END OF SEASON, PLAYOFF BLOG...

And so it ends!! The 25th anniversary season has come and gone, and all that remains are the memories, a bunch of sore, achy muscles and the banquet. It was a great season, a season that was a success. A season that saw Keogh Park get a much needed face lift, a season where former players got a chance to relive the glory days during the HTKP tournament alumni game, a season where the Tottenham Oldtimers all stars lost to the Youngtimers all stars (where is that chicken suit, Chris?), and a season where the defending champions, for the first time in 25 seasons, repeated to win the T.O.T championship...

I like to believe it was a success for the Hurtin' Units also...A first place finish and a fun season with a great group of guys. 

Mike and I would like to thank all the players of the Hurtin' Units for a great season. You guys all made our jobs as captains a great experience... The end results were not quite what we were hoping for, but still a great year and a season we will remember for years to come... I have finished off a brief summary of the playoffs games. I hope you enjoyed the blog over the season...Can't really do too much more without any games being played...See you guys at the banquet and hopefully the AGM... JIMMER.

Hurtin' Units vs. The Rusty Rebels...

Tuesday September 21, 2010.

Game # 1 of the 2010 Playoffs.

Units lose 27-12

The last official day of the summer was fantastic for baseball, the temperature during the day was 26 degrees and there was some humidity that kept the warm temperatures in to the night. The issue of the lighting not working got me into an irritated state before the game even started, but fortunately the lights finally came on at Coventry #2. 

At game time we had our whole team (12 guys).

The final score of 27-12 was the highest number of runs we allowed all season. We are not completely to blame for this loss. The Rebels hit the ball really well and at times made us look really inept. The Rebel defense was also good, I remember being on base three different times and never coming around to score and I'm sure there are others on our team that can say the same thing.


I'm not sure if we had done something different they the results would have been different. The Rebels had a awesome night, with the stars all aligned and the full moon beaming down on them, and the Hurtin' Units had the exact opposite...The Rebels bats were hot in this game. The big guns were just that “ the Big Guns” and the lower rated players were major contributors. Peter S. went 5 for 5 on the evening ( at least that is what I'm told) and I do remember him running by me on several occasions.


Maybe, just maybe we were not as bad as the score would indicate; we did get 12 runs, had runners on and scored in almost every inning and made some nice defensive plays. Mark C. of the Rebels did his part at making us look bad, two towering homeruns to the left field, one hitting the top of the fence before going over. Whatever we did wrong and they did right, the end result was not pretty and this is really the bottom line. 27-12 is uncharacteristic of the Hurtin' Units, both defensively and offensively. Wednesday is another game, a chance to redeem ourselves and get back in the race... UNITS UNSTABLE...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Dodge City Rounders...

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Game #2 of the 2010 playoffs.

Units lose 22-11

An uncharacteristic stat to observe, and if you were new to this site and saw a 49 runs against and 23 runs for, you would think that the Hurtin' Units were not a good team with very little chance of going anywhere in the league. Over the course of the regular season the Hurtin' Units gave up on average 9.11 runs per game. In our first two playoff games our runs against average is almost 25 runs per game....OUCH!! So what's happening? I don't know, we all know we are capable of beating anyone and during the season we had an unbeaten streak of 14 games and a winning streak of 11 games.


So what has happened over the last two playoff games? Was it the fact it was a full moon this week or was this game the result of a Kevin Moon... Mooner had a great game against us, he had numerous ground balls hit to him at second base and his bat was hammering balls around diamond # 3 at Coventry Park.

I'm hoping that Tuesday's game and this game are the explained events caused by a full moon and that universe rights itself by the weekend. This was our 3rd loss in a row, if you include our last regular season game against the Wild...We only lost 5 games all season...Is there a chance we could go 0-4 in the playoffs, Yikes! I hope not... time for change... We would probably go down as the biggest choke team in T.O.T. League history, remembered for years and years to come...I certainly don't want this as our legacy. Perhaps I should chat with some other captains, for some advice on strategies and perhaps I can pry out a few helpful tidbits of information.


