Montreal vs Hanshin

[Say Hey Kid]

Montreal

Manager - Earl Weaver

C - Johnny Bench
1B - Miguel Cabrera
2B - Roberto Alomar
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Mike Schmidt
LF - Manny Ramirez
CF - Joe DiMaggio
RF - Ichiro Suzuki
BENCH - Vladimir Guerrero
BENCH - Mark McGwire
BENCH - Tony Gwynn
BENCH - Omar Vizquel

SP1 - Randy Johnson
SP2 - Steve Carlton
SP3 - Juan Marichal
SP4 - Jim Palmer
SP5 - Vida Blue

CLOSER - Trevor Hoffman
RP - Rollie Fingers
RP - Joe Nathan
RP - Mike Marshall
RP - Bruce Sutter
RP - Eric Gagne
RP - Robb Nen
RP - Jason Isringhausen

VERSUS

Hanshin Tigers

Managed by: Joe Torre

C Thurman Munson
1B Albert Pujols (R)
2B Robinson Cano (L)
3B Chipper Jones (S)
SS Alan Trammell (R)
LF Barry Bonds (L)
CF Mickey Mantle (S)
RF Frank Robinson (R)

Bench Sadaharu Oh
Bench Buster Posey
Bench Dave Winfield
Bench Mark Teixera

SP Warren Spahn (L)
SP John Smoltz (R)
SP Justin Verlander (R)
SP Max Scherzer (R)
SP Fergie Jenkins


CLOSER Kent Tekulve
RP Dave Righetti (L)
RP Jonathan Papelbon (R)
RP Willie Hernandez (R)
RP Roy Face (R)
RP John Hiller (L)
RP Terry Forster (L)

Click to read more...

 

[Dr Pepper]

Is Hanshin short one player?

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Is Hanshin short one player?

Yes, he drafted Armando Benitez who was taken. I posted it at the time in comments.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Ah, that'd explain it.

Well, he got through one round short-handed, maybe he doesn't need the extra arm.

Gonna be a long series, I think.

 

[Tecumseh]

I'll type up my analysis in a bit. This is going to be an extremely tough call.

 

[Vegeta]

Same idea as always here. I have the clear hitting advantage. I think Spahn and the Unit are a wash. His #2 may be slightly better, but I'll take my 3-5 over his. Bullpen is in his favour, but mine still has a wide variety of handedness and pitching styles to deal with any situation.

 

[Tecumseh]

Catcher

Advantage: Montreal

No explanation necessary. It's easily Bench.

First Base

Advantage: Montreal

What this comes down to is longevity. Their primes and peaks are pretty comparable. I'd probably give the slight edge to Pujols in that regard. As I said in my last analysis, Pujols' decline has been abrupt, shocking, and massively unforgiving. While Cabrera is no longer one of the league's elite first basemen, he's still serviceable to a certain degree.

Second Base

Advantage: Hanshin

Roberto Alomar is a Hall of Famer and that status is definitely deserved. Robinson Cano is on course to hold the same distinction (PEDs notwithstanding). Cano is too good at too many facets of the game for me to take Alomar over him.

Third Base

Advantage: Montreal

A great defensive third baseman, perhaps the best offensive 3B of all time gives Schmidt the edge. A switch hitting 3B in Chipper is a nice luxury but Schmidt simply has too much going for him.

Short Stop

Advantage: Hanshin

Way too many defensive concerns with Jeter in this comparison. It has to be Trammell.

Left Field

Advantage: Hanshin

Manny was not nearly as good of a power hitter and perhaps was even worse definitely when compared to Bonds. The choice is obvious.

Center Field

Advantage: Hanshin

I'd probably give DiMaggio the slight edge if we were talking full careers but the DiMaggio's final five years against the entirety of Mickey Mantle's career? Come on.

Right Field

Advantage: Montreal

Again having Frank Robinson in right displays Hanshin's embarassment of riches in the outfield but Ichiro is one of those unique players that every team would kill for. One of the top contact hitters of all time and a ridiculous throwing arm to boot.

Bench

Advantage: Montreal

Drawing on what they have in right field, Montreal adds another two excellent hitters to the roster with Vladimir Guerrero and Tony Gwynn, who have been starters in most versions of this draft.

Starting Pitching

Advantage: Montreal

Montreal's starting pitching is both top heavy and has excellent depth. Assuming that Vida Blue draws back into the bullpen in this series, that might be the strongest remaining rotation of the teams still alive in the playoffs.

Bullpen

Advantage: Hanshin

I'll be honest, I think Hanshin has a massive advantage here. Hoffman and Nathan have very questionable track records in the playoffs. Gagne had a Koufaxesque peak except it was even shorter than Koufax and it ended with him fading into obscurity rather than a Cooperstown coronation. There is a severe lack of left handed options (which again is a concern when you need to neutralize Bonds) and a similar deficiency in long relief options. Hanshin has an ideal balance of left and right in their bullpen and an excellent closer in Kent Tekulve

 

[Winger for Hire]

I might have to decide my vote via coin flip...

 

[Dr Pepper]

Indeed, this one's definitely going the distance.

I've got better starters, but his bullpen is lights out. Here's hoping my starters can rack up enough quality innings so as not to tire out my pen.

I think my offense is getting a tad underrated, understandable when lining up against the likes of Bonds, Pujols and Mantle. But I'm confident they'll get their licks against Hanshin's starters as well. As mentioned previously, Vida will indeed be joining the rest of the crew in the pen for this series. There's a fireballing southpaw for you, ready to come in when needed.

Leadoff hitter Ichiro's going to need to be quick here - both on the basepaths testing Munson's arm, and in right field snaring fly balls. Good thing he's got the arm for it.

 

[Vegeta]

Best of luck Dr!

 

[Dr Pepper]

Best of luck Dr!

Same to you!

 

[NJDevs26]

In a back-and-forth series that lived up to billing, Hanishin also prevails in 7 games, behind series MVP Mickey Mantle's .400 BA with 5 HR's and 11 RBI's. It came down to the last AB with Kent Tekulve getting Derek Jeter to fly out to deep right center with two out and two on in the ninth inning of a 3-2 game.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

What a great series! I'll post the finals.

 

[Vegeta]

Good series Dr! You assembled a hell of a team

 

[Dr Pepper]

As did you, congrats on the well deserved win!

Knew it'd go the distance, too.