PRACTISE TIME IS OVER, LET THE REAL GAMES BEGIN...

HURTIN' UNITS PLAYOFF RUN BEGINS...

Get those beards going.

ROCKIN' AND A ROLLIN'.

The first game of the 2013 playoffs is almost upon us and it's been two weeks since the Hurtin' Units have been on the field. The last time we played was way back on August 27 against the Gruesome Devils. We lost this game by a score of 16-10, we had Gord Tanner and Kevin Boston as subs. Any of this ring a bell. All I'm trying to say is, it's been quite some time since we were on the field.

Since our last game, I'm sure all the Hurtin' Unit players have been growing their playoff beards and I'm sure some of them look great. Who doesn't like a good playoff beard?

Once upon a time, not that long ago, the Hurtin' Units were only a single point out of 5th place. And then a horrible losing streak struck them down several positions and then when they were down, the streak kicked them even further down the standings. The Hurtin' Units would come to rest in an unfavorable position, or was it? Some would say that the number 13 was unlucky or even a bad omen. I like to think the 13th position is just where the Units want to be...no pressure on thee.

The 13th position in the standings may actually favor the Units; this position puts the Units in to pool "C". In this pool we will be facing the Brew Jays, Dogcatchers, Tap Masters and the Blues Brothers. I went back over the games we played against these teams and this is what I found.  Our record against teams in the "C" Pool was 3-3-1, .500 and in two of these losses we lost by a single run. Against the Brew Jays ( only played them once on the season) we won. Against the Dogcatchers we matched up almost even, 15-14 loss and a 14-14 tie. Against the Tap Masters we were 1-1, but the loss was by a single run. Against the Blues Brothers we were also 1-1 and both games were reasonably close.

Let's get rollin'.

Based on our regular season play against the teams in our pool, the Hurtin' Units have a chance to beat any team.

For playoff game results go to the next posting.

TIME TO WAKE UP AND MAKE UP...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. GRUESOME DEVILS.

Game # 24 - August 27, 2013 (make up game for August)

Hurtin' Units lose 16-10

Team Record-10-13-1

Coventry Park- Our last game of the regular season...wow, where did the summer go? It seems like just weeks ago we were at the Legion selecting players for the upcoming season. I guess it's like they say " time flies when you're having fun." Despite a mediocre season on the field, this really has been fun. 

We have a great group of guys on this team and I have enjoyed playing with you guys this season. Sure we've had some ups and downs, some highs and lows, but in the end this league is all about having fun. I'll say it again this season really has been fun. 

At the time I'm writing this blog, the season has concluded and the final standings have been posted. The Hurtin' Units finished the season in 13th position. This position is probably the lowest any Hurtin' Unit team has ever finished, but with 1 or 2 more wins we could have been as high as 7th. And as most of us are aware, we had 7 one run losses on our season, so we know we can compete with most teams. 

Even if we could have pulled out a victory in this game we would have jumped up from 13th to 10th and one point out of 9th. The Hurtin' Units only finished 12 points behind 1st place. There is a lot of parity in the league and the playoffs are going to be interesting.

Missing from this game were: Brian, Jamie, Darrell and Ricky Bobby. We picked up Kevin Boston and Gord Tanner to help us out. Thanks guys. 

In this game against the Gruesome Devils, I forgot to get the game sheet again. I can say we played a competitive game, but just had a difficult time scoring runs. 

Now that the season is finished it's time to focus on the playoffs. The schedule is posted and the Units will be in the "C" pool. It's time to get serious....Go Units.  

TAP, TAP, TAP...TIMMY, Tap, Tap, Tap... JASON.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE TAP MASTERS.

Game # 23- August 26, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 12-7

Team Record... 10-12-1

Keogh Park- On May 29, we played the Tappers and lost by a score of 16-15. This was one of our 7 one run losses on the season. Now some of you may have looked by at the schedule and said " Jimmer we did play the Tap Masters, but the date on the schedule was May 21st." Yes the schedule did have us playing on June 21st, but the game back then was canceled and rescheduled for the 29th. That game on June 21st was rescheduled due to heavy rain and thunderstorms.

This game (August 26) was scheduled for 9:30pm; it was one of our scheduled 9:30 games on the season.

At game time the weather was hot and humid, approximately 26 degrees feeling like 34. The sky was cloudy and the weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms, the storms didn't develop.

