With their backs against the wall the Braves put their whole season on lefty Juan Pizarro's shoulders. Down 3 games to none the Braves needed some sort of spark, so manager Fortel decided to shake up his lineup a bit. Lee Maye moved into the #2 slot and played left and Johnny Logan dropped to the 8th slot. Boston counted on the steady John Burkett to close it out for the sweep. Milwaukee struck first in the home half of the 2nd, when Joe Adcock led off with a triple to deep center. Two batters later Johnny Logan grounded out and got the RBI to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Neither team scored until the Red Sox notched 2 in the top of the 5th to take a 2-1 lead. Sanchez tripled to lead off the fame. Two batters later Manny received an intentional pass and two batters later Shea Hillenbrand doubled them both home. In the home half of the inning the Braves tied the score on a two out solo shot by the red hot Aaron. Burkett probably should have pitched around him, but with the score tied and the bases empty he decided to take his chances with Hammerin' Hank, who blasted one deep into the Wisconsin's autumn. The Sawx scored one in the 7th and the Braves tied it back up at 3 in the bottom of the 8th. Heading to the 9th the score was knotted at 3. Both starters were done for the day and neither would be involved in the decision. Tim Wakefield came on in the 6th for Boston and Bob Rush entered in the 8th for the Braves. The 9th looked to be a fast 3 up and 3 down inning for rush. Wakefield struck out to lead off the inning. One has to be surprised he wasn't pinch hit for, but that's another story in itself...Damon then grounded back to the originator for the second out and all looked good for the Braves. Rey Sanchez got a cheap flare for a single and up stepped Nomar to the plate. After homering in his last AB, Garciaparra looked very comfortable at the plate. Rush had no choice to pitch to him as the even hotter Ramirez was glaring at him from the on deck circle. Rush hung a curve ball and Nomar hit it 398 feet into the parking lot to give the Braves a 2 run lead and a chance to close out the series in 4. Urbina came on to close it out by striking out the side after walking Del Crandall. The Sawx swept the Braves in a highly contested series, where each game was extremely close and could have probably gone either way. The crowd at Starbucks, where it was played, were treated to some great baseball action. Congratulations to the 2002 Boston Red Sox for winning the KOD 2 World Series and being crowned the best team ever for teams that finished out of the money the year after or before finishing in 1st.
Boston's manager nearly outsmarted himself by starting Casey Fossum vs the Braves who have fared poorly vs lefties all season. Fossum had nothing and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in a little over 6 innings of work. Luckily for the Red Sox Brave starter Lew Burdette was worse. The hero of the 1957 World Series, where he won 3 vs the Yankees, gave up 7 runs in 6 innings and was tagged with the loss. Fossum notched the win even though his performance dictated he deserved little more than a footnote. Milwaukee scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd to give the Braves a 5-2 lead. Johnny Logan, attempting to make up for his poor performances so far hit a huge 3 run shot to cap off the inning. Burdette was fine until the 5th when the floodgates opened and he yielded 5 runs to the visiting team from Beantown. The trouble started when Fossum lead off with a solid single to right, which was followed by Damon who did the same. Carlos Baerga bunted them both up into scoring position and just like it was drawn up Nomar doubled them both in to cut the deficit to 1. Manny received an intentional pass and Trot Nixon flew out to right. Burdette looked like he was going to get out of the inning without yielding any more damage. Shea Hillenbrand and the light hitting Tony Clark each made life miserable for Burdette as they knocked in 3 runs between the two of them to give Boston a 7-5 lead. The Braves cut the lead to 1 run (7-6) in the bottom of the 8th as they scratched out a run. Just like in game 2 though they had bases loaded and didn't score more, which was their undoing. Manny hit a 2 run shot to put it out of reach in the top of 
Game 2 featured a battle of respective aces (Warren Spahn vs Derek Lowe). Both put up goose eggs for the first 3 innings, then both teams exchanged runs in the 4th. Boston went up 3-1 in the fifth as Rey Sanchez knocked in Trot Nixon and Jose Offerman with a 2 out single. Milwaukee scratched back to get 1 in the 6th as Aaron doubled with 2 outs and Adcock singled him home. Milwaukee tied it up in the top of the 9th as Billy Bruton led off with a single. Logan went down on strikes and Aaron made it second and third with a double off the green monster. Mathews hit a sac fly to Nixon in right and Adcock flew out to end the inning. The Braves were ecstatic to have tied it, but this should have been an inning where they scored more and they sure as heck knew it. The bottom of the 8th saw the Red Sox post 3 runs to take a 6-3 lead. Varitek hit a long double that he sliced down the right field line to score Sanchez from second and Manny all the way from first. Normally sure handed Johnny Logan booted a hard smash by Hillenbrand, which scored Varitek and left the Braves for dead. Milwaukee forgot to get the memo alerting them to their demise and rallied in the top of the 9th to get 2 runs, but couldn't get the tying run when Urbina tightened his britches and fanned Logan (the defacto goat) to end it.
