HTKP TOURNAMENT.

Help the Kids Play Tournament 
 July 6,7,8, 2012

Over the last two seasons we have put a team in the Help the Kids play tournament. This season is no different, we have entered our team and it is great that almost the whole team is playing, we played with 11 players and zero subs. Last season we picked up 4 players for the tournament, we picked up Dean C., Steve D., John T. and Chris R., it was a fun weekend... We also played four games in the round robin and we were perfect going 4-0. In the elimination round we lost to the Lucky Stiffs 10-9 and our tourney was done...If I recall we had the tying run on third base. 

Our tournament had come to an end, but we came away, as a team, with a strong positive outlook for the rest of the season. This tournament really serves multi purposes for the Hurtin' Units, it always seems to be the strongest team bonding point in the season and second, the monies raised in this tournament go to helping local children, who can't afford to play sports, giving them opportunity to play... Special thanks have to out to all the people who play and donate their time to this tournament. I would also like to thank Dave Polny from Coras resturants and Dave Fleming from Tottenham Home Hardware for their generous donations...

Friday July 6, 2012 - Game # 1 Hurtin' Units vs. Dogcatchers...

 Hurtin' Units win 20-19

The Hurtin' Units played the Dogcatchers on opening night of season and it certainly wasn't  an offensive  battle, the teams sawed off with a 5-5 tie.

In this tournament the Units won the coin toss and we were to take the field as the home team, but before we took the field, we gathered at the bench for a shot of Sambuca. 

This first game of the HTKP tournament was at bit more of a offensive  tilt with Dogcatchers. The game went back and forth and going in to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Units were down by 3 runs. Craig S was lead off in the bottom of the inning and started off with a in the park homerun (his 2nd of the game), up next was Gord R (3rd) but Gord was hurting a little and was the first out. The next batter was Al H., Al got on with a single, I followed Al and also got on with a single. With runners on first and second, Gord R. (SS) came up next and hit a line drive in to the glove of the left fielder. With two out Anicete came up and hit another single, driving Al to third and myself to second. With the bases loaded, down by two runs, tying run at second, Clayton came up and drove the ball to the outfield for a double, all three runners on base came around to score... Hurtin' Units win 20-19.  

Saturday July 7, 2012 - Game # 2 Hurtin' Units vs. The Grisslies.

Hurtin' Units win 12-7 



Cousin Eddie, part of the Griswold family.

 It's sometimes difficult to sit around and wait for the game, I personally like to play most of my tournament games in the same day. This was not to be the case in this tournament, we had our first game late on Friday evening and our second at 2:30pm on Saturday.

"Chicks dig me"

This game had a little bit of Grisslies fun swirling around it as the Grisslies made some light hearted fun at their co-captain Doug Dwyer. The Grisslies had made signs and pictures of Doug with the phrase "Chicks dig Me" and they were posted around the diamond, even home plate, and we were asked to wear stickers during the game.

As we did in our first game, we gathered around and toasted a good game with a shot of Sambuca. This was a close game and with a bad break to either side it could swung in favor of the other team. The Hurtin' Units hitting was bang on again, the batting order seems to be working well and our defense is gelling together nicely. Craig continues to carry a hot stick (that just sounds funny) and hit another home run in this game, 3 in the park homeruns in 2 games... We looked real solid in this game and I really sense the confidence growing... Next game Sunday at 9:00am.

Sunday July 8, 2012 - Game # 3 Hurtin' Units vs. The Woodys...

Hurtin' Units win 12-2
 

This game was really a game the Hurtin Units needed to win. The round robin standings were very close, only 4 of the 12 teams make the semi finals and there were still a lot of teams still in the hunt. This game ended up being a defensive gem, our defense made some really nice plays, Al H and Gord (3rd) both made line drive catches on the infield and the outfield were challenged by some strong Woodys bats.

The Hurtin' Units offense scored some timely runs and the final result was a 12-2 victory and a birth in the semi-final vs. the Brew Jays.




Sunday July 8, 2012 - Game # 4 Hurtin' Units vs. the Brew Jays...

Hurtin' Units lose 12-5

Our wait between the win against the Woodys game and the semi final game was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. This gave most of us a little break, we were scheduled to work the bar at 11:00 am, but because we had a game at 11:30 am we really couldn't do it, Craig and Clayton helped out in the bar for bit before our game.

As we had in all of our other games, we toasted a good game with a shot of Sammy and started the game as the visitors. The seeding determined home field team in this game, we were the third seed and the Brew Jays were the second...

The Units took an early lead in this game scoring 2 runs in the first. We shut the Brew Jays down in the bottom of the inning. In the second, the Units scored another 2 runs, but in the bottom of the inning the Jays scored 7 runs on a bunch of solid hits. In the third the Units would bring around another single run and close the door again on the Jays. After 3 innings of play the score was 7-5 Jays. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Jays would score 5 more runs to make the score 12-5. In the top of the seventh the Units couldn't get any kind of rally going and the score remained 12-5 for the Jays. The Units would lose the game, but the tournament will definitely help in the regular season games still to be played... Great job guys!! 



