Well my departure last week was premature as it turned out, the wife was kind enough to let me have one more day in the sun. And it was a great time, except there wasn't any sun. Plenty of fog and mugginess though. We had another big turnout, it was 11-11 this time instead of 17-17 though, so thank god for small miracles. Satch started for the homers in what may be the last go around for this show pony, well, for a little while anyway. And to switch things up, I got to face Johnny Bartlett, fresh off of a great game last week, which was erroneously reported. Apparently, he threw damn near a shut out last week.
The game see-sawed continuously, each team losing the lead, then reclaiming it, sometimes with authority. By the middle innings, the visitors put up what looked like an insurmountable lead, but somehow, we clawed our way our of a seven run deficit to tie the game.
I felt good, and everything seemed to working well, but I lost so many 2 strike counts that it started to feel like providence. I would get the first two strikes no problem, and I would throw exactly the pitch I wanted for the third one, and somehow it was get hit, well or dinked enough to fall in. And dink we did. Between the two teams there might have been a record number of dying quails.
Not all the hitting was so wussy though, as Rich showed us once again why it was that he played 7 years of professional baseball, while the rest of us were partying. Two home runs! That's right I said it. Off two pitchers. Amazing. He also had at least two doubles, so you might say that Rich was a big reason that we kept coming back.
I think we all enjoyed the action of never being comfortable with the lead we had. I bowed out after 7, and Johnny did the same, leaving Greg for the homers and Dustin and Brian Phelps for the visitors to mop up the game. We continued to outscore each other, and we played an extra inning to make up for the excess of players that we had. In the end, somehow, the homers won the game, which was most surprising to us, seeing how we had been in such a deep hole for a good part of the game. Final Score: 18-14.
Highlights:
* It was a real honest game, people who were picked off didn't argue about it, when a play was close at first, the defense didn't argue on a safe call.
* There were more triples hit than I care to remember, but I know Duane had at least one, as did both new guys
* Bob was hit twice, once on a fastball, which I felt bad about. Sorry Bob.
* Paul had the game of his life, he was at least 5-5 and made a spectacular diving catch in the short porch in right
* I am pretty sure that everyone on the other team got a hit off of me.
* Mitch had some great catches, but even more close ones that he safely veered away from as the other outfielder came crashing in. The new guys don't know that its better to just let him handle it.
* Jay came out again and hit the ball with authority all day, and made a lifesaver catch to end my day on the bump.
* Noah and Dustin played well considering the hangovers they were most likely suffering from
* Bob also hit the longest ball we have ever seen him hit. It probably helped that he knew I was going to float one in after hitting him
* The third inning lasted approximately 3 hours. I was soaked by the time I walked off the mound
* Noah was framing pitches that were a foot out of the strike zone, and even called one a strike. I guess if you frame it then look at it, of course its a strike.
* Sean was kind enough not to catch my opposite field hit
* Rich and Mike Lattig were the 4th and 5th outfielders for most of the game rather than SS and 2nd.
* There were a number of solid left field line hits as well, and as we know it is treacherous out there on the left line, gets real bumpy and rocky
* Phelps almost had me on the center fielder pick off maneuver. Luckily I was high enough (also thanks to Brian) to be one with the game and sniff out the complex ruse
* We had our first complainant on a foul ball, who apparently pointed out some minuscule dent on his truck. Never saw the owner of the car who's roof we sky balled, setting off the alarm.
* The only person who didn't hit me well was Sean who is usually the guy that hits me all day. Go figure. Maybe he has to pitch to hit. I was so tired after the game, I think I told him that he pitched a great game, even though he never did throw.
* Let's go Stories!....I almost fell off the mound.
* We had a lot of stolen bases from people who shouldn't be stealing bases. They were all safe too, which is only going to encourage them.
Alright, you are all on reporter detail until I get back out there, so pay attention and send me regular updates.
S. Paige
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
8/21/11- Cop Field and Camp Swampy
Well it was a first for me, and I have been coming out for going on 8 years. We ended up with almost 30 players, a real conundrum. We weighed the idea of a 12 inning game, and let the wheat separate from the chaff as the game wore on, but that didn't seem like fun. There was a lone duo using Camp Swampy, so we figured, why not just split the squads and play two games? Why not indeed. With a few notable exceptions, the games were split along years of service to the MBC, old guys at the Swamp, new guys got the Cop Field. So we did. We offered a spot for the two guys who's field we took over, and one of them played the whole game (Vince, nice kid, got a hit) and his dad just left him to play with a bunch of strangers!
I will need to get a proper review from someone at the other game, but I know that Johnny Bartlett and Noah started for the teams, and they seemed to play a much faster game than we old fellers. They were done and asking about playoffs while we were trying to get out of the 6th inning.
As for our game, it was classic match up with Sean and Satch squaring off, and we battled as usual. Well, at least on the mound, when it came to hitting, Sean left me in the dust, as he continued to connect with everything I could throw. At the plate, I contented myself with bloops and opposite field hits and one very ugly strike out.
Luckily, his team was slightly less powerful than he, so I could at least get some outs. The wind was blowing the ball right back at me, and I figured the fastball wasn't going to be very overpowering, so I relied on the knuckle and change up for most of the game.
We scored 1 run apiece to begin with, and then we visitors got a few runs to take the lead. It didn't last long though, as the the homers took the bait and bashed us for a few innings, tallying up four runs on some big hits and charitable defense. We can't really even say that the inning came to a real close, as Nick Smith was called out at home on a play that had definite reasonable doubt. Sorry Nick. And you had to slide too. I was waiting for someone other than me or Nick to make the call, but didn't get any help.
