Teddy Ballgame (left) and I wishing each other good luck before the IAL All-Star Game
Last weekend was the Illowa APBA League All-Star weekend. Zealot co-writer Teddy Ballgame and I faced off as managers of our respective divisions…
… and the best team won.
The West Division, behind the hitting of Game MVP Joe Mauer beat the East Division 6-3. Mauer hit a 5th inning two-run homerun to put the good guys ahead for good. Honorable mention goes to leadoff man Hanley Ramirez who went 2 for 4 with walk and two runs. For the East Division, Miguel Cabrera managed to clobber a two-run dinger in the ninth to make things interesting.
Along with the actual All-Star weekend, all ten of us managed to get 30 games played for our 2007 season (our 32nd year in existence). As for my Twin City Thunderchickens, well.. we didn’t fare so hot. In the five six-game series, we didn’t any. We managed a split in three of them and went 2-4 in the two others. A major factor was a power outage. Albert Pujols hit only 2 homeruns and 7 rbis in 26 games.
One highlight: For my Thunderchickens, John Lackey pitched a no-hitter through 11 innings. Unfortunately, he gave up a hit in the 12th but he got the win (and shutout) when we FINALLY scored a run in the 13th. Very frustrating game that our offense could not come through earlier.
But the best part of the weekend was the camaraderie with ten guys who love baseball. Discussions on the real value of Pete Rose vs Ty Cobb, whether Manny Ramirez is under-rated as a fielder, and of course, trade talk for the upcoming season.
For those wondering what APBA is or what the IAL is about see What is the Illowa APBA League?