8/23/26 GGP

 Word went out early that we were going to miss a few of the regulars.  Some of us panicked and the email chain turned to recruitment drive.  Somewhere in the ether, we heard Greg saying, You dumbasses, you're fucking this up.  Well, we didn't have a problem with not enough players, but we bordered on too many.  Turns out, a lot of people know people that want to play baseball.

I think the official high count was somewhere in the 25 range, we lost Kenball early to a pulled muscle and Tony was there in his street clothes, just making the scene.  There was a rampage of a olde tyme game between the SF and Berkeley teams, and we saw Dave and Coney Island James for a bit. There was some sort of mass of people in left center that had to be at least 50+, playing every kind of sport, either a church thing or a college mixer. The started to encroach on our game, but minded the boundaries once we said something.

Special thanks to Anna for being the permit and gear person, hopefully we collected some cash from our many one-timers.  The teams were regular-heavy on side, and new guys on the other.  I arrived late due to the traffic related to the freeway construction, and while I was gravitating towards the regulars, the home team needed more pitchers, so I agreed to be Mitch's relief.  Not that he needed it, he was throwing a great game. Sean started for the visitors, as usual, and on an outright warm day (for SF) he was loose and grooving.  

The home team went ahead, thanks to some solid knocks and smart base running, and also an absolute shit show of a error filled play that turned into a little league home run. The score was 4-2 when Mitch left after the 4th, and I took over.  I felt good, and there is a difference when you know you don't have to prepare to throw the whole game.  Curveball was working, change-up was working, I left one fastball up in the zone to the wrong person—Good Aaron—and he clobbered it for a double (and maybe a HR but it seemed like it was too line drive-y for that. 

The next inning, I locked it in, and had a chance for the 3-pitch inning, foiled by the third hitter who didn't bite.  I escaped in 6 pitches, though, which felt good.  The 7th inning, I got too smart for my own good, and ended up giving up 3 runs to tie the game at 5-5.  Luckily, my team picked me up in the bottom part of the inning, to the tune of 4 runs.  

Patty came in for the 2 inning save, and did a great job.  Jacob took over for Sean and had a little trouble finding the dish.  In to the 9th we went and while the visitors made it a lively end, ultimately, the game ended in a 9-7 win for the homers.

Highlights

* Great to see so many people out to play, and we had spectators too!

* Great job behind the dish from McG, Gaspar, Jacob, and Naldony. Between the blocks and the foul outs, the catchers all did great

* Anna made an amazing scoop at first to end a threat

* Amazing throw from center to home to nab a hustling Connor, how often do we see that in our game?

* In case you don't know, Mitch has hit safely in his last 14 at bats!  The MLB record is 12, so someone call Cooperstown.  The last hit of the day he got was so close to being either a catch or a error, but the fielder never touched it!

* While it was 70 degrees in the park, the GGB was completely enveloped in the fog, Karl was close

* I don't know his name, but our third baseman had a great couple of plays

* Same goes for our second baseman

* Mike Lynch with the laser to the opposite field

* Malachi got his first hit!

* Aaron got such a big secondary lead at 2nd that he effectively stole the base, then went back and then stole it again the next pitch

* I got two hits, made it to 2nd, and then realized that Mitch was behind me on the bases, that is not a good feeling.  Scored a run, though

* Congrats to Tim Pressley and his charmante dame on their new future MBC player!

8/9/26 GGP

Outsidelands. 

Always a fear that the park is going to be heaving with people, and always it is blissfully empty.  

As Sean said, "I've never seen so much parking!"

Let's remember that sending warning emails about possible conflicts with the game may be done in the right spirit, but it is never helpful.

It was 99 degrees when I left home, and 66 degrees at GGP.  The sun poked through for 10 minutes, and then the fog rolled back over, and it was 60 degrees by the end of the game.

From the beginning, the teams were lopsided.  I mentioned it, but I was shamed into silence.  As a rule, Aaron and Damien shouldn't be on the same team, and they certainly shouldn't also be on the same team as Lynch, Sean, and Alex.  I will say that our team kept it close for a while, but eventually, the game got away from us.  Satch started for the visitors, and Sean for the homers.  We battled back and forth, the homers got out to an early lead, but we at least had a run.  

