6/23/13 West Sunset

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

Rain!  In June! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights:

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

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

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

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

* Will had an in-the-parker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

S. Paige

6/20/13 SQ Giants vs. MBC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights:

*Elvin made some key plays at third.

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

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

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

*Doc made it in for coaching and support.

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

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

5/26/13- Camp Swampy

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

5/11/13- SQ Giants vs. MBC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights:

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

* Greg pitched better than the record showed

* Not too many people got hit this time

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

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

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

* There are some new big hitters on the Giants

* At least we struck out Mario a few times

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

S. Paige

5/6/13 J. Bartlett Update

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

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

4/28/13- WWJD Game- Camp Swampy

What Would Johnny Do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights:

* A great game all around!

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

* John Nero, simply amazing!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* Aiden and Liam were out in the mix.

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

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

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

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

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

* Bob stole a base in a clutch situation

* Chris Powell made an amazing shoestring catch in center

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our teammate, Johnny Bartlett.

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

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

We love you Johnny!  Get well soon!







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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And he's just a good guy.

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

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

S. Paige

First published Feb 13, 2009

4/21/13 Camp Swampy

Here with the recap is our own left handed specialist, soccer coach, and ne'er do well, Brian "SQ Neck" Phelps.

Summer weather at Balboa and a perfect 18 to start the game.

Will started off the game for the homers, since his childhood home is a few blocks away. Phelps hopped onto the bump for the visitors with Doc behind the plate calling balls and strikes. After 4 innings with an mild Wrigley type wind blowing out, the game was 5-7 in favor of the homers.

Noah relieved Phelps and that sparked a rally for the visitors. The game got tied up at 7 and then turned to 9-7. The home team took one out of the San Quentin playbook and batted around scoring 8 runs on some errors, a few well-placed hits and bases loaded triple from Carter.

Sean came in a shut down the door for the homers and Tony mopped up for the visitors. Not sure what the final score was but the homers took this one.

Highlights:

• Mike threw out Daniel stealing third with a nice tag by Jay

• The weather was perfect sans wind which played tricks on the outfield

• Carter got hit 3 times, walked and struck out in one at-bat

• JT flashed some great leather and hit the crap out of the ball

• Daniel robbed JT of a sure hit

• Sean had some good hits

• Mike, Ed, Bob, Mitch were in the squat

• Mitch golfed a curve ball 4 inches off the ground to deep center

• Hank pulled the ball well all day

• Adam showed up late and made up for it with some good hitting

More highlights but beer and fatigue have taken over

PS: Get well soon Greg.

4/17/13 MBC vs. San Quentin A's

It wasn't our finest showing, but not our worst shellacking either.  And that is saying something....

Elliot told us that we couldn't get in any earlier than 5:00 pm, so we waited like good little boys in the parking lot, until Len showed up and asked why we hadn't come earlier.  That is the kind of cracker jack communication that we have come to expect, but hopefully next time we can get in a little earlier and get some more game in.  We were two men light as Adam and Bob were late scratches from the game.  The entry rules, or at least the officer at the gate, are very stringent this year.  He actually searched our bags, asked us to pull everything out, told us several times about no sunflower seeds, which must be some sort of high risk security thing... or they don't want the prisoners getting too much sodium in their diet.

Through the gates and on the field, we were playing the A's, which we know meant that we were probably going to get creamed, given our success rate.  It was after 5:30 before the first pitch was thrown, and surprisingly we, actually scored first, something that has not happened in a while.  But the elation did not last long, the A's are still a bunch of hitters, and they took Satch to the woodpile, early and often.  The end of the first inning the score was 5-4.

The end of the 2nd inning, the score was 17-4.

Take that Matt Cain, with your puny 9 runs in one inning....

Yes, I got spanked good and proper.  We also met with a series of challenges of which there was no good solution:

1.) I gave up a lot of big hits, despite throwing the pitches I wanted to.  Only one home run though.

2.) The umpire refused to call a strike for the first three batters for the A's and then just refused to call strikes that were strikes.  Greg would hold his glove as long as he could, hoping for a late call, but nope, nothing doing.  He also would not call the change up for a strike, which is rough when that is your bread and butter.

