The idea for WHAFL originally began as a result of a debate I had with my brother. What would be the best dream team of all time, position by position. Of course, we couldn't agree on who would be on that team. Wouldn't it be great, we thought, if we could put together teams and have seasons played out? A fun conversation, but nothing would come out of it. Too much work to be practical.
On a related note, my father is a avid APBA baseball player. He has been collecting the cards since he was young. He's got the boards memorized, which always makes me curious why he always wins (but he's never wrong when I call him on it.) He is a teacher at Wet High, here in Sioux City, and used to run a fantasy league using the cards. It was a club at school. He, some other teachers, and some students would meet after school and draft teams, playing out series against each other. (Rattle! Rattle! Rattle!) A great idea, only I was too young to be involved, and they hadn't done it for quite some time.
Some years ago, in 1991, he bought the computerized version of APBA baseball, mainly to use the wizard program. We piddled around with it, but not much else. The break through came with APBA baseball for windows, which I bought him for a Father's Day present. APBA Baseball for windows, now in its fourth edition with Ernie Harwell's Broadcast Blast, is an excellent and powerful program that I'd recommend to any baseball fan. The program allows the computer to handle and manage entire seasons automatically. The idea resurfaced-draft dream teams from all the history of baseball, with some limitations of course, and have the computer simulate the season. With this WHAFL was born.
The first draft consisted of eight teams. The league is named "West
High" in honor of our draf
t host. We
meet in my dad's room at school to draft, which is always the most fun of
the entire league. Draft day is a blast! My dad acts as the League Commissioner,
the leader of our league, and I act as the League Manager, I handle all
the computer tasks. Our initial equipment consisted of an Amiga 2000 computer
with a bridgeboard IBM emulator running at 25 MHz 386, a zippy little machine
at the time. Since, I've updated the processor to 50MHz and eventually to
an entire new system, An AcerAcros running at 100MHz.
The league has expanded from eight to sixteen teams. People come and go, but the league continues to entertain and provide enjoyment. Our main goal is to enjoy baseball and have a good time; a goal we have met that many times over. WHAFL will continue for as long as we enjoy it.
Now we have moved onto the web. I hope to maintain this site for future
leagues. WHAFL has enjoyed ten seasons, hopefully, it will be able to enjoy
another ten seasons.
The League Manager and the Commish.
What a pair!
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