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for: ‘Gameday Updates’

First I’d like to talk about next week before I get into the update, while I’ve got everyone’s attention…

The most likely scenario is that we’ll play our last games of the regular season at Waveland Fields on Thursday, Friday will be a day of rest… and then the Tournament will go down on Saturday at Upper Hutchinson. The only things that could change that would be rain on the 10th… or a failure of the Grant Park contractors to remove the fencing on Upper and release the park for use as they’ve promised on the 9th… if the latter were to occur, the Tournament would simply move up north to Lawrence Fields, everything else would stay the same.

For me, next Thursday through Saturday becomes all Design League, all the time. Scores from Thursday have to be gotten that same day on the diamonds so that the website can be updated and the Tournament Big Board prepared to be printed on Friday so that it’s ready for Saturday. I’ll be working on this stuff pretty much non-stop so here’s what I need from all of you;

First, Scores need to be given to me on the diamonds next Thursday, late game Captains will need to return the bases to me on Diamond 2 just as it happened last night. For the record, Cannon @ Gettys Group next Thursday has been switched to Diamond 1 to allow me to stay on Diamond 2 as I don’t want to change the routine we’ve established for the staking of the bases.

Second, understanding what a pain in the ass playing at Waveland Fields has been and the aggravation it has caused many of us, especially now with the 5:30 early start time… I would ask all the Captains to do their very best towards not forfeiting our last games of the regular season… this is just for one last Thursday. Even on my own team I have 3/4′s of my players agreeing to leave work a little early that day so that we can field a team and get 2011 in the books… just one last day of sacrifice.

And last, with all that has happened this year and all that I’m continuing to deal with on a daily basis… the last thing I want to happen is for any of our teams to bail on the Tournament last minute… my understanding right now is that all teams are good for the Tournament except for Old Stylin’ who are having issues due to one of their players getting married on that day. Their Captains continue to work on putting together a skeleton crew, that’s being worked on… but my assumption is that I don’t have to worry about any of the rest of you. Please communicate with your players early and often on this so potential issues can be dealt with over the course of the next week.

So that’s it… paying attention to those 3 things would help me out tremendously and if all goes well, 2011 will be in the books with a new champion crowned within the next 8 days.

On the fields yesterday we continued to pay the price of having been displaced from Grant Park… 7 of the 8 games got played, and I thank all of you for the effort in getting out there… but I know that many of us have seen our lineups decimated due to the strange circumstances… this has statistically skewed things a bit and it’s one of the issues on my list for the Park District.

That said, not a whole lot happened in terms of change yesterday… JC Anderson and Clune swapping the 9 and 10 seed marked the only movement on the Leaderboard. Other than that, there were no real upsets… a disappointment to me was that the game between #2 Cannon and #4 Goettsch was obviously affected by depleted rosters and trouble getting to the park on time for the 5:30 start… Bears traffic on Lakeshore Drive also played a role in our problems…

But on to better times right… next week is THE week… and I don’t know about any of you… but no matter how much I enjoy Design League softball and usually wish we could play all Winter…. this year, I’m gonna be happy to see things draw to a close… hopefully we’ll get a bright, sunny day for our Tournament and have a redemptive day on what’s now the newly re-constructed Upper Hutchinson Fields. Keep your fingers crossed.

Well, it wasn’t Upper Hutchinson… but the Waveland Fields weren’t that bad. With two teams forfeiting, we didn’t quite get the result I was hoping for… but at this point, it is what it is I suppose… So now more fear as we head into the last two game days of the season and are forced to move the start time for the early games back to 5:30… this is obviously necessary as any team out there playing a late game last night could attest… Ruder/Cannon kept playing into complete darkness… but no doubt about it, the sun sets earlier come September… I would just ask of all the Captains to do your VERY best in getting a team out to Waveland, any and all forfeits statistically skew the regular season results which of course is highly undesirable… it’s just for 2 more weeks and then we’re in the clear.

In game action, the most significant movement on the Leaderboard came in the top 4 seeds where Cannon was able to outlast Ruder Group 7-3 as they played into darkness which allowed them to leapfrog both Goettsch and the Dogz who played each other to a 4-inning 9-9 tie. An exciting game where Goettsch scored 3 to tie it in the bottom of the last inning and the last play of the game was an out at the plate as the Dogz were able to preserve the tie after giving up the lead.

The Dobbins Group continued their undefeated run as well with a 6-3 victory over VOA. They now have a 2 game lead with 2 games to go, so they can clinch the #1 seed with a victory next week against SOM. And speaking of seeds, the Tournament Brackets page on the website has now started to update as the Tournament is just a mere two weeks away… check ‘em out…

And with the Tournament just two weeks away, it’s really time to start surveying your players and making sure you have a full roster for Saturday, September 10th… I’m particularly interested in hearing back from Old Stylin’, SCB and Kelso-Burnett on how they’re looking for the Championship Tournament.

