Report from Herts Newswire correspondent, Kal Dimitrov
Bracknell, Westmorland Park
The BBF held a meeting on Sunday 30 November to review the 2008 season and set out goals and targets for the 2009 season.
The success of Herts Baseball did have a prominent place of pride. In conjunction with that, a number of issues were raised to make the experience in 2009 better than last year for all the teams involved. It was agreed that a number of scheduling issues, such as stretching the season out to include September, as well as the inclusion of double headers for AA games were put forward for consideration. The Herts Raptors and Herts Hawks remember the large number of games played against the same opponents week-after-week (Essex Arrows and Brentwood respectively) and they will be happy to know that the BBF Board will aim to provide a more balanced schedule for AA and Single-A teams.
In addition, it was proposed to establish an end-of-season competition – a cup or a fall league, for the clubs that have players keen to continue playing into September and even the first week of October.
The BBF Board reported that several new teams are expected to join the league in 2009 in addition to the Herts Falcons joining the National League and the Herts Eagles going into the AAA league. The London Mets are creating a third team, the London Marauders, who are expected to enter the Single-A Division. There was also very positive news from the Midlands Division which is expected to expand from three to six teams.
The delegates also discussed how to handle teams that fold midway through the season or forfeit a number of games. A proposal was reviewed on how to treat the games played by teams that have dropped out of the league, such as wiping out all their scores for the season.
The BBF Board reported that the Southern League Commissioner, Cody Cane, has stepped down. Herts delegate, Aspi Dimitrov, put forward his candidacy to be co-opted as Southern League Commissioner until the next BBF AGM and this will now be considered by the BBF Board.