Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2013

 

Really?  December 21st seems like a pretty odd time for a baseball BLOG doesn't it?  No stats.  No standings.  No news.  No sense.

Au contraire mon frere.

I dig stats.  I dig numbers.  That's why I throw around all the stupid numbers that we keep and shake 'em about and try to make some kind of sense of them.  December 21st is deeply significant; both from date tracking stand point AND to your psyche.

Lets start with the psyche.  Today, the 21st, is the shortest day of the year in terms of minutes of sunlight.  People think of late January and early February as being the dead of winter, and that is true from a temperature standpoint, but not in terms of sunlight.  On the 21st there will be (or was) 9 hours and 31 minutes of viable sunlight.  No wonder you're depressed.  On the 22nd, there will be 9 hours and 32 minutes.  On the 23rd 9 hours and 33 minutes.  In fact, you won't even hit January and there will already be more than 10 minutes per day of more sunlight than there was on the 21st of December.

This is an important date to winter haters like me.  From here on, everything gets better.  This is the day that the corner is turned.  A day of optimism, which I'm not very accustomed to.  A day where I'm pretty damned sure that the light at the end of the tunnel is NOT a train.

The stars are beginning to align.

Not only are the days getting longer, but we've also hit the baseball equinox.

Huh?

The baseball equinox, which you find described in John:  Chapter 7, Verse 43-48.  "He who doth hurl and swing at said vexed spheriod, shall be forever damned if they do not praise all things divisible by three on equinox of baseball on December, 21st".

Alexander Cartwright?  Abner Doubleday?  Strike thee down, baseball has been around a lot longer than those folks.  Its in the bible, for Cyrenius' sake, I have no choice.  So, our playoffs which were won by the (head bowed) Draft Kings, ended on September 15th.   The next league event where everyone is together is Draft Day which is tentatively scheduled for March 29th.

Those two events are a seemingly unbelievable 196 days apart!  Yahweh, now I'm really depressed.

But wait, the baseball equinox is the half way point between these two events.  So, 98 days from the end of the season and 98 days until the draft.  And that, you guessed it, is December 21st.  It only happens once every 127 years that that winter solstice and and baseball equinox fall on the same day.  Tell your kids.

So we've learned 3 things.

1.  After December 21st there is slightly more than a minute of sunshine more than the previous day.
2.  After December 21st you are actually closer to next season than last season.
3.  The bible has baseball quotes.

Now I think I may have a few editions of the BLOG as we go through January and February.  People seem curious with the "goings on" and while I have very little insight, I'm happy to impart what little I do have.  For one thing, our 2014 executive has been hard at work with improvement already!  The lights at Keogh Park have been under repair for the passed few days.

Not the best picture, but you can see folks hard at work on the week leading up to Christmas. 

Rob has been working hard coming up with ideas for the 2014 season that will push Grisslie antics to a higher level.  We need a game schedule and a team rosters to fully plan things out, but there a some things that we know for sure.

1.  Fan Appreciation Night will return!  Rob is determined to make this bigger and better and involve as many teams as possible.
2.  Rookie night will return.  Ideally we'd like to do this with the Dodge City Rounders again, but it'll depend on the schedule, and truthfully, there a number of teams that would be a blast on rookie night.
3.  Opening night antics.
4.  The Grisslies Awards Banquet.
5.  Events for famous people (Richard Gere, Starsky, The Whale, The Beechey, etc).  Of course, those are in the books.  Who's next is the question.  If you played with someone who has a striking resemblance to Mr. Dressup or Hansel (He's so hot now), it would probably be a good idea to let us know.  If you tell us, it gives us a target & keeps the heat off you.

 
6.  Finding a new whipping boy to replace or add on to The Beechey.  He was stellar.  But like Doris, Tito, Chiasson and Doyle before him....it will get stale if it goes too long.  But Mark and Danny will tell you, when stories get thin, I don't mind going back to this group for a chuckle.  
7.  And Rob is also talking about a preseason event too...(stay tuned for that one).

Oh, the 2014 Grisslies will be contributing in a large way to how the BLOG is designed this year and will also be driving the content.  We'll explain this in preseason meeting with the new club.

Expect things to get fast and furious off the hop with our TOT Tournament being moved to early in the season, there will be a lot to do quickly a the beginning of the season. 

So while I work on summarizing all the New Years resolutions that you all have submitted, have a safe and Merry Christmas. 

Banquet - 2013

The Banquet!!!

How could you not dig the Banquet?

Its like a ball game because you get to see all your buds.  Its like date night because you have your significant other.  Its like after a ball game because you get to hoist a few pints.  And on top of it all you get to see people in dress shirts, real pants, ties and the occasional suit.  

Oh....despite my best intentions, there was a little wine last night.  Spelling doesn't count, right?

AWARDS

Most Sportsmanlike Player:

Each team elects one player that is acknowledged as their Most Sportsmanlike Player (MSP) for best exemplifying the values of our League; Sportsmanship, Friendship and Fair play.

Here is my spin on this award.  They are as unique as the teams that we have.  You may think at the beginning of the season that a person is 'lock' to win this, but its the character of the team that dictates who takes home the award.  For example, if you have a guy who clowns around and keeps everyone loose and he has already won one or two MSP's, you might think its a sure thing for number three.  Not so much.  If that team already has two or three people of similar character, what the TEAM often gravitates to is the quiet, steady-eddy kind of guy.  You just never know.  Each team has a different need and a different guy to fill it. 

What these folks all have in common with each other is that they are significant to their teams.  "HOW" they are significant takes different forms. 

I start with this award, because I believe its a big deal.  I believe its a true honor because it represents the spirit of our league and how we aim to be perceived as a group.   So please don't take the attempts at humour below as anything diminishing about this prize.  Its certainly not the intention.  Just a little good clean fun. Manny being Manny if you will.

I've said it before, when Rob Hayward tells you that this award is as important to him as winning a championship; you know all you need to know about the kind of people who win it; and about this league.

NOTE:  Embedded in these write ups are brief movie clips.  Some are 30 seconds others are a couple of minutes.  If you click on the picture the movie will play.  Cheers. Hopefully all the links are still active. Also, this was done mostly for Rob Rumboldt who said that "while the blog is funny (usually) it needs more pictures and movies and less big words". 
 

Beer Bros.                                  Mike Sheehan

It ain't easy being a rookie.  Learning the signs is half the battle.  

The Beer Brothers were pretty much the definition of a streaky team this year.  When they were losing it was ugly.  When they were winning they were amongst the best around.  What surrounded that was Mike.  When he played they tended to play really well.   When he was injured they struggled.  But what really made Mike's season stand out, besides breaking his hand (twice), was that when he was injured he still didn't miss a game!  That's some fantastic team spirit!  Congratulations Mike!  Now just learn the signs will you?
 

Blues Brothers                          Kevin Boston (Radar)

Kevin is amazing at settling a club down.  Watch how simple suggestion of candlesticks gets everyone back in the right frame of mind to play ball.

Yep, Kevin is the calm in the middle of the storm.  So what is interesting is that Radar's baseball play has gone up year after year, offense and defense.  He was even jacking home runs this year.  He always had the gap power for the inside the park variety, but he was hitting them out with some regularity this season, in the pre-white bat era.  However, what didn't change was the character of a man who has now won this award three consecutive times.  He's calm, supportive, a friend to the vets, an ear for the young guys and never lets competition get in the way of being a good teammate. 

Brew Jays                                Bob McCullough

Bob McCullough is a notoriously good sport.  Pitchers in this league, by default get shelled.  The best of them give up at least 10 runs a game.  You need to forget about it and have a thick skin.  Look how quick Bob was able to shake off this home run by Lahey.  

