8/20/23 GGP

The band was out in full force, and we had enough to play a game.  The weather was amazing, so few summer days that actually feel like summer days.  Sonny started for the homers, and Sean for the visitors.  

Two things are certain in a hot summer game: Pitching will be better because the muscles are warm, and Sean's back will look like a Rorschach ink blot after the 2nd inning.

Sonny was dealing, we got to him early for 2 runs, but that was it.  We could not get the ball to find a hole in the defense.  It didn't help that we also hit into 3-4 double plays, which killed every rally we might have had.  Sean pitched his heart out, and kept us in the game, but we just didn't have enough to over come.  Lil Josh came in with me to play, and he did a fine job at 2nd base, managed to get two outs, and stayed down on the grounders.  He also covered 2nd base like a 1st baseman every time there was a runner, regardless of how many times we told him he didn't have to.  It was great to have him out there.

The play that probably broke our spirit was almost great. A long drive to deep right center, and Nick Werthman on his horse.  Not a chance in hell to catch the ball, but he was running.  Then all of a sudden somehow, it was in his range, he was closing in, and it hit his glove.....and dropped out.  A collective "Awwwwww Shit" rose up.  

Our inability to match the opponents double plays, and three more almost-catches that hit us in the gloves sealed our fate.  Nick took over for Sean and HR came in to pitch, as did Mike N, and we fared a little better, bringing the score within one, but ultimately we could not retake the lead.  

We had started a little late, and we lost track of the innings, so it was the 5th about 3 innings in a row.  Even with the fudged innings, we couldn't win.

Final- Homers 5-4.

Highlights:

* Sonny pitched a great game, with his dog as a distraction

* Lots of double plays make for an easy game

*  2 or 3 infield fly rules called

* Mike Lynch was picking on Lil' all day, smashing grounders at him.  He was practicing his post game review as "having that 2nd baseman's number all game."

* Great job behind the dish for Rudy, Greg, Mike, all were blocking the ball well

* Lil' got 2 hits, made 2 outs, and stayed calm while fielding a ground ball to tag out Rudy, who was barreling at him

* Greg hitting in the 2 spot!

* Tony was our most consistent hitter

* There was a new guy out, who seemed good enough

* Carter spanked a ball, and made a couple of great plays, all with kids in tow

* The band sounded really good, they are expanding their tin pan alley repertoire, and getting more eclectic

* The only hit I had was my first at bat, a hit to right, then it was ground ball and pop ups the rest of the game

* HR was caught at 3rd, and it was disputed until his own team member Mitch called him out, you can trust Mitch.

* On the plus side, I am running more like a guy with a rock in his shoe, than a guy with a rock for a leg.  Progress!

* Lil' and I made it half a mile down the road, before our truck blew up, clunking sound, coolant dropped out, white smoke spewing out of the exhaust.  Anyone who wants to buy a 29 year old F250 diesel truck with a blown motor, let me know....

GGP- 8/13/23

Outside lands.  

The mere mention of it strikes fear into the heart of every player who wants to go to Golden Gate Park, but does not want to get mixed up in that mess.  Well, we took a gamble, and it paid off.  I was the stupid one for thinking that the park would be such a mess that I took a parking spot near UCSF and walked over, only to find that the park was deserted and parking was plentiful.  Damn!

We only had 12 by 3:15, and we started with an all-time center fielder, which was a new wrinkle, idea by Gaspar.  Then a few more showed up, and then Don came, and Luciano (Lucky to his friends) and we had 16, almost a real game!  

I won't dwell on the specifics, other than Sean was dealing all game.  Not in an overpowering strike out way, much more degrading, as in getting us to ground out or pop up sort of way.  Literally, we had an infield hit, a dying quail, and a dropped grounder to show for 8 innings.  It was ugly.  The new grass is like hitting a ball into pudding, everything dies.  

I was on the mound for the homers, and rediscovered a fastball with some zip on it by changing my arm angle and release.  I could put a inside fastball anywhere I wanted to, it was crazy.  The Cyborg battery, or Titanium battery (we are still work shopping the name) was in full effect. 

Most of the runs for the visitors were in the first inning, as I goofed a play at first not covering, we had a ground ball mishap, a throwing mishap, a weird pop up mishap, well, you get the idea.  2 runs scored.  We held on for a while, and then the visitors manufactured a run, and then another, and we were still trying to get a runner to 3rd.

I would like to say that we did, but alas, not today.  We finished 9 innings in record time, and played an extra so that Finn could pitch, and I could have my complete game.  Greg asked when I got weird about that stuff, and I am not sure, but I like the idea of throwing complete games whenever possible.  Everyone has to have a thing.

But here was the weird part, the visitors got their ups in the 10th and then pulled the bases and declared the game over.  Wha?  

Final- 4-0 Visitors

* Thank you to everyone who came out, it was looking grim

* Thanks to Finn and his dad! who played for the first time, and did well!

* Long lost MBC player alert!  Elvin came out to play, great to see him, and to hear that he is still playing ball in LA.

* Sean with a dominating day and Mike N with the boot on the throat in the 9th.

* For how lopsided it looked, our defense did a pretty good job

* Speaking of that, we had a interesting double play, which went 4-3-6-5, as you do.

* Bob made a great catch in center field to rob me of a hit

* There were more ground balls to the right side while I was pitching than I have had in awhile.

* The Gaspar Shift paid off again, though the new guy thought we were crazy.

* The knuckle ball was dancing!

* I finally hit one to the outfield for a hit, in the 9th, with 2 outs....better late than never, I guess

* Mike Lynch made an amazing play at third going to his right into foul territory and then firing a bullet to get the runner

* The report from the SQ game was another loss but that Sean pitched great, and it was much better game, including no errors, which may be a new record for us.

7/16/23 GGP

 The park is open again for games, though the grass is now really nice, they didn't do any work on the dirt, the mound, or the outfield.  So maybe that could have been done.t But it wasn't and the infield is a sandbox, the mound is a dust box, and the outfield is a kale salad.  

Seriously, they couldn't have mowed the grass before the grand re-opening?

Our other problem is that the summer time is really hard to get people out.  The last few games have been very light affairs, and I know people are travelling, or whatever, but seriously, we have 94 people on the email chain, we can't get 18 to show up?  That being said, I know that we have some regulars out with injuries and hope they are healthy again soon.  

I made 12 players when I got there at 3:15 after being stuck in traffic and then parking nightmares.  The band had at least 10, so we got showed up by them.  We got two more late comers and a public pick up, but then we lost a player to a gig, so it was 14 for most of the game.  Good nuf'!

Tony started for the homers, and Sean for the visitors.  Our team was stymied by Tony, but the homers had no problem scoring runs.  Tony bowed out, and so did Sean and HR came in for the homers, and was pitching good but we finally got our bats working, thanks to Don who stumbled his way on the field after some music festival in the mountains.  He was our good luck though, and we brought the game back within reach to 6-3.  

I took over for Sean and, not to toot my own horn, was the epitome of efficiency.  Over the next 4 innings, I threw a total of 20 pitches!  While they didn't score anymore runs, we also didn't seem to be catching up.  The attendance being what it was, it was decided that the 8th inning should be the 9th inning, so we entered the 9th down 3 runs.  Then all of a sudden, we scored a run!  Then another, and another!  6-5!  What a game!  But, as with most things, we ran out of gas and HR settled in and got the outs he needed.