With a 9:30pm start, the rosters are usually a little lighter than earlier starts. At game time the Units had 8 players dressed in uniform ready to play. Missing on the night were Jamie, Brian, Hal and Richard. ... We picked up super sub Doug Dwyer and super duper sub Andy Gee.

When I get to this point in the season, I have a difficult time focusing on the blog. I not sure why, maybe because I can only say we are an awesome team so many times. I'll say it one more time and I'll say it with great pride...We are an awesome team!!! I know our record doesn't do us an favors, but this team is riddled with talent and hopefully the talent is revealed in the playoffs.

Okay back to the blog thingie. I'm really not sure why the blog seems to get neglected at this point in the season, but it does. It happened last season also. I'm looking forward to getting through the rest of this season.

This game against the Tap Masters was probably one of our best played games all season. Our defense was solid and our bats came through when we needed them. I did take a picture of the game sheet, but I haven't down loaded it and I don't have my camera with me...Might get to it sometime in the future.

I don't remember much of the game other than we were awesome. Andy and Doug were really good in the outfield and Andy was a major reason for this victory. Ricky Bobby hit a homerun in to the tennis court. I had lots of action pitching, two line drives for outs, two ground balls for outs at first and third.

That's it, that all I got for this one.

One more regular season game to go...
 

AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DRAFT KINGS  II



I get no respect... 

Game # 22- August 20th, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 19-18

Team Record- 9-12-1

Coventry Park- Before this game was played, I would have thought the Draft Kings were head and shoulders above the rest of the league. I would have been wrong thinking this...I was perusing the standings just before game time and realized that our game might actually play a part in whether or not the Draft Kings win the league title. 

To my surprise, the Kings were only 2 points ahead of the Dislocated Joints and the Brew Jays, I really thought the Kings were ahead by more. A win by the Kings against us, would not clinch the title, but a loss could certainly benefit the Joints and Jays. 

The weather for this game vs. the Kings was fantastic; the temperature was hovering around 23 degrees, the sky was a sun/cloud mix at the start, there was almost no wind and the humidity was low. 

At game time, we had 9 Unit players on the field, missing on this night were Jamie, Richard and Brian. We called for a sub and Beechy was assigned to our roster for the evening. 

Over the past weekend, there were 7 Hurtin' Unit players playing, on various teams, in the T.O.T August tournament. Playing this weekend were: Coxy, Phil (Pop-eyes), Jimmer, Woody, Darrell (Squirtin' Units), Jamie (the Quiet Ones), Ricky L. (Gruesome Twosome). The Pop-eyes was the tournament winner. 

I bring up the tournament again because I realized how many guys were battling injuries and aches and pains in this game. Most of the guys I mentioned earlier were dealing with some nagging pain, including myself. Add these injuries to the others that were obtained throughout the season, and we have a pretty beaten up team. Thankfully we only have one game this week and hopefully the rest will help heal up what's ailing us. 


And then there were seven...I am referring to the number of one run losses this season. We have lost almost one third of our total games played this season by a single run. This game is our 22nd on the season and we have 7 losses by one single run. I like to look at this as, we are a competitive team and we are in the mix in all these games. Others, not me, would look at this as, we are a team of chokers and can't finish off our opponents. We have only won 1 game by a single run this season, the rest of our wins were by multiple runs. 

The Draft Kings are a tough team to play, and we have played them tough in both of our games. On Wednesday May 8th, the first game of the season for the Units, the Hurtin' Units beat the Draft Kings by a score of 16-11. Since that cool night in May the Draft Kings have a record of 16-5-1 while sitting in first place and the Units have a record of 9-12-1 and we now sit in 13th place. The standings were updated before I started this posting and I was surprised to see how far we have dropped in a few short weeks. I guess a 5 game losing streak can do that. 






We have two more regular season games remaining, Monday August 26th against the Tap Masters and Tuesday August 27th against the Gruesome Devils. It would nice to pick up a win or two going in to the playoffs.  

REBELS CAUSE HAVOC IN UNITS CAMP...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE RUSTY REBELS.

Game #  21- August 13, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 17-11

Team Record  9-11-1

Coventry Park- I mentioned in the last posting that I usually take a picture of the game sheet and work from there to assist in the blog. I forgot to get the game sheet from this game also. In actual fact, I used to take pictures of the game sheet, but lately Doug (the stats guy) has picked up the sheet before I even had a chance to snap a shot. Doug has been very good about it and will usually send me a electronic copy if I request one. Last week I did request copies of the Red Dogs and this game, but I think Doug was really busy organizing the fun division of the T.O.T. August Tournament and he left me hangin'. 

