I've Been Busy

 

AGBA Gazette - Part 1 of 3 (Eastern League Report)

 

Tale of Two Trades

Plenty going on in the sports world of late. It's that fun time of the year when we see a flurry of baseball moves. Always enjoyed this time since I was a little kid, my brother Jared and I would get that first baseball preview magazine on Valentine's Day from our Dad, which would be waiting for us at the breakfast table.

Now as an adult, I get my news updates following MLB on Instagram, ESPN, MLB Network, Yahoo Sports via email, and just a few days ago from my Facebook feed via friends. No more Facebook for me, but plenty of other sources to get sports updates. The beauty and the good part of the internet is getting sports information at a moment's notice, compared to hearing it from my dad's mouth (as a kid) mentioning the instant heartbreak that Lance Parrish was now a Phillie, and no longer a Tiger. As an adult we get to sit there and text one another, or blog about trades that are great, and the ones that simply don't make sense...

Which leads us into the Nolan Arenado Rockies-Cardinals trade. The updates via everywhere came flooding in Friday night around 10 pm. When I heard that St. Louis was the lucky team to acquire Arenado, my first thought was "That can't be good for Colorado". I thought about St. Louis' farm system, and unless the Cards were involving OF Dylan Carlson or 3B Nolan Gorman, or both, plus a few more prospects, the Rockies just got screwed. Arenado does have some opt-outs, with one being as soon as after this up-coming season, but even so Colorado should have got better prospects for him.

When the trade was initially announced, the details were not announced, then I saw my friend (APBA Bridesburg APBA League) Brian Cavanaugh's FB post about how bad the trade was, he was right on the money -- it was awful. Then I checked out responses across the internet, it was unanimously agreed upon, this was a heist by St. Louis. 

A couple months ago, it was leaked that the Colorado Rockies were open-minded about trading Arenado, and the rumored destination which made a great deal of sense and was also discussed by MLB analysts all pointed to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It made sense in so many ways, you are talking about a great farm system that could offer great prospects, plus a payroll that would be able to take on that entire remainder of Arenado's contract.

Instead Colorado traded Arenado to the Cards for a handful of fringe prospects (none of them Top 10 Cardinals prospects by the way), with pitcher Austin Gomber, age 27, as the most recognizable name in the deal, who has just 104 career innings under his belt. Plus Colorado will also be sending $50 million over to St. Louis. 

Arenado, still 29, has won a Gold Glove every one of his 8 seasons in the Majors, while he has hit at least .287 AVG with 37 HR & 110 RBI in each of the five seasons prior to the down 2020 season. 

I have seen friends or people mention, now we will know if he can hit outside of Coors Field.

I am aware of the home-away splits, in which Nolan hit only .263 away from Coors, but St. Louis isn't exactly a pitchers' park. I think Nolan will be just fine, the numbers will (yes) likely come down for sure, but we are talking about the greatest fielding third baseman ever...

and yes, I am aware that there was a Hall of Famer named Brooks Robinson, 'The Human Vacuum Cleaner.' I honestly didn't stutter making such a statement.

Even with lower production the remainder of his career, as long as it is productive enough the rest of the way, Arenado will be a Hall of Famer himself. To be honest, his glove alone could carry him the rest of the way. Then there is the high praise by the greatest third baseman of all-time, Mike Schmidt. Schmidt through the years has not been no stranger on giving Arenado praise, just before (or just after) Arenado's breakthrough 2015 season, Schmidt said something on the lines that by the time of Arenado's retirement that Arenado will be the greatest ever to play the position.

Schmidt echoed his praise in a New York Times article by Tyler Kepner in March 2018 by saying "In my opinion, Nolan Arenado is going to be the heir apparent to the greatest third baseman of all-time. He puts up numbers that I never even dreamed of. I don't think George Brett did or Chipper did, either. His numbers are crazy, and he hasn't won an MVP yet, which is really crazy."

Here is an interesting take on the Arenado trade by Jeff Spiegel of Dodger Blue.

The other trade was in a different sport, in football.

The Los Angeles Rams traded quarterback Jared Goff along with two 1st Round Draft Picks and a 3rd Round Draft Pick to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford. I believe I read that it was the first time two 1st overall picks or 1st overall picks (that were quarterbacks) to be traded for one another.

