Record year for The GM’s Perspective12/31/2011 4:49 PM - Devo
It has been a whirlwind year over here with many changes, and with that comes many highlights. I want to thank all the viewers who take time out of their busy day to read my posts. Because of you, since the redesign of the site last July, we have seen over 500,000 hits (wow). The readers, your comments and interest make this possible! Thank you. The redesigned site that was the brainchild of Infinity Pro Sports helped take The GM’s Perspective to the next level and their support is endless. From Nicole Bradley, who co-founded the 8nine Agency to Melissa Dee-who has taken many emails from me at all hours-I cannot thank you enough for all of your hard work. When it comes to my growth as a writer I have to mention some people who have played an integral role in this whole process;
You have all played an integral role in my growth, not only as a writer but as person and I cannot thank you enough. In closing, 2011 has been a great year for the game of baseball and I hope I can continue to provide each and every one of you the types of articles that you are used to. With that being said, I’ll continue to strive to get better at my craft and tell a good story along the way. 2011 was great, let’s make 2012 even better. Have an excellent day and I will talk to you all next year. London Rippers can appeal to a wide audience12/29/2011 5:28 AM - Devo
The Rippers are announcing an exclusive club for kids 12 and under (Lil’ Rippers Club). Information will be available soon, but what better way to get the fans, kids and family involved. With an exclusive club for kids, you are making it a priority to grow your fan base. If you get the interest of the kids in your product, that will drive the parents to the game. With that comes scheduling. When the parents are intrigued to go to the site, they are witness to the Ripper’s schedule which is posted on-line and have the option to purchase season or single-game tickets. If families are excited and want to get involved, the team will be a winner. Owner David Martin is in position where London could be the next Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Goldeyes, are not in a baseball town by any means, and “they are not a baseball hotbed, yet they draw 4,500 a game, have a great product, ranked “35th out of 350 affiliated, independent and summer collegiate baseball teams in North America and was one of only five independent teams to have an attendance increase from the 2010 season”. London is in a similar situation with a population of nearly 400,000, located approximately 1 hour from Sarnia, and are a short 20 minutes from St, Mary’s; home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. You really couldn’t ask for anything better. It is very rare when you hear about a successful Canadian franchise in the baseball world. Let’s help make the Rippers a champion and play a part in making their inaugural 2012 campaign memorable. Freese Frame: David Freese tops MLB’s best moments of 201112/26/2011 7:37 AM - Devo
Then there was Derek Jeter, the face of the New York Yankees. Jeter, who has been criticized in recent years for his downturn in performance, brought back the memories of old when he went five-for-five with a home run to collect his 3,000th hit on a memorable day in July that will not soon be forgotten. Just like last year, the pitcher was showcasing his dominance in 2011 with no less than 3 no-hitters being produced; two were thrown within a span of a week (Liriano, Verlander). With pitching again becoming a focal point in this generation’s version of the game, Justin Verlander proved all the naysayers wrong by winning the Cy Young and the AL MVP in the same season, a feat that shall go down in MLB history. Jim Thome joins a club that not many have access to; 600 Home Run Club. As consistent as they come, Thome’s career has spanned two decades and five teams, and still after all this time, when he lays the head of the bat on the ball people take notice. This has happened over 600 times and each one is as magnificent as the last. The last day of season was arguably the greatest single day in baseball history. We had three games being played all with playoff implications. The Tampa Bay Rays battled back with the help of two Evan Longoria home runs to erase a 7-0 deficit in extra innings against the New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox at almost the same time as the Longoria blast, lost to the Baltimore Orioles capping an epic collapse to give the Rays the AL Wild Card. In the NL, the Atlanta Braves in the midst of their own epic demise, dropped a 4-3 extra-inning decision to the Philadelphia Phillies handing the St. Louis Cardinals an improbable Wild Card birth taking them all the way to the World Series. Great feats and accomplishments, but all come in second compared to what David Freese did. His post-season heroics helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to one of the most improbable World Series victories in recent memory. Freese, who throughout his career battled injuries, gave us perhaps two of the greatest World Series moments we have ever seen. The Texas Rangers who were one-strike away from glory twice, got burned by Freese not once but twice. The first, a game-tying triple in the bottom of the ninth and then a walk-off blast in the bottom of the eleventh. Freese who was drafted in the ninth-round of the 2006 draft had never more than 333 at-bats in any of his three MLB seasons. But anyone who has watched this game knows there is no such thing as a guarantee in baseball. Freese who may never reach that type of stardom ever again, is for now the toast of the baseball town and has etched himself in forever in baseball lore.Devon is the Founder and Executive Director of The GM's Perspective Devon and is an Associate member of The Professional Writers Association of Canada, is a featured writer on Examiner.com and member of the Yarbarker Network, Devon is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies, and is now an independent scout. He is also and 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 also a contributor to the Canadian Baseball Network. He has continued to further his knowledge by completing Sports Management Worldwide's Baseball General Manager Class and interning with The Football Outsiders. Currently, Devon is a Manager at a financial institution in Northern Ontario Canada, and can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com. You can follow The GM's Perspective on Twitter and facebook Fort Worth Cats get sold and join the North American League12/22/2011 5:53 AM - Devo
The Fort Worth Cats, one of the founding members of the American Association have been sold by Carl Bell to John Bryant and Byron Pierce, co-founders of United League Baseball, and have been accepted by the North American League as a member of the South Division (United League Baseball merged with the Northern League and Golden Baseball League to form the NAL). With this purchase comes Mike Stone, former President of the Texas Rangers as the new Chairman of the team. The purchase by Bryant and Pierce will be the fifth Indy team that they have owned and with purchasing the Cats, they now have a franchise with over 125 years of experience and loyal fan base on top of that. According to the Star-Telegram, the Cats have joined the NAL because of their failure to pay a $200,000 letter of credit owed to the American Association. Despite the financial troubles, Kevin Outcalt, CEO of the NAL is pretty excited with the new team; who wouldn’t be. The Cats make it five teams in Texas with their arrival, and with the tradition they bring, it only makes the league fan base even stronger. "We are thrilled to have the Fort Worth Cats as a member of the 2012 North American League," said NAL Chief Executive Officer Kevin Outcalt. "It's a first class market and stadium with more than a century of baseball tradition. The new ownership group is very experienced and we look forward to the leadership of Mike Stone to revitalize the brand and the team." While no formalized schedule has been posted to the Cats site, keep informed by checking out the NAL for team and league updates. |
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First, I want to thank all the supporters, readers, fans and critics of 
Despite the negative press about the Rippers logo, it is very original, it stands out, makes people take notice, and will make for an amazing baseball hat! ESPN, Sports Illustrated and many more media outlets throughout North America were all over this when the logo and team name were announced. If that’s not great publicity, I don’t know what is. Now that initial uproar over a logo that was disturbing to 
The 2011 MLB season was filled with great moments and some bad ones, but as always the game has a way of reminding us just how much fun it is. 
It’s been quite an interesting week for the long-time American Association team. 