Friday, July 27, 2012

Pics from 4th of July Doubleheader

Thanks again to Jay for taking all the pics.


















































Wednesday, July 25, 2012

7/22/12 Big Rec

Nice to get out to the ball yard again, even if it took a long time to actually get out there.  Seriously, why are the metering lights on if there is no traffic, it just creates traffic?

But I digress.  It is officially the summer doldrums, we could only muster 13 MBC guys out there, and before I and a few others showed up late, it was more like 9.  So the team took it upon themselves to do some serious recruiting, and lo and behold, we found ourselves with 6 Korean dudes, some of which it was painfully apparent, had not studied the game.  But we needed warm bodies and that's what they were.

Johnny and Greg started on the bump, and the game was a woeful back and forth of who's defense was going to crack the most. At one point we had an entire outfield comprised of players who could not catch a call to save their lives.  They also took the wrong route to the ball each time, ensuring that it would roll past them  But hey, I didn't see any of you out there, so what the hell.

It is too much to describe, but the game did actually see saw back and forth pretty well, each team having a few innings of "Dear God what is this hot mess?"  Satch took over for Johnny in the 6th and Mitch pitched the last two for Greg.  It ended up being a save opportunity for Mitch, strangely, as we closed the gap to 2 runs.  Final Score: A very soft 18-16.

Highlights:

* John Nero had a nice hit and caught the first 2/3 of the game, with a nice foul ball catch

* Some new guy named Joe ripped a grand slam off me, first pitch knuckleball, you live by it, you die by it, he was due

* Elvin put on a clinic of outfielding, including a long running catch for the final out, as well as a clinic of what not to do at SS, one inning.

* Some great bunts!

* Satch had a inning where all three batters fouled out to the infield and tallied five or six foul outs for the game, that has to be some kind of record


* Adam had some great digs at first, including a falling play where he kept his toe on the corner


* Loren and Tim showed up late, and drunk, worst day at the plate that Loren has ever had, 2-3K's?


* Daniel had a new wood bat, and it made some noise


* Adam had a triple, Joe Grand Slam, and several others with extra base hits, three doubles in a row at one point


* Scott showed up out of the blue and played a good game


* Carter was hit by Greg for the 19th time


* One of the new guys hit the ball and then watched the play unfold while he walked, stopped, started towards first base


* Tim also had 2 nice foul ball plays


* Mitch caught the first part of the game, one might wonder what the score would have been if he had played outfield instead?


Of all the games that have been played, this one was by far the most recent.

S. Paige

Monday, July 23, 2012

7/8/12- West Sunset- 4th of July Doubleheader

Sorry it has taken so long, I can't seem to find enough time to write it up properly.


The important stuff.  Tony was by far the MVP of the day, getting the game winning RBI in the first game, and pitching a complete game for the win in the 2nd!  Hats off to Mr Rojas.  Daniel Dotterrer won Most Improved/Rookie of The Year trophy, and laid out full tilt for a great catch, defensive gem of the day.  Lots of good food and great people, the sun never came out, but it was still awesome.

Special thanks to Jay for the photos, everyone who brought food and drink and equipment to make the day, Brian Phelps for fashioning the strongest pinata in the history of pinatas, and Allie, Theo and Milo for watching Lil' Satch and allowing me to play the 2nd game.

Lots more happened, but maybe you just had to be there.

Our 2012 AOY goes to Robert Carey, for obvious reasons


JT Tiemann gets the MBC service award for his special commitment to making the MBC as enjoyable and static free as possible.



In a new category, Duane Harris gets the HSCS (Horseshit Cocksucker) award for equipment destruction and general malfeasance.


"You think I need your shitty award to be an asshole?"

Friday, July 6, 2012

7/1/12 Big Rec

Not 12 hours after arriving home and I was on the ball filed, ready to catch up on the last three weeks I had missed.  Unfortunately the English weather followed me to SF, as we experienced one of the more foggy, windy, grim Sundays in recent history.  There would be occasional warm up spots and then the chill breeze would start to blow again and all the humidity turned into cold.  Muggy, cold, never actually saw the sun, but you knew it was up there somewhere.


