NL 1979 End of June Report

Come on, little Cobra...

June is over in my 1979 APBA tabletop replay, and it's that time when the pretenders have had their day and begin to fade away--just ask my 1965 Yankees or my 1986 Brewers, who were both in first place at this point only to fade into the middle of the pack by season's end. 

For those of you not familiar with this project, I am replaying 1979 for the second time. The first time, it was basic game all the way, right out of the box with the (then) current set of cards. Now, lo these 40 years later, I am playing it again with the newest reissue of the cards, and using all the bells and whistles including my Orsino Board. But enough blather...on to the standings!

"Everybody chill. I got this!"

PIT   51-22  ----  (best 1-run 15-6, best x-inn 8-1, tie least times shutout 3, tie best June 18-7)
MON 40-33  11  (tie least times shutout 3)
CHI  38-35   13  (tie best June 18-7)
NYM 39-37  13.5 (end June on a 9-game losing streak.)
STL  37-39  15.5
PHI  35-42  18   (worst x-inn 2-7)

LAD  44-35  ----
CIN   40-38   3.5
SFG  36-42   7.5
HOU 36-46   9.5  (worst 1-run 6-16, most times shutout 12)
SDP  35-45   9.5  (worst June 8-19)
ATL  31-48  13

So, can the last place team in the west get closer to first place than the second place team in the east? Stay tuned. 

The first time I replayed '79, The Pirates led at the end of June then, too, but by only 3.5 over Philly. (The currently last-place Quakers long for those simpler days.) Cincy led the west by a big 7.5 game margin over Houston. 

Atlanta fans support group.

PITCHING and DEFENSE
The Buccos have given up the least runs (263), the least homers (41) and notched the most saves (24). The Cubbies have collected the most shutouts (10). The Cardinals have turned the most DP's (102) and made the fewest errors along with the Dodgers (41). The Pods have the most complete games (31), but have also made the most errors (70). Atlanta is a veritable record-book of dubious achievements with the most runs against (449, that's 54 more than anyone else), least complete games (8), least DP's turned (35) while giving up the most homers (86). To round things out, the Giants have the least saves, with 7.

"Where's the beef? Ou est le boeuf?"

HITTING
The homer-happy Dodgers (107) have plated the most runs (398) but have the least doubles (107). Pittsburgh has the least caught stealing (11) the least GIDP's (45), the most walk-off hits (6) and the most grand slams (4). Houston has stolen the most bases (85) but also been caught the most (34), and they have the most triples (33), but the fewest homers (24). St. Louis and Chicago have stolen the least bases (32). The Cards have the most doubles (160). Montreal, despite having only been blanked 3 times, are surprisingly last in runs scored (301), two fewer than SD. Which brings us to Atlanta, who check in with the least triples (11), and the most GIDP's (78). As in the AL, the NL is lagging behind its actual pace in grand slams, with just 11 league-wide, which puts them on pace to fall far short of the actual final total of 31. Every NL team has at least 1 walk-off, with the Dodgers and Padres having just the one apiece. "There are so many other things to do in SoCal!" they explain.

LEADERS (with first replay leader in parenthesis, where available. Certain restrictions and conditions apply. Must accept delivery by July 1. May cause headaches and constipation. Ask your doctor about Numberall.)

Canny right-hander or Nesferatu?

WINS: Kison-pit 11-3, 4 tied with 10. (Seaver 13-1)

Richard-hou has 145 K's (Richard 139)

How about "loser"? Does "loser" work for you?

LOSSES: Shirley-sd 4-11, Matula-atl 4-10 Matula losin' games in the A-T-L.

CG: Carlton-phi 10, Perry-sd 10  

SAVES: Tekulve-pit 21, Castillo-la 15, Lockwood-ny 15, Sutter-chi 15, Littell-stl 14, Sambito-hou 14 (Littell 13)

Horner attacks the post-game spread.

HR: Horner-atl 24, Clark-sf 20, Schmidt-phi 20, W.Robinson-pit 19, Winfield-sd 18 (Stargell 32) Mike Schmidt suffered through a terrible June this time, with just 2 HR and 7 rbi for the entire month. 

RBI: Horner-atl 73, Clark-sf 67, Parker-pit 59, Matthews-atl 58, W.Robinson-pit 58 (Stargell 68)

Winfield's rookie card.

