3/27/11- St. Mary's

Told you it would be ready by Sunday, but noooooooo, you didn't listen. Well, all you suck-asses that didn't make it, missed a hell of a game. We ended up playing Havana 6's, until Doc, that's right, you sumbitches got shown up by a old guy, showed up and made it 13. And we all played a hell of a game. John , his brother in law and nephew were out before 1, shoveling dirt, draining water, raking the diamond, because they wanted to PLAY BASEBALL. Sean, fresh from his UK stint, and eager to play was there, and of course, Satch went at him. The first four innings were not real pretty, Sean must have been dreaming about this game, because I think he must have had double digit (12?) strikeouts for the day. Which is real tough when you only have 6 people on the team. I know Phelps and Mitch both wore golden sombreros for the day. The visitors had no problem with scoring runs, and the score was 3-0 for the first four frames. Satch muddled along, getting loose, and when Sean struck out the side, I countered with a 3 pitch inning. I'll take that any day of the week.

After my strikeout at a ball in the dirt, I was able to get on first through an errant throw. Took second on a fielders choice, and then stole third. That's right. Gamer. Noah made a spot-on throw and I would have been hosed, had I not taken the sliding option of the outside, so as to avoid colliding with Loren. Suddenly, we were on the board. 3-1. Mitch followed, as did another, and another, and before we knew what was going on, we had taken the lead 4-3.

We never relented the lead, and for some reason, the same pitches that were unhittable earlier were falling for extra base hits. Sean pitched 7 and then gave the ball to Noah, who did a great job of keeping us close. By that time, the score had reached a very kind 7-4 (we subtly erased a 3 run homerun by this high school kid, Josh, to keep the game from being a washout.) I kept hurling, and was able to avoid catastrophe, easier said then done, when you know that you have to face Chris, Loren and Sean every inning. Luckily, the changeup was working, so I got the pop ups I needed. Final score, lets say 11-4.

The weather stayed nice for the game, we were joined by a few bums and a lady bum with her small dog in tow. Very strange. They never really got into it, but I did hear the occasional cheer.

Highlights:

* Everyone who actually showed up.

* Dan, John's brother-in-law, made a spectacular over the shoulder catch in right field to stop a rally.

* There were some long balls hit, including the homer that Josh had

* Doc and JT did a good job at playing positions that I know they don't enjoy

* The nice thing about striking out a lot in Havana 6 is you know you will have at least 4 other at bats to get it right.

* Josh also had a number of great plays at 3rd. Please come out again!

* Thanks to Greg, Noah and Loren for catching, St. Mary's is not the easiest field to play backstop, between the sun, and the short wall that sends caroms back into your spine

* Chris, of all people, missed a sure fire double play ball, blame can sort of be laid at the feet of a very soft infield that deadened every ball that took the first bounce in the grass

* Mitch had a tough day at the plate to begin with, but laid down the prettiest bunt I have seen in a long time, that's the kind of baseball I love!

Well, it looks like its drying out, so all your fair weather players can show up again. S. Paige.

PS. I am including our current email list. If you see email's on here that you know are invalid, let us know. It's stupid to have 100+ people in a email chain, and not be able to conjure up more than 10 people.

