{"id":3707,"date":"2024-03-17T00:14:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-17T04:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/?p=3707"},"modified":"2024-03-18T10:34:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T14:34:22","slug":"the-14-biggest-winners-losers-from-the-ncbl-spring-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/17\/the-14-biggest-winners-losers-from-the-ncbl-spring-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"The 14 Biggest Winners &#038; Losers from the NCBL Spring Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ll save the acknowledgements for next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exactly 14 days ago, the NCBL Spring Meeting took place somewhere deep inside the Nepean Sportsplex; so deep, in fact, that for a while Bill didn&#8217;t even know where it was going to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately I, Shaun Keay, was not able to attend this meeting due to other personal commitments (<em>streaming shows on Crave<\/em>), but over the last couple of weeks, I have heard from many who did.  After reviewing the footage, combing through my DM&#8217;s, and even a lengthy phone conversation will multiple Tier Presidents, I was able to come up with a definitive list of the 14 Winners and Losers of this Spring Meeting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Not sure it\u2019s facts until the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SweatSox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SweatSox<\/a> says it\u2019s so?<\/p>&mdash; Winchestersox (@winchestersox) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/winchestersox\/status\/1764768224661344404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-d6c5d68335811fc4b0e11433d14d04ba wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">1. Winner: Brian Samuel<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s the all-time NCBL leader in just about every offensive category (<em>although he needs to step his triple game up<\/em>), he\u2019s the longest tenured Tier president, and he\u2019s probably consumed the most beers over the years, but most importantly: he was single handedly responsible for the switch in NCBL Banquet venues last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sammy had been talking about getting the NCBL out of Pineview for years, but didn\u2019t take action until he was forced to eat with plastic forks and knives in 2022. That was the final (paper) straw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commissioner Beelen recognized all of Brian\u2019s lifetime achievements at the start of the Spring Meeting, and then presented him with a belated 2023 Joe Beelen Volunteer of the Year Award.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1455.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-a7d26e56fde8a54862adb187a26584d0 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">2. Loser: Campus Conspiracy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were 2 expansion teams accepted into the NCBL this year, Campus Conspiracy <em>(aka the current Carleton Ravens team)<\/em> was not one of them.  Curiously, their pitch centered around playing <strong>ONLY<\/strong> the regular season, opting out of playoff baseball even if they qualified.  It was the most controversial pitch since the 2023 Capital City Reds, who\u2019s players didn\u2019t even know they were applying to the league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There may be a conspiracy on the Carleton campus, but not with this vote. You\u2019re either all-in, or all-out. This isn\u2019t that backwards New Brunswick league that Van Putten is playing in this year. If you don\u2019t want to play in the playoffs, go sign-up with the Braumeisters&#8230; ?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/97d62b71-2e91-4e94-82cf-b220c3c6114b_480x270.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/97d62b71-2e91-4e94-82cf-b220c3c6114b_480x270.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3713\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-dcf4498bd7b7f8786d4da3664db3b647 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">3. Loser: Gatineau Hawks<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were 2 expansion teams accepted into the NCBL this year, the Gatineau Hawks <em>(a mix of Blue Jays, Marc Sports, River Hawks, and Orioles)<\/em> was not one of them. Their application seemed in order on paper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They pulled competitive players from the NCBL, the Junior &amp; Senior Elite programs in Quebec, and even the first round of the 2007 MLB draft.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They recycled an old NCBL team name so they could save money on jerseys.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They had the full and complete support of the Blue Jays, where several of the Hawks players played last season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rest of the league, however, did take issue with how this expansion team may have come to be.&nbsp; Several members of the NCBL Executive received the Hawks&#8217; application in early December, but the Blue Jays weren\u2019t made aware that 69% of their roster may be leaving until early February.&nbsp; Several of my sources speculated that perhaps the Hawks were looking to catch the BJ\u2019s off guard, get them to fold, and then take over their spot in Tier 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a deterrent to future expansion teams looking to pull some kind of hostile takeover shenanigans, the Hawks application was rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There may have also been some mathematically proven attendance concerns as well.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1486.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-58484f9517950406931362b8d9a8bdb3 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">4. Winner: Bytown Bats<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first expansion team that earned a spot in the NCBL this year were the Bytown Bats.&nbsp; According to their presentation, they have an equal mix of middle of the pack Tier 1 players, and players who have never played baseball before, but saw the Toronto Blue Jays on TV once and would like to give it a go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bats, led by former Winchester Sox and Team Korea stud Cameron MacDonald, will play in Tier 3 this year, and if they can squeeze past the Tier favourite Padres, will certainly find themselves up in Tier 2 in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to the league Bats, slide into my DM&#8217;s if you&#8217;ve got any Lorenzo\u2019s Pizza coupon codes lying around.