torre/cepeda (8) v brock (9)
hare blows late lead in game 3, trails tortoise 2 games to 1; summaries here. click "read more" for the series conclusion:
| brock '71 | torre '71 |
| brock '64 | cepeda '67 |
| brock '73 | torre '74 |
| brock '67 | cepeda '66 |
| brock '70 | torre '70 |
| brock '65 | torre '69 |
| brock '69 | torre '72 |
| brock '75 | cepeda '68 |
| brock '74 | torre '73 |
GAME 4
the brocks jump out to an early lead for the 2d consecutive game, scoring once each in the 1st and 3d --- but failed steal attempts cut both rallies short. the torres tie it in the 5th, but it only holds for a few batters; brock '71 singles and steals with one out in the bottom half, and brock '64 knocks him in. he's immediately tagged out trying to filch; brock '73 follows suit with a single and another cs. a full inning and a third, squandered on the basepaths; typical hares. sure enough, the tortoises fill the bases in the 6th, and one plods home on a sac fly; in the 7th they take the lead without having to move at anything faster than a trot, on two walks and a two-out, three-run homer by torre '70. another HR in the 9th makes the final score 7-3; the torres have it firmly in hand, 3 games to 1.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||
| torre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 0 | ||||
| brock | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
H/AB: torre 10/36, brock 9/32
2B: torre 1 HR: torre 2
BB: torre 4, brock 3 SO: torre 3, brock 5
SB: brock 6 CS: brock 4 SF: torre, brock
GAME 5
to hell with stolen bases; the brocks muscle up and pound flyballs over the wall in the 2d (none on, brock '70) and and 3d (one on, brock '67). in the 5th, they achieve perfect futility on the bases: single, caught stealing, single, caught stealing, single, caught stealing. three up, three on, three down; the victims are '71, '64, and '73. undeterred, the lous run again the next inning with two men out; this stealer makes it, and scores on a subsequent hit. the run is superfluous; they're all superfluous after the first one. the torre / cepedas manage more than one hit in an inning only once, leading off the 7th; both runners end up stranded. it's the tournament's first shutout; brock wins 6-0 and pulls to within 3-2 in the series.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||
| torre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| brock | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 9 | 0 |
H/AB: torre 8/35, brock 9/30
2B: torre 2, brock 1 HR: brock 2
BB: torre 1, brock 3 SO: torre 4, brock 6
SB: brock 6 CS: brock 4
GAME 6
back home, the torres waste no time: two hits and a dinger (by cha-cha '66) make for a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. but the brocks keep running (it's what they do); a stolen base sets up a single tally in the 2d, and in the 4th the brocks swipe three bags en route to two more runs and a tie score. the deadlock lasts little more than an inning; torre '70 pounds one out with two down in the 5th to put the home team back out in front, 5-3. the brocks put a few men on base, but the bats just aren't there; with only two hits over the last five innings, they are toast. team torre wins the game, 6-3, and the series 4-2.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||
| brock | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| torre | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 12 | 2 |
H/AB: brock 6/32, torre 12/36
2B: torre 3 HR: torre 2
BB: brock 3, torre 2 SO: brock 3, torre 8
SB: brock 7 CS: brock 1 SF: brock
the series illustrates that age-old piece of baseball wisdom: you can't steal first base. brock's .287 obp in the series dooms him. and it's worse than that, really, insofar as 14 of his scarce baserunners die between 1st and 2d. (another 43 of them make it safely, a 75 pct success rate.) the torre / cepedas do little more than hit singles; with only 5 homers and a .434 slugging avg, they hardly live up to their mvp billing. but it's enough . . . . for this round. they face musial next.