February 2019
Apalachin Attack - 2029 American Conference Champions
February 28, 2019 Filed in: Baseball
The 2029 season was magical for the Apalachin Attack. Playing in the American Conference Central Division, the Attack started the season well, hit a bit of a rough patch in the middle, and then delivered a scorching finish that was one for the record books. Apalachin and Maine finished the regular season tied at 88-74. The Attack prevailed in a tiebreaker game in Maine to advance to the wild card playoff.
For the wild card game, Apalachin played on the road against Marin City. Larry Dierker prevailed against Carl Hubbell as Apalachin’s power overwhelmed Marin City’s pitchers. The Attack blasted five home runs: two by Carl Furillo, two by Cal Ripken, and one by Javier Baez. The final score was Apalachin 12, Marin City 6.
Advancing to the Division Series, the Apalachin Attack faced the Buffalo Thundering Herd. Buffalo was a solid team, which posted a 94-68 regular season record. Underdog Apalachin prevailed in this best of five series to continue its playoff run. Cal Ripken was named the series MVP.
The American Conference Championship was a matchup between the Apalachin Attack and the Shreveport-Bossier Captains. The Attack remained red hot and swept the Captains in four straight. Andrew McCutchen was awarded the honor of series MVP.
Apalachin had won 17 of its last 20 games heading into the League Series. Unfortunately, the Attack ran out of magic against the Lakewood Tigers. The Tigers’ Jimmie Foxx was the series MVP.
For the wild card game, Apalachin played on the road against Marin City. Larry Dierker prevailed against Carl Hubbell as Apalachin’s power overwhelmed Marin City’s pitchers. The Attack blasted five home runs: two by Carl Furillo, two by Cal Ripken, and one by Javier Baez. The final score was Apalachin 12, Marin City 6.
Advancing to the Division Series, the Apalachin Attack faced the Buffalo Thundering Herd. Buffalo was a solid team, which posted a 94-68 regular season record. Underdog Apalachin prevailed in this best of five series to continue its playoff run. Cal Ripken was named the series MVP.
- Game 1: Apalachin 9, Buffalo 6
- Game 2: Buffalo 8, Apalachin 6
- Game 3: Apalachin 8, Buffalo 0
- Game 4: Apalachin 11, Buffalo 3
The American Conference Championship was a matchup between the Apalachin Attack and the Shreveport-Bossier Captains. The Attack remained red hot and swept the Captains in four straight. Andrew McCutchen was awarded the honor of series MVP.
- Game 1: Apalachin 4, Shreveport-Bossier 3
- Game 2: Apalachin 8, Shreveport-Bossier 6
- Game 3: Apalachin 6 Shreveport-Bossier 3
- Game 4: Apalachin 5, Shreveport-Bossier 3
Apalachin had won 17 of its last 20 games heading into the League Series. Unfortunately, the Attack ran out of magic against the Lakewood Tigers. The Tigers’ Jimmie Foxx was the series MVP.
- Game 1: Lakewood 6, Apalachin 1
- Game 2: Lakewood 9, Apalachin 4
- Game 3: Lakewood 6, Apalachin 1
- Game 4: Lakewood 5, Apalachin 1
Apalachin Attack 2024-2028 Seasons
February 28, 2019 Filed in: Baseball
With Perfect Team churning through one season per week, there has been a lot of action since my last update. Here is a quick synopsis of the 2024 through 2028 seasons for the Apalachin Attack.
2024 - 76-86 (.469), 18 GB, 5th Place. Gold Level competition was tough, which resulted in a last place finish in the division. We added a new right fielder, Carl Furillo, to replace Nick Markakis. He added some punch to our lineup with his 41 doubles. Our pitching was not good in 2024. I tried to address it with two acquisitions, reliever Will Smith and starter Patrick Corbin. Smith was excellent and definitely improved our bullpen.
