Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
According to AP, the decision whether to keep LaRussa is being delayed. Basically, they’re waiting for a decision on who the new Cardinals GM will be since Jocketty was let go last week. Word has it there has been a lot of infighting and power plays within the upper management which drove Jocketty out. The … Continue reading “LaRussa decision on hold”
According to AP, the decision whether to keep LaRussa is being delayed. Basically, they’re waiting for a decision on who the new Cardinals GM will be since Jocketty was let go last week.
Word has it there has been a lot of infighting and power plays within the upper management which drove Jocketty out. The decision may be delayed but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
A piece of trivia on Jocketty… he was a fan of APBA baseball.
Our Illowa APBA League All-Star Game is almost a week away. Our managers have voted for the starters and their voices have been heard. You can see the results here. A very decisive vote as eight of the sixteen starters were voted in unanimously. We had a tight race at our second base position with Cano, Valentin … Continue reading “Gearing up for the ILLOWA APBA All-Star Game”
Our Illowa APBA League All-Star Game is almost a week away.
Our managers have voted for the starters and their voices have been heard. You can see the results here. A very decisive vote as eight of the sixteen starters were voted in unanimously. We had a tight race at our second base position with Cano, Valentin and Hudson all within three votes of each other.
Not surprisingly, this will be the first year that my firstbaseman Albert Pujols will not start. Despite his 26 homeruns, he is only hitting .252. Mark Teixeira has him beat with much superior stats.
I mentioned before that I am the manager of our division this year due to our first place finish last year (yay!). My job as manager now is to pick the substitutes and pitchers. I’ve pretty much have finished that task but that is perhaps for another post.
Some people don’t understand our fervent appreciation for the game of APBA baseball. I remember once about fifteen years ago I inquired about a rotisserie baseball league. The guy I talked to was someone I just met and the league where stats were done manually not online (they were all done that way back then).
On the phone with the guy, I asked guy if he ever heard of APBA. I could just see the sneer on his face. He said no, and that his rotisserie league was a much more “sophisticated” league.
I never called the guy back.
The Illowa APBA League web page
I finally got off my duff an updated the web site of the Illowa APBA League. It’s been a couple months since I touched it. I’m no web designer but I have fun doing it.
Our All-Star Game is coming up in October. Aside from the draft weekend, that one of highlights of the IAL season for me. We vote in the best players and the best of East battle the the best of the West.
I remember when my buddy Brando was in his first year in the league and was attending his first All-Star weekend. In the beginning, he didn’t see the big deal of a APBA All-Star Game. What was the big deal watching two guys playing APBA?, he thought.
As it came nearer to “Play Ball!”, and the rest of the managers were grabbing their dice, he understood. We weren’t simply going to watch two guys play APBA baseball; we were all part of the game. Each one of us got to roll for our own players. With the managers from one division on one side of the table and the managers of the other division on the other, the friendly trash talk began. It was constant fun chaos for the entire game.
A scene from the 2005 IAL All-Star Weekend
Speaking of managing, we determine the manager by the standings of the previous year. Guess who was in first place last year? Yes, yours truly. That makes me the manager of the West Division which pretty much includes the non-Chicago teams in our league.
Aside from on-the-field decisions, the IAL All-Star manager is responsible for choosing the pitchers and substitutes as well as making a lineup.
You can see the online version of the ballot to determine the starters to get a sense how players are doing in our league (My Albert Pujols will probably not start for the first time in his career. Mark Teixeira has THAT wrapped up).
The results of the balloting will be out soon. Stay tuned.
Baseball Prospectus recently interviewed Twins setup man Pat Neshek. You can listen Will Carroll’s interview with him here. I follow Neshek for a couple reasons. One, I took a chance on him in the Illowa APBA League’s rookie draft. So far I haven’t been disappointed. As a fantasy sports game, APBA doesn’t just value a reliever … Continue reading “BP interviews Pat Neshek”
Baseball Prospectus recently interviewed Twins setup man Pat Neshek. You can listen Will Carroll’s interview with him here.
I follow Neshek for a couple reasons. One, I took a chance on him in the Illowa APBA League’s rookie draft. So far I haven’t been disappointed. As a fantasy sports game, APBA doesn’t just value a reliever on the save alone.
Also, Neshek is a blogger. Check out his blog, On the Road with Pat Neshek. From the looks of it, he finds the time to update it frequently.
It’s a pretty awesome site, full of photos, articles by Pat, as well as a description of his delivery. I particularly liked his My Baseball Cards page showing his cards going back to his minor league days.
Keep the ball down low, Pat. You might be my closer next year.
It looks like a lot of fun was had at the 2007 APBA Convention. I’m sorry I missed it. Over 60 APBA-philes attended with 56 participating in the tournament. You can read the summary here. Who won the tournament? The 1927 Yankees, any knowledgeable baseball fan will recall, steamrolled their way to the pennant and … Continue reading “2007 APBA Convention and Tournament”
It looks like a lot of fun was had at the 2007 APBA Convention. I’m sorry I missed it. Over 60 APBA-philes attended with 56 participating in the tournament. You can read the summary here.
Who won the tournament?
The 1927 Yankees, any knowledgeable baseball fan will recall, steamrolled their way to the pennant and swept the Pirates in the World Series that year. Now they can add one more momentous achievement to their storied history: THEY FINALLY WON AN APBA TOURNAMENT!!!
John Duke took the top prize with a three-game sweep of Dan’s 1970 Orioles, setting two records in the process: he won six games in a row en route to the title, and he became the tallest Champion ever at six foot, eight inches!
