Games of 10/14: The Heckscher Finale

Hewes 5, Melendez 2
Sam Magnus's 3-run double broke open this game in the 3rd inning. Freddie Melendez had 3 hits including a triple, but Havelock Hewes muzzled the rest of the lineup, allowing 2 runs on 13 hits.

Appell 4, Nilva 3
Appell's team took the lead for good with a 3-run 6th inning. Russell Rivera singled in the tying run, and Gil Schmerler singled in the go-ahead run. Ray Hernandez hit a 2-run HR for Zach Nilva's team. Zach allowed 4 runs on 11 hits, and Jeff allowed 3 runs on 13 hits.

Our next games will be at East River Park (East 10th Street & FDR Drive), this Sunday at 10:15am.

Games of July 15

Schmerler 7, Rosengard 4
Gil Schmerler (2-0) allowed 4 runs in the first and none the rest of the way. Joe Escobar singled in Seung Lee in the top of the 7th to break a 4-4 tie.

Nilva 9, Melendez 3
Zach Nilva (7-2) backed his pitching with a 3-run HR, and Ben Indek and Ian Parfrey each added 3 hits.

Games of April 29

Melendez 12, Rosengard 11
Freddie Melendez backed his own pitching by going 4-for-4, Solomon Sarway hit a 3-run HR, and Jaime Orochena was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Melendez's team nearly blew a 12-2 lead, as they gave up 6 runs in the top of the 7th, and Melendez retired Mark Rodriguez with the bases loaded to end the game. Mike Heller was 2-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBI, and Robert Rodriguez and Sam Melendez each had 3 hits and 3 RBI.

Nilva 6, Appell 6
The second game ended in a 5-inning tie, as Nilva's team came back from a 6-1 deficit. Mike Heller hit his second HR of the day, and Gil Schmerler threw out the go-ahead run at home plate on a relay to preserve the tie.

Awards and Results of Winter Meeting

Awards

Gold Gloves:
Pitcher-- Ian Parfrey
Catcher-- Josh Balsam
First Base-- Sal Cipriano
Second Base-- Ben Indek
Third Base-- Freddy Melendez
Shortstop-- (tie) Ian Parfrey and Phil Ciccone
Outfield-- Zach Nilva, Alex Rivera, Eric Schulman, Brian Hernandez

Best Pitcher-- Freddy Melendez
Rookie of the Year-- Sam Melendez
MVP-- Alex Rivera


Rule Changes:

1. When there are 22 players at a game, it is closed to
non-duespayers. Dues payers have a right to play no matter how large
the teams are. This rule takes effect when we move to Heckscher.
Non-duespayers cannot be displaced from a game they are already in,
and have the option of paying on the spot.

2. Due to the rising cost of permits, the league has raised annual dues to $40.

3. The league has banned alcoholic beverages at the games. Any
player drinking during a game will be subject to immediate ejection
and possible additional penalties.

4. The league has decided that outfielders will be required to play a
certain distance (to be determined) behind the infield basepaths.
This distance will be marked with a small orange cone on each foul
line. This is to discourage (but not eliminate) throws to first from
the outfield, and will eliminate the possibility of turning a double
play through the centerfielder.

5. A grievance committee has been elected for one year. Members are
Josh Balsam, Zach Nilva, and Alex Rivera.

6. Selection of pitchers-- Havelock, or whoever is making teams in
his rare absences, cannot tell a manager who to pitch. Regular
pitchers should not act as managers, unless no one else present is
willing to. It is hoped that this will result in an equitable
distribution of pitching innings.

There are two other items which will soon be presented to the league
for voting, as there was not a 2/3 majority at the meeting.

Thanks to Anne Atkinson and Gil Schmerler for hosting.

Games of January 7

Melendez 14, Garcia 8
Jorge Davila's 6th inning grand slam broke an 8-8 tie and gave Freddie Melendez his 2nd win of the year. Davila also hit a monster solo shot earlier in the game. Eric Schulman was 3-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBI. Garcia homered and drove in 3 in a losing effort, and Bobby Echevarria also homered.

Schmerler 9, Hewes 8
With two outs in the bottom of the 7th, Havelock Hewes served up a walkoff 3-run shot to Jorge Davila. Chris Pun added 3 hits.

Parfrey 14, Garcia 5
Jerry Ramirez drove in 3 runs as Parfrey coasted to his 2nd victory. Alex Rivera was 3-for-3 with a solo HR for Garcia's team.

Milestones

June 4-- Jeff Appell beats Havelock Hewes 7-2 for his 100th win as a pitcher.
July 24-- Ian Parfrey's 500th hit is a single to right off of Jeff Appell.

