SPECIAL REPORT: AGM Recap

INTRO

Well, this is it. 

Over 30,000 hits to the BLOG....
44 BLOGs....
30 New songs... AND
235 reader's comments later; its over.  The BLOGging season is finished (some may say, FINALLY!) for 2010 and we finish, appropriately, with a review of the AGM.

However, before we do that, just to draw this out a little more....here is what happened this day in baseball history:

• Judge Kenesaw "Mountain" Landis was born in 1866.  He was the first commissioner of Major League Baseball and was brought in after the "black-sox" scandle of 1919.  He was generally thought to be tough as nails, but Billy Brown (who used to room with him) claims he was just misunderstood.
• 1884 - The National League agrees to allow overhand pitching, but rules that pitchers must keep both feet on the ground throughout their pitching motion in order to reduce the velocity of their pitches. They still must throw the ball at the height requested by the batter. In addition, teams are now required to supply a separate bench for each club at their park to limit inter-team fraternization.  (Someone should propose this at next years AGM - but it probably won't pass)
• 1888 - The Joint Rules Committee reduces the number of balls for a walk from five to four, establishing the four balls/three strikes count that remains in effect more than a century later. It also eliminates an out on a foul tip if the catcher catches it within 10 feet of home plate.  (Rob Farah is still upset about going from 5 balls to 4.  He voted against this change) 

For those of you following along at home, I happen to think that the AGM is important.  If you read the Chris Ross interview, you'll see that he thinks its important.  If you've seen the attendance in the last couple of years you'll see that the captains and executive think its important too.  The AGM belongs to everyone who participates in the league.  It is our opportunity to both initiate or support change; or safeguard the compontents of the league that you think are integral and should not be tampered with.  

The AGM is important for another reason too.  Its the transition point where we at last put to bed the 2010 season.  We thank the executive and volunteers and acknowledge the work they've done.  We congratulate the winners for a final time and remember our successes as an organization over the last year.  To that particular point, we can not understate the successes, value and impact of our organization.  Not only have we maintained a very positive social organization for our members; but we have a very competent and influential voice in our community that has initiated change.  Look no futher than the improvements at Keogh Park for evidence of that. 

To complete the transition, we look ahead optimistically to 2011.  You can almost anticipate the spring as we welcome our new executive and volunteers.  You can envision play while rule changes are discussed and you picture your team coming together when draft day is set. 

If only there was a way to skip winter!

So, enough of my wistful, semi-poetic lamenting.  Lets get to the principle parts of the AGM.

I'm going to try something a little different for this review and you'll need speakers for it.  Don't worry, there isn't anything that'll get you in trouble.



Closing

I would have to say that from my point of view the turnout at the AGM was pretty disappointing.  We had, by my count, 52 people.  Now the 52 were vocal, participatory and involved and thats great!  We also had a number of people who were unable to attend for various reasons and that is of course understandable.  I am not sure sure exactly what my expectation was, but I was at least hoping to see an improvement over last year.  Oh well. 

The BLOG is teetering on retirement.  We will see how things go over the winter. 

Cheers.

SPECIAL REPORT - Chris Ross Interview

INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to the penultimate (second last) BLOG of 2010.  The next, and last one won't be for another six weeks or so where I'll do some sort of break down / review after the AGM.  While we're on the AGM topic, albeit briefly, I would invite you to check out the AGM tab at the top of The BLOG where we're tracking and discussing proposed changes for next year.  It may not be the best way to do it, but it has spawned some interesting ideas.

On July 13th many members of the league received the following open letter from Chris Ross in our email;


Gentlemen,

This has been an exciting year for the Tottenham Oldtimers. We are celebrating our 25th Anniversary in fine fashion. Our draft was a major highlight as the League drafted a record 168 players to 14 teams with an 11 player waiting list. We worked hard in May to renovate our home diamond at Keogh Park. Our Help the Kids Play Tournament this past weekend was once again a major success with over $5000.00 raised to help under privileged youth in our Community play sports. We held an Alumni game and pig roast at this Tournament and it was such a good time that our Alumni has requested that we make this an annual event. The Oldtimers also played the Men's League in our first ever All Star game (a close 12-8 loss that we will redeem next year). We have our annual TOT Ball and Golf Tournaments to look forward to in August, and our Playoff Tournament in September.

All of these events make me proud to be the President of TOT. Unfortunately, I will not have the time to run for President in 2011 and I am announcing my intention to resign now so that the League has plenty of time to plan a succession. When I took this job in 2005, it was my intention to keep this League running smoothly and make a few minor improvements. I am proud to say that it remains the Best League that I have ever been part of. I will not be far away and will be willing to help my successor whenever he calls. Please be aware that there is a serious time commitment to the job if you are considering running for the position. Thank you for all of your support over the last 6 years.

CR

Chris Ross
President - TOT

I asked Chris shortly afterward if he would submit to doing an interview on The BLOG, which he willingly agreed to do.  We agreed that it would be best to do it after the season but before the AGM.  Some of you, who know Chris quite well will likely find some of the answers to be familiar, but I think that you'll find some interesting insight into the league and some perspective on what makes us unique.

I met Chris Ross this past Sunday to conduct the interview. I had a pretty firm idea of how I wanted this go….it was supposed to be me asking questions, Chris answering them and then a little side bar conversations throughout that I could use to add some “flavour”. Well, it didn’t work out quite as planned. It might have been that Randy Hipkin was there joining in and peppering Chris with questions. It might have been that there wasn’t a single person to walk into the Legion in a five hour period that Chris didn’t know and, of course, each of those led to some degree of a conversation. So it became ‘less’ interview and ‘more’ watching Chris work. And I’m here to tell you, that man can work a room.

So I find myself stuck between a traditional Question and Answer and more of a narrative. I think I’ll try and combine the two styles and see how it goes. Let’s give it a go.

First, I asked Chris for some background on the league both when he joined in 1999 and when he took over as President in 2004. I was somewhat surprised to hear that the number of teams was about the same as were the number of players. The league has always seemed to hover between 12 and 14 teams in the last dozen years. Teams and players come and go but the critical mass of numbers that are required to field a team seems to have stayed pretty constant.

Chris quickly moved from player to captain. He co-captained the two-dogs with Bruce Bullock for 4 years. While he completely enjoyed being a captain, he also moved through the various VP positions year after year.

The BLOG: Take me back to the 2004 season leading up to the AGM. What made you decide to run for the League President role?

Chris Ross: I was approached by a couple of people who thought I should run. I had also gone through all of the VP positions so there was some logical progression to it. But the more I thought about running for the position, the more I thought that I could make some minor improvements and keep the league in good shape until the next person showed up to run it.

The BLOG: So it wasn’t your intention to continue to run for a longer period of time?

Chris Ross: No, not at first anyway. In fact, for the first three years people ran against me.

The BLOG: Were they close races?

Chris Ross: I don’t know to be honest. What I remember the most about the elections in those years was when I had to leave the room while the votes were taken. I remember how awkward it felt to out in the hall with the guy you’re running against.

The BLOG: So do you think that we handle voting the best way possible?

Chris Ross: I think so. A few minutes of awkwardness is completely worthwhile if it comes with knowing that people can vote without being influenced by the people who are running. It may not be the perfect system but I definitely believe in it. Its served us well.

The BLOG: So, when you look at what has happened during your term as president, what stands out to you as major accomplishments?

Chris Ross: Personally I think we’ve done a lot. But the really important part in all of the accomplishments is that its “we” not “I”.