All tied going into the 8th when Manny hit his second of the day to put the Bosox up by 1. Buhl went 8 for the Braves and scattered 3 runs, but he did not get enough offensive support to win. Pedro finally got to the 7th and only gave up 2 runs, which came on a Hank Aaron 2 run shot in the 5th. Embree pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings and Urbina came on in the 9th to close it out. Boston scored first when Trot Nixon hit into a fielder's choice to plate Johnny Damon who led off the game with a single. Pedro struck out 10 as he got to the 7th for the first time in weeks. Boston surprised everyone by not going with Lowe and putting their trust in Pedro.
Game 1: For 6+ inning John Burkett went pitch for pitch with 1988 Cy Young award winner Frank Viola giving up only 1 run. Neither starter would have a hand in the decision as it all fell on the shoulders of each team's respective bullpens. The Twins struck first in the top of the 9th as Arrojo gave up a solo shot to Tim Laudner. Curiously the Twins had Smith start the bottom of the 9th, but couldn't hold Boston down. Reardon was brought in with 2 outs and the bases loaded and yielded a single to Shea Hillenbrand to plate Doug Mirabelli for the winning run. Lots of second guessing in this one for both managers. Minnesota will be second guessed for not having Reardon start the 9th and Boston could have been second guessed for using both of their catchers in the game and not being able to pinch run for the led footed Doug Mirabelli in the 9th.
brought their lumber for this one. Both starters (Blyleven and Oliver) were ineffective at best. Boston nursed a 1 run lead until the 7th, when Tim Wakefield came on to yield 4 runs and put the Twins up for good. Tommy Herr doubled home Greg Gagne with 2 outs and Kirby Pucket singled him home to give the Twins the lead for good. Juan Berenguer came on in the 7th and pitched 3 scoreless innings for the save.
duel. The only duel we saw was for the title of who was worse. Pedro "the enigma" Martinez again pitched poorly and was gone after 5 innings and 6 earner runs. Allan Anderson gave up 7 runs in 7 innings. Pedro got the win, but the bullpen really won it for Boston as Wakefield, Banks, Embree and Urbina held the Twins scoreless over the final 3 innings. The big inning for Boston was the top of the 6th, where they touched Anderson for 3 runs, two of which came off of Johnny Damon's bat as he hit one deep into the hefty bag. Rey Sanchez followed up with a triple and Nomar doubled him home for the ultimate winning run.
laugher. Derek Lowe continued his mound dominance as he went 7 scoreless innings. Damon banged out 4 hits off of Les Straker and company and Manny showed some signs of life by going yard.
be the difference maker.
in his regular slot or go with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Normally this would be a no brainer, but Pedro has been knocked around most of the season and hasn't been able to escape the 6th inning. Wakefield got the ball and proceeded to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Willie Banks gave up 1 hit in almost 3 innings of pitching and Urbina came on in the 9th to nail it down. Minnesota's starter, Allan Anderson, had nothing and once the Bosox tapped him for 4 runs in the 1st the Twins season was as good as gone. The big blow came off of the bat of Manny who stood at home for an eternity to pose as his missile cleared the green monster and broke some windows on Landsdowne street. Manny's 3 run shot followed an RBI double by Nomar. Boston scratched out another run in the 4th to increase their lead to 5-0 and put them in the KOD3 Fall Classic.
