2/11/18 Golden Gate Park

It was a gloomy day in the beginning, all that 70+ weather had faded into a gray foggy cold afternoon.  But like most things, you wait long enough and you get the pay off.

I saw the start of the game from the road, as I cruised back and forth trying to find a parking spot, or stalk someone who looked like they were headed towards a car.  Mitch was the starting hurler for the homers, and he did a great job, mixed up his pitches, kept the runners close.  He lasted 8 innings, I think?

Tony started for the visitors, and the very first pitch, Powell took him way deep to left field for a stand-up triple.  The homers were hitting Tony square for the first few innings, and only because of some well-placed defense did we walk away relatively unscathed.  But Tony kept battling.

We had 22 active players, which was nice, including James' brother, Kevin.  Baseball ability seems to run in the family.  Instantly recognized as Coney Island kin, when after a sac fly, he walked back to the dugout saying, "Well, at least I moov-ed the run-nuh."

The sun came out and suddenly it was a beautiful day, the wind died down for a bit, and the game became a real treat.  It was an evenly contested affair, and see-sawed in the middle innings, 2-1 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 5-4.

I took over in the 6th, and everything felt good.  It is amazing what rest does.  Jimmy caught the entire game, and did a really good job at blocking the dish, and calling the right pitches.  I have a witness in Adam, who saw from first base, a fastball I threw that came out of nowhere, and was easily the hardest ball I have thrown since 2004.  I don't know what I did different, but my arm didn't explode the next pitch, so that was good.

The visitors took the lead in the middle innings, and held a 8-6 score going into the 9th inning.  That was actually the 10th inning.  We flim-flammed the box score since the game as already into the later innings and it wasn't even 3pm yet.  But who wouldn't play extras on a beautiful day, with plenty of reserves?

Jordan, who has been coming regularly and proved himself a good guy, had asked to pitch last week, and this week got his shot.  We threw him directly into the fire with a save situation.  It took him a little while to find his delivery and location, but once he got it, he was great.  The homers scored once, and were threatening, but we buckled down and took the game, 8-7.

Highlights:

* Kudos to Jimmy for catching the whole game

* Kevin and James connected for two of the closest plays at the plate that I have ever seen, and just missed the runner in both cases.  Kevin's arm from center field is just as potent as James'.

* Bob didn't get hit, but he did get a hit.

* Elvin made a great running catch in left field, left handed.

* John McG and Aiden combined for some outs, father and son style, and Aiden had a legit hit to center field, off real pitching.  He's practically a grizzled veteran now.

* I screwed up play at first, ball hit me right in the glove and fell out

* Adam had couple of key RBI knocks, and was told by an MBC'er that his at-bats are the best to watch, he appears totally relaxed until the moment of contact

* The dilemma continues:  bases loaded, one out, do you play corners in, or infield in?  I think the ethos of the MBC is more about getting outs than double plays.  And we have fucked up so many easy chances at double plays up the middle that I don't think it is a reliable play to base a strategy on.

*Powell and I had a epic battle in the middle innings, I think he fouled off 6 balls in a row on a 2 strike count.  I was scraping the barrel for pitches I hadn't already thrown multiple times

* My first at bat I tattooed a ball to left that happened to occur just as the wind died.  Left fielder tracked it down on a dead sprint.  It was a great play.

* Nick Smith, me and Jimmy combined for a 9-4-2 play at the plate, to nab Aiden as he came in hard.  That's why we hit the cutoff!

* Many of the pitchers in the game had at least one inning with sub-7 pitches thrown.

* Helpful hint: When you are tall and fat, you don't need to slide or anything to break up the double play, just run straight at the second baseman.  If it's Dennis, he can't see around you.

* Both teams hit the ball hard all day, but directly at someone for the most part.  Tony caught a line drive at third that he never had to move for, it would have killed him if he hadn't caught it, it was smoked.

* Brian Phelps was later than me, so he gets to be the Late Asshole.

Severe drought in our futures, but for the time-being, the weather sure is nice for a ballgame.

S. Paige

Post-script: Get well soon Greg, it's not the same without you.  And stop kicking cars.

1/28/18 Golden Gate Park

I don't want to jinx anything but it seems like we are in the midst of a resurgence in attendance at the MBC.  We had 23 players for Sunday, and it was sure nice to be able to enjoy the game, rather than covering for the other teams defense.  I had lil' Satch with me, who covered left field and second base with me. 

Mitch started for the homers and Mike Lattig for the visitors.  They both were tossing good ball, and the score after the first few innings was 3-1.  Mitch wanted it highlighted that in the course of two innings, he retired 5 batters on six pitches.  Pretty damn impressive.  According to my research, Walter Johnson had the most 3-pitch innings in MLB history, with 4.

