Interview: Alex Shore

		Captains Corner
		with David Buhr

He's competitive. He's talented. He's bold. He's brash. He's Alex Shore. That brashness is what I believe helped put WSEM on the NWLA radar. A sarcastic mouth, bold predictions and assumptions, and the numbers to back you up generate good stories. Alex quite possibly lives by the credo, "It's not bragging if it's true". Well, he certainly has the stats to prove himself. What can really be appreciated about Alex, however, is his passion, his drive to win, and his love for the game. He generates competition throughout the league which may be one of the best things for the league. It's sad that he'll only be able to play a couple of weeks this year before a season ending surgery. I'm sure he'll still show up to games and remain an active part of the league with Twitter. Now I present to you a humbler, though no less talkative, Alex Shore.

Name:	Alexander Michael Shore
DOB:	01/07/1993
Height:	182.88 cm
Weight:	72.7 Kg

1. How did you come up with the Westside Warriors team name last year?

If my memory serves me correctly, Woods and I entered the Rally-around-the-flag-a-palooza tournament and decided we needed a team name. Ironically earlier that day we were talking about how cool the Brother Rice Warriors (my high schools rival) color scheme and logo is. We were the only team at the time from Oakland County and ironically the only team on the west side of metro-Detroit, so thus the Westside Warriors were formed.

2. Now that the Warriors have been disbanded, how do you think you and your new team will fare in the league this year?

This is only a one-season thing. The warrior crew will be back. This is just the best way for the guys to stay active while I’m out for the season. Hopefully depending on how successful the season is, Joe and his guys, will become warriors if they need a team.

3. Between Austin Bischoff and Dennis Pearson, who do you think is better? Do you think you're better than either of them?

I respect both of these players' vast amounts. If I had to choose the better amongst the two, it would be Bischoff. My sole reasoning is that Dennis has had multiple years in WSEM and has grown into an equal player to the current Bischoff. Austin Bischoff is a rookie who still has much room for improvement, given that he will become more acquainted with the game and the league. My prediction is that after this season, Bischoff will emerge into the most dominant two-way player in the history of WSEM. Furthermore, I do not see myself superior to either of these ball players.

4. What team do you think has the most legitimate shot at winning it all this year? Do you think it'll be a repeat or will the Ducks be shot down?

In my “Science of Power Rankings” article I gave a pretty in-depth description on why the DeLoppes will run away with this title. The Ducks will NOT repeat, as a matter of fact they might not even COMPETE. Lewis was a huge addition but as we saw in September, that addition has messed up the Ducks team chemistry. If Dennis is only a threat for two to three innings on average, this team is very beatable for two reasons. First, they are far from great defensively, and second, the Ducks had a huge amount of close 1 to 2 run games that they had won in extra innings last season with Dennis pitching the whole day. Not enough depth here to win it all this year.

5. What was your favorite sport growing up?

Hockey. Always has been, always will be.

6. Did you have a favorite hobby?

Travel Baseball Umpiring

7. Did you ever have any awesome or unusual nicknames?

Shore, Jersey, A-train

8. What are your thoughts on the new pitching rule? Which team do you think will benefit the most from it? Which team do you think it might hurt the most?

I absolutely love the new pitching rule. It challenges depth and pure talent of your team as a whole. Great rule all around. The team that will benefit the most is the Deloppes considering they have already played with this rule for an entire year. Obviously enough, the team that will hurt the most is the Ducks.

9. Where do you think the biggest rivalry will lie this year?

Ducks vs WWA : It’s like a Crosby (Dennis) vs. Ovechkin (Bischoff) rivalry in '09.

10. You've kind of been the catalyst for the trash talk around the league. Do you think that it's been healthy for the league? Do you think some take it too far? Is it fair to say that you'll probably never stop with it?

I have an extensive hockey background. Playing for almost my whole life competitively, trash talking is a part of the game. As an umpire for travel baseball for nearly seven years, trash talking exists everywhere. For example “swing batter batter”, “this guy can't hit” and even coaches and parents blatantly firing their teams up while shouting negative attributes about other teams. This ties into WSEM because talking makes the game fun. This is a competitive league and trash talking is a part of competitive nature. Obviously, no one is trying to clear benches or anything, but if you can't handle some trash talk, go play softball in your local rec league. Do you think professional athletes go home and cry about what people say? The obvious answer here is "no", they speak with actions and shut people up. As far as taking something too far is concerned: once the talk gets personal and degrading, such as Michael Constanti’s article about me, I would then draw the line as too far. As long as the talk remains baseball oriented, it's "no harm no foul" to me. Lastly, I (nor the entire league for that matter) will not stop with the trash talking. It's fun and allows you to express some emotion towards our league. If you can’t handle some fun trash, I hear there are plenty of golf leagues in the Detroit area to join over the summer.

