Bits & Pieces

1981 Tigers Season Replay

The Detroit Tigers took 3 of 4 from the New York Yankees, like they did in real-life that series.

The first two games both went into extras with Jack Morris (Grade B-Y) and Milt Wilcox (Grade B-Z) each going 10 innings, while the Yankees also had a pair of 10-inning pitchers in Ron Guidry (Grade B-XZ) and Rudy May (Grade D-Z). The Tigers would prevail in both, winning 2-1 due to a Alan Trammell sac fly in the 12th of Game 1 & by the same score, 2-1, in Game 2 with a RBI single by Steve Kemp.

Morris only allowed 3 hits, 0 ER & 1 run, with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks, while Wilcox allowed only 2 hits & 1 ER, to go along with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.

Kevin Saucier logged 3 more saves to bring his season total to 18.


The Yankees won the 3rd game, but should have won the 4th game possibly, stranding 14 men on base, while the Tigers only needed 7 hits all game to pull off the 3-1 victory -- Thanks to RBI doubles by Al Cowens and Steve Kemp.

1916 Tigers Fall Short (Once Again to the Athletics)

The Detroit Tigers who were favored to win the A.L. West before the season, barely did, over the Chicago White Sox, while suffering two untimely injuries in Ty Cobb and Jack Barry. The Tigers would once again fall short to the eventual 1916 Back-to-Back World Champion Philadelphia Athletics, who defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in another all-Philly fall classic. The poor Phillies have now lost three consecutive World Series.

The Tigers didn't waste no time by making changes. Former owner Rocky McQueary sold the Tigers to Jacob Piasecki. I am not going to lie, I was pretty thrilled with this move, McQuery hounded and hounded me to trade Ty Cobb, but I stuck to my guns.

Cobb would reward me with his 5th career batting title (.353).

Last season was the first season that I stepped down from managing the Tigers, while transitioning to full-time General Manager. I signed the great John McGraw to take over the managing duties, who led the Tigers (83-57) to division title, winning by a game.

We made the most trades in one off-season that we can remember, it may be a new rebuilt lineup, but we still have the best rotation in baseball in Walter Johnson, Hugh Bedient, Claude Hendrix & Guy Morton.

• Traded RP-Babe Adams, RP-Dustin Mails & P-Alex Main to reacquire pitcher Carl Mays.

• Traded RF-Sherry Magee to the St.Louis Browns in exchange for RP-Bullet Joe Bush, catching prospect C-John W Peters, RP-Harry Harper & OF-Beals Becker.

• Traded C-Les Nunamaker straight-up to the St.Louis Cardinals in exchange for closer Eddie Cicotte; Cicotte pitched for my Tigers from 1905-to-midway 1910 & has developed into a closer.

• Traded 1B-Fred Merkle and C-Otto Miller to the New York Giants in exchange for 2B-Heinie Groh and catching prospect Muddy Ruel.

• Traded 2B-Jack Barry and 3B-Hans Lobert to the New York Yankees in exchange for 1B-Ossie Vitt, 3B-Tillie Shafer & 2B-Manuel Cueto.

• Traded LF-Greasy Neale, 1B/RF-High Pockets Kelly, LHP-Harry Harper & $3,000 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for LF-Ken Williams (pictured above).

• Traded RP-Leon Cadore to the St.Louis Cardinals in exchange for C-Pinch Thomas and RP-Elmer Brown.

Strike Ends, 1981 Tigers Start 2nd Half Hosting Jays

For my 1981 Tigers Season Replay, the 1981 Baseball Strike has just ended, while the Tigers begin the second-half of the 1981 MLB Season, hosting the Toronto Blue Jays for a three-game series.

The Tigers won the first-half A.L. East Division title with a 37-20 record.

I had to debate a little over which starting pitcher to start the 2nd half with, Sparky Anderson (in real life) went with Milt Wilcox, then Dan Schatzeder & Jack Morris for remainder of Toronto series. I don't have Schatzeder for my 1981 APBA set (I have the bare minimum APBA set). I did decide to go with Wilcox as well, then Petry & Rozema to finish the series, so it would set up Morris, Wilcox & Petry to kick off the next series against the New York Yankees. 

Wilcox is located in the 2nd slot of my regular season rotation. I thought about being greedy in getting Petry (Grade B-Y) more shots at wins, since he already has 11 wins in just 57 Tiger games.

Game 1 (Game #58)

The Detroit Tigers just couldn't get anything going on 5 hits against Jim Clancy (Grade D), while squandering two men on base in both the bottom-half of the 1st & 2nd innings. Clancy got comfortable, while striking out 7 of the last 11 batters he faced, to finish with a 9 strikeouts and a shutout.

Kirk Gibson, in particularly, struggled against Clancy by striking out three times, in four hitless at-bats.

John Mayberry's three-run home run during the top of the 5th, cemented the Jays' 5-0 victory.

Game 2 (Game #59)

The Tigers' lineup made up with the Tigers' faithful, by jumping out to a 1st inning, 3-0 lead, with Alan Trammell and Steve Kemp drawing walks, while Kirk Gibson added a RBI single & Lance Parrish added a two-run single.

