Jimmy Carter Invitational - American League Play-In Round

With the Holiday season now underway, it seems fitting that the Jimmy Carter Invitational has also began.  The tournament consists of the best team for each franchise from 1976 to 1980, in a best 2 out of 3 format.  The tournament is single elimination with seeding based upon winning percentage in the regular season.  All ties for seeding were broken by win differential.

President Carter was known for many things.  But to keep the theme of this tournament (as I attempt to do with all of them) non-political, I think it is best to remember our 39^th President for his humanitarian and charitable works.

As tournament director, Jimmy Carter has stated that he believes the love of APBA baseball should be extended to persons in every station of society.  This includes all walks of life from celebrities, entertainers, and super heroes to athletes and world leaders (both our world and beyond).  He intends to use his newly appointed position to spread the love we all share for this game beyond the traditional bounds.  May God have mercy on us all.

PLAINS, GA - Any good humanitarian knows that charity begins at home and with family.  Jimmy requested that I assist in recruiting his brother Billy as an APBA player.  I tried to fit in with brother Billy’s band of good old boys as we take in an outdoor APBA tournament, but I’m not sure it worked.  It’s hard to be a redneck, if you have no-neck.  While I’m not sure Billy was an immediate APBA convert, he seemed please he could drink beer while watching the dice roll.  I do feel confident he will make an appearance or two later in the tournament. 

  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Back at the White House, the director asked if I would return to Washington and assist him as he taught his daughter Amy to play.  He also asked that I tryout a new hair piece to see if it that was a better fit for me than the Billy Carter Redneck Power T-shirt.  I’m just not sure either work well.  At any rate, the young Carter daughter is seen here looking over a score sheet and enjoying the game with her dad.  I believe APBA is at its very best when shared across generational lines – but maybe without me watching the fun and looking like Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction.

CLEVELAND – Game one of the Tournament saw as good of a pitching matchup as you are likely to see as the 1979 Mariners battled the 1976 Indians in a Play-In Series to advance into Round 1 of the tournament.  Mike Parrott (C-YZ) and Pat Dobson (B-Z) are not names often mentioned when people discuss great pitchers of the 70s, but on this night, they were both very good.  Tom Paciorek delivered a 66-0, 44-1 solo shot in the 2^nd inning for the only run scored in the game. 

The Indians tried to rally in the 9^th.  Tommy Smith’s pinch hit double led off the inning.  Larvell “Sugar Bear” Blanks bunted Smith to third, and the Indians had the tying run only 90 feet away with 1 out.  Kuiper drew the only walk of the night off Parrott, putting runners on the corners.  Rick Manning struck out looking for the second time in the game and Rico Carty’s ground ball to Julio Cruz ended the Cleveland threat.  Mike Parrott finished the night allowing only 2 hits and the walk to Kuiper, while striking out 4 as he completed the shutout and collected the win.  Dobson took the hard luck loss, allowing only 4 hits over 7 innings of work.

SEATTLE-  As the teams moved back across the country to the west coast, Indians fans were comforted by the fact that Dennis Eckersley (B-XY) would be handed the ball in Game 2 and that the Mariners did not have another pitcher above a D grade in the rotation for the remainder of the series.

In the top of the 1^st, a two out rally with singles from Manning, Carty and Hendrick put the Tribe on the board first.  But Seattle answered in the bottom half with two of their own to take the lead, 2-1.  Cleveland roared back with 3 runs in the 4^th, but again Seattle answered with a pair of runs to knot things up 4-4.

Rick Manning singled and stole second base in the top of the 5^th, and Rico Carty drove him home to put Cleveland back on top.  They added two more in the 7^th on singles by Manning, Hendrick, Bell and Powell as they pulled ahead 7-4. 

The Mariners scored in the 9^th on a double from Tom Paciorek and a pinch hit single from Larry Milbourne, but it was too little too late as Cleveland evened the series and would return back to Cleveland for the finale.

CLEVELAND -  Game 3 saw Seattle jump out to an early lead with runs in the 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th innings.  In the bottom of the 4^th, Manning singled and scored on a hit from George Hendrick.  Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and 2 out, Charlie Spikes drove a single that scored Carty and Hendrick to tie the game, 3-3.

