Jeremy gets in to the spirit of speculation about what would have happened in some select prior seasons if the Wild Card existed?? First up: 1969.

Having just finished watching the Bronx is Burning miniseries - totally worth it guys, get the DVD - it got me to thinking about those great Yankee, Red Sox and Orioles teams from the mid to late 1970s. Was it fair to have a team like the 1978 Red Sox not get a shot at a title? This was one of the best teams of the era and they never got to throw one pitch in the postseason. So I went to the old standings and took a look at what the world was like if the Wild Card was in effect throughout the Division Series Era. A couple of caveats:

1 - I only did the seasons 1969-1994 because that is my lifetime. (Not that I died in 1994…oh you know what I mean!)

2 - I used combined 1981 records as opposed to the split season because the split season was stupid.

3 - I did the 1994 season because I wanted to.

4 - I did not break the ties for seeding - I don’t have head to head records, so I just guessed.

5 - I did not divide into three divisions except for 1994 - I just pulled in the next two best records as Wild Cards and seeded #1 vs #4 and #2 vs #3. Division winners got the top two seeds regardless of record

The results were interesting:

1 - All teams except for the Mariners (and Florida and Colorado who only had 2 seasons anyway) made the playoffs at least once

2 - There were only a couple of ties - but that would still have been fun.

3 - Some players’ and teams’ reputations would have been saved - such as Don Mattingly and the 1980s Mets teams.

4 - The salvation of baseball in Montreal

Anyway - I will start with 1969 and then post a entry for each season thereafter.

1969

American League - #1 Baltimore vs. #4 Oakland ; #2 Minnesota vs. #3 Detroit
Orioles put out the 118 HR from Boog, Brooks, Frank Robinson and Paul Blair, plus the 59 wins from Cuellar, McNally and Palmer against an A’s team that had 21 less wins. Oakland was led by a combined 78 HR from Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando and 62 SB from Bert Campaneris. Chuck Dobson, Catfish Hunter and Blue Moon Odom led the staff with a 22-year-old Rollie Fingers in the pen.

Orioles - C Ellie Hendricks, 1B Powell, 2B Davey Johnson, SS Mark Belanger, 3B Brooks, OF Blair, Robinson, Buford. SP - McNally, Cuellar, Palmer, Jim Phoebus. Closer - Eddie Watt

A’s - C Phil Roof, 1B Danny Cater, 2B Dick Green, SS Campaneris, 3B Bando, OF Jackson, Rick Monday, Tommie Reynolds. SP - Dobson, Hunter, Odom, Jim Nash. Closer - Fingers.

Twins were managed by Billy Martin and led by Harmon Killebrew’s 49 HR and Tony Oliva’s 24 HR and .309 Average. Cesar Tovar stole 45 bases. Dave Boswell and Jim Perry each won 20 games and Jim Kaat was the #3 starter. The Tigers won 90 games and finished substantially behind the Orioles. But they had nine guys that hit double digits in HR, led by Willie Horton’s 28 dingers. Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich were a combined 43-20 for the defending champs.

Twins - C Johnny Roseboro, 1B Rich Reese, 2B Rod Carew, SS Leo Cardenas, 3B Killebrew, OF Oliva, Ted Uhlaender, Tovar. Plus a young 24-year-old Graig Nettles and future manager Charlie Manual. SP - Boswell, Perry, Kaat, Tom Hall. Closer Ron Perranoski

Tigers - C Bill Freehan, 1B Norm Cash, 2B Dick McAuliffe, SS Tom Tresh, 3B Don Wert, OF Jim Northrup, Horton, Al Kaline, plus a full season of Mickey Stanley as a utility player. SP - McLain, Lolich, Earl Wilson, Joe Sparma - Closer Don McMahon

National League - #1 New York vs #4 San Francisco; #2 Atlanta vs. #3 Chicago
Everyone knows about the 1969 Mets – the offense led by Tommie Agee’s 26 HR, but the team had no players drive in 100 runs. This team won and lost based on the performance of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Gary Gentry – who had 40 combined complete games. They would have faced the Giants who won 90 games under Clyde King. Willie McCovey had 45 HR, 121 RBI, 121 BB, 66 K and hit .320. That season deserved an October. Bobby Bonds had 32 HR and 45 SB. Throw in 40 wins and 53 complete games for Gaylord Perry and Juan Marichal and this could have been an interesting series.

Mets - C Jerry Grote, 1B Ed Kranepool/Don Clendenon, 2B Ken Boswell, SS Bud Harrelson, 3B Wayne Garrett, OF Agee, Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda, plus lots of contribution from Art Shamsky, Al Weis and Rod Gaspar. SP - Gentry, Seaver, Koosman, Don Cardwell. Closer - Ron Taylor, plus a couple of kids named Tug McGraw and Nolan Ryan.

Giants - C Dick Dietz, 1B McCovey, 2B Ron Hunt, SS Hal Lanier, 3B Jim Davenport , OF Bonds, Ken Henderson and Willie Mays. SP - Perry, Marichal, Mike McCormick, Bobby Bolin. Closer Frank Linzy.

The Braves were led by Hank Aaron’s 44 HR and amazingly only 97 RBI. This team also had past playoff veteran Clete Boyer and seven At bats from future hitting guru Walt Hriniak. 67 wins from a rotation of Phil Niekro, Ron Reed, Pat Jarvis and George Stone was underrated.

Besides the chance for Detroit to defend their title, 1969 Wild Cards gives the 1969 Cubs a chance to redeem themselves. Leo Durocher’s team collapsed but still won 92 games and had four guys hit 20 HR or more – Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Jim Hickman. They also had a four-man rotation responsible for 68 wins. Fergie Jenkins and Bill Hands each won 20 games, and Ken Holtzman and Dick Selma added 27 more.

Braves - C Bob Didier, 1B Orlando Cepeda, 2B Felix Millan, SS Sonny Jackson, 3B Clete Boyer, OF Aaron, Felipe Alou, Mike Lum and big contributions from Tony Gonzalez and Rico Carty. SP - Niekro, Reed, Jarvis, Stone, Closer - Cecil Upshaw

Cubs - C Randy Hundley, 1B Banks, 2B Glenn Beckert, SS Don Kessinger, 3B Santo, OF Williams, Hickman and Don Young. Oscar Gamble was a kid on their bench. SP - Jenkins, Hands, Holtzman, Selma . Closer - Phil Regan.

How much would you have loved to see the possibility of the Orioles against the defending champion Tigers? Or the Mets and Cubs battling in the NLCS? How about a Twins-Cubs World Series of Billy Martin vs. Leo Durocher!

My Predictions – based on personal wishes as a fan and some cursory baseball analysis!

AL – Orioles over Athletics in three and Tigers over the Twins in four

Orioles were too strong for Oakland and the Tigers’ experience from the year before propels them.

Orioles over Tigers in seven – A classic pitching battle, the O’s just had one more SP than the Tigers had

NL – Mets over Giants in five and Cubs over Braves in five – I think there is a real chance that the Giants could have won, but I give the Mets an edge based on their intangible magic from that year. I also see the LDS as a chance for the Cubs to redeem themselves.

Mets over Cubs in six games – They are the Cubs after all…

World Series – Orioles in six. I know, I just killed the Miracle Mets. However, I think the extra round of playoffs would have battle hardened a superior Baltimore team to the title.

Next up – The Yankees return to the playoffs after only a 6 year absence instead of 12 years.

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