3.) Sean lost a series of balls in left field, trying not to run in to random convicts that were walking around out there. I asked the field umpire if we could get some recognition of interference.   He said they stop the play if there was contact made.  I told Sean he just had to start running into guys out there....he was less than enthusiastic.

4.) The third base coach was stealing Greg's signs.  At first I thought he was just yelling out encouragement,  pitches to be aware of, but eventually we realized, no, he was just stealing signs.

5.) We got through the 1st inning with out our accustomed 6 SQ nerves errors.  But they showed up in the 2nd.

6.) I hit about three guys, all with 2 strikes.


Now I know all about the similarity of excuses and assholes, so I won't whine too much more.  We did manage a nifty little rally, without getting more than 1 hit.  They put in there B squad once it was clear that we were not going to win, and we stole off the catcher, who couldn't hold on to the ball.  Chris Powell got the one hit in the inning, the rest were walks, steal 2nd, 3rd, home.  Even Greg!

So at the end of the top of the 5th, the game was called, due to the fact that all the inmates had to be back in their cells soon.  The final, 19-11.

Highlights:

* Great atmosphere, everyone had a good time playing and watching.

* The Native American drum chant in right field made it feel like we were at the Coliseum.

* Mitch was a perfect 0-0, with a run scored.  HBP x2!

* I waved Greg around third and he had time to exclaim "Really???"

* Ed gets the ambitious award for basecoaching and Phelps gets the how many awkward plays at the plate can one man have award

* The A's had about 10 hits that went over 1-3 feet over SS's glove.

* Despite not seeming very good, the relief pitcher struck out 4 guys in two innings.

* The field umpire said he was going to write about my changeup in the newsletter....

* We had a guy out at the plate, umpire missed the tag, the runner rolled over Greg's head

* Umpire called the latest 3-0 strike I have ever had, I took a moment in the box to give him a chance, then when I still didn't hear anything, I started for 1st.  Then he called the strike.

* Next game May 11.

S. Paige

4/14/13 Camp Swampy

A strange day for sure, it was sunny, and warm-ish, but with gale like wind bursts.  I lost my hat about 9 times off the pitchers mound.

Also strange because at last count we have approximately 70 people on the email list and at 3:07 only 10 people had showed up for the game.  We cobbled together 12 and started a Havana 6, which worked until Chris Powell and John McG and a guy named Casey showed up.  Johnny was pitching for the homers and Satch went to work for the visitors, in a pre-SQ warm up.  The wind was pushing so much, I figured all I could do with the fastball is hurt myself, so I threw a lot of change ups, which the wind did a great job of pushing around.  Johnny was solid as usual.

The game was close for the first inning or so.  Then the homers really went to work, and by the 4th inning it was a kind 12-4.  Our team had some trouble with the defense, and I had some trouble giving up big hits.  But we seemed to muddle through and at times, were down right solid ourselves.

After a hurling a pitch, Johnny's game eye fetched loose and went blurry and we were all understandably concerned.  Hopefully it has cleared itself, but a scary incident.  Mitch came in for pitching duty and did well, he said his arm felt alive for the first time in quite a while.  Will mopped up the last inning.

I bowed out after 6 and handed the pill to John McG, who is working on his style and accuracy, and he did a great job after he settled down.  By that point, the score was probably 18-4, so throwing lots of strikes was all we all we were interested in.

The game ended with sliding catch in center field, made by Casey.  It was briefly questioned as a trap, but nope, we were just out and the game was over.

Highlights:

* Bob got hit, first in a while

* I managed to really screw the pooch with bases loaded and got through two counts, and then popped up in the infield.  Real ugly.

* Mitch was Mitched, joining an auspicious club

* Powell caught my monstrous rip to center field, as payback for striking him out...then I struck him out again

* Hank had another full day of batting

* Daniel made some much needed plays in the outfield

* Greg just missed his chance at the 3 fastballs I threw him

* We had some confused base runners

* The wind helped me throw a curve that broke about 4 feet

* Daniel had a rough outing from the left side, for the first time.

