a triple, Bill Mueller doubled him home and MarK Bellhorn walked. Lowe then singled to left to move Mueller to third, and then Damon flies out to the base of the center field wall to bring Mueller home. But Marquis escapes by getting Cabrera to ground into a 4-6-3 to end the inning.

His only perfect inning was the third when, oddly enough, he struck out Ramirez, Ortiz and Varitek. Two singles and two walks to score another run in the fifth ended his night with the Cardinals down 3-0.

Lowe, meanwhile, also started his evening with a pair of groundball outs, and cruised until the fourth inning. Larry Walker led off with a single and Albert Pujols walked, but that darn sinker got Scott Rolen to bounce into a 6-4-3 to end that threat. A walk to Jim Edmonds was of no consequence as Edgar Renteria flied to center to end the fourth.

After two more perfect innings, the Cardinals finally get one across in the seventh. Edmonds singles with one out, and Renteria follows with another. Edmonds, on his horse, barely makes it into third ahead of the throw, and an alert Renteria takes second on the throw. Sanders the drives one, too shallow to leave the yard, but deep enough to score Edmonds. A whiff by a red-hot Yadier Molina ends the seventh with the Cardinals trailing 3-1.

The Cardinals bullpen continues to stymie the Red Sox. Dan Haren, Ray King and Julian Tavarez each toss a scoreless inning. The Cardinals’ half of the eighth has the pitcher’s spot leading off, so Alan Embree is brought in to face whichever pinch-hitter then the lefties Tony Womack and Walker. Big mistake. The pinch-hitter turns out to be So Taguchi, who rips a single and then steals second, much to the delight of the old-school faithful. Womack, who’s had a mostly forgettable series so far, brings Taguchi home with a single to cut Boston’s lead to 3-2. Walker draws a walk, which sends Embree to the showers. In comes righty Ramiro Mendoza (with Keith Foulke now loosening in the ’pen) to try to end the threat. Another big mistake. Pujols scorches one into the left-field corner, where it takes one of those weird bounces and gets away from Ramirez (this was a an actual result of a roll). Pujols ends up with a triple and has the Cards ahead 4-3. Insert “Ol’ Abner” reference here. Rolen follows that with a double to score Our Man. With the Cards up 5-3, Foulke has to come in to quiet things down. But Edmonds has other plans and strokes a single into right field. A geeked-up Rolen tries for home but is gunned down by Nixon. Renteria and Sanders both pop out to end the inning. But what an inning it was: Trailing 3-1 to start the eighth, they finish it ahead 5-3.

Jason Isringhausen comes in to finish things off and immediately is greeted by a leadoff double from Cabrera. It’s uncanny, isn’t it? But Imodium Izzy bears down to whiff Ramirez, retires Ortiz on an uncomfortably deep fly to center and then whiffs Varitek to end it. Ballgame. Reports that the Mississippi River temporarily reversed course from the stadium noise prove to be unfounded. The Cardinals now have a 3-1 series lead and could close it out at home in Game Five. Stay tuned.

 

BOS A    0  2  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   3  10 0 STL N    0  0  0    0  0  0    1  4  x  -   5  9  0

BATTING

Boston Red Sox        AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Damon cf               4   0   0   1       0   1 Cabrera ss             5   1   2   0       0   0 Ramirez lf             4   0   0   0       1   2 Ortiz 1b               3   0   0   0       2   1 Varitek c              5   0   1   1       0   3 Nixon rf               3   1   1   0       1   2 Mueller 3b             4   1   2   1       0   0 Bellhorn 2b            3   0   0   0       1   1 Lowe p                 3   0   3   0       0   0   Roberts ph           1   0   1   0       0   0 Totals                35   3  10   3       5  10

BATTING -  2B: Mueller (3,off Marquis); Cabrera (2,off Isringhausen). 3B: Nixon (1,off Marquis). SF: Damon (1,off Marquis). Team LOB: 11.

St. Louis Cardinals   AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Womack 2b              4   1   1   1       0   0 Walker rf              3   1   1   0       1   0 Pujols 1b              3   1   1   2       1   0 Rolen 3b               4   0   1   1       0   1 Edmonds cf             3   1   2   0       1   1 Renteria ss            4   0   1   0       0   0 Sanders lf             2   0   0   0       0   0   Mabry ph, lf         1   0   0   1       0   0 Molina c               3   0   1   0       0   1 Marquis p              1   0   0   0       0   1   Cedeno ph            1   0   0   0       0   0   Taguchi ph           1   1   1   0       0   0 Totals                30   5   9   5       3   4

BATTING -  2B: Rolen (2,off Mendoza). 3B: Pujols (1,off Mendoza). SF: Sanders (1,off Lowe). Team LOB: 5.

