National League Championship Series - Game 5

• This game will feature a rematch of the game 1 starters. Tom Seaver will start for the Mets and will be opposed by Gary Nolan
• The Mets scored a run in the top of the first. Bruce Boisclair led off with a double and scored on John Milner's double.
• The Reds could do very little with Seaver until the bottom of the fourth. Ken Griffey walked to start the inning. After Joe Morgan flied out, George Foster homered to the upper deck in left field to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.
• In the bottom of the fifth inning Dave Concepcion reached on a 2-base error by Felix Millan. Cesar Geronimo sacrificed Concepcion to third. After pinch hitter Bob Bailey struck out Pete Rose doubled and Geronimo scored. Ken Griffey flew out to end the inning and the Reds led 3-1.
• Will  McEnaney kept the Mets at bay in the sixth and seventh innings. Rawly Eastwick shut the Mets down in the eighth inning. 
• The Mets had one last chance in the ninth inning. Dave Kingman and Ed Kranepool singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Pinch hitter John "Bad Dude" Stearns walked to load the bases. The Mets sent Mike Phillips up to hit for pitcher Bob Myrick. Phillips grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game. The Reds won a tough series 3 games to 2 and will await the winner of the American League Championship Series.

• Dave Concepcion led all batters with seven hits, three runs scored, and a .412 batting average and was named the series MVP

National League Championship Series - Game 4

• Mets manager Joe Frazier faced a decision that was similar to the one Yogi Berra had in the 1973 World Series. He could bring back Tom Seaver on three days rest or he could start #4 starter Mickey Lolich and save Seaver for game 5 with 4 days rest if necessary. Frazier decided to start Lolich. We'll see how the decision plays out.
• The Mets jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against rookie Pat Zachry. Bruce Boisclair led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Felix Millan. After an out was made Dave Kingman hit a 2-run homer to left center.
• The Reds came back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Pete Rose led off with a single and went to third on a Ken Griffey single. Joe Morgan hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-1. George Foster grounded out, sending Griffey to second. Tony Perez doubled and Griffey scored.
• In the bottom of the second inning Dave Concepcion doubled. Cesar Geronimo singled and Concepcion scored. The Reds led 3-2 at this point.
• Zachry settled down and didn't get in trouble until the seventh inning. Pat walked Pepe Mangual and  Millan and was replaced by Fred Norman. Norman walked John Milner to load the bases. Pedro Borbon came in and struck out Kingman to end the threat.
• In the bottom of the seventh Concepcion singled and Geronimo doubled him in to make the score 4-2.
• Rawly Eastwick came in and pitched two scoreless innings to earn the save. 
• The series is tied at 2 games apiece.

National League Championship Series - Game 3

• Jon Matlack got the start for the Mets and he was opposed by Don Gullett
• The Mets scored a run in the second inning. John Milner reached on an error by Pete Rose and scored on a Bud Harrelson double.
• In the top of the third inning Pepe Mangual and Felix Millan each singled. Joe Torre knocked in both runners with a double to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
• The Reds didn't mount a serious threat until the 7th inning. Johnny Bench walked and went to second when Dave Concepcion singled. After Cesar Geronimo flew out, pinch hitter Bob Bailey doubled. Bench scored and Concepcion was gunned down at the plate by Mangual. The chances of scoring were 95%, so a "20" must have been rolled. Jerry Grote blocked the plate to keep Concepcion from scoring. Pete Rose struck out to end the inning and the score was 3-1.
• The Reds were able to get someone on base in the 8th and 9th innings but weren't able to score any more runs.
• The Mets lead the series 2 games to 1.

National League Championship Series - Reds Player Introductions Part 2

• We've met the starters for the Reds. Now let's meet the remaining pitchers and substitutes:

Pitcher #42, Santo Alcala!

Santo Alcala was 7-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 21 starts

Outfielder #33, Ed Armbrister!

Ed batted .245 in 94 at bats

Outfielder #11, Bob Bailey!

Bailey batted .286 with 8 HR in 140 at bats

Pitcher #43, Jack Billingham!

Jack went 15-5 and had a 3.57 ERA

Pitcher #34, Pedro Borbon!

Borbon had an interesting year as a middle reliever and vulture. He had a record of 18-6 and had a 4.12 ERA in 118 innings pitched

First baseman #22, Dan Driessen!

Driessen batted .286 with 9 HR in 234 at bats

Pitcher #49, Rawly Eastwick!

Eastwick was the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year. He had a record of 8-2 with 22 saves and an ERA of 2.64

Infielder #23, Doug Flynn!

Doug batted .280 in 218 at bats

Outfielder #21, Mike Lum!

Lum batted .254 in 134 at bats

Pitcher #37, Will McEnaney!

McEnaney was 5-6 with 8 saves and had a 4.48 ERA

Pitcher #38, Gary Nolan!

