NL & AL MVP's and Cy Young Award Winners

KOD5 Post Season Award Winners

1. NL MVP (Albert Pujols 2002-STL)


2. AL MVP (George Bell 1985-TOR)


3. NL Cy Young (Fernando Valenzuela 1985-LAD)


4. AL Cy Young (Vida Blue 1971-OAK)

Pujols 02STL------Bell 85TOR---Valenzuela 85LA---Blue 71OAK

1994 Expos win KOD5 World Series in 5 games over '82 Angels

GAME 1: Montreal 3, California 0

The Expos dropped a 3 spot on the Angels in the bottom of the opening frame and made it stick. The bottom of the first started innocently as Angel starter Geoff Zahn got the first 2 hitters (Grissom & Frazier) to ground out weekly. Zahn got a little too "cute" with Moises Alou and wound up walking him. The speculation here is that the lefty Zahn felt more comfortable facing lefty Larry Walker. Walker is no ordinary left handed hitter. During the season he hit over .300 against southpaws, and his great batter's eye helped him work out a walk as well. Up stepped shortstop Wil Cordero who hit a 2-1 offering deep into the left center field bleachers to make the score 3-0. Little did anyone know that 3-0 would be the final score as Expo starter Ken Hill allowed only 2 hit in 8 innings of work before giving way to John Wetteland, who notched the save.

GAME 2: California 3, Montreal 2

This game looked to be a clone of the opener with the Expos striking first blood in the 3rd with Wil Cordero again providing the firepower. With 2 outs, Angels starter Bob Forsch gave Larry Walker an intentional pass only to see Cordero single home 2 (White and Lansing). Expo starter Butch Henry was cruising along as the Angels couldn't find a way to cross the plate, but by the 8th he was out of gas and Mel Rojas was tapped to close it out. Rojas was terrible. In the 8th he gave up a 2 run shot to Bobby Grich and in the 9th he allowed Brian Downing to single home Fred Lynn for the winner. Steirer, who cam on in relief got the win and Sanchez notched the save.

GAME 3: Montreal 6, California 3

After 2 consecutive "quality" starts Pedro Martinez returned to the hill looking to get his team back on track. Bobby Witt took the hill for the Halos in front of their home crowd in Orange County. Pedro was on the ropes early on and with 2 out in the 5th he was gone after throwing 127 pitches. By that point Pedro had a 1 run lead and all looked good as Gil Herredia took the hill. Brian Downing led off the 8th against Herredia and hit a solo shot to left to tie the game. After Reggie singled it looked like the Angels were going to rally and take the game. Thankfully the Expos have a deep bullpen and both Gabe White and Tim Scott prevented further trouble from "a brewing". the top of the 9th saw Wil Cordero again do damage with the lumber as he led off with a stand up opposite field double. Reliever Dave Goltz pitched around lefty Cliff Floyd, which put runners at first and second with no one out. Lou Frazier came to the plate and fought off a wicked 3-2 slider to single to left to load the bases. Sean Berry hit a sharp grounder to Tim Foli at short, which almost made it through the drawn in infield. Foli pivoted and threw Cordero out at the plate. with 2 out up stepped catcher Darrin Fletcher who didn't waste any time before slicing Goltz' 1st pitch down the left field line to clear the bases and put the Expos up by 3. Mel Rojas immediately sat down in the pen and John Wetteland began warming up. The bottom of the 9th saw only a weak Rob Wilfong hit by the Halos as Montreal took a 2 games to 1 series lead.

