Battle for the Beer Cup...NOT!!

Game # 20- August 7^th, 2024

Hurtin' Units vs. Inglorious Batsters

Hurtin' Units lose 11-7

Team Record- 5-15-0

"It's déjà vu all over again." - Yogi Berra

Coventry Park– The Units had this date marked on our calendars for the last couple of weeks. We really thought that we were going to get a shot for the Beer Cup, but as luck would have it, the Inglorious went down to the Master Batters the night before we were going to play for the trophy. I like the idea of the Beer Cup and I still remember when Doug Dwyer introduced the idea of playing for a season long trophy. Originally, the Beer Cup was a t-shirt that was carried around as a symbol of the holders of the cup, it was the same rules and sportsmanship idea, it was just a dirty (I think it was yellow), stinky (probably smelled like old beer) t-shirt that was passed on to the winners. Doug and Rob found a trophy and it replaced the shirt.

The only thing I don't like about the cup is that some teams, don't get the chance to
play for it. I know there is really no way around this, but teams could go years without a sip of nasty tasting beer from the cup. I believe the Hurtin' Units have won the Beer Cup twice over our 14 years. And it looks like we may not get a chance to play for it this season. It may happen, but with only 4 games remaining after this game, chances are slim. I would have to look at the schedule closely and see who has to beat who to put us in a spot to play for the cup. If the Master Batters held on to the cup until August 14^th, against the Gruesome Devils, and the Devils won, the Hurtin' Units would play the Gruesomes for the cup in their next game. So, your sayin' there's a chance.

I'm going to forgo details about this game. I will say the Units were in it and again our hitting has been weak. We just can not string enough hits together to have a big inning. I still blame Resmondo, I think it is jinxed or cursed or ??? I would love to trade Resmondo for another Resmondo for a couple of games and see if something changes. We have never scored over 15 runs in a game this season. WTF??

The T.O.T tournament is this upcoming weekend and this year I'm back in the driver's seat with getting a team together for the tournament. Cam is my co-captain and this year we changed it up a bit. Since 2015 we have been the Hammell Toes, a team made up of guys mostly on our street. This year we decided to go off the street and pick up some other guys from the league, we have done this before, but this year more than recent years. I didn't even play for the Toes last year, I put together my 2022 championship team for one last time. This year, we decided to change it up for a couple of reasons, first we have several key pieces that are not playing this year (i.e Joe Lovegrove, Troy Hope, Dan Shaw, etc.), so it was a good time to change it up, secondly we were getting a little stagnant, we hadn't really won anything since 2015.

I have been putting teams in the August Tournament since around 2009, when Rob Farah and I submitted the TEAM EXTREME. Then I started the Squirtin' Units (A name that came from Ed Hopkins) and we won a few times. The Team Extreme, Squirtin' Units and Hammel Toes have always had a nucleus of friends on my street, Mike, Cam, Glen, Woody have been on almost all of the August teams, some of our teams had other guys as you can see in the pictures. Larry Turner, Dave Mc., Dave Mckendrick, Mooner and so many others over the last 15 tournaments.

This year I changed the name a little, I submitted the name The Hammers as our team name. I thought it was time for that too. The Hammell Toes was fun, but there was also some feedback (everybody is so sensitive these days) and so I thought it was a good opportunity to change it up. We will be using our old shirts, but if I'm involved next year we will get new shirts for the team.

Okay, to sum everything up, Units lose again, they played a great defensive game, but our batting sucked. I should mention the Jamie Z made catch in the outfield, he flew though the sky like Superman to make an incredible catch. Tournament this weekend, Hammell Toes are now Hammers ( “It's Hammer Time”, see it works), new faces on the squad. I'm looking to trade my the Unit's Resmondo for another Resmondo for a couple of games. Might throw in a couple of beverages in the deal. Happy Tournament.

The Hurtin' Units next game is next Wednesday vs. The Brew Birds.