HURTIN' UNITS POLISH OFF THE CLEATS.

" I don't touch the green" - Gary Cox quote of the game.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.

Game # 3- May 16, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 20-4

Team Record 2-1-0

Keogh Park- Whenever I see the Dusty Cleats name on our schedule I am reminded of the 2011 T.O.T season. A season where the Dusty Cleats were the most dominate team in the league, a true powerhouse that steam rolled over most of the league teams with the ease of a tank. The Cleats 2011 regular season record was a very impressive, A 22-2-0 and they only lost a single game in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the game they lost, in the playoffs, was to the Grisslies in the finals. This Cleats team was the only team I can remember ever coming this close to a perfect season. Unfortunately, on August 15, 2011 the Cleats winning streak came to an end at the bats of ...you guessed it...The Hurtin' Units. The game was actually very close and in the end the Units would defeat the Cleats by a score of 15-14 and end their 19-0-0 season record. This was actually the highlight of the Units mediocre season, a season for the Units that would finish with a 10-12-2 record and only play the round robin portion of the playoffs.

The weather for this game was almost perfect, the sun was shining, the temperature hovered around 21 degrees and there was a breeze swirling around the ball park. Now I say the weather was almost perfect, but really it was perfect for sitting around havin a few pops, not so much for playing a 7:00pm baseball game at Keogh Park. In actual fact the sun was shining in to the eyes of players on the right side of the diamond and the breeze was probably more like a strong wind, which played some havoc with the pitching. The temperature was nice though.

At game time we had only 9 roster players dressed in the new shirts, Ricky Bobby was working, Richard is nursing a leg injury and Hags was busy. I'm wrong about having 9 roster players, we only had 8 players, Jamie had e-mailed me earlier indicating he was going to be a little late. I had Vince play in the field for the first inning and Jamie arrived just in time to run in to the park and up to bat. I called for a sub, for this game, and got little Timmy Sullivan to fill in for the evening. Timmy provided us with some entertainment on the evening...

After the game, which was shortened by time (late game was scheduled for 9:30pm), 8 of the Hurtin' Unit players when back to the legion. We had a few jugs of beer and some laughs about the game and other stuff that came up. We have a great group on this team and I think this is really going to be a special season.

In our Legion discussions, Ricky the Lyon told us a hitchhikin' story that happened to him recently and how his wife was upset with him picking up a stranger. I'm sure she was upset because of the events that had happened earlier in the week with the guy who was trying to sell his truck, went for a test drive and was found dead...Scary stuff.

Ricky's hitchhiking story reminded me of the movie Something about Mary (one of my favorite comedies) and we started talking about the movie parts and laughed again. It is only recently that the blogger site has allowed video clips and I really like putting in a clip every once and a while. Here's a little video from the movie Something about Mary.

Also in our Legion experience Woody actually discovered that we have a logo on our shirts. He didn't realize we always had a picture of Bender from the animated television show Futurama. Woody had heard about the show, but has never seen it. I thought I would include a short video for Woody to get aquainted with Bender.



Okay so there you have it, a couple of videos to keep things rolling along in the blog.

There was point, just before game time, when Vince inquired about the lineup and how I put it together. I like when guys ask why we do things a certain way and I'm more than happy to explain our logic when it comes to batting and the lineup. Mike and I have been doing this captaining thingie for 4 years and it is our experience that leads us in this direction. In the past we used to pepper the weaker batters in between the stronger guys, but we found that we didn't get the same run producing results as putting most of the stronger bats in a bunch. I'm sure on this year's edition of the Units, with all the good hitters we have, peppering the weaker bats amongst the stronger would produce some good results, but we still believe that bunching works most effectively. I like to leave the batting order the same for awhile and eventually guys will get to know who is in front of them. It should help with better communication, although last night we seemed a little out of sorts...It'll come.  

Every bat in our lineup seems to be strong and every batter has a role to play. We have a good balance of guys who can get on base and guys who hit for power to bring them home. Over our first three games we have had some great bursts of run scoring, a total of 50 runs over 3 games, an average of over 16 runs per game. I really wish we had this kind of power last season...it certainly would have made our record a bit better.  

