10
December

Postseason Update: TBL drama has it all

The 2011 Transcontinental Baseball League season has really come down to the wire.  The drama included everything from brother rivalry and a tie series.  It looks like a one-game playoff may be in order, says Steve Stein.

The Williams Division has ended in an 87-75 tie between Glenn Taylor’s Wakefield Wizards and his brother Bruce Taylor’s Richmond Rebels.

The head-to-head series ended 7-7.

The division title will be decided by a one game playoff, the home team will be decided by a coin flip, as I read the TBL rules.

- Steve

Here are the current standings in the TBL.  Steve also included the play-by-play for the Williams division’s Wakefield Wizards and the Richmond Rebels last series of the season.  The series wrap-up below was written by Bruce Taylor.

Gentlemen,

After 162 games, the Wakefield Wizards and the Richmond Rebels conclude their seasons with identical 87-75 records.

The Rebels used an 18-4 October to eat up a 5 game lead from Wakefield and push the advantage in their favor to a one game lead.

Glenn and I saved our 3 game, mid-November match-up, until the end of the schedule.  With 8 games remaining for the Rebels and just the final 3 on tap for the Wizards, the records showed both teams with 85 wins, but the Wizards had 5 more losses:  RIC 85-69 vs WAK 85-74.

The Rebels traveled to POR for a 5 game series.  They lost the first 3 games (2 in extra innings!), won game #4, and lost the finale to Joey Votto’s bat!

That set the stage for the 3 game series at Richmond.  The Rebels had a one game lead, with 3 to go.  In our opening game of the series, Albert Pujols hit a 3 run HR in the bottom of the 12th to give the Rebels a 6-3 win and a two game lead with two games to go!

In the 2nd game, the Wizards pound Rebel pitching with four HRs and cruised to an easy 8-2 win!  Now with one game to play, the Wizards were one game back

The 3rd and final game of the series matched the team Aces: Vincente Padilla vs Brett Myers.  The Wizards scored single runs in the 1st and 2nd inning to forge a 2-0 lead. The Rebels answered back in the home half of the third.  Kouzmanoff led off the inning with a solo shot to halve the lead to 2-1.  Victorino sandwiched a single and an SB between outs, Hamilton walked, and Pujols smacked a 3 run shot to LF to make it 4-2 Rebels after 3

Rasmus picked up the gauntlet for the Wizards in the 4th.  Morales led off with a single and two batters later it was  4-4 when Rasmus deposited a Myers offering deep in the RF bleachers.

Into the 6th inning now….both starters still on the mound…..Myers retires the first two he faces, before Wells launches a solo shot over Victorino and the CF wall for a 5-4 Wizards lead!……Brian McCann led off the Rebels 6th and drew things “all square” when he  hit a solo shot of his own to RCF to make it 5-5!

On to the 7th….Myers retires Peralta on a fly ball to CF,  and induces Milledge to bounce out 3-1.   Lead-off batter Andrus drops a single to LF….The Rebels bring on Ondrusek to face Ruiz.  Ruiz works a BB to push the speedy Andrus over to scoring position.  Cano steps in and bounces a grounder through the SS hole into LF as Andrus streaks home to make the score 6-5 Wizards.  Gregg replaces Ondrusek on the mound and gets Lee to bounce out Kendrick to Pujols to end the threat.

The Rebels in the 7th got Victorino to first on a Cano error with one out, but he died there on a line-out and a Hamilton K vs Salas who had come on to replace Padilla after the error.

In the 8th, the Wizards tried to pad the lead with an insurance run, but Wells was left at 3rd base when Bray struck out Peralta.  Following that, Salas put the Rebels down 1-2-3 in the Home half of the 8th.

In the 9th, Mitre came in to pitch for Richmond.  Milledge was left in to face him and the gamble worked as he led off with a single.  However that was all….Andrus forced  him at 2nd on a FC 5-4, Ruiz popped out to third, and Cano struck out to end the visitors scoring chances.   In the bottom of the 9th Sean Burnett came in and disposed of the Rebels in order to earn the Save and to put the Williams division in a flat-footed tie!  The Wizards pitching of Salas and Burnett retired the last 8 Rebel batters to get the coveted 87th win!

