Tuesday, October 20, 2015

10/11/15 Cop Field

Nothing better than back to back Sunday ball playing.

Mrs. Paige has been very generous is allowing me to make up for some lost time with the team, and I am loving every moment.  The game on Saturday featured the best weather that we never actually experienced.  Seriously, about 6 blocks to the east, it was sunny and hot and clear.  At the field, it was foggy and humid, and slightly windy.  Weird weather.

I started for the visitors again and Carter started for the homers.  We were quickly into another hotly contested affair, and the score was close for the first couple of frames.  This week however, the defense, that looked really good on paper, failed to live up to its potential.  In one inning, I think there might have been 4 errors.  I know it grew more incredible each time the ball clanged off a glove.

Misplays aside, the game wasn't a blow out, I bowed out after 6 and Sean came into pitch the rest.  He did well, but made the mistake of leaving one in the wheelhouse for Mitch, who got all of it and matched with his speed, made it good for a two run home run that was our death knell.  Carter gave way to Storm and then Daniel, but the damage had been done already and the visitors were never able to mount an effective comeback.

Final score- 7-4

Highlights:

* Our defensive woes aside, we turned a sweet double play and almost turned another

* In what has become tradition, Lattig and Adam traded great plays at first

* Tony had a rough day, bad hops and miscalculated grounders and he hit the hell out of a ball only to see it go directly to the right fielder

* Milo and Theo helped organize the gear, then were distracted by electronic gadgetry and the skate park.

* I struck out twice, and popped out to 2nd. Obviously I need to come out more

* Some more nice catches in foul ground

* In the ill-fated inning, we were given a charity out by virtue of a infield fly rule, and yes, the ball was dropped

S. Paige

Thursday, October 8, 2015

10/4/15 Cop Field

It was glorious to be back on the diamond.  The last month has been pretty brutal, to the point that Sunday's didn't even register that I was missing baseball.  But all that is in the past and there I was. With the Giants final game on the radio on the drive in, I left with high hopes, since they led 3-0 going into the 8th.  I was spared the final until after I had my own baseball fix.

We had a lighter crowd than usual, and recruited four players that were out to enjoy themselves after a earlier league game.  I never got their names proper, but I think it was Danny, Timmy, Sammy and Donny....or something.  More players showed up after we started and by the end of the 2nd inning, it was 11 per side.

I threw 6 innings, gave up some runs in the first, on a crushed ball, a bad bounce, a misplayed fly and a few choice singles.  It felt like a lot more than 2 runs, but that was all it amounted to.  Our own hitting, against Sean, was about the same, and we forayed through the middle innings locked in a struggle at 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 4-3.

I am proud to say that I provided the much needed go ahead run on a first ball swinging double, that if I wasn't so out of shape and generally slow, would have made it to third.  But I still scored, so who the hell cares....here is a general idea of where it went, so you can get an idea of why I need to play more often to fine tune my running game....



I handed the ball over to Greg for the 7th, with the score 4-3, to take my turn on the bench, cuz that is what you are supposed to do when you have 11 guys (Sean and Tim, I am looking in your direction).

Well, long story short, the homers scored to tie up the game, and then they scored again to take the lead.  One of the new guys came in and threw an inning, not bad.  I don't know why it felt like a blow out, while we were playing, but it was actually a really good game.

We tried our best, but our best wasn't good enough, and the homers won 5-4.

Highlights:

* Several great catches in the outfield, mostly by Mitch, who was relegated to right field most of the time, since the new guys were oblivious.

* Elvin got a early Christmas present from Ed on a 3rd strike call

* Visitors made a great relay to get a runner at the plate

* I don't think I would have near it, but I didn't even try for a foul ball at third, and I am sorry for it

* Nero was the subject of a series of close/contested calls, all of which went against him.  I think it was getting to him.  But that ball was foul.

* James had a crushing hit to left that took a first bounce that was about 15 feet in the air. Drought conditions.

* Both teams made some nice plays in foul territory.

* Lattig played a great 1st base and was hitting in his usual frustrating style

* Sean hit a inside the park home run, the first bounce was wicked, the new guy never had a chance.

* Game went real quick, several innings were 8-10 pitches only

* The cops came to ask us if our SUV was the one parked in the red zone.  The cop actually said "We know you guys, and we like you, so we wanted to make sure that it wasn't your car, before we ticketed it."  Wow.  The MBC is respected by the Man.  Does that go for or against our credibility?

See you out there soon.

S. Paige