Junior, King Felix and the Big Unit Lead M's to Big Finish

Give Felix Hernandez some run support and he can win a few games -- 27 to be exact!

And let Ken Griffey Jr. play a 162-game schedule in his prime and he can set a new single-season home run record -- 74!

Back him with the Mariners' all-time best lineup and Randy Johnson can post a new career high in wins with 25!

Led by Hernandez, Griffey and Johnson, the all-time Mariners compiled a 128-34 record against the team's 2014 schedule, with a few more interleague games thrown into the mix. The initial motivation behind this "what if" APBA baseball game replay project was to see how many games King Felix could win if he was backed by the best Mariners team ever. He didn't disappoint.

King Felix ('14) piled up a 27-2 record with a 1.64 ERA and 276 K's in 31 starts. He completed 12 games, including 9 shutouts. It helps to have a great defense behind you as well.

Griffey ('94) was the squad's offensive MVP, compiling a .291/.364/.747 slash line to go with his 74 home runs, 139 runs and 155 RBI, showing what might have been during the strike-shortened 1994 season.

Johnson ('95) combined with Hernandez to provide a potent 1-2 pitching punch -- posting a 25-3 record with an ERA of 2.41 and 271 strikeouts in 32 starts. He completed 6 games, with 4 shutouts.

The rest of the M's powerful lineup featured:

• Designated hitter Edgar Martinez ('95) -- .306/.441/.573 with 106 runs, 97 RBI, 56 doubles and 27 home runs.
• Leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki ('04) -- .326/.354/.425 with 215 hits, 107 runs and 43 stolen bases.
• Second baseman Robinson Cano ('13) -- .317/.374/.560 with 114 runs, 113 RBI 54 doubles and 28 home runs.
• Third baseman Adrian Beltre ('04) -- .271/.336/.569 with 42 home runs and 101 RBI.
• Outfielder Jay Buhner ('96) -- .219/.291/.523 with 37 home runs and 101 RBI.
• Shortstop Omar Vizquel ('92) -- .296/.331/.372 with 68 runs and 41 stolen bases.
• First baseman Alvin Davis ('87) -- .274/.352/.524 with 27 home runs and 93 RBI.
• Catcher Dan Wilson ('96) -- .212/.259/.341 with 13 homers and 68 RBI.

As a team the Mariners batted .274/.339/.493 with 273 home runs. The M's averaged nearly 6 runs per game.

Meanwhile, the pitching staff held opponents to half that, posting a 2.74 ERA. Other starters included Hisashi Iwakuma ('13) at 18-5, Jamie Moyer ('03) at 15-5 and Mark Langston ('87) at 12-2.

The bullpen was led by J.J. Putz ('07) at 5-3 with 32 saves; Jeff Nelson ('95) at 6-5 with 5 saves; and Mike Schooler ('90) at 6-0 with 4 saves. 

For complete season stats, click here. 

This replay had it all: Lots of offense, great pitching and plenty of clutch hitting and defense. And it showed that even the most powerful teams still have off days from time to time ...

Nevertheless, they had a pair of ridiculous win streaks -- 15 games in April and 19 in a row in July/August.

This was a treat, from start to finish. And makes me wonder "what if" for my next project ...

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King Felix Dominates with Perfect Game in 2014 Mariners Replay

It was like deja vu all over again ... as Felix Hernandez threw his second perfect game in three years at Safeco Field.

This time, King Felix dominated the Astros in an 11-0 victory on May 23, 2014 during an APBA baseball game replay of the Mariners' 2014 season. (In real life, Hernandez tossed his perfect game Aug. 15, 2012 in a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.)

Against the Astros, Hernandez finished with 15 strikeouts, including shortstop Jonathan Villar for the final out of the game. Catcher Jason Castro and designated hitter Matt Dominquez each struck out in all three at-bats versus The King.

The Mariners' offense was led by third baseman Adrian Beltre, who went 5-for-5 with a double, a home run, three runs scored and five RBI. Ichiro Suzuki added three hits, scoring a pair of runs, hitting two doubles and stealing a base. In all, the Mariners pounded Houston's pitchers for 14 hits.

Compiling double digit hits is practically a given every game for this Mariners lineup, which is comprised of the team's all-time greatest players, from Ken Griffey Jr. in center field to Edgar Martinez at DH. Second baseman Robinson Cano opened the scoring in this game with a two-run home run in the first inning. First baseman Alvin Davis broke the game open in the fifth inning with a two-run double that extended the M's lead to 7-0.

