Aug. 31, 1965 Replay Update

 I have reached Sept. 1 in my 1965 APBA baseball replay; the teams have only 30 or so games left to play and while the American League is down to two teams in the pennant race, the National League have five teams with the possibility of taking the crown.

In the real world back then, while Henry Aaron was clouting home runs in nearby Milwaukee, I was preparing to go to kindergarten in Madison, Wisc., on Sept. 1, 1965. It was my first venture into the education system that, years later proved somewhat fruitless based upon my pursuit of a career in journalism. 

Now, 56-plus years later, I am reliving those days rolling this season. And, like I always say when I do a replay, this is the best season I’ve ever replayed. This time, though, I really mean it. It is a perfect season for the type of baseball I like. There are home runs, but there aren’t the constant games with marathon scores. Pitching reigns as well. Willie Mays can hit the long ball, as he’s done in leading the NL in my replay, and Sandy Koufax can dominate hitters as well, leading the majors in strikeouts so far.

And, because I lived in that era, the players are as familiar to me as the current lineups of teams to youngsters these days. It’s also a point of interest for me that I can name the starting line-up for the 1965 Milwaukee Braves, but probably can’t name two players on the 2022 Atlanta Braves’ team.

That’s provided Atlanta even fields a team. Who knows when baseball will return with the ongoing strike. I vaguely watch updates of the labor issues of today’s baseball, but know that there will be no stoppage of play in any APBA replays I do.

With that said, here are the standings in my replay through Aug. 31, 1965.

AMERICAN   W   L GB.

Minnesota 84 50 --

Detroit         80 54 4

California 70 63 13.5

Chicago 70 64 14

New York 69 66 15.5

Boston         67 67 17

Cleveland 63 69 20

Baltimore 62 71 21.5

Kansas City 50 80 32

Wash’ton 51 82 32.5

NATIONAL W L GB

Cincinnati 82 49 --

St. Louis 79 54 4

San Fran. 76 53 5

Los Angeles 75 58 8

Pittsburgh 74 60 9.5

Philadelphia 66 65 16

Milwaukee 65 66 17

Chicago      61 74 23

Houston 54 79 29

New York 30 104 53.5

Leaders:

Home runs – AL  Conigliaro, Bos, 39; NL Mays, SF. 37.

Wins – AL Horlen, CWS, 19; NL  Ellis, Cinn. and Marichal, SF,  each with 21

Saves – AL Klippstein, Min. and Ramos, NY, each with 20; NL Perranoski, LA 18

Strikeouts – AL McDowell, Cle, 293; NL Koufax, LA 270.

That’s no typo for the New York Mets. They already have a 20-game loser in Gary Kroll with a record of 1-20. They could soon do a reverse of the 1971 Baltimore Orioles and have four 20-game losers on staff. Galen Cisco is 3-19 and Alvin Jackson is 5-18. Even ace starter John ‘Fat Jack’ Fisher is boasting only a 9-16 mark.

The Twins-Tigers race could go down to the wire. Detroit led Minnesota by one game at the end of April and Minnesota has maintained only a four- or five-game lead since. The two teams play each other only twice more, on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2.

One of the interesting things I’ve noticed in this replay is the odd statistical infrequency of events. Players know of APBA’s formula of rating players’ cards so they perform to near what they did in the real seasons. Of course, there are always a few outliers, those who play either way above what their card is expected to produce or those who are disappointments. 

In this season, though, players have really gotten “hot” or “cold.” Frank Howard looked early on like he would challenge Maris’ record of 61 home runs in a season. He had 19 through May, but then shut down, hitting only 15 in the ensuing three months.

Tony Conigliaro began lukewarm, hitting five home runs in April. He had five more round trippers in May, but then hit 10 in June and July and nine in August to lead the AL by five home runs over Howard, who got “hot” again.

St. Louis began the season like they were going to clinch the NL by mid August. In early August, they swept three games from challenger San Francisco, but then lost all games in a three-game set in Milwaukee and started a freefall. They rebounded against the horrible Mets after a six-game losing streak, winning all four games against them by giving up only three runs. But then they lost six more in a row. At least they have the Cubs and Mets in upcoming games that may get the Redbirds back on track.

