As is my tradition for the last 21 years, if you can believe that, I take a few days to let the memories sink in, and then a few minutes to recognize and thank everyone on the Blazers this year for coming down to South Florida to play another week of tournament baseball. With the devastating hurricane damage in the Ft. Myers area canceling the Hobbs tournament for this year, we scrambled together at the last minute and found a place to play in the MSBL Fall Classic.

While there is no worry that my old friends at the MSBL will out organize the folks at Hobbs, the fields were first rate, and given the approach and landing of another hurricane, all considered, the reasonable facsimile of a good tournament was held. I know we all had various levels of reaction to attempts made to mitigate the effects of the hurricane, but while you could certainly question the methods of the powers-that-be to allow us to play as much as possible, I don’t think there should have been any question of fairness, IMHO, as the young folks say,

 So what happened? 1-4-1 was the W-L record, but there was a lot to the story, and just wanted to say thanks to all for taking time away from jobs, loved ones and other responsibilities.

How about the Maestro? Curt Tucker came down for a grand total of two games, had to pay the full fare, and ate up some innings on the mound and made some new friends. Thanks Curt, hope to get the chance to do it again some day.

Jeff Shebovsky got the extremely rare opportunity to play in front of Mom and Dad in a 55+ tournament, that has to be a rarity of epic proportion. Plus he hit .364, made a couple of great catches in center, and pitched in a couple of games. I don’t think anybody even bugged him for free adjustments this year, bonus!

My second longest Blazer colleague Carlos Ruperto came down again, he swears this will be his last every year. Short on AB’s and plate appearances, he is the Blazers in many regards. He is the force behind the constant recruiting necessary to field a representative team, helps out coaching, plays the soundtrack, and he will give you a great at bat when needed. I’m looking for him to get right with the medical community and come back again in ‘23! Ballplayer.

John Rothwell made a long awaited return appearance this year, and hit the hardest ball in the tournament unofficially, smoking a ball to the wall in Game 1. Great guy, heckuva player, versatile and great with new teammates.

Joe Neira, came down this year, and played a solid short and 3rd, maybe didn’t hit as well as he would have liked, but this guy always gives a solid at bat. One of my favorite players, you never know what he’s going to come up with next.

Ken Nastasi also was slow getting going with the stick this year, it’s funny how that works in a tournament, you rip a couple of balls that are caught and statistically you have nothing to show, then that creeps into the rest of the tournament for you. But fantastic guy, great outfielder, solid ballplayer, and if he gets hot, look out.

Ric Moots is just as solid as they come, knows the game in and out, does nothing but get hits, plays any position you need him, never a peep of discontent, unless it’s about wearing a band required for participation, then he becomes a Polk County Radical, hiding his revolution under arm bands, defacing unused bands for future generations of players and getting dragged from a game for his rebellious ways. Fortunately all was well that ended well, and he managed a .467 average and a ton of super plays at second.

How about Tim Lysik? The big fellow was better than advertised, hitting at .417, with a double and a triple, a couple of super plays in left, and good bench smack for the talkers in the crowd. Plus he knows everybody, never met a teammate or opponent he didn’t like. Now we have to convince him to return in years to come.

Sarge Jimenez is a veteran Blazer, great guy, true teammate, loves to play, first at the park, versatile outfielder. Didn’t have that magic stroke this week, but the sample size was so small that’s almost a ridiculous statement.

Rob Gonzalez was a late addition to the team, and what a great move. He played a solid 3rd, a dynamic short, including 2 “starred” plays, and had a couple hits before unfortunately pulling his groin so badly he was forced to bow out of the tournament before the storm hit. Great guy, got a chance to talk to him a bit on the bench and renew friendships, I hope he comes back in years to come.

“Mean” Eugene Cerulli was our first pool player in a while, and I thought he was critical. He pitched in a couple of games, and threw maybe the shortest complete game in baseball history, the tie against the Glory Days, when he ended the game with a double play snare of a liner and throw to first in gale force winds. Nice guy, good scouting reports on the NJ teams, lot of fun getting to know you Gene.

My 21 year Hobbs brother Tony Caruso is all out of fresh superlatives from me. He moved to Pennsylvania, but kept and improved upon his considerable skill while there. Did you know he never played organized baseball? He’s like the Italian Roy Hobbs. Oh yeah, he hit .300 with a couple of doubles, pitched a couple of times to good effect, and just loves the game. He’s still down there, playing 60+. Love ya T.

My GIants co-founder, long time friend and new Hobbs fixture Adam Bransfield hit in some bad luck this year, but I thought deserved some serious team MVP consideration this year because he caught almost all of the innings, which is tough, no matter how good a shape you’re in. And he did it well, with several different pitching styles. Again, another guy you just knew was about to explode at the plate, we just ran out of time.

Which brings me to my self-appointed responsibility to anoint a team MVP, and annual ritual in Hobbs so we will continue it here. This person will get his name on the crawl for the literally tens of people who check out this site yearly, and be enshrined with the great in Blazers lore.

Both of these finalists are former winners, and this was a tough one. Joe Hamilla hit .500, with a double and a triple, and won our only game on the mound.This despite being pegged in the first game in the elbow and you could tell it was one of those that truly hurt. But he played 3rd great, as always, gave solid AB’s each time up, and is always a supportive teammate and a quiet leader, in addition to being a super guy. As always, any other year he’s the winner hands down. 

But this year, our 2022 MVP is Rick Sanders. He had eight hits, three more than anyone, tied for the team lead in  RBI with Tony, mostly batting leadoff, walked a couple of times, made some fantastic plays at first and on the mound, and threw a four inning no hitter that we somehow managed to lose on an unearned run the morning of the last day. I’m a little prejudiced, but I don’t think there’s a better guy with more competitive fire and genuine empathy for teammates than Rick. Plus the “Losing is contagious..” sound bites from “The Natural” were it for me this year. Rick will win a fantastic all expenses paid except for gas trip to LaunchPad for an exhibition game and an MSBL cup, since we don’t have the cool certificate. Congratulations Rick!

Thanks to everyone as always, I truly appreciate the sacrifice you made to make this happen, and I truly hope you will consider joining us again at Hobbs or whatever tournament comes up. We add a pitcher or two and we could play with these teams, I’m quite confident in saying. Happy holidays gents!