HURTIN' UNITS OVER THROWN BY THE REBELS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. RUSTY REBELS.

Game #20 - August 9, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 13-12

Team Record 7-12-1


 August 6-7, 2011- T.O.T August Tournament.

Coventry Park- Many people would say that the C.N.E is a harbinger of the summer winding down.  To me the T.O.T August tournament is my harbinger of the baseball season coming to it's conclusion. I know that it is early August, but there are only 5 (I think it's 5) regular season games remaining and then the playoffs. The August tournament is one of my favorite tournaments of the year (not that I play a lot of tournaments) and for the last four or five years I played in it with mostly friends and neighbors. 

Over the last several years, I co-captained with Rob Farah, putting together some decent squads and I believe we actually won on one or two occasions. The teams we assembled were usually friends and neighbors with the odd guy  peppered in to round out the roster or meet the ratings numbers. In the past we have played under the name of "Team Extreme".

This year Rob decided to part ways with Team Extreme and he was signed as a free agent by Cora Thunder. This left a co-captain position available and I quickly promoted Mikey Boy (co-captain of the Hurtin' Units) to the position of co-captain/first baseman of the Squirtin' squad. 

Rob F. had originally named the team "Team Extreme" and with Rob no longer in the picture (scroll down to see the picture with no Rob) it was time for a name change... But what name with so little time before the tournament? And then it occurred to us, our friend Ed Hopkins (of Hottub Woodys fame) had sent us an e-mail last season referring to the Hurtin' Units as the Squirtin' Units ( most likely a typo, several times) and we were hilariously entertained by Ed's spelling mistake. When we were thinking about a new name I remembered e-mail and quickly renamed the team... There were other names for consideration, but this was quick, this was a no brainer... 

Other Team Names on the Table:

Multiple Scorgasms
Victorious Secret
Big Test Icicles
The Abusement Park
Wii Not Fit
Scared Hitless
Here for Beer
Wacky Waving Inflatable Flailing Arm Tube Men
Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies
Cuban Raft Riders
Designated Drinkers
The Mighty Morphin Flower Arrangers
Cunning Stunts
The Master Batters
Norfolk-in-Chance
The Muffin Stuffers
Cow Tipping Dwarfs
Viscious and Delicious
e-LEMON-ators
The Tottenhammers

None of these names really seemed to fit our team and because the team we assembled really liked to drink beer, the Squirtin' Units was the chosen one...

The reason I include all this information in the Hurtin' Units blog is because there were nine (9) Hurtin' Unit players playing (on various teams) in the tournament this past weekend. The Squirtin' Units lead the way with 5 players (Jimmer, Mikey, Chris L., Mooner, and Richard G.), the Lollipop Guild had 2 (Paul G. and Cal S.), the Grusome Twosome had 1 (Bob M.) and Cal R. played for a co-ed or girl's team (just kiddin' Cal, don't get your panties all in a bunch).  

In the fun division, of the tournament, there were 6 teams competing. The Squirtin' Units, The Lollipop Guild, The Grusome Twosome, Fathers and sons, Cora Thunder and Dannyz Boyz (formerly known as prince, oops, I mean Joe and the Volcanoes). Each team would play 3 round robin games and the top 4 teams would go on to the semi-finals. The Squirtin' Units had some breaks in the tourney.

We won our first game against the Lollipop Guild , lost our second game to the Grusome Twosome and managed to tie Cora Thunder, in the bottom of the seventh inning, to squeak into the semis. In the semi-final game, we caught another break when some of Dannyz Boyz had a scheduling conflict  and several big time players were absent from the game. Dannyz picked up some good substitutions and the game was close with a 5-5 deadlock until the top of the seventh. In the top of the seventh, the Units scored 7 runs, enough to hold off the Boyz... Units win 12-8 and advance to the finals vs. Cora Thunder again...

In the finals the Squirtin’ Units would be facing Cora Thunder again, the team we tied to get in to the semis. The Units came out hitting, scoring numerous runs early and would play strong defence to win 16-6 and win the fun division of the T.O.T tournament.

I would like to thank all the players on Squirtin’ Units for a great weekend of baseball. Thanks guys.


