The Prairieland and your plans for tomorrow

Well, I didn't get a chance to play in the First Annual Prairieland APBA Tournament.  I was home visiting in Minnesota and my Uncle died.  He was very dear to me and a huge Twins fan.  I would have given him constant updates on the 1969 Twins in the Prairieland had I played.  It is a good time to pause and remember that we all have plans for tomorrow and we must make the most of our time, as tomorrow may not come.

Here is a great photo of me and my uncle Roald playing APBA: The 1991 Twins v. the 1987 Twins.

Who won? Jim Welch with the 1941 Red Sox!  Congratulations and well done.  He holds the trophy for a year and will receive a new-in-the-box APBA Negro Leagues set.  

The Prairieland

The first annual Prairieland APBA tournament takes place April 16th in Illinois.  There is a field of 16 teams for this first time tournament at a busy time of the year.

I am fielding the 1969 Twins (97-65) in the Prairieland and go up against the 1982 Brewers, 1920 Tribe, and the 2015 Blue Jays in the Gary Gaetti Division.   Looks like this is a heavy hitting division and it should be fun.  After that we will just have to wait and see who makes the play-offs. 

I like their hitting as you can see Carew and Oliva lead in average and Killer in Home Runs and I have decent speed at the top and middle of the line-up card.

I field a #2 defense with no chance to go to a #1.  I am a bit suspect on Killer and Reese hitting into double plays, but that was the '69 Twins.  The real disappointment is Bobby Allison at #9, he hit .223 that year and is a fielding 1.


The line-up:

1.  Cesar Tovar 3B-3 F

2.  Rod Carew 2B-8 F

3.  Tony Oliva LF-2 F

4.  Harmon Killebrew  DH S

5.  Rich Reese  1B-4

6.  Leo Cardenas  SS-9 F

7.  Ted Uhlaender  CF-3 F

8.  Johnny Roseboro  C-8

9.  Bobby Allison  RF-1

Tovar at the top is my only question.  I like a fast guy with some on base percentage at the top and Carew to move him around or get on himself.  A few more practice games are needed to see if Tovar hits first or 6th. 

Roto:

Jim Kaat  B-yz

Jim Perry  B-yz

Dave Boswell  B-y

Tom Hall  C-yz

Pen

Ron Perranoski  A* z

Bob Miller  B* z

Dean Chance C-y

Overall, I like the arms. Especially the Z's.

Best of luck to everyone in the tournament!  I will give a full report after the tournament has run its course. 

The Neil Ess Tournament

The Neil Ess Memorial APBA tournament was held this weekend in Minneapolis.  It had 32 managers!  These tournaments have really grown in popularity and variety and it is such a great thing for the game/hobby. 

My impressions: 

• Very well organized and the congratulations here go to Jim Fraasch and Darrell Skogen.  The pre-tournament information is clear and timely, and the post-tournament information is also clear and timely.
• The home we play in is all set up to accommodate close to 40 people and 32 mangers for the entire day.
• The game play is smooth and the additional rules work very well. The organizers provide a sheet for all tables and plenty of new APBA rule books.
• The mangers are a fantastic group of people, all very gracious, funny, good spirits, and knowledgeable about the game
• I was engaged is so many interesting side-conversations I can't begin to describe the variety.
• The way that players have begun to build rolling-pits is a new phenomena in my experience in APBA and looking over all the creative ball-parks to roll dice in was fascinating.  George Adams (pictured below on left rolling against Scott Egge's 2015 Mets) took the crown here with his custom built parks, and he was gracious enough to allow me to take one home to use and copy if I can find the time. 

I strongly recommend you attend either the Fall or Spring iteration of this APBA tournament.  

How did I do?  Let's talk about the winner first.  My good friend and master manager Kevin Cluff (pictured above on right) won with those dreaded 2011 Rangers. They can hang runs on you like nobody's business.  They killed me in Michigan and killed me in Minnesota.  I am glad they are retired from the Neil Ess. 

I managed the 2015 Kansas City Royals this year.  They are a very fun team to manage with a 44 defense (w/o the pitcher's #) and a "1" at all positions (the way the Ess accounts for defense).  A decent starting rotation and a killer pen; I thought I had a shot. 

The 2015 Royals went 5-5.  The highlights:

Split against the 1920 Tribe, but they hung 11 runs on us in the first game, most of them on Cueto.

The 2011 Rangers, the victors.   I split with them also, shutting them out in game two with Ventura on the bump.

2015 Cards I took both from holding them to just 2 total runs over both games, Cueto allowing both in #1 and Volquez shutting them out in the second.

I split with the 1999 D-Backs  and was swept by Craig Chritian's 1988 Mets in very close games: 2-3 and 1-3.

