HURTIN' UNITS BURN THE JOINTS...

Hurtin' Units vs. Dislocated Joints

Game # 2 - May 12, 2011
(makeup game from May 3, 2011) 

Hurtin' Units win 17-11


Team Record 2-0-0


Keogh Park- On Thursday afternoon, I was driving north on Mount Wolfe road heading home to Tottenham, the skies to the north were very dark and the rain was starting to fall. All I kept was thinking was I really don't want tonight's makeup game against the Dislocated Joints to be canceled again. This game was difficult enough to put together and with Bob M. not available, Chris R. deciding not to play this season and Cal R. not available for 9:30pm games, it got a little bit tougher. So I'm thankful that the wet weather was short lived and we were able to field a team with such a short notice of a rescheduling.

The weather at game time was actually quite pleasant considering how threatening it looked earlier in the day. It was very dry, warm and humid at game time (9:30pm).

At game time, we had 10 players at the park ready to play, including our newest player Brad M. Missing from this game was Bob M. and Cal R.

This game started similar to our last, we got down 3 runs in the top of the first inning and we didn't score anything in the bottom of the first. In the top of the second inning, the Joints scored another 5 runs to take an 8-0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning the offense switch was suddenly turned on, the Units scored 7 runs ( 8 actually, but Kevin's homerun didn't count) highlighted by a towering homerun(1) by Mooner into the bocce courts. The score at the end of 2 innings- Dislocated Joints 8, Hurtin' Units 7.

In the third inning, I came into pitch an inning ( I have to get in there and stir it up sometime) and we managed to get 3 outs on a total of 8 pitches. In the top of the inning, our bats were still red hot and we scored another 7 run inning to take the lead 14-8.
Over the next 4 innings both teams only scored 3 runs each, although the Units didn't have to bat in the bottom of the seventh. The Hurtin' Units win 17-11.

Boxscore:          1    2    3    4    5    6    7        Total

Hurtin' Units     0    7    7    2    0    1    X         17    

Dislocated         3    5    0    1    0    1     1         11  

Our defense seemed a little bit tighter in this game. The Units newest player, Brad M. had a great debut; a great player pickup for the Units.

Paul G.,Paul E. and Richard are all hitting the ball solidly. Paul E. had his first play in the field in 25 years, my prediction is that Paul will be a solid all round player by the playoffs...Over all our team offense is looking really good and imagine what we will look like when Bob and Cal in the lineup. Scary thought, I know I wouldn't want to play against us. With Bob and Cal in the lineup, our defense will also become more difficult for our opponents to play against us.

Now that the makeup game is in the books, we can look forward to our “ Battle for Beer “ against the Beer Bros. next Monday at Keogh Park at 8:15pm.

The game against the Beer Bros. is not just about winning the season series for an icy, cold case of brew, it's also about the bragging rights! Mike and I have friends on the Beer Bros. team and if we lost to them, we would have to listen to them drone on about how good their team is, and how we are not worthy of being on the same field as them and blah, blah, blah. I think you get the picture, I'd would rather not lose and I'd prefer to tell them that we are the more superior team and yada, yada, yada, and that we have the right to brag... Units Unite!!

Let the games begin...

“People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” - Roger Hornsby

Hurtin' Units vs. Dodge City Rounders...

Game # 1- May 10, 2011

Hurtin' Units win 16-11

Team Record - 1-0-0

Finally, the big day has arrived (no I'm not talking about the Royal wedding), I'm talking about the start of the Hurtin' Units 2011 season. And with the start of the new season comes a new squad of well tuned, athletic players, although one third of the Hurtin' Units team is a carry over from last season. Mike, Paul G., Chris R. and myself (Jimmer) played together on the 2010 Units team. This years Units team looks (at least on paper) to be as strong as last years , but is there the same team chemistry? In my opinion, based on the guys I've spoken to and the team practise we had, I would say there is already a positive and very optimistic energy flowing around the Hurtin' Units imaginary clubhouse.


We have gotten off to a bit of a rough start this season. The poor weather conditions set our start date back a week and forced us into scramble mode to get the makeup game in. Our shirts are still not ready and we don't know if our lettering is yellow or white. Paulie G. doesn't know what colour of socks and underwear to wear to co-ordinate. I told him to wear white and he can always add some yellow highlights before, during or after the game.


There is one other thing as I write this introduction to our first game blog. I have had a couple e-mail conversations with our teammate Chris Ross, over the last couple of days, he was indicating that he might not be available for a large portion of the Hurtin' Units games and he was actually thinking about taking the season off. On Monday May 9, 2011, I received an e-mail from Chris comfirming that he had indeed decided to step down. Chris is a dedicated soccer coach and he thought it would be unfair to our team to miss so many games, as well as the playoff weekend. Chris has been as solid builder of the T.O.T. league and he will be missed as a player.

