Prairieland 3 Informtion

Greetings!
Today, I will post some helpful information for the Prairieland 3 APBA Tournament.

Date: April 28th!

The Theme:  Any team 1920-1960 that did not participate in a World Series and the 1941 Red Sox.

The Draft:  In order to be in the actual team draft for the tourney, you must join on the Facebook event or email Thomas Nelshoppen at:  nelshopp@gmail.com

The deadline to enter the draft is February 26th at midnight.

We will publish a list of managers and update it here and on Facebook.

We will conduct an email draft that begins after February 26th.

If you miss the draft deadline, you may play, however you will have to pick from teams not drafted, first-come-first-served.

There will be a prize for first place!

Where:  The Ramada Inn, Springfield Illinois
3281 Northfield Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62704

Conference room, second floor.
First Pitch: 9am
We have a block of rooms set aside for $94.00 each (w/o tax).
Phone # 217-523-4000

There are other good hotels nearby and lots of food options.

Things to do in Springfield:

The Lincoln Museum is fantastic

The Abraham Lincoln Tomb

Springfield has one of the finest Frank Lloyd Wright homes: The Dana Thomas House

Drive by Robin Roberts Stadium

The Lincoln Museum, the Lincoln Tomb, and the Dana Thomas House are all open and available to tour.  I highly recommend all three.


Cost to manage in the tourney:  $20.00

Questions? Ask on Facebook, email Thomas, or leave them here.

The Michigan!

March 3rd is the 4th annual Michigan APBA Tournament hosted by the gracious Rich Zawadzki.

This year the theme is the DH era, or any American League team 1973-2017.  I selected the 1988 Twins.

The 1988 Twins finished 91-71, a solid year coming off their World Series win in 1987 and on their way to their next ring in 1991. Statistically, it was one of the best years for the big three: Puckett, Hrbek, and Gaetti.

Here is how they stack up by batting order and position:

1.  John Moses  (F)  RF-2
2.  Kirby Puckett (F) CF-3
3.  Gary Gaetti  3B-5
4.  Kent Hrbek (S) 1B-4
5.  Randy Bush (S)  DH
6.  Tim Laudner  (S) C-7
7.  Tommy Herr (F) 2B-8
8.  Dan Gladden (F) LF-2
9.  Gregg Gagne (F) SS-9

The Michigan tourney uses a three man rotation and each arm must go 5 innings unless injured.

The Rotation:

Frank Viola  Ayz
Allan Anderson Az
Bert Blyleven  Dyz


The rotation is hot or cold with two As at the top and Bert as a D at the bottom with z's up and down.

Bull Pen:

Jeff Reardon  A*xz
Keith Atherton  B*yz
Juan Berenguer C*xyw

The pen looks OK with the z's for the #1 and #2, Atherton and Reardon may get work when Bert takes the bump.

Bench:

Brian Harper (S)  C-6
John Davidson  (F)  OF-2
Gene Larkin  1B-3
Al Newman   (F) 3B-4, SS-7, 2B-7
Steve Lombardozzi  2B-8, SS-6, 3B-3

Some speed off the bench and the necessary reserves for injuries with a decent pinch hitter or two in Larkin and Lombo.

Defense is almost always a 1.

In a DH tourney, Randy Bush gets the nod for the Twins.

Here are the APBA cards for the starting 9.

Lead-off hitter and short-time Twin Moses playing Right Field.  I like the 11s.

Mr. Twin and HOFer Puckett in CF.  Look at that card!  Try to ignore the 13-13.  Batters 2-6 have a 66-1.

You can't sneak the cheese by The Rat!  A very solid #3 hitter. and great with the glove.

 Heribie!  The hometown hero hitting cleanup and playing 1B.

Randy Bush holding down the DH spot in a DH tourney. Another single column card for this team.

 Tim Laudner behind the dish.

 Another short-time Twin, T-Bone Herr at 2B.  Starring the Speed-at-the-bottom part of the lineup.

The best nickname on the team- Dan "Wrench" Gladden in LF.

Long-time Twin hero at SS-Gags. With some pop, don't miss that 66-1