GAME 4: Montreal 2, California 1

With the Expos leading the series 2 games to 1 this game became a must win for the Angels. Both teams seemed tight at the onset of the contest and the 7 straight scoreless innings tossed by Jeff Fassero and Bruce Kison did nothing to remove that feeling. By the 8th both starters were gone. Kison allowed only 3 hits in 6 innings worth of work, while Fassero scattered 7 harmless hits before he gave way to Mel Rojas in the 8th. Kison's replacement, Doug Corbett wound up being the loser in this contest as he surrendered the a run in the 8th. Don Aase was brought in to shut the door but he allowed Montreal to post an additional run to make it 2-0. Lou Frazier led off the top of the 8th with a "leg" double to right. Frazier is known for his wheels, and he never stopped motoring after he hit the ball and wound up on second in a scenario that other players would have had a long single. Corbett struck out Darrin Fletcher and got Grissom to weakly fly to Lynn in center. With 2 out Mike Lansing laced a double of his own to score Frazier. Aase came on to surrender a line single to Moises Alou and just like that the Angels were down 2-0. The bottom of the 8th saw Fassero start the inning and get Reggie to round out to 1st. Fassero was now operating on fumes, so a call to the the pen was imminent. After FOX came back from commercial Mel Rojas was standing on the mound. Fresh off his game 2 debacle Rojas was more than ready to redeem himself. Unfortunately for Mel he yielded singles to the first 2 batters he faced: Don Baylor and Ron Jackson (4 for 4). Montreal manager Marc Weiss was not about to relive this deja vu' all over again and immediately sent Rojas to the showers and called on lefty specialist Gabe White to face Fred Lynn. White, as he has done throughout the post season came through against a tough lefty hitter and induced Lynn to weakly line out to Cordero at short. With Tim FOli on deck the call to the bullpen was to bring in closer John Wetteland in hopes of getting 4 outs. Angel manager Douglas Zaner was not about to be outmaneuvered in this virtual chess game. Zaner immediately tapped future HOF'er Rod Carew to pinch hit and the Panamania came through in the clutch with a sharp single to right to score Baylor. Larry Walker bobbled the ball and instead of 1st and 3rd with 2 outs the Halos had 2nd and 3rd. A single could now score 2 and put the Angels ahead. Veteran catcher Bob Boone moved into the batters box and must have had the world on his shoulders. A single could tie the series, but an out would more than likely leave his team down 3 games to 1. Wetteland fell behind 2-0 and battled back to a 2-2 count. Boone got a nice pitch to drive and he hit it to the track in left field, but the speedy Frazier was camped out under it to end the rally. Wetteland came out for the 9th and basically threw smoke. Juan Beniquez, who replaced the injured Downing in the 4th flew out to Grissom in center. The next two batters, Grich and Decinces both struck out swinging as Wetteland just overpowered them. Montreal now had a 3 games to 1 lead with the chance to close it out in game 5.

GAME 5: Montreal 9, California 4

A rematch of game 1 starters saw Ken Hill again facing Geoff Zahn, who had his team's season resting squarely on his left shoulder. The burden of all that pressure was too much for Zahn who gave up 5 runs in only 2 innings worth of work. Angel manager Douglas Zaner hated to pull his ace, but he did not have the luxury to be able to wait and hope he "righted" the ship Montreal scored another run in the third, 2 more in the 4th and 1 more in the 6th...all off of reliever Steve Renko, before the Angels finally cracked the scoreboard. Montreal hurler Ken Hill was cruising along, but with a 9 run lead began to lose concentration. A couple of hits and a key error later and Hill was done for the day, but on the long side of the ledger with Montreal up 9-3. The Angels managed to get a lone run in the bottom of the 9th to bring the score a little closer to respectability. John Wetteland settled down after yielding the run and closed out the 9th to hand the Expos their first World Championship of any kind. This season turned out to be the crowning glory for a franchise that finished the 1994 season as "uncrowned champs". As we all know the Expos were poised to dominate the NL, when the player's strike ended their season and in all essence ended their franchise. Expo fans never forgave the players for striking and ownership for trading away their stars. Within 3 years the dominant Expo lineup was scattered to the 4 corners of the baseball world. Pedro was winning Cy Young awards yearly in Boston, while Larry Walker, Moises Alou and Marquis Grissom all went on to have MVP caliber seasons in bigger markets. Again it was nice to see this team get it's due. On a personal note I feel I have a tie to the Expo organization. I might be one of the few people who can say that they attended the Expos first game ever in 1969 @ Shea Stadium in Flushing, NY. It was also my first ever Met game. On the flip side I attended the last Expo game in 2004, also at Shea. Having the chance to be part of this KOD championship for the Expos is almost like coming full circle.

