The First 195 NFBC Participants: A Remembrance

[DOUGHBOYS]

Date Ejected Umpire Reason
4-18-1979 BOX Billy Sample Ted Hendry Called third strike
5-18-1979 BOX Ed Farmer George Eshelman Balls and strikes
5-20-1979 BOX Pat Corrales Dave Perez Call at HP
6-19-1979 BOX Pat Corrales Derryl Cousins Spit ball
6-23-1979 BOX Johnny Grubb Bill Kunkel Balls and strike
8-12-1979 BOX Richie Zisk Mike Reilly Called third strike
8-14-1979 BOX Pat Corrales Fred Spenn Length of mound meeting
8-23-1979 BOX Frank Lucchesi Durwood Merrill
9- 5-1979 BOX Pat Corrales Jerry Neudecker Call at 2B
9-23-1979 BOX John Ellis Dave Phillips Called third strike (Threw bat)
5-24-1980 BOX Pat Corrales George Maloney Balls and strikes
5-26-1980 BOX Bob Babcock Bill Haller Throwing behind batter after warning
5-26-1980 BOX Buddy Bell Bill Haller Charging mound
5-26-1980 BOX Johnny Grubb Bill Haller Fighting Bruce Kison after HBP
7-15-1980 BOX Pat Corrales Fred Spenn Call at 1B (on pick off)
8-18-1980 BOX Bump Wills Jim McKean Called third strike

Now you're just showing off!

[DOUGHBOYS]

Thanks Todd and Dan for your research. I know I wasn't drunk when arriving at the game.

No problem, Jim.
Next time you encounter Jenkins, you can admit that you were wrong.
And thanks to a couple of baseball nerds, know that he was wrong too.

[ToddZ]

Now you're just showing off!

www.retrosheet.org is a fun site.

Lots of lists and box scores.

Break's over. Now back to writing profiles....

[DOUGHBOYS]

Poifect!!
Thanks Todd!

[Edwards Kings]

Ferguson Jenkins Story:

Sack, Chip and I are in Phoenix area for spring training last year. We arrive for a night game between Texas and KC (what a beautiful venue). Fergie is one of 4-5 ex drug addicts, er, ball players signing memorabilia.
I have told friends over the years about the time I was in Arlington for a game when ABC televised Monday Game of the Week back in ’79 or ’80. I went to the game late and got a single box seat 2nd row right behind the Rangers on deck circle. First inning, Fergie gets thrown out for arguing with the umpire. Now, I wasn't drunk yet and I wasn't doing any crystal meth which was my drug of choice back then and I wasn't hallucinating.

Therefore, we all go up to have a chat with Fergie and I ask if he remembers this episode and he responds, “It never happened, I have never been thrown out of a game.” I said, something like, “you sure?” and he responded, “Sir, it never happened.” I have not heard the last of this from Sack. My thoughts, you going to take my word or that of cocaine addict trafficker?

Not to add fuel to the fire, but this story intrigued me. I went back to ABC Monday Night Baseball program schedules. There were no games in Texas in 1980 or 1981, but there were nine games total from 1976 to 1979. No pitcher in those nine games were thrown out in the first inning. Jenkins only pitched on one, July 23, 1979. He went 6 and a third.

Sorry dude.

[Lunatic]

Ferguson Jenkins Story:

Sack, Chip and I are in Phoenix area for spring training last year. We arrive for a night game between Texas and KC (what a beautiful venue). Fergie is one of 4-5 ex drug addicts, er, ball players signing memorabilia.
I have told friends over the years about the time I was in Arlington for a game when ABC televised Monday Game of the Week back in ’79 or ’80. I went to the game late and got a single box seat 2nd row right behind the Rangers on deck circle. First inning, Fergie gets thrown out for arguing with the umpire. Now, I wasn't drunk yet and I wasn't doing any crystal meth which was my drug of choice back then and I wasn't hallucinating.

Therefore, we all go up to have a chat with Fergie and I ask if he remembers this episode and he responds, “It never happened, I have never been thrown out of a game.” I said, something like, “you sure?” and he responded, “Sir, it never happened.” I have not heard the last of this from Sack. My thoughts, you going to take my word or that of cocaine addict trafficker?

