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…
Last Friday’s video of the IAL 1993 All-Star weekend was a lot of fun but we’re back to business with another fantastic contribution from Scott Veatch’s Vault. This one has some significance for me. First published in 1973, the 1949 card set was the first season of the past I…
While many APBA baseball leagues are in their off-season now, an article I wrote nearly four years ago is once again appropriate. It’s entitled 10 Tips for Trading in an APBA League. I was re-reading it last night and while it was written in 2010, all ten tips are just…
I want to wish everyone in the APBA community a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I celebrate my friendships I have with so many of you. I am grateful for the tight-knit community that we have. Enjoy the holidays this year. Merry Christmas to everyone! Tom
George Vukovich hadn’t quite gotten his feet wet in the majors in the early ‘80s with Philadelphia but he did manage to come out with a pretty decent monster card in the strike-shortened 1981 season. For the year, he went 10 for 26 with a homerun and 4 rbis. He…
This is the final segment in the “2013 APBA by the Numbers” series breaking down the ratings and numbers from the newly-released disk. Today, I’ll wrap up with some miscellaneous lists. It’ll be a fun mish-mash of anything that didn’t fit into the Pitching, the Fielding or the Hitting segments…
Flashback Friday is taking a break this week from Scott Veatch’s Vault. Why? Something fantastic just fell into my lap that I couldn’t resist sharing it and it definitely fits the Flashback Friday bill. My friend Tedd Mallasch (a former manager of the Illowa APBA League and former writer of…