LAST DANCE

January 11, 2013

GAME 1
Chicago Champions vs Northside Hitmen

Champions Tim Lincecum was matched up against Brad Penny, both starting pitchers went seven innings, with Penny up by a run when he left for a pinch hitter.  Chicago scored four runs off reliever Neftali Feliz over the last two innings to come out with a 7-4 victory. Pinch-hitter Dexter Fowler ripped a two out RBI triple to score Jimmy Rollins with the tying run in the 8th.  Neftali uncorked a bases loaded wild pitch in the 9th, which proved to be the winning run, and then Rollins added some insurance with a two RBI single.    Jimmy was the hitting hero, driving in three, with three hits, including a double, and two stolen bases.  Miguel Cabrera provided a two RBI double in a losing effort for the Hitmen.  Feliz took the loss, while Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless 8th inning to pick up the win, and Sergio Romo threw a three-up & three-down 9th to notch the save.

GAME 2
Chicago Champions vs Northside Hitmen

Rob Taylor, who was on hand for the last dance, took over the reins of the Hitmen for a game for old time sake.  Northside jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after three, highlighted by a solo shot by All Star Game MVP Elvis Andrus and a 2-run bomb off the bat of Jay Bruce.  Chicago came back with a run in the 4th and a big fly off the bat of Alex Rodriguez with two runners aboard brought the game back to even.  The Champions offense ripped Clay Buchholz for seven runs over six innings and Matt Cain got off the mat for his 19th win of the year.  The Champs pulled off a daring double steal in the sixth inning with Eric Hosmer stealing home.  Sergio Romo struck out the side in the 9th for his 2nd save in two days, and his 37th of the year.

GAME 3
Chicago Champions vs Northside Hitmen

Chuck Lucas was back in the saddle for game three.  Thanks to the longball Chicago jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, a 2-run homer by Eric Hosmer and a solo knock by Jimmy Rollins provided the fireworks.  Through six, Mark Buehrle held that lead over Cole Hamels.  Miggy Cabrera took Buehrle yard in the bottom of the 6th to bring Northside back within one.  The Champs plated four runs in the 8th off Neftali Feliz, highlighted by four extra base hits, doubles by Jeff Francoeur, Victor Martinez, and Nick Swisher, and a triple by Hosmer.  Jose Mijares and Brett Myers worked the final three scoreless innings for another Chicago victory.

GAME 4
Chicago Champions vs Northside Hitmen

Jeff Francoeur brought his big bat to the ballpark, launching three homers, and knocking in eight, Frenchy also stole a base.  Madison Bumgarner was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion, while Brett Anderson threw two innings of Home Run Derby to Francoeur, a two run blast and a Grand Salami, Jeff’s other homer, a deuce, came off Brad Penny in the 6th.  Miguel Cabrera provided some offense with a three-run big fly in the 3rd.  Although Brett Myers allowed three runs over the final three innings, he managed to get the save, his 5th of the season.

GAME 5
Chicago Champions vs Northside Hitmen

Chicago scored eleven runs on eighteen hits, Victor Martinez paced the way with five RBIs and four hits, including two doubles.  Jake Peavy was knocked around for seven runs in under five innings.  Josh Beckett went the distance, allowing a 4th inning two-run clout off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion, and a harmless 7th inning tally.  Jeff Francoeur drove in his 100th run of the season with an 8th inning RBI double.  Eric Hosmer hit the only homer of the game in the 9th, it was his 26th, putting him up by one on Nick Swisher for the team lead in long balls.

January 13, 2013

GAME 6
Northside Hitmen vs Chicago Champions

The Champions dropped their first game of the series as Tim Lincecum went the distance surrendering six runs and was bested by Brett Anderson, Neftali Feliz, and Javy Guerra, 6-5.  Colby Rasmus drove in three and pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt plated a couple on a two run clout, and Ryan Doumit’s solo shot accounted for the other Hitmen run.  Nick Swisher’s tater with a man aboard cut it to one, but that was as close as Chicago would come.

GAME 7
Northside Hitmen vs Chicago Champions

Matt Cain’s limits got the best of him in his quest to become a twenty game winner.  He only had 6 2/3 innings as he took the bump for his final start of the year.  Jose Valverde relieved Cain with 2 outs in the 7th with the game knotted at five.  Of course the Champs scored a run in the bottom of the frame to give Valverde the win, as the Champs held on for an 8-6 win.  Long ball rakers were Eric Hosmer with a 2-run jack and Nick Swisher with a three run wallop.  Brett Myers closed it out, allowing one run (Colby Rasmus, does a leadoff homer in an inning kill a potential rally?) over two innings of work, to pick up the save.

