Toledo Glass City APBA Divisions Announced

This trophy will go to the winner of Toledo's inaugural winner, who will it be?

My friend Ron Emch is hosting his first APBA Baseball Tournament this Saturday, August 29th -- The Toledo Glass City APBA Baseball Tournament in Maumee, Ohio at the Maumee-Bowling Green Elks Lodge.

It should be a wonderful tournament with plenty of recognizable faces going, I will be making a strong attempt at it next summer, it's a clear shot down for I-75 for me.

I got the news on the division setups, and they are as follow....

I always like to make a prediction of these, so I'm going with Darren Schulz's 1937 Yankees. Good luck to everyone, it should be a blast!

Streakin'

Thames (here with his kids, wife & Leyland) more relaxed at the plate of late.

My Detroit Tigers for my 2007 Detroit Tigers Season Replay have suddenly found the ways of winning, at just the right time. We just finished sweeping the Texas Rangers at home, with the finale of the series coming off a walk-off sac fly by Ryan Raburn in the 13th, scoring in Curtis Granderson.

When we left off, the Tigers won 7 straight, they took that streak to 11 consecutive victories (a season best) -- breaking its 7 consecutive mark set in June. They also have won 15 of their last 17 games, their best stretch since early June, when they went 15-3.

Marcus Thames and Carlos Guillen, two players who have struggled all year, have been excellent during this stretch. Thames' peak performance was hitting 3 HR & 5 RBI in his first 3 at-bats by the 5th inning against the Chicago White Sox. Guillen has been rolling in his new #6 spot, with Placido Polanco batting 5th; Guillen's highlight during this stretch was against the Texas Rangers, going 4-for-5, with 2 HR's & 5 RBI.

Guillen has become more focused in his new #6 spot of the lineup.

As I mentioned above, the Tigers had to pull off some heroics in the finale against the Rangers, the Tigers were getting the hits, but failing to score -- while Brad Wilkerson was single-handily causes the Tigers problems; He would finish up 4-for-5, with 2 HR's, a double, single & batted in all 3 of the Rangers' runs.

Justin Verlander (entered at 15-8, 3.68 ERA) got the no-decision, allowing 6 hits & 2 HR's to Wilkerson, with only 3 K's -- he allowed 4 walks! Robinson Tejeda (a APBA Grade D-W) held his own for 5 innings, 7 hits, 2 ER & 2 walks allowed, with 3 K's -- it could have certainly been worse.

The Tigers the last few innings, kept leaving the winning runs in scoring position, and the game started to play out in the Rangers' favor -- until Curtis Granderson's one-out triple in the top of the 13th. Granderson had 4 K's for the night, until his big hit; Raburn would hit the walk-off sac fly to pull off the victory. Tigers had 15 hits, while the Rangers only had 8 -- Tigers were certainly playing with fire in that game.

Thames (left) and "Mags" has had plenty to be happy about; Team is playing loose.

The Detroit Tigers whooped the Texas Rangers overall for my replay, winning 8 of 9 from them -- in real-life, the Tigers edged Texas, 5-4 in the season series.

The Tigers now sit at 83-64, while the New York Yankees, who we are chasing, is at 83-62 -- one game ahead in the wildcard race. The Tigers & Yankees split 4-4, and both teams in real-life split the season series as well, which means there is no differential to help us, and we must beat the Yankees' final season record of 94-68.

My Tigers have to go at least 11-4 to force a one-game playoff, and go 12-3 to win the wildcard spot outright. We have gone 15-2 in this stretch, so it is possible, but it will get tougher...

Since, I have recently gone with a four-man rotation, I will have Justin Verlander (Grade B-X) on the mound for Game #151 (for the series opener) against the Cleveland Indians, Game #155 at home against the Kansas City Royals & another home against the Minnesota Twins (Game #159).

Here's to hoping for an amazing finish for the season.

The WHAT IF 1984 World Series (The Conclusion)

Here is a recap on the WHAT IF 1984 World Series...

