Let the Playoffs Begin...

HURTIN' UNITS PLAYOFF RUN...

Sunday September 11, 2011 

The start of the Tottenham Oldtimers Playoffs are only a day away and there seems to be a real buzz in the air going in to these games... The Dusty Cleats have to be the favorites going in, but as we have seen many times before the favorites have a tendency to grip the bats to tight, try to hard, throw the ball around, etc...The pressure is squarely on their shoulders. Last season the Hurtin' Units won the league, we were one of several favorites going into the playoffs, but as I mentioned in the last posting of the blog, we were taken out behind the workshed and had our collective asses spanked. Our first two games in the playoffs last season were total disaster, we lost 27-12 to the Rusty Rebels and 22-11 to the Dodge City Rounders. We gave up 49 runs in two games...Yikes!! I don't think you could combine any 2 games in the regular season and come up with this total, almost an average of 25 runs per game and this was playoff baseball...I'll say it again...Yikes!!
 

I'm not saying this is going to happen to the Dusty Cleats, they may go unbeaten through the playoffs and win the championship without being challenged by any team. Only time will tell, but what I can say, based on experience, is that the pressure is on the Cleats to play as they did most of the season...I think that when the Hurtin' Units beat the Cleats on August 15 by a socre of 15-14 and handed the Cleats their first loss of the season, we put some doubt in their heads...In fact the Cleats had some tough games after that night, they won their next game against the Brew Jays by a score of 22-18, were handed their second loss by the Dogcatchers on August 22 by a score of 20-19 and won by a single run against the Red Dogs, 10-9 in their final game of the season... The pressure is clearly on the Dusty Cleats shoulders...
 

UNDERDOG

 Based on last year's experience, I think I would rather be in the position where we (the Hurtin' Units) are positioned, we are definitely the underdogs going into the playoffs and I feel that the pressure is off. This is not to say that I don't think we can win, I think we have an amazing group of guys, solid defense, great bats and our record is not indicative of how we have played recently...The only down side, to the position we finished in, is that we will play two home games and two visitor games. Our record has shown that we play better as a home team, but I won't mention a thing to anyone, hopefully nobody remembers this little stat during the round robin...
 

        This guy looks like Cam Clark.
  I can't recall seeing him  with
    his shirt off, maybe it is Cam...
     Boston Bruins did win the cup.

 
So with the beginning of the playoffs, I'm sure most players have started growing there playoff beards. I know the playoffs only last for a week and some guys will basically grow a little bit of stubble, but aren't you glad you don't have the hair issues of the guy in the picture...This guy make Austin Powers look like a hairless cat... How can anyone have this much hair on their body, this is ridiculous, I guess it could be worse...it could be a woman!
So this is how it looks for the Hurtin' Units for the Round Robin games...

Monday September 12- Coventry Park vs. Lucky Stiffs at 7:15pm.

Wednesday September 14- Coventry Park vs. The Wild at 8:45pm.
Saturday September 17 - Coventry Park vs. The Banshees at 8:00am.
Saturday September 17- Coventry Park vs. The Beer Bros. at 12:30pm.


Monday September 12, 2011.

This week is the start of a full harvest moon...

 Round Robin game # 1 vs Lucky Stiffs.


Hurtin' Units lose 12 - 4


Well, the first night of the playoffs can be a little nerve racking for some players, I really wasn't nervous, but there were a couple of things that kept popping into my head, mostly at how the playoffs started for the Hurtin' Units last season...And the second was which Hurtin' Units team would we be seeing this evening? So, this game was a little better start than the first game last season, but the result was still the same in the win/loss column. 


The weather was great for this game, it had beening calling for thunderstorms, but they didn't happen, but I do recall seeing lightening in the distance during the game. It was really to far away to have any worries, at least not in our game.


At game time we had all 12 of our players, Bill was the last to show and I was getting a little nervous...


This game against the Lucky Stiffs was not our finest hour (actually an hour and fifteen minutes), our defense was like Dr. Jekyull and Mr. Hyde, one inning we looked great and the next we couldn't make a play. Our defense had a couple of bad innings and our batting had headed south for the winter already. Our batting was not good, we in fact had six batters who only batted twice in the entire game. OUCH!! I really think we were trying to do to much individually and gripping those bats way to tight. Jerry W., the Lucky Stiffs pitcher, had more plays on the field than anyone else on the diamond... I think our last 3 batters all hit to Jerry.

When our defense was Jekyulling we were very good, Bob made several brilliant plays and Mooner was cleaning up at second. The Hyde side saw some routine plays get bobbled (bobbled, now that's a funny word, I should use that for plays that BOB makes- the hit was Bobbled and then thrown to first for the out), and let's just say we had some butter fingers on this night. I think we need to relax when batting, take a deep breath, hold it for a count of 5 and exhale slowly... 


This game was a little like last year's playoff start without the huge number of runs. We are a much better team than we showed in game #1. On the positive side Mooner hit a towering homerun over the LCF fence, but it wasn't quite enough.


There have been a ton of runs scored in the 7 playoff games played already. We had the lowest number of offensive runs scored with only 4 runs... No team is going to win with only 4 runs scored!  The Hurtin' Units average runs per game over the last 5 regular season was 12.5 runs per game...We can do much better...


Monday's game sheet




Box score    1    2    3    4    5    6    7      Total


Hurtin'         0   2    0    1     0    1    0         4   


Lucky          2    0    0    7     1    2    X       12   



Wednesday September 14, 2011   

The weather on Tuesday evening was a bit chilly, I subbed for the Torn Ligaments and from the moment I got out of my van I realized how cool it was. The sad thing is I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and I couldn't find a jacket or a pullover in the van, yet in my other vehicle there are probably 8 kicking around on the back seat. D'oh! I wasn't really all that bad once the game got going.

The Ligaments were missing 4 regular players, two gone for the season, so Donny (Mr. Sub) and I were called to fill in. The Ligaments struggled defensively in their game, the Dogcatchers seemed to like Andy G's pitching and sprayed the ball all around the field, stockpiling a lot of runs early. The Ligaments put up some runs of their own, but in the end it would not be enough.

At the beginning of the forth inning I was asked if I wanted to pitch and somewhat unprepared, I accepted the offer and went in to pitch the next three innings. I managed to slow the bleeding a little and I loved the experience of pitching in a playoff game...I was quite surprised to actually be asked, Andy is a very good pitcher in this league, this was a playoff game and I was subbing. I thank the Ligaments for the opportunity, I just wish we could have come back to win, but in the end the deficit was just too great...





Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild... September 14, 2011.

Round Robin game # 2 vs. the Wild.

Hurtin' Units lose 18-12

Law of Distraction.

Coventry Park- I’m sure most of you can remember back to last season and the problems we encountered with the lights at Keogh and Coventry Parks. I recall the first game of the 2010 playoffs, the Hurtin`Units vs. The Rusty Rebels, it was a good night for baseball, but the lights on diamond no. 2 were not coming on, this really distracted me from focusing on the game. The game had already started and the Hurtin`Units were on the playing field, a couple of guys were over by the switch box, jiggling keys, trying to reset the breakers, etc. Meanwhile, the Rebels were kicking the snot out of us and all I could think was I hate distractions...The lights finally came on, but by the time they did the game was really out of hand…

Well, I gotta tell ya, I had the “Law of Distraction” going on big time in the Hurtin’ Units game against the Wild. What is the “Law of Distraction” you ask? The Law of Distraction is my way of attracting things that take my focus away from the task at hand. The task at hand was our game…I’m sure everyone experiences this on a daily basis, I just have a name for it… Kinda like Chris L. being distracted by a bug on the playing field or Kramer seeing Sue Ellen Mischke walking down the street wearing just a bra…Law of Distraction!

On Wednesday morning the sky was clear, not a cloud in site, but by 8:00pm on Wednesday evening a light rain had began to fall. On our way to the park, Mike and I decided to stop by Tim Hortons, as we sat in the drive thru the rain started to fall even harder, the girl on the mic could hardly hear me…We got to the park, the rain had let up a little, we carried our equipment and waited in the pavilion…I put my cleats on and broke a shoe lace, I fixed it the best I could, but I was worried about breaking the it again, so I let up a little on tightening my shoes, not a great idea on a muddy surface… The early game ended and we took over the dugout, we warmed up in a light rain with the infield starting to become muddy… I warmed up and went to the dugout to finish preparing for the start of the game…I looked in to my bag and realized I forgot to bring the Sambuca, it was in the cooler in my van…We need the Sambuca!! I was the leadoff batter, so Mike ran back to the parking lot (still raining) and retrieved the Sambuca. He poured and we actually drank the sweet nectar before the game started…I realized after the game we drank the black Sambuca, we were supposed to finish the white Sammy first, they were both in the cooler, but Mike was unaware and we had the black…

Our first inning was good, we scored 4 runs, as many as in the whole first game against the Lucky Stiffs. The Wild countered in the bottom of the inning with 2 runs… In the second inning we scored another 4 runs, the Wild countered with a single run. In the third inning we scored another single run, but in the bottom of the 3rd inning, with myself in to pitch an inning, the Wild hammered the ball around the field to score 6 runs… During the Wild’s batting, I looked at my glove and noticed the webbing lace had broken, this got me distracted again, especially as the pitcher. All I was thinking about was the line drive, at my head, off the bat of Paul P. in the August tournament and on Tuesday, when I was pitching for the Torn Ligaments, Lynn W. hit another ball at my head which I managed to get a glove on and deflect away, not the greatest position for a defective glove. We managed to get out of the inning and Bob, Mike and myself patched up the glove to get it through the game… The rain continued to fall, at the end of 3 innings the score was 9-9.

Boxscore:       1   2   3   4   5   6   7     Total 

Hurtin' Units    4   4   1   0   3   0  X       12    

The Wild          2   1   6   7   2   2  X       18     


the Wild



By my next at bat, the batters box was muddy, and the front foot groove was getting deep, I felt like I was standing on an angle, if you have ever golfed on a slope, this is what it felt like to me…Just another frickin’ distraction! In the forth inning both teams when down 4 batters, 3 outs…In the fifth inning the Units took the lead again with 3 runs, but in the bottom of the fifth the Wild opened things up with a 7 run inning. In the sixth inning the Units went down quickly with the pressure and distraction of the time running out and the possibility of this being the open inning…In the bottom of the inning the game was called, the Wild win and then the Wild played for the plus/minus, they would score 2 more runs before the Units ended the inning… The final score after only 6 innings of play, Wild win 18-12. The time issue was another distraction, in the past we played 7 innings in the playoffs…

 


Hurtin' Units

 

Well, I don’t know what to say, we are down two games in the round robin and we are fighting for our playoff lives. My suggestions to the Hurtin’ Unit players is to dry out your gear, grab a hot coffee on your way to the park and be prepared to play hard in our next game.

As for my distractions on the eve of the Wild game, I have taken care of most of them and I’m ready to play. I fixed my glove (and bought a new one, that I probably won’t use), I put new shoe laces in my cleats, the Sambuca is on ice ready for the next game and the weather is supposed to be dry, although the morning temperatures for Saturday are 3 degrees, definitely a morning for pants…and a shirt, (say this part in a yoda voice)… a little nipplie it will be.

See ya at the park on Saturday…

Hurtin' Units vs. The Banshees- Saturday September 17, 2011

Round Robin game # 3 vs. The Banshees

Hurtin' Units tie 11-11

At 8:00 am the temperature had climbed to a comfortable 5 degrees, 2 degrees higher than the overnight of 3 degrees... The cold temperatures actually weren't that bad, the nice thing was there was no wind... The Hurtin' Units were the home team in this game for the first time in the round robin. 

The Banshees started strong in the first inning and the Units kept pace, but after only the first inning it looked like the this was going to be a see-saw battle. It really shouldn't surprise anyone that this game ended in a tie, afterall we were 9th and 10th in the final regular season standings and it came down to the last games to decide these two standings positions... We were the only teams to tie in the playoff round robin and in the end it probably kept us from moving on...We had a chance to win this game, but so did the Banshees...Going into the bottom of the seventh inning,  the Banshees had a 2 run lead, but the Units scored twice, in the bottom of the inning, to tie the game and with the winning run (Chris L.)on third base and Paul G. on second base, with 2 out, Cal S. unfortunately got out, leaving each team with only a single point... 

HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE BEER BROS.- Saturday September 17, 2011.

Round Robin game # 4

Hurtin' Units win 10- 4

At 12:20pm we were at  diamond #1 warming up, pouring Sambuca and preparing for what could be our last game of the season. I could sense a tense atmosphere, we needed a win to even give us an outside chance of making it to the elimination round...The Beer Bros. already had a win under their belt, but they would need a win to get themselves into the elimination round also... The Units had beat the Beer Bros. in their two previous matches, but this was playoff baseball and some teams have a tendency to step it up when the heats on... Fortunately, it was the Hurtin Units who stepped up in this game and with some solid defense and some timely hitting the Units would record their first win in the playoffs, but would it be enough to get us through?  

And so it ends...

round robin summary

The Hurtin' Units and the Banshees would both finish the Round Robin with 3 points. After the our two games on Saturday it became a waiting game with our fate in the hands of other teams. We needed the Dislocated Joints and the Dogcatchers to both lose for the Units to get in to the elimination games. The Banshees were also playing a waiting game. We both finished with the same record, 3 points (1win, 1tie), same plus/minus, but the Banshees would edge out the Hurtin' Units with runs scored which was the next tie breaker. The Dislocated Joints and the Dogcatchers would both win, knocking out the Hurtin' Units and the Banshees from going on the elimination rounds.

We ( the Hurtin' Units) did what we needed to do on Saturday, we needed to play well and hope that the other teams lost to help us climb back in to the playoff race. If we had managed to win the Banshee game, even by a single run, we would have edged out the Hot Tub Woodys with a better plus/minus and taken the last elimination position... It was not to be... The two teams we played earlier in the week (the Wild and the Lucky Stiffs) both went on to play in the semi finals. In fact, the top four teams, in the regular season, played in the semis. The finals were played by the top two teams in the regular season, the Dusty Cleats and the Grisslies. In the final game the Grisslies played a solid defensive game and with several early runs in the game, the Grisslies would go on to upset the Dusty Cleats by a score of 7-5.  Congratulations to the Grisslies for a well deserved Victory...