GUNFIGHT AT KEOGH CORRAL...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DODGE CITY ROUNDERS.

Game # 13 - June 27, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 37-8

Team Record - 8-5-0

Keogh Park- For the first time this season, the Hurtin' Units have a showdown against the meanest, toughest and craziest team in the T.O.T league,the Dodge City Rounders. In actual fact, this will be the only time the Units and Rounders will face each other this season (that's great, now we don't have to travel to Dodge City). This season the Rounders are stacked with solid gunslingers, with hard hitting bats and well worn leather. This game is shaping up to be a tough battle for the Units. 

Last season, the Dodge City Rounders and the Hurtin' Units fought each other on 3 different occasions. The first time, July 20th,2015,the fight ended in a 17-17 draw, we were all tied up. The second scrap was in the HTKP tournament; the Rounders would have the upper hand and take down the Units by a score of 9-4. The final clash was on September 1st, 2015, the Units would go in to Dodge City and take on the Rounders. When the dust settled, it would be the Hurtin' Units with 7-4 victory.

Some things have changed since last season. Mikey Boy, Hurtin' Units co-captain, has departed the scene and joined the DCR gang. This game will be the first time that Jimmer and Mikey Boy will have a showdown, against each other, in almost 7 seasons. Also, former DCR captain Al F., founder of the Dodge City Rounders, will be up against his old team when the teams scrap it out. This should be an epic fight tonight.

HIGH NOON (game time):

The weather for this game was 

again hot, fortunately the fight was scheduled for 9:30pm and not high noon. The temperature during the day was 34 degrees feelin' like 40. The humidity was a killer. 

At game time, the Hurtin'Units had 10 players preparing for the battle with the Rounders. Missing from the gang were Marko and Ingo.

The Sheriff for this 9:30 showdown was Roman "the songman" D.  

This game did not go exactly how I thought it was going to play out. I thought it might be a tight fight on the night, but I was not right.

The Hurtin' Units gunslingers were firing hard to all fields. The big guns were out in full force.

I looked at the T.O.T website to see if there had been as high of a run output this season. There has not, 37 runs is the highest on the results page.

For this game posting, I'm going to post the game sheets and let the sheets do the espainin' Lucy.

Inside the Fences:

• This game marks the mid-way point in the 2016 season.
• The Units scored the highest output of runs, in a game, this season.
• The Hurtin' Units infield (Jon,
  Clayton,Jimmy and Brad/Gord were solid and turned 2 double plays. One double play by Jon, could have been a triple play if there were not for 1 out already.
• Beechy hits the ball frickin'
  hard; on one occasion he popped up behind second base and we stood around looking at each other, having a smoke and drinking a glass of wine, before the ball finally came down... beside Peter's glove. Doh!!!
• I (Jimmer)drove in the 7th run, of the inning, 3 different times and had a chance for a 4th, but hit a line drive to Radar at shortstop.
• Both Gord and Brad made great
  grabs at first base for key outs.
• Ted B.got up to bat 7 times in
  this game, and only went 6 for 7 on the night.
• Peter, Jon and Al all went 6 for
  
  6 on the night.
• The Hurtin' Units would score 37 runs and not have to bat the 7th inning. Guns a blazin' in this game.
• Not to be overshadowed by the 
  score, the Hurtin' Units defense was awesome, only allowing 8 runs off a good hitting team in the Dodge City Rounders.
• There was a play when Peter H.(Hurtin'Units)hit the ball down the third base line, the ball hit the bag, bounced up high, almost hitting Mikey Boy (DCR) playing third. Scary Play.      

The Hurtin' Units  next game is Wednesday July 6th,2016 at Keogh Corral. 

HURTIN' UNITS THIRSTY FOR WIN AGAINST BEER BROS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BEER BROTHERS.

Game # 12- June 22, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 11-7

Team Record- 7-5-0

Keogh Park- On Thursday morning, I realized that I had two postings to do for the blog and I hadn't even started. I had scribbled down a few notes, but I was really getting behind in getting it done. I had to rush to get these up, so if there are more mistakes than usual, that's why.  

