A's in 1st!

On Thursday night, the Ottawa A's of Blackburn beat the Rogues 8-0 to solidy their spot as a legitimate contender this year. The A's moved into first place of the Blackburn Men's Fastball League.

This game was my first game back since missing four games in June for attending the School of Accountancy. This was also the first game for Noel Hayes, whom the A's picked up after two members of its team had to quit due to work commitments. The A's also picked up Dave Millette during my absence.

The A's have acquired two quality players, and their line-up looks more dangerous than ever. In fact, the A's lead the BMFL with 7.6 runs per game, but the addition of these two veteran hitters should make the line-up even more dangerous.

In the BMFL, it is well known that politics have paid a huge part in the success and failures of some teams. The A's were never a team that was heavy into "politicking". In fact, when we acquired these two excellent players, the A's were the beneficiaries of excellent timing. We had submitted a request to get two players from the reserve list, and, at that time, there were two players available. The next guy on the list was Scott Parsons, but there was a previous request for his rights. The A's ended up with Dave as he was the next one on the list. The reserve list was then empty. The A's were next in line to acquire the next player on the list.

After going through some busy spells at work up until the end of June, Noel decided that the timing was right to join the league. The A's were fortunate of this excellent timing as we now have one of the best fielding, pitching and hitting teams in the league. The addition of these two quality players is sure to raise some eyebrows, but these transactions were performed without any favours or back-scratching that usually occurs when quality players come into the league.

In theory then, the A's hitting and defence are much improved. The thing that might put the A's over the top is the pitching of ace William Lowe. Will had pitched an excellent game, seldom missing the glove. He had an impressive 10 strikeouts. If the A's expect to do anything in the playoffs, they will need Will to be at the top of his game. He certainly looks like he's on his way.