HURTIN' UNITS - Captain's Blog.: September 2012

HURTIN' UNITS 2012 PLAYOFF RUN.

"Baseball is the only field of endeavour where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer" - Ted Williams.

Win or lose I enjoy playing this game; I love the feel of the ball smacking in to my glove, I love the feel of the bat making solid contact with the ball and I love to throw the ball. I mentioned in the last post that I am saddened by the season coming to an end and it's true. We are going to play 4 more games for sure (I'm hoping for more) and when the playoffs conclude the 2012 edition of the Hurtin' Units will disbanded and next year a new team will be drafted.

Despite the ups and down of this year's team with a 9-13-2 record, I have enjoyed this season playing with a great group of guys.

We really got off to a slow start; losing numerous single run games and then we went through a stretch when our bats went on vacation. We also were being hit with the injury bug; we lost both Mike and Dave for the season. We picked up some replacements and both of them got hurt shortly after joining the team. We have other players who are nursing injuries, both up and lower body, can't tell ya who or what they are... playoffs don't ya know.

Last season we called for a sub once all season; this season Jason and I became close friends with my constant requests for subs. In the second half of the season we probably used 20 subs, I'm sure other teams have used more, but last season I called for one sub all year. ONE!

I still believe we have the team to compete with any team in this league. We finished up in 12th place, but the standings were so close and with one more win we could have been in 8th place. We did finish under .500, but mid-season we were flirtin' around the .500 mark and condsidering the slow start we had, with a little luck we could have been right there. We ended the regular season on a bit of a high note, with 2 wins and a tie in our last 3 games. I'm looking forward to the playoffs and seeing what the Hurtin' Units can do in pressure packed situation. Go Units!!

Captain's Blog - stardate Tuesday September 4, 2012.

We still continue to play the waiting game; there are still 8 teams waiting to see where they end up in the final standings, all are waiting on the result of the final game of the regular season between the Rusty Rebels and the Red Dogs. And then, most of the seedings will be decided by one of the numerous tie breakers as set out by the league. The Hurtin' Units are tied for 11th place with the Dogcatchers and Rusty Rebels. The Rebels still have this game to play, which is scheduled for this evening. The only problem is that it has been raining most of the day Tuesday and unless it stops soon this game may not get played.

I'm hoping that the game is played tonight so we can to determine where the Hurtin' Units will be seeded. I don't really care about our seeding as much as I care about letting the Unit players know when we play. We have several players that work shift and they probably need some time to work around their work schedules.

Captain's Blog - stardate Wednesday September 5, 2012.

Final Standings.

The season has finally concluded and the final standings and seedings are now posted. The Hurtin' Units finished tied for 12th place, with the Dog Catchers, but because the Units won the tie breaker the Units will be the 12th seed and Dogcatchers will be the 13th seed going in to the playoffs.

The Hurtin' Units schedule looks like this:

9/10/2012 Monday 7:15 PM Hurtin' Units Brew Jays K

9/11/2012

Tuesday

8:45 PM

Hurtin' Units

Grisslies

9/14/2012

Friday

7:15 PM

Hurtin' Units

Gruesome Devils

9/15/2012

Saturday

3:00PM

Dusty Cleats

Hurtin' Units

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BREW JAYS.
Monday September 10, 2012

HURTIN' UNITS WIN 29-9

Keogh Park - This is the story of the Hurtin' Units season. Our first game of the playoffs and we get the first place team; the team that only lost 6 games all season, the team that won the league, the team that won the Help the Kids Play Tournament,
the team the Hurtin' Units played three times already this season.

We played the Brew Jays twice in the regular season and once in the Help the Kids Play tournament. We lost all three games to the Brew Jays, but they were all close. On May 29 we lost an all out slug fest by a score of 22-21. In the HTKP tournament we lost to the Jays in the semi finals by a score of 12-5, the game was close until the Jays scored 5 runs in the sixth to take a 12-5 lead and not look back. On August 7 ( the game where Rob Hayward broke his wrist), there was another close game with the Jays squeaking out a 13-12 win.

Monday September 10, 2012- Keogh Park - I remember the 2010 Hurtin' Units start to the playoffs. We had clinched the league title a couple of weeks before the season had ended and we were riding a high. I think we thought we might just coast through the playoffs, but our eyes were opened up in the first and second games. In the first game we played the Rusty Rebels and we were smoked by a score of 27-12. Does this sound familiar? In our second game we were also beat up by the Dodge City Rounders by a score of 22-11. A total of 49 runs against in our first two games of the playoffs and we desperately needed some points to even hang around.

