WOODY AND THE WOODIES...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE HOTTUB WOODYS.

" Who does number 2 work for ? "- Austin Powers.

Game #12- June 27, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 7-6

Team Record 6-6-0

Keogh Park- It just amazes me the amount of parity in the league this season. Almost every team we have played this season seems to be stacked. I will sometimes look at the team we are playing, hoping to find some strategic advantage when actually facing these players on the field. It seldom works in my favour.

What usually happens is the guys I look to be aggressive with, end up not even in the lineup or have their best game of the season. So I'm forced to wing it anyway. Now, I just look at our opponents roster, think about getting ahead in the count and adjust to the games as they go along. 

This game was the mid-way point of the 2013 season. 12 games already in the books and the Units sit with a record of 6-6-0. This is the first time since 2010 that the Units have had a .500 record or better. In 2011, at the mid-way point, the Units sat at 5-7-0 and in 2012 our record was 4-7-1. A .500 record is decent and if we could have won even 1 or 2 of our one run losses we could be sitting in the top 5 in the standings. As of this date, we sit in 7th place. 

Woody and the Woodys.




Real Woody? Or impostor Woody? Only his hair

dresser knows for sure.

  Let me start by saying that I watch a lot of spy/ secret agent movies (i.e. Austin Powers, Spy Kids) and I think I have enough experience, from watching these movies, to realize when something isn't the way it should be.

There was something strange going on in this game against the Hottub Woodys. I want everyone to know that I don't believe that there is a conspiracy going on here, but there was something different going on in the 5th spot in the batting/position lineup. I want to cautiously get my thought across without putting our team in to any unnecessary danger. And don't think me crazy until you hear me out.

I believe the Dan C. (Woody) in this game was an impostor...Again, before you think me crazy, hear me out.

To start with, the guy, let's call him Woody 2.0 was 3 inches shorter, he had a tattoo of  Mikhail Gorbachev on his arm, he threw with his left hand and every time I asked him a question, he answered with single syllable words.

I know answering in single syllable words in not unusual for Woody, but all he answered with was yes, yes, yes in a thick Russian accent. Every question I asked was the same answer, it was like he didn't understand what I was asking... Did you get your boat motor fixed Woody? Yes, yes, yes. Is your Hurtin' Unit shirt in the wash Woody? Yes, yes, yes. Are you wearing women's underwear Woody? Yes, yes, yes. Every answer was the same. Weird stuff, even for Dan.



No. 2- Who does he work for?

 I also think that the impostor thought he could slip through by wearing a dark shirt with the name BANSHEES on the front with a bedazzled name Woody. I guess in English all the words look the same to those fuzzy little foreigners.

We had played most of the game before I got suspicious of the Woody impostor. I should have suspected something earlier in the evening (before the start of the game) when I saw Woody staring at the lineup/batting order, scratching his head like a monkey, trying to figure out who he was. I use Dan C. on the lineup sheet, not Woody. The Woody impostor was the last to head out on the field in the first inning, he was waiting until everyone was in position and headed to the empty position. Very clever of you, whoever you are.




Sean Connery- I'll take the rapists for $200 Alex.
That's therapists you idiot...

  All these things added up to an impostor playing amongst us, but it was his batting that really brought the idea home with me. Woody 2.0 only hit 2 balls down the right field side and only one in to the Keogh's back yard. Dan is always good for 5 balls leaving the park. The other balls he hit were on the playing field and one was hit straight away center field, Dan never does this. You're nabbed fake Dan...you should have done your homework Woody 2.0. 

After the game, I was crossing the street and I saw a black Chevrolet Avalanche, I approached to ask Woody if he was coming in the Legion for a beer, the vehicle sped up and headed toward me, I dove out of the way and almost landed on a skunk in the bushes where I landed...The truck didn't stop. 

I have to wonder why this kind of thing would happen. Was the real Woody kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom? Or was the real Woody behind this all along, perhaps so he could look like a team player while heading out to the ballet, hot yoga or night out with the girls. We certainly will not report this to the league, we may lose our win and let's face it, Woody 2.0 wasn't all that bad, maybe even a little better.  

The weather for this game against the Woodys was still quite warm, not as bad as Monday, but it was still in the twenties and some humidity was still hanging around.

We were missing a lot of players for this game. We had to call for 3 subs. Missing from the game were Brian, Ricky Bobby, Ricky L., Richard, Mike and possibly Dan (Woody)C. (still not sure on this one). The 3 subs we picked up were Kevin (Radar) B., Craig (Dude)Escott and Tito (?????) P. 

