Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Golden Baseball League’s Newest Club Unveils Logo And Uniform

February 9, 2010 by Devon Teeple

Na Koa Ikaika Maui of the Independent Golden Baseball League has finally unveiled their look, giving their fans something to look forward to when the club begins league play in May 2010.

Rick Berry the COO of XnE Inc. has been a huge part of this process from the beginning, click here.  So it wasn’t a surprise to hear that Berry had a hand in the design of the logo and uniforms,

”Since that is kind of under my umbrella, I better be excited about it and I am probably a little bit biased, but I think it is unbelievable,” Berry said. ”I think not only from the color schemes, but the design and application that we have come up with, I am very excited about it. I have shown it around to a few people…

”My kids are my own best critics – they don’t hesitate to tell you if it is good or bad. I have a 14-year-old boy who just thinks he is Mr. Fashion Guru and he has given both thumbs up and said, ‘Dad, you are right on there.’ So I think, to me, it is going to be something that will appeal not only to the locals, and I think the locals are going to be very excited about it, but it will also tie in with the tourists.

Hawaii does have a long and great history of baseball such as the AAA Pacific Coast League Hawaii Islanders (defunct, 1987) and the Hawaiian Winter League, which draws its players from Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korean Baseball Organization, the Independent Leagues and finally Major League Baseball.

Unfortunately, it has been a while since Hawaii has had a team to call its own.

The Hawaii Islanders were a part of the Pacific Coast League from 1961 up until 1987 when the club relocated to Colorado Springs.

The Maui Stingrays were a dominant force in the Hawaiian Winter League winning two league and two division titles while leading the league in attendance  in each of their five years in the league (1993 – 1997).

Maui is very lucky to have a team back in the mix.

In my opinion, it is very difficult to find anything more entertaining and fulfilling than going to the ballpark on a warm summer evening.

At the beginning of any new adventure, second thoughts about success will always enter your mind, however the COO and team president has taken a different approach!

‘We are excited to be here, we love being here in Maui, we definitely appreciate the willingness, the enthusiasm and the excitement that has been here and the hospitality,” Berry said. ”We are just happy to be here and excited to get everything rolling.”

Devon Teeple is an author for the Business of Sports Network, which includes the Biz of Baseball, the Biz of  Football, the Biz of Basketball and the Biz of Hockey.   He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies.  Devon is also available for hire or freelance opportunities.

Devon is a former student within Sports Management Worldwide’s Baseball General Manager Class. Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective and is a intern with The Football Outsiders and contributor with the Plymouth River Eels.

Currently, Devon is a Branch Manager at a financial institution in Southern Ontario Canada.  He can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com or devon@businessofsportsnetwork.com

Follow The GM’s Perspective on facebook , YardBarker, and Bleacher Report

Posted in The Independent Perspective | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Dietary Supplements To Be Registered By The FDA, Ingredients To Be Disclosed

February 5, 2010 by Devon Teeple

According to ESPN.com, Sen. John McCain has introduced legislation that will require manufacturers of dietary supplements to be registered with the Food and Drug Administration.

I am not claiming to be an expert on this subject, so I will let the information tell the story!

“All we’re saying is, list the ingredients, OK?” McCain told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. “And register so people will know what they’re taking into their bodies. It’s not really outrageous when you think about it.”

I am not sure if this is the answer but it does make you think about the HGH, steroid, and supplement situation that is not only affecting MLB but sports in general.

Bud Selig, Commissioner of MLB, says this could be a solution to a common occurrence.  Numerous athletes who have tested positive have stated that they were unaware of what was being ingested due to improperly labeled supplements.

McCain also implies that this can saves lives in the process…

“Obviously, it would affect everybody because they’re so dangerous,” McCain said. “We’ve had amateur athletes die. It’s not as if it isn’t dangerous.”

The bill was introduced on Wednesday while in Washington.  McCain was not alone as he appeared with Kicker Vencill, an Olympic swimmer who was banished from the 04′ Olympic trials for failing a drug test for taking a multi-vitamin.

This is ultimately a step-forward in cleaning up sports.

Regrettably, baseball has seen the worst of what has transpired in the world of performance enhancers; however, this is a one barrier that can be broken down.

Good is the only outcome that can come from this.  Despite the pushback that McCain says will come from the dietary industry, this generation of sports fan deserves to see its athletes perform at their highest level, with no excuses.

Devon Teeple is an author for the Business of Sports Network, which includes the Biz of Baseball, the Biz of  Football, the Biz of Basketball and the Biz of Hockey.   He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies.  Devon is also available for hire or freelance opportunities.

Devon is a former student within Sports Management Worldwide’s Baseball General Manager Class. Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective and is a intern with The Football Outsiders and contributor with the Plymouth River Eels.

