REGIONAL TOURNAMENT REPORT

 

We are in a three week lull in the Spring 2018 tournament schedule. Next up is The Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament in Maple Grove, Minnesota on Saturday April 7th. This week I would also like to open up our schedule to include tournaments from August through December 2018. 

 

The 2018 APBA Regional Tournament schedule is as follows.  Please Mark your calendars accordingly and be sure to attend and participate in one of these fine events.  You will not regret the experience of brotherhood and gaming experience. 

 

Saturday April 7, 2018 - The Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament, Maple Grove, Minnesota.  Contact Jim Fraasch at  [email protected].

 

Saturday April 14, 2018 - The Old Dominion APBA Baseball Tournament, Richmond, Virginia.  Contact Jim Saska [email protected].

 

Saturday April 14, 2018 - Florida's Spring Break From Reality APBA Baseball Tournament, Davenport, Florida (Denny's in Davenport).  The theme is Happy Days ... teams from the 1950s and 1960s.  Contact Tony Stevens at (352) 600-0974 or at  [email protected] 

 

Saturday April 28, 2018 - The Prairieland III APBA Baseball Tournament, Springfield, Illinois (Ramada Inn, 3281 Northfield Drive).  The theme is The Golden Years 1920-1960's (No W.S. teams or 1941 Red Sox).  Contact Tom Nelshoppen [email protected] or register on-line at  www.apbablog.com.

 

Saturday July 7, 2018 - The 4th Annual Linda B. Schulz Memorial APBA Baseball Tournament, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.  Contact Ken Schulz at  [email protected].

 

Saturday, July 14, 2018 - The Chicagoland Summer APBA Baseball Tournament, Des Plainies, Illinois (at the Comfort Inn O'Hare in Des Plainies, IL). Contact Rob Spatz at  [email protected].

 

Saturday, July 21, 2018 - The Second Annual Lancaster World Series , Landisville , Pennsylvania.  Contact Dale Shreiner  [email protected].

 

Saturday October 6, 2018 - The Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament, Maple Grove, Minnesota.  Contact Jim Fraasch at  [email protected].

 

If your tournament is not mentioned above and you are planning a Regional APBA Tournament in 2018 please forward me your tournament and contact information at [email protected] and I will be sure to promote your event in APBA's company electronic newsletter.  Remember all APBA game tournaments are welcome.

 

 

THIS WEEK IN APBA RADIO SHOW 

 

APBA has began to sponsor a weekly broadcast offering insights into the game of APBA and players within the APBA community.  The host is John Asalon who offers a extremely professional broadcast.  Please join John Asalon and his guests every Thursday night at 8:00 pm (Eastern) for THIS WEEK IN APBA radio show.  This past weeks guests were Ray Dunlap and John Herson talking about the APBA National Convention in Alpharetta, Georgia from June 21-24, 2018.

 

John's first guest was Ray Dunlap, a long-time football player, APBA Hall of Famer, and past Head Statistician for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ray Dunlap will be serving as the APBA Football Tournament Director for the convention. Ray stated that although the baseball tournament is the cornerstone of the national convention, other sport tournaments like football, hockey, and soccer have been growing over the past few years. This growth and APBA's desire to expose convention participants to other games, including golf and horse racing, has resulted an earlier convention start date of Thursday June 21st. Ray then highlighted this year's football tournament format. The tournament will use the basic game format with one-half of play. Ray said they hope to get 16 team entries. To register contact Ray at [email protected]. Remember it is important to select a team that is compatible with the current version of the APBA Football Game.

 

John's second guest needs no introduction, John Herson President and CEO of The APBA Game Company. John provided the audience with details of the APBA National Convention to be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, 4025 Windward Plaza, Alpharetta, Georgia 30005 from June 21-24, 2018. The cost to attend the convention is $140 ($110 for first time attendees). A block of limited hotel rooms are available at a cost of $109 per night. There is also an option to only attend the Friday night dinner for $40 ($20 for kids 15 and under). John then overviewed the convention schedule:

 

Thursday AM - Re-launch of APBA website, Negro League baseball tournament Thursday PM - Game demonstration sessions Thursday Evening - Horse Racing card of races Friday AM - Innovation sessions, all day Golf tournament Friday PM - Homerun Derby contest, all day Golf tournament Friday Evening - Dinner, Q&A session, APBA Hall of Fame inductions, baseball tournament rules Saturday AM/PM - Baseball tournament and quarter-final series Saturday Evening - Annual Group Dinner at local restaurant or free to make your own arrangements Sunday AM - Baseball tournament semi-finals and championship series

 

