The  Morning  Brief

(by Editor, Jim Flanagan)

[2/29/04] - No, that's not a typo in the date, it really is the 29th of February.  Leap year.  While we wait the final 6 days for So Cal's 2004 season to begin, excuse me while I visit a bit of the past. The last time February had five Sundays was in 1976, I was a lad of 21 and the Long Beach Nitehawks were preparing for a new season after claiming the last of ten (10) ISC World Titles.  The ISC World Tournament followed the Nitehawks home from Kimberly to Long Beach in '76 -- well, almost home. The Nitehawks' ballpark was Joe Rodgers Field, that beloved all-dirt dust bowl.  Rather than finally renovate Joe Rodgers for the World Tournament, the city fathers in Long Beach decided it would be cheaper to just convert Blair Field, the baseball stadium across the street.  I suppose from the city's standpoint, the conversion made sense, but unlike Olympic cities which enjoy the residuals of newly built or renovated facilities that live on, not so in Long Beach.  The following year, the Nitehawks were right back to playing at dusty old Joe Rodgers.  Ironically, it would not until years later, after the Nitehawks ceased operations, that Joe Rodgers Field finally got a much needed facelift, and that virgin crop of grass was planted.  The last time I drove by, the field was quiet,  looking like a beauty queen stood-up on a date -- all dressed up with nowhere to go.  They tell me that it's used for film shoots and slo-pitch these days, an incongruous twist considering her past paramours. But Joe Rodgers or not, fastpitch is still played in Southern California these days, with some players whose talents Red Meairs would have appreciated.  I think he would smile to see his former batboy Randy Clay still playing the game.  Randy and many others will "leap" into the 2004 season, this weekend in Palm Springs.  (For more on Red Meairs and his Nitehawks, you may wish to read Bob Otto's Red Meairs - Dedicated Nitehawk Man)

[2/28/04] - With apologies to another town that refers to itself as "The City", I'm talking about New York.  Central Park, the Big Apple, and, as Maddy would remind me, home to HBO's popular "Sex and the City" show.  (well, at least it was until the show's finale last week.) "Sex" may be gone, but "Fastpitch" is just arriving.  Not since Jeremy Spear's promotional tour for the movie "Fastpitch" have we heard the words "Fastpitch" and "Central Park" uttered in the same breath.  But an innocuous little post at Al Doran's today by Chuck Smith announced:  "Fastpitch League in Central Park looking for teams, players and pitchers from the New York, New Jersey and Long Island Areas.  Saturday-Double Headers starting at noon, 30 game schedule.  Sign up soon or by March 25, 2004.  Call Herb - (718) 886-1402.  Oh, perhaps it's too early to trumpet "Fastpitch and the City", but the notion of men's fastpitch being played in Central Park is appealing.  It may not be the equal of the ISC World Tournament at Jack Williams Stadium in Fargo this summer, but it's hard to imagine a "local park" with more exposure for the game than Central Park.  Imagine if someday, Central Park were to become host to a top level exhibition fastpitch game, on the level of the Hall of Fame game at Abner Doubleday field a bit to the north?  Maybe then, the folks in the city would stand up and take notice of "The Game".  As our friend Al Doran likes to say "Fastball is a sport, and should not be kept a big secret."  Here is to hoping that it succeeds. Maybe Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda will even stop by to take in a little of the action.

