With the Illowa APBA League 2016 All-Star weekend coming up next weekend, you might need a program to keep track of the managers. The IAL has been going through some personnel changes lately. In short, we have two new managers in our league.
Dan Bunch
This is actually Dan’s second IAL weekend. He took over the Iowa Oinkers at the IAL Spring weekend. However, Dan is certainly not new to APBA or the IAL. He is the son of commissioner Mike Bunch. The love of APBA must be a requirement for the men in the Bunch family (brother Marcus is also in the league). Dan has some IAL coaching experience already as he’s helped co-manage Missoula Rattlesnakes with John Brandeberry. No doubt, he his happy to get his own team which he has named the Colona Hustlers. Don’t let the name fool you, Dan is awesome guy and we’re all excited to have him on board.
Scott Fennessy
Most of you probably know who Scott is. Not only does Scott have his own column here on The APBA Blog but some of you will know him as a regular attendee of the Chicagoland Tournaments. In fact, Scott won the second Chicagoland Tournament championship in 2013. That was his first tourney and the first time I met him in person. Scott has been attending IAL functions as a “friend of the league” since then. His involvement has been invaluable as he has filled in for the occasional absentee manager. When another position opened up, the league extended an offer. We’re really looking forward to many years with Scott and his new team, the Des Plaines Dragons!
A quick goodbye
I would like to acknowledge Nick Tegeler and Todd Ventresca who have both left our league. Both men remain friends of our organization but just did not have time in their schedules to play. We remain in contact with them and wish them the best in the future.
Both Nick and Todd have been long time friends of our league. Nick was a commissioner of the now defunct Midwest League which shared a few of the same managers as the Illowa APBA League. In fact, Nick even convinced me to join the Midwest League (a move which lasted for about two years). After many years, when there was an opening, we welcomed Nick to the fold.
It was a little hard to see Todd go. See, I brought Todd into the league in the early 1990s when I was commissioner of the league. I still remember the interview I conducted with him over the phone. It was obviously a good choice as Todd lasted over 20 years. As an umpire of organized baseball, he brought a unique perspective to our discussion of baseball. He even stayed in the league for several years after he moved to Pittsburgh changing his team name from the Aurora Gamblers to the Three Rivers Gamblers. The traveling understandably just got too much and we’ll miss him.
thanks and good luck, Nick and Todd!
