Despite the many changes in my life
this past year, I still find some time to roll a game or two every so
often in my APBA baseball replay of the 1991 season. It's a much
slower process now that I have other things vying for my attention
and responsibility, but, albeit, I have not given up on the replay.
It's a slow process, however. For the
first time since I began playing the statistically-based replay
baseball game in 1998, I'm averaging playing less than one game a
day. I began this replay on Aug. 16, 2015. I reached Game 409 on Day
448 of the replay. Used to be, when I had no life, I could easily
toss five or six games each day, making for a quick season replay.
Why, I could roll a full season (prior to 1969 when fewer teams
played 154 games rather than 162) in less than a year.
Now, I figured at the pace I've
undertaking, it will take at least six years to complete the 1991
season.
But, I still play on, grabbing a game
or two whenever I can.
And the 1991 season is shaping up well.
Each team has only played about 30 or so games, but, like all seasons
I've replayed, I'm seeing the personalities of the teams develop. For
instance, one team in each of the four divisions is really, really
bad. While every other team has won at least 11 games, Cleveland,
Oakland, Montreal and San Francisco have yet to log double-digits in
the win columns.
Also, Minnesota, which won the actual
1991 World Series in one of the best, closest contests in Series
history, is a somewhat frustrating team to play in this replay. Of
course, I say this because my heart is in Minnesota. I grew up with
the Twins, watching them in their heyday of the mid 1960s and then
the futility of the 1970s and 1980s before Tom Kelly brought them to
their first Series win in 1987. I was kind of hoping for a 162-0
season in the replay for the Twins.
Here are the standings in my replay as
of May 14, 1991. Remember, it's early and it takes a long while for
me to play. I'll be writing about this season for a few years yet.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East W L GB
Toronto 24 10 -
Detroit 16 15 6.5
Boston 14 16 8
Milwaukee 14 16 8
New York 13 16 8.5
Baltimore 11 18 10.5
Cleveland 8 20 13
West W L GB
Seattle 20 12 -
Minnesota 19 13 1
Kansas City 18 13 1.5
Chicago 16 13 2.5
California 17 15 3
Texas 14 14 7
Oakland 9 22 10.5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East W L GB
St. Louis 21 11 -
New York 18 13 2.5
Pittsburgh 18 13 2.5
Phil'phia 17 16 4.5
Chicago 15 18 6.5
Montreal 6 26 15
West W L GB
Atlanta 20 9 -
San Diego 19 14 3
Cincinnati 17 14 4
Los Angeles 17 14 4
Houston 12 18 9.5
San Fran. 9 23 12.5
I am keeping the basic stats: Home
runs, wins and losses and saves. So far, in the American League,
Frank Thomas, the White Sox designated hitter, and Seattle outfielder
Jay Buhner each have 10 home runs. Albert Belle, the fiery Cleveland
Indian, has nine homers and four are tied with eight dingers each
including Rob Deer of Detroit.
Deer is an all-or-nothing kind of
player. He'll either hit a home run or strike out. In the real 1991
season, he hit 25 homers, but also lead the American League with 175
strike outs. His APBA card reflects that. He has a “1” on the 66
roll of his card, indicating a home run when checking the game's play
board. He also has a “5” on his 33, meaning he has a good chance
of homering with a player on base if that number shows up. But he
also has 10 “13s” on his card. A 13 is indicative of a strike
out. There are 36 play numbers on a card. Deer has a 27.7 percent
chance of striking out whenever he's at the plate in the APBA replay.
Andre Dawson of the Cubs leads the
National League with 11 home runs and Jeff Bagwell of Houston, Darryl
Strawberry and Howard Johnson of the Mets and Kevin Mitchell of San
Francisco all have 10 homes runs apiece.
So, the games roll on. Slowly, but
surely.
I think speed is overrated. Enjoyment is the most important thing.
ReplyDeleteYour team stole my team's top pitcher, Give him back! Get back, Jack!