2008 -- Men's D-Blue, Visalia City League (spring): Steve Stafford
                   (24 total points; by team ballot vote; no team award)

          2008 -- Men's D-Blue, Visalia City League (summer): Frank Fletcher
                   (84 offensive/defensive points; no team award)


It is my wish that this ongoing list of individual player achievement be maintained for the life of our softball organization, when, on that sad but inevitable future date, we all decide to hang up our worn cleats, store away our favorite bats, and pass along our venerable gloves to a much younger generation. May they enjoy the game, as well as the friendship bonds created, as much as our much older generation expresses these now.

Past And Present Tournament Most Valuable Players -- Real Boys Of Bang!


    Heavy Metal Softball Tourney MVP Sizzlin' Stick miniature bat recipients:

          2002 -- Sox Summer Scorcher (July): Frank Fletcher (43 points)
          2003 -- Crimson Tide's Summer Invasion (July): Gene Hitt (83 points)
                   -- October Bash (October): Wes Avery (75 points; Championship!)
          2004 -- October Bash (October): Wes Avery (32 points)
          2005 -- CCASA Rec Series #1 (April): Frank Fletcher (28 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #2 (May): Steve Stafford (57 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #3 (June): Wes Avery (32 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #4 (July): Frank Fletcher (39 points; 3rd place!)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #5 (August): Wes Avery (24 points; Series 5th place!)   
          2006 -- ASA Umpires Softball Tourney (March): Steve Stafford (38 points)
                   -- Setters Easter Classic XI (April): Art Tabacco (44 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #1 (April): Mike Lujan (25 points)
                   -- Bud Light Cinco de Mayo Tourney (May): Paul Lawrence (50 points; 2nd place!)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #2 (May): Wes Avery (17 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #3 (June): Wes Avery (20 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #4 (July): Frank Fletcher (19 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #5 (July): Gene Hitt (26 points)
                   -- Valley Softball Extreme Classic (August): Frank Fletcher (40 points)
                   -- Knuckle Up Fall Showdown (September): Wes Avery (38 points)
                   -- Twisted Softball Tourney (October): Wes Avery (33 points)
          2007 -- CCASA Rec Series #1 (March): Steve Stafford (13 points)
                   -- CCASA Rec Series #2 (April): Paul Lawrence (37 points)
                   -- Knuckle Up Extreme Challenge (May): Aaron Dawes (24 points)
                   -- Armed & Dangerous Summer Bash (July): Steve Stafford (31 points)
                   -- Budweiser Extravaganza (July): Frank Fletcher (39 points) 
                   -- NASF Fall Classic (September): Wes Avery (53 points)
                   -- October Bash (October): Mike Lujan (35 points)
          2008 -- Bash-4-Cash (April): Steve Stafford (14 points)
                   -- Bud Light Cinco de Mayo Tourney (May): Joaquin Perez (23 points)
                   -- Team Clutch Softball Tournament (May): Joaquin Perez (28 points)
                   -- Budweiser Extravaganza (June): Joaquin Perez (28 points)
                   -- Die Hard NSA Tournament (July): Frank Fletcher (23 points)
                   -- Jesus Banuelos Tribute Tournament (August): Frank Fletcher (29 points)
          2009 -- Slugfest Super 7 Series, Tourney #1 (April): Donny Aguiar (26 points)
                   -- Slugfest Super 7 Series, Tourney #2 (April): Lucio Cobos (33 points)
                   -- Bud Light Cinco de Mayo Tourney (May): Wes Avery (36 points)
                   -- Slugfest Super 7 Series, Tourney #3 (May): Steve Stafford (51 points)
   

