My job is sending me to Afghanistan for a year in late January / early February.

After being unemployed for most of 2011, I decided to take a job working for a military contractor out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The job was contingent on my ability to go to Afghanistan for a year. So after I take my physicals, get my shots, do my paperwork, and learn my job, it is off to the vast unknown.

While I am there I will still try to write, but I am not sure how close I am going to be able to follow baseball in America. So that might mean you’ll see me less on Bus Leagues Baseball. I’ll try to do some interviews if at all possible – maybe I can email people some questions and post their answers here. Maybe I can find people who are playing baseball in Afghanistan and talk to them. A quick google search on “Afghanistan baseball” brings up articles on baseball being played in Afghanistan as early as 1946, baseball currently growing in popularity in Afghanistan, Army soldiers teaching Afghans baseball, the South Asian Baseball Tournament between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and other Americans keeping their baseball love strong by playing at bases thousands of miles from home. So there should be some interesting subjects to write about.

But I won’t be going to any games until Spring Training 2013.

Wow, that seems so far away, since we aren’t even in Spring Training 2012. But by the time the 2012 World Series finishes and the season is officially over, I’ll only have a few months left. The way I see it, following baseball will get me through to November, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, New Years, then I’ll be counting down the days on my fingers and toes.

Baseball history is full of players who travel and come back more successful. A few examples include Cecil Fielder, Orestes Destrade, and current Ranger hurler Colby Lewis. For these players, their time overseas helped them focus, seize their potential, and become better ballplayers. My goal is to do the same with writing. Along with the possibility of emailing Q&As, I also have some short stories I want to finish during my time away. Even though I will be out of the loop, I refuse to get rusty as a writer. With not much else to do besides work, I would be foolish not to take the time to improve my craft.

Another one of the benefits of going overseas for a year is the pay and the fact that I won’t be spending anything in regards to bills for a year. Perhaps I will do a trek of minor league parks when I return. We’ll see.

I hope to post a few more times here before I leave, but I wanted to give everyone the heads up as soon I could. Best to all of you this year and thanks for reading.

For more of my thoughts on my upcoming trip, feel free to check out my post on my home site, jordiscrubbings.com:

Going to Afghanistan in 2012 – Jordi Scrubbings.com

The voters for the third annual Bus Leagues Postseason Awards: Andrew Rosin, Brian Moynahan, Chris Fee, Eric Angevine, Mike Lortz, and Scott Grauer from Bus Leagues Baseball; Craig Forde from Beyond Fenway; Craig Wieczorkiewicz from Midwest League Traveler; Patrick Cavanaugh and Joshua Kummins from Boston Sports U18; Jeff Perro; Dave Gershman from Penn League Report; Ben Hill from Ben’s Biz Blog and MiLB.com; and Dan Suitor. Patrick and Ben abstained from voting for the Independent awards.

Up first: the awards for Independent Baseball’s Player, Starting Pitcher, and Relief Pitcher of the Year. Before we get started, I’d like to share something Dan Suitor wrote. It was intended as commentary on a player that fell outside the top three, and therefore wasn’t originally going to be included, but I thought it was a perfect summation of this level of play:

“Stats, schamats, when you’re talking about unaffiliated ball it’s all about being able to, completely on a whim, decide that you want to spend a warm summer evening under the lights in some anonymous little stadium, wolfing down hot dogs and shooting the shit with your buddies. Sometimes you just need to inject a little baseball in your life, and the Worcester Tornadoes gave me that freedom.”

Independent Player of the Year

FIRST
Ronnie Gaines, San Angelo (North American Baseball League)
75 G, 313 AB, .358 BA, 24 HR, 79 RBI, 92 RS, 19 SB, .455/.674/1.129
35 points (4-3-0-1-1)

“Nice combo of power and speed.” – Eric Angevine

“With devastating slash-lines, a potent power/speed combo, and a great defensive reputation, Ronnie Gaines has everything you’d want out of a center fielder. The independent leagues might not be the big time, but Gaines is as big a player as they’re ever going to have.” – Dan Suitor

SECOND
Daryl Jones, San Angelo (North American Baseball League)
85 G, 351 AB, .345 BA, 28 HR, 90 RBI, 81 RS, 11 SB, .408/.647/1.055
29 points (3-1-3-0-1)

