1981 Illowa APBA League

1981 ILLOWA LEAGUE	W	L	PCT	GB	Manager	World Series	MVP	Cy Young
East Moline Bombers	93	68	.578	0	Mike Bunch			Doug Corbett
Merrionette Park Rocket-Fire	90	71	.559	3	Dale Smith
Quad Cities Thunderchickens	89	72	.553	4	Dennis Jennings
Northside Hitmen	84	77	.522	9	Chuck Lucas	Illowa Champions
Northeast Cardinals	82	79	.509	11	Tom Reisdorph		Al Oliver
Davenport Fire	74	87	.460	19	Don Smith
Chicago Champions	71	90	.441	22	Tedd Mallasch
Geneseo A's	60	101	.373	33	Tom Nelson
	643	645

In this classic photo, Mike Bunch congratulates

Chuck Lucas after the Hitmen win the IAL title in 1981.

1981 was a year of firsts for the IAL. It was the first time Chuck Lucas won the IAL Championship defeating the East Moline Bombers in the World Series. It was the first time a reliever both won and saved 20 or more games as Cy Young winner Doug Corbett led the league with 22 wins and also saved 20. It was the first time an MVP player came from a non-playoff team. Al Oliver playing for the 5th place Northeast Cardinals won the award by hitting .352 and driving in 138 runs.

On a personal note, it was also my first season in the league. I managed the hapless Geneseo Athletics who went 60-101. I remember I picked Dave Smith and Tommy Herr in the rookie draft at the first convention who both turned out decent careers. It wasn't until this year did I realize that my players led in 3 (admittedly rather insignificant) categories with Bill North leading in steals (57), Lance Parrish in doubles (51, he probably led in DPs too) and Alfredo Griffin in triples (11). Oh yeah, Bob Knepper lead in losses, too (25).

1981 IAL Hitting and Pitching Leaders

Player	CLUB	AVG	Player	CLUB	HR
Cecil Cooper	RFIRE	.361	Mike Schmidt	CHAMP	48
Al Oliver	CARDS	.352	Gorman Thomas	BMBRS	42
Bill Buckner	FIRE	.336	Jim Rice	CHAMP	37
Bake McBride	CARDS	.317	Bob Horner	FIRE	37
Rod Carew	HTMN	.311	Garry Carter	CHAMP	36

Player	CLUB	R	Player	CLUB	RBI
Pete Rose	CARDS	114	Al Oliver	CARDS	138
Mike Schmidt	CHAMP	113	Dale Murphy	HTMN	127
Gorman Thomas	BMBRS	112	Gorman Thomas	BMBRS	117
Willie Randolph	HTMN	110	Steve Garvey	TCHIX	117
Steve Garvey	TCHIX	108	Cecil Cooper	RFIRE	115

Player	CLUB	2B	Player	CLUB	3B
Lance Parrish	A's	51	Alfredo Griffin	A's	11
Pete Rose	CARDS	50	Bake McBride	CARDS	10
Al Oliver	CARDS	48	Richie Hebner	CARDS	9
Gorman Thomas	BMBRS	43	Andre Dawson	HTMN	8
Dwight Evans	RFIRE	43	Rod Carew	HTMN	8

Player	CLUB	SLG	Player	CLUB	OBP
Mike Schmidt	CHAMP	.633	Willie Randolph	HTMN	.416
Ted Simmons	BMBRS	.606	Cecil Cooper	RFIRE	.408
Bob Horner	FIRE	.579	Ted Simmons	BMBRS	.389
Dwight Evans	RFIRE	.574	Rod Carew	HTMN	.384
Cecil Cooper	RFIRE	.567	Al Oliver	CARDS	.383

Player	CLUB	SB	Player	CLUB	BB
Bill North	A's	57	Willie Randolph	HTMN	114
Ozzie Smith	TCHIX	56	Joe Morgan	RFIRE	89
Cesar Cedeno	CHAMP	49	Bill North	A's	74
Willie Randolph	HTMN	40	Mike Schmidt	CHAMP	74
Andre Dawson	HTMN	35	Toby Harrah	A's	67

Player	CLUB	ERA	Player	CLUB	W
Don Sutton	BMBRS	2.43	Doug Corbett	BMBRS	22
Rudy May	HTMN	2.52	Steve Carlton	CARDS	18
Ron Guidry	TCHIX	2.75	Rick Langford	HTMN	18
Dick Ruthven	RFIRE	3.07	Don Robinson	HTMN	18
Tommy John	TCHIX	3.12	Dick Ruthven	RFIRE	16

Player	CLUB	SO	Player	CLUB	CG
Steve Carlton	CARDS	294	Steve Carlton	CARDS	26
Don Robinson	HTMN	179	Rick Langford	HTMN	23
Dennis Leonard	CHAMP	175	Don Robinson	HTMN	14
Phil Niekro	RFIRE	166	Dick Ruthven	RFIRE	13
Bert Blyleven	FIRE	148	Phil Niekro	RFIRE	11

Player	CLUB	Sho	Player	CLUB	IP
Steve Carlton	CARDS	5	Steve Carlton	CARDS	300
Vida Blue	TCHIX	5	Rick Langford	HTMN	288.333
Phil Niekro	RFIRE	4	Bob Knepper	A's	272
Ferguson Jenkins	RFIRE	4	Don Robinson	HTMN	270.333
Rick Langford	HTMN	3	Phil Niekro	RFIRE	265.667

Player	CLUB	BB	Player	CLUB	L
Steve Carlton	CARDS	123	Bob Knepper	A's	25
Rick Langford	HTMN	92	Dennis Leonard	CHAMP	18
Bob Welch	CARDS	89	Steve Carlton	CARDS	16
Tommy John	TCHIX	78	John Candelaria	HTMN	16
Ron Guidry	TCHIX	76	Richard Dotson	FIRE	16

Player	CLUB	Sv
Neil Allen	FIRE	23
Doug Corbett	BMBRS	20
Jerry Garvin	RFIRE	20
Dave Smith	A's	15
Joe Sambito	TCHIX	15