2000 Season in Review

2000 Interlefts.
Clockwise from L:  Kevbud "Jeter" McCabe, Sandy Lundeen, JB "Contract" Baggott, Dennis "Shoes" McCarthy, Dave "AAA" Tenbrook, Amy Moody, Roy Harkow, Bill "Not Buckner" Buckman, Andy Feldman, Michelle Millett, Mitz Niwa, Jim Besada, Kristy "MVP" Besada, Bryan Elverson.

The 2000 season saw some changes for the Interlefts.  With Shannon Darwin's being sent down to minors, Charlie Kessenich's trip to the disabled list for the entire year, Jerry Harris' paternity leave, Roy Harkow's suspension for gambling in the game, Jake Jacobsen's going AWOL, and Steve Gack's defection to Allaire Parrotheads, Interlefts recruited some new blood into the team:  Kristy Besada (Mitz Connection), Bryan Elverson (Mitz Connection), Amy Moody (Jake Connection), Dave Tenbrook (Jake Connection), and Greg Weeks (Jake Connection).  The new Interlefts contributed beyond the call of duty, on and off the field.

Interlefts finished the regular-season in second place (trailing first place Allaire Parrotheads by 1/4 a game), going 8-3.  Interlefts defeated every team in the league at least once except Tradeline, who defeated the Interlefts both meetings.

Interlefts had misfortune of meeting Tradeline in the playoffs in semi-finals, and had the post-season ended at the hands of Tradeline.  Interlefts defeated Allaire Parrotheads in the final game of the 2000 season, a consolation game, in a blowout.

Interlefts had another successful season, lead by Zeke Weeks' offense.   Zeke lead the Interlefts in RBI's for the third year in a row, while leading the team in home runs for the third time in four years; Zeke missed the triple crown by coming in third in batting title race, trailing only to Mitz Niwa and Rob Klamka.  Mitz again did not miss a game and kept the consecutive game streak intact to 64 plus games, while leading the team in batting average and runs scored and trailing only to Zeke in home runs and RBI's.  Dennis "Shoes" McCarthy, for the fourth time in six seasons, also did not miss a game.  Always has been known for scoring runs, Dennis drove in a lot of runs and was moved from the leadoff spot to middle of the batting lineup for the first time in years.  Kevbud "Jeter" McCabe replaced Dennis at the leadoff spot and showed some pop in his bat even from the leadoff spot.  Though he was injured throughout the season as usual, he hit four home runs while tying his career-high with 22 runs scored.   Jim Besada also found some pop in his bat as well, hitting three home runs, though he could not replicate his impossible, .880 batting average performance of 1999. 

Thanks to dedication of three-year veteran Michelle Millett, newcomers Kristy Besada and Amy Moody, July call-up Siobhan McCabe, and August call-up Sandy Lundeen, Jane Doe did not make an appearance for second straight year.  Other August call-up pair of Roy Harkow and Bill Buckman also contributed to defeat first-place Allaire Parrotheads in the final game of the regular-season.  Our old friend Dave Caswell made an emergency call-up in July (and stole the team uniforms and left town), while another old friend Shannon Darwin also came up from the minors for Easter Seals game against Artisoft Ringers.

Larry "Pedro" Kessenich became the pitching staff ace, and JB "Maddux" Baggott moved from the rotation to became the closer/first baseman for the team.  Larry kept the opponent batters off-balance all season long.  Rookies Kristy "MVP" Besada and Amy Moody called for good pitches from behind the plate.  Amy had some sparkling moments with her bat, driving in four runs in a game.  Kristy, a switch hitter, also found her groove with her bat once she started hitting left-handed exclusively, and she also made some spectacular plays behind the plate.  Another rookie, Greg Weeks teamed up with his brother Zeke to form the new millenium version of "Bash Brothers", and was the team's second cleanup hitter and drove in seven runs in his first game as an Interleft, while flashing his speed and glove work in the outfield.  Rookie Dave "AAA" Tenbrook appeared in 13 (out of 14) games, the most by all Interleft rookies.  Dave held his own at first base and in the outfield while becoming one of the hottest hitters in the second half of the season.  Bryan Elverson, a rookie who was called up before the fourth game of the season, proved that he was a major-league material and contributed with his bat, his speed, and his glove while appearing in every game after his call-up.  In his rookie year of service, Bryan, who claims to be more of a singles-hitter, broke Interleft record for most triples in a season with four triples while also breaking Interleft record for "losing most balls by hitting balls into the woods".  Veteran Rob Klamka had one of the finest seasons of his career and was among leaders in all of the offensive categories.  Rob shined especially in the rematch against Logica, when he drove in Interleft-record nine runs in the game.  Michelle Millett, through all of her injuries, missed only one game and was a major offensive force, getting on base 16 times and scoring in all but one of those times while sliding into bases like a lunatic and was missing skin on her legs most of the season.  (She most likely did not have to shave her legs all season.)  Michelle also flashed her glove as a second baseman and a right fielder.  Andy Feldman also served as a reliable second baseman when he appeared in a game.  He also made some great plays in his cameo appearances at third base while gunning down the batters with his 90-plus MPH throws to first base.  And at last but certainly not least, JB "Big Cat" Baggott batted at the end of the lineup for the Interlefts and scored career-high 14 runs while still driving in 12 runs in the season.

Individually, many players on the team put up some fine numbers.   Quite a few new Interleft records were set, and many personal highs were recorded in 2000.

Clockwise from L:  Dave Tenbrook, Charlie Kessenich, Larry Kessenich, Greg Weeks, Ruba Bari, Zeke Weeks, Mitz Niwa, Rob Klamka, Dennis McCarthy, Kristy Besada, Bryan Elverson, Kevin McCabe, Siobhan McCabe.