tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-458668184838457562024-03-17T23:04:01.810-04:00The Boys of SummerShawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.comBlogger903125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-40741058185236150952024-01-02T16:17:00.000-05:002024-01-02T16:17:26.349-05:00A Brief History of the 1995 No-Expansion NFL Project (Part I - Offseason)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIuOJGnld1W44D7ldZSJJOWMMSXxKgAiTl6PK7t5gz0ssIF0Ug1nZlbqW2vGp_Nd_OlA9wNAFIYACDGl8CSnL9h8Lj1vYiXQ9V2I1BnZ3DFBlpKnXuBJoo5Lgch44JpnpXVs8YT86Ch4-050ONMXsM4qoyen1wQGmEN9Q4EcdtcAcfF3mmsVSwZhMBA/s228/Kerry%20Collins%20Jets.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="227" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIuOJGnld1W44D7ldZSJJOWMMSXxKgAiTl6PK7t5gz0ssIF0Ug1nZlbqW2vGp_Nd_OlA9wNAFIYACDGl8CSnL9h8Lj1vYiXQ9V2I1BnZ3DFBlpKnXuBJoo5Lgch44JpnpXVs8YT86Ch4-050ONMXsM4qoyen1wQGmEN9Q4EcdtcAcfF3mmsVSwZhMBA/w247-h248/Kerry%20Collins%20Jets.png" width="247" /></a></div><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;"><p><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></u></b></p>Entering an Alternate 1995 Off-Season</span></u></b><p></p><p></p><p>So I have over the years have played <b>DK Sports' Action PC Football</b> for my football projects and simulations. One of the projects involves my <b>1995 NFL No-Expansion </b>project in which the <b>Jacksonville Jaguars</b> and <b>Carolina Panthers</b> don't exist and don't enter the fray for the 1995 Season. Players that would have been expansion picks were still with their previous teams. I just wrapped up the 1996 NFL Season, but first we should give you a brief history in the project.</p><p></p><p>Due to no expansion teams, the <b>1995 NFL Draft</b> also endured an alternate reality. Some players were still taken by the same teams that drafted them in real life, and some are getting career starts at different places altogether.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">The 1995 NFL Draft - First Round</span></u></b></p><p>Houston still drafts QB <b>Steve McNair</b> (at 1st overall), Washington still drafts WR <b>Michael Westbrook</b> (2nd overall), and Seattle still drafts WR <b>Joey Galloway</b> (6th overall). The Cincinnati Bengals make a wiser choice this time, by drafting DE <b>Kevin Carter</b>, leaving the Rams (who actually drafted him) to draft OT <b>Tony Boselli</b> (originally drafted by Jacksonville). </p><p>Three <b>Penn State</b> boys would be drafted inside the first 14 picks, with QB <b>Kerry Collins</b> (pictured above, N.Y. Jets) and RB <b>Ki-Jana Carter</b> (San Francisco) going back-to-back at #7 and #8. TE <b>Kyle Brady</b> would join Collins in New York.</p><p>The Minnesota Vikings would draft DE <b>Hugh Douglas </b>at #9, while it's still fate that Tampa Bay selects DT <b>Warren Sapp</b> (they would also still draft <b>Derrick Brooks</b> at #26 later in the round) at 10th overall.</p><p>The Colts would select a WR option in <b>J.J. Stokes</b> (#13), while a pair of running backs in <b>Tyrone Wheatley</b> (#15, Giants) and <b>Napolean Kaufman</b> (#16, Raiders) are drafted by their original teams. It would be Kansas City (instead of Minnesota) that would draft OT <b>Korey Stringer </b>(17th overall), while RB <b>Rashaan Salaam</b> still ends up in Chicago. The Packers would beat the Patriots to the punch in taking CB <b>Ty Law</b> (#20), while the Pats take CB <b>Tyrone Poole</b> (#21). Pittsburgh still drafts TE <b>Mark Breuner</b> at #25.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigit927846QvtPgHFJja4rj-e1WF-uE96vBKt9v9DtFxgOG3E6ZdNfRXygM-25zTqZ5lgDlWIUexOP7ES08-0hzlPLfsBU3r7x72cNCiHcGNa8uzx0RJzMfu43eJteLLdA-Pv7uJl-uWSO3cfaBCXx71JPKgJhhq5qi6PcbWSDIM-PsgN2edZ6x656kw/s251/Curtis%20Martin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="251" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigit927846QvtPgHFJja4rj-e1WF-uE96vBKt9v9DtFxgOG3E6ZdNfRXygM-25zTqZ5lgDlWIUexOP7ES08-0hzlPLfsBU3r7x72cNCiHcGNa8uzx0RJzMfu43eJteLLdA-Pv7uJl-uWSO3cfaBCXx71JPKgJhhq5qi6PcbWSDIM-PsgN2edZ6x656kw/w292-h230/Curtis%20Martin.png" width="292" /></a></div><br /><p><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Other Interesting Picks </span></u></b></p><p><b>Curtis Martin</b>, the running back out of Pittsburgh, would still be a steal... this time as a 2nd Round Pick (verses 3rd Round Pick) and drafted by a different team, the <b>Cincinnati Bengals</b>. The Bengals now have young QB <b>Jeff Blake</b>, his WR weapons in <b>Carl Pickens</b> and <b>Darnay Scott</b>, and now Martin in the backfield.</p><p>DB <b>Craig Newsome </b>would be drafted by Atlanta (35th overall) to help the secondary. Due to the Lions selecting DT <b>Ellis Johnson</b> in the 1st Rd, <b>Luther Ellis</b> would fall down to Chicago in the 2nd round at 46th overall. </p><p>Many players in the 2nd round would be selected with their original teams, such as WR <b>Frank Sanders</b> (Arizona), CB <b>Bobby Taylor</b> (Phila), QB <b>Todd Collins</b> (Buffalo), QB <b>Kordell Stewart </b>(Pittsburgh), DB <b>Orlando Thomas</b> (Minnesota) and TE <b>Ken Dilger</b> (Indy).</p><p>Dallas would draft an interesting WR option in <b>Chris Sanders </b>(at 53rd overall) to help <b>Michael Irvin</b> and the receiving core. Houston takes WR/RET <b>Tamarick Vanover</b> in the early 3rd round. Philadelphia drafts DT <b>Darius Holland</b> (70th overall), Kansas City drafts WR <b>Antonio Freeman </b>(73rd), Washington takes 4th rounder TE <b>Pete Mitchell</b> (91st overall), and the Dallas Cowboys try to fill the void of <b>Jay Novacek</b>, by (once again) drafting TE <b>Eric Bjornson</b> at 98th overall.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Interesting Preseason Deals</u></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Detroit traded DT <b>Kelvin Pritchett</b> (who would have been drafted by Jacksonville in the expansion draft in real life) to Indianapolis in exchange for a 1996 3rd Round & 1996 6th Round pick.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The N.Y. Giants acquire QB <b>Mark Brunell</b> from Green Bay in exchange for the Giants' 2nd & 3rd round picks in 1996.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Due to the regressing <b>John Taylor</b>, the San Francisco 49'ers go out and acquire WR <b>Mark Carrier</b> from Cleveland, in exchange for the Niners' 1996 2nd Round pick.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Houston acquires RB <b>Eric Bienemy</b> from Cincinnati in exchange for the Oilers' 3rd round pick in 1996.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Arizona acquires TE <b>Pete Metzelaars</b> from Buffalo in exchange for the Cardinals' 1996 5th round pick.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Miami signs WR <b>Art Monk </b>(released by Philadelphia), while Cincinnati signs RB <b>Marion Butts </b>(released by Houston).</li></ul><div><br /></div><p></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-19868919372443043912023-08-06T07:00:00.001-04:002023-08-06T07:00:00.145-04:00April 9th, 1987 - Big Blowout in Baltimore and Another Cleveland Beatdown (A.L. Action)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrBt5L1HZInaAQw793kACWZ35IA4MTGfj6PO_dgunMHGqKHOun8iM7_IFbebQTrGQxAmvawN-i1dp-k2xio0dKX9uK6ThjtWsOi0gTAmzm0tYXQX9ONaeeJ42bCM55ncK1WAxMSe3pb3mspKt0sl5l-8qtIp_EiNifT3fwMZxiz3U6F1Scn3w1af3og/s381/Larry%20Sheets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="273" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrBt5L1HZInaAQw793kACWZ35IA4MTGfj6PO_dgunMHGqKHOun8iM7_IFbebQTrGQxAmvawN-i1dp-k2xio0dKX9uK6ThjtWsOi0gTAmzm0tYXQX9ONaeeJ42bCM55ncK1WAxMSe3pb3mspKt0sl5l-8qtIp_EiNifT3fwMZxiz3U6F1Scn3w1af3og/s320/Larry%20Sheets.JPG" width="229" /></a></div><br />Disappointed with their first two losses at home to the <b>Texas Rangers </b>(2-1), the <b>Baltimore Orioles</b> (1-2) took out their frustrations on the Rangers' pitching by slugging <b><i>7 home runs</i></b> at Memorial Stadium. During this extraordinary outburst, the O's <b>Larry Sheets</b> carved himself out a performance of his own, by producing a trifecta (3 home runs) for the night. Sheets had a 4-for-5 day, while producing 5 ribbies to go along with 3 runs. Sheets currently leads the Majors with 4 HR's. Texas starting pitcher <b>Bobby Witt</b> had a short day, working only 1 2/3 innings, and allowing 6 hits, 5 runs & 2 home runs (although he did have 4 strikeouts in that short time). <b>Eddie Murray</b> batted 3-for-4 with a Grand Slam, while drawing a walk & scoring twice. Not to be outshined by his teammates at the plate, Orioles' pitcher <b>Eric Bell </b>pitched a complete game shutout with 5 strikeouts, allowing only 6 hits & 2 walks. The Orioles also had 20 hits in their, 17-0 victory.<p></p><p>The <b>California Angels</b> (1-2) won their 1st game, defeating the <b>Seattle Mariners</b> (2-1), 3-1. Trailing 1-0, the Angels' young star first baseman <b>Wally Joyner</b> smacked a bases-clearing double during the bottom of the 8th inning. The Angels' reliever <b>DeWayne Buice</b> (1-0, 0.00) earned the two-inning win, while Seattle's starter <b>Mike Morgan</b> (0-1, 3.52) gets the loss.</p><p>The <b>Detroit Tigers</b> (2-1) defeat the <b>New York Yankees</b> (1-2) in a back-and-forth affair, in which Detroit finally put the Yankees away, scoring 4 runs during the bottom of the 7th inning. <b>Lou Whitaker </b>hit a two-run homer, while going 3-for-5 & scoring three times. It was <b>Kirk Gibson</b>'s three-run double in the 7th that was the team's major highlight. For the Yanks, <b>Dave Winfield </b>batted 2-for-4 with 2 RBI & catcher <b>Joel Skinner</b> batted 1-for-3, which included a two-run homer. Tigers win, 9-5 as <b>Eric King</b> (1-0, 3.00 ERA) gets the win in relief.</p><p>The <b>Kansas City Royals </b>(3-0) won despite their lineup only able to gather together two hits. <b>Steve 'Bye Bye' Balboni</b> clobbered a three-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd inning, which would prove to be just enough as the Royals won (yet) another close game over the <b>Chicago White Sox</b> (0-3). The White Sox lost by scores of 3-2, 5-3 & 3-2 during their series at <b>Kaufman Stadium</b>. Chicago's <b>Jose DeLeon</b> (0-1, 2.25 ERA) pitched the entire game: 8 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER) with 6 K's and 1 walk allowed. <b>Danny Jackson</b> was credited with the win for K.C., pitching 8 innings, allowing only 5 hits & 2 earned runs while striking out 5 batters. <b>Dan Quisenberry</b> recorded his 3rd save in as many games. </p><p>The <b>Boston Red Sox </b>(1-2) were not going to have any more of the <b>Milwaukee Brewers</b>' late game shenanigans, as Boston made sure to walk away with their 1st victory, winning 6-3 at <b>Milwaukee County Stadium</b>. Rookie <b>Todd Benzinger</b>, playing first base, batted 2-for-4 with a two-run HR, BB & 2 runs. Milwaukee's <b>Paul Molitor</b> jacked a solo shot, while drawing a walk, and stealing a base in the lost against Boston. Boston's starting pitcher <b>Al Nipper</b> (1-0, 3.38 ERA) earned the win, while <b>Tom Bolton</b> earned the Save. </p><p>The <b>Oakland Athletics</b> (2-1) led 3-0 through 5 1/2 innings, until the <b>Minnesota Twins </b>(1-2) unleashed 7 unanswered runs to win, 7-3. Oakland starting pitcher <b>Steve Ontiveros</b> (0-1, 11.12) was pitching a pretty solid game up to that point, until the wheels all came off. The big inning was capitalized with a three-run triple by 2B <b>Steve Lombardozzi</b>. <b>Kirby Puckett </b>batted 3-for-4 with an RBI & run. Oakland's <b>Mike Gallego</b> batted 2-for-3 with a solo HR & double.</p><p>The <b>Toronto Blue Jays</b> (3-0) once again made mince meat out of the <b>Cleveland Indians</b>' pitchers, as the Jays scored in double-digits in all 3 games of their home-opening series at <b>Exhibition Stadium</b>. <b>Steve Carlton</b> (0-1, 13.50), following <b>Phil Niekro</b> the other day, is the latest future Hall of Fame pitcher for the Indians to look anything but. The Jays' outfield trio in <b>Lloyd Moseby</b>, <b>Jesse Barfield</b> & <b>George Bell</b> shined once again. Moseby batted 3-for-5 with a solo HR, double & 3 runs... Bell had a double & RBI on 2-for-3 hitting, while drawing two walks & 2 runs... and Barfield batted 2-for-4, while adding 2 runs & 2 RBI to his MLB-leading 9 RBI through 3 games. Toronto's starter <b>Dave Stieb </b>(1-0, earned the win, allowing only 6 hits & 2 runs (but 3 BB) through 8 innings. The tribe was outscored in the series, 35-8. </p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-87237649240431476622023-08-05T07:00:00.001-04:002023-08-05T07:00:00.137-04:00National League Action (Day 3 / April 8th, 1987)<p>The <b>Cincinnati Reds</b> (0-2) were close to winning their first game of the season, until the Expos' <b>Hubie Brooks </b>hit a game-tying two-run homer during the top of the 9th inning off Reds closer <b>John Franco</b>. <b>Mitch Webster</b>'s RBI double during the top of the 12th & a <b>Randy St. Claire </b>save would secure a victory for the <b>Montreal Expos</b> (2-0). The Reds' <b>Kal Daniels</b> batted 2-for-6 with a HR & double, while <b>Dave Conception</b> batted 2-for-5 with a double & RBI. <b>Ted Power</b> pitched a good game before handing off the game to the bullpen. Power allowed only 3 hits, no runs & 3 walks, while striking out 5 batters through 7 innings. The Expos' <b>Jeff Parrett</b> was credited with the win, while <b>Rob Murphy</b> (0-1, 1.80 ERA) got the loss. 3-2, Expos beat Reds in 12.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTuMkZFMLdnIyuZJ7fen2-ul9hvz6H_H5q92KORsOLK6N2VYhZl7m85gCgNQeexWrHnkXjWXU9CjyiLk-rNQ--omJD4iag5Zzmfq3To0ARwiRrTbuTeuw7Reup6jF9EFjpq3x7OIw-24hdclCSJNEtjuWTbFc6snYfIm1rRjsNdkxM-9NZL-r4QD0Zw/s424/Benito%20Santiago.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTuMkZFMLdnIyuZJ7fen2-ul9hvz6H_H5q92KORsOLK6N2VYhZl7m85gCgNQeexWrHnkXjWXU9CjyiLk-rNQ--omJD4iag5Zzmfq3To0ARwiRrTbuTeuw7Reup6jF9EFjpq3x7OIw-24hdclCSJNEtjuWTbFc6snYfIm1rRjsNdkxM-9NZL-r4QD0Zw/s320/Benito%20Santiago.JPG" width="226" /></a></div>The <b>Los Angeles Dodgers</b> (1-2) finally broke through with their 1st win against their division rival <b>Houston Astros</b> (2-1). <b>Fernanado Valenzuela </b>showed glimpses from his 'Fernandomania' days, pitching a complete game, allowing 6 hits, 2 earned runs & a walk. Valenzuela struck out 6 Astros hitters. The Dodgers' lineup was led by <b>Dave Anderson</b> (2-5, 2 RBI), <b>Pedro Guerrero</b> (2-5, 2 doubles, 2 R) & <b>Mike Marshall </b>(2-4, RBI double & a run). <b>Danny Darwin</b> (0-1, 9.00) just didn't have his stuff, while the Astros' big highlight was a pinch-hit home run by<b> Phil Garner</b>. Dodgers win 6-2.<p></p><p>The <b>San Diego Padres</b> (2-1) edge the <b>San Francisco Giants</b> (1-2), 5-4. The Padres' <b>Benito Santiago</b> didn't hit a home run this time, but did go 1-for-4 with a three-run triple. Santiago has 7 RBI during this young season. <b>John Kruk</b> added a two-run homer, while drawing two walks & scoring twice. <b>Tony Gwynn</b> (.455 AVG) continues to rake, batting 2-for-4 while scoring twice, and stealing a bag. The Giants' <b>Chris Brown</b> batted 2-for-4 with a HR, 2 RBI & 2 runs, while <b>Chris Speier </b>earning a start after his game-winning hit the other night, batted 2-for-5 with a solo home run. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-2871604774943309782023-08-04T07:00:00.004-04:002023-08-04T07:00:00.136-04:001987 BBW Replay - April 8th, 1987 (Day 3 / A.L. Action)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXsvys24TIZLRllKwa8GT3QAm5AhT0ldewcLYkTCq5dvJ74-QWcl3Yac5l_vscSNZHWbmWKjyYT2oJB4RzgnuK-832jyj98s9_UJY62qIbFRHKPM0yEq1ACse-s3Wgg6roAjmhAKrI02hDOxxX-I5aEvvwIqC0t4sMAzq7A4jtiPF6WRHTm9FZ1LWrQ/s421/Bill%20Schroeder.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXsvys24TIZLRllKwa8GT3QAm5AhT0ldewcLYkTCq5dvJ74-QWcl3Yac5l_vscSNZHWbmWKjyYT2oJB4RzgnuK-832jyj98s9_UJY62qIbFRHKPM0yEq1ACse-s3Wgg6roAjmhAKrI02hDOxxX-I5aEvvwIqC0t4sMAzq7A4jtiPF6WRHTm9FZ1LWrQ/s320/Bill%20Schroeder.JPG" width="223" /></a></div><br />The <b>Baltimore Orioles</b> (0-2) could not lock down their game against the <b>Texas Rangers</b> (2-0), as Baltimore reliever <b>Mark Williamson</b> blown the save, as <b>Scott Fletcher</b> hit a go-ahead, eventual game-winning two-run single during the top of the 9th. The Rangers and the Orioles each had 11 hits. Texas' <b>Larry Parrish</b> was a triple short of the cycle, batting 3-for-3 with a two-run homer & double. Backstop <b>Mike Stanley</b> got his first start of the season, and took advantage of it by collecting 3 hits (including a double). Besides getting the game-winning hit, Fletcher finished the day batting 2-for-5 with 3 RBI (5 RBI for the season). The <b>Ripken brothers</b> tried their best to pull out their first season win... Billy batted 3-for-5 with a RBI double (1 run), while older brother Cal batted 2-for-4 with a RBI single. Cal's RBI single in the 7th inning momentarily gave the O's a 4-3 lead. After recording a win the day before, <b>Charlie Hough</b> came into the 9th, and completed the save. Rangers win, 5-4.<p></p><p>The <b>Seattle Mariners</b> pitching showed up again, as the M's defeated the <b>California Angels</b>, 5-1. Although he wasn't perfect by any account (7 hits & 4 walks),<b> Mike Moore</b> pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing only 1 run. <b>Mike Kingery</b> getting his first start as a Mariner (after being involved in the <b>Danny Tartabull</b> trade), hit a three-run homer in his very first at-bat, to give Seattle an early 3-0 lead. <b>John Moses</b> would help Seattle by adding a solo home run. The Angels' <b>Don Sutton</b> (0-1, 6.00) showed his age, while allowing 7 hits & 4 runs with only 1 strikeout. California's<b> Johnny Ray</b> batted 2-for-4 with a RBI & BB; Ray currently is batting .625 (5-for-8) through the first 2 games of the season.</p><p>The <b>Detroit Tigers</b>' <b>Frank Tanana</b> kept the <b>New York Yankees </b>(1-1) at bay, as the Tigers (1-1) would pull out their first win in front of a happy home crowd. <b>Mike Heath (</b>who came in for catcher <b>Matt Nokes</b> later in the game) hit the go-ahead winning two-run single in the bottom of the 8th. <b>Lou Whitaker</b> batted 2-for-4 with a double & RBI. Tanana may not have earned the decision, but pitched a solid game by allowing only 4 hits, 1 run & walk through 7 innings, while collecting 5 strikeouts along the way. <b>Rickey Henderson</b> hit a solo home run during the loss. Tigers win, 4-2. </p><p>A rain delay, delayed the game in K.C. between the visiting <b>Chicago White Sox</b> and the <b>Kansas City Royals.</b> Pitchers came out rusty, especially the Sox' <b>Richard Dotson</b>, who surrendered 4 runs in the 1st inning, due to a RBI double by rookie <b>Kevin Seitzer</b> and a three-run homer by <b>Danny Tartabull</b> in his first at-bat as a Royal. Seitzer batted 1-for-2 (which included the RBI double), while drawing two walks, and scoring once. Speedster <b>Willie Wilson</b> stole two bases, while scoring 2 hits & 2 runs. The White Sox would come back with 2 runs, but the Royals' <b>Dan Quisenberry</b> would earn his 2nd Save, as the Royals win 5-3. <b>Mark Gubicza</b> (1-0, 1,80 ERA) earned the win, while Dotson (0-1, 12.27 ERA) only lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing 6 hits, 5 runs & 3 walks. The Sox' Ivan Calderon batted 2-for-3 with a solo HR & BB.</p><p>Can lightning strike twice? In this case, yes. Last game, the Brewers won with a walk-off single in the 10th inning by pinch-hitter <b>Bill Schroeder</b>... This time, the <b>Milwaukee Brewers</b> (2-0) won with a walk-off home run by <b><i>Bill Schroeder</i></b>, once again in the 10th inning. The <b>Boston Red Sox</b> (0-2) lost again in extras and to the same player, not a great start for the defending <b>American League Champions</b>. The Brew Crew first got on the board thanks to <b>Dale Sveum</b>'s solo HR during the bottom of the 5th. The Red Sox would tie the game back up, 1-1, on <b>Sam Horn</b>'s bases loaded sacrifice fly. Boston's <b>Bruce Hurst</b> would pitch the entire game -- 9 2/3 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 4 BB & 6 K's. The Brewers' starter <b>Bill Wegman</b> had a no-decision, while allowing 4 H, 1 ER & 3 BB through 8 1/3 innings (3 K's). </p><p>The <b>Oakland Athletics</b> score 7 runs during the top of the 9th inning to defeat the <b>Minnesota Twins</b>. <b>Tony Phillips</b> hit a three-run homer early on for the A's, while it was catcher <b>Terry Steinbach</b>'s three-run homer in the 9th, which was the highlight of their big inning. The Twins' <b>Bert Blyleven </b>only allowed 2 earned runs through the first 7 innings, until getting tattooed with 4 earned runs through his final 1 1/3 innings -- resulted in a crooked line in the box score. Blyleven had 9 strikeouts. <b>Tom Brunasky</b> (1-4, two-run HR) and <b>Greg Gagne</b> (2-5, 3B, 2B & RBI) were Minnesota's big offensive stars. <b>Dennis Eckersley </b>may have blown the save (due to Brunasky's homer), but earned his first win.