The Units managed to win the next 2 games and made it in to an elimination game, but were knocked out by the Wild who went on to win the Championship.

I had been thinking about this playoff experience most of the day Monday and how the pressure to win was squarely on the shoulders of the Brew Jays. I had told Mike on Sunday that the Units had nothing to lose, we were expected to lose and the Jays were expected to win. No Pressure. I knew we could play with the Jays (we did have two 1 run losses to these guys), but I didn't think we would chalk up this many runs.

Welcome back Dr. Jekyll, we have been missing you for quite some time. Your return could not have come a better time. The bats were back in this game, to the tune of the most runs we have scored all season.

We were missing Davey and Anicete for this game.

The boxscore really tells the story in this game, this was a full team effort.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRISSLIES.
September 11, 2012

HURTIN' UNITS LOSE 15-9

There are no easy games for the Hurtin' Units in this year's playoffs. Our second game puts us up against the Grisslies, a team we also had some difficulty with. We also played the Grisslies 3 times on the season, again twice in the regular season and once in the HTKP tournament.

On May 8, 2012, in the Hurtin' Units second game of the season, the Hurtin' Units lost by a 17-16 score, for the first loss of many and the first one run loss.

On July 7, the Units played the Grisslies in the HTKP tournament and won by a score of 12-7. This game was not the complete Grisslies team and it was the "Chicks dig me" game, but the Units were playing some good baseball and it was a well deserved win.

On July 17, the Units game # 15, the Units lost another close game by a score of 9-5. The Units were going through this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde phase and couldn't score any runs, it took 4 innings before the Units could even muster up a single run. I am hoping Mr. Hyde is gone fishing for the remainder of the 2012 season.

Tuesday September 11, 2012- Coventry Park - I was really hoping the Grisslies wouldn't show up for this game, no I don't mean show up to play, I mean show up at all...LOL. The Grisslies showed up alright and continued with the type of play that was in our last game when the Grisslies would beat the Units by a score of 9-5. This Grisslies team is solid. Their defense was stellar and offensively I kept asking myself when the bottom of the order was going to come up to bat, their bottom is as good as some teams middle.

This was a good game by both teams; I would be lying if I said I the Units played great, we had a few rough patches and the Grisslies took advantage of them. The Units bats were still hitting the ball well, but the Grisslies defense was really well positioned and made it look easy to shut the Units down. The Units had a little rally in the final inning, but it was too little too late.

The Units defense was not as sharp as it has been in resent games, but it did make some nice plays. Rob (Mr. Awesome) was playing first and assisted on 2 double plays, (1st) caught a tough fly ball, threw to Clayton covering first to get the base runner who had left the bag (2nd) Rob caught a ground ball, threw to third for a force out and then Gord back to second for the force on the runner from first...Awesome plays. Gord R. (SS) made a great grab on a line drive, we think he left the ground, not sure though, I (Jimmer) had several balls come back to the mound, one a screaming line drive.

We were missing 3 players for this game. Anicete, Davey and Mark were all out. Don Booth came in to sub.

I did not take a photo of the game sheet so I could not provide a boxscore. Oops, my bad.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRUSOME DEVILS.September 14, 2012.

Hurtin' Units lose 23-17

The Grusome Devils are a scary team; they have a heck of a lot of power and the defense is solid.

The Units played the Grusome twice this season and split the series; on June 11th, in game # 8, the Units took on the Grusomes and suffered a 16-8 loss contributing to the Units 2-5-1 record. On June 28, in game # 10, the Hurtin Units came away with a 19-17 win in an offensive battle.

Friday September 14, 2012- Coventry Park - Still looking for the second win.

Yes, we were still looking for our second win of the round robin, we had the win against the Jays in our pocket, but the loss against the Grisslies put us in a tough spot, we needed a win to keep us in sight of an elimination game or even a bye in to Sunday.

There always seems to be a team in the league that gives our team trouble, this season the Grusome seem to be that team. Even though we split our games with these guys, they play us really tough. This playoff game was no different. There always seems to be a lot of runs in our games with the Devils.