* We did a good job of not throwing the ball around too much, in our long innings where the first out eluded us.

* The visitors also had a great, cutoff man relay to get an out at the plate

* Jimmy hoovered up a lot at 3rd

* We all got our exercise for the first three innings, covering defense, then batting, running the bases and the back out to the field

* Sonny Smith, one of the MBC pioneers, came out and played well for a man without cleats.

* I had a defensive game, one on a great play by Hank at first to stop a ball, and me racing as hard as I could to cover, arm span at full reach to catch the ball and tag the bag and I made a sliding catch in the no man zone of the infield, when we needed an out, badly.

Into the gates of San Quentin ride the valiant 12 this Wednesday.  Shivs and sunflower seeds are not allowed.

S. Paige

4/7/13 Camp Swampy

There are great games, and there are great games, and there are great games.

After what felt like an eternity away from the game, I was across the bridge in record time and into the heart of Balboa Park, and the MBC Sunday game.  From the start, I could tell it was going to be a memorable one.  We had a outstanding roster of players, the field was in immaculate, albeit a little hardpan, condition, and the weather as exactly as predicted, muggy, cloudy with patches of sun.  By the time AOY 2011 finally showed up and got dressed, we were a perfect 18.

Noah and Satch faced off in a innings-eating grudge match that has been going on for several years now, with about a even split of decisions between us.  The scoring started in the first and we see-sawed back and forth through the game.  What was apparent from the beginning as well was that it was going to be a bump and bruise kind of day.  Greg and Bob took at least three foul tips off  the face mask before we had played 2 innings, and Noah had three batters in a row get a piece of him off the mound with come backers.

Elsewhere in the field things were a bit more calm, as the defenses settled down.  The middle innings saw both teams get some great 1-2-3 shutdowns, and rallies were stifled with line drive snares and timely K's.  The visiting squad was having a field day with Satch for a while, not missing a thing, laying off pitches that I was counting on for swings, and in general hitting the shit out of the ball when the opportunity presented itself.  By the time we got into the 7th (which seemed like it was about 4 hours, the first two innings were at least 45 minutes a piece) the homers were trailing by a score of 8-6, having given up the lead on a hit-a-thon rally by the visitors.

Noah and Satch still were battling on the bump, neither willing to go soft into that good night.  We had gone from a 9-6 deficit to 9-8, but by the end of the 8th, my arm started to feel like it belonged on a dead man, so I decided 8 innings was better than 8+1 inning too many.  I handed the pill to Rojas, who was itching to get a chance at the visitors.  Tony did not disappoint, as he and the defense shut down the visitors chance at insurance.  Noah, a veteran of many a complete game jogged (limped) out to the mound to close his own game.

Into the bottom of the 9th rode the gallant 9, leading off with Elvin, who had gone from running in circles to running the game in the course of a few innings.  He led off with a sharp line drive, as did Richie behind him.  They took second and third and were poised for the tie and the win.  And wouldn't you know it, Satch got a chance to win the game.  And with a swing from the heels, and a long drive to left center, home came the boys of April, and the game was ours.

Deepest thanks to all who played for one of the better MBC games I have had the honor to play in.

Highlights:

* Greg had a great game behind the dish, threw out 4 people, if you include a pickle play on a situation between home and third (missed squeeze sign, Phelps?)

* Visitors had some monstrous hits, Hank had at least 5 hits, John McG hit everything under the sun with authority, as did Phelps.

* Daniel has become a lefty phenom, collecting at least 3 hits from that side.  He may never hit righty again.

* Elvin had a rough outing in center field, as he played a little too in and had some balls go over his head.  He moved to 2nd base, and promptly made the most (ahem) aggressive 4-3 double play I have ever seen.  The ball bounced directly over the base, Elvin blocked it, pounced on it, guarded it like a convict guards his food, against the reaching hands of Richie and threw it to Adam for the 2.

* Mitch scored at least 3 times, and probably had 6 stolen bases on the day.

