28
July

The Allure Of APBA Baseball

by Mike Estep

08ialdraft 075I guess the older I get, the more I love my APBA cards and game. Now that has got me to wondering why. So I am going to lay out some thoughts after some deep analysis. Please feel free to comment and add your own.

One thing I have always loved about the APBA cards is that they really do seem to have a personality. I mean we can all just look at a card and say to ourselves "hmmmm… an F, good power numbers, I like that 11 and that 14*…" and if they have a good glove on top of that, well that is just gravy. How about pitching? Do you like that BXYZ? I would take him any day! How about that D pitcher that you pulled for in real life and loved him anyway…so you learn to love his APBA card too! Especially rewarding to see that guy get a quality start huh?…

What about a particular season? Do you like 1968? Those who do not play APBA or any other tabletop baseball game can never experience that glorious year again… except in their mind. We get to re-live all that glorious season if we want to! Plus, we are manager, statistician, scheduler, Commissioner… groundskeeper (consists of laying out my boards on the table and hey my field is always green now since I laminated my boards…..no more wear and tear). My point is, what other game lets us go back in history and re-live great moments? Be a part of them? Amazing!

I also love the feel and look of the cards. I admit I get a little smile on my face when I roll those dice… anticipating that 66… hearing them clank in that little plastic yellow container… c’mon now you can hear that sound in your head right?  And roll those babies across the table… look at that card… search the board… and…bingo!…  the result is there… just like the crack of a bat at a real game. I also like the interaction with the boards and is why I guess I am a cards and dice man.

Here is the best part. Many of my friends love golf and I like golf also. I am terrible but that is beside the point. Now by the time I pay my fee for 18 holes, get a golf cart, buy the golf balls, etc… well you get the picture… lots of money needed! With my APBA hobby once I buy the game, and purchase the cards. There is no fee for me to sit down and play a game or two. No green fees, no cart fees… once I pay my money for the game components it is free for me to sit and play. I can go back in time, to a year of my choosing… and see my boyhood idols in their prime again with the sun shining on the beautiful green field! Transporting myself away from my troubles.Peanuts! Get your peanuts here!

Roll a 66 and smile!

8 comments

24
June

23 years

You’re going have to bear with me because I’m not going to talk much about APBA in this article.  I’m going to talk about my wife, Joan. 

You see, it’s our 23rd anniversary today.

Twenty-three years ago today, we were married outside at my parents’ lake.  Shortly afterwards, we went on our honeymoon.  Do you know where we went?  Cooperstown, New York.  Yes, we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame on our honeymoon.  Not only that, she braved the crowds of red and saw the inductions of Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski.  I figured then that she was a keeper.  It was the Tigers-Twins game at the old Tigers Stadium in Detroit a few days later that was the clincher.

My wife is a casual baseball fan at best.  But she supports my love of the game more than I probably deserve.  From the APBA weekends that I’m gone to the Illinois Baseball games I attend to my endless web projects which bring me bring me fulfillment, she gets me.  She puts up with my weirdness while giving our two kids a sense of stability I probably couldn’t. 

So for one day a year, she at least deserves a mention on a blog about dice baseball game. 

4 comments

21
March

Coming soon: The Great APBA Fan Survey (I’m taking question suggestions)

Hi all,

I’m giving you heads up to a project I’m starting for The APBA Blog.  I’m calling it the Great APBA Fan Survey because that pretty much what it is.  Some time in the near future I will go live with an online survey which will ask all APBA fans questions about what APBA games they play, who they play them with and why. 

Why am I doing this?  There’s no real sinister reason other than pure curiosity about who we are as the APBA community.  I will, of course, be posting the results of the survey here on The APBA Blog when I get a good sample size. 

The questions will mostly be multiple choice or yes/no and will pertain to:

  • how you play the game of APBA
  • goals to try to achieve in playing APBA
  • how you interact with other APBA fans
  • and what types of products/sports you prefer

A few notes:

Don’t worry, the survey is anonymous and I won’t be asking anything too personal.  I think the most intimate I get is ask is asking your age.  No questions will be mandatory and you can skip any that aren’t relevant or you don’t wish to answer.

I’m still in the process of entering questions.  if anyone has some good ideas for what to ask, feel free to suggest it.  It’s not too late!

I plan to have some fun with this and hope to have a lot of participation from everyone.  Once the survey is ready, I’ll let everyone know. 

Any good suggestions for questions out there? 

