12/9/12 Big Rec

It was an amazing day, and not just cuz things in Satch's life started to ease up and he could actually get out to the game.  Beautiful and sunny, warm, lots of fans in the stands, including a homeless trio that harkened us back to the days of the Marina bum. 

The one problem was the horrible traffic getting across the bridge, due to some stupid violent other sport occurring on the same day.  Our AOY 2011can give you all the details that you want, since he was there.

Luckily, everyone was running late, so by the time I got there it was still top of the first.  I got to be on Sean's team for the first time in a while, since he was nursing a bum shoulder and didn't have much in his pitching sack.  True to his word, he pitched two and handed it over to me.  I figured that I hadn't thrown much in the last month, so I could blaze fastballs for two innings or play the smart money and use the slow ball.  Other than a big bad inning, my plan worked well, I had a few K's on guys I wouldn't usually get. 

Slow, slower and slowest.  That was the mantra.

Will pitched deep for the homers, and managed to strike us out all over the place, I was in danger of a sombrero, until I finally laced a double.

And speaking of things doubling, the home team managed not one, but two double plays to kill our rallies.  A third double play was a half a step off.  Chris Powell was of course integral to that, as well as pitching the last inning of the game.

Not a terrible game, there were some big hits, there were some dropped balls, a mission rally here and there.

And Doc!  Called a great game, and only got overruled a few times.

Beautiful day for a ball game.

Final- 12-7? Homers.

Highlights:

* The homers defense was impregnable.  Until it wasn't.

* My change up might have been classified as an eephus

* Some big hits for the homers, long balls

* Greg was out with an eye injury, get well soon!

* Jay got all the sun that he could catch, much to the chagrin of everyone.  He is unapologetic, so that is something....

* I had a pretty good day off the bump, defensively, helped by the slow grass making time

* My remark "That is an infield fly rule, if it stays in the infield" should have been taken as simple commentary rather than umpiring, sorry Nick Smith.

* Nice that we at least made a try for a comeback this time.

* AOY Phelps is required to wear a football jersey next time he comes out, to mark his shameful secret.

Rain, stay away.

S. Paige

11/25/12- Big Rec

Satch was home, but not available for baseball duty.  Thankfully some heartier souls were, and here with the report is our own financial guru, Jonathan "JT" Tiemann.  And if you need sound advice on your portfolio (whatever that is) visit - http://www.tiemanninvestmentadvisors.com/

Turns out Sunday is far enough from Thursday that 21 of us were able to drag ourselves out of our post-Thanksgiving tryptophan stupor and make it out to Big Rec for a Mission Baseball classic.  That puddle was still there halfway to first base, and the infield grass was as slow as ever, but the weather was great, and we enjoyed a solid game.

Johnny started for the home side, and Sean took the bump for the visitors.  Johnny began with a nifty one-two-three first inning, and for a while it looked like the visitors' hurler and the homers' twirler would just swap zeroes.  The home side finally pushed across a Chris Powell special, so we went into the fourth up 1-0.  The visitors answered with three hits, including two doubles, in the top of that frame.  They were up 2-1, with Mitch on third and two out, but Johnny got Duane on a fly to right, ending the threat. 

The homers answered right away.  Johnny led off the home fourth with a clean single, and I forced him at second.  Two more grounders went for hits, and we had the bags juiced with one out and Chris at the plate.  Chris delivered the hit of the day, a double to right that cleared the bases.  I trotted home, picked up the bat, and held it up to signal the two trail runners to come in standing.  One more hit brought Chris in, and we were ahead 5-2.

In the later innings, Sean gave way to Tony, and Will Rockwell relieved Johnny.  The visitors added a late run, and the home side rallied for three more in the eighth, so we ended regulation with an 8-3 home win.  But we still had some sun left, so we played one extra.  Loren pitched for the visitors; he showed me a terrific curveball -- at least, I'm pretty sure I saw it, and I'm completely sure I didn't hit it.  After one extra, the light was fading, so we called it a very successful day.

Highlights -

* Mitch being Mitch, including a great over-the-shoulder catch on the dead run in short left while he was playing third.

* Daniel and Chris turned a pretty double play - Duane hit a grounder to second on that slow grass, but Daniel pounced on it a gave Chris a perfect feed.  Chris took the toss bare-handed, Omar Vizquel style, and fired the relay to first.  Close, but definitely out.

