'75 Recap

The Reshuffled Deck project kicked off with a wild opening day tilt between the Tigers and Red Sox as 5 Detroit errors led to an improbable Boston come from behind victory. It was indicative of how the season would play out as six months later the Tigers were in their war room figuring out who they would be drafting 1st overall in the December draft while the Red Sox were completing a 6-game upset in the World Series versus a 108 win Cincinnati ballclub.

Yes the rosters were reshuffled but the 1975 deck still turned over an 108 win Big Red Machine and a World Series matchup between them and the Red Sox after the teams had disposed of the Pirates and A's in their respective League Championship Series. Boston was the only team to win three straight games versus the Reds in the regular season, sweeping a late July interleague series at Fenway, and would duplicate that feat in the World Series overcoming a 2-1 series deficit to win the World Series in Game 6 at Riverfront. Boston had the AL's MVP (Bob Watson) and Cy Young Winner (Bruce Kison) but in the post-season it was their bullpen that was the story as Skip Lockwood, Jim Willoughby and midseason acquisition Reggie Cleveland led the way for Boston.

Cleveland proved to be worth the
trade of Cooper

The Red Sox led the AL East for much of the season taking over the lead from the Yankees in late April and were only overtaken briefly by a surprising Cleveland club. Despite the near season long lead there were uneasy times including an 8-game losing streak - all versus the Indians and Yankees - in September that trimmed their lead to just 1 over Cleveland and 2 over a New York squad that had trailed by 14 games in August (sound familiar?). The Indians had a chance to tie for 1st place in Fenway on the seasons penultimate Sunday but couldn't complete a sweep and watched as the Red Sox rebounded to win 6 of their final 7 games against division lesser lights the Tigers, Brewers and Orioles to hang on to the division.

Each of the three AL contenders were active on the trade market. Boston shored up their infield by acquiring Rick Burleson from the Orioles and Jerry Remy from the Angels and also dealt promising young first baseman Cecil Cooper to the Brewers for Reggie Cleveland. Cooper was a pending Free Agent and was stuck behind MVP Bob Watson at 1B and playing very little despite an average that was well above .300. The Brewers had acquired Cleveland earlier that day in a deal that sent Jim Kern and Ed Kirkpatrick to the Rangers. The Cleveland acquisition was instrumental in holding off the upstart Cleveland ballclub who made some key deals of their own. The Indians had the AL Fireman of the year in Dave LaRoche and got strong seasons out of Phil Niekro and Rick Waits but just did not have much else on the mound. They acquired pending Free Agent Harry Parker from the Cardinals for CF Bake McBride - who was buried in a deep Cleveland outfield - and a 1st Round draft pick. The trade cost Parker a chance to appear in the All-Star game as St. Louis's representative but it did place him in the thick of a pennant race and he performed well but in the end the Indians just didn't have enough quality arms.

The Yankees were an interesting team. They jumped out to a 13-5 start but sputtered for months and found

The Bronx Bombers made some
noise thanks to "Boomer"

themselves 14 games out and under .500 in late July. Around this time they made two trades that indicated they were looking to the future. First they sent pending Free Agent reliever Bill Castro to the Royals for demoted 1B George Scott and a 1st Rd draft pick and then sent Catcher Ellie Hendricks to the Orioles for Pitcher Dave Pagan - a deal motivated strictly by a need to have another arm to eat up innings with Castro gone. A funny thing happened though, George Scott suddenly became a force in the Bronx and Pagan emerged as an effective starter down the stretch as the Yankees worked their way all the way back to 2 games out with a week to play. Their rally would fall short but their is plenty of optimism in the Bronx for 1976.

Elsewhere in the AL East the Tigers were dreadful despite having MLB home run king Ben Oglivie and his 48 Home Runs on the roster. Their last overall finish largely having to do with the majors worst 4.73 team ERA. The Brewers were more competitive than the pre-season pundits predicted but a lack of offensive star power and pitching depth hurt them. Mike Caldwell was one of the best pitchers in the American League and the midseason trade for Cecil Cooper provides hope for the future. Also of note the Brewers had both the majors oldest player (Hank Aaron) and youngest player (Robin Yount) in 1975. Rounding out the AL East was the

Singleton, not Reggie, was the straw
that stirred Baltimore's drink

Baltimore Orioles who got a big season from Ken Singleton and reliever Dick Drago but didn't have much else going for them other than a penchant for hitting the long ball in losing causes. The Orioles were involved in one of the seasons most interesting deals as they traded pending Free Agent Reggie Jackson to the Angels in a 3-way trade that brought Juan Beniquez over from the Rangers. Jackson and Singleton were both only rated to play Right Field for the '75 campaign and they couldn't start them both. Singleton won the battle and Jackson needless to say was unhappy in a reserve role and pushed for a move out of town.

Bando's 101 RBI's paced
a balanced A's attack

The AL West had much less continuity in it's leadership. The Royals, Twins and A's all spent time in the driver's seat with the A's prevailing in the end. At the All-Star Break the A's were in 4th place with a 50-51 record despite a good run differential and the appearance of being the most complete team of the four teams vying for the division crown. A balanced offence led by the power of Cliff Johnson and Sal Bando and the speed of Billy North and Claudell Washington was complimented by one of the deeper pitching staffs in baseball. A weak bench hindered the A's in the first half but midseason deals for the Braves Earl Williams and the Giants Gary Thomasson provided much needed help. A bonus in the Giants deal was the outstanding relief work they got out of Dave Heaverlo who had been demoted during his stint across the bay. The bullpen did not deliver in the ALCS however as the A's lost in 5 games to the Red Sox despite outscoring Boston 10-0 in the 1st inning in the series.