3 comments

22
December

Some due thanks and Happy Holidays!

summertripsat 376

Fellow APBA fans,

With the holidays almost upon us, this will most likely be the last post before the new year and certainly before Christmas Day.    If I’m lucky to get some time alone, I might post something next week.  Who knows?

It’s been a year of transition for the game of APBA, the community of fans and especially the company.  I think when all was said and done, the adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same” holds true.  We’ve gotten the new disk, the card numbers look about the way they should, and the date for card delivery is right around the corner.  APBA as a tabletop sports game is as strong as ever, in my opinion.

The APBA Blog is a labor of love for me.  Of the several blogs I run, The APBA Blog is the one I enjoy writing for and working on the most.  I’ve learned “how to do it right” (almost).  Most of the credit though, goes to you, the readers.  I enjoy the feedback and interaction.  So thanks.  I wouldn’t have as much fun without you all.  

Finally to the point of this article, I want to take the time to wish everyone, my old friends as well as the people who I’ve had the pleasure to interact with for the first time this year, a happy and safe holiday season.

I’m looking forward to an even better 2012! 

66’s

Tom

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7
December

Things to ponder while waiting for that disk

On the Between the Lines forum, APBA fans are chomping at the bit waiting for any news of delivery of the 2011 baseball disk.  I just checked the multiple threads devoted to the topic.  No news yet.

Actually, there is one tiny bit of release news.  CEO John Herson has announced on the forum that the 2011 Baseball card set are scheduled to be shipped early next month:

“It is expected that we will start to ship the 2011 baseball cards on the first Saturday in January.”

Not in time for Christmas but hey, any day the cards arrive is Christmas, right?

Meanwhile, while everyone is geared up for the 2011 disk, I’m looking towards the past.  The year 1966 to be specific.  I was thinking of starting up a season replay of a team from the 60s and had my eye on the ‘66 Cubs.  The Cubs went 59-103 that year behind a pretty decent offense and hard luck starters Dick Ellsworth and Ken Holtzman.  Ellsworth went 8-22 with a 3.98 ERA and Holtz was 11-16 with a 3.79 mark. 

Call it the “103 replay”.  My goal is to see if I can improve Chicago’s record from that year.  More on that later, I’m sure.  I’ve just ordered the cards. 

Finally, I got an email from Jim Shaw today that made me smile.  It came with the subject line “Hedge Fund CEOs who love apba”. 

“Just to let you know I am an avid fan. We play in the office every morning @6am (I am the CEO so it’s allowed!) and every evening @6pm. We have a league only with BATS stars.”

Remember, guys.  Let the boss win :)

Update:   LOL, as soon as I checked BTL after I posted this, people are posting grades from the disk. 

The disk has arrived!

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5
July

Former APBA manager runs marathon in all 50 states

I pleased to see this article forwarded to me by our commish.  It’s about former Illowa APBA League manager Dennis Jennings.  Jennings, after eight years, has ran a marathon in all 50 states.  Pretty amazing, I thought. 

 

"I don’t even know when I decided I was doing all 50 states," said Jennings, who will compete in today’s East Moline Firecracker Run. "I did the first two in Illinois and my sister, Patty, wanted to do the Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota and I did that one. At that point, I said, ‘I could do different states for fun.’"

 

Jennings played a big part in the Illowa APBA League history.  Not only that, he was the one whose team I took over.  As much as I’d like to claim credit, he was the one who came up with the team name Twin City Thunderchickens.

A pleasant and self-effacing man who yet was heads and shoulders smarter than anyone in our league, Jennings was very shrewd when it came to the came to the game of APBA.  He traded me former Rookie of the Year John Castino for Ryne Sandberg when Ryno was a rookie.  At least that’s how it was pitched to me. 

Sandberg was only one of Jennings’ franchise players.  He managed to accumulate a number of great superstars throughout his IAL career.  Players like Bobby Grich, Harold Baines, Jim Sundberg, Steve Garvey, Kirk Gibson, Ozzie Smith and Mark McGwire and pitchers like Ron Guidry and John Candelaria.

Jennings won with this crew, too.  The Twin City Thunderchickens placed first (in a league of eight teams) in six seasons under Dennis’ management.  Two years they won 100 games. 

I took his first place of 1988 and could only manage a sixth place finish with a 77-84 in 1989.  That if anything, says something (no comments from the peanut gallery :))

So congrats, Dennis on your accomplishment.  And don’t be a stranger… stop by an IAL convention sometime. 

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