SJMSBL News - 2010

The Indians completed their sweep of the Tigers at Willow Glen in the National Division Championship with an 11-5 victory in what was one of the most unlikely championship matchups in SJMSBL history.

Though the Indians won five championships in six years between 2002 and 2007, this year's Indians struggled to field a team before the season started. On the verge of collapse, the Indians struggled to a 2-8-1 divisional record (3-11-1 overall) before finally getting on track. The Indians won four of their last five games, including wins over the powerful Giants and Blue Jays, and squeaked into the playoffs as the #4 seed. The Indians won Game One of their semi-finals series against the Giants, but after losing Game Two, the Indians were on the verge of elimination, down four runs in the ninth with two outs when all of a sudden things turned. A dropped fly ball that would have ended the game turned into a two-out, five-run rally that launched the Indians into the Championship Series against the Tigers..

On the other side of the field were the Tigers. Their lone championship goes all the way back to 1997. They started the season strong winning their first three divisional games but they turned into a streaky .500 ballclub. They dropped five in a row, won four in a row, then lost two of the last four games finishing the division at 8-7-1. The Tigers faced the Blue Jays who had dominated them during the season winning all four games. The Blue Jays won Game One, but the Tigers rallied and scrapped their way to back-to-back 7-6 and 7-5 wins to shock the Blue Jays and win the semi-finals series.

Read more about the Indians 2010 championship season here.

The Astros pounded the Braves 11-0 at Gilroy to win their first Pacific Division Championship. Having dropped Game One to the Braves 7-2, the top seeded Astros, who dominated the Pacific Division going 14-2, came back to outscore the Braves 26-2 in games Two and Three.

The Championship is the Astros first Pacific Division Championship and fourth overall. They won three American Division Championships as the Cardinals.

Read more about the Astros 2010 championship season here.

The Orioles swept the Pirates 21-3 and 15-4 in the American Division Championship series at Gilroy to win their first SJMSBL championship.

Orioles ace Brian Siefert got both wins, throwing the first four innings in Game One and throwing a complete game to get the win in Game Two.

The O's bats were quite impressive scoring 36 runs over the two games. John Siefert knocked a grand slam in Game One and Chris Conroy ripped two home runs in Game two.

Read more about the Orioles 2010 championship season here.

The Mets(18) swept the Reds(18) for the second year in a row, winning 13-2 and 16-14 at Aptos, to repeat as the Atlantic Division Champions. This is the fourth year in a row the Mets (formerly Diamondbacks) and Reds have gone at it for the championship. The Mets hold a 3-1 series advantage.

Read more about the Mets(18) 2010 championship season here.

The Indians/Tigers playoff doubleheader for September 12th has been changed to a single game due to a field conflict. SJMSBL has been notified that the field at Wilcox must be vacated by 2:00 PM.

The Indians and Tigers will finish their Championship Series on September 19th with Game Two and Game Three (if necessary) at Willow Glen.

You can view the complete Playoffs schedule on the Playoffs page.

The 2010 SJMSBL Playoff Schedule has been posted and can be found on the Playoffs page. You can also access the Playoff Schedule using the Playoffs link above.

The 2010 SJMSBL Playoff Schedule will be posted by 9 AM Wednesday morning, August 18th.

The playoff matchups are:

The National/Pacific All-Stars powered their way to an early 9-1 lead before hanging on to beat a rallying American/Atlantic All-Stars, 11-7, in the 2010 SJMSBL All-Star Game.

Read about the All-Star Game.

Below is information for players and fans who will be attending the 2010 SJMSBL All-Star Game.

Date:	Wednesday, July 28
Game Time:	7:15 PM
Gates Open:	5:30 PM (Players), 6:30 PM (Public)
Location:	San José Municipal Stadium (maps and locations)

Players should arrive in uniform at 5:30 pm.

Gates open to fans at 6:30 pm.

Infield from 6:30 to 6:45 pm for Atlantic/American team.

Infield from 6:45 to 7:00 pm for National/Pacific team.

Player introductions from 7:00 - 7:10 pm.

Parking in the stadium lot will cost $8 (city parking lot).

Street-side parking is available but watch out for foul balls.

Admission is FREE for everyone.

Concessions stands will be open.

No coolers or ice chests (city ordinance).

Police will be on duty inside stadium.

Atlantic/American Divisions - 3B dugout.

