REBELS HAD UNITS ON THE RUN.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. RUSTY REBELS.

Game # 23 - August 20th, 2015
Makeup game.

Hurtin' Units lose 14-13

Team Record 11-11-1

Keogh Park-I mentioned the tournament last weekend and how many players, from the Hurtin' Units, played in the event. I failed to mention that 5 games on the weekend (that's what most of us played) and a game on Wednesday night had a lot of the Units players hobbling. There were 3 Units players, in the game against the Rebels, that needed to take runners upon reaching first base. And if we weren't using so many already, Todd would have definitely taken one also. 

We are not going to use this as an excuse, but it certainly played a role in the loss against the Rebels. All of our hurting players, still had to bat and get to first, before the exhausted pinch runners would continue on. Most of whom had played the night before, some with 6 at bats, in a 24-21 loss to the Dogcatchers. 

So, I was looking at the updated standings this morning and with only 3 games left on the schedule the Hurtin' Units could slip down a little more before the playoffs begin. Every team, but one, in the standings behind us, has at least 1 game in hand. 

The Hurtin' Units are the only team sitting at .500 at this point in the season. 

Position	Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	For	Against	Run Diff
1	Draft Kings	23	16	5	2	34	336	205	131
2	Dog Catchers	23	17	6	0	34	365	294	71
3	Master Batters	22	16	5	1	33	303	205	98
4	Beer Bros.	24	12	12	0	24	313	347	-34
5	Sliders	21	11	9	1	23	347	326	21
6	Hurtin' Units	23	11	11	1	23	343	330	13
7	Dodge City Rounders	22	9	9	4	22	334	320	14
8	Rusty Rebels	21	9	9	3	21	322	305	17
9	Grisslies	21	9	12	0	18	304	311	-7
10	Sons Of Pitches	21	8	11	2	18	282	330	-48
11	Hot Tub Woody's	23	7	15	1	15	261	298	-37
12	Gruesome Devils	22	7	14	1	15	292	430	-138
13	Dusty Cleats	21	6	13	2	14	242	271	-29

I really don't care where the Hurtin' Units finish, but I would like to see us on a bit of a roll going in to the playoffs. The Hurtin' Units remaining 3 games are vs. The Dusty Cleats, The Dodge City Rounders and the Sliders. The Dusty Cleats and the Dodge City Rounders are both behind us in the standings and we are tied with the Sliders, but they have 2 games in hand. 

The weather for this 9:30 game against the Rebels was good, temperature around 21 degrees and a strong breeze. Earlier in the day there were thunderstorms that rolled through the Tottenham area. 

At game time, we had 9 players warming up to take on the Rebels. Missing on the night were Mike O, Vince, Al F., and Darrell. Darrell showed up just as the game was starting. I called for subs, and we got Dave F. and Cliff Tucker. Since Darrell wasn't there at game time, I asked Peter H. to play and when Darrell showed we played with 11 players. Thanks Peter, Dave and Cliff. 

This game against the Rusty Rebels was a makeup game for a rain out on August 11th. 

The Units were the home team in this game. 

The Umpire was Lou. 

This game was the 8th game, this season, for the Units, that the game was decided by one run or less. The Units record in 1 run games is 3-4-1. More than 30% of all our games has been decided by 1 run or less. And all of the games were against different teams. The Units wins were against the Woodys, Tap Masters, and Master Batters, the losses were against Rebels, Dusty Cleats, Beer Bros., and the Grisslies. The tie came against the Dodge City Rounders. 












In this game, the Units bats were a bit cold on the night, probably the result of playing the night before when some of the Units players came up to bat 6 times in the 24-21 loss to the Dogcatchers. It makes me tired just thinking about batting that many times. 

In this game the Rebels would send 42 batters to the plate, the Units would send up 41. 

This game was a tough one to take. The Units were beaten up from the weekend tournament and the Wednesday night marathon with the Dogcatchers. We fought hard in this game, and it was close all the way to the end, with the Units having a chance to tie or win in the seventh inning, but we just ran out of gas.

The Units next game is next Tuesday vs. the Dusty Cleats. UNITS UNDERPLAY!!  

COOKIE IN CHARGE...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DOGCATCHERS.

