10/11/20 Game of Baseball

 Running behind, here is the recap from last week.  Our own Brooklyn Biologist James Madden with the highlights:

Welcome to another episode of This Week in Mission Baseball. This was a relatively well-played game, and close at about 6-6, until the top o' the ninth... Yikes. Let's give out some awards, and introduce a new feature this week in honor of good ol' Charlie Brown!

Swing(s) of the Week: I'm giving this to Matt and Gabe for their surprising opposite field power. Just as the center and left fielders were preparing for power pulls to those parts of the outfield, these two pushed a few to the gap in right center (with power!) for some extra base hits. Well done. Honorable mentions to Tony for his timely hitting and line drive placement early in the game, and Mike N. continues attacking the left-center gap. 

Pitches of the Week: Phelps! Where have you been? He started for the visiting team and showed remarkable control and pitch placement. His fastball had some zip and he blew it by a few hitters. After months off, he comes back and had a nice start. Honorable mention to Elan (1 scoreless) and Aiden (same to end the game). 

Glove(s) of the Week: These go to Chris P. and Sean. Chris (birthday boy) made another patented, over-the-shoulder catch in shallow left field to end an inning. Sean made a diving, smothering catch off the mound to force a rundown between third and home. More on that in a second... Honorable mentions: Anna made a nice scoop at first, and the other Chris dove for a line drive in left field that was in the glove until his body made impact with the turf. It popped out to everyone's shock and disappointment, but the effort was excellent.

NEW FEATURE: AAUGH!

Do you remember reading Charlie Brown? I definitely do, and I use his signature out-loud exclamation ("AAUGH!") with my students when they do something... well, Charlie Brown-esque. With all due respect to all Mission Baseball players, let's have fun with some AAUGH moments:

- Sun blinds James in CF on an otherwise easy pop fly; Elan gets on first and later comes around to score

- Sean dives off mound, smothers a hard-hit ball, and traps Matt dead in a run down. Catchers throw to third base to nail the vulnerable runner... simply dropped.

- The entire top of the ninth inning. Holy cow! (We may need a Holy Cow segment to honor Phil Rizzuto. Hmm...) Anyway, ground ball single to left field happened about 7 times this inning. The visitors batted around, scored 8, and pretty much put the game out of reach. It was brutal to watch from the dugout (sitting my second time), but their hits just kept coming. Poor Nate.  

Word of the Week: Comedy. No, not our game! Check out my Beach Clean Up Comedy videos while you're on my channel. Shameless plug! I recommend Episode 17 to start. If you like my subtle baseball commentary, then you may like my angry, anti-corporate rants as I find their shyte all over the beach.