Monday, February 12, 2007

1985 vs. 1988: The Ultimate Battle

In Rocky Balboa, a fantasy battle between the current champ and aging restaurateur Balboa leads to a real 12-round fight. This got mild-mannered blogger Delino thinking about the storied history of the Dodgers. Who was their best team in the 1980s? Which year made for better Orel, Sax? If you ignore the very real risk of 1988 Scioscia crashing into his younger self, thus causing a paradox that could destroy the universe, then this fantasy matchup proves to be remarkably insightful. For this historic game, I employed only the most modern of gaming technology: RBI 3 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

1985 Dodgers - Manager, Delino Deshields.

1988 Dodgers - Manager, Sony Vaio.

2nd Inning. After '85 and '88 Orel pitch one inning of perfect ball, Greg Brock knocks in Pedro Guerrero with a single. '85-1. '88- 0.

3rd Inning. An errant throw home from Kirk Gibson turns Guerrero's double into an in-the-park homerun. '85-3. '88-0

Top 4th. '88 Orel is pulled despite only throwing 45 pitches.

6th Inning. John Shelby puts the 88 Dodgers on the board with a solo shot. '85-4. '88-1

Bottom 7th. 3B Dave Anderson and LF Ken Landreaux have first of several bizarre miscommunications, as both players run in identical circular patterns.

Bottom 8th. A controversial double and the 4th error of the game puts two batters on as Mike Marshall walks up to the plate. One swing later, the '88 Dodgers are back in business. '85-5.'84-4

Bottom 9th. Two outs. Fernando Valenzuela's pitching. With all pinch hitters used up, the Sony Vaio is forced to use Jesse Orosco as a hitter. And he delivers, knocking in the tying run.

Top 10th. Jesse Orosco's heroics are short-lived, as he plunks the next two batters. With a fastball maxing out at 49Mph, Orosco is out of gas. Player of the game Guerrero knocks in the winning runs for the '85 team.

Final Score: '85 - 7. '88 - 5.

Yep, it was an exciting day on the Nintendo Mame Emulator. History be damned: The 1985 Dodgers are the GREATEST.

3 comments:

Orel said...

In your face, Sony VAIO! 8-bit rules!

Delino DeShields, Sr said...

Sony Vaio just made some strange choices that hampered its chances for ten innings of success. Now if I can find the hack that enables me to merge Tecmo Bowl with RBI (and the Goonies game).

Orel said...

Careful there—we don't want to lose you to a retro gaming overdose.