HURTIN' UNITS TORN APART BY LIGAMENTS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. The TORN LIGAMENTS..

The great Ted Williams once remarked: “When I was younger, the Red Sox used to stop sometimes in Greenville, South Carolina—that’s Joe Jackson’s home. And he was still alive. Oh, how I wish I had known that and could have stopped in to talk hitting with that man.” Many of us wish we could have talked with Joe Jackson! 

Game # 12- June 28, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 19-6

Team Record 5-7-0

Coventry Park- This game is the half way point in the season. We started the season off like a house on fire and we looked like we may contend for the league title, but we went in to a little bit of a slide and some of the other teams don't show any sign of slowing down...In the month of April the Hurtin' Units went 4-1, winning the first 4 games of the season. In the month of  June the Units have a 1-6 record... Ouch!!




Joseph Jefferson Jackson  "Shoeless Joe" 1888 - 1951
Lifetime Batting Average: .356
(third highest in baseball history)


Bill J believes we are on this losing streak because of his new shoes. We have not won a game since he started wearing these shoes, with the exception of the night he had to leave the game and I came in to pitch, but we were losing the game when he left... There could something to this, but everyone probably has a reason as to why we are not playing well... The funny thing is when we're hitting and scoring runs the other teams are doing the same and when we are playing solid defense we can't seem to put runs up on the scoresheet. I've heard many o' captain say that it's all practise until the playoffs, I don't like to use this line, I like winning, winning is fun...Maybe we can put June behind us and look forward to July... What say ye shoeless Billy? Is it time to go shoeless??

The weather for this game was...windy, overcast, cloudy, cool, warm...in other words it was a real mixed bag of bizzare weather. The strong winds were blowing out toward right field. It was an adventure for anyone who was trying to catch a ball in the air.

At game time we were missing Richard and Paul E...

The game got off to a rough start, the Ligaments scored 3 runs in the top of the first inning, and we went down 1,2,3, there were no runs scored in the second inning. In the third, I came in to pitch, while shoeless Bill caught, I gave up 4 more runs, but in the bottom of the inning we woke up for 4 runs of our own... 7-4 Ligaments after 3 innings...

In the fourth inning the Ligaments tacked on another 4 runs, the Units went quietly 1,2,3 again. Neither team scored in the fifth inning and in the top of the seventh the Ligaments came out and scored 7 big, fat, juicy runs and the Units scored 2 runs in the bottom of the inning... 18-6 Ligaments after six innings.

The seventh inning saw the Ligaments score one more run and the Units go down 1,2,3 for the third time in the game...

Maybe we ( the Hurtin' Units) are trying a little to hard, maybe, just maybe, everyone needs to relax a little bit and loosen our grip on the bats, we are a much better team than we showed in the month of June. The HTKP tournament is a great time to relax and get ourselves back on track...

Our next regular season game is Tuesday July 5, 2011 at Coventry Park at 7:00pm.

Boxscore:       1    2    3     4     5     6     7      Total 

Hurtin' Units    0    0    4     0     0     2    0          6    

Torn Ligs        3     0    4     4     0     7    1         19   

Hurtin Units June 27 game sheet...



HURTIN' UNITS HAVE DOUBLE THE FUN...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. The BREW JAYS and The LUCKY STIFFS...(Not at the same time.)

DOUBLEHEADER NIGHT...June 21, 2011


Game # 10 vs. Brew Jays.- 7:00pm

Hurtin Units lose 13-11


Game # 11 vs. Lucky Stiffs.- 8:15pm

Hurtin' Units lose 8-2


Coventry Park- I gotta tell ya, I do like the doubleheader, I've mentioned in previous blogs that I enjoy playing this game and win or lose, I keep coming back...So on this night we get to play a lot of baseball and knock off two games on the schedule... Games 10 and 11 on the schedule, wow can you believe we are almost half way through the season and those damn Dusty Cleats are still undefeated.

The weather for these games was good, a little bit of overcast with a temperature at 24 degrees at 6:30pm...

At game time we had all 12 players suited up and eager to get playing, after all it had been almost a week between games...I have to tell you guys it has been great with this team, I have not called for a substitution yet this season and this tells me we either have a good playing enviroment or we have a lot of guys who just love playing...Maybe both!!

