I was exceptionally pleased with everything regarding the first week of the fall ball season. All managers appear to have been very organized, and there were very few instances of no-shows by players. Out of 73 players in the league, only 6 have not paid their balance in full (and five of them are on one team). I can’t tell you how easy that makes my job.
Two of the three games were very close, and the one that wasn’t featured a whole team of players new to the league. That team (the Royal Has-Beens) was without their top two pitchers, and represented the first organized baseball game many of them had participated in since high school.
The Has-Beens are a fun-loving group of guys looking to enjoy America’s Pastime. I would like to see more teams like theirs in the league. We had over 70 people on our free agent list at the end of the season, and about 30 of them are now playing in the fall. Those 70 players could easily have formed a 3-4 team Rookie League, and my hope is that a Rookie League comes to fruition in the summer. Hopefully the Has-Beens stick around for the summer.
My early pick to win it all is the Jackets. They have pitching depth, and a solid core to their order. They lost to the Nuggets Saturday, but that might have had more to do with an error by their replacement catcher (#13 on the Nuggets), and bad luck than anything else.
The umpires are solid citizens. Craig and Kenny have done a lot for this league, and I’m proud to have them as fall umpires. They represent the league well, and by all accounts do an excellent job behind the plate.
I am working to get each team 11 games, but I need one more field on Saturday mornings, and I have not heard a definitive response from Avonworth. Anyone with an idea on that is welcome to send it my way. Otherwise, it will be only 8 games. I plan on having a single game playoff for the top two teams in the regular season. No prizes… sorry kids.
NOTE: Articles in this section of the blog represent the opinions of Mr. Graff, and are not the opinions of the Pittsburgh NABA, nor of the Pittsburgh Bulldogs franchise. For more information on this visit “The President’s Blog”.
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job well done Joe…keep up the good work
if i did not have saturday morning coaching responsibilities i would be competing in the fall too
good luck to all Fall teams
warren – we need an extra pitcher. if you ever have an opening, come pitch for the red tide.