WE ALL NEED A WING MAN.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.

"No Shirt, No Runs, No Winner...but there was a chicken dinner".

Game #24- August 25th, 2015

Hurtin Units lose 8-3

Team Record  11-12-1

Coventry Park- When we get to this point in the season, it becomes a little more difficult to keep the blog going, unless of course the Units are tearing up the league. And we all know that this is not the case. I can only say "the Units are the greatest team" so many times. So sometimes my interest in doing this, gets put on the back burner, I lag a little in getting it done, and the quality drops off to some degree. It did not drop off in this posting. What I really need is a different opinion, maybe from a teammate...or a wing man. 

I know this posting took a little longer than most, but I was very busy last week and I couldn't find the time to get my typing shoes on. I did manage to scribble down a few notes on Wednesday morning post Tuesday night's game. 

On the surface, the two teams, in this game, seem to be going in opposite directions. The Dusty Cleats have been winning recently and the Hurtin' Units are on a 3 game losing streak. The Units are still playing well and we will find our bats. 

The Hurtin' Units have only 2 games remaining and both game are against tough opponents, Dodge City Rounders and the Sliders (sounds like the name of a country band), "now put your hands together for Dodge City Rounders and the Sliders". The Hurtin' Units still have a good team and we are going to turn it around before the playoffs. 

I blame myself for this loss. It was about 6:10, on game night, when I realized that my team shirt was in the washing machine (it was washed), but I didn't think it could have been dried in time for the game. I jinxed the team by not wearing my shirt... CRAP!!

I ended up just wearing a t-shirt and when the game started I was fine, when the game concluded, I wished I had worn another top over it. It was frickin' cold for an August evening and my sweating during the game made it feel even colder. I was glad we were going back to the Legion for chicken wings and not staying at the pavilion for beverages. 

The weather for this game was okay to start, but like I mentioned it got frickin' cold, 17 degrees to start the game, it felt colder. There was a chance of rain, but we didn't see anything, although when we were leaving the Legion, at 10:00pm, there was a light rain coming down and we could see our breath. Frickin' cold I tells ya!!

At game time, we had 9 players dressed in  Hurtin' Units shirts (I was the 10th player, but without my shirt on. Remember I jinxed the team by not wearing it). There was a suggestion made at the Legion about wearing a white t-shirt for one of our remaining games, that would be fun, maybe the last game of the season. Missing on the night were Bo (maintenance day) and Dave Mil.

The Hurtin' Units were the Home team. The umpire was a new guy (he called a good game, even though there were only 11 runs scored in total). 















The game was the lowest offensive output by the Hurtin' Units this season, with only 3 runs scored. I really thought that post T.O.T. tournament, the Units would come out the gate firing on all cylinders, not misfiring like we are. It's time for a tune up!! 

Darrell pitched this game and I played 2nd and 3rd on the night. I also made a few other changes; I changed the batting order a bit, leading Cookie and Vince. These guys have been at the bottom most of the season and they deserved a game near the top of the order. I will probably set up a playoff lineup in one of the next 2 games to see how we stack up against two tougher opponents. 

I will not go in to much detail about this game; we were not hitting well at all is really the story. The Dusty Cleats were not much better. The Units defense has been solid all season long and in this game we were pretty decent. Stopping a team at 8 runs, on most nights, will probably have that team, in a position for a win. 

I did a spreadsheet with runs, hits and at bats for each inning to show how poorly we were offensively. Maybe, too many guys were thinking about wings and beer. It was a good night back at the Legion as 9 guys came back for wings. Next week will be better games, I guarantee it.

Golf Tournament.

Over the past weekend (Sunday to be exact) the league put on the HTKP Golf tournament at Woodington Lake Golf Club. Myself and my Hammell Toe buds, Cam, Mike, and Glen participated and we finished with a score of +2 this year. Last year we were a -4, but this year we had no consistency and faltered on numerous holes. Still a great day on the course and thanks go out to all who were involved in the organizing of this event.  

I asked for a different opinion and low and behold, I got what I asked for. Scotty realized that I was struggling with blog content and helped out with his positive view point. Here is Scotty's version of the blog for this game. I added a few pictures for effect. 

