Roger's 1957 APBA Replay

(06/28/2020) I really didn't intend to start the replay this soon ... but all of my set-up tasks are completed, ATMgr is configured ... so maybe not today, but it just might be time to get this thing started. In the previous replays, there have been at least two blog entries for every week of gameplay - a quick game-by-game recap that includes a listing of the player transactions of the day and then a week summary. The summary includes a recap of the week, where the year sits, what's coming up, standings and stats output, and in general just how the replay is going. I will get this started in the next few days, so stay tuned for details. I am really looking forward to this. Who's ready for some baseball action?

After having just completed a 1901 replay, the first thing I noticed upon viewing the 1957 schedule was the abundance of Sunday doubleheaders. In 1901, unless you were in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, or Missouri there was no Sunday baseball due to Sunday Blue Laws . These laws were still in effect in Pennsylvania until 1933, so I got a taste of it again in my 1930 replay.   Sunday Blue Laws were gone by 1957 though and since gate receipts were the big moneymaker for the teams (television baseball was still in its infancy) then if there was a bonus to be made from   scheduling doubleheaders versus single games then regular Sunday doubleheaders was the way to go. It's not every team every Sunday, but it was something that would be considered a routine event for all teams.   Of course 1901 also featured a lot of pitched complete games, very small rosters, and a completely different type of baseball (and worse fielding). 1957 features 563 unique players, while 190...

Mike McCormick Not trying to be morbid here, but Mike McCormick died last week and it got me thinking about baseball players from 1957 that are still alive today . McCormick was signed as a bonus baby by the New York Giants towards the end of  1956 and made his major league debut (as a 17-year-old) on 09/03/1956. According to the Bonus Baby rules of the day McCormick was required to stay on the major league roster for his first two seasons, so he was able to make a few more appearances again in 1957. It wasn't until next year, once the Giants had left New York for San Francisco, that this California kid was able to begin to flourish. He made a pair of All-Star appearances for San Francisco in the early 1960s, then his arm fell off, he drifted around the league for a couple of years, and then his arm returned and he was able to win a Cy Young while back with San Francisco in 1967. McCormick's final season was 1971 after which he retired (as a 32-year-old). Eddi...

Now that my 1901 replay is complete (also see 1930 , 1949 ) it is time to start prep work for my 1957 replay. I am not in a particular hurry to get this started, but I do have a list that I work through, basically one step at a time, as part of my replay preparation: The 1957 3R disk and card sets were ordered from APBA earlier this year. I will be using APBA Baseball for Windows (BBW) for the replay, so I didn’t really need the cards, but I do like to flip through them, and besides, I worry about the game company and want to do my bit to help keep them in business. Further, I like to encourage the game company to keep revising and reissuing of old sets. Many years have passed since this set was originally released and new stats have been gathered to fill in some of those historical holes plus the game company has revised some of its formulas over time as well, and the re-released sets now include every player, which I prefer. My 1949 repl...