MBA 03/14-15/09 Meeting Minutes

March 14-15 Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes of Board Meeting
Holiday Inn, St. Cloud
March 14-15, 2009

Saturday March 14, 2009

Meeting called to order by President Richter at 1:00 PM.

Roll call showed – Barry and Hartmann absent.

Motion Brennan, seconded Kreger, carried, to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as mailed.

First order of business was a request by Sam Steidl to be reinstated. Motion by Forsman, seconded Rademacher, carried, to reinstate Steidl for the 2009 season, also to approve his pro release from the Dodgers.

Motion Forsman, seconded Kreger, carried, to approve Paul Schumacher and Tim Dingmann from Albertville to play in the Roy Hobbs Tournament in Las Vegas in March, and also the Roy Hobbs World Series in Florida this coming October.

Andy Johnson representing Stewartville/Racine of the Twin Rivers League came before the board asking if it was possible to change their playoff format after the season ended by placing teams in different divisions based on their strength. His reasoning was that there are many changes form one year to another which might eliminate a strong team form one division while a weaker team advances. This said they would not be sending their best possible representatives to the region. His example was to allow leagues to have one big playoff of all their teams, sending their top four to the region. Motion Forsman, seconded Brennan, carried to table this proposal for further study.

The board next reviewed contracts for the operation of the MBA web site. They were from Bill Nelson, Mike Wolbrink (M-Design), and Dan Birkholz (Herald Journal). After hearing their proposals there was a motion by Roufs, seconded Forsman, carried, to retain their services for the 2009 season. (Nelson) will be covering the web site with stories and team information, he will be writing 12 months instead of the 5 ½ months he wrote in 2008, his salary will be $8,000. (Herald Journal) will conduct the overall maintenance of the site at a cost of $1,500 per year. (M-Design) will work as a consultant working with both Nelson and Herald Journal setting up new programs or making adjustments to the web site as needed. They will be reimbursed at an hourly rate. The MBA will also cover one hour of training for Nelson with M-Design. All other training Nelson must provide himself.

A letter was received from Mason Duckett inquiring about eligibility. After reviewing his letter, motion by Forsman, seconded Kreger, carried, to deny his eligibility to play for Cannon Falls. He is still eligible to play for Kasson.

Motion Forsman, seconded Rademacher, carried, to approve the request of the Land O’ Ducks Teal and Wood Leagues for a 5 mile player radius extension giving them 35 miles.

Motion Forsman, seconded Kreger, carried, to approve the Cannon Valley Classic League to put together an All Star Team to play the Saint Paul Saints on May 3, 2009.

Motion Roufs, seconded Forsman, carried, to approve the following team to play non MBA teams.

(Rosemount) Menomonie
(Milroy) Brookings
(Blue Earth) Brookings
(Granite Falls) Britten, Brookings
(Young America) Hager City, Y.A. Alumni
(Pine Island) River Falls, Ellsworth, Hager City, Lacrosse, LaCrescent, Pine Island Legion
(Austin Greyhounds) Lacrosse, Chaseburg/Coon Valley, Peekskill N.Y. Tides, Eagle Valley, IL., Chicago, IL., Vee Pak Hawks, Jamestown, SD., Brookings, SD., Prescott, Omaha, NE (They also request that all MBA teams in their tournament be allowed to play non MBA teams.)
(Dundas) Chicago Wildcats
(Northfield) Riverfalls, Prescott
(Arlington) Hager City
(Plainview) Hager City, Lacrescent
(First Night Gopher) Southwest Barnstormers over 35
(Red Wing) Peekskill Tides, Plum City, Eau Claire, Hager City, Menomonie, Prescott, Riverfalls

Motion Rademacher, seconded Brennan, carried, to approve tournament sanctions for (Sobieski 6/13-14/09) (Belle Plaine 6/5-7/09) (Arlington 5/30/09) (Austin Greyhounds 6/25-28/09) (Luverne 6/18-21/09) (Red Wing 6/18-21/09) (Stockman’s 6/25-28/09) (Cologne 6/27-28/09)

A request by Jamie Heipel to move Blaine out of section #7. A motion by Roufs, seconded Brennean, carried, to move Blaine to section #6 for the 2009 season.

Motion Rademacher, seconded Brennan, carried, to approve the following:
(Tyler Steen) return to Raymond for the 2009 season
(Joe Loftes, Savage) play for Harwich Cape Cod League, return to Savage for post season play only if he secures his (4) game eligibility.
(Dave Deminski, Sartell) play for the River Bats return to Sartell for post season play only if he secures his (4) game eligibility.

