Thursday, June 30, 2011

6/24/11- San Quentin Giants vs. MBC

The 3rd game grudge match.

We were losing 3-0 most of the game it felt like.

We battled our way back to 3-3. Fucking A!

Then we lost it again, and the final was 6-3.

We had talked about playing the last 2 innings of the game we had a few weeks back. They were stoked that we remembered.

We did it. We lost another game, in less than proud style.

We shook hands and walked out.

Beers and burgers for most, and back into Saturday afternoon.

Highlights:

* Johnny Badass had an unscheduled visitor and couldn't play. And was apparently kinda pissed about having to the miss the game. We missed him.

* Red finally caught up with the change up and I thought had one gonzo, but it fell just short.

* They bunted for hits about 5 times.

* We were bummed to have Elvin and Tim turned away. Hopefully you guys can get in later this summer, I am happy to give you my spot for a game....Elvin, we passed your name, stats and contact information around the yard, so you can have some legal side work to keep you sharp....

* Another guy who I have owned in the past with the changeup, came up big at the plate in an RBI situation

* Kent's fucking number/sign thing is way old already

* It was great to come back and tie up a game.

* The wind blew a pop up about 15 feet off course

* Johnny Bartlett had a stellar game at SS, with at least 6 or 7 plays

* Loren continued the string of lefty sluggers we have, that can't hit the ball 260 feet once they are inside the Q.

* Phelps went from injured assistant coach to being involved in about every play, he had a great double (erp.....) and made a daring attempt to score. Some good plays in the outfield, which was appreciated. Hope the knee heals.

* Nate came in after probably not picking up a bat for a couple of years, he and the old man batted back to back. That's the Coors Light heartwarming moment of the game.

* The umpire was the old guy who rang us up on the field a bit too many times last game. But he warned us that his strike zone was 2 inches off in each direction. He called a lot of shoestring outside pitches. I think he had trouble with his left eye, 'cuz he didn't call that side of the plate the entire game, regardless of who was up. Didn't catch the foul off the leg either. Or didn't care.

* The A's seem to be the team that everyone wants to play on now.

In any case, it was a good time, some good baseball was played, some bad baseball was played, and we all came out in the same condition that we came in.

S. Paige




Wednesday, June 29, 2011

5/22/11- Camp Swampy late inning write-up

Ed asked that this be included, so as to be saved in posterity. Thanks Ed!- SP

I wanted to drop a line about the 5/22/11 Camp swampy game before its gets
lost to the ages. Mostly I want to give a shout out to Mike Gaspar and Duane for
being super great guys that day.

Its been longer than I can reasonably be expected to remember, but with a very
thin crew we got 9 innings in.

It became apparent early that there was only two people there that regularly
pitch, Greg and Tony. We spent a great deal of time deciding how to play, when
Mike Gaspar and Duane volunteered. I think Mitch did too, but was not needed.

Mike Gaspar went 5 innings I think (plus or minus) and kept the opposition
guessing. he threw tons of strikes and got a few swings and misses. As I
recall there was one bad inning but the rest were great.

He gave way to duane who went for a couple of innings, mostly uneventful which
is good for a pitcher. Just as with Mike, he threw hard and threw strikes.

Johnny came after leaving the bay bridge game when the A's blew the lead. He
finished the game.


ed

6/26/11 West Sunset

Another beautiful day, another great game, another great turnout.

Satch and Noah faced off in a classic match, however, having thrown five in SQ the day before, I was not looking for a marathon. Noah, on the other hand, having to live up to the profile, again went the distance for the homers, and he caught seven in SQ the day before by the way....

Mr. Brian Phelps umpired the game, and did a great job, took a few off the body, thanks to Noah for the clicker. Phelps was fresh off a rehabbed knee that he reinjured in SQ when he took the extra base twice (2nd and Home!) and got tagged both times.....You are a true competitor, Phelpsie. Then he stayed after and threw batting practice to Liam ( who is about a year and change away from taking John Carey's mantle of Youngest MBC player) and Aiden (a great little ballplayer) and off course hit Aiden, who's just a lil' guy...what a jerk...(Editors Note: ha ha). It was worth it when we got Aiden to stop crying by telling him to rub dirt on it, he was all about that!

Anyway, a tip of the cap to you sir.

We had 20, good mixture, Rich and Mitch mirrored each other on defense for each team, and the rest of us just tried not to hit to either of them. The homers were out for blood, having a lot of new guys on their squad. The visitors had a strong old guy presence, and in true fashion we lost with honor. Greg took over for us, and pitched great, I re-entered the game to throw an inning to work on something, and turned a 10-9 game into a joke. Noah, really hammering me as of late, got a bases loaded jack that cleared them all. Well, I at least worked out the arm thing I was trying to do.

We played 11, giving the home team their last ups, even though the score was 14-10 ( or worse) in their favor. Too bad for you guys that didn't make it. But that's your thing (Not you Tony, we are all hoping the knee is healing, and you can make it out soon, you are missed.)

Highlights:

* Noah, doing it all. Cap tip.

* Bob, who was also injured, played, re-injured, kept playing. Love ya Bob.

* The new guy who Bob brought out hit a home run, sorry for blanking on the name, but it was a hell of a hit.

* Rich, in addition to the screaming line drives and impeccable defense at SS, hit the furthest ball yet, it was foul, but still.

* Duane hit another triple!!!!

* Richie made it back, and had a good one

* Jay had two or three hits to the right of SS, and the entire time was cursing his terrible luck as he ran up the base paths

* Paul made a nice running catch and came up big when needed

* Ed once again proved to be an RBI machine, and as Greg said, really didn't try if there wasn't anyone on...

* Johnny was missing, and presumed hungover. Great show Johnny and Rick Ogre!

* Jon McG had a tough game on defense, but had some very well struck balls and the inside track call-wise with Liam umpiring first base.

* Thanks to Ed, Greg, Adam, Gaspar for catching

* Gaspar broke the shift up with a line drive up the middle

* Let's all remember, When hitting, the proper method for getting out of the way of a ball is to turn your body away from the ball. Don't try to catch it.

* We got out of a couple of dark looking innings in classy fashion.

* Editors note: Last week my father-in-law (who is a Yorkshireman) asked if it was baseball tradition for the old fellows to be in the outfield? Ha ha. If you play for the MBC, it is.

This week. Double header and BBQ. You know where.

