19
November

League Postseason News: Mike Fisher’s Albuquerque Horsemen win it all in RCMBA

imageCongrats to Mike Fisher for his repeat championship in the Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association.

John Briggs sent us a quick update:

Our 37th Champion was crowned a couple of weeks ago. Mike Fisher’s Albuquerque Horsemen captured their 2nd straight title. You can read the details of the playoffs at our web news page until the next newsletter is posted. Photos of the participants are also posted.

RCMBA’s web site is always a fun(ny) read if you haven’t seen it yet.  I chuckled a bit during my read of the article about Fisher’s win.

Nice going, Mike!

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5
November

Random Ramblings from the basement

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Pujols showing us how many rbis he had for me last weekend

Just some random ramblings and rants as the Illowa APBA League enters the homestretch of our 2011 season.  Opponents have nothing to fear from my Twin City Thunderchickens… we’re 61-83 and set firmly in last place. 

My buddy Brando and I went to Colona, IL to take on Mike and Marcus Bunch, father and son.  The results don’t matter, we had a good time.  That’s code for “I didn’t do well”.  

Usually, on our way home from these weekends, I would bitch and moan about how bad Albert Pujols did to Brando. 

“But Tom, how did he REALLY do?”, he say.

So I’d get the scoresheets out and tally Albert’s homers and rbis and Pujols’ rbi total would be pretty high anyway and I’d have egg on my face. 

Not this time.

Got home before I even looked at the scoresheets.  In the 14 games and forty-some at-bats that Pujols played, he hit 0 homeruns.  I can get past that but his rbi total?  1.  One stinkin’ rbi. 

That helps explain our 7-11 record for the day. 

Thinking Ahead

We have 18 games left in the 2011 IAL season.  For those of us not in the hunt, there are two things occupying our minds.  Trade talk and proposals for changes in the league constitution.  Commissioner Mike Bunch has a strict rule which works well.  All proposals must be proposed ahead of the league draft weekend or they won’t be entertained. 

There are two major issues being discussed right now in the IAL.  One is simply the return to the Unusual Play Card and Error Chart. 

The other is the perennial discussion of expanding our rosters.  Our current rosters are at 26 players and some managers feel that come draft time, we’re too concerned about filling our desperate position needs and ignore the rookies with potential.  Personally, I’m on the fence on this one.  The 26-man roster is limiting but it does force the manager to be creative and trade for his needs. 

I’m short at three infield positions for 2012.  Time to get creative. 

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4
November

League Postseason News: Joe Passiatore’s Platoon takes the OAPBA title

Congratulations to Joe Passiatore!  He just managed the Platoon to another Orlando APBA Association title!

Rod Caborn sent in the update:

 

Joe Passiatore’s Platoon (48-32) upset Dave Larson’s favored Taz Devils (56-24) to win the 2011 Orlando APBA Association title. The Platoon rolled over the surprisingly punchless Tazmen in five games.
The 2011 World Series win gave Passiatore his fourth straight OAPBA title and ninth crown in the league’s 24-year history.
2011 MVP was Josh Hamilton, Taz Devils (league-leading .352 and .435 OBP). Cy Young winner was the Taz Devils Roy Oswalt (11-1).

 

Wow!  Nine titles and four straight.  Don’t worry OAPBA, we have a manager who had a similar reign of championships in our league but he eventually came down to earth.  As a matter of fact, last year he (checking standings from last year followed by an awkward pause)  came in first place… and the year before…  and in 2008.  Never mind.

Congrats again Joe!!  Quite a dynasty you have going there!

You can find out more about the Orlando APBA Association at their web site.

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26
October

OAPBA 2011 postseason update: Taz Devils v. Platoon

imageMajor League Baseball isn’t the only league going through an exciting postseason.  Some APBA baseball leagues are going through a postseason of their own.

Rod Caborn updates us on the postseason drama of Orlando APBA Association (OAPBA):

 

Dave Larson’s Taz Devils (56-24), who had the league’s best record in 2011, defeated Walt Taylor’s Whatevers (42-38) in a grueling seven-game series to advance to the 2011 OAPBA World Series.  The Devils, five-time champs in OAPBA, will face Joe Passiatore’s Platoon (48-32), seeking their fourth straight OAPBA title. Passiatore has won the league crown nine times in 24 years in the league.

 

Congrats to Dave and Joe for getting as far as they have.  Good Luck to both of them!  You can get all the news on the OAPBA at their very fun and colorful website.

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22
October

My open HOF ballot for the IAL

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Maddux:  You’re voting for me?

It’s Hall of Fame time at the Illowa APBA League.  I’m finally getting around to filling out my ballot for the 2011 IAL inductee class.

As I mentioned before, this is a year with some talented players especially among the pitchers.

