LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN.

HURTIN' UNITS 2012 PLAYOFF RUN.

"Baseball is the only field of endeavour where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer" - Ted Williams.

Win or lose I enjoy playing this game; I love the feel of the ball smacking in to my glove, I love the feel of the bat making solid contact with the ball and I love to throw the ball. I mentioned in the last post that I am saddened by the season coming to an end and it's true. We are going to play 4 more games for sure (I'm hoping for more) and when the playoffs conclude the 2012 edition of the Hurtin' Units will disbanded and next year a new team will be drafted.

Despite the ups and down of this year's team with a 9-13-2 record, I have enjoyed this season playing with a great group of guys.

We really got off to a slow start; losing numerous single run games and then we went through a stretch when our bats went on vacation. We also were being hit with the injury bug; we lost both Mike and Dave for the season. We picked up some replacements and both of them got hurt shortly after joining the team. We have other players who are nursing injuries, both up and lower body, can't tell ya who or what they are... playoffs don't ya know.

Last season we called for a sub once all season; this season Jason and I became close friends with my constant requests for subs. In the second half of the season we probably used 20 subs, I'm sure other teams have used more, but last season I called for one sub all year. ONE!   

I still believe we have the team to compete with any team in this league. We finished up in 12th place, but the standings were so close and with one more win we could have been in 8th place. We did finish under .500, but mid-season we were flirtin' around the .500 mark and condsidering the slow start we had, with a little luck we could have been right there. We ended the regular season on a bit of a high note, with 2 wins and a tie in our last 3 games. I'm looking forward to the playoffs and seeing what the Hurtin' Units can do in pressure packed situation. Go Units!! 

Captain's Blog - stardate Tuesday September 4, 2012.

We still continue to play the waiting game; there are still 8 teams waiting to see where they end up in the final standings, all are waiting on the result of the final game of the regular season between the Rusty Rebels and the Red Dogs. And then, most of the seedings will be decided by one of the numerous tie breakers as set out by the league. The Hurtin' Units are tied for 11th place with the Dogcatchers and Rusty Rebels. The Rebels still have this game to play, which is scheduled for this evening. The only problem is that it has been raining most of the day Tuesday and unless it stops soon this game may not get played.

I'm hoping that the game is played tonight so we can to determine where the Hurtin' Units will be seeded. I don't really care about our seeding as much as I care about letting the Unit players know when we play. We have several players that work shift and they probably need some time to work around their work schedules. 

Captain's Blog - stardate Wednesday September 5, 2012.



Final Standings.

The season has finally concluded and the final standings and seedings are now posted. The Hurtin' Units finished tied for 12th place, with the Dog Catchers, but because the Units won the tie breaker the Units will be the 12th seed and  Dogcatchers will be the 13th seed going in to the playoffs.

The Hurtin' Units schedule looks like this:

9/10/2012

Monday

7:15 PM

Hurtin' Units

Brew Jays

K

9/11/2012

Tuesday

8:45 PM

Hurtin' Units

Grisslies

C2

9/14/2012

Friday

7:15 PM

Hurtin' Units

Gruesome Devils

C3

9/15/2012

Saturday

3:00PM

Dusty Cleats

Hurtin' Units

C1

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BREW JAYS.
Monday September 10, 2012

HURTIN' UNITS WIN 29-9

Keogh Park - This is the story of the Hurtin' Units season. Our first game of the playoffs and we get the first place team; the team that only lost 6 games all season, the team that won the league, the team that won the Help the Kids Play Tournament, 
the team the Hurtin' Units played three times already this season. 

We played the Brew Jays twice in the regular season and once in the Help the Kids Play tournament. We lost all three games to the Brew Jays, but they were all close. On May 29 we lost an all out slug fest by a score of 22-21. In the HTKP tournament we lost to the Jays in the semi finals by a score of 12-5, the game was close until the Jays scored 5 runs in the sixth to take a 12-5 lead and not look back. On August 7 ( the game where Rob Hayward broke his wrist), there was another close game with the Jays squeaking out a 13-12 win. 

Monday September 10, 2012- Keogh Park - I remember the 2010 Hurtin' Units start to the playoffs. We had clinched the league title a couple of weeks before the season had ended and we were riding a high. I think we thought we might just coast through the playoffs, but our eyes were opened up in the first and second games. In the first game we played the Rusty Rebels and we were smoked by a score of 27-12. Does this sound familiar? In our second game we were also beat up by the Dodge City Rounders by a score of 22-11. A total of 49 runs against in our first two games of the playoffs and we desperately needed some points to even hang around.

The Units managed to win the next 2 games and made it in to an elimination game, but were knocked out by the Wild who went on to win the Championship.

