Southpaw19

2023 HR DERBY SCOREBOARD (as of April 2, 2023) 1. McGlovin (8) +8 SouthSideRyan (8) +8 texascub (8) +8 4. Tomthebombadil (7) +7 YellowJackets (7) +7 6. Andy (6) +6 evv98 (6) +6 8. BaconRev (5) +5 SammySofa (5) +5 sweetpeteman (5) +5 tinkertini26 (5) +5 12. The Hitmen (4) +4 The Lollygaggers (4) +4 14. abmillis (3) +3 Derwood (3) +3 Inglorious Batters (3) +3 Strange Wizards (3) +3 18. Ketel Corn (2) +2 Soler Storm (2) +2 Southpaw19 (2) +2 Biggest Output of the Week: SouthSideRyan + texascub BEST POSSIBLE TEAM SCORE (---) * Coming Soon! *

A lot of people are hoping against hope for that rebound year from KB.

Strange as it is, I think he's got the same energy and composure he displayed in the WBC. Would not surprise me to see him have a career year.

Player Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3 Southpaw19 Tim Anderson Anthony Volpe Jordan Walker Andy Ozzie Albies Kris Bryant Gunnar Henderson Derwood Brandon Lowe Ozzie Albies Kris Bryant TomtheBombadil Gunnar Henderson Brandon Lowe Kris Bryant sweetpeteman Brandon Lowe Corbin Carroll Ozzie Albies abmillis Max Kepler Brandon Lowe Kris Bryant SouthSideRyan Kris Bryant Spencer Torkelson Brandon Lowe BaconRev Brandon Lowe Ozzie Albies Franchy Cordero evv98 Ozzie Albies Kris Bryant Brandon Lowe texascub Kris Bryant Ozzie Albies Jarred Kelenec Sammy Sofa Ozzie Albies Brandon Lowe Wil Myers Tinkertini26 Kris Bryant Corbin Carroll Spencer Torkelson The Hitmen (*) Edwin Ríos Jorge Alfaro Jarred Kelenic Yellow Jackets (*) Brandon Belt Josh Lowe Lourdes Gurriel Jr. McGlovin (*) Yonathan Daza CJ Abrams Elehuris Montero Strange Wizards (*) Trevor Larnach Owen Miller Tucker Barnhart Inglorious Batters (*) Corbin Carroll Patrick Mazeika Wil Myers Soler Storm (*) Luis Arraez Kyle Garlick Gabriel Moreno Ketel Corn (*) Avisaíl García Alex Call Edwin Ríos The Lollygaggers (*) Robbie Grossman Gabriel Moreno Jo Adell (*) = Ghost Team

Okay, now that we are mid-Opening Day, I will explain a little further on the use of ghost teams. We have 12 actual teams/entries, and 8 "ghost teams". For those of you who have not bowled in a league before, a ghost team in league bowling is a team you face, when there aren't enough teams in the league to make a viable schedule from. Let's say you needed 8 teams minimum, and only 7 teams signed up. The eight team is a "ghost team", and each week they get set scores for males and females, and as a bowling team you have to beat those scores in order to win that week. Obviously that wouldn't quite work in an apples-to-apples comparison, because I'm not handing out Home Runs to the ghost team. What I did was I created 8 names for 8 teams/entries. I made up their teams by putting all the qualifying Catchers into the Wheel of Names randomizer, and whomever it landed on, was their selection. Then I did anyone who qualified to play 1B and so on. The one rule I made was the $150-$200 group was off-limits, so they don't end up near the top of the standings (theoretically). When it came down to the bench, I threw all 319 names into the randomizer and selected bench players the same way. The only caveat here was if I was able to tell that someone was demoted to the minors, I removed them from being selected. These ghost teams will not be able to make transactions during the season. I just needed the equivalent of "warm bodies" in order to get 20 entries this year. All that being said - let's have fun this season and good luck to everyone! [I will post bench player selections later tonight.]