* Will went back to wearing his red shirt, so nobody mistook him for Carter

* Bob was down south watching John play f**tball, so he had to be beaned by proxy

* A couple of players that don't usually play outfield made a couple of nice catches out there

* Phelps and Presley each played at least one inning at short, and each threw somebody out.  Who says lefties can't play shortstop?

* I'll claim extra credit for coming in to catch a sinking liner in right, but only because Ed was in center yelling "Back! Back!" the whole time 

11/18/12- Presidio

Here with the recap is Brian "Pythagoras" Phelps

We ended up with 11 players and played 3 v 3 v 3 with perma catcher and 1st base. The infield needed some pumping (thanks Bob) and raking before it was ready. The outfield was in good shape and more importantly the sun was out! To those that wrote off a game, including Greg, we needed you! Don't ever give up on this team. We are scrappy and willing to put in the work to get it done.

We put together 3 teams (Phelps, Powell, McGrath vs WRockwell, Dennis, Bob vs Ed, Nick, Adam) with Greg catching the first 3 innings (Bob came in) and Mike at 1st (later filling in for Dennis when he left). Greg, Ed and Powell came in from the bullpen later on. Phelps started on the mound and shut down it down for the first 6 outs including a 6-4-1 double play. The mound was 1st base. Will came in for the next 6 outs and that was the pattern we played with. The McPP team kept raking after the field was ready and took a big lead 9-0-0.  But all that running got tired them out and some more runs came in. Not sure what the final was.

Highlights:

The field crew. Not since Game 7 vs St. Louis had a field crew been the MVP of the game.

Phelps' thinks he hit Bob 2 times, but was only credited with one of them. Both were sliders.

Will said he felt like a Big Man on that tiny mound (Bob swears it is regulation. See below).

Mike played a killer 1st base.

Mike has been pulling the ball a lot more. The defensive shift might have to change.

Bob raked the shit out of one.

The 2-man outfield was exposed.

Why do you put a lefty at 3rd base? Mike got robbed by Phelps who used his inner-Daniel and supermanned for a foul ball, cleating himself and nearly getting skewered by a branch.

Greg needs to put on weight (his words) as balls find holes behind the dish.

Ed smiles a lot while on the mound.

Ed's kid got the Tough guy award after catching a liner in the leg and taking one to the face playing catch with Aiden. How long until Aiden starts playing for Mission? Kid has skills.

Some confusion on the mound distance and relative nature to the bases. Here's algebra: 

11/11/12 Big Rec

We returned to Big Rec, with the same sunny blue environs, a few degrees cooler, a few less people, and another great day of baseball.  I was late once again, and made the teams 10-10, but with a fairly similar team breakdown.  Sean was back and pitching for the visitors, displaying his usual prowess and skill.  Johnny started for the homers and pitched well, mixing his bag of tricks in with the hard stuff.  Will came into relieve Sean and Satch and Tony combined for the late inning duties in relief of Johnny.

The big news was two-fold, first, the first official game of Jen a.k.a Hedgehog a,k.a Dani Chicken Farmer's main squeeze, who hails from the great state of Loo-siana.  She had a great game, and we were all very pleased that she was willing to play with us, hopefully it is the beginning of a long and fruitful career.  Dani didn't play, which was kind of lame, but did play team shutterbug, and she flitted around the diamond taking snaps and talking trash.  Jen managed to make consistent contact in her at bats, which is more than I can say for many of us and staffed right field with aplomb.

Second, out of the blue, the original Satchel Paige showed up, and gabbed with us for a good hour.  he has moved back from Thailand and now lives in Sacramento.  Hopefully this means that he will be around more often and maybe retake the bump at some point, but for now it was just good to see him.

It was a great defensive game with a number of gems, off the top of my head: Mitch, Will, Duane, Bob, Greg, Chris, Satch, Gaspar, Elvin all made amazing plays.  I know for myself, I didn't think I had a chance at making the play, even after I made it....ain't that always the way.

The final was a tight 6-4?  we played an extra, and it felt like one of the more enjoyable games I have experienced in the last few years.  It's a good thing, we should protect it.

