2010 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW

A comprehensive review of the 2010 season.

TWENTY TEN WINTERBALL EXTRAVAGANZA

December 4, 2010: The 10th Annual Winterball Extravaganza, played at Maplewood Park in chilly 41 degree conditions, saw the Snowmen(30+)defeat the Snowflakes(18+) by a score of 10-8.

U.S. Marine Sergeant Jonathan Chan was on hand to accept a donated toy for Toys for Tots from each player, aged 14-60, and root them on. This year's game featured players from many local leagues and included younger players from high schools and AAU teams, led by players from the New England Stampede.

In the game, the Snowmen (30+) plated 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to break an 8-8 score. John "Smokey" Moore came out of retirement (and faced his son Zachary age 14) and picked up the save. Participants from the BMBL included Jay Thomas and Ryan Bere from the MABL Blue Jays, John Robles and Kevin O'Leary from the Weymouth Grays, Franz Strassman and Paul Anderson from the Middlesex Brewers, and Dave Joseph of the Brockton A's.

Rob McDonough, Brett Rudy, U.S. Marine Sergeant Jonathan Chan, Smokey Moore and Ryan Bere

2010 Winterball Team

Dave Joseph

MSBL WORLD SERIES WRAPS UP IN ARIZONA

October 29, 2010: The MSBL World Series wraps up this week with many BMBL players particpating in various divisions. The Boston Wolfpack were defeated in the semi finals of the 45+ National Division by the eventual Champions Team Victory.

MABL BANQUET TO BE HOSTED BY THE POUR HOUSE

October 27, 2010: The MABL Banquet was held at The Pour House Bar and Grill to cap the end of another season. MABL Champs Blue Jays and finalist Cambridge Spinners were honored as well as MVP Adam Del Rio of the Cutters and Cy Young winner Kyle Buika of the Blue Jays. Click here to see the rest of the 2010 award winners.

METRO RED SOX CAPTURE MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 11, 2010: The Metro Red Sox captured the 40+ Master's Division Championship with an 8-5 win over the Waltham Braves in a close game that featured several lead changes, good defense and timely hitting on both sides. The Sox Kevin Curtin went the distance vs the Braves Mike Moore and Tom Dowey. The Braves led 2-0 after Dave Pellitier homered to dead center field, then the Sox responded with 4 in the 3rd on a Russ Ward 2-run double. The Braves Doug Flutie(2 RBI) and Kevin Locke knocked in 2 more to keep it a 1 run game. The Sox Dave Garofano had 3 hits, Billy Carlezon and Eric Kimble had 2 key hits each. A good competitive series and congratulations to both teams making it to the Championship series !

2010 100 INNINGS OF BASEBALL

October 9 & 10, 2010: The 7th Annual 100 Innings of Baseball Spectacular was held this weekend at Adams Field. The Early Birds beat the Worms, 73-72, in the bottom of the 100th inning when Chad Griffiths of the Tigers drove in his teammate Dan Field to win the game in dramatic fashion.

Approximately 150 players participated in the game with 19 "Iron Men" playing all 100 innings. Brent Campbell of the Men's Adult Baseball League's Blue Jays pitched the first 30 innings of the game and recorded 21 strikeouts.

2010 proceeds benefit ALS and the Walter Bentson Scholarship Fund, a fund that supports the children of PALS (patients of ALS) for their higher education. Walter Bentson is UIC for the Boston Men's Baseball League.

2nd ANNUAL SEACOAST NH MSBL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

October 9 - 11, 2010: The 2nd Annual Seacoast NH MSBL Regional Tournament was held this weekend in Dover, NH. The Connecticut Mets won the 25+ division and the Maine Diamond Dogs won the 35+ division. The North Andover Thunder, competing in the 35+ group, were defeated by the Diamond Dogs in the semi finals, 7-6.

BMBL PLAYERS BOW OUT IN SEMIS AT NABA WORLD SERIES

October 3, 2010: The Boston Rockies lost to the Kansas Cicy Monarchs 7-5 in the semi-finals of the National Adult Baseball Association World Series this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. The Rockies went 3-2 in pool play. Complete results can be found here.

BLUEJAYS COME FROM BEHIND TO WIN MABL CHAMPIONSHIP

September 30, 2010: In one of the most memorable championship series in recent years, the Bluejays scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th to win the 5th and deciding game of the MABL Finals over the Cambridge Spinners, 3-2.

With the Jays leading 1-0 in a pitchers duel with solid defense from both sides, the Spinners plated 2 in the 6th to take a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 6th, the Jays stranded runners on 2nd and 3rd.

