Note:
Due to hard feelings and
bitterness over my quick departure from the SL 2002 playoffs, I cannot bring
myself to write a season review.
However, I did tear out some assorted pages from the diary I kept during
the year.
-Bob T., Sosa Impersonation
Well, I left the annual SL Winter
Meeting quite depressed. First of all,
I don’t know if the league will be as enjoyable as previous years, because
Steve Swinea will no longer be part of it.
I really miss that guy, even though he is freaky and tries to rip
everyone off in his trades. It won’t be
the same without him. At least Joe
Hauser decided to stay in the league.
Another reason that I am down and
out is because Keith Klein and Greg Nims spilled the beans and told me that
there is no chance in hell that I can win my division this year. Those guys are true experts, so I better
start figuring out how to capture a wildcard berth, pronto.
The only good news is that Matt
Klein joined the league. He seems like
the only normal Klein.
I announced the name of my team
tonight: Soso (OK) Impersonation. Ronny, Pat, Jack, Hank, Jim, Vin, Coach K. et.al get it.
After the meetings ended, I spent a
long time catching up with Ken. We are
planning a trip to Florida in March. I
hope that guy starts getting out a bit.
He sits around too much.
P.S. Ken, Chris, and Jen are coming to DeKalb
next weekend; former SL’er John Bryant will be meeting us at Starbusters.
Though I’m overwhelmed with school,
I’m enjoying the SL draft immensely.
I’m doing something new this year – I’m picking players that think will
be fun to play with, win or lose. I
veered off my regular course and chose an offensive player, Jason Giambi, in
the first round. I was happy to get Alomar
in the 2nd round, because I know everyone wanted him. I might have picked my centerfielder,
Edmonds, a bit early, but I really like him.
I grabbed Ichiro because he steals a ton and has a great arm. Who knows, maybe he will even get a few
hits.
I’m worried about pitching. I grabbed Sele in the 3rd round,
but I’ll be lucky to get 12-13 wins from him.
I’m starting to like the identity of
this team.
9 February, 2002
Perhaps I overreacted when I flamed
Chris and Keith for suggesting that we should try to draft in a timely fashion
during tomorrow’s Draft-o-Rama.
What
was I thinking??? Pedro Martinez as a 6th
starter in the 13th round!!!!!
I was rolling along in the Draft-o-Rama until that idiotic pick. I will forever be a scrubb. I can just picture the glint in Keith
Klein’s eyes as he sharpens his pen to write about my gaffe in his famed “draft
notes” that we always get shortly after the season ends. Pedro Martinez!!!! Shoot me!!
Oh
dear, Greg Nims, a DeKalb veteran, now says that he is coming into town in
a
few weeks for a Mr. Blotto show. I
passed an invite along to all. DeKalb is the happening place.
27 February,
2002
I
broke the news to Ken that I won’t be able to go to Florida for spring
break. He was disappointed, but still
plans on taking the week off. He
mentioned something about a trip to Colorado.
All systems go with SL 2002. I managed to grab some versatile
players. The only pick I really
struggled with was taking Sierra over Sexton.
Sierra has less games, but hopefully more upside.
March 19th,
2002
The season is off to a nice
start. Somehow, Keith and Greg pulled a
Swinea and botched the stats for their stats for the first series of the year. Boy, if that had been me or Steve, we would
be hearing about it for a decade…
April 9th,
2002
Will wonders ever cease?
Soso is 12-3. Against Keith,
Ken, and Chris no less. Ken seems more
concerned with the girl he met in Colorado than his team. I think he is smitten.
May 20th,
2002
Now that school is out, I need to
sit down and write a 40 game review.
Should I predict playoffs with a 24-16 record? No, lets face it. Bonds
will explode, and Dave will run off a string of 15 wins in a row. Dave Basler. It’s hard for me to root against the guy for the following
reasons:
·
His last name
is not Nims.
·
His last name
is not Klein.
·
He doesn’t
call me stupid.
·
He makes good suggestions
for my lineup even though we are in the same division.
Don’t think I am going to make any
free agent moves. I’m kind of looking
forward to running the Free Agent Draft though.
June 15th,
2002
Not much going on with the SL these days. I’ve sent Joe Hauser a bunch of emails, but
he hasn’t responded. Ken keeps going
to Colorado like every other weekend. I
think he likes this girl better than Hunt for Red October.
July 18th, 2002
Ken left DeKalb a few minutes ago in a U-Haul truck heading
west. He’s moving to Colorado, and I
don’t think it is so that he can be closer to longtime friend and fellow SL’er
Graham Haas. He’s heading out there
with Christi, the girl he met in Colorado after I cancelled the Florida
trip. A warning to Graham: Ken no longer resembles the bachelor we once
knew. Hmm…..Graham no longer resembles
the bachelor we (or they) once knew. Hmm…Colorado?? Perhaps all the single women are out in
Colorado??? Note to self…oh yeah, this
already a note to myself.
