Congratulations to Harlem's own Burks for leadoff, the winner of the four man, 8 team tournament. Each guy had 2 teams. Suprisingly, the NEW YORK METS emerged victorious knocking off the Angels, then the Tigers, then the Giants (me) in the finals.
Not only did the Mets win, they went 6-0 behind stellar pitching from all 4 guys. BFL used Orosco in middle relief and McDowell as the closer. Unconventional? Yes. Effective? You betcha.
I'm Keith Hernandez was named MVP- he must have had 6 HR's including 3 in one game. Mook also starred.
It was nice to see there is quality talent out there. Both Harlem fellas were quality players. The tournament went from about 8:30 to about 1, with plenty of beers and stimulants used.
Results- Detroit beat SL in 3, Bo beat MN in 3, NY beat Cal in 2, SF beat HO in 2. Second Round- SF beat BO in 2 (or 3?), NY beat DT in 2. Finals- NY beat SF in 2.
Props go out to the Harlem boys. Although there was some controversy, everyone played like gentlemen- agreeing to disagree politely.
Star players:
Chris Speier. A big 3 run job to eliminate Detroit.
Alan Trammel. A monster first series.
Chili. Of course.
Krukow. Nasty.
Gooden. Stamina.
Rules that I made (as host) that caused controversy:
1. Give cans o' corn back (run into an out if guy is camped). This was the most controversial.
2. Better seed is home team in games 1 and 3, hence NES is reset after each game. Harlem claims momentum of series is lost.
3. Starter must have off day (if Clemens goes games 1 and 3 in the first round, Hurst must start game 1 of next series). I will be happy to revisit and perhaps change my stance on this rule.
4. Infield Fly Rule. Clearly should be in effect- I am firm on my stance in this matter.
5. To tire opposing pitcher out, I fouled off about 10 pitches purposely. I was jeered for not being a "gentleman." I would like to hear commentary on this issue. My contention, especially if you keep errors as "part of the game", is that this is part of the game too, so you should be able to foul pitches off as strategy.
Once again, let me thank Harlem for a successful tourney. We enjoyed competing and look forward to making a road trip north in the near future.
Harlem World would like to thank our great hosts on the east side for an exciting tourney, well-played all around. The underrating of the Mets, seeded 7th out of 8 teams, really proved to be a huge factor. Gotta love them Amazins'.
In what has been called the biggest coincidence possibly ever, it turns out that Jeff, the host of the tourney, actually lives with a girl who is from Blyleven No No and my home town of Columbia, MD and whom we have hung out with multiple times in NY. I guess in a city of eight million people we really should have expected that a guy we met on a website devoted to RBI baseball would share an apartment with someone we knew from a rival high school in our small suburban town. Ah, the magic of RBI.
In any case, the tournament was definitely a success and we're currently looking for more players from the New York area- there have to be some- to expand the next one, to be hosted in Harlem. Only serious players need apply, as the play level was certainly very high last night.
Does my status get upgraded now?
Sounds like u guys had a fun tourney. I just have one question, y do u insist on running into outs when your opponent misses the ball. I think misjudging a fly ball and bops are apart of rbi.
An excellent tournament. The talent level and intensity was there, I am happy to be rid of the opening jitters.
A few moments I would like to add:
1) My 3 inning 11-0 thrashing of Jeff in Game 2 of our first series. Jack Morris throws 3 inning perfect game.
2) Spike Owen breaks up potential no-hitter for Krukow in the 7th inning with a bloop single.
3) Lenny Dykstra hits an inside the park homerun in game 2 of the championship series, it was the icing on the cake.
For the next tourney which we will host in Harlem next month, a few rule changes.
We will play one full series without resetting the RBI, and all errors count.
The real key to this win was the Mets bullpen, Orosco really shut shit down and McDowell had nerves of steel closing out thise contests.
I know I am in the minority on this. Misjudging a ball should of course stand. I just firmly believe that when a fielder is camped under the ball and drops it, that is crap, and should be an out.
Although I may disagree with what you say about RBI, I will fight to the death your right to say it.
I agree with you Burznsky, but they are "boinks" not "bops".
Next tournament everything is fair, I had to respect the house rules of Big Apple RBI Champ. Oh yeah Joe, are you going to change that login name?
No question McDowell was awesome- better than Orosco in fact. Dykstra hit a gapper and I took a bad angle on it and got burned. It hurt. It hurt bad.
Dylan's patience with Spike Owen was admirable, yet costly.
Congrats Burks. I'd like to get in on the next NYC tourney if you guys can schedule it for a weekend. My job keeps me from doin it during the week.
PS. We call them "Blings" not Boinks or Bops
A most impressive tourney you guys had out there... The meet-on-a-website-yet-know-your-roommate-from-another-state thing is most eerie, but it's good to see there were good games and all got along. I am pretty sure this is the first time RBI players met because of this website. A big step for dee-nee.com....
Regarding the rules
1 - I don't think I could play with the no-BOP rule. The arcade RBI doesn't have bops/blings/boinks and I find it very annoying. I can see why you would want it, nothing worse than a bullshit 2-out BOP resulting in 1-9 runs. Solid use of Voltaire as well...
2 - I'm ambivalent about this one...
3 - Don't agree with this one. Switching starters in a series is fine, but you should be able to use your horses again at the beginning of the next series...
4 - I'm a big fan of the infield fly rule. Lips has been known to let a ball drop for a DP (though he hasn't done it in a very long time) and it's complete ass. Likewise, I always only take one out if a BOP a shallow fly with runners on...
5 - I'm sure it would get annoying, but there's a certain level of skill in cuves to intentionally fouling off pitches, isn't there? In straight pitch we get very pissed off a player keeps fouling off (even though it unintentional 99% of the time), so if someone started doing it to me in curve, I might change my mind...
I'll see if I can inflate your level Burks, though I looked briefly and don't think it's possible...
Love the new pics as well, adds some quality variety...
congrats burks, quite an feat considering you were the shitty mets... i think big apple champ should have to change his name... at least for now.
I still can't believe people don't like the Mets. They won the World Series in '86, the year in which at least half of this game is based on. They're a real finesse team with a ton of heart.
that has made the quote of the week in my info "Y2Jericho46" ^^^^^^^^
K Cets Scratchin at'cha!
peace
We do salute you Gantry. GDavis, you will be welcome at the next tourney, hopefully we can get it going on a weekend in August.
I think Joe, Jeff, Dylan and I make a strong nucleus of representation for Big Apple RBI, but the misjudgementon the Dykstra blooper, and letting him tour the bases on it...I dont know if I can forget that one Big Apple RBI Champ.
I agree with Blyleven No No- huge props go out to Gantry. Checking dee-nee has become part of my morning ritual (along with coffee, box scores and masturbation).
Regarding the Dykstra inside the park job, you must admit i took a bad angle to the ball. he hit it hard, but if i took a decent angle it was a triple. i don't think you can hit an inside the park home run in rbi unless the fielder takes an arc shaped path. leonard's gotta run straight for the wall on that one.
I am eager to get you guys back on the Tengen playing surface. Let me know when you guys want to scrum. Perhaps in late August? If we get 8 guys, how would you set up the tourney?
We should consider a Halloween Rib Tournament at a bar with all the big screens going. We could all dress as our favorite RBI players. Now THAT would be cool.
I need to go download an emulator yo.
"the nye mets are my favorite squadron"
fucking classic Burks_for_leadoff!
You guys should definitely get a semi-consistent 8 man tourney in NYC going. Then you guys should send your top2 upstate and challenge the top-2 of the 32-man tourney...