This was a tight defensive game by both teams and going in to the 7th inning, the Units had a 4 run lead. The Woodys would score 3 runs in the top of the 7th, but the Units would hold on and take the win. Units win 7-6 for the first 2 game winning streak of the season.

BICYCLE BOBBY GETS TWO DINGERS...

BEER BROS. VS. THE HURTIN' UNITS.

Game # 11- June 24, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 25-8

Team Record- 5-6-0

I had originally had this blog titled " The Fireman Always Dings Twice", but because this was the first time Ricky Bobby has hit 2 homeruns out, in a game, I thought a better title would be "Bicycle Bobby Gets Two Dingers."


Keogh Park- The Beer Bros. are one of the teams the Units only played once last season. And that one game was probably the lowest point in the entire 2012 season for the Hurtin' Units. It was August 15, 2012, the Units record was sitting at 7-13-1. The blog for the game was titled "The Hurtin' Units bats are Jinxed." We were having a difficult time scoring runs, the wheels were falling off and it was at this point when I had our bats smudged. 

The Beer Bros. were playing some solid baseball and the night we played them, they could do no wrong. The final score was 13-1 for the Bros. and the only run, for the Units, came in the last inning, when I hit a double to bring in Jerry M. who was subbing for us. A single run over 7 innings... unbelievable! I finally had our bats smudged, following the game, and we did go on to play some good ball after this point in the season. The Beer Bros. went on to win the 2012 championship.



Beer Bros.vs Hurtin' Units Aug. 15, 2012

  











Now this season has not gotten to the point where I will do something crazy like bat smudging or tapping chicken bones on the bats, but if we continue to play this inconsistent brand of ball, I might have to look in this direction. When are we having a wing night, might need the bones.  

We are going to have to piece this team together for a little bit. Some injuries, shift work and holidays are going to require some subs to come in and pick up the slack. In this game we were missing Brian, Mike and Ricky L. We picked up Craig Escott (Dude) for this game.

The weather was very hot and humid for this game. At 4:30pm the temperature was sitting at 32 degrees Celsius and with the humidity it felt like 40 degrees.

I had a feeling that Ricky Bobby was feeling better and that he was probably going to have a good night when I saw him riding his bicycle across the infield of the diamond. The same bike he almost forgot at the park following the game. A man and his bike, he reminded me of Pee Wee Herman.

When I envisioned the Units playing this 9 game Keogh Park stand, this was the team I was seeing. Ricky Bobby, Phil, Mike and Woody all pounding the baseball to the right field fence and even into the tennis courts on occasion. Last night the team I envisioned made an appearance. Mike was not in the lineup, but Ricky Bobby hit 2 homeruns in to the tennis courts and Phil had 1 of his own. Dan was hitting the ball hard down the right field line, into the Keogh's back yard, off the Keogh house, into the trees, off the metal shed and a couple of times on the playing surface of the diamond. I don't know what it is, but every time Dan is batting the ball is like a magnet to Vince; I think it's time to get the little fella a helmet... Vince not Dan.

This was a full team effort with contributions from everyone.


I think this was the best all round game the 2013 Hurtin Units have played. The defense was stellar, the bats were spraying the ball all over the diamond and my pitching approach was keeping the Beer Bros. off balance. I've been watching a bit of Blue Jays baseball recently and I'm applying some new stuff, I've picked up, to my pitching game.

 After last Thursday's loss to the Rusty Rebels, I was unsure of whether or not this team was able to compete with every team in this league, I have a different opinion after this game. I'm not going to get too high about this win, but I am going to savour the victory and hopefully this is the start of an extended Units run. 

We definitely have the offense to blow away the competition, but our defense still needs to be a little more polished. This game has the Hurtin' Units riding in the right direction. Let's keep the wheels turning Units. 






There were several other things about this night I should mention:
 
 
1. I had Coxy pencilled in to play an inning at catch and because he was sore, he asked me to stay back at catch, he played the rest of the game at catch and made 2 excellent catches for important outs...Who knew he could catch... and catch.

2. Our sponsor, Neighbour's Country Depot and it's owner Rob Mc. bought the Units some icy cold beverages, at the Legion, after the game. Thanks Rob we're proud to have you as our sponsor.

3. The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup defeating the Boston Bruins in 6 games. This is the second time I can remember the Units playing on a night that the Cup has been presented. The Boston Bruins won the cup in 2011 on a night the Units were playing.

MAKEUP CAN'T HELP THIS KIND OF UGLY...

Hurtin' Units vs. Rusty Rebels.

It's not Jennie Finch... it's a makeup game.