</p><p>Last, but not least, the Cleveland Indians at the Toronto Blue Jays.</p><p>Cleveland led 2-1 with 10 hits, while entering the bottom of the 5th inning; The Blue Jays had only 5 hits. Cleveland took a 2-1 lead on a solo HR by<b> Julio Franco</b> during the top of the 5th, but everything would fall apart for <b>Phil Niekro</b> (0-1, 9.64 ERA) and the <b>Cleveland Indians</b> (0-2). The Jays would score 12 runs between the 5th and 8th innings, on their way to a lopsided 13-3 win. Toronto has outscored Cleveland 25-6 during the first two games of this series.<b> </b></p><p>For Toronto,<b> Jesse Barfield</b> batted 3-for-4 with a double, 3 RBI & two runs. <b>Ernie Whitt</b> batted 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, a walk & a run. <b>Cecil Fielder </b>in his first start of the season, playing DH, smacked a solo HR, while drawing 2 walks & scoring 3 times. <b>Lloyd Moseby </b>added 3 hits, an RBI, stolen base & 2 runs.</p><p>Cleveland's <b>Carmen Castillo</b> batted 2-4 with an RBI double & run in their loss.</p><p>Toronto improves to 2-0, and will play the series finale tomorrow.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">* * * Next, National League highlights from April 8th * * *</span></b></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-31589878506649199702023-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:002023-08-03T07:00:00.135-04:00A Couple of N.L. West Games to End Day 2 (1987 BBW)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULB1kAqsT6UFcN57wrfKjfexiJFrGbIFD3uNPdRd_UA6MfFEuBQyOdAoVrwmmipHYXQZ87aOjyorR0-X0xNNCxy8UYv0EquKjM-eqOxCKflAji3plowlAMUGcat4yHCUxXfy8uSkGBsQYkYm_vtMjDVWO3VFb2bxuBl4fQEqjAieuu91X4J3Oe4KgpQ/s387/Eric%20Show.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="276" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULB1kAqsT6UFcN57wrfKjfexiJFrGbIFD3uNPdRd_UA6MfFEuBQyOdAoVrwmmipHYXQZ87aOjyorR0-X0xNNCxy8UYv0EquKjM-eqOxCKflAji3plowlAMUGcat4yHCUxXfy8uSkGBsQYkYm_vtMjDVWO3VFb2bxuBl4fQEqjAieuu91X4J3Oe4KgpQ/s320/Eric%20Show.JPG" width="228" /></a></div><br />The <b>San Diego Padres</b> (1-1) rebound with a 2-1 victory over the <b>San Francisco Giants</b> (1-1) at <b>Candlestick Park</b>. <p></p><p>The Padres were powered by an excellent showing from starting pitcher <b>Eric Show</b>. Show (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitched a complete game, allowing only 4 hits,1 run (none earned) to go along with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks. Both teams had a hard time against pitching, as the Padres themselves could only manage 3 hits (verses Giants' 4 hits). The Giants' <b>Kelly Downs </b>(0-1, 1.50 ERA) allowed only 2 hits, 1 earned run & a walk through a strong, 6 inning effort.</p><p>In his 1st game with the Padres, <b>Kevin Mitchell</b> drove in the game's first run during the 1st inning by executing a perfect hit-and-run, RBI single. Rookie <b>Benito Santiago</b>'s 2nd home run of the season was a solo HR during the top of the 7th that helped Show & the Padres get just enough cushion to hold off the Giants. <b>Jeffrey Leonard</b> hit an RBI double during the bottom of the 7th. </p><p>Through the first two days of the season, Santiago is the only hitter with at least 2 home runs, momentarily leading Major League Baseball in homers. </p><p>The other game, was the 2nd game of the <b>Los Angeles Dodgers</b> - <b>Houston Astros</b> series. The Astros' <b>Mike Scott</b> (1-0, 1.13 ERA) picks up where he left off in 1986, by shutting down the Dodgers with 8 solid innings. Scott allowed 6 hits, and only 1 earned run & 1 walk, while striking out 5 Dodgers. The Dodgers' <b>Bob Welch</b> (0-1, 2.57 ERA) did pretty good himself on the losing end, allowing 2 earned runs, while striking out 8 Houston batters through 7 innings. The Astros brought in closer <b>Dave Smith</b> to slam the door on Los Angeles, for his 1st Save of the season. </p><p>The Astros' <b>Denny Walling</b> batted 2-4 with a double, 2 RBI & a run, while teammate <b>Bill Doran</b> batted 2-for-4 with an RBI. The Dodgers' <b>Pedro Guerrero</b> batted 2-for-4 which included an RBI double. </p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-70604228864081045332023-08-01T07:00:00.001-04:002023-08-01T07:00:00.143-04:00Deadball-14's Opening Day: 1904 Highlanders at 1917 White Sox<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81OFkHVyuB6GMcZdwEaGFpIxNpmQtwHqJNPTkVS0c5YPSEui0ssSvd3vW86VjwQ-TZ06uh6sMp5TWOIHcRbe7o0XxqSQoaU0tziPdV-okRxpoqLt74WHocFES5QxPLWq14f14smHB24MwRRum24oMzK8aNPXnIOvpAVm4GzbTEejpj-1FL2PU77-bYQ/s435/Swede%20Risberg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="215" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81OFkHVyuB6GMcZdwEaGFpIxNpmQtwHqJNPTkVS0c5YPSEui0ssSvd3vW86VjwQ-TZ06uh6sMp5TWOIHcRbe7o0XxqSQoaU0tziPdV-okRxpoqLt74WHocFES5QxPLWq14f14smHB24MwRRum24oMzK8aNPXnIOvpAVm4GzbTEejpj-1FL2PU77-bYQ/s320/Swede%20Risberg.JPG" width="158" /></a></div><br /><u><b>At Chicago / Commiskey Park I</b></u><p></p><p><b>Jack Chesbro</b> takes the mound for the <b>1904 New York Highlanders</b> as he squares off against the <b>1917 Chicago White Sox</b>' <b>Eddie Cicotte</b>. </p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 1st</u></b></p><p>The White Sox' <b>Eddie Collins</b> draws a walk from Chesbro. Shortstop <b>Buck Weaver</b> follows with a control single, a textbook hit-and-run. <b>'Shoeless Joe' Jackson</b> with no outs, grounds one to the right side, as Highlanders 2B <b>Jimmy Williams</b> is up with it, to first, for out number one, but Collins would score, while Weaver advances to second. <b>Happy Felsch</b> smacks a deep fly to center that goes over center fielder 'Honest' <b>John Anderson</b>'s head. Felsch gets greedy and goes for third, and is thrown out by Anderson (score that as an RBI double, 8-5). Chick Gandil hits the ball back to the mound, as Chesbro relays it to first base for the final out. </p><p><b><u>Top of the 3rd</u></b></p><p>Chicago's Cicotte exits without any damage after the Highlanders threatened with a potential run due to <b>Wid Conroy</b>'s two-out triple. New York's backstop <b>Jim McGuire</b> failed to score in Conroy, as he hit a grounder up the middle to the White Sox' Collins for an easy 4-3 out. </p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 3rd</u></b></p><p><b>Eddie Collins</b> beats out a hit to first, as the Highlanders' 1B <b>John Ganzel</b> bobbles the grounder momentarily. A few batters later with two outs, and Collins on third,<b> 'Shoeless Joe'</b> would drive in Collins, narrowly beating out the throw from New York shortstop <b>Kid Elberfeld</b>. Felsch grounds out to short to end the inning, White Sox up, 3-0.</p><p><b><u>Top of the 5th</u></b></p><p>One out with the runners on the corners for the Yanks' <b>Kid Elberfeld</b>, infield in. Elberfeld hits a chopper back to the mound, <b>Eddie Cicotte</b> scoops it up, turns and fires to second for one, over to first... <i>double play! </i>Chicago pulls off a tough 1-6-3 double play to spoil New York's latest threat.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 6th</u></b></p><p><b>'Shoeless' Joe Jackson</b> leads off the inning with a deep fly that results in a double. A few batters later, <b>Ray Schalk</b> with two outs, draws a walk. Runners on 1st & 2nd, LF <b>Nemo Leibold</b> score in Jackson on a RBI single, to give Chicago a commanding 4-0 lead. Weak-hitting <b>Swede Risberg</b> rips a single to center, driving in Schalk, while Leibold advances from first to third. Cicotte grounds out to end the bleeding. </p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 7th</u></b></p><p><b>Jack Chesbro</b> still in the game for the Highlanders, as he will have to face the top of the order in <b>Eddie Collins</b>, <b>Buck Weaver</b> &<b> Joe Jackson</b>. Collins leads off with a hot smash single to center, that's Collins' 3rd hit of the game. The Highlanders' Manager/Pitcher <b>Clark Griffith</b> is asking Chesbro for the ball, and calls on <b>Walter Clarkson</b> from the pen. Walter is the brother of <b>John & Arthur 'Dad' Clarkson</b>. Weaver steps up to the plate to face Clarkson, swing and miss, as Collins steals second safely. Weaver still at the plate, tops the ball as it bounces through the left side, Collins races around third as he scores. Weaver holds on first with a single. 'Shoeless Joe' pulls one deep to right, but lands just foul. Jackson would move Weaver up to second on a ground out, while the Highlanders intentionally walk <b>Happy Felsch</b> in an attempt to come up with a double play to get out of the inning. The Highlanders would rather face <b>Chick Gandil</b>. Gandil goes down on strikes for out number two. Up 6-0, the White Sox want more, and get more as <b>Ray Schalk</b> hits a single to left, driving in Weaver, Felsch advances to second, but gets greedy, as he is out by only inches (7-5). Inning over, but the White Sox now lead 7-0.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 8th</u></b></p><p>The White Sox are back at it. <b>Nemo Leibold</b> leads off with a single to right. <b>Swede Risberg</b> drives a ball to deep center to drive in Leibold, who was off-and-running. Chicago pitcher Cicotte lines out to left, one out. Eddie Collins grounds out to first, for the 2nd out. Buck Weaver, with Risberg on second, hits into a 5-3 groundout to finish the inning. Chicago tacks on another, 8-0.</p><p><b><u>Top of the 9th</u></b></p><p>Chicago ace <b>Eddie Cicotte</b> gets the Highlanders to go down 1-2-3, as Cicotte finishes with a strong shutout performance in which he only surrendered 5 hits. Cicotte had 4 K's and 1 BB.</p><p>These White Sox can score in bunches, and they demonstrated that today as they whooped the Highlanders, 8-0. The Sox' <b>Eddie Collins</b> finished the day batting 3-for-4 with a double, 2 steals, while scoring twice. It's no surprise that Joe Jackson had a solid day, batting 2-for-4 with 2 RBI & a run. The surprise came from <b>Swede Risberg</b> who batted 2-for-4 with 2 RBI & a double. </p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-72384617194724017852023-07-31T07:00:00.004-04:002023-07-31T07:00:00.146-04:001987 BBW Replay (Day 2) - Opening Day for Other Teams<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN77vSr0OQEzVQTWlaPoWpNl7Qxi6vlCuIP0rSKC81wnPPfkU6_16h-xu3BCBqTlyDD-dF2z_-qU9n-M_HucEhjZ1qg92C_e4ceEKW8Snf_G8Q_Dsz3fXxuvjWGKT9jGFn1ZU992CGqV08JnNrQD6nSjCp7n_Qgpb42RanVMc0KpDbj8sBvTe14c6IIg/s430/Keith%20Hernandez.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="305" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN77vSr0OQEzVQTWlaPoWpNl7Qxi6vlCuIP0rSKC81wnPPfkU6_16h-xu3BCBqTlyDD-dF2z_-qU9n-M_HucEhjZ1qg92C_e4ceEKW8Snf_G8Q_Dsz3fXxuvjWGKT9jGFn1ZU992CGqV08JnNrQD6nSjCp7n_Qgpb42RanVMc0KpDbj8sBvTe14c6IIg/s320/Keith%20Hernandez.JPG" width="227" /></a></div><br />It's day two for the season, while there is opening days in Anaheim, Minnesota, Atlanta and at Wrigley & Shea.<p></p><p>The <b>Seattle Mariners</b> spoiled the <b>California Angels</b>' home opener with home runs by <b>Scott Bradley</b> (solo HR) &<b> Jim Presley</b> (two-run HR during the 7th). The Mariners' <b>Harold Reynolds</b> added a triple, run & stolen base, while<b> Alvin Davis</b> batted 2-for-4 with 2 doubles.<b> Mark Langston</b> (1-0, 1,23 ERA) earned the win, striking out 11 batters through 7 innings of work, allowing 6 hits & 2 walks. California's <b>Johnny Ray</b> provided the only offense, batting 3-for-4, which included a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 1st. <b>Mike Witt</b> earned the loss (0-1, 5.14 ERA) Seattle's <b>Jerry Reed</b> earned the Save, while Seattle won 4-1.</p><p>The <b>Oakland Athletics</b> came into the <b>Metrodome</b>, and walked out with a 6-1 road victory over the <b>Minnesota Twins</b>. Oakland's <b>Dave Stewart</b>, acquired from the Phillies last season, continues his progress & transition as a starting pitcher by striking out 11 Twinkies in his season debut. Stewart (1-0, 1.23 ERA) allowed 5 hits, 2 walks & 1 run through 7 1/3 innings. Oakland outfielder added a two-run homer, scoring twice with a stolen base, while veteran shortstop <b>Alfredo Griffin</b> batted 2-for-4, which included an RBI single, two runs & a steal. <b>Frank Viola</b> (0-1, 4.91) earned the loss, while <b>Kirby Puckett</b> batted 2-for-4, scoring once. <b>Dennis Eckersley</b> (who entered the 8th with a 4-1 lead) earned the save.</p><p>The <b>St. Louis Cardinals</b> - <b>Chicago Cubs</b> rivalry kicks off the 1987 season at <b>Wrigley Field</b>. The Cubs would win in a low-scoring affair, 3-2. <b>Jerry Mumphrey</b>'s two-run single gave Chicago a 2-1 lead during the bottom of the 3rd. <b>Leon Durham</b>'s solo home run during the 5th inning would give the Cubs extra insurance toward the win. <b>Rick Sutcliffe</b> (1-0, 2.84, 6 K) would earn the win, while <b>Joe Magrane</b> (0-1, 3.86) earned the loss. The Cards' <b>Willie McGee</b> had a 2-for-4 day which included a double, RBI & run. <b>Frank DiPino</b> would earn the save.</p><p>The <b>Philadelphia Phillies</b> and the <b>Atlanta Braves</b> battled it out for 12 innings, which involved 38 players combined from both teams that appeared in this close, heavily-strategized game. The Braves' <b>Dale Murphy</b> knocked in 3 RBI on 3 different hit, which one of the hits was a solo home run for the slugger. The Phillies' <b>Juan Samuel</b> batted 3-for-5 with a solo HR, 3 runs, walk & steal. New addition <b>Lance Parrish</b>, the former Detroit All-Star catcher homered in his first at-bat as a Phillie. <b>Mike Schmidt</b> recorded no hits, but added 2 RBI on a walk & sac fly. Schmidt was walked 3 times (2 intentional walks). The Phillies' reliever <b>Steve Bedrosian</b> got the win (1-0, 0.00 ERA), while <b>Charlie Puleo</b> (0-1, 2.25 ERA) got the loss.</p><p>The <b>New York Mets</b>, the defending<b> 1986 World Champions</b>, won their season-opener with a walk-off single by <b>Keith Hernandez</b> in the 12th inning. <b>Lenny Dykstra</b> (who was the winning run) batted 3-for-6, which included a solo HR, double & two runs. The <b>Pittsburgh Pirates</b>' catcher <b>Mike LaVaillere</b> knocked in both of the Pirates' only runs on two different hits. LaVaillere's 2nd RBI single scored in the game-tying run that forced extras. Pirates started <b>Rick Reuschel </b>pitched really well by striking out 9 Mets hitters, allowing 7 hits, 1 run & 3 walks. Mets win, 3-2.</p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-83387609777632182932023-07-29T07:00:00.006-04:002023-07-29T07:00:00.150-04:001987 BBW Replay - Opening Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq7pVzcYyEiI7Ndbm-HJhnllbdWs9tyEGkUiLl3J_KECiza3jsCfZ5wWA3KlRcd4TfDRBxsLtsxhjJ_1s6w4L0o3JVSvBIzbi5BLz6Hn4gjv8DSa_ne4gsm6Q1KOepIyuzlXY2ClnRzKlC9UnUKJeHr9Bg_C9-3soqkY3Rr9oJMqlrQNRx3Ikh81UOw/s411/Lance%20Parrish%2087.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="293" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq7pVzcYyEiI7Ndbm-HJhnllbdWs9tyEGkUiLl3J_KECiza3jsCfZ5wWA3KlRcd4TfDRBxsLtsxhjJ_1s6w4L0o3JVSvBIzbi5BLz6Hn4gjv8DSa_ne4gsm6Q1KOepIyuzlXY2ClnRzKlC9UnUKJeHr9Bg_C9-3soqkY3Rr9oJMqlrQNRx3Ikh81UOw/s320/Lance%20Parrish%2087.JPG" width="228" /></a></div><br /><p>The <b>1987 MLB Season</b> was a special season. The <b>Milwaukee Brewers</b> jumped out to a 13-0 record to make MLB history, The <b>Detroit Tigers</b> 5 games down caught the <b>Toronto Blue Jays</b> with 9 days remaining in the season. The <b>San Francisco Giants</b> gave their fans the most excitement they had in 25 years, and <b>Mark McGwire</b> shattered the MLB rookie season home run mark with 49 HR's in what is considered a juiced ball season for the Majors. <b>Andre Dawson</b> and <b>George Bell</b> also had nearly 50 HR's.</p><p>For me, it was the first real season that I actually followed closely. The<b> 1986 Postseason</b> pulled me in, while it was the 1987 season that I was officially all-in. The <b>1987 Topps Baseball Cards</b> were also the first set that I bought packs of cards on a regular basis. Seeing <b>Lance Parrish</b>'s 87' Topps card was odd, knowing that he signed with the <b>Philadelphia Phillies</b>. He was probably the first Tigers star that reminded me of the cruelty of free agency, the first Tigers star that made me realize that our heroes can go to other teams. Of course, rookie <b>Matt Nokes</b> would help us forget the loss of Parrish, as Nokes had an excellent rookie year which helped the Tigers win the division.</p><p>I was 10 years old when the season started, and when I was turning 11 on October 28th, I feel it should have been my Tigers winning the whole thing, than the (I hate to say it) fluky <b>Minnesota Twins</b>. <i><u>The Twins had a Pythagorean record of 79-83</u></i>, and came from a division in which no team truly had a real championship identity. Meanwhile, the A.L. East had four teams with 89+ wins. Most of the American League's best hitters also came out of the East with <b>Alan Trammell</b>, <b>George Bell</b>, <b>Wade Boggs</b>, <b>Paul Molitor</b> & <b>Don Mattingly</b> having huge years. </p><p>Our teacher rolled the TV into the classroom for us to watch <b>Game #162 </b>between the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers at Tigers Stadium. <b>Frank Tanana</b> was fantastic, while it was <b>Larry Herndon</b>'s solo HR, the game's only run that helped us break the hearts of Blue Jays fans. The previous two games were also 1-run victories over the Jays... <i>Talk about close!</i></p><p><b>Doyle Alexander</b> was 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA for us, after we acquired him from Atlanta. Those final weeks of the season, the excitement around Alexander was the most excitement Tiger fans had around a pitcher since <b>Denny McLain</b> and <b>Mark Fidrych</b>. He was like a God in Motown down that stretch. </p><p>We also took advantage of signing <b>Bill Madlock</b>, who was considered washed up by the Los Angeles Dodgers and released. The former 4-time N.L. Batting Champion Madlock was only batting .180 through 21 games for L.A. when they released him. Tigers signed him on June 4th, and he would go on to bat .279 with 14 HR & 50 RBI through 87 games. I was really bummed that he retired after the season.</p><p>So this was one of the reasons I bought the 1987 digital data file from APBA, and why this is one of the seasons that I am playing in the BBW (APBA Baseball for Windows) format.</p><p>So here is what happened on opening day in the 1987 APBA Replay...</p><p>The day experienced 3 walk-off wins (all in extras), starting with the <b>Boston Red Sox</b> at the <b>Milwaukee Brewers</b>...</p><p>The Brewers' pinch-hitter <b>Bill Schroeder</b> hit a walk-off single, while <b>Paul Molitor</b> collected 4 hits (2 doubles), <b>Glenn Braggs</b> batted 2-4 with 2 RBI & <b>Mike Felder</b> batted 2-4 with an RBI triple. The Red Sox' <b>Dave Henderson</b> batted 2-for-2 with a solo HR (2 runs), while Boston backstop <b>Marc Sullivan</b>, who came into the game with a lifetime .200 batting average, had a two-run single that momentarily gave Boston a 3-1 lead. Milwaukee wins 4-3 in the 10th on Schroeder's hit.</p><p>By the way, we are doing actual transactions for this, so Henderson, <b>Don Baylor </b>& <b>Bill Buckner</b> are still with the Red Sox at the moment.</p><p>The <b>Houston Astros</b> win with a walk-off hit by <b>Billy Hatcher</b> at the Astrodome over the Dodgers. Billy (like Molitor in Milwaukee) also had 4 hits, which included a double, RBI & 2 runs. Rookie <b>Gerald Young</b> had a fantastic debut, batting 2-for-5 with 2 stolen bases. It helped that the Astros had <b>Nolan Ryan</b> on the mound, who got the no-decision, pitching 9 solid innings, allowing no earned runs on 4 hits, to go along with his 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. The Dodgers' <b>Franklin Stubbs</b> momentarily tied the game with a two-run homer early on in the game, while Dodgers starter <b>Orel Hershiser</b> allowed 2 earned runs with 4 K's through 9 innings. Reliever <b>Alejandro Pena</b> was credited with the loss, allowing 2 hits & the winning run in no innings. </p><p>The last walk-off came in San Francisco, as the <b>San Francisco Giants</b> won 5-4 through 11 innings over the <b>San Diego Padres</b>. Giants' catcher <b>Bob Brenly</b> gave the Giants a 3-1 lead with a three-run HR during the 3rd inning. The Padres' catcher <b>Benito Santiago</b> matched Brenly with a three-run blast of his own, to tie the game, 4-4 during the 6th inning. The game went to extras and veteran 3B <b>Chris Speier</b> (who came in for <b>Chris Brown</b> a few innings back) would deliver the game-winning hit off Padres' <b>Greg Booker</b>.</p><p><i><u>Other Games...</u></i></p><p><b>Charlie Hough</b> pitches a complete game against the <b>Baltimore Orioles</b>, allowing only 5 hits and no earned runs (1 run) as the <b>Texas Rangers</b> win easily, 7-1. The Rangers' <b>Scott Fletcher</b> batted 3-for-5 with 2 RBI & the Rangers' <b>Jerry Browne</b> batted 2-for-4 with 2 doubles, an RBI, while swiping a base. <b>Mike Boddicker</b> (0-1, 5.40 ERA) gets the loss.