The 1962 Giants and the 1940 Reds will square off for the title of the Honus Wagner Bracket in the Press Room Pass Strat Madness Tournament.
Honus Wagner Bracket Results, Schedule and Round-Up
(5) 1962 Giants 5, (9) 1990 A’s 4 (10)
(3) 1940 Reds 6, (2) 1967 Cardinals 0
(5) 1962 Giants at (3) 1940 Reds, championship
Orlando Cepeda came through when in it mattered most as he singled to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning to give the Giants a 5-4 win over Oakland. The A’s grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as Carney Lansford had a run-scoring single and Jose Canseco blasted a two-run homer. Chuck Hiller hit a solo shot in the bottom of the frame. Mark McGwire put the A’s on top 4-1 with a sacrifice fly in the third inning. In the fifth, Hiller added a two-run homer to cut San Francisco’s deficit to 4-3. Tom Haller‘s run-scoring single tied the contest in the sixth. Stu Miller worked the 10th in relief of Jack Sanford to earn the victory for the Giants. Oakland started Scott Sanderson tossed nine innings, while Nelson took the loss recording two outs in the bottom of the 10th.
Cincinnati’s Paul Derringer tossed a three-hitter to lead the Reds to a 6-0 victory over the Cardinals. Derringer fanned four and walked one. Mike McCormick gave the Reds a 1-0 advantage with a RBI single in the fourth. The Reds exploded for five runs in the fifth against St. Louis starter Nelson Briles to put the game away. Billy Myers had a two-run single and Billy Werber banged out a three-run homer, which proved to be all the Reds would need.
IN REAL LIFE:
An all-star from 1959 to 1964 with San Francisco, Orlando Cepeda was an important cog in the lineup for the Giants. Cepeda was second on the team with 35 homers and 114 RBI in 1962 behind Willie Mays, who had 41 homers and 149 RBI. The season before he led the National League with 46 long balls, while driving in 142 runs.
The NL Rookie-of-the-Year in 1958, Cepeda was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals early in 1966 for Ray Sadecki. A year later, he was the NL’s Most Valuable Player as the Cardinals won the World Series. Prior to the 1969 season, the Cardinals sent Cepeda to the Atlanta Braves for Joe Torre. He was with the Braves until the middle of 1972 and finished his career in 1974 after playing with the Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.