October 2001 

New League Website Unveiled! 

Yes, that is correct.  BRASSball has a new WWW home.  And with the new site comes a new Web Site Coordinator, Andy Wiesner.   Before I continue though, many thanks from the league to Brian Budzyn.  For those of you newer to BRASSball it was Brian who first brought BRASSball into the Internet age.  He made the site a place for members to check and download league info while they were surfing around at work J  He also made it an important recruitment tool for prospective members.  As you can see from the new site designed by Andy these concepts will still be the focus of the BRASSball site.   Additionally, Andy has been busy lately getting much of BRASSball’s stat and draft histories up for viewing.  Also, past newsletters and articles will be stored there as long as Andy’s space permits.   Lastly, Andy has asked Corey and I for suggestions on what we would like to see on the site.  We have passed ideas along and have seen him put them together.  Now I ask you guys to review the site and pass along your thoughts to Andy.  He’s looking for all the suggestions he can get his hands on.   Make sure you check out the team caps.  Click on them and you may get an interesting photo.  Here is the new address: 

http://members.home.net/brassball2/brassball2/ 

Playoffs Rolling Along
LCS’ all but set 

Over in the AL the Championship Series is set with BRASSball’s perennial power, Cook County, up against Minnesota.  Both squads enjoyed very fine seasons.  Both teams feature incredible offenses.  Cook County’s prodigious offense produced the greatest team slugging percentage in BRASSball history: .579.  The Maulers will be led into the series by the oh so close Triple Crown winner, Vladimir Guerrero (.352-61-179).  Minnesota can’t overlook Troy Glaus (.312-50-131) or stellar free agent acquisition Edgar Martinez (.344-43-128).    

The Mudcat attack will try and rely on an offense that produced the best on base percentage in league history: .393.   The big key to any success lies in the bat of the Mudcat’s big off-season signee, Jason Giambi (.306-53-123).  Alex Rodriguez (.305-32-123) and Andruw Jones (.294-37-121) will be expected to rise to the occasion if the Mudcats intend to win. 

The unmentioned pitcher to this point will probably hold the key to the series, Pedro Martinez.   His 26-2 record and 1.87 ERA rank as one of the most dominating pitching seasons in league history.  However, Pedro can only pitch two times in the LCS.  His potential dominance in those two games could be enough to sink the Mudcats.  Or will it not be enough to rescue the Maulers?  We’ll see. 

Cook County advanced to the LCS on the strength of their bats as they pummeled Toledo pitching to the tune of 14 dingers in a four game sweep.  Nomar Garciaparra was named Series MVP based on his 5 homers and hitting at a .333 clip.  Carlos Delgado also chimed in with 7 extra base hits in the series.  The surprising Joe Girardi led the Mudhens, batting .389 with 2 homers and 4 ribbies. 

Minnesota won a tough six game series over the equally matched Plaza Lions.  Plaza had advanced to this matchup after barely surviving the giant killers from the West, Santa Barbara, in seven.  The success of the Mudcats in ousting the Lions can be traced to the bullpen battle won by the Mudcats.  Plaza relievers allowed 9 runs to score while their Minnesota counterparts buckled down and allowed only 3.  Six big runs were basically the difference.  Jorge Posada won Series MVP honors with his 3 homer, 10 ribbie performance.  A-Rod helped out hitting .476 for the series while starter Daryl Kile won both of his starts, including the clincher.  Luis Gonzalez produced 3 homers and 7 ribbies for the Lions, but batted only .250 and hit into some disheartening DP’s.  Jeff Kent hit .474, knocking in 4 runs.   

In the NL… 

The Ocelots have advanced to the NLCS and await the winner of the matchup between Stanley and Fleetwood.  Ocala narrowly moved on after being pushed to the brink in seven games by the Glen Allen Mets.  It took a Todd Helton homer in the bottom of the tenth to finally clinch the series.  Home field advantage held true, as neither team was able to win in the other’s park.  Glen Allen’s ability to hang around in this series appeared to come down to the fact that they refused to beat themselves.  Defensively they allowed only one error.  The bullpen was stellar and gave the Mets every chance they could.  Unfortunately for the Mets they faced the red-hot Javier Vazquez and Roger Clemens.  Both starters put in yeoman’s work in the series.  Fernando Tatis was the offensive star for the Mets as he hit .350 with 2 dingers and 5 ribbies.   Todd Helton was named the series MVP by virtue of his .357-4-10 performance.  In addition to the help Helton received from the aforementioned Vazquez (1.13) and Clemens (1.59), David Segui hit a robust .391. 

