1994 season completion
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A small brave group of your fellow APBAGO managers embarked on a mission to complete the unfinished business of the strike shortened 1994 season. 669 games played and we have completed the 162 game schedule.
Some quarky team items of note…
Three teams with 90 or more wins will not make the playoffs.
There is a 3 way tie for the AL wild card resulting in a Game 163 and 164.
A team with a losing record won the AL west.
ST Louis and the Cincinnati Reds Tied a game…it literally made me cry. (My brother and I were actually at this game).The seeds for each league are as follows.
American League
#1 New York Yankees 100-62
#2 Cleveland Indians 95-67
#3 Oakland A’s 77-85
Wild card Tie Baltimore/Kansas City/Chicago White Sox 91-71National League
#1 Montreal 108-54
#2 Cincinnati 94-67
#3 San Francisco 83-79
Wild Card Atlanta 97-65Look for Division series, LCS and World Series updates to follow.
Our methodology to achieve some sort of realism was to limit all position players to a percentage of their 1994 season plate appearances. Starting pitchers were limited to a percentage of their starts and relievers a percentage of their innings. Though not a perfect formula it really worked the manager to use timely substitutions and go deeper in their bench than they normally would.
Below are some individual statistical feats:
Jeff Bagwell’s Historic Season
-Jeff Bagwell (66) and Matt Williams (63) both topped Roger Maris’s HR record of 61 (as it stood at the time). Bagwell’s number would be 3rd all-time on the current list behind Barry Bonds’s 73 in 2001 and Mark McGwire’s 70 in 1998, tied with Sammy Sosa in 1998. Williams’s total would be the most by a non-1B/OF, topping Alex Rodriguez’s total of 57 in 2002 as a shortstop.-Bagwell’s 468 total bases would shatter Babe Ruth’s record of 457 set in 1921. No one’s even had over 430 total bases in a season since 1932.
-Bagwell led the league with 182 RBI, just 9 short of the record held by Hack Wilson. He would’ve been the 4th person ever to top 180 RBI in a season and the first to have more than 165 since 1938.
-Frank Thomas led the league with 152 runs scored followed by Bagwell and Kenny Lofton with 150. In the real world, Bagwell is the only player to top 150 runs scored in a season since Ted Williams did it in 1949. Bagwell scored 152 in 2000.
Dial 4-1-1
- Tony Gwynn finished the real 1994 year batting .394, but he hit a ridiculous .454 in 41 games in our league and finished the season with a .411 average, the highest in baseball since Rogers Hornsby hit .424 in 1924.
Seeing Doubles
- Larry Walker’s 70 doubles broke a record that has stood since Earl Webb had 67 in 1931. No player had topped 60 doubles since 1936. Walker, Chuck Knoblauch (66), and Craig Biggio (63) all did it in 1994.
50/50 Clubs
-Thomas (50 doubles, 57 HR) would’ve been the first player ever in the 50 double-50 HR club, but instead the world had to wait for Albert Belle to do it in 1995. He’s still the only one to do it.-Barry Bonds was only 4 stolen bases short of the 50 HR/50 SB club, finishing with 51 HR and 46 SB. He still would’ve been the 2nd player ever in the 40/40 club, joining Jose Canseco, who did it in 1988. Bonds would later go on to join the club in 1996. His 46 SB is the most ever by a player with 50+ HR in the same season, topping the previous mark of 24 set by Willie Mays in 1955 and later tied by Alex Rodriguez in 2007.
- With 63 doubles and 58 SB, Craig Biggio would’ve been the 2nd member of that 50/50 club, joining Tris Speaker, who formed the club in 1912. Biggio would go on to join that club with 51 doubles and 50 SB in 1998. Speaker and Biggio are still the only members of the club.
Other Offensive Tidbits
-Thomas reached base via a hit, walk, or hit by pitch a total of 364 times. Only Ruth (379 in 1923) and Bonds (376 in 2004) have done it more in a single season.-13 players had 200 or more hits in the season, the most since 14 did it in 1936. They were paced by Lofton, whose 245 hits would’ve been the most between Bill Terry’s 254 in 1930 and Ichiro Suzuki’s 262 in 2004.
