I’ve been involved in an online baseball simulation league for over 10 years. The Great American Pastime League(GAPL) began with the 1955 season and has just started playing the 1969 season. My team, the Northside G-Force had the 1st pick in the inaugural draft and I picked, not surprisingly, Mickey Mantle. In his 14 seasons in the GAPL the Mick fashioned a .318 average with 454 home runs. He garnered 4 MVP awards, batted a cool .409 in 1957, and led the G-Force to their only GAPL Championship in 1958.
Luckily I was able to draft my all-time favorite player, Bobby Murcer during the 1965 draft. I’ve been waiting a long time for the 1969 season to start in the GAPL, Murcer’s 1st full-time season in baseball. The Diamond Mind Baseball software that we are using is not designed to exactly replicate a player’s actual stats, so their can be a + or – variation of a players real life stats that can not be predicted. Mantle’s yearly GAPL stats always seemed to out perform his real life stats, thus the .409 average in 1957. Hopefully Bobby Murcer will be a friend to the DMB software and post better than actual stats as well. In 59 at bats over the 1965 and 1966 seasons, Murcer fashioned a .356 average with 4 triples and a home run. Excellent numbers so far, let’s hope he keeps it up.
The Northside G-Force have not been a playoff team since the 1958 Championship season, so I thought I would document their season as well as Bobby Murcer’s season in this blog. Hopefully it’s an interesting journey as well as a successful one for both the G-Force and Bobby Murcer.
So let’s get started with the 1st 3 games of the 1969 season.
Game #1
A high scoring game to start the season against inter-division rival the Mayan Knights. As you can see in the boxscore, Bobby Murcer is playing 3rd base for the G-Force. He played 33 games at 3rd for the Yankees in 1969, before moving to the outfield. Because I have Reggie Jackson, Reggie Smith and Lou Piniella playing outfield, I’m forced to play Murcer at 3rd for the entire season. I predict about 40 errors from Murcer at 3rd, but I don’t have any other option.
Bobby played error free ball, while getting 2 hits and an rbi. A nice start for Murcer. Reggie Smith hit a 2 out Grand Slam in the top of the 9th, which proved to be the game winner, as Moe Drabowsky got knocked around by the Knights in the bottom of the 9th.
4/5/2013, Nor69-May69, Wrigley Field
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 G-Force 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 16 0 11 0
1969 Knights 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 9 11 1 5 0
G-Force AB R H BI AVG Knights AB R H BI AVG
Piniella lf 4 2 2 2 .500 Tovar cf 5 1 2 0 .400
Murcer 3b 5 1 2 1 .400 Hebner 3b 4 2 1 0 .250
Smith cf 5 1 2 5 .400 Jones lf 5 1 1 3 .200
Jackson rf 4 0 1 0 .250 May 1b 5 2 3 3 .600
Oliver 1b 5 0 0 0 .000 Kaline rf 4 1 1 0 .250
Drabowsky p 1 0 0 0 .000 Fernandez c 4 1 2 3 .500
Grzenda p 0 0 0 0 .000 Javier 2b 3 0 1 0 .333
Helms ss 5 2 3 0 .600 Miller ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Alomar 2b 5 2 2 0 .400 Schaal 2b 0 0 0 0 .000
Didier c 5 3 3 2 .600 Michael ss 3 1 0 0 .000
Gentry p 4 1 1 1 .250 Koosman p 1 0 0 0 .000
Mincher 1b 1 0 0 0 .000 McAndrew p 1 0 0 0 .000
44 12 16 11 Hall p 0 0 0 0 .000
Goossen ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Walker p 0 0 0 0 .000
Gibbon p 0 0 0 0 .000
Ferrara ph 1 0 0 0 .000
38 9 11 9
G-Force INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gentry W 1-0 7.2 8 5 5 2 8 98 67 5.87
Drabowsky H 1 0.2 3 4 4 0 1 21 15 54.00
Grzenda 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0.00
9.0 11 9 9 2 9 122 84
Knights INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Koosman L 0-1 2.0 7 6 6 2 2 64 40 27.00
McAndrew 2.1 4 2 2 0 2 45 28 7.71
Hall 2.2 2 0 0 0 4 35 23 0.00
Walker 1.2 1 3 3 3 2 41 18 16.20
Gibbon 0.1 2 1 1 0 1 15 10 27.00
9.0 16 12 12 5 11 200 119
Nor: Mincher inserted at 1b in the 8th
May: Goossen batted for Hall in the 7th
Miller batted for Javier in the 8th
Schaal inserted at 2b in the 9th
Ferrara batted for Gibbon in the 9th
E-Javier. 2B-Piniella(1), Jackson(1), Tovar(1), May(1). 3B-Jones(1).
