BREWJAYS DOWNED BY HURTIN' UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. BREW JAYS.

Game# 3-May 27, 2010

Hurtin' Units win- 10-7

Team Record- 2-1-0

Keogh Park- Well, we are finally back at Keogh park and it was a great night for baseball. The temperature had dropped to a comfortable level and our first night at Keogh saw the Hurtin' Units facing the undefeated Brew Jays. The Hurtin' Units had been off since last Tuesday when they were defeated by the Torn Ligaments.

The Units were again were down a few players this week, Don and Chris R. had informed me that they would away, Tom had to leave early for a prior commitment and so I decided we needed a substitute for our game... Our thanks go out to Simon Smith for coming and helping us...

Adversity was starting to stir around game time, the sun was in the faces of the first and second basemen as well as the right fielders, we were still down one player and that player was our ace on the staff..... Jerry Wallace. It had most of us asking the question “ Where's Jerry?”

They say there are two seasons in Canada, winter and construction... I would say with the temperatures over the last week, winter is over and we are into our other season... Our ace (Jerry) had been out of town for the day and thought he had plenty of time to get back for our game, but as Murphy's Law would have it, Jerry faced his own adversity on the roads...

There is construction going on everywhere. Our tax dollars are hard at work beefing up the infastructure of the province and keeping residents of Ontario employed...I am quite aware of the amount of construction going on, at least in the City of Mississauga. Jerry had been trapped in construction and traffic on game night and was unable to make our game...

With no sign of Jerry at game time, we were forced to use the backup plan. “ Backup plan? What backup plan?” I guess it wasn't that difficult to come up with a backup plan, shuffle the players around and let's play some ball... We were still short a player at game time and the Brew Jays supplied us with a catcher. I was prepared (not really prepared, but more than willing to start pitching) when Tom stepped up and let me know he had pitched in the past (8 years ago), I thought “ sure let him start, if he doesn't do well, I'll come in”. Tom started his practise pitches, not one in the first five pitches hitting the board...

The Brew Jays put players on base in the first inning, but Tom started to find his range and the Hurtin' Units defense got us out of the first inning unscathed. During the inning, one more Hurtin' Unit player showed up “ Is it Jerry?”, no it wasn't Jerry, it was Nyezee ( Chris N.), we had a full team. In the bottom of the 1st inning the Units got the batting going early, we scored 6 runs and stranded the 7th on third...

Tom (P3) pitched four innings, finding the board more and more often, the defense behind him tracked down balls, made some great catches, snagged some tough ground balls and made the undefeated Brew Jays (2-0) look average at bat. All said and done, we gave up only 5 runs to the Jays in the first 4 innings, I'd say that's pretty good in any league... Tom had to leave early for a prior commitment, he runs hockey at Nottawasaga and I was aware, before the game, he was going to depart, I could tell he felt badly about going, but we all understood.

When Tom departed we were leading the game by a score of 8-5. I started the top of the fifth inning pitching and after several pitches I started to feel comfortable. This is not the way I like to start pitching in the season, I like knowing in advance so I can stew about it all day long and make myself really, really nervous...Perhaps this is the way to make the season debut, get thrown in to the fire and not have time to think about it...The defense behind me continued to play well. Mike made a line drive catch which was headed for his nads,  giving new meaning to “heads up”, Paul continues to shine at third, our outfield is the (in my opinion) strongest in the league and our infield is keeping us in the games, Robin, Al and myself all made contributions. We only allowed the Jays to score two more runs in the game and we countered with two more of our own... We won our second game of the year by a score of 10-7. A job well done...

I really liked this win, it was a great team building game. I'm looking forward to having a Chris, Don and Jerry back in the lineup, giving us some more hitting power.

After the game, several of the Units went back to the Legion to celebrate the win. I joined in for a quick mug o' beer, but had to leave early, for I too play hockey on Thursday nights. I saw Tom at the Nottawasga arena and informed him of our victory, needless to say, Tom was elated with the news... And as we stood by the boards talking, we asked the question... Who's Jerry??? LOL.

Great game guys... UNITS UNSCATHED!!!

Hurtin' Units a little weak on the Torn Ligaments...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. TORN LIGAMENTS.

