Waiting for the decision

The wait continues.

As of the time of this writing, it has been 13 days since I was told that former Evansville pitcher Will Oliver was ineligible to play for Evansville because he exceeded the league's age limit and did not qualify for Veteran roster status. It has been nine days since the Evansville Courier-Press wrote that Oliver will be declared ineligible. And it has been eight days since Oliver showed up in the clubhouse of the Atlantic League's Somerset Patriots and told a reporter "The (Frontier League) commissioner approved my contract in April, so it's their fault for missing it. ... They're nullifying my contract and I couldn't play anymore. They wanted to take away my wins."

And the wait continues.

People with the Otters have been interviewed. Lawyers have been contacted. Depositions have been taken. Everything short of calling in CSI has been done in Evansville.

The rumors have been circulating about what the Frontier League will do. The first rumor was Evansville would have to forfeit any game Oliver played in that was won by the Otters. This is the what leagues that have eligibility standards (high school, youth league, NCAA etc.) typically do when a player is declared ineligible.

Another was that the Otters would only be fined heavily. The latest rumor is Evansville will forfeit those games Oliver played in but the teams that lost to the Otters will not be credited with a win. That might be the dumbest idea I've heard yet (can the people who attended those games get their money back because a winner was not determined?).

I don't know exactly what happened in Evansville. I don't know why Oliver has been listed with three different years of birth on the Otters' rosters, who changed the dates and why. I don't know what year of birth was on his contract this year or last season.

What I do know is time is running out for the league to act on this matter. Most teams have only 18 games left in the regular season and they still don't know how many games they are above or below the line to make the playoffs.

It shouldn't take this long to make a decision.

When, and if, a decision is made, it won't be popular with everybody. Some managers want the league to drop the hammer on the Otters. Another manager told me nothing should be done other than a fine. Dragging this out, however, is only making the league look bad.