SHAKE AND BAKE...

"Pick me out a winner, Bobby"- Roy Hobbs

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DRAFT KINGS.

Game # 1- May 8, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 16-11

Team Record 1-0-0

Keogh Park - Well, finally opening night has arrived. We waited what seemed to  be an eternity for this night to get here. For our opponents, the Draft Kings, this is already their third game of the season and the Kings are off to a good start.  I was curious as to how the Units have done on opening nights in the past. I went back and found that we did well over the last three seasons. In 2010 the Units played the Red Dogs on opening night and won by a score of 14-10. In 2011 the we played the Dodge City Rounders to start the season and also won, by a score of 16-11. Last season the Units got off to a slow start, but on opening night we still managed to get a 5-5 tie against the Dogcatchers. And in this game we came out victorious keep our opening night undefeated streak intact with a 16-11 win.

As far as a first game on the season, the 2013 edition of the Hurtin' Units didn't look out of place at all. There were very few defensive errors on the night and the bats were working well. I did smudge the bats prior to this game, using a Sage Smudging stick, and obviously it does work. It felt great to be back on the field.

At game time we had 11 players, not yet in team shirts, ready to do battle with the 2-0 Draft Kings. Jamie M. was the only missing Unit. We were the home team for this game.

The weather was not really an issue in this game. At game time the temperature was around 16 degrees and it was humid. Most of the day the Weather Network was calling for showers in the evening and when I left my house, heading for the park, there were some sprinkles coming down. By the time I reached the park, the light rain had stopped. Around the 3rd inning, the rain started to fall again, this time a little bit harder, but it didn't last very long and really didn't play a significant roll in this game. Ricky L. mentioned the ball was a little slippery, when it was hit to the the outfield.  

Last season the Hurtin' Units had Gord Robinson and Gord Robertson on our roster. It was a bit confusing at times and their full names wouldn't fit on the line in the scorebook. The stats guy probably had some nights where he was left scratching his head as to who was who. Hell, he probably has this problem every night of the week with the chicken scratch on some of the score sheets. I was looking at the Draft Kings roster and more than half names were nicknames of the players.

I bring up the Gords (that sounds funny, the Gords...) because it was a little confusing at times and because I'm faced with a similar problem in our dugout this season. We have a Ricky Bobby issue. It's really not an issue, but it reminds me of the Bob Newhart show with the three brothers Larry, Darrell and Darryl. I bet you didn't think I could slip in Newhart reference or a Newhart video into a baseball blog. I think to avoid confusion on the Unit bench I will, from now on, refer to Rick L. as Ricky and Rick C. as Ricky Bobby and Richard as just Richard or Dick.

I mentioned that is game was the 3rd game for the Kings and they came in with 2 solid wins under their belt. The Hurtin' Units took the field first and we had a solid 1,2,3 inning with a line drive to Vince at first and 2 fly outs to the outfield. Ricky L made a nice catch in right field. In the bottom of the first, I had Hags leading off, let's throw the new guy right in to the fire right away. Hags got out in his debut, but didn't disappoint the rest of the game. Following Hags, Coxy and Phil got on and came around to score on some solid hitting by Mikey, Woody and Ricky Bobby. In the top of the second the Kings would score 3 times and shut the Units down in the bottom of the inning. The score at the end of 2 innings was Kings 3, Units 2.

In the top of the third, the Units would  shut down the Kings again 1,2,3. I was the lead off batter going in to the bottom of the inning and would get on with a single. The top of the Units order would then take over with first 4 batters getting on base, the Units would score 5 runs to take a 7-3 lead. In the top of the 4th the Kings would send 5 batters to the plate and score a single run. The Units were shut down in the bottom of the inning.

 

The Draft Kings bats came to life in the top of the fifth inning, scoring 5 runs while every batter in the lineup came up to bat. The Units now trailed by a 9-7 score. In the bottom of the 5th, Phil got things started with a lead off double, Woody got out, and then Mikey, Ricky Bobby, BK (Brian), Richard, Vince, Ricky, Jimmer and Hags all hit consecutively and the Units scored 7 runs with only one out. The score at the end of 5 innings- Units 14, Kings 9.

The top of the 6th inning, the Units would again shut down the Draft Kings, third inning in the game with 0 runs scored, third inning in the game 1,2,3. The Units would score 2 more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, I walked my first batter on the evening, Dan R. got on with base on balls and I actually threw 5 balls in a row, probably a little bit of nerves going into the last inning. Dan would come around to score on a Jerry M. double and Jerry would also score before the Units shut the door. The bottom of the inning was not needed on this night, the Hurtin' Units win their first game of the season by a score of 16-11.  

It was a good opening night for the Hurtin' Units; the team has it's first win of the season which took until game six last season and we played an all round good game. Some of the Units players (7) went back to the Legion for a celebratory beverage and to watch the conclusion of the Toronto Maple Leaf vs. Boston Bruins playoff game.

I had brought a portable radio to our baseball game and we were listening to the Leaf game while playing. The score was 3-3 between the Leafs and Bruins when our game ended. We watched the end of the third period, at the Legion, and the game was going into overtime. Boston was leading the series by 2-1. Leafs needed to win this game to tie the series. Unfortunately the Bruins would score in the first overtime and defeat the Leafs. Boston now leads the best of 7 games, 3-1. The Leafs now have to win 3 straight games to go on to the second round... Go Leafs Go.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Tuesday May 14, at Coventry Park at 7:00pm.