Rumor Mill #2:

There is some grumbling in St. Louis over Bike Mike's "leadership" of his squad after their 3-5 start. Under his direction, the club lost 3 of 4 against Montreal to open the campaign.

Then he took a mysterious sabbatical for a week, claiming "personal reasons" as the excuse, and the club rebounded to split a series with the Mets, winning in exciting fashion as was reported below.

The talk is that the club is looser and play more relaxed when Bike Mike is not in the dugout. One player was quoted as saying "Bike's a good guy, but he's always trying to show off his baseball knowledge by telling us every stat from about everyone who ever wore a Cardinal uniform. It gets old after awhile."

If Bike keeps up his endless jabbering about former players, look for the current guys to tear up his baseball encyclopedias.

Rumor Mill #1: Mets manager on hotseat

Word is from New York, that the Mets manager (Justin Ryan) is on the hot seat after a 2-6 start. Leading 5-2 in the 8th inning of the series finale vs. St Louis, the Mets manager left Doc Gooden in to intentionally walk Tino Martinez, setting up the bases loaded with 2 out vs. Mike Matheny, a .125 hitter this season. First pitch from Gooden was sent over the wall, locking up another heart breaking loss for the Lovable Losers from Flushing, NY. Sports radio and newspaper outlets have been killing the Mets. If things do not turn around soon, a new direction will be taken!

'69 Braves lose 8th in a row after being swept by '76 Phillies

The problems for the woeful 1969 Braves just keep on coming. After getting swept in their opening series by the '85 Dodgers the Braves managed to drop 4 more, this time to the 1976 Phillies.

In the opener we were treated to HOF matchup as Steve Carlton 2 hit the Braves for a 7-0 victory. Lost in the shuffle was the fact that his HOF adversary, Phil Niekro, had 1 of the Braves' 2 hits. Niekro managed to last 6 innings, but gave up 4 earner runs...6 all together. The first 6 hitters in Philly's lineup had at least 1 hit.

The Braves did manage to score in the second game, but still lost 8-2 as Jim Lonborg went the distance for Philadelphia. Bobby Tolan had 3 RBI's. Curiously the Braves did manage to get 11 hits, but somehow could only plate 2.

Hoping a change of scenery might do them some good the Braves were more than happy to leave home and head toward the city of Brotherly Love. Unfortunately the change in scenery would not jump start their anemic offense, nor would it provide them any victories. 8 straight losses to begin a KOD season is an official record, now held by this squad. In game 3 they were 4 hit by Jim Kaat. In game 4 they were 4 hit by Larry Christenson. 1 run in 2 games is not going to get it done. The Brave pitching was fine, giving up just 3 runs in each game. The sweep moved the Phils to .500 (4-4). Atlanta will head out to face the 1997 SF Giants and hope to break into the win column.

'85 Blue Jays sweep '87 Tigers

GAME 1 Tiger Stadium - '85-TOR 12, '87-DET 8: This series meant an awful lot for Toronto. Even though it's been 21 years, the Blue Jays core and their fans can not forget their monumental weekend collapse to the '87 Tigers to lose the AL East flag. The '85 Blue Jays were a young up and coming team that needed to learn how to win. The '87 Tigers were a battle hardened veteran crew that still featured many of it's core players from their 1984 World Championship team that dominated the AL from start to finish. Toronto was all over "Big Game" Jack Morris from the onset. With a 12-3 lead Dave Steib entered the 8th inning looking to just throw strikes and close it out. Instead he wound up giving up 4 runs and headed for the shower. Reliever Luis Leal didn't fool anyone either as the score was now 12-8 and the game was back on. Acker and Lavelle were called in to shut the door in the 9th for Toronto in a game that should have remained a laugher. Kirk Gibson had a 3 hit 4 RBI day for the loser. Willie Upshaw knocked in 4 for the victors.

GAME 2 Tiger Stadium - '85-TOR 92, '87-DET 2: Jimmy Key didn't fall into the same lull that almost cost Dave Steib in game 1. After the Tigers scored to open the game in the first Toronto rattled off 9 unanswered runs. Key left after pitching to 2 batters in the 9th and Jim Acker finished it out. George Bell was the hitting star in this one with 3 consecutive long balls. Looking for his 4th in a row in the 8th Bell was brushed back 2 times by Tiger reliever Eric King. Finally Bell reached out and smoked one up the middle right by King's ear. Benches looked to clear, but cooler heads prevailed.

