4/21/13 Camp Swampy

Here with the recap is our own left handed specialist, soccer coach, and ne'er do well, Brian "SQ Neck" Phelps.

Summer weather at Balboa and a perfect 18 to start the game.

Will started off the game for the homers, since his childhood home is a few blocks away. Phelps hopped onto the bump for the visitors with Doc behind the plate calling balls and strikes. After 4 innings with an mild Wrigley type wind blowing out, the game was 5-7 in favor of the homers.

Noah relieved Phelps and that sparked a rally for the visitors. The game got tied up at 7 and then turned to 9-7. The home team took one out of the San Quentin playbook and batted around scoring 8 runs on some errors, a few well-placed hits and bases loaded triple from Carter.

Sean came in a shut down the door for the homers and Tony mopped up for the visitors. Not sure what the final score was but the homers took this one.

Highlights:

• Mike threw out Daniel stealing third with a nice tag by Jay

• The weather was perfect sans wind which played tricks on the outfield

• Carter got hit 3 times, walked and struck out in one at-bat

• JT flashed some great leather and hit the crap out of the ball

• Daniel robbed JT of a sure hit

• Sean had some good hits

• Mike, Ed, Bob, Mitch were in the squat

• Mitch golfed a curve ball 4 inches off the ground to deep center

• Hank pulled the ball well all day

• Adam showed up late and made up for it with some good hitting

More highlights but beer and fatigue have taken over

PS: Get well soon Greg.

4/17/13 MBC vs. San Quentin A's

It wasn't our finest showing, but not our worst shellacking either.  And that is saying something....

Elliot told us that we couldn't get in any earlier than 5:00 pm, so we waited like good little boys in the parking lot, until Len showed up and asked why we hadn't come earlier.  That is the kind of cracker jack communication that we have come to expect, but hopefully next time we can get in a little earlier and get some more game in.  We were two men light as Adam and Bob were late scratches from the game.  The entry rules, or at least the officer at the gate, are very stringent this year.  He actually searched our bags, asked us to pull everything out, told us several times about no sunflower seeds, which must be some sort of high risk security thing... or they don't want the prisoners getting too much sodium in their diet.

Through the gates and on the field, we were playing the A's, which we know meant that we were probably going to get creamed, given our success rate.  It was after 5:30 before the first pitch was thrown, and surprisingly we, actually scored first, something that has not happened in a while.  But the elation did not last long, the A's are still a bunch of hitters, and they took Satch to the woodpile, early and often.  The end of the first inning the score was 5-4.

The end of the 2nd inning, the score was 17-4.

Take that Matt Cain, with your puny 9 runs in one inning....

Yes, I got spanked good and proper.  We also met with a series of challenges of which there was no good solution:

1.) I gave up a lot of big hits, despite throwing the pitches I wanted to.  Only one home run though.

2.) The umpire refused to call a strike for the first three batters for the A's and then just refused to call strikes that were strikes.  Greg would hold his glove as long as he could, hoping for a late call, but nope, nothing doing.  He also would not call the change up for a strike, which is rough when that is your bread and butter.

3.) Sean lost a series of balls in left field, trying not to run in to random convicts that were walking around out there. I asked the field umpire if we could get some recognition of interference.   He said they stop the play if there was contact made.  I told Sean he just had to start running into guys out there....he was less than enthusiastic.

4.) The third base coach was stealing Greg's signs.  At first I thought he was just yelling out encouragement,  pitches to be aware of, but eventually we realized, no, he was just stealing signs.

5.) We got through the 1st inning with out our accustomed 6 SQ nerves errors.  But they showed up in the 2nd.

6.) I hit about three guys, all with 2 strikes.


Now I know all about the similarity of excuses and assholes, so I won't whine too much more.  We did manage a nifty little rally, without getting more than 1 hit.  They put in there B squad once it was clear that we were not going to win, and we stole off the catcher, who couldn't hold on to the ball.  Chris Powell got the one hit in the inning, the rest were walks, steal 2nd, 3rd, home.  Even Greg!

So at the end of the top of the 5th, the game was called, due to the fact that all the inmates had to be back in their cells soon.  The final, 19-11.

Highlights:

* Great atmosphere, everyone had a good time playing and watching.

* The Native American drum chant in right field made it feel like we were at the Coliseum.

* Mitch was a perfect 0-0, with a run scored.  HBP x2!

* I waved Greg around third and he had time to exclaim "Really???"

* Ed gets the ambitious award for basecoaching and Phelps gets the how many awkward plays at the plate can one man have award

* The A's had about 10 hits that went over 1-3 feet over SS's glove.

* Despite not seeming very good, the relief pitcher struck out 4 guys in two innings.

* The field umpire said he was going to write about my changeup in the newsletter....

* We had a guy out at the plate, umpire missed the tag, the runner rolled over Greg's head

* Umpire called the latest 3-0 strike I have ever had, I took a moment in the box to give him a chance, then when I still didn't hear anything, I started for 1st.  Then he called the strike.

* Next game May 11.

S. Paige

4/14/13 Camp Swampy

A strange day for sure, it was sunny, and warm-ish, but with gale like wind bursts.  I lost my hat about 9 times off the pitchers mound.

Also strange because at last count we have approximately 70 people on the email list and at 3:07 only 10 people had showed up for the game.  We cobbled together 12 and started a Havana 6, which worked until Chris Powell and John McG and a guy named Casey showed up.  Johnny was pitching for the homers and Satch went to work for the visitors, in a pre-SQ warm up.  The wind was pushing so much, I figured all I could do with the fastball is hurt myself, so I threw a lot of change ups, which the wind did a great job of pushing around.  Johnny was solid as usual.

The game was close for the first inning or so.  Then the homers really went to work, and by the 4th inning it was a kind 12-4.  Our team had some trouble with the defense, and I had some trouble giving up big hits.  But we seemed to muddle through and at times, were down right solid ourselves.

After a hurling a pitch, Johnny's game eye fetched loose and went blurry and we were all understandably concerned.  Hopefully it has cleared itself, but a scary incident.  Mitch came in for pitching duty and did well, he said his arm felt alive for the first time in quite a while.  Will mopped up the last inning.

