Evansville pitcher was ineligible; what should the FL do?
Here is a link http://www.courierpress.com/sports/otters/otters-pitcher-oliver-to-be-ruled-ineligible-by-league_14260344 to a story in the Evansville Courier-Press about Evansville starting pitcher Will Oliver, who had been playing all season despite apparently being ineligible because of the Frontier League's age limit and roster rules.
Oliver (9-2, 1.59) pitched in 10 games won by Evansville, though he had exceeded the league's age limit and was not classified as the Otters' one allowable Veteran because he had not been on a FL roster for enough games prior to the 2015 season.
The Frontier League has an age limit of 27, which can only be exceeded by a player (Veteran) who was on an active roster or the DL for 100 FL games in the last two seasons. Oliver made his FL debut last season and pitched in five games late in the year for the Otters. He did not qualify as a Veteran.
According to FL website and media guide, no player or player/coach this season "may have attained 27 years of age prior to Jan. 1, 2015."
Oliver turned 28 last month.
I had been tipped off about Oliver's status last week by a scout and told that something might be happening soon. The scout mentioned that Oliver's birth year was different on the Otters' roster than on baseball-reference.com. I sifted through old emails and found an Evansville roster dated June 15, 2015 and it had Oliver listed as being born in 1988. The Otters' roster dated July 28, 2015 listed Oliver's birth year as 1987.
Oliver now is on the roster of the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League. He has not appeared in the Frontier League's transactions as being released or traded by Evansville.
What, if anything, should the Frontier League do about this? It seems that this was simply an unintentional paperwork mistake made by the Otters. Or was it? Should Evansville be made to forfeit the 10 games it won that Oliver pitched? Two of those 10 were against Washington.
UPDATE: Here is what Oliver told myCentralJersey.com Monday:
“I was in Evansville — and I found out from two other teams before my manager, which was irritating, but it wasn’t intentional because gossip got out fast — that I ended up aging out of the league due to a contract technicality,” said Oliver.
“The league commissioner approved my contract in April, so it’s their fault for missing it. Our manager sent me the contract in the off-season and asked if I wanted to play again, and I said of course. I loved it in Evansville, so it was a no-brainer. But I found out a few days ago that I aged out, and they’re nullifying my contract and I couldn’t play anymore. They wanted to take away my wins I had. I don’t think that’s going to happen, because that’s just not right.”
No word from the Frontier League about what they will do about the wins Evansville accumulated in games Oliver pitched.
Oliver (9-2, 1.59) pitched in 10 games won by Evansville, though he had exceeded the league's age limit and was not classified as the Otters' one allowable Veteran because he had not been on a FL roster for enough games prior to the 2015 season.
The Frontier League has an age limit of 27, which can only be exceeded by a player (Veteran) who was on an active roster or the DL for 100 FL games in the last two seasons. Oliver made his FL debut last season and pitched in five games late in the year for the Otters. He did not qualify as a Veteran.
According to FL website and media guide, no player or player/coach this season "may have attained 27 years of age prior to Jan. 1, 2015."
Oliver turned 28 last month.
I had been tipped off about Oliver's status last week by a scout and told that something might be happening soon. The scout mentioned that Oliver's birth year was different on the Otters' roster than on baseball-reference.com. I sifted through old emails and found an Evansville roster dated June 15, 2015 and it had Oliver listed as being born in 1988. The Otters' roster dated July 28, 2015 listed Oliver's birth year as 1987.
Oliver now is on the roster of the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League. He has not appeared in the Frontier League's transactions as being released or traded by Evansville.
What, if anything, should the Frontier League do about this? It seems that this was simply an unintentional paperwork mistake made by the Otters. Or was it? Should Evansville be made to forfeit the 10 games it won that Oliver pitched? Two of those 10 were against Washington.
UPDATE: Here is what Oliver told myCentralJersey.com Monday:
“I was in Evansville — and I found out from two other teams before my manager, which was irritating, but it wasn’t intentional because gossip got out fast — that I ended up aging out of the league due to a contract technicality,” said Oliver.
“The league commissioner approved my contract in April, so it’s their fault for missing it. Our manager sent me the contract in the off-season and asked if I wanted to play again, and I said of course. I loved it in Evansville, so it was a no-brainer. But I found out a few days ago that I aged out, and they’re nullifying my contract and I couldn’t play anymore. They wanted to take away my wins I had. I don’t think that’s going to happen, because that’s just not right.”
No word from the Frontier League about what they will do about the wins Evansville accumulated in games Oliver pitched.
posted by Chris Dugan at
6:58 PM
8 Comments:
Does anyone really care? Anyone who spends a dime in the house of horrors that is Consol Energy Park is a moron. Five dollars to park, ten dollars a beer, Stu might as well stand by the gate and shake people down as the walk into the ballpark....all 10 of them. Have you seen the Frontier League Website, click on the standings and then attendance and get ready to laugh. WTs over 1,900 a game, really, liars, cheats and thieves. Please sell the team to a real owner who will beg Ross to come back!
The Wild Things have been playing without a GM for five years so maybe the league should actually give them wins.
Two games will not help the Wild Things. All it will do is give Stu a reason to take legal action againt the league if nothing is done.
He may be not a good GM but he sure knows how to please Stu baby, doesn't he?
It's not all about winning with the WT's but it is all about making Stu feel like Attila the Hun. Never have I seen that man smile, not even once.
Bob Bozzuto continues to hurt the team by pissing off just about every umpire in the FL. The umps will give the benefit of close calls to the opposing team as payback for Bozzuto's outrageous tantrums. Of course the idiot WT fans think all the showboat crap is great. People that observe such things can easily see just how
low information and low baseball savvy these people are. They see everything with their heart and not with their eyes. The WT are not a good team no matter how you cut it. They are very good at complaining when they get called out on strikes instead of actually swinging their bat. When a team suffers as many called third
strikes as the WT, something's wrong with the hitting coach, or coaches.
The WT experiment with having Bob Bozzuto as manager should end with the completion
of the 2015 schedule. If he was THAT qualified, then why did they let him languish as a coach for so many years while they tried a new manager almost every season for the last ten years? Truth is that nobody wants to come to Washington to manage given the situation with Wacky and Stu.
How many days has it been since this has come out? And still crickets from the Frontier League office? Turning the Frontier League into a laughingstock among other independent leagues. Any time, in any league that a player is found to be ineligible, whether with intent or not, the team must forfeit any wins the player participated in. And then additional sanctions happen beyond that if more is found. This appears to be another Frontier League, back room, sweep it under the rug deal. The good old boys network at work at its finest.
Rules are in place for a reason in life and baseball. The has to be a penalty! The Frontier League needs to do the right thing. The League office needs to be accountable and speak about the situation. The more you don't address paperwork mistake/ breaking rules they all lose credibility! How is this fair to the other teams in the league? Did they fine Evansville? Who signed off on Will's paperwork to come back this year? FINES, Forfeits and FIRE!
Just checked the website, and as of now, nothing has been said by the league about Evansville. There has been no change in sons/losses or standings. I would think this would go right to the heart of the league's integrity. This has happened in many other leagues/tournaments over the years, forfeits were always part of the penalty with other penalties in many cases. In the meantime, the FL has buried its head in the sand, perhaps people will forget and go away. Does this get to the core of the leadership at the top of the FL? Perhaps its now time to review the position of commissioner. It seems he has been in this position for many years, people get comfortable, people have too many "buddies" in place to be effective and objective. For years, the FL was the good ole boys network, its time for it to be run like the business it is now. Make a firm decision Mr. Lee, like a true commissioner would.
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