#1 Overall Draft History & Turn Back The Clock - VOLUME 4.

After the draft, Bob asked me if I had a record of all the #1 OVERALL Draft Choices in the North Park League?

Answer: Hell ya!

Here it is…. I had forgotten what a beast Frank Thomas used to be in this league. Ironically, today he was released by Toronto (mutual agreement).

#1 OVERALL BY PLAYER:

17 Seasons: 1992 – 2008

Frank Thomas – 5

Alex Rodriguez – 4

Randy Johnson – 3

Ken Griffey Jr – 2

Albert Pujols – 2

Pedro Martinez – 1

# 1 OVERALL BY YEAR / with OWNER

1992 – Frank Thomas (Wsox) by Mario’s

1993 – Frank Thomas (Wsox) by Nits

1994 – Ken Griffey Jr (Sea.) by Lockhorns

1995 – Frank Thomas (Wsox) by Young Jeffries Players

1996 – Frank Thomas (Wsox) by Young Jeffries Players

1997 – Frank Thomas (Wsox) by Lockhorns

1998 – Ken Griffey Jr (Sea.) by Kooperstown Kids

1999 – Alex Rodriguez (Sea.) by Rock Cats

2000 – Pedro Martinez (Bos.) by Pittsburgh O’s

2001 – Randy Johnson (Arz.) by Pittsburgh O’s

2002 - Randy Johnson (Arz.) by H-Bombs

2003 – Alex Rodriguez (Tex.) by Pittsburgh O’s

2004 – Alex Rodriguez (Nyy) by H-Bombs

2005 – Randy Johnson (Nyy) by Pittsburgh O’s

2006 – Albert Pujols (St.L) by H-Bombs

2007 – Albert Pujols (St.L) by Pittsburgh O’s

2008 – Alex Rodriguez (Nyy) by H-Bombs


NOTE:
In 1994, the Big Hurt was the #2 overall pick, in 1998 the #5 overall pick, but was no longer a 1st round selection from that point on. His decline started the following year in 1999 when he went in the 5th round.

A-Rod as a #1 overall 4 times from three different MLB teams – Seattle (1), Texas (1) and the Yankees (2).


-----------------

TURN BACK THE CLOCK – VOLUME 4.

Some of the Turn Back the Clock stories are about real events that happened to NPL owners over the years that I was able to share with everyone. And the only thing I can add to that is that these events are true stories. In fact, they’re too bizarre to be made up.

THE NORTH PARK LEAGUE GOES TO THE BOSTON MARATHON!

With it being that Marathon time of the year, you may recall this incident from three years ago.

Reprinted from April 21, 2005.

As you know the Owls John Frissora was in Beantown for the Boston Marathon this past week. Dana’s finishing time was a good 4:14 in the heat, on the hills and among a sea of runners, BUT that time included 11 minutes at the start of the race in which her part of the pack was running just to REACH THE OFFICIAL STARTING LINE!!! That’s like having to run an EXTRA mile, to get an idea of how many runners there are. John said the crowds were unbelievably large. He drove around, parking and trying to stay ahead of her to catch a glimpse of her running at different points along the course. At about the 13 mile mark John got a good spot right along the curb – front row. Then all of a sudden, the Junior Senator from Mass and his high brow wife Theresa Heinz show up at the same spot and Kerry rudely elbows his way right in front of John, Theresa in tow and of all things, she’s wearing this huge party hat and now John can’t see anything.

Highly disturbed, the Owl told Kerry he cost him a $20 bet when he went down to defeat to Dubya, and John was ready to go all Tony Montana on him, but then noticed that as a disturbance was being caused, Kerry’s body guards were starting to close in, so John thought better of it and scampered out of there before the Men In Black could wrap him up.


And in the meantime, Dana was running by and because of the commotion, John missed her!! Damn Kerry!!

YOU TUBE:

Good luck to the ...... "Boys of Winter." (2 minutes in length) Crank up the volume.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQJPsw5UZAU

--DJ

NPL - Turn Back The Clock - VOLUME 3.

This poem was originally written for Opening Day 2003. I've modified the first stanza to make it relelvant to 2008.

----------------

“PLAY BALL!! IT’S A NEW SEASON.”

--by Kommish.

The 2008 draft is complete, the rosters intact
Can the Big Train go Back-to-Back?

While all ten teams try to win the cash
Harv and Big Daddy are talkin’ some trash.

And as more fantasy rivalries brew
There are other reasons why we like baseball too.