Charlie Spikes & Chops

The wheels fell off for Seattle in the 5^th.  Things started harmless enough with two ground outs by Blanks and Kuiper.  Manning followed with a solo home run to break the tie and Seattle’s confidence.  Carty, Hendrick, Bell, Powell and Fosse all followed with 5 consecutive singles, scoring 3 more runs.  Charlie Spikes added 2 more with a double to the gap, and by the time the smoke cleared, the Indians were up 9-3.  Both teams reached the seats in the 8^th.  Leon Roberts smacked a solo home run for Seattle and Rico Carty hit a two run blast for Cleveland to finish the scoring out, as the Indians advance to meet the 1979 Milwaukee Brewers in Round 1 with the 11-4 win.

BLOOMINGTON, MN – The 11^th seed 1976 Twins prepared to host the lowest seed in the tournament, the expansion 1980 Toronto Blue Jays (.414).  Game 1 saw Jim Clancy dominate the home team, pitching a shutout while allowing 7 hits and no walks.  Mayberry and Moseby both homer for the Jays in a 7-0 win.

TORONTO – The Blue Jays pitching continued to be better than the Twins as Dave Stieb gets the win as the Toronto club continues to swing hot bats and roughs up the weak Minnesota pitching staff by a score of 9-4. 

Otto Velez pair of 3-run homers
power the Jays over the Twins

Rod Carew led off the game for the Twins with a triple and scored on a ground out by Lyman Bostock.  Not to be outdone, Blue Jay lead off man Damaso Garcia connected on his own triple and scored on a base hit by John Mayberry.  With runners at first and third, Velez connected on an 11-5 home run putting the Jays up 4-1.

The Twins get 2 runs back in the second as Wynegar doubles home Disco Dan Ford and scores on a Bob Randall base hit.  But Velez struck again with a 66-1 with Alfredo Griffin and Al Woods on base to put Toronto ahead 7-3.

Ernie Whitt busted a 2 run homer in the 3^rd to give the Blue Jays all of the runs they would need.  Dave Stieb allows the 4 Minnesota runs over 8 innings.  Jerry Garvin closes in the 9^th and the Jays advance into Round 1 of the tournament to face the 1977 Texas Rangers who boast 2 Hall of Fame pitchers (Perry and Blyleven) in their starting rotation.

Jimmy Carter Invitational - PREVIEW

I’m organizing the next tournament project and have to admit, I’m getting excited over the way the seeds fell and the players that will be participating.  As with all of the tournaments so far, there are some interesting peculiarities and exciting possible matchups when you look at the brackets. 

The five years represent the best team of each franchise, by winning percentage, from 1976-1980.  Teams were seeded based upon those percentages.  Ties were broken by run differential.  Breaking down the teams, you find that out of the 5 World Champions, only 2 are represented in the bracket.  Those two representatives could face in the semi-finals making it very likely the tournament winner was not a world champion in real life.  In fact, only four teams in the entire field were pennant winners, making this tournament wide open.

Mr. October looks to roll in November

The New York Yankees, which will again be commanded by Yankee Boy, collected two world championships in the period (1977 and 1978), but neither of those teams finished the regular season with as many wins as the 1980 team who will represent the Bronx.  The ’80 Yanks (.636) are the #2 seed in the AL, but were swept by the Royals in the ALCS that year.  The 1980 Royals were finally able to knock off New York after being beaten by them 3 straight times from 76-78, but that team isn’t present either.  The 1977 team represents Kansas City with a .630 pct and comes in with a 3 seed.  On the bottom side of the AL bracket, we have the possibility of a ’80 Yankee / ’77 Royals semi-finals matchup for some retribution by teams who both lost to the other in real life. 

On the top side of the AL bracket, the #1 seed ’79 Orioles are looking to regain some respect from losing to the Pirates after being up 3 games to 1 in the World Series.  Standing in the O’s way of the AL Championship game are the ’78 Red Sox and the powerful ’79 Brewers.  The Red Sox believe their chances are good of making the final round since the big bat of Bucky Dent is on the other side of the bracket.  