The 7:00pm home game is a tough one, we have to rush to the diamond, set out the bases, fill out the lineup sheet, post lineup/position sheet, warm up... Last night I forgot the lineup/position sheets...D'oh!!! The position sheet is something I really like to use, I have played on some teams and the captains would be scrambling to tell guys to where to play and have seen the confusion. I think that most guys like to know where they will be playing and when you have 12 players suited, it's easier to have positions posted so that nobody is sitting too much...Right Cal?? I've actually noticed other captains doing the same thing this season, it seems to make our lives a little easier...

So I forgot the sheets and we're are playing not only one game, but two...I guess it wasn't all that bad, I fudged (mmm fudge)the first game and the second game we used an old sheet and made a few adjustments... Game on!

Our last three games have been against the top three teams in the league, ranked in order Dusty Cleats, Lucky Stiffs and the Brew Jays. We have played all three teams pretty well and I think we are becoming a better defensive team from playing these teams. We have had a little batting trouble, but we'll come through this rough patch and when we do, I hope the defense is still playing as well as it did last night...When the Hurtin' Unit bats starting hitting like they are capable of and we can shut down the opponent's offense like we did in these two games, we will be back in the the win column...

Last night we lost both games... Brew Jays by a score of 13-11 and the Lucky Stiffs by a score of 8-2.

Game #1 vs. The Brew Jays.

This was another fun game. The Brew Jays and the Hurtin' Units were both new teams last season and we both battled for the top spot in the league, with the Units edging them out by 2 points. The Hurtin' Units beat the Brew Jays in both meetings last season, the only team to beat the Jays twice.

The game last night was another classic battle between these two teams. The Brew Jays got off to a great start, scoring 4 runs in the first inning, the Units didn't score. In the second inning the Jays scored another 2 runs and the Units countered with 2 runs. The third inning, I came in to pitch an inning and our defense slowed the Jays down, allowing only a single run, the Units scored 3 more runs in the bottom of the inning...The score at the end the third was 7-5 for the Jays...

In the forth inning, the Units were the only team to score, but only a single run... In the fifth inning, the Jays were stopped again and the Units put up 5 more runs on the scoresheet...In the sixth, the Brew Jays scored 3 runs and the Units were shut out...The score after 6 innings, 11-10 Hurtin' Units...

In the top of the seventh inning the Brew Jays scored 3 runs and took the lead at 13-11... The bottom of the inning, Kevin lead off with a single, then Brad flied out, Mike got a single, but unfortunately Cal S. hit in to a double play and the rally was over... Brew Jays win 13-11...Despite the loss, this was a good game...

Boxscore:        1   2   3   4    5    6    7      Total

Hurtin' Units   0   2   3   1    5    0    0       11    

Brew Jays        4  2    1   0   0    3    3        13       


Game # 2 vs. The Lucky Stiffs.

This game was also a fun game, we didn't score much, but still fun... It took 3 innings just to get through the lineup once and over the first 4 innings we only had 5 base runners... We finally scored a single run in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth inning... only 2 runs in the game, our lowest output this season...The Lucky Stiffs are a solid team both defensively and offensively...we were shut down by their defense, but it was the way we shut down their offense down that impresses me. The Stiffs have a lot of big bats and we held them to only 8 runs...

In the first inning, the Stiffs scored a single run, we stopped them in the second, but in the third (Bob in to pitch) the top of the Stiff's order hit us around the park, starting with 5 well placed singles in a row. The Stiffs scored 6 runs in the third inning, one more run in the fifth inning and that would be all they would need to win 8-2. This loss dropped the Hurtin' Units below .500 for first time this season with a record of 5-6-0.

Boxscore:        1   2   3    4    5    6    7      Total

Hurtin' Units    0   0   0   0    1    1    0          2   

Lucky Stiffs      1   0   6   0    1    0    X          8   

We have lost our last 3 games, but I really think we are playing some good baseball. The Help The Kids Play tournament is coming up, I think this tournament will be great for the Units to work out some batting woes and have a relaxed weekend of baseball.

Our next game is Tuesday June 28, 2011 at 8:15pm vs. The Torn Ligaments...

DUSTY CLEATS BEAT UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. DUSTY CLEATS...

Game # 9 - June 15, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 20-19

Team Record -5-4-0

Keogh Park- It was the bottom of the seventh inning, the score tied at 19-19, the Units defense was ready to stop the Dusty Cleats from winning another and adding to the undefeated season. Scott B. was the lead-off batter, Units pitcher Bill J. threw a beautiful pitch and Scott B. made solid contact...

There are probably not a lot of guys who like the 9:30pm game, I know I'm not a fan and will do my best to avoid one if possible. This game was on our schedule and who knew it would fall on the eve of the 7th game of the NHL finals, which the Boston Bruins would win the Stanley Cup by a score of 4-0.

