Why do we deal with the high taxes, the sometimes confusing and overburdensome laws, the overpopulation? Because on February 11th, a month and a 1/2 before the beginning of Spring we can play a baseball game in Golden Gate Park where not only was the sun shining, it was actually warm.
We had 22 players come out for the game before the game and ours proved to be very much like the Super Bowl®. Sean started for the homers and Satch started for the visitors. I had made the request of my teammates beforehand that I not be allowed to pitch more than 4 innings and I mostly held to that, though I did request a fifth inning because I had not planned on the sun being so warm that I actually felt good pitching.
Sean looked good as well, the sweat started early on him and looking like the Batman logo across his back. Sean lasted a few innings more than I and then Mitch came in after him. I bowed out after 5 innings and gave the ball over to Dave, And then Chris Powell and then John McGrath for the close.
We had a couple of new players some from the Mayan organization, Ethan who came with Connor, and one a recruit from Sonny, Javier, who quickly showed us that he knows how to play The Game. Sure was nice to have an abundance of players, let's hope that continues.
The game was a real back-and-forth battle, we were tied at 2 then we went up to 4, then we went up to 6, then my last inning I gave up a run and some hits/errors and then the homers scored 2 on an unfortunate 2-out clank in right field. We were tied at 6 for a while, and coming down the home stretch bottom of the ninth, 7-7 ball game the homers were able to pull out a victory, thanks to 2 wild pitches and a ground ball from Sean to me at 2nd. I heaved it to home with all that I had, but not enough, and the homers won, 8-7.
Highlights
* Full ranks, great playing
* Marcie came out with her little gum drop, then left him in the stands, and came in to knock a hard single up the middle, notching the MBC's first post-natal hit statistic (PNH). I am sure Bill James will include that in the next SABR update.
* Carlos and Reumaldo both had a couple of amazing plays in left field
* John McGrath did a great job with the bat and behind the dish
* The grass makes the hardest ground ball a slow roller
* Some bang-bang plays at 1st!
* At one point, the average height of our outfielders was 5'3
* Don, Javier, Sean, Dave, Alejandro, Powell, McG, all put the muscle on the ball
* Mitch hit a ball one-handed for a single that he had no business even touching
* My last at-bat I finally got into one, loud grunt and all, and I think this is about where it landed. The shameful part is that I only got a single. The really shameful part is that I probably have had longer singles....
