It’s definitely APBA tournament season. While people are still talking about Pastor Rich Zawadzki’s Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament which took place in March, the big talk now is last weekend’s Neil Ess Memorial Twin Cities APBA Baseball Tournament-V in Minnesota. Not only that, in less than two weeks, the Prairieland APBA Baseball Tournament will kick off its first tourney in Urbana, Illinois.
(photo courtesy Eric Berg)
Congratulations to Kevin Cluff! The APBA HoFer took the TCABT-V crown. That was no easy feat considering that there was a field of no less than 30 teams entered in the tourney. Cluff (above right) won it with the hard hitting 2011 Texas Rangers.
Eric Berg tells his TCABT story on his blog, Red 11. It’s a good read for everyone especially those interested in trying their first competitive tournament. Even with the pitching and defense heavy 2015 Royals, Eric went 5-5 so you know the competition was tight.
Berg, by the way, isn’t done rolling the bones yet. Along with Tom Fulton, Dave Rueck and myself, he is helping organize the Prairieland Tournament which will take place in Urbana, Illinois on April 16th. The field of teams is now set with fifteen participants:
| Manager | Team |
| Dick Butler | 1908 Chicago Cubs |
| Lew Ramey | 1908 New York Giants |
| John Roels | 1920 Cleveland Indians |
| Thomas Nelshoppen | 1930 New York Giants |
| G.F. Korreck | 1930 St. Louis Cardinals |
| Jim Welch | 1941 Boston Red Sox |
| Bob Eller | 1948 Cleveland Indians |
| Eric Berg | 1969 Minnesota Twins |
| Lance Freezeland | 1977 LA Dodgers |
| Doug Bedell | 1981 Montreal Expos |
| Dave Sachs | 1982 Milwaukee Brewers |
| Joe Schall | 2001 St Louis Cardinals |
| John Kalous | 2015 Houston Astros |
| Dave Rueck | 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Tom Fulton | 2015 Toronto Blue Jays |
For those of you looking to participate in a tournament, you can see if there is one in your area. If there isn’t, I encourage you to start your own. This spring, Jim Saska pulled one together after moving to Northern Virginia and from all reports, a fun time was had.
Looking towards the future: the APBA National Convention Tournament and the Chicagoland Summer Fantasy World Series.