'94 Expos take NL Crown

Game #1: (Olympique’ Stadium) Pirates 13, Expos 7

Pirates jumped out to a 12-0 lead after 5
Expo starter Jeff Fassero was dreadful after giving up 5 runs in 3 inn
Expo relieve Kirk Rueter was even more woeful giving up 8 in 4inn.
Montreal had a gut check and scored 6 in the bottom of the 7th
Pirate CF’er Al Oliver went 4 for 4.
Pirate starter Steve Blass lost focus, but pitched well and had 2 hits
In a losing cause Grissom and Lansing each had 3 hits for MON.

Game #2: (Olympique’ Stadium) Expos 7, Pirates 2

Ken “king of the” Hill kept Pirate hitters off stride all game
Pirate starter Bob Moose was just as effective
The Pirate pen allowed 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to give the game away to the Expos. Larry Walker and Darrin Fletcher both knocked in 2 runs in the 8th.
Tim Scott got the win and Mel Rojas finished out the 9th to even the series at 1 game apiece.

Game #3: (Three Rivers Statdium) Expos 7, Pirates 2

Tied at 2 after 2 this game looked like it was going to be a see-saw offensive show.
The Lumber Company turned into splinters, while the Expos continuted to hit.
Pedro Martinez had his 3rd consecutive decent outing in a row as he shut PIT out for the final 6 1/3 innings he pitched.
Montreal scored solo runs in the 4th and the 5th as Berry and Alou both doubled home runs
Larry Walker and Wil Cordero hit back to back solo shots in the 8th to put the game out of reach.

Game #4: (Three Rivers Statdium) Expos 3, Pirates 0

4 Expo pitchers combined to throw a 6 hit shutout as the Pirate bats grew even colder.
Montreal broke the scoreless deadlock in the 4th when Cliff Floyd doubled home Alou.
In the 8th Fletcher doubled and was singled home by Berry
Cordero provided an insurance run with a solo shot in the 9th.
Wetteland came on with 2 out in the 9th to fan PH Vic Davilillo.

Game #5: (Three Rivers Statdium) Expos 4, Pirates 0

2nd straight game that the Expos shutout PIT with 4 pitchers.
Jeff Fassero went 7 scoreless innings and redeamed himself for his poor outing in game 1.
Moises Alou hit a solo shot in the 3rd after Frazier go caught stealing.
Darrin Fletcher hit a 2 run shot off of Pirate starter Bruce Kison after Cordero singled.
Moises Alou singled home Frazier after Grissom got caught on the front end of a double steal in the 8th.
Pittsburgh had 1st & 2nd with 2 out in the 8th when PH Vic Davilillo again failed to get a clutch hit.
The Pirates scored 4 runs total in the last 4 games of the series.
MVP - Moises Alou (7-21, .333, 6 RBI)

'82 Halos Sweep '02 Bombers to caputure AL Flag

2002 New York Yankees (Ed Mikhli) Vs. 1982 California Angels (Douglas Zaner)

Game 1: CAL 8, NYY 1 - Doug DeCinces' 3-run HR broke open the game in the bottom 6th inning and California cruised to a 8-1 win. Mike Mussina, fresh off his no-hitter just a few days ago, left his A-game in Toronto, gaving up a walk, 3 hits and 3 runs in the first inning. Angels starter Ken Forsch, who was rocked by the Bronx Bombers earlier this season, figured out what he had done wrong. He scattered 8 hits and gave up only 1 run on his way to a 90-pitch complete game.

