I don't know what the trouble was, since last week there were 22 odd souls that were able to show up for the game, but this week we barely cobbled 14. If not for anything else, Crocker Amazon has a fence! For hitting balls over! How can you wannabe Jimmy Foxx's pass up something like that?
This week's Florence Nightengale came in the form of Elan, a young ropy fellow who is another graduate of Lowell like Gaston, and I imagine also in his mid-20's. He showed up as we were contemplating which one of the drunks in the stands would be the most likely to play.
So 7-7. Since it was the minimum, here was the team breakdown:
Visitors: Greg, Tony, Coney Island James, Abe, Carter, Bob, Daniel
Homers: Satch, Lattig, Gaspar, Elan, Mitch, Sonny, Theis
The soupbone was feeling good but you wouldn't have known it after the first inning, the visitors lit me up like a pinball game. The most impressive was James, who clanged the fence and came within a foot of hitting a three run home run. He had to settle for the longest single in history, as the runner ahead was only going halfway to second in case it was caught. I was actually hoping it would go out, we so rarely get real home runs it would have been fun to watch. But we turned back the tide, and a nifty defensive lock down staunched the bleeding.
Greg was on the bump for the visitors, or should I say the hole. The mound at CA leaves a lot to be desired and we both quickly learned that the only way we were going to throw with any confidence was to move to the extreme right of the rubber, where the landing would be on terra firma rather than terra cavum. Made for an interesting angle on the batter as well.
The breakout star of the game has to be Gaspar, who went an astonishing 4-5, striking the ball and spraying the field with such confidence and ferocity that Greg started feeling like it was some sort of personal vendetta. It was awesome.
The homers tied the game and then the visitors took it back then homers retook the lead, never to relinquish subsequently. The game wasn't marred by errors, nor was it a complete rout. We managed to stop a rally in the making with a nice line out-throw out double play, and I personally hit into a classic 4-6-3 double play that the visitors turned, so defensively both teams had their moments. In something I have not seen in a while, 2 of the 5 runs scored by the visitors came by way of the legit sacrifice fly.
Like clockwork, our drunk friend stumbled onto the field during the 7 inning to "umpire" the rest of the game. See earlier blog entries about this guy, we knew chances were good that he would show, and we just decided that he could call himself the umpire as much as he wanted to, but the catcher still had the final call. It only came up once on a third strike, when he thought there was only 2 strikes. He must have recognized his own official impotence, so he left the field during the 8th and retired to the stands again. I felt kinda bad for him, but hey, what do you expect wandering into the middle of a game and calling yourself the umpire?
Elan pitched the last 3 innings for the homers, a good lefty with a smooth delivery. James came in to throw for the visitors and had some mustard on the ball. The deficit was too much for the visitors to overcome, however, and the final score was the homers, 8-5.
Highlights:
* Gaspar raking the ball all day
* James' long, strong, powerful single
* Abe made the defensive play of the game, on a surefire triple from Elan, going to the wall to snare the ball in right.
* Thies had a gap triple that left him a little winded at third
* I went a spectacular 1-6, didn't get the ball out of the infield until my final at bat
* 7-7 gives you a lot more at bats, but it sure would be nice to have a moment to rest at times.
* The two breaking balls I got Tony and James on were my proudest accomplishments of the day
* Abe also had a confident and well struck double
* Greg swung at a knuckleball in a 2-0 count. The sky is falling
* I was instantly punished for trying to kickstart the scoring by using a metal bat. I jarred my hand and popped the ball up to the shortstop.
* A blue heron and a resident hawk were in a battle for the sky during the game. The hawk won.
Hope more people show up next week.
S. Paige
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