1/25/26 GGP

 What a difference a week makes.  Last week was perfect weather, sunny, hot.  This week by comparison was cold, foggy, and windy.  Thanks to Mike Lynch for making hoodie sweatshirts for all of us, I don't usually play in a hoodie, but it was a welcome change this week.  The good news was 21 players were out, the field was in good condition, and we had a nice assortment of the old guard and some rando new guys that we shoulder-tapped into a game.  The MBC spirit.

Sonny was on the bump for the homers, and continued his excellent streak of curveballs, keeping us relatively quiet.  However, even the best curveball could not make this game anything other than a showcase of the varied talents of Sean.  In addition to a fine 4 inning start that yielded one run, Sean also gathered RBIs, runs scored, spanked at least one extra base hit, and then there was the defense.  

In a tight spot in the game, with Satch on the mound, I tried to sneak a fastball by New Guy Jeff, who absolutely destroyed it. There were two runners on, and the score was 4-1 at the time, so that hit would have tied it up, since Jeff appears to be the big hitter/fast runner type of player.  Sean sprinted to dead center and snared the ball over his shoulder to not only kill the rally, but end the inning.  It was both amazing and devastating to watch, depending on who you were.  If that wasn't enough, he caught the last two innings with Gabe pitching, which is a lot like serving your body up to runaway Mack truck.

When we first had the lead, we didn't really feel like we deserved it.  Sonny was making us look a little foolish (or maybe just me check swinging into a K) but it felt like we were not destined to win.  Our defense really came through for us, erratic though it might have been.  Tony made several ground ball plays at third, but could not catch a pop fly to save his life.  Adam on the other hand, made several pop fly catches in very important spots.  Sean had two other great catches in center, Greg made a nice catch of a line drive at 2nd, and even old blind pig Satch made a running over the shoulder catch on a bloop to right field.  I can testify that I never saw it go in the glove, just managed to open it as wide as I could in the general direction that it was falling. So by the end of the game, we felt better about ourselves and the situation.

The homers had all the moving parts necessary to win, but never quite found their rhythm, Dave took over for Sonny, and the wheels came off soon after, when we blooped about 6 hits in a row and before we realized what had happened, we had put 6 runs up on the board.  10-2 going into the last, with Gabe on the mound is not where you want to be as a team.

We recorded the final out and made for the warmth of elsewhere.

Final, 10-3, Visitors.

Highlights:

* Sean does it all, with aplomb.

* Cap tip to Mike N who caught the whole game for the homers, and took several at bats with shin guards on

* Tony's pop fly escapade went on long enough to be sad, then funny, then sad again

* Marcos clearly knew about Sean, because he wouldn't even try for balls in left center

* Thanks to new Guys Ryan, Jeff, Gator for bringing the bats, gloves, and new blood

* Nico is on his way to becoming a regular, and destroyed by challenge fastball (which is not too challenging anymore)

* I thought it would be fun to try and lay a bunt down in no man's land in front of SS, and Jacob came off the mound to snare it like a jungle cat.  Damn kids

* I think the homers had at least 2 double plays

* I was grateful to have Greg let me know where he was in right field when I was tracking down that pop fly, really didn't want to run him over

* In the same vein, I scored on a pass ball and Sonny ran into me at home with the ball nowhere close. I was more than happy to give him a little of the business, but does he have a death wish?  

* Curveball was working

* Scariest moment in the game was the toddler that wandered into left field as New Guy Jeff—already a notoriously hardball hitter—was up.

* For those that want to know more, here is the write up I did for Sean that still holds up in every way, though his new catching prowess makes me think I have to update it...

https://missionbaseball.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-love-letter-to-sean-paul.html

1/18/26 GGP

 Not the first game of the 2026 campaign, but the first game that I got a chance to play in.  By all reckoning, the last week was just as amazing, warm, sunny, summer in the middle of winter.  Walnut Creek has been covered in gray fog for the last two months, and it was a real treat to go somewhere where I could see and feel the sun.

We numbered 23 along with a guest appearance from Marcy and her lil' slugger. Sean started for the homers, and it was worrisome in the 1st inning how meekly we went down.  I started for the visitors and felt good after a layoff, and who could feel bad pitching in the warm sun, with a strong team of good people behind me.  Unfortunately, I got in to trouble immediately, and was lucky to escape the inning with only one run, having had the bases loaded.  Phew.

From there, the tide seemed to shift, our team started getting on base more and their team started missing more chances.  One thing I know that the homers did well was double plays, starting with my my first at bat, I think they totaled at least 3, maybe more.  We visitors also had the unfortunate reputation of being the absolute worst on the base-paths, with again, me leading the charge, I got hung up at 2nd base on a comebacker to Sean that I strayed way too far off and he did the right thing and came for me.  I tried my best to pull a "dead possum-sneak attack" but to no avail.  I still got a great first gear, but second gear isn't there anymore.  Dave was also victim of a a deadly pickoff maneuver at 2nd base courtesy of Sean.

Speaking of, Sean pitched the whole game which is awesome.  However, our bats woke up somewhere around the 4th inning and we started scoring runs, courtesy of hitters such as Mike N, Gabe, Gaspar, New Guy Alec (who also played a great SS), Mitch, Anna, Adam.  The real boot on the throat was a mental mistake that cost the homers what would have been the easiest double play in the history of the game, I was on first and JT at bat with a ground ball to the SS.  If you don't know anything about our game, JT and I are two of the inaugural members of the "single to right, thrown out at first" club.

I bowed out after 6, having faced and vanquished Lynch, Sean, and Alejandro in order, who had all lit me up earlier in the game. Gabe came in for two innings, and threw fire, including to his fiend who had come out for the first time.  The homers started to mount a comeback in the last inning but it was a case of too little too late and Dave slammed the door and the game was ours.

Final: 7-3, visitors

Highlights:

* Thank you to everyone that showed up to make it a damn fine game

* More audience in attendance than most games, always nice to play for the crowd

* Great to see Tony out, relatively pain free and playing

* I keep getting burned by the grounder down the third base line

* Kenball had some nice hits

* A couple of near fatalities on foul balls to the crowd

* Sean sweat through his shirt real early, and then it was sunny enough that it had time to dry!

* The double plays of the homers!

* Mike N played a line drive to 2nd that conveniently fell out of his glove with a man on first.  You can't prove anything.

* JT with the long surfer flow hair style was not on my MBC bingo card

2026 - Year of the New Guy and the Grizzled Veteran

Just a note, since we were not able to play the first Sunday of the new year, that this upcoming Sunday will be the Alpha game of 2026.  We have had our issues in the past 12 months with uneven attendance so I hope that we can take this opportunity to redouble our efforts to have regular showings this year. 

That goes for inviting new guys who you think would fit in well with the Mission Baseball ethos and trying to get back some of the olde tyme league guys and the old guys who disappeared, then reappeared, then disappeared, ad nauseum. You know who you are.  This is your year for a glorious return.

This game is kept alive because people show up.  Don't be the one that kills the MBC.

Don't look back.

Play ball!