Barbero Garbey Appreciation Society

Twins starter Al Williams overcame early control issues and shut down the California Angels with 6 innings of hitless ball en route to a 5-2 win at the Metrodome . Williams walked Gary Pettis to open the game but was aided by a pickoff for the 1st out. Rod Carew then singled, Fred Lynn walked, Doug DeCinces singled to left to load the bases. Reggie Jackson drew another Williams walk to bring in the first run, then Brian Downing bounced one to Gary Gaetti for a much needed around the horn DP ending the inning. The Twins evened things up with a solo homer by Tim Tuefel off lefty Geoff Zahn , then in the top of the 2nd got another 5-4-3 DP which would turn into another HR, this one by Tim Laudner with 1 on for a 3-1 Twin lead after 2. The Angels got a leadoff single by Carew in the 3rd followed by a Fred Lynn walk. DeCinces then grounded into the 3rd DP in as many innings, this one a tailor-made 6-4-3. Reggie Jackson salvaged the inning with an RBI single scoring Carew making t...

When Danny Darwin took the mound for the Rangers on 4/18/84 , he actually did quite well, pitching 8 innings, striking out 7 in what would eventually be a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox . In Cards & Dice, the dice can tell a different story and the story was, Danny Darwin STUNK. 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, O K, 10 batters pitched to. It took 9 batters before Darwin recorded an out, here's how the other 8 did: Jerry Remy singled, stole second, Dwight Evans singled, Remy scored, Wade Boggs walked, Jim Rice singled, Evans scored, Mike Easler doubled, Boggs scored, Tony Armas tripled, Rice, Easler scored, Gedman singled, Armas scored, Nichols walked. Glenn Hoffman lined out to short for Darwin's only out, then up for the 2nd time, Jerry Remy put Darwin out of his misery with a double, scoring Gedman. Dave Stewart was called upon to stop the bleeding which he did, though he did walk Wade Boggs, the 2nd time Boggs walked in the inning. When Jim Rice took a called strike 3, the Ra...

Top of the 9th inning, Cleveland was leading the Yankees by a score of 6-3. Rick Sutcliffe retired Butch Wynegar on his own comebacker, then gave up a single to Andre Robertson and walked Omar Moreno. Sutcliffe knew what was coming next, on-deck hitter Willie Randolph was 3-4, the decision was made, Ernie Camacho was coming in, unaware he was about to become an eyewitness to pinstripe history. Randolph hit a fly ball to Vukovich in right for out #2. Up next: Ken Griffey, who was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Griffey went "clutch" and roped a single to right field scoring Robertson with Moreno racing to 3rd. It was now 6-4, Indians with 2 out and a youngster from Evansville, Indiana stepping up to the plate. Don Mattingly , 2 strikeouts, a foul-out to 1st and a triple and a run scored. Camacho stretched, delivered the pitch, Mattingly let it rip and... 3-run homer which landed somewhere in the middle of Lake Erie . Yankees 7, Indians 6. Donnie Baseball had arrived. The Indians had runn...

It was the best of times vs. the worst of times at Exhibition Stadium on April 18. THE BEST OF TIMES Dave Stieb plowed through Oriole hitting as if it were a row of corn, limiting the defending world champs to just 2 hits, a pair of line singles by Cal Ripken and Jim Dwyer . He also struck out 8 Orioles , walking 2 and hitting 1. He got plenty of hitting from Cliff Johnson , who drove 3 runs with a double in the 1st and also got another double and single in a 5-0 win. Which brings us to... THE WORST OF TIMES Once, he was a force to be reckoned with, a pitcher you could count on for multiple win seasons, great control and post-season honors. Jim Palmer was just a mere shelf of his old self against Steib and his Blue Jays , producing this far from flashy line: 2 IP+, 5 ER, 3 H, 6 BB.  Stieb v. Palmer . New guard v. old. 0nly a matchup like this could produce a lopsided result. TOR 5-8-0 BAL 0-2-1 WP-Stieb LP-Palmer TOR 9-3 BAL 7-4

We know the history, the no-hitter , the 35-5 start, the "He don't want to walk you!" It's just that C&D tells its' own unpredictable story. Enter Darryl Motley , the Kansas City Royals and a Detroit Tiger team that picked the wrong time to implode. It started with Bud Black and Jack Morris trading zeroes on the scoreboard through 5 innings. Then in the top of the 6th, Greg Pryor singled to center and stood there with 2 outs when Pat Sheridan hit a Morris pitch to center for a double. Dick Howser took a chance and sent Pryor from 1st, Chet Lemon 's throw a little off-line, Royals had the lead, 1-0 after 5-1/2. Bud Black nursed the lead heading into bottom of the 8th when the dormant Tiger bats came to life. Marty Castillo led off with a double, then Kirk Gibson dropped a single in front of Pat Sheridan in center scoring Castillo with the tying run. Gibson swiped 2nd, then Tom Brookens ripped a double to center scoring Gibby and giving the Tigers ...

