September 18, 2000
The Red Sox are the 2000 MetroWest ABL League Champions! The Red Sox swept
the Cubs on 9/17 9-8 and 5-2. The Red Sox showed tremendous heart in winning
the first game. The Cubs rolled out to a quick 8-0 lead after just two
innings! The Red Sox battled back scoring 4 in the third, 2 in the fourth and
3 in the sixth to win 9-8. McGuire picked up the win in relief and Bryce
Dietrich earned the save. Brendan Mahoney had a huge game in right field
throwing out runners at third and second. He also had a two out bases loaded
triple and a key double in the decisive sixth inning. Mark Hauglie drove in
the tying runs in the sixth with a double to right and then scored the winning
run on a sac fly. Tom Barnes had a monster double for the Cubs in the first
inning. Tim Shaver went 3-3 for the Cubs.
In the second game, the Red Sox took an early lead scoring 1 in the first, 2
in the second, 1 in the third and 1 in the fourth for a 5-0 lead after three
and a half. The Cubs scored two in the bottom of the fourth on an Eddie Murray
triple. Glen Butkus got the win for the Red Sox going the distance.
Earl Carpenter pitched a good game for the Cubs allowing just two earned runs.
September 16, 2000
The League Championship double header on 9/17 will be played at 9AM at Milford
Town Park.
September 11, 2000
The best of three League Championship series between the Red Sox and Cubs will
start with a double header on 9/17. The first game will start at 9AM. The
location has not been determined yet, but will be either Milford Town Park or
Bowditch field. The Red Sox are the host team and will be home for the first
game. The Cubs will be the home team for the second game.
September 10, 2000
The American and National League Championships were completed today. Both
league series were swept 2 games to none. It turns out that both number 1
teams were beaten by the second place teams!
The Red Sox were the first American League team to beat the Orioles in the
ALCS. The Orioles had won the other 3 ALCS. In two very exciting games, the
Red Sox prevailed by scores of 2-1 and 3-2. The first game went to eight
innings as a 1-1 tie. The winning hit drove in a runner from third with two
outs. The second game was a 2-2 tie through 6.5 innings. The winning hit in
the bottom of the seventh occurred with two runners on and two outs. What an
incredible inaugural season for the Red Sox, a trip to the finals!
The Cubs played nearly flawless defense and got several clutch hits to sweep
the Braves 4-0 and 12-3. In the first game, Earl Carpenter outdueled the
Braves ace Andy Troiani. In the second game, the Cubs used a 5 run first and
a 5 run fifth to clinch the series. Tom Barnes picked up the win for the
Cubs while Andy Troiani was called upon to pitch another four innings (Andy
pitched the second through the fifth). On the day, 12 of the 14 Cubs that
played scored runs!
This sets up an interesting Championship series. The teams split their two
games this season. The Red Sox traveled to Algonquin to play a double header
on May 21. Those were the first two official games of the season for the Red
Sox. The Red Sox won game 1 7-4 and the Cubs took the second game 9-7. The
Cubs are making their third trip to the League Championships in the last four
years.
August 28, 2000
The first round of the playoffs was completed yesterday. No upsets were
recorded which sets up two very interesting division championship series. The
divisional championships are a 2-3 series starting with 7 inning double
headers on Sunday 9/10. The times and locations for these games has not yet
been determined, but the Orioles and Braves hold home field advantage. If the
double header is split, then the following weekend, 9/17, a single 9 inning
game will be played to determine the winner of the series. The Orioles and
Braves will be the home teams, but the 9/17 games will be played at the Red Sox and
Cubs home fields.
In the American League, the Orioles and Red Sox both won their games
convincingly by identical 15-2 scores. The teams split their season series,
with the Red Sox winning the first game 5-4 and the Orioles winning the other
game 9-3. The Orioles are the perennial powerhouse of the league. They have
hosted all 4 American League Chamionships held and won 4 of the 6 league
titles. The Orioles will face very stiff competition from the Red Sox. The
Red Sox are having a fantastic inaugural season. They have a very potent
offensive lineup and some solid defensive players. This should be a great series.
The National League pairs two rivals as the Braves host the Cubs. The Braves
are a great story this year as they turned around from a disastrous 2-15 season
last year with several key players missing because of injury into a great 12-6
season this year. This will be the third trip to the divisional championships
for the Braves. They have played the Cubs in their previous two trips. The Cubs
have played in all 4 National League Championships and have made it to the
league finals twice. The Cubs won the league championship in 1998. The teams
split their season series with the Cubs taking the first game 15-3 and the Braves
winning the most recent game 8-5. This series has no obvious favorite.