So without the game sheets things are a little bit tougher to piece together. I guess what is most important, in this bloggie thing, is the game score and the pictures of hot baseball babes. 

I too was busy with the August tournament. During the week of this game, I had a handful of players committed at the start of the week, but still had to get the roster filled in. I did it, but it took away from the blog, hence the late postings. 

Since the game last Tuesday night, I have played 4 additional games (all in the tourney) and last week is really a blur. I can tell you that I remember the Units had taken a 1 run lead in the top of the sixth inning (11-10), only to have the Rebels score 7 in the bottom. And in the seventh the Units went down quickly putting another game result in the loss column. We certainly played better in this game than we did the night before against the Red Dogs. In the game against the Red Dogs we stunk...not going to candy coat that game. 

Good til the Last Drop:

The T.O.T tournament has concluded and the Squirtin' Units were unable to three-peat. The Units could not even muster up a single win in the tournament. We played 4 games in the round robin portion of the tourney and lost 3 games by 2 runs and the other by 6 runs. The competition in this year's fun division was the best I have every seen. 

The Units had a great squad on the field and I don't know how many times people came up to me asking how we could lose 4 games with the talent we had. We lost to 4 solid baseball teams, with really good players, that's how.

  I mentioned last year, that I was going to retire the Squirtin' Units name and I should have. I went to the well too many times with this name and the record books with show the team going down in a ball of flames in it's last crusade. The Hammell bunch will return in the future under a new name. It's time to tear it down and start the rebuilding phase. My thanks go out to everyone who played with the Squirtin' Units team.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Tuesday August 20th vs. the first place Draft Kings.

WHAT'S BLACK AND YELLOW AND RED ALL OVER THEM?

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE RED DOGS.

That sure was an ugly game. 

Game # 20- August 12, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 25-6

Team Record- 9-10-1

Keogh Park- At approximately 5:00pm the skies over Tottenham were dark with black thunder clouds and the threat of rain was in the air. Fortunately the thunderstorms did not develop and by 6:45 the skies looked almost clear with bright sunshine streaming through my front bay window. It was looking like our 8:15 was going to be rain free.

In the last game with the Red Dogs it was raining at game time, but cleared enough to let us get the game in. The ball was still slippery when pitching and making plays, but it still better than a downpour or some of the conditions we have experienced this season.

The Units played the Red Dogs in game # 17 on July 29th. And that game was a good ole fashion slug fest with the Units prevailing by a score of 23-16. In fact the game was the last time the Units won. Our record was 9-7-1 after the last Red Dogs game. Our record going in to this game was 9-9-1. We have lost our last two games, 15-12 to the Blues Brothers and 13-12 to the Dusty Cleats. 

This game saw the return of most of the Units lineup, after spending the last several weeks using subs and piecing this roster together. Missing from this game was only Jamie. 

In most of the games this season, I have gotten the game sheets and was able to do a boxscore. This game I was unable to get the sheet (probably not a bad idea anyway) and it's difficult to tell a game story without it, so with that said, I'll just post the score and that will be the story. 

Last season, in game # 21, back on August 15, 2012, the Hurtin' Units lost to the Beer Bros. by a score of 13-1. This BB game was the lowest point in our mediocre season. In the blog for this game, I titled it "The Hurtin' Units bats are Jinxed". Our hitting had gone south, we had stopped scoring, our losses were piling up and the team was getting frustrated. 

I mention all this because we seem to be falling in to the same kind of funk. Last season, following the loss to the Beer Bros., I talked to a friend who is a psychic and she suggested smudging the bats...I did this and we started playing better. We carried that better play through the rest of the season and in to the playoffs. The Units would go to the semi finals only to lose to the Brew Jays. 

I think it is time to smudge the bats again, it's a simple thing for me to do and it can't hurt with the way we've been batting. 

In this game against the Red Dogs, Darrell got the start as pitcher. This was the rookie's forth start of the season. Darrell got off to a bit of a rough start, but settled down as the game went on. The Red Dogs bats were on fire and when I was catching it seemed that everyone on their roster was hammering the ball. 

After the game, if someone were to walk in to the Legion and saw the red team and the black and yellow, sitting at separate tables, that person would have a difficult time figuring out which of the two teams was spanked 25-6. Even when we sitting at the table, one of the Units players said " we are a pretty happy group considering we just had our asses kicked." This has been a fun season despite our up and down play, I really can't complain about most of this season.

