7/7/13 Doubleheader- Big Rec

One of our best traditions here at the MBC is the doubleheader.  In recent years, we have added awards, speeches, kids activities and plates and silverware, and non-meat grill options.  Its really something now.  I added a few new tunes to the playlist and the first song was a rare surfing song for Johnny, who we all hoped would make an appearance.

This year was no different, we started bright and early at 11 am in the east diamond of GGP.  Thanks again to Bob and Greg for securing our permits, and to every one who came out and supported the games, brought food, enjoyed themselves.  We had a PA address system, per Mr. Sidawi's request, and we took turns making the calls, some of us with the quiet dignity befitting the national past time, others like it was Wet T-Shirt night at the Monster Truck Rally.  The hardest part was trying to remember everyone's last name.

The first game was a grudge match turned laugher which pitted Phelps against Satch, the ingredients for a real barn burner.  And it was a classic pitchers duel for the first three innings, we were dealing.  Then, someone hit a ball to the outfield and that was it.  Hit after hit, error after error, we couldn't buy an out for a while.  Meanwhile Brian was pitching like he had dedicated the game to some kid with cancer, we couldn't touch him.  The homers kept piling up the runs and we kept hitting weak balls right at people.  We both bowed out after the 7th, to keep it fair, and by then the damage was way past being done.  Final score 17-4 ( very soft 17-4, I might add.)

We started the grills in the 7th and began to cook up the good eats that people had brought, Brian had his infamous pulled pork, Bob brought steaks, Nero purchased a new mini-weber and deemed all meat products as personas non gratas (my latin is terrible and ill used).  There were salads, and sides and beer and more beer.  And Johnny!  And Lynn!  And his boudin sausages!  And a little red wagon!  What more could one as for???  He looked great, he played catch, he cooked sausages, he looked ready to throw 12 innings if needed (Lynn made sure to caveat that he was there as a spectator only! Understandable.).  Definitely our MVP of the Day!

The awards ceremony began, and I was unable to catch all of it, as Mrs. Paige and Lil Satch were showing up and needed to be out of the car, so I volunteered to park for her.  Here are the 2013 awards winners:

Most Improved- JT Tiemann
Best Dressed- Daniel Dotterer
Toughman Snyder Award- Greg Snyder
The Deserter- Carter Rockwell
HSCS- Horseshit Cocksucker Award- John Nero
AOY 2013- Will Rockwell (accepted by by his brother, who can share the honors, as WillorCarter)

For those who might be confused, many of our awards are tongue in cheek, or goofy ways to celebrate our rag tag group.  Please don't take offense, obviously we can't give Asshole of the Year to the person who we actually think is an asshole, so we give it to someone who can take a joke.

The take home message here is learn how to take a fucking joke.

Game 2- The teams were mixed up, and Dustin Skiles, fresh off 6 months of knee rehab started, and looked like he was making a great recovery.  He and Noah were a battery, which of course means that every call was in thier favor and there was no questioning.  Luckily, Doc showed up and kept the game in check.  Dustin did the smart thing and stopped after a few innings, so as not to aggravate.  Noah came into pitch, as did Greg, Mitch, Tony, Chris Powell.  Sorry the memory fades a little on the second game.  I know that it was a much closer affair, and that the homers won.  Happy to add anything that people remember.

All in all a great day, the first game was hot and sultry, the second was a bit chilly, but such is a standard day in San Francisco.

Happy 4th of July Doubleheader to all!

Highlights:

* Food and drink were excellent

* Robin came out and had both a hit and an RBI!

* Dani and Jen also made an appearance, though in a fan capacity only, it was great to see them

* John Carey was 4-5 against me, including two doubles (one that may have been foul, but his old man was calling the game, and I would have done the same thing.)  Either way, great to see him, he has learned well and superseded his teachers in the MBC in all levels, except maybe in alcohol consumption...but that is a good thing.

* Jay came out and shot pictures, before his hot date, and Phelps also caught some great snaps

* Brian and I both struck out looking in the first game, against one another.  Fair.