Gary had a record of 16-9 with a 3.24 ERA in 34 starts

Pitcher #32, Fred Norman!

Fred went 13-4 and had an ERA of 2.93

Catcher #9, Bill Plummer!

Plummer batted .260 with 5 HR in 150 at bats

Pitcher #45, Manny Sarmiento!

Manny was 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in limited duty this year

Infielder #19, Joel Youngblood!

Youngblood batted .289 in 38 at bats as a utility infielder and outfielder

Pitcher #40, Pat Zachry!

Pat had a nice rookie year. He had a 19-5 record with an ERA of 3.06

National League Championship Series - Reds Player Introductions Part 1

• After the Reds and Mets split the first two games in New York, the series moves to Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium for the next two games.

Managing the World Champion Cincinnati Reds, Sparky Anderson!

Coaches Ted Kluzewski, George Scherger, Russ Nixon, and Larry Shepard!

Leading off and playing third base, #14, Pete Rose!

Rose batted .312 and led the National League with 48 doubles and 142 runs scored

Batting second, right fielder #30, Ken Griffey!

Griffey was the National League batting champion, batting .366

Playing second base and batting third, #8 Joe Morgan!

Morgan batted .349 with 27 home runs and 118 RBI. He led the NL with a .635 slugging percentage.

Batting fourth, wearing #15 and playing left field, George Foster!

George batted .275 and finished second in the league in home runs (33) and in RBI (129)

Batting fifth and playing first base, #24 Tony Perez!

Perez batted .253 with 21 home runs and 94 RBI

Playing catcher and batting sixth, #5 Johnny Bench!

Bench batted .275 with 15 HR and 81 RBI

Batting seventh and playing shortstop, #13 Dave Concepcion!

Dave batted .288 with 9 HR and 76 RBI

Batting eighth and playing center field, #20 Cesar Geronimo!

Geronimo batted .312 and walked 72 times for a .416 on base percentage.

Warming up in the bullpen and pitching, #35 Don Gullett!

Don went 10-5 and had a 4.05 ERA in 20 starts

The rest of the Reds roster will be introduced tomorrow

National League Championship Series - Game 2

• In Game 2, Jack Billingham started for the Reds and was opposed by probably Cy Young Award winner Jerry Koosman
• The Reds jumped out to the lead in the second inning. Tony Perez and Johnny Bench singled to put runners on first and second. Dave Concepcion singled and Perez scored on a close play at the plate. Billingham singled to right to score Bench and the Reds had a 2-0 lead.
• In the top of the third George Foster hit a solo home run to extend the Reds' lead to 3-0.
• Perez hit a solo shot in the top of the 6th and the Reds led 4-0.
• The game would end with the same score as Billingham went the distance and shut out the Mets.
• The series is tied 1-1 and the two teams travel to Cincinnati to play games 3 and 4. 

National League Championship Series - Game 1

• Gary Nolan started for the Reds while Tom Seaver opened up the series for the Mets
• The Reds had plenty of chances in the early innings due to some uncharacteristic wildness by Seaver, but they were unable to push across any runs
• The Mets struck first in the bottom of the 5th when Jerry Grote doubled and scored on a single by Roy Staiger
• Cincinnati took the lead in the top of the 8th when Pete Rose singled and went to third on a Ken Griffey single. Griffey stole second base and then both runners scored on a single by Joe Morgan
• In the bottom of the 8th Bruce Boisclair opened the inning with a walk. Pepe Mangual was brought in as a pinch runner. The next two Mets batters grounded out. With two out Dave Kingman crushed a 2-run homer to left center to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
• The Reds threatened in the top of the 9th when Dave Concepcion singled, stole second, and went to third on a fly ball. Pete Rose walked, but Griffey grounded out to end the game.

National League Championship Series - Player Introductions Part 2

And now the rest of the Mets..........

Jim Dwyer  batted .203 during the 1976 season

Ron Hodges batted .271 in 170 at bats

Pepe Mangual batted .228 with 23 stolen bases

Mike Phillips batted .298 and backed up at 2B, SS, and 3B

Mike Vail batted .210 in 138 at bats

John Stearns took over the starting catcher job in September and batted .323 during the season

Joe Torre batted .350 in 303 at bats 

Bob Apodaca had a record of 9-4 with 9 saves and a 1.77 ERA

Jerry Koosman went 21-10 and had a 2.70 ERA.

Skip Lockwood was 6-2 with 11 saves and had a 2.25 ERA

Mickey Lolich was 12-10 with a 3.40 ERA

Jon Matlack had a record of 20-8 and an ERA of 2.87

Bob Myrick was 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA

Ken Sanders went 2-2 with two saves and had a 2.59 ERA

Craig Swan went 12-7 and had a 3.45 ERA