Softball League Still in the News (We play in the CSL)

Softball Leagues Ramp Up but Remain at Odds
March 20, 2007 By Daniel Heim,Roll Call Staff

Last week’s brief flirtation with warm weather coincided with the opening of registration for Capitol Hill softball teams. But the long offseason hasn’t done much to soothe tensions that flared up last year when a collection of House offices split off to form a new league.
Like last year, Congressional offices, agencies, interest groups and law firms have three softball options: the long-established Congressional Softball League, the U.S. Senate Softball League or the relatively new House Softball League.
The HSL was spawned last year out of frustrations shared by some over the CSL’s playoff format, but insurance fees have proved to be a second, ongoing factor in the split.
While registration of an HSL team costs $85 and does not include any insurance, the cost of a CSL team varies depending on the number of players on the roster. A full-time player in the CSL will pay a season fee of $24, which includes health and liability insurance. Part-time players also can be insured for $6 each.
Longtime CSL Commissioner Gary Caruso said that last season a player with only CSL insurance received full reconstructive knee surgery for just the $24 (plus a $500 deductible) after being injured in a league game. He added that the insurance covers liability for damaged property and injured spectators or passersby.
"New Members of Congress and their staffs are going to have to ask themselves, ‘If an injury or something happens to us while we’re out on the field, do I want my Member named in a lawsuit for this, without any coverage?’" said Caruso, a Democratic political consultant.
HSL Commissioner Anthony Reed, who led the movement for the new league last year, said he views the two leagues simply as different products.
"There were some teams in our league last year who expressed concerns about not having insurance, and that’s fine. We told them that if insurance was a big deal to them, they should go to Gary’s league," said Reed, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
But Reed said he, personally, is not overly concerned about not being insured on the diamond. "I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure if you go play a pickup game of softball on the Mall, I don’t know how your boss winds up in a lawsuit," he said. "If you graduated from Syracuse and are playing a reunion pickup game of softball on the Mall and someone gets hurt, does the university somehow wind up in a lawsuit? Again, I’m not a lawyer."
That thinking, according to Caruso, is "winging it and letting the chips fall where they may."
"God forbid somebody gets hurt and tries to sue them," Caruso said.
Caruso has a second bone to pick: His league was not included in last year’s "King of the Hill" game, which matched the winners from the Senate and House leagues.
According to Caruso, the game was sponsored by Bill Sells, director of government relations at the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, in an attempt to "cozy up to the Speaker’s office and get access," since Reed’s boss was Speaker last year.
"Sells didn’t know the Democrats would take back the House eventually, and he was trying to cozy up to them and legitimize their league," Caruso said. "He was not going to include our league, the granddaddy of them all, in its 36th year of existence, in the ‘King of the Hill’ tournament."
But Sells, Reed and Sonja Hoover, commissioner of the Senate league, said that Sells was far from a sponsor of the game, providing just a small trophy that will be re-used each year.
As for the notion that he gained special access to Hastert’s office by donating the trophy, Sells said, "The fact of the matter is you can go to the [former] Speaker’s office and bring my name up, and no one in that office will even know my name. No one will say they know me or that I’ve lobbied them. Anthony Reed will be the only person who says he knows me, and that’s only because of softball."
Reed and Hoover added that the Senate league had tried for years to get a game with the CSL winner but that Caruso ignored repeated entreaties.
"We have a lot of people who play in both the Senate league and Gary’s league, and people always suggested it," said Hoover, who works for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). "I e-mailed Gary. I don’t know him personally, but someone gave me his phone number, and I left messages and got no response."
Caruso denied that he was ever contacted by Hoover about a "King of the Hill" game.

New Uniforms

In addition to several new faces, the F'n A's will field a new look when they take the field for 07. Gone are the red sleeved, white shirts with red logos, as well as last year's 'princess sleeve' shirts. This year the A's will sport an intimidating red t-shirt look with black lettering. Shirts are available by contacting the proshop at cmitchell@dcaclu.org with 'i need a damn shirt' in the subject line.

Game On!

