"The Naturals" Keeper League Season 6 - Farewell ATG II!!

[ArrylT]

[b:c4c214342c]AT Press: [i:c4c214342c]Semi Finals - Savoy Specials vs. Folsom Prison Blues[/i:c4c214342c][/b:c4c214342c]

Overshadowed by the possibility of a playoff fix by legendary Ty Cobb is the news that Johnny Cash has been sent back to solitary, after the Folsom Prison Blues were outdueled by the Savoy Specials in the critical Game V.

It was another pitching duel, between Mike Scott & Mike Garcia, although this time it was more of a duel than a hitters fiesta. However the result was still the same as Scott beat Garcia for the 2nd time in the Semi Finals.

Scott pitched brilliantly, as he only allowed 3 hits while K'ing 10 batters. Garcia did not pitch too poorly, but trouble in the first gave the Specials all the points they would need, and the long 1st inning wore Garcia down as the game went on, forcing the Blues to turn to their pen while Scott continued to mow down Prison Guards left & right. Morgan failed to hold the Specials batters, and with Scott pitching as dominantly as he was the 3-0 deficit was simply too much for the Folsom Prison squad.

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=982]Specials 3 Blues 0[/url]

[ROBERTFIELD]

I, uhh...I've never even heard of Ty Cobb... :oops:

[ArrylT]

[b:4544b9ed2c]AT Press: [i:4544b9ed2c]Pre-Series Commentary + Awards[/i:4544b9ed2c][/b:4544b9ed2c]

Commissioner Arryl Tremaine has announced the MVPs of the Semi-Finals in a press conference held earlier today.

MVP of the Peaches/Step Children Series: Mel Ott

MVP of the Specials/Blues Series: Mike Scott

Although the Specials have homefield advantage, and won almost 50 games at home, the odds on favourite for this series are the Peaches, who have already shown they can win on the road come crunch time, and have taken the regular season series 8-4.

However the Specials do have a very strong staff, and Scott is coming off an impressive performance. If the Specials can hang on long enough to get Scott 2 starts, they may very well take the Series.

[doc x]

Unfortunately for the Specials, Mickey Cochrane has been reduced to watching the finals from his hospital bed as he has been wiped out for the playoffs.

Let's hope Tony Pena is up to the task and the playoff pressure doesn't get the best of him! :wink:

[ArrylT]

[b:eb620fee65]AT Press: [i:eb620fee65]Georgia Peaches Right At Home in Savoy[/i:eb620fee65][/b:eb620fee65]

It was a rough night if you were a Specials fan, in Game I. The Georgia Peaches, energized from their knockoff of the Step Children, came into Forbes Field with guns-a-blazing!

The Peaches started the scoring off early, and often, driving in 3 runs in the 1st inning, and then chasing Russo from the game in the 3rd inning with an 8 run barrage. The normally unflappable Eddie Collins was partially to blame, as he made a costly errior that allowed the Peaches to continue their onslaught.

The Specials finally got on board with 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th, but the Peaches roared right back in the 5th with another devestating assault, scoring 4 more runs and putting the game completely out of reach. Every Peaches batter scored at least 1 run, and only Milt May was held hitless.

The Savoy Specials were definitely going to have to revamp their pitching & defense (2 errors) if they were to keep from being swept!

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=983]Peaches 15 Specials 3[/url]

[ArrylT]

[b:2014849bdb]AT Press: [i:2014849bdb]Sheriff Babe singlehandedly stops the TyCobb Gang![/i:2014849bdb][/b:2014849bdb]

The Savoy Specials were able to obtain a split for the first two games of the series, when Babe Adams took matters into his own hands and pitched a Complete Game Shutout.

The Sheriff only allowed 3 gang members the opportunity to get on base, giving up 2 measly hits and 1 walk. The Specials offense wasn't very spectacular, scoring the same amount of runs as they did in Game I, but 3 runs looks a lot bigger when it is a 3-0 shutout, as opposed to a 15-3 shellacking.

Eddie Collins made up for his error from the previous game by getting on-base several times, making great defensive plays, and scoring the winning run.

However the Specials are going to have to increase their offensive output, with or without Cochrane, as the Peaches are pretty tough at home, and have proven they have a ton of firepower.

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=984]Specials 3 Peaches 0[/url]

[ArrylT]

[b:a4f427a8db]AT Press: [i:a4f427a8db]Hubbell's 10 inning effort not enough to stop Specials[/i:a4f427a8db][/b:a4f427a8db]

The Savoy Specials were able to take the lead for the first time in the series, with strong pitching & a late rally. Although Carl Hubbell outlasted Mike Scott, he may have lasted too long, and weakened just enough to allow the Specials to exploit.

