The second annual SPAM Tournament was played on Saturday 26 September on the dirt fields at Farnham Park, and the same two teams – SPAM and the M&Ms – made the final. Once again, it was the M&Ms that took the title.
Despite bad weather in the lead-up, the day of the tournament was bathed in September sunshine. Ten teams took part, up from six teams the year before.
The loose purpose behind the intended-to-be-annual event is to close out the London calendar with a tournament for B-grade teams that provides them with a rare opportunity to play on the show pitches at Farnham Park. And 2015 also marked SPAM’s 25th anniversary (the slowpitch team, not the ‘meat’), which led to the new strapline: ‘No Expiry Date.’
Teams and blues
All but one of the teams that participated was London-based, with the sole non-London team being the Portsmouth Dodgers, who made the long trip north and were rewarded with a late start.
A couple of notable entrants included the LASL All-Stars, who used the day as preparation for The Players Tournament a couple weeks later in the United States. Clapham Thunder, no longer a regular on the tournament scene, made a special effort to play in order to bid farewell to two of their longest-standing members: Mish Pratt and Ris Benbow. And the C team Death Stars, who filled a late gap in 2014, returned to play as a B team.
The tournament was supported by an excellent cohort of BASU umpires: Marcus Van Heerden, Shelley Craven and Simon Tymms, led by Crew Chief Chris Moon. Kate Scott staffed Tournament Control and was the official photographer for the day. Catering was provided in the form of a coffee van and ‘Pulled Foods’ mobile catering.
Results
The equation between the number of teams and number of fields meant that two groups of five teams were competing to finish in the top three in their group to earn an extra game.
All was going well until an on-field collision left a player prostrate and waiting for an ambulance for close to an hour. Fortunately, the injury turned out to be painful but not serious, and some re-jigging of the schedule allowed all games to be played. The final round of games were the Final, Plate and SPAM Can.
The SPAM Can game saw the Ninos Privados beat the LASL All-Stars, and in the Plate game, the KK’s held off Blitz despite a late rally.
The Final was a reprise of 2014, with SPAM facing the M&Ms. Both teams went into the game unbeaten, but the M&Ms led off with a home run and never looked back. SPAM didn’t put a run on the board until the fifth inning. The final score was 9-2 to the M&Ms.
So, for the second year running, SPAM was saved the embarrassment of winning their own tournament by being soundly beaten.
Tournament MVPs were Che Porteous (M&Ms) and Tanya Moran (SPAM). Winners and MVPs received a hand-etched wooden plaque, courtesy of Steve Karmiensky, and of course, a can of SPAM (or SPAM-lite for runners-up).
Final standings
(1) M & Ms
(2) SPAM
(3) KK’s
(4) Blitz
(5) Ninos Privados
(6) LASL All-Stars
(7) Finsbury Dazzlers
Thunder
(9) Death Stars
Portsmouth Dodgers