(Click on game links to get a synopsis of each game)

Game 1 (at Chicago) - Detroit 5, Chicago 4

Game 2 (at Chicago) - Detroit 3, Chicago 2 (10 Innings)

Game 3 (at Detroit) - Chicago 4, Detroit 0

Game 4 (at Detroit) - Chicago 3, Detroit 2

Game 5 (at Detroit) - Chicago 2, Detroit 1

The Detroit Tigers won the first two games, while the Chicago Cubs won the next three at Tiger Stadium -- In fact, every game so far during this series has been won by the visiting team. 

GAME 6 

(at Wrigley Field, Chicago)

Petry was the right call for Game 6.

The Detroit Tigers saved Dan Petry for Game 6, and pitched Juan Berenguer instead for Game 5. While the Chicago Cubs send Dennis Eckersley, who last time pitched got the Cubs back into this series with a shutout of the Tigers in Game 3.

The Tigers started Rupert Jones once again in left field, he went 2-for-3 (2 singles) in Game 5 -- The move paid off again with a solo HR to get the Tigers started with a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. The Tigers' Lou Whitaker would add to the lead, with a RBI single in the 5th inning.

It was all Dan Petry in this one, allowing only two hits in 8 shutout innings, with 5 K's & 3 BB's. Dennis Eckersley was good again, but couldn't get the support from his lineup in this one, he went 6 innings, allowing 5 hits & 2 runs (1 earned), he did allow 3 walks though.

Tigers win 2-0, Series tied 3-3

GAME 7

(at Wrigley Field, Chicago)

Once again, it's Jack Morris vs Rick Sutcliffe. Morris has not done so well the previous two, while Sutcliffe has been excellent.

Both pitchers kept the other team off the board the first three innings, until Leon Durham got things going with a solo HR in the bottom of the 4th. The Tigers' Dave Bergman would get the Tigers' first hit in the top of the 5th, a two-out double. It would not be until the top of the 6th, that the Tigers would score, and that would be a game-tying RBI triple by Kirk Gibson; Scoring in Lou Whitaker from second (who had a double). The Tigers would strand Gibson.

The Tigers also would hit into many force plays or double plays in this series, or so it seems, because they happen to happen at the most crucial times of the ball games.

The game would remain a 1-1 tie for the next couple innings, entering the 9th. Jack Morris had his best game of the series, even though it was a short five inning outing -- allowing 4 hits & a run, while striking out five Cubs. The Tigers' Aurelio Lopez pitched two scoreless innings, and Dave Rozema & Doug Bair shared the 8th Inning. Willie Hernandez would come in for a non-save situation, with the Tigers hoping for him to last at least three innings, if this goes extras.

Meanwhile, Rick Sutcliffe has been keeping the Tigers at bay, allowing only 5 hits, a run & walk through 8 innings, while racking up 8 K's.

The top of the 9th, the Tigers had their #3, #4 & #5 hitters coming up in Kirk Gibson, Chet Lemon & Darrell Evans. They couldn't do anything with fly-outs by Gibson & Evans, and Lemon grounding out. Bottom of the 9th, the Cubs had Ron Cey, Jody Davis & Larry Bowa coming up. Cey would strike out a third time, and is 0-for-4 for the night. Jody Davis (1-for 18) entering the game, was 0-for-3 in this one with 2 K's (making him 1-for-21), appeared to be no threat to Willie Hernandez, until Willie accidentally hung one over the plate, Jody sent it deep over the Ivy in right, a walk-off series winner for the Cubbies!

The Chicago Cubs down 2-0, win the series, 4-3! Leon Durham has been a beast, it's been awhile since I have seen stats such as these in a dice series, but here they are...

LEON DURHAM

11 H / 25 AB

.440 BA

2 HR

6 RBI

7 Doubles

2 Triples

4 walks (1 Int Walk)

All 11 hits were Extra-Base Hits!

.517 On-Base Percentage

1.120 Slugging Percentage

1.637 OPS (On-Base + Slugging)

Easy call, he is the MVP of the series, despite Sutcliffe & Eckersley's excellent performances.

Jody Davis: The unlikely series hero, ending 76 years of frustration.

The Boys are Back!

Tamales' rookie Jose Abreu sounds off with his bat, in historic start.

8/14/2015

The 2015 Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League is officially off and running, as we enter our 3rd season of our league's existence. We have many of the same faces (in owners) returning with three new faces.