It’s a can of corn and frozen ropes
Bloops, blasts and springtime hopes.

Overhand curveballs and knee-high strikes
Sliding into second, with flashing spikes.

The infield hit, a long home run
Doubleheaders, the radar gun.

The curve, the knuckler, slider and spitter
A slugfest, or the chance no-hitter.

The majors, the minors, the kids, the vets
The Lumber Company, the Amazing Mets.

The squeeze bunt and the hit and run
The double steal on three and one.

The infield fly rule, the intentional pass
Both real and artificial grass.

The Texas leaguer and the Baltimore chop
The routine grounder or astro turf hop.

Signs to take and signs to steal
Beating the deadline with a late night deal.

Balls with eyes and rain delays
Around the horn double plays.

Passed balls and real wild pitches
Throwback uniforms with old stretch britches.

Great old nicknames like the “Iron Horse”
A moniker tribute to Gehrig, of course

Louisville Sluggers by H&B
Baseball Tonight on ESPN-TV.

Cold beer, stadium mustard on ballpark franks
And sometimes, even the New York Yanks.

For all this and more we have good reason
To say PLAY BALL!!! IT’S A NEW SEASON.

2008 POST DRAFT NUMBERS & COMMENTS

Greetings: Another successful drafting event was held and below are some stats and comments. Then it’s time to Play Ball.

For the first year we can probably remember, there was no Barry Bonds or Mike Piazza on anyone’s draft list. And familiar names such as Mike Mussina, Richie Sexson, Jason Giambi, Jason Kendall, Frank Thomas, Ray Durham and Brian Giles are still active players not on the DL, but also not drafted. But of course pick-ups may give them an opportunity to be on an NPL roster at some point. Here are some numbers from the draft.

Most Drafted from one team:
13 – Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Yankees
12 – Tigers
11 – Cubs, Dodgers, Brewers, White Sox

Least Drafted from:
3 – Marlins
5 – Giants, Nationals

Pirates: 9
LaRoche, Sanchez, Wilson, Bay, McLouth, Snell, Gorzelanny, Duke, Capps

Ex-Pirates: 6
A. Ramirez, O. Perez, B. Arroyo, J. Guillen, M. Batista, T. Wigginton

266 total drafted, which includes the 6 additional players drafted as a result of the DL

138 from the N.L.
128 from the A.L.

Time of Draft – Players names called:
START: 6:40 PM
END: 9:25 PM

TOTAL TIME DRAFTING:

2 hours 45 minutes with about a 15 minute break at the mid-way point.

So, 2 hours 30 minutes of drafting, divided by 266 players selected means that a name was called on an AVERAGE of every 56 seconds.

(Just thought you wanted to know!!)

TEAM COMMENTS: (In draft order)

H-BOMBS:
“Worst to First?”

Big Daddy surprised everyone by attending this draft alcohol free. And he did an excellent job, as you’ll see when the prediction votes are published. John showed a preference for those teams from Ohio. 3 Reds and 3 from the Tribe. When I mentioned in the NPL news article that of a particular 11th round draft pick, well that player just happens to be a member of the H-Bombs. You see, Vernon Wells may be the type of player you want on your fantasy team. He’s a winner. In fact, Wells has been on the championship team in the North Park League for the last 3 years. In 2005 with the Kids, 2006 as an H-Bomb and last year in ’07 he was with the Big Train. Could Wells and Schoming bring back that 2006 magic again and make it 4 in a row for Wells? We’ll see…. And of course we should mention the #1 overall draft pick. An obvious choice in 2008 was Alex Rodriguez. But what does A-Rod think about joining the H-Bombs? Does he have any comments or anything to tell B.D.? Yes, he sent this message…….

69’ERS:
“Those fabulous Phillies”

Understanding the circumstances of Piffy not being able to attend, Bryan the Sticker Boy filled in and did an admirable job of helping Piff out. The top choice that Piff requested to me was the top hitting middle infielder in baseball – Chase Utley. And Bryan got him a 69’er from 2007 as his top pitcher in young and talented Cole Hamels. And a good pitcher in John Lackey of the Halos is expected off the DL in mid-May and the Niners have him in reserve.

PITTSBURGH O’S:
“We Will”

As you may expect, Larry led the Bucco parade with 4. LaRoche and Wilson to score on offense, and Gorzy and Capps to get the Win and the Save. While Harv made a splash with the Japanese players, the Big O quietly selected Akinori Iwamura, Ichiro Suzuki, Chien-Ming Wang and Takashi Saito from the Far East. It also appears that the O’s will attempt to re-claim that coveted Stolen Base Crown. Soriano, Crawford, Ichiro and Escobar will bring back the Running O’s in 2008.