With Chris stepping down, for a season, the door has been opened up for a new, up and coming, rookie player, on the waiting list, to join the league. I would like to welcome our newest player to the Hurtin' Units, Mr. Brad Moye...Applause..... Brad will be unavailable for our Tuesday night game against the Dodge City Rounders, but will be in the Units lineup on Thursday night for our makeup game with the Dislocated Joints.

I had a brief conversation on Monday evening with Brad and there was one thing that really stuck out about our conversation, I asked Brad what size of shirt he wore, Brad's reply was "Medium".  I guess the XXL shirt, we ordered for Chris Ross, isn't going to fit now is it, at least not snuggly... In all my years in this league, I have never heard of anyone wearing a medium sized shirt. I'm often surprised when I see a "large" on the draft cards and I'm rarely surprised when I see a XXL needed... I really shouldn't judge people on their shirt size, perhaps Brad is like Barney Gumble from the Simpsons and likes to show a little bit of skin... Sorry Brad, I guess I'm a little jealous, I stand 5'3" and wear an extra large shirt. 

Welcome to the Hurtin' Units!!! 

Last season our opening night was also at Coventry Park and our opponent was the Red Dogs. The Hurtin' Units won the game by a 14 -10 score and got the season started in the right direction. The Hurtin' Units went on to have an amazing season with a record of 19-5-2 and a team batting average of .642 %  
2010 was a great season, but now we are about to embark on a new campaign and focus on the 2011!!


It's Game Time:

Coventry Park- The weather for our first game was about what we could expect for May 10, still a little cool, but still comfortable enough when you were running the around. There were overcast skies that probably saved some of us from staring into the sun at our 7:00pm start time.

At game time we had 10 players suited up ready to do battle. Bob M. and new guy Brad Moye were absent on this night...

Similiar to last years start, the defense was a little shakey at times and a couple of batters did not have their timing yet, but over all a pretty well rounded effort for our first game.

The game was shortened due to time, we only played 6 innings and the Units only had five at bats (we were the home team), I got up to bat four times ( I was in the middle of the order) and looking at the game sheet Bill was the last batter, so we all batted four times...not bad for 5 innings.

The first and last innings (open) were our most problematic. Bill struggled a bit to hit the board and find the strike zone and the Rounders waited him out for a either a walk or a good pitch to hit. The Rounders only managed to score 2 runs in the first inning ( although it could worse). In the bottom of the inning, the Units came out swinging and with Tito P. pitching, I unfortunately I hit a hard hit ball up the middle striking Tito in the shin or ankle. He hobbled around for several minutes and then returned to the pitcher's mound ( I really hate when incidents like this happen, I believe in Karma and next time I pitch.... well, you know). With 2 runners on base, the next batter, Mikey Boy, hammered a rocket over the head of the Rounders RCF and Mikey (1) chugged around for a 3 RBI  home run. The Units never looked back...

The top of the second inning saw the Units shut down the Rounders-1,2,3... In the bottom of the inning the Units batted around and scored 7 runs to take an 11-2 lead.

The middle innings saw the Rounders inch a bit closer, but the Unit lead was really to large... Paul Evans had got his first hit in 25 years( hooray! the drought is over) and went 3 for 4 on the night...Most of the Unit players started looking more comfortable at the plate as the game went on... Our defense was having some first game jitters, but it was nothing we can't straighten out over the season. One other thing that happened was a four out inning, we thought we had the third out, but the runner was called safe because Mike was on the orange bag first base bag and not the white. We also had a few breakdowns in communications, calling for pop-ups and fly balls, again a simple problem that can be corrected and will make a difference in our defensive fielding... We threw a few balls away during this game and we will learn to hang on when we need to.. Having Bob M. back in the lineup will tighten our defense. 

The offense was really good in this game. I think the Sunday batting practise helped most of us get off to a good start. I think Paul Evans had a great first game, considering it's been 25 years since he played a game. The guys on this Hurtin' Units squad are great mentors and Paul will great some good tips and advise and will probably show improvement almost every game...

Over all this was a great start to our season.

One more thing: We were challenged last night!! I don't mean in the game, but after in the dugout. I was standing in our dugout when I was approached by one of the Captains of the new team the Beer Bros., ( I'm not sayin' which captain, but it wasn't Paul) and was asked if I would like to make a wager on the season series that our teams will be playing... Well, let me tell you , I'm not afraid of a challenge, and after seeing our team play last night, I had to accept... If the Hurtin' Units win both the season series games, the Beer Bros owe us a case of beer and if the Beer Bros. win the season series we owe them a million dollars (just kidding), we will buy them a case of the cheapest beer on the market...If we both win a game, nobody gets anything... We play the Beer Bros. next Monday evening May 16 at 8:15... Let the trash talk begin... LOL.

