1999 A.L. DIVISION SERIES #1
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| PREVIEW – Two teams from the wild wild AL West in round 2 of the 1999 playoffs. The Panthers led the league in hitting at .311 and Castle Rock was third at .283. Ft. Worth led in OBP while the Hounds were tied for 2nd. Castle Rock led in slugging at .499 while the Panthers were 2nd at .490. These two teams were the highest scoring teams in the AL. Ft. Worth at 6.7 R/G and Castle Rock at 6.4. The Panthers had 4 players in the top 6 in batting average. Ivan Rodriguez .353, Fred McGriff .348, Edgar Martinez.337, and Doug Glanville .337. They also had two players with more than 350 AB’S who hit at least .330. This series could see some offensive fireworks! |
| GAME #1 – Scott Elarton 4-4 (4.06) vs. Kevin Brown 28-5 (2.38)
Gary Sheffield went 4 for 4 with 3 homers and 7 RBI leading to Panthers to victory. The Hounds hitters, led by Fernando Tatis who doubled and homered for 3 RBI’s, made a gallant effort in a comeback attempt, but could not overcome a 7-0 deficit after 3 innings. Final Score: FWP 9 – CRH 6 Win: Kevin Brown 1-0 (4.70) |
| GAME #2 – Darren Dreifort 10-14 (5.45) vs. Jose Lima 16-4 (3.08)
The fireworks started with one out in the bottom of the 1st, but Hounds got a little help from their defense, “Homer Bush is off with the pitch … Darren Dreifort brings it … Edgar Martinez bruises one heading for the gap in left center … but Luis Gonzalez flags it down … Bush running hard he screams around third … they’re waving him home … Royce Clayton‘s relay … and they get him! nailed at the plate! … and the aggressive baserunning does not pay off Edgar Martinez takes second on the throw” After a walk to Fred McGriff, Ivan Rodiguez doubled home Martinez. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and a hot hitter in the plate Dreifort got Gary Sheffield to fly out to center. After getting their first hit of the game the Hounds would losed their best player for the rest of the series when Fernando Tatis got hit in the hand in the third. In the bottom of the third McGriff doubled home one run and then scored on a single by Pudge. For the rest of the game Jose Lima allowed 3 doubles and a triple but they never occurred in the same inning so he was able to stay out of danger. Lima allowed 5 hits in a complete game shutout. Final Score: FWP 4 – CRH 0 Win: Jose Lima 1-0(0.00) |
| GAME #3 – Todd Ritchie 16-6 (4.79) vs. Kenny Rogers 14-10 (4.72)
It’s tight through 4 innings, with Fort Worth holding a 1-0 lead thanks to a John Mabry HR. But, the Panthers explode for 6 runs in the 5th/6th/7th and the Hounds can’t respond. Gary Sheffield hits another HR (his 4th of the series), and the Panthers get 15 hits. Todd Ritchie goes 7 IP, giving up just one earned run. Mike Maddux doesn’t fare very well, giving up 3 runs in relief, but they were meaningless ones. Hounds are missing the injured Fernando Tatis at the top of the lineup for sure. Final Score: FWP 8 – CRH 4 Win: Todd Ritchie 1-0 (1.29) |
| GAME #4 – Hideo Nomo 19-5 (4.20) vs. Dustin Hermanson 15-9 (4.90)
Castle Rock commits FIVE ERRORS in the first four innings, and the Panthers race out to an 8-1 lead in this one (amazing only 3 of the runs were unearned though). No homers from Gary Sheffield, but he does go 2-4. The Panthers team gets 19 hits, including four from Edgar Martinez and three from Ivan Rodriguez, Doug Glanville and Rich Aurilia. Hideo Nomo does well enough to get the win, going 7 IP and allowing just 2 runs. It is 11-2 going into the bottom of the 9th. The Hounds decide that it is a good time to wake up, and they score five runs to cut it to 11-7. And they get the bases loaded, bringing the tying run to the plate in pinch-hitter Bernard Gilkey. But, Gilkey can’t get it done, and the Panthers take the sweep. Final Score: FWP 11 – CRH 7 Win: Hideo Nomo 1-0(2.57) |
| SUMMARY – Summary-For a team that hit the cover off the ball in the regular season, the Hounds can’t get it going offensively, getting 0 homers in the final three games of the series. Losing Tatis really hurt them. The Panthers averaged 8 runs a game and had a slash line of .349 / .416 / .591 |