“Sub-.500” Chicagoland Fall tourney date set for Nov 12 with new guy in charge

It just seems like once we finish one tournament, it’s time to get ready for another.  For me, that means the Chicagoland Fall 2016 Tournament. 

But check this out!  There’s a new guy in charge!  Mr. Rob Spatz (right) will be calling the shots as the new tournament organizer.  It will be hard to fill the shoes of Doug Schuyler who has been organizing these Chicago tournaments for four years now.  However, I think the idea of building some leadership in the APBA community is great and Spatz is a prime candidate to keep the tourneys going.  He’s a Sox fan but I still think he’s ok. 

Rob already on the ball.  He has the got room reserved.  Here are the details for the time and place for the upcoming tournament:

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016
Comfort Inn – O Hare 2175 Touhy Ave, Des Plaines, IL 60018 (map)
Doors Open at 8:30 AM. Games to start by 9:30 AM, with the Championship slated to be completed by 7 PM.

Rob has been great about getting input from regular tourney participants on theme, rules and such.  With feedback of many, here is the current setup…

Theme

The idea is simple.  Per Rob, “Basic selection premise: Select any MLB team 1901?2015 that ended the season with a sub .500 record. The team must have more losses than wins. Teams that ended with a .500 record or better are excluded.”

This tournament idea has been bandied about by many organizers (including the Prairieland tournament) and every time it’s suggested, it gets good feedback.  Great choice, Rob! 

Agenda

8:30 AM – Doors Open. Games to be played.
9:30 AM – Introductions, blessing, and National Anthem
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM. Lunch. Options will be presented before the day of the tournament
1:30 PM – We will either have a pseudo All-Star game or go back to game play depending on the status of games remaining.
6:00 PM – Championship
7:00 PM – Optional Post Tournament Dinner at Jameson’s Charhouse

Rules

Here is a link to the full set of rules.  For those who have played in the Chicagoland tournaments, it is very similar to the most recent ones. 

Here are the important rules that do tend to change from tourney to tourney:

• 25 man roster. 4 man rotation.
• No J-4s start
• Conventional APBA Pitching Increases and Reductions.
• 3 Game Series (Assuming a 32 Team Tournament)
• Have Fun!

However the big new change, is this…

• Standardizing the tournament to the most recent APBA booklet. 

I’m sure this wasn’t an easy decision as it might be a little controversial.  Rob DID poll everyone and most people did agree that was the best course of action.  Personally, I especially like the idea of using one standardized set of boards.  I also am glad it is the newer boards. 

You can find the full set of rules here.

Rob says there is still room in the tournament pool for those interested.  I’ve lost count how many Chicagoland tournaments I’ve attended but I do know I’ve had a blast at each one.  Rob is looking for 32 teams this time around and after two weeks, he’s already got 20 teams. 

Pick your sub-.500 team and let him know you’re coming!!