Monday, December 21, 2009

Treasure Island- December 20, 2009

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH, tis be a field of no uncommon worth, full of dirt and grass tis the likes of which ye have never seen!


Just when you think it might all fall apart, the bonds of the MBC come together and reassure you that we are not going anywhere. Deficit? HA! 26 or 27 brave souls ventured out to Treasure Island in the middle of th bay to play a game of baseball, five days before Christmas. The weather was a balmy 63 degrees when we started, we suffered through a little rain, but all it did was wet down the field and pass along.

And what a field it was! Bob had hooked us up with the little league field that he and John use during league play, and to paraphrase tony, It was a pleasure to play on a field that we didn;t have to worry about stepping a huge divot, or clump or take a bad hop off the dome. Infield and outfield both were in pristine condition, helped by the keys to the Club car that allowed us to drag the dirt before the game.

We decided a rematch of the last game was a fair way to start, with Satch and Sean going head to head. After a uneventful first half of an inning, the homers sent a few men to the plate, and then a few more, and had a 3 run lead. That we lost the very next inning, and the score was tied 3-3. But Sean was not in overpowering form this week (Hopefully your arm is alright! ICE ICE ICE). While Satch waited for the weather to darken to help the travel of the changeup and knuckle, Sean was hurt by the dink, the muff, the sun in the clouds, the gapper, and the error.

After five, we decided it was not fair to keep throwing, as we had too many people sitting out, so we stepped aside and Johnny and Mike Holland came in. Mike faired a little better than Sean, but the score stood 8-4 and it stayed that way until the 8th, when again the pitchers changed, and Ezra, in from NY and Trevor, Zach's friend also in from NY, came to finish the job. Trevor had some trouble finding the dish, and the visitors started a comeback, scoring a few, but in the end, the comeback was not to be, and 9-6 was etched by the final out.

Some of us tried in vain to let the game continue until it was too dark to see, but the rain was on its way again, and we decided it was better to have 9 good innings than risk a bad inning at the end.

Highlights:

* A great game of pitchers, of all sets, calibers and angles.

* Nice defense from Brian Cagle, playing Nick Smith perfectly

* Thanks Bob, for over running my hit

* Thanks everyone for coming out and playing

* The sliding and catching on the pristine diamond was great!

* Nice Scoops, Adam and JT

* Nice vacuuming Tony, Chris, Johnny, Mike and Tim

* Great game John and Emilia, now try not o wander away in the Club Car too often, or at least, don't crash it when you come riding back

* Great drives, Rojas! Sean!

* Way to leg out the infield single, John!

* Way to steal the base, Cagle, Satch, Philips, etc.

* Love the comebackers!

* Can't wait to see the pics from Nick, especially the one of Tony get brickhoused at home by Bob...

* Anthony, we can get you some shades. Thanks for coming out!

See you after the Xmas thing, same time same place:

Happy Solstice everybody,

S. Paige

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

December 6th, 2009- Balboa Park

Pitchers' duel
A low-scoring game in which the starting pitchers on both teams allow few hits and at most one or two runs.


So if ever there was a good description of a game this is it, although he way the game started, I wouldn’t have thought it would have been anywhere close. We had 20, by the time the Johnny come lately’s straggled in, and we set our sights on getting one more game before the winter officially descended. Satch started for the homers and promptly game up a leadoff triple to Bob, which was hit with such authority; if I didn’t know better I would have thought he knew I was going to hang a curveball to him. Bob, winded on third, was smiling big. Chris bashed another pitch to left, and made it to second. Sean sent a low hanging line drive that seemed destined for the third extra base hit in a row. But Gaspar, racing in, snatched it just above the turf, and then winged it into second to double off Chris who had scored by the time he realized the ball had been caught. The homers narrowly escaped the inning with only a run against them, 1-0.