GAME 3 Exhibition Stadium - '85-TOR 5, '87-DET 2: The series shifted to the more pitcher friendly Exhibition Stadium located on the shore front of lake Ontario. In a curious match up Doyle Alexander faced himself, which to the best of our knowledge is a 1st in KOD history. On paper, Detroit's Alexander seemed the surer bet as he had an undefeated record (8-0) and sub 2.00 ERA. Toronto's version of Alexander "the great" had middle of the road #'s with a 3.50 era. The game started out according to play with the Tigers jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first off a Darrell Evans 2 run shot. Detroit nursed that lead until the Blue Jays scored 2 of their own in the bottom of the 6th as George Bell had an RBI double and Jesse Barfield singled him home. Toronto took the lead in the 7th as they played small ball and scored one to make it 3-2. Detroit's Alexander walked Barfield to lead off the 8th and just like the late Bob Murphy would have said, "oh, those bases on balls"...Ernie Whitt delivered a two run homer to make it 5-2. Toronto's Alexander got the first out in the 9th but yielded a single to Matt Nokes and walked DH Bill Madlock. "Wild" Bill Caudill came on for the final two outs to nail down the save. Doyle Alexander was the winner...and the loser.

GAME 4 Exhibition Stadium - '85-TOR 5, '87-DET 2: The series finale had the identical score as game 3. Toronto carried a 3-0 lead into the 7th when starter Tom Filer, who had a no hitter for 5 1/3 innings lost his shutout. With the score 3-2 the Blue Jays got clutch again and scored a run in the 7th playing small ball and a run in the 8th off a pinch hit homer by light hitting Buck Martinez. Tom Henke pitched a scoreless 9th for his first save of the year as Toronto swept Motown.

'94 'Spos sweep '73 Big Red Machine

GAME 1 Riverfront Stadium - '94-MTL 9, '73-CIN 4: This game was tighter than a drum for the first 7 innings as the Expos were clinging to a 1 run lead. Jack Billingham gave up 4 unearned runs over his 5 innings of work as the Big Red Machine's defense let him down. Errors by the normally surehanded Concepcion and Driessen led to Cincy's demise. The Expos PH Rondel White led off the 8th with a grounder back to the box. Marquis Grissom walked and was doubled home by Mike Lansing who went 4 for 4 on the day. The ever so hot Moises Alou followed with a 2 run shot and Wil Cordero ended the scoring with a bases clearing triple. Mel Rojas threw a scoreless 9th in a non save situation. Pete Rose went 3 for 4 in a losing cause.

GAME 2 Riverfront Stadium - '94-MTL 9, '73-CIN 7: Moises Alou is so hot, going 3 for 5 actually lowered his batting average ! No one can get Felipe's son out it seems. The kid is a veritable hitting machine. His 2 runs shot in the 8th off of Pedro Borbon was the difference maker in this 2 run game. Mel Rojas faltered in relief and John Wetteland had to come on to get the final out by striking out Johnny Bench.

GAME 3 Olympic Stadium - '94-MTL 5, '73-CIN 4: Best game of the series by far. This contest took 11 frames to get a victor. Dick Baney gave the Reds 5+ solid innings of work. Pedro Martinez was shaky during his 6 inning stint and continues to be an enigma for his manager who also had him on his KOD2 squad. Pedro was gone after 6 innings and 144 pitches. Gil Heredia relieved him and threw 5 shutout innings and wound up getting the win. Interestingly every time Cincy scored in the top of an inning Montreal matched them with the same run count in the bottom. The winning run was scored in the 11th when Marquis Grissom singled with 1 out and stole second. With 2 outs Rondel White, playing in place of the fatigued Alou, singled to left to score the speedy Grissom.

GAME 4 Olympic Stadium - '94-MTL 5, '73-CIN 4: The second 1 run game in a row looked to be a pitcher's duel when it started out. Both Don Gullet, the loser, and Jeff Fassero allowed only 1 run over the first 6 innings. Cincy struck first by scoring 3 big runs in the top of the 7th to chase Fassero in favor of Jeff Shaw, who eventually was the game winner. Montreal, not to be outdone posted 4 runs in the bottom of the frame to carry a 1 run lead into the final 2 stanzas. The combination of Mel Rojas and John Wetteland (3rd save) shut the door on the Reds and closed out the series sweep. Moises Alou returned to the lineup and took "the collar", going 0-4. Driessen and "Doggy" Perez came up big with 3 hits each. Perez had 3 RBI's in a losing cause.