We lingered in the hole for a while, but kept it close until suddenly we figured out Sean and got in the scoring business, put up some serious runs and ultimately holding on to win. John Carey came into pitch the last frame, with his dad as his battery mate ( a better showing than the last Patri/Fili duo we saw) and I handed the ball off to Rojas to close it down. The homers took their walks in the 9th, as they should, but could not come up with the big one. Final score, 9-5.
Highlights:
* 30 Fucking people! Ok, officially stop bringing new guys until this gets under control.
* We had a rare infield showing one inning of Tony, Greg, Brian Cagle and Adam, also known as the Final Four Horsemen of the original MBC (who still play, I hear you barking Simonelli...)
* The infield at Swampy is not any better than Cop Field, maybe even slower
* Daniel came a little late but made a number of great catches in the outfield
* Mitch saved me from the humiliation of giving up yet another home run to Sean, with the best running catch I have seen in a long time. Of course, Sean also hit a triple off me.
* Bob had some great hits, as did John.
* I struck out the poor kid who came out with Bob, like three times. Hopefully he can come out again so he doesn't get bitter towards the game
* We almost had a perfect suicide squeeze play
* JT hit a rocket back to the mound that I barely held on to
* A lot of collisions and near collisions at 1st for some reason
* Aiden gets the Free Range award for most distance covered in the day. We all got to catch up on our parenting skills, keeping an eye on him
* We got Lattig to foul out in a 2nd and 3rd, no out situation. You remember those, cuz they don't happen too often.
* Adam hit the ball hard, ran hard, blocked a lot of badly thrown balls at 1st
* We had a lot of extra base hits it seemed.
* We had 5 HBP, three of which were Bob and the other two were Nick. They were all hit by me. The only one that I was concerned about was the one where I tried an inside corner pitch and hit Nick in the leg. None of the one's I hit Bob with would have a dented a custard pie.
* Greg came though on a bases loaded, two outs, Tony at 3rd situation, the very same one that he flubbed at Swampy three weeks ago. Way to go Greg!
* Greg also was proudly displaying the wound he received at SQ, result of a over eager tag in the face
* I messed up a play covering third for the other team. I froze up, not knowing if I should try for the ball, then didn't cover third, as Lattig chose to go to me for the out. Sorry. I think it all worked out.
* Glad we all had fun, and made the most of a strange situation.
The Cop Field Game by John McGrath, Esq.
No apologies necessary, half the time I write out what I think happened, not what I know happened.
Just don't bring any new guys.
S. Paige
I will need to get a proper review from someone at the other game, but I know that Johnny Bartlett and Noah started for the teams, and they seemed to play a much faster game than we old fellers. They were done and asking about playoffs while we were trying to get out of the 6th inning.
As for our game, it was classic match up with Sean and Satch squaring off, and we battled as usual. Well, at least on the mound, when it came to hitting, Sean left me in the dust, as he continued to connect with everything I could throw. At the plate, I contented myself with bloops and opposite field hits and one very ugly strike out.
Luckily, his team was slightly less powerful than he, so I could at least get some outs. The wind was blowing the ball right back at me, and I figured the fastball wasn't going to be very overpowering, so I relied on the knuckle and change up for most of the game.
We scored 1 run apiece to begin with, and then we visitors got a few runs to take the lead. It didn't last long though, as the the homers took the bait and bashed us for a few innings, tallying up four runs on some big hits and charitable defense. We can't really even say that the inning came to a real close, as Nick Smith was called out at home on a play that had definite reasonable doubt. Sorry Nick. And you had to slide too. I was waiting for someone other than me or Nick to make the call, but didn't get any help.
We lingered in the hole for a while, but kept it close until suddenly we figured out Sean and got in the scoring business, put up some serious runs and ultimately holding on to win. John Carey came into pitch the last frame, with his dad as his battery mate ( a better showing than the last Patri/Fili duo we saw) and I handed the ball off to Rojas to close it down. The homers took their walks in the 9th, as they should, but could not come up with the big one. Final score, 9-5.
Highlights:
* 30 Fucking people! Ok, officially stop bringing new guys until this gets under control.
* We had a rare infield showing one inning of Tony, Greg, Brian Cagle and Adam, also known as the Final Four Horsemen of the original MBC (who still play, I hear you barking Simonelli...)
* The infield at Swampy is not any better than Cop Field, maybe even slower
* Daniel came a little late but made a number of great catches in the outfield
* Mitch saved me from the humiliation of giving up yet another home run to Sean, with the best running catch I have seen in a long time. Of course, Sean also hit a triple off me.
* Bob had some great hits, as did John.
* I struck out the poor kid who came out with Bob, like three times. Hopefully he can come out again so he doesn't get bitter towards the game
* We almost had a perfect suicide squeeze play
* JT hit a rocket back to the mound that I barely held on to
* A lot of collisions and near collisions at 1st for some reason
* Aiden gets the Free Range award for most distance covered in the day. We all got to catch up on our parenting skills, keeping an eye on him
* We got Lattig to foul out in a 2nd and 3rd, no out situation. You remember those, cuz they don't happen too often.
* Adam hit the ball hard, ran hard, blocked a lot of badly thrown balls at 1st
* We had a lot of extra base hits it seemed.
* We had 5 HBP, three of which were Bob and the other two were Nick. They were all hit by me. The only one that I was concerned about was the one where I tried an inside corner pitch and hit Nick in the leg. None of the one's I hit Bob with would have a dented a custard pie.
* Greg came though on a bases loaded, two outs, Tony at 3rd situation, the very same one that he flubbed at Swampy three weeks ago. Way to go Greg!
