The State of the League Address - 2011

First off, we would like to congratulate the White team on pulling off the improbable and winning the 2011 Executive League championship. They won with a combination of timely hitting, solid pitching throughout, steady defense and skilful coaching. In short – they won because they played the games the way it was meant to be played. It was especially nice to see some of the old guard finally win a title, including Bram Ordel, Cary Steinman, Lew Rasminsky and David Tartick.

Honourable mention also goes to the Green team for competing so hard in their first year in the Executive League. Joining us from a modified league in Montreal their learning curve was steep, however once they were improved by the additions of Rob Cogan and Tim Barkin, they hit their stride. They earned their spot in the finals by eliminating both Red and Gold but eventually ran out of gas.

How could we describe the 2011 season? In a word, unpredictable. Another? How about competitive? At times, aggravating. Definitely aggravating. Balanced? Parity? Nailbiting? Certainly entertaining.

We set out before last year with hopes of balancing the rosters so that every team had a shot (or at least felt like they had a shot) of winning the championship. Now 2 seasons later, I believe the fact that the first 5 places in the regular season standings were not determined until the final night of the season, not to mention that the 7 th place team beat the 6 th place team in the finals, is evidence that we have accomplished our goal. There have been disagreements along the way with some of you, but we would like to thank you for your cooperation (for the most part) in helping us get there.

So where do we sit now? Truthfully, we are at a crossroads. We have had a decent influx of talented players into the league over the past few years, and many other veteran players continuing to compete at a level befitting the level of competition. There are, however, a handful of players whose skills are not a good match for the league but are still yearning to play. We are really at a critical time for this league. We all recognize that the future viability of this league rests in our ability to attract fairly talented younger players yet the size of the rosters (15 players) and the level of competitiveness of some of the players are discouraging them from joining.

So how do we solve our problems?

Without specifically recommending that some players consider playing in a less competitive synagogue league, there have been a couple of other suggestions:

One suggestion has been to establish the 6:30 Monday time slot for a “Legends Game”. That is, for the 25 or so players who are only out for a good time and don't care whether they win or lose, to make that timeslot a pick-up game every week, with teams mixed up every week just before the game. Scores will be kept and the games will be umpired – the only difference is that the results will not be reflected in the standings.

Another suggestion has been to separate the league into an “A” division and a “B” division, allowing for more competitive play between teams in each division. In this scenario games would be scored and umpired, and results would count in the standings. There would be some limited ‘cross-over' between the 2 divisions and perhaps there could even be 2 championships. Obviously the biggest obstacle for this idea would be determining who should play where, and dealing with the accompanying hurt feelings.

The dreaded “D-word” has also been suggested – a full draft to arrange the teams. Based on the past year's results, it seems to make sense to maintain the course and goals that we set out to accomplish 2 years ago. The Executive doesn't feel a draft is necessary, given that we managed to balance the rosters AND accommodate players' requests to play with their friends.

Of course, it would be easiest to maintain the status quo.

Ultimately it comes down to our ability to attract new players to the league. We feel this is going to be a challenge as long as there are some people whose “softball futures” are behind them, so to speak. We could consider lowering the age limit to begin playing to 35. We currently allow 35 year old pitchers to join – perhaps we should also open this up to position players.

We stand to lose a collection of approximately 9 strong players in the league, due to the roster sizes and disparity between the talent levels in the league. Many of these players are not enjoying playing with so many players showing up to every game and getting 2-3 at bats at most each game, due to having so many “automatic outs” in their lineup. We believe this is wrong, but something we should be able to correct. The rosters are obviously too large and 14 players should be the capacity, though 13 players would be preferable. If the idea of the “Legends Game” can gain any traction, this would improve the level of competitiveness as well.

We have not come to any conclusions and are looking to you for input and ideas. Perhaps there are suggestions that we have not thought of or mentioned. There is plenty of time before registration begins next spring to reorganize the league so that it will remain vital for years and generations to come. Feel free to call or email Irwin Tobias or Stephen Lidsky with any ideas.

Robbie Cooper has advised that he will likely be returning as a player, but will be stepping down from the Executive after 2 seasons. We would like to thank him for his efforts and involvement. Ultimately this means that we are looking for volunteers to help guide us, moving forward. Historically we have had 3 members serving on the Executive, but we are open to increasing that number to 4 or 5 if the demand is there. If you are interested in becoming part of the solution (as opposed to the problem), please contact Stephen or Irwin. There are some of you that we feel would be a good fit for the Executive – those with a steady temperament and the ability to view the big picture that the overall success of the league is more important than the success of the team they find themselves on – and we may contact you and ask for your participation.

We will be having a meeting sometime in November to discuss the future of the league. We will be inviting team reps., and long time players from the league, who have the league's best interests at heart. If you would like to attend this meeting, please let us know by email before November 7 th .

So that's where we are, for better or for worse. I thank you for your time and for your commitment to making this season and this league such a success. We look forward to receiving your comments, feedback and suggestions.