25
May

Dave Walker’s APBA Directory available

In an earlier post, I had mentioned that Dave Walker was going to take an extensive survey of APBA Leagues, asking a variety of questions about the makeup of the leagues and how they are run.  The idea was to create a Directory of APBA Leagues.

With Dave’s permission, I’m making the Directory available here on The APBA Blog.  At this point, I’ll be hosting it and you can download it in Excel format.  For those who prefer, you can also get it in comma-delimited (.csv) format.

Thanks to Dave for doing the grunt work on this project.  It has a lot of valuable data.

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3
April

League Profile: MDN_08

Clayton Klapper writes in about his league based in Arizona called MDN_08.  His league is comprised of high school students who play over the summer. 

I don’t want to sound like an old fogey here but in this day and age of video games (I admit to  enjoying them too), it’s nice to see that younger adults are rolling the bones.

 

 

League Name

MDN_08 League
Contact Person Clayton Klapper
Sport Baseball
# of teams 12
Year of inception 2007
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Basic
Geographic location Arizona

 

Clayton says:

 

"We are a group of high school friends that started our league over summer vacations and continue it every summer. This year we switched to the 2008 set and were starting the summer with our respective teams before the salary cap and transactions come into effect. Our scheduled start is May, and were doing spring training and off season transactions now.”

 

thanks Clayton!

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it.  In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

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31
January

League Profile: Matt Kading Memorial APBA League

Craig Ball writes to plug his league, the Matt Kading Memorial APBA League. 

His update has a bit of bittersweet touch.  The league’s name is derived from a manager who was killed serving his country in Iraq.  Every league has its issues but something like this puts everything into perspective.   

 

League Name

Matt Kading Memorial APBA League
Contact Person Craig Ball
League Website http://www.obaks.com/kading/
Sport Baseball
# of teams 16
Year of inception 2000
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Computer
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location USA

 

Craig says:

 

“The Matt Kading Memorial APBA League began as the Roberto Clemente league in 2000. We are an NL-only league. It was renamed after league member Matt Kading after he was killed in Iraq, serving our country. We’ve had several managers throuhout the years, but commissioner Kirt Bennett and a hard-core group of GMs keep this league a lot of fun. We use the DOS version of Baseball for Windows. Check out our league website, you can see all the past league champions, records, etc. Thanks!”

 

thanks Craig!

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it.  In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

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24
January

League Profile: Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association

rcmba John Briggs emailed us about his 15 team mail league, the Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association.  The RCMBA has been around a spell, since 1975.  Six of the 15 teams in the league are based in Pennsylvania or Ohio with others in NY, KY, MI, FL, MD and even as far west as Missouri.

Divisions are named after broadcasters (Caray, Allen and Harwell).  That seems to be a common theme but nice touch.

League Name

Roberto Clemente Memorial Association
Contact Person John Briggs
League Website http://www.rcmba.com/
Sport Baseball
# of teams 15
Year of inception 1975
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Basic Game
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location mostly east coast

John says:

“After 34 yrs there is a lot to tell and little space. I think the web site will tell all. A rich history that is all on-line. It’s pretty much out of the box with a little modifications. Rosters are 36. Limits on starting pitchers and defensive use. Summer league and a great commissioner.”

I can empathize.  Our league, the IAL, has been around since 1975.  Once you get talking, the stories can’t stop.

The more league web sites I see, the more I’m impressed by the creative and professional looking web content that APBA leagues display.

On a side topic:  leagues, let’s all keep updated constitutions on our web sites.  I don’t know about you but I enjoy reading through them (I found the RCMBA rules on Free Agency and in-season trading unique since we don’t use them in the IAL) and more importantly, it’s a quick way to share ideas.

thanks John!

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it.  In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

1 comment

16
January

League Profile: Mid-West Baseball League

straightup

Ok, here’s a league with a grade A website.  The Mid-West Baseball League, mostly based out of the US Midwest, has one of the most complete and flashiest web sites I’ve seen for an APBA league. 