* Greg also was proudly displaying the wound he received at SQ, result of a over eager tag in the face
* I messed up a play covering third for the other team. I froze up, not knowing if I should try for the ball, then didn't cover third, as Lattig chose to go to me for the out. Sorry. I think it all worked out.
* Glad we all had fun, and made the most of a strange situation.
The Cop Field Game by John McGrath, Esq.
"Game 2" featured a large contingent of first timers on the vistor's squad and a fair number of MBC regs on the homer squad. Johnny pitched the whole game for the homers and Ed caught. Johnny pitched great and even struck out the side in the early going.
Noah pitched for vistors and did a great job with Tim and Nero sharing the catching, but unfortunately for him Rich hit him hard, getting at least 2 triples and there was some generous D behind him. Chirs Powell also had a timely hit and so did Johnny and Duane.
Loren-the-birthday-boy, (yes, it was his actual birthday) took over for him in about the 6th and was impressive. He had about 4 pitches going (fastball, curve, slide and knuckle) and slowed down the homers scoring big time. He even struck Rich out after a 8 to 10 pitch at bat.
Johnny kept the homers off the bases for most of the game and along with some pretty good D (there may have been only a 2 or 3 Es by the homers the whole game), pretty much cruised to a win with the homes in front the whole way. This author does not recall the exact score, but thinks it was something like 7 to 4, or maybe 10 to 6.
As far as new guys (first timers) it seemed like there was as least 4 to 5. One of them, Will, played with Sean at Evergreen. They all seemed like real nice guys and were solid players and it was a fun game.
Highlights:
* Liam got a legit single, whacking a knuckler from Loren the opposite way down the 3rd base line well past the 3rd baseman. (He also hit one over his old man's head, who apparently wasn't giving that 8 year old the respect he deserves. The little upstart nearly got it to the outfield grass on the fly!)
* Rich's hitting and D 3rd.
* A 4-3 double play, doubling Loren off of first
* A few solid/ and very nearly completed attempts at some double plays by the homers (a 5-4-3 and a 6-4-3)
* Good outfield play by new guy Carter in center (making one run like crazy off the crack of the bat B line to snag a rope)
* Solid outfield play by Paul in right
* Loren's stop-the-scoring (for the most part) pitching
* Duane played a great 1st sack
* Loren's hitting, at least 3 ropes to the outfield
* Just in: Liam says that the new guy on 1st for the visitors was Loren's dad, who is 70. Could have fooled me. I would have put him at 60 at the most. He whacked a few pitches pretty hard (now we know were Loren gets it) and played a solid first with catcher's mitt!
I apologize if I left any other highlights out, but I don't have the same game recall as old Satch.
No apologies necessary, half the time I write out what I think happened, not what I know happened.
Just don't bring any new guys.
S. Paige
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Dig this- The Ogres play baseball and music
Johnny Bartlett and Rick Kvoriak are in the grooviest band this side of Dracula's Castle. Catch them at Blondies next week.
In case you needed more convincing, here is them rocking the Theme from Unknown!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
8/14/11- Cop Field
It was a nice sunny day, a bit on the windy side, but nice. We had 20 people, the field was in alright shape, except for the infield, but we will get to that in a second. Sean started for the homers, and pitched a gem, really taking it to us with every pitch. Satch started for the visitors, and tried my best, but in the end, my best wasn't anywhere near good enough. We each scored one run in the first inning, and it seemed like maybe it wouldn't be as lopsided as we thought it was going to be.
The second inning was my crucible, we had a rough one, a lot of players out of there natural positions, some hurt, and the rest was the up to the bashers that made up the home squad. 5 runs later, we finally got the 3rd out, and limped off. From there, we shut down the homers for four innings, with a couple of 6-pitch innings, which was awesome. We couldn't score a run or even get a base runner to save our lives though. Sean just kept out team off balance, and had a number of strike outs. I don't usually try to point out my own exploits too much, but I think the whole game, the visitors had about 7 hits, and I had three of them....
Jason came in to pitch after Sean had to leave to take a friend home, and we thought we might have a chance. But Jason was too wild and in danger of hurting his arm so he gave the ball up after an inning and handed off to Tony, who took it the rest of the way home. I kept threw the CG, and had one other inning where the homers jumped on me for 4 runs. Sean came back and promptly made a long running catch in left to fuck us over some more.
The biggest excitement and scariest moment came when Tony hit a knuckle ball for a dipsy grounder to third. Mike Gaspar tried to play the hop, it jigged then jagged on him and then hit him square between the eyes. It sounded terrible, but the main shock was absorbed by his glasses frame. The damage was minimal, a few skinny cuts and some blood and Mike taped it up with Bob's help, and ended up covering defense for both teams. Instant Hall of Fame, Mike! Glad you are alright!
We lost three players in the course of the game, so by the end, I went from batting 6th to 3rd. We went down with nary a whimper in the 9th, the final score 10-3.
Highlights:
* Glad Gaspar is living to fight another day, we should stock up on a real first aid kit, and maybe start bringing a small ice chest just in case.
* Sean pitched a great game and hit the piss out of two change ups
* Paul made a great catch to snuff out a rally
* The homers made the most of our mistakes, and got some timely hits
* Bob got hit by Jason, who we didn't even tell about the tradition. We got him back....
* Bob also had a great hit to start the game.
* Earlier, Gaspar had a 13 pitch at bat that ended with him on second!