Game # 10 - May 28, 2013 (makeup game)

Hurtin' Units lose 25 - 4

Team Record - 4-6-0

Keogh Park- I know what you're thinking; I over did it with Jennie Finch pictures in the Best we Forget blog, there was just way to much of her, but at least she was a baseball player and she didn't need to wear makeup. How would you like to see several more pictures of this lovely actress?

So this game is the makeup game for the night of May 28th and I now wish we had played this game in the rain back then. We really couldn't have done much worse.

When the season started I really thought we had the team to beat; both defensively and offensively I thought we were going to play each team tough. Over our first 7 games we were in every game, sure there were losses, but our competitive levels were there every night. Over the last 3 games I feel like something has changed or maybe I'm just being a bit of an ass when it  comes to winning or competing.

Maybe I'm just being a little bit hard on us. Maybe I should give some credit to the Rusty Rebels for a solid game defensively (5 shut out innings against a team that scored 28 runs the night before) and offensively hitting the ball all around the Keogh diamond, scoring 25 runs against us over 7 innings.  

This was my third game in three nights and I was actually looking forward to ending the week with a competitive game and hopefully a victory.

Over the 3 games I was 1-1-1, a win, a loss and a tie (with the Beer Bros.), .500 for the week is really not that bad. With these results, then why do I feel unsettled about the Units games this week? Maybe I'm just being too hard on our team again. I think the HTKP tournament will be a good test of what this team is really about.

When I do this bloggie thing, I don't do it to criticize or whine about the way we are playing, I mostly do it to document the Units team history. I really hope that players, who played for the Units, will go back, in the future, and remember the games and the good times we had. 

This game was not one of our better moments; Mike O. hurt his leg running to first base and couldn't continue playing.

We had 2 subs in this game, Tito was a call up and when Mike got hurt, Dave Fleming came in to help out. Missing from this game were Vince and Brian.
  

This was an ugly game for the Units, we've had them before and we'll probably have them again. This game was not fun, it was frustrating for me and it probably was for others as well. We will continue to try and get better and make some changes if we need better results. I look forward to getting back on the field and putting this ugly game behind us. Makeup did nothing to make this game look better. 

The Units next game is Monday June 24 vs. the Beer Bros.  

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BREW JAYS.

Game # 9 - June 19, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 28-12

Team Record- 4-5-0

Keogh Park- I got a little bit nervous on Wednesday when I saw this bright shining ball in the sky. And the fact that I saw it on a day that we had a game made me more nervous and even a little bit scared also. The sun out, no rain falling, a Hurtin' Units game on the schedule, I must be dreaming... beep, beep, beep time to get up Jimmer. 

At the Legion 2 Monday nights ago, the night we lost to the Grusome Devils by a score of 15-14, Rob Farah asked me if I could sub on Thursday June13 for the same Devils and I said I could. On Wednesday, before our game against the Dislocated Joints, I hurt my foot (I mentioned it in the last blog) and on Thursday morning I had to e-mail Rob and Jens letting them know that I couldn't sub, my foot was too sore.

I'm not really sure what the heck I did, but I do know that I could barely put any pressure on it. I thought it could be gout, but with a little online research I was convinced that that wasn't the case. I must have bruised it or hit it on something. By Sunday I could put some pressure on it and I was feeling much better.

On Tuesday afternoon (this week), Rob F. called me to sub again, this time for the Beer Bros., and I decided to give it a go and see how the foot felt.

The foot felt good and the game with the Beer Bros. vs. the Blues Brothers was a good one. The final score ended up 8-8. In the top of the 7th inning the Beer Bros. took a 2 run lead and in the bottom of the inning and it got pretty intense. With 2 out and the bases loaded, Beer Bros. pitcher Jerry W. walked in the 7th run and then walked in the tying run with 8 straight balls. With the winning run only 60 ft. away, Jerry battled the next batter to a 3-2 count, and the runners would be moving on the next pitch, the pitch came in the batter hit the ball slowly to the Bros. second baseman, a catch, a quick soft toss to Mark D. covering 2nd base and the game was over. 8-8 tie.

The Hurtin' Units last 2 games have been very bizarre. The last game with the Dislocated Joints was rain filled, lopsided and confusing. In this game, the Brew Jays only had 8 players, the Units would have the bats clicking and the defense was really good. Like I said 2 bizarre games. 

The Units would provide a catcher and the Jays would play 4 fielders and no third baseman. I thought about asking if they wanted us to provide a third baseman, but I really didn't know what the rule was and shied away from asking. 

The weather for this game was warm and humid. The temperature at 5:30pm was around 22 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 24 degrees. The sky was mostly clear with the odd fluffy cloud up floating by. A perfect night for baseball...and no rain. 

At game time we had 11 players in Keogh Park for the 7:00pm start. Brian was working afternoons. 