The victory, the team's 11th in a row, moved the Mariners' win-loss record to 41-6 on the season, as they continue to crush their opponents almost every outing. And just a month earlier, Randy Johnson hurled a no-hitter against the Marlins in Miami. So their pitching has been OK, too.

For me, this was the second time I had experienced King Felix tossing a perfect game, though I must say the "actual" game against the Rays was a tad more dramatic! My wife and I had the good fortune to be in Seattle back in August 2012 and just happened to stop by for the afternoon game before heading back to our home in Oregon.

And back in the day in what very well may have been my first MLB game, I witnessed Steve Busby's second no-hitter. I was one of 9,019 fans at old Milwaukee County Stadium on June 19, 1974 who saw Busby and the Royals defeat my beloved Brew Crew 2-0.

As an 11-year-old grade schooler I remember leaving the stadium disappointed that the Brewers had lost ... again. (They went 76-86 that year, though they had the beginnings of their Bambi's Bombers days with the arrival of Robin Yount, Don Money and Gorman Thomas ...)

I recall my dad responding with something like ... "The Brewers may have lost, but you got to see some baseball history tonight ..." (About five years earlier, he had had the good fortune to be at Wrigley Field for Ken Holtzman's first no-hitter, a 3-0 win over the Braves on Aug. 19, 1969.)

The way things are going in this Mariners replay, I have a feeling that Felix just might get that elusive first 20-win season ... Now that would be some history!

(Note: As of this blog post, the Mariners have gone on to build a 69-16 record and Felix stands at 16-0! For the complete stats, click here.)

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Johnson Tosses No-hitter; All-time Mariners Stretch Win Streak to 12

As a big fan of The Big Unit, it was a thrill to have Randy Johnson toss a no-hitter in this APBA baseball game replay of the Mariners 2014 season.

What's that, you say? Johnson retired after the 2009 season ... Correct. However, Johnson is one of my starters as I replay the M's 2014 schedule using the team's all-time greats. So in addition to Johnson on the mound, Ken Griffey Jr. is taking care of centerfield, and Edgar Martinez has the DH duties covered.

As you might expect, playing the Mariners greats has resulted in an above-average number of victories, including 12-straight on the current win streak! As of April 20, 2014, the Mariners stand at 16-2, after a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins.

Johnson highlighted the series with his no-no in game two, a 5-0 win. In holding the Marlins hitless, Johnson piled up 12 strikeouts, while walking only five batters. He struck out the side in both the fourth and the seventh innings. Giancarlo Stanton went down swinging three times, as did catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (I just love to say and type that guy's last name ...).

Johnson was aided in the victory by a trio of home runs: a two-run blast by first baseman Alvin Davis in the second; a solo homer by Martinez in the fourth; and another two-run smash by Griffey in the fifth.

The Marlins offense struggled, to say the least. The day before, Jaime Moyer held them to a single hit while striking out 15! Leadoff hitter Christian Yelich fell victim to Moyer by striking out four times.

With a team batting average of .284 and an ERA of 2.77, it's not hard to believe the M's good fortune, so far.

Johnson's no-hitter improved his record to 3-0 with a 1.34 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 33-plus innings. King Felix Hernandez has been equally effective, matching Johnson's 3-0 record with a 1.75 ERA and 39 K's in 36 innings over four starts.

This replay got started when I wondered how many wins might Felix have had last year if given some offense. So I surrounded The King with the best the Mariners could muster, and the results are evident.

Ichiro Suzuki is batting .342 in the leadoff spot, with 11 runs scored and 10 RBI. He's followed by second baseman Robinson Cano (.286, 9 runs, 13 RBI); Griffey (.231, 15 runs, 8 RBI); Martinez (.435, 13 runs, 12 RBI) and third baseman Adrian Beltre (.352, 11 runs, 13 RBI). Beltre leads the team in home runs with six, followed by Griffey with four, and Davis, Cano and Jay Buhner with three apiece.

Hernandez is pitching the same games in the replay that he did in real-life during 2014, including facing the actual lineups of his opponents. For the rest of the games, I've filled in Johnson and the rest of the starters against the lineups/pitchers the Mariners faced last year. I'll be limiting pitchers to actual innings pitched and batters to their actual ABs.

For complete stats, click here.

