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Y4L Total Classic Games. Work In Progress


Yankee4Life

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Much appreciated for the presentation. Nice choice of teams and I like the fact that you gave a little bit of history about each team. Thanks again.

This was my intention on all four pages of this thread. Well, it was twofold really. I wanted to get better playing this game, especially during the time I was actually playing people online. I haven't done that in awhile now. I enjoyed giving histories of each team and spotlighting players. It was also my way of promoting the Total Classics series to the younger users on here. I really think that with all the updates that Total Classics has had since this site started, these younger guys have more knowledge of baseball.

But since this is me, I can not stop this thread on this note. I can not have the Red Sox play the final game in this thread. So I am forced sometime this week to play one more game in this series and then call it a day for this thread because it may have taken its course.

So expect sometime this week the Yankees to be playing against someone in this thread.

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Well, this is it, the final game that will be played in my Total Classic games thread. I will be moving back to the biased BSE thread again and the next featured game will be detailed in that thread.

This game features the 1934 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals against the 1939 World Champion New York Yankees.

CPU 1934 St. Louis Cardinals vs Y4L 1939 New York Yankees

New York 10, St. Louis 1

WP: Red Ruffing

LP: Dizzy Dean

Game played on zoom field view and in Classic Yankee Stadium.

It just goes to show that if you get your pitches up to the elite hitters of the game, it will not matter how good of a pitcher you are because you are just not going to get away with it. Dizzy Dean learned that today as his location failed him during his 5 1/3 inning stint against the Yankees which lead to a 10 - 1 Yankee victory. Joe Dimaggio went 3 for 5 on the day with two runs scored and five RBI, all off of Dean. Red Rolfe and Frankie Crosetti also had three hits apiece as the Yankees pounded out sixteen hits on three Cardinal pitchers.

The only run of the game for St. Louis was scored in the sixth inning when Pepper Martin doubled and scored on Joe "Ducky" Medwick's single. Other than that, Ruffing was in full command as he went seven innings and gave up six hits, one run and struck out seven.

The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals were one of baseball's most famous teams. This team is better known as The Gas House Gang. There are three different versions of how the Cardinals got this name. One is from a New York sportswriter, who called them "the gang from around the gashouse" because they showed up for a game with dirty uniforms. This web page right here goes into detail about the Cardinals during the Gas House era. One other explanation about the origination of the Gas House term comes from Durocher himself as he was one day talking about the possibility of winning the 1934 pennant. He was talking about who they would play in the American League and he stated that "they would let us (the Cardinals) play in that league because we were a bunch of Gas House ballplayers." Choose any version you want, but the term Gas House Gang was born and it lives on through baseball history to this day. The Cardinals were a good hitting team lead by first baseman Ripper Collins who hit 35 home runs, had 128 RBI and hit .333. Joe Medwick at .319, 18, 106 was not far behind. This was an excellent hitting ballclub. The pitching was lead by 24 year old righthander Dizzy Dean, 30-7, 2.66 ERA, 195 strikeouts and seven shutouts. His brother Paul "Daffy" Dean won 19 games for the Cardinals. St. Louis won the World Series in seven games over the Detroit Tigers. The 1939 New York Yankees were a powerful team. The fourth Yankee team in as many years to win the World Series (1936, 37, 38 and 39), this team had a phenomenal record of 106 - 45 and won the pennant in 1939 by 17 games over Boston. This was an evenly balanced attack that the Yankees threw at you in 1939 as four players had over 100 RBI. Bill Dickey had 105, Joe Gordon had 111, George Selkirk had 101 and the Yankee Clipper Joe Dimaggio had 126. Dimaggio also hit .381 with 30 homeruns. The Yankee pitching was lead by 34 year old Red Ruffing, 20 - 7 with a 2.93 ERA. Their team pitching was the best in the league with a 3.31 ERA. No other Yankee won over thirteen games but six different pitchers had ten or more wins. The Yankees won the World Series in 1939 over the Cincinnati Reds in four straight games.

BOX SCORE LINK

VIDEOS

1. Dimaggio singles in two runs in the third.

2. Durocher pops out to end the game.

Screenshots

Here's a great view of Classic Yankee Stadium thanks to our wonderful modders in here.

Dizzy Dean, 30 game winner in 1934, Hall of Fame member in 1953.

Joe Dimaggio. Career .325 hitter. Dimaggio would lead the Yankee attack in this game.

Bottom of the second, Babe Dahlgren grounds to Collins at first while Dean covers the bag.

The hit that started it: Red Rolfe triples in the third inning off of Dean.

Top of the sixth, Pepper Martin doubles to the right field corner. He would later score the only Cardinal run of the game in this same inning.

Red Rolfe scores on Dimaggio's hit in the sixth inning. The Yankees would score four runs in this inning to lead 9 - 1.

Lou Gehrig. This was Gehrig's last year as a player because of ALS. He would die in 1941.

Gehrig's pinch hit for Ruffing in the seventh was not successful as he hit a broken bat groundout to second.

