The TBL Baseball Annual A publication of the Transcontinental Baseball League The Game Has Changed 2020 Edition Walter H. Hunt All 24 Teams Analyzed Robert Jordan Using the T.Q. System Mark H. Bloom The TBL Baseball Annual A publication of the Transcontinental Baseball League by Walter H. Hunt Robert Jordan Mark H. Bloom with contributions from TBL’s managers and extra help from: Darrell Skogen Joe Auletta Rich Meyer Jim Dietz Copyright © 2020 Walter H. Hunt. This book was produced using a Macintosh with Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. I can be reached by mail at 3306 Maplebrook Road, Bellingham, MA 02019 or by e-mail at [email protected]. All material in this book is Copyright ©2020 by Walter H. Hunt, except for “Number 6”, which is Copyright ©2020 by Jim Dietz. The 2020 TBL Annual 3 the TBL baseball annual Welcome to the 2020 TBL Baseball Annual. This is the twenty-sixth year of the Annual in the book format. This year we’re looking at the way in which APBA – and the sport itself – has changed in recent years. We have three excellent articles from the most insightful of our members, an analysis of this year’s very deep draft, as well as our regular features, including a poetic tribute to the great Al Kaline. As always, we are pleased to bring this product to you. Enjoy the Annual and enjoy the season. Walter, Robert, Mark May, 2020 On our cover: two stars from two different eras. G AB XBH HR BB SO SB BA 1964 Willie Mays 157 665 77 47 82 72 19 .296 2019 Pete Alonso 161 597 85 53 72 183 1 .260 G GS CG W-L IP BB SO HR ERA 1964 Don Drysdale 40 40 21 21-5 321.1 68 237 15 2.46 2019 Stephen Strasburg 33 33 0 18-6 209.0 56 251 24 3.32 The T.Q. System Shamelessly stolen from the Mazeroski annual, the T.Q. System assigns points to each area of the team’s expected performance and totals the result. The maximum score under the T.Q. System is 50, divided as follows: Pitching: 20 points Offense: 17 points Defense: 8 points Bench: 5 points The T.Q. System does not take age or prospect value into account, only present capability. It does, however, consider usage (available games, at bats and innings). 4 The 2020 TBL Annual table of contents FRONT MATTER Future Drafts 6 TQ Summary 7 Manager Roll Call 8 2020 Computer Pre-Play Clay Beard 9 Hall of Fame 10 The Game Has Changed (1) Darrell Skogen 12 The Game Has Changed (2) Joe Auletta 16 The Game Has Changed (3) Rich Meyer 20 Draft Analysis Mark Bloom 22 SNTs 24 Commissioner’s Report Ray Murphy 25 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Clemente Division Champ and Challengers 26 Blue Hill 28 Whitman 32 Strong City 36 Riverwoolf 40 Mays Division We Are All Regrouping 44 Rye 46 New Westminster 50 Gotham City 54 Maracaibo 58 Ruth Division Why We Roll the Dice 62 Brobdingnag 64 Hoboken 68 Knoxville 72 Midwest 76 2019 World Series Report Clay Beard and Brian Hanley 80 NATIONAL CONFERENCE Aaron Division Go the Distance 82 Las Vegas 84 Melrose 88 Kansas 92 Calusa 96 Mantle Division Power Surge 100 Columbus 102 Munich 106 Detroit 110 Hudson 114 Williams Division Do Not Adjust Your Television 118 Zion 120 Grand Cayman 124 Northboro 128 Warrenton 132 FINAL WORDS Breakthrough 136 Future 137 Editorial Walter Hunt 138 Number 6 Jim Dietz 139 The 2020 TBL Annual 5 future drafts In many cases, what’s on the field isn’t the whole story. Some of our teams have quite a bit to say in future drafts, and any evaluation should properly take that into account. The graphical displays below show how much each team has in the tank. The middle 9 mark on the thermometer (9) represents a full draft (picks #1-#3) in 2021; above the base middle line is excess, while below means something’s missing. haves have nots GRAND CAYMAN. Two #2s (theirs and STRONG CITY. Their and Melrose’s #1. NW’s; four #3s. BROBDINGNAG. Two #1s (theirs and NW’s); two #3s (theirs and MAR). KNOXVILLE. Their own #1 and #3. WARRENTON. #1; Two #2s; two #3s. STRONG CITY. Their and Melrose’s #1. HUDSON. Two #1s; two #2s. BLUE HILL. Just a #1. MARACAIBO. Their #1 and two #2s MUNICH. Two #3s. (theirs and Las Vegas’). MELROSE. Calusa’s #2. balanced NORTHBORO, GOTHAM CITY, all in RIVERWOOLF. Their own drafts, likely LAS VEGAS. Two #4s and two #5s. upper half. DETROIT. Their #1; two #2s. MIDWEST, HOBOKEN, ZION, NEW WESTMINSTER, RYE, WHITMAN, NORTHBORO, COLUMBUS, KANSAS. Their own drafts. These indicators also appear CALUSA. Their earlier #1; two #3s. at the bottom of each team article, for your convenience. 