Lattig gave way to Sonny, who did what he does best, frustrate hitters.  Powell was given the mop-up duty after that.  New guy Chris took over after Mitch, and then I got the 9th inning.  By that point the score was 6-2, and I thought that the 9th inning would not be a problem.  Shows what I know. 

We had lost Greg to a knee injury and he took the momentum with him.  Powell got on, and scored, which is always sort of a given.  But the visitors were showing a lot of life, to the point that we had men on 2nd and 3rd, and the tying run at the plate.  A little more stressful than I was looking for in my inning of work.  JT gets a shout out for coming up with the big 2-out hit, when I was trying to shut it down.  Luckily, we got the fly ball that we needed and the game was ours.

Final 6-4, homers.

Highlights:

* As far as I witnessed, Elvin had 1.000 defensive game.  He made some great catches in the outfield when we needed them.

* Adam likewise had a great game at first base, made some fantastic digs

* Chris Powell made an amazing leaping play at SS, to kill our rally

* Some new guy with a wicked sidearm motion played SS and had the unfortunate luck to get 4 ground balls in a row before he could settle in.  That motion has to be touch for the first baseman to track

* It is official, Loren and Coney Island James are competing for who will break out of their slump first.  Loren's girlfriend got footage of his at-bats on Sunday.  I doubt he wants to share those with the group.

* Mitch kind of did it all on Sunday, great performance on the mound, hit and scored runs, and caught to finish the game.  5 tools.

* While I didn't get him out, I did get Powell to swing and miss at a big ol' knuckleball

* Our 8th inning rally was snuffed out by a double play by the visitors

* James threw out Dennis from center field.  It's his new move.

* Doc came out and umpired from the 4th inning on.  It was great to see him, and he was moving like a spritely man of 55.

* Gaspar defied the Gasparian odds with a single up the middle, after hitting two foul balls that were textbook Gaspar

* Tony suggested that the Hall Of Shame post was too harsh.  I would counter that hitting anyone three times in one at-bat is harsh.  Even if it was Bob.

No rain for at least a few weeks in the forecast!

San Quentin 2018 season looms.

S. Paige

1/21/18 West Sunset

No word on the outcome of the game, but two notable occurrences:

* Abe left the game after fouling a ball off of his shin (Goose egg, no structural damage)

* Tony hit Bob three times in the course of one at-bat, which has to be a MBC record.  I will comb the archives to make sure, but welcome to the Hall of Shame, Mr. Rojas.

* No witnesses have come forward to testify if Bob rubbed any of the impacted areas.  For his sake, I hope not.

S. Paige

1/14/18 West Sunset Fields 1 and 2

It was really nice to get out to the game again. 

The holidays, the stress, the travel, the sickness, it call came a'calling this December, and damn it feels good to have it all be in the rear view mirror.  And what a field to play on, the West Sunset renovations have really spruced the place up.  In addition to the sculpted infield and new cages and fences, there is also a clean new bathroom facility, and paved dugouts to avoid the mud pits of yesteryear.  I love it!  And as an added bonus, when the high school team kicks you off the field in the middle of your game, the JV field is now fully integrated for actual baseball, no more multi-purpose, no mound fields!  Hooray!

We had 20 players come out, Sonny started for the homers, and Tony for the visitors.  The mystery of Sonny continues, as we were baffled through the first innings, unable to score a run, or even get good contact.  Tony was not in top form, but he made the pitches when they were absolutely needed, and he escaped several jams.  The homers scored first, and after what seemed like a really long time, we tied the game at 1, and then managed to go ahead 2-1.  There is stayed until I took over in the 5th inning.  I was itching to pitch, had been since a month earlier.  I didn't hit anyone, so I can say that.  I did cough up the lead, and we entered the middle innings knotted at 2.  Then the kids showed up, and we schlepped everything down to to the other diamond, kicked off the father and son who were minding their own business (happy ending: they went tot he upper field which was the right size for the kid) and kept on playing.  New guy had replaced Sonny, but the wildness remained.

We picked up another run, and down to the ninth we went, clutching at a 3-2 lead. Luckily the homers were a little too anxious to win that game, and the first two batters swung at the first pitch, and we had 2 outs just like that.  The game ended, but not the fire in the belly of the players, so we played on into extra innings.  The momentum shifted for the homers, and they finally scored the tying and then the winning run, capitalizing on our mistakes. 

So a nice ending for all, visitors in regulation: 3-2; homers in extra: 4-3.

Highlights:

* There were at least 3 leaping catches of line drives: Powell, Zuckerman, Lattig

* Greg caught all 11 innings, like a real catcher is supposed to.

* Apparently Nick W. is a catcher now too, and a good one, by all accounts

* The Nick Smith shift paid off

* I had a defensive gem of a game, including a sliding catch on a dying line drive in right (ala Matt Stone), a hot one hopper back to the mound, a diving snare of a foul ball in no man's land on the third base side, and I remembered to back up third!

