7/13/25 GGP

The temperature plummeted the closer I got to GGP.  It was a balmy 84 degrees in the East Bay, and by the time I found parking it was 63 degrees.  Not uncomfortable, but we didn't see the sun for the entire game either.  We were also cramped in right field, as the Olde Tyme game had started at the same time that we did.  While staffing right field to protect my team from my questionable fielding, I had the chance to watch the other game, and GOOD GOD, are there a lot of dropped balls.  I would say an average of 10 chances for every 3 outs recorded.  

Nick W started for the homers and Sean for the visitors.  Sean would remain for the majority of the game, eating the deficit like a good pitcher should.  For once, I was on the team doing the spanking, rather than getting spanked.  It's been a while.  

Nick pitched well and even remained for an inning after he thought that he would, since the last one "went so fast."  Usually that is the death knell of the pitcher, but he sailed his way through and handed the ball off to Satch.  I was excited to throw again, after getting the chance just the week before in the double header.  The best thing I can say is that my curve ball is back!  Being able to add that back into my arsenal has been great, and honestly, it works better as a big loopy bait pitch than anything that you might see from a competent pitcher. 

Sean battled his way through the game but was unable to get the outs he needed when he needed them.  We were hammering the hole between 3rd and SS all game, and Django made some fine plays to stop the balls from reaching the outfield, but not enough to get the outs.  There were also the usual selection of dinks and kicks that extended innings where there should have been outs. Erasto came in to mop up and we fared better than we have in the past.

With a plethora of players playing, 11-11 at one point, the game was a fairly relaxing affair, and no one seemed to be overextending themselves.  The score got a little out of hand by the middle third though, with our lead being extended to a generous 9-2.  We even started conceding outs on close plays rather than see the inning extended, a cap tip to Mitch who hustles all the time and probably got screwed at least once.  Don showed up early (2nd inning) and was able to play most of the game.  Then people started to leave, and the batting order got messed up again, like last week.

Into the 9th inning, the score 12-4.  Nothing doing. 

Final score, 12-4, Homers.

Highlights

* ‎Thanks to all that played

* Django did his best against a barrage of plays at SS

*  I love having Mitch play SS, since we get so many short pop flies that he is basically also an outfielder

* Thanks to Greg, Don, Gaspar and one other for catching

* The addition of Jose and new Amigo to our game was nice, and they both were ripping the ball and making plays

* Greg in particular did a great job of blocking the ball

* Jack, frustrated by his lack of hits, tattooed a ball that was destined to splinter my shin.  Reflexively, I put my glove down to try and deflect it and somehow caught the ball in an awkward backhand.  Apologies for the outs, it was all reflex, not skill.

* Erasto with another great day at the plate, but we finally tagged him for some runs in his two-inning stint

* The great when is it an "automatic home run" debate rages on.  I hit one off Sean that I thought was a no-doubter, and I began to trot hoping that would be signal that I was opening the play for debate.  When I got to first, I made the twirly gesture to further cement my stance.  No one else seemed to buy what I was selling, and I so I ended up with a RBI single, perhaps the longest in history.  Looking at the map, I think I have a good case for believing it should be counted.

I know that Jack was playing me at about 390 in left field, and I split the difference between left and center.  The ball one-hopped to the berm where the hill starts, which you can see in the picture about 15 feet beyond the landing.  Maybe not a herculean blast, but certainly for a fat slow hobbled guy, an argument could be made.

We also have to include Sean's hit, which was prodigious, and brought about the argument of why his hit wasn't also considered a no doubter?  Well, this is about where it landed, which is easy to remember, because of where it landed in relation to where the left fielder was from the other game.  If we start down the road of short porches and park variation, where does it end?  

What I found in my searches is that the average distance from home plate to the left-center field wall in MLB parks is approximately 371 feet.  So I got 10 feet on that, roughly.

So that is something.

So where does this leave us?

Can we ever find a field on the regular that has a fence e.g., Crocker Amazon?

Do we institute the cone system like Stoner tried to implement 15 years ago and was roundly rejected? 

