CNMSBL CONVENES AS SEASONS CHANGE
March Meeting Means Cannons Close In On Opening Day

Avon, CT (AP)—Spring Equinox, also known as Ostara, occurs in the middle of March. It marks the beginning of spring and the time when days and nights are of equal length. Green has been sacred to this season since ancient times, because it represents the greening of the land with vegetation. This is a time of new growth: rebirth. The classic color combination of red, white and blue will undoubtedly be sacred this season in the Connecticut North Men’s Senior Baseball League (CNMSBL) because it celebrates the Connecticut Cannons. And the 2008 campaign looks to be a time of new growth as the Cannons add six players to an already impressive roster with one goal in mind: a CNMSBL Championship and with it Connecticut’s coronation as kings of the A Division.

Complete umpiring crews invaded the Italian Club ending a contract dispute with the CNMSBL that stretches back to the 2006 season (last year the league went with the far-less experienced and incredibly unreliably Willimantic Board, a move marred by several notable no-shows). Initial roster submission, squaring away payments and the 2008 Step Up to the Plate Charity Baseball Marathon were yet again the topics on the docket on Wednesday evening with seven of the eight A Division entries in attendance (Newington Capitals Manager Dave Sacco was not present). “It feels good to get our roster in. It means the season is getting close,” said giddy Assistant Manager Mike Weber. “We grabbed our balls (several dozen Rawlings ROML Major League Specifications baseballs were purchased at the previous league gathering in February), had some laughs, locked in the umps and ironed out in-game details (composite bats are allowed; base coaches will voluntarily wear helmets after the untimely death of Minor League coach Mike Coolbaugh last July; the fifteen-after-four and ten-after-five mercy rule is still in effect for 2008). Standard operating procedure in the CNSMBL.” Manager Matt Celio added, “Of all the topics discussed one thing was clear: no team has made the number of off-season moves the Cannons have and these additions are going to pay immediate and long-term dividends. We’ve not only improved on paper—many pre-season publications have us picked to win the A Division this year—but in the clubhouse as well. Other teams stuck to the status quo this off-season while the Cannons have been out on the cutting edge. We’re younger, quicker, more athletic, and there is a renewed commitment to excellence. We’ve spent a lot of money signing these new players but this is an investment in our present and our future. We’ve believed since our earliest days in New Britain if the team isn’t getting better we’re getting worse. The Connecticut Cannons are better today than at any time since we’ve been in A Division play.” On Memorial Day Weekend 2008, players from all twenty-four teams in the CNMSBL A and B Divisions will “Step Up to the Plate” for three great charities in the league’s second annual 24-hour Baseball Marathon in Glastonbury, CT (Riverfront Park, Friday, May 23 through Saturday, May 24 with Opening Ceremonies at 6:00 p.m. and the first pitch at 7:00 p.m.). This season the league will donate to help defeat prostate cancer (MSBL’s national charity…Connecticut’s chapter made the third largest donation of any league in the country in 2007), cystic fibrosis and juvenile diabetes. “Gloves, giveaways, grub—Highland Park Market in Dunkin Donuts will ‘cater’ the event from start to finish—and a game you’ll be glad you played in,” stated A Division President and Glastonbury Marlins Manager Mike Clinton at the latest meeting. “I don’t know a single player who participated in ’07 that didn’t have a terrific time (Chris Barsa, Celio and Weber are Cannons confirmed for the ’08 game…others are expected to follow over the next several weeks…prizes for individual and team participation as well as donations are again being offered at this year’s game, touted as Step Up II: The Umpire Strikes Back…visit the game’s website at stepupct.org). I look forward to taking the field with players from the other teams as we look to hit a home run for charity.”

Spring has officially sprung, Easter weekend is upon us and with it Cannon Nation moves to within five short weeks of the ’08 opener at Fussenich Park in Winsted against the Rifles (Sunday, April 27, 10:00 a.m.). The sun will continue to follow a higher and higher path through the sky as daylight hour’s increase and the weather warms. This is a time of growth, renewal, new life and being born. The time to be born again is at hand Cannon Nation. The land is becoming increasingly green but it’s time to get your RED on! CANNONS FOREVER!

Cannons News and Notes: Fifteen of Connecticut’s nineteen ’08 roster invitees have submitted paperwork…Tom Luby, John Mancini, Mike Patenaude and Kevin Quinn have yet to contact World Headquarters (twelve players have made partial or complete monetary commitments); Craig Perrier purchased a new “Cuban-crafted” mitt when he vacationed in Florida in mid-February; Celio recently wondered whether Teddy Prajzner, owner of Nick’s Nest in Holyoke, MA will name a hot dog in honor of the Cannons…Perrier replied that “The Weber” would make an ideal addition as a featured menu item: “It will be a cocktail weenie,” quipped H²0…Weber responded: “I guess that means Craig won’t want to get in my pants…he’ll probably go after the Mancer and his super sausage”; Barsa’s meeting with Newington Parks and Recreation representatives reportedly “could not have gone any better”…a new batting cage and infield tarp will be added at New Cannon Yards this season; pitcher Bill Gills signed with the team on March 1: the thirty-three year old informed members of the media, “I am hoping that things will work out this summer and I can ‘shut down’ some CNMSBL opponents”; injury report: Luby’s return from back surgery has been slowed and the star shortstop says the start of the season looks “doubtful” (Tom Clark, Mark Lynch, Drew McDowell, Mike McGann, Adam Pallone and others will get long looks in the infield during spring training…Lynch is fighting through ligament damage to his right ankle that may limit his innings behind the plate...“[Steve] Markie, always an important player for us, becomes even more so with Lynchie’s injury,” Celio stated in his weekly press conference…“We’ve improved our pitching so much this off-season that our backstop is going to be big…we may have to move some players around, give Quinn some innings back there if Steve is missing and Mark can’t go”…Ed Poland’s balky knee—injured on Opening Day ’07 at Bristol—has flared up and his ’08 appears to be in jeopardy; when an Eastern Connecticut Cubs representative asked about the use of composite bats in league games Rifles Manager Paul Graves replied, “You can use composite bats…but they’re gay” (Graves later determined through the use of an archaic mathematic formula that base coaches wearing helmets is “even more gay”); Bristol Metallurgists Manager Gary Calusine responded to surfacing rumors that this will be his team’s final season in the league: “I said [2007] was going to be our last year. Now I’m saying one more…forever” (Clausine also promised to plunk third baseman Matt Cook who defected to the rival Cubs: “He better wear a two-flapped batting helmet”…Bristol is now without an established player at the hot corner…Celio and Weber promised a steady diet of bunts for the team’s match-up on June 22); Hartford Nationals Manager Tony Santiago confirmed that the Cannons will play one of two double headers at the University of Hartford this season on the league’s final regular-season Sunday (July 27); Mancini’s daughter Grace, the newest citizen of Cannon Nation, is expected to arrive in the first week of April (former Cannons Tom Mancini and Jay Studney joined management in celebration of this event last Sunday)…when Celio mentioned to Mancini, “this is an exciting time…the big day is coming up quickly” the outfielder replied without hesitation, “you must mean Opening Day”; official Cannons’ clothiers Tees & More have been tapped as sponsors and will design the ’08 Step Up to the Plate t-shirts (the team’s ’08 merchandise order was turned in several Saturdays ago and should be ready for pick-up in early April); the fourth and final league winter meeting will be held in Avon on Wednesday, April 16 (final rosters and bill payments will be made).