-Lofton also led the league with 84 stolen bases, the most anyone has stolen since 1988.
-Despite scoring 967 runs as a team, the Detroit Tigers still finished last in the AL East. That run total would be a franchise record for the Tigers as would their 237 HR hit.
Pitchers are people too
-There were 10 pitchers who won 20 games this season, which would be the most since 1974. Kenny Rogers had a chance to join the group on the last day of the season, but instead he gave up 10 runs.-David Cone led all pitchers with a 25-6 record and his 2.72 ERA was tops in the AL. Looks like he’s still a good bet to win the Cy Young Award as he did in the real world.
-In the NL, Greg Maddux was his usual dominant self, going 23-10 with a 1.61 ERA in 297 innings. His ERA led the NL by 0.94 over 2nd place Bret Saberhagen and his 0.84 WHIP would’ve been the lowest since Walter Johnson in 1913. Of course, he went on to post a 0.81 WHIP in 1995.
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Randy Johnson fell 4 strikeouts short of what would’ve been his second consecutive 300 K season. He had 55 more K than any other pitcher in the AL.
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Kevin Brown gave up 303 hits in 256 IP. He’d have been the first to give up 300 hits since Phil Niekro in 1979. Of course, Niekro threw 342 IP that year.
Other stuff
-The Montreal Expos finished with 108 wins, the most in franchise history.-No team lost more than 93 games.
-The Oakland A’s clinched the AL West on the 2nd-to-last day of the season and finished with a 77-85 record. They’d be the only team with a losing record to ever make the playoffs (1981 Royals don’t count because that year was messed up by the strike and up was down #bitterRedsFan).
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*Playoff update—Game 163 edition
Chisox 4 at KC 3
Mike Macfarlane got the scoring under way in the bottom of the 4th with a two out single over first base scoring Terry Shumpert (single, SB) and Bob Hamelin (IBB) off of game winner Jack Mcdowell (15-14) who threw 7.1 Innings giving up 2 hits 4 walks and striking out 3.
Chicago answered in the top of the 6th off Kevin Appier (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 k, 1 BB) when Lance Johnson led the inning off with a laser beam single to right and Frank Thomas launched Home run number 58 over the left field fence tying the game.
In the 7th inn Joey Cora became an unlikely hero when he lifted a fly ball over the right field fence for his 5th bomb of the season.
A mini rally in the bottom of the 8th fell short when Terry Shumpert came up with one out runners on 1st and 3rd, when he sharply grounded to third resulting in a double play.
Chicago added a needed insurance run in the top of the 9th when Rock Raines tripled to left center and scored on Ozzie Guillens single.
Bob Hamelin made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th lining a Home Run (40) over the Right field fence of reliever Jose Deleon.
Manager masterfully used Dennis Cook and Roberto Hernandez (S,19) to lock down the win for the southsiders.
Chicago moves on to game 164 to face Baltimore for the right to play the Yankees.
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@apba-go-jeremy had a ton of help. Could not have done it alone.
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Very fun replay. Quick question, how did you handle midseason trades and guys who played the majority of their season with a different team?
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@anluc7 This was a lot of fun. Thanks for doing it!
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@anluc7 Playoff update Game 164 edition
The Chicago white Sox traveled to Baltimore to battle for the ALWC.
They ran into a buzz saw Named Mike Mussina (24-8) (9IP 0R 3H 4K 1 BB) who held them to only 3 hits. Alex Fernandez (17-11)(7IP, 2R 4H 1K 0BB 1HR) threw a gem making one mistake to Cal Ripken (home run #19) That turned out to be the difference.
The Orioles move on to face the number one seed Yankees.
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PLAYOFFS NLDS EDITION Montreal(3-2) v Atlanta (2-3)
Two familiar division rivals lock up for this series. The Expos and Braves split the regular season series 6-6 so this series should have been a barn burner.
Game 1
Greg Maddux (ATL, 23-10, 1.61) v Jeff Fassero (MON 14-8, 3.07).
