When people from work ask me “What did you do last weekend?” and I answer, “I spent it with eight other guys in a hotel”, some eyebrows get raised. That’s okay. I was doing what I enjoy most.
On June 24th and 25th, nine members of the Illowa APBA League convened at a hotel in Downers Grove, Illinois for our June weekend.
While our February weekend is filled up with our postseason and draft and the September weekend includes our All-Star Game, the June weekend is the one where we just play our regular season games…
…and talk… Boy, do we talk! Mostly sports and especially baseball. There are two rules in the IAL:
- No talking politics
- Use the lobby bathroom if you’re doing #2
Dennis Jennings, Don Smith, Marcus Bunch and Rob Moore seemed to be big winners. Dennis’ Global Glaciers went 21-9 for the weekend. Still awaiting official results for others.
Dennis has Avi Garcia who has a 13-42. According to him, Garcia was hit by the pitch 11 times in 24 games over the weekend. I haven’t done my stats yet but thinking back, our batters were hit pretty hard on both sides.
I know the concept of a “brawl chart” modification was a thing for APBA. Given the high rates of warnings, ejections and yes, injuries, I wonder if it should become more used.
How did I do?
How did my Thunderchickens fare? Well, that depends. At one point, I was struggling through a 12-game losing streak which spanned three series. That included a six-game sweep by Dennis Jennings’ Global Glaciers.
I was on the cusp of getting swept again, this time by Chuck Lucas’ Northside Hitmen. We lost the first five games. Fortunately, we won the last game against the Hitmen.
That was the start of a six-game WINNING streak which Scott Fennessy bore the brunt. We finally were hitting like winners.
I had no illusions of my team’s grandeur, but it was nice to get a few dubs. I could feel Scott’s pain though our two teams were at the bottom of the standings, and it was his chance to win a few.
Surprisingly, with some glaring exceptions, my D starters still continue to pitch well. David Peterson even took a no-hitter into the 6th inning. Dennis and his Global Glaciers provided the “glaring exceptions” as he scored in the double digits several times.
Overall, my Thunderchickens went 10-20 (subject to verification once I do my stats)
Photos from the weekend are here. This gallery resides in my “People Playing APBA” photo area which include about 45 separate league and tournament photo galleries going back almost 20 years.
The Illowa APBA League next meet up for the All-Star Game weekend in September. Thanks for a great weekend, guys!
Tom,
While it was not a great weekend from the W-L standpoint, it was a chance to be with the guys once again. Dragons did feature some players with big results, but we just lack the power to drive in the runners when on base.
Thanks for being a good winner. Besides I just consider it payback for beating you for my only series win in February. Besides, we both are on pace to have a shot at players we both want for next year.