This weekend, the Illowa APBA League will get together and play its 46th annual All-Star Game.
The IAL is a 10-team, continuous-ownership league using the APBA Basic Game with very little modifications.
Where are we playing?
We will be playing in a house on the banks of a small lake near Cambridge, Illinois. It’s a beautiful area that makes me happy when I go there.
This weekend is a bit of a re-creation of a historic All-Star Game in IAL. In 1984 (only five years into the league), I hosted the ASG weekend at this same location. A great time was had by all but the Game itself was one we still talk about. It is now referred to as the “Dickie Thon Game”.
Short version: Against the Illinois Division, the Iowa Division was down by four runs going into the ninth inning. Iowa managed to load the bases and now-commissioner Mike Bunch’s Dickie Thon was up. Mike’s roll came up 66 to tie the game!
If that wasn’t enough, two innings, Mike rolled another homer on Lance Parrish to walk off the game.
Mike was a happy man. Maybe too happy. He celebrated with a dip into the hot tub accompanied by a bottle of Southern Comfort. I’ll leave out the rest of the story to spare Mike the embarrassment.
Regardless, this is a story of legends that we tell and re-tell even after 36 years. Let’s hope Mike has a few good rolls in him this year too.
Who is playing in the IAL All-Star Game?
While everyone will be rolling for their players in our All-Star game, we do have official managers determined by best W-L records the previous year. Here are the two fine managers of the 2021 All-Star teams, Rob Moore and Marcus Bunch.
Marcus Bunch
Country Gents
Rob Moore
City Boys
Players are voted on by the IAL managers. Here is the results of the balloting:
By manager’s choice, Brandon Lowe got the nod at second base. Cronenworth was named as a substitute.
Max Fried (13-2, 2.52 ERA) will take the mound for the Country Gents and Yu Darvish (11-1, 2.07 ERA) will start for the City Boys.
In addition to the All-Star Game, each team will play five 6-game regular season series. To add to that, I will play a nine-game series on Thursday. This is against first-place Dan Bunch’s Colona Hustlers so my playoff hopes are in question.
Forty games this weekend!! I’m really looking forward to this weekend. It will be different than our usual hotel environs.
