APBA helps relive baseball memories

I'll never forget where I was on night of June 19, 1974 or the afternoon of Aug. 15, 2012. Although separated by nearly four decades and some 2,000 miles, both times I was sitting in the stands of a baseball stadium watching history happen.

One of the joys of playing the APBA baseball game is "reliving" games we may have watched on TV, heard on the radio, or attended in person.

I've been fortunate to attend a pair of no-hitters in my baseball life, the most recent being the perfect game tossed last year by Felix Hernandez versus the Tampa Bay Rays at Safeco Field in Seattle.

While I was thrilled to see King Felix win 1-0, I have to admit I wasn't as impressed nearly 40 years earlier when I saw my first no-hitter at old County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wis. Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals pitched a 2-0 gem against my beloved Milwaukee Brewers that Wednesday night back in 1974.

The Brewers, led back in those days by Don Money, George Scott and a young shortstop named Robin Yount, were still struggling to notch their first winning season. I was 11, and excited to be attending one of my first major league baseball games.

After the game, I remember saying to my dad something like, "What a boring game," disappointed that my favorite players Bobby Coluccio, Money and Yount had let me down.

"What do you mean?" my dad responded. "You just saw baseball history!"

Not too long ago I hauled out the 1974 APBA set and "replayed" Busby's no-hitter in my living room in Philomath, Ore. This time, instead of the Kansas City hurler notching his ninth win of the year, the right team triumphed, the Brewers finishing off the Royals 8-2.

Clyde "Fireball" Wright got the win for the home team, with some relief help from Eduardo Rodriquez and Tom "Murph the Surf" Murphy. Ironically, every batter other than Yount, the future hall-of-famer, tallied at least a run or an RBI.

Just as in real life, the Royals scored a pair of runs, getting eight hits instead of seven. Lead-off man Freddie Patek tallied a pair of hits, including a second-inning double to drive in the first run of the game.

Recalling this string of talented Royals squads before they finally won their first World Series in 1985, it still amazes me that hall-of-famer George Brett could possibly have been penciled into the lineup batting eighth between right-fielder Al Cowens and catch Fran Healy! (Brett went 1-for-4 with a single in the replay.)

Of course, Felix's 1-0 win over the Rays a year ago was anything but boring! It was just a fluke that my wife Diane and I even attended the game, having helped move our daughter to Seattle that week for her year-long job with City Year/AmeriCorps.

We were on our way home that Wednesday and the Mariners had scheduled a day game. And Felix was pitching! How could we resist a chance to sit in the King's Court down the left field line, wave our K-cards and chant "K-K-K-K!" every time a Rays batter got two strikes on him.

We could care less about the notorious Seattle rush-hour traffic that afternoon after King Felix struck out Sean Rodriguez, displayed his famous "Felixing" pose and tried to avoid the dogpile of joyful Mariners that converged near the pitching mound. We were so excited to witness history this time that we couldn't wait to hear the Mariners radio station rebroadcast the historic game during our drive back home to Oregon.

The Rays managed a few more hits -- four -- in my replay but only a single run, a solo homer by right-fielder Matt Joyce. The Mariners, my second-favorite team after the Brewers, won 4-1. Third-baseman Kyle Seager went 2-for-4, including a solo home run in the second inning. Second-baseman Dustin Ackley, still batting leadoff back then, scored a run, drove in another and walked to lead off the game.

Felix was his usual amazing self, striking out 13 batters in all, and six of the first seven Rays he faced!

Also as in real life, this game was unusual when playing the 2012 Mariners in APBA. They actually scored more than one run! While the pitching staff is decent, including two A's coming out of the bullpen, this team simply can't hit or score runs. Although they tallied 4 runs in this replay, they did it on only 6 hits and were aided by three Rays errors.

Even so, I might be tempted to replay the perfecto by King Felix again sometime soon ...

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