Team Tuesdays: Thunder Ducks

by Carl Coffee

The Thunder Ducks return for their second season with a new team name, new team colors, a new home field, and a new number-two pitcher. Last season, as Git R’ Done, they finished 23-5 in the regular season, which earned them the #1 seed. Then, in the playoffs, they went 9-1 en route to the first ever WSEM Championship. Overall this team finished 32-6, which is absolutely astounding. So, with all that success last season, will the Thunder Ducks keep their winning ways, or will they be victims of a sophomore slump? I will not be making any predictions here, but I will showcase this talented young team. The Thunder Ducks are WSEM veterans; they first came onto the scene in the 2009 Fast Pitch Tournament as young rookies who went 0-2 and did not make much of an impression. They then shocked everyone by finishing second place in the 2010 Flag-a-Palooza. As a prelude to the WSEM championship last year, they also won the Spring Wind Up Tournament in dominant fashion. The Thunder Ducks shared Frenchtown Field last season with the Wiffling DeLoppes, but this season they will have a new home, The Swamp. We do not know much about this field yet, except for its location, which is in Waltz. Also, by the looks of the satellite view, The Swamp will have a lot of open space, so it will be up to the Thunder Ducks to make it either a hitters field or a pitchers field. Besides Tim Dale, who moved to Florida, the Thunder Ducks return everyone from last season. Gaige Braden, who only played four games in 2011, looks to play a much bigger role this season. He adds speed and defensive quickness to a team who struggles in those departments. Zach Crabtree and Josh Roberts were also part-timers last season who hope to play a bigger role in 2012. In eight games Crabtree had 16 hits and batted .308. In just five games Roberts batted .400 and had a very impressive .649 OBP. Nick and Dylan Braden both had excellent 2011 seasons. Nick batted .358 with three HRs, while Dylan batted .340 with 9 HRs. Dylan’s successful 2011 campaign earned him a well-deserved All-Star nod. The Braden brothers also made an impact on the mound. Nick finished the season 3-0 with a 0.64 ERA, and Dylan finished 5-0 with a 3.30 ERA. Josh Nagorski did not make much of an impact in the 2011 regular season, but he sure made a splash in the playoffs. Nagorski hopes to ride his playoff success into the 2012 season. Even with everyone but Dale returning, the Ducks still wanted to get better, and did so by adding another arm to their already strong rotation. They not only added a veteran pitcher, they added All-Star veteran pitcher, Chris Lewis. Pitching for the Belgian Wiffles in 2011, Lewis went 9-9 with a 2.61 ERA and had 177 strike outs. He will now be the number-two pitcher on the Ducks, while also bringing a .259 AVG and 5 HR offensively. Last and certainly not least, captain Dennis Pearson is returning hungry for a second title. Pearson was dominating last season, both on the mound and at the plate. His pitching greatness earned him both an All-Star nod and the Clown Shu award, as well as the NWLA Strike-out King honor. He went 14-4 with a 1.30 ERA and recorded 233 strike outs. At the plate Dennis was second in the league in HRs with 15, and led the league in RBIs with 55. Dennis was just as dominant in the playoffs, where he finished with 5 HRs, a 6-0 record, 0.10 ERA, and 144 strike outs in ten games played.

With all of this talent on the team, and with the new rotation rule, Dennis has some real managing to do. He will only be able to pitch 14 games max during the season, but with Lewis and the Braden brothers, he can get creative in the other games. I am curious to see if this team will mesh as well as least season. Their identity has always been power, both on the mound and at the plate. With Lewis as more of a contact pitcher, the Ducks will have to change that identity every other game. The Ducks will be a fun team to watch in 2012, and it should be a tight race between them and the DeLoppes for the Garcia Division title. I am also very excited to see their rivalry games against the Whiteford Wicked Aces. With the target on their backs as league champions it will not be easy for the Thunder Ducks to keep that trophy; so, enjoy it while you can!