The game was close from start to finish. The Units were the visiting team in this game. In the top of the first inning the Units scored 2 runs to get off to a get start, but in the bottom of the inning the Devils would score 4 runs to keep pace. In the second inning the Units would score 6 runs and take the lead, but this lead was short lived when the Devils scored 7 runs in the bottom of the inning. The Devils defense would shut down the Units in the third and their offense would score 3 more runs. The score at the end of 3 innings... 14-8 for the Grusome Devils.

In the forth inning, both teams would score 2 runs each. In the fifth inning the Units would score 5 runs and the Devils would counter with 2 more runs. Over the final two innings the Units would only score 2 more runs and the Devils would score another 5 runs. The final score 23-17 for the Grusome Devils.

The Units record for the round robin was now sitting at 1-2 with one game remaining against the Dusty Cleats.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.
Saturday September 15, 2012.

Hurtin' Units win 17-10

The last team we play in the round robin is the Cleats. Like every other team in our pool we had a bit of a rough go with these fellas, with a loss and a tie in our two games played.

On August 14, in game # 20 the Cleats kicked the snot out of us by a score 14-4.

On August 27, in game # 23, the Hurtin' Units and the Dusty Cleats battled to a 3-3 tie. Probably the lowest scoring game, in the league, this season. This game was just another example of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome that the Units were going through this season.

Saturday September 15, 2012 - Hurtin' Units need a win.

The Hurtin' Units were the home team in this game, the first time we were in the round robin play. The Cleats came out of the gate quickly scoring 6 runs in the top of the first inning. The Units would would come out strong themselves, getting back 4 runs to keep the game close. Over the next 2 innings both teams would score 2 runs, the Units a single in the second and third and the Cleats 2 runs in the third. At the end of 3 innings the Cleats lead by 2 runs... 8-6

In the bottom of the forth, the Units bats would thunder to life with the word, from the president, that the Hurtin' Units won the keg party. The Units would put 6 runs up on the score board and take the lead. The Cleats would only score another 2 runs in the game and the Units would tack on an additional 5 to make the final 17-10 and give the Units a bye in to Sunday's games.

At the end of the round robin portion of the playoffs the standings were extremely close. The Hurtin' Units were sitting 2-2 with a plus 2, which would put them in to sixth place in the reseed and second in the "A" pool which gave the Units a bye in to the quarter finals on Sunday vs. the Grisslies.

Sunday September 16, 2012

Quarter Finals- Hurtin' Units vs. Grisslies.

Hurtin' Units win 18-12

I don’t know what it is about the Grisslies, but for some reason I keep forgetting to take a picture of the score sheet and if I don’t have the picture, I can’t include a box score. I guess we can live without a box score for this game. I really should just be happy to be playing on Sunday. This year was the first time in our 3 year history the Hurtin’Units have made it to Sunday play and the nice thing was we didn’t have to play a elimination game. Only one game on Saturday, we should be good for Sunday right?

We have had a difficult time against the Grisslies; they seem to have our number and going in to this game we had lost 3 of 4 games this season if you include the HTKP tournament.

But on this beautiful Sunday morning on diamond # 2, the same diamond the Grisslies beat the Units on earlier in the week, the Hurtin’ Units would come together as a team and git ur done. The Hurtin’ Units would hit hard and often, and when all the dust had settled the Hurtin’ Units would win 18-12 and move on to the semis against either the Brew Jays or the Dislocated Joints.

Sunday September 16, 2012

Semi-Finals- Hurtin' Units vs. Brew Jays.

Hurtin' Units lose 14-8

The Brew Jays had to play an elimination game on Saturday afternoon to make it in to the quarter finals against the Dislocated Joints on Sunday morning. The Jays would go on to beat the Joints in the quarters and earn a berth in the semis vs. the Hurtin' Units.

It seemed like a long time had gone bye since the Hurtin' Units beat the Brew Jays, last Monday night, by a score of 29-9. I'm sure the memory of being beat up was still fresh in the minds of the Jay's players and I'd be willing to bet revenge or payback was the word of the day in the Jay's dugout.

In the top of first inning, the Jays came out on a mission scoring 5 runs. In the bottom, the Units went down quickly without scoring. In the second inning neither team could score. In the top of the third inning the Brew Jays would score another run to make the score 6-0. In the bottom of the third inning, the Unit's bats came alive and scored 4 runs. The score at the end of 3 innings the Brew Jays 6, the Hurtin' Units 4.