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King Felix Teams Up with Mariners' All-time Greats in 2014 Replay

Photo courtesy of Keith Allison via Flickr.com

Just how many games could King Felix win if the Mariners ever provided him with some offense? We're going to find out ...

I've just embarked on an APBA baseball game replay of the Mariners 2014 schedule ... with some modifications.

The biggest change? Instead of the anemic M's offense that has plagued the franchise for years, Seattle will be fielding its all-time greats.

That's right, after leading off with Ichiro and Robinson Cano, opponents will face the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Adrian Beltre in the meat of the batting order.

Felix Hernandez (AXYZ) will be joined in the pitching rotation by Randy Johnson (AXYZ), Hisashi Iwakuma (AYZ), Mark Langston (BXY), Jaime Moyer (B) and James Paxton (AXZ). The bullpen's not too shabby, either, with the likes of J.J. Putz (A&CXYZ), Jeff Nelson (AXYZ) and "The Sheriff," Norm Charlton (BXY).

I'm looking forward to a lineup something like this:

1. Ichiro ('04)  RF
2. Robinson Cano ('13) 2B
3. Ken Griffey Jr. ('94) CF
4. Edgar Martinez ('95) DH
5. Adrian Belte ('04) 3B
6. Jay Buhner ('96) or Mike Cameron ('02) LF
7. Alvin Davis ('87), Bruce Bochte ('79), John Olerud ('93) or Tino Martinez ('95) 1B
8. Omar Vizquel ('92) or Craig Reynolds ('78) SS
9. Dan Wilson ('96)

The bench includes the pride of Corvallis, Ore., Harold Reynolds ('87), Raul Ibanez ('06) and Bret Boone ('01).

Notice anyone in particular missing? Let's just say I have a hard time penciling A-Rod into the lineup after his year-long suspension and all the shenanigans that surrounded it ... So Alex Rodriguez will not be involved in this quest ...

The most wins that King Felix has tallied in a season was 19 in 2009. I'm hoping with this supporting cast he can top that. And I'm banking on The Big Unit giving him a run for most wins on the staff.

Update: Eight games into the replay and Felix is 2-0 with a shutout, 1.00 ERA and 18 K's in 18 innings. For all the team stats, click here. 

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Plenty of APBA Highlights in June 15, 2013 Replay

Yasiel Puig and Juan Uribe of the Dodgers.  Photo courtesy of Ron Reiring/Creative Commons/Flickr

What better way check out the 2013 APBA baseball card set than to put all the teams in action and see what happens.

So I picked a mid-summer date when nobody has yet thrown in the towel or begun unloading their soon-to-be free agents. I had only two criteria -- Felix Hernandez had to be starting for the Mariners and Yasiel Puig had to be in the Dodgers starting lineup.

Saturday, June 15, 2013 fit the bill, and the games didn't disappoint.

Eight of the 15 games finished in one-run victories, including three walk-off winners. Unfortunately for King Felix and the Mariners, the A's notched one of the come-from-behind thrillers.

And the Dodgers won their showdown with the Pirates 7-3. Puig was a difference-maker, going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, one RBI and two runs scored. After driving in the game-winning run with his second double, Puig stole third base and cruised home with an insurance run when Russell Martin's throw skipped into left field. Of course, Puig rounded out his performance with a trio of strikeouts. D'oh!

In what may have been a first in the nearly four decades that I've been rolling for sixty-sixes, the Dodgers hit 10 doubles in the game, including four in the decisive fifth inning. Clayton Kershaw, Skip Schumaker and Puig went back-to-back-to-back, with Hanley Ramirez adding another for good measure. Kershaw got the complete-game victory.

Felix Hernandez. Photo by Keith Allison/Creative Commons/Flickr

Hernandez seemed well on his way to doing the same against the A's. He cruised through the first seven innings, allowing a solo home run by Josh Donaldson while scattering seven hits and working out of several jams. Meanwhile, the M's built an early lead with three runs in the first, including a solo home run by Raul Ibanez. They added another run in the third after Nick Franklin's second double of the game. Kyle Seager followed with an RBI-single.

A.J. Griffin started for the Athletics and didn't look as though he would make it through the third inning, much less pitch a complete game. But Yoenis Cespedes made it a one-run game in the eighth with a two-run homer off King Felix. With the A's trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Young led off with a single, then stole second. Hernandez headed for the dugout, confident that Yoervis Medina could slam the door.