</p><p><b>Don Mattingly</b>'s three-run home run off the Tigers' <b>Jack Morris</b> (0-1, 3.86) would be the difference as the <b>New York Yankees </b>come into Tiger Stadium with a 3-1 win. The Yankees <b>Dennis Rasmussen</b> (1-0, 1.23 ERA) earns the win, while the Tigers' <b>Alan Trammell</b> batted 2-for-4 with an RBI in a losing effort.</p><p>The <b>Kansas City Royals</b> had to earn their win in a difficult way, as the Royals' starting pitcher <b>Bret Saberhagen</b> hurt himself on the first pitch. Kansas City 'benched' their rotation prior to the game, and had to call on <b>Steve Farr </b>to basically start the game. Farr would go on to pitch an excellent game, pitching 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, and only 2 runs & a walk -- while striking out 7 <b>Chicago White Sox</b> hitters. The Royals' <b>George Brett </b>hit a two-run homer in the 3rd. The White Sox eventually tied the game, but it was the Royals' <b>Frank White </b>(2-for-4) who would hit the go-ahead, winning single during the 8th. The White Sox' <b>Carlton Fisk</b> batted 2-for-3 with a double & RBI in the loss.</p><p>The <b>Toronto Blue Jays</b> were too much for the <b>Cleveland Indians</b>, winning big, 12-3. The Blue Jays' trio of outfield stars, <b>Lloyd Moseby</b>, <b>Jesse Barfield</b> & <b>George Bell </b>all played major factors. Moseby was the game's biggest star, batting 3-for-5 with a HR, 3 ribbies, 2 runs & a stolen base. Barfield also hit a home run, while batting 3-for-4 with 4 RBI (which included a sac fly) & 2 runs. Bell drew a walk, while hitting a two-run homer in the 1st inning. <b>Jimmy Key</b> (1-0, 3.38) earned the win, allowing only 1 run through his first 8 innings. The Indians' <b>Cory Snyder</b> collected 3 hits, which included a double, while it wasn't a good day for <b>Tom Candiotti</b> (0-1, 13.50 ERA).</p><p>Last, but not least... The <b>Montreal Expos</b>, despite 3 errors in the field, win 7-2 over the <b>Cincinnati Reds</b>, on a solid complete by <b>Pascual Perez</b>. Perez allowed 6 hits, 2 runs (none earned) & 3 walks, while striking out 6 batters. The Expos' <b>Mitch Webster </b>batted 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, while Montreal's 9th hitter in the lineup<b> Reid Nichols</b> batted 2-4 with a two-run HR (2 runs). The Reds' <b>Buddy Bell</b> batted 2-for-4 with a RBI & run scored, while Reds starter <b>Bill Gullickson </b>(0-1, 10.80) earned the loss.</p><p>That concludes opening day for the 1987.</p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-774684939773819052023-07-27T12:00:00.001-04:002023-07-27T12:00:00.149-04:00Deadball-14's Opening Day: 1919 Reds at 1906 Cubs<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0W0nLzAEPUu8l9ltOwp4w7sHV5w82m9s-biYkKZrRc1vgaGNuqSjBdHnK-vNX5-sJG9GDI9RUC2CC-4Mi4c8DUTprJIQX9tAIQydlABktbpMjetvnOK_UcjWllYJJ2RfseVv0GqXsTqQNbEbcD8z8LEQvOLJdly6SzNJMrbScjMikceg2qmN5R9FRw/s425/Dutch%20Ruether.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="302" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0W0nLzAEPUu8l9ltOwp4w7sHV5w82m9s-biYkKZrRc1vgaGNuqSjBdHnK-vNX5-sJG9GDI9RUC2CC-4Mi4c8DUTprJIQX9tAIQydlABktbpMjetvnOK_UcjWllYJJ2RfseVv0GqXsTqQNbEbcD8z8LEQvOLJdly6SzNJMrbScjMikceg2qmN5R9FRw/s320/Dutch%20Ruether.JPG" width="227" /></a></div><br /><u><b>At Chicago / West Side Grounds</b></u><p></p><p>The <b>1919 Cincinnati Reds</b> will face off against the <b>1906 Chicago Cubs</b> at the <b>West Side Grounds</b>. The Cubs' rotation may be scary good, but the Reds' rotation is definitely not too shabby. The Reds will need to scrape out some lucky hits to keep up with the Cubs lineup, and to beat out their tough infield. The Reds send <b>Dutch Ruether</b> to face '<b>Three-Finger' Brown</b> in a game which should be about the pitching.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 2nd</u></b></p><p>Leadoff triple by Cubs' first baseman/manager<b> Frank Chance</b>. <b>Harry Steinfeldt </b>would knock in Chance with an RBI single, a liner over the Reds' <b>Morrie Rath</b> at second base.<b> Joe Tinker</b> lays down a sacrifice bunt to move Steinfeldt over to second. One out, <b>Johnny Evers</b> at the plate, he hits this one down the right field line, it's caught by Neale, Steinfeldt tags up, the throw, and he's safe, just getting under the tag at third. The Reds' <b>Dutch Ruether</b> ends up walking the Cubbies' ace <b>Mordecai Brown</b>, nothing good usually comes out of a situation when you end up walking your counterpart. Bases loaded, two outs, for Jimmy Slagle. Slagle drills it, it's deep, it's fair, and it's caught by the Reds' <b>Greasy Neale</b>. Cubs 1, Reds 0</p><p>Both lineups are quite for a few innings until...</p><p><b><u>Top of the 7th</u></b></p><p>The Reds' <b>Heinie Groh</b> beats out a infield single to kick off the inning. <b>Edd Roush</b> would hit a liner past a diving <b>Joe Tinker</b>, advancing Groh to third. No outs with runners on the corners for Reds catcher <b>Ivey Wingo</b>, the pitch, and the ball rolls from under the Cubs' <b>Johnny Kling</b> behind home plate (Passed Ball), Groh scores, and Roush moves up to second. Wingo bounces one to the mound, Brown knocks it down, but only has a play at first, one down, but the runner moves up to third. <b>Jake Daubert</b> lines one to the pitcher, caught for out number two. The last two plays will be big if 'Three-Finger' can get out of this inning. The Reds' Greasy Neale steps up to the plate, he makes no contact -- The throw from Kling to third, and Roush is caught trying to steal third! </p><p>But this one is all knotted up at 1-1 as we head to the 7-inning stretch.</p><p><b><u>Top of the 8th</u></b></p><p><b>Greasy Neale</b> just beats out a single, as he tries to give the Reds a spark. LF <b>Rube Bressler</b> is up to the plate, strike, but there goes Neale, Kling's throw is too late, Neale has robbed second. Bressler strikes out against Brown for out number one. Reds pitcher <b>Dutch Ruether</b> hits a shot at Evers, Evers waves at it, it's by him, Neale rounds third, Schulte is up with it, the throw, but Neale is in standing. Reds take a 2-1 lead here late in this one. </p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 8th</u></b></p><p>Top of the order for the Cubbies, but nothing happens as they go down 1-2-3 on fly balls to the outfield. Time is running out for Chicago. </p><p><b><u>Top of the 9th</u></b></p><p>With one out, and <b>Edd Roush</b> on second (after a single & a steal), <b>Ivey Wingo</b> hits a deep fly to right, Roush tags up only to be thrown out at third on amazing throw from right fielder <b>Frank Schulte</b>.</p><p><u><b>Bottom of the 9th</b></u></p><p>The Reds' <b>Dutch Ruether</b> needs to get past <b>Frank Chance</b>, <b>Harry Steinfeldt</b>, and <b>Joe Tinker</b>. Ruether appeared to have struck out Chance, when Chance started jumping up and down, but wait, the Umpire says the ball hit him in the hand, but he seems to be okay as he wanders down to first. One on, no outs, Steinfeldt with a swinging bunt, squibs the ball to the left side, Groh comes up to field it, guns it to first, and they get him at first, while Chance moves on down to second. One out, tying run at second, <b>Joe Tinker</b> up at the plate. Tinker puts down a bunt pose, Ruether spins toward second, throws it to shortstop <b>Larry Kopf</b>, and they picked off Chance at second. It's all up to Tinker to make something happen, no wait... Chance calls from the dugout, they will have 'Circus Solly' Hofman come to the plate, while Tinker goes down to sit on the bench. Solly raps it back to the mound, Ruether is up with it, the throw to first and this one's over. </p><p>The Reds win, 2-1.</p><p>Dutch did it on both ends for the Reds this afternoon, only allowing 1 run on the mound, while hitting the go-ahead & eventual winning run to give the Reds, the 2-1 edge. The Cubs' Mordecai 'Three-Finger' Brown gets the loss in an honorable effort in which he yielded only 1 earned run and 6 hits in 9 innings, plus 3 strikeouts. </p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-66999473342043935772023-07-26T07:00:00.000-04:002023-07-26T07:00:00.142-04:00Deadball-14's Opening Day: 1915 Red Sox at 1902 Pirates<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWksxMrUYY5BaXl9lanbiiMicDThXVQa-twhsXmV44HAfPDNFX3iNONL3QzQWOGQnUCYFPNrS1veicLUA8uMfbyNSLzc085Hirl9OaS2kXW_51qcGTsZ3tKv2UaJmJOA8Tjc-oqRIHpU1VWun_vC-cG9fSEm9-sziN_zs4QSONkgdJpQTyWMVqXy0ww/s313/Honus%20Wagner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="249" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWksxMrUYY5BaXl9lanbiiMicDThXVQa-twhsXmV44HAfPDNFX3iNONL3QzQWOGQnUCYFPNrS1veicLUA8uMfbyNSLzc085Hirl9OaS2kXW_51qcGTsZ3tKv2UaJmJOA8Tjc-oqRIHpU1VWun_vC-cG9fSEm9-sziN_zs4QSONkgdJpQTyWMVqXy0ww/w218-h273/Honus%20Wagner.JPG" width="218" /></a></div> <br /><u><b>At Pittsburgh / Forbes Field</b></u><p></p><p>The <b>1915 Boston Red Sox</b> come into Pittsburgh to play the <b>1902 Pittsburgh Pirates</b>. <b>Ernie Shore</b> (Grade 20-YZ) toes the rubber for Boston, while he will face <b>Jack Chesbro</b> (Grade 19-Y). </p><p><b><u>Top of the 1st</u></b></p><p><b>Harry Hooper</b> leads off the game with a triple off Chesbro. Chesbro would end up walking <b>Larry Gardner</b>, putting runners on the corners. Boston first baseman <b>Dick Hoblitzel </b>hits an RBI single up the middle to drive in Hooper. Hoblitzel was picked up off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, midway through 1914, and now finds himself getting the majority of the starts for this Red Sox team. Gardner gets careless and is picked off at second, thanks to a wonderful throw by Pittsburgh's backstop <b>Harry Smith</b>. Two outs, Hoblitzel tries to steal second and is thrown out. The Red Sox score one run, but shot themselves in the foots, because the early lead could have been bigger. </p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 1st</u></b></p><p><b>Ginger Beaumont </b>leads the inning off with a single to right. Beaumont steals second base. A couple batters later, Beaumont would score from second base on a RBI single by <b>Tommy Leach</b>. The play would cost Boston not only a run, but a catcher, as Beaumont ran over catcher <b>Chet Thomas</b>. Early reports from the Boston clubhouse is that Thomas may be out for awhile, it certainly didn't look good (<b>Forrest Cady</b> came in to replace Thomas). Game tied, 1-1.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 2nd</u></b></p><p><b>Ernie Shore</b> walks back-to-back hitters in <b>Claude Richey</b> and <b>Wid Conroy</b>, no outs. After Harry Smith flied to Speaker in right, Bucs pitcher <b>Jack Chesbro</b> lays down a perfect sacrifice to move the runners up to 2nd & 3rd. Two outs, Ginger Beaumont steps up to the plate, but flies out to Hooper in center. Score remains 1-1.</p><p><u><b>Top of the 3rd</b></u></p><p>Weak-hitting <b>Everett Scott</b> leads off the bottom half with a single to right. Chesbro would go on to walk the pitcher Shore, plus <b>Harry Hooper</b> (back-to-back walks). Bases loaded, no outs for 3B <b>Larry Gardner</b>. Gardner strokes it sharply to short, Conroy only has a play at first, gets him... but Scott scores from third, to make it 2-1 Boston. Pittsburgh intentionally walks <b>Tris Speaker</b> to face Hoblitzel. Hoblitzel flies to left center, Beaumont is there, the runners are tagging but will hold as they did not want to test Ginger's strong arm. Chesbro walks <b>Duffy Lewis</b> to score in another run, bases still loaded. The inning ends on a hard hit grounder to Richey at second, relaying it to first to finish the inning. Boston leads, 3-1.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 3rd</u></b></p><p><b>Honus Wagner</b> hits a liner to center that skips under <b>Harry Hooper</b>'s glove, luckily <b>Tris Speaker</b> came over quickly to back him up, as they hold Wagner to a double. Cleanup hitter Tommy Leach grounds one deep in the hole, Scott is over, long throw to first... <i>Out!</i> Wagner would advance to third. <b>Ernie Shore</b> strikes out <b>Kitty Bransfield</b> strikes out, leaving Wagner stranded.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 5th</u></b></p><p>Speedy <b>Ginger Beaumont</b> reaches on a error (E-6) by Scott. <b>Fred Clarke</b> follows through with a textbook hit-and-run. Runners on the corners, no outs, as <b>Honus Wagner</b> steps up to the plate. Wagner smacks this one, Duffy Lewis has his back to the fence, runs out of room... and this one is gone! Three-run blast by Wagner, and the Pirates suddenly have a 4-3 lead. The next batter, Leach hits one to the mound, over to first, for the 1st out. First Baseman Kitty Bransfield puts some wood to the ball, sending the ball to deep center. The ball hits the base of the wall, and Hooper is up with it, but Bransfield won't test Hooper's strong arm. Runner on 2nd, 1 out, <b>Claude Richey</b> steps up to the plate, but whiffs at it, two down. Wid Conroy smashes one to the gap in right center, <b>Harry Hooper</b> is over quickly, cuts it off, Bransfield is rounding third, running through a red light, the throw... and he's out! What a throw from Hooper, these Red Sox OF arms can be deadly, as Bransfield is gunned down at the plate.</p><p>Regardless, the Pirates have bounced back to take the lead thanks to Mr. Wagner... Pirates lead, 4-3.</p><p><u><b>Top of the 6th</b></u></p><p>With one out, Pittsburgh's pitcher <b>Jack Chesbro</b> allows his 7th walk to Cady. <b>Everett Scott</b> hits a hard grounder to deep first, Bransfield is up with it, but has no play.... Runners safe at 1st & 2nd. Two hits for Scott. Boston's ace, <b>Ernie Shore</b> lets Chesbro off the hook as he hit into a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the inning unscathed.</p><p><b><u>Bottom of the 6th</u></b></p><p>Pirates catcher <b>Harry Smith</b> kicks off the inning with a single to right. The Pirates skipper/player Clarke calls on <b>Fred Crolius</b> to pinch-run for Smith and for Al Davis to pinch-hit for Chesbro. Davis would hit one to deep second, they get the force at second (4-6), but Davis just beats it out the throw at first, 1 out. <b>Ginger Beaumont</b> excutes the hit-and-run, runners on the corners. <b>Fred Clarke </b>follows Beaumont's plate appearance by lining a hit to right, and scoring in Davis. It's now 5-3, Pittsburgh. Wagner hits one to short, but is out at first on a great play by Boston's Scott, runners move up, two outs. Tommy steps up to the plate, he already has a RBI single from earlier, let's see if he can tack on some more. The pitch from Shore, hits a clothesline to deep center, <b>Harry Hooper</b> puts his glove up, and he's out... It nearly went over his head. Inning over.</p><p><b><u>Top of the 7th</u></b></p><p>The Pirates send out lefty <b>Ed Doheny</b> to face Boston's left-handed bats, while <b>Charlie Zimmer </b>takes over catching duties for Smith. </p><p>Doheny would strike out 3 batter in 2 1/3 innings. The Pirates would call on Sam Leever to face Boston's dangerous <b>Del Gainer</b>, who was in pinch-hitting for the pitcher. Leever would lock down the save on 2/3 innings pitched, as Pittsburgh comes back from a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3... On the strength of a Honus Wagner homer during the bottom of the 5th. </p><p>The tip of the Pirates' lineup: <b>Ginger Beaumont</b>, <b>Fred Clarke</b> & <b>Honus Wagner</b> combined on 6-for-13 hitting and 4 RBI. </p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-58447922769519407082023-07-25T07:00:00.001-04:002023-07-25T07:00:00.166-04:00The Deadball Greatest Teams League<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHbGBCHFvaIM-HCFfYSbhwJDKzoe8fTMEbIYuGuxUcCRxd7FVIUxl5qhqzBhL9cW8qv5dS4RgA48AJkLiRzfYP3j5-IIkzWS7inkpu-OJy2nUHUsae-LILc6I6CctouMwXJpYY9vFBqDg5RX3KNi05J6eRXpts6Yr_tSGFg0I17V_b0tr96qaWcMlXg/s425/Rube%20Marquard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="195" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHbGBCHFvaIM-HCFfYSbhwJDKzoe8fTMEbIYuGuxUcCRxd7FVIUxl5qhqzBhL9cW8qv5dS4RgA48AJkLiRzfYP3j5-IIkzWS7inkpu-OJy2nUHUsae-LILc6I6CctouMwXJpYY9vFBqDg5RX3KNi05J6eRXpts6Yr_tSGFg0I17V_b0tr96qaWcMlXg/s320/Rube%20Marquard.JPG" width="147" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>I decided to do a 14-team Deadball league on BBW (APBA Baseball for Windows), involving the best deadball teams from my two World Series disks from the deadball period. From there, I tried to keep most teams with one team representing their franchise, but a few teams have a couple teams representing them.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1902 Pittsburgh Pirates</li><li>1903 Boston Americans</li><li>1904 New York Giants</li><li>1904 New York Highlanders</li><li>1906 Chicago Cubs</li><li>1909 Detroit Tigers</li><li>1911 Philadelphia Athletics</li><li>1912 New York Giants</li><li>1914 Boston Braves</li><li>1915 Boston Red Sox</li><li>1915 Philadelphia Phillies</li><li>1916 Brooklyn Robins</li><li>1917 Chicago White Sox</li><li>1919 Cincinnati Reds</li></ul><div>I decided to go with two Giants teams, although some of the same pitchers, different position players. I went with the 1915 Boston Red Sox over the 1912 team, simply for Babe Ruth to pitch for the Red Sox. 1903 Boston Americans (although Red Sox) are quite different from 1915 team, plus their ace is Cy Young. </div><div><br /></div><div>If two teams play each other, and they have the same player, the player has to sit for both teams. </div><p></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-12457099294792709642023-07-22T07:00:00.001-04:002023-07-22T07:00:00.155-04:00AGBA Faces Changing Places<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinP3lpd5VVwJtU1PQ24_qMu6s3RNAp28-QLFCErSYE456m2BJ_ZZEaiHbiypUfNM3sBHDUhD5xWlYk_aKf-XrFxXC5pfEjXvB67M8Zw5W8uboQAbKBWj4JmI9zp8-EvZpxUXaeXm5i-2NMHqP9PwhqwzT90oRoOhA9uw4WYi-lt0wGIeLqeDEFwzHAPg/s411/Bobby%20Bonds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinP3lpd5VVwJtU1PQ24_qMu6s3RNAp28-QLFCErSYE456m2BJ_ZZEaiHbiypUfNM3sBHDUhD5xWlYk_aKf-XrFxXC5pfEjXvB67M8Zw5W8uboQAbKBWj4JmI9zp8-EvZpxUXaeXm5i-2NMHqP9PwhqwzT90oRoOhA9uw4WYi-lt0wGIeLqeDEFwzHAPg/s320/Bobby%20Bonds.JPG" width="227" /></a></div><br />The <b>APBA Galaxy Baseball Association (AGBA)</b> witnessed some major deals prior to its <b>Trade Deadline</b>. Many of the teams decided to do their deals during the All-Star Break, to compete on even footing. There is still some time for some small deals to be made if needed.<p></p><p>Keep in mind, that we have to imagine that these owners don't see into the future, they have no crystal ball. They will be making moves on what they are feeling at the time. Plus the teams will make moves depending on their current team status.</p><p>So let's start with one of the big ones...</p><p><b>Transaction #0030</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Brooklyn Mets</b> receive OF<b> Bobby Bonds</b></li><li><b>San Francisco Seals</b> receive SP/RP <b>Nolan Ryan</b></li></ul><p></p><p>We all know that Nolan goes on to collect 5,000 strikeouts, while we all know that Bobby had the potential to be a possible Hall of Famer, but could never get past his personal demons. In the AGBA world, Nolan has been horrible on the mound for the Mets. </p><p>Ryan was 0-4 with a 13.25 ERA in only 18.1 innings and 4 starts (he had one bullpen appearance). Although Nolan had 17 strikeouts, he had no pitching control, allowing 17 walks and 33 hits. Ryan had an astronomical 2.727 WHIP -- <i>Nearly 3 baserunners per inning! </i></p><p>Some people may read this and think that the Mets should have given Ryan more time, but time is the essence, especially during a 72-game season. The Mets needed at least another hitter to add to their weak hitting lineup, and had to pull the trigger to acquire Bonds.</p><p>Sure, in this weird universe of players playing from three different eras, we did have the chance of Bobby coming up to the Seals, and playing with his son Barry. Although this Bobby would be 6 years younger (22 in 1968) than his son Barry (who is 28 in 1993)... <i>Think of it as a Baseball Heaven or weird Baseball Twilight Zone dimension or heck... Field of Dreams.</i></p><p>In this world, the San Francisco Seals were trying to keep Bobby out until September, so that his full regular season salary wouldn't have been activated. The Seals have more than enough players on their team, and outfield, that they could afford to do this. As the season went on though, Bobby started to voice his frustrations at the minor league level, on his desire to play now on the big league club. </p><p>It's actual a good move for both franchises moving forward. Bonds would give this lineup some power right away. Brooklyn is one of the few AGBA teams, that doesn't have a slugger with at least 10 home runs; <b>Brandon Nimmo</b> currently leads the team with 7 home runs. </p><p>Adding Ryan to the staff, should only be a bonus for the Seals. The Seals are obviously investing in his long-term future and believe that they can turn this guy around. Ryan would join a pitching staff that already has <b>Juan Marichal</b>, <b>Gaylord Perry</b> and <b>Ray Sadecki</b>. The Seals were using a 4-man rotation, with the before-mentioned being the top 3 slots in the rotation, while <b>John Burkett</b> and <b>Madison Bumgarner</b> split the 4th slot, working every other outing (Once every 8 games). The Seals (19-18-1), a preseason darling are hoping to play much better in the second half.