* Nick, the ex-Dirtbag, had two real nice plays at 3rd
* Lets all remember to get the ball in quickly, it doesn't help anyone to hold on to it in the outfield
* Mitch robbed a couple of batters, doing what he does best, and had a nice wristed hit
* A lot of pop ups, which is good for a pitcher, unfortunately, not all caught, which is bad for a pitcher
* Adam had a long hit, as did Sean, Greg, Duane, Paul, Tony....
* The knuckleball got me some much needed outs, and I could have thrown it for 7 more innings
* There was another new guy who seemed to know what he was doing, but he left before the end, hopefully he will be back when he can stay longer
* Dennis' ankle flared up, hopefully a small issue, take it slow and steady on the rehab!
* I had two singles, and both times, I was put out at second on ground balls immediately afterwards. I guess I should start stealing more
* Elvin got thrown out at second, did the splits, and kept his foot on the bag. We'll keep working on that one.
* Thanks to everyone that showed after a SQ game, glad that we were not short handed for once.
Don't look back.
S. Paige
The second inning was my crucible, we had a rough one, a lot of players out of there natural positions, some hurt, and the rest was the up to the bashers that made up the home squad. 5 runs later, we finally got the 3rd out, and limped off. From there, we shut down the homers for four innings, with a couple of 6-pitch innings, which was awesome. We couldn't score a run or even get a base runner to save our lives though. Sean just kept out team off balance, and had a number of strike outs. I don't usually try to point out my own exploits too much, but I think the whole game, the visitors had about 7 hits, and I had three of them....
Jason came in to pitch after Sean had to leave to take a friend home, and we thought we might have a chance. But Jason was too wild and in danger of hurting his arm so he gave the ball up after an inning and handed off to Tony, who took it the rest of the way home. I kept threw the CG, and had one other inning where the homers jumped on me for 4 runs. Sean came back and promptly made a long running catch in left to fuck us over some more.
The biggest excitement and scariest moment came when Tony hit a knuckle ball for a dipsy grounder to third. Mike Gaspar tried to play the hop, it jigged then jagged on him and then hit him square between the eyes. It sounded terrible, but the main shock was absorbed by his glasses frame. The damage was minimal, a few skinny cuts and some blood and Mike taped it up with Bob's help, and ended up covering defense for both teams. Instant Hall of Fame, Mike! Glad you are alright!
We lost three players in the course of the game, so by the end, I went from batting 6th to 3rd. We went down with nary a whimper in the 9th, the final score 10-3.
Highlights:
* Glad Gaspar is living to fight another day, we should stock up on a real first aid kit, and maybe start bringing a small ice chest just in case.
* Sean pitched a great game and hit the piss out of two change ups
* Paul made a great catch to snuff out a rally
* The homers made the most of our mistakes, and got some timely hits
* Bob got hit by Jason, who we didn't even tell about the tradition. We got him back....
* Bob also had a great hit to start the game.
* Earlier, Gaspar had a 13 pitch at bat that ended with him on second!
* Nick, the ex-Dirtbag, had two real nice plays at 3rd
* Lets all remember to get the ball in quickly, it doesn't help anyone to hold on to it in the outfield
* Mitch robbed a couple of batters, doing what he does best, and had a nice wristed hit
* A lot of pop ups, which is good for a pitcher, unfortunately, not all caught, which is bad for a pitcher
* Adam had a long hit, as did Sean, Greg, Duane, Paul, Tony....
* The knuckleball got me some much needed outs, and I could have thrown it for 7 more innings
* There was another new guy who seemed to know what he was doing, but he left before the end, hopefully he will be back when he can stay longer
* Dennis' ankle flared up, hopefully a small issue, take it slow and steady on the rehab!
* I had two singles, and both times, I was put out at second on ground balls immediately afterwards. I guess I should start stealing more
* Elvin got thrown out at second, did the splits, and kept his foot on the bag. We'll keep working on that one.
* Thanks to everyone that showed after a SQ game, glad that we were not short handed for once.
Don't look back.
S. Paige
8/13/11- MBC vs. SQ A's
I wasn't there, and I don't know much other than Brian Phelps hit two home runs! A solo shot in the first and a three run blast in the fifth. He was left in the batters circle with the bases loaded in the 9th.
Finally a lefty uses the SQ field to his advantage!
MBC lost, which we don't really take to heart anymore, but I also hear that Red and Johnny Bad Ass made their debuts with the A's.
S. Paige
Finally a lefty uses the SQ field to his advantage!
MBC lost, which we don't really take to heart anymore, but I also hear that Red and Johnny Bad Ass made their debuts with the A's.
S. Paige
Friday, August 12, 2011
8/7/11- Camp Swampy
I was late making it out, and by the time I got there,, the game was already in full swing. Johnny was pitching for the homers, and they were making him regret that decision. Or that is what it looked like from my perspective. The homers were populated with some old timers, including Tony Rojas, who made it back after a long stint on the DL. Good to see him!
Sean, the southpaw samurai was dealing for the visitors, and though he lacked the top end of the mph on his fast ball, he was getting the outs he needed to. In deference to my lateness and for the love of the game (worst baseball movie ever) I stepped up to the plate, both figuratively and literally, knocked a grounder up the middle, took second on a pass ball, took third, and scored on Richie Garcia's ball to the right side of the infield. That's how you scrap a run, and win the trust of your teammates.
We went back and forth for a few innings, Sean bowed out to Brian Phelps, who looked good, but was suffering from some residual knee pain. Mike Lattig then took over to throw the late innings. Satch took the bump from the capable hands of Johnny in the 6th or so, and threw the rest of the game. A few bad hops and then some long drives, and the visitors were riding us like a carousel, but we persevered, and at least tried to keep it close.
