The time is out of joint—O cursèd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
The summer of 2022 is just starting, but the simulated summer of 1977 that’s happening again within my attempted resurrection of the Bird by way of the Strat-O-Matic online game is halfway over. Specifically, the season is through game 90, which in the actual 1977 season fell a couple weeks into July. There’s no all-star break in the Strat-O-Matic online game, but if there was my team would be sending Joe Morgan and Eric Soderholm. That’s probably about it. Thurman Munson, who made the actual all-star team in 1977, might make it despite underperforming a bit at the plate. Bullpen workhorse Bill Campbell looked like a good bet for a while, but he’s been wearing down. Mark Fidrych once seemed like he might have an outside shot at it, despite some early struggles, but after losing 3 of his last 4 decisions he’s fallen out of the top ten in the league in victories, and his ERA, which had dipped below 4 for a while, has swelled to 4.26, drawing almost even with the league average ERA of 4.29. Mark Fidrych, so far, is average.
The team is average too, hovering now just a little above .500. The pitching is bad, the fielding is good, and the offense is inconsistent. Bruce Boisclair has been pretty good. He and his platoon mate Jerry Hairston have provided good production for very low cost at the designated hitter spot.
When the summer of 1977 reached its midpoint the first time, I was with my brother in New York City for our yearly visit to our dad in his studio apartment on 11th Street and Broadway. We always went to a Mets game during our visit, but we didn’t go to the game on July 13 of that summer. That was a night game, which Dad never took us to. Bruce Boisclair got two hits in that game, though both of them came not on July 13 but months later, in September, when the game, which was suspended in the sixth inning on July 13, was resumed. That game on July 13 was not an average game:
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Mets third baseman and fan favorite Lenny Randle stepped into the box. It was 9:31 P.M.
Burris got ready to throw and the lights went out all over New York City. The blackout had begun.
Shea Stadium plunged instantly from electric illumination to all-encompassing darkness, throwing many participants and spectators into confusion and at least one player into fear. Randle believed he was dying. “God, I’m gone,” he thought. As he told the New York Times afterward, “He (God) was calling me. I thought it was my last at-bat.”
https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-13-1977-nyc-blackout-adjourns-mets-cubs-game-for-two-months/
The next day, my father, my brother, and I were in Columbus Circle on the southwest edge of Central Park when we were approached and interviewed by a reporter. The interview was used as part of an article in the New York Times the next day. One thing I know about 1977, similar to what I know about Mark Fidrych: it wasn’t average.
Worcester Birds game notes:
- G85: L 6-5
- McClure balks in the winning run in the 10th; Geronimo hurt, will be out a week
- G86: L 6-1 (Fidrych 10-6)
- Losing streak hits 5; Fidrych, who surrenders 6 runs in 5.1 innings, takes 3rd loss in last 4 starts
- G87: W 3-2
- Lee finally gets a win to go with his admirable 3.22 ERA; Boisclair with 2 hits and 2 RBI
- G88: W 8-6
- Singleton homers twice and drives in 5; Morgan with 3 hits and a steal
- G89: L 7-4
- Highly flammable Larry Dierker pitches with the game in doubt, surrenders 5 runs in 2.2 innings, and loses
- G90: L 6-4
- Bad signs abounding: the team has now lost 8 of last 10 series; fraying bullpen workhorse Bill Campbell takes the loss; Morgan is hurt and will be out for 3 games
Cardboard Gods 
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