Team Tuesdays: Manchester Punchouts

by Evan Bortmas

The people of the small village of Manchester, Michigan know only three things: farming, broiling chickens, and Wiffleball. Ever since Manchester native Evan Bortmas started playing Wiffleball in second grade he had dreamed of playing competitively in a league, which eventually led to the beginning of the Manchester Wiffleball Association, or MWA. In Manchester the pitcher's mound was a mere 35 feet from the strike zone, bases 40 feet from the plate, and in some parks, the fence just 50 feet from home. That meant in order to be a dominant pitcher you had to have a repertoire of pitches that moved extremely far, extremely quickly, or else the batter could easily tag one and send it over the fence. On the other hand, if you wanted to be a good hitter against good pitching, you had to have a great eye with excellent reaction speed. The MWA survived two seasons, but was shut down in 2008 in order to find more widespread competition. In turn, the best players from the league were selected to represent Manchester in Saline's annual “Wiffleball World Series”. The team was based heavily on the pitching aspect of the game, hence, the Manchester Punchouts were born. Throughout the years, the Punchouts have made several changes in their logo, colors, and roster, but the core of their team has always been there. Dakota LaDouceur, Jimmy Hamilton, and Sam Hatt have played in over 25 games collectively with Bortmas and the Punchouts, including finishing in 4th place or higher in three tournaments, and not including any pickup games. Last year, the Punchouts with Bortmas, Hatt, LaDouceur, and two fill-in players finished fourth overall in WSEM's fall “Beat It” tournament. Although the newest additions to the Punchouts' roster, Logan Zigila and Craig Spring, have not played competitively in any games outside of the MWA, they are great athletes and former baseball players that should fit nicely into the Punchouts' lineup. Early lineup speculations for the season are as follows:   - Batting 1st, #2 Craig Spring, OF/DH   - Batting 2nd, #12 Logan Zigila, 3B/ DH   - Batting 3rd, #9 Evan Bortmas, P/OF   - Batting 4th, #5 Dakota LaDouceur, RP/OF   - Batting 5th, #3 Sam Hatt, P/OF   - Batting 6th, #99 Jimmy Hamilton, OF/ DH The key to the Punchouts' success in 2012 will be offense. Nearly one-hundred percent of Punchouts victories since the end of the MWA have been deficits of three runs or less; most of which were one-run deficits, and about half have been 1-0 wins. Though pitching has proven to be the strong point for the team, the offense has a history of stranding runners on base. Statistically, the four original players are above average, but at any time there are hot hitters, one or two players seem to be struggling, which makes it hard to string offense together. This being the first full season that the Punchouts have ever played, it should be interesting to see if a growing chemistry throughout the year will affect their statistics at all. If they can produce offensively at a more consistent rate, the Punchouts will be one of the teams to beat in 2012.

Team Tuesdays: Campus Commandos

by Brandon Corbett

The Campus Commandos roster is straight out of Field of Dreams. Adam Grant built a field in downtown Detroit, and grown men wander out of the streets in droves to relive the baseball glory days of their youth. Substitute the corn for a city skyline and it is an exact recreation. The guys who show up may not be playing for world championships or making national headlines with their play, but they are in their own little world. And when the camera pans out over the field you can see headlights lined up for miles; even if that is just traffic backed up leaving Comerica Park. Hell, had Rick Snyder not chased the film industry out of the state, I bet we could have even gotten James Earl Jones down for an afternoon. So, just who are these players who appear on WSEM's urban Field of Dreams, LaFayette Park? Well, the Commandos have a doctor, Kelly Walsh, who, like his movie counterpart, only appeared in one game last season before being unable to return. Grant has said Walsh will be available to play more frequently in 2012, which is just the hint of stability this revolving door of a roster needs after the loss of two part-time players and last year's number-one pitcher to cross-divisional rival, the Donkeys. Last season saw nine players with less than ten games played, while only three players appeared full-time. Alex Linebrink pitching at Frenchtown Field Two full-timers are returning for 2012: captain Adam Grant and Alex Linebrink. Linebrink is a southpaw who grooved into the number-two pitcher role for the Commandos in 2011. His season numbers may not be pretty (8.78 ERA, 3.41 WHIP, 64 BB : 51 K), but Alex shows promise on the mound and got better as the season progressed. In the month of July his ERA was half of that: 4.47. Alex also turned his K/BB ratio around in July, posting 38 K to only 25 BB. That progression is important for the Commandos, as preaseason chatter names Linebrink as the opening day number-one starter. If he is able to find a rhythm, as a lefty he can be a nuissance on the outside corner to a predominately right-handed league, much like first-team NWLA pitcher Cliff Comstock of the DeLoppes. Finding a steady number-two should be the big concern for the Commandos at pitcher.

