128-team Japan and AAA tournament: games 33-48
Mischa Gelman
"Big Boy" Kraft loved playing in a 1988 PCL atmosphere as he rocketed a
shot into the seats with 2 out in the first for a Newark lead. Cliff
Curtis became highly confused as after walking Craig (Biggio), Craig
(Smajstrla) came up. The utterly befuddled pitcher decided he should be
walked just like his namesake. Two outs later, John Fishel singled home
the 35th greatest baseball player ever (as of 1999). The next inning the
Craig combo again doubled up, both hitting singles, the latter driving
in Glenn Carpenter to put the Tuscon Toros on top. In the 3rd, a Ken
Caminiti throwing error and Bill Zimmerman triple were the keys in a
3-run Newark rally and when the Indians added 3 more the next inning,
the game was all but over. Curtis settled down to allow one run after
the 2nd in the 8-3 win. Kraft finished with 3 RBI.
Game thirty-four: '88 Phoenix Firebirds at '14 Baltimore Orioles - Babe
Ruth gave up 2 runs in the first three but after that surrendered just 3
hits, no walks and no runs. The Bambino was held hitless, but his
teammates pieced together 3 runs against Dennis Cook for the win. For a
second straight game, a '14 IL team had beat an '88 PCL team.
Game thirty-five: '80 Omaha Royals at '49 San Francisco Seals - Ken
Phelps All-Star Ken Phelps began the second with a double, then scored
on a Tim Ireland single to put the Royals ahead against Steve "Am I
related to Charles?" Nagy. Arky Vaughan showed the young kids a thing or
two by crushing a long homer in the bottom of the third to tie the game.
In the 4th, a Craig Chamberlain error set up another Seal run, but
Chamberlain got revenge by singling in Bob Detherage an inning later.
After Ireland walked with one out in the 7th, Omaha pinch-ran with
German Barranca, who stole second. Detherage grounded Barranca to third
and Francis McCann singled him in for a 3-2 Omaha lead. In the 8th, they
padded their lead on a single by Manny Castillo, walk to Onix Concepcion
and Phelps and a 2-run single by Danny Garcia. They still led by that
5-2 score entering the home half of the 9th. Brooks Holder began that
inning with a pinch-hit double and Dino Restelli ran for him. Mickey
Rocco walked. Strick Shofner and Culley Rikard flew out, but Roy Jarvis
came through with a single to make it 5-3 and put the tying run on.
Chamberlain stayed in and walked PH Dick Lasejkie to load the bases.
Still they stuck with Chamberlain to face Harry Feldman, a fine-hitting
reliever. Feldman struck a shot into the outfield to score Rocco but
Jarvis's dash home was a dash too slow and he was out at the plate to
end an exciting game - and a 3rd straight PCL defeat.
Game thirty-six: '97 Daiei Hawks at '38 Newark Bears - Kimiyasu Kudoh
was called on to face one of the greatest IL dynasties ever (a year
after their more famous counterpart). Kudoh did better than anyone could
have hoped for, tossing scoreless ball for 8 before allowing 2 in the
9th and holding King Kong Keller off the bases. Showing that he could
hit when not being sidelined for tax fraud scandals or arousing
controversy over trade scandals, Hiroki Kokubo slammed a single, triple
and homer, scoring 3 and driving in 3 to lead Daiei's 7-run showing off
of Marius Russo and company.
Game thirty-seven: '49 Portland Beavers at '88 Tacoma Tigers - Hank
Saltzman and Dave Otto were in top form in this matchup. The game's only
run scored in the 6th when Joe Brovia singled in Leo Thomas. There was a
threat in the 9th. Felix Jose led off with a walk in the bottom of the
inning. Ed Jurak hit into a force out at second. Tony Phillips walked
and the runners pulled off a double steal. Joseph Xavier fanned (just
think, he came so close to being the first MLBer whose last name starts
with X) but Larry Arndt walked to load the bases. Orlando Mercado
chopped one to Eddie Basinski for an easy out to end the contest.
Game thirty-eight: '49 Hollywood Stars at '64 Hanshin Tigers - Gene
Bacque tossed a strong game and the Tigers got a diversified attack
going in a 5-2 win that lacked any great drama.
Game thirty-nine: '51 Kansas City Blues at '94 Daiei Hawks - Fans of
offense would have had a field day. First inning: Bob Cerv singles in
Jerry Snyder for a 1-0 KC lead. Bottom of the first: Kevin Reimer socks
a 3-run homer off of Bob Wiesler to put Daiei in front. Top of the
second: A Cerv 3-run homer caps a 6-run rally that puts KC ahead 7-3.
Bottom of the second: Daiei scores 3 of their own to close it to 7-6. By
this point both starters (Wiesler and Yoshida) have been knocked out.
