Opening day games for most teams, including the postponements from the day before. Games of note below.
Montreal at New York Mets
In a game featuring the two teams who finished at the bottom of the NL East in 1977, Jerry Koosman pitched a gem. Koosman pitched all 9, giving up a single run and striking out 7, driving a Mets 3-1 win. Koosman had lost 20 games in 1977, but had actually been above average. The problem is that the Mets support him with 3.28 runs per game, while the league average is 4.40.
The Expos have an intriguing lineup, featuring Gary Carter and Tony Perez in the infield, and a talented outfield of Warren Cromartie, Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson.
St. Louis at Philadelphia
The Phillies won 101 games in 1977 on the way to winning the NL East. They opened 1978 with their ace -- a true Hall of Fame ace -- Steve Carlton. Carlton was off, though, and managed only 3 innings, surrendering 10 hits and achieving only 3 strikeouts.
The Cards had been decent, but not great in 1977. They had talented hitters in Lou Brock, Keith Hernandez, Ted Simmons and Garry Templeton, but the remainder of the lineup was weak. All four were back for 1978, with the addition of a talented George Hendrick in the outfield. The rotation remained anchored by Ken Forsch (today's starter) and John Denny, and Pete Vuckovich had come over in a trade from the Blue Jays. The Cards gave up pitchers Tom Underwood and Victor Cruz, both of whom were relatively unknown but decent pitchers.
Three years later Vuckovich will be packaged with Simmons and Rollie Fingers and shipped to the Brewers for Sixto Lezcano, David Green, Lary Sorensen and Dave LaPoint in a blockbuster trade. He cleans up for Bob Forsch on this opening day 5-1 win for the Cardinals.
Chicago at Pittsburgh
The Cubbies were a .500 team in 1977. They had some talented position players in Bill Buckner, Manny Trillo and Bobby Murcer, but not enough of them. The starters were a fairly talented group: Ray Burris, the underappreciated Rick Reuschel, Bill Bonham, Steve Renko and Mike Krukow, with Bruce Sutter closing AND Willie Hernandez and Donnie Moore setting up. Before long, Hernandez and Moore would be good closers for other teams.
The 1978 lineup added slugger Dave Kingman and the starting rotation added talented Dennis Lamp to replace Bonham, who was traded to the Reds for 38-year-old starter Woodie Fryman and reliever Bill Caudill.
Pittsburgh had finished second to their Pennsylvania rivals in 1977, having won 96 games. It's easy to see why. The lineup features Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and Al Oliver, the first of whom is in the hall of fame, and the other two are near misses. There was also a strong supporting cast in Rennie Stennett (2b), Phil Garner (3b) and Bill Robinson (1b). A similar lineup would drive the Pirates to a world championship in 1979. The relief corps in 1977 featured not only closer Goose Gossage, but also Kent Tekulve and Terry Forster. When Forster was with the Dodgers, David Letterman constantly referred to him as a "fat tub of goo." The starting rotation was John Candelaria, Jerry Reuss, Bruce Kison and Jim Rooker, four guys with talent, even if if does not always manifest itself.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, the 1978 lineup will not contain Oliver, and they were unable to replace his bat. He was traded in a huge trade involving four teams, that looked like this:
Oliver and Nelson Norman to the Rangers
Willie Montanez (Braves) to the Mets
Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs and Eddie Miller (Rangers) to the Braves
Ken Henderson and Tom Grieve (Rangers) to the Mets
Bert Blyleven (Rangers) to the Pirates
Jon Matlack (Mets) to the Rangers
John Milner (Mets) to the Pirates
Long and short, Pittsburgh lost Oliver and a bad shortstop and got Bert Blyleven and John Milner. Sounds like a good deal to me, and maybe it would have been, but Milner managed only 295 at bats. Still, adding Blyleven to a pretty talented pitching staff would have had Pittsburgh hopeful that they'd get over the hump.
Today they threw Candelaria, who pitched a complete game 1-0 victory, outdueling Rick Reuschel. Ivan DeJesus had 3 of the game's 10 hits.
Los Angeles at Atlanta
Best in the West against the worst. Hard to remember for many of you, but the Braves were regularly doormats, and in 1977 had a team ERA nearly half a run higher than the next-to-worst team. There weren't any pitching upgrades on tap for 1978, but the lineup promised to be stronger, with rookie Dale Murphy added to the mix with Jeff Burroughs and Gary ("Sarge") Matthews.
This would be Bobby Cox' first year at the helm, having taken over for a trio of managers in 1977, one of whom was the owner, Ted Turner. Cox would be fired in 1981, in favor of Joe Torre, but I'd say his comeback was pretty strong.
By contrast the Dodgers have the best pitching, and good hitting. The rotation is Hall of Famer Don Sutton, near HoFer Tommy John, Burt Hooten, Rick Rhoden and Doug Rau, with Charlie Hough closing. No, I'm not kidding. Charlie Hough, the guy you watched as an old man throwing knuckleballs for the Rangers, was the Dodgers closer. And he was pretty good. All returned for 1978, and they got even better, adding a young Bob Welch.
The hitting doesn't need an upgrade: Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Ron Cey, Dusty Baker, Ron Monday and Reggie Smith. Hard to beat that lineup, even though it does not contain a single Hall of Famer. Smith is the closest to that caliber, followed by Garvey. But they are all good. And they are all returning, although Monday will split time in center field with Billy North when he arrives from Oakland in mid-May.
This one goes the way you might expect, with the Dodgers thrashing the Braves 13-4. Lopes homered and had 4 RBI. Monday had 4 hits, a homer and 4 RBI. Sutton got the win. Phil Niekro's knuckler must not have been working. The "fat tub of goo" got the save for the Dodgers.
