The virtual 1969-76 Phillies, Cardinals, and Mets (Part 5: 1972-73)
We’re passing the half-way point in our imaginary tour through the National League East in the era of bell-bottoms. So far it’s been our Cardinals having the most fun.
Phillies: Actual Cardinals: Actual Mets: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 63 99 5 645 745 87 75 4 595 540 100 62 1 632 541
1970 73 88 5 594 730 76 86 4 744 747 83 79 3 695 630
1971 67 95 6 558 688 90 72 2 739 699 83 79 3 588 550
1972 59 97 6 503 625 75 81 4 568 600 83 73 3 528 578
Phillies: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual Mets: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 64 98 5 611 691 98 64 2 659 528 101 61 1 638 550
1970 77 84 5 596 691 80 82 4 742 703 84 78 3 687 619
1971 86 76 4 629 598 102 60 1 787 647 89 73 3 643 561
1972 68 88 5 585 638 105 51 1 675 478 93 63 2 551 523
But our Mets still have Amos Otis, Nolan Ryan, and Ken Singleton. Might this be the year they give St. Louis a serious fight?
The 1972-73 offseason: Actual deals we will make
Oct. 26, 1972: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitchers Rudy Arroyo and Greg Millikan to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Larry Hisle.
Hisle flopped in Philadelphia. But he had a good year in Triple-A for the Dodgers in 1972, he’s still got highly impressive tools, he’s still just 25, and this isn’t much of a price.
Oct. 31, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies traded infielders Don Money and John Vukovich and pitcher Billy Champion to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitchers Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson.
Money, expected to become a star, has failed to develop with the bat, and with some rookie named Mike Schmidt coming along at third base, it’s sensible for the Phillies to play the Money market. This offer of, count ‘em, four pitchers from Milwaukee is more than sufficient.
Nov. 27, 1972: The New York Mets traded pitchers Brent Strom and Bob Rauch to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Phil Hennigan.
Neither Strom nor Rauch is a good bet to make our staff in ’73. Our Mets are better off giving the journeyman Hennigan a chance at a bullpen spot.
Nov. 27, 1972: The New York Mets traded outfielder Tommie Agee to the Houston Astros for outfielder Rich Chiles and pitcher Buddy Harris.
He’s had a fine run in New York, but the injuries are rapidly piling up on Agee.
The 1972-73 offseason: Actual deals we will not make
Nov. 6, 1972: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Jorge Roque to the Montreal Expos for catcher Tim McCarver.
In our scenario, both Roque and McCarver belong to the Phillies at this point.
Nov. 13, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies signed infielder Jose Pagan as a free agent.
We don’t see a need for this veteran.
Nov. 29, 1972: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Larry Hisle and pitcher John Cumberland to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Wayne Granger.
Unlike the real-life Cardinals, our version’s bullpen is well-stocked. No need for us to re-acquire the sidearming Granger.
Nov. 30, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies traded pitchers Ken Reynolds and Ken Sanders and outfielder-first baseman Joe Lis to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder-infielder Cesar Tovar.
Tovar’s been a real good player, but our Phillies aren’t interested in investing in his decline phase.
Nov. 30, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies traded outfielders Oscar Gamble and Roger Freed to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Del Unser and infielder Terry Wedgewood.
And our Phillies have neither Gamble nor Freed.
The 1972-73 offseason: Deals we will invoke
Nov. 2, 1972: The New York Mets traded pitcher Gary Gentry to the Atlanta Braves for second baseman Felix Millan.
Nov. 2, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies traded pitcher Danny Frisella to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher George Stone.
The actual deal was Gentry and Frisella from the Mets to the Braves for Millan and Stone. We’ll break it into two halves.
Nov. 6, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies traded pitcher Steve Renko and outfielder Jorge Roque to the Montreal Expos for pitcher Carl Morton.
Actually in this offseason, the Expos traded Morton to Atlanta straight-up for declining veteran pitcher Pat Jarvis. Though Morton has largely struggled following his Rookie of the Year season in 1970, that’s an awfully meager price. Our Phillies will do better than that.