KOOPERSTOWN KIDS:
“The name is the same.”

This team may be confusing. We have not one, but TWO Chris Young’s joining up with Michael Young. And we have TWO M. Cabrera’s in Miguel and Melky. And this Soto guy? Is that Mexican or Japanese?? Again, I’m confused. You know, someone mentioned that the Kids have finished out of the money for two years in a row. But I have to say I have no recall of that because my memory was “cleansed” by “The Haitian” from the show Heroes!

LOCKHORNS:
“We play our home games in the Tokyo Dome”

Yes, Harv is predicting (or maybe just hopeful) that Kosuke Fukudome is the Japanese Roy Hobbs. And yep, Harv sure did have fun with that name! The picks of Fukky, along with Kurt Suzuki and Hiroki Kuroda led to the Current Quote from Harv located in the upper right side of this blog. Pujols in the 3rd round could be a steal if the elbow doesn’t blow out, and the Lockhorns bring back draft picks Kinsler, King Felix, Johnny Maine, David Bush and closer Jose Valverde from the 2007 squad.

BULLDOGS:
“It’s all about teamwork”

The first Pirate player taken in 2008 was not from Larry or Bob, but by the Bulldogs. Jason Bay in round 10. Just a couple of years ago J-Bay was a 2nd rounder. The fact that Matt Holliday was still on the board for the 6th selection was no doubt a pleasant surprise to Tony and Eddie. He and the Fresh Prince of Milwaukee will be a formidable 1 – 2 power punch and they have a Boston combo in Dice-K and Paplebon from the pitching side. 24th round selection Ervin Santana is a curious subject. Can they only play him at home? His career numbers are 25-9 with a 3.14 ERA in Anaheim and 10-21 with a 7.14 ERA on the road. Dogs go for 3 years out of 3 for finishing in the money in 2008.

ROCK CATS:
“Pitching wins championships.”

First things first…… In case you were not aware, a big CONGRATS to John and Becky on the upcoming birth of their first child. Expected date is around late May or June 1st. It’s a girl. Will John do as Big Daddy did two years ago and call in his baseball moves from the delivery room?? Okay, now back to baseball…….. The Cats jumped on starting pitching in rounds 2, 3, 4 and 9 and they also gravitated to players from the strong teams. 4 D-Backs, and 3 each from the Cubs, Indians and Yankees. But with that first round pick, the Raven is looking to find “The Wright Stuff.”

OWLS:
“Red Sox Nation”

If you noticed John intently filling out paperwork at his table after the draft, you assumed he was filling out his prediction sheet. Not really. He was writing out his resignation to the Evil Empire and filling out his application to Red Sox Nation. Last year the Owls were heavy on NYY. This season they travel down to Beantown to select 5 from the BoSox. That number is the most drafted from any one MLB team by an NPL team. And all 5 are hitters. A Red Sox rain-out is a bad day. A doubleheader is good day. John went with Closers in back-to-back rounds of 6 and 7. Hmmm, do I detect a historical pattern here John?? The pitching will be fortified with the return of Smoltz and Kazmir as the Owls left the building with $9.00 owed in transaction fees. In 2008 the Owls are flying for their 4th consecutive season of finishing in the top division and thus – in the money.

THE BIG TRAIN:
“Back-to-Back”

Bob left the 2008 draft carrying out the hardware which is the 2007 Championship Trophy and the presentation from the former champion – John Schoming of the H-Bombs.



After Bob took a victory lap around the Windsor Place parking lot holding the bobblehead aloft, it was time to get down to business. Also taking top pitching early, the Train got former team member from '07 Josh Beckett back in round 3 and prior to that it was Jake Peavy in the 2nd as the Train has 3 hurlers from the Pods. Ian Snell and Nate McLouth represent the Black & Gold and Bob was no doubt impressed with the Bucco centerfielder based on that first Spring Training telecast when it was just two minutes into the game that Lanny once again labeled McLouth as the “N-Dog” and Wehner called him a “professional hitter.” Which I guess is better than being a non-professional hitter. 2008 will be all about defending the title for the men of Walter Johnson.

