SPECIALS '09 TEAM AWARDS & The Naming of the NINES

Posted by Craig Smith – 6 Comments

     The SPECIALS,under the guidance of Bush League Manager of the Year, Doug Sabeh, had a phenomenal inaugural season winning an incredible 14 games, but this team wasn't built to win the game as much as it was to 'experience' the game . . . and what an experience it was.   Now it's time to recognize those special players that made it happen.  Drum roll please!

     The first award is the Extra-Special Player Award and goes to the player who was not actually on the Specials, but played several games with the team and provided that something 'extra' the Specials needed during the season.  The winner of this award will be offered a contract to play with the Specials during the 2010 season for 3 games, 9 games or the entire season.  And the winner of the Extra-Special Player Award is . . . Jason Smith!  Jason traveled all the way to Pittsburgh and helped Doug win three games with the Specials and for that he deserves this award for being extra special. 

     The next award is the Rookie of the Year Award and goes to . . . Lane Smith!  Lane hit a whopping 38 doubles (2nd in the Bush League) and 10 homeruns, the most ever by a rookie!  The 'L-Train' showed no fear in winning the Swing Hard Award in the Bush League as well.  Congratulations 'Shoeless Lane' on a special rookie season.

     The Clutch Player of the Year and Golden Glove Award goes to . . . Kimball Smith!  'Special K' hit more homeruns in 2009 than all of his other seasons combined.  Four of those round-trippers came in the final game of the regular season.  He stole 9 bases and made several amazing plays in the field including the defensive play of the year, a driving stop against Papa Robin on the infield.  'Kimball Slice' isn't the future of the Bush League anymore.  He is the now!

     The Pitcher of the Year goes to . . . Craig Smith who had his best season on the mound since he won the Bush Leauge Pitcher of the Year Award in 2004. 

     The Specials Team Most Valuable Player goes to a guy who had very special season and was a leader on and off the field.  Please put your hands together for . . . Mr. Doug Sabeh, the 2009 Specials MVP!  'Ocho-Uno' combined poise, patience and preseverance to become the first player to ever hit over .900!  He will give all the credit to his teammates, but his approach to hitting this season was the key to his success.  The Sabeh-tooth Tiger's .901 average in 81 at bats in the year 2009 wasn't luck, it was destiny! 

     The final team award was the Special Feat of the Year!  This award was chosen by the players as their most special accomplishment of the season, and narrowly beat out the feats of tying the Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back Homerun record and winning the first Non-Nines games at Legacy Field on July Fourth against Mark, Jason and Robin.  The Special Feat of the Year is . . . Traveling over 7,000 miles and playing in 15 different cities or town along the way!  Over 3,000 miles were logged on the team bus/car.  The Specials were definitely 'playin' in a traveling band' in 2009. 

     The Specials played several games against their arch rivals The Nines this season.  So to put some faces on the team the Specials have named nine players who will make up the Mudville Nine.  So without further adieu, meet The Nines!  On the mound, flamethrower and Texas native (Alvin, Texas not far from Lake Jackson) Nolan Ryan; his battery mate behind the plate, Bush League Hall of Famer, Earl Norton; at first base (and a little out of position), 'Number 9' for whom The Natural is partially based, Ted Williams, aka 'Teddy Ballgame'; at second, none other than the 'Doc', Carlton Postle, a real-life Dr. 'Moonlight' Graham; on the hot corner, Idaho sandlotter and hall of famer affectionately known as 'Killer', Harmon Killebrew; at short, Gila Valley Legend, Jim 'Zeke' Smith; in leftfield, a man still looking for that second chance, Shoeless Joe Jackson; in center, humanitarian, hall of famer and Pittsburgh's favorite son, Roberto Clemente; and rounding out the Nine, in rightfield, the Natural, . . . Roy Hobbs!  

     We hope you enjoyed the Specials Awards and the Naming of the Nines.  The Specials will see you in Twenty-10. 

 Specials team members including ESPN's very own Kelli-Marie Smith voted on all of these awards with the exception of the Extra-Special Award which was appointed by the owner.   

