The Big Unit & The Big Boppers!

Iron City Base Ball

by "Shakey" McGuiness
Legends League correspondent

St. Louis (ATL) In a face-off between two of the Legends League's Division leaders, a hero from last year's post season and a newcomer stole the show as the visiting Bucs came away with a nail biter of a win. The Big Unit, or as he's more mundanely known, Randy Johnson, faced down the Murderer's Row that the Stars trot out every day and came away intact. Johnson limited the wallbangers from St. Louis to five singles and four walks over eight scoreless frames. He also racked up 10 K's, punctuating the effort nicely. That takes care of last year's post season star. The newcomer was one Norman "Turkey" Stearnes. The Bucs' rightfielder scored the tying run and later accounted for an important insurance tally in solo fashion when he went deep on Mitsuhiro Adachi. Even so, the Japanese import acquitted himself quite nicely even while absorbing his first loss of the season, allowing only 5 hits and 2 walks in his 7 innings of work.

Turkey started the first rally off with a line single to right in the top of the 5th. Judy Johnson, enjoying a solid season after riding the pine last year, then worked out a 5 pitch walk from the St. Louis hurler. Adachi was on the verge of escaping any damage after getting Hartnett to fly out deep to Williams in left (although Stearnes did advance on the play) and whiffing Johnson. But Henry "Scooter" Kimbro, who has been mired in a long slump, came through with a clutch base knock, plating Stearnes and giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Johnson pitched in and out of trouble several times, most notably in the sixth, when he found himself in a bases loaded, one out jam. The Iron Horse was facing him in the batter's box and Eddie Mathews was taking some menacing practice swings in the on deck circle. Not a good situation to find yourself in if you're wearing the black and gold, to say the least. But The Unit whiffed Gehrig on a nasty full count slider, then got Mathews on a comebacker to end the threat.

After eight frames and 132 pitches Johnson was running on fumes, so Troy Percival was called upon to the save the day. Which he did, but not before pinch hitter Vic Harris put a scare into the Pirates after the first two batters had been put down. The speedy Harris beat out an infield single to bring the tying run to the plate for the top of the lineup. Percival then whiffed Tony Phillips looking to end the game however, leaving Vic to become the tenth man left on base by the Stars in this game.

This was the first time these two teams faced off this season, but by the looks of it, there's gonna be some memorable battles to come!

Box


5/17/2005, PPL06-SLL06, Sportsman's Park (1920-66)
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2006 Pirates           0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  0     2  5  0     4  0
2006 Stars             0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  6  0    10  0
 
Pirates              AB  R  H BI   AVG    Stars                AB  R  H BI   AVG
Kimbro            cf  4  0  1  1  .264    Phillips          2b  5  0  1  0  .193       
Delahanty,E       lf  4  0  0  0  .253    Schang            c   3  0  0  0  .218       
Lloyd             ss  4  0  0  0  .292    Mantle            cf  4  0  2  0  .324       
Hornsby           2b  3  0  1  0  .377    Williams,T        lf  3  0  2  0  .295       
 McDougald        2b  0  0  0  0  .444    Gehrig            1b  3  0  0  0  .331       
Mize              1b  4  0  0  0  .248    Mathews,E         3b  4  0  0  0  .262       
 Percival         p   0  0  0  0  .000    Coimbre           rf  3  0  0  0  .313       
Stearnes          rf  4  2  2  1  .313     Vaughan          ph  1  0  0  0  .287       
Johnson,J         3b  2  0  1  0  .292    Bancroft          ss  4  0  0  0  .171       
 Francis          3b  0  0  0  0  .167    Adachi            p   2  0  0  0  .000       
Hartnett          c   3  0  0  0  .257     Martinez,E       ph  0  0  0  0  .182       
Johnson,R         p   3  0  0  0  .240     Howe             p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 O'Neill,B        1b  0  0  0  0  .182     Harris,V         ph  1  0  1  0  .222       
                     31  2  5  2                               33  0  6  0             
 
Pirates                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Johnson,R        W 4-2           8.0  5  0  0  4 10 132  79  3.22
Percival         S 8             1.0  1  0  0  0  1  23  11  2.93
                                 9.0  6  0  0  4 11 155  90 
 