We were a solid 16, but it felt like every time you sat down, it was either time to relieve the defense or time to take the field again.  Or maybe it was just me, feeling lazy and bloated.  Sean started for the homers and from the offset did not have his good stuff.  It probably had to do with the 9 innings he had pitched the week before at SQ, however, it was a rare thing to have the visitors jump on him for 5 runs in the first inning, but jump we did.

Phelps started for the visitors, and looked good once he settled his arm angle down and got into a good 3/4 rhythm.  Brian held the homers strangled for the first five frames, helped by some outstanding defense, especially from Daniel, who I think gets the defensive MVP for the day.  In the first 3 innings, Daniel had about 7 put outs.

Sean gave way to Greg after 5 and Phelps handed the ball to Satch around the same time.  By that time the score was something like 12-1, and between my lack of warming up and the knowledge that blowouts become miserable quickly, I tried my best to make sure I got some fat strikes across the plate.  The homers started their weary climb out of the pit and with a sudden burst of scoring, reduced the deficit considerably.  Greg was cheered on by the rablle of drunken revelers that had established a zone on the opposite bench, cheering him on and supporting the homers as they tried to come back.

I was going to throw 3 innings, but by the ninth, it seemed easier to throw one more than to have someone go through warming up.  I should have just stuck with the plan, I got the first out , and then facing McGrath, I caught my spike in the hole in front of the rubber, and then inexplicably, comepletely lost everything: control, velocity, confidence, accuracy.  Rather than risk major damage to my arm, or bean McG in front of his adoring family, I decided to take myself off the bump in the middle of the 9th inning.  Daniel volunteered to pitch, and had his MBC debut on the rubber, threw strikes and after a little warming up was looking good.

The homers didn't comeback, but they never lost their ginger.  The final score- 14-6?  I don't think we could have talked anyone into playing extra innings if we had paid them in gold.

Highlights:

* Daniel, great with the glove, had a nice rip and pitching debut!

* JT thanked the infield collectively after the first inning which featured three picture perfect throws to 1st.

* Liam and Aiden both had legitimate hits

* John Nero broke his Sean curse to the tune of two monster hits

* Noah was presented with a beer from the rabble, in the fifth, after a nice play.

* John Carey was out again, played well, and once again Bob threw him out on a steal attempt.  As Sean said, " Bob always saves one great throw for his kid."

* Jay had a long bomb in his first at bat.

* I ended up with a 1.000 OBP, and was 5-6.  That felt good, after being worried that my timing was going to be all screwed up.

* A new guy Don, came out and seemed to know what he was doing, hit well, caught the ball.

* Elvin was defensively strong, despite his refusal to catch the ball with two hands.

* Catchers did a good job of blocking the ball, since we have to at Big Rec.

* Phelps had two parts of a AOY triple crown for throwing out Aiden at first and then picking him off third

* JT had what was described as a "Gasparian" at bat, which featured about 6 foul balls to the left side

* At one point during a long rally, I offered to try and get out, Greg told me to stuff it, they didn't need my pity.  That's MBC pride.

* One of the passers by almost walked off with one of our foul balls, where did they think they were?

* Phelps' casual underhand toss to first after a nice spinning play, almost died before it got there.

* Bob was 0-6, but was on base at least twice.

* Noah and I had a rare off day in the battery, I think I shook off the first pitch 90% of the time.  Which is a lot, usually I only shake off 75% of the time, right Greg?.....

See you at the Double header.

S. Paige


Thursday, July 5, 2012

6/23-24/12- Big Rec and SQ




There was a game played on Sunday at Big Rec and a San Quentin game the day before.  Until a formal write up, I can say that:

Sean pitched 9, it was a close game,and the inmates won in a walk off single.  Mario also pitched 9, and had 15 strikeouts and 15 walks.  Johnny Badass has been transferred to another prison after a beef with a Hispanic gang, there were A LOT more inmate spectators, Bob made his first prison appearance ( as a guest anyway...), the MBC mustered up one extra base hit, Kent Philpott stole all the SQ equipment, Ed slipped on the metal plate that houses the softball peg thus denying MBC the go ahead run, Adam supermanned into the catcher at a play a the plate, and Ke was there, but not playing.


