Regular Season
Milwaukee and Kansas City completed their destinies and proceeded to the ALCS, while the Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers moved on to the NLCS.
Rod Carew finished the season on a roll and stole the batting average crown from Ralph Garr, who had led most of the year. Ralph had a poor last week opening the door for Carew. Side note- Jim Wohlford actually finished with a .385 average, but did not qualify for crown as he missed the required at-bats by just a few.
Butch Hobson helped the Red Sox make it interesting in the last couple of weeks and carried the team. His effort resulted in him usurping Jason Thompson for the HR crown.
Al Cowens was the most effective player on the Royals all year, faltering a little bit down the stretch, but his first half put the Royals in position to coast a bit. Larry Hisle, while not leading in any category appeared near the top in hits, doubles, HR, RBI, and Avg. Without him, the Twins might not have won double-digit games. So he and Cowens will share the MVP.
Final - Strat ‘77
Final
AL East AL West
*Mil 25-14 *KC 27-12
Bost 23-16 Tex 25-14
NY 23-16 Chi 23-16
Clev 19-20 Cal 18-21
Bal 18-21 Minn 18-21
Det 15-24 Oak 14-25
Tor 11-28 Sea 14-25
*Clinched Division
AL Leaders
Hits
Garr-Chi 64
Carew-Min 63
Yaz-Bos 58
Hisle-Min 58
Doubles
Money-Mil 16
Ford-Minn 14
McRae-KC 12
Hisle-Minn 12
Triples
Cowens-KC 7
Jackson-NY 5
HR
Hobson-Bos 15
Thompson-Det 13
Yaz-Bos 11
Otis-KC 11
RBI
Bonds-Cal 44
Hisle-Min 37
Hobson-Bos 34
Avg.
Carew-Minn .380
Fisk-Bos .377
Garr-Chi .374
Co-MVP
Cowens-KC & Hisle-Minn
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Final
NL East NL West
*Chi 22-11 *LA 26-7
Phil 21-12 Hous 15-18
Pitt 21-12 Cinc 14-19
Mont 19-14 SD 13-20
NY 16-17 SF 8-25
St. L 16-17 Atl 7-26
*Clinched Division
NL Leaders
Hits
Dawson-Mont 58
Valentine-Mont 54
McBride-Phil 51
Doubles
Dawson-Mont 15
Parker-Pitt 13
Cromartie-Mont 12
DeJesus-Chi 12
Triples
Brock-Stl 6
Howe-Hous 5
Maddox-Phil 5
Richards-SD 5
HR
Valentine-Mont 14
Foster-Cinc 12
Smith-LA 12
RBI
Valentine-Mont 38
Bench-Cinc 33
Smith-LA 33
Avg.
Smith-LA .400
Dawson-Mont .395
Valentine-Mont .370
Co- MVP
Smith-LA & Valentine-Mont
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NLCS Game 1-
Reuschel shuts down Dodgers 4-1 in opening game
Rick Reuschel pitched a complete game scattering 10 hits with 7 Ks.
Manny Trillo got the Cubs going in 1st with a HR, but that was all the got off of Don Sutton until the 7th.
Bobby Murcer led off with double, ending Sutton’s consecutive outs at 13. Steve Ontiveros drew a walk in between two strikeouts, leaving the scoring opportunity in the hands of wily veteran George Mitterwald. He ripped a double over CF Monday’s head, scoring two and ripping the hearts out of the Dodger faithful. Reuschel helped his own cause with a single off of reliever Mike Garman, expanding lead to 4-1, which is how it ended.
NLCS Game 2-Dodgers jump to 6-0 lead, hold off Cubs 6-5
Burt Hooton pitched 8 shutout innings, but got touched for 3 runs in 9th and Cubs got to Charlie Hough for 2 more, and had tying and go-ahead runs on base before the rally was squashed.
Dodgers tagged Bill Bonham for 3 in 2nd and Yeager hit a 3-run homer in 6th off of Paul Reuschel to create a comfy 6-0 lead.
Series goes to Chicago for Game 3&4. Starting pitchers will be Tommy John vs Ray Burris.
NLCS Game 3-
Dodgers crush 5 HRs on way to 17-7 win over Cubs.
Dodgers lead series 2-1
Game 4 starters
Sutton vs R. Reuschel
Breaking News
****************
Cubs force Game 5 with another outstanding performance by Rick Reuschel, who tossed 8 shutout innings in a 6-3 victory.
Cubs scored 4 runs in 1st off Sutton with the big blow being a 3-run shot by Bobby Murcer.
Dodgers only showed life in 9th against Sutter making the game seem closer than it was.
Breaking News
***************
Tears in Tinseltown tonight as the upstart Cubs dashed the hopes of Dodger fans with a 7-4 victory to make it to the long-awaited World Series.
Bill Bonham, who almost lost his start after a poor Game 2 effort, put together a solid effort into the 8th inning, with Sutter cleaning up the last two innings.
Burt Hooton, who was spectacular in Game 2, unraveled in 3rd & 4th innings where Cubs came back from a 2-0 deficit off a Yeager bomb to take a 5-2 lead.
The Cubs will take on the Royals in the 1977 World Series starting next week.
