SALT CITY STRAT 1982 SEXY SIXY; A DIVISION SERIES PREVIEW BROUGHT TO YOU BY AQUA VELVA

 Six teams remain in the running for the Salt City Strat League 1982 Championship! Two managers return from last year's final six and two managers make their first division series appearances. So let's get to the previews, brought to you by Aqua Velva.

#3 Arch Pirates vs #6 Zach Phillies

The defending champ's journey to a repeat starts here against the upstart Phils. With the best park for offense, the Pirates have taken full advantage, flexing their muscle and placing themselves at or near the top of most of the pertinent offensive categories. 

Now, we can gloss over the fact only the Red Sox had a worse road OPS and just focus on the opponent at hand, the Phillies.

Yeah, against the Phils, the Buccos have performed more like the...Suckos!

Okay, that may be a bit harsh, but the numbers don't tell a story with a happy ending for the Pirates. Even MVP favorite, Pedro Guerrero, has not been so hot in this season series, sporting a .259/.310/.481 line, with one homer and five RBIs. 

In the seven non-getaway games, the Pirates are 1-6 versus the Phillies.

Looking at the pitching matchups to start the series and Joaquin "The Dream" Andujar and  The Count of Montefusco have been, well, not so great against Philly. Both have ERAs over six and WHIPs over 1.6 versus the Phils on the season. Dravecky will appear for the first time, so there's a nice element of surprise, that could pay off, right?

On the other side, Charlie Lea, started once against Pittsburgh and tossed a complete game shutout, while allowing one hit and walking no one. Former Pirate, Roy Lee "Stonewall" Jackson, allowed just two runs over seven innings against his old mates.

Another problem for the Pirates? That old Damaso-and so at second base. Garcia has a line of .333/.364/.619, with two homers and eight RBIs against the 'Burgh.

But it's also not all doom and gloom for Pittsburgh as Big Bob Horner, has gone .385/.484/.846, with three homers and five RBIs.

Will the stellar Phillies pitching (3rd in ERA and WHIP) be able to keep shutting down this high powered Pirates offense? Will either Diamond King rise to the occasion and carry their respective teams on their backs?  Will the Pittsburgh playoff magic strike again?

We'll know soon enough, but my prediction? Pain. And also Phillies in seven.

#4 Sammer Orioles vs #5 Willie Athletics 

Orioles having home field in this series, could be big as the O's took four of five from Oakland in their one visit to the Old Line State. The old line in the sand seemed to be drawn there as the A's scurried away like a scared Chesapeake blue crab, if you know what I mean.

If you're into runs, this series may not be for you. In fact there were so few runs in these teams' respective parks in the regular season (8th and 9th in park runs) that there were talks of Immodium-AD sponsoring this series. These teams' were actually 4th and 6th in OBP, it was just a matter of bringing those runners around to score, that was the issue, I guess?

Okay, time to take a peek at the head-to-head numbers:

The O's seemed to own the regular season series, with a little bit more of their offensive numbers coming at Memorial. Some silver linings for Oaktown, is their offense in general was much better in the 2nd half, while the Orioles struggled to score runs in the latter part of the season (9th in runs since the break). Needless to say, the Athletics have still struggled vs Baltimore and the two parks in this series are where they have two of their lowest OBPs.

The O's have just plain made Oakland look like the Un-Athletics. You might say the A's have been getting Fs in hitting...

The O's pitching has owned the A's, (though I feel that ownership may have some issues down the road) with Fernandomania and Black and Decker, Don Sutton combining to allow just eight earned runs over 31.2 regular season innings against the Boys from the Bay.

Offensively for the O's, it's been Cal "Rippin" Ripken and trade acquisition "Thunder" Thornton that have done the most damage against A's pitching, with a combined .376 OBP, .569 SLG, with three homers, eight RBIs and ten runs scored. While they have the skills to keep that up, what they really need is for their Diamond King to get going. Unsteady Eddie, has just a .276 OBP, with one homer and four RBIs against the Athletics. There's word on the street that the O's skipper has taken a hands on approach to getting Murray back into the groove for this series though, inviting him out to his Cheseapeake Bay cottage.

While we'll wait and see if that works for the O's slugger, we should mention it hasn't been all doom and gloom for Oakland. Their Diamond King has shined against Baltimore, as Bobby Grich has hit .300/.440/.750 against them, with six hits, five being for extra bases including one homer. Plus, the starting pitchers for games one through three, Bedrosian, McWilliams and Beattie have combined for a 1.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 6.30 K/9 against the O's. Not too shabby, right there!

This should be a close, hard fought battle, and is really anyone's series. Hmm. Prediction: Athletics in 7.