Game # 22- August 19, 2015

Hurtin' Units lose 24-21

Team Record- 11-10-1

Keogh Park- Over the past weekend the T.O.T league hosted our annual tournament. The Hurtin' Units were well represented with 10 Units players participating on 3 different teams. On the Merchants, Al F. was the lone Units player, on the Hammell Toes (team made up of mostly Hammell Blvd players + 2 others), Dave Mc., Mikey Boy and Myself (Jimmer) were playing, and on team JAK Fund, 6 Units players, Todd, Darrell, Bo, Dave Mil, Vince and Cookie all played. 

In the Beer League division, there were 10 teams, made up of mostly players from our league, but also some invited friends and family were involved in the play on the fields. The division was setup so that each team would play 3 round robin games and the top 4 teams would go on to the semi finals and then the 2 semi winners would play in the finals. The JAK  Fund team would go undefeated in the round robin with 3 wins, the Hammell Toes would defeated, but with 2 wins and a tie. The JAK Fund team would finish first in the round robin, the Hammell Toes would finish with 5 points and a +14 in the round robin. There were several other teams with 5 points, but the Hammell Toes would be the highest plus/minus and finish in third place. The Hammell Toes would win in the semi finals (vs. Paul's Pounders) and the JAK Fund would do the same (vs. Gruesome). It would be the Hammell Toes vs. The JAK Fund in the finals.

The finals, for the Beer League division, was a very good, close game, that could have gone either way with a good inning for either team. The Hammell Toes, had a few more lucky breaks and would be the victors of the tournament with an 11-4 win. I really enjoyed playing this tournament and I'm glad that so many Units were playing, this intense play can only make our league team, Hurtin' Units, better going in to the playoffs. 

The down side for me, in this tournament, was that I pulled a hamstring in the semi finals and it is still very tender. Crap!! 

Following the tournament, a handful of the Hammell Toes had to depart quickly, for a RVing trip to Sherkston, so there was not a lot of celebration following the win. Mike, Jamie, Cam, Glen, were all heading out that afternoon.  

Captain Cookie at the helm. 

I was asked to go to Sherkston and I decided to go down for a couple of days of rest and rehab on my leg. My attendance has been excellent this season, so I figured I would go. While Mike and I were gone, the Hurtin' Units only had a single game. I needed someone to captain for this game, and who better than the Cookie to do the job. I know we have 2 former league captains on the Units this season, but Mike and I thought Cookie was the man to handle the task. 

The result was not a win, but looking at the scoresheet, it was a pretty close game against a tough team. Good game Units. 

Captain Cook handled the task with ease and with a hit here or there the result may have been different... On the surface it looks like he handled the task with ease, but post game e-mails might be telling a different story. Was there a mutiny a foot? I received this post game anonymous e-mail from a Units player. 

Hey Jimmer and Mike, we lost 24-21 tonight, but that's not the story. I really hope one or both of you are back for tomorrow night's game. I can't play another game under captain Cookie, or as he likes to refer to himself, The General. Here's why:

- it was 80 degrees Celsius and he made us do push ups and laps before the game

- he put himself batting 4th and Todd 10th, because Todd is too tall

- after diving and missing a ball he made Vince stand in the corner and sing oh canada

- despite being injured he put Bo in the outfield and made him pinch run for himself

‎- he told Roman he thought he was a good umpire after missing a call

- we had to salute him before each at bat, and,

- after we lost he called a practice for 5am

Jimmer, Mike, please come back!

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Bell network.

After reading this disturbing e-mail, I can only apologize to the entire team for my decision and assure everyone next time Cookie is in charge, you all will have power to put him in a caged corner of the diamond, and the pitcher can throw multiple baseballs toward him...What? We already do that to him? Who knew? I've got nothing then... maybe that's why he is so tough on everyone....Good job Cookie!!! 

Since I was not at the game, it is slightly more difficult to highlight any plays or hits or... But I can tell everyone this...it looks like the weekend tournament helped everyone in their batting. 45 total runs in this game. Wow!! it must have been a revolving door at home plate as runner after runner came home. I hope there was no 9:30 game. 

The weather for this game was hot and humid, with temperatures in the high 20s.  

Roman was the umpire on the night.

At game time there were 8 Hurtin' Units players warming up for this tough match against the Dogcatchers. Missing from the lineup were Mike O., Jimmer, Bill and Dave Mil. The Units picked up Tim O. and Rob F. as subs. 

I will not try to describe what happened in the game, the boxscore will be the tour guide in this posting of the blog. Good game Units. UNITS UNDAUNTED!!

HICKS PUTS ON A REALLY BIG SHOE...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.