Top Row: Richard G., Tony M., Gord T., Mike O., Piero D., Roger B.
Bottom Row: Dean C., Chris L., Kevin B., James T., Kevin M., missing Glen T.

 
HURTIN’ UNITS vs. The RUSTY REBELS.
August 9, 2011

Coventry Park- Early in the day, the weather looked as though it may prevent this game from happening. With a dark ominous sky, heavy rainfall and a real threat of thunderstorms, it looked quite grim even around the noon hour. But as the day progressed, the dark clouds and rain moved out of the Tottenham area and by game time the sun was shining brightly. Yea, it was shining brightly alright, right into the faces of anyone facing northwest on diamond #2. What ever happened to the ideal playing conditions? Last week it was the rain, mud and mist. This week it was the sun and captain Hughie’s voice.

The Rusty Rebels are not having a very good season, at least in the standings, (they did win the HTKP tournament) and off the field it could be all shine, lollipops and roses, but I doubt it. The Rebels team record, coming in to this game, was 5-14-0, second last in the standings (14th), but I’d bet they play better in the playoffs. Hugh and Donny have a way of stepping up come playoff time, Hughie probably has a big bag of magic diamond dust he saves for such occasions. Whatever it is, I’m betting the Rebels will be in the thick of things come playoff time.

It was the bottom of the seventh and
the bases were loaded...

This game was no. 20 on our schedule and our record is now 7-12-1. There is now no chance of us having a .500 record, even if we win our 4 remaining games. The only thing I would love to see between now and the playoffs would be to defeat the Dusty Cleats (still unbeaten) and have a strong finish to the end of the season.

This game was the first time we used a sub this season. I was hoping that we could go the entire season without a sub, but it was not to be. We picked up all-star player little Timmy Sullivan to help us out. Missing from the Hurtin’ Units lineup were Richard, Brad and Paul E.

For something a little different in this game, I put myself in the leadoff position. I had put myself at the bottom of the order back in early July, but after hitting well over the weekend (in the tournament), I thought I deserved a change higher up in the order. I chose leadoff to keep the order the same. This was the first time I changed the order since the HTKP tournament and if you remember, I started the season rotating the batting order, but we played so well in the HTKP tourney that I just kept using that lineup. If this game had been a playoff game, I would not have been in the leadoff, but with really none to lose and I’ve been at the bottom of a while now, I needed a change…

My first at bat I lined out to Hugh- D’oh!! Bob followed with a fly out, Cal got to first base, Chris L. got out and the game tone was set. It was going to be a struggle to score on this Rebel team.

In the bottom of the inning the Rebels scored a single run. In the second inning things were looking up for the Units, we managed to bring 3 runs around and we held the Rebels in the bottom. The Hurtin’ Units scoring continued in the third inning, bringing 5 more runs across the plate, the down side was that the Rebels matched us run for run. The score after 3 innings of play … 8-6 for the Hurtin’ Units.

In the forth inning the Units were shut down, 4 batters, one hit and change em up boys. The Rebels did a little better in the bottom of the inning, scoring a single run. The fifth inning saw the Units shut out again and the Rebels continued to peck away at the Units lead scoring 2 more runs.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Hurtin’ Units rallied to score 4 runs to regain the lead, but that lead would be short lived as the Rebels would score 5 runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 13-12 lead. Unfortunately, the Hurtin’ Units would go down quickly in the top of the seventh inning and the Rebels half of the inning would not be needed… Rebels win 13-12.

Boxscore:        1   2    3    4    5    6    7     Total  

Hurtin' Units     0   3    5    0    0    4    0       12    

Rusty Rebels    1    0   5    1     2    5   X       13   


Top Ten Interesting Baseball Facts and Trivia

1.Fidel Castro was once a star baseball player for the University of Havana,Cuba.

2. In 1965, the minimum annual salary for a baseball player was $6,000, just a thousand dollars more than it had been in 1947.

3. A regulation baseball has 108 stitches.

4. The very first baseball game was played on 19th June 1845, across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New York, USA.