Early on, there has been plenty of parity in the league. While some things have changed as in the (2013 Bos World Champion) South Shore Fighting Imps' dominate days momentarily setting with the sun -- Some have stayed the same as in the Portland Microbrewers looking like they want to make it three consecutive National League Championships.

With the American League East up for grabs, with the Imps no longer grasping onto the divison, early on there seems to be a three-team battle between the Swatara Eliminators (2014 A.L. Wildcard), Corktown Tamales, and the South Side Spartans. The Tamales & Spartans are two new teams with two new owners, taking over for former franchises -- Boston Bravos & Bronx Bombers.

The Tamales are currently in first (12-10), led by rookie Jose Abreu (.407 BA, 9 HR & 21 RBI for a 1.330 OPS), who is putting up MVP numbers early on -- His slugging percentage by the way, is .238 higher than the next player, his teammate Troy Tulowitzki. The Spartans are 11-11, and are led with a formidable rotation in Johnny Cueto, Jon Lester, James Shields, R.A. Dickey (currently 2nd in ERA with 1.61) & Hiroki Kuroda (last season in the states). The Eliminators are led by tag team Victor Martinez and Anthony Rizzo. "V-Mart" is batting .314, 3 HR & 16 RBI (.891 OPS), while leading the league with 11 doubles; Rizzo is batting .310, 4 HR & 15 RBI (.907 OPS). While the top 3 teams are separated by only 2 games, the Imps are noticeably in last, at 7-15, 5 games out of first. The team is loaded with productive vets in the past, in Joe Mauer, Matt Holliday, Shin-Soo Choo, David Wright and Ben Zobrist who are still capable of putting up numbers, but age is setting in. The team's rotation is not what it once was in 2013, led by Doug Fister.

In the A.L. West, we have a another wide open division. The Brooklyn Mets (14-8) hold a two-game lead over the World Champs - Fairgrove Tigers; Brooklyn currently lost 3 straight, while Fairgrove has won 3 straight. The division seems to be loaded with good pitching, as 4 of the 5 top team ERA's are all from the same division; The American League itself, has shown good pitching ranging from top team (South Side) ERA of 2.55 to bottom team (South Shore) at 3.68 ERA -- while hitting has been down, with top team (Swatara) batting .249 & worst team (South Shore) batting .198; Five teams are batting .222 or lower!

The West returns with the same teams in place, but some of the teams have had face-lifts. The Fairgrove Tigers made a few off-season trades, saying goodbye to star Adam Jones, Elvis Andrus, and to Jarred Cosart who played a huge role as a rookie to help Fairgrove win the title -- while they brought in Carlos Gomez, Chris Davis, Shelby Miller & Aaron Loup, The Chicago Nine acquired Jones & Andrus in Gomez/Miller deal with Fairgrove, while trading away Chris Archer (who they acquired from Boston the season below) to another division rival - Buffalo Yankees, along with Ian Kinsler in exchange for Miguel Cabrera and Wade Miley. Miguel's status with Chicago was momentarily, as he then was dished out to Traverse City in a mega deal, that sent Miguel, Josh Harrison, Drew Smyly & Leonys Martin in exchange for Yasiel Puig, Yu Darvish, Brandon Belt & Cody Allen. Buffalo, as mentioned above, got a young ace in Chris Archer, who will help form the top of that rotation with Jordan Zimmermann. The Brooklyn Mets have plenty of young guys in the minors in Jacob deGrom, Maikel Franco, Mike Bolsinger & Billy Burns -- showing that they are certainly a team on the rise. The entire West is separated by three games.

The National League East watched Holland Hitchhikers recently take 5 of 6 from the Traverse City Panthers. The Hitchhikers have already a 5 game lead on the second place Urbana Locomotives. Things have not been going well for the Panthers, as they find themselves at a disappointing 10-12 -- with a powerful lineup, great rotation & strong bullpen, T.C. expected more. Holland has a +31 scoring differential & have also succeeded with a strong bullpen led by Greg Holland. Holland has plenty of young talent with Bryce Harper, Eric Hosmer, Starling Marte and Andrelton Simmons.
The Kingsley Brownbeards (formerly Hannibal Cavemen) lead the league in fielding, an entire 7 pts higher than the next best team in the entire BoS. The Urbana Locomotives have an interesting mix of vets (Cole Hamels, David Price & Adrian Beltre) that have got it done in the past, while adding youth and versatile players to the mix in Yoenis Cespedes, George Springer & Tanner Roark -- remember it's just over a season ago that the Locomotives were just one win away from reaching the World Series.

