The Sun is Setting on the 2024 T.O.T. Season.

“Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island what book would I bring… How to Build a Boat.”– Steven Wright

Let the Playoff Games of 2024 begin - September 9th- 15th 2024

During the week of September 1-7th, the final regular season games were played and the teams were finally seeded into their finishing position. The Hurtin' Units were originally slotted in the sixteenth place. Still, after a closer review of tiebreaker information, in the rules of play, the Head-to-Head tiebreaker came into play and because the Units beat the Dogcatchers, the Units moved up in the standings. Hooray, we're not in last again, but now I think we get a tougher first-game opponent. The Units will play the Draft Kings, The Meatballs, Dodge City and Shake and Bake in the Round Robin games. If we had remained in sixteenth, our first opponent would have been the Rusty Rebels, who are going to be tough also. Let the games begin!!

A Royal Flushing.

Game # 1 - Hurtin' Units vs. The Draft Kings.

September 10th, 2024

Hurtin' Units lose 27-16

Round Robin Record – 0-1-0

On the first night of the playoffs, the Units did not get off to a good start, Draft Kings dominated. The weather for the first night was perfect, the temperature was comfortable and the sun was setting in the western sky. At game time the Units had 11 players, the only missing body was Cookie. The game started 20 minutes late (umpire issue), and the Draft Kings chose to be the visitors. Dave McGovern was the scorekeeper. Thanks, Dave.

The Draft Kings came out hitting, they hit hard and when the top first inning ended the Kings had put up 5 runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Units put up only a single run. In the top of the 2ndinning, the Draft Kings continued to pour in on scoring 7 more runs. The Units would counter with 3 of their own. After 2 innings, it was 12- 4 for the Kings. In the third inning, the Unit's defense slowed the Kings down allowing 0 runs. The Units would score 2 more runs, getting a little closer.

In the fourth inning, the Kings scored another 6 runs, the Units had 0 runs. In the fifth inning, the Kings only scored a single run, and the Unit's bats came alive for a 6 run inning. The score after 5 complete was 19-12.

In the sixth inning, the Units slowed the Kings down again, only allowing 2 runs to cross the plate. In the bottom, the Units bats scored runs, 4 more in the inning. The score was getting closer 21-16.

In the Open inning, the Units could not contain the team with most runs during the regular season, the Draft Kings would score another 6 runs before the Units could close the door. In the bottom of the inning, the Units went down quickly, and the Draft Kings won. 27-16, a plus 11.

The Units got off to a slow start, but I thought our batting was good, some errors led to King's runs and in the end, that hurt our chances. The Unit's next game is Friday at 7 pm vs. The Meatballs, but we may be missing Zander for the rest of the season with a sore back. Cookie will be back for Friday's game, but Steve Storey is away.

Let's Get Spicy!!!

Game# 2 - Hurtin' Units vs. The Meatballs.

Friday September 13th, 2024

Hurtin' Units win 10-8

Round Robin Record – 1-1-0

The 2nd night of the playoffs, for the Units came on Friday the 13th, and it was a lucky
game for the us. The weather was perfect for our 7:00 pm game on Coventry # 3. At game time the Units had 11 guys dressed and sipping a Sambuca shot, Steve Storey was the only missing body. Sweet Lou was the umpire and lovely Nicole Hager was the scorekeeper. The Meatballs chose to be the visitors in this game.

I never saw the game sheet for this game, but it was a see-saw score back and forth. The Units got off to an early lead, but at one point the Meatballs came back and took over the lead for an inning. Brandon and Alex (in the park homerun) hit large in the bottom of that inning, and the Units regained the lead. From that point on the Units never gave up the lead again. Units were lucky on Friday the 13th.

Going into the final inning, the Units held a 3-run lead, which the Units would defend strong and only allow a single Meatball run and win 10-8.

Dodging Balls.

Game# 3 - Hurtin' Units vs. The Meatballs.

Saturday September 10th, 2024

Hurtin' Units win 15-7  

Round Robin Record – 2-1-0

During the regular season, the Units played Dodge City twice and lost both times. The
games were close, 13-12 and 14-9 and both came near the start of the season. Coming into this playoff game the Units were feeling good about the win over the Meatballs.

The weather over the entire weekend was excellent, at times a little hot in the sun, but still a perfect weekend for playing baseball. For this game, the Units had their full team (something that only happened once during the season) and it showed what we could do with a full team.

The Unit's defence was great in this game. Dodge City didn't score a run until the top of the fifth inning. The Units scored early and they scored in every inning, including a 7-run inning. The Units would go on to win the game and have a chance to play on Sunday.

Shaked and Baked.

Game# 4 - Hurtin' Units vs. The Shake and Bake

Saturday September 10th, 2024

Hurtin' Units win 21-3

Round Robin Record – 3-1-0

In the regular season, the Units split the series with Shake and Bake with one win
apiece. In game #2 the Units won 12-6, but in July, the Shakers handed the Units one of our worst losses of the year, kicking the crap out of us 24-15.

Going into this game, the Units had the full team again and this team came out hitting. We sprayed the ball all over the field and put up runs early in the game and never looked back. The Units defence was stellar in this game, frustrating the S and B batters. The final score was 21-3. This was the highest-scoring game for the Units all season and it couldn't have come at a better time.

When the diamond dust settled on the round-robin play, the Units were in the mix to play on Sunday. The crowd gathered around the results board as the numbers were tallied, the Units would end up in 2ndplace in the round-robin and we were playing on Sunday vs the Tap Masters.

Tappin' Out.

Quarter-Finals- Hurtin' Units vs. The Tap Masters

Sunday September 15th, 2024

Hurtin' Units lose 12-11 in extra innings.

Our quarter-final game was Sunday morning at 9:30 am, the Units were now the home team, and the games were now going to be 7 innings (or longer). The Tap Masters finished in fourth place in the regular season and the Units played them twice, splitting the season series 1-1. The Units won their first meeting 15-14 and the Tap Masters handed the Units their worst loss of the season 25-12.

At 9:30, the temperature was already rising, it was going to be another hot, sunny day. The outfield on C#1 was dewy and I saw a few guys slip around in the early innings. The Units had 11 players dressed to play this game, Steve was the only missing body, and Jamie had been hurt all of the playoffs, but still played, a 50% Zander is better than no Zander.

This was a really good game, the defence for both teams was solid and it took some good hitting just to score runs. At the end of 7 innings, nothing was decided the game was tied and going into extra innings with international rules, something most of us had never really experienced. One out, runner on second base, 1-1 count, this was messed up, especially pitching. The Tap Masters came up first and there was definitely confusion about these rules, it actually had to be looked up with the Google machine. We figured it out the game continued.

A game that was tied at 7-7 just became a high-scoring affair. The Tap Masters would score 5 runs in the 8th inning to take a 12-7 lead. In the bottom of the 8th, the Units would battle back, and with 2 out we had the tying run on second and winning run on first with myself coming up, the game on the line, I would hit down the third base line and Matt A would make a grab, touch 3rd for the force and end the game. I was so disappointed in my hitting in this game, I just couldn't make solid contact and it cost the Units a shot at the semi-finals. The final score was 12-11 for Tappers.  

And So It Ends.

This season seemed to fly by fast, it seemed like we just did the draft and now we are finishing up. On paper, the Units didn't have a great regular season, our record isn't a true indication of how we played. We were in a lot of games, lost some close ones, beat some good teams, and managed to stay out of last place by a head-to-head. This year's edition of the Units was better than most people thought, but I was there for every game and knew what we had. I thought when we had the full team, we could play well. The Units had 5 rookies this season, and I hope they all return next season. Our replacement player Rick was the shot in the arm we needed (Roman was the same last year) and we seemed to play better down the stretch.

Last year's Unit team was not good (sorry guys), we didn't have the horses and it showed. I believe everybody from the 2023 Units had a better season this year, which is great to see. Wayne W. had a good season, Corey Forbes was better, Tom Betts and Ingo were on the Championship Rusty Rebel team, and Jamie Niven and Nick Short played some good ball this season.

This season, the Units were near the bottom, next season we could be back on top, this is the great thing about this league. I said it multiple times this season, to many people, if this league didn't exist, I would not be playing.

The Unit's playoff run shows the parity of the league, any team has a chance to win, no matter where you finish in the standings. The Tottenham Oldtimers League is the best league I have ever played in (including hockey and other sports), it is well-run, by good people and it creates an environment of fun and sportsmanship.

The League Mandate.

The mandate of The Tottenham Old-Timers Slo-Pitch League is to provide recreational baseball in a manner that promotes the ideals of sportsmanship and friendship while minimizing the potential for injury.

Congratulations to the Rusty Rebels who dominated the 2024 season with the League title, the Keg party and the T.O.T Championship. They are the first team to win both titles since the Tap Masters pre-covid.