Orix Halts San Francisco Streak!
Orix Blue Wave
by "Bleacher Bum"
Union League correspondent
Blue Wave Baseball
In
what has to be one of the more bizarre games of the season, the Orix
Blue Wave went to to extra innings to hand the SanFrancisco Seals their
first defeat of the year by a score of 5-3. This despite outhitting the
Bay Bombers by a 20-5 count!
The Seals were saved time and again by a series of amazing catches by
their hometown star, centerfielder Joe DiMaggio. And it was no surprise
when he was the player to strike the big blow in the bottom of the
eigth when he homered with pinch hitter Julio Franco aboard to bring
the Seals within a run of the Blue Wave. They eventually did tie the
game in the ninth against Frank Viola, but the Blue Wave were not to be
denied this day. They won the game in the 12th when David Justice
boomed a double down the right field line against Armando Benetiz,
scoring two runs. Mark Eichorn pitched brilliantly over the final three
innings for the Wave to lay claim to the victory.
Due to a glitch - or stupid human error, take your pick - the games
were played out of order, rendering the second game invalid. Therefore,
the chronological first game of the series will be played tomorrow
night.
4/16/2004, OBW05-SFS05, Seals Stadium (1950-57)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E LOB DP
2005 Blue Wave 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 20 4 16 1
2005 Seals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 5 0 11 2
Blue Wave AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Maris rf 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .233 2 0 0 0
Olerud 1b 5 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .258 15 1 0 0
Devlin 3b 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 3 3 1 0
Ripken ss 5 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .303 2 7 2 0
Drake,V cf 6 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .233 4 0 0 0
Crandall c 6 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .346 6 0 0 0
Tatsunami 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .400 1 1 0 0
Bonilla ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 0 0 0 0
Pratt 2b 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294 1 3 1 0
Pafko lf 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 1 0 0 0
Justice ph 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .269 1 0 0 0
Ferrell p 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 0
Viola p 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0
Bonds,Bo ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 0 0 0 0
Eichhorn p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
52 5 20 5 2 0 1 2 5 0 0 0 2 0 1 36 16 4 0
Seals AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Gardner,J rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .148 1 0 0 0
Franco ph 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 0 0 0 0
Chacon lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 0 0 0 0
Jackson,M p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Benitez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Mathewson ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Alomar,R 2b 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .182 4 5 0 0
Mathews 3b 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188 1 4 0 0
DiMaggio cf 6 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .412 6 1 0 0
Bagwell 1b 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .133 12 1 0 0
Smith,Reg lf 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .381 2 0 0 0
Larkin ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .393 1 6 0 0
Lombardi c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 3 0 0 0
Williams,K pr 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 2 0 0 0
Brown,K p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
Boyer ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Shantz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Garber p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Higuera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Powell,B ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Kling c 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 3 0 0 0
43 3 5 3 0 0 1 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 36 17 0 0
Blue Wave INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Ferrell 2.0 0 0 0 2 3 37 19 9 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Viola 7.0 4 3 1 3 3 98 56 30 1 0 0 0 0 1.04
Eichhorn W 1-0 3.0 1 0 0 1 0 39 23 11 0 0 0 0 1 3.60
12.0 5 3 1 6 6 174 98 50 1 0 0 0 1
Seals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Brown,K 7.0 10 2 2 0 1 99 62 31 0 0 2 0 2 1.13
Shantz 1.1 3 1 1 0 2 33 21 7 1 0 0 0 0 4.15
Garber 0.1 1 0 0 1 0 9 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Higuera 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Jackson,M L 0-1 2.0 5 2 2 0 2 38 27 11 0 0 0 0 0 5.40
Benitez 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 16 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
12.0 20 5 5 2 5 197 121 57 1 0 2 0 2
OBW: Bonilla batted for Tatsunami in the 10th
Justice batted for Pafko in the 10th
Bonds,Bo batted for Viola in the 10th
Pratt inserted at 2b in the 10th
Justice moved to lf in the 10th
SFS: Boyer batted for Brown,K in the 7th
Franco batted for Gardner,J in the 8th
Chacon inserted at lf in the 9th
Smith,Reg moved to rf in the 9th
Williams,K ran for Lombardi in the 9th
Powell,B batted for Higuera in the 9th
Williams,K moved to lf in the 10th
Kling inserted at c in the 10th
Mathewson batted for Benitez in the 12th
GWRBI: Justice
Wes Ferrell was injured for this game and 10 more days
Temperature: 46, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 6 MPH.