Jonathan Leonard Roosevelt Martin. The Wild Horse of the Osage. Pepper Martin was a quintessential St. Louis Cardinal. He came to play, he came to beat you and he came to win.

Frankie Crosetti bobbles this grounder momentarily by Ernie Orsatti in the ninth and is charged with an error.

Here's Leo Durocher moments before he pops out to first to end the game. Durocher was a slick fielding shortstop in his day and he became a very good and successful manager as he lead the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to pennants. He also managed the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994.

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  • 8 months later...

I know I said back in February that I played my final game in this thread, but when I played my latest game in the BSE series, something happened in that game that made me move the game to this thread.

I played the 1951 Yankees at the 1951 Reds using the brand new Crosley Field Classic by Paulw. It was my intention to kick the Reds around in that game just as much as I do to the Red Sox. After all, what the hell have the Reds ever done?

Instead, Edmund Walter Lopatynski, better known as Eddie Lopat pitched a perfect game for the '51 Yankees. That's why I decided to move the details of this game to this thread.

1951 New York Yankees vs CPU 1951 Cincinnati Reds

New York 4, Cincinnati 0

WP: Eddie Lopat

LP: Ken Raffensberger

HR: Jerry Coleman, two run homer in the fourth.

Game played on zoom field view and in Crosley Field Classic by Paulw.

Eddie Lopat did it. Twenty-seven up and twenty-seven down. But of course it wasn't as easy as it sounds. Lopat struck out nine Reds, including Joe Adcock twice and Ted Kluszewski once. The only two legitimate chances of the Reds getting on base off Lopat is when two short flies were hit to right field off the bat of Dixie Howell in the 5th and 8th innings. Both were easily caught as rookie outfielder Mickey Mantle ran a few steps in to make the plays. And that was basically that. Lopat was ahead of the hitters all day, throwing strikes and never giving in.

The Yankees scored all their runs in the fourth inning with two outs. A Gil McDougald double drove in a run and Jerry Coleman hit a knee high fastball over the left field wall to drive in the final two runs of the inning.

The Yankees had chances for more runs but hit into five double plays in the game. Lopat's perfect pitching made that a moot point.

The 1951 New York Yankees won the pennant by five games over the Cleveland Indians and beat the New York Giants in the World Series in six games. 1951 was Joe Dimaggio's last year and Mickey Mantle's first year. In 1951 they also won their third World Series in a row and would go on to win it again in 1952 and 1953, a record for most series victories in a row. American League Most Valuable Player Yogi Berra hit .294 with 27 homeruns and 88 RBI, his first of three MVP's he would win. The Yankees hit 140 home runs as a team which was first in the American League that year. That stat just shows how much baseball has changed. No other Yankee hit more than 15 homeruns. The Yankees pitching that year had a 3.56 ERA, good for third in the league.The two aces were Vic Raschi who went 21-10 with a 3.27 ERA and Eddie Lopat at 21-9 with a 2.91 ERA.

The 1951 Cincinnati Reds finished 28 1/2 games behind the pennant winning New York Giants. They had a team batting average of .248 which was good for last in the National League. This team featured up and coming power hitters such as Ted Kluszewski and Joe Adcock Both would go on to have successful careers. Cincinnati's pitching checked in with a 3.70 ERA which was second in the National League. But due to their lack of hitting it doomed them to a second division finish. Ken Raffensberger was 16-17 with a 3.44 ERA and Ewell Blackwell was 16-15 with a 3.44 ERA to lead the Reds staff.

BOX SCORE LINK OF THE PERFECT GAME.

Screenshots

Eddie Lopat on the mound. Little did he know he'd make history in today's game against the hometown Reds.

On a questionable call here in the top of the second, Joe Dimaggio is called out at second base to complete a double play.

Top of the fourth now. Yogi Berra gets it started with a double to right center field between the outfielders.

Reds pitcher Ken Raffensberger hung a fastball to Jerry Coleman and Coleman deposited it into the left field bleachers. 4 - 0 New York.

Top of the 8th. Virgil Stallcup is upended by Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto and is unable to complete the throw to first for the double play. Stallcup remained in the game while Rizzuto was removed due to injury.

Last batter in the bottom of the ninth and Cincy's final hope is with Bobby Adams. He fares as well as the first twenty-six hitters as he grounds to second to end the game as Lopat records his final out of his perfect game.

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  • 2 years later...

I decided to jump back in here after two and one half years of inactivity. Originally I created this thread to post my practice results of when I was trying to learn the ins and outs of Mvp05. Then it morphed into a showcase of the teams in Total Classics. Would you believe when this thread started that Total Classics was only in Phase 2? We've really come a long way on this site.

CPU 1984 Detroit Tigers vs 1969 Atlanta Braves

Detroit 5, Atlanta 4 (13 innings)

WP: Willie Hernandez

LP: Paul Doyle

HR: Alan Trammell (2 run shot in the 8th)

Game played on zoom view and in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium.

Sparky Anderson had faith in Willie Hernandez in the 13th inning. With runners on first and second and nobody out, he sent Hernandez up with orders to bunt, with the hope that one of his hitters coming up after him could drive them in so Hernandez could go out for his third inning of work and wrap things up for the Tigers.