For those of you who may not know me, I am Southpaw19 on the NSBB Forum. I run the annual Home Run Derby game on the Forum. My friends and family call me Josh. I am a family man with two beautiful daughters. The second of whom was only three months and six days old when the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. That was a great year for me and my family. We officially adopted my oldest daughter that October. Our second was born in July. Oh yes, and the Cubs won the World Series! Of course I ended up watching the parade from home, instead of going to join the millions of people in the city. However, let me fast-forward to January 2017. I was listening to The Score as I usually will do from time to time. Especially when it’s to listen to my favorite on-air host, Laurence Holmes. He had a brief segment on how great it was to “win the big one”, but he posed a question to the listening audience. Everyone was saying they just wanted to win once in their lifetime - win the World Series before they die! They could die happy if the Cubs just won ONE. BUT - now that the impossible has become possible, and you have that “one” as a Cubs fan - is one enough for you? Laurence would go on to compare it to the feeling that you get when you’re invited to a party or the club, and all you wanted to do was go inside… to be accepted. Yet once inside, you realized how nice it was. How great the music sounded. How awesome and fun it was, and now all you wanted to do was go here all the time. In essence … once is most certainly not enough. I certainly can relate to that feeling, as most Cubs fans would probably admit it is true as well. The feeling of euphoria for just one year is definitely not enough. I want more. Now I’m not saying I want the Cubs to turn into the New York Yankees. These are affectionately, and previously referred to as the “lovable losers” (not by me, I hate that term… it is not one of endearment). They do not need to become a nationally hated franchise; though the winning of championships might soothe that sting a little bit. I digress. What I really want is just to win again relatively soon. Why? The first time in 2016, I had several out-of-body experiences, and while I can clearly remember where I was when the Cubs won Game 6 of the NLCS to get to the World Series, as well as Game 7 of the World Series, I would like to be able to have a “re-do” of some of those experiences. For starters, I would really love to be at a sports bar or even just a restaurant with TVs in it. I was at my in-laws house with a grand total of probably 4-5 people. I have enough sense of reality that I know enough that I would not be able to get World Series tickets. In light of that though, I would really love to be in a place that would get crazy with a Cubs win. The atmosphere was awesome for the 2015 Wild Card game, and that was the last time I was at a bar for a playoff game. In the first inning of Game 7, I yelled at my wife’s grandmother. I would really like to not have that type of negative energy. Speaking of negative energy, that would be the genesis of why I yelled at her in the first place. Dexter Fowler home run to lead off the game, and after I get excited for the fast start, my wife’s grandmother snarkily says “it’s only one [run]”, to which I yelled at her to leave the room if that was going to be her attitude. “JOSHUA!” my wife fired back … as if I was the bad guy. Well, maybe I was but I don’t need that when I’m anxious enough already. Fast-forward to the 6-3 Cubs lead, and my wife and father-in-law head out to the sporting goods store for merch that was three innings away from becoming a reality (they wanted to beat the rush/lines). Fast-forward again and we are in the bottom of the 10th inning, when the Cubs replace Carl Edwards Jr. with Mike Montgomery. My lovely wife calls from outside Dick’s Sporting Goods. In the parking lot, is a police squad car to keep the peace, but also to blast the radio feed of the game. For those of you that know about the delay between the radio and television probably already know where this is going. I’m still on the phone with my wife, and I can hear the crowd outside Dick’s go crazy. I knew at that moment we won, but I hadn’t seen it yet. Sure enough, ground ball to Braynt… over to Rizzo… and the Cubs win in anticlimactic fashion (in my head - because I got ‘spoiled’ ahead of time by 3-7 seconds). It all boils down to what I said at the start of this entry. I need the Cubs to win the World Series again. Will that be in 2023? Not likely. Sometime between 2024-2026 would be great though. Next time I will be ready. Next time I will soak it all in. But most importantly… I won’t be on the damn phone.

10 hours, 59 minutes until the deadline...

ROSTER BREAKDOWN Pick a roster of 12 hitters. The breakdown is as follows: (1) Catcher (1) First Baseman (1) Second Baseman (1) Third Baseman (1) Shortstop (1) Left Fielder (1) Center Fielder (1) Right Fielder (1) Designated Hitter1 (3) Bench Players2 1 DH can be any position 2 Bench Players are the new “wild card”. You may select three (3). You must send me a PM (via the NSBB community forum) with your three Bench Players! Do not post them publicly on the forum with your team entry. They WILL NOT COUNT unless it's sent privately to me by the deadline (see DEADLINES).

I was able to view it - and I wasn't logged in as the admin. Let me know if you want me to verify something, or copy/paste.

Also requesting to be an old timey member. Please and thank you.

A little over 48 hours left ... and I'm starting to wonder. So based on that... I'm creating "ghost teams". If you've ever been in a bowling league, you know what they are. I am creating 11 ghost teams, that will have their rosters decided by the Wheel of Names (randomizer web tool). As people join, I will remove a ghost team. I hate to do this, but I don't want to run a season for 8 teams.

Welcome back to everyone who hasn't been on the Forums in a long time! I wanted to point out that we still play Home Run Derby! If you would like to rekindle your nostalgia gland and put a team together, head on over to the freshly re-created Events forum! [Review the 2023 HR Derby - Entries topic] You can join the fun for the 2023 season! Build a team and join us!

https://northsidebaseball.com/forums/topic/50709-2023-hr-derby-discussions-and-transactions/ https://northsidebaseball.com/forums/topic/50708-2023-hr-derby-entries/

The two threads/topics for the 2023 season are in the Chicago Cubs Talk forum. I just found them.

Events forum . . .

Not me quietly sitting here, panicking on the inside, waiting for the Events forum to be restored as there are only seven sign-ups for Home Run Derby so far, and the deadline is less than 2 days away. I'm patient. I understand how transfers work. *twitch-twitch* Looks at the time ... *twitch-twitch* [Deep in thought...] Maybe some of the returning users will play, who have played before. Don't panic... don't panic... I SAID DON'T PANIC!

If you would have read the thread about "Welcome to the New Site", you would have seen that it is still in the middle of transitioning to the new platform.

The surrounding "neighborhood". Oh, sorry ... was having a flashback to 1988. 😄

4.75 Days left to submit your teams!

< 6 Days left to submit your teams!

8 Days, 3 hours, 44 minutes left to submit your teams! As of this post . . .

You can edit your team as much as you want before the deadline on March 29.

10.5 Days left to submit your teams!

C Cal Raleigh (Mariners) $75 1B Ryan Mountcastle (Orioles) $75 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr (Marlins) $50 3B Isaac Paredes (Rays) $75 SS Jeremy Pena (Astros) $75 LF Seth Brown (Athletics) $75 CF Michael Harris II (Braves) $50 RF Joey Meneses (Nationals) $50 DH MJ Melendez (Royals) $50 $575

No you may not, but that's an interesting rule-change for future consideration.