The A to Z League regular season is over, and Aberdeen, Bainbridge Island, Goldendale, and Moses Lake have advanced to the playoffs in our efforts to determine which letter is better. Bainbridge Island will host Aberdeen and Moses Lake will have home-field advantage against Goldendale. Both first-round playoff series will be best of seven and will begin October 12.
Ted Williams of Wenatchee was named A to Z League Player of the Week after a torrid closing week of the season in which he passed the field to win the triple crown. Williams batted .500 (12-for-24) for the week, hit four home runs, drove in 10 runs and scored eight. He led the league in batting with a .343 average, in home runs with 57, and in RBI with 138. He came into the final week leading in home runs over Lou Gehrig, but was six points behind Ty Cobb in the batting race and trailed Barry Bonds by three in the RBI chase. Cobb, however, hit just .286 (10-for-35) in the final week, while Bonds drove in just three runs, partly because he sat out a couple of games after Bainbridge Island wrapped up the Puget Division title. Williams also led the league in slugging, on-base percentage, OPS, and walks, and was second in runs scored and sixth in hits.
Ted Williams
Other player-of-the-week candidates included Babe Ruth, who slugged five homers, drove in 11 runs and scored 11 while hitting .385; Harmon Killebrew, who batted .407 with three homers, eight runs, and eight ribbies; Duke Snider, who batted .360 with three homers and 10 RBI; and Gaylord Perry, who pitched a no-hitter October 8 against Long Beach.
Some highlights from the season's final week:
October 3
Hank Greenberg hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, and Goose Gossage pitched two perfect innings in relief to lock it down as Goldendale beat Jefferson County 5-4, reducing its magic number for clinching the South Division to one. Satchel Paige allowed just three hits over eight innings, Brandon Phillips, Kirby Puckett, and Vada Pinson homered, and Pasco bombed Ocean Shores 11-1 to keep pace six games behind Goldendale. Bill Nicholson hit a three-run homer in the fifth and North Bend topped Moses Lake 4-2. Williams went 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI; his 54th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth, put Wenatchee ahead and they went on to beat Hoquiam 6-2, moving to within three games of Moses Lake in the East Division. Snider hit a grand slam in the bottom of the tenth and Snoqualmie defeated Aberdeen 10-6. Bobby Bonds hit his 30th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth, Bert Blyleven pitched seven solid innings, and Bainbridge Island topped Ephrata 4-3. Luis Tiant, Jr. pitched eight strong innings and Tumwater bested Forks 5-2. Ray Lankford hit a two-out homer in the top of the tenth and Long Beach defeated Kelso 5-4. Oscar Charleston went 3-for-3 with a double, three RBI, and two runs scored, and Cashmere broke a tie with four in the top of the eighth and beat Vancouver 8-3. Don Drysdale allowed just two runs in seven innings and Davenport topped Yakima 4-2. Pete Rose hit an RBI double to plate Ruth in the bottom of the tenth and Renton beat Quincy 4-3.
October 4
Jefferson County scored six in the top of the ninth to take a 7-5 lead, but Goldendale scored three in the bottom of the frame to win 8-7 and clinch the South Division title. Moses Lake scored three in the top of the first and Jack Morris pitched seven solid innings as the M's topped North Bend 5-4 to move a step closer to the East Division crown. Early Wynn allowed just one run in eight innings, Williams hit his 55th home run, and Wenatchee kept hope alive with a 4-1 win over Hoquiam. Moses Lake leads Wenatchee by four games and their magic number to clinch the East is four. Hilton Smith pitched a two-hitter, Mike Schmidt homered, and Snoqualmie topped Aberdeen 5-1. Bill Freehan hit a three-run homer in the third and finished with four RBI as Forks blasted Tumwater 8-1. Charlie Keller hit two homers and drove in three runs, Killebrew also went deep, and Kelso thumped Long Beach 9-4. Mike Piazza hit a pinch three-run homer in the bottom of the eleventh and Pasco beat Ocean Shores 4-1. Stan Coveleski pitched a four-hitter and Cashmere blanked Vancouver 4-0. Paul Derringer scattered six hits, Martin Dihigo homered and drove in three, and Davenport beat Yakima 5-1. Seven Ephrata pitchers combined on a four-hitter to beat Bainbridge Island 4-1. Ruth hit two homers and drove in four, Frank Robinson and Manny Ramirez also went deep, and Renton slaughtered Quincy 13-2.
