Tuesday, February 23, 2010

February 21, 2010- Moscone

Every day except today we could have played a game, but noooooooo, fucking rain.

And it keeps coming down.


S. Paige

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

2/14/10- West Sunset- Valentine's Day

Being Valentines day and all, I accepted that there was no way I was going to play ball on Sunday. I got the dangerous "Since I love you, you should play baseball on Sunday," offer from Mrs Paige but I have learned to see through that ploy and understand that it's a one way ticket to sleeping on the couch....The game was held and well attended, and it sounds like I missed a good one, but don't take my work for it, here's Mr. Sean Paul Presley:

It was a pretty good game for awhile. johnny took the mound for the home team, frustrating people as always with that slurve of his that makes his fastball seem oh so fast. about 20-21 people showed up and the field, with the exception of the sliding area in front of second and near home plate, was in pretty damn good shape. the weather was incredible and the big surf, same big surf that provided a mavericks contest, could be heard as if it was crashing right there on 41st.

Greg pitched an outstanding first 5 innings, allowing no runs to be scored. the defense backed him though, great catches by girgus and bob in the outfield, some real nifty flashing of the leather by infielders vic, ben, jt and bob, tim called a fantastic entire game behind the plate, but it was greg who shut em down for 5 whole innings while the visitors slowly pulled away from johnny's homers. the home team infield was a bit inexperienced as the lefty brian stood in at shortstop but made some great efforts over there, even though the pre-inning covering the catcher's throw and successive "throwing it around" was poor and is probably what took johnny out of his rhythm! nonetheless, a great first base was played by nick and i think rick played third. whoever it was did a pretty fine job. i know gaspar caught during the game, and thanks for that, but when he took up the hot corner for the home team, nothing got by him and his throws to first were always on the money. John played as well and caught a good couple innings

i think johnny left the game around the 6thish but it was still a ball game, maybe only 4 or 5 nothing in favor of the visitors. the visiting team had timely hitting by bob who hit the hell out of the first pitch he saw from johnny. i had a couple doubles and a single, the first time i ever left the field successful against johnny. also some fine hitting by zach, some bullets hit by JT, his wife in attendance sorry i forgot her name but she was snapping away with her camera, and vic after greg left i came in and i was really feelin it, tim called an awesome game behind the plate but i was hitting my spots and the curve and change-up were in the mix. 3 quick innings, had a little trouble in one of em, the home team loaded the bases but i got a come-backer, went right to the plate to dustin who threw to JT but JT just couldn't squeeze the wide inside throw of what would have been an inning-ending DP. i think there was an actual DP that was turned unassisted by Mr. Johnny Bartlett himself( it may have been JT running to first, tho, but an amazing play!!!). Lefty Brian came in to finish pitching for the homers and the visiting team strung some hits together and took advantage of some errors to make the final score i think 9-0.

beautiful day for ball, let's hope to see some more of those!! also great game of outfielding and hitting by Doc and son, great to see them out!!!

And this just in, another summary from the lefty Ozzie Smith, Brian Phelps:

Johnny vs Greg.

Greg shut us down for 6 innings. And got relieved by Sean who did the same thing. I think we got 6 or 7 hits. Johnny pitched good but the defense let a few runs in.

I played shortstop for the first time (no lefties in the infield?). Greg hit the 1st ball by me on a rope. No chance. I got him back by hitting a come backer that went right through his glove. One other ball got by me. But made some good plays.

I came in to relieve Johnny. Couldn't find the strike zone at first, but settled in and gave up one, I think.

Edwin made a great catch to end the first inning with runners in scoring position. But he got hurt on the play. He shook it off and made it back on the field.

I remember Zack having a good day at the plate. Hit a bunch of hard balls.



Thanks Brian and Sean! Wellup, There she is. Moscone at 2 pm this Sunday. Be there or be an L7.

S. Paige

Monday, February 8, 2010

February 7, 2010- Treasure Island

There were only 11 of us, but dammit we had a good time, and we all disparaged the Super bowl as much as possible the whole day. Thanks to Stoner, Ben, Sadie (Mrs. Paige), Dennis, Johnny, JT, Greg, Nick Smith, Brian Phelps and Big Stick Rojas for making the trip out, you are all true ballers. A new game was created, Curacao 11 (or 5 1/2 if you prefer). Some of us caught on quicker than others as to the intricacies. Basically the same as Caracas 5, with an extra pair of legs to catch or field when needed. The right side of diamond was foul territory, fielders threw to the mound for the out at first, and it was a real mish-mash as to who covered what base when the rest of the time. Phelps in particular really stuck it to us on taking the extra base, just because there weren't enough people to cover all the bases at times, but hey, he's a student of the game.

