7/17/11- West Sunset?

Satch was out of town, up in the mountains trying to catch fish and avoid hangovers. I failed at both. Here with his first blog entry for the Mission Baseball Club, is John McGrath, Esq.

Only about a dozen MBC guys showed, but another group of skater/surfer/punk type were finishing up their informal game. greg commented that they were the MBC 10 years ago. they joined in and we 9 v. 9. greg pitched the whole game for the visitors and johnny pitched the first 6 or 7 for the homers, then sean relieved him.

The initial feeling was that the visitors would crush the homers since we had rich and mitch and more MBC regs than the other side, so mitch was traded. however, the game was really, really close and the homers lead most of the way, until about the 7th or 8th when the visitors broke it open. final score 11 to 7 or so.

Highlights:

rich played a great center field (catching balls in right once they were lost in the sun by the rightfielder). he also made some great plays at SS and, as SS took a cutoff from the left fielder to nail a guy going to third.

ker played solidly on the right side of the infield both at SS and 3rd.

jacob hit well and caught an inning or two (w/o a cup!)

johnny pitched well

rich hit a homer with the bases loaded and liam, age 8, was a pinch runner at 3rd, so probably the youngest person to officially score in an MBC game

mitch made some awesome catches in center, a sliding grab on a short one and running stab on a gapper, in addition to catching everything else that came his way

if, i don't say so myself, JohnMcG hit the ball hard and well, 3 for 5, w/ 3 being hard liners to the outfield, 2bls and single

ker and jacob both hit a bomb

the other dudes hit a lot of solid singles and were not easy outs

ed caught for the visitors

the other team dudes were awesome to play with, totally displaying the same type of spirit and attitude treasured by the MBC

sean hit well too (at least one long gapper), and hit one to left w/ the shift on

greg beared down in the later innings the hitting by the other side turned into a trickle, he also was hurt by "generous" D in the early going

i am sure there are some more good things to mention, but my memory, w/ 3 kids ain't what it was

Same game, same place, same time

S. Paige

Swampy Footage

Here was how the game ended in the sloppiest game ever, fittingly.

7/14/11- MBC vs. San Quentin Giants

Once more through the gates of doom, to the field of battle.


Well, maybe that its being a bit melodramatic, but what the hell, you only go to SQ so many times, right?  We gathered again in the parking lot on Thursday night to see what we could do against the Giants.  Our wait was short, the guard was different, and they had a whole new procedure for ID's, again....

In any case, we got in and warmed up, the right field was extra sloppy, and the grounds crew was just starting to rake nad prepare the field.  We knew we weren't getting 9.  Greg pitched in to help chalk the lines, we spoke with Junkyard who was once again behind the dish, got the low down and then it was game time.

They had the same big righty pitching and he had the same stuff.  Decent fastball, enough of a curve to screw us up, and a really hard and heavy knuckleball.  He was also helped by the wide and low stroke zone of the Junkyard.

In a bit of sad news, we were disappointed that both Red and Johnny Badass quit the team earlier that week, after a drubbing by some junior college team.  It sounded like there was a lot more to the story, but in any case, they will be missed, as they were the guys that we had gotten to know the most.  I am glad that Red got to hit my changeup well before he left the squad.

Sean went 4 innings for us, and did well, despite an awful 1st inning that saw 6 runs come across on about 3 hits.  I think everyone contributed to making it the most error filled inning in quite a while.  Sean composed himself as a gamer, and pitched through it.  We all settled down and the errors dried up to the usual assortment.  Satch came in for one inning of relief, and never quite settled down.

We had one hit after three innings, which was pretty embarrassing, but we finally got into the mood, and Brian Phelps once again provided the scoring, complete with his usual SQ base running ugliness.  Luckily this time, he did score, it just took a while for it to happen.  Jimmy and Stoner and Gaspar are officially retired as 3rd base coaches, and the rest of us are on notice.

Once we had one run on the board, we all relaxed and enjoyed the game.  They pulled their starter and brought in a some guy who had a real spaghetti arm delivery.  We took advantage of that, as well the errors that the Giants started to make, and suddenly we had the makings of a good rally in the 6th.  With two outs, Chris popped up to the infield, but it dropped out of the pitcher's glove, who was stumbling backwards, and Satch came up with 2 men on.  I barely got a foul ball out of play, to stay alive, and then hit a long foul ball that would have been a homerun, if it had stayed fair.  I figured I wasn't going to get that pitch again, so I hit the next one up the middle and over the glove of Mario at SS.  Somehow, it picked up speed and went into the gap.  I was rounding second around and they still had not reached the ball, so I figured I would try for third.  Immediately afterwards, I thought to myself, What the fuck am I doing.  But I was committed, so I slid as wide and big as could to block the incoming ball, and had myself a triple.  Phew.

I ended up stranded at 3rd, and we lost the game 9-4.  Handshakes and hugs all around.  Off to the Marin Brewing Company for burgers and lots of pitchers.

Highlights:


* Sean deserved a better game and also was being squeezed by Junk all day

* Gaspar hit a double down the third base line, too bad for them that they don't know about the shift.

* Chris had a play at home that featured five people around home plate, Sean, Greg, Junk, the first runner and the second runner.  He fired it into the crowd and Greg took it off the wrist.

* For some reason we were delayed for several minutes cuz Junk scratched his arm

* Nick had a great dig at first to save a run

* Cagle saved my ass at second, when I got a hot grounder then fired the ball into the dirt

* Greg had a guy nailed on a pitchout to second.  The umpire didn't think so.  We did.

* The field umpire was really walking the vague line, he would point, but then make no gesture of safe or out.

* I think Jimmy got hit on a 3-1 count.  That's the SQ way....

* Ed continued his SQ streak of RBI's

* For every line drive we hit, there was a man positioned in just the right spot.  For every weak pop they had, we were no where to be seen.  Sean thinks they got a book on us.

