2006 World Series, Game 1

Oakmere Street in sunny San Antonio was the site today for Game 1 of the 2006 Strat-O-Matic World Series, pitting the St. Louis Cardinals (managed by me) versus the Detroit Tigers (managed by Ted). We used the same lineups and starting pitchers (Anthony Reyes for the Cards, Justin Verlander for the Tigers) as in the real game, which was won by the Cardinals 11-9.

In reality both starters were chased early, but in our replay they combined for only two hits allowed in the first four innings. Unfortunately for the Cards, one of those hits was a solo homerun by Brandon Inge in the third. Designated hitter Chris Duncan led off the fourth inning with a grounder to the mound that was booted by Verlander for an error. Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds then both flied out to center, Edmonds injuring himself in the process (out 3 games). Finally Scott Rolen doubled to right, but when I waived Duncan (not a speedster) around to home, he was gunned down by Magglio Ordonez for the third out.

In the fifth Ted played some masterful small ball. Carlos Guillen drew a leadoff walk and was bunted to second by Pudge Rodriguez. An error by 2b Ron Belliard then put men on first and third, and a sacrifice fly from Inge brought home the run. At the end of six innings it remained 2-0 Tigers.

The wheels fell off for the Tigers in the seventh. Preston Wilson (replacing the injured Edmonds) and Scott Rolen ripped off back-to-back doubles to make it 2-1. After a groundout, Belliard walked, and that was it for Verlander, replaced by Fernando Rodney. After another grounder, weak-hitting So Taguchi was next up with two outs. I put in Scott Spiezio as a pinch-hitter (worse fielder but vastly better hitter), and he promptly jacked a 3-run homer to make it 4-2 Cards. Managerial brilliance, of course. The next batter, David Eckstein, was hit by a pitch. Since you couldn't possibly hit a target that small unless you meant to, the benches cleared.

Reyes left with a fantastic stat line (6 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 R, 1 ER), and reliever Braden Looper held off the Tigers until the bottom of the ninth. Ordonez and Carlos Guillen led off with a single and double (the only hits from the top six batters in the Tigers order all day), and both were brought home with a sac fly and single from pinch-hitters Vance Wilson and Omar Infante. Looper was then pulled for lefty Tyler Johnson, who got into a bases loaded jam after an error by Pujols (his second of the night) and a walk, but he got Craig Monroe to ground out for the 4-4 tie at the end of nine.

Extra innings were unspectacular, however. Scott Rolen led off the 11th with a solo HR, and Adam Wainwright shut down the Tigers in the bottom half to secure the 5-4 win. Spiezio and Rolen were clearly the heroes of the game, while the goats were the top two-thirds of the Tigers order, who went 2-25 with no RBIs and 8 strikeouts; Ted's substitions did better (2H, 2RBI) in just five plate appearances.

Totals:

Cardinals 5R, 7H, 3E
Tigers 4R, 6H, 1E
Winning Pitcher: Johnson (1.1 IP, 0H, 1BB, 1K, 0R, 0ER)
Losing Pitcher: Rodney (4.2 IP, 3H, 1BB, 3K, 2R, 2ER)
Save: Wainwright
HR: Inge, Spiezio, Rolen
GWRBI: Rolen
Errors: Pujols (2), Belliard, Verlander

Since it was our first learning game, and extra innings to boot, the game took just under 90 minutes; experienced players should expect 30-60. Except for a couple of decision points (Ted's smallball inning, my Spiezio pinch-hit), the game flew by until the tense 9th, when things got tricksy and a lot of fun. Familiarity with the relievers and subs on a team would also help move things along.

So, who wants to do a mini-league?