In the past, we would also start the batter who was next to bat in the last game, but we would forget who it was and it became a pain in the ass trying to remember. This year we decided to take the guy at the bottom of the order and bring him to the lead off position in the upcoming game. We will try this for the first 12 games (everybody will get a chance to bat leadoff) and then we'll assess the batting order and make adjustments in the batting order/lineup for the next 12 games heading toward the playoffs. Easy Peasy lemon squeasy...    

I guess at some point I should talk about the game against the Dusty Cleats. I mentioned earlier how the wind played a role in this game. Pitching was effected by the strong gusts in the infield, but it was the same for both sides so no team really had any advantage. Pully was having a difficult time finding his mojo on the evening, and somewhere mid-game he gave way to Bob P. the Cleats P2. Bob struggled for a bit, but managed to get it together. I walked 3 batters on the evening, as Coxy would remind me several times at the Legion. I think Coxy will be a helpful addition to me pitching when I am not making good pitches... There was one strike out I made on Brad, for the third out, when I caught the corner of the board for a big out...love the strikeout.

The Hurtin' Units bats were pounding the ball hard from the start of the game and we only batted for 4 innings. The game was on a tight schedule and open inning was called in the fifth. That's what happens when you score 20 runs in four innings. The Units went through the order in both the first 2 innings and I think we went through again in the forth inning.

I really like the way Vince and Brian are playing. Vinnie has a really good glove and Brian is just stinging the ball. On one occasion Brian smoked a hit down the third base line only to have Dennis S. make a tremendous grab and throw him out at first. Awesome power from Brian.

What can I say about little Timmy Sullivan? This guy is a real trooper and every time he subs for the Units, he has an adventure filled evening. In this game, he had a little trouble in the field, but the funniest moment was when the bases were loaded and Tim was batting and struck out watching the third strike to end the inning. Tim is a great character guy and he has subbed for us many o times, he's always welcome to play for the UNITS. Thanks for coming out Tim.

The Hurtin' Units started this game strong and it carried on through the whole game. I mentioned we only batted 4 innings and scored 20 runs, our bats were working well and our defense was solid, put these two things together and there will, on most nights, be a victory or a very close game. I think the boxscore tells most of the story for this game. One more thing about the play on the field, Phil G. got the final 3 outs, all pop flys on the infield, Coxy allowed a line drive to go over his head to give Phil a chance for the third pop up...A team guy to be sure.

The Hurtin' Units next two games are at Coventry Park and then we head to Keogh Park for 11 of the next 12 games, a great chance for this Hurtin' Units batting lineup to make a good run up the standings.

HURTIN' UNITS CAUGHT BY THE DOGCATCHERS...

" We're still holding on to a playoff spot" - Gary Cox following the loss to the Dogcatchers.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DOGCATCHERS.

Game # 2 - May 14, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 15-14

Team Record 1-1-0

Coventry Park- Diamond # 3 The season is officially under way, every team has played at least one game and some have played as many as 4 games already. This game is the second game for the Hurtin' Units with another scheduled for Thursday evening against the Dusty Cleats.

I'm one of these guys that likes to be really prepared when it comes to doing things and baseball is no exception. I like to prepare the game sheet and lineup prior to the game, I pack my bag, have my clothes ready, etc. I don't like when the expected happens, it takes away from my focus. An example of such would be the lights not coming on at the park, it distracts me and takes away my focus. On opening night I'm even more anal about having everything ready to go. 

On opening night there was something I forgot to check before heading to the park and it could have distracted me. I think I am evolving as player and I took this little incident, that happened at the park, as a real stepping stone. What happened Jimmer?is probably what you're thinking... I was at the bleachers putting on my cleats, I put the right foot in, shook it all about, tied a bow and then I put my left foot in and shook it all about, pulled on the lace and snap!!! Yes, my shoe lace had broken, I didn't have another pair of laces (honestly I didn't even look), there were people in the bleachers and that girl named Gina ?, sitting in the stands, offered me a new pair she had in the car, I thanked her and just tied the lace back together. I didn't really want to change the lace, it was getting close to game time, I needed to throw the ball. The repair job made it through the night and we won the game. I can't believe I didn't check my shoe laces. 