S. Paige

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Player Profile #17- Noah Bowling


Since he has made the blog exploits several times in the last few months, I wanted to make sure he was well represented in the MBC lore. Noah is a true workhorse, he can pitch 12, he can catch 12, he can hit, he can run (kinda...it depends on how much of the rest of the stuff he has been doing), and he has come in with us to San Quentin several times, which means he has a strong constitution.

Noah's specialty is to wear down a team with a heavy ball that he throws to off set his breaking stuff. He usually isn't challenging any air speed records, but that makes him harder to hit. Its like 9 different kinds of change ups, some of which break, some of which don't, some of which knuckle, some of which come at your head. You never know, and after 9 innings, you can come up to the plate against him and see three pitches that you haven't seen the whole game. I respect that.

Catching-wise, Noah is solid. I think he and Greg are the two that really prefer to be behind the dish, they just seem at home there (nyuck nyuck). Noah has the greatest framing ability I have seen yet, even on pitches wildly out of the strike zone. He calls a good game, he has his own gear, and he will take one in the throat if he needs to.

As a Rhode Island native, Noah is all about the Boston Red Sox, but we try not to hold that against him. Rumor has it he was voted the best ballplayer in Rhode Island in the early 90's, but you would have to ask him about that.

Noah has style, he drives a cool car (to replace the other cool car that we don't want to talk about...), has all the baseball gear you could ever want and has the natural balance of a ball player. He also coaches the Urban Blues, along with his Jameson battery mate Dustin Skiles, and if you ever get a chance to go to a game, its a lot of fun to watch young ballplayers learning the game.

He is an avid follower of the blog, and has been since the beginning. For a while, he was the only person brave enough to say he was following it. We are now at 12 people! Mostly, Noah is just a good fucking person, and that is what we look for in a MBC regular.

Noah, its always a pleasure. Except when you are lighting me up, as you have been in the last few months....well, even then, its still pretty cool.

S. Paige

Monday, June 20, 2011

6/19/11 West Sunset

Wow.


Nice, huh?


We had 20, we had fans, we had Fathers with iron clad excuses to play ball, we had perfect to almost really hot weather, and we had baseball.

Satch and Johnny squared off in a duel to begin, and the warm weather was working. As was the change up. Had a few K's. Johnny had a few K's.

The game got into the scoring business early, and the visitors took a strong lead into the middle of the game, somewhere in the 7-2 range. Then we tacked on a few more, and then it was 10-4, and the heat was growing. Johnny stayed a real trooper on the mound, and threw 9 strong.
Greg came in the 7th and threw the rest for the visitors, in a fashion behooving the deadly mop up man that he is, Noah, the workhorse, came in a did 2 for the homers, and had a couple of K's himself.

We dinked, they blooped, we booted, they scooted. I know I kicked a ground ball, and I wasn't the only one. By the end of the regular game, it was 14-19, and we played two more innings. So by the end of the whole thing, it was either 15-10, or 1-1, depending on if we had wiped it clean.

But the real MVP of the game was the weather, which especially for the West Sunset, was phenomenal.

Highlights:

* Happy Fathers Day! I had Mrs. Paige and the in-laws in from that far off destination Walnut Creek, have you heard of it? I heard they have some good travel packages if you ever want to jet away for a weekend....

* Johnny deserved a better game, but no one does it finer!

* Weird ground balls and skips all day

* Adam managed to psyche Lattig into hitting several opposite field hits, if that was his intention

* Elvin had an amazing barehanded play at third, web gem shit, seriously.

* Duane was denied a triple for the first time since April.

* Noah continued to hit the ball hard

* Jakob came out again, and made a great snatch in left, and had a couple of hits

* Bob showed, nursing an injured side, get well soon! You see what happens when you try to help the youth of today!

* I took one in the side, since Bob was out. Tip my cap to you, Sir.

* Stoner got another 6 hour pass, and was frustrated at the plate most of the day, except for one wallop, however made a couple of great catches in the outfield. You can't always have it all, but its nice to have a little of everything!

* Nice to see Richie out again, who did what Richie does best on the basepaths

* Jason making it two in a row as well, and looking good at all positions and had himself a roundtripper, the hard way

* JT had the unfortunate luck of being the bloop guy in left, but he also made a couple of much needed catches

* Rick was nursing some sort of injury, but played most of the game.

* All my hard hit balls were caught and all my high pop flies were hits, you tell me how to feel about that

* We almost doubled off a runner, but I forgot how many outs there were, and admired that I hadn't been killed by the ball. Noah, much more of a professional, got his double play.

* I have crowned Ed officially an RBI man. He is the guy you want hitting in a tight spot with runners on. Adam has crowned him Eddie Spaghetti

* Fourth of July is coming up.

* John Mcg had a strong hit(s)

* Greg continued his headhunting ways, hitting Adam in the noggin, and coming close with three others. Who knew Greg was such a jerk?

* Thanks to Gaspar, Greg, Ed, Adam, Noah for catching

Don't know where.

S. Paige

Friday, June 17, 2011

June 2 San Quentin Pics



Here through the magic of photo shop is our team that tied the SQ Giants. Thanks to Johnny for the pics, the artistry of digital manipulation, and being the bon vivant that he is.



6/12/11 West Sunset

Sorry for the late posting, I was back home this week, cleaning out the storage shed and enjoying the 95 degree weather.

A classic match up on Sunday, with Satch and Sean Paul Presley back in form and dealing. But unlike the usual Sean pitching time, we didn't have 14 K's and no runs. It was a lively game, sparked by the occasional big hit, but for the most part, it was infield hits and timely errors that made the difference.

We also had a glut of new faces, almost to the point that we needed to say something about not advertising this game to every person you know who knows what a baseball is (Brisken, we are looking in your direction.) But Tim, the other new Dennis guy looked like he knew what he was doing, and he and Sean combined for a double and home run in the first inning, which was interesting. Tim then took over pitching duties in the 8th and shut down the home team for the rest of the game (we played 12).

Satch bowed out the same time that Sean did, given the 12-13 man rosters, so that we could take our turn at the bench, and Greg came into mop up. Amazingly, at the time, the score was tied 6-6, and some might say it had been a pitchers duel, if you can have high scoring pitchers duels?

In any case, it didn't stay tied forever, and the visitors started to move slow and steadily away and into the winners column. By the end, it might have been 12-7? But maybe it just felt that way after a good long sunny day of hard ball.

Highlights:

* A lot of new faces, and all the new guys were very polite, to the point that we had to start asking them to play defense, since they didn't want to take a position that someone else had designs on...