BASERUNNING -  SB: Taguchi (1,2nd base off Embree/Varitek).

PITCHING

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Lowe                   7     4   1   1   2   4   0 Embree L(0-1)          0     2   1   3   1   0   0 Mendoza                0     2   3   1   0   0   0 Foulke                 1     1   0   0   0   0   0 Totals                 8     9   5   5   3   4   0

St. Louis Cardinals   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Marquis                5     7   3   3   5   5   0 Haren                  1     1   0   0   0   1   0 King                   1     0   0   0   0   1   0 Tavarez W(1-0)         1     1   0   0   0   1   0 Isringhausen S,3       1     1   0   0   0   2   0 Totals                 9     10  3   3   5   10  0

 

2004 Fake World Series, Game Three

Introduction and Game One recap
Game Two recap

After winning the first two games of the 2004 Fake World Series, the Cardinals head home to Busch Stadium. The pitching matchup, of course, pitted Jeff Suppan and Pedro Martinez.

Suppan was cruising early, facing the minimum through the first three innings, thanks to a 6-4-3 double play that negated Johnny Damon’s leadoff single. The fourth inning was where he ran into trouble. Damon and Orlando Cabrera reached with singles, and Manny Ramirez got on via a fielder’s choice. With one out, David Ortiz steps to the plate. Big Papi proceeds to go Big Poopy on a Suppan meatball very nearly into the upper deck in right. A rattled Suppan then walked Jason Varitek and allowed a double to Trot Nixon, but managed to escape further damage by getting Prodigal Son Bill Mueller to pop up and whiffing MarK Bellhorn. Get it? ’Cause he strikes out a lot? Ah, never mind.

Suppan’s perfect fifth gave way to a one-run sixth in which yet another error in left field, this time from John Mabry, led to another unearned run. Ortiz singles to left after a Ramirez ground out, and Mabry five-holes it, and the ball rolls all the way to the wall. Incredibly, Ortiz goes in to third standing. A sacrifice fly by Varitek makes it 4-0. Suppan’s night ends after a scoreless seventh.

Martinez, meanwhile, had few problems with the Cardinals lineup. While he did allow at least one baserunner in five of the first six innings, his ability to get a strikeout killed any potential scoring threat. The seventh was Petey’s only blemish. He drilled Mabry to start the inning. Yadier Molina rips a single, and pinch-hitter So Taguchi’s single scores Mabry. Molina then moves to third on the throw home. With the Red Sox defense conceding the run, Tony Womack plates Molina on a fielder’s choice. Larry Walker, um, walks, but Petey reaches back and whiffs Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen to end the threat.

Kiko Calero and Dan Haren pitch a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, bringing the top of the Cardinals order in to face Keith Foulke in the ninth. Womack and Walker both pop up, but our man Albert isn’t fooled by Foulke’s changeup and deposits it into the seats in left. The shrieking is short-lived, however, as Damon tracks down a Rolen drive on the warning track. Ballgame. Cards still lead the Series 2-1.

 

BOS A    0  0  0    3  0  1    0  0  0  -   4  7  1 STL N    0  0  0    0  0  0    2  0  1  -   3  9  2

BATTING

Boston Red Sox        AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Damon cf               4   0   2   0       0   1 Cabrera ss             4   1   1   0       0   0 Ramirez lf             4   1   0   0       0   0 Ortiz 1b               4   2   2   3       0   1 Varitek c              2   0   0   1       1   0 Nixon rf               4   0   1   0       0   0 Mueller 3b             4   0   0   0       0   0 Bellhorn 2b            4   0   1   0       0   1 Martinez p             2   0   0   0       0   0 Totals                32   4   7   4       1   3

FIELDING -  E: Ramirez (1).

BATTING -  2B: Nixon (1,off Suppan). HR: Ortiz (1,4th inning off Suppan 2 on, 1 out). SAC: Varitek (1,by Suppan); Martinez (1,by Suppan). Team LOB: 4.

