-Synopsis

Sean was a relatively late addition to the original Section 8 lineup in the summer of 2004.  But once he was in he showed that he was in for the long haul.  At first team management was unsure of how to best utilize Sean.  His quickness combined with his left-handedness made him a potential leadoff hitter candidate, but that was a role that he was never fully comfortable with.  An extremely streaky hitter, when he’s going good Gerber adds a great deal of production to the back end of the Section 8 lineup.  One of the most humorous moments of the past two years came when Sean hit his first out of the park homerun this past summer.  When most of us hit a homer we take off as if it’s not going out and once it’s gone we slow up and trot the rest of the way, not Sean.  Sean hit the ball then posed at the plate and watched it go out before sauntering around the bases.  He seriously looked like Ken Griffey Jr.  But what is not known about that event is that Sean didn’t do that in an effort to show up the other team.  It was actually due to the fact that he was unable to run the bases that day because wasn’t wearing any underwear that day (as he has been known to do) and wanted to prevent any chafing.  In the field it also took a little while to figure out where Sean was best suited.  However the first time he dug one of Chayce’s errant throws out of the dirt at first base he was hired.  Summer of 2006 was Sean’s break out season.  He led the team with a .585 batting average, and was flirting with the .700 for several weeks.  Sean’s 2006 efforts raised his career batting average 63 points and vaulted him ahead several spots in a number of offensive categories.  The 2007 brought more of the same as Sean’s offensive output continued to increase.  He set a new personal high in batting average in the fall, after taking over the 3 spot in the order.  In 2008 inconsistent playing time hurt Gerbs’ overall numbers he was still productive and found himself right in the middle of some of the season’s biggest moments.

-Ranks 4^th all-time in games played (100)

-Ranks 5^th all-time in batting average (.455)

-Ranks 5^th all-time in hits (147)

-Ranks 4^th all-time in runs scored (136)

-Ranks 4^th all-time in doubles (21)

-Tied for 4^th all-time in home runs (4)

-Led the team in batting (.585) in summer 2006

-Synopsis

Philly B was one of the first people to get interested in playing on Section 8.  The conversation with manager Chayce Sutton went something like this: Chayce: “Hey, Phil I’m thinking about getting a softball team together, wanna play?”  Phil:  “Hell yeah!  Can I play 3^rd?”  Chayce: “Of course.”  Phil:  “Hell yeah!”  Widely regarded as the best infielder on the team, Phil has also proven himself to be one the most reliable players on the 8 squad.  The team’s all-time leader in games played, Phil has only misse 11 games in his career.  He has also proven himself to be one of the toughest players on the team, playing through a variety of injuries.  In April of 2005 Philly came down with a serious case of “Lisa Loeb Ankle” (a rare ankle disorder that occurs when one seriously rolls their ankle while stealing a poster of Lisa Loeb from Shank Hall) only two weeks before the opening of the 2005 campaign.  Despite this injury and the resulting pain that followed Phil for the entire season, he never missed an inning at third base.  Philly is also known to be clutch at the plate.  He is generally found at, or near, the bottom of the batting order but that is not because he’s a bad hitter.  He hits there because the manager has faith in Phil to do the things that need to be done in that position.  Whether that’s knocking in a two out run, extending a rally, or getting on base in front of the top of the order Philly B can get it done.  The 2006 season was no different, and Phil proved to be as reliable as ever.  In 2007, only a hot line drive in practice one day before a game caused Phil to miss a game.  2008 was more of what we have come to expect from Mr. B; he played in every game Section 8 was involved in.  Whether he is batting 5^th or 13^th, playing 3^rd base, polishing off a plate of Macho Nachos, jumping into a game in the last inning in his dress pants after arriving late, loaning an extra glove to his friend because he’s an idiot and lost his own, or just having his best offensive season to date, Philly B is invaluable to the 8. 

-Career Highlights

-Ranks 1^st all-time in games played (118)

-Tied for 1^st all-time in doubles (31)

-Ranks 8^th all-time in hits (138)

-Ranks 6^th all-time in triples (12)

-Ranks 8^th all-time in runs scored (97) and RBIs (76)

-Played every inning of every game in summer 2004, summer and fall 2005, summer 2006, summer 2008 and fall 2008

-Batted a career high .500 in summer 2007

-Synopsis

Dave joined Section 8 in the fall of 2004.  He took up a fill in type of role that season and preformed nicely.  The following season Dave went back to his role as the “super sub”, filling in from time to time when the 8 was short a man or two.  He always thrived as the “super sub”.  But when the team lost a player midway through the 2005 summer campaign Dave stepped in and filled the gap for good.  Despite now being a permanent member of the team, Dave still fills that “super sub” role.  While he has professed a preference for playing the outfield Dave has proven himself versatile enough to play pretty much any position and has done just that.  He has spent time at every outfield spot, shortstop, 3^rd base, 2^nd base and even stepped in and pitched a couple games when Nick and Terry were both unavailable.  In 2006, Dave found a more permanent home in the outfield where he excelled.  But much to his chagrin, Dave was also called upon to pitch more than he probably expected.  Be clear, it’s not that Dave isn’t a solid pitcher; it’s just that he hates doing it.  With Nick missing a lot of time with back troubles, and Terry missing half of the games due to bowling, Dave found himself on the mound 6 times in ’06.  Sorry dude.  In 2007 Dave missed a number of games while he was away completing his Jedi training.  When he returned though, he was able to shrug off dog fighting allegations and once again be one of Section 8’s most productive hitters until a late ankle injury ended his season.  Dave also established himself as the 8’s most powerful hitter in 2007, finishing 2^nd on the team in extra base hits despite missing 1/3 of the games.  To date 45% of his hits have gone for extra bases.  2008 saw Davey continue to crank out extra base hits.  The only difference this year was that this year he said “To hell with stopping on the bases, I’m goin’ all the way around.”  And that’s exactly what he did, hitting 7 homers in 16 games, all but one were inside the park jobs.

