The All-Time Pennant Race by Havelock Hewes

Following is the list of winning percentages of every player who has played 200 or more Softball For The Love Of It games.   As the person who has the most input into the making of teams, the ultimate result would be everyone tied at .500.  It turns out that Jeff Appell is my Mona Lisa.  I have difficulty explaining the success and failure of many of those near the top and bottom of this list.  However, I do have a theory about why Jorge Loarte and Vinny D’Allesio are at the top and bottom, respectively.

   Jorge was a complainer.  That doesn’t set him apart from the many other whiners in the league who protest that their team is weaker than the other team.  What set Loarte apart is that he would complain about his ailments.   In the beginning it was subtle – “boy did I hang one on  last night,”  “I was up with the baby all night,”  “my stomach hurts.”  In the beginning I bought into this and when I divided the teams thought of him not as the excellent player he was but as about average because of his condition.  But each game he would play very well, seeming to overcome his ailments.  After awhile, I caught on and ignored Jorge’s complaints.  In response, Jorge escalated his ailments – he brought doctors notes, limped, and, once, I remember, he showed up in a hospital robe.   Each time, I would give in just a little, but once he was on the field, Jorge overcame his handicap!

   Vinny was often arriving late or leaving early.  At the time, I was the statistician and I enforced the rule that if a player did not play the entire game he would be pinned with his team’s loss, but if his team won he would not get credit for a win.  I credit this rule with making several people late for jobs, weddings and funerals. 

   My opinion is that, without going to the extremes that Vinny and Jorge did, it is virtually impossible to have a winning percentage above .580 or below .420. The number in parenthesis represents pennants won...

.580     Jorge Loarte (2)

.577    Ben Indek (1)

.570    Phil Ciccone

.565    Rich Inserro (1)

.554    Carl Weinberg (2)

.541    Henry Blaukopf

.540    Sam Melendez

.539    Derek Martinez

.537    Fred Melendez (2)

.534    Seung Lee

.530    John Grieco

.529    Peter Bochan (2)

.525    Bobby Naranjo (3)

.522    Bill Vernick (2)

.521    Mike Palma

.520    Ian Parfrey (1)

.519    Dan Schneider

.518    Eric Schulman

.517    Ian Lebowitz

.517    Tony Connor (2)

.512    Gil Schmerler (1)

.511    Alex Rivera

.510    Phil Kotik

.509    Paul Geoghan (1)

.507    Garth Kravitz

.506    Dave Sommers

.500    Jeff Appell

.498   Chris Hall (1)

.496   Larry Savell

.496   Peter Traub (1)

.494   Dave Metzger (1)

.492   Havelock Hewes (2)

.489   Richard Rowlands

.488   Joe Gerber

.485   Zach Nilva

.483   Josh Geller

.473   Glen Lawrence

.471   Sue Kostner

.470   Jose Balento

.456   Joe Geller

.454   Dave Rosengard

.450   Bob Holzwasser (1)

.448   Marvin Cohen (1)

.444   Jim O’Connor

.426   Fred Lang

.379   Vinny D’Allessio