I've never heard anything but praise for this guy.  Bob made the transition from a top tier shortstop in this league to a top tier pitcher.  Bob had a great season being one of a handful of guys to hit in every game, adjusting quickly to a new position and quickly asserting himself as one of the leagues finest defensive pitchers.  And through it all, whether getting pounded or cruising through the game; he would maintain that air of calm and never rattle.  Even on the occasional rough night, he'd be among the most even keeled players on the field.  Team mates love it when a pitcher can be the rallying point and Bob was that in spades.  Plus he looked pretty damned cool showing up on his motorcycle.  
 

Dislocated Joints                          Kevin Moon

Kevin is a quiet leader.  But he's not just a baseball guy.  Many know he plays hockey.  But  he was also a bit of trail blazer by introducing male synchronized swimming to the Olympics in 1988 even though by his own admission, he's not "that strong a swimmer".  I have a little bit of the documentary featuring him with a young Dave Argue.  

The Dislocated Joints had quite a run this year AND quite a cast of characters.  I think they had 6 guys on the team that cleared the fence at least once this year.  And there was definitely good comedy on that squad.  And then you had Mooner who may have had his best season since I've been in the league.  He could move around the diamond defensively without a blip in his play.  And he possesses a wry 'matter of fact' sense of humour that always seems to steal the biggest laugh.  Congratulations Kevin, keep wearing the life vest! 
 

Dodge City Rounders                 Henry Lukassen

Everyone  digs a sense of humour.  Look what happened when The Beechey and Fry tried to organize a 1970's night. 

Dodge City started badly, lost a captain, had multiple players lost to injuries, needed more subs than in any previous year and still managed to get to the semi-finals.  There are a few reasons for this.  A great job from the bench and fill ins, and the steady steady play and sense of calm that emanates from Henry Lukassen.  Henry gets the competitive juices flowing, he wants to contribute for his team mates and does.  But he has perspective that relaxes people.  You can try your hardest, but at the end of the day its still just a game.

Dog Catchers                            Randy Hipkin 

Oh, he walks around the Legion smiling and shaking hands, but those on the Dog Catchers know the REAL Randy Hipkin.  Here is a clip of a speech in the midst of a four game losing streak.  
  

Okay, not really.  That's kind of the opposite of Randy, but still one of my favorite scenes.  Randy is a really good pitcher.  He's a really good captain.  And he's a really good guy.  He's not adverse to slinging one liners around but he doesn't make the kind of jokes that take skin off.  Just funny, not cutting.  Well done Randal, a richly deserved reward!

Draft Kings                           Al Nicholl (Bones)

He isn't just a nice guy, he's a great player to have on your squad!  I happen to have some footage of one of Bones's more spectacular plays while catching this season.  This is an amazing play, I think it was against the Red Dogs. 

Ok, I'll say it.  If the Draft Kings don't have Bones, they don't win the championship.  You could say that for a lot of guys on the club I suppose.  He was the MVP (named by me) of the Quarter Final game against the Joints going 3/3 with a single, double and triple and 3 runs scored.  Clutch.  He has high expectations of himself and he delivers when it matters.  But more than this is that he's a gentleman.  Rather, he is a gentle man.  Kind hearted and respectful to all.  My congratulations to you sir!
 

Dusty Cleats                             Kevin Hollingshead

So, you want to grow up like Kevin, eh?  And just how do you learn to play baseball completely fearlessly?  Well in Kevin's case, its easy if you have a background in doing fearless stunts.  Here's a clip from when he 18 years old.

Sorry about the barfing part.  But you've got to admit that's funny.  And its actually Kevin!!! Fine, its not Kevin.  Rare is it that the 'best player' on the team gets this award.  That's pretty cool when a guy who leads the league in triple plays (defensively), hits moon shots and literally has an arm like Thor's hammer is tapped as being the good guy on the team.  Kevin isn't an in-you-face typ of leader.  He will give advise when asked and his approach always seems quiet mixed with confidence.  Nicely done Kevin 
 

Grisslies                                     Al Hayward

Al has the wisdom of a sage.  Just look what he did for Derek Jeter.  

Way to go Al!!! Al is our second septuagenarian award winner and that alone is very cool (and probably driving everyone to a dictionary).  Al played Left Field exceptionally well this year.  He also played 3rd exceptionally well.  And first.  And second.  And hit damned close to .700.  Papa Hayward doesn't need to say a word to be a leader.  His attendance was near perfect this season.  The only games he missed were due to taking a friend for treatments.  Isn't that exactly the character we love? No one worth their salt could watch him grind it out and not give their best.  Way to stick it out Al!

Gruesome Devils                            Brian Richards

It was the catch of the year.  I'll say it again.  Brian Richards had the single best outfield catch this year. It looked like this, please forgive the colour; its a little off.  

Wearing the '#1' monicker comes with expectations.  That could change people, make them more stat conscious, more 'me centric', a little impatient with players of lesser ability.  None of those things describe Brian.  He is excellent team mate who thinks 'team' first and about himself last.  Never does he need to be the "star" and when his ability puts him the spotlight he handles with class and grace.  Fantastic job Brian!

Hot Tub Woody's                             Bob Vaughan

Mr Vaughan is our Third pitcher on the list.  He and the distinguished Mr. Hipkin had a brief conversation about the home run hitters in the league early this year.  Based on the last line, Bob may have an issue with Mark Doyle...not sure.  It went something like this.
 

What a great year for Bob!  The Hot Tub Woody's were part of a cluster of teams in a cluster making a late run at the Draft Kings.  On the baseball side of things, Bob pitched fantastic this year, leading the Woody's to a 5th place finish in total defense.  Aside from the ball, Bob Vaughan brings what may be the sharpest tongue in the league to your dugout.  No one is immune from his commentary and its impossible not to laugh.  The killer one liners are fast and furious.  However, when crossing the diamond he'll always have a quiet, kind word to say.  Congratulations Bob!

Hurtin' Units                                   Rick Lyon

Rick doesn't play catcher too often, but on the occasions that he does, he is a staunch defender of his pitcher.  Check this out.  

Welcome back Rick, we missed you last year!  Its clear how much his personality and efforts were missed as he captured this award in his first season back.  Rick is another one of those comedy kind of guys, but his spin on humour is completely different.  He flips between a "woe is me" mode and slap-stick self deprecating one liners that are reminiscent of Rodney Dangerfield, minus the bug eyes.  Good to have you back!

Red Dogs                                      Peter Hollmann

Peter Hollmann is interesting one in this list of characters.  In the playoffs he was injured and gritted his team forward and was a real inspiration.  I still remember his home run in the 2nd inning of the semi finals against the Tap Masters.  Yes, fortunately I was filming at the time.  

This is a great pick by the Red Dogs.  For my money he's a top tier outfielder.  On top of that he hit .755 with a whopping 43 run scored.  Nice season!  Not bad for a second year guy who didn't know more than a handful of folks before arriving here.  But in two short years he has earned a reputation as someone who plays hard, but plays the right way.  Never would he chastise a player or complain.   How much of a non complainer is he?  In his second season, on the last day of the playoffs; he bothered to mention that we've been spelling his name wrong on the league website and the blog since he'd started playing.  Not complaining, just 'oh, by the way'.  Two "L's" and two "M's".  Who knew?   He is supportive to his mates and leads by example.  And what an example he sets.  Well done Peter!

Rusty Rebels                               Hugh Armstrong

Rare footage indeed!  Where it all began for Mr. Armstrong.  On the sandlot. 

