Rod Caborn sends an update from the Orlando APBA Association. According to Rod, “It was the longest season in OAPBA history, taking exactly 10 months from the first game on Feb. 15 to the final out of the 2023 World Series”.
Who won that World Series?? It was Walt Taylor and his Whatevers who battled past the Asian Tsunamis to win OAPBA World Series.
Here’s a synopsis sent by Rod:
Walt Taylor’s Whatevers won the franchise’s sixth championship in the 2023 OAPBA World Series, downing the Asian Tsunamis 4-2. The Whatevers strong pitching and timely hitting were key factors in their 2023 championship series win.
For manager Walt Taylor, it was his fifth World Series ring. Walt had previously won OAPBA titles in 2005, managing the Travelers and four previous times heading up the Whatevers franchise (previously the Metros) in 2006, 2007, 2016.
The Whatevers scored first in five of the six games to put continuous pressure on the Tsunami pitching staff. The Asians, meanwhile, were not able to get their offense rolling, leaving 25 batters stranded in the six games and simply could not generate timely hits when they were most needed.
The Whatevers outscored the Tsunamis 23-17 in the six games and relied on outstanding pitching for the Series win. The Whats’ Series ERA of 2.41 was the key factor in enabling them to tamp down the powerful Tsunami offense.
Whatever slugger Yordan Alvarez was named the MVP of the Series. Alvarez hit two home runs and drove in seven runs. Alvarez’s first homer in Game One contributed to a 6-3 win and his second HR, a grand slam, was the deciding factor in the Whatevers 6-2 win in Game five. Also standing out for the Whatevers was C Will Smith, who homered in Game One and drove in all three Whatevers runs in Game Two, hitting .500 (4-8) and driving in five runs total in the six games.
Shohei Ohtani was also outstanding in the Series, winning Game Two and providing ample offense including a Game One homer.
Read OAPBA’s full update with game-by-game recaps here.
First, congratulations to all of OAPBA! Rod tells me this concludes 36 years of the league’s existence. That’s pretty impressive! We can expect fully-documented recap of OAPBA’s 2023 season sometime soon.
And of course, big ups to Walt! It’s not the first time we’ve heard about him and his Whatevers. It probably won’t be the last.