* Please, if you are going to play a position, know that you have enough basic skills to do so, we have had a lot of SS and 1st basemen recently who are missing easy plays, a good test, if you are only catching 50% of the balls at 1st base, don't play there. Its a dangerous position for you and the runner, because if you don't know what you are doing, and you step in the way of the runner, its your fault and there is going to be an ugly collision. Which doesn't help anyone.

* Sean hit another home run off me, a no doubter, and then followed with a double off the wall. One of these days...

* Richie made it back out, and then had the unfortunate task of being in right field for a entire line up's worth of hits in the sun, and all over the place drops.

* Rob came out again finally, and had 3 infield hits, which is his specialty. Also played a good center field, including a last second leap to catch a long line drive

* Outfielders lets all remember that your first steps on a ball are back not forward

* I was Mitched again, he caught a ball right before the wall at the 356 mark. Mitch!

* JT won a great battle in a RBI situation, with a nice crack up the middle. Nice Work JT!

* It was a pretty good defensive game, again

* Bob got hit twice in the same at bat, although the first one was a real sissy slap of a HBP.

* Duane hit another triple! Someone call Guinness!

* Doc showed up, limping from a recent motorcycle accident. We all recommended that he give up the iron horse, as we all did years ago. Get well soon Doc!

* Thanks to Bob, Greg, Gaspar, Adam and Ed for catching.

* Gaspar threaded the needle again though the Gaspar shift for a hit, it's like watching the ballet

* Jacob is indeed Dennis' clone, as he states, mostly because they both have the curious talent for not enough sock and not enough pants to join up, leaving that strip of skin around the lower knee.

* Special thanks to Johnny for starting the day in Chicago, and making it to the game. That is what we refer to as "heart."

Same place, same time.

S. Paige





Friday, June 10, 2011

Update: I guess I am the Asshole.

This just in from Elvin, who is vouching for the purity of Sean's home run.

"the homerun ball was pre maturely stuck in the tree. it was prevented from clearing the fence. It was a homerun. (Ed. Note: emphasis added)

We were able to get the ball down with another ball.

So I guess I am the guy with the problem now, I mean, other than the fact that I gave up a righteous donger in a close game.....well it made for good copy anyway.

See you Sunday, hopefully we will know where at some point.

S. Paige

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

6/5/11- West Sunset

The games after a SQ visit are often strange....and the weather proved to fit well into that equation. Muggy. Damp. Sweaty. Cold? Windy. All of these factored into a great pair of games, one regular, one exhibition.

Most of us thought there would be no game on Sunday, due to the tropical storms that moved through on Saturday, but the message came through from Greg that the field was in fine shape, and it was! It was as if someone had just watered real well a few hours earlier.

The teams broke off, and it looked as though the homers might have the edge, but it was a day of irregulars, and nothing was certain. Noah took the bump for the visitors, and pitched the entire day. Note I did not say game, match or situation. I said day. 12 innings for the big workhorse, and his last five pitches might have been harder than his first five. It's just how he do. And not only did he work his soup bone like a champ, he earned himself two victories....ooops, did I just give away the whole thing? Am I talking to myself here? Hello?

Well, fuck it, Noah deserves it.

The game itself was the usual back and forth affair. Satch started for the homers and threw a decent 10 innings, and I think managed to garner both losses, although Johnny says that we tied it up in the 2nd game, when he was pitching. Real gentleman to throw himself on that grenade, but we'll just leave it at, I got beat. I felt good, threw lots of junk, got the pitches I needed to, but there were a lot of balls that the other squad jumped all over. Sometimes its like that.

Round about the fourth inning, we had scratched our way back to a close game, and Sean decides to haul off and whale one into McCovey trees, in right. That was the first home run I wasn't trying to give up, in a while. I found out later that the ball had actually become lodged in the trees in front of the fence. That smells like a dead ball, ground rule double to me?

Greg said something about rafters, but, I ask you, can you really justify citing rules that are based upon covered stadium/Dome instances? That's like saying you figured out the key to perpetual motion is to just build a machine that runs forever. All filler-no fact, in other words.

It was a hell of knock.

Noah, proving that he was in fact George Herman Ruth for the day, also added a couple of really hard hit balls, one I believe for a triple, which I at least got to enjoy watching him wear out his legs running.

The visitors employed the bloop scenario and then capitalized on those which extra base hits and the old fashioned shitty fielding option. The homers tried to hit the ball too hard, and usually it was right at someone.

So the first game ended in a score settled by one run, I believe 6-5 was the final.

We took the field for the second game, wiped the slate clean, and then the visitors picked right up where they had left off and scored a bunch of runs. I bowed out, Bartlett came in to stop the bleeding as best he could, and we lost the second game by a margin more like 7-3.

Highlights:

* Noah deserves the game ball(s) and a shot of Jameson.

* Duane hit another triple, its getting to be a thing with him.

* The defense on both sides was pretty good, some bad hops and bounces, but for the most part, people made the plays

* I made a bonehead running play, not going home on a 1 out ground ball. I am nervous about full steam home plate collisions. By collisions, I mean of course, tripping over the plate and hitting my face on the back stop. The catcher should know better than to be anywhere close by as that happens.

* Ed and Greg caught the entire game for the teams!

* I got to run the first and third play that I love, the runner on first takes off, hopefully inducing a balk (which we don't count, but which did happen, for the record, Noah :)) So then you get in a pickle and hope that the guy on third gets a good enough lead to make a dash for home. Well, Noah knows what to do, and they let me go once Adam got too far off. But I got to steal second, and run the ol' ruse.

* Dennis and his kid Jacob came out, glad to see the ankle is rehabbing well, we all wish him luck with that. Jacob seems like a good kid, and has the ability to hit the ball hard and make a catch when it counts. Dennis, if you are out there, I would advise not talking to him or trying to give him pointers while he is at bat. The at-bat you were somewhere else, he hit a nasty pitch for a double....just saying, let the natural talents to come about.

* Chris and I were talking about his knack for catching over the shoulder plays from SS. He and Phelps used to practice it when they were kids. In any case, of course, the first one of the day he lets get away from him. Damn, I should have kept my mouth shut. Well, he got another opportunity later and made it. Whew!

* Rich proved to be mortal at the plate for once. Played a great center field though

* Paul made a really nice grab out in left field too and waxed poetic about the Yankee front office in the 50's and 60's (His mom worked there!)

