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2003 Season
Our staff historians are currently revisiting the video, audio and scotch tapes from 2003. Check back later for the "official" historical record of the historic 2003 season!
2002 Season
 | |  | | Game Ball from Predators 2nd Playoff Win |
For the entire 2002 regular season, the Predators worked with the same team roster they carried in 2001. In 2002, the Predators finished at .500 (5-5) for the first time since their glory days of the early 1990s. On August 18, 2002, the Predators won their second playoff game in team history ripping Nothing In The Tank 28-3.
In looking at their 2002 offensive statistics, the Predators had mixed results. In 2002, the Predators averaged 12.9 runs per game an improvement when compared to a 10.2 average in 2001. The Predators drastically improved in Walks taking 35 in 2002 over three times the tally of 11 from the 2001 season. Despite the improvement in Walks and Runs Scored, the Predators dropped in all three key offensive indicators between 2001 & 2002: Batting Average (dropped from .444 to .406; Slugging Percentage (dropped from .590 to .579) and On Base Percentage (dropped from .456 to .450).
In 2002, the Predators had a strange pair of half seasons. In the first 5 games the Predators went 4-1 and had control of most games from the early innings. In the second 5 games the Predators lacked an offensive spark going 1-4 and found themselves playing catch up in nearly every game after falling behind early. Players who were hot in the first half of the season cooled down in the second half and players who were cool in the first half of the season turned stone cold for the second half. Although the team tried hard to work through these issues it was not enough to make a significant difference.
In the playoffs the Predators called up deep roster players David Weiss and Bill Holsworth. These players were instrumental in the Predators 2002 playoff win. It is possible that those players may return to a more active role in 2003 the Predators 20th season.
2001 Season
|  | | Tom DiNatale's Bat "The Shuttle" retired after the 2001 season | |
After a difficult 2000 season, the Predators front office went to work to obtain veteran player talent to upgrade the team. As a result - Pitcher Billy Smith, Outfielder Barry Slade and Utility Player Pete Phelan were added. Each of these players significantly contributed to putting wins on the board for the Milford Predators.
The Predators statistics for 2001 shows an excellent improvement when compared to the 2000 season. The Predators improved their team batting average from .362 to .444 while improving their slugging percentage from .482 to .590 in the 2001 regular season. The most significant and encouraging improvement was in the average runs per game statistic. In the 2000 season the Predators averaged just 5.7 runs per game. In the 2001 season, the team drastically improved this important statistic to 10.2 runs per game. The trend is excellent, but there is still much more room to improve.
In 2001, only 3 players played in all 10 regular season games (Todd Slade, Rick Ruiz and Matt Kraynak). Another 4 players participated in 9 games (Bob Paradise, Ken Jasmin, Mike Krajewski & Mike Ranilla). Barry Kresen, Carl Malinosky & Dain Runestad played in 8 games, while the remaining 6 Predator players participated in 5 or less regular season games. (Billy Smith, Barry Slade & Pete Phelan each joined the team after the season started).
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2000 Season
|  | | First Playoff Game Win 8/27/2000 | |
Despite struggling throughout the 2000 season to get runs on the board, on August 27, 2000 the Predators ended a 17 year playoff game winless streak in the Milford Sunday Night League with a 5 inning, 14 - 4 spanking of Hill View Market. At last, the "Curse of Scrunchy Bear" was lifted.
Leading up to the playoff win, the 2000 season was quite a struggle. The absence of power hitting showed, and chronic fielding issues made winning more games very difficult.
Unfortunately injuries hobbled the Predators throughout the season. Games were missed by Ken Jasmin (back); Mike Kraynak (wrist); Mike Krajewski (hand); Ruck Ruiz (oral surgery), and Tom DiNatale (leg). Several players played with nagging injuries: Matt Kraynak and Barry Kresen (hamstring); Bob Paradise (knees and hamstring).
Veteran player Todd Slade joined the Predators in 2000 and did a great job in filling the hole that we had in Left Field for the last 2 years. Todd's aggressive and enthusiastic play on the field and at the plate was a highlight in an otherwise "flat" season for the Predator crew.
At season end, Predator GM Matt Kraynak set out to recruit new talent that would address the defecit in power hitting, utility fielding and pitching.
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1999 Season
The 1999 Season was a rather strange one. The Sunday Night League dramatically shrunk to just a handful of teams representing varying levels of play. To fill the 10 game schedule - "position weeks" were introduced. This would be a "filler" game matching opponents closest in the standings against each other.
