ALONG CAME A SLIDER.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE SLIDERS.

A homerun hitter doesn't know he's a homerun hitter, until he hits some homeruns.

SHORTY!! DON'T GO IN THERE...

Game # 7 - June 4th, 2015

Hurtin' Units win 26-23 

Team Record- 3-4-0

Keogh Park- If you were to ask me how the Hurtin' Units have played against the Sliders, over the years, I could honestly say I don't know. I don't ever remember playing against the slippery Sliders. I know we have played, but nothing comes to mind with regards to wins and losses. I will check our records.

Sneaky Sliders.

I believe (don't quote me on this) that the Sliders came in to the league in 2013, captained by Dennis and Lou, and this would be their 3rd season. I say 2013 because I know Dennis (Shorty) played for the championship Beer Bros. in 2012. I have the picture to prove it. 

I was wrong!!! I went back in to the Hurtin' Units archives and found the end of year standings for 2013...no Sliders in the standings. Which means the Sliders didn't come in to the league until 2014 and they have only been around for one season... It seems longer. I also discovered that the Hurtin' Units have only ever played the Sliders once. That game was played back on July 29th, 2014 and the Sliders would prevail by a score of 20-12. There's a surprise, the Units lost to another team last season.

As far as the picture goes, it was from the 2012 playoffs, when the Beer Bros. won it all. Dennis (Shorty), playing shortstop, made the final out of the game for the win. I caught the shot just as the game ended. I used the picture in the Hurtin' Units blog in one of my mock "Baseball World" magazine covers. I love the raw emotion of the pic. I have made 12 different mock "Baseball World" magazine covers over the years, if you would like to check them out click here BASEBALL WORLD or click on Baseball World in Pages in the left hand column . 

Where's Bill?

The weather for this game was again perfect. The temperature was around 21 degrees, with an ever so slight breeze and a sun/cloud mix. 

At game time we had 11 HU players warming up ready to battle the slippery Sliders. The only missing player was Bill. 

The Rolling Stones (the rock band, not to be confused with the Flintstones) have a song titled "Winning Ugly" and when this game ended I had that song title in my head. It wasn't the easiest win, but it was a win, an ugly win, and I'll take those every day of the week.

Amazing Offensive Game!!

After a major scoring drought on Tuesday night, this game score was like a flood. 49 total runs in this game, compared to 19 total runs on Tuesday. From start to finish this game was a lot closer than most of us thought. The 26 runs scored ties our highest run production this season, we scored 26 runs against the Son of Pitches on May 12th.

The Units were back on the road this game. As the visitors, we had first at bat and I think we took advantage with the new reconfigured, revamped, reconstructed, redesigned, recreated (I think you get the idea), high powered lineup. I mentioned, in the last blog, about changing the order to put speed, power and consistency at the top. So this is what I tried to do for this game.  

In the top of the 1st inning, the Units came out bashing, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring 5 runs, highlighted by homeruns by Scotty P. and Todd H. In the bottom of the inning, the Sliders would hit back with 4 runs of their own. 

We warned you not to go in there Shorty...

In the top of the 2nd, I lead off and got on for the meat of the order. Dave, Darrell, Scott, Todd and myself would all come around to score. Todd had a 3 run homerun, his second HR on the night. In the bottom, the Sliders would score 2 runs. In the 3rd inning, the Units would tack on another 5 runs with the top of the order leading the way. In the bottom of the inning, those pesky Sliders would score 4 more runs of their own. The score after 3 complete innings was 15-10 for the Units. 

In the 4th inning, the Sliders would out score the Units. The Units would score 2 runs, the Sliders tacked on 3 runs. The Sliders would also win the 5th inning, Sliders would score a single run and shut down the Units awesome offense. The 6th inning was also a low scoring inning, the Units would score 1 run and we would shut the Sliders out on only 3 pitches. 
The score after 6 complete innings. 18-14 for the Hurtin' Units. 

The 7th inning (open inning) was a wild and crazy ride. I would be the lead off batter again, I would get on and the inning was under way. The Units would score 8 runs before recording an out. Vince, Cookie and myself would all get out to end the inning. The Units were now leading by 12 runs. In the bottom inning, the lead off batter for the Sliders, would fly out to Scotty. We're lookin' good right? The Sliders would go on an incredible run scoring streak, scoring 8 straight runs before the Units recorded the next out, 2 out. The Sliders would score another run and bring a runner to 3rd and another on first, bringing up the tying run to the plate. The batter would hit to Dave Mc (short) and force out the runner coming from 1st base to 2nd base to end the game. Make the final 26-23...Units Win!!

Sometimes Ugly can be a distraction.

It was winning ugly, but it was still a win. On Tuesday we played a solid defense, but had a tough night with the bats. This game we had the bats firing the way we can, but the Units defense was roughed up by some good Slider hitting. There will be nights when the Units will have both going, I look forward to playing on those nights. The Units tied last year's wins record. UNITS UGLY!!