April 23rd, 4:30 PM

Aresenal Field

St. Louis, MO

1st F'n Amendments vs. Drug Law Reform Project

The A's will play their first road game in franchise history, travelling to St. Louis for a duel with the Drug Project. The Drug team is linked to the NORML Onehitters from the Congressional Softball League, and are looking to avenge the A's win over their NORML pals in 2006. The team is led by Dan Berger and Carlie Ware, and from what we hear GM Graham Boyd has made participation mandatory and will make a Freedom Files episode from it. Well, voluteer armies fight better than drafted armies, and the A's are all eager and willing participants. It will be an interesting test for some of the newest A's. Three projected opening day starters are not making the trip to St. Louis (Young William -CF, Dave Engelberg -3B, and Rich Shordt -1B), leaving the door wide open for a rookie to make a big impression. Obviously things could change after seeing some of the players in practice and at the batting cages, but as of now the tentative lineup looks somethng like this:

1 - Cameron Barron, RF

2 - Charlie Mitchell, LF/MGR

3 - Kathleen McClellan, 2b

4 - Matt Alee, CF

5 - Mike German, 3b

6 - Frank Knaack, 1b

7 - Joanne Kang, RCF

8 - Aziz Ahmad, SS

9 - Tim Sparapani, DH

10 - Shin Inouye, P

11 - Mandy Simon, C

Reserves

Lane Dilg, Tim Sparapani, John Hardenbergh, Julissa Cruz, Greg Nojeim, Ian Thompson, others who decide to play

Bring it!

Position Preview: Shortstop

Shortstop - the glory position. Graced by legendary greats. A strong shortstop can carry a team. In two years, the A's have compiled a 7-36-1 regular season record (though they are 1-1 in tournament play), for an atrocious .163 winning percentage. They have tried multiple solutions at shortstop to varying degrees of success, but a .163 winning percentage cries out for a massive shakeup. That shakeup was delivered this offseason when A's management broke the bank to sign free agent shortstop Matt Allee (seen in his Pirate days, before changing the spelling of his last name). While the 2006 squad got decent production from the position, the defense wasn't what it needed to be. The Puma was a vaccuum, scooping up everything hit his way, but played cautiously.

Charlie Mitchell http://www.antekprizering.com/mitchellstory.html was aggressive and made the occasional sterling play, but lacked consistency and often misplayed the routine grounders or tried to stop hard liners with his neck. That's why the team turned its sights outward when looking for a 2007 starter.

Allee comes to the A's from the Pirates, where he was a fan favorite for his gritty play and almost Zombie like focus on the game. While other players would hit the bars on road trips, Allee would be found in his hotel room taking practice swings. His work ethic has always been a strength, but some wonder how the big free agent payday will affect him.

"Honestly, when the ACLU started tossing around some of those salary numbers, I was thinking to myself 'wow, I could almost afford an apartment on that!' But I'm not going to let the money change me. I'd play this game for free,a nd I'm just happy to be a part of this A's franchise, and hopefully to be a part of a championship contender."

"Oh snap, son. Damn," noted The Puma when told Allee would be coming to camp with the starting job his to lose. Then he just sighed mournfully in to the phone.

Position Preview: First Base

With the season closing in, F'n A takes a look at how starting position battles are shaping up. While all the competitions remain open, we'll look at projected depth charts heading into camp.

First Base

Frank Knaack* (2nd season) .667 1 2
Greg Nojeim (3) .400 0 0

Don't let the numbers fool you - first base is a position of depth for the A's entering 2007. That's a big change from 2005 and 2006. Few positions have seen as much turnover, but in the final week of 2006 the A's signed free agent Frank Knaack off the street. The team plugged him in at first and never looked back. He displayed a solid glove and a strong bat, and ended up winning the 2006 Young William 'Looking Good' Award, edging out Young William.

"Knaack Attack gives us stability at first base for the first time", said A's Manager Mitchell. "We can't wait to see the numbers he could put up with a full season of at bats."

Knaack also has the potential to be a fan favorite with his unorthodox look, featuring multiple tattoes and cut-off camo pants.

"Sounds good to me" said Knaack when first approached about getting the starting nod. "Are the mics off? Good, cause that's my f*^%ing position, I OWN it!"

Backing up Knaack is veteran Greg "Stretch" Nojeim, aka "The Noj". A great clubhouse presence, The Noj made his loudest noise last year when he beat out the Armenian Berserker in a Baklava cookoff. The Noj is a great late-inning defensive replacement, giving the A's a southpaw to really cover ground around the bag.