Canadian Baseball League Our 25th anniversary year 1997

Transcription

1 Canadian Baseball League Our 25th anniversary year 1997 Volume 25, Number 4 Canada Day Edition 1997 Editor s Ramblings: What a godsend this league is these days!! The Chat Room is a quick-fix haven for harried minds burdened by the pressures of everyday life, and the Games themselves are salve for the soul. There is no escapism quite so right as CBL escapism. Your embattled editor s sanity is saved by this simple pastime ( America s pastime ) during these mad mad mad days of summer in beautiful busy Brandon. Having been left by the departing Mayor with an unwanted but unavoidable mantle of responsibility for the next three months, this poor downtrodden servant of the people (can you hear the violins playing?) spends his days longing for the comfy chair at his PC where box scores roll in from Mercury Mail for perusal, and current MLB hitter and pitcher data from Doug Steele s terrific stats home page [ can be downloaded and dumped into Excel to give an up-to-the minute picture of the evolving 97 edition of the Twins (who are hitting.317 as a starting lineup in late June, I might add). Life doesn t get any better than this! I hope it s good for you too. The CBL season is moving at a terrific pace... better than ever before I m sure. The standings have some surprises already and some interesting races are shaping up both for the playoff spots and for individual awards. Read on for further details later in this edition of the CBL Clarion (?)....from the office of the Commissioner Montreal (CP) --A collection of recent news releases from the Commish/Statman, Daniel Mr. Diligence Dumont... To all CBL managers: Richard Whyte Pirates manager he is very busy with work this year. I will for remainder of the season play Pirates home games. Please from Series 8 on send intructions to me right away. [Ed. Note: Richard is back now, playing his own, as of Series 17.] Also, please when you send me pfiles have the courtesy to give me the number of the series. Most managers doing it already will save me a lot of time. (And believe me I spent lot of my free time taking care of CBL stats.) Also lately I start to receive same series twice from some managers be careful please. I try to check everthing i received but i am not god [Ed. Note: We re relieved to learn this] please help me. Receiving series twice screwing stats. ********************

2 Page 2 League dues are now due. The money is rollin in... I have received the bucks from eleven teams now... so, thirteen to go. The cost is $20 Cdn or $15 US and should be remitted by dead presidents, large cheques or gold coin to the money manager, Jim Reid, at 72 Durum Drive, Brandon, MB, R7B 3V3, Canada. The Voters Corner Clause 2.12.A.5 of the CBL Constitution currently reads as follows: Hitters meeting the following criteria are considered D unlimited and are not restricted to any number of At-Bats: [a] Batting Average of.220 or less [b] Fewer than 8 walks per 100 At-Bats [c] Fewer than 1 home Run per 50 At-Bats [d] No Fielding 1 ratings at any defensive position (i.e. 8 or 9 at C; 4 or 5 at 1B; 8 or 9 at 2B; 5 or 6 at 3B; 8, 9 or 10 at SS; 3 at OF) Proposal 97-05: That Clause 2.12.A.5 be amended by deleting the present sub-clauses [b] and [c] and replacing them with the following: [b] Slugging Average of.350 or less [c] On-Base Percentage of.300 or less Proposed by Jim Reid/Ken Kuryliw Please send your votes on this proposal to Jim Reid by August 15: Regular mail: 72 Durum Drive, Brandon, MB, R7B 3V3 Phone: (204) reidj@brandonsd.mb.ca As a reminder of the rationale, here is Ken s report from the last newsletter: The current formula created only 34 players who meet the prior criteria. Unlimited batters are more important now because the league eliminated the MAX rule. With the suggested definition an additional 25 players would have been considered unlimited, for a total of 59 players. [Ed. Note: nearly 200 pitchers are unlimited this year]. The additional players would have been: Dwayne Hosey, Rene Gonzales, David McCarty, Billy McMillon, Andujar Cedeno, Rey Sanchez, Mike Durant, Kim Batiste, Mike Matheny, Wendell McGee, Matt Howard, Sal Fasano, Jay Canizaro, Eddie Williams, Glenn Murray, Matt Franco, Allen Battle, Phil Hiatt, Todd Greene, Raul Casanova, Dax Jones, Vince Coleman, Joe Siddall, Scott Leius, and Bob Natal.