'0r Twins earn split with '82 Halos

'04 Twins (Marvin Sik) Vs. '02 Angels (Douglas Zaner)

Game 1 Minnesota 7-6 (11): Twins jump on top 3-0 early, aided by a Torii Hunter 2 run HR. Angels tie the game on a Reggie Jackson 3-run bomb. Twins come up with 33 straight 2-out singles to go back up 6-3. But the Angels string together 4 straight 2-out hits to tie it again 6-6 in the 8th. Game remained tied until the bottom of the bottom of the 11th when Minnesota scored an unearned run when the lead off batter Torii Hunter reached on a Tim Foli error and then scored when Bob Boone threw the ball away on a sac bunt attempt the very next batter.


Game 2: California 3-0: All Geoff Zahn, who took a no-no into the 7th inning, and settles for a complete game, 3-hit shutout. Reggie's 2-run HR in the 6th is all that Zahn needed.

Game 3: California 2-1 (12): Starters Silva (6IP, 0ER) and Witt (9IP, 1 ER) both pitch masterfully. Through 11 and a half innings each team has come up with only 3 hits. Angels finally break through in the bottom of the 12th on a Downing HBP, a Grich sac bunt, a Boone single, and a Carew sac fly. Don Aase gets the win in relief.

Game 4: Minnesota 3-2: 4th starters Lohse and Renko both pitch well. Fred Lynn puts the Halos up 1-0 with an RBI double. But Hunter, Rivas ans Koskie answer the next half-frame with an HR, triple and single - all with 2 outs - to put the Twins up 2-1. Halos tie it half an inning later on a DeCinces single. The only other run of the game was on a Jacques Jones HR leading off the top of the 6th inning. The Twins bullpen tosses 4 innings of 1-hit shutout relief to preserve the victory.

Turning Point: Jones' HR gave the Twins what they needed to split the series rather than losing it.

MVP: Twins Relievers Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan take the co-MVP honors with a combined pitching line for the series: 8.2IP, 2H, 4BB, 9K, 0R

'85 Dodgers sweep '69 Braves in opener

76 Philly (Gary Bringhurst) vs 86 Houston (Mike Kenny)

GAME 1 (6-4): Opening Day from the Astrodome George Bush throws out first pitch. Mike Scott as good as advertised 8 ip 1 ER 0 W 9 K's. Billy Hatcher 4-6 from the plate and wreaking havoc on the base pads. Larry Bowa led a late Philly rally 4-5 from the plate with 3 SB's The Stros pounded 16 hits including the walk off winner by Kevin "small mouth" Bass 3-5 with GWHR.

GAME 2 (6-3): Another good pitching outing for the Astros Knepper 8.1 IP 8 hits 2 W and 6 K's. Another late inning rally at the Dome set off some fire-works Jose Cruz with a 3 run shot in the 9th to propel Houston. Schmidt went 2 for 3 with 2 walks for the Phills. Keough pitched 2/3 innings to grab his 2nd win.

GAME 3 (3-1): Another pitcher's duel Nolan Ryan 7 IP 3 hits 2 W and 6 K's Jimmer Kaat 8 IP 7 hits 0 W and 3 K's and 3 ER. Billy Hatcher continues his hot hitting with 2-4 and GWRBI to raise his average to .600. Bowa swiped his 4th stolen base for Philadelphia.

GAME 4 (2-1): Jim Deshaies with another strong pitching performance for Houston. 6 IP 6 hits 1 W and 4 SO and 1 ER. Denny Walling provided the offensive punch 3-3 HR. Larry Christenson pitched well for the Phils 7 ip 4 hits 1 ER 2 W and 4 K. L.Bowa got his 5th stolen base but it wasn't enough as Darwin piched two scoreless wins for the save. --contributed by Mike Kenney--

'94 Expos take 3 of 4 from '02 Redbirds

GAME 1: The Expo offense announced to the league that they are going to score early and often as Cardinal starter Matt Morris gave up 4 (3 earned) in 6 innings of work. Ken Hill, a former Cardinal himself, threw 7 scoreless innings and was removed once the his team was up 9-0. Gabe White finished out the final 2 innings throwing strikes and yielding 3 runs. Moises Alou went 3 for 4 with a homer and 3 RBI's. Hill was a star with the bat as well going 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored.

