Game 148: Montreal has a rare offensive explosion, led by Michael Cuddyer, who has four hits including two home runs and seven RBI. Gavin Floyd hits a two-run triple. Dan Uggla has only one hit (his 38th home run) but scores four times, and Alfonso Soriano has four hits with two doubles. Montreal wins, 20-7.

Game 149: Yovani Gallardo strikes out nine to win his 10th game as Montreal edges Cincy 4-3. Jose Lopez hits a two-run triple to spark a three-run first inning.

Game 150: The Spectres finish a sweep of the Stingers, winning the finale 8-5. Jose Lopez and Carlos Delgado hit home runs, Michael Cuddyer hits two triples, and Dan Uggla's two-run double adds some insurance in the ninth. Jason Frasor earns his 36th save with a scoreless ninth.

We head home to host Philly and Pittsburgh before a season-ending road trip to New York.

Game 151: AJ Burnett is shelled in what may be his last start of the season (nine runs in 3.2 innings) but the Spectres rise to the occasion, collecting 14 hits and 12 walks off nine Philly pitchers to score a 16-10 victory. Carlos Delgado hits a grand slam and drives in five, while Michael Cuddyer hits his third triple in two days and scores four.

Game 152: Ryan Dempster throws seven shutout innings and the bats stay hot, collecting 17 hits in a 10-3 victory. Dempster nothces his 16th win of the season; Carlos Delgado homers for the second straight game.

Game 153: Jake Peavy strikes out 12 Spectre batters, but he is outpitched by Gavin Floyd, who evens his record at 9-9 in a 4-1 victory. Floyd allows seven hits and no walks over seven innings. Yovani Gallardo picks up the win, improving to 11-9.

Pittsburgh is in town next, on the cusp of 100 losses for the season.

Game 154: Montreal scores early and often against Philly starter Braden Looper, taking a 9-3 lead in the fourth. From there the offense goes cold, but they hold on for a 9-5 victory.

Game 155: Montreal's historic problems against Pittsburgh resurface in the opener as the Melons score seven runs in the first two frames off Aaron Cook, then hold on for an 8-6 victory.

Game 156: Game 2 is not much better. Pittsburgh scores four in the third and the Spectres are held to one hit over six innings by Clay Buchholz. Spectres drop back into a tie with San Diego for the wild card.

Game 157: Montreal shuffles the batting order a bit and for a change it's the Spectres taking an early lead, outscoring the Melons 12-3 despite holding only a 15-12 advantage in hits. Jose Lopez, dropped to sixth, drives in five runs with three doubles, becoming the third Spectre to reach 100 RBI. Gavin Floyd wins his 10th game.

Game 158: Yovani Gallardo throws eight shutout innings before tiring, and Jason Frasor escapes mostly unscathed from a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the ninth to earn his 38th save as Montreal defeats Pittsburgh 5-2.

The Spectres will finish the season at New York, who has already clinched the division title.

Game 159: Aaron Cook doesn't record any strikeouts, but allows only one run over six innings, and the Spectre bullpen is perfect while the offense breaks open a tight game with a 5-run ninth in an 8-1 win over the Mad Men.

Game 160: The Spectres can't do much against Zach Duke, and Ryan Dempster struggles to make it through the third and fifth innings as the Mad Men even the series with a 5-2 win.

Game 161: Five consecutive RBI singles highlight a six-run third inning for Montreal, and the Spectre bullpen barely holds on through a wild ninth inning for a 7-6 win over New York. Jeff Baker's three-run homer in the final frame brings the Mad Men within a run, but Jason Frasor enters the game and strikes out the next batter to end it.

Game 162: Jose Lopez hits two doubles to reach 60 for the season, and Yovani Gallardo hits a home run as the Soectres cruise to a 10-3 victory over the Mad Men. With the victory, the Spectres clinch the NL Wild Card berth!! We face St. Louis in the first round.

NLDS

Game 1, at St. Louis


Ryan Dempster (16-10) vs. Clayton Kershaw (13-6)

Montreal blows a chance to score first when Dan Uggla (who had walked to lead off the inning) is thrown out at home on Asdrubal Cabrera's double.

Both Dempster and Kershaw are dealing. Through seven innings, the game is scoreless, each side with three hits. Montreal goes down in order in the eighth and Tyler Clippard enters to relieve Dempster. Consecutive one-out singles followed by a sac fly from Pablo Sandoval gives the Cthulu the game's first run. It ends up as the game's only run. Dan Uggla hits a two-out single off Brian Wilson in the ninth, but Michael Cuddyer strikes out to end it. Montreal falls, 1-0.


Game 2, at St. Louis

Yovani Gallardo (13-9) vs. Chad Billingsley (15-7)

Though Gallardo was the Spectres' best pitcher throughout the season, he is clearly not ready for prime time. He allows four hits and a walk in the first as St. Louis takes a 4-0 lead. The Spectres get one back in the second on a bases-loaded walk, but the Cthulu do much better than that when they load the bases in the second. Jason Kubel hits one out for a grand slam, and it's 8-1 after two.

