It was like David versus Goliath 1966-style.
The Cincinnati Reds were taking on the dominant Los Angeles Dodgers in my 1966 basic game replay. The Reds (8-11) lost the first game of the series 10-3 to give the Dodgers a commanding lead in the NL with a 18-5 won-loss record.
Going into the second game of the series, the Reds had Sammy Ellis on the mound. So far, it is safe to say that Ellis has been the worst pitcher in my replay. A DY, he had a 0-5 record. Worse than that, he has the absolute worst ERA among all qualifiers by a long shot. In 22 innings, he has given up 30 earned runs for a nasty (and I don’t mean that in a nice way) 12.27 mark.
To make matters worse, Ellis was going up against Dandy Don Drysdale. With a 4-0 record, Drysdale (CYZ) has helped LA surge this early season with a 2.00 ERA. Yes, the baseball pundits had all but written off this game that took place on May 7th, 1966.
But Sammy Ellis gave those pundits something to write about. He got into a groove and threw a four-hit shutout against the Bums. Drysdale actually didn’t pitch too bad either giving up just one run. Tommy Helms rbi single drove home Pete Rose who reached on a leadoff double in the sixth inning. That one run was just enough to take down the seemingly unstoppable Dodgers as Cincinnati won 1-0.
Ellis’ ERA went down a full three and a half points in that one game from 12.27 to 8.71. For that matter, Drysdale’s did too. His 1.88 ERA now ranks fifth in the league.
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In other news: Once I get my May 7th set of games done, one of the biggest trades will happen in my 1966 replay.
The Giants will send Orlando Cepeda to the Cardinals for Ray Sadecki. It can’t happen soon enough for the last place Cardinals (7-13). They have experimented with George Kernek and Tito Francona at first with no luck. Getting Baby Bull with help with their depth at that position. As for Sadecki and the Giants, well, at least SF will get a decent hitting pitcher.
George Kernek??? Good grief, never heard of him! I think 1966 is when the Cards moved into their new digs some time after the season began. It would be fun to note the final game at Sportsman’s Park, I think it was called.
Just like real baseball, a pitching match-up can look completely one-sided on paper, but still go the other way; that’s one of the things I love about both. Poor Sammy…he has a sore arm for you. For me, in ’65, he was excellent for the World Champion Reds. His stats for me in 1965:
34 games (all starts), 19-9 record, 242 inns, 175 K’s, 105 bb, 3 sho, 15 cg (hence the sore arm!)3.79 e.r.a. He lost game one of the World Series to the Twins, but won game four. He didn’t pitch especially well in either one, though. I always liked Sammy.
ps–I just looked up Ellis’s record for 1965, and it’s spooky how close his real stats are to mine! Exact same e.r.a. (!), 8 more K’s, one less walk. Hokey smokes, got to love APBA.
Exact same number of complete games, too, and one less shutout.