COUNTDOWN TO BASEBALL...

 

Friday April 29, 2011.

Well we're only 5 days away from the start of the T.O.T  2011 season and I'm hoping that the weather takes a sudden turn for the better. This week has been brutal for rain, rain and more rain. The wind gusts on Thursday afternoon had election signs changing locations all over the neighorhood, I think I'm voting NDP now, at least that's what the sign on my front lawn says!

With all the rain recently, the start of the season could actually be pushed back a week. This is a township call, they don't want us on the fields if there is any pooling on the infield or if the outfield is spongy.

On Wednesday evening ( this week) the league captains had our monthly Captain's meeting. We discussed the usual stuff ( budget, upcoming events, player registration, tournaments, etc.) and in addition to these discussions we were also allocated our new equipment for the upcoming season (bats, balls, grips, etc.). Last season each team received 2 new bats, but this season the league was only providing new bats to the teams that really needed them. There were several new bats and an assortment of used bats, from previous seasons gone by, but Mike and I chose not to take any of the new bats, and even though I picked through the used bats I could find anything that was any better than what we already have. The set of bats we have are well maintained and should still have "plenty O hits" left in them. We even have one of the coveted yellow bats, that a lot of players really would love to get their hands on (no pun intended). We have one or two bats that could use regripping, but I think we'll probably regrip them after the practise on Sunday. 

Our shirts were not ready as of Wednesday's Captain's meeting and we might not have them for the start of the season, we did however receive our hats, which Mike and I didn't know that everyone was getting, I thought that if you wanted a hat it was a special order, much to my surprise we are all getting a baseball hat and those players that did order an extra they'll get what they ordered. Bonus on the hats!!

Recently, Mike and I sat down and discussed our batting order... We think we have it all worked out, but only time will tell. Last season we had a set order and stuck with it the whole season. One thing we like to do is- when the order is determined we keep the same order, but have the "player on deck" at the end of the previous game, lead off the next game. We find this is a fair way to get guys their at bats, theoretically everyone should end up with the same number of at bats by the end of the season, assuming everyone plays the same number of games. In the playoffs, we will probably change the order to give us the best chance of winning...


Sunday May 1, 2011 
Practise Day:

The weather seems to still be an issue this spring. There was a threat of rain around our scheduled practise time and there actually was a brief shower around 12:00 that had me thinking the turn-out might not be very good. Much to my surprise the turn-out was great. Nine Hurtin' Unit players and four friends turned up to battle a strong wind, damp field conditions, unseasonalbly colder temperatures and intermittent light rain showers. Missing from the 2011 Hurtin' Units were Cal R., Chris R. and Paul E...

Most of us started by throwing the ball around to loosen up the old arms. I had played on Saturday, in an exhibition friendly game, with the Beer Brothers and my first 5 plus throws on Sunday were a little uncomfortable to say the least. I'm sure most of the guys were feeling a little stiff and sore on Monday. After our warm up tosses, we started some batting practise. Bill J. started pitching to the guys. Each of us hit a bucket of balls ( 25 to 30 balls per bucket). In my opinion it was too many swings in a row, fatigue and tiredness start to show by the bottom of the bucket. We each took a turn at batting while the others shagged the hits. Some of us (Chris Larkin) were very active, chasing down ground balls and making game situation plays, great to see, fun to watch...

Bob Mc and myself took turns pitching after Bill J. had to leave for a family function. The wind created a challenge for both batter and pitcher moving the ball all around the plate. After everyone had been through once, we started a second round of batting, with less at bats. We had only gotten to the forth batter when the rain started to fall, everyone collectively started walking off the field toward the dugout, we packed up our gear and we called it a day. After 2 hours of shagging, running and batting most of us looked a little tired, add in a cool wind, damp air, wet feet and the C.R.I.C. dance the night before, I think it was enough for one day, maybe if the weather was nicer we may have continued a bit longer, but not today...

We packed up our gear, the bats, balls, etc. and walked over to the pavillion where Mike had a supply of brown bottles filled with liquid refreshment. We sat back and relaxed talking some baseball.

I have to admit, I was impressed with the hitting of the 9 Hurtin' Unit players. Everyone was hitting the ball hard and placed in the proper order this could be a squad that has very few weak spots in the batting lineup.