ASIDE: Granted, what Chris says is true and I completely know where he’s coming from. However, I’ve read the constitution and it clearly states “The President is considered to be a member of all approved committees.” So really, whether his role is direct or indirect, there are a number of things that happened under Chris’s watch that either MADE happen or ALLOWED to happen. This was probably the most interesting part of the conversation as Chris was very obviously caught between pride for the league and what it has managed to accomplish as a collective and his nature to down play his direct contribution. When pressed here is what Chris had to say about changes to the league during his term.

Chris Ross: There is obviously a lot to be really proud of. One of the things that has probably changed the most is around communication. When I started as president there were no monthly captains meetings. I think that alone has changed the way get information out to our league members. Previously it was sort of hit and miss. Now with the captains meetings, we get the important messages to the captains no less than monthly and they can take that info back to their teams right away. Even that has evolved over the years too. If something is too urgent to wait for a captains meeting we can do an email blast either to the captains or directly to all league members. There are few people without email nowadays so getting info out can be very quick and organized. The same is true for the captains communicating with their teams. It wasn’t long ago that it was only phone calls. Now it’s a blend of phone calls, emails, even text messages. There are a lot more options and we are just moving with the times.

Still on communication, another huge undertaking was the league website. That idea came from Rob Farah and if I remember it wasn’t a unanimous decision to spend the money on it, but it was a good idea and its been through a few generations of improvements over the past few years. And its use has changed too over the years. I think the latest version developed by Steve Ross has taken it to another level again. The feedback that I’ve had has been incredible.

A couple of other things that really stick out for me are the Help The Kids Play Tournament and the improvements that we did at Keogh Park this year. Help The Kids is really important because it represents who we are as a league and in a way so do the improvements at Keogh. The park upgrade was driven by the old timers in a large part either paid for or fund raised by our League. While part of that is self-serving, the park is public and is used by everyone. We made it a better place for ourselves but also for kids and the women’s leagues.

The BLOG: You mentioned Help The Kids Tournament. That is something that I’ve had a pull toward as well. Do you see that changing at all?

Chris Ross: Without being vague, I’d say yes and no. The no part is that I’m pretty confident that it won’t change just to have change. The yes part is that we have extremely motivated and intelligent people running the Help The Kids who have and will continue to look at any idea that will improve the weekend or the programme overall. This year we introduced an alumni game which brought back many former league members and it was met with overwhelming support and many calls for it to be held annually. I’ve had numerous calls and emails from people who heard about it after the fact and want to be involved in the next one. That event plus adding the all-star game between our league and the young timers was also a huge hit. So the answer is that we won’t be afraid to try new things and we’ll continue to tweak parts of the program that are already working in an effort to make them even better.

The BLOG: Okay, we’ve had lots of talk about good things….what about disappointments. Is there any aspect of the role where you had hoped to make a bigger impact?

Chris Ross: I think the thing that bothers me the most is our Annual General Meeting. I’ve really tried to emphasize this with captains and have them drill it down to our members, but it hasn’t really worked. In fairness, the turnout from the captains has been great, but it hasn’t trickled down to the membership. I think when I started we were getting 40-50 people for the AGM and last year we didn’t have much more than that. It bothers me because this league is only as strong as our members and I know from talking to people over the years that there are tons of ideas and lots of energy, but the time to bring those ideas up is at the AGM. If we could get over 60 people for this year’s AGM I would feel like we’re heading in the right direction.

The BLOG: Six years at the helm is a long run. What do you think your legacy will be?

Chris Ross: Ha! I’ll be the president who couldn’t get the lights on!

The BLOG: Funny....but seriously, what will people take away from the Chris Ross era?

Chris Ross: Its hard to say. I only have my perspective, but I would hope that people would remember things like online registration, the improvements at Keogh that we talked about, all the work that was done on the 25th anniversary season, how the banquet has evolved, standardizing the bats for each team, the introduction of rookie night and overall communication.

The BLOG: Who would you consider to be a mentor?

Chris Ross: Actually one guy who helped me understand the way the league operates was Bill Jonkman who’s team I was on as a rookie. He was great with me. As far as someone who has given me good advice on the leadership side of things, I think Ed Hopkins has been an invaluable resource. He has a knack of giving you information and advice before you even realize that you need it. He’s been a true mentor and an inspiration.

The BLOG: Why did you pick now to resign as President?

Chris Ross: The time was right personally and for the league. I have changes in my children’s sports schedules and I want to be more involved in that. I need that time back. Also, I think the league is good shape with people who are capable and motivated to be in leadership positions.

The BLOG: With that in mind…you sent your resignation at 11:00 at night. I had visions of you sitting at your computer with the letter drafted and the cursor hovering over the ‘send’ button. What was your first emotion when you finally hit send?

Chris Ross: Relief!

The BLOG: Why relief?

Chris Ross: Because I completed what I said I would do. The time spent in this role can’t be understated. Not that I haven’t fully enjoyed it, but my commitment to the league was my guilty pleasure from a time standpoint and I need to recapture that time. There is relief in knowing that the league will be in good shape, that I’ll be able to show up for games as a player and that I’ll be at my son’s soccer games instead of captains meetings, committee meetings and fielding countless emails.

The BLOG: One thing I was hoping to talk about a little bit is what I see as two converging philosophies of the league. One is all about respecting the ‘older’ players. We have quite a few players who are 30 years older than rookies and in many respects they are the life-blood of the league. The other part is how quickly rookies are accepted and integrated into the league which I think is something that we’ve both experienced.

Chris Ross: I think I know what you mean. I think this is something that sets us apart from any other league I’ve seen or heard of and I think it starts with our ratings and draft. I won’t pretend that our ratings are perfect, there will always be minor disagreements, but overall they are pretty damned good. Because of that balance, no team gets ‘stuck’ with a player that can’t contribute. Not any more so than any other team, so there is no disadvantage. Also, no team has the ability or opportunity to ‘load up’ on strong players. So we start with balance, but the beauty of it is that a number 11 or a number 12 (or a number 1 or 2 for that matter) are only that number on draft day. The day after the draft they are just an equal member of the team that they are on for that season. When you look at the rosters on the website you’ll see that the players are listed alphabetically and not by their rating. Also, I think the captains do a great job of showing that it takes all twelve guys to have a good team and the best captains know that only part of the game takes place on the diamond. The camaraderie that we have on our teams is what really drives league and makes everyone a part of things. Camaraderie doesn’t have an age, a batting average or a rating.

The BLOG: Give me one thing that you’ve learned in this role.

Chris Ross: I think the biggest thing is that no one is bigger than the league. I suppose I always knew that, but you see it different in this position. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do in your ‘everyday’ walk of life you are as equal as everyone else.

The BLOG: As we sit here, we’re 40 days away from a new President being elected. What advice would you give to him?

Chris Ross: I think the biggest thing is to listen to people. Find advocates and supporters because that’s important but you have to listen to everyone. Some of the best ideas come from the least likely sources. Keep communicating. If you stop communicating you’ll never be able to turn it back on when you really need it. Also, you had better have a thick skin. You’ll hear a lot of feedback that you won’t like. You need to take it for its worth and move on.

The BLOG: Finally Chris, if the league had a mission statement that you tried to hold yourself to, what would it be?