Hurtin' Units, game whatever. We played the Dusty Cleats and Al Mcmullen was umping, a decision he'll regret for many months. The weather was crappy, a stupid night to play baseball. 

The Units had a few players missing, but I don't remember who, and I don't care. We sucked all night. 

The game started with us giving up a bunch of runs. What else is new. Then we came to bat. Cookie led off with a lousy pop up to the first baseman. He sucked. I don't know who the next batters were, but they ‎sucked too. 

We did have a hitting highlight in the second inning when Scotty popped out to the left fielder, the first ball he's hit out of the infield in 42 games. Things were looking up. 

Another good thing is that everyone in the outfield caught a ball. It didn't make any difference whatsoever, but I'm trying to focus on the positive. 

The best hit of the night came on a fly ball by Todd. He got out, but who cares, he at least made them run a bit. 

The best player on the night was Jimmer. He went 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored, and threw out a runner at the plate with an epic throw. Statcast estimated that the ball traveled 28 feet ‎at a top speed of 13 mph. It didn't matter much in the long run, but whatever. Way to go Jimmer. 

All in all, it was a rotten night, but the Units have a lot to look forward to heading into the play-offs. I can't think of anything, but that's because I'm too busy trying to stay positive. 

The End. 

I hope you like that Jimmer. I personally think it really emphasizes all the good stuff, don't you. 

On a side note, I figured out my hitting problem. I'm a left handed batter and I've been batting right all year. That's what you get for practising in the mirror I guess.  

‎Anyway, guys, seriously, I'm looking forward to our next game, we have a great team with two great captains and a fantastic supporting cast, and I think we'll have a good play-off run. I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. 

Cheers,

Scott.

Good Stuff Scotty, thanks for being my wingman. 

REBELS HAD UNITS ON THE RUN.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. RUSTY REBELS.

Game # 23 - August 20th, 2015
Makeup game.

Hurtin' Units lose 14-13

Team Record 11-11-1

Keogh Park-I mentioned the tournament last weekend and how many players, from the Hurtin' Units, played in the event. I failed to mention that 5 games on the weekend (that's what most of us played) and a game on Wednesday night had a lot of the Units players hobbling. There were 3 Units players, in the game against the Rebels, that needed to take runners upon reaching first base. And if we weren't using so many already, Todd would have definitely taken one also. 

We are not going to use this as an excuse, but it certainly played a role in the loss against the Rebels. All of our hurting players, still had to bat and get to first, before the exhausted pinch runners would continue on. Most of whom had played the night before, some with 6 at bats, in a 24-21 loss to the Dogcatchers. 

So, I was looking at the updated standings this morning and with only 3 games left on the schedule the Hurtin' Units could slip down a little more before the playoffs begin. Every team, but one, in the standings behind us, has at least 1 game in hand. 

The Hurtin' Units are the only team sitting at .500 at this point in the season. 

Position	Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	For	Against	Run Diff
1	Draft Kings	23	16	5	2	34	336	205	131
2	Dog Catchers	23	17	6	0	34	365	294	71
3	Master Batters	22	16	5	1	33	303	205	98
4	Beer Bros.	24	12	12	0	24	313	347	-34
5	Sliders	21	11	9	1	23	347	326	21
6	Hurtin' Units	23	11	11	1	23	343	330	13
7	Dodge City Rounders	22	9	9	4	22	334	320	14
8	Rusty Rebels	21	9	9	3	21	322	305	17
9	Grisslies	21	9	12	0	18	304	311	-7
10	Sons Of Pitches	21	8	11	2	18	282	330	-48
11	Hot Tub Woody's	23	7	15	1	15	261	298	-37
12	Gruesome Devils	22	7	14	1	15	292	430	-138
13	Dusty Cleats	21	6	13	2	14	242	271	-29

I really don't care where the Hurtin' Units finish, but I would like to see us on a bit of a roll going in to the playoffs. The Hurtin' Units remaining 3 games are vs. The Dusty Cleats, The Dodge City Rounders and the Sliders. The Dusty Cleats and the Dodge City Rounders are both behind us in the standings and we are tied with the Sliders, but they have 2 games in hand. 

