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Series Preview
The Bears and the White Sox face off in this year’s Windsor Cup championship series. The Platte Bears were the top team in the UA all year long. After falling short in the Wild Card race in ’28 and ’29, Platte stormed out of the gate this year to a 9-0 record and never looked back. They ended up breaking the Stags’ mark for the best record in UA history, going 70-30 this year, winning the West division and the Regular Season Championship.
The Deerborn White Sox are the reigning Windsor Cup champs. They easily won the East division this year, and they were the only real threat to the Bears on their journey to the Regular Season Championship, drawing within a game of them heading into the final series of the Regular Season, which happened to be between the two teams. Platte swept the White Sox to end the year and secured their bye to the Finals.
Platte took the season series between these teams, 8 games to 3. By a quirk of the schedule, they played each other more than either team played any other team this year. The Bears did not lose a season series to a single team in the UA this season, a truly impressive feat.
For the White Sox, injuries have been a key factor. They are missing three of their five starting pitchers, which necessitated the call-up of Luis Ybarra for the postseason, who shone in his first ever appearance, cool under tremendous pressure in game 3 of the SemiFinal at Salvation. We thought we might see the return of regular Deerborn 2B Luke Lia Puedris and reliever Luis Taawatuos for the Finals, but it seems they are not quite ready for action, so the White Sox roster will look the same as it did for their SemiFinal win against the Brothers.
The White Sox hitters are still daunting, even with the absence of Luke Lia Puedris. Hunter Phillips has filled in admirably at 2B, and Daniel Lia Yorino has been very clutch so far in this postseason, earning MVP honors in the SemiFinal Series. As a team, Deerborn hit more home runs than any other in 1930, a bewildering 182, 25 more than the Stags’ 157. They are led by sluggers Rygh Ogg, Curt Sawyer, Bob Hove, and Jorge Oko, along with contact hitter Jimmy Hamm. On the mound, while Deerborn is ailing, they still have three of the league’s top starters in Huertata, Tokorres, and Takato, with Jorge Takato a frontrunner to repeat as UA Pitcher of the Year.
One of Takato’s top competitors for PotY is Platte’s Julio Martinezto. He leads an elite rotation in Platte with along with Adam Evans and Justin Russell. Travis Voelker is the 4th starter for this series. The Bears acquired him via trade from the Owls in the offseason, but he has been disappointing since returning from an 8-week absence to due to severe back spasms. The Bears starters were the league’s best, collectively, allowing 3.68 earned runs per 9-innings.
Stan Davis and Andy Bernard are the stars of this Bears team, both hitting over .300 this year, and both in the MVP conversation. Davis tied Bears teammate Juan Tokorres’s UA RBI record, driving in 108 this year. Tokorres himself had another solid year at 3B, hitting .275 with 33 HR and 81 RBI.
Both teams have good bullpens, but the White Sox have the edge here, with Michael Green and Carlos Garcika standing out for Deerborn. Long-reliever Albert Mendozataka made a great emergency start in game 4 of the SemiFinal to help guide the White Sox to the series victory. On Platte’s side, closer Mike Cleveland has had a great year, notching 19 saves with an amazing 0.84 ERA in 32.1 IP.
In the first two UA seasons, the Roland Stags were Regular Season champs, but lost in the Finals. Platte will attempt to break that precedent. Some theorize that the break takes players out of their routines and gives them too much time to get into their heads about the implications of playing in the Finals, despite the obvious advantage of having a week to heal and rest up. We will see how it shakes out this year as the Bears attempt to become the first Regular Season champs to win the Cup, and the White Sox attempt to become the first team to drink from the Cup for a second time.
Tp WCF Players in 1930:
Game 1: Craterview Park, Platte, Simmons
9/26/1930
The series opens with a marquee pitching matchup between Pitcher of the Year candidates Jorge Takato (DEE) and Julio Martinezto (PLA).
The game’s first baserunner comes in the top of the 2nd. Platte RF Gurr Gurr drops a routine fly ball and Jorge Oko pulls up at 2nd base. Martinezto gets out the inning by striking out Garcika, and goes on to pitch a stellar game. He keeps a no-hitter going for the Bears until the top of the 6th, when he gives up a double to Bob Hove. All in all, Julio Martinezto pitches 7.2 innings with 8 Ks and just the 1 hit.
