A Difficult Dilemma

There are tough decisions we’re faced with in life that require  a lot of thought and deep concentration.

Choosing a college, accepting a job offer, getting married, figuring out how to make the monthly house mortgage and just coming up with ways to stay afloat in the sea of life are some of those selections we have to work out.

But, I’m faced with an even more difficult dilemma. Most of those other choices mentioned, well, I’ve picked wrong. I’ve always said when I come to a fork in the road, I end up grabbing a spoon. I’ve not had the most successful batting average in making wise decisions.

So, I look ahead at my difficult dilemma and, although it’s not pertinent until next spring, I give it attention now.

My tough decision: What is the next APBA baseball season that I’ll replay.

It’s a toughie.

My 1981 season replay is nearing the midway point. I’ve reached June 30, 1981, rolling more than 960 games so far. I’ve still more than 100 games to hit the exact halfway point of the season, but, as I’ve tended to do in replays past, I look forward.

Yes, I look to the future to play the past.

I began playing the baseball dice game in the winter of 1998, replaying the ‘98 season that featured the steroid-aided home run barrage of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Then, I replayed 1925 (in part), 1957 and 1974 and then 1932. I completed 1964 and 1977 before tackling 1981.

I see the undertaking of a replay as both a conquest and a means for learning more about that era’s baseball history. I lock into the season and I memorize the batting lineups for the teams and that season becomes more of a reality to me than the actual, real baseball season that’s underway while I play my fictional game.

I look ahead and am pretty certain I’ll play 1942 next. I’ve not played any from that era. As many games as I’ve played over the years, I’ve never rolled the dice for an at-bat by Joe DiMaggio.

I’ve tried to spread out the eras of the replays so I could learn more about those times.

Obviously, I don’t own every season, but I do have a good representation of most of the baseball eras. I own 1901 and 1906 for the first era, 1925 and 1932 for the early years, 1942 for that DiMaggio time. I’ve bought a lot of 1980s seasons so I could play the Minnesota Twins’ games. Sadly, the 1981 Twins in my replay are the second worst team, only ahead of Toronto. But I have other seasons with the Twins and I keep hope alive.

So, with several months still left in the 1981 replay I’m doing, I think I’m doing 1942 next. I may tackle the 1901 or 1906 after just to get a feel for that era. The year 1991 beckons as well, with the Twins’ World Series victory in real life a motivation for the replay.

And, on an entirely different level, I also own a three APBA football seasons, several hockey years and some of the basketball seasons as well. 

I figure I have to stay alive for at least 20 more years to get all the seasons I want to do completed. It’s one reason to stay alive, I guess.