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The 10th year of the Canadian Baseball League has come to a close with highlights and big news coming all around the league. But I think the first news we should come across is the departure of Commissioner James Wesley. Wesley, talking to some owners around the league, has been the best commissioner they have ever played for and Wesley has been more then forthcoming with information for the Shitrag. With hints of his replacement being Graham Colvin, commish of the College and Amateur leagues in Canada, the CBL knows it will have once again a quality commish running things. Wesley won’t entirely walk away from the CBL; he will keep his share with the Lethbridge Typhoon, valued up to 20 beers and a XL pizza according to reports, the highest of any team in the league. On behalf of the Shitrag and the Owners, thank you James for everything, we deeply appreciate it. Now here are the other big stories circulating the Canadian Baseball League:
Quel enfer d'une série: If your French isn’t that good, that is why they made a Google translator. The title means, ‘What a hell of a series’, with two French owners taking a basement dweller and going all the way to battle for the beer. For the second straight year, the championship series was taken to the full length taking seven games too decide. The Bulldogs took the lead in the first and never looked back, taking the series from a tough, young Saskatoon Yellow Jackets club. Congratulations to both teams on a successful year.
New Pitching Records set: Lethbridge Typhoon pitcher Johnson Tullefsrud had a career year and set two new records in the mean time. An incredible 31 wins broke Windsor Spitfire ace Mauro Bothman’s record of 29 wins, a record thought to be never broken. Tullefsrud, who also led the Typhoon to the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years, also set a new single season record for ERA, with a 1.56 average, to show that hitting isn’t entirely taking over this pastime. The 1.56 mark, was two points lower then the former record, held by former Toronto Turtles ace and 2001 Cy Young winner, Footsie Egger. After Tullefsrud busted Egger’s last remaining record, A&W removed the Footsie & Egger from its menu. Also, strikeout king Hooks Fife broke his own record for most strikeouts in a season with a mind-boggling 335 K’s.
Rise and Falls: Some teams rose above others unexpectedly and other dove faster then Temmu Selanne. The Guelph Storm had a 90 win season and made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Deserving the most credit is owner Eric Radcliffe who may have turned this team around and made them legit contenders. Toronto also showed that last year was no fluke as the finished with 85 wins which included a major push at the end. Calgary, Charlottetown and Kelowna fell. Despite making the playoffs, Frank Halpa’s club showed consistent signs of struggle which is caused with aging. "After hearing some of Frank's blabber about the "talent" of the Kelowna Americans and how he is the reason why they rock, I declare that he is the only genious I know with an IQ of 20!" said PEI owner Justin Herrington without mentioning himself, who was declared winner of that category this season with ‘PEI ‘Winning’ Formula’. Kelowna squeaked in past Creston though for a playoff berth. Calgary struggled with 84-wins, not a bad season, but definitely not what Owner Michel Bernier probably expect from his team. "Calgary disappointed me big-time this year!" said the loud mouth Herrington.
Farmers West Showdown: A young Creston Kokanne squad went and took on the ageless Kelowna Americans for a chance in the playoffs. The Americans won there last three games to take the West with a pitiful 84-78 record. Many players will be collecting pension next year, notably 1B Jeovany Grief, SS Murad Nail, LF Ayub Ku and pitchers Koree Twist and Nils Cyganiewicz will be returned to the bars and alleys Frankie found them.
CBL MVPS: Owen Sounds’ Ole Ducotey and Cold Lake Speedster Derrick Faulk were named MVP of their respective leagues, voted by the Canadian Baseball Writers Association. Ducotey hit .312 for Graham Colvin’s squad, also slugged 31 out of the park and fell one short of 100 RBI’s. Faulk hit .317 for the newly-relocated Mud Cats. He also played every game with 40 homers and 112 RBI’s for Dan Callegari’s team. Meanwhile, legend Hayden Revelez was named League MVP by the Leagues’ Owners. The future hall-of-famer led the league in batting average, again, with a .364 average for the playoff-bound Fredericton Bandits. Kardell Ayalla of the Toronto Polar Bears and Johnson Tullefsrud were named Cy Young award winners in their leagues for their standout years.
Trading Season: For the first time since anyone can remember, PEI did not make the biggest splash or ruckus at the Trade Deadline. Instead, Port Hope owner Chris Jones decided it was time to rebuild and he did that by trading 16 players this season and a draft pick. He traded most notably Herbie Stours, Riggs Babiarz, Aron Faville and Kirkland Smoulder. Then, he acquired 14 draft picks to start to rebuild. Meanwhile, other names finding new apartments and local beer stores were: Esty Nisbitt from Calgary to Quebec and Barney Shannon from Blackwater to PEI.
Hope you enjoyed reading this and I wish everyone a good off-season. For now, I’m B-Mac of the Sherwood Shitrag.
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