1997 Shakopee Schlitz: (.420)

I began my first season of Apba with the attitude that it would be a well appreciated diversion from the rigourous life of a car parker. I wanted to be as competitive as possible, but I would have done alot of things differently if I had realized how 'out for blood' most of my competition was. I knew I was'nt likely to develop a championship team in my first year, so I decided to at least make it a fun one. Taking the likes of Griffey and McGwire with my first two picks gave me some homerun threats that would make the Schlitz dangerous if not very effective. After fending off some of Steve's slippery, "take advantage of the new guy", pre-season trade tactics, my lineup looked something like this:

1. Lance Johnson    CF
2. Chipper Jones    3B
3. Ken Griffey Jr.  RF
4. Mark McGwire     DH
5. Terry Steinbach  C
6. Mark Grace       1B
7. Travis Fryman    SS
8. Marty Cordova    RF
9. Jose Viscaino    2B

-The teams surprise player was Terry Steinbach, with his productive 35 HR, 100+ RBI season.

-My fondest memory was Ken's mouse breaking tantrum on a late inning Steinbach rallying 3-run homer.

Overall I was happy with my .420 winning percentage and felt I was often competitive. Ending the season on a 14 game skid did'nt help my effort to not finish with the worst record.