Who will be playing in April’s Prairieland APBA Baseball Tournament? Well, we know now! The Prairieland Draft selection finished in less than three days thanks to draftmaster Eric Berg. You can see the results here at Eric’s blog Red 11.
The 1975 Reds were the very first choice made by Chris Strangeman. The second pick made by Eric Berg, was Shoeless Joe Jackson.
I was very interested to see how this draft would shape up. I was pretty sure I was going to pick a fantasy deadball player in the first round but I was in the minority. Only eight players out of 24 were chosen in the first round. The others opted to choose their team and waited till the second round to pick their deadball player.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were the most popular team from the 1970-2000 era chosen. In order, the 1977, 1978, 1981, and 1985 LA teams were taken. The New York Yankees were the next popular with three (1998, 1977, 2000).
Among the fantasy deadball players, there was a mix of position players and pitchers taken. In addition to Jackson, Walter Johnson was taken third overall followed by Napoleon Lajoie sixth overall. It wasn’t until the 22nd and 23rd pick when deadball hotshots Wagner and Cobb were chosen. Indeed, it shouldn’t be surprising there were plenty of deadball pitchers such as Brown, Bender, Joss, Young and Waddell to balance out some of the hitters.
The most interesting pick? Hurler Hod Eller was taken in the second round by none other than Bob Eller. Any relation, Bob?
Many thanks to Eric Berg who managed the draft like a pro this weekend! We now have 24 participants!
The Prairieland 2 APBA Baseball Tournament will take place in Champaign, Illinois on April 1. If you are still interested, let me know by March 1 and we will fit you in!
I can’t wait to see how this tournament turns out. A very interesting concept.