The weather for this 9:30 game against the Rebels was good, temperature around 21 degrees and a strong breeze. Earlier in the day there were thunderstorms that rolled through the Tottenham area. 

At game time, we had 9 players warming up to take on the Rebels. Missing on the night were Mike O, Vince, Al F., and Darrell. Darrell showed up just as the game was starting. I called for subs, and we got Dave F. and Cliff Tucker. Since Darrell wasn't there at game time, I asked Peter H. to play and when Darrell showed we played with 11 players. Thanks Peter, Dave and Cliff. 

This game against the Rusty Rebels was a makeup game for a rain out on August 11th. 

The Units were the home team in this game. 

The Umpire was Lou. 

This game was the 8th game, this season, for the Units, that the game was decided by one run or less. The Units record in 1 run games is 3-4-1. More than 30% of all our games has been decided by 1 run or less. And all of the games were against different teams. The Units wins were against the Woodys, Tap Masters, and Master Batters, the losses were against Rebels, Dusty Cleats, Beer Bros., and the Grisslies. The tie came against the Dodge City Rounders. 












In this game, the Units bats were a bit cold on the night, probably the result of playing the night before when some of the Units players came up to bat 6 times in the 24-21 loss to the Dogcatchers. It makes me tired just thinking about batting that many times. 

In this game the Rebels would send 42 batters to the plate, the Units would send up 41. 

This game was a tough one to take. The Units were beaten up from the weekend tournament and the Wednesday night marathon with the Dogcatchers. We fought hard in this game, and it was close all the way to the end, with the Units having a chance to tie or win in the seventh inning, but we just ran out of gas.

The Units next game is next Tuesday vs. the Dusty Cleats. UNITS UNDERPLAY!!  

COOKIE IN CHARGE...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DOGCATCHERS.

Game # 22- August 19, 2015

Hurtin' Units lose 24-21

Team Record- 11-10-1

Keogh Park- Over the past weekend the T.O.T league hosted our annual tournament. The Hurtin' Units were well represented with 10 Units players participating on 3 different teams. On the Merchants, Al F. was the lone Units player, on the Hammell Toes (team made up of mostly Hammell Blvd players + 2 others), Dave Mc., Mikey Boy and Myself (Jimmer) were playing, and on team JAK Fund, 6 Units players, Todd, Darrell, Bo, Dave Mil, Vince and Cookie all played. 

In the Beer League division, there were 10 teams, made up of mostly players from our league, but also some invited friends and family were involved in the play on the fields. The division was setup so that each team would play 3 round robin games and the top 4 teams would go on to the semi finals and then the 2 semi winners would play in the finals. The JAK  Fund team would go undefeated in the round robin with 3 wins, the Hammell Toes would defeated, but with 2 wins and a tie. The JAK Fund team would finish first in the round robin, the Hammell Toes would finish with 5 points and a +14 in the round robin. There were several other teams with 5 points, but the Hammell Toes would be the highest plus/minus and finish in third place. The Hammell Toes would win in the semi finals (vs. Paul's Pounders) and the JAK Fund would do the same (vs. Gruesome). It would be the Hammell Toes vs. The JAK Fund in the finals.

The finals, for the Beer League division, was a very good, close game, that could have gone either way with a good inning for either team. The Hammell Toes, had a few more lucky breaks and would be the victors of the tournament with an 11-4 win. I really enjoyed playing this tournament and I'm glad that so many Units were playing, this intense play can only make our league team, Hurtin' Units, better going in to the playoffs. 

The down side for me, in this tournament, was that I pulled a hamstring in the semi finals and it is still very tender. Crap!! 

Following the tournament, a handful of the Hammell Toes had to depart quickly, for a RVing trip to Sherkston, so there was not a lot of celebration following the win. Mike, Jamie, Cam, Glen, were all heading out that afternoon.  

Captain Cookie at the helm. 

I was asked to go to Sherkston and I decided to go down for a couple of days of rest and rehab on my leg. My attendance has been excellent this season, so I figured I would go. While Mike and I were gone, the Hurtin' Units only had a single game. I needed someone to captain for this game, and who better than the Cookie to do the job. I know we have 2 former league captains on the Units this season, but Mike and I thought Cookie was the man to handle the task. 

