AROUND THE DIAMOND IN THE ABL ABL 2019 PLAYOFFS 10/29/19

Perfectos power their way to their third title in history!!!!!

BIG STORY: Lenny’s rankings had Titusville third in the post draft rankings with the Thunder Geese 6th on the list. Last year the champion Channel Cats were at the top of the list and held serve. The Perfectos didn’t make a single trade and are the only team in at least ten years to win a cup and not make a trade. In 2014, the Perfectos had one player on their championship roster picked up via trade. Titusville proved there are several ways to win a championship in the ABL in 2019. Titusville finished three games back off the pace for the division crown and easily took care of Chesapeake Bay 6-4 in the wild card game. The Perfectos won a hard fought five game series against the division champion Crown Heights Kings to reach their 4 th Cup finals. Dexter also took the long route through the wild card with a 3-0 win past Tallahassee and then swept past the surprise division champion Blackbeards. For the Thunder Geese, this was their 5 th finals appearance. Dexter entered the Cup finals with a finals losing streak of nine straight games dating back to 2014. Their last Cup win was ironically against the Titusville Perfectos in 2014. Dexter ended the drought right away with a 6-2 win in game one as Scherzer struck out 12 Perfectos and walked zero batters. The instant classic was in game two as the Perfectos tied the game in the 9 th on a pinch-hit home run by Alen Hanson. Then in the top of the 14 th , Joey Gallo gave the Thunder Geese a one run lead but Manny Machado snatched it back with a walk off two run blast to even the series. Titusville powered their way to a romp in game three with six bombs and an 8-3 win. Game 4 the Perfectos exploded for a 15-3 victory and took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. In game 5, the Thunder Geese kept fighting as Christian Yelich hit a walk off Grand Slam to extend the series back to Titusville. The Perfectos starved off a late rally in game 6 as former B-Met Michael Conforto struck out on a slider to give the Perfectos their 3 rd championship in history. Perfectos clutch hitting shortstop/3 rd basemen Manny Machado grabbed ABL Playoff M.V.P. honors hitting .250 with three clutch home runs and 10 RBI to pace T-Ville. The playoff run by the Thunder Geese should not be forgotten as they made their fifth finals appearance in seven seasons. A team that will once again be dangerous in 2020 with plenty of talent coming back to Dexter. For now, its Perfectos time as the club wins their second championship in six seasons and raises the cup as the champions of the ABL in 2019!

“BAMBINO CUP” FINALS Dexter vs. Titusville (Titusville won series 4-2) GM 1 DEX 6 TV 2 GM 2 TV 5 DEX 4 14 Inn. GM 3 TV 8 DEX 3 GM 4 TV 15 DEX 3 GM 5 DEX 7 TV 3 GM 6 TV 7 DEX 4

NATIONAL FINALS Titusville vs. Crown Heights (Titusville won series 3-2) GM 1 TV 4 CH 0 GM 2 TV 3 CH 1 GM 3 CH 12 TV 4 GM 4 CH 12 TV 2 GM 5 TV 6 CH 5

AMERICAN FINALS Dexter vs. Ocracoke (Dexter won series 3-0) GM 1 DEX 3 OC 1 GM 2 DEX 13 OC 3 GM 3 DEX 6 OC 1

NATIONAL WILD CARD Chesapeake Bay at Titusville (Titusville won series 1-0) GM 1 TV 6 CB 4

AMERICAN WILD CARD Tallahassee at Dexter (Dexter won series 1-0) GM 1 DEX 3 TA 0

2019 ABL TEAMS AND MANAGERS: National Division Chesapeake Bay Channel Cats (30th Season) Scott Allen (Defending Champions) Orlando Sharks (18th Season) Buck Dietzen Titusville Perfectos (12th Season) Lenny Saaf Crown Heights Kings (2nd Season) Chris Marcello Clayton Steamships (Expansion Season) Wayne Scott Garden State Warriors (Expansion Season) Bruce Keilin

American Division Tallahassee Terriers (29th Season) Don Allen Jr. Long Beach Island Starfish (17th Season) Skibby Bomysoad Dexter Thunder Geese (15th Season) Jason Cupelo Ocracoke Blackbeards (12th Season) Duran Allen La Jolla Juggernaut (5th Season) Kevin Waters Albany Lo-Sox (3rd Season) Michael Saaf East Bay Grease (2nd Season) Joe Parisi

ABL 2019 IP’S Tallahassee 15 Long Beach Island 15 Chesapeake Bay 15 Albany 15 East Bay 15 Garden State 14 Crown Heights 14 Titusville 14 La Jolla 12 Dexter 11 Ocracoke 10 Clayton 9 Orlando 7

ROLLING DICE?? ( Q and A with Game Play Notes) (PLEASE TAKE NOTE) (Italic are present in the current charts)

1. If you bring the corners in (maybe to guard against the bunt), does that mean you are not holding the runner on 1st base?

