REGIONAL TOURNAMENT REPORT

 

This week, The 1st Annual Heartland APBA Baseball Tournament was held in Stillwater, Oklahoma under the direction of Earle Shamblin.  The First Annual Heartland Apba Tournament was a great success! The tournament had eleven (11) participates vying for the championship using APBA BATS 2 baseball teams.

 

The Phillies (managed by Ken Castro) went into bracket play as the #1 seed and after a bye played the #10 seed Reds managed by (Don Wegley). The Big Red Machine started to come to life in bracket play and beat the Phillies. The #2 seed Red Sox (managed by Jason Kersey), had to escape a scare from the #11 seed Rangers (managed by Earle Shamblin) and made their way to the finals of the winner's bracket. Another team that came to life in bracket play was the #9 seed Tigers (managed by Roger Gilbert). The Tigers took down the #8 seed Blue Jays, (managed by Rich Hibbs with the only grand slam of the day), and the very scary lineup of the #3 seed Giants (managed by Randy Kersey) before being sent to the losers bracket by the Red Sox. They were eventually eliminated in what was probably the game of the day. Detroit took a 2 run lead over the Phillies into the bottom of the 12th. After two quick outs a double and a single with a stolen base cut the lead to one bringing Cy Williams to the plate. The Phillies, facing elimination were down to their final roll and......BOOM! Cy sent one deep for a walk off Homerun! Ken was a little pumped to say the least! It was an up and down day for the Royals (managed by Bryan Cleveland). The biggest thorne in his side were the Rangers. The #10 seed A's (managed by Blake Wegley) played, yes, small ball and used the hit and run to its fullest for some amazing results. Blake had everyone re-thinking the use of the bunt and hit and run charts, seriously! Diamond Wegley casually managed the Indians to a #5 seed in bracket play. In one game, Addie Joss threw 173 pitches in a 14 inning 7-6 victory over the Rangers. It was the #4 seed Cubs (managed by Steve Schaeffer) however, who dominated the winners bracket and awaited the loser's bracket winner which would eventually be the Red Sox. The Red Sox beat the Cubs twice in the championship series to win the Heartland Apba Tournament! Congratulations to Jason Kersey! Earle Shamblin had to say after playing in his first tournament that playing face to face against many different managers really brings an appreciation for APBA to another level. The subtleties of the cards really come to life. He highly recommends attending a tournament to experience the face-to-face format. The game is really amazing, but then again you guys already new that! 

 

Next up is The Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament, Maple Grove, Minnesota on Saturday April 7th.

 

The 2018 APBA Regional Tournament schedule through July 2018 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].

 

This week I would also like to open up our schedule to include tournaments from August through December 2018. 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 [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 John Cochrane and Rob Spatz.

 

John's first guest of the evening was John Cochrane who will be auctioning the Don Adams APBA collection on behalf of the Adams family. John Cochrane is an APBA Hall of Famer, current APBA Handbook Editor, and distinguished director of the Annual Robert Henry APBA Baseball Tournament. John began by sharing that he first played APBA as an 11-year old after sending for that colorful APBA brochure from an advertisement in Sport Magazine which he still has minus that cut out coupon. He spoke for his love of the 1967 season and the spoiler role his beloved Washington Senators played in that season. John then focused on Don Adams, Don's love of APBA, his recent passing, and the upcoming auction of his collection on E-bay. Don, like John was a CPA, an APBA Hall of Famer, and past Editor of the APBA Handbook. Don loved playing APBA beginning in 1952. Don would buy every season thereafter and acquire the 1950 and 1951 season to complete his collection. John shared that Don's favorite team was the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. John the noted that he and fellow HOFer Pete Simonelli gathered the collection about one month ago and that John is working through the collection preparing to auction the collection through a number of auctions on E-bay. John plans to begin the E-bay auctions in the late April/early May timeframe so keep your eyes peeled if you want to acquire some APBA history and assist the Adams family.

 

John also spoke briefly on his involvement in the APBA Soccer game and that he and fellow Soccer player Jack Dolan would be offering a tutorial/workshop at the National APBA Convention in Alpharetta, Georgia in June 2018.

 

This author personally knows John Cochrane as he and Pete Simonelli personally greeted me during my first APBA Convention oh so many years ago. I would like to extend my personal thanks for all you do for the APBA community and all you have done for me personally my friend. I know as you work through Don's collection there will be many a tear shed from all your memories of Don, but it is your labor of love for this game and it's community that keeps us smiling and makes you one of the patriarchs of APBA.

 

John's second guest of the evening was Rob Spatz. Rob is the Director of The Chicagoland APBA Baseball Tournament and the recent winner of the Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament. Rob spoke of his path to the championship which included an 0-3 start. This should provide hope for many of us especially this Montreal Expos fan. Rob's 2015 Toronto Blue Jays dropped the first two games to the 1996 Indians by 1-0 and 9-2 scores. He dropped the third game to the 1994 Indians then his day changed as he would not lose again with division wins over the 1988 Twins (3-0), 1988 Athletics (4-2), 2013 Red Sox (6-2), 1999 Yankees (11-2), and 2001 Mariners (2-1). Rob's Blue Jays then beat the 1990 Athletics in the quarterfinals, the 1977 Royals in the semi-finals, and the 1977 Yankees in the championship game by a 6-5 score. Rob said his MVP of divisional play was Josh Donaldson and MVP of the playoffs was Jose Bautista.    Rob noted his Chicagoland Tournament will be held Saturday July 14th at the the Comfort Inn in Des Plains, Illinois. They are currently at 38 participants with 2 openings remaining. Contact Rob at [email protected] if interested in attending. Although I have not personally met Rob we have corresponded several times with regard to tournaments and he is always helpful and prompt. Rob, thanks for all you do in the APBA community and congratulations on your GMABT Championship.

 

John's scheduled discussion for the March 15th live show is the APBA National Convention and discussion of the associated football, hockey, and soccer 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 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  [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.