APBA LIFE MEETS REAL LIFE
This Mid-West Baseball League Hall of Fame Exhibit was written by Steve Cutler on the evening of Game #5 of the MLB 2018 World Series.
It was 9:44 AM on February 10, 2007 and I sat there with anticipation in Marietta, GA as I was 1 minute away from making my first pick in the 2007 MWBL draft. I had researched for months and thought long and hard about the direction I was going. I had already secretly announced to Stray that I was going to choose David Price and 
followed it up with an article (The Price is Right) that he promptly posted at 9:45 AM. Price had been lights out with Vanderbilt and while I don’t draft a ton of collegian players, I felt this was a no brainer. Before the draft, I shared my pick with the then Iron City owner, MLB.com Draft and prospect expert, Jonathan Mayo so he could plan his pick 3rd overall pick. Since his team was closer to competing and looking for the more immediate future, he was happy to hear my choice and that he’d still have a shot at the up and coming San Francisco Giant pitching prospect, Tim Lincecum. 
Sharing our picks in advance helped me form my draft strategy as I planned for my 4th overall pick.
Ah the 4th overall pick….I acquired that pick in December of 2006 from New River when I traded Vicente Padilla for Frank Catalanotto and the #4 overall pick. Looking back on it now, I must’ve caught Michael (Fauntleroy) in a drunkin’ like state to get him to agree to that trade. Padilla had a solid 2006 MLB season (15-10, 4.50 era), but nothing spectacular.
So here we are with David Price off the board then shifting to the #2 overall pick from Coconut Creek. Coconut Creek was planning to compete in the playoffs in 2007, so needed a big bopper. St Louis Cardinal power-hitting outfielder Chris Duncan finished the 2006 season with 22 homers in 314 plate appearances and fit the bill. That translated to ~44 home runs in a full 
season. Cliff (Miller) could do no wrong (in 2007) with that pick and pulled the trigger. Shocked and knowing who Iron City was taking, I sat back knowing I just pulled off the coup of an (APBA) lifetime….the door was open for me to draft former high school standout and Los Angeles Dodger pitching prospect, Clayton Kershaw. Iron City made their Lincecum pick at around 9:55 AM and Hollywood was once again up. With a sigh of release, I made my choice of Clayton Kershaw. I now had 2 pitching prospects that could lead my team for the next 10+ years. They just had to make it up before their 3 year contracts run out.
2008 was a good year for my team. While my 2008 rookie draft was not as strong as 2007 (drafted future major leaguers Brett Anderson, Chris Davis and Matt Gamel) May 25, 2008 was the first of my “next” sigh or reliefs. Clayton Kershaw throw’s a solid 6 innings, striking out 7 in his debut. Clayton Kershaw was now officially mine! Fast forward to September 14, 2008. I remember how excited I was the day before when I heard that David Price was called up. I was so excited, I *pinged* Mayo on AIM telling him. He went so far as to write an article highlighting my excitement. Sadly the article is no longer online, but I was proud it was posted. David Price throws a solid 5 1/3 innings against the Yankees striking out 4 in the loss. Of course later that season he was turned into a solid 
reliever by Joe Madden enroot to Tampa Bay’s first World Series appearance. David Price was officially mine!
They were both officially mine. 
Now they had to stay healthy and produce. Well, they did just that. David Price and Clayton Kershaw have led their MWBL Hollywood team to 1 World Series Championship, 3 American League Championships, 8 straight playoff appearances and 7 straight division championships. During that 8 year stretch Hollywood accumulated a record of 866-330 (.668 winning percentage). Clayton Kershaw led the team with an MWBL 187-59 record and a 2.25 ERA (3 Cy Youngs) while David Price had a record of 146-67 and a 2.72 ERA (1 Cy Young). With the 2018 vote still pending,
Here we are, 11 years after the MWBL Draft, 10 years after their respective MLB debuts on Sunday October 28, 2008 where their lives collided in real life during game 5 of the 2018 World Series. Alex Cora gave the nod to David Price, who is going on short rest, to square off against Clayton Kershaw. This real life, once in a lifetime match-up, brings Hollywood’s star pitchers head-to-head on the big stage. While neither has been an MLB Post Season ‘stud’, for one night, Hollywood will enjoy seeing them oppose each other. APBA life meets Real life.