Greg Maddux was inducted into the IAL Hall of Fame. He finished his career with a record of 354 wins versus 232 losses. Besides leading all time in wins, Greg also tops the charts in starts 749, complete games 193, 63 shutouts, and innings pitched 5,086’. Maddux is 2nd all time in strikeouts 3,925, compared to only 1,271 bases on balls, over a 3-to-1 ratio. His career ERA of 3.59 is just out of the top ten, #10 currently stands at 3.57.
In 1988 the Chicago Champions drafted Greg Maddux as D-Y, after he’d posted a 5.61 ERA, a 6-14 record, and allowed 181 base hits over 155” innings of work for the Chicago Cubs. He started 42 games for the Champs in his rookie season, finishing with a 4-15 record and a 6.83 ERA, who knew of the greatness that was to come. Maddux was one of several Champions drafted, who shared their birthday, April 14th, with Chicago skipper Tedd Mallasch.
The six-time Cy Young Award winner, relied on guile, grit, determination, along with competitiveness, but his pinpoint control was what defined Maddux as a pitcher. In 1997 he walked only 13 batters in 245 innings worked. In fact from 1996-98, he only issued 59 free passes over 712’ innings pitched. Greg was a winner, winning twenty or more games 1993-96, and then again in 2001.
It wasn’t just about personal performance for Maddux, if the team wasn’t winning Greg wasn’t happy. Fortunately the Champions finished in 1st place in his rookie year and then again in his last season in the bigs, with a lot of reasons to celebrate in between. Four times Chicago finished in first place and five times they won it all.
It’s kind of neat to compare his MLB numbers with his IAL numbers. Here are his real life stats compared to his in the Illowa APBA League:
YEAR
G
GS
CG
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
W
L
Sv
ShO
ERA
MLB
23
744
740
109
5008 1/3
4726
1981
1756
999
3371
355
227
0
35
3.16
IAL
22
749
749
193
5086 1/3
4092
2216
2030
1271
3925
354
232
0
63
3.59
He came in as the Batboy and went out as the Professor. Here’s to the greatest pitcher in the history of the Illowa APBA League, Greg Maddux!
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.
The Illowa APBA League announces its 2010 All-League awards!
First, congratulations goes out to Chicago Champion manager Tedd Mallasch (left) who won the Dale Smith Memorial Manager of the Year award. Mallasch for all of his successes throughout the IAL history, won 100 games for the first time in 2010 with 102.
Despite not leading any offensive category in the IAL and not hitting over .300, Twin City Thunderchicken Albert Pujols came home with the 2010 MVP. It was his third MVP award and second in as many years.
Twenty-one wins helped Chicago Champion starter Matt Cain win the 2010 IAL Cy Young. He compiled a 2.81 ERA with 5 shutouts for the year.
With 44 saves and 1.77 ERA, Kentucky Kernels reliever Andrew Bailey won both the Rookie of the Year and Fireman of the Year.
Two players won All-League unanimously. Moline Upperdeckers catcher Joe Mauer and Northside Hitmen secondbaseman Chase Utley won the favor of all ten managers.
I have been playing APBA baseball since 1970, more than forty years, and have never reached the 100 win plateau in any format. I’ve managed the Chicago Champions in the Illowa APBA League since the 2nd season of the league, more than 35 years, and have never gotten 100 wins, until now. Two years ago the Champions finished in 1st place with 98 wins, last year we again finished in 1st place & won the World Series (our 11th title), but missed out on 100 wins, finishing with 99 victories.
This year with nine games to play, the Champs again had a strong hold on 1st place, but needed four wins to reach the century mark. Prince Fielder hit a walkoff homer with 2-outs in the bottom of the 9th of the 1st contest turning a victory for Tim Lincecum into defeat in the opener.