* Adam attempted to throw everyone off their game by saying their name really loud after they hit the ball (...now I don't want to say the neighborhood has changed but....)

* Sean made a great stretch at 1st, and looked good for a man that went five hard at the Q. Why can't you get that kind of hit in there!

* Lattig was fresh off a plane from Paris, and made the plays but wasn't quite the 5 tool player he usually is. Who is after two weeks in the City of Lights? Come, let us sit and smoke, stroke our thin mustaches, drink too much wine and talk of things that make us sad and joyful, like a broken-legged child at the beach.

* We had a strange scenario where we went home for a play with two outs. I think it worked, but strange

* Lets all remember to hit our cutoffs, not only is it the right thing to do but it saves your arms too! Rich, you are excused.

* Lets all remember to keep Bob flush in money, and we need to start planning the 4th of July double header, who's going to get the Bad Sportsmanship trophy? Start casting your ballots now.

Not sure where we are this week, but I know its potential for awesome is high.

S. Paige



Sunday, June 5, 2011

6/2/11- MBC vs. SQ Giants

First off, let me say that I am writing this review at 3 am, after going to see Peaches Christ at The Bridge, which brought us "Sleepaway Camp" tonight! Best movie ever, if you haven't seen it. ..

So, we lined up outside the gate and we waited....and waited. It ended up being one of those times when the guard was kind of a dick, and there was something obviously messed up with the count, and yet, there we sat, waiting.....

We got in by about 5:15, and quickly warmed up, and once again declined the infield and outfield in order to get the game started. And get it started we did, coming head to head with our favorite rivals the Giants. Yet, this time, it wasn't 18-0, after the second inning.

Sean Presley, rested and looking sharp despite the scruffy beard, was dominating on the hill. His shoulder may have been sore, but his heart and spirit were firmly in play when he took to the bump.

For once, we actually scored the first run, going ahead on Ed's clean ground ball up the middle. Way to go Ed, thanks for not flailing away as so many first timers will do. Doing the pitching for the Giants was Mario, who we have faced before, but never with this much riding on the stake of the game. His short arming days seem to be behind him, as he had a deceiving fastball and a wicked curve, when it was working.

Jimmy was given the mantle of lead off man, based on his last showing at the Q, but this time it wasn't his turn. The game was decided by the patient bats and the topsy turvy calls of the man behind the dish, Junkyard. Yes, the closer for the A's, was the man calling the balls and strikes. Or should we say strikes as he saw them...

The true heroes proved to be Stoner, Greg and others who took walks when they needed to, or made important sacrifices when the time was right. Of course, that is only part of the story. Chris Powell took at least 4 balls off the chest and stomach, and turned them into outs, which helped immensely.

In the end, we played 7, Satch came in and threw 6 pitches in relief for the 6th and then got cocky and gave up the tying run in the 7th. In the win column, at least I didn't give up a hit to Red or Johnny Badass. We were cut short by last bell, and not a man among us will disagree that we need to bring up the last 2 innings before we start anything new with the Giants. It's the principality of the thing....

The Marin Brewing company provided high quality after game service, as usual. But then again, I am the nice guy.


Highlights:

* Ed had his first SQ RBI and had the guy at third, if only we had appealed the call

* Solid defense for the whole game, most of the hits were legit

* The patience was great, when we got a nice string of walks for the go ahead

* Mario still had at least 6 strikeouts, including me, and with many a thanks to Junkyard who's strike zone was as expansive as his sentence

* We certainly took advantage of the right side, and no one got thrown out for not legging out the single to right field

* Two out rally baby!

* John McG and Ed played a great 2nd and got some key outs!

* Johnny Badass is so badass that he doesn't care about catchers interference, he'll take a bat on the arm for the team

* Stoner and Phelps are the lucky third base coaches, you want a run, get these guys coaching.

* Got a single with the War Hammer

* We had a couple of close plays at the plate, one where Johnny Bad ass was crashing hard and slid head first, was tagged out, then slapped the ball out of Greg's mitt just for fun, and one where Johnny Bartlett was out by a mile, and got a little high face action to cement the play.

* We picked a guy off at second to preserve the tie

* Jimmy ran so far to collect a ground rule double, we were worried he might come back with scars and a cellie.

* Small pine tar bottles are illegal. Large water bottles are fine. If you can provide a good explanation why, you might be able to run a CA prison.

* We met the first woman warden. She seemed very smart, sure and capable. The asst. coach introduced her as "pretty". Keep reaching for the glass ceiling, Ex-Warden Jeanne Woodford.

* All in all, a great game, and I think we were all a little relieved that it ended up a tie.

See you on Sunday, rain or shine!

S. Paige

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

5/29/11- West Sunset

It was a great Memorial day, we were a little worried about the show up due to the long weekend, but we were treated to 19 stout fellows. The breeze was blowing all day, and was pushing pretty strong, straight out to right field. Remember that fact, 'cuz it came into play later.

Johnny started and ended for the homers, pitching 10 strong. Satch and Tony combined for the visitors, the game was a real high scoring affair. Sean, nursing a tender shoulder, got to be on the same team as me, which never happens. The really amazing thing is that by the end of the 3rd inning, I hadn't thrown 20 pitches yet. The wind being as strong as it was, was not going to let the fastball be of any use, so I kept to the knuckle balls and changeups. It worked well.

The same could not be said for Johnny, my own personal opinion was that the wind was flattening out Johnny's natural movement, and that combined with the visitors strong lineup, made for some long balls. But no one can deny that he gave it his all, and anyone that can throw 10 innings is a champ in my book.

The visitors took an early lead, and before we knew what was happening, the score started to get out of control. Something in the neighborhood of 7-0? No one likes a lop sided affair, so I took it upon myself to fall on the sword and end the bleeding so as to restart everyone's clocks. Sure enough, as soon as we started to talk about switching up the teams, the homers got into the scoring business and put 4 runs on the board. From there, the game stayed close until another explosion of runs carried the visitors into the double digits.

The first home run of the game came from Sean, who first hit a foul ball that ricocheted off the right field fence, and then on the next swing, tattooed one into the trees. The second home run came from the personally designated DH hitter, Loren, who gave the homers a light up in the last part of the game. With the score in the region of 14-9, Loren sent one high and deep, almost to the exact same place that Sean had hit his.

And I cannot in good faith, leave my own personal blast off the record, even though it was to left field, where there is no fence. I challenge anyone to say that ball would not have been out of any MLB park. I think the secret with my hit was I got it above the gusting wind, allowing it to not get hung up in the air or blow into center field where Mitch would have caught it. I really wanted to trot around the bases, but I settled for a languorous triple.