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3716\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483-850x850.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1483.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-2a2b1bb339e3a0bc64da77e05074921e wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">5. Loser: Team Korea<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Team Korea\u2019s chances at a [<s>championship<\/s>] [<s>playoff spot]<\/s> multiple win season took a hit during the Spring Meeting when Cameron MacDonald, their reigning Most Valuable Player, Batter of the Year, and Pitcher of the Year, officially defected to the Bytown Bats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with Cam MacDonald, Team Korea also had to say goodbye to Kyle Goodkey and Nicolas Coyles, who are also now Bats.  We do not yet know if they&#8217;re taking the legendary Team Korea Twitter account with them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One thing is for certain though, Team Korea will never be the same again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ko\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SweatSox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SweatSox<\/a> \ud314\ub85c\uc6b0\ud574 \uc8fc\uc154\uc11c \uac10\uc0ac\ud569\ub2c8\ub2e4.<\/p>&mdash; Team Korea NCBL (@TeamKoreaNCBL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamKoreaNCBL\/status\/1664439812122722304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-f7c2e4cec2132c3f8985a7220a2e4ebf wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">6. Loser: The Black Sox<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Black Sox had 4 more wins last year (14) than they did in 2022 (10), and that was all thanks to their Rookie of the Year Nathan \u201cNasty\u201d Nykilchyck (<em>pronounced exactly like it\u2019s written<\/em>).&nbsp; Unfortunately, the Black Sox are once again a sub .500 team now that Triple-N has also jumped ship to the expansion Bytown Bats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m told there was a contentious verbal spat between Black Sox and Bats management about which team this player was actually going to play for this year; but since the Bats signed Nykilchyck before they became an official NCBL team, they weren\u2019t yet subject to the league\u2019s strict anti-poaching policy, so this recruitment was deemed legal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sorry, Louis.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1485.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-f59bbfa67f2f9ae45a723b0d37639fd8 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">7. Winner: Los Gladiadores<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ottawa Gladiators, a spin-off of the now Tier 2 Los Latinos, came into the meeting on paper as heavy longshots to claim a spot as a new team in the NCBL this year, but ultimately won the voting members over by their willingness to play in the playoffs, a lack of illegally poached players, and the complete support from their former teammates and coaching staff, including a heartfelt plea from Paul Septimo and Gregorio Cobas, who put their reputations on the line and vouched for their credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gladiators spokesman Yuri Enriquez celebrated getting this new team into Tier 4 much like he celebrates every swing during every one of his at bats, with a loud, powerful grunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to the league Los Gladiadores!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484-850x850.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1484.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-5f8ef22127ef332e30f96a737e9bc20d wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">8. Winner: The SweatSox<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Craig Cornell\u2019s tenure as NCBL Treasurer was extended for another two years, which of course means for the next 2 years the SweatSox will once again not have to pay any league fees, as Cornell has become an expert at cooking the books after all these years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raise the team fees as much as you guys want, the SweatSox don&#8217;t care.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1474.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-33d6ad525901cecf4db5d97e4d9a9da4 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">9. Loser: Bill Beelen<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the beginning of January through the end of December, Bill Beelen is laser focussed on making and keeping the NCBL great. He gives and he gives, without asking for anything in return, well, except for us to kindly not rake infield puddles into the outfield at the Sportsplex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bill admittedly does look forward to one or two things a year that keeps him excited and motivated to keep doing what he does: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He loves sharing a case of Labatt Blue with his boys after a win.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He loves chalking the foul lines before a big game.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But most of all he loves listening to the bullshit excuses during team pitches from those who don\u2019t want to move up or down, despite them being legally bound to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sadly, since the team application portion of the meeting went <strong>so<\/strong> long, the team pitches were all but eliminated, and every team\u2019s request was approved, no questions asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Poor Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3711\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1475.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-476781decda35de983d6228306d68e97 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">10. Loser: The Lumberjacks Pitching Staff<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While most teams didn\u2019t have to say a word, Brett Stott did spend like a minute and nine seconds talking about how the Lumberjacks weren\u2019t good enough to move up a Tier, how their 18-4-2 record was phony, and how even though his 2 pitchers are older in age, weaker in muscle, softer in the bedroom, and much less committed than ever before, he\u2019s still not going to recruit anybody new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was no reason to do Ty and Alex like that.