The Northern States League

Newsletter #554 January 6th, 2026

 

#1 SEEDED KEYSTONE DEFEATED BY #4 CREEKSIDE IN A 7-GAME THRILLER, A NO-HITTER IN GAME #7!  ALBANY ELIMINATES CROSSTOWN.  2 NEW MEMBERS ARE IN PLACE.  SANCTIONS HAVE BEEN DELIVERED AND WE’RE READY TO PRESS ON IN TO 2026.  TRADING IS NOT OPEN YET.

 

Dear Members,

 

Did I mention trading is not open yet?  You’ll get a bulk e-mail from me when trading opens.

 

Within about 5 days we welcomed 2 new members into the league.  Jack Chalfant will rejoin the league and take the Cackalacky franchise.  We all know Jack and it will be great to have him back.  He sounded enthused when I offered the franchise to him.  Jack lives in Farmland, Indiana, and his info is in the newest directory.  Jack has renamed the team the Roadside Hawks.  A few days later, we were delighted that Merle Watkins has joined us and takes over the Kalamazoo franchise.  Merle will name his club the Tacoma Rainiers.  Merle has recently retired and lives in Washington state- east of Seattle.  Both guys play BBW and are listed in the newest directory.  Interesting that Merle (obviously reading the web site!) wanted to know what Bill Waller Day was all about. Their positioning in the directory as well as on the rosters are not concrete and one should not draw conclusions from their positioning as to which division they’ll go in to.  That will be announced later.  For now, please take a few minutes out of your busy schedules to welcome our two new guys- I’m delighted that they both are joining/rejoining us!

 

Creekside eliminated Keystone in the playoffs- this just in from Scoop.  Apparently, there was a no-hitter to end the series by Cody Bradford- what a finish!  You’ll see more about this on the web page soon.  In the meantime, Albany took their series with Crosstown earlier last week, so two of our 4 Conference Series foes have been determined.  You’ll hear all playoff series information from your tours on the web page.

 

Now- around a bazillion things that will be shared with you in no apparent order.

 

Trading should be open in a few days.  You’ll get a bulk e-mail from me when it opens.  As a reminder, dues must have been paid before you make any trades.  As usual, we’ll try and update the web site daily, perhaps every other day, as trades occur.  You might want to brush up on the draft picks that you have traded out, as well as traded in.  That is on the web page under draft changes.  When (that’s WHEN) trading opens, both trading partners will need to send me the deal made.  Honestly- first names of those traded help some for my feeble brain.  When trading opens, 2028 FA picks and 2026 Rookie picks will be eligible for trade.

 

Dues are $40.  I have most of them already, but you can track that on the web page standings sheet.  Dues must be paid before you make any trades, and before the lottery.

 

There have been several sanctions handed out this year.  Some of these sanctioned teams were given a choice as to which penalty they would choose between 2 options.  I am waiting for one franchise to respond to that.  I do recommend you look again at the rosters as any player movement from the sanctions are included in the rosters as well as the FA available players.

 

You’re going to be asked to vote on a couple of things in the next few days.  Mark has already sent you info regarding the All-League ballot which will include MVP, Nolan Ryan award, Rookie of the Year, and Mgr of the year voting with instructions.  Those will be tracked on the web page standings page as will be the Hall of Fame information which will come from Coach Kerr later in the off season. 

 

The draft lottery date and time has not been set yet.  I hope to have it on either the 17th or 24th depending on everyone down here’s availability. You will be informed via e-mail when we solidify the date.

 

The schedule for 2026, Calendar of events for 2026, and the top 100s lists will all be available over the next few weeks.

 

The Winter Meetings are slated for 2/24 thru 2/28.  All are welcome!  The FA Draft will be at 5 PM on the 27th, the rookie draft on 2/28 at 9 AM (all times Eastern).  As you know from reading past newsletters (and I know who you are if you did not) I was looking for volunteers to make the connection online so that the drafts could be run efficiently.  I had no volunteers, so I volunteered Michael to run the draft sheet from his location. Michael will post the picks as they happen, and if you are not at the meetings, or even if you are, you’ll be responsible for getting him your pick, as well as assure the drafts move to the next drafting member.  It is recommended that you draft “live”, but if you are unable to, I’ll need a list from you in the order you wish to draft your players.  More on the drafts as they get closer, and yes, I’ve heard from you guys not at the meetings, that you feel lost without a draft board posted- so this is where Michael steps in.  I assume he’ll send you a link before both drafts that will allow you to send him your picks as they happen. I’m sure you’ll be able to place your faces on Michael’s connection and can unmute yourself when your time to pick.  We’ll have much more on the drafts as they get closer.

 

Now- about those meetings….

 

I approached the owners of the beach house in October, all set to put our names in the hat.  Oops- the beach house has been rented for the entire month of February.  I had no idea and sadly, there is not another house even close to within our budget on the beach- be it a nice place or a dump.  So, what I’ve done is rent a place within our budget, yet it is much smaller.  Dayna and I went to visit it the other day, and we couldn’t see into it very well.  The rental pictures show a pretty nice place, but we’ll just have to see.  Interestingly, it’s just a block away from where the Atlanta boys stay and just a hundred or so paces from the beach.   But the sleeping arrangements are one queen bed (Bob C), 2 twins, a king, and one, perhaps 2 sofas.  I have 2 air mattresses.  My house has a suite (Eric), a room with one single, a room with 2 singles, and 2 sofas.  Honestly this was the best we could do given the surprise “no go” with the house.

 

BTW- the yearly running race which never seems to be a factor for us likely has dipped in to the available housing at the beach.  If you’re interested- we priced rooms at Lumina and were quoted $230.  Summer Sands which is where the Rapps used to stay was $213.  I guess you see what we’re up against.

 

We will have the Rookie Draft at the Lumina again- I went to sign up for the room in October, and… you guessed it… already rented.  But we’re okay- there is a room behind the restaurant that is about ½ the size of our usual room and frankly likely just as good for us.  It has a screen tv to watch the draft list and as usual anyone who wishes to show his face may do so.  It will work out fine.

 

Many of you tend to leave immediately after the rookie draft which is fine.  Depressing, but fine.  Regardless, I’ve decided that instead of making everyone stay for lunch, we’ll pay for either/both breakfast and lunch at the restaurant.  The meals would be in the regular Lumina restaurant.  You can partake of both, or just one, or not at all, but we’ll still have tickets for the 2-drink thing.  Spouses of guys at the meetings are welcome to join us.  This allows the guys who want to leave early to get at least a meal out of us as well as setting airline flights if applicable.

 

That should take care of things for a while.  Please keep your eyes on the web page and if needed I’ll send out e-mails as we go.  For now- Happy New Year and we’ll be in contact again shortly.

 

Best Wishes- Rich