APBAlone Project: 1969 APBA Baseball Tournament

Tommie Agee 1969

Brooks Robinson 1969

1969:  The 100th Anniversary of MLB

My favorite column in the old APBA Journal was written by the late Daryl Hollis.  The “APBAlone” column which ran monthly through most of the 70’s and into the 1980’s and 1990’s.  It was about the only way APBA fans could read about other APBA fan’s solo projects, in the days before the internet.  Whether it was a season replay, for either MLB or the NFL, a World Series replay, an individual team replay, or whatever other random project the reader would submit via mail to Daryl Hollis’ mailbox.  Heck, in looking through old APBA Journals, a few of my submissions to Daryl Hollis bring back some fond memories:  my 1961 World Series replay using the Great Teams of the Past versions of the Yankees and Reds.  The Yankees swept the Reds in 4 games with Mickey Mantle having a terrific series, as reported in the December 1980 issue (when I was 14, complete with my typos).  Or my partially completed 1981 NL replay, which was into May on the schedule, published in the August 1982 issue.  In fact, if it was not for Daryl Hollis’ column, nothing would exist of those 2 projects today, not too mention the 100’s of other reader’s projects which he documented in the pages of the AJ.

In taking a break from both my 1965 MLB replay (currently on June 6th) and my 1973 NFL replay (almost thru Week One), which I have been documenting on the Delphi APBA Between the Lines forum, I have decided to put one of my old original APBA Baseball card sets to use, 1969, into tournament action.  And, in the spirit of the old APBAlone column of the APBA Journal, and as a tribute to Daryl Hollis, I will document this tournament on my blog site, in a series of blog posts.  My ultimate goal is to use this tournament format with the older original card sets.

AL MVP – Harmon Killebrew

(Note the “10” Killer received was due to Billy Martin being the Twins Mgr in ’69)

NL MVP – Willie McCovey

My 1969 tournament format is as follows:

• 24 teams.
• Teams seeded 1-12 in each the AL and the NL, with the top 4 teams in each league earning a Preliminary Round Bye.
• The Preliminary Round, League Quarterfinal and Semifinal Rounds will all be best-of-three series (early round upsets more likely to occur).
• The League Championship Series will be best-of-five.
• The World Series will be best-of-seven.
• Pitching rotations start at the top, for each round.

WASHINGTON – JULY 23: Denny McLain #17 of the Detroit Tigers pitches during the All-Star Game at RFK Stadium on July 23, 1969 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

AL Cy Young Award co-winners:  Mike Cuellar and Denny McClain

 

NL Cy Young Award winner:  #41 Tom Seaver (flanked by Yogi Berra and Al Weis)

• 20-man rosters (no XB’s).
• Injuries will only last for current game, and there must be a position player available, carded at same position, to take the injured players place.
• No DH.
• Teams are re-seeded following each round.  The highest always faces the lowest seed possible.
• I have setup pitching rules where starting pitchers must pitch a min. of 5 IP each start (unless 5 runs are given up first) and limits on use of relief pitchers innings and rest.
• I am using the APBA Journal Error Distribution Card and Unusual Play Card as well as the Rare Play Charts from the Master Game.
• Advanced basic game rules are in use.

One and done, Billy Martin in his 1st and only season as Twins skipper …

The Preliminary Round (best-of-three) match-ups are as follows:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

#1   (bye)

#2   (bye)

#3   (bye)

#4   (bye)

#5   vs  #12 

#6   vs  #11 

#7   vs  #10 

#8   vs  #9  

The 1969 Seattle Pilots, 1 season and done … and thank God for Bouton & Ball Four.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

#1   (bye)

#2   (bye)

#3   (bye)

#4   (bye)

#5   vs  #12 

#6   vs  #11 

#7   vs  #10 

#8   vs  #9  

“Metsy” the black cat foreshadowing the collapse of the 1969 Chicago Cubs …

This type of project is an efficient way to use all teams in a set.  Each team will be used a minimum of 2-3 games, and 12 of the teams will be used a minimum of 4-6 games.  In all, the total number of games for the tournament will range anywhere from a minimum of 50 games to a maximum of 77 games.

Most APBA fans could knock this out in a matter of weeks.  My plan is to complete the project before April 1st, 2017.  We will see how close I get to that mark.

My blog posts will feature series by series results.

For a team to make it to the ALCS and NLCS they will each need to win 3 rounds, each round a quick best-of-three.  It will be a race to the Championship Series as teams are able to use their top 3 starters leading up to the League Championships.  I expect at least a few upsets in the early rounds, as just about any club can get hot for 2 games and win a series.  But with high seed vs low seed, the upsets should not be the norm.  Teams which have 2 “ace” like starters will be at the advantage in the early rounds since they can sweep a best-of-three series with only their top 2 starters pitching.  I expect this 1969 APBA Baseball Tournament to be a wild ride, fitting for 1969.

Stats are being kept with the use of BallStat and BallScore.

1969, here we come …