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3721\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1489.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-11af0161d1914e52921c23530cc19055 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">11. Winner: Stu Hayes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Coyotes were just one of two teams to move up a Tier this year, proving that unlike the Heat, Lumberjacks, and Reverse Vampires, they do have some marbles.&nbsp; Even though the Coyotes didn\u2019t do it the right way (<em>winning the pennant<\/em>), Stu gets full marks for promoting his team even though he didn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, not only did Stu walk out of the meeting with his balls hanging a little bigger, he walked out as the new Tier 3 President, after Gregorio Cobas of Los Latinos was forced to vacate the position after he moved his team up to Tier 2 (<em>also because of the marbles<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A pretty good upgrade after walking into the meeting as a measly second place Tier 4 manager.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1488.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-c97e98f17a904c682d3b03a8f44ee422 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">12. Winner: The Umpires Bank Accounts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first round of beers this year is on the umpires, who walked out of the Spring Meeting flushed with cash, after negotiating the best umpire pay rates in all of Ottawa, per the NCBL&#8217;s official Twitter account.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"774\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391-1024x774.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391-1024x774.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391-768x580.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391-850x642.jpg 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1391.jpg 1290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-a9b6d918eff1cc77cf14f4fec5fa61bc wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">13. Winner: The Padres<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It went down as the longest NCBL meeting on record at just over 2 hours, and with so many representatives of current and potentially new teams on hand, it was standing room only.&nbsp; If you didn\u2019t get there early enough, as the Lynx, Koreans, and Padres found out, you were stuck standing against the back wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be fair, the Padres co-managers did actually get there just in time to grab a seat, but it turned out those seats were right beside the Rockets contingent, so they voluntarily opted for the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Padres are obviously living up to their end of their Winter Meeting promise to be on their best behavior this year. I, Shaun Keay, can confirm through my various sources, that there were no bumps, shoves, or fisticuffs thrown before, during, or after the meeting between these two rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bayley was ready to scrap though!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/eb4d02b4a93a0f96fdc83d5d1108cfa4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/eb4d02b4a93a0f96fdc83d5d1108cfa4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/eb4d02b4a93a0f96fdc83d5d1108cfa4.jpg 500w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/eb4d02b4a93a0f96fdc83d5d1108cfa4-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-32c32df0019861b97696a835e82fb3b8 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">14. Loser: Badminton<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who knew there was no Ottawa badminton league on Friday nights?!?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490-850x478.png 850w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1490.png 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Final NCBL Spring Meeting Notes\/Thoughts:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It\u2019s only poaching if you get caught, or put it in writing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Bytown Bats are going to keep the best stats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where was Joe Beelen?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you can tell the difference between a ball and a strike, you are qualified to be an umpire.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Every team will play at least one game at the Stadium this year, maybe.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Every team should have to play at least one game a year at legendary Morgan Field, definitely.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bill\u2019s phone battery did end up lasting for the entire meeting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1491.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"685\" height=\"704\" src=\"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1491.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3723\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1491.jpg 685w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1491-292x300.jpg 292w, https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1491-300x308.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 685px) 100vw, 685px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;ll save the acknowledgements for next time. Exactly 14 days ago, the NCBL Spring Meeting took place somewhere deep inside the Nepean Sportsplex; so deep, in fact, that for a while Bill didn&#8217;t even know where it was going to be. Unfortunately I, Shaun Keay, was not able to attend this meeting due to other&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[101,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-ncbl","category-recap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_1492.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p41pWP-XN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3707"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3758,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3707\/revisions\/3758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}