Season Spotlight: 1978 Illowa APBA League

1978 IAL Champions:  Chicago Champions

The race for first place in ’78 was a tight one as the Fire beat out the Champions by two games.  With MVP and home run king Greg Luzinski and Cy Young reliever Sparky Lyle the Fire squad was a powerhouse.  Luzinski totaled 104 homeruns for the past two years.  For the year, he had 58 along with 129 rbis.  Newly acquired Sparky Lyle  had 23 saves with a 2.33 ERA.  Despite leading the league in wins (24) & ERA (2,26) Lefty Steve Carlton was snubbed in postseason Cy Young Award voting, due to a perception by voters that he was matched up against bad starters.

Alas, it was the Chicago Champions who prevailed in the post-season and won the World Series (see a scanned image of Manager Tedd Mallasch’s final stats from the original 1978 newsletter at right).

Here is Tedd Mallasch’s account of what went down in ’78:

TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD…

For the 2nd time in his three years at the helm Manager Mallasch guided the Chicago Champions to the Championship. The Champs finished two games behind the Davenport Fire, but put it altogether in the playoffs to capture the title. Interesting note that these two teams pulled off a blockbuster trade before the season, the Champions sent 1978 MVP Greg Luzinski to the Fire in exchange for a young catcher Gary Carter. Carter would have a monster year for the Champs leading the team in 2B’s, HR’s, & RBI’s (42,41,134). Luzinski never played for the Champs as the trade was actually a three way deal involving the Bombers. The Champs were a powerhouse launching 210 longballs, Jim Rice 35 and Ellis Valentine 32 were the only other hitters to belt more than 30 home runs as the lineup featured power up & down the order. Workhorse Dennis Leonard completed 16 of his 35 starts finishing with a 21-7 record. Elias Sosa was the team’s closer figuring in 24 victories in the 42 games in which he appeared.