As we sat under the shelter of the pavillion, our teammate Kevin Moon provided us with an interesting little statistic regarding his league play over the last 4 seasons. Kevin has been to the playoff finals each of the last 4 seasons and has won the championship every second year. He lost, last season, playing with the Dodge City Rounders, which means he is due for a championship again this season. After what I saw on Sunday, at the practise, I think we have the team to make a run at it( I actually thought the same last season), but only time will tell... I'm looking forward to getting on the field Tuesday night...


Monday May 2, 2011  

The countdown to baseball will have to continue for another week! I was extremely disappointed when I received the e-mail informing us that the Tuesday May 3, 2011 night games had been cancelled. I had been very optimistic, early in the day, that the games were going to be a go for Tuesday. The diamonds, at Coventry Park, were definitely playable on Sunday and on Monday I stopped by the park for a little batting practise and the fields were drying up nicely.

I have to tell you guys, I really don't like cancelling games for a number of reasons: 1. I don't like late games, I wake up at 3:20am and the late games make for a cranky and crappy day! 2. A lot of other players don't like late games either, which means they can't or don't want to play the late games, subs don't like late games , the bottom line is...make up games are usually late games and nobody ( except maybe vampires) likes playing the late games. I believe the Hurtin' Units have 2 scheduled late games this season. 3. Make-up games are difficult to co-ordinate with the other team, umpires and of course the players. Last season we cancelled a game scheduled for July 1st and it didn't get played until August 31st.

We have already been offered a make-up date for the May 3, 2011 cancelled game, the rescheduled game is for May 11 at 9:30pm, next Thursday evening, but I think it is best to decline . We have players, on the Units, that we haven't even met yet  and I really think we need an opportunity( as a team) to discuss whether or not our players can even make this game. The only way we could discuss this would be at our game next Tuesday ( which is really short notice) or via a conference call, which I can't see happening. My preference would be to play later in the season ( June or July), when the temperature is warmer and the weather is a little more stable or... tack the games missed on May 3 onto the schedule at the end of the season at our regular playing times... Either way, I don't think we are ready to play a make-up game just as the season has begun. I will request that this game be made up at a later date or added to the back end of the schedule...

Speaking of schedules, there are a couple of things in the 2011 that are worth mentioning... The Hurtin' Units have two 9:30 pm games scheduled and we also have a double header one evening in June... I have some printed copies of the schedule, I will bring them next week if anyone wants one...

I look forward to our first game, I think we have a great group of guys and I think this is going to be a fun season... I'll see ya next week...

Cheers, Jimmer.

THE 2011 HURTIN' UNITS...

Welcome to the 2011 edition of the Captain's blog! I was actually debating, with myself again this season, whether or not to do a blog, but I have decided to do it in a more condensed version. If you have anything (i.e. photos, stories, etc.) you might like to add to the website or the blog, I'm more than willing to put them in.

It's been almost seven months since The Wild won the championship. For those new or returning players to the league, the Wild won the Championship for the second year in a row, the first time this has been done in the league's 25 year history. Our new teammate Kevin Moon was on the 2009 Wild Championship team and he was on the Dodge City Rounders last season, the team that went to the finals against the Wild.

For those of you who don't know, the Hurtin' Units won the league title for regular season play. In 26 regular season games played, the Hurtin' Units had 19 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties for a total of 40 points, just edging out the Brew Jays by 2 points. The playoffs were not as kind to the Units, we got off to a rough start getting our asses kicked in the first two games. The Units did manage a couple of wins and squeaked ourselves into the elimination round. We had defeated The Wild in round robin play, but faced them again late on the Saturday, in the elimination round, but lost in a very close game by a score of 18-15. The Wild never lost another game and went on to defeat the Dodge City Rounders in the finals...

This season the Hurtin' Units have a new logo. Last year nobody could figure out what the heck was on our shirts, so we decided to make a change. We passed along two different logos to the screen printer, the one to the right and another of a baseball player in some pain. Our first choice is the robot smoking a cigar. Our shirts are the same colour as last season, Royal Blue and we are asking for a yellow lettering, but the printer may not be able to come through for us... I say just surprise us, Bender or the Guy in Pain, yellow or white lettering, whatever we get will be just fine, it's the guys wearing the shirts that matters...

The Hurtin' Units captain's blog will be a site where teammates can view a brief game summary, game score and game highlights as I've viewed them. I will only write about the positive events of each game or if something is humorous and/or needs to be mentioned it may be thrown in.

Last year I blogged every game the Hurtin' Units played, some were boring, some were a little humorous and some were reflections of how I was feeling at different points in the season. If you scroll down the page you will find last years blogs starting with the playoffs and working back all the way to 2010 draft day. 