The score by that point was some where in the neighborhood of 14-8, which is insurmountable to anyone except a MBC'r. As fate would have it, this game was also Jacob Brisken's last before he returned to Boston for school and Dennis had pleaded with us to let him pitch and Jacob catch. It's tough to watch an old man beg, so we agreed and out Dennis went, after confirming that Jacob was wearing a cup this time (he took one in the beans a few weeks ago. Apparently they don't teach that lesson in college these days).
Satch was the first person up to face Dennis, and what does he do, hits me in the arm! What the hell? And then he tells me he was going to put it in my ear! Of all the nerve! Big man when he's got his hulk of a kid behind me.
So then I got a hit, and then the next guy got a hit, and Dennis is bitching to his kid about how he isn't calling strikes, and we are all trying to tell Dennis that you have to throw strikes for them to be called. All this time, there was one person who was not happy with the decision, Mitch, who stood out in left field watching victory be bled away from him. Amazingly, we tie up the game, and with the bases loaded, Tony on 3rd, and the win in our hands....Greg hits a short fly to left, and Mitch does what he does best, which is catch the ball. Extra innings. Legit.
Duane bunts the first pitch he sees, and takes second, and then Mitch steps up, fouls off a few, and then lunges for a knuckleball, drives it to center. Of course it rolls past the center fielder, and Mitch moonwalks home for a 2 run homerun. Fitting. All the wind goes out of our sails, and we lose 16-14.
Highlights:
* Not the weather, it was foggy and gross
* The outfield got mowed, did Adam make a call?
* I respect Duane's bunt. That's baseball.
* Knuckleball was working!
* Sean brought blueberries, which were exquisite.
* Did anyone get Jacob a going away present? Shit.
* Paul had some nice catches in right
* Bad hops in the infield
* The dirtbag, Nick and his brother Jay came out again, had some frustration at the plate
* Someone hit one real far, maybe even two someone's
* Liam and Aiden each had some good knocks
* John Mcg was the unfortunate recipient of the best curveball I have thrown in 2011
* I liked Dennis' admonition of Jacob on a pitch that was two feet outside, " Jacob, you gotta call that!" Jacob's response, " I thought I did."
* There were two double plays turned by the visitors!
Cop Field, 3pm.
S. Paige
Sean, the southpaw samurai was dealing for the visitors, and though he lacked the top end of the mph on his fast ball, he was getting the outs he needed to. In deference to my lateness and for the love of the game (worst baseball movie ever) I stepped up to the plate, both figuratively and literally, knocked a grounder up the middle, took second on a pass ball, took third, and scored on Richie Garcia's ball to the right side of the infield. That's how you scrap a run, and win the trust of your teammates.
We went back and forth for a few innings, Sean bowed out to Brian Phelps, who looked good, but was suffering from some residual knee pain. Mike Lattig then took over to throw the late innings. Satch took the bump from the capable hands of Johnny in the 6th or so, and threw the rest of the game. A few bad hops and then some long drives, and the visitors were riding us like a carousel, but we persevered, and at least tried to keep it close.
The score by that point was some where in the neighborhood of 14-8, which is insurmountable to anyone except a MBC'r. As fate would have it, this game was also Jacob Brisken's last before he returned to Boston for school and Dennis had pleaded with us to let him pitch and Jacob catch. It's tough to watch an old man beg, so we agreed and out Dennis went, after confirming that Jacob was wearing a cup this time (he took one in the beans a few weeks ago. Apparently they don't teach that lesson in college these days).
Satch was the first person up to face Dennis, and what does he do, hits me in the arm! What the hell? And then he tells me he was going to put it in my ear! Of all the nerve! Big man when he's got his hulk of a kid behind me.
So then I got a hit, and then the next guy got a hit, and Dennis is bitching to his kid about how he isn't calling strikes, and we are all trying to tell Dennis that you have to throw strikes for them to be called. All this time, there was one person who was not happy with the decision, Mitch, who stood out in left field watching victory be bled away from him. Amazingly, we tie up the game, and with the bases loaded, Tony on 3rd, and the win in our hands....Greg hits a short fly to left, and Mitch does what he does best, which is catch the ball. Extra innings. Legit.
Duane bunts the first pitch he sees, and takes second, and then Mitch steps up, fouls off a few, and then lunges for a knuckleball, drives it to center. Of course it rolls past the center fielder, and Mitch moonwalks home for a 2 run homerun. Fitting. All the wind goes out of our sails, and we lose 16-14.
Highlights:
* Not the weather, it was foggy and gross
* The outfield got mowed, did Adam make a call?
* I respect Duane's bunt. That's baseball.
* Knuckleball was working!
* Sean brought blueberries, which were exquisite.
* Did anyone get Jacob a going away present? Shit.
* Paul had some nice catches in right
* Bad hops in the infield
* The dirtbag, Nick and his brother Jay came out again, had some frustration at the plate
* Someone hit one real far, maybe even two someone's
* Liam and Aiden each had some good knocks
* John Mcg was the unfortunate recipient of the best curveball I have thrown in 2011
* I liked Dennis' admonition of Jacob on a pitch that was two feet outside, " Jacob, you gotta call that!" Jacob's response, " I thought I did."
* There were two double plays turned by the visitors!
Cop Field, 3pm.
S. Paige
Monday, August 8, 2011
Late Report- 7/24/11- West Sunset
Satch was working a freelance gig on Sunday, at a vegan non-alcoholic wedding. Don't ask. Mike Gaspar made it to the game and he filed this report.