He doesn't read this, right?  No one and I do seriously mean no one can hold a candle to the litany of sarcastic lines that uttered by Hugh Armstrong.  And speaking as someone who is regularly victimized by him, I find it hilarious.  If all you saw of Hugh was the 90 minutes on the baseball field you wouldn't know the that there is a caring man there; both for his team and individuals.  There are few teams that have people shuttle to different positions more than the Rusty Rebels.  And always on the Rebels, every player takes a turn sitting during the season.  That doesn't happen on all clubs.  Good work Hugh!

Tap Masters                              Rob Rumboldt

Rob Rumboldt is a fun guy to be around.  Here is some video of his play this year.  

This might have been the toughest team to pick an MSP for.  They had 5 or 6 guys that could win any given year.  The one they picked was a great call.  Rob somehow managed to hit .723 with an arm that required post season surgery (i've seen him in town in a sling).  He must have done that by nursing it along all year, right?  Not so much, he didn't miss a single game all season.  Baseball and damaged wing put to the side, Rob is truly a master of the dead-pan.  He'll tell you a story on the bleachers and you sit there thinking, "there's no way this is true".  And you look at him and he stares back straight-faced; until he can't hold it anymore and breaks out into that big toothy grin.  Great season Robbie!  Get that healed up for spring.  

Mike Ellis Memorial Award:

For the most improved player in the league.   This award is one of our few real baseball skill awards.  The type of skill varies from year to year and winner to winner.  This year we had some really good finalists and a healthy debate on the final winner.

And the winner is of course Dwyane Comer.  Look how excited he was when he got the news!

Even with baseball specific awards, stats aren't always the greatest indicator.  Dwyane went from a 'nice player' last year to a legitimate threat in 2013.  He regularly had the key hit to keep rallies going for the Dodge City Rounders.  And his new found defensive excellence (leading with glove) made for a lot of short innings for the Rounders.

Great year Dwayne, congrats from 179 guys.  And don't think you'll be able to stay hidden anymore!

 

The Beer Cup:

After enduring the question "what the hell is the Beer Cup" for the first month of the season, I made it the lead of every week's stats page on Saturday mornings.  That helped.

The Genesis (not the band) of the award comes from Simon Smith (not the band The Smith's) who forwarded me a link to a cool rugby trophy.  Rob and I kicked around the idea for some time, making a few subtle modifications.

What we wanted was a contest that was ongoing throughout the season, something that was fun, could be tracked and had an air of randomness to it.  I think everyone in the league believes that anyone can win on any given night and we wanted a way to emphasize that.  The last place club this season beat the 4th, 6th and 13 place teams and tied #5.  Anything can happen.

The Beer Cup started with the Beer Bros. and Brew Jays settling the score from the previous years final.  Here is how the Beer Cup season went.  The team in bold held the title:

Beer Bros. (7) Vs. Brew Jays (3)
Beer Bros. (7) Vs. Hot Tub Woody's (6)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Hot Tub Woody's (6)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Gruesome Devils (5)
Red Dogs (14) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Grisslies (15) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Hurtin' Units (13) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Dodge City Rounders (8)
Dodge City Rounders (8) Vs. Red Dogs (14)
Red Dogs (14) Vs. Brew Jays (3)
Brew Jays (3) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Brew Jays (3) Vs. Gruesome Devils (5)
Blues Brothers (10) Vs. Brew Jays (3)
Blues Brothers (10) Vs. Red Dogs (14)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Red Dogs (14)
Hot Tub Woody's (6) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Blues Brothers (10) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Grisslies (15)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Beer Bros. (7)
Dislocated Joints (2) Vs. Dusty Cleats (11)
Dodge City Rounders (8) Vs. Dislocated Joints (2)
Hot Tub Woody's (6) Vs. Dodge City Rounders (8)
Dodge City Rounders (8) Vs. Blues Brothers (10)

So the Beer Cup was contested 23 times.  The Dislocated Joints played in 13 of those games.  The Dodge City Rounders played in 5 as did the Brew Jays; The Hot Tub Woody's, Red Dogs and Blues Brothers 4; the Beer Bros. 3; Gruesome Devils and Grisslies 2; Hurtin' Units and Dusty Cleats1.  The Draft Kings, Tap Masters, Dog Catchers and Rusty Rebels never had an opportunity to play for the Beer Cup.

The home team won 12 games; the visitors 11.

The team with better end of season record won 16 times; the underdog won 7.

The Dislocated Joints and Dodge City Rounders played twice this season.  In the fluke of all flukes both were Beer Cup Games.  The first time they met, Dodge broke off a five games streak by the Joints to wrestle the trophy away from them.  The second time they ended a Dislocated Joints' 6 game streak.

At the end of the day, the first ever winner of the Beer Cup goes to one of the truly fun teams in our league, The Dodge City Rounders.  Their first contest next year will start it all off again.  Congrats guys!

Doug Dwyer (presenting) Scott Peters, Rob Farah (presenting) Brett Mabee, Derryl Gaudet, Craig Escott, Keith Dell, Keith Beechey, Al Fry, Cal Steeves, Dwyane Comer

 

Nellie Award:

The Nellie plaque reads:  "Never say never", "Enjoyment of the sport", "Laughter for all", "Longevity - stay with it", "its never I - its we", "Errors are allowed".  For the team that was the most fun to play against, the team that had the most fun and demonstrated the true spirit of the league.

Congratulations are in order for the Grisslies who are now the second team in the history of the Tottenham Oldtimers to win this award 3 consecutive years.

This is like an entire getting the MSP.  Rob and I would like to thank Al Hayward, Brad Wadden, Dave Muirhead, Doris Casullo, Glen Tinkler, Gord Dol, Rick Greenfield, Roger Gaudet and Winston Gayle; for their suggestions, support and willingness to go with a gag. 

For some of the newer folks to the league, you many not know this but, this was a decidedly down year for the Grisslies.  Rob was vowed that, "next year will blow you away"!!! 

Just to give you a glimpse, we've needed to apply for a liquor license for one gag.  Stay tuned!

Al Hayward, Rick Greenfield, Glen Tinkler, Gord Dol, Doug Dwyer, Rob Farah, Al Bales (sub), Dave Fleming (sub)
 

The RCL Branch 329 Trophy;

The Trophy is awarded to the regular season champions.  This was presented to the Draft Kings for their 16-7-1 record over the regular season.  They led the league in runs against and plus / minus.

Now that memories are fading, its easy to think about the Draft Kings as being a dominant team that ran away with the regular season and the playoffs.  Not so much.  They lost to the Hurtin' Units, Brew Jays, Dislocated Joints, Dodge City Rounders, Rusty Rebels, Dog Catchers, Beer Bros. and tied the Dusty Cleats.  So the teams that had finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th had all beaten them.

With 2 games remaining in the season, the Draft Kings, Dislocated Joints, Brew Jays and Dog Catchers were all alive for first place and a muddled tie breaking between those teams made predicting the winner impossible.  But one by one they fell away leaving 1 through 4 separated by a mere 4 points!

Congratulation to the Draft Kings! 

 

Simon Smith, Jim Rouleau, Wayne Caldwell, Al Nicholl, Steve Black, Steve Brooks, Chuck Cragg, Jeff Handley, Jerry Muirhead, Dan Routledge.  

Playoff Champion Runner's Up:

For second place in the playoffs.  This was presented to the Tap Masters.  This team wouldn't lay down.  They turned every bad break into a rallying cry and made the underdog and easy team to like and cheer for.  Their season culminated in the one of the best finals played.  Great run Tap Masters!

 

Kevin Cloutier, Cliff Tucker, Cliff Joseph, Neil Pendlebury, Jason Bowers, Tim Schrank 

The Ken Riggs Memorial:

 This Trophy is awarded to the playoff winning team.  This year it belongs to the Draft Kings!  They were the favourites throughout the playoffs which has been a bad spot to be in; in recent years.