2009 Championship Highlights

Posted by Mark Smith – 4 Comments

Here is the highlight video I put together from the championship game. Enjoy!

Feel free to blow it up full-screen, or watch an HD version on YouTube.

Thanks to everyone for making 2009 a great season!

The 2009 Playoff Preview

Posted by Doug Sabeh – 8 Comments

It has been a long season and an even longer wait for this years playoffs to begin.  However, we are just days away from one of the most anticipated playoff series to begin the week of December 21, 2009.  The match-ups for the playoffs this year will put the Number 1 seeded Utah Jacks vs. the Number 4 Arizona Rays and the Number 2 Safford Yard Dogs vs. the  Number 3 Lordsburg Lions.  All four teams have an equal chance of making it into the championship series as the first round will be a one game series.  The championship series is scheduled for a five game series and should be one talked about for years to come.  Let us take a closer look at each team in the opening round series.

The Utah Jacks are coming off what is probably its teams best year in league history.  They post a league best record of 7 wins and 2 losses.  There is one discouraging note as their star Clifton Labrum will be sidelined from a serious back injury.  He will be playing a different role in this years playoffs and that is managing his team instead of playing of it in the playoffs.  This will make for an interesting series against the Arizona Rays.

The Arizona Rays are coming off a pretty good season, only to find themselves in the lowest seed team to make the playoffs.  This season their star player Brandon Kempton has played a lot of games in the league, but it turns out that some other teams have a little bit better records than his team.  Although the Rays are the lower seeded team, they are not considered the underdog in this series.  With Clifton out and the fact that Brandon hits for a ton every game, the Rays are the odds on favorite to win this series.  However, one thing the league has learned is that you can never count on "The Jack Attack" to just roll over and die.  This series will definitely be one we will all be talking about in the future.

In the other series, the Safford Yard Dogs, are making what appears to be their 8th straight post season.  Mark Smith led his team to 25 victories this season and the 26th win definitely seems possible.  His Yard Dogs will be facing a new team to the league this year in the Lordsburg Lions.  If Mark choses to break up the father and son combination when he constructs his team, there is a good chance we will see his team in the Championship series.  If he allows the father and son tandem stay together, the series will be another one talked about for years to come. 

The Lordsburg Lions will make their first post season appearance in their first year of the league.  The Lions star player is Nathan Kempton, son of Brandon Kempton.  Based on statistics, Nathan has actually has one more games without his father this season, which is a slight surprise to the media.  Although, if Nathan is able to have his father on his team, it certainly wouldn't hurt his chances of winning the series and going to the championship series.  No matter what hapens, this series will definitely be remembered by all those who play in it.

There you have it, the match-ups for the 2009 playoffs.  Who will triumph and go on to the next round?  It is difficult to foresee.  However, one thing is for sure, everyone will be talking about the 2009 playoffs for years to come.  Congratulations to all the teams who made it to the playoff party.  You all definitely deserve to be there.  Good Luck to all the teams and players.  There is no doubt that the end of the 2009 season will be both fine and devine. 

Change-up for the Jacks in the Playoffs

Posted by Clifton Labrum – 2 Comments

The Utah Jacks announced today that due to recent health concerns of their foremost player, Clifton Labrum, he will be playing a Manager role during the playoffs. This means the Jacks will still maintain a presence in this season's charge towards the championship, but Clifton will not play.

Clifton issued the following statement earlier this afternoon:

"Dang, dude. Wish I could play. I'm feelin' it this year, and I can almost taste the championship. Ima see what I can do as manager."

The 2009 Playoffs are scheduled to begin the week of December 21st.

Ahhh, That's Special!

Posted by Craig Smith – 1 Comments

     The SPECIALS, short for several 'special' places in the Bush League (Safford, Pittsburgh, EAC, Central, Indiana, Alton, Lake Jackson and San Antonio), were established in 2009 as a Semi-Pro, Traveling, Beer League-style, Stickball Club with Craig Smith as owner and Doug Sabeh as manager.  The SPECIALS roster is composed of a couple of old, cagy veterans, an up and coming star and a rookie.  Craig and Doug play the parts of the old vets, Kimball is the rising star and Lane the greenhorn rookie.