The pitchers on this year’s ballot with their IAL stats:

Pitcher G GS CG ShO W-L Sv IP BB K ERA
Tom Glavine 713 582 148 36 247-202 11 4231 2/3 1512 2797 4.15
Greg Maddux 749 749 193 63 354-232 0 5086 1/3 1271 3925 3.59
Pedro Martinez 452 376 76 16 200-130 7 2740 952 2767 3.72
Mike Mussina 525 499 93 17 204-180 0 3428 2/3 1097 2870 4.18

 

…and the hitters

Name H R RBI 2b 3b HR SB AVG/OBA/SLG
Barry Larkin 2064 1269 961 395 82 199 376 .277/.347/.433
Carlos Delgado 1712 1287 1174 449 11 466 4 .257/.356/.538
Ray Durham 1390 850 623 310 63 144 293 .253/.327/.411
Jim Edmonds 1469 947 1002 338 31 320 42 .273/.362/.526
Luis Gonzalez 1714 1050 989 441 46 244 85 .259/.336/.450
M. Grudzielanek 1325 628 565 306 23 65 101 .262/.301/.372
Frank Thomas 2112 1368 1431 461 20 475 19 .279/.392/.534

 

The emails flying among the IAL managers around the HOF issue have been interesting.  They’ve centered around couple issues.  One, how does one feel about “first ballot Hall of Fame voting?  Do managers take that into consideration when they vote?

There’s also the standard “they’re all on steroids” talk.  Meh.

Well, I’m voting on players whether they belong or not, first ballot or not.  In the tradition of sport journalism, I’m publishing my open ballot.

If I could give Greg Maddux three votes I would.  He’s the IAL career leader in wins plus a couple other categories.  Sixty-three shutouts.  Wow!  That’s enough for me.

Tom Glavine gets a vote.  That’s a given.  For seventeen years, he’s been my one-up on my nemesis Tedd M who traded him to me as a throw-in back in 1993.  Since then, he’s won over 200 games and struck out over 2500 batters.

I feel like I’m giving away prizes at kindergarten (everybody wins!) but  I can’t ignore Frank Thomas’ 1368 runs and 1431 rbis.  That combination is rare even in the Hall of Fame.

Barry Larkin was the best of his generation at his position (save perhaps Ozzie Smith).  His relative power (199 HR) and speed (376 SB) to go with his fielding merits recognition.  Give him a vote.

The big question is what to do with Pedro Martinez and Mike Mussina.  I’ve been thinking about this for a bit. I just gave our all-time leaderboards a check.  Didn’t help.  Martinez is a Koufax-type who didn’t pitch as much but boy, when he did, he pitched great.  In roughly 1500 innings less, he had as many strikeouts as Glavine.

Give it to them both.  Mussina and Martinez.  Both of them for winning 200.

My ballot:

  • Maddux
  • Glavine
  • Thomas
  • Larkin
  • Mussina
  • Martinez

Delgado is just going to have to lobby harder this coming year.

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15
October

Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club Summer League finishes second season

Brian Cavanaugh updates us on the completion of the second season of the Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club Summer Baseball which is based in the Philadelphia area.  For those who haven’t read about the Bridesburg Boys and Girls League before, Brian organizes kids at the local Boys and Girls Club into an APBA Baseball league and they play a mini-season.

Here are some more articles from the past about the BBGCSB.

 

League Name

 Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club Summer Baseball
Contact Person Brian Cavanaugh
Sport Baseball
# of teams 15
Year of inception 2010
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Basic Game
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location Philadelphia, PA

 

Brian’s update

 

Year 2 was just as successful as year 1. We added teams to the league, but also had a few drop out but we were able to replace those teams with new players so the league did not suffer too much. It is difficult to have everyone play a set amount of games with families taking vacations.  Some kids would miss weeks at a time, but we were still able to establish a core group of teams and players.

The only downfall this season was that alot of stats were incomplete. With our numbers rising to 15 teams and with this being a pencil and paper league, I was not able to keep track of the stats for all teams like I did during the summer of 2010. My Senators again focused on pitching which proved fatal once again as my team had the lowest E.R.A., but also among the lowest team batting averages. We have a small dynasty building as the Scuba Divers once again rolled through the regular season, but came up short in the post season while falling to the Man Children in a 5 game championship series. We created an optional base stealing system this season that some players used and others did not as the only modification.