Trammell and Kemp would both draw back-to-back walks again during the bottom of the 3rd, as they would score on a RBI single by Gibson, and Parrish's grounding into a double play. Gibson would end the day on 3-for-4 hitting, 2B, 2 RBI & a run. Kemp walked three times, while scoring on all three times he was on base.

Short day for the Jays' newly-acquired Juan Berenguer - 3.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 K & 6 BB.

Dan Petry won again! Petry now owns a 12-2 record with a 2.48 ERA through 16 starts this season. Petry allowed 5 hits, 3 walks & one earned run, while striking out 3 Jays in 7 innings of work.

Tigers beat Jays, 6-2

Game 3 (Game #60)

The Tigers scored 3 runs in the first 4 frames to make Tigers starting pitcher Dave Rozema (Grade D-Z) comfortable on the mound. Rozema's only run allowed came at the top of the ninth, with a solo home run to John Mayberry.

The Tigers' Lynn Jones (2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI) & Richie Hebner (2-for-3, RBI) were the Tigers' leaders at the plate that day.

Kevin Saucier would collect his 15th save to secure the Tigers' 3-1 victory.

Twinkies Trip Up Tigers for 2-1 Series Win (1981 Tigers)

The Minnesota Twins were a horrible team back in 1981. This is a Twins team that existed before Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola & Gary Gaetti came along, while going 41-68 in 1981... The Twins did far worse for my friend Kenneth Heard during his 1981 APBA Season project.

I got my 1981 set from my friend Kenneth Heard, his Twins did much worse for his 1981 APBA Season project by going 48-114, while also losing 26 straight games. The Detroit Tigers did great for him, finishing tied in 1st at season's end with the Baltimore Orioles, in which the Tigers won the one-game playoff... only for the Tigers to eventually lose to the Kansas City Royals in the 1981 American League Championship Series, 3-1.

So I was taken back as my dice went ice-cold, losing a three-game series with the Twinkies, 2-1. My hottest pitcher Dan Petry (10-2) got rocked, allowing 7 earned runs, 6 hits & 2 walks in only 2 innings -- bumping up his ERA to 2.70 for the season.

Mickey Hatcher killed us in the 3rd game, by going 3-for-5, with a triple, 3 RBI & 2 runs; Glenn Adams (2-for-4, RBI 2B & SF) and Ron Jackson (2-for-5, RBI) chipped in as well.

My Tigers have now lost 5 of their last 7 games, while losing two straight series for the first time this season; The Tigers are only 2-4 in the month of June, after going 21-7 in May.

Good news is that Tom Brookens returns from his injury, and will be ready to go to Texas to play the Texas Rangers; Tigers swept the Rangers at home, 3-0.

We should be in good enough shape to win the first-half division title with four games remaining, two against Texas & another two games against the Twins. Here is the standings below....

For those who were wondering, Kenneth's project ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the World Series, 4-2 over Kansas City; Dodgers defeated the Montreal Expos in the NLCS to get there.

Brookens Continues to Surprise (1981 Tigers)

Tom Brookens continues to surprise in my 1981 Detroit Tigers Season Replay for APBA Baseball, while the Tigers continue to roll over the American League with a 33-14 record through the first two months.

Brookens is batting .261 with 4 HR & 29 RBI (.674 OPS) through 45 games (165 AB)... To some these stats may not knock you over, but considering that in real life, he only batted .243 with 4 HR & 25 RBI through the entire 1981 season (71 games & 239 AB)... this is pretty good.

Brookens currently ranks 2nd on the team in RBI (behind Parrish's 40), which is higher than better hitters such as Steve Kemp (27), Kirk Gibson (26) & Alan Trammell (22).

The Tigers just finished a 21-7 month of May & now prepare to kick off June, by hosting the Milwaukee Brewers (25-21, 7.5 GB / 3rd Place).


Other Tigers' news

• Lance Parrish has been out-slugging his 1981 Season through APBA, by hitting 16 HR & 40 RBI through 47 games; Parrish led the Tigers in 1981 with 10 HR, along with 46 RBI (2nd to Kemp) through 96 games of action. Parrish's .895 OPS is also better than his real-life .704 OPS.

• Aurelio Lopez's scoreless innings streak has officially came to end at 31.2 innings pitched, he currently has a 0.24 ERA with 22 K & 7 walks... not bad for a Grade D(C*)-Y pitcher.

• Dan Petry has improved to 9-1, with a 2.08 ERA & 60 K's through 91 innings of work.

All Zeros for Aurelio

Aurelio "Senor Smoke" Lopez

I mentioned in my last post that Aurelio Lopez has been spectacular for me during my 1981 Tigers Season Replay, in which has allowed no earned runs (or runs for that matter) through 22.1 innings of relief work.

Did I mention that his APBA pitching grade is a D (C*)-Y ?!
No Z's even...

Now Aurelio enters the Tigers' 41st game, having to do an emergency start for the rotation, due to the double-header against Baltimore that through the rotations' rest out of sync... which means his scoreless innings streak will definitely be in jeopardy with his Grade D starting grade.

The Detroit Tigers start their road stretch and will have to go to Milwaukee to face a lineup that has been giving American League pitchers fits through recent years. I go with the actual boxscores for the opponents I play, and even though the Brewers appear to be without Paul Molitor (probable injury), they still have a tough lineup with the likes of Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Ben Oglivie, Gorman Thomas, Ted Simmons & Jim Gantner.

