Some time ago, I learned from league president John Reel that he expected there to be a "tsunami" of players, twenty or more, coming up from the over-55s to the over-62s for the 2025 season.
That appears to be happening and the numbers are far more than the current six-team league can accommodate.
So, another player, Jim Jasiewicz of the Pirates and I, a former Americans player, volunteered to thin out the pressure by creating new teams. I can't speak to Jim's efforts, but I can tell you that beginning two days ago, in my first recruiting for a team that I'm calling The Haymakers, I picked up two pitchers. It's a start.
( Plus, it's needed. Casey Stengel said so: "Nobody ever had too many of them pitchers.")
Which means that I'm on the recruiting trail for about twelve to thirteen 62 and over players. I'm doing some of that here. If you want to become a Haymaker, you very likely will be welcome.
We are in the league's general free agency period now. That lasts until October 31st. It means that over the next 24 days, players can leave their teams and go to others simply by, first, getting an invitation from their new manager and then sending a good-bye email to their current one. No permission to leave is needed.
After November 1st players can still move to new teams, but first they need to get permission in writing (an email) from their current manager. Copies of those emails should be sent to John Reel at johnreel55@gmail.com.
Sometime over the next few months, the league will have a draft of players who want to come up to the 62s from the over-55 division.
So, there will then be two ways to play in the 62s next season: Players who turn 62 or older sometime before Jan. 1, 2025, can put their names in that draft or they can make a pitch to play to the eight 62 managers and see if there may be an opening.
I know something about assembling a team: In 2002 I created the Red Hot Peppers for the league and ran it for 16 years till 2018. Its descendant, known as simply The Peppers, still exists and is run by a fellow I recruited. I took a break for a year then came back as a player. I'm 77, and still think I have some speed, an arm, a glove and a bat. That's been disputed, but not to my satisfaction.
So I'm asking players who'd like to join The Haymakers to drop me an email. My address is mhart44@me.com. Please tell me a few things about your baseball background.
Two more thoughts here: my approach to the game and the team's name.
My approach is this: Everybody pays, so everybody plays. That's a simple enough thought and it's true throughout the regular season and through the playoffs. Playing, in my eyes, is always more important than winning, though winning follows very hot on its heels. When winning happens, it's celebrated, mildly, though, because we've all been there before.
I like as much, if not more, to see players improve their hitting, fielding and throwing skills throughout the season. So I'm always happy to work with players on their skills. Finally, I try to promote good times at the field and on the bench. Mainly, that's encouraging players to back each other, especially with as much laughter as the show permits.
As for the name: The original "Haymakers" was a team formed in Troy about 1869. In 1871, the Troy Haymakers became part of America's first professional baseball league, the National Association of Baseball Players (later the National League).
The Troy Haymakers were one of nine teams in that league, including clubs from Philadelphia, New York, Boston Washington, Cleveland, and Fort Wayne Indiana. The Haymakers played for two seasons, finishing in sixth with a 13-15 record each year.
The club also included the first Latin player ever in the pros, Esteban Enrique Bellan, a third baseman. His teammates called him "Steve." He was, in the late 1860s, a graduate of St. John's College (later renamed Fordham) and played the baseball of the day with its team. In 1869, he hooked on with the Haymakers, and 1874, he moved back to his native country, Cuba, where he helped form the professional Cuban baseball league.
I love this bit of history: In what is often cited as the first organized baseball game ever played in Cuba, Bellan's Club Habana defeated Club Matanzas 51-9 on December 27, 1874. For his role in organizing that game, Bellan has been called "The Father of Cuban Baseball."
The name "Haymakers" did find a place in this area: one of the Albany Twilight teams took the name. But it's new to our 38-year-old CDMSBL.
If the weather stays warm into November, I hope to have a mid-month workout so guys can stretch baseball muscles and get to know one another.
If this note - and approach to the game - interests you, drop me a line.
-Mike Hart
-- Edited by mikehart on Monday 7th of October 2024 03:19:08 PM
