2014 Post Season 5 Questions Poll

Now that the dust has settled and Play2Reign is basking in the glow of their first WFL Championship, it is time to reflect on the 2014 season. It has become a tradition that I pose 5 questions to selected participants of the league to get their responses.

This year the tradition continues with my stable of contributors: Adam Reikowski (Reikowski Report), Derek Hilst (View From the Hilst) and Christina Carmichael (Chronicles of Christina). All of these great individuals have provided content to the website for the past season...first of my appreciation for their contributions and my respect for hosting their own points of view that may or may not coincide with my own.

Here were the 5 questions posed to the crack WFL Website staff:

1. What were your thoughts on the Strike Mat?

2. Who was your surprise team of 2014?

3. Which team under-achieved in 2014?

4. Was this the most competitive season in the history of the WFL?

5. If all teams remain intact, who do you see having a breakthrough season in Spring, 2015?

And...here are the responses.

1. What were your thoughts on the Strike Mat?

• Strike Mat...made no difference to me. I totally struggled at times finding the plate this season as a pitcher. It seemed to not make a difference to some of the teams and their approach to swinging more aggressively. My opinion...it probably didn't do much to enhance the game except whenever I forgot to gather the freakin' things after completing the games for that night...what a pain in the a$$ to keep up with!

• Week 1 – “what do you mean the plate is a strike!?” By week 8 – “Plate, mat, you just need to swing, bigger strike zone!” I personally am agreeable with the strike mat and new strike zone, it takes the guesswork off the umpires shoulders for those close calls, where before the ball would land on dirt, the ball hitting the mat or plate has a distinctive sound that assisted blue in their calling of the games. There are still plenty of complaints if a pitch is too flat or high, but inquires of whether or not the ball hit the white rectangle (plate included) have diminished and that is a positive.

• “So if the ball hits the home plate, is it a ball? Or is it a strike?” I have no idea what’s going when I’m up to bat, other than as long as I don’t swing Jeff Greissinger will probably walk me.

• I personally liked them as they provided a target for the pitchers and it made most players swing the bat. I personally only walk when the game is on the line and me being on base is more beneficial than flying out. Walking is boring and not baseball/softball.

2. Who was your surprise team of 2014?

• Big Red is right up there with my surprise team of 2014. They were one of two teams that I thought improved each week of the season...the other being Play2Reign. They also were the spirit of the league this season. I felt that all of the other teams seemed to be envious of their dugout demeanor. Then again, Play2Reign put it all together to become the 3rd team to win the tournament...so congrats to them for sure.

• Play2Reign has to be my surprise team of the season. I’m excited to see a team win that hasn’t previously taken home a tournament championship. A team like that who has consistently surprised the league year after year deserved the win this year.

• This question deserves two very different answers. For the regular season, my surprise team is, Sidewinders. Even though they are a very talented team, I am surprised they were able to play so well together in their first season in the league. It often takes a while (as in the case of Big Red) to get momentum and figure out individual roles to make up a solid team, but Sidewinders picked it up from the first game. No doubt they will be looking to next seasons game against Wells Express who was the only team to defeat them on the field and, twice including the semi-final matchup. Come tournament time, I don’t think anyone would have picked Play2Reign to win it all, that was truly a surprise and proof that on any given night a team can get hot when it matters most.

• Obvious choice to me has to be Play 2 Reign as they won the title that no one saw them winning, but that’s why we play the game. Close 2nd place to that has to be Big Red, as they stepped up their game each and every week, and made the league fun for everyone. I almost felt bad to beat them as they took it so well.

3. Which Team under-achieved in 2014?

• This is an interesting one. On paper, many would say that Gold Ru$h probably under achieved. I would tend to agree with them initially, but if you look at their roster and what they lost from last season to this season...I actually think they over achieved to finish the regular season at 7-1! They certainly came crashing to earth in the tournament though and that has to factor in to that perception of under-achievement. Quite honestly, Young Uns have to be disappointed in the way their season went. They lost to Uptown Ballers and finished the regular season a modest 5-3. With all of their talent, they were certainly a strong pre-season favorite to repeat as champ, but went down in the QF to Play2Reign in a game they never led.

• Big Red, obviously. We came, we saw, and we almost conquered. I feel like the implication of ‘under-achieved’ is a negative thing, which in not the case for Big Red. I think our talent level and our comradely are what makes up a great team. More time and practice together and we are going to be the shining star of the league in no time.

• Young-uns. It was a visual shocker to see them play so flat in their loss to Uptown Ballers on dreaded field 4 and their 1st round exit from the playoffs certainly under-achieved for such a talented team.