The San Diego Padres , who struggled through the 1st 2 weeks of the season, finally busted out in a big way by collecting 16 hits en route to a 14-5 win over the West Division-leading Giants at Candlestick Park . Steve Garvey paced the booming Padre bats with 2 singles and a double, driving in 4 of the runs with a 2-run double in the 2nd and a 2-run single in the 6th. Luis Salazar and Alan Wiggins also got 3 hits each from the 1 and 2 spots in the order, Salazar scoring 3 runs and Wiggins stealing 2 bases. Kevin McReynolds also contributed 2 doubles.  The Giants fell behind 4-1 and 7-3, but did little offensively against Padre starter Tim Lollar , who scattered 6 hits in a complete game win despite giving up 2 runs in the 9th. The lone offensive highlight for the Giants came in the 6th when Joel Youngblood and Bob Brenly hit back-to-back solo homers. Mark Davis started for the Giants but collapsed under the weight of 6 walks before being relieved in the 6th. Davis, however ...

  He may share a last name with a certain Mobile Army Hospital surgeon , but Rick Honeycutt did have some elements of surgery in carving up the Houston Astros , limiting the 'stros to 7 hits while his Dodger teammates did the heavy lifting in a 3-0 shutout win at the " 8th Wonder ." Dodger Blue struck 1st against knuckleball ace Joe Niekro on a leadoff single/steal by Steve Sax . After Ken Landreaux walked with 1 out, Pedro Guerrero slow rolled one to Enos Cabell at 1st, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Mike Marshall cashed them in with a 2-run single and the Dodgers were on their way. The 3rd Dodger run came with 2 outs in the 3rd when Landreaux singled, stole 2nd and scored on a "+" single by Guerrero. Honeycutt then took it from there, striking out 5 and withstanding a pair of Astros 1st and 3rd threats in the 2nd and 5th innings.  LAD 3-8-1 HOU 0-7-0 WP-Honeycutt LP-Niekro LAD 7-5 HOU 5-7

The Fightin' Phils took round 1 of the " Keystone Battle ", applying an early knockout punch to the Pirates in the Three Rivers opener by a score of 5-2. The Pirates applied the first punch in the 1st via Johnny Ray 's 1-out walk and double by Jim Morrison . Ray scored on Jason Thompson 's SF to right. The Phils fought back in the 2nd on a leadoff walk by Sixto Lezcano and single by Glenn Wilson , Lezcano to 2nd. Garry Maddox singled home Lezcano on a "+" and Bo Diaz brought home Wilson on a SF to center for a 2-1 Phils lead. John Wockenfuss extended the lead with a solo homer in the top of the 3rd off John Tudor , then the Phils broke it open with 2 in the 6th on a leadoff walk by Mike Schmidt , an RBI triple by Sixto Lezcano and a SF to center by Garry Maddox, his 2nd RBI of the game. The Bucs chased Philly starter Charlie Hudson with a run in the home 7th on a leadoff single by Amos Otis, who was forced out on a Dale Berra bouncer to short. PH...

It was a "darling" effort from the Mets' rookie right-hander Ron Darling as he walked right through an Expos team that had nothing better to do than hit balls into gloves in a 4-0 shutout win at the home opener in Shea Stadium .  Darling scattered 3 Expo hits, allowing only back-to-back singles by Gary Carter and Tim Wallach in the 4th and a lead-off double by opposing pitcher Bryn Smith in the 5th. Smith's double was followed by a 1-out error by Jose Oquendo with Bryan Little reaching and a walk by Tim Raines. Andre Dawson grounded into an 4-6-3 DP , ending the threat and any further Expo offense as Darling retired the side in order from the 6th to the 9th. Darling struck out 3 and walked 3.  Darling got plenty of offensive support from his Met-mates via a 14-hit attack, which included solo homers from Keith Hernandez in the 1st and Darryl Strawberry in the 6th. Strawberry also doubled home George Foster with a run in the 1st and singled/stole 2nd. Hubie Bro...

