I Knew It!

It's confession time:

Ed Sprague, now in his fifth season as baseball coach at University of the Pacific, said he used amphetamines and Androstenedione and once hit a home run with a corked bat.

I, on behalf of all fans of the 1992 Braves, demand that Game 2 of the 1992 World Series be retroactively awarded to Atlanta.

Update: It dawns on me that even if you award the Braves Game 2, the Series, after a brief delay of 15+ years, would stand tied at 3-3. Accordingly, we have no choice but to play a Game 7. No cheating, though. The teams have to go with the lineups they would have used back in 1992. Let's handicap this bad-boy:

Offense:

The Braves are the older team with the average age of their lineup coming in at just over 45, assuming you're playing Nixon over Sanders and DHing Lonnie Smith. In other words, they'll be much like the present-day Yankees, only somewhat less banged up.

The Blue Jays may think they have a distinct advantage in the lineup in that they have the only still-active everyday player in Jeff Kent. Unfortunately for them, however, Kent wasn't on the postseason roster that year, and in light of Sprague's admitted cheating, I'm not in the mood to let them bend the rules on that score. They're still slightly younger than the Braves, though, with a lineup averaging 44.4 years-old, and they have the guy -- John Olerud -- who I think would be the most effective hitter on either team at present.

Pitching:

Let's see here, the Jays have a rotation of Jack Morris, David Cone, Juan Guzman, and Jimmy Key. They may be a bit rusty in that, on average, it's been 9.25 years since any of them have started. Cone may be the sharpest in that he'd be going on a short five year's rest.

Atlanta? Let's see, they went with a three man rotation in the 1992 World Series, consisting of Glaivne, Smotlz, and Avery. Glavine's last start was Monday, during which he shut out the current National League champs over six innings. Smoltz pitched the day before beating the best pitcher in baseball while blanking the Mets over five. If things get really dicey, they can call Kent Mercker out of the pen, who should be ready to go after pitching against the Brewers the other night.

Know what? I'm liking the Braves' chances in a replay game.