Brian Cavanaugh sends us a 2011 APBA Convention report

This article was submitted by Brian Cavanaugh who attended the 2011 APBA Convention.

After months of preparation and anticipation it was finally time for the convention and tournament. We had a smooth ride out that helped to ease the nerves of the situation. We left Philly around 7:30am and made great time arriving in Lancaster around 8:45am.  After checking in and helping the kids set-up we were ready to roll. Before we could get started the introductions began and several other players approached us and introduced themselves to us. I was impressed that everyone had known about what we have been doing at the club with our league.

The kids and I were impressed with the number of players using teams from the early to mid 1900’s. One player named Steve even offered to let us use some of his classic teams for the next tournament if we attend (which we will try to do). Other players continued to come by and made conversation with the kids about their teams. One person who stopped by had an easily recognizable name, two-time tournament champion Brian Wells whom the kids enjoyed sharing strategy with.

We started to play and we were all in a division with each other. I opened play against Josh Rhoades who plays with the Jump Ropers in our league. We split (my 1997 Orioles vs 2010 Cardinals) 1-1 with me winning the first game behind a strong performance from Mike Mussina  and fine performance in the lead-off spot by Brady Anderson. My good fortune continued with a 2 game sweep of new league member Frank Bryan and his 2010 Yankees. After 5 games and a 1 hitter from Scott Erickson against new league member Steven Szambelak and his 2010 Blue Jays my record was at 4-1, tied for second in our division. After a tough loss to the 2010 Reds managed by Joe "Rodriquez" Rivera I squared off with Ian Mcardle who manages the Convicts in our league. I always enjoy playing Ian because we always have good competitive games and this would be nothing different. Ian entered the game with his 1997 Braves at 5-0 and with first place on the line. I jumped out to a 2-0 lead off of Greg Maddux after 1. Mike Mussina was dazzling and fought out of a few jams and we took the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th, when the wheels fell off. Ian put up 5 off of Mussina in the 7th and 2 off of Armando Benitez in the 8th while Maddux shut down the O’s for a solid 7-2 win. Sadly though, our good time had to come to an end and we soon d to head home as t clock neared 7pm.

The day ended with Ian as our league champ at 7-1 after finally falling to Saiir Jackson and the 2010 Phillies. Ian took the crown by 1 game over Joe Rivera and the 2010 Reds. Ian’s Braves will be played by Brian Wells in the elimination rounds tomorrow. Brian and Ian spoke before we left about the line-up and rotation before we left. We were even told that if Brian should lead the Braves to the title than the trophy would be shipped to Ian, yet another nice gesture by the people at APBA.

More good fortune cam our way by way of Roy Langerhans who bought 8 game books for us after he had heard that we were going to buy them after the tournament. Each member from our league who was present thanked him personally for his generosity. It was a great experience and was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. It was nice to put some faces with some names that I have been conversing with for the past 8 months. It also felt good to see the other players intact so freely and openly with the other players like they had known them for years. I could tell that the kids had a lot of fun which is the most important thing. We are hoping to attend next year. Our league is still in full swing and going strong. We have now added about 8 new teams and the play is going on strong. APBA is alive and well at the Boys and Girls Club and will be for a long time!!!!

Brian is in the Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club Baseball League.  The APBA Blog thanks him for writing this!