Twice the fun – an APBA Weekend

It’s an APBA weekend! 

The Commish of the CABL (a retro league) arrives Friday in anticipation of our Saturday morning draft.  Friday afternoon also features the Highlanders UAL (current day league) series against those Philly Flying Pigs.  The Pigs manager has to make his way all the way across the street to play the games face to face. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Philly came over last year and opened a can of whup-careful now it’s a family blog – butt.  We are playing at Philly first.  Philly improved in the offseason while Kerry, uh, regressed.  (Doesn’t that sound better than got worse?)  Philly swapped their 2025 first and second round picks for former Highlander Julio Rodriguez.  Ever notice how those guys you traded always seem to hit about 200 points higher when they play you?  Let’s see if J-Rod is still mad at me.

Jon Gray (CY) takes the bump for Kerry.  The Pigs feature Zach Eflin BXZ).  This game was a nail biter for all of about ten minutes.  The Pigs scored six in the third, four more in the third and cruised to a 12-0 win.  Kerry collected just five hits.  Pigs pitchers never issued a free pass and whiffed ten.  J-Rod was 1-4 with a walk and a run scored. Game 2 has to be better.

Hunter Greene (CXY) is bringing the heat for Kerry against Cole (AXZ).  A Bohm two bagger followed by a Jung dinger, 2-0 Philly after two.  McCutcheon’s solo dinger to lead off the third did three things.  It broke Kerry’s scoreless string at eleven, it brought the Highlanders within one and it pissed off the Pigs.  J-Rod ripped a two run tater in the fourth.  Bohm doubled and scored on a couple of infield outs.  For the second game in a row, Kerry’s starting pitcher is downgraded before four innings are in the books.  The Pigs added a run in the fifth to lead 6-1.  McCutcheon went yard again in the seventh with one aboard, but that was all Kerry could muster.  But hey, we tied their number of hits this time (six apiece).  That’s progress, right?

Time for my secret weapon – Lyles (DZ) takes on (BXZ) Musgrove.  The good news is that Lyles goes 6 2/3, giving the pen a bit of a breather.  He also gets lit up for 8 runs and ten hits.  Three of those runs come on Josh Jung’s three run bomb in the 7^th that salted this one away for the Philly boys.  Kerry scored 2 in the eighth and 1 one in the ninth against Hoeing DP.  Then that kill joy Philly manager summoned Strahm BXYZ from the pen.  That noise you hear is the fat lady singing.  Philly wins 8-3 and takes the series. 

Now its just a question of how ugly it gets.

Answer: Pretty darn ugly.  Nola (CXZ) dominates Kerry hitters as the Pigs romp, 8-0.  Nola allows a leadoff single to Hicks in the second and that is all Kerry can muster.  OK, we did draw a walk, too, but Nola K-ed 12 batters to add insult to injury.  Out come the brooms…

Springer homered off Ryan (CXYZ) to lead off the home first.  Haven’t I seen this movie before?  I hate the ending.  Dunning  (BP) keeps the Highlanders off the board for six innings.  And then…. double, walk, hit batter and Hicks two run single.  2-1 Kerry.  (Stop the presses!).  Kerry adds two more in the ninth on Freeman’s solo dinger and a two out single by Ramon Urias, winning it by a 4-1 score.  Freeman had been plunked in the 7^th and I guess he did not appreciate it.  Kerry hitters were HBP six times in the series, which was two more times than they homered.  Philly hit 297 and went yard nine times.  Can’t wait to play the home series. 

J-Rod?  He hit .238 with three runs scored and 4 RBI to go with one long ball.  (He still likes me!  Awwww.)

Retro draft day dawns. 

You can feel the excitement in the air.  No wait, the humidifier is full and stopped working.  CABL drafts on Discord.  Five managers (of the twelve) gather in Kerry’s draft room for in person harassment and drafting.  Three of us live on the same street.  The Pigs manager has a team in this league as well so he is back for more.  The Sveaborg Beserkers manager lives three houses down.  The Jersey Tomatoes are domiciled 20 minutes away in Woodbury.  That’s some good luck right there.

I can’t get to the Discord site.  My invite has expired.  Good thing I don’t believe in omens.  I had worked up a list of prospects in July.  Somehow, I neglected to both prioritize my needs and select my top targets.  I do have a note that I need a catcher (Sciocsia is a no card in 1983), outfielders (mine are all patrolling the outfield in walkers) and a shortstop.  (I have DeJesus and Templeton, so I’m not sure why I’d made that note.) 

Sveaborg notes that I was brilliant to stock up on draft picks in the weakest draft class ever.  I have six over the first three rounds, the first at pick 9.  Then he asks if the Highlanders play their games in skirts.  (Ouch.)  Well they weren’t going to, but now they are.  All their sliding will be feet first.  Wait, you can’t unsee that.  Head first sliding then.  Uh oh.  Not sure you can unsee that either.  No sliding.  Still a family blog, right Tom?

No surprise – Mattingly goes at one, Strawberry at two, Boddicker at three and then Franco.  Pete O’Brien goes at five.  Now I’m thinking I have a shot at Hurst (I tried to draft him last year when he was ineligible earning myself the coveted CABL dunce cap) or maybe Van Slyke.  Guess who went 6 and 7?  You know it.  Eight is Gary Redus.

Now I admit that I am an avid Yankee hater.  I once felt that way about the Mets.  That has faded to a strong distaste.  So I picked two Mets with 9 and 10 – Bobby Ojeda and Jose Oquendo (I now have 27 fielding points at SS.  Now if only they could hit 027….).  My second round picks turn in to Alejandro Pena and Junior Ortiz.  The peanut gallery loved that one.  HA HA HA.  But I needed games I pleaded!  The kangaroo court was merciless (as I would have been so there is that).  Come the third round, I add Cecilio Guante and Andy McGaffigan.  Like they say on the Voice, my roster is full!  The draft is over for me.

I had an awful draft.  Two pitchers for the future (my current staff is awful – I’m waiting for Blyleven to heal and Bud Black to blossom).  Some bullpen help for Terry Forster in Guante.  A future good field no hit shortstop and a catcher who has one good year in about six years or so.  I’m updating my roster and oh (expletive deleted).  That so and so New York Met Ortiz didn’t play enough games.  I’m still short games at catcher.  (Like its Junior’s fault I can’t add…)  Now I have to make a trade or cut someone to draft a catcher in the waiver draft.  Wanna guess who takes the coveted CABL dunce cap?  I’m not sure we have had back-to-back winners before.  Is winners the right term here? 

Philly cleaned my clock and I had a draft that left them rolling in the aisles.  Sure beat shoveling snow.  Now bring on those Philly Flying Pigs for my home series!