Briefly
Some miscellaneous notes from around town:
▪ Sorry to report that Long Beach Black Sox centerfielder John Otte will miss the rest of the season with a torn abdominal muscle. Johnny O. sustained the injury in the Santa Fe Springs tournament a couple weeks ago. He continued playing, but later X-rays revealed a tear. He is scheduled for a MRI today to find out more. Tough break for the Sox, as John was a key part of their early success with his great outfield play and hustle. John started the season with a bang, hitting 2 home runs on opening night at the Norwalk tournament, giving the Sox the momentum that carried them to a 4th place finish in a tough field of teams that included three "A/B" teams. Best wishes to John for a speedy recovery.
▪ If that wasn't enough bad news Fred Hanker, the Sox will lose another player, outfielder Mario Echeverria, who is relocating to Idaho later this month. A first-year fastpitch player, Mario had taken to the game quickly and added some solid punch to the Black Sox lineup. If any of you know of a team in Idaho, Mario will hit the free agent wire shortly. See the note posted at our "Northwest" section of the Forum
▪ Speaking of free agents, before you start feeling too sorry for the Black Sox, player-manager Fred Hanker has moved quickly to reload, adding two well known players to his roster. Well known to pitchers in particular, due to the havoc they have wreaked in the past. One has been MIA for the past year or two, while the other has been seen playing regularly in local tournaments. Stay tuned, as we'll post their names as soon as the ink on their contracts is dry.
▪ With two more tournament weekends in the So Cal ASA Alliance before the May 22 roster deadline, we may see more roster moves before things are set in concrete. The rule for 2004 reads: "Until May 22 players can move from Southern California ASA team to Southern California ASA team....The weekend of May 22 – 23 all Championship rosters will be frozen for the remainder of Championship play and players will be required to play for the team they play for the weekend of May 22 – 23 for the remainder of the season." See 2004 Championship Roster Information at the So Cal ASA site for the full text of the roster rules.
▪ Errata: In our story on the "March Madness" tournament, we reported on Keith Barker's amazing five (5) home run weekend, noting that it equaled the record set by Edge's Rick McCarthy and the Rounders' Tom Morton. A closer look at the record book reveals that McCarthy is still the sole holder of the So Cal ASA Alliance record for homers in a weekend with six (6). McCarthy hit five of those in a row, during Saturday games, another record. A reader pointed out that Dean Clark of Damn Yankees hit five in a weekend, in the May 17-18, 2003 event at Lancaster last year. Morton appears to hold the record for Championship round homers, hitting all five of his on a Sunday. None of this takes anything away from Barker's performance, which was remarkable. Whether it's McCarthy with six, or Barker, Clark and Morton with five, it's pretty select company and an amazing accomplishment. By the way, Barker and McCarthy are teammates on this year's Edge squad, with Barker batting leadoff. Pitchers beware.
▪ Pitcher's nightmare: the reader that brought the error to our attention also noted that McCarthy, Barker and Thomas all played together on the old L.A. Doughboys team. (The L.A. Doughboys were the 2000 National Champions in modified fastpitch, with pitcher Rob Scheller [Circle Tap in 2003-4] on the mound. No wonder.)
▪ Rounders get a scare: Donald Jewett of the Rounders is on the mend, with a hairline fracture of his (non-pitching) wrist. Donald was hit by a pitch in the Rounder's Saturday game against So Cal Fear, and missed Sunday's championship round. The "news" is that the HBP didn't cause the fracture. That one turned out to be a bruise/sprain. But while doctors were looking at the X-rays, they found the hairline fracture on the other side of the wrist, which was already on the mend. Jewett was the Rounders MVP in their Palm Springs tournament win earlier this month.
▪ More from the DL: Some good news for Santana's Eddie Echeveste -- his broken ankle will not require surgery after all, and he's expect to be out of a cast by the end of April. Eddie was injured blocking the plate in a game against the Rounders in Palm Springs earlier this month. As many of you know, Eddie has endured a couple of lengthy stints on the DL following shoulder surgery, so we are pleased to report that this injury is not as bad as first thought.