The Units were the only team to score in the forth inning, a single run inching the Units closer. Neither team would score in the fifth. The Units would end the inning on an appeal that Cam left the base early and the umpire called Cam out at third... a bad call. This unfair call upset the Unit's players and our heads were not in the game in top of the sixth inning. The Jays would score 7 runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 13-5 lead. The Units would go down quickly in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh inning, the Jays would score another single run, the Units would put up a good fight in the bottom, but scoring 3 runs would not be enough and the Jays would go on to win 14-8. The Units season would come to an end!! The Brew Jays would go on to the final and lose to the Beer Bros. Congratulations to the Beer Bros, the T.O.T Championship winners.

End of Season Wrap Up.

On behalf of Mike and myself we would like to thank everyone for another great season. Despite our up and down play throughout the season and our 12th place finish, we thought this was a fun season. Our record was not as bad as the standings would indicate and who knows where we might have finished if Mike, Anicete, Davey and Dave did not go down with injuries. This year was the first time in our 3 year history we have made it to Sunday play and not only did we make it to Sunday, but we managed to make it to the semi-finals; It would have been great to go to the finals and to even win, but it was not in the cards this season. We definitely had a great run.

The Hurtin' Units came in to the league in 2010 and over the last 3 seasons we have played with 30 different players. Next year we will probably looking at a whole new handful of players. With that said, we like to rate our players as accurate as we can, there is no way that some of you guys are coming back to play against us where you are rated now... Rob, Craig, Mark, Davey you guys are all underrated and need to move up.

There were a couple of things that I didn't like about this season:

We lost to the Brew Jays twice in a semi-final game; The first time was in the HTKP tournament.

Mike and Anicete both going down with injuries. I'm disappointed that this year's edition of the Units didn't really get to play with Mike, you saw a bit of what Mike brings to the team, unfortunately he was injured. I often wonder where we might have finished with Mike and Anicete both healthy.

This year was my first season as a P1 and I would like to thank everyone for your patience while I was going through some growing pains. I know it was painful in the early part of the season and we probably could have had a few more wins. I like to think my pitching improved over the season (still need to learn to throw) and I know I look forward to facing some of you guys next year. I know you guys a little better and I will try to stop you...LOL

I didn't like that Dave Kidd had to call it quits, I really liked having Dave on the team, what can I say, he made me laugh and he took on Tito...worth the price of admission for that one. Dave was a real character guy in our dugout.

When I look back over the season it really wasn't all that bad; here's what I did like.

We didn't finish very high in the standings, but we did have 5 one run losses and 2 two run losses which could have certainly put us up higher in the standings. Maybe even in the top five.

In the HTKP tournament we went 3-0 in the round robin and earned a berth in the semi-finals vs. The Brew Jays, only to lose 12-5 when the Brew Jays scored 5 runs late in the game for the win. The Brew Jays would go on to win the tournament.

There were 5 Hurtin' Unit players that played for the Squirtin' Units in the August tournament. The Squirtin' Units would go on to win the tournament for the second year in a row. Thanks Rob, Clayton, Jamie, Cam and myself (Jimmer).

The Hurtin' Units would win the Keg party. What can I say, we had 10 games at Coventry Park this season, 6 weeks in a row, very little time spent at the Legion and we come away with the Party. I guess this is payback for the rough schedule.

We beat the Brew Jays up real bad in the first game of the playoffs, shortly after they had just clinched the league championship. Final score 29-9.

We would end up in the top 2 in pool “A” in the playoffs, probably the toughest pool, and would get a bye in to Sunday. We beat the Grisslies in the quarter finals. In the semi- finals we would come up a bit short and lose to the Brew Jays again.

I really enjoyed this season and would love to play again with any one of you guys in the future. I really think Mike and I have been fortunate over the last 3 seasons to have played with such a great group of guys, each of our teams was special, but this team will be fondly remembered.

Craig is still offering to host a team party, the dates are limited, I'll send them out and we'll see what results come back.

I have not heard anything about the Keg party, but when I do I'll let you know.

Thanks again for a great season. Go UNITS!!

HURTIN' UNITS - Captain's Blog.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN.

Monday, September 3, 2012

HURTIN' UNITS SCARY GOOD AGAINST BANSHEES.