RUNS: Parker-pit 58, Winfield-sd 56, North-sf 55, Madlock-pit 55  (Lopes 60)

2B: Parker-pit 37, Hernandez-stl 36, Youngblood-ny 25  Those top two on pace for around 80 doubles. Wild! 

Templeton and his skipper discuss three baggers and Victorian poetry.

3B: Templeton-stl 10, Taveras-ny 8

STEALS: Moreno-pit 26, North-sf 22, Cedeno-hou 20, Lopes-la 20 (North 33)

GIDP: Montanez-ny 13, Garvey-la 11, Hendrick-stl 11, Ontiveros-chi 11

Keep your eye on that grounder, Pepe! Keep your eye...oh crap. 

ERRORS: Frias-atl 17, 2 tied with 15

If you missed the AL report, just hit "older post." It's right below this one.

See you after the all-star game, July 17 at the beautiful and luxurious Kingdome!

1979 AL End Of June Report

He's not "cranked", he's just gone cuckoo!

As those of you have been following along know, I am re-replaying the 1979 baseball season with the APBA tabletop game. I played it the first time with my very first set, purchased in 1980, no tweaks, no options, just straight out of the box--and with 20-man teams! This time, I am using the newest reissue of the cards, my Orsino Board (which is listed just under the blog header among the stand-alone pages), error randomizer, trades, full rosters, and advanced pitching and fielding options. (I don't use the "playing it safe" base running option. Keep running, fatty!)

What follows are the standings and leaders as of the end of June, as well as notes in parenthesis about who the leaders were the first time around, in categories that I wrote down at the time. Here we go!

The Orioles rode a 22-8 June to creep within a game and a half of the Brewers, while the Angels smoked every pitching staff they encountered, as well as beating back the Rangers and Royals in head-to-head competition. However, the Rangers, like the Orioles, remain just a length and a half out. 

MIL  53-26  ----    (tie least times shutout 1) 
BAL  53-29   1.5  (best June 22-8. 44-15 since May 1.)
DET  43-35   9.5  (best 1-run record 15-6)
BOS  41-36  11    
NYY 40-39  13
CLE  30-47  22
TOR  29-53  25.5

CAL  49-31  ----
TEX  47-32   1.5  (most shutouts 11, best x-inn record 8-0)
KCR  42-37   6.5  (tie least times shutout 1)
MIN  40-38   8
CWS  36-42  12  (worst x-inn record 1-5)
SEA  36-42   21.5
OAK  24-57  25.5  (worst June 4-24, least shutouts 0, most times shutout 15)

(The first go-round, the Brewers led then, too, and by the same margin of a game and a half, but Boston was in second. Baltimore was 6 under .500. No AL team was more improved in the reissue than the Orioles. Minnesota led the west by 3.5 over Chicago, of all teams!)

Pitching and Defense.
Milwaukee has surrendered the least runs, 313. NY and Texas have given up 314. Oakland has coughed up 528 runs, 39 more than next worst Seattle. The Yankees have given up the least homers with 62; Seattle the most with 102. The Angels lead with 34 complete games to lead that category by 7. Detroit and Seattle have only 16 distance efforts. Texas and Minnesota lead with 22 saves each. Seattle is a distant last with just 5. The White Sox kick the ball the most (defense really was that team's bugaboo) with 76 errors. Clean-fielding team is KC with just 50 gaffes. The Yanks have turned the most DP's with 102; the Orioles the least with just 52. 

Offense
The Angels are a powerhouse, leading the loop with a gaudy 476 tallies. Oakland is last by a whopping 56 runs, at 269 runs scored. Surprisingly, the Blue Jays lead in doubles with 164; the A's are last with 88. Triples honors go to KC with their jackrabbits and fake turf, with 36. Boston has just 12. Baltimore leads the league with 122 round trippers; Minnesota is the 98-pound weakling with only 52. The Royals lead in both steals (111) and caughts (27). Boston lags with just 20 thefts. They join Toronto with just 10 caughts. Boston has grounded into 18 more DP's than anybody else, with 93; Texas gets doubled up the least, with 59. The exciting Tigers have walked it off 7 times, 5 of them in June. Toronto has no walk-offs at all. No team has more than 2 grand slams. Almost half the teams don't even have one. There have been 11 grand slams league-wide; they'll have to pick up the pace to match the actual league total of 50. 

