Let the games begin...

“People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” - Roger Hornsby

Hurtin' Units vs. Dodge City Rounders...

Game # 1- May 10, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 16-11

Team Record - 1-0-0

Finally, the big day has arrived (no I'm not talking about the Royal wedding), I'm talking about the start of the Hurtin' Units 2011 season. And with the start of the new season comes a new squad of well tuned, athletic players, although one third of the Hurtin' Units team is a carry over from last season. Mike, Paul G., Chris R. and myself (Jimmer) played together on the 2010 Units team. This years Units team looks (at least on paper) to be as strong as last years , but is there the same team chemistry? In my opinion, based on the guys I've spoken to and the team practise we had, I would say there is already a positive and very optimistic energy flowing around the Hurtin' Units imaginary clubhouse.


We have gotten off to a bit of a rough start this season. The poor weather conditions set our start date back a week and forced us into scramble mode to get the makeup game in. Our shirts are still not ready and we don't know if our lettering is yellow or white. Paulie G. doesn't know what colour of socks and underwear to wear to co-ordinate. I told him to wear white and he can always add some yellow highlights before, during or after the game.


There is one other thing as I write this introduction to our first game blog. I have had a couple e-mail conversations with our teammate Chris Ross, over the last couple of days, he was indicating that he might not be available for a large portion of the Hurtin' Units games and he was actually thinking about taking the season off. On Monday May 9, 2011, I received an e-mail from Chris comfirming that he had indeed decided to step down. Chris is a dedicated soccer coach and he thought it would be unfair to our team to miss so many games, as well as the playoff weekend. Chris has been as solid builder of the T.O.T. league and he will be missed as a player.

With Chris stepping down, for a season, the door has been opened up for a new, up and coming, rookie player, on the waiting list, to join the league. I would like to welcome our newest player to the Hurtin' Units, Mr. Brad Moye...Applause..... Brad will be unavailable for our Tuesday night game against the Dodge City Rounders, but will be in the Units lineup on Thursday night for our makeup game with the Dislocated Joints.

I had a brief conversation on Monday evening with Brad and there was one thing that really stuck out about our conversation, I asked Brad what size of shirt he wore, Brad's reply was "Medium".  I guess the XXL shirt, we ordered for Chris Ross, isn't going to fit now is it, at least not snuggly... In all my years in this league, I have never heard of anyone wearing a medium sized shirt. I'm often surprised when I see a "large" on the draft cards and I'm rarely surprised when I see a XXL needed... I really shouldn't judge people on their shirt size, perhaps Brad is like Barney Gumble from the Simpsons and likes to show a little bit of skin... Sorry Brad, I guess I'm a little jealous, I stand 5'3" and wear an extra large shirt. 

Welcome to the Hurtin' Units!!! 

Last season our opening night was also at Coventry Park and our opponent was the Red Dogs. The Hurtin' Units won the game by a 14 -10 score and got the season started in the right direction. The Hurtin' Units went on to have an amazing season with a record of 19-5-2 and a team batting average of .642 %  
2010 was a great season, but now we are about to embark on a new campaign and focus on the 2011!!


It's Game Time:

Coventry Park- The weather for our first game was about what we could expect for May 10, still a little cool, but still comfortable enough when you were running the around. There were overcast skies that probably saved some of us from staring into the sun at our 7:00pm start time.

At game time we had 10 players suited up ready to do battle. Bob M. and new guy Brad Moye were absent on this night...

Similiar to last years start, the defense was a little shakey at times and a couple of batters did not have their timing yet, but over all a pretty well rounded effort for our first game.

The game was shortened due to time, we only played 6 innings and the Units only had five at bats (we were the home team), I got up to bat four times ( I was in the middle of the order) and looking at the game sheet Bill was the last batter, so we all batted four times...not bad for 5 innings.

The first and last innings (open) were our most problematic. Bill struggled a bit to hit the board and find the strike zone and the Rounders waited him out for a either a walk or a good pitch to hit. The Rounders only managed to score 2 runs in the first inning ( although it could worse). In the bottom of the inning, the Units came out swinging and with Tito P. pitching, I unfortunately I hit a hard hit ball up the middle striking Tito in the shin or ankle. He hobbled around for several minutes and then returned to the pitcher's mound ( I really hate when incidents like this happen, I believe in Karma and next time I pitch.... well, you know). With 2 runners on base, the next batter, Mikey Boy, hammered a rocket over the head of the Rounders RCF and Mikey (1) chugged around for a 3 RBI  home run. The Units never looked back...

The top of the second inning saw the Units shut down the Rounders-1,2,3... In the bottom of the inning the Units batted around and scored 7 runs to take an 11-2 lead.

The middle innings saw the Rounders inch a bit closer, but the Unit lead was really to large... Paul Evans had got his first hit in 25 years( hooray! the drought is over) and went 3 for 4 on the night...Most of the Unit players started looking more comfortable at the plate as the game went on... Our defense was having some first game jitters, but it was nothing we can't straighten out over the season. One other thing that happened was a four out inning, we thought we had the third out, but the runner was called safe because Mike was on the orange bag first base bag and not the white. We also had a few breakdowns in communications, calling for pop-ups and fly balls, again a simple problem that can be corrected and will make a difference in our defensive fielding... We threw a few balls away during this game and we will learn to hang on when we need to.. Having Bob M. back in the lineup will tighten our defense. 

The offense was really good in this game. I think the Sunday batting practise helped most of us get off to a good start. I think Paul Evans had a great first game, considering it's been 25 years since he played a game. The guys on this Hurtin' Units squad are great mentors and Paul will great some good tips and advise and will probably show improvement almost every game...

Over all this was a great start to our season.

One more thing: We were challenged last night!! I don't mean in the game, but after in the dugout. I was standing in our dugout when I was approached by one of the Captains of the new team the Beer Bros., ( I'm not sayin' which captain, but it wasn't Paul) and was asked if I would like to make a wager on the season series that our teams will be playing... Well, let me tell you , I'm not afraid of a challenge, and after seeing our team play last night, I had to accept... If the Hurtin' Units win both the season series games, the Beer Bros owe us a case of beer and if the Beer Bros. win the season series we owe them a million dollars (just kidding), we will buy them a case of the cheapest beer on the market...If we both win a game, nobody gets anything... We play the Beer Bros. next Monday evening May 16 at 8:15... Let the trash talk begin... LOL.