* Tony had the best avoidance slide of the day, a sort of tuck and roll at second to escape the tag

* Phelps maintains he was safe at second on a steal attempt, we all know the throw beat him, but the proximity of the tag may still be up for debate.

* I caught a line drive comebacker from Bob, and my thumb is still a little sore (Bob likes to know these sorts of things)

* Adam had a stellar day at 1st.

* Our pickle was executed almost perfectly, which is actually saying quite a bit (Elvin, make sure you get out of the base path once you have gotten rid of the ball...)

* I threw two pitches behind Phelps, I wasn't trying to hit him, but I wasn't trying not to either, if that makes sense...or maybe I was trying to hit him?

* I think I was 5-6 with 2 doubles, the only time I didn't get a hit was when I used something other than the Shoeless Joe bat, which some have coined the Table Leg.

* Noah pitched his heart out, a great game!

* Daniel almost had an amazing diving play in left field.

* Hank and Phelps almost/kinda had an amazing collision in the same spot, in any case, Hank came up with the ball for the out.

* The visitors really pounded the third base line for hits all day

* We had a failed safety squeeze play, which is always fun.

Thanks again to all that played!

S. Paige

3/24/13 Camp Swampy

I couldn't make the game this week, and here with an exciting recap is Ed "Mr. Blah Blah Blah" Sidawi:


"It was a good one?"




Thanks everybody, don't forget to tip your waitresses.


S. Paige

3/17/13 Cop Field

The semi finals of the World Baseball Classic proved to be a sticky wicket for the MBC this week, but we made do and managed to have almost a complete game.  With 20 to start with, the homers went with Satch on the mound and Greg behind the plate, and that was how it stayed for the duration.  The visitors countered with a wily and dealing Johnny Bartlett who went almost as long until he gave it up to Carter Rockwell for the last gasps.

The big news was that there was a baseball reunion of sorts, three of the players from the Evergreen State College baseball team of Olympia, WA, other wise known as Sean, John and Will.  Apparently they had a real good run as a squad and won exactly 0 games in their college career.  Monumental.






Sean promised that we could have a Evergreen style blowout in the making, and when we committed 7 errors in one inning, I began to believe as well.  The visitors lineup was a real Murderers Freeway, anchored by the return and seemingly invincible Rick Kvoriak.  Rick drove a challenge fastball of mine so far to left field that I had to second guess whether I had mixed myself up and not thrown what I thought I threw.  But unfortunately  I did. And he tattooed it.  Also in the line up, Lattig, Bob, Phelps, Bartlett, Ed, Nero, Carter, Richie, Duane.  Not as easy out in the bunch.   We were relying on Chris Powell to score our runs, which he did until he had to leave, the score at the time being 7-2?

However, as Greg reminded us, there is no safe lead in MBC, which proved to be a blessing and a curse, as we started hitting and the visitors started muffing, and we ran the score back to tied, then proceeded to see-saw the lead back and forth.  The clock watchers started to get nervous that they were going to miss the WBC game, so we tried our best to play efficient ball, and get in a full 9.  With a neck an neck ballgame in the bottom of the 7th, with about 20 minutes to go, Greg suggested that we give the visitors 6 outs and whatever the outcome, we take it from there.  Seemed like a good idea, and the visitors responded by running a number of tallies across the plate, they were two up by the end.

We got our final ups, and were debating whether we would need our 6 outs, but hit begat hit, as Carter struggled with control, and half of our team left so we had 6 people hitting and we found ourselves tied up, with 1 out and the bases loaded.

Yours truly at the plate, and then it got ugly.

I completely shanked a ball to the right side, Duane called for it, just as Doc called the infield fly rule.  Duane caught it, turned to first, at which point John McG decided to give chaos a chance and raced for home.  Duane caught by surprise, still managed a great throw, and somehow John, who didn't slide, got his foot on the edge of the plate right before Ed applied the tag.  Arguments mounted, but Doc made the call.  Game over.  And for the record, I do not get the RBI on that.  I think it is one of those stats that get lost in the miasma.  A strange way to end a good game.  Final 13-12.