• I would say it was the Young Uns, as they didn’t win the title and felt like they had more talent than any of their teams in years past. Hard to repeat as champs when that target placed on your back, and the rest of the league was more competitive than any other year. Close 2nd place would have to be Gold Ru$h as they have not been to the championship game in the last 2 years, and me personally, didn’t think their record was as good as it was.

4. Was this the most competitive season in WFL history?

• Without a doubt this season showed the most parity of any season in the WFL 9 year history. First of all...9 years! That is incredible! We had four teams battle it out for top honors in the Power Rankings each week. It seemed as though there was a different team taking over the #1 spot as it rotated from Gold Ru$h to Young Uns to Sidewinders to Wells Express. The Big Four delivered in the regular season, but the most telling sign of parity came in the post season as Play2Reign and Big Red scored upsets over two of the most dominant teams in WFL history - Young Uns and Gold Ru$h. In addition, no tournament game was decided by mercy rule as Blue Heat and Wells Sox made it tough on Sidewinders and Wells Express. Even the play in game went the full 7 innings with Big Red winning in walk off fashion. Lots of talent all over the place as the league as grown.

• This was MY most competitive season in the history of WFL. From the comments and conversations I’ve had, the talent in the league is now being more evenly disbursed, despite Big Red being stacked. I think having talented players on every team makes the season more competitive, and more fun with surprises for everyone. No more automatic wins and teams will probably stick it out until the end of the season.

• What an exciting season! I had the privilege to watch many of the games while keeping score and several games had exciting finishes the came down to last at bats, while in other games you just got the sense of which team was having an off-night. Every team in the league had a surprise game (or two) this season and, while I have not been in the league long enough to have a better perspective, I am understanding that anyone would be hard pressed to find a more competitive season. To start the season asking if there would be an undefeated team, to how things turned out was a, should I say, a shocker! Looking forward to updating this article next year to say we had another competitive year.

• Without a doubt, the league had 4 solid teams week in and week out, and none of them won the title. Play2Reign showed all of us that key defense and hitting and a little luck can win you a championship. I have been playing for 6 years now, and in those previous years, there were 2 maybe 3 teams that would be there in the end, and this year it was really anyone’s ball game.

5. If all teams remain intact, who do you see having a breakthrough season in Spring, 2015?

• Well...not sure that it is possible to keep everyone intact. The beauty of our league is that the talent pool is literally sitting around you at all times in the form of your co-workers at WF. No other league has that limitation OR close up view of potential right at their fingertips. That being said, I always anticipate new players joining our league that make an impact immediately (see Barry Law of Wells Express and Brian Parker of Young Uns). Invariably, whichever team can strike gold and fill in a gap in their lineup, they will make a big move the next season. A lot of the teams in our league are literally one or two players away from a championship. Big Red can add a solid gal or two and they would be very tough to beat next season. Wells Express seems to retool every year and experience a lift from their new talent. Sidewinders made an imposing team and has all of the pieces in place. My guess is that Blue Heat will have that breakthrough season. Joel Gearhart is one of the long time captains and is on the brink of putting together a quality team. They showed improvement in 2014 and he has been hitting the recruiting trail hard this off season and may surprise some folks next year.

• I think the Wells Sox have a good chance of doing what needs to be done to get better recognition in the league. They are a good team, seem to play well together, and are determined enough to do what needs to be done to serve out some major upsets to the league.

• That “if” looms large. If Scott Boras worked for Wells Fargo he would be a very busy man. An aspect of the league I have come to truly admire are the off-season moves that tend to spring up from mid-season conversations – “Have you seen so and so play? You need to watch.” From there you often need a flow chart to follow the path, “he or she works in this department with that person, who also knows someone who used to play softball in college, maybe they both want to play on our team.” Like in MLB, roster changes are inevitable and often make both teams stronger in the long-run. If all teams do remain substantially intact, I would like to see how an added player here or there works out for Blue Heat and Big Red for breakout seasons. Keep an eye for and never count out the Uptown Ballers. They missed the playoffs by losing their lead in the 7th inning of the play-in game, I would expect them to come back strong next year.

• I am not sure how to answer this question as there is always some movement from year to year as people get to know each other and switch departments at work, and now want to play with other people. I could see the same top 5 teams now, thanks to Coby Prondecki’s bunch, stepping up and being right there again, but I think Big Red will be in the mix next year b/c they are so positive and fun to be around. Players may want to be a part of that.

The brain trust has spoken. Some interesting thoughts for the above and makes me wish already that 2015 was right around the corner. It will be here soon enough...just wait and see.

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