4/22/12- Big Rec

Parking wasn't especially horrible but it as enough to allow for a trickle in effect.  I was late, but not because of parking, just cuz I barely got permission to leave.  Mrs. Paige runs a tight schedule sometimes....

We had 22 by the time the latecomers arrived, and Brian Phelps was on the mound, dealing.  His mother was in the crowd, so I guess we know where that extra 3 mph and tricky movement was coming from.  Hey, who among us doesn't want to impress his mother with his baseball skills?  To her credit, she stayed for the whole game,which was steeped in fog and wind, a classic SF summer day.  Snyder started for the homers and continued his headhunting ways, beaning Carter in the middle of the spine early in the game.

On paper, the homers were a formidable team, but our play lacked cohesiveness.  We started out neck and neck with the visiting squad, trading runs for runs, we were down 3-1, then came back and tied it up, and then, in true MBC style, the roof caved in.  Greg had pitched a brilliant 4 innings, and Tony came in for relief, but was cut short by a knee injury on the slightly embarrassing error on the basepaths (hope it feels better and your Hawaiian surf trip is not affected!).  So in comes Satch, still not quite warm, but ready to go.  And it felt good, the weather was very conducive to the knuckleball, being heavy air and all.

The problem was, with the loss of Tony, the natural flow of our defense was all out of whack.  We had outfielders playing infield, infielders playing other infield positions than their own, and a general lack of confidence in what we were doing.  Cue the pop fly.  We dropped several.  Cue the throw around, we threw several.  Cue the triple.  The visitors had a few.  After celebrating that we finally had gotten an out after about 20 minutes, we started to settle down, and eventually the inning came to an end.  The damage, however, had been done to the tune of 7 runs.  Yikes.

We had come back once, so there was no reason we couldn't do it again, except of course, this time.  Phelps stayed locked in and never let up.  Johnny came in for relief, and then Carter, and we fared no better against them.  I wanted to keep playing, since it was to be my final game as a SF resident, but eventually, everyone just wanted to go home.  So we did.  Final score: 12-3?

Highlights:


* Brian Phelps, big time pitching, big time hitting (moonshots), great game.  Your mom was heckling us the whole time, that's why we lost....

* Richie and Jay had the big hits and started to signal our doom

* Carter is officially the new Bob, having amassed some really impressive HBP's in the last few months.  Congrats!

* Adam had a number of real hard luck pop up attempts but he finally caught one at the end

* Wilson, Bob's new guy, came out and looked like an athletic Brian Girgus.  He seemed to know what he was doing, and how to back up a play (I will preempt the expected peanut gallery commentary and say Yes, I should take lessons)

* Duane made a flub play at short, and then threw the guy out at first with an impressive hurry up throw (hope the arm is ok)

* Twice we bench coached for our base runners to stop, and twice they ignored us and did alright.  Maybe we should reevaluate our decision tree?

* Bob got hosed at the plate, with the help of a great relay from JT, to Tony to Adam, it was a thing of beauty.  I didn't think we had a chance to get him, but got him we did.

* The grass was so thick in the infield, it really threw off the normal ground ball

* Chris Powell played second base, which was a first, his excuse was that he played a double header on Saturday....

* It is decided that Milo needs to start playing baseball ASAP, so he can start falling on something soft like grass and dirt for a change.  Hope he feels better.

* The pink bat got a lot of use and a lot of hits

* The catchers did a good job of blocking the ball, not many passed balls

* The knuckle ball laid waste to a lot of hitters, could be considered a knuckle outing

* Tony had some nasty hops off the lip of the infield

* A case could be made for me loafing to second, however, with Carter's clean fielding of the ground ball at SS, I was pretty sure that if I pushed it, I would have been injured and out, as opposed to just out.  But I hear ya, not my best moment, especially following my one hard hit of the day

Make sure to give Greg some money, he has been funding the permits for the last few weeks.

S. Paige

4/15/12- West Sunset

I will not dwell on the fact of how frustrated I was yesterday, all I wanted to do was get to the game, my first in quite a while.  Bay Bridge, no problem.  Construction diversion at Fremont St, no problem.  Getting the 3.5 miles from my apartment to the field, big problem....Usually the Sunday road closure thing is not an issue, but I guess the once a month when they shut down everything, including the Great Highway, it really cluster fucks everything.

In any case, by the time I got to the game it was the 6th inning, and apparently one of the most defensively strong games of all time.  Sean and Johnny had been battling, trading great innings, the score stood tied 4-4.

I ended up on the home team, and was warming up in the infield while DJ Greg started his warm ups on the mound.  At some point in the tosses, Bob threw one back while Greg was looking elsewhere, and it popped him right in the left eye.  He laid face down for a while, but luckily, it was a glancing blow, and once he took a second to recognize he was alright, we got him resting comfortably.  Always available as the short term solution, I took the mound and did the rest of my warming up there.  The nice part about being gone for a month, is that the arm has a some real fastballs in it for a while, so I took advantage and threw some heat to offset the melted ice cream ball.

Phelps came in for the visitors, and threw well, but we still managed to advance a few and break the tie, we went up 7-4.  We stayed there for the next few innings, and turned away the rally in the 9th to secure the win, that is to say, the win if we were going to stop at 9, which of course we weren't.  The sun was shining, we had extra players, and no where else that we wanted to be.

Regulation Score 7-4, home team.

I think we played 5 extra innings, but I could be wrong.  I know I bowed out after giving up a huge rally to the visitors, who all of sudden were driving my fastball all over the place.  So in theory, I managed to win and lose the game, its always nice to be involved....the defense stayed pretty good for the whole game, although the chaotic in play throw around started to be a little more common.

Greg Snyder came in to escort the homers through the end of the game, and Will pitched for the visitors, both did great at shutting down the hitting, with a few exceptions.  By the 13th?, we were starting to lose more players, so we begged the visitors to give us our finals ups, but not too much came of it, and we ended our day of baseball in the waning light of a sunny, hazy day.

Final Final Score, 13-8, visitors.

Highlights (from the 6th on)

* Bob got hit right after I got there, making it official

* A lot of people in general got hit with the ball, the backstop was sending balls caroming back at hitter and catcher alike

* We had a number of plays that would have been great if the throw was on, or the ball was caught

* Richie rifled one right back at me in the midst of the big rally, scoring two

* Jay had a nice day at the plate, line drives, as well as catching my line drive at 3rd, dammit!  Now if we can just get him to stop cursing his bad luck after he hits a single.