What appeared to be a tough day in store for Lopez, it ended up being just that for his Milwaukee counterpart Jim Slaton; The Tigers' bats jumped all over Slaton during the first two innings (7 runs) which gave Lopez some breathing room.

Throughout the game, Milwaukee definitely had its scoring chances against Lopez --  with 7 hits, runners on bases due to two errors & a wild pitch that advanced a runner to second... Most of these scoring chances came with only one out, while they had big bats in Oglivie, Cooper & Thomas up... but somehow by the graces of the APBA gods, Lopez kept dodging bullets.

Lopez would eventually advance from a Grade D to a Grade A, but I decided with one out, a runner on second & Cecil Cooper up in the 8th Inning, that I would not risk the scoreless streak and bring in Kevin Saucier from the pen.

Sure, it would have been cool to watch Lopez pitch a shutout in possibly his only start of the season, but I didn't want to push his luck against a lineup at any moment that could ruin the streak. 

Saucier would complete the combined 10-0 shutout of the Brewers, as Milwaukee falls to 6.5 games back (5th place) of Detroit.

Aurelio Lopez: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 16 games, 1 GS, 22 K / 6 BB & .708 WHIP in 29.2 innings.

The Detroit Tigers have 3 games remaining in this series with the Brew Crew, and a up-coming home series in about a week against them as well...

Meanwhile, talks of a MLB Strike looms over the season.

81' Tigers Keep Rolling in May

Tigers' closer has 9 Saves through 40 games.

My 1981 Detroit Tigers keep rolling through the month of May, as they are now 28-12 through their first 40 games of the season -- 16-5 during the month of May.

The Tigers just got done splitting a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, meaning the Orioles could not gain any ground on the first-place Tigers.

Here's a look at the A.L. East Standings...

• Detroit Tigers (28-12) - Won 1, +82 scoring differential.
• Baltimore Orioles (24-14), 3 GB - Lost 1, +38 scoring differential.
• Cleveland Indians (21-13), 4 GB - +17 scoring differential.
• Milwaukee Brewers (22-17), 5.5 GB, +18 scoring differential.
• Boston Red Sox (22-18), 6 GB, -2 scoring differential.
• New York Yankees (19-20), 8.5 GB, + 6 scoring differential.
• Toronto Blue Jays (12-30), 17 GB, -48 scoring differential.

and the A.L. West Standings...

• Oakland Athletics (28-17)
• Texas Rangers (21-17), 3.5 GB
• Chicago White Sox (20-17), 4 GB
• California Angels (20-24), 7.5 GB
• Kansas City Royals (12-21), 10 GB
• Seattle Mariners (13-27), 12.5 GB
• Minnesota Twins (12-27), 13 GB

The Tigers just finished a 12-game home stretch & now will start their road trip with a 4-game series in Milwaukee; The Brewers will be a tough match-up, and are looking to climb the division standings.

Due to the recent double-header against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tigers have to do an emergency start with Aurelio Lopez against Milwaukee's Jim Slaton; Lopez has a perfect ERA in 22.1 scoreless innings.

The Detroit Tigers' bullpen has been stellar, allowing a combined 13 earned runs in 86.1 innings this season, making a lean 1.36 ERA.

• Kevin Saucier: 3-0, 2.08 ERA, 9 SV, 19 K, 7 BB & .692 WHIP in 26 innings.
• Dave Tobik: 3-2, 1.66 ERA, 1 SV, 9 K, 9 BB & .816 WHIP in 38 innings.
• Aurelio Lopez: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 16 K, 6 BB & .627 WHIP in 22.1 innings.

The lineup slumped as of recent, with their team batting average dropping from .273 to .267, but that has not stopped Lance Parrish's powerful bat, as he has clobbered 15 HR & 33 RBI during his first 40 games. 

The team is rolling in all areas, as their team pitching ERA is only 2.47 to go along with their respectable hitting.

Tigers off to 24-10 start (1981 Tigers Replay)

Tom Brookens playing the Hot Corner for Detroit.

My Detroit Tigers are off to an excellent start during our 1981 Detroit Tigers Season Replay (24-10) compared to real-life 16-18 start.

The team is doing well with the bat (.273 batting average) and on the mound (2.35 ERA). The top five hitters in our lineup (Whitaker, Trammell, Kemp, Parrish & Gibson) are strong, especially Steve Kemp (.338 BA, 2 HR & 21 RBI) who has an amazing .443 On-Base Percentage (.924 OPS). Lance Parrish led the Tigers with 10 HR in 1981 through 109 games, he already has 13 HR for me, through only 34 games (which leads the team as well).

The biggest surprise on offense may be Tom Brookens, who already has 21 RBI for the Tigers (tied for 2nd on the team with Gibson); Brookens in real-life only had 25 RBI in all of 1981.


On the pitching side, Dan Petry finally lost his first game, as his record is now 6-1, with a 1.96 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 69 innings. Newly-named Hall of Famer Jack Morris (4-2, 2.41 ERA) has really settled down, while Milt Wilcox has now strung together a few wins to even up his record (4-4, 2.79 ERA). Dave Rozema (5-1, 3.65 ERA) has not pitched like a 'D' starter in APBA. 

