NXPL Action: Good Start for Tigers

As you might not know, I have joined another league called the NXPL (No Expansion Professional League) for APBA BBW. I have took over the reigns of the Detroit Tigers, and the season is 1981. It's a world where there is only 16 teams, an alternate universe if you can imagine, where there is 8 teams in each league (American & National).

• Check out my previous article on Managing the NXPL 1981 Detroit Tigers.

Now that you are caught up, here is how I did in my opening series at home (Tiger Stadium) against the Seattle Mariners. 

Martz & the Tigers' pen had a great series.

GAME 1

Tom Seaver (DET) vs Jack Morris (SEA) - Two players traded for each other, go head to head. The game would be decided however on the teams' bullpens. Joel Youngblood comes in for the Tigers to pinch-hit in the bottom of the 8th for Dave Rozema -- hits a two-run single to tie the game 3-3; Kirk Gibson in the next at-bat would hit a two-run HR into the upper deck at Tiger Stadium to take 5-3 lead. Dave Tobik comes in for the save, Dave Rozema logs the win, while Jim Price blown the save in the 8th & was credited with the loss for the Mariners. Willie Randolph had a HR in a losing effort.

TIGERS win 5-3

GAME 2

Tiger star Bill Madlock would get injured early (Out for 5 games), as the Tigers had to rely on Danny Ainge to take over Madlock's slot. Tigers would only manage 4 hits (2 of them from their starting pitcher Mario Soto). Mike Norris goes the distance for the M's with only one earned run & 2 walks allowed, while striking out 10 Tigers. Dave Winfield goes 2-for-4, including a solo HR for the Mariners. Mario Soto gets the tough loss, 2 ER's & 8 hits allowed in 6.2 innings.

MARINERS win 3-1

GAME 3

The Tigers could only manage two hits against Danny Darwin, but Darwin's defense would let him down with two errors. During the bottom of the 3rd, Dwayne Murphy (SEA) had a ball lined deep to the outfield that deflected off his glove and rolled to the wall, in which Alan Trammell would go all the way around the diamond to score on the error to kick off the inning -- you don't see plays like this everyday. Seattle's Willie Randolph tied the game, 1-1, on a sac fly in the 5th, driving in Wayne Gross. Both starters Darwin (despite his 4 walks), and the Tigers' Dan Petry pitched good games; Darwin allowed 2 hits & 1 ER in 7 innings with 3 K's, while Petry allowed only 3 hits & 1 ER in 7 innings with only 2 K's. Lance Parrish delivers an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th, Petry stayed solid in the 7th, and the bullpen took over, as Randy Martz logs his 1st Save of the season for the Tigers. Darwin gets the loss, Petry gets the win.

TIGERS win 2-1

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GAME 4

This game was decided in the 4th Inning, Dave Winfield and Dwayne Murphy collided going for a ball hit by Jason Thompson -- both players would have to leave the remainder of the game; both are fine to play in the next game. Thompson's hit was a two-run double. Craig Reynolds would set the Tigers up nicely, making two fielding errors on the same play by Mookie Wilson that would score another two runs. Pete Redfern pitched 6 scoreless innings for Detroit, allowing only 3 hits & a walk, while the bullpen once again maintained the lead allowing only one hit in the last 3 innings. Glenn Abbott gets the loss for the M's, allowing 4 hits, 4 walks & 2 earned runs (4 total runs) in 5 innings of work.

Thompson had timely hits in the series.

TIGERS win 4-0

GAME 5

The Mariners jump on Detroit early with 3 runs in the top of the 1st, a crucial error in the inning by Lou Whitaker that set up Dave Winfield with an RBI double. Tigers' Steve Trout rattled early, but he would calm down. Those pesky Tigers start to claw back with a solo HR by Jason Thompson & RBI double by Lance Parrish in the bottom of the 2nd off Seattle starter Al Williams. During the bottom of the 5th, with one man on, Jason Thompson hits a foul ball beyond third base, which SS-Tim Foli would drop, making it only strike two -- next pitch, RBI double for Thompson; Thompson now has 5 RBI's in the young season -- going 3-for-3, drawing a walk & scoring a run in this one, to lift his average up to .357. Dave Winfield strikes again, with a RBI single during the top of the 7th off of reliever Doug Bird, to give Seattle a 4-3 lead -- but it was short-lived, as Lance Parrish and Mookie Wilson hit back-to-back RBI doubles to take back the lead, 5-4 off of Seattle starter Williams, who was hanging tough. Alex Hassler was log his 3rd Hold already, to setup Randy Martz for his 2nd Save; Redfern gets the win, A.Williams (SEA) with the loss. Both teams combined for 24 hits in this one, Seattle with 13 hits -- but missed opportunities, while leaving many on base (Dwayne Murphy left 6 on base).

TIGERS win 5-4

TIGERS win series, 4-1 over SEA

The Tigers' bullpen (doing it Sparky style) went 12.1 innings, allowing only 3 ER's on 7 hits (2.19 ERA, 3 Saves) -- which was key to their victory. The Tigers know that they will have to work their bullpen effectively this season to win some tough games -- since they don't have big names in their bullpen, but this was a good start. The Mariners made 6 errors and missed out on plenty of scoring opportunities, the series could have easily been 4-1 Seattle, if they had a break here and there.