15 Responses to “Long Relief Apperances In Winning & Last Game Of An LCS”

1. buddy Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 7:02 pm

   Well, only 4 of them happened when I was more than 3 years old, so that narrows it down...

2. Steve Lombardi Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 8:40 pm

   Yikes, I must be old! I remember most of them from 1977 onward...

3. John Autin Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 8:47 pm

   If my search results are correct, Roger McDowell's 5-IP effort (#6 above) from the 9th through 13th innings is the longest of any postseason relief appearance that began in the 7th inning or later.

   There were two 4-IP relief stints that began in the 9th -- Walter Johnson in game 7 of the '24 WS, and Hank Borowy for the Cubs in 1945 game 6.

   Borowy, a career .172 hitter to that point, batted for himself in the bottom of the 9th with 2 out and the winning run on 2nd. After a leadoff double by Andy Pafko, Bill Nicholson struck out, Charlie Grimm pinch-hit for both his starting catcher Mickey Livingston (who hit .254 that year) and SS Roy Hughes (.261), who were a combined 5 for 7 with 3 runs and 3 RBI in the game. The first PH bounced back to the mound, and the 2nd was intentionally walked to bring up Borowy, who flied out. Chollie was a good manager, but that was some weird strategy.

   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1192410100.shtml
   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN194510080.shtml

4. John Autin Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 9:01 pm

   The McDowell game also ranks 3rd all-time for postseason relief WPA, trailing Dolf Luque in 1933 game 5 and good ol' Blix Donnelly in 1944 game 2.

   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1193310070.shtml
   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194410050.shtml

   Donnelly was a 30-year-old rookie in '44 and posted a 169 ERA+ in 76 IP of mostly relief, and threw 6 scoreless frames in 2 WS outings.

   In the game noted above, he came on in the 8th with the go-ahead run on 2nd and no outs and struck out 3 (around an IBB), including Vern Stephens. He wound up with 7 Ks in 4 IP; no other postseason reliever had as many Ks in so few IP. He also made a key defensive play in the 11th. After a leadoff double by the Browns' George McQuinn (who hit .438 for the Series), Donnelly snagged a comebacker from Mark Christman and threw out McQuinn trying for 3rd. The Cards won it in the bottom half to even the Series at a game apiece, and went on to win it 6.

5. Steven Page Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 10:08 pm

   I remember the crushing disappointment of the Mets-Braves series during my eight grade year. Those upstarts sure took the wind out of our sails. nolan Ryan's relief effort was just a hint of his greatness to come. The sad part is that Gary Gentry, who was such a vital part of that Mets team, was a big letdown in Atlanta, because of a series of injuries. He had such good stuff, but his career was cut way to short.....

6. nightfly Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 10:42 pm

   Of course, this was only a divisional, not a pennant series - but any dominant relief discussion in a playoff-series clinching win has to at least mention Pedro Martinez' six no-hit innings against Cleveland. Epic.

7. Neal Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 11:33 pm

   I particularly remember Bruce Kison's game. If I remember correctly, that was also the first scheduled World Series night game ever.

8. Neal Says:
   October 14th, 2011 at 11:36 pm

   Oops, my bad. This isn't the World Series game, it's an LCS. I saw Kison's name and jumped to a conclusion (and missed). :-\

9. TheGoof Says:
   October 15th, 2011 at 2:15 am

   7 Ks in 7 IP? Nolan clearly hadn't developed his stuff yet.....

10. Doug Says:
    October 15th, 2011 at 3:01 am

    The '86 NLCS closing game remains very clear in my mind. The Astros had jumped to a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning and held it through the 8th. But, then we enter the twilight zone.

    Instead of handing off to closer Dave Smith, who had saved 33 games in the season, Hal Lanier stays with starter Bob Knepper who promptly allows a triple to Lenny Dykstra leading off the 9th. But Lainer stays with Knepper, and doesn't take him out until he allows 2 runs on 3 hits, leaving with one out and the tying run on 2nd.

    So, now he goes to Smith, right? Wrong. Smith had been roughed up in game 3, blowing the save and taking the loss, so Lanier chooses starter Mike Scott instead. Only one problem - Scott has pitched two complete games in the series and is coming back after only 2 days rest. He walks the bases loaded and gives up a sac fly, before finally retiring the side.

    Of course, the game was far from over. Mets go ahead in the 14th, but Billy Hatcher homers off Jesse Orosco to tie it. Mets go ahead again in the 16th by 3 runs, and Astros almost come back again, scoring twice and getting the tying and winning runs aboard before Orosco finally ends things by striking out Kevin Bass.

    Absolutely draining game. But, I just don't get Lanier's thinking in the 9th (same way I didn't get Jim Fanning's reasoning in the 9th inning of game 5 of the '81 NLCS). Dance with the guy who brung you. You play all year with guys establishing their roles, and then, 3 outs away from the World Series, you switch things up and put guys in unfamiliar roles. And, all because your closer had a bad outing. Hey, give him a chance to redeem himself - you have to know he's just dying to do exactly that.

11. John Q Says:
    October 15th, 2011 at 6:26 am

    @Doug 10,

    That Mets-Astros 16 inning game was coincidentally 25 years ago today, Oct 15, 1986.

    You're way off in your memory of that 9th inning. Why would Lanier bring in Mike Scott to pitch in a relief spot in the 9th inning? Makes no sense.

    Mike Scott never pitched in game 6 of the NLCS. Lanier would never bring in Scott to pitch in this game because Scott was going to start game 7 if necessary. Scott looming in a game 7 is what put added pressure on the Mets to win game 6.