The Champions beat the Gamblers the next three games, and it was The Freak’s turn once again to toe the rubber for Chicago. Although he walked six men in the game, Three Rivers hadn’t a hit with 2-outs in the 9th, then the unthinkable happened, on the brink of 100 wins. Lincecum only had 8 2/3 innings left, so reliever Sergio Romo was called on to get the final out, and we finally had our 100th win. The Champs won two more games to finish the season with 102 victories, now it’s on to the postseason, and hopefully title twelve.
Manager Lucas brought his Northside Hitmen over to Crackerjack Park adding another chapter in the ongoing battle of APBA that has been going on for decades. Being a History Major, Luke remembered one of the first times he came to my place to play shum APBA, it was circa 1977, the Midwest Monarchs hosted his River Park Solons, and Ed Figueroa tossed a perfect game against us. My lineup included the likes of “Disco” Danny Ford, John “The Hammer” Milner, Rick Manning, George Brett, Jerry Remy, & Tim Foli. But that was a lifetime ago, seems surreal, almost like a dream, who were those people, were they really us???
On this day it would be a nine game set featuring the explosive Chicago Champions taking on the Hitmen of the Northside. The Hitmen wasted no time jumping out to an early lead when Alexei Ramirez hit the 1st pitch of game one off Tim Lincecum over the leftfield wall. Interesting fact pointed out by Chuck: much maligned Alexei is batting .293, with power numbers of 24, 1, 14, while the highly regarded Hanley is batting .286, 23, 2, 16, I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’. In the bottom of the first AROD bit the hand that once fed him, giving the Freak a one run lead when he launched a two run shot, then hit another two run dinger in the 3rd, giving Chicago a three run advantage, which was upped by another when Justin Morneau, aka Jason Monroe, left the yard. Lincecum left the game after seven, despite never having to pitch from the stretch, allowing only Alexei’s first pitch bomb. Hidecki Okajima allowed a leadoff pinch double in the top of the 9th, followed by a one out walk, before giving way to “AK-47” “Papa Grande” Jose Valverde. AROD booted a ball, filling the bases for Manny Ramirez, who took care of business, just Manny being Manny, as he belted a game tying grand salami. Ryan Perry pitching in the 10th allowed two runs to give the Hitmen a hard fought game one win, despite AROD hitting a solo in the bottom of the 10th off closer Joakim Soria to make the final 7-6 Northside.
Dualing homers were the second game’s theme as the game was knotted at four thru four, courtesy of Chase Utley & Brian McCann two run homers for them and an RBI double by “Paul Bunyan” and solo shots by AROD & 2 by Grady Sizemore for us. McCann can, thank you sir, may I have another?, did it again in the 6th off Josh Beckett was the difference as the Northsiders, behind former Champ Jake Peavy, took game 2, 5-4, series two to zip Hitmen.
Matt “Raisin’” Cain held the Hitmen to one unearned run over six as “El Caballo”, Carlos Lee, put it on the board, YES!, in the 4th, a two run tater, which put Chicago up 4-1, Champs scored two more in the 7th, and cruised to a 6-1 victory. Still down in the series, 2-1.
Mark Buehrle lossed his shutout bid with one out in the 9th, but the Champions showed their power, scoring all eight of the runs playing long ball, two three run pokes, one by Victory “Hulk” Martinez, the other by “Lumberjack” Morneau, to go along with solos by G-Size & Jeff “Frenchy” Fracoeur. Series all tied up at two.