At game time we had 11 players ready to play, Cal R. was the only missing player, in fact he was subbing in the game before ours, but he doesn't like to play the 9:30pm games. We were the visitors on this night.

The Dusty Cleats are the only undefeated team in the league this season with a 7-0-0 record...

The weather was really great for this game. The warm temperature, less the humidity meant that there would probably be a few well hit balls on the evening...

The Hurtin' Units looked solid offensively in the first 3 innings, scoring 16 runs (including two 7 run innings), but the Dusty Cleats powerful offense also scored runs in the first 3 innings, in fact they scored runs in every inning in the game. The score at the end of 3 innings was Hurtin' Units 16, Dusty Cleats 7.

Over the next three innings the Hurtin' Units offensive magic would disappear, while the Dusty Cleats hit parade was just gettin' started. The Units scored only 3 runs and the Cleats scored 12 runs. The score after 6 innings was tied at 19-19.

This was the first time, this season, I had seen the Dusty Cleats play. I had heard that they were kickin' ass and takin' names, but having experienced their game first hand, I know why they are undefeated and piling up the statistical numbers that they are. The Cleat batters hit hard and hit far and their defense isn't too shabby either...

I started the first inning as catcher, the first Cleat batter was this average sized, new guy, not even wearing a team shirt yet (maybe it was laundry day), Bill J. threw him a pitch and he swung hard fouling it off, the next pitch Bill threw, this guy named Gord crushed the ball in to the lawn bowling courts, foul again, but this time it had a “ holy crap” feel to it... Yikes!!!

Gord got a hit and with the assistance of the other power hitters behind him came around to score.

In the second inning, Gord (new guy) crushed another ball over the left center field fence and I remember Roman asking “ would you like the chicken or the steak?”, as we all watched the ball sail easily over the fence. Fortunately there was only one runner on base and the damage was minimal...

In third inning Bob M pitched for the Units only allowing a single run to score...

In the forth inning, Gordy (as I like to call him now) hit another homerun to the opposite field, down the first base line and then Robin (Dick) hit another homerun to straight away center field. In total, the Dusty Cleats hit four, out of the park, homeruns against us in this game...I don't recall ever seeing four homeruns in a single game, I'm sure it has happened, but I've never seen it...

In the fifth inning, Gordy was up again, this time the bases were loaded (what do you do here? In the playoffs you walk him, but then you still have Robin, Rob, Scott, etc. coming up behind him), Bill threw a pitch right down the middle and Gordy just watched it, next pitch he fortunately hit a hard line drive double and only scored 2 more runs, but the rest of the order helped to cap off a six run inning... Gord must have had 7 RBIs in this game...

The Dusty Cleats team record is no fluke, this is a solid team, top to bottom, defensively and offensively...

Meanwhile back to the bottom of the Seventh Inning...

Bill threw a beautiful pitch and Scott B. got all of it, sending it over the left center field fence for another Dusty Cleat homerun and another victory... The Cleats win 20-19.

Boxscore:        1     2    3    4     5    6     7        Total

Hurtin' Units   7     7    2     0    2    1     0         19   

Dusty Cleats    4     2    1     4    6    2     1          20  

Despite losing this game, I would think that most of the Hurtin' Unit players would agree that this was a fun game, going toe to toe with the no. 1 team in the league and having them on the ropes early in the game. I think the Cleats have to be the early favorite for the league championship. Can anyone beat these guys??? I look forward to a rematch,which is on August 15, 2011... Could they still be undefeated on this date???

We have a doubleheader on Tuesday June 21, 2011 at Coventry Park against 2 other tough teams, the Lucky Stiffs and the Brew Jays... Let's see if we're up to the challenge...

GRISSLIES TEAR APART THE HURTIN' UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE GRISSLIES...

Game # 8 - June 8, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 19-3

Team Record 5-3-0

Keogh Park- The first game of the evening was canceled due to lightening in the area, but by the time our game was set to start, the weather had cleared up considerably. This was the warmest June 8 (33 degrees) since 1950, but by game time it had cooled off and the evening was actually quite pleasant...It felt warmer to me on Monday than on this night...

This has been a bitter sweet week for me, with regards to baseball. On Monday evening we beat the Rebels in the bottom of the seventh inning, on Tuesday I subbed for the Dogcatchers and we beat the Lucky Stiffs ( one of the undefeated teams in the league) and then this game which we were man handled and it turned out to be very disappointing...

