As I said before, the NECBL has a unique feel to it. Playing out of high school fields, before the merest of crowds, this 10 team origination provides a unheard of atmosphere for its 270 annual athletes.
Okay, time to cut to the chase. By the numbers, 3 of these 10 teams call Massachusetts home, the North Adams SteepleCats, the New Bedford Bay Sox, and, here's one, the Holyoke Blue Sox.
So, with that in mind, I was at game number 29 of this years Blue Sox season, and, was immediately, confronted by a wave of disappointment and confusion. Looking at the double sided game notes in my lap, I frowned at the fact that, with only 3 members of last years league leading Holyoke club moving on to bigger leagues, my team I know, I'm allowed to be biased :) had fallen to last place in their Western Division.
Anyway, in the wake of a 6-5 Holyoke loss, I was immediately skeptical, and soon came across the fact that the idea of an extra year contract is absolutely foreign, a frame of mind, much in part due to the strict rules regarding summer leagues set fourth by the NCAA. Team by team, a given school can not have any more than three roster members, (starter or non starter) on any given off season team, meaning, that with new players incoming every year, a returning NECBL player will simply sign a contract with the league promising them at least a spot on the bench of a participating team.
Yet as my knowledge of this intriguing league expended, it was soon found, that, seeing as the NECBL draws players and fans from around the country, (and in some cases the world), a participating player would almost always be assigned a "host family" to shelter, and assist the player through the laid back 42 game, June to July schedule.
Alright looking back at this local league's slightly ironic history, a few outstanding facts well outstand.
Founded back in 1993, the league quickly blossomed bringing in, future MLB stars including the likes of ,Stephen Strasburg , Andrew Bailey and Matt Joyce.
The years progressed, and as the leauge flipped and floped through team by team changes, it finally reached it's current unchanged state with the relocation and renaming of the Holyoke Giants to MacKenzie Stadium and to the Holyoke Blue Sox.
Yet as i waddled through the overgrown fencing (not Wrigley field) surrounding the well maintained diamond in downtown Holyoke, it became instantly evident, that, leagues like this, stadiums like this, teams like this, and the sandlot style attitude this wonderful little league employs is the part of baseball lost in the bright lights, million dollar contracts, and game by game TV deals of the MLB and other pro leagues.
It's a perfect atmosphere, and it's the game the way it is meant to be played.
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