“Daryl Jones sounds like a slugger’s name. I picture him having legends made from his exploits.
Like old Paul Bunyan.” – Mike Lortz

THIRD
Tommy Everidge, Lancaster (Atlantic League)
125 G, 501 AB, .319 BA, 28 HR, 94 RBI, 94 RS, .387/.569/.956
22 points (2-2-0-1-2)

“Nice balance here – 94 RBIs and runs, and he is our Iron Man for getting in to 125 games.” – Eric Angevine

THE FIELD
Blake Gailen, Lincoln, 20 (0-2-3-1-1); Trent Lockwood, Fort Worth, 14 (1-0-1-1-4); Ernie Munoz, White Sands, 12 (0-1-2-1-0); Chris Colabello, Worcester, 11 (1-0-1-1-1); Landon Camp, San Angelo, 11 (0-2-1-0-0); Wilver Perez, Calgary, 9 (1-0-0-2-0); Stephen Holdren, River City, 9 (0-1-0-2-1); Ray Sadler, Kansas City, 5 (0-0-1-1-0); Keanon Simon, Kansas City, 3 (0-0-0-1-1); Charlie Lisk, Gateway, 0

Independent Starting Pitcher of the Year

FIRST
Mike Loree, Long Island (Atlantic League)
24 G, 19 GS, 14-5 W-L, 1.98 ERA, 122.2 IP, 103 H, 28 BB, 131 SO
60 points (12-0-0-0-0)

“Really nice numbers across the board.” – Eric Angevine

“My name is Mike Lortz. His name is Mike Loree. I grew up on Long Island. He pitches for Long Island. He is my favorite Independent League pitcher.” – Mike Lortz

SECOND
Ben Moore, Sioux Falls (Frontier League)
22 G, 21 GS, 13-4 W-L, 2.92 ERA, 145 IP, 124 H, 49 BB, 144 SO
34 points (0-6-1-3-1)

“The differences between Ben Moore and Ryan Sheldon are pretty minor- Sheldon might even be a little better- but I want to give it up for a guy who’s pitching well and pitching for the right reasons. At age 30, Moore must not harbor any illusions, so to still be dedicating his life to baseball is incredibly admirable.” – Dan Suitor

THIRD
Ryan Sheldon, Normal (Frontier League)
21 GS, 12-5 W-L, 2.82 ERA, 140.2 IP, 115 H, 39 BB, 134 SO
20 points (0-2-3-1-1)

“So did Ryan Sheldon have an above normal season for a pitcher in Normal? Seems like it.” – Mike Lortz

“He’s a touch better than Ben Moore, probably, but he plays for the Normal (Illinois) Cornbelters. What’s a cornbelter? Wait, don’t say anything; you’ll just ruin the platonic ideal of what it could be. And, anyway, Normal plays a part in one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite singers: “Effington” byBen Folds. It could easily function as the lament of an independent league baseball player questioning the choices that brought him to this point in his life, as the signs on Route 55 blow by. “Maybe I should ditch this little white rental on the interstate/Start a new life in Effington/I could change my name, grow a beard, start a family/Or I could just keep moving on/moving on/moving on/moving on/And not stop till I get to Normal.” – Dan Suitor

THE FIELD
Isaac Pavlik, New Jersey, 18 (0-2-2-2-0); Eric Blackwell, Rio Grande Valley, 11 (0-1-1-1-2); Josh Lowey, River City, 10 (0-0-1-3-1); Zach Zuercher, Worcester, 10 (0-1-1-1-1); Chandler Barnard, San Angelo, 9 (0-0-3-0-0); Nick Schumacker, Sioux City, 3 (0-0-0-1-1); Dustin Williams, Windy City, 3 (0-0-0-0-3); Corey Thurman, York, 2 (0-0-0-0-2); Jake Renshaw, Joliet, 0

Independent Relief Pitcher of the Year

FIRST
Josh Dew, Wichita, (American Association)
34 G, 3-1 W-L, 20 SV, 1.13 ERA, 40 IP, 27 H, 19 BB, 62 SO
41 points (5-0-4-2-0)

“Great ERA, decent number of Ks and good results in the bargain.” – Eric Angevine

SECOND
Ryan Quigley, Joliet (Frontier League)
43 G, 1-3 W-L, 28 SV, 2.32 ERA, 42.2 IP, 31 H, 25 BB, 72 SO
39 points (5-2-0-3-0)