</p><p>Despite giving away an athlete such as Bobby Bonds, the Seals feel that they were able to get Ryan while his stock was low. Ryan for this season at least, may still work out of the pen. </p><p><b>Transaction #0031</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Florida Rockets</b> receive OF <b>Kevin Pillar</b>, 1B/DH <b>Rowdy Tellez</b> & P <b>Sean Reid-Foley</b> [NC]</li><li><b>Toronto Reds</b> receive 3B <b>Miguel Andujar</b> and RP <b>Drew Rucinski</b> [NC]</li></ul><div>The <b>Florida Rockets</b> trading away one of their better lineup pieces is not a surprise, with the struggling Rockets selling. The Toronto Reds will have more stability (and another option) at third base, which could keep <b>Paul Molitor</b> at first base and <b>John Olerud</b> at DH. 1B/OF <b>Rhys Hoskins</b> has struggled for the Reds, and adding <b>Miguel Andujar</b> to an already great top half of the lineup, may help the bottom-half of the lineup at having a better flow. </div><div><br /></div><div>The three eras are <b>1968, 1993 & 2018</b>. Andujar had a big season for the Yankees in 2018, and has produced with this card during his AGBA Season -- batting .278 with 7 HR & 26 RBI for the Rockets, while his HR & RBI numbers were 2nd on the team. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Reds are buying, building on their recent winning momentum, trying to make a serious postseason push. The Rockets also traded prospect RP <b>Matt Turner</b> to Philadelphia for $500,000 in cash, while taking chances on SP <b>Doc Gooden</b> (who was bad for the New York Knights) and SP <b>Kyle Freeland</b> to help shore up their pitching problems now.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Transaction #0034</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Atlanta Firebirds</b> receive DH/3B/2B <b>Chip Hale</b></li><li><b>New York Knights</b> receive OF <b>Mike Lum</b>, plus $720,000 in cash.</li></ul></div><div>The <b>New York Knights</b> took advantage of getting some out of nothing. It's not to say, that Chip Hale's 1993 card in nothing, which would be a great addition on Atlanta's bench. The Knights acquire a prospect in outfielder <b>Mike Lum</b>, plus cash to work with towards next year's roster. Hale was one of the Knights more productive bats earlier this season, until he cooled off in recent weeks. </div><div><br /></div><div>Atlanta was rumored to be possibly parting with OF <b>Ron Gant</b>, and one of the players mentioned was the Knights' RP <b>Collin McHugh</b>, but Gant started heating up while Atlanta outfielders<b> Ronald Acuna Jr</b> and <b>David Justice</b> cooled off. Gant has since won playing time, and Atlanta decided to keep Gant. With that in mind, Atlanta made cuts elsewhere, sent down OF <b>Sandy Valdespino</b> and decided to bring up RP <b>Shane Carle</b>, which activated his big league salary.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Transaction #0036</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Chicago Union</b> receives OF/DH Matt Kemp</li><li><b>New Orleans Pirates</b> receive SP Jason Bere</li></ul><div>In real life, the 33 year-old outfielder <b>Matt Kemp</b> returned to the Dodgers where he made a name for himself, having a strong season in 2018. During this AGBA season, his numbers may even be bigger, batting .309 with 6 HR & 25 RBI (through 37 games) in a weak, unpredictable New Orleans lineup. The <b>Chicago Union</b>'s lineup has been underperforming, but could have better production adding Kemp to the mix. The addition of Kemp should be both beneficial to Kemp and Chicago, while the Pirates acquired SP <b>Jason Bere</b>, who had no room to play in Chicago's impressive rotation. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Bere will be immediately plugged into the Pirates' rotation with the departure of their ace <b>Steve Avery</b>. Bere (Grade B/13-XW) will have to work on his control, but will give the team some strong innings, and will send hitters down swinging.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Transaction #0037</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Chicago Union</b> receives 2B <b>Ryne Sandberg</b></li><li><b>Chicago Legends</b> receive 2B <b>Sandy Alomar Sr</b> & OF <b>Melky Cabrera</b></li></ul><div>A notable trade, although a non-impact one to say the least. It's a trade that all the players will just have relocate in the city (or maybe not) to play for their Central League, opposite division rivals. The Legends want to play 2B <b>Glenn Beckert</b> more, who in the Majors was a National League All-Star between 1969-1972 -- Moving out Sandberg allows Beckert and other players more time. The Legends acquire a few pieces back.</div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Transaction #0038</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Cleveland Spiders </b>receive 3B <b>David Freese</b> & OF <b>Lee Maye</b></li><li><b>Portland Thorns</b> receive 3B <b>Josh Donaldson</b></li></ul><div>This trade is really a win-win for both teams. Cleveland has acquired a few more bench options, while they trade away a player who wasn't getting any playing time with <b>Jose Ramirez</b> at third. Josh Donaldson if you recall had a frustrating, injury-plagued <b>2018 MLB season</b>, in which he split time with the Blue Jays and Indians. Portland should definitely benefit next season with Donaldson's comeback year with the Braves in 2019, but this was a move for the Spiders to make, who are in the win-now mode. <b>David Freese</b>'s 2018 APBA card didn't translate for Portland, but could help in bigger pinch-hitting spots in a star-studded lineup such as Cleveland's. <b>Lee Maye</b> was likely picked up as another pinch-runner for the bench.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Transaction #0041</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Portland Thorns</b> receive 2B <b>Horace Clark</b>, P <b>Scott Sanders</b> & SS <b>Ricky Gutierrez</b></li><li><b>San Diego Tigers</b> receive 2B<b> Lou Whitaker</b> & SS <b>Dick Schofield Sr</b></li></ul><div>Portland made some more moves by trading Western League All-Star <b>Lou Whitaker</b> to the Tigers, in exchange for a younger, but weaker 2B prospect <b>Horace Clark</b>, plus pitching in <b>Scott Sanders</b>. Whitaker has been rumored for weeks on being dealt, it wasn't a matter of when, but where. For awhile, the Chicago Union seemed to be the favorite, but a deal couldn't be struck, and the Union went with a few different options instead. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Whitaker is having a big year, batting .318 with 6 HR, 21 RBI, while carrying an outstanding .422 on-base percentage & .998 OPS. 'Sweet Lou' has been a doubles machine, smacking 23 in only 38 games (currently leading AGBA in that category). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Transaction #0043</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Detroit Wolverines</b> receive SP <b>Steve Avery</b></li><li><b>New Orleans Pirates</b> receive SP <b>Spencer Turnbull</b>, RP <b>Shane Greene</b>, RP <b>Blaine Hardy</b>, C/OF <b>Wayne Comer</b> & a player to be named later.</li></ul></div><div>Going into this inaugural AGBA season, the <b>Detroit Wolverines</b> or most of <b>AGBA Baseball</b> didn't expect the Wolverines to be neck-and-neck with the <b>Cleveland Spiders</b> at this point. The Spiders were a clear division favorite, not to mention a World Champion contender on top of that. But here they are, 4 points (2 games) back of Cleveland at the top of the Cobb Division Standings (Central League).</div><div><br /></div><div>Detroit has adopted a 'win now mentality' knowing that the roster could be very much in flux next season. A few weeks ago, they added left-hand specialist <b>Oliver Perez</b> to the pen, shortstop <b>Freddie Benavides</b> for infield depth & speed, while calling up P/RP <b>Daryl Patterson </b>to the big league club. Now they add Steve Avery to pitch alongside with <b>Denny McLain</b> and <b>Mickey Lolich</b> in the rotation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite having a 1-5 record, Avery had a 2.92 ERA & 1.146 WHIP to go along with 36 strikeouts in 52.1 innings for the Pirates.</div><div><br /></div><div>And we'll end the post with a big deal between Vegas and Washington...</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Transaction #0048</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Las Vegas Lizards</b> receive OF <b>Bryce Harper</b> & SP <b>Ken Hill</b></li><li><b>Washington Maroons</b> receive SP <b>Pete Harnisch</b>, 1B/3B <b>Yuli Gurriel</b>, RP <b>Kenley Jansen</b>, a player to be named later, plus $5 million in cash.</li></ul></div><div>The Washington Maroons were expecting a much better season than the one that has played out. Trading Harper may make people scratch their heads, but he has been playing first base (1B-2) for the Maroons all season, due to a crowded outfield that has <b>Larry Walker</b>, <b>Juan Soto</b> and <b>Marquis Grissom</b>, plus <b>Rondell White</b> on the farm. The Maroons wanted to have an actual first baseman and now they have one in <b>Yuli Gurriel</b> (1B-4), who can also play third. The Maroons basically swapped <b>Pete Harnisch</b> for <b>Ken Hill</b>. Harnisch was dominate with Las Vegas and is among the strikeout leaders in all of AGBA this season. Washington adds another reliever in <b>Kenley Jansen</b> (14*-XZ) to go along with <b>John Wetteland</b> (24*-XY),<b> Sean Doolittle</b> (21*-XYZ) and <b>Mel Rojas</b> (14*). </div><div><br /></div><div>Las Vegas acquires <b>Bryce Harper</b>, bringing home a hometown hero and mega building block for a franchise that needs a solid pillar to build around. <b>Ken Hill </b>replaces Harnisch in the rotation, and should be a stable rotation piece for years to come.</div><p></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-55746208482015961342023-07-20T07:00:00.000-04:002023-07-20T07:00:00.132-04:00Opening Day 1921 - Comebacks by Yankees and Browns<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSqLHuetIi01pdqLrg3z-5c3yajY4e0PYzPWEXWSjwoaDfCtzlP1xe7Q7dyanz7DwtcSlYIKYtBR7yu650asKXiIkKYJyw6OL94bec3g0z284AfRMCaJxK7e4BLJqJHJlCGrkflsSNmNRnZd_2cu-7ae3i_Pc_LqgUKqdVd2phAQq7mUOcVoLc-0wgEg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="295" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSqLHuetIi01pdqLrg3z-5c3yajY4e0PYzPWEXWSjwoaDfCtzlP1xe7Q7dyanz7DwtcSlYIKYtBR7yu650asKXiIkKYJyw6OL94bec3g0z284AfRMCaJxK7e4BLJqJHJlCGrkflsSNmNRnZd_2cu-7ae3i_Pc_LqgUKqdVd2phAQq7mUOcVoLc-0wgEg=w189-h240" width="189" /></a></div><span style="color: #073763;"><i>The <b>Philadedelphia Athletics</b> came into Yankees Stadium to face off against Babe Ruth and the <b>New York Yankees</b>. Reliever turned starter, Eddie Rommel enters his 2nd season at the top of the rotation as he faces off against Carl Mays. Mays like Ruth, was sent to Boston for basically peanuts, as we open the season with a faded former dynasty in the A's taking on a dynasty on the rise in the Yankees.</i></span><p></p><p>The Athletics opened the first inning with a 3-0 lead, after catcher <b>Cy Perkins</b> hit a three-run blast to left, but Yankees starting pitcher<span style="color: #ffa400;"> <b>Carl Mays</b></span> would settle down after that. <b>Wally Pipp</b>'s RBI single during the bottom of the 1st, puts the Yankees on the board, down 3-1. </p><p>The Yankees would inch closer during the 4th inning as <b>Elmer Miller</b> smacked a one-out triple into the right field corner. Later that inning, Yankees starter Mays reached on a error (The Athletics' 3rd error in the game), and <b>Roger Peckingpaugh</b> singles (and advances to 2nd), putting runners on 2nd & 3rd with two outs. 2B <b>Aaron Ward</b> pops up behind third base in foul territory stranding Ruth on the on-deck circle.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">During the bottom of the 7th inning, <b>Babe Ruth</b> would get his chance, tying it up 3-3 with a solo home run to deep center. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Athletics continue to watch the game slip away. With runners on 1st & 2nd during the bottom of the 8th, the Yankees' Ward hit a two-run single as the ball bounced off a diving Frank Welch in center (Mays & Peckingpaugh score). Mays completes the game for the Yankees, allowing only 4 hits all game. In a game that started off promising, the A's lose to the Yankees, 5-3.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitK9RwhQWNu9ACkcqMQm22hU8yGdse0xuLkF3MQZbKgFAirRdK83CSOhbgTM_A-N0hH2E24wNvgqRXVvmAqcNUmD57RnEZpmR7gxQJh8Han4SSC3EHGx-_UBg2dOeMwijhWOExfWcUDfoztWWTjjZ2RLtTAj2xtNoNKhSLO-umTae6k-Qeukxoq-qcCg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="795" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitK9RwhQWNu9ACkcqMQm22hU8yGdse0xuLkF3MQZbKgFAirRdK83CSOhbgTM_A-N0hH2E24wNvgqRXVvmAqcNUmD57RnEZpmR7gxQJh8Han4SSC3EHGx-_UBg2dOeMwijhWOExfWcUDfoztWWTjjZ2RLtTAj2xtNoNKhSLO-umTae6k-Qeukxoq-qcCg=w585-h504" width="585" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">The defending World Champion <b>Cleveland Indians</b> traveled to St. Louis to face an optimistic <b>St. Louis Browns</b> team. The Browns know they got the hitters, but good timely pitching will be key if they want any success this season. It's a solid starting pitcher face-off between the tribe's <b>Stan</b> <b>Coveleski </b>and the Browns' <b>Urban Shocker</b>.</span></i></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLESUGX0C9xM6bvMRF_9OfvEZxxHe4zC_03L_Jazgst0UMcLNT3rgLV2rv_mq7PaVww2jPDDONnUz3MF1xEGDmrYXPk4VwplwNiXfWEP4DJ8vNBZgrZqzccuYS322ayMnZMDR25YZ1mYVWCAOVsQec2jf-iIJQ8wNWxn1No7cJV2xywtmmRF2kdVrkng/s388/Sothoron.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="211" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLESUGX0C9xM6bvMRF_9OfvEZxxHe4zC_03L_Jazgst0UMcLNT3rgLV2rv_mq7PaVww2jPDDONnUz3MF1xEGDmrYXPk4VwplwNiXfWEP4DJ8vNBZgrZqzccuYS322ayMnZMDR25YZ1mYVWCAOVsQec2jf-iIJQ8wNWxn1No7cJV2xywtmmRF2kdVrkng/w157-h289/Sothoron.JPG" width="157" /></a></div>Leading off the game, Cleveland's <b>Charlie Jamieson</b> draws a walk. Jamieson is coming off a break-through season (at age 28) in which he batted .319 while reaching base nearly 39% of the time. Jamieson will be Cleveland's everyday starting left fielder this season, and looks to build off his 1920 season. The 2nd batter in the lineup, <b>Bill Wambsganss</b> executed the hit & run, moving Jamieson up to third. The dangerous <b>Tris Speaker</b> would take advantage of the situation, while smacking a two-run double into the right-center field gap, while Speaker would advance to third (on the throw to home). With momentum going Cleveland's way, shortstop <b>Joe Sewell</b> hits a single that parachutes between 2B <b>Marty McManus</b> and RF <b>Johnny Tobin</b>, scoring in Speaker to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead. Shocker not able to locate his pitches, plunks <b>Larry Gardner</b>. The Browns would finally record an out on the 6th batter of the Indians' lineup, getting RF <b>Elmer Smith</b> to pop-out. The Indians would do no more, while stranding runners on 1st & 2nd.</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Already plunking a batter in the 1st inning, and a batter earlier in the 2nd inning, <b>Urban Shocker</b> is thrown out of the game after he plunked his 3rd hitter of the game. Shocker (Grade 18) finished the game allowing 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 HBP & 3 earned runs in only 2 1/3 innings. The Browns called on <b>Ray Kolp</b> to pitch the next 1 2/3 innings, in which he only allowed 1 hit and 1 base on balls. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Still down 3-0, the Browns battle back during the bottom half of the 4th inning. The Browns pulled off a hit-and-run with </span><b style="text-align: left;">Ken Williams</b><span style="text-align: left;">' big bat. With one out, Browns backstop </span><b style="text-align: left;">Hank Severeid</b><span style="text-align: left;"> would hit a RBI single to put the team on the board. </span><b style="text-align: left;">Marty McManus</b><span style="text-align: left;"> drives in Williams in the next at-bat, to bring St. Louis within a run. With runners on 1st & 2nd with two outs, shortstop </span><b style="text-align: left;">Wally Gerber</b><span style="text-align: left;"> goes on to tie the game 3-3 with an RBI double. The Browns call on </span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">Allen Sothoron</span></b><span style="text-align: left;"> to take over during the top of the 5th inning, and would go on to pitch until the end of this one.</span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">During the bottom of the 6th, the Browns' <b>Baby Doll Jacobson</b> would smack what appeared to be a home run, but Jamieson would time his jump perfectly robbing him at the wall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Brown's Sothoron continues pitching solid, keeping the Indians off the boards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This game would go to extras...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bottom of the 11th, the Browns' Severeid collects his 2nd hit of the game. The Browns call on pinch-runner <b>Dud Lee</b> (a backup shortstop) to run for the slow Severeid. The move to pinch-run with Lee would prove pivotal, as Lee beats out the force attempt at second (in a failed double-play attempt) which would result as a single for McManus.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With one out, and runners on 1st & 2nd, <b>Wally Gerber</b> hits a ball hard to SS Joe Sewell in which Sewell botches the grounder, and Gerber reaches first safely (E-6). Bases loaded, pitcher Allen Sothoron hits a ball back at Sewell, Sewell bobbles it, throws desperately to home plate, but the pinch-running Lee would beat out the throw, <i>as the Browns win the ballgame!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sothoron earns the win, pitching 7 solid innings in relief, striking out 6 batters, while allowing 5 hits.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhcKKb3IQMlEEEekW3IinPw6z96tTIaJKnU3WQkzODcJ8wR-EeVjrtlriaZQkzmXZ4tifLS0_cVFD9rZ3hjV-yaemvg0DQM7FqEFivJPATCQEJJBt087mlVjfjNXtYPOIGEg9EMoPX6mk8b3Aoj-ngGbGIbYXEQ6PR-m47Rb6erbEugtrV3C5ySpjuA/s797/1921_CLE%20at%20STL-A_Game-1_3-4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="794" height="563" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhcKKb3IQMlEEEekW3IinPw6z96tTIaJKnU3WQkzODcJ8wR-EeVjrtlriaZQkzmXZ4tifLS0_cVFD9rZ3hjV-yaemvg0DQM7FqEFivJPATCQEJJBt087mlVjfjNXtYPOIGEg9EMoPX6mk8b3Aoj-ngGbGIbYXEQ6PR-m47Rb6erbEugtrV3C5ySpjuA/w562-h563/1921_CLE%20at%20STL-A_Game-1_3-4.JPG" width="562" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-8396670356429208182023-07-18T07:00:00.001-04:002023-07-18T07:00:00.142-04:00AGBA All-Star Selections<p style="text-align: left;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ08SGSXqn1caslPAT2Ocg4h4v-DMhwsV0RTVmq0ykem8RtW_zqrb_DwMCO78zg0JkAr01aTUuF8NoAz0EcCuGdV0p_IkyqmMnXfWNJKqqd5fR4X5TdtPp96gZc-3O6DMjswiUiVvnovkF7DXUyCap4zSgmRdUAoy3BDC1al5CpvmCNcbotbTqLuoocw/s299/AGBA%20Baseball_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="299" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ08SGSXqn1caslPAT2Ocg4h4v-DMhwsV0RTVmq0ykem8RtW_zqrb_DwMCO78zg0JkAr01aTUuF8NoAz0EcCuGdV0p_IkyqmMnXfWNJKqqd5fR4X5TdtPp96gZc-3O6DMjswiUiVvnovkF7DXUyCap4zSgmRdUAoy3BDC1al5CpvmCNcbotbTqLuoocw/w381-h241/AGBA%20Baseball_2.png" width="381" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">The <b>APBA Galaxy Baseball Association (AGBA)</b> is now at its All-Star Break, here are the All-Star Selections for this season. There will be no game for this season, due to the 3 Leagues, but next year add four more teams, and make it strictly 2 leagues, which is definitely a lot less funky.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Here are the selections...