This was a makeup game, for rain out in June. 

Game # 21- August 12, 2015

Hurtin' Units lose 11-10

Team Record- 11-9-1

Keogh Park-Last season it took until game # 12 before Hurtin' Units recorded their first win. That first win came against the Dusty Cleats.

On July 16, 2014, game # 12, the Hurtin' Units finally broke through and won a game. It was like we had won the Stanley Cup, the stink was off our monkey and there was a chicken dinner.

Last season, following the Units first win of the season. 

In that game, it really didn't look very good for the Units. In the first inning, the Units got down 7-2 and with our confidence so low, it was looking like loss #12. The Units found a way to come back against the Cleats, we would not go the entire season looking for a win. 

This is an excerpt of the blog following our 1st win on July 16th, 2014 vs. the Dusty Cleats. 
  
"It would not surprise anyone if I was to say that Kevin C. lead the Units to this victory. Kevin hit 2 homeruns, went 5 for 5 at the plate, made numerous great catches in the field and scored 4 runs in this game. Kevin lead the way, but everyone on the team made contributions. Dave scored 4 runs and went 4 for 5,  Clayton went 4 for 5 and Mike went 4 for 4 and both scored 3 runs each, Dwayne, Esau and Rick all scored runs in the game. Every player on the Units had at least one hit"

Even with the efforts of all these guys, we barely managed to squeak out a 20-16 win. It really goes to show how much parity is in this league. 

That was then, but this is now... I looked at the standings on Monday morning and the Units were sitting in 5th position with a record of 11-8-1. The Dusty Cleats were sitting in 14th position with a record of 3-13-2. 

This was a makeup game.

The Dusty Cleats are the only team that the Hurtin' Units have not played this season. The Cleats and Units were scheduled to play on June 30th, 2015, but heavy rains and thunderstorms postponed our game. The Hurtin' Units game on the past Monday vs. the Rusty Rebels was also rained out , I'm assuming that it will be rescheduled shortly. 

The weather for this game was quite good, the temperature was hovering around 19 degrees (it was a 9:30pm game), there was some humidity. The ball was really carrying deep all night long. No breeze.  

At game time we had 11 players from the BIG BLUE MACHINE warming up to take on the Dusty Cleats. Scotty P. was the only missing body on the night. The Hurtin' Units were the visitors in this game. Roman was the umpire of record. 

The 7 run inning, without an out, was the difference in this game. 

In the top of the first inning, the Units would strike first with 2 runs, but also stranding 2 runners on base. In the home half of the inning, the Dusty Cleats went down 1,2,3. 

In the top of the 2nd inning, the Units went down quickly, 4 batters, 3 outs. In the bottom of the inning, the Cleats would send 6 batters to the plate and only the lead off guy would come around to score.

Stewie shoes, I want a pair. 

In the top of the 3rd inning, the Units would send 8 batters to the plate, Todd (HR 12), Bill, Dave and Darrell would all come around to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Cleats would send 8 batters to the plate and the first 7 would come around to score to end the inning without an out. OUCH!!! This inning, for the Cleats, really decided the game. The score at the end of 3 innings, 8-6 for the Dusty Cleats.

Get those Dusty Cleats outta here. 

In the top of the 4th inning, the Units would go down painfully quick, 1,2,3, "get off the field" Roman would shout. In the home half, the Cleats would send 9 batters to the plate and fortunately, for the Units, they would only score 2 runs. Bob and Jon were the runners to score.

In the top of the 5th inning, the Units would get the first 2 batters on base (Todd and Bill) and Dave and Mike would bring them home on singles. 2 more runs for the Units. In the bottom of the inning, the Cleats sent 4 batters to the plate and only one would get on before the Units shut the door.  The score after 5 complete innings, 10-8 for the Cleats.

In the top of the 6th inning, the Units first 2 batters would get out, Dave Mill. would hit a double, Cookie would ground out to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Units would get the first 2 batters out, Doris would get on with a single, Vic would hit a triple and score Doris, Rob Mc. would ground out to end the inning. 

Yankees? Really?

In the top of the 7th inning, Todd led off with a homerun (13th), Bill and Dave would get out (Dave on a hard hit ball to Paul K at 3rd...bugger!!), Darrell would hit a single, Mike O. would also single, Bo would hit a single bringing Darrell home, advancing Mike to 2nd base. Al F. would hit a hard hit ground ball up the middle, the ball would tip off Brad (Cleat's pitcher) and hit Mike O. in the ass, the ball stayed in the infield, the runners froze (force plays at 2nd and 3rd) Bo was tagged out running to 2nd to end the inning. The Cleats would not bat in the bottom. Cleats win 11-10.