Rickey Henderson 's 1-out double in the 9th scored Mike Heath with the go-ahead run as the A's hung on for a 6-5 win over the Mariners at the Kingdome .  Heath led off the A's 9th with his 3rd hit of the game, a single, then was sacrificed to 2nd by Donnie Hill . Henderson then unloaded a double off starter Mike Moore , giving the A's the lead. The Mariners had a chance in the bottom of the 9th on a 1-out double by PH Dave Henderson , but Chris Codiroli got Alvin Davis to ground to 2nd and struck out PH Barry Bonnell to save it for winning pitcher Steve McCatty .  Seattle scored 3 times in the bottom of the 2nd to take an early lead with Bob Kearney supplying the key hit on a 2-out double scoring Alvin Davis. He then scored on a single by Spike Owen . The A's erupted for 4 in the 3rd on a pair of doubles by Mike Heath and Dwayne Murphy and a sac fly by Carney Lansford . The M's tied it in the 3rd on a sac fly by Gorman Thomas scoring Larry Milbourne , w...

Pardon the Angels if they were feeling a little "Bushed" but that's how they ended up being after Randy Bush 's PH single off Doug Corbett scored Kent Hrbek with the winning run in the 10th in a 6-5 thriller at the Metrodome .  Hrbek led off the inning with a lead-off double off Corbett, then was advanced to 3rd on a slow-roller to Rob Wilfong . DH Dave Engle was then walked to set up a force after which Gary Gaetti struck out looking. Bush then pinch-hit for Tim Laudner and rifled a single to center that scored Hrbek with the game-winner, making a winner out of John Butcher , who pitched all 10 innings, even retiring 13 Angels in a row at one point before Rod Carew singled to start the Angel 10th. The Angels jumped out to a 2-0 lead off Butcher when Fred Lynn slugged a 2-run homer with Carew on 2nd after a 1-out double. The Twins then jumped-on Halo starter Tommy John for 5 in the 1st on 4 singles and a double. John would settle down and keep the Twins off ...

It was the ol' 23-Skiddoo at Fenway Park, pulled off by the Texas Rangers, who collected 23 hits en route to an 8-5 triumph over the Red Sox. Of the 23 hits, 5 were by Pete O'Brien, who had 4 singles and a double while George Wright, Buddy Bell and Billy Sample had 3 each. Doubles were the more common of the Rangers hits as O'Brien, Wright, Larry Parrish and Bell each doubled, with Bell's 2-bagger driving home 2 runs in a 5-run Texas 5th in which 10 Rangers batted. Frank Tanana held the Red Sox hitless for 4-2/3 innings before the Sawx got to him for 3 runs on 4 hits, with the big hit a 2-run double by Dwight Evans. Tanana pitched 7-1/3 innings before giving way to Dave Schmidt, who kept the score respectable enough for the save. Glenn Hoffman drove in 2 BoSox runs with sac flies. Dennis Eckersley took the loss for Boston.   -Rangers left 12 runners on base. -Despite 30 total hits, none of the hits were home runs.  TEX 8-23-0 BOS 5-7-1 WP-Tanana LP-Eckersley SV-Schmidt ...

Bill Schroder 's pinch-hit 3-run bomb (1-9 on his card) in the 9th off Ron Reed made a tough-luck loser out of Tom Seaver and a home opening winner out of the Milwaukee Brewers in a 6-5 classic at County Stadium .   Jim Gantner started the game-winning rally with a lead-off single to center off of Seaver, then Jim Sundberg rifled one to left field putting 2 on and Tony LaRussa making the call to the bullpen for Ron Reed. Reed answered the call, but Schroder responded with a monster drive to left that sent the County Stadium crowd into mass hysterics and the Sox fans who made the trip unhappy on the long drive home.  Seaver pitched 8+ innings, striking out 2 and walking 4 while Marc Hill and Greg Luzinski supplied Seaver with a pair of 2-run homers for the 5-3 lead. Julio Cruz came through with an RBI double to give the Sox that 5-3 cushion, leaving Brewer starter Moose Haas on the hook for the loss.  Maybe the most unhappy Sox camper on this day was Ron Kittle ,...

Blue Jay fans were treated to a Cliff-hanger on their home opener as Cliff Johnson 's RBI single with nobody out in the bottom of the 9th gave the BlueBirds a pulse-pounding come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Birdmen of Baltimore.  The rally began on a lead-off single by Lloyd Moseby , who then stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd when Willie Upshaw 's ground ball to Rich Dauer was misplayed for an E-4 . Then came Johnson and the "infield in" call from Joe Altobelli , which didn't matter as Johnson's line drive to Cal Ripken at shortstop zoomed past, scoring Moseby with the walk-off run.   The game was scoreless after 5 when the Orioles broke the ice with a 2-out rally off starter Doyle Alexander . Jim Dwyer doubled to Moseby in center, then advanced to 3rd on Cal Ripken's line single to short. Eddie Murray singled home Dwyer, Ripken to 2nd, then John "Let it be Lowenstein" said "Here's to good friends" with an RBI single to right scori...

