2/25/2023 League History - 1970s Pat Kelly won the 1979 MVP Award in a close vote over Bob Allison, Harmon Killebrew, and Rod Carew
The 1979 Regular Season was a three-team race between the Mud Hens, Senators and Angels. Even before the All-Star Game, the league was clearly divided into a First Division/Second Division split, with the Indians, Red Sox and Twins falling out of contention early. The top three teams battled right into the last week of the season, switching places in the standings throughout the final weeks in what was the most exciting race for the Commissioner's Trophy, and the 2 playoff spots, in years. The Mud Hens finally wrapped up first place with just a few games left on the schedule, while the Angels didn't clinch the 2nd playoff spot until the very last game of the season, needing a Senators' loss to the Indians to book their ticket to the World Series where they would try to defend their unlikely title from their Cinderella run in their rookie 1978 season.
In the World Series, it looked like California might again knock off the favourites as they took the first 2 games in Toledo by scores of 4-3 and 8-6. Toledo stormed back winning all three games in California including a big 10-3 win in Game 3. Game 6 back in Toledo ended in a blowout win for the Mud Hens, (12-5). It was the first win by a home team in the Series, and gave Toledo their record 5th Championship in the 14-season history of the league. Pat Kelly followed up his regular season MVP award by winning the World Series MVP as well.
The Angels had added Rod Carew from the Twins and rookie of the year Ken Brett to their pitching staff, and looked good all season long, with strong seasons from Lyman Bostock, Dan Ford, Jimmie Hall and Dean Chance. Carew didn't repeat his plus .400 season from '78, but he still won the batting title, led the league in hits, and set a league record with 50 stolen bases.
The Rookie of the Year award was a battle between the Angels' Ken Brett and the Mud Hens' Jerry Koosman, both having great seasons, with Brett leading the league in Wins, just barely missing the 20-game win mark on the very last day of the season and finishing with 19.
The MVP race was the closest in years, with Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, and Pat Kelly all in the running. Carew led in AVG and hits, Allison in HR, Killebrew in RBI, but it was Toledo's Kelly who took the honours, having a great all-around season and finishing with the highest OPS in the league as well as playing a strong Center field for the Mud Hens.
Toledo's Dave Boswell won the Cy Young Award for the first time in his career, finishing with an 18-6 record and leading the league in ERA. Luis Tiant led the league in strikeouts for the 10th straight season but finished with a record of 11-14 for Boston.
Lenny Green and Vic Wertz had strong seasons for the Red Sox. Mudcat Grant, Wally Post, Hal Naragon, and a great relief corps including Bill Dailey, Bob Miller, and Johnny Klippstein starred for Cleveland but couldn't lift the Indians higher than a 4th place finish. The Twins struggled with the loss of Carew, and finished with 105 losses, 2nd worst in league history, and the worst since Toledo finished with 125 losses in the league's inaugural season.
Washington finished in 3rd place for the 4th straight year and out of the playoffs for the 5th year in a row, even though they boasted three players who reached the 40 HR plateau (Allison - 52, Killebrew - 48, Jim Lemon - 45). Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual had solid years, but it wasn't enough to return the Sens to the World Series.
1978 - Heavenly First Season for Cinderella Angels
1978 was the first year of expansion in the Twins All-Time League, with the Boston Red Sox and California Angels joining the league. Boston had some star players, in Luis Tiant, Lenny Green, Andy Kosco, Bill Campbell and more, but finished in last place. The good news for the BoSox was that they were very competitive and were in the race right up until the last month of the season. The Angels, with even more star players (Bostock, Jimmie Hall, Mincher, Chance, Singer, Power, Perranoski, Cardenas, and Ken Sanders) fared even better in their first season, not only staying in the race all season long, but actually finishing in 2nd place and facing the two-time defending champion Toledo Mud-Hens in the World Series.
The Mud Hens took the first game in convincing fashion with ace Bert Blyleven on the mound. Blyleven went all 9 innings, giving up just 5 hits and 1 earned run as Toledo won 7-1 against one of the Angels' aces, Dean Chance. In Game 2, the Angels' other ace, Bill Singer, fared better than Chance, giving up just one run to the Mud Hens as the Angels tied the series at one with a 5-1 victory.