Final Score: 6-5, homers

Highlights

* Thanks to everyone who showed up

* Mike N had the drive of the day, with a hit to left that got to the hard grass and rolled and rolled

* Greg volunteered to catch for both teams, thankfully he only had to do one inning.

* Mitch and Powell on the same team?  Seems sus'.

* I discovered that playing left field is easy when you dare the hitters to hit it over your head.  The grass was so thick it won't roll, and you are in the perfect position to catch the line drive over the short stop.

* The band sounded great!

* While it was 102 where I live, it was foggy and 62 degrees during the game...

7/12/23 SQ A's vs MBC

 The only thing I can say about this game is that it is always good to play ball with the SQ A's.

Brandon came in with us for the first time, a year after release, along with some restorative justice people he is working with.

We made about 14 errors, and couldn't hit the ball.

Final Score- 11-0.

7/2/23 Moscone Field

Life is a circle, as has been proven to us time and time again.  Here we were, back at Moscone, the site of the very first MBC doubleheader, and now back for the 20th anniversary.  I think this photo is from the first year, but I could be wrong

They have made some drastic changes to the Moscone field.  First off, the whole thing is fenced off now, I felt more caged there than I do at San Quentin.  

Secondly, they have locked the bathrooms, and trimmed all the big hedges, so peeing is now a exercise in timing and speed.  The only bathroom is now across the park, at the fancy Parks and Rec building.  Hard to do when you don't know if your team is going to make it a rally inning, or a 7 pitch inning.  

Thirdly, the weird pee stairs that used to be in each dugout are gone, and have been replaced with small concrete stages...

We had just enough for full games in each game, which was a little odd, since usually the doubleheader is a massively attended affair.  But hey, we will take what we can get.  Sonny started for the visitors and Satch for the homers.  Sonny was on fire, lights out for most of the game, we could not get a good hit to save our lives.  We scored one run early in the game, and that was it.  We were staffed with some big hitters but no one could put the wood to the ball.  Cap tip to Sonny for a great game.  I pitched ok, but it took me a long time to settle in after a lot of time off, and a road trip under my belt.  I kept throwing, and things started to be better after a few 2nd, and 3rd situations.  The visitors were kept to 1 run as well, partially due to some great defense from our new AOY, but more on that later.

The game went really quick, since no one was scoring any runs, and by 12:45 we were in the 8th inning.  I had stayed in, feeling good, but Powell wanted to pitch before he had to leave, so I gave up the 9th inning in deference to that (and my streak).  Well, it didn't quite turn out the way we wanted it to, the visitors suddenly woke, up and scored 3 runs, after putting at least 3 hits in the same place in left field.  Mike N came in to close the deal for the visitors, and we finally started to wake up the bats too, but in the end we fell short and the final of the first game was visitors, 4-3.

BBQ went well for very little organization.  We had hotdogs, sausages, burgers, chicken, side salads, watermelon, beer and cool drinks.  The shade of the big tree was very nice as well, as it was a scorcher of a day, by SF standards.  Thank you to those who brought out the grills and food, and ice chests.  After a very nice speech by AOY Marciella and a few grumblings from AOY Sonny, the award for 2023 AOY went to a very deserving Mike Lynch.  He has had a hell of a year, but through it all he has been such a great addition to the group: his generosity of spirit and new shirts, his power hitting and amazing 3rd base-ing, and he is just a great person.  We thought no one was more deserving.  

I also have to add that Mike wanted James to have the AOY for deserting us for the Olde Tyme league, which I agree was a good suggestion (maybe next year James!) and showed he has the right mindset for the AOY gang.  

We were also saddened to hear that Bob is considering retirement and moving back to the ranch.  Seems like he has plenty of baseball left in him, but hard to argue.  It has been a hell of a ride, cowboy.  

The band was also there, playing the entire time, and they brought the Rookie of the Year trophy back to bestow on a new ROY and this year Lil' Satch got it!  Ironic, since his brother has been out much more, and been playing a lot more games, but he was gracious in his acceptance, and then got off to a bright new start in the 2nd game with a nice line drive between 1st and 2nd for a legitimate hit!  Way to go, youngster!

2nd Game

Yes, Greg and I were the battery of the day, just a couple of cyborgs trying to wring the last of the juice from the fruit.  We stayed in for the entire 2nd game, bringing our total to 17 innings as pitcher and catcher.  A new record is born!  We kept the teams the same, but shook up the lineups a bit, and the game was very lively.  Sean was pitching for the visitors, and was pitching well, but we were able to put the bat on the ball much more than we usually are with him, and scored some runs.  

Noah and his son Liam were there, and doing baseball right.  Well, Liam was, I had Noah's number all game, 3 changeups in a row for a 1-2-3 K, ouch.  The run scoring was much improved as well, and we had a back and forth game, with some heroics, some well placed hits, some kicked around balls, and a little looser format than the first, aided by the increase in beer in the interim.  But still a fun time.  The game ended up in a 7-7 tie going into the bottom of the 9th, and the new kid came in for the visitors.  I was able to lace a hit to center, and then get a pinch runner.  Stole second, stole third, and then on a tense at bat from Stoner, who got a hit to left to end the game, 8-7 homers.  Hooray!

Highlights

* Great to see all that came out, players, fans, spouses, friends, band members, it was a fantastic day!

* 'Naldo came for the first game, made several great plays in the outfield, and was a major contributor with the bat

* Marcie also came out, played defense only, apparently she thinks I am some sort of monster that would bean her

* It was a rare off day for most of our big hitters

* New guy Conner came with Sean, and was 4-5 in the first game

* Daniel, who has made the doubleheader his once-a-year pilgrimage, had more fire than in years past.  This was evident, though it may have strayed too far in the 2nd game when he rounded 2nd on a play, and was tagged out by a tumbling Noah (on his own team) on the far side of the bag.  Daniel insisted that he beat the throw and there was no force out.  We all agreed, but we also insisted that Noah had tagged him once he was past the bag.  Daniel did not take it well.  Keep your chin up kid, and come out more often.

* Lil' Josh Gibson made a great play at 2nd for a much needed out

* All our first basemen did well on a tough day

* Tony had a case of the dropsies, blamed on a new glove

* I didn't throw a curveball for a strike until well into the 2nd game

* Mike Lynch made some more great plays at 3rd

* I actually caught a pop fly in the infield, on the run!

* Greg and I are really putting the other hitters to shame (that is until we have to run)

* The visitors turned a double play in the 1st game, which was a major rally killer

* The soreness of 17 innings is still in me

* The bummer about pitching 2 games is all the other pitchers that mess up the mound after you get it just the way you like it

* Thank you everyone, congrats to the award winners, and happy birthday America!

5/28/23 GGP

 Back at the GGP, back to the east field with the better mound in my opinion, back to baseball basics with 16 players and a cold windy, foggy day.  Ah summer!

I decided that with the limited number and the feel good in the ol' soup bone that today would be a good day to try and tie Johnny Bartlett's record of four consecutive complete game starts.  

Now, the purists will argue two things 1.) My consecutive complete games have spanned about 8 months, and 2.) There is a pushback from one Greg Snyder who claims that he has thrown so many consecutive complete games in his 31 years with the MBC that they are legion and the record should never fall.  

To that I say that he is probably right, but did anyone take the time to pay attention or write it down?  I am open to the collection of historical and qualitative data concerning this.  I know I was in attendance for every one of Johnny's starts (and 3 of them were wins, I believe) and that is enough for me to say that I think that stands as the record.  And yes, maybe I am retconning an attainable record to create a buzz, stir the pot, and make myself feel better.  However, a complete game, much less four, is still an accomplishment, and I choose to focus on the positive (and the personal glory).

