Beefs take both ends of home-and-away from Devils; move to back to within one game of Tsunamis

Rod Caborn’s Beefers, reeling after losing three of four to Walt Taylor’s Whatevers on Friday, Sept 17, rebounded Saturday morning (Sept. 18) to take both ends of their home-and-away series from Dave Larson’s Taz Devils. The two wins put the Beefs (19-15) back to within a game of the Tsunamis while the two losses dropped the Devils (10-16) into the second half cellar and dropped their cumulative record for the year to 33-34.

The Beefer offense was in high gear in both games with Bryce Harper and Fernando Tatis leading the way with home runs in both games.

Game 1 Beefers 10, Taz Devils 2 (at Devils)

Beefer righty Shane Bieber won his 10^th game of the season, coasting to a stress-free win over the Tazzies 10-2. Bryce Harper hit a leadoff HR to start the game and, two innings later, the Beefers capitalized on back-to-back errors by Devils starter Zach Davies and 2b Jon Berti to push over four unearned runs, putting the Beefs in front 5-0. Later in the game, Tatis hit a two-run HR and a two-run triple as the Beefs pulled away to a 10-2 rout.

Beefers  10-8-0 W-Shane Bieber 10-2. HR Fernando Tatis #21, Bryce Harper #20 (leadoff HR).

Devils    2-7-2   L-Zach Davies 3-3. HR Cody Bellinger #12, Xander Bogaerts #12.

Game 2 Beefers 9, Taz Devils 2 (at Beefers)

Facing lefty Julio Urias, Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on a Starling Marte RBI triple and a successful squeeze by Jon Berti to score Marte.

The Beefer bats continue to run hot, however, piling up six runs on seven hits, five for extra bases, in the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead. The Beefer bullpen held the Devils offense to two scattered singles the rest of the way as the Beefs tacked on three more on homers by Tatis and Jose Ramirez to post a 9-2 win an move back to within a game of the  front-runningTsunamis.

Devils    2-6-2   L-Gerritt Cole 4-6. 

Beefers 9-13-1 W-Stefan Crichton 2-3. HR Fernando Tatis #22, Bryce Harper #21, Jose Ramirez #21.

Whatevers stun Beefers; take three of four, hold the Beefers offense to eight runs in four games.

Walt Taylor’s Whatevers, mired in the cellar throughout the season, made their presence known in a big way Fri., Sept 17, taking three of four from Rod Caborn’s second place Beefers. The series win improved the Whatevers to 10-14 for the second half while landing a huge blow on the Beefers hopes of capturing a second half title, dropping them to 17-15 for the second half.

.The Whats outhit the Beefers .217-.180, outscored the Beefs 13-8, and had 12 extra-base hits to the Beefers six extra-base knocks. The Beefs had four home runs to the Whatevers three HRs. 

the After the Beefs piled up four runs in the first three innings of Game Two, the Whatevers pitching corps held the Beefs scoreless for 18 consecutive innings, until Willson Contreras homered in the final game. 

Other highlights included three errors by What C Will Smith in the opener and a Whatevers triple play in Game Four, snuffing a potential Beefer rally.

Game 1 Whatevers 5, Beefers 3

Down 3-1, the Whatevers ground out four runs in the bottom of the eighth for a come-from-behind 5-3 win. The Beefs grabbed an early 2-1 lead on a 2R HR by Jeff McNeil, but managed only one more score in the eighth, after Fernando Tatis scored on an error by What C Will Smith, one of three miscues by Smith in the game. Highlighting the Whats’ winning rally were an RBI single by Whit Merrifield followed by an RBI double by Francisco Lindor.

Beefers  3-8-1 L-Ysmeiro Petit 1-2. HR Jeff McNeil 5.

Whats    5-8-0 W-Rowan Wick 1-0. Sv Adam Kolarek 1.

Game 2 Beefers 4, Whatevers 2

Undefeated Beefer righty Zach Plesac pitched into the eighth inning before giving way to relievers Tony Watson and Rafael Iglesias for a tight 4-2 victory. Fernando Tatis homered off What starter Brandon Woodruff in the first, but the Whats countered in the second with a solo shot by Domenic Smith. Jose Ramirez tripled home two runs for the Beefs in the third and Brandon Nimmo homered in the fourth to make it 4-1. The only other run the Whats scored was a solo HR by George Springer in the sixth inning. 

