Decided to fly to Pittsburgh to take on Todd Ventresca’s Gamblers. Because Todd couldn’t make it to Chicago for the IAL Playoff & Draft weekend in March, it seemed like the thing to do. On Friday after Todd picked me up from the airport & I checked into the motel, we headed over to Damon’s for dinner, and to watch hockey at the bar. On Saturday Todd umpired a doubleheader then headed over to play shum APBA.
Game #1 featured Champs ace(?) Tim Lincecum matched up against C.C. Sabathia for Three Rivers. Maggs Orodonez hit a one out first inning solo shot to give the Gamblers an early lead. Matt Wieters for them & Gordon Beckham for us, traded late game 2-run blasts. C.C. went the distance for the complete game win over The Freak, whose record stands at 0-6.
Chicago scored seven runs, without the benefit of a longball off reliever Nate Robertson (Is that you Nate? That’s the punchline to a joke, but what’s the joke?) in the 10th inning of a 2-2 game to make a winner out of last year’s Cy Young Award winner Matt Cain.
Brett Myers left game #3 trailing 3-1 after six innings to John Lannon (my favorite Beetle). Each team added five spots over the last three innings and the Gamblers had the series lead 2-1 at home.
On the bump for the Champs in the fourth game was Mark Buehrle, who threw a 2-hit shutout. Gamblers rookie Jhoulys Chacin was the tough luck loser. El Caballo squeezed home the game winner in the 7th, 1-0 Good Guys. Tied at two games apiece.
A funny thing happened in the 7th inning of game five. With the Champs leading eight to zip, rookie lefthander Madison Bumgarner was due to hit in the top of the 7th. Manager Mallasch looked down his bench, looking for a pnch-hitter, one was announced, however Manager Ventresca was good enough to let the clueless Champs skipper know his pitcher had a no-hitter going. Todd let me call back my pinch-hitter. Of course Bumgarner gave up a base-knock before retiring another batter and was lifted to get pen workhorse Josh Beckett some work. Beckett only lasted 2/3 of an inning before giving way to closer Sergio Romo. Romo pitched the rest of the way and Chicago managed to hang on to an 8-6 victory.
Game #6: A rematch of Sabathia vs Lincecum ended in the bottom of the 12th when Carlos Lee nailed a three-run bomb off Gamblers lefty Andrew Laffey, for a walk-off dinger. Big Boy Jose Mijares picked up the win.
Gamblers batters staked Brian Matusz to a first inning four to nothing lead in the 7th game, tacked on a couple more runs, and Brian went the distance shutting out the Champs 6-0. Prince Fielder launched two solo drives, Adrian Beltre added one of his own, and Shane Victorino clubbed a 2-run shot to pace the attack.
Howie Kendrick broke a 1-1 tie with a 6th inning granny off Brett Myers, Chacin was masterful, and the Gamblers evened up the series at four, with a 6-1 win.
Frenchy Francoeur broke game #9 wide open with a three-run 6th inning longball, putting the Champs up 7-2. Mark Buehrle went the distance for the victory and series win.
On Sunday we went to PNC to see the Buccos play host to the Colorado Rockies. Todd rooted for the Pirates, despite the fact that one of his APBA hurlers, Jhoulys Chacin started for the Rox. Pittsburgh lost a close one to Colorado. The weather was perfect, 80 degrees in April, can’t beat that!
Todd drove me back to the airport after the game. Special thanks go out to Todd for everything, it was a great weekend, and I highly recommend a trip to the Burgh, lotsa funn!!!
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.
Led league in hitting (.332), rbis (146), slugging (.670), and OBP (.435). Also hit 42 homeruns and scored 121 runs with a 55/94 strikeout/walk ratio.
Cy Young
and Left-handed Pitcher of the Year
C.C. Sabathia
Three Rivers Gamblers
Was 2009’s only IAL 20-game winner with 22. Led league with a 2.74 ERA. CC was six strikeouts away from the Triple Crown. His 252 strikeouts was second behind Tim Lincecum’s 258.
Rookie of the Year
Geovany Soto
Catcher, Twin Cities Thunderchickens
Soto’s 29 homeruns and 89 rbis were tops among rookies and were second on the Thunderchickens behind only Albert Pujols.
Fireman of the Year
Mariano Rivera
Molly Putts Marauders
A unanimous choice, Rivera led all IAL relievers with 38 saves in 2009. He walked only 4 batters in 69 innings pitched with a 1.96 ERA.
Right-handed Pitcher of the Year
Tim Lincecum
Chicago Champions
Lincecum led the IAL in strikeouts with 258 and came within .003 of winning the ERA title with a 2.74 mark. He won 17 and lost 6.
Manager of the Year
Tedd Mallasch
Chicago Champions
Mallasch came away with the most important stat of them all. 99 wins. That was eleven games more than any other managers won.