I had been thinking about this playoff experience most of the day Monday and how the pressure to win was squarely on the shoulders of the Brew Jays. I had told Mike on Sunday that the Units had nothing to lose, we were expected to lose and the Jays were expected to win. No Pressure. I knew we could play with the Jays (we did have two 1 run losses to these guys), but I didn't think we would chalk up this many runs.

Welcome back Dr. Jekyll, we have been missing you for quite some time. Your return could not have come a better time. The bats were back in this game, to the tune of the most runs we have scored all season.

We were missing Davey and Anicete for this game.

The boxscore really tells the story in this game, this was a full team effort.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRISSLIES.
September 11, 2012

HURTIN' UNITS LOSE 15-9

There are no easy games for the Hurtin' Units in this year's playoffs. Our second game puts us up against the Grisslies, a team we also had some difficulty with. We also played the Grisslies 3 times on the season, again twice in the regular season and once in the HTKP tournament. 

On May 8, 2012, in the Hurtin' Units second game of the season, the Hurtin' Units lost by a 17-16 score, for the first loss of many and the first one run loss. 

On July 7, the Units played the Grisslies in the HTKP tournament and won by a score of 12-7. This game was not the complete Grisslies team and it was the "Chicks dig me" game, but the Units were playing some good baseball and it was a well deserved win.

On July 17, the Units game # 15, the Units lost another close game by a score of 9-5. The Units were going through this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde phase and couldn't score any runs, it took 4 innings before the Units could even muster up a single run. I am hoping Mr. Hyde is gone fishing for the remainder of the 2012 season. 

Tuesday September 11, 2012- Coventry Park - I was really hoping the Grisslies wouldn't show up for this game, no I don't mean show up to play, I mean show up at all...LOL. The Grisslies showed up alright and continued with the type of play that was in our last game when the Grisslies would beat the Units by a score of 9-5. This Grisslies team is solid. Their defense was stellar and offensively I kept asking myself when the bottom of the order was going to come up to bat, their bottom is as good as some teams middle.

This was a good game by both teams; I would be lying if I said I the Units played great, we had a few rough patches and the Grisslies took advantage of them. The Units bats were still hitting the ball well, but the Grisslies defense was really well positioned and made it look easy to shut the Units down. The Units had a little rally in the final inning, but it was too little too late.

The Units defense was not as sharp as it has been in resent games, but it did make some nice plays. Rob (Mr. Awesome) was playing first and assisted on 2 double plays, (1st) caught a tough fly ball, threw to Clayton covering first to get the base runner who had left the bag (2nd) Rob caught a ground ball, threw to third for a force out and then Gord back to second for the force on the runner from first...Awesome plays. Gord R. (SS) made a great grab on a line drive, we think he left the ground, not sure though, I (Jimmer) had several balls come back to the mound, one a screaming line drive.

We were missing 3 players for this game. Anicete, Davey and Mark were all out. Don Booth came in to sub.

I did not take a photo of the game sheet so I could not provide a boxscore. Oops, my bad.



HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRUSOME DEVILS.September 14, 2012.

Hurtin' Units lose 23-17

The Grusome Devils are a scary team; they have a heck of a lot of power and the defense is solid. 

The Units played the Grusome twice this season and split the series; on June 11th, in game # 8, the Units took on the Grusomes and suffered a 16-8 loss contributing to the Units 2-5-1 record. On June 28, in game # 10, the Hurtin Units came away with a 19-17 win in an offensive battle.

Friday September 14, 2012- Coventry Park - Still looking for the second win.

Yes, we were still looking for our second win of the round robin, we had the win against the Jays in our pocket, but the loss against the Grisslies put us in a tough spot, we needed a win to keep us in sight of an elimination game or even a bye in to Sunday.

There always seems to be a team in the league that gives our team trouble, this season the Grusome seem to be that team. Even though we split our games with these guys, they play us really tough. This playoff game was no different. There always seems to be a lot of runs in our games with the Devils.

The game was close from start to finish. The Units were the visiting team in this game. In the top of the first inning the Units scored 2 runs to get off to a get start, but in the bottom of the inning the Devils would score 4 runs to keep pace. In the second inning the Units would score 6 runs and take the lead, but this lead was short lived when the Devils scored 7 runs in the bottom of the inning. The Devils defense would shut down the Units in the third and their offense would score 3 more runs. The score at the end of 3 innings... 14-8 for the Grusome Devils.

In the forth inning, both teams would score 2 runs each. In the fifth inning the Units would score 5 runs and the Devils would counter with 2 more runs. Over the final two innings the Units would only score 2 more runs and the Devils would score another 5 runs. The final score 23-17 for the Grusome Devils.

The Units record for the round robin was now sitting at 1-2 with one game remaining against the Dusty Cleats.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.
Saturday September 15, 2012.

Hurtin' Units win 17-10

The last team we play in the round robin is the Cleats. Like every other team in our pool we had a bit of a rough go with these fellas, with a loss and a tie in our two games played.