* Rich sent one into the greenery in center field, and after a short debate, was awarded a home run, longest ball I have seen hit in a while

* Adam hit lefty and scorched one, unfortunately, I was in right field, and running blindly towards the shadow I thought was the ball.  It turned out it was and I snared it.

* Jimmy had a good all around game as well, including two short porch grabs running backwards

* Sean had another dazzler play off the mound

* I was happy that my first at bat resulted in a long fly double (that Mitch almost caught....) and not an embarrassing K

* Almost had a legendary play, Bob hit a grounder and hustled his way to first.  The ball was bobbled, but they still had time, the throw was off line, yet, Mitch, who was catching, had been tracking Bob down the line and almost had the ball and the tag!

* Theo and Milo were our fan squad for the whole game, urged on by Ed

* Thanks to Bob, Noah, Ed, Mitch, Adam and Greg for catching the extra long game

* Will struck out Carter (or vice versa.....) in dominant fashion

* Ed was picked off at third, and it was not pretty

* The Homers were playing hazy pretty much the whole game

* Back to back doubles really cemented the visitors rally

* Short porch hits were the key to getting through the defense in the later innings

* Thanks to everyone who made it out and stayed!

S. Paige

4/8/12- West Sunset

Well, it looked like a good game, and I sure wish I had been able to play.  I knew the odds were stacked against it, but a guy has to hope, and with the rain and the missed games, I was raring to get whatever I could.  That ended up being me and the lil' guy watching a few innings and then disappointing my team by bailing.  It was the first weekend that Mrs. Paige had left me alone with Kid Satch, we had made plans to meet at the ballpark, but at some point, she came to her senses and realized she didn't want the family reunion to immediately become watching me play baseball after being gone all weekend....in theory, I can't say I blame her....in theory.

Highlights (that I witnessed):

* Duane made a dandy play at first

* Nick attempted to make a dandy play at first but missed Mitch

* DJ Greg and Sean were pitching

* Scott had a nice rip for a double

* Sean made an amazing falling off the mound play, that got the out, and managed to not hurt himself in the process of falling, landing, twisting and throwing

* Nice to see Elvin, Hank, Scott, Jeff, Richie, Lattig, Daniel (who unfortunately went to Cop Field first) out after a long absence

* Happy Birthday to Nick Smith, who turned 84, 48,  68, 58? this week!  Amazing that he is still faster than all of us!

And then I had to leave.

4/1/12 St Mary's

The good news is that I now own a house, or at least a mortgage.  The bad news is, now I got to move.  Sorry to have missed the game, but I was putting sealing grout in the patio to keep the rain out of the garage, and don't get me started on the fire break code stuff....in any case, I was thinking of the game often on Sunday, and here's what happened, recapped by those who were lucky enough to be there:

BRIAN “LEFTY” PHELPS

The Grand Marshall sent the troops to St. Mary's where only some minor field prep was needed for the 16 that made it. Johnny quickly grabbed the mound and was ready to toss a gem. The homers were shut down by Johnny. Phelps started for the visitors and was wild from the get go, but was able to get out of the third down 1-0. Will took the bump in the fourth and dominated the mound with inside heat, keeping the visitors to 3 runs for the 6 inning bullpen win. Greg and Tony came in for relief in a close game but a few runs came in for a 7-4 visitor win.

Highlights:

• Bob didn't get hit, but Dennis and a handful of others did

• Jimmy was a magnet and made a killing at second.

• Johnny was dazzling on the bump

• Rich showed up in the 4th

• 4 ground balls tossed into the dugout by the visitors

• More than usual third out Ks

• Phelps had 2 sac flies with Mitch on 3rd (the wind saved one from being a deep shot)

• Tony tracked down a deep fly

• Mitch Mitched his own team

• Carter had an epic long AB along with an amazing back hand at 3rd

• Scott laid out for a grounder at short. Got the glove on it, but couldn't get a throw off. Way to get dirty.

• Dennis snagged a line drive and doubled off Phelps at 2nd

• Nick manned a mean 1st base

• Did I mention Bob didn't get hit?

• Thanks to Greg, Bob, Ed, Mike for catching

• Johnny also gets Gold Glove for cat-like reflexes on the mound, on two comebackers

• Two close plays at the plate. One out, one safe.

• Mitch hit a deep shot 

• Bob went oppo and got a triple

• The hard wall behind home prevented a lot of free bases on passed balls

GREG SNYDER

* While Bob didn't get hit, Carter did, 3 or 4 times.

* Mcgrath did the field check. even though he couldn't make the game.

* Phelps threw his glove in disgust.

PHELPS

* Please add that, especially equipment throwing. Not tolerated in Mission baseball and we should point out those a-holes that do. Although it should be noted that Phelps did do this in disgust of himself and it was not directed at any other player. 

ED SIDAWI

Early word was Big Rec was a no go. Both Bob and Brian scouted it and saw too many puddles to overcome. John McG took a look at St. Mary’s and gave it a thumbs up and we all headed there instead. 16 of us got there to tend the grounds (moving water off the back of the mound and scraping up home plate.  (If Rich had been to St Mary’s earlier  and not relying on GPS or some such nonsense, he would have been on time too, but he was there by the 4th and we were grateful.)

It was a classic Johnny v Brian match up early on, the homers  getting on and Johnny holding on to that for four innings or so, stranding Bob at third after an oppo triple (yeah, really) and less than 2 outs. The homers added a couple before the visitors struck back for three. It was knotted there for a couple innings until the visitors added one, then four. The homers came back a little and had a miny rally in the 9th, but ultimately came up short final score either 9-4 or 8-4. Greg and Tony relieved for the homers and ill came in to relieve.

Highlights:

*Greg went for it and purchased a new catcher’s glove from Pinkard, it’s pretty cool and I expect it to be broken in by winter.

*Carter was hit 3 times by Greg and Johnny, he also mashed a double with his new bat.

*I thought as the catcher I caught a rebound off Bob’s back, but he said it didn’t hit him. I am not sure I believe him

*Tony threw the best curveball of his life to Bob, which buckled the batter, yet was right down the middle.

*Mitch threw me out at home from left, Bob blocked the plate well.