I bowed out after 6 and handed the pill to John McG, who is working on his style and accuracy, and he did a great job after he settled down.  By that point, the score was probably 18-4, so throwing lots of strikes was all we all we were interested in.

The game ended with sliding catch in center field, made by Casey.  It was briefly questioned as a trap, but nope, we were just out and the game was over.

Highlights:

* Bob got hit, first in a while

* I managed to really screw the pooch with bases loaded and got through two counts, and then popped up in the infield.  Real ugly.

* Mitch was Mitched, joining an auspicious club

* Powell caught my monstrous rip to center field, as payback for striking him out...then I struck him out again

* Hank had another full day of batting

* Daniel made some much needed plays in the outfield

* Greg just missed his chance at the 3 fastballs I threw him

* We had some confused base runners

* The wind helped me throw a curve that broke about 4 feet

* Daniel had a rough outing from the left side, for the first time.

* We did a good job of not throwing the ball around too much, in our long innings where the first out eluded us.

* The visitors also had a great, cutoff man relay to get an out at the plate

* Jimmy hoovered up a lot at 3rd

* We all got our exercise for the first three innings, covering defense, then batting, running the bases and the back out to the field

* Sonny Smith, one of the MBC pioneers, came out and played well for a man without cleats.

* I had a defensive game, one on a great play by Hank at first to stop a ball, and me racing as hard as I could to cover, arm span at full reach to catch the ball and tag the bag and I made a sliding catch in the no man zone of the infield, when we needed an out, badly.

Into the gates of San Quentin ride the valiant 12 this Wednesday.  Shivs and sunflower seeds are not allowed.

S. Paige

4/7/13 Camp Swampy

There are great games, and there are great games, and there are great games.

After what felt like an eternity away from the game, I was across the bridge in record time and into the heart of Balboa Park, and the MBC Sunday game.  From the start, I could tell it was going to be a memorable one.  We had a outstanding roster of players, the field was in immaculate, albeit a little hardpan, condition, and the weather as exactly as predicted, muggy, cloudy with patches of sun.  By the time AOY 2011 finally showed up and got dressed, we were a perfect 18.

Noah and Satch faced off in a innings-eating grudge match that has been going on for several years now, with about a even split of decisions between us.  The scoring started in the first and we see-sawed back and forth through the game.  What was apparent from the beginning as well was that it was going to be a bump and bruise kind of day.  Greg and Bob took at least three foul tips off  the face mask before we had played 2 innings, and Noah had three batters in a row get a piece of him off the mound with come backers.

Elsewhere in the field things were a bit more calm, as the defenses settled down.  The middle innings saw both teams get some great 1-2-3 shutdowns, and rallies were stifled with line drive snares and timely K's.  The visiting squad was having a field day with Satch for a while, not missing a thing, laying off pitches that I was counting on for swings, and in general hitting the shit out of the ball when the opportunity presented itself.  By the time we got into the 7th (which seemed like it was about 4 hours, the first two innings were at least 45 minutes a piece) the homers were trailing by a score of 8-6, having given up the lead on a hit-a-thon rally by the visitors.

Noah and Satch still were battling on the bump, neither willing to go soft into that good night.  We had gone from a 9-6 deficit to 9-8, but by the end of the 8th, my arm started to feel like it belonged on a dead man, so I decided 8 innings was better than 8+1 inning too many.  I handed the pill to Rojas, who was itching to get a chance at the visitors.  Tony did not disappoint, as he and the defense shut down the visitors chance at insurance.  Noah, a veteran of many a complete game jogged (limped) out to the mound to close his own game.

Into the bottom of the 9th rode the gallant 9, leading off with Elvin, who had gone from running in circles to running the game in the course of a few innings.  He led off with a sharp line drive, as did Richie behind him.  They took second and third and were poised for the tie and the win.  And wouldn't you know it, Satch got a chance to win the game.  And with a swing from the heels, and a long drive to left center, home came the boys of April, and the game was ours.

Deepest thanks to all who played for one of the better MBC games I have had the honor to play in.

Highlights:

* Greg had a great game behind the dish, threw out 4 people, if you include a pickle play on a situation between home and third (missed squeeze sign, Phelps?)

* Visitors had some monstrous hits, Hank had at least 5 hits, John McG hit everything under the sun with authority, as did Phelps.

* Daniel has become a lefty phenom, collecting at least 3 hits from that side.  He may never hit righty again.

* Elvin had a rough outing in center field, as he played a little too in and had some balls go over his head.  He moved to 2nd base, and promptly made the most (ahem) aggressive 4-3 double play I have ever seen.  The ball bounced directly over the base, Elvin blocked it, pounced on it, guarded it like a convict guards his food, against the reaching hands of Richie and threw it to Adam for the 2.

* Mitch scored at least 3 times, and probably had 6 stolen bases on the day.

* Tony had the best avoidance slide of the day, a sort of tuck and roll at second to escape the tag

* Phelps maintains he was safe at second on a steal attempt, we all know the throw beat him, but the proximity of the tag may still be up for debate.

* I caught a line drive comebacker from Bob, and my thumb is still a little sore (Bob likes to know these sorts of things)

* Adam had a stellar day at 1st.

* Our pickle was executed almost perfectly, which is actually saying quite a bit (Elvin, make sure you get out of the base path once you have gotten rid of the ball...)

* I threw two pitches behind Phelps, I wasn't trying to hit him, but I wasn't trying not to either, if that makes sense...or maybe I was trying to hit him?

* I think I was 5-6 with 2 doubles, the only time I didn't get a hit was when I used something other than the Shoeless Joe bat, which some have coined the Table Leg.

* Noah pitched his heart out, a great game!

* Daniel almost had an amazing diving play in left field.

* Hank and Phelps almost/kinda had an amazing collision in the same spot, in any case, Hank came up with the ball for the out.

* The visitors really pounded the third base line for hits all day

* We had a failed safety squeeze play, which is always fun.

Thanks again to all that played!

S. Paige

3/24/13 Camp Swampy

I couldn't make the game this week, and here with an exciting recap is Ed "Mr. Blah Blah Blah" Sidawi:


"It was a good one?"




Thanks everybody, don't forget to tip your waitresses.