On August 14, in game # 20 the Cleats kicked the snot out of us by a score 14-4. 

On August 27, in game # 23, the Hurtin' Units and the Dusty Cleats battled to a 3-3 tie. Probably the lowest scoring game, in the league, this season. This game was just another example of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome that the Units were going through this season.

Saturday September 15, 2012 - Hurtin' Units need a win.

The Hurtin' Units were the home team in this game, the first time we were in the round robin play. The Cleats came out of the gate quickly scoring 6 runs in the top of the first inning. The Units would would come out strong themselves, getting back 4 runs to keep the game close. Over the next 2 innings both teams would score 2 runs, the Units a single in the second and third and the Cleats 2 runs in the third. At the end of 3 innings the Cleats lead by 2 runs... 8-6

In the bottom of the forth, the Units bats would thunder to life with the word, from the president, that the Hurtin' Units won the keg party. The Units would put 6 runs up on the score board and take the lead. The Cleats would only score another 2 runs in the game and the Units would tack on an additional 5 to make the final 17-10 and give the Units a bye in to Sunday's games.

At the end of the round robin portion of the playoffs the standings were extremely close. The Hurtin' Units were sitting 2-2 with a plus 2, which would put them in to sixth place in the reseed and second in the "A" pool which gave the Units a bye in to the quarter finals on Sunday vs. the Grisslies.














Sunday September 16, 2012

Quarter Finals- Hurtin' Units vs. Grisslies.

Hurtin' Units win 18-12

I don’t know what it is about the Grisslies, but for some reason I keep forgetting to take a picture of the score sheet and if I don’t have the picture, I can’t include a box score. I guess we can live without a box score for this game. I really should just be happy to be playing on Sunday. This year was the first time in our 3 year history the Hurtin’Units have made it to Sunday play and the nice thing was we didn’t have to play a elimination game. Only one game on Saturday, we should be good for Sunday right?


We have had a difficult time against the Grisslies; they seem to have our number and going in to this game we had lost 3 of 4 games this season if you include the HTKP tournament.

But on this beautiful Sunday morning on diamond # 2, the same diamond the Grisslies beat the Units on earlier in the week, the Hurtin’ Units would come together as a team and git ur done. The Hurtin’ Units would hit hard and often, and when all the dust had settled the Hurtin’ Units would win 18-12 and move on to the semis against either the Brew Jays or the Dislocated Joints.

Sunday September 16, 2012 

Semi-Finals- Hurtin' Units vs. Brew Jays.

Hurtin' Units lose 14-8

The Brew Jays had to play an elimination game on Saturday afternoon to make it in to the quarter finals against the Dislocated Joints on Sunday morning. The Jays would go on to beat the Joints in the quarters and earn a berth in the semis vs. the Hurtin' Units.

It seemed like a long time had gone bye since the Hurtin' Units beat the Brew Jays, last Monday night, by a score of 29-9. I'm sure the memory of being beat up was still fresh in the minds of the Jay's players and I'd be willing to bet revenge or payback was the word of the day in the Jay's dugout.

In the top of first inning, the Jays came out on a mission scoring 5 runs. In the bottom, the Units went down quickly without scoring. In the second inning neither team could score. In the top of the third inning the Brew Jays would score another run to make the score 6-0. In the bottom of the third inning, the Unit's bats came alive and scored 4 runs. The score at the end of 3 innings the Brew Jays 6, the Hurtin' Units 4.

The Units were the only team to score in the forth inning, a single run inching the Units closer. Neither team would score in the fifth. The Units would end the inning on an appeal that Cam left the base early and the umpire called Cam out at third... a bad call. This unfair call upset the Unit's players and our heads were not in the game in top of the sixth inning. The Jays would score 7 runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a  13-5 lead. The Units would go down quickly in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh inning, the Jays would score another single run, the Units would put up a good fight in the bottom, but scoring 3 runs would not be enough and the Jays would go on to win 14-8.  The Units season would come to an end!! The Brew Jays would go on to the final and lose to the Beer Bros. Congratulations to the Beer Bros, the T.O.T Championship winners.

End of Season Wrap Up.

On behalf of Mike and myself we would like to thank everyone for another great season. Despite our up and down play throughout the season and our 12th place finish, we thought this was a fun season. Our record was not as bad as the standings would indicate and who knows where we might have finished if Mike, Anicete, Davey and Dave did not go down with injuries. This year was the first time in our 3 year history we have made it to Sunday play and not only did we make it to Sunday, but we managed to make it to the semi-finals; It would have been great to go to the finals and to even win, but it was not in the cards this season. We definitely had a great run.


The Hurtin' Units came in to the league in 2010 and over the last 3 seasons we have played with 30 different players. Next year we will probably looking at a whole new handful of players. With that said, we like to rate our players as accurate as we can, there is no way that some of you guys are coming back to play against us where you are rated now... Rob, Craig, Mark, Davey you guys are all underrated and need to move up.