Back in California, the Angels kept finding ways to win, sweeping the next three games with different heroes each night. Jimmie Hall drove in the winning run in game 3 in a 6-5 Angels' victory. He also robbed a sure extra-base hit off the bat of Larry Hisle in the 5th inning with a man on to keep the Mud Hens from tying the game. In Game 4, the Mud Hens tied things up in the 9th inning, and went ahead with a run in the 10th before the Angels rallied in the bottom of the 10th and won on a 3-run HR by Leo Cardenas. Vic Power also homered for the Angels in the bottom of the 6th to put them up 2-1. Game 5 was a pitcher's duel between Blyleven and Chance. Blyleven allowed only 5 hits, but one of them was a 2-run homer by Lyman Bostock in the 3rd inning which turned out to be the winning run. Chance scattered 6 hits to earn the series-clinching victory.
The Mud Hens actually outhit the Angels 40-38 in the series but the Angels hitters were clutch and their pitchers shut down the Mud Hens' bats in key situations. No Angel player had an exceptional series, but Vic Power was named MVP, getting some key hits and playing solid defence in all 4 wins.
The big news among the non-playoff teams was the record-breaking hitting of the Twins' Rod Carew. Carew destroyed opposition pitching all year long, not just flirting with .400 right from opening day, but staying above the mark right through the end of the season, finishing with a .415 average and an amazing 281 hits. He also led the league in triples (22), runs (130) and stolen bases (48) and won the MVP Award for the second straight season.
Bert Blyleven of the Mud Hens won the Cy Young Award, going 21-8, while the Twins' Jeff Holly took Rookie of the Year honours. 1978 was a season of parity as all 6 teams were in contention for the playoffs right up to the last month.
1977 - Mud Hens Peak in the Playoffs, Win Fourth Championship
The Toledo Mud Hens are becoming known for their clutch playoff performances. They have only won the Commissioner's Trophy for best Regular Season Record once (in 1967) but they have now won four World Series Championships, winning again in 1977 with a repeat performance against the favored Cleveland Indians. The Indians, meanwhile, have also won four rings, but have also been upset on four other occasions after having finished first in the regular season.
In '77, Bill Singer and Larry Hisle starred for the Hens. Singer bested Cy Young Award winner Luis Tiant not once, but twice, winning game 1, and dominating in the Series-clinching Game 5, striking out 9 in 7 2/3 innings.
In the regular season, it was the Rod Carew show, as Carew dominated pitchers all season long, taking home the MVP award, breaking league records for Batting Average (.379), and Hits (250), while also leading the league in OBP, SLG, OPS, and Stolen Bases. The Twins improved their record but still finished in last place. The Washington Senators were led by HR leader Harmon Killebrew and a great season on the mound from Camilo Pascual (18-13) but again fell short of the playoffs for the 3rd straight season. They found themselves in 2nd place for parts of the season, but the Mud Hens finished strong to end the season, and just got stronger through the World Series. Twins' starter Paul Thormodsgard won a very close Rookie-of-the-Year race, edging teammate Sam Perlozzo and Senators' reliever Jim Shellenback. Thormodsgard won his last 6 starts to finish with a 9-8 record. Tiant narrowly won his 4th straight Cy Young Award, edging Pascual and reliever Tom Hall, who tied his own Saves record with 42.
1977 marked the final year before expansion begins to change the league significantly. In 1978, Boston and California will join the league as the first two of many expansion teams over the next few decades. Their presence will mean a lot of roster changes for all 4 original teams and should make for a very exciting period in the history of the All-Twins League. Stay tuned!