August 23, 2000
The Yankees Red Sox double header scheduled for 7/16 will not be made up as
the result of the game has no bearing on playoff positions. The same is
true for the Indians and Brewers double header that was postponed.
The first round of the playoffs will be played as follows:
American League:
Yankees at Orioles
Indians at Red Sox
National League:
Brewers at Braves
Phillies at Cubs
July 18, 2000
The Yankees Red Sox double header scheduled for 7/16 was postponed due to
rain. No makeup date has been set yet.
The Orioles Cubs makeup game from Father's Day has been scheduled for a
Friday night game under the lights! The makeup game will be played on
7/28 at 7PM at Bowditch Field in Framingham.
June 12, 2000
The second game of the Father's Day double header between the Orioles and
the Cubs has been postponed until a future date. On 6/18 the teams will
play a single seven inning game starting at 9:30. The date and time of
the second game will be determined later.
June 6, 2000
The Brewers did not have enough players for the first game of their double header
against the Mariners and had to forfeit the game. They did manage to get enough
players for the second game and the Brewers won that game 11-6.
May 23, 2000
The Indians Brewers double header on 5/21 was rained out. No makeup date is
set at this time.
May 17, 2000
The Red Sox had to forfeit their second game against the Phillies for using an
ineligible player in their first game. The Red Sox penalties are completed.
They will play their first official games this weekend in a double header
against the Cubs.
May 12, 2000
The Red Sox had to forfeit their first game against the Mariners for using an
ineligible player. Their second game was against the Phillies and it was not
played. This game will either be made up later in the season or be recorded
as a forfeit for the Red Sox.
March 19, 2000
We met to discuss the scheduling issues that arose from trying to create a 17
game schedule with 10 teams. We decided to play 18 games this season where
you play every team twice. There will be three double headers all against teams
from the other division.
We officially announced our leaving of the MSBL. We are an independent
baseball league this year named MetroWest ABL (Adult Baseball League).
We also discussed and agreed on the playoff tie breaker system. If teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the tie breakers will be:
Head to head record
Best record within division
Most runs scored
Coin flip
There is a $50 fine assessed to any team who forfeits a game.
Not that this should EVER happen in our league, but a player caught with a corked
bat will be ejected from the current game and be suspended for 1 game.
February 1, 2000
Here are the notes from the first league meeting of 2000. There really aren't any major
rule changes this year. The biggest change is that there will be 10 teams in the league
and the divisional championships will be best 2-3 games.
Still using wood bats this year
Using same balls as last year, although we may switch from MSBL labeled balls to some collegiate label.
We may leave the MSBL and join another league (Roy Hobbs possibly), it all depends on what we can do for insurance.
Umpiring costs will be going up this year from 50 to possibly 60 bucks per game. Paul will talk to Tom Hastings to see if we can get two umps to each game on a more consistent basis.
All teams must pay 600 to the league by March 15.
We are adding two teams to the league. Team 1 is the Red Sox and they are already paid up. The other team is unknown, if it is an American League team then the Brewers will switch to the National League.
The schedule will remain at 17 games. Each team will play the other 4 teams in their division 3 times (4 double headers and 4 single games) and play the 5 teams in the other division once. This means we still play on 13 different weekends.
We will start one weekend earlier and play on Mother's Day this year so the playoffs will begin in early to mid August.
Only 4 teams from each division will make the playoffs, the 5th place teams will play each other for a consolation game. The second round of the playoffs will be best 2-3. Same goes for the Championship series.
Playoff eligibility:
You must play in 9 games to be eligible
Each team will be allowed 2 extra playoff spots for players who played in at least 4 games but these extra players can't pitch in the playoffs
Jim Callaghan and Rich Schwarz will work out collection of the game day rosters and keep track of playoff eligibility.
Use of composite bats was voted down, you can't use composite bats during a game
There are no new rules around courtesy runners, it was discussed to not let them steal bases but that was voted down.
During the last two rounds of the playoffs, the best 2-3 series, the first weekend is a double header.
Batting only 9 or 10 players was briefly discussed and voted down.
January 17, 2000
The first league meeting of 2000 will be held on Junuary 23. The meeting
will be at noon at Chi Chi's in Framingham. There is talk of expanding
the league by two teams!