ANSWER: Yes, if the first baseman is "in", he can't be holding. For that reason, usually the third baseman plays "in" with a guy on first. The batter's bunting rating is still reduced on all balls hit to 3B, P, and C.

TEAM NEWS: If any manager plans on not participating in the ABL next season, please let the Commish know as soon as possible for planning purposes. Please leave the league in good standing so you may return in the future if you desire to do so.

If a former manager is considering returning to the ABL for next season, please request an expansion application to reactivate your franchise before November 10 th . Your franchise will officially be re- activated once the league fee is paid in full.

ABL 2019 SEASON ENDING WRAP UP: Just a reminder the ABL 2019 winter meetings will not take place this season. In its place, the season ending wrap up show will take place Sunday November 24th at 6:30 p.m. eastern. The Lottery drawing will take place along with voting results. Commish giveaways for those who tune in. The show will be broadcasted online on Periscope using the @commish73 account.

VOTING: Each manager is required to vote on league issues. This is a fun league and voting is one of the vehicles for getting changes into the rulebook. You may vote for one of the options presented (i.e. A, B, C, or D) or abstain. Not voting is unacceptable and Incentive Points will be lost. Voting will be conducted via e- mail this off-season. The final voting ballot will be available in the coming days.

ABL 2020 FEE: The 2020 ABL fee will be $45 after the league wide vote in April. If you finish with 15 IP’s, you can get it lowered down to $35 . Win the title and it’s on the ABL’s nickel.

Each manager must pay the $45 operational fee for the American League Season by October 15th for the next season. If it isn’t paid in full by Thanksgiving , the ABL will fold your team for that upcoming season unless other arrangements have been made with the league. The fees help with expenses to run the league. You may now pay by paypal using e-mail: [email protected] . You may also pay by Venmo using @scottalen1221.

Remember the 2020 fee is due October 15th. Please pay the fee on time if you want to play ball in 2020. If cash flow is a problem, let the Commish know and something can be worked out. You have plenty of notice to make sure the fee is paid on time.

If an Expansion Team Fee is paid by November 10th , the new manager will be able to vote in the November Off-Season voting session. The first expansion team to pay their fee in full will get the highest pick in the expansion draft. The second team to pay their fee in full will get the 2nd pick in the expansion draft and so on. There is no extra cost for Expansion teams in 2020. Fees Currently Paid: Chesapeake Bay Commish Fee Albany $35.00 Crown Heights Recruitment Fee Garden State $45.00 East Bay $35.00 Titusville $45.00 Oceanside $45.00 Clayton $45.00 Ocracoke $45.00 Long Beach Island $35.00 La Jolla $45.00

Fees on their way: Orlando $45.00 Tallahassee $25.00 Dexter $45.00

Fees Due: ( Fee could change by lost IP’s or championship ) Expansion Team $45.00

ABL 2020 EXPANSION TEAM APPLICATIONS: All possible new 2020 ABL managers must fill out an ABL Expansion Team Application. The Application will be reviewed and acceptance won’t be final until the expansion fee has been paid in full. Remember all new perspective managers must complete the new ABL Development Plan for new managers. Tell a friend or co-worker about the fun of managing in the ABL.

DEADLINE FOR 2020 EXPANSION TEAMS: November 10th is the deadline for any new expansion team or re-activated team to enter the ABL for the 2020 season. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis till the cards arrive. If you have someone possibly interested, let the Commish know so they can fill out the Expansion Team Application.

ABL 2020 STADIUM/NAME CHANGES: All current teams must notify the league office by November 10th if they plan on switching ball parks for the upcoming 2020 season. Stadiums are on a first come basis. Teams must stay in the same stadium for duration of three seasons before requesting a move. Teams must also let the ABL office know about any team name changes by November 10th also.