San Diego at San Francisco
This game featured two below average teams from 1977. The Giants still had McCovey, and some other real good hitters in batting title Bill Madlock, Darrell Evans and Jack Clark. They still don't score many runs. The pitching staff was entirely forgettable, though a young Bob Knepper would go on to have a nice career for the Astros.
The Giants outfield would improve with a young Larry Herndon and Terry Whitfield in 1978, though Herndon's best years were still to come. Vida Blue was added to the rotation.
The Padres featured youngster Dave Winfield, George Hendrick and former A's backstop Gene Tenace in 1977. They also couldn't score, but the pitching was even worse. They had 1976 Cy Young winner Randy Jones (runner up in 1975), but he was not the same pitcher. At least Rollie Fingers was in the bullpen.
Roger Craig took over in 1978 as manager of the Padres, which bodes well for the pitching staff. They add Gaylord Perry (age 39) to the rotation. This year also marks the debut of Ozzie Smith at shortstop and they signed free agent Oscar Gamble, who had probably the best afro I've ever seen on a baseball card.
Winfield helps the Padres win this one 3-2, with a homer in the 8th off of Gary Lavelle. The Padres pinch hit for Ozzie Smith after just one at bat.
Oakland at California
Both teams were bad in 1977, but the game is notable because California will turn things around in 1978 with a ton of lineup changes. The pitching in '77 was good, with Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana anchoring things. The lineup was pretty awful. They had Don Baylor and Bobby Bonds, but that's about it.
In 1978, Ryan and Tanana return, but there's a big difference in the lineup. Talented Lyman Bostock comes over to play right field, allowing Baylor to DH. Brian Downing takes over at catcher. Near Hall of Famer Bobby Grich came over from the Orioles. Carney Lansford debuts at 3b. And a young Ken Landreaux sees a lot of playing time. That lineup will mature in 1979 (with the addition of Rod Carew) and turn things around for the Angels.
Oakland had no hitters in 1977 worth mentioning, and only Vida Blue was notable on the pitching staff. They do nothing to improve in 1978. Blue moved to the Giants. Their best pitcher is Matt Keough. Their best hitter is Mitchell Page. Yeah.
Oakland loses the opener 1-0, as Frank Tanana strikes out 8 in a complete game victory for the Angels.
Boston at Chicago White Sox
Boston was good in 1977, with 97 wins. Unfortunately, that was good for third place(!). Carlton Fisk, George Scott, Carl Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice and Dwight Evans -- you bet they could score runs. The starters included Luis Tiant, Fergie Jenkins, Bill Lee, and some others. Pretty solid. More of the same in 1978, except no Fergie Jenkins. Instead, Mike Torrez and Dennis Eckersley would start a combined 71 games.
The White Sox won 90 games in 1977, with a group of good-not-great hitters: Brian Downing, Richie Zisk, Chet Lemon, Ralph Garr and Jorge Orta. The pitching staff had been the weak spot. Actually, the worst thing about the White Sox were the uniforms. This was the softball uniform era for the ChiSox. Pullover jerseys, short pants and high black socks. Ah, the memories.
The wheels will come off in 1978, as the White Sox will win 19 fewer games. They are moving in the opposite direction of the Angels, who in 1978 acquired Downing. The pitching did not improve.
The White beats the Red 6-5 on this particular occasion, thanks to a Ron Blomberg homer and Wayne Nordgagen double in the 9th, against Dick Drago and Bill Campbell respectively. That makes up for three White Sox errors.
Toronto at Detroit
The makeup for the previous day's postponement. Detroit debuts the keystone combo of Alan Trammell and Sweet Lou Whitaker (though they played a few games in September 1977). The talented Ron LeFlore returns in center field. Mark Fidrych (he who talks to the ball) is on the wane, and Jack Morris is on the rise. Toronto's best upgrades were the aforementioned additions of Tom Underwood and Victor Cruz from the St. Louis trade. Needless to say, that's not enough.
Detroit wins 6-2, as Fidrych pitches a complete game gem. These are 9 of Fidrych's 22 innings on the season, but they are good ones. Platoon third baseman Phil Mankowski has the best day of his career with the key home run and 3 RBI. Whitaker and Trammell each get a hit.
Baltimore at Milwaukee
The Orioles strength in 1977 was pitching, with Jim Palmer, Rudy May, Ross Grimsley, Mike Flanagan, Tippy Martinez, Dennis Martinez and Scott McGregor. Everyone but Grimsley returns in '78, but he will not be missed. The lineup gets better in 1978, although there are few personnel changes. Eddie Murray solidifies 1b, Doug Decinces matures, and Ken Singleton mashes in RF.
Milwaukee has added Larry Hisle and Gorman Thomas to the outfield, significant upgrades with the bat. Yount starts his sophomore season, and Paul Molitor debuts. Don't forget that Cecil Cooper is still at 1b. They are going to score runs in 1978. A lot of runs...165 to be exact, and they will win a whopping 26 games more than in 1977. This is a different team. There aren't many upgrades to the pitching staff, but in 1977 they averaged 24 years old. They mature in 1978.
The home opener is a preview of all of this, as Milwaukee wins 11-3, sending Mike Flanagan to the showers before the third inning. Sixto Lezcano, talented in his own right, drives in 4 runs. Molitor, subbing for Yount at shortstop, gets the first of his 3,319 hits in the bottom of the second.
You think this is a lot of runs for Milwaukee. Tune in on April 8!