There were a couple of things that I didn't like about this season:

We lost to the Brew Jays twice in a semi-final game; The first time was in the HTKP tournament.

Mike and Anicete both going down with injuries. I'm disappointed that this year's edition of the Units didn't really get to play with Mike, you saw a bit of what Mike brings to the team, unfortunately he was injured. I often wonder where we might have finished with Mike and Anicete both healthy.

This year was my first season as a P1 and I would like to thank everyone for your patience while I was going through some growing pains. I know it was painful in the early part of the season and we probably could have had a few more wins. I like to think my pitching improved over the season (still need to learn to throw) and I know I look forward to facing some of you guys next year. I know you guys a little better and I will try to stop you...LOL

I didn't like that Dave Kidd had to call it quits, I really liked having Dave on the team, what can I say, he made me laugh and he took on Tito...worth the price of admission for that one. Dave was a real character guy in our dugout.

When I look back over the season it really wasn't all that bad; here's what I did like.

We didn't finish very high in the standings, but we did have 5 one run losses and 2 two run losses which could have certainly put us up higher in the standings. Maybe even in the top five.

In the HTKP tournament we went 3-0 in the round robin and earned a berth in the semi-finals vs. The Brew Jays, only to lose 12-5 when the Brew Jays scored 5 runs late in the game for the win. The Brew Jays would go on to win the tournament.

There were 5 Hurtin' Unit players that played for the Squirtin' Units in the August tournament. The Squirtin' Units would go on to win the tournament for the second year in a row. Thanks Rob, Clayton, Jamie, Cam and myself (Jimmer).

The Hurtin' Units would win the Keg party. What can I say, we had 10 games at Coventry Park this season, 6 weeks in a row, very little time spent at the Legion and we come away with the Party. I guess this is payback for the rough schedule.

We beat the Brew Jays up real bad in the first game of the playoffs, shortly after they had just clinched the league championship. Final score 29-9.

We would end up in the top 2 in pool “A” in the playoffs, probably the toughest pool, and would get a bye in to Sunday. We beat the Grisslies in the quarter finals. In the semi- finals we would come up a bit short and lose to the Brew Jays again.

I really enjoyed this season and would love to play again with any one of you guys in the future. I really think Mike and I have been fortunate over the last 3 seasons to have played with such a great group of guys, each of our teams was special, but this team will be fondly remembered.

Craig is still offering to host a team party, the dates are limited, I'll send them out and we'll see what results come back.

I have not heard anything about the Keg party, but when I do I'll let you know.

Thanks again for a great season. Go UNITS!!

HURTIN' UNITS SCARY GOOD AGAINST BANSHEES.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. BANSHEES.

Game # 24 - August 29, 2012

Hurtin' Units win 18-10

Team Record - 9-13-2

Keogh Park - Unbelieveable! Game # 24 and the marking of another regular season gone by. Where did the season go? I'm really sad to see the season come to an end. I really enjoy playing this game and I would probably play 3 or 4 times a week if I could. In fact, I rarely turn down an opportunity to sub or get on the field for practise. I have enjoyed this season, despite the ups and downs of our team's play; we got off to a slow start and I think it got in our heads early. I'm hopeful for a better playoff.

When I look back at the entire season, my only disappointment was that Mike got injured just after the first game and didn't get to play with the group of players we have drafted this year.  There are probably a few guys that are more disappointed than me, but it's game and at the end of the day we are here to have fun.

Our record was not that great, but we were in a lot of games (5 one run losses and 2 two run losses) and with a little bit of luck we could have been higher in the standings. Our final record was 9-13-2 for a total of 20 points. We ended up tied for 11th place, tied with the Rebels and Dogcatchers.

The standings are somewhat overrated anyway and unless you end up in first place, the standings are only there to determine the pools, seedings and home field advantage. Hmmmm... maybe they are more important than I first thought. What I really meant was that unless you win the league, everyone makes the playoffs... anything can happen in the playoffs.

In 2010,  the Hurtin' Units won the league with 19 wins and a total of 40 points. In the playoffs we struggled, what worked during the regular season doesn't always work in the playoffs . Mike and I learned from the first season playoff and we hope that  experience will help going in to this season's playoffs.

At the time I'm writing this the final seedings have not been determined yet, (we could be the 11th or 12th or 13th seed) so it really makes it difficult to figure out who and when we are going to play.

The weather for the game against the Banshees was perfect!! I probably said this about the weather for our games, two or three times all season. The temperature was low 20s and there was very little humidity, there had been no rain since Monday so things were actually dry. We definitely hit, pitch and play better in dry conditions.