The funny thing is that I really do love to play ( win or lose) and even though I play hockey late on Thursday evening, I was actually considering playing ball again, if I was called to sub on Thursday. I've decided to not play ball or hockey on Thursday evening, I feel a little beaten up this week (sore back, sore knee, aching shoulder and I'm really tired), probably best to relax for an evening...

Bill J. made me laugh last night at the end of this game. Bill thinks it's his new shoes (cleats) that are responsible for our recent playing woes. He started wearing the new shoes 4 games ago, we lost the first two games, we were losing when he left the game on Monday night and we lost this game. Bill says he's not going to wear the shoes anymore... I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who is superstitious...LOL.

This game against the Grisslies was like that strange, distant, long lost relative that you don't talk about, so let's not talk about it...Let's just move on. The Grisslies were the better team on this night winning 19-3.

Boxscore:            1    2    3    4     5     6     7          Total

Hurtin' Units       0    0    0    0     2     0     1             3     

Grisslies              3    0    6     2     1     5    2            19               

Our next game is Wednesday June 15, 2011 at Keogh Park vs. The Dusty Cleats at 9:30pm.  The Cleats are undefeated this season, we can redeem ourselves with a win against the Cleats...See ya there... 

HURTIN' UNITS ESCAPE THE REBELS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. RUSTY REBELS

Game # 7 - June 6, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 14-13

Team Record 5-2-0

Keogh Park- The weather and playing conditions for this game, seemed about ideal on the surface, but when we actually got the diamond we discovered it was not as good as it seemed. The temperature was in the 20s, but it was very humid and it wasn't long before most of us were dripping with sweat. The sun was shining bright in the western sky, any player facing in that direction was experiencing difficulty seeing the ball. I remember an exchange and offerings of sunglasses at the end of the first inning.

At game time there were 11 Hurtin' Unit players, although this would change. After pitching only 2 innings, Bill J. had to leave for personal reasons. One other note on Bill J., after being hit by a line drive in our last game, his arm was still bruised, and to add insult to injury, the morning after being hit he was stung (by a bee or wasp) on the hand of the bruised arm. Ouch!

After a rough road trip, we were back to being a home team.

We got off to a bit of a rough start. In the top of the first inning the Rebels scored twice and the Units came up with nothing. The top of the second inning wasn't very good either, the Rebels scored 5 more runs and the noose around our collective collars began to tighten just a little bit, memories of recent games starting to creep in to our heads... In the bottom of the second inning the Units bats came to life and brought around 3 runs. In the top of the third, I came in to pitch an inning and as I was warming up Bill J. informed me that he had to leave. (Bill had mentioned to me earlier that he had a family issue that he was dealing with and he might not make our game on Wednesday night. I don't know if last night's sudden departure was related to this family issue). My pitching in the top of the third inning was a little shaky to start, I must admit I was concerned about Bill and this was a distraction. We managed to hold the Rebels to 2 more runs, but in the bottom the Rebels shut us down again... The score after 3 innings was 9-3 for the Rusty Rebels.

In the top of the forth inning our defense shut the Rebels down, no runs, and in the bottom of the inning the Hurtin' Units struck for 5 runs...There was one event that happened in the forth inning that made us feel warm (well we were actually already warm) and tingly all over. With two Rebel batters out and Captain Hugh batting, with two strikes on him, I threw a pitch that Hugh watched hit the back part of the board for strike 3... GOT THIRST?? SEE CAPTAIN HUGHY... Captain Hugh, who is usually a real Chatty Cathy, most of the time, was suddenly silenced for... about a whole minute...

The fifth inning was very similar to the forth inning without the amazing strike out of the Rebel's captain Hughy. Did I mention he just stood and watched the pitch hit the board without even swinging the bat? The Hurtin' Units defense shut out the Rebels again and in the bottom of the inning the Units scored another 5 runs capped off with a 3 run homerun, over the left center field fence by Mooner (2). The score after 5 innings, 13-9 for the Hurtin' Units...

The top of sixth inning wasn't my pitching moment, I walked the first 3 batters, starting with 9 straight balls. The fortunate thing was they were all good hitters including Geoff Keogh, who hit a homerun in to the tennis courts in the second inning and the guy who leads the league in OBA with a perfect 1.000 average. I did however walk in a run, but we managed to get out of the inning giving up only 3 runs with some solid defense behind me. The down side was that we were unable to score any runs in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh inning the Rebels scored another run, tying the game at 13-13. Still in the top of the seventh, game tied, two out, Rebel runners on first and third, the batter with a deep count, I threw a pitch, the batter swung, made contact with the ball and foul tipped it in to Mike's out stretched glove for the final out for the Rebels evening. The worst we could do is tie this game...