In 2007 I played for the Rusty Rebels and also blogged every game, including playoffs and tournaments. If you would like to view the Rebels blog go to http://www.rustyrebels.blogspot.com/.


I'm looking forward to the start of this new season. In 2010 we had a great group of guys, we had a good time all season and it reflected in the standings. Last season was the first year that Mike and I were captains and even though we did well, we were still learning. We now have a some experience to draw from and we hope we can make your upcoming season a fun and memorable one.

We were very fortunate to have gotten such a great bunch of guys last season, with guys like Tom Perry, Jens Lepa, Jerry Wallace, Al Hayward, etc, etc. it made coming to the diamond something we looked forward to doing every week. I enjoyed playing ball with Tom so much last season, I made a trophy for the " Most Sportsmanlike Player " on the Hurtin' Units and Tom was the team's first winner.

Looking at this year's roster, I think we have come out of the draft with a great mix of players that will make this upcoming season as great as the last...

I look forward to playing will all you guys this season.

Cheers, Jimmer

END OF SEASON, PLAYOFF BLOG...

And so it ends!! The 25th anniversary season has come and gone, and all that remains are the memories, a bunch of sore, achy muscles and the banquet. It was a great season, a season that was a success. A season that saw Keogh Park get a much needed face lift, a season where former players got a chance to relive the glory days during the HTKP tournament alumni game, a season where the Tottenham Oldtimers all stars lost to the Youngtimers all stars (where is that chicken suit, Chris?), and a season where the defending champions, for the first time in 25 seasons, repeated to win the T.O.T championship...

I like to believe it was a success for the Hurtin' Units also...A first place finish and a fun season with a great group of guys. 

Mike and I would like to thank all the players of the Hurtin' Units for a great season. You guys all made our jobs as captains a great experience... The end results were not quite what we were hoping for, but still a great year and a season we will remember for years to come... I have finished off a brief summary of the playoffs games. I hope you enjoyed the blog over the season...Can't really do too much more without any games being played...See you guys at the banquet and hopefully the AGM... JIMMER.

Hurtin' Units vs. The Rusty Rebels...

Tuesday September 21, 2010.

Game # 1 of the 2010 Playoffs.

Units lose 27-12

The last official day of the summer was fantastic for baseball, the temperature during the day was 26 degrees and there was some humidity that kept the warm temperatures in to the night. The issue of the lighting not working got me into an irritated state before the game even started, but fortunately the lights finally came on at Coventry #2. 

At game time we had our whole team (12 guys).

The final score of 27-12 was the highest number of runs we allowed all season. We are not completely to blame for this loss. The Rebels hit the ball really well and at times made us look really inept. The Rebel defense was also good, I remember being on base three different times and never coming around to score and I'm sure there are others on our team that can say the same thing.


I'm not sure if we had done something different they the results would have been different. The Rebels had a awesome night, with the stars all aligned and the full moon beaming down on them, and the Hurtin' Units had the exact opposite...The Rebels bats were hot in this game. The big guns were just that “ the Big Guns” and the lower rated players were major contributors. Peter S. went 5 for 5 on the evening ( at least that is what I'm told) and I do remember him running by me on several occasions.


Maybe, just maybe we were not as bad as the score would indicate; we did get 12 runs, had runners on and scored in almost every inning and made some nice defensive plays. Mark C. of the Rebels did his part at making us look bad, two towering homeruns to the left field, one hitting the top of the fence before going over. Whatever we did wrong and they did right, the end result was not pretty and this is really the bottom line. 27-12 is uncharacteristic of the Hurtin' Units, both defensively and offensively. Wednesday is another game, a chance to redeem ourselves and get back in the race... UNITS UNSTABLE...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Dodge City Rounders...

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Game #2 of the 2010 playoffs.

Units lose 22-11

An uncharacteristic stat to observe, and if you were new to this site and saw a 49 runs against and 23 runs for, you would think that the Hurtin' Units were not a good team with very little chance of going anywhere in the league. Over the course of the regular season the Hurtin' Units gave up on average 9.11 runs per game. In our first two playoff games our runs against average is almost 25 runs per game....OUCH!! So what's happening? I don't know, we all know we are capable of beating anyone and during the season we had an unbeaten streak of 14 games and a winning streak of 11 games.


So what has happened over the last two playoff games? Was it the fact it was a full moon this week or was this game the result of a Kevin Moon... Mooner had a great game against us, he had numerous ground balls hit to him at second base and his bat was hammering balls around diamond # 3 at Coventry Park.