</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">EASTERN LEAGUE ALL-STARS</span></u></b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><u>STARTERS</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: center;">C - <b>Chris Hoiles</b> (BAL)</div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - <b>John Kruk</b> (PHI)</div><div style="text-align: center;">2B - <b>Gleyber Torres</b> (NYP)</div><div style="text-align: center;">SS -<b> Trea Turner</b> (WSH)</div><div style="text-align: center;">3B - <b>Dick Allen</b> (PHI)</div><div style="text-align: center;">LF - <b>Tommy Pham</b> (CAR)</div><div style="text-align: center;">CF - <b>Lenny Dykstra</b> (PHI)</div><div style="text-align: center;">RF -<b> Mookie Betts</b> (BOS)</div><div style="text-align: center;">DH - <b>Fred McGriff</b> (ATL)</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - <b>Greg Maddux</b> (ATL)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u>RESERVES</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>Atlanta Firebirds</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Phil Niekro</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Greg McMichael</div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>Baltimore Bombers</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Dave McNally</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Boston Colonials</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">SS - Xander Bogaerts</div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Carl Yastrzemski</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Brooklyn Mets</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Tom Seaver</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Carolina Twins</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">3B/2B/OF - Don Buford</div><div style="text-align: center;">DH/OF/1B - Gates Brown</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Blake Snell</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Tommy Greene</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Florida Rockets</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Ken Harrelson</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Montreal Voyaguers</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Roy White</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>New York Knights</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - Sadaharu Oh</div><div style="text-align: center;">3B - Ed Charles</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>New York Pigeons</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">C - Mike Stanley</div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - Don Mattingly</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>Pittsburgh Arsenal</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Bob Veale</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Ron Kline</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Washington Maroons</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - John Wetteland</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>CENTRAL LEAGUE ALL-STARS</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u>STARTERS</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">C - <b>Rick Wilkins</b> (NASH)</div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - <b>Norm Cash</b> (DET)</div><div style="text-align: center;">2B - <b>Roberto Alomar</b> (TOR)</div><div style="text-align: center;">SS - <b>Francisco Lindor</b> (CLE)</div><div style="text-align: center;">3B- <b>Jose Ramirez</b> (CLE)</div><div style="text-align: center;">LF - <b>Tim Raines</b> (CHU)</div><div style="text-align: center;">CF - <b>Reggie Sanders </b>(CIN)</div><div style="text-align: center;">RF - <b>Christian Yelich</b> (MIL)</div><div style="text-align: center;">DH - <b>John Olerud</b> (TOR)</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - <b>Sam McDowell </b>(CLE)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u>RESERVES</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Chicago Legends</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">DH/OF - Glenallen Hill</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Cincinnati Buckeyes</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">2B - Pete Rose</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Hideo Nomo</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Cleveland Spiders</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Corey Kluber</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Vincente Romo</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Detroit Wolverines</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">SS - Alan Trammell</div><div style="text-align: center;">3B - Travis Fryman</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Kansas City Monarchs</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">C/DH - Mike Macfarlane</div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - Wally Joyner</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Brad Keller</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Jeff Montgomery</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>Milwaukee Braves</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;">OF/3B/1B - Ryan Braun</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Ray Washburn</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Jeremy Jeffress</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>New Orleans Pirates</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">DH/OF - Matt Kemp</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>St. Louis Saints</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - Gregg Jefferies</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Toronto Reds</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">C - Joe Azcue</div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Rickey Henderson</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Bobby Bolin</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Twin Cities Giants</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">3B - Chris Sabo</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>WESTERN LEAGUE ALL-STARS</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u>STARTERS</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: center;">C - <b>Chad Kreuter</b> (SD)</div><div style="text-align: center;">1B -<b> Andres Galarraga</b> (DEN)</div><div style="text-align: center;">2B - <b>Lou Whitaker </b>(POR)</div><div style="text-align: center;">SS - <b>Trevor Story</b> (DEN)</div><div style="text-align: center;">3B - <b>Alex Bregman</b> (HOU)</div><div style="text-align: center;">LF - <b>Barry Bonds </b>(SF)</div><div style="text-align: center;">CF - <b>Mike Trout</b> (LAG)</div><div style="text-align: center;">RF - <b>Dante Bichette </b>(DEN)</div><div style="text-align: center;">DH - <b>Willie McCovey</b> (SF)</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - <b>Luis Tiant</b> (SEA)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u>RESERVES</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Arlington Stars</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">C - Ivan Rodriguez</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Denver Miners</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">3B - Nolan Arenado</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Pat Jarvis</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Adam Ottavino</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Houston Rattlers</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">1B - Jeff Bagwell</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Mike Cuellar</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Justin Verlander</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Ryan Pressly</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Las Vegas Lizards</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Pete Harnisch</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Los Angeles Royals</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Joc Pederson</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Walker Buehler</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>San Diego Tigers</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">3B/OF/DH - Phil Clark</div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Felipe Alou</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>San Francisco Seals</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">SS - Brandon Crawford</div><div style="text-align: center;">SP - Juan Marichal</div><div style="text-align: center;">RP - Rod Beck</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>San Jose Athletics</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">2B/DH - Scooter Gennett</div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Rick Monday</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Seattle Captains</u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">OF - Ken Griffey Jr</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-60814138156616923372023-07-15T22:29:00.000-04:002023-07-15T22:29:03.699-04:00Where Were We?<p> It's safe to say that it's been awhile since I last posted. Lots going on in Becky and I's personal life, while we have been very busy at home and work life as well. We are literally scraping by, I honestly can't really get into what's been going on with us, until we actually find out answers ourselves.</p><p>Last time I posted, we just got back from the <b>Greater Michigan</b> tourney in Jackson, and almost immediately we had one thing after another come up on us. When we do get a break from things, we spend our time at home with our three strange, cats that keep us entertained. </p><p>We found out that our youngest cat, <b>Athena</b> (about 9 months old) apparently loves watching <b>'Murder She Wrote'</b> with us. She was literally on the edge of her cat tower watching one of the episodes. My wife has been on MSW kick, and now we both watch it together while its dinner time... I guess when you are in your late 40's you have to start doing old people stuff like watching Angela Lansbury in action.</p><p>My niece turns ONE on August 22nd, and my sister and her husband Morgan will be up from Philadelphia visiting in Northern Michigan in late August to celebrate little Vivian's birthday. My niece's birthday is August 22nd, My sister's birthday is August 26th, and my mom's birthday is the 29th of August... I know they couldn't have planned that any better.</p><p>My hobbies of late are the following...</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> <b>APBA</b> (<i>as if that's any surprise whatsoever</i>).</li><li><b><i>Creating my own Baseball replay game</i></b>.</li><li>Playing the <b>DK Sports Basketball (Action PC)</b> game, which is used for my <b>UBL Basketball</b> League.</li><li>Printing and cutting out all the cards for the <b>Status Pro Basketball</b> game, that I plan to learn to play.</li><li><b><i>Creating Custom-made Basketball cards of players</i></b> from my UBL Basketball League. </li><li>Listening to my <b>Bill Simmons</b> and <b>Ryen Russillo</b>, <b>The Ringer</b> podcasts. </li><li>My brother Chris and I, joining our father and his friends' APBA League... Yeah, my dad started playing again, and he's enjoying it again (Yay!)</li><li>Chris and I, starting our own 20-team APBA League, which we plan to do a Inaugural Draft starting with<b> 1980 </b>and then next year, 1981... More to come on that, we are still in the rough draft stages of the creation.</li><li><b>Creating compilation album covers</b> for my Spotify playlists... yes, you read that correctly.</li></ul><p></p><p>Like I mentioned above, we are just scraping by, so that is the major reason among other reasons, that we unfortunately can't make it to the <b>Glass City APBA Baseball Tournament</b>. My friend, it's wonderful host Ron Emch won't be there, as him and his wife will be celebrating 50 years of marriage... <i>Congratulations on 50 years, wow! </i>No fear though, the tournament will be in good hands, as it will be hosted by father and son, Norm and Michael Zavela. The theme is non-playoff teams between the years, 1990-to current, I believe (but no 2020 season). </p><p>If I had went, I would have played my <b>2007 Detroit Tigers</b>, which didn't have much pitching but had an excellent lineup with the top bats being <b>Curtis Granderson</b>, <b>Placido Polanco</b>, and <b>Magglio Ordonez</b>. In my <b>2007 Detroit Tigers Season Replay</b>, all three each had over 200 hits. </p><p>I will go more in-depth with the hobbies listed above in future posts. </p><p>Hope all is well for everyone else, plenty of Sixty-Sixes to everyone.</p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-57768273421471739042023-03-22T15:03:00.000-04:002023-03-22T15:03:58.521-04:00March Updates (AGBA & GMABT)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXnfqgJJ8TrCbTbgaD59ivr-WE-zI0zWF3ajMxuhlL0reuV1By0wuTrg2DOOuywlQbPHweVYhLAiJXzz4eImH5L42oH2I7i7p60qG1aykGsVCp7waSCzlA5BmrJc01AkZEPBcNR236mpt-5rZWG95E7Yt1neeHcB5Wpv1-AUGx_q7B01LuR11xQE/s430/Ruppert%20Jones_DET.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXnfqgJJ8TrCbTbgaD59ivr-WE-zI0zWF3ajMxuhlL0reuV1By0wuTrg2DOOuywlQbPHweVYhLAiJXzz4eImH5L42oH2I7i7p60qG1aykGsVCp7waSCzlA5BmrJc01AkZEPBcNR236mpt-5rZWG95E7Yt1neeHcB5Wpv1-AUGx_q7B01LuR11xQE/s320/Ruppert%20Jones_DET.JPG" width="228" /></a></div><br /><p>Here are some quick updates for the month of March, on projects and future posts.</p><p><span style="color: #ffa400; font-size: large;"><b><u>AGBA Baseball Season I</u></b></span></p><p>Here are the standings for the <b>APBA Galaxy Baseball Association (AGBA)</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQp77i1d-HVZxU-9TTfHVp83KVtGqfbAeCrL2p_-EfSEyI75tQngPQvFw1dcDCMBMWt1Sm4E7uOEmrQ85NumTeLqoplORZDxLDYG_XfCGt3v344dkGmAl6iYJHjTeOGywS_4R0M8efLCNS01ddE_80B4D7Y2f5jLsda8Sv2R_25CjAPK9dP_hsi2o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="507" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQp77i1d-HVZxU-9TTfHVp83KVtGqfbAeCrL2p_-EfSEyI75tQngPQvFw1dcDCMBMWt1Sm4E7uOEmrQ85NumTeLqoplORZDxLDYG_XfCGt3v344dkGmAl6iYJHjTeOGywS_4R0M8efLCNS01ddE_80B4D7Y2f5jLsda8Sv2R_25CjAPK9dP_hsi2o=w456-h331" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The <b>New York Pigeons</b> (of the <b>Eastern League's Ruth Division</b>) has acquired some more breathing room between them and their closest competition by sweeping their 4-game series at home, against the <b>Florida Rockets</b> (who have now lost 6 straight). The Pigeons have one of the best records in AGBA when playing at home, sporting a 15-6 record. The Baltimore Bombers have idled all season at the .500 mark, and are at the moment, the 2nd place team.<p></p><p>If this season's trends continue, there should be 3 playoff teams coming out of the <b>Robinson Division</b>. The <b>Philadelphia Veterans</b> appeared to be the solid third team, and possible 2nd place team, but has now hit the skids, sliding to 4th place, with Washington slipping past them. The <b>Washington Maroons</b> success has been due to their lineup starting to wake up. The Maroons moved shortstop <b>Trea Turner</b> up to the leadoff spot, and he hasn't looked back -- batting .389, 1 HR, 5 RBI with 6 runs, while reaching base with a .421 OBP and stealing 4 bases during recent 8-game stretch. </p><p>The <b>Carolina Twins</b> remains by an edge on top of the Robinson Division, while both Carolina and the <b>Atlanta Firebirds</b> won each of their last 4-game series, 3-1. The <b>Brooklyn Mets</b> rebounded from an 4-0 sweep against Carolina two weeks ago, by going 5-2-1 their last 8 games. The Mets may be adding a big bat before the Trade Deadline, by trading one of their surplus of pitchers. The Mets are in 5th place in their division, 18 points back, but have the potential to get back into the division race with the rotation that they have.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUCfkCDOg6WVKPsdhe_S6r4ogauQVTAWuwZWHzJWI-9jb0Ip8KSnnHhU_gU-PBoD2bGmGRIoGO4Bd3XSjp0k_CQo8CljcCVe_ZcXnk01KM3507K2gwaP0RJENsNezsagjGvrEj-C-R7YHW3BAtm48UEk4HZ5pApnPHT7UvyBDjjYi_-wklU2fYdGE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="481" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUCfkCDOg6WVKPsdhe_S6r4ogauQVTAWuwZWHzJWI-9jb0Ip8KSnnHhU_gU-PBoD2bGmGRIoGO4Bd3XSjp0k_CQo8CljcCVe_ZcXnk01KM3507K2gwaP0RJENsNezsagjGvrEj-C-R7YHW3BAtm48UEk4HZ5pApnPHT7UvyBDjjYi_-wklU2fYdGE=w459-h342" width="459" /></a></div><br />The <b>Detroit Wolverines</b> may be starting to add their name to the AGBA Title contenders with their recent 7-2-1 stretch, while the <b>Cobb Division</b> favorite <b>Cleveland Spiders</b> have lost their webbing, and found themselves in their worst stretch of the season (4-6, last 10 games). The Wolverines host the same <b>Toronto Reds</b> that won their series, 3-1 against Cleveland, while the Spiders look to rebound against the gold & purple, facing off against the <b>Kansas City Monarchs</b> on the road. Toronto looked good against Cleveland, and hope to build on their recent momentum.<p></p><p>The <b>Milwaukee Braves</b> remain in 1st place in the <b>Young Division</b>, as they are in control with a 9-point cushion over the <b>St. Louis Saints</b>. The Braves host the struggling Saints next. The Saints have lost 7 of their last 10 games, as their bats cooled off. St. Louis has scored 4 runs-or-less during 8 of their last 10 games. </p><p>The <b>Twin Cities Giants</b> continue to move in a positive position, but due to the rough start to the season, still remain 16 points (8 games behind).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5EMtTr0qdKeCnR5G1w80RQz1au57ABaUsU-UVQLIFexjxHO8NmbaxYYAl1WYR_8Vp5UHamO_1i4bc3MSEs_yJCHgfMzfaWUWWPYU5x-Q1yyItwLLteyOdlp5oqr1jwsfKYzWWtc-ig7h_nJSJs97av8Ri3Hz651tIebAXF7caZVLDUF6DiFiSlFY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="505" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5EMtTr0qdKeCnR5G1w80RQz1au57ABaUsU-UVQLIFexjxHO8NmbaxYYAl1WYR_8Vp5UHamO_1i4bc3MSEs_yJCHgfMzfaWUWWPYU5x-Q1yyItwLLteyOdlp5oqr1jwsfKYzWWtc-ig7h_nJSJs97av8Ri3Hz651tIebAXF7caZVLDUF6DiFiSlFY=w491-h355" width="491" /></a></div><br />The <b>Houston Rattlers</b> are tied with the <b>Carolina Twins</b> with the best record in the entire Galaxy League, each showing off a 23-10-1 record (.696 winning pct). The Rattlers are strong in all areas, lineup, rotation, pen & bench, and appear to be the overwhelming favorite to win the division. Houston's closest competition are the <b>San Jose Athletics</b>, who recently slowed down the hot <b>Los Angeles Guardians</b>. <p></p><p>The <b>Denver Miners</b> now appear to be the team to beat in the <b>Wagner Division</b>. The Miners' lineup have been explosive at the plate, while they have got clutch starting pitching out of Pat Jarvis (5-1, 2.19) and <b>Frank Viola</b>, who has a 3-1 record and 2.72 ERA (1.93 ERA in last 3 starts) since being acquired from <b>Twin Cities</b>.</p><p>Denver's <b>Andres Galarraga</b> is making a serious push for the <b>Western League's MVP Award</b>, by hitting .479 with 4 HR & 14 RBI, plus 10 doubles during his last 12 games. Galarraga also has a remarkable .528 OBP, 1.063 slugging & a Ruthian-plus 1.591 OPS during the hot streak. Teammate <b>Dante Bichette </b>has also been one of AGBA's hottest hitters recently, batting .375 with 4 HR & 12 RBI (.426 OBP & 1.238 OPS) during the same stretch.</p><p>Don't look now, but the Arlington Stars have come alive, and quietly snuck past the underachieving <b>Los Angeles Royals</b> and <b>San Francisco Seals</b> (the two preseason favorites to go head-to-head for the division). The Stars' rotation has been consistently good for the past couple weeks, while the lineup has been much better, although they need <b>Juan Gonzalez</b> (.239 AVG) and <b>Frank Howard</b> (.222 AVG) to step up. Although Howard is among the league leaders with 11 home runs this season, he has not hit a dinger in two weeks, while he has batted .133 (6-for-45) during the stretch.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="color: #ffa400; font-size: large;">Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament IX (GMABT)</span></b></p><p>I plan to do a future post on returning to Jackson, Michigan after a 6-year absence. What I can tell you right now is that <b>Norm Zavela</b> navigated the <b>1984 Detroit Tigers</b> ("Bless You Boys") to win the tournament's 9th tourney. </p><p>Many APBA-heads can tell you that guiding the 1984 Tigers to any success is a somewhat rarity. The <b>1984 Tigers</b> and <b>1986 Mets</b>, are two very memorable MLB teams, each with colorful characters and great bench players, but for some reason many dice rollers have had a hard time equally their MLB success. There could be numerous reasons for such, in my honest opinion is that many managers (including myself) have used numerous lineups for each of these teams, with many different starters as well, and APBA managers may have altered the lineups during one single tournament as well, once they felt they had to change things up.</p><p>I found out after my first few APBA tournaments that keeping one consistent lineup helps out tremendously, then it's all down to if you are rolling good dice or not. In my first GMABT tournament, I took the deadball <b>1917 Chicago White Sox</b> and changed the lineup a few times over, with <b>Eddie Collins</b> and a couple others shifting around. I lost a couple close ones, but short story -- I didn't do well, plus my friend <b>Ron Emch</b> pointed out afterwards, I probably should have hit-and-run much more. Plus I think most APBA fans also know, unless it's a deadball era tournament, it's overall best to stay away from using a deadball team.