We have completed the first half of round 1 and the brackets are shaping up nicely. We have had a couple upsets, but nothing to write home about. Hopefully we still have a few shockers left (damnit Jeltzie). Here is today's lineup:
#4 Scott Rolen vs #13 Mickey Morandini
#7 Bob Boone vs # 10 Bake McBride
#4 Johnny Callison vs #13 Deron Johnson
#1 Ed Delahanty vs #16 Lefty O'Doul
You can find the most updated bracket by opening the link on the left bar, or clicking the link below.
The Good Phight's All-Time Phillies Tournament
Round 1 - Game # 17:
#4 Scott Rolen vs #13 Mickey Morandini
Scotty and Mickey sound like a couple of names from a 50's duop band. Which is apropos since Rolen has that old school fire and Mickey hit like an old school short stop (despite being a 2nd baseman). Rolen really had the chance to be a #1 or #2 seed, but punched his ticket out of town and speak heavily on the state of the Phillies when he is still a #4. Rolen started off game #1 the way he started off his career. 1 in the first, 2 in the third and 3 each in the 5th and 6th game him a 9-1 lead on the way to a 12-2 victory. In each inning that he scored, he hit a homerun. Take that smallball. Rolen jumped out to a 3 run lead in game two, but Mickey got 2 back in the 3rd. A 4 run sixth game Mickey a comfortable 6-3 lead but Rolen fought back with 2 in the 7th and the tying run in the eighth. Both teams had a chance to win it in the 9th, but Morandini grounded out with a man on second and Rolen Ked with a man on third. Mickey plated the go ahead and eventual game winner in the 10th as Rolen could only muster a single in the bottom half of the inning. The series is now tied 1-1. Morandini jumped out to the early lead with 1 in the first but Rolen took the lead with a 2 run blast in the second. Morandini scored 5 in the 4th on the strength of 4 singles and a double to go up 6-2. Rolen hit another 2 run blast and then Morandini scored one more to put the score at 7-4. Single runs in the 6th and 7th gave Mickey a commanding 9-4 lead, but Rolen fought back. Another homer brought in 2 more in the 8th and a 2 out 2 run blast put him down by one in the ninth. The next batter laced on in the hole in right, but the Mickster cut it off and ended the game with a Web Gem. Rolen's back was now up against the wall and Mickey started the scoring in game 4 with 1 in the second, but Rolen took the lead with 2 in the third. Mickey plated 3 in the 4th due to some good baserunning and a couple of stolen bases. Mickey added another in the 7th and 8th and Rolen had nothing left. The upset was complete.
G1: 12-2 Rolen
G2: 7-6 Morandini
G3: 9-8 Morandini
G4: 6-4 Morandini
Morandini wins the series 3-1.
Round 1 - Game # 18:
#7 Bob Boone vs # 10 Bake McBride
Boonie versus Half McBaked. Both had similar numbers in a similar era except Bake had the speed (which is fairly ironic). Nobody saved more for the playoffs than Boonie and game 1 showed just that. 6 innings of crooked numbers enroute to a 17-3 victory. 4 doubles, 2 triples and 3 homers powered him to the win. Boone didn't let up for game two. After Baked scored 1 in the first, Boone put a 6 spot up in the second and 4 more in the 6th. He didn't need the extra base hits as 11 of his 16 hits were singles. With his back up against the wall, McBride didn't disappoint us. He had 3 hits and 6 errors to bail out of the contest in one of the worst showings in TGP'SATPT history. Boonie had 15 more hits and won the game 8-0. I wish there was more to write about, but, Bake was cooked.
G1: 17-3 Boone
G2: 13-5 Boone
G3: 8-0 Boone
Bob Boone wins the series 3-0.