I scored 35 runs over 10 games and gave up 35. I will take that in any tournament. 

However, I could not hit!  Over the 10 games the team batting average was .185-well below the Mendoza line.

Hoz hit .292 with 1 HR and Perez hit .285 with 3 long balls.  

Cain only hit .222, Moose .111, Morales .179, Zobrist .138 and Gordon .166 (but he did go deep 3 times).  Those 4 killed me, and in the "Managers mistakes" category, hitting Dyson lead-off was a mistake.

I could not pass up that speed-card at the top of the line-up.  He did steal 5 bases for me, hit his actual league average .250, but struck out too many times.  It is a possible mistake, as Cain only hit .222 and he is the other obvious lead-off guy. Feel free to comment on this issue or any other. 

With stellar defense and solid pitching the bats can slow down a bit, but not below the Mendoaz line and have any expectation of winning and going deep in a tournament. 

I may take them again.  Given they under-performed at the plate, they may be able to make a playoff run as that even run differential is enticing. 

Some rolling pits:

Next Stop: the first annual Prairieland Tournament in Illinois.  I take the 1969 Twins.  

Michigan 2016

What a fantastic tournament!   Thank you again Pastor Rich Zawadzki for holding such a well organized and enjoyable tournament. 

Here are some action shots:

And the winner?  Shawn Baier!  Congratulations taking those 1993 Atlanta Braves all the way.  Well done. 

As far as my 2006 Minnesota Twins, we held our own for the most part.

2-0 vs. 1985 Mets
2-0 vs. 1995 Indians
1-1 vs. 1988 Mets

Here is where the slide into the consolation bracket happened

0-2 vs. 2011 Rangers
0-2 vs. 1954 Indians

My Twins ended up 5-5 with a -1 run differential

All of the games were very enjoyable, including most of the losses, with the exception of one. More on that in the "tournament etiquette" section. 

The 2011 Rangers pounded me for 15 runs against my 8.  Had I given up my average 4.2 runs per game, I would have had a very respectable 26 runs allowed against 42 runs earned.  But had Kent Hrbek been fast he would have stolen 80 bases in 1988, but he was slow. So much for "if, then" clauses in baseball. 

The manager (Berg) blew game 2 against the '54 Tribe.  I didn't put my reliever with a z in and walked a run in, I though Reyes had more gas in the tank. 

My opponent managing one series was playing to lose the second game and let me know at every roll that he was trying to lose.   I couldn't get the dice to fall against his intentional D pitching and was a bit off my game as I have never played an opponent that wanted to lose and announced it to the entire room every 1/2 inning. 

I still think the 2006 Twins will win a tournament one of these years so look for me to roll them several more times.

This leads me to a very short side-bar: Tournament etiquette.

For the record, I am extremely impressed at the sportsmanship and friendship displayed at these tournaments,  I have played in 8 thus far and have only noticed two incidents that I would like others to help correct. 

#1-from above. Play to win.  Do not announce to the whole room you are trying to lose and your opponent can't even beat you when you put in a D starter and don't hit and run or play the defense in or out when you should.  Nobody has fun in that game.  And the dice make the final decision.  If  my 1,2,3 hitters all fly out to center field against your D, I am not an idiot.  And if you roll boxcars against my A/C xyz, you sir, are not a statistical genius.

#2- either score the game or run the boards or do both.  I have played one particular manager at a well-known tournament that will do neither.  He has the boards memorized and just occasionally calls out: "hit" or "out".  But I do not have them memorized, thus I do not know every time if that "hit" was a single or if that "out" was an F-7.  I trust that he knows the boards, but I look everything up so I can score it and he just impatiently sits and waits for me to look it up and score it.  The game is annoying as I have to look at the dice, look at his card (twisting my neck), look it up, and score it. Be fair, do one or the other, run the boards and tell the manager scoring it is an F-8 for example, or score the game for the other guy. 

Next stop: Minneapolis and my 2015 Kansas City Royals with a 45 defense! 

1969 Twins and APBA Friends

Howie Mooney comes through again!

I needed the 1969 Minnesota Twins for the Prairieland APBA Tournament coming up on April 16th and could not get one (or a complete set of 1969) off Ebay for a decent price.  I was about to order from APBA (also expensive when compared to other sets) and I put a call out to buy a set on Facebook.  Howie answered and made me a set, and they are great!  The APBA community is really a great group of people.

Here are some photos:

The custom envelope, custom card-back and a few of the starts from the '69 Twins.

A closeup of the card-back

A close-up of Killer's card

I am playing the 1969 Twins for the first annual Prairieland tournament held in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois on April 16th, 2016.  So far there are 16 teams signed up for this first-ever tournament held during a busy tournament season, good job guys!  Message me here for info on the Prairieland tournament. 