IT was a nice day at the corner of 41st and Quintara. The field was being used by what looked like another pick up game as we assembled. Johnny took the hill for the homers, while Dustin started for the visiting squad. The visiting team had a bit more punch on this particular day. By the fourth inning it was 5-1. The homers rallied and in the 5th, had a bases loaded no out situation. Dustin got out of it unscathed thanks in large part to the defense of Greg and Richie who were "borrowed" right fielders. Richie made a great catch which turned into a double play when Johnny was tagged out at the plate trying to tag up.
Having snuffed out the rally, the visitors added on more runs. By the 7th it was 9-2, I came into relieve Dustin and give the other team a chance to smack some balls around. And then did, in particular, Dennis, Nick and John Mcg. Two runs were scored.
Greg came into relieve Johnny and gave up a few runs of his own. Finally Mike Lattig came into pitch the bottom of the 9th. The homers did not go without a fight and managed to tack on a few more runs. Final score: 13-6 (more or less).
Highlights:
* Richie made a great stab in the 3rd, robbing Duane of a double.
* Dustin pitched a strong 6 and had everything working
* Jacob had a good day at the plate including a double over his old man's head
Injury: Rick went out on the D.L in the first 10 minutes of the game with a bad hammy (get better big fella!)
Friday, July 22, 2011
7/17/11- West Sunset?
Satch was out of town, up in the mountains trying to catch fish and avoid hangovers. I failed at both. Here with his first blog entry for the Mission Baseball Club, is John McGrath, Esq.
sean hit well too (at least one long gapper), and hit one to left w/ the shift on
i am sure there are some more good things to mention, but my memory, w/ 3 kids ain't what it was
Only about a dozen MBC guys showed, but another group of skater/surfer/punk type were finishing up their informal game. greg commented that they were the MBC 10 years ago. they joined in and we 9 v. 9. greg pitched the whole game for the visitors and johnny pitched the first 6 or 7 for the homers, then sean relieved him.
The initial feeling was that the visitors would crush the homers since we had rich and mitch and more MBC regs than the other side, so mitch was traded. however, the game was really, really close and the homers lead most of the way, until about the 7th or 8th when the visitors broke it open. final score 11 to 7 or so.
Highlights:
rich played a great center field (catching balls in right once they were lost in the sun by the rightfielder). he also made some great plays at SS and, as SS took a cutoff from the left fielder to nail a guy going to third.
ker played solidly on the right side of the infield both at SS and 3rd.
jacob hit well and caught an inning or two (w/o a cup!)
johnny pitched well
rich hit a homer with the bases loaded and liam, age 8, was a pinch runner at 3rd, so probably the youngest person to officially score in an MBC game
mitch made some awesome catches in center, a sliding grab on a short one and running stab on a gapper, in addition to catching everything else that came his way
if, i don't say so myself, JohnMcG hit the ball hard and well, 3 for 5, w/ 3 being hard liners to the outfield, 2bls and single
ker and jacob both hit a bomb
the other dudes hit a lot of solid singles and were not easy outs
ed caught for the visitors
the other team dudes were awesome to play with, totally displaying the same type of spirit and attitude treasured by the MBC
greg beared down in the later innings the hitting by the other side turned into a trickle, he also was hurt by "generous" D in the early going
Same game, same place, same time
S. Paige
Thursday, July 21, 2011
7/14/11- MBC vs. San Quentin Giants
Once more through the gates of doom, to the field of battle.
Well, maybe that its being a bit melodramatic, but what the hell, you only go to SQ so many times, right? We gathered again in the parking lot on Thursday night to see what we could do against the Giants. Our wait was short, the guard was different, and they had a whole new procedure for ID's, again....
In any case, we got in and warmed up, the right field was extra sloppy, and the grounds crew was just starting to rake nad prepare the field. We knew we weren't getting 9. Greg pitched in to help chalk the lines, we spoke with Junkyard who was once again behind the dish, got the low down and then it was game time.
They had the same big righty pitching and he had the same stuff. Decent fastball, enough of a curve to screw us up, and a really hard and heavy knuckleball. He was also helped by the wide and low stroke zone of the Junkyard.
In a bit of sad news, we were disappointed that both Red and Johnny Badass quit the team earlier that week, after a drubbing by some junior college team. It sounded like there was a lot more to the story, but in any case, they will be missed, as they were the guys that we had gotten to know the most. I am glad that Red got to hit my changeup well before he left the squad.
Sean went 4 innings for us, and did well, despite an awful 1st inning that saw 6 runs come across on about 3 hits. I think everyone contributed to making it the most error filled inning in quite a while. Sean composed himself as a gamer, and pitched through it. We all settled down and the errors dried up to the usual assortment. Satch came in for one inning of relief, and never quite settled down.
We had one hit after three innings, which was pretty embarrassing, but we finally got into the mood, and Brian Phelps once again provided the scoring, complete with his usual SQ base running ugliness. Luckily this time, he did score, it just took a while for it to happen. Jimmy and Stoner and Gaspar are officially retired as 3rd base coaches, and the rest of us are on notice.
Once we had one run on the board, we all relaxed and enjoyed the game. They pulled their starter and brought in a some guy who had a real spaghetti arm delivery. We took advantage of that, as well the errors that the Giants started to make, and suddenly we had the makings of a good rally in the 6th. With two outs, Chris popped up to the infield, but it dropped out of the pitcher's glove, who was stumbling backwards, and Satch came up with 2 men on. I barely got a foul ball out of play, to stay alive, and then hit a long foul ball that would have been a homerun, if it had stayed fair. I figured I wasn't going to get that pitch again, so I hit the next one up the middle and over the glove of Mario at SS. Somehow, it picked up speed and went into the gap. I was rounding second around and they still had not reached the ball, so I figured I would try for third. Immediately afterwards, I thought to myself, What the fuck am I doing. But I was committed, so I slid as wide and big as could to block the incoming ball, and had myself a triple. Phew.