However, Sean was dealing all day, and we went down with only one hit/error in our half of the 1st. And thus, the duel began. Sean overpowered us all day, we started to count the strikeouts and once we reached 10, we decided it was easier to just say he was a having a great day and leave it at that. Satch came back with a lot of guile, the knuckleball was hiccupping well in the heavy wet air, and we got out of a lot of tight spots with some clutch plays, including an "infield in" play at the plate. In the third, Tony got on, stole second, went to third on a pass ball, and Satch drove him in with a fielder’s choice up the middle. 1-1.

And it stayed like that. Through rain, hail, wind, and sun again. The outfielders shivering in the wet grass, infielders taking the ball in the painful palm of the glove, but still making the play. Gaspar, who had been traded after the first to the visitor’s team, ended up being the defensive player of the game, with a score of plays at third on hard hit groundballs, which snuffed every chance of rally we could muster. The K’s mounted, neither team willing to give in. We found ourselves facing another man on third, infield in situation, but this time Chris was the runner, and the groundball to Tony seemed tailor-made, the throw got there in time, and Greg got the tag on him. Only one thing was missing, the ball. It sat quietly behind the dish, just mocking us.

A nail biter of a 8th led to the last chance in the 9th, Sean and Satch still battling, neither willing to go until the contest was complete. Bottom of the 9th, Greg and Tony both get on, although only by the grace of God, as Chris had a chance at a perfect double play, the wet ball finally giving us a break. Satch strode the plate, confidence was high. So was the fly ball I hit to short center…. Greg, sensing our chances were becoming slim and few, tagged and raced for third. Stoner, catching the ball, winged it into third. Greg barely beat the throw (and should have been sliding), but then ran over the bag and past the tag, only to be tagged out trying to dive back to the bag. No one seemed to want it to end, but the next storm cloud was well overhead, and it was a carwash by the time we all got home, perhaps the final game of 2009 in the books, a classic contest, a team effort on both sides, and the best way to spend a Sunday.

Highlights:
• Bob, again with the bat, and throws out Cagle at second base, and it’s all on film!

• Sean, amazing performance, completely dominating, and a couple of fierce at bats as well.

• Struck out at least 3 with the knuckleball, perfect weather for it

• Some close plays at 1st, nice work getting the ball, and holding on to it

• Thanks to Nero for coming out with a bum wheel, and playing anyway!

• Satch made a nifty dive and catch on a infield pop up destined for no man’s land, scratched up my arm and leg pretty good too, something to brag about over the holidays

• Greg caught the whole game, nice work! Bob and Adam did a stellar job as well, nice to see Adam behind the dish again.

• Solid knock-it-down defense the whole game, it is great when the defenses are balanced

• Ben, Elvin, Vic, and Anthony, thanks for keeping up the attendance, and Stoner’s new guy, although we were worried his camera was going to get foul tipped

• The mad scramble of cops at 2:30 was weird, never seen a cop move that fast. Some sergeant in the Ingleside took a bullet fragment, and they swarmed. Kid who was arrested just got off a murder rap…

• If anyone buys pine tar over the break, make sure it’s the good stuff that smells like pine tar, not like weird chemicals, that new shit is terrible. And yes, there is a difference.

• New favorite BNB quote, “ I’m not going to talk to you about winning…I’m gonna talk to you about losing…Because if you lose this game…each and every one of you...is going have to live with that…you are about the best team I ever coached.”

Stay loose, stay dry, oil the glove and pray for sun,

S. Paige


The Video's

1. Caught Stealing ( I want everyone to watch where Bob's glove goes on that called strike....hahahahahaha, and well, what can we say Bob, you nailed that fucker! Showoff....



2. Big stick strikes out. Sorry Tony, think of it as a learning tool.




3. Chris takes Satch "deep drive."




4. Shitty Satch popup


5. I walk Sean, and then get him to swing at a knuckleball....I'm a dick....


6. Cagle Slash Bunts! I love it, always loved the slash bunt....the error helps....



7. The Big Stick gets caught leaning too, man...