Mooner was the lead off batter in the bottom of the seventh inning, he took a pitch or two and then when he saw something he liked, hammered a hard hit ball in to the outfield, digging hard he made it to second base. The next batter was Brad, who hit a line drive to center field , Mooner came all the way around from second to score and win the game... Make the final 14-13 for the Hurtin' Units...

Boxscore;           1    2     3     4     5     6     7            Total

Hurtin' Units      0    3     0     5     5     0     1               14  

Rusty Rebels      2     5    2     0     0     3     1               13  

Highlights: There were some highlights in this game, but it's really to hot to try and remember them... I do remember a couple of things... Mooner's 3 run homerun...Bob making a nice over the shoulder catch at short...Mike catching a foul tip, in the seventh, for the last out of the Rebels...Mooner's delayed throw to Mike at first, making Mike stretch out like Rubberman (okay, this might not be a highlight, but it was fun to watch)... Brad's game winning RBI in the bottom of the seventh, I'm sure there were others and I apologize if I've missed anyone...

Our next game is Wednesday June 8, 2011 at Keogh Park vs. the Grisslies...

RED DOGS MAUL THE HURTIN' UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE RED DOGS...

Game # 6 - June 1, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 25-14

Team Record-4-2-0

Keogh Park- The weather for this game was absolutely fantastic, a temperature of 23 degrees, the humidity that had been here for the last couple of days was gone and the sky was clear. The only thing that could effect our game was the wind. At 6:00pm on game day the wind was at 31km/h and there were wind gusts of 48km/h, the pitchers were going to have their work cut out for them in this game...

I mention the weather in every page of the blog because when I go back and read about the games, sometime in the future, I like to have a feel for what the evening was like. Last night was a great night for ball, the sun was shining, there was a warm breeze ( probably more of a strong wind), no humidity, no bugs and just a great feeling being outside on the diamond. The score of the game, who won or who lost really didn't matter to me, the warm summer like conditions had finally arrived. I welcome the opportunity to play the game I look forward to playing every week...

This was my third game this week. On Tuesday evening, I subbed for the Beer Bros. and they didn't have a great game either, as a matter of fact it was very similiar to this game with a little less scoring from the opponents. I had a good night playing with the Bros, I went 4 for 4 at bat and had no field errors, the rest of their team didn't fair as well...

The game on Wednesday evening was very close, each team went back and forth looking for an opportunity to take the lead and hold on for the victory. It took almost the entire game before the home team took the lead and held on for the win. With only 19 seconds remaining in the third period, the Vancouver Canucks scored a goal and held on to win the first game of the Stanley Cup finals, by a score of 1-0 against the Boston Bruins. You really didn't think I was talking about our game did you? Our game against the Red Dogs wasn't even close...

Our game was ... interesting, yes interesting is one way I can describe it, I'm sure I could have found other words to make my point- colourful, bizzare, uncharacteristic, crazy, etc.,etc. And since I only talk about the positive points of our games, here's what I've got... The Hurtin' Units played on Wednesday evening at Keogh Park... THE END. Just kidding, there's more.

THE HANGOVER -Part III ( Maybe a monkey could have helped us, haven't you always wanted a monkey??)

I reflect back to the first four innings in our Monday game against the Banshees, our defense was rock solid, Bill was pitching a shutout, the planets were all aligned, cute little puppies were playing with baseball equipment (refer to the first picture in this blog) and it was all shine, lollipops and roses for the 2011 Hurtin' Units team. So what the heck happened that loosened the lug nuts on our wheels, because the wheels obviously fell off. I'll tell you what I think happened, it's all my fault and it's up to me to get the wheels back on and torqued up to spec. It all boils down to the law of cause and effect which states-” a body in motion tends to stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force”.

On Monday evening we were rolling along, we had an undefeated season, everyone was hitting decent, our defense was making the outs and then it happened, the cause that started this downward spiral...As I mentioned earlier, Bill was pitching a shutout, the defense was making the outs, I was on the sheet to pitch the third inning, but I thought Bill was in the zone and I didn't want to throw him off. So instead of pitching, I pulled myself from the pitching detail and shifted things around on the lineup/position sheet, something I never do during a game...This is where the I believe the wheel nuts started to loosen. When I removed myself from the pitching spot, I also changed other player's positions and caused a butterfly effect, which has been happening since the the change...

