The holidays also provide a great chance to reflect back on the past. We've made that easy for you if you want to relive the 2009 Copperheads. Go to the "Audio" tab on the homepage, and it's right there for you. The ride was a fun one, and the 14-minute feature brings back some great memories.
Looking ahead to 2010, the GLSCL is staying busy. There are a few news and notes about tomorrow's league meeting that are of interest:
- The Delaware Cows will be back in 2010 after a one-year absence. The Cows planned on returning in one year when the team pulled out of the '09 campaign, which means that there is no need for a vote to approve the addition. Delaware is back for 2010.
- As long as the Lexington organization is voted into the league (more on that in a second), the league will have 11 teams. This would prompt a 40-game schedule, with all teams facing each other four times during the season (either four single dates-two at each site-or two doubleheaders-one at each site), which is how the '08 schedule was designed. If you recall, 2009 featured the lowest number of games (36) in league history.
- From Southern Ohio's perspective, this is a great thing. Looking back to last season, the Copperheads' regular season spanned 46 days, but the team was only scheduled to play on 26 days. Throw in the many doubleheaders, rain outs and postponements, and the team only played every other day, on average. That's just not going to cut it when other summer leagues like the Cape Cod League and the Coastal Plain League, among others, are playing almost every day. More teams, especially teams close to Athens (i.e. Delaware), means more games, which is great for the Copperheads and everyone in the league.
- The group associated with the Lexington team will present its proposal for admittance into the league at tomorrow's meeting. There are no problems expected, and the proposal seems to be thorough. The team could play in a few different stadiums, which isn't an issue (Lake Erie did it last year). So Lexington will be a member of the GLSCL barring something strange happening.
- The most interesting aspect of tomorrow's meeting to me is a possible change in the playoff set-up. A few league members are proposing a six-team, series format. The top two seeds would receive a bye in round one, as the other four would play one game the Tuesday after the regular season ends (which is a Sunday) to move onto the final four (3-vs.-6, 4-vs.-5), with the higher seed getting home field. Then, the 3-vs.-6 winner would face the second seeded team and the 4-vs.-5 winner would face the top seed in three-game series, with the higher seed getting games 1 and 2 at home.
- The championship series would also be a three-game series, with the home dates based on the distance between the two competing teams. If the trip is less than 150 miles, the higher seed will get games 1 and 3 at home. If the trip is more than 150 miles, the higher seed will play at home during games 1 and 2.
- The semifinals would take place Wednesday-Friday, and the finals would be from Saturday to Monday.
- Last year, the league voted down a proposal for a four-team playoff similar to the second and third legs of this postseason format. The proposal and the vote comes tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
- My two cents: I love the idea. It keeps the same number of teams in the playoffs, and it rewards the efforts during the regular season much more. Quite frankly, a tournament at a neutral site doesn't give the top seed any advantage over the low seed. In my mind, there should be an advantage. Plus, this set-up is what almost every other league uses. But I understand that this may not be logistically or monetarily possible. We'll see how the rest of the league votes, but from strictly a baseball perspective, I love the proposal.
I'll keep you posted on the meeting tomorrow. Until next time, take a listen to the '09 rewind, and go Copperheads.
- Brian