The cards that were used for this season were generously donated to the Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club by John Herson and APBA Game Company

The final standings were as follows:
“A” Division:
Man Children 25-14
Red Wings 16-13
Hummelcanes 15-14
Blues* 10-14
Suns* 9-13
Reds* 4-9
New Kids* 4-7

“B:” Division
Scuba Divers 23-5
Speed Talkers* 22-4
Senators 18-17
Jump Ropers 15-12
Hosers 8-12
Elmo 4-7
Team Jackson 5-6
Convicts 5 – 21
* denotes expansion team

Playoffs:
“A” Division
Manchildren over Blues 3-0
Red Wings over Hummelcanes 3-1
Manchildren over RedW
Wings 3-0
“B” Division
Scuba Divers over Jump Ropers 3-1
Speed Talkers over Senators 3-1
Scuba Divers over Speed Talkers 3-1

Championship Series
Manchildren over Scuba Divers 3-2

 

Congratulations to the ManChildren on their championship and to the league on their second season!

I read about the shortfalls this season.  I think that’s typical or at least not uncommon for a second season for a league.  Our league went through this at the very end of Season One thirty-five years ago.  Rumor has it, the league almost disbanded.  Obviously, they got over their problems and continued (it was before I joined).  Point is, sophomore issues tend to happen and hopefully everyone learns from them.  Of course, your league membership is of a quite different nature, Brian (ie younger).

Also, I ‘d like to hear about the optional basestealing modification you used, Brian.  Was it successful?

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it. 

In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

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12
October

OAPBA finishes regular season play… Playoffs underway

Rod Caborn sends us an update on the Orlando APBA League which is heading into its postseason:

 

The Orlando APBA Association has wrapped up its 24th season with the conclusion of regular season play this past October. 10.  (Face-to-face, 80 game season, three-divisions, total nine teams, five in playoffs).

OAPBA’s playoffs will start with  a Play-In best of five between Walt Taylor’s Whatevers (42-38) and Marc Bostrom’s Road Warriors (42-38), in the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

The winner will play Dave Larson’s Taz Devils (56-24, best regular season record).  The other playoff series matches Joe Passiatore’s Platoon (48-32), gunning for their fourth straight OAPBA title, against Kris Stenger’s Gashouse Gang (43-37), making their first playoff appearance since 2006.

 

You can find more info on OAPBA at their league web site.

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26
September

IAL News: The Chicago Division dominates in the All-Star game (again)

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Northside Hitmen manager Chuck Lucas poses with All-Star Game MVP Miguel Cabrera and winning manager Tedd Mallasch

This past weekend, the Illowa APBA League assembled to play some APBA as well as to play our annual All-Star Game.

The Chicago Division continued their dominance of the All-Star Classic as they won the the game 7-3.  The South Division got off to a early lead when Josh Hamilton drove home Joe Mauer on a base hit in the first.  But runs for the South Division were going to be few and far between from then on out.  The Chicago Division wouldn’t have that problem.

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It seemed Kentucky Kernels manager Keith Smith was always rolling doubles during the Game

They exploded for six runs in the eighth inning thanks in part to doubles by Ryan Braun, Robbie Cano and David Wright.  But it was starter Miguel Cabrera who was named Game MVP.  Cabrera hit a solo shot in the seventh inning and contributed an rbi single in the six run eighth.

Congrats to division manager Tedd Mallasch and the rest of the Chicago Division!

 

Networking

ial all-star 003

On Friday night, John Heneghan (above, right) stopped to say to the Illowa APBA League.  John lives in Naperville and we both thought it would nice to connect up.  John and the guys got along great and it was apparent he shares a love for baseball history.

We’re planning on keeping in touch with John and hope to see him again.

 

For the regular season games, my Twin City Thunderchickens went 15-15 for the weekend.  I can’t complain… I came in to the weekend in last place.

A “Perfect Game from the Pen”

John Heneghan was witness to one of the oddest games of the weekend.  I got into quite a match with Tedd Mallasch’s Chicago Champions.  This game lasted 18 innings!  Not only that, my relief staff pitched a full nine innings of perfect ball.  Beginning in the 10th and lasting until the 18th, Rafael Perez, Chris Perez, Manny Parra and Matt Harrison combined for a virtual “perfect game”.  That came to a halt when Harrison gave up a homer to Jeff Francouer in the 19th losing the game 3-2.

“You’re not coming out till you finish the Inning”

I have Stephen Strasburg on my team and he really hasn’t seen much time in the IAL yet.  I thought I’d unleash his BKZ grade and see how he does before I have to put him back in the closet for a year due to his injury.  This was his first since he was ejected in the second inning and it seems like the rookie has some learnin’ to do.

Strasburg was facing the Three Rivers Gamblers and the first inning was rather uneventful (one run driven in by a double play).  The second inning was a bit different. It began with a Prince Fielder homerun and didn’t end until 14 batters and 11 runs later.  And yes, Strasburg finished that inning.  And no, he didn’t come back for the third.

Later in the weekend, Stephen Strasburg redeemed himself by earning his first win in his IAL Hall of Fame career.

