Today I'm going to deviate from my APBA summaries and write about the Timberwolves recent trades. I'd like to hear what everyone thinks and if these moves put them over the top.

Let's recap: 

On June 22nd, the Wolves shipped Julius Randle and the 28th pick in the draft to Brooklyn, in exchange got the 33rd pick from Brooklyn and Mo Gueye from Chicago. This deal was actually more about dumping Randle's salary than picking up quality players. The 33rd pick ended up to be Isaiah Evans. 

This move allowed the Wolves to lock up Ayo Dosunmu to a long-term contract. 

On June 25th the Wolves shipped fan favorite Naz Reid and a boatload of picks to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for LaMelo Ball and Josh Green.

I don't think the Wolves are done dealing but they don't have a lot of capital left to use. They may have to roll with what they have and hope it is enough to win them a championship.

What does the roster look like now and what would the starting lineup be?

With Randle and Reid gone, they will have to find a way to make up 34 points and 13 rebounds. Ball should be able to cover 20 points and about 5 rebounds (What he averaged last year). He also averaged 7 assists which gives the Wolves a nice point guard. They will also have Dosunmu for a full season and he averaged 14 points last year. He will most likely come off the bench and spell Ball or Edwards.

They still need someone to back-up Gobert and be able to play power forward and pull down rebounds. They have too many guards. Will they package a couple to get the power forward they need? Do they sign a PF in free agency? 

Some free agents that are available are: LeBron James, Kristaps Porzingis, Tobias Harris, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes. Do they sign one of these guys with some of the cap space money they freed up?

I'd like to hear what you think. Leave a comment.

Washington vs Cleveland 1962

 My next APBA series consisted of two American League teams squaring off using the basic game. After the old Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 This 1962 Washington Senators team was an expansion team that later became the Texas Rangers. They finished last with a record of 60 - 101. The Cleveland Indians finished with a record of 80 - 82.

  

Logos are Courtesy of https://www.sportslogos.net/

GAME 1: Location, Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Municipal Stadium

On the mound for the visiting Senators is Don Rudolph a C pitcher. Toeing the rubber for the home team Indians is Jim "Mudcat" Grant a D pitcher. Needless to say this is not a pitchers duel.

Cleveland puts up a single run in the second on a solo shot by Gene Green. Each team scores one in the third. In the fourth the Indians put up three on another solo shot by Green and a two run blast by Gerald Kindall. This dropped Rudolph to a D pitcher. 

With the score 5 to 1 Cleveland, the Senators put up a 5 spot in the top of the 5th culminating with a three run shot off the bat of Jim King. Unfortunately for the Senators that would be the last of their scoring as Bill Dailey (D), Jim Perry (D), and Frank Funk (B) would shut them down for the final 4 innings. 

Cleveland went on to score single runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th to come away with a 8 to 6 victory. Dailey got the win and Funk got the save. For the Senators their relievers of Marty Kutyna (D) and Steve Hamilton (C) were unable to keep the Indians from scoring. Kutyna took the loss.

GAME 2: Location, Washington DC, DC Stadium

This game saw Sudden Sam McDowell (D) on the hump for the visiting Indians and Claude Osteen (C) hurling for the hometown Senators.

The hometown team struck first with a 2 run single in the 3rd off the bat of Chuck Hinton. In the top of the 5th Cleveland tied the game with a two run homerun from Woody Held. 

After Osteen was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 6th the Indians got to reliever Pete Burnside (D) with one unearned run and a steal of home from Al Luplow. They surprised the Senators when John Romano took off for second on the double steal and Luplow made it home safely.

The Senators came back with two of their own in the bottom of the 7th on a two run homer from Harry Bright. But in the top of the 8th Cleveland tallied one run and the Frank Funk (B) closed it out for a two inning save and his second of the series.

GAME 3: Location, Washington DC, DC Stadium

The final game was all Cleveland with a 10 to 2 bashing of the hometown Senators. Starter Dick Donovan (B) for Cleveland pitched a complete game for his first win of the season. Starter Tom Cheney (C) only made it through 3 innings and gave up 6 runs. Relievers Ed Hobaugh (D), Steve Hamilton (C), and Jim Hannan (B) pitched the remaining 6 innings with Hobaugh not giving up any runs.

The offense for Cleveland was lead by homeruns from Jim Mahoney a solo homerun in the first, Willie Tasby a 3 run shot in the second and Chuck Essegian a two run blast in the 3rd.

That's it for this summary Cleveland took all three from Washington. My next series and recap will be the 1957 Giants versus the 1957 Cubs. Mays vs Banks. Look for my writeup on that series.

Milwaukee vs Pittsburgh 1962

 Today, I'm going to share APBA recap of my three-game series between the 1962 Milwaukee Braves and the 1962 Pittsburgh Pirates. In this particular series I played the Master Game of APBA baseball.

 

Game 1 took place at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. It was a matchup between #4 starters for each team with Bob Hendley taking the mound for the visiting Braves and Harvey Haddix hurling for the home Pirates. This game was not a pitcher's duel.