*Whoever told Adam that he had plenty of room when tracking a popup near the first base dugout was not necessarily lying, just very very wrong. Its for the best anyway, a sore shoulder from running into a fence without slowing is better than trying to make a catch over the razor wire and tearing up your forearm.

*Dennis slowed down a little, be must be between cycles.

Rain= Boredom= Philosophical Analysis

So I have had nothing to do on Sunday but housework and baby taking-care-of.  And it ain't looking good for this weekend either, but I am not going to lose hope quite yet.

In perusing the past few posts, I noticed that this particular shot speaks a lot about the MBC game, and wanted to point out a few of them... because what the hell else am I going to do?

1. Greg pitching- He hasn't done as much of it lately, but I love the sight of him on the mound, working the inside (that's his secret if you haven't figured it out yet.), and ready to throw 19 innings if needed.

2.  Mitch in Center- Where he belongs yes, but his posture is great cuz he looks like he is sort of nonchalantly standing there, and yet we all know he is capable of tracking down balls in either gap.

3.  Sean at 2nd- I love the fact that we can have a lefty at 2nd base, flying in the face of 170-ish years of baseball experience.

4. Satch's bat- Billy Martin is rolling over in his alcoholic grave  Not to mention the obscene 3 inch choke, which is how I manage to not break my bat and sometimes actually get good wood on anything inside

5. The balls behind the mound- Smartest way to keep the game moving, always interesting when they get hit with a come backer.  I wish we had good enough memory's to just leave our gloves in the outfield when we came in, like the old timers used to do.  But I imagine the first week we did that, we would lose about half the players gloves and the other half would have ankle injuries.

6. Dee Dee in the outfield- Our little furry game mascot and 2nd resident ball magnet.  She and Bob should have a contest some time.

7. The weather- It doesn't happen all the time, but some might argue that a nice sunny day in SF is about as close to perfect as we can get.

8. Johnny's cross-step walk as the pitch is released- We all know its tiresome to be all tense and bouncy with the secondary lead.  Johnny is exhibiting the more sophisticated MBC secondary lead.

9. Style- Everyone in the picture is wearing stirrups or hosiery of some sort.  That's awesome.

10. Baseballers of the Future- Out in deep center.  We love it when little kids watch our game, it is great to see how excited they get that baseball is actually being played and they are so close to it.  We have also never had a problem with kids on the field, softball practice on the other hand.....


Yep, we sure do have something pretty special here in SF.

Rain, Rain, go away, or at least rain early in the week and then dry out....

S. Paige

3/25/12 Rain Out

It was actually really nice on Sunday, but the steady downpour on Saturday gave away any chance of a game.  Hope you all got out and got some fresh air at least.

The Rain blues continue....

S. Paige

Some Culture, Mission Baseball Style

Thanks to our very own literary enthusiast Adam Pfahler, here is a poem he found by Bruce Smith from his collection Devotions, on baseball (and maybe some symbolism about other things, but that is for the critics to decide....


Pinetar, a sluice of tobacco, sunflower seeds, and juju.
Lena Blackburne rubbing mud, gum, the glues and salves
for doing things fairly – one out of three
swipes at the ball and a flare to right, a dying quail, a 3-
2 change popped up with a shitfuck, handcuffed, tomahawked
the high hard stuff or took a backwards K when made to look ugly
as we often were:  Humility 3 Arrogance 1 after seven innings. And all
America around is in the sentimental vaudeville.  So not the claims 
of greened paradise and diamonds in the beauty of the sacrifice 
bunt nor the Newtonian symmetries and distances, it was snakes
in the outfield and trances interrupted by the hamstring pill, spit and
chew,
geological time spans between ball one and ball two.  The meditative
silences
likened to prayer were a bus ride where the Latin music blared.
We had a dominant eye.  We had a thought, well, not quite a thought, 
a thought fouled off in the direction of a woman who could hold a 
drink
an oilcan we'd crush like a inside pitch in our dreams.  Fast twitch
muscle and jock itch.  We scratched our names in dirt.

We wiped our hands on shirts.  As much as we wanted to look good,

we were the bullies of our childhood sliding, cleats up a Juan or Bob

with the fury of the psychopath, Ty Cobb (whose mother

blew his fathers head off with a shotgun, so forever playing dead).

I liked best the games no one could see: pepper, shagging flies, BP.

Got picked off first and waited for a ticket home.

Drafted or matriculated?  In a one-run game I missed the cut-off man.

Boys my age were dying in Khe Sanh.

3/18/12 Cop Field- Batting Practice

Satch was in Scottsdale, where it also rained, hailed, blew a gale and drained the wallets of all....sorry there wasn't more of a turnout in SF, but it sounds like those who came had a good time, except Liam, who we hope is alright....here's John McG with the recap:

Only 7 showed.  The field conditions were surprisingly good (a testament to how bone dry the ground must be).  We took BP.  Tony worked on his CF skills making some nice catches and looking like the Yankee clipper.  Adam fielded well at sack 3.  Elvin was in da house and Daniel, a pal of his named Adam (who has some BB skills), this author, Greg and Dennis rounded out the attendees.   The sun stayed out and the wind stayed up.  Nearly every caught and nearly every one tossed some BP.

The leprechauns played their own game of pepper and the bigger leprechaun got one in the mouth and the ketchup was real.  He bounced back pretty quick though.

Hope for drier skies and more of a turnout this week

S. Paige

The very last Mission Red

Here is our own Duane with the last surviving member of the Mission Reds baseball team, Rugger Ardizoia!  him and Mitch went to the 160 Years of SF baseball at the JCC last night, and Rugger recognized the hat and lamented that he should have worn his own, man how cool must that hat be!!!!????

For the whole scoop, visit Duane's blog 'o' baseball here: http://90feetofperfection.com/


S. Paige

3/11/12 Big Rec

Ahhh, Spring....

A return to the big time, for some of us it was the first game ever at Big Rec, as we have shied away in the last few years, due to traffic, parking, etc.  It was nice to have people watching our little game, and we had a drunken heckler, which was a first in a while too.  The day was amazing, warm, humid, cool for about five minutes, and then muggy.  Daylight savings made it seem like a long game, but it was a tidy 3 hours, with an extra.

We had 18 show up (19 with a late appearance by Loren), and a nice split of talent between the two teams.  Brian Phelps and Noah started on the bump and did some real nice battling.  The visiting squad jumped all over us homers, and ran up a big lead by the 3rd, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-1.  Ouch. The drunken heckler had some legitimate points, as we threw the ball around, let it roll past us in the outfield, and in general, had trouble getting the third out.

