Sorry for the late posting of the game. I was pretty out of it the whole game, due to bringing both kids with me. The good news is that no one got hurt. The bad news is that it is a fairly big distraction having two little kids running around that you are trying to keep an eye on while the game is in process.
The teams were 9-9, which was nice, Carter started for the visitors, and Brian Phelps for the homers. Both were very effective, not giving up any big melt downs, and the defense kept the games close. I was a real train wreck in left field, and lil' Satch had his first assist, backing me up on a ball that skipped away from me.
I kept the kids interest by talking up the long ball capabilities of all of the hitters that we faced, "Oh here comes Bob, he's gonna hit a big one...", "Pay attention, it's James, he hits it real far..." "Brian is trying to slap it the other way, be on the lookout...."The kids would ooh and ahh, and get ready, usually tripping themselves in the process of settling into the ready position and having their back to the game when the ball was finally in play. Ah well, they had a good time, and they wore helmets the whole game.
The game was a low scoring affair, 3-1, 4-2, 5-3, for most of what I witnessed, we were in the lead thanks to some hustling and hitting, and few well timed botched plays. The new guy off the street who played with us struck out his first two times, and then looked like he relaxed a little, and scorched a triple to center. Sometimes you just gotta remember it's a game.
The kids were in danger of crashing which was not going to help anyone enjoy the game, so I fell on my sword and packed them up and took off about the 7th inning. I will say that as we were leaving, Abe hit a ball to left and stretched into a double, didn't get tagged out or anything! Noteworthy.
Abe also provided me with the recap of the exciting conclusion:
Game ended up tied, 5-5. Visitors (us) eventually won 8-5, scoring 3 runs in the
top of the 8th, but I cannot remember how. I do
remember that in the bottom of the 9th with one out and McGrath on
first, James hit a monster pop-up to left and Bob made a nice running
catch to grab it at the line.
McGrath must have assumed that Bob wasn't
going to make the play (or forgot the number of outs?) because he had
rounded second by the time it was caught and was non-traditionally
doubled-off at first when Mike (playing second) noted that McGrath
hadn't come close to touching second on his way back to first. [We've all been there, John!]
Highlights:
* Chris Powell and James were on the same team, which I think there is a UN resolution that bans that sort of thing.
* I believe that a double play was completed by our team
* Sounds like Bob made a hell of a catch in left
* Greg had a nice hit
* I grounded out weakly and had a flare single that wouldn't have been possible without the piano leg bat. Luckily, a hit off the hands is still good wood with that bat.
* The new guy also made a great catch in right, which he made look easy
The rain looks to be staying, this weekend, but you never know....