Conrgrats to John for the tourney win! And thanks to the guys at APBA for putting this on. I’ve been to two of these in the past and I think it’s great to get together with APBA fans around the world. It’s a great time.
Scott Rolen: 4 for 5, 2B, HR, 3 runs, 2 rbis Give it up for Scotty. My buddy Brando has him on his APBA team and sees his 07 stats dwindle and wonders if 08 would be a good year to draft a thirdbaseman. Well, yesterday, Rolen is trying to dispel that idea. That said, … Continue reading “8/15/07 Linescore of the Day: Scott Rolen”
Scott Rolen: 4 for 5, 2B, HR, 3 runs, 2 rbis
Give it up for Scotty. My buddy Brando has him on his APBA team and sees his 07 stats dwindle and wonders if 08 would be a good year to draft a thirdbaseman.
Well, yesterday, Rolen is trying to dispel that idea.
That said, next year’s rookie draft for our league will have quite tasty thirdbasemen with Braun, Gordon, Kouzmanoff, Iwamura, etc.
But keep it quiet, I’m in the market for a thirdbaseman, too.
(Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
…in the lineup that is.
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon is giving Jonny “Heart Attack” Gomes a chance at the leadoff spot.
While Gomes won’t fit anyone’s preconceived notion of a prototypical leadoff man, Maddon’s decision was not made without logic or precedent.
The manager was drawn to Gomes’ .388 on-base percentage against left-handers (second on the team only to Brendan Harris’ .411 mark) on a night the Rangers were starting lefty Kason Gabbard.
That’s nothing new to me. I have Gomes on my APBA team. When I’m forced to start him, I lead him off. With Gomes’ average of .216 from last year, I figger his chances of getting on base will be better with a walk than a hit.
Good move, Maddon.
No waiting for Glavine,
Today, those us in the Illowa APBA League were trying to nail down a date for our annual All-Star game. I tacked this on the end of one of my emails:
By the way, God Bless Tom Glavine. I rooted for the Cubbies the whole
way and swore a blue streak when Ohman essentially put the game out of reach. But when the game was over I felt good for Tom G.Glavine has been on my team for 17 years, more than any other player.
His career record in the IAL is 229-174. Not only that, he is getting
better with age, in the last two years (06-07), he is 28-7.Way to go, Tommy! I’ll be there at Cooperstown when you get inducted,
buddy.
Speaking of the IAL All-Star Game and Glavine, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he makes a showing. He’s in the running for the starting role. Through 87 games, he is 10-2 with a IAL leading 2.42 ERA.
Sunday’s game between the Cubs and Mets was full of sub-plots and storylines as if Glavine’s quest for 300 wasn’t enough. Alfonso Soriano pulled up short with a strained quad muscle on his way to third base. Anyone who saw that surely had sympathy pains.
Kerry Wood made his first appearance for the Cubs this season. Luis Castillo got injured and had to be pulled. Even the home plate umpire (whose name escapes me) appeared to suffer a concussion from a foul ball to the face mask. Blurred vision almost took him out of the game but since when was sight a requirement for umping? Hwe was back after 5 minutes. (That was a shot at our resident ump, Todd).
Congrats to Glavine! Despite the Cubs loss, it was nice to see a milestone accomplished that everyone (including MLB and ESPN) could get behind.
Finally, if you’re interested, here’s the audio for Tom Glavine’s press conference from MLB.com Also includes ARod’s and Bonds’ press conferences, too.
Tom Glavine’s 2005 APBA card At 7:05pm CT tonight, Tom Glavine will face the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field to make his attempt at 300 wins. It will be a difficult game for me to watch. Of course I’ll be rooting for the Cubs. That’s what makes it so difficult. Tom Glavine has been a … Continue reading “It pains me to say it… 300 must wait for Glavine”
Tom Glavine’s 2005 APBA card
At 7:05pm CT tonight, Tom Glavine will face the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field to make his attempt at 300 wins. It will be a difficult game for me to watch.
Of course I’ll be rooting for the Cubs. That’s what makes it so difficult. Tom Glavine has been a favorite of mine for a long time. You see, Tom Glavine is on my team in the Illowa APBA League
I hear some of you snickering out there. Before you judge, consider this. This is no fly-by-night web-based fantasy league. I’ve had Tom Glavine on my Twin City Thunderchickens since he was a throw-in in a trade in 1990. I traded Kirk Gibson (near the end of his career) and Pete Smith (who?) for Glavine. I think Melido Perez was the other player involved on my end.
Of those players, Perez and Gibson played until 1995. Smith didn’t even last a year. And Glavine… well, it’s 16 years later and he’s still a Thunderchicken.
Since then Glavine has become a favorite of mine.
So me being a Cubs fan, you see how difficult this is for me. It would have a hard enough time any other year. But tonight with the added factors of Glavine going for 300 plus the Cubs being 1/2 games back. Yikes!
Oh, Glavine’s career IAL record? He’s 229-174.
Go Cubs!
(AP Photo) CBS 2 has a tribute to Thurman Munson whose fatal plane crash was 28 years ago today. It includes a video of an interview of Munson. On personal note, my buddy Brando and I did a APBA replay of the 1979 baseball season. When August 2 rolled around, it was a somber reminder the Yanks … Continue reading “Thurman Munson August 2, 1979”
(AP Photo)
CBS 2 has a tribute to Thurman Munson whose fatal plane crash was 28 years ago today. It includes a video of an interview of Munson.
On personal note, my buddy Brando and I did a APBA replay of the 1979 baseball season. When August 2 rolled around, it was a somber reminder the Yanks no longer had Munson’s services. Kinda put some perspective on things.