[2/26/04]-If you're reading this Morning Brief after you peeked at our  Free Agent Signings page, you probably noticed that we changed the layout a bit, to (hopefully) make it easier to read.  We've been talking of late about the busiest teams in the free agent market.  While the demise of Team Lyons has been a windfall for Team Rainey in the "A" division, the demise of Genesis in the "C" division has stacked the roster of Raymar, or "Raynesis" as one of our Forum readers aptly called them.  Raymar has added the three Shaws, Doug, Ken and Matt, along with ace Joe Salcido from last year's So Cal State Championship Genesis squad, plus power from both sides of the plate: Robert Renteria from the left side, and Damian Guerrero, from the right side, returning after a one year stint in "A" ball with Team Rainey.  Renteria himself is certainly no stranger to open level fastpitch, having played there for years. Raymar is minus pitcher Bobby Lara, who moves over to the Edge (literally, not figuratively) but add Joe Edwards, to go with Salcido and Obregon. You could call Damo their 4th pitcher since he may be busy elsewhere in the lineup, but how many #1 starters in the Alliance can run it up there at 70mph?  And how'd you like to see that after getting 5 innings of change-ups from either Joe.  All of this points to a much improved squad for 2004.  Like the team they took to the 2002 NAFA World Series, but even more power. But as Yogi will tell you, it's fine to say they look good on paper, but what will they do on the field?  Certainly, their "two and out" showing at Norwalk earlier this month had to be a bit disappointing for them. But look a little closer, before you look past them.  But they did run into a tough draw, facing the Black Sox (who took 4th) in their first game, and then Captain Dan's, in their second game. And it is only February. When these guys get to playing together for a few games, the busiest team in the off-season is likely to be a potent force in the Alliance in 2004. 

[2/25/04]-Judging from our "mail bag", the most popular feature of late has been Free Agent Signings.  Thanks to those of you who have dropped us a line on the subject, or to let us know you are enjoying the page.  Always plenty of rumors to go around, but it gets a bit more interesting to see where people actually wind up.  The demise of two top teams seem to be impacting the landscape in So Cal the most.  At the upper level, of course, it's Team Lyons, and at the ASA "C" level, Genesis.  Team Lyons of Fresno, California has been a classic success story, marching up through the ranks, from "B" to "A", then Major.  Along the way, they captured three National titles, the NAFA "AA" in '99, the ASA "A" in 2002, and the NAFA "AAA" in 2003, along with a 3rd place finish at the ASA Major in 2003.  So it's not surprising that their demise is the most talked about of the off season.  But like the Cleveland Indians or Florida Marlins of the late '90's,  it's tough to keep all the pieces together, especially from a cost standpoint.  Like many fans, I hate to see the good teams go, though it seems to be the nature of things in the fastpitch world.  But hey, how about going out on top, National Championship trophy in hand? Not too many achieve that.  Kudos to Jeff Coleman, as the architect of last year's success, and for providing the backing for the team.  Talent doesn't sit long on the shelf though so Team Rainey among the early beneficiaries of their demise, adding Lyons' ace, Tony Peeples and Jason Porto to their roster.  Hard to believe it was just 6 years ago that Team Rainey was an upstart "C" team from Orange County. Really.  Like Lyons, they have marched up through the ranks.  In 2002, they were runner-ups in the NAFA "AA" World Series.  Last year, they were 3-1 in the pool play portion of the ISC World Tournament (their first ever), narrowly missing a spot in the "Sweet 16" single elimination championship round.   Five months later, young Travis Price was in New Zealand pitching for Team USA in the ISF World Championships.  The biggest problem they'll face this year is that they won't be able to sneak up on teams.  Peeples and Price.  Tony and Travis. (TNT if you will)  How many teams have two pitchers with Team USA experience?  And for those of you who may not have seen their latest addition, Jason Porto, he was a NAFA "AAA" All World Selection in Salem in 2002, hitting 3 home runs in that tournament, and a member of last year's NAFA "AAA" National Champions.  He'll miss the early season tournaments, waiting with Mrs. Porto for the arrival of their first child, but should be in uniform by May for  Red Rock.  If you missed the chance to see Team Lyons when they were around, take advantage of the opportunity to see one of today's best, Team Rainey.  They'll be in Palm Springs March 27–28, Carpenteria April 24–25, Lancaster May 22–23, and Santa Fe Springs June 5-6 and August 7-8.  In a day and age when some are trying to "buy" a national title, it's reassuring to see teams like Lyons and Rainey building a successful program from the ground up.  Perhaps the young talent for the next "Lyons" or "Rainey" is playing just up the road.  Tomorrow: Genesis, Raynesis and more.