However, baseball is a long endeavor, and anything can happen, especially in a MBC game.  We homers started our comeback, and with a error and poke rally of our own, we closed the gap to 7-5 by the middle innings.  Satch came in for the long save in the 4th and took it the rest of the way, in an effort at last glory before what looks like a month of "other" time.  We tied it up round about the 6th and then inched forward with the lead.

Noah kept battling, but eventually handed the pill over to Dustin Skiles, who did not do his usual overpowering schtick.  We kept tacking on runs, helped in turn by the visitors turn at throwing the ball around and muffing ground balls.  By the end of the game it was us homers who were ahead by 6 runs, and that's how it ended, just in time for the sun to finally disappear and the chill to set in.  Final 15-9.

Highlights:

* Duane had a three run home run, which was pretty awesome

* Adam Pfahler had a base clearing double that really put the game out of reach

* Noah pitched his heart out

* All the catchers did a great job of blocking all day

* I hit Bob with a slow curve, making it an official game.

* Elvin came out after a long absence and made a great catch, and had a nice hit

* Phil Snyder was out gathering photos and making his brother nervous in the batters box

* Another infield fly rule play, that we all recognized.

* Jay had a big rip on a legit curve ball, should have gone with my catcher

* Phelps took third on a heads up base running play, got to cover those bags people

* Scott came out after a long absence, his throwing style has gotten even more submarine in nature, and he had a nice hit that was unfortunately, Mitched

* Long lost Rob came out too, resplendent in neon green soccer cleats (yikes) and made a nice grab in right and had two hits

* The visitors turned a nice double play and had a home to first that almost worked.

* Loren had a nice drive

* The change-up really ruined a lot of people's at bats, I had a couple of innings where the ball never got out of the infield

* The Pink bat got a lot of use

* It wasn't all errors, a lot of people had some real nice contact

* I had a 1.000 OBP, my first four were all hit to the exact same place, with varying degrees of velocity

* The 1st and 3rd dupe didn't work out, as I got picked off on purpose, but then Ed was gunned down at the plate

* Line of the day:
Drunk Heckler- You guys are like the Bad News Bears,
Adam- You're like Walter Matthau in the Bad News Bears....

* The game ended on a screaming line drive come backer...glad I caught it

* I played JT's opposite field line drive perfectly, much to his chagrin

* All our thoughts for a speedy recovery are with old timer and MBC original, Doc Maggrane.

S. Paige

West Sunset- Pictures by Jay

Thanks again to Jay Cellini for the pictures, as you can see it was pretty much the nicest day in SF in a long time.

3/4/12- West Sunset

Wow!  That's all I can say.  What a day, the weather was perfect bordering on hot, nice breeze through out the day, and the mob scene we expected to descend was significantly less than we imagined (12-12 as opposed to 16-16).  The teams were halved on very fair terms, and Sean started on the bump for the homers, Johnny for the visitors.  We breezed through a couple of innings, trading scores, Sean was down in his velocity which allowed us visitors to actually string together some hits, Johnny had some questionable defense at times that allowed for any lead to be a tenuous one.

We once again found ourselves at 6-6 going into the 6th, but we scored to go ahead 7-6, thus depriving us of back to back Number of the Beast games.  However, we did make it 8-8 in the 8th ( My number, so a different kind of number of the Beast) and 9-9 in the 9th which was pretty cool.  As you can tell, it was close game through out, and into the legitimate extra innings, it stayed close, as we both ran the tally up to 14.

However, the homers proved to be stronger in fortitude in the extra innings, and also some how ended up having the last at bats, but I guess the reasoning was that they had already won the game, and it was doubtful that we could get another full inning in.  It would have been nice to try though, final score 16-14.

Highlights Extravaganza!


* Sean and Co. managed to get out of a bases loaded no outs jam, it was a thing of beauty to see.  Unless you were the guy stranded on base.

* Two infield fly rule plays in one game!

* Paul W. came out for his swan song, got a couple of hits, told some stories.  He is moving to sunny Florida in the next few weeks, seeking sun, warmth, and friendly income tax climates.  We wish him all the best, thanks for playing!

* A questionable foul ball that sat on the plate, may have been an fair ball.

* Greg vs. Greg once again proved violent, as Snyder put one between his shoulder blades, again.

* Brian Phelps and Jay both took lots of pics, some of which can be viewed here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmp415/sets/72157629519175683/

* We also experienced the ill-fate of the dropped 3rd strike, safe at first

* We had some great hits that were a result of batters hustling down to first, that's the MBC heart!

* Jay got a crucial RBI and then almost got picked off while being 10 inches off the bag

* The ol' first and third steal play actually worked!

* Mitch and Brian traded who could be the best center fielder title through the game

* I tattooed one off Sean my first at bat, and I actually pulled the ball.  That made up for a lot of stinker at bats in the last few games

* JT made a couple of JT Snow-like plays at first

* Thanks to Bob, Greg, Gaspar, Ed, Adam for catching and doing a great job blocking the ball in a close game

* Daniel gets the award for best slide and worst delayed steal

* Sean, playing second base, made a strong argument for the basic mechanics of why lefties don't play second base

*  Duane stroked the ball, Adam had a huge drive for a double, as did Mitch, who of course, got a triple

* Will and Carter got to be on the same team and batted back to back

* No one say Dennis' name when he is playing defense, apparently it paralyses him

* The sun proved to be less of a problem this time, no explanation, except that maybe we are headed into spring?

* The wind, on the other hand, made for some real tense high flies

* DJ Greg did a good job of throwing strikes in the final frames, and struck out Sean, but needs to remember that fixing his hat in the middle of his wind up is considered a balk.

* An epic game, thanks to everyone who came out, and everyone who didn't.

Next week, Big Rec, 3pm ( don't forget to set those clocks ahead an hour)

S. Paige

2/26/12- West Sunset

No rain insight, which is bad news for the state, water-wise, but great news for MBC.  Cold day, clear, but very breezy and chilly.  We had 27 people show up at the ball yard, ready to play.  With a rare Sean absence game, Brian Phelps stepped up to the bump to start for the homers.  Satch, eager to prove he still had it, and finally rehabbed, was the starter for the visiting 9 (or 14 as it were.).

