A couple of nights later, we all anticipated a dream pitching match up between MJS and Lincoln Tavern to decide the "A" championship. Instead, we got game postponements, rescheduling, arguments, and eventually it came to an end with MJS being awarded the M Street Cup by way of forfeit. By the end of the season, our commissioner had seen enough of the delay antics that were taking place between several teams and decided to hand off the "A" division to another group.

That group had high aspirations and good intentions; several of our M Street teams were ready to make the move. However, as the start date neared the reality of the work involved proved to be too much and last week the group pulled the plug. With that said, there will NOT be an "A" league for the 2023 season at M Street. When a league has to schedule playoff games around a pitcher's life schedule, then that's a problem that we don't want. We're all for competitive balance and fairness but it just became too much of a headache and not worth the aggravation. Moving on...

For the 2023 season, we will roll the format back to the 2019 season where we will all play in one league with one champion. The teams will be fairly divided into two divisions with the top eight teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs. We expect to have at least thirty teams battling it out for the coveted M Street Cup.

Pitching rules - what is now called a legal delivery in modified pitching tournaments has recently changed. Once upon a time it was either bowling motion (bend at the waist) style or a straight up/sling style - one was called "B" modified and the other was "open" modified. Today, the area between the two is cloudy, grey, and the umpires are allowing the straight up pitchers to pitch in the "B" tourneys - with some restrictions. As of this writing, we have a few pitchers who don't necessarily bend at the waist but fall into this new category. For comparison, Jimmy Pinkston and Chris Pope are two that immediately come to mind while Miguel "Lenky" Dupree and Mike Garland have always been considered "B" pitchers and are also legal. Slinging will not be allowed THIS season - pitchers will need to make an effort to come straight back and deliver the ball off the hip. The framework of what will be called illegal/legal will be drawn up in the coming weeks and posted here as well as in the rules section of the site.

The league will be starting the first week of May with games being played all week long - Monday - Friday (6pm, 730, & 9pm). There are several new teams that have contacted the league and will be joining us for the 2023 season. The league will reach out to the coaches this week to begin the process of getting things moving. Also, the rosters have been reset on the website. Coaches, you will need to provide the league with an updated roster before the season begins.

In closing, we sadly lost three members of our M Street Softball community over the off-season:

Harry John (Sep 8, 2022) played for the Sidewalk Cafe in the late 90's and early 2000's. He was a great line drive hitter and a devoted teammate who believed that everyone had a pivotal role to play in a team's success. His late night calls for lineup suggestions, pitching strategies, and sincere "check ins" will be sorely missed. I was fortunate enough to visit Harry shortly before he left us. He was no longer that physically strong softball player but was still that warm, kind and gentle soul.

Rile Rhodes (Feb 23, 2023) organized a union softball team (iron workers, laborers, carpenters) for the 1994 season at M Street. His team didn't have any success on the field (0-18) but Rile quickly made friends throughout the league with his big smile and friendly way about him. The union team folded after that first season but Rile stuck around the league for several seasons. He later rose through the ranks in the carpenter's union while helping thousands of people along the way.

Jason Allen (Dec 13, 2022) was a long-standing member of the league having played for several teams (Sidewalk Cafe, Dawgs, Cranberry Cafe, Simpson Club). He was a great outfielder and a good contact hitter. Allen played in several high level tournaments and was always a welcomed addition to his team. More recently, I found myself at odds with Jason and we were not on speaking terms. The dark path that he was on nearly led to a fight during a playoff game at M Street. However, at the conclusion of last season I saw Jason at the park and he was looking really good. He said hello and then asked if he could enter a "sober" team into the league next season. "Yes, we would love to have you Jason." I smiled and walked away knowing that he had put his demons in check and that our friendship had returned.