And so, there you have it -- another list of Heavy Metal Softball history, another match I'm trying to light under my players' feet -- whatever works. In addition to a player receiving the miniature bat -- symbol of hitting prowess -- during the course of the softball year for being a tourney MVP, he can also look forward to hopefully seeing his name engraved on a full-sized, wooden Batting Champions: Metal Men bat, which will be awarded after the very last tournament played to the player with the highest individual batting average (minimum 50 at-bats or 5 tournaments -- whichever qualifies first) at year's end. The Sizzlin' Stick miniature bat can -- and should -- be displayed proudly in the tournament dugout after being awarded, after which, it must be returned to the manager, who will award it to the next deserving player at the beginning of the following tournament. However, the full-sized, engraved Batting Champions: Metal Men bat can be taken home until the start of the next year's softball season -- similar to the way we do with our leage MVP Circle of Honor perpetual plaque -- only it will be awarded just once a year, making it a true annual tradition. All these incentives, mind you, are given in the spirit of fun and recognition, so I hope no one minds too many flashbulbs going off in his vicinity and sincerely gets into the spirit himself, without too much competitive posturing being shown. That, to me, is what team is all about, and so it is, with fellowship in mind and lightness in heart, that I take pleasue in recogizing some of my teammates -- who, over the years, are people I've come to truly call friends....

At the end of each league season, some recognition is always given to those individuals who contributed to the team in some way. The following categories -- most real, some intended for a few laughs -- are mostly from the offensive part of softball; some are just plain offensive! (Have a little sense of humor, guys! Don't get defensive. Get it -- defensive! Oh, never mind....)  So, for what it's worth, here we go:

Tulare City League, Thursday Night, spring 2009
9-1 record:  1st place!!! (championship shirts); MVP selected by team ballot vote 

Offensive Categories --

Most Plate Appearances:  Donny Aguiar, Mike Lujan (tie, 38)

Most At-Bats:  Mike Lujan (35)

Most Runs:  Lencho Martinez (17)

Most Singles:  Donny Aguiar (22)

Most Doubles:  Rich Avery, Steve Stafford (tie, 4)

Most Triples:  Frank Fletcher, Joaquin Perez (tie, 5)

Most Home Runs:  Lencho Martinez (3)

Most RBIs:  Joaquin Perez (23)

Most Walks:  Brian Hollingshead (4)

Most Sacrifices:  Lucio Cobos, Lee Garcia (tie, 4)

Highest On-Base Percentage:  Steve Stafford (.700)

Highest Slugging Percentage:  Joaquin Perez (1.172)

Highest Batting Average:  Steve Stafford (.690)

Most Hits:  Donny Aguiar (22)

Most Single-Game Points:  Joaquin Perez (33)

Most Offensive Points:  Joaquin Perez (112)

Defensive Categories -- (Sorry, but no defensive stats were kept this league)

All of which leads to, if the above stats were used primarily in making our choice...

Most Valuable Player (Tulare City League, Thursday Night Men's, spring 2009):  ??? (to be determined by team ballot vote) 

And for our special categories...

Most Non-Appearances (regular members):  Paul Lawrence (8) (Once again, Where In The World Is...Paul Lawrence! is a new Thursday evening sports segment showing primarily at Prosperity Sports Park!  Just kidding, of course, buddy!  Gene Hitt was a distant second (5), while Lencho Martinez took third (3).  Some others also were considered, even though their physical bodies actually made it to the games!)

Perfect Attendance (regular members):  Donny Aguiar, Wes Avery, Frank Fletcher, Lee Garcia, and Mike Lujan (All 10 games; gold stars to everyone!)

Most Memorable Performance:  In our third game of the league season, we played a team that goes by the name The Underdogs -- unfortunately for our opponent, it was our own Joaquin Perez who was the big dog that night!  On this night, Joaquin went 5 for 5, with 2 singles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 6 RBIs, plus scoring 3 runs himself.  His individual offensive output was 33 points, doubling his league total up to this game.  What's more, he went 11 for 12 after 3 games -- a sweet .917 batting average.  Like I've been saying all season, buddy, you now own the fifth spot in the lineup!      

Greatest Increase in Batting Average from Last League (summer 2008; minimum 5 games):  Rich Avery (+.242, from .296 to .538) (Donny Aguiar came in second with a +.215 increase; Lucio Cobos was third with a +.212 increase.)

