Heavy Metal Softball

Some Bragging Rights From Our Summer 2007 Visalia City League Campaign!!!

At the end of each league season, some recognition is always given to those individuals who contributed to the team in some way. The following categories -- most real, some intended for a few laughs -- are mostly from the offensive part of softball; some are just plain offensive! (Have a little sense of humor, guys! Don't get defensive. Get it -- "defensive"! Oh, never mind....)  So, for what it's worth, here we go:

Visalia City League, Thursday Night, summer 2007
7-3 record:  No team award; MVP selected by team ballot vote

OFFENSIVE CATEGORIES --

Most Plate Appearances:  Donny Aguiar (33)

Most At-Bats:  Donny Aguiar, Steve Stafford (tie, 31)

Most Runs:  Steve Stafford (18)

Most Singles:  Mike Lujan (19)

Most Doubles:  Steve Stafford (6)

Most Triples:  Steve Stafford (4)

Most Home Runs:  Wes Avery, Steve Stafford, Bill Thrasher (tie, 1)

Most RBIs:  Bill Thrasher (12)

Most Walks:  Joaquin Perez (2)

Most Sacrifices:  Wes Avery, Gene Hitt (tie, 3)

Highest On-Base Percentage:  Mike Lujan (.655)

Highest Slugging Percentage:  Steve Stafford (1.194)

Highest Batting Average:  Mike Lujan (.655)

Most Hits:  Steve Stafford (20)

Most Single-Game Points:  Bill Thrasher (19)

Most Offensive/Defensive Points:  Steve Stafford (100)

DEFENSIVE CATEGORIES --

Most Put-Outs:  Gene Hitt (26)

Most Assists:  Donny Aguiar, Wes Avery, Lee Garcia (tie, 11)

Most Errors:  Wes Avery (8)

Highest Fielding Percentage (infield):  Vern Amaro, Rich Avery, Lee Garcia (1.000 [no errors!] -- "Gold Glove Award")

Highest Fielding Percentage (outfield):  Mike Lujan, Joaquin Perez (1.000 [no errors!] -- "Gold Glove Award")

Highest Fielding Percentage (utility):  Bill Thrasher (1.000 [no errors!] -- "Gold Glove Award")

Most Defensive Points:  Mike Lujan, Joaquin Perez (tie, 24 -- Mike:  24 put-out pts. plus 0 assist pts. minus 0 error pts.; Joaquin:  23 put-out pts. plus 1 assist pt., minus 0 error pts.) (Reminder:  +1 point for a put-out, +1 point for an assist, -2 points for each error.  In other words, errors "take away" from your overall offensive/defensive effort!)

All of which leads to, if the above stats were used primarily in making our choices...

Most Valuable Player (Visalia City League, Men's D-Blue, summer 2007):  Steve Stafford (34 total points; by team ballot vote)

And for our "special" categories...

Most Non-Appearances (regular members):  Frank Fletcher (6) (Injuries can be a tough situation to move on from -- take your time healing up, buddy!  Two others were tied for second with 4 apiece:  Paul Lawrence and Dennis Ellorin.  Some others also were considered, even though their physical bodies actually made it to the games!)

Perfect Attendance (regular members):  Donny Aguiar, Vern Amaro, Gene Hitt, Mike Lujan, and Steve Stafford (All 10 games; gold stars to everyone!)

Most Memorable Performance:  Sorry, but there is no individual performance that sticks out in my mind at this time.  Because my stat sheets were pretty much devoid of home runs and 4-for-4 games, no pick will be selected for this particular league....      

Greatest Increase in Batting Average from Last League (spring 2007; minimum 5 games):  Mike Lujan (+.229, from .429 to .655) (Paul Lawrence came in second with a +.108 increase -- good job, buddy!)

Biggest "Plunge" in Batting Average from Last League (spring 2007; minimum 5 games):  Donny Aguiar (-.215, from .667 to .452) (Rich Avery came in second with a -.110 decrease; Vern Amaro was third with a -.100 decrease.)

Best Player Quote:  "No, that isn't Kurt, is it?"  (attributed to nearly everyone on the team who thought they were seeing a ghost!)  

Best Acting Performance by a Player/Manager: Drum roll, please...Vern Amaro!!! (9th time in a row!  A nine-peat!  Incredible!  Can this person run the career table!  This is for impersonating, once again, the second baseman -- and spokesperson -- of a pretty darn-good softball team!  By the way, were there any other eligible candidates on the team?)

"100 Points Plus Club":  Vern Amaro (1994 T.C.L. 130 pts./1999 T.C.L. 109 pts./2001 T.C.L. 103 pts./2002 T.C.L. 140 pts./2003 T.C.L. 106 pts./2004 T.C.L. 110 pts./2005 T.C.L. 103 pts.); Rich Avery (2000 T.C.L. 129 pts./2004 V.C.L. 102 pts.); Wes Avery (2005 T.C.L. 129 pts.); Matt Beltran (1999 T.C.L. 104 pts.); Gordon Caudle (2000 T.C.L. 120 pts.); Kurt Chambers (2004 T.C.L. 100 pts.); Frank Fletcher (1994 T.C.L. 115 pts./1999 T.C.L. 169 pts. [record]/2000 T.C.L. 134 pts./2002 T.C.L. 146 pts./2003 T.C.L. 113 pts./2004 T.C.L. 111 pts./2004 V.C.L. 112 pts./2005 T.C.L. 134 pts./2005 V.C.L. 109 pts./2006 V.C.L. 111 pts./2007 V.C.L. 105 pts.); Gene Hitt (1994 T.C.L. 108 pts./2000 T.C.L. 138 pts./2002 T.C.L. 121 pts./2005 T.C.L. 100 pts./2005 V.C.L. 106 pts.); Mike Lujan (2005 V.C.L. 101 pts./2006 V.C.L. 113 pts.); Rene Regalado (1999 T.C.L. 109 pts./2000 T.C.L. 120 pts.); John Souza (1994 T.C.L. 122 pts.); Steve Stafford (2006 V.C.L. 106 pts./2007 V.C.L. 100 pts.); Art Tabacco (2005 V.C.L. 116 pts.); Nelson Vieira (2002 T.C.L. 114 pts./2004 T.C.L. 112 pts./2006 T.C.L. 114 pts.)

Heavy Metal Softball rocks!  And I'm not joking here.  You've been a great bunch of guys to play side-by-side with, men! All kidding aside, I was really proud of our efforts, most especially the consistent team attitude displayed. I tip my cap off to all of you, as I know some of you come to play despite conflicting personal schedules, various aches and pains, balancing family and friends, and putting up with my managerial decisions. And so, in the meantime...keep rockin', guys -- and stay healthy for our next campaign!