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| Horner, one of many stories from 78'. |
I mentioned that my brother Chris Baier and myself would be replaying the 1987 MLB Season via APBA Baseball, but than we realized we didn't have access to every player from that year... So we switched things up and purchased the 1978 APBA Baseball Season instead.
I will be replaying the American League, while he would replay the National League. The A.L. East that season had four teams with 90+ wins.
We are looking forward to the project, Chris pointed out that Bob Horner of the Braves, would be drafted that year, debut for the Braves in 78' while winning N.L. Rookie of the Year. Horner would hit 23 HR & 66 RBI while playing only 89 games for Atlanta.
1996 Atlanta Braves Season Update (No Expansion) [Out of the Park 19]
The Atlanta Braves (106-56) finished off the Montreal Expos (106-56), who won the 1993 & 1994 World Series. The Braves are still seeking their first World Championship in the city of Atlanta. They have won World Series in Boston (1914) and in Milwaukee (1957).
They will be facing the Toronto Blue Jays (97-65), who have reached their 2nd World Series in franchise history, their first series appearance happened in the All-Canada 1994 World Series against the Expos. The Jays' lineup is what got them here, loaded with studs such as Roberto Alomar, Jeff Kent, Tony Gwynn, Matt Williams, Carlos Delgado and Mickey Tettleton. The Jays' pitching is not so great, while their bullpen is horrible.
This is Atlanta's 3rd World Series appearance this decade, while they lost back-to-back seasons (1991-1992) to the Minnesota Twins.
The Braves traded away David Justice prior to the season to Kansas City in exchange for outfielders Johnny Damon and Brian McRae. During the season they lost their young star Chipper Jones for 5 months due to a broken elbow, while Ryan Klesko carried them with his huge bat, as he led the National League in home runs (55) and RBI (145). The Braves also made room for their prospect Jason Giambi by trading away Fred McGriff; Giambi had 33 HR & 97 RBI in his first full season as a starter.
The Braves' signature mark is their pitching of course, both Tom Glavine (21-6, 3.14 ERA) and John Smoltz (23-6, 2.38 ERA) won 20 games, while Greg Maddux (19-9, 2.99 ERA) just missed out with 19 wins. The team acquired former Cy Young Winner Doug Drabek from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Steve Avery.
1957 Braves Swept by 1971 Pirates with Mazeroski Series Walk-off [APBA]
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| Hebner: One of the 71' Bucs role players. |
Willie Stargell (2 HR), Al Oliver (HR, 3B, 3 RBI) & Richie Hebner (HR, 2B, 3 RBI & 2 BB) were major factors for the Pirates' first two victories of the series -- giving them a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five series.
Milwaukee led most of Game 3, 1-0, thanks to Wes Covington's 2nd inning solo home run, but the Pirates would eventually tie the game up in the bottom of the 7th with Milt May's pinch-hit sac fly.
Bill Mazeroski (no stranger to series walk-offs) came in with a runner on second, pinch-hitting for Gene Alley, as he would roll a 66-0, 64-6 for the series walk-off off of Braves' starting pitcher Bob Buhl. For Mazeroski, it was his only at-bat all series.
The 71' Pirates live another day as they await the winners of the Aaron bracket series between the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 1915 Philadelphia Phillies, which is currently tied at 1-1, while switching to Philadelphia's home turf at the Baker Bowl.
UAL's Traverse City Fighting Tigers Awaits Playoffs in April
My Traverse City Fighting Tigers, who are awaiting their road results against the Crooked River Carp & Durham Bulls, eagerly await to see who they will be playing in the upcoming postseason, coming this April.
With 150 games of results in my hand, the Tigers are currently 98-52 (.653), with 10 games on the road still to be recorded.
It's been truly an amazing season. I will be doing a season statistics recap, while I will also do a blog piece on the bizarre, final home series of the regular season against the Durham Bulls. In that series, I done something that I never have done in probably my 5,000+ solitaire lifetime games... oh, who am I kidding?! 10,000+ solitaire lifetime games...
For now, I will keep you in suspense.
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