HURTIN' UNITS TAKE ON THE WILD THING...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE WILD.

Game #21- August 28, 2011

Hurtin' Units tie 11-11

Team Record 9-12-2

Keogh Park- This game was supposed to be our final of the season, but last Wednesday there were major thunderstorms and warning of tornadoes and close to game time it was not looking good. It was decided (mostly by Mother Nature) that the game could and would not be played, the weather stations out there really don't know what's going on, one station says the storms will have moved out and others say the worst is yet to come...I know, I know they are only predictions, but still you would think they could agree most of the time...There were 6 players that showed up for the game, 3 Lucky Stiff players and 3 Hurtin' Units. I felt bad for Clayton, who drove all the way to Tottenham, in the storm, 35 minutes away,only to have the game not go. We talked about having a shuffle board match to decide the game, Clayton wanted to flip a coin (I chose not to go this route my coin flipping/calling skills are not what they used to be) and in the end it came down to a rescheduled game to be played on Tuesday September 6, 2011 at Coventry Park at 8:15pm.

The weather for the this game ( Wild game) was excellent, okay excellent may not really be the best way to describe the weather, but at least it wasn't raining and lightening...At game time the temperature was around 20 degrees (it actually felt a little cooler, but I guess playing in the darkest can do that) and the skies were almost clear... These were good temperatures for hitting the ball and with no humidity, I was expecting some homeruns, especially from our new found homerun hitter Mikey Boy. It's in the Boy's head now that he can put them out of the park, I think he can do it again...What say ye Mikey Boy can ya do it? Your first homerun will get you on the cover of Baseball World Magazine, the second will get you on the TSN highlights, 5 will move you up in the ratings and 10 will probably get you a nice, juicy contract to play another season with the Hurtin' Units. No pressure!

At game time we had only 10 players suited up, Richard and Paul were away, Richard I knew about being away, but Where's Paul?

This game would have been our last of the season if it hadn't been for the cancelling of last Wednesday's game against the Lucky Stiffs. It seems like only yesterday that we were preparing for the draft and now the end is near and so I face the final curtain...

Before the game last night, Mike handed out award selection ballots. One of the questions was about the team you most enjoyed playing against this season. I have to say the Dusty Cleats, for many other teams the Cleats are probably not their first choice. We played the Cleats in two 1 run games and both were great fun. The win against the Cleats was a real high for us, knowing that we were the only team to defeat them this season and to be within a run in both games, that to me is fun. I choose the Dusty Cleats for my Award.
I also really like the roster of the Cleats, with the likes of Rob M., Robin D., Pully, etc., it's guys like this that make the league the class act that it is... As for the my other award choices, well I'll have to keep those picks top secret for now.

I really enjoyed this game against the Wild and similar to our last game with them, this was a close match. In the first couple of innings, the Wild got off to a great start, scoring 6 runs and the Hurtin' Units started slowly with only a single run. In the top of the third inning the Units scored 4 runs and in the bottom ( with myself in to pitch an inning) we showed some solid defense behind me and shut the Wild down with a goose egg.

I also managed to strike out Ed Vonda (prompting someone from the Wild dugout to say that Captain bought strikeout beer tastes better than regular strikeout beer).  The score after 3 innings of play, 6-5 in favor of the Wild...

In the top of the forth inning the Hurtin' Units were quickly shut down and the Wild added to their lead with 2 more runs in the bottom of the inning. In the fifth inning the Hurtin' Units scored 2 runs and the defense closed the door on the Wild. The sixth inning saw the Units scored 3 more runs and again shut the door on the Wild. The score after six innings of play 10-8 for the Hurtin' Units. 


In the top of the seventh, the Units would add 1 more insurance run and good thing because in the bottom of he inning the Wild had scored one run, the bases were loaded and Ricky C (no.1 sub) was coming to bat. Rick had hit a homerun, into the tennis courts, earlier in the game and I approached Billy suggesting I wouldn't be unhappy to see him walk Ricky Bobby. Bill said he would pitch around Ricky, but when Bill threw the first pitch (inside and down), Ricky swung and hit the ball through the infield scoring 2 more runs and tying the game, all with 2 outs... The next Wild batter hit a single and advanced Ricky, the winning run, to second base. The next batter hit a ground ball to myself playing third, I touched third base for the final out... Final score 11-11 tie.

Boxscore         1   2   3   4   5   6   7   Total 

Hurtin' Units   0   1   4   0   2   3   1      11  

The Wild          3   3   0   2   0   0   3     11   

There were a couple of game highlights that I remember thinking they were important to our team in this game. Cal S. made the natural hat trick in catching 3 fly balls hit to RCF...Brad M. hit a sac fly that scored a very important run... There were numerous guys who batted well on the evening...I had two hard hit ground balls hit to me at third in the seventh, one for an out to Kevin at second and the second for the final out of the game at third base... 

We have one more game remaining, next Tuesday at Coventry Park at 8:15pm vs. the Lucky Stiffs.  

HURTIN' UNITS IN GOOD SPIRITS OVER BANSHEE WIN...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE BANSHEES.

Game #22 -August 22, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 14-12

Team Record 9-12-1

On Sunday the T.O.T league held it's annual golf tournament. Last year the weather was miserable and unfortunately things were not much better this year. There were times on Sunday when the skies opened up and heavy rains prevented us from seeing out the windshield of the golf carts. In the distance, all around us, we could hear the sound of thunder. In some ways we were spared more intense weather, in Woodbridge there was heavy hail and in Goderich a tornado touched down and cause some serious damage.

Despite the weather the golf tournament was still a good time. My team of Cameron C., Glen T., Mike O., and myself shot a -3, kinda, sorta the score of the professionals, so we've got that going for us. I believe the winning team win won with a score of -10, kinda, sorta the score of Tiger Woods before the sex scandals. The dinner and the prizes at the legion were both good, Chris Ross and his staff did a great job organizing and deserve a round of applause... Great job guys!!

There are times when I include little snippets of information just so that we can recall what was going on or around the day of our game. On Monday there was sadness in the air as the news of the passing of NDP leader Jack Layton, a good man and a good leader. We'll miss you Jack...

On Monday the dark, black clouds had moved out of the Tottenham area (I actually think they cleared out just after we finished playing golf on Sunday) and by game Monday evening there was plenty-o-sunshine to cause a distraction for the players in the positions facing west.

At game time we had 11 players in Hurtin' Units apparel, Mooner was the only missing player for the Units. We were the home team again in this game. After we had won this game, Mike said to me " we play better as the home team", I wasn't sure if that was true, but the beauty of documenting every game is that you can go back and quickly retrieve information like this... Our home record is 7-4-0 with one home game to go, our visitor record is 2-8-1 with one more game remaining...So I guess Mike was right, we do play better as the home team.

Game time- Keogh Park- In the first three innings, of this game, the Hurtin' Units were in complete control with a 10-1 lead, highlighted by a 7 run (8 actually) second inning. The Banshees never recorded an out in the second. The Units were finding holes, the diamond infield was brutal and balls were bouncin' all over da place making for some really tough plays...

Over the next 3 innings the Banshees scored 9 runs and the Units countered with only 4 more. The score at the end of six innings- Hurtin' Units 14- Banshees 10.

In the top of the seventh the Banshees managed to get a few balls by Cal R, who was little, miss, chatty Cathy during this game, they brought in 2 more runs to score. The Hurtin' Units defense was good in the seventh (good all game really) and eventually shut the door on the Banshee's rally. Hurtin' Units win 14-12.

Boxscore:        1    2     3    4    5    6     7      Total   

Hurtin' Units     3    7    0    0     3    6    X         14     

Banshees         0    1    0     5    2    2     2          12     

I really thought we could have scored a lot more runs in this game, our bats were really stinging the ball well, most guys ( Richard, Mike, Brad, Bill, Paul, etc.) were hitting hard and clean, Banshees just had some hot gloves...

Highlight of the Night:

"A homerun hitter doesn't know he's a homerun hitter, until he hits some homeruns"- Dr. Maxwell Maltz.

It was the first time I have ever seen it and I believe he said it was the first time he had ever done it in all the years in the league. In the bottom of the fifth inning, with two runners on bases, two strikes on this batter, Mike O. with his sweet John Olerud like swing, with seemingly little effort, hammered a towering blast into the tennis courts in right center field for a 3 run homerun...Wow! Look out Mooner, there's a new, young, up and coming, whipper snapper looking to challenge you for the Hurtin' Units homerun title...LOL.

Nice shot Mikey, you are officially a homerun hitter...And it couldn't have come at a better time. Gearing up for a PLAYOFF RUN!!

DUSTY CLEATS CAN BE BEAT...

HURTIN' UNITS vs. The DUSTY CLEATS...

Game # 21 - August 15, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 15-14

Team Record-8-12-1

In our last game with the Dusty Cleats, we had a chance to win and fell just a little short. I thought I would refresh your memory with a little bit of the game... The last time we played the Cleats was the evening the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup, the Leafs were in golfing mode, the Hurtin' Units team record was 5-4-0 and the Dusty Cleats team record was only 7-0-0. The Dusty Cleats record going in to this game was 19-0-0  

Keogh Park JUNE 15,2011-  It was the bottom of the seventh inning, the score tied at 19-19, the Units defense was ready to stop the Dusty Cleats from winning another and adding to the undefeated season. Scott B. was the lead-off batter, Units pitcher Bill J. threw a beautiful pitch and Scott B. made solid contact...

There are probably not a lot of guys who like the 9:30pm game, I know I'm not a fan and will do my best to avoid one if possible. This game was on our schedule and who knew it would fall on the eve of the 7th game of the NHL finals, which the Boston Bruins would win by a score of 4-0.

At game time we had 11 players ready to play, Cal R. was the only missing player, in fact he was subbing in the game before ours, but he doesn't like to play the 9:30pm games. We were the visitors on this night.

The Dusty Cleats are the only undefeated team in the league this season with a 7-0-0 record...


The weather was really great for this game. The warm temperature, less the humidity meant that there would probably be a few well hit balls on the evening...


The Hurtin' Units looked solid offensively in the first 3 innings, scoring 16 runs (including two 7 run innings), but the Dusty Cleats powerful offense also scored runs in the first 3 innings, in fact they scored runs in every inning in the game. The score at the end of 3 innings was Hurtin' Units 16, Dusty Cleats 7...


Mooner's new glove.

Well, there you have it, the Units were in control early in the game back on June 15, 2011, but with the tremendous fire power on the Cleats roster, the pendulum quickly swung in the other direction and when it was all said and done, the Dusty Cleats walked away with another victory...20-19, highlighted by walk off homerun by Scott B. in the bottom of the seventh.

One of the players, with tremendous batting power, on the Dusty Cleats roster, is Rob McCarron...I had the pleasure of playing with Rob in 2007 on the Lucky Stiffs. This was the year that the Lucky Stiffs won the Championship. After every game in the regular season, Rob would buy the team Sambuca shooters and in the playoffs we continued to indulge in the delicious, sweet nectar. The Stiffs in 2007 were a middle of the pack team, I think we were 7th in the standings and we just peaked at the right time, so it goes to show that any team has a chance to win it all, if they get on a roll. 

I mention Rob and the Sambuca shooters because since the HTKP Tournament we (the Hurtin' Units) have had this little tradition of having a Sambuca shooter before every game... It hasn't really helped us win many games (3 wins, 3 loses and a tie), but it seems to be a good bonding moment before each game...I would like to dedicate the next Sambuca Shooter to the Dusty Cleat's player Rob McCarron. Rob also played in the August Tournament and my friend Samantha D. captured a couple of great action shots of Rob...It is a must to zoom in on the Rob's expression...

Zoom in on this one...



Tourney entry fee- $20.00

Beer at the bar - $3.00

Water at the Pavilion- $1.00

Rob's facial expressions-  Priceless!!

When I look back to the 2010 Hurtin' Units season, I am impressed with what we accomplished. I didn't think about it at the time (probably caught up in the moment), but with the season the Dusty Cleats are having it makes me realize the 2010 Hurtin' Units were really a solid squad. Last season the Hurtin' Units won the league with a record of 19-5-2 with 40 points. This season the Dusty Cleats have won 19 games in a row and will definitely win the league title (no other team can catch them anymore). 

This years edition of the Dusty Cleats is certainly walking away with the league, but if anybody recalls, the Dusty Cleats were beaten twice in the HTKP tournament...The Cleats were probably missing a few players in the tournament and I remember subbing for them on the Sunday morning, but for the most part, the core of their team was there.
 

In 2010 the Hurtin’ Units had our first loss early in the season, it was game # 2 against the Torn Ligaments, but then we went on a nice little streak ourselves...After the loss in game # 2 the Units went on a 14 game unbeaten streak, there was a tie in the streak, but the rest were wins. This was a nice little streak and racked up a lot of the points in our season, but it doesn't really compare to the incredible run that the Dusty Cleats have had this season. The streak of 19-0 started way back in May and has gone on until the middle of August.

Let’s face it, the incredible run the Cleats have had has been the talk of the league for some time now. Will they go undefeated all season? Has there ever been a perfect season?

I’m not sure if there has ever been a perfect season in the history of league, but I would really be surprised if there ever was. This league is structured to create parity amongst the teams, in the past seasons most teams were probably evenly matched. I think this year is just an anomaly because of the abundance of new players  that registered to play.

I think the talk of a purrrfect season has players, in our league, divided; on the one hand I’m sure there are players hoping that someone beats the Cleats and prove that they are beatable going into the playoffs and on the other hand there are players who want to see the purrrfect season…I personally would like to see the Cleats lose a game or two. A totally dominate team is not good for a league that is supposed to built on parity. Although, last season the Dusty Cleats had the worst record in the league with a record of 3-23-0 with 6 points. Where was the parity there? Wow, what a turn around, maybe the Leafs can do the same thing... What's that look for? It could happen.

This game was the 20th game for the Dusty Cleats this season, so I decided, just for the fun of it, to go back to the 20th game of the 2010 Hurtin’ Units and see how the two teams records compare…

Game # 20 - 2010 Hurtin’ Units- 15-3-2 with 32 points

Game # 20 - 2011 Dusty Cleats- 19-1-0 with 38 points

It leaves ya scratching your head, just how amazing the Dusty Cleats have been.

The Hurtin’ Units last two games were decided by a single run in each game. It seemed to me we have had numerous single run decisions, so I decided to check how many one run games the 2011 Hurtin’ Units have had this season…We have played 6 single run decision games this season, 2 games against the Dusty Cleats, 2 games against the Rusty Rebels, 1 game against the Banshees and 1 game against the Torn Ligaments.




Game # 4 - Banshees - 16-15 loss


Game # 5 - Torn Ligaments - 11-10 win


Game # 7 - Rusty Rebels - 14-13 win


Game # 9 - Dusty Cleats - 20-19 loss


Game # 20 - Rusty Rebels - 13-12 loss


Game # 21 - Dusty Cleats - 15-14 win


We have a .500 winning percentage in single run decisions.

For most of our games I bring a camera and take a picture of the game sheet, it really helps me to see what happened throughout the game. On Monday evening I forgot my camera. D’oh!! If there was ever a game that I would have liked a copy of the game sheet it was this game. So I’ll wing it based on the boxscore.

On Sunday night, we in the Tottenham area, saw some awesome thunderstorms and on Monday afternoon the skies were still filled with dark storm clouds. The forecast was calling for possible thunderstorms and isolated rain showers for Monday evening. By 7:00pm, on game night, there were still clouds hanging around, but it was mostly sunshine shining in to the eyes of anyone facing the western sky.

At game time we had all of our 12 players back in the lineup. Amazing!! Game #21 and using only 1 sub all season. We were the home team in this game.

In the first inning the Dusty Cleats got things going early, scoring 2 runs. In the bottom of the inning the Hurtin’ Units scored a single run to keep the score close. In the top of the second inning the Units shut down the Cleats. In the bottom of the second inning the Hurtin’ Unit bats broke out and 7 runs came around to score.

In the top of the third inning I was penciled in to pitch the inning, but Bill didn’t realize and went back out. Before this even happened, I was thinking about having him go back out anyway, we had just scored 7 runs and I would hate to blow that lead. I guess it really wouldn’t have mattered, the Units gave up 7 runs in the top of the third… In the bottom of the inning, the Units scored only a single run. The score after 3 innings, a 9-9 tie.

In the forth inning the Units shut down the Cleats offence again and then scored 4 more runs in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the fifth inning the Cleats scored 2 more runs and then shut out the Hurtin’ Units in the bottom (the only inning in this game, that the Units would not score). The sixth inning saw the Units defense come up big and stopped the Cleats from scoring again and then the Units offense would tack on 2 more runs in the bottom…At the end of six innings the score was Hurtin’ Units 15 - Dusty Cleats 11.

In the top of the seventh inning the Cleats sent their top offensive players to the plate, 3 runs would come around to score, but the Hurtin’ Units would hold on for the win, with Mikey making the last out on a fly ball. Hurtin’ Units win 15-14 and give the Dusty Cleats their first loss of the season…





Boxscore         1     2     3     4     5     6     7      Total  

Hurtin' Units     1    7     1      4     0     2     X        15   

Dusty Cleats     2    0     7      0     2     0     3        14    

This was a great win for the Hurtin’ Units. A win where absolutely everyone on the Units team made contributions to pull off the biggest upset of the season. Great game guys, let’s keep it going…

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...