Bench, Bullpen Were "Secret Sauce" for Tiger-Cats

There is no doubt my Tiger-Cats' top 6 1976 draft choices either met or exceeded my expectations. All contributed greatly to our extraordinary success.

Joe Morgan (#1 draft choice), Randy Jones (#2), Ted Simmons (#4), and Burt Hooton (#5) met my expectations:

• Morgan tailed off in the last month of the season but his performance was still good enough to be voted NCVL MVP. He batted .318 with 29 homers and scored a whopping 135 runs, second only to Ken Griffey of Marshallton.
• Jones won his first 9 decisions and 21 of his first 27 before tiring and settling for a record of 26-11 with an ERA of 2.76. He had great endurance, completing a league-leading 17 games, 6 more than any other pitcher in the league. His 316 innings pitched were nearly 42 more than any other pitcher.
• Simmons was the model of consistency. He batted .290 and drove in 76 runs.
• Hooton was solid as the #3 starter - 17-8 with an ERA of 3.23.

Greg Luzinski (#3) and Steve Carlton (#6) exceeded my expectations:

• The Bull had 23 homers and 80 RBIs by the end of July. He was somewhat less effective after that but still ended up with 31 homers, good for 3rd in the league, and drove in 108 runs, tying him for 3rd. His line: .314/.399/.537. Not shabby.
• Steve Carlton twirled a 5-hit, 14-strikeout gem of a shutout in the season opener, and he was equally brilliant often enough to earn the Cy Young award with a record of 21-5 and ERA of 2.72. He also led the league in strikeouts with 211 in 254 innings.

With those guys leading the way, a 100-win season and 10-game margin was almost a foregone conclusion. How is it then that we won an additional 15 games and buried 2nd place Eagle and Marshallton an additional 14 games back? What was the Tiger-Cats "secret sauce"?

I would say the "secret sauce" was our bench and bullpen.

Bench players who exceeded - no, way exceeded - my expectations were Hozay Morales, Jerry Martin, Leon Roberts, Ken Boswell, Tommy Helms, and Ed Ott. That's 6 of 9 second stringers.

• Hozay was my pinch-hitter extraordinaire. He had 18 pinch-hit at bats and came through with 9 hits - .500! Mr. Clutch. Overall he hit .333. By the way, that pre-season trade in which Morales came to Lionville from Devault in exchange for Bob Bailey worked out great for both teams. Bailey hit .377, .480 as a pinch-hitter, with 9 homers in 130 at bats for Barney Charney's Dynamiters.
• In 128 at bats, not only did Martin bat .359, he had 17 doubles! That's an other-worldly rate. As a pinch-hitter he was 2-for-3. A frequent pinch-runner, he scored 33 runs. It seemed like almost every time I used him in that role, he ended up scoring. He also did a fine job in the outfield as a late inning defensive replacement. Not bad for a 28th round draft choice.
• Roberts did some great power-hitting in the first half of the season. He ended up with 12 homers and 44 RBIs.
• Boswell batted .301 with 9 doubles in 103 at bats.
• Helms hit .352.
• Ott batted .371 with 4 doubles in 35 at bats. He also had pinch-hits in both of his opportunities.

Having listed the accomplishments of the bench players, I'm all the more impressed. And, though not entirely attributable to the bench, it's relevant to mention here that overall we got excellent pinch-hitting: 32-for-82 (.390)!

The bullpen, for their part as "sauce-makers", converted 40 of 48 save opportunities - 83.3%. Ron Reed, Al Downing, Ken Sanders, and Joe Sambito were super-reliable.

• Reed was the workhorse. In 112 innings he had 20 saves and blew only 3. His presence in games seemed to spark our offense. That helped him compile a record of 13-3 (.813), which made him the league leader in winning percentage among qualifiers.
• Downing was just unbelievable! His ERA of 0.92 says it all!
• Sanders was 4-1 with a 1.78 ERA and 5 saves in 7 opportunities.
• Sambito had an ERA of 2.41 and a record of 5-2. 9 times he had save chances and converted 7.

 Yes, I have no trouble believing the fine work of our bench and bullpen meant the difference between 100 wins and our actual total of 115.

The "sauce" tasted so good I just had to share. I'm not the greatest at keeping a secret.