7/1/18 GGP- Doubleheader

The MBC 2018 Fourth of July BBQ Doubleheader- Photo by John Nero, assistance by Miss Mcgrath.

I missed my window with trying to write this early, when I still remembered a lot of what happened, so pardon my Swiss cheese memory of the games.  I can say that it was a cold, foggy, surreal kind of day.  The yellow ashen sky, a result of the You Only Live Once fire, made driving into the city line something out of an apocalyptic movie.  We certainly did not want for players, there was more than 20 by the time I got there and I think at our high point we were fielding 16-16 teams.

Cold and foggy.  All day.  At one point the sky lightened a little, but never actually saw the sun.  We had a pair of hawks circling the game for the most of the day.  The olde tyme baseballers occupied the other field.

Game I

Sonny started for the visitors, and Mike Lattig for the homers.  The rule was laid down early that no one could pitch more than 4 innings, since all players had to sit every other inning to give people a chance to play.  I am not going to try and remember all the people who pitched, but I know in the first game, that Chris and John Carey came in relief, and I think Chris Powell went for the homers at some point in the game. The visitors tallied a lot of runs in the beginning do the game, and that cushion allowed us to take the first win, though the game was abbreviated by a sudden stop in the 8th inning, as a softball team had reserved the 1-3pm spot.

It was jarring, in the midst of a good game to have it all wash away.  By a softball team practicing.  In clear violation of the No Softball rule stated on the sign.  But Greg, being the level-headed sort that he is, talked us all into being zen about the whole thing, and certainly if the shoe was on the other foot, we would have wanted our permit respected.  Next year, lets cough up the extra permit though.  It will mean 3 people will have to apply, but it would be nice for continuity.  Plus, the homers might have staged a comeback, and you can't put a price on that.

BBQ

The food was great this year, and just the right amount.  I was a little worried when we had a last minute cancellation by Mike N. who fractured a rib, and punctured his lung.  He emailed us from his hospital bed, which was very nice of him (get well soon!)  We had burgers and dogs, and spicy chicken things, and ribs, and the vegetarians looked like they had some lovely soy-based treats.  Powell came through with several refills of a great green salad, we had a table to place things on, and JT usurped my haphazard camping collection of silverware and plates with a fantastic travel set of platterware, as well as the biggest pan of cornbread I have ever seen, courtesy of Mrs. Tiemann.  BBQ MVP contender!

There is a new AOY year, after a contentious last year where the vote went the way of No Confidence, and players were chastised for too much polite play and lack of bad sportsmanship. This year though, Don really shined and we were happy to open the books and add his name to the growing list of AOYs.  His insistence on wearing random t-shirts, his running banter, his willingness to strap on the tools of ignorance, his support of the Evil Empire, all these things and more.  This year, for the first time, the AOY was forced into a hazing ritual, but singing that old Tex Ritter favorite Rye Whiskey, with AOY veterans providing the chorus.  He was a good sport about it, and to everyone's surprise, he indeed got a bottle of Bulliet Rye to take home, leading all of us degenerates to consider what we have to do to gather a second AOY commendation.... A transcript of Don's acceptance speech: "Thanks.  I should have had this last year, you bastards."

Game II

We swapped sides, so the visitors from the first game, were now the homers. I started for the homers, and Sean for the others, in classic duel.  And it was a great match up, Sean was in rare form, picking off at least 2-3 runners at first.  What really stood out though was the double plays.  We turned one I think.  The visitors turned about 4.

Our offense went into the tank, and if we ever got a runner, they got picked off or doubled up.  Not great.  Don, fresh from his win, hit a triple for us, that was real impressive.  But we couldn't break through.  Chris, Abe, Storm, Greg all came in to throw.  The game went a long at a good clip, but the score just got more and more lopsided.  Loren had the closing duties, and e threw cream puffs for 98% of his pitches, and then uncorked a fastball just to establish that he still had it.  We went down meekly and the Visitors took that game by a large margin, 8-2?

Highlights:

* A great time was had by all, and no one got injured.

* We had two young players, Aiden and Milo, and they both did a fantastic job, Milo got his first hit off of me.

* James and Don had the longest hits of the day

* Brian P. played Jim Abbot style at first base for most of the game, due to a fractured wrist.

* Bob's recommendation on chew: Days 'o' Work plug

* Adam brought some more fancy helmets for everyone

* It was good to see some guys that had not been out in a long time: Danny Chester, who claimed it had been over 8 years!  Daniel D. now living in Monterey, Stoner, who brought his family out, Richie, Jimmy, Duane, great to see them all!

* Doc and Oliver also showed up, Doc umpired for some of the game, Oliver has an awesome mustache now.

* Rich J. came with his son, and fell right back into hitting line drives to the power alleys

*  Special thanks to John Mcg for a great game, and for bringing a table so that we didn't have to serve the BBQ on the ground

* Carter's alternative name for his bat company is Friendly Face Bats.

* The grillers did a fine job with all the meats

* We missed Johnny Bartlett this year, and his wagon.  No word on why he doidn't make it, but his absence was palpable

* Adam, being the nice guy that he is, put a plate together to take to our rehabbing SS, Tony Rojas.  Wasn't the same without him!

* Other Awards:

Best Dressed- In a stunning revelation, Bob Carey was singled out for his always stylish apparel. By last count he has: 2x MBC unis, 1x USC, 1x Giants, 1x Red Sox, 1 x [John's College].  By contrast, I wash my one uniform occasionally.  He will receive his trophy one year from now, due to the time-honored tradition of the delay.

Rookie of the Year- Though not formally announced, Urano gets this award hands down.

MVP- Also Urano.  Some one should tell him, since he probably doesn't follow the blog.

*  I struck out Greg.  That made the day worth it.

* There seems to be a collection of MBCers who are switch hitting and switch fielding now.  Is this a response to injury, or curiosity?

Another great doubleheader in the books.  Thanks to everyone who contributed and special thanks to Bob and Greg for the permits.