October 5
Graig Nettles hit two home runs and drove in five as North Bend built an 8-0 lead and held on to beat Moses Lake 8-6. Matt Holliday and Toby Harrah each drove in two runs and Hoquiam beat Wenatchee 5-2, reducing Moses Lake's magic number for clinching the East Division to one. Schmidt went 1-for-7, but his RBI single in the bottom of the 14th gave Snoqualmie a 6-5 win over Aberdeen. Jim Thome notched three RBI on a pair of home runs, Kevin Tapani pitched eight solid innings, and Tumwater beat Forks 6-2. Jefferson County scored four in the top of the seventh and beat Goldendale 8-4. Jimmy Key pitched a six-hitter, Masayuki Kakefu drove in three runs, and Kelso topped Long Beach 6-2. Tony Phillips scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 13th by Steve Ontiveros and Pasco edged Ocean Shores 6-5. Roberto Clemente went 4-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, and three RBI as Cashmere whomped Vancouver 8-4. Davenport scored three in the sixth to break open a close game and beat Yakima 6-3. Damion Easley drove in three runs; his two-run homer in the top of the ninth beat Bainbridge Island 10-8. Tim Raines and Ruth hit two-run homers as Renton scored four in the bottom of the eighth to beat Quincy 6-4.
October 6
Curtis Granderson hit a two-out homer off Trevor Hoffman in the bottom of the eleventh to give Goldendale a 2-1 win over Hoquiam. While the G's won the game they suffered a loss, as starter Lefty Grove left the contest early with a sore shoulder and will likely miss the entire first round of the playoffs. Moises Alou hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth and Aberdeen beat Tumwater 5-3.
October 7
Pedro Martinez allowed one run on six hits in eight innings, Joe Morgan and Eddie Mathews homered, and Moses Lake clinched the East Division title with an 8-1 win at Renton. Virgil Trucks pitched a four-hitter, Joe Torre homered and drove in three runs, and Tumwater defeated Aberdeen 4-2. Williams singled home the winning run in the bottom of the tenth and Wenatchee topped Forks 5-4. Rogers Hornsby went 4-for-5, Harry Heilmann drove in four runs, and Hoquiam thumped Goldendale 9-4. Randy Johnson allowed a run on four hits in eight innings and struck out nine, Derek Jeter drove in three runs, and Jefferson County thumped Ephrata 8-1. Jim Palmer pitched a six-hitter, Albert Pujols homered and drove in three, and Pasco bested Long Beach 6-2. Kouji Yamamoto had a home run and three RBI to lead Yakima to an 8-2 win over Cashmere. Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer in the second and Bainbrige Island rolled to a 6-2 win over Davenport. Nicholson and Phil Nevin both had three hits and three RBI during North Bend's 9-3 rout of Ephrata. Quincy rapped out 17 hits, including three each from Chase Utley, Justin Upton, and Juan Uribe, in an 11-4 shellacking of Snoqualmie.