Top of the third: A scoreless frame! KC gets runners on second and third
with one out but Snyder whiffs and Don Bollweg pops out. Bottom of the
third: 3 doubles, 2 singles, a walk and a wild pitch lead to 5 Daiei
runs and reliever Bob Muncrief leaving for Hank Wyse. Top of the 4th:
Clint Courtney singles home Mickey Mantle to make it 11-8. Bottom of the
4th: Daiei loads the bases with one out but fails to score. Top of the
fifth: Oh my gosh - a 1-2-3 inning thanks to Keiji Kimura. Bottom of the
fifth: Koichiro Yoshinaga singles in Koji Akiyama to put the Hawks up
12-8. Top of the sixth: Kinura continues his perfect day. Bottom of the
sixth: Rex Jones gets Reimer to fly out with the bases loaded. The first
inning in which neither team scored. Top of the seventh: Kal Segrist
breaks Kimura's perfect outing with a solo homer. 12-9 Daiei. Bottom of
the seventh: Hiromi Matsunaga drives in Yoshinaga to increase the lead
to 13-9. Top of the 8th: A tiring Kimura gives up singles to Snyder and
Bollweg and then a homer to Mickey Mantle to trim the lead to a run.
Bobby Thigpen relieves and retires Cerv but Segrist and Courtney single.
Jackie Jensen hits a foul pop that Yoshinaga corrals behind home plate.
Bottom of the 8th: KC finally faces just 3 batters in an inning. Top of
the 9th: Andy Carey leads off with a single but Thigpen allows nothing
from Markland, Snyder or Bollweg and Daiei escapes with a 13-12 win.
Thigpen is the lone pitcher among the 8 used for both teams who did not
allow a run. This marked the 5th straight win for a Japanese team, the
reverse of their 0-5 start to the tournament.
Game forty: '14 Buffalo Bisons at '64 Taiyo Whales - Sloppy play cost
Buffalo early, as an error by Roxy Roach and wild pitch by Fred Beebe
let Taiyo score in the initial inning. The pair made it up in the 2nd
when Beebe singled in Roach to tie the game. Buffalo went ahead by one
in the 4th but Beebe was batted around in the bottom of the 5th as Taiyo
scored 5 and watched Chick Brandom relieve Beebe. Makoto Inagawa carried
the 6-2 lead into the 8th. Roach led off with a double. After future
scout Paul Krichell was retired, Ben Houser walked. George McConnell
pinch-hit and doubled in Roach to make it 6-3. Bobby Vaughn drove in
Houser with a ground out. Future manager Joe McCarthy singled in
McConnell and then stole second but Les Channell grounded out to end
that threat. Kuniyasu Mine relieved the worn-out Inagawa for the 9th.
After retiring the 1st 2, Roach scuttled a shot for his 4th hit of the
game then stole second. Mine went wild after that, walking Krichell and
tossing a wild pitch that put the tying run on 3rd and go-ahead run on
2nd. Houser's chopper to second was fielded cleanly by Akihito Kondoh,
who threw to Kazuhiko Kondoh at first to end it. 6 straight wins for
Japanese squads.
Game forty-one: '97 Hanshin Tigers at '51 Milwaukee Brewers - We'll pick
this one up in the 9th with the teams tied at 3. With RP Dick Hoover on
the hill for Milwaukee, Darnell Coles flew out. Tsuyoshi Shinjo lined
one into the corner and hot dogged it into second. Hiroshi Yagi singled
and Shinjo hustled home. Phil Hiatt flew out. Katsuhiko Yamada singled.
Makoto Imaoka pinch-hit and grounded out. Tsutomu Tamura entered from
Hanshin's bullpen-by-committee. Bus Clarkson grounded out. Gene Mauch
doubled. Pinch-hitter Junior Wooten ground out but with their backs to
the wall, Milwaukee kept things alive when Billy Klaus doubled home
Mauch. In the 11th, Virgil Jester gave up two runs, the key hits being a
Hiatt double and pinch-hit single by Hiroshi Yoshida. Atsunori Itoh
entered as the next closer in line and retired Clarkson and Mauch. Paul
Burris walked, as did Klaus. Then mighty Bob Thorpe struck out as
Hanshin pulled out a win.
Game forty-two: '54 Louisville Colonels at '49 Oakland Oaks - Charlie
Gassaway threw gas past Louisville's hitters for 8 solid innings,
allowing one run and leading 4-1 entering the 9th. Then Gassaway ran out
of gas as Gene Stephens homered. Robert Broome flew out but Norm Zauchin
singled. Pete Daley struck out then Frank Malzone doubled home Zauchin
for a 4-3 game. Gassaway still had enough fuel left to retire Don
Buddin, though, and end with a complete game win.
Game forty-three: '14 Rochester Hustlers at '94 Yomiuri Giants - Masumi
Kuwata allowed a Wally Pipp homer in the second (one of 3 Pipp hits) but
the rest of the team might as well have taken a day off in this 5-1
defeat. Dan Gladden, Hiromitsu Ochiai and Henry Cotto went deep to drive
in all the Giants' runs and give Japanese teams 8 wins in a row.
