If you’re a reader of the APBA Blog, you’re probably a big sports fan. More than likely, you’re a big baseball fan too and have met a few big leaguers over the years. Most of the time, we meet professional athletes at autograph signings or other team functions. Rarely do…
Roger Maris was the Harold Baines of the 1960s. Both were quiet, unassuming, productive professionals, who often were overlooked for their accomplishments. Even though he played ten fewer seasons than Baines, Maris’s productivity was eerily similar. Baines’s career WAR: 38.7; Maris’s career WAR: 38.2 Baines’s career OPS+: 121; Maris’s career…
In the “Because-it’s-fun-to-watch-guys-talk-about-APBA-cards” department, here’s a couple videos submitted by Steve Stein of the Transcontinental Baseball League. The TBL is a 24-team play-by-mail league and its name is no misnomer. Members of the league span the continent from New England, Midwest and the West. These two videos were recorded after…
There is a first baseman, who played from 1958 to 1974, had 379 career homers, an .849 OPS, 133 OPS+ and 50.4 WAR and is in the Hall of Fame. Should a different first baseman, who also played from 1958 to 1974, had 377 homers, an .862 OPS, 139 OPS+…
Darren Schulz provided this fun 1969 Joe Morgan for our viewing pleasure. It’s a wild one! I actually remember this one as a kid. My brother bought this original set and I inherited it. Well, let’s say that I “appropriated” it from him. Before diving into the card itself, let’s…
Saturday, February 16, 2019 seemed to be a day of transactions for the Illowa APBA League. It was kind of an unplanned, impromptu Winter Meetings conducted over email, text and phone. I don’t think I’ve witnessed anything like it before. Within eight hours, a total five trades involving 14 players…
You know you’re getting old when first-ballot Baseball Hall of Famers were born five years after you. How did that happen? It seems like only yesterday when Hall of Famers were old men. Unfortunately, Roy Halladay didn’t get to become an old man or stand at the podium this coming…
There are two APBA baseball drafts I keep an eye on each year. One is the Transcontinental Baseball League which had its draft a couple weekends ago. The other is the Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association (RCMBA). Because of our similar drafting rules, both are good indicators of how the…
Though statistically there are several more deserving players who could have been the first to get 100% of the vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame, there are none who could have been any more humbled with the honor than Mariano Rivera. There’s little doubt Rivera deserves to be a…
After much deliberation, the Prairieland IV date and theme has been announced! Springfield will host Prairieland for the second year in a row and thanks to Eric Berg, Todd Daniels, and Dave Rueck, we have an original idea for a “modular” team draft. First, the important details: Date: April 13,…