Friday, October 12, 2007
Round 13 Status
Well, there's really not much of a need for this except to say good job on finishing the round on time. The sole remaining series is San Diego vs. Seattle, which is tentatively scheduled for tonight. Kudos should also go to the Eastern Division, which is completely finished for the 2006 season (thanks to Loren's aggressive pursuit of a finished season before his departure to a place that doesn't even exist on Google Earth). I'll try to post a Round 14 preview, since I couldn't get the Central and Western division previews done after the Eastern one. Good luck everybody - this season is turning into one just as good as the real 2007 MLB we just experienced. I hope I'm the Rockies and not the Mets!
The Official League Constitution Blog Entry
Here is the promised constitution entry. Please take some time to look over the Constitution, and let's essentially playtest our system. Let's try to come up with scenarios for anything and everything that aren't covered by the constitution, and then comment about them. We'll put the ideas up for league-wide votes by the beginning of December and then send out a rough final draft once that's done. We've set the deadline for a finalized document of January 31, 2008. If you want your voice to be heard regarding the way the league is structured, this is the place to do it. The more we participate as individuals, the better the league is going to be!
At Long Last, The League Meeting Summary
It's been almost a month since my last blog entry, and I apologize for the lenthy hiatus. I will try to avoid these, but my brain has been fried by a payroll software conversion. On the bright side, I am now a master of ADP's PayExpert product! Anyway, here's the recap of the 9/23, which was filled with much love, laughter, tears and profanity:
1) Joe Emmert's long reign as the league commissioner is officially over after this season, and the office will die will him. He will now be known as Honorary Commissioner & Founder Emeritus. His sole remaining duty will be to maintain the league's history and statistical archives, which I think we can agree is a task that none of us has the mental strength or free county worktime to perform. It was agreed that a majority vote of the three-member Council will now be the final word on deadlocked league matters. Ongoing, any changes to the league structure, operations and constitution will be decided by a majority vote by league members; the council will make the final decision in case of ties. Since the council has now increased in importance, we decided to recall the current membership and put it to a new vote. We need to vote for three people this time, since we're electing a completely new council. We mentioned a two-week window for a vote, but since it's been in limbo, why don't we just make the voting deadline two weeks from this Sunday (October 28th)? Joe English is the only person to officially announce his candidacy, although I did establish an exploratory committee for the purpose of receiving federal election funds. I'll follow Joe's example and throw my hat into the ring. All others who want to run should e-mail the league as soon as possible, and as a parting gesture, let's have the soon to be former Commish tabulate the votes. Farewell Joseph, We Hardly Knew Ye!
2) The Constitution: Christian's first draft was a good jumping off point, but we agreed that the league needs to finalize and ratify an official draft. The next blog entry will be regarding ideas for the Constitution, so if you have any thoughts, you need to post them there. Sometime in November or early December, we'll take a vote on every section/new idea and then we'll post a preliminary "final" draft. The deadline/final voting for this was established as January 31st, 2008; once the final vote has occurred and any changes are made, we will post the final document on the website.
3) Minor Leagues: Christian referred to this idea as a "pussy way to go", and the majority of the league agreed. As it stands, there will be no minor league system.
4) Respect for Fellow GMs: It was agreed that this should be done without having to create any rules and regulations. Since earlier this year, we've had good league relations and no hurt feelings, other than a little violin-playing pantomime that set off yours truly at the league meeting. We agreed to tone down the attack e-mails and phone calls after GM decisions that we don't particularly like, and we'll create a media section on the website. I'll add a link, and if anybody wants to write a column, either infrequent or on a regular basis, send it to me and I'll post it up. The idea is to keep it tongue and cheek and not be rude.
5) League File: One computer should be the official league system, and Christian agreed to maintain this. After each round, an .lzp file with just that round's games will be sent out and posted on the website. We'll maintain an archive for the entire season's rounds on the website as well.
6) Missing Series Deadlines: We agreed to hold back on establishing a system of penalties for missing games, but we did see this as an ongoing problem. The view of the league was that we're all big kids and that we don't need a parental figure telling us to get things done. As a compromise, we agreed that league members will e-mail me midway through the round to update the status of unplayed series; I will write a blog entry for the round letting everybody know what's happening. As a sidenote, we've been doing a good job of getting games in since the league meeting.
7) Redrawing Divisions: Nobody saw the value in this, so for at least another year, the divisions will stay the same.
8) DH Rule: Even Loren, the guy who proposed this idea, felt this was a bad idea. No DH!
