Oakland Park Baseball

I've been stepping into a leadership role on my teams recently, more directing the defense then the offense though. So I figure... why not make my ideas on who should be where public, give a bit of constructive criticism for all of us and so on and so forth.
But I'm mostly posting this to avoid doing work.

here are the lists.

C- this one was pretty close, with only two people to choose from and both doing very well as far as I've seen.
1. (boston) Mike
2. Nick

1B
1. Anthony
2. Peter- whether you like it or not, you're pretty good there.

2B- It seems like the two people (Jason, Bonner) who really played this position have stopped showing up, and as a result, it's become our 4th outfielder position. hehe
1. Daniel
2. Dave

3B
1. Pimp Daddy K
2. Rich- I actually think Rich may be a better 3B than me, he definately has a stronger arm, but I think my glove is a bit more consistant. What it has actually boiled down to though is that he can play SS and I can't (or at least, I don't think I can), so whenever we're on the same team he get's displaced (sorry).

SS
1. Dorian
2. Scott

LF- Note that Daniel and Nick would be in the mix here, if they didn't fall into other spots as a matter of neccesity
1. Lyman
2. Chris- I used to be afraid whenever the ball was hit in the air to Chris... I remember way too many drops from when I first started playing... but he has definately stepped it up recently... Lyman nudged him out due to pure foot speed and a monster arm.
honorable mention: Paul- This hot prospect from across the pond is definately on his way up... I think he's still falling a bit short on the fundamentals- but he's getting there.

CF
1. Carlos
2. Cuong
In my opinion- these are out best two outfielders- good leadership of thier OF, good range, good speed, good instincts. They both impress me. Carlos gets the nod because he seems a little more refined out there... Every now and then Cuong looks a bit lost, not picking the ball up right away... while carlos (when healthy) always seems to be at the top of his game.

RF-
1. Michael
2. Rob
Really, Lyman should probably start playing here more as he had a hell of an arm and has a better chance than anyone to gun someone trying to take third on a fly.


and now for the players...
Pimp Daddy K-
1. 3B (duh)
2. CF- I think I'm in the top 3 in terms of tracking the ball and accelerating too it. I also think I'm one of the few guys willing to take a leadership role on defense. But alas, we have too many outfielders as it is- so I'll continue to hunker down at third.

Scott-
1. SS
2. 2B- I know he wants to see more OF play, and I think he'd be fine out there, but I think his lateral range is better than his front/back range, which makes him an ideal middle infielder.

Warwick
1. LF
2. C

Rich
1. 3B
2. SS

Cuong
1. CF
2. LF

Peter
1. 1B
2. SS- second base was right there for you... I pretty much flipped a coin and it came up 6 (as opposed to 4)

Paul- A very good OF, but I don't think he has the instincts for CF yet
1. LF
2. RF

Michael- This guy knows his stuff, and could easily step into a leadership role if he wanted to.
1. 1B
2. RF

Carlos- There's no reason for Carlos to ever be playing any position others that CF
1. CF
2. CF
Honorable Mention: See lines 1 and 2

Dorian-
1. SS- I think his glove is noticably more reliable than Scotts...
2. 2B- but his arm is noticably weaker

Manuel-
1. OF
I don't think I've seen him anywhere else.

Rob
1. RF
2. 2B- I would actually like to see him play infield more, he seems pretty consistant and comfortable here during warm ups.

Anthony
1. 1B

Daniel
1. LF- He's a good outfielder and quick on his feet, but I'm a little shaky on his instincts. He would be fine in center, but I think he's better in left
2. 2B- He's good here, as stated above, quick on his feet and he has a consistant glove.
Honorable Mention: CF

Mike
1. C- I don't think I've ever seen him play anywhere else
2. 2B/OF- Something makes me think he would be a pretty good 2B or OF

Jason
1. 2B
2. LF

Dave- I have no idea who this person is. It's not the Dave L that I thought... unless of course we have 2 Dave Ls... in which case I'm really confused.