     The name, SPECIALS, may seem strange and conjure up images of incredible deals at your local K-Mart (i.e. Blue Light Specials), but was actually derived from the movie, The Natural, and a special bat known as the Savoy Special used to hit the game-winning, light-smashing, sparks-flying homerun by the fictitious Roy Hobbs.  Though the name SPECIALS may seem a little odd it is not unprecedented.  Back in the late 1800s and into the first part of the 20th century Brooklyn's baseball teams were known by a variety of interesting names such as the Tip-Tops, Wonders, Bridegrooms, Atlantics, Eckfords, Superbas, Robins, and Trolley-Dodgers before finally becoming just the Dodgers.  In light of those team names the SPECIALS sound pretty ordinary and maybe not-so-special.   

     Many aspects have influenced the creation of the SPECIALS including our current economy, the number 9, the idea of second chances, and a desire to experience the game of stickball with family in a special way. 

     The economy brought the SPECIALS back to the basics of the game, and to settle on their team colors which are black and white and always will be as long as the economy is in the tank.  The SPECIALS uniform which is simply a gray button up jersey with a black number on the back makes us wax nostaglic as we recall the first Bush League jerseys (remember those black jerseys with the small white number on the front and large white number with our names on the back).  The economy also gave the owner the idea of making the team 'semi-pro' based on, Hall of Famer, Earl Norton's experience of playing semi-pro ball in the Indiana Beer Leagues.  He played every weekend for $15 a day and all the beer you could drink.  This season the SPECIALS have been playing for $1 a game and all the rootbeer they can drink.  Who couldn't use an extra buck and drink of rootbeer?  Paraphasing the immortal words of Nacho Libre, "The SPECIALS must go semi-pro!"

     The number 9 is also an integral part of the SPECIALS.  In the movie The Natural, when Roy Hobbs gets his jersey from the trainer he takes the number 9, "a good baseball number".  He had a smooth swing like Ted Williams for whom the Hobbs character is partially based and who also wore number 9.  The game of baseball is based on the number 3 and 9.  There are three strikes, thee outs and, of course, three bases.  There likewise are nine innings, nine fielders and nine batters in a lineup.  So the SPECIALS decided to only choose, like Roy Hobbs, numbers that are related to the number 9.  Lane in his rookie season is nine years old and decided to make his age his number(9).  Kimball is number 33 which is inspired by Larry Bird and because 3 X 3 is 9.  Craig came out of retirement sporting number 45 a la Michael Jordan, and Doug choose number 81 earning him the nickname, 'Ocho-Uno', both numbers respectively being factors of nine. 

     The SPECIALS  have created a new way to play stickball called playing against The NINES.  The NINES are to the SPECIALS  what the Generals were to the Globetrotters . . . arch rivals.  Playing against the NINES has given some of the younger players a chance to experience the game of stickball and improve their skills without the same pressure of playing against regular opponents while recording stats and a win or a lose along the way. 

     The SPECIALS are a team of second chances.  Roy Hobbs was also based on the true life story of Eddie Waitkus who had starred for the Cubs and Phillies back in the '40s and '50s before being shot by a young, enamoured, psychotic, female fan of his named Ruth Steinhagen.  He lived through ordeal and eventully returned to baseball.  While we hopefully will never be shot like Eddie Waitkus, we all have our "Ruths", or setbacks, that can change our course in life and send us down a different path.  Like Hobbs sometimes we need to be called up from the 'Heber Oilers' and given a second chance.  Any player is welcomed to play with the SPECIALS to break out of a slump and get that second chance.         

