Oxford Oddsox Softball Team

2 July 2019
Oddsox v Mavericks

Johnny Sullivan’s three run homer in the sixth inning clinched a 14-12 victory for the Oddsox over the Mavericks. It was a great team effort with everyone contributing hits and strong defence. JP Griffiths and Katie Cooper earned the MVP awards with their work at third base and left centre respectively.

2 July 2019
Oddsox v Mavericks

Special shout outs to Roger Farrell (great to see you back in the Oddsox jersey; looking forward to seeing you next week!) and Amy Cluett (for her strong hitting throughout the game!).

First game of the season tomorrow! See everyone at 6:15pm for 6:45pm game time.

Reminder - Grapefruit pre-season games start on 9 April at Cutteslowe Park.

Hey Oddsox! Don't forget to visit and "like" the new Oxford Softball League page:

Oxford Softball League Welcome to the Oxford Softball League page. Here you can find details about fixtures, etc.

Game on Tuesday against the Mavericks. This will be a tough one! Sacrifices to Jobu welcome...

Major League - "Serrano Awakens Jobu" - (HD) - Scenes from the 80s - (1989) Daily uploads with thousands of clips on the way. SUBSCRIBE for a taste of the past! CLIP SUMMARY: Coming in just before the turn of the decade (1989), is th...

Best uniforms to the left....

24 July 2018 - Oddsox v Tigers

What exactly are Johnny and JP staring at?!

Pre-season captains meeting 17/4/18
League structure
We've almost certainly got 7 teams, so a schedule is being worked on that assumes 7. That's not practically enough for two divisions so we will probably play each other twice.

There was some talk of splitting the season into two halves and the leaderboard could make it so that the top 3 or 4 play each other again in the second half and the bottom 3 or 4 play again etc., so you get more games against teams nearer your level, but I suspect they'll keep it simple and it will be a straight, "play everyone twice"

However, there are always lots of enquiries via the web site of (mostly guys) interested and they don't get picked up by teams, as we all have lots of guys. So there is talk of a scratch team (charge people a nominal fee and they get to play nearly every week). This could save the 2 divs. We'd have to help the scratch team, though.

However, we work it, the league starts on 8 May, first game. And - as usual - runs for about 14 weeks to early August.

Training
Jen is going to run training sessions on Thursday nights in May. These are usually good. We should go. New people really should go.

Where will we play?
Same place as last year. 3 pitches. We should be moving across the road for the start of the 2019 season. However, we *may* be able to use the new pavilion down there from July 2018 some time.

The site (where we're currently playing) is going to be run by Oxford Harlequins Rugby Club. Not totally sure what that means yet. The Athletics Club will run the track and both of those clubs will split the running of the buildings.

Umpiring
Cheech is now 'Umpire in Chief'. Rules the same as last year but teams continue to struggle to provide umpires, especially in weeks when they're playing (e.g. if their only umpire is their pitcher).

Umpiring training: will try to do this during the 10 May training session. Cheech to lead, supported by Chris Dore and Norm.

Umpires are still to be paid (can't remember how much). There was a debate about this as most umpires don't take the money but some may welcome it, so we will keep the payment and it is up to the individual as to whether to cash the cheque or not. (For some it represents petrol money).

Fees for each team
Very likely to be £600, payable in 2 instalments: £300 by end of May, £300 by end of June. £5 per week per team could be a fine for late payment. £180 of this is to affiliate to BSF and includes insurance etc. The rest is for pitch fees.

Mercy rule (or 'runs ahead' rule)
Likely to be the standard ISF rule across the league, but we left the exec to think that one through.

Equipment
We must have batting helmets and encourage people to wear them. (Apparently we have at least 3).
Purchasing equipment: (such as helmets or new pins, straps etc. for bases) Please let Jen know if we want anything as there is some funds which the league could divide up for this purpose.

Masks for catchers will still be compulsory.

Rosters
We must roster our players on to the BSUK site as well as our own web site. This may have to be a job for someone technical!

Recruiting people, especially women
We are encouraged to try our hardest. The exec may use some league funds to run some Facebook advertising campaigns.

The Oddsox and the Angels appear to have the greatest numbers of players (especially women) so someone suggested that I and Jen organise the divvying up of new players to teams, as we don't have skin in the game and shouldn't cream off any ourselves. Is that enough dodgy metaphors? I'm not sure if this will happen.

End of season social, and other socials
Apparently last year's end of season do was very good. We will try to encourage more things this year, and maybe use the new pavilion.

I think that was everything. I gave a verbal report as to where we're at with regard to our new developing grounds as I've been liaising with the council for the league and going to meetings periodically. Get me to bore you about it sometime!