Barbero Garbey Appreciation Society

Phil Niekro and his knuckler impressed in his Yankee debut, striking out 10 Royals in a 2-1 thriller at the "Fountain" in Kansas City. After the Royals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st, the Yankees countered with single runs in the 2nd and 3rd off Paul Splittorf for a 2-1 lead which held up, but not before a Royals rally loaded the bases in the 7th setting up a Niekro-Jorge Orta confrontation with 2 outs. Niekro's knuckler floated into right field, where Dave Winfield was waiting for out #3. Niekro got the side out in order in the 8th and 9th, securing his debut win.  By the way... Winfield went 4-4, all singles. NYY 2-9-1 KCR 1-6-0 WP-Niekro LP-Splittorf GWRBI-Randolph (1) NYY 1-1 KCR 1-1  

Lee Lacy "pinched" the Padres for a 2-run triple in the top of the 9th as the Pirates nipped the Pads in an Opening Day thriller at the "Murph." 3-2. The Bucs got back-to-back singles from Johnnie Ray and Bill Madlock with one out in the 9th, then after a Jason Thompson foul pop to Steve Garvey, the Bucs PH for Amos Otis with Lee Lacy and delivered with a triple just past the leaping Kevin McReynolds for the go-ahead runs. But the Pads had a few shots left... It started with a home run The Padre rally began with 1 out when Carmelo Martinez slugged a home run off Rich Rhoden, cutting the lead to 3-2. McReynolds then hit a misplayed fly ball to Doug Frobel in right for a 2-base error, then advanced to 3rd and was held on a single by Garry Templeton. The decision to hold McReynolds may have cost the Pads a chance of at least a tie, after a couple of runners were thrown out on fly balls at earlier junctures in the game.  Teke gets the final outs Kent Tekulve came on for...

Montreal carried a 2-1 lead into bottom of the 8th behind the pitching of Charlie Lea, who retired 16 Astros in a row from the 1st to the 6th inning, limiting the 'stros to 3 hits.  Then the Astros took charge.  Sending 10 multi-colored uniforms to the plate in the bottom of the 8th, the Astros took charge, Expos-ing one shell-shocked Montreal team with a 5-run rally, 6-2. The big highlight after Terry Puhl tied the game with a run-scoring double dropping in front of Tim Raines came with the bases loaded and one out when Jose Cruz slammed a double scoring 2 Astro runs, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Those runners would be taken care of by Jerry Mumphrey's 2-run single, making the eventual final score 6-2.  Rose silenced Pete Rose, who made his Expos debut, was 0-for-4, reaching on an error in his final at-bat. He was lifted for PH Doug Flynn with 1 out in the 9th, who grounded into a game-ending DP. Lea was charged with the hard-luck loss, followed by Gary Lucas, who rec...

Dale Murphy supplied the Braves offense with a pair of home runs, while Len Barker and Donnie Moore limited the defending NL champion Phils to 5 hits in a tense 3-2 win at the "Launching Pad." Murphy homered with Claudell Washington on in the 1st and with nobody on in the 3rd for all the offense they would need. Hard-Luck Lefty Steve Carlton did not get out of the early hole dug by Murphy, with the Phillies getting solo runs in the 2nd and 5th and had a chance to at least tie in the 8th, when Ivan DeJesus walked and Carlton beat out a bunt single. Juan Samuel then grounded into a DP by Rafael Ramirez, which then sent DeJesus to 3rd. The Braves then went to the bullpen for Donnie Moore, who struck out Len Matuszek to end the threat. Moore retired the side in order in the 9th for the save.  Doubling their pleasure The Braves turned 3 double plays, including an unassisted one by Bob Horner in the 2nd with Bo Diaz at 2nd.  PHI 2-5-0 ATL 3-7-0 WP-Barker LP-Carlton SV-Moore HR-Murp...

Despite some shaky stretches, Fernando Valenzuela delighted the Opening Day crowd at Chavez Ravine with 10 strikeouts in a route-going 9-6 win over the Cardinals. The Dodgers rallied from a 4-2 deficit to score 6 times in the bottom of the 5th, chasing Cards starter Dave LaPoint.  Marshall, Rivera with big hits The Dodgers sent 10 in the 5th inning with the big hits a bases loaded 2-run single by Mike Marshall and a 2-run double by German Rivera, with Candy Maldonado scoring all the way from 1st. Maldonado also doubled and after he made a game-saving catch of a would-be Darrell Porter home run, hit a drive Lonnie Smith could not save in the bottom of the 7th, sealing the Dodgers win. Valenzuela pitched 1-2-3 innings in the 8th and 9th to secure the Dodgers opening win. Cards held in check Valenzuela scattered 7 Redbirds hits in 9 innings, though he did give up a 3-run shot to Porter in the 2nd. Of his 10 strikeouts, Valenzuela whiffed George Hendrick 3 times and went 1-2-3 in the 1...

