APBA
Encyclopedia
APBA is a game company founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
. It was created in 1951 by J. Richard Seitz. The game company on their official website states that the letters stood for "American Professional Baseball Association" which was the name of a boyhood league Mr. Seitz participated in with his friends. After 60 years in Pennsylvania, the company headquarters was moved in 2011 to Alpharetta, Georgia
.
The company's first offering was a baseball
simulation
table game using cards to represent each major league
player, boards to represent different on-base scenarios (e.g. "Bases Empty", "Runner on First"), and dice
to generate random numbers. The game can be played against another person or in solitaire fashion. Devoted fans keep track of the results and assess how players' performance compares to their real-life statistics.
The game company later produced football
, golf
, basketball
, hockey
, bowling
, boxing
, soccer, and saddle racing games modeled after the baseball game (cards, boards and dice).
Later, computer adaptations of some of these games were produced.
APBA enthusiasts have included President George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush
, David Eisenhower
, and sports agent Arn Tellem
. Many players and others involved in the game have been fans.
For much of its history APBA's main competitor has been Strat-O-Matic
. Other competitors include, or have included, Replay Publishing
, Statis Pro Baseball
and, in APBA's early years, Big League Manager. In 2000 APBA redesigned the packaging of its baseball game and for a brief time expanded its marketing approach to include hobby shops and sport card dealers, with limited success.
in 1985, first for PC computers and later for Apple. McGraw-Hill
became the publisher after the company acquired Random House's software division in 1989, and the original game developers, Miller Associates, took over publishing and sales in 1990.
In 1993, Miller and APBA announced a version of the game for the Windows platform, and it came out that summer. Titled APBA Presents Baseball for Windows (with the first two words in small print), Miller continued to update and publish the game software; their final version, 5.5, came out in the summer of 1999. Late in 2000, APBA announced that it had agreed to take over sales and service for the game; Miller Associates disbanded.
In February, 2007 the APBA Game Company announced that they had acquired the rights to the Baseball for Windows code, and planned an upgrade to be released in the fall of 2008, featuring the voice of Pete Van Wieren
, replacing the earlier editions' Ernie Harwell
. Complications in game development, as well as errors in the code that had gone long unrepaired, delayed the release. As of November, 2011, the current release schedule has not been announced. The current version of the game runs on Windows 7 in 32 bit mode. For 64 bit versions of Windows 7 it requires Virtual Mode software. Some APBA players maintain computers with older versions of Windows solely for running the APBA software.
now held every year under the game company's sponsorship. The highlight of the convention is a tournament played by the attendees.
APBA conventions go back as far as June of 1973, when more than 300 fans got together in Philadelphia
for a convention sponsored by the game's independent publication, the APBA Journal. The convention tournament was won by Robert Weeks. A record 650 got together in New York City in June 1975, with Joseph Krakowski the tournament winner. The third and final APBA Journal convention was held in June 1976 in Philadelphia, with Richard Beggs winning the tournament. The tournament structure for those conventions allowed participants to construct a team from all the cards they owned.
(The Journal continued to be published under different management until 2002, but never held another convention.)
Conventions resumed in Lancaster in July 1995 under game company sponsorship. The tournament was limited to stock teams that finished with percentages between .480 and .515. Chris Dineen's 1982 Expos prevailed. The June 1998 tournament, held in nearby Millersville
, was limited to teams with percentages below .550. Ten-year old Devin Flawd won, using the 1995 Mariners.
Conventions have been held annually beginning in 2001. All except 2003 were sponsored by the game company. The limits on team winning percentages were dropped after 2002.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
. It was created in 1951 by J. Richard Seitz. The game company on their official website states that the letters stood for "American Professional Baseball Association" which was the name of a boyhood league Mr. Seitz participated in with his friends. After 60 years in Pennsylvania, the company headquarters was moved in 2011 to Alpharetta, Georgia
Alpharetta, Georgia
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,854 people, 13,911 households, and 8,916 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,631.6 people per square mile . There were 14,670 housing units at an average density of 686.7 per square mile...
.
The company's first offering was a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
simulation
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
table game using cards to represent each major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player, boards to represent different on-base scenarios (e.g. "Bases Empty", "Runner on First"), and dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
to generate random numbers. The game can be played against another person or in solitaire fashion. Devoted fans keep track of the results and assess how players' performance compares to their real-life statistics.
The game company later produced football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, soccer, and saddle racing games modeled after the baseball game (cards, boards and dice).
Later, computer adaptations of some of these games were produced.
APBA enthusiasts have included President George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, David Eisenhower
David Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower II is an American author, public policy fellow, and eponym of the U.S. Presidential retreat, Camp David. He is the grandson of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D...
, and sports agent Arn Tellem
Arn Tellem
Arn H. Tellem is a sports agent notable for his representation of basketball and baseball players. He is the principal of WMG Management, a part of the Wasserman Media Group headed by Casey Wasserman. Since 2009 he has written a weekly sports column for The Huffington Post...
. Many players and others involved in the game have been fans.
For much of its history APBA's main competitor has been Strat-O-Matic
Strat-o-Matic
Strat-O-Matic is a game company based in Glen Head, New York, that develops and publishes sports simulation games. It produces tabletop baseball, football, basketball, and ice hockey simulations, as well as personal computer adaptations of each, but it is primarily known for its baseball...