Just like everything the Tigers did in that magic year of 1984, this move worked perfectly as Hernandez dropped a perfectly placed bunt between first baseman Orlando Cepeda and reliever Paul Doyle. After a grounder to third base that froze the runners, Howard Johnson came up and on a 1-1 pitch, hit a line single to left scoring pinch runner Barbero Garbey with the winning run.

The Tigers used some late inning magic just to be able to be in the position to send this contest into extra innings. Atlanta jumped on starter Jack Morris for a 4 - 0 lead thanks to nine hits, three for extra bases off the usually stingy righthander. Meanwhile, Detroit had its hands full with knuckleballer Phil Niekro, who was shutting them out through the first seven innings on four hits. Detroit had a hard time catching up to Niekro's best pitch as they struck out eight times in the first seven frames.

But the Detroit eighth was different. Niekro's knuckler stopped dancing around. It didn't drop as fast. The bite wasn't there. Instead, the bite was in the Tiger bats as they hit three triples in the eighth inning (four total in the game) and Alan Trammell (4 for 6 on the day) topped it off by hitting a game tying home run deep in the left center field bleachers. From four runs down it was now tied at 4 - 4. That is until Willie Hernandez and Howard Johnson combined to make sure the Tigers walked away with another win in the 13th inning.

The Teams

The 1984 Detroit Tigers won the American League Eastern Division by 15 games over the Toronto Blue Jays with a 104-58 record. In 1984, they were never challenged and were never out of first place. How dominant were they? They started out winning their first nine straight of the season. After 40 games they were 35 - 5. That's dominance that each team in baseball would love to experience. Detroit had a .271 team batting average and they scored an average of 5.12 runs a game. Also, as a team they hit 187 home runs. with Lance Parrish hitting 33 of them. They showed you did not have to hit a huge amount of home runs in order to win.

Their team pitching had an ERA of 3.49 which was number one in the American League. They also lead the AL in saves with 51. Willie Hernandez alone recorded 32 of those saves as he had a record of 9 - 3 and a 1.92 ERA, good enough for the 1984 Cy Young award.

The Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS in three straight games and beat the San Diego Padres in five games in the World Series.

The 1969 Atlanta Braves won the first National League Western Division crown with a 93 - 69 record, which was three games better than the San Francisco Giants. 1969 of course, was the first year of divisional play. Atlanta won on pitching. They had a team ERA of 3.53 and recorded 42 saves, which was good for second in the N.L. The Braves had a team batting mark of .258 and only averaged 4.27 runs per game, not really that bad for that time period where pitchers were more dominant than they are today. Atlanta hit 141 home runs in 1969, which was third in the senior circuit and a man named Hank Aaron hit 44 of them all by himself.

In the newly created Championship series round introduced in 1969, the Braves lost in three quick games to the eventual 1969 World Series Champions, the New York Mets.

Screenshots

Atlanta starting pitcher Phil Niekro (23-13, 2.56 ERA in 1969.)

The fine double play combination of Alan Trammell at shortstop and Lou Whitaker at second base turns another double play for the appreciative pitching staff of the Tigers. This was one of the better DP combinations in all of baseball.

Phil Niekro's knuckleball fools Lance Parrish here.

Even though the Braves scored some runs off of Jack Morris, he was still hitting the corners when needed.

Phil Niekro's hit is just barely off the glove of Alan Trammell as the Braves take a quick 1 - 0 lead.

Alan Trammell (4 for 6 today) singles and Howard Johnson tries to score to tie the game at 1 - 1 but the Braves had other ideas. He's out.

For a big man, Kirk Gibson was pretty fast. Here he is beating out an infield hit.

Sonny Jackson did not hit much in 1969 (.239 average, 1 home run and 27 RBI) but in this game he somehow went 3 for 5 with a run scored. Here he his trying to score his second run of the game, which he was unsuccessful at.

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Detroit vs Atlanta, continued

It's a full house in Municipal Stadium in Kansas City to see the Braves and Tigers go at it.

Check out Lou Whitaker's follow through on his 8th inning triple off Phil Niekro. It just missed being a home run by inches.

Alan Trammell ties the game at 4 - 4 with his two run home run in the 8th off of Phil Niekro.

Sparky Anderson is taking out another pitcher. This time it's Aurelio Lopez. Can't blame him though because he's bring in Willie Hernandez.

After Braves manager Lum Harris took Phil Niekro out of the game, he replaced him with another knuckleballer named Hoyt Wilhelm.

Willie Hernandez lays down a perfect bunt to advance two runners in Detroit's lucky 13th.

And Howard Johnson singles to drive in Barbero Garbey...

...who was just itching to come in from third base to score.

Willie Hernandez celebrates Detroit's 5 -4 extra inning victory. Hernandez pitched three perfect innings of relief to earn the win.

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GO TIGERS, very nice, and my favorite team, the 84 squad. Nice write up Y4L, I knew you could be Tiger four a Night anyway T4N yea, i like the sound of that.

Didnt know about this thread either, im going to have to go through and read it up. Thanks!

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