Game # 2 - May 18, 2010

Hurtin' Units lose 7-5

Team Record 1-1-0

Coventry Park- It turned out to be a good night for baseball after all, considering the weather forecast had been threatening us with the chance of showers for the last several days. There was a cool breeze blowing as I stood out by diamond # 3 watching the Grizzlies and Brew Jays play the early game. I decided I needed my jacket, so I walked all the way back to the parking lot, not the closest parking lot, but the parking lot out by the sewage pond ( the gate was locked and everyone had to park in the far parking lot, some people even had to park down the entrance road).

I retrieved my jacket, drank a frosty, cold Red Bull and began my return journey back to diamond # 3. Well at least this trip wasn't as bad as the first trip to the diamond; The first trip I had my baseball bag (a monster of a baseball bag, filled with Captaining junk, you know... hammer, baseballs, kleats, clipboards, first aid stuff, keys, etc.,), the team bat bag, team shirts (I know what you're thinking, it's shirts...it's still bulky stuff), a new ball (we were the home team) and a 5 gallon bottle of water (okay, I'm lying about the water), but I did feel like a pack mule heading down into the Grand Canyon. After the game things were a little easier, I had distributed the shirts and Robin carried the bats, I was left with my monster baseball bag and I can handle that...Okay, that's my little story about nothing, now on to the game... 


Well it's been 2 weeks since the last time we played and it felt good to be back on the field again. I'm sure a few of us are feeling a little stiff and sore after the game, two weeks is too long between games for athletes of our vintage. The good news is we will be playing once or twice weekly from now on...


At game time we found ourselves with a depleted lineup. Three of our dominate hitters were unavailable for the game . Mikey O., Chris R., Chris N. were not in the lineup and we had to bring in a veteran substitute by the name of Gary Cox (Coxy).


The game started off with the Ligaments scoring 2 runs in the first inning. Our half was promising, we had the bases loaded with only one out, but we could only manage to bring a single run home. The Hurtin' Units took a brief lead in the middle innings, but could not hold off the potent offensive power of Ligaments with batters like Rob Hayward, Paul Piellusch and Bob Smith leading the charge.


Both teams had very good defensive games. Bob Smith was like a vacuum for baseballs at shortstop. Certainly didn't help our OBAs.


The Units defense actually kept the score from being more lopsided than it was. Jerry had his mojo going, striking out multiple batters and making the Ligament players chant the beer, beer, beer, beer song...Paul G. had some smooth plays at third base, throwing out runners at first , as well as a line drive catch into his out stretched glove over his head. Jerry slowed down a line drive, which was sure to be a base hit, and deflected in to the glove of Tom at second for a force play and an inning ending out... Don and Jens both made spectacular catches in the outfield. Coxy didn't contribute much in RCF, (only a single grounder that managed to get by me at second), but he did have some key hits driving in several of the Units runs...


In summarizing the Hurtin' Units second game, I have to admit I like the defense and the baseball sense will have displayed in the first two games. We have not had any situations where we have thrown the ball away or around the infield or over the fence. We have, as a team, made smart plays and kept our composure even when under pressure....Our bats were a little rusty in game two, but a two week layoff is probably to partially to blame, we have some solid hitters on this team and once we get into a rhythm the hits and runs are going to come...Our next game is Thursday May 27, 2010 at 7:00pm... UNITS UNIFIED!!

HOLY BAT DAY, Batman...

Banananananananananana

BAT DAY... BAT DAY... BAT DAY...


Saturday May 8, 2010 - Today was bat day. WAM!! Bat day is the day the captains meet at a predetermined location, usually the house of the equipment executive member and exchange worn or damaged bats, even good bats for that matter, and receive new ones and/or in some cases, weed through the returned bats for something better than what they have.


This season each team received two new bats and in the exchange I traded in that awful YELLOW bat and that heavy blue bat...POW!! Just kiddin' about the yellow bat, I know how guys like it and it still remains in our bat bag. I had actually pulled the two bats that I was exchanging before our game on Tuesday May 8, so if there was a bat you liked on Tuesday, it's still there in the bag.


 BAM!! In exchange for the crap, scraps of aluminium returned, we received two Worth bats, one already exists in our bag and a new short barrel bat, one is 27.5 ounces and the other is 28. I have regripped two of our bats and I have an extra grip so I might regrip one more or double grip one for guys who prefer a thicker grip... WOW!! I also, and you might have noticed this already, put a strand of red tape around the top of the grip on the bats, this is only there to identify our bats.


BAM!!! In addition to the new bats, I also picked up the balls for the season (each home team supplies a new ball), 2 new bat grips, key for Coventry washrooms (better late than never, eh Donny?  ZING!!!) and I also picked up the team shirts. If anyone wants their shirt in advance of the next game, give me a call and we'll set something up...


We are also now taking orders for the pullover (Easton Enforcer Jacket), the cost is $35.00 including taxes, add $5.00 for optional name and $5.00 for optional number. I have the order form if anyone is interested one of these jackets.


Until next time... Jimmer.

Hurtin' Units take bite out of the Red Dogs...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. RED DOGS

Game #1 – May 4, 2010

 
Hurtin Units win 14-10

Team record 1-0-0

Coventry Park- On a comfortably warm, slightly breezy evening for the forth of May, the Tottenham Oldtimers could not have asked for a more perfect night to begin the 25th anniversary season. A season with one more team than the previous season and two new sets of captains and team names.

Over the off season the Recycled decided to call it quits which opened the door for the new captains. The four new captains this season are Rod Duggan, Bo Niederhuber, Mike Olliffe and myself (James Taylor). The new team names are The Brew Jays and The Hurtin' Units. Bo and Rod will captain the Brew Jays and Mike and myself the Hurtin' Units. I had the pleasure of playing along side Rod last season with the Banshees, He and Bo will make great captains.


The Brew Jays and the Hurtin' Units both played on opening night and both were victorious. The Hurtin' Units played the Red Dogs and won by a score of 14-10.


Our game was not a stand out by any means, but it did have certain hang around the beer cooler topics to discuss post game. What topics you ask? Well, there were the five strike outs by the Units, which leads to five frosty jugs of beer at the Legion and this made the eyes of Chris, Robin and Jerry light up like little kids in a candy store. There was the nature call by an umpire who found relief in the meadows of Coventry Park and of course, there was the game. Yes the game, the first ever game for the Hurtin' Units.


The Hurtin' Units played a solid defensive game with few errors which is good news for the first game of the year. Robin made a fantastic play near second base, picking up a well hit ground ball, crawling toward second, getting to his feet, stumbling again to his knees, crawling to the bag for the out, a solid effort indeed. There were some nice catches in the outfield and the infield didn't look to shabby either. I have a feeling I might be repeating this line several more times over the course of the season ( not the Robin crawling line, although given enough beer... no, I mean the team looked good line).


Our bats were a little inconsistent at times, but there were certainly glimpses of what we are capable of. After all, we did put 14 runs on the scoresheet despite striking out 5 times. Five strikeouts (I'm in for one, but mine was a foul out, not one of those stand there and watch the third strike hit the board outs, I only do that in the playoffs, when Tito is pitching). I wonder if five strikeouts is a record for a team, I can't recall a game where a team had as many, but really, who would keep such a stat? Heavy beer drinkers, that's who!! Chris R., Robin, Woody... What's the record for jugs by one team in a game???


What else happened in the game? There were a few base running mishaps (nothing a bottle of Ginkgo Biloba won't fix), there were some great catches in the field and we did hold our opponents to only 10 runs. Some guys struggled at the plate (I'm guilty as charged), but I would chalk up the batting woes to first game rust and maybe even opening night jitters. I've already seen everyone bat earlier this season , this is not going to be a problem for us!


Now that the first game is behind us, we take a little one week breather and then the season is going full bore. We will soon be back at Keogh, the rust will be off the cleats and bats (I know the cleats are plastic and the bats are aluminum, there is no rust, it's just a figure of speech), we will be more comfortable at the plate and I think we will be competitive with any team in the league...


By the next game, which is scheduled for Tuesday May 18, 2010 vs. The Torn Ligaments, we should have our team shirts, two new bats in the bag, a restocked beverage cooler and we'll head into our second game with a 1-0-0 record. Until next game.... UNITS UNFINISHED!!