Chris Ross: I’m not sure if it’s a mission statement, more a mandate that I’ve tried to follow. I think the President and by extension, the executive, have to make sure that we have the right number of teams any given year, ensure that we are a league that remains open and popular for players of all talents and abilities, make sure that we continue to have all teams make the playoffs and to keep the league affordable for its members.

Closing:  Meeting with Chris for the afternoon wasn't exactly what I expected.  In my experience he's come across as a little bit of a 'larger than life' gregarious guy who has a sharp wit and isn't afraid to poke fun at people or take a wise crack back in return.  What I saw this day was the same guy, but also some other characteristics.  I saw a person who is beyond passionate about the league.  Countless times Chris used phrases like "no one is bigger than the League" or "this league will outlast all of us" that speak to his belief in our league as an institution.  

I also saw a man who demonstrated one of the most important leadership characteristics (in my opinion) which is effective delegation.  No one person can go it alone.  Thinking you can is foolhardy and trying to would be disastrous.  Delegating is tough because giving a person the responsibility to do something does not change who is ultimately accountable for the work being done.  The person who does the delegating is still and always on the hook.  It is a real demonstration of trust.  

The trust is rewarded on the back end with recognition.  Chris brought up names like Kevin Boston, Ed Hopkins, Rob Farah, Steve Ross, Jeff Dancey, Randy Hipkin, James Taylor, Jim Mannell, Clayton Campbell, Tony Mrasek, Wayne Caldwell and Ed Vonda as just a few of the people that had helped along the way.  The list continued to grow with each topic that was brought up.  This shows that he didn't keep going back to the same resources time and again when he needed help.  Instead, he would go to the person who be best suited and therefore most effective in fulfilling the task.  

The afternoon with Chris was fun!  I'm sure there will be many more to come in the clubhouse after games in the 2011 season.

Thanks Chris for all that you've done for our league.

Doug Dwyer

PLAYOFFS - The Finals

SETTING THE SCENE

Little boy, in a baseball hat,

Stands in a field, with his ball and bat,

says "I am the greatest, player of them all"

puts his bat on his shoulder, and tosses up his ball.

And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,

he swings his bat all the way around,

and the worlds so still you can hear the sound

as the baseball falls, to the ground.

Now the little boy, doesn't say a word,

picks up his ball, he is undeterred,

Says "I am the greatest, there has ever been,"

and he grits his teeth, and tries it again.

And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,

he swings his bat all the way around,

and the worlds so still you can hear the sound

as the baseball falls, to the ground.

He makes no excuses, He shows no fear,

He just closes his eyes, and listens to the cheers.

Little boy, he adjusts his hat

picks up his ball, stares at his bat,

says "I am the greatest, the game is on the line,"

and he gives his all, one last time.

And the ball goes up, like the moon so bright,

Swings his bat, with all his might,

and the worlds as still, as still as can be,

and the baseball falls, and that's strike three.

Now its supper time, and his Mama calls,

little boy starts home, with his bat and ball,

says "I am the greatest, that is a fact,

but even I didn't know, I could pitch like that."

THE POLL
This is interesting.  The most resent poll asked, "WHICH TWO TEAMS ARE MOST LIKELY TO APPEAR IN THE FINAL GAME?"  Here are the results. 

Banshees                                    5%       (The offense died)
Brew Jays                                 38%       (Rounders rule!)
Dislocated Joints                         0%       (bad time to slump)
Dodge City Rounders                  9%       (overcoming the odds!)
Dog Catchers                              0%       (We got this one right!)
Dusty Cleats                               6%        (Nice playoff run!)
Grisslies                                     16%       (How does the second team out get votes?)
Hot Tub Woody's                        3%      (Made it further than most thought they wood!)
Hurtin' Units                               19%      (A shocking end!)
Lucky Stiffs                                  6%      (Another surprise exit!)
Red Dogs                                     3%      (made it further  than predicted)
Rusty Rebels                               64%     (overwhelming #! favourite!)
The wild                                       0|%     (no faith in the defending champs)
Torn Ligaments                            6%      (Just missed!)                    

HOW THEY GOT THERE
#12 Versus #6.  A match up that no one foresaw.  Even their own players didn't see this match up coming.

The Wild opened the playoffs by tying the Hot Tub Woody's and then they barely eked out a win against the Dusty Cleats.  It wasn't a fabulous start, but it was enough.  They finished the round robin with losses to the Hurtin' Units and Lucky Stiffs.  They were matched up in the Saturday elimination against the Units again.  The Units had beaten them once in the round robin and they split in the regular season.  The Wild pulled off the upset of the league's number one team and moved onto Sunday! 

Sunday morning the Wild faced the Lucky Stiffs, a team they hadn't beaten this year in 3 chances.  The 4th chance was lucky for the Wild and they rolled easily over the stiffs.  In the semis, the Wild avenged their round robin tie to the Woody's by knocking them out and advancing to the final. 

The twelve seed Dodge City Rounders' route to the final was uphill all the way.  Dodge City had the first significant upset of the round robin by beating the Hurtin' Units.  They followed that up with a losses to the Dog Catchers, Torn Ligaments and Dusty Cleats in succession.  However, that one improbable win against the Units was enough to get them to the Saturday elimination game.

Saturday saw a match of Dodge City and the Red Dogs.  Dodge City managed to get by the Red Dogs in spirited game by scoring 20 runs.  On Sunday morning Dodge City was matched up against the Brew Jays and the run of upsets continued.  Dodge played another complete team game and advanced to the semis against the Torn Ligaments.  The Ligaments, who were on a nice run of their own became the latest team to experience the 'never say die' resolve of the Rounders.

THE GAME

Co MVPs Rob Stock & Tito Presenza

It was a clinic.

At 3:40 Tito Presenza threw a first pitch strike to Steve Black.  At 3:44 Rob Stock drove in the Wild's first run.  At 4:36 the game was in the books and the Wild declared champions with a very clean and clinical 13-3 victory.

Tito pitched as good a game as I have seen pitched.  He faced only 4 batters in each of the first 3 innings and didn't face more than five batters in an inning until the 7th when the 'Rounders scored two runs.  The pitching and defense was absolutely dominant. 

Offensively, Garry Hilliard was 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored.  Tito was 4 for 4 with 4 runs scored.  And Rob Stock was 3 for 4 with 6 RBIs.  Chuck Cragg had 3 hits, two of them doubles ripped over third base that cashed runs. 

The game was never really in much doubt as the Wild got out to a quick 5-0 lead after the 1st inning and stretched it out to 8-0 after two. 

Instead of a mood of disappointment, the atmosphere around the game turned into one of celebration.  Celebrating the end of the season.  Celebrating the Dodge City Rounders spectacular run.  Celebrating the fact that EVERY SINGLE TEAM was represented with multiple players watching the final.  And finally, celebrating The Wild doing something that no team has done in 25 year of Tottenham Oldtimers ball, and that is win consecutive championships!

Well done Dodge City Rounders!
Well done Wild!
Well done Oldtimers!

PLAYOFFS - Day 5 & 6, Elimination Day

INTRO
Well.

It appears that the "BLOG MASTER" has an apology to make for actually missing a day of posting.  It is not, however, without reason.

WARNING:  I don't know for sure what they are serving as beverages up at Coventry, but PLEASE be cautious.  I discovered yesterday that 'whatever' that it, it cause your tongue to thicken, making speach difficult.  It also tends to slow motor skills making difficult (like walking) a bit of a challenge.  I'm just saying, WATCH OUT!