They started with the Rusty Rebels, a team that had beaten them in the regular season.  They needed all seven innings to overcome a huge deficit and eke out a 20-17 win.  They would easily take care of the Grisslies 22-5 and then score another 22 against the Hot Tub Woody's while only giving up 15.  Their last opponent in the round robin was another team that had beaten them in the regular season, The Beer Bros.  This game was the type that Draft Kings loved, defensive and tight; but they would fall 12-7 for their only September loss.

In elimination games they would have to exercise some demons.  They played the Joints, a team that had beaten them.  They won this one 15-8.  Then the Dodge City Rounders who they lost to as well; they'd take 'em this time 18-8.

Finally, the last game, the Tap Masters.  A team they had handled with relative ease in the regular season.  Not so much this game.  They had this game lost for 6 1/2 innings.  It was close.  It was entertaining.  The pitching was excellent.  The defense was spectacular.  But it looked bad.  But the best teams do what what the best teams do best.  Rally.  Congratulations again Draft Kings!
 

Diamond Award:

This league award goes to the individual for the whole of their contribution to the Tottenham Old Timer's League.  This award was presented to Doug Dwyer....

I'm out of words.  This is huge for me and deeply meaningful because it comes from my peers.  I will only say that I do what I do because I love it.  At times its exhausting.  At times the Grisslies don't get my full attention because compelled to help elsewhere.  But I wouldn't trade any of it.

My only hope is to not let anyone down and keep hammering away.

Humbly, you have my most sincere thanks.    
 

The Long Dark Tea Time of The Soul

(For an explanation on the title, see Paul Piellusch)
INTRO

The Donini Deck was transformed this year as everyone knows.  Rob and I thought that we'd invite over two key BLOG characters this year to Donini Deck 2.0 and thank them for their spirit, enthusiasm and energy that they've given the league.  In a 3-20-1 season you look for bright lights and hang on to them.  We found a couple with Scott Mason and Keith Beechey.

Rob:  Hey guys, can I get you a glass of wine?  Donini perhaps?
Keith:  The Beechey will have one.
Scott:  I'm good with a water or coffee.
Rob:  Are you sure?  I've got plenty of wine.
Scott:  Seriously, I'm fine.
Rob:  Ok, no problem, cofffee it is.
Keith:  The Beechey is still waiting for his wine.
Doug:  Dude, the season is over.  You can go back to Keith now.
Keith:  The Beechey will NEVER be referred to as "Keith" again.  I even had my business cards changed.
Rob:  Really?
Keith:  [showing his card]
Rob:  Wow.  What's next?  Personalized plates?
Keith:  Ordered. They come in next week.

Doug:  Who would have thought this would catch on like this?
Scott:  You guys have no idea, you only see him once a week or get the odd email.  He calls my house and tells the kids "The Beechey wants to talk to your dad".  Its gone right to his head.  That and talking about himself in the 3rd person all the time....
Keith:  The Beechey does no such thing....
Scott:  ...See?  You guys have to undo this.  You've created a monster.  He's losing it.  I heard him calling his father, "The Beechey's dad".
Rob:  George must love that.
Doug:  I'm afraid that what's done is done.
Scott:  Great.  
Rob:  Well anyway, we just wanted to thank you guys for stepping up and being part of the side-show of the league.
Scott:  No problem, its fun
Kieth:  The Beechey enjoys it.
Rob:  A lot of guys are either a little too reserved or take the baseball part of it too seriously to enjoy the fun.  We screw around for 20 or so games and then try to catch a little playoff run.  Usually its good enough to get us to Sunday, sometimes deep into Sunday.  But some years, like this one, we're not so lucky.
Scott:  Yeah.  Out on Saturday for me too.  Ouch.
Keith:  The Beechey made the Semi's. 

The evening dissipated into a back and forth between the Squirrel and The Beechey.  Both claiming to have won the head - 2 - head season series.   In my estimation its a tie and sets up things well for next year.  I will personally look forward to those games and the BLOG will endeavor to get back to the "Game of the week" reports and cover those epic struggles.  Those were fun two years ago and the feed back that I got from people is that they enjoyed it.  I think the GOTW (game of the week) will start with Tap Masters V. Draft Kings.

And no rain.

And the purpose of this BLOG is the Thank You's I owe to people.  I know I won't mention everyone.  There are ones that I'll forget despite trying to keep notes throughout the year.  I'll apologize for that in advance and do my best to recount it all.  Please use the comment section for names that are missing.  Strap in, this will take a while.

Ratings 1-5

 

The Ratings Committee:

This group was headed up by Andy Gee and consisted of Mark Doyle, Hugh Armstrong and Don Booth.  They initially met in October / November of 2012 in order to be ready for the 2013 Season.  The early meeting, after the season ended, was simply to high-light (while it was fresh) who could potentially up or down 2 or more spots.  The team reconvened in early March and cross referenced all the captains ratings with their initial expectations.  They identified any anomalies and it was brought it back to the captains / executives for review.  Once this is voted on for agreement it became the basis for our draft. 

In my opinion, the amount of time and effort and the hours upon hours of discussion and email generated by this group is the foundation of what makes our league so successful.  Minute details are considered on each player in assigning ratings.  We can't see the future and know who will get hurt or suddenly have a break out year.  We can't know that one team is going to get a disproportionate number of shift workers or people that have vacations at the same time.  These things can and will effect team standings and every eventuality can not possibly be taken into consideration.

However, this season we had 1st and 13th place separated by only 12 points.  1st and 10th by 9. With 2 weeks to go in the season there were still 7 teams alive for 1st place.  With 3 weeks to go there were 10.  Again, my opinion, but I think these guys did a hell of a job on this.  There will always be complaints from individuals who think their rating is wrong, but the proof is in the results.  And the results are great.

Well done guys!

 
Rookie Night 

The first of about 5 nights in the year that Rob and I will both say are our favourite events in the league.  We sincerely mean each one, at that given time at least.  Rookie night has been chaired by Paul Piellusch the past couple  years and he has maintained the same basic format of welcoming the rookies, making sure they understand our fun first philosophy, making sure they understand the basic rules of play, introducing them to many (probably 1/2) of the captains, introducing them to some of the characters in the league (Chiasson and Tito happened to be there) and all this is done with emphasis on our veteran players and respect for the people who have made this league tick for many years before us.  A fantastic job again Paul.

And we were rewarded with a great crop of rookies once again.  Poldi and McKibbon will retain their rookie status next year (statistically) as they didn't get the requisite 48 at bats as mid - summer injury replacements.  The other 16 rookies combined for a .646 average and 758 time on base!  The rookies comprised 8% of the population of the league and contributed 8% of the total hits.  I'd say they're fitting right in.

Congrats to Messrs. Banks, Chiavaroli, Clouthier, Greenfield, Hager, Hayward, Johnston, McKibbon, Miller, Parsons, Plante, Poldi, Porter, Sheehan, Slipetz, Smith, Wilson & Wolfe for a fine rookie year and for adding to the character of what is now your league too.  I have no doubt that you'll continue to protect the integrity and respect of the league and its players as the rookies before you have done. 

And of course, these principles are instilled at rookie night.  My thanks to Kieth Beechey, Rob Farah, Ed Hopkins, Jens Lepa, Paul Piellusch and Steve Ross for the important roles they play in this night. They time and effort given and shown for this event frames everything perfectly for our new players.   

The Draft

The 2nd "best event of the year".

The Draft is no easy undertaking.  Example.  Say we're drafting P2's.  On the Grisslies' pick we need to get a P2 who isn't the same rating as either me or Rob.  Multiply that by every team and I'm shocked that we've never had to redo a round.  These guys are organized and thorough and it all goes off without a hitch.