     The last aspect that brought about the creation of the SPECIALS is a desire to experience the game of stickball with family in a special way.  So far this season the SPECIALS have played games in many unique places like Lordsburg, Glenwood and White Sands, New Mexico; Bisbee; Solomon; Tucson and Mesa with a roadtrip scheduled in a few days to Pittsburgh, Ohio and New York.  Playing in a variety of places has been a real treat for the SPECIALS win or lose and created memories that will last a life time for each of the players.  

     In closing, Doug as been a wonderful manager for the SPECIALS in their inaugral season and we wish to thanked him publicly for going above and beyond the call of duty.  He has made many phone calls and sent emails encouraging his team.  His gameday speeches are the stuff of legend and a fun mix of lines from Bull Durham, Hoosiers and The Natural.  Doug will be the only manager the SPECIALS ever have and we want to nominate him as the first of ever Manager of the Year in the Bush League.    

     A few other side notes, the 1914 Chicago Cubs logo of a bear with a bat is the official logo of the SPECIALS.  Due to the bear being the logo the SPECIALS may be referred to as 'Da Bears' as an alternate name like the Pirates being called the Bucs.  The official motto of the SPECIALS is, "We should of been farmers."  And the official slogan is, "Don't you know how we hate losing to the Pirates?"  The official SPECIALS' abbreviation is SPX.  The official network of the SPECIALS is ESPN(Entirely SPecials Network).  Kelli-Marie Smith is the voice of the SPECIALS and roving reporter for ESPN and we want to thank her for videoing many of the games and press conferences already this season.  We want to thank Jason for playing with the SPECIALS in Pittsburgh with Doug and for pitching so well to him (Doug current leads in the league in batting average).  We want to thank Eldon Smith for being our extra SPECIAL player and helping us to a real win against real people at Legacy Field.  Thanks to Brandon for playing with the SPECIALS.  And a special thanks to Commissioner Mark Smith for playing a few games with the SPECIALS, helping us to our first ever win and for letting us play against the NINES.  Thanks to Clifton for letting us post this special article on the website.  Ahhh, That's Special!

 

Just for fun count how many times the word 'special' was used in this article. 

 

 

First Half Season Review of 2009

Posted by Doug Sabeh – 8 Comments

The 2009 Stickball Season is a little more than half way through.  There a a lot of story lines and new teams in the mix and it has made for a lot of conversation over the last few months.  Who will make the playoffs?  Who will be the Rookie of the Year?  Who will ultimately win the 2009 Championship in the Arizona Stickball Bush League?  These are all tough questions to ask, but after you read this article, you may be able to make a better educated guess.  So, let us recap some of the recent happenings in the league.

This year there have been a few new teams added to the league and a few teams that are no longer in the league.  Some of the new teams include the Lordsburg Lions, the Gila Valley Robins, the Spain D-Backs, and The Specials.  Some of the teams that have suspended operations or left the league include the Texas Lonestars, the Pittsburgh Keystones, the San Carlos Scouts, and the Golden Spikes.  However, there are still eight teams in the league which is what we had last year.  Some teams are represented by one player and others are represented by multiple players.  This is a new concept for the league, but a necessary one for some of the players in the league.  So, let us take a look at how the players and teams are doing this year.

First up, we look at the Commissioner, Mark Smith.  Mark is having a good season and his team posts a record of 12 wins and 4 losses and if the playoffs started today his team would finish in first place.  He is batting an incredible .837 average this season with 72 hits, 6 doubles, 5 triples and 31 home runs, and only 1 strike out in 86 at-bats.  He leads the league in hits, triples, home runs, RBIs,  and runs.  His pitching and fielding numbers are very strong as well. He leads the league in Ground outs with 19 and Pop Outs with 20.  Some of his pitching numbers in clude a win-loss record of 4-1 and an earned run average of 8.26, which when you are pitching to you own team, the higher your ERA the better.  Mark has his team poised for another run at the championship.  Congratulations on a great first half of the season to you and your Yard Dogs Mark.