* Dennis appears to still be juicing, and we suspect there may be a portrait in his attic growing old as we speak

* Richie caught for the first time in quite a while

* I made two pretty nice defensive plays at SS, one barehanded that was completely egregious, but looked oh so pretty.

* Elvin once again was in the midst of it all, he is shooting for AOY 2014, me thinks.

* Thanks to all who caught, catching during a double header is rough sometimes

* Mitch made a number of plays where he didn't really have to move.  He knows exactly where you are going to hit it.

* In the midst of a very long inning I caught a foul ball that was between me, Duane and Bob.  Luckily the collision was mild.

* more to come....?

S. Paige

6/23/13 West Sunset

I don't play for over a month, every Sunday spent doing some sort of household chore, or major project, (or going to brunches and fishing and camping, I can't piss and moan to much).  So, I finally get a pass to go, and wouldn't you know it, forecast is for Rain.  And rain it did, a light misting rain that was enough to annoy, but not enough to cancel.  

Rain!  In June! 

WTF. as the kids say.  What the fuck, maaaaaaaaaaan... as Rojas would say.  

So driving over, rain intermittently dripping on the windshield, and across the Bay Bridge (finally, where did all that traffic come from?) I made it to West Sunset.  When I crested the staircase and saw people taking infield, I cringed.  It didn't look like enough, and having spent an hour and 20 minutes getting there, I was not about to settle for....*choke-gasp*...batting practice.

Luckily Greg assured me that I made 15, and we most definitely had a game.  Whew!

Noah and Tony started for the soggy bunch of stalwarts that made it out, and from jump street, it was painfully obvious that a. it was going to be a high scoring affair and b. the home team was going to be doing a lot of that scoring.  Noah pitched his heart out, but he was not going to get 14 K's, which is what he needed, given the defense that unfolded.  Now, we all know MBC defense is a curious, sometimes foul beast, and given the weather, a lot can be blamed on that.  And Elvin.

The fact that we were slightly soggy and bummed that our game was understaffed and over-watered raised the irritation factor significantly and like any group of kindergartners, we needed an outlet for that irritation.  Elvin proved worthy in that regard.  

First off, Elvin is a great guy and even better sport for taking it on, hopefully he knows that all the jibing is in good fun.  And we know he has the capacity to make good plays, as seen in Ed's recap of the SQ game.  Elvin had the unfortunate luck of playing fill-in defense for the visitors, who needed every out they could get, and well...they didn't always get them.  At first base, Elvin missed tagging the bag, or holding on to the ball...a few times.  By the end of the game, ragging Elvin had taken precedence over the outcome and he was being blamed for the mortgage crisis, the Iraq war and the very weather that was bringing on our foul mood.  He's a prince for not punching somebody.  

By the second inning, it was 9-2 or something, and it got worse after that.  Tony let Satch throw three, and Phelps got one.  Noah eventually bowed out to Bob, who got threw three batters and called it quits, and brought in Greg, who pitched against his own team to end it since the visitors were out of pitchers.  We ended the game, and surprisingly, no one wanted to play extra.  

If you are reading this and you were there, take a moment to make sure you took your cleats out and dried them, cuz I didn't until last night.  Not good.

Highlights:

* Rich had a fan club come out, and they were real troopers for sticking it out in the rain.  He had a couple of relays/plays that could have been spectacular, well, his part of them was great, the receiving part didn't work out.

* McG hit from the left side, as a change.  Elvin tried it too, and Noah threw behind him as a warning.  Well deserved.  I got hit when I tried that against Noah.

* The mud on the mound caked the cleats and made for some interesting pitches

* Richie almost had a great catch at the wall, on a hit from Rich, and then it just dropped right where the wall meets the ground.

* Will had an in-the-parker

* Greg played first with shin guards on, always a good look

* We kept a plastic bag on the back of the mound to protect the balls, we probably went through 30 of them

* In a particularly ugly inning, I hit a ground ball, and trotted, not ran, not jogged, with the hopes that the team could get an out.  Bobble, bobble, throw, bounce, drop, pick and fall ensued.  Aaaaaaaand I was safe.  And guess who was filling in for the visitors at 1st?