Game 1: El Sid looked good until the 7th, when he ran out of gas and the Mets ran out of answers for the balanced Brave attack. Lou Burdette was steady enough to complete the game and nab the win. the 5 run 7th did the Mets in and erased their 3-2 lead. Joe Adcock hit 3 homers in a row and helped chase the big man from Hawaii off the hill.
led off the 11th with a sharp double down the left field line. Johnny Logan bunted him over to third and the Mets were in big trouble. Aaron and Mathews both received intentional passes, which setup Joe Adcock's sac fly to George Foster to score Bruton.
out the Mets in a 4 game sweep, but the Mets were not having any of that. Ed Lynch tossed a complete game gem allowing only 2 runs and tossing only 78 pitches in the process. The Mets tagged Brave starter Bob Buhl for 4 runs early on and never looked back. Strawberry hit a towering solo shot that hit the huge scoreboard in right and the Mets had a pulse.
the scoreboard. Three runs off of Gooden in a game is a miracle. 3 in one inning is of biblical proportions. The 8th inning started with pinch hitter Lee Maye, taking time out of his singing career, who grounded weekly to first. Billy "the catalyst" Bruton sliced a double down the left field line and Johnny Logan followed with an infield single to make it 1st and 3rd. Still the Mets had a 2 run lead. Gooden challenge Henry Aaron, who should never be challenged. Aaron singled back through the originator to cut the lead to 1. Eddie Mathews was pitched to cautiously and the bases were soon loaded with only 1 out. Wes Covington, who had been a big 
disappointment all year, fought off Gooden's "lord Charles and blooped a single over the outstretched arms of Wally Backman to score Logan to tie it. One batter later Adcock grounded out weekly, but Aaron came across to score and just like that a 2 run lead was now a 1 run deficit. The top of the 9th saw the shell shocked Mets go down in order to closer Don McMahon and the Braves clinched the NL Pennant. The Mets battled back hard in this series, but when you are down 3-0 you have no margin for error. Gooden threw 146 pitches and obviously ran out of gas in the 8th. Bob Rush notched the win as he pitched 2 1/2 innings in relief of starter Juan Pizarro.
Game 1: Milwaukee nursed a 3-2 lead into the 8th when the Big Red Machine blew the doors off of Lew Brudette's cruise control to the tune of 4 runs. Joe Morgan led off the top of the 8th with a clean single and stole 2nd. Johnny Bench followed with a single of his own to make it 1st and 3rd. Doggie then singled home Morgan. Geronimo followed with a two bagger to plate Bench and both Driesen and Griffey knocked in runs with ground outs. Clay Carroll pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief to post the win.
image of the score (6-3) that they lost the opener. Spahn went the distance and gave up only 2 earned runs. Fred Norman also went the distance and gave up only 2 runs, but his defense let him down as 4 more unearned runs crossed the plate. With the score 4-2 the Braves scored 2 big runs in the bottom of the 6th as Spahn helped his cause by singling in Del Crandall. Bill Bruton followed by knocking in Pafko.
The Riverfront Stadium crowd was treated to a 16 inning classic that lasted deep into the autumn night. By the time the verdict was in both starters, Bob Bhul (8 inn) and Don Gullett (3.2 inn) were long gone. Gullett hurt his elbow int eh 4th and was replaced by Carroll who gave up 5 runs in just over 4 innings of work. Cincy was up 4-2 when the Braves errupted for 3 big runs in the top of the 8th in an inning that started oh, so innocently. Aaron led off by linning out to Concepcion at short, but was followed by Mathews and Adcock who both walked. Crandall lifted a weak fly to right and Lee Maye was called on to pinch hit for Andy Pafko. Maye, who has been used almost exclusively off the bench sent a 2-1 curveball into the upper deck to put the Milwaukee up by 1. The bottom of the 9th saw the Braves put their trust in closer Don McMahon, who quickly got Concepcion and Morgan out on weaky hit balls. Seeming fully in control and not feeling any fear McMahon challenged the great Johnny Bench who had been slumping all year. Bench turned around a 1-0 fastball and sent it into the left field pavillion to tie it. The score would remain tied for 7 more innings as the game looked to never end. Then in the top of the 16th light hitting Felix Mantilla homered down the right field line off of Jack Billingham who had just come on in relief. Mantilla's ball barely scaled the right field fence and seemed to be aided by the wind. Bob Giggie
started the 16th for the Braves and struck out George Foster on 4 pitches. He then walked pinch hitter Merv Rettenmund, which got him the hook. Juan Pizarro came on to force Rose to bat from the right side of the plate. Rose grounded out to 3rd and Concepcion ended the game by lining back to the box.