Regarding the Forum post that I’ve asked everyone on every team to both read and comment on… we’re currently up to 28 comments and I have to say… they’re all excellent… exactly in the spirit of tradition we’re looking for… the only problem is that there needs to be a lot more… at very least I would hope all the Captains that haven’t commented yet would do so… whether today or if you want to send yourself the link and do it at home over the weekend… it all works. The link to the post is going to be forwarded to the Park District next week, most likely Tuesday or Wednesday… in the meantime I will continue to send emails requesting comments from those that haven’t done so yet… I spoke to many of you yesterday that promised me you’d get it done.. please do it… it’s important.

> http://chicagodesignleague.com/forum/2011/08/traditions-in-jeopardy-at-grant-park/

All for now… and again, I apologize for the shear amount of reading I’ve asked you to do over the past couple weeks… those of you that have been around for a while know that it’s not my usual M.O. But in having had the league disrupted in such a significant way, this has become an important issue and I’ve chosen to communicate everything as opposed to under-informing… hopefully the majority of you are alright with that.

Our 2011 Season now finds itself 2/3′s of the way in the books as we’ve reached the always anticipated, sometimes loathed Lollapalooza break… No matter how you look at it and no matter how long I bicker with the Park District over why a month down is required for a 3-day rock festival… for many this becomes a great time to take the family vacation or to heal up those nagging injuries… and for the most dedicated, a great opportunity to schedule a practice or two… but no matter how you look at it, it’s upon us now with no further Design League action until the stretch run resumes on the 18th of August.

Playing games yesterday was a gift actually as it marked the first time ever that the Design League has played on the same day as the Judicata event… As it turned out, the Park District House League, which would usually still be playing on Lower Hutchinson yesterday, finished early due to Lollapalooza restrictions that were new this year. That provided the opportunity for us to make up our Week 6 rainout and for that I’m thankful… as of right now we’re on track to play all 14 scheduled game days, so let’s hope all the rain that’s going to happen this Summer happens over the next month… but playing down on Lower felt alien to me as it always does… funny how you can be just across the street from your normal location and have things feel so different… oppressive heat down in that pit, little flies that bite your ankles, temporary backstops and diamonds that are even closer together than they are on Upper… but it all got done and the results have posted.

Last week I identified three possible games of the week… two of those ended up lopsided as Cannon dumped theBuzz 11-2 (“ignominiously” as theBuzz Captain put it) and Goettsch took down Perkins&Will 10-6… but I also mentioned Power as the next team to get a chance at knocking off the last of the undefeated… and so close they came too… but Dobbins escaped with the 8-7 victory on a walk-off in the bottom of the 7th… on a relevant side note, when making the schedule back in early April I was only able to schedule 14 game days as opposed to the usual 15… this meant that there would be one team in every teams schedule that they wouldn’t play this year… the way I made the decision on which game day to dump was an attempt to save one of the rookie teams (in this case Dobbins Group) from playing defending champs Ruder Group… suffice to say, that didn’t work out like I expected ;-)

In other action we had some really close games yesterday… Old Stylin’ got past Gettys Group 11-10 as they’re off on a 2-game winning streak, the Dogz got past Clune 6-4 to hold onto the 2-seed and the Ruder Group outlasted always competitive JC Anderson 10-9 to come within 1-run allowed of theBuzz and the 5-seed… and in the Battle at the Bottom, Kelso-Burnett put up 5 bottom of the 7th runs to walk off against SCB 8-7.

In an armchair examination of the Leaderboard the first thing I notice is the 2-game spreads… 2 games between the 1 and 2 seeds, 2 games between the 4 and 5 seeds and 2 games between the 7 and 8 seeds… with 4 games to go those 2 game spreads are difficult, but not impossible to close. One thing that makes this years Leaderboard more volatile than in years past heading into the final four games of the season would be the record number of ties that we’ve had… for instance, Power trails Perkins&Will by 2 games in the win column but by only 1 game in the loss column… theoretically that makes the gap easier to close than it would be without the tie… but only time will tell I suppose… anything can happen and often does… Dobbins Group would appear to be a lock for the #1 seed, but the Dogz, Goettsch and Cannon at 2/3/4 are in a virtual heat and we still have Dogz @ Goettsch in Week 12 and Goettsch @ Cannon in Week 13… And as mentioned above, Ruder Group trails theBuzz by a mere 1-run allowed and those two teams will matchup straight outta the break on August 18th…

So we have an exciting last third of the season to look forward to… and then of course…Tournament Day, Christmas in September… hopefully all of you are starting to cement your roster for that epic day. Saturday, September 10th… let your people know now, it’s right around the corner.

Have a great break everyone… see you on the 18th.