* Sonny pitched very well again, but I am starting to think that it is the effectively wild aspect is playing a bigger part than previously thought.

* Greg made several good blocks, until I could figure out how to throw my curveball

* Elvin made a nice defensive play in left field, left handed

* Loren as well, in right, right handed

* Our lead may have been due to what Brian Girgus coined "Ol' Fashioned Shitty Fielding"

* The JV field boasts a left field fence, at about 258 feet?  It's a tantalizing attraction.  I got one chance and I hit an Oops ball through the right side of the infield.  Just as I planned.....

* The homers had a lot of speed on their side, we had James and then the rest of us, which could collectively be called The Trailer.

* Between Mitch at third, and Powell at SS, they made about 17 put outs for the homers.  Not hyperbole.

* Abe tried to stop a inside pitch with his hand.  When will these kids learn that the thing to do is lean back, but stick your elbow out, get hit, then milk the sympathy.

* James made a great play in short left, on the run from 3rd.  But it never should have been his ball. 

* Dugout conversation: Why do we have so many lawyers that play with us?  The founding members of the MBC were the antithesis of lawyers, the dark matter of lawyers, if you will.  So what's the deal?  I guess if we ever needed legal advice, we have a wide array of experts to choose from, but so far, I don't think too many people have needed tax help, or committed a crime in Santa Cruz.  And why no MDs?  Doctors like baseball, don't they?  We have had at least two PhDs (Doc and JT) but no medical minds.  No RNs that I can think of either, which would actually be more helpful. 

* Thanks to Sean P for this cinematic glimpse into what critics are calling:  A Perfect Start to a Failed Pitch Out:

12/10/17 West Sunset (Remodeled)

I really wanted to be out there on Sunday, but I was dismantling a 15' redwood garage door, in order to salvage some nice lumber for a future project.  Luckily, Mike Lattig had nothing keeping him from the game, and filed this report on the new, and improved West Sunset Field.

The new field was as pristine as the weather - and as perfect as the turnout (an exact 18). Sadly for the pitchers, the same can't be said of the defense on Sunday. Through the first four innings, there were probably somewhere on the order of 10-12 errors. A few of them sun related, a number of them glove-related. And one of them (I'm looking at you Don) feet-related. 

Greg was the first to take the immaculate new hill in the middle of the diamond, and was able to wiggle out of a two on, two out jam to leave it scoreless. Nick toed the rubber for the visitors, and struggled with his command early before his defense began to struggle with their command of catching the ball late. Fortunately for us, that ineptitude in the field was matched by the homers as the game quickly turned very Mission-y... Maybe we just aren't used to a field where the ball rolls that nicely and takes true hops? 

The first sign of trouble was when Mike (Chris' friend, not sure of his last name) in-advisably tried to take third on a fly out to Don in center in the second inning. The throw had him by 5 feet, but short-hopped Tony and skittered to the fence. Mike decided to break for home, and Tony would have had the ball, ready to throw, with him only about a quarter of the way there. But he couldn't find the handle. And then couldn't find the handle. And then couldn't find the handle. 

That theme repeated for both sides over the next few innings. And by the time Greg and Nick made way for fresh meat sometime around the 5th the score was about 10-6 visitors. We eked out a couple more runs against Sean over the ensuing innings, as Mitch kept a tight leash on the homers - and we headed to the 9th up 12-6. 

But, as is often the case, no lead is completely safe. A string of hits (some solid, some bloops) in the 9th, along with a dropped fly ball in left, had the tying run on first with two outs. Alas, we locked it down finally and left with a 12-10 victory. 

Highlights

* The Jameson Twins made their long overdue returns. Looking like they've been enjoying their downtime to the fullest. They've threatened to become more regular again. We shall see. 

* The sun was the star of the game (see what I did there) for both offenses. Any ball hit into the air in center or left was an adventure. So hat tip to those brave souls (Don, Mitch, Noah, James, Nick) who manned those positions and gave it their best. 

* Mitch made two great catches. One a line drive back to the box while pitching, the other an over the shoulder catch in center after breaking in, losing the ball in the sun, and then having Noah direct him to the right spot. 

* I remember solid line drives from Tony, Mike, Randy, Sean... I'm sure there were more. So it wasn't all bloopers and sun balls. But there were a lot of them. 

* There was a broken windshield in the parking lot, and Parks and Rec came out. Unclear if we'll be on the hook for anything, but stay tuned in case a hat needs to be passed... 

Overall, the new field is stellar. Every ball I threw around the infield from first base took nice true hops, rolled smoothly, etc... It was a treat to play on a great infield for a change. Just have to consider whether playing there in the winter - when the sun is low in the southern sky - is the best idea. 

12/3/17 Cop Field

 

Winding down the last of 2017, amazing to have a game as well-attended as we did. Middle of summer we couldn't buy a full squad but come winter time, and we had 21 players. Goes to show you never can tell....