Our defense was at times great and at times....shaky.  Jack had a tough go of it in left—though he did have a great rolling dive of a catch to make a third out—and Malachi was playing in his first baseball game in right. We did have a Jacob-Mathew-Sean double play to snuff a rally, which was awesome, and Patrick made a couple of much needed catches in center.  We ended up borrowing a first baseman for the game, as none of our players wanted the job.

The homers were not perfect, but the ability was there.  Aaron made an amazing off-balance play from shortstop to rob a sure fire infield hit. Sean was dealing well, we had a few hits to right that landed well, and we profited from a few choice errors, and the runs came across.  

By the 5th inning, it was a respectful 5-3 game, and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves.  I started to shift into knuckleball mode, throwing at least one inning that was 90% knuckies.  On a clear swinging 3rd strike at a changeup in the dirt, Lynch claimed he had fouled the ball.  No one heard anything, including the catcher.  However, we chose to believe him, and next thing you know, bases are loaded and Greg hammers the first pitch to left field for two RBIs. That broke us.

By the 9th inning, it was 9-3.  Aaron had come into throw the last two innings, and that is usually the end of anything happening for the team facing him.  He has a live fastball, and about 4 other pitches that he can mix in. I was excited because I knew that after pitching 8 innings, I wouldn't have to throw anymore.  I didn't, though we did score another run.

Final- 9-4, Homers.

Highlights

* Thanks to everyone that had the faith to show up on a concert in the park weekend.

* Anna was hitting the ball well all day

* I had Aaron 1-2 in the first inning, and threw a changeup that stayed way too up.  He hit it to left center for a no-doubter.  He was running so hard he couldn't hear us telling him to slow down, it was a round tripper

* Thank you to my defense for getting the outs

* Sean threw a great game

* First at bat of the game, ground ball down the third baseline, hits the base.  A classic MBC hit

* Don made it for the 8th inning, a new late record!

* Mathew handled lefty 2nd base well

* After giving up the homer, I kept Aaron to singles, which felt like a win

* A perfect pitchout call from Greg, to nab Naldony at 2nd

* Jacob had an amazing over the shoulder catch in short left

* Same with Sean, filling in at first on a foul ball

* Ed seemed to be filling in for most of the game in right field for the Homers, and made an amazing catch when we could have used a rally.  Come on Ed!

* HR Track Cast

7/23/26 MBC vs San Quentin Giants

 

This was the first game I was able to make it to this year, and the first since Greg and Phil took the mantle of coaches. The getting in process seems to go a lot smoother, and you could tell those who were not schooled in the ways—way too much gear getting brought in. However, the grounds still looked nice, and the new buildings looked as though they should be in a community college, rather than a prison.

The 2026 Giants are a force to be reckoned with, with a stable of strong arms and big bats. Liam started for us, and from the beginning there was something off.  Liam was throwing extremely slow for his usual, which we learned was due to a shoulder injury.  He wouldn't stop pitching though.  The Giants took advantage of the lower velocity and hammered in a couple runs to start the game and then a few more the next inning. The big blow came from Anthony, a big lefty, hit a moon shot to right that cleared the building.  Sean in right never moved. 

Vic the powerful lefty started for the Giants, and he shut us down effectively for the first two innings.  I think we scored a run, helped by Mike Naldony, who was our most consistent hitter of the day. Vic started to wane in the third, and we took the advantage to tack on a few more runs thanks to walks. Nash came in to relieve and was just as effective at keeping us at bay.

I took over for Liam in the 4th, and I think I did alright, all things considered. They were flummoxed by the change up so I leaned heavy into that.  Until they weren't, and they put a couple more runs up on the board.  Thankfully, I was saved by the bell.  Or the time limit more specifically, for the evening count. We only got 6 innings in, which was a bummer, but it was still great to play another game inside the walls.

Final score 8-5, SQ Giants.

Highlights

* Always a good time at the yard

* The wind was doing weird things, so many fly balls missed

* Gator made a couple of amazing catches in center field

* Mike N was not intimidated at all by Vic

* Mike L, who rarely faces hard throwing lefties, was :)

* Greg was the umpire and he was getting abused by both teams

* Arson did a great job behind the dish