Walk Greg Brock ? Bill Russell and Mike Scioscia had their own candid response to that question in the 6th inning of the Dodgers-Astros series opener at the Astrodome . Score tied 1-all, top of the 6th, 1 out when Kenny Landreaux singled off Mike Scott . Pedro Guerrero then singled Landreaux to 2nd, bringing up Mike Marshall when the fun really started. Marshall slow rolled one to Phil Garner at 2nd, moving the runners up and bringing Greg Brock to the plate.  Astro skipper Bob Lillis decided upon the sensible strategy of walking Brock to face the anti-clutch Bill Russell . Russell's response? An "unintentional" walk putting the Dodgers ahead 2-1. And for good measure, Mike Scioscia conveniently dropped a fly in front of Jerry Mumphrey , rolling all the way to the wall, clearing the bases for a double and a 5-1 Dodger lead which became a 5-1 victory, Jerry Reuss going the distance. The victory, which snapped a 3-game Dodger losing streak , pleased Tommy Lasorda ...

The Oakland A's launched 4 homers at the Kingdome but had to withstand a 17-hit attack from the Mariners to hang on for an 8-5 win on Monday night. The A's trailed the Mariners 4-1 after 3 with Barry Bonnell and Al Cowens supplying the home runs for the home team. After Davey Lopes homered in the 1st for Oakland's early run, they then strung together a run in the 2nd on a leadoff homer by Joe Morgan , then 2 more in the 5th to tie the on doubles by Dwayne Murphy and Mike Heath and a single by Donnie Hill .  The A's took the lead for good on a Carney Lansford homer in the 6th and added 2 more on their 4th homer of the night in the 7th, a 2-run shot by Murphy. Bob Kearney doubled home a run to bring the M's closer at 7-5 in the bottom of the 7th, but a lead-off walk by Davey Lopes and advance to 2nd on a Carney Lansford fly set up an 8th inning insurance run single by Dave Kingman , making the score 8-5. The M's loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th,...

No score, top of the 2nd at the Metrodome , Mike Smithson on the mound, he throws one to the Angels designated hitter, who hits it high, deep and... That's how it started for the Halos on this night for " Mr. April 16 ," who's been known under many nicknames over his long career, including the one most iconic of all, " Mr. October ." We'll hear from him again later, but first, there are some other people we have to hear from. Brian Downing , who scorched a 3-run bomb off Smithson in the 3rd, 5-0 Angels at that point. Bob Boone , who slugged a solo homer in the top of the 4th to make it 6-0, then after Rob Wilfong tripled home Brian Downing, Boone brought in Wilfong. 8-0 Angels, only halfway through, but Mike Smithson was through. As for his Twins , however...   They were through, dead in the water against Angel starter Ron Romanick , though the spark of an error against SS Dick Schofield in the bottom of the 6th ignited a brief flame, a sac fly by Ke...

Bert Blyeven pitched an 11-inning masterpiece, but all it took for the Indians to stun the World Champs was a walk-off boo-boo by Oriole reliever Tippy Martinez , giving the Tribe a wild 2-1 victory in extra frames. Blyeven worked out of some early control issues, 4 walks in the 1st 2 innings, 5 overall, but got stronger as the game wore on, ending up with 10 Ks in 11 innings, including retiring the final 9 Orioles. The only Oriole run off Blyeven came in the top of the 5th when John Shelby led off with a triple and scored on a sac fly to center by Jim Dwyer. Oriole starter Mike Flanagan was just as brilliant, holding the Tribe to just 1 hit through 6-1/3 before the Indians rapped 4 straight singles off Flanagan by Andre Thornton , Pat Tabler , Brook Jacoby and Carmelo Castillo , the latter scoring Thronton and chasing Flanagan from the game. Sammy Stewart then got Ron Hassey to ground into a 6-4-3, then pitched perfect frames in the 8th, 9th and 10th.  After Otis Nixon ...

