A SELL OUT CROWD EXPECTED FOR OPENING NIGHT.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. HOTTUB WOODYS

Stewie gets excited about his first game.

Game # 1 - May 5, 2015

Hurtin' Units win 13-10

Team Record -1-0-0


Last season, opening night was the beginning of an eleven game losing streak for the Units. We lost our first game of the season, in 2014, against the Blues Brothers by a score of 10-8. Maybe, if we had won this game, our season might have been completely different. I mentioned (probably 5 times or more already) that this was the first time, in team history, that the Units had ever lost our opening night game. I hope this doesn't happen again.

Opening night, this season, is versus the Hottub Woodys, with captains Jeff D. and Fast Eddie H., two of my favorite captains in the league. Fast Eddie is the reason that Mike and I are captains today. Way back when the Hurtin' Units were just a glimmer in our eye, Fast Eddie encouraged Mike and I to become captains and endorsed us to the executive. In 2009, we were next in line for captaincy, but the league went with one less team and we missed out. The following season (2010), The Recycled decided to call it quits, and Mike and I were voted in as captains. The Hurtin' Units were born. 

And so begins the start of The Hurtin' Units sixth season.

The Units were the visitors in this game. The Units are actually on the road (visitors) to start the season. In our first 4 games we are the visitors. And we are only the home team twice in our first 10 games. Our home games are back ended, 6 of our final 7 games we are the home team. I figure if we can weather the hostile crowds of our first 4 opponents, we might have a chance to get off to a good start. 
   

At game time (8:15), we had our full 2015 roster. This was probably a good time for a team picture, but the only problem was we didn't have our shirts yet. D"oh!! The league equipment manager has indicated that the shirts might be ready by the end of the week. The opening night lineup worked out for us, but after a brief discussion with Mike, we may make a few changes and see how much more offence we can generate. 

Our batting on opening night was what I think we might have expected. We had a practice just over a week ago and we had a couple of guys who had not even swung a bat this year, so I think there was a bit of rust, we'll brush that off with a couple of games under our belts. 


The new bats did not live up to all the hype (kinda like the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight), they probably need a breaking in period and they will probably be better in warmer temperatures. Scott suggested a "break in the new bats", batting practice. Mike likes the idea, so maybe we'll see if we can put something together.     

The Hurtin' Units offense definitely had some rust, but the defense I thought was solid considering that most of us had never played together. Both the infield and the outfield made some great plays. 

Bill was steady in RCF and probably had the bulk of the work out there. Dave M., who I had never seen before, went through the outfield and made several catches, one a spectacular catch on the shoe tops. I was really impressed by Dave's play. The other outfielders were solid and we looked like we've been playing together for months. 

The infield saw some awesome moments also. Mike ran back, at first base, to make a catch, tumbling into the dirty on the play. Dave Mc started a double play to Darrell to Mike. 

Darrell, Todd and Dave Mc. all snagged either line drives or hard hit ground balls. Darrell and I had a good night pitching with very few walks. 

Overall, I thought the play of the Hurtin' Units team was very good. I really liked the defense and I think the offense is only going to get better as the season progresses. Good start Units!!