“The reason I bought a computer was to try APBA baseball on it,” he said. He says that APBA steered him toward his current career. Nelshoppen, who lives in Urbana, Illinois, works in the information technology department at the University of Illinois, his alma mater - class of 1986, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. Start rolling some good numbers and it feels like a big payday in Vegas. “I do feel with dice and cards I have more control over my destiny,” he said. And while he will play on his computer, Nelshoppen leans toward the traditional boards. Nelshoppen is currently doing a replay of the 1966 National League season, using the same starting lineups and pitching staffs as he follows the day-to-day schedule of that year. In addition to the game boards, Nelshoppen also plays online against fellow APBA fanatics in The Boys of Summer league. He’ll be playing in another tournament later this month in Chicago. It’s not just a game, it’s a group of us getting together to have fun.” “Some of these guys I’ve known since I was a sophomore in high school. “It’s a really intense weekend,” Nelshoppen said (There's a photo of Thomas playing in a tournament- scroll up). The league’s spring convention was held this year in Moline, Illinois, and the participants played at least 30 games apiece. Since 1975, he has belonged to the Illowa APBA League, a 10-team setup of players who meet at least twice a year to play the APBA basic board game and swap tales. Nelshoppen, 53, runs the APBA Blog, an online site that features stories, chatter, opinions and helpful hints. “It’s a game no matter how you pronounce it,” Thomas Nelshoppen says. There was always a sense of mystery surrounding the game, from the formulas used to determine hitter and batter grades to the pronunciation of the game itself - is it app-bah, or ay-pee-bee-ay? The company’s 1964 brochure said the first pronunciation was used if “you are a hep APBA fan.” It was played by throwing dice, looking up that number from the batter's individual card and finding the result on the master chart. The game was based on official statistics from the previous baseball season.

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