The boxscore tells a pretty good story of how this game went for the two teams. There was also a triple play in this game by the Units; a line drive to second, throw to first to catch the run who had left the bag, then a throw to second for an out for a batter who had left second.

The Units next game is Thursday June 20th, makeup game vs the Rusty Rebels.

BEST WE FORGET...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DISLOCATED JOINTS.



Jennie Finch

Game # 8- June 12, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 15-4

Team Record 3-5-0.

Keogh Park- The temperature at 5:30pm was around 21 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 24 degrees. The sky was starting to cloud over and the Weather Network said there was a chance of isolated showers. Well, all I can say is that those people at The Weather Network were absolutely correct. There were isolated showers and they were right over top of Keogh Park.



Jennie Finch


This was a game were I got the impression that nobody wanted to be here, not only because of the rain, (although it probably played a huge role), but because everyone seemed so distracted by other things. Needless to say, it was not our best effort. I would have liked a canceled game on this night, not because of the rain (I would honestly rather play in the rain than to play a 9:30pm makeup game, but that's just me), but because earlier in the day, I hurt my foot and could hardly put any weight on it. Even four days later I'm still in some discomfort.



Jennie Finch



I honestly thought the diamond was playable after the rain at around 7:15pm and that the game should be played. The first four innings were not that bad for playing, if you don't look at the score, but as I mentioned earlier, the Units seemed distracted and uninterested in this game. When the second wave of rain hit (around the end of the forth inning) that's when everyone seemed to give up and throw in the towel, the game was really out of reach. I couldn't blame them, we (the Units) have had a crappy weather start to our season and it is really starting to weigh on us and our game results.



Best we Forget.


We played 4 innings before the rain started to fall again and by that time the score was 15-1 for the Joints. It would have been nice to call the game at this point and replay it at a later date. The umpire decided to wait 10 minutes and see what happens. The rain stopped again... by this time some Hurtin' Units players had departed, but the Joints were still in the park and wanted to finish the game (5 innings). We rounded up a couple of subs, from the game after ours, and played the final inning. We shut the Joints down in the top of the 5th and we scored 3 runs in the bottom of the inning for a final score of 15-4.

This was the first game this season where the Units gave up 7 runs in an inning. Almost 8 games without giving up 7 runs in an innings is decent defense. This was also the Units first loss where the score was more than a one run. I don't really mind losing games, but this one was really tough to take, almost to the point of embarrassment. We are a better team than we showed on this night and I'm looking forward to proving it...We play the Dislocated Joints again on July 9th, I'm hoping for a better game.

At game time we had 10 players in the park watching the rain falling as it has for the last 2 games. Coxy and Ricky Bobby were the only missing players for the Units.  



Jennie Finch the ultimate baseball distraction.



On a positive note, I thought Jamie made a couple of really nice catches, one was a running, over the shoulder catch to steal a multi base hit from the Joint's player. Jamie also played the next game, on the night, with the Red Dogs.

I mentioned the weather was starting to take it toll on us and it showed in this game. This is the first game where we gave up a 7 run inning all season and the first game where we lost by more than a run all season; I think we just had a clunker of a game and every team has one once and a while. We are still a solid team and the best is yet to come... Units Unified!  

GRUESOME DEVILS GET THE RUNS...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. GRUSOME DEVILS.

"GREW SOME, THEY LOOK SMALLER TO ME! " - Jimmer

Game # 7- June 10, 2013

Hurtin' Units lose 15-14

Team Record- 3-4-0

Keogh Park- It's gotten to the point where the Hurtin' Unit players can just go to the Weather Network to find out when we play. There is no need for a schedule; if there is rain in the forecast that's the night the Units are playing.

So here we at the game # 7 and in the first quarter of the season we found ourselves with a .500 record and found our team in 10th place. But when I look back at our first six games we could just as easily be 6-0; we have 3 (4 after this game) one run losses and all of them were decided in the late innings of each game. In our first 6 games we have the lowest runs against in the league (61 runs against, nice little stat) and looking at the bottom 8 teams (we're in this group) we are the only team with a run differential on the plus side, by 22 runs. We have the 4th best run differential in the league. We also have at least one game in hand over 9 other teams. Two wins could vault the Units up in the top five in the standings.    

So the weather seems to be the topic of discussion these days; the weather for this game was raining with a temperature around 16 degrees. The temperature was actually better than last Thursday when it was around 10 degrees and I could see my breath.

At game time we had 9 Unit players and I called for a sub. Ricky Bobby was working, Richard was sick and Coxy was stuck in traffic. Last week we only had 9 players. A sub was a good idea, we can't be sure everyone will show on the rainy nights. We picked up Don Booth for a sub.

