St. Bart’s 2021 Draft is in the Books!

St. Bart’s Oldtimers Men’s Softball begins its 44^th Season

The St. Bart’s Oldtimers Softball League kicked off the 2021 season this past weekend with its annual draft on Friday night, followed by assisting the Scotch Plains / Fanwood townships with the cleanup of parks as part of Earth Day celebrations.

In a sign of things returning to normal, captains and league sponsors gathered at Commissioner Jim Killeen’s Tiki Deck where the draft was conducted using Zoom. Other players met in small groups at various restaurants, decks, and garages to join the Zoom conference and see which team they will play on this year. In a tradition dating back to the formation of the league, captains selected players- pooled by position, from a hat. This format maintains competitive balance and allows players to form friendships among all players in the league. New captain Bob McGuiness, representing St. Ignatius, or “Iggy” for short, picked veteran Bob “Cheez Wiz” Cihanowyz with his first pick and the draft snaked its way through until all teams were formed. Despite his pleas for help, Chris San Juan never appeared on McGuiness’s piece of paper picked from the hat. After sizing up the teams, league pundits have identified St. George and St. Wolfgang as the teams to beat this year. This year’s Mr. Irrelevant, awarded to the last player selected in the draft, goes to St. Francis’s Mike Sutterlin. Good Luck Mike!

Following the draft on Friday, a group of hearty league veterans, along with a well-seasoned rookie, turned out at Brookside Park on Saturday morning to assist the Township and the SP Green Team in its efforts to clean up local parks to celebrate Earth Day. After clearing the main grounds, the St. Bart’s cleanup crew ventured into the woods and along the creek bed to pick up trash. Among the items collected were a number of softballs beyond the fence, no doubt the results of home runs from other leagues. 

The games will begin on May 13^th at Brookside Park. Attendance is free for the first 100 spectators! For more information about the league, please visit https://www.stbartssoftball.com