S. Paige

3/17/13 Cop Field

The semi finals of the World Baseball Classic proved to be a sticky wicket for the MBC this week, but we made do and managed to have almost a complete game.  With 20 to start with, the homers went with Satch on the mound and Greg behind the plate, and that was how it stayed for the duration.  The visitors countered with a wily and dealing Johnny Bartlett who went almost as long until he gave it up to Carter Rockwell for the last gasps.

The big news was that there was a baseball reunion of sorts, three of the players from the Evergreen State College baseball team of Olympia, WA, other wise known as Sean, John and Will.  Apparently they had a real good run as a squad and won exactly 0 games in their college career.  Monumental.






Sean promised that we could have a Evergreen style blowout in the making, and when we committed 7 errors in one inning, I began to believe as well.  The visitors lineup was a real Murderers Freeway, anchored by the return and seemingly invincible Rick Kvoriak.  Rick drove a challenge fastball of mine so far to left field that I had to second guess whether I had mixed myself up and not thrown what I thought I threw.  But unfortunately  I did. And he tattooed it.  Also in the line up, Lattig, Bob, Phelps, Bartlett, Ed, Nero, Carter, Richie, Duane.  Not as easy out in the bunch.   We were relying on Chris Powell to score our runs, which he did until he had to leave, the score at the time being 7-2?

However, as Greg reminded us, there is no safe lead in MBC, which proved to be a blessing and a curse, as we started hitting and the visitors started muffing, and we ran the score back to tied, then proceeded to see-saw the lead back and forth.  The clock watchers started to get nervous that they were going to miss the WBC game, so we tried our best to play efficient ball, and get in a full 9.  With a neck an neck ballgame in the bottom of the 7th, with about 20 minutes to go, Greg suggested that we give the visitors 6 outs and whatever the outcome, we take it from there.  Seemed like a good idea, and the visitors responded by running a number of tallies across the plate, they were two up by the end.

We got our final ups, and were debating whether we would need our 6 outs, but hit begat hit, as Carter struggled with control, and half of our team left so we had 6 people hitting and we found ourselves tied up, with 1 out and the bases loaded.

Yours truly at the plate, and then it got ugly.

I completely shanked a ball to the right side, Duane called for it, just as Doc called the infield fly rule.  Duane caught it, turned to first, at which point John McG decided to give chaos a chance and raced for home.  Duane caught by surprise, still managed a great throw, and somehow John, who didn't slide, got his foot on the edge of the plate right before Ed applied the tag.  Arguments mounted, but Doc made the call.  Game over.  And for the record, I do not get the RBI on that.  I think it is one of those stats that get lost in the miasma.  A strange way to end a good game.  Final 13-12.

Highlights:

* Thanks to all that came out and stayed out, hopefully you enjoyed yourselves

* Kvoriak and Powell get to share the Long Bomb award.

* My team really got on me for not scoring on a passed ball, that I admit I should have, however, the throw from the backstop from Ed went past Carter and I scored anyway. All in the plan, gentleman.

* Johnny pitched a hell of a game and struck me out with the eephus

* We averaged about 5 errors per inning for the first 5 frames.

* Red Sox Will had a rough outing in left, I thought it was the sun and offered my shades, but he said it was just cuz he missed them.  Honesty.

* The visitors stifled us with a great double play

* With only 6 batters, I almost had the chance to score myself on a hit.

* Phelps was late and left early.  AOY emeritus.

* Nero is currently sporting the Oscar Gamble look.

* Bob did not get hit, but he did swing a a first pitch knuckleball to end the inning. Wah wahhhh.

* John of the Evergreen did his team proud, and had a couple of nice hits

* My team had some trouble with the have it around

* I had a single cum double on the weirdest, highest bad hop in left.  I was glad that it didn't take Bob's head off, it went from a 1.5' bounce to a 7' bounce.

* Good to see some old faces again

* Richie snared a seriously hit line drive to kill our rally

* Someone's car got dented in the cop parking lot.

* Doc put in another great outing as umpire.  We have to keep him close by though, once he gets into a conversation with someone when we are warming up, by the time we are ready to start he's half way through a story.

Thanks for the good time, it may be another few weeks until I can make it out again.

S. Paige

Hooptedoodle #1

Sweet Thursday is one of my favorite books of all time, and part of why I love it is that Steinbeck makes a point in the book of saying that sometimes an author just has to let loose witha little controlled nonsense, a verbal sorbet to cleanse the pallet if you will.

I, along with all the other kids growing up in the mid-80's to 90's, were taught that the best thing we could do for our future is collect baseball cards, because they would ultimately lead us to a life of riches and glory beyond our wildest dreams.  Countless cards shops sprung up all over the place, and every weekend in the summer there would be a card show somewhere, with a promise of big name ball players there to sign autographs.  Usually we were promised Willie Mays, and got Jim Barr.

And so, on this gray March Friday, on my OSHA mandated 15 minute breaks, I present:

Baseball Cards that I was promised would surely be worth something someday, and went absolutely nowhere (along with all baseball cards collected at this time.)

1. Matt Nokes- While this card is worthless, 11 years in the majors in nothing to sneeze at.  And his middle name is Dodge.  That's pretty cool.




2. Tom Gordon- Another 11 year veteran.  This guy was supposed to be the shit.  Stephen King made him a essential yet strange part of a short story.  His card that is worth the most is a error card.... at $0.40.  So if I had 1,000,000 of those error cards, I would be living in the tall cotton.




3. Hensley Muelens- First off, he helped the Giants a lot as a hitting coach, so I got to give it up for that.  And he fit in well with the Ryan Vogelsong faction of wayward players who finally make a impact long after the hype has worn off.  Muelens played some real off the grid, Japan, Europe, Korean, Mexico.  But I clearly remember thinking this guy was totally my ticket to a new boom box someday.




4. Mike Greenwell and Andy Van Slyke- I got so many cards of these two guys, and has anyone even thought about them in the last 15 years, except smarmy blog writers who decide to disparage people who attained what they coveted most?  They both played for 11-12 years, had fairly decent careers, but remember that isn't the point, the crooks at the cards shops urged me to invest heavily in both of these guys.
    