Throughout the 1999 season, the Predators squad was in a "reduced" roster mode. Each week there were just enough players to play - but never enough to have a backup sitting on the bench. As a result, several players had to play through the heart of the season with nagging injuries. Even Matt Kraynak missed the entire middle of the season while recovering from an emergency appendectomy performed in late May. Despite these challenges - the team came close to .500 - but fell just short with a 4-6 win-loss record. On August 15, 1999 the Predators lost their only playoff game to the Redwood Gamblers 14-4.
1998 Season
In 1998, the Predators operated with an extremely thin roster. The "reduced roster" meant that most Predator players participated in more innings than they otherwise would given a typical season. Unfortunately this does not lend itself well to teams prone to injuries. The Predators realized this shortfall during the 1998 season.
In 1998 - a new team called "Ioime Tile" came into the league. It was formed by former Predators Mike Ioime and power-hitter Darrel Villeux. Darrel was the Predators dependable cleanup hitter and anchor in Left Centerfield for several years.
A 1998 SEASON STORY: Heading into the last game of the season - the Predators has a record of 4-5 with one game remaining against Ioime Tile at Washington Field. This was the Predators big chance to reach .500 for the first time in several years. Having only 9 players for the game, the Predators were in a jam. Matt Kraynak had a very bad hamstring injury - and should not have played. With the alternative being a forfeit - Matt ended up playing. With Bob Paradise away - Matt ended up pitching and batting 9th. In the 1st inning, the Predators exploded for 7 runs, capped off by a 3 run triple by Matt that should have been a grand slam home run. (Matt hit the ball all the way to the tennis courts at Washington field but only made it to 3rd base as he had to literally walk around the bases.) The Predators led Ioime Tile through the end of the 5th inning - however things began to slip away. Darrel Villeux came up with clutch hits for Ioime Tile in the 6th and 7th innings. Ioime Tile scored 8 runs in the last two innings to beat the Predators 12-11 and dashed Predator hopes of reaching a .500 season for another year.
1997 Season
The Predator's Chief Librarian recently recovered the 1997 season batting statistics (shown below). Daryl Villeux led the team in Slugging at 1.192 while slugging 6 home runs. "Future Star" Carl Malinosky led the team in batting average at .556 and On Base Percentage at .733. Although the team was beginning to improve (by not getting blown out every week) 1997 was another "cookie cutter" 4-win season for the Predators.
 | | Predators 1997 Batting Statistics |
 | | The 1st Predator Newsletter in 1996 | |
1996 Season
The Predators first "full season" under the new team name began in 1996. The team continued to struggle a bit - still reeling from the personnel turnover of previous seasons. In 1996 - the Predators approached .500 - but finished just short with a 4-6 record.
In 1996 - several Predator players also pursued another interest - road running. Below is a photo of five Predator players just after the Independence 5000 (5k) road race in Milford on July 4th, 1996. In the picture from left to right are Mike Krajewski, Brian Burrows, Chuck Schroeder, Fred Bialka and Matt Kraynak.
 | | "The Boys" after the Independence 5000 - 7/4/1996 |
1995 Season
|  | | Matt's Home Run August 13, 1995 | |
It was in the 3rd game of 1995 that our team switched over from Milford Shop-Rite to become the Milford Predators. Here is a photo taken on August 13, 1995 as Matt Kraynak hits a home run against A1 Cleaning at Washington Field. It was earlier that morning that Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle passed away. Matt is wearing a Yankee Cap with the #7 made of masking tape affixed to the side.
Below are the 1995 year end statistics for the Predators. Mike Krajewski had an outstanding year at the plate. Rick Ruiz was a "rookie" and Matt Kraynak had a somewhat "below average" year at the plate.
Prospect Ryan Kraynak wears the 1st edition of the Predators "new" uniform. Ryan was issues shirt #1 as it was the only number that could fit on his back!
 | | The Predators 1995 Stats and Prospect Ryan Kraynak at Washington Field (age 4) |
1994 Season
The Shop-Rite team was absolutely awful throughout the 1994 season. Week in and week out - the team struggled to make it past the 5th inning. The weekly "blowouts" were very difficult to take. The team had no offense. The team had no defense. There was really not much to hang on to at all. It was a miracle that we were able to finish with a 3-7 record.
