5/24/26 GGP

 Another amazing day in San Francisco. A little cooler, and by the end of the game very gray and cold, but for most of the game spent in a nice sunny breezy day. The best part was that we had a total of 20 players which meant instead of constantly jumping off the bench to fill in another defensive role when you're trying to get a drink of water, you can actually have that drink and more when you sit out your inning that's the way baseball should be played

Thanks to everyone who showed up.  We were little worried with the Memorial Day weekend upon us that there might be no one to play, but the true heroes came out and they came out to play.

Brian Phelps started for the visitors, Sean for the homers­— it was a lefty-on-lefty situation for sure. We had what looked like a good roster, but ultimately not everyone was able to string together the hits that we really needed to be a viable threat.

I know for my part the only time I got on base I shouldn't have and the only time and then later proceeded to not run out another infield fly ball which was ultimately dropped and could have resulted in me being safe.  So, it was bad decisions all day at the plate.

Others fared much better, such as good Aaron who launched a ball into the left field stands or where the stands would be if there wasn't another 1000 feet of lawn.  A new guy who I never quite got the name of who tattooed a really good-looking knuckleball also in the left for a three-run home run —that was one of a series of knuckleballs that looked really good from my perspective but must have also looked really good from the hitter’s perspective. I think I tallied about five extra base hits on knuckleballs I threw so that was how the game went. Sean pitched his heart out, gave up the mound earlier than usual so that HR could come in and proved to all of us what we think we know, which is HR can be a very competent pitcher when it's all going his way.  Unfortunately, yesterday's outing proved not to be the case and the game slowed to a crawl. HR being the good guy that he is, took himself out after one inning of work but that inning stretched the game it felt like well into the darkness of the day.

We shaved off an inning at one point because we felt like it had been going on too long already and we needed to hurry it along.  We ended up gifting back that same inning once the game picked up and we all started to feel as though we shouldn't cheat ourselves out of nine innings of baseball.

The story got worse and worse with my pitching though we didn't suffer too huge of a casualty in any one inning, the damage was definitely done and no amount of moon-shot home runs from our best hitters was going to change that. I came in to mop up with the score being relatively close, at that point I then gave up the aforementioned bomb and then another home run to Mitch, who tattooed one and still is speedy enough that it wasn't even close by the time our outfielders got to the ball. Our own bench went quiet other than a few people who continued to make solid contact.

Mitch took over for Phelps and that was the way it ended, final score 12-4 or 11-4 , depending on whose math you want to believe.

Highlights

* Thank you to everyone who came out and played it was a very enjoyable baseball game.

* Three home runs in one game might be a new Mission baseball record, cap tip to all those who got one

* Brian Phelps, Mitch, Sean all pitched great

* Special thanks to Mike Naldony, Nick Wirthman and Greg for doing the catching

* The Long-Lost award of the day goes to Tim who I don't think any of us have seen in quite a while, who came out great to see you Tim—don't make it another three years before you come out to play again

* Usually I hit Mitch decently, but he was dealing, keeping everyone off balance

* Anna had a really great hit and a couple of beautiful picks at first base

* Mike lynch had a couple of amazing plays at third base and was doing some damage with the bat

* Patrick and Jacob being on the same team might be too much youth for any one mission baseball team to have

* I think the defensive highlight for us for our team was throwing out a runner at home, something that rarely happens given that arm strength in our outfields has declined a lot over the years, and usually we can't be counted on to catch the ball, even if the throw is there.  But all worked out and we made a great play at home.

5/17/26 GGP

Those it was one of those amazingly beautiful days in San Francisco, the kind that are hard to believe because they're so nice. The sun was out, it was 75° and there was a slight breeze blowing. Bay to Breakers had happened hours earlier and in the past we've been so afraid of the crowds and the mayhem.  However, calmed by Greg's wise words, it was empty in the park, other than the occasional ragtag bunch of costumed walkers staving off their hangovers. 

We started with 14, not ideal especially when it's hot; the last thing you want to be doing is filling in for the other team when you could be sitting and drinking water. But a few more trickled in, including a guy who has watched us a lot but never played, who finally agreed to because none of his buddies that normally come and play had shown up.

