Butch Newton wins the Chicagoland APBA tourney!

The 2023 Chicagoland Summer APBA Baseball Tournament can best be described as a rousing success. 49 participants traveled by plane, train, bus, and car to the Hyatt Rosemont with hopes at acquiring (in my biased opinion) the most prized possession in all of sports simulation – the vaunted Chicagoland traveling trophy. This year’s theme was “Have You Heard About The lonesome Loser?” With squads from 1969 through 2022 that finished 4th, 5th, or 6th in their division eligible to complete.
The tournament, for those of you unfamiliar, starts on Friday night for those that have traveled early or locally can make it, with a pre-tournament get together, dinner, and commiseration of first timers, old vets, and all those in between at Portillo’s:

After dinner, the group made it back to the hotel, where several games were rolled. It was time then for the owners to rest up for a full slate of activities.

The only “glitch in the matrix” was a scheduling snafu in one of the divisions. After a brief delay, some opening announcements, and discussion about the 2024 tournament it was time to play ball. 4 divisions of 10, and 1 division of 9 (Which involved myself and Chicagoland VIP guest Scott Thomas rolling the 2006 Seattle Mariners) played 8 divisional games to find out who will advance. With the top 2 in each division and 2 wildcard teams of the remaining 29 squads getting a taste at post season baseball, every game was crucial for one’s playoff fate.

Division one, as was common amongst most of the divisions, was a tightly contested division. One misstep in a managerial decision easily could mean watching the events from the sidelines, with every run given up or earned vital. Vince Bianco, with the odds-on favorite in the 2021 Toronto Blue Jays, squeaked out the division title by one game. John Roles and the 1981 New York Yankees edged out Scott Fennessy’s 1974 Houston Astros and Clark Eichman’s 1977 Chicago Cubs via run differential to earn the playoff berth.

Division 2 was a tale of 2 teams. Both Alex Auerbach and his 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers and Norm Zavella with the 1984 Phillies had tremendous divisional runs, both finishing 7 -1. Norm got the division title and the bye via an extra 2 run differential.

As has become the case in recent Chicagoland’s, one team has the “It Factor”, and will run the table in round robin play. First time Chicagoan owner Michael Hernandez earned that honor with the 1987 Boston Red Sox, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Both 5 and 3 squads moved on, with Eric Berg’s 2021 Minnesota Twins getting the 2nd place spot and Alex Dunning and the 1996 San Francisco Giants eaking out by 1 total run differential the second and final wildcard berth.

With 9 available playoff spots, this division was by far the most competitive. 2 games separated the division title and last place, which spoke of the competitive nature of this theme. Todd Daniel’s 2005 New York Mets, with his +12 run differential earned the division win, with Joe Schall’s 2201 Texas Rangers and a +8 differential got the second spot.

Butch Newton, with one of the tournament dark horse squads taken at # 41, the 1973 Atlanta Braves, earned the last first round bye with his 6 and 2 record. Both 5 and 3 teams made it. Ron Emch and the 1987 New York Yankees getting the 2nd place finish and Maddelyn Vanicelli with the 2005 Chicago Cubs the first wild card spot. With that, the final 12 was set.

There were 4 total rounds in the playoffs. Seeds 5 – 12 would face off in a “play in” game, facing the 4 seeded division winners, and then the final 4, with a best of 3 Chicagoland World Series to decide the winner. The wildcard owners had a difficult decision to make. Do you start your ace in this game, or hope your #2 starter can do the job in the second round. The playoffs, on a hole, was beyond competitive, with the opening round seeing all 4 of the lower seeded home teams……LOSE!

The #12 seeded ’96 Giants managed by Alex Dunning was the engine that could, as it shut out the lone division winner this round, Todd Daniel’s # 5 seeded 2005 New York Mets by a score of 2-0. Not to be outdone, The first lady of Chicagoland Maddelyn Vanicelli with the #11 seed 2005 Chicago Cubs defeated the 7-1 record of #6 seeded Alex Auerbach’s 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers 4 -2. Ron Emch’s #10 seeded 1987 New York Yankees defeated the #7 1981 version led by John Roles 4-3. And Bomba….that being the #9 seeded 2021 Minnesota Twins of Eric berg defeating Joe Schall’s #8 seeded 2001 Texas Rangers 5-3. With that, the final 8 was set.

Game one saw the # 4 seeded Butch Newton led 1973 Atlanta Braves edging out the 2021 Twins 3 -2. Vince Bianco’s # 3 seeded 2021 Toronto Blue Jays dispatched the 1987 Yankees 9 – 3. Then….things got bizarre…..In the slugfest of this round the # 11 ranked 2005 Cubs continued to see another day, making the final 4 over the # 2 seeded, 7 and 1 record of Norm Zavella and the 1984 Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 12 – 10. Not to be outdone, Alex Dunning kept rolling with his #12 seeded ’96 Giants….topping the undefeated 1987 Boston Red Sox of Michael Hernandez 4 -3. The final four was now set.

The high seeded luck fizzled out here, as Vince and the 2021 Jays outslugged the 1996 San Francisco Giants 11 -7, meeting the 1973 Atlanta Braves, who hung on to a 5-4 win over the 2005 Chicago Cubs.

The Championship series proved to be a good battle, but not a close contest as Chicagoland newcomer Butch Newton and the 1973 Atlanta Braves swept the Vince Bianco led 2021 Toronto Blue Jays 7 -2 and 8 -1 to become Chicagoland Champion for 2023.

Rob, I sure missed attending Chicagoland this year. There are so many people who attend that I like to keep up with.

Congratulations, Butch! As a first time attendee, this had to be quite the experience.