I ended up stranded at 3rd, and we lost the game 9-4. Handshakes and hugs all around. Off to the Marin Brewing Company for burgers and lots of pitchers.
Highlights:
* Sean deserved a better game and also was being squeezed by Junk all day
* Gaspar hit a double down the third base line, too bad for them that they don't know about the shift.
* Chris had a play at home that featured five people around home plate, Sean, Greg, Junk, the first runner and the second runner. He fired it into the crowd and Greg took it off the wrist.
* For some reason we were delayed for several minutes cuz Junk scratched his arm
* Nick had a great dig at first to save a run
* Cagle saved my ass at second, when I got a hot grounder then fired the ball into the dirt
* Greg had a guy nailed on a pitchout to second. The umpire didn't think so. We did.
* The field umpire was really walking the vague line, he would point, but then make no gesture of safe or out.
* I think Jimmy got hit on a 3-1 count. That's the SQ way....
* Ed continued his SQ streak of RBI's
* For every line drive we hit, there was a man positioned in just the right spot. For every weak pop they had, we were no where to be seen. Sean thinks they got a book on us.
* I overheard from the SQ Giants dugout that they "love playing us, we are all great guys and good fun." It helps that we allow them to pummel us everytime.
* Whoever took the pictures, please forward to me, so I can post.
Next game is August, unless we can squeeze one in.
S. Paige
Well, maybe that its being a bit melodramatic, but what the hell, you only go to SQ so many times, right? We gathered again in the parking lot on Thursday night to see what we could do against the Giants. Our wait was short, the guard was different, and they had a whole new procedure for ID's, again....
In any case, we got in and warmed up, the right field was extra sloppy, and the grounds crew was just starting to rake nad prepare the field. We knew we weren't getting 9. Greg pitched in to help chalk the lines, we spoke with Junkyard who was once again behind the dish, got the low down and then it was game time.
They had the same big righty pitching and he had the same stuff. Decent fastball, enough of a curve to screw us up, and a really hard and heavy knuckleball. He was also helped by the wide and low stroke zone of the Junkyard.
In a bit of sad news, we were disappointed that both Red and Johnny Badass quit the team earlier that week, after a drubbing by some junior college team. It sounded like there was a lot more to the story, but in any case, they will be missed, as they were the guys that we had gotten to know the most. I am glad that Red got to hit my changeup well before he left the squad.
Sean went 4 innings for us, and did well, despite an awful 1st inning that saw 6 runs come across on about 3 hits. I think everyone contributed to making it the most error filled inning in quite a while. Sean composed himself as a gamer, and pitched through it. We all settled down and the errors dried up to the usual assortment. Satch came in for one inning of relief, and never quite settled down.
We had one hit after three innings, which was pretty embarrassing, but we finally got into the mood, and Brian Phelps once again provided the scoring, complete with his usual SQ base running ugliness. Luckily this time, he did score, it just took a while for it to happen. Jimmy and Stoner and Gaspar are officially retired as 3rd base coaches, and the rest of us are on notice.
Once we had one run on the board, we all relaxed and enjoyed the game. They pulled their starter and brought in a some guy who had a real spaghetti arm delivery. We took advantage of that, as well the errors that the Giants started to make, and suddenly we had the makings of a good rally in the 6th. With two outs, Chris popped up to the infield, but it dropped out of the pitcher's glove, who was stumbling backwards, and Satch came up with 2 men on. I barely got a foul ball out of play, to stay alive, and then hit a long foul ball that would have been a homerun, if it had stayed fair. I figured I wasn't going to get that pitch again, so I hit the next one up the middle and over the glove of Mario at SS. Somehow, it picked up speed and went into the gap. I was rounding second around and they still had not reached the ball, so I figured I would try for third. Immediately afterwards, I thought to myself, What the fuck am I doing. But I was committed, so I slid as wide and big as could to block the incoming ball, and had myself a triple. Phew.
I ended up stranded at 3rd, and we lost the game 9-4. Handshakes and hugs all around. Off to the Marin Brewing Company for burgers and lots of pitchers.
Highlights:
* Sean deserved a better game and also was being squeezed by Junk all day
* Gaspar hit a double down the third base line, too bad for them that they don't know about the shift.
* Chris had a play at home that featured five people around home plate, Sean, Greg, Junk, the first runner and the second runner. He fired it into the crowd and Greg took it off the wrist.
* For some reason we were delayed for several minutes cuz Junk scratched his arm
* Nick had a great dig at first to save a run
* Cagle saved my ass at second, when I got a hot grounder then fired the ball into the dirt
* Greg had a guy nailed on a pitchout to second. The umpire didn't think so. We did.
* The field umpire was really walking the vague line, he would point, but then make no gesture of safe or out.
* I think Jimmy got hit on a 3-1 count. That's the SQ way....
* Ed continued his SQ streak of RBI's
* For every line drive we hit, there was a man positioned in just the right spot. For every weak pop they had, we were no where to be seen. Sean thinks they got a book on us.
* I overheard from the SQ Giants dugout that they "love playing us, we are all great guys and good fun." It helps that we allow them to pummel us everytime.
* Whoever took the pictures, please forward to me, so I can post.
Next game is August, unless we can squeeze one in.
S. Paige
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
7/10/11- Camp Swampy
What a terrible game. It was windy, not enough people, and a sloppy, sloppy game.
