Champion Cale Mannesto after winning the Fall Tournament…
Congratulations to Cale Mannesto who won yesterday’s Chicagoland APBA World Series Tournament in Woodstock, Illinois. As the flashes were firing, many of us were inquiring “what’s his last name again?” for he was a newcomer to the tournament. I’m sure we won’t forget it soon.
…it didn’t take long before Cale was texting his agent
Cale won the APBA Baseball tournament with the 1968 Detroit Tigers behind the fine pitching of Denny McLain and his Grade A&B. We’re all happy that Cale won and the fact that he takes home the trophy means he’ll be back at the next tournament to return it. Nice going, Cale!
Second place Clark Eichman still brought home some hardware
To win the tournament championship, Cale defeated Clark Eichman and the tough 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers in the final game. It wasn’t the first time Clark was a bridesmaid. Last fall, he brought the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates to the championship game only to be defeated. Clark didn’t go home empty handed though. He won the newly implemented Homerun Trophy as his Dodgers hit the most dingers for the day. Congratulations to Clark on his hard fought run!
The cream of the crop. L to R: Chris Witt (1946 Red Sox, Mike and Julie Gaubatz (2013 Royals), Clark Eichman (1953 Dodgers), Cale Mannesto (1968 Tigers)
In addition to Cale and Clark, two other teams made it to the playoffs. The 1946 Boston Red Sox went 5-1 under Chris Witt’s leadership. Mike and Julie Gaubatz paired up to pilot the 2013 Kansas City Royals to upset their division. Nice going everyone!
In all, 16 teams participated with Rich Zawadzki traveling the furthest coming all the way from Jackson, Michigan. He even brought a huge box of APBA cards including Great Teams of the Past (I took a few minutes to browse through them and Rich and Doug Schuyler played a pickup game during the playoffs.
Organizers Doug Schuyler and Jim Saska
Finally, a big thanks to Jim Saska, the logistics man, and Doug Schuyler, Public Relations man extraordinaire. Without them, this event wouldn’t be happening and wouldn’t be near as fun. Jim, the venue was fantastic and Doug, thanks for continually plugging this event.
I’ve posted some photos here and I’ll be posting more thoughts on the tournament later.
So did the Cubs win any games????
Must be a White Sox fan – cares more about the Cubs than his own team.
Thanks for asking Mike. We won two games out of six. We went 1-1 against the 1961 Tigers (Sutcliffe win) and the 1994 White Sox (Moyer win). We got swept 0-2 by the 1953 Dodgers. Campanella had nine rbis in one game!
We can’t complain. We actually were leading in the the Homerun Derby at the end of divisional play (10 HR in six games). Clark Eichman and his 53 Dodgers went on to hit a few more though.
Another note: Rafael Palmeiro hit two HR and drove in five runs against Doug Schuyler’s 94 White Sox… in just one inning!!
Would have like to have gone but couldn’t do it this time around. I would be interested (when the next one comes up) hearing about the logistics required – sounds like there’s a train running from Chicago to near where the tourney was held? That might make it easier for me to attend.
Jack,
There is a trainline that runs from Chicago to Woodstock (Metra Northwest Line). However, the first train on Saturday morning doesn’t get in until 10:30, so you’d have to come out on Friday and plan to stay overnite in Woodstock.
Jim Saska
Thanks! That would work out, actually. I have some relative that just moved into Chicago in the last few weeks I might be able to stay with. Now I wonder if I could take the train from Detroit (and if it would be any cheaper than flying)…