* I overheard from  the SQ Giants dugout that they "love playing us, we are all great guys and good fun."  It helps that we allow them to pummel us everytime.

* Whoever took the pictures, please forward to me, so I can post.

Next game is August, unless we can squeeze one in.

S. Paige

7/10/11- Camp Swampy

What a terrible game. It was windy, not enough people, and a sloppy, sloppy game.

The final score was 14-7 or 19-6 depending on who you asked.

Highlights:

* Mitch pitched for the first time in a while, and looked good, too bad he didn't get any help

* Greg pitched the whole game for the other team, and did a great job

* Daniel had a couple of good cracks, had some trouble in center field and entertained everyone with his Canadian quirkiness

* Liam had another good day at the plate and it the knuckleball

* Adam showed up after an appendectomy and took lots of footage, get well soon!

* Jake had a homerun, missed a pop up he was camped out under, then moved to SS for some reason and then left early without telling anyone, hmmmm.

* Nick changed teams to balance us out, thanks Nick!

* Jimmy came back and brought a friend who had some trouble at the plate (as we all did at first) but looked like he knew what he was doing

* Paul did a lot of running in left field for an inning

* Mitch was hung over, fiery, and hating the game by the end.

* Bob HBP +1, he also swung so hard that he fell over

* I think we shorted ourselves by an inning, and no one cared.

Into SQ tomorrow for another square-off with the Giants.

S. Paige

*

7/3/11- West Sunset- 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July!

Our BBQ and double header went off without a hitch, we had countless people playing, I think the player count high was 15-15 in the first game. Bob and John were out raking and watering the field when I got there, and we dropped some extra clay in the mound. By the time we started the game, the trickle of players had become a flood. It is a funny thing to hear every inning that the only people who didn't sit were the pitcher and catcher.

Johnny started for the homers and pitched well, Satch went for the visitors and did about the same. The warm sun was nice on the shoulders and the mph of the fastball was a little higher than usual.

The visitors took the lead and held it, keeping the homers from scoring for several innings. All shut outs must and do come to and end, and this was no exception. After five innings, it wasn't fair to stay in the game while others weren't able to, so I bowed out and let Dustin take over to get the rest of the game, before he got too heated on booze and sun.

The play of the game was made by John Nero who was playing shortstop, not his natural position (but one of 8 that he played for the day) who went to his left to get a ground ball, extended out and grabbed it, and then as he passed second, pulled off the perfect flip to the bag to get the 3rd out. Amazing. The game never got close, but the homers fought a good fight, just like our ancestors at Lexington and Concord.

BBQ:

Grass Fed Beef from Bob. A great bunch of Tri-Tip from Jake. Boudine Sausages from Johnny, Spicy veggie bean burgers from Cagle, and assorted goodies and sides from the rest of the players, and we were all in BBQ heaven. Thanks to those who brought grills and charcoal, and to Nero who brought the beans I had requested, and I ate my share!

Game 2:

The teams switched up a bit, and Sean showed up and was warm by the time the game was ready, and headed in to throw. He pitched well, and was looking sharp, but our bats were just too potent and our luck was there too. Greg started the second game for us, and looked real sharp. Both lasted through the first five, and then I took the bump again for the visitors and John Carey came on to pitch for the homers.

We had extra special guest umpire of Brian Phelps for the second game, which made it all the more exciting, especially with his official clothes and demeanor. He called a great game, and helped us all to stay on track, as the beer and the heat took over. Tim, who I guess was on the DL, also umpired, doing the field, and at one point arguing with Loren about the chair he had set up past the bag.

We had some people leave and we had a few others show up, and everyone seemed to have a great time.

The final of the second game was 12-3, visitors.

Highlights:

* Special thanks to all those who helped get the field ready, especially Paul, who came out on Saturday to start the work.

* John Nero, 8 positions, 1 man.

* Bob Carey threw out his own son on a steal attempt. I thought he might have been safe, but he slid past the bag to avoid the tag, and was off the backside of the base. Either way.

* Speaking of John Carey, he pitched great. He also rang me up on a questionable third strike in the first game.

* Lattig came out, after battling a fever, and played as well. Then enjoyed some sun in right field.

* Jon McG, Liam and Aiden all had good days at the plate

* Brian Phelps was the winner of the A.O.Y Bad Sportsman award. We are all proud of him, and hope that he takes it with same class and stature that he handles himself with in every game, playing hurt, umpiring, safety meeting coordinating, the list just goes on!

* Dennis made his first appearance in the field since the broken ankle and didn't re-injure himself,which we were all happy to see

* I pitched around Loren for three straight counts, and he finally got a ripping single off the wall

* Tony came out in his civvies, and then, of course, decided he wanted to bat, and hit a double.

* Some hard come backers were all gobbled up by the pitchers

* Rich and Mitch were on the same team for the first game, and batted one after another. That probably wasn't fair

* Mitch was an asset offensive and defensively all day, including a Rickey run, where he stole two bases and came home on a passed ball

* Greg and didn't quite work out the 1st and 3rd situation, resulting in a thrown ball that at least didn't hit me

* My buddy George, who had not been involved in anything baseball related since he was 9, played both games, made some good plays in the outfield and got on base by the end of the day, thanks for the fun, George!

* Bob took one off the shoe in the first game, to make it official

* Noah helped me in the second game, giving me some good advice from third base, and we were all happy that he walked the line this year, more so than last year.... :)

* Ben showed up again, and oversaw all of the field work, including the hose team

* JT and his younger daughter were both out and having fun. The swing is right on, just needs to make contact!

* Jay brought out some pictures, his arm was hurting him so he just hung out and enjoyed the vibe, thanks for the pics and the support

* I have probably forgotten a lot of things, so let me know what should be added, Thanks to all who showed, hope it was a great time, I know I had fun

S. Paige

6/24/11- San Quentin Giants vs. MBC

The 3rd game grudge match.

We were losing 3-0 most of the game it felt like.

We battled our way back to 3-3. Fucking A!