“The pile of saves and the strikeouts sold me on Quigley.” – Eric Angevine

“Just imagine how many “Quigley Down Under” headlines we could write if this guy got signed by a major league organization and assigned to an Australian Baseball League winter team. Also, he struck out a bunch of guys.” – Dan Suitor

THIRD
Ruben Flores, Lake Erie (Frontier League)
45 G, 2-3 W-L, 21 SV, 2.24 ERA, 56.1 IP, 30 H, 23 BB, 77 SO
32 points (1-3-4-1-1)

“Good numbers, better sandwich.” – Dan Suitor

THE FIELD
Edgar Martinez, Rio Grande Valley, 20 (1-3-1-0-0); Adrian Martin, Rockland, 11 (0-1-1-1-2); Jon Hunton, Grand Prairie, 10 (0-1-1-1-1); Scott Mueller, Traverse City, 10 (0-1-1-1-1); Jim Ed Warden, Southern Maryland, 7 (0-1-0-0-3), Eric Massingham, Evansville, 6 (0-0-0-2-2); Brett Durand, Windy City/Rockford, 2 (0-0-0-1-0); P.J. Zocchi, Lincoln, 2 (0-0-0-0-2)

This morning, after a second email, he did get back to me, and we spoke for a few minutes this afternoon about the league’s decision to negate Bridgeport’s 1 ½ game wild card lead by scheduling a one-game playoff between the Bluefish and third-place Southern Maryland.

Klein told me that because of a desire to start the playoffs on time, there were essentially three scenarios considered by the league once it became clear that the wild card would come down to Bridgeport and Southern Maryland:

1) They could have ended the season as scheduled on Sunday and awarded the wild card to the Bluefish. This would have been great for Bridgeport, as its wild card lead would have meant something, but obviously terrible for Southern Maryland. The Blue Crabs needed to finish 4-1 to force a tie, which I think then would have given them the wild card by virtue of a 10-8 edge in the season series. Winning four out of five is a tall order, especially in three days, even against two of the league’s three sub-.500 teams (Camden and Somerset), but at least it’s a chance. So this possibility was nixed.

2) They could have allowed Southern Maryland to make up the five games Irene stole and didn’t want to give back. This would have been very difficult, for obvious reasons, the primary one being that it would have destroyed Southern Maryland’s pitching staff, to the point that even if they fought their way into the playoffs, the competitive advantage would lie almost entirely with Long Island. What’s the point of getting to the playoffs if you have to use your mascot as the Game 1 starter?

3) They could have asked both teams to give a little – Bridgeport to forget about its 1 ½ game lead, Southern Maryland about its 10-8 edge in the season series (which would have benefited them in the event of a tie, as noted above) – and play a one-game playoff on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to play Long Island. Several times, Klein referred to this as something in line with “the history of the game,” citing the 1978 Red Sox-Yankees playoff game as a reference. He’s right that there is a history of one-gamers, but incorrectly told me that three game playoffs generally did not occur. I started to mention the 1951 and 1962 playoffs between the Giants and Dodgers, but didn’t press the issue because it seemed like the bigger point was that they didn’t have time for a three games anyway.

In the end, of course, Choice #3 won out.

“What I think the league did,” Klein said, “was take the best option for both teams.”

I still think the doubleheader scenario I mentioned last night – schedule two games on Tuesday; Bridgeport needs to win one game, Southern Maryland needs to win both – was the best possible solution, though a bit more out of the box than they were willing to consider (it would have involved innovating an entirely new solution rather than following historical examples), and I told Klein this. He raised a good point: in the actual playoff, Southern Maryland used three pitchers and Bridgeport used six. Add a second game to the mix and you run the same risk as Choice #2 above: running your staff into the ground and rendering it uncompetitive in the postseason. Okay, I get that. I still think it’s a better option than the one they used, but that’s a valid criticism.

Ultimately, though, it’s not important what I think. The important thing is that both teams agreed to a single course of action, even though it meant giving up some advantages and accepting the need to compromise (I think the Bluefish gave up quite a bit more, but that’s just me). Hey, at least that’s a positive mindset that we can all learn from, right?

(I thought about saying that it was karma that caused the Blue Crabs to lose tonight’s playoff opener to Long Island, but that’s ridiculous. Any team that employs Michael Schlacht enjoys a surplus of karma.)