The Pieman



The Brew Jays would go on to face the Dusty Cleats in the finals and would squeak out a 23-22 victory in the late innings to win the Help the Kids Play tournament. The Pieman would be the hero, hitting a grand slam homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game... Congratulations Brew Jays...

HURTIN' UNITS SMOKE THE JOINTS, FEELING A HIGH.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DISLOCATED JOINTS.

GAME # 12 - July 5, 2012

Hurtin' Units win 16-10

Team Record  4-7-1

Keogh Park- Looking at the standings today, the Dislocated Joints are having pretty decent season with a record of 10-2-0, they lost on Tuesday evening to the Grusome Devils. Again I was comparing the 2012 Hurtin' Units numbers to others, but the numbers of the Joints really put things in to perspective with me. The Dislocated Joints in 11 games had only given up 97 runs against (best in the league) and have only scored 145 runs for... The Hurtin' Units have scored, in 10 games, 141 runs for and have allowed 146 runs against, not the greatest run differential (middle of the pack), but the numbers do tell the story... The Joints have a run differential of +48 runs (again the best in the league). When you can hold your opponents to less than 9 runs per game you're going to win your fair share of games...

In our game against the Tap Masters we didn't look very good. My pitching was mediocre at best, our batting was just awful and our defense was fighting the ball most of the night... Let's just chalk up this game to "One of those games" and be done with it...

The game against the Dislocated Joints is expected to be a tough one with the Joints only losing 2 games on the season. I mentioned in another posting that I think we play better against the top teams, but tonight's test will give us a chance to see how we will fair against the top team... This weekend we have the HTKP tournament and I hope that everyone is looking forward to playing this weekend...

At the legion after our game on Wednesday night, most of our team was in good spirits even after the shit kickin' we took at the hands of the Tappers. Rob and Jamie both said they were looking forward to the tournament and I really think this tournament will be good for our team...I am really looking forward to the tournament, I love to play, what can I say... This tournament will give me some good pitching practise, it will give guys who are struggling with the bat some no pressure hacks, it will give me a chance to play around with a batting order and most of all it will help bond us as a team... Sambuca time draws near....

The weather for our game with the Dislocated Joints was still hot, at 6:00pm on game day the temperature was 31 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 37...The skies were almost clear.

At game time we had 12 players ready to play, a full team ready to take on the top team. Al had missed the game against the Tap Masters, but was back for this one... We were the visitors again, on a four game road trip don't ya know...

Boxscore:                     1    2     3     4     5     6     7       Total 


Hurtin' Units                  1     6     1     0     7     1    X         16   


Dislocated Joints         1     0     7     0     2     0    X         10   

" And there she goes"... I made a slight adjustment in the batting order for this game against the Joints, I moved Gord R. (SS) up in to the lead off position to take some pressure off him. I was thinking that Gord was trying to hard to hit the ball out in the cleanup position. In the top of the first inning, on the second pitch of the game, Gord hit a home run in to the lawn bowling courts for his first rounder of the season... This started the game in the direction we wanted to see. In the home half of the inning the Joints scored a single run. In the top of the second, the Units went on a hitting spree and scored 6 runs, stranding the 7th on 3rd base. In the bottom, the Joints went down I,2,3 change em up boys.. In the top of the third inning the Units scored a single run, but the Dislocated Joints, in the bottom, sprayed the ball around the diamond (good hits all of them) and scored a 7 run inning. The score at the end of 3 innings 8-7 for the Units...

The fourth inning saw neither team score. In the top of the fifth inning, the Units sent 10 batters to the plate and scored 7 runs. In the bottom,  the Joints countered with 2 runs of their own.  The sixth inning became the open inning and in the top of the inning, the Units scored a single run. The bottom of the inning, the Joints sent only 4 batters to the plate, before the Units defense shut the door...

We really are a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team. Our game against the Tap Masters on the night the lights wouldn't come on was similar to the game against the Dislocated Joints. We were batting great, our defense was stellar, we look like and act like we are in the driver's seat and in control of the game. And then we have night's like we did against the Tap Masters this week, taking 3 innings to get through the order, defensive skills were fogotten at home and no focus on what we are doing... Maybe every team goes through this, it certainly has kept things interesting...The Help the Kids tournament begins tonight, I'm looking forward to seeing Dr. Jekyll... 

MASTERS TAP ON THE HURTIN' UNITS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. TAP MASTERS.

Game # 11 - July 4, 2012

(make up game for light night)

Hurtin' Units lose 20-9

Team Record  3-7-1

Keogh Park- In week 10 and 11 we are on the road for a 4 game road trip. We visit the Tap Masters on Wednesday evening and then we take on the #1 team in the league, the Dislocated Joints, on Thursday evening. Next  week we head to the Dogcatcher's home park and then we finish off the trip in Lucky Stiff's park before heading home for a tango with the Grisslies.