Highlights:

* Thanks to all that came out and stayed out, hopefully you enjoyed yourselves

* Kvoriak and Powell get to share the Long Bomb award.

* My team really got on me for not scoring on a passed ball, that I admit I should have, however, the throw from the backstop from Ed went past Carter and I scored anyway. All in the plan, gentleman.

* Johnny pitched a hell of a game and struck me out with the eephus

* We averaged about 5 errors per inning for the first 5 frames.

* Red Sox Will had a rough outing in left, I thought it was the sun and offered my shades, but he said it was just cuz he missed them.  Honesty.

* The visitors stifled us with a great double play

* With only 6 batters, I almost had the chance to score myself on a hit.

* Phelps was late and left early.  AOY emeritus.

* Nero is currently sporting the Oscar Gamble look.

* Bob did not get hit, but he did swing a a first pitch knuckleball to end the inning. Wah wahhhh.

* John of the Evergreen did his team proud, and had a couple of nice hits

* My team had some trouble with the have it around

* I had a single cum double on the weirdest, highest bad hop in left.  I was glad that it didn't take Bob's head off, it went from a 1.5' bounce to a 7' bounce.

* Good to see some old faces again

* Richie snared a seriously hit line drive to kill our rally

* Someone's car got dented in the cop parking lot.

* Doc put in another great outing as umpire.  We have to keep him close by though, once he gets into a conversation with someone when we are warming up, by the time we are ready to start he's half way through a story.

Thanks for the good time, it may be another few weeks until I can make it out again.

S. Paige

Hooptedoodle #1

Sweet Thursday is one of my favorite books of all time, and part of why I love it is that Steinbeck makes a point in the book of saying that sometimes an author just has to let loose witha little controlled nonsense, a verbal sorbet to cleanse the pallet if you will.

I, along with all the other kids growing up in the mid-80's to 90's, were taught that the best thing we could do for our future is collect baseball cards, because they would ultimately lead us to a life of riches and glory beyond our wildest dreams.  Countless cards shops sprung up all over the place, and every weekend in the summer there would be a card show somewhere, with a promise of big name ball players there to sign autographs.  Usually we were promised Willie Mays, and got Jim Barr.

And so, on this gray March Friday, on my OSHA mandated 15 minute breaks, I present:

Baseball Cards that I was promised would surely be worth something someday, and went absolutely nowhere (along with all baseball cards collected at this time.)

1. Matt Nokes- While this card is worthless, 11 years in the majors in nothing to sneeze at.  And his middle name is Dodge.  That's pretty cool.




2. Tom Gordon- Another 11 year veteran.  This guy was supposed to be the shit.  Stephen King made him a essential yet strange part of a short story.  His card that is worth the most is a error card.... at $0.40.  So if I had 1,000,000 of those error cards, I would be living in the tall cotton.




3. Hensley Muelens- First off, he helped the Giants a lot as a hitting coach, so I got to give it up for that.  And he fit in well with the Ryan Vogelsong faction of wayward players who finally make a impact long after the hype has worn off.  Muelens played some real off the grid, Japan, Europe, Korean, Mexico.  But I clearly remember thinking this guy was totally my ticket to a new boom box someday.




4. Mike Greenwell and Andy Van Slyke- I got so many cards of these two guys, and has anyone even thought about them in the last 15 years, except smarmy blog writers who decide to disparage people who attained what they coveted most?  They both played for 11-12 years, had fairly decent careers, but remember that isn't the point, the crooks at the cards shops urged me to invest heavily in both of these guys.
    


5. Chris Sabo- Another in the series I like to call, Ways to Rip off Kids.  8 years in the bigs and he led the Reds to a WS victory.  But after that 1990 year, he dropped like a Satchel eephus pitch.  According to Wikipedia, Pete Rose nicknamed Sabo "Spuds" because he looked like Spuds Mackenzie.  Why do I have a sudden urge to wear a JimmyZ shirt and some wayfarers and wear my baseball hat on the back of my head so that my bangs can show the proper wave effect?





