For most of you on Facebook, this won’t be news but I thought it was worth bringing to the wider audience. It started as a simple post on the APBA Baseball group by Tom Zuppa last week linking to an article about this year’s candidates for the Baseball Hall of…
I almost didn’t have a Weird Wednesday column lined up for this week but Kevin Burghardt from Janesville, Wisconsin just posted this interesting card on Facebook. Kevin says this is “one of Charlie Finley’s designated pinch runners, this one not named Herb Washington”. Indeed. This Don Hopkins card is based…
Not to be confused with his brother Bubbles Hargrave who was also a catcher (and won the batting title in 1926, William McKinley “Pinky” Hargrave was a journeyman catcher in the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1924, Hargrave hit .147 (5 for 34) with one double and one triple. He…
While I was playing a few APBA baseball games with my friend Shawn Lee on Sunday night, we went through the 1962 season reprint set I brought over. I reached for the NL champion Giants and this card popped out at me. It’s Willie Mays’ homerun leading card. He hit…
Once again, we peek into Scott Veatch’s Vault. This time we come up with a APBA card notice for the immensely popular 1930 baseball season. Initially published in 1975, this season set was popular for a good many reasons. It had the best… For replayers who like offense, 1930 was…
Happy New Year Everyone!! It’s only fitting that my league commissioner Mike Bunch would suggest St. Louis firstbaseman Bob Burda for Weird Card Wednesday. He’s a big Cardinals fan. But I bet he didn’t know Burda was a former University of Illinois baseball player when he brought it to my…
Here’s wishing a Happy New Year to everyone out there. 2013 has really been quite a year in a lot of different ways. 2013 Illowa APBA League All-Star Game in September On a personal level, the Illowa APBA League is just finishing up another successful season. It’s looking like a…
Bob Lillis was a singles-hitting infielder who played primarily for Los Angeles and Houston in the 1960s. In his 10-year career, Lillis hit .236 with a grand total of three homeruns. As the starting shortstop for Houston in 1963, he hit one of those homers plus a triple and 13…
This is Javy Lopez’ killer card from 2003 sent to me by Pastor Rich. This particular card is the 2010 reprint of Lopez’ 2003 season. I remember this particular season well. Lopez was a member of the Illowa APBA League’s Northside Hitmen managed by Chuck Lucas. With other players like…
The 2013 Illowa APBA League season isn’t quite over yet but my Twin City Thunderchickens finished a month early. The week before Christmas, we played our last series of the year against cross-town rivals, Rising Bamm Beanos. It was a little bittersweet since my good friend John Brandeberry will be…