Steve and I each make speeches. I know I babbled some with the kids, something I don’t do often owing to the fact that I’m a teacher and so have lots of practice at being concise at making my point. The basic theme of my talk was just how proud I was of the team, and proud was a word I think I must have used a bazillion times during the speech. But, despite everything, it was how I felt.
We then handed out awards. This seems like as good of a place as any to do a wrap up of the team. For comparison’s sake I’m going to post what we said in presenting the award, what my final private take was (which sometimes matches up) and what I said at the start of the season by way of comparison (which I’m only looking at AFTER I give my Eval). Steve and I alternated awards. You’ll see that I remember more of what I said then what he said.
Jodi Jackie Robinson Award (Me)
Presentation There is one player on our team who exhibited all of the characteristics of this person. They showed great poise. They played second base and broke down barriers. To Jodi we give the Jackie Robinson Award
My Eval Jodi never made the full transition from softball to baseball. She is a gamer, that’s for sure. But the hitting, despite a good start, never really came through for her. I know Dad put a lot of pressure on her, which is too bad as well. I know she’s having a good travel season from seeing mom at the library, which I’m happy to hear.
Brendan The Down and Dirty Award (Steve)
Presentation I said that if a player that if a player isn’t messy at the end of a game they haven’t played baseball. This guy really showed the meaning of that and came a long way this season. To Brendan we give the Down and Dirty Award
My Eval This kid is a great kid and a great guy to have on the team, as he’s a team player. I really do think the progress he’s made this year at catcher will help him tremendously next year. His batting was still clearly in need of improvement though as his pitch selection, more then mechanics, was poor.
Brendan – Will be our #2 catcher behind Jesse and shows promise as a catcher. There is a big drop off in talent we perceive between Everett and Brandan. He does not have very good plate discipline/eye but he can make contact with balls outside the strike zone, which in this league can often turn into errors.
Fuller Scott Rolen Award
Presentation It isn’t every year that you find someone so perfectly suited for a position. We were lucky to have that this year. We knew that when this guy was playing we were in good hands and so to Fuller goes the Scott Rolen Award
My Eval You’ll never have a good team without kids like Fuller. He wasn’t the best player, but he could come through in the clutch in both the field and at bat. Flyballs were definitely not his strong suit, but he could catch and throw nicely and had several good at bats, though he never did make it as a catcher for us.
We’re in the dregs of the lineup here. Continues to want to catch, despite not really having very good skill so he’ll get a couple chances early on, but for Saturday’s game is scheduled to catch the 6th inning so he’ll likely not see action.
Avi Greg Maddox Award
Presentation This guy might not have had overpowering stuff but he could get it over the plate consistently and get outs. To Avi we give the Greg Maddox award
My Eval It will be interesting to see how/if he pitches next year. Statistically, he comes off better then perhaps he deserves because fortunately he normally faced the ends of lineups. By the end of the season he was a definite part of the team (even if he wouldn’t win any popularity awards) which was great to see happen. The kid is a bit of a head case which effects his playing.
This is the biggest question mark. If he had been around, as a Hebrew kid he’s only been to 1 of 3 practices, he could have earned a higher spot. He’s going to be pitching the second inning so he’ll have an early shot to impress us.
Kelvin Ichiro Award
Presentation Just like his namesake he might not hit home runs, but he certainly got on base a lot with some great speed. To Kelvin we give the Ichiro Award
My Eval I still don’t know how he got on base as much as he did. This kid saw perhaps the greatest improvement in his hitting mechanics on our team and they were still terrible. But he ran hard every play. Was a real struggle on where to place in the field as he lacked good skills in throwing, catching, or fielding groundballs or flyballs. I chuckle that he got so much time at firstbase considering he can’t catch the ball, but instead I was deceived because he never really missed a throw either, instead he’d get his glove on it and not really catch it. Gotta love the hustle though.
Poor kid has no hand eye coordination I think as his mechanics have improved a lot already and he still can’t hit anything thrown to him. It’s a shame we didn’t get to bunting.
Jim Love of the Game Award (Steve just in case you forgot)
Presentation Baseball is a fun game and this kid was always enjoyed playing baseball. To Jim we give the Love of the Game Award
My Eval His bat came alive towards the end of the season, which was good to see. He certainly was a gamer, though his emotions could get the better of him. I hope the poor kid grows some as he will likely continue to suffer with what he (and his parents) perceive his skill to be and what the skill actually is, especially in terms of pitching.
Frankly this is a bit of a risk as he’s really not all that great of a hitter. Steve and I feel, however, that he will be patient at the plate. And so he will get on base because even our travel pitcher, Trey, had a hell of a time pitching low enough to him. He’s got pretty good speed for his size and so we feel he’ll do a nice job of setting the table. At worse, he’s simply become thought of as the bottom of lineup instead of the top. I mentioned before that he said he pitched last year. Today he looked much better and of the pitchers we looked at today was BY far the most consistent at getting the ball over the plate. I feel he’ll be a strong role pitcher for us: someone who won’t be one of our go to pitchers, especially with the relaxing of the pitching rules, but someone who will see an inning every 2 or 3 games. Come play-off time having someone who can take innings is huge so, this is great.