3 Page 3 The only "cards" that might have some value (but probably not as much as a 5 starter) would be: McCarty 1B-3 1,0,8,8,8,8,9,9 with 3-14's. A. Cedeno SS-7 1,4,10,8,8,8,9,9 with S. Fasano C-7 1,5,8,8,8,9,9 with 3-14's. M. Franco 3B-3 1,6,8,8,8,9,9 with 1-14 R. Casanova C-6 1,5,8,8,8,9,9 with 2-14's. S. Leius 3B-4 0,0,0,0,8,9 with 2-14's. *************************** Announcing!... Gnit-Pickin (News from the Gnitecki Association President) Action in the Gnitecki Conference has reached nearly the half-way point, and close races are featured in all three Divisions. Out in the Wild West, the Dodgers have edged ahead og those Phabulous Phillies by 4 1/2 games. Frisco and the Cubbies are locked in mortal combat for third. The same scenario exists in the Central, where our only distaff manager s Braves are leading her beau s Tabbies by 3 1/2, while in the distance the Calgary combo of Lee and Terry duke it out to avoid the cellar. Meanwhile in the civilized Eastern reaches, the Angels enjoy a bit of a lead on the surprising O s. Pittsburgh is close at hand, and even the Royals aren t out of it though they bring up the rear at present. Part of the reason the Royals are hanging in there is some heavy lumber. Jeff Bagwell leads the Conference with a.404 BA,.764 SLG and.498 OBA. Right behind him is Royal teammate Tony Gwynn at.389, followed by the O s Mariano Duncan (.370) and the Aussie, Dave Nilsson of the Brewers (.366). Brady Anderson of the Halos leads in HR (27) and RBI (80), and obviously has inspired his teammates with the long ball display, as no less than four Angels sit atop the homer derby (Anderson, Galarraga - 25, Gant - 20, and Burks - 20). Tom Goodwin of the Jays is the top thief with 24 SB s. In the pitching department, the Tigers are tops in team ERA and hurlers are the main reason for manager Brian Lally s wide grin. Chuck Nagy leads the league s starters with a measly 1.75 ERA. Mark Clark of the Phils follows at 1.87, then comes Pat Hentgen of the Jays at In the pen, however, the Brewers are unbelievable so far, posting the top three ERA s in the Conference (Russell 1.14, Eck 1.25, and Poole 1.33). Larry Thomas of the Phils has posted a Gnitecki-leading 15 saves but is out for the year now. There ll be nothing but excitement down the stretch, so stay tuned, y all (some prairie slang is creeping into the suburbs of Moose Jaw -- look out!). ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

4 Page 4 DA PHILLY PHLASH by I. M. A. PHANATIC Well it is midway point of the season and the Phillies are performing way below expectations. The reason for the disappointment falls squarely on the heads of the bullpen. Going into this season there was high expectations for this motley crue but they have failed miserably. The Phillies are still not out of it and are only three out. DANTE RETURNS!!!!!!!! Yes it is true. The fans missed the old guy too much. Attendance was down and ownership was forced to pay a steep price for the guy. We had to give up Shawon Dunston and Ron Coomer both having excellent seasons and throw in Ron Blazier. Next season's outfield looks AWESOME!!! We will again have the all fielding 1 outfield but what hitting. Bichette, Sosa, and Martin with McGee and Hill as backups. Pretty good, Eh? Rumor has it the Philly ownership will be packing up and moving to sunny Phoenix next year. All owner Sillen has to say it is just a rumor now but why do we constantly hear By the Time I get to Phoenix blaring over the office intercom constantly???? Snakes Alive the rumor might have some foundation in truth. Chat participation has been way down lately and Daniel is suffering from TRADUS INTERRUPTUS!!! Why Bichette lasted on his team a whole half a season. Please help Daniel out and check in on the chat sometime. That's it for now and hopefully soon I'll be sitting at the Stick with the old man of the sea (Falabella) and 2/3 of the Kuryliw clan. There it goes again -- By The Time I Get To Phoenix She'll Be Rising. No, not Glen Campbell ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GIANT STRIDES by ol Forty-ones Let s travel back to the early 1980 s when the CBL began the telephone draft. The first year, Rich (former Commish Richard Gnitecki) asked us to send him money for the phone calls he had to make to us. When the next year s draft rolled around, I wrote to Rich and told him to ring me once and hang up, then I would call him back. We did it. It worked out well. The next year he used the system with everyone. Thus the one-ring (or sometimes two ring) system was born. Unfortunately the sands of time have erased from my memory the exact year this happened. Maybe somebody else remembers?? [Ed. Note: John, maybe in the next issue you could tell us where your 41 s handle came from?]

