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| 2024 Mission Baseball Club 4th of July Doubleheader |
What a great day! We have had some good 4ths before, but this one had it all. Chills, spills, fog, assault on the elderly, music, babies, food, you name it! Thank you to Bob and Greg for the permit work, and a reminder as Bob said in his stirring address, we will need people to step up and start getting permits once he has moseyed down the trail, but more about that later.
Game 1:
Sonny started for the Homers and Satch for the Visitors. We had a total of about 32 players over the course of the day, so everyone played half a game. Sonny threw well, and the score was very low, edging back and forth in the first few frames. He bowed out after 3, and I left after 4. When the players for the game are 15 on 15, it is important that everyone sits, a lot. Especially when we have people who may only be playing one of the games.
Mitch and Tony replaced us, and the game kept up as previous. There were so many hitters that the lineup was never quite the same, but it was close. We had some great plays, including several catches behind the plate, some great catches in the outfield from Kenball and the Yucatan contingent, and at least one double play. The band showed up and started making beautiful noise for the game.
In an act described as "medium sportsmanship," Tony took out Nick Smith at first in a horrific collision. Well, actually, Nick came off the bag to get the ball, and Tony had nowhere to go and tried to lessen the impact as much as possible, but still, you be the judge, as we were lucky enough to get footage of the incident:
We had Powell and Sean on the same team, which usually isn't allowed, but there were so many others, and the Homers had the youthful destroyers Arson and Parks, who proved to help the Homers to take the lead. It was 6-3 going into the 9th inning. However, somehow we suddenly pulled ourselves together and starting scoring again, and when the dust had cleared we were out in front 8-6. No one was more surprised than we.
Phelps had come in as the late relief, and he had no trouble shutting door and we were victorious in the first game.
Break:
The awards ceremony this year was poignant and memorable. Bob Carey, our steady as she goes team dad, Fiskian-style professional pitcher's target (catching or hitting) and permanent red ass, is retiring to the golden peaks of Southeastern Colorado.
Yes, Bob's hanging 'em up. But I am sure he will be back as a regular player/visitor once he finds there is only so much you can do on a Sunday in paradise.
Here's a write-up I did for Bob back in 2009, and literally nothing has changed about his gamesmanship or character. He's a class act.
https://missionbaseball.blogspot.com/2009/04/player-profile-8-robert-carey.html
Well, Bob got the AOY, again, AND was anointed as the inaugural winner for the 1st AOY Lifetime Achievement Award. Mike Lynch, having held the last AOY administration post, put forth a stirring argument for an amendment that the award be renamed from Asshole (Athlete) of the Year (AOY) to Jackass Of the Year (JOY). There were several in agreement, a quorum was held, and...we'll let you know. In honor of his trophy making, Sonny and I both presented Bob with keepsake trophies, so he will always know what he meant to us. Pics to follow.
Thomas D. passed the trophy for Rookie of the Year to Charlie D., making up for the unfortunate incident last year, of which the band is heartily sorry.
Conor was named Best Dressed award by the perennial All-Star in that category, Sean Paul. Trophy for that is delayed at least 2 years at this point.
Food was cooked, eat and drink was had, the band was playing the good old tunes, and the sun would slip out of the fog and make it 75 degrees for about ten seconds, and then it was back to 64 degrees.
Special thanks to all those who brought something and the Tiemann's for the crockery as usual and all the extra help, Lynch, Nick S, Nick W, and whoever else schlepped a stove or a table or an ice chest!
Game 2:
Same teams-ish, since there were some departures after the first game. We flip-flopped the game, and Sean started for the now-Homers, and Javier started for the now-Visitors. Unfortunately, the game was more of a boot on the neck than the previous game was.
Javier pitched great, and the defense of the visitors was locked down. Ours had gotten a little off course, though we were helped by Charlie D. who played a mean right field and 2nd base, saved a run with a heads up throw from the outfield and made a fantastic snare of a line drive off the bat of JT. Rumors are, there is footage of that at-bat, I will share when it becomes available.
I think the score was steadily rising for the Visitors, and we could not manage to score a run. We got close a few times, but the at-bats suddenly dried up. There was the occasional solid hit, but not too much else. Greg was consistently on base, but I don't know that we ever got him in.
After Javier, Daniel came in to pitch and he did very well for a guy who only plays once a year. Our slump continued, we may have scored a run, but it was bleak on the whole. Not only could we not hit, but our love affair with mental mistakes and dropped balls continued -- of which I was responsible for at least one of each.
I pitched again for 2 innings and then Greg took over for the rest of the game. To close it out, the Visitors brought in a guy named Shark.
So that tells you what our last two at bats were like. He was a hard throwing lefty, and he put us down pretty quick. We managed to scrape another run or so, but the final score was a soft 9-4, Visitors. They deserved it.
Highlights
* I'm not crying Bob, you're crying!
* Thank you to everyone who was involved, it was a great day.
* Bob had at least 4 hits on the day, and regrettably, did not get plunked even once!
* Big hits from lots of people, but I believe the drive of the game is Gabe's 2-run homerun, a majestic shot to left field
* Tony, it looks like you are only looking at 1-count of simple assault which is generally a misdemeanor. Simple assault involves intentionally or recklessly causing physical harm to another person or creating a reasonable apprehension of harm. We got so many lawyers in this club, you should be able to get a deal struck....
* Great to Marci out with lil' guy in tow, and she played!
* Dan might be the first guy with a broken ankle to bat for us, thanks to Johnathan for pinch running, though next time, start out further away from Dan and not as much behind him,
* Matt Stone out, catching outs, and getting hits
* I try really hard not to hit people with fastballs, it is a horrible feeling all around when I do. So, apologies to Conor, who had the reflex enough to put his hand up and block the ball, when I accidently threw one headed for his ear. Mea Culpa.
* All the catchers did a great job behind the dish
* The band was out in force and played 2 versions of Take me out to the Ballgame!
* Close plays all day, when we weren't overthrowing, or dropping them.
* Ed made a guest appearance, as a non-player. Always good to see him and he's got a fresh pair of 20-year old shoes and what appears to be a new style of cutoffs
* Bob rung up Tony in the first at bat of the game, on a questionable call. Classic.
* The Yucatan boys all made some stellar grabs in the outfield
* Daniel had back to back doubles in the first game!
* More than one infield fly rule on the day
* I think I had one that went through the fingers of my glove, it was hit so hard
Happy 4th to all!
S. Paige
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