Trading The Gator - Draft Day

Today, for the 31st time in history, the owners of the CFCL gather for what they collectively acknowledge is the Greatest Day of The Year:  Draft Day.

I'm sure Rich will be recapping the events of the day, as well as the celebrations that took place to recognized the CFCL's 30th Anniversary.

For now, though, let's take a look back for an in-depth examination of Draft Day and what it means, courtesy of Trading the Gator.  This clip from the film documents the draft of 2002.

Five Most Significant Changes in the CFCL - #1

We have reached the top of the list.  The most (in my opinion) significant change to the CFCL.  Arguments could be made that the assignment of ratings for being computerized and changing categories were inaccurate, but for our #1 selection, there can be no argument.  It is, without question, the most significant change to the CFCL.

October 11, 2010.  It was on that date that David's Copperfields retired from the CFCL.  The man that started the league by bringing his best friend in high school to Kroch's & Brentano's and showed him this shiny green book, decided to walk out with class, walk out with a heavy heart and to walk out on top.

David Mahlan, following his passion for books and his passion for baseball, sought out "The Greatest Game For Baseball Fans Since Baseball" and changed the face of baseball in Chicago forever, at least for nearly 44 devoted baseball fans.

For 27 years David gave his heart and soul to the league becoming its League Secretary, League Archivist, Co-Commissioner and, not least of all, most successful team in league history.  On top of developing the most honest and classy fantasy sports organization around, David won eleven championships in twenty-seven years (good for a 41% winning percentage, not just finishing in the money percentage).

David had the unique ability, as Commissioner, to deal with many owner personalities - some honest, some conniving, some selfish, some Vile-Despicable-Scum - and was able to make each feel as they were being dealt with honestly and fairly.

As owner of David's Copperfields David came in to each draft prepared to the gills.  That's not a subjective analysis.  For many years before laptops became all the rage, David would quietly place three, count 'em, three three-ring binders each more than two inches thick on the table in front of him.  They were full of player analyses, inflation ratings and general intimidation.  Many an owner would quietly say (hoping they were right)  "There's probably nothing on most of those pages.  He's just trying to scare us."  All comments in that vein were incorrect.

Enough words cannot be written about the absolute class David used in establishing and then enforcing the rules of the CFCL.

David tried to walk away a couple of years earlier, but I temporarily was able to talk him out of it by offering to take on as much administrative responsibility as possible so he could simply run his team.  After two years, David realized that even just running his team would require more time than he was willing to give at this point of his life.

While David retired from active team ownership and Commissioner duties, we have been able to cajole him into stopping by for the beginning of each draft, enjoying our company at the CFCL Awards and Banquest Extravaganza and staying involved with endeavors like this blog.  We are all holding out hope that once his boys are grown and on their own there will come a time when the Copperfields need to take the field once again.  Always being as honest as possible, David has reponded to all such inquiries as "Probably not."  But we can always hope.

It's not the same.  David understood better than anyone that the league is bigger than any one owner, but the league has not been the same without him at the helm.  Teams will compete, fun will be had and championships will be won.  The CFCL will go on ("We're Not Even Halfway There!") but it won't be the same.

Five Most Significant Changes in the CFCL - #2

Finishing second of the most significant change in the CFCL (and honestly there's a strong argument to be made that it could have been #1) is the advent of computers and the computerization of the CFCL.

Back in 1984, when this amazing ride began, pteradactyls dropped the Sporting News from the sky . . . well, no not exactly, but the only computers being used were by major companies to process paperwork and NASA to shoot for the stars.  There was no such thing as a home computer.  David and I were in high school learning to code computer programs with "if then" and the dreaded output of "endless loop".

As far as the CFCL, it was all paper and pen.  When we prepared for the draft we would handwrite our notes (or highlight passages from a magazine or baseball book).  There were no sortable spreadsheets.

When it was time to do the stats each week, it was paper and pencil and a calculator.  I still remember that Friday night in May, 1984 when I set up a card table in my parents' living room, turned on a Cubs game, pulled out the USA Today with the first printed stats for the season and started, manually, entering numbers on to each team's stat sheet.

About three hours later I had (I thought) the first standings in CFCL history!  I called David because I knew he was doing the stats too.  In my mind I thought we would both do the stats, compare our results as a sort of check and balance and then send the standings off to the rest of the league (which for David meant walking down the hallway and handing his dad and brother a copy of the standings).

I called David and said "Well, it looks like (X Team) is leading so far."  To which he replied that he got a different result.  Upon further review it turned out I added or divided or copied wrong and David's stats were right.  Thus ended the great Bentel as Standings Calculator Experiment.  Logically we decided that I should be in charge of the league money and keep track of fees.

And so it went for a few years, David crunching the numbers as soon as he got the weekly USA Today stats and then mailing everything out.

Fast forward to sometime in the late '80's/early 90's.  Bob Monroe (owner of the Bald Eagles) was in the league and had gotten one of those home computer things.  He walked into the draft one year with a bunch of computer printout sheets (no doubt trying to intimidate us since he couldn't outdraft us).

Shortly there after he and David started talking and Bob said he could probably design a form (think early version of Excel Spreadsheet) that would allow us to manually enter in the numbers into the form and then the computer could quickly and accurately calculate the standings.  So every Thursday night during the season usually David, but sometimes I, would trek over to Bob's house in Brookfield and one of us would type in the numbers while the other would read the numbers out of the USA Today.

