1994 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW

The Quakes won a hard fought back in forth battle against Flossmoor in the ALCS to make it to the big dance led by their ace pitcher, Alex Fernandez, who went 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings. The Gray’s were able to beat the NL’s winningest team in 6 games.

Offensively the two teams catching duos are almost like two twins separated at birth. Of the four Leyritz is probably the best hitter besting all the catchers in slugging and surprisingly had the lowest OSBP throwing out 18 of 40 base runners.  However, he did have 9 passed balls compared to the other 3 combining for just 1. MacFarlane had a 79-game errorless streak for Germantown. Advantage EVEN

Two MVP candidates here. The comparison between the two is too close to call. On the AL league leader boards Molitor was 7^th in AVG, 6^th in OBP, tied for 3^rd in Hits, tied for 10^th
in Triples, 3^rd in SB, first in R, and had the 6^th best On Base streak at 32 games. Thomas was first in AVG, first in OBP, 2^nd in SLG, 6^th in Hits, 4^th in R, 3^rd in Doubles, tied for 4^th in HR, and had the 3^rd best On Base streak in the NL at 34 games. Both were also excellent defenders at first base. Molitor had an error less streak of 65 games and Thomas had an error less streak of 50 games. Advantage EVEN

Whitaker was the better hitter while Alomar was the better defender and base runner. Whitaker was 13^th in OBP and had a hitting streak of 16 games, which was good for a tie for 5^th best in the AL. Alomar tied for 8^th in Triples and had the 7^th best On Base streak in the NL at 23 games. Alomar also had a 67-game error less streak. Advantage CAL

It’s not a complete domination, but it’s pretty close.  Valentin was 5^th in AVG, 9^th in OBP, 8^th in SLG, and 4^th in Doubles. Gagne – an excellent fielder – lead the MWWL in fielding at SS and he had 63 game error less streak. Advantage CAL

Boggs was 12^th in AVG, OBP, and Hits. Caminiti was 10^th in OBP, 7^th in SLG, 4^th in Doubles, third in RBI, and tied for the 5^th longest hitting streak in the NL at 16 games. Boggs was better in AVG and OBP while Caminiti had the better power numbers. Advantage EVEN

O’Neill might be a stronger MVP candidate than his team Molitor. Among AL leaders O’Neill was 6^th in AVG, 2^nd in OBP, 6^th in SLG, 4^th in R, 7^th in RBI, and had the longest hitting streak in the AL at 24 games. Salmon was third in RBI. Mitchell was 9^th in HR. Deion Sanders had an error less game streak of 73 games. In the NL Reggie Sanders was 7^th in Triples. Mack had an error less streak of 48 games. O’Neill and Mitchell alone give the edge to the Quakes.  Advantage CAL

In a 7-game series Pegues could do some damage, but Olerud was one of the best DH’s in the AL during the 1994 season. Olerud was 11^th in AVG, OBP, and SLG. He was also 12^th in Doubles and tied for 10^th in Triples. Advantage CAL

Among league leaders Fassero was 5^th in Wins and tied for 4^th in SHO. Foster had the 4^th longest QS Streak at 7 games. Munoz was 4^th in Wins, 4^th in ERA, and 7^th in Starters-Opponent Batting Average at .224. Fernandez led the AL in Wins, was 5^th in ERA, 5^th in IP, 5^th in QS, and 5^th in S-OBA at .212. On the NL leader board Bullinger was 7^th in Wins, tied for first in SHO, and was 2^nd best in consecutive SHO-IP at 30.2. Appier was 4^th in ERA, tied for 6^th in QS, and 5^th in S-SO/9. Finely – a potential 4^th starter for the Grays was 6^th best in the NL for S-OBA at .219. If it goes 5 games California is setup nicely for games 3,4,5 while Germantown would have the advantage in game 6. Advantage CAL

Among AL relievers Howe was tied for first in Holds, first in ERA, 8^th in R-SO/9, and 2^nd best in R-OBA at .174. Hoffman led the AL in Saves, was 2^nd in ERA, 1^st in R-SO/9, and was first overall in R-OBA at .146. Brewer was 3^rd in ERA and 3^rd in R-OBA at .179. Leiper and Hernandez tied for 6^th in Wins. On the NL side Campbell was 12^th in saves. Meacham was 4^th in ERA and 6^th in R-OBA at .191. Castillo was tied for first in Wins, tied for 9^th in Holds, 6^th in ERA and 6^th in Games in Relief. The Quakes top 3 relievers help win this competition while Leiper and Hernandez are just icing on the cake. Advantage CAL

California led the AL in 10 team categories while Germantown led the NL in three. Offensively the Quakes have a big statistical advantage leading in every category except in triples. Starting pitching is similar with California getting more wins from their starters. The Quakes bullpen performed much better with big advantages in ERA and R-OBA.

Defensively these two teams were the best with Germantown turning more double-plays.

California set a MWWL regular season record for winning percentage at .836 and only lost 5 games at home during

the regular season. Somehow Flossmoor won two ALCS games in California. That isn’t going to happen again.

This should be a short series – 4 to 5 games due to California’s hitters and dominant bullpen.