The Hurtin' Units have now lost 4 one run games this season; I thought it was amazing that we had 5 one run losses all last season, but 4 losses in the first 7 games is just astounding. I went back and looked at the first 7 games to see if there is any reason for this strange start. I found nothing, but a team that is in every game and with a little bit of a luck could be sitting at 7-0 instead of 3-4-0. If we continue to play the way we have, we will be in the mix at the end of the season. And 4 of the teams we have played season sit in the top 4 positions in the standings. We have played tough with everyone of these teams.

We have also had our fair share of unfavorable playing conditions; the last two games have played in the pouring rain, the batter's boxes were knee high with water (knee high for me), the ball was slick on every throw and every pitch, the running surface was slippery and we have been down a couple of players. I don't see any reason to worry or even panic regarding the way we have been playing. We have a solid team and given a little bit more time, we are going to show what we're capable of doing. When we need some serious wins Mike and I will make the changes that will give us the best chance of victory. Our real test will be the HTKP tournament; we'll see what we made of in this tourney.



No need to panic...

 Our batting has been great and last night was a perfect example of it. Hags is tearing it up in the batting race and had a 4-4 game. Brian, Vince, Jamie and Dan all went 3-4 in this game. Mike went 3-3 on the night and Phil went 0-4. I know what you're thinking, Phil went 0-4, but in that 0-4 Phil hit 2 saciface fly balls to drive in 2 RBIs and ripped a line drive in to the glove of Mark Kolsen at first base. And lets not forget our other missing players, Coxy (top 5 in batting), Ricky Bobby (can hit homeruns and not score) and Richard who is a steady bat. We have a tough batting lineup top to bottom.

I really enjoy games like this one; it came down to the final at bat again to decide the game. This game had it all, good defense and awesome offence. Vince and Brian both had good games. Vince made a nice catch on a ball thrown wide of first; he flew through the air (kinda like a soccer goalie) and grabbed the ball in mid flight and then threw to third for an out. Nice play! Darrell made a couple of great plays playing second and our outfield continues to play steady defensive baseball. 

Since we have such a short turn around until our next game, I'll let the boxscore finish the story of the Gruesome Devils vs. the Hurtin' Units.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Wednesday June 12, 2013 vs. Dislocated Joints. 

HURTIN' UNITS STRUMMING TO THE TUNE OF A WIN.

100 posts and over 20,000 views: This is the 100th posting of the Hurtin' Units blog and I would like to thank everyone who has ever stopped by for a visit... Especially all the people in China, without them I would only have 200 views...LOL. In this edition, the publishers of Baseball World Magazine have compiled 100 fascinating facts and tidbits of information about the Hurtin' Units from the last 4 seasons.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BLUES BROTHERS.

Game # 6 - June 7, 2013

Hurtin' Units win 11-7

Team Record- 3-3-0

Keogh Park- The Blues Brothers are back and playin' to a new crowd. The Grumpy Old Js have been reunited (okay half reunited, kinda like the Blues Brothers have been reunited with Jim Belushi and not John Belushi) and are back as the Blues Brothers this season as one of the new teams. If you recall the Lucky Stiffs and Banshees both folded their franchises this winter and the Blues Brothers and the Draft Kings were the new teams that replaced them. Welcome aboard boys!

The weather for this game was chilly to say the least. At 4:00pm on Thursday afternoon the temperature was 13 degrees and there was a strong breeze that made it feel even cooler. At game time the light rain had started to fall, but we were determined to get this one in. The rain didn't let up at all during the game, in fact it started falling harder as the game went on. We managed to get the whole game in and the 9:30pm game even got played. We've discovered that the Units are a bunch of mudders.





Where's Phil? I hope he's okay.



 At game time (8:15pm) we had only 9 players in the black and yellow, ready to take on the Brothers. Jamie M., Coxy and Phil were all absent. I knew about Jamie, Coxy sent me an e-mail around 6pm and I don't know what the heck happened to Phil.

 

Since this is already a lengthy blog, I'll let the boxscore tell the story about this game.

There is one more little Jimbit of information I would like to mention about our games this week.

" I'm not a smart man"- Forest Gump

There are times when we all have Forest Gump moments. For some people it's just a brain fart, lapse in judgement or an inept moment and then we quickly just move on. But for others, these moments seem to come in bunches, I know for me they usually come in groups of 3s, for some people it's only a one time thing.



Ricky Bobby in the dugout, after recovering his cleats.