Highlights

* Rich hit the longest sacrifice fly int he history of baseball.  This thing would have cleared West Sunset center field fence

* Nero had a friend make some MBC decals, you know, for kids....and for helmets and vans.  My handpainted helmet is now stupid looking, again.

* The homers had at least 2 or three double plays!

* Elvin's white sunglasses scared a ball out of his glove

* Lattig got back into the spray hitting Lattig we all know and fear

* Gaspar had a typical 13 pitch at bat and then hit one over the short stop's head, classic

* Mitch was again doing everything

* Thanks to our Bazooka Joe benefactor, whoever you may be.  My attorney will be contacting you about my dentist bill.  We also had a great discussion on the quality of comics that we feel has suffered

* Adam had some great saves at first

* Tony also flashed the leather, NIck's leather in fact, and used it to get Nick out, is that ironic or is that just shitty?

* I have to start getting out earlier, I am not the one you want in the outfield, but that is where I end up

* The changeup got some big outs

* One of those outs was a infield fly play that of course dropped on the ground behind the mound

* It was good to reminisce about some of the MBC interlopers from past and present

* Bob was hit twice, both times with two strikes and both with exceedingly slow balls.

* A great game, a great bunch of people, now can someone explain how Bazooka Joe lost his eye?

S. Paige

11/4/12 Big Rec

Sorry for the late, short post, but things have gotten out of control for Satch, and he doesn't have much time to do the things he enjoys, as you can clearly see from the lack of posts for the past few months.  It was a blisteringly beautiful day in GGP, we had a surplus of folks, and a good game, for the most part.

Carter went strong for the homers and Phelps was the clean up man, and Greg started for the visitors, with Tony taking over for him and Satch mopping up, although it was not very clean.  The bulk of the game, the score was 4-2, with Carter really keeping us in check, thanks to a snappy fastball and Doc's watchful eye behind the plate, thanks for coming out, Oh Bearded Sage!

We never really put together a rally and the homers just shut us down.

In any case, Greg threw well, Tony did too, and I thought I did for the first inning, but then we played an extra inning and suddenly everyone could hit my stuff...hard.  Three doubles in a row, 4 runs scored.  Owitch!

Highlights

* Carter pitched a hell of a game

* Mitch was a terror all day

* Jay disagreed with a call, and told Greg to fuck himself while batting.  Tony took exception from the mound, and there was a stoppage in play while we all were reminded that we are out here for fun, and no one has to play if they can't play nice.

* Nice to have a crowd to play to

* Greg chastised me and Adam for discussing Horror movies at 1st and 2nd, while he was pitching

* I made a critical error at 2nd, muffing a play and then not throwing home when I had the runner by 40 feet, but trying to get the runner at 1st who was already safe.  Glad I am getting the chance to make errors at new positions

* The grass at Big Rec is deceptively slow, it looks well groomed, but man is it thick!

* Elvin was thrown out twice at third

* Johnny was well rested from his triumphant tour of Japan

* Bob was robbed of a huge extra base hit by, guess who, yeah, Mitch

* When the wheels came off in the 10th, they really came off, we had a tailor made bases loaded double play that yielded no outs.

S. Paige

10/21/12 West Sunset

10/21/12 West Sunset

                Seventeen showed up and waited for a league game to end. A crisis was averted as the league umpire called the game a tie after an agonizing 4 or 5 run 9th inning where the batting team got only one hit, a leadoff single.

                Sean took the ball for the homers, he didn’t give up a hit for three innings.. Staked to a 4 run lead after one, he kept the visitors down, but did not hold them scoreless. He ended up giving up only two aided by 2 runners thrown out at home.

               

                Carter threw for the visitors and was bled for 4 runs in the first. Mostly dinks and dunks, but it did look like it was going to be a long afternoon for the younger Rockwell. He did recover to shut down the lefty heavy line up (M. Lattig, M. Gaspar, Sean, Rich and Tony). Carter gave up no more runs in a total of 6 innings. Red Sox Will pitched the 7th and Mitch the 8th, with no damage.

                Tony Relieved Sean, in the 6th or 7th and gave up a single run in his last inning. Rockwell the elder, came in for the last inning. After 2 outs, Mitch reached by beating out a grounder, stole second and third before I grounded out to end a very good game. 4-3 Homers.