Leader Board

"Like my pornstache?"

WINS: Flanagan-bal 14-2, Caldwell-mil 14-3, Frost-cal 12-4, Travers-mil 10-1, D.Martinez-bal 10-5, Ryan-cal 10-6 (Frost 14-3)

"Drub me!"

LOSSES: Huffman-tor 1-11, Gale-kc 4-11

"I complete me."

CG: John-ny 10, Wise-cle 10

Ryan-cal has 136 K's. He led with 124 the first time.

SHO: 6 tied with 3

"I wear a cape under my uniform! Wanna see?"

SAVES: Marshall-min 22, Kern-tex 19, Castro-mil 17, Hrabosky-kc 17, Lopez-det 16, Stanhouse-bal 16 (Marshall 17. Not sure why I had so many fewer saves the first time.)

"Watch me go from torrid to tepid!"

HR: Lynn-bos 31, Thomas-mil 27, Singleton-bal 26, Grich-cal 24, Jackson-ny 23 (Singleton 27) Fred Lynn, after absolutely terrifying pitchers in April, has slowly cooled, turning in a pedestrian 5 HR and 16 rbi in June. He is hitting .344. At this point the first time, he was at a gaudy .390. 

"I dreamed I was way out in front in my Maidenform bra!" 

RBI: Grich-cal 76, Singleton-bal 74, Lynn-bos 73, Baylor-cal 71, Thomas-mil 70 (Summers 81) Ha! Champ Summers! I didn't do trades the first time, so he was a Tiger from opening day. I'd forgotten he did this well, though. This time, he had 6 HR and 11 rbi for the Reds and has 8 HR and 20 rbi for the Tigers for a total of 14 HR and 31 rbi, a mere 50 off his former pace! :-P

RUNS: Lynn-bos 70, Baylor-cal 66, Murray-bal 64, Gamble-tex 63,Thomas-mil 61 (Lynn 79)

Every girl's crazy bout a sharp-dressed man!

2B: Lemon-chi 28, Rice, bos 28, Jackson-min 26, Bosetti-tor 25, Cooper-mil 25

3B: Bannister-chi 8, Molitor-mil 8, Whitaker-det 8

The car with the stuffed rabbit is just out of the frame.

STEALS: Wilson-kc 47, Leflore-det 41, Dilone-oak 27 (Cruz-sea 40)

"I meant to do that."

GIDP: Ford-cal 21, Hobson-bos 17, Randolph-ny 15 

"I got blistahs on my fingahs!"

ERRORS: Remy-bos 17, 4 tied with 15. Remy is a 2b-8, so this is surprising. 

JUNE HIGHLIGHTS
June 1: Brewers beat KC 21-7 with a 24-hit barrage. 40 hits total in the game.
June 9: Chambliss (ny) hits for the cycle at KC.
June 14: Baylor and Grich both hit 3 homers for the Angels in a 14-4 win at Toronto.
June 14: Juan Beniquez (ny) charges the mound and beats the shit out of Paul Hartzell (min) who had just grazed his uniform sleeve with a change-up. Easy there, Juan!
June 16: Cowens (kc) hits 3 homers in a win at Milwaukee.
June 19: Roy Smalley (min), snoozing along until then, goes 6-for-6 with 14 total bases, 5 runs scored, and 7 rbi as Twins belt out 21 hits in a 16-10 donnybrook win at Milwaukee. 
June 19: Not to be outdone, George Brett (kc) also goes 6-for-6 as KC goes berserk with 26 hits and a ten-run second inning in an absurd 18-0 win at Oakland. George winds up June hitting .316.
June 23: Jim Rice (bos) and Balor Moore (tor) beat the living daylights out of each other in a disagreement over which way the toilet roll should be placed. "Over!" BIFF! POW! "Under!!!" SMACK! Now, boys...
June 24: Guidry (ny) fans 13 Indians in a 6-2 win at the Stadium. The baker's dozen ties Rich Wortham's May 20th performance for the most K's in a game in the AL so far.

Easssyyyy, Juan!

 
Hope you enjoyed! NL soon!