The closer Kevin Saucier (2.49 ERA) leads the team with 8 Saves, while Aurelio Lopez (Grade C-Y in relief) has not allowed a single run in 21.1 innings yet.

The Tigers have won 8 of their last 10 games & has won 11 of their last 14 games, which included a season-high 6-game winning streak. The team is currently playing the Texas Rangers.

Games 10-12 / Detroit at New York (April 20-22)

Parrish's bat has been huge for Detroit.

The Detroit Tigers in real-life 1981 did horrible against the New York Yankees, and they would suffer a 10-game losing streak from April 19th-29th. My goal at the helm, is to reverse this bad stretch and replace it with a good stretch, so it all starts with this series against the Yankees.

Game 1 of this replay series, featured Dan Petry (Grade B-Y) against Rudy May (Grade D-Z). May, the previous season (1980), went 15-5, with 133 strikeouts in 175.1 innings, while winning the ERA title with a 2.45 ERA; His ERA+ (160), FIP (2.94) and WHIP (1.044) were also American League bests. He would follow that with a disappointing 1981 Season, which is a reason for his D rating in APBA.

The Tigers would jump on May early, with 4 runs in the first, highlighted by Lance Parrish's three-run home run; Parrish would go on to a huge day, going 3-for-5, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI & 3 runs. Petry's game should not go overlooked as he pitched a complete game shutout (his 1st shut out of the season) to improve to 3-0.

May's crooked numbers read like this: 2.1 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 K & 1 BB.

Game 2 was a close game through 6 innings with the Tigers leading 2-1, thanks to a Lance Parrish solo HR in the 2nd Inning off of Ron Guidry; Alan Trammell would break the game open with a 3-run home run off Guidry in the 7th Inning.

Dave Rozema got the win during a short outing (4.2 innings) -- enough to log the win, allowing only 4 hits & no runs with a K & 3 walks. Dave Tobik & Kevin Saucier made sure that the Yankees did minimal damage on their way to a Tigers victory.

Reggie Jackson hit a homer in a losing cause, as Guidry was credited with the loss (losing 5-2).

Game 3 was a bit back & forth early on, with the Tigers taking back the lead at 4-3 after 3 innings, but the Bronx Bombers proved to be too much as Lou Piniella (solo HR in 4th) & Bucky Dent (2-Run HR in 6th) was the difference.

Jack Morris was off his game, allowing 8 hits, 7 earned runs, 4 home runs & 4 walks -- through only 5.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts; Morris refused to talk to reporters after the game.

Reggie Jackson & Bob Watson were the other two Yankees with homers off Morris.

The Detroit Tigers improve to 8-4, while in real-life they fell to 7-5, after a 7-1 start.

Games 8-9 / Detroit at Toronto (April 18-19)

Detroit Native - John Mayberry.

The Tigers feeling pretty good at 5-2, and winning the first two games of the series, went into the 3rd game of their series feeling really confident against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Tigers were sending out their ace, Jack Morris (Grade B) against a Grade D starter in Jim Clancy... The Tigers loved their odds.

Game #8 / April 18th (at Exhibition Stadium)

The Detroit Tigers came out flat, recording only a single hit during the first 6 innings of the contest against Clancy; Clancy would go on to allow only 1 ER through 7 innings, while allowing only 3 hits (3 walks) with 2 K's. The Tigers would only collect 4 hits total by the end of the game.

The damage came during the bottom of the third, as Detroit-native John Mayberry slugged a two-out, two-run homer off of Morris. The Blue Jays would maintain the lead, to win the game 2-1, with Clancy getting the win, while Roy Lee Jackson logged the save.

Tigers' only run came on a Richie Hebner sac fly, he went 2-for-2 for the day, with 2 singles; Lance Parrish was the only other Tiger to collects hits (2) as well.

Game #008	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DETROIT	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
TORONTO	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0
WP: Jim Clancy / LP: Jack Morris (1-1) / SV: Roy Lee Jackson Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 4-3 My 1981 Tigers: 5-3 Real 1981 Tigers: 7-1 Replay Scoring Differential: +11 Real 1981 Game Record Differential: -2

Game #9 / April 19th (at Exhibition Stadium)

The Tigers send Milt Wilcox (Grade B-Z) to the mound to face off against the Jays' Jackson Todd (Grade D-Z).

The Blue Jays struck early with a two-out, two runs batted in single by Al Woods.

The Tigers appeared quiet the first two innings, then broke through loudly with a 6-run 3rd Inning, highlighted by a Steve Kemp, three-run homer & 2-run single by Tom Brookens; The game would see no more scoring the rest of the way.

It was easily Wilcox's best outing of the season, pitching the complete game victory, while allowing only 5 hits & 2 runs... He did allow 4 walks though, while striking out 4 Jays.

Kemp falls a triple short of the cycle, having a bid day, going 3-for-5, HR, 2B & 3 RBI.

Game #009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DETROIT	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	9	2
TORONTO	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	2
WP: Milt Wilcox (1-2) / LP: Jackson Todd Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers lost 9-1 My 1981 Tigers: 6-3 Real 1981 Tigers: 7-2 Replay Scoring Differential: +17 Real 1981 Game Record Differential: -1 Next Series: The Tigers travel to Yankees Stadium for 3 games.