Here is how I have set the line-up.  I have not played this team too much yet, but I will run them out against two of my tried and true teams: 1977 and 2006 Twins.

1.  Tovar  3B-3  F

2.  Carew  2B-8  F

3.  Oliva  LF-2  F

4.  Killebrew  DH  S

5.  Reese  1B-4

6.  Cardenas  SS-9  F

7.  Uhlaender  CF-3  F

8.  Roseboro  C-8

9.  Allison   RF-1

Defense 38 w/o the arm.

They have surprising speed, but I would really like that defense to be a #1.  1-5 are very solid for average and power with speed in the right place.. Carew hit .332, Oliva .309 with 24HRs, Reese hit .322 and Killer .276 with 49HRs.  Bobby Allison is a real disappointment hitting .228 and a OF-1 defender, but he is all I have. 

The Rotation:

Kaat  Byz

Perry  Byz

Boswell  Bx

Hall C yz

I like those z's!

Pen

Perranowski  Az

Miller  Bz

Again, I like the z's and to have an Az in the 1960's is a nice addition. 

2006 Twins vs. 1994 Playoff Teams

This weekend I took a chance to get the 2006 Twins into shape for the upcoming Michigan Tournament run by my friend and overall APBA guru Rich Zawadzki.  Facebook has all the info on the tournament or leave a message here and I can put you in touch with Rich, but the field may be set already.

The 1994 Playoffs looked like this:

Yankees

Expos

Reds

Rangers

Dodgers

White Sox

As you all recall, it was a strike year and the strike added an element of fun to play this one out.  Also, this set (1994 playoff) seems to have high production numbers as it is often available on eBay and other outlets for used stuff.  

The 2006 Twins went 4-2 against the 1994 Playoff set.  Started out with two straight losses: one against the Expos and the other the Yankees, then swept the rest as the bats heated up.  I only played one game against each team as we had company for the weekend. 

Here is how I hit the 2006 Twins:

1. Luis Castillo 2B-8 F

2. Joe Mauer C-8

3. Justin Morneau 1B-4

4. Torii Hunter CF-3

5. Michael Cuddyer RF-3

6. Jason Bartlett SS-8

7. Lew Ford LF-2 F

8. Nick Punto 3B-5 F

9. Jason Tyner DH F

This follows the APBA #s and not the actual lineup or the stats on the cards.

The Twins raked that year with MVP Morneau and Silver Sluggers for Mauer and Morneau.

A nice lineup overall.  It lacks speed at the top, but has power and hits for average: Mauer hit .347, Morneau .321 with 34HRs, Hunter .278 with 31HRs, and Cuddyer hitting .284 with 24HRs. Defense is a 1.  Speed ends up clustered at the bottom of the order the way I hit it and that makes for a change of strategy as you work through the line-up, swing away at the top, move them over at the bottom.  The #1 defense combined with 2 A starters slows the opponent down.  The #3 and 4 are C's so get your sticks going for the bottom 1/2 of the rotation. 

Rotation

Johan Santana Axyz

Frankie Liriano Ak

Boof Bonser Cxz

Brad Radke Cz

Pen

Denny Reyes A/B* xy

Joe Nathan A/C* kxz

Pat Neshek A* kxz

Jesse Crain B* yz

The Pen is killer with Reyes, Nathan, and Neshek ready to go for the tournament and I like Crain for games that the run differential is in the + or- 4 range.  I have 6 A/B or A/C outs and 9 A or above outs to work with in Michigan. 

Game 1: Expos 9 Twins 0

The Expos threw Pedro (Bx) and shut the Twins down scattering 6 hits over the full 9 and tossing a shutout.  This is a fun team to play as you see Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou, to name a few.  Pedro held the big bats in check and Santana gave up too may long balls (3 2Bs and 3 HRs).

Game 2: Yankees 10 Twins 4

I threw Abbott (C) against the Twins and as with Pedro, they never needed to go to the pen.  The Twins scratched out a few runs early, but the Yankees jumped out early with a GRAND SLAM from Bernie Williams and that closed the books on Liriano.  

Game 3: Minnesota 10 Texas 4

The Twins' bats came alive lead by Torii Hunter with a 4-4 performance with 2 2Bs and a HR: he was on fire.  The Rangers threw The Gambler (Cyz) and lost. 