Currently, Devon is a Branch Manager at a financial institution in Southern Ontario Canada.  He can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com or devon@businessofsportsnetwork.com

Follow The GM’s Perspective on facebook , YardBarker, and Bleacher Report

Posted in The Steroid Perspective | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Roberto Alomar And Paul Quantrill Receive Canada’s Highest Baseball Honor

January 31, 2010 by Devon Teeple

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, located in St. Mary’s, Ontario, is proud to announce four more inductees into its residence.

Roberto Alomar, who unfortunately fell eight votes shy of entering the hallowed hall of the Baseball Hall of Fame, will be honored along with former Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Paul Quantrill on June 19, 2010.

The two former Blue Jays are joined in the inductions by longtime executive Calvin Griffith and statistician Allan Roth who were elected posthumously.

Alomar, arguably the greatest all-round player the club has seen, sees this is a honor and a privilege..

“This is an honor, truly a privilege,” Alomar said in a statement. “I cherished my years with the Blue Jays and have always loved the Canadian people. Those years were the very best of my career.”

Alomar who is the Bue Jays all-time leader in batting average, while ranking second in stolen bases behind Lloyd Moseby, was named an All-Star on 12 separate occasions,  and won 10 Gold Gloves in his career which is the most among second baseman, but lowest of all-time when compared to all other positions.

Paul Quantrill, a relief pitcher for 14 years, spent six of those with the Blue Jays during the late 90’s and early 2000s.  Quantrill was born in London and is a long-time Port Hope resident had perhaps his his best season in 1997, his second with the Jays, posting a 1.94 ERA in 88 innings while yielding a Greg Maddux like 17 walks.

“Baseball has been a huge and wonderful part of my family’s life,” Quantrill said in a statement. “So getting the call from St. Marys created a lot of excitement around our home. The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame represents a community that has a true love and respect for our game. I hope my genuine enthusiasm and passion for a kid’s game reflects well on the Hall.”

Calvin Griffith a Montreal native, and adopted son of Clark C. Griffith, who was the long-time owner of the Washington Senators, was instrumental in the relocation of the Senators to Minnesota once he assumed control.

Allan Roth has been called the founder of Sabermetrics was influential in bringing statistics to the forefront of the game.  Branch Rickey, President and GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers, hired Roth as the first full-time statistician shortly after the signing of Jackie Robinson.

What Roth did was introduce Rickey to his data on RBI percentage and relevant information as to how the Dodger batters fared against right-handed and left-handed pitchers.  The rest you can say is history.

If you would like to read more about Roth and his ground breaking techniques, “The Numbers Game” by Alan Schwarz is a captivating piece of literature entailing the history of statistics in baseball.

On June 19, the St. Mary’s will be the focus of baseball world and will undeniably be a tremendous day for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and a thrilling day for baseball fans.

I cannot wait!

Devon Teeple is an author for the Business of Sports Network, which includes the Biz of Baseball, the Biz of  Football, the Biz of Basketball and the Biz of Hockey.   He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies.  Devon is also available for hire or freelance opportunities.

Devon is a former student within Sports Management Worldwide’s Baseball General Manager Class. Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective and is a intern with The Football Outsiders and contributor with the Plymouth River Eels.

Currently, Devon is a Branch Manager at a financial institution in Southern Ontario Canada.  He can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com or devon@businessofsportsnetwork.com

Follow The GM’s Perspective on facebook , YardBarker, and Bleacher Report

Posted in Articles & Opinions, The Baseball Perspective | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Golden Baseball League Adopts Changes Since The Winter Meetings

January 15, 2010 by Devon Teeple

The Golden Baseball League has been relatively busy, particularly around the time of the Baseball Winter Meetings.

Expansion once again has been adopted by the GBL, as Palm Springs was their latest location.   Before  that, XnE Inc. collaborated with the GBL by expanding into Hawaii, specifically, Maui.  To read more on this topic, click here and here.

Unfortunately, the addition of these franchises does not offset the disappointment of losing one of their own.

The St. George RoadRunners are the latest in a long line of independent clubs that have met an untimely demise.

Despite a successful 2009 season that saw the RoadRunners have their best season to date (48-43), in the eyes of the majority, it was not good enough.

This is not the first time an Indy league team has failed in the city of St. George.

From 1999-2001, the Western Baseball League displayed the Zion / St. George Pioneerzz.  They saw immediate success, as in 2000 they won the Western Baseball League Championship.  Regrettably, information on why the team folded is sparse.  However, if history does repeat itself, poor attendance might have been the downfall, as this was a contributing factor as to why the current St. George franchise failed to meet expectations.

RoadRunners manager, and former Cleveland Indian Cory Snyder put the situation into perspective,

““It’s been a rough-go of it here lately, the economy’s been bad for a while.  I’m just saddened by this whole thing. I really feel for Todd (Vowell) and his family. They’ve done everything possible to keep this franchise going in St. George. But you can only ask majority owners to do so much. To keep losing money year in and year out takes its toll.”