Well let's try this game again, the first time we tried to play this game the game was postponed because the lights would not come on. We had played 3 complete innings before the umpire and captains deemed it unsafe to continue the game. The game score at the end of 3 innings was 9-5 for the Hurtin' Units, but the game and score don't really matter, for the game was unofficial and it was rescheduled for the 4th of July...
The Tappers currently sit in 6th place in the standings with a record of 6-5-1 and 13 points. The thing that really gets me, when I look at the standings, is the Tap Masters have one less loss than the Hurtin' Units and are 8 spots higher in the standings and the Brew Jays are in second place and only have two less losses. In years past, I rarely looked at the standings so closely, I don't really know why I have watched this season with such interest. Maybe it's time to forget about the standings and let the chips fall where they may.

Last night the at Coventry (July 3), six teams played and with the results of those game, there are now 5 teams with more losses than the Hurtin' Units. Amongst the teams that lost last night were the Dislocated Joints, losing for only the second time this season. We play the Joints on Thursday evening, they might be in a little bit of a bad mood.

There are still 6 teams, in the standings, in the single digits in points. Our games in hand really make it look like the Unit's team is struggling big time, but really if we were to win the two games in hand we would be well on our way to the middle of the pack... having mentioned the parity on several occasions, this really is a wide out season, no real dominate team and a chance for every team in the playoffs.

 The weather for this late night game was still hot, we had daytime temperatures of about 30 and with the humidity it felt like 38 degrees. There had been a threat of thunderstorms earlier in the day, but by game time they had disappeared and the temperature had dropped to a comfortable 25 degrees.

At game time we had 11 players suited up, Al H. was the only guy missing. We were the visitors in this game.

This game was one of those ones you'd like to forget as quickly as possible; I struggled pitching, our bats struggled right from the start and our defense had a rough time on the field. Add all these things together and it was a recipe for an ugly game with a capital "U". The nice thing is we get right back on the horse tonight and we get a shot at the Dislocated Joints. All teams seem to want to beat the top teams don't they?

I remember last season against the smokin', red hot Dusty Cleats, the Hurtin' Units lost by a single run in our first meeting and we handed the Cleats their first loss of the season in our second meeting. We seem to play our best when facing the tough teams.

This league, with it's blind draft every season, can be frustrating at times, last season the Dusty Cleats only lost 3 games all season (including playoffs) and this season they already sit with 8 losses and in 15th place...It can turn around quickly, in a single year, sometimes in a team's favor and sometimes it can just be UGLY...or even creepy.

Boxscore:          1      2      3     4    5    6     7       Total 


Hurtin' Units       0      1      0     4     1    0    3           9    


Tap Masters       7      5      2     3     3    0    X          20   

I called this game ugly and it was! I struggled to throw strikes, our bats were better off left in the car and the defense had a rough night... I mentioned during the game that maybe we were looking ahead to the Dislocated game, I'm  not sure what happened, but in wasn't pretty. In the first inning of this game we really set the tone, we sent 4 batters to the plate and it was on to the bottom of the inning... The first inning really set the tone for the Tap Masters also, but in the opposite way. The Masters nickeled and dimed us with hits in the first inning, I walked a batter, we only had a single out and then there was a towering homerun by supersub Steve L (Lucky Stiffs) in to the tennis courts... At the end of one inning the score was 7-0 Tappers.

In the second inning, the Units bats sputtered along again sending 5 batters to the plate and scoring a single run...In the bottom of the inning, I struggled to throw strikes and walked 3 batters, all 3 came around to score, the Masters scored another 5 runs. The score was 12-1.

In the third inning, the Units batting woes continued, we sent 4 batters to the plate and we were shut out again. In the bottom of the inning, we started to slow the bats of the Tappers down a little allowing only 2 runs to score... 14-1 Tap Masters... This was certainly a different game from the one we started 8 days ago, where after 3 innings of play back then, it was 9-5 Hurtin' Units... Damn Lights!!!

In the fourth inning, we actually won the inning scoring 4 runs to the Tap Masters 3 runs. The fifth inning saw the Tap Masters score another 3 runs and the Units score a single. In the sixth inning, the Units managed to get the bases loaded, but couldn't bring anyone home. The bottom of the inning saw Dave Kidd come in to pitch and did a great job allowing no runs to score. The score at the end of six innings was 20-6 for the Masters. The Hurtin' Units would continue to fight until the end, scoring 3 more runs in the top of the seventh inning... The final score 20-9 for the Tap Masters. 

GRUSOME NUMBER TWOSOME.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRUSOME DEVILS.

Game # 10- June 28, 2012 


Hurtin' Units win 19-17


Team Record 3-6-1

Keogh Park- We have only really played one game since the last time we took on the Devils. We did start a game last Monday evening only to have the lights not come on and the game got rescheduled against the Tap Masters. The game we played in between the Grusome Devils was against the Red Dogs, a game we almost came back in, but fell 2 runs short in the end. In our first game against the Grusome Devils we were beaten up by a score of 16-8.

