The #2 Pick

We attended the manager’s meeting, and ended up with the second pick in the draft this coming Sunday. The last place team (from last year) received the first pick, and thanks to Jonathan who picked the high card in a 3 team draw, we get the pick after them. Hopefully we can draft someone to help the team, and with the other prospects I’m inviting to “camp,” I should be able to fill the team.

Manager’s Meeting

There is a manager’s meeting tomorrow. This means there is a $500 deposit due that allows managers to draft a player at the tryouts on Sunday. The tryouts can be hit or miss, but it’s always good to go anyway. During the meeting tomorrow we will discuss the upcoming season, find out the number of teams in our division, and draw for the draft order.
I was busy today sending emails to prospective players. We are having a practice/tryout on Saturday. This is the part of the season that makes me the most nervous. Am I going to have enough players to make it to each game? Are we going to come up with the league fees in time? I really don’t like to keep asking the guys for money because I know that all work hard for it, but it’s something I must do to pay the fee on time. Here’s to hoping we get a good draft pick.

The Beginning – Denver 2000

Although I am from Texas, this wasn’t my first rodeo. My managing roots started when I lived in Denver, Colorado – the state that happens to have the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Maybe it was fitting that this is the place where it started. I had known after I finished college that I still wanted to play baseball. In the spring of 1999 (in Denver) I tried out in a city wide tryout in the National Adult Baseball League. I was one of about 300 guys who were looking for a team to play with. We took turns in the outfield, catching fly balls and throwing them in to second base, third base, and home plate. There was also a batting practice session, and finally the pitchers and catchers were able to throw to each other. This tryout lasted at least 5 hours and all I wanted was to end up on a team so I could play again. I was drafted by a team called the Dodgers, a group of guys more concerned with partying than playing baseball. This didn’t sit very well with me and I wanted to start my own team. In the spring of 2000, I went to a managers meeting and met a guy named Russ who was looking for a team as well. We ended up talking with a couple of other guys, Dave and Mike who happened to be brothers and decided to join forces and start a team. The four of us voted on who would be manager and I won that vote 3-1. Of course I didn’t vote for myself and it felt good that the other three guys voted for me. The Bohica Warriors were born. We had a few practices and I told the guys that we would all get the chance to show off our skills and would each get plenty of playing time. I wanted to make all the guys happy while at the same time win some games so they wouldn’t get discouraged. That proved to be harder than I thought and I could tell many of the guys were about to turn on me. Through our first eight games we were 3-4-1 and the guys wanted to start winning more and having more fun. I don’t blame them for wanting to have more fun, considering that our fourth loss was by the score of 17-7. I told them that we could improve, but our best players would need to get more playing time and we would need to cut down on the mistakes. What happened after that little talk is more than I could have ever wished for. We started playing better than I expected and the guys were all happy with their playing time since we were winning. We got on a winning streak leading up to the playoffs. We ended up playing in the Championship game against the last team that beat us. I told the guys that we owed this team since they beat us last and they took it to heart. We jumped on them right away and went on to beat them 28-8. Some may have thought that we ran up the score on them but we looked at it as they beat us by 10 so we had to get that back and them we beat them by an extra 10. We ended the season with a record of 18-4-1, a 15 game winning streak, and the League Championship.

Opulence, I Don’t Has It…

but a few more guys have given me money for the league fees. This means that we will be able to draft a player from the tryouts. Now, it’s a total crap-shoot, but you never know who will try out and what their skill levels might be. I have a good core of players and a bunch of guys who are part-timers (they play when their work schedules allow it).
The “Founding Fathers” (Rodney, Brandon, and me) started the team in 2004 and have enjoyed every season that we have played. Well, I’m not sure that statement is true… we’ve had some less than stellar seasons. It’s those down seasons that makes your wonder if you really want to play anymore. But then the winter comes and we start missing the ballpark and the camaraderie. It seems like an eternity from the end of the fall season until Opening Day of the spring season. An eternity that lasts three and a half months.

January – The season is around the corner

Opening Day is about 7 weeks away, which means that it’s fee collecting time. You would think that this would be an easy thing, but it might be easier to pull teeth from a child. Proof in point is that my niece actually pulled her own tooth out on Christmas Day. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that it costs money in order to play, but the majority of guys should be used to paying the fees by now. I’ve lost way too much money over the years to believe every guy who says, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay.” Maybe this is all just a venting session, because as the season gets closer, somehow the money gets paid and all is good. Let’s get to March so I don’t have to worry about this anymore.