Game 2: CAL 12, NYY 4 - Reggie Jackson, Fred Lynn and Doug DeCinces each hit a 2-run HR off lefty David Wells, as California banged out 17 hits on way to a 12-4 win. Fred Lynn led the Halos attack with 4 hits, as 9 of 10 Angels had at least 1 hit. The only bright spot for the Yankees was Jason Giambi's bases-clearing double in the top of the 5th to temporarily narrow the NY deficit to 7-4. But other than that, California starter Mike Witt pitched well, striking out 8 in 6.1 innings.

Game 3: CAL 6, NYY 1 - The series moved to The Bronx, with the Yankee hitters still searching for their bats. But Halos' ace Bruce Kison managed to keep them hidden, limiting NY to 3 singles over 7 and a third innings. Behind a Reggie Jackson HR, California held onto a 3-0 lead entering the top of the 7th inning. Then Doug DeCinces and Don Baylor each HRed to give the Halos a 6-0 lead to put the game out of reach. Jason Giambi's RBI double off Any Hassler prevented the shutout. Kison lowered his season ERA to 1.87, while El Duque took the loss for NY.

Game 4: CAL 10, NYY 3 - California completes the sweep behind balanced hitting and a gutsy effort from Halos surprise starter Angel Moreno, who won his 2nd post-season game. California bunched their hits to score 7 times in the first 3 innings to build a 7-0 lead off Yankees starter Roger Clemens. 4th inning solo shots by Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson got the Bombers closer. But it wasn't quite enough, as 4 Angels relievers pitched 3 innings of 2-hit, shutout baseball. Although Fred Lynn lead the team with 3 RBIs, 8 of 9 Angels had at least 1 hit in what again was an entire team effort.

Turning point: It's hard to identify a single turning point when a team scores 36 runs behind 50 hits, including 8 HRs, while yielding only 9 runs and 33 hits for the entire Series.

ALCS MVP: Doug DeCinces (8 for 17, 9 RBIs, 3 HRs) and Fred Lynn (9 for 19, 7 RBIs, 5 extra base hits) took co-MVP honors.
--submitted by Douglas Zaner--

'87 Tigers mauled by '82 Halos

'87 Detroit Tigers (Tom Davis) Vs '82 California Angels (Douglas Zaner)

Game 1: CAL 12, DET 2 - Tigers and Angels meet in the AL LDS just 2 days after Detroit took 3 of 4 in the regular season. Game 1 - Terrell and Kison repeat as first game starters, although this time is was the opposite result. The Angels got to Terrell for 3 hits and 3 wallks in the 1st inning, batting around and scoring 6 times, in route to a 12-2 win. Fred Lynn had 3 hits , including a double and triple, and 3 RBIs. Kison also reversed his fortunes from the previous opening game, holding Detroit to 6 hits over 7 innings, allowing only 1 run.

Game 2: CAL 3, DET 1 - Spot starter Angel Moreno gave the Angels just what they needed - 7 solid innings of 5 hit, 4 walk, 1 run baseball, as Californing built a 3-1 lead. He was helped by the sterling middle infield play of Bobby Grich and Tim Foli, who turned 3 double plays, spoilng one Tiger rally after another. Alan Trammell's solo shot in the top of the 3rd accounted for the only Detroit run. Andy Hassler and Luis Sanchez shut the door in the final two frames for their 5th hold and 6th save, respectively. Former Angel Frank Tanana pitched very well for the Tigers, and was the hard-luck loser, despite throwing a complete game.

Game 3: CAL 9, DET 1 - As he did in his first appearance against Detroit, when he accounted then for California's only win of that series, once again the left arm of Geoff Zahn managed to keep the Tigers in their cages, this time with a 7 hit, 1 run complete game. Mike Heath's double in the bottom of the 9th spoiled the shutout in what was otherwise a near-perfect day for Zahn. Reggie Jackson's 2 solo HRs would have been enough for the victory. But every Angel had at least one hit, as the team managed to score in 6 different innings. Don Baylor led the hitting attack with 3, while the '80s winningest pitcher Jack Morris took the loss.List the turning point. The bottom of the 1st inning of Game 1, when the Angles batted around scored 6 runs, setting the tone of the entire series. --submitted by Douglas Zaner--