Now, yesterday (Saturday) was kind of Crazy.  But if you think that was nuts....wait until you hear about Sunday. 

For the record.  There will be another BLOG posted before tomorrow at 9:00 and it will cover the semi-finals and the finals. 



SATURDAY - Here in the Park, I think it was the 4th of July (America)
Below are the results of all games.  Not too much commentary.

Hurtin' Units 16 - Dislocated Joints 9:
This put the Units at 1-2 and seemed at the time to mark their return!

Brew Jays 13 - Grisslies 5:
A close game for 5 innings before the Brew Jays did what the Brew Jays did all season.  Run aggressively and single and double you to death. 

Rusty Rebels 15 - Dog Catchers 7:
The Rebels reasserted their dominance and showed themselves to be favourites again. 

Lucky Stiffs 15 - The Wild 10:
Stiffs maintain control of the bye, The Wild are a safe at 1-1-1.

Banshees 10 - Red Dogs 9:
The Red Dogs continue to give everyone difficult.  The Banshees continue to be impossible to read.

Torn Ligaments 9 - Dodge City Rounders 1:
Torn Ligaments improbable run continues.  Down three players, they play a complete game against a team that had been scoring at will.

Hot Tub Woody's 16 - Brew Jays 15:
Anyone who predicted this outcome had been at the beer garden WAY too long.  Consensus thinking was that the Brew Jays weren't quite as focused as usual having already secured the bye.

Dusty Cleats 15 - Dodge City Rounders 13:
A week ago, most people thought this game would only serve to eliminate one of these teams after the round robin.  SURPRISE!!!  Both are through. 

Hurtin' Units 8 - The Wild 4:
THEY'RE BACK!!!  Units improve to 2-2 and look like the Units.  The Wild limp into the elimination round at 1-2-1.

Rusty Rebels 15 - Dusty Cleats 9:
Cleats show that they are playing like a solid club and are 2-2 heading into elimination.  Rebels secure the bye.

Lucky Stiffs 11 - Dislocated Joints 5:
Joints are eliminated.  Stiffs secure the bye.

Torn Ligaments 13 - Grisslies 4:
Grisslies are eliminated going 1-3 and dropping 3 straight.  Ligaments secure the bye despite the number of players they are down.

Hot Tub Woody's 12 - Red Dogs 34:
Thirty-four!!! That will kill your ERA.  Both teams are through to the elimination round. 

SATRUDAY ELIMINATION:

Banshees 15 - Dog Catchers 6:
These teams played back to back games and while the Dog Catchers made the 1st one close, they appeared spent in the second game.  The game shuffled back and forth between diamond 2 and diamond 1 and for good measure back to diamond 2.  They breifly considered Keogh and Skydome but ended up staying at Coventry.  While the Banshees earned the win, the Dog Catchers appeared to be pretty tired. 

Dodge City Rounders 20 - Red Dogs 16:
A battle of high powered offenses!  Which ever team made it through to Sunday would have been a good news story for the league as these two teams finished the season as the 12th and 13th seeds.  Not much was expected.  it was an entertaining game and two fun and sporting teams to watch. 

Hot Tub Woody's 14 - Dusty Cleats 5:
Another feel good story!  The 11th and 14th seeds squaring off with the 11th seed prevailing.  The Cleats redeemed a difficult 3-23 season by going 2-2 through the round robin and making it through to an elimination game.  They created misery for a number of teams.  The Hot Tub Woody's who had the second longest losing skid in the league this season appear to be on a bit of roll a the best possible time. 

The Wild 18 - Hurtin' Units 15:
The Lucky Stiffs, Rusty Rebels and Brew Jays all breathed a BIG sigh of relief at this result!!!  Just when it seemed like the Units were back to their 1st overall status, they came up a little short.  The Wild meandered through the round robin and played their best game when they needed it.  The defending champs are still alive and will see Sunday again. 

SUNDAY ELIMINATION:  SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (U2)

The Wild 18 - Lucky Stiffs 4:
Maybe not a HUGE shocker but this has to be considered a fairly significant upset.  The Stiffs, who had the bye were eliminated by The Wild who finshed the season in 6th place and hadn't had a particulary  good round robin, knocked off a Stiffs team that looked to be at least destined for the semis.  The Stiffs join the Hurtin' Units as the second surprise team to be eliminated. The Wild are in the semis.

The Hot Tub Woody's 6 - Rusty Rebels 3:
The mighty are falling and the 'feel good stories' keep feeling good.  The 11th seed versus the 3rd seed.  The Rebels had beaten the Woody's twice during the regular season.  This is not the regular season.  The Woody's played stellar defence and took advantage of the very few breaks that the Rebels allowed and were full value for their 6-3 win.  How they shut down that Rebels potent offense is a something between a mystery and a miracle!  The Rebels at #3 join the Stiffs (#4), the Units (#1) and Bashees (#5) on the sidelines. 

The Brew Jays ? - Dodge City Rounders ?:
I don't know the score, just the result.  As the only seed in the top 5 remaining, the Brew Jays had a clear path to the final.  Oh, except the Dodge City Rounders were in the way.  Dodge, having picked up Rob Farah to sub pitching, picked up key contributions offensively from players 1-12.  The game was back and forth heading to the seventh inning where the Rounders rolled up 5 runs.  In the bottom of the inning the Jays could only manage one base runner and the 50+ onlookers cheered the underdogs pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament thus far.  Dodge incredibly are onto the semis!  The Brew Jays are incredibly spectators like the other top 5 seeds. 

Torn Ligaments 9 - Banshees 3:
The Torn Ligaments had the bye, so theoretically they were 'supposed to win'.  These teams were separated in the regular season by only 1 point so it should have been close.  Further, they had split their two regular season games against each other with a total run differential of 2!  All that said, the Ligaments, once again, over came the odds of being down some critical players and were the team more ready to play on this particular day.  They cruised to the 9-3 victory and the semi finals.

SEMI FINAL MATCH UPS

Dodge City Rounders (12) Vs. Torn Ligaments (7)
For the longest time, the Torn Ligaments looked to be in control of this game.  While they didn't ever have a dominating lead, they led consistently through five innings and at one point had a fairly comfortable 10-5 lead.  Then the Dodgers came back.  And they came back hard in a bat around 7 run inning where they took a four run lead and were never again headed.  The Rounders found enough resolve in Mooner's bat and Fry's glove to advance to the final.  The dream was over for the Ligaments.  Making it this far without Piellusch and McKendrick was nothing short of inspirational.  While many people played well in this game, Rob Hayward was amazing with the bat (2 homers) and swallowing everything in the outfield defensively.  Well done!

The Wild (6) Vs. Hot Tub Woody's (11)
The Hot Tub Woody's fantastic run came to a crashing halt against The Wild.   The Wild were only 'okay' in the round robin.  In the their first elimination they were a little bit of a surprise in taking out the Stiffs, but in this game the probably only did what they 'should' do in taking out the Woodys.  The Wild would see their second straight final.  They looked good but not necessarily great.  However, each game was progressively better than the next and they seemed to be really catching a groove.  The Woody's, much like the Rounder, Cleats and Red Dogs gave hope to all sub .500 teams that they can make a strong playoff push!

PLAYOFFS - Day 4, Moving Day

MOVING DAY



Welcome to Moving Day!  This is the first BIG day of the playoffs.  At the end of Friday everyone will have played half of their round robin games and have a pretty good idea of what they need to do Saturday and whether they can do it on their own or need help.