Chris Powell <chris.powell@eminent-designs.net>; Daley Aaron Robert Carey ; aaron@lixolux.com; Adam Pfahler ; applegrc@sutterhealth.org; bhats25@yahoo.com; bigben527@hotmail.com; Bill Zerbes ; bothan25@yahoo.com; brad.mason5@gmail.com; Brian Cagle ; Brian Girgus ; brianphelps415@aol.com; Carl Grubbs ; cbberman@yahoo.com; chad.one@gmail.com; "chefjamesmueller@comcast.net" ; chris@eminent-designs.net; craigbaerwald@gmail.com; Dan Mandel ; Dan Martin ; Dan Phillips ; Dani Leone ; Danny Chester ; Dave Johnson ; David Neumark ; david_lewis99@hotmail.com; dchapnick@vantagepartners.com; Dennis Briskin ; Doug Norris ; Duane Harris ; ed_sidawi@yahoo.com; elvin.vu@gmail.com; esakumoto@yahoo.com; Ezra Gale ; fierlight@yahoo.com; focusphere@gmail.com; franmcalero@yahoo.com; gd3@pacbell.net; Greg and Oliver Magrane ; Greg Snyder ; gregmitra@sbcglobal.net; harguspig@aol.com; Jason Pienkowski ; jbspack@gmail.com; jcav0917@hotmail.com; jcivetz@gmail.com; jgruer@hotmail.com; jmcgrathlaw@aol.com; jmhamilton@hotmail.com; johncnero@yahoo.com; Johnny Bartlett ; Jonathan Tiemann ; jsinnarajah@google.com; kanderson03@gmail.com; Keefe Dwyer ; Kevin Connell ; loren.s.fraser@gmail.com; macclonan22@yahoo.com; Matt Chandler ; Matt Stone ; menlopark_ussd@yahoo.com; Mike Gaspar ; Mike Lattig ; MIKEHOLLAND2000@gmail.com; Mitchell Burnham ; Neel Bhatia ; nicholas castoria ; Nick Levine ; Nick Smith ; NickKinsey@yahoo.com; nishant.bhatt@gmail.com; noah.s.bowling@gmail.com; NOMAD1854@yahoo.com; owenrundall@hotmail.com; Paul Kibel ; Pete Simoneli ; Peter van Schaik ; phil_colvin@yahoo.com; PLAIN_RO@yahoo.com; pshebs@gmail.com; rfordiani9@yahoo.com; Richard Baluyut ; Richie Garcia ; Rick Kvoriak ; rjaneway10@gmail.com; Rob Kvoriak ; Ryan Bezenek ; salvadorwill@yahoo.com; Sean Paul Presley ; seansullivanesq@gmail.com; skileschico@yahoo.com; solszew@yahoo.com; Tony Acquarelli ; Tony Rojas ; venturatile@sbcglobal.net; victor@cdxbuilders.com; Vitalij Stelmashewko

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

So here we sit, watching the drizzles, the downpours, the light misting, and hoping against hope that it will be dry enough by Sunday to play. Only to be deluged with some sort of biblical storm right around game time.

Johnny Bartlett has been in Buenos Aires, with the Phantom Surfers, and Sean and Anthony are with Nodzzz in the UK. Adam is in LA. Someone must have given them the info early that this stretch of the month was going to really blow, weather-wise.

Now I will state that the St. Mary's field is amazingly resilient and dries very quick, even after a big storm. So, rain on the weekend will not necessarily mean that we won't be playing. The last few times we have attempted a last minute switch, the response has been less than stellar. So this is just a heads up, that St. Mary's is playable on a week that you might think there was no chance. So come on out if the call is made.

Other than that...at least its not snowing.

Fuck you fucking rain, you are ruining my life, and forcing me to do things like clean and my wife is going to divorce me if I keep moping around like this!

Bring on the baseball!

S. Paige

3/13/11- Moscone

We are playing baseball and that is final. That was pretty much the gist of the mail that I sent out at the beginning of the weekend. And it seemed to work well enough, we had exactly 18 out there, and a pretty good game after it was all said and done. Although the teams may have been a little lopsided, there was enough tension to warrant that it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.

Satch started for the homers, and threw the standard 9, plus two innings of the 3 inning game that we played afterwards. Yeah, you read that right. And the arm isn't really all that sore today, its mostly legs and back and ankles and wrists. But more on that later. Greg started for the visitors, and did a great job keeping us stymied for most of the game. The visitors teed off on me like the stands were packed with baseball scouts, and when they weren't getting legit hits, there were some miscommunication and booted balls which helped the visitors to keep on coming. By the end of the 1st it was 4-0. Then it was 6-1. At least we were on the board, thanks to Satch's high fly ball, pass ball, fielders choice, fielders choice again, run scored. I alerted my team that I would not be doing any more of that unless absolutely necessary. Maybe that's why my legs are sore.

