B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 10 – April 9, 2026
The awful news richoceted around the B League universe Tuesday of the passing of the great Kenny Jordan, this past Friday. Kenny was a beloved B Leaguer, truly a one-of-a-kind character, and a great friend who will be terribly missed. Here’s Kenny’s obituary, forwarded by Jeff Stone:
February 20, 1947 – April 3, 2026
Kenneth Francis Jordan passed away on April 3, 2026, leaving behind a legacy as vibrant and unforgettable as the life he lived. Full of energy, intensity, and heart, Ken was truly one of a kind—a proud New Yorker turned Texan who made an impression everywhere he went.A lifelong sports enthusiast and devoted Yankees fan, Ken could talk for hours about stats, games, and moments that mattered. He didn’t just love sports—he lived them. He continued playing weekly softball well into his later years and helped lead teams to two national senior softball championships.
Ken was a proud Army veteran who served in Vietnam and received the Bronze Star. He dedicated more than three decades of his life as a counselor with AISD, where he impacted countless students and families. He also coached girls’ softball, sharing his love of the game and his competitive spirit with the next generation.
He celebrated 48 years of sobriety—something he worked hard for and never took lightly—and he was always willing to share his experience with anyone who needed it.
Known by many names—Dr. J, “The Animal,” and Grandpa Owl—Ken was wicked smart, intensely driven, and endlessly curious. He never met a stranger and had a gift for conversation. Whether discussing politics, conspiracy theories, sports, or simply life itself, he could talk for hours—and often did.
An avid reader and writer, Ken was rarely seen without a book or one of his spiral notebooks tucked under his arm. He had stories in him that never stopped coming.
He loved deeply and fiercely—especially his dogs—and was a devoted father to Cole, Robin, and Frank. He is survived by his beloved wife of 17 years, Ellen Jordan, and his dog Bo, with whom he shared a special bond.
His grandsons, Jackson Kline and Ryder Jordan, brought him immense pride and joy and truly brought out the very best in him.
Ken found happiness in life’s simplest and most meaningful moments: walking his dog in the woods, jumping into ocean waves, riding his bike, and enjoying hot dogs at baseball games.
He was a force. A terrible driver. And a gift to us all.
Ken will be deeply missed, forever remembered, and always talked about—just the way he would have liked.
A celebration of life will be held in Austin, Texas this summer. Friends and family are invited to bring stories, photos, and memories to share on a special remembrance wall in his honor.
Department of Corrections: I missed that both Rick Kahn and Adam Reddell were perfect at the plate Monday. Rick in Purple’s game versus Maroon went 3 for 3 with a double and two triples. Adam in Orange’s game versus Red went 2 for 2 with a walk. The Picayune regrets the omissions.
Games of Thursday April 9:
10:30 a.m.: Orange (2-0) at Green (1-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 1 0 0 2 1 0 4 Green 3 4 0 5 X X 12 Pitchers: Orange – Jeff Stone; Green – Rex Horvath. Mercenaries: Orange – Jeff Stone and Scott Wright; Green – Tim Coles and Phil Stanch (entered for Steve Sandall in the bottom of the second inning). Umpires: home – Mike Velaney; bases – Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Green – Ivan Budiselic (2 for 2 with a walk and a triple), Larry Fiorentino (3 for 3 with a double), and Steve Sandall (2 for 2).
Rex Horvath was terrific on the mound for Green, allowing only four runs over six innings, and just one run over the first three (on four singles in the top of the first – he got Adam Reddell to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, Larry Fiorentino to Tim Coles to Chunky Wright, limiting the damage). When Green put up crooked numbers in its first at bats – three runs on four hits, including Ivan Budiselic’s triple and doubles by Steve Sandall and Larry Fiorentino, in the first; four runs after the first two batters went out in the second, on three singles, Ivan’s walk, and Mike Garrison’s bases-loaded triple – it effectively won the game. Orange had to play catch-up all day, and never got closer than four behind after the second inning.
Steve Sandall (2 for 2 with a double before having to leave the game for an appointment), Ivan Budiselic (2 for 2 with a walk and that first-inning triple), Larry Fiorentino (3 for 3 with a double), and mercenary second baseman Tim Coles (2 for 2) were all perfect at the plate for Green. Nobody was perfect at the plate for Orange, which managed just one extra-base hit in the game, a double by Pat Scott in the fourth that sparked Orange’s only multi-run rally of the day – Pat scored on Jack Crosley’s single to right-center, and Jack came around on base hits by Matt Levitt and Jeff Stone.