St. Louis Cardinals   AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Womack 2b              5   0   0   1       0   2 Walker rf              4   0   1   0       1   0 Pujols 1b              4   1   1   1       1   2 Rolen 3b               5   0   0   0       0   1 Edmonds cf             4   0   1   0       0   2 Renteria ss            3   0   0   0       0   0 Mabry lf               3   1   0   0       0   0   Cedeno ph            1   0   1   0       0   0 Molina c               4   1   3   0       0   1 Suppan p               2   0   1   0       0   1   Taguchi ph, lf       2   0   1   1       0   0 Totals                37   3   9   3       2   9

FIELDING -  DP: 1. E: Mabry (1); Renteria (1).

BATTING -  2B: Edmonds (2,off Martinez). 3B: Walker (1,off Martinez). HR: Pujols (3,9th inning off Foulke 0 on, 2 out). HBP: Renteria (1,by Martinez); Mabry (1,by Martinez) . Team LOB: 10.

PITCHING

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Martinez W(1-0)        7     6   2   2   2   9   0 Embree                 1     2   0   0   0   0   0 Foulke S,1             1     1   1   1   0   0   1 Totals                 9     9   3   3   2   9   1

St. Louis Cardinals   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Suppan L(0-1)          7     7   4   3   1   3   1 Calero                 1     0   0   0   0   0   0 Haren                  1     0   0   0   0   0   0 Totals                 9     7   4   3   1   3   1

HBP: Martinez 2 (Renteria, Mabry).

 

2004 Fake World Series, Game Two

Introduction and Game One recap

Game Two of the Fake World Series basically was the opposite of Game One. In a duel reminiscent of their 2001 playoff battles, Matt Morris and Curt Schilling both were brilliant. Morris went eight innings, scattered eight hits, walked no one and allowed only two unearned runs. In addition to his six Ks, he induced four double plays among his 14 groundball outs.

Schilling was just as dominant, going nine innings and whiffing eight. He allowed two earned runs (one on another Pujols blast) on eight hits and two walks.

The drama came in the 10th inning. With Timlin on in relief of Schilling, Walker grounded to short to lead off the inning. Pujols followed with a single, and our favorite Hoosier, Scott Rolen, doubled him home to put the Cards ahead 3-2. Edmonds singled home Rolen for good measure.

In comes Izzy for the bottom of the 10th. And in typical Izzy fashion, he makes things difficult on himself. A leadoff single to Varitek was followed by a whiff of Bellhorn (surprise!). Damon then singled to rouse the Fenway faithful. But Izzy stepped up and whiffed pinch-hitter Dave Roberts and Ramirez to preserve the win. Ballgame. Cardinals win 4-2. On to Busch.

 

STL N    0  0  0    0  0  1    1  0  0  2  -   4  11  2 BOS A    0  1  0    0  0  0    0  1  0  0  -   2   9  0

BATTING

St. Louis Cardinals   AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Womack 2b              5   0   0   0       0   0 Walker rf              4   0   1   0       1   1 Pujols 1b              5   2   3   1       0   1 Rolen 3b               5   1   1   1       0   2 Edmonds cf             4   0   1   1       1   1 Renteria ss            5   0   0   0       0   2 Sanders dh             5   1   1   0       0   0 Molina c               4   0   2   1       0   1 Taguchi lf             4   0   2   0       0   1 Totals                41   4  11   4       2   9

FIELDING -  DP: 4. E: Taguchi (2); Womack (1).

BATTING -  2B: Molina (1,off Schilling); Rolen (1,off Timlin). HR: Pujols (2,off Schilling). Team LOB: 9.

Boston Red Sox        AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO       Damon cf               4   1   2   0       1   0 Cabrera ss             4   0   1   1       0   0   Roberts ph           1   0   0   0       0   1 Ramirez lf             5   0   1   0       0   2 Ortiz dh               4   0   0   0       0   2 Millar 1b              4   1   1   0       0   0 Nixon rf               3   0   2   0       0   0 Mueller 3b             4   0   0   0       0   0 Varitek c              4   0   2   0       0   2 Bellhorn 2b            4   0   0   0       0   3 Totals                37   2   9   1       1  10

BATTING -  2B: Ramirez (3,off Morris). HBP: Nixon (2,by King). Team LOB: 7.

PITCHING

St. Louis Cardinals   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Morris                 8     8   2   0   0   6   0 King W(1-0)            1     0   0   0   0   1   0 Isringhausen S,2       1     1   0   0   1   3   0 Totals                10     9   2   0   1  10   0

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Schilling              9     8   2   2   2   8   1 Timlin L(0-1)          1     3   2   2   0   1   0 Totals                10    11   4   4   2   9   1

HBP: King (2,Nixon).