I was thinking about why a team (the Red Dogs) that had had 100 runs scored against them over their last 4 games, could come out and stop the Units at 6 runs, while scoring 25. What up with that? 

I have a couple of ideas:

- Perhaps the new bat in the bag has bad energy and it needs to be smudged.
- Ricky Bobby's heavy bat was missing on the night, maybe that was bad luck. 
- Tito pitched a great game ( yea, he really did).
- Peter Hollman (Red Dogs) hit for the cycle against us. He also hit a grand slam homerun in the first inning, helping the Dogs get off to a 7 run lead. 
- Maybe the Units bats were jinxed because Mike,  Jimmer, Cam and Glen all wore red, matching golf shirts in  the T.O.T golf tournament. Red...the colour of the Red Dogs.

 Maybe, just maybe, we got off to a bad start and could not recover in this game. We only scored 6 runs and on most nights this is not going to win you the game, not in this league. 

What ever the cause of this loss, the Units have 3 more games to get it turned around and hopefully we will be better in the playoffs.   

AND I GUESS THATS WHY THEY CALL THEM THE BLUES...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BLUES BROTHERS.

Game # 19 - August 6, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 15-12

Team Record 9-9-1

Coventry Park- Back on June 7th, at Keogh Park the Blues Brothers and the Hurtin' Units battled for the first time this season. It was the game for the 100th blog, Ricky Bobby had got his forgotten cleats back, it was a cool night (13 degrees), at times the rain sprinkled us with drops and it was a night that the Units won by a score of 11-7. It was also the night Phil was MIA. 

Back on that night, it was game # 6 and this game is game # 19...Where did the season go? We only have 5 games remaining on the season. Looking at the standings, before this game, the Hurtin' Units were sitting in 7th place. There is no way to catch the Draft Kings and let's face it we all know that the first place team rarely wins the championship. In fact the Beer Bros. (last year's champions) finished in 7th place, so we got that going for us.

This game against the Blues Brothers saw some changes in the Hurtin' Units lineup. Mike's replacement (Harold) played in his first game and played well, Darrell was absent for, I believe, the first time all season, Rick L played his second consecutive game and looked great. Missing from this game were Darrell, Richard and Coxy. We picked up Doug Dwyer (ole double D cup) as a sub. Next week will be interesting...we could have a full team, wouldn't that be different. 

The weather was good; temperature was around 22 degrees, but there were a couple rain drops during the game, but nothing to worry about.


This game was a great competitive matchup, but it was overshadowed by an incident in the bottom of the 2nd inning. In the bottom of the second inning, the home team Units batting, Phil hit a line drive up the middle of the diamond that hit Brother's pitcher Dave Argue in the right side of the head.

Dave had little opportunity to protect himself from the hit, barely getting his glove up and turning away. The shot dropped Dave to the ground and caused a large cut. Dave left the game, went to the hospital and was treated receiving 6 staples to close the cut. Last time I heard Dave was in good spirits and doing well.

When the game resumed, the Unit's bats came alive and the game was close throughout. The boxscore tells a pretty good story of this game, so I don't have to bore you with details. 

"Ricky L. was like a machine out there." 

There were some great plays in the game, by both teams, and Rick Lyon was Mr. Awesome in the field with several excellent plays.

We also received a new team bat. 

THE MUDDY CLEATS...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS II.

" It's deja vu all over again " - Yogi Berra



Rain soaked HTKP Tourney.

Game #  18 - July 30, 2013 
(makeup game from July 8)

 Hurtin' Units lose 13-12

 Team Record- 9-8-0

Keogh Park - This season really is cruising along, we are at 18 games and counting. On May 16th, game # 3, we played this Dusty Cleat team and came away with a 20-4 win. The win gave the Units a 2-1-0 record at the time and it put us above .500 for only the second time this season. We also played the Dusty Cleats in the HTKP tournament and lost by a score of 8-3 in a rain soaked semi-final game. The Dusty Cleats would go on to the finals, only to lose to the Rusty Rebels.

We were scheduled to play the Dusty Cleats the next night (July 8), but as luck would have it the rain was still hanging around the Tottenham area and at 7:00pm on Monday night there were thunderstorms, heavy rain and windy conditions. These were not conditions we were going to play in and the full slate of games, scheduled for the night, were canceled. This was also the night we had a wing night at the legion.