2025 - 78-84 (.481), 20 GB, 4th Place. We improved ever so slightly compared to the previous season. Still, we were well out of playoff contention. Our pitching staff was far more productive with a team ERA of 3.86. After giving up 791 runs in 2024, we lowered that to only 683 in 2025. Left Fielder Kyle Tucker was a particular offensive standout. Once again, I added a new relief pitcher to the team. This time, it was Will Harris.
2026 - 80-82 (.494), 27 GB, 4th Place. It was another fourth place finish but our record improved for the second straight season. Our offense finally started to click again. We scored more runs than any other season in team history with the exception of our 2020 championship. Center Fielder Andrew McCutchen was the team’s best player. He hit .315 with 42 doubles and 19 home runs. Designated hitter Hank Greenberg had a breakout year as well. He scored 101 runs and had 101 RBI while leading the league with 38 home runs.
2027 - 87-75 (.537), 6 GB, 2nd Place. The rebuilding effort finally paid off as we managed second place in the division. Cal Ripken had his finest season to date: .303, 41 2B, 2 3B, 19 HR, 76 R, 87 RBI.We made a couple of late season acquisitions to take a run at the playoffs. First, we added Mariano Rivera to further enhance our bullpen. Next we signed Nolan Arenado to replace long time Apalachin favorite Ryan Zimmerman. Unfortunately, we just fell short of qualifying for a wild card spot.
2028 - 86-76 (.531), 5 GB, 4th Place. Our division was very competitive in 2028. Although we finished only five games out of first place, that was only good enough for fourth place. All in all, we played at a level similar to the previous season. We had one big new addition to the team before the season started. Will Clark took over as our first baseman, replacing Anthony Rizzo. I was pleased with Clark’s production: .279, 44 2B, 4 3B, 25 HR, 81 R, 93 RBI.
2024 - 76-86 (.469), 18 GB, 5th Place. Gold Level competition was tough, which resulted in a last place finish in the division. We added a new right fielder, Carl Furillo, to replace Nick Markakis. He added some punch to our lineup with his 41 doubles. Our pitching was not good in 2024. I tried to address it with two acquisitions, reliever Will Smith and starter Patrick Corbin. Smith was excellent and definitely improved our bullpen.
2025 - 78-84 (.481), 20 GB, 4th Place. We improved ever so slightly compared to the previous season. Still, we were well out of playoff contention. Our pitching staff was far more productive with a team ERA of 3.86. After giving up 791 runs in 2024, we lowered that to only 683 in 2025. Left Fielder Kyle Tucker was a particular offensive standout. Once again, I added a new relief pitcher to the team. This time, it was Will Harris.
2026 - 80-82 (.494), 27 GB, 4th Place. It was another fourth place finish but our record improved for the second straight season. Our offense finally started to click again. We scored more runs than any other season in team history with the exception of our 2020 championship. Center Fielder Andrew McCutchen was the team’s best player. He hit .315 with 42 doubles and 19 home runs. Designated hitter Hank Greenberg had a breakout year as well. He scored 101 runs and had 101 RBI while leading the league with 38 home runs.
2027 - 87-75 (.537), 6 GB, 2nd Place. The rebuilding effort finally paid off as we managed second place in the division. Cal Ripken had his finest season to date: .303, 41 2B, 2 3B, 19 HR, 76 R, 87 RBI.We made a couple of late season acquisitions to take a run at the playoffs. First, we added Mariano Rivera to further enhance our bullpen. Next we signed Nolan Arenado to replace long time Apalachin favorite Ryan Zimmerman. Unfortunately, we just fell short of qualifying for a wild card spot.
2028 - 86-76 (.531), 5 GB, 4th Place. Our division was very competitive in 2028. Although we finished only five games out of first place, that was only good enough for fourth place. All in all, we played at a level similar to the previous season. We had one big new addition to the team before the season started. Will Clark took over as our first baseman, replacing Anthony Rizzo. I was pleased with Clark’s production: .279, 44 2B, 4 3B, 25 HR, 81 R, 93 RBI.