Rod Caborn sends in an update on postseason action from OAPBA! -Tom
Defeat Beefers in six games to capture crown for 10th time
In a World Series win that confirmed his team as an OAPBA dynasty, Joe Passiatore’s Platoon took the measure of Rod Caborn’s Beefers in six games this past Weds., Nov. 28. The 2012 OAPBA championship was Joe’s (seen left) fifth in a row and his tenth championship in the league’s first 25 years of operation.
The Platoon and Beefers traded body blows with one another in the first four games with each team winning two games by blowout scores. The final two games, however, were nail-biters that kept both managers on the edge of their seats until the final out.
Games Five and Six were different matters, however, and left both managers exhausted after mining their benches for any kind of advantage.
In Game Five, the Platoon, down 3-0, scored three in the seventh, including a two-run homer by Jose Bautista, and then putting the game away with three more in the top of the ninth to win 6-3. Justin Upton drove in the lead run in the ninth and Asdrubal Cabrera following with a two-run double to put the game away.
In Game Six, the Platoon hung on to win a razor thin 4-3 victory. The Beefs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-run homer by Josh Hamilton. The Platoon, however, countered with four unearned runs in the bottom of the first, helped by two Beefer errors.
The Beefers Michael Young made it a one-run game in the fifth with a home run. Down 4-3 in the seventh, and the Platoon beginning to run short on relievers, the Beefers Brent Lillibridge, with what would have been the game tying run, was gunned down at home plate by Justin Upton. (Lillibridge needed a roll of 54, 28 or less…and got a 66 roll). Platoon closer Mariano Rivera then kept the Beefers off the scoreboard in the ninth to save the win and give the Platoon their fifth straight league crown.
Had the Series gone to a seventh game, the Platoon would have been at a disadvantage, having worked their bullpen extensively to capture the fifth and sixth games. Manager Joe Passiatore stood by his belief that his bullpen could finish the Series in Game Six and came away victorious, continuing his remarkable run in OAPBA.
The Series MVP was Justin Upton, who hit three home runs and whose great throw in Game Six was the defensive play of the series.
Game 1 Beefers 9, Platoon 5
The Beefers put three on the board in the first when Adam Jones hit a two-run homer and Corey Hart hit an RBI double off Platoon starter Jair Jurrjens. After Hart drove home Adrian Beltre in the third with another RBI double, the Beefers Josh Hamilton hit a two-run shot, followed by a solo homer by Beltre in the fourth, to make it 7-0. Michael Young had four hits for the Beefers.
The Platoon rallied for five runs late in the game, but it was too little, too late and the Beefs won the Series opener 9-5.
Beefers 9-16-1 W-Matt Harrison 1-0.
Platoon 5-8-0 L-Jair Jurrjens 0-1.
HR Adrian Beltre #1, Josh Hamilton #1, Adam Jones #1.
Game 2 Platoon 6, Beefers 3
In a reserve image of Game One, the Platoon’s Carlos Gonzales hit a two-run first-inning homer to put the Platoon up 2-0. Justin Upton made it 3-0 for the Platoon with a solo shot in the third and Carlos Gonzales hit another homer in the fifth as starter Cole Hamels went 5.2 innings, allowing only one run. The Platoon bullpen then held off the Beefs for the remainder of game to come away with a 6-3 win and tie the Series.
The only Beefer runs came off home runs by The Twin Adrians — Beltre and Gonzalez.
Beefers 3-7-0 L-Josh Beckett 0-1.
Platoon 6-5-0 W-Cole Hamels 1-0. Sv Mariano Rivera 1.
HR Adrian Beltre #2, Adrian Gonzalez #1, Carlos Gonzales #1-2, Justin Upton #1.
Game 3 Beefers 8, Platoon 3
Moving to the Beefer Bowl, the Beefs J.J. Hardy hit a two-run homer off Kyle Lohse in the second and Corey Hart hit a two-run single in the third to jump start the Beefers to a 5-0 lead. The Platoon’s Robinson Cano hit a two-run homer in the sixth to make it 5-2, but a two-run homer by Alex Avila in the bottom of the sixth and a solo shot by Adrian Beltre gave the Beefs too much of a lead as they ran off with an 8-3 victory.
Mat Latos went six innings for the win, with Brad Zeigler and Ryan Madson finishing the victory.