October 8
Gaylord Perry pitched a no-hitter, Brandon Phillips had a homer and three RBI, and Pasco shut out Long Beach 7-0. Kevin Appier allowed one run on four hits over seven innings, Bobby Abreu and Joe Adcock homered, and Aberdeen topped Tumwater 5-1. Willie Foster, Keith Foulke, and Rollie Fingers combined on a three-hitter and Forks edged Wenatchee 2-1. Joe Gordon knocked two home runs and drove in five, but Heilmann had a homer and five RBI, Hornsby also went deep, and Hoquiam outscored Goldendale 11-8. Bob Knepper pitched a five-hitter, Ralph Kiner homered, and Kelso beat Jefferson County 6-2. Jose Valentin homered in the bottom of the fourth, and that ended the scoring in Vancouver's 3-2 win over Ocean Shores. Charleston drove in both Cashmere runs with a sacrifice fly in the first and a homer in the sixth as the C's bested Yakima 2-1. Bobby Bonds drove in four runs and Johnny Bench knocked in three as Bainbridge Island tuned up for the playoffs by blasting Davenport 10-2. Mike Napoli's three-run homer capped a five-run third as North Bend toppled Ephrata 7-4. Steve Rogers allowed just one run on three hits, Jackie Robinson and Ruth homered, and Renton defeated Moses Lake 5-2. Gary Sheffield hit a pair of solo homers, but that's all Snoqualmie got in a 5-2 loss to Quincy.
October 9
Aberdeen scored five in the top of the ninth, capped by a two-run homer by Edgardo Alfonso, and Aberdeen defeated Tumwater 7-5. Matt Wieters slugged a grand slam during Wenatchee's six-run second inning, and the W's cruised to an 8-2 win over Forks. Dwight Gooden pitched a five-hitter and hit a solo homer in the fourth, Gehrig blasted a three-run shot in the first, and Goldendale rolled to a 7-1 win over Hoquiam. Mike Krukow allowed a run on seven hits in eight innings, Jeff Kent, Keller, and Kakafu homered, and Kelso withstood a four-run rally by Jefferson County in the ninth to win 7-5. Paige pitched an eight-hitter and smacked a grand slam in the second as Pasco topped Long Beach 10-2. Mel Ott drove in four runs, hitting a two-run homer during a four-run first as Ocean Shores led all the way in a 9-6 win at Vancouver. Cashmere scored four in the top of the tenth, highlighted by a two-run homer by Roy Campanella, then survived Rudy York's three-run shot in the bottom of the tenth to best Yakima 8-7. George Brett hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth and Bainbridge Island held on to beat Davenport 5-4. Mathews went 4-for-5, including a homer, and Dale Murphy led off the top of the ninth with a homer as Moses Lake edged Renton 7-6. Don Sutton allowed two runs on two hits in seven innings and Snoqualmie slipped past Quincy 3-2.
October 10
Ernie Whitt hit a grand slam to bust open a tight game in the bottom of the eighth and Wenatchee beat Forks 8-2. Killebrew hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the tenth to give Kelso a 5-3 victory over Jefferson County. Fred Lynn and Evan Longoria hit home runs to lead Long Beach past Pasco 5-3. Jason Varitek hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs as Vancouver beat Ocean Shores 7-6. Yakima broke a tie with three runs in the bottom of the seventh and held on to defeat Cashmere 7-5. Doug DeCinces hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give Davenport the lead, and they added two in the eighth to beat Bainbridge Island 4-1. Jim Edmonds went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo homers and Ephrata bested North Bend 5-2. Eddie Murray and Edgar Martinez hit homers during Moses Lake's three-run eighth and the M's beat Renton 4-2. Ryne Sandberg singled to plate Willie Stargell with the game winner in the bottom of the ninth as Snoqualmie edged Quincy 4-3.
Injuries
Tom Candiotti, an injury call-up, had to leave his October 3 start with a sore wrist and will miss the rest of the season. Cashmere called up John Candelaria to finish the season in their rotation. Dock Ellis left his October 4 start in the second inning with a bad back and is out for the year. Kelvim Escobar will fill Ellis's rotation slot. Don Aase left an October game with a sore elbow and has been shut down for the year. Aberdeen called up Neil Allen to help the bullpen for the rest of the week. Chase Utley went down with a sprained ankle October 7 and is done for the season. Quincy called up Jose Uribe to take Utley's roster spot.