 

2004 World Series, slight return

I wish I had something interesting and original to post. I really do. Something along the lines of what Viva El Birdos, Cardnilly and Diaspora are doing on a daily basis. I’ll just chalk up my lack of creativity to a lack of experience. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.

Meantime, if I can’t watch real baseball, maybe I’ll play some pretend baseball. You know, the kind with player cards and 10-sided dice. Sort of like “Dungeons and Dragons” but for baseball.

I’m talking about “Dynasty League Baseball.” I figure most blog readers will have at least heard of it; if not, check out their Web site. It’s the kind of thing you’d like if you like that kind of thing.

Anyway, I reckon most of us in the Cardinals blogosphere were less than happy with how the 2004 World Series turned out; I know I was. I picked up the 2004 version of “Dynasty” almost solely to replay the World Series. So that’s what I did. And since I have nothing interesting to write about, I’ll post the results here. I started with actual lineups from the actual Game One (except that I magically healed whatever was bothering Womack back then and batted him leadoff) and went from there, adjusting for innings pitched and potential injuries. I played both sides fairly (i.e., no re-rolling after an undesirable result. Honest.) and “managed” using a fairly proactive approach (sac bunts, hits-n-runs, stealing bases, etc.) Enjoy!

Game One

Game One of the 2004 Fake World Series was even more of a barnburner on paper than in real life.

The Cardinals jumped on Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield from the get-go, sending 10 men to the plate in the first inning. Tony Womack led off with a double off the Green Monster; Larry Walker promptly singled him home. After an Albert Pujols flyout to center, Scott Rolen followed with a two-run shot into the Monster seats to make it 3-0.

Jim Edmonds then singled and advanced on a wild pitch (surprise!), and Edgar Renteria moved Edmonds to third with a single to left. Reggie Sanders’ sacrifice fly plated Edmonds, and Mike Matheny sent a base hit back through the box to end Wakefield’s night. His replacement, Bronson Arroyo, gave, up a run-scoring single to So Taguchi before finally ending the inning on Womack’s flyout to right.

The home half of the first inning saw only a meaningless, two-out double from Manny Ramirez.

After a perfect second from Arroyo, Cardinals starter Woody Williams ran into a bit of two-out trouble. Bill Mueller doinked a double off the Monster that So Taguchi misplayed into a rushed and off-target throw into second, which allowed Mueller to advance to third. After Doug Mirabelli was hit by a pitch, Mark Bellhorn drove home Mueller with a base hit. Johnny Damon followed with a double down the right field line that scored Mirabelli, but further damage was spared by Walker making a perfect throw to nail Bellhorn at the plate.

After two innings, STL 5, BOS 2

The third and fourth innings saw only one baserunner for both teams, the highlight being Kevin Millar’s ejection for arguing with the umpire after striking out to lead off the fourth.

The Cardinals fifth began quietly enough with Pujols softly grounding back to Arroyo. The next six batters then reached base with a series of singles and doubles. Unfortunately, after doubling off new reliever Mike Timlin, Mike Matheny wrenched his ankle sliding into second base and was replaced by Yadier Molina. Afterward, it was determined that Matheny would miss the next four games. Molina scored the fifth and final run of the inning on Womack’s fielder’s choice groundout, and Walker’s grounder to Bellhorn ended the inning.

A pair of two-out doubles by Edmonds and Renteria in the sixth gave the Cardinals another run. The Boston half of the sixth saw Woody get into more trouble. A leadoff walk to Ramirez was nearly negated by an Ortiz lineout and a Mientkewicz (who replaced Millar) fielder’s choice. Trot Nixon then singled, St. Louisan Bill Mueller scored Minky with a double, and pinch-hitter Jason Varitek was hit by a pitch. The bases-loaded threat was ended, however, with Bellhorn’s flyout to Edmonds.

After six, STL 11, BOS 3

Molina started the seventh by getting plunked by new reliever Curtis Leskanic. So Taguchi then reached on an Orlando Cabrera error, and Womack drove Molina home by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play. Walker ended the Cardinals seventh by flying to center.

Cal Eldred took the mound for Boston’s seventh inning in relief of Williams. Starting with Damon, he allowed all seven batters he faced to get on while recording only one out. Damon got a leadoff single, then consecutive doubles by Cabrera, Ramirez, Ortiz and Minky all scored the previous runners. Nixon then singled to move Minky to third. Eldred recorded his only out on a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Mueller. The dearly departed Kiko Calero came in for Eldred and whiffed Varitek, then gave up a two-run bomb to Bellhorn. The seven-run seventh finally ended with a Damon flyout to center.