I was the second player out to the yard, after James who was doing a pregame shirtless workout. At 12:45 we already had enough to start which threw the team into a quandary since we are usually trying to figure how many guys from the Mexican league we can entice to stick around. So we warmed up and got to it as soon as possible. I started for the homers and Lord it felt good to throw. Especially without pain. I was noodling around with a different grip on the knuckle ball and when it worked it was great. But I couldn't seem to throw it when there was a batter in the box, without it tailing inside. Luckily the change up was picking up the slack and since I was well rested,  I had a fastball.

Brian Phelps started for the visitors and was my equal in liveliness, but he was having a real murderers row in our team. I don't know how it happened but we should never have been allowed to have the hitters we did: James, Powell, Lattig, Tony, Sean. That right there is a RBI fest.

We jumped for 2 runs in the first inning, then 2 more, then (2) 4 more. By the middle innings the score was 6-0, or 8-0, there was a discussion and it seemed more sporting to assign the lower number. The visitors had opportunities but we managed to keep them stuck at third without scoring. But it couldn't last forever. The left side of the infield was having a lot of trouble holding onto the ball for some reason and with two outs, a ground ball got bobbled and then thrown away and just like that the score was 6-2.

I was still feeling good but after 7 innings I figured I should take a turn sitting out and I was happy with my outing, punctuated with a fastball third strike to Phelps to stop a potential rally. Sean came in and Tony after him and they both pitched quality innings.

The visitors had Phelps in the beginning and then a new guy Urano, and then another new guy Jimmy. About eight pitches into his inning, we hear a strange noise and see a pitch that goes ten feet high and inside and Jimmy is on the ground. Worst case scenario. He isn't screaming in pain but he's not moving either. John McGrath gets him a sling to support his arm, which he can't move. He's able to stand and walk and talk which is great. Richie drives him to the hospital and later updates us that he broke his humerus throwing that slider. Ouch!

The game had taken on a somber tone after that, obviously, but we played out the 9 innings.  Ed pitched in the 9th, and I finally got good wood on the ball, for the first time in the game.  Tony closed it out, and the final was a rather lopsided 12-2 game.

Highlights:

* As Ed said, Jimmy has now joined the MBC Broken Arm club.  Although Jimmy's was done in a more proper fashion than Ed, who stuck his arm into a oncoming convict barreling down the line at San Quentin. 

* Cap tip to Jimmy for a very composed response to a broken arm.

* Tony and Powell were not fans of the new baseballs, must have been too slippery, they combined for about 5 dropped balls.

* But they also had some great outs, so I will compliment those as well

* Randy got hit right in the arm with a pitch, it sounded painful.

* Thanks to McGrath for leaving Liam to start the game, even though he coulnd't be there at the beginning.

* Why didn't Liam pitch, his team could have used it???????

* The first game in a while where there was an AOY battery pitching to an AOY.  Twice! (Combinations of Phelps, Ed, Bob vs. Lattig, me).

* Urano, at SS, on the mound, and with the bat, a new guy with some flair

* Loren was out again, and something is wrong, he isn't killing the ball like he used to.

* Someone had a really good opposite field extra base hit to right field in the later part of the game, but I don't know who it was....

* I threw a hell of a knuckleball to JT and to his credit, he ripped it

* Matt Stone got his quarterly reprieve to come out and play, and he is using wood rather than $300 metal bats now!

* With men on second and third, and one out, Sean made a nice catch on a slicing foul ball that was right near the end of the fence on the first base side, after which he crossed the threshold into out-of-bounds territory.  JT, our resident mentat, tried to wrangle a run to break the shutout by introducing MLB Rule 7.04c, which states:

7.04

Each runner, other than the batter, may without liability to be put out, advance one base when—

 (c)     A fielder, after catching a fly ball, falls into a bench or stand, or falls across ropes into a crowd when spectators are on the field; 

Rule 7.04(c) Comment:  If a fielder, after having made a legal catch, should fall into a stand or among spectators or into the dugout or any other out-of-play area while in possession of the ball after making a legal catch, or fall while in the dugout after making a legal catch, the ball is dead and each runner shall advance one base, without liability to be put out, from his last legally touched base at the time the fielder fell into, or in, such out-of-play area.

My response at the time, along with the rest of the team, was: Sure, just as soon as we start calling every balk that has been committed, as well as every other infraction.  Some other wag made comment that it's probably also against the rules to imbibe in intoxicating agents while playing, but that has also somehow historically failed to have been enforced. However, since I was not clear on the rule, I wanted to look it up.  I believe my lawyer teammates would probably point out that the rule clearly states that the runners may advance only if the fielder "falls".  It is repeated five times in the rule, and never does it state that it's in effect if the player "enters" out of play areas. Sean was standing proud the whole time.