[Alsfastball] Richmond Hill Men's Fastball League

[Al Doran]

From: "Darren Long" <dvlong at hotmail.com>
To: fastball at pmihrm.com
Subject: Richmond Hill Men's Fastball League
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 14:22:39 +0000


RICHMOND HILL, ONTARIO


For Immediate Release



Richmond Hill Men's Fastball Finals





It is with great aversion (because we finished 2nd again

..LOL) at this 
time of year I sit down to write what most likely will not be read by many 
of you but nonetheless I’m getting used to sharing......



Our league, with a change in executive, a new facelift you might say, 4 
strong teams, and an outlook that was optimistic, was able to provide some 
of the best fastball action I have partaken in to date in my 8 years as a 
member and 5 years as a team rep.



Our league’s season was one which was filled with ups and downs, some of 
which you might compare to most leagues, but most of which would make for 
great debate over a cold beer.  The challenge which we were faced with in 
this season was dealing with dwindling numbers and a lack of 
pitching........boy haven't we all heard that shtick before.............and 
the daunting task of making things as even as possible between all 4 
teams.  Well as time moved on we quickly found out that our efforts were 
worth the time and commitment and to this end I would like to congratulate 
not only the players of this fine league but the champions, once again this 
year, a 3-peat,  The Falcon and Firkin squad lead by their team rep Ken 
Harrington.



I would also like to thank the other teams, Shoeless Joe's and Jakk's for 
their dedication to this league and for their fine playoff performances.  I 
would also like to extend another congratulations to my own team, the 
Galaxy Tavern and Bar, for making my final year as a team rep so easy.  It 
is not often that such a democracy works so well.  Once again we finish 
short of the ultimate goal, but hey I know we keep saying it over and over, 
but how do our teams get better and better with each passing year?  Thanks 
to Rick Knight our team MVP for being our resident thrower and although 
your arm is probably hanging near to the ground today, I applaud your 
dedication to this game and your teammates, your second to none kid.........



Although it may be imperative to discuss the great plays, the mixed banter, 
and the heated team rivalries I think what is best about the game of 
fastball is simply that we still get a chance to play it day in and day 
out.  Our playoffs this year were no exception to this analogy.



The competitiveness remains in all of our blood and it was shown as 
Shoeless Joe’s faced off against Falcon & Firkin in the 1st 
pairing.  Falcon was pushed to the limit in the 3 games and in the final 
game it was an unsurpassable 7 run first inning that lead Falcon to the 
series win.  Hats off to Shoeless’ thrower Brad Ortiz who never complained 
when handed that ball whatever the outcome and to the 2 most prolific 
hitters in our league, Sean Sullivan and Jeff Stevens. These 2 batters were 
a threat each and every time they had a plate appearance, and in many cases 
Jeff for another team as well

 Between them they combined to smash a total 
of over 20 home runs in the regular season.



In the other first round pairing it was Galaxy vs. Jakk’s.  In what 
appeared to be a very decent pairing the Galaxy team was able to 
offensively out maneuver the Jakk’s squad to take a best of 3 series in 2 
games, highlighted by a wonderful lineup of batters 1-9. Hats off to the 
Jakk’s squad and to their throwers Scott Linstrum, Scott Lowe and their 
mainstay Paul Sarazin. Congratulations on a fine performance this year Paul!



In the final series it was once again Galaxy vs. Falcon, in what has become 
a heated rivalry over the last few years.  In the first game Falcon was 
pushed to the limit and walked away with a 9-8 victory on a decent clutch 
hit by Andrew Tromanhauser and a solid performance by Bob Lewis their 
thrower.  In the second game the lead changed hands a few times and the 
rivalry picked up a notch as both teams took time from their busy ball 
schedules to exchange words on at least 2 occasions during the game, one of 
which lead to the ejection of both catchers.  In the end it was once again 
the make or break inning for Falcon which put them ahead 4 runs and made 
the task of a comeback all that much more difficult and ultimately out of 
reach for Galaxy despite a nice early inning home run from Mike 
Hutchison.  As it has already been said congratulations to Falcon on their 
win, it truly could have gone either way!



Finally, I would like to thank all the players for their contributions and 
effort to make this league what it is and to thank the other members of the 
executive Glen Polhamus, Scott Sullivan and the aforementioned Ken 
Harrington, our fearless pseudo president and often shortchanged league 
convener for your time and commitment to making this happen.



What does the future hold?  Who knows; I would like to think that bigger 
and better things are on the horizon.  For those of you planning to come 
back and those of you thinking about it believe me your welcome in our 
league anytime. Have a great winter!



Darren Long

"Keep it on the field"

GFC Team Rep

RHMFL Executive Member

  From: "Darren Long" <dvlong at hotmail.com>





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