By the middle of the game, we had reached the perfect number of 18, thanks to Don who was guilted in by an e-mail sent out telling people that another player would be very much appreciated, especially on such a beautiful day.

With such a situation, of course, the game became a Sean versus Satch grudge match. I was the home team and Sean the visitor, however ultimately it did me no good. We both pitched complete games which is awesome.  It was hot as hell on mound, but we both kept dancing. I should have known that the game was not going to go my way in the first inning when the visiting team pushed across three runs with little to no effort.  Every hitter was dangerous and I couldn't throw Mike Naldony strike to save my life, after 12 straight balls he took a walk, putting another base runner into easily scoring position. They also had good/great Aaron, who I've been trying to avoid pitching to for the last several games.  I didn't do too bad in total, I got him to fly out twice on some knuckleballs that dove at the last moment, but he still put enough of a hurt on to get well into center field. His hits felt like concussive explosions, and I was thankful to escape with singles.

I don't think we ever actually had the lead, but we did bring it close at one point to a 4-3 ball game, then the roof caved in. Noah was filling in at 3rd for our team, had two go through the wickets and we were right back in a hole. It was nice to see Noah, since the last time you played was the 4th of July BBQ and he brought out his son Liam who is proving to be an excellent ball player collecting a couple of hits and every out that he made was a productive one that ultimately resulted in a run being scored. Great job Liam, screw you Noah.

The game went on very much like that, the visiting team turned a couple of double plays that were crucial in ending our rallies.  We did manage to get some base runners but always fell short of the big inning that we needed. In the bottom of the ninth we went quietly and the final score was:

Visitors- 8 to 4

Highlights:

* Thank you to all that came out for a perfect day of baseball

* I think Mike N ended up being 4-5 on the day

* Don insisted on only playing outfield, and somehow that put Mitch at 3^rd, which while he is a great infielder, Mitch’s true defensive value is always in the outfield

* Cap tip to Sean for a hell of a pitching performance

* Greg took a beating from several scuds I threw in the dirt

* I also screwed up a perfectly tailored pitch out, when I was so locked in on throwing wide, I forgot to throw high

* My knuckleball was working big time 

* Patrick, Chris, Nick S, and John McG all made great infield plays

* Jack was steady in right field, playing everyone perfectly

* Noah did a flying squirrel impression at a fly ball in center in the first inning.  He missed it, but may have sprung a rib

 

 

5/3/26 GGP

What started out looking like a real bummer of a game with only about 11 players turned into a really great affair with 16 at our highest.  We were helped out by the inclusion of a couple of kids playing catch in the park who agreed to be part of our motley crew for as long as they wanted to, they turned out to both be really nice and not too shabby ball players.

Nick W started for the home team and Satch started for the visitors. Nick has been on the extended pitching DL for quite some time with a nagging back injury but he looked very sharp, he was mixing his speeds and his locations very well and the first three innings of the game we went down in order. Three up, three down, no notes.

I started out trying to pitch well and then realized that I was having better luck downshifting into batting practice fastball mode for the majority of the pitches.  I have had a lot of luck with that, I don't know if its an old adage but if you give the guy exactly what he waiting for, most of the time he won't know what to do with it.

I was also helped by the excellent catching of Greg, my defense (eventually) and the fact that when you're only throwing it about 50% you can throw a lot longer if you need to.  Also, when you're throwing batting practice fastballs usually people are swinging at the first or second pitch, so I had a couple of sub-six pitch innings which also really helps.

Nick bowed out and in came HR, who had a lot of trouble finding the dish. He would be lights out for a batter and then eight balls in a row to the next one. He eventually found a rhythm he could work with but by that point we had gotten some runs on the board. The home team kept threatening; every single inning I had runners at second and third, and less than two outs for most of the game but our defense locked it in and we were able to avoid most of the problems. Mitch came in after HR with the score six to five and threw well but we finally managed to get some runners on at the right time with some timely hits and a few timely errors and going into the bottom of the 9th we had somehow miraculously pulled ahead 7-6. I had enough gas in the tank to finish out the game and we pulled one out of the fire for a close win, with Mitch stranded at 3rd.

