Here is a little help getting to know the 14 guys that did the CDMSBL proud!
Alphabetically listed:

Ralph Caputo: Ralph helped carry the offense in his first three games as his bat was red hot. He sent line drives all over Bright House Stadium and Englebert Complex. After that his bat cooled down some, but his always dependable glove just kept our pitchers smiling. After hearing a crack from the opponents bat and the roar from their dugout, it was comforting to turn toward third base and find Ralph straightening up, with the ball in his glove getting ready to fire accross the diamond. Without him at third, this celebration never takes place.

Joe Careccia: An Oriole playing with a bunch of Marlins and Hummers?! Yup! Joe was a rookie to the Florida Classic and struggled in game one in Bright House Stadium, but rewarded John Reel when John called on him again. Joe played a solid left field in some huge outfields down in Florida. He didn't hit as well as he would have liked, but Joe was there with the game winning hit in the championship game. Without him, this celebration may never have taken place.

Jim Connolly: Jim was huge for the Albany squad with his defense in these huge Florida outfields, along with some quality production in the leadoff spot. He made a huge catch in the final game, making a running catch in the right center field gap in the bottom of the tenth. If he does not make that catch, this celebration may never take place.

Randy Craft: I am sure that Crafty is a little disappointed in his offensive production, but defensively we were nothing without him. We have all seen it before, but every time a new team sees his magic at short, they ask who he played for in the pros. Then to top it all off, after six games in three days and one three inning relief stint on Friday morning and a closer job in the Saturday morning game, he comes up with one of the best clutch pitching performances that I have ever seen in the championship. He gives up one unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, of his ten inning gem. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Without this guy, this celebration definitely never happens!

Darrell Duncan: What can I say?! In my personal opinion, Darrell was the tournament MVP. He pitched 5 great innings in game two (must win situation).
He won the semi-final game, pitching 9 full innings, giving up 1 run (third game played that day). He hit above .500 for the tournament and made some great plays while playing second and shortstop. If Darrell doesn't make his first trip to Florida for the Florida Classic, then this celebration definitely doesn't happen.

Mike Girard: Started the tournament with a bang! 3-4 in a game one loss at Bright House Stadium while blowing up the Carolina shortstop on the last play of the game(all middle infielders taste like chicken). I did not swing the bat that way for the rest of the tournament until I came through with a single with two out and a man on second in the 8th inning of the scoreless championship game. I am much more proud of the defense I contributed while at first base on those few throws that strayed throughout the tournament. In the bottom of the ninth inning of game four, I dug a throw out of the dirt that, if it had gotten away might have cost us our chance at the playoffs.

Kevin Jackson: Showed why he is one of CDMSBL's toughest outs. Kevin used his experience, intelligence, and still dangerous bat to get hits off of all the different pitchers in all of the situations. I don't have the book in front of me, but I would bet that Kevin had one of the 5 highest batting averages on the team for the entire tournament. Without that offensive production, this celebration probably doesn't take place.

Mark Josefski: Doc is just a winner! He has two rings from his days down here with the Hummers and it is easy to see why. While others were enjoying the sun and warmth getting ready for game one to start, Mark scouted all four of our Round Robin opponents and had detailed reports to help our pitchers. His defesive play in the outfield was key to our success as was his winning attitude.
Without these "winners" from Kingston, this celebration does not take place.

John Latorre: Tough loss in game one for big John, but he bounced back in the quarterfinal against Atlanta. John's injured knee was a question mark going into the game, but he pitched nine complete innings in a 4-1 win over a tough team
with an ex-pro (Kenny Ford). His performance also allowed Darrell to be saved for the semi and Randy for the final. Without this herculean effort from the big fella, this celebration definitely does not take place.

Dave Mitchell: It should be enough said that he caught six games in three and a half days. That was not enough. Dave hit the ball hard all tournament long and played even harder. I don't think there was a single game that he didn't dive headfirst into some base. He was 5 for 5 in the quarter final against Atlanta and had two or three more hits in the semi-final against Carolina. The play that says the most about Dave is the one in the bottom of the ninth in the championship game. The ATM Shields team had just tied the game on two errors and were threatening to win the game with runners on second and third and one out, when an outside pitch from Randy Craft got away from Dave and headed for the backstop. The runner from third headed home and it looked as though the game would end on this play, but Dave would not allow this. Having already caught 54 innings on 45 year old legs, Dave fired out of his crouch and stopped the ball before it got halfway to the backstop and fired a strike to Randy Craft waiting at home. The runner was out and the game continued on. Without this big fella on the team, this celebration definitely does not take place.

John Reel: What can we say. John pushed all the right buttons. He may have been questioned when this team was 1-2 (on the verge of elimination). But every move he made after game three was the right one. There were plenty of tough calls (especially with the older pitchers having to come back with little or no rest), but John pushed all the right buttons. By the way, the guy that only put himself in for one at bat, so that others could play, was 4 for 4 with the Triad team he is playing for in this week's 48+ tournament. Without this experienced Skipper at the helm, there is no way this team would have made it back from a 1-2 start.

Dennis Scimeca: Dennis pitched a great game in game 3. He left after 7 solid innings with the score tied at 4. His ability to go that deep in the game saved some arms that were needed later in the tournmament. He was ready in relief for the championship game and provided veteran leadership from the bench all tournament long.

T.J. Scorsone: Was brilliant on the mound in the must win game 4. T.J. pitched 8-1/3 innings and then was the middle man on the double play that ended the game.
T.J. struggled at the plate, but never let it effect his defense. Those who know TJ, know how steady he is wherever he plays, and that was the case here. When a grounder went in his direction, I just put my head down and hustled to first because I knew the ball would be headed in my direction very soon. With all the pressure that he had on him on those grounders late in that championship game with the winning runs at third, he looked like he was taking infield in a pregame warmup. Amazing stuff! Without this guy playing second, short, and pitching, this celebration definitely doesn't happen.

Skip Treece: Skip has run down balls in the outfield down here in Florida looking for a ring for many years. This year he provided more offense than anybody expected. Skip must have had 9 or 10 hits in the 7 games. None more important than his liner off the third baseman in the bottom of the tenth in the championship game. The thirdbasemen recovered just soon enough to see that he was really going to have to hurry to get Skip. He tried to hurry and threw wide of first. Skip ended up on second. The pitcher then chose to try to pick Skip off second, but threw wildly and Skip went to third, where Joe Careccia delivered him with the championship winning run. Sweet!!!!

The moral of the story may already be apparent. It took the effort of all 14 CDMSBL'ers to bring home this championship. It was a tough deal for us old timers to play all out for 64 innings in 90 hours. There was lots of ice, Alleve, Tylenol, Advil, Naproxen, and even some B-12 consumed, but this group would just not accept defeat. That is what made this celebration happen. I couldn't be more proud of these teammates and friends!!!