ABL TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: MLB Rosters frozen for the ABL Oct 1st Fee Deadline Oct 15th Expansion Team Deadline Nov 10th Expansion Team Draft Nov 24th Franchise Players Deadline Dec 1st Triple Play Cards Arrive Jan 1st Spring Training Games Begin Jan 1st Existing Teams Drop Deadline Jan 15th Expansion Teams Drop Deadline Jan 15th Free Agent Draft Day Jan 26th Spring Training Games Deadline Jan 29th Taxi Teams Deadline Jan 29th Regular Season Begins Jan 31st

ABL 2019 YEARBOOK/RECORD BOOK: I’ve made the decision to publish both books regardless if the yearbook this year will most likely have less content due to fewer planned submitted articles. The two books serve different purposes so it makes sense to keep them separate.

If you are interested in sending in an article, let me know. It can be a statistical analysis (Lenny) or a story about a day playing wiffleball as a kid. A story about a particular series or fun baseball excursion you took recently or while growing up. Anything related to baseball or tabletop baseball.

Please have all articles in by Friday November 15th ....

You can check out last year's yearbook here in case you missed it: http://www.lulu.com/shop/scott-allen/abl-2018-yearbook-ebook/ebook/product-23882633.html

FUTURE ABL MANAGERS: Reminder to all managers that if you find someone interested in baseball let’s get them started in the ABL Developmental Plan playing practice games. Contact the Commish for a sample set of cards/charts and start teaching the ABL’s next Billy Martin the excitement of tabletop baseball.

ABL Developmental Plan Guidelines: At a minimum new perspective managers, must complete the following: 1. Two practice games with an ABL Manager with score sheets. 2. One practice game with an ABL Manager on the dice roller. 3. Submit one recap of one of the practice games to be included in Around the Diamond. 4. Total of three practice games must be completed with ABL Managers. 5. Then the new perspective manager should request an ABL Expansion Application if an opening is available or request to put added to the expansion team waiting list. 6. Finally, the new perspective manager should pay the $60 operational fee once their ABL Expansion Application is approved.

TRANSACTION REPORT: 10/16 TAXI TEAM: Titusville sent down Brandon Workman and called up Will Harris.

INJURY REPORT: PLAYER TEAM GAMES ACTIVE WEEK? OFF/IR E. Rodriguez OC OUT 2020 2020 R. Cano CB OUT 2020 2020

RECAPS OF ABL BASEBALL: By ABL Managers

“Bambino Cup” Finals Dexter vs. Titusville

Bambino Cup Finals: Game 1 Dexter 6 Titusville 2

The 2019 edition of the Bambino Cup Finals saw a matchup of the Dexter Thunder Geese and the Titusville Perfectos, a rematch of the 2014 Finals, which Titusville won 4 games to 2. As was the case in 2014, both teams placed second in their respective divisions in 2019.

The aces of the two staffs, Chris Sale of Titusville and of Dexter (both strong contenders for of the Year honors) faced off in game one in Titusville. Both hurlers were on their game, and the Perfectos had a 1-0 lead heading into the seventh. A couple of Dexter hits tied the game and chased Sale. A hit batsman brought the most dangerous Goose to the plate, Christian Yelich. With two outs, the Titusville manager issued the intentional pass to Yelich and opted to pitch to Francisco Cervelli. The hard-nosed catcher rose to the challenge and launched a grand slam with an odd home-run roll against Kirby Yates’ R symbol. That put the Thunder Geese on top for good. Both starters fanned 12 and walked none, but it was the clutch Cervelli bomb against the Perfectos’ bullpen that made the difference in this one.

R H E LOB DEX 000 000 501 6 10 0 6 TVL 001 000 100 2 6 0 5

TITUSVILLE PITCHING Sale 6.1 (LOSS) Yates 1 Harris 0.2 Strahm 1

DEXTER PITCHING Scherzer 8 (WIN) Rogers 1

INJURIES: none

Bambino Cup Finals: Game 2 Titusville 5 Dexter 4 (14 innings)

All the runs in the epic game two were scored via the long ball. Going into the bottom of the ninth, each team had banged out two. The only difference was that one of Dexter’s taters was a two-run shot, which gave the Geese a 3-2 advantage as kloser Keone Kela kame in for the save opportunity. K.K. started out with two kwick Ks, and Titusville was down to their last out. Alen Hanson stepped to the plate and drove one into the seats to tie the game and send it to extras!

