Brothers and sisters, the 1999 season is in the books! Fourteen games, one tournament, one rainout that took three tries to make up, and only one trip to the emergency room (Pastor Gene is fine, and he says he would slide into second exactly the same way again, which Mrs. Gene says he will not).

I'm Wendell Moreau, league secretary for the last nine seasons and keeper of the Grace Bible Saints scorebook for longer than that. My grandson set up this page for me in April so I could quit photocopying the standings and stuffing them in eight church mailboxes every Friday. So far it has worked about half the time, because three of our eight managers still don't have a computer. The Friday photocopies continue.

Season-Ending Tournament, Saturday, August 21
All eight teams, single elimination, seeded by standings. Hot as a skillet, and the concession stand (thank you, Lutheran ladies) ran out of ice by the semifinals.

What a finish. Down 9-7 with two out in the bottom of the seventh, the Knights got a walk, a bloop single, and then Father Tom's nephew Mike Schaller lined one into the right-center gap to score both. The Catholics mobbed him at first base. The Methodists shook every hand in the line. That is what this league is for. The tournament trophy is in the vestibule at St. Joseph's until next August, and Father Tom has promised to dust it.

Banquet and Awards, Saturday, September 18
About 140 players, wives, husbands and kids came to the potluck at First Methodist's fellowship hall. Eleven kinds of potato salad, by my count. Coach Ray Dunaway, who coached the high school girls to the state tournament twice, gave a short talk about playing hard and losing well, and then he gave a longer one about the Cardinals. Awards:

• Sportsmanship Trophy (voted by the umpires): Nazarene Nine. Two and twelve, and never one complaint about a call. They brought cold watermelon for the other team at every game. Well deserved.
• League MVP: Darnell Hughes, Circuit Riders (.742, 9 HR, 31 RBI, and an outfield arm nobody runs on).
• Iron Man: Harold Ekstrom, Reformers, who is 64 years old and played every inning of every game at first base.
• Golden Glove: Luis Carrillo, Knights, shortstop.
• Hustle Award: Pastor Gene Whitfield, Saints. See the note at the top of the page.

League Rules in a Nutshell
The full rule sheet is two pages and every manager has a copy. The ones people ask about:

1. Both teams meet at home plate for prayer before every game. Visiting team's captain leads.
2. No tobacco, no alcohol, and no cussing anywhere at the park. First time is a warning. Second time you sit, and your pastor hears about it.
3. Seven innings, or 1 hour and 10 minutes. No new inning starts after the time limit.
4. Run rule: 20 after three innings, 15 after four, 10 after five.
5. Pitches must arc between 6 and 12 feet off the ground. The umpire's call is final, and yes, that means you, Crusaders.
6. Three home runs per team per game over the fence. After that, a ball over the fence is an out.
7. Every batter starts with a 1-and-1 count.
8. At least eight players on a roster must be members or regular attenders of the sponsoring church.
9. Every manager keeps a book. When the two books disagree, we go with the home team's, and then we go get pie.

Our league verse is Colossians 3:23. Look it up. It applies to shortstops.