Next we have Craig Smith, owner/player of the Specials.  Craig decided to come out of retirement this season and form a team comprising of his two sons Kimball and Lane and player manager Doug Sabeh.  Craig is having a pretty good season at the plate hitting a .674 average, 29 hits (4th in the league), 4 doubles, 10 home runs (4th in the league), 27 RBIs (4th in the league), 18 runs (Tied for 4th), and only 4 strike outs in 41 at-bats.  Hit pitching and fielding statistics are a little below his average, but he has done remarkable according to his manager.  Some of them include an earned run average of 6.49, giving up 51 hits, 7 home runs and a total of 31 runs all together.  These are some pretty good numbers since a lot of the statistics are from facing Kimball and Lane his two boys on the team.  So Kudos to you Mr. Craig Smith for continuing to embrace the family aspect of our game. 

The Sacramento Stix represented by Jason Smith are having and up and down season this year.  their record is 5-9 midway through the season, but I would not count the Stix out of the playoffs yet.  Presently if the season ended now with the new rules presiding, Jason's Stix would be the fourth and final team in the playoffs, since not all teams have played the minimun 8 games to qualify for the playoffs.  Jason's numbers pretty good both at the plate and in the field.  He is batting a .707 average with 53 hits (2nd in the league), 18 doubles (1st in the league), 2 triples, 19 home runs (2nd in the league), 39 RBis (2nd in the league), scores 38 runs (2nd in the league) with only 2 strike outs in 75 at-bats.  Although he has a 2-5 record pitching, Jason has a 7.28 ERA, allowed 58 hits, 13 home runs, and allowed 38 runs.  He has 7 ground outs and 3 pop outs which shows that he still flashes his leather at the hot corner of third base.  We look for good things from Jason as he will be playing some stickball in Pittsburgh later this month.  Maybe his trip "Back to the Minors" will be what he needs to get his game back to where he needs it to be to secure a place in the playoffs this fall.

The Gila Valley Robins are making their league debut with the steady Robin Smith this year.  The Robins are having a pretty decent year in their inagural season with a 4 win and 3 loss season to date.  Robin Smith is having a tough year with a lot of his statistics being below his career average.  In 37 at-bats, he has an average of .432, 16 hits, 1 double, 1 triple, 4 RBIs. 11 runs and 3 strike outs.  However, Robin Smith has always been known for his pitching and his numbers are pretty good in that category.  He has a 3 win and 0 loss record, an ERA of 13.09 (1st in the league), given up 28 hits, 24 runs, 14 home runs, and has not struck anyone out.  There have been many years where pitching and defense have been as important as scoring runs in this league, so do not be surprised to see the Robins in the playoffs this year.

The Arizona Rays led by Brandon Kempton are having a good first half of the season with a win-loss record of 6-3.  If the season ended today, the Rays would finish second in the league and make the playoffs.  Brandon is having a solid year both at the plate as well as the field.  He leads the league with an average of .851.  He also has 40 hits (3rd in the league), 7 doubles, 1 triple, 13 home runs (3rd in the league), 32 RBIs (3rd in the league) and 29 runs (3rd in the league), with only four strike outs in 47 at-bats.  His pitching statistics are solid with an ERA of 9.00, a record of 2 wins and 2 loses, surrendering 31 hits, 11 home runs and 23 total runs, and only striking out one batter of the 46 he has faced.  He also 13 ground outs and 6 pop outs for a total of 19 total outs in the field.  If Brandon and his Rays continue to stay the course, they should be playing in the post-season.

Kimball Smith, a promising you player for the Specials is havin a pretty good year for his team.  Although he started out with some struggles, his manager is pleased with how far he has come since the beginning of the season.  In 48 at-bats, Kimball has 27 hits, 8 doubles, 4 homeruns, 12 RBIs, and 16 runs and an average of .563.  He is also having a pretty good statistics pitching and fielding.  He has a team best ERA of 7.41, only 1 loss, has given up 23 hits, 9 home runs, and a total of 14 runs altogether.  He also has 3 ground outs, which is one less than his seasons best last year.  Kimball is only going to get better each and every year that he plays in this league.  Maybe in a few years he will lead his team to the playoffs and a championship. 