5. Chris Sabo- Another in the series I like to call, Ways to Rip off Kids.  8 years in the bigs and he led the Reds to a WS victory.  But after that 1990 year, he dropped like a Satchel eephus pitch.  According to Wikipedia, Pete Rose nicknamed Sabo "Spuds" because he looked like Spuds Mackenzie.  Why do I have a sudden urge to wear a JimmyZ shirt and some wayfarers and wear my baseball hat on the back of my head so that my bangs can show the proper wave effect?





6.  Jim Abbot- I think we all know that this was a feel good story, and if I have one player who I can at least get a good anecdote out of, this would be it.  Amazing how the body can adapt and overcome with the right perseverance   10 years in the majors, threw a no-hitter, he was no flash in the pan. His rookie card leads the way with the highest value so far. $1.00

  



7.  Kevin Seitzer- Another 11 year veteran, I never really knew much about this guy except that he was supposed to be great, and I should buy his card.  He was probably riding the wave of the Royals 1985 WS win, and they needed someone to talk about.  Was Bret Saberhagen already done with?  Come on!




8.  Walt Weiss- This one strikes close to home, cuz this was the 3rd Oakland player in a row to be named Rookie of the Year.  Canseco and McGuire obviously need to have their own special place here, but, they at least seemed to live up to their hype for a while, so the case could be made they were a different beast (insert 'roid rage joke here.).  But Weiss, he seemed alright, he made that error in the '88 WS that lent to the Dodgers winning, but he played 13 years in the majors, so he was obviously good enough to stick around.  But after his first two years, I never heard a peep about him.  A Topps Mint rookie card goes for $2.95.  Way to go, Walt!



9. Wally Joyner- God, I have a lot of this guy's cards.  And not just the regular Donruss, Topps kind, I got the Mother's cookies and Sportsflics ones too.  Wally played for 16 years, mostly with the Angels, and apparently lost the ROY award to Canseco.  I feel bad about that, no one should be in that position.  He probably also had a sure thing to sleep with Madonna, and Jose muscled him out on that score too.

10.  Gregg Jefferies and Sandy Alomar Jr- Some may say the penultimate in over-hype.  14 and 19 years in the bigs respectively, but man oh man, these guys was being put up with the greats before they even stepped on the field.  Both seemed to epitomize the Million dollars worth of talent, worth 5 cents on delivery player, although Alomar was a ROY and 6-time Allstar, but was injured a lot.  And by all accounts, Jefferies was a decent fellow, tried to appease New York Mets fans who turned on him after he failed to become the next Dimaggio.  These two Future Star rookies (along with Ken Griffey Jr, who was worth the hype) were the most coveted thing to look for in card packs. Jefferies was a local boy too, Junipero Serra graduate, and now he lives in Pleasanton, and runs a sports complex. 

    

So, having spent the time looking back at all of these guys and their careers, I have to say, they all were able to stick it out in MLB for quite some time.  Hype aside, they made a living playing baseball at the highest level, and you can't argue with that.  I just find it strange that a whole generation of kids was effectively duped, sold on the baseball card version of sub-prime mortgages.  I did notice that the people running the card shops were usually not pillar of the community types, and more than once I saw kids out and out lied to.    But one could say that about a lot of businesses, maybe just not the ones that cater to youth.  And I guess I still cherish the excitement of going to the card shop, poring over the cards, seeing one that you knew you had at home and knowing that it was selling for $8.00 was thrilling.  It was like having a savings account that you could tap into whenever you wanted to.  So the take away message?  

Here is my favorite explanation, by none other than the Spaceman himself, Bill Lee:

...Kids today, they go, 'how much is your baseball card worth?' And I'm going, 'A plug nickel, son, a plug nickel.' I'm saying, 'Son, be your own person. Do not collect baseball cards. It will be the ruination of you. Maybe you'll learn economics a little bit or you'll learn what value is. But you're being an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur takes something of no value and makes money on it. And I do not believe in that for kids.' I teach 'em right off the bat: Learn the game. Do not look at Yuppie, do not look at the Chicken. Do not look at that. Look at the ground ball. Field it cleanly with both hands. Be as smooth as silk. You know, make the nice throw to second. Have the nice breaking curve ball. Subtract on the changeup. See the ball and hit it. Don't associate with the other things of the game. They will eventually bring you down, eat you up and spit you out.

3/3/13 West Sunset game, In Print!

Our literati sister in all things baseball and butter related has made the switch to sports reporting in the Bay Guardian.  And here with a nice lil' something about the Mission Baseball Club is our own L.E. Leone.

9 innings, 20 years

Our longtime Cheap Eats correspondent makes the switch -- here's L.E. Leone's first Guardian sports column

A giant hawk swooped down from the tall trees along the right field line. Against the blazing white San Francisco sky, it seemed all wing span and tiny-headed. And jaggedly, viciously beautiful.

The pickoff play was on.

Greg Snyder, caught completely off guard, dove back to third. Lucky for him, third-baseman Johnny Bartlett was also caught off guard, and the throw glanced off his glove and rolled to the chain link fence in front of the third base dugout, West Sunset Playground.

So I guess that means the pickoff play wasn't on. Except in the pitcher's mind. And maybe the hawk's.

Eskimoed inside my furry-fringed corduroy coat in the stands, I watched with the hawk as Bartlett retrieved the ball. Snyder, with no thought of advancing, knelt on third base and looked at his fingers. The first joint of his right pinky was bent away from his hand at an unnatural angle. He'd jammed it on the bag. First Bartlett, then Sean Paul Presley, the pitcher, came over and had a look, and both turned away, wincing, while Snyder calmly torqued it back into place.

Then, yeah, the game went on.

When we talked later, in the stands, top of the seventh, Snyder had the pinky taped to the ring finger of his throwing hand with a thin strip of dirty white tape.

"Can I get you some ice?" I said.

He said, "Nah."

"I have ibuprofen," I said, reaching into my purse.

"No thanks," he said. "I have some in my car."

But I never saw him get it. Although he had pitched the first few innings for the visiting team, by the time of the finger thing, he was catching. And continued to catch — six more innings, to the end of a wacky, back-and-forth, 11-inning game.

In the bottom of the tenth, he threw out a runner trying to steal second.

Greg Snyder is 47 years old.

Carter Rockwell, 24, picked up the win in relief, and also hit a home run off his older brother, Will.

