Every year Garrett Metal Detectors honors a police softball player who goes over and above the normal call of duty in order to better serve his community. This year, Oakland Police Department Sgt. John Koster was selected for his outstanding efforts in a city plagued by crime and violence. Sgt. Koster supervises the Oakland PD Youth Outreach Unit (Y.O.U.). This unit’s primary mission is to mentor at-risk youth and to bridge the gap between the police and the community. Through Sgt. Koster’s direct leadership and efforts, the Y.O.U. has become an integral part of the Department and the community.

We at PS wanted to take a cue from ESPN. No, we are not going to hammer politically slanted agendas into your living room while you are sitting on the couch eating your Wheaties, but we are going to put the spotlight on players and incidents from our past and humanize the people in our game. Every player on the field, whether we love them or have a little bit of competitive disdain for them, will risk their life for you, and that is something special that very few sports can say. We thought starting off this series with 2017 East Conference Player of the Year Corey Rogerson would be a great way to kick this off. Corey comes into the World Series on the #1 ranked team in the East Conference and we cannot wait to see what they can do with the microscope on them. So here is 20 questions from one of our fav players to watch. We hope this gives you some insight into one of the best players in our game. (Our comments are in parenthesis at the end of each answer)

In the police softball world, Jeff Blair is one of the co-founders of police softball.com and the SoCal Alliance. He is a member of our Hall of Fame, writes a regular police softball article for Softball Magazine and a former World Series Champion. In the police world, he made his bones as a highly respected gang investigator and he is finishing the last run of his career as a captain in a southern California agency. In the world of prognostication, he is known as the Swami. Every year he will make his World Series predictions and he is way closer to right than wrong. Today he is our 20 for 20 subject.

Jimmy Knapp is a member of the World Series Champions Chicago Metro team and one of the legitimate good guys in police softball. We caught up with him recently to spotlight to man behind the jersey. As usual, our comments follow his in parenthesis.

If you know West Coast Softball, you know Q from NorCal. He is a former Defensive Player of the Year and is one of the most exciting players in our our game. We caught up with Q recently and here is his 20 for 20: Name -

Mike Snyder is very well known in police softball. If you do not know who he is, look for the 6'5 250 pound player that runs like a gazelle and hits like a machine. He has won three World Series titles, a World Series MVP, and a Player of the Year with the SoCal Alliance. Mike is now on his first year with the newly reformed LAPD Blue team and he hopes to help bring them their first title at World Series XIII. Here is Mike's 20 for 20 with our comments in parenthesis: :

Matt Tindell is a former Player of the Year and a World Series Champion and he is now a 20 for 20 interviewee. Matt will be our final 20 for 20 subject prior to the World Series so sit back and see what he has to say.

We can debate who the best team and player is, but there is no debate as to who is the strongest man on our circuit is. That man is David Zyski and he is our next 20 for 20!

On the night of October 1, 2017, a cowardly gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving 58 people dead and 546 injured. My wife and daughter were in that crowd and escaped physically unharmed. My daughter had to step over wounded concert goers to escape and there were moments of terror as my wife and daughter were separated for over 10 minutes while the shots rang out. Unable to contact each other, they had no idea if the other had escaped. Fortunately, they both did.One week later my wife and I returned to Las Vegas, feeling blessed and also looking forward to spending the week with brother law enforcement officers from all over the United States and Canada. The event we were celebrating was our 13th annual Police Softball World Series at the pristine Big League Dreams complex.

We kicked off the 2018 year with the 19th Annual Brian Aselton Memorial Tournament early this year in January but welcomed the sun and 70 degree weather making for a highly competitive tournament with several close walk off games. It didn't take long for the guys to shake off the rust and get right back into it.

Between the World Series and the DEA Kickoff, veteran teams folded, new teams formed, players moved to new teams, new players arrive on scene, and which team has the best new uniforms. But this year, it was much more than that.