Biggest "Plunge" in Batting Average from Last League (summer 2008; minimum 5 games):  Gene Hitt (-.122, from .522 to .400) (Mike Lujan came in second with a slightly smaller -.091 decrease; Vern Amaro and Wes Avery were tied for third with a -.059 decrease.)

Best Player Quote:  "Just tell me when, coach."  (attributed to Wes Avery, every time a long-ball opportunity presented itself -- which usually was every at-bat!)  

Best Acting Performance by a Player/Manager:  Drum roll, please...Vern Amaro!!! (12th time in a row!  A twelve-peat!  Incredible!  Can this person run the career table!  This is for impersonating, once again, the second baseman -- and spokesperson -- of a pretty darn-good softball team!  By the way, were there any other eligible candidates on the team?)

100 Points Plus Club:  Vern Amaro (1994 T.C.L. 130 pts./1999 T.C.L. 109 pts./2001 T.C.L. 103 pts./2002 T.C.L. 140 pts./2003 T.C.L. 106 pts./2004 T.C.L. 110 pts./2005 T.C.L. 103 pts.); Rich Avery (2000 T.C.L. 129 pts./2004 V.C.L. 102 pts.); Wes Avery (2005 T.C.L. 129 pts.); Matt Beltran (1999 T.C.L. 104 pts.); Gordon Caudle (2000 T.C.L. 120 pts.); Kurt Chambers (2004 T.C.L. 100 pts.); Frank Fletcher (1994 T.C.L. 115 pts./1999 T.C.L. 169 pts.*/2000 T.C.L. 134 pts./2002 T.C.L. 146 pts./2003 T.C.L. 113 pts./2004 T.C.L. 111 pts./2004 V.C.L. 112 pts./2005 T.C.L. 134 pts./2005 V.C.L. 109 pts./2006 V.C.L. 111 pts./2007 V.C.L. 105 pts./2008 V.C.L. 102 pts.); Gene Hitt (1994 T.C.L. 108 pts./2000 T.C.L. 138 pts./2002 T.C.L. 121 pts./2005 T.C.L. 100 pts./2005 V.C.L. 106 pts.); Mike Lujan (2005 V.C.L. 101 pts./2006 V.C.L. 113 pts.); Joaquin Perez (2009 T.C.L. 112 pts.); Rene Regalado (1999 T.C.L. 109 pts./2000 T.C.L. 120 pts.); John Souza (1994 T.C.L. 122 pts.); Steve Stafford (2006 V.C.L. 106 pts./2007 V.C.L. 100 pts./2008 V.C.L. 103 pts.); Art Tabacco (2005 V.C.L. 116 pts.); Nelson Vieira (2002 T.C.L. 114 pts./2004 T.C.L. 112 pts./2006 T.C.L. 114 pts.) 

*[record for highest league total] 

Heavy Metal Softball rocks!  And I'm not joking here.  You've been a great bunch of guys to play side-by-side with, men! All kidding aside, I was really proud of our efforts, most especially the consistent team attitude displayed. I tip my cap off to all of you, as I know some of you come to play despite conflicting personal schedules, various aches and pains, balancing family and friends, and putting up with my managerial decisions. And so, in the meantime...keep rockin', guys -- and stay healthy for our next campaign!

First, as always, I want to thank all of the players who represented Heavy Metal Softball this weekend for their effort, help, and cooperation in making our fourth tournament of the year a somewhat successful effort -- in the sense that we were very competitive against some roughly comparable teams.  Here are some final tournament statistics for those who actually visit our website and are truly interested in such things.  I would like to state here again that unlike previous seasons a couple of years ago -- when I published an extensive summary of each tournament regardless of the outcome -- I will only do so if we achieve playoff status or have a winning record, with just a bare-bones tournament rundown for those events of little distinction.  So, without further adieu, I present some facts from this particular contest:

Slugfest Super 7 Series, Tournament #3 Summary --

Tournament Record:  2-2 (made playoffs)
                                1st game:  Lost 9-11 vs. Off In The Corner
                                2nd game:  Won 12-2 vs. Assassins
                                3rd game:  Won 10-0 vs. Kahunas
                                4th game:  Lost 4-8 vs. Valley Billiards  

Team Statistics (alphabetically):

Donny Aguiar -- 6 for 13; .462 BA; 26 points. 
Vern Amaro -- 3 for 11; .273 BA; 7 points.
Rich Avery -- 3 for 11; .273 BA; 6 points.
Wes Avery -- 7 for 14; .500 BA; 19 points.
Lucio Cobos -- 4 for 12; .333 BA; 14 points.
Lee Garcia -- 7 for 13; .538 BA; 19 points.
Brian Hollingshead -- 5 for 10; .500 BA; 7 points.
Paul Lawrence -- 3 for 8; .375 BA; 11 points.
Mike Lujan -- 7 for 15; .467 BA; 17 points.
Steve Stafford -- 10 for 13; .769 BA; 51 points.
Mike Vanaalst -- 6 for 13; .462 BA; 27 points. 

Team Batting Average:  .459 (61 for 133; we averaged 8.75 runs/game for the whole tournament.  We need to definitely improve our team batting average, as this current one won't win games, much less tournaments....)

Tournament MVP:  Steve Stafford (51 points -- Sizzlin' Stick award!)

Manager's Award:  I would like to take this time now to recognize a few other players who shined just as brightly this weekend with their contributions to the team:  Mike Vanaalst, Donny Aguiar, Lee Garcia, Wes Avery, and Mike Lujan. Their stats above speak for themselves, but their consistency throughout the tournament is what I noticed most and appreciated greatly -- here's a "hats-off" to all five of you!  

2009 Season Statistics (alphabetically; all players):

Donny Aguiar -- 18 for 34; .529 BA; 73 points (3 tournaments)
Vern Amaro -- 18 for 45; .400 BA; 54 points (4 tournaments)
Rich Avery -- 14 for 48; .292 BA; 56 points (4 tournaments)
Wes Avery -- 29 for 53; .547 BA; 92 points (4 tournaments)
Lucio Cobos -- 25 for 42; .595 BA; 82 points (4 tournaments)
Lee Garcia -- 16 for 36; .444 BA; 42 points (3 tournaments)
Gene Hitt -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 8 points (1 tournament)
Brian Hollingshead -- 10 for 31; .323 BA; 20 points (3 tournaments)
Paul Lawrence -- 7 for 26; .269 BA; 36 points (3 tournaments)
Mike Lujan -- 26 for 54; .481 BA; 75 points (4 tournaments)
Lencho Martinez -- 3 for 8; .375 BA; 13 points (1 tournament)
John Rodriguez -- 4 for 12; .333 BA; 12 points (1 tournament)
Devin Stafford -- 1 for 10; .100 BA; 10 points (1 tournament)
Steve Stafford -- 26 for 46; .565 BA; 122 points (4 tournaments)
Mike Vanaalst -- 16 for 33; .485 BA; 86 points (3 tournaments) 

Year-End Award Progress:  Lucio "Bubba" Cobos still leads the race for the Batting Champions: Metal Men perpetual award bat, based on his four-tournament batting average of .595 -- but Steve Stafford has made his move during this 2009 tournament tour with a four-tournament batting average of .565 (Wes Avery is third with a four-tournament batting average of .547). Please remember -- just in case everyone forgets -- a player must have played in a minimum of 5 tournaments to earn this recognition, which is something to think about when I ask everyone next time if they want to play some more ball in an upcoming tournament....

And, once again, that's all, folks!!!