If things get wild and crazy and one team happens to win both halves in its division, the team in that division with the next best overall record makes the playoffs as a wild card.

If things get REALLY wild and crazy and inclement weather results in the cancellation or postponement of several games for one team and none for another, and those two teams happen to be fighting for a playoff spot…well, then things get tricky.

That was the situation in the Liberty Division, where the Long Island Ducks beat Southern Maryland by four games in the first half and Bridgeport by three games in the second, bringing the wild card scenario into play. That race was led by the Bluefish (68-58), who through Sunday held a 1 ½ game advantage over Southern Maryland (64-57).

The plan originally called for the Blue Crabs to play the five games they missed due to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, but that was scrapped in favor of a new course of action: a one game, winner-take-all playoff tonight.

I’ll spare the suspense: Southern Maryland beat Bridgeport, 9-4, behind Travis Garcia and Tanner Townsend, who went a combined 7-10 with five RBIs. It’s a good win for the Blue Crabs, but it results in the awkward reality that they will be in the postseason despite finishing with the third-best overall record in the division. Sure, it’s not fair that Mother Nature messed with their schedule…but how is it fair that Bridgeport will be at home during the playoffs while a team they outplayed over 120+ games continues on in search of a ring, simply because of one game?

It’s not.

Everything I’ve read seems to indicate that representatives from both teams were on-board with the decision. (I emailed Executive Director Joe Klein on Monday to see if he could help explain the reasoning. He has yet to respond.) That doesn’t mean it was right. Rather than just complain about the unfairness of life, however, I thought maybe I should come up with a solution of my own. You know, play a little, “Choose Your Own Adventure: The Atlantic League.” Sounds like fun, don’t it?

Okay, let’s start with the facts as I understand them: Southern Maryland had a ton of games rained out. Making them up would entail playing five games in three days (yay, doubleheaders!) and pushing the start of the playoffs back a day, from Wednesday to Thursday. If I’m running the league, I don’t want to do this. Don’t ask questions, I just don’t. So an alternate plan is necessary.

Alright, so here’s what I think I do in this situation: schedule a single-admission doubleheader for Tuesday. Bridgeport wins the first game, congratulations, cue the celebration, they’re in. If Southern Maryland wins the first game, they’re a half-game out and the second game of the doubleheader becomes your winner-take-all game, with the victor advancing to take on the mighty Ducks of Long Island.

Am I silly here, or does that make more sense? With the one-game playoff scenario that actually happened, you’ve already decided to allow these two teams to settle it on the field. The difference is that according to the way things played out, the team with fewer wins, a lower winning percentage, and a half-game deficit made the playoffs, while according to my plan, you’re giving the Blue Crabs a chance without screwing the Bluefish.

Is my scenario a bit tougher on Southern Maryland? Sure – they’d have had to win two games to make it in. But they were in second-place to begin with. The league did them a solid by scheduling the playoff game in the first place. It would’ve been just as easy to be like, “Sorry folks, season’s over. Better luck next year.” The doubleheader gives them a tough road, not an impossible one.

In the end, what’s done is done, and congratulations are in order for Southern Maryland. They played well all season, were given a way to reach the postseason, and they got it done. It’s just too bad that the road they followed was flawed.

Last night, Hobson’s Lancaster Barnstormers were in Somerset to take on the Patriots. I don’t know any other details, and I don’t care. All I know is that Mike Ashmore was there, with his video camera on, and he captured 42 seconds of Butch Being Butch:

Mike wasn’t sure exactly what Butch was thinking there. I’m guessing he was systemically ejecting the entire umpiring crew, but there’s really no way to know.

And that’s not all. I looked around a bit online and discovered ANOTHER recent gem (if finding something from the Huffington Post can be called “discovering”). This one features an old classic: the “get tossed, pull the base out of the ground, autograph it, and give it to a fan”. I think he pulls this one out in every city he manages in (and every time, everyone acts like it’s something amazing that we’ve never seen before).

Photo: Brobible.com

(Beginning in 2012, the Carolina Mudcats will move to Pensacola, taking the place of the independent franchise that played there from 2002 to 2009, and the Kinston Indians will move to Carolina. Kinston, sadly, will be left without a team, at least temporarily.)