What brought us through the season? Most will say it was the traditional post-game beer and pizza. At Mama Teresa's, we would talk about old grocery business stories; gripe about our nagging injuries; and argue over what the other teams do well and how we might possibly do better. We would theorize how we could improve the team - which inevitably brought out our questionable mantra: "We're just 1 or 2 good players away from being competetive".
At the very least - we could always argue about who was going to take "the Dumont piece".
Beer and pizza for the softball soul...
1993 Season
The 1993 season brought a significant turnover in team personnel. Several core players moved on to create the "No Names" leaving the Shop Rite team scrambling for enough players to take the field each week.
In 1993, the Sunday Night League reached an all-time high of 14 teams that would compete for 8 playoff positions. The 1993 schedule had Shop-Rite bouncing between Washington Field (the "sun" field), West Shore Field (the "gravel pit"), and Red Bush Field "the swamp".) Of all seasons - 1993 had by far the most infamous rivalries scheduled for battle. The particularly "hated" teams included "The Knights", "Milford Marauders" (featuring Carl Malinosky), "No Names", "Players Cafe" and our franchises nemesis "A-1 Cleaning". Ironically - the most disorganized looking team - "Shoeless Joe's Hordes" went on to win the league in 1993. (There's a lesson somewhere in that..we think...)
 | | 1993 Batting Statistics - 27 players were needed !! |
1992 Season
| |  | | The 1992 Shop Rite Season Record |
The 1992 season was particularly brutal. The team was a very good one, but kept falling just short of having an amazing record. Shop Rite went 4 - 4 in the 1st 8 games - including 3 losses by 1 run and one loss by 2 runs. The team ran out of gas in July and finished 5 - 7. The batting statistics were about average. Here are some specifics from the 1992 season taken from the archives....
 | | The 1992 Shop Rite Season Stats |
1991 Season
|  | | Scorebook from record setting game June 30, 1991 | |
On June 30, 1991, in the 5th inning of a game against Excello Tool at Foote Field, Shop-Rite got 11 base hits in a row - setting a team record for consecutive hits in a single inning. Shop-Rite beat Excello Tool 11-5.
 | | Caveat from 1991 Season Schedule (written by Scrunchy Bear) |
1990 Season
In 1990 Shop-Rite experienced its greatest season to date - overcoming an opening day forfeit loss to finish with an 8-3 record. The team had forfeited opening day because several players thought the game was going to be rained out and simply did not show up.
In a cruel ending to an otherwise great season, Shop-Rite lost their 1st round playoff game at U.S. Motors field to a team that had finished with a record of 4-7.
A STORY FROM 1990:
Late in the season, Shop-Rite was riding a 6 game winning streak into August. With several players away on vacation, Shop-Rite only had 10 players available to play against the 1st place (and undefeated) team at red Bush Field. As the story goes - Shop-Rite had a substancial lead in the bottom of the 5th inning, when Steve Byrne was thrown out of the game for allegedly swearing in the on-deck circle. With no one on the bench - Shop-Rite was forced to forfeit the game. The winning streak was no more.
1989 Season
| |  | | Lisa & Matt Kraynak before game in 1989 |
In 1989, the team decided to get away from the "Houston Astro" type uniforms they had started with in 1984 - switching to something more conservative. Our new color schema was Navy Blue, Light Blue and Orange - (very much in the genre of New York Mets colors).
Here is a photo of Matt and Lisa Kraynak before a game in 1989. Matt is wearing the Shop-Rite Uniform of that time. Note the logo featured "SR" for Shop-Rite and the numbers "331" intersecting the letter "R" representing the Milford Shop-Rite store number.
 | | Team Logo & Colors (1989) |
1988 Season
A 1988 SEASON STORY:
On August 14, 1988 at West Shore Field against the Bullets, Shop-Rite 3rd baseman Matt Kraynak suffered a sprained ankle making a defensive play at 3rd base. It was just 13 days before Matt was to be married.
The injury occurred after a ball hit to deep outfield was relayed to the cutoff man (Shortstop John Higgins). John subsequenty threw the ball to 3rd baseman Matt Kraynak low and into the runner. Unfortunately the ball and the runner arrrived at the same time. Despite being up-ended. Matt was able to apply the tag, hold onto the ball and limp away thankful nothing else was impacted. This marked the end of Matt's 1988 season.