* The rooster tails coming off the infield grass were pretty spectacular.

* Elvin also stole third with a 8 run lead.  So all of the Elvin berating wasn't exactly unfounded.

* I threw a hell of a knuckleball to Rich for a second strike.  Then K'd him on the high heat.  His fan club left soon after.  Sorry about that.

* I think the home team had about 8 at bats a piece.

* JT had this to report: "I'm pleased to report that I did NOT pull a hamstring when Powell decided to try to throw me out from left field.  

Late in the game, Bob and I were sitting on the bench with Noah.  Noah and Bob were comparing notes about the footing on the wet mound, and Noah delivered himself of the following Yogiesque gem:

"Yeah, there's a lot not to think about out there!"

Hope to see you all at the double header, sign up for what you are bringing on the google doc.

S. Paige

6/20/13 SQ Giants vs. MBC

Very bummed I couldn't make this game, but it is good to let other people have a chance....sounds like it was a real barn burner...

We were ten at the gate, half the team waiting patiently, the other half stuck in looky loo traffic on [the] 101. Ed. note- This is a subtle joke, please let us know if you don't get it.  Our escort was late anyhow, he showed up at 5. Just prior to arriving we learned that Greg was unavailable, making my decision to go back to my house to grab the cup I forgot an inspired one.

The gate master refused bags over 14 inches and only allowed 4 bats. (I did manage to finagle the catchers bag in laden with helmets.) He also refused to let us donate a dozen baseballs, yet this stickler for rules forgot to make us sign in at the outer gate. Ed. note Sounds about right.

There was much confusion when we got in because we had no Greg, putting me at catcher, no Chris, so Will eventually was put at short, leaving Elvin at third, with an outfield of Matt Stone, Daniel, and Loren. Those decisions took our entire walk in and warm up period, Doc then pointed to people saying numbers for our lineup. About 30 seconds after being pointed at, Duane was in the box leading off the game.

On the hill for the Home team was a guy in Romo high socks who has the S.L.O.W.E.S.T. windup. Some of us thought we have seen him before, others disagreed.  Sean Paul took the ball for the visitors.

Sean grazed the uniform of the leadoff batter (yes, Sean, it hit him) and gave up a long home run to the catcher (who Bernie Leaned on the plate), but otherwise it was a smooth inning. We tied it at 2 the next inning with a single, 3 walks and a ground out. We added a run on another ground out, giving us a lead for 2 innings or so.

Sean pitched a great game without a curve ball for much of the 7 innings. Zero runs in the 2, 3, 4, and 6th innings. The bottom of fifth inning was different. A lead off seeing eye double onto the right field blacktop lead to a run on a Sac Fly to left (Stone almost got the guy at the plate). Then a ball was hit two feet foul to right that both umpires called fair scoring the home teams' fourth run. With two outs Sean induced a pop up to right, but the wind gusts, which were mighty, blew it away from Loren, but too far for McGrath and Duane to get, scoring another making the score 5-3.

With fifteen minutes before the home team had to be indoors, we played hurry up. We were shut down in the top of the 6th. Sean made quick work of the Giants in the bottom half. Loren singled with 2 outs in the top of the 7th, but I struck out swinging at a pitch over my head to end it.

Highlights:

*Elvin made some key plays at third.

*The umpires were pretty good, save for the fair/foul thing in the 5th.

*The scorekeeper wasn't giving us our hits until the outfielders protested.

*We pulled off a deke on a first and third steal. I threw the ball to Sean as the first-base runner broke. The third-base runner bought it and came home. Of course, instead of getting in a pickle, he headed straight home and bowled me over. Ed. Note- Mental Note, all those who choose to catch in SQ, they do this a lot... they aren't like us when it comes to sparing the player for the good of the game...and anyway, bowling over the catcher is their right as a ball player.

*Doc made it in for coaching and support.

*If not for traffic, we may have gotten in 9 innings.

*Why, of the 4 bats we could bring, did we choose 4 34"s and one 32"? Ed. note- That is five bats, something in this reporting is fishy, what is Mr Sidawi not telling us?