Did you ever not know what was going on until it was over, till it was too late??? This is a common phenomenon in my life, nothing unusual there for me, but in game five I switched my lineup around to take advantage of walks versus Wildman Micah Owings, who would earn another nickname after this game was through. Jason Marquis, the leader in wins took the mound for the Champs opposing Owings. The Hitmen loaded the bases against Marquis in the first, but the crafty veteran pitched out of trouble, allowing only one run. Then they nicked Jason for another in the third when Manny hit into a doubleplay with runners on 1st & 3rd. The Champs had a golden opportunity to get back into this thing in the bottom of the 5th, when Owings walked Ian “Stewie” Stewart, Miguel “Bombon’” Olivo, & Jason Marquis, but with two outs, Micah got Felipe “FILO” Lopez to ground to first. Northside batters scored another run in the 7th when Miguel Cabrera doubled home Utley. The Champions only managed two other bases on balls against Owings, outside of the 5th inning, so when Bombon’ bounced to 1st in the 9th, it was official, put it in the books, and give him a new nickname, Micah “No-No” Owings. I had no idea a no-hitter had been thrown until Chuck told me, guess that’s called focus or called, lost in a fog. A no-hitter for Owings, I can’t roll no friggin’ dice!!! I think PaPa Bunchie will be rolling better dice next year for Josh Hamilton, Evan Longoria, Adam Dunn, & Delmon Young, funny how good dice rolls seem to be pretty much aligned with having good players to roll numbers on. Now I needed to regroup, grab some water, guzzle it down, and get ready for the four games left to be played on the road in this series, trailing in the series 3-2.
“The Freak”, Tim Lincecum took the mound for the Champs, in an effort to right the ship, in a first game rematch against rookie lefthander Brett Anderson. JROLL took Anderson deep to start the game and V-Mart also went yard in the 1st, 2-0 after one. A 2nd inning sac-fly cut the lead in half. Frenchy came through with a two out RBI single to plate AROD from 2nd base in the 4th, to put us up again by a deuce. El Caballo put icing on the cake with a 7th inning big fly. Lincecum went the distance for the complete game win. Now the series was back to even with three games to be played.
Again the Champs played long ball, knocking four balls out, to pace a 10-2 win. The four amigos doing yard work for Chicago were AROD, JROLL, Lopez (2-run), & Lee (2-run). Josh Beckett hardly broke a sweat, allowing only one hit over 5+ innings, and was relieved by Dice-K, who worked the final four for a save. Hitmen’s Hurler Hiroki Kuroda was hit hard & hit often, and it could have been worse had there not been an official scorer giving him the benefit on a couple of errors where it was questionable as to whether or not RBI’s should have been denied or awarded. Advantage, Good Guys, 4-3.
Things looked bleak when things unraveled for Matt Cain in the 5th, a walk, a double, another walk, a couple of base knocks, and a 1-0 lead turned into a 3-1 deficit. Manager Luke turned the game over to his team’s best asset, his pen. With 2-outs & one on, MO, Olivo cracked one long gone, high & deep, off the leftfield foul pole off Joakim Soria, to tie this one up at three in the 8th. Two batters later, a single by C-Lee & two basehit by Stewie, and it was 4-3 Champs. Chicago’s pen was outstanding over the last four innings, making that lead hold up. But not feeling all that confident, AROD gave up a day of rest in an effort to extend the lead, pinch-hitting in the 9th, when nothing came of that decision, a one run lead would have to do. Colby Rasmus greeted Papa Grande with a basehit up the box and with 2 outs, Chase Utley walked after fouling off a dozen pitches, bringing up Cabrera. Valverde dropped to a knee, pointed to the sky, screamed in delight, after getting Cabrera to swing at a slider in the dirt for strike three, ending the game, giving Chicago a 5-3 series lead, heading into the finale.
Miguel Cabrera hit a three run 5th inning bomb off Buehrle, then Manny being Manny knocked one out himself, to put the Hitmen up four. Brad Penny held us in check, before surrendering a meaningless two out run in the 9th, when El Caballo’s ribbie double scored Morneau to end Penny’s bid for a shutout. There was some controversy when Ian Stewart, with 2nd column 11’s, appeared to steal second, on a H & R 35, but was called out. Manager Mallasch came sprinting out of the dugout, arguing the call, but to no avail. Neither the president nor the vice president could be reached during the contest. Interestingly, the vice president called after the game to say, he’d have ruled him out. While the president said, he was safe, because the board states, the runner must have a 10 or 11 on his card, not necessarily in the 1st column, to be considered safe on a 35 Hit & Run. Reading it’s such an important, necessary, skill, which is so often under utilized. Final score 4-1 Northside. But the Champions held on to capture the series 5-4.