Out West in the N.L., the Portland Microbrewers are at it again, maybe not as dominant out of the gate as last season's start -- but they once again appear to be the team to beat, and Mike Trout has not really gotten started yet. The Brewers' pitching seems to be the backbone of their success once again; Matt Shoemaker and Dallas Keuchel are off to great starts for them. The Seattle Rainiers made some big improves in the draft, drafting Joc Pederson, 2nd overall, and adding reliever Brad Boxberger in the second round. It's no secret that the San Diego Heroes have plenty of offense, but they are starting to shed some of that offense to make the team a more rounded force, last season they said goodbye to Jose Bautista by trading him to Boston in a deal that brought in better defense in Alex Gordon, and now have said goodbye to Chris Davis, who hit 53 HR's for them last season -- trading him to Fairgrove. The Heroes drafted Daniel Norris, to add to the youth movement in their starting pitching to go along with Tyson Ross & Kyle Gibson. The King Road Kings still have their two-headed monster in Clayton Kershaw & Chris Sale in their rotation, add that to one of the best closers in Aroldis Chapman --They definitely got the pitching, their lineup though needs to improve, and in a league full of pitching, the teams that lack the lineup will have a tough time.

8/16/2015

Early on, there seems to be a lot of parity in the league, a couple teams separating themselves at the top, while a couple teams in the cellar know that this may be a long season. Of course nothing is guaranteed this early, and it may be about who played who so far. Many questions, are the Brooklyn Mets for real? Was the Traverse City Panthers over-hyped? Can the Fairgrove Tigers repeat? Are the Chicago Nine, a playoff contender? It appears many, if not all teams, are trying to find their footing.

Good News, Bad News, Good News?

My Detroit Tigers were 68-62, 3.5 games behind Cleveland & a game behind suddenly-second place Minnesota. At no point after April 29th, in real life 2007 the Detroit Tigers ever fell to third place... I managed to accomplish this horrible feat. My team fell after being ahead of pace for the season (as much as +4 vs 2007 Tigers actual record) & having a +2 win differential against Cleveland at the All-Star Break.

This has been a funny replay, and most of it, record-wise has been living up to the actual 2007 Tigers season, as the collapse & losing streaks all happened around the same time. Every time that I felt like I was finally getting ahead, my team would roll over, with the bats disappearing or my bullpen giving up untimely runs.

So things were looking bad... but they somehow got better!

So GOOD NEWS...
My team would go on to win 7 straight games, after dropping 3 of 4 at home against the Yankees (winning the finale). We would sweep our two back-to-back road series (3 games each) against the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics, two teams that have given me fits in the past.

BAD NEWS...
The Cleveland Indians who were leading my division was on a winning streak of their own, they won 8 straight, until losing their game on September 2nd to last place Chicago White Sox, 8-0. I closed in a total of 1 game, during this stretch. I guess I can count my lucky stars, and be thankful that I didn't have a untimely losing streak, which would have buried me, and likely cost me the season.

The Standings as of September 2nd for the Tigers.

But what's this? GOOD NEWS?! 
The Seattle Mariners have lost 9 straight, some of those at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. They were a wild card contender, that's quickly fading. My future series with them at home for 3 games will not help me in win differential against the Mariners, but could help in overall picture, as well as all my remaining series.

Maybe, more BAD NEWS?! After winning my first series against the New York Yankees, 3-1; I lost my next & last series against the Yankees, 3-1. The conclusion will be no differential between our two teams, which at one point I had a +2 against them, and now it's even. Which means, regardless, the New York Yankees will finish, 94-68 -- just hopefully the difference this time, is that they are not the wildcard team.

We are currently 1 game behind their record, we just need to not follow real-life Tigers' pace (which has been difficult), and avoid same tragic end to the season; Detroit ended up 88-74.

So basically my magic number is 94 total wins for the season.