5/26/13- Camp Swampy

I don't know anything about the game, but I know this....

5/11/13- SQ Giants vs. MBC

In short, we played a decent game but still lost.  Always a little rough waking up early enough to be in the parking lot by Saturday morning, especially when you get the time wrong.  But we had enough players to be a competitive team, and we got through security with all our gear, so it was a good start.  We got in no problem, and found a deserted yard, literally no one.  We warmed up, took some infield, then some more infield, and then didn't know what to do.  The game probably didn't start for another 40 minutes even after all that.  Te Giants were in no hurry, even after they finally showed up.

Always the way, we either wait at the gate for two hours, or we get in and sit in a empty field.

Greg started for the MBC'rs, facing off with Mario, who was in usual form.  The Giants were down a few players, as the north block had been quarantined for norovirus.  But they still had enough, and they claimed that everyone playing were the starters anyway.

We jumped to a lead in the first helped by an umpire who refused to call strikes.  Mario was so disgusted he walked off the mound and appealed to the coach to do something.  Apparently the ump and Mario have a beef that has nothing to do with baseball.  But he eventually started calling strikes, although he was pretty off the whole game.

The Giants roared back with their own crooked number and never looked back.  Always funny to see how the game changes when they get a healthy lead, everyone starts to have fun again, but as soon as it gets close, the tension rises.

Greg held the Giants to 8 runs, they got half of those on a Grand Slam that the catcher (new guy) backspun out over the right field.  It was obviously his forte, every swing he took was stilted towards the right side.  Hey, it works.

Satch took over in the 4th, and pitched alright, but not great. They hit a few real hard balls that should have gone out, except they hit them to the longest part of the yard.  The knuckleball was working, but I didn't use it enough, opting for the change up which they were able to time better since I threw it so often.

There were a couple of really long breaks courtesy of the delay and yard alerts, so we only ended up playing 7.  We were well in the midst of a comeback when the game was called, so I can't say we really lost the game.  The Final when we stopped was 13-11.

Highlights:

* Loren came through with a big hit when we needed it

* Greg pitched better than the record showed

* Not too many people got hit this time

* If we can stymie the SQ throw arounds that plague us every game, we could do some damage to our losing record

* Noah smelled like the old carpet at the 500 club, and was leeching alcohol out of his pores the entire game

* Elvin was the inmates new favorite player, especially one huge dude.  We have renamed Elvin, Carton of Smokes

* There are some new big hitters on the Giants

* At least we struck out Mario a few times

* the rest is lost to the time fog, email me if you remember other things

S. Paige

5/6/13 J. Bartlett Update

Here is the man in all his glory, out of the hospital, into his MBC civvies and hopefully in ~3 weeks, back home!

Keep those good wishes/prayers/thoughts/surf guitar solos going!

4/28/13- WWJD Game- Camp Swampy

What Would Johnny Do?

It was decided that this Sunday's game would be in honor of our good friend, teammate, hero, Johnny Bartlett.  We met to play the game as we do every Sunday, but each of us took an extra moment and sent our good thoughts/prayers/well wishes/ribald quips in Johnny's direction, as his absence in this little game of ours was/is palpable.

Being reminded of one's mortality is part of the experience of being human, however, our brains have a way of  pushing it out of the conscious so that we are able to function and continue to do all the other things that make us human i.e. laugh, dance, bitch about taxes, drink, carouse, suck the nectar from the bloom of life, etc.  But then something like this happens, and we are all reminded at how quickly our lives can be turned upside down.  Never miss an opportunity to let the people in your life know how important they are to you.

According to memes posted by some of my religious Facebook friends, God gives the hardest challenges to his toughest warriors.  Not knowing God personally, I can't say if this is true or not, but I do know that if ever there was person that has the hardy constitution, positive outlook on life, intestinal fortitude, and strength of character to get through this challenge, it would be Johnny Bartlett.  And everyone else out at the game on Sunday said the same thing.

On paper, the visiting squad looked formidable to say the least.  Mitch, Greg, Tony, Duane, Chris Powell, Nick Smith, Jimmy, John McGrath, New guy 1, and out of the blue, Carlos, who stated the last time he was out playing, was when Bob got hit in the nose in center field, and I will give you one guess as to who hit that ball?