9) E-mailing Series Results: Starting next season, we agreed to start sending out the game results in a .ZIP archive rather than as individual files. I will post a blog entry that explains how to use .ZIP files so that we can all practice this before the start of the '07 games. Also, we will make sure to check off the standard subsets for each game, and the box score and play by play files should be sent along with the game files. Can someone explain how we get these files to come up? I know it's a game option, but I honestly don't know how to do it either. Prior to next season, we'll post a "How to" for each of these tasks.
10) 25 Man Rosters: Starting next year, we agreed that prior to roster expansion, all series will be played with the same 25 man roster from start to finish, with the exception of injury replacements and players returning from injuries.
11) Waiver Pool: It was agreed that a team's day in the waiver pool rotation is a commodity that has to be treated like a player. If a team wishes to trade their spot to another team, they must at a minimum trade the pick for another asset of value (player, draft pick, another waiver pool day in the current or subsequent season).
12) Trade Deadline: We agreed that the current system works fine. In order for a traded player to be eligible for the postseason, they must be traded prior to the trade deadline. Players can be traded after the deadline, but they will not be eligible for postseason play with their new team.
13) Post-Season Rosters: We agreed that rosters for each series should be handled individually. No changes can occur to a roster during a series, except in case of injury, but the rosters can be changed between one round to the next.
14) Injuries: Other than the "Great Lockout" in the mid-90s, this is the single most contentious issue in the history of the league. After much arguing, shedding of tears and a spontaneous performance of Weideman's 3rd Violin Concerto, we came to a tenuous agreement to change the schedule format, beginning next season. To limit the importance of injuries, there will be three days off between each series. This will be an experimental format that will be revisited after the 2007 season. I can't wait for the next league meeting!
I think that covers everything from the meeting, but if I missed anything, please comment. It was great to get everyone together, even if we were a little heated at times. I can't remember the last time we had 10 of 12 managers together in one place (although I'm pretty sure that Loren's house will now be unavailable for future league meetings!). Hopefully, we can get back to some of our annual traditions next season, like the All-Star game, league barbeques, and boxing matches!
1) Joe Emmert's long reign as the league commissioner is officially over after this season, and the office will die will him. He will now be known as Honorary Commissioner & Founder Emeritus. His sole remaining duty will be to maintain the league's history and statistical archives, which I think we can agree is a task that none of us has the mental strength or free county worktime to perform. It was agreed that a majority vote of the three-member Council will now be the final word on deadlocked league matters. Ongoing, any changes to the league structure, operations and constitution will be decided by a majority vote by league members; the council will make the final decision in case of ties. Since the council has now increased in importance, we decided to recall the current membership and put it to a new vote. We need to vote for three people this time, since we're electing a completely new council. We mentioned a two-week window for a vote, but since it's been in limbo, why don't we just make the voting deadline two weeks from this Sunday (October 28th)? Joe English is the only person to officially announce his candidacy, although I did establish an exploratory committee for the purpose of receiving federal election funds. I'll follow Joe's example and throw my hat into the ring. All others who want to run should e-mail the league as soon as possible, and as a parting gesture, let's have the soon to be former Commish tabulate the votes. Farewell Joseph, We Hardly Knew Ye!
2) The Constitution: Christian's first draft was a good jumping off point, but we agreed that the league needs to finalize and ratify an official draft. The next blog entry will be regarding ideas for the Constitution, so if you have any thoughts, you need to post them there. Sometime in November or early December, we'll take a vote on every section/new idea and then we'll post a preliminary "final" draft. The deadline/final voting for this was established as January 31st, 2008; once the final vote has occurred and any changes are made, we will post the final document on the website.
3) Minor Leagues: Christian referred to this idea as a "pussy way to go", and the majority of the league agreed. As it stands, there will be no minor league system.
4) Respect for Fellow GMs: It was agreed that this should be done without having to create any rules and regulations. Since earlier this year, we've had good league relations and no hurt feelings, other than a little violin-playing pantomime that set off yours truly at the league meeting. We agreed to tone down the attack e-mails and phone calls after GM decisions that we don't particularly like, and we'll create a media section on the website. I'll add a link, and if anybody wants to write a column, either infrequent or on a regular basis, send it to me and I'll post it up. The idea is to keep it tongue and cheek and not be rude.
5) League File: One computer should be the official league system, and Christian agreed to maintain this. After each round, an .lzp file with just that round's games will be sent out and posted on the website. We'll maintain an archive for the entire season's rounds on the website as well.
6) Missing Series Deadlines: We agreed to hold back on establishing a system of penalties for missing games, but we did see this as an ongoing problem. The view of the league was that we're all big kids and that we don't need a parental figure telling us to get things done. As a compromise, we agreed that league members will e-mail me midway through the round to update the status of unplayed series; I will write a blog entry for the round letting everybody know what's happening. As a sidenote, we've been doing a good job of getting games in since the league meeting.