In the top of the first the Braves scored 4 runs but the Pirates came back with 2 of their own in the bottom of the frame. In the top of the fifth with the score Milwaukee 4 Pittsburgh 3 the Braves scored 3 more to take a 7 to 3 lead. In the bottom of the 6th with Hendley still on the mound the Pirates broke out the bats and scored 4 off of Hendley and 3 off of reliever Claude Raymond to take a 10 to 7 lead heading into the 7th. In the 8th inning with both starters out of the game a costly error by Dick Groat allows the Braves to score 4 runs to take an 11 - 10 lead. With Nottebart pitching for the Braves in the bottom of the 8th the Pirates looked to pitch hit for pitcher Olivo. They call on Jim Marshall who only had 2 homers in 116 plate appearances, with a man on Marshall hits a two run shot to put the Hometown Pirates in the lead 12 - 11. The Pirates call on Roy Face to close it out in the top of the 9th, and he shuts down the Braves' bats for the save.

For the Braves Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Eddie Mathews all homered. For the hometown Pirates both Virdon and Marshall homered and Clemente was 3 for 5 and drove in 4 runs.

Game 2 switches to County Stadium in Milwaukee with each team having their aces take the mound. For the visiting Pirates Bob Friend takes the mound and for the home team Braves Warren Spahn toes the rubber.

No scoring in this until the bottom of the third when Frank Bolling hits a two run homer. In the top of the fifth the Pirates score three unearned runs thanks to an error by leftfielder Gus Bell. In the bottom of the 7th Bell redeems himself by driving in Del Crandall with a triple. The score remained 3 to 3 until the top of the 11th when the Pirates score three runs off of reliever Nottebart. The Pirates called on Roy Face to close out the bottom of the 11th and earn his 2nd consecutive save.

For the Pirates Clemente was 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a triple, and Skinner was 2 for 6 with two RBIs and 2 doubles. For the Braves besides Bolling's homer and Bell's triple Hank Aaron was 2 for 5 with 2 singles. This game was more about the pitching than the hitting with friend striking out 8 in 8 innings and Spahn not giving up an earned run in 9 innings of work.

Game 3 stays in Milwaukee for the final match-up between these two teams. The Pirates are going for a sweep and the Braves hope to salvage one win in the series. This match-up saw each team throw their number-two starters: Earl Francis for the Pirates and Bob Shaw for the Braves.

This was a true pitcher's duel. Only 10 hits between the two teams and only two were extra base hits (doubles). In the top of the 5th the pirates broke a zero zero deadlock when Mazeroski doubled, after Schofield walked Francis advanced Mazeroski to third with one out Skinner hits a sacrifice fly for the only run of the game. The pitching trio of Francis 6 innings no runs 2 hits, Olivo 2 innings 1 hit and for his third consecutive save Face 1 inning no hits the shutout the likes of Aaron, Adcock and Mathews and the rest of the Braves who only mustered 3 singles. For the Braves Shaw pitched a complete game, only gave up the 1 run on 7 hits. This game was quite the contrast to game one which saw 23 runs total. 

When I finish my next match-up the 1962 Washington Senators versus the 1962 Cleveland Indians I'll post another recap. In the meantime go and roll some games of your own.

Winter Sports Champions

 Well, the two major winter sports, NBA and NHL completed their championships over the weekend. The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4 games to 1 in the NBA championship and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights for Lord Stanley's Cup.

The Knicks last won the NBA Championship in 1973. This was around the time I got interested in basketball and the Knicks were the team I liked. They had an all-star lineup in Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Clyde Frazier, and Earl Monroe. Today's teams can't afford to carry that many stars. They usually have two or three and then some quality pieces that specialize in defense, scoring or rebounding. 

In the NHL the Carolina Hurricanes last won the Stanley Cup 20 years ago in 2006. I got interested in hockey as a kid when I got a rod hockey game for Christmas. Usually those came with only Montreal and Toronto but I also got a set of players for all the NHL teams. Carolina wasn't a team back then they first came into the NHL when the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979 and at that time they were the Hartford Whalers. In 1997 they moved to the Carolinas and got renamed the Carolina Hurricanes.

 

Congratulations to both the New York Knicks and The Carolina Hurricanes on winning their respective championships. Also, congratulations to Jalen Brunson and Jordan Staal for being named MVPs of the finals.

I'd like to hear from you on who you have winning the NBA next year and what team will hoist the Cup in the NHL next year. Leave a comment.

That's Frustrating

 About 11 months ago I wrote on this blog with the intent of blogging more about my APBA games and sports in general. That didn't go so well, but I promise to those who read this, I will post more APBA game recaps and other sports musings.

Currently the Stanley Cup is going on between Carolina and Vegas, I'm not a big fan of either, so for me I not to invested in it.

The NBA finals are going on between the Knicks and the Spurs. I'm pulling for the Knicks. How about those ticket prices. You cannot take your family to a playoff game without mortgaging the house.

Of course, my favorite sport, baseball, is in full swing, and we have seen a few surprises as Tampa has been exceeding expectations and others like Boston and Detroit aren't living up to expectations.

Let me hear who you are pulling for?