1981 Reds-Tigers: The Differences

I had to momentarily slow down the Tigers' 1981 season, to catch up the Reds' side of the season. I have finished 19 games (Entire month of April) for the Tigers, while I am almost done with the Reds' month of April, with 15 games done through April 27th.

I am doing the exact 1981 MLB schedule with Strike included, whatever differences take place with the opponents that the Tigers & Reds face, can shakeup the 1st & 2nd Half Division races in each division of each league... got all that?!

• The effects of match-ups can be explained in this >>> article "1981 Revisited"

It's going to be interesting to see how it all finishes, it's already been a bit interesting for me....

For example, the Reds just finished a four-game series in Houston... In real-life, the Astros were slow out of the gate (3-12), but then would win 9 of their next 11 games (Houston would go on to win the 2nd Half N.L. West Division title).

I was amazed that Houston slumped out of the gate like that with an excellent APBA Baseball rotation of Nolan Ryan (A&C-X), Bob Knepper (A-Z), Don Sutton (B-YZ) & Joe Niekro (B-Z). Their lineup has pesky hitters in the top half, especially with Terry Puhl, Cesar Cedeno, Jose Cruz & Art Howe, who all gave the Reds' pitchers fits; The bottom part of the lineup definitely had its holes.

In real-life, the Reds took that series, 3-1 (pretty easily), while my APBA Reds, had to scratch back to win the Game 3 of that series, and walked out of the series with a 2-2 split.

I found the differences between the 1981 Tigers & 1981 Reds, to be night & day. The Tigers have multiple pieces in which the lineup usually alternates with a total of 12 players getting significant playing time -- while the Reds' lineup is pretty straight forward, it uses strictly 9 position players for its 8 player spots of the lineup.

Dave Collins, Ken Griffey, Dave Conception, George Foster, Ron Oester & Ray Knight play everyday, while the other two spots are either of these combinations...

• Johnny Bench ( C ) & Dan Driessen (1B)
• Joe Nolan (C) & Dan Driessen (1B)
• Joe Nolan (C) & Johnny Bench (1B)

There is not much strategy playing the Reds, just an occasional pinch-hitter late in games if I decide to yank the starter, I should not have to worry about bringing in the bullpen much, with Mario Soto (B-XZ) & Tom Seaver (A).

The Detroit Tigers have been much more fun to play with, plenty more to do with the lineup & with strategy, Lance Parrish has been a blast with 5 home runs in the month of April, well ahead of his actual HR pace of 1981 (finished with 10 total)... while getting acquainted with Steve Kemp's APBA card has been a lot of fun as well. Kemp is currently batting .319 with 2 HR & 10 RBI (.437 OBP) with .937 OPS for the season.

Richie Hebner has been over-producing for a season that only watched him hit .226 with a .656 OPS; His 1981 APBA numbers are currently reflecting .317 batting average, 7 RBI & a .751 OPS -- He has cooled off of late, 2-for-15 as of late.

This project has been a lot of fun so far & I certainly can't wait to see how this season plays out.

Games 6-7 / Detroit at Toronto (April 16-17)

The 1981 Detroit Tigers head to Toronto for the longer mid-section of this 9-game road trip, they just got back from a 1-1 series split in Kansas City & are hoping to get back to their winning ways, after their recent 4-0 loss.

Detroit won their earlier season series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Detroit, 2-1.

Game #6 / April 16th (at Exhibition Stadium)

Dan Petry (1-0, 6.00 ERA) will face against Dave Stieb, who pitched a 3-0 shutout against the Tigers for that lone series win.

Lou Whitaker & Alan Trammell would lead off the 1st Inning with back-to-back singles, while Kirk Gibson (batting cleanup) with one out, would reach base on a error by Damaso Garcia. Lance Parrish would smack in Whitaker with an RBI single, followed by Trammell scoring on a John Wockenfuss sacrifice fly.

Otto Velez would hit his 2nd HR of the season against the Tigers, he had a home run on opening day; His two-run HR in the bottom of the second off of Petry, tied the game at 2-2.

After the 1st Inning, both starting pitchers settled down & kept the game gridlocked for nine consecutive innings.

For the Tigers this was not a good sign for their offense... As they were entering the 11th Inning in this game, their lineup has only produced 2 runs in their last 19 innings (3 runs in last 21).

During the top of the 10th, pinch-hitter Rick Peters hit a lead-off triple, but on the very next play Richie Hebner flied to right, Peters tagged up, but got thrown out at home on Barry Bonnell's throw from right. I read up on the 1981 Tigers' season stat lines, and one of the things that seemed to play against them was stranding base runners, they were among the league leaders in doing so.

Top of the 11th, Steve Kemp led off with a single off of Stieb, Gibson would advance the runner to second, grounding out to third. Lance Parrish would come through again for the Tigers, like he has been early on this season, with an RBI single up the middle, as Kemp scores.

That's all the Tigers would get, and that's all the Tigers would need. Kevin Saucier logs his 3rd save of the season.

Dan Petry improves to 2-0, with a 3.38 ERA & 11 K's in 16 innings; He had 7 K's, while allowing only 3 hits & a walk through 10 innings.

