Hey fans! July's a wrap in my 1979 APBA replay. For those unfamiliar, I am actually re-replaying the season; it was my first replay, back when the set was current. I didn't use any tweaks, trades or any of that, and wanted to see how differently things might turn out with the latest reissue of the cards, advanced options, and the Orsino Board. Now, let's get to it!
The race in the east continued to be a two team dogfight, while the Angels and Rangers faltered in the west, turning that division into a 4-team free for all!
MIL 68-39 ---
BAL 68-40 0.5
DET 61-46 7
BOS 59-46 8
NYY 55-51 12.5
CLE 43-64 25
TOR 36-71 32
(In the first replay, the Brewers were also narrowly ahead, by 1.5 games, but that time NYY were in second at the end of July. The Orioles, because many of their starting pitchers had oddly low grades and they were missing several key subs, were floundering in 5th place, 16 games out and could not even get to .500. That's another reason I wanted replay 1979 again.)
MIN 61-45 ---
KCR 60-46 1
CAL 60-47 1.5
TEX 58-48 3
CHI 46-60 15
OAK 36-72 26
SEA 36-72 26
(The Twins also led at this point in the first replay, by 4 games over KCR.
Team best and worst:
RA--BAL 401, OAK 663
CG--CAL 45, DET 21
SV--MIN 30, SEA 6 (!)
HRvs--TEX 88, TOR 128
DP--NYY 134, BAL 72
ERR--NYY 56, CHI 106
RF--MIL 601, OAK 385
2B--BOS 221, OAK 128
3B--KCR 46, BOS 18
HR--MIL 158, TOR 67
SB--KCR 147, MIN and BOS 30
CS--KCR 33, TOR 14
GIDP--KCR 77, BOS 122
WALK-OFF HITS--DET 8, TOR 0
GRAND SLAMS--MIL, CLE, and NYY 3, MIN, CHI and TOR 0
Here is my leader board. Where information is available (I didn't keep a very extensive leader board the first time), I include the first replay leader in parenthesis.)
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| "Crab cakes for everybody!" |
WINS: Flanagan-bal 18-4, Caldwell-mil 18-5, Frost-cal 15-5, 4 tied with 13 wins. (Frost 18-3)
LOSSES: Huffman-tor 1-13, Baumgarten-chi 9-13
SHO: 5 tied with 4 (John and Koosman 5)
CG: Langford-oak 14, 3 tied with 13
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| "Wanna see my smiling face on the cover of the...Sporting News?" |
SAVES: Marshall-min 30, Lopez-det 25, Hrabosky-kc 23, Kern-tex 23, Gossage-ny 20, Stanhouse-bal 20 (Marshall 22)
2B: Jackson-min 42, Rice-bos 38, Lemon-chi 36 (Lynn 42)
3B: Bannister-chi, Leflore-det and Whitaker-det tied with 11 (Brett and Randolph 14)
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| "Why's everybody always pickin' on me?" |
HR: Thomas-mil 40, Lynn-bos 39, Jackson-ny 31, Baylor-cal 30, Singleton-bal 30 (Singleton 39) Thomas and Lynn both have a shot at the Babe!
RBI: Thomas-mil 101, Baylor-cal 97, Lynn-bos 97, Grich-cal 90, Singleton-bal 86, Rice-bos 85 (Summers 110. This time he has 43.)
RUNS: Lynn-bos 97, Thomas-mil 85, Baylor-cal 84, Lemon-chi 82, Gamble-tex 81 (Lynn 101)
STEALS: Wilson-kc 63, Leflore-det 59, Henderson-oak 31, Cruz-sea 30 (Wilson 58)
GIDP: Ford-cal 24, Hobson-bos 21, Randolph-ny 20
ERRORS: Pryor-chi 25, Wills-tex 22, Orta-chi 20
TEAM REPORTS (with July record in parenthesis)
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| Like Simply Red, they keep hangin' on. |
ROLL OUT THE BREWERS (15-13): The Brew Crew were not especially fantastic in July, but they were good enough to hang on to first place all except for one lonely day when Baltimore caught them, then promptly fell back. The bullpen let them down, blowing three saves in a row around the All-Star break. They are currently hosting the Orioles for three games at County Stadium, and have lost the first two decisively. And yet, here they still are, on top by an eyelash. Even miracle "C" Bill Travers lost to the O's, lowering his record to 13-2. Stormin' Gorman Thomas, however, mashed 13 homers in the month.
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| "I knew it, doctor...he has an infucktion of the lateral linguine." |
BIRD DOO (15-11): The Oriole Express hit a snag due to injuries to Roenicke, Lowenstein, Kelly, Ayala and Skaggs and stopped scoring in bunches. However, their stellar pitching has kept them right there near the top. The pitchers have not been subject to the injury bug--not one Oriole hurler has gone down all season.