Doc Magrane, 69, did not play. But not because of age. He and chemo have recently whipped a little bone cancer into complete remission. He still suits up for pick-up games, puts on some of the extra catchers' gear, and umps.

Tony Rojas brought a sweater for his dog, Dee Dee. He showed me before the game: black with white skull and crossbones.

"Nice. Does she like it?" I said.

"No," he said. "She hates it."

The sweater went on and came back off of Dee Dee, and then she started to shake and shiver and Rojas became worried, which affected his play. He threw high to first, swung at bad pitches . . . had she gotten into something? he wondered.

"We could use a field ump, too, you know," Doc Magrane called out to me, between innings.
I didn't know yet that I was a sports writer.

"No thanks!" I hollered back anyway.

It's been twenty years now since the Mission Baseball Club, as it has come to be called, started. Maybe 21.

In 1992 (or 3), four or five Mission District musicians and poets, myself included, gathered at Jackson Field at the foot of Potrero Hill one day a week to play catch, field grounders, and take batting practice.

Six or seven, eight . . . Once there were nine, we could split into threes and play tiny three-way games, with right field foul and "imaginary runners."

At twelve we opened right field, and any more than that meant we could have a catcher, so we bought some catchers' gear.

For a few years there in the mid-90s, the Mission fielded a team in the city's Roberto Clemente League. We were a ragtag crew, and the only team in the league with women on it. No one asked. We just did it.

Twenty years later: this. Eye black and uniforms. Field reservations. An umpire. As it turns out, a reporter . . . Two teams of 11, arbitrarily decided, share one dugout each week. And the range of play varies.
Widely.

Some have played college ball. One played in the minors.

Jen Ralston (a.k.a. Hedgehog, a.k.a. my Hedgehog), who at 42 is playing the first baseball of her life, lined a two-strike curve into shallow center: her first hit ever. I asked for the ball.

Eventually she came around to score, and commented later, over fish, that the bases had been softer than she'd expected.

"Are they always like that?" she said.

I said that they were.

3/3/13 West Sunset

Thanks to Jonathan "That's good financial advice" Tiemann for this weeks write up.  Sounds like a good time was had by all, dislocated fingers and all.... 

Here's a summary from yesterday's game.  I'm afraid you missed a good one.

Spring Training may be in the air, but Spring wasn't much in evidence on Sunday at West Sunset.  The day was cool - plenty of jackets and sweatshirts on the bench, and a few on the field.  It was overcast, too - a welcome relief for us outfielders, since we were mostly able to see the ball for a change.  We started out a perfect nine on nine, and by the time the stragglers finished arriving we had eleven to a side, with Doc in his accustomed spot behind the plate.

Johnny Bartlett took the bump for the home team, and Greg started for the visitors.  The game started with a bang, as Duane led off with a drive up the gap.  He had an easy triple, and wanted more, but Johnny took the relay and threw him out at the plate.  The play went something like 8-6-1-2.  We managed a couple of runs anyway, for an early lead.  The homers' bats came alive too, though, and our outfielders had plenty of work, mostly fielding hits.  By the sixth inning the homers had a solid lead.  Meanwhile, Johnny gave way to Sean, and then to Will, while Carter took over for the visitors.  

The visitors' fortunes turned in about the seventh, when Carter led off with a drive over Paul's head in center field.  By the time Paul was able to run it down, Carter was already around second, and he was able to complete the circuit for a rare MBC home run.  We put up a crooked number in the inning, and after seven the visitors led, 11-10.  The seesaw game had just about everybody's juices flowing, but while it was more competitive in spirit than most, it also retained the atmosphere that keeps us all coming back to Mission Baseball. 

In the eighth the visitors strung together several hits, including a two-out, bases-loaded single, to extend the lead to 13-10, and after we held the homers in the bottom of the frame, we were liking our chances.  But we went quietly in our half of the ninth, and the home team battled back with three in their half to send the game into extra innings.  Lattig put his spikes back on, and we went to the tenth. 

Lattig and Jimmy led off the tenth with singles, and I thought I had one too when I lined the ball into center, but Mitch was playing shallow, and he was able to force Jimmy at second, Mike going to third.  Bob plated Mike with a sacrifice fly, which Loren caught in foul ground in right, and we ended up settling for the one run.  Paul led off the home tenth with a single, and John McGrath forced him at second.  We liked our chances again when Greg gunned John out trying to steal second, but the home side pushed across a two-out equalizer, and we went to the eleventh.  In that frame, Duane and Carter led off with hits, and we had runners on second and third, with nobody out.  Elvin knocked Duane in with a high bounding ball, and Carter went to third.  Jay hit a shot to third that looked like it would bring us an insurance run, but Johnny made a nice stop and a perfect throw home, and Tim applied the tag for the second out.  Jay ended up stranded at first, so we went to the bottom of the eleventh, again trying to defend a one-run lead.  This time, we recorded two quick outs, but the homers kept battling, and had the tying run on base when Sean came to the plate with two down.  Carter got Sean, though, on a fly ball to right, and we finally had the game by a tally of 15-14.

Highlights -

• Carter's home run, of course, which also earned him fraternal bragging rights, since he hit if off Will

• Jen lined a clean single over second base - You have an average now!

• Daniel laid out and nearly caught a sinking line drive in right center.  It was the effort of the year, and almost the catch of the year.

• Nobody hit Bob, but Will did manage to get Jay in the ribs with a fastball. 

• It seemed like there was a good deal of umpiring by committee, with Doc, the catchers, and the hitters negotiating over the calls.  It worked out just fine, but made it even harder than usual to figure out what the count was sometimes

• Greg dislocated a finger diving back into third on a pickoff attempt, but calmly relocated it himself.  That was before he threw McGrath out stealing.

• Best line of the day - Bob was saying that if Loren hit a screamer to third with his composite bat he might kill the third baseman, and Paul calmly replied, "Well, he's had a good life."

• A high foul ball to the parking lot caused some concern when, after what seemed like an unusually long time, it produced a metallic thunk.  Near as we can tell, it pinballed around in the trees for a while and then bounced in the bed of Will's truck.

• Johnny still has a good inventory of the new MBC T-shirts.  They look even better in person than in the picture.

