The tourney bracket has been released for next week’s Chicagoland Summer Fantasy World Series.
There are a lot of tough teams out there that are only bolstered by the best players in their franchise’s history.
Even better, there some of the best APBA managers out there. Attending will be some of the regulars. There will be some new folks as well. I’ll get to meet some people who I have been in contact with for years but never met face to face.
I HAVE met Shawn Baier at my first Chicagoland tourney back in 2013 but as much virtual contact I have with him, it seems like forever. See, Shawn is my commissioner in the Boys of Summer League. We’ve gotten to know each other quite well and have a mutual respect as baseball fans, APBA players, and fellow bloggers. It will be good to see him and his 1984 Detroit Tigers (of course!).
Ken Schulz, the guy who organizes the Linda B. Schulz tourney in Pittsburgh last weekend? Yeah, he’ll be there. Howie Mooney, who’s sent me Monster Card suggestions for past few years? He’s bringing the 1992 Blue Jays. And guess what? Dan “Sgt. Dan” Velderrain (left) who I did an APBA Fan Profile over three years ago will be travelling to Chicago for the tournament. In a true Californian fashion, he’ll be bringing the 1981 Los Angeles Dodger with a little help from 1997 Mike Piazza.
Add in the usual crowd who are always fun to see as well as play. I would name them all but there too many to list. Doug Schuyler has been rallying the crowd on Facebook and everyone is excited.
For the record, The APBA Blog will be represented by Scott Fennessy and me. Scott will be taking the 1984 Chicago Cubs. His “+1” is 1959 Ernie Banks. As mentioned before, 1998 Mark McGwire will help add some power to my tough hitting 1930 St. Louis Cardinals.
