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Sportsnet is showing game 4 of the ALCS, Jays vs. the A’s tonight at 8:00 Eastern
I don’t want to give too much away, for those who want to go into it without much information, but the picture at the top of this post is a hint.
Jack Morris started for the Blue Jays. We signed Morris for games like this one. He had an interesting year. He was 21-6 on the season, but with a 4.04 ERA (not exactly great for the time). He had a 2.8 bWAR. But, of course, the underlining story of Jack Morris career was that he ‘pitched to the score’. I agree you pitch to the score when you have a huge lead. But there aren’t many games like that in a season. But he also pitched 240.2 innings that year. A pretty amazing total for a 37-year-old. Maybe all the regular season innings tired him for the playoffs, because (spoiler) he wasn’t great in two ALCS starts and far worse in two World Series starts.
Bob Welch started for the A’s. Welch was 11-7 that season in 20 starts. he didn’t get many strikeouts that year, just 47 in 123.2 innings and had a 2.5 bWAR. In 1990 he won 27 games (losing 6), I don’t think we’ve seen a 25+ game winner since.
Welch had a bit of a drinking problem (understatement), there were a lot of stories about him drinking in the clubhouse and being drunk on the field. He died in 2014, from a fall in his bathroom.
The game would feature 6 future Hall of Fame players, 3 for each team. Henderson, Baines and Eckersley for the A’s. Alomar, Winfield and Morris for the Jays.