Highlights

*The weather was not miserable as I had anticipated

*I don’t think any of us mentioned to Tony what the score of the Giant’s game was, even though a few of us knew.

*I was thrown out on the bases via a pickle. No, no, I wasn’t picked off, but was on 2nd when an apparent double play ball was hit, but Rich decided to throw behind the runner at third after the force at second. He may be better at baseball than we thought.

*Carter was HBP. His new-Bob status is secure.

*Lattig was hit by a carom off the backstop. No new count was awarded.

*Gaspar threw Red Sox Will (can we get him a new name) out at the plate from right.

*I hit the ball OFF THE WALL. Ok, it rolled there after bad routes taken by the center and right fielders. Suffice to say, I HIT THE BALL OFF THE WALL (disclaimer: it may not have made it all the way to the wall)

*There were a lot of strike-outs on both sides.

*Not many errors, maybe 2 unearned runs out to the 7 total.

*There may have been, but I don’t remember any outfield put outs.

* Apparently Sean, as a firstbaseperson, only needs to pay attention to the final 1.75 seconds of any ground out.

*Hat tip to Greg for reminding me to take pitches as Mitch stole his way around the bases in the 9th. “I shold have stole home,” lamented Mitch after the game

* Rockwell got the loss and Rockwell got the save. 

9/30/12 West Sunset

An Amazing day for baseball, the A's were not yet the champions of the West, but were well on the way.  The sun was shining, the field and the mound were in great condition, and we had 20 hardy souls out for some Sunday baseball.

Classic match up of Sean and Satch, and we dueled it out for a good 6 innings.  A low scoring affair for both sides, as we relied on solid defense and the occasional strike out.  Sean was resplendent in his high school uniform, a cunning ruse, as it blinded all those who gazed upon it for too long.  The teams were fairly evenly split, with some new guys filling on both sides.

Neither team scored a run fora while, and we visitors finally did get on the board, it was through some old fashioned shitty fielding, in true MBC style.  Loren provided the pop to score the runs, dropped ground balls provided the runners in the first place.  The sun played hell with the outfielders all day, but more about that later.

The homers notched their own rally, and we were tied at 2 going into the home stretch.  Sean conceded the horsehide to Tony Rojas, who was mixing it all up, side arm, top arm, underarm, arm and hammer, you name it.  Satch stayed in and battled through, helped by more than a few sub-10 pitch innings.

In the 7th, we took the lead, and started to get excited about the prospect of a close win.  Our team had started to unfocus however, missing a throw down in warm ups was the shift in momentum, from there on things went down hill.

The Bottom of the 9th however,  the wheels came off of our defense, and we watched as the homers strung together a rally created from a strong double by Chris, and about 5 missed out opportunities, mostly foul balls that we couldn't get to or couldn't see.

Winning turned to losing as the homers swept us aside and took the prize for themselves on a glorious sunny day, Final 4-3.

Highlights:

* That fucking uniform

* Bob got hit in the leg, when Tony's side arm went sideways

* Adam's dink over the drawn in infield was perfectly placed

* The knuckleball was really working

* Satch went K-Mitch in the 3rd, barehanded a play at first, well, if you look at my hands, they are basically as big as a baseball glove anyway

* Thanks to Nick for the pics

* The new guy in right made some great plays

* Tim came out for the first time in a while, and wore his MBC uniform!

* We almost completed the 4 out inning

* Visitors really hustled to beat throws all day, which was one of the reasons we scored any runs, our hitting was not spectacular

* Milo did a great job of bouncing back from getting smashed in the teeth with a baseball.  Theo did not understand what the problem was....

* We had a nice line out double play, started by Duane

* I finally got back in the hitting mood, with a double and a crazy hopping single that hit the lip and changed direction by a good 40 degrees.

* JT's car took one for the team, our first MBC casualty, feel free to contribute to the JT Windshield Relief Fund.

* Just a great day of baseball, thanks to everyone who came out

S. Paige

9/23/12- Big Rec

No idea of how it all went, but here are some pictures of the game, appears it was a foggy day....

Thanks to Nick Smith for the photos.

9/16/12- West Sunset

Well it was a hell of game, for at least one team.