7) Redrawing Divisions: Nobody saw the value in this, so for at least another year, the divisions will stay the same.
8) DH Rule: Even Loren, the guy who proposed this idea, felt this was a bad idea. No DH!
9) E-mailing Series Results: Starting next season, we agreed to start sending out the game results in a .ZIP archive rather than as individual files. I will post a blog entry that explains how to use .ZIP files so that we can all practice this before the start of the '07 games. Also, we will make sure to check off the standard subsets for each game, and the box score and play by play files should be sent along with the game files. Can someone explain how we get these files to come up? I know it's a game option, but I honestly don't know how to do it either. Prior to next season, we'll post a "How to" for each of these tasks.
10) 25 Man Rosters: Starting next year, we agreed that prior to roster expansion, all series will be played with the same 25 man roster from start to finish, with the exception of injury replacements and players returning from injuries.
11) Waiver Pool: It was agreed that a team's day in the waiver pool rotation is a commodity that has to be treated like a player. If a team wishes to trade their spot to another team, they must at a minimum trade the pick for another asset of value (player, draft pick, another waiver pool day in the current or subsequent season).
12) Trade Deadline: We agreed that the current system works fine. In order for a traded player to be eligible for the postseason, they must be traded prior to the trade deadline. Players can be traded after the deadline, but they will not be eligible for postseason play with their new team.
13) Post-Season Rosters: We agreed that rosters for each series should be handled individually. No changes can occur to a roster during a series, except in case of injury, but the rosters can be changed between one round to the next.
14) Injuries: Other than the "Great Lockout" in the mid-90s, this is the single most contentious issue in the history of the league. After much arguing, shedding of tears and a spontaneous performance of Weideman's 3rd Violin Concerto, we came to a tenuous agreement to change the schedule format, beginning next season. To limit the importance of injuries, there will be three days off between each series. This will be an experimental format that will be revisited after the 2007 season. I can't wait for the next league meeting!
I think that covers everything from the meeting, but if I missed anything, please comment. It was great to get everyone together, even if we were a little heated at times. I can't remember the last time we had 10 of 12 managers together in one place (although I'm pretty sure that Loren's house will now be unavailable for future league meetings!). Hopefully, we can get back to some of our annual traditions next season, like the All-Star game, league barbeques, and boxing matches!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
An Inspirational Story
I found this story/blog entry on Baseball America; it's a regular feature by a guy who will most likely be a permanent minor league pitcher, maybe someone who'll get a couple of cups of coffee at the most. Anyway, it really says a lot about the role sports plays in our lives and that, while they may seem like meaningless games or a way to make a living to the guys playing them, they're a lot more important to other people. Baseball has been more than just a game to me; ask my dad what baseball meant for me the week that my brother died. The Reds were playing in the World Series, and I drove up to Oakland with my dad and saw them win the whole thing. It was a catharsis that helped me cope with my grief, pain and loss, and even though Chris Sabo and Rob Dibble may have been just 'playing a game', one person in rightfield was getting a whole lot more from their efforts than that.
I hope this moves you as much as it did me:
Dirk Hayhurst is a 26-year-old righthanded reliever in the Padres system who has spent parts of three seasons at high Class A Lake Elsinore.
Though he made it all the way to Triple-A Portland last season, Hayhurst began this year back with the Storm, officially making him a California League veteran.But after going 0-1, 1.80 at the Lake, Hayhurst was promoted to Double-A San Antonio in early May, and made two appearances at Triple-A Portland before settling into the Missions' bullpen. Currently, Hayhurst is 3-1, 3.77 in 45 innings in the Texas League.The 2003 eighth-round pick out of Kent State is writing a diary for Baseball America this season, delving into the side of the minor leagues fans seldom see.
A mother brought her son past the bullpen a few days back. As they approached, we instinctively acted as if our attention was wrapped up in the game; looking away from them, avoiding eye contact.
They made their way directly to us, eyes trained on us, hoping to catch our attention. Soon they had closed the distance and were standing right in front of us, staring expectantly through the fencing with wide eyes and nervous smiles.
"Hello," said the mother. We said nothing in return and continued to act as if we couldn't see or hear her. She stumbled at our coldness, and cast hear eyes around sadly. She looked at her son, who never took his eyes off us, smiled, and then mustered enough courage to try again.