Move to the bottom of the 7th; Jake Stewart, Dakota Happas and Eddie Pickett hit 3 consecutive singles to load the bases. Dana Levensaler's sac fly ties the game and with runners on 1st and 2nd, Rob Linn hits a slow grounder to 2nd and Spinners try to turn 2, Linn barely beats the throw to first. Happas never stops coming around from second and beats the throw to the plate to score the game winning run.

SCITUATE TIDES WIN SECOND STRAIGHT NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

September 29, 2010: Congratulations to the Scituate Tides on becoming the first National League team to win back to back championships since the NL's inception in 2003. The Tides swept the Lexington Blue Sox in the Finals. Game 1 was a 5-0 victory and featured a 3 hit shutout from ace Rob Monti and clutch hitting by Dakota Happas, Jeremy Winters and Brian Cassidy. Game 2 was dominated by Dave Iava on the mound. Iava had a no hitter going until the 6th before Lexington broke through. The offensive stars were Winters (playoff MVP), Brendan Stone, Danny O'Brien and Robbie Linn. The 2010 title was also the Tides 4th in 6 years. They had previously won it all in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

The Blue Sox, in their first year in the league, were the Cinderella favorites. Under the leadership of Sal Mirabella, Jr., the Sox clinched the 8th playoff spot on the last day of the season and then went on a run knocking off the #1 seed Waltham Red Sox and #5 seed Braintree Braves on the arms of Kevin McGlinchy and Sam Steed.

NEWTON RED SOX CROWNED AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

September 29, 2010: The Newton Red Sox defeated the Middlesex Brewers to win the MSBL American League Championship for the 5th time in the last 9 years. Bobby Anderson led the Red Sox pitching a 7 inning, 1 hit shutout and singled in a run as the Sox defeated a very tough Brewers team that had averaged 9 runs a game in sweeping their two previous playoff series. Leading hitters for the Red Sox were Tom Serra, double and run scored, Kevin Marden Jr., triple and RBI, Dan Montero, triple and RBI and Paul Lamoureau, two hits and RBI. The Sox got by two time defending champs Milton Breakers in the semi finals in a close 3 game series.

The Brewers swept the Roxbury Panthers and JM Force of Hyde Park to get to the finals on the pitching of Owen Carlson and Aram Manoukian and hitting of Steve Ponte, Terry Belli, Franz Strassmann, and Josh Weinstock.

5th ANNUAL CENTRAL MASS 40+ FALL CLASSIC

September 25-26, 2010: The 5th Annual Central Mass 40+ Fall Classic was won by the Central Mass Storm, defeating the Cubans 11-2 in the finals. BMBL was represented by the Mass Minutemen (2008 winners) and the Quincy Grays. The Storm won the CMFC in 2009 also.

MSBL 40+ "B" DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

September 20, 2010: The Quincy Grays won the "B" Division Master's Championship by sweeping both series by a combined score of 61-13. The team batted .385 for both series and parlayed outstanding pitching and defense into a successful championship run. Opponents batted .200 against the Grays who had a combined ERA of 2.00 and had a total of 5 errors through the 2 series.

2010 MABL AWARD WINNERS

September 16, 2010: The MABL announced their year end awards. Adam Del Rio of the Cutters won MVP honors after leading the league in AVG, RBIs, and OPS. Kyle Buika of the Blue Jays was the high vote getter for the Cy Young award and Ryan Bere, manager of the Blue Jays, won Manager of the Year. Chris Vecsey of the Orioles edged out teammate Kevin Glass for Rookie of the Year.

See the complete 2010 MABL Award and Player's Choice Voting.

Adam Del Rio Cutters Most Valuable Player

Kyle Buika Blue Jays Cy Young

Chris Vecsey Orioles Rookie of the Year

Ryan Bere Blue Jays Manager of the Year

2010 REGULAR SEASON WRAP UP

September 8, 2010: MABL Recap: The 2010 MABL playoffs start on Wednesday with the following matchups: Atlantic Division: (1) Blue Jays vs (4) Ben's Dream White Sox - What a difference a year can make as the Blue Jays ended the season with the best record in the MABL and winners of the Atlantic Division after a disappointing year last year in which they did not qualify for the post season. Kyle Buika, MABL Cy Young Candidate, and the Blue Jays will face off against the Whitesox and MVP Candidate Ivan Clemente. (2) Cutters vs (3) Lawrence Dbacks - The Cutters and MABL MVP Candidate Adam Del Rio look to defend their 2009 Championship title against the Dbacks. All series are best of 3

Baystate Division: (1) Spinners vs (4) Senators-The Spinners take on the Senators who punched their ticket to the playoffs with an 8-3 record in their last 11 games to lock up the 4th seed on the arm of Cy Young Candidate Mike Cook. During the regular season though the Spinners took 2 out 3 against the Senators and MVP Candidate Nick Bonard led the charge. (2) Tigers vs (3) Reds - Reds swept the season series vs the Tigers in 3 very good battles. Manager Brett Nowlin and the Reds looks to carry that momentum over into the Playoffs but will have their work cut out for them versus Eric Harvey, MABL Cy Young Candidate, and a veteran Tigers team.

