Softball

PALM SPRINGS--Organizers for the 14^th annual Palm Spring Winter Classic softball tournament had to be worrying when, less than a week before nearly 100 softball teams from around North America would be arriving to play, the area was getting pummeled by the worst rain storm in years. 

Well, the worrying was all for not as the weekend of Jan. 15-16 turned out to be absolutely perfect for playing ball. Sunny and warm temperatures, along with snow-capped mountains all around, combined with the 95 teams that converged on the gay resort Mecca of the West to produce a great tournament. 

Started 14 years ago as a way both for local teams to kick-start their upcoming seasons and as a fundraiser for a Palm Springs softball team, the Winter Classic has developed into the largest gay softball tournament of the year, aside from the annual Gay World Series. In addition, the annual tournament is now a fundraiser for AIDS assistance programs in various cities, determined by the placements of the top three teams in each tournament division (in addition to trophies, the top three teams each receive a check to be given the AIDS charity of their choice in their hometown). 

Tournament organizer, Vicky Oltean, along with Umpire-in-Chief Jeff Stewart, and a large volunteer crew, deserve tremendous applause and appreciation for the work they all put in to create and organize the monumental tasks that putting on an event of this magnitude entail. 

By the time the final pitch was thrown (around 8 p.m. on Sunday night), nearly 500 games had been played by more than 1,000 players, all in the name of fun, competition and charity. 

The results from the nine divisions are as follows: 

Men’s Open Division I

1^st L.A. Vipers – Los Angeles
2^nd Rebels – Mission Viejo, CA
3^rd Prairie Dogs – Denver
4^th New York Eagles - NYC 

They used to be called the Stray Cats. The majority of them have been part of 10 Gay Softball World Series Championships. They’re now called the L.A. Vipers. My point? Nothing has really changed. 

The Vipers pretty much had their way with other three teams in this division, shutting out their competition in the final game (28-0 over the Rebels from Mission Viejo). The final score wasn’t even that close. 

If this tournament is any indication of how the year in the A-Division is going to go, The Vipers will have no trouble re-establishing L.A. as the home of the overall champions. 

Men’s Open Division II

1^st Charlie’s Diablos – Phoenix
2^nd Titans – Los Angeles
3^rd One-Eyed Jacks – Los Angeles
4^th RFR Firemen – Seattle

Former New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra, once said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” This division proved that adage perfectly. Throughout Sunday’s games, the Titans were playing textbook softball. Timely hits, smart base running, great pitching from Dane Johnson, and solid defense all allowed them to make it to the championship game fairly unscathed. 

Charlie’s, on the other hand, were in tough game after tough game, and entered the championship game looking tired and ready to call it quits. Funny, how looks can truly be deceiving. 

The Diablos took advantage of sudden errors by the Titans, along with a barrage of hits throughout the first championship game (in a double elimination tournament, the team from the losers bracket can force a second game if they win) to win, and continued the assault in the second game to simply outplay, outwit and outlast the Titans.

Yes, Charlie’s Diablos were truly survivors this weekend, and rightly captured the division title. 

Men’s Open Division III

1^st ABC Mortgage – Kent (Seattle)
2^nd Arizona Pussy Cats – Scottsdale, AZ
3^rd Notarize This – San Diego
4^th Phoenix Explosion – Phoenix

Unfortunately, these games were played in a remote area of Palm Springs, and I wasn’t able to get there. However, in talking with some of the participants from this division afterwards, it was quite evident that the top three teams could have finished in any order, that’s how close they all were. 

So, congrats to ABC, the Pussy Cats and Notarize this for, what was obviously, a great tournament overall. 

Men’s C-Division I

1^st  Team Viagra – Palm Springs
2^nd Huntington Park Bandits – Los Angeles
3^rd Blue Steam – Ft. Lauderdale
4^th Pizano’s – Chicago

In the past several years, Palm Springs has been producing more competitive teams that have been doing better, and finishing higher in the standings. This year, the host city finally got its champion: Team Viagra. 

This team had it all: Hot offense and tight defense. What more do you really need? Unfortunately for the Bandits and the other teams within this division, Team Viagra played like they had actually used their namesake product (OK, so some on the might actually have…but, that’s for another article and another time.). 