Jeff Fassero (7.1 IP, 2H, 1R, 5k, 2BB) outpicthed the likely CY Young winner early shutting down the potent Brave offense for 7 inn only surrendering 1 unearned run. THe Expo offense Jumped on Maddux early scoring 4 early with rbi double and a run from Moises Alou, and an RBI 2b for Larry Walker who later added a bomb to complete the 4 run barrage.
Then Maddux( 8IP, 4ER, 7H, 10K, 1BB) overcame the early jitters and shut down the exciting Expo offense.
Gil Heredia pitched a solid bottom of the 8th only surrendering a 2b.John Wetteland(0-1) came on to lock down the likely win for the 'spos. He quickly got himself in trouble surrendering a long bomb to Mark Lemke running the score to 4-2. A two base error put Fred McGriff on second. A base on balls to David Justice and a strikeout of Ryan Klesko led the Brave manager to Bat Mike Kelly for Terry Pendleton. Kelly launched a hard liner over the Right Field fence stealing a victory out of the jaws of defeat and lifting the Braves to a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 Ken Hill Mon (20-6, 3.13) v Kent Mercker ATL (11-7,3.58)
Montreal jumped on Mercker (0-1)(7 IP, 7 ER, 8H, 5K, 1BB) early and often scoring 7 runs in 7 innings hitting 2 2B and 2 HR. Ken Hill (1-0) (6.33IP, 3ER, 7H, 2K, 1BB) was stellar in his first start. Heredia pitched another scoreless 1.67 inn and Rojas gave up a bomb in the ninth to cement the scoring. Final score 7-4 series tied 1-1
Game 3 Pedro Martinez MON (15-8, 3.56) V Tom Glavine (20-13, 3.48)
Glavine was stellar in 4 innings of work holding the hot Expos to 1 run and 5 hits.
Martinez matched Glavine with 4 inn of 1 run ball only to be lifted in a high leverage situation in the top of the 5th for a pinch hitter.Jeff Shaw took over for Martinez and only lasted one third of an inn giving up 2 runs and 3 hits. The Braves now led 3-1.
The story of the game was the shut down performance of the Atlanta bullpen throwing 5 innings of no hit no run baseball, only allowing 2 base runners after the 5th inn.
Steve Bedrosian threw 3 ip and got his first save. Atlanta leads the series 2-1.
Game 4. Maddux v Fassero
Botth starting pitchers were on their game, each only surrendering 4 H and 2 R over the first 7 IP. Montreal went to the bullpen to shut down the Braves in the 8th and 9th while the Braves stuck with the best pitcher in baseball.
In the bottom of the 9th Wil Cordero led of with a 2B and Moises Alou Was intentionally walked. Larry Walker reached base on an error. Sean Berry lifted a fly ball that was just deep enough to score Cordero to give Montreal the win and tie the series at 2.
Game 5 Mercker at Hill
Montreal jumped on Mercker racking him after 4 innings with 5 ER and 2 HR.