We were welcomed, as we often are, by the sweet siren song of the bum that hangs in the Marina. I think we might have gotten his name this time, but we definitely knew he was drunk, and that he was ex-military, and is supposedly moving to Florida and getting $1900 for his Army disability. Which would put him at around 70% service connection ( I work in the business). He yelled at pretty much everyone, cursed Lattig for his Dodgers alliance, and in general, did what he does. He'll be missed.

We started a real comeback around the 7th, when Greg's luck finally wore off and we started hitting the ball. It had rained a few times since the beginning of the game, well, misted, and I am sure that the heavier ball probably worked in our favor too. In any case, we managed to close the gap to a one run game. It was not to be, however, as the visitors did not sit back on their laurels, and exploded for a few insurance runs to take the 9 inning victory.

The rain had turned to hazy sun when we finished, so we wiped the slate clean and started a 3 inning exhibition. Tony had taken over for Greg in the 8th, then made a mid inning switch, and brought Greg back to the mound. Then Tony went back to the mound to throw some more for the short game. Satch kept throwing, until finally relenting to let Brian Phelps have the last inning. Us homers had dominated the first inning of the second game and were cruising along, eager to squeeze some dignity out of the day, but the visitors would not be denied, and slowly they crushed our hopes in the 3rd, took the lead, and shut us down in our bold attempt to comeback. 20 minutes later, it started to really rain.

Highlights

* For a game that highlighted some defensive gaffes, we managed a number of double plays, both traditional and otherwise.

* John Nero was a Hoover at 2nd base, accounting for at least 6 or 7 put outs, his first play of the game was a real beauty

* Doc came out, on his motorcycle, and got at least 2 hits!

* We broke 3 bats in the dead muggy air

* I had one of the most beautiful sounding line drives of all time, that went straight to the center fielder.

* 4 comebackers, two of which might have taken my head off. I got a glove on both of those screamers, and then lost them

* Rich played an amazing 3rd base, making two over the shoulder catches in short right, and starting our inning ending double play.

* Rich also became the 1st MBC'er to hit the light pole in the top rung, and then have the ball drop into the protected area

* He also hit a line drive foul that hit a branch squarely and bounced all the way back into fair territory.

* Chris also had an amazing defensive game, including robbing me of a sure fire hit, again.

* Jimmy played a good 2nd, and had a angry triple that rolled into the softball game

* The change up worked on most people, and I got a lot of waves and bat throws.

* The change up also worked on me, as I hit two very high outs. I finally made up for it with a first pitch rocket to Mars that cleared everything. Too bad it was wet, or I might have been able to walk around the bases. I got a double because I am fat and tired.

* Thanks to Ed, Mitch, Greg, Gaspar, and Tony for catching

* Gaspar had a classic hit to left, even in the face of an obvious Gaspar shift

* Paul also had a nice clean line drive when we needed it

* John's triple sparked us to start our long road back in the first game

* Gaspar earned the new nickname "Huckleberry" by choosing to play and steal in his rolled up jeans, you looked awesome Mike!

* A big thank you to JT and Bob, for the new boxes of Rawlings balls that came our way. I picked them up at the Presidio field, man, we got to play there again, it is looking great!

* I did the thing that I always bitch about, which was swing when a person is stealing second. In my defense, at least I didn't foul it off, I just missed it.

Lets hope for sun, we are at West Sunset next week, time TBA.

S. Paige

Ruminations: Missing two in a row for a good cause

Wife's birthday party, mother's birthday party. They were both great.....YOU ain't gonna win that argument, ever.

And this week, I got no reason to complain. I'm headed down to Spring Training, cactus style. There's a lovely place down there called the 3 Palms.

They got a pool, cool ones and a 'cuzzi.

Walking distance to some sort of terrible Sav-A Plenty, that sells handles of booze (check), Fried Chicken (check), sunscreen (double check), and probably access to a $8.99 dvd of Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (bless their rag tag little hearts).

3 Games.

Dodgers vs. Giants, at the Dodgers new house. First game where I've gone into the rival park for a GvD game. And I hear that that rickety old canyon dweller, Dodger Stadium is a real peach; olde tyme to the core, and full of great style.