1976 - Toledo Knocks Off the Tribe
The 1976 World Series was a repeat of the previous year, with Cleveland taking on Toledo. The Indians were favored, having won the Commissioner's Trophy again for the 7th straight season. But it would be the Mud Hens who would rise to the occasion this time, knocking off the Indians in six games to win their third World Series title. The Mud Hens almost missed the playoffs, barely managing to stay ahead of the Senators for second place, finishing just 2 games ahead of them at season's end. The Twins, meanwhile, were a distant 4th with just 64 wins. The Twins did hold on to their streak of batting title winners, with Lyman Bostock beating out teammate Rod Carew on the final day of the season. The batting race had been tight all year long with Bostock, Carew, Wally Post, and Elmer Valo all vying for the crown right up to the last weekend of the season. Bostock would go 5 for 6 in the final game to overtake Carew, the 3rd straight season a Twin won the crown (Carew in '74 and Steve Braun in '75). Bob Allison of the Senators led the league in HRs and RBI and was named Regular Season MVP. Lenny Green of the Sens broke the Stolen Base record with 42. It was the first season that teams went to 5-man rotations, which will mean less wins and strikeouts for individual pitchers. Still, Luis Tiant of the Tribe won his 3rd consecutive Cy Young award, leading in all pitching categories. Tiant looked strong in Game 1 of the World Series too, striking out 12 Mud Hens in 8 innings to lead Cleveland to an 8-2 Game 1 victory. The Tribe then took Game 2 by a score of 3-2 in 15 innings to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Toledo took over from there, winning their three home games in convincing fashion (9-1, 5-2, and a big 8-0 win over Tiant in Game 5) before going back to Cleveland for Game 6. The home teams had won the first five games, but Toledo flipped the script with a strong offensive game by Larry Hisle (3 for 4, 2 RBI, double, triple, GWRBI) and an equally strong pitching performance by Bert Blyleven to take Game 6 by a score of 5-1, earning them their third World Series title. Johnny Briggs went 11-26 and was named World Series MVP. Bill Tuttle also starred for the Mud Hens both at the plate and in the field, making a number of great defensive plays throughout the Series.
1975 - Cleveland From Start to Finish
The Indians would not be denied in ?75. They jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on their way to their 4th World Series title. They met the Toledo Mud Hens in the Series, and after the Hens defeated Cy Young winner Luis Tiant in Game 1, they may have muttered ?here we go again? since they had lost the past two World Series to the Senators and Toledo after finishing first in the regular season both years. But the Tribe quickly righted the ship and won the next four games to claim the title. Vic Wertz was named MVP in both the regular season and the World Series, a first for the ATTL. Luis Tiant won the Cy Young award, and Toledo?s Johnny Briggs won Rookie of the Year honors.
Last year?s champion Washington Senators fell from champs to dead last, in spite of adding Elmer Valo to their lineup. Harmon Killebrew was one of few bright spots for the Sens, leading the league in HRs and RBIs. MInnesota finished in 3rd place but never really challenged for a playoff spot. Steve Braun was a nice surprise for the Twins, winning the batting title and making the All-Star team.
1974 - Washington Slugs their way to another Title
The Senators stole one out from under the Cleveland Indians' noses in '74. The Tribe had led the standings from start to finish, enjoying a comfortable lead for most of the season while they watched the other three teams battle for second place. The Twins fizzled around the All-Star break, although Rod Carew won the batting title (.310) and Jim Strickland led the league in saves. Toledo stayed in the race until the last few weeks of the season before tailing off. The Senators, with second place finally sewn up, set their sights on the Indians, and nearly caught them, falling just two games shy at season's end. The Home Run race gathered a lot of attention down the stretch with 6 sluggers tied for the lead with 35 heading into the final 3 games. Andy Kosco of the Mud Hens pulled ahead, but teammate Johnny Goryl tied him at 37 with two long balls in the season finale.