I'm hoping that Tuesday's game and this game are the explained events caused by a full moon and that universe rights itself by the weekend. This was our 3rd loss in a row, if you include our last regular season game against the Wild...We only lost 5 games all season...Is there a chance we could go 0-4 in the playoffs, Yikes! I hope not... time for change... We would probably go down as the biggest choke team in T.O.T. League history, remembered for years and years to come...I certainly don't want this as our legacy. Perhaps I should chat with some other captains, for some advice on strategies and perhaps I can pry out a few helpful tidbits of information.


This game was almost as bad as Tuesday night's game except for 5 fewer runs. At game time we had 11 batters, Chris N. was the only missing player...


We can't blame the weather, it was still comfortably warm at game time and the sky was clearing as the full moon shone bright. For the first time since last May, I changed the batting order, hoping it would get us going again...Not so much! We did have some chances to score and we did score eleven runs, but something seems to be missing... Confidence?? That first game against the Rebels really deflated us and we really need a shot in the arm...The defense is not clicking like it did most of the season, we seem to be fighting the ball, a tick off a glove, an easy catch off the palm of the glove, balls lost in the night sky and the opposition batters who were once routine outs are dropping in single and doubles that make the top rated players envious.

Are we nervous? Are we so worried that we will make mistakes, that we are making mistakes? Are we gripping the bats so hard and swinging at bad pitches that most of our hits are to an opponent ready to make an easy play? I'm not sure where are team is right now, I'm still blaming it on the full moon, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!! I really think it's time for a change, what worked for us in the regular season seems to be ineffective in the playoffs, it's time to adapt to the situation... On Thursday evening Mike and I discussed what changes we thought would help us get back where we once belonged, get back, get back, get back to where we once belonged.


Looking at our roster, we decided to go with our best bats at the front end and take our chances at the bottom of the order, we also decided to position everyone and have Tom and Nyzee rotate through the infield and outfield. This is the plan Stan!!


We have these two remaining games to this thing turned around, if these changes don't work and we don't get on the winning side, we will be watching on Sunday... UNITS UNDER the gun!!

Hurtin'Units vs. The Dislocated Joints...

Saturday September 25, 2010

Game #3 of the Playoffs.

Units win 16-9

On Saturday morning, the clouds were still hanging around, in fact as we were walking up to the diamonds a light rain was blowing sideways, but the sun was also streaking through, a real mixed bag of weather to be sure...There was still a strong wind creating problems for the pitchers in this game, it must have been a nightmare for the pitchers and players on Friday with very strong winds blowing the balls around, dirt off the infield impairing vision and creating noise making communication difficult.  

At game time ( 10:15 am), on Saturday morning we had our full squad and we even had a small cheering section, there to support us in our moment of desperation... I looked in to the crowd and saw some familiar Hurtin' Unit supporters, I believe I saw Tina Dickson sitting there with her sister ( could have been her mother, but she looked to young for her mother), I saw Claire Wallace leading the cheers and I saw Paul's friend who's name escapes me at this time, all sitting nervously waiting for the Hurtin' Units to get the job done.

Being the home team can have an adverse affect if you get off to a rough start, which we did in this game also... The Dislocated Joints scored 5 runs in the top of the first inning and left the seventh on second base, but the bottom of the inning saw us score 2 and get some momentum going... I believe we shut them down in the second and scored again in the bottom of the inning... Our biggest break came with two out in one of the middle innings. Jimmy Mac got the whole thing started and we brought 5 runs around to score...Robin Dickson and Tom Perry (2nd) teamed up in the fifth to shut the door. Robin made a couple ( probably more than a couple) of great plays to shut the door on the Joints... Mikey Boy hit a clear the bases homerun in the game to score 3 runs... Rick Cudnik stoled the show for the Dislocated Joints with two incredible catches and two up the gap homeruns to the fence...

Going into the open inning (6th) the Hurtin' Units had a six run lead and the Joints made it close by scoring 4 runs. The Units won the game by 2 runs , but still played the bottom of the inning for the plus/ minus. In the bottom of the inning the Units scored 5 times to reach the max in the plus/minus of +7... The next game is against the Wild at 2:00 pm.


As I mentioned in the section on the last game against the Dodge City Rounders, we needed to change things up and so we did and the changes in the batting order and in the rotation of players positions, I think these changes helped in this victory, we'll probably keep the same setup until we are eliminated...Mike and I did what we thought was the best we could do to win and hopefully it pays off....UNITS UNFALLING!!

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild...  

Saturday September 25, 2010

Game # 4 of the Playoffs..

Units win 8-4

Well the overcast skies were still with us for this game... I even felt a few sprinkles when we were on the field. The temperature high for the day was supposed to be 16 degrees, I'd be surprised if we reach it...

