AMERICAN LEAGUE
PRELIMINARY ROUND (Best of Three)
SERIES #2
Series #2 of my 1969 APBA MLB tournament has the #6 Washington Senators (86-76) vs the #11 Seattle Pilots (64-98).
While I knew the best-of-three early round format would make upsets more possible, I did not see this one coming.
Game 1: Washington (Bosman BZ, 0-0) at Seattle (Gelnar CYZ, 0-0)
VS 
Seattle, hoping to extend their inaugural season, opens the tournament drawing the Ted Williams led Washington Senators, who finished the 1969 season, 10 games over .500. While the Senators lineup had some big bats to contend with, John Gelnar did not seem to mind as he drew the opening assignment. With Gelnar putting up a goose egg in the top of the 1st, Seattle would put 1 run up thanks to a lead-off single/stolen base by Tommy Harper, Mike Hegan moving him to 3rd on a ground-out, and Steve Hovley with an innocent Sac-fly, RBI, the 1 run would be all Seattle would need. Gelnar goes the distance, giving up just 3 hits, while walking 5. Washington could muster just 3 singles. And Senator starter Dick Bosman was knocked out in the bottom of the 7th when Hovley tripled home Harper from 1st. Hovley finished with a 2 for 3 day, 1 triple, 1 double and the sac-fly, and 3 RBI. Wayne Comer homered for Seattle in the bottom of the 8th. Final score: 6-0 Seattle. The Pilots lead the series, 1 game to 0.
Game #1
Sick's Stadium
WASHINGTON SENATORS (0-0) at SEATTLE PILOTS (0-0)
Bosman(WAS) vs. Gelnar(SEA)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
WASHINGTON SENATORS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
SEATTLE PILOTS 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 x 6 8 0
W- Gelnar(1-0) L- Bosman(0-1)
HR- (SEA) Comer(1),in 8th
3B- (SEA) Hovley(1)
2B- (SEA) Comer(1) Donaldson(1) Hovley(1)
SB- (SEA) Harper(1)
(WAS) Unser(1)
SH- (SEA) Gelnar(1)
SF- (SEA) Hovley(1)
Seattle leads series 1 game to 0.
Game 2: Seattle (Brabender DY, 0-0) at Washington (Coleman BY, 0-0)
VS 
Seattle hoping to keep some of the game 1 magic they found at Sick’s Stadium on their side, did just that as they opened the top of the 1st at RFK Stadium with 2 runs, on a 2-run homer by Steve Hovley. Gene Brabender extended the Senators scoreless streak, pitching 3 shut-out innings out of the gate. Ted Williams realized 1969 was not going to be the Senators year when Don Mincher came up with runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out in the top of the 3rd, and deposited a Joe Coleman pitch deep over the RF fence, as Seattle took a 5-0 lead after 3. The Senators went to the bullpen to start the 4th inning, with Bob Humphreys in to relieve Coleman. Seattle strung together 4 consecutive singles, capped off by Mincher’s 2-RBI single with nobody out. With the Pilots leading 7-0 heading into the bottom of the 4th, Mike Epstein finally got the Senators on the board with a solo HR. 7-1 Pilots after 4. Washington would score 2 more in the bottom of the 6th, making it a 7-3 game. Seattle brought in defensive reserves for the 7th-9th innings, with John Kennedy taking over at 3rd-base for Tommy Harper and Steve Whitaker taking over in LF for Mike Hegan. In the top of the 8th, Kennedy walked and Whitaker hit a 2-run HR, the Pilots 3rd homer of the game. The final score: Seattle 9, Washington 3. Seattle wins the series, 2 games to none. The Pilots have earned themselves an AL Quarterfinal match-up vs the #1 AL seed, the Baltimore Orioles.
Game #2
RFK Stadium
SEATTLE PILOTS (1-0) at WASHINGTON SENATORS (0-1)
Brabender(SEA) vs. Coleman(WAS)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE PILOTS 2 0 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 9 11 0
WASHINGTON SENATORS 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 6 0
W- Brabender(1-0) L- Coleman(0-1)
HR- (WAS) Epstein(1),in 4th
(SEA) Hovley(1),in 1st Mincher(1),in 3rd Whitaker(1),in 8th
3B- (WAS) Epstein(1)
2B- (WAS) Maye(1)
(SEA) Mincher(1)
SB- (SEA) Mincher(1)
HBP-(SEA) Hovley(1)
Seattle wins the series, 2 games to 0. Washington is eliminated.
The Co-MVP’s of the series are John Gelnar: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 6 SO, 1 CG, 1 SHO
And Steve Hovley: 4 for 7, 1 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B, 5 RBI.
SERIES STATS:
SEATTLE PILOTS - Batting
Name G PA AB R H BI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB BA SLG OBP
============================================================================
Whitaker, Steve 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1.000 4.000 1.000
Hegan, Mike 2 8 7 4 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .571 .571 .625
Hovley, Steve 2 9 7 2 4 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 .571 1.429 .556
Mincher, Don 2 9 8 1 3 5 1 0 1 1 0 1 .375 .875 .444
Harper, Tommy 2 8 7 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 .286 .286 .375
Donaldson, John 2 8 8 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 .250 .375 .250
Comer, Wayne 2 9 9 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 .222 .667 .222
Oyler, Ray 2 8 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 .143 .143 .250
Gil, Gus 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Gelnar, John 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000
Brabender, Gene 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
McNertney, Jerry 2 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .111
Kennedy, John 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - - 1.000
============================================================================
77 68 15 19 15 4 1 4 6 7 2 .279 .544 .342
SEATTLE PILOTS - Pitching
Name GP GS IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv CG ShO HR ERA
===========================================================================
Locker, Bob 1 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Segui, Diego 1 0 1.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Gelnar, John 1 1 9.0 3 0 0 5 6 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
Brabender, Gene 1 1 5.1 6 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 5.06
===========================================================================
4 2 18.0 9 3 3 6 9 2 0 0 1 1 1 1.50
WASHINGTON SENATORS - Batting
Name G PA AB R H BI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB BA SLG OBP
==========================================================================
Epstein, Mike 2 8 7 1 3 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 .429 1.143 .500
Allen, Bernie 2 7 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .286 .286 .286
Howard, Frank 2 8 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 .200 .200 .500
Maye, Lee 2 8 8 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .125 .250 .125
McMullen, Ken 2 8 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .125 .125 .125
Unser, Del 2 8 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 .125 .125 .125
Bosman, Dick 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000 .000 .000
Casanova, Paul 2 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000
Brinkman, Ed 2 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .286
Allen, Hank 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Alyea, Brant 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Cullen, Tim 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
==========================================================================
66 60 3 9 3 1 1 1 6 9 1 .150 .250 .227
WASHINGTON SENATORS - Pitching
Name GP GS IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv CG ShO HR ERA
===========================================================================
Higgins, Dennis 1 0 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Bosman, Dick 1 1 6.2 7 5 4 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 5.40
Knowles, Darold 2 0 2.1 1 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.71
Humphreys, Bob 2 0 3.0 5 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 9.00
Coleman, Joe 1 1 3.0 5 5 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 15.00
===========================================================================
7 2 17.0 19 15 14 6 7 0 2 0 0 0 4 7.41
Next series:
Preposterous. Steve who?
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