Friday, September 26, 2008

'48 Indians win KOD4 Championship 4 games to 2 over '78 Phils

Congratulations to Steve Tate and his 1948 Cleveland Indians. The Tribe dominated the AL then lost only 3 post season games en-route to the KOD4 title. Special kudos to Gary Bringhurst who won the NL Pennant with the '78 Phils and put up a tough struggle in the World Series vs the dominant Tribe. Each of the 1st 4 games was a 1 run affair that could have gone either way.

GAME 1 Municipal Stadium Cleveland: (CLE 2, PHI 1)

Bob Lemon and Larry Christenson hooked up in a classic pitcher's duel Lem got the best of Larry C by throwing 8 2/3 innings of 1 run ball. The venerable Satchiel Paige came on to nail down the save as the Tribe took a 1 game lead in the series. Not much offense in this one. Lem not only won it with his arm, but his solo shot in the 3rd coupled with Ken Keltner's Sac Fly in the 5th was all Cleveland would need.

GAME 2 Municipal Stadium Cleveland: (PHI 3, CLE 2)

A HOF pitching matchup featured Lefty, Steve Carlton vs Fireballer Bob Feller. Carlton was the better of the 2 yielding only 2 runs over 7. Gene Garber owned the 9th notching the save. Ken Keltner was Cleveland's offense with two solo homers. Philly was up 3-1 before Keltner's blast in the 7th. Carlton got an RBI sac fly in the 3rd plating the "Secretary of Defense" Garry Maddox.

GAME 3 The Vet Philadelphia: (CLE 3, PHI 2)

Same score...reverse the results. The Tribe held on in this one to go ahead 2-1 in the series. Keltner hit another big homer and as a result received an intentional pass his next 2 AB's. Gene Bearden, who has been perfect on the season (8-0) went seven for the win. Paige came on again to save this game as he did in the opener. Randy Lerch had a quality outing for the Phightin's. The Bull, Greg Luzinski hit a rare triple, but was injured on the play sliding and was forced to leave the game. Speculation is he'll suck it up and be ready for game 4.

GAME 4 The Vet Philadelphia: (PHI 3, CLE 2)

Another 3-2 game, this time the Phils were the victors to even the series and put some fear into the dominant Tribe. Dick Ruthven, who had been battling fatigue problems, pitched into the 8th before yielding to the pen. Garber got one out in the 9th for his second save of the series. Luzinski returned to the lineup and hit a mammoth 2 run shot to stake Philly to a 2-0 lead in the first. In the top of the 8th the Tribe scored 2 to tie the game. Larry Doby doubled home Jim Hegan, who led the inning off with a single. Player/manager Lou Boudreau hit a sac fly to left to score PH Peck. Keltner was then intentionally passed and Joe Gordon ended the rally by grounding weakly to Mike Schmidt at 3rd. With 2 out in the bottom of the frame Ted Sizemore hit a flare to right center, which Doby butchered and subsequently allowed Sizemore to get into scoring position. Schmitty stepped up and delivered what would turn out to be the game winning hit a liner to left that plated Sizemore.

GAME 5 The Vet Philadelphia: (CLE 6, PHI 2)

Cleveland's offense got in gear early and scored 5 quick runs off of Christenson, who didn't even make it through the 2nd. The Philly pen only allowed 1 run the rest of the way, but the damage had already been done. Lemon was masterful yielding only 2 in 8+ innings of work before giving way to Christopher who was credited with an easy save. The big blow of the game was a 3 run shot by Joe Gordon in the top of the first. The Tribe added on another run that inning a one more in the second and 4th to take a 3 games to 2 lead in the series as they headed home to Lake Erie.

GAME 6 Municipal Stadium Cleveland: (CLE 5, PHI 3)

In a re-match of game 2 starters, The Phightin's pinned their series hopes on the left arm of one Steve Carlton. Lefty didn't have his best stuff tonight as the Tribe jumped on him for 4 runs in the first 2 innings. Carlton struggled all game to find the strike zone and eventually gave way to Tug McGraw in the 6th. McGraw allowed Cleveland to add an insurance run that inning and the Tribe never looked back. Feller didn't have his "A" game, but he pitched better than his counterpart and allowed only 3 runs in 8 innings of work. Satchel Paige came on and pitched a scoreless 9th to clinch the series for the Indians. Larry Bowa had 3 hits in the losing effort. Larry Doby hit a 2 run shot in the first to start the scoring. Edwards and Dale Mitchell knocked in key runs in the second to put the Tribe up 4-2 at that point. Bake McBride's sac fly in the 6th, which scored Sizemore, drew Philly to within one run, but the Tribe answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. The dominant Indians withstood everything the upstart Phils could throw at them to take the series 4 games to 2.

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