With Cy Young winner Luis Tiant and 22-game-winner Dean Chance on the mound in the World Series, the Indians hoped to win their 4th Championship in the past 5 seasons. But the Senators had other plans. Washington started strong, scoring 7 runs off Tiant in Game 1 in a 7-6 win. The Sens hit 5 Home Runs in Game 2 but lost in 13 innings. Pedro Ramos pitched lights out in Game 3 to give Washington a 2-1 series lead. Tiant showed his Cy Young form in Game 4, limiting the Sens to just a single hit in 8 2/3 innings as the Tribe countered with 17 hits and an 8-2 victory to tie the series at 2. Games 5 and 6 were both 1-run nail-biters. In Game 5, Dean Chance and Jim Kaat both pitched well. Cleveland took a 2-0 lead into the 6th inning, but gave up a two-run home run to Don Mincher to tie the game and then a solo shot by Johnny Roseboro which would end up being the game-winner. In Game 6, the three co-MVPs did it all for the victorious Senators. Ramos started and shut down the Indians? offence for 5 2/3 innings, Roseboro drove in both Senators? runs with a solo homer in the 6th and an RBI single in the 8th which end up being the game-winner, and Joe Grzenda threw 2 2/3 innings of no-hit relief. The Tribe made it interesting in the 9th. With Don Lee on the mound, Graig Nettles hit a 2-out solo shot to make the score 2-1, and Hal Naragon hit a single before Lee finally got pinch-hitter Rich Rollins to ground out to end the game and the series.
Bob Allison of the Senators was the Regular Season MVP, while Jim Strickland of the Twins won Rookie of the Year.
1973 - HOLY TOLEDO!!! Mud Hens knock off 3-time Defending Champs
It was all hands on deck for the Mud Hens in 1973 (including Rookie of the Year Bill Hands). The 3-time defending champion Cleveland Indians, from the very beginning of the season, looked like they would steamroll to their 4th title in a row. Toledo, meanwhile, was in a back-and-forth battle for 2nd place with the Washington Senators, who were bolstered with the mid-season addition of slugger Jim Lemon (Lemon should have been with the Sens for the past few years - Commish Error - Oops!). Toledo finally nailed down their playoff spot with just a few games left in the season, with help from newcomers Rich Reese and Cesar Tovar (who came over from the Twins) and rookies Hands and Larry Hisle. For the Mud Hens, it seemed like it was a different star every night, both in the Regular Season, and in the World Series. They got contributions up and down the lineup from guys like Pat Kelly (World Series MVP), Paul Ratliff, Johnny Goryl, Bill Tuttle, and Andy Kosco, just to name a few, as well as solid seasons from starters Hands, Dave Boswell and Frank Sullivan. Their bullpen was as strong as usual, with names like LaRoche, Perranoski, Worthington, and Hall all having strong seasons.
The Indians took home the Commish's Trophy for best record in the Regular Season. The Senators finished a disappointing 3rd for the second straight season. The Twins went from the playoffs to last place, missing the bats of Reese and Tovar while, at the same time, seeing a drop-off in their starting pitching. Elmer Valo won his 4th Batting Title, while Killebrew led the league in HRs and RBI. Rod Carew led the league in hits while Pat Kelly won the Stolen Base title. Dean Chance won an amazing 30 games for Cleveland while Luis Tiant was the league leader in Strikeouts for the 4th straight year. Rookie Bill Campbell was a pleasant surprise for the Twins' bullpen, leading the league in Saves.
1972 - Three-Peat for Cleveland as Twins' Miracles Run Out
A very strong Cleveland club took the World Series for the 3rd straight season, defeating the surprising Minnesota Twins in the Championship, four games to two. The Twins, who finished in last place in 1971, battled with the Washington Senators all season long for second place. The two teams were tied for 2nd after the regular season, meaning a one-game playoff, which the Twins won by a score of 2-1. The Twins success was built on their strong 4-man rotation (Siebler, Woodson, Blyleven and Rookie of the Year Dave Goltz) along with batting champ Rich Reese, and All-Stars Rod Carew and Tony Oliva. Cesar Tovar also had a solid year, breaking the single-season Stolen Base record with 41. The Twins' run to the playoffs was so surprising due to the fact that they started 4 "no-names" all season long (George Mitterwald, Dan Monzon, Danny Thompson, and Jim Holt).