Then we lost it again, and the final was 6-3.

We had talked about playing the last 2 innings of the game we had a few weeks back. They were stoked that we remembered.

We did it. We lost another game, in less than proud style.

We shook hands and walked out.

Beers and burgers for most, and back into Saturday afternoon.

Highlights:

* Johnny Badass had an unscheduled visitor and couldn't play. And was apparently kinda pissed about having to the miss the game. We missed him.

* Red finally caught up with the change up and I thought had one gonzo, but it fell just short.

* They bunted for hits about 5 times.

* We were bummed to have Elvin and Tim turned away. Hopefully you guys can get in later this summer, I am happy to give you my spot for a game....Elvin, we passed your name, stats and contact information around the yard, so you can have some legal side work to keep you sharp....

* Another guy who I have owned in the past with the changeup, came up big at the plate in an RBI situation

* Kent's fucking number/sign thing is way old already

* It was great to come back and tie up a game.

* The wind blew a pop up about 15 feet off course

* Johnny Bartlett had a stellar game at SS, with at least 6 or 7 plays

* Loren continued the string of lefty sluggers we have, that can't hit the ball 260 feet once they are inside the Q.

* Phelps went from injured assistant coach to being involved in about every play, he had a great double (erp.....) and made a daring attempt to score. Some good plays in the outfield, which was appreciated. Hope the knee heals.

* Nate came in after probably not picking up a bat for a couple of years, he and the old man batted back to back. That's the Coors Light heartwarming moment of the game.

* The umpire was the old guy who rang us up on the field a bit too many times last game. But he warned us that his strike zone was 2 inches off in each direction. He called a lot of shoestring outside pitches. I think he had trouble with his left eye, 'cuz he didn't call that side of the plate the entire game, regardless of who was up. Didn't catch the foul off the leg either. Or didn't care.

* The A's seem to be the team that everyone wants to play on now.

In any case, it was a good time, some good baseball was played, some bad baseball was played, and we all came out in the same condition that we came in.

S. Paige

5/22/11- Camp Swampy late inning write-up

Ed asked that this be included, so as to be saved in posterity. Thanks Ed!- SP

I wanted to drop a line about the 5/22/11 Camp swampy game before its gets
lost to the ages. Mostly I want to give a shout out to Mike Gaspar and Duane for
being super great guys that day.

Its been longer than I can reasonably be expected to remember, but with a very
thin crew we got 9 innings in.

It became apparent early that there was only two people there that regularly
pitch, Greg and Tony. We spent a great deal of time deciding how to play, when
Mike Gaspar and Duane volunteered. I think Mitch did too, but was not needed.

Mike Gaspar went 5 innings I think (plus or minus) and kept the opposition
guessing. he threw tons of strikes and got a few swings and misses. As I
recall there was one bad inning but the rest were great.

He gave way to duane who went for a couple of innings, mostly uneventful which
is good for a pitcher. Just as with Mike, he threw hard and threw strikes.

Johnny came after leaving the bay bridge game when the A's blew the lead. He
finished the game.


ed

6/26/11 West Sunset

Another beautiful day, another great game, another great turnout.

Satch and Noah faced off in a classic match, however, having thrown five in SQ the day before, I was not looking for a marathon. Noah, on the other hand, having to live up to the profile, again went the distance for the homers, and he caught seven in SQ the day before by the way....

Mr. Brian Phelps umpired the game, and did a great job, took a few off the body, thanks to Noah for the clicker. Phelps was fresh off a rehabbed knee that he reinjured in SQ when he took the extra base twice (2nd and Home!) and got tagged both times.....You are a true competitor, Phelpsie. Then he stayed after and threw batting practice to Liam ( who is about a year and change away from taking John Carey's mantle of Youngest MBC player) and Aiden (a great little ballplayer) and off course hit Aiden, who's just a lil' guy...what a jerk...(Editors Note: ha ha). It was worth it when we got Aiden to stop crying by telling him to rub dirt on it, he was all about that!

Anyway, a tip of the cap to you sir.

We had 20, good mixture, Rich and Mitch mirrored each other on defense for each team, and the rest of us just tried not to hit to either of them. The homers were out for blood, having a lot of new guys on their squad. The visitors had a strong old guy presence, and in true fashion we lost with honor. Greg took over for us, and pitched great, I re-entered the game to throw an inning to work on something, and turned a 10-9 game into a joke. Noah, really hammering me as of late, got a bases loaded jack that cleared them all. Well, I at least worked out the arm thing I was trying to do.

We played 11, giving the home team their last ups, even though the score was 14-10 ( or worse) in their favor. Too bad for you guys that didn't make it. But that's your thing (Not you Tony, we are all hoping the knee is healing, and you can make it out soon, you are missed.)

Highlights:

* Noah, doing it all. Cap tip.

* Bob, who was also injured, played, re-injured, kept playing. Love ya Bob.

* The new guy who Bob brought out hit a home run, sorry for blanking on the name, but it was a hell of a hit.

* Rich, in addition to the screaming line drives and impeccable defense at SS, hit the furthest ball yet, it was foul, but still.

* Duane hit another triple!!!!

* Richie made it back, and had a good one

* Jay had two or three hits to the right of SS, and the entire time was cursing his terrible luck as he ran up the base paths

* Paul made a nice running catch and came up big when needed

* Ed once again proved to be an RBI machine, and as Greg said, really didn't try if there wasn't anyone on...

* Johnny was missing, and presumed hungover. Great show Johnny and Rick Ogre!

* Jon McG had a tough game on defense, but had some very well struck balls and the inside track call-wise with Liam umpiring first base.

* Thanks to Ed, Greg, Adam, Gaspar for catching

* Gaspar broke the shift up with a line drive up the middle

* Let's all remember, When hitting, the proper method for getting out of the way of a ball is to turn your body away from the ball. Don't try to catch it.

* We got out of a couple of dark looking innings in classy fashion.