Nov. 28, 1972: The St. Louis Cardinals traded catcher Mike Ryan to the Houston Astros for infielder Bobby Fenwick.
Actually the Astros acquired catcher Skip Jutze from the Cardinals on this date. Our Cards will let them have the veteran Ryan instead, and we’ll give Jutze the opportunity to replace Ryan as backup catcher.
Nov. 29, 1972: The New York Mets traded outfielder Cleon Jones to the California Angels for catcher Jack Hiatt, pitchers Rickey Clark and Mike Strahler, and cash.
Though he’s just turned 30 years old, Jones’ injury history and inconsistency suggest that he doesn’t have a lot of future. We’ll cash him in for spare parts while we can, and open up left field for some younger alternatives.
Dec., 1972: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Luis Melendez to the New York Mets for second baseman Ken Boswell.
Boswell had a poor year with the bat in 1972, but he’s capable of bouncing back and plugging our Cardinals’ hole at second base. And Melendez is another one of those younger outfield alternatives for our Mets.
Feb. 1, 1973: The New York Mets traded pitcher Charlie Hudson to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later. (On March 31, 1973, the Rangers sent pitcher Mike Thompson to the Mets, completing the deal.)
Actually this essential deal was executed between the Rangers and the Cardinals, but in our scenario the Cards hadn’t previously acquired Hudson from New York. So our Mets will take the prospect Thompson instead.
February, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals sold shortstop Dal Maxvill to the Oakland Athletics.
We think it’s time to let rookie Mike Tyson take over for this veteran.
March 27, 1973: The New York Mets traded infielder Teddy Martinez and outfielder Rich Chiles to the Montreal Expos for outfielder Jim Fairey, infielder Dalton Jones and cash.
Neither Martinez nor Chiles is making our Opening Day roster, but the Expos can use them. We’ll put Fairey and Jones in Triple-A just in case, and pocket the cash.
March 27, 1973: The Philadelphia Phillies traded pitcher Ken Reynolds to the Milwaukee Brewers for third baseman Mike Ferraro and cash.
March, 1973: The Philadelphia Phillies sold pitcher Ken Sanders to the Minnesota Twins.
March, 1973: The Philadelphia Phillies traded pitcher Barry Lersch to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Tom Phoebus and cash.
March, 1973: The Philadelphia Phillies sold outfielder Don Hahn to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
March, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals sold pitcher Joe Hoerner to the Atlanta Braves.
March, 1973: The New York Mets sold pitcher Billy Wilson to the Chicago Cubs.
March, 1973: The New York Mets sold pitcher Rich Folkers to the Baltimore Orioles.
More roster-culling.
The 1973 season: Actual deals we will make
July 16, 1973: The New York Mets selected pitcher John Strohmayer off waivers from the Montreal Expos.
In hope that he can help out a bullpen in need.
Sept. 6, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased outfielder Matty Alou from the New York Yankees.
Sept. 23, 1973: The New York Mets purchased pitcher Bob Miller from the Detroit Tigers.
A couple of veterans to shore up the stretch-run depth.
Sept. 25, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals traded infielder-outfielder Bill Stein to the California Angels for infielder Jerry DaVanon.
This one’s with an eye toward next year: We think DaVanon will likely be a better fit for our bench than Stein.
The 1973 season: Actual deals we will not make
April 5, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased pitcher Alan Foster from the California Angels.
May 8, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Al Santorini to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Tom Murphy.
Our Cards don’t have Santorini, and don’t see a need for Foster or Murphy.
May 14, 1973: The New York Mets purchased catcher Jerry May from the Kansas City Royals.
Nor do our Mets need May.
June 6, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Jim Bibby to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Mike Nagy and catcher-outfielder John Wockenfuss.
Our Cardinals don’t have Bibby. Our Mets do, and they aren’t giving him up for this kind of price.
June 7, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals traded infielder Dwain Anderson to the San Diego Padres for infielder Dave Campbell.