That briefly cut Green’s lead to 7-3, but they immediately scored five times in the home half of the fourth, on seven singles and Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly to Don Solberg in left field.
When Orange managed only one run in the top of the fifth, the final five-run inning, on two singles and Don Solberg’s sacrifice fly to Tom Brownfield in right field, a double flip-flop was invoked, as Green led by eight runs. They weren’t happy at losing a chance to bat (and I don’t blame them), but this has been the standard approach when the visiting team is trailing by eight or more after batting in the final five-run inning.
Jack Crosley and Matt Levitt singled to start the buffet. Hal Darman grounded into a 6-4 force for the first out. Jeff Stone hit a sharp one-hopper back to the box; Rex Horvath made a good play to his backhand to field the ball, and threw to Boo Resnick at first for the out; Jack Crosley took off for home but was gunned down by Boo, throwing to catcher Chunky Wright, for a game-ending 1-3-2 double play, as more or less seen here:
Final score: Green 12, Orange 4
11:30 a.m.: Gray (1-1) at Purple (0-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 5 5 0 2 X 17 Purple 4 0 1 3 1 2 11 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenary: Gray – Anthony Galindo. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Adam Reddell. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Bobby Miller (4 for 4 with two doubles) and Luis Sanchez (4 for 4 with a double); Purple – Mike Malay (4 for 4 with a double).
Weather report: 74 degrees, 70% humidity, wind ESE at 7 MPH; cloudy to start, then the sun burned through.
Gray came out hitting and built an insurmountable lead early, scoring five times in each of the first three innings. They made a single out in the first while knocking four singles and doubles by Daniel Carvajal (driving in the first two runs), Luis Sanchez (driving in the third), and Jim Foelker. Purple responded with four runs in the home half, on five singles and Rick Kahn’s double. Their first four batters hit safely, but Jack Kelly got three ground balls for force outs at second to leave the fifth run stranded.
Gray kept pounding the ball in the second, scoring five times again on seven consecutive hits without making an out, six singles and Bobby Miller’s double. (The first hit of the inning wasn’t pounded. Mike Velaney initially popped out to second baseman Mike Malay, but plate umpire Jack Crosley called “no pitch” on the play, and Mike got a second chance. He popped up again, but this time a short “taint” pop between third base and the mound that fell in front of third baseman Shane Hill, Mike beating it out. The next six hits were well struck.) Jack Kelly threw a scoreless bottom of the second, working around Peter Sundquist’s two-out single.
More of the same in the third: five runs for Gray on six singles and Daniel Carvajal’s bases-loaded walk (for his fifth RBI), Luis Sanchez’s single to right field driving in the fourth and fifth runs; Purple got one back on four singles in the bottom half, Jack Kelly helping himself escape a first-and-second, none-out jam by starting a 1-5-4 double play on Larry Shupe’s grounder back to the box – Jack threw to Shane Hill for the force at third, and Shane’s relay to second baseman Mike Velaney beat Ray Pilgrim to the bag.
Purple won the fourth inning, as Ray Pilgrim held Gray scoreless in the top half, working around a lead-off walk drawn by Dave Jaffe, and his teammates scored three runs in the bottom half, Patrick Schmidt and Rick Kahn lining doubles to right field. Heads-up defensive plays kept Purple from a bigger inning. After Rick Jensen singled and Patrick doubled to open the inning, Daniel Baladez grounded back to the box. Jack Kelly fielded the ball and was about to throw to first when his teammates alerted him that Patrick, advancing from second, had run up on Rick, who’d held at third. Patrick retreated, but rather than throw to second, Jack throw to Daniel Carvajal covering third, and Daniel’s sweeping tag caught Rick before he could get back to the bag, as approximately seen here:
That was out number one. Out number three came on Shane Hill’s sinking liner to right-center field, which Anthony Galindo caught about an inch off the turf, a great play.
Gray led 15-8 entering the fifth inning, and added two more runs. Mike Velaney drew a lead-off walk and took third on Bobby Miller’s second double, Bobby completing a 4-for-4 game at the plate. The runners held on Paul Rubin’s infield single, a soft looper down the third base side. Daniel Carvajal came up with five RBI in the game, but Ray Pilgrim got him to hit an infield fly to second baseman Mike Malay. Luis Sanchez then grounded a single to right-center, both Mike and Bobby scoring. It was Luis’s fourth hit in as many at bats, and gave him six RBI in the game.
Purple scored a single run on four singles in the bottom of the fifth. They had the bases loaded and just one out, but Jack Kelly got both Patrick Schmidt and Daniel Baladez to pop out to shortstop Paul Rubin.
