Fifty years ago, the Whiz Kids captured the fancy of Richard Seitz, among thousands of other Phillies fans.

What set Seitz apart is that he acted on his fancy, and created a board game that developed an impressive cult following and still is growing today.

He resurrected a made-up game he had played as a boy involving baseball statistics and strategy, and the next year produced 150 copies of his game. The games sold quickly and Seitz went on to market new version annually out of Lancaster, PA.

Thus was born the game known as APBA, which sand s for American Professional Baseball Association - which it really isn't of course.

I never got hooked on APBA as a kid; the cards were just full of numbers and I never saw the sense in recreating the baseball season while a perfectly good real one was going on. But I had many friends who did love the game. It never dawned on me that cause of the detailed work done by APBA's staffers, I could recreate almost any game from any season and come very close, statistically, to having it come out as it would have in those bygone days.

Philadelphia hobby figure Bob Schierer was such a fan that in 1972 he wrote a book about it.

In October Peter Gammons wrote on ESPN.com: "Pick of the week: APBA baseball, my favorite board game as a kid, has a 50th anniversary edition out, plus a children's edition. Don't miss it."

There have been a number of high-profile players, people such as Ed Koch, David Eisenhower, Danny Kaye, Joe Torre, Curt Schilling and Frank Lucchesi - plus the George Bush family from the time the former president was a congressman. There were APBA conventions that made it into the news media. Yet it never really cracked the mainstream of the "organized" hobby. Mickey Mantle's rookie APBA card, for exampled, just had numbers on it. No picture. It wasn't going to excite anyone at a baseball card shop.

APBA has come a long way. In conjunction with its 50th anniversary (sp), it has redesigned its existing games, received licensing from the major professional sports leagues and player associations and created new games to expand its consumer base.

APBA has also branched out from its staple of baseball and has formed partnerships with the NFL and NHL and is in discussion with the NBA and the WNBA. Team logos and player images will appear on the cards, boards and packaging.

The three-tiered product line includes APBA SuperStars (ages 4-7); APBA All-Star/Pre Bowl (ages 8 and up); APBA classic (ages 10 and up).

The Company also markets the ultimate tool for trading-card collectors: The "Card Collector by APBA" is the world's No. 1 card collection software package to organize and keep the value of card collection up-to-date.

In conjunction with the holiday season and hobby retailers' strongest sales period, APBNA has introduced the largest sampling program in the history of the hobby. Last month, every hobby store in North America received more than $100 in free product samples from APBA. Each store got APBA's MLB 200 Classic game, MLB All-Star 2000 game, the MLB SuperStars 2000 game and the Card Collector 6.0 software program.

The company also recently announced the new APBA Premiere Hobby Store Program through its authorized hobby distributors. This unprecedented initiative is initially available to 200 qualifying stores interested in hosting special APBA demos, tournaments and in-store customer events - and special appearances by its mascot APBA Andy.

"We understand the concern that some hobby retailer have in taking on new product lines," APBA president Bill Bordegon said. "That is why we are going to the expense of getting free sample products into their hands and offering programs that bring them new customers. Many dealers have already learned that once they put the APBA products on their shelves, they will realize an immediate new revenue stream."

APBA Games and Collector Software still is based in Lancaster.

For additional information, call 1-800-334-2722 or www.apbagames.com