I'd like to thank all my teammates on the 45 A's for a great run at the top. For a first year team with a few first year players, we did alright! A couple days of extra rest - who knows?
At the beginning of the year we hoped we would have fun, learn a bit about each other and grow from there. We were a team with big question marks - Who would pitch? Did we have any consistent hitting? Were we too physically-challenged to be a good fielding team? Our team speed dropped from "Northway" to "School Zone" with many of our top base-stealers having sore ankles, knees, legs, hips and asses. And we had a manager who was about as deaf as David Patterson is blind .
We figured we were Middle of the Road.
We found pitching - Herb Cepeda and Ed Class became quality pitchers, not just throwers.
We found hitting - Herb, Ed, Wayne Newcomb, Newcomers Frank Kerbein and John Cortese, league comebacks Dave Van Wormer and Ken Zimmer, Joe Carreccia, the Schillingers (Geo and David), Wil Ferguson all found their stroke when it counted the most.
Fielding - eh, still challenged, but hit high notes when the games were on the line!
But, most importantly, we found heart and the ability to keep playing. Down 11-0 in the first game of the finals - and we did not give up! We almost made it all the way back!
Congratulations to the Hornets for winning the championship - to the Thunder for putting together a great team throughout the season - and to all the other teams in the league that made it so much fun.
I had a great time - thanks to all the 45 A's for a great season!
Wayne "David Patterson" Newcomb Herb "Isagenix" Cepeda Ed "Legs" Class David "Hip" Schillinger Geo "Hammy" Schillinger Joe "Talk" Carreccia Will "Bunt" Ferguson Frank "Nirvana" Kerbein John "The Conqueror" Cortese Dave "Isagenix 2" Van Wormer Kenny "Always Have A Cold One Handy" Zimmer And that friggin' old catcher
First of all congratulations to the A's on a fine season. Quite a different A's team than we saw earlier in the year, Ed Class came a long way from being a thrower to a pitcher. Adding Herb was a big addition as well. Too bad Herb threw 7 innings Thursday night. If he is fresh and on his game there is no way we score 9 in the first inning. Former teamate Joe Carrecia pounded the ball all day and looked good in centerfield. Dave Van Womer looked 10 years younger since we saw him just two momths ago. Perhaps I should contact Herb and buy some icagenix in bulk for the Hornets
Both games could have gone either way and we were lucky to have won both those games. Good hitters, good fielders, good pitching and a lot of heart are why the A's went as far as they did.