The Really Big Shoe: 

Over the last 3 games I have had Hicks in the lead off position and he has not disappointed. Most experienced baseball people will tell you that your best batter or power hitter are to be in the 3rd or 4th position in the batting order, and originally I had Hicks there. I thought I would lead him off to take some pressure off and he certainly has hit well. The down side is that all that hitting power is up when nobody is on base. In actual fact, the only time this is a given is in the first inning, after that the bases could be loaded with bottom of the order guys. 

In this game, Hicks was a batting machine, some people may not have noticed (they were probably looking at their phones), and he got away with 2,(up there with the meteor shower) pop ups in the infield for 2nd lives. The line on Mr. Hicks, in this game, looks like this, a double, a homerun, a single and another homerun. What? No hit for the cycle, your cut!!..LOL. 4 at bats, 4 runs scored, 2 homeruns, with the second hitting the top of the garden shed in LCF. Mr. Hicks defense was awesome also. Should I move him back to 3 or 4???

I was thinking early in the week about ratings. Most of the guys on our team are rated about where they should be, with one exception. I asked at the Legion, following this game, where most would rate Hicks? There was a discussion it was a positive one. Good game Mr. Hicks. 

Good Game Units!! UNITS UNBELIEVEABLE!!

   

UNITS THIRSTY FOR A WIN AGAINST BEER BROS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. BEER BROS. 

Game # 20- August 6th, 2015

Hurtin' Units win 20-9

Team Record 11-8-1

Keogh Park- As the 2015 season winds down, we are seeing more teams that we are playing for the 2nd time around. There is only one team that the Hurtin' Units have not played this season. That team is the Dusty Cleats. We were scheduled to play them back in July, but the game was postponed due to rain. 

This game against the Beer Bros. is our second meeting of the season. This game is actually the third meeting this season between the Units and the Bros. We played back on May 14th, 2015, in game #2, in a regular season game, and we played again in the HTKP tournament. In our first meeting the Beer Bros. would defeat the Units by a score of 24-23. The Units were down in the game, came all the way back to take a lead 23-22, but the Beer Bros. would win the game in the bottom of the 7th. Rat Farts!!

In the HTKP tournament, the Units played a good game, but our bats were not firing on all cylinders, and the Bros. would win by a score of 19-8. Not our finest hour.

In the dugout, in this game, we talked about doing interviews, enjoy this video from the movie Bull Durham. 

The weather for this game was cooler than the Tuesday night game, the temperature was only around 20 degrees with a sun/cloud mix and light breeze.


At game time we had 9 Hurtin' Units players dressed in the BIG BLUE SHIRTS, we picked up superman sub Doug D. for the game. Missing on the night were Vince, Dave Mill. and Bo. 

The Hurtin' Units were the home team for the second straight game. The Umpire was a new guy, not familiar to anyone playing, did a good job on the night. 

With the Beer Bros. missing two big players from their lineup, it was the right night for flight, but not without a fight. 

In the top of the 1st inning, the Beer Bros. would jump to a quick lead with 4 runs sending 9 batters to the plate. In the bottom of the inning, already down 4 runs, the Hurtin' Units would send 7 batters to the plate and would get back 3 runs as Bill, Dave and Darrell would come in to score. 

In the 2nd inning, neither team would score a run. Beer Bros. went down on 4 batters, Units would go down 1,2,3. D'oh!!! 

In the top of the 3rd inning, the Bros. would send 6 batters to the plate, but only manage to get 1 around to score. In the home half, the Units would score 3 more runs on 7 batters, Todd, Dave and Mike would score, there were 2 fielder's choice outs and a fly out. 

In the top of the 4th, the Beer Brothers would go down quickly, 1,2,3. Good "D" boys!! In the home half of the 4th inning, the Units bats came to life (kinda like Frankenstein on the table with a bolt of electricity running through his head), (Doug says the Doctor was named Frankenstein, not the guy on the table. What was the name of the guy on the table? Let's just say the bats came to life!) and the Units would pile up 7 runs sending 11 batters to the plate. Doug would score with 1 out, Todd would fly out in foul territory, Bill, Dave, Darrell, Mike, Scott, Al, would all score with 2 out, the last 3 batters would score on a double hit by yours truly to end the inning with 7. 