THE GREAT 8

Three of the five World Series were won by NL clubs during this period.  The 1976 Reds are the NL top seed and look to a possible matchup with the other world champion, the 1979 “We Are Family” Pirates.  The Reds would like some revenge against Pops and company after being swept by the Bucks in the NLCS that year.  Before Pittsburgh or Cincinnati can meet in this classic rematch, both teams will likely have to get passed two other strong teams from 1979.  The Cardinals with MVP Keith Hernandez, and the Expos, who are loaded from top to bottom, will likely pose serious opposition to the two world champs.

Phils look to even the score with the Reds and LA

The final world champion of the period, the 1980 Phillies, is not present.  In fact, the ’80 team was the only the 3^rd best Philadelphia squad from the period and only 1 game better than the 4^th best 1978 Phils.  APBA chose the ’77 Phillies as a GTOP, although they had an identical record as the ’76 team with both clubs winning 101 games (.623).  The ’77 team out hit the ’76 team slightly (.279 to .272); however, ’76 had a much better ERA (3.10 to 3.71) than ’77, and a higher run differential.  For this reason, they get the selection.  On their side of the bracket the 1980 Astros are looking for a rematch of game 163 with the ’77 Dodgers in the quarter-finals.  The possibility of a rematch of the 1980 NLCS (Phillies-Astros) or the 1977 and 1978 NLCS (Phillies-Dodgers) exists in the semi-finals.  Of course in a tournament of this type, an unexpected underdog could get hot and eliminate any of the favorites.  You just never know. 

Ronald Reagan Championship

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL,

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The tournament director had the head of his Secret Service protection detail contact me with instructions to report to Reagan’s hospital room where he was still shaken, but recovering, from his fall immediately after a recent press conference.  Mr. Reagan requested that I bring a complete APBA Baseball game, and the team set for the ’85 St. Louis Cardinals, including the XBs.  I wasn’t sure exactly why I was being called into a top level security clearance situation with dice, boards, cards and little yellow shakers, but when the leader of free world calls, you go.

Reagan asked that Cardinals be allowed to use his recently made card in the championship against Yankee Boy.  As tempting as it was, I declined, stating the integrity of the game would not allow such a substitution.  Reagan understood and instead asked that we play several simulated games with the ’85 St. Louis team so that I would fully understand each player and their unique attributes.  He wanted me to know which player to hit and run with.  With the A.L. winning home field advantage in the Home Run Derby, and the lefty Ron Guidry pitching for New York, Cesar Cedeno was selected as the DH at Yankee Stadium.  How would the addition of a little more power affect the team?

We rolled games and studied cards and stats well into the afternoon.  With Reagan now tired from the hours of playing APBA, he could no longer sit up in the bed.  <<you all saw this coming, right???>>

As I packed to leave, in his weakened condition, he told me this,

“You’ve got to go Pike.  It’s all right.  I’m not afraid.  Some time, Pike, when the Cardinals are up against it, when things are wrong and the Dice are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper.  I don’t know where I’ll be then, Pike.  But I’ll know about it, and I’ll be happy.”

With the Yankee Boy’s streak of 9 straight series wins against his dad in tournament play, and with Reagan himself pleading from his hospital bed for me to defeat New York, I’ve never felt more pressure to win an APBA game.

NEW YORK – The Yankees ran out their ace, Ron Guidry (B-YZ) for Game 1.  In his 4 prior tournament outings, Guidry was 0-4.  Gator was always known for big performances in big games.  Yankee Boy hoped this would be the game when he got back into form.  John Tudor (A-YZ) has been the exact opposite of Guidry for the Cards, coming in with a 1.40 ERA.  The two lefties were ready to hook up in what the fans hoped would be an APBA classic.

Ron Guidry could not wait for the tournament to end

Louisiana Lightning shut down the first 5 Cardinals he faced.  Walks to Van Slyke and Pendleton made the Yankee dugout tense, as they held their breath and hoped Guidry would not fall into his prior ways.  But Nieto grounded back to Ron at the mound to kill the threat.