We were all pretty exhausted by that point.  Our two young guys had gone home and the rest of us were the walking wounded.  In the middle of the game we joked that this had gone from a game that we might not think would happen to possibly the last game ever of the Mission Baseball Club.  Rick sprained his ankle chasing a fly ball, Mike Naldony twisted his knee going for a ground ball, I bruised the palm of my hand catching a line drive off the mound, Greg got his bell rung on a foul tip, Nick W found out exactly why we wear cups when I swung inexplicably at a ball over my head and chopped it straight down and then it bounced up directly into Nick's cup.

Then I got stuck on the Bay Bridge on the way home when the CHP stopped all traffic to nab this giant dirt bike gang that had been causing a menace all day in Oakland and SF.

Highlights 

* Big thank you to everybody who came out and played 

* Another big thank you to Mitch who got passed back and forth before the game started about three times 

* Alec was in the infield for one inning before we realized we needed him in the outfield a lot more

* Defensive player of the game had to be Mike Gaspar who made several amazing catches in the outfield, a close second was Anna at first base with a couple of very crucial digs on plays that we needed to make 

* Mitch had a great game at the plate, our team philosophy became Let's make sure there's nobody on base when Mitch is hitting 

* Always great to see Johnny Bartlett out!

* Thanks to Greg, McG, Nick for doing the catching

* Not to toot my own horn too much but I also had a pretty good day. Four hits, three RBIs including the go-ahead run thanks to HR for asking to play shortstop and then letting one go through his wickets to score that crucial extra run, scored a run on a passed ball, and I also pitched a complete game but enough about me 

* We saw James in the distance of the other field playing with the old timey players and resisted the urge to scream Judas too loud 

* Let's hope this dip in attendance is not lingering as we really need to have these games well staffed it's hard playing with 13 people especially when you're all beat the hell already so if you're torn between playing and not playing I would urge you to play

Roll Call of the Faithful

Greg, Nick W, Nick S, Mike N, John McG, Mitch, Gaspar, Alec, Anna, Satch, Johnny B, Rick K, Lynch, HR

4/19/26 GGP

 

On a day when I did not hold much hope for a good attendance, the MBC really came through. I-80 was closed for a substantial portion of the freeway, yet, the Bay Bridge was open, so I take a look at the traffic, it seemed like I might sneak between the problems. The good news about massive road closures is they do seem to scare off much of the weekend traffic.

We had exactly 18 on a crisp sunny day, the park was full of olde tyme baseballers and looky loos.

Brian Phelps started for the homers, a first in quite a while, and unfortunately, only lasted one inning after succumbing to a hamstring injury, probably a result of his lack of playing lately. Mitch took over after that and took the homers the rest of the way, an impressive 8 inning relief appearance. 

I started for the visitors and was pleased to see that the mound at GGP had undergone some basic maintenance and was no longer the grand canyon of landing zones. It was fastball placement and a working curveball that got me through most of the game.

The story of the game had to be the domination of Good Aaron, who is quickly being promoted to Great Aaron. He totaled about 11 bases including a towering HR to left center, three doubles, and a single. In addition, he pitched the last three innings for our team and collected about 6 Ks with the mastery of 4 different pitches. Truly impressive, cap tip.

Scoring-wise, we took the early lead with the aforementioned player leading the way, and the homers responded in kind, but were unable to catch up. The score was 5-1 for most of the game, and then it ballooned to 7-2, which is where it ended.

Defensively the game was pretty clean, including a much-needed double play when I was stuck in a bases loaded hole.

Apologies to Mitch, who I was informed was angered by my laggardness and ineptitude of knowing where I was in the batting order.  

Highlights

* Good Aaron doing it all day with the bat and from the mound

* Mitch made several more foul outs racing off the mound, Pitched and Mitched is a real thing

* Patrick and Jacob formed a formidable youthful duo

* I threw a couple of changeups that were crushed....foul, just like it is supposed to happen

* Mitch took out his anger by creating a Ricky run, capping it off with a stylish slide into home

* Ana hit the ball hard all day

* Kenball insists he didn't try to get hit on a 1-2 looping changeup that he backed away from, then lowered his shoulder to. It looked suspect, but Greg smelled honesty and gave him a new count. 3 challenge fastballs later, the inning was over. Sorry Ken, I 65/35 believe you.