The MWBL league database goes back to 1997.  They’ve documented their stats, awards, league leaders, everything.  Very impressive. 

League Name

 Mid-West Baseball League
Contact Person Stray Corrado
Sport Baseball
League Web Site http://www.straybaseball.com/mwbl
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Computer
Geographic location US Midwest

 

Stray writes:

We draft up to 12 UnCarded prospects from anywhere in Baseball. You really need to check this league out.

 

 

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it. 

In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

1 comment

28
December

League Profile: Mail 3 League

mail3 Over the holidays, Marc Ross sent me some info on his league, the Mail 3 League.  Take some time to check out Mail 3′s web site.  They’ve done an excellent job not only stat keeping but also documenting their history.

I also notice that their constitution is online.  I think that’s invaluable for those of us who want to exchange ideas (I know I have to update our league’s). 

 

Here’s the scoop on Mail 3:

 

League Name

 Mail 3 League
Contact Person Marc Ross
Sport Baseball
League Web Site http://mail3.org/
# of teams 20
Year of inception 1990
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Basic
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location US and Canada

 

Marc writes:

This is the third generation of a league that stared in the early 1970s and a few managers have been around since then. We have four divisions and play the basic game with a few minor modifications. Visit our website for more details and to see the leagues long history and records.

 

I particularly liked the Greatest (and Worst) Mail 3 Teams section as well as the Mail 3′s Biggest Trades.  That a nice touch and makes your APBA league seem a little more "real". 

thanks Marc, for writing in. 

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it. 

In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

3 comments

12
November

League Profile: Orlando APBA Association

From down south, we have the Orlando APBA Association.

Reading Rod Caborn’s summary, I couldn’t help but notice their mid-season call-up system.

“25 man active roster with total 35 man rosters (10 inactive for year.
At mid-season, maximum of three call-ups allowed (and three sent down)”

A few in my league have been advocating something like this in the last couple of years.  I’d love to hear how well this works (from Rod or anyone else who uses something similar).

The details on the OAPBA:

League Name

Orlando APBA Association
Contact Person Rod Caborn
Sport Baseball
League Website Link
# of teams 9
Year of inception 1988
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Master Game
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location Orlando, Fla.

Rod says:

“OAPBA is comprised of nine teams. Basics include:
80 game schedule. Each division team plays one another eight times in each half and plays four games against the other six teams in the league.
Three divisions of three teams each: Red Barber (north Orlando) ,

Harry Caray (metro Orlando) and  Ernie Harwell (south Orlando) Divisions.

25 man active roster with total 35 man rosters (10 inactive for year.
At mid-season (40 games), maximum of three call-ups allowed (and three sent down).
Draft each January. 15 rounds. Managers must cut at least 15 players prior to the draft.
Playoff format: Each division winner qualifies for the playoffs. The fourth-best record qualifies as a Wild Card and the team with the fifth-best record plays the Wild Card team in a “play-in” series.
Modifications include: if XB is drafted in first six rounds, the XB player, must stay on active roster for the entire season (this pre-empts ringer cards with limited appearances).
Total games pro-rated to determine the number of games in which a player can play.
Relief pitchers can pitch in three straight games, but then must rest.
Hit and run modifications (15 off for a ball or strike, which places some necessary limitations on managers who want to overuse the hit and run).”

Harry Caray and Red Barber Division… love it!

[edited profile 2/2011]

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it.  In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

7 comments

3
November

League Profile: Yesterday APBA Baseball League

As soon as I post this about the Yesterday APBA Baseball League, I’m forwarding it to our league.  Because Chuck from our league is always asking me if I’m interested in undertaking a project similar to what they are doing.  And after looking at the YABL web site, it does look like fun.

You see, the YABL is a retro APBA league which progresses backwards through history.  A very fascinating concept which I’ve heard about but this is the first time I’ve gotten a chance to see the results up close.  The YABL started at year 1959 and is currently playing the 1952 season.

