Thursday, December 8, 2016

12/4/16 Moscone

I was a little late to the game on account of not really being able to play and having Lil' Satch in tow.  I strained a back muscle in the 11/13/16 game, and it still does not feel all together.  But it was a beautiful day and I figured that it would be a good outing, regardless. 

By the time we arrived, things had already begun their precipitous slide, Mitch had been roughed up for a few runs in the first, and Sonny was throwing lights out.  And that proved to be the big story of the game, Sonny continued to pitch to his defense, and the innings piled up with nary a run in sight.  Six innings of shut out ball, fantastic outing! 

Me and lil guy were amusing ourselves practicing hitting, which he rarely gets to do with real baseballs and wood bats, on account of the fact that I can't afford any broken windows right now.  We played an inning at second base, which was exciting, since we got to take practice ground balls from 1st and be in the mix. He's getting good, and I told him that he only had about 3 more years before he can start playing for real, which I believe was when John Carey made his auspicious debut with the MBC.

Tim was doing a great job behind the dish, and Sonny was throwing intelligently.  We finally scraped a run, but I think it may have been the only one.  Solid defense was definitely the key.  That and scoring runs....

Mitch handed the ball off to Greg and then to Coney Island James, who I don't think I had seen pitch before.  He carried the team the rest of the way. Sonny handed off to Carter took over in the latter part of the game, and I decided to humiliate myself and ruin the team's chances.  Well, I didn't decide that, but that is what happened.  I had said that I was available to bunt if needed, and by the 8th inning, I felt like I was ready.  Mitch was the 10th place hitter, he got on, stole second, and we had discussed that I would bunt him to third.  Except the pitch I chose to bunt was a out of the strike zone curve ball, and I reached for it, bunted it up in the air along the first baseline, it dropped, bounced with some English on it, and hit me me in the leg. 

Dead ball, batter's out, runner cannot advance.

Pretty much the worst possible scenario.  So I porked that rally right in the keister, and the game ended soon after with a score of about 6-1.

Highlights

* Sonny's pitching was great

* James hit a ball a long way into deep left

* Tim threw out a runner at second

* It wasn't a particularly ugly defensive game, but their offense scored runs, and we didn't.

* For the second time in a row, I have been on a team that looked unbeatable on paper, and couldn't win the game.  Maybe it's me?

* I never realized how much we casually curse at the game, until I had the kid sitting with me.

* Bob HBP, after the order was sent in from the bench

* I am the proud recipient of a FuckFace Co. bat, and oh what a bat it is!  Modeled after the Shoeless Joe Jackson bat, it's got a real piano leg quality to it