National Year of Parity: The National League was extremely competitive this year with Waltham Red Sox leading the regular season with 17 wins and a whopping +90 differential between runs scored and runs allowed. Natick Knights took the batting title with a team batting average of .357. Scituate Tides had great pitching again to lead the league with a team ERA of 1.32 allowing an unbelievably low 60 runs for the season. Three new teams - the Braintree Braves, the Cambridge Cantabs and the Lexington Blue Sox had great years with Lexington edging out Cambridge for the last playoff spot in the last game of the year.

American Tradition: The Newton Red Sox were back again on the top of the American League standings at the end of the regular season with the Middlesex Brewers (league leader in runs scored) and first year JM Force of Hyde Park only a point behind. The other usual suspects again moved on to the the playoffs including two-time defending champions Milton Breakers (led league in fewest runs allowed), the Lynn Lugnuts (league lowest ERA), Boston Braves, Medford Angels and Roxbury Panthers (league leader in BA).

MSBL 40+ Masters Division: The MSBL 40+ Masters Division welcomed two new teams this year, the Lynn Lugnuts and the Waltham Braves expanding the league to 10 teams and featuring a new playoff format where the top 6 seed compete for the Masters title and the last 4 seeds square off in the first Masters 40+ "B" Division Championship. The Metro Red Sox nearly went undefeated on a pitching staff that allowed only 37 runs and earning the top seed again this year. Both the Acton Orioles and Braves also pitched well yielding only 65 runs each in the regular season. There was no shortage of offense this season as the Wellesley Monarchs, Orioles, Woody's Brewers, Red Sox, and Quincy Grays all scored more than 100 runs.

CAPE COD CLASSIC BLOWS THROUGH THIS WEEKEND

September 3-6, 2010: Ignoring the hype of Hurricane Earl, the 16th Annual Cape Cod Classic was held Labor Day Weekend. The Framingham Orioles defended their title defeating the Connecticut Top Hats, 6-1. The 16 team tournament included BMBL teams the Red Sox, Club Franz and host Middlesex Thunder.

NEW LEAGUE LOGO SELECTED

August 14, 2010: The BMBL launched a design contest at to create a new BMBL league logo and the winner is posted to the left. Thank you to all that voted and supplied comments. Although somewhat generic, this logo is clean, looks readable whether big or small, and works both in B&W and color. See all the designs submitted here.

MID SUMMER CLASSIC DOUBLE FEATURE

August 7, 2010: The BMBL held their 2010 MABL and MSBL All-Star Games today at LeLacheur Stadium in Lowell. The National League All-Stars defeated the American League All-Stars 15-4 in game one and the Atlantic All-Stars staged a late rally to defeat the Baystate All-Stars in the nightcap, 6-2.

In the MSBL game, the National League team, featuring a Heisman Trophy winner and a former Major League pitcher, pounded out 17 hits and 15 runs on their way to beating the American League All-Stars. The hit parade was lead by Doug Flutie, George O'Conner and Dana Levensaler who each had 2 hits. Levensaler, who was also an MABL All-Star, led the team in RBIs with 3 followed by Rob Linn, Flutie and Stan Demartinis with 2 a piece. Tom Dowey pitched 3 innings of middle relief to pick up the win and Kevin McGlinchey pitched the ninth throwing consistently in the low 90's. The AL got scoreless innings from Cary Atsalis, Kevin Colmey, Steve Joseph, and Rich Winnant and RBIs from Brett Rudy, Mike Nicastro, Chris Anderson, and Gary Walker.

In the MABL game, pitching and defense were the story through 8 innings as only 1 unearned run scored for the Bay State Stars. Atlantic bats came to life in the 9th with 6 runs started by a hit by Eric Fuderman. Adam del Rio knocked in the tieing run with his 3rd hit of the game. Julio Gonzales, Anthony Tomoro and Steve Vaneeran also had RBI hits in the inning. Steve Shaw picked up the win pitching a scoreless 8th. Del Rio was the offensive star for Atlantic going 3-4 with an RBI. For the Bay State, Mike Cook struck out side in the 3rd while consistantly breaking 90mph on the gun.