    The Astros were up 3-0 going into the top of the ninth and Lanier kept Bob Knepper in the game to start the inning.

    Here's the Mets' 9th inning:

    L. Dykstra-Triple (Lanier should have taken Knepper out of the game)
    M. Wilson-Single, Dykstra scores. (He still leaves Knepper in the game)
    K. Mitchell-groundout 3b-1b, Wilson to second.
    K. Hernandez-2B, Wilson scores

    Lanier changes Knepper for Dave Smith

    G. Carter-Walk
    D. Strawberry-Walk
    R. Knight-Sac Fly, Hernandez scores from third, other runners tag up.
    *(W. Backman pinch-hits for T. Teufel.)
    W. Backman-Intentional Walk. (Backman had 9 intentional Walks in 3700 major league plate appearances)
    *(Danny Heep pinch-hits for R. Santana)
    D. Heep-K swinging.

    The big problem is he let Knepper face 3 more batters after giving up the triple to Dykstra. Maybe Smith wasn't ready I'm not sure, if he wasn't then that's a big mistake by Lanier.

    D. Smith was completely ineffective walking Carter & Strawberry and giving up the sac fly to Knight. Even with Hernandez on second, there was one out and they were still up by 1 run, the Astros were still at 78% to win. Smith cannot walk Carter & Strawberry in that situation.

    The Mets went ahead in the 14th and really should have scored more runs. They had second and third with 1 out and Ho Jo popped out to the catcher, and after a Dykstra Walk, Mookie Wilson struck out. Wilson also grounded into a double play to end the 16th.

    I seem to remember Lanier bringing in Jeff Calhoun in the 16th was also a somewhat controversial move. And then the Astros came back in the bottom of the 16th with two more runs.

    Pinch hitting Danny Heep for Santana also caused an odd twist because D. Johnson double switched and put the pitcher's spot in Santana's spot.
    Orosco was up in the 16th when Calhoun threw the wild pitch that scored Knight and moved Backman to second. Orosco bunted Backman to third and Dykstra drove him in with a single.

12. Doug Says:
    October 15th, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    John Q

    Thanks for the correction.

    Memory is not always reliable 25 years later.

13. John Q Says:
    October 15th, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    @12 Doug,

    Yeah Mike Scott looming for a possible game 7 was just another important little twist to this game. The Mets were pretty much screwed if they lost this game because Scott had been so good in 1986.

    I didn't remember all of the details by myself. I had to go back to the play by play info at BR. There's a bunch of things I forgot about that game like Wally Backman being intentionally walked. I had to do a double take when I saw that. I also kind of forgot that Heep pinch hit for Santana.

    There's so many great little twists and turns in that game that you can look at the play by play for hours and debate strategy or just say, what if?

    Strawberry's contributions in that game kind of get overlooked. He drew two important walks, one in the ninth and another in the 14th. And then he hit a double in the 16th. In terms of overall WPA, he's the most important Met with a 0.374. His walk in the 9th was extremely important in bringing the tying run to third base with less than two outs.

    I also never realized that Knepper faced 4 batters before being taken out of the ninth.

    I also forgot that the Mets had first and second with no outs in the 14th. Knight sacrificed and Carter was thrown out at third. The Mets also had a big chance to blow the game open in the 14th.

    It was odd too in that there was only scoring in the 1st, 9th, 14th and 16th innings.

    Also another thing that gets forgotten is Kevin Bass getting caught stealing third base in the bottom of the first. Again it's another what if?

14. John Autin Says:
    October 15th, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    The comments about Bob Knepper staying in too long in that NLCS game led me to his B-R page and hence to a couple of random finds:

    1. Knepper's career ERA+ of 95 is 4th-worst among the 208 pitchers with at least 2,500 IP since 1893. His raw ERA of 3.68 benefited greatly from a fairly low-scoring era and spending his whole career in the NL in pitchers' parks (Candlestick and Astrodome). Mike Mussina also has a 3.68 ERA, but a 123 ERA+.

    2. The Astros acquired Knepper in a trade with SF for Enos Cabell in December 1980. Knepper had pitched well in his first 2 full seasons, but then had 2 rather poor years and the Giants swapped him for Cabell, who was in a similar pattern. Looking back, it's a mystery why anyone would go out of his way to acquire Cabell even at the top of his game, but those were the times.

    3. The Giants sent a minor-league player to Houston along with Knepper, Chris Bourjos. Yep ... I guess most of you folks knew that Peter Bourjos had a father who briefly played in the majors, but I had no clue. Anyway ... Chris Bourjos had an unusual career path: Signed in 1977 as an undrafted free agent out of Northern Illinois University, he tore up Class A, placing 2nd in to Paul Molitor in the Midwest League batting race (.346-.330), with 27 HRs and over 100 in runs and RBI in just 122 games. His power waned as he moved up the ladder, but he still hit around .300 in 1978-80 and got a late-season callup in '80. He had 5 hits in 22 AB, with a HR and a double. Then the trade to Houston ... and another trade to Baltimore at the end of spring training '81 ... and he never made it back to the big leagues.

    According to his Bullpen page, Chris Bourjos has been a scout since his playing career ended in 1983, and is "given credit for finding Roy Halladay." Again, I had no idea.

15. nesnhab Says:
    October 16th, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Mike Torrez came up big--no runs in more than five innings, made the Yankees' comeback possible. A year later, one lucky fly ball and he became a bum for life. Then again if he hadn't hit Dickie Thon, history might have been kinder to him.