HeyDay Tourney
Oct 18–Dec 30, 2020
Final Regular Season Standings
1976 Phillies 5-1 (Tucker)
2. 1981 Dodgers 4-2 (Carlson)
3. 1977 Royals 2-4 (Insley)
4. 1985 Cardinals 1-5 (Kaiser)
Oct 18
Cardinals 1 @ Phillies 7
Philadelphia, Pa.—The highly anticipated match-up between two sterling lefties, Steve Carlton of the Phillies and the Cardinals' John Tudor, left something to be desired on Sunday evening as the Phillies rolled to a 7-1 victory. Tudor didn't have his best stuff, barely surviving four innings before Mgr. Kaiser mercifully pulled him from the game. Carlton went the full nine, allowing a run on six hits while striking out nine and walking two. He also helped himself at the plate, going 1 for 2 with a single and two walks. It was a masterful performance from Carlton, who proved once again that while there are many lefty pitchers, there is only one true Lefty.
W: S. Carlton (1-0)
L: J. Tudor (0-1)
Player of the Game: S. Carlton (9 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 9 K, 2 BB)
Dodgers 7 @ Royals 1
Kansas City, Mo.—Burt Hooten pitched eight strong innings as the Dodgers overpowered the Royals on Sunday night. While the current Dodgers were clinching a short-season pennant in Texas Sunday, the '81 Dodgers, themselves champions of a shortened season, were pounding out doubles against Royals ace Dennis Leonard. While the '77 team is arguably the best Royals team ever assembled, it wasn't enough on Sunday as manager Clint Carlson and his Dodgers now sit alone atop the standings.
W: Burt Hooten (1-0)
L: Dennis Leonard (0-1)
Oct 25
Dodgers 10 @ Phillies 7
Philadelphia, Pa.—With a 3-1 lead and Jim Lonborg looking strong through three innings, the Phillies saw seven straight Dodgers get on base to lead off the fourth. Dusty Baker led off the inning with a solo home run and received player of the game honors—going 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Dodger starter Jerry Reuss left the game in the 6th with a 7-4 lead but lost the win due to three late-game runs by the heart of the Phillies powerful lineup. Jay Johnstone led the way for the Phillies with a 2 for 6 night with 2 runs, an RBI, a pinch-hit appearance for the Dodgers in the 8th, and a home run for the Phillies in the bottom of the 9th.
WP Dave Stewart
LP: Rick Schueler
Player of the Game: Dusty Baker (3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI)
Royals 6 @ Cardinals 5
St. Louis, Mo.—George Brett hit a go-ahead 10th-inning single off Jeff Lahti to score Freddie Patek, and Doug Bird got Willie McGee to pop out with a man on in the bottom of the 10th to secure the Royals' first win of the Heyday Tourney. The game didn't look like it would be a barn burner early; Cardinals starter Danny Cox allowed 10 base runners in the first three innings and found himself trailing 4-0. But Kansas City starter Paul Splittorff finally faltered in the 6th after retiring 14 straight, allowing a double and plunking Tommy Herr (which resulted in a broken hand--Herr will be out the rest of the tourney). Reliever Larry Gura couldn't get either of the next two Cardinal hitters and the comeback was on. Two more in the 7th led to a thrilling 9th inning. Trailing by one in the bottom half of the last frame, the Redbirds drew three walks to load the bases and then Jorgenson drew yet another to earn the RBI BB to tie the game. Alas, the St. Louis bullpen wasn't strong enough to hold off the Royals in extras and the Cardinals dropped into last place at 0-2 while the Royals moved to 1-1. Brett was 3-6 with (3 singles) 2 RBI to earn man of the match honors.
W: Doug Bird
L: Jeff Lahti
Player of the Game: George Brett (3-6, 2 RBI)
Injuries: Tommy Herr is out for the rest of the tourney (broken hand—HBP (Splittorff) in the sixth)
Nov 1
Cardinals 2 @ Dodgers 3
Los Angeles, Calif.—In a game that saw Fernando Valenzuela struggle with his command early, the Dodgers managed just enough offense to overcome the Cardinals. Through four innings, Valenzuela walked six Cardinal hitters but limited the damage to only two runs. Valenzuela dominated through the last five innings and ended his 146-pitch complete-game win with 12 strikeouts and only 3 hits. For the Cardinals, Juaquin Andujar pitched a solid 6 innings, but took the loss after Todd Worrell couldn't keep two inherited runners from scoring in the seventh. For the hitters, it was a slim night with Jack Clark leading the way for the Cardinals (2 for 3 with a run scored) and Derrell Thomas driving in two runs on two hits for the Dodgers.
