The first to go was the catcher’s throwing chart, the result, catchers defensive ratings were suddenly not as important as they were before. Since then the IAL has been removing these modifications. In the old game, you’d say two on doubles and could separately basecoach stealing. And finally, 9 secondbaseman on 20s & 10 shortstops on 18s do not commit errors with the bases empty. Use the infield defense when bringing the infield in. We also put into play rules to prevent sacrificing as an offensive weapon, with a runner on 2nd, 8’s & 9’s were just good bunts, rather than play for runner at 3rd fails and 14s were not walks against pitchers with control. We also used a catcher’s throwing chart, based on a catcher’s defensive rating, giving catchers with higher defensive ratings more of a chance to catch a runner trying to steal. One modification was an unusual play chart (used w/o bases empty, 23s & 41s were foul balls with the bases empty), another was the random error chart, and a third is a pitcher’s hitting card (used by all pitchers with less than 10 at bats). Over the years, the IAL put in place slight modifications to make the game better.

However I realize there are flaws in the game, it’s not perfect, it’s a dice, tabletop board game. I LOVE the game of baseball, enjoy APBA, especially seeing the stats grow over a long season, trading & drafting to build my ballclub, the Chicago Champions of the Illowa APBA League, for over thirty years. I’ve been playing APBA baseball since 1970, 40 of my 53 years on earth.

Let me explain myself before I start a riot here.

Apba baseball 1954