The Perfectos threatened in the bottom of the 11th, when a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out and put the bat in the hands of relief pitcher, Taylor Cole. The Titusville closer managed to send a fly ball to center, which Joey Gallo caught, with Matt Adams tagging from third. Gallo’s throw was on target, and the double play ended the threat.

Gallo had his chance at the plate in the top of the 14th, when he led off the inning with a Deep! shot that left the yard and gave the Geese a 4-3 lead. As in the bottom of the ninth, the first two Perfectos made out, and T-Ville was down to their last out. Robbie Grossman kept hope alive with a single, which brought Manny Machado to the plate. Lightning struck again for the Perfectos, and Manny clouted a bomb to dead center that ignited a roar from the Titusville dugout and a rush to the plate to welcome Machado home with the winning run of an incredible marathon.

R H E LOB DEX 000 300 000 000 01 4 12 0 9 TVL 000 101 001 000 02 5 12 2 9

TITUSVILLE PITCHING Happ 5 Yates 2 Harris 1 Strahm 1 Cole 2 Lugo 2.1 Britton 0.2 (WIN)

DEXTER PITCHING Verlander 6.1 Rogers 0.2 Stammen 1 Kela 1 Ferguson 1 Oh 2 Hudson 1.2 (LOSS)

INJURIES: none

Bambino Cup Finals: Game 3 Titusville 8 Dexter 3

Game three was a showcase for Perfecto power, as the series moved to far-upstate New York. Titusville batters hit six home runs, five of which were against Dexter starter, Zach Greinke. Kiké Hernandez and Yasmani Grandal each hit two, and Maikel Franco and Edwin Encarnacion had one apiece. Titusville starter, Clay Buchholz, allowed three one-run frames before the bullpen took over in the seventh and retired the last eight Geese in order.

R H E LOB TVL 022 100 021 8 8 0 2 DEX 001 110 000 3 6 0 3

DEXTER PITCHING Greinke 7.2 (LOSS) Stammen 1 Oh 0.1

TITUSVILLE PITCHING Buchholz 6.1 (WIN) Yates 1 Harris 0.2 Cole 1

INJURIES: none

Bambino Cup Finals: Game 4 Titusville 15 Dexter 3

After relying on the long ball in game three, Titusville showed another facet of their offense in game four. They had two big innings that plated ten runs with only one extra-base hit (a double). They also added three homers in other innings, as all the rolls were going Titusville’s way (for example: three infield-range hits in one inning). The Thunder Geese put up a three-spot against starter Kyle Hendricks, but then the Perfectos pen had another strong performance, allowing only two baserunners in four innings of work.

The 15-3 rout gave Titusville their third straight win and put the Geese’s backs to the wall heading into the last game in Dexter.

R H E LOB TVL 002 160 420 15 19 0 8 DEX 000 030 000 3 8 0 8

DEXTER PITCHING Anderson 4.1 (LOSS) Ferguson 1 Oh 0.2 Rogers 1 Lopez 2

TITUSVILLE PITCHING Hendricks 5 (WIN) Yates 1 Harris 1 Strahm 1 Lugo 1

INJURIES: none

Bambino Cup Finals: Game 5 Dexter 7 Titusville 3

Game five saw a return of the Scherzer-Sale matchup. Sale allowed only one run, but barely made it to the sixth on a cold night in Dexter. Scherzer lasted into the ninth and struck out 14 without walking a batter, but gave up three solo home runs. In fact, three of the Perfectos’ five hits were homers. The last Titusville round-tripper came in the top of the ninth off Scooter Gennett’s bat, and that bomb equalized the score at 3-3.

Titusville reliever, Will Harris, had given up a homer to Joey Gallo in the eighth, but stayed in to pitch the ninth. It did not go well. A walk and two singles loaded the bases for Yelich, and there was no place to put him this time. The infield came in, but Yelich hit one over their heads. It also went over the outfielders heads. It also went over the right-field fence for a grand-slam, walk-off, home run! The Geese gaggled at home plate to celebrate the clutch victory that allowed them to live to fight another day.