David's computer genius allowed him (as you can see by all the websites he's created for the league) to fine tune things and streamline the process.  But he still had to manually enter the numbers.  He did this during the day, under the veil of "working" at work.  Eventually work and family (rightfully so) demanded the priority of his time so we voted as a league to finally cave and pay for a stat service to handle our statistics and standings.  **

**  I would like to make an important comment about the league.  If you had the chance to read the the article in the Daily Herald about the CFCL, you see that I am quoted saying "First and foremost this is a gentleman's league."  While the quote was referring to our Constitution and how we settle any disputes, another example of being a gentleman's league took place when we decided to farm out our stats to a service.  We debated the issue long and hard.  Would the service get it right? (We knew David was getting it right).  What would the cost be?  How easy to access the information?

What it all boiled down to and was actually verbalized by both the Ruffins and the DoorMatts was "if it makes David's life easier, then we have to do it."  Our owners knew how hard and long David worked to turn around the stats to the league and could only imagine (because David never really said anything) the toll it must be taking on him to try and sneak it through at work or stay up until the wee hours of the morning when he could be oh, sleeping, or something.

Now with the use of computers and technology we have the ability to not only have our standings updated daily, we have them updated by the pitch!  Live Scoring on OnRoto allows us to track our players at bat by at bat and pitch by pitch.

That doesn't even include the ability owners have to run their drafts with spreadsheets and the ability those behind the scenes have with creating Master Draft Lists, updated Rosters and Draft Sheets.

Computers have changed the face of the CFCL.

Trading the Gator: Draft Prep

Spring Training has begun, and soon teams in Arizona and Florida will begin playing preseason games.  Elsewhere, all around the world, fantasy baseball owners are shaking off the cobwebs of winter and starting their research and preparation for the Greatest Day of the Year - Draft Day.

Draft Day prep can involve many facets - from reading every bit of news you can get your hands on and watching spring games - live or on television, to arts and crafts and ensuring you have the right foodstuffs with you at the Draft Table.

See all that and more in this latest clip from "Trading the Gator," the fantasy baseball documentary that featured the CFCL (read that story in this earlier post).  You'll see CFCL owners Kelly Barone, Eric Lamb, David Mahlan, and Jason Grey, Paul Zeledon, plus Walter Shapiro of the American Dreams League discussing their pre-Draft routines and strategies.

The Will Clark Incident

Earlier in this blog’s life, we revisited one of the very first Draft Day “Incidents” in the CFCL’s history: the time the Co-Founders found themselves locked in an insane episode of bidding on Phillies’ outfielder Jeff Stone during the 1985 Draft. The end of that write-up teased a similar incident from the following year. It’s now time for the Co-Founders to to reminisce about 1986’s The Will Clark Incident…

RICH
I LOVE the history of the CFCL. I LOVE the fact that I have been a part of all the history of the CFCL – many times on the embarrassing end (see Jeff Stone Incident, Mitch Williams Incident, Murphy/Dysktra Trade). But every so often I am able to come out on top (Steve Carlton Incident). And here’s one more – The Will Clark Incident. 

The problem is I don’t remember the minute by minute, blow-by-blow happenings. I remember the before and I remember the after. The during? Not so much. It could be because I was still reeling from the Jeff Stone Incident the year before. It could be that it was 28 years ago and, really, how much can one person remember?

DAVID
Flashback to spring training, 1986 -- This was in the early days of Rotisserie and fantasy baseball, and information on minor leaguers and prospects was still fairly hard to come by. The minor league overview in Bill Mazaroski's annual magazine was the best of the easily-obtainable sources, and the owner who knew about Baseball America's "Top Ten Prospects" issues, let alone who could find one on a newstand, had an incredible advantage. 

RICH
Here’s what I do recall. The Rebels and Copperfields had teased each other with our plans heading into 1985 when we both had our eyes on Jeff Stone. After we squared off in the bidding on Jeff Stone, I think we were both reluctant to lend voice to our intentions for the 1986 draft. 

This time around we both had our sights on a young left handed slugger in the Bay Area. I can’t recall if we gave each other even a bit of indication of our desires or if we figured it out during the bidding.

There was still a good chance of “back-dooring” a young or unknown talent. There wasn’t ESPN and Internet. You had the Sporting News and Bill Mazeroski’s mag. 

DAVID
And it’s not like Mazeroski was over the moon for Clark. In the positional outlook for the major league team the magazine mentioned Clark as a possible contributor in 1986: 

"[Dan] Driessen’s limitations could help [Bob] Brenly worm his way in here, at least against lefthanders. And don’t count out last June’s No. 1 draft pick, Will Clark, who pumped 25 homers in just 65 games at Mississippi State last year, then jumped to Fresno and hit .305, drove in 48 runs in 65 games, jacked 10 home runs and had an on-base percentage of .458. Clark might not be able to make the jump this year, but it won’t take him long."

The minor league write-up at the back of the magazine said: “He’s a disciplined left-handed hitter with 20-homer strength and Gold Glove potential. Clark will get a chance to take first base this spring because he’s so far advanced in the mental aspects of the game.”

Jackpot! Just what every Rotisserie owner longs for – mental aspects!

Clark didn't even make Maz’s Gold List (the prospects likely to make their presence known in the majors in the coming season). Instead, that list was toting the likes of Todd Worrell, Lance McCullers, Andres Galarraga, and Roger Mason. Maz’s list of secondary prospects did mention Clark, saying that he “could make the leap this year – sometime.”

All-in-all, not exactly ringing endorsements; and not the type of write up that would set our winter hearts a-lusting.

RICH
So if you read those periodicals, you knew of a guy named Will Clark. Had a pretty good college career and was expected to make the team and be wonderful in 1986. But to the passive eye, he wasn't that well known. 

DAVID
It wasn't until March 1986 that stories of "The Natural" came drifting Chicago-way. Tales told of an intense young slugger with only 65 minor league games under his belt who was the hit of the Giants' spring camp. There were rumors that he hit a ball through the outfield fence in a spring training game. 

RICH
Clark had a pretty solid spring. This was when the Cubs played the Giants about 450 times during the Cactus League, so now he was becoming less unknown. But one could still be hopeful that the other owners would attribute it to a young kid having a good spring against lesser pitchers (kind of like being Gary Scott before Gary Scott).

DAVID
Still, Rich and I both hoped -- no, believed -- that each of us was the only one to be hearing this info. We were both certain we would be able to sneak Clark though at the end of the Draft. Of course, this was another textbook case of Hyper-Inflation resulting from Pre-Draft Obsession.

RICH
We were both disappointed on Opening Day. Any chance we had of trying to sneak Clark through at a low price ended on April 8, 1986. Keep in mind, back in the early days, we drafted after Opening Day so we knew who was on an NL roster. By the time we drafted there were some games already played and emotions affected (see Brian Littlefield effect in the original Rotisserie Book).

On April 8th, Will Clark came to the plate for the first time EVER in a major league game. And he homered. Homered in the first inning against the Astros. Homered to straightaway center field in the Astrodome. Homered off of . . . Nolan Ryan in his first at bat ever. And the legend exploded.

No more sneaking him through. Now it’s good ol’ country hardball ala 1985 and Jeff Stone.

DAVID

Flash forward, to Draft Day 1986 -- Our new owner, Dave Holian, received the honor of nominating the first player of the Draft. This ended up being the unofficial institution of what would come to be known as The Ruffin Privilege, which wasn't formally recognized until 1992.  

Of course, it's obvious who he chose to make the first player up for bid in 1986 -- Will the Thrill.

Bidding quickly escalated, with the Bald Eagles, Copperfields, and Dem Rebels the main participants. Bob Monroe, owner of the Eagles, called a conference with Head Copperfield in a side room. The Bald One offered to drop out of the bidding on Clark if In would promise not to bid up another player later in the Draft. I refused, and we returned to the draft table where the bidding continued. Monroe remained in a little while longer, then dropped out, leaving me and Rich as the only two active bidders. Another showdown between the Co-Founders/Co-Commissioners. As the bidding reached the upper 30s, memories of the Jeff Stone Incident crept into both our heads.

RICH
I was probably feeling the pain of Stone still so at some point I blinked and the Copperfields got Will Clark for .40.

DAVID
Perhaps it was the memory of what Jeff Stone did to his team, but whatever the reason, after I said ".40", Rich said "Pass", and I brought his head crashing to the table at the realization of what I had done.

Clark's stats for the year: .287-11-41-4. Respectable, but not worthy of .40.

RICH
Clark would go on to hit only 10 more home runs and drive in only 40 more runs all season. So I finally won a showdown against the Copperfields, right?

1985 – Rebels outbid the Copperfields on Jeff Stone for .32 and finish 4th out of seven teams.

1986 – Copperfields outlast the Rebels on Will Clark for .40 and win their first championship (first of three in a row and first of eleven overall).

And that right there in a nutshell is the Rebel/Copperfield rivalry.

The Faces of the CFCL

Thanks to League Photographer and Archivist David Mahlan, we were able to capture some close up pictures of the current local owners of the CFCL.  Unfortunately, not all CFCL owners were able to attend.  Not pictured below were Mike Bentel (Twin Killers), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins), Nick Hansen (Eukennott Beatniks) and Kenn Ruby (Kenndoza Line).  All four selfishly decided that travelling a hundreds or thousands of miles to Chicago for a few hours of pizza eating and beer swilling wasn't an efficient use of their time and money.  Go figure.

Below are the local faces of the CFCL and a little bit about their team history.

Matt Bentel - owner of the DoorMatts.  Joined the CFCL in 1994 and still looks frustrated for tying with the Kenndoza Line for first in 2009 and ultimately finshing in 2nd due to tie-breaker rules.

Mike Coulter (in red) - owner of Candy Colored Clowns.  Joined the CFCL in 2008 and won his first championship five years later (2012).  Also is our savior in handling all transactions and issues with our statistics at OnRoto.com.

Matt Grage - owner of Graging Bulls.  Joined the CFCL in 2000.  Celebrated his first CFCL title in 2013 (and only his second money finish).  Matt also provides all the owners with the Master Draft List on Draft Day that saves us tons of time.

Tim Morkert - owner of Morkertzuma's Revenge.  Tim joined the CFCL in 2008.  Here Tim looks like he has a concerned look on his face as he reflects back to 2011 and his oh-so-close run for the title.  "Dammit Brad Lincoln!  I hate you!"  A commissioner and owner in a fantasy baseball league in San Francisco, Tim has been a long standing member of the CFCL's Executive Committee.





Pat Chesnut (left), Matthew Barriball (right) - co-owners of Hey Patta Matta Swing.  Pat and Matthew joined the CFCL this off-season and will enjoy their first season in 2014.  They have previous fantasy baseball experience and, based on their conversations and e-mails, bring a ton of game.  This is the future face of the CFCL.

Rich Bentel - owner of Dem Rebels.  Rich is the last remaining original owner (1984).  In 30 years of ownership, the Rebels have performed poorly with only seven money finishes (two championships).  Rich also took over full Commissioner responsibilities when the Copperfields retired in 2010 as well as League Secretary responsibilities circa 2009 in a failed effort to keep the Copperfields around forever.

Memory of a Banquet IV

This last walk down memory lane could quite possibly be the greatest one.  Yesterday's entry is very strong - the one at the Bald Eagle's house (trying to off the Rebels, mocking the Rebels at Gibson's homerun and unsuccessfully trying to get the rest of the league to join him in giving the champion Copperfields a Yoo-Hoo shower).  Very strong indeed.

But this one (I'm thinking it took place in the mid '90's) I feel takes the cake because it involves something so counter to the CFCL culture.  Yes, the police were called.

The police? Yep.  You heard me.  We bad.  And this wasn't involving my brother-in-law who is a cop (and former CFCL owner of the Flatfeet).  This is the establishment where the banquet was held . . . called the cops on the CFCL!

This particular banquet I don't think we had a massive turnout.  So we tried to find a middle ground for those owners who could attend.  I know for a fact that the Lambchops, Rebels and Copperfields attended.  I'm thinking - based on the location of the banquet - that the Meisters also showed up.  But that may have been it.

So since Paul and Eric lived in the Schaumburg-ish area and I lived in Aurora and David lived in Downers Grove, we selected Batavia/Geneva as the middle ground.  Not geographically perfect, but it makes for a great story.

One of us was charged with finding an establishment in that area.  Well what screams out Baseball Celebration better than Chinese food?  Nothing, it turns out, so we held our banquet at a Chinese restaurant.

The evening started out well enough.  We had a nice dinner, talked about the newly finished season, handed out the awards . . . and then things got crazy.  We kept talking, about CFCL matters, about how to fix the Cubs, about life.  Eventually any other attendees filtered out and all that was left were the Lambchops, Copperfields and Rebels.  And I don't mean all that was left from the banquet.  I mean all that was left IN THE RESTAURANT!  Yes, we closed that mother down!  (That is the first and only establishment I have ever closed.) 

But we are a bunch of baseball nerds and didn't realize what we were doing.  It took the waiter to come over and say "If you don't want anything else, we're trying to close."  Sheepish looks on our face as we settled the bill.  We kept chatting as we walked out of the restaurant.  And then like the baseball magpies we are, we just couldn't say "good-bye".  We kept talking and talking and talking in the middle of the parking lot.  Nothing seemed strange to us except perhaps that it was a little chilly to be standing outside talking baseball.

All of a sudden a squad car pulls in to the parking lot.  Again, we're clueless geeks.  We just keep on talking.  The officer pulls up to us, ** rolls his window down and says "What's going on guys?"

**  I don't know much about police procedure but usually officers will take tactical positions and keep their distance from potential perps.  This guy must have, as he was turning the corner into the parking lot, assessed the three of us and said to himself "Are you kidding?  What the hell am I doing here?"

"Oh nothing.  Just talking about baseball, officer."  Man were we cool.  The officer then points out that the workers in the restaurant want to go home ** and they're afraid to leave the place because they think you're waiting in the parking lot to jump them.

** as he's saying this, I'm thinking "why are you telling us that?  We left the restaurant, we don't need them anymore."

If you could call Hollywood and ask them to cast three guys who would never be confused with attempting to jump anyone you could not find three more appropriate guys than David, Eric and me.  Yet there the cop was saying "Maybe it's time to head home, right?"

The minute we heard we were keeping the workers in the restaurant and why, we all embarrassingly apologized and moved directly to our cars.  That was the night the CFCL took it to the streets and rumbled with the cops.

More pictures from this year's banquet.

The CFCL's local owners.  Why does it look like everyone's laughing at the Commissioner?
Going around the table to the left, starting in front: Matt Grage, Matt Bentel, Tim Morkert, Pat Chesnut, Matthew Barriball, Mike Coulter and Rich Bentel.

Mike Coulter enjoying sweet victory as he takes home the certificate for Best Free Agent Acquisition (Francisco Liriano).  In the background is Matthew Barriball (co-owner of The Swing) smiling contentedly knowing next year's certificate will be his.

CFCL Owners of 1984

Not pictured [from left]: Paul Mahlan (Paul's Penguins), Dave Goetz (and eventual first time ever CFCL Champion ForGoetzMeNots), David Mahlan (David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Ben T's Electric Eels), Fred Mahlan (Fred's Friars), Jim Fenton (Mudville Sluggers).

Six incredibly young looking owners (you have to see it in your mind).  All gathering on an early weekend in April, 1984 on Wenonah in Oak Park to start something that seemed cool, but didn't imagine could be around 30 years later.

You wonder how it could last when we had owners drafting Joe Lefevbre for .12, David Green for .35, Terry Kennedy for .41, Dale Murphy for an incredible .61, and Lee Lacy for .35.  Well some of the owners figured out pricing pretty quick and become successful just as quickly.  The rest of us . . . struggled; but had the most fun anyone could imagine with just a bunch of dudes sitting around a table.

The ForGoetzMeNots would win the inaugural title.  The Copperfields would show the signs of the future as they made an amazing in-season trade to make a stellar run that fell just one point short (71-70).

We used newspaper clippings and The Sporting News for draft prep.  If one of us needed to make a phone call, we had to step into the Mahlan's kitchen and dial a phone.

It was like landing on Plymouth Rock compared to where we are today and as I've been stressing for the last few years:  "We're not even halfway there!"

CFCL Owners of 1985

Not Pictured [from left]:  Paul Mahlan (Paul's Bunyans), Dave Goetz (ForGoetzMeNots), David Mahlan (David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Fred Mahlan (Fred's Friars), Dave Gross (Ghostbusters), Jim Fenton (and eventual CFCL Champion Mudville Sluggers).

As we began the 1985 season, the CFCL expanded from six to seven teams, yet the league roster had a whole new look.  First, Dave Goetz (Original 6 member and 1st CFCL champion) brought a friend of his, Dave Gross to join the league so we expanded to seven teams.

But a couple of the teams weren't happy with their inaugural season and decided to shake things up.  Paul Mahlan entered the league in 1984 as Paul's Penguins.  He didn't feel like alliteration was going to get the job done so he moved on to Northern US mythology and named his team Paul's Bunyans.  Rather than hit like lumberjacks they performed like footsores, finishing sixth.

Rich Bentel, disillusioned with eponymous Atlantic bottom dwellers, moved south, cast away the Eels moniker and took on his Initial season of Dem Rebels.  The results were immediate as the Eels finished 6th (last) in 1984 and Dem Rebels vaulted all the way to 4th.

The Sluggers had a tooth and nail fight with their friends, the Friars all season long and outlasted Fred by 1.5 points.

I remember specifically drafting in Dave Goetz' apartment in Forest Park.  I don't actually remember, but I know that League Archivist David Mahlan has it logged that for some god awful reason, the first player selected was . . .

Well, let's review what NORMALLY happens at the draft.  Before I do that, I will stipulate that 1985 being our 2nd season there really wasn't any normal yet.  However, you would think that after waiting all winter long to draft, we would jump on some big named stud that could make a major impact on our teams.  Someone that everyone would salivate over, bust their budget for.  Someone that, when you heard the name, you would think "Oooh, I just NEED him!!!"  (Of course that would be said in a most manly, baseball fan kind of way).

So having all winter long to think and drool and plan, the first player nominated was . . . Dan Driessen, firstbaseman of the Montreal Expos.  As if the baseball gods could anticipate things, they made sure the hapless Rebels successfully acquired Driessen (for 12 cents).

CFCL Owners of 1986

Not pictured [from left]:  Paul Mahlan (Paul's Penguin's), Chuck Hindricks (Spherechuckers), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion, David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Fred Mahlan (Fred's Friars), Dave Zirzow (Z-28's), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1986 was perhaps the most crazy season in CFCL history.  First, we had FOUR new owners!  We should have had five but during the off-season, well here's the story.

At the end of the 1985 season the Mudville Sluggers resigned.  So during the off-season we invited Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins) and Dan Harder (no team name) to join.  All accepted.  We arranged for there to be an auxiliary draft among the three new owners to draft from the Sluggers players.  Bob and Dave showed up, Dan didn't.  So Bob and Dave drafted their teams and we assigned the remaining players to Harder's team.  Dan proceeded to make a few trades during the off-season and then dropped out.  His players were released to the Free Agent Pool and available to draft on Draft Day.

Then ON DRAFT DAY, last year's owners Dave Goetz (Original 6 member and 1st CFCL Champion) and Dave Gross chose to drop out.  On Draft Day.

Still trying to figure things out, we left their rosters in tact and the other six owners drafted on Draft Day.  Shortly after the season began, I approached a guy I worked with at the bank (Dave Zirzow) and asked if he would like to join the league.  To be fair, at the time Dave was a huge Sox fan (which was okay with us since he was a baseball fan) and I thought this would be a good fit.  I mentioned that we had two owners quit and he said he had a friend (Chuck) who would be interested in the other team.  So far so good.  Things turned south when a rift developed between Dave and myself and Dave and Chuck quit middle of the season, refused to pay their fees and threatened physical retribution if any attempt to collect the fees were made.  So in the blink of an eye the CFCL had four Vile-despicable-scum as former owners.  Surprisingly we allowed the ForGoetzMeNots to return in 1994 for seven years.  Due to that he worked his way out of VDS status.

1986 was also the first time we used the Big Board (pictures of it are in other League Photo posts.  We also developed our first Master Draft List so we all had the same pool of names to select from.

Paul Mahlan felt the key to success was, in part, renaming his team.  So the Bunyans went out the door and the Penguins returned.

Even though it was Bob Monroe's first year in the league, he graciously opened his doors and allowed us to draft in his basement on Sunday, April 13th at 11am.  And it was there that we had the infamous Steve Carlton and Will Clark Incidents.  (Will Clark Incident in an upcoming post.)

CFCL Owners of 1987

Not pictured [from left]:  Paul Mahlan (Paul's Penguins), Ken Visnack (Aces to Win), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Joe Gemini (Gemini's Apollos), Tim Davies (Davies' Crocketts), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1987 would be the final year of one of the Original Six.  Paul Mahlan (owner of the Penguins/Bunyans) would resign following this season.  We added three new teams in 1987.  The Crocketts, Aces to Win and Apollos.  I believe they were all connected to Monroe.  Joe Gemini had probably provided the best team name in the short CFCL history.  Looking at his last name you would think "Gemini" like the space program.  Hence the team name.  But his last name wasn't pronounce "Jem-in-I".  It was "ja-Minh-ee" which provided a bit of a disconnect.  Alas, it wouldn't matter much as they left the league at the end of the season.

Tune in tomorrow for more details, but 1987 should have been the season that David and I realized that the CFCL could withstand almost anything.  As you will see tomorrow, 1986 was our first year with eight owners.  At the end of the season three owners left.  We scrambled to find three new owners and keep things moving forward.

The Copperfields captured their second consecutive championship, winning by seven points over the Bald Eagles.

The draft took place on Sunday, April 12th at 1pm at the Mahlan home in Oak Park.

CFCL Owners of 1988

Not Pictured [from left]: Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Ken Visnack (Aces to Win), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks), Roy Garlisch (Davies' Crocketts), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1988 saw some interesting things.  First off, we had two new owners.  Kelly Barone (Six Packs) joined the league having met the Copperfields on the UIC campus.  Pat McGuire also joined.  Pat was a co-worker of Rich's at the local bank.  It was a couple of pretty good additions as Pat would be part of the CFCL for five seasons and Kelly would be around for sixteen.

One franchise stayed around but the ownership changed a bit.  Davies' Crocketts joined in 1987 but in 1988 Roy Garlisch took over as owner.  I don't remember much about Garlisch or the Crockett franchise, but I think Roy was a co-worker of the Bald Eagles.

1988 also saw the first three-peat as the Copperfields won for the third time in a row (and third time overall).  It didn't come easy though, as the Bald Eagles did everything they could to overtake the Copperfields.  They ended up just one point short (73-72).

Since David and I were still a couple of starving college kids, we hadn't moved out yet and the draft was held at David's parents home in Oak Park on Sunday, April 10th at 1pm.

CFCL Owners of 1990

Not pictured from left:  Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Eric Lamb (Lambchops), David Mahlan (and eventual CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks), Paul Skupien (Mr. Paul's Swordfish), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1990 saw the Copperfields capture their fourth title in seven years.  It was also (sniff) the last draft at Mount Olympus (Rich and David's apartment in Forest Park) as girls had FINALLY entered our lives.

This was also the year that Paul Skupien (I think he came from the bank I worked at at the time) took over the Headless Horseman franchise.  While we were thankful that we could keep the league at eight owners, we had to deal with the fact that Paul came up with one of, if not THE, worst names in CFCL history - Mr. Paul's Swordfish.  1990 was also the final, but not quite final, year of the Picks franchise.  Pat would take a sabbatical from the CFCL for a year before returning for two more years beginning in 1992.

CFCL Owners of 1991

Prior to 1992 (other than the recently posted 1989 season) we didn't take pictures of the draft.  So we have to use our imagination to picture: [not pictured from left] Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Eric Lamb (Lambchops), David Mahlan (David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Paul Skupien (Mr. Paul's Swordfish), Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles and eventual 1991 CFCL Champion), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins).

1991 saw a return of seven owners.  Pat McGuire left after three years (following 1991 he would return for two more seasons).  This would also prove to be the final season of the Bald Eagle franchise.  Bob was continually promoted up the Hancock Fabric chain of command and landed in Colorado.  The pre-Internet distance combined with work and family time requirements proved to be too much for Bob to consider running a team long distance.  However, in his final year, Bob would finally break through the ceiling of his three previous second place finishes and take home the cherished CFCL title.

Perhaps the biggest change the CFCL saw that year was on the draft table.  Kelly Barone introduced the Big Cards for owners to flip over if they were out of the bidding.  Despite all the technological advancements our country has seen in the following 23 years, the flip cards are a staple of the CFCL Draft Table.

David and Michelle opened their doors to the CFCL on Sunday, April 14 at 10am in Oak Park.

CFCL Owners of 1989

1989 was the first year the CFCL thought to chronicle its draft via pictures and it was by chance.  Below are three photos that captured all the owners.  We have Mrs. Mahlan (David's mom) to thank for stopping by our apartment with a camera and snapping a few pics.

From left:  Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels and eventual 1989 CFCL Champion); Eric Lamb (Lambchops - obscured head); Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks); David Mahlan (David's Copperfields); Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles); Kelly Barone (Six Packs); Dave Holian (David's Ruffins - or at least his right hand); Empty Chair - was being saved for Scott something who never showed up so his team was renamed Headless Horsemen;

From left:  Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels and eventual CFCL Champion [can that be typed enough?]; Eric Lamb (Lambchops); Pat McGuire (McGuire's Picks); David Mahlan (David's Copperfields); Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles); Kelly Barone (Six Packs - or at least Kelly's right arm);

From left:  Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles); Kelly Barone (Six Packs); Dave Holian (David's Ruffins);

A few things, first of all this was 1989 so David and I hosted the draft at our apartment in Forest Park [Mount Olympus].  In all three pictures I see beer bottles (looks to be Coors).  I don't remember that at all.  I was under the impression that we had outlawed alcohol from the beginning.  That may explain why we ended up with the The Mitch Williams Incident.  I'm of two minds.  One, I really got burned by the Mitch Williams thing, but two, I WON THE PENNANT!  Maybe we should rethink alcohol at the draft.

You will also notice that, being the last of the decade of the '80's, the Lambchops were sporting a really nice porn star 'stache, the Picks had the 'fro going and Dem Rebels were getting it done with a full head of hair and glasses that covered half his face.

One other note, in pictures one and two you see plastered across our window a big sheet of paper.  Part of the pre-draft ritual was for David to measure out on this big sheet all the CFCL teams drafting that year and the slots for their players.  After each player was selected, David would write the name and salary of the player under the draft team's name which allowed for everyone to have an instant visual of who needed what.

CFCL Owners of 1992

 

Pictured from the left:  Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Pat McGuire (Twin Picks), Paul Zeledon (Da Paul Meisters), Eric Lamb (Eric's Lambchops), David Mahlan (eventual 1992 CFCL Champion David's Copperfields), Tom Clark (Clark Kents), David Holian (David's Ruffins), and Kelly Barone (Six Packs).

1992 saw the CFCL returning to full stable of 8 owners, which matched the number of franchises we'd had from 1986 through 1990.  We played 1991 with only 7 teams because Pat McGuire, owner of McGuire's Picks, withdrew from the league shortly before Draft Day 1991, leaving us no time to find a replacement.

As you can see, though, we held no ill will, as we welcomed Pat back with open arms (and a new team name - Twin Picks) following his one year hiatus.  In addition to the Return of the Pickster, two new teams joined us in 1992 - Da Paul Meisters and Clark's Kents, replacing Mr. Paul's Swordfish and the CFCL stalwart Bald Eagles.

We knew we'd miss Bob's presence at the Draft, so Rich brought a helium-filled balloon inscribed with Bob's face in Sharpie as a stand-in.  You can barely see the yellow balloon behind Eric's head, but the shot below, of Kelly posing with Airhead Bob, gives a good view.  In retrospect, you have to wonder if it was this interaction with "Bob" prior to the Draft, which caused Kelly to have one of the most disastrous Drafts in CFCL history (more on this below).

We knew Bob would miss Draft Day as well, which is why we decided to video tape the proceedings to send to him later.  It turned out to be one of most fortuitous decisions we've made, as the 1992 Draft was incredibly entertaining and featured a number of "incidents" which would be remembered as classics of CFCL lore.  I'm sure that the fun Rich and I had re-watching the video tape later had a lot to do with us deciding to record the 1993 Draft ... and the 15 or so to follow ... as well.  I have no doubt that if 1992 had been a routine Draft the video taping would have stopped after that first year.

A number of highlights from 1992 have already been posted on the blog:

The Origin of the Ruffin Privilege (which gives the honor of nominating the first player for bidding to Ruffins' owner, Dave Holian

The Ramon Martinez Incident (in which things begin to go awry for Six Packs owner Kelly Barone)

The Bret Barberie Incident (in which things go from bad to worse for Kelly)

The Rebel Puberty Incident (in which an interaction with Airhead Bob causes Dem Rebel owner Rich Bentel to emit some odd sounds)

The Darryl Strawberry Incident (a classic moment in CFCL history, in which two owners simultaneously react in the same way when an owner more than doubles the current bid on Strawberry ... if it wasn't so spontaneous, you'd swear it was choreographed)

All this took place at the Oak Park apartment of Copperfields owner, David Mahlan.

The CFCL Awards Banquet

One of the (many) things that makes the CFCL special is the end-of-season Awards Banquet. Since our very first year, the CFCL has traditionally gathered in October or November (and once or twice, December or January as schedules required) to celebrate the accomplishments – and failures – of the recently completed season.

We seldom got full attendance at the banquet – especially in recent years, with a number of owners living out of town – but whether we have three owners present or ten, a good time is had by all.

In the CFCL’s early years, the big attraction at the banquet was the revealing of the final standings. Until 1997, when the CFCL finally modernized and hired a stat service, I compiled the standings by hand and until the final rankings were announced at the banquet, no one knew for certain who the league champion was.

To get a real feel for what goes on at the CFCL Awards Banquet, check out this clip from Trading the Gator, with highlights from the 2002 banquet. Some things to watch for:

• Pizza – the official banquet food of the CFCL. In the early years, we usually held the banquet at an owner’s house and ordered pizza in. After a few years, though, we decided to actually go out for the banquet. Although there were a couple years in the 90s when we met at a Chinese restaurant, most of the time we stuck to pizza. The pizzeria in the video is Giordano’s in Oak Park. 
• Awards – In addition to awarding certificates for the final standings, we also recognize a number of other award winners at the banquet. Some of the awards, such as the Dallas Green Award (which was described in an earlier post), are based on the point totals accumulated by CFCL teams, while others are voted on by the owners. We’ll be looking at some of those awards in future posts.
• Championship Trophy – Of course the big prize of the night is the CFCL Championship Trophy. This has evolved over the years, from a photocopied certificate to a customized trophy. Rich described this evolution in an earlier post.
• Baseball Cards – For a number of years beginning in the late 1990s, I started handing out unopened packs of baseball cards from the mid-80s to add some more fun and nostalgia to the proceedings. Each owner would get 3-4 packs to open, and we’d rip through them with the enthusiasm of 12-year-olds. The fact that the cards were from 8-10 years prior allowed some of the old-timers to reminisce about owning some of the players in the past, and it also meant many of the packs included the cardboardy plank of pink gum. Usually the gum was discarded untouched, though in 2002 – the banquet captured in the video below - the owner of Da Paul Meisters accepted the challenge to chew a couple sticks – you’ll see him putting his hand over his mouth in the video in an effort to keep from gagging it up.

Of course, the real attraction of the awards banquet is to spend an evening visiting with the rest of the owners in the league, outside of the usual Draft Day pressure cooker.

Here’s what the CFCL awards banquet looked like back in 2002:

CFCL Owners of 1993

Picture from left:  Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Tom Clark (Clark Kents), Dave Holian (David's Ruffins), Eric Lamb (Lambchops), Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Paul Zeledon (Da Paul Meisters), Pat McGuire (Twin Picks), David Mahlan (and eventual 1993 CFCL Champion David's Copperfields).

1993 saw all 1992 owners returning.  We were supposed to be nine owners, but a vile, despicable scum changed his mind at the last minute and didn't have the courtesy to let us know.  As a result, a draft that was supposed to begin around 7pm didn't start until almost 9pm and as a further result, didn't end until the wee hours of Saturday morning. 

Dave Holian of the Ruffins graciously provided the location for our draft and, when the hours became later and later, led us in our first International Incident in CFCL history, The Orestes Destrade Incident.

The Copperfields would end up winning their second title in a row and sixth overall.  At the end of the season, the Picks resign, but the remaining seven owners would continue as a core for the next two years.

Oh, almost forgot.  Also pictured in the back on the left, ominously hovering over Eric Lamb was a balloon representation of Bob Monroe (former owner of the Bald Eagles).  As has been chronicled, the Bald Eagles were part of the CFCL from 1986-1991.  For a few years after Bob left, we blew up a balloon, drew a beard and glasses on it in an effort to make it feel like Bob was still around.  At this particular draft, I believe the balloon took its fair share of punishment as the hours dragged on into early Saturday morning.  There is no empirical evidence as to the negative influence of Bob the Balloon, but Eric and Kelly (seated closest to Bob) finished 7th and 8th respectively.

CFCL Owners of 1994

Picture from left:  Dave Holian (David's Ruffins), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), Matt Bentel (DoorMatts), Paul Zeledon (and eventual CFCL Champion Da Paul Meisters), Eric Lamb (Lambchops), Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Dave Goetz (ForGoetzMeNots), Tom Clark (Clark Kents).  Not pictured on the right: David Mahlan (David's Copperfields).

1994 was supposed to be the first time ever the CFCL had ten owners.  In 1993 (as you will see next week) we had eight owners.  Those eight had all committed to returning.  In addition FINALLY we were able to convince Rebels cousin Matt (DoorMatts) to join the league.  We had also been able to entice one of the Original 6 owners (and first ever CFCL Champion) back - Dave Goetz (ForGoetzMeNots).  Then on Roster Freeze Day, Pat McGuire showed his true colors.  Rather than turn in his keepers for the draft he sent a note saying, effectively, "I'm out".  The CFCL rolled on, probably the better for it, with nine owners.

Da Paul Meisters captured their first (and only) CFCL crown in just their third year of existence.

Dave Holian (David's Ruffins) opened his home to the CFCL, allowing us to draft in his spacious and comfortable basement.

A Yoo-Hoo To Arms

This morning, once the official and final stats for the 2013 season were posted at the OnRoto website, the Graging Bulls were officially crowned the Champions of the CFCL’s 30th season. It’s an honor that comes with a number of rewards, including the lion’s share of the prize pool and the CFCL Championship Trophy. One thing it won’t come with, however – unless there’s a hasty addition to the CFCL Constitution – is a Yoo-Hoo shower for Bulls’ owner Matt Grage.

Yoo-Hoo, a sticky concoction of chocolate flavoring and high fructose corn syrup, was traditionally poured over the head of the original Rotisserie League’s Champion at the season-ending party each year.

The closing essay in the first edition of the book Rotisserie League Baseball described it this way:

Unseen hands hold you, force your head down and pour water, dairy whey, corn sweetener, non-fat milk, sugar, coconut oil, cocoa, sodium caseinate, salt, sodium bicarbonate, dipotassium phosphates, calcium phosphates, guar gum, natural flavors, xantham gum, vanillin (an artificial flavor), sodium ascorbate, ferric orthophosphate, palmitate, niacinamide, vitamin D, and, yes, riboflavin all over your hair. The bizarre ritual is a Yoo-Hoo shampoo, and it is what you get for winning the Rotisserie League pennant.

The chocolate-flavored rinse will not leave your locks radiant and soft to the touch, and squirrels will probably follow you around for a day or two. All and all, the ritual is pretty distasteful. But there's not a member of the Rotisserie League who wouldn't gladly suffer the rite so long as it came at the end of a championship season.

You can hear the Rotisserie League’s first Champions, Glenn Waggoner and Pete Gehers (Getherswag Goners) and the league’s founder, Dan Okrent, discuss the that first Yoo-Hoo ceremony in this clip from the documentary “Silly Little Game.”




The CFCL never fully embraced the concept of the celebratory Yoo-Hoo shower, but there WERE two owners who got to enjoy the experience.

In 1990, I had that honor after my David’s Copperfields secured my 4th CFCL title. A subset of owners gathered at Bob Monroe’s house for the awards banquet, and at the end of it, we all headed out into the chilly night for the pouring ceremony (Bob wisely didn’t want to soil his carpet). Bob supplied the Yoo-Hoo, but rather than providing a single bottle, he had bought a 6-pack of juicebox sized containers to ensure everyone in attendance would have plenty of opportunity to pour. Bob, of course, could have just left them on the kitchen counter until the ceremony, but no … he made sure they were well iced so as to intensify the impact. Still – despite the freezing gooiness of it all, it was an incredible experience and one that I hoped to enjoy again.

The following year, 1991, it was Bob’s turn as CFCL Champion. Fortunately for Bob, he and his family had moved to Colorado before the season ended, so we had to douse him by proxy. With the ceremony out of our control, Bob afforded himself some comforts he didn’t provide to me the year before – an indoor ceremony, with a single bottle of room temperature Yoo-Hoo. Since no other CFCLers were present, his son Ryan performed the honors. There is one indignity Bob suffered that I was spared – documentary evidence. Bob’s wife Julie captured this photo of the ceremony, which she was only too happy to share with the rest of us in Chicago.

For whatever reason, the Yoo-Hoo ceremony was discontinued in the CFCL after 1991. But I say it’s never too late to bring it back … all it would take is some quick legislation by the Executive Committee, an approval by the league as a whole, and open spot in the Home Run Inn parking lot…