What a tournament it was! When you bring 2 shortstops, arguably the most important defensive position, and they are both injured in the 1st game, never to return to the position, you had to figure you were there for the sun tan. But somehow this bunch of scrappers managed to pick themselves up and battle to within one inning of the championship game!

I don't know about you, but that last game against the NJ Rangers is a burr under my saddle. I know there were hundreds of at bats and fielding plays and pitches made or not made during the course of the week, but it so often comes down to a play here or there. If we'd somehow been able to hold on to that game, we would have been sitting pretty with a relatively fresh Scott Donelick coming off a great start, and staff ace Matt Conrad with only 15 innings in his arm...(ONLY??)

Georgie Kerst pitched his tail off for 6+ innings, and it was looking really good for the boys in Blaze, but he tired in the 7th, and the Rangers caught up. Then in the fateful 8th, the leadoff hitter got on and stole second, then advanced to third on a ground out. I made the executive decision, and it was mine alone, Mattie and Keith tried to talk me out of it,  to walk their 4 hole guy and look for the double play ball to get out of it. Hindsight is always 20/20. The next guy hit a solid grounder to 2nd with what would have been a perfect double play ball, but the Rangers one-upped me, putting the runner on first in motion, forcing Ronnie Nerf to concede the base and the runner on third and take the out at first. If we'd had the infield in, Ronnie could have checked that guy on third, and we might be fitting ourselves for rings now, but that's what's so fun/frustrating about this confounding/fascinating game.

Anyway, it was an honor and privilege to lead you guys for this tournament, I tried to make it as even as I could, there wasn't a guy out there who I wouldn't place full confidence in their ability to get the job done. Special thanks go to our scholarship guys, Moosie came down for most of the week and was invaluable, probably stroked the longest blast of the series, a long double, tough to do with limited plate appearances. Joe Neira was nails, pitched a couple of great games, and turned around and manned short like a soldier. We simply wouldn't have gone as far without you Joe, thanks! Rich Hogarth came over and had a couple of rough appearances, but you haven't played much baseball if you haven't had a day or two like that, and frankly the 2nd day was more of a fielding implosion than anything else. I thought he handled it all as well as anyone could, and watching his stuff, I thought he just caught a couple of hot-hitting teams on their good days.

Now for my core roster guys. The MVP was Keith Mendel, he handled the pitching staff perfectly, most of whom had never thrown to him. He shut down running games. He picked guys off first, and kept everybody up. He also hit .500 for the week, 2nd only to some flare artist for the team lead. THe guy is just a ballplayer.

We could have just as easily given it to his buddy Gary Lamb, who tied for the team lead with 11 hits, made all the plays at 2nd and was his usual positive team leading self in all facets of the game. Gary is a dream to have on a tournament team.

Our fearless leader Tony Caruso was right up there, hitting a hard .364, and another 5 or 6 bullet "at-em" balls. He also was a horse on the mound, made some critical catches in the outfield, and played some tough shortstop to boot. Thanks for spending your birthday with us T, wish we could have brought home the gold again.

Don Payan, or "Frank Howard" as Mark Tito named him, led the team in RBI with 9, hit .444 with no wheels, literally, and put together a lot of great at-bats. He also hit the longest ball in the stadium, the only one to flirt with a dinger to remember. He was also a great teammate, and kept the book in great shape, much appreciated Don!

Mattie Conrad is just my favorite guy on the team, with apologies to others. He is a great catcher, but only saw limited duty because of the Kiko option, but he found time to throw a complete game for a win, among several solid pitching appearances,  hit the ball on the button all week, and found time to throw BP to about a thousand guys, all while being the definition of a team player, encouraging others and putting together some solid dugout banter, second only to the next guy.

David Johnson, DJ made some truly amazing plays at third, and I didn't seee him give away one AB all week, remarkable for his first long tournament. You know this guy is just going to get better every chance we get to get him out there. He also has the best BS going, and I for one appreciated it.

My oldest baseball buddy Jeff Albertson came down for the week, and it made a great week even better for me. He never quite got untracked with the bat, at least to his expectations for himself. If you've played with Jeff much, you know he's one of the great amateur hitters around, and if I can convince him to come back he'll be a force, I guarantee it.

Mark Tito was as advertised, a pain in the ass, but a tremendous ballplayer, and a good guy and teammate. I've had the privilege of playing in a number of tournaments with the guy, and he always hits, this time a polite .417 with pop. His mouth sometimes gets in the way of his skill as a ballplayer, but I'd have to look hard to find a guy I'd take over him in a clutch spot. Love ya, you bastard.. BTW with one less hit you'd of had a higher batting average than fielding average, a feat never accomplished in the history of baseball...just sayin'....:)

Scott Donelick was outstanding, his pitching performance was tremendous, and he was the proverbial arrow left in the quiver, if we'd reached that final, I just know he was going to take us home. He also drove in some big runs, and played a lot of OF with some great grabs and played 9 innings of 2nd base, less than a day after throwing about 150 pitches. Great guy and teammate, no doubt.

Don Smith was new to me, and was a fantastic addition to the club. The guy is a ballplayer, I thought another guy who always worked counts to his advantage, and put some great swings on the ball. It's not easy fitting in with a bunch of new guys, and he felt like he'd played with us for years. Don, I hope you come back, he let me move him all over the OF, made all of the plays, and played some solid 1B.

Ronnie Nerf was his usual solid self, always gives you a tough AB, jumps in whenever you need him and is unceasingly supportive of his teammates. I keep wondering if he could have jammed that DP ball in there on the fateful play, but I think he made the right call, really the mature baseball call, less experienced guys might have tried and failed, and who knows how many runs might have resulted. We still had another inning after all, and all the tough hitters coming up. Great call Nerfie!

Rico Thoman is a personal favorite, he is just one of those guys who is just a great player without being flashy about it. Dude made some serious grabs in CF. basically played out there the whole time, and was impressive in his lone mound appearance, damn manager should have got him out there more. Great hitter too.

Charles Georges was a great pickup, hit, stole bases, and made some terrific catches in the OF. Wish we could have had him the entire time, good guy and good ballplayer.

Finally, 2 guys who deserve special mention. The defending MVP Georgie Kerst was a huge blow for the Blazers, the guy was dominant last year. 1st game of the tournament he jams his knee badly on a hard slide into 2nd, and can't move the next day. Most of us would have headed for home and the couch, but not Georgie, he stays, gets several treatments at the doctors, and comes back to pitch a miraculous game in the semis, man I wanted to win that one for George most of all. His tales of shots in between the tendons and bones sent shivers down the spine, the guy loves baseball, and we just wouldn't have got as far without his efforts to recover. Thanks George, as far as I'm concerned, nobody will ever trump you for guts, cajones and perseverance.

Last but not least, my old pal Carlos Ruperto. Not sure all of you know, not even really sure he wants everyone to know, but I remain an asshole, so I'm telling. C had a cardiac episode, better known as a heart attack this year. I can't even imagine what all he has been through this yhear, not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, everything. Those of us lucky enough to know him a little bit know what pride he takes in this facet of his life, his ballplaying, and he did a great job, but the fact that the guy is even out there, much less coaching, running the paths, patrolling the OF, is nothing short of inspiring. I just know he'll be back to his old self before too long, the man is a force of nature.  

Again, thanks for a great week, I wish we could have brought it home again this year, but I can’t imagine a better bunch of guys to spend a week playing ball with. What a great game it is.

Stats are finalized, hitting, pitching and defense. You can click on the top of each category for leaders in each. I look forward to seeing you guys out there again next year!