In the top of the 5th inning the Beer Bros. would again go down 1,2,3. In the bottom of the inning the Units would go down quickly also, 1,2,3...change em up boys.

In the top on the 6th inning the Beer Bros. would send 6 batters to the plate and Paul P. would be the only batter to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Units bats were still energized (they just took a short break in the 5th) and the Units would send 10 batters up and 7 more runs would come in to score. Bill would lead off and get out, Dave, Darrell would score, Mike would get out on a fielder's choice, Scott, Al, Jimmer, Mike C. and Doug came in to score. 20-6 for the Units.

In the top of the 7th, the Bros. would not go down without a fight and 7 batters would manufacture another 3 runs before the Units turned a double play to end the game. The home team Units would not need to bat on this night. Good all round game tonight Units!!

The Units offense was awesome tonight led by Dave and Darrell. Four Hurtin' Units batters went 4 for 4, Dave, Mike, Darrell and Scott all had perfect batting on the night. Dave scored 4 runs, Darrell scored 3 times. Thanks go out to Doug D. (sub), who had a bit of an off night batting and was seen lying around in the outfield...LOL.  UNITS UNSCRAMBLED!!   

UNITS BUBBLING OVER IN WIN AGAINST WOODYS.

HURTIN' UNIT VS. THE HOTTUB WOODYS.

Game # 19 - August 4th, 2015

Hurtin' Units win 7-6

Team Record-10-8-1

Coventry Park- It's really difficult to believe we are already at game # 19 in the 2015 regular season. It seems like just weeks ago when we were getting ready for the draft, a practice and the first game of the season. My how quickly time flies when you're having fun.

The Units game #1 season opener, May 5th, 2015, was against the Hottub Woodys. On opening night the visiting Hurtin' Units would defeat the Hottub Woodys by a score of 13-10 (a close game also) to get the season underway. The Units first win of the season.

As I have mentioned on several occasions, the Units, in 2014, did not win their first game until mid July last season.

Prior to this game, I was perusing the standings and the Units sit with a 9-8-1 record and were sitting in 6th place. The Hottub Woodys with a 5-13-1 record and were sitting in 13th place. 

The weather for this game was very gray and overcast, with temperatures in the mid 20s. At around 6:15pm the skies opened up for a brief shower, but by game time things were drying up. The outfield at Coventry #2 was still damp when we began playing. During the game the sun would make brief appearances, causing a bit of grief for the players looking in, but fortunately the clouds were there most of the time. 

At game time we had 10 players warming up. Dave Mc. was back. Vince and Bo were the missing players on the night. The Hurtin' Units were the home team. The umpire was Donny S.

GAME TIME - Over the first 3 innings, this game was a defensive gem with both teams making good, well positioned catches, and infield plays. The Hottub Woodys would not have a base runner until the 4th inning. The Hurtin' Units would have 1 runner in the 1st inning (Dave Mc) and 1 runner in the 3rd inning (Jimmer). 

In the top of the 4th inning, the Units would retire the HTW lead off batter (Wayne) and the next batter (top of the order) Jeff D. would hit a single and the bid for a no hitter was over. I actually did not realize that Woodys were hitless until I looked at the scoresheet the next morning. 10 batters out, in a row, to start the game...Nice work Units!

So... Jeff D. hits a single to break up the no-no, followed by Andy and Tristan who both get on base and all 3 would come around to score, with additional hits from Troy and Chris L., "Houston we have a run in"! 

In the home half of the 4th inning, the Units would send 5 batters to the plate and Dave Mc. would score with hits from Darrell and Mikey Boy. The score after 4 complete innings was Hottub Woodys 3, Hurtin' Units 1. 

In the top of the 5th inning, the Units would shut down the first 2 Woodys batters, then Wayne C. would reach base and would score on a triple by Jeff D., Len would get out to end the inning. 

In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Units bats would come to life (kinda like Popeye after consuming a can of spinach), 10 batters would come up and when the diamond dust had settled the Units would have 5 huge runs on the scoresheet.  The score after 5 complete innings, Hurtin'Units 6, Hottub Woodys 4.

In the top of the 6th inning, Tristan would be caught out, Robin (Dick) would hit an in the park homerun, followed by another in the park homerun by Chris L., the next 2 batters would get out to end the inning. 