Two people with very full schedules were able to coordinate a Friday night early in April in which to play shum APBA. Keith Smith would be bringing his Kentucky Kernels to Crackerjack Park for a nine game series, our first in-area series of the year. Keith had just sent an e-mail to the league, stating, he’d never beaten me in APBA, which was the kiss of death, we were beaten before the dice hit the table. Due to crazy traffic, almost three hours from O’Hare, Keith said that three lanes were closed down because of an accident, so rather than getting to my house about seven; it was almost eight when he arrived. We chowed down on some Angelo’s grub, lasagna for Keith and eggplant parmagiana for me. Zip-zip, we were off & rolling by 8:30 and in snappy series, we were all done about half passed midnight.
The Champions outscored the Kernels by eight, out homered Kentucky by two, and yet dropped a close series 5-4. Champion hurlers notched their 9th & 10th shutouts in just 39 games played. Last year was a high point, 1st place finish & a World Series Championship, and we got out of the gate in fine shape this season, winning 23 of the first thirty games. Who would have thought it would all go downhill so quickly? Gravity is a bitch! Losing our first series, possibly ever to Keith, makes me really pause to reassess my life, APBA, what’s it all about? Is it all about lucky dice? When people’s lives go to shit, is it all because of bad dice? I can’t roll any friggin numbers!
Actually it was a fun series, even though I lost. Keith is always good to play, never changes expression, whether he wins or whether he loses. With the team he has put together, I don’t think this will be the last series in which the Kernels best the Champions. We won the first game 6-0 behind a Tim Lincecum shutout. Dropped the next four, by a total of five runs, two games went extra innings. The Champs rebounded to take the next three, Lincecum by a score of 8-2, with 2 outs Jeff Francoeur walked on a 13-40 walk with the bases the bases loaded against a Z pitcher in the bottom of the 10th for a walkoff 6-5 winner, and Matt Cain combined with two relievers for a 5-0 shutout. Kentucky took the rubber game for a series win. AROD clubbed six long balls, driving in 13, batting .375, 12 for 32 against KK.
The Thunderchickens held their own for the March weekend going .500. The sad part for us was that we hadn’t gotten around to playing the Champions yet. A week later, we played them over Skype and fell to them 1-5. For the weekend, we were 13-17.
Our highlights:
Jason Varitek is fourth on the team in rbis and only two behind team leader Albert Pujols with 12. The kicker is that Tek only played 22 games and didn’t start all of them.
Despite hitting .217, Troy Tulowitzki is tied with Albert Pujols in team homeruns with six.
Our pitchers are striking batters out. We’re doing it at a pace close to 7 per nine innings (6.91). That’s over a strikeout better than last year. Big guys in that category so far are: Mark Hendrickson (11 Ks in 11 IP), Chris Perez (15 Ks in 10 1/3 innings), Homer Bailey (20 Ks in 25 innings) and K leader John Lackey (29 Ks in 38 innings).
Speaking of Lackey, he’s off to an unlucky start. He’s striking out batters and has a decent ERA of 4.26. Unfortunately, he’s also 0-4 for the season.
And while we’re talking about slow starts, anyone want Casey McGehee? He is still looking for his first hit in 21 at-bats. Rookie of the Year Geovony Soto looks even worse. He started the season in a 0 for 32 slump until he pounded a double in his last at-bat of March. Ouch.
Three rookie pitchers look real good so far. Bullpen ace Jose Mijares has yet to allow a run in nine innings and has collected five saves and one win. Jeff Niemann is 1-1 with a 2.32 ERA in 31 IP. Our #1 pick Tommy Hanson won his first two games of the year. He’s 2-1 with a nice 3.30 ERA.
