3/30/25 Cop Field

Can't win them all.  We get comfortable with having enough players and then this happens.  

We had 11 people show up, comprised of those who didn't make other plans because of the impending rainstorm...that didn't happen.

And Bob came out!  He was in town and ready to play.

So we came up with 3-3-3 with alternating pitchers and catchers.  Satch and Sean.  It was something, but it wasn't our best game.  Nick W came to hit, to the tune of several singles and doubles, an RBI machine.  Sean got cheated out of an at bat or two as I didn't swap with him as regular as I should have.

Bob swung at the first pitch on his first three at bats.  The first one was a knuckleball and he might see that one in his nightmares for a while.  Ana, Tim, Gaspar, McG, Mike N all had some nice hits, JT scorched a line drive over third, Sean put one about 400 feet in right field, I popped up and grounded out most of the day.

Greg caught most of the game, sacrificing himself for the good of the club as usual.  I had a more efficient time on the mound than Sean, we pitched 6 outs, and then swapped.  We had way too many close calls on foul balls hitting cars in the police station.

The final was 1-7-5, I think.

Highlights

* Gaspar beat the Gaspar shift, putting the ball perfectly in between LF, SS, 3rd.

* I botched a play to the right side, not covering first

* Bob caught the ball consistently in the outfield in high winds

* Nick was hammering the ball to left

* Hope everyone shows up next week.

3/23/25 GGP

 What an amazing day.  It is not hyperbole that it was a perfect day for a game.  We also had 24 players show up, which makes it even better, no running around covering positions, though we did have to remind a few that you can't sit out every inning...

The only issue I had with the day was the breakdown of the 2 squads, for lack of a better word, they were uneven.  The home team was without gaps, it was one big hitter after another.  The general rule has always been that you shouldn't have Powell and Mitch on the same team.  

Well, Mitch led off and Powell was 2nd.  That was what we were facing. Then it got worse.

Satch started for the visitors and Nick W for the homers.  The score wasn't terrible at the beginning of the game, though I don't think we ever held the lead.  The difference in the game seemed to be Tim Presley who put on a clinic at 3rd base, to the tune of 8-9 put outs.  He was everywhere, doing everything.  It was awesome.  Nick threw well and kept us in check, then handed it over to John McG for one inning, who put up a 4-pitch dazzler and then on to Sonny who shut us down completely.  His knuckleball in particular, was super funky.

After 6 innings of facing crusher after crusher I handed the ball off to Dave for an inning and then Sean, who took it the rest of the way.  Sean faced the same conundrum as I had, how can you celebrate getting an out, when the next hitter up is another potential double.  

The score started to get lopsided by the 8th inning, which I think was when we lost track of how many runs had actually been scored.  There was a bases loaded rally with 2 outs that seemed to go on forever.  John McG tattooed a ball.

New guy Ben came in to close the door and threw well, he has a sneaky fastball and a good curve.  

Final of game- 13(?)-3, homers.

Since we had extra time and players, we did a one inning exhibition and we managed to win that 4-1, so a little respect, though most of our team went home, so we only had about 6 players left.

Highlights:

* Everyone on the home team

* New Guy Alex and New Guy Ben were raking all day.

* Greg waited on a changeup and hammered it down the line

* Kenball almost had an amazing sliding catch in left field

* We did get an out at home, on a sliding play, thrown in from right field.  That was a bright spot.

* Alejandro had a big fly as well

* Great to see Stoner out

* Two line drives, one to me and one to Tim, that nearly took our gloves off

* Adam made some life saving plays at 1st base

* Someone almost hit the right fielder in the other game on the fly.

* Tim had an inning that he was responsible for every put out, great day!

* Sean ripped a couple of balls, but we couldn't consistently pick him up.

* Mike N did a great job blocking the dish in the latter part of the game

* Ana had a nice hit and scored a run

* Let's remember this team, so we can stop it if it happens again: Mitch, Powell, Alex, Ana, McG, Greg, Alejandro, Nick W, Sonny, Ben, Don, Rick

* Sorry to relate the news that skateboarding has claimed another victim from the MBC, get well soon Tony Rojas!

3/9/25- GGP

It's been a while since I got a chance to play.  Various family things, weekend sports commitments, rain, it all happens.  So it felt great to have a chance to play ball.  What wasn't great was trying to find a fucking parking space.  I arrived early and drove around for 25 minutes, watching the team every time I drove by.  Finally I gave up on anything close and went to the no man's land of Lincoln and 12th. There is always a spot, but the walk sucks.

We were at full bars plus extras for the day, the final may have been 12-12.  Sean started for the visitors and Nick W for the homers, but Nick didn't last too long, something in his shoulder went awry and he brought Mitch in immediately.  Mitch did great, and so did Sean, working 7 strong.  Both pitchers did a good job of controlling the game, and most of the hits were singles.  Dave came in to relieve Mitch, he also threw well, working on his knuckler, and then Satch got the last 3 innings.  Erasto took the last 2 innings from Sean, and got the 2-inning save, aided by the most deceptive release point in the game.

It seemed like everyone was getting hits, and not too many cheap ones.  The new guy Alex, who lives at 7th Ave and saw us from his front window, was killing the ball all day, to the tune of triple, double, single.  He scored 2 or 3 of the runs we managed to get.

Sean, McG, Lynch, Erasto, Alex, all were hammering the ball, it seemed like the homers managed to escape mostly unscathed, but there were a lot of runners every inning.

The crowd actually applauded a few times, more interaction than we have seen in a long time at GGP.  Probably helped by the aforementioned big bats. The game was close, by the time I came in we were only down one run, 5-4.  Well, I coughed up an extra run, and we never could get our come back to materialize, and the final was 6-4, Visitors.

Highlights:

* Beautiful day, full rosters, great game

* Thanks to Greg, McG for catching

* We had a lot of interest in the game, when it rains it pours

* Marcos made several great catches in left, blinded in the sun

* I K'd McG on one of the nastiest knuckleballs I have every thrown

* I owe both my hits to the Tree Trunk, one off the end that only works if your bat is 35" and one on the hands if your bat is thicker at the hands than most barrels.

* Johnny Bartlett and Rick Kvoriak were out, what is it 2004 all over again?

* We tried to play it safe and not test the arm of Gabe from left, and still had the guy thrown out trying to go back to 3rd.

* We had Mike N dead to rights at home, but I was the cutoff and couldn't get the ball out of my glove.

* Heads up play from Dave to get the lead runner at 3rd, in a 6-4-3 situation.  It was the right play.