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ALCS Game 1
Brewers hold off Royals 5-4.
Brewers were off to quick start with two runs in 1st on four hits. They continued to batter Dennis Leonard, but couldn’t get the knockout punch and the Royals clawed back to 3-2 in 5th when a Jim Wohlford 2-run HR gave them breathing room with a 5-2 lead. Royals got back to within one run, but Brewer relievers McClure and Castro closed out the game.
WP- Jim Slaton
LP- Dennis Leonard
SV- Castro
HR- Wohlford
ALCS Game 2
Royals roll 8-1
Jumped on Jerry Augustine for 7 runs in 4 innings. McRae with 4 rbi. Amos Otis with 3-run shot
ALCS Game 3-
Royals build 6-0 lead, hold on 9-8 to move to within one game of WS.
Brewers’ errors and an exhausted bullpen add up to dream season in danger of ending.
Breaking News
***************
Royals hold off Brewers 3-2 to win ALCS in four games.
Dennis Leonard redeemed himself after poor Game 1 results, and Steve Mingori, Doug Bird, and Mark Littell closed the slightly ajar opportunity for the Brewers.
For Littell it was especially satisfying after the 1976 ALCS Game 5 9th inning blast given up by him.
Despite the lack of production by Cowens, Otis, and Brett, the Royals were able to scratch out runs behind the play of ALCS co-MVPS, Fred Patek and Frank White.
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World Series ‘77. Game 1
Pitchers’ duel between Mike Krukow and Jim Colborn. Both left in 7th tied 1-1. Both teams had numerous chances to go on top, but relievers from both teams were stellar, until the bottom of the 10th.
Bruce Sutter came in and promptly gave up a hit to pinch-hitter Pete Lacock. Amos Otis struck out. Then, Willie Wilson, in as a pinch-runner, stole 2nd, going to 3rd on catcher’s throwing error. Loaded the bases for force outs to bring George Brett to the plate. On the first pitch to Brett, Sutter uncorked a wild pitch, sending Wilson home and the Royals to a 1-0 lead in the series.
World Series ‘77 Game 2
Rick Reuschel did it again. Righting the ship, going a complete game in a 7-1 win over the Royals to tie the series and get a split in KC. Steve Ontiveros hit a two-run HR in 5th to open the lead to 3-0 and then Cubbies never looked back. Reuschel even had a two-run single to help his cause.
Game 3 will be in Chicago
Dennis Leonard vs Bill Bonham
World Series Game 3
Royals find Wrigley Field to their liking. Cowens hits a grand slam, Mayberry hits a 2-run HR and Royals cruise to 11-1 victory.
World Series Game 4
Colborn turns in a clunker. Bobby Murcer hits a 3-run HR in 6th to lead Cubs to 8-5 victory, tying the series at 2-2.
Game 5 at Wrigley Field is -
Paul Splittorff vs Rick Reuschel
Royals are in a wittle bit of trouble…
World Series Game 5
It was a pitcher’s duel, but had 4 HRs, 2 by each team. Two by John Mayberry, the only runs the Royals could score. Rick Reuschel was his usual stud self going the full 9 innings, but he needed the help of Jerry Fahkin’ Morales, who had 2 HRS, the second one being the 1st pitch in the bottom of the 9th off Larry Gura over the Ivy, breaking a 2-2 tie and sending the Cubby fans into delirium and the Cubs back to KC only one game from a World Series championship.
World Series Game 6
Dennis Leonard took the mound and did his best Rick Reuschel imitation, two-hitting the Cubs, leading the Royals to a 4-0 victory to send the series to a 7th game. Tom Poquette, playing in place of Hal McRae, hit a HR, and some porous Cubs defense gave the Royals fans some hope.
World Series Game 7 (the last of 487 games played)
2nd inning- Back to back doubles by Larry Biittner and George Mitterwald gave Cubs 1-0.
2nd inning- Back to back singles by George Brett & John Mayberry, and a ground out tied game 1-1
3rd inning- Amos Otis hit, stolen base and hit by Tom Poquette gives Royals 2-1 lead
4th inning- Biittner and Jerry Fahkin’ Morales gave Cubs 3-2 lead
6th inning- Willie Hernandez, Lefty, comes in to pitch. Cowens singles, Brett triples, Mayberry walk, wild pitch, and Paul Reuschel comes in relief. Base hit by Fred Patek gives Royals 5-4 lead
7th inning - Mark Littell comes in. Bases loaded, Steve Ontiveros strikes out.
7th inning- Bruce Sutter comes in. Gets out of 1st & 2nd jam.
8th inning- Jerry Morales walks, pinch-hitter extraordinaire Greg Gross gets a hit. 1st & 2nd, no outs. Decision time. Pinch-hit for Sutter, Sutter bunts, or hits away? Sutter bunts, fails. 1st & 2nd, one out. DeJesus hit, bases loaded. Manny Trillo- 6-4-3dp.
9th inning- Larry Gura comes in, Buckner starts with a hit. Bobby Murcer pulls a ball to Frank White- 4-6-3dp. Larry Biittner strikes out.
KC Royals win 5-4, and win the Strat-o-magic ‘77 World Series 4 games to 3.
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