This game against the Beer Brothers had a very strange feel to it, from the moment we walked in to the park it felt weird. At about 5 minutes to 7:00pm, the Beer Brothers bench was looking a little thin, they only had about 6 players, maybe 7; The scramble was on to call for others. Where are all the players? What I think might have happened was the change in schedule. 

A little while back there was a change for a few teams; The Hurtin' Units and the Beer Brothers were originally scheduled to play at 8:15, but there was an empty 7 o'clock time slot and the Units and Beer Brothers were bumped up to that 7 p.m. slot. I'm assuming that some of the players had a paper copy, of the earlier schedule, and that's why there were so many missing players.

When it comes to the Units, I will send out a "Next Game Reminder" the night before every game. This seems to help keep everybody in check. 

Game time: 

The weather for this game was almost perfect; I say almost perfect because the sun was setting in the western sky and it was creating a little bit of havoc for the guys on the right side of the diamond. The temperature was around 22 degrees and there was a soft breeze. 

At game time, the Units had 10 players ready to play the understaffed Beer Brothers. Two players for the Units were subs; we picked up Jason B and Simon S. as subs for the night. The Units were missing Brad, Clayton, Robert and Mark. Clayton was supposed to be here, but he was a no-show. I think he thought the game was at 8:15. Clay was pissed at himself for missing this game.

This game actually started at 7:15, we delayed the start so players we called could get to the diamond. At 7:15 we got the game going, but the Beer brothers were still down two players. The Units would supply a catcher and the Beer Brothers would play with only three outfielders. 

In the first inning, the Units could not take advantage of the diminished Beer Brothers outfield, we would only score two runs. There's something that happens when you play a short-handed team. Teams have a tendancy to let up. On several occasions, I offered to give one of our subs, but Paul didn't want to take one. In the home half of the inning the Beer Brothers would score two runs to keep pace. 

In the top of the second inning, the Units would score 4 runs, still not taking advantage of the outfield situation. In the bottom of the second inning, the Units'  defense would only allow the Brothers to score a single run.

In the top of the third inning,  the Hurtin' Units would tack on another 2 runs and hold off the Beer Brothers with nothing. By this time, the Brothers had added Mike C. (Cookie Monster) to their lineup. The score of the end of three innings was 8-3.

In the fourth inning, neither team could score. In the top of the fifth inning, the Units would manufacture another run and the Units defense would shut the door on the Beer Brothers. In the top of the sixth inning, the Units would keep pecking away, scoring another 2 runs. 

In the bottom of the inning, the Beer Brothers would not go away without a fight, they would score another single run. The score at the end of six complete innings, Hurtin' Units 11, Beer Brothers 4.

In the top of the seventh inning (open), the Hurtin Units were shut down and in the bottom of the seventh, the Beer brothers would send 7 batters to the plate, 3 runs would come around to score, which made us a little bit nervous, but we would hold on for the win. 

I feel like this game was tainted a bit with of Beer Brother's missing players. 

Inside the lines. 

• Hurtin' Units would score in all but two innings.
• Simon S. had an adventure and right field on a couple of foul balls, but played steady both a catcher and right field.
• The Units substitute players made an impact in this win for the units. Simon would go 4-4 and Jason would go 3-4. 
• I felt this game was a little tainted with the lack of your Brother's players. 
• This game, to me, was the strangest game this season, and I didn't enjoy it that much.
• Thanks go out to Simon and Jason for subbing for us. 
• Thanks go out to Deb for scorekeeping. 
• The Umpire of this game seem to enjoy the game, I did not. 
• The Hurtin units next game is Monday night June 27th At 9:30 at Pier Park Vs The Dodge City Rounders

SLIDERMAN, SLIDERMAN, DOES WHATEVER A SLIDER CAN...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE SLIDERS.