With the playoffs coming up in March I thought I’d do a playoff preview. The Champions seem to be the clear favorite – but will they close the deal? I’ve looked at run differential, the likely pitching rotations, and if there are any part-timers who look to take a bigger role in the postseason…
Chicago Champions (+136) vs. Three Rivers Gamblers (+69)
Probable playoff rotation: A, CZ, CZ, CZ vs. BZ, B, BW, C
The Champs have to be the favorites to take it all this year, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have weaknesses. This applies especially in Round One, as Lincecum can only pitch twice if the series goes five. That means the Gamblers have a slight pitching advantage. Both pens go reasonably deep, but the Champs have got good control all over the place, while the Gamblers are shaky. Offensively both teams have great hearts of the order (A-Rod, Morneau, Sizemore, Lee and Rollins for the Champs, Pedroia, Jeter, Braun, Fielder, Glaus and Bay for the Gamblers). Neither really has a "secret weapon" they can trot out in the playoffs. The Champs should win this one – I’ll say Champs in 5.
Rising Bamm! Beanos (+67) vs. Molly Putts Marauders (+26)
Probable playoff rotation: AW, B, B, B vs. AW, BZ, BZ, BZ
The Marauders only scored 26 more runs than they allowed as they had the second worst offense in the league. On the other hand, they’ve got a deep rotation, and the luxury of adding a couple of starters to their pen, making it also extremely deep. The Bamm! Beanos, on the other hand, have an excellent offense with lots of depth; Hanley Ramirez and Mark Teixeira are top-notch while Matt Kemp, Russ Martin, and Dan Uggla are a good supporting cast. Their pen is not as deep as the Putts but still adequate – they also can add a B starter to their pen. It could come down to a couple of rookie part-timers; Denard Span for the Beanos and Kung Fu Panda (Pedro Sandoval) for the Marauders. Neither will be able to play every day but will have a big effect when they are in the game. In the end though, I think the Marauders have too many holes on offense – Sandoval can only plug one – and the Bamm! Beanos will advance to the World Series in 4 games.
The Chicago Champions ended the regular season strong, finishing with 99 wins on the year. Never in the history of the IAL have the Champions reached the coveted century mark. Ace Greg Maddux, the all time winningest pitcher in league history won his 19th game in his second to last start, a one hit shutout. The veteran failed to win in his final start before the playoffs, missing the 20 win plateau by one win. Some other notable achievements are as follows, leadoff man Jimmy Rollins stole 56 bases, scoring 112 times, with power numbers of 41-12-12, to go along with a .282 batting average, all the while playing Gold Glove caliber shortstop. Grady Sizemore was the #2 hitter for the Champs, all he did was score 118 runs & drive in 109, with 47 steals, walking 80 times, with big time power of 35-6-35, a batting average of .250, he was an excellent fielder in the outfield, if there was a chink in his armor it was the fact that he fanned 134 times. Answering the bell everyday for Chicago at Firstbase was Justin Morneau, Paul Bunyan led the team in ribbies with 124 knocked in on 49 doubles, five triples, & 17 home runs, often times shortening up his swing on the hit & run. El Caballo, Carlos Lee was injured much of the season, but really turned it loose down the stretch, taking over the cleanup spot, launching 30 long balls in only 113 games played, he even held his own with the glove in the outfield. ARod provided the big stick in the middle of the order, leading the ballclub with 44 homers, driving in 111, scoring 100 runs, hitting a respectable 284, with 76 bases on balls, for a nearly .400 on base percentage of .397. The catching tandem of Ryan Doumit & Miguel Olivo provided solid production, with 55 doubles & 27 long balls, with a batting average above .250. B.J. Upton was the third member of the outfield, the youngster didn’t disappoint, as the speedster had 48 SB’s to go along with 31 doubles, patiently walking 75 times, batting .250, scoring 67 runs. Newcomer Felipe Lopez turned it up as the season wore down, ending the year with a .220 batting average, after batting below the Mendoza line for much of the campaign. Buckeye Nick Swisher was often the first man off the bench and the switch hitter used his good eye to walk 40 times, although his batting average was just .193, he did manage 11 doubles & five home runs in 171 at bats, with an onbase mark of .346. Rookies Ian Stewart & Matt Joyce combined for good power, filling in at third & the outfield respectively, with power numbers of 26-6-18. Victor Martinez was relegated to bench duty by a series of nagging injuries throughout the season, but that didn’t stop this veteran from batting .310 in very limited action. Jose Guillen brought his potent bat to the plate, when a home run or a double was in order, he notched 3 of each in 76 at bats, driving in 14 runners. Bobby Crosby was the team’s pinch runner, along with playing shortstop when JRoll needed a blow.