Pfefferle in the box at LaFayette Park Offensively, the Commandos best returning hitter is Eric Pfefferle, who played in eight games last season. Eric's AVG is underwhelming at .229, however his OBP and SLG% hover right around the league average at .426 and .400, respectively. That is the trend team-wide, as well, with OBP being twice a player's AVG. Adam Grant was atop the league with 40 BB, and Linebrink was directly behind him with 34. Clearly, these Commandos are patient at the plate and get runners on base. Grant has a healthy list of names who will play at least a few games this season: Dave Crechilio, Brian Bandemmer, Patrick Minch, and Daniel Egan to name a few; if some of these part-time players can bring big bats with them, then that may be solution enough to their offensive woes.

It is hard to make a prediction with so many unknowns for the 2012 Campus Commandos. With a year under his belt, though, Adam Grant is approaching the game with a new attitude and better understanding. To paraphrase from another famous group of famous commandos: that is half the battle.

Supplemental: Another unknown for the Commandos is their own "Wiffle Centipede." In December the Commandos made a huge acquisition in free agent pitcher, Steven "Céspedes" Harris. Harris is sold as having been putting on amazing displays of outstanding pitching for many years. The first dose of unknown, though, is that - like Yoenis Céspedes Milanés - nobody has seen Harris play to confirm his skills on the mound. Still, like "the Cuban Centipede" again, everyone is buying the hype as realiy, and believing the Commandos have made a home run signing. However, there is a second dose of unknown in this story. After signing his deal to come to the organized leagues, Steve Harris went on a vision quest to prepare himself. He removed himself from the internet, gave his phone to charity, and reportedly set off on foot to climb the first mountain he could find. We are assuming he did not mean Mt. Trashmore, Holly, nor even Boyne, and is heading west through the desert to cleanse his soul before his ascent. Nothing is known of his condition or whereabouts. Will he surface before the season? Will his slider be even stronger after his journey? Is he alive? All of these questions have the same non-answer. So, we wait to see.

League Lineup Tutorial

		Your Junk my Happy Zone
		by Brandon Corbett

League Lineup is not the prettiest thing out there. It is, however, really convenient for keeping stats. And stats, while essentially nothing more than ego driven fellatio, are an important part of the league dynamic. With teams being responsible for inputting their own stats this year, League Lineup is going to be a crucial part of your responsibilities this season. The reason we are asking you to do this is that last year Carl and I took the entire responsibility upon ourselves and the latter part of the season and playoffs suffered for it: we were burned out. The process of doing the stats is not difficult, but it is one of the most time-consuming jobs in running a league. Splitting this up between every team will free the two of us up to work on the more fun aspects of the league, like player cards, breaking down stats or trends in the league, and embellishing the amusing stories that come up throughout the year. Also, when keeping the amount of games limited to only a few at a time, the work required on your end should be very quick.

Step one: This is a "duh", but yes it has to be said. Go to http://leaguelineup.com/wiffleinsemi. Then click on the red "Administration" link in the left side-bar. You each have your own login name and password. This allows you to edit your team's players, in case you have substitutes that need to be added, and to input the final score, offensive, and pitching statistics of games you play in. One team can input for both teams that played in the game, or teams may choose to do their own. Yeah, it is the honor system we are working on. Yeah, I trust you all not to sully what this league is about, and handle inputting the numbers professionally.

Step two: Adding Players
Check this before you get into the game results in case you had players on your team who had not previously played in games. In the left side-bar underneath "Team Setup" click on "Team Info". Then, in the row of your team name, click on the "Players" link all the way to the right.

