TO: Members of the Patrick's on Third Softball Team

FROM: Team Cocaptains Mike Tollefson and Rob Moline

DATE: 4/22/96

SUBJECT: Preparations for the 1996 Softball Season (and other important info)

At long last, it's almost time for the softball season to begin! Looking back on last year, I think we can definitely count our first year in the St. Peter Softball Association a success. Patrick's finished with a 9 and 5 record and was a contender for the league championship. Immediately following last year's season, I sat down and wrote out a list of some of last season's other highlights and lowlights, knowing that they might be forgotten.

RECAP OF LAST SEASON'S HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS

Highlight: The Fund-raiser Kick-Off party at Patrick's!

Lowlight: The next morning (ouch).

Highlight: The moment we all realized that Patrick's really wasn't going to charge us for the 8 to 10 pitchers of beer they brought us after our games.

Lowlight: When Becky, our somewhat ditsy but absolutely gorgeous waitress got canned. A moment of silence please.

Highlight: Her new profession!

Highlight: Our awesome, totally cool looking, Patrick's uniforms.

Lowlight: Our awesome, totally cool looking, really, really black Patrick's uniforms which, according to Homey, may have gotten just a bit hot a couple of times.

Lowlight: Steve Becker's MDHA cap.

Highlight: The two week's it was lost while he was moving.

Highlight: When Larry "King Kong" Gunderson stepped up to the plate at Districts with 2 out, bases loaded and hit a crucial base-hit.

Lowlight: When Rocketman got a little too excited over this and sprained his ankle jumping up and down on the bench.

Highlight: T.J. sliding safely into third without a tin of Kodiak in his back pocket.

Lowlight: You get the idea.

Highlight: The week when T.J. may have possibly washed his uniform.

Lowlight: Mike Bucsh colliding with Jeff Feder trying to catch an infield fly.

Highlight: Feder's resulting black eye which looked really tuff!

Highlight: The entire team singing Marguaritaville at karaoke.

Lowlight: For those of you who may have been sitting in the audience and had to listen to the entire team singing Marguaritaville at karaoke.

Highlight: Having a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity join our team made up of approximately 93% FarmHousers . . . wait a minute, did I say highlight? (Just Kidding Jason)

UPCOMING SEASON

Enough reminiscing, here's the scoop. I have enclosed a copy of the schedule and game times. These times apply to everyone except Becker. It was requested of me that I issue Steve a separate schedule which listed all the games as being 1 hour earlier than they actually are to insure his early arrival. I think everyone agreed that it really helped last year to get there early, warm up, take five or ten cuts at the ball, see a few pop flies and take some infield (in the outfield). I did request that we get more late games this year. I'm not sure how much good it did but at least we didn't get scheduled for any 6:15 start times. Our first game is against the National Guard (that's right, the same team that we crushed 36-4 last year). Let's start the season with a win!!!

RAIN DELAYS

As was the policy for last year, rain-outs for Patrick's (the team) will not be called until 4:00 pm. At the captains meeting, the Rec. Department indicated that they would be much less likely to call a rain out this year. For those of you traveling long distances, I realize that a game that is called because of the weather at the last minute could be a problem. Fortunately, Patrick's (the bar) has never reported a rain delay and thus, we do not expect inclement weather to delay any of our drinking activities.

OPERATION PLAY-BALL

For you rookies out there, Operation Play Ball is something we came up with after our umpteenth game had been canceled because our poorly drained fields were too wet. After a lot of bitching and several pitchers at Patrick's, the would-be players that night decided to bring in all the heavy duty construction and tiling equipment we could steal and go to work tiling the fields ourselves and see just how far we got before someone questioned us on it.

Fortunately, calmer heads prevailed and we have taken a more politically and legally correct approach to this problem. Larry "King Kong" Gunderson has gotten himself elected to the St. Peter Park and Rec. Board (way to go Larry) and is fighting for improved drainage for Jefferson Fields. From what Larry has told me, there is a good chance that it will happen either this fall or next and input from the community would greatly increase the chances of this project going through. I have forwarded this information on to the St. Peter Softball Association and the other team captains in our league. At some point I may call on you to come to a Park and Rec. Board meeting to voice our opinions and let them know that if they don't get this project underway, they may get more help than they anticipated.