Well, I hate to be the messenger of bad news; it's official our Co-Captain Mike O. received the results of his MRI and the news was that Mike has a torn miniscus in his knee and is finished for the season. This saddens me on many different levels, first the pain and suffering Mike has been going through and second is he will not be playing with us for the rest of the season. We all saw last  Monday evening a glimpse of what Mike brings to the team, we saw two solid hits against the Tap Masters, one to the fence and the other a home run (imagine what a healthy knee would do), we have missed Mike in the lineup this season and I think this has held us back, the post Mike era officially begins tonight.

The great news is that Mike is going to continue to co-captain. Mike will definitely be playing a roll on the Hurtin' Units as the season moves forward. We can put the boy to work doing other team related chores... i.e. scorekeeping, coaching bases, pouring Sambuca (more on this as the HTKP tournament approaches) and organizing a wing night, etc. etc...

With the news of Mike's season injury, we decided to inquire about waiting list players, there was one player on the list and he was assigned to the Hurtin' Units team... I would like introduce the newest Hurtin' Unit Mr. Mark Butler. 

The weather was warm and sunny for this game. The temperature was around 28 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 33. There was a breeze kicking up every once and a while, there was also a threat of a thunderstorm later in the evening. 

At game time we had a different looking lineup, Clayton, Al, Craig and Gord were all away. We called for a couple of subs and picked up Peter H. (Beer Bros) and Don S. (Dogcatchers). This was also the debut of new, new guy Mark Butler. At game time we had 10 players suited up, well 7 of them were suited up. I felt like this was the start of something, I'm not sure what, but something just felt different to me...Maybe it was Mike was no longer able to play, maybe it was because I changed the batting order and some player positions, maybe because I was feeling good about my pitching practise over the last week. Not sure what was different, it was just a feeling I had... We were the home team for this game.


Boxscore:           1      2      3      4      5     6      7        Total  

Hurtin' Units       7      7      0      0      5     X     X           19     

Grusome             1      7      0      0      3     6     X           17     

The boxscore really tells a good story of how this game played out. The Hurtin' Units got off to a solid start scoring two 7 run innings  and our defense was really tight most of the night. The Grusome Devils are a solid hitting team, I remember being out on the pitching mound and asking myself  "when are we going to see the bottom of the order?" it seemed like every batter was a solid slugger and they were missing Robin D., Keith D. and Gord T. We were missing some important pieces ourselves. The Hurtin' Units had three perfect evening's at the plate from Anicete Goncalves (4/4); Cameron Clark (4/4) and Dave Kidd (4/4).

I looked at the players stats at the end of this week and noticed that the Hurtin' Units have 3 players in the top 25, I'm not going to mention their names because it might jinx them. I was surprised to not see certain Hurtin' Unit players. We have a couple of guys that are usually in the 25 group, but they just haven't worked their way up there yet, I imagine they will be there before too long... I also looked for some Dislocated Joints players in the top 25 batters and there was not a single Joint player in the top 25 in batting...Amazing!

I also looked at the standings and I'm proud to say we are not in the bottom of the standings anymore, at least for this week... Now let's be fair to our team, we have still played the least amount of games in the league this season...Looking at the standings and counting the other team's games I noticed we have a one game in hand advantage over 5 teams, we have a 2 game advantage on 8 teams and we have a 3 game advantage over a single team...Again, amazing! This is our time to make up ground...

On Friday the president of the T.O.T league sent out a mid-season update and thought it was kinda funny because we have only played 10 games. If we were able to win a couple of these games in hand, we could quickly move up in the standings.  One more thing I noticed in  the standings page was the losses for the other teams. We (Hurtin' Units) currently have 6 losses on the season, there is 1 team with 8 losses, 3 teams with 7 losses and 6 teams (including the Units) with 6 losses on the season... Our games in hand definitely work in our favor if we can earn a win or two... We should be able to make-up one of our games in hand this upcoming week... We play two tough opponents this week in the Tap Masters and the Dislocated Joints. These will be a good challenge as we head in to the HTKP tournament next  weekend... 

HURTIN' UNITS WERE LIGHTS OUT WITH THE TAP DANCERS...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE TAP MASTERS.

Game # 10 - June 25, 2012

Hurtin' Units reschedule
Make-up game July 4th

Team Record - 2-6-1

Keogh Park- This week we were to have two games, I believe it would have been for the first time this season. We did have a two game week earlier in the season, but the second game was postponed against the Dusty Cleats. I really like the two games a week, I think it helps us get in to the games more and when we're in to the games more I think we will play better. Our first game of the week was to be against the Tap Masters, another first year team captained by Tim Shrank and Jason Bowers. 

