5/8/11- Cop Field

Happy Mother's Day to you all, especially since some of you are the biggest mothers I know....ahahha (Elks lodge joke).

We were a little worried when 3 pm came and went and we were still stranded at 11 guys. But the late shift was fruitful, and by the time we started, it was 8-8, perfect for that extra at bat game. We were greeted by a sunny day, but the wind howled through the entire game, and made for some interesting play.

Sean started after a long absence, and pitched well, but was not his usual dominating self. It was nice for us, because the game actually had some runs scored, and went back and forth, rather than a long drawn out pitchers duel. But he did manage to strike out a few, myself included, and he went 7, so I can't say it was not a a stellar performance ( This is probably the kind of thing Sandy Koufax got tired of, when he got flak for pitching a great game, rather than a no hitter). I think the wind, blowing as it was, was slowing down the fast ball. I figured out early on that I better use the wind to my advantage on the bump, so I took the slow ball approach, and let the wind do my pitching for me. I feel great today, even though I threw 9, but I think it was because I rarely got above batting practice speed with anything. Guile can be a useful tool.

Left field and pop ups in general, ended up being the Waterloo of the whole game, between the sun and wind, it was a real Thunderdome out there. And of course, that is where we had the other team's replacement playing, which probably didn't help things.

The score built slow and steady, 1-0, 1-1. then the homers exploded for four runs, employing the dink tactic that worked so well last week. We got 8 straight dying quails off of Sean, with maybe a muff in there somewhere, but it was mostly wristed flares. But it worked.

The visitors thundered back however, and scored their own brace of runs, bringing the game back to a one run contest. Sean and I held the ground for a while, blanking each others hitters, getting out of tough situations, and praying for strong defense. The homers finally went up for the final time, and the game ended in 8-6 win for the home squad.

Brian Phelps, who had pitched the last inning for the visitors, offered us a final at bat, which none of us refused, but should have, as we went down one two three. And then everyone wanted to go home? The visitors didn't want their chance? I have never seen that before, but as long as no one felt cheated, works for me!

Highlights:

* Thanks to everyone who made it out, and assured that we would have a game. It was a little dicey for a second.

* Thanks to Noah and Greg, who caught the entire game

* A pretty good defensive game, with a few exceptions.

* Chris proved he can steal at will, but he didn't steal home, and that's the one that counts.

* Tony, with his little black dog in tow (Beetie? Dee Dee?) looked great in full Willie Mays gear, celebrating the Say Hey Kid's 80th. True to form, Tony's dog sat in the batters box and watched him until he put a leash on her.

* Jay looked much more solid at second base, and caught a number of hard hit ground balls, nice work.

* Jimmy and Duane came back, and I think they each had some solid hits, thanks for making it guys!

* Elvin, resplendent in his Giants orange, had a well timed couple of RBI's! Way to go, we were disappointed that he fooled us into thinking that he had actually worn the same colored socks.

* Nero and Gaspar are officially on notice, since there was no pre-stated reason for missing the game and we know their mom's don't live around here.

* Adam made some nice plays at 1st, everyone of them was close enough that I had to run towards the bag, but in the end better for him to make the play on his own. But you gots to cover anyway ( Jonathan Sanchez, I am looking in your direction)

* Noah did an awesome tumble over his mask in trying to track a foul ball, which is why they tell you to throw the mask away

* Noah also overcame last week's aversion to hitting and had a hard hit double and dug a knuckleball out of the dirt for a hit

* Brian almost had another one of my hits to center, the key is to get it high enough that the wind takes over, I am good at hitting real high balls, not long, but high

* Duane almost had an amazing bunt, Tony and Greg had the presence of mind to let it go, but it was almost perfect

* Sean also had a suspect hit, I don't think it hit the bag, but Greg did and called it a double...them's the breaks and I shouldn't be complaining

Well, hope everyone enjoyed themselves, wherever you were.

S. Paige

UPDATE: Gaspar reported in that he was at the Giants game, which is a perfectly good excuse.