#4 Johnny Callison vs #13 Deron Johnson
Can Callison make up for those `64 Phils? He better since I have never heard of old Deron Johnson before. Deron, or Big D as his friends called him, started off game 1 with a homer in the first, but Cally tied it up on a sac fly in the third. Callison went deep to right in the fifth, but Deron scored 2 on a double in the 7th to take a 3-2 lead. A homer in the 7th extended the lead to 4-2, but Callison got one back in the bottom of the inning after leading off with a triple and scoring on a single. In the bottom of the 8th , Callison loaded the bases with a single and 2 BBs and 1 out, but then struck out twice to end the inning. Deron walked away with a win in game 1 after an uneventful 9th. Callison scored first in game 2 with a run in the second and a homer in the third. 2 more in the 6th gave JCal a comfy lead he wouldn't relinquish. Game 3 saw a few more fireworks. After a 0-0 first, Big D scored 4 in the second, but Callison topped that with 7 in the bottom of the inning including a 3 run shot to dead center. Deron got 2 back in the 3rd to put the score at 7-6. Callison hit two more homers in the 4th to extend his lead to 10-6. In the 6th, Deron lead off with, then a single and then a 3 run blast down the line in right. But Callision added 2 more in the bottom of the inning with another 2 run shot. Another homer put Callison up 13-9 in the bottom of the 7th, but Deron scored 2 in the 8th and two more in the 9th on an error to the right fielder to tie it. Callison hit the first pitch he saw into the stands to win the game in the bottom of the 9th (his 6th homer of the game). Game 4 saw Johnny put 2 runs up in the bottom of the first on another homer. Johnson got them back in the top of the 2nd with a 2 run shot of his own. Callison put one up in the 5th and 1 in the 6th to take a 4-2 lead. Big D got one back, but then Callison put up 3 more in the last two innings to seal the game.
G1: 4-3 Johnson
G2: 6-2 Callison
G3: 14-13 Callsion
G4: 7-4 Callison
Johnny Callison wins the series, 3-1.
#1 Ed Delahanty vs #16 Lefty O'Doul
This is likely to be the toughest of all 1-16 matchups due to the short but fruitful Phillies career of Lefty O'Doul. The series did not disappoint. In game 1, Big Ed came out firing with 2 in the second and 3 more in the 4th. There was no more scoring until the 8th when Lefty put up 2 runs. Bid Ed struck out on 9 pitches in the bottom of the 8th and Lefty put 5 straight men on base to tie the game in the top of the inning. Ed lead off the bottom of the 9th with a walk and after a groundout, he stole second and moved to third on an error by the catcher. He then received two intentional walks to lead the bases and won the game with a single to center. Delahanty kept the momentum going with a 4 run first inning in game 2. Lefty came back with 1 in the second on a homer and 2 in the 3rd on a 2 run blast. Another homer in the 4th tied the game and a 5 run 6th blew it wide open. The series was now tied 1-1. Ed continued his early inning success with 3 in the first, 1 in the second and 3 more in the third amassing a 7-0 lead. Lefty chipped some away, but it was not enough as Big Ed took the game and a 2-1 series lead. Lefty started off the scoring in game 4 but Ed took a 2-1 lead in the third on a triple. In the 5th, Lefty put up 3 more to take the lead for good with two homers and put the game away with 6 in the 7th. The rubber match is next. Big Ed started off the bottom of the 1st in game 5 with a walk. He moved to second on a stolen based, third on a WP and scored on an infield single. Lefty responded with 1 of his own in the second on a run scoring double. Big Ed then landed the almost fatal blow with a 7 run 5th with the big hit being a 2 run triple. Lefty wouldn't go down easily. Down 8-1, he scored 1 in the 6th and 3 in the 7th to make it an 8-5 game. Delahanty put up one in the 8th, but Lefty scored 2 more in the 9th before flying out to the warning track with a man on second in the 9th. No upset here.
G1: 6-5 Delahanty
G2: 14-8 O'Doul
G3: 9-6 Delahanty
G4: 10-5 O'Doul
G5: 9-7 Delahanty
Delahanty wins the series 3-2.