Dave Stieb has had two solid outings against the Tigers now, going 1-1, with a 1.40 ERA -- although he lacked K's (4) with 7 walks & 11 hits in 19.1 innings.

Game #006	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
DETROIT	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	10	2
TORONTO	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	1
WP: Dan Petry (2-0) / LP: Dave Stieb / SV: Kevin Saucier (3)

Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 2-0

My 1981 Tigers: 4-2

Real 1981 Tigers: 5-1

Replay Scoring Differential: +9

Real 1981 Game Record Differential: -1

Game #7 / April 17th (at Exhibition Stadium)

This game was a bit back & forth, both starting pitchers, Dave Rozema (Detroit) & Luis Leal (Toronto) would suffer crooked numbers in this one.

During the bottom of the 1st, Toronto would log three consecutive singles by Barry Bonnell, John Mayberry & Otto Velez; Velez's single gave Toronto a 1-0 lead.

Top of the 2nd, the Tigers counter with two runs, an RBI double by Richie Hebner & RBI single by Champ Summers, giving Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Toronto would answer back in the bottom of the 3rd, with bases loaded & two outs, Damaso Garcia delivers an two-run single, to make it 3-2 Blue Jays.

The Jays' 3-2 lead would be short-lived as Lance Parrish led off the top of the 4th, with a double; Richie Hebner, two batters later, delivers an RBI double, then came a surprise two-run home run by Tom Brookens, his 2nd of the season! He hit both off of Toronto's Leal this season, he hit 4 homers in all of real-life 1981, he already has 2 in just 7 games.

The Tigers had a 5-3 lead after 4 innings, and would go on to win 7-4 in this one; Lance Parrish added an RBI single.

Toronto's Designated Hitter Otto Velez was one of the only bright spots for the Jays, going 3-for-5, with 2 RBI (all singles); Barry Bonnell (TOR) was 1-for-3, 2 BB with 3 runs.

The Tigers' Richie Hebner (who only batted .226 in real-life 1981) went 3-for-4, 2 doubles, 2 runs & 2 RBI for the day; Hebner is batting .429 (9-for-21) now for the season, and has won playing time from the struggling John Wockenfuss & Champ Summers.

The Tigers' bullpen has been spectacular with 16.1 innings of scoreless ball, between Dave Tobik, Aurelio Lopez, Kevin Saucier and a 1/3 inning of relief from Dave Rozema.

Game #007	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DETROIT	0	2	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	7	10	0
TORONTO	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	9	0
WP: Dave Rozema (1-0) / LP: Luis Leal / SV: Kevin Saucier (4)

Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 8-5

My 1981 Tigers: 5-2

Real 1981 Tigers: 6-1

Replay Scoring Differential: +12

Real 1981 Game Record Differential: -1

Next: The remaining two games of this 4-game series in Toronto (Games 8-9).

Games 4-5 / Detroit at Kansas City (April 14-15)

With the prior day off, Spark Anderson gave Jack Morris the start for the 4th game of the season (coming off 4 days rest), I decided to do the same in this case.

The defending A.L. Champion Kansas City Royals split their previous series with the Baltimore Orioles, standing at 1-1, while the Detroit Tigers stand at 2-1 for the season.

Game #4 / April 14th (at Royals Stadium) 

So it will be the Detroit Tigers' Jack Morris (Grade B) against Paul Splittorff (Grade D-Z). Not only was this game a mismatch with the APBA cards, the game would play out that way as well.

The Tigers' great double-play combination of Lou Whitaker & Alan Trammell, kicked off the game with back-to-back doubles; Lance Parrish would knock in Trammell on a RBI single.

The top of the second, at first, did not appear that it would amount to much, after Richie Hebner's lead-off single, Champ Summers would hit into a fielder's choice (getting Hebner out at second), followed by Tom Brookens striking out against Splittorff. Then the Tigers' bats lit up Splittorff with 5 consecutive singles by Whitaker, Trammell, Steve Kemp, Kirk Gibson & Lance Parrish -- Trammell, Kemp, Gibson & Parrish all collected an RBI each, and all 5 would score. The Royals would do a quick hook of Splittorff, by replacing him with pitcher Juan Berenguer (future Tiger), which Berenguer would allow two more RBI singles to Al Cowens & Richie Hebner (Hebner's 2nd single in the same inning); 7 consecutive hits all together, amounting to 6 runs & an early 8-0 lead after two innings!

The Royals would score on a error in the 5th, but that's the most that they would get off Morris. Morris would go all the way in this one, allowing only 4 hits, 1 unearned run & 2 walks, while striking out 4 Royals in the process.

Clint Hurdle, K.C.'s "future star" would get injured for 26 games, sliding into second. For Hurdle, 1980 & 1981 would be the peak of his baseball career; In limited play, he did have an outstanding APBA card in 1981 (.329 BA, 4 HR, 15 RBI & .980 OPS) although it was only in 28 games & 76 at-bats.

The Tigers would clobber K.C. pitching for 20 total hits & 11 runs, with Alan Trammell leading the way, going 4-for-6, 2B, 4 RBI & 2 runs. Lou Whitaker added 3 hits & 3 runs, while Lynn Jones came off the bench, and went 2-for-2 & 2 runs, including his 9th Inning home run.