4/12/26 GGP

 I missed on this one and I'm sorry but it was a great game we had 16 people which was awesome compared to the 14 that we had two weeks before.

When it comes down to is Sean pitched a hell of a game, complete, and lost it in the 9th with a tied up score and Chris Powell hit a ball that may have been a presumed home run but in any case was enough to make the game.

Everything else is secondary, we had some hits , we made some plays, we made some errors.

 Sonny started for the other team and I came in and completed. Sean pitched the whole game and really deserved to get the win but was not the case.

3/29/26 GGP

The less said about this game, the better, with two exceptions.  

We had 12 people total.

One of the fields at GGP was undergoing emergency plumbing repairs and was unusable.

The team that was on our field went over the time limit, by a lot, playing the longest "We're almost done" game in history.

We decided early on we were going to play 7 innings, best decision ever.

Sean and I pitched the whole game and I also decided that it was going to be 1 gear above batting practice speed, since I didn't want to put any strain on myself on a 6-6 game.

The mound sucked, the chasm in the landing zone was wide, deep, and treacherous.

The game ended in a 9-9 tie, no winners, which was appropriate.

Highlights

* Jesse had a hell of a day at the plate and behind it: 2 HRs, 1 triple, 1 single, at least 6 RBIs, a bunch of well blocked balls and an amazing foul ball catch.  Gaspar in his infinite wisdom sent our borrowed 2nd baseman out to left center for the final at bat, and sure enough, caught what would have been Jesse's 3rd HR.

* Sean also hit a HR to right that was a towering drive.  He also pitched well but we sent endless balls to the unmanned right field as our only way of scoring.

3/15/26 GGP

 It was so hot, I left Walnut Creek thinking I would get a reprieve from the heat and it was just as hot in San Francisco, definitely not something that happens a lot.

We had plenty of players out and we ended up taking the other diamond because the team on our diamond was apparently only in the third inning by game time.

I started for the homer's and Sean started for the visitors. The first inning took roughly an hour and a half, Sean could not get an out to save his life and we just kept hitting and hitting and hitting and hitting. An exceptionally painful part was that Sean had a buddy that came out for the first time who got placed and left field and who quickly it was seen should not have been playing left field. 

The official count was nine runs, but we tried to soften that a little bit to make it more fun no one likes a blowout.  However we reserved the right to reclaim those runs, if and when the visitors created a situation where we needed them. 

That didn't happen, however what was really strange was that we never scored another run after that first inning. Sean shifted it into a different gear, moved around the fielders to more adequate positions, and shut us down.  There were hits and many of them, but all for naught.

I pitched four innings and felt pretty good, but in the 5th inning in the middle of a pitch my right knee suddenly sort of collapsed.  It was then that I realized that probably throwing batting practice for an hour and a half for little leaguers before coming out and pitching at the game was not a good practice. I pulled myself in the middle of an inning, which is not something I don't I think I've done before but the rest of the team took up the slack and we had a variety of pictures come in all who did great jobs: HR, Dave, Mitch. It was also very nice to hear HR's toddler cheering for him from the bleachers.

Sean kept pitching for the visitors, but eventually tired and the game sort of petered out.  Amazing how the first three innings took 2 hours and the rest of the game not much happened.

Visitors did eventually score some runs but never quite approached what we had and the final score ended up being depending on who was counting 9,8,7 - 4. 

Highlights 

* Sean did a great job pulling himself together after the first inning 

* Gaspar had a very gasparian hit 

* I actually made a decent ground ball play at third on a hard hit ball 

* Gabe is quickly becoming a strong closer and it's even more enjoyable seeing that he's throwing strikes consistently and not rib breakers 

* I've never seen Sean sweat so much so early in a game 

* Jesse made a fantastic catch behind the plate on a foul ball

* Sean also had the big drive of the game a towering hit over JT's head in right field 

Sorry this write up is late and I don't remember a lot of the details if anyone has anything in particular they want me to put for posterity please let me know

3/1/26 GGP

Well, I wrote a whole thing on this game, and it got deleted somehow.

So, the short version.

Lots of people out, 16-16 at our zenith.

Bob and John Carey out, in street clothes, Bob got a hit!

The teams were pretty lopsided, the visitors stacked lineup was trouble.