Ethan Most Improved Award
Presentation I don’t remember what Steve said but it focused on his improved fielding
My Eval His batting never came alive, despite seeing flashes of great potential. If we would have had another month, he easily could have been an all star, as I am sure his batting would finally have started to click again, just as his fielding did. Heck with more time he could have even been a usable pitcher, who knows. Frankly, more could have been done, but soccer was his priority so considering the situation we had, I feel pretty good about what we accomplished.
Couldn’t hit Trey even when he was lobbing them in. Needs work in a million areas. I can’t decide if keeping his eye on the ball, or “dancing feet” (he’ll literally spin himself around, despite wearing cleats) is the bigger problem. Dancing feet is the more important one though so it’s where we’ll start. Also has huge focus issues in the field. He literally took off his glove during the “game”. This will not be good. Not good at all. I wish we could make him last, but sadly that honor, based on skill, goes to:
Bobby Team Spirit Award
Presentation Steve and I always stress how important the idea of a team is and there was always one guy who could be counted on to be out there encouraging his team mates. A guy who would start a cheer on the bench. Or who would say his now famous words “C’mon, why isn’t anyone talking to the pitcher?” To Bobby we give the Team Spirit Award
My Eval Bobby turned into an above average player for us. I was very pleased at where his pitching ended up, after a lot of hard work. He was a guy we could plug comfortably into any position and he would do a good job. Perhaps our best player mentally as I can’t think of him ever making more then an insignificant lapse in the field, at bat, or on the basepaths. As I said before he told us it was his best season, so I’m happy to have been a part of it.
Bobby – Had an extended chance to pitch today and could not locate the strike zone with a live batter in there, though he did fare better against righties then lefties, so he’ll be getting an inning Saturday. He muffed an infield groundball and an outfield ground ball. Not good.
Everett Mark Burhle Award
PresentationEvery team needs to have a jokester and Everett certainly was ours. To Everett we give the Mark Burhle Award I piped in here and said “And he was a darn good pitcher too
My Eval This kid will be one of the stars of the league next year. He did a lot of innings for us behind the plate as well. After a great start his hitting went into a bit of a slump. His pitching was great stuff even if the numbers didn’t always show it. His decision making in the field could be suspect which is the only weakness in this five tool player.
Continues to be our best hitter. Hopefully Trey and Jim will setup some good situations for him.
Percy Cal Ripken Award
Presentation There was only one player who was there for every minute of every game and every practice. This was a player who did everything we asked of him without complaint. Even when feel sick and injured, he gutted through to play for us in the first game of the playoffs. To Percy we give the Cal Ripken Award.
My Eval We loved Percy. Another gamer. I wish we had known how good of a catcher he was earlier on. This is another kid who should do very well for any team he’s on next year.
I’ve been underwhelmed with this supposed travel kid. He’ll keep getting opportunities for the moment but I feel very good about the decision to put him here in the batting order.This was the 6th position in the lineup
Jesse Carelton Fisk Award
Presentation Something about how he was a great hitter and a terrific catcher.
My Eval What a kid. A great hitter. One of the best catchers in the league. Not a whole lot to say, but he was one of our favorites this year.
Our #1 catcher. Really gets the leadership aspect. He kept saying to the team to encourage the pitcher today. It was great. He and Trey clearly have clicked already as a battery which is great considering he is the only one I am sure can catch him
Trey Roger Clemens Award
Presentation Statistically this was our best pitcher we’ve had in the two years we’ve done this. This was someone who was averaging 2 strike outs an inning. Here’s someone who I was glad was on our team. To Trey we give the Roger Clemens Award
My Eval I wish he hadn’t gotten into such a batting slump. His father is an interesting character. I’m glad we didn’t play on that Saturday as I now have a very good final memory of him rather then a bitter one. Hopefully one day he won’t put so much pressure on himself, but there’s no doubt that this kid can play.
Trey will be our starting pitcher and our workhorse. He can really fire the ball in. He also has a very nasty rising fastball that he over used today in our game. High strikes simply are not consistently called in the league, so I will be encouraging him to use it as more of a “strikeout pitch” as kids will swing at it. As a batter he’s certainly one of our best, but does not overly impress me.
After the awards ceremony the parents presented Steve and I with a gift card to Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, a group of restaurants that all different but nicer, and a Starbucks card. It was really nice of them. And with that people went on their way. We got several more thank yous, but the season was over.
So I think there are two more posts left to write about, with the next one being some post season drama.
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