Game # 11- June 20th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 18-17

Team Record 6-5-0

Keogh Park - This game was the final of a three-game homestand. A home stand that saw the Hurtin' Units go with 2-1 record. The Units will now travel to Beer Brotherville for a game against the Beer Brothers on Wednesday evening. 

Coming into this game with the Sliders the topic of discussion wasn't where the Units and the Sliders were in the standings, not how the Units played against the Sliders in 2015 (they played twice), it wasn't even Brad S. telling us he was fishing naked at a nudist colony. Hey

Brad you see any beavers when you were fishing.? The topic of discussion was the weather during the day on Monday, the temperature reached 34 degrees (yes 34) and with the humidity, it felt like 40 degrees. Even thinking about moving made you sweat. 

There was also a severe weather warning, it was threatening of thunderstorms and rain. I didn't even know if we get this game in. On my way home from work, on Monday afternoon, I stopped in at the new Princess Auto in Bolton. I needed to pick up some grommets for the new Hurtin' Units banner. When I was there, I decided to pick up a rake so that I could work on the batter's boxes at Keogh Park on my way home. I was actually worried about the rain falling into the batter's boxes, I didn't want to be batting in a mud hole later that night. I stopped by Keogh Park, raked the boxes smooth and level, that way if it did rain, they would not filled with water. 

Fortunately, the rain passed us by and the evening was dry (if you don't count how much we sweat in the heat). 

Last season the Hurtin' Units and the Sliders played each other twice; in game number 7 on June 4th 2015, the Units would defeat the Sliders by the score of 26-23. In game number 26 (the last game of the season), the Units decided to change their shirt colour, we went with white shirts with a logo, on this night. The Hurtin' Units would defeat the Sliders by a score of 13-8. I believe this game was shortened because the Keogh lights would not come on.

Game time: 

I mentioned earlier the daytime temperature was 34 degrees, feeling like it was 40, it was definitely hot!! It was still uncomfortably hot at game time, but a strong wind had picked up and it seemed to be more tolerable. I have to say that this year's edition of our team shirts is great for days like this. In the past, I would be drenched with sweat, but I felt cool and dry all game long.  Tres Fantastic Shirts!! 

At game time we had at 11 HU players sweating, warming up, and ready to play. Mark was the only missing body on the night.

Roman was the umpire and thanks go out to Lisa P. for scorekeeping.

For this posting,  I'm going to let the box score and the game sheets do the talking (I think I babble on too much anyway). 

Inside the lines:

• In this game, the Units gave up two 7 run innings, and these runs we're not the result of the Units throwing the ball away or errors or bad decisions. These runs were the result of good hitting by our opponents. In the first seven run inning, the Sliders hit 5 singles, 3 doubles and a triple to score their seven runs. In the second 7 run inning, the Sliders would hit 8 singles and I would walk two batters. That was the way they racked up seven runs, all one base at a time. 
• John made a really nice double play to get out of an inning in the game.
   
• In the final inning for the Sliders, Mooner would foul out to Clayton catching. Brad M. would fly out to Peter H. in RCF and Joe M. would hit to me at pitcher for a throw out at first. Guaranteed tie for the Units. 
• Gord made multiple catches playing in the right outfield.
• The Units would score a run in the bottom of the 7th to win the game 18-17.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Wednesday June 22nd, 2015 vs. the Beer Bros. 

LATE GAME... NO MASTER BATTERING TONIGHT.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE MASTER BATTERS.

Game # 10 - June 19th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 10-4

Team Record - 5-5-0

Keogh Park - Last season, the Hurtin' Units and the Master Batters would play twice during the regular season. There would be a split decision. In game # 5  of the regular season, the Master Batters would defeat the Units (in the Unit's home opener I might add) by a score of 22-9,  but in game # 13 the Units would get their revenge by taking down the Batters, in what was probably the lowest scoring game on the entire season, by a score of 4-3 for the Units.

The 4-3 game was a defensive gem and it reminded me of this game tonight. The Master Batters and the Hurtin' Units did meet again in 2015, in last year's playoffs. And again it would be another well played defensive game. The Hurtin' Units would win by a score of 16 - 8 and move on to the semi-finals. 