-Tied for 1^st all-time with 20 career home runs

-Ranks 2^nd all-time in RBIs (125)

-Ranks 3^rd all-time in triples (13)

-Tied for 6^th all-time in doubles (19)

-Ranks 7^th all-time in batting average (.448)

-Only Section 8 player with more career RBIs (125) than hits (120)

-Batted a career high .517 in summer 2008

-Led the team in RBIs in fall 2005 (13) and fall 2006 (18)

Peter Dargatz joined the team in the summer of 2008 as the most highly touted rookie to ever come up through the Section 8 system.  Stories of Peter’s live bat and superb defensive skills had been coming up from the team’s Triple-A Bayview affiliate for a couple years and everyone was buzzing when he finally got the call up to the big club.  As if that wasn’t pressure enough, Peter was being counted on to replace some of the production lost with the departure of Eric: who only led the team in damn near every offensive category.  Add to that the pressure that goes along with receiving the largest contract ever for a Section 8 rookie, and there were some questioning if Peter would ever be able to live up to the hype.  When it was all said and done, Pete not only lived up to the hype but he exceeded it.  He batted .529 in the summer campaign and finished 2^nd on the team in RBIs, despite missing 6 games with a separated shoulder (an injury he sustained diving to make a game saving catch in left-field).  As an encore, he then put up 24 hits (the most ever for a fall season) while hitting a team record .686 in the fall.  So needless to say, Peter figures to be a big part of Section 8’s success from this point forward. 

-Set team record for batting average (.686) in fall 2008

-Led team in RBIs (18) in fall 2008

-Synopsis

Jamie is the newest member of the Section 8 roster having just joined the team in the fall of 2005.  He is also the lone Badger on the roster, so we’re all taking bets on how long it will be until we have to kick him off the team for assaulting someone or stealing an Xbox.  In his first season Jamie took the role of light hitting infielder that has been filled by so many greats before him.  Hitting only .261, Curtin took his lumps in his rookie campaign just like most of us did.  But 2006 was a different story.  Jamie started to find his stroke toward the end of the summer season and also displayed a knack for getting on base by whatever means necessary, as evidenced by his .531 OBP in the fall season (good enough for 3^rd on the team).  Also, his career bests in batting average, runs scored, and RBIs showed he was becoming very adept as a do-it-all hitter.  In 2007 the evolution of Jamie Curtin continued as he set new career bests in average, runs, slugging, on-base, and walks.  2008 probably didn’t go quite as well as Jamie would have liked, but he did prove himself to be quite clutch, driving in a career high 11 runs on only 13 hits.

-Notched his first hit in career debut September 12, 2005

-Batted a career high .448 in summer 2007

-Tallied career high .556 OBP and .517 SLG in summer 2007.

-Ranks 5^th all-time in walks (22)

- Ranks 10^th all-time in games played (66) and doubles (4)

-Career Stats

-Synopsis

When Section 8 was first being formed the name Lucas Bittner was not one that most folks would have guessed would be on the roster.  But thanks to an insider tip Chayce received while on a, um, “scouting trip”, to the talent rich area of Platteville, WI The 8 was able to procure the services of “The Wild Bittner” for the inaugural campaign.  Now it’s difficult to remember a game without him.  No one is exactly sure what position Bittner plays.  He held down 2^nd base most of 2005, his left-handedness made it a little bit awkward for him.  The 2006 campaign saw him playing 3^rd base, outfield, and even a little catcher.  In 2007 Lucas even added 1^st base to his ever expanding defensive repertoire.  One thing that everyone does know is that Lucas can hit.  And if you ask him, he’ll tell you that’s all he really wants to do anyways.  Bittner is consistently at or near the top in every major offensive category.  He ranks in the top 3 all-time in just about everything.  And with Eric departing the team, it won’t be long until Lucas is on top of every stat category.  What can we say; the guy gets it done at the dish.  In 2008 Bittner showed he has a little flair for the dramatic as well.  He had walk-off hits in back to back games, including a 3-run homer in extra innings: the first ever walk-off homer in Section 8 history.  

-Section 8’s all-time batting leader with a .534 career average

-Ranks 1^st all-time in hits (199), RBIs (183) on base percentage (.569) and triples (20)

-Tied for 1^st all-time in home runs (20)

-Tied for 2^nd all-time in games played (112)

-Ranks 3^rd all-time in runs scored (146)

-Led the team in hits summer 2004, summer 2005, summer 2007 and summer 2008

-Led the team in batting average summer 2004, summer 2005, summer 2006, and summer 2007

-Led the team in RBIs summer 2004, summer 2006, summer, fall 2007 and summer 2008

-Holds the single season record for hits (34, summer 2005), RBIs (34, summer 2008) and home runs (7, summer 2008)

-Broke his collarbone diving for a ball in the last inning, of the last game of the summer ’05 season, while on the team was on the wrong end of a 17-1 beat-down.  While not a highlight per se, we feel it says a lot about the guy.

-Career Stats