Ricky Bobby once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” Unfortunately, that sentiment could be applied to many of Larry Doby’s accomplishments. Just three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Doby joined the Cleveland Indians after the All-Star break, becoming the first African-American…
How will APBA cardmakers handle LA Angel Shohei Ohtani? A player in his situation has not occurred in recent memory. I know the Illowa APBA League group text has been chatting about this all season. For those not following the Angels, Ohtani is a rookie pitcher who also performs the…
The first MLB game my daughter attended was at Wrigley Field on July 19, 2007. The Cubs were taking on the San Francisco Giants. In that game, Barry Bonds drew a walk, went three for three, scored three times, drove in six runs, and smashed two homers. It’s too…
Ron Emch graciously provided this wrap-up of the Toledo Glass City APBA Baseball Tournament IV. Congratulations to Tucker McBride!! When I was talking to Tucker McBride at the 2018 Linda B. Schulz APBA tournament in early July, he wasn’t sure he would be able to make the Glass City Tournament…
One-time batting leader Ron Santo has now been pushed off of the top ten batting leaderboard in my 1966 National League replay. Is it because he’s doing poorly now? Well, partially. He has gone 1 for 19 in his last five games and is now batting .308. He also just…
David Ortiz had the best final season of any hitter in MLB history, and his final APBA card reflects it. Ortiz’s 2016 season for hitters is what Sandy Koufax’s 1966 season is to pitchers. His 38 home runs were the most for any player in their final season. While…
Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio. Those were the key players in the Cubs and Cardinals 1964 trade. It’s one of the worst trades in baseball history…at least if you’re a Cubs fan. Years later, in 1979, I’m sure Cubs faithful felt bitter-sweet appreciation watching Brock collect his 3,000th hit against…
Thanks to Scott Fennessy for passing on this Sherry Magee card from the 1904 season set which was published in 2013. Magee had a pretty decent year in part-time work for the last place Phils in 1904. Standard Batting Year G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB…
I have never totally recorded detailed fielding statistics for a replay. The number of putouts and assists and the work required to compile these (at least for me) is overwhelming and would make a replay seem like work, not play. There are, however, selected fielding stats that are easy to…
As we drove to Cooperstown for this year’s Induction Weekend, I asked my wife and daughter who they thought would be best represented in upstate New York. We thought the Tigers would have a good showing because Michigan is within driving distance and two Detroit players were being inducted.…