This year, The APBA Blog sponsored the 2nd Annual Pitching Grade Challenge. Two APBA Blog readers correctly guessed the grades of 19 of the 20 pitchers in the Challenge. This year, the winners were Darren Schulz and Joe Deauseault. That’s Joe on the left and Darren on the right (far right, presenting the LBS tourney trophy to Steve Skoff along with brother, Ken).
The APBA Company was happy to provide the grand prize of a free season of APBA GO to both Joe and Darren (thanks, APBA!).
Like we did last year with Jesse Elicker, I thought it would be nice to get to know this year’s winners. Both were gracious enough to answer some questions.
The APBA Blog: Congratulations on winning the 2nd Annual APBA Blog Pitching Grade Challenge! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Darren Schulz: Thanks Tom! As a native of Pennsylvania, I have been blessed by our great Lord with a loving and supportive family, a beautiful wife and two sons, and an endless amount of friends.
I am doing exactly what I set out to do in being an educator and high school baseball coach for over 20 years now.
I am a loyal fan of the Pirates, Steelers, Penguins, and Nittany Lions.
Joe Deauseault: I’m 54, married and a Gm of a Chrysler, Dodge , Jeep, Ram store in Westfield, Ma. I’ve been in the car business for 29 years.
The APBA Blog: Give us your APBA elevator-pitch. How long have played APBA and what got you started? What APBA games do you play?
Darren: I have been playing APBA for well over 30 years now. I recall seeing advertisements for it in Baseball Digest but honestly never thought too much about it because I was so used to playing a dice game with regular baseball cards that I had learned from Joel, one of my closest elementary school friends.
However, in middle school my friend John started showing me the brochures with the sample cards, and my curiosity started to get the best of me. I sent for my own and read those beauties cover to cover, especially at school when I had free time. When John finally ordered the game and invited me to play, I was hooked for life. Along with John, my two brothers (Kenny and Mike), and three other close friends, I started draft leagues with basketball, baseball, and football. I know it may be hard to believe, but we actually started with the basketball game. I can only laugh now because we played games in about an hour which immediately implies that we had no idea what we were doing. We had a lot of fun with our own abbreviated rules, and that was all that mattered.
The basketball league eventually fizzled out (we got older and realized our errors), but baseball and football flourished. From middle school through the early college days, many of our weekends and summer nights were centered around participating in sports and rolling those dice. As we got older, the baseball game was the only league that survived due to its simplicity.
When the transitions of life made it harder for us to meet and play, we would still reminisce about APBA, and some of us found ways to keep playing from time to time. While our league was never consistent after high school, I always attempted to bring it back. With APBA GO, we seem to be back on track again, albeit this time with a larger group of friends we have met within the community.
Joe: My first exposure to APBA baseball came from Baseball digest. I sent for the free brochure and 2 free cards. After reading all about the game. I saved money from selling golf balls at a local course and farm jobs. My first set was 1977. I spent hours replaying the Red Sox season during the summer of 1978. I purchased 1978 season in 1979 and played that one on and off till 1983.
Life happened after that and somewhere around 2015, I googled APBA and signed up for the newsletter. About 6 months after APBA GO was released, I tried it out and have been hooked ever since.
The APBA Blog: What APBA projects are currently keeping you busy?
Darren: I will disappoint when it comes to APBA projects. I have completed exactly one solo project since my second year playing the baseball game. Starting in August 2015 and finishing in September 2018, I seeded all 100 20th century teams of my beloved Pittsburgh Pirates and rolled a best of seven tournament.
While I really enjoyed learning about the history of the Pirates, I still craved the competition of facing another player; simply stated, I am just not a solo APBA enthusiast. Thus, my projects consist of playing (and being the league statistician) in our reformed LABL Draft League on APBA GO, co-organizing the annual Linda B. Schulz Memorial APBA Baseball tournament in Slippery Rock with my brother Kenny, and competing in as many regional tournaments (F2F and on GO) as I can.
Most importantly, my primary endeavor is to share my enthusiasm for the game and the company with my two sons.
Joe: I’m currently in 3 progressive draft leagues and various season leagues and tournaments. Everything is through APBA GO.
The APBA Blog: You both correctly guessed 19 of the 20 pitchers in the Challenge (both missing on Max Fried). Was it pure luck or APBA genius?
Darren: Oh boy! One word – LUCK. I spent a total of maybe three-five minutes predicting the pitching grades. While I have a lot of history analyzing cards, I simply trusted my gut based on the stats that were posted.
I can’t recall what my score was from the competition last year, but I can guarantee that it was no where near 19/20. I did not advance to the level of APBA genius in one year. Thus, luck it is!
Joe: As much as I’d love to say getting 19 of 20 was all skill, there was a lot of educated guessing going on.
I play a lot of APBA GO. I have a pretty good feel for where the pitching grades will fall based on where they fell for others with similar stats.
The APBA Blog: What is it about APBA that makes it fun for you?
Darren: When I was kid learning the game and competing against my brothers and friends, I could not get enough of it. Whether it was creating draft sheets, laughing/arguing while rolling the games, compiling stats, or even flipping through countless amounts of cards, I enjoyed everything APBA had to offer. To me, it was the next best thing to being on the baseball field, basketball court, etc.
As an adult, I still enjoy the competition, especially at the regional tournaments. Seeing my eldest son now competing at these events brings joy to my heart; plus, my other son will be joining us in the near future. One of my goals is to share the game with at least a handful of my students each year. I have been able to provide a new game to one of my students the past two years.
Furthermore, the highlight of my APBA year is working with my best friend and brother Kenny on the tournament named in memory of our mother. We have met so many wonderful community members since 2015, and I simply never get tired of hearing all of the stories. When I started playing this game, there were only 5/6 names that came to mind; now the names I refer to are more than I can even count. So Tom, thank you! Pastor Rich, thank you! Ron Emch, thank you! Doug Schuyler, thank you! Mark Mcdonel, thank you! Greg Wells, thank you! Gilles Thibault, thank you! Greg Oguard, thank you! LABL family, thank you! Wyks family, thank you! Percy Ashcraft, thank you! John Asalon, thank you! John Herson, thank you! APBA Community, thank you! I know I left names off of here, but conversing with these fine APBA-enthusiasts and so many more are what makes APBA fun for me.
Joe: The game itself is great to play and be brought back to where baseball was everything. Through APBA GO, I’ve met some of the best managers and people ever!
I’ve become very good friends with many of them. As much as we all want to win, we’re always respectful and try to help all the other managers. Progressive draft leagues rule!
The APBA Blog: As a prize for winning the Challenge, APBA CEO John Herson has given you the choice of any APBA GO season. Which one will you choose and why?
Darren: I have decided to take the 2003 season on APBA GO as my prize since that will be the next drafted season for our LABL APBA GO league.
Joe: I’ll probably go with the 1987 season to continue filling in my gaps in seasons. I’m up to around 35 seasons in APBA GO.
With all the different leagues and tournaments, every season gets played. As much as the cards and dice are great, I really believe APBA GO is the future. At some point, It’ll all be online.
My hope is APBA GO is constantly improved from just the basic game to adding many features from the master game to make it as realistic as possible.
Thanks to Darren Schulz and Joe Deauseault for taking time out to answer these questions! It is always great to learn more about our fellow APBA fans!
Is an APBA GO match up in the works??