Our support group ( the crowd) was at this game also and I think it even got bigger with Don's wife and some other supporters cheering us on. Claire was there, with my camera and hopefully she got some pictures I can use on this page of the blog.

The new batting lineup seems to be paying off, we managed to win this game by a 8-4 score...The defense also looked pretty good in the game, holding off the likes of Chuck Cragg, Steve Ross, Tony M. Etc...

Mikey Boy, Nyzee, Robin and Jerry were hitting the ball solidly for the Hurtin' Units today... Mikey in the third slot hit a triple, which was followed by Robin hitting another triple, I joked with both of them as I was coaching 3rd, “is a triple the best you can do”? Great hitting by these guys all day... The win gives us two wins and two losses, there are some teams with 1 win and 3 losses, our wins today gets us into at least the elimination round, there is a slight chance we could get a bye, but the stars and the universe with have to align in the right order to have this work out... I'm just happy to have a chance at getting into Sunday...

The elimination games today are at 5:45pm and 7:00pm, we won't know until the round robin games are finished where we will finish and our next game time and opponent. A bye would be really nice...UNITS UNDOUBTED!!

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild... Elimination Game.

Saturday September 25, 2010.

Game #5, Elimination Game...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild again...

Units lose 18-15


This game started by the Hurtin' Units getting down early. The Wild scored 5 runs in the first inning, more than they scored the whole previous game against us. The Units battled back in the bottom of the inning with a couple of runs, but were snuffed out by some good Wild defense.Well we made it in to the elimination round and seeded ourselves at 8 place. Unfortunately 8 place meant two things, first we would have to face the Wild again, a team that makes me very nervous and second is that we would not play until 7:00pm, which meant standing around for a couple of hours...To sit or stand around a couple of hours watching baseball would normally not bother me, but the temperature had started to drop and after playing two games earlier in the day I was starting to feel the effects of playing earlier. I really wasn't prepared for such cool temperatures, a Hurtin' Units Jersey and a thin windbreaker really don't cut the mustard...If the high of the day was 16 degrees, by the time we played our final elimination game the temperature must have been under 10 degrees, I remember seeing my breath after the game...

In the middle innings the Wild scored a 7 run inning that really deflated us and put our backs against the wall. Both teams scored runs back and forth, but the Units couldn't seem to make up up any ground. Going into the top of the seventh inning the score was 14-7 for the Wild, they came out and scored 2 more runs putting us in to a deeper hole. In the bottom of the inning the Units bats seemed to come to life, scoring 6 runs, but with the bases loaded , I found myself in a similar showdown situation as last season.

Last season with the Banshees, I was at bat in the seventh, our tying run was on second base and the go ahead run was on first base, 2 outs and Tito pitching to me. Tito hit the board three times , I stood and watched all three pitches with the bat on my shoulder, strike three hit the board dead centre and the Banshees playoff run and season was concluded. I am still reminded on occasion about this day, not by Tito, although he has mentioned it from time to time, but more from my Banshee teammates or anyone who happened to witness this unforgettable event.

I was not about to let Tito end the Hurtin' Units season in the same manner, I did however watch the first pitch hit the board dead centre. The next pitch, I swung and made solid contact, a line drive over Chuck's head toward left center field. Tony M of the Wild, who had been quite busy this game, came from his left to his right and made a nice catch to end the Hurtin' Units season.

The season had come to an end, but it wasn't for lack of trying, we never gave up, and battled until the final pitch of the game...Great job Units...

And so another season has gone by. It was a good season, not because the Hurtin' Units won the title or the Wild won the Championship, but all the positive things that happened over the course of the season...
 

The season seemed to get off to a bit of a slow start, mainly because of the Keogh Park renovations. I'm really glad that Chris Ross took the initiative to do the Keogh Park renovations in his last year as president. The renovations slowed the season, but in the big picture the new backstop and fencing, the levelling and re-sodding of the field and the relamping, cleaning and re-aiming of the lights will benefit the league and it's players for years to come... Hopefully, the lighting problems that caused us headaches near the end season, are resolved and next season goes smoothly for our new president... Our Saturday playoffs were a success, 2 wins and a very close game against the Wild, if we had played like we can during the week, we could have been playing on Sunday. The games earlier in the week were not a true reflection of the way the Units played most of the season. I think after the games against the Rebels and Dodge City we were on pins and needles until we finally got our first win on Saturday morning against the Joints...We regained our confidence and started looking like the real Units, the Units of earlier in the season...UNITS UNFORTUNATE!!

End of Season...

