We ended up with 23 players, which was great. The air was clear-ish which was great. The game was a high-scoring affair, which was great. Baseball. Great.
Sonny started for the homers, and looks to be back in form, including a ramped up fastball at times. Aiden started for the visitors, and had a ramped up fastball which was expected. This was my first time seeing him pitch more than an inning, and it was great to watch. The fastball has ride, the curve ball can be a strike, or it can appear to be and then dive out of the zone after the batter commits. All he needs is a good eephus pitch to round it out. But that comes with age. Through the first half of the game, those two battled, though Sony got the short end of the stick on defense at times. One inning in particular had lost balls in the sun, a ball that deflected off third base, and a few dying quails that were just unfair.
By the middle of the game, it was 10-0. In reality, it was about 14-0, but at some point we wanted to keep the game within reason and 10 was a nice round number. Yes the game was lopsided. But the last inning of Aiden's performance, the homers finally got to him, and dinged him for 3 runs.
The big story of the day though, was a gentleman's bet between Aiden and his dad as to the outcome of McG's hitting for the day off of his progeny. Let's just say, Aiden is $5 richer today. He slammed the door shut on John's last at bat with a strikeout. John had mentioned he was first ball swinging on the first at bat because he knew what he was in for if he fell behind in the count. Hopefully Aiden puts that money to good use.
In came Chris for the homers and Satch for the visitors. I was feeling alright, and with a lead like that, there was no reason to try and strike everyone out. I think I gave up another 3 runs, which I was great with. Chris also held the runs to a minimum, as did HR who came in after him. But the lead proved insurmountable, and the final score, as the wind picked up, and the sun went down was a soft 11-6.
Highlights (some stolen from James):
* Aiden's pitching was lights out, and he knew when to stop (or at least how to listen to his father, both things that historically have been tough for MBC players....)
* James and Greg combined for a inning ending thriller at the plate to nab Mike N ( you got to slide!!!!) who ended up being out and bumping Greg in the schnoz which then started bleeding pretty good. The mask made the bleed seem worse than it was. Greg established it was not broken, and enthralled us with tales of broken noses past after the game. Luckily a mom in the area had some baby wipes, and he cleaned up pretty quickly. Maybe we should invest in a packet?
* A clean and pretty double play from the homers 5-4-3 double play (Nate-Mike-Anna),
* Matt at third made a diving stab to end an inning on a hot, low line drive that was absolutely smoked!
* There were quite a few big hits of the game, aided by the sun and the fast outfield. James, Matt, Sean, Elan, Mike N., Gaspar come to mind
* Subthread: Gaspar pulled the ball, twice! PING!
* Speaking of the sun, invest in sunglasses for the outfield, it is brutal out there and sooner or later someone is going to take one in the head
* I was daydreaming in left field, looking at the bay, when Anna smoked one down the line. I heard the crack and only by sheer dumb luck found the ball in the first place I looked. I made another play in left on a ball that was over any normal person's head, but I managed to haul it in. The only one I am proud of was a weird lined gork to the left side of the infield that I leaped at from the mound and brought in. Too bad James didn't get footage of that, people would probably enjoy seeing a beluga whale acrobatically catch a baseball.
* Pitching I did alright, the one K was Dave in a tight spot, elevated and found an extra 5 mph for the fastball. Greg called the pitch, so most of the credit goes to him
* Chris P made the quintessential over- the- shoulder play that we have come to expect from him. The difference was that he was pitching at the time, and there was no reason he should be expected to make that play. But he did, and it was amazing.
* Anna whacked a single off of me in 2-2 count that was very impressive, she's locked in.
* The baserunning improved this week
* I managed somehow to have a 5-5 game, with 3 singles and 2 doubles. The big drive would have been over the fence if I had pulled it, but I put into the left center pocket that has been my sweet spot for the last month. It measured out at 327 feet (yeah, I google mapped it). It felt good and it had the look. Only one of the singles was an ugly flop of a swing that fell behind first base, and came on an inning that Sonny couldn't get the last 2 outs.
* Bob came out and showed us his battle scar, and assured us that we are all in big trouble once he is able to swing a bat.
* Here's the swing footage (thanks to James, the Brooklyn Biologist)
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