1978 World Series

Ohio Buckeyes vs. Hopewell Dutchmen

Position	Ohio Buckeyes	Hopewell Dutchmen	Analysis
C	Brian Downing	Ted Simmons	Huge advantage to Hopewell. Simmons was the starting catcher for the American League, hit .304 with 21 HR, 101 RBI and 45 doubles. Downing hit just .209 on the year with just 5 HR. Downing runs better than Simmons, but that’s his only advantage.
1B	Bill Buckner	Carl Yastrzemski	Advantage Hopewell. Yastrzemski hit .297 with 20 HR and scored 100 runs. He has played in two World Series and should not be bothered by the massive media attention. Buckner hit .301 and wrestled the starting job away from Lee May. But he is more of a contact hitter, contributing just 7 HR and 49 RBI on the season.
2B	Phil Garner	Frank White	Even. White hit .294 in a break out season, with 13 HR and 62 RBI. He was a reserve on the AL All Star team. Garner hit .279, with 16 HR, 63 RBI and 100 runs scored. He contributed 51 extra base hits on the season and stole 31 bases.
SS	Dave Concepcion	Ozzie Smith	Advantage Ohio. Concepcion hit .279 with 36 doubles and 31 steals. He was the starting NL shortstop in the All Star game, and is generally regarded as the best shortstop in the NCABL. Smith is a rookie who hit a surprising .270 with 50 walks and 10 triples. He stole 40 bases, and is everything that Concepcion is, without the polish and power potential. Concepcion’s experience is the main difference.
3B	Graig Nettles	Darrell Evans	Advantage Hopewell. Offensively, Evans had better numbers (.269, 21 HR, 100 RBI compared to Nettles’ .245, 23, 82), and defensively, Evans had a better fielding percentage than the highly regarded Nettles.
LF	Oscar Gamble	Ron LeFlore	Huge advantage Hopewell. LeFlore scored 101 runs and stole 74 bases to go with his .283 average, 13 HR, and 71 RBI. Gamble hit .301, but his HR total fell to 3, and he had just 47 RBI. Gamble was platooned, giving way to Elliott Maddox (.278, 0 HR) vs. LHP.
CF	Terry Whitfield	Gorman Thomas	Advantage Hopewell. Whitfield, like Gamble, sat against LHP, platooning with Jerry Mumphrey. Thomas only hit .224, struck out 145 times, but hit 31 HR and had 97 RBI. Whitfield (.272, 9, 42) and Mumphrey (.239, 3, 19) fall short.
RF	Dwight Evans	Dave Winfield	Huge advantage Hopewell. Winfield is an MVP candidate in the AL. He finished 1^st in batting at .330, in RBI with 114, and in runs with 118. He hit 27 HR and had 207 hits. Evans had a year that is somewhat comparable to that of Gorman Thomas. His .196 average was a big disappointment, but he did hit 20 HR and drove in 64 runs.
SP#1	Jon Matlack	Steve Carlton	Even. Two of the league’s best lefties; Carlton (25-6, 2.41) had a better W-L record due to have a better hitting team behind him. Matlack (19-12, 2.12) started 40 times, but had over a run less of support than Carlton (5.7 to 4.4).
SP#2	Scott McGregor	Ross Grimsley	Even. Almost exactly even. Grimsley was 17-10, 2.45. McGregor was 17-10, 2.47. The one edge that Grimsley has is that he has playoff experience from his 1973 season with Hopewell.
SP#3	Craig Swan	Dennis Martinez	Advantage Ohio. Swan was 2^nd in the NL in ERA (18-6, 1.87). Martinez won over 20 games (23-11, 2.63) and made 40 starts. Both pitchers are enjoying their first taste of big success.
Closer	Ron Reed	Doug Bair	Even. Both were awesome. Bair saved 34 games to lead the AL, and had a 5-6 record with a 1.70 ERA. Reed saved 27, was 10-7 with a 1.87 ERA. Bair was a little tougher to hit, but both had OBA under .200.
Bench	Lee May, Elliott Maddox, Jerry Mumphrey, Jesus Alou, Dave Bergman	Rusty Torres, Mike Squires, Larry Cox, Kiko Garcia, John Lowenstein	Small advantage Ohio. The Buckeyes do a lot of platooning, and can counter moves made with the opposition’s pen to cancel out lefty-righty matchups. Lee May had 14 HR in less than 300 at bats. Hopewell’s Rusty Torres hit .333 and Cox hit .322, both in less than 100 at bats.

Other notes of interest:

One should keep in mind that Ohio faced much better pitching in the NL than did Hopewell in the AL. The NL ERA was 3.35 compared to a 3.87 ERA in the AL. The league batting marks were .256 to .240, advantage AL. Ohio hit .246 and will face Hopewell pitching that had a 2.81 ERA. Hopewell hit .273, while Ohio’s ERA was 2.68. The best team ERA in the AL excluding Hopewell was 3.07. This series could be classified as a test between the merits of pitching vs. the merits of hitting.