We don’t have Anderson, and don’t want Campbell.
June 15, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased pitcher Orlando Peña from the Baltimore Orioles.
In our scenario, with Bob Reynolds in St. Louis instead of Baltimore, the Orioles aren’t selling Peña, and our Cardinals don’t have a need for him.
July 11, 1973: The New York Mets sold infielder Jim Fregosi to the Texas Rangers.
Oh, heck, our Mets can’t do this. Darn it all.
July 27, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals traded infielder Ed Crosby and catcher Gene Dusan to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Ed Sprague and a player to be named later. (On Sept 30, 1973, the Reds sent first baseman Roe Skidmore to the Cardinals, completing the deal.)
St. Louis GM Bing Devine was sure making a lot of pointless marginal deals this season.
Aug. 14, 1973: The Philadelphia Phillies traded a player to be named later to the California Angels for infielder Billy Grabarkewitz and players to be named later. (On Dec. 6, 1973, the Phillies sent second baseman Denny Doyle to the Angels, and the Angels sent outfielder Chris Coletta and pitcher Aurelio Monteagudo to the Phillies, completing the deal.)
Our Phils don’t see the need for Grabarkewitz.
Aug. 18, 1973: The St. Louis Cardinals traded infielder Dave Campbell and cash to the Houston Astros for outfielder Tommie Agee.
We don’t have Campbell, and aren’t all that interested in Agee.
The 1973 season: Deals we will invoke
April 19, 1973: The New York Mets traded pitcher Mike Strahler to the Detroit Tigers for catcher Charlie Sands.
Actually the Tigers traded Sands to the Angels for Strahler. Sands has defensive issues, but he’s a left-handed batter with power and he draws lots of walks. We can find a spot for that kind of backup catcher.
Aug. 10, 1973: The New York Mets selected pitcher George Culver off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In reality it was the Phillies claiming Culver. Our Mets have the greater need.
Aug. 29 1973: The New York Mets purchased pitcher Eddie Fisher from the Chicago White Sox.
And in reality it was the Cardinals picking up Fisher, but, yes, our Mets still have the greater need in a troublesome bullpen.
Aug. 29, 1973: The New York Mets released pitcher Jack Aker.
To make room for Fisher.
1973 season results
Phillies
Following a disappointing 1972 season, we’ll give two rookies starting-lineup opportunities, with Schmidt taking over for Money at third base, and Bob Boone stepping ahead of Tim McCarver behind the plate. And we’ve imported a lot of new pitching talent; competing for starting roles will be Lonborg, Brett, Stone and Morton.
1973 Philadelphia Phillies Won 93 Lost 69 Finished 1st
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B G. Luzinski 22 153 549 70 157 23 4 26 87 46 121 .286 .346 .485 .831 127
2B-3B T. Sizemore 28 142 521 71 154 22 1 1 52 66 34 .296 .359 .347 .707 96
SS L. Bowa# 27 122 401 39 84 10 3 0 19 22 28 .209 .250 .249 .499 38
3B M. Schmidt 23 132 367 45 72 11 0 18 52 62 136 .196 .323 .373 .696 91
RF B. Carbo* 25 111 308 44 89 17 0 9 40 56 52 .289 .396 .432 .827 128
CF-RF B. Robinson 30 124 452 64 130 32 1 25 65 27 91 .288 .324 .529 .853 131
LF J. Briggs* 29 128 392 64 98 17 6 14 42 70 66 .250 .363 .431 .794 118