To the game, Sean started for the visitors and Satch for the homers.  It remained that way for almost the entire game, and Sean was his usual dominating self.  Somehow Greg and I were the only ones to get hits off of him in the beginning of the game, though mine was a hit in the loosest of terms.  The visitors scored first, and we answered back, then they answered back and then the game settled into the middle innings, and our defense made some great plays to keep the rallies from getting away from us.  

We entered the final stretch down 4-2.  I felt good and continued to throw, my pitches were consistently inside, which was maddening when I just wanted to throw strikes, but the changeup finally started working correctly and we got the outs we needed.  A hearty thank you to HR, who really wanted to pitch, and allowed me to keep going in pursuit of my "bullshit accomplishment."

Carter had materialized out of the North bay fog, and he had brought two new guys with him.  They both proved themselves capable in the field, and at the plate.  We also had Dani(!) show up for the first time in a long while, ready to play baseball again (at least once) and showing that she has not lost a step.  She also attempted a bunt, after asking Greg mid-pitch if that was ok to do :)

We froze the visitors in their tracks in the 9th and entered the last gasp inning ready to try.  Sean had handed the ball to Mike N, who was raring to go after a maddeningly long rehab of his arm.  He was throwing hard, and we were ready.  Through some luck we managed to put one run across, and somehow filled the bases with New guy Taylor coming to bat.  Greg and I followed him and we remarked at how great it would be if the new guy got to be the hero, and we also wouldn't have to go to bat in a pressure situation.  The at bat last a long time, Taylor fouled off at least 6 pitches, and then with one mighty swing he tattooed a ball into deep, deep, center.  This hit was massive, and he made it around the bases before the ball reentered the infield.  A walk off grand slam, which was the first that any of us could remember in the MBC history.  This is where it went:

A game to remember, homers snatching victory from the visitors, 7-4.

Highlights:

* Sean pitched a hell of a game

* Sean and Mike Lynch back to back is the lefty Bash Brothers

* Greg caught the whole game

* Mitch hustled down the line every at bat, and kept getting out by a millisecond

* Nick Smith played a great 1st base

* Lynch again manned 3rd with aplomb

* HR had a couple of great hits and great defensive plays

* It was great to see Carter again, and with new guys!

* Mitch bought mangos for everyone!

* For pitching 9 innings, I felt remarkably OK the next day

* I had Don's number for some reason

* The reemergence of Dani!!!

* Both defenses kept it tight

* Mike N did a great job as catcher and pitcher

* Thanks everyone and cap tip to Johnny Bartlett, I wish we could see you again out on the field!

* Mitch's hit, after a frustrating day at the plate

5/21/23 GGP

 Beautiful day!  Bay to Breakers always seems like it is going to be a complete fuck up of the day, but the park is surprisingly empty, probably because everyone avoids it.  Kudos to Greg for warning us ahead of time and assuring that it would be ok.

I brought along Lil' Josh Gibson, who has been wanting to come play for awhile now.  He was super excited to be playing with the MBC'ers and he responded by scoring 3 runs, including one from 2nd base.  He was also instrumental in a late inning double play when we needed it, sacrificing his body to stop a ball going up the middle.  I was very proud.  We also set a new record with father/son combos: Ed and Milo, John and Liam, and Satch and Lil' G.

Greg started on the bump and was looking sharp, he held the visitors to 3 runs in 3 innings.  Liam McGrath started for the visitors, and as an 20 year old ascending star in college baseball, he apparently only threw at 70% for the day.  Thank goodness, cuz it was 3 innings of Ks and lost chances, though Greg and I both got hits, apparently cyborgs are immune to overpowering lefty's.

Once we got away from Liam, the game changed for us.  Chris Leavitt came in, and we started getting hits.  Our defense sharpened up too, mostly because I was put on the mound, where I couldn't sow as much chaos.  The rest of the game moved quickly, the visitors never got the rally they needed to break through, and we kept scoring a run an inning.  Mitch took over from Chris, and I stayed in and finished the game.  The visitors got one run in the 9th, but that was it and we finished with an 8-4 game, homers.

Highlights:

* Double plays!  3 of them, I believe!

* Great pitching from Liam

* The original Satchel Paige showed up to commune with us, great to see you Tim.

* Mike Lynch had the deep drive of the game, towering power!

* Don showed up late, but he drove a crucial run in early

* Lil' G stole a base, for real! 

* Thanks to the catchers: Mike N, and Ed 

* In addition to his double play starter, Lil' G got an out on a ground ball to 2nd, after letting one go through the wickets!  Thank you to all that encouraged him.

* Greg made a fantastic catch in left, in the blinding sun

* Mitch had several hits on the day.

Great to see everyone!

S. Paige

4/16/23- Cop Field

Sorry this is a late post, and a lot of the details are lost to the ether.  

Highlights

* I was on Sean's team, I remember that much.  And he was pitching well.  

* We did not have quite a few of the players, and we had to wait for the game before us to finish, and there was a big party going on afterwards.

* We also had a long-lost MBC player come in from the corn, and he brought a new player with him, his 14 year old son.  Which made it easy to calculate how long it had been since he had played with us, since he didn't have that kid last time.  Nick and Hank were a welcome new/old edition to the game, and it was great to see them out.

* Mitch also pitched again, and did well. He took it on the chin in the latter part though.  

* Marcie and I tried out a new angle on the old game, the 1/2 and 1/2 right fielder.  It worked pretty well, and I don't think it provided any real advantage to our team, and we got to chat a lot while waiting for balls that never came.  We are both nursing our respective temples at the moment, so it seemed fair that we combine our efforts to make one competent right fielder.  And we did.

* There were a lot of caught fly balls, and strike outs on our team.  I came in to pitch later in the game, and managed to eke out a victory when we took the lead late.  I was not feeling my best, but managed to get through.

* Gaspar was having another hot game until he pulled up short with a hammy injury.  Get well soon!

* They mowed the grass finally, so it was more like playing in the wheat than running through the jungle.

* I had a 4-4 day, all singles to left field.  That is my new (hip) sweet spot, I think I have roughly 12 hits to that exact spot in the 4 games I have played so far.

* Marcie had at least one more sweet hit with an RBI.

* Mike Lynch continued to pound the ball

* There is an upcoming SQ game, can the lefties please start hitting to the short porch, like they do in our game????

* There were a few walks taken in this game, it is becoming more of a thing to take the walk after the 2nd count

* We were losing that game, and should have lost that game, but the wheels came off in the eighth inning, and poor Mitch had to watch his beautiful game go up in smoke.  We have not had a inning go that south in a while.

* On the tails of that, there was a strike 3 call that was not called, on Hank.  I guess we took pity on him, being out for the first time, and young, but that one difference had a ripple effect on the shit show inning.  Cap tip to Mitch for keeping it together :)

* Anna had a couple nice plays at 1st

* I don't remember what the final score was.

* It was nice to have a full roster, even with quite a few regulars missing

Don't Look Back

S. Paige

4/2/23 Cop Field

What a glorious game!  Well, anything that isn't a rainout qualifies as a glorious game, but we still had fun.  The ranks were full, even if we were missing quite a few of the regulars.  Greg started for the visitors and Mitch for the homers.  I desperately wanted to pitch but I didn't want to start, since I am chasing the Johnny Bartlett consecutive CG record.  Of course Greg brought up that he remembered a whole lot of CG losses in a row for himself, so now I got to go back to vault and see if I am chasing the right record.  Anyway, we made the deal that he would start and then i could come in without reprisal to my chase.  That worked, and we ended up each throwing 4 innings.  