National/Pacific Divisions - 1B dugout.

Congratulations to Zak Warren and Jon Trees who have been elected to the board of directors.

Warren, co-manager of the Mets(18), has been in the league for 10 years and was elected to his third term as a board member. Trees, manager of the Astros, has been in the league 15 years and was elected to his first term. Both elections are for three-year terms which will expire 12/31/2012.

Thank you to José Medina, Carlos Noriega, and Joe Rondone for submitting applications and their willingness to donate their time and effort in wanting to serve on the board. Hopefully all choose to run again next year.

The June Managers Meeting has been scheduled for 6:30 PM on Tuesday, June 8th, at the Los Gatos High School baseball parking lot.

• Short, one hour meeting.
• All remaining team baseballs will be distributed.

The SJMSBL Rules Committee has updated the rules concerning what constitutes a legal bat.

No player may use a bat with a differential of greater than -3.

If a batter is found using an illegal bat he will be ejected from the game and subject to further suspension from league play.

Read the complete rule (2.5) in the SJMSBL Rules and Regulations, which is also available on the Downloads page.

The April Managers Meeting has been rescheduled for 6:30 PM on Wednesday, April 28th at The Blue Chip Sports Bar.

• Final team fee payments are due.
• Bring signed waivers for EVERY player on your roster.
• Rosters have been e-mailed to all managers. Please email them back so they can be forwarded to the national office in New York.
• Baseballs and scorebooks will be distributed.
• Election for two open board seats will be held (four candidates).

The Blue Chip (formerly Jerseys)
325 South First Street
San José, CA 95113
(408) 971-2898

Go to the Maps and Directions page for directions.

The 2010 schedule is now available on the Schedule page.

Try the new interactive filtering feature to highlight your team's games.

The practice schedule for April 25th is listed below.

The board of directors has decided to move Opening Day back one week to May 2nd.

This will not effect the schedule — all teams will play 20 games.

Our recent stretch of bad weather and the Easter holiday has prevented most teams from taking the field for the past month.

The majority of league teams are not ready to start the season as previously scheduled.

The April Managers Meeting has also been pushed back one week to 6:30 PM on Thursday, April 29th at The Blue Chip Sports Bar.

The practice schedule and rain policy for April 18th are listed below.

Rain In The Forecast

Rain is predicted for Sunday. If it does rain — even a few drops — practices WILL BE CANCELLED!

High school teams are in season and their coaches don't want us tearing up their fields. Since we are THEIR GUESTS we need to honor their request regarding rain policies!

We only have use of the fields from 10 am until 2 pm.

The field assignments are:

APTOS

10-12 BLUE JAYS practice
12-2 METS - BLUE JAYS

AREA 51 (TOP SECRET LOCATION)

10-12 MARINERS - PADRES

AREA 52 (TOP SECRET LOCATION #2)

10-??? A's Green vs White Game & Party

DE ANZA

10-12 BRAVES - ROYALS
12-2 RAYS - YANKEES

INDEPENDENCE

10-12 PIRATES Practice
12-2 CUBS - RED SOX (Family Reunion)

LOS GATOS

10-12 ASTROS - GIANTS

OAK GROVE

10-12 ORIOLES - WHITE SOX
12-2 REDS Practice

SOBRATO

10-12 INDIANS practice
12-2 BREWERS practice

WILCOX

10-12 TIGERS practice

Here's the latest on the schedule.

Release Delayed One Week!

Schedule work is under way - we have finalized fields for 2010 and all use dates.

Division games and crossover match-ups are ready to be put onto fields.

The League May Add Two New Teams

There are two new teams that approached the league on Friday (both would be in Atlantic 18+ division) that have one week - until Friday April 16 - to submit team fee deposits to the league.

Schedule can not be released until these teams have made their decisions for the 2010 season.

Latest Schedule Format

The first two weeks of the season (April 25 and May 2) will be single game crossovers — to allow teams to slowly work into the season. The rainy weekends have wreaked havoc with most teams practice plans and no one is ready to play important division games.

Division games will start on May 16 following the off week for the Mother's Day holiday. That is five weeks away.

2010 League Fields

Aptos, Challenger/Almaden, De Anza, Del Mar, Gilroy, Independence, Los Gatos, Oak Grove, Prospect, Soquel, Wilcox, Willow Glen.

The practice schedule and rain policy for April 11th are listed below.