5. In baseball, a "can of corn" refers to a fly ball that is easy to catch.

6. Robert Redford attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship.

7. In July 1934, Babe Ruth paid a fan $20 dollars for the return of the baseball he hit for his 700th career home run.

8. In an effort to sell more licensed apparel, minor-league baseball teams were changing their names so often that the sport's governing body now limits franchises to team name changes every three years. Please note Premier League Soccer in the UK say Will and Guy.

9. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, houses the largest collection of baseball cards: 200,000.

10.The first perfect nine innings baseball game was achieved by John Lee Richmond on 12th June 1880.
 

Now back to the Rebels vs Units game...

I think the thing that has to bother us the most is that all of the Rebels runs in the sixth inning were with two outs (according to the game sheet). The first Rebel batter got on with a single and then the second batter hit to Bob, Bob touched second for the force and threw to first for the double play… After that we just couldn’t shut the door, 6 batters came to the plate before a fly ball out ended the inning. Maybe our focus was lost for a moment…Maybe deep down we know we are not playing for anything...until the playoffs begin!

I think sometimes we tend to look at the score and not at the actual game. I really thought we hit the ball well in this game. We hit hard into 11 linedrive/flyball outs, Mooner hit 2 towering fly balls, to the warning track, for long, loud outs. I made solid contact on my first 3 at bats for 3 linedrive outs, 7 of our 10 players flied or lined out and there were numerous fielder’s choice plays also…Hugh played really well at short for the Rebels. We really did have our chances, but I guess it just wasn’t to be on this night…

On a more positive note, Bill J. went 4 for 4, Bob M was involved in turning 3 double plays, Kevin has been hammering the ball and our sub little Timmy Sullivan is okay after taking a throw to the ear and shoulder on a double play attempt at second base.

We can’t win the season; nobody can catch the Dusty Cleats. The Dusty Cleats (last time I looked) are 10 points ahead on the second place team, they have won the league, the best we can do is to spoil their perfect season. Next Monday (I hope I can publish this post by then) we get another shot at the Dusty Cleats, a team that beat us 20-19 in the bottom of the 7th inning with a Scott B. walk-off homerun. The Dusty Cleats are unbeaten (as of today) and we have a chance to be the spoilers…

Just one more thing, I’d like to thank the Beer Bros. for providing the beer on Tuesday evening. The bet we won for winning the season series has been paid…Thanks Guys.









Hurtin' Units Game Sheet:



GRISSLIES in the MIST...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE GRISSLIES...

Game #19 - August 3, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 13-6

Team Record - 7-11-1

Keogh Park- Well, it's been 9 days since our last game and I was really looking forward to this game for several reasons. First- I think 9 days is way to much time between games, I like to play and this just seems too long, especially if you won your last game, which we did 22-14 against the Wild. Remember?

Second- The was designated “Fan Appreciation” night, not by the league, but by the Grisslies, something they have been for several seasons. This year there seemed to be a little more of a buzz around it, probably because the Hurtin' Units were chosen to be the team to co-host the event.


There were snacks and giveaways for the friends , family and fans that showed up for the game. There were probably 20-30 people, off and on ( there was a game before us), that took part in the event... It probably would have been a great turn out if it hadn't been for the crappy, misty weather...


The weather earlier in the day was around 23 degrees and off and on rain, but by game time the temperature had dropped to 17 degrees and the light rain that had been hanging around most of the day was still falling lightly and making a mess of the playing surface. The rain stopped for brief periods, but there always seemed to be this misty drizzle in the air. The batters boxes and the area behind home plate were drenched, someone even asked me, when I was catching, if I had brought my water wings, ya gotta love a league where people are always concerned about your safety...

Shitter was full...

 The game had numerous distractions swirling around it. The weather and the playing field probably top the list. The rain, according to the Weather Network was supposed to clear out around 4 pm, but the damp and misty conditions persisted all the way up to the 9:30pm game.


There was also the distraction of fan appreciation night, eating and drinking, presentations ( we were presented a bottle of fine Jimmerville Estate wine for being the Grisslies No. 1 fan) and I also asked my friend Samantha to take a team picture. So there were definitely more things going on this night than most of the other games we have played this season...