Mitch was pretty lights out, he kept us to a few runs, and we never had much of a threat going.  Both teams had some great defensive plays, and some not so great.  Our team turned a double play just when things were getting ugly.  I managed to screw up a defensive play in every position that I played, thanks to my hobbled nature. The outfielders did a lot of not knowing where the ball was.  The lack of coverage at 1st was evident a few times.

And in what may be a first in the history of MBC we had a ground rule triple, called after Stoner hit a ball to deep left, that disappeared completely into the muddy salad that was the outfield.  We never found it, up it went, and plop, gone.  Seriously, the outfield was like running in a swamp full of jungle plants.

The homers had the edge in hitting, they were pounding the ball, and at one point there was talk of a reorg to combat the blowout.  But we decided to let it lie.  The crowd had thinned out from its glorious beginning when the Latin league was partying and having fun.  The band showed up for us though, and they kept us entertained the whole time.  I got better as it went on, and finished the 8th with only 5 pitches thrown. Mitch finally gave us a chance, and John Mcg came in with a curious lack of control that eventually yielded us some mercy runs.  We still never really had a chance, and other John slammed the door on us in the 9th.

Final 11-7.

Highlights

* Great game, fun times

* The band sounded amazing

* Neither team had a real SS, which was new

* I somehow had 4 hits, though I could barely run to first

* Gaspar made two catches on foul pop ups behind the plate.

* There was a collision at the plate, with Arson catching, and Mike N coming in.  He should have slid, however the MBC has never ratified the Posey rule either.

* Greg nabbed Mike Lynch at the plate with a great throw from right

* Gaspar was doing it with the bat again, he is peaking in his 50s!

* Bob was not HBP, missed opportunities

* Nick made a couple of catches in left when we really needed them

* Lattig attempted an ole' at first, nope.

* The wind was fierce at times, pop ups got weird and my change up was getting propped up to get tee'd off on

* Thanks to everyone who made it out, welcome back baseball!

2/12/23 GGP

 Wow!  We have always said we get some of our best weather games in the winter and Sunday was no exception.  It bordered on hot in the city, which is always a rarity.  The sun was really nice for warming up those sore muscles and making movement a little easier for some of us.  There was also a really nice turnout of players, I think we had 22 by the end?  The teams were very evenly matched, and the game played out accordingly.  

Sean started for the visitors and Dan for the homers.  We jumped on Dan for 3 runs in the first inning, and then could do no more the rest of the game.  Sean was lights out as usual, cruising through the first few innings.  Mitch took over for Dan in the 4th and finished out the rest of the frames, holding us to a scattering of hits.  Pop ups ruled the first half of the game, and ground balls in the second half.

Defense ruled the day for both teams, with multiple plays to kill rallies or get the first out.  It really does make a huge difference in the game.  I wouldn't ordinarily do it, but he told me to, Tony was not one of those who had a great defensive game.  It bordered on a case of the whim-whams, each time he got a ground ball it would skip off the glove, or hit him in the wrist, or drop on the transfer.  As we all know, when that happens, it gets worse before it gets better, though he did settle down enough to make a few much needed plays.

We entered the 8th, still ahead 3-2.  Sean could have just kept going, but he is a decent sort, and allowed Satch a chance to test out the mechanics of the mound, post-surgery.  I was throwing more like a game of catch, but it felt good, no pain.  I had some trouble finding the dish for the first few pitches, but I ended up only giving up one hit in one inning.  Excited to extend my next rotation.

I had been steadfast that I only wanted to throw one inning, and Tony agreed to close out the game.  We scored no additional runs in the 9th, and so we entered the bottom of the 9th clinging to a 1 run lead.  Tony looked good in warmups and only needed a few with the sun on his shoulders, and all felt good.  Then we let a baserunner get on, and he came all the way around and scored on a Tony wild pitch.  

Tie game.  

Then up came Mitch, hits a ground ball and beats the throw to first with some real hustle.  He waits 2 pitches, then steals 2nd, except it was another wild pitch, and the ball skips and jumps and Mike N. behind the dish has no clue where it went.  He is still searching for it as Mitch takes 3rd, and then races home for an easy score and the end of the game.  

Never had that one happen before in the MBC....

Final- Homers 4-3.

Highlights:

* Anna played an outstanding game at 1st, with stretches, digs, and a tag play

* Mitch played a hell of a game and pitched a long relief game, shut us down

* Gaspar was the hitting machine of the day, including extra base hits!

* Keep your head up Tony, we all have those days.  Maybe its time to quit the cancer sticks again.

* I recorded an out at 2nd, that was right at me, but slowing, and became a footrace to see if I could get to it before the runner got to 1st.

* The return of Ed!  

* Sean made a diving stop off the mound!

* We must have an increase in defensive confidence lately, we have been making the risky but more rewarding defensive out choices e.g., a throw to third to get a lead runner rather than the easy out

* We had many opportunities and close plays, but we did not catch a single pop foul.

* I managed my first hit since October, a clean ball to the left side hole.  I only took 27 seconds to get to first base...

* We had a lot of spectators, ooohing and ahhing our plays

* Nick W made a great play in the outfield

* The return of Mike Lynch.  We were all very saddened to hear of the fire at his business, but glad that he is back up and running at a new location.  Here is the GoFundMe, if you are interested in donating.  He was very grateful and thankful to the MBC for its support.  https://gofund.me/b995e261

* Chris Powell made a fantastic grab on a short fly ball and then a perfect throw to Anna to get the double off.

* A European tourist in the stands caught a foul ball in his crossed arms, completely unaware that a ball was heading his way, it just landed there.  Glad it wasn't about 8 inches higher....

* Brian Phelps came for the last 7 minutes of the game.

* Mike G, Ed, Greg, Mike N all did great behind the dish

Enjoy!

S. Paige

1/22/23 The Alpha Game of 2023

 

It's been a minute.  I bowed out in early November to get my cyborg update, and from all I could gather, there were not many games played between then and now.  The winter holidays fell on consecutive Sundays for the first time in a while, but there was no playing that could have happened anyway.  The rain was constant, relentless, and frankly, unlike anything we have seen before.

It finally dried out this week, but all the parks remained closed in SF, save the big field at GGP.  And even that, we played with a caution tape barrier running the length of the 3rd baseline, protecting some new grass.  But we were playing baseball again, including Satch, excited to be on a field again, and anticipating a pain that gets better each day, rather than worse.  I told Greg to not let me pitch, even if I told him I could.  He agreed, that is a true friend.

Sean was in charge for the homers on the bump, and looked like classic Sean.  Nick W., hobbled by pain was still up for starting the game for the visitors, though his shoulder was acting up before he even started.  He was hoping that pitching would loosen it up.  It did not.  

Somehow we scored two runs off of Sean in the 1st inning, something I don't recall happening too often, and the RBI machine driving those runs in was Greg, the other cyborg.  I remarked that I was elated if that is what I have to look forward to.  The game was a truly a see-saw battle.  WE scored another, and then the homers came back and made it 3-2.  Back and forth it went.  The entire squad had at least one injury, Mitch took over after Nick's arm went kaput, and though he had also said his arm was blasted before the game, he was pitching well.  He even had a sub-10 inning!  I don't know where all these injuries were coming from, since we have not played ball in a month, tough holiday merry making, I suppose.