Why is this fun?  You arrive with two players....you leave with 12.  Everyone is in 1st place and everyone is already projecting the "ifs", "thens" and "elses" that will see their team soar into first place and win the championship!

And its only April!!!

Who got the best #1, #6, #9, The best P1, The best rookie....ahhhh, Donini Deck nights are going to be fun for a few weeks.

The people out front and behind the scenes that made this run so fluidly this year were Steve DeLand, Eric Hipkin, Randy Hipkin, Jens Lepa, Jamie McClean, Paul Piellusch, Steve Ross and Cliff Tucker. Our thanks to you all. 

The Stats Pack

This is the geek squad.  Sort of.  People who think they know a lot about the league.  About baseball.  Are statistically minded.  Email savvy (for the most part).  And most importantly will make predictions out loud.  They'll take the risk of being wrong in public.  And this year?  There was plenty of wrong.  

Its good conversation for us and its a good debate for everyone else who reads it.  Don't think so?   Ask the Tap Masters how much they liked being picked to be erased without seeing so much as an elimination game. I was told more than once that my prediction was used as a motivation tool.  Too bad it didn't work for the Grisslies.     

This group is known to send each other late emails lamenting the fortunes of their teams, or more likely, their own play through out the year.  Outside of being great conversation, these guys cut my work in half or less for the 3 BLOGs that get issued before the season stats.  The "daring predictions" editions.   With the volume of players and every team having a new dynamic; the amount work it takes to do these could never be completed without their ample help.

My sincere thanks to Kevin Boston, Mark Doyle, Geoff Keogh and Scott Peters. And there is always another spot at the table if you'll put your name to a prediction.

The Help The Kids Play tournament.

This has been a staple of the league for some time now.  I really like how our league unifies for a common cause and that cause is of course, the children in our community.  People don't need to be 'sold' on this.  That alone makes it something we can all be proud of.  This year we had 2/3 of our league (10 teams) participate in the tournament.  Personally, I'll say that I'd like to see us do better, but in all fairness, we matched the previous years participation and beat the year before that by two teams.  Well done.

This year had an added challenge.  Rain.  We lost the All Star Game and had some emergency field maintenance done to get the final in.  Despite the misfortune with the weather, the HTKP tournament still made over $6000.00.  For that, everyone deserves a pat on the back.  Incidentally, the Rusty Rebels beat the Dusty Cleats in a very enjoyable game for all to watch.   

The people that made this tournament happen in addition to all the volunteer hours by individual players were Jeff Dancey, Ed Hopkins, Chris Ross and Steve Ross.

The people who made this swamp......

picture used with permission from Picture Your Life Photography (Lisa Piellusch)

...playable in about 90 minutes were Dave Argue, Hugh Armstrong, Fraser Barratt, Don Booth, Roger Burton, Gary Cox, Jeff Dancey, Jamie McClean, Chris Ross, Steve Ross, Dennis Short, Don Swabuk and Len Wercholoz.  A remarkable job. 

The August Tournament.   

Speaking of challenges.  This was a huge one.  We were faced with probably the lowest external enrollment ever (8 teams + 6 beer league teams).  Despite the significant decline in numbers we still managed to turn a tidy profit with this event to the tune of +$2000.00.  That was probably due largely to David Polny's offer to buy everyone on his team a beer with every time he failed to reach base.  I don't think I've every seen a team openly cheer against a teammate like that before.  That, is good charity! 

Even with Dave's single minded pursuit of earning the league money, changes are afoot for this tournament to make it bigger and better and back to the heady days of pulling beer taps and counting the money.

There are several challenges that exist with tournament but the biggest single one and the one that needs to be conquered first so that everything else can fall into place, is the date.  Rod Duggan and Jeff Dancey have worked hard in a committee to come up with alternative dates and other more long term solutions.  Our thanks for your efforts in preserving and growing this tournament!  

As for the gents that managed to get more blood from the proverbial stone and pull off a successful weekend despite the odds; a huge "Way To Go" goes out to The Beechey, Jens Lepa and Steve Ross.  The bar volunteers are too many to count, but feel free to add in below.  Great work guys. 

The BLOGs March & April

If you click the high-lighted words at the beginning of each paragraph, (ie. "New Awards", below) it will take you to the BLOG in question.

What you'll find here:  Things that made me chuckle.
What you won't find here:  Stats or any reference to stats blogs.   

New Awards:  This is where the concept of the Beer Cup was first introduced.  But more importantly there was a list of fake trophies that were fakedly (i know, its not a word) donated by some of our league stalwarts.  Thanks to Doris Casullo, Danny Chiasson, Mark Doyle, Rob Farah, Scott Mason, Tim Osmond, Scott Peters, Gord Robertson, Rob Rumboldt and James Taylor for willingly or otherwise lending their names to this. 

Superhero:  This set the stage for a lot of this year's fun and antics.  This was the edition that introduced the term "The Beechey" to the league.  I swear to god, I never thought it would catch on quite like it did and its sure looks like its here to stay.  I've been in serious conversations about tournament set up or ratings and a seemingly intelligent person will say, "well The Beechey said....".  That's part "A" of this one.  Part "B" was the superhero stuff.  I was at a game and The Beechey caught a tough one in the outfield and I heard someone on the other team yell out, "its not fair, he has night hearing".  When stupidity catches on, I'm a happy guy.  My thanks to the Super Heroes and their x-men school mentor, The Beechey, Winston Gayle, Steve Lahey, Scott Mason, Pete Shmagola and Brad Young.

Controversy:  So this was a little innocuous BLOG, still in the preseason, that I wrote because I was both bored and anxious.  I didn't think it was very good but I got good reaction from it.  It was about the Grisslies opting for Camouflage as the team colour.  It must have been pretty good because two of our players actually thought that we were getting camouflage shirts and were visibly disappointed when we handed out the greys.  Swear to god, that's true.  Anyway, I had a bunch of fake quotes in this from players around the league but my favourite, and sadly this DIDN'T catch on, was attributed to Tim Schrank:  " I haven't missed a meeting and I know nothing of this.  But to me the answer is easy.  Why don't we do like on Planet of the Apes and have the "Sacred Scrolls", or in our case, "The Constitution" kept under wraps and only accessible to the smartest Orangutang?  That was usually Dr. Zaius.  Hey wait a minute.  I COULD BE OUR DR. ZAIUS!  I'm smart!  I have facial hair!  This could work" Maybe you needed to be a planet of the apes fan.

Thanks to those who allowed their names to be used for fake quotes:  Hugh Armstrong, The Beechey, Jason Bowers, Doris Casullo, Chuck Cragg, Jeff Dancey, Frank Laird, Mike Olliffe, Paul Piellusch, Tim Schrank and Dr. Zaius.

Grisslie Antics:  Kind of a ho-hum, last of the pre-season BLOGs.  Best line from Rob Farah in this one, "Like have you ever noticed that Al Bales looks like The Undertaker from WWE?  Or Derryl Gaudet has an uncanny resemblance to Darryl Sittler?  Or Jim MacDonald looks like a young Jean Claude Van Damme?  Or Jens Lepa is a dead ringer for Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington from Welcome Back Kotter?"  As much as the Washington one is funny (to me), the Al Bales line became the basis for a future BLOG about wrestlers.

The BLOGs May

Living South of Alliston:  First game BLOG of the year.  The song was Billy Joel's Allentown.  Not notable.  This was the first of many lengthy Donini Deck conversations on the year.  Clever, but not notable.  What was notable was that we faced the  Dog Catchers who would eventually finish 4 points out of 1st with a 14-9-1 record.  We would finish 26 points out of 1st with a 3-20-1 record.  The notable part?  We had an 8-2 lead after two innings.  We would lose 10-9 with the winning run stranded at 2nd in the bottom of the 7th.  Stupid game.

