This is an ongoing series of posts documenting my online baseball simulation team, the Northside G-Force, on their quest to win the 1969 GAPL Championship, along with the successes and struggles of my all-time favorite player, Bobby Murcer.
The 4-2 G-Force take on the 4-2 Greenville Catfish. The Catfish were the surprise winner of the Julian Bailey Division in 1968, and they look to be a strong challenger this season as well.
GAME #1
The Catfish jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st with the help of double off the bat of Richie Allen. Down 3-0 in the 3rd the G-Force got on the board when Bobby Murcer reached on a walk and scored on Reggie Smith’s 2nd home run of the young season. In the 5th Reggie Jackson crushed his 3rd home run of the season, a 3 run shot that put the G-Force up for good. Reggie Smith finished with 4 hits, which included 2 doubles to go along with his home run.
Bobby Murcer continues not to hit, extending his hitless streak to 13 at bats. Something’s got to give.
4/11/2013, Grn69-Nor69, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Catfish 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 0 6 0
1969 G-Force 0 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 x 7 9 0 7 0
Catfish AB R H BI AVG G-Force AB R H BI AVG
Uhlaender lf 4 0 1 0 .222 Piniella lf 5 0 1 0 .194
Fuentes T. 3b 4 2 2 0 .389 Murcer 3b 3 2 0 0 .133
Allen R. 1b 4 1 2 0 .308 Smith R. cf 4 2 4 2 .387
Alou F. rf 4 0 1 2 .345 Jackson R. rf 3 2 2 3 .280
Allen,H 2b 4 0 2 1 .500 Mincher 1b 3 1 0 0 .217
Hisle cf 4 0 0 0 .176 Helms ss 3 0 0 0 .310
Versalles ss 2 0 0 0 .100 Drabowsky p 0 0 0 0 .000
Bravo ph 1 0 0 0 .400 Thomas ph 1 0 0 0 .333
Garrido ss 0 0 0 0 .222 Granger p 0 0 0 0 .000
McCovey ph 0 0 0 0 .182 Fingers p 0 0 0 0 .000
Grote c 3 0 0 0 .304 Alomar 2b 4 0 1 1 .296
Shellenback p 0 0 0 0 .000 Rodriguez E. c 3 0 1 0 .188
McMullen ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Jackson G. p 2 0 0 0 .000
Taylor Ch. p 2 0 0 0 .250 Salmon ss 2 0 0 0 .333
Taylor H. c 2 0 0 0 .000 33 7 9 6
35 3 8 3
Catfish INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Taylor Ch. L 1-1 6.0 8 6 6 4 3 108 63 5.79
Shellenback 2.0 1 1 1 1 1 38 24 2.70
8.0 9 7 7 5 4 146 87
G-Force INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Jackson G. W 1-0 5.0 5 3 2 0 5 76 53 3.55
Drabowsky H 3 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 27 18 8.10
Granger 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 10 6 6.75
Fingers S 1 1.1 1 0 0 1 1 23 12 0.00
9.0 8 3 2 1 8 136 89
Grn: Bravo batted for Versalles in the 7th
Garrido inserted at ss in the 7th
Taylor H. inserted at c in the 7th
McCovey batted for Garrido in the 9th
McMullen batted for Shellenback in the 9th
Nor: Salmon inserted at ss in the 6th
Thomas batted for Drabowsky in the 7th
2B-Allen R.(2), Smith R. 2(3). HR-Smith R.(2), Jackson R.(3).
RBI-Alou F. 2(7), Allen,H(6), Smith R. 2(10), Jackson R. 3(10), Alomar(3).
SB-Jackson R.(2), Mincher(1). K-Uhlaender, Allen R. 2, Allen,H 2, Hisle,
Versalles, Taylor Ch., Piniella, Murcer 2, Salmon. BB-McCovey, Murcer 2,
Jackson R., Mincher, Rodriguez E.. PB-Rodriguez E..
GWRBI: Jackson R.
Temperature: 63, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 9 MPH.
GAME #2
No hitting for the G-Force in this game, including Bobby Murcer, who is now on an 0-17 slump. Denny Lemaster took a nifty 2 hit shutout into the 9th. Sweet Lou Piniella broke up the shutout with a 1 out double.
