Here is Herson’s announcement:

“Alpha testing has wrapped up on BBW 5.75 – the update for BBW 5.5. The next step will be a round of beta testing to begin in January.
Advanced Draft, League Manager, Stat Master, and the game itself, BBWin32 are being updated to run natively under all versions, 32 and 64 bit, of Windows XP, Vista, and 7. All 4 of the BBW programs have been updated and are fully functional. Compatibility issues with 5.5 are minimal and will be handled with a stand-alone utility. The testers have successfully run full-season replays, drafts, checked stats, used AIM, created organizations, and much more. Some user interface features have been added – right-click menus, mouse wheel scrolling to name two. The primary focus on this update had to be on converting BBW 5.5 from a Windows 3.1 application, which is what it is at heart, to one that could run on Windows 7. This has been accomplished. You won’t need to run in compatibility mode, you won’t need to "run as administrator", you won’t need XP-Mode or virtual machines. It will run on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. One of the braver testers has successfully run it on a Windows 8 preview version.

More work remains, more testing will be done, to insure a successful release.”

You can read Herson’s announcement and all the responses to it on the Between the Lines forum. Later in the thread, Herson did go into detail on what will be fixed and improved:

“Some fixes that will be in 5.75 include:

1) The 2^nd column 6 issue (along with 2 other similar ones).

2) Hitters will need to have a ’1′ somewhere on their card for a PRN-6 to be changed to a homerun against L/M rated pitchers..

3) Positive Park Effects have been fixed. Testing will need to be done in the upcoming testing round.

Draft will have some new features:

1) Ability to view a player’s card.

2) Improved sorting by clicking on the header row.

3) A Filter feature for the main player’s list”

Beware, some are bit testy towards Herson in that forum thread right now.  There’s something about BBW that makes everyone’s engines run a little hot. Whether or not, it’s called for is your call (I’ll admit, I’m not much of a computer APBA player). 

No doubt, it’s good news though any way you look at it.  I understand the concerns of everyone there (I think, remember I’m not a computer APBA player).  The idea of an improved product on the table is a good idea.  More importantly, it gets people talking about the product (and I know Herson pays attention to what APBA fans are saying on these various forums). 

“We started shipping the 2011 baseball cards today.  Because of a system issue that caused a loss of information we will not be able to honor the overnight or two day shipment orders until they come up in the que. We apologize for this.”

That’s good news since it’s a bit earlier than the original ship date of January 7.  In this particular thread, John doesn’t mention it but my guess is customers will be refunded if they opted for overnight or two-day shipment. 

When we would get our cards in the past, the managers in the IAL would always refer to the day we received the cards as “another Christmas”.  With a ship date of December 28th. Herson get us pretty close to the real thing.

Here’s the link direct from the Company website.

One big difference… this year it’s put out in an Excel format.  In the past, it’s been displayed via a pdf file.

There may be a few who may grumble about this but I think this is fantastic!  This makes it so much easier to search and sort.  Also, it’s nothing better than to integrate this into my (and more importantly, my league’s) already set up data sets.  Excel can be saved into pretty much into any format.  Kudos to whoever decided to do this.

I haven’t delved into the list too much but rumor has it there were a couple players with considerable playing time who didn’t make the roster (edit: I’ve added many more thanks to Steve Stein!).

Anyone else?

Finally, thanks to the company for putting this out on such a timely fashion.

July 28, 2011

APBA Fans,

For almost 60 years APBA has been based in the Lancaster area. After a lot of consideration and soul searching, APBA will be relocating to Alpharetta Georgia during the month of August. During this relocation, there will be few days when APBA is unable to take orders or ship products. As the relocation plan is finalized, we will share those dates. This was a hard decision to make but I believe it is necessary.

There will be a subsequent letter discussing the details of the transition, including roles for the current APBA team members.

There will be a warehouse sale of card products. Please check out the specifics at APBAGames.com.

There are two other things I want to discuss. Unfortunately, but not unexpected, the new printer is having issues programming the baseball cards. The issue is that the result numbers on the cards do not line up in the APBA format. The printer is working with Kodak’s programmers to resolve this issue. With this delay, the 1960 and 1964 seasons will not be shipping the week of August 2nd. This is disappointing but APBA remains committed to digital printing and just-in time inventory management.

With the relocation to the Georgia, I need to know where do you want have the 2012 Convention. Marc has set-up a discussion on the forum for your replies.