[1/26/04]- Monday morning here in Orlando.  The 2004 edition of the AAU International Tournament is in the books with Los Socios of Venezuela headed home with the championship trophy to put alongside their 2002 AAU title trophy.  Los Socios were the dominant team at this year's event, winning their semi-final 9-1 over Bloomington, IL, and the championship game 8-1 over Mexicali.  The squad from Venezuela swept through the four day event with a perfect 7-0 record.  Venezuela shortstop Elis Ugeto put a punctuation mark on his MVP trophy, going 4-4 in the championship game.   Mexicali made a strong statement as well, going 6-1 and entering the final day having surrendered a total of one run to their opponents. The most exciting game of the day yesterday might have been the Mexicali-Sebringville semi-final. The Sting's Brian Stere broke a 1-1 tie in the 6th with a solo homer, only to have Mexicali rally for 2 in the bottom of the sixth to win it.  The Sting's lead lasted all of 5 minutes, as Mexicali's first baseman Arturo Solano led off the bottom of the 6th, hitting the first pitch of the inning over the right field fence to get his team even. I'll leave the rest of the recap to the AAU recap page, but suffice to say, the AAU International tournament was a great start to the 2004 season.  Twenty four teams hailing from a number of countries, a first class facility, and four days of perfect weather in January in which to play fastpitch.  How can one go wrong ? (p.s. Thanks to all of you who wrote in with words of encouragement about our live audio broadcasts)

[1/25/04] - The Morning Brief is back after a holiday hiatus.  Thanks to our loyal readers who suffered through the year end maintenance on the site, and made do without those menu buttons that we all rely on.  Finally fixed the glitch that was causing the problem, so we're back in full operation just in time for the start of the 2004 season.  This morning's brief comes out of Orlando, Florida, on the fourth and final day of the AAU International Tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.  This one started on Thursday with 24 teams and has now pared down to the final four.  If you want to catch up on the tournament, you can hit the "Up" button over on the left side of this page, then any of the "AAU" links on the front page that are currently posted.  This marks our first trip to the East coast, where they are indeed playing fastpitch and a good brand of it at that.  The tournament is living up to it international name, with teams from many different countries participating, making for a very enjoyable experience.  The "Final Four" hail from four different countries.  Mexicali, Mexico, Los Socios Venezuela, Sebringville Canada and Bloomington Illinois, USA.  Many of the teams, most notably Venezuela and the Fryers from the British Virgin Islands brought a good size contingent of fans with them.  I'll have a bit more to tell you about the tournament, but right now, I have to close and get to the complex for the final two sets of games at 10am and 12 noon, which we're broadcasting live on the internet.  We invite you to join us for the broadcasts today...just go to the AAU page here at fastpitchwest and click the "live audio" link. 

[12/24/03] -As most of you know, on January 1, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. (PST) the Rose Bowl Game will host the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan. "The Granddaddy of Them All".  #1 vs. #4.  Oh, excuse me, the BCS didn't get the memo.  #3 v. #4.  Uh-huh.  The Pride of the Papadakis Family vs. my home state.   Who to root for?  No matter, it should be quite an event. 

 