The San Francisco Giants rallied from deficits of 6-0 and 10-5 to stun the Chicago Cubs in a classic at Candlestick by a final of 11-10. Trailing 10-8, the Giants got a leadoff walk from Joel Youngblood, who then moved to 3rd on a single by Chili Davis, his 3rd hit of the game. Bob Brenly singled home Youngblood, cutting the Cubs lead to 10-9. Pinch-hitter Dusty Baker then lined to Tom Veryzer for the 1st out of the 9th. Lee Smith, who entered the game with the score 10-6 in the 7th, then struck out Johnnie LeMaster for out #2. Smith though, would not get that 3rd out. Nicosia in a pinch, then Clark time Manny Trillo was due up for the Giants, but with "reverse clutches" on his card, they pinch-hit for him with Steve Nicosia. Nicosia singled up the middle, scoring Davis, sending Brenly to 3rd. The Cubs changed pitchers, Warren Brusstar taking over for a shell-shocked Smith. Brusstar would face Jack Clark, whose 2-run homer in the 8th cut the Cubs lead to 10-8. Clark wasn'...

Dave Kingman hit a big go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the 6th and added 2 more runs with a double as part of a 6-run rally as the A's destroyed the Brewers in the Coliseum opener, 11-4.  Big night for Little Joe, Murph Joe Morgan made his Oakland debut a successful one with 3 singles, 2 walks and 2 runs scored, while Dewayne Murphy rapped 3 singles of his own, scoring 2 runs as well. It was Kong who provided the big bat with his 2-run homer for the lead and 2-run double for icing on the cake in the 7th. The A's sent 10 to the plate in the 7th, scoring 6 times to put it out of reach.  The Inspector is on the case Bill Caudill took over for Steve McCatty in the 7th with the A's clinging to a one-run lead with the bases full of Brewers and got Ted Simmons to foul out to 1st and Ben Oglivie out on strikes. Caudill ran into more trouble in the 8th and escaped, and pitched a 1-2-3 9th, striking out Oglivie again to end it.  Not Milwaukee's night Despite leading at one ...

Pete O'Brien's 3-run homer in the bottom of the 6th capped a Rangers rally from 4 runs down, leaving Rick Sutcliffe and the Indians, who had cruised through the first 5 innings, crying and stunned, then George Vukovich and Brook Jacoby managed to tie it off of Charlie Hough with a pair of doubles in the 7th, only to get stunned again when Curtis Wilkerson's 2nd triple of the game with one out and subsequent single by Wayne Tolleson off George Frazier in the bottom half of the frame rallied the Rangers to a thrilling 6-5 victory. CLE 5-13-0 TEX 6-8-0 WP-Hough LP-Frazier HR-O'Brien (1) TEX 1-0 CLE 0-1

Darrell Evans slugged a pair of homers in his Tigers debut, while Jack Morris shut down the Minnesota Twins bats in the Metrodome opener, 6-2. Evans slugged a solo homer in his 1st Tiger at-bat in the top of the 1st, then with Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell aboard, bombed a 3-run homer in the 5th to break the game open. Dave Bergman and Lance Parrish also produced run-scoring hits to back up Morris' complete game 6-hitter.  Kent Hrbek supplied the lone major offensive highlight for the Twins with a solo homer in the 8th. Lou Whitaker had 3 singles and 2 runs scored for the victorious Bengals. DET 6-13-0 MIN 2-6-0 WP-Morris LP-Williams HR-Evans (1, 2) Hrbek (1) DET 1-0 MIN 0-1   

The Royals, playing without ailing 3B George Brett, belted out 14 hits en route to a 6-2 Opening Day triumph over their long-time nemesis from the Bronx. "Louisiana Lightning" didn't provide enough of it as the Royals torched Ron Guidry with 3 runs in the 4th, 1 in the 5th and 2 in the 6th to help do in the Yankees. Royals deal out 3 of a kind   The 14-hit Royal attack was flush with a trio of hot hitters, each banging out 3 hits. Greg Pryor belted a 3-run homer in the 4th, plus a single and a double, Hal McRae had 3 singles, Darryl Motley paced the "crew" with a double, triple and a single. The trio were a combined 9-11.  Black was dealing Royal lefty Bud Black gave up a pair of early Yankee runs, including a solo homer by Omar Moreno, but got stronger as the game wound down, scattering 9 hits en route to the complete game triumph. He also struck out 4 Yanks.                 123  456   789   RHE NYY  ...