Bonner
1. 2B
2. SS

Dave L
1. 2B
2. C

Lincoln
1. 1B
2. Haven't seen enough of him to make a fair judgement, but I'm going to say, C or RF or both

Lyman
1. OF- one of the few guys I've seen who I think could actually play any of the three spots equally well
2. 3B- With that cannon of an arm... I've only seen him there once- and I don't know why! With our over abundance of OFs and dire need of 3Bs... it seems like a good switch for him

OK... I've wasted enough of my company's time. talk it up guys

edit: I just realized that there's like a 40% chance that I've confused Manny and Lyman again... how embarassing. oh well, if I have ever commented on your arm strength and you are not Rich or Scott, all references to "Lyman" in this post are actually talking about you.

Sorry guys.

Fair comment about my weaknesses, I need to be told loud and clear where to throw before I get to the ball.
I would like to try 1B sometime, just to put that out there.

Paul, I think that you do have the build for 1B. Maybe one day we could meet up early, and I could give you some practive in scooping up throws (It'd be good practice for me in making throws from SS-- and, no, i'm not trying to get paul to repalce me at 1B )

Peter, that sounds good, then you can get out into the OF, as you've been saying you wanted. Soons as you're head is no longer addled, you're on!

Who said I wanted the OF? I hate the OF...... !!!

Whoops, guess my head is addled, too much Bay Area sun perhaps.

2B is where I played most for a long time. Then about 3-4 years ago, during a couple of summers when my friends and I played, I got stuck in CF, so yeah, I think 2B is more of my natural position (though I do love playing in the OF, having the possibility of making a diving catch is all I hope for every game ). I don't think I ever learned either position to its full extent though, which is why I'll be a little bit shaky sometimes. That thing where I had a ball go through my legs a couple of weeks ago, that's something that hasn't happened to me in a very long time, and I was rather ashamed of it . One thing I do know is that I need to start being more vocal out in the field, however I think thats true for more people than just me...

I agree with you Ken, I think I would be good at second base, and I hope to get more experience there.

Ken, the reason you thought of BostonMike at 2B is because he was there last game. Since only a few showed up, there was no need for a catcher. I had it mostly covered anyhow. (Scott, that relay was fuckin' awesome!)

I agree with you Nick, but the catcher rarelysees any action, and I think I am ready to step up in the game and try to further my baseball knowledge in different positons i.e 2b, I also wouldn't mind outfield, but I preferably would like to stay in the infield.

Hey Ken,
Thanks for the compliment. I'm actually more consistent and do prefere playing infield and would like to do so occasionally (I normally play 1B or 2B in softball). Although I also recognise that goes to the guys that have been playing for a while. Since Im relative new to hardball I'm still coming up to speed on it, so I can probalby do less damage in RF. As far as RF (or OF in general), while I still havent got a real handle on judging trajectory/depth, and don't have the arm to get in it from the deep, its still good to play out there (learning comes thru doing). Hell, I'm happy just to be playing.

Notice my name is in no way related or associated with second base. After the last game at Curt Flood, I'm determined to change things. I want to play infield more often since I need to build up the skills. Next game put me at second again or maybe *gasp* third base if the teams seem off-balance in my team's favor.

Since there seems to be a flurry of newly expressed interest in 2B I'd like to reiterate my desire to play that position just to kind of stay in the running/rotation.

I still like the idea of rotating positions. I think many of us would like to experience more than one position. And not too many people like to be stuck, say, playing catcher the entire game.

But again, as long as I get to play somewhere (besides catcher the entire game ) I'm very happy!

Last Sunday Pat & I switched between 2B & CF every other inning. From my perspective the change in positions made the game a little more interesting and fun. Maybe we could do something like that, or maybe on some kind of a limited rotational basis.

That being said, I'm not suggesting that someone be forced or allowed into a position in which he would be totally incompetent playing (which in my case would be 3B, & catcher). That would just ruin the game for everyone. But it would give a change in scenery and allow different skills to be developed for many of us without sacraficing the competitiveness of the game (if done right).

I'll play wherever, though I hate getting stuck at pitcher (unless it's pitching as a defensive player, in which case that would be fun).