This game was almost as bad as Tuesday night's game except for 5 fewer runs. At game time we had 11 batters, Chris N. was the only missing player...


We can't blame the weather, it was still comfortably warm at game time and the sky was clearing as the full moon shone bright. For the first time since last May, I changed the batting order, hoping it would get us going again...Not so much! We did have some chances to score and we did score eleven runs, but something seems to be missing... Confidence?? That first game against the Rebels really deflated us and we really need a shot in the arm...The defense is not clicking like it did most of the season, we seem to be fighting the ball, a tick off a glove, an easy catch off the palm of the glove, balls lost in the night sky and the opposition batters who were once routine outs are dropping in single and doubles that make the top rated players envious.

Are we nervous? Are we so worried that we will make mistakes, that we are making mistakes? Are we gripping the bats so hard and swinging at bad pitches that most of our hits are to an opponent ready to make an easy play? I'm not sure where are team is right now, I'm still blaming it on the full moon, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!! I really think it's time for a change, what worked for us in the regular season seems to be ineffective in the playoffs, it's time to adapt to the situation... On Thursday evening Mike and I discussed what changes we thought would help us get back where we once belonged, get back, get back, get back to where we once belonged.


Looking at our roster, we decided to go with our best bats at the front end and take our chances at the bottom of the order, we also decided to position everyone and have Tom and Nyzee rotate through the infield and outfield. This is the plan Stan!!


We have these two remaining games to this thing turned around, if these changes don't work and we don't get on the winning side, we will be watching on Sunday... UNITS UNDER the gun!!

Hurtin'Units vs. The Dislocated Joints...

Saturday September 25, 2010

Game #3 of the Playoffs.

Units win 16-9

On Saturday morning, the clouds were still hanging around, in fact as we were walking up to the diamonds a light rain was blowing sideways, but the sun was also streaking through, a real mixed bag of weather to be sure...There was still a strong wind creating problems for the pitchers in this game, it must have been a nightmare for the pitchers and players on Friday with very strong winds blowing the balls around, dirt off the infield impairing vision and creating noise making communication difficult.  

At game time ( 10:15 am), on Saturday morning we had our full squad and we even had a small cheering section, there to support us in our moment of desperation... I looked in to the crowd and saw some familiar Hurtin' Unit supporters, I believe I saw Tina Dickson sitting there with her sister ( could have been her mother, but she looked to young for her mother), I saw Claire Wallace leading the cheers and I saw Paul's friend who's name escapes me at this time, all sitting nervously waiting for the Hurtin' Units to get the job done.

Being the home team can have an adverse affect if you get off to a rough start, which we did in this game also... The Dislocated Joints scored 5 runs in the top of the first inning and left the seventh on second base, but the bottom of the inning saw us score 2 and get some momentum going... I believe we shut them down in the second and scored again in the bottom of the inning... Our biggest break came with two out in one of the middle innings. Jimmy Mac got the whole thing started and we brought 5 runs around to score...Robin Dickson and Tom Perry (2nd) teamed up in the fifth to shut the door. Robin made a couple ( probably more than a couple) of great plays to shut the door on the Joints... Mikey Boy hit a clear the bases homerun in the game to score 3 runs... Rick Cudnik stoled the show for the Dislocated Joints with two incredible catches and two up the gap homeruns to the fence...

Going into the open inning (6th) the Hurtin' Units had a six run lead and the Joints made it close by scoring 4 runs. The Units won the game by 2 runs , but still played the bottom of the inning for the plus/ minus. In the bottom of the inning the Units scored 5 times to reach the max in the plus/minus of +7... The next game is against the Wild at 2:00 pm.


As I mentioned in the section on the last game against the Dodge City Rounders, we needed to change things up and so we did and the changes in the batting order and in the rotation of players positions, I think these changes helped in this victory, we'll probably keep the same setup until we are eliminated...Mike and I did what we thought was the best we could do to win and hopefully it pays off....UNITS UNFALLING!!

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild...  

Saturday September 25, 2010

Game # 4 of the Playoffs..