Game 4: Twins 2 Dodgers 1

Radke and the Pen locked this one down!  For the sake of symmetry I threw Ramon Martinez (Cy) and he went the distance.  Radke gave up one run to a solo HR and then the Pen came in and held the Dodgers to 1 hit over 7 outs with Reyes closing it out 1,2,3 (K,K,F-8)

Game 5: Twins 4 White Sox 2

         

Extra Innings! Free Baseball! Locked up 2-2 from the 3rd to the top of the 11th.  Santana goes the distance against Jason Bere (Bxw) and a mix of the Pen.  Rock Rains and The Big Hurt are a scary combo but Santana had his magic holding the Sox to 2 runs. 

Game 6: Cincinnati 5 Minnesota 6

A tight one, Liriano gives up all 5 and Gardenhire goes to the pen early and often.  Jose Rijo (Bx) goes 8 1/3 and gives up a solo HR in the top of the 9th to Mauer for the loss.  Nathan shuts the door. 

What did I learn for Michigan?

I have a great pen.  I can rely on some power in the heart of the order.  I really need to move the 8 and 9 batters around the bases with 1 or 0 outs to get to the top of my order.  The 2006 Twins were a great team. 

Pre-Tournament Season Thoughts on Strategy

Here we go, the most wonderful time of the APBA year: Tournament Season!

Regionally (Upper Mid-west), we start in Michigan, go to Minnesota, back to Illinois, and then Chicago. 

I will do an extensive blog entry on each tournament I am attending in the near future and a recap of each tournament after I play. Today, I want to chat about getting a team ready for tournament play. 

Team selection.  It seems there are two ways to go:

1. Play to win

I eased in and out of this approach.  I took the 2004 Minnesota Twins to Chicago for Doug's tourney and had a fantastic time.  Intimidated at first as I was a rookie but the group of guys are fantastic so that was quickly put to rest. I did better that I thought with that team and got a feel for tournament play. I then started to select teams that may actually win it: I took the 1919 Wt. Sox to TCABT III and the 1908 Cubs to TCABT IV.  The progression started, I was reading a ton of books on Shoeless Joe and the Black Sox and took that team, but I am not a White Sox fan.  I then studied the 1908 Cubs and took them to the Twin Cites, as a Cardinals fan, this was heresy.  I did well but did not win it all.  I then changed tack to...



2. Play a team you love

I grew up in West-Central Minnesota, and from a baseball family that loved the Twins.  My Dad was a huge fan of Killer, but thought he hit into too many double plays, and he was right.  I moved to Kansas for graduate school and followed the Royals, then here to Illinois and became a Cards fan, but always in a clear order, with the Twins first.  I now only play Twins, Royals, or Cards teams in tournaments, with one exception (the 1990 Reds). 

I really think the 2006 Twins are a great APBA team and the '65 and '69 Twins are solid also, as are the 1977 Twins.  I am playing a few of these teams this spring ('77 and '69 Twins) and I am taking the 2015 Royals to TCABT V. 

I would like to give the 1987 or 1991 Twins a run, but I fear a 0-8 record and lots of bench time watching others roll. 

Practice! Just like the Big Show. 

I have played hundreds of games with the 1977 Twins, I know them very well.  I've played my own line-up and the actual, so they are my base.  

When I am selecting a team for a tournament, I pick a few options and play them against the '77 Twins to get a feel for them.  How do they hit?  What is the fielding like?  Hit and run?  Lots of Ks?  Good Pen?  Are the slow? Fast? You can see all this with a glance at the cards, but playing them against a known quantity really helps.  

Take a close look at your competition.  Not everyone picks studly teams to tear-up the tournament. You may face a guy like me playing the 1991 Twins because I love them, .

Example: 

You see that in the brackets you first face Berg with the 1991 Twins and play two games.

You will face:

Jack Morris a B y and Kevin Tapani a B yz for your first two games.

In Round 2 you play the 1995 Indians, a tough tournament-tested team.  

Think about your rotation.  Do you need your #1 and #2 against the 1991 Twins?  Should you save your ace for the Tribe?  I think you should.  The Twins do not hit well and they pitch Bs, with one A in the pen.  You should save the top of your rotation for Cleveland, after that you must play the 4 in order, but you may get 2 wins against the Twins with the bottom 1/2 of your order and give you a better chance against the Indian's #3 and #4. 

Be ready to use your bench.  Moving to that tier 1 defense makes a difference, especially with suspect pitching it can save a game. Do the math at home.  If you can move up a notch in defense later in the game, think about doing that.  Keep at least one fast runner on the bench, and do your defensive math.  I also keep an extra catcher and a utility infielder (could also be your fast runner) ready in case of injuries.  

It is also possible to make a double switch.  Try and upgrade either the outfield or infield with a F runner.  If you find a late situation and you want a fast runner on, he also may help the defense in a tight game.  It is hard to give up some offence, but fun to see that roll change when the defense is upgraded or only a F runner scores.