1987 WORD SERIES PREVIEW

The 1987 Mid-West Winter League World Series gets underway today & here is a sneak preview of the two teams: (Chicago A.L. & Manhattan N.L.)

CATCHERS	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	OSBP
Mike Scioscia CHI	.262	.335	.342	129	465	53	122	25	0	4	52	1	62.5
Jody Davis MGH	.271	.349	.473	140	431	60	117	16	1	23	67	2	77.3

These two catchers match up pretty closely although Davis is slightly better offensively. Scioscia does a better job throwing runners out. In big games that ability is very important, but Davis’s power helps give him the edge. Advantage MGH

FIRST BASEMEN	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Kent Hrbek CHI	.266	.377	.493	131	493	87	131	19	0	31	117	0
Wally Joyner MGH	.282	.376	.468	151	532	88	150	34	1	21	83	10

Joyner has the edge in average, but Hrbek leads in power. Joyner has legs (unusual for a first baseman) and his speed ability is more of an asset than the difference 10 home runs makes. Advantage MGH

SECOND BASEMEN	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Bill Doran CHI	.282	.375	.394	160	695	124	196	22	4	16	92	21
Steve Sax MGH	.260	.313	.353	154	655	95	170	28	9	5	50	32

The difference in OBP could be important as Doran leads in nearly every offensive category. At this position his power is a plus. Advantage CHI

SHORTSTOPS	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Ozzie Guillen CHI	.239	.290	.295	143	448	55	107	16	3	1	49	11
Alfredo Griffin MGH	.256	.301	.320	145	472	40	121	20	5	0	60	6

These two shortstops are pretty even defensively and defense does play a part in the World Series, but sometimes even good defenders come to the plate needing a hit to drive someone home from 2^nd base in a big game. As hitters Griffin is the more likely of the two to deliver a big hit. Advantage MGH

THIRD BASEMEN	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Wade Boggs CHI	.348	.446	.571	147	606	132	211	53	5	24	129	2
Brook Jacoby MGH	.306	.409	.613	152	532	99	163	32	4	41	101	0

Not known for his power the 24 dingers helps propel Boggs into a bigger advantage that he might have otherwise. Advantage CHI

OUTFIELDERS	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Eric Davis CHI	.292	.397	.473	129	503	95	147	32	4	17	81	33
Kal Daniels CHI	.296	.389	.510	102	365	73	108	16	1	20	74	12
Von Hayes CHI	.298	.445	.483	152	543	141	162	43	6	15	85	11
Chet Lemon CHI	.272	.364	.441	133	485	62	132	36	2	14	92	0
Robin Yount MGH	.307	.378	.460	161	654	109	201	31	9	17	71	20
Andre Dawson MGH	.262	.310	.534	156	622	109	163	28	0	47	131	13
Kenny Williams MGH	.267	.320	.409	124	337	41	90	20	2	8	41	12
Mike Felder MGH	.256	.312	.317	94	199	30	51	2	5	0	15	24

Andre “Hawk” Dawson’s power is big and Gas Hornets have better base runners, but overall offensively Chicago outfielders are better hitters. Even 4^th OF, Lemon is a little better than 3 of the 4 Manhattan OF’s. Advantage CHI

DESIGNATED HITTERS	AVG	OBP	SLG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Ken Phelps CHI	.281	.417	.566	88	267	51	75	9	2	21	62	1
Leon Durham MGH	.280	.343	.518	89	193	28	54	13	0	11	42	2

In limited regular season action Phelps power was huge, but don’t go to sleep on Leon – he carries a big stick too. If Phelps can get on base at the same rate in the quest for a title he’ll give the Demolition a boost. Advantage CHI

CHI STARTERS	W-L	ERA	GS	CG	SHO	QS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/9	BB/9
Roger Clemens R	28-5	3.04	38	6	4	30	272	205	101	92	23	7	2.9
Dennis Eckersley R	9-5	3.93	13	0	0	3	105.1	113	52	46	13	6.8	2.1
Dave Stewart R	16-7	3.41	37	1	1	21	258.1	212	106	98	23	5.8	3.9
Orel Hershiser R	17-8	3.49	36	1	0	21	232.1	216	100	90	23	5.7	2.8
MGH STARTERS	W-L	ERA	GS	CG	SHO	QS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/9	BB/9
Jim Clancy R	13-7	3.88	33	2	2	20	213.2	196	97	92	28	6.3	2.6
Jimmy Key L	21-5	2.54	36	5	2	27	258.1	159	85	73	29	6	2.3
Doyle Alexander R	14-5	2.55	28	3	3	20	190.2	153	63	54	15	4.3	2.6

Clemens could start games 1, 4, and 7. He may need to for Chicago to have a chance as Key and Alexander are superior to Eckersley, Stewart, and Hershiser. Alexander having a nice bounce back year after being traded from Ft. Worth could be in line to start a game 7. If it comes down to a Clemens vs Alexander game 7 matchup I like Clemens more. Advantage slight edge to MGH

CHI RELIEVERS	W-L-SV	BS	ERA	HLD	G	GF	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/9	BB/9
Willie Hernandez L	3-0-0	0	2.03	7	45	10	44.1	29	10	10	2	4.9	2.4
John Davis R	1-1-4	2	2.08	9	38	13	34.2	19	12	8	3	4.9	4.7
Greg Minton R	4-2-1	1	3.58	6	39	12	50.1	48	22	20	3	5	3.6

MGH RELIEVERS	W-L-SV	BS	ERA	HLD	G	GF	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/9	BB/9
Tim Burke R (NL only)	3-0-9	4	2.02	0	17	11	26.2	15	6	6	2	8.1	2.7
Tim Burke R (full stats)	4-3-9	6	0.98	0	63	51	83	42	13	9	4	6.9	2.7
DeWayne Buice R	4-3-36	6	2.11	15	71	44	93.2	56	27	22	9	8.4	3.1
Dave Righetti L	3-4-6	2	2.77	10	59	25	74.2	44	24	23	6	6.1	4.1
Charles Hudson R	3/4/2006	2	2.39	7	40	10	71.2	59	29	19	8	7.3	3.5

If Clemens starts 3 games for Chicago then Hershiser could be a valuable bullpen piece. Davis will probably close out games although Mohorcic did have 5 saves in 1986. The difference could be the trade the Gas Hornets made for Tim Burke, who in 17 games for Manhattan had better stats than the top relievers listed for the Demolition. Advantage MGH

In summary two closely matched teams square off for the 1987 MWWL World Series. Overall Chicago is a little better team wise on the offensive side and they have the best starting pitcher of the regular season in Clemens, but even if the Rocket starts 3 games I think a very dominant Manhattan relief core could defuse the Demolition bats. Should be an exciting series with the Gas Hornets winning in 7.