First inning blues, man, we had them bad.  I have never seen so many gonks, dribblers, short flies and drops.  The homers ran 5 across the plate in a true 1st inning bloodfest.  There were a few good knocks but the rest were tragic, hits, no one will deny that, but tragic.  Phelps was cool and calm, and after giving up a double to yours truly and then a mental error which allowed us to get a run across, he kept the lead.

It was a game of chipping away though, and in a nice change of pace, our team settled down, and my shoulder, feeling spry after 2 months off, gave me the options of a real fastball.  It all seemed to be working, so I used it all, especially the change-up, which works a lot better when you have a fastball to offset it with.  Striking out the side was nice.  Cuz we needed it.  I think I ended the game with 7 K's in 5 innings, not too bad for a has been/never was.

The homers still had a lot of pop left though and while were mounting our comeback, another to the tally.  By the 6th, we were all tied up at 6's, 6-6-6, far out.  And then magically, we took the lead, Will had come in for Brian, and Tony had taken the duties over from Satch. Tony looked strong as well, and with Johnny taking on the closer duties, the visiting pitchers had a combined total of probably 12 K's for the day!

Around the 7th or 8th, Will started to struggle, and around the same time, the wheels came off for the homers, and the vistitors lead expanded to 11-7, where it stayed through the end of the day's affair.  We played an extra inning, but nothing much happened other than all of us got a little chillier.

Highlights:


* The change up I threw to Phelps was a thing of beauty

* Chad showed up after a year, and brought 2 guys with him.  FAIL.  He hasn't been around to know about the moratorium.

* The grass in the infield was really thick, making the bounces look like slo-motion

* Lattig was robbed by Chris of a nice line drive

* John McG had a strong drive to right

* Is it a...Golden Sombrero?

* Phelps was Mitched in the classic sense

* Bob was hit with a foul ball well out of the way, he's like a horsehide magnet

* Dennis' testosterone therapy seems to be helping a lot

* I had to make a off balance cross body throw at SS, its been a while....

* Jeff had a good hit on a tough count

* Thanks to Bob, Gaspar, Mitch, Ed and Greg for catching

* The sun again proved to be everyone's nemesis

* Tim showed up late, like old times, and hit and stole bases with aplomb

* True MBC rally: started with errors started for our ground balls and short flies

* Gaspar had a 18? pitch battle with Will, and earned his walk

* We had a couple of runners gunned out at second!

* I survived an Ed at bat with a man on third.  Ed is now 58 for 59 in those situations

* All the littluns had helmets on, which I think is an excellent idea

* MBC Tenet- Let's all remember that we are out there to have fun, and its a hard job being a player and an umpire.  Questionable calls are a part of the game, and as a pitcher I may disagree with my catcher's calls, but it would be insulting if I forcibly called him out on it (yes, I acknowledge that I give my share of questioning looks, and flustered sounds, and they count too...).  Also, we are up there to hit, not to work counts for walks, so if you see a strike, take a hack, 3-2 count, you should be swinging at anything that's a strike or 2 inches on any side of the plate of being a strike.  In other words, Why wait for the strike tomorrow, when you can swing at the strike today, to mangle a number of metaphors.

If you disagree with a call, keep the frustration within reason and to yourself, don't worry, you'll get plenty more at-bats.  The outcomes of at-bats are not malicious, any catcher who would call a game in that fashion wouldn't be playing with us.  If the excitement of working counts and taking walks is important, there are plenty of Pick-up games that hire umpires.  They can be found here:  http://www.pickupbaseball.org/

And don't look back, something might be gaining on you,

S. Paige

2/19/12 West Sunset

I missed the first couple of innings, and sat in the stands, suited up, waiting for Mrs. Paige to take over watcher duties for Lil' Satch.  

Greg started for the homers, and looked good, considering he hasn't pitched much as of late.  The ball was flying off the bats though, lot of pop in the sunny dry air, maybe.  In any case, the visitors scored first, with the assistance of some questionable outfield plays and gap drives.  Sean was dealing for the visitors, per usual.

The most amazing part of the early innings was two, count them TWO, plays at the plate in one inning, and both of them resulted in outs!  MBC norms are to barely get the ball to the plate, much less have a play....but the homers were trying to get something started, and picked the wrong guys to test.  There was a great relay play to SS, and Tony got nailed after considering what to do with Bob blocking the plate.  He made the right choice.  Then we had another play, Noah was trying to get something more out of his two out muscled up double, this one was a throw on the fly from the outfield, into Bob's capable tagging hands.  Amazing!

Stoner finally provided the speed we needed to get on the board the next inning, but we never were close to the lead, it was 4-1, 4-2, then 6-2, 7-3.  I came into relieve Greg, my first outing since the muscle pull, and it felt good, I tried not to push it too much.  Tony took it home, and struggled a bit to find the dish.  DJ Greg took over for Sean, and also struggled with his accuracy.  His wildness was more effective, my at-bat in point, where he threw three way outside and then one at my head, which in my movement to get out of the way, the ball hit the knob of my bat, rolled fair, and I was thrown out at first before I knew what was happening.  Less than stellar.

I wished we could have played more, but it was getting chilly, and we had lost 3 people in  mid-game to various other things, so after Loren closed up the 9th, we packed it up and headed out for another week.

Highlights:


* At times the outfield made some great plays, at others, no one seemed to know where the ball was.

* Mitch had the best defensive play, hands down, a over the shoulder running catch in short left field, and it was for the third out!

* Some big flies out there, lotta pop.

* Stoner had a nice diving catch

* Mitch also had a couple great plays at third, with tags or runner checks done in rapid succession with getting the play at first

* Dennis' hit parade continued

* Our team really hit a couple of batters solidly, Bob got one in the back and DJ Greg got one in the spine.  Hopefully both were alright, but it was a real 2-2 with hit batsmen.  John McG testified that Bob's HBP sounded like "Rocky hitting the beef slabs."

* Nick Smith made some great digs at first, and also almost killed a number of people with his opposite field foul balls

* Stoner was making the most of his hall pass!

* John McG had to leave early, and was scrambling, looking for Aiden's glove.  30 minutes later Aiden shows up, just walking around.  After a couple of minutes we realize he isn't there anymore.  We looked around, didn't see him.  Hopefully he was there to retrieve his glove and then left....or maybe Aiden just walked the 4 miles from his house cuz he wanted to hang around the park, see what kind of trouble he could get into, both scenarios are valid.....

