superstar baseball [Updated October 2002]

SSB  3 prizes Experienced Continuous 
 
     
  9  Round 2 12  Round 3 13 Round 4 14 Final    

   Salon B 

Ken Samuel, VA

2002 Champion

2nd: John Emery, SC

3rd: Randy Cox, SC

4th: Chris Palermo, NY

5th: Mike Destro, NJ

6th: Harry Flawd, PA

Event History
1991    Mike Ryan      21
1992    John Brandeberry       9
1993    Mike Ellsworth      16
1994    Randy Cox      16
1996    Jon Diminnie      11
1997    Henry Richardson       8
1998    Harry Flawd III       9
1999    Randy Cox     18
2000    Carl Coscia     20
2001    Mike Hazel     24
2002    Ken Samuel     20


AREA Ratings


GM: Randy Cox

1 Top-Six GM Nomination

Past Winners

1991: Mike Ryan - NS
1992: John Brandeberry - IL
1993: Mike Ellsworth - IL

Randy Cox, SC
1994, 1999

Jon Diminnie, TN
1996

Henry Richardson, VA
1997

Harry Flawd - PA
1998

Carl Coscia - DC
2000

Mike Hazel - SC
2001
 

The Nation's Pastime ...

Not even total blackness during the 8:20 - 9:15 power outage could keep some diehards away from the 2002 Superstar Baseball tournament (though numbers were down a little as a result of the darkness).

The year 2002 saw a change in structure. Not huge, but different. We kept the four-team mini-leagues and single-elimination playoffs, but we abandoned the custom-built all-star teams (the teams were just getting too similar, with everyone owning Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays). So, managers were allowed to pre-select their favorite team from
1900-1999. About 16 managers took this option and others selected on-site from a pool of 36 extras.

Due to the fact that teams were of uneven caliber, a handicapping system was used (based on each team's scoring potential and pitching). These handicap factors ranged from -2 (1924 Senators) to +9 (the unclaimed 1949 Red Sox). During the preliminary round, when two teams met, the higher-rated team forfeited outs equal to the difference in handicap, so some teams didn't get to bat until the second or even third inning. This did seem to make games pretty close, but as an incentive to keep managers from intentionally picking horrible teams (one 20th century team weighs in with a handicap of -20) the
handicaps were not used for the playoffs.

As is always the case in these tournaments, more "key moments" are forgotten than ever make it to the post-game writeup. Some memorable events were the U.L. Washington steal of home in the 14th inning (on a botched squeeze by Willie Wilson), Brooklyn pitcher Don Newcombe acting as DH in his non-pitching games (and hitting a homer), 42-year-old
rookie Satchel Paige pitching for the not-quite-there Indians, and '86 Met Mookie Wilson facing the '86 Red Sox late in the game with Buckner playing first (he struck out this time).

The league winners were determined and then wild cards were drawn--Ken Samuel's '80 Phils, Randy Cox's '80 Royals, and Chris Palermo's '94 Braves.

So it was on to the quarterfinals, where these finals were produced:
+ 94 Braves 9 (Palermo), 86 Red Sox 2
+ 84 Cubs 6 (John Emery), 75 Red Sox 4
+ 80 Royals 8 (Cox), 24 Senators 3
+ 80 Phillies 4 (Samuel), 61 Yankees 3
And the semi-finals:
+ 84 Cubs 10, 94 Braves 3
+ 80 Phillies 6, 80 Royals 3

Then the rains came (actually, due to the length of the 14-inning game, the Cubs victory was over well before the Phillies/Royals game commenced, so John Emery was allowed to perform his duties of assisting in the Blackbeard tournament and finishing his final game of Origins of World War II--though the scheduled time of an hour for that game turned out to be only about half what was needed). So, GM Cox and Phils captain Samuel sat in the dugout until the storms passed and John arrived, around 4:00 p.m.

In this classic showdown of #3 pitchers, the Phils, behind Larry Christenson, eked out a victory over the Cub sluggers and Dennis Eckersley, by the narrowest of margins.

+ 80 Phillies 6, 84 Cubs 5

... and Ken finally captured a WBC Superstar Baseball first-place plaque. Congratulations.

 GM      Randy Cox  [6th Year]   P.O. Box 1144, Clemson, SC 29633-1144
    randycox@innova.net   (864) 654-7820

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