Not to add fuel to the fire, but this story intrigued me. I went back to ABC Monday Night Baseball program schedules. There were no games in Texas in 1980 or 1981, but there were nine games total from 1976 to 1979. No pitcher in those nine games were thrown out in the first inning. Jenkins only pitched on one, July 23, 1979. He went 6 and a third.

Sorry dude.

Well, I'll bet that was the game I was at It is great how we can check this stuff out 34 years later; gotta luv technology. Maybe he almost got thrown out LOL; OK, so the next time I run into Fergy, I'll straighten this out. Like Dan said, Fergie was tossed once and he said he was never tossed, so his memory is as good as mine.

[Greg Ambrosius]

With every thread saved on these Message Boards since 2004, it's easy enough to find the winner's from our debut season. Here's a look at that season-ending post:

You've followed their team names on the Top 10 overall standings page and now it's time to give credit to the team owners who ran those winning teams. In fact, let's recognize the money winners in all of our NFBC leagues in 2004. The envelopes, please:

NFBC Overall Winners:
1. Artie Rastelli, Hoboken, N.J.
2. Aaron Seefeldt, Northbrook IL
3. Shawn Childs, Forestdale, MA
4. Terry Haney, San Diego, CA
5. Jeff Thomas, Kenosha, WI
6. Eric Peden, Star, ID
7. Jim Ruland, Playa del Rey, CA
8. Ari Benjamin, Summit, NJ

Chicago League 1
1. Aaron Seefeldt, Northbrook, IL
2. Karl Mische, Rogers, MN
3. Philip McDonald, Huntsville, AL

Chicago League 2
1. Stanley Kaye, Frisco, TX
2. Keith Gulian, Novi, MI
3. Chad Meyer, Columbus, IN

Chicago League 3
1. Jim Ruland, Playa del Rey, CA
2. George Kleeman, Palatine, IL
3. Howard Markowitz, Las Vegas, NV

New York League 1
1. Artie Rastelli, Hoboken, NJ
2. Eddie Gillis, Jamestown, RI
3. Paul Weber, Boston, MA

New York League 2
1. Leonard Ringle, New York, NY
2. Kevin Grady, Flemington, NJ
3. Eric Price, Norwalk, CT

New York League 3
1. Bill Begley, Garden City, NY
2. Ray Murphy, Milton, MA
3. Salvatore Vella, Staten Island, NY

New York League 4
1. Stephen Jupinka, Waldwick, NJ
2. Ari Benjamin, Summit, NJ
3. Brian Walton, New Millford, CT

New York League 5
1. Dave Cushard, Marshall, MI
2. Joshua Sack, New York, NY
3. Chris Jones, Brooklyn, NY

Las Vegas League 1
1. Jeff Thomas, Kenosha, WI
2. Brett Washburn, Roswell, GA
3. Scott Stauffer, Duluth, MN

Las Vegas League 2
1. Eric Peden, Star, ID
2. Christopher Stephenson, Sandwich, MA
3. Rick Thomas, Franklin, WV

Las Vegas League 3
1. Terry Haney, San Diego, CA
2. Scott Zeidman, El Segundo, CA
3. Kevin Rogers, Deerfield Beach, FL

Las Vegas League 4
1. Shawn Childs, Forestdale, MA
2. Bradley Shairson, Smyrna, GA
3. Lance Goebel, Manhattan, IL

Las Vegas League 5
1. Clark Olson, Seattle, WA
2. Mike O'Connor, Burnsville, MN
3. Kenneth Magner, Freehold, NJ

New York AL Auction League
1. Eddie Gillis, Jamestown, RI
2. Alan Zimmerman, Buffalo, NY
3. Gary Sobov, Philadelphia, PA

Las Vegas AL Auction League
1. Shawn Childs, Forestdale, MA
2. Perry Van Hook, Santa Cruz, CA
3. Todd Zola, Farmingham, MA

Las Vegas NL Auction League
1. Terry Haney, San Diego, CA
2. Dale Tobias, Chicago, IL
3. Jeffrey Rackliffe, Mableton, GA

Congratulations to everyone.