Hurtin' Units team photo...

This was a good night ( maybe not weather wise) to take a team picture. We had our whole team show up, 12 guys, several photos and with time restrictions we had to game the game going. We were the visitors on this night...


This was actually a close game with the exception of one bad inning, that really came back to haunt us. In the top of the first inning the Units scored a single run, but in the bottom the Grisslies scored twice.


In the second inning neither team scored. In the top of the third inning, the Units brought 3 runs around to score and in the bottom(with Jimmer pitching) the Grisslies only managed a single run. 4-3 for the Hurtin' Units at the end of 3 innings...


In the forth inning neither team scored again. In the top of the fifth inning the Units scored again to increase their lead, but this lead would be short lived as the Grisslies scored 4 runs in the bottom of the inning. In the sixth inning, the Units bats went cold again and the defense could not hold off the potent offense of the Griswolds. The Gris lit it up for a 6 run inning. The score after six innings of play, 13-5 for the Grisslies. In the seventh inning the Hurtin' Units could only score a single run and that would not be enough, Grisslies win 13-6 on a miserable, misty evening...

Boxscore:        1     2    3     4     5     6     7        Total 

Hurtin Units     1     0     3     0     1     0     1            6   

Grisslies          2     0     1     0     4     6     X           13  

Unfortunately the Weather was not our friend on this fan appreciation evening. I would like to thank the Grisslies for all their hard work and preparation for this evening. I would also like to thank them for including the Hurtin' Units team to co-host the fan appreciation night, nice job guys, despite the weather...

THE WILD HOWLING AT THE MOONER...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE WILD...

Game # 18- July 25, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 22-14

Team Record- 7-10-1

5:00AM Game Day: For those who were up and about at 5:00am on game day, we were treated to an amazing lightening show, accompanied by loud cracks of thunder and heavy rain. I'm really surprised with all the heat and humidity, we have had over the last week, that we haven't seen more of this type of activity. I'm happy to see the rain, it will certainly help the diamonds, at least this was my thinking until we got on the field...When we got on the field it was rough, the field had not been graded and the rain hardened the surface, a rough and hard surface leads to many strange bounces... Yikes!!

I think we need a baseball video in this edition, click here to go to video.

We are at game number 18 on the schedule, where has the season gone, we only have 6 games remaining and then the playoffs...

At 9:00pm on game night the temperature was a comfortable 23 degrees with much less humidity than our last game. The conditions were almost perfect for a good hitting night.

At game time we had 10 players for the game, I had called for a sub earlier in the day, but he wasn't needed and he went to the legion with his team instead. They had been playing the 8:15 game...

The Wild currently hold down 2nd place in the T.O.T league standings with a record of 10-4-0. They are a solid team defensively and offensively. I have subbed for them twice this season, they won both the games...

This game was the second of our two scheduled 9:30pm games, we played the first on June 15 against the Dusty Cleats and lost 20-19. We also had a make-up game at 9:30 against the Dislocated Joints and won 17-11... We seem to play quite well in the 9:30 games with a record of 2-1-0.

Our game was the third game played on the Keogh Park diamond this evening and the infield playing surface was awful, ground balls were skippin' and a jumpin' and going wild all over the place.

In our game we had to do some shifting around with our players. Cal S was nursing a sore leg, so he went to catch/first, we were also missing Cal and Richard, so Mike and Mooner played in the outfield...

We were the home team in this game  and in the top of the first inning the Wild came out swingin', scoring 5 runs and making it look like it might be another long night for the Units. In the bottom of  the first the Units sent 9 batters to the plate and 3 came around to score.

In the top of the second inning the Wild scored another 2 runs, but the Units rallied in the bottom of the inning to score 7 runs. The Wild were shut out in the third inning and the Units added another 4 runs, highlighted by a grand slam homerun, over the center field fence, by Mooner to make the score 14-7 for the Units after 3 innings....

In the forth inning, neither team scored. In the fifth inning the Wild tagged the ball around the park scoring 7 runs, but the Units answered with 7 runs in the bottom. In the sixth inning the Units defense would shut down the Wild and in the bottom the Units would tack on an additional run to make the score 22-14 Units after 6 innings... In the seventh inning the Units would again shut down the Wild, the bottom was not needed, Hurtin' Units win 22-14. UNITS UNDERESTIMATED!!

Boxscore:       1    2    3    4    5     6    7         Total   


Hurtin' Units   3    7    4   0     7     1    X          22    


The Wild         5    2     0   0    7     0     0          14   

JIMBITS:

• This was a great team effort again, fueled by little Sammy Buca... We love ya Sammy!
• It was great to see Bill J. (Billy the Kid) back in the lineup after missing the last three games with an upper body injury...
• The ball was traveling well in this game, everyone was hitting well, especially Mooner and Mikey Boy. They were crushing the ball!
• Mooner went 5 for 5, Mikey went 4 for 5, Jimmer went 4 for 4, Bob went 4 for 5, etc. refer to the game sheet if ya want to more, it's at the bottom of this blog....We were hitting really well...
• Chris L made two nice grabs at third base and two tosses to first, one that Roman remarked " pull the pin" because it was so soft it was like tossing a hand grenade...
• Paul E went perfect in right field and hit really well.
• The Wild had zero lefthanded batters in the lineup for this game.
• Mooner was a offensive machine- went 5 for 5, scored 5 times, hit a grand slam homerun and later crushed a ball foul in to a tree in the lawn bowling courts ( that poor tree didn't even see it coming).
• This win moved us up in the standings by 4 or 5 positions (according to the posted standings).



Hurtin' Units game sheet

  Our next game is Wednesday August 3, 2011 vs. The Grisslies at 8:15pm. The Hurtin' Units and the Grisslies are having a fan appreciation night at this game. We encourage players to invite family and friends to come out and watch our game...
More information to come regarding this evening....

HURTIN' UNITS SQUEAK BY THE BEER BROS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. BEER BROS...


Cooling down with a cold beer...


Game # 17- July 20, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 14-10

Team Record 6-10-1

Keogh Park- It's stinkin' hot outside!!The weather seems to be the hot (no pun intended) topic this week. At 6:30pm on game night the temperature was at 33 degrees and feeling like 39 with the humidity... I seem to work up a sweat in mild temperatures, so tonight I expect to be soaked...

At game time we had 10 players eager (okay, maybe not eager, but ready) to play this game and the only missing bodies were Cal R and Bill J.

The was game # 17 on our schedule and as I mentioned in the last post, we don't have any chance to win the league, which means the pressure is off us. The pressure may been off to win the league, but there was still the pressure of the case of beer bet made with the Beer Bros earlier in the season. The Hurtin' Units won the first game on May 16, 2011 and the best the Bros could do would be to tie...

44 days between wins...

 44 days, this is my estimate since the last time we won a the regular season game. Our last win came way, way back in game # 7, on June 6, when we defeated the Rusty Rebels by a score of 14-13. Since that time we have a record of 0-8-1, probably the coldest team in the league. Our record when this slide started was 5-2-0 and going into this game our team record was 5-10-1. Ouch!! The good news is we could play .500 baseball by the end of the season, either way we all make the playoffs and it's usually the team that gets hot going in, that gets on a roll...

The long losing streak was finally over when we tied the Dislocated Joints on July 12 and despite a loss in our last game , we have played much better since the HTKP tournament . The tournament certainly restored our confidence and showed us that we have a competitive team that is capable of winning against anyone...

The game against the Beer Bros. had a lot of things going on, not in the game, but more around the game. Before the game there were discussions about the case of beer bet, we had the Sambuca ( yes, I finally remembered to bring it) shooters set up for pre-game and Mike was taking orders for chicken wings for the post game wing feast at the legion.

We were the visitors in this game. Similar to the last two games, we got off to a good start offensively, scoring 3 runs in each of the first, second and forth innings and only allowed the Beer Bros 2 runs in the first and shut them down in second, third and forth. After 4 innings, the Units had a 9-2 lead.

In the fifth and sixth innings the Hurtin' Units only scored a single run, but the we only allowed the Bros to score 2 more runs. The score after 6 completed innings, 10-4 for the Units...

Boxscore:        1    2    3     4     5     6     7       Total 

Hurtin' Units    3     3    0     3     0     1     4         14   

Beer Bros.       2     0    0     0     2     0     6         10          

The was my third start in a row at pitcher and I like believe that I'm improving, but I still don't like to walk guys, love to strike or foul ball them out ( right Pieman?), but the walks bug me... Last night I walked more batters than I would like (one is more than I like), but sometimes walking a batter is not such a bad thing, especially if the batter can hurt you.

Last night I struggled at times to find the plate and as a result I walked several batters... I really don't mind walking the good batters, it's a single on a guys that could hurt us, but I have to get the weaker batters, I have to throw them strikes. In the bottom of the seventh inning we had a 14-4 lead, I couldn't seem to throw for strikes, it was time for relief... How do you spell relief ?? B.O.B. Bob came in with one out and managed to close the door. The Beer Bros scored 6 runs in the seventh and got a little closer, but in the end it was the Hurtin' Units with the victory. Final score 14-10 Units.

Before the last two games, I have stopped by Coventry Park and thrown a couple of buckets (25+ balls per bucket) of baseballs for practise pitching. I'm now wondering if this routine could be hurting me later in our games. If I'm throwing 50+ pitches before a game, and at least 12 pitches per inning in a game, that would be over a 120 pitches by the seventh inning. I'm not a robot or a pitching machine, perhaps it's time to stop practising the day of a game...

Highlights of the night: Bob was a vacuum on the field in this game, scooping up ground balls, he also made the guys playing first base earn their paycheques by stretching them like Rubberman... Chris L. made a nice stretch and hold, on a play at home plate, for an out, on a throw from Mooner... Richard made a nice catch in left field and was hitting the ball hard at bat... Most of the Hurtin' Unit players were hitting the ball really well... Good solid team effort....Units Universal!!

HURTIN' UNITS LOSE WITH WOODYS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. HOT TUB WOODYS.

Game # 16- July 18, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 18-13

Team Record 5-10-1

Keogh Park- Well it's official, we not going to repeat as league champions. With only 8 games remaining and the Dusty Cleats still defeated , we are officially out of the running, I'm pretty sure we were out around game 9 or 10, but I didn't have the heart to tell you guys... So with the pressure off , we can now focus on getting ready for our playoff run...

I actually think we should be having a bit more fun these days , we have nothing to loose, so let's crack open the Sambuca and let our hair down ( those with hair) and let loose... Party on Garth!!
 

Starting with our game on Wednesday, we should shake things up a little and see what happens. Speaking of Wednesday, we are supposed to have a wing night after the game, should be a good, little, bonding night...

The weather for this game was hot and sticky, in fact it's been this way for the last 5 days and by Thursday this week the temperature is going to be 38 degrees, feeling like 44 degrees with the humidity. Welcome to the dog days of summer! On game night it was 28 degrees at 6:30pm , I was sweating just thinking about the temperature...

At our 7:00pm game time, we had 9 players sweaty to go, Bob, Cal S and Bill were missing from this game.

This was a close game and we were in it until the final inning . We started off strong with 6 runs in the first 3 innings, but the Woody's scored 4 to keep pace. 6-4 Hurtin' Units after 3 innings...

In the forth and fifth innings is where we lost this game. The Woody's scored 11 runs in the next 3 innings and even though we rallied in the bottom of the sixth, with 6 runs, it would not be enough. The score at the end of six innings was 15-13 for the Woody's. In the top of seventh the Woody's would tack on 3 more runs, we were still within range, but as luck would have it, we went down swinging hard with a couple of line drive outs and a hit to the pitcher. Woody's win 18-13.

With Bill still out injured, I started this game pitching again and felt definitely more comfortable and confident than the last game. I thought I pitched pretty well, but still got hit hard. I'm hopeful that the third time's a charm.

Boxscore:                1    2    3    4     5    6     7      Total

Hurtin' Units             4    2    0    0     1    6     0       13   

Hot Tub Woody's      0    1    3    5     6    0     3       18  


This was a tough game , the Woody's are one of the hottest teams in the league and we gave them a good game. We had our chances , but just fell short... The Hurtin' Units have proven that we can play with any team in the league, our remaining games should be spent preparing for the playoffs and having fun....Units United!!

HURTIN' UNITS FIT TO BE TIED....

HURTIN' UNITS vs. The DISLOCATED JOINTS...

Game # 15 - July 12, 2011


Hurtin' Units tie 23-23


Team Record- 5-9-1

Coventry Park- It has probably been quite some time since we have seen a game like this. In fact we had not scored 23 runs in any game this season, the closest we have came was on May 16, 2011 against the Beer Bros. in a 22-15 win. We have however had more than 23 runs scored against us in one game this season. On June 11, 2011 we were beaten by the Red Dogs by a score 25-11.

Our game on Tuesday had tons of hitting, close plays, excellent pitching (well at times it was okay), this game had it all, right down to the nail biting seventh inning finish...And not only did it have all these things, it also had a couple of firsts on the season. This was the first time I had pitched a complete game in a long,long time and it was the first time the Hurtin' Units have tied this season.

This was a fun game and despite going into the bottom of the seventh inning with a 4 run lead and only coming out with a tie. I'm also glad to say that our 7 game losing streak has finally come to an end. Bill's new shoes could still have something to do with this, but let's not think about it. Speaking of Bill, he was hurt worse than we had orginally thought and hopefully he is back sooner than later.

I looked at the standings before this game and realized we have dropped down to the 13th place tied with the Dislocated Joints, but the Joints have two games in hand.

Kevin M. playing in the HTKP all-star game.


I really had thought about asking Bob to pitch again in this game, but stayed away for two reasons , one I like pitching and will never improve without game situations and two, I always think that if Bob wanted to pitch he probably would have signed up for a P1 or P2 during registration. Some people are really good a doing things, Bob was excellent on the HTKP tournament weekend for us, but my thought goes something like this- maybe Bob would rather play shortstop than pitch...I really liked pitching this game and came away with a handful of experiences that I will be able to apply in my next pitching start, experiences like covering first base, playing more balls up the middle, backing up other plays, etc. etc.

The weather for this game was excellent, perfect temperatures and if it wasn't for a little bit of cloud cover to the west the sun in the eyes of the players could have been worse...The sun was still a bit of a problem, but once it got behind the trees of diamond #3 it wasn't too bad...

We were missing 2 players in this game... Bill is on the injury list and Paul has been away for the last couple of weeks. We had been wondering where Paul E. had been, but I remembered after this game, that he had sent me an e-mail that he would be gone on July 5 and 12..My bad!

Okay, this game had so much action and adventure in it that I'm not even going to try to remember what the heck went on this game (you guys realize that all of the game descriptions are based on my memory and game sheets, if I get one). I will include the game sheets in the blog and if anyone needs to or wants to figure it out, I say all the power to you! Our next game is Monday July 18,2011 at 7:00pm at Keogh Park...

Boxscore:         1    2    3     4    5     6    7        Total 

Hurtin' Units     4    4    1    7     6     0    1         23    

Dislocated        1    6     1   3     2     6    4         23    



HURTIN' UNITS



DISLOCATED JOINTS



 



HTKP TOURNEY-HURTIN' UNITS GET STIFFED...

HELP THE KIDS PLAY TOURNAMENT...

Coventry Park- The weekend is a little bit fuzzy at this point! Lots of baseball, a lot of beer being consumed (not by me), and lots of fun... We had a good tournament, we played well, our bats were working pretty good, and we managed to make it to the semi-finals, only to lose, to the Lucky Stiffs by a single run ...

I really can't remember game details, so I'll just throw up a few pictures and the games scores and we'll make this edition of the Hurtin' Units blog a short and sweet one...

Speaking of short and sweet, there was one thing we did that was really team bonding thing, before every game we would all get together for a single shot of Sambuca...Doing this seemed to calm us a little or at least distract us and take the pressure off  the game at hand...Something we might continue doing for the rest of the season...

Game #1- July 9,2011
18-11 Win vs. The Grisslies


Game #2- July 10, 2011
13-11 Win vs. The Dogcatchers


Game #3- July 10,2011
17-9 Win vs. The Lucky Stiffs


Game #4- July 11,2011
12-7-Win vs The Dodge City Rounders


Game #5- July 11, 2011 
10-9 Loss vs. The Lucky Stiffs in the semi-finals

There were a lot of game pictures taken, I've put together a short movie on youtube if anyone is  interested. Just click on the link below to view... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCTl7oNOmdAe

I would like to thank the players who subbed with us this weekend, Dean C., Steve D., John T. and Chris R., thanks guys, it was a fun weekend...

HURTIN' UNITS CAUGHT BY DOGCATCHERS...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Dogcatchers...

Game # 14- July 6, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 11-6

Team Record 5-9-0

Keogh Park- The last time we played at Keogh Park was the game against the Dusty Cleats on June 15, and going into the game we had a winning percentage over .500, in fact we had a record of 5-4. We played the Dusty Cleats tough and our bats were on fire in the first 3 innings of the Cleats game scoring 16 runs, but as most of us remember the Cleats came back in the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk off home run to win the game...It seems like a long time since we have played in the Keogh Park, it seems like a long time since our bats have connected like that, maybe the game against the Dogcatchers will be the game that changes our fortunes...The good news is that we have only 2 more Tuesday night games on the schedule at Coventry Park, the park were we have had mediocre success, with 4 of our losses coming in the last two weeks, maybe a change of venue is just what the doctor ordered...

The weather for this game was similar to the game on Tuesday night, overcast skies, but with the sun causing a little bit of havoc for players facing the western sky...The temperature was hot and there was a lot of humidity...

At game time we had 11 players suited up, ready to play. Paul E. was missing again tonight. In the first inning Bill was running to first base, tripped and took a spill, scrapping his knee, elbow and hurting his ribs. Bill would try to pitch again, but would come out of the game with discomfort in his ribs...Bob Mc. came in to pitch...

There is a point when things get bad enough, that we are more than just frustrated, but almost angry with the situation...I think we are almost at this point and I like it...We had been playing a little softly with teams recently and getting ourselves in a defeated state of mind early in the game. We are solid, good players and we should be giving the teams we play a more difficult game than we have shown recently... I think we need to play tougher and harder, we need to get mean and play to win, even if we don't... Recently we have played the best teams and we completed hard, we need to complete hard with every team we play... Last night's game was a good start, although we still seem to be getting down on ourselves a bit early. We have the horses to come back in any game, we just need to be mentally tough...This upcoming weekend tournament is a chance to really turn this thing around, we are playing some tough teams, I think we can beat anyone of them...It's time to step up and play hard...

The game against the Dogcatchers, we played much better, but still not good enough to win...We were robbed of some base hits, by a strong Dogcatcher outfield, but we hit the ball hard and well...

In the top of the first inning we scored a single run, but Bill went down hard over first and this worried us a little bit ( I called him today, his ribs are still sore and probably couldn't play this weekend if he wanted to, but he is doing okay and will hopefully be ready for Tuesday's game). In the bottom of the inning the Dogcatchers scored 2 runs...We didn't score in the second or third innings and the Dogcatchers scored 2 more runs in both innings... 6-1 Dogcatchers after 3 innings...

We were shut out again in the forth and fifth innnings and the Dogcathers scored 4 in the forth and 1 more in the fifth. In the sixth inning we managed keep the ball away from the Dogcatchers fielders and actually put 5 runs on the scoresheet and not only that, we stopped the Dogcatchers in the bottom of the inning... Unfortunately, the rally would not continue in the seventh for us and Paul G got out, Richard hit a solid single to left center field, Bob flied out and Brad did the same, game over, Dogcatchers win 11-6...

Boxscore:       1    2    3    4    5    6    7       Total  

Hurtin Units   1    0    0    0    0   5    0            6    

Dogcatchers    2    2   2    4    1   0    X           11   

This game was a better game for us, but I still think we are a much better team, we just need to restore our confidence and play our opponents tougher... Looking forward to the weekend....