Jorge Takato pitches well for Deerborn, but gives up 2 runs on 9 hits, only one of them earned. In the 7th, 3B Rygh Ogg boots what should have been the final out of the inning. Andy Bernard then sends Eloi Rousset home with a single to make it 2-0, Platte.
Mike Cleveland closes out the win for the Bears, striking out 3 batters in a perfect 1.2 innings for the save.
Standout highlights in game 1: White Sox CF Jimmy Hamm jump sand reaches over the wall to rob Stan Davis of a home run in straightaway center field in the 2nd inning. In the 7th Stan Davis makes an all-out diving catch in center field, sliding several feet on his belly with the ball in his glove and both arms raised in elation.
Platte takes the seres lead with a 2-0 game 1 win on the combined 1-hitter.
Game 2: Craterview Park, Platte, Simmons
9/27/1930 | PLA leads 1-0
Mathew Huertata gets the nod for Deerborn in game 2. He is shaky early, giving up a pair of doubles to Andy Bernard and Stan Davis in the 1st to make it 1-0, Bears. In the 2nd, Juan Tokorres leads off with a triple for the Bears. He scores on Juan Rokodriguez’s sac fly to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, after reaching on a fielder’s choice bunt, Platte pitcher Adam Evans scores from first on Ralph Maxwell’s double to make the score 3-0. With Huertata still on the mound in the 5th, Gurr Gurr drives home Stan Davis with a double to give the Bears a 4-0 lead.
The White Sox get on the board against Platte starter Adam Evans in the 6th inning with Bob Hove’s RBI single, made possible in part by Hunter Phillips’s speed and his stolen base and good base running earlier in the inning. With Evans still pitching for Platte in the top of the 7th, the White Sox get 2 more back on a home run by 1B Jorge Oko followed by a pinch-hit home run from (who else?) Daniel Lia Yorino, the hero of the SemiFinal.
The score remains 4-3 until the top of the 9th, when Jorge Oko smacks his 2nd home run of the game off a Mike Cleveland pitch. The score is tied and Cleveland has blown the save! Deerborn closer Carlos Garcika comes out in the bottom of the 9th and sends game 2 to extra innings. Garcika remains in the game for 3 total innings, striking out 6, allowing just 2 hits.
In the top of the 12th, Jorge Oko leads off against Manuel Pinto and crushes a homer to right-center field, his 3rd of the game! Oko give the White Sox a 5-4 lead on the hat trick! It’s a Saturday afternoon to remember for Jorge Oko. Lefty Emilio Linares gets the call to close it out in the bottom of the inning and Deerborn wins game 2, 5-4, in 12 innings. They’ll take tomorrow off and meet again at Kostinsky Park in Deerborn for game 3 on Monday.
Game 3: Kostinsky Park, Deerborn, Woodlyn
9/29/1930 | Series tied 1-1
Roberto Tokorres starts game 3 for Deerborn. SS Gilberto Hernankez starts the game off with a throwing error to put Ralph Mazwell on second. He moves over to third on a wild pitch and scores on Jack Garrett’s single. Just like that, the Bears are out in front, 1-0.
Bob Hove evens the score with solo pop in the bottom of the frame off of Bears pitcher Justin Russell. Rygh Ogg then drives home Curt Sawyer to keep the 2-out rally going, and Jorge Oko makes more magic with his 4th dinger in the last 2 games, a 2-run blast. After 1 inning, the White Sox lead 4-1, and Kostinsky Park is rocking!
After the first, both starters tighten up and get through the 6th inning without allowing another run. In the top of the 7th, Roberto Tokorres walks the leadoff man, Gurr, then gives up singles to Juan Tokorres and Juan Rokodriguez. Michael Green comes on for Deerborn to dam the flood. He induces an infield pop-up and then strikes out pinch-hitter Gabriel Martinezto, but another pinch-hitter, Adam Sullivan, strokes a ball down the left field line for a 2-out double to clear the bases and tie the score at 4. After a walk to Jack Garrett, Green serves up another double, this time to Andy Bernard. It scores 2 runs, and the Bears lead, 6-4, after a big 5-run 7th.
