There have been a lot of changes made for the 1998 season. Owners have made changes in personnel. Some teams have moved, both north and south. Spokane changed names. And the PVBL web sites have a new look, too, in preparation for the 1998 season.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: Looking back, I'd like to bring back a request that Dan had earlier. If any owners have players they'd like to nominate for "Player of the Week" due to individual achievements, do so my all means. Please indicate what reasons you feel the player deserves mention, either in terms of stats or what not. If anyone would like to mention an outstanding game the team partook in, such as a 13-inning 1-0 game or a 17-15 blowout or a special achievement (such as striking out 16 batters in a game or driving in 8 runs) please send the info to me and I'll be sure to write about it in the upcoming "State of the PVBL". I'm trying to include more features into the PVBL to make in more interesting and to be involved more on the team level.
[1] NEW TEAMS ENTER PVBL
[2] POLL RESULTS
[3] OFFSEASON TRADES
[1] NEW TEAMS ENTER PVBL
There will be some new fans and new places starting in the Spring of '98. The Calgary North Hosers folded due to lack of fan interest and moved to Springfield, taken over by corporate owner Aaron Watson. He recently announced the new name of the team--the Springfield Atoms. Less than a week earlier, millionaire Randy Reese acquired the Bellingham Aqua Sox and moved them to Medina where they have become the Mustangs.
The recent collapse of the Calgary franchise has been blamed not only on the team's recuring financial troubles but also on the diving Canadian dollar. Still, the Montreal and Edmonton franchises have shown no concern over this issue.
Journalists have been speculating about a rivalry between the Springfield Atoms and the Springfield Panthers. The only question remains: which Springfields are these?
In related news, the Spokane Paladins renamed their team. They will now be known as the Pirates. The owner, Jeremey Stephens, will be revealing shortly the new uniforms and the new mascot. What was the reason for the change? Mainly, said Stephens, to change their attitude on the field. It is also suspected that they changed their name for financial reasons, considering that the company that manufactures Captain Morgan is rumoured to be signing a corporate sponsorship.
The Chicago South Siders have declared that they will pursue a different franchise name, but have yet to come up with one.
[2] POLL RESULTS
Although less than half of the PVBL owners responded to the Public Relations poll, I decided that a week was long enough to wait for responses. Mainly, I asked if there was an interest in pursuing some new ideas that I had thought of.
The following ideas described in the poll will be implemented starting this coming season due to expressed interest:
1. I will now start a new column featuring a team. This column will probably come out at most once a week. At the minimum, once every two months. This isn't new by the way: Dan Shapiro, the former PR official, featured teams in his "State of the PVBL".
2. Before the season starts I will have a "predictions contest". What can you win? I haven't got any ideas. For that matter, I think the best thing is just getting "bragging rights" for having won the contest. (Maybe you have an idea?) There will be questions like: Which player will hit the most home runs? Which player will get the most RBIs? Which team will win the most games? And so on. It won't be questions like having to predict the positions of every team in the standings. No one could possibly do that. Of course, the contest will be optional, but I encourage everyone to enter. The more the merrier. I will probably send out the "98 predictions" a couple days before the season starts.
The opinion was about split on "Quotes of the Week" suggestion, but I decided it's not really that worth it if there's only half of the people interested. There was marginally less interest on the "division reports".
[3] OFFSEASON TRADES
There have been many, many trades during the offseason. Particularily active teams have been Deadwood, Hartford, Spokane, Washington and Phoenix (among others). The following list comprises some of the most high profile players who be wearing new uniforms come the 1998 season:
After the free agent draft, another wave of trades is expected before spring training goes underway. Top prospects include Jose Cruz Jr., Jaret Wright, Jerry Wood, Mike Cameron and Gary DellaVentura. After the draft, I will report on the events and acquisions.