HR-Smith(1), May(1), Fernandez(1). RBI-Piniella 2(2), Murcer(1), Smith 5(5),
Didier 2(2), Gentry(1), Jones 3(3), May 3(3), Fernandez 3(3). K-Piniella,
Murcer, Smith, Jackson 2, Oliver 3, Alomar, Gentry, Drabowsky, Hebner, Jones,
Kaline, Fernandez, Javier, Koosman, McAndrew, Goossen, Miller. BB-Piniella,
Murcer, Smith, Jackson 2, Hebner, Kaline. HBP-Piniella, Michael.
HB-Drabowsky, McAndrew. BALK-Koosman.
GWRBI: Piniella
Temperature: 50, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: right to left at 25 MPH.
Game #2
Bobby Murcer and Reggie Jackson both hit solo home runs, but Wally Bunker and my current least favorite player Moe Drabowsky squander a 2-1 7th inning lead. The Knights hit 4 home runs winning easily 6-2.
4/6/2013, Nor69-May69, Wrigley Field
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 G-Force 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 4 1
1969 Knights 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 x 6 7 1 1 0
G-Force AB R H BI AVG Knights AB R H BI AVG
Piniella lf 4 0 1 0 .375 Tovar cf 2 0 0 0 .286
Murcer 3b 4 1 1 1 .333 Gibbon p 0 0 0 0 .000
Smith cf 4 0 1 0 .333 Abernathy p 1 0 0 0 .000
Jackson rf 4 1 1 1 .250 Murphy p 1 0 0 0 .000
Mincher 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 Hebner 3b 4 1 1 1 .250
Helms ss 3 0 0 0 .375 Jones lf 4 1 2 0 .333
Pagan ph 1 0 0 0 .000 May 1b 4 1 1 2 .444
Alomar 2b 3 0 1 0 .375 Kaline rf 2 1 0 0 .167
Drabowsky p 0 0 0 0 .000 Fernandez c 3 1 1 1 .429
Rodriguez c 2 0 0 0 .000 Javier 2b 2 0 0 0 .200
Thomas ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Goossen ph 1 1 1 2 .500
Bunker p 2 0 0 0 .000 Schaal 2b 0 0 0 0 .000
Salmon 2b 1 0 0 0 .000 Michael ss 3 0 1 0 .167
33 2 5 2 Bahnsen p 0 0 0 0 .000
Miller lf 2 0 0 0 .000
29 6 7 6
G-Force INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Bunker L 0-1 6.0 5 4 4 1 5 76 54 6.00
Drabowsky 2.0 2 2 2 0 1 32 21 20.25
8.0 7 6 6 1 6 108 75
Knights INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Bahnsen 3.0 2 1 1 0 2 50 33 3.00
Gibbon 2.0 1 1 1 0 1 23 16 7.71
Abernathy W 1-0 2.2 1 0 0 0 1 36 23 0.00
Murphy S 1 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 19 11 0.00
9.0 5 2 2 0 4 128 83
Nor: Salmon inserted at 2b in the 7th
Thomas batted for Rodriguez in the 8th
Thomas moved to c in the 8th
Pagan batted for Helms in the 9th
May: Miller inserted at lf in the 4th
Jones moved to cf in the 4th
Goossen batted for Javier in the 7th
Schaal inserted at 2b in the 8th
E-Hebner. HR-Murcer(1), Jackson(1), Hebner(1), May(2), Fernandez(2),
Goossen(1). RBI-Murcer(2), Jackson(1), Hebner(1), May 2(5), Fernandez(4),
Goossen 2(2). K-Jackson, Mincher, Helms, Rodriguez, Hebner, Jones, Kaline,
Fernandez, Javier, Abernathy. BB-Kaline. SH-Bahnsen. WP-Murphy.
GWRBI: May
Cesar Tovar was injured for this game only
Stan Bahnsen was removed after a rain delay
Temperature: 45, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: left to right at 9 MPH,
Rain Delays: 87 minutes.
GAME #3
The G-Force scored 4 runs in the 1st, sending 10 men to the plate. Tommy Helms singled in 2 runs and Lou Piniella went 0-2 in the inning. The Knights chipped away at the lead, finally tying the score on a 2 out single by Norm Miller in the 9th. Tommy Helms and Chico Salmon had rbi singles in the 11th, and local favorite Joe Grzenda pitched 2 scoreless innings for the win. An 0-6 from Murcer with 2 strikeouts blows, as does an early season .200 average.