Beefers 4-5-0 W-Zach Plesac 6-0. Sv Raf. Iglesias 7. HR Fernando Tatis 20, Brandon Nimmo 8. 

Whats    2-8-0 L-Brandon Woodruff 3-8. HR Domenic Smith 11, Geo. Springer 3.

Game 3 Whatevers 4, Beefers 0 

The Whats Lucas Gioloto combined with relievers Trevor Rosenthal and Brad Hand to record a 4-0 shutout in Game Three, the third time the Whats have blanked the Beefs in the 2021 campaign (the other two were shutouts by Zack Wheeler). The Whats pushed over four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first, highlighted by a 3R HR by Austin Slater….and did not get another hit the rest of the game, but the four runs were all Giolito and the relievers needed, limiting the Beefs to five scattered hits, four of them singles.

Beefers  0-5-1 L-Julio Urias 0-1. 

Whats    4-5-0 W-Lucas Giolito 2-5. HR Austin Slater 3 (3R HR in first).

Game 4 Whatevers 2, Beefers 1

The Whats pitching continued to keep the Beefer offense under control, with Walker Buehler going five innings, allowing only one run, with four relievers taking over and blanking the Beefs the rest of the way. The Beefs ended an 18 inning scoring drought in the fifth on a solo HR by Willson Contreras, but only managed a pair of singles off the What relievers the rest of the way. 

The Whats notched a rally-killing triple play in the fourth when Beef 1b Brandon Belt line out to 1b Domenic Smith, who tagged out baserunner Brandon Nimmo for the second out and then threw to SS Frankie Lindor, who tagged Jeff McNeil out to complete the triple killing. 

Beefers  1-6-0 L-Dinelson Lamet 4-6. HR Willson Contreras 4. 

Whats    2-7-2 W-Jake McGee 1-0. Sv Trevor Rosenthal 3.

Tsunamis take three from Otters, move back into sole possession of first place in second half

In another rematch of the 2020 OOTL World Series, the Otters and Asians went at it again in a key 2nd half battle, with the Tsunamis delivering a major blow to the Otters second-half chances, taking three of four. The series win means the Asian Tsunamis are now alone in first place at 17-11 one game ahead of the 16-12 Beefers. The Otters fell to 14-14.

Game 1 Tsunamis 5, Otters 2

Trevor Bauer (Tsunamis) vs. Aaron Nola (Otters). The Otters got early HR blasts from Trout and Freeman to take an early 2-1 lead. The Asians then woke up in the 4th when Bohm hit a 2-run HR. Hosmer added a HR in 6th to make it 4-2 Tsunamis and Locastro scored the game’s final run in the 7th on a Soto Sac Fly. Asians get the 5-2 win. Bauer went 7 innings for the win and Diaz came on for the save. 

Otters   2-3-1 L-Unk. HR Mike Trout, Freddie Freeman.

Asians  5-8-0 W-Trevor Bauer. Sv Edwin Diaz. HR Eric Hosmer, Alec Bohm.

Game 2 Tsunamis 6, Otters 0

Marco Gonzales (Tsunamis) vs. Yu Darvish (Otters). The Tsunamis led from the start as Gonzales cruised through seven innings to get the win and shared a team shutout with Kintzler. Buxton’s HR, along with multiple key hits and walks, gave the Tsunamis the 6-0 win.

Otters: 0-6-1  L-Yu Darvish.

Asians: 6-7-1 W-Marco Gonzales. HR Byron Buxton.

Game 3 Tsunamis 5, Otters 2 

Corbin Burnes (Tsunamis) vs. Lance Lynn (Otters). The Asians again got off to an early lead countered only by a Seager HR. A pair of doubles by Soto and Story along with a key PH single by Arraez gave the Tsunamis the 5-2 win. Burnes went 6 1/3 for the win and Yardley got the save.

Otters: 2-5-3  L-Lance Lynn. HR Corey Seager.

