Make Mine a Draft.
April 14th, 2022- I don't know about anybody else, but that seemed like one heck of a long winter to me. I'm really tired of the cold and damp days and I'm so looking forward to getting back on the diamond. I added a new countdown timer to the blog and it is set for the season opener, scheduled for May 16th.
On Saturday April the 9th the Tottenham Oldtimers league had our first in person draft since the spring of 2019 and it was great to get out and pick a team in a normal setting. We did have a draft in 2021, but it was at someone's house and it was restricted to only captains and league executive. The 2021 draft was live streamed, but it definitely wasn't the same as the drafts of the past.
This season the league has managed to get back up to 14 teams. Last season only saw a total of 10 teams because of the Covid rules and players being a little bit more cautious. Last season (2021), it wasn't looking very good early on, but restrictions eased a by June and it was game on. When we finally got playing it wasn't until July 19th, with a 17 game schedule. The season ended at the end of September with playoffs. The Master Batters would go on to win the Championship vs. the Draft Kings in the finals.
For the Hurtin' Units last season was bitter sweet. We drafted a great team with 3 rookies that were definitely better than their draft rating (sometimes that happens) and with the other draft picks we were a very solid team, both defensively and offensively. We could squeak out a win in a low scoring game with our defense, and we could get in to a slug fest and still come out on top with our offense.
The Unit's record in 2021 was 14-3-0 in the 17 game season. In the playoffs we were 2-2. We had 3 players in the top 10 in batting. Jamie, Steve and Peter were all up in the batting race, and then there was Derrick who was no slouch with a baseball bat either. Steve and Jamie were 2 of the Rookies. Jamie would win the batting title with an average of .915. Not bad for a first year player.
The Units would go on to win the league title, we would win the Beer Cup, the Keg party, Jamie won the batting title, Howie was SVP (every team has one, I'm just doing it for effect) and we won best looking team (okay I'm kidding about best looking), but we were a solid, well rounded, hard to beat team.
So what happened in the playoffs you ask? Well, in the first game we did what we were capable of, and we won the game by a score of 19-5. We did it with stingy defense and powerful offense, it was just how the regular season script was written.
The second game of the playoffs was the game that basically put the Units out of the Sunday games. We got in to one of those low scoring games and we could not get the necessary runs needed to win the game. In the playoffs, the Units would take the away games (visitors) in every game, we had home field advantage, but we were thinking that we might need the plus/minus runs by playing a full seventh inning every game.
In the Woodies game, the Units would be up 5-0 in the top of the 4th inning (3 runs in the first on a Derrick E. homerun), but the Woodies would play some tight defense and score 6 runs over the last 4 innings to win the game.
This game still haunts me. I can't believe we didn't score more than 5 runs. The Woodies would also have a tie against another team in our division (Draft Kings in think) and that would come back to bite us in the ass.
In the 3rd game, we played the Draft Kings and I think we were still a little stunned from the Woodies loss, we played like we were a little off. The Draft Kings would defeat the Units by a score of 12-7. The Draft Kings were on a bit of a roll, they would go on to play the Master Batters in the finals. Sorry, no boxscore for the Draft Kings game.
In the 4th game of the playoffs, the Units would play the Batsters and win 22-11. The win against the Batsters was one we needed, but it was not enough to get us in to the elimination games. And just like that the Hurtin' Units season was finished. Season # 12 in the books.
I mentioned a bit earlier that we got back to a in person draft and it felt good to be almost normal again. On draft day, when all the teams are finally picked, the players usually mill around the lineups comparing teams, looking to see who has the advantages, strengths and weaknesses, speed, power, etc. A lot of guys will take pictures of the teams, it's almost like being at a photo shoot, cameras clicking, flashes going off, guys saying "work it". Oh, it's a scene man. On paper, on draft day, every team looks like a winner, I think the same about the team the Hurtin' Units drafted, the only real way to find out is to get on the field.
This is how the Hurtin' Units drafted on April 10th, 2022.
2022 Hurtin' Units Roster.
James Taylor (C)
Peter Hollmann (C)
Fernando Su
Jerry Muirhead
Stefan Kapp
Brad Russell
Russell Mabee
Chris Chilvers
Jon Douma
Marc Landry
Enrico Conte
Darrell Hager
Every team looks good on paper, we are all undefeated, but until we get on the field, hit some balls and make some plays we won't know for sure. I like the look of our 2022 team, I think we have a great group, I'm looking forward playing with guys I have never played with, and I look forward to getting on the field. Bring on the 2022 season. Git ur done!