After Friday night each team will have two games remaining and we'll be split into four general groups.  

• We'll have a pool of teams that are 2-0 and feeling confident about securing a bye. (that turned out to be one team (well done Brew Jays!)
• We'll have a group of teams that are 1-1 and measuring their remaining games to see if they can sneak into one of the last bye spots. (Currently The Wild, The Dusty Cleats and the Rusty Rebels have that upper hand)
• We'll have a group of teams that are 1-1 and are measuring their remaining games to make sure they make it to elimination (Everyone else) 
• We'll have a pool of 0-2 teams that are desperate for a win to avoid an early trip home. (The Hurtin' Units are the only one in that category)

So, todays status...today we look at total hits over the last two years.  I gotta say, there weren't many surprises on this list like there were on the previous lists.  In fact there was only one name that showed  up that I hadn't anticipated, see if you can find it (I checked the totals twice by the way).

STANDINGS

THE GAMES

Well, sadly, this is the frst day of the playoffs without having a write up on each game.  Still, we don have the scores.  Thanks to Karen and Steve for their contributions!

The Wild 14 Vs. The Dusty Cleats 11
STEVE ROSS:
Once again the wind played a big factor for The Wild vs. Dusty Cleats game - both pitchers handled the conditions well and threw a lot strikes.  It was a close game the whole way with both teams having lots of opportunities to break it open without success.  The Wild prevailed 14-11 on the strength of Craig Cragg's 3/3 performance with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs. 

Some great defense by both sides as well, Cleats Captain Chris Pulfer snaring a hard hit ball up the middle and The Wild's Rob Stock with a 3rd-to-home double play to end a bases loaded threat at a key point in the game.  The Wild face a daunting Saturday playing the hard hitting Lucky Stiffs and the not-out-of-it Hurtin' Units.

The Red Dogs 23 Vs. The Grisslies 16

DOUG DWYER:
This is another one of those "don't let the score fool you" games. 

The Red Dogs came to play tonight, of that there is NO doubt!  They had all of their bats in the line up, Mike Candy, Mike Roche, Matt Foerster and they all hit.  We expected that.  What we didn't expect was Bear Wyatt, Billy Cloutier and Down Town Billy Brown cashing in runners all night.

The Grisslies have had a good run of 12 games of solid defense.  If you're gonna break the streak, better to do it on Friday than Sunday. 

On a positive Grisslie note, we came up in the bottom of the seventh trailing 23-9 and showed no quit!  We rallied for seven runs  and came within a hit of taking a +/- of under seven runs.  This team has resolve.  We'll need it tomorrow as we rally around a couple of injuries.  Lots of ball left in the Grisslie tank!

Hot Tub Woody's 13, VS. Dislocated Joints 18
EDITOR:
I don't have a write up on this one nor did I get to see it first hand.  A number of people that I spoke with said the game had a back and forth feel to it and there are rumours that Terry Doucet had his a home run.  But that's all I've got.  The score is right, the rest is just 'what I heard'.


Dodge City Rounders 8, Vs. Dog Catchers 16
KAREN TURNER:
2 trailer park girls go 'round the outside, 'round the outside, 'round the outside....oops, sorry, that was my game....

Ok, it must've been that full red moon tonight, because the Dog Catchers got it, scoring in 5 of 7 innings. Murray "Colonel" Saunders caught the 1st fly hit to him (mostly in fear of being a star of the blog yet again), but unfortunately went down in the 4th hitting 1st base at an angle that no ankle should ever experience...

Highlights included Jim Rouleau snagging an impossible grounder at 2 & getting the 3rd out, as well as a shoelace catch in the 5th for another 3rd out. On the other side Stike had a circus "watch the bouncing ball" moment at 2nd, but still managed to make the 3rd out in the 6th.

The song that came to mind for Dodge City had to be B.o.b./f Hayley Williams "Airplanes"....Can we pretend that fly balls are like line drives over 2nd base, I could really use a hit right now, a hit right now, a hit right now....

PLAYOFFS - Day 3

INTRO

Sorry, but this part was just hastily thrown together and will probably have this out a little later than I had hoped.  However there has been a bit of an injustice and I want to make sure people are aware of it. 

First of all, there results are in on how many jugs of beer each team bought at the Legion this year.  Because I consider this to be statistic, I wrote them down to share with the rest of you....

1.  The Dusty Cleats                  102
2.  The Wild                               91
3.  The Grisslies                          85
4.  The Hot Tub Woody's           75
5.  The Hurtin' Units                    71
6.  The Lucky Stiffs                     57
7.  Dodge City Rounders             51
8.  Rusty Rebels                          40
9.  Brew Jays                              37
10. Dog Catchers                        30
11. Torn Ligaments                     28
12. Dislocated Joints                   25
13.  Red Dogs                            15
14.  Banshees                               7

Now, the injustice.  They did the draw for the keg and guess who won?  Seriously.  The Banshees.  The team that will forever be known as the club that put the "SHE" in Banshees won a KEG by purchasing
SEVEN (7) jugs over an entire season!  Roughly 1 every four games.

Embarrassing.

INTRO II

For anyone who looked at the standings after day two, one thing had to jump out at you.  That would be the fact that every game which had a winner was decided by more than 7 runs.  Of course "I" noticed.  Of course Marky-Mark noticed.  Of course his attention deficit disorder and my obsessive compulsive disorder took over and I had to figure our just how much of a statistical anomaly this really was.  Thank god for Excel, so I don't need to count manually!

Of the 182 game scores from our league website, 72 (39.5%) were decided by 7 runs or more.  Thus far in the playoffs we have had 7 of 8 games (87.5%) decided by 7 runs or more.  Sure its a small sample size, but its still pretty weird.  And what these strange scores have done is create a real log jam at the top and bottom of the standings.

But enough about that.... 

The question has been raised, "how come all these stats are about hitting?"  Good question.  The answer of course is that, the only stats that we keep are about hitting.  So with apologies to the pitchers, I have to go with what I can get and find a few different ways to carve up whats available. 

Today's instalment of stats that you don't normally see is total hits!  This is an OBA "be damned" statistic.  It doesn't matter if you hit .450 or .850, its just straight hits.  Of course, you would have to have a somewhat descent OBA to make the list, but you can make up for a lower average with the consistency and attendance.  So, here is the total hit list for 2010:

Whats not to like about this list?  We have 3 guys who managed to get 70+ hits this year, two of which made it into the top 25 in OBA.  Isn't an interesting variance that Jim MacDonald was second in the league in total hits and didn't see the top 25 in OBA?  Of further interest is that the only members of the 70+ hit club are also members of the Hurtin' Units!  These guys just keep coming!!!

Other than that we have 11 people on the list who are on the top 25 and 16 who aren't.  The top 25 OBA is a great indicator, but total hits marks a contribution worth tracking as well. 

THE GAMES

Banshees 9 Vs. Brew Jays 23

EDITOR:
With no representative from either team to report, I felt obligated to attend this game.  ALSO...it was a bit of a scouting mission as we play the Brew Jays on Saturday. 

Lets cut to the chase on this one.  The final score was 23-9 for the Brew Jays.  You know how sometimes you'll say that the score wasn't a fair indication of how close the game was?  Well, this WAS NOT one of those times. 

The Brew Jays were nothing short of relentless.  By my count there was only one inning that they didn't score in.  Add that to the fact that they didn't bat in the bottom of the 7th AND that the Banshees scored 4 runs in the top of the 7th and you get an idea of how this game went. 

