In this year without Major League Baseball, many of us are glad that APBA exists. While the MLB Network and every other sports network is showing re-runs of games of the past, we can replay entire seasons to see what could have been thanks to APBA.
Reader Don George did just that as he replayed the New York Yankees 1961 season. While the ’61 Yanks did not reach their lofty real-life win total of 109, they did win 98 games. The only teams that had winning records against them were Baltimore and Los Angeles (my buddy Don will like hearing that!).
Here’s Don’s recap of the APBA replay…
1961 Season at a Glance
The New York Yankees powered to a respectable 98 wins in the replay. The Yanks fell short versus the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Indians. Forty-eight (48) games were decided by 1-run in the replay versus fifty (50) in actual play.
And Yes, Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in the replay!
After forty-one games into the replay, the Yankees matched their identical record at 23-18. For the balance of the season, the Yanks were streaky; sometimes playing like they would never lose again and at other times struggling to find a win. The replay produced 11 additional losses vs. the actual season.
Yankee replay pitching was stellar. Yankee replay ERA was 3.03 vs. 3.46 actual. Yankee replay WHIP was 1.155 vs. 1.261 actual.
The replay shortfall was revealed in the lack of batting average. The Yankees replay batting average was .245 vs. .263 actual. And consequently, their slugging percentage was also lower.
Yankee replay at-bats were 3% higher than actual due to a greater number of extra inning games.
Yankee replay home runs were 7% less, doubles 9% less, and triples 28% less. This all factored into not reaching their 1961 win total of 109.
You can see win-loss records, stats and leaderboards in Don’s nicely-done writeup.
thanks for the recap, Don!
Fun stuff! My 1961 Yanks won 100 on the nose, beating Detroit by 5 games.
Very impressive someone is able to complete a full season replay in only 2 months!
Don, I am curious. Did you only replay Yankees games? How did the Yankees beat the Tigers with 98 wins? They went 12-6 against them in the replay and 10-8 in real life. That brings the Tigers down to 99 wins if you only replayed Yankee games.
Yes William, I only played the 1961 Yankees schedule and used actual starting lineups. Always intrigued regarding how closely players match their actual stats. Am about 25% thru the 1927 Yankees season and enjoying every game!