This is an example of the "Players" form. It is broken down into categories for "First Name", "Last Name", "Number", and "Position". All that is needed here is to put in information for players not already listed. "Position" is cute and looks nice on a print-out, but is not ultimately necessary; in fact, it is a safe bet that most substitutes will likely be outfielders or "OF". The other three categories are important, however, as both names identify the player and numbers help us properly assign RBIs. Some of your replacement/substitute players may potentially share numbers throughout the season, but it will still help with the cataloging of the stats. Now, onto the good part.

Step three: Game Results
This is where things start to get important: game results and player stats. First, in the left side-bar under "Team Setup" click on "Game Results (Stats)" (a bewildering title, I know!). Then click the top link, "Game Results/Statistics" (Redundant, yes, but an important distinction). Finally, in the list of games find the correct game by Date, Visitor, and Home team; go to the far right, and click the "Edit" link. That will take you to this screen:

Step four: Inputting game results
When you click onto this page you will be on the "Score/Offensive Stats" tab; stay there to start. Begin by ignoring the actual box score; the first thing you need to do is change "Game Status" to 'Completed', 'Innings Played' to 5 (or the number of innings played, if mercy or extras), and make sure 'Exclude from standings' is NOT checked. *Note it is checked in your game on their now, as this is not a real game, and just for educational purposes - DO NOT uncheck it for this game.

The next step is to type in runs by inning, final score and hits into the box score (we do not score errors). Once you have done that scroll down to the table below the "Notes" section where you will find the Offensive Stats.

Step five: Offensive stats
All of your players will be listed here, whether or not they played in the game. I will go through this step box-by-box.

Ord: "Batting Order" - Not essential, so include only if you are anal.
G: "Game" - Select this box if the player played in the game. Make sure it is NOT checked if they did not.
AB: "At Bats" - At Bats are NOT plate appearances! Plate Appearances are literally every time a player appears at the plate. For our game, At Bats are Plate Appearances minus Walks minus Sacrifice Flies.
R: "Runs" - Number of times the player scored a run.
1B: "Singles" - Number of those.
2B: "Doubles" - Number of those.
3B: "Triples" - Number of those.
HR: "Home Runs" - Number of those.
RBI: "Runs Batted In" - Number of those.
BB: "Bases on Balls" or "Walks" - Number of times the player was walked.
K: "Strike Outs" - We do not keep track of offensive failures, so do not input Ks.
SF: "Sacrifice Flies" - Number of times a fly ball is caught, but a runner scores from third base by tagging up.
DP: "Double Plays" - We do not keep track of offensive failures, so do not input DPs.

Once you have the numbers put into the form, make sure to click the Save Changes button before moving on to the next tab.

Step six: Pitching stats
We do not keep Defensive Stats, so skip over that tab, and jump to the "Pitching Stats"" tab. Again we will go box-by-box:

Ord: "Order" - UNLIKE for batters, pitching order matters. 1 is first, 2 second, etc. for when a pitcher entered the game.
G: "Game" - Select this box for any player who pitched in the game.
GS: "Game Started" - Select this box for the pitcher who STARTED the game.
IP: "Innings Pitched" - Number of complete innings pitched.
1/3: "Partial Innings Pitched" - 1 out = 1/3 Inning Pitched. 2 outs - 2/3 Innings pitched. I.E. a pitcher started the game and threw until 2 outs in the third inning: he pitched 2 2/3 innings.
R: "Runs" - We only have earned runs, so total runs allowed.
ER: "Earned Runs" - While the same as Runs, make sure to insert the number of runs in both categories, as ER is used for formulas.
H: "Hits" - Hits allowed.
BB: "Walks" - Walks allowed.
K: "Strike-outs" - Strike-outs recorded.
CG: "Complete Game" - Select this box for the player if they pitched a complete game.
W: "Win" - Select this box if the pitcher won the game.
L: "Loss" - Select this box if the pitcher lost the game.
S: "Save" - Select this box if the pitcher recorded a save (at least 1 out recorded to close the game with a run differential of 3 runs or less).

Once you have the numbers in the form, click the "Save Changes" button, and you are done. Player stats will be updated immediately on the team page and in the league-wide ranking. The first time you go through the process you may have to think about what you are doing a few times, but once you have done it before it becomes an almost mechanical activity. You each have one 'fake game' shared with another team scheduled on League Lineup right now, so feel free to play around with it as much or as little as you need to get used to working with the site.