Lane Smith is one of the players up for "Rookie of the Year" for 2009.  He is having a great year at the plate.  He has an average of .604, 29 hits, 13 doubles, 1 home run, 7 RBI's, 18 runs in 48 at-bats.  In the field he has 1 ground out.  Righ now he leads all rookies in his offensive categories, but he does not lead all the defensive categories in this area.  We still have half of a season left, we will know where he stands in these categories at the end of the year.  One note that should be mentioned is that Lane's manager is very pleased with his effort in the first half of this season.  Who knows what the future has for this young and upcoming star for the Specials and the League.

Nathan Kempton, son of Brandon Kempton, is having a pretty good inagural season with his Lordsburg Lions.  They have a win-loss record of 3-1 and if they can play enough games, they may find themselves in the playoffs this year.  Nathan may also find his name come up in the "Rookie of the Year Award," this season.  His numbers this season are in 19 at-bats, 9 hits, 1 double, 6 runs, 1 strike out, and a .474 batting average.  He is proving to be an up and coming star for his team as well as the league.  We look forward to seeing more of the Lordsburg Lions this year.

Duane DeSpain is this years "Feel Good Story of the Year."  Mr. DeSpain is well known in the league for his athletic ability, his pitching, his fielding, and the"I Heard a Tip Home Run" that he pitched to Doug Sabeh, which completed back to back to back to back home runs in the summer of 2000.  Also like "Jimmy Morris" in the movie "The Rookie," he had promised doctors not to continue to play after an injury that occured back in 2002.  However, with pressure from the Smiths and his son, Riley, Duane made his first step towards "Comeback Player of the Year," back at the beginning of this season.  He has great numbers in all categories of hitting, pitching and fielding.  In 43 at-bats, he has 27 hits, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs, 18 RBIs, 18 runs, only 3 strike outs and a .628 average.  His pitching numbers include an ERA of 9.14, 2 wins and 4 losses, 44 hits, 13 home runs and a total of 32 runs.  In the field he has 7 ground outs and 6 pop outs.  These are phenomonel numbers for someone who has been out of the league for six years.  If the season finished today, Duane's D-backs would be ranked third and make the playoffs.  It would not be a surprise to see his team make the playoffs this year if he and his son are able to play and win a few more games this season.  It is truly great to have you back in the league Mr. Duane DeSpain, we hope to see you come back next season as well.

Riley Despain of the Spain D-backs and Duane DeSpain's son is having a pretty good rookie year this season.  He has 10 hits, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, only one strike out, 7 runs and an average of .667 in 15 at-bats.  He also has 2 pop outs while playing in the field.  He is definitely in contention for "Rookie of the Year Award."  It is really nice to see new players do well in the league, especially in their first season.  As long as both Riley and his dad are willing to play in the league, I think that they will provide some good competition for other teams in the league.

There are two other players that have not been able to get out on the field yet this season, but there is a good chance we will see these two have numbers on the website before the year is over.  Clifton Labrum and Doug Sabeh have to attend to some personal family matters right now, but we are sure that they will be mixing it up with everyone else in the league soon.  It may be possible that these two players were too embarrased with how much publicity that they received during last years awards postings on the website that they wanted to lay low for a little while.  Whatever the reason we know that Clifton and Doug will be back on the field in the near future possibly one or both will help a team win a championship this year.  Our thoughts are with you both and everyone else in the league.  Thus far everyone that has played this year has "Made it Extremely Fine in 2009."  Good Luck to all the players and teams during the rest of the year.  May the second half of the season be as great as the first one.  We look forward to seeing how the race for the playoffs shapes up in the upcoming months.  Have a great rest of the season and we look forward to seeing you all in the playoffs. 