▪ Sorry to report that Long Beach Black Sox centerfielder John Otte will miss the rest of the season with a torn abdominal muscle. Johnny O. sustained the injury in the Santa Fe Springs tournament a couple weeks ago. He continued playing, but later X-rays revealed a tear. He is scheduled for a MRI today to find out more. Tough break for the Sox, as John was a key part of their early success with his great outfield play and hustle. John started the season with a bang, hitting 2 home runs on opening night at the Norwalk tournament, giving the Sox the momentum that carried them to a 4th place finish in a tough field of teams that included three "A/B" teams. Best wishes to John for a speedy recovery.
▪ If that wasn't enough bad news Fred Hanker, the Sox will lose another player, outfielder Mario Echeverria, who is relocating to Idaho later this month. A first-year fastpitch player, Mario had taken to the game quickly and added some solid punch to the Black Sox lineup. If any of you know of a team in Idaho, Mario will hit the free agent wire shortly. See the note posted at our "Northwest" section of the Forum
▪ Speaking of free agents, before you start feeling too sorry for the Black Sox, player-manager Fred Hanker has moved quickly to reload, adding two well known players to his roster. Well known to pitchers in particular, due to the havoc they have wreaked in the past. One has been MIA for the past year or two, while the other has been seen playing regularly in local tournaments. Stay tuned, as we'll post their names as soon as the ink on their contracts is dry.
▪ With two more tournament weekends in the So Cal ASA Alliance before the May 22 roster deadline, we may see more roster moves before things are set in concrete. The rule for 2004 reads: "Until May 22 players can move from Southern California ASA team to Southern California ASA team....The weekend of May 22 – 23 all Championship rosters will be frozen for the remainder of Championship play and players will be required to play for the team they play for the weekend of May 22 – 23 for the remainder of the season." See 2004 Championship Roster Information at the So Cal ASA site for the full text of the roster rules.
▪ Errata: In our story on the "March Madness" tournament, we reported on Keith Barker's amazing five (5) home run weekend, noting that it equaled the record set by Edge's Rick McCarthy and the Rounders' Tom Morton. A closer look at the record book reveals that McCarthy is still the sole holder of the So Cal ASA Alliance record for homers in a weekend with six (6). McCarthy hit five of those in a row, during Saturday games, another record. A reader pointed out that Dean Clark of Damn Yankees hit five in a weekend, in the May 17-18, 2003 event at Lancaster last year. Morton appears to hold the record for Championship round homers, hitting all five of his on a Sunday. None of this takes anything away from Barker's performance, which was remarkable. Whether it's McCarthy with six, or Barker, Clark and Morton with five, it's pretty select company and an amazing accomplishment. By the way, Barker and McCarthy are teammates on this year's Edge squad, with Barker batting leadoff. Pitchers beware.
▪ Pitcher's nightmare: the reader that brought the error to our attention also noted that McCarthy, Barker and Thomas all played together on the old L.A. Doughboys team. (The L.A. Doughboys were the 2000 National Champions in modified fastpitch, with pitcher Rob Scheller [Circle Tap in 2003-4] on the mound. No wonder.)
▪ Rounders get a scare: Donald Jewett of the Rounders is on the mend, with a hairline fracture of his (non-pitching) wrist. Donald was hit by a pitch in the Rounder's Saturday game against So Cal Fear, and missed Sunday's championship round. The "news" is that the HBP didn't cause the fracture. That one turned out to be a bruise/sprain. But while doctors were looking at the X-rays, they found the hairline fracture on the other side of the wrist, which was already on the mend. Jewett was the Rounders MVP in their Palm Springs tournament win earlier this month.
▪ More from the DL: Some good news for Santana's Eddie Echeveste -- his broken ankle will not require surgery after all, and he's expect to be out of a cast by the end of April. Eddie was injured blocking the plate in a game against the Rounders in Palm Springs earlier this month. As many of you know, Eddie has endured a couple of lengthy stints on the DL following shoulder surgery, so we are pleased to report that this injury is not as bad as first thought.
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