People keep talking about this deal as if the Rams won out big. I believe it is more even than lopsided, the Lions get Goff (who was banged up by the way) plus two 1st Round picks. Detroit can do some quick retooling with those picks, and worst comes to worst Goff decides not to stay after his contract is up, but I believe he will have a chip on his shoulder, and will be good for Detroit.

I really like the deal. 

I am happy for Stafford, he will get a chance to play for a winner, and will get a chance to show if he can be a winning quarterback in this NFL. I think he will have a big year in 2021 for the Rams.

Rest in Peace, Hammerin' Hank

 

Saddened by the loss of Hank Aaron, who left a monumental mark on the great game of baseball.

His loss really goes without saying, but I never seen as much online outpouring for the loss of anyone in the game as I have witnessed today for Mr. Aaron.

Aaron was universally loved, his accomplishments on the field easily put him on the Mt. Rushmore of all-time greats. If you deleted all of his career home runs, he would still have 3,000 career hits... Wow!

Pictured is my Hank Aaron MacFarlane figurine, 1969 Sports Illustrated & 1968 Season APBA Baseball card (being used in my current AGBA League project).

Aaron will be truly missed.

Luckiest Man on Earth

 

Moving Forward

For those who follow the blog through Facebook connections, I am sad to say that I will be leaving Facebook for many reasons that I would like to not discuss at the moment... but don't you worry the blog will continue regardless.

• You can catch me on the Delphi Forum's APBA Between the Lines (shawnbaier76), with my AGBA Baseball project and the 1978 A.L. Replay 'Brothers in Dice' along with my brother who is replaying the N.L. side on there. We both plan to continue that once again, after a brief break from that replay.

• You can also email me at bosbaier@yahoo.com

• And now you can catch me on Instagram for APBAgram, which I will share cards, possible projects by other people, articles, etc that have to do with all things APBA Baseball.

Plus I am entertaining the idea of a podcast possibly, so if it seems that I am disappearing from the APBA community, I would love to say not by a long shot.

You couldn't drag me away.

P.S. -- Feel free to PM me in the next few days to trade information with one another.

Piece to everyone as we move all move forward.

Looking Back at the Loss of Two Friends

 [This post was from a few years ago, when my two friends passed, it has took a lot of energy in trying to continue]

The blog is going through some changes, I have decided to delete all of the tournament highlights posts from this site, there might be some still hiding on here somewhere (but in good time they will all be gone soon). I wanted to shred those stories, because I just didn't want people to benefit off my writings as they have done so in the past. Us bloggers have provided plenty of free advertising with very little thanks. I wrote them during a time of joy in my life. As I try to renew my life, surrounding myself with positive energy and my rededication to my faith -- I wanted to share this story of two good people in my life who are now in heaven. Simpler times with simply good people. Life is short, and I plan to make the most of it moving forward.

Here is that article...

This has been an odd week to say the least, I've been on Facebook very brief this week, and found out bad news at work, that my coworker Josh, apparently suffered a seizure in his sleep & never woke up. He was one of the kindest guys you could have ever come across, completely selfless... He used to work with my wife at Goodwill, he would stay a little extra longer off the clock & walk the ladies out to their vehicles, during closes. He has time & time again at Applebee's would volunteer himself to help the restaurant in anyway that he could, he would occasionally pat people on the backs, when he felt people needed a spiritual lift.

On July 25th, this past Tuesday, he was working his tail off in the dish pit, I brought a container of mixing bowls & utensils over, he was a bit overwhelmed with the waitstaff asking for dishes & etc, he mentioned "They are going to have to wait, I'm trying my hardest." I came over, patted him on the back (like he would do for us) and said "Josh, you are working hard bud, that's all you can do at this moment, you know it, I know it, you got this... (patted him on back), he seemed to be at ease & a better mood after this. Becky & I clocked out of work about a half-an-hour later, and went home to go out to Lake Michigan & the Sleeping Bear Dunes, we had the next two days off... little did we know, that would be the last day we would see Josh on this green Earth.

Came into Friday, and our boss got the phone call around 10 am... The word spread quick and everyone was really quiet for some time, it was odd, and difficult for any of us to wrap our heads around.

