1979 DIVISION SERIES
Detroit vs. Chicago –
Detroit takes the series in a quick 3 games. Chicago was lackluster, and Detroit’s pitching dominated.
Fort Worth vs. Old Mill –
The two teams split the 1st two games in Fort Worth.
Old Mill splits at home as the Series is headed back to Fort Worth
In the Bottom of the 1st Lou Brock leads off with his 9th hit of the series upping his series average to .450. Lou then steals 2nd base for his 3rd steal of the series. Keith Hernandez who had struggled through the first four games got his 3rd hit of the series to bring home Brock for an early 1-0 Panther advantage. In the next half inning Winfield, who was 9 for 19 coming into game five, led off the top of the 2nd with a walk for the Legends. After a single by Ivie and a ground out by Evans it looked Old Mill had the chance to take the lead with runners on 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out, but Lee wasn’t phased and got out of the inning by allowing just one run on a fielder’s choice. In the home half of the 3rd inning Cash led of with a double and came home on Brock’s single. After going to third on a single by Lansford Brock then came home when Hernandez hit into a fielders choice giving Ft. Worth a 2 run lead after 3. It could have been more except Lansford was thrown out at the plate for the 2nd out of the inning. The Legends responded quickly the next inning when Winfield led off the 4th by getting his 10th hit of the series upping his average to .500. After 1 out Evans successfully sent Winfield to third on a single. Things looked bleak for the Panthers after Lee plucked Hobson to load the bases with only one out. But again the Legends failed to take advantage as they could only manage a sacrifice fly to cut the Panther lead to 1 at three to two. In the bottom of the 4th Parrish put the Panthers back on top by 2 with his 1st homer of the series. Then in the bottom of the 7th Hernandez increase the lead to 3 for Ft. Worth with his 1st homer of the series. A solo home run by Winfield in the 8th and Hobson in the 9th made things interesting but Ft. Worth held on to win taking the series three games to two. FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 5, LEGENDS 4
Old Mills bullpen did its best to try winning the series by only allowing 1 run in 12 innings, but Panther starter Bill Lee was almost as good with an ERA of 1.88 in winning two games. Winfield was the best hitter of the series by hitting .500 with 2 homers and 5 RBI, but Ivie was the only other Legend hitter over .300. The Panthers had 3 regulars who hit over .400 and two others who hit 2 homers.
Long Beach vs. Valdosta –
This series was between the NL East winners the Valdosta Bombers (102-60) and the NL Wild Card team the Long Beach Titans (100-62). During the regular season, Valdosta won 6 of the 10 games they played.
Game 1: Fulgham (13-6) vs. Niekro (20-12)
Long Beach opened the scoring in the top of the first when Paciorek scored on an infield 1B by Baker. Valdosta came right back and took the lead in the bottom of the first on a Lopes 3B, an infield groundout by Morrison and an RBI 1B by Nordhagen. Long Beach escaped further damage when Jackson hit into a DP. Lopes hit a HR in the 2nd to increase the lead to 3-1. Niekro couldn’t hold the lead. He gave up a grand slam to Foote in the 3rd to give Long Beach a 5-3 lead and was pulled from the game. Fulgham also couldn’t hold the lead. He gave up HRs to Lopes and Morrison in the 5th which tied the game at 5-5. Long Beach answered back quickly on a Baker RBI 1B for a 6-5 lead. It stayed that way until the top of the 9th when Kemp homered to make the final score 7-5. The Long Beach bullpen pitched 4 scoreless innings to preserve the win. Foote was the hitting star for the winners with 4 RBI. Lopes had a 3B and 2 HRs in a losing effort.
W: Fulgham (1-0)
L: Stoddard (0-1)
S: Sambito (1)
Game 2: Schatzeder (15-5) vs. Wise (4-4)
Valdosta took a 3-0 lead in the 4th on a Downing RBI 1B and back to back HRs by Clark and Morrison. Long Beach got 2 back in the 5th but Valdosta increased the lead to 4-2 on another Downing run scoring 1B. They still had a 4-3 lead in the 8th when Lezcano doubled home 2 runs for a 5-4 lead. Long Beach added 3 in the 9th highlighted by a Burleson 2 run 3B to make the final score 8-4. Burleson had 3 RBI and Lezcano and Baker added 3 hits to key the win. Downing had 2 RBI for Valdosta. The Titan bullpen was strong again pitching 5 2/3 innings of 1 run ball.