The Tigers' Top 5 of the batting order (through 4 games):

• Lou Whitaker: 7-for-16 (.438 AVG), HR, 3 RBI, 4 R & 4 BB.
• Alan Trammell: 7-for-17 (.412 AVG), 3B, 4 RBI, 5 R & 3 BB.
• Steve Kemp: 5-for-16 (.313 AVG), 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R & 3 BB.
• Kirk Gibson: 6-for-17 (.353 AVG), HR, 3 RBI & 3 R.
• Lance Parrish: 5-for-17 (.294 AVG), 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R & 1 BB.

Game #004	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DETROIT	2	6	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	11	20	1
KANSAS CITY	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
WP: Jack Morris (1-0) (CG) / LP: Paul Splittorff Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 6-5 My 1981 Tigers: 3-1 Real 1981 Tigers: 3-1 Replay Scoring Differential: +12 Real 1981 Game Record Differential: 0

Game # 5 / April 15th (at Royals Stadium)

The Detroit Tigers' power display during the previous game, seemed to have suffered a power outage, as the bats went completely cold.

The game featured an even pitching match-up between Milt Wilcox (Grade B-Z) of the Tigers, facing Larry Gura (Grade B-Z) of the Royals, but it would be Gura that kept control throughout this one.

The game remained close entering the bottom of the 6th, until Cesar Geronimo's two-run single, made it a 4-0 affair.

Steve Kemp would collect 2 of the Tigers' 5 hits, including a triple. 

Wilcox would allow 9 hits, 4 runs & a walk, through 5.1 innings (collecting only 1 K), while Gura owned the Tigers, on his way to a 5-hit shutout. In real life, the game result was reversed with Dave Rozema pitching a 6-hit shutout, towards a 4-0 Tigers win (same score).

Game #005	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DETROIT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
KANSAS CITY	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	X	4	10	0
WP: Larry Gura (CG/SHO) / LP: Milt Wilcox (0-2)

Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 4-0

My 1981 Tigers: 3-2

Real 1981 Tigers: 4-1

Replay Scoring Differential: +8

Real 1981 Game Record Differential: -1

NEXT: Detroit travels to Toronto for a 4-game series (April 16-19th).

Games 1-3 / Toronto at Detroit (Apr 9, 11-12)

The Blue Jays' Danny Ainge at third.

The Toronto Blue Jays come into Detroit to play the Tigers; The Blue Jays up to this point as a franchise is still a sad one, but with some breaking rays of hope in Dave Stieb, Lloyd Moseby & Willie Upshaw... but are not close to their breakout 1984 season (first winning season).

The Blue Jays finished 37-69 during the actual 1981 season, and played their worst during first half (16-42), while their 2nd half showed a 21-28 (somewhat) improvement.

These were the days of Danny Ainge, better known for shooting the ball beyond the arc in Celtic green, then fielding the hot corner for Toronto. These are the days of Jorge (not-yet George) Bell, long before his 47 home runs in 1987. These are the days where they have yet to bring up Jesse Barfield and Jimmy Key.


A Brief History of Things to Come

The Jays would eventually improve to 78-84 in 1982, 89-73 in 1983 & would somewhat challenge the Detroit Tigers in 1984 at one point with their 89-73 record, well... at least until Dave Bergman took Roy Lee Jackson yard, during a 13-pitch 'Marathon' at-bat.

The Blue Jays would soar to new heights eventually winning the A.L. East in 1985, with a 99-62 record (only their 2nd winning season); They would eventually blow a 3-1 A.L. Championship Series lead over the Kansas City Royals.

The Rivalry

As a youth, I remember the cities of Detroit & Toronto having quite a rivalry, the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL definitely had no love for each other -- and I remember the 1987 MLB Season being the same way, the 87' season looked good as over for the Tigers, when the Tigers had lost their third straight to the Jays on back-to-back walk-off games, and with Toronto stretching their division lead (on September 26th) to 3.5 games with only 8 games to play.

It would come down to the last series in Detroit, in which the Tigers' Doyle Alexander improved his Tiger record to 9-0, with a 4-3 series opening win to tie the division lead. The next night would go extras, with Alan Trammell hitting a walk-off single to drive in pinch-runner Jim Walewander, to give Tigers a one-game lead.

Game #162 would be epic that season, with Frank Tanana pitching a 1-0 shutout, with the only run being a solo HR by Larry Herndon off of Jimmy Key.

Game #1 / April 9th (at Tiger Stadium)

The Blue Jays played much better than I would have imagined by glancing at their cards, in Game #1 they sent Jim Clancy (Grade D) to the mound. I will use the real-life lineups & rotations for the opponents to the best of my abilities.

Toronto would jump to a 2-0 lead, after an RBI single by Barry Bonnell and a Danny Ainge Sac Fly, during the top of the 2nd Inning; The Tigers would answer back in the bottom half of the inning, led by a solo HR by Lance Parrish (batting 6th) and a three-run HR by Lou Whitaker -- after back-to-back singles by Al Cowens & Richie Hebner.

The Blue Jays would eventually tie the ballgame at 4-4 in the 6th, after Alan Trammell's error, that resulted in Willie Upshaw scoring; Trammell would make up for his fielding folly with a lead-off triple during the bottom of the 7th Inning, Steve Kemp would hit him in on a 6-3 ground out, while Al Cowens a few at-bats later would knock in Kirk Gibson with an RBI single.