Ken HIll was a workhorse throwing a complete game and only giving up 3 ER while earning his 2nd win and the LDS MVP award.ATL SERIES STATS
Name
TeamRoberto KELLY ATLN (1994) 5 21 18 5 9 3 1 0 3 4 0 3 0 .500 .571 .778 1.349 14 0 0 0 1
Tony TARASCO ATLN (1994) 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 1 0 0 0 0
Charlie O’BRIEN ATLN (1994) 5 10 9 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .333 .400 .444 .844 4 0 0 0 0
Jose OLIVA ATLN (1994) 5 7 7 1 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 .286 .286 .857 1.143 6 0 0 0 0
Mike KELLY ATLN (1994) 4 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 3 .250 .250 1.000 1.250 4 0 0 0 0
Mark LEMKE ATLN (1994) 5 21 21 2 5 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 3 .238 .238 .381 .619 8 0 0 0 0
Greg MADDUX ATLN (1994) 2 6 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .200 .400 1 0 1 0 0
Javy LOPEZ ATLN (1994) 3 6 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200 .333 .200 .533 1 0 0 0 1
Jeff BLAUSER ATLN (1994) 5 19 16 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 3 .188 .316 .188 .503 3 0 0 0 0
Fred McGRIFF ATLN (1994) 5 21 20 2 3 1 0 1 3 0 0 1 3 .150 .190 .350 .540 7 0 0 0 1
Terry PENDLETON ATLN (1994) 5 16 15 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 .067 .063 .067 .129 1 0 0 1 0
David JUSTICE ATLN (1994) 5 21 16 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 .063 .286 .125 .411 2 0 0 0 0
Ryan KLESKO ATLN (1994) 5 21 20 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 .050 .095 .050 .145 1 0 0 0 0
Donn PALL ATLN (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Greg McMICHAEL ATLN (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Jarvis BROWN ATLN (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Kent MERCKER ATLN (1994) 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Mike STANTON ATLN (1994) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Steve BEDROSIAN ATLN (1994) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Tom GLAVINE ATLN (1994) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0Greg MADDUX ATLN (1994) 0 1 3.86 2 2 1 0 16.1 12 7 7 3 2 1 15 0 0 0 65 0.86 8.27 1 1 .197
Kent MERCKER ATLN (1994) 0 2 9.82 2 2 0 0 11 14 12 12 4 2 0 9 0 1 0 51 1.45 7.36 0 0 .286
Steve BEDROSIAN ATLN (1994) 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1 6 5 0 0 0 1 0 4 1 0 0 25 1.00 6.00 0 0 .217
Tom GLAVINE ATLN (1994) 0 0 2.25 1 1 0 0 4 5 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 18 1.25 4.50 0 0 .278
Mike STANTON ATLN (1994) 1 0 0.00 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 9 0.33 9.00 0 0 .000
Greg McMICHAEL ATLN (1994) 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0.00 4.50 0 0 .000
Donn PALL ATLN (1994) 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 1.00 9.00 0 0 .250MON SERIES STATS
Juan BELL MON (1994) 5 19 18 3 6 1 0 1 1 2 0 1 5 .333 .368 .556 .924 10 0 0 0 0
Larry WALKER MON (1994) 5 20 18 3 6 3 0 1 3 0 0 1 4 .333 .400 .667 1.067 12 1 0 0 0
Cliff FLOYD MON (1994) 4 15 13 3 4 0 1 1 3 1 1 2 4 .308 .400 .692 1.092 9 0 0 0 0
Moises ALOU MON (1994) 5 20 18 3 5 2 0 2 5 0 0 2 2 .278 .350 .722 1.072 13 0 0 0 1
Sean BERRY MON (1994) 5 20 19 3 5 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 3 .263 .250 .368 .618 7 0 0 1 0
Wil CORDERO MON (1994) 5 20 19 3 4 1 0 2 4 0 0 0 2 .211 .211 .579 .789 11 0 1 0 0
Marquis GRISSOM MON (1994) 5 21 21 2 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 .190 .190 .190 .381 4 0 0 0 0
Darrin FLETCHER MON (1994) 5 19 19 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 .158 .158 .211 .368 4 0 0 0 0
Ken HILL MON (1994) 2 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Pedro J. MARTINEZ MON (1994) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Mel ROJAS MON (1994) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Butch HENRY MON (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Lenny WEBSTER MON (1994) 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Lou FRAZIER MON (1994) 1 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0 0 1
Jeff SHAW MON (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Mike LANSING MON (1994) 2 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0 0 0
Tim SCOTT MON (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Jeff FASSERO MON (1994) 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Gil HEREDIA MON (1994) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
John WETTELAND MON (1994) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0Ken HILL MON (1994) 2 0 3.52 2 2 1 0 15.1 12 6 6 2 4 1 8 0 0 0 63 1.04 4.70 0 1 .207
Jeff FASSERO MON (1994) 0 0 1.25 2 2 0 0 14.1 6 3 2 0 4 2 8 0 0 0 54 0.69 4.99 1 0 .122
Gil HEREDIA MON (1994) 0 0 0.00 4 0 0 0 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 20 0.42 5.07 0 0 .150
Pedro J. MARTINEZ MON (1994) 0 0 2.25 1 1 0 0 4 4 1 1 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 16 1.25 11.25 0 0 .267
Butch HENRY MON (1994) 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 7 0.50 4.50 0 0 .000
Mel ROJAS MON (1994) 0 0 9.00 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 3.00 9.00 0 0 .400
Tim SCOTT MON (1994) 1 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.00 0.00 0 0 .000
Jeff SHAW MON (1994) 0 1 54.00 1 0 0 0 0.1 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 9.00 0.00 0 0 .750
John WETTELAND MON (1994) 0 1 81.00 1 0 0 0 0.1 2 4 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 9.00 27.00 0 0 .500 -
If anyone is interested follow the link to our running stats google sheet.