At game time we had 8 Hurtin' Unit players ready to play. Gord, Anicete, Davey and Clayton were missing from this game. I called for 2 subs; Terry D. and Donny S. came out to sub. When we got to the park, the Banshees only had 8 players, we offered up Terry D. and agreed to supply each other's team with a catcher. There was a Captain's meeting just before this game and Mike texted Doug D. to see if anyone wanted to sub. Jason B. showed up and went to the Banshees, we thought Terry might come back to the Units, but he decided to stay with the Banshees. More at bats for the Units.

Boxscore:        1       2      3     4      5      6      7       Total   

Hurtin' Units     4       5      0     0      0      1      7          18     

Banshees         1       0      1      1      0      7      0          10    

The Hurtin' Units were the visitors in this game. The Hurtin' Units got off to a great start in this game, I haven't said this very many times this season.  In the top of the first two innings the Units scored 9 runs and the Banshees scored a single. The Units went for an offensive nap from the top of the third inning to the fifth, during the nap the Banshees scored a single in the 3rd and 4th innings. The score at the end of five innings; Units 9, Banshees3. 

In the sixth inning, the Units started to stir from the nap, scoring a single run. In the bottom of the inning, the Units defense was day dreaming about something and when the inning concluded the Banshees had scored 7 runs. The game was tied 10-10. In the top of the seventh inning (open inning), the Units were wide awake again after the 7 runs by the Banshees. The Units would send 13 batters to the plate in the top of the 7th inning, 8 would come around to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Banshees would go down quickly, 4 batters would come to the plate and 3 would get out.  A solid win for the Units going in to the playoffs. 

In the last 3 games the Units were undefeated, 2 solid wins and a defensive tie. Hopefully the streak continues as the playoffs begin in just over a week's time.  

WE PLAYED BASEBALL WITH A HOCKEY SCORE; NO SHOOTOUT REQUIRED.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS...

Game # 23- August 27,2012

Hurtin' Units tie 3-3

Team Record - 8-13-2

Keogh Park - Last season the Dusty Cleats were the talk of the town, with a record of 19-0-0, going undefeated until August 15, 2011, when the Hurtin' Units finally burst their bubble. In game # 20, for both teams, the Hurtin' Units, with a 8-12-1 team record, beat the Dusty Cleats by a score of 15-14 to end an incredible run by the Cleats.

The win by the Hurtin' Units was a highlight of a mediocre season and probably a real disappointment for the Cleats who were very close to a perfect season. The Hurtin' Units actually came close to a win over the Dusty Cleats in their first meeting (June 15) losing by a single run, with a score of 20-19. The Cleats would go on to lose one more game and end the season with a 22-2-0 record...The Dusty Cleats would breeze through the playoffs until the finals, where the Grisslies would beat them, in a close game, to win the championship...

The 2012 edition of the Dusty Cleats is not the team of 2011, but they still have a good looking (baseball good looking) squad, lead by Scotty Barton with the league's best on base average, Mark D. and Radar. I now understand how a team with a solid core of players can underachieve; the Hurtin' Units have been going through the same issue this season, a really solid group of players, but just not playing up to the potential of it's players.

Going in to this season, I thought this was the best looking team the Units had ever drafted; I'm basing this on our drafted players previous seasons and how they have played in the past. In the Units first season, we had chemistry and a great group of guys, not the most talent, but everyone seemed to play their hardest and the winning made our bond stronger. The playoffs are about to begin, can the 2012 Hurtin' Units become that group that goes all the way?

The weather for this game was humid and it had rained a good portion of the day, making the batter's boxes a Keogh very muddy. The fields were a little damp, and with this dampness comes a soggy ball. Nobody likes soggy balls.

At game time we were missing, Gord (3rd), Jamie, Anicete and Davey. We picked up Don Booth and Gord Dol as subs for the evening. 

Boxscore:       1     2      3     4       5      6      7      Total  

Hurtin' Units    0      0     0     0       1      2      0         3     

Dusty Cleats    0     1      1     0       0     1      0         3      

The boxscore tells most of the story. This had to be the lowest scoring game of the season. The Hurtin' Units hit 13 fly ball outs and the Dusty Cleats hit 11 fly ball outs. This also had to be one of the fastest played game on the season, approximately 50 minutes to play.


Since there wasn't a lot to really talk about (did I mention Mark struck out?), I thought I would look at what we have done over the last 9 games we have played. In the last 9 games we have scored a total of 50 runs with an average runs per game of 6.25. On the defensive side, we really have been quite good allowing a total of 81 runs against, with an average of 10.12 runs per game. This number is probably close to the league average.

The really concerning numbers have to be the games where we only scored one run , I don't recall a team, in this league, scoring only a single run in a game, and we did it twice in the last 9 games. We also went 6 games scoring 5 runs or less. Only twice did we get into double digits. When I looked at the hitters we drafted back in May, and the hitting we did at our first practise, I never thought we would be struggling to score runs... The second season is almost here, maybe we just need a reason to score.