1982 saw the arrival of Rob Taylor managing the Chicago Stockyards taking over for (now sadly departed) Dale Smith. Dennis Jennings grabbed first placed for the second time in three years but it was the second place Chicago Champions behind Tedd Mallasch who won the IAL championship in 1982. They had the homerun leader in IAL MVP Mike Schmidt (41) and the batting champ in Mike Hargrove (.318). In addtion, Jim Rice (28 HR, 109 rbi) lent a hand. Cardinal hurler Steve Carlton won the Cy Young and for good reason. He hit the trifecta leading the IAL in wins (24), ERA (1.69), and strikeouts (266). Carlton’s 1.69 ERA remains the second lowest all-time to this day. Record performances in 1982 (and rank all-time):
Steve Carlton
Northeast Cardinals
1.69 ERA
2nd
Steve Carlton
Northeast Cardinals
24 W
3rd
Cecil Cooper
Chicago Stockyards
61 2B
4th
Tim Raines
Davenport Fire
104 SB
5th
Dick Drago
Northside Hitmen
104 G
1st
Fernando Valenzuela
Northeast Cardinals
8 Sho
2nd
My Steve McCatty Story After my Geneseo Athletics placed last in 1981, the league, in its infinite wisdom, passed a rule, which allowed a team that placed last two years in a row to pick any player in the MLB in lieu of any player on their team. We called it the “Loser’s Pick”. This was a retroactive rule and my team qualified for this new rule. I could have ANY player not already on an IAL team. The field was open! I could pick any superstar, any proven player, anyone with lots of potential. A franchise player to build a team around. So who did I pick? Steve McCatty. Granted, he was an A starter that year. I had Bob Knepper already. He was also an A and I was so focused on what it would be like to have a one-two punch like that. One can’t fault my fellow managers in the IAL. One by one they tried to convince me that maybe “Cat” wasn’t the pick for me. Maybe a middle infielder or a proven big bopper who would be around for years to come. But I wouldn’t listen and Steve McCatty became an Athletic. What happened? Well, McCatty actually had a great year for me in 1982. He went 16-8 with a 2.11 ERA. His 2.11 ERA remains 9th all-time on the single season list. We didn’t make the playoffs though finishing 6th with a 77-84 record. But I betcha we had the best dang ERA in the league (actually 3.50 ranked 5th). McCatty declined after his initial season. He was a CZ the next season and a DW the one after that. I think that was all the IAL could take of the “Cat”.
1980 was the beginning of Dennis Jennings’ Thunderchicken dynasty as they captured first place three times in the next 6 years. In 1980, they did everything right, winning 103, capturing the Illowa championship. In addition, Steve Garvey won league MVP hitting .330, driving in 122, & scoring 114 runs. The Thunderchickens also had the top two in ERA (Bruce Kison with 2.56 and Ron Guidry with 2.73), but lefty Tommy John led the way with a 20-11 record.
But the big bopper in the league was East Moline Bomber outfielder Gorman Thomas. Thomas banged out 57 homeruns that year. Not only that he led the league in runs (131), slugging (.645), and walks (109).
Davenport Fire pitcher Dennis Martinez won Cy Young award based on his league leading 22 wins and a 2.84 ERA.
After the season ended Tedd Mallasch attempted buying Gorman Thomas from Mike Bunch by giving him a fifty dollar bill, it took alot of time & effort to recover the money.
1979 was a year in which the Chicago Champions, largely helped by outfielder Jim Rice, took it all. They garnered first place missing the century mark by one win and won the World Series. MVP Rice quite simply dominated the league. He belted 66 homeruns, an IAL record that would stand for 17 years. He also led the league in runs (129), rbis (125), and slugging pct (.622), batting leadoff much of the year, incredibly he had nearly 40 at bats left unused. The Maquoketa Cardinals’ Al Oliver won the batting title with a .326 mark. Cardinal Bob Knepper won Cy Young honors due to his 1.97 ERA and 21 wins, including nine shutouts.
Take a look a couple of articles from 1979 newsletters (below, click to enlarge). I wish I could include them all. I have Tedd’s because after all, he won it all. I also included Don Smith’s since not only does he have a penchant for writing well, his article also includes a lot of history of the IAL from that time.
The race for first place in ’78 was a tight one as the Fire beat out the Champions by two games. With MVP and home run king Greg Luzinski and Cy Young reliever Sparky Lyle the Fire squad was a powerhouse. Luzinski totaled 104 homeruns for the past two years. For the year, he had 58 along with 129 rbis. Newly acquired Sparky Lyle had 23 saves with a 2.33 ERA. Despite leading the league in wins (24) & ERA (2,26) Lefty Steve Carlton was snubbed in postseason Cy Young Award voting, due to a perception by voters that he was matched up against bad starters.
Alas, it was the Chicago Champions who prevailed in the post-season and won the World Series (see a scanned image of Manager Tedd Mallasch’s final stats from the original 1978 newsletter at right).
Here is Tedd Mallasch’s account of what went down in ’78:
TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD…
For the 2nd time in his three years at the helm Manager Mallasch guided the Chicago Champions to the Championship. The Champs finished two games behind the Davenport Fire, but put it altogether in the playoffs to capture the title. Interesting note that these two teams pulled off a blockbuster trade before the season, the Champions sent 1978 MVP Greg Luzinski to the Fire in exchange for a young catcher Gary Carter. Carter would have a monster year for the Champs leading the team in 2B’s, HR’s, & RBI’s (42,41,134). Luzinski never played for the Champs as the trade was actually a three way deal involving the Bombers. The Champs were a powerhouse launching 210 longballs, Jim Rice 35 and Ellis Valentine 32 were the only other hitters to belt more than 30 home runs as the lineup featured power up & down the order. Workhorse Dennis Leonard completed 16 of his 35 starts finishing with a 21-7 record. Elias Sosa was the team’s closer figuring in 24 victories in the 42 games in which he appeared.
chicago champions, Three Rivers Gamblers | Tedd Mallasch April 19, 2011 | 
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