@jluckhau put together an outstanding stat collection sheet. Each team has its own page and there is a sortable leaderbord by category… Check it out.
click on the link below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-2Hf2Zx1KfvzLxwAzDPLSsImxTAxxQIm01a6-acTFg8/edit?usp=sharing
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@anluc7 If anyone would like to fit the spreadsheet to their league, let me know. I’ve been working on some updates to make it more automated and easier to use. The current version requires someone to load each team’s boxscores manually. The next version will load them in an automated fashion (after boxscore CSVs have been uploaded to a Google Drive folder).
This is mostly just a stopgap until full league functionality is developed on the site, but it worked pretty well for us with the 1994 league and allowed us to compile every team’s stats quickly and with just a few button clicks.
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NLDS - SF vs CIN
Game 1 - Barry Bonds led off the bottom of the 1st with a HR, causing the crowd to erupt with excitement, but that was all of the scoring we’d see for a few innings as Jose Rijo and John Burkett shut their opponents down. Bret Boone finally got the Reds on the board with an RBI single in the 6th, but Willie McGee retook the lead for the Giants in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double. Bonds added another HR in the 8th and the Giants took Game 1 by a 3-1 score.
Game 2 - The Giants once again took the lead in the first on a Darren Lewis single, but Eddie Taubensee’s 2-run HR in the top of the 2nd thrust the Giants back into the lead. After a Reggie Sanders RBI double in the 4th, a Bret Boone 2-run double in the 5th, and a Brian Dorsett RBI single in the 6th, the Reds held a comfortable 6-1 lead. Barry Bonds hit a 3-run double in the 7th to tighten things up again, only to see two 2-run HR by Boone and Jacob Brumfield ice the game in the next half-inning. The Reds took Game 2 by a final of 11-4 and the series headed back to Cincinnati.
Game 3 - Once again the Giants started the scoring off, plating 2 runs in the first inning, but Kevin Mitchell had a solo bomb of his own in the bottom of the inning and a 2nd inning RBI single by Eddie Taubensee had the game tied up 2-2. A fourth-inning bases-loaded walk to Jacob Brumfield gave the Reds a 3-2 lead and then one of the strangest sequences in APBA Go history took place. The Giants tried to have Steve Scarsone pinch hit for the pitcher in the top of the 6th, but a bug did not allow it to happen. However, in the bottom of the 6th, Scarsone’s card was suddenly used in place of Hal Morris, the Reds lead-off hitter, and Scarsone hit a RBI-double, extending the Reds lead. Scarsone was then stranded on third base, but acting as a double-agent, he refused to leave the field and started the next inning on 3rd base for the Giants. Bonds singled to lead off that inning, driving in Scarsone in the process. Baffled, the 2 managers agreed that since the bug affected both of their scores, they would play on. Todd Benzinger would hit a 2-run home run a couple batters later and the Giants held a 5-4 lead through 7 innings. Bonds would add a solo HR in the 9th and the Giants took a 2-1 series lead with a 6-4 victory.