R H E LOB TVL 000 200 001 3 5 1 2 DEX 000 100 114 7 10 0 7

DEXTER PITCHING Scherzer 8 Rogers 1 (WIN)

TITUSVILLE PITCHING Sale 5 Yates 2 Harris 1 (LOSS)

INJURIES: none

Bambino Cup Finals: Game 6 Titusville 7 Dexter 4

With the Perfectos leading the series 3-2, it moved back to Titusville for the final showdown. The Perfectos jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on an Encarnacion 2-RBI, gcf single off . Paul Goldschmidt quickly tied the game in the top of the second with a two-run Deep! off JA Happ. Dexter took the lead in the fourth with a Steve Pearce Deep! Pearce would leave the game in the bottom of the frame after a collision in the outfield.

The next Crazy Play was another blow to the Thunder Geese. After his warm-up tosses before the bottom of the fifth, Verlander called out the trainer after feeling a twinge in his elbow. Verlander had to leave the game, which put the fate of Dexter’s season in the hands of the bullpen. Kiké Hernandez flipped the score to the Perfectos’ favor in the sixth with a two-run tater. Titusville was still clinging to a one-run lead going into the bottom of the eighth. Robbie Grossman led off with a pinch-hit triple off the Range Outfield chart. Four subsequent singles gave the Perfectos three crucial insurance runs heading into the ninth.

Trailing by four in the top of the ninth, the visiting Geese got off to a good start against Titusville closer, Taylor Cole. The first two batters reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Altuve struck out, then Yelich sent one Deep!, but the 00 roll was a back-breaking second out. Cervelli singled in a run, which brought the potential tying run to the plate. Michael Conforto struck out to end the game and the series. The Perfectos players streamed to the mound and celebrated in their championship t-shirts and BFHs as the 2019 ABL CHAMPIONS!!!

R H E LOB DEX 020 100 001 4 9 0 9 TVL 200 002 03x 7 13 0 5

TITUSVILLE PITCHING Happ 5 Yates 1 (WIN) Harris 1 Strahm 1 Cole 1

DEXTER PITCHING Verlander 4 Hudson 1 Oh 1 (LOSS) Stammen 1 Rogers 1

INJURIES: Pearce (DEX) injured 4 games (Crazy Play 327). Verlander (DEX) injured 2 games (Crazy Play 219).

SERIES STATS

TITUSVILLE DEXTER

RUNS PER GAME 6.7 4.5 BATTING AVG .270 .242 ON-BASE PCT .303 .292 SLUGGING PCT .536 .427 OPS .839 .719 HOME RUNS 18 8

ERA 4.03 6.24 K/9 11.2 9.2 BB/9 2.2 1.4

SB/ATTEMPTS 0/0 3/3 LEFT ON BASE 31 42 ERRORS 3 0

SERIES MVP: Edwin Encarnacion. Despite appearing in only four games, Encarnacion was unstoppable. He slashed .625/.684/1.250 in 19 plate appearances, with 8 runs, 8 RBIs, and 3 home runs.

Coop, congratulations to you and the American Division Finals Champions on a fine season. It was a well-fought contest. Respect.

LS

ABL 2019 AWARDS: The ABL awards will be announced via twitter and e-mail to coincide with the Major League Award Announcements.

ABL Award Schedule: Monday – November 11th: ABL Rookie of the Year Tuesday – November 12th: ABL Manager of the Year and Al Arthurs Extra Effort Manager of the Year Wednesday – November 13th : ABL Pitcher of the Year and ABL Relief Pitcher of the Year Thursday – November 14th : ABL Player of the Year and ABL Unsung Hero of the Year Friday – November 15th : ABL Hall of Fame Induction Class including Public Ballots

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MAJOR CHANGES FOR 2020 ABL RULEBOOK: The Commish has the power to install or amend any rule changes he feels that would be in the best interest of the league by making amendments or proposing amendments for vote to this rulebook. These changes are before the ABL Off-Season Voting Session. Please understand more changes might be needed after the conclusion of the Winter Meetings. Commish’s comments in blue.