Many changes were made this year for our annual softball tournament that probably should have been made years ago. Bacon ball was dropped and John Scollo Memorial was born. We will forever be grateful for Bacon ball and all they contributed in the past. The tournament was moved to a different complex along with the host hotel, and both received very positive reviews.

On Friday, April 20, 2018, 12 teams traveled to Manteca to compete in the 3rd Annual Cen Cal Connection Spring Bash. The weather was great; teams had 10 homeruns with ZN softballs being used, led to some high scoring games.

The 5th Annual Law Enforcement Desert Shootout Tournament was once again held on May 11th and 12th at the Golden Eagle Complex in Sparks, NV. The weather was slightly uncooperative but not a problem for those who love the game.A portion of this year’s proceeds went to the Ofc. John Hege Memorial Fund (OJHMF.org). John gave the ultimate sacrifice on March 21st, 2009. As an organ donor, he lives on through those he was able help after his death. Please check out OJHMF.org and become a donor.

Police Softball.com is proud to announce that the 2018 Hall of Fame nomination period will begin June 1, 2018 and end July 12, 2018. These dates will offer the opportunity for each newly selected Hall of Fame member to be recognized at more tournaments by their peers and/or tournament directors throughout the year. As in every year all 2018 Hall of Fame members will be honored and officially inducted to the PS.COM Hall of Fame at the PS.COM World Series in Las Vegas October 12, 2018.

The West Conference Championship was played in Los Angeles County (West Covina) for the first time since the inaugural year over a decade ago. It was dubbed “The Battle for Los Angeles” and the event drew a record 29 teams from a variety of states including: New York, Michigan/Illinois, Utah, Washington, Arizona, Nevada and of course California which is still ONE state despite all of the politics pushing to separate it into thirds.

The weather was hot, complex was nice, Miken bats were provided. Great opening ceremony, players party was off the charts. A new format was put in place to add new competition for the major teams. While still having a gold division championship as well. It's called a slugfest tourney. We had the the top 6 seed teams play one game for seeding 1-6. All other teams are pre seeded in the open bracket with the top six teams. They then play 2 and out open tourney. After being eliminated the bottom 8 teams dropped to a gold division 2 and out tourney.

The big fields at BMAC, along with the wind and the high humidity made for some low scoring, but very competitive games. The humidity mushed up the balls and there were many players that did not hit a home run, with only the “real” home run hitters hitting them, which made for interesting games and adjustments. I have to mention how absolutely awesome it was to see Trini and Camper battling with their teams, out on the fields in St. Louis, after all they have been through. During pool play, some notable games were the Iowa Lawmen defeating Ohio Lawmen, San Antonio Law beating DEA Combo and United Kansas City over Kentucky Blue. Also, Midwest Heat lost a one run game to DEA Combo, before defeating North Florida Showdown. These games caused some of the pre-tournament favorites to be seeded lower than expected once bracket play started.

After 2 weeks of deliberation, our Hall of Fame committee selected the following list of names into the 2018 Class as Hall of Fame:

Friday night finished bracket play in just enough time to avoid some serious thunderstorms that was brought on by the humidity which made the the air as thick as Potter’s Neck who was in attendance for the event! Rain put the HR Derby Finals on hold but it did not stop the party! As a brotherhood which we are, we all stood together under the tent and had our moment of silence for our brother Del who was looking down on us through the storm! Once the Pipes were done, it was back to Police Softball camaraderie at its best. The rain in an essence forced all the teams to be under the tent at the same time for that moment, and that night turned into one of the best players parties I’ve ever seen! I’m pretty sure Del helped me out with the rain to force everyone to a standing room only event, every time I think of it I get the chills. The Hounds tournament has always been a celebration of what we put our lives on the line for, a give back to our brothers in the way of a Softball Tournament with a party sprinkled in. In the end we Honor our Heroes with a little give back to their families in remembrance.