Our defense has been excellent all season long! I struggled with pitching at the start of the season, which probably accounted for the higher runs against on the season, but from just before the HTKP tournament, I thought I was throwing much better. The 10.12 runs against is probably around the league average and when you look at our numbers over the last 9 games they really don't look that bad. 5 of the 9 games were in the single digits, hold most teams to single digits and you're going to be in the game, unless ya can't score runs.  The worst runs against in this stretch was against the Dusty Cleats, with 14 runs against.  We also played a really good game against the 2012 league champs, in fact we lost both our games against the Brew Jays by a single run.

Speaking of single runs...I have mentioned it before, but I think we have played decent this season, we have lost 5 games by a single run and 2 games by two runs, winning half of these games would have put us in 4 place in the standings and winning all of these single and two runs games would have placed us in second place. Missed it by that much.

We have one more game remaining, if we can come out strong for a win, we will have been undefeated in our last 3 games going in to the playoffs...we could sneak up on a few teams.

HURTIN' UNITS COME OUT BIG WITH WOODYS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. HOTTUB WOODYS.



Hurtin' Unit's evil twin Squirtin' Unit.

Game # 22 - August 22, 2012

Hurtin' Units 13-9

Team Record - 8-13-1

Keogh Park- This past weekend was the annual August Tournament; this tournament helps raise revenue to lower the cost of registration of the T.O.T league.

Included in the tournament is a fun division. In the past, players would submit a team with friends, neighbors, league players, etc. Each team was assembled based on a rating, trying to keep the teams as equal as possible. This year the there were 3 partial teams entered and Mr. Dwyer recruited enough players to build three more teams.

Last Monday there was an open draft and 3 more captains were brought on board, we picked 3 other teams for the tournament and filled the rosters of the partial teams. There were a total of 6 teams for the fun division.

In the round robin portion of the tournament, each team would play 3 games and the top 4 teams would go on to the semi-finals. The Hurtin' Units evil twin team, the Squirtin'Units, would be one of those 4 teams in the semi-finals. The Grusome Twosome would take on the Weekend Warriors and the Squirtin' Units would take on The Other Guys. The Grusome Twosome and the Squirtin' Units would both win their games and battle it out in the finals. In the finals, the Squirtin' Units would win the final game and would become the Fun Division Champions for the second year in a row.

It was the second year in a row for the Squirtin' Units to win, but it was the first time for several of the Unit players. Both Tumble (A.K.A. MR. AWESOME) and Clayton told me after the win, that it was the first time they had ever won anything, I'm glad to part of their win. This was only the second year the Squirtin' Units, but I think it is time to retire the name, if there is a tournament next year, there will a new team name. The Squirtin' Units will be locked up, never to be seen again...good- bye evil twin.



Pretty sure this is Tumble.

 On this this year's edition of the Squirtin' Units there were 5 current Hurtin' Unit players on the roster and I would have tried for more if I could have. On the team was: Clayton A., Rob R.(Mr. Awesome), Cam C.(Cam- L- toe), James T.(Jimmer) , and Jamie A.(Jugs).  I really enjoy putting teams together for this tournament, this is probably the 5th year in a row that I been involved in entering a team. If I recall, I probably had about the same number of Hurtin' Units players from the 2011 team playing on the squad in last years tournament.  Yep, looked at the picture, 5 Hurtin' Unit players on the team last year.

One other thing I did in this tournament was a rotation of pitchers. On the team I had 4 pitchers, Myself, Roger, Rob R. and Brad W., so I thought it would be cool to use one guy in each game. Roger started the tournament with a win against the Grusome Twosome by a score of 18-11. I (Jimmer) would follow with a 8-8 tie in game #2, which we got in the bottom of the seventh inning, against the Weekend Warriors. In game #3 Rob R. (Tumble, Mr. Awesome) would pitch for another win against the Fun Bags by a score of 20-7. With our 2 wins and a tie, we made it in to the semi-finals.


Squirtin' Units 2012 - Fun Division Champs.               Photo by Samantha Delgreco

In the semi final game, I asked Brad to pitch, I have never seen Brad pitch, but I had asked Roger (teammate on the Rebels) and got the thumbs up, so Brad went in and we won by a score of  12-5 against the The Other Guys. Now that we were in the finals, I had a decision to make... who would start the final game? I decided to let Mikey Boy decide, sort of... I would write the four names down on paper, fold them up and let Mikey pick the name. And the oscar goes to...James Taylor for a tie in the 2nd game. Fixed? No, I made sure Mike picked the name in front of our teammates. I really wanted to pitch this game anyway, I wanted the experience and pressure of being in a something game. In the final, I would get a lot more run support than in my first game...The Squirtin' Units would go on to win by a score of 18-10. 


 Squirtin' Units 2011- Fun Division Champs.