We are in the process of checking out the Play-Off rules and will play the 163rd game of the regular season, as soon as we can.

Bruce

Wow!  MLB could only dream of having this happen to them.  I can only imagine the news sub-plots and the media attention.

No comments yet

22
March

Champions IAL Playoffs & Draft Weekend

Champions IAL Playoffs & Draft Weekend

Left Orlando on a big jet airliner at 8:00 AM, flying SWA to Midway, arrived at the Naperville Best Western after a couple of stops at 1:00 PM.  Unpacked my APBA stuff & unwound, laid back & relaxed, and waited for my playoff foe to arrive.  After driving up from Champaign John Brandeberry unpacked his team bus, the playoff series between the Rising Bamm Beano’s & the Chicago Champions was ready to roll.

The series was a rematch of last year’s World Series, in which the Champions swept to capture their 11th title.  Even though the Champions won 102 games and the Bamm Beano’s got in the last day of the season & the Champs owned Brando, John’s team was built for the playoffs.  With Adam Wainwright & Jair Jurrjens in the rotation and Mariano Rivera & Jonathan Papelbon in the bullpen, anything could happen in a five game series.

It looked like the Champions were on their way after winning game #1 behind Tim Lincecum, only two more wins to go, and then it would be on to the World Series, where either Chuck Lucas’s Northside Hitmen or Keith Smith’s Kentucky Kernels awaited my arrival.  But then, John got off the mat to take games #2 & #3.  Russell Martin hit three homers in the first three games.  Game #4, with the Champs back to the wall, Jose Valverde emerged as a monster out of the pen, going four innings for the victory, to knot the series at two.

It would all come down to one game, mano y mano, Wainwright vs Lincecum, for all the marbles, the whole ball of wax.  Juan Uribe launched two three run bombs in the series, both after lengthy delays, after momentum changing timeouts.  Both times Brando collected himself, called upon a higher power, maybe he was selling his soul for a quality roll of the bones, whatever it was, it worked.  Bamm, it was over & Uribe was series MVP!  My season was over, “Nice season Tedd”, provided little consolation.

Meanwhile the Kentucky Kernels were showing no mercy in sweeping the Northside Hitmen in three straight.  Before long, Keith Smith was being fitted for his crown, after making quick work of the Bamm Beano’s.  Alfonso Soriano was World Series MVP.  CONGRATS KEITH SMITH!!!

The next morning it was time to draft, very strange that no trades were consummated over the weekend.  Before the draft, I was thinking I’d have to make a tough choice of whether to take Jhoulys Chacin, Neftali Feliz, or Mike Stanton.  Only Chacin was still there when it was my turn to pick, but Madison Bumgarner was still on the board, so it was a no brainer.  Bumgarner would join fellow Giants hurlers Tim Lincecum & Matt Cain in the Champions rotation.  Then we had to wait until the last pick of the extra round before taking Chris Sale over Kenley Jansen.

I was like a deer in the headlights with my new Champs squad, nothing looked right, how would this team fit together?  While we were figuring it out, Marcus Bunch had his Upperdeckers rolling, taking five of six.  Next it was time for some revenge against the now rebuilding Bamm Beano’s, the Champs record was above .500 after a 6-0 sweep.

Next up was Papa Bunch & retooled Green Rock Bombers.  After Mike couldn’t roll any friggin dice & David Price was reduced in both of his starts, it was time for Price to fly, literally!  Price was crumpled into a ball, told he wouldn’t start another game this year, and discarded onto the table.  The Bombers dog house was growing as the series went on, thought the ASPCA would be called in to investigate.  4-2 Champs!  The Thunderchickens bested the Champs in a late night series 4-2.

The weekend finale took place Sunday morning against the ever dangerous Molly Putts Marauders.  The Marauders jumped out, taking the first two games, before the Champs woke up in time to win the last four contests.  17-13 on the weekend, after a 1-5 start, I’ll take it.

Next up, the Three Rivers Gamblers.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to check on flight schedules to Pittsburgh.

No comments yet