The First, uh, Second, uh, The Other Game
In the second game, which was actually the first game but because of
the temporal flux that swept through the stadium it was played after
the second game . . . Cy Young pitches the Orix nine over Christy
Mathewson and the Seals, taking the first two games of a four game set
at SanFrancisco. John Olerud's seventh inning two bagger off reliever
Mike Jackson knocks in the deciding run, and Mark Eichorn snuffs out a
Seals rally in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory. The Blue
Wave hold the Seals to just three base hits as Cy improves to 2-0.
Jackson drops to 0-2 with the loss.
After the game the Seals dragged their bats to homeplate, where they
had started a large bonfire. They then tossed the bats in, hoping to
"get them hot". The local fire department was not amused, but the Orix
squad reportedly found the scene rather comical. Orix owner, Tricia
Walks, was overheard remarking to her companions, "Too funny!"
4/15/2004, OBW05-SFS05, Seals Stadium (1950-57)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2005 Blue Wave 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 4 10 2 7 0
2005 Seals 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 3 1 5 2
Blue Wave AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Ripken ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .278 2 2 0 0
Olerud 1b 5 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 8 2 0 0
Maris rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .235 2 0 0 0
Brown,IM c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 5 0 0 0
Drake,V cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .235 4 0 0 0
Pafko lf 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 4 0 0 0
Tatsunami 2b 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .421 1 2 0 0
Devlin 3b 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294 0 2 2 0
Young p 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 1 1 0 0
Eichhorn p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
35 4 10 4 2 1 0 2 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 27 9 2 0
Seals AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Larkin ss 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .387 1 1 0 0
Alomar,R 2b 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 1 3 0 0
Mathews 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 1 3 0 0
DiMaggio cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .368 4 0 0 0
Smith,Reg rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .320 1 1 1 0
Bagwell 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .121 5 0 0 0
Williams,K lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 3 0 0 0
Lombardi c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .207 11 0 0 1
Mathewson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Gardner,J ph 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .179 0 0 0 0
Jackson,M p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Powell,B ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Garber p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Shantz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
30 2 3 1 1 1 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 27 8 1 1
Blue Wave INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Young W 2-0 8.0 3 2 2 3 4 120 70 31 0 0 0 1 0 2.66
Eichhorn S 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 3.27
9.0 3 2 2 3 5 134 81 34 0 0 0 1 0
Seals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Mathewson 6.0 6 2 2 2 4 100 60 24 0 0 0 0 1 2.57
Jackson,M L 0-2 2.0 2 1 1 0 3 26 19 9 0 0 1 0 0 5.14
Garber 0.2 2 1 1 0 2 17 13 4 0 0 0 0 0 2.25
Shantz 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 9 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
9.0 10 4 4 2 10 152 98 38 0 0 1 0 1
SFS: Gardner,J batted for Mathewson in the 6th
Powell,B batted for Jackson,M in the 8th
GWRBI: Olerud
Temperature: 49, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 4 MPH.
The Battle for First
The
Blue Wave and the Seals square off for the second pair of the four-game
set, with the Orix squad leading the division by a single game.
It's Higashio vs. Coveleski in game one, and Stan gets the better of
the matchup as the Seals prevail easily, 6-1. Boog Powell, filling in
for the severely slumping Jeff Bagwell, keyed a third inning rally with
a run scoring base knock and the Seals never looked back after that.
Stan improves to 2-0 with a fine 1.96 ERA with the win. Higashio loses
his first decision.