* Editors note: Last week my father-in-law (who is a Yorkshireman) asked if it was baseball tradition for the old fellows to be in the outfield? Ha ha. If you play for the MBC, it is.

This week. Double header and BBQ. You know where.

S. Paige

Player Profile #17- Noah Bowling

Since he has made the blog exploits several times in the last few months, I wanted to make sure he was well represented in the MBC lore. Noah is a true workhorse, he can pitch 12, he can catch 12, he can hit, he can run (kinda...it depends on how much of the rest of the stuff he has been doing), and he has come in with us to San Quentin several times, which means he has a strong constitution.

Noah's specialty is to wear down a team with a heavy ball that he throws to off set his breaking stuff. He usually isn't challenging any air speed records, but that makes him harder to hit. Its like 9 different kinds of change ups, some of which break, some of which don't, some of which knuckle, some of which come at your head. You never know, and after 9 innings, you can come up to the plate against him and see three pitches that you haven't seen the whole game. I respect that.

Catching-wise, Noah is solid. I think he and Greg are the two that really prefer to be behind the dish, they just seem at home there (nyuck nyuck). Noah has the greatest framing ability I have seen yet, even on pitches wildly out of the strike zone. He calls a good game, he has his own gear, and he will take one in the throat if he needs to.

As a Rhode Island native, Noah is all about the Boston Red Sox, but we try not to hold that against him. Rumor has it he was voted the best ballplayer in Rhode Island in the early 90's, but you would have to ask him about that.

Noah has style, he drives a cool car (to replace the other cool car that we don't want to talk about...), has all the baseball gear you could ever want and has the natural balance of a ball player. He also coaches the Urban Blues, along with his Jameson battery mate Dustin Skiles, and if you ever get a chance to go to a game, its a lot of fun to watch young ballplayers learning the game.

He is an avid follower of the blog, and has been since the beginning. For a while, he was the only person brave enough to say he was following it. We are now at 12 people! Mostly, Noah is just a good fucking person, and that is what we look for in a MBC regular.

Noah, its always a pleasure. Except when you are lighting me up, as you have been in the last few months....well, even then, its still pretty cool.

S. Paige

6/19/11 West Sunset

Wow.

Nice, huh?

We had 20, we had fans, we had Fathers with iron clad excuses to play ball, we had perfect to almost really hot weather, and we had baseball.

Satch and Johnny squared off in a duel to begin, and the warm weather was working. As was the change up. Had a few K's. Johnny had a few K's.

The game got into the scoring business early, and the visitors took a strong lead into the middle of the game, somewhere in the 7-2 range. Then we tacked on a few more, and then it was 10-4, and the heat was growing. Johnny stayed a real trooper on the mound, and threw 9 strong.

Greg came in the 7th and threw the rest for the visitors, in a fashion behooving the deadly mop up man that he is, Noah, the workhorse, came in a did 2 for the homers, and had a couple of K's himself.

We dinked, they blooped, we booted, they scooted. I know I kicked a ground ball, and I wasn't the only one. By the end of the regular game, it was 14-19, and we played two more innings. So by the end of the whole thing, it was either 15-10, or 1-1, depending on if we had wiped it clean.

But the real MVP of the game was the weather, which especially for the West Sunset, was phenomenal.

Highlights:

* Happy Fathers Day! I had Mrs. Paige and the in-laws in from that far off destination Walnut Creek, have you heard of it? I heard they have some good travel packages if you ever want to jet away for a weekend....

* Johnny deserved a better game, but no one does it finer!

* Weird ground balls and skips all day

* Adam managed to psyche Lattig into hitting several opposite field hits, if that was his intention

* Elvin had an amazing barehanded play at third, web gem shit, seriously.

* Duane was denied a triple for the first time since April.

* Noah continued to hit the ball hard

* Jakob came out again, and made a great snatch in left, and had a couple of hits

* Bob showed, nursing an injured side, get well soon! You see what happens when you try to help the youth of today!

* I took one in the side, since Bob was out. Tip my cap to you, Sir.

* Stoner got another 6 hour pass, and was frustrated at the plate most of the day, except for one wallop, however made a couple of great catches in the outfield. You can't always have it all, but its nice to have a little of everything!

* Nice to see Richie out again, who did what Richie does best on the basepaths

* Jason making it two in a row as well, and looking good at all positions and had himself a roundtripper, the hard way

* JT had the unfortunate luck of being the bloop guy in left, but he also made a couple of much needed catches

* Rick was nursing some sort of injury, but played most of the game.

* All my hard hit balls were caught and all my high pop flies were hits, you tell me how to feel about that

* We almost doubled off a runner, but I forgot how many outs there were, and admired that I hadn't been killed by the ball. Noah, much more of a professional, got his double play.

* I have crowned Ed officially an RBI man. He is the guy you want hitting in a tight spot with runners on. Adam has crowned him Eddie Spaghetti

* Fourth of July is coming up.

* John Mcg had a strong hit(s)

* Greg continued his headhunting ways, hitting Adam in the noggin, and coming close with three others. Who knew Greg was such a jerk?

* Thanks to Gaspar, Greg, Ed, Adam, Noah for catching

Don't know where.

S. Paige

June 2 San Quentin Pics

Here through the magic of photo shop is our team that tied the SQ Giants. Thanks to Johnny for the pics, the artistry of digital manipulation, and being the bon vivant that he is.

6/12/11 West Sunset

Sorry for the late posting, I was back home this week, cleaning out the storage shed and enjoying the 95 degree weather.

A classic match up on Sunday, with Satch and Sean Paul Presley back in form and dealing. But unlike the usual Sean pitching time, we didn't have 14 K's and no runs. It was a lively game, sparked by the occasional big hit, but for the most part, it was infield hits and timely errors that made the difference.

We also had a glut of new faces, almost to the point that we needed to say something about not advertising this game to every person you know who knows what a baseball is (Brisken, we are looking in your direction.) But Tim, the other new Dennis guy looked like he knew what he was doing, and he and Sean combined for a double and home run in the first inning, which was interesting. Tim then took over pitching duties in the 8th and shut down the home team for the rest of the game (we played 12).

