Torre Region Final: ‘73 Halos sweep ‘20 Brownies

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Game 1 – Angels Stadium – Ryan vs. Shocker

The respective staff aces began this Round 4 series. With St Louis clinging to a tenuous 1-0 lead, the tone of the game was completely shattered with one swing of Frank Robinson’s bat with the bases loaded. The HR was his 4th of the tournament and shifted the momentum to the home team Angels. California ended up with 7 runs and 12 hits in support of Nolan Ryan. Ryan was not particularly sharp, yielding 8 hits and 4 walks in only 7 innings of work. But he seemed to be able to get a strikeout or double-play grounded when he needed it most. Baby Doll Jacobson had 2 hits and 2 walks for the Browns. But starter Urban Shocker never was able to regain his rhythm after Robby’s grand slam, as California cruised to a 7-3 win.

Game 2 – Angels Stadium - Tanana vs. Burwell

Vada Pinson’s 3rd inning solo HR and Baby Doll Jacobson’s 5th inning solo HR summarized all the scoring through the first 6 innings of this very tight match. The Angels managed to push across 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th on a bases-loaded walk and a Bob Oliver sacrifice fly. But the Browns immediately answered and closed the gap to 1 run in the top of the next inning when Ken Williams doubled to set up George Sisler, who later scored on an infield groundout. Ken Berry provided some insurance in the bottom half of the inning with a solo HR, his first of the tournament. But while both starters pitched well, the hero this game was Steve Barber, who continued his stellar job out of the Angels’ pen, tossing 2.2 innings of 1-hit relief and picking up his team-leading 4th win.

Game 3 – Sportsman’s Park - Davis vs. Singer

Mickey Rivers had 3 hits and 3 RBIs, and Vada Pinson 2 hits, including a HR, and 2 RBI to lead the California Angels to a surprising 3 game series sweep over the tough St Louis Browns. Despite the game’s importance, neither starter appeared to have brought their A Game to the field. Dixie Davis only gave up 6 hits and 1 walk over 6 innings. But 4 of those were for extra bases, as the Halos scored 4 times in the first 2 innings. Bill Singer surrendered 11 hits and 4 walks over 7.1 innings, spending most the time pitching out of the stretch with the Browns all over the base paths and threatening. But somehow he repeatedly managed to prevent St. Louis from getting the key hit they needed to get back in the game. California pushed across a few more runs late in the game off a tired Browns’ bullpen, and walked away with a 7-2 victory to win the series.

--submitted by Douglas Zaner--