Looking Forward to Spring!

Happy New Year to everyone! Man, oh man, it is cold outside these winter days. It only makes me long more for spring baseball season to begin. With about 4 months until the first game, at home, May 30th, it’s time to start talking about the upcoming Kitty League season. New Railroaders’ manager, David Estes, has already filled the 22-man roster for 2008 with all new players, save one, Cory White. I see the pitching pool is well balanced this year with 5 right-handers and 6 left-handers. I like what I see in the rest of the roster, too. Some big players! Estes has also secured James Rehmer as assistant coach, coming up from Florida to join the team.

I see that the Greyhounds have stepped up their manager’s DNA by obtaining our David Estes’ big brother, Jonathan, as their new manager for 2008. Nice to see they are following the Railroaders’ example. These 2 teams should produce some interesting contests this season.

The league lost the Sikeston Bulls in the off-season, sad to see them go. However, the league remains at 6 teams with the addition of the new Bobcats from Marion, Ky. These guys are near the Tradewater Pirates and their manager is an ex-Pirate manager. I’ll bet there will be some interesting matchups in that area!

Well I’m really looking forward to 2008 and Railroader baseball. The Yard crews are working hard now to prepare the field for play. A new “warning track” is in place now and the stadium is ready for action. IT’S TIME TO TALK BASEBALL!

Coach and Manager Brian Hicks leaving Railroaders

The Railroaders will surely miss Coach Hicks. He's successful 2 years at Fulton (record 62-43) have helped the team make great strides and lead the Railroaders to a championship year. His tenure has set the standard for future Railroader teams. I for one wish him and his family "God's speed" as they relocate to Mississippi. It is also nice to know that Brian will continue to assist in scouting players for the Railroaders.

Thanks Brian, for a job well done!
Hoghead

UPDATE AUG. 21: Proud to see David Estes move up to manage/coach for the 2008 Railroaders! And he's already started working on the next season's team.

Final Season Blog Entry

The 2007 season is over, and I for one have enjoyed every moment. I would like to personally thank all the Railroader players & coaches, fans, and owners for a great season of baseball. There are game memories galore to remember with pleasure. We would like to hear from you too, our loyal readers. We hope you have enjoyed the season and all that it stands for, good wholesome fun!

This final blog entry also serves as a place for everyone to express they appreciation to the Railroaders and their organization. For content purposes, all posted comments will be reviewed before posting. “Thank You” to all who have supported this effort in 2007!

Playoffs end with a derail …but what a ride!

Well, with too much pressure in the engine we derailed the train and we came up just short of the station. Still a great regular season, and post-season playoffs have given everyone lots to cheer and feel good about. So hold your heads high, boys! Regular season Champs is pretty good in my book and you’re still #1 in my book. Those Greyhounds ran hard in post season, but we kept it neck and neck the whole way, hats off to them. We both got our glory, which seems appropriate for the 2 top teams. I’m sure next season the excitement will be back and so will the Railroaders and Greyhounds. The drama is over for now, but next year will be here before we know it.

First and foremost

Congratulations to the U.C. Greyhounds on winning the Kit League Championship. It was a hard fought victory but they pulled it out in the end. Congratulations to the Fulton Railroaders on their fine season. 32-18 regular season and a 3-4 postseason is not too bad of a deal. We would have like to have a championship but will settle for 2nd place. The RRs will be back next year but unfortunately I will not. Picking up the family and heading off to greener pastures. Mcminnville,Or.to be exact. I will miss the excitement of being at the ballpark and the thrill of baseball season. But thanks to a fantastic webmaster I can keep up with the RRs next season and every season thereafter. I will be in Oregon but my hometeam and town is still here in Fulton. Go RRs.

Signing off,
Rattler

Post Season Drama . . Down to the Wire . . .

We don’t have the Superbowl in our area, but the closest thing to it will happen at Lohaus Field tonight! Just as in the regular season race for the KIT league pennant, the first post-season playoff race is neck and neck with one game to go. The Railroader players and fans were stoked up last night and evened up the final best of 3 series at 1 with the Greyhounds. Our pitching and defense didn’t require me to climb “Little Monster” to stop opposing homeruns, so I was able to enjoy the game from under the grandstand. That bases loaded 1-2-3 doubleplay in the 7th was great to stop the Hounds from their last biggest threat of the game. And our one well-placed homerun shot by Zak in the 1st earned the game winning RBI and forced the dogs to chase us all night.

One more game, and boy will it be a good one! The hounds are running and the train is smokin’, let’s keep the boiler hot and throw the throttle wide open. The final stretch is before us and we’re almost there. You don’t want to miss this one!

A word on sportsmanship; cheering your players on is proper and important to the players. Yelling at the opponents’ players is rude and uncalled for. As Railroaders, we should strive not to lower ourselves to that level, even though it is tempting at times when hearing it being done to our players. We can win without it, maybe they think they can’t.

Corey White and the fans of the greyhounds.

Does anyone know what happened with Corey? He was in civilian attire at the game tonight. Not in the dugout like the rest of the players. Did he quit? Did he give up and call it a season? Why was he out celebrating with the players, if he is not a player anymore? Someone fill me in. Also I want to make a comment about the U.C. fans. Rude, inconsiderate bunch of winers. They complained and belly-ached the whole time. They sounded like a bunch of 3 year olds. Waaa Waaa all they do is cry. When we were batting they were making rude comments, and while we were pitching, throw it in the dirt, sounded like preshool kids out there. All the fans should be courteous enough and give us as much respect as we give them. We let them play their home game in our stadium. We could have dug out the bylaws and probably forced a forfeit, but we wanted to win out right,and have no questions about what if? Instead of being rude they should be thanking us for giving them a chance to win. I am wondering what happens tomorrow when we win, will they admit we are the better team? I dont think so. I am done!