July 22, 2023
MINUTES MVUDSS BOARD MEETING 7/22/23
IN ATTENDANCE: S. Baranick (SB); R. Barnhart (RB); J. Hansell (JH); E. Rushing (ER); G. Stevenson (GS)
Guest: C. Yap (CY)
1. Action Items
a. SB – posted Forfeiture Penalty Policy on 7/4/23 on league website. Item closed.
b. SB – updated/posted current Draft List on 7/4/23, and revised on 7/21/23. Item remains open.
c. SB – verified, on 7/6/23 that ER’s wagon fits in the league’s storage bin. Item closed.
d. SB – contacted Tom Lowry/BLD on 7/15/23 and verified that we would be able to start games at 8:00 am.
Item closed.
e. RB – contacted Mario Borroel on 7/7/23 and verified that he will be in the draft. Item closed.
2. Open items from previous meetings
a. The Board evaluated whether to purchase Dudley Thunder ZN 44/525 softballs @ $60/doz. from AWS/NCS or Trump Stote Microcell 44/375 from Dan Haveron (DH) @ $73/doz. The Board discussed the merits of both balls, with the general consensus being that the Stote is the better ball. JH motioned and GS seconded that the Board purchase 5 dozen Stote Microcell 44/375 from DH at $73/doz. Motion passed 5-0. (Subsequent to the Board meeting, on 7/23/23, SB spoke to DH, who indicated that 6 doz. was the minimum order. DH is checking on the availability of the balls, the price, and taxes & S/H; and will get back to SB. SB spoke to DH on 7/24/23, who informed SB that the Stotes are no longer being manufactured in China, but will, now, be manufactured in Viet Nam. DH indicated that there is a final inventory of 6 doz., that will cost $88/doz., with none available after that inventory. Given the bad experience MVUDSS had with Viet Nam manufactured Trump Rocks, SB sent a text to Board members recommending that we acquire the Dudley Thunder ZN mentioned above. The vote was 5-0 to do so. SB has an existing inventory of 7 doz. of these balls. We will require 5 doz. for the 2023 Fall season.) Item closed.
b. After getting the clarification in 1.c. above that the wagon will fit in the league’s storage bin, SB motioned and GS seconded to purchase a new wagon for the league like Ed Rushing’s for $169.99 + tax + S/H. Motion passed 5-0. (Subsequent to the Board meeting, on 7/23/23, SB ordered the wagon. The wagon is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday, 7/25/23. Subsequent to the Board meeting, SB reported that the wagon was received on Tuesday, 7/25/23.) Item closed.
c. (Subsequent to the Board meeting, given a league account balance of $36.80 from the 2023 Spring season, and the need to purchase, new balls, new wagon, and to be able to pay league umpires on the first day of the season, SB will loan the league enough money to cover those expenses. He will be repaid for these items once the 2023 Fall league fees are received.) Item remains open.
d. Schedule tryouts/ratings for potential NEW players. The Board agreed to hold tryouts/ratings determination for 6 potential new league players on Saturday, 7/29/23, 8:00 am at Wheatfield Park. All Board members indicated they were available. (Subsequent to the Board meeting, on 7/22/23, SB sent an email to the potential new players. As of 7/23/23, 3 responded in the affirmative.) Item remains open.
e. GS – after being hacked, the website, although usable, is in process of being rebuilt: Board Minutes, In Memoriam pages. SB will provide GS will a large (electronic) folder containing Board minutes going back to 2013 and In Memoriam information. Item remains open.
3. 2023 Fall Season
a. Of the 72 Spring ‘23 local players –
67 local RETURNING, 2 POOL (Kraemer, Jennings), 3 OUT
1 OOA RETURNING (Al Shelley)
6 former dropouts RETURNING – Dan Olivas, Tel Preszler, Terry Shinn, Mario Borroel, Brian Allen, Mike O’Donnell
6 NEW players – Jerry Harkey, David Olivas. Bill Olson, Billy Loard, Marvin McWhorter, Vic Villarreal
—
80
Other possible players (2): 1 MAYBE – Bill Newman, 1 TBD – Mike Trusty
b. SB is in the process of generating/posting the rosters with player ratings, rules, schedule, standings, and Player Finder files on their respective website pages. Item not discussed in Board meeting. Item remains open.
c. Managers/Teams – The Board indicated that, as of this Board meeting, 5 managers have stepped forward.
Those 5 managers (with their identified assistants in parentheses) are Hank Alberts (XXX), Chris Yap (Prybylla), John Leavitt (Bates), Kent Skidmore (Skog), Ed Rushing (Hansell).
On 7/19/23, the Board sent an email to all league players indicating that one more manager is needed, requesting players to step up and manage and further indicating the the start of the 2023 Fall season could be in jeopardy, if we do not have the 6th manager by the start of the draft on 8/7/23. As of this Board meeting, no one has come forward.
The Board discussed a number of possible options given the league’s current status.
(1) Delay the draft until we get the “requisite” number of managers. As pointed out to players, in the 7/19/23 email, this would put the entire season, potentially, in jeopardy as there is no wiggle room in the schedule.
(2) Draft only the number of players to field 12 players/team if we only have 5 managers.
(3) If we have more than 72 players, and we have 6 managers, only draft 72 players.
(4) If we have more than 72 players, and as many as 77 players, consider 7 teams with 11 players per team. This is problematic in that it would require a 7th manager, and we cannot even get a 6th manager to step up.
(5) If we have more than 72 players, but less than 77 players (76 as example), we would have 6 teams, with 12 players per team, and 72 players drafted, again assuming we have a 6th manager.
Among a number of issues, options (2) through (5) would mean that a number of players would not get drafted. The Board made no final decision regarding any of the above options. Item remains open.