Game forty-four: '94 Chunichi Dragons at '98 Kintetsu Buffaloes - Well,
the Japan winning streak would end in this one. Kazuyoshi Tatsunami led
off the game with a homer and back-to-back doubles by Alonzo Powell and
Toshihatsu Hikono gave Chunichi a 2-0 lead after 1. Still leading 2-1 in
the 6th, the offense blew a nice chance when Yasuaki Taiho, Powell and
Hikono hit 3 straight singles but Takeshi Nakamura whiffed and Dion
James hit into a double play. In the bottom of the inning, the other
Nakamura, Norihiro, drove one deep to tie it at 2. Tatsunami again
whirled into action in the 7th, doubling in Junichi Jinno to retake the
lead. In the bottom of the 7th things got even again when Naoyuki Omura
singled in Tuffy Rhodes. In the bottom of the 8th, Phil Clark hit a
homer for a 4-3 Buffalo lead. With ace closer Akinori Ohtsuka entering
for the 9th, things were well in hand and Ohtsuka went 1-2-3 for the save.
Game forty-five: '74 Syracuse Chiefs at '64 Kokutetsu Swallows - A duel
of aces featured ERA king Larry "Sideburns" Gura against 27-game winner
Masaichi Kaneda. Oddly, pitching was not showcased though. The
light-hitting Chiefs scraped together 3 in the first on a Kobuchi error,
Whitfield single, Sanders walk, Parker single and Deidel sacrifice fly.
Gura had the Swallows even that same inning when Yasumitsu Toyoda
homered with two men on. In the 2nd, Jerry Kenney (12 RBI for real-life
'74 Syracuse) doubled home Gura. In the bottom of the inning, Kaneda
struck out with a runner on second but Taisuke Kobuchi then tripled to
tie it again. In the 3rd, C. Roy Sanders doubled and Billy Parker went
deep and Kaneda was gone with 6 runs in 2 innings of work. Gura allowed
once more in the 3rd and in the 5th Tadakatsu Takayama and Toyoda hit
back to back home runs for a 7-6 Swallows lead. Gura left as well after
Toyoda's 2nd homer and then the pitching matchup began. Kimitaka
Sugimoto doubled in another run in the bottom of the 7th, the last
Kokutetsu would score. In the 9th, Masaru Ogata retired the first two
but Mike Krizmanich doubled and pinch-hitter Kenneth Bennett followed
with an RBI single. It now stood at 8-7 but Kenney couldn't be the hero
again, grounding out to Ogata.
Game forty-six: '48 Oakland Oaks at '88 Vancouver Canadians - (Odd
question time - when did Vancouver join the PCL? Was there a time when
the Pacific Coast League had a bigger international presence than the
International League, which was strictly US-only for a point in the
70s). Charlie Gassaway repeated his fine work in game 42 by allowing one
run in 8 innings. Brooks Holder had 3 hits, as did Maurice Von Robays
(including 2 triples by the latter) as Oakland scored 5 in the second
and cruised to an 8-2 win.
Game forty-seven: '80 Oklahoma City 89ers at '97 Chunichi Dragons -
Burke Suter was not well-suited to deal with the Dragons' fire-breathing
assault as Leo Gomez and Alonzo Powell hit 2-run homers in the first.
Shortstop Luis Aguayo showed some pop of his own, delivering a 3-run
homer in the second to move within a run. Masahiro Yamamoto fanned 6 of
7 batters from the late 2nd through the 4th, but in the 5th the 89ers
again made the most of their few contacts as Elijah Bonaparte singled,
Mike Anderson doubled him in and John Poff singled home Anderson to take
the lead. A sacrifice fly by Gomez tied it in the bottom of the inning.
In the 7th Anderson and Poff reached but Don McCormack popped up to end
the inning. In the bottom of the 7th Chunichi got 2 on with one out and
Jerry Reed came in to pitch. Daisuke Masuda popped up but Gomez drove in
run number four of the day with a single for a 6-5 Dragons lead.
Korean-born Son Dong-Yol got the last 4 batters for the save and a
Chunichi win.
Game forty-eight: '38 Syracuse Chiefs at '51 Minneapolis Millers - How
many teams had 3 future Hall of Famers and finished 5th in an 8-team AAA
league? Minneapolis might have been a disappointment in real life but
they played well enough here. Hoyt Wilhelm allowed one run in seven
innings of work and drove in two runs, Ray Dandridge was 3 for 4 with a
walk, RBI and steal (at his age!) and Willie Mays was 2 for 5 with a
run, RBI and double. Minneaopolis won 5-2. Could they do as well in
round two without Wilhelm? In their favor, Chunichi's staff was also
one-deep, fading away after Yamamoto.
--
We should be startled by the sun, not by the eclipse; we should wonder
less at the earthquake, and wonder more at the earth. - G.K. Chesterton