Darren Schulz writes The APBA Blog with a recap of the new Great American Baseball League’s first season.
Led by Commissioner Ken Schulz, the Great American Baseball League was founded during the early stages of the 2020 pandemic. Sixteen managers from Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee were separated into two divisions (Clemente 21 and Robinson 42) to draft rosters of 36 players from the current 1980 Apba baseball card set. Utilizing Zoom, Skype, Google Meet and more, an 84 game schedule was completed from July through December. One of the twists for this league is that it will continue to go back in time for subsequent seasons.
At the turn of the new year, the Best of Five Wild Card round ended in two sweeps. The Brewster Whitecaps (Gregg Wiseburn) took all three 10 inning Clemente Division contests over the Slippery Rock Spearhead (Logan/Darren Schulz) with the finale ending in a two out, two run blast from Reggie Jackson, the overall number one pick in the initial 1980 player draft. Meanwhile, in the Robinson Division, the Lincoln Logs (Doug Bedell) rode some dominant pitching from Jerry Reuss and Scot Sanderson in their own three game sweep of the Omaha Monarchs (Bernie Benjamin).
Both Best of Seven Semifinal Series found the top seeded teams advancing to the first GABL World Series. In the Clemente Division, the league’s overall top seeded manager John Mikulas and his Ohio Pride edged their way past the Brewster Whitecaps in four straight with games one, three, and four being extra inning classics. Led by Mike Schmidt’s three homer, 10 RBI performance, the Robinson Division winner Jeff Scalzo’s Boston ScalzBosox chopped down the Lincoln Logs four games to one.
With Dave Winfield taking two deep behind the near masterful performance by SP of the Year winner Steve Carlton, the Pride took game one by a final score of 10-1. Game two saw the Boston squad jump on Floyd Bannister for seven runs in the first two innings. However, when the Pride cut the lead to one in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying/winning runs on base, Scalzo used Reggie Cleveland to get the final out to secure the 10-9 series tying victory. That proved to be the turning point of the series as Boston used the strong starting pitching of Jim Bibby, Bob Welch, and Rudy May along with three more blasts from Schmidt to earn the first GABL title. With Schmidt leading the offensive attack with four homers, 11 RBIs, and a .500 batting average, the World Series MVP announcement was not even in question.
Congrats to Jeff Scalzo for taking the crown and earning the first ever GABL championship plaque!
After a two month offseason to draft, discuss rule changes/revisions, and more, season number two is currently underway! Ken Wyks and his Mount Juliet Marauders won the 1979 lottery and selected 40-year-old Lou Brock with the number one pick. If interested in our league, feel free to contact Ken Schulz at or visit the GABL website.
Congratulations to Jeff Scalzo for his success! I also applaud all members of the GABL. I always like hearing about new leagues forming. Knowing that Ken Schulz is at the helm, I know it will be a lasting success! Good luck in the coming year!