Motion Rademacher, seconded Forsman, carried to classify Fairbault as a “C” team for the 2009 season. They will play in the Southern Minny.

Jon Rambow and Mary Sawatzky chairpersons of the Willmar Tournament Committee came before the board. They were very up beat about hosting the tournament and said everything is going great in Willmar. However, they were concerned about their co-host site, but hoped everything could be worked out.

There was no further order of business motion Forsman, seconded Kreger to adjourn. Adjournament coming at 3:28 pm.
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Sunday March 15, 2009


Meeting called to order by President Richter at 1:00 pm

Roll call showed Barry and Hartmann absent.

President Richter greeted the assembly and league supplies were handed out by roll call. There were (51) people in attendance. They represented (55) leagues.

Director Forsman reviewed the 2009 handbook and pointed out changes that were made. (1.) Player radius will be 30 miles, not 25. This will be calculated by a (GPS visualizer). When using a GPS you start with the player’s home address to the ballpark address using the latitude and longitude. The measurements you use must be recorded with your league secretary. Remember (30 miles) not 30.0001. (2.) Class B teams can use their league schedule and their section seeding games to count toward their (4) game eligibility. (3) A rural player who is a first year player is also required to get a release. He must obtain his release fro the community that is nearest his residence. (4.) All event that bring at least four teams together to play require a tournament sanction form to be filed with the State Board before the event is held. There will be no fee, however, by not filing there will be a $50.00 fine, failure to pay the fine wil result in team not being eligible for post season play. This event must be sanctioned by the 4th Sunday of July. (5.) In a (3) team league, the league will send only (1) team to the region play-off. (6.) Base coaches must wear helmets. (7.) Team forms must be typed and completed in full for Region, Section, and State Tournament. Any team not complying will be fined one tournament game share.

The floor was open for discussion. These were some of the items. GPS Visualizer, Three team leagues, base coaches must wear helmets.

Bill Nelson addressed the floor explaining what he will be doing for the web site. He will write one article a week, he would like teams or players to send pictures, or any information such as league standings and scores of games. Bill will be responsible to put all league, region, section, state pairings on the web site.

Director Roufs went over the (3) team league situation making sure everyone understood the new rule.
Tony Beneke and Bill Schulte tournament chairmen form Arlington and Gaylord addressed the floor. They passed out information on the two communities and will be selling advance tickets with a $5.00 off on a meal at one of the restaurants on the back of the ticket. This ticket will also get you into one game.

After a lengthy discussion with the Cannon Valley Classic National League on the status of Bay City, a motion was made by Forsman, seconded Kreger, carried, that Bay City would be a qualified team to make the Cannon Valley Classic National a four team league for the 2009 season. In 2010 Bay City could play in the league but will no longer make them eligible to make the Cannon Valley Classic National a four team league.

Motion Forsman, seconded Kreger, carried, to approve the Stearns County Leagues to use a 6 mile player radius, and no 10 run rule.

Myron Seidl President of the Tomahawk Leagues asked the board if they could have their two leagues put in different regions. Or if they would make (3) leagues if that would help their move. The board could not commit to any more at this time until more information could be heard from all the league members.

Mike Nagel tournament chairman for Bird Island appeared before the board. He told the board that things were going good. All the building and stands should be completed by July. One problem they have is the National Guard will not be able to complete their work until August. The board gave Bird Island approval to have their park completed by August 21, 2009.

League registration and dues will come due April 1st. Make sure you complete all the information on the registration card and have all teams sign their acknowledgement of the constitution and by-laws.

Next meeting of the MBA will be April 18th, 2009 at the Holiday Inn, St. Cloud (10:00am). We will break for lunch at 11:00am. All commissioners are invited. We will continue our meeting after lunch to setup sections and regions. Material will be handed out for your section or region. We urge all commissioners to attend. If you can not make the meeting please send someone in your place. Commissioners please return your meeting card by April 11th.

The board would like to remind everyone that our web site can only be as good as the information provided. We encourage everyone if you have anything of special interest to Minnesota baseball call a Board Member or Bill Nelson.

With no further business to come before the board a motion by Brennan, seconded Forsman, carried, to adjourn. Adjournment came at 3:50pm.

Bob Zellmann
Secretary-Treasure
MBA

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