GAME 2: Montreal pounded the Cards 12-4 as the home town crowd at Busch almost booed for the first time. Know for being the most loyal fans in the league, even Cardinal fans began to get disgusted with their team's lack of consistent pitching. Darryl Kyle gave up 11 runs (10 earned) in 6 poor innings of work. Expo starter Pedro Martinez notched the win with only 5 innings of non-descript work. Pedro was wild and his pitch count balooned to 129 in just 5 innings on the hill. Gil Heredia threw 3 stellar innings in relief and only yielded 1 unearned run. Jeff Shaw closed it out in a non-save situation. Alou went 3 for 4 to continue his hot hitting. Larry Walker and Cliff Floyd each had 4 RBI's. Alou, Floyd, Walker and Will Cordero each went deep in the game.

GAME 3: The first KOD game played in Montreal was a 6-5 nail biter that treated the fans to some great action. Montreal carried a 6-1 lead into the 7th only to see it slowly evaporate. Relievers Mel Rojas and John Wetteland were both shaky, but got the job done. Each yielded a run to make the score very close. Alou went 3 for 4 to keep his incredible average at .750. Jeff Fassero notched the win with 7 innings of solid work.

GAME 4: The Redbirds were able to salvage a win in the series finale in dominant fashion as the final score was 7-2 STL. Montreal starter Kirk Rueter was let down by both his defense and his ability to rise up and be clutch. Prince Albert, Pujols went 4-5 with a dinger. In a losing cause Alou again went 3 for 4 as his onslaught on Cardinal pitching continued.

'85 Blue Jays take final 3 from '03 Red Sox in opener

GAME 1: Pedro Martinez pitched for the Sawx and that's really all you need to know. Dave Steib was on the hill for Toronto, but he didn't have it...like it really mattered since Pedro threw 8 innings of 1 run ball and Todd Jones mopped up in the ninth. Steib gave up 6 in 7 innings of work and Luis Leal added some more kerosene to the fire as the Red Sox cruise to take the opener 8-2. Manny had 3 hits including his first homer of the season. Papi had 2 hits and a homer of his own as Boton took the opener on the road in the first KOD game played out of the lower 48.

GAME 2: Toronto countered with Jimmy Key, who threw a complete game 5 hit shutout against one of the most potent offenses ever assembled. Derek Lowe went the distance himself yielding only 3 earned runs (4 total). Toronto scored 2 runs in the 4th on some singles and 2 Gabe Kapler errors on a wind blown ball hit by George Bell. Willie Upshaw had a 2 out single for the 2nd run. Jesse Barfield added a solo shot in the 6th.


GAME 3: The series shifted to Fenway and so did the theme. The first two games were dominated by pitching. Game 3 proved the offense can get on track in a great hitter's park like Fenway. Starters Doyle Alexander and Tim Wakefield were dreadful at best. Alexander somehow managed to stick around for 8 innings before Gary Lavelle and Jim Acker came on to close it out. Toronto played some small ball and went up 3-0 in the 3rd. Alexander looked to be cruising until Boston posted a 5 spot in the 4th. Varitek and Milar had big 2 run doubles in the inning as Alexander looked to be on the brink of being replaced. Toronto cut the deficit to 1 by scoring 1 run in the 5th, then they exploded for 5 big ones in the 6th as George Bell hit a tape measure shot onto Landsdowne Street.

GAME 4: Toronto scored 10 runs for the second consecutive game as Boston's starter, John Burkett gave up 7 in less than 7 innings of work. Toronto's Jim Clancy was shaky as he allowed 4 earned runs in his 6 innings of work. Dennis Lamp came out of the pen in long relief and shut the door on Boston. Bill Caudill needed some work and finished up the final 2 outs. The one bright not for Boston was Manny Ramirez hitting 2 homers, which gives him 3 on the season. Manny Fernandez was the catalyst for Toronto as he had 3 hits, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI's.