Game 4 - Kevin Mitchell started the scoring for the Reds in the first inning with a solo bomb to the upper deck, but a Kirt Manwaring RBI single in the top of the 2nd tied it up. Bret Boone hit a 2-run dinger in the 3rd inning and a Jacob Brumfield solo shot gave the Reds a 4-1 lead. A 9th inning RBI-triple by Darren Lewis followed by a Willie McGee RBI single brought the Giants within one run, but John Patterson grounded out with runners on 1st and 2nd to end the rally and the game and the series was tied 2-2.
Game 5 - Darren Lewis drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single in the 3rd. Tony Fernandez’s sacrifice fly in the 4th and Reggie Sanders solo HR in the 5th gave the Reds a 2-1 lead. Matt Williams led off the 6th with a double but then was inexplicably picked off 2nd base with no outs and down by one run. The Giants still tried to rally in the 6th but could not plate a run. Fernandez had an RBI single in the bottom of the inning and Kevin Mitchell added a solo shot in the 8th. The Reds strong bullpen shut down the Giants the rest of the way and took home a 4-1 win and a 3-2 series victory.
The Reds now get the honor of facing the Montreal Expos in a 7-game NLCS. Good luck with that, arfpoc!
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**ALDS Baltimore over New York Yankees 3-1
Game 1
Led by 5 hitters that contributed multi hit games including 6 2B and 7 BB, 17 hits and 11 runs, the Yankees roared to a 1-0 series lead and looked primed to roll to the ALCS. Baltimore’s Jamie Moyer took one for the team and battled through 5.33 Inn (0-1, 5.33INN, 12H, 7R, 1K, 3BB,1HBP) Scott Kaminiecki (1-0, 9IP, 5H, 2ER, 9K, 1BB) looked unhittable at times.
Game 2
Marquee matchup between aces, Baltimore’s Mike Mussina (24-8, 2.93) v Jimmy Key (24-9, 3.19). Each pitcher threw as expected with Mussina making one less mistake than Key. The Yankees Wade Boggs paced the team going 2 for 4 with a 2b and a Home run. The problem was, that was half the total of hits that Mussina would surrender. The Oriole offense was more balanced, led by Leo Gomez, (2 for 4 , 2B, HR) the Orioles pounded 8 hits and 3 runs of the eventual loser, Key. A couple insurance runs in the ninth led to a 5-2 victory for the birds and a tied 1-1 series.
Game 3
Ben Mcdonald (20-10) v Melido Perez (12-10, 4.18) this game was not close from the get go. Baltimore overwhelmed 5 Yankee pitchers scoring 15 runs on 17 hits including 4 bombs (2 HR by Harold Baines), a game that everyone in the Baltimore lineup scored a run. Ben McDonald (9.0IP, 7H, 3ER 3k 7BB) cruised to victory with a large cushion for the majority of the Game. Baltimore takes a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4
Game 1 pitching rematch between Moyer and Kaminiecki. Baltimore’s offense continued to roll and Jamie Moyer (9.0 IP, 5H, 4ER)redeemed himself to notch a victory and win the series over the Yankees 3-1. His only mistake was a Grand slam to Matt Nokes to make the game look closer than it was. BIngo Baines hit his third dinger of the series on his way to winning the ALDS MVP. Kaminiecki was not sharp in the loss. The Yankees need help they are weak at the shortstop and catcher position…wonder where that help will come from.
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PLAYOFF UPDATE - NLCS EDITION
Reds 4 - Expos 1
This highly anticipated series between two potent offenses and strong pitching staffs never really materialized to be as competitive as once thought. Cincinnati was in control from the start and rolled to a 4- 1 series victory. Cincinnati’s only slip was a 13 inning game that was lost in the deepest parts of both rosters.
The Reds pitching staff was the story for this series; holding the vaunted Expos offense to a .171 BA/.246 OBP/.241 SLG. The Redlegs were led by veteran Jose Rijo (2-0,1.69, 11 K, 10 H in 16 inn), and the dominant bullpen combo of Brantley/Carrasco/McElroy threw 14 combined inn only giving up 2 ER and 4 H. The Reds offense was led by Boone (.350/.458/.500), Brumfield (.333/.391/.667–4 2B, HR), and Taubensee (.300/.318/.650 – 2-2B,3B,HR) and Kevin Mitchell added 2 HR and 2 GWRBI.
