The divisions are set for the Prairieland 3 APBA Baseball Tournament! The Prairieland Tournament will take place on Saturday, April 28th at the Ramada Inn – Springfield. It’s the Golden Age tourney so divisions are named after Golden era players from Illinois. April 28th, 2018 9:00am Location: The Ramada Inn,…
When I was nine years old, living in Florida, and becoming serious about baseball, my favorite player was Reggie Jackson. I remember seeing highlights of the 1977 World Series when he hit five homers. Then I picked up the baseball card to the left, describing how Jackson did something…
Giving due attention to the pitching cards, here is Clayton Kershaw. More specifically, it is his 2017 APBA card. He of course was a Grade A pitcher that year. In fact, he had the second highest Master Game pitching grade after Corey Kluber. You can see it down the grade…
The Prairieland 3 APBA Baseball Tournament is three weeks away! This year’s tournament theme is the Golden Age Participants can select any team from 1920 to 1960 which did not participate in the World Series. April 28th, 2018 9:00am Location: The Ramada Inn, Springfield Illinois 3281 Northfield Drive, Springfield,…
For me, baseball cards and APBA are connected. When I first became interested in baseball, Topps lost its monopoly on manufacturing baseball cards. In 1980, Fleer and Donruss were given permission from Major League Baseball to produce their first sets. During the two years I lived in Fern…
Scott Fennessy sent in this 1974 Herb Washington APBA card. The “weird” thing about this card is that all things considered, it’s not that weird at all. As most baseball historians know, Washington was used by Oakland A’s owner purely as a pinch runner in 1974. For his original card,…
On the evening of October 11, 1972 in front of 41,887 spectators, Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds hit a dramatic home run off Dave Giusti of the Pittsburgh Pirates to tie the deciding game of the NLCS. A few minutes later, the Reds would win the pennant on a…
Last weekend, the Transcontinental Baseball League held their draft not in the freezing cold of the Northeast but rather in Phoenix, Arizona where there are fun distractions such as baseball spring training. Great idea! It was Cody Bellinger who topped the TBL draft (just like the Illowa APBA League and…
On the same weekend as the Illowa APBA League postseason and draft, the Transcontinental Baseball League World Series was taking place. Let’s give some congrats to Brobdingnag Barbarians manager, Joe Auletta, the new reigning TBL champion! He defeated Mark Bloom’s Grand Cayman Havens in a seven game series. Barbarian Sean…
To me, Ted Williams is the John Wayne of baseball. He was a hero on and off the baseball diamond. In many ways, his life played out like a movie script. From the sandlots of Southern California, he became the greatest hitter to ever live. At the height of…