Game 5: Roger Nelson went pitch for pitch with the great Warren Spahn for 7 innings and looked to be on the good side of a 3-2 win. Unfortunately Nelson's lack of pedigre and the Brave bats caught up with him in the bottom of the 8th as Milwaukee scored 4 runs to take a 6-3 lead that Spahnie would never relinquish. Joe Adcock was the hitting star as his 3 run shot put the game away. With one out Aaron doubled and then went to third as Mathews got a bloop single. Wes Covington laced a double of his own down the right field line to score Aaron and move Mathews to 3rd prior to Adcock's collasal blow. The Reds showed little sign in the 9th after Foster lead off with a single, but Spahn induced Foster to hit into a 4-6-3 DP.. Geronimo grounded weakly to second to end both the game and the series. Spahn scattered 8 hits and gave up 3 runs for the complete game victory.
Game 1: The opener was litterally stolen by the Bosox. With their ace (on paper) Pedro Martinez on the mound the Red Sox looked to sock Jeremy Bonderman and the Tigers. Well, Pedro didn't even get out of the 4th inning and the ledger had him giving up 6 runs (5 earned). Boston narrowed the gap to 1 in the bottom of the 4th as they posted 3 runs to make it 4-3. Pedro's replacement, Arrojo, gave up 3 more runs in his almost 4 innings of sloppy work. Going to the top of the 8 the Tigers were up 8-4 and Bonderman looked sharp. enter the Tiger bullpen. The achilles heel of the team. The floodgates opened up in the 8th as Boston posed 5 runs to tie it. The bottom of the 9th saw Manny lead off the inning with a walk off homer as Urbina notched the win.
comeback in game 1 Detroit was never in the second game. Derek Lowe gave up 2 hits and no runs until he left in favor of Allan Embree with 2 outs in the 8th. Detroit scored a run to break the shutout on a Sheffield solo shot as the Bosox took a 2 game to none lead to Motown.
Game 4: Looking to close it out the Bosox trotted Pedro back out on the hill in hopes that he would redeem himself for his pittiful performance in the opener. 4 runs in 5 innings is not considered redemption in anyone's book. Pedro threw 144 pitches and was gone as he flirted with trouble all game and finally found it in the 6th. Boston chipped away at Bonderman and got within one but Ledezma came out of the pen to close it out and force a deciding game 5.
"closer". Giving up 1 run in 6 1/3 innings of pitching is what closers do and Lowe was up for the task. Haney and Wakefield got the Sawx to the 9th where Urbina closed it out. Shea Hillebrand homered in the 4th to make it 3-1 and Trot Nixon banged out 3 hits. Urbina gave up 2 hits to Detroit in the 9th, but when the pressure was on he struck out Sheffield with runners in scoring position and the game on the line.
