Darren Schulz sent me this recap of this year’s online Linda B. Schulz Memorial APBA Baseball Tournament VII using APBA GO.
Linda B. Schulz Memorial APBA Baseball Tournament VII
October 1, 2021
November 6, 2021
Once again, the pandemic stalled the familiar sounds of laughter, jubilation, and sometimes frustration resulting from the red and white dice we so love to toss onto the tabletops at the Slippery Rock Township Building. The 2020 tournament helped many of our community members identify a new way of playing through online live streaming options like Zoom and Google Meet. While that tourney proved to be a huge success largely due to the commitment of our loyal supporters, Ken and I decided that 2021 would introduce those interested in our tournament to Apba GO. With this year’s theme including any MLB teams from 1920-2019 that did not make the World Series, we ended up with 48 managers who were willing to forfeit the soothing sounds of shaken dice and replace those with the repetitive clicks of the virtual game.
Unlike previous tournaments, this was a bracket-style competition with all 48 teams placed into a randomizer to determine 16 first round matchups and 12 teams with a round one bye. Due to the double elimination format, all managers were ensured at least two three-game series matchups.
After many players supplied some wonderful anecdotal records (including Steve Stein’s amazing run at staving off elimination with six straight series victories with the 2017 Cleveland Indians) to the mass email list, the final four was determined in early November with the following matchups.
Loser’s Bracket
John Cress at his 1930 Chicago Cubs swept past Brian Silvis and the 2017 Washington Nationals two games to zero.
John and the Cubbies do it again the hard way over Dave Druk and the 2006 Minnesota Twins. After dropping game one with a 3-2 score, the Cubs win a nail biting game two at 2-1 and then ride Hack Wilson’s two homeruns in a 7-3 game three clincher.
This set up a rematch between John’s 1930 Cubs and Alec Otto’s 1995 Cincinnati Reds. Alec’s Reds took an earlier Winner’s Bracket semifinal with a hard earned 3-1, 5-6, 2-1 series victory.
For the tournament finale, the LBS VII champion would be crowned in this fashion. Can John’s Cubs take three games before Alec’s Reds can win two games? Along with holding the Winner’s Bracket advantage, Alec’s subsequent game summaries are part of what made his participation and championship run so memorable.
Game 1 – 30 Cubs (Pat Malone) at 95 Reds (Pete Schourek)
Score 10-1 Reds
Game 1 found the Reds offense firing on all cylinders as they cruised to a 10-1 victory over Pat Malone and the 1930 Cubs. The Reds scored twice in the 2nd and 5 times in the 3rd and never looked back with Pete Schourek keeping the Cubs’ bats quiet. Mark Lewis, Jerome Walton and Thomas Howard all had 3 hits for the Reds. Kiki Cuyler provided the lone Chicago run with an RBI single in the 5th inning.
Game 2 – 95 Reds (John Smiley) at 30 Cubs (Charlie Root)
Score 3-0 Cubs
Game 2 was more of a pitcher’s duel between John Smiley and Charlie Root, with Root and the Cubs coming out on top by a score of 3-0. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 4th when Cliff Heathcote homered to right-center to put the Cubs up 2-0. The Reds threatened in the 7th inning against Root, loading the bases with only one out, with the heart of the lineup coming up. But Root struck out Reggie Sanders and induced a harmless fly ball from Barry Larkin to escape the jam and preserve the shutout. A sac fly from Hack Wilson provided the final 3-0 margin, as the Cubs lived to fight another day.