I've gone up and down the Jays roster and everyone contributed.  Of particular note was Chris Larkin who snagged three hard shots at third and made plays of outs.  Two of them were spectacular!  The Brew Jays are 2-0 with a +14 and are in FULL control of whether or not they end up with a bye or not. 

The Banshees now find themselves at 1-1 with the hardest part of their schedule done.  They are in good shape but its still too early to tell if they'll need help to get the bye.  (this may have been justice for the keg fiasco!) 

Torn Ligaments 12 Vs. Rusty Rebels 8

PAUL PIELLUSH
Wow, what a ball game.

The Rebels came out quickly in the first and went up 2-0. The Ligaments fought back and tied the game a couple of innings later.  The Rebels went ahead 5-2 on the strength of a 2 run homer to left from Mark Doyle
in the 3rd, the Ligaments answered with one, and then the Rebels struck again in the fourth to go up 7-3.

The baseball gods then smiled on the Ligaments in the 5th and they pushed across 7 to go ahead 10-7,
highlighted by a nice 2 run line drive homer to left centre by Rob Hayward. The Rebels added one to keep
the game close, but the Ligaments were able to add a couple in the top of the 7th, including a solo blast to
left field by Bob Smith.

After a 3 up, 3 down bottom of the 7th the game was over with the Ligaments prevailing 12-8. The Ligaments defence was back, with a couple of nice catches in the late innings and a huge double play at the plate.

The Rebels played a solid game as well, but made a couple more mistakes than the Ligaments which was just
enough to give them the loss. It was close all the way and really exciting game to watch......wish I wasn't in the stands for this one!

EDITOR:
Steve Ross, Brett Mabee, Rob MaCarron (the heckler) and Paul Piellusch are good guys to a watch a game with.  This game to me was a chess match.  There was a lot of "the Ligaments can pull it off if this, this and this happen".  However, you just sat there waiting for the Rebels to punch through.  There would be a hit or two in a row an you'd think "here they come" and before you knew it, the inning would be over.  It was, so far, the most competetive and balanced game of the playoffs and great to watch (except if you're Paul who would have preferred to play).

STANDINGS



Includes all games from Tuesday, Wednesday

and Thursday



PLAYOFFS - Day 2

POLL
Yes, it was me that wore his hat in the freakin' Legion.  Damit!  After two years, I finally managed that screw up.  Idiot!  Cost me two jugs.



INTRO

Yeah, not really an intro again, just musings.  I started getting ready for the Day 2 BLOG about 5 minutes after posting the Day 1 edition. 

So a couple of things that may or may not be of moderate interest to you.  As I sat down Tuesday night to watch the season premier of Glee (yes, I did and I don't care who knows), I sat comfortably knowing that people were going to fire me off reports of the 4 games going on.  I gotta tell you it was pretty cool.  It felt like being a newspaper editor.  Anyway, not a big deal, but I thought it was neat.  By the way, the Glee club did Empire State of Mind last night which I (sorry, Rob) covered in the Tottenham State of Mind BLOG, personally I think our version was better, but that's me. 

The other thing of interest is that as soon as I published the Day 1 edition I started to get really nervous knowing that we, The Grisslies, would be one of the four teams reported on in the Day 2 chapter.  We need to do what the Brew Jays did and beat a team that we haven't gotten by yet.  Time will tell!

So yesterday I gave you a list a the top 25 hitters (OBA of course) over the last two years.  Today's little statistical story is a twist on the same topic.  Today we look at the top 25 increases in average from last year to this year.  What I like about this list (besides the fact that I'm on it) is that it recognizes some people that aren't the 1, 2 and 3 ranked players in the league (although there are some) but those who contribute just as much effort and are working hard to improve!   Here's the list:

So I think everyone would have to agree that Mike Olliffe's +200 point increase in OBA is teetering on ridiculous!!  What a great year!  Follow that up with the fact that 5 of the top 9 are from the Hurtin' Units and that they all saw an increase of 100 points or more and you're starting to see the "perfect storm".  It kind of puts their year into perspective.  Poor Jen's gained 75 points and he's almost an after thought on that team!  While everyone is worthy of a mention, I personally am quite proud of Piero Del Greco's 79 point increase!  Stats don't always tell the story and I'd be willing to bet that he ranked with our best players in terms of 'meaningful' hits.  Guess that's why he's the clean up hitter! 

THE GAMES

Dusty Cleats 16 Vs. Dislocated Joints 8

BUNDI:  

A watched pot boils (you just have to wait 27 games)!

A frog’s ass is NOT water tight (every one passes gas)!

And the exhibition season is over!

The Dusty Cleats pulled off an upset over the Dislocated Joints with a 16-8 win due to timely hitting and solid defense….a rarity for the Cleats.

The first 2 innings were very close, with the score tied at 2 going into the third. The Cleats ran up seven in the third with big hits from “Shoeless” Rob and Curtis “The Silver Fox” to max out the seven runs.

Both teams chipped away for the next two innings until Scott “Anger Management Peters “ bookend ended the 6th inning with a 3 run shot that went yard in the top half and an inning ending double play (assisted by “big hops” J.T.) in the bottom half.

The Joints were missing Ricky C., but they still hit the ball well but just missed the gaps.

The game difference was that the Cleats did not beat the Cleats and played some pretty good D ball.
Final score 16-8 Dusty Cleats!

EDITOR:  
Who wasn't quietly cheering for the Cleats?  It wouldn't have mattered who the opponent was, but no one likes to see a team take a prolonged beating.  Congrats!!!  The Joints are still okay with another home game left.  The schedule gets really tough after that though.
Grisslies 21 Vs. Dog Catchers 8

KAREN TURNER: 
It's painfully obvious to the Dog Catchers that you can't win a game when you only score in the first 3 innings, while you hold your opponent scoreless in ONLY one....'nuff said. 

Highlights were Jake's hitting & 2 foul-out catches at home, Bones' making 2 great snags at 1st base, Jim's play at third & the Grisslies Doug & Dave making a very impressive double play in the 4th inning, as well as the Grisslies' over-all hitting throughout the whole game....

Lowlight, well, that would have be Brett's hit over Murray's head, which brings to mind "Love to Hear You Lie, by Eminem f Rihanna...."Just gonna stand there, getting burned, that's alright, you should've already learned...Just gonna stand there & hear Randy cry, that's alright, cuz he's still watching that ball fly...."

P.S. Good thing there was a jello-shooter cake for Randy for his birthday (photographic evidence attached) for him & his team to drown their sorrows in.....ah, never mind, bring on Friday!!!

EDITOR: 

Pictures?  Quoting Eminem and relating it to baseball?  Are you kidding me?  The good ones are always spoken for.  THIS IS STELLAR STUFF!!!  From the Grisslie perspective, we had heard the rumours that Bob McCullough wasn't going to play and truthfully it was a gutty performance.  Not that he struggled, but was quite obviously hurting.  Hats off!  As usual, the Catchers were as good as sports in defeat as they were in when they beat us.  Still looking for big things from these guys!

Red Dogs 15 Vs. Lucky Stiffs 23

ANDY GEE:   
The Red Dogs took on the Lucky Stiffs under a full moon and showed the Stiffs what experience can do and kept the game close.

The Red Dogs, short a few of there regulars, hit the ball well into the gaps forcing the Stiffs to play smart baseball. The Red Dogs scored well and often on some timely hitting by Matt Foerster, Bob Pearce and Jim Bear Wyatt but the Stiffs were not to be taken lightly.