Meanwhile, the homers stayed with Sean, who had some nasty filth working for him, and they were keeping the bats alive, including Marcie with a RBI shot up the middle, and Chris Powell, who hobbled in the ankle, was still lining balls to the outfield.  Greg followed Mitch, and Brian Phelps closed out the deal for the visitors, while Sean stayed strong until he was ready to hand over the reins to Dave, who was throwing his usual high and tight gas and then for the finale, they brought in HR to slam the door.  

We had the lead, and then lost it, then retaken it, and then the homers tied it up at 7, in the bottom of the 8th inning.  They weren't done though, scoring two more runs to make it 9-7 going into the 9th.  We failed to produce another run rally, and the game ended victorious for the homers.

Highlights:

* Great to see everyone, and be seen.  

* Ice everything people, we look like the walking wounded out there

* Great pitching Sean, including a nasty changeup on a battled 1-2 count, I think I fouled off 4

* Great job behind the dish from Bob, Greg, Mike N, and Mike G

* I caught Bob's line drive to right, only because I did not have to move.  Everything tensed up, and hurt, but I stayed still and caught it.

* Two new guys Carlos and Reynaldo were great in the outfield, including 2 running catches!

* Luciano was out and playing hard

* Adam made an amazing play at 1st, in the very first inning, on a hot drive from Sean, and he made it look easy.

* Greg's bunt late in the game was an unexpected and effective play from the old tactician.

* JT arrived after the start, and promptly put on a hitting clinic

* Phelps and Mike N made a great play at home, to get a runner that was threatening our lead

* Don came out late in his cool guy clothes, and made a gift of a glass bat display to the team

* I tattooed a ball off of HR in the 8th, and only because Sean was playing center, and at about 385 ft, did he track it down.  Greg had no belief that it would be caught off the bat, and was well on to 2nd, by the time he realized what had happened.  He scrambled back but was doubled off, but not before the runner at 3rd had gotten home. The good news is that it became a sac fly, since the out at first was not a expected force play.

* Greg laid out to try and catch a pop up, almost had it!

* Bob got hit twice, a fortuitous start to the year, congrats on your multi-hit game, Bob! :)

* Phelps made a awesome play at SS, no small feat for a lefty

* The homers turned at least 2 double plays

Thanks to all that made it out, it was awesome to see everyone!

Happy 2023.

10/30/22 GGP

What a game!  What a day!  What a foggy mess!  

Yes, Carl (the fog) had his way with the MBC yesterday, and man, it is a weird thing to hit a ball in the air and have it disappear.  This was to be my last game before a 3 month hiatus and hopefully successful surgery.  I wanted to go the full 9 again, make a CG hat trick for my last three games, and my team was nice enough to oblige.  

What was newsworthy was that we had 22 players, instead of 13, so their yielding the mound was actually a big thing, since I did not sit out as I should have.  Thank you all!  Sean started for the homers and he was pretty lights out the entire time.  He had a nasty diving curve ball working, and he kept us to one run over 7 frames.  We had a team of a lot of veteran players, and it quickly became apparent that we did not have the speed in the game.  There were so many plays at 1st that usually would not have to be as bang bang as they were.  Seriously, every time there was a ground ball, the batter was STEAMING up the line, and we had one shot.  Luckily we had Urano at SS, who converted those plays, as did Nick S at 2nd.  Adam was a great 1st baseman, including one short hop scoop that had to be caught.

Hitting-wise, the visitors also had a murderers row and while we kept it in check some of the game, there was a back to back to back extra base hit extravaganza at one point.  John Carey, showing off his youth also got a triple cum little league home run, when our team couldn't seem to find the handle.  Mitch, Powell, Lynch, also displayed big hits.

So we cruised along, making some great defensive plays, including a double play, and then Carl got heavy, and we lost one in the outfield, and then another, and then one in the infield.  The runs piled up, and we just could not get our own offense started.  We left a runner in scoring position most of the innings, and only scored one more run, off of Mitch who came into mop up.

Final Score: 7-2

Highlights

* Thanks to everyone who came out, it was a great way to end my year, with a well-attended friendly game

* Thanks to Greg who caught a great game, and stopped a couple of absolute scuds.  Bob, Don, and Rudy also did great behind the dish

* Anna barreled up on me and had another that was a sure fire hit up the middle if I didn't manage to get a glove on it

* The visitors hammered the left field line all day

* Carl was doing one thing well, and that was helping the knuckleball, man it was dancing and diving all day!

* Dan, Urano, Tony, Adam, Nick S were all great defense.  Except for that one play, Tony.....

* I lost track of my directive, and took a comebacker and spun and threw it to 2nd, because I thought there was still runners on 1st and 2nd.  Turns out it was just 2nd, but I got the runner off base too far and Urano gunned him out at 3rd.  Glad that it worked out, that is not the usual MBC out, we play the safe game.

* The return of the band!  All is forgiven, they explained that they had intentions of playing for both games, but were not able to.  We will be keeping an eye on them, nonetheless.

* I didn't mean to pick on Rudy, but he got the K business.

* I struck out on a ball in the dirt, one of Sean's diving specialties, while protecting the plate.

* JT had a real nice hit

* I hit James with a knuckleball, it was coming so slow I think he never moved

* I may have had 5 Ks on the day, which is more than usual

* Poor Nick W was all over the map in left field

* I am in pursuit of Johnny Bartlett's record of 4 complete games in a row, I can't find it yet, but I think there is a blog post about it somewhere.  I think the record was set at Camp Swampy.

Great game had by all, thank you all who played, there's no where else I would rather be on a Sunday.

Don't look back.

S. Paige

10/9/22 GGP

 

What a cold foggy affair.  We could all hear our taxes getting burned up in the sky, as the roaring Blue Angels were heard but not seen.  We managed to get enough for a game, but out of the kindness of our stupid hearts, we agreed to let the league game before us play their last inning, which they insisted in part, was because it was a super close game.  So we did, and 30 minutes later, and several runs scored, the game still wasn't over.  Hmmmm.  So, we took the field quickly and got to it.  Satch for the homers and HR for the visitors.  And for the second week in a row, I threw a complete game.  It felt good, and not too much soreness today.  HR was pitching well, had a very sneaky curveball that was lights out when it was working.  

The homers drew first blood to the tune of 2 runs, and the visitors answered back with 1.  Then we answered back again with 2 more, and....the visitors did not.  I place the reasons solely on our defense, which was awesome all day.  Kenball in left field made several tall man catches, Mike N at 2nd, and Nick at SS (for the first time, as far as I could tell) were locked in.  Lynch made his usual picks at 3rd, and Gaspar and McG were walls behind the plate all day. Alejandro came late, but filled in at all positions.

HR gave way to Chris Powell after the first 3rd, and Chris was pumping strikes, but his loss at SS is always the downfall of his presence on the mound.  Lattig finished the game for the visitors and Greg was a stalwart behind the dish all game.  I think the visitors had at least 2 double plays on the day.  It was a weird game for hitting, a lot of bloops that fell in or balls hit straight to people.  Our baserunners were fooled by things that looked like they had to be hits, only to be caught.  The visitors also had the lil'est player of the day, a young boy with a very long Italian name.  I want to say Lucciano, but that may be wrong.  He tried real hard, and hit the ball well, got on base, and almost caught one in right field.