The weather was nice, foggy at times, maybe a little chilly, but not terrible.  We had 15 to start and then 16 with the late addition of Paul and his two kids, who took a at bat mid game.

Chris Powell, who now fancies himself vying for Oil Can Boyd's position, started for the homers, and Satch started for the visitors.  For some reason, we just couldn't get a hit.  Oh I know why, the infield was literally the worst, thickest ground ball killer I have ever seen.

And we couldn't stop hitting ground balls.

I counted at least three hits for myself that would have been legitimate hard base hits.  Instead, the infielder had to walk over and pick up the ball after it had stopped rolling.  Real bad.

The homers on the other hand, figured out the way to get runs was to mix in hits to the outfield with short flies and letting us make the errors.  Which we did.  Round about the 5th inning we finally got everyone to a position that they felt comfortable at, but by that point the damage was done.

Doc came out and officiated, to mixed reviews, we had to do the stare down and the extended frame to get him to call a few, but on the whole, he called a good game.  We also noticed that Doc likes to make the initial call on a play, then sort of see what the consensus is before he makes his final ruling.  That's fair.

Will took over for Powell and shut us down even more than we were already doing to ourselves.  Satch went the CG, and absorbed the loss, which was satisfying at least that I stuck it out to the end....

Final Score- 11-1.

Highlights:

* The visitors had a great time losing that game, great to see Rojas back in form, and Greg, back from vacation

* Great to see Doc out and about, he brought his own gear too!

* Elvin had a rough one, but we encouraged him to keep his chin up and he scored our only run!

* We had a new guy, friend of Ed's, come out, who played well, and unfortunately had the bad luck of a few ifffy calls, hope he comes back

* Tony's barehanded attempt in center didn't go quite like planned

* Our best defensive play involved Sean from the other team playing 3rd (of course) and backdooring his own team member.  Well, that's Mission baseball.

* Will brought out the sledgehammer and dealt with the rebar on the mound issue!

* The knuckleball was working, if you don't believe me, ask Adam.

* Certified Bad Sportsman Alumni helmet throw

* I tried to hit lefty since I was already 0-3.  No dice.

* Thanks to everyone who made it out.

S. Paige

9/2/12 MBC Game makes the SFBG!

As those of you who are actually reading this ongoing raggedy manifesto, we were graced with the presence of our favorite food critic/writer/chicken farmer L.E. (Dani) Leone two weeks ago.  As you can see, it pays to know celebrities, for, lo and behold, this week, the MBC's exploits were cataloged by Hedgehog in the Cheap Eats column!

Have a read, preferably with a handful of succulent BBQ.

 9/12/12

Nailed it

Southpaw BBQ is more than a pinch-hitter

CHEAP EATS Hedgehog got me this Groupon for a fancy pantsy mani-pedi at a place in San Mateo puts flower petals and orange slices in your feet water! It's hard for me to hold a grudge, however, because at the time-of-purchase we were living in New Orleans. For all she knew, San Mateo was a suburb of San Fran, like the Sunset or the Richmond.

Nope. You have to drive.

So I was driving back, all relaxed and pretty and shit, and there was Candlestick ... and it was very nearly (at the time) football season ... and the only thing I don't like about getting my nails done is the way you smell for the rest of that day. I mean, I am, at heart, a chicken farmer. Lookswise, I can handle being beautiful, but it's my nature to smell like hay. Not mimosas.

It takes about 30 minutes to drive from San Mateo to the Mission. Around about Candlestick, I'm saying, enough became enough. Deciding finally to change the smell of my fingernails, I swerved off the freeway in search of barbecue. In search, specifically, of Franks, where I had eaten once recently on account of another goddamn groupon, this one courtesy of Earl Butter. Who, to his credit, did apologize for eating all the brisket off our threeway- combo before Hedgehog and me ever even knew what hit us.

Turns out the brisket is Frank's best meat! It's tender, smoky, and doused in a really good, hot (if you ask for it) basic barbecue sauce, I now know. I got it to go, and they gave me a fork. But I used my fingers....

CHEAP SPORTS by Hedgehog

Sunday's baseball was Mission vs. Mission at Balboa. In my copious notes I dubbed the home team the Good Guys and the away team the Better Guys. Chicken Farmer and our friend Long Tall Phil were playing for the Better Guys, hence that side's upgrade.

