![](\"http:\/\/www.teamline.cc\/static\/images\/logos\/NYCBL.gif\")
The final part of a series taking a look at one of the many Summer wood bat leagues. <\/em><\/p>\nIn 1996 the league was known as Northeast Collegiate Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Ed Daub served as commissioner, and in light of the 1994 MLB work stoppage the new collective bargaining agreement reduced the league funding from $35,000 to $5,000.\u00c2\u00a0 At the end of the season Daub took a position with the Cincinnati Reds.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom Kenney, then general manager of the Hornell Dodgers, approached the recently retired H. David Chamberlain about the vacancy.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Kenney could think of no one better to lead the league into the twenty-first century than the coach who took the MCC program from its infancy to the point of being a perennial national junior college contender.<\/p>\n
Chamberlain started the Monroe Community College program in 1964 when then athletic director, Gene Monaghan appointed the native of Ovid, New York as head coach.\u00c2\u00a0 He started with $500.\u00c2\u00a0 Thirty-three seasons later Chamberlain amassed a record of 735 wins and 232 losses.\u00c2\u00a0 His Tribune teams won ten Regional Championships and made two Junior College World Series appearances under Chamberlain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s watchful eye.\u00c2\u00a0 Along the way fifty MCC Tribunes were selected in the Major League draft, and countless others moved on to four-year schools.<\/p>\n
When Kenney approached Chamberlain, the recently retired coach was ecstatic.\u00c2\u00a0 He told his wife: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This will be great.\u00c2\u00a0 The season is only two months long.\u00c2\u00a0 I can play golf in the day and go watch some baseball at night.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Little did the coach know what he was in for.<\/p>\n
When Chamberlain took charge, eight teams competed in one division, Major League Baseball offered $5,000 worth of support, and teams supplied their own umpires.\u00c2\u00a0 Ten years later the league changed its name to better suit the locale, MLB has gradually upped its funding to $40,000, a union of umpires works the league, and the NYCBL has expanded to fourteen teams.\u00c2\u00a0 It is because of this success that league owners and general managers have continued to vote for Chamberlain on an annual basis for the one year position of league commissioner.<\/p>\n
Knowing that people have to be part of the results Chamberlain has set an example to be followed.\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing gets overlooked beginning with baseballs used in every game.\u00c2\u00a0 Each team is supplied two dozen baseballs by the league.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseballs can cost up to $50 per dozen.\u00c2\u00a0 With Chamberlain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard work and reputation the NYCBL has secured a contract with Diamond baseballs at a rate of $27.50 per box, a savings of over $500 per team.<\/p>\n
With the same spirit of thrift and efficiency Chamberlain brokered contracts with D-Bat and Pro-Line.\u00c2\u00a0 Having each player in the league choose from bats with similar specifications creates a balance of competition.\u00c2\u00a0 It also creates a savings for each team.\u00c2\u00a0 D-Bat also rewards the teams with complimentary fungoes and souvenir bats to sell.\u00c2\u00a0 Teams also receive a group rate on individual hats provided by Pro-Line.\u00c2\u00a0 A hat that would carry a twenty dollar retail price costs the league nine dollars each.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Pro-Line includes the team logo design and setup in the price.<\/p>\n
The NYCBL is the only summer collegiate league to hold its own scout day.\u00c2\u00a0 Scheduled around the league all-star game the event brings together players, coaches, and professional scouts.\u00c2\u00a0 With each major league team represented, players have the opportunity not only to perform for scouts, but also to receive constructive feedback.<\/p>\n
When taking over Chamberlain needed to deal with the touchy subject of umpires.\u00c2\u00a0 Prior to his arrival teams scheduled their own umpiring crews.\u00c2\u00a0 Impartiality suffered, and competition suffered.\u00c2\u00a0 The new commissioner quickly contracted the American Baseball Umpires\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Association (ABUA), and an improved product on the field was the result.<\/p>\n
The increased funding the NYCBL receives is the direct result of Chamberlain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s effort.\u00c2\u00a0 When he attends the annual national meeting, the commissioner provides Major League Baseball representatives with an ever-improving portfolio.\u00c2\u00a0 The league has increased its number of former players in the professional baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 As a result competition is up, and attendance is up; figures that translate into MLB wanting to promote the league.<\/p>\n
Chamberlain continues to look to future improvements.\u00c2\u00a0 One idea is a possible all-star game between the NYCBL and the ACBL.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Along with Atlantic commissioner, Tom Bonekemper, Chamberlain hopes to iron out the details and schedule an event at either Shea or Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n
Further the commissioner would like to have crossover games between the two divisions.\u00c2\u00a0 He understands the challenges presented with such a proposition.\u00c2\u00a0 Increased funding would be needed for travel expenses.\u00c2\u00a0 Players would need lodging provided when playing a night game three to four hours from home.<\/p>\n
Chamberlain continues to receive the vote of the league leaders.\u00c2\u00a0 And the commissioner keeps developing a league where guys like \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcMoonlight\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Graham would come and want to spend a summer.\u00c2\u00a0 A league where on any given day passersby can catch a glimpse of something special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The final part of a series taking a look at one of the many Summer wood bat leagues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collegiate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}