2/24/13 West Sunset

It was Mrs. Paige's birthday on Sunday, and we had a great time, brunch at the world famous Hick'ery Pit in the Creek, followed by some leisurely walking and then home for a garden cake and wine soiree with some friends.  A good time was had by all, and while I would be lying if I said that I didn't think once about baseball, it was a great alternative and an awesome way to spend a Sunday.  Happy Birthday Sadie!

Some people, however, did make it to the game, and here with the quick and dirty is Ed "Theo and Milo's Pop" Sidawi.


We were 17. Mitch went six for the homers, Noah all nine for the visitors.

Errors doomed the visitors early. A spate of unearned runs kept them from threatening the lead even when they did score. After 6, it was 9-5, about the closest it would be.

Johnny came in for the Homers. Final was 13-7 or so.

Highlights

*West Sunset sun was bright and always seemed to be in the wrong place.

*Bob was HBP, but it only grazed his uniform, so he and I agreed that the ball was still in play. I'll take the passed ball, sorry Mitch.

*Theis hit a HR to center. He even went home without a base coach. We don't need no stinking base coaches.

*New guy Andrew blasted a triple that could have been a HR if there was a base coach. The long line drive may or may not have been why he was hit square in the back in his next AB.

*It has been decided by me that we need a PA for the BBQ. And one of us needs to announce the batters. Make this happen, I have no means of skills in the area.  Ed. Note: Done and Done.

*Johnny showed up with a box of shirts. Black. He wants 10 bones for them. Get them while the getting is good.

2/17/13 West Sunset

A beautiful February day, warmer than it should have been, but not really warm.  We recruited two guys who were out playing catch and some late stragglers showed up and all of a sudden we had a game of 19.  The teams were divided up and some might say it was not exactly a fair split (Vic and Mitch should never be on the same team).  I got traded to the visitors while watching lil' Satch and waiting for Mrs. Paige to show up to relieve me.  I guess that is what happens if you aren't ready to go in the 1st.  

Tony started for the homers, fresh from his victory last week, and raring to give it another go.  He and Greg were the unstoppable battery once again, helped by Mitch in center and Stretch Presley at 1st.  Carter started for the visitors and it quickly became apparent that our defense was more of the 6-outs-an-inning genus.  Doc showed up around the 2nd and umpired the game, which seemed to hurt our chances more, as our paint the blacks and corner strikes became balls.  Once it got ugly, Satch was sent in for the visitors and Snyder got the opportunity to squander the homer's lead, which he didn't do!

But c'est la livre as the surrender monkeys say.

We scored two runs early on, one of them on a sliding play at home by Gaspar, who scored and didn't dislocated his shoulder a real win win.  And that was about it for us.  

The homers on the other hand were scoring more than the town floozy on pay day.  And I don't want to say that it was all due to errors, they had their fair share of hits, singles, doubles, triples, doubles, singles.  The homers may have forgotten they had the lead, as they continued to steal bases for most of the game.  They even tried a squeeze play with a 6 run lead!  Didn't work out and we had a little discussion about why that might not be the right call.  Then I hit Tony in the knee with a slider on the next pitch.  By Accident.  But it made for some good theater.

We played an extra inning at the end to try and get some runs back, and all it did was exacerbate the situation, as the homers scored about 8 runs in the bottom of the 9th.  There was about 6 legit hits in a row.  

We went down meekly in our final at bats, but the homers took pity on us with only 6 of our team members left, they gave us 6 outs and so we all got a final chance to hit.

Final Score: A kind 17-3.

Highlights:

* Everyone on the homers seemed to have a good game

* Thanks to Greg, Tim, Gaspar, Vic for catching

* Had one K but it was well needed to stop the bleeding

* JT played the sun drenched right field all day, and by the end, stood helplessly blind, while a ball sailed 30 feet to his left.

* One of the new guys almost robbed his buddy of a great hit.  Almost.

* Jay cursed his bad luck every at bat, to the tune of a 4-5 game.  Maybe I should start complaining as soon as I hit the ball, I could be hitting .850 soon.

* The homers defense was strong all day

* John McG risked life and limb to get a glove and ball out of a tree.  It was impressive, and he didn't die.

* Will ran through a Stop, Stop, Stop chorus from the bench, for the third out, when we could have used a big rally.  We got to start using third base coaches, or yell louder.

* Mitch hit a 3-2 curve to right for a triple, a pitch that was purposely a foot off the plate.

* Our only sure out of the game was a infield fly rule, that no one called until well after it was caught

* Carter and Bob were both HBP

Same time, same place.

S. Paige

2/10/13 West Sunset

Thanks to Mike “12 pitch minimum” Gaspar, we have an excellent recap of Sunday’s game.  Sounds like it was a real barn burner!

It was another sunny, warm winter day at west sunset.  We started the game 8 on 9 and by the third inning or so it was 10 on 10. Tony Rojas started for the home team.  He had the full arsenal working plus a changeup that Greg had taught him during warm ups.  Talk about a fast learner. Starting for the visitors was Will Rockwell.

The visitors grabbed an early 1-0 lead on and rbi single by j.t. who had just gotten back from fantasy camp, and had plenty of tips to share. It could have been 2-0 but will was cut down at home trying to score on a sac. fly (if you were scoring at home it went 8 to 1 to 2).

Somewhere in middle innings the homers started to flex their muscles and took a 5-1 lead. but the visitors scrapped back with a two spot. Tony gave way to Johnny and the homer's bats really woke up to the tune of five runs and  then added a few more along the way. Carter Rockwell came in to relieve his brother and managed to slow the bleeding a bit.

Fast forward to the top of ninth.  The visitors refused to go down without a fight.  Greg had come in for Johnny and got the first two outs.  Then yours truly started the rally with a solid single.  More hits and some shoddy defense followed and the visitors had some life.  Carter crushed one to deep center that just nicked off of Tony’s glove and we thought we had a chance.  but alas the rally fell short. but we were glad we went down fighting. 

Final score:  13-10

 Highlights:

* J.t. had some nice plays in right

* Loren hit a bomb to right center

* Stoner had a triple

* Bob did not get hit. 

* But Will Erickson did.  Three times.  Twice in one a.b.