I know this is a big change for APBA. This decision is four years in the making. Only the location has changed not the commitment to customer service or quality products.

I would like to thank all of the APBA team for their years of services and contributions especially in the dark difficult days when baseball cards were not issued until the following summer. I also want to thank the APBA community for its support.

Regards,

John

Let’s put aside the printing issue, for NOW.

The company’s move to Georgia… now that’s an issue that’s going to raise some eyebrows at the very least. 

Newcomers to the game may not think much of it.  However, those of us who have been playing APBA for a while and associate the game with the town of Lancaster, PA, that’s a different story.  Is it simply a prudent business move or as one APBA fan said (rather melodramatically), “APBA died today”?

I’m generally not a sentimental person.  But there is something to be said for uprooting a yourself (as a person or a company) and moving away from where you were incepted and resided for 60 years.  Do you lose something in the process? 

Only time will tell.

Apparently, you do lose some people.  Product Manager Veryl Lincoln will no longer be with the Company.  Neither will President Marc Rinaldi.  Jon Sellers, the web master, will also not be be going to Georgia. 

From apbaintl on the Between the Lines forum:

Marc,Veryl and Jon will not be retained. Skeet Carr has tentatively agreed to continue to work part time at home for some card development work. He’s been part time over the last couple of years, since he retired.

Let me say that I will miss Veryl and Marc.  They’ve had great customer relations skills and were great guys (never met Jon myself).  Marc had the patience of Job when dealing with irate customers on the forums, a task I’m sure that wasn’t easy.

Lots of changes in store for the Company and they’ll have to work to ensure the trust of the customers.  Call it a “proving ground”.  Unfortunately, the comments on the APBA forums are not full of optimism.  The aforementioned printing issues are not giving them a head start either.

But having said all that, I urge people to not let sentimentality cloud their judgments on this issue.  Let’s make our calls on the practical matters (ok, the printing issue falls in that category).  Yes, our APBA packages’ return labels read “Lancaster, PA” since we were kids but times change. 

The next year in APBA will be key, no doubt.

APBA Baseball Fans,

For almost 60 years APBA has been the unchallenged KING of quality sports entertainment products! APBA announces the release of the 1960 and 1964 Big League Baseball seasons. Replay the exciting 1960 World Series with one of the most famous home runs of all-time. 1964 was the awful collapse of the Phillies and Mickey Mantle’s last World Series appearance.

You can now manage these teams. Are you a better manager than Casey Stengel? Would you have started Whitey Ford in Game 1 of the 1960 World Series instead of Art Ditmar? Can you manage the Phillies to the 1964 pennant? Or would you abuse your top pitchers? The choices are yours!

The 1960 season is $33 and the 1964 season is $38. If both of these sets are ordered by the close of business on Friday, July 15, the price is $65. These prices do not include shipping. .

With these seasons, APBA is changing its production process to just in time orders. This means that will APBA will not be carrying an inventory of these sets. Instead, APBA will be printing the number of sets ordered. This doesn’t mean that you can’t order these sets later. It just means that when you order sets in the future, you will have to wait a little longer for your order.

The estimated delivery time is the week of August 2nd. It maybe sooner but this is a new process. There may be hiccups. I’m sorry that these sets will not be available at the convention.

With this change, APBA has the flexibility to personalize card sets. You could have your name printed on each card in your set. For example, property of John Doe. .

The first step in personalizing card sets is that APBA is offering sets of the 1960 and 1964 seasons that are numbered 1 of 10, 2 of 10, through 10 of 10. Each card in that set will have 1 of 10 printed on the top of the card etc. APBA is going to auction these ten sets for the 1960 season first.

Your bid should be sent to auctions@apbagames.com. You will be notified if someone makes a higher bid. The auction ends at 5:00 pm (Eastern) on Thursday July 14th. Winners will have the first opportunity to purchase subsequent sets with the same number.

This is an exciting development for APBA. I want to rebuild our inventory of baseball season offerings. In the future, we will be asking you for your opinion on subsequent seasons to offer. Hopefully this process will work and APBA can offer cards sets, instead of card sheets, for the other sport offerings.

By the way, these sets are re-releases of previously issued sets. These sets have the new pitching ratings

I appreciate the support of each and every one of you. APBA has made mistakes. I’m sorry. Every day we strive to get better. This change in production process is one of those steps. There will probably be missteps implementing these changes. I hope not but experience suggests otherwise.

