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...