The 2nd Baseball Maelstrom POPs League All-Star Game brought the drama again. For 5 1/2 innings, the teams battled in a one-run game. That’s when the American League All-Stars broke out for 4 runs against NL hurler Don Sutton to put the game out of reach on their way to a 7-3 victory for their 2nd straight All-Star Game win. The National League was hopeful after Jeff Bagwell doubled in the 1st inning, driving in Oscar Charleston for the game’s 1st run. Sandy Koufax had uncharacteristic control problems, walking 3 in the bottom of the inning, including one with the bases loaded to tie the game. Mike Schmidt’s solo home run in the 2nd against Bert Blyleven put the NL back in the lead. But it was walks again that hurt the NL in the 4th. Steve Carlton walked the 1st two batters he faced, and Ichiro Suzuki hit a 2-run single to give the AL a 3-2 lead. Álex Rodríguez led off the 6th with a solo shot against Sutton, who allowed back-to-back singles to Eddie Collins and Suzuki. That’s when Joe DiMaggio came off the bench to hit a monster 3-run shot to give the American League a 7-2 lead. Tony Gwynn drove in Turkey Stearnes in the 7th, but that was the last NL hit, as Tom Henke, Mariano Rivera, and Rollie Fingers shut them down the rest of the way. While the NL outhit the AL 12-10, American League sluggers walked 7 times. Meanwhile, AL pitchers didn’t walk any. Lou Boudreau committed two errors for the AL, but neither factored into the game. Charleston led the NL offense, finishing 3 for 3. Willie Stargell and Buster Posey both finished 2 for 3. Suzuki was 2 for 3 and was the only AL hitter with more than one hit. In addition to winning both All-Star Games, an AL team, the Detroit Rockets, won the World Series last season. The National League hopes to end AL dominance this postseason.

NL All-Stars @ AL All-Stars – 4/30/23

Juan Marichal turned in another great performance, holding the Chicago Docs to one run on 8 hits in a complete game that improved his record to 5-1 this season. The win gives the Houston Hoots a 16-10 record, tops in the National League heading into the All-Star Break. Rick Reuschel couldn’t solve Houston hitting, giving up 3 runs in the 1st, capped by Willie Stargell’s 7th home run of the season. Reuschel allowed 7 runs on 13 hits in 6 innings to fall to 2-4. Barry Bonds doubled in Joey Votto for the Hoots’ only run. Oscar Charleston was 3 for 5 for Houston, with a double, an RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Charleston leads the Maelstrom with a .355 average. Marichal’s ERA in the 1st half is a Maelstrom best 1.21.

Hoots @ Docs – 4/28/23

Jimmie Foxx and Josh Gibson homered in the 1st inning against Detroit starter, David Cone. But Lefty Grove’s struggles to find the strike zone nearly wasted it. Grove walked the 1st three batters he faced before Mark McGwire hit a grand slam to give Detroit a 4-3 lead. A Miguel Cabrera error with 2 outs led to two unearned runs in the 2nd, and the Oakland Jack never looked back. Lou Gehrig added a solo shot in the 4th, and Gibson had his 2nd homer of the day in the 5th to chase Cone from the game. Grove settled in until the 6th when control plagued him again. This time he walked 4 straight hitters with 2 outs and gave up a 2-run single to Kenny Lofton. The Jacks added an insurance run in the 9th against Kevin Appier when Ken Griffey Jr. hit a solo home run. Mariano Rivera picked up his 3rd save with 2 scoreless innings of work. The 9-7 win gives Oakland back-to-back wins heading into the All-Star break. At 11-15, they are now just a game behind Detroit, who is 12-14 after the loss. Gibson finished 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. Foxx was 2 for 5. Combined they drove in 7, despite both hitting just .217.

Jacks @ Swats – 4/28/23

Carl Hubbell settled down after allowing 3 runs to the St. Louis Wizards, all driven in by Mike Schmidt, striking out 10 in 7 innings to earn just his 2nd win of the season. Meanwhile, after 3 scoreless innings against Greg Maddux, the Los Angeles Dynamos came out big, hitting 3 doubles and scoring 4 in the 4th, 2 more in the 5th on two more doubles, and another in the 6th. Maddux allowed 7 runs in 6 innings, losing his 4th game. After allowing just 1 run in 19 innings in his 1st two games, he has struggled since, and now has an ERA of 5.05. The Wizards did score a run off Don Drysdale, but Lee Smith pitched a scoreless 9th, earning his 6th save. The 7-4 win improved the Dynamos to 14-12, now just 1 1/2 games behind the Houston Hoots. The loss dropped St. Louis to 10-16.