In happier news, the league has decided to adopt a new philosophy for the 2010 season, a defense friendly, National League style of play.

According to the Edmonton Capitals website, these  changes took place at their annual winter meetings, in concurrence with the MiLB winter meetings held in Indianapolis Indiana.

In 2010, the designated hitter is no longer.  Pitchers will now have the opportunity to hit for themselves.  In my experience, I will take an educated guess and say that scoring will be reduced.

A pitchers focus is on the mound;  nevertheless batting practice will be a spectacle.  As a former pitcher in college and in the independent leagues,  technique is out the window for pitchers during BP, and home run derbies are a plenty! (when the situation allows it, of course).

The other adjustment in the 2010 GBL season, will affect teams in the latter part of the season.

Club rosters will expand from 22 to 25 players after August 15, approximately two weeks before the playoffs begin.

Again, the GBL is attempting to change the norm, to stand out of the crowd and build a brand that has competition, not only in North America, but also throughout the globe.

While their is very little anyone can do to change a game that has been around for generations, the Golden Baseball League continues to be a leader and creative thinker in the ever-changing world of Independent League Baseball.

Devon Teeple is an author for the Business of Sports Network, which includes the Biz of Baseball, the Biz of  Football, the Biz of Basketball and the Biz of Hockey.   He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies.  Devon is also available for hire or freelance opportunities.

Devon is a former student within Sports Management Worldwide’s Baseball General Manager Class. Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective and is a intern with The Football Outsiders and contributor with the Plymouth River Eels.

Currently, Devon is a Branch Manager at a financial institution in Southern Ontario Canada.  He can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com or devon@businessofsportsnetwork.com

Follow The GM’s Perspective on facebook , YardBarker, and Bleacher Report

Posted in The Independent Perspective | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Joe Mauer Takes Center Stage With MLB 10 The Show

January 25, 2010 by Devon Teeple

To all of our “Perspective” readers, I apologize for the delay in writing this.

Joe Mauer the 2009 American League MVP, and currently the starting catcher with the Minnesota Twins, will grace the cover of the award-winning PlayStation baseball video game series, “The Show”.

Previous to Mauer, David Wright of the New York Mets, Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox have also had face time on the cover.

“I was excited about the opportunity,” Mauer said. “They first asked me about it a little while ago, and growing up, I guess I wasn’t a huge video gamer, but basically the games I would play would be baseball or football and things like that. I thought it was pretty cool to be in a video game the first couple years, and now to be on the cover, it’s definitely an honor.”

This year’s edition is set to launch in March of 2010, just as MLB Spring Training is set to get underway.

Mauer, 26 who batted .365 with career bests in homeruns (28) and RBI (96) despite missing the first month of the season, is best known for his unlimited potential and ability that is beginning to rival some of the best the game has ever seen.

Sony‘s venture in to baseball has been a success to say the least.  The “Show” has been called one of the most realistic baseball games of this or any generation.  From graphics, to the minute details that one sees on the field of play, including GM Mode, make it the front-runner in baseball games today.

Mauer on the cover signifies a shift in his popularity; you can say an outreach to the mainstream.

According to Chris Munson, product marketing manager for MLB 10 The Show, Mauer was exactly the type of player they were looking for.

“Joe is one of the best players in baseball today,” said Chris Munson, product marketing manager for MLB 10 The Show. “The things that he’s done in a short time already at the age of 26 are almost unrivaled in the history of baseball. … Joe is also just reaching into the mainstream with people understanding and appreciating the skill that he brings to baseball. The amount of stuff that he does on the field, it links very well to what our game, The Show, really encapsulates, which is the deepest experience we can bring to your living room short of you actually putting on the equipment and playing baseball.”

We all know about the Madden Curse, but this endorsement is quite possibly just the beginning for Mauer and his rise to ranks of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

Joe Mauer breathes a life of fresh air into a sport that has seen enough bad press over the last couple of years.   Instead of steroids and performance enhancers, talk of a well-rounded athlete on the cover of a video game is the best publicity one could hope for.

Devon Teeple is an author for the Business of Sports Network, which includes the Biz of Baseball, the Biz of  Football, the Biz of Basketball and the Biz of Hockey.   He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies.  Devon is also available for hire or freelance opportunities.

Devon is a former student within Sports Management Worldwide’s Baseball General Manager Class. Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective and is a intern with The Football Outsiders and contributor with the Plymouth River Eels.

Currently, Devon is a Branch Manager at a financial institution in Southern Ontario Canada.  He can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com or devon@businessofsportsnetwork.com

Follow The GM’s Perspective on facebook , YardBarker, and Bleacher Report

Posted in Media News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Older Posts »