We eked into 2022 with 15 players; better than it could have been, but not as good as it should have been. I really hope that we are not losing players to that other game, with the oblong ball and the TV timeouts. Marcella gets a pass since Sonny feloniously assaulted her on the diamond last game, seriously, get some Kevlar Sonny, cuz you just became the Bob of 2022.
Before I go any further though, I want to take a moment to talk about this guy right here:
It was brought to my attention that I have been somewhat remiss in cataloging the exploits of this fine young man over the last few months. In looking back through posts, I agree, I have not given the shout outs that Tony probably deserved, and for that I apologize. It is hard sometimes to remember everything, but that does not excuse that I should be able to call up such instances as 4-4 games, of which there have been a few, as well as the defensive plays. I think it may be in part because Tony is like the weather -- you don't always notice it, but you know you can count on it to always be there, and be a factor. If ever you were to question the heart of this particular player, just take a goddamn look at this photo, that is a brand new uniform that Tony crafted from scratch, ordering a blank grey jersey and then fashioning and adhering the star, letters and numbers. He made the M for the hat by Xeroxing the logo of his other hat and then creating a fabric pattern. And he manages to make it look professional, instead of a schizophrenic yard sale, which is what mine would have looked like, had I the initiative. Mea culpa Tony, I promise to do better in 2022.
Our team had a sprinkling of the new, Mike Lynch, but leaned hard in old timer: Greg, Tony, Bob, John McG, Mitch, Lattig, Satch. The visitors had all the new MBC talent, Anna, Chris L, Dan, as well as old timers Nick S, cranky as ever, Don, who saved our bacon from 13s, Nick W. who was throwing rocks, and Chris P, the invariable x-factor.
I started the game, as I have not thrown in several weeks, and the soup bone felt good. In the last few years, I have made a pretty conscious decision to not throw many warm ups and I feel like that has helped my game longevity. Plus, it can get disheartening when you waste all these strikes before a batter steps in. I quickly deduced the weakness of the other team, straight fastballs down the middle. It started as a challenge and quickly became a vocalized strategy: Everyone got a first pitch fastball, right down the pipe. They couldn't hit it, even more so when I told them it was coming. Apologies to Powell, who is hard to pitch to, and got first pitch fastballs that were strike zone height but not over the plate, or over the plate, but 2 feet too high.
Nick started for the visitors, and he had a late break hook that was devastating. We battled the first few innings, and I think it was 2-1 homers for most of that. Very close. Nick gave way to Powell and then to Dan, and somewhere in there our bats woke up, and the wheels came off a bit and our lead widened.
I stayed on the bump, battling, and after 6 innings, I was ok to stop, but was emboldened by the encouragement of my team, Lynch and Tony in particular. So I kept throwing, and ended up with 8 solid, with about 5Ks. Greg, still giddy from the waning effects of the cortisone was able to come in a shut the door for the 9th with a 1-2-3 inning.
First game of 2022 was in the books, with a solid 8-3 victory, homers.
Highlights:
* TONY! He was 4-5 I believe and he made some great plays for our team, and some bad plays while covering for the other team. He really can do it all!
* Thanks to John Mcg for showing up to give us a little breathing room, and for catching the final frames.
* Kudos to the visitors for not giving up, and making some dynamite plays of their own.
* Bob looked shaky in the outfield when we started the game, and then all of a sudden he was Willie Mays out there, long running catches, and resisting the urge to move on a few that were hit right to him.
* Chris Powell scored a Powell run.
* You wanna talk hungry batters, I saw Mitch go after two pitches that had to be a foot and high and outside and he almost crushed both of them
* I put one on Dan's back foot in the first inning, probably the best moving curve ball I had all game.
* That's not true, I threw a slider to Powell that was better.
* I hit a ball that I never did see where it went, I thought it was foul off the bat, but ran somewhat half heartedly and got to first. I think it was a grounder to right, but the sun blinded me from the beginning.
* Small ball defense won that game, getting the sure outs.
* Aiden came out, but for some reason did not play?
* Chris L. did a great job behind the dish all game, and was blocking like a champ.
* I respect Greg's decision as a fill in outfielder not to opt for the San Quentin right field play to first. As a fellow slow guy, it is a demoralizing play.
HAPPY 2022! Let's play 2!
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