Category: APBA Chatter

Baseball Basic Game Innovation…

I just read an interesting article (<- Click here for the article) by Noah Woodward on his substack blog. It got me thinking which isn’t always a bad thing. I see this as a rather simple innovation for the Basic Game or even the master game.

The gist of the article is about relievers being exposed to batters in a series or a home-and-home series with the same team within two weeks or so. I am considering tracking reliever appearances on a paper or a spreadsheet with a rolling 14-day cycle. The article references the series between the Yankees and Astros during the opening weekend of the baseball season. I will try this out and see how it works. Since managers tend to use trusted relievers in similar situations repeatedly, I believe this is rather intuitive.

Given the diminishing use of starting pitchers, the focus seems to be moving toward bullpens. With the 13-pitcher limitation on Major League rosters and starters limited to five innings or so, this makes sense to me. The Complete Game is on life support even during instances of a shutout or no-hitter.

The first time a reliever faces a batter during a cycle, there would be no adjustment to the reliever’s grade. The second time, I would drop the reliever one letter grade if there is a runner on base (or as soon as a batter reaches) against the familiar batter. The third time, I would drop one letter grade regardless if any bases were occupied. If there was a fourth appearance during a cycle, I would drop two letter grades. I don’t think this is too harsh given the propensity for relievers to receive Grade A or higher.

I’ll see how this works. There should be a counter to the reduction with an advancement, but I’ll have to figure that out. I am also wondering if it might be useful to reduce the Z-rating as part of the progression since the more a batter sees a pitcher, they can lay off pitches out of the strike zone more easily. I am open to any ideas.

2023 Oakland Athletics @ 2023 Washington Nationals – January 7, 2024

The A’s jumped on MacKenzie Gore for four runs, three earned in the top of the first. The National’s starter found his groove and shut down Oakland the rest of the way with four innings of help by the bullpen. JP Sears went seven innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits and one walk while whiffing six. Austin Pruitt pitched the eighth and allowed one earned run on a homer while striking out one. Trevor May allowed one hit in the ninth as he secured the save.

2023 Philadelphia Phillies @ 2023 Tamba Bay Rays – December 31, 2023

The Phillies got some timely hitting as they were led by Alex Bohm who went three-for-four and scored twice. Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper knocked in Bohm. Brandon Marsh hit a first-inning homer to open the scoring for Philadelphia. Zack Wheeler went five-plus allowing five hits and one earned run as he struck out seven and walked one. Zach Eflin took the loss, also going five-plus allowing two earned on four hits while whiffing five and walking two.

1930 Chicago Cubs @ 1930 Philadelphia Athletics – July 5, 2023: Game 6

The 1930 Philadelphia Athletics won their second consecutive World Series title in dramatic fashion, defeating the 1930 Chicago Cubs 9-8 in Game 6 on a walk-off home run by Jimmie Foxx. The Athletics trailed 8-7 entering the bottom of the ninth but rallied against Cubs reliever Guy Bush, who had blown a save in Game 4. Jimmy Dykes led off with a single and Foxx followed with a towering blast to left field, sending the home crowd into a frenzy and capping off a remarkable comeback for the A’s.

The Cubs had jumped to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a Grand Slam by Hack Wilson. The A’s responded with three runs in the bottom half, starting with a solo home run by Foxx followed by a single off the bat of Mickey Cochrane and a run-scoring double by Al Simmons. Simmons scored on an error by the Cubs’ Hack Wilson. Chicago added to their lead with George Kelly homering in the fourth and a Wilson three-run homer in the sixth. Philadelphia scored two in the sixth with Max Bishop tripling home Mickey Cochrane for the A’s. Bishop scored on a sac fly by Jimmy Moore to close the score to 8-5.

The Athletics added two more in the seventh when BishopJoe Boley led off with a double, Dykes walked and Foxx hit a run-scoring single. Dykes scored a single by Bishop. Walberg settled down after Wilson’s homer and kept the Cubs scoreless for the rest of the game, setting the stage for Foxx’s heroics in the ninth.

Foxx was the star of the game, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two homers, including the game-winner. He finished the series with a .600 average, four homers, and eight RBIs, earning him MVP honors. Wilson was the best hitter for the Cubs, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and his fifth homer of the series. He also set a World Series record with 11 RBIs in six games.

