November 19, 2017

The Sensational 70s - Cooper Catapults Sawx to Series Title




Cecil Cooper drilled a pair of homers and drove in 5 runs to lead the 1975 Boston Red Sox to a World Series championship with a decisive 10-3 victory over the 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers in my Sensational 70s postseason. Boston took the series in five games reeling off three straight wins at Fenway Park after leaving Los Angeles with the series tied at one game apiece.

Cooper was awarded MVP honors in this Fall Classic while Jim Rice was the overall offensive leader for Boston throughout their postseason championship run. An honorable mention shoutout goes to Luis Tiant as he authored 2 victories in the World Series, and also led Boston to a wildcard win over the 1979 Baltimore Orioles.

Cooper fittingly got things going early for the Red Sox in this series-clinching contest slashing a single to center and scored the game's first run on a Carl Yastrzemski sacrifice fly. Dodger starter Burt Hooten wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning allowing only the one run but it would be a harbinger of the misery that was to come.

Hooten got a reprieve in the second but it would be the only scoreless inning he would work as the Bostom offense began to flex their muscles in the third. Again, it was Cooper in the role of lightning rod as he started the inning off with his first homer of the game. Dwight Evans two-out RBI single pushed the score to 3-0. 

The fourth inning would be Hooten's last. He issued a lead-off walk to Rick Burleson and Denny Doyle made him pay with an RBI double to make it 4-0. The Dodgers lifted Hooten in favor of Rick Rhoden. This didn't phase Cecil Cooper as he broke the backs of the Dodgers blasting a two-run shot. He then touched up Rhoden once again for an RBI double in the fifth to give Boston a commanding 7-0 lead. 

Meanwhile, Red Sox starter Luis Tiant was cruising along keeping the scoreboard clean for the first five innings. Los Angeles finally got on the board nicking Tiant for 2 runs in the sixth, but the game was already in the bag for Boston. Tiant tossed a masterful 8.1 innings scattering 8 hits and three runs before giving way to Diego Segui to tidy things up.

It was a very satisfying ending for yours truly as my Sensational 70s season now draws to a close after 2 years plus in the making. Check out the final statistical leaders for the National League and American League . The final standings are here.

 I embarked on this dream season back in March of 2015 and played around 100 games with the Sawx before the playoffs even began. I probably would have been finished of this project a lot sooner, but I also was dabbling in some playoff mode scenarios with other classic teams, playing with other teams besides the Red Sox within my season, and producing and porting rosters which is quite time-consuming. I brought this season all the way over from MLB 14, and I encourage anyone dropping by to check out some of this season's highlights that I have been posting. I'm not sure if I'd ever play another whole season again, but I'll never say never. In any event, I got my fairytale ending. Redemption for the 1975 World Series defeat has been realized!







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