* Duane made a great play on Tony's hit up the middle, he must have anticipated it, I didn't think there was any way that ball wasn't getting through

* Carter and Will came back, and one of them had a tough in/out play in left on a fly ball.

Stay Loose.

S. Paige

*

Satch on the Mound

I got to go to the SFGH charity ball at AT&T park, and managed to get a darkened picture of me on the mound.  Next year I am bringing gloves and a ball, pickle time!

2/12/12 West Sunset

A bit of chilly day, but dry enough and many an eager player was waiting to play.  Satch worked out a deal to get up early and watch Lil' Satch and then get some time off in the afternoon for baseballing.  Nice work if you can get it.

Sean for the visitors and Noah for the homers is how we started, and the score was 1-0 for while.  Noah was getting good work out of his heavy ball, and Sean was his usual self.  We got out some jams, and killed some rallies on the both sides.

Somehow, me, the guy who hasn't played in a while, and is not the fastest runner by a long shot ended up being the only run scored for the homers for the majority if the game.  Good news, I smoked a double off Sean, in my return to the diamond.  Bad news, I had to run, take third on a passed ball, slide, get back up and run home (against the wishes of my team) after the ball went passed third, and then slide again.  I am glad it worked out, as I was almost out at least three times.  My slide into home was more of a collapse on the plate and a reversal of inertia so I wouldn't have a collision with Bob (which Tony states would have shaken the stadium...)

In any case, the visitors had no trouble scoring runs after the first few frames, and the score went, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1 in the middle of the game.  We managed to scrape back a run, and then were stuck again while the visitors sought out some insurance, 6-2.  Noah bowed out in favor of Tony, who felt good, but ran into trouble getting the third out.  DJ Greg and Will finished up the pitching duties for the visitors.

We entered the 9th inning looking beaten already, but Greg, the leader that he is, lasered a hit to the outfield, and we followed his lead by employing every chip, gork, drop and gracious error.  And it kept going.  Suddenly, it was a one run game, and we were looking strong.  Victory was not to be, however, as the Visitors managed to hold off the onslaught long enough for the us to hit into the final out.  We played an extra one for fun, but not much happened and it was getting cold, so we packed it in for another week.

Highlights:

* Some real fine defense at times, and real poor at others.

* A tough day for D. Skiles, keep your chin up, remember baseball is great therapy

* Dennis, hot off of his visit to Fantasy Camp and full of advice from retired pros, had a good game at the plate, and in the field.

* Noah and Sean had some big strikeouts

* Jay made a nice sun-blinded catch in the outfield

* Chris Powell had a rare multi-error game at SS, but still managed to get a number of outs and hits in the game

* Bob gunned Greg at second, saving me from having to make the 3rd out, worked out for everybody (but Greg)

* New guy Hank came out and seemed to be a decent fellow, strong bat, and versatile defense

* John McG seemed to get every awkward fly ball in the infield (he caught the majority of them)

* Adam seemed to have to handle an exorbitant number of overthrows at first.

* Dustin's defensive diving gem at third was awesome, sadly we didn't get the runner, but it was worth it for the show

* Liam and Aiden continued their offensive assault, few more years....

* Duane had a great spear of a line drive to end an inning

* Some real confident line drives

* We had a high percentage of people hitting the cutoff, which is nice

I feel like there are more highlights, but I can't remember them, email me if you see any glaring errors

S. Paige.

2/5/12- West Sunset

Sorry I missed it, I would have loved to be a part of the big F-U to the Stupid Bowl.  On the plus side, it was the best drive home on 80 I have had in a long time.  Here with the exciting recap is Jonathan "Crazy Legs Akimbo" Tiemann.

This week delivered another in a string of perfect winter baseball days out at West Sunset.  The team agreed to try to start at noon, figuring we could finish in time for players to watch the football-game-whose-name-we-can't-mention-because-it's-a-registered-trademark.  When we arrived, though, the outfield was littered with kids' soccer teams, so we took an extended warmup, and finally kicked the soccer players off at about 12:45.  We ended up with 15 players who had their priorities straight. 

Johnny took the hill for the home team, and the visitors jumped on him, combining a leadoff double from Bob, a little dicey fielding, and a long home run from Loren (Johnny let go of the pitch and said, "We're gonna need a new ball") for a five-spot.  DJ Greg started for the visitors, and the home team came back in the bottom of the frame, sparked by doubles by Duane and Mike Gaspar (one of his two, with nifty slides finishing both of them).  Johnny settled down, and DJ held on too, and by the middle innings the score was 6-3.  The visitors added two in the sixth, and the home team came back with one more. By that time Greg took over on the hill for the visitors, and Loren finished it out for the home team.  The homers tacked on one more late insurance run.  We went to the bottom of the ninth at 9-4, and so it ended.  

By that time we were past kickoff, but nobody seemed to mind much.

Highlights 

* Once in a while, MBC produces beautiful plays.  Duane's double in the first qualifies.  He hit a solid shot to left, and the outfield made a strong relay into second base, right on target -- low and just to the first base side to the bag.  I was playing second, took the throw, and made what I thought was a nice tag.  It was on Duane's ankle, though, because his foot had just reached the bag.  A bang-bang play, but clearly safe.

* Liam and Aidan are starting to groove their swings.  It's never to early to groom the next generation.

* Loren's home run hit high in that tree above the right field wall.

* Not long after that, Gaspar beat out a double too, with the aforementioned nifty slide.

* Bob caught the entire game, which probably makes up for the fact that he wasn't hit.

* We had a scary moment on a pop to shallow center.  I went out, and DJ, who moved out there after he was done pitching, came in.  DJ ducked to the ground, and I ended up trying to vault over him.  Trouble was, I caught him in the ribs with my knee.  Just to show he was all right, the next inning he tried to beat out a slow roller by making a belly slide into first base. 

* With runners on first and third and the first-base runner stealing, Bob managed to deke Tony into trying to score from third. But Bob's throw was a feint, and Tony was out in the rundown.

* Then there was that looping line drive.  I ended up on my back, but I was able to hold up the ball, a catch.  Bob described the effort as "Dennis-like."  Thanks.

* Despite the heavy population in the DMZ, none of the infielders nailed anybody there.

* We're starting to see more wood bats.

* The light attendance saw some guys in unusual positions -- Mitch played the whole game at third, and looked at home there.  He made an especially nice play on a short-hop grounder to end an inning.