Satch bowed out the same time that Sean did, given the 12-13 man rosters, so that we could take our turn at the bench, and Greg came into mop up. Amazingly, at the time, the score was tied 6-6, and some might say it had been a pitchers duel, if you can have high scoring pitchers duels?

In any case, it didn't stay tied forever, and the visitors started to move slow and steadily away and into the winners column. By the end, it might have been 12-7? But maybe it just felt that way after a good long sunny day of hard ball.

Highlights:

* A lot of new faces, and all the new guys were very polite, to the point that we had to start asking them to play defense, since they didn't want to take a position that someone else had designs on...

* Please, if you are going to play a position, know that you have enough basic skills to do so, we have had a lot of SS and 1st basemen recently who are missing easy plays, a good test, if you are only catching 50% of the balls at 1st base, don't play there. Its a dangerous position for you and the runner, because if you don't know what you are doing, and you step in the way of the runner, its your fault and there is going to be an ugly collision. Which doesn't help anyone.

* Sean hit another home run off me, a no doubter, and then followed with a double off the wall. One of these days...

* Richie made it back out, and then had the unfortunate task of being in right field for a entire line up's worth of hits in the sun, and all over the place drops.

* Rob came out again finally, and had 3 infield hits, which is his specialty. Also played a good center field, including a last second leap to catch a long line drive

* Outfielders lets all remember that your first steps on a ball are back not forward

* I was Mitched again, he caught a ball right before the wall at the 356 mark. Mitch!

* JT won a great battle in a RBI situation, with a nice crack up the middle. Nice Work JT!

* It was a pretty good defensive game, again

* Bob got hit twice in the same at bat, although the first one was a real sissy slap of a HBP.

* Duane hit another triple! Someone call Guinness!

* Doc showed up, limping from a recent motorcycle accident. We all recommended that he give up the iron horse, as we all did years ago. Get well soon Doc!

* Thanks to Bob, Greg, Gaspar, Adam and Ed for catching.

* Gaspar threaded the needle again though the Gaspar shift for a hit, it's like watching the ballet

* Jacob is indeed Dennis' clone, as he states, mostly because they both have the curious talent for not enough sock and not enough pants to join up, leaving that strip of skin around the lower knee.

* Special thanks to Johnny for starting the day in Chicago, and making it to the game. That is what we refer to as "heart."

Same place, same time.

S. Paige

Update: I guess I am the Asshole.

This just in from Elvin, who is vouching for the purity of Sean's home run.

"the homerun ball was pre maturely stuck in the tree. it was prevented from clearing the fence. It was a homerun. (Ed. Note: emphasis added)

We were able to get the ball down with another ball.

So I guess I am the guy with the problem now, I mean, other than the fact that I gave up a righteous donger in a close game.....well it made for good copy anyway.

See you Sunday, hopefully we will know where at some point.

S. Paige

6/5/11- West Sunset

The games after a SQ visit are often strange....and the weather proved to fit well into that equation. Muggy. Damp. Sweaty. Cold? Windy. All of these factored into a great pair of games, one regular, one exhibition.

Most of us thought there would be no game on Sunday, due to the tropical storms that moved through on Saturday, but the message came through from Greg that the field was in fine shape, and it was! It was as if someone had just watered real well a few hours earlier.

The teams broke off, and it looked as though the homers might have the edge, but it was a day of irregulars, and nothing was certain. Noah took the bump for the visitors, and pitched the entire day. Note I did not say game, match or situation. I said day. 12 innings for the big workhorse, and his last five pitches might have been harder than his first five. It's just how he do. And not only did he work his soup bone like a champ, he earned himself two victories....ooops, did I just give away the whole thing? Am I talking to myself here? Hello?

Well, fuck it, Noah deserves it.

The game itself was the usual back and forth affair. Satch started for the homers and threw a decent 10 innings, and I think managed to garner both losses, although Johnny says that we tied it up in the 2nd game, when he was pitching. Real gentleman to throw himself on that grenade, but we'll just leave it at, I got beat. I felt good, threw lots of junk, got the pitches I needed to, but there were a lot of balls that the other squad jumped all over. Sometimes its like that.

Round about the fourth inning, we had scratched our way back to a close game, and Sean decides to haul off and whale one into McCovey trees, in right. That was the first home run I wasn't trying to give up, in a while. I found out later that the ball had actually become lodged in the trees in front of the fence. That smells like a dead ball, ground rule double to me?

Greg said something about rafters, but, I ask you, can you really justify citing rules that are based upon covered stadium/Dome instances? That's like saying you figured out the key to perpetual motion is to just build a machine that runs forever. All filler-no fact, in other words.

It was a hell of knock.

Noah, proving that he was in fact George Herman Ruth for the day, also added a couple of really hard hit balls, one I believe for a triple, which I at least got to enjoy watching him wear out his legs running.

The visitors employed the bloop scenario and then capitalized on those which extra base hits and the old fashioned shitty fielding option. The homers tried to hit the ball too hard, and usually it was right at someone.

So the first game ended in a score settled by one run, I believe 6-5 was the final.

We took the field for the second game, wiped the slate clean, and then the visitors picked right up where they had left off and scored a bunch of runs. I bowed out, Bartlett came in to stop the bleeding as best he could, and we lost the second game by a margin more like 7-3.

Highlights:

* Noah deserves the game ball(s) and a shot of Jameson.

* Duane hit another triple, its getting to be a thing with him.

* The defense on both sides was pretty good, some bad hops and bounces, but for the most part, people made the plays

* I made a bonehead running play, not going home on a 1 out ground ball. I am nervous about full steam home plate collisions. By collisions, I mean of course, tripping over the plate and hitting my face on the back stop. The catcher should know better than to be anywhere close by as that happens.

* Ed and Greg caught the entire game for the teams!

