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This past weekend at the Canadian National Oldtimers Baseball Championships in Red Deer Alberta, the Burlington Black 49ers 35+ teams participated in what can only be described as a tourney of a lifetime… The Blacks prevailed in all 6 games to take home the National Championship after defeating the Regina Ghosts in a tight and well played game that saw an extra inning needed to declare the champions…

The Blacks first game was played on Friday afternoon when they faced Lacombe Stone & Granite… The team jumped to an early 2 – 0 lead and never looked back in an 11 – 1 win over the Alberta team… The pitching was very solid as Rich Stanbury, Joe Davis and Mike Bennett held Lacombe to only 5 hits, while the Blacks collected 11 with Casey Cosgrove going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI while Jay Lack & Joe Davis each crossed the plate twice…

The Black 49ers then got an early wake-up call on Saturday morning when they played the Kindersley Klippers in a 10:45 start… The Klippers from Saskatchewan held the Blacks off the hit chart for the first 3 innings but couldn’t hold the boys off any further as in the 4th the Blacks scored 5 runs on 4 hits… Mark Thomas lead of the 4th with a walk and consecutive singles by Larry Hallett and Jay Lack loaded the bases for Joe Davis who promptly cleared the bags with a bases loaded double… Davis then scored on a single by Mike Bennett… After Bennett advanced to 3rd on a sac fly by Steve Blanchet he scored on a single by Craig Carroll… The Klippers cut the lead to 3 with 2 runs in the 5th, but that was it was the Blacks scored 4 more times in the 6th as Carroll drove in 3 of his own with the Blacks 2nd bases loaded double of the game to take a 9 – 2 lead that would hold up and put a 2nd victory in the win column for the Black 49ers…

In game 3 of their division play the Blacks faced the 2-0 Medicine Hat Somewhere Else’s in what could be described as the Blacks best hitting game as the team pounded out 18 hits en route to a stunning 18 – 7 victory… The Blacks were lead by Jay Lack who went 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI and Mark Caron who had a 5 RBI game… Gord Harris scored 3 runs while Lee Mackey was 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and included a home plate collision with the Medicine Hat catcher… The win gave the Black 49ers a perfect 3 – 0 record that saw the team seeded 2nd going into the round of 8…

In Quarter Final action the Black 49ers faced a familiar foe in the Medicine Hat team… Medicine Hat was looking to rebound from the trashing they took in their last meeting with the Blacks and it looked that way early as the Alberta team held a 3 to 1 lead after 3 and half innings… Black 49ers stated Rich Stanbury got the job done early as he rebounded from a tough start against the Hats in the last game to hold the team to just 2 hits over 2 innings of work… Mark Caron came on in the 3rd but was roughed up 2 runs before being lifted for Joe Davis who gave up a run of his own… In typical Burlington fashion, the Blacks woke up in the 4th inning when Davis led off the inning with a single; Craig Carroll stroked another single to put runners on 1st and 3rd for Caron… Caron promptly drove Davis in while the next batter Jason McKenna drove in both Carroll and Caron with a triple… With McKenna standing on 3rd with 1 out hitter Mark Thomas drove in McKenna for the 4th run of the inning… Lee Mackey hit a weak grounder to short that the shortstop bobbled and then threw away allowing Thomas to score… All in all the Blacks scored 5 runs in the inning to jump ahead 6 – 3 after 4 complete… The Blacks tacked on 2 in the 5th when Mike Bennett drove in both catcher Randy Stanbury and outfielder Jay Lack… A one spot in the 6th capped off the comeback and the Black 49ers took a 9 – 3 win thus advancing the Blacks to the Semi-Finals against the Edmonton Navigators…

The Semi Final game was played under the lights in a late 9:00pm start that saw a tight back and forth affair… The Black jumped out to a 1 – 0 in the 2nd inning when Craig Carroll led off the inning with a single to right and moved over to 2nd base after Casey Cosgrove stroked a single of his own to right field... A third consecutive single, this time by Mark Caron drove in Carroll but that is all the Blacks could muster against a tough Edmonton pitching staff… The Black 49ers held that lead until the 6th when Edmonton scored 2 off Blacks pitcher Joe Davis to take a 2 – 1 lead going into the Blacks half of the 6th… All didn’t look well as the Blacks went down in order to set up a tense 7th inning… The Blacks blanked the Navigators in the top of the 7th and took their turn at bat in the bottom half of the 7th… Leadoff hitter Jay Lack singled to start off the inning and moved over to 2nd base on a single by Davis… Both runners moved up a base on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Mike Bennett… With one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd the Navigators brought in the infield in to cut down anyone going to the plate on a sharp ground ball, but Blacks hitter Craig Carroll muscled a base hit through the drawn in infield to drive in the tying and winning run and the Black 49ers were into the finals for the first time ever… The Blacks pitching combination of Mark Caron, Jason McKay, Mike Bennett, Joe Davis and Mark Thomas held the Navigators to 4 hits over 7 innings of work…