S. Paige

Monday, July 2, 2012

6/17/12- Crocker Amazon

Thanks to Mike "The Shift" Gaspar for writing up this short review of the mess that occurred on Sunday a few weeks ago.  Sorry I wasn't there to make it a Havana 12 game.


The only reason I’m writing anything up is for the sake of integrity.

 A wind swept, foggy crocker amazon field with the most gopher holes seen outside of bushwood country club.  Not sure if it was the weather, the fact it was father's day or everyone wanted to watch the final round of the u.s. open.  

But we only had eleven players.  

We started to do batting practice and that quickly morphed into a four on four on three game.  The only things worth mentioning were that Elvin pitched and Allie played right field.  Oh, and no one broke their ankle in the outfield.  Other than that, just a bunch of guys running around in the fog trying to feign enthusiasm.  I guess there's always next Sunday.

S Paige

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

6/10/12- West Sunset






Sounds like it was a great little game, lots of new guys, some heroics, some spills, thrills, and one temper tantrum ( a new [Pink] bat would be a nice gesture.)  I will miss the next three games as I hop the pond for a 90th birthday, left to get my sport watching EURO2012 surrounded by a bunch of headbutting, pint-swilling yobbos.  Here with the recaps are Brian "Lefty" Phelps and Richie "Leadoff Man" Garcia:



PHELPS:

Oh man. Where do I start. It was an amazingly hot summer day. Felt like October.

Phelps started for the homers and Carter for the visitors. I had a no-hitter after 4 complete. But there were runners. I walked Cater 3 times in one AB and a couple of errors squeaked through. Then Adam said it out loud. It was 5-0 until the 5th happened. About 80 pitches later it was 6-5. Eventually 10-5. Not sure what the final was. But Greg came in to relieve me and was fabulous. Striking out a few and even getting some comebackers. He was an out machine. Cater crushed it going all 9 innings.

I didn't pay alot of attention to the details of the game.

Highlights:
  1. John McG had a ball go through his legs but made up for it with back to back great plays.
  2. Daniel and someone ran into each other, the ball popped up and Daniel got vertical (as he loves to do) and caught it!
  3. Carter was fabulous. Complete game with a bunch of Ks 
  4. Phelps played first base right handed for 4 inning. One missed ball.
  5. Bob didn't get hit.
  6. Daniel brought a 12er of High Life
  7. Richie was racking it.
  8. Cater had a ton of comebackers. I didn't have any which is unusual.
  9. Tons of regulars missing. It was a quiet game.


Low lights. 

This is a big one and needs to be said. Don't throw equipment. Especially equipment that isnt yours. Especially bats. Especially wood bats. Especially special Mother's Day pink wood bats. With that said, after striking out, Duane launched The Pink bat against the back stop and shattered it. Game over. Instant AOY contender.


GARCIA:

Highlights:

-Brian Phelps held the visitors hitless for four innings.

-John McGrath made a nice, sliding scoop behind second base flipping to Elvin for a force out at second.

-Bob threw me (Richie) out at first from right field! And I was sprinting out of the box.

-Daniel made a great catch diving catch in left, after volleying the ball to himself.

-Carter probably set a record for put-outs by a pitcher nine innings.

-Elvin made a great diving catch at second which probably saved a run.

-Duane finally put an end to the pink Mother's Day bat by slinging it against the concrete back stop after a strike out.

-Bob laid down a nice bunt when a ball that was thrown behind him inexplicably hit his bat and rolled fair. I have never seen that happen in a game anywhere ever.

-Carter got the complete game win.


LATE EDITION, DUANE RESPONDS

Yo, to set the record straight:

The bat was MINE and I threw it WAY more out of frustration of someone CRACKING it and not telling me. I realized during the at-bat it was cracked and got instantly pissed off.

Why I got pissed off, you may ask? Well, because it was only the 2nd game I brought it out to (Ed has a pink bat too) and I gave a heads up to several people that I wasn't too into it being used as it's my last wood bat I own right now and have had people crack my wood bats before by using them.

