We had a great time on Saturday night, and had a very good turnout. A solid party hosted by Justin and Cesar at their West Hartford home. Lots of fun spots to mention… burning bats in the fire, the downpour around 10:45, the way Drew Y ran from the rain while playing cornhole, the way the entire team laid it on to Lucas for his nickname award (which he greatly appreciated), the amazing outdoor TV viewing innovations put forward by Kilker, and I’m sure I’m missing a lot. It was a lot of fun before and after the rain. I wish all of you could have been there.

I need to collect everyones jersey that still has one, make plans soon to meet up with Scott… plus if you have an award coming your way… I have one of those for you too.

For the awards, I (Scott), made everyone custom baseball cards for every award.
FOR A LOOK AT ALL OF THEM, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE.
I also want to do that for all the rookies, but haven’t had the chance yet. I will try.
If you weren’t there Saturday, and you won… I have your award card. Meet up with me to get it.

The Awards that you voted on, and the ones Paul and I picked are as follows:

Cy Young – Lucas Nickerson

Silver Slugger – Rex Cone

Gold Glove – Erik Michael

Rookie of the Year – Drew Gallagher

Plus I made an award for the All-Star Game MVP… which was Rick Barrett

The ones you voted on were:

Q1 Most Reliable Player… He comes to lots of games, does certain things well
Phil Dauria: 15 Games, 44 PA, .341 OBP, 4 SB, 5 Runs, versatile fielder… does whatever is needed
6.67%
1
Paul Franceschi: 17 Games Played, 55 PA, 8 Runs, solid defensive catcher… made almost all games except when on honeymoon
0%
0
Rex Cone: 17 Games Played, 57 PA, 8 Runs, .491 OBP, 8 Games Pitched, 44.2 IP… solid contributer at the plate, mound, and field.
20%
3
Lucas Nickerson: 17 Games Played, 11 Games Pitched, 41.2 IP, strong to end the season out of the pen or starting, was our pitcher whenever we needed a stop, and a strong defensive infielder where ever he plays.
13.33%
2
Chris Taylor: 17 Games Played,  51 PA, 10 Runs, very solid and consistent infielder, came to many games even when work conflicts were tough.
0%
0
Jay Gilbert: 18 Games Played, 52 PA, .365 OBP, led team in BA% first half of the year, solid infielder… at least one joke per inning
6.67%
1
Scott Dickens: 21 Games, 60 PA, .383 OBP, 20+ pinch runners, 9561 emails and 8423 text messages
53.33%
8
Total 15

Q2 Keeps it light… Team Comedian/Entertainer/Fun to Be Around… He makes it fun.
Jay Gilbert: Never serious, most jokes per game, most WTF comments and plays on the field
80%
12
Ed Dickman: Never too serious, some of the best on field comments
0%
0
Paul Franceschi: Best Stories during the post game beer. Wants to make sure you are having as much fun as him.
13.33%
2
Rex Cone: Best Writer… Creator of the Rex Perspective, fun to have around.
6.67%
1
Earl Oakes: Takes it all in stride, has fun keeps it light, and is a joy to have around
0%
0
Matt Doyle: Great sense of humor, and knows his stuff… just don’t argue with him about the Penn St. scandal
0%
0
Ryan Palumbo: usually smiling, having fun out there
0%
0
Total 15

Q3 Best Teammate / Attitude

  • Answered: 14
  • Skipped: 1
Phil Dauria – he came to play and did everything we asked. A good attitude, and came through when needed. Phil is a solid middle IF and OF. Scrappy!
35.71%
5
Erik Michael – never a complaint. Erik plays hard, and smart. Always wants us to bat the better players, even if that means he doesn’t get to. Can play any position on the field, and do it well (except maybe catch… but who knows). Probably the nicest guy on the team.
7.14%
1
Lucas Nickerson – Mr. Easy going… Lucas smiles and has a good time, but gets serious when needed. He’ll pitch in whatever roll he’s needed, in the pen, a start on 3 days rest after pitching in relief… this year he did it all. The only complaint I got was when we made him load the bases after he threw 125+ pitches… and he was right (we were dumb in hindsight).
35.71%
5
Rick Blais – Rick just wanted to play ball, and to contribute. He came out and did well after not playing since he was 15. Never a complaint, and you could tell he worked hard out there, and wanted to win. Also a great guy.
21.43%
3
Total 14

Q4 Mr. Intensity… the guy who’s all business, can’t stand to make a mistake, hold’s himself to a very high standard
Justin Kilker
42.86%
6
Chris Taylor
14.29%
2
Drew Yukelson
0%
0
Paul Franceschi
28.57%
4
Rick Blais
0%
0
Ron Pezzullo
14.29%
2
Other (please specify) ( 0 )
Total 14