In the Championship game the Black 49ers faced the Regina Ghosts, former National Champions in 1998 and 2001… The Black 49ers started out strong when Jay Lack, Joe Davis and Mike Bennett all scored in the 1st to give the Blacks a 3 run lead after 1 inning of play... RBI’s in the inning went to Bennett, Carroll and Cosgrove… The Blacks struck for a single run in the 2nd when Mark Thomas went to 1st base after being hit with a pitch, moved to 2nd on the 1st of 2 sacrifice bunts on the day by Lee Mackey and then scored on a RBI single by Randy Stanbury… Rich Stanbury and Mark Caron each pitched 2 scoreless innings to keep the Ghosts off the scoreboard… In the top of the 5th the Ghosts touched up Mike Bennett for 3 runs on 4 hits but Benny got out of the inning when he induced a Navigator hitter into a 6 – 3 double play, keeping the lead… The Black 49ers scored one in the bottom half of the 5th when a leadoff walk by Jason McKenna came around to score when the Edmonton shortstop couldn’t handle a shot off the bat of Gord Harris which extended the lead to 5 – 3… In the top of the 7th, Edmonton took advantage of four base on balls and a single to tie the game at 5… The Navigators looked to take the lead when with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, the Navigators hitter stroked a fly ball to centerfielder but outfielder Jay Lack had something to say by gunning the go ahead Edmonton runner out at home plate for the 3rd out… Catcher Randy Stanbury applied the tag as the runner was out by 3 feet… The Blacks were unable to score in their half of the 7th, thus the game went into extra innings… Blacks’ pitcher, Mark Thomas who had a rough 7th inning retired the Navigators in the 8th with ease setting up the bottom of the 8th for the Black 49ers… The 8th inning was lead off by 1st baseman Lee Mackey and he promptly stroked a hit into right field… With Mackey on 1st base, he attempted to take 2nd on a sac bunt, but got hung up between 1st and 2nd on the missed bunt, looking dead to rights; Mackey was able to scramble back to 1st and on a misplay by the Navigator 1st baseman was able to advance to 2nd… Mackey was then lifted for pinch runner Jason McKay who promptly was moved to 3rd with a single by Harris… With Randy Stanbury up next the coaching staff discussed their next move… That is right, a ‘Suicide Squeeze’… Stanbury put down a perfect bunt and McKay came sliding in at home and the rest is now history… The BLACKS win, the BLACKS win…

The RED SOX would like to congratulate the entire BVB National Team program for a job well done… Red Sox players that took part in the National Championships for the 35+ team were Joe Davis, Mark Caron, Jason McKenna, Paul Webber and Lee Mackey; while Carmen Gassi was a member of the 44+ team that won the Consolation Championship over the weekend… Congrats to the Red Sox participants…

The Sox not only lost the game on a last inning Grand Slam hit by Cardinals slugger Jeff Gillehand, but lost their work horse pitcher Mark Caron after he was hit in the knee by a pitch in the 1st inning... Caron tried to continue but the knee seized up after 3 inning, thus causing Caron to take himself out of the game... The lose of Caron was costly as the Sox are already down a few hurlers with Dave Maunder on assignment in Thailand and Darcy Osipenko currently serving the 1st of a 4 game suspension... The Sox jumped all over the Cards in the 1st few innings scoring 6 in the 1st and 2 in the 2nd and leading after 4 by a 10 - 3 score, but the resilient Cards kept chipping away at the lead and well as they say, the rest is history as the grand slam ended the game in the Cards favor... The Sox next see action on Tuesday May 22nd when they take on the Indians in a 6pm tilt at Millcroft 'B'...