Stars                            INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Adachi           L 1-1           7.0  5  2  2  2  1  86  56  3.00
Howe                             2.0  0  0  0  0  1  14  11  4.57
                                 9.0  5  2  2  2  2 100  67 
 
PPL: McDougald inserted at 2b in the 9th
     Francis inserted at 3b in the 9th
     O'Neill,B inserted at 1b in the 9th
SLL: Martinez,E batted for Adachi in the 7th
     Vaughan batted for Coimbre in the 9th
     Harris,V batted for Howe in the 9th
 
3B-Johnson,J. HR-Stearnes(6). CS-Stearnes. K-Stearnes, Johnson,R, Phillips 2, 
Schang 2, Mantle, Gehrig 2, Coimbre 3, Bancroft. BB-Hornsby, Johnson,J, 
Schang, Williams,T, Gehrig, Martinez,E. 
GWRBI: Kimbro
Temperature: 77, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 2 MPH.
5/17/2005, PPL06-SLL06, Sportsman's Park (1920-66)
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2006 Pirates           0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  0     2  5  0     4  0
2006 Stars             0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  6  0    10  0
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Score O Rnr BS  Event
----- - --- --  -----
 
**************  Top of the 1st inning, Pirates batting
 0-0  0 --- 11  Kimbro flied out to center (BCX)
 0-0  1 --- 00  Delahanty,E grounded out to third (X)
 0-0  2 --- 01  Lloyd popped out to second (CX)
 
**************  Bottom of the 1st inning, Stars batting
 0-0  0 --- 22  Phillips struck out (CBFBC)
 0-0  1 --- 02  Schang struck out (CFC)
 0-0  2 --- 00  Mantle grounded out to third (X)
 
**************  Top of the 2nd inning, Pirates batting
 0-0  0 --- 32  Hornsby lined a single to shallow right (BFBBFX)
 0-0  0 1-- 02  Mize flied out to right (CFX)
 0-0  1 1-- 00  Stearnes grounded to third, forcing Hornsby at second, 
                  Stearnes to first (X)
 0-0  2 1-- 00  Stearnes was caught stealing second (>C)
 
**************  Bottom of the 2nd inning, Stars batting
 0-0  0 --- 01  Williams,T lined a single to right center (CX)
 0-0  0 1-- 22  Gehrig struck out (CBBCS)
 0-0  1 1-- 12  Mathews,E grounded to first, forcing Williams,T at 
                  second, Mathews,E to first (CBSFX)
 0-0  2 1-- 32  Coimbre struck out (BFFBB>C)
 
**************  Top of the 3rd inning, Pirates batting
 0-0  0 --- 00  Johnson,J tripled deep to right center (X)
 0-0  0 --3 12  Hartnett grounded out to short (CBFX)
 0-0  1 --3 00  Johnson,R bunted into an out to third, Johnson,J out at 
                  home, Johnson,R to first (Xb)
 0-0  2 1-- 12  Kimbro flied out to right (CFFFFBX)
 
**************  Bottom of the 3rd inning, Stars batting
 0-0  0 --- 21  Bancroft grounded out to third (CBBX)
 0-0  1 --- 12  Adachi popped out to second (BSFX)
 0-0  2 --- 01  Phillips popped out to center (CX)
 
**************  Top of the 4th inning, Pirates batting
 0-0  0 --- 00  Delahanty,E grounded out to first (X)
 0-0  1 --- 32  Lloyd grounded out to second (CBBBFX)
 0-0  2 --- 31  Hornsby walked (BBCBB)
 0-0  2 1-- 01  Mize flied out to right (CX)
 
**************  Bottom of the 4th inning, Stars batting
 0-0  0 --- 12  Schang grounded out to short (BSSFX)
 0-0  1 --- 02  Mantle struck out (SSS)
 0-0  2 --- 12  Williams,T lined a single to left (FBCX)
 0-0  2 1-- 32  Gehrig walked, Williams,T to second (SFBBB>B)
 0-0  2 12- 11  Mathews,E grounded out to second (BFX)
 