Juan Tokorres adds another for the Bears with a solo homer off of Joao Thery in the 8th. Maddox and Romerokoa each pitch an inning to close it out, and the Bears win on the road, 7-4. They now lead the series, 2 games to 1.
Game 4: Kostinsky Park, Deerborn, Woodlyn
9/30/1930 | PLA leads 2-1
White Sox RHP Luis Ybarra’s 2nd career start comes in game 4 of the Finals, with RHP Travis Voelker on the mound for Platte.
Luis Ybarra makes a mistake early, giving up a 2-out solo shot to Andy Bernard in the top of the first. He does it again in the 2nd inning, this time serving up a home run to Juan Rokodriguez with 2 down. Andy Bernard comes up to bat again in the 3rd and fouls off 8 straight pitches before lacing a ground ball down the third base line for a 2-run single. After 3 innings, Platte leads Deerborn, 4-0. After singles to Maxwell and Bernard, and another 2-run double to Stan Davis, Luis Ybarra gets the hook with the White Sox trailing 6-0. Juan Tokorres adds another run with a solo home run in the top of the 6th off of Marc Steadman.
For the Bears, starter Travis Voelker keeps a perfect game going through 4 innings before issuing a walk and committing a throwing error in the bottom of the 5th. Voelker keeps a no-hitter until the 7th, when Curt Sawyer hits a single. Rygh Ogg drives home Bob Hove on a sacrifice ground out, and Deerborn is finally on the board, trailing 7-1. Voelker leavesa the game with just 1 hit allowed and 9 Ks. Pancho Romerokoa and Craig Ogg finish off the game, combining with Voelker’s 6.2 innings for another 1-hitter and a combined 13 strikeouts for the Bears.
Platte will take a 3-1 series lead back to Craterview Park for game 5 on Thursday, on the brink of the Windsor Cup Championship.
Game 5: Craterview Park, Platte, Simmons
10/2/1930 | PLA leads 3-1
Deerborn’s Jorge Takato takes on Platte’s Julio Martinezto again in game 5. In the first game of the series, Martinezto got the better of the matchup, leading the Bears to a 1-hit shutout victory. Now, with the White Sox backed against the wall, the Bears hope he can do it again and bring home their first Windsor Cup.
Martinezto gives up a run in the 1st inning on singles to Jimmy Hamm and Bob Hove. The crowd at Craterview is eerily quiet in the bottom of the inning as Takato retires the Bears side on 3 fly ball outs. In the bottom of the 2nd, Stan Davis leads of with a double into the gap in left-center field. Gurr Gurr follows it up with another double and the score is even, 1-1. Takato then walks Tokorres and gives up another double to Juan Rokodriguez, and the Bears lead 2-1 with nobody out. The next batter is Eloi Rousset. He pops up to right field. Tokorres tags up but is gunned down at the plate by Curt Sawyer for the double play. With 2 outs, Platte pitcher Julio Martinezto hits a double of his own to bring home Rokodriguez and make it 3-1, Bears. Both starting pitchers go 2 for 2 in this game.
Both starters last 7 innings; Julio Martinezto leaves with a 3-1 lead. Mike Cleveland pitches 2 perfect innings for the save, striking out Curt Sawyer for the final out, and the Bears take the Windsor Cup in 1930!
Andy Bernard is vindicated after narrowly missing a UA MVP award in 1928 and narrowly missing the playoffs with the Bears in ’28 and ’29. The three-time All-Star takes home the Windsor Cup Finals MVP award. He hit .500 during the series and drove home 6 runs in Platte’s 5-game series win.
The Platte Bears are the first team to win both the Regular Season Championship and the Windsor Cup in the same season. Their 1930 campaign had them leading the league from day one, and they are deserving of this championship title after winning the West division with the best Regular Season record in UA history. Congratulations to the Platte Bears, 1930 Windsor Cup Champions!
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