No Makeup required here.

So that brings us to this point, which is another makeup game. This game is our second makeup game on the season, the first was against the Rusty Rebels, and we have one more in late August  vs. the Gruesome Devils. The Devils makeup is for the missed game last week, when we canceled for lack of players. 
The weather was definitely finer on this night than last. The playing surface was dry, the temperature hovered around 21 degrees and there was no wind at our 9:30pm start time. A perfect night for baseball. After the game, we were in the parking lot having a few sodas and the sky was clear, the stars were amazing in sky, there were even some shooting stars.

We have included a video in the blog for quite some time, I think we're due.

Speaking of stars, at game time we had 7 Hurtin' Unit players suited up and ready to take on the mighty Cleats. Ricky L. was back in the lineup...Hooray! Missing from the Units lineup in this game were: Ricky Bobby, Jamie, Brian, Richard and Vince.

Mikey will still be giving advice and batting tips.

I used the Yogi Berra quote " It's deja vu all over again " at the top of this posting, not because this game is similar to any other game, but because for the second year in a row Mike has gone down with a season ending injury.

As most of the Hurtin' Unit players know, Mike has been injured (knee) since our game against the Rusty Rebels. Since the injury took place the Units have been without Mike's services and recently he tried the injections of goo in to the knees, which seemed to help enough to allow him to play both games this week.

Last week Mike went for a MRI on the injured knee and today was told the results of the MRI. The results were not good; Mike has a torn meniscus in his right knee that will require surgery and will end his baseball season. We have informed the T.O.T executive of the injury and have requested a replacement player. This is almost a carbon copy of last season for Mike.



Dusty Cleats batting coach.

The Units were the visitors in the this game. Darrell was the pitcher in this game. In our first at bat, it was looking like it might be one of those quick games. Speaking of quick games, the game before ours tonight was a final score of 3-1 and played in 49 minutes. A hockey score in a slo-pitch game.

It looked like our game might be the same with our first at bat. In the first inning we were 3 up, 3 out to start. The Cleats got to us early, scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st. In the top of the second inning, the Units bats came to life and put up a 6 run inning, stranding the 7th at second base sending 10 batters to the plate.

Ricky returns to the lineup.

The Units shut the door in the bottom of the inning allowing 0 runs. The Units were shut down quickly in the top of the third inning, 4 batters and 3 outs. The pattern continued in the bottom of the third, the Cleats would score 5 runs. The score after 3 innings of play, Cleats 9, Units 6.

I say the pattern continued because every other inning one of the teams had a 0 run inning. The forth inning was the Units turn to score, we would put up 3 runs to tie the game. The Cleats would be shut out in the bottom of the inning. Over the next 2 innings each team would score once and at the end of six innings the score was tied at 10-10. 

In the top of the 7th inning the Units would score 2 runs to break the pattern and take a lead. But a 2 run lead would not be enough to hold on for the victory; the Cleats would score 3 runs in a very intense bottom of the inning. The Units would go on to lose their 6th one run loss of the season.  

RED ROVER, RED ROVER, COME ON OVER...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE RED DOGS.

Game # 17- July 29, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 23-16

Team Record 9-7-1

Keogh Park- This game is our first meeting with the Red Dogs this season; okay that's not quite true, we have played, but not in the regular season. I actually had to go back and see if we had played these guys. 

We did play the Red Dogs in the HTKP tournament and won by a score of 10-3 to get us in the semi-finals. We will play them again on August 12 in our second regular season game. 

The weather for this game was a heck of a lot cooler than last game. If you recall the last game, the temperature at 4:00pm was 30 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 38 degrees. At 4:00pm for this game, the temperature was 19 degrees and felt like 22 degrees with the humidity. There was also a threat of isolated showers in the afternoon and those showers came about and it was still raining lightly at game time. The rain stopped early in the game, but the ball was still wet on almost every play. 

Our game last week was canceled and rescheduled due to a shortage of Unit players. We had a lot of guys away on vacation or on shift work or injured. This week is little bit better for attendance, but we are still down some guys. It is the time of year when it is the toughest to fill a game roster and for next little while we'll be piecing this team together.

Mikey Boy returns to the lineup.

For this game we were down 6 players, missing on the night were Jamie, Brian, Rick L. Richard, Coxy and Vince. We picked up 4 subs on the night. We picked up Hurtin' Units alumni Jens L.,Craig (Dude), Dave F., and Steve L. as our replacements for this game. Steve was a last minute replacement. 
  