Units win 8-4

Well the overcast skies were still with us for this game... I even felt a few sprinkles when we were on the field. The temperature high for the day was supposed to be 16 degrees, I'd be surprised if we reach it...

Our support group ( the crowd) was at this game also and I think it even got bigger with Don's wife and some other supporters cheering us on. Claire was there, with my camera and hopefully she got some pictures I can use on this page of the blog.

The new batting lineup seems to be paying off, we managed to win this game by a 8-4 score...The defense also looked pretty good in the game, holding off the likes of Chuck Cragg, Steve Ross, Tony M. Etc...

Mikey Boy, Nyzee, Robin and Jerry were hitting the ball solidly for the Hurtin' Units today... Mikey in the third slot hit a triple, which was followed by Robin hitting another triple, I joked with both of them as I was coaching 3rd, “is a triple the best you can do”? Great hitting by these guys all day... The win gives us two wins and two losses, there are some teams with 1 win and 3 losses, our wins today gets us into at least the elimination round, there is a slight chance we could get a bye, but the stars and the universe with have to align in the right order to have this work out... I'm just happy to have a chance at getting into Sunday...

The elimination games today are at 5:45pm and 7:00pm, we won't know until the round robin games are finished where we will finish and our next game time and opponent. A bye would be really nice...UNITS UNDOUBTED!!

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild... Elimination Game.

Saturday September 25, 2010.

Game #5, Elimination Game...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild again...

Units lose 18-15


This game started by the Hurtin' Units getting down early. The Wild scored 5 runs in the first inning, more than they scored the whole previous game against us. The Units battled back in the bottom of the inning with a couple of runs, but were snuffed out by some good Wild defense.Well we made it in to the elimination round and seeded ourselves at 8 place. Unfortunately 8 place meant two things, first we would have to face the Wild again, a team that makes me very nervous and second is that we would not play until 7:00pm, which meant standing around for a couple of hours...To sit or stand around a couple of hours watching baseball would normally not bother me, but the temperature had started to drop and after playing two games earlier in the day I was starting to feel the effects of playing earlier. I really wasn't prepared for such cool temperatures, a Hurtin' Units Jersey and a thin windbreaker really don't cut the mustard...If the high of the day was 16 degrees, by the time we played our final elimination game the temperature must have been under 10 degrees, I remember seeing my breath after the game...

In the middle innings the Wild scored a 7 run inning that really deflated us and put our backs against the wall. Both teams scored runs back and forth, but the Units couldn't seem to make up up any ground. Going into the top of the seventh inning the score was 14-7 for the Wild, they came out and scored 2 more runs putting us in to a deeper hole. In the bottom of the inning the Units bats seemed to come to life, scoring 6 runs, but with the bases loaded , I found myself in a similar showdown situation as last season.

Last season with the Banshees, I was at bat in the seventh, our tying run was on second base and the go ahead run was on first base, 2 outs and Tito pitching to me. Tito hit the board three times , I stood and watched all three pitches with the bat on my shoulder, strike three hit the board dead centre and the Banshees playoff run and season was concluded. I am still reminded on occasion about this day, not by Tito, although he has mentioned it from time to time, but more from my Banshee teammates or anyone who happened to witness this unforgettable event.

I was not about to let Tito end the Hurtin' Units season in the same manner, I did however watch the first pitch hit the board dead centre. The next pitch, I swung and made solid contact, a line drive over Chuck's head toward left center field. Tony M of the Wild, who had been quite busy this game, came from his left to his right and made a nice catch to end the Hurtin' Units season.

The season had come to an end, but it wasn't for lack of trying, we never gave up, and battled until the final pitch of the game...Great job Units...

And so another season has gone by. It was a good season, not because the Hurtin' Units won the title or the Wild won the Championship, but all the positive things that happened over the course of the season...
 