C B. Boone 25 130 417 35 111 16 2 8 49 34 30 .266 .315 .372 .686 89
OF-1B W. Montanez* 25 122 368 48 96 11 3 7 39 30 54 .261 .320 .364 .684 88
UT B. Sudakis# 27 82 235 33 63 11 0 15 39 23 53 .268 .327 .506 .833 126
OF M. Anderson 22 87 193 33 49 9 1 9 28 19 53 .254 .321 .451 .772 110
2B D. Doyle* 29 77 185 24 49 5 2 1 13 15 17 .265 .314 .330 .643 78
LF J. Lis 26 86 169 25 40 7 1 6 15 19 44 .237 .319 .396 .716 96
C T. McCarver* 31 87 166 16 44 8 2 2 23 17 17 .265 .326 .373 .700 92
IF T. Harmon 29 72 148 18 31 3 0 0 8 13 14 .209 .273 .230 .502 40
SS C. Robinson 24 46 146 12 33 7 0 0 7 0 25 .226 .223 .274 .497 36
P-PH K. Brett* 24 37 72 5 18 4 0 4 14 4 15 .250 .286 .472 .758 105
CF R. Gaspar# 27 14 25 3 6 1 0 0 1 3 3 .240 .310 .280 .590 64
Others 34 3 7 3 0 0 2 6 9 .206 .325 .294 .619 72
Pitchers 329 28 58 10 1 5 32 11 119 .176 .197 .257 .454 24
Total 5477 680 1389 227 27 150 627 543 981 .254 .318 .387 .705 94
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
R. Wise 27 35 34 14 16 12 0 259 262 114 101 20 59 141 3.51 109
W. Twitchell 25 34 28 10 13 9 0 223 172 71 62 16 99 169 2.50 152
K. Brett* 24 31 25 8 12 8 0 191 184 81 72 17 67 101 3.39 112
C. Morton 29 28 25 6 9 8 0 171 160 67 59 9 49 78 3.11 123
G. Stone* 26 27 20 1 11 5 1 133 144 47 42 13 29 69 2.84 134
R. Sadecki* 32 31 11 1 5 4 1 105 102 42 41 10 38 78 3.51 108
J. Lonborg 31 21 15 2 7 7 0 90 93 51 45 10 36 51 4.50 85
D. Giusti 33 67 0 0 9 5 27 99 94 32 28 10 37 63 2.55 150
B. Johnson 30 50 2 0 4 5 4 92 105 42 40 13 34 67 3.91 97
G. Jackson* 30 45 0 0 6 4 10 64 45 14 13 4 19 39 1.83 208
Others 2 0 1 2 1 23 22 11 9 1 15 18 3.52 108
Total 162 42 93 69 44 1450 1383 572 512 123 482 874 3.18 120
* Throws left
The ballyhooed Schmidt finds major league pitching a perplexing challenge. Shortstop Larry Bowa struggles through a really bad year with the bat, and the veteran Lonborg doesn’t do well.
But that’s about the sum of the things that don’t go well. Bill Robinson finally blossoms at the age of 30, and muscles his way into a regular outfield job. Sophomore first baseman Greg Luzinski delivers power as well. Our offense isn’t great, but it’s deep and well-balanced, featuring a remarkably productive bench.
And our pitching is simply terrific. Familiar reliables Rick Wise, Dave Giusti, and Ray Sadecki all deliver as expected, and then the pleasant surprises begin. Twenty-five year-old right-hander Wayne Twitchell takes a big step forward, finishing third in the league in ERA. The newcomers Brett, Morton and Stone all come through wonderfully, and old friend Grant Jackson chips in with a marvelous performance as the lefty in the bullpen.
It adds up to the league’s best overall staff, and in a thrillingly close race, it carries us to the division title. Claiming the first Phillie championship since 1950, we’re a fresh young team that recalls those Whiz Kids in several ways. The pain of 1964 is finally eased.
Cardinals
Coming off back-to-back 100+-win romps, we’ve seen no need for dramatic adjustments, but neither are we standing pat. Boswell is on board to shore up second base, and Tyson takes over for Maxvill in the shortstop competition. Hisle replaces Melendez as a right-handed bat in the outfield mix. Slick-fielding rookie Ken Reitz will back up Joe Torre at third base, and rookie Harry Parker replaces Hoerner in the bullpen.