4/17/2004, OBW05-SFS05, Seals Stadium (1950-57)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2005 Blue Wave 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 1 7 2
2005 Seals 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 x 6 8 1 5 0
Blue Wave AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Olerud 1b 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271 11 1 0 0
Maris rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .277 2 0 0 0
Ripken ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .260 2 3 0 0
Tatsunami 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .409 2 6 0 0
Drake,V cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 2 0 0 0
Johnson,Ch c 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 3 1 0 0
Bonds,Bo ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 0 0 0 0
Pafko lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .375 2 0 0 0
Justice ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .235 0 0 0 0
Devlin 3b 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 0 1 1 0
Bonilla ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182 0 0 0 0
Higashio p 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0
Fujimoto p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0 0
34 1 6 1 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 13 1 0
Seals AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Gardner,J rf 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 2 0 0 0
Larkin ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .351 2 4 1 0
Smith,Reg lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 3 0 0 0
DiMaggio cf 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .388 3 0 0 0
Mathews 3b 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 0 3 0 0
Powell,B 1b 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100 6 1 0 0
Bagwell 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .105 2 0 0 0
Alomar,R 2b 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .174 1 0 0 0
Lombardi c 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237 6 0 0 0
Kling c 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 2 0 0 0
Coveleski p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Williams,K ph 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .063 0 0 0 0
Shantz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
30 6 8 6 0 0 2 3 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 27 8 1 0
Blue Wave INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Higashio L 0-1 7.0 8 6 4 1 3 103 64 31 2 0 1 0 1 5.14
Fujimoto 1.0 0 0 0 2 0 16 7 4 0 0 0 0 1 3.18
8.0 8 6 4 3 3 119 71 35 2 0 1 0 2
Seals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Coveleski W 2-0 7.0 6 1 1 1 6 101 63 28 0 0 0 0 0 1.96
Shantz 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 24 17 7 0 0 0 0 0 3.24
9.0 6 1 1 1 8 125 80 35 0 0 0 0 0
OBW: Bonds,Bo batted for Johnson,Ch in the 9th
Justice batted for Pafko in the 9th
Bonilla batted for Devlin in the 9th
SFS: Williams,K batted for Coveleski in the 7th
Bagwell inserted at 1b in the 8th
Kling inserted at c in the 8th
GWRBI: Powell,B
Temperature: 47, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 11 MPH.
The Blue Wave Surges Back
In game four of this set, the Wave slugged their way to a 10-6 victory
in a back and forth contest. Souvenirs were provided by John Olerud,
Cal Ripken, Masayuki Kakefu, and Valetin Drake on the Orix side, and by
Schnozz Lombardi, Joe D., and a pair by Roberto Alomar for the Seals.
Suffice to say that this was not a pitcher's duel.
Nevertheless, Mark
Langston managed to survive the entire game and collect the victory,
his first, while Lefty Gomez continued his struggle for the Seals,
dropping his second straight decision, raising his ERA to an
impressive 10.13.
This win puts the Blue Wave atop the Pacific Division of the Union
League with a 9-4 mark. The Seals occupy second place in the division
at 8-5. Scoreboard results in from Seattle confirm a split there with
Tokyo, putting the remaining two teams of the Pacific Division at
Seattle 6-7 and Tokyo 5-8.
4/18/2004, OBW05-SFS05, Seals Stadium (1950-57)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2005 Blue Wave 3 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 10 13 0 6 1
2005 Seals 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 8 1 5 1
Blue Wave AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Olerud 1b 3 1 3 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .314 9 0 0 0
Ripken ss 5 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273 0 2 0 0
Maris rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .260 3 0 0 0
Tatsunami 2b 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .346 1 3 0 0
Kakefu 3b 5 2 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 0 2 0 0
Maddox cf 5 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 2 0 0 0
Drake,V lf 5 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271 5 0 0 0
Brown,IM c 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 7 2 0 1
Langston p 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 0 0 0 0
38 10 13 10 2 0 4 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 27 9 0 1
Seals AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Larkin ss 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .317 1 2 0 0
Alomar,R 2b 5 3 3 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .216 2 3 0 0
Smith,Reg rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .205 1 0 1 0
DiMaggio cf 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .377 4 0 0 0
Bagwell 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .098 11 0 0 0
Mathews 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .204 0 4 0 0
Williams,K lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .050 4 1 0 0
Lombardi c 4 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 4 1 0 0
Gomez p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Franco ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 0 0 0 0
Higuera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Garber p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Gardner,J ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .194 0 0 0 0
Shantz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Boyer ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 0 0 0 0
35 6 8 6 0 1 4 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 11 1 0
Blue Wave INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Langston W 1-0 9.0 8 6 6 3 6 147 80 38 4 0 0 0 1 5.40
9.0 8 6 6 3 6 147 80 38 4 0 0 0 1
Seals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Gomez L 0-2 4.0 8 5 5 2 1 76 45 22 2 0 1 0 0 10.13
Higuera 0.2 4 4 4 0 1 22 16 6 1 0 0 0 0 7.20
Garber 2.1 1 1 1 0 1 27 20 8 1 0 0 0 0 3.24
Shantz 2.0 0 0 0 2 0 30 18 7 0 0 0 0 1 2.61
9.0 13 10 10 4 3 155 99 43 4 0 1 0 1
SFS: Franco batted for Gomez in the 4th
Gardner,J batted for Garber in the 7th
Boyer batted for Shantz in the 9th
GWRBI: Drake,V
Temperature: 54, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: left to right at 7 MPH.