And finally, the no-hitters. Al Downing had one for the Yankees, the only one in the AL. Koufax no-hit the Mets; Cloninger no-hit Philadelphia; Verne Law had two no-hitters for the Pirates, blanking Philadelphia and St. Louis; and Marichal no-hit the Cardinals and the Cubs. And Bob Veale tossed a perfect game for the Pirates against Milwaukee.

That’s what I was talking about this season. I’ve had eight no-hitters, the most in any replay, while I’ve also had plenty of home runs. It’s been a great season and there’s still more than a month of games left.

I'm Back

I’m back. I think. After a three-month leave, Love, Life and APBA has returned.

And all it took was my cell phone being run over in the parking lot at work.

I don’t have internet at home. After the cable company seemed to raise its prices monthly, and after I was laid off from my newspaper job, cable television and internet service went from being a necessity to a luxury. So, in the past, I’d write these things and then either take the laptop to work the following day to use the office Wi-Fi or drive to a nearby hotel and pirate their Wi-Fi to file them after I wrote one.

After covid hit, the hotel management wouldn’t let me inside the hotel, so I’d sit in the parking lot like some stalker auditioning for a role on Dateline NBC, hunkered down in the car with the laptop balanced on the steering wheel and my girth.(Laptop? In my case it should be called "belly top.") On cold nights and when the Wi-Fi was slow, it was a tough chore.

And, when I was writing these blogs, the ideas came quickly and I’d enjoy putting them down just as quick. Saving them for ‘later’ when I could file them online was not much fun.

So, I quit writing these. My cell service was supposed to have a “hotspot” program that turned the phone into an internet conduit, but it never worked. I don’t want to name the phone service other than to say there were days I’d like to Boost it out of the house.

But then the other day an accident happened that turned for the better in the long run. I dropped my phone out of my pocket in the parking lot during a lunch break. I didn’t notice it gone until a deputy working security called me to say he had found a shattered phone and wondered if it were mine. Apparently, some idiot – probably me – ran over the phone and rendered it useless.

Holly, my wife, went into action and found me a new phone. My technical skills would have me looking for a cup and string and hoping it would work as a communication device. Instead, she found a good phone that is bigger than the previous phone and has better internet service. My phone was a 3G, the lowest available. In the past, to get game scores online, I’d have to go outside in the backyard and stand in the right spot to grab the one zone of decent internet. When it was cold, my chattering teeth replicated the desire for a 5G phone “GGGGG,” I’d shiver.

Because Holly is a genius, she found me a 5G phone and a protective case at a very reasonable price.

This one allows me to find the scores without having to get my fat ass off the couch.

And, it has a working hotspot! Any of you who actually like this blog can thank Holly for getting it back online.

Despite not writing the blogs, I have been writing a lot of stories for the magazines I contribute to. In those cases, I do hold them and file them later at work, using the internet there to proof and fact check the stories before submitting them. Those who write will understand this concept: The blog is heart-writing. The freelance stuff is mostly head-writing.

And I have been still rolling the games in the 1965 APBA baseball replay. This season has to be the best one I’ve done; there’s been a lot of action and story lines that have been fun to watch. For example, the St. Louis Cardinals took off quickly and seemed destined to be the National League pennant winner. But then, in late August, they swooned, losing, at one point, seven games in a row. Cincinnati roared ahead and now lead the clipped Birds by 3.5 games. San Francisco, anchored by ace Juan Marichal and sluggers Willie Mays and Willie McCovey, are 4.5 games behind the Giants.

The Dodgers, who won the 1965 Series in the real world, have been a disappointment, but are waking up and are now 7.5 games out.

In the American League, Minnesota is maintaining a four-game lead over Detroit. The Tigers just can’t make up ground. The Twins lost two of three games to Cleveland, but Detroit faltered in California and Kansas City, blowing two games they should have won. I’ve reached Aug. 30, 1965, in the replay. Teams can’t be losing must-win games this late in the season.

There’s still over a month left in the replay. I’ll update the progress here, along with other observations.

I can do that now. Thanks to a busted phone with tire tracks across it.