With Gray holding a 17-9 lead, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Purple got two more runs on Peter Sundquist’s lead-off double, three singles – by Mike Malay, completing a 4-for-4 game and driving in his fifth run; Shane Hill, on a hard grounder to second that ate up Mike Velaney (“Oh, shit!” said Mike when the ball was hit his way – not a good sign, albeit a very funny one); and Larry Shupe, on another “taint” pop between third base and the mound – and Ray Pilgrim’s sacrifice fly to Bobby Miller in left-center field.
Final score: Gray 17, Purple 11
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (1-0) at Blue (1-0):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 2 0 2 0 0 1 5 Blue 0 5 0 0 3 X 8 Pitchers: Maroon – Jeff Stone; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Blue – Anthony Galindo and Adam Reddell (redeemed a green chip). Umpires: home – Peter Sundqist; bases – Rick Jensen. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – George Brindley and Jack McDermott (both 3 for 3); Blue – Tom Bellavia (3 for 3), David Brown (2 for 2 with a double), and Adam Reddell (2 for 2).
Unsurprisingly, a game featuring two of the league’s best pitchers was the lowest-scoring contest of the day. Maroon broke on top, as its first three batters – Jack McDermott, George Brindley, and Tony Garcia – opened the game with singles, Jack coming around to score. Joe Bernal then retired seven batters in a row, a second run scoring on Ken Brown’s sacrifice fly to left fielder Lawrence Page.
Jeff Stone held Blue scoreless in the bottom of the first. Tom Bellavia led off with a double, but Tony Garcia, moving to his left, made a good play on Larry Young’s hard grounder up the middle and turned it into a 6u., 6-3 double play. Jeff then got George Romo to ground back to the box.
After Joe Bernal retired the side in order in the top of the second, with Adam Reddell making an excellent catch going back of Fritz Hensel’s pop behind second, Blue put together the game’s one big inning, scoring five times in the home half on Joe’s lead-off walk and six singles, a couple of which were line drives, another a hard grounder through the 5-6 hole, but three of which were unplayable pop-fly hits.
Maroon cut Blue’s lead to 5-4 with two runs on four singles in the top of the third. That inning ended with second baseman Adam Reddell making another fine defensive play, moving to his left to field Jeff Stone’s ground-ball bid for a hit through the 3-4 hole and converting it into a 4-3 out.
Jeff then threw a scoreless bottom of the third, working around Larry Young’s lead-off single. George Romo got a hold of a pitch and drove it to deep left field, but Jack McDermott was playing deep and made the catch, about ten feet in front of the fence, for the first out.
Neither team scored in the fourth, Joe Bernal working around a pair of one-out singles in the top half, Jeff Stone stranding David Brown at second after he knocked a one-out pop-fly double to right in the bottom of the frame.
Maroon put runners on the corners when Jack McDermott and George Brindley singled with one out in the top of the fifth, but Joe Bernal stranded them, getting Tony Garcia to ground out to third baseman George Romo and Kevin Brown to ground out back to the box.
Blue then gave Joe some breathing room by scoring three times in the bottom half. The first four batters singled, Adam Reddell (having one heck of a game) and Tom Bellavia completing perfect days at the plate. Larry Young’s line single up the middle loaded the bases for George Romo, whose single to right drove in Adam and Tom. Jeff Stone made a good play on Joe Bernal’s grounder back to the box, starting a 1-6-3 double play. David held at third on the play, then scored on Lawrence Page’s double to center field.
Maroon needed four to tie entering the buffet inning. Jeff Stone and Steve Browne singled to open the inning. Fritz Hensel grounded into a 6-4 force, Jeff’s runner taking third. That runner then scored on David Pittard’s line single to center, but the game ended with Adam Reddell making another terrific defensive play, moving to his right to field Dale Fugate’s hard grounder just to the right of second base, and starting a 4u., 4-3 double play.