ANYWAYS thats why. I have no problem with people using any of my gear, including my metal bat but I am going to start being stingy about my woods. Sorry.

Bring on the AOY award.

So, when you break something, admit to it, I know no one likes to spend money on a broken bat, but no one likes to have their bat broken either.  Maybe we can start a bat pool to buy some general all purpose wood bats for the team to enjoy?  


Enjoy the sun while its here.

S. Paige

Monday, June 4, 2012

6/3/12 West Sunset

Another beautiful day for a ball game, and I was astonished that all of helpful tasks throughout the week allowed me to join the MBC for a final hurrah before jetting off to the land of cricket and gin.  We had 20 for most of the game and then the addition of Daniel and Robin by the middle innings gave us a littel extra rest for those who needed it.

Satch and Sean squared off in a classic pitchers duel, and for 6 innings we puffed and passed the game back and forth, neither wanting to let up.  Sean, pitching for the home squad, was back from an absence and looking good.  However, did not have overpowering stuff as we have seen in his returning games of the past, but still managed to K a few.  It was a warm and lazy day and Satch threw just like that, lots of junk, about 70% speed, and had good luck to the tune of 5 more K's.  Both pitchers worked out of some real jams, it is nice to have a tight ball game sometimes.

We were locked at 1-1 for a time, and then visitors took the lead, 2-1 and there it remained for Satch and Sean.  We bowed out to make sure the sitting time was fair to all and Will and Phelps came in, the game changed, the defenses changed, the homers exploded for 5 runs!  It proved to be a day of chipping though, and the visitors worked through the innings, a RBI situation here, a run turned into a couple and then a couple more, and before we knew it we had retaken the lead, and the score stood 7-6.  There is remained once more, with new pitchers John Carey and DJ Greg closing the door and mopping up.

We managed one extra, to take in the sun, but the momentum of the game had slowed to a grinding halt around the 8th, and we took it as a sign to enjoy the time we had spent and not try to extend beyond.

Highlights:

* The tension of a close game was fun to be a part of

* We were happy to welcome John Carey back from his first year of Cowboy boarding school, rumor has it he threw a complete game shut out, congrats!  He had an excellent bunt in his first at bat that was only foiled by a chance perfect throw

* Robin got her first legit MBC hit, a solid up the middle single.  Nice work Robosox!

* I killed the ball to left again, not sure why I have all of a sudden been able to pull the ball, except of course with John Carey, who I opp'oed.

* Tony Rojas became Willie Mays for the day, snaring flies all over the outfield

* Phelps was ruined by the 4 inch rule, as in, he was 4 inches away from catching about 5 fly balls, really gave his all though

* Greg put one in his classic spot, right behind the third baseman

* There were a lot of doubles, Sean, Adam, Jay, Satch, Lattig, Johnny, Nick, Phelps, who else?

* Ed was robbed of a RBI situation, again

* DJ Greg brought out some sort of hollow cheater wood stick, glad to see the eye is better.

* The defense really made the game, both sides had a nice spread of quality plays

* Jay ran over Will at third, which is not acceptable, on a steal attempt where the ball was 3 seconds ahead of the runner.  Slide or slow down and take the tag.  This is the gentleman's game, not football.

* Chris Powell made a great catch in short left, standard over the shoulder play we call the Powell Special

* Hit and Run for the visitors worked perfectly, twice!

* Bob was hit in the foot early, official, and then almost hit again by his own kid!

* Sean likes to pick off from the wind up, just so you know

* You know you have a good defense when Mitch ends up in right field

* Phelps took home on a pass ball for the go ahead, which was awesome

* Decision of those present:  Try for double header on July 8th, if not, we may have to do it on the Wednesday, July 4th.  Please email me or Bob with pressing concerns about this.

Summer time.

S. Paige

Friday, June 1, 2012

Cup of Coffee Players




Here's a nice little article on those who lived the dream for one game, or in some cases, three defensive outs.

http://www.theawl.com/2012/05/cup-of-coffee-baseball-players



You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.

Archibald "Moonlight" Graham- W.P. Kinsella "Shoeless Joe"


S. Paige