The Spectres score four of their own over the next two innings, but then allow a two-run homer to Ryan Braun in the bottom of the fourth. 10-5. Asdrubal Cabrera's seventh-inning grand slam makes it 10-9 and suddenly there's hope. St. Louis gets two walks and a single in the bottom half to make it a two-run margin.

Montreal goes down in order in the eighth. In the ninth, Cabrera again brings them within a run with an RBI double. After a walk to Carlos Delgado, Dan Uggla comes to the plate. He strikes out to end the game, and Montreal suffers another one-run loss.


Game 3, at Milwaukee

Tommy Hanson (7-4) vs. Gavin Floyd (11-9)

Another embarrassing performance for the Spectre pitchers. Montreal takes a 4-1 lead after three, then surrenders 10 runs over the next three innings. Ballgame. St. Louis wins, 11-6, and the Spectres' season is OVAH.

Posted by kermit on 9/9/2011 7:15:00 AM (view original):

This is the third Montreal Spectre Fan Club thread. We pick this up as the second half of 1990 begins.

I took over the Spectres from iribuz for the 1976 season. Some of those original Spectres, like Dick Ruthven and Cecil Cooper, have been around for my entire stint as manager. Ruthven was released after the 1983 season, and Cooper will be hard-pressed to fight off Pete O'Brien for the starting job at first.

The first year was tough, and we finished 67-95, in fourth place.
 

1977 saw a tight divisional race, with the Spectres winning the last two games of the season to win the division at 90-72 over the Cosmos. We were then summarily beaten down in the first round by the Chicago Bootleggers.
 

1978 saw another tough race, but we lost out to Philly by three or four games, done in by a bullpen that blew 20 saves. For some reason I did not record the final record.
 

1979 was a tough one as Montreal tumbled to 75-87. We finished 20th in the league in runs scored.
 

1980 saw a bit of improvement as we finished 81-81.
 

1981 was the watershed year for Montreal. Midyear, we traded Greg Luzinski to the AL New York franchise for a 2nd round draft choice and a rookie SS. That rookie SS blasted the ball for half a season and the trade of the Bull forced the Roenicke/Lowenstein platoon into motion. They provided a spark that led to a 10-2 record in the last round of divisional play and a division championship, albeit with a losing record (79-83). Montreal swept Houston in three games to start the playoffs, then beat the Los Angeles Looters in six games to advance to the World Series. Facing the powerful Texas Superspurs in the World Series, we fell behind 3 games to 1 but rallied to win the final three and steal the championship!
 

In 1982, we actually deserved to be a playoff team, winning 102 games. After beating Frisco in the first round, we were pummelled by Atlanta in the LCS.
 

1983 saw a third straight NL East title for the Spectres as we finished 87-75. After a surprising win over Chicago in the first round, we lost in six games to Cincinnati in the LCS.
 

1984 - Surprisingly, the Spectres were better than '83, by one game, finishing with an 88-74 record. However, the New York Cosmos ran away with the division, winning 104 games, and the Chicago Bootleggers win 92 to take the wild card.
 

1985 - What a year.. everything fell into place. We won 107 games in the regular season, the best mark in either league. Then, of course, we were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Looters, whom we had beaten nine of 12 times during the regular season. Division mate Pittsburgh went on to win the championship!
 

1986 - A gut-wrenching season. Short on pitching, especially after a mid-season trade of Ed Correa, the Spectres' generally above-average offense (seventh in the league in runs scored) could not compensate. The final record was 76-86, far behind Pittsburgh (102 wins) and Philadelphia (93 wins).
 

1987 - Full-blown disaster as the pitching staff was woefully short of stamina. We barely avoided recording our worst record under my leadership, sweeping the long-since division winning Philadelphia Keystones in the final series of the season to finish with a 68-94 record.
 

1988 - Worst season yet, dismal hitting and not enough quality pitching. We top the century mark in losses for the first time, finishing 59-103.
 

1989 - High draft choices are starting to pay off, and this is the best year in the last three seasons (70-92). Still far off the pace, however.
 

1990 - An early season trade for Dennis Rasmussen stabilizes the pitching staff, and breakout seasons from Ken Griffey Jr. (151 RBI) and Candy Maldonado (144 RBI) give Montreal a winning team for the first time since 1986 (89-73).
 

1991 - New "ace" pitcher Chuck Finley gets off to a horrible start (doesn't get a win until game 51, making his record 1-9) and the Spectres stumble back below .500, finishing 76-86. A 48-33 second-half record gives hope for the future.
 

1992 - Montreal returns to the good side of .500, winning 88 games, but finishes nine games behind Philadelphia for the wild card spot and 20 games behind the Cosmos for the division championship.
 

