Lead Story - 5/15/2021

A Pandemic Year of Baseball

We began Pennant Chase Baseball a little more than a year ago, at the beginning of May 2020 with almost no knowledge of where we were going. Would there be some kind of baseball season, how bad would COVID get? There was still room for optimism, even as everything closed down and COVID ravaged Italy and Spain. The weekly seven day average of new cases was under 30,000, a data point we are straining to reach even after 268,000 doses of three vaccines have been given to Americans. We had so much to learn on so many fronts. Now, we are on the other side of two horrific COVID case spikes that killed 600,000 people across the 50 states. And yet, during all of that, we could begin each day exploring baseball box scores from our childhoods. What a perfect diversion. I believe it is fair to end the Rose Mary Woods League with congratulations to Rich for another regular season league championship. He has been gracious enough to allow room for others to win in the playoffs. Today, either Ed or Marty is going to win the Rose Mary Woods World Series--good luck to you both. After that, I think it is good to take a break from historic baseball and watch history being made across the summer. We should probably enjoy it while it lasts, as the MLBPA has filed suit for more money from the 2020 season. That labor dispute will set the tone for the negotiations that will determine when and how the 2022 season will shape up. We could well be playing Pennant Chase far sooner than we can presently envision. But that is not a bad thing. The mantra of our parents, "Things were so much simpler then," ring truer with each passing day. Send me an email. I am available for any game, major or minor league. The crazier the angle the better. I am going to Wilmington on Sunday to see the Blue Rocks play and in June down to Fredericksburg to see what may be the worst professional team playing anywhere. They have yet to win a game and may keep that streak going for a while. As they say, it's all good. See you at Mike Shannon's after the game.

5/5/2021

Semi-Finals Set

The season has come down to four teams, the Swamp Turkeys, Enemies List, Huck Finns and Circuit Riders. The best-of-seven series will begin tomorrow after a travel day with the Huck Finns going to the White House Grounds for two games. Concurrently, the Circuit Riders will travel to Swayne Field for two games to kick off that series. The Petoskey Riptide fought the Turkeys to a draw in the first four games and showed surprising grit in the playoffs before bowing out in the final innings at Swayne Field, losing 7-3. Only the Huck Finns cruised to an easy win in the second round, beating the Eruptions in four. Playing at the White House has to give the Enemies List a psychological advantage. The Finns will be checking their dugout and clubhouse for bugs of every kind and are expecting dirty tricks to abound. Team Captain, John Mayberry, said he expects to steam roll the Enemies in four. Reverend Ed promised a fair fight against the Swamp Turkey, citing biblical scholarship that has provided his team thus far. "You don't change Dicks in the middle of a screw," said Rev Ed, before realizing he was talking in tongues again.

4/29/2021

Playoffs Begin in Two Cities

The first round of the Rose Mary Woods League Playoffs will begin tomorrow. The playoff structure for this season will start with the bottom four teams playing two three-game series with the sixth and seventh place teams enjoying home team advantage. The winners of those two series will join the teams occupying the first six places in the standings. Awards have been posted for individual performances. We will run all three games of the first round tomorrow, then a day off will be granted before beginning the next round of the playoffs. As Radar used to say, "that is all."

4/25/2021

On Winning One Hundred Games Four Seasons Running

The Swamp Turkeys appear on pace to win one hundred games again. Ho hum, what's new? The Meleagris Gallopovo have recorded seasons of 117, 116, and 100 wins thus far. That last total was a second place finish to the White Sox. An embarrassment. And for that reason the Kennedy-Nixon Debate League (KNDL), is seldom talked about in the swamp and all of the Turkey children know never to broach the subject when dad is around. Nor do they say the word, "playoffs." The Swamp Turkeys lost to the Hucksters in the KNDL post-season's final series, and again in the Carol Doda League the next season to the Huck Finns. When the history of the Rose Mary Woods League (RMWL) is written, will there finally be a true World Series Championship "Ring" in the Swamp. One can imagine one of those steam engine brass bells, often posted on a beautiful black pole, with ropes attached for ringing. Mr. Turkey could go out and "ring" that bell anytime he felt compelled to celebrate his regular season wins and continue ringing it until someone asked him to stop. Then he could say, "Oh, so that's enough "ring" for you?" Jim O'Toole and Tommy John failed to win the final World Series games when things mattered most for the Turkeys, and it is rumored that Mr. Turkey has revamped his pitching staff and stadium configuration to address these troubling inconsistencies. The Turkeys lead the league in ERA by more than half a run and Steve Rogers looks to be a runaway favorite for the Cy Young Award. And yet, questions remain. The Huck Finns are playing good baseball as the season enters its final ten days. The Enemies List has slowed its prior pace, but Bill Madlock is the favorite for the MVP and his team looks dangerous. May Day in Cuba will be without a Castro in charge for the first time in more than sixty years. Will May Day in the RMWL tell a new tale for the Turkeys? Stay tuned.

League Chat Box