Wizards @ Dynamos – 4/28/23

New York’s Joe DiMaggio went 3 for 4, driving in 4 runs, but it still took extra innings for the Swats to top the Boston Splinters. Boston scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st off Pedro Martinez, and Tris Speaker hit a solo home run in the 6th to tie the game. Martinez allowed just 4 hits and struck out 11 in 7 innings. DiMaggio drove in a run in the 1st and 2 more in the 3rd, accounting for all 3 runs against Roy Halladay. CC Sabathia and Dennis Eckersley each pitched two scoreless innings to lead the teams into extra innings. Jack Morris couldn’t hold the tie. Harry Heilmann led off the 10th with a solo homer to start a 3-run inning for New York. Boston put two baserunners on against closer Satchel Paige, but Frank Thomas grounded out to end the game. The 6-3 win gives New York a 11-15 record at the break. Boston leads the American League at 18-8.

Swats @ Splinters – 4/28/23

Bob Gibson earned his 2nd shutout of the season, holding the Chicago Docs to 6 hits, striking out 6 to give the Houston Hoots a 12-0 win. Tim Raines and Roberto Clemente each hit their 1st home run of the season, and Jeff Bagwell added two more against Cole Hamels. Bagwell went 3 for 4 with 2 homers and 3 RBI. He leads the NL in both categories. Hamels allowed 10 runs on 10 hits in 6 innings to continue his rough season. Chicago also committed 3 errors in the game. Houston is now 15-10 and have extended their lead in the National League to two games over the Los Angeles Dynamos. Chicago is 3 games back at 12-13.

Hoots @ Docs – 4/27/23

Oakland starter Addie Joss improved to 3-0, despite allowing 7 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings against the Detroit Rockets. Most of it was thanks to an Oakland offense that hit 5 home runs against Detroit starter Frank Tanana. Joe Gordon hit his 1st homer of the season, a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning. Josh Gibson and Reggie Jackson added 2-run homers of their own in the 3rd. Tanana exited in the 4th after allowing back-to-back homers to Lou Boudreau and Hank Greenberg. Joss allowed home runs to Miguel Cabrera and Mark McGwire, part of 6 runs allowed in the 1st two innings. But he settled to allow just one more run the rest of his start. Oakland added three unearned runs in the 7th thanks to a Lou Whitaker throwing error. The loss dropped Detroit below .500 at 12-13. Oakland improved to 10-15.

Jacks @ Rockets – 4/27/23

Los Angeles starter Tom Seaver allowed 5 runs on 6 hits while striking out 7 in a loss to the St. Louis Wizards. All of those runs, and all but one of those hits came in the 5th inning. Larry Walker capped the inning with a 3-run double to give the Wizards a 5-2 lead. Don Sutton continued his hot season, allowing just 2 earned runs on 3 hits in 8 innings. Sutton walked 5, but was able to limit the damage. Sutton is 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA this season. Ralph Kiner homered to lead off the 9th against Sutton, but Rich Gossage struck out Todd Helton with the bases loaded to pick up the save and a 5-3 victory. St. Louis has won just 2 of their last 10 games.

Wizards @ Dynamos – 4/27/23

Bert Blyleven became the 1st American League pitcher with 6 wins, as he held the New York Swats to 6 hits in 8 1/3 innings. After a 1st inning unearned run, Blyleven allowed just 2 hits until the 9th when Paul Molitor’s 2-run home run ended his day. Bob Feller continued to struggle, allowing 6 runs on 12 hits in 7 innings and falling to 1-3 this season. Frank Thomas got the Boston offense going early with his 11th home run of the season, a 2-run shot in the 1st. Carlton Fisk added a 2-run homer of this own in the 4th. Boston improved to 18-7 with the 6-3 win. New York has fallen to 10-15.

Swats @ Splinters – 4/27/23

Thanks to a sacrifice fly, the Chicago Docs carried a 1-0 lead into the 6th inning against the Los Angeles Dynamos. Turkey Stearnes drove in Tony Gwynn with an RBI single against Dwight Gooden to tie the game. In the 7th, with the bases loaded and two outs, Gwynn drove a ball into the corner to clear the bases and give LA a 4-1 lead. Koufax allowed just 5 hits and struck out 9 in 8 innings before turning it over to Lee Smith, who struck out the side in the 9th for his 5th save. Gooden allowed 4 runs on 9 hits and struck out 8 in the loss for the Docs. The win improved the Dynamos to 13-11, and they are just one game behind Houston for the National League lead. Koufax is responsible for 6 of those 13 wins, and now leads the Maelstrom.

Docs @ Dynamos – 4/26/23