We all love playing season replays or team replays or single-player replays, so with that we are quite aware that through APBA, especially early in a season, we can see some alarming home run rates, and other players under-performing as well.
Below is a list of the players that are playing above pace & below pace...
I posted an APBA post recently on the APBA Facebook Group on how in one of the games, Boston elected to pitch around Doug DeCinces by intentionally walking him, and facing Lee May instead. I also mentioned in that same post that DeCinces was currently tied with Oakland's Gary Alexander for the team lead in home runs with 11....That of course, got some heads turning.
The reality of the situation, is that in real life Alexander actually had a great April as well in 1978, even gracing the cover of The Sporting News. Once May came he slowed down, and he's doing the same in my 1978 A.L. Replay. Alexander had 11 HR in the month of April for my replay, but has been quiet since, while his batting average has gone down, while the strikeouts has picked up. Alexander currently leads the A.L. in whiffs at the plate, with 40 in only 100 at-bats!
Another thing that may have caught your eye on the charts above is Cleveland's backup rookie catcher Ron Hassey with 3 home runs, when he only hit 2 HR through 25 games & 74 at-bats. He has only played 4 games & 15 at-bats, but has had luck on his side in the early going, with a 2 home run game against the Seattle Mariners on May 9th. I put 18 with an asterisk in the 'On Pace' column, but obviously he will not hit anything near that, but another HR or maybe two, could happen since the ungodly HR rolls came early for him.
Oakland's Alexander is not the only Athletic enjoying some early success, his teammate Dave Revering has already hit 6 HR, while on pace for 34 HR. Also Gary Thomasson (not shown above on chart) is batting .405 (32-for-79) through 21 games played, with 3 HR & 14 RBI; Thomasson has already over-exceeded his real-life 31 hits with Oakland through 47 games & 154 at-bats (Thomasson will be traded June 15th to the Yankees).
A few Boston stars made the under-performing side of the above chart, in Carlton Fisk & Dwight Evans, while Kansas City's Darrell Porter has done nothing but struggle, with only one dinger, while batting .161 with an OPS barely over .500 early in the season.
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