THE HISTORY OF THE VSL

In 1990, Mountain established a traveling trophy for the winning franchise to keep the entire year. The trophy, known as the Commissioners’ Cup is a valued addition to any home or office. To date six (6) of the eight franchises have hoisted the Commissioners’ Cup in victory.

The VSL has always used American League Players. The first player draft was held at Mountain’s home. Two teams (the Claremore Crushers and the Guthrie End Runs) were not represented at the draft. Mountain conducted the draft for these two teams and may explain both the woeful performance of the two teams as well as the Mudhens 1989 League Championship. The first player selected in the first VSL draft was Gary Gaetti (yes, that Gary Gaetti) by the Chiefs. The 1990 and 1991 drafts were held at the home of the owner of the Yuptown Bashers. From 1992-1996 the draft was held at the Fifth Seasons Inn. The 1997-1999 drafts were held at the Varsity Sports Grill. The 2000 draft was held at the Oklahoma Baseball Hall of Fame in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Other annual events of the VSL have included a post season awards meeting, where the Cup is presented and the Winter Owner’s meeting, where player protection announcements are made and rule changes are proposed.

In the beginning, 1989, communication between the franchises was conducted by lunches, meetings, telephone and mail. Updated standings and statistics were done in long hand and mailed to each of the franchises. This began to change in1997, with the beginning use of electronically created statistics and standings. By 1998, electronically created statistics and standings had become the norm. The mailing of standings and statistics ended in the 1999 season with the creation of the VSL web page and the posting of standings and statistics on the web page. The 1999 season witnessed the beginning of the VSL message board, which changed the communication practices of the league. More communication is done today by e-mail and the posting of messages. The 2000 season witnessed the first all electronic trade between the Commandos and the KC Blues.

Two franchises, the Mudhens and the Senators have demonstrated the most stability in the league. Both franchises have had the same team owner and team name since the inception of the VSL. The Mudhens have won three VSL Championships 1989, 1994 and 1996 and have finished out of the upper division in three seasons. The Senators have yet to win a VSL Championship, they are one of the most successful franchises in the league finishing out of the upper division in only 5 seasons of the VSL.

The Guthrie End Runs and the Claremore Crushers have demonstrated a high level of stability over the years. The Guthrie End Runs and Claremore Crushers have had the same owner since the inception of the league and only once has each franchise changed its name: The Guthrie End Runs to the Guthrie Blue Jays in 1990 and the Claremore Crushers to the Claremore Commandos in 2000. The Blue Jays have won two VSL Championships 1992 and 1997 and have finished out of the upper division in two seasons. The Commandos have won two VSL Championships, 1990 and 1991 and have finished out of the upper division in seven seasons of the VSL.

The Orioles and the Brushbacks have each had an interesting run through the VSL. Early on, the Orioles had a tradition of changing the franchise name every year, 1990 – Monarchs; 1991 – Raniers; 1992 – Pilots. The franchise kept the same name for the 1993 and 1994 seasons - Browns. In 1995, the franchise changed its name to the Spiders and have kept that name ever since. The Brushbacks existed in the VSL for the first four years of the League. Then, due to a change in ownership, the team name was changes to the Shockers in 1993, the Browns in 1996 and then the Bottoms’ Up in 1997, which is the franchises current name. Each franchise has had stable ownership throughout the VSL. For the Spiders, the original owner brought in a co-owner in 1990. In 1992 the original owner left the league and the co-owner have become the principal owner of the franchise. The only ownership change for the Bottoms’ Up was in 1992. The Spiders have had a lot of success in the VSL, winning three VSL Championships in 1993, 1995 and 1996. The Bottoms’ Up have yet to win a VSL Championship. The Spiders have finished out of the upper division in three years of the VSL, while the Bottoms’ Up had their first upper division finish in 2000.

Beginning the 1998 season only four franchises had hoisted the Commissioners’ Cup in the VSL. The remaining two franchises, the Chiefs and the Yuptown Bashers, began to change that in 1998. Each franchise has endured many name changes and turbulent ownership times. The Chiefs existed from 1989-1993. Then the Chiefs changed their name to the Metros, which lasted through the 1995 season. In 1996 the franchise was known as the Giants. In 1997, the franchise took its current name the Yellow Dogs. As for the Yuptown Bashers, the franchise held that name through the 1992 season. In 1993, the Yuptown Bashers was changed to the Green Country Bashers. In 1994, the Bashers became the Black Sox. In 1995 the franchise took on its current name the KC Blues. The Yellow Dogs have seen their share of owners, from the original owner in 1989, to the original owner having different co-owners in 1993 and 1994, to an entire ownership change in 1996, to the original owner and his 1993 co-owner reacquiring the franchise in 1997 and continuing ownership through today. The KC Blues also has had a variety of owners. The franchise was a one-owner franchise from 1989-1992. In 1993 a co-owner was brought to the franchise. A power struggle after the 1993 season ousted the original owner for the 1994 season. Due to the major league baseball strike the 1994 owner left the league and a new single owner purchased the franchise in 1995, which still exists to this day. Both franchises struggled during the first 8 years in the league. Prior to 1997 the Yellow Dog franchise had one upper division finish and the KC Blues had two. In 1997 both franchises began to rebound with the Yellow Dogs finishing fourth and the KC Blues barely missing the VSL Championship with a second place finish. The 1997 season was a harbinger of things to come. The KC Blues would win the VSL Championship in 1998. The Yellow Dogs would do even better by winning the VSL Championship in both 1999 and 2000. Both franchises became the 5th and 6th franchises to hoist the Commissioners’ Cup.