The Burlington Red Sox have signed 3 more players this past week... Welcomed to the squad are Dexter Sargeant and Ryan Grant... Dexter is very familiar with the ball diamond as he still plays in Etobicoke... Dexter will bring a wealth of pitching experience and sharp defense which will definitely help out with Red Sox ace Darcy Osipenko sitting out his 4 game suspension that he incurred during last seasons playoffs... Osipenko will also play with the Sox on a part-time basis as a shift in priorities will not allow him to compete full time... The loss of Osipenko will be undoubtedly be felt, but the returning Sox players along with the new additions plan to take his part time status in stride... Ryan Grant comes to the Sox after a year hiatus from playing baseball altogether... Ryan is a veteran of the Brampton League and also played varsity baseball while attending Guelph University a few years back... The Sox also welcome back to the fold on a call-up basis a familiar #50 in Randy Barber... Randy has agreed to help out the Sox when the player numbers are slim... Randy joins Darren Zinck in that call-up category, so the Sox are quite confident they will have no issues fielding a team during the ‘vacation days’ during the summer months... The Red Sox begin their season on Friday May 11th when they take on the 2006 Legend Champion Cardinals in a 6:00pm tilt at Nelson Park... The Red Sox will unveil their new jersey in their game against the Indians on Tuesday May 22nd... The Sox have retired their original red vest jersey in favor of the new custom navy vest... Check out the Sox happening on this website all season long... Hope to see you at the ball park...

The Burlington Red Sox have signed 2 more players this past week... Welcomed to the squad are Dexter Sargeant and Ryan Clark... Dexter is very familiar with the ball diamond as he still plays in Etobicoke... Dexter will bring a wealth of pitching experience and sharp defense which will definitely help out with Red Sox ace Darcy Osipenko sitting out his 4 game suspension that he incurred during last seasons playoffs... Osipenko will also play with the Sox on a part-time basis as a shift in priorities will not allow him to compete full time... The loss of Osipenko will be undoubtedly be felt, but the returning Sox players along with the new additions plan to take his part time status in stride... Ryan Clark comes to the Sox after a year hiatus from playing baseball altogether... Ryan is a veteran of the Brampton League and also played varsity baseball while attending Guelph University a few years back... The Sox also welcome back to the fold on a call-up basis a familiar #50 in Randy Barber... Randy has agreed to help out the Sox when the player numbers are slim... Randy joins Darren Zinck in that call-up category, so the Sox are quite confident they will have no issues fielding a team during the ‘vacation days’ during the summer months... The Red Sox begin their season on Friday May 11th when they take on the 2006 Legend Champion Cardinals in a 6:00pm tilt at Nelson Park... The Red Sox will unveil their new jersey in their game against the Indians on Tuesday May 22nd... The Sox have retired their original red vest jersey in favor of the new custom navy vest... Check out the Sox happening on this website all season long... Hope to see you at the ball park...

The Red Sox gathered this past weekend for their first outdoor practice and boy was it cold... In true April weather, it was damp and windy, but 6 of the Red Sox braved the cold long enough to throw the ball around for 30 minutes and then take a little batting practice before hitting the parking lot... The Sox have signed Warren deBorst, a Milton resident and Toronto Fire fighter... deBorst is a speedy outfielder and left handed pitcher who will take the mound when called upon and hopefully add some speed to the heavy hitting Red Sox lineup... The Red Sox next hit the field on Sunday April 22nd... The BVB Regular season opens up on Sunday May 6th... The Sox will play 20 regular season games this season...

Last evening at Burlington’s favorite Batting Cage spot Mainway Sports, the Red Sox got together for their first meeting of the season... The agenda included topics such as new players, team philosophy, sponsorship and the ever popular Red Sox Golf tourney... With 7 of the 13 Red Sox members present, Manager Lee Mackey announced that Mike Gionas was leaving the team to take a coaching / player role with the BVB Indians, leaving the Red Sox numbers at 14... The Sox have expressed interest in a couple of new players and will play a little wait and see to find out if the interested players are up for the challenge... Sponsorship was first and foremost on a few players mind with the Sox securing new sponsorship in Money Mart, Turtle Jack’s Vaughn and Fox40... These new sponsors will join the already long serving stable of Red Sox sponsors for 2007... The Red Sox will now focus on securing further sponsors and rounding out the team... The next Meeting for the Sox is Wed. February 21st @ 9:00pm at Mainway...

“He went just as fast as he came” was the quote received from Red Sox GM Lee Mackey late last night from his hotel in Thailand... “Adam has now decided to stay in Thailand and continue working for his current company. What didn’t help our cause was that he was offered a better contract from the company Volleyball team. The company team he plays for is right in the thick of things playing against other local teams in the province of Chachoengsao.”, stated Mackey... This cannot be conceived as a loss for the Red Sox due to the fact that Adam didn’t play a single inning... Mackey went on to say that he will now turn his attention to recruiting from the Burlington area and has a few lines in water... We hope to round out the roster by later February, early March... Once again the Red Sox players would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy Holiday Season...