[Captain Hook]

Santa Cruz?

actually Santa Ana

[Greg Ambrosius]

I never get tired of seeing this list of first year Main Event participants. I'm going to figure out how many are still in the Main Event 12 years later and contact many of the others on this list to see if there's any interest in a return to any of our cool contests. Maybe a return to a Satellite League or the Online Championship will spark their interest again. We'll see.

Anyway, for many of you who have been around for 12 years, check out the league assignments and who came out on top that first season. Does it seem like just yesterday or a lifetime ago? I know what I'd say!! Enjoy.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I love looking at the list of original NFBC members in the Main Event. I found this thread that I posted a few years ago and will list those owners from 2004 who competed in 2015. Our list of returning Charter Members is getting smaller each year, but it's still amazing to see the ones who keep coming back. We need to keep honoring these Charter Members because without them the NFBC doesn't make it past Year 1. That's the truth.

Thanks all and check out the list above.

[KJ Duke]

I love looking at the list of original NFBC members in the Main Event. I found this thread that I posted a few years ago and will list those owners from 2004 who competed in 2015. Our list of returning Charter Members is getting smaller each year, but it's still amazing to see the ones who keep coming back. We need to keep honoring these Charter Members because without them the NFBC doesn't make it past Year 1. That's the truth.

Thanks all and check out the list above.

Dale Tobias money finish in that first NL auction ... that was me under my old roommate's name. Don't shortchange me Greg!

[Greg Ambrosius]

I took a little time to look over the Charter Member list and amazingly 49 of the original NFBC owners were still competing in our Main Events 12 years later. That's right, these 49 amazing owners have been with us since 2004 and in 2015 they competed in either the Main Event or the NFBC Primetime. That's almost 25 percent of our Charter Members still competing a dozen years later. Amazing.

Among our Charter Members are SIX players who went on to win the grand prize, including Artie Rastelli, Terry Haney, Steve Jupinka, Ken Norred, Greg Morgan and Glenn Schroter. Pretty cool that half of our NFBC Main Event overall champions were first with us in 2004.

If I left anyone off the list, let me know and I'll gladly update it. But I think it's pretty cool to see so many great names from 2004 still competing with us in 2015...and hopefully in 2016. Enjoy.

NFBC Charter Members From 2004 Who Still Competed in the NFBC Main Events in 2015:
1. Lewis Lipsey
2. Dohn Terrell Jr. (Jim Christie)
3. Michael Cameron
4. Christopher Stephenson (Andrew Nolan)
5. Emmett Ruland (Michael Cohen)
6. Terrance Haney
7. Todd Zola
8. Nate Ravitz
9. Aaron Smith
10. David Longood
11. Scott Zeidman (Eric Ogaway)
12. Mark Yagan (Barry Fishman)
13. Kenneth Norred
14. Rey Diaz
15. Norm Kent
16. Bradley Shairson (Willie Hoffman)
17. Shawn Childs (Kevin Deckel)
18. Wayne Edwards
19. Kevin Dukesherer
20. Kenneth Magner (Bob Saxton)
21. Clark Olson
22. Donn Johnson (Robert Berlin)
23. Artie Rastelli
24. John Rundle (Tom O'Connor)
25. Patrick Tremaglio (Kevin Sullivan)
26. Eddie Gillis
27. Glen Schroter
28. Paul Weber
29. Leonard Ringle
30. Eric Price (Nick Cassavetes)
31. Michael Edelman (Mike Cuellar)
32. Kevin Grady
33. John Hogan (Rafael Toro)
34. Lenny Diveglio
35. Ray Murphy (Scott Monroe)
36. Martin Bedell (Nick Malatesnic)
37. Douglas Jaffe (John Franchi)
38. Stephen Jupinka
39. Ari Benjamin (Lauren Benjamin)
40. Jeff Dobies (Jonathan Friedman)
41. David Cushard
42. Phillip McDonald
43. Win Murray
44. Greg Morgan (Dale Morgan)
45. George Kleeman, Chi.
46. Greg Glukhovsky
47. Chris Liss, LV
48. Mark Srebro
49. Joe Thelen

If I missed anyone please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I love looking at our original list of NFBC owners and finding some tidbits about each. One of our owners actually is in an MLB front office right now: The New York Yankees' front office, no less.