</p><p>The next year, I ended up winning the <b>Greater Michigan</b> with a never-changing lineup in the <b>1993</b> <b>Atlanta Braves</b>, going 8-2 in the division, while winning my 3 playoff games for the title (11-2 overall record). I had the #1 seed in my 1st <b>Glass City Tournament </b>with the <b>1951 Brooklyn Dodgers</b>, also due to sticking with one lineup -- by the way, all four of the top seeds (including mine) got knocked out by the bottom four seeded teams in that tournament.</p><p>It would be great to hear from Norman on how he navigated such a great (but difficult) team to the title. I do know that <b>Ruppert Jones</b> (pictured at top) was named the <b>APBA Tournament MVP</b> for the Tigers, having a 3 HR game during the day, while hitting the clutch homer in the GMABT championship game. Kudos on a job well done!</p><p>More to come on the tournament...<br /><br /></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-3817749876272342382023-03-04T04:00:00.001-05:002023-03-04T04:00:00.204-05:00AGBA's Big Money Makers<p>Here is a list of each franchise's highest paid players during <b>AGBA Season I</b>. The list might make you laugh, but consider the seasons we are using in this project (1968, 1993 & 2018). For example, <b>Ken Harrelson</b> is the Florida Rockets' highest paid player on Florida due to his big year in 1968. The salary system also puts an emphasis on playing time, multiple position availability, and defense -- which is why <b>Jay Bell</b> (a APBA fielding '9' at short) is the <b>Pittsburgh Arsenal</b>'s highest paid player, playing in 154 games, while also hitting .310 with 187 hits & 16 stolen bases.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpbCvL3DAgrjOaUfyjpIKC13QslRzWTL_juHUOFTVfROqWLNNc8u7uLgqEEktb_mssRFD1gFl1_kXR_l-_w5xd4MOzxPYmDugAlJe-XAHEmenDcNs47JSc74t7ei-5IWlfsPz-m5xlE3J-LUfkIzzuW2GNvFk76qGqapfuZGseV690sY5hVwE2b8/s665/AGBA%20Money%20Makers%201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="665" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpbCvL3DAgrjOaUfyjpIKC13QslRzWTL_juHUOFTVfROqWLNNc8u7uLgqEEktb_mssRFD1gFl1_kXR_l-_w5xd4MOzxPYmDugAlJe-XAHEmenDcNs47JSc74t7ei-5IWlfsPz-m5xlE3J-LUfkIzzuW2GNvFk76qGqapfuZGseV690sY5hVwE2b8/w524-h303/AGBA%20Money%20Makers%201.JPG" width="524" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFPyzJkoHepRelejlLM-D9-4eX2AocoHyRII4-my_PBjAabIKwIY0Ir4wCtLp5G9e0J2RJFsftggtJRPVRhpQ3OivuiflQhPIobco28wRexgoOFl3l-QStA9U6yhF2UkjGqfGTGVfacfaRgg2Jr6cly3vtYAI1b10-cY8ijqMgR3zZ_blCHUptu0/s662/AGBA%20Money%20Makers%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="662" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFPyzJkoHepRelejlLM-D9-4eX2AocoHyRII4-my_PBjAabIKwIY0Ir4wCtLp5G9e0J2RJFsftggtJRPVRhpQ3OivuiflQhPIobco28wRexgoOFl3l-QStA9U6yhF2UkjGqfGTGVfacfaRgg2Jr6cly3vtYAI1b10-cY8ijqMgR3zZ_blCHUptu0/w512-h294/AGBA%20Money%20Makers%202.JPG" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf-EaLtrlyasfI-auhNgNowKoOgYnCNwx9LeB-hBRFRKH3oBO3uKnrO1lhfK0M5EonKqD-F69upnY8sKtOBx3NWbe_8emLBgMI90DEw59WlOhN15t6nlhutBuYzTJ_EE-AoT6-EFPstPMX8vLDwDW6eAAZD9qPTmx-BoSzNx04zbIL5e2KdhxYwg/s664/AGBA%20Money%20Makers%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="664" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf-EaLtrlyasfI-auhNgNowKoOgYnCNwx9LeB-hBRFRKH3oBO3uKnrO1lhfK0M5EonKqD-F69upnY8sKtOBx3NWbe_8emLBgMI90DEw59WlOhN15t6nlhutBuYzTJ_EE-AoT6-EFPstPMX8vLDwDW6eAAZD9qPTmx-BoSzNx04zbIL5e2KdhxYwg/w513-h297/AGBA%20Money%20Makers%203.JPG" width="513" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-50058614702332121202023-03-01T08:00:00.001-05:002023-03-01T08:00:00.187-05:00AGBA Update: 30 Games into the Season (Western League Recap)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNiowK6hXxaBvydx2pEqx7tfBVcl3AENpDbzLGy5tnwSl0FvMBMOQgWhKzlEDTUJNN3jfg2d4HktTeGMCJrPIa24UucfiljlHMyAc2DwLIKwC9ns7Uj1jB9_EKosCXHvnRP8sVGW8XmXezg2tZSI0aKaRjblkbtDAqE-4o5Aj_sOfHLJrCAhNpgE/s626/AGBA_WL_DISPLAY_Final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="626" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNiowK6hXxaBvydx2pEqx7tfBVcl3AENpDbzLGy5tnwSl0FvMBMOQgWhKzlEDTUJNN3jfg2d4HktTeGMCJrPIa24UucfiljlHMyAc2DwLIKwC9ns7Uj1jB9_EKosCXHvnRP8sVGW8XmXezg2tZSI0aKaRjblkbtDAqE-4o5Aj_sOfHLJrCAhNpgE/w591-h393/AGBA_WL_DISPLAY_Final.jpg" width="591" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The <b>Houston Rattlers</b> have had solid control of the <b>Gehrig Division</b> for most of the season, while they have a 13point, 6.5 game lead over both the <b>Los Angeles Guardians</b> and the <b>Seattle Captains</b>. Houston has also won 11 of their last 15 games.</p><p>The Rattlers have a great balance in power at the plate, and great pitching on the mound. <b>Mike Cuellar</b> (3-1, 2.29) has been Houston's best pitcher, striking out 43 batters in 43.1 innings. <b>Gerrit Cole</b> has improved to 5-0 with 2.82 ERA & 40 K's. Their slated ace <b>Justin Verlander </b>(2-1) has struggled as of late, with his ERA raising above 4.00 (4.04), while giving up his 10th home run. On a plus point, JV does have 47 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. Houston's most consistent hitter has been <b>Jeff Bagwell</b>, batting .313 with 7 HR & 28 RBI. <b>Craig Biggio</b>, <b>Alex Bregman</b> & <b>George Springer </b>has heated up, while <b>Carlos Correa</b> and <b>Jose Altuve</b> have struggled mightily of late; Altuve and Correa are a combined 6-for-56 (.107) during the last 8 games.</p><p>The <b>Los Angeles Guardians</b> are playing their best ball of the season, winning 6 of their last 8 games, and climbing up the standings to tie Seattle (by defeating Seattle, 6-4), and walking away with a series split. <b>Mike Trout</b> has been on a tear during this stretch, batting .467 (14-for-30) with 7 HR, 16 RBI & swiping 6 bases during this 8-game stretch. Just prior to this stretch, Trout was struggling (.196 AVG through 18 games), but has raised his batting average to .296, while smacking 9 HR & 22 RBI to go along with 15 stolen bases (26 games). <b>Shohei Ohtani</b> has so far not lived up to the hype, as he has pinned up a 2-3 record with a 7.18 ERA on the mound, and has batted .250 with 0 HR, 2 RBI, while stealing 4 bases. The Guardians' <b>George Brunet</b> has won 5 of the Guardians' 14 wins, while <b>Mark Langston</b> (3-2) has collected 51 strikeouts through 41 innings (11.20 K/9). The team signed a new bat in backstop <b>Wilson Ramos</b> to give them some sock in the lineup.</p><p>The <b>Seattle Captains</b> made a splash by trading for <b>Luis Tiant</b> of the <b>Cleveland Spiders</b> and his huge contract, prior to the season. Tiant has done his part, but Seattle has had a difficult time trying to give him some run support. Tiant has a 3-3 record with 4 complete games, while posting a 2.37 ERA & 44 strikeouts. Although <b>Randy Johnson</b> has been a bit subpar during the 1st half of the season, the 'Big Unit' does lead the team with 46 strikeouts. <b>Ken Griffey Jr</b> has heated up, batting .467 (14-for-30) with 3 HR, 3 doubles & 5 RBI during the last 8-game stretch. Griffey is now batting .327 with 7 HR & 19 RBI for the season.</p><p>The <b>San Jose Athletics</b> (who by the way, don't wear the 'Kerry Green') thought they would be more competitive in their division this season, instead of sitting in 4th place. The team has won 4 of their last 5 games, their best stretch since their 5-game winning streak between April 2nd & April 7th. Preseason Waiver Draft pickup 2B/DH <b>Scooter Gennett</b> has been the team's best bat, batting .317 (39 hits) with 5 HR, 6 doubles & 18 RBI. Big <b>Reggie Jackson</b> is batting .239 with 6 HR & 19 RBI. <b>Mark McGwire</b> (who has had a hard time staying on the field) is batting .370 with 5 HR & 10 RBI in only 27 at-bats, hitting a HR in every 5.4 at-bats!</p><p>The starting pitching has not been as great as it should be. <b>Jim Nash</b> (2-4, 5.40 ERA & 22 K) is an APBA <b>Grade A-YZ</b>, but has pitched anything but. <b>Blue Moon Odom</b> (2-3, 6.37 ERA) has also been terrible. <b>Chuck Dobson</b> had a 3.04 ERA & only 5 walks allowed through his first 26.2 innings, but has since allowed 11 walks & 10 earned runs through his last 12.1 innings, raising his ERA to 4.42 for the season. <b>Catfish Hunter</b> (APBA Grade B-Y/10-Y) has been trending upward of late, winning his team-lead 3rd game, and lowering his ERA to 3.43 after a 1 ER allowed, 7.1 inning performance against Phoenix. </p><p>While the <b>Boston Colonials</b> were trying to put together a team, while managing a salary cap. Boston made the<b> Phoenix Rays</b> the lucky winners to acquire <b>J.D. Martinez</b>. J.D. has not disappointed by hitting .294 with 9 HR, 8 doubles & 21 RBI. Martinez, not known for his fielding has played right field most of the season, allowing the DH role to be split by <b>Mike Greenwell </b>and <b>Steven Pearce</b>. Greenwell another Colonial original, was acquired through the Waiver Draft. Both Greenwell and Pearce have underachieved, but have come alive during the last 8 games, with a combined .375 (9-for-24) with each hitting a home run during the last 8 games. <b>David Peralta</b> leads the Rays with 10 HR & 24 RBI.</p><p>The Rays' entire rotation has been a disappointment, but recently witnessed the staff's first complete game, a 4-hit shutout by <b>Zack Greinke</b>, while <b>Steve Barber</b> getting one last chance to start (0-3, 10.50 ERA in 4 starts), has allowed only 3 ER with 11 K's through his last 15 innings (also completed a game as well). <b>Patrick Corbin</b> (2-2, 3.49 ERA & 42 K through 38.2 IP) has been the club's best starting pitcher.</p><p>You have heard of the term, <i style="font-weight: bold;">What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas</i>, and for this team that is relatively true, everyone sees their record (10-20) and it's easy to think there is absolutely nothing go on with this team. The one bright spot has been SP <b>Pete Harnish</b> (3-3, 3.48 ERA & 52 K in 44 IP), who will have a difficult time <b><i>staying in Vegas</i></b>, with buying teams sniffing around for talent. <b>Cecil Fielder</b> carries his hot May into June, clubbing a few more home runs -- giving him 7 HR & 20 RBI. <b>Joe Carter</b> who had no HR through his first 18 games, has hit 3 HR during his last 7 games.</p><p>The <b>Wagner Division</b> has been a dog fight for most of the season, the <b>San Diego Tigers</b> found themselves on top for a good month, until their recent 2-6 skid. The Tigers have been a surprise team that started out 13-5, but have been 3-8-1 since then. Although San Diego has been sliding of late, they only find themselves (tied with <b>San Francisco Seals</b>) 1 point and a half-game back of the <b>Los Angeles Royals</b> and <b>Denver Miners</b>. In fact, the last place <b>Portland Thorns</b> are only 9 points & 4.5 games out of 1st place.</p><p>Let's begin with the <b>Los Angeles Royals</b>, who along with San Francisco, were probably the preseason picks to compete for the division. The Royals just haven't got rolling, with their best stretch being a 6-1 stretch between April 10th & April 18th. They find themselves currently tied on top, due to the rest of the division sliding back. With the talent that the Royals have, you definitely would expect more things from this team. </p><p>The Royals have at least 8 pitchers with an <i><b>APBA Grade 11 (B or above) or higher</b></i>, that the team could start a game. The team primarily uses <b>Don Drysdale </b>(Grade A-Y/17-Y), <b>Don Sutton</b> (Grade B-X/14-X), <b>Walker Buehler</b> (Grade B-XZ/14-XZ), <b>Claude Osteen</b> (B-Z/11-Z) and <b>Bill Singer</b> (B-X/13-X) for their rotation. The Royals use <b>Hyun-Jin Ryu</b> (Grade A-XZ/18-XZ) as a high-leverage long reliever, and as a backup emergency starter, while<b> Ramon Martinez</b> and <b>Mudcat Grant</b> are used strictly out of the bullpen. Counting Grant, the Royals have 5 relievers in <b>Jim Brewer</b>, <b>Jim Gott</b>, <b>Roger McDowell</b>, and <b>Hank Aguirre</b> with Grades of 15+ (A or higher).</p><p>Buehler has been the Royals' best pitcher, showing off a 3-1 record, 1.98 ERA & 35 K's through 41 innings of work. Drysdale has pitched better of late, winning his team-best 4th win of the season, while lowering his season ERA to 4.40, while placing 2nd on the team with 32 strikeouts. Sutton and Osteen have struggled most of the season so far. </p><p>The Royals' hitting through the first 22 games, had <b>Manny Machado</b> (.262 AVG) with their best batting average. The team is loaded with players such as <b>Justin Turner</b>, <b>Yasiel Puig</b>, <b>Cody Bellinger</b>, <b>Eric Karros</b> and <b>Brett Butler</b> to go along with Machado, Piazza & Muncy. Simply put, Royals fans expect more. <b>Mike Piazza</b> is looking like his old self lately, batting .303 with 1 HR & 8 RBI during his last 8 games. Piazza was only batting .239 with 3 HR & 11 RBI through his first 22 games, and has since raised his average to .256 for the season. <b>Max Muncy</b> has matched his 9 hits for the season, with 9 hits during his last 8 games. Muncy has also batted .360 with 3 HR & 9 RBI during this stretch, raising his average up to .255.</p><p>We move on up to the Rocky Mountains with the <b>Denver Miners</b>, with the Miners winning 5 of their last 7 games. The Miners' ace <b>Pat Jarvis</b> coming off a 3-hit shutout, has improved to 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA & 31 strikeouts through 6 starts. <b>Dave Boswell</b> looked solid through his first 4 starts (3-1, 2.57), but has had two really bad outings in a row (6.2 IP, 13.50 ERA). The Miners took a chance on <b>Frank Viola</b> (who struggled for Twin Cities), acquiring him in exchange for 1B/OF-<b>Jerald Clark</b>. Viola has been great with Denver so far through 4 starts -- 2-1 record, 2.45 ERA & 24 K in 29.1 innings pitched.</p><p>In the batters' box, <b>Andres Galarraga</b> has been a beast, batting .545 (18-for-33) during his last 8 games, while raising his season numbers to .375 AVG (45 hits), 5 HR, 25 RBI, 10 doubles, 4 triples & 19 runs. <b>Nolan Arenado</b> has heated up (11 for his last 29 AB, including 4 HR) during his last 7 games. Arenado only batted .192 with 3 HR & 9 RBI through his first 21 games. <b>Dante Bichette</b> has been solid & consistent, batting .336 with 7 HR & 27 RBI.</p><p>The <b>San Francisco Seals</b> (16-13-1) have been using a 4-man rotation with<b> Juan Marichal</b>, <b>Gaylord Perry</b> & <b>Ray Sadecki</b>, pitching every 4 games, while their 4th slot in the rotation is alternated between <b>Madison Bumgarner </b>and <b>John Burkett</b>. Marichal, the team's Latin ace, has a 4-2 record, 2.61 ERA & 42 strikeouts through 62 innings. Sadecki has been red hot of late (2-0, 1.69 ERA & 22 K's during last two outings), and has improved to 5-1, 2.74 ERA & 51 K's. Gaylord has been hovering around a 4.50 ERA all season, while falling victim to the rough inning, and the long ball (8 HR allowed).</p><p>The Seals' lineup is a powerful lineup that consists of sluggers <b>Willie Mays</b>, <b>Willie McCovey</b>, <b>Barry Bonds</b>, <b>Matt Williams</b> &<b> Will Clark</b>. The Seals are one of a few teams with at least two hitters with more than 10 HR's during this point of the season. McCovey leads the team with 12 HR, to go along with his .333 batting average & 33 RBI. Bonds has 11 HR, 24 RBI, 19 BB & leads the team with 5 stolen bases. Although Williams is only batting .211, he has 8 HR & 25 RBI for the season. Will "The Thrill" has not delivered any thrill, batting below the Mendoza line at .157 (through 89 at-bats), while only posting 3 HR & 9 RBI (Teammate <b>Willie McGee</b> has more HR & RBI with 4 HR & 14 RBI).</p><p>Earlier I mentioned, the <b>San Diego Tigers</b> had somewhat control of the Wagner Division for most of the season, and there were a few factors that went into that. One of those factors have been a surprise in catcher <b>Chad Kreuter</b> (picked up in the Waiver Draft). Kreuter's strength has always been behind the plate, which he possibly well on his way to a <b>Galaxy Glove</b> this season -- throwing out 6 base stealers. Kreuter has also been good at the plate, batting .327 with 7 HR & 19 RBI. <b>Felipe Alou</b> has been the team's leader, batting .373 (47 hits) with 5 HR & 21 RBI. Young Phil Clark has 33 hits in 89 at-bats (.371), while collecting 3 HR & 14 RBI. The big shocker may be the fact that <b>Tony Gwynn</b> has struggled to reach the .300 mark (coming closest with a .286 mark) has slipped back down to a .264 batting average with 2 HR & 19 RBI. </p><p><b>Larry Jackson</b> (Grade 12-YZ) has been the Tigers' best starting pitcher with a 3-1 record, 3.00 ERA & 22 K's through 36 innings. The Tigers' closer <b>Kirby Yates</b> has a 1.42 ERA & 6 Saves.</p><p>After an 0-5-1 season start, the <b>Arlington Stars</b> have been 15-9 since, and seemed to be playing better all around the field. <b>Frank Howard</b> leads the Stars with 11 HR & 24 RBI, while <b>Rafael Palmeiro</b> is the team's best hitter, batting .272 with 8 HR & 26 RBI. Despite the season's bad start, Arlington's fans are optimistic, as the Stars split series with two tough division foes in the Royals and Seals of late. 2B <b>Rougned Odor</b> is the team's hottest hitter of late, batting .423 with 3 HR & 10 RBI during a 6-game stretch, improving his season numbers to .296 with 4 HR & 16 RBI.</p><p>Last are the last-place (but in striking-distance) <b>Portland Thorns</b>. The team knows who they are, and don't expect to compete against such stiff competition moving forward. Rumors are already swirling about trading off one of their best hitting stars in veteran 2B <b>Lou Whitaker</b>. Whitaker batting .292 with 6 HR & 19 RBI, has an AGBA-best 19 doubles through 30 games. The team has other trade pieces, that could bring in prospects as well in OF<b> Aaron Hicks</b> and SP <b>Orel Hershiser </b>(3-0, 4.46 ERA). <b>Lance McCullers Jr</b> (with only 1 game start) may soon find himself a rotation regular, as he has posted a 2.91 ERA with 21 K's through 21.2 innings.</p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-6405720610674934562023-02-27T08:00:00.001-05:002023-02-27T08:00:00.188-05:00AGBA 30 Game into the Season (Central League Recap)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9og50Jl3gpr_ABcXWn6yG7ohmymRSwHgGDE5DfP3e0xxS3pP4tcXvAxqlPBv_0K_fxzec_cbgKcE7N4AxPMGND5x8MZ71fxguEdckoJQ-atmoUp_JM7YCC_L2CDxUSipnJh9OGGWTir3nIc5oTn9NsYjeuZMOvjkNX4HYi8bSbH8HI8qow2G4_dw/s626/AGBA_CL_DISPLAY_Final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="626" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9og50Jl3gpr_ABcXWn6yG7ohmymRSwHgGDE5DfP3e0xxS3pP4tcXvAxqlPBv_0K_fxzec_cbgKcE7N4AxPMGND5x8MZ71fxguEdckoJQ-atmoUp_JM7YCC_L2CDxUSipnJh9OGGWTir3nIc5oTn9NsYjeuZMOvjkNX4HYi8bSbH8HI8qow2G4_dw/w555-h369/AGBA_CL_DISPLAY_Final.jpg" width="555" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The Central League consists of the <b>Cobb Division</b>, and the <b>Young Division</b> (named after <b>Cy Young</b> obviously). </p><p>We will start in the more exciting division of the two, the Cobb Division in which the <b>Cleveland Spiders</b> (21-8-1), best record in AGBA Baseball. The Spiders opened the offseason by shocking their fans by trading away Cuban pitching star<b> Luis Tiant</b> to the <b>Seattle Captains</b> in exchange for a handful of prospects in SP <b>Mike Hampton</b>, 2B <b>Fernando Vina</b>, and veteran RP <b>Adam Warren</b>, plus draft picks. The Spiders were trying to cut some salary by trading away players to fit the roster salary cap, and didn't simply wanted to release Tiant for nothing in return.</p><p>The Spiders' lineup is one of the best in baseball to go with a superb rotation. The lineup consists of <b>Kenny Lofton</b>, <b>Jose E. Ramirez</b>, <b>Albert Belle</b>, <b>Francisco Lindor</b>, Michael Brantley and <b>Edwin Encarnacion</b>, while the pitching consists of ace <b>Sam McDowell</b>, <b>Corey Kluber</b>, <b>Trevor Bauer</b>, <b>Mike Clevinger</b>, and <b>Sonny Siebert</b>. The team is also stacked with prospects such as <b>Manny Ramirez</b>, <b>Jim Thome</b>, <b>Shane Bieber</b>, Hampton, Vina and more.</p><p>During a 15-game stretch, the Spiders had a 13-1-1 record, but have looked vulnerable of late, going only 6-5 during their last 11 games. <b>Albert Belle</b> has been ice cold all season, batting only .187 with 3 HR & 11 RBI. Meanwhile, the Spiders' best hitters have been <b>Francisco Lindor</b> (.292, 10 HR, 29 RBI with 13 SB & 26 runs), <b>Jose Ramirez</b> (.297, 11 HR & 24 RBI, 7 SB & 26 runs), and <b>Carlos Baerga</b> (.304, 4 HR, 21 RBI & 14 runs).