Next up for Palm Springs, perhaps, joining NAGAAA and competing year ‘round. One could only hope, because this is an area that has tremendous potential, and Team Viagra would be a great representative. 

Men’s C-Division II

1^st L.A. Dragons – Los Angeles
2^nd L.A. Cougars – Los Angeles
3^rd Force – Los Angeles
4^th Undertakers – Long Beach

In putting together this tournament, the organizers utilize the ratings system created by the governing body of gay softball (North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance – NAGAAA) to determine the proper and appropriate division for every team to play in. While there is no concrete method to guarantee the ratings each team submits are accurate, the tournament employs a certain level of trust that they are accurate and true. 

Unfortunately, from all observations, the champions of this division (L.A. Dragons) were kind of low in determining their team ratings. Hence, they had a relatively easy time in their march to the championship. Of course, the team they assembled for this tournament probably would have been competitive in the higher divisions (Open I being the possible exception), but that is something that could never have been allowed to come to fruition. 

Now, I appreciate the thought of assembling a competitive team with the idea of trying to win one’s division. However, you also have to be honest in determining your team’s ability, not water down your ratings to guarantee you win a trophy. It simply isn’t fair. A lot of teams paid good money to be a part of this division and play a good, honest tournament. From what this observer could see, not every team fulfilled the later portion of this sentiment. What a shame. This is supposed to be for fun. 

Men’s D-Division

1^st  Enervators – Glendora, CA
2^nd Martinis – Phoenix
3^rd MOC Maddogs – Phoenix
4^th Maple Briefs – Vancouver, BC

First off, my winner for best team name has to go to the Maple Briefs … simply, hilarious. 

As for the division, The Enervators (I’m still trying to figure out what an Enervator is) were able to put together their best tournament ever. They’ve been around for a few years, but this was by far their best effort. 

Two other newcomers, Martinis and Maddogs proved that Phoenix continues to develop solid teams that are also competitive. 

Women’s Competitive

1^st The Blues – Los Angeles/San Francisco
2^nd Title IX – Long Beach
3^rd Outlaws – Los Angeles
4^th Meow Mix – Los Angeles

There’s an old saying, “Those who can’t play, coach. Those who can’t coach, umpire.” Well, in this division, those who umpire won. Yep, The Blues, a team made up entirely of women umpires, won the division for the third year in a row. Of course, it helps that those women umpires also play for some of the women’s divisions best teams. 

Title IX (named for the landmark ruling that gave women greater access to competitive sports in the U.S.), made it close, forcing The Blues into the “if” game (meaning, IF the winner’s bracket team lost the first game, there’d be a second game). However, The Blues got back on track in the final to secure the win, giving them title III. 

Women’s Alternative

1^st Face First Softball – Phoenix
2^nd So Cal Tribe – Long Beach
3^rd Club Moxie – Phoenix
4^th Aberrations – San Diego

As their name suggests, Face First Softball got very dirty while marching their way to the championship. Aggressive running was definitely the key to victory for this Arizona team, as they went wire-to-wire for the title. 

The Tribe, Moxie and Aberrations tried everything they could to try and beat Face First, but to no avail. Face First Softball continued the Phoenix tradition of producing great women’s softball teams. 

Women’s Recreational

1^st Bring It On – San Diego
2^nd Slammers – San Diego
3^rd Waves – Long Beach
4^th Playerz – Los Angeles 

An all-San Diego championship gave a preview of how competitive the Recreational Division is going to be this year in San Diego. Bring It On and the Slammers went back and forth to give the division one of the most entertaining championship games of the entire tournament. Ultimately, Bring It On prevailed. 

However, there’s no guarantee that the 2005 season in San Diego will produce the same results. 

The comeback team of the tournament has to be the Waves from Long Beach. They were near elimination early on Sunday morning, when they began to build momentum. The Waves grew in strength and made a serious run at the championship. However, the Slammers broke the Waves run in the semifinal. But, the Waves, in their first year together, will be able to look back at their 2005 trip to Palm Springs as, possibly, the beginning of a great year. 

Next year is not that far away, and Vicki and her committee will soon begin the task of preparing for the 15^th Annual Winter Classic. Who knows…perhaps next year, there will be over 100 teams. Regardless, it will certainly be another great tournament in a great place to play softball.

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