What better way is there to spend Memorial Day weekend than to play baseball in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over 60 teams came to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend to participate in the NABA Memorial Day Las Vegas Tournament.  The NABA crowned 8 new champions in eight different divisions over the weekend.  Points were earned for the champions and runnerup teams for the NABA National Rankings, and each championship team earned a certificate toward the Arizona World Series entry fees.  Below are the results for the championship games:

 

18 Wood

Champion:  Bruins Baseball

Manager:  Devin Ellisl

Runnerup: Team Victory

Manager:Michael Shoaf

Championship Game -  Bruins Baseball 12 - Team Victory 8
 

18 Rookie

Championship Game -  San Diego A's 18 - Arizona Dirtbags 4

 

18A

Champion: Covina Blues

Manager:  Danny Diaz

Runnerup: San Diego Renegades

Manager: Nate Poliakoff

Championship Game - Covina Blues 22 - San Diego Renegades 3

 

18AA

Championship Game -  LA Cains 17 - Colorado Reds 7

 

28 Open

Championship Game - San Diego Berry's 9 -So Cal Ambassadors 2

 

38 Open

Championship Game - So Cal Titans 11 - San Diego Berry's 8
 

38 Wood

Championship Game - San Diego Blacksox 7 - Denver Bears 6
 

 

45 Wood

Champion: San Diego Blacksox

Manager: Mike Micheli

Runnerup: Orange County Angels

Manager: Mel Moon 

Championship Game - San Diego Blacksox 14 - Orange County Angels 6

What better way is there on the East Coast then to spend Memorial Day weekend playing baseball in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Over 40 teams came to Atlantic City over Memorial Day weekend to participate in the NABA Memorial Day Atlantic City Tournament.  The NABA crowned 6 new champions in six different divisions over the weekend.  Points were earned for the champions and runnerup teams for the NABA National Rankings, and the 18 Open championship team earned a certificate toward the Phoenix or Florida World Series entry fees for their full roster.  Below are the results for the championship games: 
 

 
Phoenix World Championship Series

18AAA, 18AA, 18A, 18 Rookie 18 Open Wood (Sept. 25-28, 2008)
28 Open Wood, 28 Rookie Aluminum (October 5-10, 2008)
35A, 35 Rookie, 35 Open Wood (Sept. 30 - October 5, 2008)
45 Aluminum, 45 Wood (Sept. 29 - October  5, 2008)
 55 Wood (October 5 - 11, 2008)
 

 

Tournament Information Dates:      Games are played starting  Monday, October 20 - Saturday, October 25, 2008
 
Check-in Registration: Sunday, October 19, 2008, from 5-8 PM.
 
Recommended Accommodations: Check-out: Sunday, October 26, 2008
 

DIVISIONS:  Over 50 Division, and Over 60 Division
 
FORMAT: "Pool" Play consisting of 4 games in a drop down format, Semi-Final Playoff and Championship Game. (A schedule will be completed each night by a pre-determined time, where a drop down format is used. This format insures teams to be competing in pool play and for championships against teams of equal playing abilities.)
 
PLAYOFFS:  Semi-Final games will be played on Friday, October 24, 2008
 
CHAMPIONSHIPS: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Over 50AAAA Champion    Over 60AA Champion
Over 50AAA Champion       Over 60A Champion
Over 50AA Champion     Over 50A Champion                           
 
AWARDS:

Champions: Team trophy and NABA Commemorative Individual Awards
Runner-up: Team trophy and NABA Commemorative Individual Awards

Pool Winner: Team pool champion award  

MVP: Determined for each game and for one player on each team at the end of the tournament.

Managers Awards

Tournament Entry Player Fee:    

$375.00 (If you register anytime from May through August of 2008)
$435.00 ($60.00 late penalty fee for submitting payment in September,2008)                                                                                       $475.00 ($100.00 late penalty fee for submitting payment in October, 2008)
                                                                                                                             
PLEASE NOTE: for information pertaining to discounts, please go to the registration form.
 
REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ENTRY FEES AND ENSURE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS!
 
Entry fee includes: tournament entry, tournament game jersey with matching baseball cap, commemorative souvenir tournament t-shirt, admission to the annual tournament dinner buffet, player liability insurance, baseballs, fields, umpires, guaranteed 5 games, individual and team champion and runner-up awards, pool champion award, team MVP awards, managers awards, and a tournament gift.
 