I apologize for not being at the convention. One of our sons has a baseball tournament that weekend. My opportunities to watch him play are limited. Again I apologize. You will be in good hands with Sandi, Marc, Skeet and Veryl.

Regards,

John

You can also read this on the APBA Company’s web site (pdf).

My thoughts

First, I’m excited about the choice of seasons.  The early 60s were an exciting time in baseball.  Mays, F Robbie, Banks and Mathews and Mantle all had great years in 1960 and Maris was beginning to show what he was capable of.  Pitching-wise, Broglio and Spahn both won 21 and Drysdale led everyone in Ks with 246.

By 1964, Clemente was on the scene and so was Dick Allen.  Dean Chance had his career year joining Koufax and 24 game winner Larry Jackson.  In all, two good choices and quite frankly, it should be popular with a those of us who were born of a certain age (ahem). 

My choice?  I’m getting the 1964 season.  The Cubs had at least a respectable team.

Regarding the “just in time” printing, I’m betting this is a process to reduce over-inventory (just a guess).  I can appreciate that and assuming the wait isn’t more than a few days more I’m sure people won’t gripe.  Then again, some probably will. 

I don’t know what the demand of custom printing will be but who knows?  It might prove to be popular (I’m thinking having your league’s name printed on the cards might be neat but that’s more relevant for current seasons).  I do have two questions on this matter:  Will the card format be substantially different than what it is now?  Also will future current card sets like next year’s 2011 set be printed in the same fashion? 

Finally, I’m not a APBA card collector.  When I get a set, it’s ripped into and played.  But I know people who do buy a card set and never open it.   Rather they just put it in a closet and let it appreciate.  Will they be interested in a collector’s edition 1960 set or 1964 set?  Time will tell but I’m sure there is a niche market for this. 

I do appreciate Mr Herson acknowledging APBA’s mistakes in the past. We’ve beaten this dead horse here on this blog before and there’s really no point in going into again.  Agreed?

Thoughts?

Here’s the nitty-gritty:

• Dates:  July 15-17
• Registration Fee: $80; $45 for children 16 and under (after May 31, the price will be $85)
• Registration deadline:
• Location:  Lancaster, PA at the Heritage Inn

You can register for the Convention at the APBA Company’s Stadium Store.  The Company will also take registrations via phone or email.  Again, all the registration details are on the Company’s Convention page.

The Company has secured a special rate at the hotel at $109 per night (still seems pricy but it does include breakfast).

There will be a tournament, of course.  If you are going to participate, make sure you read the rules especially the ones regarding requirements for team selection.

Unfortunately, I won’t be attending.  It conflicts with a reunion I’ll be at on the other side of the country.

How many of you have already signed up?  Have you chosen your team yet?

A shout out to my old buddy Dom who played APBA Nation’s version of Paul Revere.

Indeed, confirmed over at the Between the Lines forum, the cards are out and shipping.  They are also available for pickup if you are in the area of the store.

66’s all around!

I’m just getting a chance to look at it for the first time right now.  I’ll probably have some comments on it later. 

The correct Willie Bloomquist card

With every APBA card set, us APBA fans find anomalies and strangeness and wonder, “Will APBA correct this on their error list?”. 

So far with the 2008 baseball card set, APBA hasn’t corrected any cards with the exception of one… Seattle Mariner Willie Bloomquist. 

The official message from the APBA Game Co:

We just wanted to report that we have found one card error on the current season baseball card set for 2008. The card for William Bloomquist.  On 51 it currently reads 9 – 1.  This should read 9 – 11. 

The error seems to appear on the cards but not on disk.

It’s a small difference on a relatively low impact player but it’s good to know. 

I’m not a huge hockey fan (but I’ve been known to watch a game or two) and I’ve never played APBA Hockey.  That said, when I was at an APBA Convention some ten years ago with my buddy DonS, I watched a bit of an APBA board hockey tournament going on and I have to say it did look like a lot of fun.  I mean these guys were experts and playing with blazing speed and I had no idea what they were doing half the time. 

Are there any hockey leagues out there?  I’m curious.

FYI… for anyone who hasn’t been out to the site yet.  You can PRE-order the 2008 card set.  They’re 39.95 for the set and 19.95 for the XBs.  Entry Link for the Baseball Card Sets