The call from Sean was that I have to state immediately after the hit that I believe it to be a home run and then it goes to committee, I guess?  I thought my trot was enough, but I guess next time I will try for a Oh yeah, that baby is GONE and hope I win the argument.

2025 Doubleheader- GGP

An enjoyable and a tad bittersweet day of baseball.  

This marked our first 4th of July BBQ doubleheader without Bob.  I am not saying that we failed completely, but there was a noticeable lack of preparedness in our BBQ this year.  I think everyone got something to eat, and hats off to the people who remembered things like plates and cutlery and condiments, and a big thank you to Gabe and Phelps for manning the grills and getting some food out to the hungry players.     

Actually this year we were without several of the stalwarts of the MBC: Tony, Sean, JT, Johnny B, Mitch, Rick, James, Anna, Sonny.  They were all missed.

However, we still had full ranks for the day, and played two solid games.  The weather was about what you would expect for a game in July, foggy and cold to begin with, a few periods of sunshine and blue sky and then the real fog and wind to close out the game, chilling us to the bone.  By the time that I got back to my side of the bridge the temperature had risen by 21 degrees....

Game 1:

I started for the homers and felt really good.  I was also aided by the mound, which had not been disturbed all week, since all the leagues take the week off.  So that was awesome.  My curveball was finally working again and so was the knuckleball!  I couldn't believe Greg kept calling for it, and more, that I was throwing it for strikes.  Must have been the heavy air.  We cruised through the first couple of innings; I believe we scored first, but the game was close.  Phelps started for the visiting team, and was cruising as well.  Special thanks to Brian for throwing me a first pitch knuckleball —that didn't knuckle—for my deepest drive of the day to left center for a lazy man's double.

I went 6 innings, struck out at least 4 or 5, and was a little unwilling to leave the mound, but when there are 25 players, you don't to be the dick that take playing time away from others. Or at least, that is what I am told. Greg came in for the homers, and well, our lead which was 5-2 at that time, suddenly became 6-5 visitors.  All that hard work gone... :(  

Luckily, our batters were keeping us in the game, RB-Ed was out doing his thing, and Adam contributed several knocks.  Diego came in to throw for the visitors with the visitors now ahead, but we were saved by the hard work and determination of Charlie D, playing in his 2nd doubleheader, who laced a soft line drive over the head of 3rd base.  He took 2nd on a passed ball, and then scored from there on Adam's line drive over 1st base, sliding into home on a close play to knot the score at 6-6.  We put in Gabe to halt any additional runs, and he did well, It stayed tied and we decided to end the game so that we could get to the BBQ and the second game.

BBQ

Hot dogs!  Hot dogs!  Thanks to whoever brought the hot dogs!  Without them, I think we would have been fighting over 12 hamburgers and 2 packs of sausages.  As stated before, the absence of Bob means an absence of meat, in about every sense of the word.  But more specifically, all the good beef.  I will say that we did the absolute minimum amount of planning this year so it is not altogether surprising, but something to remember for next year.  Thanks again to Gabe and Brian, who had the forethought to bring grills, another thing that Bob was always good for.  I had also hoped for an appearance from Johnny with the Boudin sausages, but alas.  

The AOY trophy was also not discussed beforehand as part of our general lack of planning, and honestly, no one has really stepped up their game in the ways worthy of an AOY distinction.  So we gave it to Bob, who as a first ballot Hall of Famer AOY, is always a crowd favorite.  

The Rookie of the Year went to Erasto, whose acrobatic fielding, clutch hitting, and deceptively impactful pitching have been impressing us all year.  He has become a great addition to the MBC and I hope that he continues to come out.  Our only wish is that he feels comfortable enough to start sitting with the group.  We all promise to get better at our Spanish as well!  Special thanks to Alejandro for serving as translator this year, as none of us had any idea of what the Spanish word for Rookie is. 

