TWISP Notes
December 13, 2021
• There are seven days and 82 games remaining in the August schedule.
• Tigers second baseman Steve Dillard was placed on the 30-day disabled list after he collided with outfielder Ron LeFlore in Game 1 of a twinbill between Toronto and Detroit at Tiger Stadium. LeFlore was also injured on the play, and will be out for at least a week.
• The Reds will experiment with a new lineup on August 25th, when they’ll revert back to one that was used during their 4-game sweep of the Yankees in the 1976 World Series. Dan Driessen will now bat clean-up, George Foster will be bumped down to fifth, and Johnny Bench will bat sixth, with Cesar Geronimo returning to center field on an everyday basis. If the experiment is a success, the lineup will continue to be used for the remainder of August, and possibly into and through September.
• The stage has been set for the final Guidry-Palmer match-up of the season, on August 31st at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It will the fourth time the two have squared off against each other this season, with New York winning two of the three contests.
• Phillies outfielder Garry Maddox became the second player in the NL – and the eighth overall – to steal home this season, doing so against Rick Rhoden of the Dodgers on August 24th.
• While managing in a game during a recent visit to Arizona, my friend Steve P created his ‘Legends of Statis Pro’ list of his most memorable players from my SP78 season. On the list were Steve Ontiveros (CHI-N), Julio Cruz (SEA), Reggie Smith (LA), Sixto Lezcano (MIL), Ron Guidry (NY-A), Mike Caldwell (MIL), and Lou Whitaker (DET).
• Rangers outfielder Al Oliver extended his current SP78-leading hitting streak to 16 games.
• Outfielder Charlie Spikes of the Evansville Triplets was called up by the Tigers to fill the roster spot left vacant by the month-long injury to second baseman Steve Dillard. He’ll platoon with Tim Corcoran in center field until Ron LeFlore returns from injury at the end of the month.
• Dave Chalk of the Angels was suspended one game by the AL office for using an illegal bat during the NY-CAL game of August 23rd, and will serve the suspension on August 25th. He’s the fourth Angels player to be charged with illegal bat use this season, but only the first to be suspended.
• The Cardinals swept their 3-game series with the Reds this week, and by doing so have taken sole possession of fifth place in the NL East, dropping the Mets a game back after their extra-inning loss on Sunday. The Cards have now set their sights on the fourth-place Expos (five games ahead) and third-place Cubs (six games ahead).
Hey Fans! August 26th is Hardee’s Backpack Nite at Memorial Stadium!
Statis Pro 1978 Replay 
So how many more months will it take to finish the final week in August? Could it be possible to finish on August 31, 2022 and start the first September game on September 1, 2022?
Let’s break it down first, basing the results on August games played so far. From August 1st to August 7th, it took 345 days to play exactly 100 games; from August 8th to August 15th, it took 580 days to play 96 games, and this most recent week, from August 16th to August 24th, it took a whopping 1,604 days to play 106 games. Obviously I was flying through Week 1, and had slowed my pace down considerably for Week 3.
Based on the averages of those stats, Week 4 would take me 843 days to play 100 games. For the actual remaining number of games (82), I’d theoretically (and statistically) be playing a game every 8.4 days…or 691 days to play 82 games. Which comes out to just under two years to finish the remaining games in August.
So to answer your question: no, I wouldn’t be done by August 31, 2022, unless I doubled – or maybe even tripled – my games-played output between now and then. And just so you know, it usually takes me a few months of statwork and prep before I start a new month…so there’s no way I’d be starting September the day after I finished August.
Did you get those statistics from the Statistor?
Yes, I did…but I had to wake him up first, the grumpy bastard.