On Saturday, I stopped by Dollarama and purchased several new pair of laces. The coolest thing is that the laces are black and yellow like our team colours, not the Boston Bruins. Going in to this game I had another distraction. Did you ever get a song stuck in your head and it just keeps popping back in. Well... I have this silly little diddy stuck in my brain going around and around. What's the song you ask? "Prius for Everyone"... Watch the video to hear the song.        

Okay there you have it, the Prius for Everyone song.

With the weather we had over the past weekend, I think we got off pretty lucky for this game. At game time the temperature was hovering around 10 degrees and there was a strong breeze blowing south to north and it actually played a part in this loss.

 

At game time we had eleven Hurtin' Units players ready to take on the Dogcatchers. We still didn't have our shirts, but I received an e-mail on Monday evening, indicating that the shirts were ready and we could possibly get them later on Tuesday evening. Following the game, we were heading to the Legion and Paul P. was waiting in the Coventry parking lot with the shirts. We went to the Legion and distributed the shirts while having a couple of jugs of icy cold Coors Light. Now that we have our shirts, the season is definitely now officially, 110% under way.  

The Units were the visitors in this game, which meant the Dogcatchers would have last at bat and that last at bat was the one that decided the outcome of the game. The Dogcatchers 7th inning was their most productive all game. I now have a smaller scale idea of how the Toronto Maple Leafs felt on Monday night against the Bruins. It was almost the same thing.

Even though we were saddled with a loss, I really enjoyed this game. It was a good competitive back and forth battle in every inning and it came down to the last inning and almost the last at bat to decide the victor. The game had 29 runs scored and there were a total of 56 hits in the game.

The game also had homeruns, hard hit balls, sprayed all over the field, and some tremendous catches. Brad Young hit a out of the park, wind assisted, off the top of the fence homerun. Phil G. (Philly Cheese Steak, as Mikey likes to say) hit 2 in the park homeruns for the Units. This game was a good ole fashion slug fest. 56 total hits. 

On the defensive side, our fielders were busy, the ball was carrying to left and left center fields and Woody made some amazing catches. Hags had his fair share of adventure in left field.

There was a moment in the game where Coxy forgot where first base was...It was actually a funny moment when Coxy hit a ground ball to the Dogcatchers second baseman (Mike D.), playing to left of the second base bag. Coxy hit the ball right at the second baseman, assumed he was out, ran 5 steps and turned toward the dugout, the second baseman bobbled the ball back on to the dirt, then kicked the ball, reached for the ball again, bobbled the ball again and then finally retreived the ball and threw to first base for the out. I think Ricky Bobby, hopping on one leg, could have made it to first before the out.

Speaking of Ricky Bobby, there was a play in the first inning when Gord R. hit a swinging bunt in front of home plate, Ricky was catching at the time, he took several steps toward the ball and came up in pain in his leg. The injury hurt so much he couldn't finish the inning. Ricky would recover (sort of) and would hit and run the bases all night. It certainly looked very serious, at the time, but it was good to see Ricky finish the game.  

The Hurtin' Units next game is Thursday May 16, 2013 at 7:00pm.

SHAKE AND BAKE...

"Pick me out a winner, Bobby"- Roy Hobbs

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DRAFT KINGS.

Game # 1- May 8, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 16-11

Team Record 1-0-0

Keogh Park - Well, finally opening night has arrived. We waited what seemed to  be an eternity for this night to get here. For our opponents, the Draft Kings, this is already their third game of the season and the Kings are off to a good start.  I was curious as to how the Units have done on opening nights in the past. I went back and found that we did well over the last three seasons. In 2010 the Units played the Red Dogs on opening night and won by a score of 14-10. In 2011 the we played the Dodge City Rounders to start the season and also won, by a score of 16-11. Last season the Units got off to a slow start, but on opening night we still managed to get a 5-5 tie against the Dogcatchers. And in this game we came out victorious keep our opening night undefeated streak intact with a 16-11 win.

As far as a first game on the season, the 2013 edition of the Hurtin' Units didn't look out of place at all. There were very few defensive errors on the night and the bats were working well. I did smudge the bats prior to this game, using a Sage Smudging stick, and obviously it does work. It felt great to be back on the field.

At game time we had 11 players, not yet in team shirts, ready to do battle with the 2-0 Draft Kings. Jamie M. was the only missing Unit. We were the home team for this game.