In any case, the homers stretched the lead to 6-2 towards the end of the game, and we started to play for outs any cost.  We were helped by a couple of balls that barely went foul, and one squibber up the first base line that stayed fair until Nick picked it up while standing on the bag.  

The visitors made an attempt for a comeback, but it was too little too late, and the final score was 6-4.

Highlights

* Kenball with 3 RBIs and as many, or more, running catches in left field

* James had a semi-tough day at the plate, and to break it up, he hit left handed his last at bat.  He smoked the ball, but it got to center too quickly and I was out at 2nd.

* Poor Loren got a workout in left field, against his wishes

* All of our 1st basemen did a great job of coming off the bag to get the ball and then tag the runner

* The sky was so gray that it made it hard to see the ball

* Fuck the band.  They have thrown us over for the Olde Tyme league.  

* I don't think I struck out a single person, but I did have a 4 pitch inning.

* Mike N may have had the deep drive of the day, but there were several contenders

* We did get Powell in a pickle and pulled it off successfully.

* Mike N also took a hard ground ball right in the sternum, and still managed to make the play

* Lynch smoked a ball to right

* I was on base 3 times, but I don't think I ever made it to 3rd.

S. Paige

10/2/22 Cop Field

Summer has come to SF!  A beautiful sunny day in the city, and enough people to play a game, who could ask for more?  Sean and I went head to head, complete game style, and while I will say that I felt like I threw a decent game, the score would not agree with me.  The mound at Cop Field is an abomination, and we should do something about it.  I will stop there.

The teams had a real seesaw battle for the first few frames, 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-4.  We thought this was going to be the way the whole game.  But no.  In addition to pitching well, Sean and crew hit a few gappers that cleared the bases, more than once.    

The force I didn't think I would have to reckon with was Marcie.  She put wood to the ball every at bat, and had 2 hits and 2 RBIs on the day.  While I didn't feel great about it, we picked her off at first on a heads up play by Anna, who moved quickly to the bag and watched me as I delayed long enough for Marcie to lull to sleep.  I gotta take the outs wherever I can find them these days, but a big cap tip to Marcie on the day, not to mention a great catch she made in right on a sky ball.

Our scoring dried up completely, and the visitors kept tacking on runs.  Craig, a Scotsman who had only played cricket before, got steadily better over the course of the game, and put a hurt on a lot of balls that were way out of the zone.

The night is coming earlier, and fall is in the air.  The last 2 innings were a struggle with the sun so low in the sky, but we made it.  I struck out looking on a ball right down the middle to end the game.  My team tried to form a rallying cry that the pitch was low, since a backwards K is no way to end a game. It wasn't, though, it was perfect, and I froze up.  I own that, and hats off to Sean for throwing it on a 1-2 count.

Final: 12-4?

Highlights:

* The visitors put in the work and made the plays

* Sean pitched a hell of a game

* My team didn't ever fall apart, the scoring was all legit.

* Brad, in center field, made a couple of great catches

* Lynch likes playing 3rd, so we swapped SS as a fill in.  As Sean said, My team is doing pretty well for not having a shortstop.

* Marcie's grunt with her first hit was a powerful one

* Lynch swung at a 2 strike pitch that was around his eyeballs and hit it squarely to the opposite field.

* Greg and Nick W also caught the whole game, congrats to them!

* My hitting was schizophrenic all day, I had a nice long single to open, and then I struck out, then I got robbed on a frozen rope that Powell somehow caught, then I hit a weak groundball that I lazied up the line and might have made it if I had been running, then I struck out again.

* Anna had a challenging day at 1st, there were several throws that pulled her off the bag and into the baseline.

* Lattig brought him out and he and Craig seemed to have worked out a mutually beneficial program for not catching each others fly balls when filling in on defense.

* Sean laid out for one as did Alejandro, but neither quite made it.

* My curve ball was not working.  Then in the 7th, everything stopped working for a bit and I threw 9 balls in a row.  

* Powell had our biggest hit, and scored at least 2 of our runs

* We did pull off a classic double play to snuff a rally

* Adam showed up late and gave me a real battle in a 2 strike count, I think something like 7 foul balls.  He finally got a nice single.  Turns out, Greg told him that it was a 1-run game when he came up to bat, when in fact it was a 7 run game at that point.  Adam took it to heart apparently.

* Get well soon, Tony!

Late Post- 9/7/22 San Quentin A's and MBC

 Here is a game recap from several players on the latest SQ exploits:

Mike Lynch

Sean pitched great and we were winning by one in the last inning but they made a little charge and beat us by a few. We had some good hits but our D and pitching seemed to be the biggest plus. They had a few plays (lucky) that made the game turn around. Chris smashed one to left and the guy threw up his glove and got it. It would have scored two at least. Still fun but looking for a win on 10/1

Sean Presley

Kool Aid shut us down in the first inning even with some decent contact and Mitch leading off the game with a walk. First SQ hitter on with a single, second hitter(new catcher) goes deep on first pitch SQ 2-0 no outs first inning, seemed an ominous opening. Ended up getting out of it, bottom of our lineup set the table and turned the lineup over and we put a 5 spot on Kool Aid in the 2nd. SQ added a run on a solo homer by Jesse the CF, his first in SQ(he made me sign the ball after the game). I forget when or how they got the next run but going into the bottom of the 6th we were still up 5-4. I think after the 2nd inning SQ brought in Wiley(?) to pitch and he was throwing heat and shut us down except for the occasional walk or dink or doink. We had Mitch on 2nd and me on first in the 5th or 6th with nobody out and Mitch broke for third, had a great jump and Chris fucking smoked a ball to left but the LF’er made a great reaching play and tried to double off mitch with a jump throw but Mitch was able to just beat it out and nothing came of that charge.

Bottom 6, light is leaving us, i think we all knew it was probably going to be the last inning. I think they were sending up their 9-1-2 batters(or 10-1-2 i think they might have been batting 10 yesterday). I was kind of on a different planet at this point so i don't really remember what or how everything happened but i think i got the first guy out, their leadoff man(forget his name but he was the first baseman and was apparently drafted out of high school by the diamondbacks and one other MLB team) was the thorn in my side all day as i couldn't keep him off base and he stole every single base when he was on. Was able to strike the catcher out which at the time felt huge. I think Brandon in his last game was able to tie the game with a hit, a high popup to medium deep right field into that sketchy walkway/warning track area right before the tables and our right fielder from SQ, Trevor, couldn't get it. With Brandon on second was able to get two strikes on the LF’er and we were battling. I threw an elevated fastball above the eyes and he somehow went up and destroyed it to center scoring Brandon as  what we all assumed was the winning run. We hadn't discussed it before the inning started and after that hit coach Steve asked us what we wanted to do. I said if you have guys that want to keep hitting i was happy to keep pitching so we played on and true to MBC form whenever we suggest that we play extra baseball we always regret it, its always one toke over the line. They ended up putting up three more runs to make the theoretical score 9-5. We tried hitting again against Wiley and failed and called the game after the top of the 7th i guess. Im gonna call the hit in the bottom of the 6th a walkoff and say final score SQ A’s 6 MBC 5.

Don had an amazing game too, a couple past balls that he turned into throw-outs when the runner tried to advance as well as a big 2 rbi hit. Called and caught a great game, really wish he wouldn’t call for me to hit the batter after i get them 0-2 though

Like i said i think i blacked out.