It was from this point in Monday's game that our team game began to change. Wednesday's game was like the hangover from Monday, we didn't look all that good, we had a difficult time moving around, we were a little clumsy and we didn't seem to have a lot of energy... Sounds like a hangover to me. From the very first inning on Wednesday, I knew we were in for a long night!!

In the top of the first inning we scored 4 runs, but the Red Dogs scored 7 in the bottom of the inning. It wasn't the 3 run difference that told me it was going to be a long night, it was how much we were fighting the ball...There was also an incident that probably played on us for the rest of the game... In the first inning I was catching, Bill had got through the Red Dog order and now had gotten to one of the subs brought in for this game... The sub was Roger B., probably one of the hardest hitting batters in the T.O.T league. Roger hit a hard line drive back up the middle which struck Bill J. on the left forearm and then deflected towards second base. Bill was in a lot of discomfort and left the game, in search of some ice at the Legion. Everyone was shocked by the events that had just unfolded, Bill seemed to be okay, with the exception of a huge bruise on his arm... He would return to bat in the top of the next inning and to continue pitching an inning later... After the incident, I came into pitch, while Bill went for ice, I pitched a batter or two and the Red Dogs scored their seventh run.

In the second inning, the Dogs shut us down, no runs and in the bottom, with me pitching, they scored 3 more runs to take a 10-4 lead. In the third, the Hurtin Units scored 4 more runs and Bill came back in to pitch, we allowed the Dogs 3 more runs...The forth inning saw us shut out again and this time the Red Dogs scored another 5 runs... After 4 innings the Dogs lead by a score of 18-8. Over the next 3 innings the Hurtin' Units scored 6 more runs and the Red Dogs, who didn't need the bottom of the seventh inning, scored 7 more runs to make the final score 25-14.

Boxscore:         1     2    3      4     5     6      7       Total

Hurtin' Units    4     0     4     0     2      2      2        14   

Red Dogs          7     3     3     5     0      7      X        25  

So how do we rectify this problem that seems to be turning our team upside down for the last game and a half ??

Earlier today, I was on Kijiji searching for a time machine ( do you know what comes up when you search time machine? Watches and clocks, go figure.), there were no time machines, so I looked for a Delorean, a flux capacitor and some platonium, nothing listed here either... So my idea of Marty McFlying back to Monday night's game and not changing the line-up is not an option...I think I just need to change a few small things and we will change our cause and effect again, hopefully in the right direction this time...

Sports and especially baseball are steeped with traditions and superstitions. If I were to ask every player, most could come up with superstition regarding hockey, baseball or some other sport.


I'm a superstitious person. I believe that you don't change things, during a game, when things are going well. I made a change in our game Monday that makes me (probably only me) believe that the universe is not working with us as evidenced in Wednesday night's game. How can we explain the unusual events that transpired during our game, the bobbles, the strange throws, and the ball hitting Bill in the arm? These things dont happen every game, ok maybe they do, but we have not seen them...at least not all in the same game...

To ease my superstitious mind, I will need to make a few changes... maybe change a bat grip, or a position on the field, or maybe just a poster of Rosie O'Donell or Betty White (yea baby) hanging in the dugout... That will stir things up and send us running in the other direction.

I give fair warning, there will be 3 or 4 changes for the next game. Don't be surprised to see a poster of Rosie or Betty, or a Horseshoe hanging over the dugout or a garden gnome sitting on the bench. These 3 or 4 changes will be necessary to get us back on track!

There was one really amazing thing that happened on Wednesday night. In all the years that I played in this league, I can not recall seeing every player on the team go back to the Legion and definitely not after such a devastating defeat. On Wednesday evening, after our game, every player on the 2011 Hurtin' Unit's team went back to the legion for a drink...The table we sat at was almost not big enough to accomodate all of us...A sea of blue and yellow shirts crowded around one of the legion tables, jugs of cold beer, laughter from discussions of a bizzare defeat and a sense of calm as we all new this game tonight was just an anomoly... 

Mike and I were driving to hockey on Thursday evening and unfortunately Mike had to listen to me prattle on about superstitions and how to change our losing streak, but we both agreed that we are extremely fortunate again this season to have drafted such a great group of players. Win or lose this season, it has already been fun....thanks guys.

Our next game is Monday June 6, 2011 at 7:00pm at Keogh Park...