6.  Jim Abbot- I think we all know that this was a feel good story, and if I have one player who I can at least get a good anecdote out of, this would be it.  Amazing how the body can adapt and overcome with the right perseverance   10 years in the majors, threw a no-hitter, he was no flash in the pan. His rookie card leads the way with the highest value so far. $1.00

  



7.  Kevin Seitzer- Another 11 year veteran, I never really knew much about this guy except that he was supposed to be great, and I should buy his card.  He was probably riding the wave of the Royals 1985 WS win, and they needed someone to talk about.  Was Bret Saberhagen already done with?  Come on!




8.  Walt Weiss- This one strikes close to home, cuz this was the 3rd Oakland player in a row to be named Rookie of the Year.  Canseco and McGuire obviously need to have their own special place here, but, they at least seemed to live up to their hype for a while, so the case could be made they were a different beast (insert 'roid rage joke here.).  But Weiss, he seemed alright, he made that error in the '88 WS that lent to the Dodgers winning, but he played 13 years in the majors, so he was obviously good enough to stick around.  But after his first two years, I never heard a peep about him.  A Topps Mint rookie card goes for $2.95.  Way to go, Walt!



9. Wally Joyner- God, I have a lot of this guy's cards.  And not just the regular Donruss, Topps kind, I got the Mother's cookies and Sportsflics ones too.  Wally played for 16 years, mostly with the Angels, and apparently lost the ROY award to Canseco.  I feel bad about that, no one should be in that position.  He probably also had a sure thing to sleep with Madonna, and Jose muscled him out on that score too.

10.  Gregg Jefferies and Sandy Alomar Jr- Some may say the penultimate in over-hype.  14 and 19 years in the bigs respectively, but man oh man, these guys was being put up with the greats before they even stepped on the field.  Both seemed to epitomize the Million dollars worth of talent, worth 5 cents on delivery player, although Alomar was a ROY and 6-time Allstar, but was injured a lot.  And by all accounts, Jefferies was a decent fellow, tried to appease New York Mets fans who turned on him after he failed to become the next Dimaggio.  These two Future Star rookies (along with Ken Griffey Jr, who was worth the hype) were the most coveted thing to look for in card packs. Jefferies was a local boy too, Junipero Serra graduate, and now he lives in Pleasanton, and runs a sports complex. 

    

So, having spent the time looking back at all of these guys and their careers, I have to say, they all were able to stick it out in MLB for quite some time.  Hype aside, they made a living playing baseball at the highest level, and you can't argue with that.  I just find it strange that a whole generation of kids was effectively duped, sold on the baseball card version of sub-prime mortgages.  I did notice that the people running the card shops were usually not pillar of the community types, and more than once I saw kids out and out lied to.    But one could say that about a lot of businesses, maybe just not the ones that cater to youth.  And I guess I still cherish the excitement of going to the card shop, poring over the cards, seeing one that you knew you had at home and knowing that it was selling for $8.00 was thrilling.  It was like having a savings account that you could tap into whenever you wanted to.  So the take away message?  

Here is my favorite explanation, by none other than the Spaceman himself, Bill Lee:

...Kids today, they go, 'how much is your baseball card worth?' And I'm going, 'A plug nickel, son, a plug nickel.' I'm saying, 'Son, be your own person. Do not collect baseball cards. It will be the ruination of you. Maybe you'll learn economics a little bit or you'll learn what value is. But you're being an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur takes something of no value and makes money on it. And I do not believe in that for kids.' I teach 'em right off the bat: Learn the game. Do not look at Yuppie, do not look at the Chicken. Do not look at that. Look at the ground ball. Field it cleanly with both hands. Be as smooth as silk. You know, make the nice throw to second. Have the nice breaking curve ball. Subtract on the changeup. See the ball and hit it. Don't associate with the other things of the game. They will eventually bring you down, eat you up and spit you out.

3/3/13 West Sunset game, In Print!

Our literati sister in all things baseball and butter related has made the switch to sports reporting in the Bay Guardian.  And here with a nice lil' something about the Mission Baseball Club is our own L.E. Leone.

