Philadelphia Teams Phail at Momentum

Crazy 48's Season Update

Two of the Three Crazy 48's Philadelphia franchises played this past week in key series, granted that the last few series for most playoff contenders will be key series. The 1931 Philadelphia Athletics are unfortunately not in playoff contention (at the moment) entering Game #29, but they are playing their 1st place division foes in the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords -- but any time a team needs to make serious ground, beating up on the 1st place team to better their chances, is definitely a place to start.

Meanwhile, the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies find themselves also facing an elite team in the 2001 Seattle Mariners. Some APBA elitists may scoff at myself labeling the 2001 M's an elite team, but they definitely are, this team fields an APBA grade 45 / fielding 1 easily! Plus an all Grade B rotation to go with a stellar bullpen (one of the absolute best bullpens ever in all of APBA) & a dangerous lineup.

The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies plan to make a run at the post-season.

We'll start with the...

2001 Mariners / 1993 Phillies series...

Both teams have excellent lineups & bullpens, so the starting pitchers will be on shorter leashes than usual. Both teams would be locked up in a 3-3 tie after 3 innings in Game 1, Mariners would break away with some big small hits by Mike Cameron & David Bell in the 5th, as Mariners walk away with the victory in Game 1 (of the 4-game series), winning 6-3. Both starting pitchers (Seattle's Freddy Garcia & Phil's Terry Mulholland) didn't make it to the 6th inning.

Bret Boone hit his 9th HR of the season in the first game, and would continue to be a monster in this series.

Game 2 featured the Mariners' Aaron Sele facing off against the Phillies' Tommy Greene. The Mariners' bats were quiet this game, collecting a grand total of 4 hits! Boone would not be a factor in only this game, only because he got injured sliding into second base during the top of the 1st & would not return for the remainder of the game; Mark McLemore would slide over from short to second, as Carlos Guillen filled in at shortstop. Kevin Stocker's two-run single (his 3rd hit of the game), plus Lenny Dykstra's two-run double during the bottom of the 6th off of reliever Ryan Franklin will prove to be the dagger in this one, as the Phillies win 5-2.

After hosting the first two games of the series, the Phillies now travel to Seattle, now playing under A.L. (post-DH rules).

Lenny Dykstra would continue his hot hitting with a two-run homer in the top of the 3rd, putting the Phillies up 3-1. The Phillies pile on a couple more runs in the 4th, with Wes Chamberlain (playing DH in Seattle) would smack a two-run triple to score in both Dave Hollins & Darren Daulton.

The Phillies at this point, seemed to be in complete control, even after a solo HR by John Olerud in the 4th, had Seattle trailing 5-2. Bret Boone would make it a ballgame though, hitting a two-run HR (in the 5th) off of starter Curt Schilling to make it only a 5-4 Philly lead.

Man on a Mission: Bret Boone has put together a solid season (.351 BA, 10 HR & 27 RBI in 32 games).

Bottom of the 6th, with a man on second, Al Martin would hit a two-out single to score in Mike Cameron -- tying the game up at 5-5.

This game would go to extras, with the Mariners' bullpen dominating from the late top-of-the-5th onward -- by only allowing one hit (a Darren Daulton single), while logging 9 strikeouts! The Mariners' lineup, meanwhile, would get their hits, but keep falling short in driving that go-ahead run.

Eventually, with Mike Cameron on first, David Bell would deliver a walk-off double off of Roger Mason in the bottom of the 12th, to win the ballgame, 6-5; Bret Boone went 5-for-6, with a HR, double, 3 singles, 2 RBI & 2 runs in this one.

The Phillies would win Game 5, although they once again flirted with late game disaster, by edging the Mariners, 5-3. Lenny Dykstra hit another homer (his 5th), while collecting a late single & stolen base as well. Pete Incaviglia, who has lost playing time of late, due to his struggles at the plate, went 2-for-4 with a HR & 3 RBI. Danny Jackson (Grade C) pitched 6 good innings, allowing only 4 hits & one earned run (he did allow 4 walks though, while collecting no K's). Mitch Williams collects his 7th Save of the season.

The Phillies would walk away with a 2-2 series split, remaining 4 games out of 1st, but Phillies fans have to wonder, how much that Game 3 choke (which could have resulted in a 3-1 series win) will come back to haunt them. The Phillies are currently just outside of that 8-team playoff bubble at 17-15, with a 19+ scoring differential, tied with the 1981 Montreal Expos; The 2001 Seattle Mariners & 1998 Atlanta Braves are tied in 1st in the (Bobby Cox) Division race at 21-11.

Next up for these two teams: The Mariners get a push-over series against the 1999 Texas Rangers (who have no pitching), while the Phillies will have to face off against the team they are tied with, in the 81' Expos. I do think the Phillies have the edge in this series, but I believe Montreal will get a win here.