In the home half of the 6th inning, Al F. would hit a double, Dave Mil. would hit a bunt single, advancing Al to third, I (Jimmer) would hit a deep fly ball to center field, the ball would be caught, Al and Dave would both advance, Al scoring the go ahead run. Mike (Cookie) would hit a drive down 1st base line and advance Dave to third, I would come in to run for Cookie. The next 2 Units batters would get out and the inning was over. 

In the top of the 7th inning (open), the Hottub Woodys would go down 1, 2, 3 to end the inning. The Units would not bat in the home half of the inning. Units Win 7-6.

I thought this was a good bounce back game for the Units, we played solid defensively and there were glimpses of the offense that we are capable of. The outfield played really well and Scott made some great catches, Mikey was solid at first, digging a couple of balls out of the dirt for outs. We turned a nice double play and almost a second one. Nice game Units. UNITS UNRELENTING!!    

HURTIN' UNITS WERE NOTHING TO BARK AT...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DOGCATCHERS.

"Your name is not Kevin? Well this is going to be confusing..."

Little Dogcatcher...

Game # 18 - July 28, 2015

Hurtin' Units lose 10-8

Team Record  9-8-1

Coventry Park - It seems like a long time since we were at Coventry Park. I went back and looked when we last played at here, it was June 16th. The Units were scheduled to play on June 30th and again on July 7th, at Coventry, but both of these games were rained out and rescheduled. 

Here boy...

There are only two teams the Units have not played this season, one is the Dogcatchers and the other is the Dusty Cleats. The game that was postponed on June 30th was supposed to be our first tango with the Cleats. The Units will play the make-up game on the 12th of August. 

The weather for this game was stinkin' hot; the daytime temperature was 32 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 100 degrees (of coarse I'm kidding), or maybe it felt like 36 degrees. There was a breeze which made it feel a little more comfortable.

I'm a dog now!

We were a little short staffed on this night, with only 7 Hurtin' Unit players dressed for this game. Missing on the night were the 2 Daves, Darrell, Cookie and Vince. We picked up 3 subs, thanks go out to Doug D., Dave F. and Paul G. Thanks guys.

This game was a much better defensive game than the game vs. the Draft Kings. The Hurtin' Units batting is still experiencing the summer blahs and hopefully they get over them soon. 

The Hurtin' Units were the visitors again in this game. The umpire was Lou. 

Units were nothing to bark at...

In the first inning the Hurtin' Units would send 6 batters to the plate and score only a single run. Al came around to score on a hit by Mike. In the bottom of the inning, the Catchers would bring up 6 batters also, but would put 2 runs on the scoreboard. 

In the top of the second inning the Units sent 7 batters to the plate, two of the super subs (Doug and Dave) would come around to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Catchers would also sent 7 batters to the plate and they would also score 2 runs. Crap, can't seem to catch a break!!

We were up against a tough team.

In the top of the third inning, Mikey Boy would hit a lead off triple, Todd would fly out next at bat, but the hit was deep enough to score Mikey from third. The next 2 Units batters (Bo, Scott) would get out to end the inning. In the home half the Units slowed the Catchers down with a four batter, no run inning. At the end of 3 complete innings the Units and Catchers were tied at 4-4.

In the top of the forth inning, the Units were shut down (for the first time in the game) by the awesome defense of the Dogcatchers. Four batters came up, 3 batters sat down, Doug was the only base runner. In the bottom of the inning, the Dogcatchers sent 7 batters to the plate and 2 more runs would come around to score. 6-4 Dogcatchers.

In the fifth inning, both teams would score 4 runs each. The Units would send up 9 batters and Al, Todd, Bo and Scott would come around to score. The Dogcatchers would counter with 9 batters also, scoring their 4 runs. That would be all the scoring in this game. The Units would be shut out in the 6th and 7th innings. In the sixth they would go down 1,2,3, and would only send 5 batters to the plate in the 7th inning, stranding Bo and Scott on base. 

What the hell?  This player is playing without a team shirt. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dogcatchers would go down quickly also. The lead off batter would get a single, the second batter would get out, the next Dogcatcher batter (Bill C.) would hit a ground ball to Bo, playing second, Bo would touch second for a force out and throw to first base for the out of the batter. A double play to end the sixth inning. The home team Dogcatchers would not have to play the home half of the seventh inning. 

The was a much better defensive game for the Units (good defense by the Catchers also, Bill C. and Mooner robbed us at third base) compared to the game vs. The Draft Kings. We did not play well, at all, against the Kings. This game we were at least competitive. I can't really figure out what has happened to our hitting, I am going to change a few things up and see what happens. 