Medina, however, uncorked a wild pitch, sending Young to third. Eric Sogard drove him in with a grounder to first. After getting Coco Crisp to pop to third, Josh Reddick singled. Cespedes did the same, moving the go-ahead runner to second. Brandon Moss then didn't waste any time dropping the M's, smashing a gapper to left center to bring in Reddick. A's win, 5-4.

In one of the other top contests, my favorite Brewers squad gave up THREE two-run home runs to the Reds' Brandon Phillips, including a walk-off dinger in the bottom of the ninth! Phillips drove in six runs, spoiling a showdown in which the Brewers rallied three times before falling 9-8.

Led by Carlos Gomez, the Brew Crew finally tallied three runs in the top of the eighth to take an 8-7 lead. Gomez scored two runs and drove in three with a double and a home run. It was great to see Milwaukee total 12 hits -- without Ryan Braun. The Reds, however, had Phillips.

The games setup was simple enough. I went to Baseball-Reference.com for the schedule and boxscores. I played the games in their real-life order, beginning with the Cubs facing the Mets at Citi Field.

Wherever possible, I used actual lineups. In a few instances I had to to substitute for players who had too few at-bats or innings pitched to earn a card. Or, as in the case of Mark Teixeira of the Yankees, I had to use his 2012 card as he spent most of 2013 on the bench with injuries. About a dozen players had to be plucked from other squads as they still hadn't been traded when my June 15 games happened.  Among the notable players who later changed uniforms were Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs/Yankees and Alex Rios of the White Sox/Rangers.

Here are the results and a highlight or two or three ...

1. Mets hold on for a 7-6 win over the Cubs. Soriano had a two-run home run in the loss; David Wright scored a pair of runs; center-fielder Juan Lagares drove in three runs with a pair of doubles.
2. John Lackey and the Red Sox earned a 3-1 win over the the Orioles at Camden Yards. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a double and scored, then drove in the game-winner with a single in the second. Big Papi David Ortiz reached base four out of five at-bats; Crash Davis had a solo home run for the O's.
3. The Dodgers dropped the Bucs 7-3 at PNC Park.
4. Jason Heyward drove in the winning run with a double in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Braves to a 5-4 win over the Giants at Turner Field. After being shut out for seven innings, the Giants rallied for four runs, including a pinch-hit two-run homer by Brandon Belt.
5. The Blue Jays defeated the Rangers 7-2 in Arlington. The big blow was a two-out, bases-loaded double by Maicer Izturis, propelling R.A. Dickey to the win. Nelson Cruz had a two-run homer for the home team.
6. The Rays blew out the Royals 11-3. Alex Cobb got the complete game win. Ben Zobrist and Desmond Jennings each scored three runs; third-baseman Kelly Johnson drove in four runs with a home run and a double.
7. The Reds broke the hearts of any Brewers fans who attended the 9-8 thriller at Great American Ball Park.
8. Tyler Chatwood pitched an eight-hit shutout in defeating the Phillies, 2-0. Nolan Arenado had a solo homer.
9. The Cardinals rallied with two runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Marlins 6-5. Marcel Ozuna smacked a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth that looked to give Florida the victory. But Pete Kozma, Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday all hit doubles to tally the game-tying and then game-winning runs.
10. Home runs by Conor Gillaspie and Alejandro De Aza helped the White Sox to a comeback win over the Astros, 5-4. Jason Castro had three RBI in the loss.
11. A two-out, three-run home run by Alex Avila propelled the Tigers to a 5-4 win over the Twins. Max Scherzer got the win; Joaquin Benoit earned the save. Home runs by Clete Thomas and Ryan Doumit kept it close.
12. The Yankees exploded for six runs in the top of the 12th inning to drop the Angels 9-3. Ichiro Suzuki, Vernon Wells and Eduardo Nunez all scored a run and drove in a pair.
13. The Mariners suffered the agony of defeat at the hands of the A's.
14. A pair of home runs by Jason Werth led the Nationals to a 5-4 win over the Indians. Ryan Zimmerman got the win; Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for the save.
15. Similar to the Yankees, the Diamondbacks piled up six runs in the top of the 10th inning to score an 11-5 win over the Padres in the day's finale. The D-Backs combined nine walks with 11 hits in the win. The Padres scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5, including a three-run pinch-hit home run by Will Venable and a solo homer by Chris Denorfia.

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