4/12/2013, Grn69-Nor69, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Catfish 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 5 11 0 9 1
1969 G-Force 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 2 0
Catfish AB R H BI AVG G-Force AB R H BI AVG
Uhlaender rf 5 0 2 1 .250 Piniella lf 4 0 1 1 .200
Versalles 2b 4 0 0 0 .083 Murcer 3b 4 0 0 0 .118
McCovey 1b 4 0 1 0 .200 Smith R. cf 4 0 0 0 .343
Alou F. cf 5 1 1 0 .324 Jackson R. rf 3 0 0 0 .250
McMullen 3b 5 2 2 0 .125 Oliver B. 1b 3 0 1 0 .125
Alou J. lf 4 0 0 0 .214 Helms ss 3 0 1 0 .313
Garrido ss 3 0 1 0 .250 Alomar 2b 2 0 0 0 .276
Fuentes T. ph 0 1 0 0 .389 Drabowsky p 0 0 0 0 .000
Grote c 4 1 3 2 .370 Grzenda p 0 0 0 0 .000
Lemaster p 4 0 1 2 .333 Granger p 0 0 0 0 .000
38 5 11 5 Aker p 0 0 0 0 .000
Johnson B. ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Bunker p 0 0 0 0 .000
Didier c 2 0 0 0 .429
Thomas ph 1 1 1 0 .429
Leonhard p 1 0 0 0 .000
Salmon 2b 2 0 0 0 .250
30 1 4 1
Catfish INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Lemaster W 2-0 9.0 4 1 1 0 3 106 73 2.00
9.0 4 1 1 0 3 106 73
G-Force INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Leonhard L 1-1 5.0 4 1 1 2 2 72 45 2.08
Drabowsky 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 7 7 7.04
Grzenda 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 10 7 1.59
Granger 0.2 2 3 3 0 0 13 8 13.50
Aker 0.1 3 1 1 0 0 9 7 27.00
Bunker 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 13 7 3.46
9.0 11 5 5 2 3 124 81
Grn: Fuentes T. batted for Garrido in the 8th
Fuentes T. moved to ss in the 8th
Nor: Salmon inserted at 2b in the 6th
Johnson B. batted for Aker in the 8th
Thomas batted for Didier in the 9th
2B-Alou F.(2), Piniella(2), Thomas(1). RBI-Uhlaender(4), Grote 2(3),
Lemaster 2(3), Piniella(5). K-Versalles, McMullen, Alou J., Piniella, Murcer,
Jackson R.. BB-Versalles, McCovey. HBP-Fuentes T.. PB-Didier. HB-Granger.
GWRBI: Grote
Temperature: 44, Sky: cloudy, Wind: right to left at 10 MPH.
GAME #3
Gary Gentry won his 2nd game for the G-Force, while the bullpen made it interesting, giving up 3 runs in the 9th, as the G-Force held on for the 6-5 win.
Bobby Murcer has stretched his hitless streak to 21 at bats. I amazed at how much this bothers me. Does the male of the species ever grow up? I know I haven’t.