I looked at the standings and I was stunned to see how these guys are tearing things up. Now bare in mind that they have played 3 more games than us, but they still have some impressive numbers. They currently reside in 3rd place with 13pts after 12 games and only 1point out of second place. One number that really stood out for me was the runs for, the Masters runs for, is a whooping 192, that is 70 runs greater than the Hurtin' Units, but I did say they have played 3 more games... If we ( Hurtin' Units) were to score 13 or more runs per game over our next 3 games we would be close... 13 runs a game, piece of cake! The next closest team for runs scored in the Red Dogs with 167 runs...The Hurtin' Units have played the least amount of games in the league... 

The weather for this game was excellent, sunny skies with a few clouds blowing around, there was a strong breeze, and the temperature was hovering around 18 degrees. I love playing in these weather conditions...

At game time we were down some of our own players... Gord R., Craig S., and Dave were missing for action. Mike stepped up to play and we arranged for a couple of subs for the game. Thanks go out to Mark K. and Piero D.

This game was a lights out dud. The Tap Masters and the Hurtin' Units only got 3 innings completed before the umpire called the game due to darkness. I thought I would mention a little about the game, it is after all, part of our season. The stats don't count and the score doesn't matter, but to those of us who were there we have a few memories to recall in the future...




"Lights out boys"

 In the first in the Hurtin' Units went down quickly and in the bottom of the inning,  the Tappers scored 2 runs. In the second inning, the Units 2 runs to tie things up, but in the bottom the inning the Taps scored 3 runs to take the lead again. In the top of the inning the Hurtin' Unit bats thundered to life, pounding the ball all over the field and scoring 7 runs capped off by a Mike O. home run over the right field fence. This was the second time in the game Mike crushed the ball, we really miss this bat in the lineup. In the bottom of the third inning, the Units' defense closed the door on the Tap Masters. The score after 3 complete innings Hurtin' Units 9, Tap Masters 5.

Darkness had fallen on the playing field and after a short discussion with captains and umpire, it was decided that the conditions were unsafe and the game would have to be rescheduled... The Hurtin' Units vs. Tap Masters rescheduled make-up game is July 4, 2012 at Keogh Park at 9:30pm.

RED DOGS HOLD OFF HURTIN' UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. RED DOGS.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.-Field of Dreams

Game # 9 - June 18, 2012

Hurtin' Units lose 19-17

Team Record- 2-6-1

Coventry Park - Well,  it's back to Coventry for another kick at the can. The Hurtin' Units don't really have a lot of history with the Red Dogs, over the last couple of years, we have played each other, but there really have been no memorable moments that I can recall. I looked at their roster and there were 3 players that I have played with since coming in to the league in 2006. I played on teams with Rick H., Gary C. and Rob Mc. over the years, these guys I have some memories with, but really that's about it. In 2008, Rob McCarron and I played for the Lucky Stiffs and won the T.O.T championship, we did have a little help from our friend Sammy Buca, which we will call upon in the near future...

One memory I do have of the Red Dogs, it was Game # 1, May 4, 2010 and the Hurtin' Units were playing their first ever game against the Red Dogs, we went on to win the game by a score of 14-10. I looked back at what I wrote back then about that game and thought I would share a couple of paragraphs of my babblings with you, from this time....

Our game was not a stand out by any means, but it did have certain hang around the beer cooler topics to discuss post game. What topics you ask? Well, there were the five strike outs by the Units, which leads to five frosty jugs of beer at the Legion and this made the eyes of Chris, Robin and Jerry light up like little kids in a candy store. There was the nature call by an umpire who found relief in the meadows of Coventry Park and of course, there was the game. Yes the game, the first ever game for the Hurtin' Units.

The Hurtin' Units played a solid defensive game with few errors which is good news for the first game of the year. Robin made a fantastic play near second base, picking up a well hit ground ball, crawling toward second, getting to his feet, stumbling again to his knees, crawling to the bag for the out, a solid effort indeed. There were some nice catches in the outfield and the infield didn't look to shabby either. I have a feeling I might be repeating this line several more times over the course of the season (not the Robin crawling back line, although given enough beer... no, I mean the team looked good line).

  

I really do enjoy going back and reading the stuff I wrote about our games from the past, I think it is probably because I was at these games and remember how the plays actually went down... I really hope that sometime in the future, everyone on the current (2012) roster will go back and read what I said about our games... I know that this has not been a memorable season as yet, but I really, honestly believe we have a solid, solid team and we are about to turn things around... And if I am wrong about the turning it around thing, I hope we still walk away with great memories of playing together... I sometimes get bored with writing out or trying to find an angle or just putting this blog together, but I do look back once and awhile at old postings and find it's fun to recall games gone by... Some of you may have noticed that I have use this picture of the kid eating popcorn and watching the game in previous blogs, I really love the innocence of this picture and I like to include it in a blog in every season... 