Also this season:
Havelock Hewes, hit #1700
Gil Schmerler, hit #1200, probably on July 17. I will check on this.
Mike Palma, hit #600
Derek Martinez, run #500
Dave Rosengard, 500th win as a player

Opening Day 2011

We opened the season the right way today-- good weather, exactly enough players, and two one-run games. Havelock Hewes beat Freddy Melendez 5-4, and Dave Rosengard's team got him a comeback victory in game 2, 10-9 over Adam Garcia. Hewes's team scored 4 times in the 1st, and just barely held on. Bill McLaughlin's single to center was the first hit of the year, and he came around to score the first run, driven in by Ian Parfrey. Melendez's squad chipped away at the lead, and stranded the tying run on second base when Justin Stotsky flew out to right.
In the second game, Stotsky came through, delivering a 2-run single to short center to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th. Gil Schmerler grounded a double down the left field line to score Mike Sulyman for the decisive run. Seven straight batters reached base during this rally, which started with Ken Walker's 2-out, 2-run HR to left-center.
Thanks to Zach Nilva and Tony Connor for getting us the field and the turnout.

Game Photos from November 19

These photos were taken by my friend Matt Holden at East River Park two weeks ago. He's a pretty good photographer, and there's some nice action shots and portraits. Enjoy!

Softball @ East River Park

GAMES OF 11/7

Melendez 10, Hewes 9
Freddy Melendez won his league-leading 14th game. Alex Rivera (3-for-5, 4 runs) was caught in a rundown between third and home as the tying run to end the game. Melendez's team was led by Ian Parfrey (3-for-5, 4 RBI), and Eric Schulman (3-for-6, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBI). Zach Nilva went 5-for-5 with 2 RBI for Hewes's team, and Sam Magnus was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI.

Schmerler 5, Parfrey 0
Gil Schmerler picked up his first win in over 2 years by throwing a 5-inning shutout. His team scored 3 times in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Sam Magnus, Glen Lawrence, and Tony Connor, and never looked back.

Recovery of All Time Pitching Stats

With a huge assist from Tony Connor, who kept all the scorebooks and SFLOI yearbooks necessary to compile this information, I was able to fill in the blanks in our pitching stats and arrive at a reasonably close approximation of lifetime totals. This is for all pitchers with 50 or more decisions, as of the end of the 2009 season.

1. Havelock Hewes W 453 L 436 (.510)
2. Dave Rosengard W 272 L 370 (.424)
3. Peter Bochan W 157 L 129 (.549)
4. Jeff Appell W 89 L 81 (.524)
5. Jorge Loarte W 84 L 64 (.568)
6. Gil Schmerler W 82 L 49 (.626)
7. Bobby Naranjo W 74 L 65 (.532)
8. Tony Connor W 46 L 26 (.639)
9. Derek Martinez W 35 L 21 (.625)
10. Lee Lowenfish W 27 L 45 (.375)

Jorge Loarte's 1995, when he went 27-11, may be the best SFLOI pitching season ever. Havelock went 27-19 in 1998, and has 9 20-win seasons under his belt, as well as the only 34-loss season ever, in 1994. Dave Rosengard and Bobby Naranjo had one 20-win season each, though Rosengard's is somewhat dubious, as he went 21-25.

SFLOI WINTER MEETING AND CELEBRATION 2010

From the esteemed Gil Schmerler:

You’re invited to
SFLOI’s Winter Meeting and Celebration
Sunday, March 7
4-6 pm
at the home of Anne Atkinson
22 West 96 Street, Apt. 2
(just off Central Park West – B or C train to 96th)

* Voting for 2009 awards!
* Furious rules disputes!
* Plans for ’10 season!
* Card- and tale-swapping!
* Havelock! And more!

Light food and drink will be served. Food or drink contributions welcomed,
although by no means required.

RSVP to Gil at ace@bankstreet.edu, if you’re coming.

THE GOLDEN SOMBRERO

One of the interesting awards we have here is the pennant. How do you win one? You have to be a good, but underrated player, who gets traded inbetween games a lot. Gil almost stole one this year by playing one half of every doubleheader. Bob, who did win, was frequently traded when the losing team requested a good infielder. I came within 1 game of the pennant by going 18-7 as a pitcher, and many of the previous pennant winners-- Gil, Jorge Loarte, Pete Bochan, Havelock-- have been pitchers. The pitcher can control his destiny a little better than the fielders can.

The dark side of this award is the negative pennant. I can't take credit for coining the phrase; it's Seung's. Only one player has won three positive pennants (Bobby Naranjo), but three different players have "won" four negative pennants. Pete Bochan, Bobby Naranjo, Havelock, Gil, and Bob have all won both awards. Havelock, in his "winning" season, was 24 games under .500. That was also the year he walked 63 times. Karma? You tell me. The negative pennant has been won by some good players. Alltime OPS leader Phil Kotik won one, while never winning the actual pennant. Alltime RBI leader Jose Balento is one of the unlucky four-time winners. I guess his bat was asked to cover some outmatched teams over the years. Rich "Wrong Way" Rowlands set a record of sorts in 1999 by winning the negative pennant and only playing 13 games; he went 2-11. We all know Rich can play the game-- that couldn't have been his fault.

Taken together, the positive and negative pennants can measure how well balanced the team-choosing is. 2009 was a well balanced year, with the two pennant winners a total of 19 games off of .500. This makes it the most balanced year since 1993. The most unbalanced year was 2007, when Carl won the pennant at +17, and Marvin won the negative pennant at -20. I think it took all of Havelock's skill to hold Carl to +17 that year, as Carl also led the league in doubles, triples, homers, and RBI.