Rule Book Changes: Tiebreakers

Tiebreakers (Playoff Spots, Divisions, Home Field) If two teams are tied for the final playoff spot or a division championship: There will be a one game tiebreaker to decide who advances to the playoffs or wins the division. All tiebreaker games take place after the regular season is concluded as game # 37 on the schedule and all statistics count as regular season statistics. There are no days of rest before the games. Although tiebreaker games count in the regular season standings, they do not count for purposes of determine subsequent postseason qualification, seeding and home field advantage. For example, if a team loses the division tiebreaker and now has a worse record than the 3 rd place team due to the extra game, the team that lost the division tiebreaker still hosts the wildcard game. There is one game of rest if a team only plays in one tiebreaker game and no games of rest after two or more tiebreakers are played. The tiebreaker for playoff seeding and home field is head to head record. The next tiebreaker is division record. The next tiebreaker is the team’s total runs against. The next tiebreaker is the team’s total runs scored. The final tiebreaker will be a coin flip.

Making the impacts of the tiebreaker games a bit clearer. The games are still regular season games. But if a team finishes in 3rd place and played an additional game, the 3 rd place team will not be awarded home field due to a better wining percentage against a higher seed.

Trades

Multiple team trades are NOT allowed. All trades must include two teams only. If you make a trade that puts your roster over the limit, you must include all the players that are being dropped to reach the roster limit in the trade notification to the Commish for your trade to be considered for approval. You may not make a trade if you’re over the roster limit. All players acquired in a trade are assigned automatically to the active roster and must stay on your team’s 30 player roster for at least two games. Players can be traded to another team before the two games has elapsed but can’t be dropped as a Free Agent . You have 48 hours to send players down to the taxi team to get your active roster back to the maximum twenty-five. Incentive points can be lost for not following these guidelines.

One minor change that stated previously any player acquired in a trade must stay on the roster for ten games has been updated to two games.

Each team is limited to trading with the same team for a maximum of two trades per season broken down into two segments. One trade is allowed from January till the Wednesday before the 10 th play week. Then a second trade is allowed after the 10th play week ends starting at 8 p.m. eastern until the trade deadline.

Trade restrictions with the same team broken down into two segments. One trade with the same team and one again during the in-season trading period in July. Some teams were trading with the same team within a week just before the deadline. These types of trades are unrealistic and caused unnecessary work when the trade could have been made into one deal.

Draft trade restrictions are in place for the in-season trading period and are not applied to the off-season trading period prior to the draft. Teams have no draft trade restrictions on trades of draft picks in Round 7 through Round 20. For draft picks in Round 1 through 6, the following restrictions are in effect: Teams may only trade three of the first six rounds of draft picks. No team may trade away more than three of its own draft picks in those first six rounds. Teams may not trade draft picks acquired from other teams during the in-season trading period. Teams can’t acquire more than five draft picks in trades for the upcoming draft during the in-season trading period regardless how many draft picks that team traded away.

The third tweak allows for more flexibility with allowing teams to trade three of their first six picks regardless of round. One additional tweak that teams did an excellent of getting around the intended rule of the trade restrictions last season is teams can no longer trade picks away they just picked up in trade. This particular change could be changed though since its up for vote in the off-season voting package to allow for additional flexibility.

Taxi Team

Pitchers requiring more than one game of rest can't be sent down to the taxi team if the last appearance was as a starting pitcher. If the last appearance was in relief, those can be sent down to the taxi team . The starting pitcher exceptions are right after a trade and right before the start of a playoff series. Starting pitchers that need one game or less of rest may be sent down to the taxi team. (Ex: You can't send down a pitcher who started the last game of your last series because you know he must rest and won't pitch in the next two game series).

This change allows the ability to send relief pitchers down to the taxi team that might need two games of rest due to a long outing in extra innings. The focus of the restriction is on the starting pitcher as the rule is indented to stop teams from gaining unrealistic roster spots. I think this update falls more in line with MLB.

Suspensions

Suspended players can’t be involved in any trade or dropped as a free agent until their suspension is complete. The player may be sent to the taxi team. Suspended players do not get any credit towards their suspensions by the All-Star Break or any byes in the schedule. This also applies in the playoffs. Suspensions will not carry over into the next season . Teams can’t have more than two players suspended at once. The additional suspensions may be delayed until there are less than two players suspended for the next series.

A few situations happened when a few teams had more than two players suspended at once. This will allow for staggered suspension if needed in a bean ball type game.

