{"id":12756,"date":"2012-08-13T13:50:05","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T17:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=12756"},"modified":"2012-09-03T11:31:51","modified_gmt":"2012-09-03T15:31:51","slug":"alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baseball players fill seats, inspire songs, become talking points around the water cooler and, more importantly to a dozen Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) alumni, accumulate statistics.<\/p>\n

For the past 30 years EMU alumni reunite to banter, share familial updates, and participate in an annual fantasy baseball league, \u201cShenandoah\u2019s Major Minor League.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to see guys come back and the continuity we\u2019ve had in the league has kept the energy up,\u201d said Clair Mellinger \u201864, professor emeritus of biology<\/a> and one of the longest tenured members of the league.<\/p>\n

Watching the box scores<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Shenandoah Valley Major Minor League members set up the big board with their teams, as currently constructed, before the April draft. The members fill in the board as players are selected during each round of the draft. Photo by Mike Zucconi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fantasy baseball is a predominantly online game where statistics accumulated by all Major League Baseball players are tracked. Points are awarded in one format of fantasy baseball, Rotisserie, while the other format, Head-to-Head, tallies the total number of statistics in any one category, with the highest or lowest number winning, depending upon the rules, according to Rotowire.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving statistics available online makes it more efficient and keeps everyone involved on a daily basis, compared to when we had to snail mail everything and not receive updates for weeks,\u201d said Tom Baker \u201881, former EMU men\u2019s basketball coach and current physical education teacher at Lacey Spring Elementary School.<\/p>\n

The EMU alumni draft features an auction system where players are selected based on dollar figures. While no actual money is exchanged for rights to the player, the auction-style bidding lends itself to \u201checkling on a price of a player and the possibilities to acquire a talented player,\u201d says Mellinger.<\/p>\n

\u201cShenandoah\u2019s Major Minor League\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Shenandoah\u2019s Major Minor League, connections go deeper than a love of statistics. Eleven of the 12 \u201cowners\u201d either attended, graduated or taught at EMU. Several members were students when the league began in 1982.<\/p>\n

The composition of the league members changed from year to year until the early 90\u2019s when a majority of the current group joined. Some teams have co-owners, while others are run by a single member.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a core group of guys who just love baseball,\u201d said Ted Swartz \u201989, MDiv \u201992, a professional comedian who is one of the leagues\u2019 longest tenured members.<\/p>\n

The league holds the annual draft on campus in April. Most members live around the Harrisonburg area. Brian Hill \u201892, MD, a urologist with Urology Specialists of Atlanta, LLC, has the farthest drive to attend the league draft, making an eight-hour commute.<\/p>\n

In addition to Mellinger, Swartz, Baker and Hill, other league owners include: Ian Swartz (son of Ted); Mark Deavers \u201889; Phil Lehman \u201889; Lawson Yoder \u201891; Jeremy Nafziger \u201891; Rob Roeschley (former EMU baseball coach); Gary Messinger; Doug Friesen \u201891; and Mike Yoder \u201891.<\/p>\n

Ron Vogt, the owner not personally connected to EMU, got connected when he worked with Doug Friesen at Philhaven Hospital in Mount Gretna, Pa.<\/p>\n

Previous members of the league include John Horst, professor emeritus of physics, Jon Kauffman-Kennel, former manager of EMU\u2019s public radio station, and Bill Hawk, former academic dean.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting involved with the league renewed my interest in baseball, especially the National League,\u201d said Mellinger. \u201cI really enjoy the research involved in getting prepared for the annual auction.\u00a0 I have read more baseball-related books and web articles than I should have in the past 20 years but it has been a very good source of entertainment and relaxation for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great to keep connected and share a love for baseball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baseball players fill seats, inspire songs, become talking points around the water cooler and, more importantly to a dozen Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) alumni, accumulate statistics. For the past 30 ... read more about Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":13696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,5583,5642],"tags":[6460,14525,14344,14524,14519,14523,6022,7111,14520,14526,8614,10298],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-12756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-campus-community","category-faculty-and-staff","tag-a-clair-mellinger","tag-doug-friesen","tag-fantasy-baseball","tag-gary-messinger","tag-ian-swartz","tag-jeremy-nafziger","tag-john-horst","tag-jon-kauffmann-kennel","tag-mark-deavers","tag-mike-yoder","tag-rob-roeschley","tag-ted-swartz"],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Baseball players fill seats, inspire songs, become talking points around the water cooler and, more importantly to a dozen Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) alumni, accumulate statistics. For the past 30\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-13T17:50:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-09-03T15:31:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"925\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/\",\"name\":\"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-13T17:50:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-03T15:31:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg\",\"width\":\"1525\",\"height\":\"925\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d - EMU News","og_description":"Baseball players fill seats, inspire songs, become talking points around the water cooler and, more importantly to a dozen Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) alumni, accumulate statistics. For the past 30","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2012-08-13T17:50:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-09-03T15:31:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1525,"height":925,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/","name":"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg","datePublished":"2012-08-13T17:50:05+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-03T15:31:51+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/08\/fantasybaseball11.jpg","width":"1525","height":"925"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/alumni-reunite-for-love-of-the-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alumni Reunite for \u201cLove of the Game\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12756"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13924,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12756\/revisions\/13924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12756"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=12756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}