Someone, it maybe have been Jeff Perro (@MiLBClubbie), wondered about the name of the new team. At the time, I did a quick Google search, came up with an MiLB.com story about the ownership situation (the same people that owned the independent franchise own this team), and passed it along. The conversation soon turned in a different direction, and I moved on to something else.

Still, the question of what they will call this new team stayed with me. The obvious first thought was that they will continue to use the “Pelicans” name, an idea the esteemed Will Carroll (@injuryexpert – yeah, I know, I can name drop with the best of them) agreed with, mainly because he feels it’s a good name that the owners won’t want to change.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I wondered if maybe there was more to consider. For some reason I assumed that Pensacola had a decent professional baseball history, and I was right: the city’s first team debuted almost 100 years ago, in 1913, and has since been followed by a number of different teams, leagues, classifications, and nicknames. I’ve listed them below as a starting point:

1. Pensacola Pelicans (American Association, Independent, 2006-09; Central League, 2004-05; Southeastern League, 2002)
2. Pensacola Senators (Alabama-Florida League, D, 1961-62)
3. Pensacola Angels (Alabama-Florida League, D, 1960)
4. Pensacola Dons (Alabama-Florida League, D, 1957-59)
5. Pensacola Fliers (Southeastern League, B, 1946-50)
6. Pensacola Pilots (Southeastern League, B, 1927, 1937-42)
7. Pensacola Flyers (Southeastern League, B, 1928-30)
8. Pensacola Snappers (Cotton States League, D, 1913)

For starters, you can probably toss out the Senators and Angels, as I’m assuming those names were derived from relationships with major league organizations. I suppose you could, in that vein, consider Pensacola Reds an option, but I don’t think the Studers will go that way. Anyone that calls a team the Pelicans probably isn’t gonna take the easy way out.

That leaves six. Three of those – the Fliers, Flyers, and Pilots – would seem to honor the importance of aviation to Pensacola’s history: according to Wikipedia, the city is home to the first Naval Air Station in the United States, the Blue Angels flight demonstration team, and the National Museum of Naval Aviation. It’s always nice to honor your heritage (and the 1949 Fliers were picked as the 67th-best minor league team of all-time back in 2001), but I can’t see that happening here unless they maybe go with “Blue Angels”. Besides, the city has also recently had two hockey teams: the Ice Pilots and the Ice Flyers. Redundancy no es bueno.

The other three are Dons (I don’t know where the hell they got this from), Snappers (the first nickname in the city’s baseball history), and Pelicans. Snappers actually isn’t half bad – local significance, historical relevance, potential for a cool logo – but Beloit has dibs. I hate when teams share names. It just feels so unoriginal and, with so many good possibilities out there, unnecessary.

So if you’re going for a name with some Pensacola history, it looks like Pelicans is still your best bet (point: Carroll). The previous Pelicans were reasonably successful, people seem to like the name, and it’s a good name with a quality logo. Moreover, the same ownership group that worked so hard to build that brand up is still in town. It makes sense on many levels for the new franchise to retain the name and everything associated with it.

I’d kinda like to see them go another direction though. Don’t ask me what direction that would be, because I don’t know, but I guess I see this as a new franchise that will need its own identity to be successful. Though the Pelicans appear to have produced a quality product, it was an independent franchise. As Pensacola moves back into the world of affiliated Minor League Baseball, they could establish and emphasize that the team they are bringing to town is a completely different animal than the one that left in 2009.

My best guess? They’ll probably have some sort of contest to determine the new name. It’s always nice to see democracy in action. I just hope they leave the Pensacola Mudcats out of the running.

I was working on one of my many projects the other day when I started wondering about the classification history of the modern minor leagues. Perhaps one day I’ll delve into this in greater detail – I’d love to research and write a series of books about the history of each individual league – but for now, I used Baseball-Reference.com to take a rudimentary look at the movement of the leagues through the years.

There were a few things that jumped out at me:

–Three of the five United States-based Double-A and Triple-A leagues have been classified as such since 1946 (the Pacific Coast League did have a six season run of glory under the “Open” classification). The other two, the Eastern and Southern Leagues, have been classified as Double-A since 1963 and 1964, respectively.

–We see the actual timetable for the official relationship between Major League Baseball and the Mexican League.

