COUNTDOWN TO BASEBALL...

 

Friday April 29, 2011.

Well we're only 5 days away from the start of the T.O.T  2011 season and I'm hoping that the weather takes a sudden turn for the better. This week has been brutal for rain, rain and more rain. The wind gusts on Thursday afternoon had election signs changing locations all over the neighorhood, I think I'm voting NDP now, at least that's what the sign on my front lawn says!

With all the rain recently, the start of the season could actually be pushed back a week. This is a township call, they don't want us on the fields if there is any pooling on the infield or if the outfield is spongy.

On Wednesday evening ( this week) the league captains had our monthly Captain's meeting. We discussed the usual stuff ( budget, upcoming events, player registration, tournaments, etc.) and in addition to these discussions we were also allocated our new equipment for the upcoming season (bats, balls, grips, etc.). Last season each team received 2 new bats, but this season the league was only providing new bats to the teams that really needed them. There were several new bats and an assortment of used bats, from previous seasons gone by, but Mike and I chose not to take any of the new bats, and even though I picked through the used bats I could find anything that was any better than what we already have. The set of bats we have are well maintained and should still have "plenty O hits" left in them. We even have one of the coveted yellow bats, that a lot of players really would love to get their hands on (no pun intended). We have one or two bats that could use regripping, but I think we'll probably regrip them after the practise on Sunday. 

Our shirts were not ready as of Wednesday's Captain's meeting and we might not have them for the start of the season, we did however receive our hats, which Mike and I didn't know that everyone was getting, I thought that if you wanted a hat it was a special order, much to my surprise we are all getting a baseball hat and those players that did order an extra they'll get what they ordered. Bonus on the hats!!

Recently, Mike and I sat down and discussed our batting order... We think we have it all worked out, but only time will tell. Last season we had a set order and stuck with it the whole season. One thing we like to do is- when the order is determined we keep the same order, but have the "player on deck" at the end of the previous game, lead off the next game. We find this is a fair way to get guys their at bats, theoretically everyone should end up with the same number of at bats by the end of the season, assuming everyone plays the same number of games. In the playoffs, we will probably change the order to give us the best chance of winning...


Sunday May 1, 2011 
Practise Day:

The weather seems to still be an issue this spring. There was a threat of rain around our scheduled practise time and there actually was a brief shower around 12:00 that had me thinking the turn-out might not be very good. Much to my surprise the turn-out was great. Nine Hurtin' Unit players and four friends turned up to battle a strong wind, damp field conditions, unseasonalbly colder temperatures and intermittent light rain showers. Missing from the 2011 Hurtin' Units were Cal R., Chris R. and Paul E...

Most of us started by throwing the ball around to loosen up the old arms. I had played on Saturday, in an exhibition friendly game, with the Beer Brothers and my first 5 plus throws on Sunday were a little uncomfortable to say the least. I'm sure most of the guys were feeling a little stiff and sore on Monday. After our warm up tosses, we started some batting practise. Bill J. started pitching to the guys. Each of us hit a bucket of balls ( 25 to 30 balls per bucket). In my opinion it was too many swings in a row, fatigue and tiredness start to show by the bottom of the bucket. We each took a turn at batting while the others shagged the hits. Some of us (Chris Larkin) were very active, chasing down ground balls and making game situation plays, great to see, fun to watch...

Bob Mc and myself took turns pitching after Bill J. had to leave for a family function. The wind created a challenge for both batter and pitcher moving the ball all around the plate. After everyone had been through once, we started a second round of batting, with less at bats. We had only gotten to the forth batter when the rain started to fall, everyone collectively started walking off the field toward the dugout, we packed up our gear and we called it a day. After 2 hours of shagging, running and batting most of us looked a little tired, add in a cool wind, damp air, wet feet and the C.R.I.C. dance the night before, I think it was enough for one day, maybe if the weather was nicer we may have continued a bit longer, but not today...

We packed up our gear, the bats, balls, etc. and walked over to the pavillion where Mike had a supply of brown bottles filled with liquid refreshment. We sat back and relaxed talking some baseball.

I have to admit, I was impressed with the hitting of the 9 Hurtin' Unit players. Everyone was hitting the ball hard and placed in the proper order this could be a squad that has very few weak spots in the batting lineup.

As we sat under the shelter of the pavillion, our teammate Kevin Moon provided us with an interesting little statistic regarding his league play over the last 4 seasons. Kevin has been to the playoff finals each of the last 4 seasons and has won the championship every second year. He lost, last season, playing with the Dodge City Rounders, which means he is due for a championship again this season. After what I saw on Sunday, at the practise, I think we have the team to make a run at it( I actually thought the same last season), but only time will tell... I'm looking forward to getting on the field Tuesday night...


Monday May 2, 2011  

The countdown to baseball will have to continue for another week! I was extremely disappointed when I received the e-mail informing us that the Tuesday May 3, 2011 night games had been cancelled. I had been very optimistic, early in the day, that the games were going to be a go for Tuesday. The diamonds, at Coventry Park, were definitely playable on Sunday and on Monday I stopped by the park for a little batting practise and the fields were drying up nicely.

I have to tell you guys, I really don't like cancelling games for a number of reasons: 1. I don't like late games, I wake up at 3:20am and the late games make for a cranky and crappy day! 2. A lot of other players don't like late games either, which means they can't or don't want to play the late games, subs don't like late games , the bottom line is...make up games are usually late games and nobody ( except maybe vampires) likes playing the late games. I believe the Hurtin' Units have 2 scheduled late games this season. 3. Make-up games are difficult to co-ordinate with the other team, umpires and of course the players. Last season we cancelled a game scheduled for July 1st and it didn't get played until August 31st.

We have already been offered a make-up date for the May 3, 2011 cancelled game, the rescheduled game is for May 11 at 9:30pm, next Thursday evening, but I think it is best to decline . We have players, on the Units, that we haven't even met yet  and I really think we need an opportunity( as a team) to discuss whether or not our players can even make this game. The only way we could discuss this would be at our game next Tuesday ( which is really short notice) or via a conference call, which I can't see happening. My preference would be to play later in the season ( June or July), when the temperature is warmer and the weather is a little more stable or... tack the games missed on May 3 onto the schedule at the end of the season at our regular playing times... Either way, I don't think we are ready to play a make-up game just as the season has begun. I will request that this game be made up at a later date or added to the back end of the schedule...

Speaking of schedules, there are a couple of things in the 2011 that are worth mentioning... The Hurtin' Units have two 9:30 pm games scheduled and we also have a double header one evening in June... I have some printed copies of the schedule, I will bring them next week if anyone wants one...

I look forward to our first game, I think we have a great group of guys and I think this is going to be a fun season... I'll see ya next week...

Cheers, Jimmer.