New York 3 Champion Profile - Stephen Jupinka
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:15 am
A catcher stealing bases is about as rare as seeing Eminem crooning Hilary Duff tunes to a bunch of middle-school girls at the local mall.
So imagine how Stephen Jupinka felt when not only did a catcher come up big on the basepaths, but it proved to be the deciding element in a championship season.
That was the case for Jupinka in the 2005 NFBC as Miguel Olivo’s pair of stolen bases in the final two innings of the season’s final game enabled his team to emerge as part of a three-team tie for first place in New York League 3.
“I’d say we feel pretty fortunate to have finished (tied for first),” said Jupinka, a controller for a commodity company on Wall St. “We had a decent draft and start but then really limped into the finish line.”
One of the big reasons for the second-half fade, Jupinka said, was an extreme power outage and some lackluster performances from his team’s top players.
“Our big guns really died on the vine,” he said. “After the All-Star break, guys like Bobby Abreu, Hank Blalock, Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Rickie Weeks pulled up lame. Dmitri Young, Nick Johnson and Mike Cameron fell off the cliff and Mike Hampton never came back and Chris Carpenter left us with a 5.75 ERA in September.”
But Jupinka quickly added it wasn’t all about poor performances on the field.
“Bad management came into play too,” he acknowledged. “Sitting and starting the wrong guys occurred on a regular basis and you don’t deserve first when you drop guys like Felix Hernandez.”
That said, Jupinka’s team was good enough to hang on for a share of first – the first three-way tie for a league title in the NFBC’s two-year history. Part of the reason for that was a strong finish to the team’s draft in New York City.
“We had a strong backend of the draft,” he said. “Picks 19-27 yielded guys like Raul Ibanez, Johnson, Brady Clark, Jorge Cantu, Tino Martinez and Mike Hampton. The team was deep and pickups like Ryan Howard, Weeks, Shawn Chacon and Kyle Farnsworth really helped us out.”
Jupinka has been a strong participant in the NFBC in each of his first two seasons and in his opinion the event is top of the line.
“If they asked me to list areas I thought need improving I’d draw a blank,” he said. “I’d say just keep doing what you’re doing.”
So imagine how Stephen Jupinka felt when not only did a catcher come up big on the basepaths, but it proved to be the deciding element in a championship season.
That was the case for Jupinka in the 2005 NFBC as Miguel Olivo’s pair of stolen bases in the final two innings of the season’s final game enabled his team to emerge as part of a three-team tie for first place in New York League 3.
“I’d say we feel pretty fortunate to have finished (tied for first),” said Jupinka, a controller for a commodity company on Wall St. “We had a decent draft and start but then really limped into the finish line.”
One of the big reasons for the second-half fade, Jupinka said, was an extreme power outage and some lackluster performances from his team’s top players.
“Our big guns really died on the vine,” he said. “After the All-Star break, guys like Bobby Abreu, Hank Blalock, Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Rickie Weeks pulled up lame. Dmitri Young, Nick Johnson and Mike Cameron fell off the cliff and Mike Hampton never came back and Chris Carpenter left us with a 5.75 ERA in September.”
But Jupinka quickly added it wasn’t all about poor performances on the field.
“Bad management came into play too,” he acknowledged. “Sitting and starting the wrong guys occurred on a regular basis and you don’t deserve first when you drop guys like Felix Hernandez.”
That said, Jupinka’s team was good enough to hang on for a share of first – the first three-way tie for a league title in the NFBC’s two-year history. Part of the reason for that was a strong finish to the team’s draft in New York City.
“We had a strong backend of the draft,” he said. “Picks 19-27 yielded guys like Raul Ibanez, Johnson, Brady Clark, Jorge Cantu, Tino Martinez and Mike Hampton. The team was deep and pickups like Ryan Howard, Weeks, Shawn Chacon and Kyle Farnsworth really helped us out.”
Jupinka has been a strong participant in the NFBC in each of his first two seasons and in his opinion the event is top of the line.
“If they asked me to list areas I thought need improving I’d draw a blank,” he said. “I’d say just keep doing what you’re doing.”