12 strikeouts. A great number, but even better when a team wins with those dozen Ks. If your name is Fernando Valenzuela though, those 12 strikeouts also come with an awfully high number of walks and a bunch of expletives from a fiery manager in your dugout.  Giants 4, Dodgers 3. The game Fernando should have won with 12 strikeouts, instead 8 walks, a wild pitch and a leadoff 9th inning homer by Joel Youngblood turned what would've been a Fernando masterpiece into "huh?!"  No surprise Youngblood would be the hitting hero for San Fran, as he had 2 singles prior to his leadoff blast in the 9th off Fernando. The Dodgers could only muster 7 hits off the formidable trio of Bill Laskey , Frank Williams and Greg Minton , with one of the 7 hits a home run by Rafael Landestoy . Even with Greg Minton on the mound, the Dodgers stirring 9th inning rally consisted of a fly ball to right by Mike Scioscia , a strikeout by PH Franklin Stubbs and another PH strikeout by Steve Sax . ...

Randy Johnson 's PH 2-run homer off  Sid Monge in the top of the 13th gave the Braves a lucky 5-3 win over the Padres in an extra inning thriller at the "Murph." Johnson, who PH for winning pitcher Gene Garber homered with Bruce Benedict on 1st. Steve Bedrosian pitched a perfect bottom of the 13th to record the save. Rafael Ramirez went 4-7 to pace the 14-hit Braves attack, including an RBI single off Padre starter Andy Hawkins to tie the score at 3 in the 7th inning. The Padres scored their 3 runs in the 6th but hit themselves out of late-inning rallies with double plays in the 9th, 11th and 12th innings.  WP-Garber LP-Monge SV-Bedrosian ATL 5-14-2 SDP 3-9-1 HR-Johnson GWRBI-Johnson ATL 6-5 SDP 5-6  

That right-handed phenomenon known as the " Ryan Express " was rolling along at the " 8th Wonder ," striking out 11 Reds en route to a 4-3 Astros win over the Reds. Ryan struck batters out in each of the 1st 7 innings, though did not strike out the side in any inning, striking out 2 each from the 3rd-6th innings. Dave Concepion , Nick Esasky and Duane Walker each struck out twice.  Ryan fell into an early deficit when Tony Perez crushed a Ryan "mistake" for a solo homer, but the Astros running game would plate across 2 in the bottom of the 1st behind a lead-off triple by Bill Doran and RBI double by Kevin Bass . Bass would score on an RBI single+ by Jerry Mumphrey .  The Reds gave the Astros a run in the bottom of the 2nd on errors by Nick Esasky, Dave Parker and Esasky again. But the Reds battled back to score 2 off Ryan in the top of the 3rd on a 1-out triple by Eddie Milner , double by Dave Concepion and single by Tony Perez, giving him 2 RBI. Th...

Sometimes, the hit-and-run can be pretty lethal. Just ask the St. Louis Cardinals , who fell victim to that daring of baseball derring-do as the Pittsburgh Pirates perpetrated the daring deed in a 3-run 1st inning en route to a 4-2 win.  Marvell Wynne started innocently enough with a lead-off single, then stole 2nd and scored on Johnny Ray 's RBI single. It was there when Chuck Tanner rolled the dice (hee-hee!) and called for the H&R with Bill Madlock , who executed it to utmost perfection, lacing a double past Art Howe all the way past a bewildered Lonnie Smith for an RBI double, scoring Ray from 1st and making it 2-0 before an out was recorded. When outs were finally recorded, the 3rd Buc run crossed home plate via Jason Thompson 's slow roller to 2nd and RBI sac fly to left by Tony Pena .  The Cards battled back for 2 runs in their half of the 2nd on a lead-off walk by David Green and back-to-back 1-out doubles by Art Howe and Glenn Brummer , the latter double sco...

Doug DeCinces ' sac fly to left in the top of the 9th gave the California Angels a thrilling 7-6 win over the Oakland A's at a rocking Coliseum on April 15th.  The A's struck 1st in their half of the 1st on a leadoff 3-bagger by Rickey Henderson followed by a pair of 2-out walks by Carney Lansford and Bruce Bocthe . Davey Lopes doubled home both Henderson and Lansford for a 2-0 lead after 1. The Angels struck back for 4 runs in their half of the 2nd on a leadoff double by Reggie Jackson , who scored on a single by Brian Downing . Rob Wilfong doubled Downing to 3rd but after a pair of outs with the infield in, Gary Pettis walked to load the bases. Rod Carew then singled home both Downing and Wilfong to give the Halos a 3-2 lead, then Fred Lynn singled home Pettis to make it 4-2 after an inning-and-a-half. The A's battled back in their half of the 2nd on a solo homer by SS Tony Phillips . They then tied the score in the 4th on a walk by Davey Lopes and single...