Speaking of Roses, there will be another big "Rose-themed" event in 2004.  As the Bard said, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".   Well, in this case, the "other name" is Rose Cup.  Granted, the Rose Cup has not been around for 102 years like the Rose Bowl.  But in a very short time, it has established itself as one of fastpitch's premier tournaments.  Last year, it hosted (boasted) the defending ISC World Champions, St. Joe's Frontier Casino Players, led by the legendary Michael White and showcased the talents of young pitching phenom,  Travis Price, who turned heads by winning the first of four Most Valuable Pitcher awards for 2003.  It also showed that the host Portland De Marini Merchants could play with the big boys, giving St. Joe's all they could handle, finishing an impressive third, with a quarterfinal win over NAFA AAA Champion Team Lyons, and losing only two games - both to champion St. Joe's.   It was perhaps the turning point in Portland's season enroute to a "Sweet Sixteen" finish at the ISC World Tournament, and a giant step forward for Team Rainey, whose 2003 Rose Cup runner-up finish catapulted them to a 3-win ISC World Championship and a first ever Sweet Sixteen playoff game.  In short, the 2003 Rose Cup was the biggest matchup of powerhouse teams this side of the Mississippi River.  St. Joe's, Team Rainey, Portland, Victoria, Vancouver, Team Lyons and more.  Rave reviews for Portland, its restaurants (including an authentic Cuban restaurant, with live entertainment, discovered by my Havana-born wife, Maddy), and The Owens Complex at Delta Park, and some of the most congenial hosts, Tom Ree and family. (That's Tom on the left in the photo, Mrs. Ree next to him, and his son on the right (smiling for obvious reasons).

 

Earlier this week, Tom confirmed plans for the 2004 Rose Cup, on June 26-27, 2004.  The Rose Cup committee is already busy, working on the plans to make Rose Cup 2004 another great tournament.  A planning meeting is set in January 2004.  Fastpitchwest.com will again serve as the official website for the 2004 Rose Cup tournament, and will bring you live coverage from Portland.

 

We have learned that a world class, Top 5 team (who was not at the 2003 event) has committed to attend the Rose Cup tournament in 2004.  A formal announcement is due shortly.

[12/22/03] - OK, folks, it's crunch time out there -- at the shopping malls. Iif you're still shopping for presents, well, you're in good company. Many people are a bit more focused on their Christmas shopping than playing ball at the moment, trying to figure out what to get their fastpitch-playing friends for Christmas.  By request, we have reprised our Christmas Gift Guide for Fastpitch Players from 2002.  Just remember if you're spending the big bucks and buying someone a new bat -- make sure it meets the new ASA Specifications for 2004.  And if you're buying someone a bat, maybe you can include some protective armor for the pitchers on your staff.

[12/19/03] - Much of our "mail bag" lately has been about the new Forum, where our readers rule the roost.  What began as an experiment looks like it will be around to stay.  Last night, a  reader wrote to suggest that we consider a page or place for regional coverage of the Northwest, and perhaps of Arizona and New Mexico as well.  A good idea, we thought -- since the "WEST" in fastpitchwest is intended to extend beyond our home here in Southern California.  So we've added three new regional sections to our Forum, one each for Northwest (Oregon, Washingon, Idaho and British Columbia), Southwest (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) and Mountain/Big Sky (Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana).  For those of you not yet familiar with our Forum we encourage you to stop by and take a look.  (Click the olive-colored word "Forum" above)

 

In Southern California, we don't always get a chance to see or hear about teams outside our own backyard.  So if you're a manager, or player on a team in one of these other regions, log in to the Forum and tell us about your team, and what you're planning for 2004.  The late Senator Tip O'Neil used to say that "all politics are local".  So too with fastpitch.  Let others know what's going on in your neighborhood. 

 

Six shopping days 'til Christmas....

[12/18/03] - Less than a month after January 2004's AAU International tournament in Orlando, FL, but several time zones away, the folks in Hilo, Hawaii will be hosting the 25th Annual Bob Rapp Memorial Tournament. (February 13-16, 2004).  Rob Penticoff (River City Rockers) was looking to put a team in this year, but looks like it will be 2005 instead.  Well known fastpitch player and filmmaker Jeremy Spear is living in Hawaii these days, and will be playing with the host Hilo Athletics.  As many of you know, Spear produced a feature-length film entitled "Fastpitch", which drew rave reviews from independent film festivals, and is now in video and DVD.  (see "Fastpitch", the Movie for more details.)  A couple of top open pitchers are rumored to be heading over to the Big Island to join Spear's squad, which ought to make them among the early favorites to win the tournament.  Besides playing fastpitch, Spear is keeping busy these days, hard at work on his next film, which should be out about this time next year.   It's not a sequel to "Fastpitch" as some had thought, but sounds like another interesting piece from what we know.  Jeremy sends his regards: "Aloha!" to fastpitch players and fans 'stateside'.