W: Valenzuela (1-0)
L: Andujar (0-1)
Player of the Game: Fernando Valenzuela (W, 9 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 12 K)
Phillies 8 @ Royals 1
Kansas City, Mo.—The Phillies started their three game road trip with a convincing 8-1 win against Whitey Herzog's Royals on Saturday night. Jim Colburn issued a two-out walk to Dick Allen in the first and the Phillies made him pay with four consecutive singles, including run scoring base hits from Dave Cash and Larry Bowa, who found themselves on base all night long. Colburn labored through four more innings and was pulled after Royal killer Bob Boone drove a 2-RBI double into the gap to score Cash and Bowa in the fifth. The Phillies' Jim Kaat fared better than his counterpart through the first four innings but also faltered in the fifth, yielding a run on four hits in the inning. Danny Ozark opted for Big Wayne Twitchell in the 6th, and with a 4-1 lead the 6' 6" reliever didn't look back, using his hard fastball and slider to strike out seven in his four innings of relief work. The Phillies' bats tacked on a few more runs, including another RBI single for Bowa and a homerun from Dick Allen in the 8th, his second of the season. Danny Ozark will take his team into the Ozarks for some R&R before taking on that other team from the show-me-state after the flex week.
W: Jim Kaat (1-0)
L: Jim Colborn (0-1)
Player of the Game: Larry Bowa (2-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB)
Nov 8 - Flex Week
Nov 15
Royals 11 @ Dodgers 8
Los Angeles, Calif.—The Royals torched the Dodgers for eight runs in the first inning, then managed to hold on as they overcame 70-minute delay (power outage due to nap time ending) and a ferocious Dodger comeback attempt Sunday night at Chavez Ravine. Manager Carlson utilized the DH in an NL park (home team’s choice) and regretted it immediately, as 8 of the first 10 Royals reached against starter Bob Welch, highlighted by a grand slam by Amos Otis. Homers by Poquette and Brett followed (the latter off Rick Sutcliffe) and the route seemed to be on. John Mayberry added an RBI-double down the right field line to make it 9-1 in the fourth inning. But a series of Dodgers relievers kept Kansas City to just two runs the rest of the way and the Dodgers offense came storming back. They managed five runs off Royals starter Andy Hassler, who barely got out of the fourth. Manager Insley surely would have come to get the ailing starter after allowing a bases-loaded double to Steve Garvey, but rookie second baseman Steve Sax tried to score from first on the potent arm of Amos Otis and was gunned down at the plate to end the inning. They added three more in the eighth off lefty Steve Mignori, including a 2-run shot by pinch hitter Davey Lopes, seeing his first action of the Heyday Tourney. But at that point the rally sputtered, as Doug Bird got the final four outs for the save. The Royals added solo homers by Cowens and Poquette (his second of the game) in the eight and ninth innings to achieve the final score. The Dodgers drop to 3-1 while the Royals have climbed back into contention at 2-2. Al Cowens went 3-5 with a double, triple, and home run to earn player of the game honors.
W: Mark Littel (1-0)
L: Rick Sutcliffe (0-1)
S: Doug Bird (1)
Player of the Game: Al Cowens (3-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI)
Injuries: Dodger SS Bill Russell will be out for the rest of the tourney (Broken Jaw—HBP (Hassler) in the fourth)
Phillies 3 @ Cardinals 1
St Louis, Mo.—The tough-luck Cardinals just can’t seem to catch a break. They managed more hits than the Phillies on Sunday afternoon, six hits to five, and played a clean defensive game but the Phillies eked out the win, 3-1. Jay Johnstone was in the middle of the action all game long. In the bottom of the 2nd, Cesar Cedeno, who led off the inning with a triple, scored on a sac-fly from Vince Coleman, just managing to beat out Johnstone’s strong throw from leftfield. Johnstone drove a two-out double to right-center in the top of the third to score Bobby Tolan, which kept the inning alive for Dick Allen, who promptly launched a 2R-HR into the grandstands. Allen’s HR, his third of the season, had Cardinal's starter Bob Forsch shaking his head in frustration, but he recovered well, seeing the minimum number of batters through the next four innings. In the bottom of the 8th, the Cardinals threatened. Phillies starter Tom Underwood (the Kokomo Kid) surrendered back-to-back singles to Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee, which meant he was left to watch from the dugout as reliever Wayne Twitchell struck out Jack Clark before yielding a dangerously deep drive to Tito Landrum. But, Johnstone harmlessly pulled Landrum’s fly ball off the left field wall and the inning was over. Tug McGraw, making his first appearance of the season, came in to close things out in the bottom of the 9th, giving away two walks between 3 Ks to the bottom of the Cardinals lineup. The Cardinals will look for better luck against the Royals next week, while the Phillies continue their road trip with a visit to Dodger Stadium.
