A week ago tomorrow we were getting ready to start up our quest to win another championship, seems longer somehow…it sure was a great tournament, we just ran into a tough pitcher, and we all know how that often turns out…of course, that’s not always true, which is why we play them. In any event, another Hobbs tournament has come and gone, and I wanted to take a moment of your time to thank each of you for coming out and making the week such a pleasure. We were pretty good, weren’t we? Six straight wins before losing for the only time is nothing to sneeze at, I wasn’t sure what we had, but as it turned out, we had a lot! I want to thank each of you individually, if you’ll indulge me.

Jose Tavarez, one of these years you’re going to come down and spend the week with us, it’s always such a treat to have you down on pitching scholarship, but I know you’d be an invaluable full-time member. I thought he did a great job holding down those 4A bashers in the last game, plus his willingness to drive back and forth for the chance to maybe play is pretty special. Jeff Shebovsky is starting to take on some real Blazer qualities, and although he may have hit in some bad luck this week, he made some nice catches out in left, pitched great in Game 1, and drove in 6, tied for third on the team. My old pal Rick Sanders was there the whole week, which may have been one of my favorite things about the week, two quality pitching performances, some great AB’s and just as fun a person to be around as you can imagine. My guy Guy Robinson had a strong sophomore tournament, with 6 RBI, a couple doubles, and played a better than expected first base, no offense Guy! Great team man as well. Tim Lysik was hurt early, took some kind of treatment, and came back like a man possessed, hitting line shots all over the field. Not sure how you did it Tim, but it is always fun having you on the Blazer club, was this year 4??

Scottie Donelick was Mr. Wednesday again, and did he throw a beauty, a complete game masterpiece. He came into the tournament hot as heck with the stick, but only took a few AB’s, much to my chagrin. But just a super guy, willing to do anything for the team, I know the Blazers wouldn’t be the same without him. Danny Acevedo was a Blazer rookie this year, and despite having some leg issues that limited his ability to run, batted a cool .400, and split time with Guy at 1st with some strong play. Great guy with really good teeth, I forgot to ask him what kind of paste he uses. Great having you on the team Danny! Adam Bransfield has been promising me for decades, and I do not exaggerate, that he would go to a tournament with me, and he finally did! He was stellar, as always, catching half the games, hitting some “at ‘em” balls, but always with the quality at bats. Just one of my favorite people, a true baseball guy and competitive as hell. Dean Hill was a gift from the heavens, picked him up as a bit of a surprise and he proceeded to hit .364, second on the team in RBi with 7, and moved around the infield to eat up those valuable innings of relief to give some needed rest. Joe Hamilla is now a second year veteran and he was super, making all the plays at third, hitting the ball consistently hard, and one of the better dudes you run into, love having Joe on the club! If Mattie Conrad isn’t going to come down, tell him my NEW favorite player is Dave Gushleff, such a weapon, leads off, gets on, steals second, scores on a knock, easy peezy… He led the team in runs scored with 10, stolen bases, and made a lot of great catches in center, including a couple in that final game that were a half mile away from the plate.

Which brings me to the moment of suspense. Who was the MVP of this particular edition of the Blazers Hobbs team? The way I saw it, on a team of many candidates there were four finalists, if you will. Any one of these guys could be the winner, and you couldn’t argue too much. George Kerst has won it twice before, and besides being an absolutely fantastic ballplayer, for this or any age, he is a better person, in an era where that phrase gets overworked. The man hit .474, slugged .579, pitched brilliantly in his relief outing, and I believe played a flawless shortstop, a critical position in tournaments, in baseball in general. Great tournament Georgie!

Ruben Correa was a marvel, batting a cool .529, an On Base % of .680, drove in 5 at or near the top of the order, pitched admirably in a win in his lone appearance on the hill, and played a spotless 2nd base. Most years, he runs away with the award. Love his demeanor, he seems to slow the game down, makes it look easy, and we all know how far from the truth that is.

Tony Caruso, the Blazer Godfather, the original, the man, what a tournament, tidy. 500 BA, , 1.202 OPS, made a some great catches in the pasture, and most importantly, 2 quality starts, including a CG beauty in our lone playoff win against the Washington All Stars. Plus one of my dearest friends, the greatest teammate you could hope to have, and just one helluva guy, any other year he and Rubie are wrestling for the prize, which BTW, means not much, just shits and giggles.

But this year there could be only one winner, and it has to be the guy who hit 1.000. (almost) I’m sure he would have liked the last couple of games to go a little differently, but, he built up too commanding a lead in the first 5 to be overtaken this year. That’s right, your 2017 MVP for the Blazers has to be Joe Neira, here are his final numbers .625 BA (1st), 10 Hits (1st) 9 RBI (1st), 1.340 OPS (1st) Caught half the games and did a great job behind the plate, AND for good measure, picked up a save in Ruben’s win on the mound. Case closed, the man went off at the right time, and we got to see a guy who was not retired in the first 5 games in the tournament.

Lots of fun, congratulations Joe, we will have some hardware coming your way. SO it’s a wrap, thanks to everyone for taking precious time away from loved ones, jobs, and lives, but it sure is a lot of fun, isn’t it? Not sure what the future holds for the Blazers going forward, there has been some rumbling about moving up in age bracket, but we would certainly welcome back each and every one of you if you are eligible for whatever bracket we end up in in years to come.

Thanks again. Go Blazers!