And speaking of triples, the other big hitting news of the day was Duane, who appears to have cured his back problems to the tune of three triples! Never seen that before....

Tony took over for the visitors in the 8th, and threw the 9th and bonus 10th, with only a few hiccups. The homers made a valiant effort in the final gasps of the game, but the divide was too much, and the visitors were victorious, in a 14-11 win.

Highlights:

* Mike Gaspar made an amazing foul ball catch, after the wind blew a pop up from the stadium seats, all the way back to the third base line

* The entire squad had a case of the dropsies, we saw more balls in gloves and then out of gloves than ever.

* Bob and I both narrowly missed getting clocked in the face by hard hit balls.

* Mitch made his usual array of dynamic catches

* Elvin had some strong hits on balls in the strike zone and played a good second base

* Stoner made his monthly appearance and made two outs in one inning, one regular, one slide style

* Tim and Loren crawled in a bag with Jeremiah Weed Hard Lemonade somewhere in the 3rd.

* I managed to hit a line drive that tumbled perfectly as it went through Gaspar's legs, hit the back of his shoe and into left field

* A hearty thanks to the homers for being reasonable enough not to insist that we enforce Tony's balk, a tough thing to do with men in scoring position and needing the runs

* The wind seemed to be more of a problem for the infield than the outfield

* Loren did make a nice grab at second base....the inning that he played there.

* John McG had a triple of his own

* Bob was our lead off batter and used the cheater stick again to no avail

* Gaspar beat the Gaspar shift, only because we felt foolish playing the 2nd baseman in the SS position, we now know better

* I think Ed caught the whole game for the homers, and had at least one extra base hit

* The new guy who came out looked like he knew what he was doing

* We successfully got a man out at home on a corners-in play!

* But then we tried to get the double play, and ended up throwing a triple to the batter.

* After my sacrificial bunt to end our mega-rally, I later tried to bunt for a base hit and pretty much bunted it back to the same place.

* With a full day of hitting for both sides, the flip side of the coin was Greg, who really stunk up the joint by going 0-6 or something, and never got the ball out of the infield

Alright, keep your fingers crossed for dry skies this weekend, if it keeps up like this maybe it will only rain in the morning and dry by the afternoon.

S. Paige

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Dear Kyle, Girgus, Dave J,. Richard B., Pete (2), Richie, Dan, William, Jason, Phil, Eli (actually fuck you Eli),

I hope you can hear this. We need you. Both as a player and as a presence.

Keep in Touch,

S. Paige

Drunk

Yeah, Duane has a blog too, and its about baseball.




You should all check it out. Expand your mind. Learn what a slider is.

Know what the rule is when it comes to pop fly in the infield, with less than two outs.

Or maybe just have a good time.

S. Paige

Monday, May 23, 2011

5/15/11 Cop Field

Here's a note from one of our legal representatives, Ed Sidawi, on the Sunday game last week. Sorry I had to miss it, but Satch's wife don't like it when baseball takes up the whole weekend. I am not sure why.


A light showing on a beautiful day following a SQ game. A little after 3pm, Mitch
showed up to make 14. After the rejoicing, Johnny took the mound for the Home
team. Sean, after raking the mound pre-game, demanded the ball for the visitors.

The game see-sawed back and forth, with each team leading for a time, and tied
for a time. 3 runs for the visitors in the, in the, well lets call it the 7th
was the last scoring. 11-8 was the final. I think.

We played 8 to 10 innings there was much debate, but as with all seven on seven
games, there is a lot of moving around.

Highlights:

*Johnny pitched his usually complete game, Roy Halladay is the active Career
leader with 62. Johnny should pass him by November.

*Tony pitched 2 innings and I think he didn’t give up a baserunner.

*McJohn’s Cousins or nephew or some kind of relations Josh and Dan came out.
Josh hit the ball very hard, but the advance scouts had the defense played
perfectly. We will miss him this summer as he is playing on a traveling team.

*Sean gutted out 7 or 8 innings.

*I am pretty sure no one got hit (Editors note: Was Bob not there, or just lucky?)

5/14/11- MBC versus SQ A's


We collected outside the gate, in the afternoon, that threatened to rain, but never did. We were entertained by a ornery old gate guard, who had decided he would list out and apply every rule and myth that he could, mostly because the count hadn't finished and he thought we were in need of "learning." Probably good that he reminded people that the tower guards shoot people with blue jackets on in case of trouble. Mental note 1: Don't wear a blue jacket to the game.

He searched each and every bag, made sure that we all memorized the rules about cell phones, food, drinks, and sunflower seeds. The curious thing is that while he listed all of the things that we were not supposed to have, he didn't really stop us from bringing them in, he mostly just wanted to cover his own ass so we could testify to the fact that he had warned us.

Unfortunately something got fucked up, and Dustin was not able to join us inside. He made up for it hanging at the bar in Larkspur, keeping our rep legit. Hopefully we can iron it out so D-Sky can make it inside next time.

In any case, the all clear bell sounded, we made our way in, and got the field just as the inmates were getting the gear and uniforms out of the locked shed. As time was a factor, and we had never gotten a complete game in the afternoon slot, we told the A's we were ready to start, no infield/outfield required.

Ke'Lam started for the A's, back from shoulder surgery, and apparently a pitcher now. He seemed to have taken on the Stretch role of team representative. There were a few other guys that we recognized from Giants game past, and there was no real difference in the play, so I would say that there are two equal teams at SQ now, rather than an A squad and B squad. As the Giants rep, Johnny "Bad Ass" was behind the fence for the beginning of the game, giving a mixture of shit talking and encouragement to the batters. Then he moved out to right field, and kept his thing going from there.

As usual, they jumped to an early lead, and we failed to get a hit for a while. We do think that Jimmy (his first trip inside) got a hit, but the Con-gress (haha) ruled it was an error. Our first couple of innings were not as tragic as past games, where every one catches their own feet and pop flys drop in the middle of seven guys (that came later.) They had some legit hits, and before we got our first hit, the score was 4-0.

One thing that always seems to be an issue for us is base coaching. It is one of those things that we don't practice very often in our games, and usually by the time that we realize we need a coach at third, its too late. My own issue with base coaching in the SQ game came when I was barreling towards third, and realized that Phelps was a little too close inside my trajectory line if I rounded the bag. In my attempt to slow down or in any way not kill Brian, I tripped over the bag, went face first in to the dirt, cut up my hand, sprained my ankle, but managed to cradle the loose bag in a effort to not be called out. It worked. Helpful hint to all, it is in everybody's best interest to stay out of that zone, now referred to as Big Train Alley.

