April 10, 2002
The league met one more time at Chi Chi's in Framingham. All the managers were handed
the league rules. The balls for the 2002 season have not arrived yet. They will be handed out
to the managers as soon as they arrive.
The umpiring fees were raised to $70 for 9 inning games from $65. There will be no increase
next season. The 7 inning games will still be $60.
It sounds as though the Mariners may have a home field this year. The
details are still being worked out.
No Newton Red Sox players ended up remaining in the league.
We voted to allow a special bat that the Indians will be using for the 2002 season.
The modified schedule with a couple weeknight games was never used, the original standard
schedule will be followed for the 2002 season. That schedule has been posted to the website.
January 20, 2002
Here are the notes from the first league meeting of 2002 which took place on 1/20.
There really aren't any major rule changes this year.
The largest item on the agenda was what we would do about the Newton Red Sox team. It was decided
that based on their not meeting the guidelines set forth at last year's probation meeting that the
Newton Red Sox team would be disbanded. Players from that team that wish to remain in the league
will need to contact Paul Valentino. If the players pay a $50 registration fee, they will be
entered into a reentry draft. Teams will pick in reverse order of last year's final regular
season standings. The replacement team (more later) will have the first selection and then
Brewers, Cardinals, Mariners, Indians, Yankees, Cubs, Braves, Phillies, Orioles.
The next item, was allowing a new team to enter the league. Congratulations to our newest
league member, the Ashland Red Sox lead by Rob Scherer!!! The league is excited to have this
new team in the league! We believe they will use Ashland High as their home field.
The schedule order was picked:
Orioles 1, Indians 2, Red Sox 3, Mariners 4, Yankees 5
Cubs A, Phillies B, Brewers C, Cardinals D, Braves E
(Interestingly, in all three years these letters/numbers have been drafted the Orioles have been
1 and the Cubs A, that's weird...)
The standard schedule will be created this season with Mother's Day weekend off and play on both
weekends around the July 4th Holiday. This season, the National League will be the home team for
the first and third double header weekend while the American League will be the home team for the
second double header weekend. Keep in mind however that a second schedule will be made that
adjusts the last two weekends worth of games into weeknight games earlier in the year shortening
the schedule by 2 weeks. If it is decided that teams can't get fields for these weeknight games
then we will revert to the standard schedule.
The umpiring fees are remaining the same as last year. $65 per ump per 9 inning game, $60 per ump
per 7 inning game. If a game starts and is then called before completion, the umpires receive
full payment. If the umpires show up at the field and the game is called before it starts, both
umpires receive a half payment. If the umpires are called at least 1 hour before the game starts
to cancel the game then the umpires don't get paid. The home team has the responsibility of
determining if a game will be started. The new rule this year is that the teams will split
umpiring costs instead of the home team always paying for both umpires.
We are a wood bat league and this will no longer be discussed at league meetings. However,
there was a vote on whether or not to allow bamboo bats and the decision was yes. We also
discussed using a leaguewide bat supplier. Tom Galvani will be making inquires and getting
back to the league with more details on pricing and logistics. Send Tom any information you
might have on current bat suppliers.
We will be using Feely field again for the Championship games.
Our insurance policy is changing. We will no longer be holding a coverage that kicks in extra
money for costs above a players insurance plan. We are adding more liability insurance, but the
net cost to the league is a $500 savings!
The existing teams in the league will need to make a payment to the league by 3/15/02. The final
payment amount has not been determined yet, but needs to cover at least the following items:
$40/dozen balls
$240
Insurance
$100
Webmaster
$80
League Winner
$30
Rich Moran presented three very interesting items for discussion. The first was the splitting
of the umpiring fees which was passed and mentioned above. The second was to require each home
team to line the infield for each game. Many managers felt this was a great rule, however,
logistically it presented some issues. Not all managers have access to facilities at the field
to store the machine or the vehicles to get the machine back and forth to games. This item did
not get passed. The last item was to create a three member board that would serve two purposes,
alleviate some of the onus on the President from having to make all the difficult "hardass"
decisions when grey area issues arise. Also, it might help resolve some issues that don't need
to have a vote from all ten managers. While the exact wording of the proposal was not accepted,
a modified version of the proposal was passed. There are three board positions now, but any
issues that arise still need to be voted on by all 10 managers. The President remains Paul
Valentino. There is a co-president/VP Rich Schwarz (thanks for the support!) and a treasurer,
Rick Huckins. Each of these members will serve a two year term at which they must be reelected
for the position. There are no term limits, a member can remain on the board for life but must
be reelected every two years.