JT.

Here is a short recap from Jon McGrath:

I would call it a "classic" MB game.  A low key, fun vibe.  Some good plays, a fair amount of errors and some good hits.  We had about 15 guys, so lots of ABs.  Johnny & Greg pitched for the homers and Japanese Greg and Loren pitched for the visitors.

Plays of interest from this author's perspective: Duane hit a screaming double to RC, Daniel made a great play at second, in the 3.5 gap, to throw somebody out at first, Loren hit a tree pruner to R, that knocked off a few leaves well above the R field wall, Bob hit a bomb to left.    Liam and Aidan each stroked a couple of good ones too.

Most everyone hit with wood and the final score was in the range of 8-6 or 9- 5, or something like that.

Sounds like a great one- S. Paige

1/29/12 West Sunset

Compromise and begging, that's what keeps a marriage fresh....


In any case, Satch made it out to the field by the 5th inning to watch a little, play a little, and leave early.  Not my finest moment, but it was great to be out again, and an amazing day, weather-wise to boot.  From what I could gather the game had been a fairly close affair until we got there, and then as Mrs. Paige, Lil' Satch and I sat and ate our burgers from Bills place (they make a good burger) we watched the home team tally at least 6 runs.  It was line drive city.  The only good thing was that it gave me enough time to change in to my uniform so I was ready to head out for the top of the 6th.

Noah, was hurling for the visitors, and was taking it on the chin, as he does.  Brian Phelps went 6 strong for the homers and was in the groove, helped by a strong defense and corner nibbling.  As I entered, the pitchers changed, and Sean came in for the visitors and slammed the big door.  I saw at least 6 strike outs in 3 innings...it must be the hockey hair.

Tony came in for the homers and was looking strong, but we managed to score a few runs off him, and make the game at least in striking distance.  It was 9-1 when I came in, and maybe 9-5 when I left, someone else will need to fill in the blanks.  Great to see everyone!

Highlights:


* Sean was on fire, caught at least three people looking at strike 3!

* Mitch started with a new bat, K'd twice, went back to Krakatoa and got a double.  Sweet.

* The pink mothers day bat was a hit with the team, we are all comfortable with our masculinity

* Nick Smith almost killed Sean on a come backer, reigniting the BBCOR debate

* A great relay from right field got DJ Greg at the plate, with a sweeping tag by Bob.  Unfortunately it got DJ in the nose, but he was alright after a minute or two.

* Rich got the long foul ball award....again

* A near collision and dropped ball helped our rally, more than once.....

* Noah called for and caught a ball in right.  He was camped out under it and no one was within 100 feet of him.  But he called it....

* A lot of line drives, which is always nice to see

* Bob sez, "Baseball and sunshine are good for babies." Thanks Bob, now can you call my wife and tell her that every week?

* I didn't strike out, a plus after being gone for three weeks, I didn't get a hit either.

* We are all thankful to see Milo Sedawi back in healthy form, and falling down again.

* Mitch had a great unassisted double play at second.  Which I am was grateful for, as there was no way I was going to get to second before the runner did.  Here's a picture so you can see I had no chance.....

* The usual near calamities of overthrown balls at first during warm ups.  Maybe we should switch dugouts, or create a DMZ where you can't stand?

* I got an RBI on a pickoff play at first where no one was paying attention

* The oblique feels better, but I am going to stay away from the mound for a while still, just to make sure.

AOY Brian Phelps had these gems to report:

* Play of the game- Duane made a crazy Jeter-eque play on a ball in the hole and got the runner (was it Tim?) by a step when everyone thought the play was not going to be made. Dwayne has never played SS before this season and has quickly picked it up. 

* The sun at West Sunset has become an part of the game. Lots of players with eye-black on this week.

* After the whole BBCOR talk, I did notice a bunch more wood being used. 

* JT continues to battle at the plate and get base hits.

* Snyder encouraged me to use my side arm fastball in pre-game. Used it a lot and was happy with the results. We even talked about a side arm slider, but it was ugly in warm-ups. Didn't use it all game until a 2 strike count vs Mitch and it worked perfectly!  Mitch switched bats next AB and smoked one. 

* And yes we need a DMZ. Not that I would know from experience, but have 5 guys standing behind the first baseman might cause for a distraction on who to throw to. But as a lefty, my opinion on the infield shouldn't count.

Please send me additional information on what I missed!


Here's some pictures from Jimmy (he seems to have a thing for pictures of Sean....)

S. Paige

Safety versus Freedom

An interesting question arose, started by our AOY 2011 Brian Phelps, as to the new BBCOR bats that have become the only bats allowed by Collegiate and High Schools.


I agree that safety is important, and can say from vast experience there is nothing fun about a hard hit comebacker when you are on the mound.  And I can also say that I have personally broken three aluminum bats in my time with the MBC, which shows you that aluminum isn't a forever kind of thing.  That being said, I believe we pride ourselves in being a baseball club rife with worn equipment, placing minors in dangerous situations,  piecemeal uniforms, non-performance enhancing substance use, questionable base running, balks aplenty, and distracted players.  


Single point argument:  Krakatoa has a screw in it, which is totally illegal and possibly unsafe, but is anyone going to say that we can't use Krakatoa anymore?  They better not while I am still 6 feet above ground.


No one wants to see anyone hurt, but the more rules we have, the closer we come to being the thing that the MBC was created to get away from.  It could all change with one bad incident, but is it worth sterilizing the whole population, so that one person doesn't procreate?  Sorry for the eugenic analogy (dibs on new band name) but it seems to work.


At the end of the day, wood is great, but expensive, as are the new BBCOR bats, so maybe we can pitch in to buy some more team wood bats or a softly used BBCOR bat?  Few of us have the resources to buy the real composite cheater sticks, and even less of us have the hitting ability left to wield the cheater sticks with any sort of real mortal danger, so I don't think that is going to be too much of a problem.


