TBT was in town for work last night and came over to my place for a couple games of RBI. I don't think either of us had played since last summer's Omaha tournament (and he didn't even participate in that, so it might even be longer for him), and we were rusty as hell - we combined for somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 strikeouts each game, and I think he struck out the side in the first inning on me both games. I ended up winning both games on walk-offs, 2-1 (NY over SF) in 13 innings and 3-2 (SF over MN), although the second one deserves an asterisk the size of the moon because I scored the last two runs while TBT was trying to pull off a complete-game victory with a dead-armed Frank Viola.
TBT is a hell of a guy, as we have already established on this here forum (https://forums.dee-nee.com/index.php?topic=31664.msg1239894#msg1239894), and many thanks to him for stopping by while he was in town. The fact that we only got in two games of RBI was not because of the shortness of his visit, but because we just sat around and shot the shit for a couple hours before and after the games. I'm looking forward to seeing him again in Omaha this summer.
BUMP
Our boy TBT came back through South Dakota this weekend on a college football trip and made a stop by my place. Between dinner, local tourism, and Tecmo, we only got in one RBI game, but it was a fun one... an all-star game in RBI 3.
NL (Beef) got on the board first, with a dinger from Ryne Sandberg in the 4th. AL (TBT) got that one back in the top of the sixth thanks to a homer by Rickey Henderson, then gave it right back the next inning when Sandberg and Kevin Mitchell delivered back-to-back doubles. In the 8th, though, Rickey struck again - he got an infield single, stole second, and scored on a double by Cecil Fielder.
To extra innings!
Just like last time we played, the outcome probably needs a big asterisk - neither of us put in a new relief pitcher after the 9th, so Randy Myers and Eck were pretty gassed by the 11th when things ended. With two outs, Mitchell hit a liner that just cleared the wall in center, and the old guys were finally able to go to sleep.
The two teams combined for 29 strikeouts, and honestly the way I was swinging the bat he was probably being merciful that it was that few.
So many strikeouts when you haven't played for awhile, it's certainly easier to be sharper with pitching than hitting in RBI.
What an awesome game! 1990 Rickey Henderson is the best leadoff hitter in the entire game, such amazing stats bestowed upon the 1990 AL MVP. Ryno and Kevin Mitchell are such amazing hitters and looking at the OP of this thread, it really does remind me that most of the best teams in RBI 3 reside in the National League...
29 Ks though! Wow, that must've been some great pitching! I honestly am suspect to whiffing a lot too, so I wouldn't really have been any better pfft.
It was less "great pitching" than "man, we swing at EVERYTHING" - we weren't throwing THAT much slop, either, just couldn't make decent contact.
Ryno is my favorite player of all time, so it made me very happy that I managed a dinger with him. Rickey is TERRIFYING on the bases, too - I need to double-check but I think he might be faster than Coleman in the original.