Late in the game Al Johnson triples, Cameron Clark gets an assisted HR and Phil Glecoff homers over the fence. The Stiffs scored going away late in the game and it was too much for the Dogs to over come. Final score Lucky Stiffs 23-15 Red Dogs.

EDITOR:  
The Stiffs are back on the beam!  They were one of my picks for a bye and my picks haven't been doing so good!  The Stiffs, like the Brew Jays and Units have their toughest games out of the way.  No time to coast, but their in good shape. 

Dodge City Rounders 22 Vs. Hurtin' Units 11

PAUL GYORI: 
It was a gorgeous night for baseball and another tough game for The Units. We got smoked again by a hard hitting Dodge City Rounders club.

We just haven't been on our game, perhaps just squeezing that bat a little too tight knowing that everyone guns for the top team.  Kevin Moon had a ton of balls hit his way for pretty easy outs to first, he also cranked a couple of balls hard into the outfield. 

Even though the last two game have been routs our spirits are still pretty high.

EDITOR:  
Hmmmm, there always seems to be a full Moon in September!  Didn't we see this last year?Day 2 was clearly upset day in the playoffs with 3 underdogs winning.  Well done Dodge City Rounders!  The Rounders have maintained a positive attitude all year and it paid off tonight in spades.  Is it okay to feel sorry for a team that finished 1st overall in the league?  The Units still have winnable games, but have to find that magic they had for the last 4 months.  Slow and steady wins the race.

STANDINGS

(THIS INCLUDES ALL GAMES FROM DAY ONE AND DAY TWO)



PLAYOFFS - Day 1

FINALLY!!!

I won't waste a lot of time on any intro stuff but may sprinkle in a little something should the mood strike me somewhere along the line....we'll see.

In place of that, I've dug up a few stats that may be of minor interest to some of the more obsessed of the crowd.  For starters, because we like top 25 lists, here are the top 25 hitters over the last two years in the league.  As you can see, the only person to exceed a combined .750 average over two years is "Shoeless" Rob McCarron.  If he's not a number 1, he should be a 1A. 

Then we have a list of 15 great players who have been able to maintain a .700 OBA over two years; and the list is rounded out by a who's who of the leagues great hitters!

I would like to offer my thanks in advance to Paul Piellusch, Steve Ross, Mark Doyle, Andy Gee, Paul Gyori and Karen Turner; without who's help putting together a daily report would be impossible.  Other than correcting the odd typo (some things sent from blackberrys and phones are subject to thumbing errors), the words are theirs. 

THE GAMES

Rusty Rebels 27 Vs. Hurtin' Units 12

Paul Gyori:  The Hurtin' Units first playoff game against The Rusty Rebel was going really well for The
Units right up until the warm-up ended.  Collectively we probably played our worst game of the season, getting smoked by a strong, hard hitting Rebel team 27-12.  Their whole line-up hit well, especially the lower part of the batting order with Pete Shmagola leading the pack going a terrific 5-5 which included a walk and three solid hits.

We did get 12 runs which can usually win you many games, but the combination of solid Rebel hitting, and our defence booting the ball a tad made those 12 runs seem like a drop in the proverbial bucket.
Still, we haven't let the loss get us down. There is an awful lot of ball to play, and we knew the Rebels would be a tough opponent.

We have three more games to play in the round robin, and we have already put the first one behind us. 

EDITOR:    Maybe picking the Rusty Rebels as the team to beat wasn't quite so crazy after all?  Mark Kolson hitting a triple and (out of the park) home run was HUGE. Still, the Hurtin' Units are in a position to run the table from here....they need their MOJO now!

Lucky Stiffs 8 Vs. Brew Jays 15

Andy Gee:   So the Brew Jays win their first game of the second season by playing fundamental
baseball. They hit the ball well, played good defense with few errors, and capitalized on the errors
made by the Stiffers. The result was a 15-8 win for the Jays.

EDITOR:     The Brew Jays got the start they needed after dropping both regular season games to the
Lucky Stiffs.  The Stiffs have played their most difficult now and should sail smoothly from here.

Torn Ligaments 1 Vs. Banshees 11 

Paul Piellusch:   The Banshees hit well and played a solid game with few mistakes.  The Torn
Ligaments could not get any clutch hits and therefore did not score.  Frank Laird pitched a good game that the score gives a fair indication of.

EDITOR: Rumour has it that Paul Piellusch was in attendance for this game and did not play.  Hoping that its just a one game thing as the Ligaments can ill afford to lose him for any length of time.

Hot Tub Woody's 15 Vs. The Wild 15

Steve Ross:  Both teams battled the wind all night with several balls going over fielders heads for extra
bases.  The Woody's struck early and often taking an early lead but The Wild managed a rally in the late
innings to knot it up 16-16.

EDITOR:   Well, this was a little unexpected!  A tie will make everything so much more interesting come Saturday!  That point could push one of these teams into a bye or a better elimination match up.  Both teams accomplished the goal of not losing their opening game!

STANDINGS (UNOFFICIAL)

All Day 1 Game Results

BONUS BLOG - The Playoff Forecaster!!!

Click here for Paul Gyori's Playoff prequel

First Off...

A.  This worked at about 90% last year.
B.  Drawing names out of a hat is probably about as successful.
C.  Who cares?
D.  This is for entertainment value only and while I 'like' it, its neither scientific nor quantifiable.  Personally I wouldn't trust it. 
E.  The games are played on the field not on paper (or in BLOGs).
F.   BTW, this really only applies to the round robin portion because exact match ups beyond that are impossible to predict.

Best wishes to everyone in the Playoffs.  Only one will be standing at the end but hopefully we all have fun getting to that point.  Enjoy and don't get hurt!!!


HOW IT WORKS

This is entirely numbers based. If numbers bore you; you should leave now.

Okay...Go!

I know Doyle, Radar and John Harrett are still reading and if anyone else is there, here are some trends / stats that I found interesting. For the most part, this focuses on positive numbers only. There is no agenda to embarrass any team. 

Strictly by the numbers, the equation works like this (Factor1)+(Factor2 X 0.5)+(Factor3)+(Factor4) = TOTAL.  What the total means?  That's a different story altogether. 

Flaws?  There are plenty in this.  Measurements are weighted and arbitrary and there is nothing to say that the weights are right or even make any sense.  "How" each factor is measured is inconsistent, yet I like it.  The biggest thing that this misses is intangibles.  One intangible that is somewhat accounted for is more recent performance, but other stuff like injuries, historical playoff performance etc, are just not available.

So again, a grain of salt please. 

Here we go.

FACTOR 1

The first category is pretty much indisputable and that is how each team did in the regular season.  I've ranked teams 1-14 and awarded points for order of finish.  First place gets 14 points down to Fourteenth place getting one point.  Its simple and you all know where you ranked so that's not subject for debate.  This is your comparison against the league factor and here is how we all stood.

FACTOR 2

The second measurement is the who's hot factor.  This is marginally more complicated but hardly rocket science.  This looks at what a team has done in the second half of the schedule, their last 13 games.  There is an assumption here which isn't a 100% accurate, and that is that your level of competition was the same in the 1st and 2nd halves of the season.  Its not, so the stat is slightly skewed.  Teams are ranked 1st through 14th counting only their last 13 games and are awarded a 1/2 point for each spot in the rankings.  1st place gets 7 points down to 14th getting .5 points.  A couple of points on this:  1)  This is weighted at 1/2 value because its half a season.  2)  Just to be clear the standings you see below are "what it would look like" if the first 13 games of our season never happened. 