The Boston Red Sox signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka to a six-year contract worth a reported $52 million hasn’t deterred the BVB Red Sox from going out on a little recruiting trip of their own... Red Sox GM Lee Mackey is currently over in Thailand searching the Rice Patties for an Asian sensation of their own... Then comes the well known Taiwanese ex-pat and resident Thai; Wu Kao Yu, better known to his friends and co-workers as Adam... Adam is a deceiving individual, his looks are boyish and his fastball is amazing... “I’ve played catch with him on a few occasions and liked his stuff” Mackey said... “I think he could fit in our rotation quite nicely... and he’ll do just fine around the cooler after the games...” Adam is known to like his Singa... The BVB Red Sox have offered him a nice package to come and play in the BVB next year, although it is not the contract Matsuzaka signed this past week, it should be enough to lure him to Canada for the summer... “I couldn’t let the big boys make a deal without making one of our own...” stated Mackey... “The boys on the team will just have to step up and bring in some sponsorship so I can pay for the ‘Cattle Car’ class airline ticket... Mark (Caron) is of Japanese decent, so I don’t think he’ll mind taking in Adam for the summer, although I am sure he’ll have to speak to his wife about that...” Mackey hopes to have Adam’s name on a BVB Waiver in the coming days, or at least before he flies home this coming weekend...

The RED SOX would like to wish their Family, Friends and Fans a HAPPY and SAFE holiday season...

The BVB held their Annual General Meeting last night at Great Lakes Grille and closed the book on a successful 2006 season... In a quick recap, the Yankees took the Lutz Cup for having the best regular season record with a 19 – 3 record... The Hobos won their 2nd consecutive Vintage Championship while the Cardinal took their 1st Legends Cup Championship... The BVB also participated in the Canadian National Vintage Championships this past summer in Yarmouth Nova Scotia... The Burlington Black 49ers (35+) finished the tournament with a 4th place standing while the Burlington Grey 49ers (44+) team finished in a very respectable 5th place... The Red Sox highlights in 2006 were their best regular season record in 4 years finishing with 16 wins and 6 losses... The Sox hitters collected a league high 20 team home runs and had a team average of .388...

Once the recap of 2006 was wrapped up, the 2007 executive was announced... After taking a year off, Red Sox GM has decided to return to become the Director of Parks and Scheduling for 2007... Previous to his 2006 hiatus, Lee had been the BVB scheduling director since 2002... Lee will have his hands full with this years schedule as it has been rumored that the league could be growing to a league high 10 teams... Next up for the BVB executive is a meeting with the prospective expansion team groups and then a deserved break from the activities of BVB... Look for a Coaches meeting to be announced for early January 2007...<

During a recent team get-together at the Mackey household, the Red Sox team and spouses partook in a leisurely evening of hockey, UFC fighting and of course baseball talk, but the highlight of the evening was the 2nd annual Red Sox Air Hockey Tournament... That is right, the Sox put down their bats and played some very spirited games of Air Hockey, just ask defending champ Mark Caron as he had to face his most dangerous test in the form of Dave Maunder... Maunder befuddled Caron with his intensity and flying puck to the point where Caron had to not only defend his net, but his entire body before putting away Munzie with a 5 to 3 win... In the 2nd preliminary game host Lee Mackey narrowly escaped his home table advantage with a 5 – 4 win over Adam Smith... With the double knockout tourney getting down to the semi finals, defending champ Caron took on Adam ‘The Goalie’ Smith... In a much cleaner game for Caron he was dethroned by the sneaky but deadly shot of Smith, while Coach Mackey took on the pupil Maunder it was the teacher who taught the student a lesson with a big 5 – 1 win to advance to the finals against Smith... In the Spouses division, Krista Caron took on Adam’s better half Alanna in a quick game as the other Smith was dispatched in a 5 – 0 loss... Tina Mackey took on Suzanne Maunder in the 2nd opening round game and took the game 5 – 1... With the Semi’s set, Krista took on Suzanne and Suzanne put up a valiant fight only to drop a 5 – 3 decision, while Alanna redeemed herself after an opening round loss by beating Tina 5 – 4 to earn a rematch and a trip to the finals against Krista... So with the finals set, it was Adam vs. Lee and Krista vs. Alanna... Could the Smith’s take home both championships...? In the Men’s Championship, the ‘Goalie’ proved to be the better man as Adam defeated ‘Coach’ Mackey by a 5 – 3 score to take the 1st half of the Smith’s attempt at both titles... In the Women’s Championship, Alanna came out flying scoring the first goal, but that was it as Krista scored the next 4 to take a 4 – 1 lead and hung on to take the Championship with a 5 – 3 win ending all hopes and dreams for the Smith’s... All in all, the get-together was a night to get out and enjoy a few pops and hang out away from the ball field... Next up for the Red Sox is a curling bonspiel this coming January... This will definitely be a blast