In any case, any interesting conundrum.  Here's the original email, and the responses. 
>
> Hello Missioners,
>
> Last game a few of us were talking about the new BBCOR bats, since Lattig bought one and I've been bringing one to recent games. There's a reason high schools now mandate these bats, safety. I know we haven't had any incidents, but it only takes one. For some of you true ballets this won't apply since you rock the wood. For the rest of us, I'd like to throw out the idea the we implement the same rule. After all, we are role models for the community. I know this would be an expensive endeavor since metal bats are pricey. But if everyone (that swings metal) pitches in, I think we could accomplish this. I know someone that works at Sports Basement, so maybe i could get a deal on some. We could even do a bake sale :)
>
> After using one for a number of games, I really like the feel of the BBCOR bat. It feels closer to a wood bat. Plus most of the Mission bats show their age.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> - Phelps

The Peanut Gallery responds:

Greg Snyder:

I appreciate Brian's concern for our safety, especially as a guy who gives up more than his share of sharp line drives.
But I agree with Loren that for our game, the danger is not significantly greater with one type of bat than another, and there are much greater safety risks than our pitchers being brained by a comebacker.
I also agree with Rich that wood bats are much more pleasing on all kinds of levels.
Most importantly, though, I strongly resist rules like this for our little game. People should use whatever equipment they want. We may choose to look down on them for it, but they still should be able to use the bat they prefer.

Jonathan Tiemann:

Much as it pains me, I have to agree with Greg.  Part of the fun of our game is being able to look down on the guys swinging metal bats, knowing all the while that they're thinking I'm a fool for not joining them.  On the safety issue I'm happy to defer to the pitchers.  I can misplay a ball equally well whether it comes off a wood bat or a metal one.

JT.

Johnny Bartlett:

Very well put, Greg. And, I think, the embodiment of the Mission Baseball Club.

Richie Garcia:

I'm happy with the way things are, but if we want to give up our current bats, I would vote for just using wood bats.

Rich Janeway:

There is nothing better than hearing (and feeling) a wood bat connect with a baseball. Swing wood, figure out how to get solid contact and you'll never go back! The "ping" is for the kiddos (and the birds)!!!

Rich

P.s. You can buy 4 solid maple wood bats for under $125 at West Coast Sports in San Leandro

P.p.s. The bigger the bat, the less likely it will break... Trust me! Swing a big bat and swing it hard!!!

Aaron Daley:

Does this mean we have to retire all our old bats?  I'm all for safety, but I am pretty fond of a few of those old sticks (Nike PSI, Easton 33.5).  Whats the problem, other than the length/weight ratio being too large?

And I'm not the one going out to buy the $350 cheater bat, mine are purchased out of a trunk in a parking lot from a guy with a large facial scar, what's wrong with that?

John McGrath

Is there objective proof that the BBCOR bats are in fact safer than aluminum bats?


Loren Myrow:

As someone who has delt with equipment rule changes in multiple sports, I'm pretty well versed in what is going on at the collegiate/hs level.  The reason the NCAA adopted BBCOR is not about safety, but about saving time.  A couple years ago, there was a NCAA committee that proposed ways to shorten game times from an average of 4+ hours to an average of 3.  One of the rules implemented was a "pitch clock" and the other was to pull back the bats.  This bat recall coincided with Gunnar Sandberg from Marin catholic wearing a comebacker in the head & any time a child is severely injured by a metal bat, parents (including soccer moms) question the safety of a game that involves chewing tobacco, metal spikes and trying to throw a rock hard ball as hard as you can adjacent to someone trying to hit that ball as hard as he can.  I'm all for safety in any situation, but if safety is the #1 concern here, then our pitchers need to start wearing helmets... Which would be amusing seeing as half the batters of MBC don't wear helmets.


Anyways, my two cents.

There's a couple factors involved with the BBCOR bats (batted ball coefficient of restitution) that make them different from the previous BESR models (ball exit speed ratio).  Essentially the overall weight, balance and barrel size are the same for both types of bats.  Both have a -3 length to weight ratio, both are available in metal and composite models & both will produce ball speeds over 100mph if hit on the sweet spot.  The main difference is in the size of the sweet spot and how much the graphite composite models "open up" with prolonged use.  Most bat manufacturers have gone to either a variable wall thickness or have inserted multiple metal rings inside the barrel in an attempt to bring the sweet spot from 5-6" with the BESR models to approximately 3" for the BBCOR bats.  This smaller sweet spot of the BBCOR models reduces the exit speed of off center hits by a significant margin when compared to BESR bats.  That being said, if a stronger MBC player hits a ball up the middle going 100mph, it matters not what type of bat hit it.  I personally don't feel that MBC is overpowered at the moment and I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere that allows children to play soccer on the sidelines, dogs to assist in outfield strategy and the use of "questionable" equipment purchased from the trunks of scar-faced gentlemen.  If safety is our number one priority at the moment, perhaps there are a few things that should be addressed in addition to a rules change regarding our bats.

Jay Cellini:

I'll chime in that I like the idea of using wood, bamboo or BBCOR and I agree that it only takes one "incident" to ruin someone's (everyone's) life and I do not think it is worth it and besides I would like to try pitching someday (no laughing) but am scared ****less about getting drilled off of one of the metal bats.  As many of you know, (and yes, I am aware it is obvious so no ridicule please, I'm sensitive) I'm coming back to baseball after a 30 year hiatus and I am astounded at the way the ball moves coming off those aluminum bats!  In the outfield what I remember vs. what I experience in the connection vs. distance/ball speed department is amazing (and scary).  There's my 2 cents.

Chris Powell:

The question you need to ask yourself is do you want to be like a Major 
Leaguer or a Little Leaguer?

Duane Harris:

I'm all for wood and/or the new BBCOR bats. 

With that said, I also see where both Loren & Aaron are coming from too.

Whatever is decided, I'm cool with as long as I'm on diamond playing ball

Bob Carey:

Speaking of safety:  I always wear a cup, but seldom wear a batting helmet.  Wonder what this says about my priorities? 

Regarding the bat issue:  It’s been a good discussion; however, I don’t believe it’s a huge problem at this point.  Of the bats I’ve seen used in our game, I can think of only three or four that have are true cheater sticks.  Three of these are bats owned by individuals and I’m only scared of one of them with it in his hands (go ahead and try to figure out who it is).  The bats in the team bag are almost all old and most of them are pretty dead — yes aluminum bats lose their pop.  Anyone who is buying a bat going forward should go BBCOR (there’s not much other choice in adult bats).  For the level we play, they should buy last year’s models instead of paying full price.  All of that said, everyone knows I choose wood.

Bob

PS:  Aaron pointed out that I messed up the time in the announcement.  It’s a 1PM game at W. Sunset.

Dustin Skiles

Atta babe bob. Good Point. Go Wood.