Here’s the scoop on the YABL:

League Name

 Yesterday APBA Baseball League
Contact Person Doug Burg
Sport Baseball
League Web Site http://webspace.webring.com/people/fb/burgda/
# of teams 12
Year of inception 2001
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Basic
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location United States

 

Doug writes:

 

We are an APBA basic dice/board game league. We are a retro league currently (2008-2009) playing the 1952 season. We progress backwards through history. The league is a continuous ownership draft league using the basic game with minimal innovations. We play an 84 game season from October through February.

 

One thing I like about the game of APBA is that we can make the into what we want.  If we want to implement modifications in gameplay or as in this case, totally re-invent how the teams are populated or games are scheduled, there’s no limitations to what we can do.

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it. 

In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

1 comment

1
November

League Profile: Illowa APBA League

Now that I’ve gotten around to updating the Illowa APBA League website, I figured it’s time to brag about my own league.  The IAL is in its 33rd season and we enjoy a rich history. 

First the sordid details:

League Name

Illowa APBA League
Contact Person Thomas Nelshoppen
League Website http://www.illowaapbaleague.com
Sport Baseball
# of teams 10
Year of inception 1975
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Basic
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location Midwest

 

Some of the modifications/rules that we use:

  • the unusual play card and the pitchers’ hitting card (for pitchers with <10 ab)
  • Players are limited to actual games/at-bats/IP
  • Play results of 18 and 20 with 2B-9 and SS-10 respectively, are considered groundouts with bases empty

 

Our constitution is online if you want to take a look.

One of my favorite aspects of the IAL is our baseball registry.  Thanks to a lot of hard work by a couple of managers, we have compiled all-time stats for every player that has played in our league since 1975,  It’s a trip through memory lane when we browse through our registry.  We also have an All-Time Leaderboard.  No surprise that Barry Bonds is the all-time leader in homers with 655.

Once we got our registry in order, we had the idea of instituting a IAL Hall of Fame.  Mike Schmidt with his  IAL career 535 homeruns and Steve Carlton with his career 214 wins were the charter members in 1996. 

Geographically, we have four teams centered around Chicago, four spread out around downstate Illinois.  The other two reside in Iowa and Pennsylvania.  Despite the geographic differences, we manage to get almost all of our games played face-to-face thanks to our schedule which gets us together for three annual weekends where we can play a good part of our games. 

Yes I’m biased but I think our league has some pretty committed members.  We have five managers who have been in the league at least  since the early ’80s plus one father-son rivalry.  Finally, I don’t think we wouldn’t be the league we are without our commissioner, Mike Bunch.  The league thought at much so we inducted him into our HOF.

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it.  In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

1 comment

20
October

League Profile: Patriot League

Steve Liles contacts us from back East about the Patriot League.  An interesting facet about this Virginia-based, master game league is the salary structure they use which also implements the salary cap. 

Here’s the scoop on the Patriot League:

League Name

Patriot League
Contact Person Steve Liles
Sport Baseball
# of teams 10
Year of inception 1981
Basic/Master/Computer/
Combination		 Master
Out of the box or with
modifications?		 with modifications
Geographic location Hampton Roads area Virginia

 

Steve Liles says:

 

The Patriot League is face-to-face basic dice game using master game pitching numbers, lefty-righty factors, and a variation of the base stealing. We have a salary cap and a salary structure based on BA and HRs and pitcher rating. Each manager keeps 12 players from a base team (e.g. Yankees) and drafts 13 players from teams not being used, staying within the salary cap. We have playoffs and a World Series. We’re always looking for new managers in the Hampton Roads area.

 

Maybe we’ll convince Steve or someone else at the Patriot League to write an article on how they do the salary structure.  That might be an interesting read.

 

If you want to brag about your league, we’re listening!  Tell us all about the league you are in and we’ll post a profile about it.  In the meantime, read about other leagues who have written in.

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