Nick, Rich, and Jacque

Now that in-season publication has started, if you're not checking out The Monroe Doctrine on a regular basis, you're doing yourself a great disservice.  Rich is once again making quality weekly posts about the CFCL past and present, the Cubs, MLB, and life in general.  You subscribe via a news reader, or at a minimum be sure to click the link over in the sidebar to the right of this post on a regular basis.

If you haven't read his Bring Me Your Torch post casting "Survivor: Heroes vs Villians" using current and former Cub players, go check it out, then come back here for a little treat.

Well done, don't you think?  The reference to the Jacque Jones moment from the 2006 CFCL Draft was a nice touch.  For those who would like to relive it or experience it for the first time, here's the video:

Winter Waiver 2009 - Round 2

Well that sure cooled things down. In Round 1 there were 19 claims. In Round 2 only five claims were filed. Amazingly none of the 24 claims were made by Moore Better, apparently choosing to build via the draft than by waivers.

Here are the results for Round 2

Candy Colored Clowns claim Casey Blake .24W (Tim Hudson .05W)

Dem Rebels claim Matt Latos .02M (Pat Burrell .33W)
Dem Rebels claim Casey Weathers .02M (Kosuke Fukudome .29W)
Dem Rebels claim J.C. Romero .02W (Wil Ohman .10W)

ROUND THREE CLAIMS NEED TO BE SUBMITTED BY THURSDAY, JANUARY 15TH AT 3PM to demreb@sbcglobal.net

Moore Better
none

Candy Colored Clowns
Casey Blake .24

Copperfields
none

Dem Rebels (first 3 available)
*Matt Latos .02M
Casey Weathers .02M
JC Romero .02W
Tyler Colven .05M

Revenge
none

Kenndoza Line
none

Graging Bulls
none

Ruffins
*Matt Latos .02M

DoorMatts
none

Red Hots
None

The Roster has been updated (including the mistakes I made on the Copperfields roster after Round 1) and can be accessed by clicking on the link at the right.

Winter Reading
In case you haven't ventured to the Monroe Doctrine recently, there are three posts since the end of the season. Can't promise you that it's as entertaining as the new MLB channel, but if you don't want to watch the 2008 Home Run Derby for the 12th time, it might provide you a nice diversion.

FUN WITH STATISTICS
A while ago I posted something about Greg Maddux retiring and that he was one of only two pitchers to record more than 3000 strikeouts and less than 1000 walks. Then I listened to the opening ceremonies of the Winter Classic between the Blackhawks and Red Wings. They were introducing the dignitaries attending and got to Fergie Jenkins. The PA guy said that Jenkins was one of THREE pitchers with that accomplishment.

So off I ran to baseball-reference.com to see who was right. It appears that as of right now there are FIVE!!! pitchers that qualify. Of course, that could change since three of the pitchers are still active. Here is the list.

Fergie Jenkins - 3192 strikeouts; 997 walks
Greg Maddux - 3371 strikeouts; 999 walks
John Smoltz - 3011 strikeouts; 992 walks (since Smoltz just signed with Boston for as many as two years, he could easily fall of this list); but here's where it gets amazing ----
Curt Schilling - 3116 strikeouts; 711 walks
Pedro Martinez - 3117 strikeouts; 752 walks

Given the health and age of Schilling and Martinez, they are virtual locks to stay on the list when they retire - and by a long shot. Pedro I can understand, but I never thought Schilling was all that and a bag of chips. He's better than I thought. I guess his penchant for the camera lens and the focus on a bloody sock caused some distraction.

The Monroe Doctrine Returns

Another sign that baseball season is right around the corner: The Monroe Doctrine emerges from it's off-season hibernation. Since a quarter of the league's owners are new this year, perhaps a brief introduction is appropriate.

"The Monroe Doctrine" was the name of the hard-copy CFCL newsletter produced by Co-Commissioner Rich Bentel back in the late-1980s and early 1990s. In those days, the newsletter was produced on a typewriter, photocopied, and distrbuted via snailmail with the weekly CFCL standings reports. It was named after one-time CFCL owner, Bob Monroe, who was the frequent and regular target of the newsletter's barbs and satires.

After a decade or more of inactivity, The Monroe Doctrine made a triumphant return last year, debuting in online form as part of the weekly CFCL reports posted on the website. With the shift to the blog format for CFCL reporting this year, the Doctrine takes another leap forward and is now a site of its own.

That's right - you'd never have believed it, but Rich has got a blog! The Monroe Doctrine makes its 2008 debut with some commentary on the Hall of Fame voting process. You can read this article, and browse through an entire archive of last year's posts, at the following address:

http://richbentel.blogspot.com

The blog format is nice, since it lends itself nicely to providing feedback and disucssion via the comments. Welcome to the blogosphere, Rich!

The Monroe Doctrine will be available from this site via the links in the upper right, and I'll also post notes here and at the CFCL Internet Headquarters as Rich posts.