What a difference one month in the Illowa APBA League makes for my Twin City Thunderchickens!
Compare the August standings…
…to the current September standings.
After going 20-10 in September, we jumped three spots in the IAL standings. It hasn’t been lost on me that, according to league rules, the top four teams go to the playoffs.
No big heroes on the team either. No batting leaders. No one leading in homers. Jose Reyes IS leading the league in triples with 15. Also, he and Jason Kipnis are neck and neck in the stolen base race. Right now, Kip leads the IAL with 38 and Reyes has 37. But other than that, it’s been a team effort with some solid pitching. Rookie Scott Diamond has been a stud with a 2.87 ERA (fifth in the IAL).
New Manager!
September has been a month of change for the league as well. We have a new manager!!! I almost hesitated to announce this because we’ve had a long period of transition with a couple of false starts. But we’re really excited about Nick Tegeler. Nick is certainly no stranger to the IAL. He’s been a friend of the league for decades. He was a commissioner of the now defunct Midwest League (not to be confused with Stray Corrado’s Mid-West League). For years, the Midwest League and Illowa APBA League shared many of the same managers. Yes, even I was a manager for a year or two.
Nick puts a little more “owa” in Illowa, Nick joins Don Smith as a fellow Iowan, hailing from Cedar Rapids. The IAL is pleased as can be to have a new manager and feel lucky to have a quality one such as Nick.
Welcome aboard Nick!
