Landis Memorial Series, 1996

[recte44]

Ok, as you know Game 1 was already simmed by accident.

Austin's bats wwent berserk on Chicago's Juan Nieves in route to a 14-3 Game 1 victory (AUS leads, 1-0).

[recte44]

Game 2:

Chicago bounced back to take down Austin, 5-3 in Game 2 of the LMS. The Black Sox' Guy Corngood improved to 3-0 in the postseason, with teammate Daniel Marquette picking up his 4th save to stave off the Riverbats late. (Series tied, 1-1)

[recte44]

Game 3:

Bjorn Nepal, Foster Hughes, and Daniel Marquette combined on a 7 hit shutout for Chicago, while the Black Sox' Max "The Hammer" Dubois hit his 5th homer in the playoffs to take the series lead over Austin. (CHI leads, 2-1).

[recte44]

Game 4:

First extra inning affair of the series. Lance Dickson of Austin and Chet Steadman of Chicago duke it out evenly, and eventually the game gets through the regulation nine with the score knotted up at 4. In the bottom of the 11th, the Riverbats bring in Adrian Nelson to face the two hottest hitters in the Black Sox lineup. Nelson strikes out Max Dubois in a heck of a battle to lead off the inning. However, he's not as successful with Resurrection Santos, who doubled. Nelson then played the odds and walked Washu Hakubi intentionally to set up the double play and face Ryan Gobin (a reserve infielder who had just 48 at-bats in the bigs this year). Things don't always go according to plan, as Nelson sadly found out. Gobin, the unlikely hero, singled and drove home Santos for a walkoff Black Sox victory. (CHI leads series, 3-1).

[recte44]

Game 5:
Felix Pan vs Guy Corngood

Austin needs this one to stay alive, and the Riverbats were in control most of the way. Into the bottom of the seventh, they led 2-1. Unfortunately this is where Pan began to meltdown: SINGLE, RBI DOUBLE, strikeout, BB, SINGLE, RBI SINGLE....and that was the game for Pan. Jerry Spradlin comes in and stops the bleeding, but the Black Sox have taken a 3-2 lead into the eighth inning.

They bring in Richard Wasson, lefty setup man, to bridge the gap to closer Daniel Marquette. As the Riverbats' Adrian Nelson learned in Game 4, things don't always go according to plan. Wasson didn't retire a batter, giving up 3 hits and 3 runs before being pulled for James Kucharski. Kucharski does a Spradlin impression, only with 0 outs and a guy in scoring position, and gets Austin down 1-2-3 to leave that runner stranded and keep the damage contained. Austin leads, 5-3.

To the bottom of the eighth- Woodrow Talamantes in for the RIverbats, and he holds the Black Sox scoreless, doing his job. HIs counterpart Kucharski gets a second scoreless inning for the Black Sox. And we're onto the ninth.

With the Riverbats needing this win, they bring in closer Chester Palabra to close it out. This is generally a high odds move, as Palabra is one of the best in the biz. He gets Patrivit Prabkahar to flyout for out number one. The Black Sox then bring in former MLB'er Eddie Taubensee to pinch hit. He delivers with a double.

Willie Armenta then singles, moving Taubensee to third base. Runners on the corners with one out. A double play will give Austin the win.




The batter, though, is Resurrection Santos. He's hot throughout the whole playoffs. And he DOUBLES, scoring Taubensee and moving Armenta to third. It's a 5-4 Austin lead now. Joel Odenbach, Riverbats GM, is appearing visibly peeved. Still, they stick with Palabra to face Max Dubois. These two batters have been destroying opposing hitters throughout the entire postseason.

[recte44]

After Ball One, Dubois digs in against Palabra...who fires in the pitch...
















"THe Hammer" smacks a single, scoring Armenta to tie the game. But just as the other day, Santos is not interested in obeying the third base coach and he's taking off for home.....
















No throw/ no cutoff....Santos SCORES! Black Sox win Game 5, 6-5!!!

[recte44]

Congratulations to your 1996 Monty Brewster Baseball Association Champions, the CHICAGO BLACK SOX!!!!

[mad0die]

Wow and I remain titleless in the MBBA.

[tylertoo]

Congrats to Austin for a great season and a hard fought series. And thanks Matt for the nail-biting write-up, especially appreciated after your long day.

However, he's not as successful with Resurrection Santos, who doubled. Nelson then played the odds and walked Washu Hakubi intentionally to set up the double play and face Ryan Gobin (a reserve infielder who had just 48 at-bats in the bigs this year). Things don't always go according to plan, as Nelson sadly found out. Gobin, the unlikely hero, singled and drove home Santos for a walkoff Black Sox victory.

Gobin was on the roster entirely for his glove. He'll be one of those guys who drifts out of the game after a few more years but will always have this one heroic moment to tell his grandkids.

[recte44]

I'm pausing now....won't be putting up the file until tomorrow afternoon....but I didn't want to delay the suspense any longer. Will also have updates on the offseason/draft etc at that time.

[mad0die]

Congrats, Chicago!

[cramsey51]

Great series guys, congrats Chicago!

[aaronweiner]

Um, yeah, so's everyone else. Unless you mean the old one too.

Wow and I remain titleless in the MBBA.

[mad0die]

I'll write my final TN when HTML is updated