John also spoke on the scheduled release (next week) of the Football Game (with 2017 New England, Philadelphia, Alabama, and Georgia teams). Also to be released is the 2017 Jumbo (all players) and Regular (ball handling players with ratings for others) football card sets. Also scheduled to be released is college football conference teams (50 players per team). For example, the Big 10, ACC, and SEC were mentioned. John also mentioned that with the release of the 1988 baseball season, APBA will have released all seasons for APBA Go. John's also spoke of the upcoming release of the Bats II baseball set for both the 16 pre-expansion teams and 30 post-expansion teams (with 1960 being the cutoff year). John's last announcement was to watch for the forthcoming offer of a World Cup Soccer set and the release of the 2017-2018 NHL season following completion of the Stanley Cup. I want to thank John for this update and all his hard work and dedication in continuing to expand APBA's offerings.

 

John's Asalon's scheduled discussion for the March 22nd live show is the APBA National Convention Hockey (Steve Skoff-Director) and Soccer (Jack Dolan - Director) tournaments.  Be sure to tune in for this discussion on the APBA National Convention tournaments and other current APBA topics.

 

 APBA LEAGUE INFORMATION

 

I am pleased to report that this column continues to assist leagues in finding new managers and pairing individuals looking for leagues.  Beginning in January 2018 and to better manager newsletter volume, I will run any of your league opening or requests to join leagues for a period of four or five weeks.  I will be glad to run them longer if you contact me at  [email protected].  Openings or individuals looking to join leagues are as follows this week:

 

March 18th Openings

 

No openings this week.

 

March 11th Openings

 

No opening this week.

 

March 4th Openings

 

O.Z. League Opening - The O.Z. League, an APBA Baseball group created in 1982, is looking for a N.J. addition to their league. They currently have 12 teams of which 3 hail from Jersey so getting another would give them the opportunity to create a N.J. Division.  They play a mixture of BBW, MG, and the hybrid Paul Marino Boards. They were featured in the N.Y. Daily News in 1988 and play 162 games from February to October. Their draft is held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ronkonkoma every February. If you are interested send an e-mail to Dom at [email protected].

 

Louisiana/Mississippi League Formation - David is interested in reaching out to all members in Southeast Louisiana, Southern Mississippi to arrange a face to face conference for the purpose of exchanging ideas and perhaps forming a league or tournament in the area or possibly even forming an online league.  If interested contact David Carry at [email protected].

 

ABL League Opening - The American Baseball League (ABL) is looking to add one or two managers for their 2018 season. The ABL has been in existence since 1982.  It is a face-to-face basic game (w/ modifications) league. If you live in the Butler County, Ohio area and are interested, send an e-mail to  [email protected].

 

League Openings - The Cal Ripken Junior League which is AIM playing the 2015 season and The Kirby Puckett Memorial League playing 2014 season has openings.  If interested contact Gene at  [email protected].

 

Roger Lawson Memorial League - The RLML, a well-run 20 team BBW AIM league, has two openings.  Both teams are in pretty decent shape, unlike most orphaned teams.  The league draft is starting next week, so email commish Rick at  [email protected] if interested.

 

February 25th Openings

 

APBA MLB Opening - APBA MLB (BBW, 14 teams, continuous ownership, currently 2017 disk) is looking for a manager in their 13th season.  They play from April through October.  The Annual Draft also includes players who changed leagues in the previous major league season, such as J.D. Martinez and Yu Darvish this past season.  They limit position players to actual games played and pitchers to innings and starts.  The league plays a 162 game season with DH, 40 man rosters, 7 team American League, 7 team National League, and interleague play.  Please e-mail Duane at [email protected] for a rules page or questions.  The league is very well organized and operated and has very good people involved, some of them friends for 35+ years.

 

Canadian Player Expressing Tournament Interest - Alan Lipman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada has been playing APBA Baseball for over 40 years and would be interested in playing in a local tournament. If any area tournament offerings please contact Alan at [email protected].

 

February 18th Openings

 

The International Master APBA League Opening - The IMAL, in it's 7thseason, is looking for a manager of their 2017 Championship winning team.  The league is a C&D based league, there are only 8 teams in the league.  Most of the members are living in Southern California and play some of their games FTF.  The IMAL uses the Master Game with modifications and the CMBA Pitching System.  They have a 108 game schedule.  This year's draft starts in March and the season around the beginning of April.  They only use the 30-man National League rosters from the current APBA season.  There is a 3-tier draft, Auction (player's coming from the AL), Free Agent, and finally a Waiver Draft.  If interested or for more information, please contact David Breeden  at [email protected].

 

February 11th Openings     

 

BBW League Openings - This BBW league has two manager openings in their 14 team, continuous ownership BBW league that is in it's 13th year.  One of the teams has the first overall pick in the draft on Saturday, February 17.  Great league, great members, and great rules. Some of the members have been together in leagues since 1980.    Please contact Duane at  [email protected] with interest and/or questions and he will send you a copy of their league rules. 

