Games of November 18

Hewes 11, Melendez 3
Sam Magnus drove in 4 runs with a pair of triples, and Ian Parfrey and Zach Nilva had 3 hits each. Havelock Hewes allowed 3 runs on 10 hits.

Martinez 11, Nilva 0
Freddie Melendez was 3-for-4 with a triple and 3 RBI, and Alex Rivera and Chris Hall each added 3 hits. Derek Martinez threw a shutout, allowing only 5 hits, and striking out three.

Games of 10/21

Hewes 8, Rosengard 5
Ian Parfrey's 2-out, 2-run single broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the 5th, and Alex Rivera homered and drove in three.

Martinez 4, Nilva 3
Freddie Melendez hit the tiebreaking single in the 5th inning, as Derek Martinez allowed 3 runs on 6 hits for the win. Zach Nilva was just as good, allowing 4 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits.

F.Melendez 4, S.Melendez 1
In a very rare instance of brothers pitching against each other, Freddie Melendez picked up his 17th win and allowed only 2 hits in 5 innings. Sam Melendez allowed 3 runs in the 1st, with Chris Hall's 2-run single being the big blow.

Games of 10/7

Hewes 14, Parfrey 8
Hewes's team scored 7 times in the 6th inning to blow open a one-run game. Cid Rivera homered and drove in 5 runs, Eric Schulman was 4-for-5 with 3 RBI, and Bob Holzwasser had 3 hits. Chris Hall was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI for Parfrey's team.

O'Connor 9, Nilva 6
O'Connor's team scored 5 times in the 5th inning to erase a 5-4 deficit. Nilva's defense committed 5 errors and allowed 7 unearned runs.

Batting Titles

With the 2012 batting race currently featuring 4 players within 16 points of each other, I thought I'd go back and find other close batting titles in SFL history. Surprisingly, there weren't many, but this is what I found:

1985-- John Decker and Tony Connor tie at .500.
1987-- Bill Weinberg beats Rich Rowlands by 4 points, .452 to .448
1992-- Dan Schneider beats Kurt Hettler by 4 points, .486 to .482
1996-- Joe Gerber beats Phil Kotik by 8 points, .484 to .476
2003-- Ian Lebowitz beats Chris Hall by 7 points, .500 to .493

Here are the widest margins of victory:

1983-- Bill Weinberg (.605) by 114 points over Jose Balento
2007-- Phil Ciccone (.558) by 85 points over Dave Sommers
2005-- Chris Hall (.580) by 80 points over Carl Weinberg
2000-- Larry Savell (.623) by 78 points over Ian Lebowitz
2008-- Carl Weinberg (.541) by 75 points over Ian Parfrey

Players who won multiple titles:

Phil Kotik, 3-- 1994, 1995, 1999
Bill Weinberg, 2-- 1983, 1987
John Decker, 2-- 1985 (tie), 1986
Dan Schneider, 2-- 1992, 1997
Joe Gerber, 2-- 1996, 1998
Ian Lebowitz, 2-- 2001, 2003
Carl Weinberg, 2-- 2002, 2008
Chris Hall, 2-- 2004, 2005
Phil Ciccone, 2-- 2006, 2007
Ian Parfrey, 2-- 2010, 2011

Players who were runners-up multiple times:

Larry Savell, 4-- 1989, 1990, 1991, 1999 (won in 2000)
Phil Kotik, 4-- 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 (won in 1994, 1995, 1999)
Dan Schneider, 2-- 1993, 1994 (won in 1992, 1997)
Carl Weinberg, 2-- 2005, 2006 (won in 2002, 2008)

One time runners-up:

Jose Balento, 1983
John Decker, 1984
Austen Ruse, 1985
Bill Weinberg, 1986
Rich Rowlands, 1987
Mark Allen, 1988
Kurt Hettler, 1992
John Grieco, 1995
Ian Lebowitz, 2000
Bob Holzwasser, 2001
Chris Hall, 2003
Gil Schmerler, 2004
Dave Sommers, 2007
Ian Parfrey, 2008
Derek Martinez, 2009
Freddie Melendez, 2010
Eric Schulman, 2011

Games of May 20

Melendez 11, O'Connor 9
Freddie's team battled back from a 6-0 deficit, scoring 6 times in the bottom of the 6th for the win. The go-ahead runs came in on Marvin Cohen's bases-loaded grounder to first, as Sam Magnus threw a 3-3-6 DP attempt into centerfield. Phil Ciccone and Chris Hall homered for O'Connor's team.