Michael Fishman was an NFBC member in 2004 as he drafted in New York City. He also competed in 2005 and was even a participant in the debut NFBC Ultimate Draft League. Michael was one of the owners on the phone that year for that Ultimate League as we hooked up New York and Chicago with Las Vegas. He was a very good fantasy player.

But in 2006 he got a job with the Yankees as an analytics specialist and couldn't play with us anymore. I remember talked with him and congratulating him on the hire, but feeling bad that we lost a good player. Anyway, I see that he was instrumental in the Chris Young signing last year, so I thought you'd enjoy the read. This could have been you!!

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnist ... 1.10418052

Great job Michael and keep up the good work

[Greg Ambrosius]

As we prepare for our 15th season of the NFBC -- NFBC XV if you will -- it's always important to remember the 195 owners who helped us reach this milestone. Our debut season of the NFBC started in 2004 with a grand prize of $100,000. I came up with this crazy figure by figuring that I could get 300 teams in three cities for the Main Event. I was wrong.

The debut NFBC Main Event attracted 195 teams or 13 full leagues. We also had 3 full $1,250 Auction Leagues (an AL and an NL in Las Vegas and an AL in New York). That first year we had just 16 full leagues and a total of 231 teams. That was it.

Oh, and we lost a lot of money.

But we guaranteed the prize money, lost even more money in football and again guaranteed the prize money. We bought some goodwill and put on good live events, which allowed management to approve one more season of the NFBC and NFFC. In Year 2, we sold out the Main Event with 300 teams and we grew the Auction format to 10 leagues and even added two Ultimate Leagues. There was enough hope after 2005 to continue moving forward and we haven't looked back since.

Because of that rough start, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for those 195 owners who trusted us enough to lay down $1250 in that initial season. You can see all of the names on that first post on Page 1 of this thread. But where I really have a soft spot in my heart is for the folks who not only played in Year 1 but who continue to play in Year 15. Those folks who have stuck with the NFBC for 15 straight years deserve more than my love.

We won't know who that list will be until this season begins, but looking at last year's list it could be 40 or more Charter Members who come back for a 15th season. In Year 5, we bought NFBC baseball caps for all of the Charter Members and put their names on the back with the lettering 2004-2008 Charter Member. In Year 10, we bought each of them baseball jerseys with the number 10 on the back and their names. We have some thoughts for Year 15 and you'll hear them soon enough, but I promise we will show some love again to our Charter Members. Stay tuned.

But let's recognize the 45 Charter Member owners who have been with us since 2004, competed with us through the last 14 years and who competed in 2017. All of these guys will hopefully come back in 2018. Thanks all for your great, great support of the NFBC. Here's the honored list of Charter Members:

NFBC Charter Members From 2004 Who Still Competed in the NFBC Main Events in 2017:
1. Lewis Lipsey
2. Dohn Terrell Jr. (Jim Christie)
3. Michael Cameron
4. Christopher Stephenson (Andrew Nolan)
5. Emmett Ruland (Michael Cohen)
6. Todd Zola
7. Aaron Smith
8. David Longood
9. Scott Zeidman (Eric Ogaway)
10. Mark Yagan (Barry Fishman)
11. Kenneth Norred
12. Rey Diaz
13. Bradley Shairson (Willie Hoffman)
14. Shawn Childs (Kevin Deckel)
15. Wayne Edwards
16. Kevin Dukesherer
17. Kenneth Magner (Bob Saxton)
18. Clark Olson
19. Donn Johnson (Robert Berlin)
20. Artie Rastelli
21. John Rundle (Tom O'Connor)
22. Patrick Tremaglio (Kevin Sullivan)
23. Eddie Gillis
24. Glen Schroter
25. Paul Weber
26. Leonard Ringle
27. Eric Price (Nick Cassavetes)
28. Michael Edelman (Mike Cuellar)
29. Kevin Grady
30. John Hogan (Rafael Toro)
31. Lenny Diveglio
32. Ray Murphy (Scott Monroe)
33. Martin Bedell (Nick Malatesnic)
34. Douglas Jaffe (John Franchi)
35. Stephen Jupinka
36. Ari Benjamin (Lauren Benjamin)
37. David Cushard
38. Phillip McDonald
39. Win Murray
40. Greg Morgan (Dale Morgan)
41. George Kleemann
42. Greg Glukhovsky
43. Chris Liss
44. Mark Srebro
45. Joe Thelen

If I missed anyone please contact me at [email protected] and I'll add you to the list. Thanks all.