The homers consisted of more raw talent, Elvin (in white sunglasses and a beer on the foul line), Adam, Bob, Satch, Daniel, Will R., Sonny, Kinda new guy 2, Bob's new Guy, and likely MVP, John Nero.

The homers were undaunted, however, and we jumped out to an early lead, helped by the magic of John Nero, who had one of the best games of his life.  I think he might have been 5-6- or 6-7, depending on how many at bats we got.  That included a double, complete with slide, a load of RBI's, runs scored, as well as some damn fine defensive work, including a charging cross-body throw to first!

Through the first five innings, we homers built a strong lead, and continued to shut down the visitors, by the half point in the game, the score stood an impressive 9-0.  Popflys were at the crux of the visitors frustration, helped by the fact that the knuckleball was jamming and jumping particularly well in the ocean breeze.

The high point of our defense came when we escaped a bases loaded, no-outs jam, made even more astounding by the fact that Adam called it, literally.  I believe his exact words were, "Don't worry about it, we're going to get out of this, they aren't going to score, and it's going to be amazing."

And damned if it didn't happen just as he said.

The visitors finally figured me out, and when the dust cleared we had a real ball game in the works, the score being trimmed down to 10-7 by the 7th.  In the 8th, the true spirit of the visitors showed up and they volleyed up and over the homers to take the lead 11-10 , which they improved in the 9th, to 12-10.  Never give up on a MBC team.  Especially one that knows when and how, to bunt, ladies and gentleman, Mr. Tony Rojas.

A few of the softer players had left the game, leaving the hardened veterans to fight it out in the bottom of the 9th.  Helped once more by a single from Nero, a bloop here, a tough groundball there, and a real AOY 2013 (fingers crossed) move by yours truly, taking a base on the weakest HBP in recent memory, we pushed two runs across the board to knot the game at 12-12.  Many more of us had to go at that point, and with smiles and handshakes all around, we agreed to hold the game as a opus infectum in honor of our friend, Johnny, as no game will ever truly be complete without him.

Highlights:

* A great game all around!

* All the new guys hit the hell out of the ball

* John Nero, simply amazing!

* Greg and I both pitched complete games, because that is what Johnny would do

* The homers had two double plays I think, and two more that we almost had

* Gaspar and Lauren came out with beer and conversation   Gaspar was hit by a car, and luckily escaped with only soft tissue damage to his hand, and an outstanding hospital bill of $40 which he hopes the driver is going to pay.

* I was rocking a slurvy sidearm breaking ball to great effect, ala Bartlett.

* Bob's new guy came out, hit well, and had a good time, and made the quintessential mistake of the first step in on a fly ball in the outfield, then having it soar over his head.  We could hear him from the infield saying, "Oh Shit...."

* There was a myriad of doubles and triples throughout the game

* Thanks to Adam, Bob, and Mitch for catching on a day when we were low on catchers and pitchers

* Aiden and Liam were out in the mix.

* A surprise in the appearance of Carlos, who saw Lattig at the Dodgers home opener, and asked if we were still playing.  He played his usual nonchalant game, not volunteering to play defense unless absolutely necessary, and taking a ball off the chin.

* In hindsight, I wish I had stayed and hit in the 9th, but taking the walk just seemed like the right move, and my ankle and right serratus anterior agree with me.  The swing before, I fouled Greg's lucky ball out of play, and he credited that with the turnaround in the 9th.  So I did something....

* Jimmy thoughtfully acknowledged that the game could have been over had there not been a sympathetic and considerate catcher behind the dish in the 9th.  Cuz that curve ball WAS strike 3.

* Daniel broke his glasses with a flat out dive in center

* A credit to everyone who caught a pop fly, the wind and sun were formidable

* Bob stole a base in a clutch situation

* Chris Powell made an amazing shoestring catch in center

* Lots of good uniforms and quality hosiery in honor of the Dapper Gentleman, Mr. J Bartlett.