For our teammate Ricky Bobby, he had a couple of Forest Gump moments this week, both associated with the Hurtin' Unit games. On Monday, the Units played the Grisslies and lost by a score of 8-7. On Tuesday evening there was an e-mail being sent around about a pair of baseball cleats found at Keogh Park on Monday night. Yes, you guessed it, the cleats were the property of Ricky Bobby who had left them in the 3rd base dugout on Monday evening.


"Lucy you have some esplainin' to do". - Ricky Ricardo



On Thursday evening, the Units played the Blues Brothers and won 11-7. The score should have been 12-7. In the later innings, Ricky Bobby hit a walk off homerun into the tennis court at Keogh Park, Ricky jogged around the bases, in his recovered cleats, and as he came home he stepped on home plate. Stepping on home plate is not permitted and Ricky was called out...D'oh!!! Oh Ricky you're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind... Hey Ricky! Hey Ricky!

The publishers of Baseball World Magazine have compiled a list of 100 fascinating facts about the Hurtin' Units:

1. The Hurtin' Units changed their logo after the first season. The first season was a player sliding in the dirt. Bender was introduced in 2011.

2. Jimmer and Mike captained another team before captaining the Hurtin' Units. The team was in the Tottenham Oldtimers Fall league, the team name was the Dark Knights.
 
3. Chris Ross played for the Hurtin' Units in 2010 and was drafted again in 2011, but decided to take the year off to coach soccer. Chris was replaced by rookie Brad Moye.

4. Three players in the league have played with the Units more than one season. Al Hayward played in 2010 and 2012. Richard Gabourie played with the Units in 2011 and 2013. Paul Gyori played in 2010 and 2011.

5. 41 T.O.T players have played for the Hurtin' Units.

6. The furthest the Hurtin’ Units have ever gone in the playoffs is to the semi-finals vs. the Brew Jays in the 2012 playoffs.

7. The Hurtin’ Units wore the colour Royal Blue in the first two seasons. The first season with white lettering and the second season with yellow lettering.  

8. The Hurtin’ Units best regular season was the first season (2010) with a record of 19-5-2.

9. Hurtin' Units sister team (tournament team) is named the Squirtin' Units.

10. Bender, the Units logo, is a character developed by Matt Groening, the creator of the Simpsons.

11. The Hurtin’ Units still have a yellow bat in their bat bag.

12. Jimmer and Mike became captains when the team Recycled called it quits. Captains Dan Steinburg and Darryl Hall were the Captains of the Recycled.

13. The Hurtin’ Units number one picks over the last four seasons were (2010) Robin Dickson, (2011) Kevin Moon, (2012) Cameron Clark, (2013) Phil Glecoff.

14. Mike O. was injured for most of the 2012 season.

15. Mike’s family dog was hit by a car one night when the Units were playing.

16. Hurtin’ Units were the first team to win against the Dusty Cleats in 2011. The Cleats were unbeaten until August 15, 2011, with a 19-0-0 record. The Units won the game 15-14 to snap the Dusty Cleats perfect record.

17. Hurtin’ Units first overall pick as captains (2010) was P1 Jerry Wallace.

18. The Hurtin’ Units regular season all time record over the first 3 season is 38-31-6, 7 games over .500. 

19. The Hurtin’ Units were playing the Brew Jays the night Rob Hayward broke his wrist. The ball was hit to the outfield by Cam Clark, Rob dove to catch the ball landing on his arm.

20. Bill Jonkman and Al Hayward are the most veteran players to play for the Units.

21. The most attractive player to play for the Units was Bob McCullogh... Woody is a close second.   

22. The most serious injury to a Hurtin’ Unit player was Bill Jonkman. Bill was running to first base and tripped over the bag, he tumbled to the ground. Bill bruised his ribs and collapsed a lung. Wasn't able to play for over a month.

23. In 2010 the Units won the regular season and became league champions with a record of 19-5-2.

24. Hurtin’ Units and Brew Jays came in to the T.O.T. league in the same year. (2010)

25. This blog is not the first blog by Jimmer. In 2007, Jimmer played for the Rusty Rebels and blogged the entire season.
To view the blog go to http://rustyrebels.blogspot.ca/

26. Since changing the Units Logo in 2011, the character Bender has appeared in every posting of the Hurtin’ Unit blog.

27. Mike and Jimmer played on 2 other teams together, the Hottub Woodys (2006) and Rusty Rebels (2007).

28. Bender’s catch phrase is “ bite my shiny metal ass”.

29. Mike was voted "Most Sportsmanlike Player" in 2012.

30. Hurtin’ Units have never been shut out in a league game. The Units came close to being shut out in 2012 against the Beer Bros., Units scored a single run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

31. Hurtin’ Units shirt colours have been Royal Blue with white lettering (2010), Royal Blue with gold lettering (2011), Kelly Green with gold lettering (2012) and Black with gold lettering.