Kevin Saucier would hold down the save, despite giving up a one-out triple to Lloyd Moseby in the 9th (Moseby was picked off by Lance Parrish, a few pitches later).

Jack Morris (Grade B) would get the no decision with a 5.1 IP, 4 HR, 3 ER, 1 K & 3 BB performance.

Game #001	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
TORONTO	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	7	0
DETROIT	0	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	X	6	11	2
WP: Dave Tobik (1-0) / LP: Roy Lee Jackson / SV: Saucier (1)

Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 6-2

My 1981 Tigers: 1-0

Real 1981 Tigers: 1-0

Replay Scoring Differential: +2

Real 1981 Game Record Differential: 0


Game #2 / April 11th (at Tiger Stadium)

The Blue Jays send out Dave Stieb (Grade B-Z) to counter Milt Wilcox (Grade B-Z), the lineups end up being much quieter in this one... A total of 5 hits between the two clubs.

John Mayberry would hit a two-run HR during the opening inning off of Wilcox, to give Toronto a early 2-0 lead; Toronto adds to the lead with a RBI double by Ernie Whitt during the top of the 2nd.

The Tigers could not come up with anything against Stieb, who would only allow doubles to Kirk Gibson & Steve Kemp... He did allow 5 walks though.

Mayberry & Stieb highlighted Game #2 vs Detroit.

Game #002	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
TORONTO	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	1
DETROIT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
WP: Dave Stieb (CG, SHO) / LP: Milt Wilcox (0-1) Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers won 6-2 My 1981 Tigers: 1-1 Real 1981 Tigers: 2-0 Replay Scoring Differential: -1 Real 1981 Game Record Differential: -1

Game #3 / April 12th (at Tiger Stadium)

The game did not look good early on, as Dan Petry (Grade B-Y) would allow 3 runs during the first 3 innings, led by Damaso Garcia's two-run double in the 1st Inning.

The Tigers would not test Toronto's starter Luis Leal until the bottom of the 3rd, when Lance Parrish hit his 2nd HR of the season with a two-run blast to deep center. The Tigers would continue scoring the next two innings, led by a two-run homer by Kirk Gibson & from one of the most unexpected areas - Tom Brookens smacks a three-run HR to give Tigers an 8-4 edge.

Brookens was all smiles after the game.

Tigers would hold onto the win, as Kevin Saucier came in for his 2nd Save. Petry gets the ugly win, allowing 7 hits, 4 earned runs & 3 walks through 6 innings -- while Leal left crooked numbers, allowing 8 hits & 8 runs, with 4 walks in only 4 innings of work.

Game #003	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
TORONTO	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	5	8	2
DETROIT	0	0	2	3	3	0	0	0	X	8	10	1
WP: Dan Petry (1-0) / LP: Luis Leal / SV: Kevin Saucier (2)

Real 1981 Game Result: Tigers lost 6-2

My 1981 Tigers: 2-1

Real 1981 Tigers: 2-1

Replay Scoring Differential: +2

Real 1981 Game Record Differential: 0

Next: Off-Day, followed by 2 games (April 14 & 15) at Kansas City.

1981 Revisited

I have decided to do a 1981 Season Replay of sorts, with the 1981 APBA Baseball Card set that I own. The set came to me as a gift about a little over a year ago, from my good friend Kenneth Heard. Kenneth as you APBA Facebook Group fellas may know, writes the witty blog "Love, Life and APBA Baseball". I decided that the cards sat around long enough, and it's time to dive into it.

In Kenneth's 1981 replay, he decided to play all of the 162 games that were scheduled for 1981 -- as you all may know, there was a strike in 1981 -- he did an alternate to that. I decided I will play with two teams only, the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds, who both won lots of games, but did not win either half's division title; The playoff format that season, featured the first time we ever witnessed Division Series format for the playoffs, it would not return until 1995.

All the results from the Tigers and Reds can effect the results in the standings for the teams effected, meaning for example, let's say the Tigers in real life split with the Royals for the season series, but in my replay Kansas City won 4 more games than the actual season, KC would now have a +4 in the standings, which might move them up considerably for the season standings final results. All other series that don't involve the Tigers & Reds will go down as they did in real life, if the Cubs swept Atlanta in a 3-game series in June, then Cubs swept the Braves in June...

Get it?!

I picked the Detroit Tigers because... well, I am a Tigers fan, so that's a natural choice. The Tigers went 60-49, finishing overall 2 games behind the A.L East's best in the Milwaukee Brewers' 62-47. The Tigers just missed out on both half-races, so me playing the Tigers could shake things up, a few wins here & there. I am still doing the halves, doing the strike, and going to see how everything is different at the end.

I was going to just play the Tigers, but Cincinnati was in the same boat as the Tigers that year, plenty of wins, but falling short in both half-A.L. West Division races to the Los Angeles Dodgers & Houston Astros.

I hope to repeat Kenneth's accomplishments with the Tigers, by getting them to the playoffs, the Tigers ended up winning the A.L. East in a full-season format in his complete 1981 MLB Replay.

With the Tigers/Reds games being played, I may have to nickname this project, "The Sparky Connection"