5 Page 5 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Athletic Supports by Adrian Kuryliw [A bio...] Adrian was born during the Year of the Pig (don't laugh, this is serious!) back about 38 years ago. He spent most of his childhood moving with his family throughout little mining towns in Ontario, and losing consistently to his two brothers (one much older, one much younger) in various games and activities. He was passionate about hockey as a youngster, claiming fame by association (at age 14 he spent 2 weeks at the University of Guelph hockey school with Wayne Gretzky) and progressed in his skills until he played (mostly on the bench) for the Junior A "Kenora Muskies" in his senior yearof high school. He dabbled for 3 years as a CBL manager during those teen years. Adrian married his small-town high school sweetheart, loafed for 6 years at university (to get his B.A.) then bundled up the wife, dogs and cats, and took an M.A. in psychology at Duquesne U. in Pittsburgh. At the time (1983) Three Rivers Stadium had a great deal for empoverished students - $1.00 to get into the game after the 2nd inning. That was the beginning of the transfer of love for hockey to an insane obsession for baseball. He tried a number of 12-step programs to cure himself of a persistent neurotic need of boxscores, but those interventions failed (thankfully). A move to Brandon to work with Dr. Reid as a psychologist for the Brandon School Division, some various teaching opportunities at the quaint Brandon University, numerous tournament chess losses, and addictive experiences playing bass and saxophone for cheesy bands, bars, and folk festivals describes Adrian's current activities. Oh ya, he lives on a beautiful acreage with the same wife, dogs and cats spending a great deal of time working that land. He has no interest in becoming a vegetarian, though. Cub Reporting, by Mike Pawley Subject: Response to Newsletter questions from last edition Idea #1: reduce protected rosters again for the draft to something like for the strongest teams... I think we definitely need to do something to make the league more competitive. Ken is obviously outclassing the field by miles this year. Some are going to get discouraged if they feel the deck is stacked against them.

6 Idea #2: maybe a team should not have to protect a player if the player did not play all year because of injury and not carded. I do not like this one. Injury is part of the game. We have to work around it. Idea #3: perhaps we should be able to use all players from the disk. Do not like this one either. I would rather those minor leaguers stay that way. Vol 25, #4 Page 6 Idea #4: approve the new formula for unlimited players as unofficially proposed later in this newsletter... and maybe draft this summer from the untouched free agents to help this year s atbats. I like these ideas. I would want to know the selection procedure for the untouched free agents and how that would affect the rosters. A player should have to be released in order to take one. Idea #5: all rookies go into the draft with no protection by any team. I really like having minor leaguers. It give some tie to the parent team. An alternative solution might be that a player would not be eligible once he appears in the big leagues and that we pick before spring training. For instance I could have picked Orie based on the rumor he was going to be the Cubs third baseman, but not after he had played several games. In reality the only good players in the draft are those on the four teams not represented. Each team grabs up the rookies that make the roster.if someone had Florida, Castilla and Renteria would not have been available. Same with Johnson the year before. Just my two cents worth. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Indian Country, by Art Widiger To All Fellow CBL Managers: The Cleveland Indians are in dire need of a couple of extra bodies for the remainder of the season in order to obtain the proper number of at bats. I need the following: 1. A backup catcher with at bats. 2. Any position player I can use at DH for approximately 250 at bats. These players do not need to be good, and no reasonable offer will be refused. Thank you.