 

2007 CHAMPIONS  
STAN DICKMAN.......50AAAA - SOUTH DAKOTA JACKALOPES
MIKE ESHMANN.......50AAA - DENVER BROWNS
BRIAN TREASURE.....50AA - MARINERS 50
DENNIS CROWLEY...50A - TEAM USA RED CROWLEY
BOB KOPEL............60AA - SOUTH DAKOTA PHEASANTS
BILL ROBBINS.........60A - BRAVES 60+

  

 
President-Southern California NABA League
 
NABA president of the year 2005
NABA Tournament Advisory Group Member
NABA World Series Championship Official
NABA National Tournament Director
NABA World Series Expo Coordinator
NABA Director of Marketing & Communication
NABA Western Regional Asst. Director
NABA Hall Of Fame Inductee
  
Patrick took over the Southern California NABA League , and started helping the NABA National Office in 1993.  Through Patrick's hard work, dedication and inspiration, the Southern California and NABA National Office has become a formidable force in providing the best amateur baseball in the country.  Patrick's commitment and support to the NABA has helped countless individuals to play baseball in Southern California, and has helped many organizations around the country to participate in providing baseball to players all across the country.   Patrick's commitment has helped the NABA establish some of the largest adult baseball tournaments in the world for baseball players to continue to play the game they love.
 
Thanks to Patrick, thousands of players throughout Southern California and hundreds of organizations since 1993 have had the opportunity to play and participate  in the national pastime of baseball through the National Adult Baseball Association.
 
Fittingly, Patrick was elected as a member of the NABA Hall of Fame in the year 2007.
 
2008 NABA Hall of Fame Inductee   

 

Eric James McGhee
 
President-San Jose NABA League
 
NABA Tournament Advisory Board Member
NABA Special Achievement Award
Founding Member of the NABA San Jose Mets Baseball Club
NABA 13-Time All Star
NABA 2-Time World Series Champion
NABA National Tournament Staff Member
NABA World Series Staff Member
 NABA Hall Of Fame Inductee
  
Eric took over the San Jose NABA League as League President in 1999.  Through Eric's hard work, dedication and inspiration, the San Jose NABA League and the NABA National and World Series Tournaments have become a formidable force in providing the best amateur baseball in the country.  Eric's commitment and
support to the NABA has helped countless individuals to play baseball in San Jose California, and has helped many
organizations and teams around the country to participate in National and World Series Tournaments.   Eric's commitment has helped the NABA establish some of the largest adult baseball tournaments in the world for baseball players to continue to play the game they love.
 
Thanks to Eric, hundreds of players throughout San Jose
California, and Thousands of players across the country have had the opportunity to play and participate  in the national pastime of baseball through the National Adult Baseball Association.
 
Fittingly, Eric James McGhee was elected as a member of the NABA Hall of Fame in the year 2008
 

NABA still looking for a few good men

NABA Westsound president and manager Scott A. Capestany warms up at Franklin Covey Field in Salt Lake City during production for "Centerfield," a movie his studio, Capestany Films LLC, put out. The movie is up for consideration at the Seattle International Film Festival.
 

 

All Scott A. Capestany wanted to do was continue to play baseball.
"As soon as I hit 20, there just wasn't that much out there for people over the age of 20," Capestany said.  Now 39, Capestany is finally getting the chance to get back on the diamond. Capestany, a North Kitsap entrepreneur whose business interests have ranged from film and television production to a taxi service he recently started, is taking his business know-how into the baseball realm.
He's opening the doors on NABA Westsound, a men's adult recreational baseball league on the Olympic Peninsula.

Part of the National Adult Baseball Association, Capestany said he hopes the league will allow others like him to dust off their bats and gloves and take the field once more. "It's always been an interest of mine to have my own baseball league," Capestany said. "And it gives that kind of opportunity."

NABA agreed and about three to four weeks after meeting in January, the league was born.  "They think it's a good location," Capestany said. "Anyone that wants to play hardball would have to go catch a ferry to the other side. There was just nothing like that out here."  A former assistant track coach at Central Kitsap, Capestany has coached baseball and basketball before, most extensively in the Lake Washington School District.
 

A high school graduate of Redmond, Capestany competed in track for the University of Washington. But now, he's just glad to be back on the baseball field.  "Spring would roll around (and) I'd always carry my bat and glove with me," he said.  NABA, which also offers tournaments for individual players that take place across five days in locations such as Las Vegas, drew Capestany in similarly during a business trip in Denver.  "That's kind of how I got hooked into this league," he said. "I was doing a show in Denver with the (Colorado) Rockies. It was just baseball fever. At the time I didn't have the time. Now I do."