That night (Friday, July 28th), I was making a post about my friend Josh, finished it, and was shocked to scroll down my Facebook feed and read about another friend's death, in my friend Mike Miller...

I should say our friend Mike Miller, anyone that has ever got to meet him face-to-face, was treated with a great gift of humanity. He had this amazing way of making every single person in the room feeling as equally important, embracing us with his wonderful smile, enjoying life to its fullest. I would love to be this guy when I reach his age, carefree, no worries in the world, he was selfless in the many ways that my friend Josh was, and he went out of his way to make sure that everyone during Chicagoland (Summer 2016) was having a great experience, to the point that he helped Thomas Nelshoppen make his train & helped get me down to Chicago O'Hare for my trip back home...

I didn't get to spend as much time with Mike, as others that weekend got to do, but in the limited time that I got to spend with him, we spent that time well, talking about where he was from & his big love for the San Francisco Giants.

I have made it no secret in the recent past that I get tired of teams that continue to win, I rooted for the Giants to defeat the Rangers in 2010, then they beat my beloved Detroit Tigers in 2012, by 2014, I & everyone outside of San Francisco were sick of the Orange & Black. I feel bad for Mike's sake that the Giants are having a terrible season, but I am delighted that he got to see his guys win 3 titles in 5 years.

Now for all of you who thought you knew how much of a big heart that Mike has, you are about to be floored on how big of a heart he has. The night of the celebration dinner when he overheard that I needed a ride to the airport, he said he had no problem doing so. The next morning after breakfast, he was out having a smoke, and we were chatting, and through our discussion we realized we had our lines crossed the night before, he thought I was flying out of Milwaukee like he was, and found out I had to go to Chicago. I quickly grabbed my stuff from the hotel, when I was checking out, the clerk mentioned something odd to me that "I was all taken care of", I was thinking that's odd. Yes, I checked in, but not at any point I remember them ringing up my card.

He got me to the airport in great time, while we had a great morning of discussion along the way, we took some pictures along the way.

After the trip, and I got home to rewind, I was waiting & waiting to see $320-$330 taken out of my account for my two-night stay in Libertyville, nothing ever came of it, I wondered for the longest time if there was an error by the desk clerk, or that someone paid for them, $330 is a lot of money, so no way did someone pay for them...

I used to think that, then I start to think of Mike's smile & generosity, and I'm pretty convinced he may have paid for my two nights. He touched so many lives, as witnessed with the outpouring of love coming from his friends & family on Facebook. They spoke highly of Mike, which all came as no surprise to any us that got to be around this wonderful personality during that weekend in Chicago. Mike & I have chatted over the years on Facebook, we shared the same views relating to politics, I knew where he stood long before knowing where he actually stood, and none of it was a surprise to me, he had an amazing heart.

I miss you my friend, and I wanted to thank you for everything that you have done for me, your advice, your encouragement & your heart.

Also, I wanted to add one more thing, only you my friend, can rock out a that multi-logo T-shirt, only you my friend!

Three Months Later

Many things have taken place over these last three months for myself as well as for everyone else. 

I think we can all agree that it has been a long three months, for many reasons and for some obvious reasons. 2020 alone was exhausting, I believe I aged five years over the calendar year. The long toll has definitely crippled our senses while rising our anxieties.

And you may have noticed, yes...

It's been three months since I have posted anything (October 14th) on The Boys of Summer and that post was supposed to part of a series. The post drought was my longest period without posting, in its entire 8-year existence. Blogger has gone through some changes, and I wasn't thrilled with the changes for this blog service, and with that I will be making a transition to a new blog service with the same title, and eventually I will lead you readers in the direction to that site once its up.

Until then...

The Boys of Summer will continue on here for the time being. 

Part of the reason for the long writing drought, was that I was emotionally & physically drained.

So to pick up from my last post, there was the few weeks leading up to the dreaded Election Day. An election in which its results were destined to disappoint half of the country, regardless who you were voting for. I took my week's paid vacation that week, and knocked out many games for my AGBA League project (which I will get to later in this post). I decided to take my vacation that week, because I knew my wife (who deals with anxiety issues) would be a possible mess that week... hell, who am I kidding? I took the vacation for my well-being as well. 