W: Monge (1-0)
L: Stoddard (0-2)
S: Sambito (2)
Game 3: Parrott (4-2) vs. Frost (15-8)
For the first time in the series Long Beach jumped to an early lead. Madlock walked leading off the game, stole 2B and scored on a Kemp 1B. Valdosta tied the game in the 3rd on Morrison’s 3rd HR of the series. In the bottom of the inning Long Beach retook the lead on a 2 run 1B by Baker. The Bombers came right back and tied the game in the top of the 4th on a 2 run HR by Clark. It stayed 3-3 until the top of the 7th when Kingman doubled in Milbourne to give Valdosta a 4-3 lead. Long Beach responded right away with 2 of their own in the bottom of the inning. Martinez and Marshall walked the bases loaded with 1 out and Foote followed with a 2B scoring Lezcano and Kemp to make the score 5-4. That was the end of the scoring and Long Beach won 5-4 to win the series 3-0. The hitting stars for Long Beach were Foote and Baker with 2 RBI and Kemp with 3 hits.
W: Lopez (1-0)
L: Martinez (0-1)
S: Sambito (3)
Though this series ended up being a sweep it was very close. Each game was a close in the 8th. The difference was the bullpens. They both pitched 15 innings but the Valdosta pen gave up 15 hits and had an ERA of 4.80. The Long Beach pen gave up 9 hits and had a 0.59 ERA.
Gold River vs. Germantown –
Game #1 Germantown shuts-out Gold River by the score of 2-0.
Game #2 Germantown gets shut-out by Gold River by the score of 2-0
Game #3 Gold River wins in a 2-1 Nail biter.
Game #4 Germantown comes back and wins on another shut-out 5-0.
Game #5 In the bottom of the 8th Miners manager Jasper Nelson makes a bonehead move and in the top of the 9th Grays manager makes the right move….
Long Beach vs. Valdosta –
This series was between the NL East winners the Valdosta Bombers (102-60) and the NL Wild Card team the Long Beach Titans (100-62). During the regular season, Valdosta won 6 of the 10 games they played.
Game 1: Fulgham (13-6) vs. Niekro (20-12)
Long Beach opened the scoring in the top of the first when Paciorek scored on an infield 1B by Baker. Valdosta came right back and took the lead in the bottom of the first on a Lopes 3B, an infield groundout by Morrison and an RBI 1B by Nordhagen. Long Beach escaped further damage when Jackson hit into a DP. Lopes hit a HR in the 2nd to increase the lead to 3-1. Niekro couldn’t hold the lead. He gave up a grand slam to Foote in the 3rd to give Long Beach a 5-3 lead and was pulled from the game. Fulgham also couldn’t hold the lead. He gave up HRs to Lopes and Morrison in the 5th which tied the game at 5-5. Long Beach answered back quickly on a Baker RBI 1B for a 6-5 lead. It stayed that way until the top of the 9th when Kemp homered to make the final score 7-5. The Long Beach bullpen pitched 4 scoreless innings to preserve the win. Foote was the hitting star for the winners with 4 RBI. Lopes had a 3B and 2 HRs in a losing effort.
W: Fulgham (1-0)
L: Stoddard (0-1)
S: Sambito (1)
Game 2: Schatzeder (15-5) vs. Wise (4-4)
Valdosta took a 3-0 lead in the 4th on a Downing RBI 1B and back to back HRs by Clark and Morrison. Long Beach got 2 back in the 5th but Valdosta increased the lead to 4-2 on another Downing run scoring 1B. They still had a 4-3 lead in the 8th when Lezcano doubled home 2 runs for a 5-4 lead. Long Beach added 3 in the 9th highlighted by a Burleson 2 run 3B to make the final score 8-4. Burleson had 3 RBI and Lezcano and Baker added 3 hits to key the win. Downing had 2 RBI for Valdosta. The Titan bullpen was strong again pitching 5 2/3 innings of 1 run ball.
W: Monge (1-0)
L: Stoddard (0-2)
S: Sambito (2)
Game 3: Parrott (4-2) vs. Frost (15-8)
For the first time in the series Long Beach jumped to an early lead. Madlock walked leading off the game, stole 2B and scored on a Kemp 1B. Valdosta tied the game in the 3rd on Morrison’s 3rd HR of the series. In the bottom of the inning Long Beach retook the lead on a 2 run 1B by Baker. The Bombers came right back and tied the game in the top of the 4th on a 2 run HR by Clark. It stayed 3-3 until the top of the 7th when Kingman doubled in Milbourne to give Valdosta a 4-3 lead. Long Beach responded right away with 2 of their own in the bottom of the inning. Martinez and Marshall walked the bases loaded with 1 out and Foote followed with a 2B scoring Lezcano and Kemp to make the score 5-4. That was the end of the scoring and Long Beach won 5-4 to win the series 3-0. The hitting stars for Long Beach were Foote and Baker with 2 RBI and Kemp with 3 hits.
W: Lopez (1-0)
L: Martinez (0-1)
S: Sambito (3)
Though this series ended up being a sweep it was very close. Each game was a close in the 8th. The difference was the bullpens. They both pitched 15 innings but the Valdosta pen gave up 15 hits and had an ERA of 4.80. The Long Beach pen gave up 9 hits and had a 0.59 ERA.