Parfrey 6, Holzwasser 2
Sam Melendez had 2 hits and 2 RBI in a three-inning second game.

Games of March 18

This week we played a twin bill at 260th Street & Broadway, after being kicked out of every other field in Riverdale.

Sulyman 9, Hewes 7
Sulyman's team blew an early 6-1 lead, due to a multitude of errors, misplays, and a Zach Nilva 2-run single. Eric Schulman's RBI groundout plated Ian Parfrey for the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 6th. Freddie Melendez was 4-for-4 with an RBI.

Melendez 13, O'Connor 7
Freddie Melendez picked up his 5th win, and added 3 hits enroute to a 7-for-8 day. Ian Parfrey and the Melendez brothers combined to score 10 runs on 9 hits from the first 3 spots in the batting order. Chris Hall was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI for O'Connor's team.

From the Roger Connor files:

Did you ever wonder who SFL's past lifetime batting average leaders were? Here's a rundown.

1983-84: Bill Weinberg
1985-87: John Decker
1988-89: Bill Weinberg
1990: Jose Balento
1991: Bobby Naranjo
1992: Jose Balento (now #16)
1993: Bobby Naranjo (now #17)
1994: Larry Savell (now #6)
1995: Phil Kotik
1996-97: Dan Schneider
1998-2000: Phil Kotik (now #4)
2001-05: Dan Schneider (now #3)
2006-09: Chris Hall (now #2)
2010: Ian Lebowitz

I set the current requirement at 1,000 plate appearances, however up until 1993 qualifying limit rises incrementally each season, which is why John Decker and Bill Weinberg drop off the list. I might re-think that later, we'll see.

Games of 9/25

Nilva 7, Melendez 6
Zach Nilva picked up his 10th win, and Paul Geoghan's opposite field single in the 5th inning plated the go-ahead run. Sam Melendez (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Matt Mishkin (3-for-4, 3 runs) led Zach's team. Ray Hernandez hit a 3-run HR for Freddie's squad.

Appell 10, Parfrey 8
In another slugfest, the bats of Appell's team prevailed. Brian Hernandez was 4-for-4 with 3 RBI, Chris Hall drove in 3 including the go-ahead run, and Zach Nilva was 3-for-4. For Parfrey's team, Alex Rivera was 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored, and Dave Sommers homered and drove in 3.

Games of July 31

1. Melendez 9, O'Connor 7
Freddie Melendez won his 8th game, backed by the bats of Eric Schulman (4-for-4, 2 RBI) and Chris Hall (4-for-4, 2B, RBI). O'Connor's side was led by Gil Schmerler (3-for-4, RBI) and Brian Hernandez-Sandercock's 3-run HR.

2. Parfrey 2, Hewes 0 (5 innings)
Ian Parfrey threw his second straight shutout, allowing only one hit and one epic umpire-baiting meltdown. The batting hero of "the weasel game" was Andy Atkinson, who clubbed a 2-run HR to deep left in the 4th for the game's only runs. It was his first career SFL homer.

GAMES OF MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

1. Hewes 2, Melendez 1

Ian Parfrey's walkoff double to right scored Mike Sulyman in the bottom of the 7th. Havelock Hewes scattered 8 hits for the win, and Freddie Melendez was almost equally magnificent, allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits.

2. Appell 5, Nilva 3 (14 innings)

Despite throwing 11 straight scoreless innings, Zach Nilva was once again beaten in the 14th inning. Mike Sulyman led off with a bunt, and came all the way around to score on a pair of throwing errors. Chris Hall's sac fly provided the insurance run. Brian Hernandez hit a 2-run HR for Appell's team earlier in the game. Appell allowed 3 runs on 16 hits; Nilva allowed 5 runs, 3 earned, on 10 hits. Brian Hernandez threw the winning run out at the plate in the bottom of the 13th.