Q5 The Natural… the guys who LOOKS like he doesn’t even have to try … lots of talent, and someone even when slumping you know is one hit away from being locked in or you are shocked when he makes an error.
Rick Barrett
13.33%
2
Rex Cone
33.33%
5
Justin Kilker
6.67%
1
Drew Yukelson
26.67%
4
Ed Dickman
6.67%
1
Chris Taylor
6.67%
1
Ernie Meza
6.67%
1
Shawn Fergusson
0%
0
Chris Klepps
0%
0
Total 15

Q6 Most Clutch Player… he gets a hit or makes the play when you need it most
Rex Cone – big hits and lead the team in many hitting catagories
40%
6
Drew Gallagher – many big clutch hits throughout the year, including the big HR at East Hartford
46.67%
7
Ernie Meza – 2 big game winning hits, early in the year
13.33%
2
Lucas Nickerson – probably our most clutch pitcher on the year
0%
0
Total 15

Q7 Biggest Disappointment, Biggest Bummer, or Worst Play…Don’t Take it personal fellas 😉
Losing both ends of the second Muzzy Double Header (to the Indians and Ridges) by a combined score of 23-5
20%
3
Our disappointing performance in our playoff game 2 loss to the Expos… did we even show up to play?
26.67%
4
The tough loss at East Hartford where we couldn’t hit to support Blais, and they scored a go ahead run in the bottom of the sixth… we then challenged in the top of the 7th only to fall short.
0%
0
The tough loss at Glastonbury in the final week of the season, where we went back and forth all game… then went up 9-6 in the 6th, only to give up 5 in the bottom of the inning to lose 11-9
6.67%
1
The mirror image injuries of Lucas Nickerson and Doug Whitehorn… each who took BALLS to the face and needed multiple stitches.
20%
3
Rex Cone launching the baseball down the left field line over the 3rd basemans head on a ball hit back to him on the mound, during the first playoff game, putting us behind and we never came back.
6.67%
1
Top of 7th, 2 outs, Gilbert at second, and Paul at the plate down a run. Gilbert tries to steal 3rd, in a terrible spot.
13.33%
2
Pick one, all about the same – F-Ups in the OF in a big spot in a big game as we were trying to lock up our playoff spot: Blais’s missed Fly ball in Right Field vs Expos helping lead to loss, Ron’s missed Fly ball in Left Field vs Glastonbury helping lead to loss, Yukelson’s overrunning the ball in left field vs Elmer’s which put us behind (until we had our dramatic come from behind win).
13.33%
2
The bad decision by Scott and Drew Gallagher (against Lucas’s wishes when he already threw around 125 pitches), to walk batters toward the end of the batting order of the Twins to load the bases to get the force at the plate/double play, instead of going after the weak batters. End result is a walk of walk for the Twins, and huge regret for Scott (and lots of frustration for Lucas… but he got over it)
33.33%
5
Other (please specify) ( 0 )
Total Respondents: 15

Q8 Play/Moment of the Year
Getting the last out to close out Rick Barrett’s season opening No Hitter vs the Twins (first game he’s pitched for us since Fall Ball in 2009). Our FIRST no hitter in team history.
66.67%
10
Trevor (Paul’s intern, who we tried to get to play all year) showing up and getting the big walk off hit in the last game of the season, to clinch us NOT starting the playoffs in the elimination bracket.
20%
3
Barrett’s Second HR of the Game at the Expos… a rocket over the huge right field wall (the first was a bomb too).
6.67%
1
The ridiculous, fake out, pickle play in the first playoff game vs Elmer’s that got us out of a potential big inning for them (didn’t matter in the end though).
0%
0
Ernie’s gaming winning hit during the second game of the year
6.67%
1
Total 15

Q9 The Wish You Were Here Award… for those guys that had a lot of other stuff going on this year, and less time for us (so they couldn’t play as much as we would have liked… Make sure you find the time in 2013, because with all of you, we’d be repeating champs. We missed ya!

  • Answered: 15
  • Skipped: 0
Shawn Fergusson
40%
6
Ed Dickman
13.33%
2
Chris Klepps
0%
0
Kyle Faust
0%
0
Earl Oakes
6.67%
1
Dan Beecher
6.67%
1
Matt Doyle
6.67%
1
Mitch Hummer
26.67%
4
Doug Whitehorn
0%
0
Trevor Bretton
0%
0
Chris Dickens
0%
0
Kevin Gokey
0%
0
Other (please specify) ( 0 )
Total 15

Q10 Best Player Nickname (given by Gilbert or otherwise)
The Destroyer – Lucas Nickerson (given by some college girl at RIT)
33.33%
5
The Hogg – Lucas Nickerson (given by Paul, Rex, or someone, I forget)
20%
3
Nebraska/Farm Boy – Justin Kilker (given variations of by Gilbert)
20%
3
Doyle Rules – Matt Doyle (given by Gilbert)
0%
0
Ball Player (as in… He Looks Like a Ball Player) – Drew Yukelson (given by Gilbert)
26.67%
4
Other (please specify) ( 0 )
Total 15

AND NOW… HERE ARE ALL THE BASEBALL CARD AWARDS I PUT TOGETHER FOR YOU…