With one week to go before the break we had a beautiful day out on the diamonds again last night and a lot of small movements up and down the Leaderboard. I was 1-2 in my picks for games of the week. With Perkins&Will at Power it ended up being Powers day as they dropped P&W 11-2 in a lopsided fashion… but theBuzz at Goettsch played to a 7-inning 7-7 tie in the early game on Diamond 3 further adding to the compression at the top of the Leaderboard… while the battle between the 2 and 4 seed saw a great back and forth game with the Dogz barely surviving to take a 5-4 victory over Cannon which caused these two teams to trade places in the standings.

In other action SCB scored 4 late… but Dobbins held on for the 6-4 win… and JC Anderson, very competitive this year, played in yet another 1-run game but this time came out on the short end in a 6-5 loss to Old Stylin’… VOA came off their companies daytime drinking cruise with a huge turnout and an 11-5 win over Kelso-Burnett… while Gettys Group dropped SOM 5-2 and Ruder Group ran away from Clune 13-2.

Next week is our makeup of the rain out in Week 6 and all games will be played on LOWER Hutchinson… probably a good idea to allow a little more time for getting your team out to the diamonds as the Judicata Race will be happening on Upper Hutchinson and there will most likely be some congestion in the Grant Park area. Too many marquee match ups to pick just one… theBuzz plays Cannon, two great teams… Perkins&Will plays Goettsch, two more great teams… and Power becomes the next team in line to get a shot at knocking Dobbins Group from the ranks of the undefeated… can’t wait to see how it all works out…

We’ve had a few dust ups between teams over the past couple weeks that I’d like to address briefly… this sometimes becomes the case in our umpire-less league… the best thing you can do as a team is to both know the rules… as well as have a copy of the rules with you that can be referred to quickly. There’s going to be a few rules that I address in a Forum post over the course of the break that I feel are being misinterpreted a little too often… but in the end, we have to police our own games, let’s do our best to handle things in a civil manner.

Please remember that Captains are responsible for confirming final scores on the diamonds after each game so that scores reported the following morning all match up… and we won’t be scheduling any pictures for next week… my camera is now in the shop so I can get it back for the stretch run.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Calling the marquee matchup is a new skill I’m developing… last week I predicted Ruder Group at Perkins&Will and what do you know… that game was won on a Perkins&Will walk off 3-2 in the bottom of the 8th. Ruder Group (4-3-1) now finds themselves separated from the upper half of the Leaderboard by 2 games with 6 to go… while Perkins&Will stays hot on the trail of the Dogz and the rest of the pack at 6-2-0.

Other action saw SCB dropping Gettys Group 8-5 to finally get off the schnide here in Week 9… theBuzz fell to the Dogz 10-6 precipitating the weeks largest Leaderboard plunge dropping 4 positions to the 6 seed… Dobbins Group and Goettsch both won as well and Cannon was victorious via forfeit to maintain position up at the top of the standings. VOA also ended a losing streak with a 4-2 win over JC Anderson.

My prediction for the game of the week next week would be Perkins&Will at Power Construction in the early game on Diamond 4… Perkins&Will is coming off two big victories in a row after an almost upset of Dobbins Group… while Power is the home team and capable of beating anyone on any given Thursday… theBuzz @ Goettsch is also attractive as theBuzz started the season undefeated and will now be looking to end their current 2-game losing streak, while Goettsch will be doing everything they can to maintain their higher seed.

Pictures Next Week > Goettsch before their 6pm game on Diamond 3.

Sorry for the late update this week. Those of us who lingered on the diamonds a little too long were caught in a biblical rain/wind storm that had us holding onto trees to keep from blowing away… My phone, like me, got soaked to the bone in the process which caused me to spend most of Friday afternoon getting it replaced and back online.

So a wild and crazy one out on the diamonds for our Taste of Chicago edition. We entered the game day with 4 undefeated teams and 2 winless teams… we left the day… with just one of each.

The Dobbins Group becomes the last undefeated standing as they took down the Dogz 13-8 in the late game on Diamond 2. They now occupy the top spot on the Leaderboard as Perkins&Will, who so nearly knocked them off last week, was able to get past theBuzz 7-5… and in perhaps the most unlikely occurrence of the week, formerly winless Old Stylin’ dropped Cannon 11-4 in the late game on Diamond 4… In short, there’s more than one team that wishes that rain would have come a little earlier… also of note in a game that was described in last weeks update as pivotal to both teams seasons, Power Construction was able to hold off VOA in walk-off style with a 9-inning 3-2 victory… and quietly, Goettsch notched another victory to move to 6-1 and take over sole possession of the 4-seed.

Looking ahead to next week the marquee matchup will most likely be Ruder Group at Perkins&Will… Last years champions Ruder Group, after a slow start to the season, find themselves on a 4-game winning streak… while Perkins&Will are having a resurgent season at 5-2 causing problems for every team that crosses their path.

Pictures Next Week > will be theBuzz before their 6pm game on Diamond 1.