I was looking at the picture from 2011 and noticed that only 3 players
from the 2011 team were on this year's team. Mike would have been on the team if he hadn't buggered up his wee knee. I find it really quite amazing that I changed almost 75 % of the roster and we still made it back to win...again. I'm glad to be part of the winning teams and stories like Clayton and Rob never winning anything makes me feel pretty good. 

HURTIN' UNITS VS. HOTTUB WOODYS.

We were the visitors in this game.

Boxscore:              1      2     3     4     5     6     7         Total     

Hurtin' Units           1     3     2      3     0     4     0             13      

Hottub Woodys      1     3    1       1     3     0     0              9      

I think the last game against the Beer Bros. was the lowest point in our season. I will say it one more time for effect - It was as low as we could get in terms of scoring runs. A shut out was only one out away...

And I'll say this about the game with the Woodys, this was, in my opinion, one of the best all round games we have played all season.  



The weather conditions were perfect, which meant the ball was dry for the first time in several games. I had good command of my pitching and the plays on the diamond were definitely cleaner than our last couple of games. We played a mucho bettero game in this game against the Woodys. 

On May 17, 2012 , in our 3rd game on  the season, we took on these same Hottub Woodys and they kicked our asses all around the diamond. The final score in that game was 22- 9. It was our worst defeat of the young season, but it still knocked us down a bit, we still had not won a game and our confidence was a little shakey.   I mentioned in the blog back in May, how good the Woodys looked with the likes of Stikes, the muck of Chuck, the fancy of Dancey and the others on this team.

The team, in this game tonight, was a little different from the team back in May. I noticed that Fast Eddie, Brad M., and the Billy (the kid) Jonkman were not in the lineup, as well as the Danceman who is still recovering from a broken collarbone. The Woodys are not the only team to look a little different. The Hurtin' Unit team also looked different for this game. Since the game against the Woodys in May, we have lost and added two players. Mikey Boy and Dave (Kidder) have both retired for the season and we replaced them with Mark B. and Davey S.

In this game tonight we had 7 of our own players dressed to play. Missing from this game were Cam, Jamie, Davey, Gord (3rd) and Anicete. Davey and Anicete are still injured, Gord had to work and the others were away. We picked up Ricky Bobby, Dan R. and Rob McC. for subs.

As the boxscore would indicate this game was a see-saw battle, the score was tied on several occasions, with the Units coming out on top with 4 runs in the sixth inning.

I mentioned in the blog about having the bats smudged and I did. I'm not sure if it was the smudging or just a coincidence that got us scoring again or perhaps it was just the energy of Mr. Awesome. Rob R. (Mr. Awesome) is back baby; Tumble hit a towering homerun in to the tennis courts and after the tremendous weekend tournament Mr. Awesome had, I think we can officially say that Tumble's drought is over. It wasn't just Tumble's hitting, he played third base and again he was awesome. 

We have two games remaining on the season and then it's playoff time. I like to believe that we are a sleeper team, a team that has up and downs most of the season, but could certainly do a bit of damage in the playoffs. For most of us, I think that it's been a rough, inconsistent season and for the most part it has been, but I have really enjoyed playing with the guys on this years edition of the Units.  

HURTIN' UNITS BATS ARE JINXED.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BEER BROTHERS.

Game # 21- August 15, 2012

Hurtin' Units lose 13-1

Team Record 7-13-1 

Keogh Park - It was as low as we could get in terms of scoring runs. A shut out was only one out away...

It's obvious to me, and if it's obvious to me, it must be obvious to the other Hurtin' Units players and if it's obvious to the other Hurtin' Units players, it must be obvious to the entire T.O.T league...the Hurtin' Units bats have a hex or a jinx or a curse on them.  What else could it possibly be? These bats don't even work for the subs that come out play with us. In this game we had 3 subs, each one went 1 for 3.

Now don't get me wrong, most of the Hurtin' Units lineup were hitting the ball, some were hitting the ball with great power, but with all this solid contact, it seemed like easy pickings for the Beer Bros outfielders who always seemed to be positioned in the right location.

This is not exclusive to the Beer Bros outfielders, over the last 5 or 6 games the outfielders and the infielders, of the teams we've played, have caught a seasons worth of pop flies, line drives and fly balls off the Hurtin' Unit bats. In this game against the Beer Bros, we had players on base 18 times and only scored a single run. It time for this activity to cease.

I have a friend who is a psychic. This week I was talking to her through telepathy, (just kidding about the telepathy, I was talkin' on the phone), and we got on to the topic of the Hurtin' Units team batting woes. The first thing she said was that our bats carry the energies of all the players and all the teams that have used these bats in the past. These energies are blocking the batting energy for the current players using these bats. 