Don Kreppin

Yeah that's my bad. I just love beaning inmates & indeed it was the 1st inning where i drove in two with two outs & the bases juiced.

#KoolaidDIDNOTshutusdowninthefirst 

& in fact i did go for burgers & beers afterward

Chris Powell

I'm pretty sure we got 2 in the first and 3 in the second. Never being behind in the game until the last pitch.

9/11/22 GGP

 

A lot of players came out, including the return of Anna from the IL and moving like she had never missed a game.  I think the total was 24 for the game, which is awesome considering that it's been Havana 6's for the last 3 months.  Let's keep it up.  It was a beautiful day, marred only by the Opera in the Park traffic that made parking a real nightmare.

Pitching for the homers was Sonny, and he was lights out for most of the game.  His fastball had a real tailing movement to it, making it hard to read until it was too late.  he augmented that with a breaking ball that had sharp bite, and he was backed by a strong offense.  Not exactly what you want to face.  We did our best, and Satch was on the bump for most of the game, matching Sonny in effectiveness...until I didn't.  I was keeping the pitch count low-ish, and we tried our best to limit the damage when the big hitters were up but it didn't always work out.

While I don't want to highlight the misery, I have to say that John McG had a real rough day in the field.  I can't put an exact number on it, but it was 5+ errors.  You could see that he had been infected with a strong dose of the defensive yips, the whammies, the hinkies.  It happens to us all at some point.  He was on the ball each time, but just couldn't get it clean and the more frustrated he got, the more he was in his own head.  Luckily, we as a team are the supportive, not vindictive sort, and I am happy to say that through the course of the game, we saw a rebirth of confidence and ability in John which was very gratifying.  

Speaking of defensive prowess, how about that Marcie!  She came out after many promises of attendance, and made a great running catch in right field.  She was clearly unaware that it was not the 3rd out with her post-catch celebratory dance, but ultimately, it did not affect the outcome. She also had 2 almost-hits, stopped only by the book the defense was keeping on her.  Cap tip.

The score was something in the neighborhood of 8-2 as we entered into the last few.  We also realized that we had played an extra inning, mostly because we had the band out, and the 7th had come and gone without the Take me out to the Ballgame.  So they played it, and then we shrugged and said, well I guess it is the bottom of the 7th, not the 8th now....

Sean relieved me, as I was struck by my own version of the yips, due to exhaustion and other ailments, I struggled to finish the inning and was happy to give up the ball.  Sean did well, as did HR who came in to relieve Sonny, and Urano after that, in case we had any thoughts of a comeback, he slammed the door.  We did have a mini-rally and brought the score to 8-5 but that is where it ended.

Highlights:

* The return of Anna!

* Bob hit 2nd for our team, power and speed is what you want in the second slot.

* Sean almost made an amazing lay out catch in center

* The homers had at least 2 triples

* I am proud of the progress that McG made in the course of the game

* I am glad I was not the only one that struck out against Sonny

* The MBC single is when you hit a sure fire out, meander down the line, and wait for someone to fuck it up.

* I almost killed Adam and Greg in collisions, but no one was hurt

* New guy Rudy caught half the game and had a big situational hit to right.

* HR hit one not-to-right field, to prove my shift wrong

* Greg also caught most of our game, all systems go!

* Mike Lynch is a hoover at 3rd, nothing gets by him!

* I made 2 catches off the mound on high pop flies, something I ordinarily try to avoid.  But I couldn't, I was the only one that could make the play.

See you soon!

S. Paige

8/28/22 GGP

 I fully admit to being late, just so everyone is clear here.  Sorry.  Glad I made it though.  Sort of.  The day was mostly sunny and cloudy, and there was parking in the park, maybe as a byproduct of the Burning Man.

The score was 11-0, when I arrived, and I was placed on the home team, as a salve to hopefully remove some of the pain of the blow out.  Mike Lattig had started for the homers, and it sounds like it was hit, error, bloop, bloop, blooop.  Chris Powell was on the mound for the visitors, and was pitching effectively to his defense.  We tried to work a 9-7 team break down, to give us 2 defensive fielders to "even" the score, but the visitors saw through that chicanery, and we ended up with the more sensible 8-8.

John McG came in after Mike and pitched effectively, though he was the first to admit that when you lose it on the mound, it can be hard to regain.  Chris Leavitt replaced Powell, which made it harder for us to rally, since Powell was now back at SS, taking away hits.  

We had rallied on the back of a few hits, errors and John Carey's wild arm to bring the score up to 11-7, Urano having a in the parker down the left field line that he scored easily on, but the visitors promptly took two more runs out of us, including a triple from Powell that sounded like a pop fly off the bat, but went really far into the gap in left center.

I took over the mound in the 6th and took it the rest of the way.  Other than the 2 runs, it felt good, had a few Ks.  Loren came in for the visitors and stomped on our throats for 2 innings just to make sure that we didn't smell victory.

Final- 13-7, visitors

Highlights

* The return of Kenball!  This SF native is back amongst his own, the first in what we hope will be the reverse migration of the East Coasters.  If you haven't made up your mind yet, hit us up in January when we are still playing ball.

* The visitors had a strong hitting lineup and made the plays.

* A couple of close plays at first made a difference for both teams

* Greg catching a pop foul of Powell's is such a coup for a team looking for momentum

* Urano with the round tripper!

* James made an amazing diving catch to take a hit away from JT, that's doing your homework, people!

* Bob had not one, but two balls hit over 1st base, one that actually hit the base

* I have a lifetime experiment that I am running on not watching while routine fly balls get caught while I am pitching, the odds seems better for outs when I don't look.

* The slumps have hit us hard, I know John McG and myself were both 0-fers

* Word on the street is that Anna could return soon!

* A kid and his dad played an inning with us, hopefully they will be back

* It was great to see John Carey back out, and he even wore his glasses, though he has upgraded from the blue rims since this picture was taken...

* Mike Lattig made the long run in left field to snare a fly ball, we were so happy, we didn't care that it was also a sac fly

* Sure was nice to have enough players so that we could actually sit down and talk from time to time

Don't look back.

S. Paige

8/20/22 San Quentin A's vs MBC

 

 

Great to be back inside with all the players.  It was 2019 the last time we graced the field of dreams inside SQ.  Hard to believe.  The coach who met us in the parking lot ran through the usual stuff, and also told us that we were not going to recognize most of the players, as they have been released, transferred, or are not playing.  In addition, one of the housing units was quarantined because of a possible COVID outbreak (it was the flu).  In we went, as usual, with 11 players, and through the sally port, and down the main road.  New things that I noticed in the main yard:

• Looks like free weights are back in a limited capacity.
• They have horseshoes now.
• The outfield is as dry as the bald pate of a Arizona retiree.

There was a opening day ceremony, the national anthem played by a lovely violin player, and two first pitches were thrown.  One by the warden, and one by Brandon, who was getting his freedom in 17 days (he had it briefly, and then was brought back due to an administrative error). The A's have about 20 players, and as usual, every one of them is fast and strong.  I started on the bump and was feeling good. I was getting unsolicited coaching advice from HR to throw harder than usual, but the extra adrenaline took care of that.  

It's with regret that I say that as a pitcher in SQ, you always have to be able to shrug off the increase in errors, that come along with our games.  It is the intimidation factor and the shitty field factor all in one.  Trying to dodge 5 guys in the outfield while you catch a ball in the slippery gravel is a recipe for disaster.  Or running into a picnic bench in center, or never seeing it in the first place because it blends in with the wall.  We got out of one jam, and almost got out of another unscathed, but the scoring was kept low-ish.  We scored a run right off the bat, which was nice for a change of pace.