Chart info courtesy of Billboard Magazine 1. Footloose-Kenny Loggins 2. Somebody's Watching Me-Rockwell 3. Jump-Van Halen 4. Here Comes the Rain Again-Eurythmics  5. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Cyndi Lauper   6. I Want a New Drug-Huey Lewis and the News 7. Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)-Phil Collins  8. Automatic-Pointer Sisters 9. Adult Education-Hall & Oates 10. Miss Me Blind-Culture Club

Brian Downing got things off to a promising start at the Big "A" with a lead-off solo homer, but the Red Sox would spoil the opener for the home-towners with a solid pitching effort by Bruce Hurst and some power hitting of their own by Dewey Evans, Tony Armas and some icing from Mike Easler with a lead-off solo homer in the 9th, making the final winning margin 4-2. Hurst outdueled Forsch Angels righty Ken Forsch struck out 7 Sawx, but served up gophers to Evans, Armas and Easler while Forsch's counterpart, lefty Bruce Hurst just plain limited the Halo attack to 6 hits, striking out 4 Halo batters. Jim Rice was feeling a little left out for the Sawx, striking out 3 times, though home plate ump Don Denkinger might have had a little something to do with that.                123 456 789   RHE BOS    011 100 100    490  CAL    100 010 000   260 WP-Hurst LP-Forsch HR-Downing (1) Evans (1) Armas...

Still grieving over the sudden loss of their football team, 51,333 fans turned out to cheer their world champion baseball team as the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the White Sox in an emotion-packed season opener, 5-4.  Ripken, Singleton rally the Birds The Orioles rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-2 to stun the defending AL West champs, scoring 2 runs in the 7th off LaMarr Hoyt and Britt Burns to tie and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th on a lead-off single by Cal Ripken Jr., who remained at 1st after Eddie Murray struck out. Pinch-hitter Lenn Sakata then singled Ripken to 3rd, setting up the game-winning hit, which was struck by Ken Singleton on a sac fly to Ron Kittle in left off reliever Ron Reed, scoring Ripken. Tippy Martinez retired the Sox in order in the 9th, getting Harold Baines on a called strike 3 to end it.           123 456 789 R H E CWS 030 OOO 100 4 10 2 BAL 000 200 21X 5 9 0 WP-T. Martinez LP-Burns HR-None GWRBI-Single...

While the Reds and Mets and White Sox and Orioles were on in the early afternoon hours in their local and surrounding markets, it was business as usual on the tube. Here are some highlights: Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour (NBC) This noble attempt to mash up 2 game show classics in an hour-long show   lasted until the All-Star break. This week's stars were, Stephen Schnetzer (Another World), Roxie Roker (The Jeffersons), Bruce Baum (Comic), Judy Landers (Sister of Audrey), Steve Allen (Life's Most Embarrassing Moments), Brian Mitchell (Trapper John, M.D.), Gloria Loring (Days of our Lives) and Jayne Meadows (Steve's wife). Gene Rayburn hosted the MG portion with Jon "Bowzer" Baumann hosting the "Squares" portion. Baumann was a panelist on the MG, while Rayburn did likewise on the Squares.  $25,000 Pyramid (CBS) Dick Clark hosted word-association with this week's celebrity guests Martha Smith (Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which was on CBS that night) an...

CIN 14-17-0 NYM 3-8-1 The Reds jumped on the Mets early and often in a decisive 14-3 Opening Day triumph in front of a capacity Riverfront Stadium crowd. The Mets would get the edge against Mario Soto early when Wally Backman singled to left, Jose Oquendo struck out, then Keith Hernandez hit a mammoth shot to right giving the Mets the first runs of '84. When a Cobra strikes After Mike Torrez got the side out 1-2-3 in the 1st, the Reds flashed their old "Machine" form big-time, scoring twice in the 2nd and 3rd, then chasing Torrez from the game with a 5-run 4th. Another 5-spot in the 5th swelled the Reds lead to 14-2 with the main catalyst being the man known as "Cobra." In his Reds debut, Dave Parker singled, walked, singled again and for good measure, slugged a 2-run homer off Ed Lynch in the 5th, finishing him off and the Mets. etc, etc, etc. Dan Driessen went 4-4, Eddie Milner hit a 3-run homer and RBI triple, while Mario Soto backed up his complete game pitc...

The year of Footloose, Ghostbusters and Bless You Boys is back! Pull up a chair and enjoy every dice roll of 1984, the home runs, daring steals and drop-dead moments that defined 1984. Even if Jack Morris doesn't pitch that no-hitter on Game of the Week, you will still find C&D-Crafted moments worth reliving. It all begins in Cincinnati, the traditional Opening Day, where Mario Soto and Dave Parker lead the Reds against those up-and-coming Metropolitans from New York. Pull up a chair and relive 1984 all over again!