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:

Visalia City League, Thursday Night, spring 2008
6-4 record:  No team award; MVP selected by team ballot vote

Offensive Categories --

Most Plate Appearances:  Mike Lujan (40)

Most At-Bats:  Vern Amaro, Mike Lujan (tie, 39)

Most Runs:  Wes Avery (20)

Most Singles:  Mike Lujan (24)

Most Doubles:  Frank Fletcher, Steve Stafford (tie, 2)

Most Triples:  Frank Fletcher (2)

Most Home Runs:  Steve Stafford (6)

Most RBIs:  Frank Fletcher (19)

Most Walks:  Wes Avery (2)

Most Sacrifices:  Wes Avery, Gene Hitt (tie, 3)

Highest On-Base Percentage:  Mike Lujan (.650)

Highest Slugging Percentage:  Steve Stafford (1.114)

Highest Batting Average:  Mike Lujan (.641)

Most Hits:  Mike Lujan (25)

Most Single-Game Points:  Steve Stafford (30)

Most Offensive Points:  Steve Stafford (103)

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 choices...

Most Valuable Player (Visalia City League, Men's D-Blue, spring 2008):  Steve Stafford (24 total points; by team ballot vote) 

And for our special categories...

Most Non-Appearances (regular members):  Matt Soares (6) (Where In The World Is Matt Lauer...er...Soares! is a new Thursday evening sports segment showing primarily at Plaza Park!  Just kidding, of course, big guy!  Lee Garcia was a close second (5), while Nelson Vieira 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, Vern Amaro, Rich Avery, Wes Avery, Frank Fletcher, Mike Lujan, and Cruz Onsurez (All 10 games; gold stars to everyone!)

Most Memorable Performance:  In our seventh game of the league season, we played a team that goes by the name Do Work -- unfortunately for our opponent, it was our own Steve Stafford who went to it!  On this night, Steve went 3 for 5, with all three hits being home runs, accounting for 6 RBIs, plus scoring 3 runs himself.  His individual offensive output was 30 points, almost one-third of his entire league total!  Like I've been saying lately, big green guy, stay angry!  Remember, keep that familiar mantra in mind for future games:  Hulk smash!       

Greatest Increase in Batting Average from Last League (summer 2007; minimum 5 games):  Rich Avery (+.171, from .370 to .541) (Wes Avery came in second with a +.075 increase -- good job, buddy!)

Biggest "Plunge" in Batting Average from Last League (summer 2007; minimum 5 games):  Steve Stafford (-.102, from .645 to .543) (Donny Aguiar came in second with a -.052 decrease; Gene Hitt was third with a -.036 decrease.)

Best Player Quote:  "Coach, you've been neglecting my skills for too long...."  (attributed to Wes Avery after winning his first Heavy Metal game as a starting pitcher -- although it was his second consecutive game overall!)  

Best Acting Performance by a Player/Manager:  Drum roll, please...Vern Amaro!!! (10th time in a row!  A ten-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.); 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!