Unfortunately, I don't know many of the other players' names and resorted to nicknaming them mostly based on what they were wearing, who they reminded me of, and the few scattered facts I remembered about them from previous games. For example, there was Big Blue, Hairdo, Walnut Creek, Old Timey, Lost Horizons, and In'N'Out. After a while, my play-by-play reads more like I'm calling a horse race.

Anyway, I don't know how many folks are interested in rec league games, but I think more are probably into Fantasy Baseball. Then again, I don't know which side of the fence the readership of Cheap Eats falls into demographically so I'll cover both bases with one bird and say that in my opinion, Fantasy Baseball should allow for at least one Rec League player per team.

My reasoning is as follows:

1) Rec Leaguers steal a ton of bases. I am in a Stolen Bases race in my Fantasy League right now and if I had In'N'Out or Gray Shirt Tony, or even Chicken Farmer herself, I wouldn't need to put all this imaginary pressure on Michael Bourn to do what I'm pretend-paying him for.

2) Rec Leaguers are almost all multi-positional and thus, very useful when setting your lineup. I mean someone who plays left field, short, third, second, catcher and pitcher? And steals three bases in one game?! I mean come on...

3) Major league starting pitchers don't hold a candle to Rec League pitchers. Unless you count speed, accuracy, or variety of pitches. But the Good Guys starter pitched a complete game! And the Better Guys pitcher went seven innings. Colorado Rockies: take note.

Better Guys, 4. Good Guys, 7.

After the game we went to my new favorite barbecue, which isn't Franks, but only because you can't walk to it from our house. You can walk to Southpaw. What my beloved and bristly sportswriter couldn't have known from the press box was that the whole game in the dugout we were talking about barbecue. The box score for the Mission's new smoke house reads: weak, weak 'cue. At least the ribs and brisket. Go for the sides, which are awesome. Pulled pork with beans and (get this) bechemel over warm potato chips, brussels sprouts with bacon, and my favorite: smoked goat served with fry bread. For that, I will be back.

SOUTHPAW BBQ
 Mon, Wed-Fri 5-11:30pm; Sat 3-11:30pm; Sun 11:30am-11:30pm
2170 Mission, SF (415) 934-9300
AE,D,MC,V Full bar

9/9/12- Balboa

Here is Snyder with the recap.

The game turned out fun, but attendance was weak. Only 13, so I caught 8 innings for both teams so we could play it like a 7 on 7 game. Mitch pitched a complete game for one team. Mcgrath, Ed and Bob all made pitching debuts with varying degrees of success before Sean finished it. Bob didn't make it out of warm-ups. JT had a long line drive single, Sean crushed the ball and we wanted to walk him, it wasn't Bob's day at the plate either. Ed pulled a Campanaris, which is apparently playing all nine positions. I have no idea who won. 7-5 I think. 

9/2/12- Balboa Cop Field

It was a beautiful sunny day everywhere in the City except at the ball yard, and even then, it wasn't so bad for the first hour or so.  We had a motley crew of regulars and long gones, and new guys.  We ended up having full squads which was refreshing, bolstered by the return of everyone's favorite lady, Dani Leone, and she brought a new kid with her, named of Philip, who looked like a heshing hipster, but his batting stance and defensive play told us he knew what the hell he was doing.  Tony, from the block, wandered in and asked if he could play, we quickly found out that he could, hope he comes back and is on my team next time....

Johnny went the distance for the homers and threw a great game, Satch threw 7 and turned the ball over to Dani, who did great considering no pitching for the last few years(?).  The game was a low scoring affair, but not many cheap runs, we played a pretty tight game, considering that not everyone was playing their most desired positions.  The Final: 7-4?

Highlights:

* Johnny threw a great game for a unemployed beatnik

* Tony was 5-5 with multiple put outs in left, and stolen bases.

* Doc showed up and hung out, we didn't have any gear for him to umpire, but it was nice to sit and visit

* Satch had two doubles, one on a change up that I had time to lick my chops, and lift my leg Sadaharo Oh style

* Not many errors

* The perfect day for bunts, the infield was super slow, no one bunted

* Dustin showed up and got to see my one real fastball of the day

* Visitors tried hard to hit the ball on the ground, and flied out about 13 times

* Tony made a social visit, his back is messed up from half-piping...skateboarding and baseball do not mix

Good times, even when the fog rolled in

S. Paige

8/19/12 West Sunset

No word on the game, but here are four artistic renderings by Nick Smith.