32. The Magazine "Baseball World" is a cover designed by Jimmer which uses pictures of Hurtin' Unit players or others to show a magazine facade. These pictures are some of the most fun in the HU blog.  
  

33. Mike hated not being able to play for the Hurtin’ Units in 2012. An injured knee kept him out of the lineup.

34. Hurtin’ Units have only played once on Sunday in the playoffs…2012 against the Grisslies (quarter finals) and the Brew Jays (semi-finals).

35. Only 2 players, in the Units history, have not finished the season due to injury. Dave Kidd (knees) and Mike Olliffe (knee).

36. The Hurtin’ Units sister team (Squirtin’ Units) has won the August Tournament fun division the last 2 years (2011 and 2012).

37. Jens Lepa, who played for the Units (2010), is a captain for the Gruesome Devils.

38. Two league presidents have played for the Hurtin’ Units. Chris Ross (2010) and Jamie McClean (2013).

39. Umpire Chris Nyers played for the Hurtin’Units in 2010.

40. The Units outfield in 2010 consisted of Jim MacDonald, Chris Ross, Jens Lepa, Don Curran and Chris Nyers.

41. The Hurtin’ Units won the Coors Light Keg party in 2012.

42. In 2012, the Units played 6 weeks in a row at Coventry Park. (And we still won the Keg party).

43. The Units have a trophy for most sportsmanlike for the Hurting’ Units. The recipients are Tom Perry (2010), Bill Jonkman (2011) and Al Hayward (2012).

44. In 2012 the Units had a broad range of team shirt sizes… 1 player wore a medium shirts and 1 player had a XXXL.

45. In 2012, the Units had 5 one run losses and 2 two run losses.

46. Cal Russell is the only switch hitting batter to ever play for the Hurtin’ Units.

47. Jimmer, Jerry Wallace (2010) and Calvin Steeves (2011) all played together on the 2008 Lucky Stiffs Championship team.

48. Jimmer wears # 93 on his shirt, Mike wears #14.

49. In 2011, the Hurtin’ Units called for only one substitution entire season.

50. Hurtin’ Units have entered a team in the HTKP tournament every season. In 2012 they went to the semi-finals against the Brew Jays. The Brew Jays would defeat the Units and go on to win the tournament.

51. Bender, the character on the Units shirt, drinks alcohol and smokes cigars.

52. Jimmer and Mike are both Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

53. In 2011, the Hurtin’ Units played on the evening that the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

54. Jens Lepa (HU 2010) and Jamie Allen (HU 2012) are both Montreal Canadien fans.

55. The 2012, the Hurtin’ Units first 2 victories on the season came against the Dodge City Rounders in back to back games. May 30, 2012 by a score of 16-6 and June 2, 2012 by a score of 19-10.

56. Gord Robinson (HU 2012) played for the Dusty Cleats in their 22-2-0 season.

57. Gord Robertson (HU 2012) played on the 2011 Championship Grisslies team.

58. Dan Chaisson and Gary Cox both played with Jimmer and Mike on the Hottub Woodies in 2006.



59. Rick Lyon (HU 2013) and Jimmer played together on the Banshees in 2009.

60. The Hurtin’ Units first ever win came on May 4th, 2010 vs. The Red Dogs, final score 14-10.

61. The Hurtin’ Units still have a composite yellow bat in the bat bag.

62. The Hurtin’ Units rookies over the last four years were/are: Chris Nyers (2010), Paul Evans (2011), Craig Slater (2012) and Darrell Hager (2013).

63. Hurtin’ Units were part of the Grisslies fan appreciation night in 2011.

64. The most runs ever scored by a Hurtin’ Units team was 29 vs. the Brew Jays on September 10, 2012. The final score Hurtin’ Units 29, Brew Jays 9.

65. The most runs ever scored against the Hurtin’ Units team was 27 vs. the Rusty Rebels on September 21, 2010. The Rusty would win by a score of 27-12 in the first playoff game.

66. Alumni Unit Rob Rumboldt supplied the beer for the 2013 Hurtin’ Unit practise.

67. Rob Humboldt (HU 2012) was mister awesome for the Squirtin’ Units in the August Tournament.

68. Clayton Avery (HU 2012) was the winner of the “Most Improved Player” award in 2012.

69. Clayton Avery (HU 2012) was attacked and bitten several times by a vicious dog while trying to get something out of his car trunk.

