Stay tuned for the five worst trades in baseball history, but first…

In Indy Indulgence, Kevin Lager whispers sweet nothings in to the ears of Independent Baseball Fans.  Sure, some people can get all the baseball they need from the rigid structure of “Bud” Selig’s heavily commercialized and painstakingly sanitised Major Leagues, but the most sinister of us also crave Indy Ball, where trades are weird, hecklers are louder than the PAs, the players exist in real life, and dammit – it just feels like home.

For the 2009 Golden League Champion Calgary Vipers, SS Nelson Castro batted a record .410 while leading the league in hits, triples, stolen bases, and slugging percentage. For good measure, he was second in the league in RsBI and runs.

Also, my friend Sarah wants to marry him.

Well, Sarah, I’ve got some bad news. According to the Yuma Sun, the reigning GBL MVP is off to the rival Yuma Scorpions for, get this, future considerations.

1. This reminds me of when Ted Williams batted .406 for the Red Sox in 1941, and was then traded to the Philadelphia Athletics for future considerations.
2. This hearkens back to 1934 when Lou Gehrig won the triple crown and then was shipped off to the St. Louis Browns for two front-row tickets to see the premier of The Gay Divorcee, plus a tub of popcorn (no butter).

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In Indy Indulgence, Kevin Lager whispers sweet nothings in to the ears of Independent Baseball Fans.  Sure, some people can get all the baseball they need from the rigid structure and of “Bud” Selig’s heavily commercialized and painstakingly sanitised Major Leagues, but the most sinister of us also crave Indy Ball, where trades are weird, hecklers are louder than the PAs, the players exist in real life, and dammit – it just feels like home.

It’s not easy being a fan of Independent baseball during the off-season.  Unlike Major League Baseball, news comes out slow (if it comes out at all), and your best bet to hear about the latest roster moves is by word-of-mouth (like the GBL ex-ing the DH this year, thank god).

I’m also going to assume that it’s not easy being an Independent baseball player during the off-season, especially if you’re YouTube self-searcher A.J. “Mr. Magician” Valentine.

First, some background on “Mr. Magician” and me:

• With my cell phone, I filmed A.J. behind hit by a pitch on the Hallowed Grounds of Foothills Stadium in 2008.  I put the film on YouTube, and by searching for himself, A.J. Valentine found it and was none-too-pleased.  He reacted by making snide comments about our beer – a felony on Canada.
• A.J. Valentine is my favourite visiting player to heckle, and he seems to be a favourite of a lot of my fellow Calgary Vipers fans.
• A.J. Valentine was an Independent Baseball All-star at first base in 2009.

Through my heckling and my first-hand witnessing of his good-natured acceptance of said heckling, I’ve secretly become a huge A.J. Valentine fan.  That is why when I heard that he might be down on his luck again this Golden Baseball League off-season, I thought I should chime in and see if we can’t find him some good e-karma.

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