4/13/2013, Grn69-Nor69, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Catfish 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 11 1 8 0
1969 G-Force 0 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 x 6 8 0 7 1
Catfish AB R H BI AVG G-Force AB R H BI AVG
Uhlaender rf 5 1 1 0 .243 Piniella lf 5 1 1 1 .200
Versalles 2b 5 1 2 1 .138 Murcer 3b 4 0 0 0 .105
McCovey 1b 3 0 2 1 .278 Smith R. cf 2 1 1 1 .351
Alou F. cf 5 0 2 0 .333 Jackson R. rf 3 0 1 0 .258
McMullen 3b 3 0 0 1 .105 Mincher 1b 3 1 2 1 .269
Taylor H. c 3 0 1 0 .167 Helms ss 3 1 1 0 .314
Waslewski p 0 0 0 0 .000 Alomar 2b 4 1 0 0 .242
Nagy p 0 0 0 0 .000 Rodriguez E. c 2 1 1 2 .222
Allen R. ph 0 1 0 0 .308 Gentry p 3 0 1 1 .222
Alou J. lf 3 0 1 0 .235 Drabowsky p 1 0 0 0 .000
Hisle ph 1 1 1 0 .222 Granger p 0 0 0 0 .000
Garrido ss 2 0 0 0 .214 Grzenda p 0 0 0 0 .000
Bravo ph 1 0 0 0 .333 Fingers p 0 0 0 0 .000
Fuentes T. ss 1 0 0 0 .368 30 6 8 6
Siebert p 2 0 0 0 .000
Grote c 2 1 1 1 .379
36 5 11 4
Catfish INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Siebert L 1-1 5.0 6 5 3 2 2 74 47 3.00
Waslewski 2.0 2 1 1 2 0 31 16 1.93
Nagy 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 16 12 16.20
8.0 8 6 4 5 3 121 75
G-Force INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gentry W 2-0 7.2 7 2 2 1 3 102 69 3.18
Drabowsky 0.1 1 1 1 1 0 13 6 7.88
Granger 0.0 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 16.20
Grzenda H 1 0.1 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 3.00
Fingers S 2 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 10 4 0.00
9.0 11 5 5 3 3 129 83
Grn: Grote inserted at c in the 6th
Bravo batted for Garrido in the 7th
Fuentes T. inserted at ss in the 7th
Allen R. batted for Nagy in the 9th
Hisle batted for Alou J. in the 9th
E-McMullen. 2B-Uhlaender(2), Gentry(1). 3B-Piniella(1). RBI-Versalles(1),
McCovey(3), McMullen(1), Grote(4), Piniella(6), Smith R.(11), Mincher(2),
Rodriguez E. 2(2), Gentry(2). CS-Smith R.. K-Versalles, Taylor H., Alou J.,
Jackson R., Gentry, Drabowsky. BB-McCovey 2, Allen R., Smith R., Jackson R.,
Mincher, Rodriguez E. 2. SH-Helms. SF-McMullen, Smith R.. BALK-Fingers.
GWRBI: Gentry
Temperature: 47, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 11 MPH.
Another series victory puts the G-Force at 6-3, 1 game out of 1st, but all alone in the wild card spot. Next up will be a 3 game series against the River City Rhinos. Their pitching is struggling early, so let’s hope both Messrs. Piniella and Murcer can start hitting.
Great American Pastime League
Year Team W L Pct GB L10 Strk
Julian Bailey Divis
1969 Minnesota Muskies 7 2 .778 - 7-2 L1
1969 Northside G-Force 6 3 .667 1 6-3 W1
1969 Greenville Catfish 5 4 .556 2 5-4 L1
1969 Mayan Knights 5 4 .556 2 5-4 W3
1969 River City Rhinos 4 5 .444 3 4-5 W1
1969 East Kenosha Lakers 4 5 .444 3 4-5 L2
1969 Walford Wallabies 3 6 .333 4 3-6 W2
1969 Brew City Barons 2 7 .222 5 2-7 L4
Larry Schilling Div
1969 Panama Mad Hatters 8 1 .889 - 8-1 L1
1969 Crosstown Crackers 5 4 .556 3 5-4 W5
1969 Gotham City Ghosts 5 4 .556 3 5-4 W3
1969 San Francisco Gold Coast 4 5 .444 4 4-5 L3
1969 Ottawa Senators 4 5 .444 4 4-5 W2
1969 Reservoir Dogs 4 5 .444 4 4-5 L4
1969 Wapwallopen Wolfpack 3 6 .333 5 3-6 W1
1969 Nashville River Cats 3 6 .333 5 3-6 L2
Just think how good you’ll feel when Murcer starts hitting.
It better start soon, or I might just have to file a protest with the commissioner.
Kevin,
It’s amazing how much a baseball sim can get to you, isn’t it? I guess on the opposite of that is how giddy you get when a fave player is tearing the cover off the ball. In a way, these sims are like the real game that way – full of slumps and hot streaks. Don’t worry, Murcer will hit, and that box score with four hits and five ribbies will be that much sweeter when it happens.
Rob N
I feel like I’m 10 years old again, watching the game while clutching my Bobby Murcer card and wondering if it’s my fault that he’s not hitting.
Silly, insane, juvenile…..you bet, but it sure brings back memories.
Kevin