'73 Reds take 3 of 4 from '97 Giants

Game 1 - 97 SF (Tom Davis) vs. 73 Cin (Jesse Elicker). Denis Menke's 2 HR and 3.1 innings of scoreless relief from Tom Hall and Pedro Borbon led the Reds to a 5-2 win over SF.

Game 2 - The Giants pounded Ross Grimsley and took a 5-1 lead into the 7th. Cincinnati added single runs in the 7th and 8th, chasing Kirk Rueter with a 5-3 Giant advantage. Top of the 9th, Rod Beck on for the save...a one out double to Cesar Geronimo brought PH Hal King to the plate. King delivered a 2-run HR to tie the game at 5! Bottom of the 9th, Clay Carroll got the first two outs. Then Barry Bonds came to the plate. He fouled off a few pitches and worked the count to 3-2. Like someone playing Russian Roulette, Carroll had fired 5 blanks. Instead of realizing what was coming, he challenged Bonds and lost - a drive over the wall in right, and a 6-5 Giants' win.

Game 3 - SF scored a pair off Don Gullett in the 1st on Bonds' 2-run HR. Mark Gardner held the Reds in check until the 6th when Tony Perez broke up the shutout with an RBI single, 2-1 Giants. Gardner departed after 7. Roberto Hernandez handled the 8th, and Rod Beck came on for the 9th. But redemption from the day before was not in the cards. Ken Griffey led off with a walk. Tony Perez singled, but Beck struck out Johnny Bench. Due up was Bobby Tolan, and the Giants went to lefty Rich Rodriguez. The Reds countered with PH Dave Concepcion. He must have been using Denis Menke's bat because he blasted a 3-run HR to give the Reds and unlikely 4-2 win.

Game 4 - Gary Nolan made perhaps his only appearance of the tournament for the Reds, and it was perhaps one too many. Nolan walked three batters in the first inning, one with the sacks loaded, but fortunately escaped behind just 2-0. In the 4th, he wouldn't escape. With two outs, Nolan's control departed again. A single and two walks loaded the bases. J.T. Snow delivered a 2-run single, and Jeff Kent followed with a 2-run double. The Giants now lead 6-0. In the bottom of the 5th, a double and an error put two on with no one out. Wilson Alvarez fanned Menke and PH Andy Kosco, with Darrel Chaney on deck. The Reds elected to send Concepcion up to hit for Chaney, and Pow! Another 3-run HR. Despite the 3 unearned runs the Giants still led by 3, 6-3. Alvarez left after 6, and in the 8th the Reds started to cause trouble again. Dan Driessen led off with a PH double. One out later, Rich Rodriguez entered to Morgan, and walked him. A ground out plated a run, and with 2 down it was 6-4. Tony Perez was given a free pass, but Rodriguez walked Bench to load the bases. Doug Henry entered, and Phil Gagliano hit for Menke. He singled in a pair of runs to tie the game at 6-6. Longball fever struck again and Andy Kosco's 3-run capped off a 6-run inning and put the Reds up 9-6. Pedro Borbon entered to work the 9th to close out another come-from-behind win.

Turning Point: When Denis Menke shared his bat.

MVP: Dave Concepcion - a pair of important 3-run HR.

--contributed by Jesse Elicker--

Repeat Offenders...

I remembered someone commenting on how the great superstars of the past stuck with one team for their whole entire careers and how that just doesn't happen anymore. Obviously the Tony Gwynn's and Cal Ripken Jr.'s aside this is pretty much accurate due to the advent of free agency.

This got me thinking. I looked through the KOD5 rosters and found more than a dozen superstars/HOF'ers who are playing on 2 KOD teams ! Here's the list I compiled:

Jeff Kent-->'96 CLE & '97 SF

Fernando Valenzuela--> '85 LA & '96 SD

Orel Hershiser-->'85 LA & 96 CLE

Reggie Jackson-->'71 OAK & '82 CAL

Rollie Fingers--> '71 OAK & '81 MIL

Pedro Martinez--> '94 MTL & '03 BOS
Manny Ramirez--> '96 CLE & '03 BOS
Julio Franco-->'94 CHW & '96 CLE

Jack McDowell-->'94 CHW & '96 CLE

Robin Ventura--> '94 CHW & '02 NYY

...and Al Oliver, who is playing on 3 KOD5 teams !!! '72 PIT, '85 TOR & '85 LA