2010 MABL All-Stars
2010 MSBL All-Stars
Add'l Photos From MSBL Game
HOF Inductee Steve Donovan

BMBL HALL OF FAME

August 4, 2010: The BMBL announces the induction of two players into the BMBL Hall of Fame. The two most dominating lefty pitchers in league history will be recognized at this year's All-Star Game at LaLacheur Park, MABL's Bryan Gauvin and MSBL's Steve Donovan. Congratulations!

Bryan Gauvin	Steve Donovan

ORIOLES CAPTURE COOPERSTOWN CLASSIC

July 17-18, 2010: The Orioles won the 2010 Cooperstown Classic, winning the championship game over the Ben's Dream White Sox by a score of 8-6.

The Orioles swept the field for their first Classic championship.

Order photos from The Cooperstown Time Company for games at Doubleday Field HERE.

DOWNEAST CLASSIC GOES TO THE DOGS

July 3-5, 2010: The Maine Diamond Dogs won the 2010 MSBL Downeast Classic, winning the championship game over the Seacoast MSBL 35s. Scott Ellis, of the BMBL was named tournament MVP. Last year's winner, the Medford Mets, lost in the semifinals to Seacoast. The Boston Red Sox, in the 25+ bracket, also fell short in the championship game to the Rome Bombers. The North Andover Thunder also participated in the 35+ division.

BOSTON WOLFPACK COME BACK TO CAPTURE LAS VEGAS OPEN

May 29-31, 2010: The Boston Wolfpack swept the 2010 MSBL Las Vegas Open, winning their three pool games and then winning a thriller against Team Victory in the Championship. It was the second Open championship for the Pack who also won in 2008. Boston was the runner up in 2006 and 2007 and did not participate in the 2009 Open which was won by Team Victory.

Richie Figueroa pitched a 3-hitter over Tri-Valley 40's to earn the bye, but in the Finals, the Wolfpack fell behind 7-1 after 3 on some miscues and 2-out hits. Carmelo Bastain, Bobby Iandoli, and Carlo Molinaris hit consecutive singles and Boston scored 3 in the 7th, then 4 more in the 8th with Miguel Franquiz knocking in the go ahead run to make is 8-7. Marco Barragan got the win in relief, pitching 6 scoreless innings to pick up his second win of the tournament.

Bob Iandoli's 3 hits paced comeback.

Marco Barragan pitches 6 shutout innings

Miguel Franquiz gets GWRBI in Final

OPENING DAY 4 WEEKS AWAY

April 24-25, 2010: Weather permitting, the 2010 Boston Men's Baseball League will begin the weekend of April 24-25th. New teams in the MSBL are the Braintree Braves, Cambridge Cantabs, JM Force of Hyde Park, Lexington Blue Sox. In the Masters Division, we welcome the Lynn Lugnuts 40's and Waltham Braves.

All 14 MABL teams have Clubhouse websites this year with the Lawrence DBacks taking top honors for creativity.

Good luck to all teams in Twenty Ten.

BOSTON WOLFPACK TAKES TITLE AT GRAPEFRUIT CLASSIC

March 27-28, 2010: The Boston Wolfpack swept the 2010 MSBL Grapefruit Classic, winning all four of their games. The first year tournament was held at Terry Park in Ft. Myers, Flordia during Spring Traininig.

The Wolfpack got great pitching performances from Kevin Curtin, Jay Hoyt, Richie Figueroa and Junior Rentas allowing only 2 runs total in four games. Offensive stars included Rentas, Carmelo Bastain, Bobby Iandoli, and tournament MVP German Rivera.

Kevin Curtin spins gem in Game 1

Carmelo Bastain laces a hit

Bobby Iandoli puts on a show

MSBL 2010 TRYOUT A HIT AT EXTRA INNINGS - Woburn

March 14, 2010: The 30+ MSBL held their tryout for 2010 at Extra Innings - Woburn. Kevin Rielly of Extra Innings - Woburn opened his facility to our league.

Click here for discount coupons for Extra Innings - Woburn!

MABL 2010 TRYOUT SCORES AT EXTRA INNINGS - Woburn

March 14, 2010: The MABL held their tryout for 2010 at Extra Innings - Woburn. Thank you to Kevin Rielly of Extra Innings - Woburn for opening his facility to our league.

League managers were in attendance to watch players hit while pitchers threw off a mound. A draft followed immediately after the tryout, where managers selected players based on need.