In addition to Maddux, his mound mates were stellar when their turns came to toe the rubber. Tim Lincecum, assumed the #1 spot in the rotation, striking out 234 men in 227 innings, with a mark of 17-6, and an ERA of 2.74, allowing only 140 base hits. Following The Freak was lefthander Mark Buehrle, who narrowly finished above .500 with a record of 15-14. Righthanded hard throwing Matt Cain won nearly twice as many games as he lost, finishing with 17 wins against nine defeats, striking out 170 men. The aforementioned Maddux held down the 4th spot in the rotation. That left the five hole to be plugged by the talented Josh Beckett, who won 15 while losing seven. Rookie relievers Joey Devine & Cory Wade shared the closer’s role, saving 38 ballgames. Jose Valverde brought the heat to the setup role, fanning 66 out of the pen. Another rook, Sergio Romo joined Matt Capps in middle relief. Last, but not least, was Brett Allen Myers, known by his teammates as BAM, who pitched magnificently in long relief, coming up big with an ERA of 3.67, logging 162 innings, almost exclusively out of the pen, starting one ballgame.
So now it’s time for the second season to begin, while the postseason has not been kind to the Champions in recent years, there’s not the same sense of angst or urgency that has been there for many Chicago teams of the past. The Champions have shown themselves to be a quality baseball team, over the long haul of a 162 game season. Anything can happen in the playoffs, still the Champions are looking for more, a fitting end would be to be crowned with the IAL Championship, #11 for the Champs, still it has been a long time, and they’re not taking anything for granted & will certainly savor victory, if it were to come over the painful sting of defeat.
Although we had an eight game lead on first place, with 18 games to play, anything can happen, so we were wary as Rob Moore brought his Highlanders to town. Luck was on our side as the Champs jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, then dropped the next two, before taking the last five games for a 7-2 series win. The series win upped our season record to 91-62, with nine games to go versus Kentucky, so it looks like another season in which we come up just short on reaching 100 wins. Last year’s ball club finished with 98 wins, the Champions have never won 100 games in a season. If we hold onto our lead, this will be the first time we’ve finished in first place in back to back seasons. 1996/97 was the last time we struck playoff gold in the form of a championship, got my fingers crossed, which makes it difficult to type.
Mike Bunch has once again put on his Santa Claus and delivered early Christmas presents to all the managers in the IAL, whether we were naughty or nice. APBA has just gotten the disk out for the computer game, and Papa Bunch has assembled that info into each of our teams, plus the rookies, way to go Bunchie! Believe it or not, I’m already toying with possible lineups for the upcoming season, I’m such a geek. A happy surprise was seeing Josh Beckett’s grade of B-XZ. Also Felipe Lopez & Ian Stewart received 2B-7 (Stewart also received a 3B-4), and Miguel Olivo was rated as an 8 behind the plate. On a sad note, Carlos Lee lost his 2 in the outfield.
ial hall of fame | Thomas Nelshoppen October 28, 2011 | 
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