* I got to run the first and third play that I love, the runner on first takes off, hopefully inducing a balk (which we don't count, but which did happen, for the record, Noah :)) So then you get in a pickle and hope that the guy on third gets a good enough lead to make a dash for home. Well, Noah knows what to do, and they let me go once Adam got too far off. But I got to steal second, and run the ol' ruse.

* Dennis and his kid Jacob came out, glad to see the ankle is rehabbing well, we all wish him luck with that. Jacob seems like a good kid, and has the ability to hit the ball hard and make a catch when it counts. Dennis, if you are out there, I would advise not talking to him or trying to give him pointers while he is at bat. The at-bat you were somewhere else, he hit a nasty pitch for a double....just saying, let the natural talents to come about.

* Chris and I were talking about his knack for catching over the shoulder plays from SS. He and Phelps used to practice it when they were kids. In any case, of course, the first one of the day he lets get away from him. Damn, I should have kept my mouth shut. Well, he got another opportunity later and made it. Whew!

* Rich proved to be mortal at the plate for once. Played a great center field though

* Paul made a really nice grab out in left field too and waxed poetic about the Yankee front office in the 50's and 60's (His mom worked there!)

* Adam attempted to throw everyone off their game by saying their name really loud after they hit the ball (...now I don't want to say the neighborhood has changed but....)

* Sean made a great stretch at 1st, and looked good for a man that went five hard at the Q. Why can't you get that kind of hit in there!

* Lattig was fresh off a plane from Paris, and made the plays but wasn't quite the 5 tool player he usually is. Who is after two weeks in the City of Lights? Come, let us sit and smoke, stroke our thin mustaches, drink too much wine and talk of things that make us sad and joyful, like a broken-legged child at the beach.

* We had a strange scenario where we went home for a play with two outs. I think it worked, but strange

* Lets all remember to hit our cutoffs, not only is it the right thing to do but it saves your arms too! Rich, you are excused.

* Lets all remember to keep Bob flush in money, and we need to start planning the 4th of July double header, who's going to get the Bad Sportsmanship trophy? Start casting your ballots now.

Not sure where we are this week, but I know its potential for awesome is high.

S. Paige

6/2/11- MBC vs. SQ Giants

First off, let me say that I am writing this review at 3 am, after going to see Peaches Christ at The Bridge, which brought us "Sleepaway Camp" tonight! Best movie ever, if you haven't seen it. ..

So, we lined up outside the gate and we waited....and waited. It ended up being one of those times when the guard was kind of a dick, and there was something obviously messed up with the count, and yet, there we sat, waiting.....

We got in by about 5:15, and quickly warmed up, and once again declined the infield and outfield in order to get the game started. And get it started we did, coming head to head with our favorite rivals the Giants. Yet, this time, it wasn't 18-0, after the second inning.

Sean Presley, rested and looking sharp despite the scruffy beard, was dominating on the hill. His shoulder may have been sore, but his heart and spirit were firmly in play when he took to the bump.

For once, we actually scored the first run, going ahead on Ed's clean ground ball up the middle. Way to go Ed, thanks for not flailing away as so many first timers will do. Doing the pitching for the Giants was Mario, who we have faced before, but never with this much riding on the stake of the game. His short arming days seem to be behind him, as he had a deceiving fastball and a wicked curve, when it was working.

Jimmy was given the mantle of lead off man, based on his last showing at the Q, but this time it wasn't his turn. The game was decided by the patient bats and the topsy turvy calls of the man behind the dish, Junkyard. Yes, the closer for the A's, was the man calling the balls and strikes. Or should we say strikes as he saw them...

The true heroes proved to be Stoner, Greg and others who took walks when they needed to, or made important sacrifices when the time was right. Of course, that is only part of the story. Chris Powell took at least 4 balls off the chest and stomach, and turned them into outs, which helped immensely.

In the end, we played 7, Satch came in and threw 6 pitches in relief for the 6th and then got cocky and gave up the tying run in the 7th. In the win column, at least I didn't give up a hit to Red or Johnny Badass. We were cut short by last bell, and not a man among us will disagree that we need to bring up the last 2 innings before we start anything new with the Giants. It's the principality of the thing....

The Marin Brewing company provided high quality after game service, as usual. But then again, I am the nice guy.

Highlights:

* Ed had his first SQ RBI and had the guy at third, if only we had appealed the call

* Solid defense for the whole game, most of the hits were legit

* The patience was great, when we got a nice string of walks for the go ahead

* Mario still had at least 6 strikeouts, including me, and with many a thanks to Junkyard who's strike zone was as expansive as his sentence

* We certainly took advantage of the right side, and no one got thrown out for not legging out the single to right field

* Two out rally baby!

* John McG and Ed played a great 2nd and got some key outs!

* Johnny Badass is so badass that he doesn't care about catchers interference, he'll take a bat on the arm for the team

* Stoner and Phelps are the lucky third base coaches, you want a run, get these guys coaching.

* Got a single with the War Hammer

* We had a couple of close plays at the plate, one where Johnny Bad ass was crashing hard and slid head first, was tagged out, then slapped the ball out of Greg's mitt just for fun, and one where Johnny Bartlett was out by a mile, and got a little high face action to cement the play.

* We picked a guy off at second to preserve the tie

* Jimmy ran so far to collect a ground rule double, we were worried he might come back with scars and a cellie.

* Small pine tar bottles are illegal. Large water bottles are fine. If you can provide a good explanation why, you might be able to run a CA prison.

* We met the first woman warden. She seemed very smart, sure and capable. The asst. coach introduced her as "pretty". Keep reaching for the glass ceiling, Ex-Warden Jeanne Woodford.

* All in all, a great game, and I think we were all a little relieved that it ended up a tie.

See you on Sunday, rain or shine!

S. Paige

5/29/11- West Sunset

It was a great Memorial day, we were a little worried about the show up due to the long weekend, but we were treated to 19 stout fellows. The breeze was blowing all day, and was pushing pretty strong, straight out to right field. Remember that fact, 'cuz it came into play later.