Interview: David Buhr

		Captains Corner
		with David Buhr  Carl Coffee  turning the tables

Name: David Buhr
Birthday: June 12, 1983
Height: 5' 10" (I've grown one inch since the end of 8th grade)
Weight: 182 and dropping

1. How did you get involved in competitive wiffleball?

I'm not totally sure, but I think I found you, Carl, after I had attended a certain church service specifically centered around college age kids and I added one of them. On the page of one of those people I added I found a link to some wiffleball rules and was interested to see what it was and I think I contacted you, but I actually don't fully remember how that happened. I remember coming to play with you guys on a beautiful Saturday in June where I ended up diving into glass leaving a big gash in my wrist, but there's no way something like that would ever stop me from coming back to play!

2. What made you decide to captain a team in WSEM?

Well, at first I just wanted to join a team, but there didn't seem to be room at the beginning of last season so I decided I'd try to find a few guys who I thought would play and I did. Little did I know that one wouldn't be able to play weekends, another would hurt his shoulder in the preseason tournament, and one would leave halfway through the season.

3. What are you most looking forward to in this upcoming season?

You mean besides playing the sport? Well, there's the new field, new teammates, and how's it going to play out, how good are they going to be factor that excites me. Also, I'm really looking forward to seeing how that pitching rule pans out with teams and seeing how much more competitive our league will be.

4. How did it feel to win the NWLA ‘Team Nickname of the Year’ award?

Man, that was awesome! I love that and as always I have to give my sister-in-law most of the credit since I didn't completely come up with the name- she said how about Belgian Waffles and I just changed one letter. I love telling people about that award and I love that a team in Rochester, New York decided to use it. It puts a smile on my face.

5. What was your favorite sport growing up?

When I was little it was actually soccer, but once I hit 6th grade, there was just something about baseball that I fell in love with. It's just a beautiful game all around.

6. Favorite hobby?

Collecting baseball cards, singing, and climbing trees

7. Did you ever have any interesting or cool nicknames?

Oh man, did I ever! Where shall we start? These each have a story behind them, but I won't tell them here. Stilts, Ol' Man River, Wolverine, Hustle, Davy J, Josh Groban, Dabadooey, The Jewish Looking Kid, and most recently Adam Sandler

8. What are your true feelings towards Chris Lewis? Any bad blood?

I harbor no hard feelings toward Chris. He has a passion for the game and for winning and I admire that. He also started getting along with Dennis and his guys from the start so I'm totally okay with it. Yeah, it could be rough without an experienced pitcher this year, but it's okay. It's all about having fun.

9. Do you have idea who your opening day starting pitcher will be?

No clue. I think there will be at least 3 guys on my team that can pitch and I'm really hoping that's true. If Josh Lovell can pitch, I'll probably use him. He seems like he would be able to and he's got that confusing lankiness like Maclin that could be used to throw people off.

10. How on earth did you hit that ~130 foot HR at Constanti Field last year?

I have muscles. Seriously though, Mike just put it in the right (or wrong depending on perspective) spot, I caught up with it and I've always been more of a power hitter except for that summer that I first played with you guys.

11. Who would you take if you needed to win one game, Pearson or Bischoff?

Without a doubt, Bischoff. Here's my reasoning- Pearson can blow anyone away with the speed on his pitches, but he doesn't necessarily always have the accuracy. If the other team is patient enough, they will get walked. Yes, his accuracy did improve some by the end of the season, but he still has a little ways to go and if he can harness that accuracy with his speed, he will be the worst pitcher to face. Bischoff has alread harnessed that accuracy with good speed, not as fast as Pearson, but still fast. Along with the speed and the accuracy, his pitches also have serious movement. He is in my mind, the best pitcher in our league. We'll see if that proves true this year.

12. And lastly, do you think the Belgian Wiffles will do better or worse than last season? (2011 record: 13-15)

That's actually hard to say right now considering the fact that I'm the only one on the team who's not a rookie. I've never even met one of my players, though I'm told he's a good ballplayer which has the potential to translate into a good wiffleball player. The other three on my team, well, I've only seen them play soccer, but they're good athletes. I believe we should do better, but it depends on how good my pitchers are, and how well we all do hitting. Our speed is our biggest threat. You don't want us on the basepaths, but I plan on us being there!