Game 3 – 30 Cubs (Bud Teachout) at 95 Reds (David Wells)
Score 5-2 Cubs
The Cubs carried their momentum over into game 3 as they scored a run just two batters into the game as Kiki Cuyler doubled home Woody English to give Chicago an early lead over David Wells. The Reds answered back with a leadoff homer from Mark Lewis off Bud Teachout in the bottom of the first. Cincinnati took the lead in the bottom of the second when Jerome Walton doubled and Benito Santiago singled him home. The Cubs tied the game at 2 in the top of the 5th on a Les Bell RBI triple. Kiki Cuyler homered to lead off the top of the 6th to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead. The Cubs were poised to blow the game wide open in that inning with the bases loaded and nobody out. George Kelly hit the ball right on the screws, but hit it right at Barry Larkin, who snagged the liner, tagged out Hack Wilson and tossed to Mark Lewis to complete the triple play and end the scoring threat. The Reds however, could not capitalize and failed to score any more runs off Teachout as the Cubs won by a final of 5-2, setting up a fourth and deciding game.
Game 4 – 95 Reds (Pete Schourek) at 30 Cubs (Pat Malone) – Championship Game
Score Reds 7-2
Pat Malone and Pete Schourek squared off again in the deciding game of the series. Mark Lewis continued his hot hitting with a double to lead off the game, and with 2 outs, Ron Gant homered to dead center to give the Reds an early 2-0 lead. Both Schourek and Malone were sharp from that point, and the game remained 2-0 until the 6th inning, when the Reds kick-started their offense with some aggressive baserunning. Barry Larkin led off the inning with a single, and stole second with Ron Gant at the plate. Gant then singled Larkin in, and proceeded to steal both second and third base. Benito Santiago singled Gant home, and the Reds had a 4-0 lead. The Cubs continued to battle and they finally broke through against Schourek in the bottom of the 7th inning. After singles by Cliff Heathcote and Les Bell, Mark Lewis misplayed a ball off the bat of Footsie Blair, allowing Heathcote to score, and Bell to advance to 3rd. Woody English then plated Bell with a sac fly, cutting the lead to 4-2. Schourek faced Hack Wilson with 2 outs and runners on first and second. Wilson got under the ball, and popped out to second to end the inning. The Reds tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the 8th and another in the 9th to extend the lead to 7-2. Schourek worked around a leadoff double by Les Bell in the bottom of the 9th and closed the door on the victory for the Reds.
Pete Schourek was named MVP of the series, winning both games for the Reds, giving up just 13 hits in 18 innings of work. He walked 7 and struck out 7, giving up just 3 runs (2 earned) to the potent Cubs lineup.
Offensive standouts for the Reds in the series were Mark Lewis (7 for 15 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 3 walks) and Ron Gant (6 for 15 with 2 Homers and 5 RBI).
A big reason for the Reds’ success against the Cubs was their ability to neutralize Hack Wilson. Cincinnati pitching held the star slugger to 2 hits in 13 at-bats, albeit one of those hits was a homer.
Final Notes from the reigning LBS Champion…
Congrats to John for guiding the 1930 Cubs to the Championship series. He was in a tight spot after the Reds took the opening game, but he led them back and forced a deciding game 4.
Thanks to Ken and Darren for putting the tournament on. It was a lot of fun. Nice job of making some delicious lemonade with the large batch of lemons that Covid has given us. Hopefully, you guys can host another in-person LBS tournament again soon, and hopefully I can make the trip from Wisconsin to participate.
Thanks again, Alec, for those tremendous summaries and congrats for your amazing run to the title!
The 1995 Cincinnati Reds are now retired from future LBS tournaments, and Alec’s name will be inscribed into the championship plaque. Alec earned his own personal championship plaque along with a $50 Apba gift certificate. Kudos to John Cress and Dave Druk for their second and third place finishes; they each earned a $25 Apba gift certificate. Finally, another $25 Apba gift certificate was bestowed to Brian Silvis for having the best overall (at least 15 games played) tourney win percentage at .722.
Ken and I would like to thank not only this year’s 48 Apba GO participants for their support but also to our anonymous donor who assisted us in providing more Apba products to tabletops all over. Of course, the plan is to be back in person at Slippery Rock in 2022, but we are forever grateful to those who participate with all of our efforts to keep our mother’s name in the spotlight of the Apba community.
Thanks for sending the recap, Darren! Congrats to Alec Otto!!