The Red Dogs look like they are off to a decent start in the 2012 campaign sitting in 7th place with a 4-4-0 record, so basically a .500 team which we could see a lot of this season...If any team (other than the Joints) could get on a winning streak, they could walk away with the league this season... I was perusing the standings this morning and the difference between 2nd and 15th is 5 points... If the Units were to win 3 games in a row and the Dodge City Rounders were to lose 3, the Units would take over sole procession of 2nd place, now there are a ship load of other teams in between us, but I was really just trying to illustrate a point about how close the standings are and how easy it would be to get back in the race... EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEAZY!

And so the drought ends... I have to mention my Nascar favorite Dale Earnhart jr. for ending the 143 cup race drought without a win. The victory came almost exactly four years to the day after his last trip to Victory Lane . Dale's last win was also in Michigan on June 15, 2008. It was great to finally see Junior win. I was actually a Dale Earnhart senior fan unitl Dale Sr. was killed in Daytona, in the last lap of the Daytona 500, in 2001... I know I speak for all the Dale Earnhart jr. fans, congratulations for a long overdue victory...

The weather for this game the Red Dogs was hot, 30 degrees at around 3:00pm and with the humidity it felt like 38 degrees. At game time it had cooled down to 28 degrees...

At game time we had 10 players, all drug free, (Advil, Aspirin, Moltrin Midol and A535 are not performance enhancing) ready to take on the Big Red Machine. Gord R. (3rd) was unavailable (back on afternoons) and Mike was ready  to play if needed. We were the home team in this game...

BOXSCORE:             1      2       3       4       5        6        7           TOTAL 

HURTIN' UNITS         6      2       1       1      0        7         0               17      

RED DOGS                2     4        7       0      2        3         1               19     

      

Hurtin' Unit score sheet

In seasons past I may have thought that we were jinxed or cursed or that someone had cast a spell upon our team. I don't feel this way this time around. I really think that it's a matter of time before we start chalking up some more wins. We are definitely competing in most of our games. Our record could just as easily be 6-2-1. We have lost 3 games where the score was within a single run  and now in 1 game where we lost by 2 runs. If a hit or a catch or a foul tip had gone in a different direction, in these games, we could be sitting in a different position now. If Mike was not injured and his bat was crushing the ball the way he can, we might be in a different position. But would it be a better position?

If the playoffs were to begin today, based on the same format as last season, we (15th seed) would play the 1, 6, 7, 12 seeds and those teams would be Dislocated Joints, Tap Masters, Grusome Devils and the Dogcatchers...We can play with any of these teams.

Red Dogs score sheet

I sometimes think the universe just plays   with us to make us stronger or to make us appreciate what we have. I use Dale Earnhart as an example. It has been four years, 173 Nascar races, numerous cars and engines and piles and piles of worn down tires since Dale jr. has been to victory lane. Over this time I'm sure there was some doubt that he would ever win again, he probably thought he was jinxed and if he wasn't the most popular driver in Nascar I would venture to guess he would have been looking for a new team. There were some tough times, but he kept competing and with the support of his teammates and fans all the tweaking, adjusting and practise finally paid off...

I really enjoyed this game against the Red Dogs, sure we lost, but the bottom line is we competed, we showed we can play with the big boys and I think everyone on the Hurtin' Units knows that we are not as bad as the record shows. There is a lot of baseball left to play and we will get a second chance with some of the teams we have already played, I also look forward to our game against the Dislocated Joints...Let's see how do against these guys.

The Red Dogs really are the big, red machine. They have a solid hitting and defensive team. With bats like Brad Y., Mike C., Rob McC., and Mark K, I can see why they now sit in second place in the standings.

Game Time: In the top of the first inning, the Red Dog batters jumped on us quickly scoring two runs. In the bottom of the first, the Hurtin' Units came out swinging (I know we always come out swinging, but this time we were hitting too) and we went through the lineup and when it was all said and done, the Units had scored 6 runs. In the top of the second inning, the powerful Dogs were back to their old tricks, spraying the baseball all around the diamond. Brad Young was the Hurtin' Units killer and Craig was forced to do some serious running in right field. The Dogs brought 4 more runs around to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Units tacked on 2 more runs and take an 8-6 lead.

In the top of the third inning, Dave (Kidder) made his Hurtin' Units 2012 pitching debut. Kidder came in to pitch an inning and he struggled a little trying to find his range and when the dust had finally settled, the Red Dogs had put 7 runs on the board. I had expected Kidder to have a few issues, after all it was his first pitching appearance this season, I didn't let him know he was pitching until game time and the Dogs were a tough hitting team. I really thought it was time for him to get in to a game even if it was tough Dog sledding... Kidder had ribbed me in the inning earlier about using more than a centimeter of the board and we had a laugh when Karma came back to bite him pitching in the third...LOL.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Units scored only a single run. The score at the end of three innings 13-9 for the Red Dogs.

In the top of the forth inning, the Units muzzled the Dogs allowing no runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Units scored another single run. In the fifth inning, the Red Dogs scored 2 runs and the Units were stopped putting up a zero. In the sixth inning, the Red Dogs cranked out another 3 runs, but in the bottom of the inning, the Hurtin' Units' bats were recharged and 7 runs came in to score... The score at the end of six innings, the Red Dogs led 18-17.

