Last Saturday, at the Prairieland 3 APBA Baseball Tournament in Springfield, Illinois, Joe Schall's 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers fended off Kyle Daniels' 1928 Philadelphia Athletics in hard fought championship game by the score of 12-8. Both teams kept scoring runs but Joe's Dodgers seemed to get on base when they needed... every inning. Joe's '51 Dodgers must have been in a tight division. He managed to advance to the playoffs with a 6-4 record. To make it to the final, he defeated Earle Shamblin and his 1957 Chicago White Sox. Earle had the best record in regulation play with an 8-2 mark.

Kyle and his 1928 Athletics faced off with Eric Berg and his 1930 Washington Senators. Both the 'Nats and A's came away with a formidable 7-3 record, but it was Kyle and his 1928 Athletics advancing to the finals.

Some numbers from the tournament included:

20 participants from 6 states (Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma)

5 decades were represented (Bob Spatz even took the 1960 White Sox) 4 teams were from the 1930's (Yankees, Cubs, Senators and Phillies) 3 teams were from 1954 (Braves, Dodgers, White Sox) Numbers can't quantify the fun that was had by all though. Everyone had a blast. It was good to see the veterans of Prairieland as well as meeting some new folks. The director was happy to play Earle Shamblin who came all the way from Oklahoma (even though he swept me both games). Hoosiers Dave Chestnut and Scott Dike accompanied John Roels and the tournament director for lunch. All were treated to John's hilarious impression of Harry Caray.

Congratulations again to Joe Schall and his 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers!! Treat that trophy well Joe!

Many thanks are extended to Thomas Nelshoppen for coordinating and directing another great tournament. Do not forget guys, the 2018 Chicagoland Summer APBA Baseball Tournament will be held on Saturday July 14th, just a few months away!

The next tournament on the schedule is the APBA National Convention June 21-24, 2018 in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Mr. John Herson is the tournament director.  Register at  www.apbagames.com if interested in attending.

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. 

Thursday June 21 through Sunday June 24, 2018 - The APBA National Convention and Tournament, Alpharetta, Georgia.  Register at  www.apbagames.com if interested in attending APBA Utopia.

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 at [email protected].

Friday through Sunday August 17-19, 2018 - Las Vegas APBA Tournament, Las Vegas, Nevada.  The site will be the Flamingo Hotel.  Contact Chris White at  [email protected].

Saturday August 25, 2018 - 4th Toledo Glass City APBA Baseball Tournament, Toledo, Ohio.  Contact Ron Emch at [email protected]

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

Saturday November 3, 2018 - Inaugural Furniture City APBA Baseball Tournament, Grand Rapids, Michigan (Legends Sports & Games, CenterPoint Mall on 28th St. SE).  Contact GF Korreck 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 guest was Don Tecklenburg, a former Cincinnati Reds front office employee.

Host, John Asalon, welcomed former Cincinnati Reds employee, Don Tecklenburg, who during the 1981 Baseball players strike suggested to Reds management to broadcast fantasy baseball games to generate revenue by using the APBA Basic Baseball Game.

Don shared that during his sophomore year at Brown University he and some college buddies formed a hybrid league using their famous baseball team supplemented by some cards from the APBA HOF Set. Also while at Brown, Don met Ben Weiser and entered a play by mail league.

Don also shared his connection with the Reds which began one day in 1967 when his friend Randy asked him to come over to his house for lunch. Upon arrival at the house Don was amazed at the collection of baseball memorabilia. Randy then told him his father was Dick Wagner who worked for the Reds. This relationship led to summer intern employment and eventually lead Don becoming the Business Manager for the Reds in 1979.

During the 1981 strike, the Reds were looking for ways to generate revenue in their broadcast agreement as they needed to keep advertisers and pay for airtime. In a meeting between Roger Ruhl, Jim Winters, and Don, Don tossed out the idea of doing throwback broadcasts based on fantasy games pre-played using the APBA Baseball Basic Game. The concept was approved by management but really embraced by the Cincinnati Reds Broadcast Team of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall and Reds Announcer. Don then spoke on some of the broadcasts involving the 76 Reds and 27 Yankees, 79 Reds and 69 Mets, and 40 Reds and 72 Athletics. Don would play the games using APBA and forward the scoresheet and statistics to Marty and Joe for their game re-creation. Don noted that he still has some of the broadcast tapes but not all.

Don closed in noting that although he does not play APBA today he understands the historic value of what he, Marty, and Joe did in the Summer of 1981 with regard to APBA and MLB. I would like to thank Don and John Asalon for sharing this historic game company moment with all of us.

John's Asalon's scheduled guests for the May 10th live show are David Hall and John Herson. Dave will take about his APBA experience over a lifetime. Herson expands on the new BATS baseball sets and other 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:

Basic Game Mail League - A Basic Game Mail League has 4 openings in a 24 team league with a few variations.  It is a winter league running  October through March and has been around since 2004.  It is also a somewhat unique in that they employ a salary cap.  Since they have a total of 5 teams dropping out this year they will pool the rosters from each team, including their draft pick slots for the up coming rookie draft, and the new managers will stock their respective teams from a supplemental draft that only the new teams will participate in.  All the teams dropping out had good to excellent records this year so there will be good players to stock your team with.  For more information please contact Larry at [email protected].

April 29th Opening

BBW League Opening - A12 team computer draft league almost 30 years running playing BBW 5.75 computer game has an opening. You have the option to manage/run all home games and pick your micromanager for road games. Weekly opportunities for trades and waivers/pickups from the at-large pool. Open team needs some work but not that far out of playoff contention. Rosters and constitution available. If interested please contact Alan on the Between the Lines Delphi Forum Site under League Match.

April 15th Opening

The Northern Virginia APBA Baseball League - The NVABL is looking to immediately fill a vacant manager's slot for the 2018 season. The NVABL is a 12 team Master Game league that plays mostly online via Google Chat and phone. They have roots in the DC suburbs but currently have players as far North as New Hampshire and West as sunny California.  More about the league can be found at  https://sites.google.com/site/apbanvabl/. ; The open team is the Downington Abbots; an incredibly competitive team with current and future star power including Kris Bryant, Didi Gregorius, Stephen Strasburg, Charlie Blackmon and Trea Turner.  If you're interested in finding out more about the league and taking over the Downington franchise, please contact Chad at  [email protected]

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 play.

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.