The other issue of the day was the umpires. Now we all know that there is a lean towards the convicts side, and we accept that. The home plate umpire had a big zone, but it seemed to work most of the time both ways. There were a few times when Greg and I had to share a look of disbelief that a ball was not called a strike, and once he had the LATEST strike call I have ever experienced, but luckily we all froze and waited, and waited, and waited, and eventually he did make the call. The field umpire was another story. He must owe some people on the team or just be really stoked for the A's to win. He was missing calls all over the place, called an out at the tail end of a double play that was just wrong, and completely missed a pick off attempt. I think he was overexcited about being able to ring people up, well, more specifically, us.

We finally got in the scoring mood, and once we had that first run, our confidence came back to us, and for a change the other team started making mistakes. We had to beg and plead to get the scoreboard guys to put our runs up though. We kept up the scoring, and made some great defensive plays to keep the game close. They brought in Junkyard to close the game, and we all thought that this was our opportunity. He was no cupcake though, and even though it was a one run game, he looked calm. The frantic final bell time keeping, I think, psyched us out a little though, and we went down 1, 2, 3 in our final at bat, and accepted a 7-6 loss.

Handshakes and thanks all around, and out we went to the world again. The Marin Brewing Company welcomed us with cold beers, a drunk Dustin, and good burgers.

Highlights:

* Lineup for the SQ A's

1. Ke'lam
2. Rahim
3. Jeff
4. Chris
5. Dalton
6. Paul
7. Manning (DH)
8. T Burton
9. Junkyard
10. Donnie

* I managed to hit four guys, all with exceptionally slow changeups or knuckleballs. And most of them on 1-2 counts. Adam said they all reported that they were happy to get hit, so they could get on base.

* We turned a double play of our own to get our of a tight jam!

* No one hit a cheapy to right, but I got within a foot of it.

* Jimmy hit the ball hard all day, and didn't ever look scared.

* I haven't been able to check in with him to see if he is alright, but I hit Greg in the throat with a bouncing knuckleball. Sorry!

* The outfielders were duped a couple of times by the fast outfield, I think we are all used to the slow grass, but SQ is a quick one.

* Chris and Jimmy scored on a double to left center, they had to wait to see if it fell, and by the time they scored, they were almost piggybacking

* Brian Phelps got sent home by an overeager third base coach, and had to do the worm to get around the catcher. Maybe we can pop lock for a run next time.

* Best Pre-game moment: Noah explaining the five gloves in his bag to the old guard why he needed them and how they were different.

* Chris made a great stop at SS, we didn't get the out, but it saved a run.

* We brushed the metal plate on the first base line, so we would know where it was. One of the A's rounded it the next inning, thinking it was the base. They covered it back up.

* The wind made for an interesting game, we had guys running all over the place. The best was a pop fly that looked like it was 2nd base all the way, then, it was 1st, then it was pitcher, then it fell in the middle of all of us, and thankfully rolled foul. Nice play everybody.

* We also had a team wide run down, we should have just surrounded the guy, since 8 of us were running that direction.

* Successfully picked a guy off first, which really sucked 'cuz he was so happy he had gotten a hit. He was scary mad for a little while.

* Their DH laid down a picture perfect bunt for a safety squeeze play. We need to learn that play.

Thanks to all that came out, email me if there are things that I missed that you feel should be included. Also, those who took pictures, send them to me, so I can add them.

Next game is June 2nd, and then June 25.

S. Paige

Saturday, May 14, 2011

See you inside.

San Quentin A's versus the Mission Baseball club. 5:05 pm game.

Looks like rain late in the innings, and who knows what new policy is there to bedevil us.

Hope we make a good showing on the Field of Dreams. I also hope we all make it to the parking lot afterwards.

And we are still looking for the ending from the umpire guy who told the story about stealing the monkey out of San Francisco Zoo.

S. Paige

Monday, May 9, 2011

5/8/11- Cop Field

Happy Mother's Day to you all, especially since some of you are the biggest mothers I know....ahahha (Elks lodge joke).

We were a little worried when 3 pm came and went and we were still stranded at 11 guys. But the late shift was fruitful, and by the time we started, it was 8-8, perfect for that extra at bat game. We were greeted by a sunny day, but the wind howled through the entire game, and made for some interesting play.

Sean started after a long absence, and pitched well, but was not his usual dominating self. It was nice for us, because the game actually had some runs scored, and went back and forth, rather than a long drawn out pitchers duel. But he did manage to strike out a few, myself included, and he went 7, so I can't say it was not a a stellar performance ( This is probably the kind of thing Sandy Koufax got tired of, when he got flak for pitching a great game, rather than a no hitter). I think the wind, blowing as it was, was slowing down the fast ball. I figured out early on that I better use the wind to my advantage on the bump, so I took the slow ball approach, and let the wind do my pitching for me. I feel great today, even though I threw 9, but I think it was because I rarely got above batting practice speed with anything. Guile can be a useful tool.

Left field and pop ups in general, ended up being the Waterloo of the whole game, between the sun and wind, it was a real Thunderdome out there. And of course, that is where we had the other team's replacement playing, which probably didn't help things.

The score built slow and steady, 1-0, 1-1. then the homers exploded for four runs, employing the dink tactic that worked so well last week. We got 8 straight dying quails off of Sean, with maybe a muff in there somewhere, but it was mostly wristed flares. But it worked.

The visitors thundered back however, and scored their own brace of runs, bringing the game back to a one run contest. Sean and I held the ground for a while, blanking each others hitters, getting out of tough situations, and praying for strong defense. The homers finally went up for the final time, and the game ended in 8-6 win for the home squad.

Brian Phelps, who had pitched the last inning for the visitors, offered us a final at bat, which none of us refused, but should have, as we went down one two three. And then everyone wanted to go home? The visitors didn't want their chance? I have never seen that before, but as long as no one felt cheated, works for me!

Highlights:

* Thanks to everyone who made it out, and assured that we would have a game. It was a little dicey for a second.

* Thanks to Noah and Greg, who caught the entire game

* A pretty good defensive game, with a few exceptions.

* Chris proved he can steal at will, but he didn't steal home, and that's the one that counts.