The trade market wasn't nearly as friendly to the Royals as Bill Castro lost 9 games in relief after the early July trade that brought him over from the Yankees for George Scott and a 1st Round pick. Adding further insult was the formally demoted Scott becoming an absolute offensive terror for the Yankees while the Royals could never get any production out of their 1B position. Kansas City had the best starting staff in the game as Dennis Leonard, Steve Busby, Paul Splittorff and Jim Colborn led the way for KC as their 124 team quality starts were the best in baseball by a wide margin. The bullpen and a lack of consistent offence though led to a long late season swoon that dropped them all the way to 4th place before they rebouded late to finish 2nd.

Koosman outpitched the
departed Seaver for the Sox

The Minnesota Twins also faded late - posting the worst record in baseball after beginning August in 1st place. Rod Carew, Larry Hisle and Dan Ford paced the Twins to the 2nd most runs in the AL but their pitching would doom them to a 4th place finish. The White Sox overtook the Twins for 3rd place in the final week, but were only ever on the periphery of the division chase. Jim Spencer and Bobby Bonds had massive seasons leading the White Sox to the most home runs in baseball. Chicago made a significant deal with the Mets acquiring Jerry Koosman for a struggling Tom Seaver in a straight up deal. Koosman was the best White Sox pitcher after the break but had little help on the staff as the Sox couldn't stay in the race. Elsewhere in the AL West the Rangers spent most of the season in the basement but played over .500 ball after the All-Star break to finish in 5th place ahead of the Angels. Jim Kern - who began the season by getting shelled as a Cincinnati Red before being claimed on waivers by the Brewers and subsequently dealt to Texas - shone with a heavy workload after the trade that sent workhorse Reggie Cleveland away from Arlington. The Angels meanwhile were just not very good outside of a monster season from Fred Lynn. There is optimism though for 1976 though in Anaheim as trade acquisitions Don Baylor and Reggie Jackson both had strong finishes and will join Lynn for a potentially heavy-hitting outfield for California.

The National League East was a wire to wire battle between Keystone state rivals. Philadelphia led the division for much of the first two months but once Pittsburgh took over they held the Phillies an arm lengths way away the rest of the season. Though the Phillies remained in the hunt all season it never did seem like they would ever overtake a superior Pirate ballclub. Philadelphia didn't get enough from projected stars Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski and 1B Tony Perez was dreadful at the plate much of the year. Balancing that was surprising performances from 26 Home Run man Del Unser and infielder Terry Harmon who batted over .300 all season long and finished the season on a 25 game hitting streak. The strength of the Phillies was the bullpen trio of Gene Garber, Doug Bird and NL Fireman of the Year winner Tug McGraw. Philadelphia swept two games at Three Rivers Stadium in early September to remain in the hunt but couldn't draw within 3 of the lead until a final week surge after the division had been decided landed them 2 games out to finish.

The Cobra hit .336 for the NL
East champs

Unlike their in-state rivals Pittsburgh received big seasons from their stars. Willie Stargell led the league with 46 home runs, Dave Parker narrowly missed a batting title, as did Rennie Stennett who did lead the league with 64 stolen bases. Rick Reuschel was a 20-game winner and put together a CY Young candidate worthy season if it were not for such stiff competition from other pitchers in the circuit. The rest of the division never contended. The Mets were pretty close to being a wire to wire 3rd place team that never threatened. The Cardinals and Expos both got off to miserable starts but improved as the season progressed which landed the Cubbies and their league worst pitching staff in the cellar.

MVP Bench helped the Reds
leave the West in the dust

The NL half of the season recap will not be as lengthy because there was so little drama compared to the AL. This had a lot to do with the production of 108 wins by the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. Led by the 23 wins of Bill Bonham, a stout relief duo of MLB saves leader Rawly Eastwick and Pedro Borbon and an MVP season from Catcher Johnny Bench the Reds left the NL West in their dust in May and never looked back. Cincinnati was not swept in an NL series until the seasons' final week when they lost four straight at San Diego and Houston. Their only three game sweep suffered was at Fenway Park in interleague. Unfortunately the Red Sox would duplicate that three game streak over the Reds in October and won the World Series over the heavily favoured Reds.

Batting Titlist Al Bumbry

 Though never in contention the rest of the division may have been threats in other circuits. The Braves and Astros finished in a tie for 2nd place with Atlanta winning the tiebreaker via a 14-4 dominance over Houston in the season series. The Braves even owned CY Young winner J.R. Richard, who allowed five+ runs three times in 1975 - all against Atlanta! The Giants and Dodgers finished in a tie for 4th place, joining the Astros in a trio of low-scoring teams in the middle of the division. Finishing in last were the Padres, who occupied the basement all season long despite a respectable 40-41 road record. San Diego is not without talent as Al Bumbry won a batting title and Dave Kingman, Steve Garvey and Dave Winfield formed a powerful trio in the heart of the order. There is discussion of moving in and lowering the fences in cavernous San Diego Stadium to better suit the team after their struggles at home this season.