A year that ends in Arizona
The SAMSBL year runs: managers' meeting in January with balances due and schedule requests brought; a second managers' meeting in February; tryouts once, in February; league play from mid-March to August, about twenty-one weekend games; tournaments over the major summer holidays; playoffs from late August, sometimes finishing after Labor Day; All-Star games in September; and the national World Series in Phoenix in October.
The league also runs a night at the local professional ballpark -- members asked to wear their jerseys or full uniforms, presented to the crowd, one of them throwing out the first pitch, tickets five dollars until they run out.
That is a full calendar, and every date on it has moved at least once.
A season entered once on a High Cheese league page dates itself into every player's own calendar and updates when it moves, which for a league that rebuilds its schedule monthly is the whole problem solved once.
San Antonio MSBL in detail
- Real hardball in five age divisions, in its fourth decade, on quality fields it says it earned.
- A schedule rebuilt monthly, in red, around rain, high school playoffs and stadium lights.
- Scores are phoned in, standings are published on a Tuesday, and managers must check their own record.
- Scores are telephoned in at the weekend and appear as standings on Tuesday.
- Teams are identified by number in the schedule, and managers are asked to stop them forfeiting.
- Games played is the only figure the league tracks publicly, and it decides the season.
- A league number for calling in scores, and a president who signs everything.
- Tryouts once a year, in February, and you pay to play.
- Four main grounds carrying the season, including a university, an air force base and a stadium.
- Standard baseball for the 45s, and a substantially different game for the 60s.
- A president's bulletin board that doubles as the league's only public record.
- No gallery is published.
- No sponsor is named.
- Top four in each division, and an All-Star team chosen by the players themselves.
- Thirty-two-plus years, counted by the league itself.
- A president, and a managers' meeting that functions as the board.
- Divisions, season length and tryout timing are answered; the fee is not.
- League rules, league policy, league forms and a set of yearbooks.
- Nothing is for sale, but the uniform gets its own instruction.
- Umpires take lineups at the plate meeting and hold the clock.
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