1987 Season
|  | | Harry Garafalo (5) & Matt Kraynak (9) at Foote Field 1987 | |
In 1987, Shop-Rite began to pull together well as a team - becoming a much more competetive group than they were in the three previous seasons. The team still featured most of its starting lineup from their 1984 "inaugural" season in the Milford Sunday Night League.
Here are some pictures that survived the "era". Pictures were taken at a 1987 game against Seven Seas Restaurant at Foote Field. Shop-Rite was still wearing their "Houston Astro-like" uniforms of red, orange, gold and white with light blue/navy blue pants. We were the most colorful team in the league both in what we wore and how we played!
 | | Matt Kraynak Batting - Mike Krajewski coaching and a "youthful" Matt in 1987 |
1986 Season
Entering the 3rd season, the Shop Rite Team continued to struggle from game to game - but did manage to win several. Players such as Ray Bendici, Camillo Falcon and Steve Byrne were still hanging in there. A relic from the 1986 season was recently found. Matt Kraynak found a game ball he was awarded dated June 29, 1986. The ball was from a game played at U.S. Motors Field, where Shop Rite beat The Bullets 12-7. Matt had a career game, smacking 2 singles, 1 double as well as a 3 run home run - driving in 7 of Shop Rite's 12 runs. At that time - Matt was still the team's regular 3rd baseman, Mike Krajewski played a steady 2nd base and Steve Byrne was at shortstop.
1985 Season
Things were looking up in 1985. The team had gained some practical league experience -and was beginning to gel. In the 6th game of the 2nd season, Shop-Rite earned their first league win ever by defeating The Assassins at Foote Field. Shop-Rite finished the 1985 season with a 2 win 9 loss record.
1984 Season
The 1984 season was the first year that the Shop-Rite Team competed in the Sunday Twi-Night League. Some of roster members in 1984 included: Mike Krajewski (SS); Matt Kraynak (3B); Harry Garafalo (1B); Pat Lanci (P, Store Manager); Ray Bendici (LC); Chris Barbieri (C); Steve Byrne (2B); Ken Williams (LF); Chuck Schroeder (RF). The 1984 season was a tough one. Opponents included: Bobby Valentine's; A-1 Cleaners; Player's Cafe, The Assassins, 3 Brothers Sport Shop, and Matt's former team - The Milford Marauders. Shop-Rite finished the 1984 campaign with a 0 win 11 loss record.
Before the 1st Season - we played for a case of beer..
In the years before ShopRite joined the Milford Sunday Night league - a group of ShopRite employees would challenge other Milford grocery stores such as Waldbaums and Glorias to a softball game - the prize being a case of beer. Shop Rite almost always ended up winning and consumed many a beer as a result.
In 1983 - 2 games stick out. One was when Milford Shop Rite played Bridgeport Shop Rite. Under the supreme pitching of store manager Pat Lanci, the fine glove work of assistant store manager Harry Garafalo at 1st base, Mike Krajewski at SS, Matt Kraynak at 3rd, Guy Soucy at 2nd - and lots of "live" bats, the Milford team destroyed Bridgeport at West Shore Field in Devon by a score of something like 30 - 4. (I can't remember the precise score and unfortunately the information remains trapped in the cassette tape drive that went with my Commodore 64). Nevertheless - it was glorious.
The most infamous game for "pre league" Shop Rite - was in a battle with the Milford Marauders softball team. The Marauders hailed from the Spruce Street area and featured future Predator players such as Matt Kraynak, Carl Malinosky and Mike Wydra. All year, Matt and Mike had needled their boss Harry Garafalo to take on the then undefeated Marauders. In an epic battle at the Orange Community Center, the lead went back and forth. In the top of the 7th with 2 outs and the Marauders down 2 runs - a sinking line drive was hit to shallow right center. Future Predators Harry Garafalo and Chuck Schroeder in a simultaneous heroic (but tragic) forward dive collided head on with their glasses on. Harry would require stitches next to an eye - and both players were bruised. The Marauders tied the game taking it to an extra inning. Shop Rite won the game in the bottom of the 8th - humiliating Matt and Mike. The next day - Matt and Mike noticed that they had been reassigned to sort bottle bins the rest of the week....
 | | Milford Marauder Cap from 1982 & 1983 Seasons |
The Milford Marauder uniforms were Black and Gold (selected mainly because a majority of the team were Pittsburgh Steeler fans). When our Shop-Rite boss Harry Garafalo first saw Matt Kraynak and Mike Wydra decked out in Marauder uniforms - he simply asked: "What is this - Halloween?"
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