CHICAGO — With one mighty swing, Jody Davis and the 1984 Chicago Cubs completed an unthinkable run and captured the @JackSacco6 @sacco_john “The Best Teams of the 1980s” Strat-O-Matic World Series with a dramatic, come-for-behind, 8-7, victory over the stunned 1986 New York Mets.
Davis’ two-out, three-run home run in the seventh inning erased the Mets’ 7-5 lead and propelled Chicago to its eighth victory in nine games. The Cubs defeated the heavily-favored Mets, four games to one.
Chicago was the eighth and last seed in Bracket B of “The Best Teams of the 1980s” tournament, which consisted of two, eight-team brackets. The Cubs won four straight games, including defeating the 1983 Chicago White Sox in the winners bracket finals and again in the championship round. They followed with an impressive World Series against New York.
The Cubs were dominant offensively, scoring 37 runs in five games — 7.4 runs per game. They won the last two games by one run and didn’t score less than seven runs in their four victories.
They scored 65 runs in nine games — 7.2 per game — and had a run differential of 65-to-45 (+20) in the nine games.
The Cubs’ series-winning seventh inning was keyed by a lead-off double by centerfielder Bob Dernier and walks to Ryne Sandberg and Gary Matthews. After third baseman Richie Hebner hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-5, Keith Moreland flew out. Davis then crushed a Rick Anderson pitch into the left field bleachers .
Chicago relievers pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Scott Sanderson.
George Frazier was perfect in the seventh and eighth innings and after Smith allowed a two-out double to Keith Hernandez, he struck out Darryl Strawberry to end the series.
Chicago led 3-1 after one but New York scored once in the fourth on a Howard Johnson home run and five times in the fifth. A three-runs n home run by Strawberry — his third of the series — gave the Mets a 7-3 lead.
A solo shot by Sandberg in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to three.
It was Sandberg’s 10th and final hit of the series and his sixth RBI.
In all, Sandberg was 10-for-22 (.455) with eight runs scored, two doubles and the home run. He posted a .430 on-base percentage, .682 slugging percentage and a 1.112 OPS. He hit safely in all five games with four multiple-hit games.
For his efforts, Sandberg was named Most Valuable Player. He also handled 33 chances — 12 put outs, 21 assists (33 total chances) and two double plays — flawlessly at second base.
Davis hit .421 with a .435 OBP and a .579 OPS and 1.014 OPS with six RBI.
The series defeat muted an outstanding effort by Johnson for the Mets.
Johnson went 9-for-16 (.563) with a .625 OPB and .938 SLP. His OPS was 1.563 with a series-high eight RBI.
In Game 5, Chicago got two hits from Bob Dernier, including a double; a hit and two walks from Gary Matthews, who reached base at a .583 clip in the series with 10 walks.
Lenny Dykstra had two hits and two stolen bases for the Mets. Backman had two hits, while Keith Hernandez had a single, double and home run. Ray Knight added three hits, including an RBI double.
The ‘84 Cubs will be one of the top three seeds in the 20-team “The Grand Champions” Strat-O-Matic tournament later this year.
Also qualified are the ‘86 Mets, ‘86 Houston Astros and ‘83 White Sox. They join the 1970s World Series champion 1975 Cincinnati Reds, 1972 Oakland A’s, 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates and 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers.
The top four teams in the “Best Teams of the 1990s” SOM tourney will join those eight in the Grand Champions tournament along with eight wild cards teams selected by @Jack Sacco6 and @sacco_john.
“The Best Teams of the 1990s” tournament will commence later this week.
My blog appears on a regular basis and focuses on sports, opinions, notes, features, and some trivia for good measure.
John Sacco
sacman18@comcast.net
@sacco_john
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