It's been 12 days since we battled on the field and it seems that this team (Units) play better when we play more. I don't have the data to support my thought here, but I can recall games, after an extended layoff, where we got off to a slow start. There is not much we can do here, but to come out swingin'. I'm itchin' to get back on the field. 

We go in to this game against the Red Dogs with a 3 game unbeaten streak; two wins and a tie. In the standings, we dropped two positions just by not playing; last weekend we were in 6th place and today we sit in 8th, but with a game or 2 in hand. We have 3 games in hand on the Draft Kings, who currently sit in 1st place.

Hey Darth, is that a league bat?

I managed to get a game in last week; I subbed for the Draft Kings vs. the Hottub Woodys. It was a tight defensive game and going in to the bottom of the 7th inning the Woodys lead by a score of 7-3. The Draft Kings would have last at bat and in the bottom of the seventh inning the Kings would score 5 runs to come back for an 8-7 win. The Kings are a strong team and will be a tough matchup in the playoffs. 

The Hurtin' Units were the visitors in this game and we jumped ahead in the early innings and didn't look back. I think the boxscore tells the story of the game; the Hurtin' Units were up 11-4 after 4 innings and kept the pedal to the floor through the last 3 innings. The Red Dogs have a really good hitting team and they showed it in the final couple of innings, but in the end it wouldn't be enough. 

The Units hit four homeruns in to the tennis courts last night, one was actually by Steve L. (sub), but the others were by Mike, Ricky Bobby and Phil. 

I was looking at the game sheet and there were some impressive numbers put up by the Hurtin Unit players. Ricky Bobby went 6 for 6 with 5 runs scored, Woody went 5 for 6 with 5 runs scored and Darrell scored 4 runs. 14 runs scored for 3 guys is impressive... 

     

The Hurtin' Units are back on the field on July 30, 2013 for a makeup game with the Dusty Cleats.

THE YOUNG AND THE REST OF US...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DOGCATCHERS.

Really, Really Hot!!

Game # 16- July 17, 2013

Hurtin'Units tie 14-14

Team Record- 8-7-1

Keogh Park- On what was the hottest day of the year, we get scheduled a 9:30pm game. When I first looked at the schedule and saw this game time, I groaned a little, knowing that I would have to get up early the next morning, but with the temperatures where they were, I'm almost thankful for this time. The temperature at 4:00pm on game day, according to the Weather Network, was 30 degrees Celsius and with the humidity it felt like 38 degrees. There was zero breeze and it felt hotter!!

Speaking of hot, I'm sure most of you have had a chance to view the disgusting video in the last posting. I can't imagine grown men dancing around half naked, I certainly don't want to watch such a thing. I voiced my opinion in the last posting and since then the persons involved have changed their ways. Shortly after I voiced my concerns the same group went out and made another more respectable video. To view the new video, click on the link.

http://www.jibjab.com/view/Z8dIGmuaTyek5I1Zz9R1Aw

Now wasn't that better...It's hard to believe it's the same guys.

This game was our second, this season, vs. the Dogcatchers. In our first go round back on May 14, 2013, the Units second game of the season, the Dogcatchers squeaked out a 15-14 win. Our first of 5 one run losses on the season so far. 

In the first game we witnessed Brad Young crank a homerun out in left field at Coventry # 3 diamond. " I guess he liked the pitch" I thought. Now... his homerun was wind assisted and it did hit the top of the fence so you know... okay let's face it, this guy can hit a baseball. Oh yea, he can catch, run and knows this game really well, but can he hit an in the park homerun??? 

I know that our boy Phil G. (a.k.a. Philly cheesesteak) can. In fact Phil G. hit 2, not 1, but 2 in the park homeruns back on May 14th, so we know we got that in our back pockets if we need them... Homeruns back on May 14 - Brad Y- 1,  Phil G.- 2. 


I mentioned the weather was hot for this game against the Dogcatchers. We played at 9:30 and it was still stinkin' hot; All of the players were glistening with sweat (kinda like the video in the last post) and our garments were soaked. I can't imagine what it was like playing at 7:00, when the sun was still out and baking the players like they were in an Easy Bake Oven.
  

Time for the injection...What part is the knee?

At game time we had 8 Unit players at the park. Missing from the roster were Mike (had the goo injected in to his knees), Jamie (slept in from his pre-game nap), Ricky Bobby (was at Blue Mountain skiing, just kidding, he was enjoying some family time) and Ricky L. (was still under the weather). We called for a sub and Cliff Tucker was assigned the task.

