Our Illowa APBA League season has finally come to end. On Sunday, Brando and I finished our nine game series. My Twin City Thunderchickens had gotten to a good 3-1 start the weekend before against Brando’s Rising Bamm! Beanos. Appropriately, we played his home games at his house. For my home games, we played at the local coffee shop on the University of Illinois campus.
A big issue with both of us was keeping within our player limits. With all the high tech tools available to us all year, the last series of the year always seems to be reduced to good ol’ pencil and paper. After each game, crossing out the at-bats left and writing in the new total for each of the “at-risk” players. Of course, it didn’t help that we went into extra innings in the very last game. Fortunately, I stayed within my designated limits.
As I mentioned in the last posting, a big goal was to see Albert Pujols hit his 40th homerun which he’s done for the past six seasons. Alas, it was not meant to be. Pujols hit a homerun in his first game of the season then just couldn’t hit. That homerun was his only rbi of the series in 22 at-bats.
Dustin McGowan was the real star of our series. Dusty Mac pitched 2 complete game wins including a one-hit shutout. He allowed just 2 runs in 18 innings pitched.
Our pitching staff is saying goodbye to Rich Hill at the end of the year but he left us a farewell gift. He pitched 8 shutout innings in his last start to get the win in Game 158. That was enough to push him up to double digits (only John Lackey with 13 has more).
End result of the series: Thunderchickens 5 Bamm! Beanos 4 Our season won-loss record: 65-97. We can be comforted we missed the 100 loss mark.
As it turned out, the team tied with us for last place was also playing their January series pretty much at the same time. Text messages and emails were flying back and forth between me, the last place team’s manager, and the manager who traded for his rookie draft pick. Now HE obviously had a stake in all this too.
As it turns out, I escaped the cellar, giving me the second pick of the draft. I’ve made no secret of my love of Geovany Soto. With Jason Varitek and Ramon Hernandez behind the plate, it’s time to establish a franchise player at that position and he’s the guy. So the IAL hot stove league should be rather interesting.
Goodbye 2008… it’s time for a new season.
Nelly, When did your wife kick you out and what coffee house are you now calling home?
hehe funny, teddy.
Too much interruption at home (and not enough pretty coeds ;-))
Was it like “playing on the train?”
DonS is referring to a series that we played on Amtrak on the way out to an APBA convention way back when. it was late at night at one point and well, the guys and gals came into the lounge car to drink it up.
/the girls were sorta pretty
//and drunk
/// and barely clothed
//// hard to concentrate on APBA