CheckSwing

The Premier Baseball Social Network for Players, Coaches, Scouts, and Umpires

Andy Barkett

Florida Winter Baseball League

Well. the Florida Winter Baseball League is almost two weeks old. The Naturals are hanging in there so far, at 6-6. Our pitching and hitting has been outstanding, but our defense overall has not been good. We would be 10-2 if we could catch the ball better. But, ifs are ifs and errors are costly! That is a definite area that needs improvement on our club. The good news is, defense is something that can be worked on and improved. So, we need to keep working hard on that. The players have been great so far. I appreciate their desire to get better and get signed by a major league club. All of them just want a chance, just like I did when I signed with the Butte Copper Kings in 1995, a co-op team just like the Seminole County Naturals. My dream started there and continues today, and I hope some of these guys can make a living wearing a baseball uniform for as long as I have. The baseball has been very good at times, and sometimes not so good. But, such is the game itself. There are sloppy games played in the big leagues as well. So far, this league has been a great experience for me as a manager. Our coaching staff consists of me, and Matt O'Brien, one of my former players, who is the pitching coach. Matt is a scout for the Braves and this is his first coaching assignment. I also have a young volunteer who helps out throwing BP at home games and coaches first base. I am not used to being the most experienced person on the bench. My coaching staff in Lakeland, Larry Herndon and Joe Coleman, have over 70 years of professional baseball experience between them. So, if I ever have questions, there are answers. Now, on our bench, everyone is asking me the questions, which is a good thing. It is a maturing process for a young manager and has been a lot of fun so far. The league is great, if any of you that are reading get a chance, come check us out. The schedule is up at www.seminolecountynaturals.com. Until next time......

Comment

You need to be a member of CheckSwing to add comments!

Join CheckSwing

Andy Barkett Comment by Andy Barkett on November 20, 2009 at 3:11pm
Don't think so
Scott Green/ Play at the Plate Comment by Scott Green/ Play at the Plate on November 20, 2009 at 3:09pm
Andy sorry to hear about the league. Especially when players just want tp be able to play. Are the guys going to be able to find other leagues to play in?
Andy Barkett Comment by Andy Barkett on November 18, 2009 at 5:57pm
Maybe they should have spent $20,000 on marketing instead of $20k on a ticketing system....
pw Comment by pw on November 18, 2009 at 5:39pm
If you need to draw 750 fans a game to brake even and you are drawing 350 fans.
Kyle Grucci Comment by Kyle Grucci on November 18, 2009 at 5:24pm
Thanks, Andy. Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully things can get straightened out.
Andy Barkett Comment by Andy Barkett on November 18, 2009 at 4:57pm
It has been a rough couple of days. I will be happy to post a blog giving a detailed explaination of what happened. Just need some time.
Anthony Fruhling Comment by Anthony Fruhling on November 18, 2009 at 4:07pm
This was posted the day before the league halted operations.
Anthony Fruhling Comment by Anthony Fruhling on November 18, 2009 at 4:07pm
Here's an article I pulled from the FWBL website:

GSB Announces Formal Company Separation

ORLANDO, FL – Due to a series of failed commitments by the Florida Winter Baseball League (FWBL) to the Global Scouting Bureau (GSB), we have chosen to announce a formal separation from the client.

“At this time we (GSB) have decided to part ways from the FWBL, but are open to the possibility of renegotiating our partnership,” shared GSB President James Gamble.

“We wish the Florida Winter Baseball League, its employees, ownership, and fans the best in their efforts towards becoming the premier alternative to Caribbean winter baseball.”
Anthony Fruhling Comment by Anthony Fruhling on November 18, 2009 at 3:52pm
Wow, seems like a few of the people that discussed other things about this league may have been right. I knew from my dealing with them that the organization of the league itself wasn't very good. I hope they get everything back up and ready to run again.
Bill Stanton Comment by Bill Stanton on November 18, 2009 at 3:40pm
what happened? did they run out of money?

I have to think this is a very ambitious task to start a league like this. Did these guys build it and the people did not come?

Add This Badge To Your Site!

Loading…

Get My Badge

Groups and Teams

Videos

Events

Audio

Loading…

© 2010   The Baseball Social Network - CheckSwing.com - created by CheckSwing, LLC. All rights reserved.                                  

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Safety & Privacy  |  Terms of Service

Sign in to chat!