On Thursday evening I subbed for the Sons of Pitches vs. the Sliders. I never expected to play, I was at the park to watch, but they needed a player, so I was called upon to play. On the other side (Sliders) our teammate Todd H. was subbing for the Sliders. Todd had a good game, and was a monster hitting. I played LCF and Todd hit a shot high over the LCF fence into the trees, a towering homerun, probably his best hit of the season. Great to see, good job Todd. UNITS UNSETTLED!!!

KINGS ARE WILD...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. DRAFT KINGS.

Game #17- July 27th, 2015

Hurtin' Units lose 20-4

Team Record 9-7-1

Keogh Park - This game is a make up game, so everyone was supposed to wear lipstick, mascara,  and eyeliner. I didn't see anyone doing this, so I'm really glad I couldn't find my makeup kit. Awkward!! Seriously, this was a makeup game for when we were rained out in game #13, on July 7th.

On another topic, I was wondering, after our last game with the Grisslies, when we lost 14-13, how many 1 run games the Hurtin' Units have played in this season. Anyone care to venture a guess? The answer is four, 2 wins, 2 losses. The Units played the Beer Bros. and lost 24-23, then the Tap Masters with a 9-8 win, the Master Batters with a 4-3 win and last game a 14-13 loss to the Grisslies. And we also have a tie. 5 games decided by 1 run or less.

Makeup Game, it wasn't pretty!!

The weather for this game was hot! The GTA was under a heat wave (unofficially a heat wave as yet, a heat wave is defined a 3 or more consecutive days of 30 degrees or more) ; the temperature, at 7:00pm, was 32 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 36 degrees. There was breeze, but it was not much comfort in the temperatures we were experiencing. By game time (9:30pm) the temperature was quite comfortable, but Keogh was thick with bugs, flying around us all night long.  

At game time, we had 11 Hurtin' Unit players warming up ready to take on the # 1 team in the standings. Dave Mc. was the only missing player on the night.

I really thought that we were the home team in this game, but when I took the lineup to Chuck, I found out, much to my chagrin, that I was mistaken. I thought to myself this is not a good start, I can't even read the schedule right. I was sure that we were the visitors in our first meeting.

Because this home team thing was bothering me on Tuesday morning (morning after the game), I went back to the schedule I have, and sure enough it had the Units as the home team. I decided to check the blog (most times I indicate whether we are home or on the road) and sure enough we were the visitors in our first meeting with the Kings. In the blog posting for that game, I even wrote " For the Henry the 8th time, we found ourselves as the visitors again", so I was right and I'm not going crazy... Because this game was a rescheduled game, it was probably entered wrong on the website. 

For the first time since June 16th, I changed the batting order. I hadn't changed it up to now because we were streaking and to disturb a good  thing, is how ya jinx a team. Well, changing the order did nothing for us in this game. Our batting was awful and I think it's time to smudge the bats.

I think it's time to smudge the bats again (second time this season) for two reasons. First reason would be because I regripped the white bat on Sunday and the second reason would be that I lent the bats out for another team to practice. When ever other teams or players use the bats they should be smudged. If you are confused about smudging here is a excerpt from the posting on jinxes and smudging.  

My friend, the psychic, informs me that the bats must be cleansed or smudged, as she says, to remove the energies inhibiting the flow new energy from this season's Hurtin' Unit players. There are several ways of smudging our bats and I will have our bats cleansed (smudged) and ready to go for our next game. This is long over do. I Googled smudging and found it to be very interesting stuff.  I don't know why I didn't realize this before.

This probably does not explain very well what smudging really is, but it is easy to do and I will do it before the game against the Dogcatchers. For more information on smudging try Google.

Because of the short time between games, I won't go in to any detail about this game. It was a tough loss, there were moments when our team was frustrated and upset about how the Draft Kings were just getting everything by us. This game was probably our worst performance since the Rusty Rebel game back on June 9th when the Rebels beat us 31-12. But, if this may be of some comfort, the Hurtin Units went on a 7 game unbeaten streak after that humiliating loss.

Our batting, in this game, was not very good at all. How does an entire team go cold at the same time? I don't know, but it does happen. The nice thing is that we have another game on Tuesday vs. the Dogcatchers. UNITS UNBOUNDED!!

Draft beer is delicious.