8/11/12- SQ A's vs. MBC

The long and the short of it is that we got destroyed.

Phelps- CF
Snyder- C
Bartlett- 3B
Powell- SS
Daley- P
Stone- LF
Bowling- RF
McGrath- 2B
Smith- 1B

13-2 Final.

Their pitcher Dewey had at least 16 K's and most of those were with the old fashioned hard stuff.  Satch threw 6 and felt decent, had about 6 K's.  Johnny Bartlett managed to shut them down for the most part, where I could not.

The A's are definitely the dominant team of the SQ pen this year.  They beat the Giants in a nail biter, that apparently got a little heated, as you might imagine.

Highlights:

* Everyone struck out at least once I think.

* The home umpire was not giving us an inch, and he gave the A's a foot.

* No home runs

* The A's 3rd hitter nearly killed me with a line drive up the middle.

* I didn't notice that many more people on the yard, everyone was friendly

* One guy heckled me by saying, "Hey Man, it's alright, I weigh 320 too!"

* Phelps held us up forgetting his license in SF.....his girlfriend gets extra points for delivering it across the bridge

* I managed to do what I hate most, swung at a pitch while Powell was stealing, and even worse, popped up for a double play, double damn!

* We had 2 of everything, runs, errors, hits

* I hit three people, all with slow slow slow changeups and knuckles.  One guy tried to stay in the box and get his at bat

* Greg was the victim of the SQ right field play

* Phelps scored from 2nd and ripped his pants proper

* Ke played SS, threw out everybody that didn't K, and did pushups in between at bats, to " get some juice in his bum shoulder."

A good time.  A bad effort.

S. Paige

8/5/12- West Sunset

The doldrums continued, although we managed to eke out a pretty good game with 7-8.  The weather was beautiful and mound at West Sunset was in better shape than it has been for a while.  Carter and Johnny started for the teams and pitched the first 5 innings, both having good luck and back luck and MBC luck.

While the visitors drew first blood, it was mostly the homers game to begin with.  We had a run here and there, but we seemed to be over-matched for power when Rich put a ball damn near above the treeline in right field.  This thing was still rising when it hit a top branch.  Serious home run.

The visitors scrambled their way back to a tie game, thanks to some clutch hitting and Mission fielding.  Johnny and Carter swapped out for Will and Satch, respectively.  For some reason, Will's pitching was exactly what the visitors were looking for, and we started spraying hits all over the field.  Satch kept the big bats at bay or at least got around the big bats and got someone else out.  Either way, the homers were stymied, and the visitors came out victorious to the tune of an 11-5 final.

Highlights:

* Rich's home run was a thing to behold

* New guy Dan had some nice hits and looked like he know what he was doing.  He agreed that league guys were dicks

* John McG had two slides in one trip around the bases that were painful to watch and probably painful to experience   The slide in to second was a late decision, but not terrible.  The slide into third was a headfirst belly flop/stumble dive that broke his sunglasses and luckily no bones.  His slide later in the game looked great!

* Some real nice line drives

* Tony made a nice catch in center, after losing one in the glove

* The Return of Red Sox Will, and he got a hit

Can't find the time to finish this, anyone remember other highlights.

S. Paige

7/29/12- Big Rec

A game was held, but few details can be found.  Jay "Shutterbug" Cellini gave up these morsels:

We got creamed 9-4.  In a nut-shell, Sean pitched a beautiful game shutting down the home team (I think we were home) giving up maybe ten hits, including one monster home run to left by a guy I have only seen once or twice before.  I think there was one double that I scored from third on. 

Brian who pitched for the home team for about 8 innings did a good job of keeping a stiff upper lip and Chris Powell came on for the remaining two innings and pitched well and also kept a stiff upper lip with the fielding help.  And a girl came out and played center field and did a good job including get a check swing single.  She threw well too, which was a nice thing to see. 

The best part of the day was Brian getting picked off third by Sean.  Sean has one helluva pickoff move.  That's about it.

Pics from 4th of July Doubleheader

Thanks again to Jay for taking all the pics.