What’s better than bringing your Baseball Hall of Fame heroes to life with a statistically accurate tabletop sports game? Bringing them to life inside the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The APBA community and the broader tabletop sports game community achieved a milestone on April 1, 2023 — the same day George Plimpton’s famous fable of Sidd Finch was published in Sports Illustrated in 1985 — as 14 tabletop gamers converged inside the learning center of the “Cathedral of Cooperstown.”
This inaugural, invitation-only event set a significant precedent: It is the first-ever tabletop game tournament held inside the Baseball Hall of Fame. Fittingly, APBA Hall of Famer Steve Ryan and his 2020 Braves won the title in spectacular fashion, piloting his Braves through a gamut of fellow APBA Hall of Famers. In the divisional round, down 9-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Steve racked up 10 runs to defeat Roy Langhans (Class of 2001) and his mighty 1905 Giants. In the semis, Steve downed Dom Provisiero (Class of 2009) and his 1958 Yankees in a back-and-forth battle. And in the single-game championship, down 2-0 in the ninth, Steve and his Braves again rose to the occasion: Tying the game 2-2 against Steve Skoff’s (Class of 2015) 1911 Giants, Steve — with a runner on second in the 10th — nailed a steal-home double to prevail, 3-2.
In the works since Aug. 8, 2022, this event has already set a precedent, with a member of the operating committee of our APBA Baseball gang proceeding to organize an October event at the baseball hall for October for Plaay! Games.
My goal for this tournament was not only to add to the impressive roster of almost two dozen fan-held APBA tournaments being held nationwide on an annual basis, but to create content that filters out beyond the the sports gaming community to the legions of sports fans — particular those who fondly recall the golden ages of Major League Baseball and other pro sports. Given that not a few of our favorite sports sim companies are one-man operations, it is incumbent upon all us fans of tabletop, cards-and-dice sports games to act as a de facto marketing department. Not only that, but our games deserve to be played in the highest-profile venues that honor the sports we love. For those who, like I, had never been to a pro sports hall of fame, the dual draw of finally seeing the exhibits while being able to play the statistics-based cards of those inductees would seem to be an irresistible combination.
How does one get to the hall of fame, you ask? Just ask.
The roots of this tournament extend back to the first APBA Football tournament I held at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton in 2013. While planning the second iteration of that two-day competition — to be held Aug. 26-27 —I emailed the folks at Cooperstown on a whim to see if they’d ever held a cards-and-dice tournament there and if we could bring a dozen or two of our best players, set up a few folding tables inside the hallowed hall, and make a day of it. After we explained what these tournaments entail and what they could expect, Assistant Sales Manager Adam Halay and his team found a spot for us — the learning center on the first floor — and we were set.
Being that I run a fan site called the APBA Football Club, phase two of the plan was to reach out to the folks who actually run APBA Baseball tournaments. Enter APBA Hall of Famers John Cochrane (Class of 2009), Randy Coryer (Class of 2017), Roy Langhans (inaugural Class of 2001), Dom Provisiero (Class of 2009) and Pete Simonelli (Class of 2005). Cochrane pilots the Robert Henry Memorial tournament, which launched in the now-legendary APBA “summer of 2013” when a handful of regional competitions launched as APBA moved its headquarters from Pennsylvania to Georgia. [The Robert Henry tournament, named in honor of the renowned APBA Journal Q&A columnist, provides a venue for young players of the Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club in Philadelphia and environs. Club counselor Brian Cavanaugh (APBA Hall of Fame Class of 2018) had been taking his charges to the national APBA convention in the founding city of Lancaster since 2011 before he, Cochrane and Cochrane’s wife, Dr. Rebecca Peterson (APBA Hall of Fame Class of 2020) created the Henry tournament on the suggestion of Dave Small, to ensure that the youths could still play in a nearby APBA tournament.]
With the real aforementioned APBA Baseball pros endorsing and supporting this event — demonstrating the same level of commitment to tabletop gaming that they have since they began playing in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s — we mustered an experienced group of 14 competitors and a handful of non-playing visitors to set this vital precedent. With more than 500 years of gaming experience gathered in that learning center, we set a solid example for other gamers while also, we hope, spurring an additional revenue stream for the museums we cherish.
As is typical of an APBA Baseball tournament, the action was fast, furious — and loud. Plenty of dice clattering in shakers, lightning-quick decision making and amazing games. John Cochrane crafted a unique set of tourmament rules especially for this event, including an “Unusual Play” card to “randomize which players may be injured or ejected.” Add a fantastic catered lunch from the nearby Stagecoach Coffee, and the event was a clear win-win for gaming and the Hall of Fame. We also asked Steve Stein to craft a special Sidd Finch card using his Compuduck calculator (alas, Sidd was a bit too overpowering to play in this tourney).
Future installments of the APBA Cooperstown Baseball tournament are in the works. Email apbafootballcluboriginal@gmail.com for more details. Sign up for the weekly APBA Games newsletter for more information on other regional APBA tournaments nationwide: apbagames.com