2/3/13 West Sunset

Here with the recap is Ed "Mr. RBI" Sidawi, Esq.:

A couple of weeks ago, for some unknown reason, the powers that be decided to start the game at 11 AM. I suppose it was because the sun wouldn't be at such a terrible angle in the late innings, or something. Turnout seemed light anyway, maybe people were hung over? I can’t imagine a good reason not to play baseball on such a beautiful day, around 65, sun shining for a change, soft breeze.

                Eventually we had 14 and sides were taken. Greg started for both teams. Well, a Greg. New Greg returned, he works Sunday afternoons and the early start allowed him to make it to the first 8 innings. New Greg went a few, then Sean and eventually Johnny for the visitors. Greg pitched all nine, naturally.

                With 7 on 7, the players for both teams took a position and pretty much stuck to it the whole game. The familiarity with one spot did nothing to improve the defense. Neither team could hold a lead. Mission style. Seriously, every time one team got a few gift runs, they would be re-gifted in the next half inning.

                By the 9th, the homers were up 12-9 (I think), but a late surge had the go-ahead run either at the plate or on first for the visitors. At that point Tim hit a gapper to right center that John McG ran down to end the game.    

           

                We called it a day after 8 ½ because the game was official and since you assholes thought that nachos and bud light were more important than a baseball game, we each got 8 at bats and that was cool for us.

Final 12-11. (Or so)

*Aiden and Liam handled right field duties for the homers. Hitting cutoffs (take note everyone) and running down everything hit their way.

*Aiden almost ended the game on a high pop up that went in and out of his glove.

*Duane, the second batter of the game hit an inside the park HR to center.

*Jimmy “two-times” hit 6 doubles (plus or minus) and almost took one of Greg’s feet into centerfield on a line drive up the middle.

*John McG made a highlight catch in center and a few other routine plays there. We will make him an outfielder yet.

*The pink bat succumbed to a Johnny Bartlett inside fastball. I have no idea what I am going to use now. YOU ARE NOW ON NOTICE, I WILL BE USING YOUR BAT.

*Will was prompt and worried that he got the time and field wrong because apparently none of us can be trusted to be on time before 1 PM.

1/27/13 West Sunset

It was a great day out in the sunny yet frigid field of West Sunset.  If one were to take and examine a picture of the day, it would have appeared to be July, except everyone had four layers of clothing on.  We had 18 brave souls out for what proved to be a pretty damned exciting game.  Johnny and Carter started out hurling, with Doc behind the dish giving out the balls and strikes.  The teams seemed fairly well matched, we certainly had enough versatility on each team so no one got stuck having to play any one position the whole game.

The crispness of the day lent itself to the bats, and line drives were the main course.  The wind was curiously strong (and cold) and anything that got up into the air was pushed all over the place, and sometimes straight down.  So we made do with short drives and ground balls.  After 4 innings of work, Johnny gave up the bump to Satch, who was ready and willing to throw as many as anyone would let me.  And as it turned out, that was a lot.  I ended up going the rest of the game and into legitimate extra innings.  Phelps came in for the visitors and then the mop up artist, G. Snyder.

The game itself was pretty amazing, not a particularly high scoring affair by MBC standards, but the way that we went back and forth, each team had the lead, lost the lead, tied it up, ahead, behind, tied.  It was a true see-saw battle.  There were more than a few judgement calls on foul/fair, out/safe that we didn't realize would play a major part of the outcome later.  

By the end of regulation play, we were deadlocked at 6-6. 

An inning of nothing.  

Then the visitors came alive and pounced on the homers for three runs and that seemed like all it would take to finally end this thrilling (and chilling) spectacle.  But sure enough, we homers were not about to go down with out a fight, and we managed to thread together a rally of our own, and tie the game up again, turned away from the victory at the last moment by a well caught fly ball.  

9-9.  

We debated playing more, but we had already lost a few players, everyone was done, and the real cold was descending rapidly, so we reserved the right to play it out a later date, called it a tie and hustled to our cars to turn on the heat.

Highlights:

* I bought a Shoeless Joe Jackson Model bat at WC Sports, and it is awesome.  I hit the ball hard all day, and it has one of the best sounds when it connects

* Sean made some great stretch plays at 1st

* Mitch got to some of those aforementioned fly balls that died in the wind, that no one else would have

* Maybe the hardest hit ball I had all day, died in the wind and Tony moved three feet and caught it

* Bob is officially a baseball magnet, he was HBP x2, HBFoul, almost HBFoul again

* Adam owned me all day, every time I thought I had him, he'd get a hit

* I owe Doc an apology for pissing and moaning a bit on the mound.  But some of those pitches were preeeeettttttttty good.

* Loren's gf bought out a blanket this time, smart girl

* Mike Gaspar managed to confound a pitcher enough that he eventually took his free pass

* Ed played while his two boys circled him in the outfield

* The line drive double play was a big sigh of relief

* Bob hit a ball so hard it refused to be pushed down by the wind

* Phelps did too

* A foul ball that Johnny was after at 3rd, almost was pushed fair by the wind!

* Both teams (especially the visitors) had a number of bases loaded, and only one or no-one scored innings, so many killed rallies. All the defense work of the game was pretty stellar!

* Next week is 11 am start, in deference of that other thing.  Just remember:

1/13/13- Camp Swampy

Finally a game, and what a game!  With the icy winds and cold snap, it was a toss up to see if anyone was going to show, but sure enough, the MBC came out in droves to the tune of 26 palyers for Sunday's match.  First we had to kick some league guys off, who said they had a permit, but the "guy" who "had" it was mysteriously not there.  "He" never is, it seems.  So they took off, after some stalling.  And Camp Swampy ws ours.  The field is in great shape, by the way, hardly can be called Swampy anymore.

It took a little back and forth to figure out who was on what team, but I think we managed to figure it out by the middle innings.  Satch started for the homers, having been itching for a start in quite some time.  My tardiness of late has kept me from being the guy on the bump, relegated to right field without warm ups.  Well, I got to warm up on Sunday, and it felt good.  The three layers of shirts felt good too.  It was warm in the sun, but that was the only place it was warm.  The first inning saw an anomaly, as Chris Powell made 3 errors at SS, more than he has made in the last four years!  Our team was definitely shaking out the cobwebs, and before we knew it, we had given them about 6 outs, and the visitors had scored 3 runs.