EQUIPMENT

T-shirts have been ordered for everyone on the team. They are simple heavy duty athletic gray shirts with "Patrick's" on the front and the number corresponding to your jersey number on the back. They should provide a good alternative to our normal black jerseys on hot days. T.J. will be issuing them and collecting the money. Jerseys have been ordered for the new players. Bring your checkbooks to the first game!

PERSONNEL CHANGES

We mourn the loss of Homey from the St. Peter Social District. However, Mark has assured me that he will be up in the area from time to time. We have made a number of acquisitions in the off-season. The following is a tentative list of the people who have expressed interest in playing some ball this summer.

Full-Time Players (* Denotes Rookie Season)

1. Rob "Rocketman" Moline

2. Mike Tollefson

3. T.J. Phillips

4. Steve Becker

5. Larry "King Kong" Gunderson

6. Darin (Pestacide) Pesta*

7. Eric Ruen

8. Todd Arduzer*

9. Kevin Tollefson*

10. Gary Schmiesing*

11. Tim Sullivan*

Alternates

1. Dave Zeller

2. Mark Portner

3. Mark Holmen

4. Mike Busch

5. Tom Freeman

6. Dave Deyle

7. Loren Horsager

Again, this is only a tentative list. Anybody who was listed as full-time and would like to be considered an alternate (or vice versa) should feel free to let us know. We will count on the people listed as regulars to be at the games. If you can't make it, be sure to let a co captain know so we can contact a replacement. If you are an alternate and suddenly develop an urge to come play some ball and drink some beer on a Wednesday night, give us a call. We can bat 11 and Patrick's seats a lot.

LEAGUE FEES

Patrick's has again paid our league fee of $220. In addition to this, there are individual player's fees which are $10/person as long as you live in St. Peter or live in a town where there is no sanctioned league. If there is a sanctioned league in the town you reside in, it will cost you $20. I can find out for you if you are unsure how much you owe. I will collect players fees from you at the first game. You must pay your player's fee and play in at least four games in order to be eligible to play in Districts.

RULE CHANGES

The only real big change is that this year, the D-league has been combined with the lower C teams to make a bigger league. This affects us in several ways. Number one, the competition may be a little stiffer and secondly, we are now allowed two homeruns per game. Homeruns after the limit will be considered foul balls. As was the case last year, the count is 3-2 with a courtesy foul, infield fly rule is in effect, 6 foot floor and 12 foot ceilings on pitches, and unlimited substitution during the game.

WHY DID I GET A CONCESSIONS STAND SCHEDULE?

Yet another way that the St. Peter Softball Association has devised to soak us for our money is to require us to pay a $50.00 deposit per team which can be recouped by working the concessions stand. This was actually fairly painless last year but we can talk more about this after the first game.

TOURNAMENTS?

In addition to the year-end league tournament and Districts, some people may want to play in a few more tournaments this summer. To this I say . . . go for it. Last year, T.J. entered a team in the St. James Railroad Days Tournament while Mike Busch (and folks) coordinated the post-game activities. This was a big success and a lot of fun. It should be noted, however, that this was not exactly the same team that plays for strictly fun in St. Peter's recreational league and the teams that play in most tournaments are of a different caliber than what we face on Wednesday nights. If you want to play in a tournament this summer, don't wait around for me sign up Patrick's and then expect to play because you play on Wednesday nights. Instead, I'll give you a booklet which lists most of the tournaments played in Minnesota this summer and the numbers to call for them. Call them up, send in the money, and captain your very own team.

GAME VS. FH CUP GAME TEAM

Some of you are aware of this but let me bring you all up to speed. I have taken the liberty of challenging the Spring Cup Game Team to a softball game, partially because I think the practice will do us some good, but mostly because I think they need it. I have enclosed a copy of the invitation/challenge that I sent them so you know what I've gotten us into. The letter was read at the general house meeting on April 22. They have suggested either May 4, or May 25 as possible dates. I'll keep you posted on this.

THE END

If anyone has any questions, feel free to call either of us. See you soon!

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