The NL Wild card contest was over in five games, but it was much, much closer than that.  One run decided 3 games.  Two runs decided another game.  One game was decided by four runs, but in extra-innings!  Fleetwood received excellent performances on offense from Kevin Elster, .385-2-5 and series MVP Paul Konerko, who mashed the ball to the tune of a .591 clip.  Derek Lowe was steady in relief as he worked six innings and notched two saves.  Columbus’ offensive star was Richard Hidalgo who batted .333-3-7.  Stanley will now face Fleetwood in a semi-final matchup. 

Award Winners Announced! 

In the AL voting it was a clean sweep for the Maulers.  Taking home the MVP award is Vladimir Guerrero, his second.  Pedro Martinez has also now secured his second CY Young award.  Rounding out the trio of victors for the Maulers was the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year, Troy Glaus.  Troy also fared well in the MVP voting.   

In the NL voting was quite close.   Many more players, overall, received votes in the NL than in the AL.  18 different players received MVP votes, including 7 members of the Ocelots!  In the end Todd Helton collected the MVP hardware.  Randy Johnson won his second CY Young.  Randy Wolf had an awesome year for a rookie pitcher and took home that award.  He also finished a strong fourth in the final CY tally.

League Members Vote to Make Changes 

Well the voting is in and change is a comin’ to BRASSball once again.  The biggest change to BRASSball possibly ever has been voted in:  a new salary structure.  Remember, this new structure goes into effect AFTER this upcoming Free Agency.  When Free Agency is completed Corey will work on converting the system as quickly as possible.  When he has it completed the new system goes into full effect.  Once again, 2001 Free Agency will be conducted under the current system outlined in the constitution. 

Issue #4 passed.  This one related to the changing of ballparks.  In a forthcoming newsletter I will detail who is able to change their parks immediately under this change.   Suffice to say, if you’ve been in the league for three or more seasons and have played in the same ballpark, you can now change your park for the modest amount of 500K. 

Issue #8 passed which related to closing a player’s eligibility “loophole” in the playoff system. 

Issues #9 and #10 passed and bring new deadlines to BRASSball.  The Free Agency deadline is now officially the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving.  Also, the trading deadlines in July and August are now the 17^th so as to give each manager as good of an idea of his results and standings as possible. 

Issue #11 also passed and now allows all carded MO players to be eligible for September play without being charged for a call-up.  Because the proposal was vague on this I want it clearly understood here that MTM and MA players still need to be charged for September play.  Otherwise MTM players would literally be getting paid nothing to play while MA players who have never been allowed to be “called-up” would suddenly be allowed to play. 

Issue #7 relating to a new Draft Day passed, but is discussed below.  There are some concerns that needed to be addressed because of this change.  

All the voting results:

Draft Day 

As I just previously mentioned we have voted in a new Draft Day, the second Saturday in March.   However, due to an honest oversight on my part I neglected to realize the relationship of this date to other important league deadlines.  Corey and I feel the second Saturday in March will not work because of these dates.  These deadlines include the fact that managers have five days after the draft to get their draftees signed, secondary Free Agency needs to be conducted before the season starts and finally rosters are due out on the 15^th of March so instructions can be formulated by the 25^th.  The second Saturday does not make any of this possible.  But we also recognize the fact that the league desired to change the date of the Draft.  So we have decided that the draft will be the FIRST SATURDAY of March.  We feel this can give us enough time to get things done to get the season started smoothly and on time.  However, if this decision causes enough managers who voted for the second Saturday date to rescind their vote and keep the status quo we will do so and keep the date as it already is, the first Saturday in February.  If you are in the latter camp Corey and I need to hear from you immediately.  We don’t want the date of the draft to linger.  The next newsletter will see the date set in stone.  It will either be the first Saturday in March or the first Saturday in February.  I apologize for any confusion this has made. 

Raw Draft Order 

League Logo! 