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| By George, I think he's got it! |
HOLD THAT TIGER (18-11): If I did such stuff, Aurelio Lopez would have been AL Pitcher of the Month in July, with 10 saves as the Bengals surged to 15 games above .500. The club has gone 36-22 the past two months under the steady hand of new skipper Sparky Anderson. And all this while giving up runs in bunches all season. The Tigers are minus 47 in run differential, but there they are, on the fringes of the east race. A 22-7 log in 1-run games may explain it. 8-3 in extras. Sparky has all the right moves! Right now, lefty sluggers Steve Kemp and Champ Summers are on the shelf with embarrassing blemishes, but they'll be back soon.
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| "I cannot be harmed!" crows Carlton. |
FENWAY FOLDEROL (18-10): The Red Sox surged up from mediocrity with a dandy month. Bob Watson has come over from the senior circuit and lit a fire under the previously sleepy Bosox offense. Fred Lynn is all-world with 35 doubles, 39 HR, 97 runs and rbi and a cool .333 average. Plus, he catches everything hit his way. Jim Rice keeps banging doubles off the Green Monster. If the pitching, beyond Bob Stanley (13-6) ever helps out, the Boston nine could still get in this thing. Carlton Fisk, a J-3, has festooned himself with horse shoes and four leaf clovers and escaped injury all season so far. The Orsino Board is hungry, Carlton, and will get you. Wait and see.
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| "Where did you say home plate is? Up there? Where is my ass? How about my elbow?" |
YANKEE DOODLES (15-12): These Yankees are like two different teams. They are world-beaters when Guidry or John pitch, and crap when Tiant, Hunter or Figueroa pitch, especially those last two. Meanwhile, I have kept their battery mate Thurman Munson away from airplanes because I'm just not going through that again, but he has gotten injured three or four times as Boston's Fisk stands by and laughs. That leaves stiffs Narron and Gulden to do the catching and some sort of lame imitation of hitting. Indeed, scoring runs has been a problem for these Yankees. It is rumored that before another game is played, Mick The Quick (Rivers) will be dealt to Texas for slugger Oscar Gamble. That should help, although the line-up still skews left-handed. Don't expect a pennant in New York this year.
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| Heathcliff, brooding on the moors. |
TRIBE WAMPUM (13-17): Cliff Johnson, acquired from the Yankees on June 15th, has slugged 17 HR since arriving on the shores of Lake Erie, giving him 26 total. This, along with the acquisition of Mike Hargrove, has really improved the Tribe's attack. Unfortunately, neither of these fellows can pitch, and so the Tribe will continue to flounder around uselessly in front of sparse crowds of miserable fans. Ah well.
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| Cito Gaston or Otto Velez? Only your hairdresser knows for sure. |
JAY JABBERINGS (7-18): Oh for goodness sake. Mayberry injured again, Phil Huffman piling up losses...if it weren't for "Swatto" Otto Velez (60 rbi) the team might go 0-162. After a weird winning (just barely) June, the team reverted to form in July. Ew, Canada.
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| Yeah, take yer damn picture and leave me alone. And no more questions about 1964 or I swear... |
DOUBLEMINT TWINS (21-7): Whoa. THESE are the Twins who won it all for me the first replay. Endless, merciless (and kind of annoying) sequential offense. Single! Double! Walk! Single! Another single! Triple! Rinse, repeat. My worst nightmare is the Twins against any "D" pitcher. Ron Jackson went doubles happy and took over the league lead. The Twinks are second-to-worst in the AL in homers, with just 74, but you just cannot get them out. They don't hit homers, they don't steal, they just ping you to death and they have just enough pitching to set up Mike Marshall for loads of saves. The one question mark is that, as in the first replay, they are wildly inconsistent month to month. What does the future hold? Can they fight off three other good but flawed teams and take the west? Stay tuned.
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| KC rotation arrives at the ballpark. |
ROYAL PAINS (18-9): KC was nearly as hot in July as the rival Twins as both came from well back to claim the top two spots in the west. The Royals even enjoyed a day in first place before a loss to the lowly Blue Jays knocked them back a notch. The Royals' starting pitching has been pretty bad with the exception of Paul Splittorff (12-6). But, despite George Brett tailing off to a disappointing (for him) .293, they know how to play carpet ball, racking up the gap hits and stolen bases. They also field very well and hit into few double plays. An ace would probably secure a division title for this team, but Rich Gale (6-12) it ain't.