–There were major changes in 1963 (I think that’s when they eliminated Classes B, C, and D) and 1990 (when Class A-Advanced was created). I want to say this was discussed in Wild and Outside, because it sounds awfully familiar. Wikipedia actually has a nice little article on the subject, and minor league baseball in general.

Majors

American League
A – 1900
Majors – 1901-present

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League
NA – 1887, 1898
Independent – 1903
A – 1904-11
AA – 1912-45
AAA – 1946-51
Open – 1952-57
AAA – 1958-present

International League
None – 1886, 1889
NA – 1896, 1898
None – 1900
D – 1908
AA – 1912-45
AAA – 1946-present

Mexican League
Independent – 1925-54
AA – 1955-66
AAA – 1967-present

Double-A

Eastern League
None – 1884-86
NA – 1887
None – 1892-94
A – 1895-1911
B – 1916-18
A – 1919-62
AA – 1963-present

Southern League
None – 1885, 1887-88
NA – 1889
AA – 1964-present

Texas League
Semipro – 1884
None – 1888-90
B – 1892
C – 1897-99
D – 1902-03
C – 1904-05
D – 1906
C – 1907-10
B – 1911-20
A – 1921-35
A-1 – 1936-42
AA – 1946-present

Class A-Advanced

California League
NA – 1879-86
None – 1887-91
B – 1892
None – 1893
None – 1896-97
D – 1898
E – 1899
None – 1900
NA – 1901
Independent – 1902, 1906-09
C – 1941-42, 1946-62
A – 1963-89
A+ – 1990-present

Carolina League
None – 1936-38
C – 1945-48
B – 1949-62
A – 1963-89
A+ – 1990-present

Florida State League
NA – 1892
D – 1919-20
C – 1921-24
D – 1925-28, 1936-41, 1946-62
A – 1963-89
A+ – 1990-present

Class A

South Atlantic League
NA – 1892
C – 1904-17, 1919-20
B – 1921-30, 1936-42
A – 1946-62
AA – 1963
A – 1980-present

Midwest League
None – 1923-25
D – 1956-62
A – 1963-present

Class A-Short Season

New York-Pennsylvania League
NA – 1890
None – 1891
B – 1923-32
A – 1933-37
D – 1957-62
A – 1963-66
A-short – 1967-present

Northwest League
None – 1947
B – 1955-62
A – 1963-65
A-short – 1966-present

Rookie

Pioneer League
C – 1939-42, 1946-62
A – 1963
Rookie – 1964-present

Appalachian League
D – 1911-14, 1921-25, 1937-55
D-short – 1957-62
Rookie – 1963-present

Arizona League
NA – 1897
Rookie – 1988-present

Gulf Coast League
D – 1907-08, 1926
C – 1950
B – 1951-53
Rookie – 1966-present

Dominican Summer League
Rookie – 1985-present

Venezuelan Summer League
Rookie – 1997-present

Independents

American Association
Majors – 1882-91
Independent – 1903
A – 1903-11
AA – 1912-45
AAA – 1946-62, 1969-97
Independent – 2006-present

Atlantic League
Independent – 1895
A – 1896
B – 1897-98
A – 1899
None – 1900, 1905, 1907
NA – 1908
None – 1909
D – 1914-15
Independent – 1998-present

Northern League
Independent – 1902
D – 1903-05, 1908
C – 1913-16
D – 1917, 1933-40
C – 1941-42, 1946-62
A – 1963-65
A-short – 1966-71
Independent – 1993-present

Part of the reason I left that game out and avoided turning the piece into a lengthy reminiscence was because I didn’t really remember that much about it. Okay, scratch that. As you’ll see, I remember some of the details, certainly enough to tell a couple funny stories, but I didn’t have enough of the setting in place – the date, the opponent, the location of the seats – to convince myself that I wasn’t making half of my memories up out of thin air.

Then, over the weekend, I was cleaning my basement. I love my basement, especially since it has started to take on the look and feel of a Man Room (at least the part without the washer and dryer and huge piles of clothes on the floor. That part feels, quite appropriately, like a laundry room). It’s been quite some time since I had a Man Room to call my own; the last one disappeared with the impending arrival of a small human who looks sort of like me, often smells funny, refuses to eat anything but chicken nuggets and peanut butter and fluff sandwiches, and has taken to starting every morning by crawling into our bed and whispering, “I watch Dora. I watch Diego,” until his mother turns on the TV. Terrifying.