1973 St. Louis Cardinals Won 80 Lost 82 Finished 3rd
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B D. Allen 31 72 250 36 76 20 4 15 45 33 51 .304 .382 .596 .978 168
2B K. Boswell* 27 114 373 48 90 12 3 5 29 37 37 .241 .307 .330 .637 77
SS M. Tyson 23 130 375 35 90 13 3 1 27 18 53 .240 .272 .299 .570 58
3B-1B J. Torre 32 141 519 64 149 17 2 13 70 65 78 .287 .376 .403 .779 116
RF-CF J. Cruz* 25 104 318 45 68 19 5 6 38 43 52 .214 .300 .362 .662 83
CF-RF B. Tolan* 27 116 366 34 77 11 2 7 30 22 53 .210 .251 .309 .560 55
LF L. Brock* 34 160 650 107 193 29 8 7 64 71 112 .297 .363 .398 .762 112
C-1B T. Simmons# 23 161 619 59 192 36 2 13 92 61 47 .310 .370 .438 .807 124
OF L. Hisle 26 95 273 37 71 13 3 7 28 31 65 .260 .337 .407 .743 106
1B T. Hutton* 27 95 222 28 58 10 0 4 25 31 28 .261 .348 .360 .708 97
3B K. Reitz 22 98 213 16 48 10 1 3 22 4 14 .225 .242 .324 .566 56
RF-LF L. Lee* 25 55 173 14 43 4 1 2 19 18 37 .249 .321 .318 .639 78
IF E. Crosby* 24 92 164 12 32 5 2 0 12 17 23 .195 .281 .250 .531 49
IF S. Huntz# 27 62 120 10 23 4 0 1 10 13 21 .192 .272 .250 .522 46
2B-3B T. Heintzelman 26 44 111 11 29 3 1 0 9 9 22 .261 .317 .306 .623 74
OF J. Dwyer* 23 41 109 12 29 3 2 0 6 7 15 .266 .316 .330 .647 80
UT B. Stein 26 43 96 8 22 3 0 0 6 8 28 .229 .286 .260 .546 53
CF B. McBride* 24 46 86 11 24 4 0 1 7 5 13 .279 .326 .360 .687 91
C S. Jutze 27 25 42 3 8 1 0 0 3 2 6 .190 .222 .214 .437 22
Others 35 3 5 1 0 0 2 3 7 .143 .205 .171 .377 6
Pitchers 397 28 64 9 0 5 28 15 122 .161 .180 .222 .401 11
Total 5511 621 1391 227 39 90 572 513 884 .252 .314 .357 .671 86
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
S. Carlton* 28 35 35 15 11 18 0 251 251 123 104 23 95 198 3.73 99
R. Cleveland 25 32 32 6 13 11 0 224 211 88 75 13 61 122 3.01 122
J. Reuss* 24 33 32 10 12 11 0 223 221 97 93 13 92 147 3.75 98
B. Gibson 37 25 25 13 11 10 0 195 159 71 60 12 57 142 2.77 133
N. Briles 29 33 21 5 8 9 0 146 139 57 46 11 33 65 2.84 130
F. Norman* 30 36 12 2 4 4 0 108 93 45 41 9 46 80 3.42 108
D. Segui 35 59 0 0 5 5 13 80 61 27 24 5 42 75 2.70 137
T. Hall* 25 49 2 0 6 6 8 78 59 35 32 12 39 73 3.69 100
B. Reynolds 26 42 1 0 4 4 5 74 60 18 16 2 21 58 1.95 190
H. Parker 25 31 2 0 5 3 3 59 45 20 18 3 19 38 2.75 134
B. Forsch 23 9 0 0 1 0 0 14 15 9 8 1 7 8 5.14 72
Others 23 0 0 0 1 1 11 9 3 3 0 4 11 2.45 150
Total 162 51 80 82 30 1463 1323 593 520 104 516 1017 3.20 115
* Throws left
A whole lot of things go wrong. Dick Allen misses half the season with a broken leg. Third-year outfielder Jose Cruz’s severe batting slump continues (we even send him back to the minors for awhile in an attempt to get him straightened out), and he’s joined in offensive misery by a disastrously-performing Bobby Tolan. These blows are enough to turn our offense from one of the league’s best to one of its worst.