4/7/2013, Nor69-May69, Wrigley Field
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E LOB DP
1969 G-Force 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 13 2 15 0
1969 Knights 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 4 9 1 8 1
G-Force AB R H BI AVG Knights AB R H BI AVG
Piniella lf 5 0 1 0 .308 Tovar cf 5 1 2 0 .333
Murcer 3b 6 1 0 0 .200 Hebner 3b 5 0 0 0 .154
Smith cf 5 2 2 1 .357 Jones lf 4 1 1 1 .308
Jackson rf 5 2 1 0 .231 May 1b 5 0 2 0 .429
Mincher 1b 4 1 1 0 .111 Kaline rf 2 0 0 1 .125
Helms ss 6 0 4 3 .500 Abernathy p 0 0 0 0 .000
Alomar 2b 4 0 2 1 .417 Murphy p 0 0 0 0 .000
Thomas ph 2 0 1 0 .333 Goossen ph 1 0 0 0 .333
Rodriguez c 3 0 0 0 .000 Gibbon p 0 0 0 0 .000
Salmon ph 2 0 1 1 .333 Walker p 0 0 0 0 .000
Jackson p 3 0 0 0 .000 McAndrew p 0 0 0 0 .000
Granger p 0 0 0 0 .000 Womack p 0 0 0 0 .000
Pagan ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Schaal ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Grzenda p 1 0 0 0 .000 Fernandez c 3 1 0 0 .300
47 6 13 6 Javier 2b 4 1 1 0 .222
Michael ss 5 0 2 1 .273
Selma p 1 0 0 0 .000
Ferrara ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Hall p 0 0 0 0 .000
Miller rf 3 0 1 1 .167
40 4 9 4
G-Force INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Jackson 7.2 6 3 3 2 5 113 73 3.52
Granger BS 1 1.1 2 1 1 0 0 20 13 6.75
Grzenda W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 1 0 20 11 0.00
11.0 9 4 4 3 5 153 97
Knights INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Selma 5.0 7 4 0 2 8 115 74 0.00
Hall 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 10 8 0.00
Abernathy 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 13 8 0.00
Murphy 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 7 6 0.00
Gibbon 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 17 12 5.40
Walker 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 15 6 11.57
McAndrew 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 4 3 6.75
Womack L 0-1 1.0 2 2 2 2 1 28 14 18.00
11.0 13 6 2 6 12 209 131
Nor: Thomas batted for Alomar in the 10th
Salmon batted for Rodriguez in the 10th
Pagan batted for Granger in the 10th
Salmon moved to 2b in the 10th
Thomas moved to c in the 10th
May: Ferrara batted for Selma in the 5th
Miller inserted at rf in the 7th
Goossen batted for Murphy in the 8th
Schaal batted for Womack in the 11th
E-Jackson, Jackson, Kaline. 2B-Tovar 2(3), May(2), Michael(1). RBI-Smith(6),
Helms 3(3), Alomar(1), Salmon(1), Jones(4), Kaline(1), Michael(1), Miller(1).
K-Murcer 2, Jackson 3, Mincher 2, Helms, Alomar, Rodriguez, Jackson, Grzenda,
May, Kaline, Selma, Ferrara, Miller. BB-Piniella, Smith, Jackson, Mincher 2,
Jackson, Fernandez 2, Javier. SF-Jones, Kaline. HBP-Rodriguez. PB-Fernandez.
HB-Selma. WP-Jackson, Selma.
GWRBI: Helms
Temperature: 50, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: in from right at 25 MPH.
So the Northside G-Force start the season at 2-1, currently tied for 1st in the Julian Bailey Division. My son Adam is the GM of the Mayan Knights, so that makes winning the 2 game series doubly sweet. Up next 3 games against the Brew City Barons at Busch Stadium.
Current GAPL Standings
Year Team W L Pct GB L10 Strk
Julian Bailey Divis
1969 River City Rhinos 2 1 .667 - 2-1 L1
1969Minnesota Muskies 2 1 .667 - 2-1 L1
1969 Northside G-Force 2 1 .667 - 2-1 W1
1969 Greenville Catfish 2 1 .667 - 2-1 W2
1969 Brew City Barons 1 2 .333 1 1-2 L2 1969 Walford Wallabies 1 2 .333 1 1-2 W1
1969 Mayan Knights 1 2 .333 1 1-2 L1
1969 East Kenosha Lakers 1 2 .333 1 1-2 W1
Larry Schilling Div
1969 Panama Mad Hatters 3 0 1.000 - 3-0 W3
1969 Reservoir Dogs 3 0 1.000 - 3-0 W3
1969 San Francisco Gold Coast 2 1 .667 1 2-1 W2
1969 Ottawa Senators 2 1 .667 1 2-1 W2
1969 Gotham City Ghosts 1 2 .333 2 1-2 L2
1969 Wapwallopen Wolfpack 1 2 .333 2 1-2 L2
1969 Crosstown Crackers 0 3 .000 3 0-3 L3
1969 Nashville River Cats 0 3 .000 3 0-3 L3
Gee, those Reservoir Dogs seem to be off to a good start, too. I am very jealous of your outfield, by the way.
I seem to recall you blowing the doors off your division at the start of the 68 season as well.
Yes, and I expect a similar fate this year as well.