9 innings, 20 years

Our longtime Cheap Eats correspondent makes the switch -- here's L.E. Leone's first Guardian sports column

A giant hawk swooped down from the tall trees along the right field line. Against the blazing white San Francisco sky, it seemed all wing span and tiny-headed. And jaggedly, viciously beautiful.

The pickoff play was on.

Greg Snyder, caught completely off guard, dove back to third. Lucky for him, third-baseman Johnny Bartlett was also caught off guard, and the throw glanced off his glove and rolled to the chain link fence in front of the third base dugout, West Sunset Playground.

So I guess that means the pickoff play wasn't on. Except in the pitcher's mind. And maybe the hawk's.

Eskimoed inside my furry-fringed corduroy coat in the stands, I watched with the hawk as Bartlett retrieved the ball. Snyder, with no thought of advancing, knelt on third base and looked at his fingers. The first joint of his right pinky was bent away from his hand at an unnatural angle. He'd jammed it on the bag. First Bartlett, then Sean Paul Presley, the pitcher, came over and had a look, and both turned away, wincing, while Snyder calmly torqued it back into place.

Then, yeah, the game went on.

When we talked later, in the stands, top of the seventh, Snyder had the pinky taped to the ring finger of his throwing hand with a thin strip of dirty white tape.

"Can I get you some ice?" I said.

He said, "Nah."

"I have ibuprofen," I said, reaching into my purse.

"No thanks," he said. "I have some in my car."

But I never saw him get it. Although he had pitched the first few innings for the visiting team, by the time of the finger thing, he was catching. And continued to catch — six more innings, to the end of a wacky, back-and-forth, 11-inning game.

In the bottom of the tenth, he threw out a runner trying to steal second.

Greg Snyder is 47 years old.

Carter Rockwell, 24, picked up the win in relief, and also hit a home run off his older brother, Will.

Doc Magrane, 69, did not play. But not because of age. He and chemo have recently whipped a little bone cancer into complete remission. He still suits up for pick-up games, puts on some of the extra catchers' gear, and umps.

Tony Rojas brought a sweater for his dog, Dee Dee. He showed me before the game: black with white skull and crossbones.

"Nice. Does she like it?" I said.

"No," he said. "She hates it."

The sweater went on and came back off of Dee Dee, and then she started to shake and shiver and Rojas became worried, which affected his play. He threw high to first, swung at bad pitches . . . had she gotten into something? he wondered.

"We could use a field ump, too, you know," Doc Magrane called out to me, between innings.
I didn't know yet that I was a sports writer.

"No thanks!" I hollered back anyway.

It's been twenty years now since the Mission Baseball Club, as it has come to be called, started. Maybe 21.

In 1992 (or 3), four or five Mission District musicians and poets, myself included, gathered at Jackson Field at the foot of Potrero Hill one day a week to play catch, field grounders, and take batting practice.

Six or seven, eight . . . Once there were nine, we could split into threes and play tiny three-way games, with right field foul and "imaginary runners."

At twelve we opened right field, and any more than that meant we could have a catcher, so we bought some catchers' gear.

For a few years there in the mid-90s, the Mission fielded a team in the city's Roberto Clemente League. We were a ragtag crew, and the only team in the league with women on it. No one asked. We just did it.

Twenty years later: this. Eye black and uniforms. Field reservations. An umpire. As it turns out, a reporter . . . Two teams of 11, arbitrarily decided, share one dugout each week. And the range of play varies.
Widely.

Some have played college ball. One played in the minors.

Jen Ralston (a.k.a. Hedgehog, a.k.a. my Hedgehog), who at 42 is playing the first baseball of her life, lined a two-strike curve into shallow center: her first hit ever. I asked for the ball.

Eventually she came around to score, and commented later, over fish, that the bases had been softer than she'd expected.

"Are they always like that?" she said.

I said that they were.

3/3/13 West Sunset

Thanks to Jonathan "That's good financial advice" Tiemann for this weeks write up.  Sounds like a good time was had by all, dislocated fingers and all.... 