Pirates hijack Phils Season with LDS sweep

Cy Young hopeful Lefty Steve Carlton could not protect a one run lead as the Bucs rallied to take game 1. Carlton gave up 6 run in 6 innings of work, but he could not silence the potent Buc bats. Doc Ellis got the win, but was not stellar either. Dave Cash and Rich Hebner each had 3 hits for the Lumber Company. The big hit came from veteran pinch hitter Bill Mazeroski, who singled in Al Oliver for what turned out to be the winning run. Ramon Hernandez pitched a scoreless 9th to notch the save.

Philadelphia's starting pitching, which was so consistent during the regular season again faltered as Tom Underwood gave up 4 runs in 4 shotty innings of work. Pittsburgh's Steve Blass also yielded 4 runs, but he went the distance and his offense posted a 6 spot. Interestingly Philadelphia outhit the Bucs, but could not piece them all together. Light hitting Gene Alley knocked in 2 runs in the 2nd with a two base hit.

The series headed back to Pittsburgh with the home town team up 2 games to none. Three Rivers Stadium was rocking and the Bucs did not disappoint as they soundly eliminated the #1 ranked Phils from the post season. HOF'er Mike Schmidt (2) and All-Star Larry Bowa (3) were responsible for ALL of Philly's hits on the day. The Pirates had a well balanced attack with Al Oliver netting 3 hits and 2 RBI's. After starter Bob Moose tired in the 5th, veteran right hander Bob Miller came on to throw 3 scoreless innings, which effectively ended Philly's chances. The Pirates have been "lights out" under new interim manager Stu Geller, who has piloted them to a 6-2 record, which includes the play in game victory over STL.

'94 Expos defeat '86 Astros in 4

The Expos finished the season tied w/Philly for the best record in the league, so they had to settle for the #1 wild card slot and a trip to the 8th wonder of the world, the Houston Astrodome. As a reward for their 3,500 mile trip the Expos got destroyed by the Astro offense. Every Astro starter had at least 1 hit except Billy Hatcher who walked 3 times. Houston starter Mike Scott was lights out and only gave up 3 runs in a complete game effort. Scott also banged out 4 hits and had 3 RBI. A truly awesome performance by the 1986 NL Cy Young award winner.In a battle of two southpaws Jeff Fassero bested Bob Knepper 5-2. Fassero went 7+ innings before yielding to the awesome bullpen duo of Mel Rojas and John Wetteland. Larry Walker had 3 hits and 2 Rib-eyes as the Expos evened the series 1-1.Game 3 saw Olympque Stadie host it's first ever KOD post season game. The Expos knocked future HOF'er Nolan Ryan out of the box with 5 runs in 4 innings. Ken "King of the" Hill had a super quality start going 6 and yielding only 2. Gabe White came in out of the pen to strike out Jose Cruz and end Houston's chances of a rally. Montreal went with the lefty / lefty matchup and it all worked out. Wetteland saved his second of the series. Kevin Bass had 3 hits in a losing effort.With Montreal up 2 games to 1 Pedro Martinez took the hill with the goal of closing out the Astros. As we all know the close out game is always the toughest in the series. Houston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and had Pedro on the ropes, but he managed to get out of it and throw shutou ball for the next 5 innings before he yielded to Shaw, White and Wetteland. Montreal never panicked in this one. Down 3 zip the chipped away at Jim Deshaises and got 1 run in each of the first 3 innings to tie the game. The bottom of the 6th saw the 'Spos score 3 runs off of reliever Charlie Kerfeld. Larry Walker and Wil Cordero each had big RBI hits. Things looked good until the top of the 9th. Montreal felt like they had money in the bank up by 3 and John Wetteland on the hill, but Houston was not about to lay down and go quietly into the night. With 2 out and a man on Kevin Bass hit a 2 run shot to put a scare into the French speaking crowd. Wetteland dug down deep and got Glen Davis to line out hard to Sean Berry to end the series.