APBA International Inc., maker of the APBA stats and strategy games since 1951, has created a special edition of the APBA MLB 2000 Baseball game exclusively for America's 43rd president. President Bush, an avid APBA player throughout his childhood, was presented with the game and a special 3-foot-by-2-foot mounted blowup of his own player card - a gift from first cousin and APBA enthusiast Hap Ellis.

A few weeks prior to the inauguration, Hap Ellis contacted APBA's offices with the idea for a special George W. Bush APBA card. The Idea Was to present the card to the president during an inauguration roast, reminding Bush of the days when neighborhood friends played a simple game.

"Nobody in the world loved playing APBA more than George W. Bush," said Ellis, who currently lives in Boston. "George and his brothers, and I an my brothers played APBA endlessly as kids."

Hap's brother, Joe Ellis, is the Denver Broncos VP of business operations and a former NFL executive. George W. Bush, of course, was a minority owner of the Texas Rangers before becoming Texas governor, and his brother, Jeb, is governor of Florida.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the special commemorative APBA game, aside from a special box with an engraved plaque, is the George W. Bush APBA player card included in the set. The card, derived from his stint as a freshman pitcher at Yale, lists the president as a Grade-D relief pitcher. APBA enthusiasts instantly will recognize that a Grade-D card does not exactly mark the president as an effective fireman. Bush can thank the Ellis brothers for that distinction, obviously a good-humored joke among close-knit families.

"His father thought it was just hilarious," Ellis said of former President George Bush. "We bumped into the brothers at one of the inauguration cocktail parties, and they also thought it was hilarious. It was a huge hit. Hopefully, there's a whole new generation of APBA players from the Bush siblings and our kids. It's great to be reintroduced to the game again. That game made a difference in all the lives of the Bush and Ellis kids."

Obviously, APBA officials were ecstatic by the news that the current President was a devout APBA player.
"It is an honor and a privilege for our company to have been a part of President Bush's childhood and Inauguration," said Bill Bordegon, president and CEO of APBA International. "This is another great example of the cohesive bond and passion APBA games create within families, as it has done for the Bushes and Ellises."

Company officials actually learned decades ago that the Bush family played their game. Back in the early '70s, APBA received a Christmas card from the Bushes.

"This is something that goes back to the 1970s when the company actually got a Christmas card from the family, " added Bordegon. "So this has been a longtime affair. To think that this has been such a big part of both families' lives is interesting."

With his election, George W. Bush currently ranks as APBA's most famous player. However, the game has ha an impact on scores of celebrities and luminaries including Joe Torre, Curt Schilling, David Eisenhower, Ed Koch, Peter Gammons, and Harmon Killebrew.