2000 NY Emperors Memorial Day Stickball

Intro / highlights • 2000 Memorial Stickball home • Community Spirit • Tournament Results • Playoff Results Photos • Kickoff • Teams From Final Rounds • Tournament Action • Playoff Action • People - 1 • People - 2 • Wrap up • Go to Stickball section Discussion • Stickball: general discussion • Streetplay discussion home

The NY Emperors Memorial Day Tournament - Tough, well played games Click for bigger picture Teams from Puerto Rico and Florida came up for the event The 15th NY Emperors Memorial Day Stickball Tournament lived up to and surpassed all expectations. Despite early forecasts, the weather was perfect, the crowds were large, the music was pumping and the play was excellent. Players and spectators were treated to three full days of fun and competition, which included 45 games of play among 13 teams. In the end, two old-time rivals, the Bronx Emperors and the Latin Dukes took the field to battle for the championship. These two strong teams, both original members of the NY Emperors League have played many a great game through the years. In today's match-up, the Dukes prevailed, scoring 3 unanswered runs in the top of the 10th inning (of a seven inning game) to put it away 5-2. Throughout the event, the quality of play was excellent but the playoffs were truly intense. Of the seven games all but one were decided by one run or sent into extra innings. Mistakes were few, and several close games were clearly decided by "a lucky bounce." In one of the preliminary playoff games, the Gold were eliminated when the Dukes scored on a shot to the outfield that hit the telephone wire and was sharply redirected from its original angle. Perhaps the most intense game was the battle between the Florida Kings and the Youngbloods. The Kings who boast several highly regarded former Bronx players including members of the Pizarroz family fielded what might have been the oldest roster, the Youngbloods boast the youngest squad. But in this game, neither gave an inch and it took a full 14 innings of play, the equivalent of 2 full games, for the Youngbloods to finally put together a rally that would drive in the winning run. The Kings might have taken the wind out of the Youngbloods sails, for they were unable to score in the semi-finals and thus fell to the Emperors 1-0. But that is the nature of the intense three day competition, it's game after game, last one standing wins. Trophies were handed out, Orlando Marin started to play and the weekend ended with clear blue skies and the warmth of friendship. Congratulations to the Latin Dukes for their hard play and well deserved championship.

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