Here's a summary from yesterday's game.  I'm afraid you missed a good one.

Spring Training may be in the air, but Spring wasn't much in evidence on Sunday at West Sunset.  The day was cool - plenty of jackets and sweatshirts on the bench, and a few on the field.  It was overcast, too - a welcome relief for us outfielders, since we were mostly able to see the ball for a change.  We started out a perfect nine on nine, and by the time the stragglers finished arriving we had eleven to a side, with Doc in his accustomed spot behind the plate.

Johnny Bartlett took the bump for the home team, and Greg started for the visitors.  The game started with a bang, as Duane led off with a drive up the gap.  He had an easy triple, and wanted more, but Johnny took the relay and threw him out at the plate.  The play went something like 8-6-1-2.  We managed a couple of runs anyway, for an early lead.  The homers' bats came alive too, though, and our outfielders had plenty of work, mostly fielding hits.  By the sixth inning the homers had a solid lead.  Meanwhile, Johnny gave way to Sean, and then to Will, while Carter took over for the visitors.  

The visitors' fortunes turned in about the seventh, when Carter led off with a drive over Paul's head in center field.  By the time Paul was able to run it down, Carter was already around second, and he was able to complete the circuit for a rare MBC home run.  We put up a crooked number in the inning, and after seven the visitors led, 11-10.  The seesaw game had just about everybody's juices flowing, but while it was more competitive in spirit than most, it also retained the atmosphere that keeps us all coming back to Mission Baseball. 

In the eighth the visitors strung together several hits, including a two-out, bases-loaded single, to extend the lead to 13-10, and after we held the homers in the bottom of the frame, we were liking our chances.  But we went quietly in our half of the ninth, and the home team battled back with three in their half to send the game into extra innings.  Lattig put his spikes back on, and we went to the tenth. 

Lattig and Jimmy led off the tenth with singles, and I thought I had one too when I lined the ball into center, but Mitch was playing shallow, and he was able to force Jimmy at second, Mike going to third.  Bob plated Mike with a sacrifice fly, which Loren caught in foul ground in right, and we ended up settling for the one run.  Paul led off the home tenth with a single, and John McGrath forced him at second.  We liked our chances again when Greg gunned John out trying to steal second, but the home side pushed across a two-out equalizer, and we went to the eleventh.  In that frame, Duane and Carter led off with hits, and we had runners on second and third, with nobody out.  Elvin knocked Duane in with a high bounding ball, and Carter went to third.  Jay hit a shot to third that looked like it would bring us an insurance run, but Johnny made a nice stop and a perfect throw home, and Tim applied the tag for the second out.  Jay ended up stranded at first, so we went to the bottom of the eleventh, again trying to defend a one-run lead.  This time, we recorded two quick outs, but the homers kept battling, and had the tying run on base when Sean came to the plate with two down.  Carter got Sean, though, on a fly ball to right, and we finally had the game by a tally of 15-14.

Highlights -

• Carter's home run, of course, which also earned him fraternal bragging rights, since he hit if off Will

• Jen lined a clean single over second base - You have an average now!

• Daniel laid out and nearly caught a sinking line drive in right center.  It was the effort of the year, and almost the catch of the year.

• Nobody hit Bob, but Will did manage to get Jay in the ribs with a fastball. 

• It seemed like there was a good deal of umpiring by committee, with Doc, the catchers, and the hitters negotiating over the calls.  It worked out just fine, but made it even harder than usual to figure out what the count was sometimes

• Greg dislocated a finger diving back into third on a pickoff attempt, but calmly relocated it himself.  That was before he threw McGrath out stealing.

• Best line of the day - Bob was saying that if Loren hit a screamer to third with his composite bat he might kill the third baseman, and Paul calmly replied, "Well, he's had a good life."

• A high foul ball to the parking lot caused some concern when, after what seemed like an unusually long time, it produced a metallic thunk.  Near as we can tell, it pinballed around in the trees for a while and then bounced in the bed of Will's truck.

• Johnny still has a good inventory of the new MBC T-shirts.  They look even better in person than in the picture.