This Monster Card might be a little different and some of y’all will most likely disagree with it. But here goes… It’s 2021 Mike Zunino.
My Twin City Thunderchickens faced Zunino and the Colona Upperdeckers in the last series of the 2022 Illowa APBA League season. I was amazed by how he did for manager Marcus Bunch. His stats in the MLB were pretty good at least on the longball side. What he did for Marcus was unreal.
First, his actual MLB stats…
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Totals | 109 | 375 | 333 | 64 | 72 | 11 | 2 | 33 | 62 | 0 | 34 | 132 | .216 | .301 | .559 |
Yes, Mikey Z batted .216 but he hit 33 homers in 333 at-bats with a .559 slugging percentage. His 8.8% HR percentage was good enough to earn three first column ones on his card. I’ll spare you young APBA fans the “in my day, no one got triple ones except Ruth” rant.
How did he hit in the Illowa APBA League in 2022? Pretty amazing. And really weird.
| G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 IAL Totals | 107 | 389 | 333 | 59 | 75 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 83 | 0 | 35 | 128 | .225 | .337 | .643 |
Marcus always has a way to roll for players he likes. And he likes Mike Zunino.
The Upperdeckers lived up to their name leading the IAL in homeruns for the 2022 season and Zunino, who only played 107 games, led the team. For that matter, he was tied for third in the league behind Guerrero (54) and Ohtani (48).
Mikey Z hit 45 homeruns but only four doubles. He drove in more runs than he hit safely. For that matter, 60% of his hits went yard (45 homeruns of 75 hits).
Probably the strangest thing of all of this is that Marcus’ other catcher on the Colona Upperdeckers registered more appearances in 2022. J.T. Realmuto played in 113 games for the season.
Marcus Bunch
2022 IAL Manager of the Year
Needless to say, Marcus’ Upperdeckers won first place this season with 108 wins. For his effort, he (again) has been elected IAL Manager of Year. Marcus will be presented with his trophy at this weekend’s Illowa APBA League Draft weekend in Downers Grove, Illinois. He will also begin the weekend by competing in the first round of playoffs.
Congrats, Marcus!!
Zu hit 36 for the Northboro Phoenix last year. 0.209/0.290/0.524 in 108 games. 8th in the conference.