I can't explain to you what its like to avoid someone on purpose. When I write about the concept it just seems too rude and heartless. Maybe it is, but I still do it all the time. In my line of work, sometimes you have to ignore people. You have to tune out the noise of the game. There is no shortage of kids who want balls just because some other kid got one. No shortage of folks who want scraps signed with illegible autographs because everyone else is doing it. No shortage of begging, and pleading for stuff they don't really need, just want because someone else has.
Besides, my signature is just that: words written across something to spell my name. And my name is not important (hence, non-prospect diaries!). Yet to baseball fans, signatures are very important. They're so important in fact, even the mascot signs balls. It doesn't even have to be my name, or a name at all, just the fact we players scribbled on a scrap for fan is enough. Its all about the context.
For me, it's a dead ritual, and doesn't make sense. Maybe this is because I know who I am. Because everyday I see the mistakes and shortcomings I deal with that humanize me. I disagree that I am somehow more valuable because I do this job. Fans however, see my clean uniform and their boyhood dreams incarnate. When my hand presses a pen to paper, they find it magical. I don't understand why this works the way it does, but its lack of logic in no way negates the reality of it.
"My son," said the mother as she looked at her boy, "would really like to meet you."Again, she smiled nervously and again she was met with silence.After a moment I broke and said hello to the young boy. He smiled and tried to hide behind his mom like young kids do when they are nervous. Mom asked him if he could be a big boy and say hello in return? He did, in a mute voice, then ducked behind his mother again. I bent down at the fence to get on the boy's level, steadying myself with one hand on the links. As I did this, the mother knelt down quickly and put her hand on mine. My comfort zone was just violated, but before I could say anything, she spoke, in a soft and sad voice saying, "My son has liver cancer. It's terminal. He really wanted to do this before . . . um, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with him."
I was silent again, but this time for a different reason. I stared at the young boy, then at his mother whose face was serious and stalwart. The fellas around me had started talking with the young boy where I left off, though they were unaware of his condition. I walked away from the scene and over the some of the guys and whispered what I was just told. We looked at each other and, without a word of discussion, scooped up the youngster and placed him the pen with us.
We sat him down in one of our chairs and took seats around him. There he sat while we lavished him with attention. We asked him about everything a young boy loves to talk about: toys, baseball, candy, parks, games . . . We acted amazed at his stories and affirmed how he would become a big leaguer someday. We made him feel special, because he is. Finally, when our time was up and he had to go, without request or prompting, we produced a baseball and signed it for him.
When we gave the boy that ball, there was no dead ritual involved. Our names were no longer scribbles to be collected, and the ball was no longer a souvenir. That baseball was now a letter, and each signature was a testament of hope, encouragement, and joy. I can't explain to you how much happiness it gave that mother and her son to share those moments with us.I still can't explain why people treat us so special for putting on a baseball uniform. But in those few moments together, it didn't really matter--in those few moments, baseball made perfect sense.
You can reach Dirk at dirkhayhurst@baseballamerica.com.
I hope this moves you as much as it did me:
Dirk Hayhurst is a 26-year-old righthanded reliever in the Padres system who has spent parts of three seasons at high Class A Lake Elsinore.
Though he made it all the way to Triple-A Portland last season, Hayhurst began this year back with the Storm, officially making him a California League veteran.But after going 0-1, 1.80 at the Lake, Hayhurst was promoted to Double-A San Antonio in early May, and made two appearances at Triple-A Portland before settling into the Missions' bullpen. Currently, Hayhurst is 3-1, 3.77 in 45 innings in the Texas League.The 2003 eighth-round pick out of Kent State is writing a diary for Baseball America this season, delving into the side of the minor leagues fans seldom see.
A mother brought her son past the bullpen a few days back. As they approached, we instinctively acted as if our attention was wrapped up in the game; looking away from them, avoiding eye contact.
They made their way directly to us, eyes trained on us, hoping to catch our attention. Soon they had closed the distance and were standing right in front of us, staring expectantly through the fencing with wide eyes and nervous smiles.
"Hello," said the mother. We said nothing in return and continued to act as if we couldn't see or hear her. She stumbled at our coldness, and cast hear eyes around sadly. She looked at her son, who never took his eyes off us, smiled, and then mustered enough courage to try again.
I can't explain to you what its like to avoid someone on purpose. When I write about the concept it just seems too rude and heartless. Maybe it is, but I still do it all the time. In my line of work, sometimes you have to ignore people. You have to tune out the noise of the game. There is no shortage of kids who want balls just because some other kid got one. No shortage of folks who want scraps signed with illegible autographs because everyone else is doing it. No shortage of begging, and pleading for stuff they don't really need, just want because someone else has.