 

With this year as the 25th annual, that would make the 1980 Bob Rapp tournament that I  pitched in the very first one. (about the time you were born, Damo)  Two California teams made the trip that year, Rodgers-Burbank, with Guy Sparrow on the mound and former Long Beach Nitehawk great John Wilson in the lineup.  They shared a charter plane with my team, the Hollydale Stars, made up of most of the 1979-1980 Orange Eagles from the old Pacific Coast League, including the Peters brothers, Alan and Gary, Greg Neiman, Rich Matamoros, as well as a number of pickups, including former Nitehawk Steve Castillo, and Steve Derian, who starred in the then-Pac-8 in baseball and football.  We wound up playing Rodgers-Burbank and edging them to finish 3rd in the tournament. 

 

For those of you who have not had the chance to play in the Islands, it is a trip of a lifetime, worth the effort of getting your team over there.  For all of those out of the way dust-bowls fields that you dragged your wife to, the Bob Rapp Memorial tournament shouldn't take much persuasion.  Two words:  "Kona Coast". 

The San Diego City League will resume play with a winter/spring season in March 2004.

[San Diego, 12/13/03] - Mitch Mendenhall and the San Diego Suns (7-1) will bid for their fourth consecutive San Diego City league title Monday night, December 15, 2003 in San Diego against Dan Zupp and his Blazing Saddles (6-3) teammates. The Championship game is at Presidio Park at 7:00 on Monday the 15th of December. The address is 2811 Jackson Street, San Diego. The park is just off the 8 freeway right next to Old Town San Diego. Last week the Suns slipped past San Diego Fastpitch, as Russ Snow singled home the game winner in the 7th to break a 2-2 tie for the win.  As some of you may recall, Rich Markham helped recruit some young players for this team while in Southern California, before returning last year to his native Ohio. 

[12/13/03] - Just a reminder that the top sixteen international teams, including Team USA will be heading to Christchurch New Zealand next month (Jan 29-Feb. 8, 2004) for the ISF World Championships.  Since fastpitch is not an Olympic sport for men as it is for women, these World Championships represent the pinnacle for men's international competition.  In a recent interview with "Strikezone", the USA official newslettter for USA Softball, pitcher Michael White, White projected New Zealand, Canada, Japan and the USA to be among top teams in the tournament.  Of his own team, White had this to say:

"It is one of the best hitting teams that I have played on and capable of scoring a lot of runs. The addition of Steve Schott, Chris Dellarwelle, Todd Schultz and Don Garvey has really added some run producing offense to the team. Our pitching staff will hold their own and with Travis Price we are hoping that a little youth will add some vigor to the mature veterans." 

Yes, that Travis Price.  Southern Cal's own.  Team Rainey's ace.  Travis was named to the USA squad late last year, coming off a phenomenal year, which included Most Valuable Pitcher trophies at the Rose Cup in Portland, the Neil Leard Memorial in  Victoria, B.C., the Best of the West in Soboba, CA, and in the CCASA travel league.  Travis and his teammates capped their memorable 2002 season with a first ever trip to the ISC World Tournament in Kimberly, WI, where they turned heads by going 3-1 in pool play, knocking off eventual 4th place finisher Owen Sound Selects, and narrowly missing a spot in the "Sweet 16", falling to 9th place finisher Houston HIS Construction in a first ever pool play playoff.  We wish Travis well in his first international competition.  

We'll be posting information on the ISF World Championships at    http://www.fastpitchwest.com/isf_2004.htm.  Christchurch New Zealand is in a distant time zone, nearly a day ahead of Southern California time. (21 hours to be precise)  We've added a "World Clock" to the ISF page (link above) to help you follow the action.  Watch tomorrow's games today. Oh, you get the idea.