[Ichiban]

I didn't even realize that I was in the first NFBC draft ever. Then again, hanging out with Emmett that weekend, not surprised I would forget. But it was a total blast seeing so many friends I rarely met in person, and I really wish I could go to Vegas again. (Unfortunately work and the Pacific Ocean keep me away). But lots of friends in that first draft, and one thing I loved about NFBC then and still do now is so many great people...

[Edwards Kings]

Gotta get Dobies back!

[Greg Ambrosius]

As we prepare for our 20th anniversary season, it's important to remember the 195 owners who trusted in us enough in 2004 to sign up and pay $1,250 each to compete in the NFBC Main Event. Without these 195 brave souls, the NFBC would have been one-and-done.

We will recognize these people throughout the year and honor those owners who have stayed with us for all 20 years. My quick review of the 15th anniversary list shows that we have less than 40 owners who have been with us for all 20 years, but having 20% of your original list 20 years later is still one hell of an accomplishment.

I think this is the list of players who have been with us for all (or almost all) of our first 19 years. If they are back in 2023, we may have a special gift for them. Stay tuned. I'll look into this list a little harder this week, but at first glance here is the list of owners who could be with us all 20 years if they return in 2023:

NFBC Charter Members From 2004 Who Still Competed in the NFBC Main Events in 2022 and All 19 Years:
1. Dohn Terrell Jr. (Jim Christie)
2. Michael Cameron
3. Andrew Nolan
4. Emmett Ruland (Michael Cohen)
5. Todd Zola
6. David Longood
7. Scott Zeidman
8. Rey Diaz
9. Bradley Shairson
10. Shawn Childs
11. Wayne Edwards
12. KJ Duke
13. Kenneth Magner
14. Clark Olson
15. Artie Rastelli
16. John Rundle
17. Patrick Tremaglio (Kevin Sullivan)
18. Eddie Gillis
19. Glen Schroter
20. Paul Weber
21. Leonard Ringle
22. Eric Price (Nick Cassavetes)
23. Michael Edelman
24. Kevin Grady
25. Lenny Diveglio
26. Ray Murphy
27. Martin Bedell
28. Stephen Jupinka
29. Ari Benjamin
30. David Cushard
31. Phillip McDonald
32. Win Murray
33. Greg Morgan (Dale Morgan)
34. George Kleemann
35. Greg Glukhovsky
36. Chris Liss
37. Mark Srebro
38 Joe Thelen
39. Doug Jaffe (missed 2022)

Wow, that's an amazing list. I'm going to get many of these folks on our podcast during the off-season to see if they can remember ANYTHING from that first year. Should be a fun year of reminiscing about the past and predicting the future. Stay tuned and enjoy.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We created NFBC 5th Anniversary baseball hats in 2008 and provided one to each of our original NFBC members. I still have mine today. We also created NFBC 10th anniversary baseball jerseys in 2013 and gave those to our remaining original NFBC members, while allowing others to purchase that model themselves if they wanted. I'm working with our vendor now to see if we can get some NFBC 20th anniversary apparel on our NFBC store website before the start of this season, so stay tuned. I hope we can get some nice product available for sale soon.

Anyway, this is our first unveiling of our 20th anniversary logo, using the original red-white-blue national colors we had in 2004. This will be our logo for the 2023 season:

unnamed.png (107.41 KiB) Viewed 1253 times

Now, are you ready for some baseball? Are you ready for our 20th anniversary season? Let's goooooooooooooo.

[Edwards Kings]

That first year, a buddy of mine, who was a bit tired of me talking about my fantasy baseball prowess, saw the NFBC add in a paper and basically dared me to join in. After asking my wife, who graciously allowed me to get out of her hair for a weekend, I signed up. Never regretted it.

Rio! baby! Had never done a 15-teamer before and only THOUGHT I was prepared. Gene, Lance (RIP), Shawn, and Rey in that first league with me if I remember correctly. Had a chance at a money slot (Shawn won). Needed power. Picked up Brian Jordan. WRONG! Finished fourth....