</p><p>The <b>Detroit Wolverines</b> may have been one of the league's biggest enigmas entering the season. It was obvious that they had a strong lineup with great bench options as well, but no one knew what to expect from the pitchers. No one thought Detroit would start the season, 12-4. The Wolverines picked up P <b>Ross Stripling</b> in the waiver draft, and has since signed lefty specialist <b>Oliver Perez</b> as well. The Wolverines at this point appear to be a solid bet to reach this upcoming postseason, they have pieces to possibly make their team better coming up during All-Star break. Word from the inside, they are buyers, not sellers. Cleveland should still be able to win the Cobb Division.</p><p>The <b>Kansas City Monarchs</b> sporting the colors of the <b>NBA's Los Angeles Lakers</b> have stuck around despite their ups and downs. The team started the season, 6-1, and then lost 6 of their next 7 games. The Monarchs recently have won 5 of their last 6 games, with a stretch that included 3 consecutive 11-Inning games (going 2-1 in those games). The Monarchs of late, have also plugged <b>Salvador Perez</b> behind the plate, while moving <b>Mike Macfarlane</b> to the DH role, which seems to be bringing the team and pitching staff more stability. </p><p>The <b>Toronto Reds</b> have a talented lineup, but lack solid starting pitching outside of <b>Bobby Bolin </b>(4-0, 1.75 ERA). Prior to the Reds losing their last 3 straight games, the team had its most successful stretch, going 7-2. The team has the best 1-2 combo on the base paths in <b>Rickey Henderson</b> (14 SB) and <b>Roberto Alomar</b> (20 SB), while also hitting 1-2 in the lineup as well. </p><p>The <b>Chicago Union</b> had high expectations with their superb pitching staff and bullpen, thinking that they should be competing for the top-half of the division. It unfortunately has not been that way, and has been a frustrating season so far for Chicago. Their top of the rotation consists of three Grade A starting pitchers in <b>Joe Horlen</b> (A), <b>Tommy John</b> (A-Y) and <b>Wilson Alvarez</b> (A-YW), while the rotation is rounded out by two B-YZ's in <b>Jack McDowell</b> and <b>Alex Fernandez</b>. The team has a solid bullpen foursome, in which the Chicago faithful have quietly dubbed <b>'The Four Horsemen'</b> in <b>Wilbur Wood</b>,<b> Bob Locker</b>, <b>Roberto Hernandez</b> and <b>Hoyt Wilhelm</b>.</p><p>The <b>Nashville Jukes</b> (13-16-1) might not be as bad as their record reflects, but they are unfortunately in a tough division, and tough league. <b>Clayton Kershaw</b>, <b>Carlos Carrasco</b>, and <b>Gary Bell</b> have all pitched really well for the Jukes. The bullpen is capable of doing better as <b>David Robertson</b> and <b>Blake Treinen</b> have been the only good choices. The batting has been the worst element for Nashville, batting .216 as a team, with only <b>Jose Cardenal</b> (their leadoff man) and catcher <b>Rick Wilkins</b> being the two best bats.</p><p>We now switch to the <b>Young Division</b>, where currently the <b>Milwaukee Braves</b> sit on top of the division with a 19-9-2 record. </p><p>Milwaukee was playing roughly .500 ball through their first 18 games, but have caught fire by winning 11 of their last 12 games. The team is not too flashy, and may have only one true superstar per se in <b>Christian Yelich</b>, while<b> Greg Vaughn</b> is possibly the next best star. The team is gritty though, and seem to capitalize on other team's mistakes. Their leading hitter at the moment is <b>Darryl Hamilton</b>, leading the team with a .316 batting average. They have a lockdown bullpen and have been able to close things out with a lead from the 6th inning on, consisting of <b>Graeme Lloyd</b>, <b>Mike Fetters</b>, <b>Jesse Orosco</b>, <b>Josh Hader</b> and <b>Jeremy Jeffress</b>. The rotation has no true strikeout artist, while it's two starting pitchers from 1968 that have lead the charge as the team's 1-2 punch in <b>Jim Hardin</b> and <b>Ray Washburn</b>.</p><p>The Braves' closest competition are the <b>St. Louis Saints</b>. The Saints started the season, 5-2 before hitting a rough patch, then appeared to have found momentum in a 6-game winning streak, before once again hitting another losing skid, losing 5 of their next 8 games. The Saints in many ways are a complete opposite of the Braves, in which St. Louis does have strikeout guys like <b>Bob Gibson</b>, <b>Jack</b> <b>Flaherty</b> and <b>Steve Carlton</b>. While though three pitchers are quite nice to have in a rotation, the two starting pitchers with the lowest ERA's are <b>Nelson Briles</b> (2.52) and <b>Bob Tewksbury</b> (2.81). On the hitting side, <b>Gregg Jefferies</b> has been the team's best hitter, sitting among the league leaders in multiple categories, while batting .341 with 4 HR, 23 RBI, 7 doubles & 9 stolen bases. </p><p>The next three teams all sit at 12-18...</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The<b> Chicago Legends</b> started off in 1st place at 9-3, and remained in first through their first 17 games. After their 9-3 start, the team lost 7 straight, and have gone 3-15, and are currently on a 5 game losing streak. The Legends problem might have more to do with not having a consistent starting lineup, while 11-12 players are fighting over 9 slots in a lineup. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The <b>Cincinnati Buckeyes</b> have never found their stride, winning no more than 2 games straight (which they only did that twice). The Buckeyes lost 7 straight, being swept by the Milwaukee Braves, 4-0, and losing their first 3 games to the lowly New Orleans Pirates, before winning the series finale. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The <b>Twin Cities Giants</b> appeared to be heading towards a long, lost season, starting the season with a 1-10 record. At the 21-game mark, the team sat with a 4-17 record, and appeared to be dead and buried. The team released 1B-<b>Kent Hrbek</b>, traded away SP <b>Frank Viola</b>, and added a few pieces in DH/1B <b>Luke Voit</b> and 1B/OF <b>Jerald Clark</b>. The team has now won 7 of their last 8 games, but had nothing to do with the moves, but more to do with moving struggling leadoff man <b>Chuck Knoblauch</b> to the 9th slot, and bumping up <b>Jorge Polanco</b> (to leadoff), <b>Brian Harper</b> & <b>Chris Sabo </b>in the lineups. During the Giants' recent 7-1 run, their starting pitching has a 7-0 record, 2.28 ERA, 1.014 WHIP & 2 complete games.</li></ul><div>The <b>New Orleans Pirates</b> just coming off a 3-1 series (with a bit of an upset) victory against Cincinnati, has not had much to celebrate this season. Pitching ace <b>Steve Avery</b> has been on the bad luck side, sporting a 0-5 record, with his ERA being recently bumped up from 3.26 to 3.96, while leading the team with 23 strikeouts through 36.1 innings. Avery, along with possibly <b>Miles Mikolas</b> (2-2, 2.52 ERA) could be sought out buy teams who are buyers come trade deadline. The Pirates really don't have much pieces to sell, besides possibly OF <b>Matt Kemp</b> (.264, 5 HR & 21 RBI) and SS Bert <b>Campaneris</b>. Newly signed IF/DH<b> Jose Vizcaino</b> has quickly won a starting job, batting an impressive .417 (20-for-48) through 12 games, while OF <b>Andrew McCutchen</b> has been disappointing, batting .167 (16-for-96) with 2 HR & 7 RBI. </div><div><br /></div>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-54981160620614877562023-02-23T08:00:00.001-05:002023-02-23T08:00:00.198-05:00AGBA 30 Games Into the Season (Eastern League Recap)<p><b>AGBA Season I</b>, is now 30 games through its inaugural season. It's been a fun process which will only get moving along faster by switching over to the APBA BBW (Baseball for Windows) over the last 46 games of the season. Some more teams are getting into the playoff picture mix, to go along with the four teams in the <b>Atlanta Firebirds</b> and <b>Carolina Twins</b> (both from the Eastern League), the Central League's <b>Cleveland Spiders</b> and the Western League's<b> Houston Rattlers</b>. There is also some teams that sat in cellar for the first 16-20 games or so, and are starting to turn things around such as the <b>Twin Cities Giants</b>.</p><p>So let's dive into it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNUCId3XzZLgPBg0a8Rk-1SRTQpO87rSChGHUolIUjJMozzLwqtrBdHd60E0r5PgqXcIPtpE6KoYPXIe9vYJ5o-uqXxNP8eR91JlRvqb6VDdf8jt5zzRI79lZfDO2_8ffzF87EDJMoZ5R7oowqz0enVyzDiehFEwaIVtiCeWzPy4Y9IdQmsoZVWU/s625/AGBA_EL_DISPLAY_Final.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="625" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNUCId3XzZLgPBg0a8Rk-1SRTQpO87rSChGHUolIUjJMozzLwqtrBdHd60E0r5PgqXcIPtpE6KoYPXIe9vYJ5o-uqXxNP8eR91JlRvqb6VDdf8jt5zzRI79lZfDO2_8ffzF87EDJMoZ5R7oowqz0enVyzDiehFEwaIVtiCeWzPy4Y9IdQmsoZVWU/w556-h372/AGBA_EL_DISPLAY_Final.JPG" width="556" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The <b>Eastern League's Ruth Division</b> is still up for grabs, no one team has took firm control, but as of late the <b>New York Pigeons</b> might be signaling to the division, that they intend to be the team to beat. The Pigeons have won 6 of their last 8 games, while some of their bats in <b>Wade Boggs</b> and <b>Paul O'Neill</b> are starting to wake up. Their rotation is one of the best rotations in <b>Mel Stottlemyre Sr</b>, <b>Stan Bahnsen</b>, <b>Jimmy Key</b>,<b> Fritz Peterson</b>, while the 5th slot has been its weak point </p><p>The <b>Baltimore Bombers</b> seem to love being <i>'Even Steven',</i> as they sit with a 14-14-2 record, and have not won more than 4 games straight all season, nor have they lost more than 2 straight games. The starting pitching has been expected to do more, while their closer <b>Gregg Olson (A&C-XZ)</b> has been a complete mess, blowing plenty of saves, but hopefully his last solid save is a indication that things might turn around. Baltimore doesn't hit for average, while they are having a big season from backstop <b>Chris Hoiles </b>(.352, 8 HR & 18 RBI), while fan favorite <b>Trey Mancini</b> (.292, 5 HR & 19 RBI) has done great in limited action and is now part of the everyday starting lineup.</p><p>The <b>Pittsburgh Arsenal</b> despite their solid pitching, found themselves in a 2-7 season hole at the beginning of the season, but are now 12-9 since, and that has a lot to do with their lineup coming to life as of late. <b>Roberto Clemente</b> broke out of an ice-cold start and lifted his batting average to .267 prior to Pittsburgh's series against Montreal, in which Clemente faltered to 3-for-16 in the series. <b>Andy Van Slyke</b> appears to be the most consistent hitter, batting .287 with 2 HR, 5 doubles and 11 RBI.</p><p>The Boston Colonials are having solid production from their top five hitters in the starting lineup that consists of <b>Mookie Betts</b>, <b>Xander Bogarts</b>, <b>Mo Vaughn</b>, <b>Carl Yastrzemski</b>, and <b>Reggie Smith</b>, while their #6 hitter DH-<b>Andrew Benintendi</b> (possibly the only Grade 3 fielding outfielder playing DH in the entire league, because his OF mates all are 3's as well). Vaughn has really come into his own after being moved to the 3rd slot, and is now has 8 HR and 19 RBI. Their starting pitching has been another thing with <b>Ray Culp</b> the first 20 games looking like one of the league's best, and has now been roughed up his last two outings. <b>David Price (Grade 11-YZ)</b> is 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA through a light workload of 34 innings during 6 starts. One last Boston note, IF <b>Tim Naehring</b> (J-4) has been amazing off the bench, batting .444 (12-for-27) with 1 HR, 6 doubles & 9 RBI. </p><p>The <b>Florida Rockets</b> are definitely Yin-Yang when it comes to their team statistics, the team can certainly rake, while their pitching is a launching pad for other teams to tee off on. The team is similar to Baltimore when it comes to winning and losing, they have no more than 3 straight wins (which came at the expense of the weak <b>Montreal Voyaguers</b>), while they only lost more than 3 straight games one other time in losing 5 straight (one which consisted of being swept by Brooklyn in a 4-game series.<b> Jeff Conine</b> has been among the batting leaders all season, but has had a rough patch suddenly, going 1-for-14 against Baltimore.</p><p>The <b>Montreal Voyageurs</b> entered the season as the most likely team to be sitting in the basement of the Ruth Division, and has lived up to that. For a losing team, they seem to be a feisty bunch and will play their little hearts out. The team's most consistent hitters have been 2B/3B <b>Robinson Cano</b>, OF-<b>Roy White</b>, and <b>Khris Davis</b>, while they have added Utility semi-star <b>Wil Myers</b> and catcher <b>Kirt Manwaring</b>. Myers didn't join the roster until Game #13, and has struggled batting 10-for-56 through Game #26, but had a solid series against the Florida's bad pitching, going for 7-for-17 with 4 doubles -- lifting Myers' batting average to .233 and giving him 9 doubles through 18 games. <b>Chris Bosio </b>gave the Voyageurs their first complete game and shutout of the season (a two-hit gem), improving to 3-3 with a 2.90 ERA & 23 strikeouts through 40.2 innings.</p><p>Now we go to the <b>Robinson Division (of the E.L.)</b>, and will start with the<b> Atlanta Firebirds</b>. The Firebirds have pretty much controlled the top of the division through the first 22 games, with the <b>Carolina Twins</b> and the<b> Philadelphia Veterans </b>close by in the rearview mirror. Atlanta is loaded from top to bottom -- the hitting, the pitching, and the farm is stacked with talent. </p><p>Through 22 games, Atlanta had a 3-pt, 1.5 game lead over Carolina. Atlanta would go on and hit its first rough patch of the season, as the Firebirds were swept by the <b>Washington Maroons</b> in a 4-game series in Washington -- Meanwhile, the Twins would go on and sweep the <b>Brooklyn Mets</b>, and now had a 10-game winning streak going as well. Atlanta at the point of Carolina winning their 10th straight, lost 6 of their last 8 games. </p><p>This all set up a showdown between the <b>Robinson Division</b>'s best 2 teams, Carolina (19-6-1, 39 pts) and Atlanta (17-9, 34 pts, 5 PB). The series was also in Charlotte, Carolina's home, so everything entering this series was showing that Carolina had the momentum. Atlanta would win the first three games in relatively close matchups, winning 6-1, 4-3 (11 innings) & 5-3. Atlanta momentarily reclaimed the division lead, until losing the series finale, 10-5. Entering the series, Carolina was 10-2-1 at home before their 3-1 series loss. </p><p>At the rate the season is going, there should be no reason that either Atlanta or Carolina will miss this upcoming postseason. Sure anything can happen, but very likely there will only be one team coming out of the E.L's Ruth Division -- whoever ends up being the division winner, while the Robinson division will likely have their division winner, plus the two wild card slots, in which at this point is Atlanta and Philadelphia. Washington has climbed into the division race, and is actually tied with Philadelphia at the moment, but Philadelphia has been great at the plate and on the mound, while sporting a +66 run differential. Washington has been more inconsistent and only has a +4 run differential.</p><p>The Twins have a good rotation, solid bullpen, and some good bats such as <b>Gates Brown</b> leading the entire AGBA in batting average, <b>Don Buford</b> and <b>Tommy Pham</b> (whose power has been a surpring plus-plus this season). Pham already has 12 HR this AGBA season (sitting among the AGBA leaders) through 30 games, while in real life he hit 21 HR through 137 MLB games during 2018.</p><p>Atlanta's <b>Fred McGriff</b> currently leads the E.L. (and possibly AGBA) with 15 HR, while knocking in 29 runs. McGriff's teammate <b>Hank Aaron</b> has 11 HR & 25 RBI this season. The only other teammates with 10+ HR at this point, are the Western League's <b>San Francisco Seals</b> with <b>Barry Bonds</b> and <b>Willie McCovey</b>.</p><p>Atlanta's rotation has been underperforming most of this season with <b>Greg Maddux</b> (4-1, 1.89 ERA)<b> </b>being the only one truly shining. <b>Phil Niekro</b> (5-1, 3.50) and <b>John Smoltz </b>(4.10 ERA)<b> </b>has had their moments, but <b>Tom Glavine</b> (1-4, 6.63 ERA) has been lousy, being outpitched by teammate <b>Anibal Sanchez</b>. Niekro's ERA has recently come down with his 1-run allowed complete game recently against Carolina.</p><p>The <b>Philadelphia Veterans</b> have possibly the most regular playing time hitters to be hitting over .300 at the moment in <b>Kevin Stocker</b>, <b>Lenny Dykstra</b>, <b>John Kruk</b> and <b>Dick Allen</b>. When they are all in the lineup together, they bat in the same order in the first four slots. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>SS <b>Kevin Stocker</b>: .302 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 triples & 20 runs.</li><li>CF <b>Lenny Dykstra</b>: .306 AVG, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 28 runs & 11 SB.</li><li>1B <b>John Kruk</b>: .375 AVG, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 10 doubles & 24 runs.</li><li>DH/3B <b>Dick Allen</b>: .333 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 5 doubles, 4 triples & 34 runs.</li></ul><p></p><p>The Vets' rotation is one of the best in all of baseball with <b>Chris Short</b>, <b>Woodie Fryman</b>, <b>Terry Mulholland</b>, <b>Aaron Nola</b>, and <b>Curt Schilling</b>.</p><p>Having one of their more successful stretches, the <b>Washington Maroons</b> have gone 6-2 during their last 8 games, and have tied Philadelphia with a 17-13 record. The problem with the Maroons has been their underachieving bats. With a lineup that consists of <b>Trea Turner</b>, <b>Anthony Rendon</b>, <b>Juan Soto</b>, <b>Larry Walker</b>, <b>Bryce Harper</b>, <b>Moises Alou</b>, <b>Marquis Grissom</b>, <b>Delino DeShields Sr</b>, and <b>Darrin Fletcher</b> -- You would think that there would be more guys with at least a .700 OPS or more, than just two (Turner and Walker). Soto has been around the fence with a .697 OPS, still a very disappointing number.</p><p>The Maroons are fortunate to have starters <b>Max Scherzer</b>, <b>Stephen Strasburg</b> and <b>Denny Martinez</b>, keeping Washington in games. Their bullpen is also good, if they are handed a lead going into the 7th inning and later. </p><p>The Brooklyn Mets visited the Philadelphia Veterans this past series, coming off a 1-6 stretch against Atlanta and Carolina. The Vets were the clear favorite over the Mets, so it came off as a surprise when the Mets, not the Vets, won the series, 3-1.</p><p>Coming into the season, the one concern was their hitters, and that was a legit concern. The team's lineup has been more productive of late, while their starting pitching expected to be one of the best, if not the best rotation, has for the most part lived up to its hype. The only exception is young, Nolan Ryan who has been a mess through 4 starts. Ryan has a 15.60 ERA through 4 starts & only 15 innings (that's not even 4 innings per start). The Mets have skipped him occasionally to give the young gun a break, but that has not helped. Ryan will likely for the most part finish this season coming out of the pen. The team's rotation consisted of <b>Jacob deGrom</b>, <b>Tom Seaver</b>, <b>Jerry Koosman</b>, <b>Noah Syndergaard</b>, and then Ryan. The Mets luckily have pitchers they can plug into that 5th slot, and they are <b>Zack Wheeler</b>, <b>Dick Selma</b>, <b>Bret Saberhagen </b>and <b>Steven Matz</b>.</p><p>Last is the <b>New York Knights</b>, who currently sit at 10-20 for the season. Their biggest offseason news was adding two Japanese superstar sluggers in <b>Sadaharu Oh</b> and <b>Isao Harimoto</b>. The addition of Oh was a success while Harimoto is still trying to find his footing in the American game. The team has a lot to improve on, but their rotation at least has starters with experienced arms in <b>Charlie Morton</b>, <b>Dallas Keuchel</b>, <b>J.A. Happ</b> and <b>Rick Porcello</b>. Porcello was recently signed and looked good in his season debut, earning a win, and allowing only 2 earned runs through 7 innings. The Knights released SP-<b>Dwight Gooden</b>, who struggle mightily, opening a spot for Porcello.</p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-69618056089290791132023-02-21T08:00:00.001-05:002023-02-21T08:00:00.192-05:00AGBA Update - A Brief Project Recap while Closing in on the All-Star Break<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFXjZRgNjrfY9FMt544oKlCCpGxU9b5uRCNWbIoX0kPPnUaKYad8CIc_hLhx1rrV2bf8yO8FatynZUc6kUKC2TgibtUyFRbepcvC7OvDFEeeepRiaT-olwth9sSkw1zbnvszgshmsKKBnxVgohHkqQIz0BVVbkgpYUpL4zjKlMunmxxAIM9xEus0/s299/AGBA%20Baseball_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="299" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFXjZRgNjrfY9FMt544oKlCCpGxU9b5uRCNWbIoX0kPPnUaKYad8CIc_hLhx1rrV2bf8yO8FatynZUc6kUKC2TgibtUyFRbepcvC7OvDFEeeepRiaT-olwth9sSkw1zbnvszgshmsKKBnxVgohHkqQIz0BVVbkgpYUpL4zjKlMunmxxAIM9xEus0/w352-h222/AGBA%20Baseball_2.png" width="352" /></a></div><br /><div>The AGBA Season is closing in on the long-awaited All-Star Break, although I am not sure how I am going to go about the All-Star Game itself, or if there will even be one. All-Stars will definitely be announced regardless. The reason is because <b>AGBA (APBA Galaxy Baseball Association)</b> consists of 3 leagues (compared to your usual two), with each league consisting of two divisions of 6 teams each. What I do know, is that I do know how the postseason will go about its routine, although that will be truly interesting as well.