**************  Top of the 5th inning, Pirates batting
 0-0  0 --- 11  Stearnes lined a single to right center (BCX)
 0-0  0 1-- 31  Johnson,J walked, Stearnes to second (CBBBB)
 0-0  0 12- 01  Hartnett flied out to right, Stearnes to third (CX)
 0-0  1 1-3 02  Johnson,R struck out (FSC)
 0-0  2 1-3 31  Kimbro lined a single to right center, Stearnes scored, 
                  Johnson,J to third (BBCBX)
 1-0  2 1-3 11  Delahanty,E grounded to short, forcing Kimbro at second 
                  (CBX)
 
**************  Bottom of the 5th inning, Stars batting
 1-0  0 --- 22  Coimbre struck out (SBCBS)
 1-0  1 --- 11  Bancroft grounded out to third (BSX)
 1-0  2 --- 12  Adachi grounded out to third (BCSX)
 
**************  Top of the 6th inning, Pirates batting
 1-0  0 --- 21  Lloyd grounded out to first (CBBX)
 1-0  1 --- 11  Hornsby flied out to center (BFX)
 1-0  2 --- 20  Mize grounded out to second (BBX)
 
**************  Bottom of the 6th inning, Stars batting
 1-0  0 --- 10  Phillips flied out to right (BX)
 1-0  1 --- 30  Schang walked (BBBB)
 1-0  1 1-- 31  Mantle grounded a single between third and short, Schang 
                  to second (BBSB+1X)
 1-0  1 12- 31  Williams,T walked, Schang to third, Mantle to second 
                  (BSBBB)
 1-0  1 123 32  Gehrig struck out (BCCFBBS)
 1-0  2 123 22  Mathews,E grounded out to the mound (BCCBX)
 
**************  Top of the 7th inning, Pirates batting
 1-0  0 --- 11  Stearnes homered deep to right (FBX)
 2-0  0 --- 00  Johnson,J grounded out to short (X)
 2-0  1 --- 02  Hartnett flied out to center (FFX)
 2-0  2 --- 21  Johnson,R grounded out to short (CBBX)
 
**************  Bottom of the 7th inning, Stars batting
 2-0  0 --- 22  Coimbre struck out (CBBCC)
 2-0  1 --- 22  Bancroft struck out (CCBBS)
                Martinez,E pinch hitting for Adachi
 2-0  2 --- 31  Martinez,E walked (BBFBB)
 2-0  2 1-- 00  Phillips lined a single to right center, Martinez,E to 
                  third (X)
 2-0  2 1-3 22  Schang struck out (BCCBS)
 
**************  Top of the 8th inning, Pirates batting
                Howe now pitching
 2-0  0 --- 22  Kimbro flied out to left (CBCBFX)
 2-0  1 --- 00  Delahanty,E flied out to left (X)
 2-0  2 --- 00  Lloyd flied out to right (X)
 
**************  Bottom of the 8th inning, Stars batting
 2-0  0 --- 12  Mantle grounded a single up the middle (FSBX)
 2-0  0 1-- 32  Williams,T popped out to third (BFBBSX)
 2-0  1 1-- 00  Gehrig flied out to center (X)
 2-0  2 1-- 01  Mathews,E flied out to right (CX)
 
**************  Top of the 9th inning, Pirates batting
 2-0  0 --- 00  Hornsby flied out to left (X)
 2-0  1 --- 00  Mize flied out to left (X)
 2-0  2 --- 12  Stearnes struck out (BCCS)
 
**************  Bottom of the 9th inning, Stars batting
                McDougald now playing second base
                Percival now pitching
                Francis now playing third base
                O'Neill,B now playing first base
                Vaughan pinch hitting for Coimbre
 2-0  0 --- 32  Vaughan grounded out to third (BCBSBX)
 2-0  1 --- 31  Bancroft popped out to third (BBSBX)
                Harris,V pinch hitting for Howe
 2-0  2 --- 32  Harris,V reached on an infield single to first (BBCBFX)
 2-0  2 1-- 32  Phillips struck out (CBBSB>C)