Platoon 3-6-0 L-Kyle Lohse 0-1.
Beefers 8-11-2 W-Mat Latos 1-0.
HR Robinson Cano #1, Adrian Beltre #3, J.J. Hardy #1, Alex Avila #1.
Game 4 Platoon 9, Beefers 2
The Platoon equalized the Series, hammering the Beefers 9-2 behind a four-hit outburst by Erick Aybar and three RBI doubles by Carlos Gonzalez. The Platoon raced to a 5-1 lead by the fifth inning and added three more in the seventh, including a two-run double by Aybar, who drove in three runs total. Gio Gonzalez was the winner for the Platoon, going five innings before giving way to Sergio Romo and Wilton Lopez, who finished things up for the Platoon
Platoon 3-6-0 W-Gio Gonzalez.
Beefers 8-11-2 L- Edwin Jackson.
HR Justin Upton #2, Adam Jones #2
Game 5 Platoon 6, Beefers 3
The blowouts ended in Game Five, a tense affair that saw the Platoon come back from an early three-run deficit to earn a 6-3 victory with three runs in the ninth.
The Beefers scored three in the first on an RBI single by Adrian Beltre, followed by Adrian Gonzalez’s two-run homer. Beefer lefty Matt Harrison had a shutout through six, but the Platoon got to Harrison in the seventh when Jose Bautista blasted a two-run homer with Sean Rodriguez, who had tripled, on board. Later in the inning, Asdrubal Cabrera’s RBI single tied the game at three each.
In the ninth, with both managers jockeying relievers in and out, Bautista doubled to lead off the inning and scored, after Mark Teixeira walked, followed by a key RBI double by Justin Upon. Yadier Molina then drove Teixeria and Upton home with a two-run double. The 6-3 win gave the Platoon a 3-2 edge in the Series and only one win away from their fifth straight title.
Platoon 6-15-0 W-Sergio Romo 1-0.
Beefers 3-6-1 L-Javier Lopez 0-1.
HR Jose Bautista #1, Adrian Gonzalez #2.
Game 6 Platoon 4, Beefers 3
Before a packed house in the Beefer Bowl, the Platoon won a dramatic 4-3 victory to win the 2012 World Series and nail down their fifth OAPBA title in a row and tenth overall since the league began in 1988.
The Beefers got an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Josh Hamilton hit a two-run homer, but the Platoon rebounded with four runs in a nightmare inning for the Beefers. The four runs were all the Platoon would score in what turned out to be a razor-thin win.
Things unraveled early for the Beefers in the bottom of the first, in what turned into a nightmare inning, when the Platoon’s Erick Aybar got aboard via a Josh Beckett error. With two outs, Robinson Cano walked and then Mark Teixeria, Justin Upton, Yadier Molina, and B.J. Upton reeled off four straight singles, scoring four runs, all unearned. The key play in the inning was a dropped throw by Alex Avila, scoring Aybar, who would have been the third out before any Platoon runs crossed the plate.
With the Platoon hanging on to a 4-0 lead, starter Cole Hamels gave way to Sergio Romo in the fifth. Romo gave up a solo homer to Michael Young to make it 4-3 in favor of the Platoon. In the seventh, Beefer PH Brent Lillibridge singled to lead off the inning, followed by a pinch-hit single by Ryan Hanigan to put Lillibridge on second. Beefer leadoff hitter Michael Young then hit a fly ball to right and Lillibridge tagged up (28 chances to score), but Justin Upton made a great throw and nailed Lillibridge at the plate to snuff the rally and end the inning (66 roll).
The Beefs Adrian Gonzalez singled off Darren Oliver with one out in the eighth, at which point Passiatore brought in Mariano Rivera, who fanned Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy to end the inning. In the ninth, the Sandman put away the three Beefer batters and nailed down the save – and gave the Platoon their fifth championship in a row.
It was a great game with huge drama and one that Platoon and Beefer fans will forever remember.
Beefers 3-12-2 L-Josh Beckett 0-1.
Platoon 4-6-0 W- Sergio Romo 2-0. Sv Mariano Rivera #2.
HR Josh Hamilton #2, Michael Young #1.
Congrats to OAPBA for another successful season and to Joe for continuing his dynasty. Five straight… quite impressive! -Tom