The A’s became the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles since the 1927-28 New York Yankees. They also avenged their loss to the Cubs in the 1929 World Series, when they had blown a 3-1 series lead. The Cubs suffered their second straight World Series defeat and extended their championship drought to 22 years. They would not win another World Series until 2016.

I had to fairly heavily edit the game summary created from the boxscore by Chat AI in Bing using the Microsoft Edge Browser.

1930 Philadelphia Athletics @ 1930 Chicago Cubs – July 4, 2023: Game Five

The Philadelphia Athletics defeated the Chicago Cubs 9-7 on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, and took a 3-2 lead in the series. The Athletics scored a total of nine runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to erase a 2-0 deficit and held off a late rally by the Cubs. Mickey Cochrane and Al Simmons each drove in three runs for the Athletics, while Jimmy Dykes, Jimmie Foxx, and Max Bishop scored two runs apiece. Jimmie Moore hit a two-run homer and Simmons added a solo shot for the Athletics, who had 13 hits in the game. George Earnshaw earned the win, despite allowing seven runs on 13 hits and three walks in eight innings. Eddie Rommel allowed two inherited runners to score in the ninth inning for the save.

The Cubs scored two runs in the first inning when Woody English drew a lead-off walk, moved to second when Hack Wilson was hit by a pitch, and scored on a single by Riggs Stephenson, who later came home on a double by Rogers Hornsby. Wilson scored on a single by Rogers Hornsby. They added another run in the fifth when Wilson doubled and scored on a single by Stephenson. The Cubs scored two runs in the eighth when Stephenson and Gabby Hartnett singled then Cliff Heathcote walked with one out and Les Bell singled and knocked in two runs. In the ninth, Wilson walked, Kiki Cuyler was hit by a pitch and Stephenson reached on an error by Bishop to load the bases. One run scored when Hartnett grounded into a double play. Another run scored when Hornsby singled followed by Heathcote striking out to end the game.

Wilson had two hits and three runs for the Cubs, while Stephenson had four hits and two RBIs. Hornsby had three hits and two RBIs, while Bell had two hits and two RBIs.

Charlie Root took the loss for the Cubs, giving up seven runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out three in six innings. He also hit a batter and gave up a homer to Moore. Bob Osborn relieved Root in the seventh and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks, while also hitting a batter and giving up a homer to Simmons. Guy Bush pitched two scoreless innings for the Cubs, allowing two hits. The Cubs turned three double plays in the game, while the Athletics turned one.

The game was played before a crowd of 35,000 fans at Wrigley Field. The series will continue on Thursday, July 6, with Bill Shores pitching for the Athletics and Bud Teachout for the Cubs.

1930 Philadelphia Athletics @ 1930 Chicago Cubs – July 4, 2023: Game 4

The Chicago Cubs rallied to beat the Philadelphia Athletics 7-6 in 10 innings on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 and tied the series at two games apiece. The Cubs overcame a four-run ninth-inning rally by the Athletics, who had taken a 6-5 lead on a two-run homer by Al Simmons. The Cubs tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a solo shot by Hack Wilson, his second of the game and fourth of the series. In the tenth, Danny Taylor pinch-ran for Riggs Stephenson, who had drawn a walk-off Lefty Grove. Taylor advanced to second on a 5-3 groundout by Gabby Hartnett and scored the winning run on a double by Rogers Hornsby.

The Cubs had taken an early lead in the second inning when Les Bell hit a two-run double off Grove. They added three more runs in the third, thanks to a solo blast by Wilson and a two-run homer by Hartnett. Pat Malone pitched a complete game for the Cubs, allowing six runs (five earned) on 14 hits and three walks, while striking out one. He gave up only two runs through eight innings, both coming in the third on a two-run single by Mickey Cochrane after an error by Hornsby allowed Jimmy Dykes to reach then moved to third on a double by Jimmy Foxx. Grove also went the distance for the Athletics but was tagged for seven runs on 13 hits and four walks, while fanning six. He gave up three homers and four doubles.

The game featured stellar defense by both teams, as they turned five double plays, four by the Northsiders. The Cubs also caught two runners stealing, while the Athletics threw out one. The game was played before a sellout crowd of 40,000 fans at Wrigley Field. The series will resume on Thursday, July 6, with George Earnshaw pitching for the Athletics and Charlie Root for the Cubs.

The summary was written by the Bing Chat in Microsoft Edge with a few minor edits. I am impressed that the AI identified the starting pitchers for Game Five.