3. Hewes 4, Connor 2

Havelock Hewes (10-3) continued his winning streak, allowing 7 hits. The winning runs scored on an error and a Zach Nilva single in the top of the 7th.

4. Melendez 8, Nilva 4

Finally the bats came alive to back Freddie Melendez (5-5). Freddie and Nel Yomtov each went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Chris Hall added 3 hits and a triple. Freddie allowed only 6 hits.

APRIL 18 GAME RECAPS

Game 1: Parfrey 8, Hewes 3
Backed by the bats of Chris Hall (2-for-3, triple, 4 RBI), and Freddy Melendez (3-for-3, RBI), Parfrey (2-2) scattered 12 hits and won. Hall's 2-run triple broke a 3-3 tie in the 4th inning.

Game 2: O'Connor 4, Melendez 3
With the 11am curfew rapidly approaching in the bottom of the 6th, Don Weiss tripled to right, and Zach Nilva hit a deep sac fly to right-center to bring him in, breaking a 3-3 tie. Jim O'Connor (4-1) settled down after allowing a run in each of the first 3 innings to shut down a good offense over the final four. Ian Parfrey was 2-for-3 with an RBI for O'Connor's team, and Fred Lang made two game-saving catches in right field. Sal Cipriano hit his first HR of the season in a losing cause.

FROM THE STATS LAB

I've come up with a crudely effective season normalizer for SFLOI stats, and ran 357 batter seasons from 1985-2009 through it. The cutoff was 2.5% of each season's total plate appearances, and each batter's OPS was measured against the league-average OPS over the same number of at bats. Now, this season's MVP debate will probably hinge on an unresolvable statistical question: would you rather have 300 at bats of high quality, or 250 at bats of really high quality? The following list gives no credit for people who play more often--it simply measures who you'd want hitting 3rd or 4th for your team on any given day. So, here they are, SFLOI's top 25 seasons:

25. David Sommers, 2006: .550 BA, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 117 PA.
24. Manny Santiago, 1990: .525 BA, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 122 PA. Batting and home run titles.
23. Ian Lebowitz, 2001: .535 BA, 16 HR, 52 RBI, 141 PA. Batting title.
22. Tony Connor, 1985: .500 BA, 0 HR, 14 RBI, 57 PA. Batting title. One of the finest seasons of the pre-modern era.
21. Kurt Hettler, 1992: .482 BA, 23 HR, 84 RBI, 210 PA. Home run and RBI titles. The 1992 stats contain some errors, for example one player is listed as going 23-for-23. This simply couldn't be, and therefore you could make a case for moving Kurt up a few places.
20. Chris Hall, 2005: .580 BA, 5 HR, 53 RBI, 174 PA. Batting title, also led league in hits and runs scored. Chris had the misfortune of having his best seasons in SFLOI's second dead-ball era.
19. Larry Savell, 1989: .520 BA, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 106 PA. Rookie season.
18. Ian Lebowitz, 2000: .545 BA, 12 HR, 38 RBI, 102 PA. Rookie season.
17. Kurt Hettler, 1993: .548 BA, 9 HR, 55 RBI, 181 PA. Batting and RBI titles, led league in doubles and triples.
16. Derek Martinez, 2009: .493 BA, 26 HR, 87 RBI, 249 PA. Home run and RBI titles, also led league in runs scored. Alltime HR record.
15. Alex Rivera, 2009: .532 BA, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 232 PA. Batting title.
14. Carl Weinberg, 2007: .464 BA, 14 HR, 72 RBI, 197 PA. Home run and RBI titles, also led league in doubles and triples. This was the off year of mighty Carl's 2005-2008 prime.
13. Phil Kotik, 1995: .488 BA, 25 HR, 53 RBI, 240 PA. Batting and home run titles.
12. Phil Kotik, 1998: .564 BA, 21 HR, 78 RBI, 186 PA. Home run and RBI titles.
11. Carl Weinberg, 2006: .565 BA, 11 HR, 78 RBI, 217 PA. Home run and RBI titles, also led league in hits, runs, doubles, and triples.
10. Phil Kotik, 1994: .479 BA, 22 HR, 67 RBI, 236 PA. Batting and home run titles.
9. Phil Kotik, 1999: .600 BA, 21 HR, 73 RBI, 167 PA. Batting title. Also led league in runs scored and doubles. 1999 was the highest level of offense ever in SFLOI, that's how there are 8 seasons better than .600 with power.
8. Phil Kotik, 1996: .476 BA, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 193 PA. Home run title, also led league in runs scored.
7. Larry Savell, 2000: .623 BA, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 114 PA. Batting title. Highest single season average ever, but it came in the 2nd best season for offense ever, so read on.
6. Carl Weinberg, 2002: .507 BA, 15 HR, 65 RBI, 158 PA. Triple Crown. Also led league in hits, doubles, and triples, so it's more like the "Sextuple Crown."
5. Phil Kotik, 1997: .548 BA, 21 HR, 83 RBI, 182 PA. RBI title. Sixth and "last" appearance on this list.
4. Phil Ciccone, 2007: .558 BA, 10 HR, 61 RBI, 180 PA. Batting title. Led league in runs scored.
3. Carl Weinberg, 2008: .541 BA, 18 HR, 82 RBI, 209 PA. Batting and home run titles. Led league in doubles and triples. Had a 10-RBI game. I kept Carl from winning the triple crown in the 3rd best SFLOI season ever. I want that on my next baseball card.
2. Phil Ciccone, 2006: .604 BA, 9 HR, 53 RBI, 120 PA. Batting title. SFLOI's version of Ted Williams's .406 season. As a digression, do you have any idea how hard it is to hit .600? I've heard talk around the batting cages that all you need to do is be a mechanical line drive singles hitter, of the Boggs / Carew / Gwynn type-- which of course is a rather infrequent type to show up in our game-- but consider this. 5-for-9 is a bad day.