All in all, a good time was had by all.  It was All-Star break but that didn’t stop managers from talking trade for the 2012 season.  Thanks to John Heneghan for stopping by and thanks to the Naperville Best Western for putting us up.  We’re sorry for making so much noise late Friday night.

A few more photos…

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Rising Bamm Beanos manager and manager of the South Division readies the squad for the Game

 

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The All-Star Game

 

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uh oh, better get a pinch hitter ready

 

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Playing late into the night

 

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Bamm Beano C starter Wade Davis pitches a no-hitter against the Chicago Champions!

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22
September

IAL All-Star lineups announced!

The Illowa APBA League All-Star Weekend commences tomorrow!  My buddy John Brandeberry will pick me up at 9am to drive to Naperville, IL to meet with the rest of the league.  While we will be playing regular season games Friday, Saturday is when we roll for the All-Star Game.

Speaking of which, the All-Star ballot results are in… and I’m sad.  This will be the first year in recent memory that my Twin City Thunderchickens won’t have a starter on the South Division squad (Albert Pujols, you let me down).

The lineups for this year’s IAL All-Star Game:

South Division

SS  Reyes (.263, 9 HR, 33 rbi)
3B  McGehee (.269, 20 HR, 64 rbi)
C    Mauer (.336, 3 HR, 51 rbi)
1B  Votto (.320, 28 HR, 68 rbi)
RF  Hamilton (.329, 12 HR, 48 rbi)
LF  Guerrero (.281, 21 HR, 65 rbi)
CF Heywood (.239, 21 HR, 47 rbi)
2B Uggla (..231, 17 HR, 51 rbi)
P  Wainwright (14-4, 1.71 ERA, 121 K)

 

Chicago Division

SS Jeter (.251, 2 HR, 28 rbi)
CF Braun .274, 15 HR, 63 rbi)
3B Beltre (.280, 15 HR, 63 rbi)
1B Cabrera (.306, 26 HR, 68 rbi)
2B Cano (.282, 14 HR, 49 rbi)
RF Swisher (.252, 26 HR, 52 rbi)
LF Soriano (.232, 22 HR, 70 rbi
C  McCann (.276, 20 HR, 51 rbi)
P Sabathia (12-3, 2.91 ERA, 122 K)

Two tough starting pitchers and quite a mix of hitters (wow, Wainwright is having a year!).  Interestingly, of the two teams, Braun is only outfielder who is slated to hit in top four in the lineup.

Albert Pujols did get picked as a reserve deservedly so (.298, 26, 64) so maybe I’ll get to roll for him as a pinch hitter in the ninth.

We’ll have a visitor this weekend too.  John H, who lives in Naperville, will come by and get a taste of what an Illowa APBA League weekend is really like.

Brando, don’t be late!

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19
September

no hanging chads… I vote for IAL All-Stars

I just filled out the Illowa APBA League All-Star ballot for our upcoming league All-Star Game this weekend.  A daunting task indeed.

I usually pay more attention to runs produced (runs plus rbis) than statisticians would like.  My theory is that the goal of the game is to win and as astute broadcasters are prone to point out, you can’t win unless you score runs,

But what to do in the case of the Chicago Division Shortstop ballot?

 

Shortstop G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB HBP AVG SLG OBP
Drew, S. 83 319 46 59 18 3 8 36 41 57 6 3 .185 .335 .284
Jeter, D. 92 366 52 92 19 3 2 28 46 60 13 7 .251 .336 .346
Ramirez, A. 91 358 37 83 22 0 5 28 17 71 9 0 .232 .335 .267
Andrus, E. 76 278 40 82 5 2 0 9 26 41 14 1 .295 .327 .357
Escobar, A. 63 195 22 47 8 5 1 16 8 35 3 0 .241 .349 .271
Tejada, M. 53 91 12 23 4 0 3 11 6 11 0 1 .253 .396 .306

Stephen Drew who leads all division shortstops in rbis and comes in second in runs, is hitting way below the Mendoza Line at a miserable .185 pace.  He can thank his eight homeruns and 29 overall extra base hits for that which he gets from his four 0s and seven second column 1s.

But .185?  What’s a self-respecting ballot voter to do?  It doesn’t help that runner ups Derek Jeter, Alexei Ramirez and Elvis Andrus aren’t wowing anyone with their stats.

I’ve already made my selection and submitted my ballot so I’m not fishing for advice but I’m curious what others think.

Other notes on the ballot:  I’m sad that my Albert Pujols (.298, 26 HR, 64 rbi) won’t be a starter.  It’s time for him to give someone else a turn, in this case Joey Votto (.320, 28 HR, 68 rbi).  I’m hoping AP will be given a spot as a reserve… I will give away this much, this is the first time in over 12 years that I didn’t give ARod (.239, 12 HR, 32 rbi) a first, second or third place vote for his position.

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