* Tony, with his little black dog in tow (Beetie? Dee Dee?) looked great in full Willie Mays gear, celebrating the Say Hey Kid's 80th. True to form, Tony's dog sat in the batters box and watched him until he put a leash on her.

* Jay looked much more solid at second base, and caught a number of hard hit ground balls, nice work.

* Jimmy and Duane came back, and I think they each had some solid hits, thanks for making it guys!

* Elvin, resplendent in his Giants orange, had a well timed couple of RBI's! Way to go, we were disappointed that he fooled us into thinking that he had actually worn the same colored socks.

* Nero and Gaspar are officially on notice, since there was no pre-stated reason for missing the game and we know their mom's don't live around here.

* Adam made some nice plays at 1st, everyone of them was close enough that I had to run towards the bag, but in the end better for him to make the play on his own. But you gots to cover anyway ( Jonathan Sanchez, I am looking in your direction)

* Noah did an awesome tumble over his mask in trying to track a foul ball, which is why they tell you to throw the mask away

* Noah also overcame last week's aversion to hitting and had a hard hit double and dug a knuckleball out of the dirt for a hit

* Brian almost had another one of my hits to center, the key is to get it high enough that the wind takes over, I am good at hitting real high balls, not long, but high

* Duane almost had an amazing bunt, Tony and Greg had the presence of mind to let it go, but it was almost perfect

* Sean also had a suspect hit, I don't think it hit the bag, but Greg did and called it a double...them's the breaks and I shouldn't be complaining

Well, hope everyone enjoyed themselves, wherever you were.

S. Paige

UPDATE: Gaspar reported in that he was at the Giants game, which is a perfectly good excuse.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

5/1/11- Camp Swampy

"What a day for a baseball game"- Everybody

It was sunny, clear, the wind was blowing out, and we were all astonished that only 19 people showed. We were expecting dead men in rags to come shuffling out, mumbling about how they have been too busy with family and work stuff.

In any case, we split the teams, Satch starting for the homers, Noah for the visitors. The teams seemed pretty well divided, there was power on both sides, and defense, but the play that defined the day was the gork. By the end of 3 frames, the visitors had run up a healthy total of runs, by employing every dink and drop hit they could muster. And it wasn't that we were dropping the ball, the hits were just very strategically placed.

The homers relied more on good old fashioned hitting and shitty fielding, which is the MBC way. Our luck took a turn for the better when John McG stepped up and hit a 2 iron out to left field that just kept going and going. Mike Lattig was out there, which is usually death for all good hits, but this one stayed on a level course and sailed over his head. Rounding third, John had the look of a man in disbelief, as we all steered him home. An added bonus that his kids were there to see it.

Two innings later, Brian Phelps stepped into the box, after fooling us all earlier with opposite field power, he put one into the rafters in right. Brian, being quicker and younger than most, didn't look as though he needed the O2 when he stepped on the dish for the second home run of the game.

Then it got interesting.

John hit another one to the exact same place in left, only a little further, and Brian hit one into the right center gap that left us all in disbelief, as two people hit 4 home runs in one day! Definitely a first!

We homers had the defense going for us, as we turned a number of double plays, which really helped when we needed to have a quick inning. But for the visitors, the hits just kept on coming. The score obviously was a little higher than usual, as were the players, we tied the game at 6-6 and then again at 9-9. However, the visitors had a little more moxie going for them, and when they brought in Johnny Bartlett, "The Man who knows how to Cool the Bats," we knew that the death knell could not be far behind.

The final score ended up in the 13-9 range, and while there was a bit of fire left in people to keep playing, the sun and the excitement had drained the players. So it was decided that we would go home, while we still had time to have a beer and enjoy the beautiful day.

Highlights:

* Adam and Nick both played a great first sack, making scoops and back handed snares

* Three double plays, and almost a fourth, and we actually successfully completed the 3-6-1 DP!

* A special note from JT," I was glad to see Mitch, until he caught the best ball I have hit all year"

* Bob showed up in the 6th again, and went right to work

* Gaspar and I worked out a bunt/steal play,and it worked great, and we caught Nick unaware, I took third and then home to tie the game! Love that kind of stuff!

* Adam slid hard into second and got a skinned arm for his effort, he doused it in HydroPerox, and slapped some tape on it and kept playing. That's cool.

* Chris once again played a great SS

* A note to all: I was always told that in the MBC that it is uncouth to do the ol' fake catch and tag at second when a guy is stealing and there really isn't a throw. I guess for us, every time we slide, we risk our baseball future. This was also told to me by Richard Baluyut, so one has to take the source into account. But I would say that its a good rule to follow.

* We had a new guy (Daniel?) out, who had a real pretty hit

* I think I was 5-5, was anyone else? I am trying to remember not getting on base, help?

* Tony made one of the prettiest Rojas plays we have seen in a while. The pick, the pump, the set, the double pump, the walk and the throw. Got him!

* I hit Jay (sorry) and then he got a hit off of me. That's even.

* The outfield was really fast, which is really unusual for Camp Swampy. It was like concrete with bumps out there

* I struck Noah out three consecutive times, with three change ups. Someone else made the reference, so here it is: Roy Hobbs versus The Whammer



Not sure where we are next week, but it will be Mother's Day, for all you mothers. So bring your mom out.

S. Paige

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

4/24/11- Cop Field

I wrote a much more eloquent recap, and it was erased somehow, damn!

Well, all I can say is that Jesus is lucky that we had enough to play a game, otherwise there might have been some real angry people in heaven once we got there! In any case, it was a beautiful day, well, it was a little chilly when we first started, but the clouds blew away and we were left with gorgeous sunshine.

We started with Havana 6's and Jay and Ed showed up a little after the first inning began, and we had ourselves a real game. I forgot how tiring it can be to play with 7's, its nice to be active more, but it is also nice to be able to sit down once in a while.

Greg and I started on the bump and Greg and I finished on the bump. Great to have a complete game from both sides. It was also great that each of us had some real short innings, 5-7 pitch kind of things. The whole game moved really quick and we were finished by 5:15!

We were also graced by the return of John Carey, who looked like he had done some growing since we had seen him last. He promptly announced his return by hitting a triple off me to open the game. The brashness and talent of the youth, eh? I got my revenge, but he still played a hell of a game. He moves out of the way of the knuckleball better than his old man too. Played all over, and even caught the last inning, and showed off a cannon for an arm.