There was the strange holidays in which we didn't visit family or was visited by family due to the proper protocols to keep ourselves, particularly my wife (who's high risk) safe from Coronavirus. 

Plenty of my readers would recall that my wife had a health scare starting in August 2019 in which the doctor found a cancerous tumor on her right lung. She would eventually have surgery in late October that year, in which she would stay in the hospital for at least three weeks in the hospital. Two-thirds of her top right lung was removed, and it was the great APBA community to get us through those tough months ahead. 

Despite feeling blessed that the surgery went well, catching the tumor in good time, and having my wife beat cancer -- Becky and I, cursed 2019 out the door and thought 2020 would be a great year. It turned out to be the worst year not only in our lifetimes, but for most peoples' lifetimes.

Oh, don't worry, I don't plan to talk about the entire awful year of 2020.... Certainly, let's move forward as much as possible.

I will mention that we were blessed to have my mother beat COVID-19 as she got out of the hospital by Christmas time. It was believed that with all her health problems, if she got COVID she would be "toast" as most of the doctors put it. My mom was in the hospital back in August 2020 with kidney issues, and with no spleen she had a hard time (three weeks in hospital) fighting those issues. So when we heard she contacted COVID through her dialysis group, the news was like a punch to the gut.... but it all turned out for the best, as she proves time and time again that she has lady luck on her side (surviving two major heart attacks as well).

So the awful year could have really ended on a much more horrible note.

I have had to deal with tendonitis issues in my right arm in the forearm, elbow and bicep areas. Being right-handed plenty of rest was needed and recommended by the doctor, and although I could have kept rolling with my left arm with the dice tower, I decided not to play much of December. I decided to dedicate myself to keeping Becky's spirits as high as they could possibly get in December & the holiday season despite all the crazy circumstances.

Once again my regular readers would remember that our cat, our daughter of 14 1/2 years passed away back in August. We were completely broken-hearted saying goodbye to our little panther cub Isabelle. To put it into perspective, Isabelle was in Becky's life before I was in Becky's life. 

We never would have imagined that a month later we would have adopted two litter mates (brothers) in Castor & Pollux (Cass and Polly for short) -- born last week of May or first week of June, making them Geminis... So we named them after the Gemini Twins from Greek Mythology. The two brothers were actually part of a cat colony that broke out on my folks' farm. We didn't plan on adopting, we went out there to look at them, or at least that's what I thought. To be honest, I think Becky knew all along our trip to my parents' house that we were coming home with two kitties.

These two boys have been a great blessing for Becky and I, and therapeutic at the same time. By the way, you can follow these two handsome devils on Instagram (thecastorandpolluxshow).

Now onto some APBA news, I started a league called the APBA Galaxy Baseball Association (AGBA, and yes its pronounced AG-BAH). You can go back and read about the genesis of the league & league setup in previous Boys of Summer posts back in June, for more details on the project. In short, AGBA has 36 teams separated into three 12 team leagues, with two divisions in each of those leagues. Those three leagues are named the Eastern, Central & Western Leagues. The teams have 30 players on the big league roster, and 10 players on a reserve roster. The 30 players are comprised of 10 players from 1968, 1993 & 2018 -- A fifty-year span with 25 years separating between the three time periods. The next season will consist of 1969, 1994 & 2019 -- there can be no less or no more than 10 players from each period. 

The AGBA season has already witnessed three no-hitters, starting with Bob Veale's no-no for the Pittsburgh Arsenal, then followed by the St. Louis Saints' Bob Gibson & Atlanta Firebirds' Greg Maddux.

I will do more posts about what's actually going on during the AGBA season, all while I work on a site for that league.

The season is coming along nicely, it's been a lot of fun! I am about to start playing games #13, #14 & #15 for each team. I am overall happy with the pace, I always knew this first season would take some time since I am still involved with the 1978 APBA Replay with my brother Chris (which you can follow on the Delphi Forums' APBA Between the Lines -- Look for the handle 'Brothers in Dice' or my name shawnbaier76 on there).

I am about to leave Facebook a week from now, the reasons why will come out in another post. If you are already Facebook friends, shoot me some PM's through Messenger, we can exchange digits & email accounts. For people who want to be part of my AGBA email chain, for AGBA news also let me know.

Until next time...