W: Tom Underwood (1-0)
L: Bob Forsch (0-1)
S: Tug McGraw (1)
Player of the game: Dick Allen (3-4, 1B, 2B, HR, 3RBI)
Nov 22
Cardinals 3 @ Royals 2
The St. Louis Cardinals finally broke through against the Kansas City Royals, scoring a close 3–2 victory Sunday evening. Behind the strong pitching of John Tudor and several relievers and the dramatic, eighth inning, two-run homer from the bat of Caesar Cedeno, the Cardinals achieved the kind of satisfying victory that had so far eluded them in the Heyday Tournament.
Ironically, Caesar Cedeno never should have been in position to win the ballgame. When he arrived at the ballpark earlier in the day, manager Whitey Herzog had pulled him aside and said he was going to start Andy Van Slyke in right field, despite Van Slyke's futiltiy against lefties like Paul Splittorff, who was on the mound for the Royals. Cendeno thought the decision was inexplicable, but kept his mouth shut, went through his pregame routine, and sat dutifully on the bench for the first seven innings.
Then came the fateful eighth inning, the Royals clinging to a 2–1 lead. After a quick two outs, Splittorff walked Jack Clark and Van Slyke's spot in the order was due to hit. In an alternative reality, Cedeno would have started the game against the lefty Splittorff, but would have been removed for Van Slyke for defensive purposes in the seventh inning, as Herzog often liked to do. This would have meant Cedeno would have been out of the game by the eighth inning and in no position to pinch-hit. However, with Van Slyke starting the game, Cedeno was available off the bench. He came to the plate to face Larry Gura, in for Splittorff, and delivered the two-run home run the Cardinals desperately needed.
After the game, Herzog took credit for the victory, saying his unorthodox lineup construction gave the Cardinals a late game advantage. Cedeno, when asked about the manager's comments, just smiled. "Sometimes things have a way of working out," he said. Indeed, things did work out for the Cardinals, at least for one game, and the victory will no doubt leave them hungry for more.
W: J. Tudor (1-1)
L: P. Splittorff (1-1)
Player of the Game: Caesar Cedeno (1-1, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R)
Phillies 5 @ Dodgers 2
The Phillies offense wasted no time Sunday evening, piling up four hits and a walk to start the game en route to a 4-run first inning. Dodger’s starter Burt Hooton settled down after his abysmal first, surrendering just 3 more hits over the next 4 and 2/3 innings and relievers Steve Howe, Alejandro Pena, and Tom Niedenfuer kept the Phils in check after that but the damage was done and the Phillies, behind a solid performance from ace Steve Carlton, ended their road trip with a 5-2 win. The Dodgers scratched out runs in the 5th and 6th but Carlton’s seven strikeouts and a timely double play in the 5th inning allowed him to avoid any real trouble. Tug McGraw came in for a 1-2-3 9th inning and he recorded his second save in as many appearances. The Phillies now return home looking for a win over KC to secure a playoff berth.
W: S Carlton (2-0)
L: B Hooton (1-1)
S: T McGraw (2)
Player of the game: Carlton (7 IP, 2ER, 7 Ks, 1BB)
Nov 29
Royals 1 @ Phillies 4
Philadelphia, PA – The Phillies closed out their regular season with a 4-1 win over the Royals on Thursday evening. Dennis Leonard tallied seven strikeouts to just one walk but took the loss for the Royals. Jim Kaat, on short rest, notched his 284th career win, surrendering just five hits over seven innings. In the bottom of the second inning, Kaat earned a two-out walk and scored on a Garry Maddox double to help his cause. Wayne Twitchell worked around a Larry Bowa error in the eighth and a John Mayberry bloop single in the ninth to get the save. He continues his stellar season on the mound. Dick Allen struck out in consecutive plate appearances to start the game and lined out on a rope to Freddie Patek in the eighth, but he singled in the fifth and advanced to third base. He’s now heading home to that great big ballpark in the sky!