In the seventh inning, the Red Dogs would tack on a single insurance run and would take a 19-17 score in to the bottom half of the inning...
In the bottom of the seventh the Units would send Rob R, Cam C, and Dave to the plate, the Units would go down 1,2,3 and the Red Dogs held on for the victory... I could almost cry because of this loss...I'm kidding, just watch the video.

Jimbits: 

There are not a lot of things to recall here, you would think with a 19-17 score there would be...Go Figure.

• I do remember the diamond being very dusty and after every infield play there would be this cloud of dust drifting across the diamond...
• Craig was hitting the ball really well, I had lent him a bucket of balls, a bat and a batting tee the week before, I thought this was why he was crushing the ball, it turns out the stuff never left the trunk of his car... Craig had some troubles in the field, Brad Young sent him running toward the fence on numerous occasions.
• We had 3 strike outs in this game, all foul outs. Jamie, Jimmer and Clayton ( Clayton? have I got that right?) all had some troubles with Eric Hipkin's pitching. Damn! I had just paid up my tab...
• Rob R. made a nice running catch behind second base. When you hear Rob tell the story... he had to run 150 feet, through knee high grass, in a dust storm, in bare feet and then made a dive through the air making a snow cone catch. I believe a 10 year old girl, with no glove, could have made the catch. 
• Dave (Kidder) made his 2012 pitching debut.
• Al H., playing first base, got hit in the shin on a hard shot that took a strange bounce.
• Clayton, playing at third, made a great grab on a ground ball, touched third for the force play and then threw home for a double play... Wait, the umpire called the runner at third safe because he didn't leave the bag, when Clayton touched third, the base was open again...It was definitely a strange play, confusing to most of us... live and learn. I believe if Clayton had gone home first and then the ball was thrown back to third it would have been a double play... There was no harm done, we got the next batter out to end the inning.

There was one more thing that happened on the night: Post game the Hurtin' Units gathered in the parking lot for a refreshing beverage or two. Eight players had come back and we drank merrily on this warm evening, almost summer don't ya know... After a few sodas and some game discussion, some of the players headed home...Rob, Cam, Mike and I were the remaining bodies, still yukking it up and telling stories of the victory that twas almost ours. 

As we were enjoying the evening, a police car turned in to the parking lot, someone yelled "it's the cops". As quickly as the words were out, the beverage cans were hurling though the air like hand grenades with the pins pulled. The police cruiser, with two female cops came to a skidding stop, Cam panicked and started running for the long grass. The officer in the passenger side jumped out and started after Cam. The other officer kept the us in her sites, while watching her partner catch up to Cam.

The officer caught up to Cam, grabbed him by the back of his green Hurtin' Units shirt, the shirt torn from top to bottom as he tripped over his own feet and did a face plant in to the grassy dirt. Cam tried to get back to his feet, the officer pushed Cam face first back down, yelling " stay down, stay down", she straddled over top of Cam and forced her knee in to his back, while reaching for her hand cuffs. When Cam was cuffed, she got him to his feet, there was grass still sticking out from his hair, his torn shirt hung askew and there was trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, she walked him back to the police cruiser, opened the rear door and pushed him inside... At this point in the evening, there was a loud beeping sound and I realized that my alarm had gone off and it was time to get up for work...

Yes, I was having a dream, but it was based on some true facts, there was a point in the parking lot on Tuesday night when the police did drive in to the Coventry Park, we did toss the beverages, but the officer was cool and told us to be discreet with our activities... When we were leaving there were 3 cruisers sitting out by the water tower, we gave a friendly wave and headed for home...  
   ,
Next week we play two games: On Monday we take on the Tap Masters and on Thursday we are in a rematch with the Grusome Devils. ...

LAB- Kidder.

GRUSOME BATS BITE THE HURTIN' UNITS...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. GRUSOME DEVILS...

Game # 8 - June 11, 2012

Hurtin' Units lose 16-8

Team Record- 2-5-1

Keogh Park- Our game against the Grusome Devils brings back some familiar faces. Four of the Grusome players played for the Hurtin' Units over the last two years, Robin D., Bob Mc., Richard G. and Jens L. all were on the Unit's rosters. The Devils are captained by rookie captains Jens L and Steve D. I was looking at the standings on the weekend, the Grusome were sitting in 8th place with a record of 3-3-1 and 7 points. If the Hurtin' Units were to win the game on Monday evening we would have the exact same record and would vault ourselves from the bottom of the standings to a tie for 8th spot. There is unbelievable parity in the league this season. In the standings, only 5 points separate 2nd place from 15th place... Unlike last season, no team is really walking away with the lead, the Dislocated Joints finally lost a game and it could mean things might get a little more interesting...