70. The Hurtin’ Units came in to the league the year that Keogh Park got a major makeover.

71. Hurtin’ Units sponsors over the last 4 seasons were: Cora's (2010), Taste of Freedom (2011), PC350 (2012), Neighbours Country Depot (2013).

72. Bob McCullough (HU 2011) pitched for the Units in the HTKP Tournament and won all 3 games in the round robin portion of the tournament.

73. The Hurtin’ Units were a Jekyll and Hyde team in the 2012 season; some nights they could score 20 runs, but the defence was not good, other nights the defence was stellar, but the batters couldn’t muster up any consecutive hits or runs.

74. The Hurtin’ Units in this young 2013 season are averaging 16 runs for per game.

75. The Hurtin’ Units team shirt colours (2013) are based on the Pittsburgh Penguins and not the Boston Bruins. Boo Bruins!!

76. Dan Chaisson wears number 81 because of Terrell Owens, not Phil Kessel.

77. Mike O. dislikes the rock band “Rush”, but likes bare naked ladies (not sure how he feels about the band) and icy cold, delicious beer.

78. Hurtin’ Units have 2 ties in each of their first 3 seasons.

79. The Hurtin’ Units very first blog posting was on Tuesday April 6, 2010.

80. Gary Cox and Mike Olliffe played on the same oldtimers hockey team in 2012-13. The team won the championship.

81. Cam Clark (HU 2012) is a Boston Bruins hockey fan. Get him….

82. In 2012, the Hurtin’ Units picked up 2 new players to replace injured Mike O. and Dave K. The replacements were Mark Butler (Mike) and Davey Stamp (Dave).

83. Mike Olliffe, James Taylor and Cam Clark all live next door to each other. It’s a Cam sandwich, hold the pickle.

84. Neighbour Country Depot is the Hurtin’ Units sponsor for the 2013 season.

85. Mark Doyle name appears on a scoreboard sign, in a picture, in one of the blog postings.

86. Pictures of characters from the Simpsons, Family Guy, Seinfeld, Flintstones, Munsters, Woody Woodpecker, and Futurama have all appear in blog postings. There are probably even more, but I'm not going looking...

87. The Hurtin’ Units lost to the Wild in a 2010 elimination playoff game. The Wild would go on to win the championship.

88. Jimmer’s favourite author is Stephen King. King is referenced or appears in the blog on several different occasions.

89. Chris Ross, Unit alumni, past president, took 2 years off to coach soccer.

90. Rob Rumboldt’s nickname is Tumble. Tumble’s name appears in several different postings of the blog. A tattoo on a baseball babe’s arm, as name on Herman Munster’s shirt, written on a wall with Bender and as Tumble bobblehead doll.

91. Jimmer takes pictures of the game sheets following each game to assist with the blog and boxscore.

92. Hurtin’ Units have never won anything at the C.R.I.C dance, although we have had a team ticket every year.

93. The Brew Jays are the Hurtin’ Units nemesis; in season one (2010, the first season for both teams) the Brew Jays and Hurtin’ Units battled all season for the first place seed, it came down to the final games to decide, the Units would prevail and win the league title. In 2012, the Brew Jays would beat the Units in the regular season in 2 very close games. The two teams would meet in the semi-finals of the HTKP tournament, the Brew Jays would go on to win the tournament. In the first game of the 2012 playoffs, the Hurtin’ Units would have their revenge by beating the Jays 29-9. The Brew Jays and Hurtin’ Units would meet again in the playoff's semi-finals, the Brew Jays would prevail by a score of 14-8 and go on the the finals.

94. Jimmer, Jerry Wallace (HU 2010), Claire Wallace and Rob McCarron have a annual Oldtimer euchre tournament in the baseball off season.

95. In 2012, in Mike Olliffe’s last game before calling it quits because of a torn meniscus in his knee, he hit a towering homerun in to the tennis courts at Keogh Park. Not to shabby for a guy with a bad knee.

96. Last season the Hurtin Units bats were jinxed, there were blogs written about how bad things had gotten. With only a few games remaining in the 2012 regular season, Jimmer went outside the box and had the Units bats smudged. The smudging seemed to work, the Units would go undefeated in the final 3 regular season games and would go on to the semi-finals in the playoffs. This season the smudging was done before the season began.

97. Hurtin’ Unit Rick Cudnik carries around a baseball bat filled with hydraulic cement.

98. Hurtin’ Units drank five 26oz bottles of Sambuca in the second half of the 2012 season.

99. Jimmer sends a “next game reminder” to all current Hurtin’ Unit players the evening before game day.

100. The plastic lineup board used to hang the batting lineup and player positions is actually a cutting board from Dollarama; Jimmer put a holding clip and chain and hooks to use it for the lineup.