W: J. Kaat (2-0)
L: D. Leonard (0-2)
S: W. Twitchell (1)
Players of the Game: Garry Maddox (3-4, 2 R, 2 2B)
Dodgers 9 @ Cardinals 6
St. Louis, MO. — The Cardinals hosted the Dodgers with hopes of catching the Royals and gaining some momentum for the post-season. Things were looking up after Jack Clark blasted a two-run home run to put the Cardinals ahead 2-1 after the first inning. But things quickly unraveled for righthander Danny Cox and the Cardinals with the Dodgers unleashing seven hits and six runs, including four extra-base hits in the second inning. A two-run homer by Ken Landreaux in the third added to the deficit and put the Dodgers up 9-3. Dodger relievers limited the Cardinals to one run over the last three innings—giving Jerry Reuss his first win of the season. The Cardinals head to their season-ending series with the Royals in search of redemption for a disappointing regular season, while the Dodgers head to Philadelphia for a matchup with Steve Carlton and a chance to knock off the top-seeded Phillies.
WP: Reuss (1-0)
LP: Cox (0-1)
Player of the game: Ken Landreaux (3 for 5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI)
Dec 6 - Flex Week
Dec 13-Dec 31 Championship (3-game series)
Game 1: Dodgers 2 @ Phillies 4
Philadelphia, Pa. – A raucous Philadelphia crowd was treated to a marvelous show from Steve Carlton on Sunday evening, as the Phillies opened the championship series with a 4-2 win over the visiting LA Dodgers.
Carlton struck out Steve Sax to start the game, the first of nine Ks on the day, and kept the Dodgers scoreless through 7 innings. Carlton’s counterpart, Burt Hooton matched him pitch-for-pitch through the first four innings, but his defense let him down in the bottom of the 5th. After a Dave Cash sacrifice fly to leftfield scored Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa sent a scorcher towards third that ate up Pedro Guerrero to put men on the corners. Tim McCarver cashed in on the error with a smash down the rightfield line that rolled around in the corner long enough for Old Second Inning to scoot to third base. Tolan and Bowa came around to score on the hit. That was all the Phillies would need, as Carlton continued to mow down Dodgers and induce a couple of timely double play balls.
Guerrero tried his best to redeem his mistake, with a single in the 7th and a run scoring double in the top of the ninth. The double scored Steve Garvey to bring the Dodgers within striking distance. Danny Ozark, who had visited the mound after Garvey’s lead off double, was compelled to turn to the pen, and Tug McGraw came in with the winning run at the plate in the person of Davey Lopes. Lopes, who had to that point struck out twice and grounded into a double play, put a scare into the stands with a well hit ball towards the five hole, but Larry Bowa made a diving grab to end the game and start the celebration.
Jim Lonborg will take the hill for the Phillies in game two. He'll be opposed by the Dodgers young phenom, Fernando Valenzuela.
W: S. Carlton (3-0)
L: B. Hooten (1-2)
S: T. McGraw (3)
Player of the game: S Carlton (8.2 IP, 6H, 9Ks, 1 ER)
Game 2: Dodgers 9 @ Phillies 3
Philadelphia, Pa. – The Dodgers sent rookie Fernando Valenzuela to the mound for a win-or-go-home game 2 against the Phillies. The Phillies countered with Jim Longborg, who the Dodgers had roughed up in their previous encounter. This game would have similar results as Ron Cey took Longborg deep in the first and then knocked him out of the game with a grand slam to deep centerfield in the second.
The Phillies tried to scratch back into the game with the usual combination of Wayne Twitchell and a deep lineup. The bottom half of the order got things started for the Phillies in the second and fourth innings—plating three runs on seven hits. Unfortunately for the Phillies these would be the only innings in which they put a runner on base. Valenzuela retired the last sixteen hitters he faced on his way to striking out 10 and getting his second complete game victory of the season.
The Dodgers added to their lead and finally broke through on Twitchell in the seventh—putting five consecutive hitters on base and scoring four more runs all with two outs.
Next up is a deciding game three with lefties Jerry Reuss and Jim Kaat facing off.
W: F. Valenzuela (2-0)
L: J. Longborg (0-1)
Player of the game: R. Cey (2 for 4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB)