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.
Showing posts with label Bald Eagles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bald Eagles. Show all posts
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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).
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.
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).
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?
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.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Memory of a Banquet III
1988. I still remember it like it was yesterday. This banquet, or at least the highlights, stand out in my memory. The Bald Eagles offered to host the banquet at their home in Brookfield. We were there to celebrate the 1988 season and crown the, oh here's a shocker, Copperfields champion.
The evening started off on a typical note. Bob, as host, went about offering his guests something to drink. Interestingly he didn't ask me what I would like to drink. After a few minutes he emerged from his kitchen with a strange looking glass of water. He handed it to me and when I looked at the glass like "what the hell?" he explained that his pipes were kind of rusty.
Well I didn't play along with his little ruse and I came to find out that he loaded my glass of water with tobasco sauce. Oh Bob, such a kidder.
I can actually, maybe for the only time other than this year's banquet, tell you the specific date of the banquet. It was Saturday, October 15, 1988. How do I know? We were watching the World Series. Game 1 of the World Series.
I know the Copperfields and Eagles were in attendance. I think the Six Packs and Ruffins were there as well and it wouldn't surprise me if the Aces and Crocketts were there since Bob was their boss. The Picks were most likely there as well because, well, what else would they have to do? So it's possible we had the entire league in attendance.
I am most certain that in that house that night I was the only Oakland A fan. Everyone else wanted the Dodgers to win. I was riding high until the ninth inning when, as we all know, Kirk Gibson swung with one arm and somehow deposited Eckersley's backdoor slider halfway up the stands behind the right field wall.
I was crushed. Looking back I'm embarrassed to say I was sucked in to the phenomena of the Bash Brothers. But there still was The Eck, Welch, Stewart, Lansford, Parker, Henderson, Steinbach . . .
When Gibson homered the entire room erupted in joy and many fingers were pointed in my direction. Monroe especially enjoyed pointing out that the A's had lost. He was such a meanie.
The other part of the evening I recall was Bob trying to coerce a few other owners to douse the champion Copperfields (this was their THIRD title IN A ROW) with Yoo-Hoo. I can't remember if he was successful, but I do recall being out in the front yard running around for a while.
More pictures from this year's banquet:
Commissioner Bentel trying unsuccessfully to organize the award certificates.
The Revenge cautiously accepting their certificate for 7th place. No doubt they wanted to finish in the money for a third straight year. Notice the patrons in the background completely oblivious to the historical nature of this 30th consecutive gathering.
"Really Mr. Coulter? CFCL Champion last year? That's amazing!" Actually the Clowns and The Swing were most likely rehashing the specifics of the blockbuster trade they made a few days earlier. The first one of 2014 had the Clowns sending Adrian Gonzalez, Cole Hamel and Didi Gregorius to The Swing in exchange for Carlos Gonzalez.
The evening started off on a typical note. Bob, as host, went about offering his guests something to drink. Interestingly he didn't ask me what I would like to drink. After a few minutes he emerged from his kitchen with a strange looking glass of water. He handed it to me and when I looked at the glass like "what the hell?" he explained that his pipes were kind of rusty.
Well I didn't play along with his little ruse and I came to find out that he loaded my glass of water with tobasco sauce. Oh Bob, such a kidder.
I can actually, maybe for the only time other than this year's banquet, tell you the specific date of the banquet. It was Saturday, October 15, 1988. How do I know? We were watching the World Series. Game 1 of the World Series.
I know the Copperfields and Eagles were in attendance. I think the Six Packs and Ruffins were there as well and it wouldn't surprise me if the Aces and Crocketts were there since Bob was their boss. The Picks were most likely there as well because, well, what else would they have to do? So it's possible we had the entire league in attendance.
I am most certain that in that house that night I was the only Oakland A fan. Everyone else wanted the Dodgers to win. I was riding high until the ninth inning when, as we all know, Kirk Gibson swung with one arm and somehow deposited Eckersley's backdoor slider halfway up the stands behind the right field wall.
I was crushed. Looking back I'm embarrassed to say I was sucked in to the phenomena of the Bash Brothers. But there still was The Eck, Welch, Stewart, Lansford, Parker, Henderson, Steinbach . . .
When Gibson homered the entire room erupted in joy and many fingers were pointed in my direction. Monroe especially enjoyed pointing out that the A's had lost. He was such a meanie.
The other part of the evening I recall was Bob trying to coerce a few other owners to douse the champion Copperfields (this was their THIRD title IN A ROW) with Yoo-Hoo. I can't remember if he was successful, but I do recall being out in the front yard running around for a while.
More pictures from this year's banquet:
Commissioner Bentel trying unsuccessfully to organize the award certificates.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
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.)
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.)
Saturday, November 30, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, November 29, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, November 25, 2013
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.
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.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
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.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
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.
Monday, September 30, 2013
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…
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…
Saturday, September 28, 2013
The Copperfield Gets Married
Twenty-two years ago today, the love of my life, Michelle, stood up before friends, family, and God and became my wife.
Nearly the entire membership of the CFCL was on hand to help us celebrate (only Mr P’s Swordfish were missing). Pictured below are: Kelly Barone (Six Packs),groomsman Eric Lamb (Lambchops), groom David Mahlan (David’s Copperfields), best man Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), groomsman Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), and David Holian (David’s Ruffins).
Of course we also had to take part in that “dudes at a wedding” staple, the Thumbs Up:
The untold story behind all the smiles is the intense pennant race that three of the guests were engaged in. Kelly, Eric, and Bob were running neck-and-neck heading into the final week of the season. The standings report published prior to the wedding had the Six Packs and Eagles were tied for first with 67 points, the Lambchops sat just behind them at 66 points. I’m sure it made for some interesting conversation at the reception.
The thing to remember about the CFCL in 1991 is that I was still manually compiling the stats and standings at the time and we didn’t have a back-up in place. So I took off for my honeymoon with the tightest pennant race in CFCL history hanging in the balance with a week’s worth of games still to play (the season ended on October 6).
The CFCL had to wait until I returned from my honeymoon in mid-October to find out that the Eagles finished on top, while the Six Packs and Lambhops were tied just a point behind. In the end, it may have been a transaction involving Chico Walker that cost the Six Packs the pennant (see the post on The Chico Incident).
I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring this post back around to Michelle. She was always incredibly understanding about my roto addiction and never played the role of the neglected “Roto Widow.” She never complained about the late nights pounding stats into the computer and compiling roster change reports, and never made me feel guilty about leaving her alone with a houseful of kids for a 12 hour day when we drafted each spring.
On the contrary, she actually was quite supportive on Draft Day, often sneaking a card like the one below into my draft prep materials for me to discover mid-Draft. In fact, she even played a key role in a Draft Day Incident (stay tuned for a later post about The Snookie Incident). Even now – a couple years after I retired from active participation in the CFCL, she’s willing to let me spend half an hour on our wedding anniversary to write this post. What a woman!
Nearly the entire membership of the CFCL was on hand to help us celebrate (only Mr P’s Swordfish were missing). Pictured below are: Kelly Barone (Six Packs),groomsman Eric Lamb (Lambchops), groom David Mahlan (David’s Copperfields), best man Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), groomsman Bob Monroe (Bald Eagles), and David Holian (David’s Ruffins).
Of course we also had to take part in that “dudes at a wedding” staple, the Thumbs Up:
The untold story behind all the smiles is the intense pennant race that three of the guests were engaged in. Kelly, Eric, and Bob were running neck-and-neck heading into the final week of the season. The standings report published prior to the wedding had the Six Packs and Eagles were tied for first with 67 points, the Lambchops sat just behind them at 66 points. I’m sure it made for some interesting conversation at the reception.
The thing to remember about the CFCL in 1991 is that I was still manually compiling the stats and standings at the time and we didn’t have a back-up in place. So I took off for my honeymoon with the tightest pennant race in CFCL history hanging in the balance with a week’s worth of games still to play (the season ended on October 6).
The CFCL had to wait until I returned from my honeymoon in mid-October to find out that the Eagles finished on top, while the Six Packs and Lambhops were tied just a point behind. In the end, it may have been a transaction involving Chico Walker that cost the Six Packs the pennant (see the post on The Chico Incident).
I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring this post back around to Michelle. She was always incredibly understanding about my roto addiction and never played the role of the neglected “Roto Widow.” She never complained about the late nights pounding stats into the computer and compiling roster change reports, and never made me feel guilty about leaving her alone with a houseful of kids for a 12 hour day when we drafted each spring. On the contrary, she actually was quite supportive on Draft Day, often sneaking a card like the one below into my draft prep materials for me to discover mid-Draft. In fact, she even played a key role in a Draft Day Incident (stay tuned for a later post about The Snookie Incident). Even now – a couple years after I retired from active participation in the CFCL, she’s willing to let me spend half an hour on our wedding anniversary to write this post. What a woman!
Friday, September 27, 2013
The Bald Eagle Takes Off
On this date in 1991, the CFCL Front Office paid tribute to one of the great owners in league history with the publication of a massive, 19-page newsletter special titled The Bald Eagle Takes Off.
The subject of the tribute was Bob Monroe, who had joined the CFCL in its third year of existence (1986) and immediately changed the league forever with his wild wheeling and dealing management style, his tireless drive to identify and exploit every constitution loophole humanly possible, and a biting, caustic wit that he loosed in an unending torrent on the league’s co-founders (though Rich was probably targeted 85% of the time to David’s 15%).
Rich was able to exact some small degree of revenge when he started publishing the CFCL newsletters in 1987. Bob was a frequent target of Rich in his LHEB (Lord High Editor Bentel) role, with frequent references to Bob’s age (relative to the co-founders) and his follically challenged scalp.
About halfway through the 1991 season, Bob’s job transferred him to Denver. The CFCL was still a number of years away from being prepared for remote drafting and team management, so that spelled the end of the Bald Eagles reign of terror in the CFCL.
To commemorate Bob’s contributions to the league during his 6-year tenure, Rich and I gathered together the best of our Bald Eagle related writings, drawing heavily on Rich’s barbs from the newsletter, and compiled them into The Bald Eagle Takes Off, with cover artwork by my brother and former CFCL owner, Paul.
Bob returned to Chicago in late September to attend my wedding, so Rich and I were able to present him with a copy of the tribute. We actually gave it to him at the rehearsal dinner, on September 27, 1991. Looking back, I’m lucky Michelle didn’t call the whole wedding off right then and there, but she was a good sport, sharing part of the spotlight with the Bald One.
The evening was made extra special when Bob’s wife Julie perused the document and actually broke out into song, singing “Bob Monroe”, Rich’s parody to the tune of the Beach Boy’s “Barbara Ann” (page 11).
Now you too can enjoy the Best of Bob (or BOB) – just click below for “The Bald Eagle Takes Off”.
The subject of the tribute was Bob Monroe, who had joined the CFCL in its third year of existence (1986) and immediately changed the league forever with his wild wheeling and dealing management style, his tireless drive to identify and exploit every constitution loophole humanly possible, and a biting, caustic wit that he loosed in an unending torrent on the league’s co-founders (though Rich was probably targeted 85% of the time to David’s 15%).
Rich was able to exact some small degree of revenge when he started publishing the CFCL newsletters in 1987. Bob was a frequent target of Rich in his LHEB (Lord High Editor Bentel) role, with frequent references to Bob’s age (relative to the co-founders) and his follically challenged scalp.
About halfway through the 1991 season, Bob’s job transferred him to Denver. The CFCL was still a number of years away from being prepared for remote drafting and team management, so that spelled the end of the Bald Eagles reign of terror in the CFCL.
To commemorate Bob’s contributions to the league during his 6-year tenure, Rich and I gathered together the best of our Bald Eagle related writings, drawing heavily on Rich’s barbs from the newsletter, and compiled them into The Bald Eagle Takes Off, with cover artwork by my brother and former CFCL owner, Paul.
Bob returned to Chicago in late September to attend my wedding, so Rich and I were able to present him with a copy of the tribute. We actually gave it to him at the rehearsal dinner, on September 27, 1991. Looking back, I’m lucky Michelle didn’t call the whole wedding off right then and there, but she was a good sport, sharing part of the spotlight with the Bald One.
The evening was made extra special when Bob’s wife Julie perused the document and actually broke out into song, singing “Bob Monroe”, Rich’s parody to the tune of the Beach Boy’s “Barbara Ann” (page 11).
Now you too can enjoy the Best of Bob (or BOB) – just click below for “The Bald Eagle Takes Off”.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The Rebel Puberty Incident
Ok, this has nothing to do with baseball, but it seems fitting that today, on the anniversary of Rich’s birth, we celebrate the time he seemingly went through puberty right in the middle of the Draft.
First, a little background … after the 1991 season, Bald Eagle owner and defending CFCL Champion Bob Monroe announced he was withdrawing from the CFCL. Bob’s job had taken him out of town, and in 1992 the CFCL hadn’t yet made the transition to the Internet. Long-distance ownership was a non-starter.
Bob’s departure led to two new features at the 1992 Draft:
At one point in the Draft, I got up to fill in an acquisition on the big Draft Tracker on the wall. Since Bob’s head was nearby, I gave it a vigorous spin on its string. At the same time I was doing this, Rich was finishing up a pretzel rod, stuffing the last half of it in his mouth at once.
He noticed Bob’s Linda Blair act and – showing great restraint and respect for the owners sitting across the table from him – tried to laugh without spewing half chewed pretzel across the room. What emanated from him wasn’t a laugh so much as on odd squeak.
This caught the attention of David’s Ruffins owner, Dave Holian, who wondered if Rich was “going through that change thing”. That comment set us off on what would prove to be the first of many digressions into 1970s television that we enjoyed over the years.
Before we go to the film, just one quick note about 1992. Between the Ramon Martinez Incident, the Bret Barberie Incident (listen for him being nominated at the end of this clip), the Origin of the Ruffin Privilege, light hearted moments such as this, plus a number of others to be shared later, 1992 is far and away the most entertaining Draft we recorded.
First, a little background … after the 1991 season, Bald Eagle owner and defending CFCL Champion Bob Monroe announced he was withdrawing from the CFCL. Bob’s job had taken him out of town, and in 1992 the CFCL hadn’t yet made the transition to the Internet. Long-distance ownership was a non-starter.
Bob’s departure led to two new features at the 1992 Draft:
- We knew we’d miss having Bob around, so to take his place at the Draft, we placed a helium-filled balloon at the corner of the draft table. To ensure everyone recognized him, Rich used a marker to draw a fringe of hair around the bare top, glasses, and a beard … the splitting image of Bob.
- Bob made it clear he was going to miss being at the Draft too. After hearing him bemoan the fact that he’d miss out on the fun of Draft Day, we decided to video tape the whole Draft and send it to him. It was the first Draft we recorded, something we did for the next 15 years or so.
At one point in the Draft, I got up to fill in an acquisition on the big Draft Tracker on the wall. Since Bob’s head was nearby, I gave it a vigorous spin on its string. At the same time I was doing this, Rich was finishing up a pretzel rod, stuffing the last half of it in his mouth at once.
He noticed Bob’s Linda Blair act and – showing great restraint and respect for the owners sitting across the table from him – tried to laugh without spewing half chewed pretzel across the room. What emanated from him wasn’t a laugh so much as on odd squeak.
This caught the attention of David’s Ruffins owner, Dave Holian, who wondered if Rich was “going through that change thing”. That comment set us off on what would prove to be the first of many digressions into 1970s television that we enjoyed over the years.
Before we go to the film, just one quick note about 1992. Between the Ramon Martinez Incident, the Bret Barberie Incident (listen for him being nominated at the end of this clip), the Origin of the Ruffin Privilege, light hearted moments such as this, plus a number of others to be shared later, 1992 is far and away the most entertaining Draft we recorded.
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Bald Eagle Eyes His First Victim
With
summer Softball season in full swing, I thought this would be a good time to
relate a Bob Monroe story that took place exactly 28 years ago today. You met
Bob a little while ago with the "Ballad of the Bald Eagle".
In there I had mentioned that Bob had provided many memorable moments. This may not have been the first such moment, but it was close.
Bob joined the league in 1986. That year a couple of us (David [Copperfields], myself [Dem Rebels] and Dave [Ruffins]) belonged to a recreational softball team. So one hot, sunny day we had a game and if I remember this right, we were going to be a couple of players short. So we start calling everyone we knew to see if they could help out. One of those calls went to Bob who said, even at his advanced age, he would be willing to play.
I have no recollection about the game other than Bob played catcher and watching him kneel down on his aged knees and then stand up to throw the pitch back was painful and amusing at the same time.
When the game was over we were walking off the field. Did I mention it was hot and sunny? We were all pretty worn out. In my mind’s eye, David, Bob and I are walking across the dirt infield and Bob turns to me and says “Hey Rich. How would you like to trade me Dale Murphy for Lenny Dykstra?” David kind of laughed and kept walking, thinking who in the hell would agree to that trade? Murphy had just come off his fourth straight 30+ homerun, 100+ RBI season and Dykstra was a second year spray hitter who could run and hadn’t discovered steroids yet. No one agrees to that trade.
I would like to tell you that when he proposed that deal and we stood near the pitcher’s mound staring each other down that I realized my team had Von Hayes, Jeff Leonard, Tim Wallach, Andres Galarraga, Mike Marshall and Carmelo Martinez for power. I would like to tell you that I realized that Murphy’s salary was .44 and Dykstra’s was .10. I would like to tell you that I was concerned that Steve Sax, Mariano Duncan, Dan Gladden and Von Hayes wouldn’t be enough to keep me competitive in steals (remember, this was 1986 when steals were still a MAJOR part of the game). I would like to tell you all of that. But I can’t.
It was a blazing sun (think hot light bulb in an interrogation room). Bob was staring at me (think the snake in The Jungle Book, staring at poor, innocent Mowgli, hypnotizing him with those beady little eyes). I didn’t know Bob that well since it was his first year, but he was David’s boss and he was old(er) and I was raised not to challenge old people. So while my roster said “yes, this may make sense”, my mind said“No. Murphy for Dykstra? You’re an idiot if you say yes.” And so I said “Yes.”
David heard this from a few feet away and said “What? Did you guys just complete a trade? Did I hear right that it was Murphy for Dykstra?”
Bob just gave his little laugh, “Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, that’s the deal.”
I wanted to say “No” the minute I said “Yes”. But a deal’s a deal and Murphy left Dem Rebels and Dykstra entered the clubhouse.
The Bald Eagles finished 2ndthat year and Dem Rebels finished 4th. The stat line for Murphy and Dykstra played out this way:
Player (salary) Batting Average Home Runs RBI Stolen Bases
Murphy (.44) .265 29 87 7
Dykstra (.10) .295 8 45 31
Neither of us kept either player for 1987.
In there I had mentioned that Bob had provided many memorable moments. This may not have been the first such moment, but it was close.
Bob joined the league in 1986. That year a couple of us (David [Copperfields], myself [Dem Rebels] and Dave [Ruffins]) belonged to a recreational softball team. So one hot, sunny day we had a game and if I remember this right, we were going to be a couple of players short. So we start calling everyone we knew to see if they could help out. One of those calls went to Bob who said, even at his advanced age, he would be willing to play.
I have no recollection about the game other than Bob played catcher and watching him kneel down on his aged knees and then stand up to throw the pitch back was painful and amusing at the same time.
When the game was over we were walking off the field. Did I mention it was hot and sunny? We were all pretty worn out. In my mind’s eye, David, Bob and I are walking across the dirt infield and Bob turns to me and says “Hey Rich. How would you like to trade me Dale Murphy for Lenny Dykstra?” David kind of laughed and kept walking, thinking who in the hell would agree to that trade? Murphy had just come off his fourth straight 30+ homerun, 100+ RBI season and Dykstra was a second year spray hitter who could run and hadn’t discovered steroids yet. No one agrees to that trade.
I would like to tell you that when he proposed that deal and we stood near the pitcher’s mound staring each other down that I realized my team had Von Hayes, Jeff Leonard, Tim Wallach, Andres Galarraga, Mike Marshall and Carmelo Martinez for power. I would like to tell you that I realized that Murphy’s salary was .44 and Dykstra’s was .10. I would like to tell you that I was concerned that Steve Sax, Mariano Duncan, Dan Gladden and Von Hayes wouldn’t be enough to keep me competitive in steals (remember, this was 1986 when steals were still a MAJOR part of the game). I would like to tell you all of that. But I can’t.
It was a blazing sun (think hot light bulb in an interrogation room). Bob was staring at me (think the snake in The Jungle Book, staring at poor, innocent Mowgli, hypnotizing him with those beady little eyes). I didn’t know Bob that well since it was his first year, but he was David’s boss and he was old(er) and I was raised not to challenge old people. So while my roster said “yes, this may make sense”, my mind said“No. Murphy for Dykstra? You’re an idiot if you say yes.” And so I said “Yes.”
David heard this from a few feet away and said “What? Did you guys just complete a trade? Did I hear right that it was Murphy for Dykstra?”
Bob just gave his little laugh, “Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, that’s the deal.”
I wanted to say “No” the minute I said “Yes”. But a deal’s a deal and Murphy left Dem Rebels and Dykstra entered the clubhouse.
The Bald Eagles finished 2ndthat year and Dem Rebels finished 4th. The stat line for Murphy and Dykstra played out this way:
Player (salary) Batting Average Home Runs RBI Stolen Bases
Murphy (.44) .265 29 87 7
Dykstra (.10) .295 8 45 31
Neither of us kept either player for 1987.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Champions Who Have Left
Here’s a piece of CFCL
Trivia. How many owners in CFCL history
have won the championship and then resigned that off-season, choosing not to
return and defend their title?
To recap what we’ve learned so far about the CFCL history (http://cfclrebelcopperfield.blogspot.com/2013/04/champions-of-cfcl.html), there have been twelve different owners to win the CFCL title. Four of those owners are still active (David’s Ruffins, Kenndoza Line, Dem Rebels, Candy Colored Clowns). That leaves eight possible.
The correct answer is three. Three owners won the CFCL crown and then called it quits. What is interesting is the circumstance around their departures. It would be natural to think that if a team won a championship, they had the pieces in place to be competitive the following year.
In a post later this week, we will analyze the performance of a team the year following the year they won it all.
The three teams that won and left are:
1985 Sluggers
1991 Bald Eagles
2008 Steve’s Stones
I don’t recall the reason the Sluggers resigned. Back in 1985, his final year, there was no Internet or texting or cellphones for that matter. If you didn’t actually call someone on the phone, it was easy to feel separated from the league. David lived with two other owners. David and I hung out together all the time and ran the league. I think Jim was a co-worker of David’s dad, but they were responsible adults doing actual work at work rather than running their fantasy team. Jim may have felt disconnected. Hard to say.
The Eagles left because during the 1991 season Bob was promoted at Hancock Fabrics and moved to Colorado. With a young family and a burgeoning career, Bob, I’m sure, didn’t see how it would be possible to run a team from Colorado. The Internet was still in its infancy and we hadn’t mastered the ability to draft remotely.
Steve’s Stones left in 2008. This one is more disturbing. We will meet the Stones on Tuesday with their Q&A. During the 2008 season there was some controversy with a trade the Stones and Kenndoza Line made. A lot of feathers were ruffled and Steve felt for his own benefit as well as the well-being of the league it was best if he resigned.
One nice thing is that none of these teams left because they absolutely mortgaged their future with trades the year they won and then quit rather than trying to rebuild.
I found the number interesting that over one-third of former CFCL champions resigned after winning the championship.
To recap what we’ve learned so far about the CFCL history (http://cfclrebelcopperfield.blogspot.com/2013/04/champions-of-cfcl.html), there have been twelve different owners to win the CFCL title. Four of those owners are still active (David’s Ruffins, Kenndoza Line, Dem Rebels, Candy Colored Clowns). That leaves eight possible.
The correct answer is three. Three owners won the CFCL crown and then called it quits. What is interesting is the circumstance around their departures. It would be natural to think that if a team won a championship, they had the pieces in place to be competitive the following year.
In a post later this week, we will analyze the performance of a team the year following the year they won it all.
The three teams that won and left are:
1985 Sluggers
1991 Bald Eagles
2008 Steve’s Stones
I don’t recall the reason the Sluggers resigned. Back in 1985, his final year, there was no Internet or texting or cellphones for that matter. If you didn’t actually call someone on the phone, it was easy to feel separated from the league. David lived with two other owners. David and I hung out together all the time and ran the league. I think Jim was a co-worker of David’s dad, but they were responsible adults doing actual work at work rather than running their fantasy team. Jim may have felt disconnected. Hard to say.
The Eagles left because during the 1991 season Bob was promoted at Hancock Fabrics and moved to Colorado. With a young family and a burgeoning career, Bob, I’m sure, didn’t see how it would be possible to run a team from Colorado. The Internet was still in its infancy and we hadn’t mastered the ability to draft remotely.
Steve’s Stones left in 2008. This one is more disturbing. We will meet the Stones on Tuesday with their Q&A. During the 2008 season there was some controversy with a trade the Stones and Kenndoza Line made. A lot of feathers were ruffled and Steve felt for his own benefit as well as the well-being of the league it was best if he resigned.
One nice thing is that none of these teams left because they absolutely mortgaged their future with trades the year they won and then quit rather than trying to rebuild.
I found the number interesting that over one-third of former CFCL champions resigned after winning the championship.
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Steve Carlton Incident
It was 1986. The first year of the Bald Eagles and David’s
Ruffins. Bob graciously opened his home
to the draft. It was also the first evidence
of deliberate price enforcement and may have been the beginning of the torment
the Eagles heaped on the Rebels for six years.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. The CFCL had already seen its own version of price enforcement with Jeff Stone the previous year and Will Clark earlier in this draft (yeah, yeah, yeah – We’ll get to “The Thrill” in a later post. I’m offering some fore-shadowing). But those instances (soon to be named “Incidents”) were price enforcement from maniacal owner belief and over-hyped media. The Steve Carlton Incident, I truly believe, was the first evidence of price enforcement of the “Oh, I can’t let that happen” variety. And unsurprisingly, Bob Monroe was right in the middle of it.
We set the stage. In the basement of the Bald Eagle’s Nest, we have three or four card tables laid out end to end to accommodate Dem Rebels, Paul’s Penguins, David’s Copperfields, Fred’s Friars, Bald Eagles and David’s Ruffins. After the draft we ended up having two vile, despicable scum owners join the league. Why? Well ON DRAFT DAY we were notified that the ForGoetzMeNots and Ghostbusters would not be returning for 1986. We kept those teams intact, maybe because I knew I could ask the scum to join us. They were acquaintances of mine from work and I must have thought that we could keep the league at eight teams with their involvement.
Eight teams meant we had to dig a little deeper into the National League rosters. Eight teams and digging deeper into National League rosters meant we had to develop and follow a different strategy than in the previous two years. PLUS we had two new owners attending the draft. How would they handle their team? How would they budget their money? We were all learning there are games within the game.
It turns out my recollection of how things played out with the Steve Carlton Incident were a little off from what really happened. With a BIG THANKS to CFCL League Historian and Archivist David Mahlan, here’s how it went down.
Bob and I were seated next to each other, Bob on my left. When it came to be my turn to nominate a player in the second round I was looking to bring somebody up that I didn’t want on my team. Why would I do that? Well (and again, this comes from league archives) in the first round I picked up three players. So when my turn to nominate a player came up, I had 29 cents to spend and needed four players. So for some reason (don’t ask me why), I nominated Carlton for a penny. I guess I figured he was a big name pitcher and might attract some interest. I was hoping and praying and rubbing my little talisman (no that’s not code) that someone, anyone would bid .02
He was coming off a year where he was 1-8 and a 1.49 WHiP, so what I didn’t want was Carlton at a penny.
Bob was next to bid. I recall him saying something like “Well Rich can’t have him for just a penny. 2 cents.” David doesn’t recall Bob saying anything other than “2”. Either way, the weight jettisoned off my shoulders and directly onto Bob’s as he heard the Copperfields, Ruffins, Friars, Penguins and then Dem Rebels all say “pass” in quick order.
The look on Bob’s face was priceless but all I cared about was I didn’t have Carlton. I don’t think I fully appreciated getting the better of the Bald Eagle until much later. Clearly our drafting (or my nominating) of players was still a work in progress. While Carlton was a 300 game winner, it was very obvious he didn’t have much left in the tank. Nominating him as the eleventh player in the draft is just insane. But that may have worked to my advantage if Bob’s motivation was to make sure that no one walked away with a penny player in the second round.
That also could have worked to my disadvantage as that may have set Bob’s crosshairs on me for the next six years. We’ll never know for sure as dust and cobwebs have taken over many parts of the league. But it did make for a classic moment in a CFCL draft.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. The CFCL had already seen its own version of price enforcement with Jeff Stone the previous year and Will Clark earlier in this draft (yeah, yeah, yeah – We’ll get to “The Thrill” in a later post. I’m offering some fore-shadowing). But those instances (soon to be named “Incidents”) were price enforcement from maniacal owner belief and over-hyped media. The Steve Carlton Incident, I truly believe, was the first evidence of price enforcement of the “Oh, I can’t let that happen” variety. And unsurprisingly, Bob Monroe was right in the middle of it.
We set the stage. In the basement of the Bald Eagle’s Nest, we have three or four card tables laid out end to end to accommodate Dem Rebels, Paul’s Penguins, David’s Copperfields, Fred’s Friars, Bald Eagles and David’s Ruffins. After the draft we ended up having two vile, despicable scum owners join the league. Why? Well ON DRAFT DAY we were notified that the ForGoetzMeNots and Ghostbusters would not be returning for 1986. We kept those teams intact, maybe because I knew I could ask the scum to join us. They were acquaintances of mine from work and I must have thought that we could keep the league at eight teams with their involvement.
Eight teams meant we had to dig a little deeper into the National League rosters. Eight teams and digging deeper into National League rosters meant we had to develop and follow a different strategy than in the previous two years. PLUS we had two new owners attending the draft. How would they handle their team? How would they budget their money? We were all learning there are games within the game.
It turns out my recollection of how things played out with the Steve Carlton Incident were a little off from what really happened. With a BIG THANKS to CFCL League Historian and Archivist David Mahlan, here’s how it went down.
Bob and I were seated next to each other, Bob on my left. When it came to be my turn to nominate a player in the second round I was looking to bring somebody up that I didn’t want on my team. Why would I do that? Well (and again, this comes from league archives) in the first round I picked up three players. So when my turn to nominate a player came up, I had 29 cents to spend and needed four players. So for some reason (don’t ask me why), I nominated Carlton for a penny. I guess I figured he was a big name pitcher and might attract some interest. I was hoping and praying and rubbing my little talisman (no that’s not code) that someone, anyone would bid .02
He was coming off a year where he was 1-8 and a 1.49 WHiP, so what I didn’t want was Carlton at a penny.
Bob was next to bid. I recall him saying something like “Well Rich can’t have him for just a penny. 2 cents.” David doesn’t recall Bob saying anything other than “2”. Either way, the weight jettisoned off my shoulders and directly onto Bob’s as he heard the Copperfields, Ruffins, Friars, Penguins and then Dem Rebels all say “pass” in quick order.
The look on Bob’s face was priceless but all I cared about was I didn’t have Carlton. I don’t think I fully appreciated getting the better of the Bald Eagle until much later. Clearly our drafting (or my nominating) of players was still a work in progress. While Carlton was a 300 game winner, it was very obvious he didn’t have much left in the tank. Nominating him as the eleventh player in the draft is just insane. But that may have worked to my advantage if Bob’s motivation was to make sure that no one walked away with a penny player in the second round.
That also could have worked to my disadvantage as that may have set Bob’s crosshairs on me for the next six years. We’ll never know for sure as dust and cobwebs have taken over many parts of the league. But it did make for a classic moment in a CFCL draft.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Meet the Bald Eagles
The magic of technology. Through the magic of technology we were able to reach out and connect with one of the most influential CFCL owners. As has been posted here before, (http://cfclrebelcopperfield.blogspot.com/2013/04/ballad-of-bald-eagle.html), Bob Monroe joined the CFCL in 1986. For the next six years he not only terrorized the league but brought it to new heights. He introduced computerization and spreadsheets so that David didn't have to calculate the stats by hand with pencil and eraser.
By the time he resigned from the league in 1991 and moved to Colorado due to a corporate promotion, Bob and the Bald Eagles had left their mark. In six short years they finished second three times (the first three years of their existence, by the way. No owner in CFCL history has come in and finished that high his first three seasons - although the Copperfields started their history with a 2nd, a 3rd and the 1st of three consecutive championships in their first three years) and won the title in 1991, their last year in the league. Following the questions is a current photo of Bob and his sons enjoying a nice Colorado evening. Bob is the old guy in the middle.
It's time to Meet The Bald Eagles.
Is it true you tried to poison Dem Rebels owner with a glass full
of water and Tabasco sauce while explaining it as rusty water from your
pipes?
It was
actually an attempt to save humanity. Think of it as putting chlorine in the
gene pool. And, as any decent crawdad-sucking Cajun knows, it's spelled
T-O-B-A-S-C-O. Proves my point! As I
recall, the owner of Dem Rebels was publishing a weekly CFCL newsletter. And,
following the example of East Coast media and ignoring anything not from New
York or Boston, Mr. Bentel regularly abused the poor working stiffs on the Bald
Eagles. Had the attempt proved successful, it would have undoubtedly been
ruled justifiable homicide.
Your last appearance in the CFCL was 1991 (23 years ago) yet you
are still a big presence in the league. Our weekly blog is named
in your honor and we have two entries in our Constitution dedicated specifically
to your team building styles. What are your thoughts about the
CFCL?
George
Washington's final appearance in the United States was more than 200 years ago.
There are lots of things named after him and I would say he still has a strong
presence in the national psyche. At the time I joined the league there was one
old guy (Fred is MUCH older than I am. I was only 32 when I joined the league!)
and a bunch of snot-nosed punks who thought they knew how to evaluate baseball
talent. How else can you explain naming an entire league after the biggest
losers ever know to mankind? Even the
French have a better chance to win a war than the Cubs to win the World
Series.
In 1991 you finally reached the championship. You
even had your wife pour Yoo-Hoo over your head since we couldn’t do it as you
had relocated to Colorado. Any regrets about leaving in 1991 and
not defending your title?
Yeah, leaving the traffic and
winters of Chicago behind and moving to this hell-hole we call Colorado was a
tough call. Besides, I set the example of leaving while on top, an example John
Elway followed just a few short years later. I do have a great picture of Joel pouring a bottle
of Yoo-Hoo over my head. My proudest moment from CFCL. Although fleecing a
fellow owner always did create a warm, fuzzy feeling that's hard to
duplicate.
You found out about the league and joined ultimately because of
your friendship with the Copperfields. What do you recall about
joining the league?
I'm surprised
I didn't lose my job! All of a sudden, I was reading both the Trib and the
Sun-times, plus USA Today, Baseball Weekly and Mazeroski's annual book. And
doing it at work! I built a spreadsheet (and remember that this was in the days
before Excel existed) that I used to help me evaluate league talent and helped
established a value for every player in the league. I probably used the data
that came from those spreadsheets as too much of an absolute and made some poor
choices based on data that neatly fit into my expectations. Actually, since
that's a lot of what I wound up doing professionally, it turned out to be pretty
good training.
Any favorite memories from the six years you spent in the
league?
I loved the
draft every year! Doing the prep work and poring over every little bit of data
you could find. Reading about this new prospect in the Reds organization named
Barry Larkin and then not being able to get Dave to part with the minor league
draft choice to get him. Getting Dave to trade Garry Mathews to me for next to
nothing and then having him have a super year was a great start to making
trades. I never understood why other owners would hang up on me when I would
call to commiserate with them over a player that had been injured that day. I
think my big heart was just misunderstood.
You
were easily the most maniacal Cardinals fan in our league. Do you
still cheer on the Redbirds?
I really
don't follow baseball much anymore. The Rockies are tough to root for because
their pitching is always so suspect. The old days of the Blake Street Bombers
(Galarraga, Bichette, Castillo and Walker) were a lot more fun to watch. They
lost a lot of games 12-11, but getting the 11 runs was exciting. Since MLB went
on strike the last time, that kind of did it for me. Until last year, I had not
gone to a game nor watched a game on TV since the strike. Except watching the
Cardinals in the World Series. I know you guys don't understand this feeling,
but having YOUR team win the World Series is pretty cool.
Monday, May 27, 2013
The Mitch Williams Incident
In 1989 we experienced one
of the most bizarre Incidents ever at a draft.
First a little background. We had
two teams leave after the 1988 season (Aces to Win and Davies’ Crocketts). Two new teams replaced them, The Lambchops
(beginning a 19 year run with the CFCL) and Scotland Wiseguys. The Wiseguys were going to be run by a guy
that worked at one of the branches of the bank that I worked at. Scott liked baseball and knew who Mario Mendoza
was which was the bar we set back in the day to determine if an owner was
worthy of joining the CFCL.
The draft was set for late morning at Mount Olympus (the apartment David and I shared in Forest Park) on a beautiful Spring Sunday. As I tried to confirm directions and attendance for Scott, something seemed awry. We couldn’t get a hold of him and then hours before the draft found out he wouldn’t be attending because he had a tryout with a local semi-pro team. Here is where the wheels began to come off the track.
I suppose we were hoping that Scott would either make the team or not and still have time to run his fantasy team. As it turns out we never heard from him again. So before the draft began we decided, instead of disbanding his team into the Free Agent Pool, we would keep his team intact and draft as a collective unit on its behalf.
The theory was that when an owner dropped out of the bidding on a particular player, he would assume control of the Wiseguys. With seven owners at the draft, that meant throughout the day up to seven different people could make bids on behalf of the Wiseguys – even though each of those seven owners were competing directly against the Wiseguys that season!
Apparently we thought that was a good idea. Here’s what I don’t understand. The other owners were pretty smart. David Mahlan (5 years in the CFCL at the time), Dave Holian (3 years), Bob Monroe (3 years), myself (5 years), Kelly Barone (1 year) and Eric Lamb (first year in the league) all had a good head on their shoulders. Specifically Mahlan and Holian being two of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met to that point (and that statement holds more strength today). And nobody thought this was going to be a mess.
So the draft started and honestly I don’t remember much about drafting for the Wiseguys (who ultimately would be renamed the Headless Horsemen when we never heard back from Scott) other than there did seem to be a committee in charge of the Wiseguys. So for example, Kelly would drop out on the bidding of a player and take over the Wiseguys. When the bidding got to a point that it was questionable whether the Wiseguys should keep bidding, Kelly would ask around to other owners who had dropped out and say “What do you think? Keep going?” Again, no one thought this was ridiculous.
So we get to Mitch Williams. Another piece of background. At the time one of the categories in our scoring system was Saves (not Save + Holds like we use today) so closers were very valuable. Williams was involved in a trade between the Cubs and Rangers during the off-season. Coming into the draft I was excited at the prospect of drafting Williams since he was a closer and he was on the Cubs. I was concerned that everyone else would want him as well.
In the best effort of trying to play poker before the draft started, someone mentioned Williams’ name to gauge interest. To a man, EVERYONE else said “Yeah he’ll get saves, but he’s wild as hell and his ERA and WHIP will kill you”. Good news for the Rebels since no one else was going to want him.
One more reminder. The rules of the CFCL Draft are “You’re either in or you’re out” (thank you George Clooney – that was our motto waaay before Oceans 11). When the bidding comes around to you, you either increase the bid or your drop out and you cannot come back in to the bidding on that player once you drop out.
So back to Williams. He gets nominated and there’s some initial interest around the table. The way my memory has it, Kelly dropped out at one point and took over for the Wiseguys. The bidding continued until it was just me (Rebels) and the Wiseguys. I made a bid of .13 (I think) and Kelly eventually dropped. So everyone starts confirming “Mitch Williams for .13 to Dem Rebels” UNTIL Monroe chimes in “Wait, I don’t think the Wiseguys would have dropped out so soon.” And somehow he convinced everyone that the bidding should be re-opened and continue on.
Let me point out two huge factors. 1) The rules in the Constitution state “once you pass on a player you are out of the bidding”. The Wiseguys passed. 2) Six other owners also dropped out on Williams at an earlier spot in the bidding. So six other owners felt that .13 was too high for The Wild Thing. Why, oh why, would a non-existent owner suddenly decide that .13 wasn’t too high for him when six real life owners did?
Can’t answer the question because I didn’t think to ask. I protested, but I think it was viewed as a bit biased since I would have to pay more for Williams than for what I had rightfully attained him.
So Bob convinced everyone the bidding should continue. The Rebels and Wiseguys went back and forth until finally I blinked and let Williams go for .20. Below are the Roster Sheets for the Rebels and Wiseguys after the 1989 draft.
By the end of the year, Williams had led the Cubs to the Division title. With Williams the Horsemen finished 8th (last). Without Williams Dem Rebels won their first title. And for Bob, it wasn’t the first or last time he got the best of an owner. But Steve Carlton was waiting around the corner.
The draft was set for late morning at Mount Olympus (the apartment David and I shared in Forest Park) on a beautiful Spring Sunday. As I tried to confirm directions and attendance for Scott, something seemed awry. We couldn’t get a hold of him and then hours before the draft found out he wouldn’t be attending because he had a tryout with a local semi-pro team. Here is where the wheels began to come off the track.
I suppose we were hoping that Scott would either make the team or not and still have time to run his fantasy team. As it turns out we never heard from him again. So before the draft began we decided, instead of disbanding his team into the Free Agent Pool, we would keep his team intact and draft as a collective unit on its behalf.
The theory was that when an owner dropped out of the bidding on a particular player, he would assume control of the Wiseguys. With seven owners at the draft, that meant throughout the day up to seven different people could make bids on behalf of the Wiseguys – even though each of those seven owners were competing directly against the Wiseguys that season!
Apparently we thought that was a good idea. Here’s what I don’t understand. The other owners were pretty smart. David Mahlan (5 years in the CFCL at the time), Dave Holian (3 years), Bob Monroe (3 years), myself (5 years), Kelly Barone (1 year) and Eric Lamb (first year in the league) all had a good head on their shoulders. Specifically Mahlan and Holian being two of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met to that point (and that statement holds more strength today). And nobody thought this was going to be a mess.
So the draft started and honestly I don’t remember much about drafting for the Wiseguys (who ultimately would be renamed the Headless Horsemen when we never heard back from Scott) other than there did seem to be a committee in charge of the Wiseguys. So for example, Kelly would drop out on the bidding of a player and take over the Wiseguys. When the bidding got to a point that it was questionable whether the Wiseguys should keep bidding, Kelly would ask around to other owners who had dropped out and say “What do you think? Keep going?” Again, no one thought this was ridiculous.
So we get to Mitch Williams. Another piece of background. At the time one of the categories in our scoring system was Saves (not Save + Holds like we use today) so closers were very valuable. Williams was involved in a trade between the Cubs and Rangers during the off-season. Coming into the draft I was excited at the prospect of drafting Williams since he was a closer and he was on the Cubs. I was concerned that everyone else would want him as well.
In the best effort of trying to play poker before the draft started, someone mentioned Williams’ name to gauge interest. To a man, EVERYONE else said “Yeah he’ll get saves, but he’s wild as hell and his ERA and WHIP will kill you”. Good news for the Rebels since no one else was going to want him.
One more reminder. The rules of the CFCL Draft are “You’re either in or you’re out” (thank you George Clooney – that was our motto waaay before Oceans 11). When the bidding comes around to you, you either increase the bid or your drop out and you cannot come back in to the bidding on that player once you drop out.
So back to Williams. He gets nominated and there’s some initial interest around the table. The way my memory has it, Kelly dropped out at one point and took over for the Wiseguys. The bidding continued until it was just me (Rebels) and the Wiseguys. I made a bid of .13 (I think) and Kelly eventually dropped. So everyone starts confirming “Mitch Williams for .13 to Dem Rebels” UNTIL Monroe chimes in “Wait, I don’t think the Wiseguys would have dropped out so soon.” And somehow he convinced everyone that the bidding should be re-opened and continue on.
Let me point out two huge factors. 1) The rules in the Constitution state “once you pass on a player you are out of the bidding”. The Wiseguys passed. 2) Six other owners also dropped out on Williams at an earlier spot in the bidding. So six other owners felt that .13 was too high for The Wild Thing. Why, oh why, would a non-existent owner suddenly decide that .13 wasn’t too high for him when six real life owners did?
Can’t answer the question because I didn’t think to ask. I protested, but I think it was viewed as a bit biased since I would have to pay more for Williams than for what I had rightfully attained him.
So Bob convinced everyone the bidding should continue. The Rebels and Wiseguys went back and forth until finally I blinked and let Williams go for .20. Below are the Roster Sheets for the Rebels and Wiseguys after the 1989 draft.
By the end of the year, Williams had led the Cubs to the Division title. With Williams the Horsemen finished 8th (last). Without Williams Dem Rebels won their first title. And for Bob, it wasn’t the first or last time he got the best of an owner. But Steve Carlton was waiting around the corner.
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