Rain In The Forecast

Rain is predicted for Sunday. If it does rain — even a few drops — practices WILL BE CANCELLED!

High school teams are in season and their coaches don't want us tearing up their fields. Since we are THEIR GUESTS we need to honor their request regarding rain policies!

We only have use of the fields from 10 am until 2 pm.

The field assignments are:

APTOS

10-12 BLUE JAYS practice
12-2 PIRATES practice

AREA 51 (TOP SECRET LOCATION)

10-12 MARINERS - PADRES

DE ANZA

10-12 A'S - YANKEES
12-2 ROYALS - ORIOLES

INDEPENDENCE

10-12 CUBS practice
12-2 RAYS practice

LOS GATOS

10-12 GIANTS practice

OAK GROVE

10-12 BRAVES - WHITE SOX
12-2 METS - REDS

SOBRATO

10-12 INDIANS practice
12-2 BREWERS practice

WASHINGTON HS (FREMONT)

10-12 CARDINALS - RED SOX

WILCOX

10-12 TIGERS practice

Three teams lost, a new team added, one changing names, and four moving around the divisions. Read the 2010 Season Preview to find out everything you need to know about the upcoming 2010 season.

Running late and need to find out fast where you're playing? Just click on your team name and then click on the date in the first column of the schedule and you'll find out.

With the new interactive schedule you can highlight:

• All your games for the season.
• All your games against an opponent.
• All your non-divisional cross-over games
• Plus more.

You will need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser to use the new interactive highlighting features.

Try it out on the Schedule page. If you find any problems or have any suggestions, send them to the webmaster at webmaster@sjmsbl.com.

The Photo of the Week and Photo of the Year contests are back for 2010. Take a look at the Photo Contest Rules to see what you can win. (Mandated Hint for our President - A Credit, not Cash).

Thanks in advance for all your photo submissions this year.

The next Managers Meeting is scheduled for 6:30 PM on Wednesday, March 24th at the Blue Chip Sports Bar.

• $2,000 progress payment towards league fees is due at the meeting - NO EXCEPTIONS
• deadline for submitting applications for the two (2) open board seats
• discussion of schedule format and league fees

The Blue Chip (formerly Jerseys)
325 South First Street
San José, CA 95113
(408) 971-2898

Go to the Maps and Directions page for directions.

Four times a year every MSBL player gets a surprise in the mailbox. We never know exactly when it's going to arrive, but when it gets here we quickly turn the pages looking for any mention of our team or league. Yes, Hardball Magazine has arrived. Once we've found any mentions of our league we move on to all the other articles from league highlights to tournament results, pitching and hitting tips to personal player stories.

Sadly, Daniel Joseph Piro, publisher of HardBall Magazine, born in New York City, NY 4/24/1948, died Thursday January 28th in Oceanside, California after a two year battle with Pancreatic Cancer. He died at home in hospice care with his wife Jackie (managing editor of Hardball) by his side. He leaves a son, Daniel Armando Piro, age 15, his wife Jackie, brothers Ken and Robert and many loving family and friends.

Funeral mass will be held at 11 am on February 19, 2010 at Church of St. Thomas More in Oceanside California.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Boys & Girls Club of Vista (www.bgcvista.com) are welcome, that was Dan's favorite charity and he served on its board and also spearheaded the efforts to build a youth baseball field for the Club on what was previously a vacant dirt lot used for parking. There is now a beautiful Little Padres Park there.

Boys & Girls Club of Vista
410 W. California Avenue
Vista, CA 92083
(760) 724-6606

On a personal note, I would like to thank Jackie for her help in helping me make the SJMSBL website what it is. She has sent me countless logo image files and hunted down past Hardball articles for me. Thanks Jackie. -- Sean Kelley, SJMSBL Webmaster

Are you ready for some preseason baseball?

MVP Arena has organized a Preseason Showdown tournament scheduled for February 26-28.

Get information and sign up today at mvptournaments.org. There are only 16 spots on the bracket and they are already filling up!

Tournament fees are $800/team. (That's only $53/player with 15 players).

The first Managers Meeting for the 2010 season is scheduled for 6:30 PM on Thursday, February 4th at the Blue Chip Sports Bar.

A $250 team deposit will be due at the meeting.

The Blue Chip (formerly Jerseys)
325 South First Street
San José, CA 95113
(408) 971-2898

Go to the Maps and Directions page for directions.