1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords / 1931 Philadelphia Athletics

It's been quite some time since I continued this series, played Game 1 quite a ways back, although I have the stats logged, but I currently can't find the game sheet at the moment, but Crawfords did win. It probably ended with Satchel Paige dominating as usual, he started 8 games this season & completed ALL 8 games, while logging two shutouts (one no-hitter against the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals)...

Here is Satchel's stats, this season....

• 12 games, 8 GS, 8 CG, 2 SHO (including no-hitter).
• Perfect 8-0 record.
• 1.42 ERA (12 ER / 13 R)
• Only 36 hits & 6 walks allowed (.553 WHIP)
• 67 strikeouts
• 76 Innings Pitched
• 4 Saves (4-for-4 Save Opportunities)

Paige defeated Lefty Grove in Game 1, Grove struggled majority of season, but finally logged a win last series, and hung in there with Paige in Game 1 of this series, but Crawfords pull out the victory. Grove is now, 1-5, with a 3.47 ERA, after two strong starts of late.

Game 2 would be all about coming up clutch for the Crawfords -- in which they failed in this one. Four times in this game, they would have a runner in scoring position, with one out or less & they would come up empty each time. Crawfords only collected 7 hits in this one, one more than the Athletics though. The Athletics capitalized off their opportunities though, Mule Haas' RBI double & Jimmie Foxx would give the A's a 2-0 lead in the top of the 6th; Jimmy Dykes' RBI double in the 7th (after a lead-off Bing Miller triple) would give the A's a 3-0.

George Earnshaw's shutout bid would be spoiled by a 9th Inning homerun by the one-and-only Josh Gibson, his 6th HR (22 games played); Earnshaw collects 7 K's against the Crawfords. 

The Crawfords' Leroy Matlock who logged the loss in this one, actually was pitching a no-hitter through 5.1 innings, but would allow 6 hits for the remaining 3.2 innings though.

With the series tied 1-1 & new-found momentum, the Athletics take the series back home to Philadelphia, while the Crawfords will be sporting two APBA Grade D starting pitchers for Game 3 & Game 4 -- while Philly will be sporting a Grade B & C for the next two games.

Game 3 starts early with the Philadelphia A's up 3-0 after 3 innings. Max Bishop, who has played nothing like his card, enjoys his move to the 5th slot in the lineup, collecting two doubles in this game, while drawing a walk -- his two-out double made it 3-0 in the 3rd; Jimmy Dykes hit a two-run single in bottom of the 2nd to get things rolling.

Popeye Harris for the Crawfords, hits his 3rd HR of the season to give Pittsburgh some light. After the Athletics failed to get some runners in, during the bottom of the 5th, the Crawfords take advantage of the Athletics' failed opportunities, with a two-run 6th Inning double by Josh Gibson, to tie the ballgame at 3-3. Oscar Charleston continues the Crawfords' attack with an RBI single to give them the lead. 

X marks the spot, as Jimmie Foxx ties the game (4-4) late in the bottom of the 8th, with a lead-off homer off of reliever David Harvey. 

Top of the 10th, reliever David Harvey reaches first on an error by the Athletics' Dib Williams; Jimmy Crutchfield reaches on a walk, both on no outs. Popeye Harris would score in Harvey on a RBI single, Crutchfield advances to 3rd base. Josh Gibson's sac fly, scores in Crutchfield. These two runs would be enough, as Satchel Paige comes in for his 4th Save of the season.

For the Crazy 48's Season, starting pitchers can only come in for saves after a game's rest, so for starting pitchers in the first slot (aces), they can only come in (for one inning only) on the 3rd game of the series; Game 2 starters can come in for Game 4 bullpen sessions. 

It kind of helps these teams with small pitching staffs, especially a Negro League team like the Crawfords that ONLY have 6 total pitchers. Plus it gives these old teams, the old-school feel, starting aces like Lefty Grove of the Athletics are no strangers to Saves, Lefty logged 54 career saves, while actually leading the American League with 9 Saves in 1930.

Game 4 would be all about hitting for both teams, as they combined for 21 hits. Both starting pitchers were out of the game by the 6th Inning.

Statue of Cool Papa Bell outside of the Cardinals' ballpark.

The Crawfords would have a 6-2 lead after 5 innings, thanks to a two-run double by Cool Papa Bell; Bell also scored in previous innings twice, thanks to a bases on balls & triple -- finishing the game 2-for-3. Andrew Patterson also had two RBI on two hits, including a 2nd Inning triple. 

The Athletics would make a run at it, with three runs in the bottom of the 6th; Mule Haas had an RBI single, while Al Simmons followed with a two-run double. The Crawfords would end up holding on with a 7-5 victory, with Leroy Matlock coming in for his team-leading 5th Save.

The Crawfords would take the series, 3-1. Three of the games were close, with Philadelphia having a real shot at two of those other opportunities, so the script could have been flip-flopped and the last place Athletics could have gained some ground & with 4 more series against division rivals could have made a good jump start to a late playoff run, but it all may be too late.