Boys of Summer:  Crappy BLOG.  My first missed game in 5 years.  We lost to the Cleats. 

Born to Run:  This one was kind of funny.  The mock phone call with my mother.  Its frighteningly accurate!  3 subs in this one and we fall to the Beer Bros.

Johnny Don't Preach:  Rob goes with Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" in this one as we face the Blues Brothers and lose 3-2.  Who loses a slow pitch game 3-2?  I think it was over in 8 minutes.  I think we knew the season was in trouble after this one. 

The Beechey Man:  Finally a fun night!  Oh, we lost.  To the Dodge City Rounders.  But the fun part was the reverse slam on The Beechey who helped us plan a night for the rookies and then showed up to find is was actually The Beechey Night!  Complete with posters and family in a attendance.  Many fake quotes in this one about The Beechey's awesomeness, thanks to the following for allowing their names to be used to help fillet The Beech:  Dave Argue, Patrice Beechey, Kevin Boston, Bill Brown, Dan Chiasson, Chuck Cragg, Jeff Dancey, Mark Doyle, Andy Gee, Al Fry, Geoff Keogh, Jens Lepa, Brett Mabee, Scott Mason, Kevin Moon, Mike Olliffe, Rob Rumboldt, Don Swabuk, Stephane Simard, Brad Wadden and Brad Young

The BLOGs June

The Black Shirts:  Our meeting with the Hurtin' Units, when I compared a bunch of the Units players to Disney Characters.  James said he'd only play along if I made him Mr. Incredible so I went with that.  Thanks to Vince Basacchi, Rick Cudnik, Gary Cox, Richard Gabourie, Phil Glecoff, Daryl Hager, Rick Lyon, Jamie McClean, Mike Olliffe, James Taylor for letting me have some fun at their expense.

Oh!  We won our 1st game!!!!

Dream on:  On a night that we shut the Joints vaunted offense down but still found a way to lose, we had some fun with Down Town Billy Brown!  My thanks to Bill Brown for consenting to the interview and then making it so entertaining!  I'm afraid that if he hangs them up, there will be no else around who's bent.  The league is better with DTBB in it.  No question.  Take the winter to think it over. 

The Rookie:  Interesting year for our rookie Rick Greenfield.  He spent much of the year in the top 25 and finished above the seven hundred mark at .706.  He'll make someone a fine second year player next year, maybe another round with Grisslies?  That would be great for us!  This is a little play on Ricky's last name.  Kind of fun.  Thanks Rick!  we lost this game too. 

The Tattoo Blog:  Making fun of Lepa and the other DeLand is always decent entertainment.  For this one, I included the rest of the team as well.  The song, the late Amy Winehouse's Re-hab is actually a fairly funny take on the DeLand / Lepa ongoing Leaf / Hab battle.  Hockey is best summed up this way fellas, 98% of the world doesn't care, but enjoy it.  Thanks to Gary Basso, Steve DeLand, Peter Hayward, Mark Kolsen, Steve Lahey, Jens Lepa, David Polny, Brian Richards, Art Sagert and Jeff Sagert for being part of this particular travesty.  Did I mention we lost?

The All Stars:  This game didn't happen as scheduled but with some good fortune and lucky scheduling it did get pulled off a month later. My sincere thanks to Paul Piellusch and Steve Ross for letting me in on the roster in advance so that I could put together bios on all the players.  Everyone got into the groove and Pully even modeled a circa 1920's uniform.  Very cool. In case you didn't realize yet, I like pumping up this league.  There's lots of good to talk about. It would have been really easy (and COMPLETELY acceptable) for Steve and Paul to keep the roster close to the vest and let me find out with everyone else. But they saw value in publicizing it and using the BLOG as a vehicle to do that.  I'm very appreciative of that.  (more on BLOG numbers much later)

Squirrel V. Beechey 1:  I had kind of given up Grisslie writing by this point.  It hurt too much.  Wouldn't you know it?  I look away for a second and we beat the friggin Dog Catchers?  So June closes with a win.  Matching our May total.  The one win per month pace is staggering. Sadly, we wouldn't be able to keep that wicked pace up.  I liked this edition.  It distracted me.  My favourite part of this one:  "Mason, in addition to being on the victorious team was 4 for 5.  Nice.  He went yard TWICE, - and get this:  BOTH WERE FAIR!!!  He scored 3 runs.  He made 18 of the 21 outs.  He rescued a school bus full of orphans in the bottom of the 5th."

The BLOGs July

The Toilet Bowl.  We sucked so far.  The Red Dogs sucked equally.  As in dead even records equally.  We were tied for last and decided to make fun of it.  I wonder what Bob would have said if you told him that they'd end up in the Semi-Finals?  Dave Fleming, lent us a toilet seat  from his store so we could play the Toilet Bowl game!  Brilliant.  The loser would win the prize.  Is there any doubt how this turned out?  My thanks to Dave Flemming for allowing us the prop and to Mike and Bob Candy for being great sports in doing this.

The Rebel Hell - Its funny how things weave together, eh?  We were 3 outs from an elimination game in the playoffs....prevented from reaching it by?  The Rusty Rebels.  Rebel Hell?  This was my Jesus BLOG and Marky Mark will tell you this is all pay back for my sacrilege.  Still.  It makes me laugh. My thanks to Jesus, he was great in letting me do this. (I'm gonna burn for that one, eh Mark?)

Gruesome - This was the one where I revealed Gary Basso's boat purchasing fetish / problem.  One of the better ones I think.  Gary chipped in later with some that I missed, but they weren't suitable for print.  I'm sure he'd share with you if you email him though.  My thanks to Gary for allowing me to do this one.  Did I mention that we tied this game?  I might write more about that later. 

Zero and Infinity - Must have been the Brew Jays game.  Maybe that's why I always pick them.  Because we have never (as in never ever) beat them in the regular season.  To me they're the 1927 Yankees.  Any way, to distract myself from what would be another loss, I wrote the wrestler BLOG.  My thanks to The Beechey, Don Booth, Roger Burton, Sam Caradonna, Doris Casullo, Jason Chiovitti, Keith Dell, Chris DeSavoy, Robin Dickson, Rob Farah, Roger Gaudet, Phil Glecoff, Paul Gyori, Lance Horgan, Jason Jennings, Bill Jonkman, Frank Laird, Scott Mason, Tito Presneza, Stephane Simard, Cal Steeves, Don Swabuk and Cliff Tucker for letting me have fun with their likenesses. 

MIA! - This game was against the Beer Bros.  Both teams were in the pits.  And I mean truly in the pits.  Both teams had combined for a record of 4-16-2 at this point.  And don't forget, we had half those wins and half the ties!  Like we did with the Red Dogs, Rob and I said, we can be miserable or we could make it fun.  We opted for fun and bet a bottle of Donini on the Game with Mr Piellusch and Mr. Ross.  And also like the Red Dogs game, we lost.  AND lost a bottle of wine.  Dammit.  The other thread in this one was the "Susan Farah is missing from baseball games" gag.  Its pretty decent.  Thanks to Steve Ross and Paul Piellusch for consenting to our (mild) antics.  And thanks to Susan for allowing fun at her expense.

Instant Replay - We were playing the Draft Kings.  Fabulous.  It was also our 3rd game of the week due to rainouts and the Grisslies were on the verge of successfully navigating what would be the leagues only 0-3 week of the year.  I bailed on this and republished a BLOG from 4 years ago about Chuck Cragg.  I still think its the best BIO one i've done, but it never really caught on.  Maybe it happened too early in the BLOGs life for it to get a real audience.  Thanks again Chuck.  You never gave permission to use your name, but your wife did so I'm assuming that's good enough.