VULCANS:
“Rookie of the Year”

Welcome aboard Rich and I know everyone thought you did a great job with your first NPL draft as the prediction votes will indicate. Picking from the 10 hole is not always easy but the wrap around to take two top catchers in Mauer and McCann with 3 and 4 looks like a nifty move. Rich would not know this but the 16th round selection mentioned in the website article also has good luck on his side. Like Vernon Wells, Aaron Rowand is the other NPL player going for 4 in a row. So yes, he and Wells were NPL teammates on those winning teams the last 3 seasons and now Rowand has his shot as a Vulcan to extend that streak. Here’s another curious player statistic. The Vulcs have Brad Penny. He should be good in the first half. In the past three seasons he’s 25-8 with a 2.88 ERA before the break but just 14-14 with a 4.82 in the 2nd half. And I don’t know if there is a rivalry in the making here, but do Vulcans feast on Owls?? I’m just asking……….

YOU-TUBE:
In honor of opening day…… This is 1 minute long and it closes with a member of the Pittsburgh O’s swinging the bat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Y940ak0Us&feature=related

NPL - Turn Back The Clock - VOLUME 2.

I originally posted this 10 years ago, back in 1998.

“THE BAT”




It bunts, squeezes, swings, flails and chops.

It’s shattered, splintered, cracked and choked.

It’s kissed, cursed, corked, taped and tarred.


It’s 32 ounces of white ash.

It lays down a 12 foot bunt. It launches a 450 foot rocket.

It churns like a windmill in anticipation.



If it’s propped in the corner of a room you can’t resist picking it up and taking a few practice swings.

It’s what you swing in your den when you’re 45 while you tell your friends about your glory days.

The difference between an aluminum one and a wooden one is the difference between a ping and a thwack.

Honus Wagner was the first player to have his signature branded on one.

Shoeless Joe called his “Black Betsy.”


When you heard it make a certain noise over the radio, you knew what it meant before the announcer said a word.

When a hitter’s in a slump, he’ll change it more often than his underwear.

When he’s hot, he’ll guard it with his life.

It doesn’t come with a set of instructions.

The first thing you learned was to hold it with the label facing you so you wouldn’t crack it.

If your only athletic skill is using it well, they’ll find a place for you.

It’s memories of a game, or a season, or a career.

Try to imagine Clemente wearing batting gloves to hold it.




-----------------------------

YOU-TUBE:
This is 2 minutes 32 seconds in length. Since it's NCAA time, We're sure to have at least "One Shining Moment." This video is the 1992 version. That is the year of the Christian Laettner miracle shot vs. Kentucky. But watch closely at about 17 seconds in. You'll see Robert Morris College play-by-play announcer Chris Shovlin getting his head shaved by the team. His reward for the Colonials making the Dance in March of 1992.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPmF9bK9hs

NPL - Turn Back The Clock - VOLUME 1.

This NPL newsletter item was originally written about 5 years ago, when it was the 30th anniversary of the infamous Yankees "TRADE of the CENTURY." This week on March 5th it will mark the official 35th anniversary of the announcement of this event, so the timing seemed right to make this Volume 1 in what will be a year long series of taking a look back in NPL history. It may be re-prints of special write-ups that I published, but mostly it will be events or "incidents" that took place with our own members. And believe it or not, some even involve guys other than Big Daddy!

So with that introduction......

On March 5, 1973, Yankees lefty Mike Kekich explained it as......

"It isn't a wife swap, It's a life swap."

(factual info is from Sports Illustrated magazine.)

Lefthanded pitchers are supposed to be flakes. FRITZ PETERSON and MIKE KEKICH were both lefties; in 1972 they were teammates with the New York Yankees, best friends with adjoining lockers and chummy spouses. But baseball - not to mention the rest of America was not ready for the news that broke on March 5, 1973. The New York Times headline read: "2 Yankees Disclose Family Exchange." The previous October Fritz (far right) had swapped his wife, Marilyn, his two kids and a poodle for Susanne Kekich (second from right), the two Kekich children and a Bedlington terrier. Fritz & Marilyn and Mike & Suzanne quickly became the most celebrated names in sports. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who said he was "appalled" at the exchange but powerless to reverse it, received more mail on this wife/family swap than on the introduction of the DH rule that same spring.

And what of the outcome this many years later? Details are hard to come by. Peterson and Kekich have kept low public profiles in recent years. Although both have run afoul of the IRS. Peterson once declared bankruptcy, and Kekich has been sued for nonpayment of student loans. Peterson, though, seems to have gotten the better of the deal. He and Susanne are still married, have four children of their own and live outside Chicago, as Fritz works as a casino-boat dealer in Elgin, Illinois after a failed foray into real estate.

