Then & Now: Shredding The Record Book

Written by Josh Smith (@HWLcommissioner)  |  Commissioner and Author/Editor  |  08.08.2013 

Ask anyone who has played in the league since the beginning if the 2012 season was better and they will promptly correct you that it was not. In 2013 the league met milestones the commissioner did not think was possible as he began planning after the 2012 post-season. "I never imagined the league would double in players and involve so many people that I do not know," Commissioner Josh Smith said. "We really have made some gains that I would like to keep up going into next season. I would like to see us get 8, 10, 12, or more teams for the 2014 season. Greg [Sowards] and I have big plans for next year - all we need is to continue growing."

But it is easy for some of us who have been here since Day 1 not to recall the inaugural season with slight nostalgia as the records set by that season seem so far away and forgotten now that many of those records were broken in 2013. "The league is totally different and changed now," Co-commissioner Greg Sowards said. "The way I look at it is the 2013 season is really our first season. In 2012 there were only around a dozen of us and it was basically just the old league playing 40 miles west of where we usually played. We've reached a new level of competition." Indeed the skill of players has improved! But such a sudden and sharp change has been good for the league and it has changed the record book for the league in many categories which has made the 2013 season truly a year not to be forgotten...unless 2014 proves to be equally amazing.

Studying the graphic provided (above) it is plain to see that only 6 of the 22 season records were shattered in 2013. In the old record book Josh Berletich and Greg Sowards had their names plastered all over it. The only record Berletich has left is his 13 doubles from 2012. Sowards only preserved a couple records and broke a few of his own but his chief achievement is doubling the amount of strikeouts Berletich had in 2012. James Clagg can be seen in the record book for both offense and pitching but is tied with Greg Sowards for most single-season records at 8 each. Check out the new records below.