Wednesday night, my buddy John Brandeberry picked me up for another night of APBA at his house. I had brought my 1966 NL cards thinking we would play a couple games from my replay. We did that and more. We got a whole days worth in. We replayed the day of April 19th, 1966.
Chicago 10 San Francisco 9
Sometimes it’s eerie how closely APBA can resemble real life. In looking up the lineups for April 19th, I noticed that SF beat the Cubs 11-10. Well, in the replay it was the Cubs that won but it by a similar score of 10-9. Cubs pitching took a beating though giving up six homers, two by Willie Mays. The game was lost on a 15th inning balk by Joe Gibbon, by the way. I’ll say it now. Nobody likes to win that way.
Los Angeles 9 Houston 5
Brando took his team favorite Dodgers while I played the Astros. It was the pitchers who provided the offense. Don Drysdale went 3 for 4 with a HR and the Astros’ Farrell hit one out as well. The Dodgers came out ahead with decent pitching from Drysdale.
New York 3 St Louis 1
In this snoozer, Cleon Jones provided enough offense with his first homer of the year, giving Fat Jack Fisher his second win of the season.
Philadelphia 8 Atlanta 7
Brando knew what he was doing when he picked Philly to play. They had Jim “Senator” Bunning (AXZ) going against the tough hitters of the Braves. Bunning got the win and Fergie Jenkins made his first appearance for the Phils and notches a save. Give some credit to Adolfo Phillips who came on with a pinch hit homerun.
Note: Jenkins and Phillips both get traded to the Cubs soon. I can’t wait.
Pittsburgh 10 Cincinnati 3
Winner Steve Blass had no trouble getting the ball over the plate for me as the Pirates crushed the tough Reds team. It didn’t hurt that second string catcher Jesse Gonder contributed two HR and Donn ‘two Ns please’ Clendenon hit a grand slam. Clendenon now leads the league in rbis and is batting .440.
Standings as of April 19th
| Team | Wins | Losses | Pct. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 5 | 2 | .714 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 5 | 3 | .625 | 0.5 |
| San Francisco Giants | 4 | 3 | .571 | 1 |
| Atlanta Braves | 3 | 3 | .500 | 1.5 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 3 | 3 | .500 | 1.5 |
| New York Mets | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1.5 |
| Chicago Cubs | 3 | 4 | .429 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2 |
| Houston Astros | 3 | 5 | .375 | 2.5 |
| St Louis Cardinals | 2 | 4 | .333 | 2.5 |
We got plenty of offense even for Brando who is used to the 1930 style of play. Can’t wait to do it again.
Tom, in 1966 Donn Clendenon hit 28 home runs. He hit 25 on the road and 3 at spacious Forbes Field. I wonder if that’s the biggest difference in home/road home runs?
Hi Mel, seems to me I remember something like that. Didn’t know it was that extreme though. Wow.
And Brando’s computer got tuned up as well? Who did the Philsbgejt back for Jenkins? (What was Jenkins’ rating for ’66?)
Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl. In the first 1966 re-issue Jenkins was a straight B.
Hi Tom!
As always,great blog,vid,writeups,thanks!
1966,great season!……c&d player here,though
I do have the pc version.
Are you using MG or basic?
All the best!
Jim
Hi Jim, I’m playing the Basic Game pretty much out of the box. Ignoring rainouts though. :)