The Mike and Marilyn combination, however, quickly unraveled. Three months after the pitchers went public, Kekich was shipped off to Cleveland and would start only eight more games in the majors. He is remarried and living in Albuquerque, where his current occupation is unknown. Marilyn had taken her two kids and opted for what one report calls "Midwestern obscurity" -- which, presumably, is not a place where kooky New York lefthanders swap wives.

Is this story made for Hollywood? Maybe. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have obtained the rights to the screenplay. But it's not exactly the Yankees Field of Dreams.

This reports YOUTUBE clip....

With the passing of Myron Cope, we've seen some of his best Steeler stuff on the news. The Christmas Carols, etc. But do you remember when he filmed a Pirates bit for the 1990 playoffs? The link below is for his crazy rendition of MC Hammer's "You can't touch this" and it even has some shots of the '90 Pirates team and Cope is decked out as a rapper! (Length 2 mins, 10 sec.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRGMXlNJa1U

GIVING OUT SOME AWARDS

Well, as I’m sitting in the house today battling a cold, and with no NFL games on the tube, and no desire to head on down to “Pirate Fest” earlier, I thought this may be the perfect opportunity to pull out all the “shirt pocket notes” (to borrow a Cope phrase) from the off-season and present some AWARDS from events that took place. These will have to do with the subjects of…..

BASEBALL (Cause after all, this is a baseball league, right?)

ANNOUNCERS (Always a favorite subject of the NPL.)

HBO – TV (Why not.)

And by the way…… The off-season fan fest of the San Diego Padres is called “FRIAR FEST.” At least they have some imagination out there.

BASEBALL AWARDS:

THE MOST DEPRESSING QUOTE CONCERNING YOUR PITTSBURGH PIRATES AWARD:

This trophy goes to Tim Kurkjian of the ESPN media family, who issued this quote on the State of the Pirates back in December…..

“The Pirates streak of 15 consecutive losing seasons is the result of a toxic combination of mismanagement, poor drafting and inadequate player development. Peers say new GM Neal Huntington might need as many as eight good years to turn it around.”

Sure makes you want to grab the credit card and order up that Bobble Head 8-Pack of tickets, doesn’t it? But enough about the poor Pirates. Believe it or not, there are MLB teams out there who may have bigger problems… Consider those teams from the sunshine state of Florida….

THE WE THREW AN EVENT AND NO ONE SHOWED UP AWARD:

And the winner is the FLORIDA MARLINS. A few weeks ago the team had one of those “Select-a-Seat” days for prospective season ticket holders, in which you can show up in person at the ballpark, check out all the seating and pick your seat for any type of Marlins season ticket package. Well, the Marlins were sorry to report that LESS THAN 50 FANS SHOWED UP!!!

THE LET’S GET THE DEVIL OUT OF THIS FRANCHISE AWARD:

The winner is TAMPA BAY! You have no doubt already heard that with the 2008 season, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are dropping the word “Devil” and will now just be known as the Tampa Bay Rays.

Along with eliminating the Devil, Tampa Bay management is evidently trying to eliminate some bad MoJo that has occurred with this club since it’s inception as an expansion franchise in 1998. Why may they feel that way? How 'bout these top 5 moments in Devil Rays history……

1. The Devil Rays select Bobby Abreu from the Astros in the 1998 expansion draft, and immediately trade Abreu to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker!

2. Wilson Alvarez is the team’s first big free agent, $35 million for five years. He wins just 17 games in five years.

3. Opening Day, 1998: Devil Rays sell out the inaugural game – and don’t sell out again for more than six years.

4. Wade Boggs celebrates his 3,000th hit by French kissing home plate at Tropicana Field.

5. The D-Rays sign 34 year old Greg Vaughn to a four-year, $34 million dollar contract. Greg is released after hitting .163 in year 3 of the deal.

THE I FLEW UNDER THE RADAR FOR STEROIDS IN THE 90’S AWARD:

Your winner is ALBERT BELLE. Can you remember what this nut case was like? For some reason Belle has been consistently omitted from Steroid Era discussions for reasons that are never entirely clear. The guy was completely insane. Remember when he was Joey Belle and for no known reason changed the first name to Albert? He always seemed to suffer from violent mood swings; had one of the best physiques in the league; put up some of the greatest power seasons in the decade, including 103 extra-base hits in 1995 and 99 extra-base hits in ’98. Joey was also known to dabble in the cheating department. Remember that crazy story when teammate Jason Grimsley snuck into the umpire’s locker room to switch his corked bat? And when Belle fired a baseball at a fan in the outfield seats at a visiting stadium during warm-ups? Did he do Steroids? Well, by the time he hit his 30’s, the dude needed an artificial hip!! I may be going out on a limb here, but I think maybe something was up. But you never hear his name associated with the dreaded “S” word.

