The teams meet this Saturday, June 22, in DecathaJAM, the 10th-annual meeting between the franchises. The game takes place at Cook Field.
Those drafted by the Blasters included Mike Campoli, Tom Dever, Chris Blakely, Matt Fornabaio, Rob "Rubar" Andrusco, reigning Most Valuable JAMmer R.T. McShane and John Licht.
The defending champion Patches selected Mike Fornabaio, Geoff Bowler, Ed McDowell, George McShane, Joe Licht, Alex Nalencz and Ed Vitelli.
The remainder of the rosters will be filled via a draft held on the day of The JAM.
First pitch is 3:30 p.m.
In addition to the traditional softball game for possession of the Lord Twon JAM Cup, this year's JAM includes a special 10-event series, DecathaJAM, in honor of the 10th anniversary of Everyone's Favorite Yonkers-Based Softball Extravaganza. Highlights include throwing for distance and accuracy, running the bases, beer chugging and the "Ultimate Event," a two-man operation involving hills and running. The competition will begin immediately following the presentation of the JAM Cup.
"The DecathaJAM is a 10-event skills competition that highlights the two things which The JAM most represents: softball and human absurdity," Campoli said.
Each JAMmer may participate in no more than five events. The top-five finishers in each event will receive points, and the invididual with the most points at the end of the day will be crowned DecathaJAM Champion.
The JAM date was moved up a week to June 22 earlier this month.
"Due to various scheduling conflicts and numerous requests to reach an equitable accomodation, it has been determined that The JAM will be moved from Saturday, June 29, 2002, to Saturday, June 22, 2002, the more traditional third Saturday in June for the event," Campoli said.
"I have checked around, and the date change seems to work for most people -- in fact, it seems to work for more people than the original date."
The Patches will be trying to even the all-time series between the venerable franchises. Winners of the last three epics, the Patches still trail the series 5-4, dropping five straight after winning the inaugural JAM, Jammy Jam, in 1993.
lordtwon@yahoo.com