Johnny and Satch squared off, and for a game with undefined rules and lots of at bats, it was a pretty tight affair. The majority of the game was a one run affair, and only in the latter innings did the visitors pull ahead and seal the deal at 4-2. The weather was amazing, you wouldn't have know that it had rained at all, the infield was quick and packed, the mound nice and firm. See saw battle, each of us pitching our way out of some serious jams (johnny gets the medal for a bases loaded, one out bail out performance, including a called strike three, You know who you are...). Dennis and Greg came in for the last few, on a day when all we wanted was some fun, and we had it. Sitting on some couch, watching stupid ads every 45 seconds doesn't seem so cool now, does it Mr. Pigskin? Well, you had your chance....



Highlights:

* Already posted, but Brian hit a homerun to right, very impressive, and he added the distance for each and where they would have been in different ball yards. Too bad it was a foul ball.

* Mrs. Paige for playing the whole game, making contact, humoring her husband's baseball fanaticism, and doing it all while hungover from a bachelorette party (You see Vic, in the big leagues we play with hangovers...)

* Boooooooo to Adam and Vic for being the only guys who responded they were coming and didn't ( Adam was in a Robitussin haze apparently...)

* Struck out the side.

* Greg for catching the first 3 innings for both teams

* All those who volunteered to catch to give Greg a break, JT, Johnny, Brian (righty!) Hope the hammys are alright

* Glad I didn't kill Greg with two comebackers (its what happens when I try to pull the ball)

* I fielded a comebacker with my bare hand, I don't recommend it, damn fingers hurt today

* Anyone who made a catch in the sun, damn it was bright

* The three error triple, sac fly run was impressive

* Everyone pitched in after to rake and rebuild the field, the club car ran out of gas, so we had to push it back in the storage

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who made it out.


I won't go through too much of the game except to say that it was a pleasure that those of us who came out will remember the day, and that a good time was had by all.

I think next week is Moscone, but wait for the official word.

S Paige



See Brian's hitting diagrams below.







AT&T


















Treasure Island

















San Quentin

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

January 31, 2010- West Sunset

After a long two weeks of rain, cold, and depressing outlooks, we were once again met on the West Sunset field to salvage January for the baseball season. A big tip of the cap to Greg for working on the field and making it habitable, without his help, we probably would not have had a game, Thanks Greg!

A few muddy zones aside, the field was in pretty good shape, before I knew what was happening I was ordered on to the home team, to play shortstop, and provide a bat. Well, I got the shortstop part of it, anyway. The teams were halved at 16, until the late appearance of Mitch, which made us 9 strong. Defense on both sides of the game was pretty outstanding, there were plays made all over the place, and everyone contributed (Yes Brian, your basket catch counts too!!!).

Hitting on the other hand, seemed to be much more of a visitor kind of thing, although Johnny did his best to shut down the rallies. It seemed like we got out of some tight spots, with runners on the corners, but by the end of the 3rd, it was 2-0. By the end of the 5th, it was still 2-0. We had chances, and usually at least a base runner, but never could get them home, and a lot of rallies died before they started.

Sean, resplendent in his Evergreen uniform had brought his A-game to the mound, and tallied at least 8 strikeouts by his departure in the 7th. And who was it that knocked him out of the box, none other than His Royal Mouthiness, Brian “Circus” Girgus. A beautiful line drive, with 2 outs, to score two runs, and all of a sudden the game was tied.

And we got to enjoy that for approximately 4 minutes. The next inning the visitors fought back, score the go ahead, and then they stayed ahead. I had come into relieve Johnny by that point, and was feeling the effects of time off, wife out of town partying, heavy wet balls, and a general ache of everything. Our hitting never really improved, even with Rojas on the mound, who kept us honest, and plunked me in the elbow; just because that is the kind of competitor he is….

The 9th brought us more pain and anguish, as we gasped our last, and then with the light still in the sky, we convinced everyone for an extra inning. It was nice to have a bonus and one more chance, but then I fouled out to end the game, which batting wise for me that day was pretty much par for the course.

It was great to get shake off the rain, and for most of the day, it was sunny and nice, with a strange chill that blew through for 15 minutes. The forecast is not so favorable, and Super bowl Sunday awaits, but if we can, the game will be at Treasure Island.

Highlights

* Sean, hell of a game pitching, Johnny too, sorry I couldn’t be more effective at holding the score.

* Bob, catching a couple of third strike foul tips, thank you!

* The return of the Bhatia boys, a big fly double from Vivek, and a Rickey slide double from Vinay, too cool!

* I can’t remember anyone getting a bad hop, which is amazing considering the rain and mud

* Oh yeah, Adam took one in the head area, but that was because of his fearless play not a bad hop…. He also made some nice plays around the bag.

* I made a mistake in saying Take the easy one, on an up the middle two out groundball, the easy one should have been to first, which is rarely thought of as the easy one….

* Greg and Tony again had some loud hits off me

* Mitch had a great bunt and a much needed catch in center

* Nick scooped up some of my throws from first, which I appreciated, and made a jumping tag at first, too cool.

* Ben, way to squeeze the pop fly in the sun.

* Bob made a great long run catch in left, after complaining that he didn't like having to run out to left from the dugout, that's why you're out there, Bob!

* Reminder to Pitchers: Ball hit to the right side, ground or fly, your movement is always towards covering first base.

S.Paige