Fine Swedish Quality - Jens L., Matts Sundin and IKEA

The Devils have assembled a good looking team (good looking in a baseball term) and their lineup is peppered with solid bats and guys who know what to do with the ball in defensive situations. In 7 games played this season, the Devils have 83 runs for (a little on the low side) and only 78 runs against (the best in the league) so we know the defense are making the plays... Mike and I had the pleasure of playing with Robin and Bob Mc. and these guys are both solid, steady infielders and when Jens played for the Hurtin' Units he was rated an 8, I think Jens would have been a steal at a 4 rating. In 2010, at the conclusion of the season, I believe I rated Jens a 4 or a 5. There was no way that a guy who could hit, throw, catch and be a all around team guy like Jens, was going to come back to haunt me on another team.  Jens is a scary player, probably explains the team name The GRUSOME DEVILS, he may still be under rated at a 4... 

And speaking of Jens, I was at the legion last year (it might of actually been draft day), Jens was there was a handful of other guys sitting around having a few beverages, Jens had a pair of tickets for the Leafs vs. Bruins for that evening, he asked me if I wanted to go, I accepted his offer and he gave me the tickets for the game... I was excited about going to the game, I am a Leafs fan (I think Jens is a Habs fan) and Boston was a great team to go watch... The Leafs kicked Boston's ass all around the rink, I believe the score was 6-1 Leafs, probably one of their best games all season... And if many of you don't remember (I know Cam and Dennis S. do) Boston Bruins went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2011. This was the first time I had ever seen a hockey game at the ACC, a memorable evening to be sure, thanks again Jens... 
  

The weather on game day was for our game against the Grusome Devils was frightening, it was hot and sticky, the temperature topped out at 28 degrees, but with the humidity it felt like 33 degrees. There was also a threat of rain and thunderstorms heading in to the evening hours...When we started the game it a light drizzle was beginning to fall, it would get a little heavier and then let up allowing us to get the complete game in...

At game time we had 10 players ready to play, Anicete was away and Mike was there if we needed him, we went with 10 players and Mike kept score again...Mike finally got an MRI scheduled for his knee and he will know the extent of the damage within a couple of weeks. 

Hurtin' Units Scoresheet

This game (#8) marked our one third point of the season and if we were project our end of season record it would not be pretty, our record would end something like 6-15-3. We all know this is just a projection and we are going to get better as the season continues, we will not go down in flames...We are a much better team than this.

I was looking at the standings and noticed that there are 2 other teams with 5 losses this season already, and their standings have not been updated for this week. I also realized that the scores are all over the place, there are really close games, games with huge differentials and games with unbelieveable low scores, this is anyone's season to win... 

I really underestimated the hitting power of the Grusome squad. I knew the hitting power of Bob, Robin and Jens, but Richard G. (a Hurtin' Unit last season) was crushing the ball hard and in placing it in all the right places. Where was that power last season Richard? There were some new faces on the Devils that could certainly bring it also and when I give them some free passes (4 walks) this was a recipe for embarrassing loss. 

We are a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team. On any given evening we can score bunches of runs and our defense could stop an all-star team from scoring. The next night we might play like we're a different team, fouling out (for jugs of beer), hitting pop ups, little weak flares into perfectly positioned defender's gloves and then our opponents seem to hit every pitch hard or just over our heads or through the gaps. I should go through our previous games and see who we were, Jekyll or Hyde, in each game and determine if there is a pattern to our play... Who will we be next game??? 

Boxscore:                1     2    3     4      5     6      7          Total   

Hurtin' Units             0      0    5     0     1      0     2              8       

Grusome Devils       3      0    2     3     5      3     X            16     

HTKP TOURNAMENT.

I asked everyone about playing in the HTKP tournament and I was elated to hear that everyone was committed to play. This is great; the tournament will give us a chance to play together as a full team and in a relaxed atmosphere I think our batting will improve. This will also give me so much more pitching experience and in the long run it can only improve our odds of winning more games and a
 better stretch run heading toward the playoffs...

"WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" is what I would like to write on this blog, either after the T.O.T playoffs have concluded and/or after the HTKP tournament. We have a great group of guys on this team with skill and talent, we have the potential, with the parity this season, to step up and win it all... I would also like to congratulate the Los Angeles Kings who clinched the Stanley Cup in game 6 of the finals.

For the second year in a row, the Hurtin' Units played on the evening that the Stanley Cup Champions were decided. Last season it was the Boston Bruins...

For the Los Angeles it was there first ever Stanley Cup victory in their 45 year history...Los Angeles came in to the league the last year the Maple Leafs won the Cup...1967. D'oh!!! At one point in the 2011-12 season it didn't look like the Kings would even make the playoffs, but they managed to edge out Calgary to get the eighth seed in the Western Conference and thirteenth over all in the standings. 

Every team in the T.O.T league makes the playoffs, I think we could be the L.A Kings of our league, we have the bats and gloves to do the task, we just need a little more seasoning and a  bit  more  confidence...

Our next game is Tuesday June 19, 2012 at Coventry Park at 8:15pm.