Ace starter Steve Carlton suffers a big letdown year following his stupendous 1972. Thirty-seven-year-old Bob Gibson spends some time on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Still, our pitching staff is deep enough to remain among the league’s best, but with meager run support (and the misfortune of underperforming against Pythag by five wins) we slip all the way to 80-82. It’s effectively a repeat of our severely disappointing 1970 performance.
Mets
We’ve undertaken two changes to the starting lineup. At second base, Millan replaces Boswell, and in left field, sophomore John Milner will have the inside track to take over for Cleon Jones. In the bullpen, Hennigan replaces the retired Ted Abernathy.
1973 New York Mets Won 91 Lost 70 Finished 2nd
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B M. Jorgensen* 24 138 413 46 92 15 2 9 44 67 46 .223 .331 .334 .665 87
2B F. Millan 29 153 638 82 185 23 4 3 37 35 22 .290 .323 .353 .676 89
SS B. Harrelson# 29 106 356 33 92 12 3 0 20 48 49 .258 .346 .309 .655 85
3B W. Garrett* 25 140 504 74 129 20 3 16 58 72 74 .256 .343 .403 .746 108
RF K. Singleton# 26 162 560 95 163 25 2 23 98 128 86 .291 .420 .466 .886 148
CF A. Otis 26 148 583 80 166 22 5 25 81 63 47 .285 .353 .468 .822 128
LF-1B J. Milner* 23 129 451 60 108 12 3 23 72 62 84 .239 .329 .432 .762 112
C J. Grote 30 84 285 17 73 10 2 1 32 13 23 .256 .285 .316 .601 68
IF T. Foli 22 84 229 18 52 5 0 1 17 14 20 .227 .267 .262 .529 49
1B W. Mays 42 66 167 19 36 8 0 5 20 23 37 .216 .307 .353 .661 85
OF L. Melendez 23 81 171 17 43 8 1 2 16 12 25 .251 .294 .345 .639 79
C D. Dyer 27 54 153 7 24 5 1 0 7 7 34 .157 .204 .203 .406 14
3B T. Taylor 37 61 138 13 29 5 1 2 11 8 16 .210 .245 .304 .549 53
C C. Sands* 25 55 119 12 28 6 1 4 15 19 28 .235 .340 .403 .744 108
OF L. Stanton 27 60 102 12 23 3 1 3 10 8 30 .225 .277 .363 .640 78
C J. Hiatt 30 41 63 5 13 3 0 1 5 9 22 .206 .301 .302 .603 70
1B-LF G. Theodore 26 23 39 5 9 1 0 0 5 3 5 .231 .273 .256 .529 49
SS B. Ostrosser* 24 13 19 1 3 0 0 0 1 2 4 .158 .273 .158 .431 24
Others 29 3 7 0 0 0 2 2 4 .241 .290 .241 .532 51
Pitchers 392 26 51 5 1 1 17 32 173 .130 .176 .156 .333 -6
Total 5411 625 1326 188 30 119 568 627 829 .245 .319 .357 .676 89
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
N. Ryan 26 37 35 23 20 14 1 293 228 104 99 17 146 347 3.04 120
T. Seaver 28 36 36 18 20 10 0 290 219 74 67 23 64 251 2.08 175
J. Koosman* 30 35 35 12 15 15 0 263 234 93 83 18 76 156 2.84 128
J. Matlack* 23 34 34 14 15 16 0 242 210 93 86 16 99 205 3.20 114
J. Bibby 28 27 13 4 6 4 1 98 67 37 36 6 62 89 3.31 110
T. McGraw* 28 53 1 0 3 4 14 79 68 33 32 7 37 56 3.65 100
W. Fryman* 33 39 1 0 3 2 0 57 57 25 25 5 21 47 3.95 92
J. Aker 32 30 0 0 3 1 2 37 41 18 15 4 13 15 3.65 100
B. Capra 25 25 6 1 2 2 1 55 53 28 26 8 31 44 4.25 86
P. Hennigan 27 17 0 0 0 1 1 22 25 15 15 3 8 11 6.14 59
G. Culver 29 8 0 0 2 0 0 10 13 5 5 0 7 4 4.50 81
E. Fisher 36 6 0 0 2 1 0 7 3 1 1 1 1 1 1.29 283
J. Strohmayer 26 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 5 5 1 2 3 9.00 40
Others 0 0 0 0 0 7 9 8 7 2 6 3 9.00 40
Total 161 72 91 70 20 1465 1234 539 502 111 573 1232 3.08 118
* Throws left
We enjoy several positive developments. Ken Singleton puts it together at the age of 26, seizing the right field job. Milner proves worthy of everyday play, and with the ever-excellent Amos Otis between them, our outfield robustly produces runs.
