APBA
CONVENTION 2007
July 20 - July 22
Frazer, Pennsylvania
The sixth APBA sponsored convention in the last seven years kicked off at 7 P.M. Friday, July 20th in the Regency Ballroom of the Sheraton Great Valley Hotel in Frazer, PA.
More than 60 APBA devotees and some spouses from as far away as Oregon and California, and as close as Downingtown, PA, representing sixteen states and Canada in all, were in attendance to hear opening remarks by APBA President Marc Rinaldi.
Marc’s opening address was brief and included the announcement that APBA Convention 2008 was already in place for the Palace Station and Casino in Las Vegas, the site of the 2006 Convention, during the weekend of July 13th. Marc also detailed the company’s plans for the Baseball for Windows computer game, as well as what new products for the APBA board game line are on the horizon.
Dinner was next on the agenda, and when the group reassembled roughly an hour later Rinaldi and the APBA staff conducted a question and answer session, after which it was APBA’s Veryl Lincoln who had the honor of presenting…..to a standing ovation…..the newest member of the APBA Hall of Fame: Don Adams of North Brunswick, New Jersey.
Champions from the last four company-sponsored tournaments were in attendance and were recognized.......2002 – Brian Wells (Wyomissing, PA); 2004 – Eric Naftaly (Daly City, CA); 2005 – John Hunt (Hollis Hills, NY) and 2006 – Bob King (Fountain Hills, AZ)…..and a review of the tournament rules ensued. Then the room was turned over to the crowd for practice games and story swapping. Eventually, an APBA contest found its way upstairs to a large table in the main lobby, prompting a puzzled look by many passers-by.
APBA’s Lincoln and Skeet Carr, though, still had work to do. Armed with the rosters, they retreated to their room to assign teams to the eight Divisions that would eventually determine the eight finalists that would battle for the 2007 Tournament Trophy.
Four divisions consisting of eight teams and four divisions with six……a total of 56…..were aligned to begin play at 9 A. M. Saturday morning. This was the largest tournament field for a company-sponsored tourney, besting the 2005 Lancaster Convention by two. The complete standings and Championship Bracket can be accessed below.
APBA Hall of Famer Joe Sweeney (Amherst, NY) posted the best record when Divisional play was completed late Saturday afternoon, taking his 1930 Giants to a 9-1 mark in the Mets Division, then he eliminated Chuck Sorce’s (Columbia, SC) 1982 Brewers 2-0 in the Quarter Finals played later Saturday evening. Joe’s hopes for the trophy were dashed Sunday morning, however, as he fell in two straight to John Duke (Knoxville, TN) and his 1927 Yankees.
The futility award, if we gave one, would have to go this year to Gilles Thibault (Glenshaw, PA), whose 1989 Expos finished with a 1-9 record. Reports are that Gilles still had a good time over the course of the weekend, and he even got to enjoy an APBA Hockey game (how could one not be a hockey fan with a name like that) against Canada’s lone representative, Ken Lynch (Brockville, ON) on Friday night.
Other Division winners were 2002 Champion Brian Wells, Rod McLeod (Orange, VA), Dan Trout (Gaithersburg, MD), Barry Shapiro (York PA), and Randy Mark (Fairless Hills, PA).
In the other Quarter Finals Saturday evening, Duke sent Wells packing two games to one; Mark eliminated McLeod two games to one, and Trout bested Shapiro two games to none. Sunday morning saw Trout emerge two games to one over Mark for the right to take on Duke for the title.
The 1927 Yankees, any knowledgeable baseball fan will recall, steamrolled their way to the pennant and swept the Pirates in the World Series that year. Now they can add one more momentous achievement to their storied history: THEY FINALLY WON AN APBA TOURNAMENT!!!
John Duke took the top prize with a three-game sweep of Dan’s 1970 Orioles, setting two records in the process: he won six games in a row en route to the title, and he became the tallest Champion ever at six foot, eight inches!
Trophy presentations concluded the weekend of fun, and many in the crowd began thinking about Las Vegas. Will we see you there?
Results
of the Divisional play and the Championship Bracket
View
pictures from the 2007 APBA Convention & Tournament in Frazer, Pennsylvania