7 Page 7 Berman s Beauties... more of the best of Chris Berman s baseball monikers: Joaquin the Dog Andujar Jerry Rolls Reuss Eric "Ker-" Plunk Oddibe young again McDowell David Sili- Cone Tony Jala- Pena Bruce "2 minutes for" Ruffin Dave "Supreme Court" Justice The Wesey Word (News from the Wesenberg Association Prez) The nasty Wesenberg West has a lock on the top records in the CBL at the moment. The Mariners are an awesome half-way through the season, and the A s and Twins are 2 and 3 in winning percentage in the Division and in the League. Don t bet on the Twins maintaining that pace, however. Their pitching just isn t good enough to hold up. In the Central, the surprising Reds have broken out on top of the Rangers for now. Look for that to be a more interesting race than was predicted. The Yanks are alone atop the East, where the kiddie corps on the Mets roster is taking its lumps while learning the trade. They ll be a different story next year. Mike Piazza (Twins) continues to do his Larry Walker impersonation, leading the Wesey Conference with a.414 BA. The A s Mark McGwire is the main triple crown threat, as he is second in BA (.387), third in RBI with 76 behind the amazing Raffy (Seattle) at 95 and the Tribe s Albert Don t Call Me Joey at 78, and leading in HR with 28, one ahead of Palmeiro and 2 up on Junior. The pitching wiz continues to be the Twins David Wells, a D pitcher who is 12-0 with a 2.88 ERA (of course, that league-leading 8.21 runs-per-game support he is getting is part of the story). The Mariners Wilson Alvarez has a league-leading 1.68 ERA among starters, followed by Kevin Brown of Texas at Mariano Rivera has a microscopic ERA of 0.64 for the Yanks Breaking up that old gang of mine... The Mariners broke up a dynasty (nobody could afford to pay the salaries of a team that wins this much, so GM Ken Kuryliw was instructed by Sony Corp to offload five big buck guys to make room for the upcomers like Cruz Jr.). As you all know, the following trades resulted from that directive: #1 Barry Bonds to Houston for #2 Mets 1998 #2 Roberto Alomar to San Fran for #2 San Fran 1998 #3 John Smoltz to Chicago Cubs for #2 Chicago Cubs 1998 #4 Rafael Palmeiro to Cincinnati for #2 St. Louis 1998 #5 Jay Buhner to Pittsburgh for #2 Pittsburgh 1998 P.S. Bonds is now an Oakland A, where the only two members in the history of major league baseball s club are now teammates. Thanks to Ken for a sensitive handling of his fire sale.

8 Page 8 Where are they now...?? Texas Rangers Manager : Tony Bennett New address: 6050 Piedmont Place Orleans, Ontario K1C 5W2 same phone number (613) Detroit and Atlanta managers: Brian and Janet Lally New address: 42 Iroquois Street West Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan S6H 5A5 same phone number (306) Your Editor asked... Who is Bunny Collins? Kevin s is arriving with this return address on it these days, so your ever-inquiring editor asked about it. Here s Kevin s reply... Jim Bunny is actually my mothers name. Her real name is Bernice but she's always been referred to as Bunny. Kev Today s Baseball Comedy Nostalgia... For those of you that haven t seen the old Abbott and Costello classic Who s on First for a while, we came across a copy on the Net and thought we d insert it just for laffs. It s really something you should hear the audio version of, but text is better than nothing. Here goes... LOU Costello: Hey Abbott. BUD Abbott: What do you want Costello? LOU: Look Abbott. I understand that you're going to be the manager of the Lou Costello Junior Youth Foundation baseball team. We just organized the thing. LOU: Oh you did? BUD: Sure! LOU: Well I'd like to play on the team myself, you know, I know something about baseball. BUD: Well that can be accomplished. LOU: Well I'd like to know some of the guys names on the team, so that when I meet them on the street or in the ballpark, I'll be able to say hello to them.

