6/23/13 West Sunset

I don't play for over a month, every Sunday spent doing some sort of household chore, or major project, (or going to brunches and fishing and camping, I can't piss and moan to much).  So, I finally get a pass to go, and wouldn't you know it, forecast is for Rain.  And rain it did, a light misting rain that was enough to annoy, but not enough to cancel.  

Rain!  In June! 

WTF. as the kids say.  What the fuck, maaaaaaaaaaan... as Rojas would say.  

So driving over, rain intermittently dripping on the windshield, and across the Bay Bridge (finally, where did all that traffic come from?) I made it to West Sunset.  When I crested the staircase and saw people taking infield, I cringed.  It didn't look like enough, and having spent an hour and 20 minutes getting there, I was not about to settle for....*choke-gasp*...batting practice.

Luckily Greg assured me that I made 15, and we most definitely had a game.  Whew!

Noah and Tony started for the soggy bunch of stalwarts that made it out, and from jump street, it was painfully obvious that a. it was going to be a high scoring affair and b. the home team was going to be doing a lot of that scoring.  Noah pitched his heart out, but he was not going to get 14 K's, which is what he needed, given the defense that unfolded.  Now, we all know MBC defense is a curious, sometimes foul beast, and given the weather, a lot can be blamed on that.  And Elvin.

The fact that we were slightly soggy and bummed that our game was understaffed and over-watered raised the irritation factor significantly and like any group of kindergartners, we needed an outlet for that irritation.  Elvin proved worthy in that regard.  

First off, Elvin is a great guy and even better sport for taking it on, hopefully he knows that all the jibing is in good fun.  And we know he has the capacity to make good plays, as seen in Ed's recap of the SQ game.  Elvin had the unfortunate luck of playing fill-in defense for the visitors, who needed every out they could get, and well...they didn't always get them.  At first base, Elvin missed tagging the bag, or holding on to the ball...a few times.  By the end of the game, ragging Elvin had taken precedence over the outcome and he was being blamed for the mortgage crisis, the Iraq war and the very weather that was bringing on our foul mood.  He's a prince for not punching somebody.  

By the second inning, it was 9-2 or something, and it got worse after that.  Tony let Satch throw three, and Phelps got one.  Noah eventually bowed out to Bob, who got threw three batters and called it quits, and brought in Greg, who pitched against his own team to end it since the visitors were out of pitchers.  We ended the game, and surprisingly, no one wanted to play extra.  

If you are reading this and you were there, take a moment to make sure you took your cleats out and dried them, cuz I didn't until last night.  Not good.

Highlights:

* Rich had a fan club come out, and they were real troopers for sticking it out in the rain.  He had a couple of relays/plays that could have been spectacular, well, his part of them was great, the receiving part didn't work out.

* McG hit from the left side, as a change.  Elvin tried it too, and Noah threw behind him as a warning.  Well deserved.  I got hit when I tried that against Noah.

* The mud on the mound caked the cleats and made for some interesting pitches

* Richie almost had a great catch at the wall, on a hit from Rich, and then it just dropped right where the wall meets the ground.

* Will had an in-the-parker

* Greg played first with shin guards on, always a good look

* We kept a plastic bag on the back of the mound to protect the balls, we probably went through 30 of them

* In a particularly ugly inning, I hit a ground ball, and trotted, not ran, not jogged, with the hopes that the team could get an out.  Bobble, bobble, throw, bounce, drop, pick and fall ensued.  Aaaaaaaand I was safe.  And guess who was filling in for the visitors at 1st?

* The rooster tails coming off the infield grass were pretty spectacular.

* Elvin also stole third with a 8 run lead.  So all of the Elvin berating wasn't exactly unfounded.

* I threw a hell of a knuckleball to Rich for a second strike.  Then K'd him on the high heat.  His fan club left soon after.  Sorry about that.

* I think the home team had about 8 at bats a piece.

* JT had this to report: "I'm pleased to report that I did NOT pull a hamstring when Powell decided to try to throw me out from left field.  

Late in the game, Bob and I were sitting on the bench with Noah.  Noah and Bob were comparing notes about the footing on the wet mound, and Noah delivered himself of the following Yogiesque gem:

"Yeah, there's a lot not to think about out there!"

Hope to see you all at the double header, sign up for what you are bringing on the google doc.

S. Paige

6/20/13 SQ Giants vs. MBC

Very bummed I couldn't make this game, but it is good to let other people have a chance....sounds like it was a real barn burner...

We were ten at the gate, half the team waiting patiently, the other half stuck in looky loo traffic on [the] 101. Ed. note- This is a subtle joke, please let us know if you don't get it.  Our escort was late anyhow, he showed up at 5. Just prior to arriving we learned that Greg was unavailable, making my decision to go back to my house to grab the cup I forgot an inspired one.

The gate master refused bags over 14 inches and only allowed 4 bats. (I did manage to finagle the catchers bag in laden with helmets.) He also refused to let us donate a dozen baseballs, yet this stickler for rules forgot to make us sign in at the outer gate. Ed. note Sounds about right.

There was much confusion when we got in because we had no Greg, putting me at catcher, no Chris, so Will eventually was put at short, leaving Elvin at third, with an outfield of Matt Stone, Daniel, and Loren. Those decisions took our entire walk in and warm up period, Doc then pointed to people saying numbers for our lineup. About 30 seconds after being pointed at, Duane was in the box leading off the game.

On the hill for the Home team was a guy in Romo high socks who has the S.L.O.W.E.S.T. windup. Some of us thought we have seen him before, others disagreed.  Sean Paul took the ball for the visitors.

Sean grazed the uniform of the leadoff batter (yes, Sean, it hit him) and gave up a long home run to the catcher (who Bernie Leaned on the plate), but otherwise it was a smooth inning. We tied it at 2 the next inning with a single, 3 walks and a ground out. We added a run on another ground out, giving us a lead for 2 innings or so.

Sean pitched a great game without a curve ball for much of the 7 innings. Zero runs in the 2, 3, 4, and 6th innings. The bottom of fifth inning was different. A lead off seeing eye double onto the right field blacktop lead to a run on a Sac Fly to left (Stone almost got the guy at the plate). Then a ball was hit two feet foul to right that both umpires called fair scoring the home teams' fourth run. With two outs Sean induced a pop up to right, but the wind gusts, which were mighty, blew it away from Loren, but too far for McGrath and Duane to get, scoring another making the score 5-3.

With fifteen minutes before the home team had to be indoors, we played hurry up. We were shut down in the top of the 6th. Sean made quick work of the Giants in the bottom half. Loren singled with 2 outs in the top of the 7th, but I struck out swinging at a pitch over my head to end it.

Highlights:

*Elvin made some key plays at third.

*The umpires were pretty good, save for the fair/foul thing in the 5th.

*The scorekeeper wasn't giving us our hits until the outfielders protested.

*We pulled off a deke on a first and third steal. I threw the ball to Sean as the first-base runner broke. The third-base runner bought it and came home. Of course, instead of getting in a pickle, he headed straight home and bowled me over. Ed. Note- Mental Note, all those who choose to catch in SQ, they do this a lot... they aren't like us when it comes to sparing the player for the good of the game...and anyway, bowling over the catcher is their right as a ball player.

*Doc made it in for coaching and support.

*If not for traffic, we may have gotten in 9 innings.

*Why, of the 4 bats we could bring, did we choose 4 34"s and one 32"? Ed. note- That is five bats, something in this reporting is fishy, what is Mr Sidawi not telling us?