The result was not a win, but looking at the scoresheet, it was a pretty close game against a tough team. Good game Units. 

Captain Cook handled the task with ease and with a hit here or there the result may have been different... On the surface it looks like he handled the task with ease, but post game e-mails might be telling a different story. Was there a mutiny a foot? I received this post game anonymous e-mail from a Units player. 

Hey Jimmer and Mike, we lost 24-21 tonight, but that's not the story. I really hope one or both of you are back for tomorrow night's game. I can't play another game under captain Cookie, or as he likes to refer to himself, The General. Here's why:

- it was 80 degrees Celsius and he made us do push ups and laps before the game

- he put himself batting 4th and Todd 10th, because Todd is too tall

- after diving and missing a ball he made Vince stand in the corner and sing oh canada

- despite being injured he put Bo in the outfield and made him pinch run for himself

‎- he told Roman he thought he was a good umpire after missing a call

- we had to salute him before each at bat, and,

- after we lost he called a practice for 5am

Jimmer, Mike, please come back!

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Bell network.

After reading this disturbing e-mail, I can only apologize to the entire team for my decision and assure everyone next time Cookie is in charge, you all will have power to put him in a caged corner of the diamond, and the pitcher can throw multiple baseballs toward him...What? We already do that to him? Who knew? I've got nothing then... maybe that's why he is so tough on everyone....Good job Cookie!!! 

Since I was not at the game, it is slightly more difficult to highlight any plays or hits or... But I can tell everyone this...it looks like the weekend tournament helped everyone in their batting. 45 total runs in this game. Wow!! it must have been a revolving door at home plate as runner after runner came home. I hope there was no 9:30 game. 

The weather for this game was hot and humid, with temperatures in the high 20s.  

Roman was the umpire on the night.

At game time there were 8 Hurtin' Units players warming up for this tough match against the Dogcatchers. Missing from the lineup were Mike O., Jimmer, Bill and Dave Mil. The Units picked up Tim O. and Rob F. as subs. 

I will not try to describe what happened in the game, the boxscore will be the tour guide in this posting of the blog. Good game Units. UNITS UNDAUNTED!!

HICKS PUTS ON A REALLY BIG SHOE...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.

This was a makeup game, for rain out in June. 

Game # 21- August 12, 2015

Hurtin' Units lose 11-10

Team Record- 11-9-1

Keogh Park-Last season it took until game # 12 before Hurtin' Units recorded their first win. That first win came against the Dusty Cleats.

On July 16, 2014, game # 12, the Hurtin' Units finally broke through and won a game. It was like we had won the Stanley Cup, the stink was off our monkey and there was a chicken dinner.

Last season, following the Units first win of the season. 

In that game, it really didn't look very good for the Units. In the first inning, the Units got down 7-2 and with our confidence so low, it was looking like loss #12. The Units found a way to come back against the Cleats, we would not go the entire season looking for a win. 

This is an excerpt of the blog following our 1st win on July 16th, 2014 vs. the Dusty Cleats. 
  
"It would not surprise anyone if I was to say that Kevin C. lead the Units to this victory. Kevin hit 2 homeruns, went 5 for 5 at the plate, made numerous great catches in the field and scored 4 runs in this game. Kevin lead the way, but everyone on the team made contributions. Dave scored 4 runs and went 4 for 5,  Clayton went 4 for 5 and Mike went 4 for 4 and both scored 3 runs each, Dwayne, Esau and Rick all scored runs in the game. Every player on the Units had at least one hit"

Even with the efforts of all these guys, we barely managed to squeak out a 20-16 win. It really goes to show how much parity is in this league. 

That was then, but this is now... I looked at the standings on Monday morning and the Units were sitting in 5th position with a record of 11-8-1. The Dusty Cleats were sitting in 14th position with a record of 3-13-2. 

This was a makeup game.

