1992 Expansion Draft

For the second time in CFCL History, a League Champion elected to retire on top rather than decide to stay and defend his title.  The 1991 CFCL Champion Bald Eagles had something of an excuse, however, as he was "forced" to move to Colorado for business reasons.  Mr. Paul's Swordfish, who were not nearly as successful in 1991 (last place), decided to depart as well, leaving the CFCL with two vacancies.  Once again, we decided that simply replacing the departing teams was not enough, so we found three new owners to bring our total to 8.

For the first time in CFCL History, we welcomed back an owner who had previously left the league.  Pat McGuire had owned McGuire' Picks from 1988 through 1990, and was now returning to head up the Twin Picks.  The two other new teams were Da Paul Meisters (Paul Zeledon) and Clark's Kents (Tom Clark).

The Expansion Draft was held December 15 at David Mahlan's apartment, and consisted of a straight draft from the players on the Bald Eagle and Swordfish rosters.  Players selected kept their previous salary and contract status.

The Picks had the first selection in the Draft, followed by the Kents, and then the Meisters.

When they were through, the initial rosters for the three new teams looked like this (players are listed in the order selected):

1992 Draft

The 1992 CFCL Draft was held at David Mahlan's apartment at 1:00 PM on Saturday, April 11.  The 1992 Draft is memorable in that it gave us some of our most fondly-remembered moments.  Thankfully, 1992 was also the first time we video taped our Draft.  Bob Monroe, the reigning CFCL champion at the time, was forced to quit the league when he moved to Colorado.  We arranged to tape the Draft so Bob wouldn't go through total withdrawal.

We knew Bob would miss us in 1992, and so we wouldn't miss him too much, we arranged to have a little reminder of him present.  As you can gather, Bob as a little thin on top, hence his team name: the Bald Eagles.  Here, Kelly Barone poses with "Bob" before the draft.

1992 was the first season the CFCL played using Rotisserie Ultra rules.  We were a bit timid about diving full in to a 17-man Reserve Roster, so we eased into things by shrinking the size of the Reserve Roster to 12 players.  At the completion of the Auction Draft, we held a 12-round Rotation Draft from the remaining unowned players.

1992 was also the first season we elected an Executive Committee prior to the Draft.  Rich Bentel, David Mahlan, and David Holian were elected to serve for 1992.

When Dave Holian (David's Ruffins) joined the CFCL in 1986, we gave him the courtesy of nominating the first player of the Draft.  By coincidence, he nominated the first player in 1987 as well.  And 1988.  Pretty soon we had a full-blown tradition on our hands.  When we started taping the Drafts, we were able to capture the tradition for posterity.  So, as the first in a continuing series, here's Dave Holian, nominating the first player of the 1992 Draft.

The Pat McGuire/Darryl Strawberry Incident (or, Who's That In The Kitchen?)
The first classic moment from 1992 occurred very early in the Draft when Kelly Barone nominated Darryl Strawberry at .05.  There was a noticeable reaction from some owners at Kelly's "audacity".  You see, it's kind of an unwritten tradition in the CFCL that players get nominated at the minimum (.01) and then bidding proceeds at penny increments for the most part.  OK, it's not the quickest way to run a draft, and no one's prevented from starting the bid at more then .01 or raising it a nickel at a time, it's just that it's surprising when it happens.  Well, the bidding continued to Dem Rebels, who jumped all the way to .08.  The next owner up was Pat McGuire, a CFCL rookie, and he wasn't having any of this "penny or two at a time" crap.  He shot the bid all the way to .25, which was still cheap for Strawberry.  The reaction it caused in the other owners was astounding -- a stunned silence, a quick anonymous whistle, and then, in a random and inexplicable coincidence, Tom Clark and Dave Holian both turned and looked into the kitchen, as if asking "Where the hell did THAT bid come from?"

The sheer randomness and total spontaneity of the act of looking into the kitchen made it a funny moment.  It became hilarious, and an instant CFCL classic, when two owners simultaneously and independently chose to do it at the same time.

Tom Clark (standing) and Dave Holian simultaneously turn toward the kitchen in hopes of discovering what inspired Pat McGuire to more than triple the current bid on Darryl Strawberry. Hear the bidding, and the ensuing reaction

The Ramon Martinez Incident (or, Kelly's Really Bad Day)
Later in the Draft, Kelly Barone, owner of the Six Packs, ended up with pitcher Ramon Martinez when everyone else unexpectedly dropped out of the bidding.  Kelly was surprised to find himself owning Martinez at .13, and a bit perturbed because he obviously had no interest in owning him.  Kelly then made the mistake of asking about Ramon's first start of the season.

Kelly's anger with himself quickly grew, and several minutes later, when we all had moved on, he could be faintly heard to mutter an expletive in disgust.  As always, though, Dave Holian was there with some kind words.

Kelly's mind just wasn't on the bidding the rest of the day.  Ten minutes later, he was still pissed at himself -- and still asking questions about Martinez' start.  Rich didn't make things any better by bringing up a drafting error Kelly had made the previous year.

The Bret Barberie Incident (or, Kelly's Really, REALLY Bad Day)
Things just got worse for Kelly.  A couple rounds later, he got stuck with another unwanted Dodger pitcher, Tom Candiotti, when he was sure the bidding would go higher than .18.

His spirits crushed, Kelly fell into a funk that lasted through the bidding on several players.  Almost two full rounds later, he still hadn't drafted a player after the "Martinez/Candiotti" incident, but had settled down enough to get involved in the bidding on Bret Barberie, whom Rich told him qualified at 3B.  Kelly was happy to get a shot at Barberie because one of his major worries at the Draft was that he would be stuck with Cub "phenom" Gary Scott at the hot corner.  Trying to avoid this at all costs, Kelly was brought out of his depression only by the prospect of drafting someone other than Scott for his 3B slot.  Things seemed like they were on the upswing for Kelly when he won the bidding on Barberie and got him at a decent price.  Until...  Kelly could only hang his head in disbelief.  To his credit, he was good natured enough to turn to the video camera and confess the error of his ways to Bob.  Oh, by the way, Kelly finally got his third baseman -- Gary Scott, for .09.

Kelly (foreground, right) can't believe the draft he's having.  Directly across the table from Kelly, the architect of the Bret Barberie Incident (Rich Bentel) looks on as Dave Holian (in striped shirt, next to Kelly) is consoling as ever.

Draft Summary

First Player Purchased	Randy Myers   Clark's Kents   .30
Highest-Priced Batter	Matt Williams   Clark's Kents   .38
Highest-Priced Pitcher	Lee Smith   David's Copperfields   .38
First "Penny Player"	Ed Taubensee   Eric's Lambchops   7th round
Last Player Purchased	Damon Berryhill   Six Packs  .01
First Minor League Pick	Matt Stairs   David's Copperfields   .05   1st round Rotation Draft