Free Agent Draft

The draft order for the remainder of the draft will be in the traditional format. The expansion/reactivated teams will be placed first in every remaining round. If there are multiple expansion/re-activated teams, the teams will rotate draft order each round. Then followed by the non-playoff teams in reverse order of finish. Then playoff teams in reverse order of finish in the playoffs will complete the remaining rounds draft order. Teams will have a one-minute and thirty-second time limit on draft picks. There will be a mandatory one-minute between picks for all rounds. Once a manager announces their draft pick selection, the pick is final regardless if a card mistake is noticed after the announcement. Each team will select till they have reached a total of 30 players and pitchers in the draft. Teams will not be allowed to trade players and draft picks during the draft.

A lot of conversation through out the season on the length of the free agent draft. After reaching out to several leagues, I decided that reducing the pick time was the best option. One thing to keep in mind that there is still a full minute between picks. Technically teams are getting 2:30 until they have to decide to make their next pick. If this doesn’t work out well for the 2020 draft, we’ll make adjustments. Big take away is managers need to make sure they are prepared on draft day.

SEASON ENDING COMMISH THOUGHTS:

ABL Developmental Plan Just a reminder that the ABL Developmental Plan is the avenue to bring in new managers and a practice team was available all season and another practice team will be available in 2020. Finding new managers to join the ABL is important as we move forward. I thank you for your continued support. Remember the league will grow as far as the managers are willing to take it. At the moment, any perspective new managers will be put on a waiting list as the league is capped at 14 teams. We’ll evaluate each season if it makes sense to increase past 14 teams.

ABL Schedule Request Changes Just a reminder, the ABL Schedule is created by a pre-determined matix that assigns opponents based on the previous season’s winning percentage. Two teams may request a certain time of year of extra games against each other (i.e. Series in July) then adjustments will be attempted if possible. Remember those adjustments will be more difficult if we end up with an odd number of teams. Please get in your requests in early, soon after the wrap up show.

Mistakes Just a reminder when playing games, it’s not a bad thing to slow down once in a while. This year was an improvement in the mistake area. We had five managers finish with all their 15 allotted IPs compare to only two last season. Some of the infractions: limit player entering the game vs limit side, didn’t roll for an injury after an emergency pitcher, and pitching pitchers not fully rested, etc. Just remember when playing games to simply “slow it down a bit” when rolling your games. Have fun and take your time.

Deadlines As a group the league has once again been doing a great job in getting recaps and score sheets in on time. You should all give yourself a pat on the back for that effort. We had two late recaps and four late scoresheets all season without an extension request! That’s a decent effort. Remember you can request an extension if you need a little more time. Please keep up the dedication of meeting the deadlines in a timely manner.

Manager Participation Finally, I would like to again thank all the managers that stepped up and helped when needed. A big thank you goes out to Tallahassee Manager Don Allen Jr. for working hard each play week on the ABL Stats throughout the season. Through these statistics the league managers can reflect on how the players they drafted or decided to keep back in the winter performed on the diamond.

An additional big thank to Long Beach Island Manager Skibby Bomysoad for writing the Series Previews each play week the first half of the season. Another thank you to Albany Lo-Sox manager Michael Saaf for jumping in on a moment’s notice to carry the torch to the end of the season. Once again; we received several positive comments from league managers and fans of the ABL on their enjoyment reading the insight of the series previews from both managers.

An additional thank you to Titusville manager Lenny Saaf for helping out on the yearbook each season with articles and the awesome covers the last five years!

A thank you to Crown Heights manager Chris Marcello continuing to fill a void and creating logos for the new teams as they come in the league. Oceanside is up next!

A thank you to all the managers that took time out of their schedule to support the new BK to OBX podcast and join Crown Heights Kings manager Chris Marcello and Ocracoke Blackbeards manager Duran Allen on the pod. Fun times hearing Casey Allen making his intention to return to ABL action in 2020 in the pod. Nice to see Duran grow from #nocomment to divulging some ABL knowledge.

A tip of the cap to Garden State manager Bruce Keilin for creating the ABL Standings twitter account and keeping the standings updated real time. I know several managers commented they truly enjoyed the updates as they happened each play week.

Managers like you are what make being in the ABL a lot of fun. Please keep it up as we continue to grow as an organization. Thanks again for your support.

Commish