The Dusty Cleats are the only team that the Hurtin' Units have not played this season. The Cleats and Units were scheduled to play on June 30th, 2015, but heavy rains and thunderstorms postponed our game. The Hurtin' Units game on the past Monday vs. the Rusty Rebels was also rained out , I'm assuming that it will be rescheduled shortly. 

The weather for this game was quite good, the temperature was hovering around 19 degrees (it was a 9:30pm game), there was some humidity. The ball was really carrying deep all night long. No breeze.  

At game time we had 11 players from the BIG BLUE MACHINE warming up to take on the Dusty Cleats. Scotty P. was the only missing body on the night. The Hurtin' Units were the visitors in this game. Roman was the umpire of record. 

The 7 run inning, without an out, was the difference in this game. 

In the top of the first inning, the Units would strike first with 2 runs, but also stranding 2 runners on base. In the home half of the inning, the Dusty Cleats went down 1,2,3. 

In the top of the 2nd inning, the Units went down quickly, 4 batters, 3 outs. In the bottom of the inning, the Cleats would send 6 batters to the plate and only the lead off guy would come around to score.

Stewie shoes, I want a pair. 

In the top of the 3rd inning, the Units would send 8 batters to the plate, Todd (HR 12), Bill, Dave and Darrell would all come around to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Cleats would send 8 batters to the plate and the first 7 would come around to score to end the inning without an out. OUCH!!! This inning, for the Cleats, really decided the game. The score at the end of 3 innings, 8-6 for the Dusty Cleats.

Get those Dusty Cleats outta here. 

In the top of the 4th inning, the Units would go down painfully quick, 1,2,3, "get off the field" Roman would shout. In the home half, the Cleats would send 9 batters to the plate and fortunately, for the Units, they would only score 2 runs. Bob and Jon were the runners to score.

In the top of the 5th inning, the Units would get the first 2 batters on base (Todd and Bill) and Dave and Mike would bring them home on singles. 2 more runs for the Units. In the bottom of the inning, the Cleats sent 4 batters to the plate and only one would get on before the Units shut the door.  The score after 5 complete innings, 10-8 for the Cleats.

In the top of the 6th inning, the Units first 2 batters would get out, Dave Mill. would hit a double, Cookie would ground out to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Units would get the first 2 batters out, Doris would get on with a single, Vic would hit a triple and score Doris, Rob Mc. would ground out to end the inning. 

Yankees? Really?

In the top of the 7th inning, Todd led off with a homerun (13th), Bill and Dave would get out (Dave on a hard hit ball to Paul K at 3rd...bugger!!), Darrell would hit a single, Mike O. would also single, Bo would hit a single bringing Darrell home, advancing Mike to 2nd base. Al F. would hit a hard hit ground ball up the middle, the ball would tip off Brad (Cleat's pitcher) and hit Mike O. in the ass, the ball stayed in the infield, the runners froze (force plays at 2nd and 3rd) Bo was tagged out running to 2nd to end the inning. The Cleats would not bat in the bottom. Cleats win 11-10.

The Really Big Shoe: 

Over the last 3 games I have had Hicks in the lead off position and he has not disappointed. Most experienced baseball people will tell you that your best batter or power hitter are to be in the 3rd or 4th position in the batting order, and originally I had Hicks there. I thought I would lead him off to take some pressure off and he certainly has hit well. The down side is that all that hitting power is up when nobody is on base. In actual fact, the only time this is a given is in the first inning, after that the bases could be loaded with bottom of the order guys. 

In this game, Hicks was a batting machine, some people may not have noticed (they were probably looking at their phones), and he got away with 2,(up there with the meteor shower) pop ups in the infield for 2nd lives. The line on Mr. Hicks, in this game, looks like this, a double, a homerun, a single and another homerun. What? No hit for the cycle, your cut!!..LOL. 4 at bats, 4 runs scored, 2 homeruns, with the second hitting the top of the garden shed in LCF. Mr. Hicks defense was awesome also. Should I move him back to 3 or 4???

I was thinking early in the week about ratings. Most of the guys on our team are rated about where they should be, with one exception. I asked at the Legion, following this game, where most would rate Hicks? There was a discussion it was a positive one. Good game Mr. Hicks. 

Good Game Units!! UNITS UNBELIEVEABLE!!