The season seemed to get off to a bit of a slow start, mainly because of the Keogh Park renovations. I'm really glad that Chris Ross took the initiative to do the Keogh Park renovations in his last year as president. The renovations slowed the season, but in the big picture the new backstop and fencing, the levelling and re-sodding of the field and the relamping, cleaning and re-aiming of the lights will benefit the league and it's players for years to come... Hopefully, the lighting problems that caused us headaches near the end season, are resolved and next season goes smoothly for our new president... Our Saturday playoffs were a success, 2 wins and a very close game against the Wild, if we had played like we can during the week, we could have been playing on Sunday. The games earlier in the week were not a true reflection of the way the Units played most of the season. I think after the games against the Rebels and Dodge City we were on pins and needles until we finally got our first win on Saturday morning against the Joints...We regained our confidence and started looking like the real Units, the Units of earlier in the season...UNITS UNFORTUNATE!!

End of Season...

Well I can't believe the 25th anniversary season has come to an end already, 5 months gone by in the wink of an eye. The Wild has won back to back championships for the first time in the 25 years. This is really pretty cool considering that the teams are almost completely different with the exception of the captains...

I can still remember clearly preparing for the draft, the wish list of players I wanted to pick, some of which we chose and some I'm glad were substituted with players we ended up with. I think that Mike and I ended up with a great group of guys in this our first year as Captains. I can only hope that future teams are as easy to manage.

Not only did we end up with a great group of guys, but we also got guys that could play the game... Our season record reflects the type of play we had on the field. A 19-5-2 record with 40 points and a regular season title win was probably more than we could have ever expected.

Along with the regular season title I think we had a pretty good playoff run. We started slow, still blaming the full moon thing, but our Saturday turned out, in my opinion, to be a good day with 2 wins and almost coming back on the team that won the championship..

I think we ( the Hurtin' Units) were the toughest competition for the Wild once the elimination games had begun. After the Wild defeated the Hurtin' Units on Saturday evening, they went on to defeat the Lucky Stiffs, 18-4 on Sunday morning, the Hottub Woodies in the semi-finals 8-2, and then the Dodge City Rounders in the finals by a score of 13-3 . The Wild were on cruise control on Sunday...

The Wild were the 6th seed going in to the playoffs and on the first night they played the Hot Tub Woodies (11th seed) and came away with a 16-16 tie. Their second game was against the Dusty Cleats (14th seed) and they came away with a 14-11 win. The Wild then lost their next two games 15-10 to the Lucky Stiffs (4th seed) and 8-4 to the Hurtin' Units (1st seed) to end the round robin with 3 points and a -6 plus/minus.

The Wild were reseeded at the end of the round robin at a 9th seed and the Hurtin' Units were reseeded at an 8th seed which meant the two of us would meet in an elimination game at 7:00pm on Saturday. The rest is history...

I would like to thank, the president of our league, Chris Ross for all this hard work over the last 6 years. I have only been in the league for 5 years and Chris is the only president I have ever known in this league...I was very impressed this season, at the Captain's meetings, how Chris took and kept control of the meetings...He was truly a professional when dealing with the captains and co-captains and running the meetings.... At the draft, I was really glad when I picked Chris to play for the Hurtin' Units, he was one of the guys on my wish list. It was great having him playing on the Units, always willing to answer any questions I would bother him with...Sometimes he was a pain in the ass, but for the most part he let Mike and I run the team the way we wanted. I'm sure there are some people that are a little nervous about a new president coming in, but Chris is still going to be playing in the league and I'm sure he will do all he can to make the new president's transition an easy one...

There is one more person I want to say a few words about...Tom Perry came back to the league this season, after being away for eight years...The Hurtin' Units are very fortunate to have drafted Tom. I absolutely loved having Tom on the team, he was a steady, knowledgeable and calming influence on all the Hurtin' Units players and just an all round great guy to have in the dugout... In a recent conversation with Tom, he indicated that he probably will not be back for the 2011 season, he will be 65 years old next season and he would rather fill his exercise quotas with his first love... hockey, which he plays approximately 100 games per year... I wish Tom all the best in his future endeavours and I'm sure our paths will cross again in the future... Tom, thanks for being part of the Hurtin' Units this season...

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Hurtin' Units OBA On Base At Bat



Al Hayward              0.476%    40    84


Chris Ross              0.600%     45    75


Christopher Nyers   0.609%     28    46


Don Curran              0.712%     47    66


James Taylor           0.527%     58    110


Jens Lepa                0.689%      73   106


Jerry Wallace           0.596%      59    99


Jim MacDonald        0.673%       74   110


Mike Olliffe 0            0.637%       65   102


Paul Gyori                0.559%       52    93


Robin Dickson          0.784%       76    97


Tom Perry                 0.686%      48     70


Hurtin' Units Team Average     0.642%

2010 Final Standings.

Position Team     Games  Wins  Losses  Ties  Points  

1 Hurtin' Units        26        19        5          2       40     

2 Brew Jays           26        19        7          0        38     

3 Rusty Rebels       26        16        8          2       34   

4 Lucky Stiffs         26        16        9          1       33    

5 Banshees            26        14        11         1       29   

6 The Wild              26        13        11         2       28 

7 Torn Ligaments   26        12        10         4       28     

8 Dog Catchers      26        12        13         1       25  

9 Dislocated Joints 26        12       14         0       24      

10 Grisslies              26      11        14         1       23    

11 HotTub Woodies 26      10        14         2      22   

12 Dodge City           26       9         17         0      18  

13 Red Dogs              26       7        17  

14 Dusty Cleats         26       3        23      0          6          

THE WILD AND SOME CRAZY GUYS...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild...

Game #26 - September 14, 2010

Hurtin' Units lose 12-11

Team Record 19-5-2

Bottom of the seventh, with one out, runners at first and second. The home team Hurtin' Units down by two runs against the Wild. I was batting, Tito had a 1-2 count on me, I could hear someone chanting beer, beer, beer, beer, perhaps the chant was all in my head, memories of Tito striking me out in last year's playoffs ending the Banshees season. The next pitch was a ball, really too close to take, 2-2 count, next pitch was right down Broadway, I made solid contact and the ball bolted off the bat toward center field. The ball was headed up the alley, between the RCF and the LCF and the runners were off. The runner from second (Robin I think) scores and the runner from first ( Chris R.) rounds third chugging for home, the relay hits the cut-off man ( Chuck Cragg), Chuck pivots and throws a strike toward home plate, right on the money. With Chris running hard and the throw in the air, the play is going to be very close, the ball is caught as the runner is at the line, Roman makes his call, the runner is....This is the best I can do to Tarantino (video link) a baseball story

Coventry Park- We made it!! Yes we made it through the regular season. Our final game was a great way to finish a great season for the Hurtin' Units... The weather was good for baseball, although it's certainly starting to feel like fall, there definitely was a chill in the air this week and the dark fall like clouds have been hanging around for a couple of weeks now. On these cool, humid free evenings the ball really carries well.

At game time on Tuesday, we had 10 guys suited up for the game. Don was resting a minor, lower body injury and Chris N. was tending to one of his children who was under the weather. We were the home team in this game...

The Wild played us hard in this game, hit for hit and run for run, inning after inning. We probably would have won the game if it wasn't for Steve Ross. Time for your urine sample Stevie...LOL. Steve was the difference maker in this game. He showed some awesome hitting power, hammering a ball over the head of our right fielder Mike Olliffe for his first homerun of the evening. And just when we think we have him figured out and Mike is at the warning track and is prepared for him next at bat, Steve decides to hammer another homerun over the head of Chris Ross. Stevie the Wonderboy probably had at least 6 RBIs in this game. I have already made several entries in to my scouting reports this week, Steve R. from the Wild, and couple of the guys from the Lucky Stiffs.

It was great to see Al and Paul finally get a couple of hits after being robbed in the last game. Both these guys are making excellent contact with the ball, but had a tough game against the Lucky Stiffs on Monday with nothing to show for it...

We had our chances to break this game wide open on several occasions, in fact, in the first inning we had the bases loaded. Tito walked home our first run of the game. We left the bases loaded in another inning also and left runners on the bags throughout the game. Tito's pitching wasn't very good, he was throwing low and short , he was even reminded by Roman on several occasions to pitch the ball higher. We should have taken advantage of this weakness. If we had been more patient, we probably could have worked Tito for a few more walks or better pitches to hit. Everyone was hitting the ball well and isn't that what we want going into the playoffs.

I mentioned before in the game that each team traded runs, at the end of six innings the score was 10-9 for the Hurtin' Units, a close game to be sure. In the top of the seventh inning the Wild scored 3 runs to take a 12-10 lead.

Bottom of the seventh, with one out, runners at first and second. The home team Hurtin' Units down by two runs against the Wild. I was batting, Tito had a 1-2 count on me, I could hear someone chanting beer, beer, beer, beer, perhaps the chant was all in my head, memories of Tito striking me out in last year's playoffs ending the Banshees season. The next pitch was a ball, really too close to take, 2-2 count, next pitch was right down Broadway, I made solid contact and the ball bolted off the bat toward center field. The ball was headed up the alley, between the RCF and the LCF and the runners were off. The runner from second (Robin I think) scores and the runner from first ( Chris R.) rounds third chugging for home, the relay hits the cut-off man ( Chuck Cragg), Chuck pivots and throws a strike toward home plate, right on the money. With Chris running hard and the throw in the air, the play is going to be very close, the ball is caught as the runner is at the line, Roman makes his call, the runner is out!!

Chris R. had been thrown out at home by Chucky, a close play, but with Roman making the call, it was probably the right one. I had come around to third on my hit. Now with two outs, runner at third base, Hurtin' Units now down by only one run. Our next batter was Mikey Boy. Mikey tagged the first pitch toward right center field, the fielder hesitated and then had to run to his left and back and with an outstretched glove he managed to get his glove on the ball for a great catch... That's the ball game! Wild win 12-11. This was a nice game to end the season on; last year's league winners taking on this year's league winners in a good, well played, low scoring, tight defensive game...

Boxscore:
                         1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th    6th   7th     Total 


Hurtin' Units       4      0      0      1      4      1      1         11      


The Wild             2      1      4      0       1       1     3         12        


The Playoffs:


This guy looks like Cam Clark...
with a beard ...

By now everyone has probably started growing their playoff beards, I started mine on Wednesday morning and it got a little itchy, so I shaved it off, and then I started another on Thursday morning, it got itchy so I shaved it off again...I started another on Friday...

The final seedings have been posted on the T.O.T website and our opponents are the 3rd , 12th, 9th and 6th seeds in this order... The nice thing about finishing first is that we will be the home team through out  the round robin...

Chris Ross has suggested that we have our own score keeper (who ever is sitting at the time) in addition to the game keeper. I concur with Chris on this idea, mistakes are sometimes made and keeping another record won't hurt us. As you have probably noticed,  I like to be prepared... My definition of LUCK is "Preparedness meeting opportunity".

There is a line in the movie Hoosiers (video link) that goes like this- " there is a tradition in tournament play, you not talk about the next step until you've climbed the one in front of you". One game at a time guys...


I would also suggest before the playoffs begin, you  try to get out for some batting practice or if you have a bat at least, pick it up and take 10 to 15 swings a couple of times over the weekend just to work the muscles used for batting. By the time we start the playoffs we will have been off for a week...
Here's to a great playoffs... UNITS UNDERSTAND!!




STIFFS NOT SO LUCKY AGAINST UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. LUCKY STIFFS...

"Baseball is the only field of endeavour where a man can succeed 3 times out of 10 and be considered a good performer".- Ted Williams

Game# 25-September 13, 2010

Hurtin' Units win 26-18

Team Record-19-4-2

Tottenham- I have to tell you guys I was extremely disappointed to show up at the diamond on Wednesday evening and see the lights were not working again. I was really looking forward to the game. I got back into town early on Wednesday afternoon, I went to Coventry Park for batting practise, went home and prepared for our game and for my Thursday and then took a 3 hour nap. When I take a 3 hour nap, you know I'm serious about playing our game. Anyway, the game was canceled and fortunately it has been rescheduled for Monday September 13 at Coventry Park at 9:30pm...

I think I was more disappointed about the game being canceled because we had a full team, probably the first or second time since early in the season. There are 3 players on the Hurtin' Units that have a perfect attendance record- Jens L., Jimmy Mac., and myself.

Ted Williams or Chris Nyers?

I really felt bad for Chris Nyers on Wednesday night, the guy makes it out for the game and the lights are out and the game is canceled, plus other guys are giving him the gears about missing games... I'm inclined to cut Chris all kinds of slack when he misses games, for several reasons:

1.Chris has been, for the most part, good about letting us know when he can't make the games. Shift work, kids and other extracurricular activities can be tough to schedule around in your first year in the league.

2. I've done shift work, to some extent I still do, and there are numerous others in the league that face the same challenge, some even rated quite high in the league. There are some teams that miss their best players for half the season, could you imagine if Robin missed half our games, where would we be in the standings?

3.In 2004 I joined the T.O.T. League, I was drafted by Captain Frank McMann, our team name was “ FEAR FACTOR” ( I still have the shirt). I was working different shifts (my shifts would change every 4 to 8 weeks) and unfortunately I was missing a considerable number of games. It got to the point where I decided to quit the league. I didn't really want to (I really enjoy playing this game), but it was getting tougher and tougher to call Frank week after week saying that I couldn't make this week's game...I did quit mid-season and didn't sign up again in 2005. In 2006 my shifts were better and I rejoined the T.O.T league, my attendance has been stellar since...

In 2006 I was drafted by the Hot Tub Woodies and I had a fun season playing for captains Jeff Dancey and Ed Hopkins. It was also the first opportunity I ever had to play with my 2010 co-captain Mike Olliffe. I still have very fond moments playing for a lousy Woodies team, but a excellent, fun group of guys. Some nights at the Legion there would be tears rolling down our faces from laughing so hard, good memories of playing in this league...

I'm glad Chris N. has hung in for his first season (unlike myself in 2004), the first season is the most difficult and now that he has a better understanding of the ins and outs of the league, he will be better prepared for upcoming seasons. I'm sure before this season is all said and done, Chris will have made solid contributions to the Hurtin' Units...The picture to the right is of Ted Williams, the last batter to hit over .400 in the majors...sure looks a lot like Nyzee...

On Thursday afternoon (Sept. 8) Chris Ross sent out an e-mail regarding the Keogh Park lights. Apparently, a crapped out timer was the cause of the non-functional lights on Wednesday evening and when fixing the timer, the town workers also discovered another problem, a squirrel had entered an access panel on the lights, nested inside and chewed on wire which is believed to be the cause of the light problems over the season.

For ten years (1987-1997), I worked for the T.R.C.A. ( Toronto and Region Conservation Authority). I worked for the Kortright Centre for Conservation, located in Vaughan and the position I held was superintendent. For those of you not familiar with Kortright, it is an outdoor education center that is open to the public and also provides programming for 70,000 school children annually...

The Kortright Centre is on approximately 800 acres of land on the Humber river watershed. On the property there are 13 plus buildings plus a private residence. The main building is a 40,000 square foot, multi-level, post and beam structure with open teaching areas, administrative offices, gift shop, cafe, and theatre. School groups assemble in the main building before venturing out on the property for the nature programs...


The other buildings on the property are used for maintenance, educational programs, storage, demonstrations, etc. On the property there was also a barn, bee apiary, battery house, demonstration cottage, etc. My job was to oversee and maintain the grounds and structures on the property. Some of the buildings were seasonally serviced with water and hydro...

I mention the Kortright years only because I am very familiar with the problems that wildlife can cause. The squirrel chewing on the wire at Keogh Park are the kinds of problems I saw over and over in my 10 years. I can recall having issues with all kinds of wildlife, raccoons, squirrels, mice, birds, bees, beavers, snakes, bats, etc...I think the most annoying wildlife were the raccoons and mice... Raccoons would get into the garbage and we were always trying to find ways to stop them, they would also steal lunches of the school kids and do their business all over the outdoor shelters... Mice would find their way into the main building, they would chew holes in gift shop bags of bird seed and over run the building in the winter months...I saw mice that used conduit to travel through the building and then saw what happens when they try to nest in a breaker panel, can you say electrocution. Squirrels would nest in the exterior of the building and they would constantly be trying to get food from bird feeders, they were the most persistent animal I ever saw...

There were other things that were a little bit creepy. The buildings that were seasonally serviced with water, would have to have the water shut off for the winter...Throughout the property there were dry wells, approximately 6 to 7 feet deep, 3 to 4 feet in diameter, with shut off valves at the bottom, to shut off water to certain buildings... Every fall we had to shut these valves off...We would remove the concrete lid and the well would be filled with snakes... It was like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Arc, the snakes would be crawling over the water line and shut off valve, some would hide in some nooks and crannies, some would coil up with their little tongue flapping. We would slide a ladder down into the well, climb down and turn the valve off... We eventually made a device to turn the valve off without going in to the well. Bats were also a little creepy, especially when you find them by accident, which I had the misfortune of doing... I also added an addition to the bee apiary, I was stung multiple times per day... Do I know about wildlife causing problems, I've seen a few things...

Game Day.

Our 25th game of the regular season is against the Lucky Stiffs. Every time I play against the Stiffs I have a flush of memories of when I played with them back in 2008. Sure the team is almost completely changed with the exception of captains John and Clayton, but the shirt colour remains the same and that's what brings back the memories for me. Our teammate Jerry Wallace also played for the 2008 edition of the Stiffs. In 2008, the Lucky Stiffs finished the regular season in the middle of the pack ( 7th place I think), but managed to get on a roll in the playoffs and rode that wave all the way to the T.O.T. championship. The team had some really good chemistry with players like Jake Anderson, Neil Pendlebury, Murray Saunders, Clayton Campbell, etc... But for me the guy who was the straw that stirred the drink was Rob McCarron. Rob is solid as a player, most of us would agree, but it was what Rob brought off the field that created the chemistry.  

After every game, back at the Legion, Rob would buy a round of Lava Lamp shooters ( tequila rose and  black sambuca) and we would drink in unison and this became the Lucky Stiffs trademark for the season. In the playoffs this ritual continued, we picked up bottles of tequila rose and sambuca at the L.C.B.O. and plastic shot glasses at the dollar store. After every game of the playoffs, we would pour out a shot for the entire team and toast our team. We toasted all the way to the T.O.T Championship... 


Post Game September 14, 2010.

Coventry Park- The night was cool, with next to nothing for clouds, a quarter moon shone in the western sky and there was absolutely no wind at all for this makeup game against the Lucky Stiffs.

At game time we has our full squad, 12 guys and it was great to clinch the league title with the team we will be fielding in the playoffs.

I was reading the T.O.T website yesterday and it was saying that the Hurtin' Units had unofficially won the league title, I believe that we now can call it official. I really wanted to win the season pennant on points and not have it decided by a head to head tie breaker. Congratulations to us, we played well all season, but now comes the real test, the practise games are over...

Boxscore:
                       1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th    Total 
Hurtin' Units    5       6      2       5      3       5      0        26   

Lucky Stiffs      3        1      3      1       2       5      3        18   

The game last night was a high scoring affair, probably the most runs we scored in a single game all season. The defense was not as sharp as most games, but we got the job done. Both teams were hitting the baseball hard and there were even a couple of homeruns...I forgot to write down or take a copy of or take a picture of the game sheet, so I can't really produce much in the way of a game summary or a boxscore. D'oh!! I'll stop by the Legion to see if it's still there, maybe write out the boxscore.... Stopped by, it was still there, I wrote out the score.

I can tell you a couple of things I do remember about the game... I think we should be calling the police (video link)... because both Al and Paul we robbed over and over all evening long... Or perhaps Dr. Evil has changed the positioning of the “tractor beam” toward Al and Paul, all I know is these guys were stinging the baseball hard all night and didn't have a hit to show for it. It's good to see the baseball gods have a sense of humour... One more thing I do remember was the game ending double play by Robin. We were against the ropes in the bottom of the 7th and this play got us out of a tight jamb. I'm sure there are other things I should remember, but for now I'll prepare for our final regular season game against the Wild this evening... UNITS UNTANGLE!!