Game time.

The weather for this game was hot and sticky (kinda of like a fresh Cinnabon). The temperature was in the low 20s. There was no wind which seemed to help keep the bugs hanging around at the diamond.
The Hurtin' Units were the home team for the second game in a row and will be for 1 more games to come. 

Roman D. was the Umpire for the game. 

This game was a rescheduled game from June 9th.This game was rescheduled for 9:30. 

The game time we had 10 Hurtin' Units players dressed and ready to play (well somewhat ready to play, I know we didn't have much time because of the game before us ran late). Al Fry and Ted B. were the only missing bodies for this game. My back was still sore and I really didn't know if I should risk playing or not, so I asked for a sub. We picked up Jason B. from the Dogcatchers for future considerations, thanks go out to Jason for helping us out. 

The boxscore really tells the story of this game. The Units defense was great in this game, unlike Tuesday night, when I thought we were a little sloppy and shaky. The Master Batters could not get any type of rallies going in this game. The Master Batters would only send a total of 33 batters to the plate, 21 of these batters got out. The Unit's defense was really good, but I actually thought the offense was not firing

on all cylinders. We still put enough hits together and with a few good rallies we scored some key runs. We scored 9 runs in the first three innings, and only 1 run over the next three Innings, we did not have to play the 7th. 

Overall this was a great team effort. Good work Units!! 

Inside the Game: 

• There are numerous players that stood out in this game to me, but it really was a full team effort for the victory. 
• For the Master Batters, I thought Mark K. (3rd) had an awesome game, he was so solid at third base for the Master Batters. 
• Jon D. had a rough night at the bat, he hit 4 infield dribblers and still got on base 3 times. He was great on defense. 
• Mark B. made an excellent catch in the outfield, and played very good at 3rd base. 
• Ryan F. must like hitting to Peter H in left-center
  
  field, because Ryan hit there all night long and got out almost every time. 
• Jason R (sub) hit the ball well with not a lot to show for it, he also made some nice catches in the field. 
• In one inning, I only had to throw 4 pitches to get the three outs. The Hurtin' Units defense on this night was solid. 
• Gordy D. had a lot of action at first base. This game was a total team effort Everyone contributed to this win
• 
  

This game was a total team effort, great game Units!!

HURTIN' UNITS CROWNED BY KINGS.

HURTIN'  UNITS VS. THE DRAFT KINGS. 

Game # 9 - June 14, 2016

Hurtin' Units lose 19-13

Team Record - 4-5-0

Coventry Park- First off, I don't know why this first part is in red, I tried numerous times to change it, but it just won't change.

The Draft Kings always seem to be in the top 5 in the standings. Coming in to this game the Kings were in 1st place with a record of 7-1-1 with 15 points. Last season the Draft Kings would finish tied in 2nd place with the Dogcatchers, a single point behind the league championship team the Master Batters.

The last time the Hurtin' Units played the Draft Kings was in the 2015 playoffs, the Units would beat the Draft Kings in an elimination game. 

GameTime:

The weather for this game was excellent, the temperature was hovering around 20 degrees and no wind. The only issue was the sun in the eyes of the guys playing on the right side of the diamond, but it was short-lived and after a couple of innings the sun had gone down enough to not be . 

At game time we had 11 guys dressed and ready to rock and roll with the Draft Kings. The only missing player was Al F. Al went fishing this week; Who fishes on a Tuesday??

A Back Story:

I had an uneasy feeling going into this game. In the morning of game day, I was questioning whether or not I would be able to play, my back was so tight I couldn't bend over to tie my own shoes. Even after going to Tottenham Physiotherapy (our 2016 team sponsor, I might add) on Monday afternoon, I was still in some serious discomfort. I know what you're asking "what did you do to your back Jimmer"? 

Okay, so let me Tarantino this story back to the spring of 2016. On March 25th 2016, Tottenham was hit by a severe ice storm. The power was out for several days trees and shrubs were heavily weighed by ice, many branches broken... it was messy. In my backyard, I had a 12 inch diameter tree, which came down on my fence, we removed the tree from the fence, but left the big log (kinda like dog owners on the rail trail) for another day. 

Okay, let's Tarantino you back to last weekend. On Saturday afternoon the temperature was on the rise, the winds were picking up and by Saturday evening it was it was wild and crazy outside. On Sunday the wind seemed to be even stronger (not a great day to wear a hat or fly a kite) and You guessed it, another large tree came crashing down on the same fence that the ice storm tree had come down on. Holy Shit Snacks !!!

This time I had to take some action, I spent most of my Sunday afternoon with my chainsaw, cutting up the limbs and trees that had fallen. And after I had cut the trees up, I stacked all the logs. This is probably why my back was sore on Monday morning. That's the backstory.

Game Time Again:

At game time, I realized we were in trouble when things started to go wrong. I had forgotten the position and lineup sheet at home, on my printer, so I had to fudge it with an old sheet. My back was still really tight. And I felt really disorganized. 

This game started off well for the Units; in the first 3 innings we scored 5 runs and held the Draft Kings to only 2 runs. In the 4th inning, the Draft Kings hammered the ball to almost every part of the diamond, and when the diamond dust had settled the Kings had put 7 runs on the scoresheet. In the bottom of the 4th inning, the Units scored a goose egg.

In the top of the 5th inning, the Draft Kings continued to pound the baseball around the diamond. And again they would score another 7 run inning. In the bottom, the Units would fight back with 3 runs. The score at the end of 5 complete innings- Draft Kings 16, Hurtin' Units 8. 

In the top of the 6th inning, the Units would shut down the Draft Kings and in the bottom of the inning, the Units would score 5 runs. The score at the end of 6 innings- the Draft Kings 16, Hurtin' Units 13. 

In the 7th (open inning) the Draft Kings would tack on another 3 runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Units were only down by 6 runs, but the Draft Kings would shut the door and the Units would be defeated by a score of 19-13.

Inside the Game:

• I want to give some credit to the Draft Kings pitcher Kevin, who really kept the Hurtin' Units batters off balance and reaching most of the night.
• I forgot my position/lineup sheet at home and to fudge an old sheet .
• Peter H. made a great catch in LCF, while slipping on the grass. 
• Jon and Brad both went 4 for 4 batting on the night.
• Mark made a nice catch in left field.
• This game was the most lopsided loss that the Hurtin' Units have experienced this season. The Units lost by 6 runs, until this game the worst loss was only by 3 runs. 
• After a 3 game winning streak the Hurtin' Units looked a bit shaky on defense missing or bobbling balls or just fighting the ball. Our defense was not good in this game.
• I walked a batter for the first time in four games. There were at least 4 balls that went by me, up the middle, that I could have had. 
• Jon showed great range; I thought there was a ground ball that was by everybody and when I turned around it was already going into Jon's glove.  Excellent range.
• Considering how much discomfort I was in, I thought I hit the ball pretty well almost every time I was up.
• I think compared to every other game this season this was our weakest game and I still think we were in it until the end. 
• Even with the Draft Kings having two fortuitous 7 run
  
  innings, the score was only 16-13 for the Kings going in to the open inning. I would like to think that we had a chance to even win this game. 
• After the game, at the Pavilion, having a refreshing beverage, we all had a team vote and the anonymous result was... this loss was Al's fault. Who goes fishing on a Tuesday? Honestly?

In the News:

In the sports world, there being two events that happened between our games. Gordie Howe passed away and secondly the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. 

I don't have a lot of memories of Gordie, I have one, but it's not really memory of Gordie and more memory of my friend's father who was the spitting image of Gordie. I was a Leaf fan growing up. On the day, the Gordie passed away, I was saddened, but I remember listening to talk shows and hearing the memories that everyone else had of Mr. Hockey. Some great stories. 

On the winning side of things the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. I was happy to see the Pens win the cup. It was great to see this for Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel. Congratulations Pittsburgh!!