 

February 4th Openings

 

Mid-West Winter League Opening - The Mid-West Winter League is looking for a replacement expansion owner.  The MWWL is finishing up the 1993 season and will have an Expansion Draft prior to our 1994 Season in early March.  The MWWL will be adding 4 franchises to a now 20 team League - to bring us up to 24 Teams total.  One of the expansion owners had some life commitments arise.  If interested contact Stray Corrado at [email protected].

 

The Internet Computer Baseball League Opening - The ICBL has openings for two (2) managers. The ICBL, established in 1989,  is an in-season, 24 team league divided into the National League (NO DH) and the American League (DH) using BBW 5.75 and AIM. Team roster size is limited to 34 carded players and 6 prospects. At this time both openings are in the American League. If interested, please contact Brian Devine at  [email protected] with your league/game experience and general knowledge of the game.

 

I trust this column is continuing to bring many APBA players together be it in regional tournaments or league play.  Everyone have a great week.

  

2018 APBA CONVENTION SCHEDULE
This is the tentative schedule for the 2018 APBA Convention at Alpharetta Georgia starting on Thursday June 21st ending on Sunday June 24th.

Before the actual convention starts, the opening rounds of the football, hockey and soccer tournaments will be played.  In addition, the opening rounds of the Negro League Baseball APBA GO tournament will be played. Rules for the Negro League tournament will be forthcoming.  This tournament is limited to 20 (twenty managers)  Teams will be randomly assigned. It is not a requirement but I would like to have the managers of the teams in the semi-finals in Alpharetta for the semis and finals. 

You can registered by sending an email to [email protected] expressing your interest to manage a team.  The first twenty emails received get a team.

Thursday June 21st  (all activities are the Hilton Garden hotel unless indicated otherwise)

MORNING
10:00 am  Unveiling of the new APBA Games website

 11:00 am Finals of the Negro League Baseball APBA GO tournament.

AFTERNOON 1:30 - 5:00  Game demonstrations (small group demonstrations on how to play APBA Football, Soccer, Golf, Hockey and APBA GO).  These sessions will repeat at 2:45 and 4:00. Each session is one hour.  Get an up-close tutorial on these other games.  Expand your APBA experience.

EVENING
7:00 A NIGHT AT THE RACES.
Using the  APBA  Horse Racing game, we are having a night at the races.  This will a multi-race card with the final race - a race of the evenings winners. 
 Sometime on Thursday we will record an APBA Roundtable discussion for This Week in APBA (TWIA).  

Friday June 22nd
MORNING 9:00 Opening welcome
9:30 to 11:30  Innovation sessions
11:30 to 1:30 last chance to register at the APBA offices and purchase product.

AFTERNOON 1:30 to 3:30 FIFTH ANNUAL APBA HOME RUN DERBY

4:00 to 5:00 Questions and answers

The par three golf tournament runs from 9 am to 4 pm on Friday.  Golfers will be provided for you. I encourage everyone to play in this tournament.

EVENING  6:30-8:00 Dinner including awards ceremony hosted by Greg Wells.
Discussion of the baseball tournament rules.
Submit teams and rosters to tournament director by 9:00

The restrictions on pre-1950 teams has been lifted for this year.  Thank you Paul.

Saturday  June 23rd 9:00 am to ?  APBA Baseball tournament.  Completion of pool play and best of three quarterfinals.  Each team plays ten games of pool play.  Teams are assigned to a team randomly.

Saturday lunch is included in your convention fee.

Sunday June 24th Morning  Semi-finals and Finals. 
Trophy presentation
Safe travels home.

How much is all this fun going to cost?  Don't know yet.  I'm still waiting for the hotel to finalize its cost.  They have promised me it will be this week.  Check the store for more information. Your fee includes the convention T-shirt, Friday dinner and Saturday lunch and four days of conference rooms for us. 

If you have never been to a convention, check us out.  You can come just for Thursday for the tutorials at no charge.

You can also attended the Friday sessions. We will offer a Friday night dinner only option. That price will be announced at the same time as the convention price.

People tell me I don't know if I'm good enough.  All these folks are better players than me.  Nonsense.  One of the managers, last year only owned the four teams that came with the basic game. He is coming back.

 There were several young boys, pre-teens, the defending home run champ is ten years old. 

 There are women managers. One made it to the semi-finals last year.  One manager's new wife played her first APBA baseball game at the tournament last year.

If you have an interest in APBA, come to Alpharetta.  Renew old friendships.  Make new friends. This is a family reunion with people you like.  You will not be sorry that you came.