Edwin Zack is revered in the APBA community for his exhaustive APBA Baseball handbook. After a five-year illness, Zack passed on Aug. 8, 2023. His longtime friend Dan Armstrong notified his closest friends in the APBA community, and the news — and tributes and remembrances — spread quickly. 

I interviewed Ed Zack and his collaborator Dan Armstrong in 2012 — the 20th anniversary of the first edition of the Zack handbook. While I published my interview with Ed on our original Facebook page, my interview with Dan is unpublished as yet. Here, I read my complete article detailing my interview with Ed and the first part of the transcript of my conversation with Dan. I also read Ed’s introduction letter from an original first-edition of his baseball handbook, published in 1992. 

Not long after initiating an APBA Baseball tournament inside the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for April 1, 2023, I asked Ed if he would be willing and able to speak to the attendees in a surprise hourlong Zoom session to cap the milestone occasion. His words, excerpted from the longer conversation I recorded, open and close this podcast. 

No matter what game you play, Ed’s work stands as a testament to the power of the tabletop sports game hobby to capture the imagination and fuel a limitless appreciation for the craft of creating these games. 

Read Edwin Zack’s “The Ultimate Handbook for APBA Baseball Cards” at www.zackapbahandbook.org.