But the overall attack doesn’t match up. Our first base platoon of Mike Jorgensen and Willie Mays doesn’t hit well, and backup players Tim Foli at shortstop and Duffy Dyer at catcher, pressed into service by injuries, fail to hit at all. Our bottom-line production remains below average.
With Jerry Koosman healthy again after iffy performances in 1971 and ’72, our four-man front of Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Jon Matlack and Koosman is one of the greatest ever. That’s fortunate, because Tug McGraw slumps, Hennigan fizzles, and the bullpen is a year-long headache.
We have genuine and significant strengths. However, the few weaknesses we display prevent us from getting all the way there. We fall just short to the Phillies, in an exciting but ultimately frustrating campaign.
Next time
We understand that both the Red Sox and Pirates are intending to be quite active in the trade market. Perhaps one or more of our ball clubs might engage.
Phillies: Actual Cardinals: Actual Mets: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 63 99 5 645 745 87 75 4 595 540 100 62 1 632 541
1970 73 88 5 594 730 76 86 4 744 747 83 79 3 695 630
1971 67 95 6 558 688 90 72 2 739 699 83 79 3 588 550
1972 59 97 6 503 625 75 81 4 568 600 83 73 3 528 578
1973 71 91 6 642 717 81 81 2 643 603 82 79 1 608 588
Phillies: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual Mets: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 64 98 5 611 691 98 64 2 659 528 101 61 1 638 550
1970 77 84 5 596 691 80 82 4 742 703 84 78 3 687 619
1971 86 76 4 629 598 102 60 1 787 647 89 73 3 643 561
1972 68 88 5 585 638 105 51 1 675 478 93 63 2 551 523
1973 93 69 1 680 572 80 82 3 621 593 91 70 2 625 539
I didn’t see that coming. 82 wins was not nearly enough!
It is also amazing how the Cardinals somehow managed to be slightly worse in this virtual season than they were in real life. That may be a bigger shocker than the Phillies putting it together.
“I didn’t see that coming.”
Me neither. The Phillies have surprised me a couple of times in this thing.
Under this scenario, rookie skipper Danny Ozark surely would easily win the annual Sporting News Major League Manager of the Year honors with his 25-win improvement for the Phillies. (Ironically, it was Gene Mauch, the Phils’ manager in that 1964 collapse, who won the actual award in 1973.)
Somehow it just wouldn’t seem right if Tim McCarver doesn’t end up back with St. Louis so he can be behind the plate when Steve Carlton pitches.
In real-life, the 1973 Mets (82-79) upset the Cincinnati Reds (99-63) in the NLCS and had the Oakland Athletics on the verge of elimination before dropping games 6 and 7 in Oakland.
But, in Steve’s scenario, it’s the Phillies who surprising win the N.L. East. But, unlike the Mets, they won’t be playing Cincinnati.
Without Fred Norman, the Reds don’t go anywhere close to the 18-6 record they compiled in his 24 starts after he’s acquired from San Diego for next to nothing.
Los Angeles, therefore, manages to hold off the Reds’ late surge in September and win the N.L. West.
After a late start, on October 10th when the clock strikes twelve midnight in Philadelphia, the Phillies’ Cinderella season finally comes to and end as the Dodgers’ Tommy John pitches a complete game victory … in the rain.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.