At the end of 5 innings, the score was a respectable 5-3 SQ, and not many of those runs were earned, though I will say that they put a hurt on the ball when they hit it square. Phelps almost made a great play on a ball that was hit to the deep alley, but after the aforementioned dodging and slipping, the ball ricocheted off his wrist, hit him in the chin, almost fell in his glove, and then dropped.

Greg, trying to channel Earl Weaver, gave me the talking to about making hard decisions for the good of the club, and took me out after that inning.  In came Nick W. who I didn't know has a real reputation in SQ.  And not the good kind.  I guess he hit a lot of batters last time, and this time did not prove to be any different.  When he wasn't getting calls, he was hitting batters.  Or having plays like mine at 1st where I put the runner in between me and the ball during a pick off, and down the right field line goes the ball, not great.  Bad vibrations lead to wheels loosening and falling off, and boy howdy did they ever.  

Halfway through the 7th inning, Nick pulled himself from the game, after SQ was running the score up, and in came Phelps with the bases loaded.  Well, it the first 60 feet of that pitch was great, but the batter squared up and put it into the Native prayer garden for a grand salami.  The final total on that inning, 10 runs scored.  Whew!  Phelps settled down and pitched well for the rest of the game, but there was no way we could surmounted that hill, and the final score was 15-3.  

Not our worst, which isn't something to brag about.

Highlights:

* James, HR, Don, Mike Lynch, John Mcg all spanked the ball

* Powell had a rare throwing error, but he also made an amazing sliding grab at SS for an out

* Nick S. stayed down on a ball at 2nd that had all kinds of bad written on it, and flipped it to get an out when we really needed it

*  Solo was the new lefty starter for the A's and pitched very well

* Don made a great grab of a pop foul for the 3rd out

* Don also gets the tough man award for taking a foul tip to the jaw that rattled his cage, all that and an unpleasant medical procedure a day prior

* The A's 3rd baseman made the play of the game, snaring a low line drive with the bases juiced

* The A's turned several double plays

* I had 2 singles and a fielders choice, not bad since I was hitting with a toothpick

* If we could get rid of our jitters, we will be contenders with this team

* The umpire was ok, at least his bad calls were fairly even between the teams.  

* James nailed a guy at 3rd, with a beautiful throw

* Nick W.- Scourge of the Convict

* Powell came into run for me, and fell victim to the hidden ball trick, perfected by Brandon.  That wouldn't have happened if I had stayed in, because I am too lazy to lead off.  Note to all, they will try the hidden ball every time

* The coaches spent a lot of time apparently getting the players ready for Sean's pick off move.  Our players are ringing out!

7/31/22 Cop Field

Well, so much for a relief from the summer doldrums.  We had 11 people come out.  Not enough for much of anything.  

As luck would have it though, the team with the slot in front of us had a no-show for their game, and we agreed, via Alejandro diplomacy skills, that we would have a game.  For most of us, this is a rare thing, to have a competitive game.  You could see that a few of the MBCer's were excited with the prospect, and we started to hear rumblings of, "Wow, it's kinda nice to play a competitive game."  

Don't.fucking.get.used.to.it.  That's what I said.  The siren song of the leagues is not far off, when this sort of talk starts.  We have a nice little thing going here with our club.

In any case, the other team was a bunch of younger, faster, guys, not a one over 5'6", and we kept up with them for a bit, but like with all things in life, entropy.  Just couldn't keep up, couldn't get the hits we needed, and if we did, they were right at some guy.  We didn't help our cause by booting the ball a few times, but for the most part, the other team was hungry for hits and they got them.

Sean pitched a great game, and left with the game tied, his innings secure.  I came in and threw a few innings, I don't feel like I did badly, but the score did not reflect that feeling.  We only played 7 innings which was a bit of a letdown.  The self-designated umpire made it clear that we were only playing 7, and we had to clarify that this was what the other team wanted, not just his own schedule  We get by just fine without an umpire, we says. 

I think the final was 11-7 maybe?

They were a nice bunch, and we shook hands at the end, which always makes the experience better. But seriously people, baseball is waiting, get your shit done on Saturday, so you can come out Sunday.

Highlights

* The other team was hitting high balls out of the strike zone, which was a good thing, until we started throwing strikes consistently, and then they really hit the ball.

* Speaking of hitting, I hit two guys in the back, with change ups with 2 strikes in the count.  Talk about frustrating.  I could not get that pitch to work in that inning.

* Mike L made a great cross field play in the 1st inning to get a fast runner

* I think if we had 2 more innings, we could have won

* Nick had a frustrating day in the outfield, two balls hit him in the glove and then popped out

* Cap tip to the pitcher who threw batting practice to his whole team before he pitched the game. That is old school right there.

* I am late with this entry so not much that I still remember.  Send me highlights if you want them posted.

7/24/22 GGP

It was a cold foggy day, amazing, since it was sunny and hot everywhere else in the world.  The other amazing thing is that we had an upwelling of players, 21 by my count.  I would like to say that it was because of my public shaming of those who showed up for the BBQ, but that probably wasn't it.  

Interestingly, we also were missing a lot of the regulars, and yet still had a lot.  I brought along the Lil's, who played right field, and Lil' Josh was inserted as our 10th place hitter, for real.  Tony grumbled a little, but seriously, we have plenty of players who go months without getting a hit, how is this really any different?  Lil' Josh ended up playing right field on his own once I started pitching, and made a great hustling back up play on a ball that got past 2nd base on an overthrow.  

On to the game.  It kinda sucked.  I mean, any day playing baseball is a great day, but our team was cursed with a case of the drearys.  We just could not get good wood on the ball, and if we did, Powell would hoover it up and throw us out.  B. Phelps started for the visitors and he was hurling well, not surprising since he has had several months off to rest his arm.  Our team was not without talent in theory, but we could not string together enough hits to score a run.  Even when we got a rally going, we could not sustain it, or we would hit into a force out and lose the lead runner, or, well you get it.

On the other hand, the visitors were smacking the ball all over the yard.  Sonny had an off day on the bump, and the other team took full advantage.  At one point they had 5 extra base hits out of 7 batters.  They seemed to be aiming particularly for the left field line, and Nate (who was out for the first time in a long while) spent his time chasing hits.  

By the middle of the game it was 7-0.  We managed to finally score 2 runs but that was as far as it got.  I took the ball from Sonny, who proclaimed that he had been smacked around enough for one day, and finished the rest of the game.  I didn't stay clean but kept the scoring to a minimum.

Final score 11-2.

Highlights:

* Every visitor probably had a hit.

* Mike Lynch, a verifiable lefty pull hitter, also put one down the left field line

* James came out, and played a good center field

* Thanks to Chris L, Gaspar, Bob, and SONNY! for catching

*The olde tyme guys were back, I wonder who they paid off?

* The homers had a lot of Ks from guys who don't normally K.

* Poor Nate, so much running

* I struck out Loren on what I thought was strike 2.  Sonny had asked me what to call the pitch before  and I said that I wasn't the right person to ask. I guess he decided it was a strike.  

* Bob made a nice play in left field

* Urano tried to carry us on his back, but one guy can only do so much

* I wish we could have given the visitors a better game, but oh well.