Since my "Mark Your Calendar" message last week concerning the '08 draft date of March 28th, a couple of thing have happened.
ITEM # 1.
You had probably seen Harv's e-mail reply that ------ YES, Windsor Place will be available as the location once again for the NPL draft. And THANKS to Harv for those arrangements. We'll firm up the time as we get closer, but probably 6:30 PM to arrive at WP. Harv is going to try to arrange for valet parking for you guys this year!
ITEM # 2.
One of our 16 year veterans has let me know that he is hanging up his NPL cap and is going to relax this summer in fantasy baseball retirement.
Yes, Al Cotton of the Alabama Slammers will not be back this season. I know we're all going to miss Al's input and humor. And geez...... Who's going to put the "poll questions" on the league home page now? It doesn't happen very often that a long term member retires from a fantasy game, so I wanted to take a look at how the Slammers ranked in career statistics and give Al some props for all of his contributions over the years. And keep in mind I didn't do this when Bernie left --- so Al, you should feel honored!
But first a brief look back in North Park League history…….. We note the fact that this fantasy baseball league was established in 1992 as an 8 team league. In ’92 Tom Vandergrift and I were invited to join a group (the original 6 - like the NHL) who did something (although no records exist) regarding fantasy baseball in 1991. Those six were Al Cotton, Larry Ott, Bill Harvey, John Stasko, Bernie Nestler and Jeff (Mario) Poholsky. So in 1992, Vandy and I joined and we were off and running as an 8 team league. I recall that first draft in ’92 was held in West View at Al’s mom’s house. The draft board which we wrote our players names on with a marker was placed up against the living room mantle. I went to the archives to look at those ’92 rosters. No draft order was listed, but the Slammers had two players on that first team who are very newsworthy at this moment. One was a Pirate in ‘92 and the other a Red Sox. Isn’t it strange to see that in 1992 both Barry Bonds (Bucs) and Roger Clemens (Sawx) were both on the same NPL fantasy team! Even a little more bizarre is that Ken Camaniti and Gary Sheffield were also Alabama Slammers in 1992. If we only knew then what we know now I’m sure we would have been jagging Al, calling that team the Alabama Steroid Slammers!!
Al’s experience in serving as Commissioner of the Spare Room Fantasy Football League led to the set up of many of the fantasy baseball procedures we use today, and when Al, Harv and Big O found us the North Star Grove in North Park to conduct mid-season pick-ups, we then ended up calling the fantasy league “North Park” when we had to choose a league name, as modern technology gave us the opportunity to go to an on-line website for record keeping in 1997.
So with that brief blast into the past, let’s look at the Slammers numbers over the years. For ranking purposes, there are 15 NPL franchises (different teams) on record. Not individuals, but teams. For example, Bob S and Tony are both part of TWO franchises, one as a solo owner and one with a partner.
Although the Slammers never found that elusive championship ring, you’ll see they fared pretty well overall.
MOST “IN THE MONEY” FINISHES:
11 – (rank: 2nd out of 15 franchises.)
FINISHED:
2nd Place – (4.) 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004
3rd Place - (3.) 1993, 1997, 2000
4th Place - (3.) 1996, 2002, 2007
5th Place - (1.) 2005
MOST ROSTER MOVES MADE:
511 – (rank: 2nd.)
MOST TOTAL POINTS SCORED:
182,202 – (rank: 3rd.)
MOST MONEY WON -- $$:
$2,376.80 – (rank: 4th.)
And I had a phone call this week from an NPL owner (and I’m not suppose to leak Eddie’s name) requesting that the mandatory 5 year waiting period should be lifted so Al could immediately go into the NPL Hall of Fame!! In case you’re wondering where this HOF is located, I understand that Harv is overseeing the construction of a new wing being built onto Windsor Place that will house the NPL-HOF at some future date.
So Al, even before I sent this out, I had just happened to be communicating with three different league members who all said the same thing -- that they were all sorry to see you retire, but respect your decision, and of course you always have an open invitation to drafts, get togethers, etc, and who knows………. Maybe down the line you’ll want to return and I’m predicting you hook up with another owner to form a partnership. In fact, I can just see it now. THE....
Al’s experience in serving as Commissioner of the Spare Room Fantasy Football League led to the set up of many of the fantasy baseball procedures we use today, and when Al, Harv and Big O found us the North Star Grove in North Park to conduct mid-season pick-ups, we then ended up calling the fantasy league “North Park” when we had to choose a league name, as modern technology gave us the opportunity to go to an on-line website for record keeping in 1997.
So with that brief blast into the past, let’s look at the Slammers numbers over the years. For ranking purposes, there are 15 NPL franchises (different teams) on record. Not individuals, but teams. For example, Bob S and Tony are both part of TWO franchises, one as a solo owner and one with a partner.
Although the Slammers never found that elusive championship ring, you’ll see they fared pretty well overall.
MOST “IN THE MONEY” FINISHES:
11 – (rank: 2nd out of 15 franchises.)
FINISHED:
2nd Place – (4.) 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004
3rd Place - (3.) 1993, 1997, 2000
4th Place - (3.) 1996, 2002, 2007
5th Place - (1.) 2005
MOST ROSTER MOVES MADE:
511 – (rank: 2nd.)
MOST TOTAL POINTS SCORED:
182,202 – (rank: 3rd.)
MOST MONEY WON -- $$:
$2,376.80 – (rank: 4th.)
And I had a phone call this week from an NPL owner (and I’m not suppose to leak Eddie’s name) requesting that the mandatory 5 year waiting period should be lifted so Al could immediately go into the NPL Hall of Fame!! In case you’re wondering where this HOF is located, I understand that Harv is overseeing the construction of a new wing being built onto Windsor Place that will house the NPL-HOF at some future date.
So Al, even before I sent this out, I had just happened to be communicating with three different league members who all said the same thing -- that they were all sorry to see you retire, but respect your decision, and of course you always have an open invitation to drafts, get togethers, etc, and who knows………. Maybe down the line you’ll want to return and I’m predicting you hook up with another owner to form a partnership. In fact, I can just see it now. THE....
Yikes !!
ITEM #3.
Tony & Eddie confirmed that they have decided NOT to split up to fill the open vacancy. It was their option, as that would have been the obvious first thing to offer. But the BULLDOGS remain intact, and in fact, they are already stating that 2008 is “The Year of the Dog!” Okay then………
I don’t anticipate a problem in finding a new owner to fill the opening, and we can get into that further as we move forward, along with the usual pre-season review of things. It's still very early. There's a big football game to be played out in Arizona yet. And you know that if you have any questions or comments, just give me a shout.
Tony & Eddie confirmed that they have decided NOT to split up to fill the open vacancy. It was their option, as that would have been the obvious first thing to offer. But the BULLDOGS remain intact, and in fact, they are already stating that 2008 is “The Year of the Dog!” Okay then………
I don’t anticipate a problem in finding a new owner to fill the opening, and we can get into that further as we move forward, along with the usual pre-season review of things. It's still very early. There's a big football game to be played out in Arizona yet. And you know that if you have any questions or comments, just give me a shout.
And this may be a standard thing I do on Blog postings this year...... I'll conclude by leaving the link to a YOU-TUBE video clip and for the most part it will be baseball related, although not always.
Naturally you need volume up for these, and the one below is a 55 second clip with music from FOX SPORTS - BASEBALL THEME. Enjoy!