9 Page 9 BUD: Well surely I'll introduce you to the boys. But, you know strange as it may seem, they give these ballplayers, nowadays, very peculiar names. LOU: You mean funny names? BUD: Nicknames. Petnames. Like Dizzy Dean... LOU: Brother Daffy... BUD: Daffy Dean... LOU: I'm their french cousin,... BUD: French cousin? LOU: Goofe'. BUD: (singing) Take me out to the Ball game, Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and... LOU: Peanuts! Popcorn! Get your Popper Jacks Here! Peanuts! BUD: Sebastian! Sebastian, get over here. Pardon him folks. What do you think your doing? LOU: I wanted the people to feel like they were in the ball park, because... (grabs bat)... I love baseball. When we get to St. Louis, will you tell me the guys' name on the team so when I go to see them in that St. Louis ball park I'll be able to know those fellows? BUD: All right. but you know, strange as it may seem, they give ball players nowadays very peculiar names, nick names, like "Dizzy Dean." LOU: Not as peculiar as mine... Sebastian Dimwitty BUD: Oh Yes. LOU: They got names funnier than mine? WOOOOOOOoooo(siren yell) BUD: Oh Absolutely. BUD: Now on the St. Louis team we have Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third -- LOU: That's what I want to find out. I want you to tell me the names of the fellows on the St. Louis team. BUD: I'm telling you. Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third -- LOU: You know the fellows' names? LOU: Well, then who's playin' first. BUD: Yes LOU: I mean the fellow's name on first base. BUD: Who. LOU: The fellow playin' first base for St. Louis. BUD: Who. LOU: The guy on first base. BUD: Who is on first. LOU: Well, what are you askin' me for? BUD: I'm not asking you -- I'm telling you. WHO IS ON FIRST. LOU: I'm asking you -- who's on first? BUD: That's the man's name! LOU: That's who's name? LOU: Well, go ahead and tell me. BUD: Who.

10 LOU: The guy on first. BUD: Who. LOU: The first baseman. BUD: Who is on first. LOU: Have you got a first baseman on first? BUD: Certainly. LOU: Then who's playing first? BUD: Absolutely. LOU: (pause) When you pay off the first baseman every month, who gets the money? BUD: Every dollar of it. And why not, the man's entitled to it. LOU: Who is? LOU: So who gets it? BUD: Why shouldn't he? Sometimes his wife comes down and collects it. LOU: Who's wife? After all the man earns it. LOU: Who does? BUD: Absolutely. LOU: Well all I'm trying to find out is what's the guys name on first base. BUD: Oh, no, no, What is on second base. LOU: I'm not asking you who's on second. BUD: Who's on first. LOU: That's what I'm trying to find out. BUD: Well, don't change the players around. LOU: I'm not changing nobody. BUD: Now, take it easy. LOU: What's the guy's name on first base? BUD: What's the guy's name on second base. LOU: I'm not askin' ya who's on second. BUD: Who's on first. LOU: I don't know. BUD: He's on third. We're not talking about him. LOU: How could I get on third base? BUD: You mentioned his name. LOU: If I mentioned the third baseman's name, who did I say is playing third? BUD: No, Who's playing first. LOU: Stay offa first, will ya? BUD: Well what do you want me to do? LOU: Now what's the guy's name on first base? BUD: What's on second. LOU: I'm not asking ya who's on second. BUD: Who's on first. LOU: I don't know. BUD: He's on third. LOU: There I go back on third again. Vol 25, #4 Page 10