Final score: Blue 8, Maroon 5
2026 standings:
| Session 2 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 27 | 13 | 14 | W6 |
| Green | 2 | 1 | .667 | 0.5 | 46 | 34 | 12 | W1 |
| Orange | 2 | 1 | .667 | 0.5 | 32 | 33 | -1 | L1 |
| Gray | 2 | 1 | .667 | 0.5 | 44 | 48 | -4 | W2 |
| Maroon | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 23 | 17 | 6 | L1 |
| Red | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 | 21 | 31 | -10 | L2 |
| Purple | 0 | 3 | .000 | 2.5 | 31 | 48 | -17 | L3 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Green | 1-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 | ||
| Orange | 2-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Gray | 1-1 | 1-0 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-0 | ||
| Maroon | 1-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Red | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| Gray | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| Orange | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Purple | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Red | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| TOTAL: | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 30 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Tony Garcia – 2
Richard Battle – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Allen Phillips – 1
George Romo – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 3 (March 2, March 19, March 30)
Ray Pilgrim: 3 (March 5, March 23, March 26)
Tommy Deleon: 1 (April 6)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Jeff Stone: 1 (March 2)
Schedule for Monday April 13:
10:30 a.m.: Green (2-1) at Blue (2-0), Red umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Red (0-2) at Maroon (1-1), Green umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Orange (2-1) at Gray (2-1), Maroon umpiring
Purple has the bye, with (secondary) priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: It’s a battle for first place at 10:30, when Green takes an undefeated Blue, riding a six-game winning streak. If Blue prevails, they’ll continue to have first place to themselves. If Green wins, they’ll finish the day tied for first with the winner of the 12:30 contest between Orange and Gray, both at 2-1 after today’s action. Either Red or Maroon will end its short losing streak in the 11:30 game. All this is weather permitting – there’s a lot of rain in the forecast for the next four or so days, so keep an eye out for late-breaking cancellation news. Will any of the Krieg fields be playable on Monday? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Umpire chip status:
David Brown: 2 green chips (1 green + 2 red chips)
Rex Horvath: 1 green chip
Rick Jensen: 2 green chips
Jim McAnelly: 2 green chips
Jack McDermott: 1 green chip
Adam Reddell: 1 green chip
George Romo: 1 green chip
Jeff Stone: 3 green chips
Peter Sundquist: 2 green chips (2 red chips)
Mike Velaney: 1 green chip
Rip Wright: 1 green chip
Scott Wright – 1 green chip (2 red chips)
Larry Young: 1 green chip
George Brindley: 1 red chip
Ken Brown: 1 red chip
Clint Fletcher: 1 red chip
Jim Foelker: 1 red chip
Rick Jensen: 1 red chip
Marvin Krabbenhoft: 1 red chip
Tommy Langa: 1 red chip
Jim Maloy: 1 red chip
Jim McAnelly: 1 red chip
Trent Peacock: 1 red chip
Adam Reddell: 1 red chip
Steve Sandall: 1 red chip
Larry Shupe: 1 red chip
Mike Velaney: 1 red chip
Larry Young: 1 red chip
(1 green chip for umpiring a full game behind the plate. 1 red chip for umpiring a full game on the bases. 2 red chips = 1 green chip. 1 green chip gets a player priority out of the bucket.)
Keggy’s Korner:
You don’t want to miss this: Boo Resnick and Hotcakes will be playing at Donn’s Depot on Saturday April 18 from 9:00 p.m. (-ish) to 1:00 a.m. (-ish).
These mitts were left behind today. Scott Wright has them, and will bring them Monday (or whenever we next play).
Podcast review: The Athletic Hockey Show
This podcast helped revive my NHL fandom – in addition to being timely and informative, it’s consistently funny as hell in its coverage of the hockey world – primarily the NHL, but also college hockey and the WNHL. Great set of rotating hosts, mostly beat writers for The Athletic, including Sean Gentille, everyone’s wise-ass kid brother; Sean McIndoe, a.k.a. Down Goes Brown, a.k.a. The Other Sean, everyone’s wise-ass older brother; Hailey Salvian, everyone’s goofball kid sister; and Jesse Granger, The Goalie Whisperer. Friday episodes are usually The Prospect Series with Corey Pronman, that on-the-spectrum, obsessive-compulsive stats geek everyone went to high school with – this gets a bit in the weeds about the skating abilities of 16-year-old Canadian juniors who are long shots to ever play in the NHL, and brings the overall rating down from a five to a four. The regular schedule is three episodes a week, about an hour each, with occasional special episodes covering trades and other breaking news, plus during the playoffs they have post-game reaction shows every weekday – it’s a ton of content, a lot of which I consume semi-passively, while doing other things (like formatting the Picayune in advance of publishing and updating the web site). New England content: Less than you’d think, they tend to go light on the Bruins in favor of the Penguins (the team Gentille covers) and the worst-run NHL franchises. They do occasionally bring on Bruins beat writer Fluto Shinzawa, who is great. Canadian content: So much Great White North content, much of it snarky (Down Goes Brown’s scorching commentary on the shitshow that is the Toronto Maple Leaf front office is justification by itself to subscribe) – it’s a big reason this is a favorite podcast of mine.
Rating: 