Duane Makes His Comback, Cedric Makes His Debut

Posted by Mark Smith – 2 Comments May 16th was a great day for the Bush League - An old player made his return and three new Rookies took the field.  Duane DeSpain was a dominant force during the first few years of the Bush League existence.  He won the League's Most Improved Player Award back in 2002 but was then sidelined with a shoulder surgery and was forced to retire for medical reasons after the 2002 season.  He was able to play in some exhibition games over the years but never could commit to a full season.  With his arm feeling better and now being neighbors with Mark, he is coming out of his retirement and ready to compete with the others in the Bush League on a regular basis.  Duane is already in line to win the Comeback Player of the Year and from what was seen on the filed possibly make a run at a Gold Glove.  He was able to make 3 stops in the infield and he recorded one pop fly out.  He had a few struggles at the plate but if his batting practice was any indication of things to come the league better watch out.  Welcom back Duane!
Riley DeSpain was able to make his stickball Debut over the weekend.  There are some rumors that he already has the Bush League competitive spirit as he bet his dad $5 that he could not stop his next hit - Read the above paragraph about the pop out - He owes his dad $5.  But other than that he did phenominal.  Riley went 6 for 8 with 5 runs scored.  If he can keep those numbers he will be a serious canidate for the Rookie of the Year. 
Cedric Williams is another player who made his fisrt trip out the the sandlot.  He has bee working Mark and in a small town is always looking for something to do.  He was so desperate this last weekend that he considered playing stickball.  During batting practice he did not think he would be able to hit it out.  When players started to rag on him and say "it's okay if you can't hit it out like Ashley" he became focused - "she hit it out?  Okay, I'll get one then".  He sure did get one.  In only his second atbat, coming to the plate with the bases loaded he was able to send one over the fence for a grandslam.  On the day he went 4 for 7 with 5 RBI and is the first player in league history to start 2 and 0.  We hope to see Cedric on the field a lot more!
Cedric Jr. was also able to get his first (and when I say first I really mean that, he has never played baseball before) at bats.  After a few quick pointer from like everyone on the field he was ready for his first game.  In that game he went 3 for 4 with a double.  His teammates went a combined 2 for 7 and he came up short in his first official game.  On the day Cedric was 4 for 8, a very respectable .500 avg for his first ever game.   He almost made the most spectacular defensive play in the last 10 years of stickball.  He was placed in the outfield when his father hit a bullet to center field.  Remember he never has played baseball before, so when the ball came out he just stuck his arm out to catch the ball, except the glove was not on and it slowly fell out of his bare hand.  All the players at the game were in awe of the strength of young Cedric.  With his athletic ability he could vastly improve into one of the best young all-around players in the league. 
Overall it was a great day to get old and new players alike out for a game of stickball and we look forward to hearing more from each of these players as the season continues.
 
  

Rule Changes?

Posted by Mark Smith – 3 Comments After hearing some of the complaints and seeing some of the problems from last year and just trying to make the league a little more challenging for some players the commissioner's office is submitting the following rule changes to be voted on by the players association.  So review them and see what needs to be changed or added and then either vote on which ones you want to see of add other rules you think would be good.  For a rule to pass it will have to receive at least 4 votes.  As president of the players association Doug will be there for any player to talk about the rules and other possible changes.

 

1)      5 total pitches and only two swings no matter what, no more fouls or tips (for players hitting over .600 prior to that day - if you play 1 game of 5 games that day your rule for that day will stay the same)

2)      If the ball does not leave the infield, touch the grass it is an out - the fielder can have his feet in the grass as long as the ball never touches the grass - if at any moment it touches the grass even a strand and comes back in it will be a hit - also no more running to first base

3)      You are not allowed to be the starting pitcher for two consecutive games

4)      The batter will be the one who calls balls fair or foul

5)      There has to be at least 3 players to have a stat game in the Gila Valley - 2 players in any other location - Out of those at least 2 players have to be members of the Bush League - Stats will not count from those games played with less than two players in the league - For example I can't go out with Ashley and count stats

6)      The last day of  the regular season will be October 31^st, the top four teams who play in at least 8 games will be in the playoffs  

