20th Annual BVL Rookie Draft Vegas Style
In less than three weeks we shall gather in Las Vegas to start the ball rolling on the BVL’s 20th annual rookie draft. This year there will be 92.857142857143% of the managers in attendance which is an all-time record. The draft will start promptly at 9:00 am Saturday March 23. The San Antonio Alamos have the first pick and will have a great selection of young rookies to select from with the likes of Ronald Acuna, Jr., Walker Buehler, and Juan Soto.
It’s difficult to keep anything running for 20 years but somehow this system and core group of managers make the BVL work. Sure there were growing pains and some bad managers but for the most part the league has seen successful and has seen good times. Here’s to another 20 years and hopefully we are still around to enjoy this silly game called Strat-o-matic baseball.
Here is the itinerary for Vegas…
Friday March 22 we will kick things off as usual after lunch. So 1:00, 2:00, in there. We’ll meet as we always do at a bar. The past few times we have gathered at a place at the top of the escalator at the Mandalay Place Shops. I have no idea if that particular place is still in business (couldn’t find a detailed map of the Mandalay Place shops if you can believe that) but just linger up there and somebody will find you. We will settle in for a few hours, until about 5. (The league picks up this tab, so cost to you = $0.)
At that point we’ll scatter and re-gather a bit later (time TBD) for dinner at Virgil’s BBQ, which is mid-Strip across from Caesar’s. (The place we have been going to, T&T in the Luxor, isn’t there anymore… and Mike has singled out Virgil’s so it will be excellent). The league will empty out its bank account when the check arrives, so cost you = not too much.
Saturday morning of course is the Rookie Draft, which will be as usual in Mike’s Suite at the Delano. (Pretty sure he’s in the Delano.) Doors open at 8:30 and the first pick is at 9. Pancakes will follow later in the morning. Draft tends to end in the 1:30/2:00 range and then you’re on your own for a bit.
This is where the weekend will deviate from the norm. Usually we buy show tickets and go someplace nearby first for dinner. This year we’re going to have a league cocktail party back in Mike’s suite. There will be a program of sorts with a few surprises, but thanks to Dave all of them will be rated G. (Thanks Dave.) The cocktail party will take the place of the show, and the cost to you is $100, payable in cash when you arrive. This’ll last a couple hours at which point we will head down to dinner at the Fabulous House of Blues, which is where our weekend will formally come to a close. (Dinner is a pay-for-your-own). Those who are around Sunday can figure out some sort of get-together. Or not.
(And btw this is such a special occasion that Mike is even going to hang with us Saturday night, which he never ever does and likely never will again.)