I know it’s hard to believe but I have been quietly knocking out a few games in my 1966 NL replay again. Once the Pitching Grade Challenge was over, I thought it would be fun to get back into it.
I know. I know. It was pre-pandemic since I have rolled for this replay. A lot of credit for my motivation goes to my friend, Chuck. Every time I would see him at Illowa APBA League functions, he would ask how the replay is going and of course, I had no report.
See, Chuck is currently doing a 1964 replay of his own. Now, we text each other daily on our replays. It’s especially relevant since our projects share so many players.
A quick recap
I have played ten or fifteen games since picking it up in the last month. I play a few games a week, sometimes more. Right now, I am at the July 7th mark in the season and a game or two shy of being halfway finished.
If I had to pick a MVP favorite at this point, it would be Philadelphia’s Dick Allen. He has a clear lead in batting average (.375), slugging (.643), and OBP (.426) as well as rbis (61). Many excel in one area but not so much in others. Willie Mays is another candidate. He leads the NL with 18 homers with a .305 batting average.
But so far, Allen is doing everything right except for sometimes not showing up to the ballpark.
Cy Young favorites are Don Sutton (16-1, 1.54 ERA) and Juan Marichal (14-3, 1.30 ERA, 8 shutouts). The most amazing stat to me regarding Marichal: his Hits per 9 IP is 3.7! Somehow, he also has a 5-game hitting streak going too.
Breaking News
Atlanta rolled into LA with a 9-game winning streak and just a 1 1/2 games back of the first-place Dodgers. Dan Drysdale put a stop to the A Train with a complete game shutout with help from Ron Fairly who went 4 for 5 with three rbis. Drysdale’s performance lowers pitching-rich LA’s team ERA to 2.10, by the way. LA has won by pitching and defense all year.
I’ll have some time over holiday break so I suspect I may get some games in over the next couple of weeks. With some luck, I’ll get to the All-Star break. Once I determine the NL All-Star Game roster, maybe Chuck will roll for the AL side!
Good Job! And very cool. Have never tackled a replay of that size. Have played about 20 single-team season replays. They take me anywhere from 45-90 days. Also play a lot of head-to-head series, for example, all 18 games, Reds vs. Braves. And finally, roll quite a few pitching seasons, for example 1974 Nolan Ryan, all 42 appearances. Happy Holidays!
I have a question; I have many acquired many APBA football teams over the years, ranging from the 1940’s to the present day. Can the older teams from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s use the new spiral notebook boards? Or are they confined to using the older large cardboard boards? Also, what exact year is the switching point for the new spiral boards? Any help is appreciated. This is just for the basic game, not the Master Game.
BTW, when will the 1923 baseball World Series teams be available for purchase?
Marichal 5 game hitting streak – yes! I so miss having pitchers in the lineup – the bad ones and good ones and having to balance their pitching vs a a pinchhitter. It’s a lost cause but I will always wish dh not invented.
Yes, it’s fun to see the better hitting pitchers do their stuff. Ray Sadecki, in particular, adds another slugger to the lineup.
Unfortunately, Marichal’s streak just got snapped. SF did win in extras but Juan didn’t earn the W.