OSLOPRETENDERS
We welcome our 9th member of the Hall of Fame
- By Terje Hoaas, December 11th 2014
Every vote has been registered and we are now ready to announce our new members of the Oslo Pretenders Hall of Fame. The election was between Bob Mainardi, Jostein Sameien and Matthew Soria.
In total we had 17 voters - 9 from the P-board, 7 from the HOF members and the last one from the rest of the active players in the club.
With 16 out of 17 1st place votes (the last one being blank), the winner got a total of 48 points, making it the highest points ever given to a winning candidate.
Let us welcome our 9th members of the Oslo Pretenders Hall of Fame!
And he is.....
Bob Mainardi (188 games, 1991-2009)
Big Bob was one of the founding members who started up the club back in 1991. Bob was the most feared power-hitter in the 90’s and set the tone right away by becoming the first player to hit two home runs in a single game in his rookie season for the club. Bob continued to smack the ball over the fence and counted an impressive 15 bombs after the season of 1996. After this his power started to decline, but Big Bob continued to play for over a decade at 1B for the Pretenders. He was finally caught by Glenn Wells for the home run king title in 2003 when Wells tied Bob’s lifetime record. But as a true Pretender and a warrior, Big Bob fought back the next season and smacked his 16th homer – his first in 8 seasons – to reclaim the title (at least for another season before both Wells and eventually Leif P Sandvik surpassed him on the list).
Bob Mainardi’s 1995 season stands out as one of the greatest single season ever played by a Pretender – hitting .491 with 5 homers (still tied as a single season record with Håkon Jåtun) with 44 RBIs (2nd best ever) and 55 total bases (3rd best ever). Bob also co-founded the P-kids team and helped coach for several seasons.
When the Mullah called Bob this morning, he was very happy to be voted in, saying “How about that! That’s the best news I’ve had all day!”
The Party
The Hall of Fame party will most likely be held at the season Opener in 2015.
More info will follow as we get closer to the date.
But for now: Congratulation Bob!