I'm looking forward to enjoying the game and not being stabbed. Not because of anything I was remotely involved with, but when you have 12 guys with you, sooner or later, something has to happen. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that part?....that's a lot of beef to wrangle, when all you want to do is have a laid back time in the desert.

So there's that one. Then we are seeing someone at Giants home, Mariners maybe? In any case, Saturday day game, that hangover probably isn't going to be pretty. I get a lot of drink coupons through the SW card, and man its like pulling teeth trying to get rid of those things on a plane. I don't blame them, but its been a while since I had free drinks I was trying to give away. Last year, I bought the guy next to me some drinks, and split the cab when we got there. Not a bad way to go. Maybe I'll see him again. He's probably going to be stabbing me, accidentally of course.

Then, my personal favorite, A's and Giants! I am looking forward to seeing how the A's are gonna wallop the Giants this time. Man, its never pretty, but its always a good time. I love sitting with a bunch of A's fans, they know what we are talking about, and they are confidant as always, that they are going to hammer the Giants. And they always do. Even when they lose, it still seems like they just play better than the Giants.

And this year we get to see it in the A's home park, which I also have never been to. I am rooting for the A's this year in the AL, full bore. They made some great trades, and I love how they play ball like the MBC. Or is it vice versa?

Scottsdale.

The Pink Pony has apparently reopened. But is extravagantly expensive, so I may miss it. I am hoping that Uncle Sal's is still open, it looked like my kind of place. There's a bro factor in some towns that ain't my thing, its a bit too much like being stuck in a frat party that took over a city. It ain't a bad thing always, just ain't my thing.

Should be a great vibe riding on the Worlds Series win. You get enough booze, sun into a crowd, and I guarantee there's some sort of altercation going down with guys calling each other out on opposite sides of a busy street. That's a safe one. Total Rep keeper there.

So, off I go. Enjoy the game, I don't know where it is, but I bet it will be great. And if my steady and sturdy Southwest airplane ( #1 in customer satisfaction, not an official Southwest spokesperson) does fall out of the air, you boys do that East/West thing that I spoke about, with the games and HOF tour. It think it would be great. The Ramblers seem like stand up guys. Why wouldn't they be, half of them are MBC'ers. Simonelli might have some trouble showing up, so maybe he can be a bench coach in absentia. Ezra's the secret weapon that just popped up for the NY squad. Little does he know that we have an Ezra named Ed now. Catches a good game, maddening hitter of line drives, got the spirit. And I don't think he's a Yankee fan, so that right there is nice.

Things go right, I'll be hitting the tarmac in our fair and foggy paradise around the time you guys will be in that post game glow of "Sure I'll have that third beer" and "chips and salsa are a perfectly fine dinner."

Enjoy the game, make sure Bob at least gets thrown at once, not hit necessarily, but close....

Wish I was there with you.

But, there's always next week.

Cheers,

S. Paige

2/27/11- West Sunset

Satch couldn't be there. But at least there was a game. And 19 people showed up apprarently!

Here with a recap is Ed:

It was sunny, there were 19 guys.

Johnny went 8 or 9 for the homers, Greg went 7 or 8 so for the visitors. Rich took over for Johnny, Tony closed it out for Greg.

Homers got 3 quick runs and three more before Greg got out of a bases loaded jam. He didn't allow a run after that (maybe the third or 4th inning).

Johnny was unhittable early on, finally giving up his first hit and run about the 4th. The visitors kept tacking on runs.

In the top of the 8th or 9th the visitors made a big comeback. With two outs the a few well placed balls and some generous defense lead to the the visitors scoring 3 runs and taking the lead.

Tony got the last outs for the win.

Highlights

-While catching, Tony called a pitchout with the bases loaded.

-Rich made a great diving catch in center

-A nice guy named Jamie came out even though his friend who told him about the game didn't

-I think there was a great play on the infield for the visitors, but I can't recall who made it.

Keep up the spirit. I'll be out scouting the desert talent.

S. Paige