11 BUD: Well, I can't change their names. LOU: Say, will you please stay on third base. BUD: Please. Now what is it you want to know. LOU: What is the fellow's name on third base. BUD: What is the fellow's name on second base. LOU: I'm not askin' ya who's on second. BUD: Who's on first. LOU: I don't know. BUD: THIRD BASE! LOU: You got an outfield? BUD: Oh, sure. LOU: St. Louis has got a good outfield? BUD: Oh, absolutely. LOU: The left fielder's name? BUD: Why. LOU: I don't know, I just thought I'd ask. BUD: Well, I just thought I'd tell you. LOU: Then tell me who's playing left field. BUD: Who's playing first. LOU: Stay out of the infield! BUD: Don't mention any names out here. LOU: I want to know what's the fellow's name on left field? BUD: What is on second. LOU: I'm not askin' ya who's on second. BUD: Who is on first. LOU: I don't know. BUD & LOU: (together and calmly) Third base. LOU: And the left fielder's name? BUD: Why. LOU: Because. BUD: Oh he's Center Field. LOU: (whimpers) Center field. LOU: Wait a minute. You got a pitcher on this team. BUD: Wouldn't this be a fine team without a pitcher. LOU: I don't know. Tell me the pitcher's name. BUD: Tomorrow. LOU: You don't want to tell me today? BUD: I'm telling you, man. LOU: Then go ahead. BUD: Tomorrow. LOU: What time? BUD: What time what? LOU: What time tomorrow are you gonna tell me who's pitching? BUD: Now listen, Who is not pitching. Who is on -- Vol 25, #4 Page 11

12 Page 12 LOU: I'LL BREAK YOUR ARM IF YOU SAY "WHO'S ON FIRST!" BUD: Then why come up here and ask? LOU: I want to know what's the pitcher's name. BUD: What's on second. LOU: I don't know. BUD & LOU: (VERY QUICKLY) THIRD BASE!! LOU: You gotta Catcher? LOU: The Catcher's name? BUD: Today. LOU: Today. And Tomorrow's pitching. BUD: Now you've got it. LOU: That's all. St. Louis has a couple of days on their team. BUD: Well I can't help that. LOU: You know I'm a good catcher too. BUD: I know that. LOU: I would like to play for the St. Louis team. BUD: Well I might arrange that. LOU: I would like to catch. Now I'm being a good Catcher, tomorrow's pitching on the team, and I'm catching. LOU: Tomorrow throws the ball and the guy up bunts the ball. LOU: Now when he bunts the ball -- me being a good catcher -- I want to throw the guy out at first base, so I pick up the ball and throw it to who? BUD: Now that's the first thing you've said right. LOU: I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!! BUD: Well, that's all you have to do. LOU: is to throw it to first base. LOU: Now who's got it? BUD: Naturally. LOU: Who has it? BUD: Naturally. LOU: Naturally. BUD: Naturally. LOU: O.K. BUD: Now you've got it. LOU: I pick up the ball and I throw it to Naturally. BUD: No you don't you throw the ball to first base. LOU: Then who gets it? BUD: Naturally. LOU: O.K. BUD: All right. LOU: I throw the ball to Naturally.

13 Page 13 BUD: You don't you throw it to Who. LOU: Naturally. BUD: Well, naturally. Say it that way. LOU: That's what I said. BUD: You did not. LOU: I said I'd throw the ball to Naturally. BUD: You don't. You throw it to Who. LOU: Naturally. LOU: So I throw the ball to first base and Naturally gets it. BUD: No. You throw the ball to first base-- LOU: Then who gets it? BUD: Naturally. LOU: That's what I'm saying. BUD: You're not saying that. LOU: I throw the ball to Naturally. BUD: You throw it to Who! LOU: Naturally. BUD: Naturally. Well say it that way. LOU: THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING! BUD: Now don't get excited. LOU: Who's gettin' excited!! I throw the ball to first base-- BUD: Then Who gets it. LOU: (annoyed) HE BETTER GET IT! BUD: That's it. All right now. Take it easy. LOU: Hrmmph. BUD: Hrmmph. LOU: Now I throw the ball to first base, whoever it is grabs the ball, so the guy runs to second. BUD: Uh-huh. LOU: Who picks up the ball and throws it to what. What throws it to I don't know. I don't know throws it back to tomorrow -- a triple play. BUD: Yeah. It could be. LOU: Another guy gets up and it's a long fly ball to center. Why? I don't know, he's on third, and I don't give a damn. BUD: What did you say. LOU: I said "I don't give a damn." BUD: Oh, that's our shortstop! See you all next time... (30)