Mr Triple Play - I enjoyed this one....The Kevin Hollingshead piece (see how I say 'piece' like a real writer?  I kill me) about his 2 triple plays inside of 2 weeks.  Then a run down of all the strange occurrences of the number 3 in his life.  Like Chuck, I thank your wife for saying it was okay!

Mason's Secret Wish - Scott Mason's "overheard" conversation with some ex-Grisslies and his secret desire to be on the team.  This one is reasonably humorous.  My thanks to Dave Argue, Ingo Bartens, Kevin Boston and Scott Mason for this one.  This was the last game of the month.  Not a single win.  A tie!  Woohoo!  But not a win to be seen. 

The BLOGs August

Making History - 5 god forsaken games left and the lamenting is full force.  This one is about the Grisslie quest to achieve the worst record of all time in the league.  All we need to do to make it happen is run the table.  With the Blues Brothers, Joints, Jays, Woody's and Rebels left, this should be smooth sailing. This was a loss to the Blues Brothers.  4 to go.

Frustrated - No one to thank.  Maybe an apology.  This was published 10 days prior to the August Tournament  starting and we had very few external teams registered and only enough players for 3 beer league teams.  In re-reading it I was perhaps a "LITTLE" aggressive in my call to arms.  And we lost.  3 to go. 

Clincher! - Oh, it finally got fun again!  We lost, but this was a biggie.  Not only did it put us two wins away from history, but it clinched last place as well.  This wasn't easy.  We had to beat back the Red Dogs who were also finding new and exciting ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  But we did it!  The BLOG interviewed players afterward for quotes.  This is my favorite.

BLOG:  [Yelling] Rookie Rick Greenfield!  1^st year in the league and this kind of hubbub surrounding you?  What do you think?

Rick:  [Screaming]  F’N A Cotton; F’N A!!!!

This spawned a little contest on movie quotes and Karen Turner & Dan Chiasson both won beer tickets at the tournament.  It was only one ticket each but I heard from both of them that free beer  tastes much sweeter than the stuff you buy yourself.

Thanks to the Grisslies for your quotes....Doris Casullo, Gord Dol, Rob Farah, Rick Greenfield, Dave Muirhead and Brad Wadden.  Just 2 losses to go!

You're Nuckin' Futs:  Full moon or not, I did not see this coming.  We beat the Woody's.  And in a "the best laid plans of mice and men...." kind of way, I was pissed.  I had already written a blog for this loss about Gord Dol trying to take over as captain.  It was quickly reworked and was okay.  But I had a BRILLIANT celebration BLOG for our next loss that would have given us the worst record of all time.  Torched.  Too bad. 

Thanks to Gord Dol for a funny one.  Thanks to Will Goodin, Ed Hopkins and Jeff Dancey for being good sports in the loss and dealing with my cracks about "what went wrong" in ruining our dream season.  

Unveiling the Deck! - This was fun too.  Rob's donation of the Donini Deck to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.    We got throttled by the Rebels in this one.  You'll read precious little about the ballgame.  At least the Brew Jays are friendly when they kick our ass.  What you will read in this one is all about the knighthood of Sir Andrew Gee and some swell pictures too.

Thanks to Ricky Cudnik and Andy Gee for this one.  Thanks too to the Hot Tub Woody's and Dodge City Rounders for participating in the Sir Andy Antics. 

The Donini Deck.
For Real  

This is becoming a nice little fabric of our baseball community. I'm not sure that everyone knows the origin of the Donini Deck.  5 and a half years ago, Rob and Doris would sit on the back deck and talk Grisslies.  Then Tito would show up at some point with a file folder full of game sheets and a lap top.  Then I'd escape at some point and join the group.  By the time I got there Tito and Doris would be in a deep discussion on whether a hit that was marked should actually be a fielders choice and that was accompanied by a lot of pointing and loud voices.

And Rob and I would get drunk.

Then by the end of that 1st season, we'd get past the Stats part of the evening and Tito's wife would have finished her ball game and either come for a drink or they'd bolt.  Doris would stumble home.  Usually.  And then we'd see the McCarrons and the Hargreaves and Craggs start to wander out as little ones were in bed (and McCarron has had his nap).  And Grisslieland and the Donini Deck moved to the front.

And Rob and I would get drunk.

As the years went by and more players passed through the Grisslies and moved on to other teams, we would still have our McCarron, Hargreaves, Cragg, Casullo, Dwyer, Farah core, but we were joined by Bales, Doyle, Osmond, Doucet, Doucette, Horgan, Chiasson, Cudnik, Gee and Simard who alternately became 'regulars'.

The Donini Deck for those of you haven't been is a lot like the TV show Cheers.  Cheers had a Post Man, ex- pro ball player, Psychiatrist, Accountant...etc.  They all have the bar in common.  The Deck has attendees that are line workers, business leaders, trades people, Engineers, entrepreneurs, geeks (yes its a career), laborers....you name it, we've got it.  But we all have the league in common and from May - September baseball reigns supreme and the conversation and opinions are brilliant. 

The "regulars" have evolved in the last year.  Still include me, McCarron, Farah and Hargreaves.  But you can no also sign up Paul Piellusch, Jens Lepa and Mark Banks most Fridays.  The names of people who have attended Grisslieland at least once is far too long a list to write.  I started, but its about 70% of the league.  We usually make a bit of deal about someone's first appearance (Tim Schrank, anyone?).  But it depends how deep into the evening Robbie and I are. 

It is amazing the problems of the league and life that are solved in 3 hours with a beer or wine in your hand.  There are no shortages of opinions, but I can't recall an angry word ever spoken.  Thanks to everyone whose come to the Donini Deck.  (Including Rod Duggan who recently broke his Donini Deck Maiden).  Your conversation and interests brings out the whole social component of the League.  Thanks to Rob Farah for having the deck!  Thanks especially to Susan Farah who lets him get away with this.

There will be one more Grisslieland / Donini Deck affair sometime before the banquet.  Stay tuned!

THE BLOG

What's next?  Well, it seems a lot of guys are like me based on the slew of "when's the next BLOG" emails and txt's I've gotten over the last week.  Many fellas move right onto hockey and have their winter distraction lined up.  Others go to darts.  Others go to the 1 year old Tottenham Trivia League.  And some chill.  But a ridiculous number come back here over the winter and relive the exploits of their summer and summers gone by.  Last year there 8,665 hits to the BLOG between October 1st and December 31st.  The year before 6,209, before that 3,853. 

So there is an appetite for more news, more communication, or just something to read with your Sunday coffee. 

The near future looks like this....there will be an edition posted the morning after the banquet with some high-lights and all of our award winners. That of course means I'll need to be reasonably well behaved at the banquet so I can put something coherent together.  SO PLEASE DO NOT BUY ME A BEER! There will also be one posted, probably a week or so before the AGM as I'll try once again to drum up interest and attendance.  I've failed miserably at this in the past and its a source of frustration for me.  I think this year I'll do less "angry-chastising-Doug" and maybe make it a little more comical.  We'll see. 

Then I'll probably do my Christmas wish list again this year.  That was kind of fun last year.  Then we'll be into a new a year and time to get serious! The first captain's meeting will be in February which always generates a BLOG + a few Donini Deck conversations leading up to it and then ratings and draft and we'll be right back into it!

Next year, I definitely want to see a return to the Game of the Week.  I also have a couple of rookies who will be sophomores in mind that will be excellent fodder for stories.  Additionally, I think the "Twitter" experiment worked great!  I'll try to exploit that more next year for scores and points of interest (like my first fence clearing home run).