Well I can't believe the 25th anniversary season has come to an end already, 5 months gone by in the wink of an eye. The Wild has won back to back championships for the first time in the 25 years. This is really pretty cool considering that the teams are almost completely different with the exception of the captains...

I can still remember clearly preparing for the draft, the wish list of players I wanted to pick, some of which we chose and some I'm glad were substituted with players we ended up with. I think that Mike and I ended up with a great group of guys in this our first year as Captains. I can only hope that future teams are as easy to manage.

Not only did we end up with a great group of guys, but we also got guys that could play the game... Our season record reflects the type of play we had on the field. A 19-5-2 record with 40 points and a regular season title win was probably more than we could have ever expected.

Along with the regular season title I think we had a pretty good playoff run. We started slow, still blaming the full moon thing, but our Saturday turned out, in my opinion, to be a good day with 2 wins and almost coming back on the team that won the championship..

I think we ( the Hurtin' Units) were the toughest competition for the Wild once the elimination games had begun. After the Wild defeated the Hurtin' Units on Saturday evening, they went on to defeat the Lucky Stiffs, 18-4 on Sunday morning, the Hottub Woodies in the semi-finals 8-2, and then the Dodge City Rounders in the finals by a score of 13-3 . The Wild were on cruise control on Sunday...

The Wild were the 6th seed going in to the playoffs and on the first night they played the Hot Tub Woodies (11th seed) and came away with a 16-16 tie. Their second game was against the Dusty Cleats (14th seed) and they came away with a 14-11 win. The Wild then lost their next two games 15-10 to the Lucky Stiffs (4th seed) and 8-4 to the Hurtin' Units (1st seed) to end the round robin with 3 points and a -6 plus/minus.

The Wild were reseeded at the end of the round robin at a 9th seed and the Hurtin' Units were reseeded at an 8th seed which meant the two of us would meet in an elimination game at 7:00pm on Saturday. The rest is history...

I would like to thank, the president of our league, Chris Ross for all this hard work over the last 6 years. I have only been in the league for 5 years and Chris is the only president I have ever known in this league...I was very impressed this season, at the Captain's meetings, how Chris took and kept control of the meetings...He was truly a professional when dealing with the captains and co-captains and running the meetings.... At the draft, I was really glad when I picked Chris to play for the Hurtin' Units, he was one of the guys on my wish list. It was great having him playing on the Units, always willing to answer any questions I would bother him with...Sometimes he was a pain in the ass, but for the most part he let Mike and I run the team the way we wanted. I'm sure there are some people that are a little nervous about a new president coming in, but Chris is still going to be playing in the league and I'm sure he will do all he can to make the new president's transition an easy one...

There is one more person I want to say a few words about...Tom Perry came back to the league this season, after being away for eight years...The Hurtin' Units are very fortunate to have drafted Tom. I absolutely loved having Tom on the team, he was a steady, knowledgeable and calming influence on all the Hurtin' Units players and just an all round great guy to have in the dugout... In a recent conversation with Tom, he indicated that he probably will not be back for the 2011 season, he will be 65 years old next season and he would rather fill his exercise quotas with his first love... hockey, which he plays approximately 100 games per year... I wish Tom all the best in his future endeavours and I'm sure our paths will cross again in the future... Tom, thanks for being part of the Hurtin' Units this season...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hurtin' Units OBA On Base At Bat



Al Hayward              0.476%    40    84


Chris Ross              0.600%     45    75


Christopher Nyers   0.609%     28    46


Don Curran              0.712%     47    66


James Taylor           0.527%     58    110


Jens Lepa                0.689%      73   106


Jerry Wallace           0.596%      59    99


Jim MacDonald        0.673%       74   110


Mike Olliffe 0            0.637%       65   102


Paul Gyori                0.559%       52    93


Robin Dickson          0.784%       76    97


Tom Perry                 0.686%      48     70


Hurtin' Units Team Average     0.642%

2010 Final Standings.

Position Team     Games  Wins  Losses  Ties  Points  

1 Hurtin' Units        26        19        5          2       40     

2 Brew Jays           26        19        7          0        38     

3 Rusty Rebels       26        16        8          2       34   

4 Lucky Stiffs         26        16        9          1       33    

5 Banshees            26        14        11         1       29   

6 The Wild              26        13        11         2       28 

7 Torn Ligaments   26        12        10         4       28     

8 Dog Catchers      26        12        13         1       25  

9 Dislocated Joints 26        12       14         0       24      

10 Grisslies              26      11        14         1       23    

11 HotTub Woodies 26      10        14         2      22   

12 Dodge City           26       9         17         0      18  

13 Red Dogs              26       7        17  

14 Dusty Cleats         26       3        23      0          6