But I digress.

While I was cleaning, I found a shoebox filled to the brim with old birthday and anniversary cards from my wife, cards from the little one’s first birthday, and a bunch of old ticket stubs. Many of these were movie tickets that may or may not be interesting, but a fair number were to sporting events, concerts, and other venues. (Expect to see more of these here and at my other place.) As I sifted through my find, what did I discover? A Nashua Pride ticket stub from September 2, 2000.

This has to be The Game. As you can see from the picture, my seat at Historic Holman Stadium (“New England’s Most Beautiful Ballpark”) on this night was Section 207, Row M, Seat 6. I’m pretty sure that is high on the first base side of Holman’s seating bowl; I remember sitting in that general area at my first game. The cost of the ticket was four dollars. My first game was on the Pride’s annual Fidelity Investments Night (my mother-in-law worked there at the time), when the company bought tickets at a reduced rate and resold them to employees at an even greater discount.

The opponent was the Atlantic City Surf, which means…okay, nothing. It means nothing. I have no memory of the opponent, which, ironically, was taken as a great point of interest when I interviewed with the Pride for an internship in the winter of 2003. I mentioned to Andy Crossley, the Assistant GM, that I had attended a Pride game in the past (yes, just the one; clearly, I was part of the problem). He paused, looked at me with great interest, and said, “Oh really? Who won?” I was stumped. I didn’t remember. I still don’t. And that was his point: most people who go to minor league games don’t care if the team won or lost. They care that they had a good time, that they got their money’s worth in entertainment, that their kids went home happy at the end of the night.

(Andy then launched into his ideal promotion: instead of doing different giveaways throughout the season, like all teams do, he wanted to give away X number of Thunderstix at every game. He figured that would really get the place hopping, make fifteen hundred people sound like three thousand. Sure, I thought, sounds like a great idea…until I actually heard what Thunderstix sound like. This was not a great idea at all, but what I imagine Hell must sound like. Sorry Andy.)

Sorry, I digressed again. Where was I? Oh, right – memories, misty water-colored memories, of the way we were. Like I told Andy, I didn’t remember who won the game. I still couldn’t tell you. But I do remember that the entertainment was provided by The World Famous Monkey Boy, aka Chris Ames, who I believe at the time was still working as the Pride’s ticket manager. My wife (she was my girlfriend then, of course; we had been dating less than a year) was all about Monkey Boy – you’ve gotta see Monkey Boy, wait till you see Monkey Boy, you’re gonna love Monkey Boy. Then a guy in a monkey suit ran out and I was like, “Oh look, it’s a guy in a monkey suit.” Such a cynic.

I don’t recall everything he did – well, I remember a lot of his schtick, but he was a steady visitor to Nashua for several years, so there’s a good chance I’m just remembering stuff from subsequent visits – but I do remember the goddamn ENERGY that this guy had. I mean, for starters, he made his entrance by sprinting in from the outfield. Then he sprinted all over the field. Everything he did was full speed, which pretty much roped all the adults into the show – I mean, how can you not at least appreciate a guy that dedicated to helping you enjoy the evening? And the kids absolutely friggin’ LOVED him. He squirted them with a Super Soaker. He messed with the umpire. He bounced around the field like an overactive Gumby. (Again, maybe not all on this night, but in general.) He was AWESOME.

Beyond Monkey Boy, there is one on-field memory that I have of this particular game, and the only reason I have it is because it was a great little story that I used to remind my wife about all the time. One of the stars of the Pride teams of that era was outfielder Jose Malave, who played parts of four seasons in Nashua. When we saw him in 2000, he was finishing up the only full season he spent in the Gate City, and it was a good one: .310 BA, 25 homeruns, 79 RBI, and a .919 OPS for the eventual Atlantic League champions. He was, as they say, pretty good.

He was also a recognizable former major leaguer who had spent part of the 1996 and 1997 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, making him at least a demi-god in my twenty-year-old eyes. I mean, here was a guy who had played at Fenway Park. I had baseball cards with his picture on them. And now, here he was, just down the road from my girlfriend’s house, playing baseball. So cool.

I looked over at her when Malave came up early in the game. “Alright,” I said. “If he gets a base hit here, we name our first child Malave.”