As you may have noticed at the top of the newsletter BRASSball now has an official league logo.  This comes to us from the work of Jon Kjaarsgard.  Jon had been helping Andy create graphics for the website.  When I asked Andy if he thought a logo could be designed he figured Jon could do something for us.  And that he has!   Thanks much, Jon.

The Two New guys 

As I’ve announced previously, BRASSball has recently added two new managers.  Harlan Maclain has taken over the reigns of the former St. Croix franchise.  He has renamed it the La Crosse Lagers.  Those of you not familiar with this Mississippi river town that I used to call home have no idea how appropriate that nickname is.  Check out the website and find out other interesting info on Harlan.   Our other new manager is a former manager, Al Telgenhof.  Al was an original BRASSball member.   His first pick at seventh overall was Greg Maddux, for you BRASSball trivia buffs.  [Ed. Check out the new site for more picks from that original draft.  I plead total ignorance of my apparent lack of strategy.]  This time around Al’s BRASSball entry will be known as the Charlevoix Tigers. 

Free Agency 

As most of you may recall I had announced previously that Robert Smith was slated to take over my reign as Free Agency conductor this off-season.  Robert is unfortunately suffering through serious PC issues.    Because of these problems I felt it was best to be on the safe side and to have myself conduct FA one more year.  Robert and I still intend for him to take over FA in 2002.  On the first you will have a list of all Free Agents from me.   By November 21^st I need to have all bids returned to me.   

A Word from your League Directors 

Corey and I were both honored to be asked to guide BRASSball from here on.  Kevin and Lenny did a fine job keeping the league operating smoothly.  We obviously have no desire to see this change.  However, part of the reason BRASSball has run so smoothly is because all of us have done our part to faithfully meet our obligations to the league.  Please keep up the great work!  Corey and I want to also remind all of the new structure that is now in place in BRASSball.  Corey is responsible for and your go-to guy for all question/problems with rosters, trades, salaries and bank accounts.  ALL trades MUST be reported to Corey.  If it involves BRASSball dollars there’s an excellent chance Corey will have your answer.  During the season Corey also plans to serve as backup stat guy.   I, on the other hand, will be responsible for production of these fine newsletters.  In accordance with newsletter productions I’ll be your final destination for articles, league voting and just plain general BRASSball stuff.  We both, however, will deal with the more serious issues of manager integrity, trade reviews and lateness.  

Trades and Roster Stuff 

Box City is reimbursed $1,266,667 for Albert Belle’s non-baseball injury. 

Included in the ZIP file is a document from Corey that records all the year-end signings, re-signings and cuts. 

1.      Minnesota trades Darryl Kile to Gem City for Gem City’s 2002 2^nd and 4^th round draft choices.

2.      Minnesota trades David Weathers to Stanley for Stanley’s 2002 3^rd round draft choice and $300K.

3.      Wauwatosa trades Alfonso Soriano and Wauwatosa’s 2002 3^rd round draft choice to Cook County for Justin Morneau and Hank Blalock.

4.      Metropolis trades Jason Johnson and Desi Relaford to Gem City for Luke Prokopec and Brad Wilkerson.

5.      Santa Barbara trades John Burkett and Santa Barbara’s 2002 4^th round draft choice to Stanley for Ted Lilly, Wes Helms and Stanley’s 2003 4^th round draft choice.

6.      Racine trades Phil Nevin to Ocala for Kris Wilson and Juan Encarnacion.

7.      Columbus trades D. Gonzalez, A. Myette, Crawford, B. Inge and #4 pick in 2003
to Toledo for K. Escobar, D. Neagle , and Nady.

8.      Charlevoix trades John Olerud and Ray Durham to Columbus for Daryle Ward, Dernell Stenson and Ron Belliard.  

Upcoming League Deadlines 

November 1^st               Free Agency Conductor sends out the list of ALL free agents 

November 21^st             Deadline for submitting your free agent bids to the Free Agency conductor (me).  Also the freeze on ALL transactions not related to the signing of Free Agents goes into effect till Corey gets the league converted to the new salary system. 

November 25^th             Deadline for submitting articles for the next issue. 

Next Issue of “League News” 

A Champion is crowned! 

Early results from Free Agency possibly?  Mike Morgan getting an F contract?   Jeff Reboulet returning to Metropolis?  We’ll see...