In the bottom of the inning, Dan Pasqua busted a 66-1 putting New York on the board first.  Ken Griffey followed with a double and scored on a double by Pagliarulo, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Both pitchers kept dealing.  Guidry gave up only 1 hit (a double to DH, Cesar Cedeno) over the next 3 innings.  Tudor ran into some trouble in the 4^th, giving up 3 singles.  But when Butch Wynegar was thrown out trying to steal, Tudor was able to prevent New York from adding to their lead.

Vince Coleman led off the 6^th with a single and scored on a Willie McGee double.  The speed of St. Louis allowed them to consistently take extra bases throughout the tournament and was a tremendous advantage over practically every team they faced.  Jack Clark tied the game with a double that scored McGee and when Tudor set down New York 1-2-3 in the 6^th, the game headed into the final innings tied 2-2.

In the 7^th, Pendleton and Nieto flied out to start the inning.  I called time and walked down from the third base coaching box to speak with Ozzie Smith and showed him a picture of Reagan in the hospital and relayed his moving bedside speech.  The Hall of Fame shortstop looked at me and said, “So?”

The Wizard showing off his Home Run Trot

Back in the batters box, the Wizard dug in against Guidry.  Whether it was the speech, or shear Cardinal determination, or just plain luck (it was mostly luck), Smith rolled the only double 66 of the tournament for a solo home run putting St. Louis ahead 3-2.  Yankee fans booed Guidry.  Yankee Boy threatened small animals owned by the Guidry family.  Bob Shirley was called in from the pen.

In the 9^th, trailing by 1, the Yankees called on Brian Fisher (A-XZ) to hold St. Louis.  Things started off fine as Andy Van Slyke walked in between two fly outs.  Darrell Porter was called on to pinch hit for Nieto and drew a walk moving Van Slyke into scoring position.  Ozzie Smith, still on an emotional high from the Win-One-For-The-Gipper speech, drove a base hit that scored Van Slyke.  Righetti then summoned on to face Vince Coleman who smashed a triple into right center field clearing the bases.  McGee walked and the Yankee Boy became the first middle school student to need blood pressure medication.  Tom Lawless replaced an injured Tom Herr in the 8^th, and now singled scoring Coleman.  Jack Clark ripped another single, and Cedeno got one of his own, as the Cardinals kept moving 1^st to 3^rd on the base hits.  Rod Scurry was called as the 3^rd Yankee pitcher of the inning, and Andy Van Slyke singled home Clark.  Pendleton bounced out to Mattingly for the final out, but by the time the smoke cleared, St. Louis had rallied for 7 runs.

Tudor suffered a 1 grade reduction due to batters faced limits, but still shut down New York in the 9^th 1-2-3 to earn the complete game victory.

ST. LOUIS – The teams headed across the Mississippi River to the shadow of the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium as the Yankee hopes rested again on the knuckles of Phil Niekro (C-YW).  The Cardinals sent Joaquin Andujar (B-Z) looking for the championship clinching win.

In the bottom of the 3^rd, Vince Coleman walked and stole second base.  Tommy Herr continued getting the big hit when needed as he singled home Coleman.  In the 4th inning, Terry Pendleton scored on a Tom Nieto double giving the Cards a 2-0 lead.  Phil Niekro was replaced by his brother Joe (C), who set down the birds without further damage. 

The Yankees dented the plate in the 7^th when Ken Griffey, pinch hitting for Joe Niekro, doubled into the right center gap.  That was as much as the Yankees could collect.  Ken Dayley (B-XZ) handled the 8^th and Jeff Lahti (A-YZ) took care of the 9^th, as New York could not get a base runner in the final two frames.  The Cardinals extend their record in the tournament to 8-1 and celebrated on the field in front of their home town fans! 

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL,

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the tournament championship trophy had been presented, and the tournament MVP trophy had been given to Tommy Herr, I traveled back to the hospital to share the victory with Reagan.  But the good news had beaten me back, as the President and Mrs. Reagan greated me from their hospital window and expressed their opinion of the St. Louis victory.

Afterwards, Reagan, now fully recovered, attended a reception for the ’85 Cardinals.  He raised his glass as a toast to the team for a job well done!  Mr. Reagan was not allowed to climb stairs or speak from a podium after drinking his glass of champagne.

It was a fun filled tournament.  Below is a look back at some of the highlights.