Johnny started and ended for the homers, pitching 10 strong. Satch and Tony combined for the visitors, the game was a real high scoring affair. Sean, nursing a tender shoulder, got to be on the same team as me, which never happens. The really amazing thing is that by the end of the 3rd inning, I hadn't thrown 20 pitches yet. The wind being as strong as it was, was not going to let the fastball be of any use, so I kept to the knuckle balls and changeups. It worked well.

The same could not be said for Johnny, my own personal opinion was that the wind was flattening out Johnny's natural movement, and that combined with the visitors strong lineup, made for some long balls. But no one can deny that he gave it his all, and anyone that can throw 10 innings is a champ in my book.

The visitors took an early lead, and before we knew what was happening, the score started to get out of control. Something in the neighborhood of 7-0? No one likes a lop sided affair, so I took it upon myself to fall on the sword and end the bleeding so as to restart everyone's clocks. Sure enough, as soon as we started to talk about switching up the teams, the homers got into the scoring business and put 4 runs on the board. From there, the game stayed close until another explosion of runs carried the visitors into the double digits.

The first home run of the game came from Sean, who first hit a foul ball that ricocheted off the right field fence, and then on the next swing, tattooed one into the trees. The second home run came from the personally designated DH hitter, Loren, who gave the homers a light up in the last part of the game. With the score in the region of 14-9, Loren sent one high and deep, almost to the exact same place that Sean had hit his.

And I cannot in good faith, leave my own personal blast off the record, even though it was to left field, where there is no fence. I challenge anyone to say that ball would not have been out of any MLB park. I think the secret with my hit was I got it above the gusting wind, allowing it to not get hung up in the air or blow into center field where Mitch would have caught it. I really wanted to trot around the bases, but I settled for a languorous triple.

And speaking of triples, the other big hitting news of the day was Duane, who appears to have cured his back problems to the tune of three triples! Never seen that before....

Tony took over for the visitors in the 8th, and threw the 9th and bonus 10th, with only a few hiccups. The homers made a valiant effort in the final gasps of the game, but the divide was too much, and the visitors were victorious, in a 14-11 win.

Highlights:

* Mike Gaspar made an amazing foul ball catch, after the wind blew a pop up from the stadium seats, all the way back to the third base line

* The entire squad had a case of the dropsies, we saw more balls in gloves and then out of gloves than ever.

* Bob and I both narrowly missed getting clocked in the face by hard hit balls.

* Mitch made his usual array of dynamic catches

* Elvin had some strong hits on balls in the strike zone and played a good second base

* Stoner made his monthly appearance and made two outs in one inning, one regular, one slide style

* Tim and Loren crawled in a bag with Jeremiah Weed Hard Lemonade somewhere in the 3rd.

* I managed to hit a line drive that tumbled perfectly as it went through Gaspar's legs, hit the back of his shoe and into left field

* A hearty thanks to the homers for being reasonable enough not to insist that we enforce Tony's balk, a tough thing to do with men in scoring position and needing the runs

* The wind seemed to be more of a problem for the infield than the outfield

* Loren did make a nice grab at second base....the inning that he played there.

* John McG had a triple of his own

* Bob was our lead off batter and used the cheater stick again to no avail

* Gaspar beat the Gaspar shift, only because we felt foolish playing the 2nd baseman in the SS position, we now know better

* I think Ed caught the whole game for the homers, and had at least one extra base hit

* The new guy who came out looked like he knew what he was doing

* We successfully got a man out at home on a corners-in play!

* But then we tried to get the double play, and ended up throwing a triple to the batter.

* After my sacrificial bunt to end our mega-rally, I later tried to bunt for a base hit and pretty much bunted it back to the same place.

* With a full day of hitting for both sides, the flip side of the coin was Greg, who really stunk up the joint by going 0-6 or something, and never got the ball out of the infield

Alright, keep your fingers crossed for dry skies this weekend, if it keeps up like this maybe it will only rain in the morning and dry by the afternoon.

S. Paige

Dear Kyle, Girgus, Dave J,. Richard B., Pete (2), Richie, Dan, William, Jason, Phil, Eli (actually fuck you Eli),

I hope you can hear this. We need you. Both as a player and as a presence.

Keep in Touch,

S. Paige

Drunk

Yeah, Duane has a blog too, and its about baseball.

http://90feetofperfection.com/

You should all check it out. Expand your mind. Learn what a slider is.

Know what the rule is when it comes to pop fly in the infield, with less than two outs.

Or maybe just have a good time.

S. Paige

5/15/11 Cop Field

Here's a note from one of our legal representatives, Ed Sidawi, on the Sunday game last week. Sorry I had to miss it, but Satch's wife don't like it when baseball takes up the whole weekend. I am not sure why.

A light showing on a beautiful day following a SQ game. A little after 3pm, Mitch
showed up to make 14. After the rejoicing, Johnny took the mound for the Home
team. Sean, after raking the mound pre-game, demanded the ball for the visitors.

The game see-sawed back and forth, with each team leading for a time, and tied
for a time. 3 runs for the visitors in the, in the, well lets call it the 7th
was the last scoring. 11-8 was the final. I think.

We played 8 to 10 innings there was much debate, but as with all seven on seven
games, there is a lot of moving around.

Highlights:

*Johnny pitched his usually complete game, Roy Halladay is the active Career
leader with 62. Johnny should pass him by November.

*Tony pitched 2 innings and I think he didn’t give up a baserunner.

*McJohn’s Cousins or nephew or some kind of relations Josh and Dan came out.
Josh hit the ball very hard, but the advance scouts had the defense played
perfectly. We will miss him this summer as he is playing on a traveling team.

*Sean gutted out 7 or 8 innings.

*I am pretty sure no one got hit (Editors note: Was Bob not there, or just lucky?)

