Minutes of the Vintage Softball Club meeting of February 7, 2012 Attendees: Mike Friedman, President Jim Callan, Vice President Jim Gross, Treasurer Larry Murchison, Secretary Pete Chen, Director Bob LeFevre, Director Mark Loveless, Director Ernie Gomez, Director Lester Sutherland, Director - Absent Roger Anderson, Evening league Co-Commissioner Dana Maslak, Evening League Co- Commissioner - Absent Frank Kadlecek, Fun league Commissioner - Absent Jack Boniface, Tuesday/Thursday league Commissioner Lou Silver, Saturday Co-Commissioner Jim Batterson - Guest Agenda Review Mike Friedman introduced Jim Batterson who gave a report on the Dedicated Fields Committee. See below. Opening Remarks In honor of the recent Super Bowl, this Quote from Jim Bouton: "Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field." More Proof (two quotes from football players): "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.", Joe Theismann I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first, George Rogers (former) Saints RB Dedicated Fields Committee Report Jim Batterson gave a detailed and interesting report on the findings of the Dedicated Fields Committee. The focus of this committee is to look into long range plans for Vintage Saturday
leagues, information gather can also be applicable for week day leagues. The report is far too extensive to be presented here in its entirety. A key point is that the city of San Jose is still trying to figure a way of making more money for the Parks and Recreation Department and raising the cost of renting their fields is an ongoing concern. For instance, we pay $4.00 an hour for our field rentals whereas other cities charge from $40.00 to $60.00 an hour. If we lose this payment schedule and the convenient use of Moffett Field the cost of membership could increase drastically. It should be noted that in the committee s work they have researched the feasibility of every possible playing field in Santa Clara county including public parks, schools and private fields. Although the job is not yet completed, the committee members, Larry Maibaum, Pat Pizzo, Jim Gross, Charlie Carinalli, and Jim Batterson (chair) are to be congratulated on a job well done. Minutes of the previous meeting The comp for Bob Bilikas and Dave Carothers should have mentioned that this comp is in place indefinitely until rescinded. Treasurer s Report Jim Gross' treasurer's report mentioned that this year's supply of Baden softballs will cost $37.50 per dozen. Dudley balls have been ordered from SANCRA for the Fun League. Otherwise the club is in good financial condition. Old Business STATUS - 2012 LEAGUE STANDINGS Secretary Larry Murchison announced the club has 193 members and there are 43 members that have yet to re-sign. Some of those are probably waiting for the summer before signing up again. An update to the player ratings has been
received and the master roster will soon be updated. NEW HANDBOOK A new handbook has been created and will be handed out to new members only. The only changes are to update the officers who were elected last year and the addition of directions to Starbird (now being used by Thursday league) The current handbook can be viewed at http://www.seniorsoftballsanjose.com/vintage_rulebook.pdf WHO'S RUNNING THE RULES COMMITTEE The Rules Committee consists of all the commissioners and Larry Maibaum is the chairman. NEW HANDBOOK Rules issue: A runner standing on third base is dead in line to get knocked off the bag by a heavy hitting right hander. A suggestion for a rule change was made by Jim Callan allowing the runner to stand in foul territory perpendicular to the left foul line and even with the front of the third base bag. That is, standing in foul territory but no close to home plate than the third base bag. The wording of this rule was referred to the Rules Committee for refinement and endorsement. New Business PLAYER SAFETY CONCERNS It has come to the attention that some players are just not physically able, from a safety perspective, to compete in Tuesday, Thursday or maybe even Saturday leagues. Some members are concerned that because of limited reflexes and other shortcomings there are increased chances for injuries. When noticed, these players will be encouraged, if they are eligible, to consider the Fun league as an alternative. MY MEETING WITH CHARLIE ROSE By Mike Friedman At the encouragement of club members I met with a manager at
Charlie Rose to open discussions as to how they could benefit Vintage and how Vintage can benefit Charlie Rose. Opportunities for discounts to the club and club members for purchases of anything from bats to balls to gloves to uniforms to any other equipment are possible as well as a free token for club members to use the batting cage. Nothing was finalized, no commitments made on either side. If there is anyone in the league that would like to have us pursue this further, please contact me. Until then, if you DO go to Charlie Rose to purchase anything, mention that you are from Vintage Softball (not to be confuse with vintage baseball notice lower case) even if you don t get a discount this time, if enough people go there and mention our name the better it will be for us. Charlie Rose Softball Sporting Goods store is located at 161 Curtner Avenue, Campbell near Curtner and Camden. League Commissioner Reports WEEKNIGHT LEAGUE No report, games begin in late March, weather permitting. FUN LEAGUE The Fun League continues with batting practice followed by games every Monday and Wednesday mornings at Hamann Park. TUESDAY/THURSDAY LEAGUE Jack announced that there are four teams for Thursday but may expand to five teams. Right now there are three teams for Tuesdays. It was suggested that the team not playing on Tuesday get together with a Redwood City team that also has a bye either at their field or ours. Games scheduled at Santana will from now on be played at Starbird. SATURDAY LEAGUE The draft for the March-June season will be held on Saturday
February 18 th. Due to the popularity and success of our club, the next Saturday season will have nine teams. INPUT FOR A VINTAGE NEWSLETTER David Carothers wants you to please interface with him concerning anything interesting you might have to say. See Dave s Corner on http://www.seniorsoftballsanjose.com/. Dave can be reached at ghost_rider_111@yahoo.com. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM. Faithfully submitted by Larry Murchison & Mike Friedman I may be old, but I saw all the cool bands.