I'm always open to ideas that make communication and fun bigger and better, so if you have any thoughts fire them over. 

And as we head into the STATs section, here are the BLOG stats year over year.  The green is how many times an individual blog page has been loaded.  The blue is how many different times the BLOG has been accessed.  Orange is how many people cam back a second time within an hour.  

STATs

Let me preface this section with this:  I keep a lot of varied stats.  I break down averages and runs by 1/4 of the season.  I break down averages by sophomores and rookies.  I track the most improved averages throughout the league.  There's others by individual and by team.  The reason I do this (beyond my completely obsessive "need to know") is to attempt to high light people who would never show up on our league's top 25 hitters list.  It doesn't always work out.  Usually the guy who has the best average in a quarter is one of the best ten hitters in the league.  Barton, Doucet or Kahuna, to name a few, don't need extra reminders from me that they're great hitters.  However, if you look at that list week after week you'll see guys in spots three through 10 that are just regular hitters who are having a great 3-6 game run.  Good for them!  Those are the fellas that I'm trying to direct attention toward.  Maybe one day one of them will even be me.  One day.  End of preface.

Now, there's two views on STATs.  One is that they aren't relevant at all.  I understand that argument. If the stats were the be all and end all, our 15 number 1's would be the top 15 hitters and in the top 15 of runs scored.  That's not the case.  Not close.  I think we had 5 number 1's in the whole of the top 25.  Coupled with the 'irrelevant' view point is that the plethora of stats that I keep are lending itself to a more competitive league and that we're on a slippery slope to a place that we don't want to be.  And of course, driving the bus on that slope is me and my crazy stats. 

It would be really easy for me to summarily dismiss this but I won't.  And too be clear, this is not an 'age' thing.  There are plenty of our veteran players who love the stats the way they are.  The questions are coming from various age groups so lets get rid of that notion right now.  I readily admit that I'm way to close to the forest to see the trees on this one.  But that doesn't mean I'm not open to a conversation about change.  And if it needs to change, then so be it.  This will sound more arrogant than intended, but I have the power the change it.  These stats are not league driven.  What is league driven is what's on the website.  Everything else that you see (on the BLOG) is simply what I choose to do.  If I stop, I stop.  If it changes, it changes. 

The second view point of stats is that there should be more.  When I first started doing these, I was provided with a spread sheet with three tabs.  I still use that base template, but there are now upwards of 25 tabs.  Excel has the capacity for more tabs, I'm not sure I do.  I'd love to, but I'm afraid that I'm close to maxed out.  At some point, stats are going to transition to someone else - maybe there will be a volunteer at this years AGM?  I have to think too about what is sustainable.  People get used to stuff and the next person will either be saddled with it or have to explain why it went away.  Neither are good options. 

Then we have the issue of score keepers.  They do a great job!  Sandy Tessier, Amy Gaudet and Sue Farah, Marion DeLand, to name a few of the regulars that spring to mind, are fantastic with their level of detail to make easy for me to figure out who did what.  However, beyond our 'regular' score keepers, we have inconsistencies in score keeping.  Not that people do it wrong, they just do it different from each other so there's a little figuring out that takes place.  Not a problem.  But adding things like home runs and RBIs to the record keeping would be near impossible to do.  We have what we have and personally, I think its pretty good. 

If you have thoughts on stats and how they should change, please make them known.  It won't hurt my feeling(s). 

ROB FARAH

We'll see how long this part stays up.  Rob will be pissed.  I'll try to distract him with something shiny.   Plus I'm away for the weekend so I won't be able to do anything until next week anyway. 

For 5 years Rob has let me characterize him as absent minded, a buffoon, a moron, a drunk and Lebanese.  Only the Lebanese part is true.

I'm guessing there only 4 or 5 people in the league that really know Rob.  Many think they do, but I'll tell you what they really know.  They know, or remember, the pre-surgery version of Rob which was a very different character or they know the caricature that I've created.

What they don't know is the guy that LOVES this league.  Those of you who think he's all about the Grisslies might be a little surprised by this because his motto is "League 1st; Grisslies 2nd".  Yeah, no joke.  How do I know this?  Well, when I start to get a little offside, that's what he'll say to me.  On the field, after games, in an email.  When its appropriate and he believes it.

This might fly in the face of what you see from him when he'll walk a player intentionally or play shifts on players.  Some people have no issue with this at all.  Others don't care one way or another.  Others are horribly offended.  Personally, I'm not trying to win an argument about this, its a philosophy on how to play.  Baseball should be played like baseball.  That's all.  But hard tags?  Sliding to take a player down?  Knocking a ball from a players glove?  Faking a catch on a no-play on the infield?  Calling a base when on offense to distract the other team?  Yelling at an umpire?  Taking liberties with an older player?  Try doing that on the Grisslies.  I dare you.  It won't be me that has the conversation with you.  I saw one of these "talks" in my rookie year, I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of it.  Its not pleasant.  

The 'how' we play is a big part of Rob's game.  The 'how' we contribute is as well.  We've never failed to put a team in the Help the Kids Play tournament.  We're not alone, there are other teams that have consistently supported this event.  In our pre season meeting with our new club every year, we give them the Grisslie rules (some mentioned above plus some additional humorous ones) and the game schedule for the season which includes the HTKP.  In my 5 years on the club, we've had all 12 guys 3 times, 11 once and one year we picked subs to round out the roster.  Real life, vacation, work, family make it impossible to get a full roster every year.  Understood.  But Rob's emphasis on it makes the turnout great. 

At the tournament, he's always tried to assist in making it bigger and a better draw.  One example was bringing in live music a couple of years ago.  He's always looking for that "next thing" that will help. 

His HTKP support doesn't stop there.  He helps on the back end too by either recommending people or simply talking about the program whenever he's afforded the opportunity.  There is not a doubt in my mind that he is a leading advocate of Help The Kids Play and I'm sure that Ed Hopkins and Chris Ross would agree with that sentiment. 

Rob has also been the sub-controller for 85 years.  Something like that, a long time anyway.  He estimates that it takes about 20 hours a week to manage the subs.  People say its a thankless job and in many respects they're right.  However, as much as its a drain (and he says this was his last year) I know that he's loved it.  In any given week, there are over 100 phone calls and emails to try and acquire subs.  If you're standing on the sidelines and see me, Bales, Fleming, Radar or Gee playing as a sub it would be really easy to say, "he just calls the same guys, no one else gets a chance to sub".  What you're not seeing are the 10-15 calls before he went to each of us because he knew when push came to shove we'd say yes. 

Then here is the non-baseball Rob, which is still really the baseball Rob in street clothes.  He truly can not meet a new person without asking them:  1) so, how old are you?  2) hey, do you play baseball?  3) what's you're email, I'll let you know when registration is.  He does more recruiting for this league than you can imagine. 

Winters on Fraser avenue are kind of like summer, but colder.  I can't tell you the number of times that McCarron has wandered over and said, "you two aren't STILL talking about baseball?!?!"  Yep.  League 1st; Grisslies 2nd.

Did I mention that he has used his account for hosting the league website help save the league money?

You already know what he does socially with the Donini Deck and inviting conversation and comradarie. 

Rob is my friend and I'm biased.  I will never be able to thank him enough for what he's done for me personally, for the Grisslies and for this League.  Voting ended last Wednesday so I don't feel like I'm using this vehicle to unfairly influence voters.  As mentioned, this is my 5th year on the club.  Its the 5th year I've voted for Rob for the Diamond Award.  When I was fortunate enough to receive the Diamond last year I felt that they had the right team, but they got the wrong guy. 

I hope you're seeing a little bit of what I see. 

Until the banquet my friends, stay thirsty!!!!