The Expos only consolation was that the scores were close. The Expos could not seem to get in to gear in any facet of their game…veteran leaders Larry Walker and Moises Alou were held to a combined 5 for 32 .156 line. The normally solid Montreal defense committed 10 errors in the 5 games. The pitching staff was the lone bright spot, holding the Reds to a .225 average, tho the Reds hits were timely and damaging.
The future is bright in both of these cities…baseball will live long and prosper, even in Montreal. And this Expo team will win many more division titles and bring home a likely World title soon.
As for the Reds looking for their 6th World title…they await the winner of the Cleveland/Baltimore ALCS.
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1994 Season review
How accurate is the APBA platform when compared to Historical MLB data?
When we completed this regular season playing out the remaining 669 (turned into 672 because of ties), I had some real doubt that the results would mirror what actually happened during the Historical 1994 MLB season. I assumed that our league would be comparatively heavy on offense and weaker comparatively in the pitching categories. Other assumptions I had were that the basic game platform did not allow for as many steal attempts (certainly not successful steals per game).
HITTING
The 1994 season is ranked in the top half offensively of all MLB seasons. Individually there were some all-time level statistical seasons put up. But, how would a collective season on APBA Go measure vs a historical season. I broke down the 1600 games played during the “real” strike shortened MLB season vs the 672 APBA GO played games (these included rainouts that were not rescheduled and 3 play in games that resulted to fix a three way tie). Each category is judged on a per game basis with the exception of Batting Avg, OBP, SLG, and OPS.
Historical 1994 BA: .270
APBA GO 1994 BA: .258
The batting avg comparison gave me pause, my first reaction was that this was a large differential between the two (4.5% difference)Historical OBP: .339
APBA GO OBP: .327
OBP shows a 3.5% difference. Or the equivalent of 150 OB for the 1600 game season. Less than 1 OB per 10 games difference.Historical SLG: .424
APBA GO SLG: .416
1.9% difference or 996 bases over the 1600 game season.Historically there were 38.90 plate appearance per game, APBA GOs replay resulted in 39.01 PA per game.
1994 runs per game were 9.845 and APBAGO = 10.087
1994 hits per game were 18.589 and APBAGO= 17.952
1994 Home Runs per game 2.0662 and APBAGO= 2.1190
1994 Stolen bases per game 1.4112 and APBAGO = 1.6324 (surprised me)
1994 Bases on Balls per game 6.9568 and APBAGO = 6.9077
1994 K per game 12.353 and APBAGO = 12.892Sample size in my opinion is the reason for these small discrepancies. The percentage difference between the numbers will be reduced in a larger sample size.
PITCHING
Similarly, there were some small differences in the pitching categories.ERA: 1994 – 4.50
APBAGO – 4.56
WHIP: 1994 – 1.43
APBAGO – 1.3779
K/9 : 1994 – 6.2
APBAGO – 6.49I am pleasantly surprised and impressed by these numbers. Though there are items I would personally change or enhance about APBA GO, I am glad to see that these numbers are close enough to reality that I can feel comfortable with the results of leagues in the long term
Andy
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WOWSERS! The Baltimore Orioles have continued their improbable run. From scrap heap to wild card, to ALCS and now to the World Series! They will face the Cincinnati Reds in a rematch of the 1970 World Series to see who will capture the 1994 championship. Well done GIl! And great season to Percy and his Cleveland Indians. Details to follow
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And then there was one! Congratulations to Gil and the 1994 Baltimore Orioles on winning our World Series. Would’ve been Baltimore’s first since 1983 and 4 th over all. And thank you to Gil, Andrew,Ed,Sheldon,Percy,Alex,Paul, Ted, JoeD and Joel. This project could not have been completed without you. Multi manager replays have their challenges and I learned a lot about how to handle issues in the future. You guys were patient and diligent at getting the games in and I personally could not have been more happy with the results. The league play was tedious at times but it produced a playoff run and playoffs that were action packed and unexpected. I am happy with both the team and the individual performances.
Great job and thank you!
