| End of the Season 12's |
 The End of the Season 12's are always emotional for me. I know that for the next 6 months I will log onto this site everyday hoping to see a post that is worth reading, unfortunately - that post will not be there. I never give up though, call me optimistic - but unless Skelly comes on here to talk about the Vikes - there is not much to talk about in the Softball world. Oh, I know Cory77 will come on to brag about how he and Dress rallied a team to a 3rd place finish at Pov's Halloween Spectacular Tournament where they combined with Rusty to dress as The Girls Next Door. But as for me, and you other Hugh Hefners out there, we know that the season is really over.Shanny came up big with a nice end of the season awards post - which does steal a little of my thunder - but I will press on. Player of the year is tough, but my nominee would be very Josh Hamilton like - his team didn't finish as high as J@H but he was consistently the best player on the field. Jesse Worm from BBS/Miken is an all-around player who really carried our overmatched team to a ASA Open State "Championship." This was one of several great tournaments for Jesse who covers more ground in CF than most and I believe he has the best arm strength in all of Minnesota Softball. Yes, I'm biased, but I don't think this year's MVP played for the top two teams. Best Bat - Shanny missed this one by a mile. That gray and blue Easton was the Magic Stick this year. T's 13 and MN Easton are two teams I can think of that crushed the ball with those things. If they were legit, the Easton Stealth(I believe) was the bat of the year. When they were broken in they had Ultra 2 capabilities. Most Disappointing Team - Has to be Selloxx, with a close 2nd to Tharaldson's, but for different reasons. Selloxx had more talent than most teams and a tremendous pitcher - they were just missing that one guy who could make sure they were all on the same page. I still can't figure out why it didn't work, I'd take any of them on my team any day - they are solid talents, but they just couldn't make it work together. Tharaldson's disappointed me personally, because I thought they would be untouchable - maybe I had them overrated in my mind - but after a superb 2007 I really believed this would be their year. Now don't get me wrong, they proved to be a tough team to beat in the Fireman's again this year(which is a great time to step up your game) - but not winning the North Dakota state tournament, no matter how you try to downplay it is frankly, embarrassing, for a team that puts that much recruiting, finances, effort, etc. into it. Its like the Yankees losing to the TB Rays - oops, I guess it does happen. Look for them to be back with a vengeance in 2009. Season Ending Top 12's - Including Team of the Year: 1. J@H - I never saw it coming, and if you had been to 6's Wild you would have thought this team has no chance of going anywhere. Instead, the are now WSL A, USSSA B, ASA B, and probably ISA Major. What a year. Frolics champs, Top 5 at Fireman's, etc. Tons of highlitghts. What I find really interesting about this team is this: They are very beatable. We lost a close one to them at Fireman's, because I gave up a HR to the catcher - who seemed to be the only guy capable of hitting a Mid-Seam out of the park. They didn't "wow" me, but they did do all the little things right. They didn't have an MVP to me, they were just a team; and that may be the highest praise one can give. Noonan says he's retired, but so did my guy Yoshii - he'll be back, they always come back!! Congrats to J@H. 2. Redwood - This team - and once again - the emphasis was on team, had an outstanding year. Some of these guys have been solid, if not spectacular, forever. No week links, like J@H - great defensively; but probably struggled at the National level due to the lack of a couple big boppers. This isn't a slight, I said it all along, you can win without those sluggers - but you have to play perfectly to pull it off. For much of the season, Redwood played perfectly. I like Todd their sponsor/coach, I've always been a fan of Lance Dalbey -- he's been getting it done forever, and Andy Hanson can really go get it in CF. They were fun to compete against and won way more than they lost - great season to Redwood. 3. CC - This team was the best team in the state, by a long shot, at Shakopee Lions time. I have never felt so inadequate on the softball field as Geno, Gallery, Yokes and the boys ran it up on me and my guys. Unfortunately, and I can't say I was surprised, when Yokes got called up it all went downhill. Now they scrapped, and did an admirable job with what was left over. They have nothing to be ashamed of, the established a great reputation nationally - but a guy like Yokes does more than just pitch and hit. He is a buffer between certain factions of that team, when he was there - all members of the team were headed in the right direction. When he left, the motivation - for some - was gone. Draw your own conclusions, but I like to think about what might have been, but that was then, and we've taken different roads, we can't go back again, there's no use giving in - what might have been........ 4. Tharaldson's - For all the harassment they've taken, many of us would be happy to have a "down year" like theirs. 00's is a quality player who has been there and done that, Nacho will always be a fan favorite and Riggo is always making moves to improve his team. But there is one move that never gets made, and that's ok - I get it, but if you want to win the big ones - you have to have the best 10 or 11 guys you can possibly have on the field - you don't. I know it, you know it, the American people know it. Role players should be role players, if you aren't part of the solution - you're part of the problem. 5. BBS/Miken - Fun season. Basically everyone is coming back, except for a few who need to scale back. I'll keep my fingers crossed that we don't get a stud pitcher - if we do - I'll be that role player mentioned above. My goal is to play full time USSSA D soon anyway. Great year to Al, our coach and leader. Outstanding job to the Worms, Kings, Forsy, Gilly, Hermie, JRock, Bucky, Kyle and to the two greatest Free Agent pick-ups of last season Shane Pauly and Brice - stud hitters and great guys. Next year should be fun. 6. Lucky 13's/MN Jazz - These guys will continue improving due to their great combination of youth and experience. I'm positive they will be in the running for Top 3 next season, this is two years in a row where they played their best ball when it counted. Willie, Lofgren, Sheets, Hammer, Jimmy, Scottie, Grothe, The Best USSSA pitcher I know who can now pitch ASA, Youngie, D - the ringer OF, that big Lefty they picked up from some A team and others will be back looking to improve on a great 2008. 7. Team Viesmann/BBS - Looking to improve on this year's performance, they are always in the mix. 8. Team Viesmann - We'll see what next season holds. 9. Eitzen State Bank - The run may be over, as some will leave to form the Super Southern Minnesota Babcock All-Stars. Maybe it was the Freaks??????? 10. Blueline - They left behind the tools from DRC and moved up to C and performed well. Good work. 11. McKinley Hill - The top USSSA D team for sure, they had the good sense to pick up Jesse Worm for Worlds and they made quite a run in a 256 team tournament to finish in the Top 20!!! Congrats on a year of domination, good luck doing it in C next year as well. 12. BBS/Imperial - Their season never ends, I'm sure Shane is helping with the pumping up of the Rosemount Dome so he can get his boys in there!!! Lots of drama, but that's what happens when you play more games in a season than the Minnesota Twins!!! Still a solid young team. Go Chicago White Sox! Go Jim Thome! Go Ken Griffey Jr. with your arm that makes Pfeff look like he has a cannon! Go Paulie Konerko! Go John Danks! Go Barnsey and the Fall Firemans! Go Kelsey and play in the Fall Firemans, I'm sure you'll get a hit this time! Go Tim Brewster! Go Vicante Shianco! Go Vikings Full Backs as pass receivers! Go Torii Hunter, we don't need you - we've got GoGo! Go Johan Santana, we played one more game than you and your worthless, choking Mets! Good offseason to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |