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APBA Games

For 60 years APBA has been the unchallenged King of quality sports simulation products. APBA dates back to the 1930s and a bunch of high-school buddies in Lancaster, PA. The boys played a baseball simulation game invented by one of them, Dick Seitz. His game was loosely based on an old tabletop baseball game called National Pastime. But unlike any previous board game, it combined the randomness of dice with the on-field performances of individual players. The boys called themselves the American Professional Baseball Association. That appellation soon was whittled down to its essential form: APBA. So while APBA is still an acronym for that first baseball simulation league, the word has taken on a meaning of its own. The game is APBA, and the word is pronounced “App’Bah” – a term as slick and condensed as the game. Seitz’s original game went with him to war in the 1940’s. He printed player cards on his own printing press, typed out play charts and played APBA with three comrades in the barracks at Fort Eustis, VA. After the war, Seitz worked as secretary to Lancaster’s mayor and a purchaser for a trucking company, all the while refining APBA and playing the game with a league of friends. The plot twist that took APBA from a handmade diversion to a nationwide phenomenon comes courtesy of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies. The Whiz Kids captured the fancy of Seitz and his wife, Jean, and got them so baseball crazy that they resurrected the game. It played so smoothly that in 1951, Seitz decided to share his creation. The original game offered 20 player cards for each of the 16 major league teams and two play charts. The whole shebang set you back $10. The 150 games sold encouraged Seitz that there was a market for his game so he produced new versions annually from 1952-56. That steady increase in sales encouraged Seitz to quit his job in 1957 to make APBA a career. Year by year, APBA’s fan base grew. As more gamers played exponentially more games, innovations like dual pitcher ratings and double hitting columns were incorporated – but innovations were allowed only to a point. APBA has always trod a fine line between realism and playability, and Seitz stood resolute against wrinkles or gimmicks that would add a smidgen of realism to the game at a cost of five minutes more per played game. As a result, the APBA baseball game played today is not much different than the 1957 version – one played millions of times by players worldwide. APBA changes with the times not only by changing, but by the rolls of the dice.

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Volume 18, #2 "Real Football At Last, The All-Time Original Franchise Football Teams, Review and Preview"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

September 1984

Volume 18, #4 "What Kind of a Year Was It?, The New Year, Sleeping Dogs Awaken"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

November 1984

Volume 18, #5 "APBA On Computer Coming Soon, 1953 Card Set Predictions, Save the Whales"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

December 1984

Volume 19, #6 "Predicting the Baseball Card Set, Game Innovations, Submitting Articles for Publication"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

January 1986

Volume 19, #8 "Opening Day at the APBA Game Company, A Little Piece of Heaven in Lancaster, The Great IPTAY Fiasco"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

March 1986

Volume 21, #2 "Report on American League Carded Rookies, New Trends in APBA's Pitching Grades, IPTAY"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

February 1988

Volume 21, #8 "Revising the Basic Game Boards, ERA Replications in Replays, Pitching Grades"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

August 1988

Volume 22, #10 "Playtesting APBA Computer Football, Commentary on Recommended 1964 Grades, The Breeder's Cup's Impact on Saddle Racing"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

October 1989

Volume 22, #11 "Annual Baseball Fielding Survey, 1989 Unofficial Statistics, Innings Pitched In Starts and Relief"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

November 1989

Volume 23, #10 "Fine-Tuning Pitchers Strikeouts, Southern Baseball Confederacy, Coverage Comments"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

October 1990

Volume 23, #11 "Annual Baseball Fielding Survey, 1990 Final Unofficial Statistics, Computer Corner"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

November 1990

Volume 23, #12 "Santa's APBA Surprise, New Game, The Year Dynasties Ended"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

December 1990

Volume 23, #8 "Fielding in APBA Baseball, Blame Cal Abrams, Range Factors"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

August 1990

Volume 23, #9 "Reviewing APBA's Summer Cards, 1989-90 APBA Basketball Cards, 1989 Bowling Cards Reviewed"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

September 1990

Volume 4, #4 "SM Reds Are BAABC Champs, Pitching Symbols, Jackson on Top"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

February 1971

Volume 4, #5 "The Orioles Win - Again!, Dynasties Untoppled, APBA's New Home Complete"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

April 1971

Volume 4, #6 "Saxton Takes NEL Title, Optional Steals, You've Got to Love 'Em"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

June 1971

Volume 5, #1 "The APBA Stadium Dream, Vida Blue - Grade A&B?, Reds Surprise"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

August 1971

Volume 5, #2 "APBA Breakthrough, Fine-Tuning APBA Pitchers, Orchard in Oufield"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

October 1971

Volume 5, #3 "Orioles Fly to NABC Flag, Fans Test Jackson Card New Fatigue System, And In This Corner"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

December 1971

Volume 5, #4 "Book Hints - No Card Reprints, Koufax Leads Star Vote, APBA F-Troop"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

February 1972

Volume 5, #5 "Bucs Bombard Birds, Not So Instant Replay, All the Errors Aren't on 53"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

April 1972

Volume 6, #1 "Long Time Fan New APBA VP, Inventor's Forum, The APBA Scene"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

August 1972

Volume 6, #4 "APBA Convention '73, Convention Ball Rolling, Page of Opinions"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

February 1973

Volume 6, #6 "All Systems Go in Philly, Fine-Tune Test, Light from APBA"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

June 1973

Volume 7, #5 "APBA Prints 1949 Baseball, AJ Focus, Dave Hull"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

January 1974

Volume 7, #6 "Two Sample Cards for '74, AJ Focus, Ivy League APBA"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

Fabruary 1974

Volume 8, #1 "50th Anniversary Issue, The APBA Journal Staff, Page of Opinions"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

August 1974

Volume 8, #10 "Play By Mail Leagues, Getting Started, Homerun Chart"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

May 1975

Volume 8, #11 "Those Rare Cards, A Conversation with APBA's President, Dave Hull"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

June 1975

Volume 8, #5 "AJ Salary System, Whetting Your APBAtite, AJ Scoop"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

December 1974

Volume 8, #6 "Mixing Fantasy With Reality, APBA Prints 1930, Marketing APBA Games"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

January 1975

Volume 8, #7 "AJ Focus, You Can Play Just Don't Win, Have We All Lost Our Dice?"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

February 1975

Volume 8, #8 "Mini - Confab, Playing APBA For Real, Holmes Meets APBA"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

March 1975

Volume 9, #8 "Preserving Your APBA Memories, Light From APBA, Does Anyone Deserve Three 1's"

By: APBA Games

Product Line: APBA Journal

March 1976