After completing Grand Theft Auto III several months ago, I decided it was time to play the next installment in the series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. This time, you play Tommy Vercetti, who is released from prison after serving 15 years. The game has a 1980s Miami Vice vibe, right down to the Lance Vance character voiced by Philip Michael Thomas. As with GTA III, there were lots of great songs to listen to on the various radio stations. It’s an old game but I thought it held up quite well. Vice City is a fairly large city with plenty of locations spread across multiple islands. You can even visit the interior of a shopping mall in the downtown area. Weapon selection is nice and varied but it is the driving aspect of the game that is the main focus. Once again, there are numerous vehicles to commandeer: sports cars, sedans, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, boats, aircraft, and others. One new addition to GTA: Vice City was the ability to buy property around the city. After completing certain location specific missions, the properties start generating income.

All in all, I enjoyed Vice City as much as I did GTA III. I didn’t play every mission but I completed the core storyline missions and several side missions along the way. I own the next game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and will tackle that a bit down the road.


Lance Vance, Tommy Vercetti, and Ken Rosenberg

In 2023, the Apalachin Attack were once again assigned to a Gold Level League. This time it was the American Conference West Division of the Gold .279 League. Our hopes were high when we signed a fine new center fielder in Andrew McCutchen. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed in the first two months of the season. At the end of May, we were 23-31, which placed us at the bottom of the division. Things turned around a bit after that. At one point in early August, we had clawed back to a game over .500. It was a prolonged slide for the rest of the season, however, as the Attack finished with a 76-86 record.

McCutchen played pretty well in his first season in Apalachin. He hit .264 with a team-leading 44 doubles. He contributed 4 triples, 18 home runs, and 50 walks while scoring 95 runs and batting in 69. Late in the year, we added power hitting catcher Todd Hundley. Hundley struggled in the 15 games he played. He only hit .192 with 2 doubles and 1 home run. Thankfully, his skills behind the plate were excellent.

Active Roster (Initial)
SP Larry Dierker, HOU, 1969
SP Herb Pennock, NYY, 1927
SP Gaylord Perry, CLE, 1972
SP Curt Schilling, BOS, 2004 (3951 PP)
SP Zack Wheeler, NYM, 2018
RP Joe A Berry, PHA, 1944
RP Doug Corbett, MIN, 1980
RP Jeremy Jeffress, MIL, 2018
RP Roberto Osuna, HOU, 2018
RP James Pazos, SEA, 2018
RP Craig Stammen, SD, 2018
CL Sean Doolittle, WAS, 2018
C Jody Davis, CHC, 1984
C Brian Downing, CAL, 1979
1B Hank Greenberg, DET, 1938 (2900 PP)
1B Anthony Rizzo, CHC, 2018
2B Javier Baez, CHC, 2018
3B Ryan Zimmerman, WAS, 2009
SS Willy Adames, TB, 2018
SS Cal Ripken Jr, BAL, 1983
LF Giancarlo Stanton, NYY, 2018
LF Kyle Tucker, HOU, 2018
CF Torii Hunter, MIN, 2007
RF Nicholas Castellanos, DET, 2018
RF Paul Waner, PIT, PEAK

Reserve Roster (Initial)
SP Vern Bickford, BSN, 1950
SP Randy Jones, SD, 1975
RP Archie Bradley, ARI, 2018
RP Roenis Elias, SEA, 2018
RP Adam Kolarek, TB, 2018
C Wellington Castillo, CWS, 2018
1B Gil Hodges, BRO, 1950
3B David Freese, STL, 2011
SS Addison Russell, CHI, 2018
LF Eddie Rosario, MIN, 2018
RF Nick Markakis, ATL, 2018

Acquisitions
CF Andrew McCutchen, PIT, 2013
C Todd Hundley, NYM, 1996

After a second place division finish in 2021, the Apalachin Attack were promoted to the Gold .299 League. During the season, we made two acquisitions. We signed pitcher Curt Schilling in July to strengthen our starting staff. He gave us everything we hoped for and more. Schilling quickly established himself as the staff ace. His stat line was impressive enough to have won pitcher of the year if he had pitched the whole season: 11-3, 2.53 ERA, 93 K in 16 games. I wanted to add an impact bat to our lineup to give a boost to our below average offense. Therefore, I signed first baseman Hank Greenberg to be our new designated hitter. He did not make the impact I had hoped for in his 58 games played: .251, 7 2B, 10 HR, 27 R, 23 RBI, 21 BB, 75 SO. Overall, we finished the season 82-80, which was only good enough for a disappointing fourth place finish in the American Conference West Division.

Active Roster (Initial)
SP Larry Dierker, HOU, 1969
SP Randy Jones, SD, 1975
SP Herb Pennock, NYY, 1927
SP Gaylord Perry, CLE, 1972
SP Zack Wheeler, NYM, 2018
RP Joe A Berry, PHA, 1944
RP Doug Corbett, MIN, 1980
RP Jeremy Jeffress, MIL, 2018
RP Roberto Osuna, HOU, 2018
RP James Pazos, SEA, 2018
RP Craig Stammen, SD, 2018
CL Sean Doolittle, WAS, 2018
C Jody Davis, CHC, 1984
C Brian Downing, CAL, 1979
1B Gil Hodges, BRO, 1950
1B Anthony Rizzo, CHC, 2018
2B Javier Baez, CHC, 2018
3B Ryan Zimmerman, WAS, 2009
SS Willy Adames, TB, 2018
SS Cal Ripken Jr, BAL, 1983
LF Giancarlo Stanton, NYY, 2018
LF Kyle Tucker, HOU, 2018
CF Torii Hunter, MIN, 2007
RF Nicholas Castellanos, DET, 2018
RF Paul Waner, PIT, PEAK

Reserve Roster (Initial)
SP Vern Bickford, BSN, 1950
RP Archie Bradley, ARI, 2018
RP Roenis Elias, SEA, 2018
RP Adam Kolarek, TB, 2018
C Wellington Castillo, CWS, 2018
3B David Freese, STL, 2011
SS Addison Russell, CHI, 2018
LF Eddie Rosario, MIN, 2018
RF Nick Markakis, ATL, 2018

Acquisitions
SP Curt Schilling, BOS, 2004 (3951 PP)
1B Hank Greenberg, DET, 1938 (2900 PP)