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| Coach Crawford helps Angel relievers with their mechanics. |
ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD (11-16): Just when the Halos looked like world-beaters in June, they turned back into a pumpkin in July. They can mash, with sluggers up and down the line-up, but the bullpen is Mark Clear and ...well, Mark Clear. Nolan Ryan (BKW, 12-8, 185 K's) is fun to use but maddening for his manager. Dave Frost ( B, 15-5) continues to win most of the time, but after that it gets thin as we enter C And D Adventure World. Time will tell whether these Angels reclaim the top spot, or fade into pretender status like they did in the first replay.
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| "My 'fro can be seen from space!" |
POWER RANGERS (11-16): Oh for the halcyon days of yore. The Rangers' pitching was spectacular for half a season, then went in the dumper, proving that APBA takes the Texas heat into account. You'll be amazed at the realism! The attack, powered by the perhaps over-used (mea culpa!) Oscar Gamble (27 HR, 81 runs, 75 rbi) got better, but could not keep up with the parade of opponents crossing the plate in Arlington. "Ace" Fergie Jenkins (8-8) has been particularly disappointing after a good start. Even (A&CK) Jim Kern has gotten lit up a couple of times. With the pending dealing of Gamble to New York for Mickey Rivers--the Rangers have lacked a true center fielder all year--the offense is bound to sag a bit, so the pitchers had better get it together. The exception has been the team's good luck charm, Sparky Lyle, who boasts an 8-1 log.
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| A Sox rooter points out tiny adjustments that might be made, like catching the ball. |
FAIL HOSE (10-18): Playing in their pitcher's park, the Sox rap lots of doubles (214) but not many homers (95). Their biggest problem is catching the ball. They lead the AL in flubs by 11 over sad-sack Oakland. The offense did get a boost when they called up Jim Morrison who popped 6 homers right away, then wrote poetry and moved to Paris. Long commute! Well, there is probably more to say about the White Sox, like how Rich Wortham (10-8) has emerged as their best pitcher, or how spare part Wayne Nordhagen has 25 doubles and 12 homers, but why bother? This team is going nowhere, unlike the first replay when they were at least a pretender and above .500.
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| Big crowds and rabid fans add zest to Oakland's 1979 campaign. |
OAK JOKES (12-15) After a 4-25 disaster in June, the team played well enough for government work in July, and even moved up into a tie for 6th place. One of the main reasons I have for replaying 1979 is to see whether my worst ever team (37-125 the first time) would be improved some with advanced options and so forth. Apparently the answer is yes because they have already won 36 games with 2 months to go. In fact, at the 2/3 point of the season, they are exactly where they should be, winning a third of their games. The main excitement the rest of the way will be whether they can avoid giving up an astonishing 1,000 runs. Right now they are on pace for just under that. Rick Langford tossed 4 complete games in July to come from nowhere to take over the league lead.
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| Veteran acquisitions add to Mariner attack. |
DIAL 'M' FOR CRAP BASEBALL (8-19): In my role as Your Impartial Goddess, I cannot say here that I am completely, teeth-grindingly sick of the stupid Mariners. But you can infer! Tigers cast-off Dan Meyer closed the month with a 5 HR explosion during a 3-game visit to Oakland, and then crushed a killer homer off Mark Clear in Anaheim as the M's took two in a row there. Tigers cast-off Willie Horton has a cool 25 HR and 73 rbi while Tigers cast-off "Doctor" Roberts has added 10 dingers. Do I detect a pattern here? If only they could acquire Tom Veryzer, they could reconvene the entire legendary (?) 1975 Detroit team. With similar (un)success, to be sure.
AND FINALLY...notable junk that happened in the AL in July:
7/1 Mike Flanagan no-hits the Blue Jays in Baltimore, winning 2-0. He faces just 29 batters.
7/4 Reggie Jackson legs out an inside-the-park grand slam (!) and Ron Guidry retires the first 23 Brewers in a 9-0 win at Yankee Stadium.
7/13 The Yankees pound 25 hits and two grand slams (Piniella, Chambliss) in 20-0 destruction of the Angels at Anaheim.
7/14 Dent hits a 3-run inside-the-park home run at Anaheim, his first homer all season.
7/15 Yankees complete a three game demoltion of the Angels out west by an aggregate score of 40-6.
7/17 In the All-Star Game at Seattle's Kingdome, the NL prevailed 4-1. Parker, Bench, Maddox and Lynn hit home runs. Seaver got the win, Koosman took the loss, and Tekulve registered the save.
7/27 Andre Thornton hits three home runs for Cleveland in a 12-2 win at Chicago.
7/30 Remy hits an inside the park home run, his only homer of the year, at Cleveland.
Oddball stat: I noticed that my AL has had only 1 triple play, way back in April. In actual, there were 10.
See you soon for the NL report!
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