The boys gathered for the 24th edition of the MVTGA draft at the Westford Regency on February 27. For the first time in many years one manager was absent but we were able to implement some modern technology and we had our first draft picks made via text messages. There was an audible gasp heard when the Avatars led the developmental draft off by snatching Mike Stanton of the Marlins leaving Stephen Strasburg to the surprised but grateful Stevedores. There were no gasps but a chorus of "I knew its" when the Avatarz grabbed Chris Carpenter to lead off the regular draft. It was rather surprsing to see a large number of relievers go in the first round, though. In the end, it seems like everyone went home happy, though.
Now that the MVTGA is about to open up for it's 24th season, we thought we'd open the history books and see what was happening twenty year ago. The MVTGA was about to embark on it's 4th season. It was also the second consecutive year of expansion. In 1989 the MVTGA raided the cubicles of Digital Equipment Corporation to add the Space Monkeys, Jedi MidKnights and Desperados. In 1990 those same cubicles were raided again and we found Paul Yankowskas who brought his Beer Chasers in to the league. What was once a small, informal league amongst family and long time friends the league now has nearly doubled in size, from 5 to 9 teams in the last two years. There was also another round of reorganizations. In 1989 the league broke off into East and West divisions for the first time with the East being comprised of the original teams and the West being the three new teams. To balance things out, the 66ers moved from the East to the West; most likely assuming he would go undefeated by beating up on the hapless expansion teams. However in 1990 the 66ers moved back to the East and the Wanderers smelled the fresh meat and moved to the West. The Beer Chasers were placed in the East. In 1990, the league also expanded it's schedule by increasing the regular season from 39 to 48 games.
The East had some hitting issues with the division batting a combined .235. The West wasn't a whole lot better as they combined for a .247 average. Maybe the fact that we hadn't settled on a game had something to do with that as some of us played the APBA computer game, some of us played the Pursue the Pennant board game and one of us was playing the APBA board game, complete with the master game symbols. If you think preparing for the draft is bad today, think about drafting for different games where a grade 19 pitcher in APBA may not be able to get a lefty out in Pursue the Pennant or a dominant pitcher in Pursue the Pennant may be a grade 5 in APBA. Instead of laptops we all hauled piles of APBA and Pursue the Pennant cards to the draft!
The Purple Eagles managed to take the East crown with 28 wins, just edging out the Fat Boys' 27 wins. The 66ers got into the playoffs, too, with a .500 record. Mark Grace would take the hitting crown with a .346 average but Kevin Mitchell would take the MVP award with 22 homers and 51 RBI which ain't bad for a 48 game season! The Purple Eagles led the East in hitting with a .246 average and also led with 62 homers. The Fat Boys led the East in pitching with a 3.27 ERA but the Eagles were right there at 3.31. The Fat Boys' Bert "Be home by" Blyleven led the East with a 2.37 ERA and Jeff Montgomery had 11 saves for the Eagles. But none of that was good enough for the Cy Young and Chuck Finley took the award with his 2.78 ERA, 7-2 record and 66 K's in 77.2 innings.
The Jedi MidKnights would take the West crown with 26 wins, two games ahead of the Wanderers. The Desperados snuck into the playoffs, too, with a 22 win, sub-.500 record. The Space Monkeys, finishing last with 21 wins had some interesting numbers. Despite winning the Zimmer they led the MVTGA by scoring 44% of their runs in the first three innings but were last gathering only 27% of their runs in the final three innings. John Kruk would take the hitting crown with a .353 average and set the still standing MVTGA record by hitting in 26 straight games. All that would translate into the MVP award. The Desperados led the West and the MVTGA in hitting with a .265 average and also led the West with 46 homers. The Space Monkeys led the West in pitching as Ed Whitson and John Smoltz were 1-2 in ERA. Whitson was at 2.29, Smoltz at 2.81. They also led the West with a 3.18 ERA with the MidKnights a distant second at 3.65. Tom Henke would gather up 8 saves. The Cy award would go to John Smiley with a sad 3.22 ERA, a 6-3 record and a miniscule 39 K's in 81 innings. George Brooks, the brains behind the Jedi MidKnights, took the Manager of the Year award. Not too shabby for a guy that was never home when you got there and who once conducted a fantasy football draft between dice rolls. But we all loved the fish sticks, didn't we?
The East playoffs would see the Fat Boys take three of four from the 66ers to move on while the Wanderers swept the Desperados away. The Purple Eagles would eliminate the Fat Boys while the Wanderers took care of the MidKnights with both series being decided in 6 games. Down 3 games to 1, the Wanderers would catch fire and win the final three World Series games to take the MVTGA crown, their third in four years. Randy Milligan would be named the Series MVP. Randy Milligan?