The game was fun considering how hot it was. I was perusing the T.O.T standings prior to the game and realized that the Dogcatchers and the Hurtin' Units have the same record, at least we did at the start of the week. Remember we won against the Woodys earlier in the week and that wasn't reflected in the standings that I was viewing.

So with the two teams so close in the standings, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see a tie. The Hurtin' Units first tie of the season. I mentioned in a previous posting that the Units have had 2 ties in each of the last three seasons. I suppose we are due for one more before the season ends.

The first game we played against each other was 15-14 score in favor of the Dogcatchers. 

Who wants some Sambuca?

The Units were the home team in this game. In the top of the first inning the leadoff guy, Brad Young flied out to Richard in left field, and then the second batter also flied out to Richard, it was looking like the Richard G. show out there. The next five batters would hit and four would come around to score, before Randy (Cowpie) would fly out to (yea, you guessed it) Richard in left field. In the bottom of the inning, the Units would send 7 batters to the plate and score 3 runs. Not too bad, we're still in it right?

In the top of the 2nd inning, the Catchers would score 5 runs and in the bottom the Units only managed a single counter. The score after 2 innings...Dogcatchers 9, Hurtin' Units 5.

"If a fairly batted ball is to be declared an infield fly the umpire shall call: "INFIELD FLY, IF FAIR, BATTER IS OUT" for the benefit of the runners. Failure to make the call does not preclude the batted ball from being an infield fly. The ball is alive and if the runners advance they do so at their own risk and are in jeopardy if the ball is caught. The ruling is the same as any other caught or dropped fly ball. A foul ball is not an infield fly and if the ball falls untouched to the ground in fair or foul territory prior to first or third base and subsequently rolls into foul territory, it is just a foul ball."

In the top of the third inning, the Units caught a bit of a break. I include the rule about the infield fly because it played a role in the 0 run inning for the Dogcatchers. Larry T. lead off the inning with a walk (what can I say, he's not a swinger), followed by Big Bad Brad with a single, and with runners on first and second, the next batter (Jim) popped up to second base, the Umpire yelled " Infield fly, batter is out if fair". 

Infield fly, batter is out if fair.

Darrell was playing second and casually waited for the pop fly (which was in fair territory) to come down, the ball hit the side of his glove, off his head (just kidding about the head) and hit the ground. The batter was automatically out, but for some reason the runners on the bases started to go...Brad was tagged out and then Larry was tagged out. Triple play and the Units were out of the inning. In the bottom of the inning the Units would score 2 runs and inch a little closer. 

In the top of the forth inning, the Dogcatchers would tack on another 2 runs. In the bottom of the inning the Units would storm back with 4 runs and leave the 5th stranded at third base. At the end of 4 innings of play the score was 11-10 for the Dogcatchers. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Brad lead off with a double and with a bit of hitting behind him came in to score. That would be all the Dogcatchers would score in the inning. In the bottom of the inning the Units would score 3 more runs and take the lead for the first time since the first inning. 13-12 for the Units.

Homerun make me tired and thirsty.

In the top of the sixth inning (the open inning in this game) the Dogcatchers would come out and score again, this time 2 more runs. In the bottom of the inning, we were down by a single run, I (Jimmer) was the lead off batter and hit a to right center field, the ball hit the ground and got by the fielder, rolled to the fence, I chugged around like the little engine that could, to score and tie the game...14-14 with nobody out.  

The next batter was Cliff who hit a single, who was forced out at second on a single by Darrell. The next batter was Coxy, who hit a single and brought Darrell around to third... tying run on third with one out. The next batter Brian flied out and Darrell was unable to tag and come home. 2 out and Phil (Cheesesteak) was the next batter, Phil hit a ground ball to the second baseman who threw to first for the final out and a 14-14 tie. 

I mentioned earlier that it was the Richard show, the lad was definitely having a busy night in left field and in the one of the later innings, he made an amazing catch at the fence to keep the game close. Woody also made a great catch in center field; a line drive I really thought was going to the fence, Woody came across the center field (like a gazelle) and made a highlight reel catch.  

It was an in the parker homerun... ran like a gazelle. 

This was fun game and I thoroughly enjoy playing in games like this. The Units showed they can come back if they get behind in on the scoresheet. 

Great work Units!!