Reds vs. Red Sox Game 2

Following the historical 1975 series, the Game 2 starters were Jack Billingham for Cincinnati and Bill Lee for Boston. Also, because Jim Rice was injured and did not play in the '75 Series, I'm not using him in the Red Sox lineup. That means for some of the games Carl Yastrzemski will play left field (as he did in the real Series), where he has a Fielding Rating of 98.

Pete Rose led off the game with a double and came around to score on Tony Perez's double later in the inning. The Reds held a 1-0 lead through the first four innings. In the top of the fifth, Rose lined a solo shot over the Green Monster. After retiring Morgan, Lee walked Bench and gave up a single to Perez. The Spaceman looked for a double play to get out of the jam, but instead George Foster blasted a three-run homer over the Monster to put the Reds up 5-0.

Doyle and Yastrzemski drew walks to start the Red Sox fifth. Both runners scored when Fisk followed with a double off the center field wall. Billingham retired the next three batters, but Sparky Anderson ended his night after that. With the lead down to three runs and his starter uncharacteristically wild (7 walks in 5 innings), the Reds manager brought in Will McEnaney for the sixth. The reliever posted zeroes in the next two innings, but gave up a single to Rico Petrocelli to start the eighth. Anderson then summoned rookie closer Rawly Eastwick to go for a six-out save. The Reds lead remained 5-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, when one-out hits by Cecil Cooper and Doyle brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Yastrzemski, who had tripled and drawn two walks thus far in this game. But the fireballing Eastwick squashed the threat by striking out Yaz and retiring Fisk on a line out.

Tied at one game apiece, the two teams head to Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati for Game 3. 

Game 2: Reds 5, Red Sox 2

Reds vs. Red Sox Game 1

The 1975 World Series is the next set of games I'll be playing with Book 3 of Diamond Legacies. Same as the historical series between Cincinnati and Boston that year, Game 1 took place at Fenway Park with Don Gullett pitching for the visitors and Luis Tiant taking the hill for the home team.

Carl Yastrzemski started the scoring early with a two-run blast into the right field bleachers in the first. Cincinnati got on the board in the third, when a Tiant error and two walks loaded the bases with one out. Johnny Bench hit a grounder to short and beat the throw to first to avoid a double play and allow Cesar Geronimo to score. Following a Joe Morgan single in the fifth, Bench doubled to drive in another run and tie the game. Morgan gave Cincinnati the lead in the seventh with an RBI single. 

With Gullett cruising, things were looking bleak for the fans at Fenway. In the bottom of the eighth, Yastrzemski batted with one out and Denny Doyle on first. With a dramatic swing, Yaz took Gullett deep again for another two-run homer into the right field seats. Tossing two scoreless innings in relief, Jim Burton was the winning pitcher for the Red Sox.

While Boston celebrates the late inning comeback, the Big Red Machine will be looking to even the series in Game 2 at Fenway.

Game 1: Red Sox 4, Reds 3

Yankees vs. Mets

The New York Mets squared off against the New York Yankees in a battle of third place teams. The pitching matchup featured NL Cy Young winner Tom Seaver against AL Cy Young runner up Catfish Hunter. The game took place at Shea Stadium, the home ballpark for both teams in 1975 while Yankee Stadium was being renovated.

Not surprisingly, this contest started out as a pitchers' duel. Rusty Staub homered in the fourth to put the Mets up 1-0. Elliott Maddox and Ed Herrmann led off the Yankee fifth with singles and Fred Stanley laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. With the Mets infield drawn in, Sandy Alomar grounded to third. Wayne Garrett fired to the plate, but Maddox slid under the tag with the tying run. The game remained deadlocked 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh. Maddox laced another single and advanced to third following a single by Alomar. With runners at the corners and two outs, Bobby Bonds connected for a deep fly that barely cleared the left field wall at Shea. 

Hunter cruised the rest of the way to close out the 4-1 win. Aside from the one mistake to Bonds, Seaver was terrific like usual--racking up 11 strikeouts and surrendering only 7 hits. Hunter was just a little better on this day, tossing a four-hit complete game with 8 strikeouts.

Yankees 4, Mets 1

Diamond Legacies Video

The public video on Diamond Legacies is now posted on Kurt Bergland's Baseball World. Thank you to Kurt for featuring my game on his channel!

Now Available: Diamond Legacies 1975

Volume 3 of the Diamond Legacies series is published! Rosters are provided for all of the major league teams in 1975.

Diamond Legacies 1975 is available as a paperback and as a Kindle e-book.

Diamond Legacies 1975: Second Game

For my next game with the 1975 teams, I went with Baltimore vs. California. The Orioles finished 2nd in the AL East that year and the Angels finished last in the AL West. The starting pitchers were Cy Young-winner Jim Palmer and fireballer Nolan Ryan. With these two Hall of Famers on the mound, a pitchers' duel seemed likely. And that's exactly what happened as both hurlers tossed complete games.

Palmer mowed down the Angels, racking up 13 Ks while surrendering only 7 hits. Unfortunately for Baltimore, Jerry Remy and Dave Chalk each belted unlikely solo home runs for the Halos. The Ryan Express, meanwhile, rolled through the Oriole lineup with 11 strikeouts. In typical Ryan fashion, he issued 4 walks but gave up only 4 hits in completing the shutout. Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but that was the high point for their offense in this game.

California 2, Baltimore 0

Diamond Legacies 1975: First Game

Diamond Legacies 1975 is nearing the finish line. The second proof copy is ordered and should arrive by Thursday. Hopefully there won't be many changes to make and the finished volume will be published in about a week.

In the meantime, I've started playing games with the 1975 teams. For the first game, the Philadelphia Phillies played the Kansas City Royals. They were a couple of second-place clubs in '75 that would become fixtures in the postseason in the years that followed.

Both teams started their aces (Steve Carlton vs. Steve Busby), so it was no surprise that neither side could score through the first five innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Kansas City finally broke through with a pair of runs on a George Brett RBI ground out and a John Mayberry triple. Big John drove in two more with a double in the eighth off Tug McGraw. Busby, meanwhile, was at the top of his game, tossing a 6-hit shutout. Philadelphia's best chance to score came in the ninth when they had men at the corners with just one out. But Mike Schmidt grounded into a double play to end the game. Mayberry with his 3 RBI was the hitting star for KC, while Greg Luzinski had three hits to lead the Phillies.

Kansas City 4, Philadelphia 0