7)      For the playoffs the number 1 seed will match up with the 4 and the 2 with the 3 for the first round - It will be a one game first round - The home team will get the first pick of players and will choose where they have the game played - The championship series will a 5 game series - the higher seed will select the players first and location of the first two games as well as the 5^th game the lower seed will select players first and location in games 3-4.  Whoever wins three games will be awarded with a Championship

Most Valuable Player: Brandon

Posted by Mark Smith – 0 Comments
Brandon started the awards off 14 days ago with Batting Champion and finishes with the League MVP.  Brandon had the greatest offensive statistical season of all time.  With everything Brandon did at the plate this year he just did enough to edge Mark for the most prestigious award in the league.  The final vote ended with Brandon one vote ahead of Mark - 31 to 30.  Five years from now no one will remember how close the voting was but they will remember the amazing season Brandon had.
Stickball has been played now for 9 seasons while we keep stats.  Some of the all time records have been amazing but this year Brandon made them look silly.  Jason held the batting average record at .783 - everyone said that it might be impossible to hit over .800.  Then Brandon came along and on the last day of the season went for not just .800 but .900 and fell just short but finished with an incredible .890!  I honestly can say now I don't think that will every be done again. 
Back in 2002 Mark had his best season ever and finished with a home run ratio of 3.00 - this was another record that many people felt would be hard to break.  Mark took a HR ratio of under 3 into the last game of 2007 but could not keep it under and finished at 3.02.  Brandon put the question to rest as he demolished the HR ratio hitting a long ball every 2.14 times he came to the plate.  Simply amazing!
To put what Brandon just did into perspective lets take a look at his seasons stats and Mark's 2002 year in which he won the MVP.
AB - B 109, M 120   
Runs - B 80, M 73 - Advantage Brandon
Hits - B 97, M 93 - Advantage Brandon
2B - B 24, M 13 - Advantage Brandon
3B - B 3, M 0 - Advantage Brandon
HR - B 51, M 40 - Advantage Brandon
HR ration - B 2.14, M 3.00 - Advantage Brandon
RBI - B 89, M 96 - Advantage Mark
KO ratio - B 21.8, M 20 - Advantage Brandon
AVG - B .890, M .775 - Advantage Brandon
Out of the 9 offensive categories Brandon won 8 in the head to head battle of greatest seasons ever.  It can easily be seen why this season will go down as the greatest display of offense in the history of stickball.  Great season Brandon - What are you going to do for an encore?

Total Votes: Brandon 31, Mark 30, Jason 11, Craig 8

I just want to thank everyone in the league for the great season we had.  I think that for the most part it was a success and most everyone enjoyed themselves.  Next year will be our 19th year of keeping stats and I hope we will make the best of it.  Stats can cause some problems but I think that for the most part they make the game more fun.  I hope everyone enjoyed their awards.  We might be having some rule changes in 2009 but I will write an article and give you a chance to comment before we make any official changes.  Great season guys, can't wait for next year.


     

Pitcher of the Year: Jason

Posted by Mark Smith – 0 Comments Jason won the Pitcher of the Year and when you look at the numbers there wasn't much debate.  He put up some incredible numbers many of which were career highs for him.  Jason finished the season with a 10-7 record.  This is the first season that Jason has reached the double digit win total.  This year was the year of the home run and Jason contributed to that total not only with his bat but this season as a pitcher he pitched 57 long balls which is the most of his career while facing the 2nd fewest batters of his career.  Jason ended up with an astronomical ERA of 10.69 which led the league.  That ERA gives him the second highest ERA in league history of pitchers with at least 200 batters faced (Robin hold the ERA record of 10.76 back in 2005 when he was winning multiple POY).  Jason also tied for second with 5 saves.  With the great numbers Jason put up as a pitcher it is no wonder he ended up with the best record in the league at 18-11, the Stixs finished first in the regular season after which his bat failed him in the first round of the playoffs.  One thing is sure going into the next season - Jason will be there in the end because good pitching will win ball games - just ask Robin.  Great year Jason!

Total Votes: Jason - 32, Mark - 26, Clifton - 9, Kimball - 6, Robin - 6, Doug - 1

On Deck: MVP