6 The 2020 TBL Annual t.q. summary TEAM (DIVISION) OFFENSE DEFENSE PITCHING BENCH TOTAL The Cream of the Crop Brobdingnag (Ruth) 14.0 6.0 18.5 3.0 41.5 Hoboken (Ruth) 14.0 6.0 13.0 3.5 36.5 Las Vegas (Aaron) 12.0 4.0 15.0 3.5 34.5 Melrose (Aaron) 12.0 6.0 11.5 2.0 31.5 Blue Hill (Clemente) 14.0 6.0 9.0 2.5 31.5 Knoxville (Ruth) 9.0 4.0 15.0 3.0 31.0 The Solid Performers Columbus (Mantle) 14.0 4.0 10.0 2.5 30.5 Rye (Mays) 12.0 6.5 8.5 2.5 29.5 Midwest (Ruth) 11.0 4.5 11.0 2.0 28.5 Whitman (Clemente) 8.0 6.0 11.0 2.5 27.5 Strong City (Clemente) 8.5 6.0 10.0 2.5 27.0 The Transitional Teams Munich (Mantle) 9.0 6.0 9.0 2.5 26.5 New Westminster (Mays) 9.0 3.5 10.5 3.0 26.0 Detroit (Mantle) 10.0 3.5 9.0 3.0 25.5 Kansas (Aaron) 8.0 4.0 10.0 2.5 24.5 Zion (Williams) 8.5 3.5 8.0 2.0 22.0 The Rebuilders Maracaibo (Mays) 6.0 6.0 5.5 2.0 19.5 Gotham City (Mays) 7.0 4.0 6.0 2.5 19.5 Hudson (Mantle) 7.5 3.5 5.5 2.5 19.0 Grand Cayman (Williams) 7.5 4.0 4.5 2.5 18.5 Northboro (Williams) 7.0 3.5 5.0 2.5 18.0 Calusa (Aaron) 5.0 4.0 5.0 2.5 16.5 Warrenton (Williams) 6.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 15.0 Riverwoolf (Clemente) 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.5 10.5 Division Totals International 276.5 (23.0 average) Ruth (IC) 135.5 Clemente (IC) 96.5 National 282.0 (23.5 average) Aaron (NC) 107.0 Mays (IC) 94.5 Mantle (NC) 101.5 Williams (NC) 73.5 The 2020 TBL Annual 7 manager roll call Munich Marauders Mantle Division Paul Montague 37th year Hudson Generals Mantle Division Clay Beard 36th year Elders of Zion Williams Division Richard Meyer 36th year Gotham City Batmen Mays Division Anton Greenwald 35th year Knoxville Outlaws Ruth Division Pat Martin 34th year Maracaibo Rumrunners Mays Division Walter Hunt 34th year Brobdingnag Barbarians Ruth Division Joe Auletta 32nd year Hoboken Zephyrs Ruth Division Steve Powell 31st year Grand Cayman Havens Williams Division Mark Bloom 30th year Melrose Avengers Aaron Division Mark Freedman 27th year Blue Hill Mudslides Clemente Division Mark Ludwig 25th year Whitman River Rats Clemente Division Brian Hanley 25th year Las Vegas Gamblers Aaron Division Paul Harrington 24th year Northboro Phoenix Williams Division Robert Jordan 21st year Midwest Mongrels Ruth Division Darrell Skogen 19th year Northboro Phoenix Williams Division Steve Stein 18th year Strong City Statesmen Clemente Division Eric Sheffler 17th year Rye Herons Mays Division Craig Musselman 16th year New West Whiskeyjacks Mays Division Jim Jeatt 16th year Columbus Jets Mantle Division Vic Vaughn 14th year Kansas Koyotes Aaron Division Bill Schwartz 13th year Warrenton Giants Williams Division Jack Chapman 12th year Detroit Dragons Mantle Division Dave Jaskot 9th year Calusa Indians Aaron Division Gordon Rodell 6th year Riverwoolf Sharks Clemente Division Daniel Dumont 4th year Ray Murphy is serving his sixth year as our non-playing Commissioner. Hall of Fame managers in Bold Italic. 8 The 2020 TBL Annual 2020 computer pre-play by Clay Beard Another year, another micro-manager. Gustave Robicheaux second position. However there has been dispatched for another Cajun skipper; Kingfish ain’t no wild card coming out of Boudreau. The limits look to be in the neighborhood and the four-car pile-up that is the he uses the right pitcher at the end of a close game. His Williams. Visions of Gate City. only quirk seems to be constant lineup juggling. It looks like a different guy puts the lineup together every day. But It’s a different story over in the they’re all reasonable so I might stick with him for a while. International. Brobdingnag can start printing the playoff tickets I checked Fatigue Only under Fatigue and Injury Rules. and Riverwoolf can start checking out who the first pick I also checked all three of the options at the bottom; will be. They should stock up on ice and Ace bandages Automatic AIM Subs, Enforce BFP, and that No PR > 930 while they’re at it. thing, which provides some innocuous usage. I also checked Platoon Awareness.All players were active for the But once you get past the two outliers, Wow! There are eight whole season.