1989 WORD SERIES PREVIEW

Once again Jarl Jackson provides the Mid-West Winter League with his World Series Preview.

Santovenia was 2^nd in the AL in OSBP, but Fisk proved to the NL he wasn’t ready for the retirement home quite yet as the old man hit over .300 including 10^th in the league for doubles. His backup Petralli also hit over .300.   Advantage SCS

Mattingly was 7^th in the AL in AVG, 11^th in OBP, 9^th in SLG, 11^th in Hits, and 2^nd in the league in RBI. He also had an errorless streak of 51 games.  Grace was third in AVG and 2^nd in OBP in the NL. He also had the longest hitting streak in the NL for 1989 at 17 games. Pretty even matchup, Mattingly’s power gives him the edge. 

Advantage MEX

Reynolds was 14^th in the AL in steals, but it was still a disappointing year for him as he was caught stealing 20 times. He did have an errorless streak of 40 games. Over in the NL for SCS Sandberg was 7^th in SLG, 9^TH in Hits, 7^TH in Runs, 10^th in Triples, 7^th in HR, 4^th in RBI, and had the 8^th longest On base streak in the league at 23 games.  Advantage SCS

Fernandez was third in all of MWWL in assists by a SS with 516. He was 10^th in the AL in triples and tied with his double play partner for 14^th in SB although he had a better success rate. Thon supplied the offense while Smith provided the defense and steals at an 85.3% success rate for SCS. Smith was 8^th in the NL in SB and Thon still managed 15^th best in HR in under 300 at bats.  Advantage SCS

Gruber is a better player than he showed during the 1989 season. After a frustrating season he could be the surprise player during the Series. Riles was the steady player for SCS. Not doing anything spectacular but not hurting his team either. He delivered a nice batting average and OBP. He also had a 54 errorless game streak.  Advantage SCS

Its power vs speed when it comes to the outfielders. For Mexico on the League leader boards Gwynn was 10^th in AVG, 5^th in Hits, 6^th in Runs, 5^th in SB, had the 5^th longest hitting streak at 14 games, and didn’t commit an error all year in 156 games. Bradley went 74 games in a row without an error. Mitchell was 5^th in OBP, 2^nd in SLG, 2^nd in Runs, 6^th in Doubles, third in HR, 5^th in RBI, 2^nd in On Base streak at 33 games, and also had a 51 errorless game streak. Lots of speed and defense on the Sluggers side. In fact Moseby and Pettis were primarily defensive replacements.  Raines was 10^th in the NL in AVG, 4^th in OBP, 2^ND in Runs, 3^rd in SB, and had the 2^nd longest On Base streak at 29 games. Three of Steel City’s OF’s had long errorless streaks: Pettis (110), Raines (100), and Moseby (74).  Advantage MEX

Two pretty good candidates for the DH and Kittle could be the sleeper player on SCS side. In the AL Johnson was 5^th in SLG, 10^TH in Hits, 1^st in Runs, 5^th in Doubles, 6^th in HR, on top in RBI, 9^th in SB, and 6^th in On Base streak at 25 games. For the NL Esasky was 5^th in AVG, 6^th in OBP, 2^nd in SLG, 4^th in Runs, leading in HR and RBI, and had the third best On Base streak at 28 games. Advantage SCS

Unsure if it will be Dubois or Fernandez as game 1 starter for Mexico, but you couldn’t go wrong with either southpaw. There are even some who say Dubois has the higher ceiling. Fernandez was 2^nd in wins for starting pitcher, 1^st in ERA, 4^th in IP, 3^rd in QS, 2^ndconsecutive shutout innings at 30.1, 3^rd in strikeouts, and #1 in AL in OBA at .168. Bosio was 6^th in QS, 6^th in QS streak, 6^th in shutouts, and 4^thin consecutive shutout innings at 26. Cone was 10^th in CG and 4^th in strikeouts. Over in the NL Belcher was 4^th in wins and 6^th in strikeouts. Hurst was 7^th in wins. Saberhagen was 3^rd in wins, 2^nd in ERA, 2^nd in IP, 5^th in CG, 3^rd in QS, 2^nd in SHO, 5^th in Strikeouts, and had the lowest OBA at .154. Magrane was 7^th in the NL in wins.   Advantage SCS

For MEX Russell was 5^th in Saves, 3^rd in ERA, 5^th in strikeouts, 1^st in OBA at .129. Burke was 7^th in Wins, 5^th in Holds, and held opponents to a .186 batting average – good for 9^th best in the AL. Darwin almost got to 20 wins without starting a game. He easily led AL relievers in Wins. He was also 4^th in IP and held opponents to a .195 average. Davis was 2^nd in Holds, 4^th in GIR, and held opponents to a .188 average. For SCS Plesac and Burns made a pretty good closer combination. Burns was 6^th in Saves, 4^th in ERA and had the 4^th best OBA at .162. Orosco was third in Wins, 4^th in Holds, 8^th in ERA, 8^th in GIR, and 4^th in Strikeouts.  Advantage SCS

Overall team stats and MWWL League rankings:

Steel City makes their 2^nd World Series appearance looking for their first title and Mexico City makes their MWWL World Series debut.

On paper it looks like the Sluggers will win easily in about 5 games, but those pesky under dogs from Mexico City still have a lot of bite left in them. Don’t be surprised if they pull off the upset.

The Chihuahuas may be the underdogs, but the sleeper for the 1989 MWWL Fall Classic is DH Ron Kittle from Steel City. He just might be one of the key hitters for the Sluggers.

World Series Victories: