HURTIN' UNITS ALL ACES AGAINST STIFFS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE LUCKY STIFFS.

Game # 16 - July 24, 2012

Hurtin' Units win 9-4

Team Record  7-8-1

Coventry Park- We find ourselves back at Coventry again, we will also be back here next Tuesday night and the Tuesday night after that. Our schedule has us playing at Coventry for 4 weeks in a row and the only good thing about this is, 3 of the games are at 7:00.

Our games this season have really been spread out. We have had only two 2 game weeks all season and I think most of us would prefer to play more. The schedule this season is a little strange, I know it is just a computer program, but we have seen some strange things.

Lucky Stiff belt buckle, available in the gift shop.

There are teams we have not even played this season. There are other teams that we have played both our games against and one team, we played back to back.

It was only one game ago that we played the Lucky Stiffs and it seems longer.

On Thursday July 5, 2012 we played the Stiffs and won by a score of 20-7. I mentioned in the blog back then that I thought it was the Hurtin' Units all around best game of the season. Our defense was stellar and the bats seemed to be energized with multiple hits for everyone...I'm hoping that the same is in this game.

The weather for this game was almost perfect; the temperature was around 23 degrees, there were some clouds drifting through the sky, but it was mostly sunny. There was a strong breeze blowing north to south. The setting sun gave the right fielders and first and second basemen a few problems early in the game.


On Monday afternoon, I sent out a next game reminder e-mail and shortly after my Internet modem crapped out. It's really amazing how dependent we have become on modern day devices. I have a smart phone, but it only has Wi-Fi capabilities and it is not much good for e-mails or browsing with a crapped out modem. One of my reasons for the next reminder is that if someone can't make the game it's an easy reply, click reply, “can't make the game Jimmer” and it's done. Making a lineup/ positions becomes quite simple.

Internet is down, what do we do?

The problem this week was that I couldn't retrieve my e-mails and I had no way of knowing who replied that they couldn't make the game. I was fortunate that on Monday evening, I stopped by Mike's house (only 2 houses down) and he allowed me to steal his Wi-Fi from his wireless modem. I had zero baseball replies Monday evening, but it's usually the next morning when I get replies and then I would normally send another e-mail to Jason for sub requests.

 

So on Tuesday morning, about 3:45am, before heading off to work, I tippy toed my way over to Mike's driveway to check my e-mails again. I felt like a cat burglar or a secret agent sneaking around the neighborhood trying to find a Wi-Fi signal. I was really expecting Mike's dogs to start barking and wake up the neighborhood, but fortunately they didn't. I managed to log in and no baseball e-mails again... damn modem. I checked again when I got home from work, this time I didn't have to sneak around and this time I did have a baseball, "can't make the game" reply. What a pain in the ass not being wired. Thank goodness for stealing other people's Wi-Fi.

At game time we were down 5 players; Dave, Gord R. (3rd), Jamie, Al and Rob were all missing. I knew about Dave (sent me an e-mail) and Gord and Jamie, but Al and Rob were a mystery. I had arranged for a sub (Peter H.- Beer Bros), but we were still short a player, Simon was sitting in the stands and I asked him if he wanted to play (he showed up for his game and nobody was there) and he agreed. As the top of the first inning concluded, both Rob and Al were making there way up the driveway to diamond # 3. Since I had already committed to Simon to play, I asked him to continue playing.

Anybody who has played for the Hurtin' Units knows that I fill out a lineup and position sheet. I do this so I don't have to think about this during a game. Unfortunately, this game, things got messed up; I tried to sort it out, but there were guys sitting that should have been playing, guys playing who should have been sitting, cats and dogs living together, it was pandemonium on the Units bench. The game was moving along so quickly that I didn't even have time to try and sort it out; we muddled our way through, but it seemed a little disorganized, which I dislike...I'll be happy to get the new modem and know who is not coming to the game.

I believe this game was our lowest runs scored against this season. The defense, for both teams was excellent. I didn't realize the score was so close, until Bev, the scorekeeper, brought me the game sheet. I mentioned earlier that this was a fast paced game and this is usually the case in low scoring, tight, defensive games. This game actually reminded me of our last game against the Grisslies; low scoring, great defense.

We were the home team for this game. In the top of the first inning, the Units quickly shut down the Stiffs, with only 4 batters coming to the plate and allowing no runs. In the bottom of the first inning, the Units sent 5 batters up and Gord and Clayton both came around to score.

In the top of the second inning the Stiffs went down 1,2,3. In the bottom of the inning, Mark lead off for the Units hitting a triple, Al got out, Jimmer flied out and then Peter (sub) hit a single scoring Mark from third. Simon (sub) hit in to a fielders choice and the inning was over with a single run scoring.

In the top of the third inning, the Stiffs had 5 batters come to the plate and they managed to get Don B. (sub) to third before the Units closed the door. In the bottom of the inning the Units scored another run on an in the park homerun by Clayton who drove the ball between the RCF and RF players. The score at the end of 3 innings; The Hurtin' Units 4, Lucky Stiffs 0.

In the forth inning neither team scored. In the fifth inning, the second batter Don B. (sub) hit a triple and the next Stiff batter hit a single bringing in the first Lucky Stiff run of the evening. In the bottom of the inning, the Units sent the top of the order to the plate. Gord got out, Anicete flied out, Clayton got on with a single, Tumble got on with a single and Cam flied out, change ur up boys.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Stiffs scored 3 more runs and tied the game up. In the bottom of the inning, Craig lead off with a single, but was the first out on a fielders choice on Mark's at bat, Al hit a single moving Mark to second, Jimmer hit a double bringing Mark and Al in to score. Next batter Peter, hit single moving Jimmer to third, Simon got out, Gord R. hit a double bringing Jimmer and Peter in to score, Anicete hit a single, Clayton hit a single bringing Gord in to score, Rob hit a single and Cam hit in to a fielder's choice for the final out of the inning. The score at the end of six innings; Hurtin Units 9, Lucky Stiffs 4.

In the seventh inning the Stiffs would send 4 batters to the plate and only get a single hit before the Hurtin' Units would close the door. The bottom of the inning was not needed and the Hurtin' Units would win their 7th game on the season.   

Boxscore:          1     2      3      4     5     6      7       Total   

Hurtin' Units       2     1      1     0     0     5     X          9        

Lucky Stiffs        0     0     0      0     1     3     0          4         

JIMBITS:

In the third inning, Clayton hit an in the park homerun.

With a runner on first, Mark made a nice play at first to catch a grounder, ran to first for the out, turned and threw to Clayton

at second for a tag and a double play.

The Outfield for the Units made numerous catches and played the       Stiffs big batters perfectly all game.

Stef (sub) struck out on a foul ball, for the Stiffs.

For the first time I can ever remember, Anicete stuck out in a game...D'oh!!

Jimmer was called out for wearing jewelery...D'oh!!

HURTIN' UNITS HYDE THE BATS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRISSLIES.

Game #15 - July 17, 2012

Hurtin' Units lose 9-5

Team Record  6-8-1

Coventry Park- Well we had a successful  4 game road trip finishing up with the 20-7 win against the Lucky Stiffs last Thursday night. The Hurtin' Units went 3-1 on the road and boosted ourselves up into 8th place in the standings.

This game against the Grisslies was our third meeting of the season, twice in the regular season and once in the HTKP tournament.

On May 2nd, in our second game of the regular season, we played the Grisslies and lost by a score of 17-16. This was one of our four single run losses that we had at the start of the season. The Hurtin' Units showed back then we were capable of putting up a bunch of runs in a game, but our defense was still in a gelling stage and we were giving up more than we were scoring. Recently, we have been keeping the runs against lower and the results are a few more wins. 


In the HTKP tournament ( in the "Chicks dig me" game) we faced the Grisslies again and this time we came away victorious, winning the game by a 12-7 score. The tournament was different from the regular season, the Grisslies had a few players that were picked up for the tournament, but most of their team was present and we'll take the win.

We were the home team for this game tonight vs. the Grisslies. 

On June 5, 2012, the Hurtin' Units team record was 2-6-1 and four of these losses were by a single run. If we had been able to pull out a win in this game, against the Grisslies, we would have climbed up to the .500 mark, but it was not to be on this night.

The weather for this game was hot and sticky. At 1:30pm the temperature was 34 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 44. The weather network had a severe thunderstorm warning for our area. Even though it was this hot, I decided to go put the bases in on our diamond, I hate being rushed at game time. 

At game time we had 11 players all warmed up and ready to take on the big, bad Grisslies. Dave was the only missing player.

Welcome back Mr. Hyde!

Perhaps it was the heat or even the dark, evil looking sky that hung over the diamond, that may have brought Mr. Hyde out of hiding. Over the last seven games, we had managed to supress this side of the Hurtin' Units team, winning 3 regular season games in a row, winning 3 games in the HTKP tournament, moving up in the standings and playing some good baseball. 

Perhaps Mr. Hyde only started to make an appearance. After all, the defense in this game was magnificant (by both teams), but the batting side was definitely being taken over...or so it seemed. Our bats were definitely in some kind hypnotic state, we were hitting like were a different team...and maybe we were! 

I think the boxscore really tells the story of this game. Over the first 3 innings the Units could not string the hits together to score a single run. It actually took 3 innings to get through the Hurtin' Unit lineup for the first time. The visiting Grisslies scored all 9 of their runs before the Units finally got on the scoreboard.

The first run, for the Units, came on an in the park homerun by Gord R. (SS) leading off the bottom of the forth inning. Neither team scored in the fifth inning, the Units tacked on another run in the sixth, in the seventh the Units defense stopped the Grisslies, creating a finally opportunity for the Units to comeback.  The Units would score 3 runs, and with runners on first and second bases, 2 out, and Gord R. (SS) at bat, Gord would try to hit an off field hit... the ball was not hit hard enough and Grisslies first baseman (Bob V.) would make the catch for the final out. Grisslies win 9-5.




BOXSCORE:       1      2      3      4      5      6      7        TOTAL


Hurtin' Units        0      0      0      1      0      1      3            5       

Grisslies              1      0      5      3      0      0      0            9                                

HURTIN' UNITS LUCKY AGAINST STIFFS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE LUCKY STIFFS.

Game # 14 - July 12, 2012

Hurtin' Units win 20- 7

Team Record 6-7-1

Keogh Park- It's only been a week since we last played in Keogh Park, but it sure seems like a lot longer. Last Thursday night we played the Dislocated Joints and won by a score of 16-10. Since this game we have played 6 additional games, 4 in the HTKP tournament and another 2 against the Dogcatchers and  the Lucky Stiffs.

Like a lot of teams in the league, the team records may not tell the whole story. Take for example the Dusty Cleats over the last weekend, the Cleats reside in 15th place in the T.O.T standings and came out on the weekend playing some really good baseball, going to the finals and almost winning the tournament. If it hadn't been for that pesky Pieman, with his grand slammer, they probably would have won. 

The Lucky Stiffs have some really decent players and pitching, but seem to be struggling a little in the runs against department. In the 13 games played, the Stiffs have scored a total of 156 runs and have allowed 197 runs against, the highest runs against in the league to date, and a run differential of - 41. And even with such a high run differential the Stiffs have a decent record at 5-7-1, 11points in the standings (they actually won a game earlier this week which gives them 6 wins). The Lucky Stiffs are no push over.


Captain Mike gives Rob some fielding advice.

The weather this week has been hot and humid, but by game time (9:30pm) the temperature was quite comfortable.

Our team was missing 4 players for this game. Clayton, Mark, Dave and Craig were all unable to make the game. 



This game against the Stiffs marks the conclusion of our 4 game road trip. Next week we are back home for a tilt with the Griswolds. This was a successful road trip we played 4 games as the visitors and came away with three victories. We are also on a 3 game winning streak for the first time this season.

Boxscore:       1       2       3      4      5       6       7           Total 


Hurtin' Units    2      5        2      1       2      1       7              20   


Lucky Stiffs     0      0        1      0       0      3       3                7   

This game against the Stiffs was probably the best all around game the Hurtin' Units have played this season. The bats were crushing the ball and the defense was scooping and catching anything within range.

The Hurtin' Units scored runs in every inning of this game and Rob, the Gords, Jamie and Cam had a solid night at the plate. Gord R. (SS) hit a 2 run homerun in the top of the fifth inning for his 2nd dinger of the season. Rob was an off field hitting monster in this game creating havoc for little Timmy Sullivan in left field. Jamie and Cam were both hitting the ball hard giving the Lucky Stiff infielders and outfielders fits most of the night.

The Hurtin' Units defense was stellar, the outfielders were tracking down most hard hit balls and when someone (i.e. Andy G. or Steve L) hit a gap, the fielders quickly retrieved and returned the ball to the infield to minimize any damage. Our infielders were positioned correctly most of the game and we even turned a couple of double plays. The Lucky Stiffs only scored a single run over the first 5 innings and by the time Stiffs started rallying for multiple runs, the Units had a substantial lead. Great game guys!

Our next game is Tuesday July 17, 2012 vs. the Grisslies at Coventry Park.

HURTIN' UNITS BITE THE DOGCATCHERS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DOGCATCHERS.

Game # 13 - July 9, 2012

Hurtin' Units win 17-16

Team Record  5-7-1

On May 7, 2012 the Hurtin' Units played the season opener against the Dogcatchers and the teams sawed off with a 5-5 tie. Not exactly a offensive outburst by either team, but it was the first game of the season and there were a bunch of nervous and anxious batters coming to bat in first game situation. The Hurtin' Units did have a batting practise, but that had been a few weeks earlier and this was a real game. The end result was a low run scoring game and a tie in the opening game of the season. 

Over the past weekend, we faced the Dogcatchers in the HTKP  tournament and unlike opening night we had an offensive, back and forth, high scoring game. Going in to the bottom of the open inning, the Hurtin' Units were trailing by 3 runs, we managed to comeback and score 4 runs, winning the game 20-19, a different game from opening night to be sure.

The HTKP tournament was a success for the kids, but it was also good for the Hurtin' Unit team. We played really well this weekend winning our round robin portion with 3 straight wins. When it came to the semi-final game against the Brew Jays our bats went a little bit south, but we still were in the game until almost the end...The Brew Jays beat the Units 12-5 and went on to win the tournament. 

I really think the last six games we have played, including the regular season game against the Dislocated Joints, have been our best baseball this season and I really look forward to future games to see if I'm right in my assessment. I know that last season we struggled before this tournament, won four straight in the 2011 tournament and the rest of our regular season we played pretty well. I hope this holds true for this year's Hurtin' Units team... I'm really proud of how we played as a team this weekend, I look forward to a great finish...to end the season.

The weather for this game against the Dogcatchers was warm, 24 degrees and clear skies, bright sunshine with a slight breeze.

At game time we had 10 players in uniform ready to take on the Dogcatchers. Mark was working afternoon shift this week and Dave has sore knees... We are still on the road for these games, visitors for the two more games, home team next week. 

The Dogcatchers must be starting to really dislike the Hurtin' Units. For the second game in the a row, the Units have made a dramatic come from behind surge and won the game.



Boxscore:        1      2      3      4        5       6      7         Total 

Hurtin' Units      2     5      0       1       4       0      5            17   

Dogcatchers     1     0      4        1      1       7      2            16   

I think the boxscore really tells the story of how this game went. This game was similar to the game we had with the Catchers on Friday night in the HTKP tournament, a back and forth, well played game.

Join us on Rob Rumboldt
Bobblehead night...


In this game, at the end of three innings, the run differential was only 2 runs in Units favor...At the end of five innings the score opened up a bit with the Units in control by a score of 12-7, but in the sixth inning the Catchers found the holes and put up 7 runs, taking the lead 14-12.

Like our game against the Dogcatchers on Friday, the Hurtin' Units found themselves down by some runs, in this case down by two. In the top of seventh inning, the Hurtin' Units would have all 10 players come up to bat and when the dust settled, the Units would score 5 runs and regain the lead by a score of 17-14. In the bottom half of the seventh inning, the Dogcatchers would scratch back with 2 runs, stranding the tying run on second base. The Hurtin' Units win 17-16 in another close game with the Dogcatchers.

Our next game is Thursday evening at 9:30pm at Keogh Park vs. the Lucky Stiffs.

HTKP TOURNAMENT.

Help the Kids Play Tournament 
 July 6,7,8, 2012

Over the last two seasons we have put a team in the Help the Kids play tournament. This season is no different, we have entered our team and it is great that almost the whole team is playing, we played with 11 players and zero subs. Last season we picked up 4 players for the tournament, we picked up Dean C., Steve D., John T. and Chris R., it was a fun weekend... We also played four games in the round robin and we were perfect going 4-0. In the elimination round we lost to the Lucky Stiffs 10-9 and our tourney was done...If I recall we had the tying run on third base. 

Our tournament had come to an end, but we came away, as a team, with a strong positive outlook for the rest of the season. This tournament really serves multi purposes for the Hurtin' Units, it always seems to be the strongest team bonding point in the season and second, the monies raised in this tournament go to helping local children, who can't afford to play sports, giving them opportunity to play... Special thanks have to out to all the people who play and donate their time to this tournament. I would also like to thank Dave Polny from Coras resturants and Dave Fleming from Tottenham Home Hardware for their generous donations...

Friday July 6, 2012 - Game # 1 Hurtin' Units vs. Dogcatchers...

 Hurtin' Units win 20-19

The Hurtin' Units played the Dogcatchers on opening night of season and it certainly wasn't  an offensive  battle, the teams sawed off with a 5-5 tie.

In this tournament the Units won the coin toss and we were to take the field as the home team, but before we took the field, we gathered at the bench for a shot of Sambuca. 

This first game of the HTKP tournament was at bit more of a offensive  tilt with Dogcatchers. The game went back and forth and going in to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Units were down by 3 runs. Craig S was lead off in the bottom of the inning and started off with a in the park homerun (his 2nd of the game), up next was Gord R (3rd) but Gord was hurting a little and was the first out. The next batter was Al H., Al got on with a single, I followed Al and also got on with a single. With runners on first and second, Gord R. (SS) came up next and hit a line drive in to the glove of the left fielder. With two out Anicete came up and hit another single, driving Al to third and myself to second. With the bases loaded, down by two runs, tying run at second, Clayton came up and drove the ball to the outfield for a double, all three runners on base came around to score... Hurtin' Units win 20-19.  

Saturday July 7, 2012 - Game # 2 Hurtin' Units vs. The Grisslies.

Hurtin' Units win 12-7 



Cousin Eddie, part of the Griswold family.

 It's sometimes difficult to sit around and wait for the game, I personally like to play most of my tournament games in the same day. This was not to be the case in this tournament, we had our first game late on Friday evening and our second at 2:30pm on Saturday.

"Chicks dig me"

This game had a little bit of Grisslies fun swirling around it as the Grisslies made some light hearted fun at their co-captain Doug Dwyer. The Grisslies had made signs and pictures of Doug with the phrase "Chicks dig Me" and they were posted around the diamond, even home plate, and we were asked to wear stickers during the game.

As we did in our first game, we gathered around and toasted a good game with a shot of Sambuca. This was a close game and with a bad break to either side it could swung in favor of the other team. The Hurtin' Units hitting was bang on again, the batting order seems to be working well and our defense is gelling together nicely. Craig continues to carry a hot stick (that just sounds funny) and hit another home run in this game, 3 in the park homeruns in 2 games... We looked real solid in this game and I really sense the confidence growing... Next game Sunday at 9:00am.

Sunday July 8, 2012 - Game # 3 Hurtin' Units vs. The Woodys...

Hurtin' Units win 12-2
 

This game was really a game the Hurtin Units needed to win. The round robin standings were very close, only 4 of the 12 teams make the semi finals and there were still a lot of teams still in the hunt. This game ended up being a defensive gem, our defense made some really nice plays, Al H and Gord (3rd) both made line drive catches on the infield and the outfield were challenged by some strong Woodys bats.

The Hurtin' Units offense scored some timely runs and the final result was a 12-2 victory and a birth in the semi-final vs. the Brew Jays.




Sunday July 8, 2012 - Game # 4 Hurtin' Units vs. the Brew Jays...

Hurtin' Units lose 12-5

Our wait between the win against the Woodys game and the semi final game was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. This gave most of us a little break, we were scheduled to work the bar at 11:00 am, but because we had a game at 11:30 am we really couldn't do it, Craig and Clayton helped out in the bar for bit before our game.

As we had in all of our other games, we toasted a good game with a shot of Sammy and started the game as the visitors. The seeding determined home field team in this game, we were the third seed and the Brew Jays were the second...

The Units took an early lead in this game scoring 2 runs in the first. We shut the Brew Jays down in the bottom of the inning. In the second, the Units scored another 2 runs, but in the bottom of the inning the Jays scored 7 runs on a bunch of solid hits. In the third the Units would bring around another single run and close the door again on the Jays. After 3 innings of play the score was 7-5 Jays. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Jays would score 5 more runs to make the score 12-5. In the top of the seventh the Units couldn't get any kind of rally going and the score remained 12-5 for the Jays. The Units would lose the game, but the tournament will definitely help in the regular season games still to be played... Great job guys!! 



The Pieman



The Brew Jays would go on to face the Dusty Cleats in the finals and would squeak out a 23-22 victory in the late innings to win the Help the Kids Play tournament. The Pieman would be the hero, hitting a grand slam homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game... Congratulations Brew Jays...

HURTIN' UNITS SMOKE THE JOINTS, FEELING A HIGH.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DISLOCATED JOINTS.

GAME # 12 - July 5, 2012

Hurtin' Units win 16-10

Team Record  4-7-1

Keogh Park- Looking at the standings today, the Dislocated Joints are having pretty decent season with a record of 10-2-0, they lost on Tuesday evening to the Grusome Devils. Again I was comparing the 2012 Hurtin' Units numbers to others, but the numbers of the Joints really put things in to perspective with me. The Dislocated Joints in 11 games had only given up 97 runs against (best in the league) and have only scored 145 runs for... The Hurtin' Units have scored, in 10 games, 141 runs for and have allowed 146 runs against, not the greatest run differential (middle of the pack), but the numbers do tell the story... The Joints have a run differential of +48 runs (again the best in the league). When you can hold your opponents to less than 9 runs per game you're going to win your fair share of games...

In our game against the Tap Masters we didn't look very good. My pitching was mediocre at best, our batting was just awful and our defense was fighting the ball most of the night... Let's just chalk up this game to "One of those games" and be done with it...

The game against the Dislocated Joints is expected to be a tough one with the Joints only losing 2 games on the season. I mentioned in another posting that I think we play better against the top teams, but tonight's test will give us a chance to see how we will fair against the top team... This weekend we have the HTKP tournament and I hope that everyone is looking forward to playing this weekend...

At the legion after our game on Wednesday night, most of our team was in good spirits even after the shit kickin' we took at the hands of the Tappers. Rob and Jamie both said they were looking forward to the tournament and I really think this tournament will be good for our team...I am really looking forward to the tournament, I love to play, what can I say... This tournament will give me some good pitching practise, it will give guys who are struggling with the bat some no pressure hacks, it will give me a chance to play around with a batting order and most of all it will help bond us as a team... Sambuca time draws near....

The weather for our game with the Dislocated Joints was still hot, at 6:00pm on game day the temperature was 31 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 37...The skies were almost clear.

At game time we had 12 players ready to play, a full team ready to take on the top team. Al had missed the game against the Tap Masters, but was back for this one... We were the visitors again, on a four game road trip don't ya know...

Boxscore:                     1    2     3     4     5     6     7       Total 


Hurtin' Units                  1     6     1     0     7     1    X         16   


Dislocated Joints         1     0     7     0     2     0    X         10   

" And there she goes"... I made a slight adjustment in the batting order for this game against the Joints, I moved Gord R. (SS) up in to the lead off position to take some pressure off him. I was thinking that Gord was trying to hard to hit the ball out in the cleanup position. In the top of the first inning, on the second pitch of the game, Gord hit a home run in to the lawn bowling courts for his first rounder of the season... This started the game in the direction we wanted to see. In the home half of the inning the Joints scored a single run. In the top of the second, the Units went on a hitting spree and scored 6 runs, stranding the 7th on 3rd base. In the bottom, the Joints went down I,2,3 change em up boys.. In the top of the third inning the Units scored a single run, but the Dislocated Joints, in the bottom, sprayed the ball around the diamond (good hits all of them) and scored a 7 run inning. The score at the end of 3 innings 8-7 for the Units...

The fourth inning saw neither team score. In the top of the fifth inning, the Units sent 10 batters to the plate and scored 7 runs. In the bottom,  the Joints countered with 2 runs of their own.  The sixth inning became the open inning and in the top of the inning, the Units scored a single run. The bottom of the inning, the Joints sent only 4 batters to the plate, before the Units defense shut the door...

We really are a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team. Our game against the Tap Masters on the night the lights wouldn't come on was similar to the game against the Dislocated Joints. We were batting great, our defense was stellar, we look like and act like we are in the driver's seat and in control of the game. And then we have night's like we did against the Tap Masters this week, taking 3 innings to get through the order, defensive skills were fogotten at home and no focus on what we are doing... Maybe every team goes through this, it certainly has kept things interesting...The Help the Kids tournament begins tonight, I'm looking forward to seeing Dr. Jekyll... 

MASTERS TAP ON THE HURTIN' UNITS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. TAP MASTERS.

Game # 11 - July 4, 2012

(make up game for light night)

Hurtin' Units lose 20-9

Team Record  3-7-1

Keogh Park- In week 10 and 11 we are on the road for a 4 game road trip. We visit the Tap Masters on Wednesday evening and then we take on the #1 team in the league, the Dislocated Joints, on Thursday evening. Next  week we head to the Dogcatcher's home park and then we finish off the trip in Lucky Stiff's park before heading home for a tango with the Grisslies.

Well let's try this game again, the first time we tried to play this game the game was postponed because the lights would not come on. We had played 3 complete innings before the umpire and captains deemed it unsafe to continue the game. The game score at the end of 3 innings was 9-5 for the Hurtin' Units, but the game and score don't really matter, for the game was unofficial and it was rescheduled for the 4th of July...
The Tappers currently sit in 6th place in the standings with a record of 6-5-1 and 13 points. The thing that really gets me, when I look at the standings, is the Tap Masters have one less loss than the Hurtin' Units and are 8 spots higher in the standings and the Brew Jays are in second place and only have two less losses. In years past, I rarely looked at the standings so closely, I don't really know why I have watched this season with such interest. Maybe it's time to forget about the standings and let the chips fall where they may.

Last night the at Coventry (July 3), six teams played and with the results of those game, there are now 5 teams with more losses than the Hurtin' Units. Amongst the teams that lost last night were the Dislocated Joints, losing for only the second time this season. We play the Joints on Thursday evening, they might be in a little bit of a bad mood.

There are still 6 teams, in the standings, in the single digits in points. Our games in hand really make it look like the Unit's team is struggling big time, but really if we were to win the two games in hand we would be well on our way to the middle of the pack... having mentioned the parity on several occasions, this really is a wide out season, no real dominate team and a chance for every team in the playoffs.

 The weather for this late night game was still hot, we had daytime temperatures of about 30 and with the humidity it felt like 38 degrees. There had been a threat of thunderstorms earlier in the day, but by game time they had disappeared and the temperature had dropped to a comfortable 25 degrees.

At game time we had 11 players suited up, Al H. was the only guy missing. We were the visitors in this game.

This game was one of those ones you'd like to forget as quickly as possible; I struggled pitching, our bats struggled right from the start and our defense had a rough time on the field. Add all these things together and it was a recipe for an ugly game with a capital "U". The nice thing is we get right back on the horse tonight and we get a shot at the Dislocated Joints. All teams seem to want to beat the top teams don't they?

I remember last season against the smokin', red hot Dusty Cleats, the Hurtin' Units lost by a single run in our first meeting and we handed the Cleats their first loss of the season in our second meeting. We seem to play our best when facing the tough teams.

This league, with it's blind draft every season, can be frustrating at times, last season the Dusty Cleats only lost 3 games all season (including playoffs) and this season they already sit with 8 losses and in 15th place...It can turn around quickly, in a single year, sometimes in a team's favor and sometimes it can just be UGLY...or even creepy.

Boxscore:          1      2      3     4    5    6     7       Total 


Hurtin' Units       0      1      0     4     1    0    3           9    


Tap Masters       7      5      2     3     3    0    X          20   

I called this game ugly and it was! I struggled to throw strikes, our bats were better off left in the car and the defense had a rough night... I mentioned during the game that maybe we were looking ahead to the Dislocated game, I'm  not sure what happened, but in wasn't pretty. In the first inning of this game we really set the tone, we sent 4 batters to the plate and it was on to the bottom of the inning... The first inning really set the tone for the Tap Masters also, but in the opposite way. The Masters nickeled and dimed us with hits in the first inning, I walked a batter, we only had a single out and then there was a towering homerun by supersub Steve L (Lucky Stiffs) in to the tennis courts... At the end of one inning the score was 7-0 Tappers.

In the second inning, the Units bats sputtered along again sending 5 batters to the plate and scoring a single run...In the bottom of the inning, I struggled to throw strikes and walked 3 batters, all 3 came around to score, the Masters scored another 5 runs. The score was 12-1.

In the third inning, the Units batting woes continued, we sent 4 batters to the plate and we were shut out again. In the bottom of the inning, we started to slow the bats of the Tappers down a little allowing only 2 runs to score... 14-1 Tap Masters... This was certainly a different game from the one we started 8 days ago, where after 3 innings of play back then, it was 9-5 Hurtin' Units... Damn Lights!!!

In the fourth inning, we actually won the inning scoring 4 runs to the Tap Masters 3 runs. The fifth inning saw the Tap Masters score another 3 runs and the Units score a single. In the sixth inning, the Units managed to get the bases loaded, but couldn't bring anyone home. The bottom of the inning saw Dave Kidd come in to pitch and did a great job allowing no runs to score. The score at the end of six innings was 20-6 for the Masters. The Hurtin' Units would continue to fight until the end, scoring 3 more runs in the top of the seventh inning... The final score 20-9 for the Tap Masters. 

GRUSOME NUMBER TWOSOME.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRUSOME DEVILS.

Game # 10- June 28, 2012 


Hurtin' Units win 19-17


Team Record 3-6-1

Keogh Park- We have only really played one game since the last time we took on the Devils. We did start a game last Monday evening only to have the lights not come on and the game got rescheduled against the Tap Masters. The game we played in between the Grusome Devils was against the Red Dogs, a game we almost came back in, but fell 2 runs short in the end. In our first game against the Grusome Devils we were beaten up by a score of 16-8.

Well, I hate to be the messenger of bad news; it's official our Co-Captain Mike O. received the results of his MRI and the news was that Mike has a torn miniscus in his knee and is finished for the season. This saddens me on many different levels, first the pain and suffering Mike has been going through and second is he will not be playing with us for the rest of the season. We all saw last  Monday evening a glimpse of what Mike brings to the team, we saw two solid hits against the Tap Masters, one to the fence and the other a home run (imagine what a healthy knee would do), we have missed Mike in the lineup this season and I think this has held us back, the post Mike era officially begins tonight.

The great news is that Mike is going to continue to co-captain. Mike will definitely be playing a roll on the Hurtin' Units as the season moves forward. We can put the boy to work doing other team related chores... i.e. scorekeeping, coaching bases, pouring Sambuca (more on this as the HTKP tournament approaches) and organizing a wing night, etc. etc...

With the news of Mike's season injury, we decided to inquire about waiting list players, there was one player on the list and he was assigned to the Hurtin' Units team... I would like introduce the newest Hurtin' Unit Mr. Mark Butler. 

The weather was warm and sunny for this game. The temperature was around 28 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 33. There was a breeze kicking up every once and a while, there was also a threat of a thunderstorm later in the evening. 

At game time we had a different looking lineup, Clayton, Al, Craig and Gord were all away. We called for a couple of subs and picked up Peter H. (Beer Bros) and Don S. (Dogcatchers). This was also the debut of new, new guy Mark Butler. At game time we had 10 players suited up, well 7 of them were suited up. I felt like this was the start of something, I'm not sure what, but something just felt different to me...Maybe it was Mike was no longer able to play, maybe it was because I changed the batting order and some player positions, maybe because I was feeling good about my pitching practise over the last week. Not sure what was different, it was just a feeling I had... We were the home team for this game.


Boxscore:           1      2      3      4      5     6      7        Total  

Hurtin' Units       7      7      0      0      5     X     X           19     

Grusome             1      7      0      0      3     6     X           17     

The boxscore really tells a good story of how this game played out. The Hurtin' Units got off to a solid start scoring two 7 run innings  and our defense was really tight most of the night. The Grusome Devils are a solid hitting team, I remember being out on the pitching mound and asking myself  "when are we going to see the bottom of the order?" it seemed like every batter was a solid slugger and they were missing Robin D., Keith D. and Gord T. We were missing some important pieces ourselves. The Hurtin' Units had three perfect evening's at the plate from Anicete Goncalves (4/4); Cameron Clark (4/4) and Dave Kidd (4/4).

I looked at the players stats at the end of this week and noticed that the Hurtin' Units have 3 players in the top 25, I'm not going to mention their names because it might jinx them. I was surprised to not see certain Hurtin' Unit players. We have a couple of guys that are usually in the 25 group, but they just haven't worked their way up there yet, I imagine they will be there before too long... I also looked for some Dislocated Joints players in the top 25 batters and there was not a single Joint player in the top 25 in batting...Amazing!

I also looked at the standings and I'm proud to say we are not in the bottom of the standings anymore, at least for this week... Now let's be fair to our team, we have still played the least amount of games in the league this season...Looking at the standings and counting the other team's games I noticed we have a one game in hand advantage over 5 teams, we have a 2 game advantage on 8 teams and we have a 3 game advantage over a single team...Again, amazing! This is our time to make up ground...

On Friday the president of the T.O.T league sent out a mid-season update and thought it was kinda funny because we have only played 10 games. If we were able to win a couple of these games in hand, we could quickly move up in the standings.  One more thing I noticed in  the standings page was the losses for the other teams. We (Hurtin' Units) currently have 6 losses on the season, there is 1 team with 8 losses, 3 teams with 7 losses and 6 teams (including the Units) with 6 losses on the season... Our games in hand definitely work in our favor if we can earn a win or two... We should be able to make-up one of our games in hand this upcoming week... We play two tough opponents this week in the Tap Masters and the Dislocated Joints. These will be a good challenge as we head in to the HTKP tournament next  weekend...