Anyways, Ken and Christi, after a
fine meal at Lukolos, are heading to Iowa for the night and are staying with
Greg and Pam. I think that Greg is
salivating for some APBA, but little does he know that Ken is smitten. He’ll figure it out after about ten
minutes. Sorry Greg, no games
tonight.
I
went to a psychic party last night. The
psychic reminded me of a receptionist named Norma. Her warning to me was very cryptic: “BEWARE OF THE WATCHDOG.”
August 5th,
2002
SL 2002 is as depressed as the economy. I’m not doing much to contribute to either
these days, although I am thinking of hiring a private investigator to find owners
Hauser, Haas, and the members of the Klein expedition last seen heading
west.
About the only cool thing happening
is that Keith Klein and family bought a house.
I skipped out of classes early so I could help him move. It was really hot that day, nearly a
hundred, and my car’s air-conditioner is on the fritz, so the trip to Island
Lake was pretty unbearable, but I would do just about anything for
Keith.
I’m really hoping he has a
house-warming party. It’s always nice
to see the house when you’re not moving furniture into it.
August 7th,
2002
Remember to never intentionally walk
Denny Hocking to load the bases so you can pitch to Henry Blanco
August 18th,
2002
After hundreds of rumors, Joe Hauser confirmed that he is
leaving the SL. I got to know Joe very
well sitting next to him on a golf cart at Twin-O. He finally relented and let me tell story after story. Joe, you will be missed.
Rumor has it that Swinea is taking
over for Joe. He is already talking
trash about how he can kick my ass. I
have a simple response which is turning into a cliche. – “Hey Steve, at least I
don’t wear pants with holes in the crotch!”
Let the games resume!
P.S. I’m now living in Buffalo Grove. I miss DeKalb. Student teaching starts in a few days.
September 24th,
2002
Spring has bloomed in the fall, and SL is alive and well. Things seem to be back to normal, so normal
that it’s about time for me to send around a controversial email to stir up the
pot a bit. What topic though?
The only unusual thing is that I’m
still in first place in the Cousin Chad division.
October 14th,
2002
Student teaching and CLC volleyball seem to be dominating my
life. The Bears suck. Ken is getting married. Lots of games being played, but neither
Dave nor Steve making up much ground.
November 5th,
2002
Played Ken online Sunday. He welcomed me to the playoffs. I guess that means I’m in. I
got on a roll and beat him 4-1.
I
then took some games from Matt. I was
up 4-0 and in game 5, I swore at one of my guys for making an out but I
heard
from Keith that Matt thought I was swearing at him. I swear I wasn’t swearing
at Matt. I swear.
November 17th,
2002
Played Matt again after he and Steve
played. A computer is now back at the
pad. Matt got even with me for the swearing
incident. Nevin went 4 for 5 with 4
homers and 8 RBI in one game (Sosa 146) and had 6 homers as he took the
series. Matt is a different manager at
this point in the season, and I hope he comes back next year.
December 7th,
2002
At 94-68, Soso wins
the Cousin Chad Division and faces Ken in the semi-finals. Skeptics say that I am no match for the
defending Spit Cup Champion in spite of the fact that I went 15-5 against him
in the regular season. I guess that I
am kind of glad that I am not facing Chris.
He seemed to match up well against me and he seems to be the hottest
team in the league about now.
PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?
Wait a second…Just how
did I get here?
Soso
had the top rated defense in the league (.987).
Soso
had the only starter to win 20 games (Sele) and he is the only starter
with an ERA under 3.00 (2.92).
Soso’s
pitching staff held the league to a second best .241 batting average in the
regular season.
Soso had the league’s best record
in 1-run games (34-19).
Ichiro and Alomar had 211 & 200 hits
collectively. Have there ever been two
players on an SL team to collect 200 hits each? In addition to leading the league in hits, Ichiro led it in
multi-hit games and stolen bases.
With Alomar and Ichiro on base, two
bona-fide sluggers (Giambi: 121 RBI, .595 SLG and
Green: 133 RBI) were always a threat. Plus, Sierra was no slouch for a 23rd
round pick.
Soso stole 255 bases and finished first in the league in stolen
base percentage (82.5%).
Timely
hitting from guys like Posada and Meintkewicz as well as
competent relief pitching from the likes of Weathers, Rincoln, Nen,
and Farnsworth certainly helped.
December 7th,
2002 Addendum.
I got waxed. Nice job on the repeat Ken.
Congratulations
to Christi and Ken. It will be good to
see most everyone in February.
Best
Wishes to Pam and Greg on their future addition to the family.