In 2010, Mike and I signed up as captains, we were given the set of bats we still carry. I'm not even sure who had these bats before us, but I'm thinking it was the RECYCLED, a team from the past. I was just reminded of an incident involving one of the RECYCLED captains. If you want to know the tale, I've included it at the bottom of the page, TALES of the GRAY DOT- NOBODY REALLY NOSES.  This set of bats has been around for quite some time, can you imagine how many hands have transferred their energies on to these bats, maybe the former captain's energy still lingers. 

At Tuesday's game a few of the Hurtin' Units players were joking around saying we needed some chicken bones to tap on the bats to bring them around, Gord suggested a bucket of KFC. My thought was KFC might be a little greasy and the bats might fly out of our hands, that's all we need, another injury.



Smudging


My friend the  psychic informs me that the bats must be cleansed or smudged, as she says, to remove the energies inhibiting the flow new energy from this seasons Hurtin' Unit players. There are several ways of smudging our bats and I will have our bats cleansed (smudged) and ready to go for our next game. This is long over do. I Googled smudging and found it to be very interesting stuff.  I don't know why I didn't realize this before.





Beer Bros score sheet.



The weather for this game was a little bit damp. Around 5:30pm a huge thunderstorm rolled through town, dumping a lot of rain. The storm pasted through and the 7:00pm game was a go, but the outfield was still quite wet. In our game, there was still a light fog lingering around and everytime the ball came back to the infield it was soaked. Gord and Clayton, who both where glasses, were fogging (I said fogging up) up everytime they were on the diamond. 

At game time we had 6, yes 6, of our own players, and we called for 3 subs on the night. Al was running late and Doug Dwyer played an inning with us. Rob, Mark, Davey, Jamie and Anicete were all unable to make this game. Thanks to the subs who helped us out. Jerry M., Simon S., Cliff T., and Doug D. for an inning.

Boxscore:          1     2      3      4      5      6      7       Total 

Hurtin' Units      0      0      0      0      0      0      1          1     

Beer Bros.         2      2      1      1      0      3      4          13   

It was as low as we could get in terms of scoring runs. A shut out was only one out away...

I don't recall ever seeing a shut out in this league, I'm sure it has probably happened, but not on my watch. And certainly not against the Hurtin' Units. This game was within reach almost the whole night, but we just couldn't bring the hits together, I mentioned earlier we had 18 base runners. 18!!!  Hence the reason to smudge our bats. 

We were the home team in this game with an 8:15pm start time.

The Beer Bros didn't kick us around all that badly. When you look at the boxscore there was never a blow out inning, 4 runs was the most they scored in an inning and by the time these came in the game was out of reach.  

Since there was not a lot to talk about on the Hurtin' Units side, I will spare you all the boring details about the game. I will tell you about the 1 run we did score. It was the bottom of the 7th inning, Jerry M. (sub) lead off with a base on balls.The next batter Cliff T. (sub) got out on a ground ball, but advanced Jerry to second on the play, 1 out runner on second.

The next batter was Simon S. (also a sub), he got out on a ground ball and Jerry could not advance, 2 out , runner still on second. I (Jimmer, not a sub) was the next batter, I let the first pitch go by for a strike, the next pitch I hit solidly to left field, almost right at the fielder, I started running, but pulled up thinking the fielder was going to catch the ball. I was wrong, the ball sailed over the fielder's head and to the warning track, I started running again and stopped at second base with a double, Jerry M. came around to score the Hurtin' Units only run of this game.

The next batter was Gord, he hit a single advancing me to third, the following batter was Clayton who got out, not sure if it was his strike out, 3 out that's the game. Did I mention that for the first time that I can remember, Clayton struck out... watching the third strike hit the board.

It was as low as we could get in terms of scoring runs. A shut out was only one out away...

Hurtin' Units game sheet.

 



TALES OF THE GRAY DOT

 NOBODY REALLY NOSE-  A TEAM "RECYCLED" CAPTAIN STORY


It was a warm August evening at Coventry Park, the T.O.T August Tournament was under way, Team Extreme had just taken the field and Rob Farah ( yes, the same guy from the championship Grisslies team) was throwing his warm up pitches.

The infield players were throwing the ball around the infield, 3rd toSS to 2nd and then, as if in slow motion the second baseman named Jimmer threw the ball toward first base, but the first baseman was looking toward homeplate and didn't realize the throw was coming. Other players on the field screamed his name, but it was too late... Darren (Lefty) Hall turned at the last second only to be struck square on the nose, he went down in a heap...

Lefty got to his hands and knees, blood was pouring out of his nose like a drain plug hole when changing your oil, someone ran for ice, someone grabbed a towel, things were a little scary for the next couple of minutes. After things had calmed down, Lefty got to his feet and walked off the field, he would not play this again on this night...

Lefty did play the next game of the tournament with a broken nose and a couple of developing black eyes. Lefty was advised not to play on the Sunday... He never played again that weekend. What exactly Darren was looking at down at home plate, nobody really knows...Another tale of the Gray Dot.