Going into the top of the 9th, the Peaches were leading 2-0. Hubbell shrugged off HALs call to the bullpen, wanting to close out the win as a complete game shutout. However a bad pitch to pinch hitting Koenig resulted in a jaw-dropping HR to tie the game at 2-2.

The Peaches were unable to rally effectively in the bottom half of the inning, and the very next inning Lou Gehrig destroyed another Hubbell pitch for the game winning HR & RBI.

One can only wonder why HAL let Hubbell ignore him, and especially why he did not call the pen in to begin the 10th.

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=985]Specials 3 Peaches 2[/url]

[ArrylT]

[b:33383ecf01]AT Press: [i:33383ecf01]Three Runs not enough![/i:33383ecf01][/b:33383ecf01]

For the 5th consecutive game, the Specials have only scored 3 runs. And for the 2nd time this series, 3 runs was not enough for the Specials to earn a win.

The Peaches shook off the back-to-back wins by the Specials, and their brief inability to score runs (2 in 2 games) to score in 4 seperate innings and rallied every time the Specials scored.

This time HAL was more aggressive, and after Hughson started to struggle in the 8th, called in Gerber, who only gave up 1 hit in 1 1/3 innings to earn the save and give Hughson his first victory of the playoffs.

The Specials are hanging in there, so it will be interesting to see if their pitching will dominate in remaining best of 3, but experts beleive that if they do not start scoring more runs, the potent Peaches lineup will eventually triumph, as seen in Game I. The Peaches averaged 4.8 runs per game during the season, compared to 4.1 for the Specials.

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=986]Peaches 5 Specials 3[/url]

[ArrylT]

[b:0b7c560c32]AT Press: [i:0b7c560c32]Peaches offense ignites for key Game V Win![/i:0b7c560c32][/b:0b7c560c32]

Well as predicted by the experts, the Peaches offense would wake up sooner rather than later, and oh boy did they ever get into a groove last night!

6 Home runs including a grand slam, and 2 9 run outbursts allowed the Peaches to completely ruin the Specials plan to party to celebrate the fact that they scored more than 3 runs in a game.

Mickey Mantle was the key culprit as he belted 3 of the 6 HR and drove in 6 runs. And his grand slam in the 4th completely took away any chance the Specials had of rallying, especially considering their inability to score.

Things are looking grim for the Specials, as Russo, a pitcher who was previously shellacked by the Peaches, needs to win Game VI if the Specials are to have any hope of winning the Series. But the Specials are at home, so if their defense & pitching can step it up a notch, and their offense continues to (slowly) improve, there is still hope.

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=987]Peaches 21 Specials 4[/url]

[ArrylT]

[b:98a5b84fb3]AT Press: [i:98a5b84fb3]Failure to score 3 is costly for Savoy Specials[/i:98a5b84fb3][/b:98a5b84fb3]

'The Naturals' World Series closed out with a classic game, an extra-innings nailbiter. Some fans even had to chew their toenails!

The Peaches scored first, off of an error by Flood, the Specials CF. However Savoy tied the game in the next inning, when Pete Rose outhustled an infield grounder, and Gehrig was able to beat the throw to the plate.

Rudy York belted a solo home run in the 6th to re-gain the lead for Georgia, but the Specials tied it again in the 8th.

They could have won it in the 8th, if it had not been for some sloppy baserunning. Pinch-hitting Koenig earned a single, but when he tried to score from first on an Eddie Collins double, he was thrown out. Gehrig & Trammell walked to load the bases with 2 outs. Curt Flood redeemed himself with an RBI Single, scoring Collins, but Gehrig killed the rally when he tried to score from 2nd and was also thrown out.

Those miscues, and the failure to score 3 runs would be costly for the Savoy Specials. Neither team was able to do anything in the 9th inning, so the game went into extra-innings, and sudden death for the Specials.

In the 11th inning Fryman relieved G. Nelson, and quickly struck out York on 3 pitches, and Meusel grounded out after 2. Maybe the ease at how he was getting batters out made Fryman over-confident, and forget the painful lesson from the Semi Finals.

With 2 outs, up came Milt May, who had 4.8 Natural HR Chances vs. LHP. Unfortunately for Fryman and the Specials, his 4th pitch of the at-bat, and 9th of the inning, was a little too over the plate, and May jumped on it like a bat out of hell & smashed a home run to deep right field.

Flood tried to start a rally in the bottom of the 10th, but Georgia quickly called upon Archie McKain and he got Pete Rose to fly out to end the game & the World Series.

Congratulations World Champion Georgia Peaches!

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/playoffs/boxscore.html?group_id=33072&g_id=988]Peaches 3 Specials 2[/url]