One week from today, sixteen APBA fans, boards and dice in hand, will converge on the college town of Urbana, Illinois to participate in the first Prairieland APBA Baseball Tournament or as it is now simply called “The Prairieland”.
That’s right, sixteen. With one more late addition, we now have a nice round number. A few days ago, the the divisions were set. Let’s take a look at the field of managers and their teams…
| Gary Gaetti Division | |
| Eric Berg | 1969 Minnesota Twins |
| John Roels * | 1920 Cleveland Indians |
| Tom Fulton | 2015 Toronto Blue Jays |
| Dave Sachs | 1982 Milwaukee Brewers |
| Lou Boudreau Division | |
| John Kalous * | 2015 Houston Astros |
| Thomas Nelshoppen | 1930 New York Giants |
| Jim Welch | 1941 Boston Red Sox |
| Bob Eller | 1948 Cleveland Indians |
| Jim Thome Division | |
| Lew Ramey | 1908 New York Giants |
| G.F. Korreck | 1930 St. Louis Cardinals |
| Joe Schall | 2001 St Louis Cardinals |
| Lance Freezeland * | 1977 LA Dodgers |
| Robin Roberts Division | |
| Dave Rueck | 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Doug Bedell | 1981 Montreal Expos |
| Dick Butler * | 1908 Chicago Cubs |
| Darrell Angleton | 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates |
* denotes division captain
If it isn’t obvious, division names were chosen based on baseball greats who have a connection to central Illinois. Gary Gaetti is from Centralia, Illinois. Lou Boudreau’s hometown is Harvey, Illinois and is a University of Illinois alum (Go Illini!). Jim Thome (the nicest man in baseball) hails from Peoria. Finally, Robin Roberts is not only from Springfield but has a stadium named after him there.
It’s a good mix of modern teams, those from the golden era and deadball teams. I am quite looking forward to seeing if it will be pitching or hitting that will win this one. Eric Berg has done a write-up on his team, the 1969 Twins on his blog Red 11. Watch out for the tough pitching!
As for me, I’m taking the 1930 New York Giants. The Giants actually placed third in the NL in 1930 but I contend that they have one of the best teams on paper. I count a total of five Hall of Famers on that team (six, if you include Dave Bancroft who probably won’t be included on the 20-man roster). Freddie Lindstrom and Bill Terry have two of best APBA cards of all time. Pitching ain’t bad either led by Carl Hubbell and Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons.
Everyone seems very excited about the event. Last minute details are being taken care of including some rule tweaks.
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To give us Prairieland competitors some inspiration, here is a good read from Jim Fraasch about last weekend’s Neil Ess Memorial Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament. There were a total of THIRTY people who vied for the tourney championship! But they don’t put you in the APBA Hall of Fame for nothing. Kevin Cluff proved why he’s the best by winning the whole thing with the 2011 Texas Rangers.
Congrats, Kevin!!
Tom,
Love the divisions and division names! You will do well with the 1930 Giants. My 1930 Senators had a very nice run last Saturday, finally succumbing to the eventual champs, the 2011 Rangers. I am tentatively planning to bring the 1930 Senators back to TCABT-VI next October …
Good luck to all!
How do you expect to win when all of your players are dead?
Looking forward to the results. Had thought about coming to watch. Good luck Tom!
Tom,
Best wishes for a great tournament there in the Heartland of the Midwest. Love the Illinois connection with the division names.
Jim S.
Hello Tom,
Wish I could be there, but Chicagoland will be coming soon enough I guess. Looking forward to a full write up.