1. Dan Schneider, 1997: .598 BA, 22 HR, 68 RBI, 126 PA. Batting and home run titles. Why this season? First of all, Dan jacked a home run every 6 times up. Even more impressive, he came within one hit of .600. And '97 was a good season for offense, but not as good as 1998-2001 would be, and the league average becomes a powerful determinant when sorting through endless seasons of .550 and 20 home runs. Dan's SFLOI career contains some mighty strange seasons. He won batting titles in 1992 and '97, had power outbursts of 16 HR's in 114 PA (1998) and 13 HR's in 64 PA (2000), and from 1997 to 2001 hit 65 in 411 PA's, which is kind of like Babe Ruth playing in Coors Field, or Mexico City. However, he also batted 304 times in 1995, and hit only 2 home runs, but had 15 triples and 10 sac flies. Looks like 1995 was played in a spacious outfield without fences, where the outfielders could play what we now call the "Brian Hernandez" defense. Anyway, if I had to face this guy in 1997-2001, he's getting walked. I know that people come to swing the bats, but pitchers shouldn't be used like one of Mike Tyson's sparring partners either, should they?

SFLOI Classics-- 6/28/09

With Sal in Chicago and Havelock busy writing haikus, it's time for another classic game of 2009. This game went 10 innings, and featured an 11-run explosion-- by the losing team!

Dave Rosengard and Havelock Hewes were the pitching antagonists in this matchup, and Rosengard's team jumped out to a 9-1 lead after 2 innings, sparked by back-to-back HR's from Brian Hernandez and Ian Parfrey in the first inning. Of course, no lead is ever safe in SFLOI, and in the bottom of the 3rd, Hewes's team exploded for 11 runs. The monster inning featured two costly errors by yours truly, a 2-run triple from Dave Sommers, and a bases-clearing tie-breaking triple from Chris Hall.

Both pitchers settled down and hung up zeroes until the top of the 6th, when two infield errors allowed Rosengard's team to tie it. The pitchers went back to work, and no further runs scored until the top of the 10th, when Hernandez and Parfrey went back-to-back for the 2nd time, Hernandez's blast coming with Phil Ciccone on base and clearing the bleachers of the next field. This gave Rosengard a 15-12 lead, which he held onto in the bottom of the 10th.

The winning team got 2 HR's and 6 RBI from Hernandez, 2 HR's and 3 RBI from Parfrey, and Phil Ciccone was 5-for-6 with 3 RBI. On the other side, Chris Hall drove in 5. All told, 27 runs scored on 37 hits.