GAME 8
Northside Hitmen vs Chicago Champions

Madison Bumgarner allowed one run over six innings to earn the victory, and he even plated a run with a sac fly.  Brett Myers was tagged for a run on a Chase Utley big fly (does a leadoff homer in an inning kill a potential rally?), but that was all, in three innings, to notch another save.  Pinch-hitter Carlos Lee provided Chicago with what would prove to be the difference in the game when he went shopping at the gap, for a 2-run two base knock in the 6th.

GAME 9
Northside Hitmen vs Chicago Champions

It was a pitcher’s duel through six in the last regular season game played at Crackerjack Park, Champions Mark Buehrle allowed no runs through six, Clay Buchholz posted five donuts and Javy Guerra threw up three of his own.  Miguel Cabrera tagged Buehrle for a bomb, Champ nemesis Colby Rasmus plated another with an RBI triple in the 7th, and in the 8th Chase Utley knocked another one out.  It was Luke Gregerson’s turn at what has become known as “Russian Roulette Save Opportunity” as he was called in to try to save it for a 3-0 Hitmen win.  Jeff Francoeur got a leadoff base knock (a leadoff homer might have killed a potential rally), Victor Martinez lined a hit & run double, scoring Francoeur, Alex Rodriguez singled to secondbase, sending pinch-runner Jimmy Rollins to 3rd, Nick Swisher tied the game up with a two run RBI double, Eric Hosmer walked, after retiring the next two batters, Gregerson booted a comebacker to the mound to fill the bases, bringing up Brett Myers.  In what often times happens in the last game of the year, Myers was the last man standing, so it was up to BAM, he did not disappoint, Brett watched 45-14, ball four go into Brian McCann’s glove, and the 4-3 comeback was complete.

NEARLY FORTY YEARS OF APBA MEMORIES

I answered an ad in the APBA Journal for a local APBA league looking for a manager.  I sent in my resume and was blown away when Don Smith said he would drive all the way from Iowa to check me out.  We took two stock teams out of their team envelopes, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Texas Rangers.  We had a mini draft and played a couple of games.  Don clobbered me something like 13-0 and I thought, that was it, I was out.  Then we played another, I won 4-3, and I was in.

Seeing Chicago baseball hadn’t won a championship since the 1917 Chicago White Sox, I figured Chicago needed a champion, and named my franchise the Chicago Champions.

Going into my first draft we were loaded with hitters such as Mike Schmidt, Dave Parker, Cesar Cedeno, Joe Rudi, Willie Stargell, and Gene Tenace.  What we needed was pitching, so everybody was shocked when I selected Jim Rice over Dennis Eckersley.

Dave Concepcion was my shortstop, but he only played 120 some games that year, and nobody (Tom Reisdorph) told me that because Mike Schmidt played 10 games at shortstop, he could cover me.  So Concepcion was dealt to Tom’s Cardinals in exchange for Rick Burleson.

I played my first Illowa APBA League game against another first year skipper, the late great, Dale Smith.  Dale was an Al Hrabosky look alike, with a competitive nature, and a heart of gold, still one of my favorites.  We got to the 9th inning, down by a run, with runners on base, two outs, and rolled Cesar Cedeno’s error number.  It was a good result, would’ve tied the game, and kept the inning going.  However we thought the error chart was being used, I rerolled the error number, and the game was over.

We jumped out to a big lead, then limits caught up to me, but I was able to hang on to 4th place, and the last playoff slot.  With everybody back for the playoffs and World Series our team name was to prove prophetic as we won our first league championship.

While Mike Schmidt was my big home run hitter, Graig Nettles was Dale Smith’s big slugger for the Rocket Fire.  Dale’s father cut off the top of a couple of fence posts, painted one white, one red, and added black spots.  Dale brought those big boys out when Graig strode to the plate at my house.  He rolled them across my dining room floor and they came to rest at the far wall of my living room, 66-1!  The dogs went crazy and that might have been the only time those dice were used against me.

Back in the day, Don Smith would call timeout, march to the middle of the room, and talk with his pitcher, trying to coax him out of a tight jam, which was quite unnerving to a new manager, like me.  I also remember having second thoughts when I got a hit and run single versus Mike Cuellar, a D plain, to put the score to something like 8-0, and I got the DonS glare, if looks could kill.