Besides, my signature is just that: words written across something to spell my name. And my name is not important (hence, non-prospect diaries!). Yet to baseball fans, signatures are very important. They're so important in fact, even the mascot signs balls. It doesn't even have to be my name, or a name at all, just the fact we players scribbled on a scrap for fan is enough. Its all about the context.
For me, it's a dead ritual, and doesn't make sense. Maybe this is because I know who I am. Because everyday I see the mistakes and shortcomings I deal with that humanize me. I disagree that I am somehow more valuable because I do this job. Fans however, see my clean uniform and their boyhood dreams incarnate. When my hand presses a pen to paper, they find it magical. I don't understand why this works the way it does, but its lack of logic in no way negates the reality of it.
"My son," said the mother as she looked at her boy, "would really like to meet you."Again, she smiled nervously and again she was met with silence.After a moment I broke and said hello to the young boy. He smiled and tried to hide behind his mom like young kids do when they are nervous. Mom asked him if he could be a big boy and say hello in return? He did, in a mute voice, then ducked behind his mother again. I bent down at the fence to get on the boy's level, steadying myself with one hand on the links. As I did this, the mother knelt down quickly and put her hand on mine. My comfort zone was just violated, but before I could say anything, she spoke, in a soft and sad voice saying, "My son has liver cancer. It's terminal. He really wanted to do this before . . . um, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with him."
I was silent again, but this time for a different reason. I stared at the young boy, then at his mother whose face was serious and stalwart. The fellas around me had started talking with the young boy where I left off, though they were unaware of his condition. I walked away from the scene and over the some of the guys and whispered what I was just told. We looked at each other and, without a word of discussion, scooped up the youngster and placed him the pen with us.
We sat him down in one of our chairs and took seats around him. There he sat while we lavished him with attention. We asked him about everything a young boy loves to talk about: toys, baseball, candy, parks, games . . . We acted amazed at his stories and affirmed how he would become a big leaguer someday. We made him feel special, because he is. Finally, when our time was up and he had to go, without request or prompting, we produced a baseball and signed it for him.
When we gave the boy that ball, there was no dead ritual involved. Our names were no longer scribbles to be collected, and the ball was no longer a souvenir. That baseball was now a letter, and each signature was a testament of hope, encouragement, and joy. I can't explain to you how much happiness it gave that mother and her son to share those moments with us.I still can't explain why people treat us so special for putting on a baseball uniform. But in those few moments together, it didn't really matter--in those few moments, baseball made perfect sense.
You can reach Dirk at dirkhayhurst@baseballamerica.com.
Monday, September 10, 2007
A Preview of the League Meeting
My sources in the future have sent me a glimpse of the upcoming league meeting. Things look they're going well at this point:
Injury Scenario
Here's a hypothetical situation that involves roster management, injuries and the post-season. Let's say that you're winning your division, and on the last day of the season, all three of the catchers on your roster suffer fifteen game injuries. Since any acquisitions made after the trade deadline are not eligible for the post-season, what would you do in this case? Technically, a team that doesn't have two position players on their roster has to forfeit - what would we do here? It's one for the constitution, I suppose.
PS This is only one of the many reasons I'd like to see the injuries turned off until Strat comes up with a solution to the current problem.
PS This is only one of the many reasons I'd like to see the injuries turned off until Strat comes up with a solution to the current problem.
The League Meeting: A Wrinkle In The Plan
Hey all,
Christian has advised that he will be in Santa Clarita on Saturday, the 22nd, and he can stay up there overnight until Sunday. He's down with doing the meeting somewhere in the SCV instead of in OC. How does everybody feel about making the change? Loren's traveling right now, but he did offer his place as a potential meeting location. What say everybody? If we can get a final headcount by the end of the week, I'll start working on a meeting agenda. These are definitely some of the items that people want to discuss:
Christian has advised that he will be in Santa Clarita on Saturday, the 22nd, and he can stay up there overnight until Sunday. He's down with doing the meeting somewhere in the SCV instead of in OC. How does everybody feel about making the change? Loren's traveling right now, but he did offer his place as a potential meeting location. What say everybody? If we can get a final headcount by the end of the week, I'll start working on a meeting agenda. These are definitely some of the items that people want to discuss:
- Redrawing the divisions
- The missed series deadlines
- Injuries being turned off
- The 1911 Season
- Finishing the Constitution
- Potential managerial vacancies
- Standardization of game procedures
- Playing the All-Star Game
If there's anything else not on the list, comment here. I highly recommend that you sign up for a Blogger account so that we all know who's leaving the comment, but otherwise, if you're anonymous, just say who you are in the body of the comment.
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