GF Korreck is hosting the inaugural Furniture City APBA Tournament this coming Saturday, November 3, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This baseball event will be held at Legends Sports & Games. I’m very excited to be participating in this tournament.
Major League teams from 1920-1972 will be used for this post-deadball/pre-designated hitter contest. Therefore, pitchers will hit and are required to go at least five innings, unless their grades are reduced. Managers are restricted to 25-man rosters, and must declare a three-man pitching rotation. Teams were placed in four-team divisions assigned in the order of the draft. Each team will play three games against each of its first two opponents and two games against its third opponent for a total of eight games. Eight teams (division winners plus any wild cards) will advance to the single-elimination playoffs.
Take a look at the divisions and feel free to make your predictions.
The Rebel Oakes Division
Kevin Weber – 1948 Cleveland Indians
Eric Berg – 1927 New York Yankees
John Gedwill – 1967 San Francisco Giants
Kurt Bergland- 1968 Detroit Tigers
The Howard Maple Division
Robert Mosher – 1961 New York Yankees
Bob Winenger – 1970 Baltimore Orioles
Norman Zavela – 1930 St. Louis Cardinals
Dick Butler – 1957 Milwaukee Braves
The Rocky Cherry Division
Dave Lewis – 1937 New York Yankees
Dick Glisinski – 1969 Baltimore Orioles (Mr. Glisinski can’t attend. If interested in filling in, contact GF)
Scooter Zeledon – 1944 St. Louis Cardinals
Jeff Niemi – 1935 Detroit Tigers
The Kemp Wicker Division
Randy Egan – 1954 New York Giants
Mark Hanisch – 1931 Philadelphia Athletics
John Roels – 1928 Philadelphia Athletics
Bill Geresy – 1961 Detroit Tigers
The Ken Ash Division
Camron Shaffer – 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers
Zach Zavela – 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers
GF Korreck – 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
Dan Pierce – 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates
I was very lucky to get the first pick in the draft. With it, I picked the 1948 Cleveland Indians. The ‘48 Tribe is a nearly perfect tournament team. They can hit for average and power, calculate to fielding one no matter who’s pitching, have two A relievers, and have THREE A starters.
As always, I’ll need some luck with the dice to get through this tough tournament field, but I’m excited to see how Boudreau’s bunch performs. I’m also excited to see how Bob Lemon hits. I think I might bat him seventh when he’s pitching.
If Wi-Fi can be found, I plan to live-Tweet my tournament games. You can check out my games by following the Twitter handle @APBAWeber. Also, I plan to cover the action throughout the day for The APBA Blog Facebook page. You can expect photos, videos, and brief updates. After the tournament is completed, I hope to provide a full write up for the website.
Sounds like a lot of fun. I bought the 1948 and 1914 seasons in January after a long drought of not buying any sets (20 years). Your Tribe selection has a great chance to be in the Elite Eight.
I hope you’re right, Mr. Lovel I like the following teams to get to the playoff: ‘27 Yanks, ’57 Braves, ’37 Yanks, ’69 Orioles (if used), ’31 A’s, ’54 Giants, & ’53 Dodgers…and I’d like to think the ‘48 Indians have a good shot too.
Lots of good teams (and great people) there. There’s not one team I would immediately discount.
I think your assessment is correct (the ’57 Braves is a fun team!). Nothing wrong with the ’51 Dodgers either!
I also would like to think you and the ’48 Indians along with Illini great Lou Boudreau would have a shot. :)
Good luck, Kevin!!
Thanks. It should be fun. I didn’t know Boudreau played for the Illini.
I’m goin’ with your ’48 Tribe squad.
Closer Russ Christopher served in that role in the latter stages of his career.
VERY similar to the late Dan Quisenberry in that they were both tall and lanky,
didn’t strike out a lot of guys, but were excellent in spotting their pitches.
Of course, Quiz was a submariner.
Sadly, Russ died of a heart ailment at the age of 37.
Boy, I hope you’re right. I’m not that familiar with Christopher. I found your details very interesting. That’s a great thing about APBA, it’s always teaching you new things.
Kevin, In the old 48 Indians gtop, they had 1 A (Bearden) on the whole team. OF Mitchell looks like he was seriously downgraded. He had a 10 on 15 and a 7 on 51, now a 7 on 15 and 8 on 25. Great post and a great selection of teams bt the participants. Smart choices.
Agreed
We’re all baseball geeks. :)