Will started for the visitors, but a nagging shoulder kept him from a long stretch, but he kept us close. We got a hit or two, got on the board and the game was away.  Trying to remember who needed to sit out and who was on who's team was a constant conversation, but the atmosphere was light, everyone happy to be playing ball in the new year.

The game saw a lot of back and forth, Phelps came in for Will, then Daniel, then Mitch.  I lasted 6 innings before giving the pearl over to Johnny, and felt really good the whole time.  The fastball was moving, the knuckleball was filthy, the gravity ball was doing its job.  I even managed to get Gaspar out on three pitches, something that I don't think has ever happened before.

Somewhere in the 5th I mentioned that I had not been on the winning team in quite some time, and lamented that it wasn't looking good for us, as we were currently in a 7-3 deficit.  Snyder chided me (rightfully so), and by the next inning, we were only down by two.  Eventually, the bats for the homers woke up and we took the lead and never looked back.  We played an extra inning to make up for the extra people, but it was fairly uneventful.  And it was getting cold(er).  Final 10-7.

Highlights:

* Good to see a big group come out, thanks to Bob and Greg for keeping us legal in Parks and Rec.  Give them money when you see them....

* Return of Robin, who managed at least one hit, twice on base and a run scored! Keep coming out!

* Daniel almost made an amazing full out diving catch in left

* I threw a knuckleball to JT that I wish I could frame and hang in my living room....

* Bob didn't get hit until the 10th, but hit he did get.

* Greg and Tony each had some real nice hits

* Loren got onto the ballot for 2013 AOY for 2 things!  1.) Hitting the runner, Robin, with a thrown ball from center to third.  Unintentionally, we hope. 2.) Forcing his girlfriend to sit and watch the whole game, while she slowly froze to death.

* I managed to 3 hits that all went between 3rd and SS.

* Jay might have had a 1.00 OBP for the day

* The sun by the end of the game made it impossible to see anything from anywhere

* Double (triple) play!  We got a flyball catch, to 2nd for the no tag up, then to first.  Unfortunately, there was already one out.  Still pretty awesome though.  We got another double play of the 4-6-3 variety!

* There was almost a collision at first between me and Robin.  No one wants that.

* Ed's family showed up, Theo resplendent in the awesomest Seals Tball jersey ever made.  We all want one.

* Jon Mcg made a great play in the hole at SS

* John Nero muscled up a long drive to left center, as did Adam and Bob

* Defensive Gem of the Game- Johnny, from the bump, tracking a pop up in the infield, in no man's land behind the mound, goes full over the shoulder snare, with a flourish.

Great game.

S. Paige.

12/30/12- Camp Swampy

Here with the last game of the 2012 season is Mike "All 9" Gaspar

Well the rain finally let up enough to get a game in.  I was a little concerned though as we were playing at good old 'camp swampy'. But much to my surprise, the field was in good shape (the outfield was a bit mushy).  We started out eight on eight and by the second inning we were eight on nine.

Brian Phelps started for the homers.  He got tagged for an early run but was able to hold the line until Johnny B. came in somewhere in the middle innings and went the rest of the way.  The visitors countered with the Rockwell bros., joining the Perry's, the Martinez's, the Niekro’s and others in the brother pitching combo.  The homer's answered back with a run of their own in the early innings then tacked on a few more along the way It was 4-1 homers going into the ninth when the visitors made a valiant comeback.  In fact the tying run was on second with two down and Adam at the plate. Adam it a hard shot to short which Daniel played cleanly made the throw and the game was over. 

All agreed that it was a great game and a good way to wrap up the 2012 MBC campaign.

Highlights:

-John Carey made an appearance.  Enjoying his holiday break from prep school

As with most teenagers he was not fully awake at 1:00pm which may have

accounted for some defensive lapses.

-We had a member of the Brooklyn crew playing with us.  Kirin, a friend of

Dave J's played well.  It was his first game since hurricane sandy wreaked

havoc on Gotham.

-Brian Phelps hit a monster shot to right for a triple which plated a run.

-Bob argued a called strike from doc.  Then said no, no that's the call

we have to honor it.  Then on the next pitch, same location, ripped one

into left center for a double.

12/9/12 Big Rec

It was an amazing day, and not just cuz things in Satch's life started to ease up and he could actually get out to the game.  Beautiful and sunny, warm, lots of fans in the stands, including a homeless trio that harkened us back to the days of the Marina bum. 

The one problem was the horrible traffic getting across the bridge, due to some stupid violent other sport occurring on the same day.  Our AOY 2011can give you all the details that you want, since he was there.

Luckily, everyone was running late, so by the time I got there it was still top of the first.  I got to be on Sean's team for the first time in a while, since he was nursing a bum shoulder and didn't have much in his pitching sack.  True to his word, he pitched two and handed it over to me.  I figured that I hadn't thrown much in the last month, so I could blaze fastballs for two innings or play the smart money and use the slow ball.  Other than a big bad inning, my plan worked well, I had a few K's on guys I wouldn't usually get. 

Slow, slower and slowest.  That was the mantra.

Will pitched deep for the homers, and managed to strike us out all over the place, I was in danger of a sombrero, until I finally laced a double.

And speaking of things doubling, the home team managed not one, but two double plays to kill our rallies.  A third double play was a half a step off.  Chris Powell was of course integral to that, as well as pitching the last inning of the game.

Not a terrible game, there were some big hits, there were some dropped balls, a mission rally here and there.

And Doc!  Called a great game, and only got overruled a few times.

Beautiful day for a ball game.

Final- 12-7? Homers.

Highlights:

* The homers defense was impregnable.  Until it wasn't.

* My change up might have been classified as an eephus

* Some big hits for the homers, long balls

* Greg was out with an eye injury, get well soon!

* Jay got all the sun that he could catch, much to the chagrin of everyone.  He is unapologetic, so that is something....

* I had a pretty good day off the bump, defensively, helped by the slow grass making time

* My remark "That is an infield fly rule, if it stays in the infield" should have been taken as simple commentary rather than umpiring, sorry Nick Smith.

* Nice that we at least made a try for a comeback this time.

* AOY Phelps is required to wear a football jersey next time he comes out, to mark his shameful secret.

Rain, stay away.

S. Paige