
Saginaw Old Gold’s Record Historic 2011 Season
The Saginaw Old Gold’s of 1883 & 1884 would have been proud of the
2011 version.
This year the Gold’s swept the table by winning the 2011 John Clarkson
Classic in
Boston, the Hartwick Pines ALS Tournament in Grayling, the Gettysburg 2011
Tournament, the 2011 World Championship of Historic Base Ball (for the 2nd time
in
three years), and stormed by the best that the Invitational Ohio Cup had to
offer, going 5-
0. Split two games in the 2011 Michigan Cup (41 runs for and 21 against). This
along
with going 23 & 7 (a franchise record) – proved their metal this year.
Richard “Dos
Equis-XX” Curry – part time catcher/manager: “The 2011 Saginaw
Old Gold’s are easily
the best team, we have put on the field in 4 years, defensively and batting
we’ve never
been better. The three rookies made a huge impact. Mat “Rip” Shaner’s
pitching
(pitched every other inning all year and hit .600), Jason “Logger”
Leppek’s power (.680
BA w/13 doubles/73 hits/30 RBI’s) and a great 1st base, & Jon “Booze
Hound” Smith’s
speed, bat strength (.610 BA w/4 HRS/12 Doubles/20 Putouts/11 SB/28 RBI’s.),
and
incredible 3rd base play brought this season to a huge success. The three were
voted 2011
Saginaw Old Gold’s Rookies of the Year. John “Lumberjack”
Piersall was the Offensive
Player of the Year with a .710 BA, 19 doubles, 3 triples, 30 RBI’s and
a home run. In the
field John had 27 putouts. Defensive Player of the Year was Captain Adam “Squints”
McCauley who had a phenomenal season catching, recording 53 putouts to go along
with
his .620 BA (68 hits). Chuck “Ducky” Mahan was the Gold’s
Player of the Year.
Richard: “’Duck’is the spiritual leader on this team &
one hell of a good pitcher.”
Mahan also batted .510 (54 hits). The other two veterans, Rick “Slink”
Spitz who plays a
mean 1st base, hit .630 was followed by Richard “XX Dos Equis” Curry
w/a .420 average
and 29 hits. Chad “Shorty” Short was the putout king in left, totaling
47 putouts & a .590
BA. Ryan “Britches” Dost played everywhere and well (.590 BA-44
hits). Ryan broke
his shoulder and tore his rotator cuff in the World Tournament’s last
game (but he still
batted his next time up) & was back at practice 3 weeks later batting. The
lefthanders of
Nate “Bull Frog” Hall (73 hits, .680 BA & 26 putouts –
most improved Gold) &
Kevin “Big Wheel” Beemer (70 hits and a .690 BA-3 triples-32 RBI’s)
played awesome.
Toby “Scoops” Larkin, the team’s stellar shortstop, smashed
out 46 hits, 32 RBI’s, .580
BA and had 21 putouts. The not so often players filled in well: Dennis “Vanilla
Gorilla”
Konuszewski (.860 BA), Dave “Slingshot” Simpson (.670 BA), Brandon
“Bulldog” Daig
(.740) & Sonny “The Hustler” Guerra hit .580 with 21 putouts
in his 10 games.
Tournament Play: Clarkson Classic in Boston: Gold’s 56 runs for 45 against
(Our team
was greeted by Curt Young in Fenway Park before a Red Sox game-his father passed
this
year), Hartwick Pines: Gold’s 49 runs for to 19 runs against (Over $800.00
was raised for
ALS), Gettysburg (Gold Ball Winner): 79 runs for to 24 runs against, World
Tournament: 78 runs for to 17 runs against (& Won the Best Uniform), Ohio
Cup in
Columbus (5-0 only team to win 5): 75 runs for 18 runs against. In Five Tournaments
Saginaw out-scored the field 337 to 123 for a 214 run difference. Richard: “Every
time
the Saginaw Old Gold’s put on the uniform they went out on the field and
played with
courage and as gentlemen. I could not have been more proud.” In 4 years
the Gold’s are
72-23-2 (8 Tournament wins) for a winning % of .758.
Richard Curry………clarkson1883@yahoo.com