After 7, STL 12, BOS 10

At this point, I am thinking, “Uh-oh. BOHICA.*” But Pujols, my friend and yours, made me feel a little better by leading off the eighth with a towering drive off Leskanic into the center field “triangle,” his only hit of the night.

Julian Tavarez came in to start the eighth, and Cabrera led off with a single. After holding Cabrera to first on two attempts to steal, Tavarez whiffed Ramirez in a dramatic at-bat. Ray King then came on to face the lefty troika of Ortiz, Minky and Nixon. Ortiz finessed a walk, Minky struck out and Nixon was hit by a pitch. After Ortiz’s walk, I decided to get Jason Isringhausen throwing in the pen, and with the switch-hitting Mueller coming up, I considered bringing Izzy in to turn Mueller around. I decided to let King pitch and was rewarded with a groundout to second. Threat over. Exhale.

A quiet Cardinals ninth brings Izzy to the mound for the home half. A two-out single to Damon was the only blemish. Ballgame. Cardinals win 13-10.

*Go ask a Vietnam vet what that means. Then shake his hand and thank him.

STL N    5  0  0    0  5  1    1  1  0  -   13  19  1 BOS A    0  2  0    0  0  1    7  0  0  -   10  15  1

BATTING

St. Louis Cardinals   AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO Womack 2b              6   1   2   2       0   0 Walker rf              6   1   1   1       0   0 Pujols 1b              5   1   1   1       0   1 Rolen 3b               5   2   2   2       0   3 Edmonds cf             5   3   4   0       0   0 Renteria ss            5   2   3   3       0   1 Sanders dh             4   1   1   2       0   2 Matheny c              3   0   2   1       0   0   Molina pr, c         1   2   1   0       0   0 Taguchi lf             5   0   2   1       0   0 Totals                45  13  19  13       0   7

FIELDING -  E: Taguchi (1)

BATTING -  2B: Womack 2 (2, off Wakefield, off Arroyo); Renteria 2 (2, off Arroyo, off Timlin); Matheny (1, off Timlin); Edmonds (1, off Timlin). HR: Rolen (1, 1st inning off Wakefield 1 on, 1 out); Pujols (1, 8th inning off Leskanic 0 on, 0 out) SF: Sanders (1, off Wakefield). HBP: Molina (1, by Leskanic). Team LOB: 8.

Boston Red Sox        AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO Damon cf               6   1   3   1       0   2 Cabrera ss             6   1   2   1       0   1 Ramirez lf             4   1   2   1       1   1 Ortiz dh               4   1   1   1       1   0 Millar 1b              2   0   0   0       0   1   Mientkiewicz 1b      3   2   1   1       0   1 Nixon rf               4   0   2   0       0   0 Mueller 3b             4   2   2   2       1   0 Mirabelli c            0   1   0   0       0   0   Varitek ph,c         3   0   0   0       0   1 Bellhorn 2b            5   1   2   3       0   1 Totals                41  10  15  10       3   8

FIELDING -  DP: 1 E: Cabrera (1)

BATTING -  2B: Ramirez 2 (2, off Williams, off Eldred); Mueller 2 (2, off Williams 2); Damon (1, off Williams); Cabrera (1, off Eldred); Ortiz (1, off Eldred); Mientkewicz (1, off Eldred). HR: Bellhorn (1, 7th inning off Calero 1 on, 2 out). HBP: Mirabelli (1, by Williams); Varitek (1, by Williams); Nixon (1, by King). Team LOB: 11.

PITCHING

St. Louis Cardinals   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Williams W(1-0)        6     6   3   3   2   4   0 Eldred                 0.1   6   5   6   0   0   0 Calero                 0.2   1   2   1   0   1   1 Tavarez                0.1   1   0   0   0   1   0 King                   0.2   0   0   0   1   1   0 Isringhausen S,1       1     1   0   0   0   1   0 Totals                 9    15  10  10   3   8   1

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR Wakefield L(0-1)       0.2   6   4   5   0   0   1 Arroyo                 3.2   6   4   4   0   4   0 Timlin                 1.2   4   3   2   0   2   0 Leskanic               2     2   2   1   0   1   1 Embree                 1     1   0   0   0   0   0 Totals                 9     19  13  12  0   7   2

HBP: Williams 2(1,Mirabelli, 2,Varitek); King (1,Nixon); Leskanic(1,Molina). WP: Wakefield (1).