This weekend, the Illowa APBA League (10-team, basic game continuous ownership) will play its 49th annual mid-season All-Star Game. In addition, we’ll get some regular season games in while most of us are in attendance in a woodsy area somewhere in northwest Illinois.
As tradition, the City Boys will be taking on the Country Gents. The City Boys will be looking for some vengeance as the Gents walked it off in 2022 thanks to Freddie Freeman.
Well, Freddie Freeman has since been traded to a City Boys’ team. John Brandeberry’s Montana Ospreys are enjoying Freeman’s bat. And guess who is batting third in the Boys lineup? That’s right. Freddie.
The lineups
Speaking of lineups, here they are for both squads
City Boys manager Dennis Jennings has named Shane McClanahan as the starting pitcher. For the Northside Hitmen, McClanahan is 8-3 with a 1.95 ERA.
And this just in from the Country Gents… Shohei Ohtani of Don Smith’s Molly Putts Marauders will be the starter for the Gents. Ohtani boasts a 9-4 record with a 2.41 ERA. Ironically, Shohei will also be the official DH for the Gents.
What about the Thunderchickens?
Freeman isn’t the only one to jump to the City Boys. My Twin City Thunderchickens have joined the mostly Chicago-based division because of a restructuring in the league. I use the word “division” loosely as the divisions are used only for scheduling and All-Star purposes.
With a 33-63 record, my Thunderchickens are rebuilding for 2024 (this time for real, I promise!) and currently we’re in the basement. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of an All-Star presence for Twin City. I had a couple pitchers who were having good seasons but offensively, there wasn’t much there.
As I filled out my ballot, I started to wonder, though. I wasn’t used to voting for players who weren’t hitting the Mendoza line (we vote for three per position on a 5-3-1 value system). The more I filled it out, the more I realized my offense is pretty typical among the league.
I ended going back to my ballot and found I voted for four players who hit under .200 (mostly for third place votes). Part of it is the era we’re in right now. The other is that the IAL is a 10-team league and therefore, a lot of strong pitching is concentrated into a smaller number of teams.
But seriously, what about the Thunderchickens?!
Long story short, the Thunderchickens can claim TWO starters in the City Boys lineup. Wow!
Third baseman Manny Machado (.270/.500/.335, 18 HR, 59 rbis) was voted in with a decent margin over Nolan Arenado. Adolis Garcia (.235/.421/.282, 17 HR, 55 R, 47 rbis) tied in the voting for the last starting outfield spot in the lineup. Garcia tied Byron Buxton with 34 votes and got the nod from Coach Jennings for a starting spot.
In a surprising move, Jennings chose Kyle Schwarber (.196/.460/.292, 23 HR, 50 rbis) for a role on the bench. Unlike some in my league, I am a fan of Schwarbs but understand he’s slow and defensively challenged. But hey, if we need a walk-off of our own this year, he may be ticket.
For a complete IAL All-Star Game breakdown including game rosters and ballots, click here.
Things kick off Friday at noon. Looking forward to it as always!
I’m excited for the Illowa APBA League to play their 49th All-Star Game this weekend!