Asians: 5-9-1 W-Corbin Burnes. Sv Eric Yardley

Game 4 Otters 5, Tsunamis 2

Michael Pineda vs. Jacob deGrom. Otters SS Corey Seager homered in the second to give the Otters the early lead. A costly Pineda error in the 6th made it 2-0 but Jesse Winker hit a HR and pinch-runner Ramon Quinn scored on an Acuna error to make it 2-2. Hopes of a Tsunamis sweep died in the 7th when Seager hit his second HR of the game, a three-run shot after a two-out rally. Otters win 5-2. deGrom got the win and Anderson came on for the save.

Otters: 5-9-2  W-Jacob deGrom. Sv Nick Anderson. HR Corey Seager 2 HR.

Asians: 2-3-2 L- Unk. HR Jesse Winker.

OAPBA’s origins revealed; a look into the past provided by Joel Prinsell

OAPBA launched its 34th season in February, but the story of how the league started and grew has always been somewhat vague. Thanks to one of the league’s four Founding Fathers, Joel Prinsell, we now know precisely when the league began and how it moved forward during its inaugural campaign. Here’s Joel’s account of the league’s startup:

On Feb. 24, 1988, thirty-three years ago today, or, if any of us want to feel even older — a third of a century ago, the Orlando APBA league commenced its inaugural regular season schedule.  

Attached for posterity are the scoresheets from the first two 2-game series played by the four original franchises – the Tourists, managed by Steve Lorman; the Platoon, managed by Joe Passiatore; the Metropolitans, managed by Bryant Applegate, and the Highlanders, managed by me.  (Sorry, but a few of the attached PDF pages might be upside down, sideways, etc.)

A couple of weeks before the opening games, the teams had held a 25-round snake draft, where Kirby Puckett was selected by the Metros with the first overall pick.

The Tourists won Game #1, 5-0, over the visiting Highlanders. Nolan Ryan (who’s he?!) threw a one-hitter with 7 K’s, with Jeff (?) Reardon pitching the last 2 outs. Mike (?) Scott took the loss. Ryne Sandberg was the league’s first whiff victim. Tony Gwynn was the first player to reach base (how fitting), with a BB (but was caught stealing by “Spanky” LaValierre).  Ozzie Smith had the league’s first hit (a single), the first SB, and scored the first run.  Robin Yount had the first error.  But the star of the game was Benito Santiago, who went 3-3, had the league’s first RBI (plating Ozzie), first extra-base hit (a 2B), and first HR. 

The Highlanders came back to win Game #2, the nightcap of the doubleheader, 6-1.

The next day, the Platoon swept the Metropolitans in Games #3 and 4, 6-5 and 2-1.  Although the Metros got off to a rough 0-3 start, they ended the regular season with the best record. 

Two or three years later, the Beefers, managed by Rod, and the Taz Devils, managed by Dave, joined the league, and the rest is history — the longest running APBA league. 

OAPBA 2021 second half standings thru September 18

Second half	W	L	Pct	GB
Tsunamis	17	11	.607	—
Beefers	19	15	.559	1
Otters	14	14	.542	3
Whatevers	10	14	.417	5
Taz Devils	10	16	.385	6

Cumulative	W	L	Pct	GB
Beefers	43	32	.573	—
Tsunamis	37	31	.544	2 1/2
Taz Devils	33	34	.493	6
Otters	33	35	.485	6 1/2
Whatevers	25	39	.391	12 1/2

Craig Dolan’s Tsunamis continue to lead the second half race by a single game. The Beefers rebounded from their series loss to the Whatevers and, this past Saturday morning (Sept. 18) won both ends of their home-and-away series with the Taz Devils

The Tsunamis still have one four-game series left, at the Taz Devils, and then head into the four home-and-away series. The Beefs have completed their four-game series schedule and have only six home-and-away games left, facing the Otters, Whatevers and, in what could be a second half title decider, the Tsunamis.

Jonathan Stillwell’s Otters still have a four-game road series at the Whatevers, followed by their home-and-away schedule. Walt Taylor’s Whatevers (10-14), with their series win over the Beefs, have moved into fourth place, a game ahead of Dave Larson’s Taz Devils, whose record dropped to 10-16 when they lost both ends of their home-and-away series against the Beefers.