The visitors started off ahead, thanks to said triple, but we clawed back to take the lead. We see-sawed for a few innings, and found ourselves tied 4-4 in the 3rd. Somewhere around the 5th, the homers took the lead, and never looked back. We unloaded for a bunch of runs, and by the end of the game it was 12-5ish. Timely hitting, timely errors and base running seemed to be the differences in the game.

Highlights:

* Thanks to everyone who made it out for the holiday

* Greg pitched inside to everyone and came close to hitting just about every batter. Ironically, the only person who was actually hit was Greg, by me, in the ribs. Sorry. I would have hit you in a spot with more padding, but with Greg, I am not sure where that would be

* Paul had another good defensive game, both for and against his team

* John Nero, with a sore leg, played a good second base, and scored about 3 times.

* JT had some nice plays after getting pulled off the bag at first. One of them was as I was trucking in, and he claimed that he is one of the few people that probably isn't as worried by my massive girth. My worry lies in my basic understanding of physics and how it relates to two large masses colliding

* I threw changeups and knuckleballs to Jay, confounding him, until he managed to rip two of them for solid singles. I love it when we can all teach, and learn and succeed

* Adam was 0-5 in his first at bats, and started to lament not taking the charity single that was offered to him on his first at bat. His last three at bats were better.

* I hit a ball that was generally accepted to have cleared any MLB center field fence. Stoner, where are the cones!!!!!!

* Chris made a number of great stops in the infield, including a sure fire double down the line

* Gaspar threaded a hit through the Gaspar shift again, and almost did it twice. The first time I have seen a center fielder record a pop fly out in short left field.

* We almost had John Carey caught stealing, nice throw Mike.

* Tony had three fielding errors in one inning, almost consecutively. And they were all different kinds of errors. Or maybe he was just giving us a chance.

* The Rojas knuckleball rule was also established, where he must swing at a knuckleball, if it is deemed awesome enough

* Gaspar reported a successful trip to Girgus for hair trimming. No obvious signs of head wounds or trauma, good news!

* Bob hit what looked like a sure fire single to right, and let loose a little trash talk. Prematurely it turned out, as it was caught. Oh well.

* We had a strikeout, pickoff at third to end an inning, not sure what the base runner was doing.

* We ended the game with a double play. That was cool.

* And now, for your viewing pleasure, the most dramatic 10 minutes of Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. Adam and I were discussing the nuances (Win one for the Looper!) and agreed that the fight scene is frightening, because you know that Kelly Leak probably would have killed that kid if they hadn't pulled him off. And then the classic running away scene. And where does he go to drown his sorrows? Pool hall, of course. Probably won some money, got a half a hand job in the bathroom, pulled some smokes out of the cigarette machine. The glorious 70's.


Monday, April 18, 2011

4/17/11- Camp Swampy

For the third week we found ourselves at Camp Swampy, although it was not the same weather that we have had before. As me and Mrs Paige came own from Sacramento, we watched the temperature drop from a balmy 88 degrees, and halfway across the Bay Bridge, the fog was sitting there like a cloud on the land. Camp Swampy was bathed in gray, and yet, as the perfect tease, if you looked east, you could see Oakland and the sunlight streaming in. It didn't stop us from having a great game, and it didn't stop the 30 guys from partying their asses off throughout our game, drinking Corona and having a BBQ. I tell you the Mexican leagues know how to turn any Sunday into a party, and when they go for it, they go for it.

In any case, we had 11-11, by the time everyone showed up, and the teams were evenly split again, making for a great game. Greg Snyder started for the homers, his first start in a while, with Sean plaything but not tempting fate with the injured leg and tweaky arm. Good move. We went down in order in the first, but with Satch on the mound, we were not so lucky to escape unscathed. It was to be the first of a series of scoring innings. 1-0 after the first, 3-0, after the third. However, it was not to be the end, as we visitors pounded back, and took the lead, 4-3. They then came back and tied it up 4-4.

Then round about the 5th or 6th, the wheels came off for the Homers, as we unleashed an orgy of hits. It began with 3 doubles in a row, and didn't stop until the score was 10-4. It began to sprinkle and spit rain, and then the sun would come out for a second, and then it would go back to grey, hot and muggy.

Johnny took over for Greg, and settled the game down, getting a couple of quick innings. I kept throwing, feeling surprisingly spry. The homers brought it back to 10-6, and then we got back in the hitting game, and scored 5 more. Going into the 9th, we thought we were cruising to a easy victory, but the ginger of the homers could not be denied. By the time we got two outs in the inning, they had brought the score to 15-11. However, with a foul chip to the first base side, the game was over.

Well, not quite, we rambled around for two more innings, but the score never changed, and while it was great to play a few extra, we were all pretty cold and exhausted by the end of it. With smiles all around we packed it in, and left the field feeling fulfilled.

Highlights:

* Weather aside, it was a great game

* Tony managed to have three hits that never left the infield, at least two of them on knuckleballs that squirmed away

* Rich and Sean each had some long balls hit to right

* Mike Lattig again showed off the leather in the outfield, making a number of great catches

* Bob showed up in about the 5th, and used a metal bat for the first time that any of us could remember, he promptly popped out to 2nd and stated to never do that again

* I made Sean run the entire game out in center field, no matter how deep he played, I still managed to get it over his head. The trick was the wind was blowing straight out to center, and as long as I hit it high enough, it would carry.

* The change up wasn't working for anyone today, I think it was the wind, which slowed it down too much, and held it up, like it was on a tee

* Defense on both sides was pretty good, no particularly bad plays anyway

* There were many loud hits, and it seemed like a lot more extra base hits than usual

* Elvin fouled off a pitch that was two feet over his head, none of us could quite believe that he actually got a piece of it

* Good to see Nero, Cagle and Edwin back after an absence, and new guys Howie and Dirtbag guy

* Adam tried pitching to few batters, couldn't find the dish, but the arm looked good

* Thanks to Nero, Greg, Ed, Bob for catching

* Lattig came in for the late relief, and looked good except, for once, he might have been sorry he wore shorts

* Paul came through with a solid RBI double when his team needed it

* Paul also got picked off of first. I noticed that he was 8 feet off the bag, while I was not even on the rubber

* We had another pickoff, from Adam, not too many times that has happened

* Rich, who we found out played 7 years in the minors (pretty amazing credentials for the MBC!) manned center field and SS, and took away hits at both positions

* Mitch worked the right side of the field all day, and I think scored at least 5 times

Next week we are at Cop Field. See you there.

S. Paige