Craig Smith had switch-hitter Ted Simmons on his team and would roll the dice with either hand depending on whether Ted was batting lefthanded or righthanded.  In a series against Tom Reisdorph, Craig asked whether Tom’s pitcher was a righty or a lefty, so he’d know with which hand to roll the dice for Simba, no response.  So Craig rolled a homer with both hands on the dice cup.

In the first inning of the fifth game against Tom Reisdorph, we were up 4-0 in the series and 4-0 in the game.  We had two runners on and the pitcher on deck.  Tom intentionally walked the 8th place hitter.  Pinch-hitter Don Baylor cracked a grand slam putting the game on ice, 8-0!

Another highlight came against Reisdorph when Cesar Geronimo hit the only two home runs of that particular year, back-to-back, to beat him 2-1.

Via Baseball America, I would study all of the young players before the information was pretty much common place as it is today.  As a result I was able to draft youngsters like Cal Ripken (uncarded), as well as D pitchers, Dave Stieb, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux, not to mention extra round pick Jeff Bagwell.  I can still remember Rob Taylor, Chuck Lucas, and I at Comiskey Park watching Ripken look terrible after I’d drafted him.  Later we learned he played the doubleheader with the flu and he went on to have a pretty good career.  Then there was the “future” trade of Stieb, in which I got guys, and was able to keep Dave for the year, that practice was soon outlawed.  I fell in love with an aging Kirk Gibson when he hit that famous homer off Dennis Eckersley, so I traded Glavine to the Thunderchickens for him, not a very bright move.

Although there were some duds selected too, guys like Brad Komminsk, Cory Snyder, Steve Trout, Frank Pastore, and Ben Petrick Still the Champs were able to capture ten Championships in about the first 20 years in the league, and we were able to add our eleventh a few years ago.  Mike Schmidt ended his career with more home runs than anyone in the history of the IAL.  Jim Rice held the single season home run record with 66 (a nice APBA number), until the roid boys stepped into the picture.  The alltime wins pitcher is Greg Maddux.  Yet there was a perception of lucky dice and I’d rather be lucky than good anytime.  My little white die was purchased at a rummage sale and was a little off square, with numbers painted on it, and sometimes they were hard to read.  Stealing a line from Guys and Dolls, I remember where the spots were.  Tom Reisdorph charted dice rolls trying determine if I was rolling an unfair advantage.  I still don’t know if those dice gave me an advantage, but they were never selected to give me one.  I was urged to can my dice.

Against the then Tom Nelson, I pinch-hit Duane Kuiper, who had a 66-6, with a runner on 3rd, two outs in the bottom of the 9th of a 1-0 against T*Chix closer Dave Smith.  Of course I was lucky and Kuiper hit a walkoff homer for his only long ball of his career.

One time Nick Tegeler was managing the Gehlen J’s against me, his pitcher was throwing a no-hitter with two outs in the bottom of the 9th with a 3-0 lead.  I rolled a homer, a double, a homer, a double, and a game ending homer.  Again, I’d rather be lucky than good.

One time Roberto Mejia was up with the game on the line against Mike Bunch.  I rolled into Mejia’s 2nd column.  Mike noticed there was only one chance for me to hit a home run.  I smiled and said that’s all I need as Roberto circled the bases after a 66-1 was rolled.

Joe Carter came up with his last at bat of the season, with 50 homers and 19 stolen bases.  I wanted him to steal twenty, but he only had a 15-10, so chances were bleak as he batted with nobody on.  I rolled a 22-0 and a 52-11.  Once again, I’d rather be lucky than good.

The rivalry between Tom Reisdorph and me reached an all-time high/low in a World Series matchup.  The Cardinals had a big lead and Tom intentionally walked many batters so that Mike Schmidt, the face of the Chicago Champions, would make the last out of the Series.  I still can’t believe this actually happened.

There were many fantastic memories in the IAL and through playing APBA.  I met the best friends in my life, not blood related (my brother Todd will always be my best friend), Chuck Lucas, Rob Taylor, and Mike Raisanen.  So it was extra special to play my last IAL series against Chuck, to have Rob roll one against me, and to have Big Mike present at the IAL All Star weekend.  All good things must come to an end, I’ve always said, when it’s good, it’s good, and when it’s bad, it’s over.

Thanks for the memories!  My life’s dice are still rolling 66’s!