So how did I do at the Chicagoland tourney? Well, not great. To be fair, I didn’t pick a superstar team so I didn’t have high expectations. That said, I did the same in the past and made the playoffs.
Wins: 2
Losses: 6
Runs scored: 24
Runs Allowed: 43
My 1985 Expos were pretty stinky though. We went 2-6 against the tough Division 2 of Chicagoland tournament.
First, the highlights
Leadoff man Tim Raines was big star for my team by a longshot. Raines hit .433 (13 for 30) with seven steals. He hit a double and a homerun and scored five runs.
#2 man Vance Law batted .226 with four extra base hits and three rbis. That’s as good as is get for second best.
Some of the lowlights
In fact, other than Raines, no position player hit better than the Expos hurlers who hit .278. Further, only Raines and Law had more hits than the pitchers.
- Hubie Brooks 3 for 29
- Tim Wallach 4 for 30
- Andre Dawson 5 for 31, 0 HR
- Mike Fitzgerald 3 for 27
Mitch Webster went 4 for 28 but did drove home four runs and scored four more.
The strength of the 1985 Expos was the pitching but it didn’t reflect in the tourney. Bryn Smith (BYZ) was 0-3 with a 5.57 ERA. He did strike out 20 batters in 21 innings.
Joe Hesketh (1-2, 3.43 ERA) and Bill Gullickson (1-1, 4.50 ERA) both nailed down a win each. Hesketh (BYZ) in particular, pitched an eight-inning gem for a win. Gullickson (CYZ) managed another win.
Our closer, Tim Burke (AYZ) made only one appearance. We didn’t get into many save situations. I wouldn’t exactly say he was lights out in his save chance. With a three-run lead, he gave up back-to-back homers to Kurt Bergland’s 74 Pirates before closing out the game.
As a team, we hit .191. Without Raines’ contribution, the team would have hit .159. We hit a total of six homers, nobody with more than one. Our team ERA was 4.96.
For those who want to take a deep dive, you view my 1985 Expos stats from the tourney here.
Clearly, it wasn’t all-important to me to win it all. As it was, I had a great time playing my peeps in Division 2.
Two new people for me were Frank Fumai (72 Orioles) and Dan Prizzon (above, 87 Jays). It was my genuine pleasure to take on these gentlemen. We had the luxury of time so I took the opportunity to get to know them.
Both standup guys!
I’ve seen Zach Zavela (above standing by dad, Norm Zavela) at a tournament or two but had never played against him. What a pleasure to talk to and eventually lose to him! We ended up talked a bit league dynamics and rules. Awesome guy.
A couple photos of more Division 2 action
Thanks guys! I had a blast!
Tough run, my friend!