. Other competitors include, or have included, Replay Publishing
Replay Publishing
Replay Publishing is a game company based in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, that develops and publishes sports simulation games for the tabletop and computer. They currently produce Replay Baseball, Replay Basketball, and PC Replay Baseball...
, Statis Pro Baseball
Statis Pro Baseball
Statis Pro Baseball was a strategic baseball simulation board game. It was created by Jim Barnes in 1970, named after a daily newspaper column he wrote for an Iowa morning newspaper, and published by Avalon Hill in 1978, and new player cards were made for each new season until 1992. A licensing...
and, in APBA's early years, Big League Manager. In 2000 APBA redesigned the packaging of its baseball game and for a brief time expanded its marketing approach to include hobby shops and sport card dealers, with limited success.
Computer Versions of the Baseball Game
In 1984, the game company authorized a computer version of an advanced "master" version of their baseball game. It was published by Random HouseRandom House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in 1985, first for PC computers and later for Apple. McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
became the publisher after the company acquired Random House's software division in 1989, and the original game developers, Miller Associates, took over publishing and sales in 1990.
In 1993, Miller and APBA announced a version of the game for the Windows platform, and it came out that summer. Titled APBA Presents Baseball for Windows (with the first two words in small print), Miller continued to update and publish the game software; their final version, 5.5, came out in the summer of 1999. Late in 2000, APBA announced that it had agreed to take over sales and service for the game; Miller Associates disbanded.
In February, 2007 the APBA Game Company announced that they had acquired the rights to the Baseball for Windows code, and planned an upgrade to be released in the fall of 2008, featuring the voice of Pete Van Wieren
Pete Van Wieren
Pete van Wieren is a former American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves.-Atlanta Braves:...
, replacing the earlier editions' Ernie Harwell
Ernie Harwell
William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 years, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called the action on radio and/or television...
. Complications in game development, as well as errors in the code that had gone long unrepaired, delayed the release. As of November, 2011, the current release schedule has not been announced. The current version of the game runs on Windows 7 in 32 bit mode. For 64 bit versions of Windows 7 it requires Virtual Mode software. Some APBA players maintain computers with older versions of Windows solely for running the APBA software.
Conventions and Tournaments
APBA continues to have a devoted following, with conventionsFan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
now held every year under the game company's sponsorship. The highlight of the convention is a tournament played by the attendees.
APBA conventions go back as far as June of 1973, when more than 300 fans got together in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
for a convention sponsored by the game's independent publication, the APBA Journal. The convention tournament was won by Robert Weeks. A record 650 got together in New York City in June 1975, with Joseph Krakowski the tournament winner. The third and final APBA Journal convention was held in June 1976 in Philadelphia, with Richard Beggs winning the tournament. The tournament structure for those conventions allowed participants to construct a team from all the cards they owned.
(The Journal continued to be published under different management until 2002, but never held another convention.)
Conventions resumed in Lancaster in July 1995 under game company sponsorship. The tournament was limited to stock teams that finished with percentages between .480 and .515. Chris Dineen's 1982 Expos prevailed. The June 1998 tournament, held in nearby Millersville
Millersville, Pennsylvania
Millersville is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 7,774.-Geography:Millersville is located at ....
, was limited to teams with percentages below .550. Ten-year old Devin Flawd won, using the 1995 Mariners.
Conventions have been held annually beginning in 2001. All except 2003 were sponsored by the game company. The limits on team winning percentages were dropped after 2002.
Convention tournament results
Year - Location - Winner - Team- 2001 - Lancaster, PA - Paul Cunningham - 1976 Athletics
- 2002 - Lancaster, PA - Brian Wells#* - 2000 Diamondbacks
- 2003 - Lancaster, PA - Todd Davis - 1977 Royals**
- 2004 - Las Vegas, NVLas Vegas metropolitan areaThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
- Eric Naftaly - 1957 Braves - 2005 - Lancaster, PA - John Hunt - 1975 Reds
- 2006 - Las Vegas, NV - Bob King - 1977 Phillies
- 2007 - Frazer, PA - John Duke* - 1927 Yankees
- 2008 - Las Vegas, NV - Brian Wells* - 2001 Mariners
- 2009 - Lancaster, PA - John Duke* - 1909 Pirates
- 2010 - Lancaster, PA - Ron Seamans - 1969 Orioles
- 2011 - Lancaster, PA - Chris Sorce - 1930 Cardinals
- *Two-time champions
- #Youngest champion (Age 9 in 2002)
- **The 2003 Tournament was held in Lancaster, PA, but was not officially sponsored by the APBA Game Company. Todd Davis was the champion.
- Wells reached the 2010 championship with the 2004 Cardinals, but fell 3 games to 2 to Ron Seamans
External references
- Official website
- Newsday story about effect of APBA and Strat-O-Matic
- http://www.apbagames.com/stadium/the_press_box/press/7_23_2007.html Game company press release about new version of Baseball for
- APBA Between the Lines Delphi Discussion Forum
- APBA Baseball Game
- APBA, A Yahoo discussion group on APBA baseball
- http://www.apbagames.com/stadium/the_press_box/events/apba_convention2008_pics_01.html-2008 Tournament Pics
- http://www.apbagames.com/stadium/the_press_box/events/apba_convention08.html-2008 Tournament Overview w/ Divisions and Bracket on bottom
- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/sports/baseball/09apba.html-2009 New York Times article about game