VLB Opening Day Is Just Around the Corner

July 2, 2020

Baseball is back! (Sort of.)

Virtual League Baseball will debut on Sunday, when the first of 22 three-game series' for each team will begin. Coverage here will be daily for the Opening Series games before settling into reporting at the end of each series throughout the season. VLB Digest wil return to daily coverage for the pennant races and post season.

Opening Day of course means marquee pitching matchups, and Virtual League Baseball will not be lacking for must-see battles as it gets started on the nation's Bicentennial, July 4, 1976.

Series One Previews

2017 LA Dodgers (104-58) @
1965 LA Dead-Ballers (97-65)

No VBL pitching pairing generates more anticipation than the duel between Dodger icons Clayton Kershaw and Sandy Koufax set for Sunday's opener on the Chavez Ravine mound. Franchise bragging rights will be on the line right out of the gate, as two clubs with starkly different offensive approaches battle to support front-line pitching: '17 Dodgers (221 HR, 77 SB); '65 Dead-Ballers (78 HR, 172 SB).

7/4: Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.31) vs. Sandy Koufax (26-, 2.04)
7/5: Rich Hill (12-8, 3.32) vs. Don Drysdale (23-12, 2.77)
7/6: Hyun-Jin Ryu (5-9, 3.77) vs. Claude Osteen (15-15, 2.79)


1989 Oakland Athletics (99-63) @ 2017 Houston Astros (101-61)

It's a battle of the cheaters to open the season in Houston, as the 'roid-raging A's come into the sign-stealing den of the outlaw Astros. Dave "Smoke" Stewart and Dallas Keuchel will be the first to take the mound and face the dirty lineups on Sunday. As good as the pitching may be, expect to see the ball flying all over Minute Maid Park in this opening series.

7/4: Dave Stewart (21-9, 3.32) vs. Dallas Keuchel (14-5, 2.90)
7/5: Mike Moore (19-11, 2.61) vs. Charlie Morton (14-7, 3.62)
7/6: Bob Welch (17-8, 3.00) vs. Lance McCullers, Jr. (7-4, 4.25)


2004 Boston Red Sox (98-64) @ 1986 New York Mets (108-54)

GOODEN

Seven decades into The Curse of the Bambino, this '86 Mets team dealt yet another crushing blow to Red Sox fans (and Bill Buckner's reputation) that was to be eased only when these '04 Sox finally broke the 86-year-old drought.

Led by catchers Jason Varitek and Gary Carter, the clubs will take the field on Opening Day at Shea Stadium featuring another mound battle for the ages between Pedro Martinez and "Dr. K," Dwight Gooden.

7/4: Pedro Martinez (16-9, 3.90) vs. Dwight Gooden (17-6, 2.84)
7/5: Curt Schilling (21-6, 3.26) vs. Bob Ojeda (18-5, 2.57)
7/6: Derek Lowe (14-12, 5.42) vs. Ron Darling (15-6, 2.81)


1970 Baltimore Orioles (108-54) @ 1995 Atlanta Braves (90-54)

This series features the best pitching matchups from game one through three in a clash of two of the more professional ballclubs in VLB. Both squads led their respective leagues in run prevention, though the Braves outpaced their nearest competition by a whopping half-run per game. They'll need to be on their game to stop these O's, who also scored more than any league opponent behind MVP Boog Powell and the Robinson Boys.

7/4: Jim Palmer (20-10, 2.71) vs. Greg Maddux (19-2, 1.63)
7/5: Mike Cuellar (24-8, 3.48) vs. Tom Glavine (16-7, 3.08)
7/6: Dave McNally (24-9, 3.22) vs. John Smoltz (12-7, 3.18)


2001 Seattle Mariners (116-46) @ 2012 San Francisco Giants (94-68)

ICHIRO

The record 116-win '01 Mariners, take the league's highest winning percentage (.716) into AT&T Park in in San Francisco to open with the '12 Giants, who feature the lowest (.580). But these games aren't played on paper (they're played by electrical impulses on a circuit board), so anything can happen as league MVPs Ichiro Suzuki and Buster Posey look to help get their squads off the blocks fast. Ageless wonder Jamie Moyer, who was a first-time 20-game winner at 38, gets the call for the M's in the opener against Matt Cain.

7/4: Jamie Moyer (20-6, 3.43) vs. Matt Cain (16-5, 2.79)
7/5: Freddy Garcia (18-6, 3.05) vs. Madison Bumgarner (16-11, 3.37)
7/6: Aaron Sele (15-5, 3.60) vs. Ryan Vogelsong (14-9, 3.37)


1975 Cincinnati Reds (108-54) @ 2001 New York Yankees (95-65)

This is a battle of the heavyweights to open the season in The House That Ruth Built. The Bronx Bombers had an impressive 804-713 run differential, but that was dwarfed by Cincy's otherworldly 840-586 in 1975. The '76 edition of the Big Red Machine would sweep the Yankees to win a second straight championship, but these '01 Yanks figure to bring tougher pitching and a bit more firepower into this dogfight.

7/4: Don Gullett (15-4, 2.42) vs. Mike Mussina (17-11, 3.15)
7/5: Gary Nolan (15-9, 3.16) vs. Andy Pettitte (15-10, 3.99)
7/6: Fred Norman (12-4, 3.73) vs. Roger Clemens (20-3, 3.51)