The weather was not really an issue in this game. At game time the temperature was around 16 degrees and it was humid. Most of the day the Weather Network was calling for showers in the evening and when I left my house, heading for the park, there were some sprinkles coming down. By the time I reached the park, the light rain had stopped. Around the 3rd inning, the rain started to fall again, this time a little bit harder, but it didn't last very long and really didn't play a significant roll in this game. Ricky L. mentioned the ball was a little slippery, when it was hit to the the outfield.  

Last season the Hurtin' Units had Gord Robinson and Gord Robertson on our roster. It was a bit confusing at times and their full names wouldn't fit on the line in the scorebook. The stats guy probably had some nights where he was left scratching his head as to who was who. Hell, he probably has this problem every night of the week with the chicken scratch on some of the score sheets. I was looking at the Draft Kings roster and more than half names were nicknames of the players.

I bring up the Gords (that sounds funny, the Gords...) because it was a little confusing at times and because I'm faced with a similar problem in our dugout this season. We have a Ricky Bobby issue. It's really not an issue, but it reminds me of the Bob Newhart show with the three brothers Larry, Darrell and Darryl. I bet you didn't think I could slip in Newhart reference or a Newhart video into a baseball blog. I think to avoid confusion on the Unit bench I will, from now on, refer to Rick L. as Ricky and Rick C. as Ricky Bobby and Richard as just Richard or Dick.

I mentioned that is game was the 3rd game for the Kings and they came in with 2 solid wins under their belt. The Hurtin' Units took the field first and we had a solid 1,2,3 inning with a line drive to Vince at first and 2 fly outs to the outfield. Ricky L made a nice catch in right field. In the bottom of the first, I had Hags leading off, let's throw the new guy right in to the fire right away. Hags got out in his debut, but didn't disappoint the rest of the game. Following Hags, Coxy and Phil got on and came around to score on some solid hitting by Mikey, Woody and Ricky Bobby. In the top of the second the Kings would score 3 times and shut the Units down in the bottom of the inning. The score at the end of 2 innings was Kings 3, Units 2.

In the top of the third, the Units would  shut down the Kings again 1,2,3. I was the lead off batter going in to the bottom of the inning and would get on with a single. The top of the Units order would then take over with first 4 batters getting on base, the Units would score 5 runs to take a 7-3 lead. In the top of the 4th the Kings would send 5 batters to the plate and score a single run. The Units were shut down in the bottom of the inning.

 

The Draft Kings bats came to life in the top of the fifth inning, scoring 5 runs while every batter in the lineup came up to bat. The Units now trailed by a 9-7 score. In the bottom of the 5th, Phil got things started with a lead off double, Woody got out, and then Mikey, Ricky Bobby, BK (Brian), Richard, Vince, Ricky, Jimmer and Hags all hit consecutively and the Units scored 7 runs with only one out. The score at the end of 5 innings- Units 14, Kings 9.

The top of the 6th inning, the Units would again shut down the Draft Kings, third inning in the game with 0 runs scored, third inning in the game 1,2,3. The Units would score 2 more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, I walked my first batter on the evening, Dan R. got on with base on balls and I actually threw 5 balls in a row, probably a little bit of nerves going into the last inning. Dan would come around to score on a Jerry M. double and Jerry would also score before the Units shut the door. The bottom of the inning was not needed on this night, the Hurtin' Units win their first game of the season by a score of 16-11.  

It was a good opening night for the Hurtin' Units; the team has it's first win of the season which took until game six last season and we played an all round good game. Some of the Units players (7) went back to the Legion for a celebratory beverage and to watch the conclusion of the Toronto Maple Leaf vs. Boston Bruins playoff game.

I had brought a portable radio to our baseball game and we were listening to the Leaf game while playing. The score was 3-3 between the Leafs and Bruins when our game ended. We watched the end of the third period, at the Legion, and the game was going into overtime. Boston was leading the series by 2-1. Leafs needed to win this game to tie the series. Unfortunately the Bruins would score in the first overtime and defeat the Leafs. Boston now leads the best of 7 games, 3-1. The Leafs now have to win 3 straight games to go on to the second round... Go Leafs Go.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Tuesday May 14, at Coventry Park at 7:00pm.