I asked each of the four Illowa APBA League 2021 playoff teams managers to send me a photo of the APBA card of their favorite player from this season. From there, I worked something up.
Okay, now we’re getting to the heavy hitters of the Illowa APBA League. No offense to Chuck Lucas but his Hitmen or my Thunderchickens but we are going to have our work cut out for ourselves against the top two teams who clobbered the rest of the league. Let’s start with Dan Bunch’s second place Colona Hustlers (108-54) today.
Man, can the Hustlers hit! I think they can field a lineup with a player with five power numbers hitting eighth. We’re still checking the records but we believe Dan’s team scored the third highest amount of runs in the history of the IAL. The Hustlers scored 998 runs this season or 6.2 per game.
Dan’s Hustlers also got off to one the best starts in IAL history. By June, they were sporting a 58-20 record.
How did they do it? This stat graph should help:
#1 across the board! The numbers actually look realistic in the 10-team pitching-rich IAL.
When I asked Dan about his favorite player, it was no surprise that he had a hard time deciding. Between Ronald Acuna (39 HR, 91 rbi, 30 SB), Trea Turner (.293, 33 HR, 137 R, 113 rbi) and George Springer (53 HR, 113 rbi), he had his choice. He didn’t even mention Jose Abreu (.312, 49 HR, 135 rbi) either. Jose was only firstbaseman to get an All-League vote besides winner Freddie Freeman.
In fact, the Hustlers copped four of the eight IAL All-League position honors plus Fireman of the Year. That honor went to Codi Heuer (40 saves, 1.74 ERA).
Here’s a testament to the Hustlers’ offense. Luke Weaver, a DY, collected 23 saves throughout 2021 (in addition to Codi Heuer’s 40). I can only surmise many of Weaver’s saves were the three-inning saves while the Hustlers were safely ahead in the game.
Unfortunately for me, my Thunderchickens will have the tough task of taking on the Hustlers in the first round of the playoffs.