This shows me two things.

• First, the Rusty Rebels, Dog Catchers, Torn Ligaments and Grisslies had quality second halfs that are somewhat lost in the overall standings.
• Second, The Brew Jays and Hurtin' Units didn't take their collective feet off the gas ALL freaking year!  It took teams playing .769 and .692 clips to push them to 2nd and 3rd.  Remarkable consistency from both teams.

FACTOR 3

The third measurement is the how we did against ourselves factor.   Are you trending upward, staying even or falling off?  So, I've looked each teams winning percentage from the first half and second half and compared them.  If a team played .625 ball in the first half and .550 ball in the second half, their trend number was -.075.  Each teams differential is sorted and ranked. 

The way points are awarded in this category is somewhat different too.  The 7 teams that are trending upward received a point based on their rank and the 7 teams trending downward lost a point based on their rank.

Also, the statistic is inclusive of the whole season although strongly weighted to the second half...that's why a full point is awarded as opposed to the the half point in the "who's hot factor".  Whether you believe it or not is a different story.

• Is it fair that the Hurtin' Units had 4 times the number of wins as the Dusty Cleats in the second half yet got 2.5 fewer points?  Probably not. 
• Is it fair that Dodge City had an under .500 record in the second half yet got 4 more points than the Lucky Stiffs who were over .500?  Probably not. 
• Is it fair that I haven't needed to use a comb for 20 years?   Probably not.

FACTOR 4

Then there is the fourth and final measurement and this one is usually the deal breaker.  This is the luck of the draw factor and it can be a little controversial.  We all play a balanced POWER RANKING playoff schedule.  I get it.  I support it entirely.  It fair, its balanced and its a great way to do it.  However, where "luck of the draw" comes into play is how each individual team did specifically against the teams that they match up against in the playoffs.  Lets face it, we have actual tangible evidence of these results.

For instance....  Last year, the Grisslies had a rough first half, a good but not spectacular second half and ended up 12-12 for the year in 8th place.  However the Grisslies got a dream match up for a team in the lower half of the draw.  The Grisslies were 2-0 in the regular season against two of their opponents and 1-1 against the other two.  In other words, they got 12 out of a possible 16 points in those games.  As a point of reference, only one team has done better than that this year against their round robin competition.

So here is where luck of the draw really played out last year.  Not only did the Grisslies come up from 8th place to get the bye, but one of the top ranked teams (who predominately wear red) matched up against teams that they had very poor records against during the regular season DESPITE their excellent overall record.  Sadly, this provide to big component to an early exit.  At least last year anyway. This factor is awarded at the value of the points earned.  For example if you were 2-4-2 in the eight games you played against your round robin competition you would be awarded 6 points.  5-2-1 would be 11 points.  Got it?

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  Interestingly 10 of the 14 teams have records of .500 or better!
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  Lucky Stiffs were dominate, and the Brew Jays, Dog Catchers and Hurtin' Units in complete control.
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  There is as large a gap between 1st and 2nd (4points) as there is between 2nd and 11th. 
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   It looks like there are some disparities at the top and bottom and a lot of parity in the middle

TOTAL

So the moment you've been waiting for.....

• Remember that this is supposed to apply to the round robin as elimination games are whole different kettle of fish!
• If this is correct (I'm laughing too) then you can pretty much throw a blanket over the Rusty Rebels, Lucky Stiffs,  Hurtin' Units, Dog Catchers and Brew Jays as the favourites to get the byes.     
• Consider that the Brew Jays and Lucky Stiffs play each other....
• Consider that Hurtin' Units and Rusty Rebels play each other....
• Consider that the Rusty Rebels and the Dog Catchers play each other.... 

Team by Team:

Hurtin’ Units, Keys to victory: Simply, keep being the Hurtin’ Units. This team has rebounded from ‘in game’ miscues better than any other and if they continue to be positive on the field their results will be too.

Brew Jays, Keys to victory: Stay away from the Lucky Stiffs and keep tearing the cover off of the ball. They were the highest scoring team in the league by a long shot which means that no lead against them is safe.

Rusty Rebels, Keys to victory: The best team in the second half with a 10-2-1 record. They only have one loss in their last 10 games. They need to keep believing that they are this good!  Their hitting is off the charts and they may end up with 5 guys in the top 25.

Lucky Stiffs, Keys to victory: Not only did they finish fourth overall in the league but they have the best playoff schedule based on regular season results. The Stiffs gained 15 out of 16 possible points against their opponents.

Banshees, Keys to victory: Fifth place in the regular season and the fourth best playoff schedule. They have multiple players in the top 25 in hitting and are in the top 3 defensively in the league. They need all those components to click together.

The Wild, Keys to victory: The Wild were 7-4-2 in the first half and were in fourth place. If their clutch season ending win against the Hurtin’ Units is an indication that they’re back to that form, they’ll be back to being that team that no one wants to face.

Torn Ligaments, Keys to victory: The best defensive club in the league. While they finished the season with 2 losses, they were 5-2 over their last seven games and had the fifth best first half to second half improvement, most of which was against tough competition. If they sound defence holds they’ll be hard to bead.

Dog Catchers, Keys to victory: They played over .500 points better in the second half than they did in the first half. They were second only to the Rusty Rebels in points earned in the second half. They have the second best playoff schedule. The Dog Catchers look to be toughest to beat and it isn’t one aspect of play. As long as they stay healthy, they should be fine.

Dislocated Joints, Keys to victory: This is a funny team by their record. They are the only team to have 5 streaks of wins or losses of more than 3 games. This team is totally capable of going on a long winning streak based on their record. A quick start will be their biggest key.  If they start winning, they'll probably keep winning. 

Grisslies, Keys to victory: Simply to maintain their play over the last 10 games (7-2-1). Average runs scored during this period went up by over 4 per game and average runs allowed went down by more than 4. An 8 run per game differential was huge and will have to be maintained for post season success.

Hot Tub Woody’s, Keys to victory:  Only one loss in the last four games is a good start. The Woody’s were 8-6-1 after fifteen games and then hit an elongated skid which they’ve seemingly come out of. They are an even .500 against their playoff competition so this should be a very competitive playoff run.

Dodge City Rounders, Keys to victory: The fourth most improved team in the second half of the season and they‘re are playing with new found confidence that they have to maintain. Wins over the Stiffs and Wild were huge for them. Their best hitters need to not slump and get a few others to chip in here and there and an upset will be very doable.

Red Dogs, Keys to victory: Their record isn’t really an indication of the team. They’ve been missing Mike Candy for half the season, missing Matt Foerster for almost all the season and only getting Jamie McClean in recent weeks. The team you see in the playoffs will have a very different look. This is a legitimate X-factor team.  They could go to the final or not see Sunday and neither would surprise me.

Dusty Cleats, Keys to victory: It would be easy to dismiss this team, I would advise against that. The biggest thing for the Cleats is that some serious leg issues to a couple of key players are resolved. Add that to the dependability of the outfield and their bats and think there is a formula for winning some games there. I personally would love to see it!

There you have it folks....that's all I've got. 

There will be a blog on Tuesday night with game reports submitted by Paul Gyori, Mark Doyle, Andy Gee, Paul Piellusch and Steve Ross.  My thanks to you all!