Cleveland's Luis Tiant won the World Series MVP trophy after an up-and-down regular season. He did break the 300 Strikeout barrier again, but he also had an underwhelming W-L record of 15-17. He showed up in the World Series, though, with two complete game victories. At the plate, the Tribe was led by Elmer Valo, Jimmie Hall, Wally Post, and Jim Lemon. Valo and Vic Wertz shone in the World Series. In other news, the Mud Hens finished in last place, but did have some star performances, as four of their players made the All-Star Team (Paul Ratliff, Leo Cardenas, Johnny Goryl, and Tom Hall). Goryl won the Home Run crown and tied Bob Allison for the RBI title. Allison won the regular season MVP award, with a great season at the plate as well as in the field. Dean Chance (Indians) and Dick Woodson (Twins) both won 23 games, with Chance taking home the Cy Young Award.
1971 - Tribe takes Second Consecutive Championship, Tiant Dominates
The Tribe dominated the 1971 regular season, winning a league-record 113 games, breaking the Senators' 1968 record by a single game. Cy Young Award-winner Luis Tiant followed up his Rookie of the Year season with an even more impressive campaign, going 29-6 with a record 360 strikeouts. Dean Chance also won 20 games for the champs, while Jim Perry and Stan Williams gave Cleveland a dominant rotation all year long. The bullpen was excellent as well, with Bill Dailey, Mudcat Grant, and Johnny Klippstein shutting opponents down on a nightly basis. The Cleveland bats were led by batting champ Elmer Valo, All-Stars Hal Naragon and Wally Post, as well as sluggers Jimmie Hall and Jim Lemon. Cleveland took on the Senators in a rematch of the 1970 Series, and although they were down 1-0 after the Sens shocked Tiant in Game 1, and 2-1 after Pedro Ramos shut their offense down with a 5-1 Game 2 victory (the infamous "Jerry Kindall Game" in which Kindall, filling in for the injured Zoilo Versalles at SS, committed 4 errors), they came back strong. In Game 4, Tiant was nearly unhittable while the offense exploded for 10 runs. In Game 5 it was Chance's turn, as he shut out the Sen's 5-0, and Jim Perry won Game 6 in a close 4-3 battle to help Cleveland to a 4 games to 2 victory and their second Championship in a row. Graig Nettles was named the Series MVP with an incredible series at the plate (.421, 2 HR, 6 RBI) and in the field as well, robbing hits in each of the last 3 games.
Other highlights of the '71 season included Don Mincher of the Senators taking home the regular season MVP award, Jim Strickland of the Twins winning the Rookie of the Year with a strong year out of the Twins' pen, and Gary Dotter of the Twins came out of nowhere to lead the league in Saves with 22. Luis Tiant not only won the Cy Young award, he also won the "Pitching Triple Crown" leading the league in the 3 major pitching categories - Wins, ERA, and Strikeouts. The three other teams all finished under .500, with the Twins finishing with 104 losses, the 2nd-worst regular-season record in league history. The Mud Hens battled with the Senators all-season long for 2nd place, but tailed off in the last few weeks of the season, finishing five games out of the playoffs.
1970 - Indians Win World Series after being Perennial Bridesmaids
1970 - The Cleveland Indians finally have their Championship. The Tribe had been knocking on the door nearly every season prior to 1970, making the playoffs 3 of their first 4 seasons. That included their devastating loss in the league's inaugural season in which they blew a 3-0 lead and lost in 7 games to the Washington Senators. Cleveland would also lose to Toledo in 1967 and Washington again in 1968 before missing the playoffs altogether in 1969.
But there was no denying the Indians in 1970 as they combined a power-laden lineup and stellar pitching to win 100 games in the regular season and defeat their arch-rival Senators 4 games to 1 in the World Series. Jim Lemon was voted Series MVP while Dean Chance and Rookie-of-the-Year Luis Tiant shone on the mound.
Tiant shattered the Twins All-Time League Single-Season Strikeouts record with an amazing 337 in his rookie campaign, beating Dave Boswell's old mark of 268. Other Regular Season highlights included Dwight Siebler's 25 wins for a Twins team that only won 70 games in total. Johnny Goryl had another strong season with 125 RBIs for the Mud Hens. Elmer Valo of the tribe won the batting crown with a .308 AVG, while Goryl and Don Mincher of the Sens tied for most HRs with 46. Toledo finished in last place, just behind the Twins, feeling the loss of ace Dean Chance, who helped the Indians win their first World Series. |