First, as always, I want to thank all of the players who represented Heavy Metal Softball this weekend for their effort, help, and cooperation in making our third tournament of the year a somewhat successful effort -- in the sense that we were very competitive against some roughly comparable teams.  Here are some final tournament statistics for those who actually visit our website and are truly interested in such things.  I would like to state here again that unlike previous seasons a couple of years ago -- when I published an extensive summary of each tournament regardless of the outcome -- I will only do so if we achieve playoff status or have a winning record, with just a bare-bones tournament rundown for those events of little distinction.  So, without further adieu, I present some facts from this particular contest:

21st Annual Bud Light Cinco de Mayo Spectacular Summary --

Tournament Record:  1-3 (tough losses!)
                                1st game:  Lost 9-14 vs. It's All Good
                                2nd game:  Lost 6-13 vs. Hitmen
                                3rd game:  Lost 6-8 vs. Los Primos
                                4th game:  Won 15-11 vs. Team Wasted  

Team Statistics (alphabetically):

Vern Amaro -- 6 for 13; .462 BA; 18 points.
Rich Avery -- 4 for 13; .308 BA; 9 points.
Wes Avery -- 8 for 13; .615 BA; 36 points.
Lucio Cobos -- 7 for 10; .700 BA; 19 points.
Lee Garcia -- 5 for 14; .357 BA; 13 points.
Sean Loy -- 2 for 6; .333 BA; 6 points.
Mike Lujan -- 9 for 14; .643 BA; 32 points.
John Rodriguez -- 4 for 12; .333 BA; 12 points.
Steve Stafford -- 5 for 10; .500 BA; 31 points.
Mike Vanaalst -- 2 for 8; .250 BA; 26 points. 

Team Batting Average:  .430 (58 for 135; we averaged 9.0 runs/game for the whole tournament.  We need to definitely improve our team batting average, as this current one won't win games, much less tournaments....)

Tournament MVP:  Wes Avery (36 points -- Sizzlin' Stick award!)

Manager's Award:  I would like to take this time now to recognize a few other players who shined just as brightly this weekend with their contributions to the team:  Mike Lujan, Steve Stafford, and Lucio "Bubba" Cobos. Their stats above speak for themselves, but their consistency throughout the tournament is what I noticed most and appreciated greatly -- here's a "hats-off" to all three of you!  

2009 Season Statistics (alphabetically; all players):

Donny Aguiar -- 12 for 21; .571 BA; 47 points (2 tournaments)
Vern Amaro -- 15 for 34; .441 BA; 47 points (3 tournaments)
Rich Avery -- 11 for 37; .297 BA; 50 points (3 tournaments)
Wes Avery -- 22 for 39; .564 BA; 73 points (3 tournaments)
Lucio Cobos -- 21 for 30; .700 BA; 68 points (3 tournaments)
Lee Garcia -- 9 for 23; .391 BA; 23 points (2 tournaments)
Gene Hitt -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 8 points (1 tournament)
Brian Hollingshead -- 5 for 21; .238 BA; 13 points (2 tournaments)
Paul Lawrence -- 4 for 18; .222 BA; 25 points (2 tournaments)
Mike Lujan -- 19 for 39; .487 BA; 58 points (3 tournaments)
Lencho Martinez -- 3 for 8; .375 BA; 13 points (1 tournament)
John Rodriguez -- 4 for 12; .333 BA; 12 points (1 tournament)
Devin Stafford -- 1 for 10; .100 BA; 10 points (1 tournament)
Steve Stafford -- 16 for 33; .485 BA; 71 points (3 tournaments)
Mike Vanaalst -- 10 for 20; .500 BA; 59 points (2 tournaments) 

Year-End Award Progress:  Lucio "Bubba" Cobos still leads the race for the Batting Champions: Metal Men perpetual award bat, based on his three-tournament batting average of .700 -- but Donny Aguiar is close behind during this 2009 tournament tour with a two-tournament batting average of .571 (Wes Avery is third with a three-tournament batting average of .564). Please remember -- just in case everyone forgets -- a player must have played in a minimum of 5 tournaments to earn this recognition, which is something to think about when I ask everyone next time if they want to play some more ball in an upcoming tournament....

And, once again, that's all, folks!!!