ANNOUNCER AWARDS:
In general just known as the “Rob Pratte Awards.”

THE I MAKE UP MY OWN WORDS DURING A BROADCAST AWARD:

Our winner is RON PITTS of FOX SPORTS’ NFL coverage.
Come on Ron…… “Trickeration” is not a real word. You’re supposed to be a professional, my man.

THE ‘OH SHIT’, I CAN’T BELIEVE MY CELL PHONE IS RINGING IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS SHOW AWARD:

Yeah, this one was a real classic. The look on DAN MARINO’s face was priceless when his cell phone inexplicably starts ringing while he’s giving commentary during CBS’s NFL TODAY show during last weeks Giants – Packers game. I guess it could have been worse. What if Dan happened to have some Gangsta Rap song as his ring tone? James Brown and Shannon Sharpe may have started getting down if Dan’s phone ring went into “In Da Club” by 50 CENT.

And while on the subject of this CBS NFL TODAY show……. Two things bother me…. Why was Bill Cowher ALWAYS called “Coach Cowher?” After all, he’s not a coach anymore. And I’m not going to miss that silly little promo where all four guys are standing next to each other in their suits, tossing a football back and forth, and then one of them ("Coach" Cowher) drops the ball and they all laugh hysterically! I know what you’re thinking….. These little things shouldn’t bother me, but…….. And I’ve saved the best ROB PRATTE announcing award for last….

THE I HAVE MADE REFERENCE TO, AND MANGLED A LINE FROM ONE OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL SPEECHES OF OUR GENERATION, WHILE ON NATIONAL TV AWARD:

You may know him as a winner of “Dancing with the Stars”, or perhaps a running back with the Dallas Cryboys. But EMMITT SMITH takes the prize on this one. As part of ESPN’s post game show for Monday Night Football, Emmitt was evidently excited that his former team, the Silver and Blue, made a fantastic comeback to nip the Buffalo Bills back on October 8th, week 5 of the NFL season. As they went to Smith for his comments, he said the ‘Boys “took on the words of Jimmy V, and they told themselves – Don’t quit, don’t ever quit.”
WHAT??????? Emmitt you Jackass!! The famous words of the Jim Valvano speech are…. “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Holy crap….How in the world can anyone screw that up???????




IT’S NOT TV. IT'S HBO AWARDS!!

THE BEST NEWCOMER TO A COMEDY SERIES AWARD:

Just when you thought “Curb You Enthusiasm’s” Krazee Eyez Killa couldn’t be topped, along comes Larry David’s new house guest “Leon.” The episode in which Leon strong-arms back Larry’s Joe Pepitone Yankees jersey off some poor schmuck on the street is pretty good.


THE BADDEST MO-FO ON HBO, NOW THAT TONY SOPRANO HAS MOVED ON AWARD:

It’s pretty tough to find a better choice than “Adibeice” from OZ, but “Omar” from “THE WIRE” is a character like Tony, who is by society’s purposes a bad guy, but the audience loves him. In Omar, you have a skinny, black, shot-gun tottin’ thug with a huge scar down the middle of his face, who is also of all things – Gay, and has a touch of Robin Hood in his personality. Now there’s a combination that makes Omar a beloved character for all fans of this show.

I wonder if Omar will make it through Season 5, which is currently in progress, but the previews show him grabbing his shotgun and heading back to Baltimore to seek revenge on Marlo’s crew for the torture murder of his blind friend, the old man – Butchie, as Omar says……”Sweet Jesus, I’m going to work them!” Yikes… Duck for cover!!

And for the YOU-TUBE offering for this blog entry, we’ll go away from baseball…. After all, it’s the middle of hockey season with the NHL All-Star game and all…… This 1:28 minute clip is from a playoff game in Edmonton in 2006. It’s the singing of the Canadian National Anthem – O’Canada. But shortly into the song, the Edmonton fans take it over and start singing louder and louder and it gets pretty crazy. Towards the end of the anthem the hairs on your arm may be standing up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLpuF9UMvk&feature=related

"3 ITEMS."

Hello for the first time in 2008.

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....

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.

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!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFc9YU0UVKc