That's led to NABA Westsound, which Capestany said he hopes will include players across the Olympic Peninsula, from Gig Harbor to Port Angeles and everywhere in between.  For its inaugural season, Capestany said the league, which is for ages 18 and older, hopes to field five teams with 12-to-14 players on each team. "We'll also have the league 18-plus for the first year," Capestany said, indicating that larger leagues like NABA Seattle break up age divisions. "We're gonna mix it up." 

 

But the ultimate goal is to promote a fun, baseball-filled atmosphere for adults. "The league's going to be based on a philosophy of just coming out, having a good time and being around guys that just love baseball," he said. "The teams are going to be set up evenly so a 40-year-old is not going to be facing a 19-year-old pitcher just out of the high school season every time."
 

For its season, which will begin in mid-June and run through the first week or two of September, the league has reached agreements to use both North Kitsap Babe Ruth's fields and Legion Field in Bremerton. The schedule will include 15 to 18 games as well as an all-star game, playoffs and a league championship. 

 

"It's been good," he said of early turnout. "In the first three weeks we've gotten about 40 interested people. We only need 56 to get the league going. We're at 80 percent of our projected numbers."
Still, Capestany is trying to promote the league more widely. He'll be a guest of Kevin Mac's ISPN Sports (www.ispnsports.com), and also is talking with Mac about broadcasting the league's all-star game.
With the range of ages from 18 to older than 50, Capestany said a passion for the game is all that's required to try out.  "As long as you can throw and hit a baseball, you can come out and play," he said. "We're looking for those that still want to come out and play."
"It's a really good, low-cost, fun summertime event," he said.
For more information on the league or becoming a player or manager, visit NABA Westsound at http://naba.statdepot.com/WestSound/default.aspx. 

Blue - Gray, No. Virginia League

Tim Nargi took over what was once called the Northern Virginia NABA in 2006. The league maintained 14 teams that were in existence and Tim looks to further expand the league in 2008. The Blue Gray league continually sends 4-5 teams from their league to NABA tournaments across the country. The Blue Gray league pits its best All Stars against the DC Wood All Stars each year at a stadium in between the two leagues. One of the fun facts of the league is that Tim Nargi's team was able to build their own baseball field and use it for their home field for league play. The team worked out an agreement with a local church and the team and the league immediately began restoration and is a work in progress. For more information on the Blue Gray NABA visit them online at www.blue-gray-baseball.com.

Seattle, Washington NABA League

A letter to League President Pat Fetty from NABA Team Manager Kevin Gordon of the 26+ Pirates.  Pat, I found out today Marty Hauer died Tuesday morning . He was 41.  Marty lived in Covington, WA with his wife Chris and 2 children.   With my wife and daughter I met Marty and his wife Chris at the NABA Spring Training  Experience in Tucson Arizona a little over a year ago.  Both Laura and myself played on the same team with Marty which NABA had asked me to manage. Marty was so excited to play ball again.   After getting to know Marty in Tucson, AZ when we returned home he became a valuable member of the Pirates baseball team as Pitcher, first basemen and played in the outfield. He fit in with the players on our team as he enjoyed being around the players and  he so enjoyed playing the game of Baseball.  His family made most of the games and when  his son and daughter were there they usually sat on the bench with their dad and the team.   Even though Marty did not make any of the games with us this year everyone with the Pirates wanted to thank you for letting us have him on the roster and to let you know he appreciated the fact that he was still a member of the Pirates Baseball Team.     
 

Congratulations to the 2007 Rankings Champions!

 

Points are given to the top teams in each tournament and league play. The higher skill level you play the greater the point value. You are then ranked by age, division and overall. Point values differ depending on the strength of the tournament. The point values and strength of the tournament is determined by the NABA Rules Committee.
Points are awarded within the calendar year. From January to the end of December, points are accumulated for all sanctioned NABA tournaments.  The team with the highest point total in its' age group will be the # 1 ranked NABA team in the nation. The # 1 ranked NABA team in the nation for each age group will receive national recognition in Baseball Today and will receive a custom award.  For each team to receive their award, please contact the National Office.  
 
"18 & Over" - NY/NJ White Sox - 695 points

"28 & Over" - San Diego Berry's - 535 points

"38 & Over" - Denver Bears - 530 points

"48 & Over" - San Diego Black Sox - 560 points

 

"57 & Over" - USA Patriots - 300 points

 

To see the current 2008 National Rankings please click below:

NABA National Team Ranking

 

 

 

If you have a special story from your team, league or tournament experience that you would like to share with the NABA and the rest of our player members across the NABA; please forward your story and any pictures to NABANational@aol.com.  We will work hard to publish your story in one of our upcoming issues of the Baseball Today for our NABA player-members

 

Sincerely,