* Elvin made a great stab at a line drive, knocked it down, and got the out,  it's the second effort that usually counts in our game

* Bob flied out at least 4 times.  He finally got on, by flying to right, which I captured, as you can see below.  Thanks Mitch for the letting us all know where it is....

* The well placed gork was a strong part of both lineups

* The visitors comeback was a thing of a beauty, and I say that with full understanding that it was me they mounted their comeback against.

* Tony had one of the best and clutchest bunts of all time

* We had about six balls go out of play, our team had trouble stopping the ball at the bases

* Here are some candids from the game, all our love and best wishes to Johnny and Lynn.

(For those of your wondering, Will is doing #45 in honor of Johnny.  And #55, cuz his fingers got confused.)

Our teammate, Johnny Bartlett.

The MBC was saddened to hear that Johnny suffered a pretty serious health crisis in the last 48 hours.  All of our good thoughts and hopes of a speedy recovery go out to him and his lovely wife, Lynn.

Stay strong, Johnny, we don't know what we would do without ya!  Where else are we going to find such a versatile player, great person and true bon vivant such as yourself!  Here is an edited re-post of the write up I did on Johnny some years back.  It all still holds true today, only more so!

We love you Johnny!  Get well soon!







Johnny Bartlett. I knew him long before I met him. Circular commentary I know, but its true. I first heard of Johnny when I moved to the city, in 1995, as an impressionable 17 year old, out of the grips of small town. I had a cousin and a brother in the City who helped me get acquainted and showed me what they thought was cool. Ok, some of it was....Johnny was the lead guitar player for the Phantom Surfers, known as Big Hand, a handle given I can only imagine, for his chops with the Jazzmaster.

I had this appreciation for a guy who played awesome guitar, and wore a lone ranger mask at concerts, pretty sweet.

On a seemingly separate topic, my brother took over the cousins apartment in the Tenderloin, on Leavenworth, and since I was underage, we had to frequent the diviest bars possible to get service. Some of my personal favorites were the Hunter, Harringtons (where a drunk horse jockey invited us to the track to watch him race, and an hour later was picking a fight with me), Geary Club (smallest bar ever), and the Brown Jug, where Ulysses held court. After drinking illicitly for a night, my brother and I would walk home and always we would stop to admire these bowling pin curtains that hung in a street level apartment on Post and Leavenworth. Good times.

Get to the fucking point, you might be saying, and here it is. It was Johnny's apartment, and I now have those curtains in my possession....A lot of lead up for not much payoff, I know, but I am trying to show how threaded life can be. I told this story to Johnny once at a game and the next week, there were the curtains, resplendent in all their glory. As an added bonus I found out that they had hung in the Phantom Surfers touring van, which I think is very cool. And he gave them to me, without a second thought.  Not too many people I know would do something like that without an agenda.

But that's Johnny, all heart, and no agenda.

So not only is Johnny a great guy, and an amazing musician, but he's also great ball player. He's the closest we have to a five tool player, ( most of us are just tools, sorry, I made that joke last week, and needed to insert it somewhere). He can pitch (with a natural slider action) , hit (anything), throw (in the sun, in the wind), plays third like Brooks Robinson, and still has more get up and go than a lot of us. Johnny had a streak of three winning complete games last year, which has to be some sort of record for us, and no matter how I try, he always seems to get the best of me with the bat. I have my moments, but the guy is the best bad ball hitter I have seen, and since that's my bread and butter, I get burned more than I care to say. My regret is that because of his skills, he and I don't get to be on the same team too often, but in our game, the other team is still all your friends, so it works out.

Along with playing good, Johnny has perfected looking good. He wears real vintage wool uniforms, something I envy a great deal (but actually finding a XXL vintage uniform is like throwing a perfect game...blindfolded). He has also been responsible for getting the MBC shirts organized (the non-fading ones,  sorry Girgus) which are the closest thing to a team uniform that we have so far, you can see them in the San Quentin photo.

And he's just a good guy.

Doesn't argue calls, compliments the hitter, and he shows up regularly, which these days almost overshadows everything else.

Well that's the old rufus goofus for today, stay dry

S. Paige

First published Feb 13, 2009