1993 - Another diastrous first half by Chuck Finley along with a poor showing by Ken Griffey doom the Spectres, who have only 32 wins at the break. While not as impressive as 1991's second half, a post-break 43-39 record brings some hope for the future. Montreal finishes 75-87 and in a distant fourth place, 38 games out of the division lead.
 

1994 - The long rebuilding process finally starts to show progress as the Spectres win 100 games and win the NL East. In their first playoff appearance since 1985, Montreal loses a heartbreaking Game 5 in the first round to the Los Angeles Looters.
 

1995 - A preseason injury to Ken Griffey Jr. costs him half the season and the team basically falls apart. The offense falls off tremendously from '94 and the team falls back below .500, finishing in third place at 74-88, 19 games behind the Cosmos.
 

1996 - A season that starts with six straight losses ends in exciting fashion; Montreal rallies down the stretch to force a tiebreaker game with the Cosmos for the division title; Montreal wins and finishes 91-72. In the first round, the Spectres upset the West-leading San Francisco 69ers in four games, then get past Orange County in six to reach the World Series. After falling behind three games to none against Kansas City, the Spectres run off three straight wins to force a Game 7. Curt Schilling proves to be too much, and the Blue Devils win the championship.
 

1997 - League MVP Ken Griffey Jr. leads the Spectres to their second straight division title and their third playoff appearance in four seasons, finishing 99-63. The playoffs appearance is short-lived as Montreal is swept by San Diego.
 

1998 - Ken Griffey Jr. nearly repeats as MVP (finishing second) and Robb Nen saves an amazing 58 games as the Spectres roll to a third straight NL East title, finishing 103-59. The offense disappears in the posteason, however, and the St. Louis Blue Storm send the Spectres home in four games.
 

1999 - Ken Griffey Jr. has another strong showing, finishing third in the MVP voting, and the Spectres make the playoffs again. Their string of division titles ends at three, however, as a shaky bullpen limits them to 92 wins and a second place finish behind Philadelphia. The Spectres surprise West champions San Diego in four games in the first round but drop four straight to the Chicago Bootleggers in the NLCS after winning the opener.
 

2000 - Montreal finishes far behind the Seaphils but wins 92 games and wins the wild card for the second straight season. Ken Griffey Jr. does not place in the award voting but paces the club with 40 home runs and 150 RBI. The playoffs are exciting but Montreal drops three one-run decisions in a 3-2 series loss to San Diego in the first round.
 

2001 - Montreal misses the playoffs for the first time in six years, finishing five games behind Philadelphia with a pathetic 74-88 record. Running a six-man rotation most of the season, the pitching staff does not have enough talent to succeed. Bret Boone hits .359 with 32 homers and 150 RBI but does not even place in the MVP voting.
 

2002 - Montreal returns to the postseason, winning the division with a 95-67 record behind a much improved starting rotation. After sweeping Milwaukee in the divisional round, the Spectres fall behind three games to none in the NLCS. Miraculously, Montreal rallies back to force a seventh game at LA and tops the Looters 5-4 to make the World Series for the third time in franchise history. The Detroit Facerockers, and particularly Jason Varitek, are too much for Montreal to handle and the Spectres bow in six games.
 

2003 - The pitching staff returns to the depths of 2001 and the Spectres fall off badly, finishing in third place in the division at 73-89 in a year that Pittsburgh takes the division crown with a .500 record. Bret Boone has an even better year than 2001, blasting 47 homers and driving in 166, but again does not place in the MVP voting.
 

2004 - Montreal bounces back and easily wins the NL East with a 94-68 record, besting Pittsburgh by 19 games, but falls in the first round of the playoffs to St. Louis, three games to one.

2005 - Led by NL MVP Carl Crawford, the Spectres win 96 games and take the division, holding off a hard-chargin Philadelphia team over the final week. We then beat that same Philly team in the NLCS to advance to the World Series, our fourth in franchise history and third in the last ten years. After winning the first two games of the series, Eddie Guardado blows game 3 - Baltimore scores eight times in the ninth inning. The Spectres lose their heart after that one and lose the series in seven games, with another late collapse (four runs in the eighth) leading to a 5-4 loss in Game 7.

2006 - The Spectres start to show their age, and an ineffective bullpen takes them out of the division race from the start. Montreal finishes 84-78, but in a suddenly resurgent NL East, that's only good enough for fourth place. Rookie of the Year Dan Uggla gives some hope for the future, but a 37/66 mark in save opportunities is too much to overcome.

2007 - The old-age decline of the roster continues, and the bullpen continues to struggle, as the Spectres drop below .500 for the first time since 2003, at 79-83. The team's offense finishes with only 841 runs, compared to a league average of 878.

2008 - The Spectres return to playing winning baseball but fade down the stretch and finish three games out of the wild card spot, seven games behind Philadelphia in the division, at 84-78.

2009 - Montreal rides the league's fifth-best ERA to a wild card berth, finishing 91-71 to edge San Diego and Milwaukee for that spot. Then they are swept away in the first round by Central winner St. Louis.

Good Writing.