The second inning for Nick W sucked, to the tune of at least 8 runs

I pitched 4 innings, felt good, the new guy, Dave and Gabe combined to ruin any chance of comeback

Mitch threw for the homers and then Alec, who also did well.

Tony got a hit off Alec, when all he wanted was to get him out.

Johnny B was there, but left when the numbers got too big

Beautiful day!

Jacob got caught in a pickle

Gaspar and Greg both caught foul outs behind the dish

Keep coming out, the game is looking good!

2/8/26 GGP

 Super bowl Sunday game is always a little weird.  I am not a fan of football, but the "big game" has become more than anything about football these days, and sometimes it is good to have your finger on the pulse of what is going on.  Plus our friends host it each year since we don't have cable, and they make really good buffalo wings.  The timing conundrum is always hard, since we are still starting at 1pm these days, and in theory, we should be able to play a game and make it before the 3:30 start.  

Yesterday was no exception, in fact we cruised through that game with time to spare, by 2:30 we were deep in the last innings of the game, and only a blip in the control of the pitching in the 9th kept us from finishing in under 2 hours. 

This game was also special as it was Alejandro's last game—for a while.  I was very pleased to see how many people came out for it, we were 14-13 at our pinnacle, and the game was a pleasure to be a part of.  Alejandro has been coming out for many years now, he is a great guy and we will miss his talent and his personality.  Sure, he is a Dodgers fan, but it turns out, there are a lot of those in the world and it is better to live and let live.  I am also pleased to hear that there may soon be a MBC sister game emerging in Mexico, stay tuned.

I started for the homers and Sean for the visitors.  I was trying to push the tempo of the game as much as possible, so it was 1 warm up pitch, 1 throw down and let's go.  The change up was working, as was the fastball.  The curve never really got consistent, but I was helped by some solid defense.  Tony caught a pop fly, Adam and Good Aaron made some scoops, Nick W caught some fly balls, Greg was a wall behind the dish, Gator was roaming all over SS, and Rick perfected the wait until the last minute play at 2nd.

We got out to a 1 run lead, the visitors tied it up soon after, and we had ourselves a ball game.  Sean was throwing well, and I think we hit into at least 2-3 double plays to kill the rallies.  However, Good Aaron hustled his way from 2nd to home on a single and we took the lead again.  My shoulder is sore from pitching, so I will try not to pull it patting myself on the back, but I stepped up, with Alec on base, got into a 2 strike hole on a deceptive curveball that I may or may not have gone around on, and choked up on the tree trunk and put my entire soul into one.  It could not be confirmed if the sound off my bat, or my grunt was louder.  It went a long ways in left field, and Sean, gentleman that he is, gave me the twirly sign for HR.  Yay! This was what google maps tells us.

That put the game in our pocket, and we did not look back after that.  The real irony is that Gator hit one further than me, to center field, but Dave would not acknowledge the distance, and our complaints fell on deaf ears.  So it was a really far double.  Maybe it is because Gator appears to still be able to run, so he has to leg out a real in the park HR.

While all this was happening, the weather took a left turn, we had been enjoying 67 degree sunshine and blue sky in the park, and in no less than 3 minutes, a wall of fog rushed over the game, and we were in a gray, raining nightmare.  I have never seen the weather change that fast.  Sunscreen was traded in for long sleeves in one half inning.

Tony, Alec and Gator combined for the save over the last 4 innings, and all did well.  Dave took over from Sean and we landed in the 9th inning, still up 5-1?  That is how it ended, we Hip-Hip-Hoorayed for Alejandro, provided a cathartic release related to his upcoming move and scattered to the 4 winds.

Highlights

* Farwell and Good luck to Alejandro, thank you for doing your part for the MBC!

* The two change-up sequence that Greg called against Sean was Machiavellian.  And it worked!

* Double plays for the visitors all day!

* Nick's running catch was impressive

* Alec brought some heat to the mound in his debut

* Great to see all the new guys coming out on a regular basis!

* Thanks to Marcie and Anna for providing just the right send off

* Rick and Johnny B both out!

* Tony's on-going battle with pop ups is a real thing.  But he caught one!

* Mike Naldony is hitting with the shin guards now on the reg, and he is in my head.

* A clean fast game is something that we should strive for more often

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!