El premio al Novato del Año fue para Erasto, cuyo fildeo acrobático, bateo decisivo y pitcheo engañosamente impactante nos han impresionado todo el año. Se ha convertido en una gran incorporación al MBC y espero que siga participando. Nuestro único deseo es que se sienta lo suficientemente cómodo como para empezar a sentarse con el grupo. ¡Prometemos mejorar nuestro español también! Un agradecimiento especial a Alejandro por su trabajo como traductor este año, ya que ninguno de nosotros tenía ni idea de cómo se dice "novato" en español.

The best dressed MBC award was not given, as Tony, Johnny, and Sean were all MIA.  The trophy is lagging at least 2 years behind as well.

The band came through this year with a trophy of their own, presented to Greg as a token of friendship and for including them in our game.  It came with a bottle of Tullamore Dew taped to it, so an extra bonus for all those brave enough to take on the Irish. The band was out in force for the 4th, with new singers, trumpet players, and a Melodica!  They sounded great, and stayed the whole day with us.

Game 2:

Per usual, we swapped the order of the teams, so that the visitors were now the homers, but left everything else the same.  Greg pitched the first inning and then Gabe came in again, he struggled a little with his control, but still put up 3 innings of work.  John McG followed Gabe, and had a real good first inning, and then the homers started to put together some hits, but all in all still a good performance. Mike Naldony wrapped up for the visitors, and threw some lights-out baseball, his curve in particular was real snappy.

HR was raring to start for the homers, and did well over his innings.  Daniel came in for few innings, and threw well for only doing so once a year.  Erasto followed with his usual frustrating bag of tricks, and it was around the time that everyone lost track of what inning it was, what the score was, and what the batting order was.  At least, that was how it was on my team.  

We also started losing players, and no one knew who they followed when there was a gap in the order.  It was 3-2 at one point, the visitors were behind.  Then we exploded for 3 runs, Powell, Greg and myself all scored.  But when the smoke cleared a few innings later, and the homers had their own rally, somehow the score was presented to us as 4-4, and we accepted that and played on, only to realize a little later what had happened.  

The Homers scored the go ahead run late in the game, and we finished up the 9th inning still down a run, for a victory for the Home team, 5-4.

Highlights

* A Huge Thank you to everyone that came out to play or cheer on

* I don't know how this rumor got started, but I did not bat 1.000 for the day.  At best, it was .500.

* Erasto had several big hits in big parts of the game

* Don showed up in the 5th inning of the 2nd game, a new record for tardiness!  Great to see him as always

* Jesse did it with the bat and showed us all what a real arm looks like behind the dish

* Great to see Marcie out with the little'un, and giving the business to the Dodgers fans, read the shirt:

* Special thanks to Greg, McG, Gaspar, Don, Jesse, Patrick and anyone else who took a turn catching

* I had a great opportunity with the bases loaded to tag third and then throw home to get the runner.  I fielded the ball cleanly, tagged the bag, and then completely rushed the throw and beefed the whole thing.  I did bellow TAG! though

* Ed might be the best guy for getting on base and the worst baserunner we have

* We had a brilliant few innings where Chris Powell was relegated to right field with his young son, and we have never seen so many outs recorded in right

* Jesse mad-dashed for a foul ball, wearing the gear, and made an amazing out

* Adam also had a great sno-cone catch at first on a foul ball

* The catch of the day was made by Brian Phelps who inexplicably started chasing a small dog on a leash that had gotten away from its owner.  He sprinted all the way across center field and halfway up the hill before he caught it.  

* Good job on calling for the catch, avoiding several potential calamities

* I was trying for the "1st and 3rd get picked off an hope for the runner to score", but I ended up just getting a fantastic jump off of Phelps, looking at him the whole time and jogging into 2nd

* In addition to his offensive prowess, Charlie D. also made a nice catch at 2nd

* Phelps with the long stretch at first

* The wind was blowing in from right pretty strong, and anything to that side of the diamond died

* Stoner beat out a play at first, but was willing to give us the out anyway, it was so hard to tell that no one wanted to make the decision.  Eventually we gave him the hit.  A democratic MBC moment.

* Daniel had the hit of the game with a 3-run in the park home run, a powerful line drive to left field

* Heal quick Bob, so you can fly out next year!