Even then, in the earliest stages of our relationship, she knew just the right look to give me when I started acting irrational. It sort of says, “I love you dearly, but you, sir, are an idiot.” I’m sure most men in serious, long-term relationships know exactly what I’m talking about. So my assumption is that she gave me this look, and that I accepted it for what it was, and in turn looked at her and said, “So, is it a bet?”

Honestly, I don’t remember if she agreed. Probably not, knowing her. Spoil sport. What I do remember is that a couple innings later, Malave put a major league swing on a minor league pitch, launching it high and deep to center. Back, back, back…gone. This was more than a base hit; this was a homerun, a longball, a roundtripper. Homage must be paid. A bet was a bet. I looked at my girlfriend.

“No,” she said.

“But…but…a homerun…Malave…we can call him Mal…”

“No.”

Four years later, almost to the day, we were married, and nearly three years after that, our son came along. We went into the hospital with three names – Benjamin, Thomas, and a third one that clearly meant so much to me that I can’t remember it. We weren’t really set on any of them, though, and after they wheeled my wife away to get her ready for the operation, I sat there in the hospital room with my in-laws, thinking. Suddenly, it hit me. I knew what our boy’s name was going to be.

I didn’t get a chance to mention it to my wife until after the delivery, when she had been brought back to the room. Leaning over, I kissed her on the head and said, “I was thinking…what about Joseph?”

Her face broke into the big, goofy smile of a woman who had just given birth and was now enjoying her pain meds, perhaps a bit too much. “We’ll call him Joeeeeeey,” she cooed. “I like it.”

Joseph, Jose. Close enough. I win.

(Okay, okay, so I actually chose Joseph for my son’s name because it’s my father’s middle name. Why ruin a good story with little things like details?)

The first, as Eric told us a few days ago, is Tiffany Brooks, who is listed as a pitcher with the Canada A’s.

The other name was more unexpected: Jonathan Johnston, the catcher from the United States Naval Academy who was drafted by Oakland and played 36 games for Kane Country in 2008 before being called back to active duty. Jonathan was one of our first interviews back at the old place: I asked to speak with him after he left a comment on a Memorial Day post about players from the service academies. He was very pleasant and generous with his time.

Jonathan is playing for the Coachella Valley Snowbirds after being released from active duty:

The Navy has an option for its officers to leave active duty one year early if they meet certain criteria; Johnston qualified based on his service time, and his request was granted last Sept. 30. He must serve four years in the reserves but is currently classified as Individual Ready Reserve, a unit highly unlikely to be called back to active duty.

At last, he can play games again. Now comes the question: How good can he be?

Physically, of course, Johnston won’t have any problems. He has excellent footspeed for a catcher and stole 35 bases in his final season at Navy. He is fanatical about weightlifting and known for being in impeccable shape. “He’s got a six pack. The guy is totally shredded. He had noooo problem walking around with his shirt off,” laughed Friend.

Baseball, though, is a game of repetition. And it’s hard to throw and swing on a warship.

“It feels like it’s been 10 years,” Johnston said. “You’ve got to realize this: Until that point — when I was 24 years old — I had played baseball since I was 4. I had been playing nonstop for 20 years. Now I haven’t played for 2-1/2. It’s kind of weird.

“I don’t know if you’ve read the Josh Hamilton book, but when he got back into it, after his rehab, everything kind of fell into place. The only thing that was weird for him was running the bases.

“I’m just going to take everything in. It really makes you enjoy every minute you’re out there.”

Jonathan struck me as a good guy who was trying to get the best of both worlds. Now, after missing more than two full seasons while making a significant impact on one front, he’s finally getting the opportunity to make his mark in another world. We’re wishing him the best.

Photo: Fox Sports

Sugar Land’s minor league baseball team has yet to be formed, but planners have begun selling tickets for its 2012 inaugural season Wednesday after unveiling the team’s name, the Skeeters

The Skeeters would become the first of the four to six teams to be created for the independent Atlantic League’s planned Western Division. Planners expect players to be recruited internationally.

Real estate agent Tony Johnson, who submitted “Skeeters” during a naming contest, received a lifetime season ticket.

Houston Chronicle

Granted, we haven’t seen even an artist’s rendering of what the team’s mascot might look like, but there are only so many ways you can go with a blood-sucking insect. We’re really looking forward to the first Malaria Night promotion. Free bed netting for the first 200 kids!