The final score was 14-7 or 19-6 depending on who you asked.
Highlights:
* Mitch pitched for the first time in a while, and looked good, too bad he didn't get any help
* Greg pitched the whole game for the other team, and did a great job
* Daniel had a couple of good cracks, had some trouble in center field and entertained everyone with his Canadian quirkiness
* Liam had another good day at the plate and it the knuckleball
* Adam showed up after an appendectomy and took lots of footage, get well soon!
* Jake had a homerun, missed a pop up he was camped out under, then moved to SS for some reason and then left early without telling anyone, hmmmm.
* Nick changed teams to balance us out, thanks Nick!
* Jimmy came back and brought a friend who had some trouble at the plate (as we all did at first) but looked like he knew what he was doing
* Paul did a lot of running in left field for an inning
* Mitch was hung over, fiery, and hating the game by the end.
* Bob HBP +1, he also swung so hard that he fell over
* I think we shorted ourselves by an inning, and no one cared.
Into SQ tomorrow for another square-off with the Giants.
S. Paige
*
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
7/3/11- West Sunset- 4th of July
Happy Fourth of July!
Our BBQ and double header went off without a hitch, we had countless people playing, I think the player count high was 15-15 in the first game. Bob and John were out raking and watering the field when I got there, and we dropped some extra clay in the mound. By the time we started the game, the trickle of players had become a flood. It is a funny thing to hear every inning that the only people who didn't sit were the pitcher and catcher.
Johnny started for the homers and pitched well, Satch went for the visitors and did about the same. The warm sun was nice on the shoulders and the mph of the fastball was a little higher than usual.
The visitors took the lead and held it, keeping the homers from scoring for several innings. All shut outs must and do come to and end, and this was no exception. After five innings, it wasn't fair to stay in the game while others weren't able to, so I bowed out and let Dustin take over to get the rest of the game, before he got too heated on booze and sun.
The play of the game was made by John Nero who was playing shortstop, not his natural position (but one of 8 that he played for the day) who went to his left to get a ground ball, extended out and grabbed it, and then as he passed second, pulled off the perfect flip to the bag to get the 3rd out. Amazing. The game never got close, but the homers fought a good fight, just like our ancestors at Lexington and Concord.
BBQ:
Grass Fed Beef from Bob. A great bunch of Tri-Tip from Jake. Boudine Sausages from Johnny, Spicy veggie bean burgers from Cagle, and assorted goodies and sides from the rest of the players, and we were all in BBQ heaven. Thanks to those who brought grills and charcoal, and to Nero who brought the beans I had requested, and I ate my share!
Game 2:
The teams switched up a bit, and Sean showed up and was warm by the time the game was ready, and headed in to throw. He pitched well, and was looking sharp, but our bats were just too potent and our luck was there too. Greg started the second game for us, and looked real sharp. Both lasted through the first five, and then I took the bump again for the visitors and John Carey came on to pitch for the homers.
We had extra special guest umpire of Brian Phelps for the second game, which made it all the more exciting, especially with his official clothes and demeanor. He called a great game, and helped us all to stay on track, as the beer and the heat took over. Tim, who I guess was on the DL, also umpired, doing the field, and at one point arguing with Loren about the chair he had set up past the bag.
We had some people leave and we had a few others show up, and everyone seemed to have a great time.
The final of the second game was 12-3, visitors.
Highlights:
* Special thanks to all those who helped get the field ready, especially Paul, who came out on Saturday to start the work.
* John Nero, 8 positions, 1 man.
* Bob Carey threw out his own son on a steal attempt. I thought he might have been safe, but he slid past the bag to avoid the tag, and was off the backside of the base. Either way.
* Speaking of John Carey, he pitched great. He also rang me up on a questionable third strike in the first game.
* Lattig came out, after battling a fever, and played as well. Then enjoyed some sun in right field.
* Jon McG, Liam and Aiden all had good days at the plate
* Brian Phelps was the winner of the A.O.Y Bad Sportsman award. We are all proud of him, and hope that he takes it with same class and stature that he handles himself with in every game, playing hurt, umpiring, safety meeting coordinating, the list just goes on!
* Dennis made his first appearance in the field since the broken ankle and didn't re-injure himself,which we were all happy to see
* I pitched around Loren for three straight counts, and he finally got a ripping single off the wall
* Tony came out in his civvies, and then, of course, decided he wanted to bat, and hit a double.
* Some hard come backers were all gobbled up by the pitchers
* Rich and Mitch were on the same team for the first game, and batted one after another. That probably wasn't fair
* Mitch was an asset offensive and defensively all day, including a Rickey run, where he stole two bases and came home on a passed ball
* Greg and didn't quite work out the 1st and 3rd situation, resulting in a thrown ball that at least didn't hit me
* My buddy George, who had not been involved in anything baseball related since he was 9, played both games, made some good plays in the outfield and got on base by the end of the day, thanks for the fun, George!
* Bob took one off the shoe in the first game, to make it official
* Noah helped me in the second game, giving me some good advice from third base, and we were all happy that he walked the line this year, more so than last year.... :)
* Ben showed up again, and oversaw all of the field work, including the hose team
* JT and his younger daughter were both out and having fun. The swing is right on, just needs to make contact!
* Jay brought out some pictures, his arm was hurting him so he just hung out and enjoyed the vibe, thanks for the pics and the support
* I have probably forgotten a lot of things, so let me know what should be added, Thanks to all who showed, hope it was a great time, I know I had fun
S. Paige
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
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
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.
We were able to get the ball down with another ball.
See you Sunday, hopefully we will know where at some point.
"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
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