</div><div><div>I have played the first 26 games for each of the 36 teams, rolling with dice. That's 468 games since I started rolling in late October 2020. There was two stretches that I knocked out like 90 games in a 35-40 day stretch, and then there's a stretch where I didn't roll a single game in 6+ months. I have gone about it on my own pace, and have really grown to know the 36 teams inside-and-out.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Things have stepped up of late, in which I decided to play Game #27-through-Game #72 for each team using APBA's Baseball Windows. I am still playing each game on BBW, but as you know it's much faster than rolling and it will also help stat-keeping go by much, much quicker. I have already played Games 27-30, and before I break down who's who, let me take you back through the concept briefly.</div><div><br /></div><div>So a quick recap of the starting point.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is AGBA Season I, and in each season the season will finish with the Galaxy Series, which will be labeled like Super Bowl, so naturally the first season's final climax will happen during Galaxy Series I. Why am I doing it that way? I can't really label a year to it because I am playing with three different season sets of APBA cards.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each set will consists of seasons that are 25 years apart. AGBA Season I -- consists of players from the <b>1968</b>, <b>1993</b> and <b>2018</b> MLB Seasons. Next season it will be <b>1969</b>, <b>1994</b> & <b>2019</b>. Each teams consists of 30 players, but they can only have 10 players from each era, meaning there will only be 10 players from 1968, 10 players from 1993, and 10 players from 2018 on each roster. Franchises also have to deal with a salary system based on a player's production from that individual season. I use a salary system that is used on a simulation baseball site. Using that site, I can also see where that player's salaries in upcoming seasons could force decisions in AGBA franchise decision making. A breakout player could force a team's decision in which you may have to cut an older vet. Each franchise will have to make decisions each season and during the seasons because of the salary system in place. </div><div><br /></div><div>To get a better idea, please check out my more in-depth posts..</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://boysofsummerbaseball.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-genesis-of-agba.html">The Genesis of AGBA</a> </li><li><a href="http://boysofsummerbaseball.blogspot.com/2020/06/agba-baseball-leagues-setup-of-play.html">AGBA Baseball: League's Setup of Play</a></li></ul><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuq5xTm11YUzbzwXvMCzJae1Bqwsdk-IQMfgFqhcFX0QHX5kNAYFVFZHBTGihrP1_Vc3WzxBvzjhJrztcfzXjtIQobJY3-AJ-Ba1Y1FUDN53hAp_5XlI0sNVcvP25mOigSQvCZhazluLT-tU147DXpw0mqQtznETU4ggtE6jthnHVtKHa8E0eQ00/s837/AGBA%20Map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="837" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuq5xTm11YUzbzwXvMCzJae1Bqwsdk-IQMfgFqhcFX0QHX5kNAYFVFZHBTGihrP1_Vc3WzxBvzjhJrztcfzXjtIQobJY3-AJ-Ba1Y1FUDN53hAp_5XlI0sNVcvP25mOigSQvCZhazluLT-tU147DXpw0mqQtznETU4ggtE6jthnHVtKHa8E0eQ00/w578-h402/AGBA%20Map.JPG" width="578" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-59029009104270900292023-02-17T21:33:00.002-05:002023-02-17T21:33:34.513-05:00Braves Country<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-CeXpw4nVvADUxtDJZvNdpje1da1O7zEDEKULwRdBWH7MrYBnSZ0h4xn-43k7kbcu3oyco5Pmi83rYftbdL29EqWxhi6AP5KxrGvocXKHhX3S9ePHcUzCwowGSoxRXhwri1wA5D2arbqcUNKDxEOOlPxr86U7WmPP_erk5s7pJyMsbehrxtRHUc/s384/Braves%2022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="384" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-CeXpw4nVvADUxtDJZvNdpje1da1O7zEDEKULwRdBWH7MrYBnSZ0h4xn-43k7kbcu3oyco5Pmi83rYftbdL29EqWxhi6AP5KxrGvocXKHhX3S9ePHcUzCwowGSoxRXhwri1wA5D2arbqcUNKDxEOOlPxr86U7WmPP_erk5s7pJyMsbehrxtRHUc/s320/Braves%2022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The<b> N.L. East</b> is the true beast of the east, and probably (not possibly) the best division in all of Major League Baseball (Sorry A.L. East, you have been replaced). The <b>New York Mets</b> just had one of the best off-seasons of all off-seasons, as far as one can look back, reuniting Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer (who are both approaching 4,000 career strikeouts), not to mention all the other additions on top of that. You got the returning National League Champions in the <b>Philadelphia Phillies</b>, who had an impressive off-season of their own, only improving their chances for another shot at a world title. Even the <b>Miami Marlins</b> might end up being baseball's best 4th place team in 2023.</p><p>And then there's Atlanta...</p><p>These <b>Atlanta Braves</b> are so well-ran from top to bottom, that they could be a dominating force for another decade. <b>Alex Anthopoulos</b> (Atlanta's President, Baseball Ops & GM) is easily one of the top three General Managers in the game of baseball. They still have a banging farm system that continues to grow talent. They also seem to know what pieces to bring in, and how to turn players that appear to be going nowhere into absolute gold. </p><p>You actually can't guarantee the same with the Mets and the Phillies. Sure the new owner for the Mets is not afraid to spend, and Phillies fans are excited for the first time since their 2007-2011 period, where they were the force to reckon with in those days. But if you know anything about Phillies baseball like most Philly fans know, they have a history of not being a stable consistent winner -- Many more down seasons than up seasons. The Mets are New York's lovable, unlucky baseball team that continues to find any possible way to break their fans' hearts over and over, especially when there are high expectations placed upon that club.</p><p>The Braves have also been extending contracts in an impressive way, paying them early and stretch that money over the contract. If down the road some of these stars with these long contracts don't work out, they can easily trade them with these tradable contracts. Get more prospects out of each one, and continue to produce and acquire talent, and then repeat by extending those contracts. I can't even find the words to explain how genius this whole plan is and will continue to be.</p><p>Twenty years from now, we may look back at this period in Atlanta Braves history as the best period in their franchise history, and yes, even with the extended postseason. I know that sounds crazy, I know it's a bold statement considering that the Atlanta Braves from 1991-2005 won 14 straight division titles, and that they had pretty much had the best starting pitcher trio in the entire history of Major League Baseball in <b>Greg Maddux</b>, <b>Tom Glavine</b> and <b>John Smoltz</b>. </p><p>I know that's a lot to take in, but consider this, they have now won 5 straight division titles and counting, and already have a matching World Series title of their own. Last year, they lose <b>Freddie Freeman</b> in free agency to the Los Angeles Dodgers... no big deal, the Braves brought in <b>Matt Olson</b> from Oakland on a trade. This off-season they let shortstop <b>Dansby Swanson</b> go sign with the Cubs... no big deal, they have <b>Vaughn Grissom</b> coming up behind him. <b>Austin Riley</b> has only improved the last few years, while new stars like <b>Michael Harris II</b> stepped in flawlessly to go along with the talent that already have in <b>Ronald Acuna Jr</b>, <b>Ozzie Albies</b>, and company -- plus they made a great trade in acquiring backstop <b>Sean Murphy</b> from the Athletics, and extended him. </p><p>To be fair to the 90's bunch, I would say although today's players might be in better physical shape and have all the sabermetrics to help them with techniques on the mound and at the plate -- I believe the sport was loaded with more talented players then today's game. Back in the 90's, just think of the pitchers on the mound: <b>Roger Clemens</b>, <b>Randy Johnson</b>, <b>Pedro Martinez</b>, <b>Mike Mussina</b>, <b>Curt Schilling</b>, <b>Kevin Brown</b>, <b>David Cone</b>, while the Braves had the big three. There has not been many teams since the Braves to be blessed with 3 close-to-great pitchers even... The Phillies put together <b>Roy Halladay</b>, <b>Roy Oswalt</b> & <b>Cole Hamels</b> briefly, and that never lived up to what they thought it would be. If you look at today's game, there's <b>Justin Verlander</b>, <b>Max Scherzer</b>, <b>Shohei Ohtani</b>, <b>Gerrit Cole</b>, <b>Jacob deGrom</b> (if healthy), <b>Walker Buehler</b> (if he comes back healthy) and fading Clayton Kershaw, with <b>Corbin Burnes</b> and <b>Sandy Alcantra</b> joining the party. In the 90's I left out a bunch of other names that were solid pitchers, you could throw a dart and hit any team, and most likely they had a solid starter.</p><p>Given that, the 90's hitters were no different.</p><p>Those 90's Braves had to contend against possibly the best dynasty in MLB history (or at least late Modern history) in the New York Yankees from 1996-2003 (although the last title was actually 2001 with that bunch, the 2009 team was a different Yanks team altogether). Plus the Cleveland Indians were a strong franchise in the 90's, the Seattle Mariners had their moments, plus competitive bunches in the mid-90's Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, and Montreal Expos, then the later-90's Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks -- but let's face it the 90's Braves were just in the wrong period with those Yankees being around, who affected everyone.</p><p>Although you can't compare eras, it's probably the toughest to even try to launch a dynasty in today's game with the expanded playoffs and the endless possibilities of falling short, even if you are spectacular. The Houston Astros may be the closest to have the possibility of being called a dynasty, but it's hard to declare what is now considered a dynasty in today's game. So it depends who you ask, which would highly be debated. The San Francisco Giants won World Series in 2010, 2012 & 2014, but missed the playoffs altogether in the in-between years, 2011 and 2013. A dynasty has to be postseason consistent don't you think? It can't be -- <i>On, Off, On, Off, On! Offffffff...</i></p><p>But that's another post and debate to have some other time. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGtM1d55WhXer9noLKDdffZvu-WEfuYVuSUo1SK7-wA-V-4i6kZBUqyfMhJfKwyxpVy7TJnAS2lPpUq29-iVdeTgZfTLbs34r-P6olJN3WfCwADEbTbgy2I0E5j2RgmMum0U7pVV91qCN5Ik_gDyNHzpywKEhqPkJlMymP249ryt7nQ7a3EAZYTA/s291/The%20Atlanta%20Braves%2022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="291" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGtM1d55WhXer9noLKDdffZvu-WEfuYVuSUo1SK7-wA-V-4i6kZBUqyfMhJfKwyxpVy7TJnAS2lPpUq29-iVdeTgZfTLbs34r-P6olJN3WfCwADEbTbgy2I0E5j2RgmMum0U7pVV91qCN5Ik_gDyNHzpywKEhqPkJlMymP249ryt7nQ7a3EAZYTA/s1600/The%20Atlanta%20Braves%2022.JPG" width="291" /></a></div><br /><p>But let's do look back at the Braves recent stretch...</p><p>The Braves hired <b>Brian Snitker</b> as their manager in 2016, after firing <b>Fredi Gonzalez </b>midway throught the season. The team doesn't do much better in 2017, and many were thinking the Braves may still be a year or two away from making noise entering Spring Training 2018. The Braves would go on to win the N.L. East with a 90-72 record.</p><p>So with that --</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2018</b> - Division Champs (90-72), Lost NLDS to the Dodgers (3-1).</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2019</b> - Division Champs (97-65), Lost NLDS to the Cardinals (3-2).</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2020</b> - Division Champs (35-25) (Pandemic Season), and lost the NLCS to the Dodgers, coming up short, 4-3. The Dodgers were of course shaking at the time, after being upset by the Washington Nationals the season before. Dodgers would hang on, and then go on to win the World Series.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2021</b> - Division Champs, N.L. Champs & World Series Champions (88-73). The Atlanta Braves wouldn't break the .500 mark until August 6th (at 56-55), the latest for any World Series Champion to do so in Major League history. The Braves got revenge on the Dodgers in the NLCS by defeating them 4-2 in the series. If you noticed, the Braves and Dodgers have a bit of a rivalry in recent years, and you even go back to 2013 when the Braves lost in the NLDS under Gonzalez, 3-1. One last note the Braves would go 44-23 (counting the postseason) from August 6th, on their way to defeating the Houston Astros.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2022</b> - The Atlanta Braves won one of the two top seeds, by winning their division and having the 2nd best record in the National League by winning 101 games. The Braves would be knocked out by the eventual N.L. Champion Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1.</li></ul><div>What's in store for 2023? We'll have to see, but the N.L. East needs to go through Atlanta first if they truly want to take the division. </div><p></p>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-25049611086536700292022-12-09T17:09:00.002-05:002022-12-09T17:09:49.991-05:00One Busy MLB Off-Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAeFWN3AuuYmHZgjL4AbT0zpqlsf3MNXQhXiP699c3BCR3HuSfEDbPNKwGvcuK5f9FhfPqRlqktCs7km3_Ia_PtCE7aWJIDbOolEzq2emm_isK3Gjbob0_D2o-EEHx0SDo3eMmXhkcmXvnIzao4aszRS6-RFMq6PZ8qNObHU8w6cThEZX6Wc3EWno/s401/Justin%20Verlander%20METS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAeFWN3AuuYmHZgjL4AbT0zpqlsf3MNXQhXiP699c3BCR3HuSfEDbPNKwGvcuK5f9FhfPqRlqktCs7km3_Ia_PtCE7aWJIDbOolEzq2emm_isK3Gjbob0_D2o-EEHx0SDo3eMmXhkcmXvnIzao4aszRS6-RFMq6PZ8qNObHU8w6cThEZX6Wc3EWno/s320/Justin%20Verlander%20METS.JPG" width="250" /></a></div><br />The MLB Off-Season has been rolling, and for the first time in many years most of the big signings have come <i>before</i> Christmas.<div><br /></div><div>Let's start with the <b>Jacob deGrom</b> signing in Texas. I understand what the <b>Texas Rangers</b> are hoping for in acquiring an ace like deGrom. The Rangers want to end their playoff drought, they added <b>Corey Seager</b> and <b>Marcus Semien</b> in recent years, and want to change the culture. The only problem is that deGrom has had a troublesome track record of recent years in staying healthy. When he's healthy, he is the best pitcher possibly in the game, but that's the key word -- healthy.</div><div><br /></div><div>The <b>New York Mets</b> meanwhile let deGrom walk, because according to reports deGrom no longer wanted to be there anymore. They extended their closer <b>Edwin Diaz</b>, who had a Cy Young-caliber season, and then pulled off a pivot that most didn't see happening or at least not so soon.... They turn around and land <b>Justin Verlander</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Verlander is coming off a truly remarkable season in which he posted a 18-4 record with a 1.75 ERA & 185 strikeouts through 175 innings, after basically missing the past two seasons (only 1 start in 2020) due to Tommy John surgery. He helped lead the <b>Houston Astros</b> to their 2nd World Championship in 6 seasons. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Astros who have a strong rotation without Verlander decided to go in a different direction and add a huge bat in<b> Jose Abreu</b>, taking over for Houston fan favorite <b>Yuli Gurriel</b>. Which then left Verlander dangling in front of the two New York teams, the <b>Los Angeles Dodgers</b> & the <b>San Francisco Giant</b>s. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a huge Justin Verlander fan, I was hoping for Houston to resign him, but felt that both Verlander and Houston were heading in different directions. Prior to him signing with the Mets, most signs were pointing to the Dodgers, and I suddenly found myself hoping for that or an outside shot with the Atlanta Braves (his favorite team from his childhood). I even believed that the <b>San Diego Padres</b>, who have no problem throwing around money, could possibly have been in on the hunt.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Mets would add SP <b>Jose Quintana</b> and RP <b>David Robertson</b>, while they are rumored to be talking to Japanese superstar SP <b>Kodai Senga</b>. The Mets are also rumored to be looking towards the future in acquiring the <b>Los Angeles Angels</b>' <b>Shohei Ohtani</b> as well, when he hits free agency.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Mets' recent moves and vision sounds like a old team we used to know across the city, named the <b>New York Yankees</b>. The Mets have simply become the Yankees, George Steinbrenner would have not hesitated in signing Verlander. </div><div><br /></div><div>And although the Yankees were able to sign OF <b>Aaron Judge</b>, which was a great thing for Yankees fans, they also extended <b>GM Brian Cashman</b> for a few years (if not for life at this point). Cashman and the Yankees have become stale, the Boss' is rolling in his grave, and the Mets may now be heading in a direction which the Yankees used to simply own.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Yankees once owned New York... Heck, they once owned Major League Baseball, but let's face it the Steinbrenner boys didn't inherit their father's cutthroat mentality when it comes to the front office. The Yankees have only one title the past 22 years (almost a quarter-century), and they have simply been eliminated in 2006, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2019 & 2022 by an ace in Verlander, who now has signed with the same city's other team in the Mets. Extending Cashman was a mistake, and for the Yankees it will be same old 21st Century Yankees, even with Aaron Judge.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Mets also avoided a mistake that the Texas Rangers have committed in signing deGrom to such a huge contract which is filled mostly with question marks. Almost every notable baseball expert has also panned this deal -- $185 million for 5 years, looks murky in the crystal ball at best. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Mets made the right moves, now am I suddenly going to anoint them the 2023 World Champions? <i><b>Absolutely no</b></i>. Do I think the Mets will definitely be better? <b><i>Sure...</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>But this is the thing, the Mets still have to deal with the <b>Philadelphia Phillies</b> (who only got better this offseason as well) and the <b>Atlanta Braves</b> (who are built to be a National League powerhouse for possibly the next decade). Plus there are the <b>Los Angeles Dodgers </b>and <b>San Diego Padres</b> who will only keep spending tons of money, while the <b>St. Louis Cardinals</b> somehow always find a way to be consistent. </div><div><br /></div><div>The National League alone will be a gauntlet for the Mets. The Phillies added SS <b>Trea Turner</b>, while the Padres added SS <b>Xander Bogaerts</b>. Personally, I believe the National League is the stronger league, while we have seen with the extended playoffs that the best teams don't always win it all. Powerhouse teams like the Dodgers went home early, while Cinderella teams like the Phillies went to the World Series.</div><div><br /></div><div>And just like most recent seasons, anything can happen in 2023.</div>Shawn Novahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09594769293801380160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45866818483845756.post-42042898900256301782022-10-21T06:58:00.001-04:002022-10-21T06:58:00.196-04:00Heritage League Baseball Cards - Part 2<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmj27rwFKsAVUbNZqkBdG9YEsbxwPrPWebDf2JgtmnUCJ1Z4kN678yj10oTjtuxSvb0M2nfHQueebm5az9Ca8WvSpBgqcqgFGbiH-LO8VknXf5nHQwIz2Iu-S6LywEthMjySJ9YauxvOlOpeylnr6srQVGNBaVkqZkR3z1_y9tZU4b9Ej9TyVioPY/s748/HBL_Block_9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="748" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmj27rwFKsAVUbNZqkBdG9YEsbxwPrPWebDf2JgtmnUCJ1Z4kN678yj10oTjtuxSvb0M2nfHQueebm5az9Ca8WvSpBgqcqgFGbiH-LO8VknXf5nHQwIz2Iu-S6LywEthMjySJ9YauxvOlOpeylnr6srQVGNBaVkqZkR3z1_y9tZU4b9Ej9TyVioPY/w640-h428/HBL_Block_9.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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