PLAYING BALL IN CUBA

February 14-21, 2010: Through the program, Baseball Adventures, BMBL players Russ Ward and Steve Wolf travelled to Cuba in a rare opportunity to be a Baseball Ambassador and play baseball in this forbidden paradise against former Cuban National Team Players.

Cubans play baseball with more passion, much like it used to be in the USA. They play everywhere and at all ages. You'll see kids in fields playing with sticks for bats, taped up rocks for balls and no glove. The Cubans have very little baseball gear and by the end of the week, we had given away all our baseballs, cleats, gloves, bats and other equipment walking away from the last game shirtless, shoeless and only in shorts.

Psychiatric Hospital Stadium

Olympic Gold Medalist Omar Ajete

Russ Ward at Bat

Our Team and Cubans in Havana

16th Annual MSBL CARIBBEAN WINTER BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

February 11-14, 2010: Three teams represented the BMBL in the 16th Annual MSBL Caribbean Winter Baseball Championship in Puerto Rico. The Rhode Island Cardinals won the 35+ Division running the table going 7-0. The Dorchester Dodgers went 1-4 in the 25+ Division.

New England Bandits finished with a 1-4 record in the 35+ Division and did not qualify for the playoff round. The Bandits were in every game but unfortunately came up short. New England's win was highlighted by an outstanding complete game pitching performance by Israel Gonzales, formally of the Concord Senators in the NH Granite State League and the Boston Wolfpack. Izzy pitched New England to a 2-1 victory over Puerto Rico and also stepped up with two clutch hits resulting in both of New England's runs.

NE Bandit Dickie Pacino

35+ Champion Rhode Island Cardinals

35+ MVP Rob Linn

BMBL PLAYERS CONDUCT CLINIC IN THE BAHAMAS

Janaury 28-31, 2010: NASSAU, BAHAMAS -- Your Last Shot and the Bahamas Baseball Federation hosted a four day baseball camp in Nassau, The Bahamas. Daily clinics were organized for instruction on offensive and defensive baseball positions; pitching, running, bunting, and play strategies; as well as on-going practice drills and games through-out the four days for 200 Bahamian youths aged 13-18. The camp was sponsored by Microsoft, Indusa Global, and Cogentes. Coaches for the Camp included Shane Monahan, a Scout with the San Diego Padres and a former MLB player with the Seattle Mariners; Sean O'Connor and John Di Carlo, Scouts with the San Francisco Giants; James Bonnici, a Scout with the Tampa Bay Rays; and Steve Wolf, President of the Boston Men's Baseball League. Theodore Sweeting, Secretary General of The Bahamas Baseball Federation stated, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for young Bahamian baseball players to work with scouts and coaches from professional baseball teams.

Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace Greets Sean O'Connor during Opening Ceremonies

200 baseball players completed the four day clinic.

Days after winning Championship game in Disney, SeanO imparts his wisdom.

2010 MSBL/MABL DISNEY HOLIDAY CLASSIC

January 15-18, 2010: The Boston Wolfpack successfully defended their title in the 11th Annual MSBL / MABL Disney Holiday Classic at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World. The Wolfpack won the 45+ Division over the San Antonio Brewers, 3-0. Sean O'Connor scattered 7 hits while going the distance. Carmelo Bastian and Richie Figueroa both doubled to knock in key runs in the finals while Rosario Carrion and Russ Ward led the team in hitting to help Boston extend their run of three straight Disney Championships.

The Boston Cutters pounded out 32 Runs in pool play in the 18+ Division and earned the 3 seed in the Playoffs vs the Tampa Shockers who defeated the Cutters in game 1 of pool play 4-1.

In the Semi-Finals, the Cutters found scored in the top of the 1st but found themselves down 4-1 after 1. They responded with 3 in the top of the 2nd to knot things up at 4. The next 4 innings the Cutters and Shockers traded runs until the 6th when the Cutters scored 2 runs highlighted by Tony Ramos's second double of the game to score Frank Alexopolous and Ramos eventually scored on a pass ball to put the Cutters up 8-6 after 5. Dorian Rojas scored Josue Feliciano in the top of the 7th and the Cutters were up 10-6 after 6 and 1/2. In the bottom of the 7th, the Shockers led off the inning with a solo homerun and within a blink of an eye, they led 11-10 after 7. Cutters go 1,2,3 in the top of the 8th before the game was called due to the imposed time limit rule. Stars for The Cutters included Ramos who had 3 doubles a Grand Slam and 7 rbis and Marvin Malaret with 2 doubles, a triple and 5 rbi's.

Boston Cutters 2-3

Boston Braves 0-4

Boston Wolfpack 5-0

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