5/14/11- MBC versus SQ A's

We collected outside the gate, in the afternoon, that threatened to rain, but never did. We were entertained by a ornery old gate guard, who had decided he would list out and apply every rule and myth that he could, mostly because the count hadn't finished and he thought we were in need of "learning." Probably good that he reminded people that the tower guards shoot people with blue jackets on in case of trouble. Mental note 1: Don't wear a blue jacket to the game.

He searched each and every bag, made sure that we all memorized the rules about cell phones, food, drinks, and sunflower seeds. The curious thing is that while he listed all of the things that we were not supposed to have, he didn't really stop us from bringing them in, he mostly just wanted to cover his own ass so we could testify to the fact that he had warned us.

Unfortunately something got fucked up, and Dustin was not able to join us inside. He made up for it hanging at the bar in Larkspur, keeping our rep legit. Hopefully we can iron it out so D-Sky can make it inside next time.

In any case, the all clear bell sounded, we made our way in, and got the field just as the inmates were getting the gear and uniforms out of the locked shed. As time was a factor, and we had never gotten a complete game in the afternoon slot, we told the A's we were ready to start, no infield/outfield required.

Ke'Lam started for the A's, back from shoulder surgery, and apparently a pitcher now. He seemed to have taken on the Stretch role of team representative. There were a few other guys that we recognized from Giants game past, and there was no real difference in the play, so I would say that there are two equal teams at SQ now, rather than an A squad and B squad. As the Giants rep, Johnny "Bad Ass" was behind the fence for the beginning of the game, giving a mixture of shit talking and encouragement to the batters. Then he moved out to right field, and kept his thing going from there.

As usual, they jumped to an early lead, and we failed to get a hit for a while. We do think that Jimmy (his first trip inside) got a hit, but the Con-gress (haha) ruled it was an error. Our first couple of innings were not as tragic as past games, where every one catches their own feet and pop flys drop in the middle of seven guys (that came later.) They had some legit hits, and before we got our first hit, the score was 4-0.

One thing that always seems to be an issue for us is base coaching. It is one of those things that we don't practice very often in our games, and usually by the time that we realize we need a coach at third, its too late. My own issue with base coaching in the SQ game came when I was barreling towards third, and realized that Phelps was a little too close inside my trajectory line if I rounded the bag. In my attempt to slow down or in any way not kill Brian, I tripped over the bag, went face first in to the dirt, cut up my hand, sprained my ankle, but managed to cradle the loose bag in a effort to not be called out. It worked. Helpful hint to all, it is in everybody's best interest to stay out of that zone, now referred to as Big Train Alley.

The other issue of the day was the umpires. Now we all know that there is a lean towards the convicts side, and we accept that. The home plate umpire had a big zone, but it seemed to work most of the time both ways. There were a few times when Greg and I had to share a look of disbelief that a ball was not called a strike, and once he had the LATEST strike call I have ever experienced, but luckily we all froze and waited, and waited, and waited, and eventually he did make the call. The field umpire was another story. He must owe some people on the team or just be really stoked for the A's to win. He was missing calls all over the place, called an out at the tail end of a double play that was just wrong, and completely missed a pick off attempt. I think he was overexcited about being able to ring people up, well, more specifically, us.

We finally got in the scoring mood, and once we had that first run, our confidence came back to us, and for a change the other team started making mistakes. We had to beg and plead to get the scoreboard guys to put our runs up though. We kept up the scoring, and made some great defensive plays to keep the game close. They brought in Junkyard to close the game, and we all thought that this was our opportunity. He was no cupcake though, and even though it was a one run game, he looked calm. The frantic final bell time keeping, I think, psyched us out a little though, and we went down 1, 2, 3 in our final at bat, and accepted a 7-6 loss.

Handshakes and thanks all around, and out we went to the world again. The Marin Brewing Company welcomed us with cold beers, a drunk Dustin, and good burgers.

Highlights:

* Lineup for the SQ A's

1. Ke'lam

2. Rahim

3. Jeff

4. Chris

5. Dalton

6. Paul

7. Manning (DH)

8. T Burton

9. Junkyard

10. Donnie

* I managed to hit four guys, all with exceptionally slow changeups or knuckleballs. And most of them on 1-2 counts. Adam said they all reported that they were happy to get hit, so they could get on base.

* We turned a double play of our own to get our of a tight jam!

* No one hit a cheapy to right, but I got within a foot of it.

* Jimmy hit the ball hard all day, and didn't ever look scared.

* I haven't been able to check in with him to see if he is alright, but I hit Greg in the throat with a bouncing knuckleball. Sorry!

* The outfielders were duped a couple of times by the fast outfield, I think we are all used to the slow grass, but SQ is a quick one.

* Chris and Jimmy scored on a double to left center, they had to wait to see if it fell, and by the time they scored, they were almost piggybacking

* Brian Phelps got sent home by an overeager third base coach, and had to do the worm to get around the catcher. Maybe we can pop lock for a run next time.

* Best Pre-game moment: Noah explaining the five gloves in his bag to the old guard why he needed them and how they were different.

* Chris made a great stop at SS, we didn't get the out, but it saved a run.

* We brushed the metal plate on the first base line, so we would know where it was. One of the A's rounded it the next inning, thinking it was the base. They covered it back up.

* The wind made for an interesting game, we had guys running all over the place. The best was a pop fly that looked like it was 2nd base all the way, then, it was 1st, then it was pitcher, then it fell in the middle of all of us, and thankfully rolled foul. Nice play everybody.

* We also had a team wide run down, we should have just surrounded the guy, since 8 of us were running that direction.

* Successfully picked a guy off first, which really sucked 'cuz he was so happy he had gotten a hit. He was scary mad for a little while.

* Their DH laid down a picture perfect bunt for a safety squeeze play. We need to learn that play.

Thanks to all that came out, email me if there are things that I missed that you feel should be included. Also, those who took pictures, send them to me, so I can add them.

Next game is June 2nd, and then June 25.

S. Paige