KC and Chicago met at Comiskey for a 1 game AL play-in. Marty Pattin gets the start (only his 2nd of the season) for KC vs. Bob Shaw for Chicago. KC gets on top in the first with an rbi groundout from John Mayberry. In the 3rd Aparicio and Fox single, then Brett boots a grounder, which ties the game at 1-1. In the 5th, after Shaw walked his 5th & 6th batters of the game, Bob Stinson singled home Hal McRae for a 2-1 KC lead. Roy Sievers answered for Chicago with his 14th homer of the season to tie it at 2 in the 6th. With Early Wynn now on the mound for Chicago., Rojas and Patek single to start the 8th, 1 out later Hal McRae singles in Rojas to take the lead back at 3-2. Pattin is removed from the game in the bottom of 8 and Chicago answers again. Fox singled, Torgeson 
walked as a PH for Sievers, Minoso flied out to the wall in left. Fox caught McRae off guard and took 3rd base on the fly out. Frank Robinson then had a pinch-hit 4-3 ground out to score Fox. In the 10th, Patek tripled with 1-out (more on Patek later). Solaita then drew a PH walk, and Wohlford popped out to 1B. Jim Wohlford then squeezed home Patek for a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of 10, after 2 outs, Robinson singles and Rivera walks. Mark Littell then K's Ted Kluszewski to end the exciting playoff and send the unhappy Chi-Sox fans home. Freddie Patek entered the game hitting .171 with only 3 XBH's all season. His 4 for 5 day with a double & triple, earned him player of the game honors. --contributed by Allan Silverwood--
Detroit hosted Cleveland in a play in game for the wild card position in the East. Mike Garcia took the mound against Tiger rookie Yorman Bazardo. The Tigers were looking for a little Floyd Geibel action from Mr. Bazardo. However, the weather would not cooperate and a rain delay forced Bazardo out of the game in the third inning. The Tigers scored quickly with 3 runs in the bottom of the first on singles by Ordonez, Guillen and a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez.. The score remained 3-0 until the 5th when leadoff erors by Guillen (his second of the game) and Inge opened the gates for two Indian runs. The Tigers got one back in the bottom of the fifth and the score remained 4-2 until the ninth. With
runners on first and third, Craig Monroe who had entered the game as a defensive replacement misplayed a Larry Doby single. Ken Keltner scored and runners were on second and third with one out. Lou Boudreau lined out and after a walk to Joe Gordon, Mickey Vernon grounded out to end the game and send the Tigers to Fenway to play the Red Sox. Chad Durbin got the win and Wilfredo Ledezma the save. Mike Garcia took the loss.
NL East: St. Louis had a 2 game lead over the NY Mets, but failed to take care of business and lost 3 of 4 to the '59 Braves. The Mets returned the favor and backed in by losing 3 of 4 to the '79 Phillies who were just playing out the string. It should be intersting to see which of these two teams can gain some momentum in the post season. LA, who finished in 3rd in the West had a better record than the Mets and the same record as the Cards and is on the outside looking in.
NL West: The '82 Dodgers were sitting pretty 2 games up on Milwaukee and 3 games up on Cincy. All they need was to split their series vs the '04 Cubs who needed a sweep to get back into the NL East race. LA dropped 3 of 4, while Milwaukee was winning 3 of 4 from STL and Cincy swept the Pirates, who had their bags packed for weeks. That left Milwaukee and Cincy tied for the division (MKE had the tie breaker) and LA on the outside looking in. LA's mgr George B must feel snakebit as the Dodgers have had 2 straight late season collapses for him. In KOD 1 his '81 squad was fatigued beyond belief and dropped 10 of their final 11. In KOD2 they had a rough final series, but didn't really collapse. Cincy and Milwaukee played lights out down the stretch.
AL East: Boston came into the final series up by 2 games over '07 Det, but feeling unsure about themselves after getting swept by Minnesota. The Sawx took 3 of 4 from KC to clinch the division and in the process damaged KC's playoff chances. DET dropped 3 of 4 to the moribound '06 Angels and wound up having to play a play in playoff game vs '49 CLE who swept the pittiful 1980 A's.
AL West: Going into the final stanza there was a 3 way tie for the division lead, with 2 of the 3 teams playing each other h2h ('88-MIN vs '60-CHW). With KC already dropping 3 of 4 to Boston, the winner of the h2h series would take the division outright. The Twins, as they have all season rose to the top and took 3 of 4 from the Pale Hose to win the west. By virtue of losing 3 the South Siders were forced into a 1 game playoff vs the Royals. Chicago won the coin flip to host the all important game.
