Keogh Park- The season opener seemed to take forever to arrive. We had two batting sessions in the month of April and on opening night it looked like we hadn't swung the bats in a couple of years. Now I really want to be fair here, the batters boxes were just nasty, the muck was ankle deep and most guys could not even get any type of footing. The heavy rain earlier in the evening (around 5:30pm) made the things very uncomfortable at the plate, hence the 5-5 score.
At game time we had our full team, 12 guys all warmed up and ready to go... There really wasn't a lot to talk about, other than the solid defense displayed by both teams. Gord Robinson and Rob Rumbolt turned a beautiful double play in the middle innings and Craig (the new guy, as Roman likes to call him), made a couple of nice catches in the field, we looked pretty solid and if we can get the bats going we should be able to compete with most teams...
Pitch Bits: Since this is my first season as a P1, I thought I would track my progress with walks, strike outs and game scores, as well as any other bits of pitching related information. In this game I gave up 1 walk and struck out 2 batters, allowing 5 runs to score... It doesn't hurt to have such a solid defense behind me...
It's early in the season..
LAB- Kidder
Our next game is Tuesday May 8, 2012 vs the Championship Grisslies...
INTRO: When I do this little bloggie thingie I do it for several reasons:
1. It's fun, it's really that simple, I enjoy writing out the events and happenings of the Hurtin' Units team. Last year, I had actually thought about not doing the blog, but once I got going, it was really not that painful. I always encourage other players to contribute to the blog, either writing something or with pictures or with stories, etc. If anyone wants do some blogging or contribute let me know.
2. I like to keep the past and current players, of the Hurtin' Units, informed about the day to day (more like week to week) activity, with game scores, game highlights and team events or happenings.
3. When I look back at old postings of the blog (and I believe that they are all still there), I'm reminded of the Hurtin' Units teams from the past and the game by game events that we all experienced together from the draft to the end of the playoffs...Looking back, a little, at last season, I was reminded of how we started drinking a shot of Sambuca before every game and how we believed it was helping us win... I look back at the 2010 season and I'm reminded of our teammate Tom Perry who was a great calming influence on our whole team, leading us to the regular season league winning championship. I really hope the other Hurtin' Unit alumni go back and read what I wrote and it brings them back to the good times we shared as a team.
There are times when this blog can get a little boring and lifeless, I know it and sometimes I struggle to keep it going. It is even more difficult when we aren't playing any games yet. When I actually write this stuff, I'm sometimes sitting at a traffic light scribbling down thoughts (when I say scribbling, I mean scribbling, I can't even read my own handwriting sometimes) or I'm writing in a poorly lit area at 3:30am, not the most ideal conditions for blogging...In this edition of the blog, I thought since there has been so much discussion about concussions and head injuries, I would play around with this topic...
GIT UR GOING:
It seems like the time between the draft and the start of the regular season is in slow motion, week after week of nothing to do but wait for the season opener. Fortunately, the weather this April has been really good and I've had several opportunities to get out on the diamonds to practise. I have also been fortunate to go to Coventry when the Town employees have been working on stuff and the new gates, the Town installed at the water tower, are open. I'm looking forward to getting out on the diamond will the 2012 Hurtin' Units players. Our practise was good, even if the weather was a little bit crappy. Unfortunately, some of the guys couldn't make it out, I might try for another get together for some hitting and preseason warm up... I'll let you know if we decide to get out again...
THAT'S USING YOUR HEAD:
It would seem these days that we can't pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio or tune in to a sports network without hearing a debate or discussion about head injuries. Maybe, it's because we are more informed about how a blow to the head can cause more serious brain damage than we did in the past. I wonder if athletes like Shawn O' Sullivan, Steve Young or Eric Lindros would have done anything differently if they had known more about brain injuries... Especially Shawn O' Sullivan.
When I was younger, I was an enthusiastic boxing fan, Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard were two of my favourites. There was an incident in boxing that started me down a path that maybe I shouldn't be supporting this sport, the incident was when Roberto Duran knocked out a Korean boxer and the boxer died shortly after from brain damage. This incident really hit me hard and I had a hard time with the boxing scene after this point, every time I started watching a fight, I was reminded of what had happened and I could not be a part of such a violent sport...Even to this day, I can't watch the MMA or Boxing without thinking about how the brains of these athletes are being sloshed around inside their skulls...
Jacques Plante wearing a mask for the first time in a regulation game, after being hit by a shot.
BEHIND THE MASK:
If we were to poll all the NHL goalies asking them the question” if you could play without a mask, would you?”( it's actually mandatory for NHL goalies to wear a mask), what do you think the answer would be? I'm sure most would say “no bloody way” and who could blame them with players like Zedano Chara firing pucks over 100 mph. Some goalies would probably be crazy enough to stand out with nothing between themselves and the shooter (from maybe the blue line), but no mask with sticks, bodies, legs, etc. to deflect or redirect the puck, that's just nuckin' futs!! It's really amazing that goalies didn't wear masks at one time.
I played in the Tottenham Mens' Hockey over the winter and one of the rules in the league was, if a goalie was hit in the mask with a shot, the play was whistled down. I was a little surprised by this rule only because the league has a no slap shot rule also, but I guess with head and brain injuries in the news recently, it's better to be cautious. On November 1, 1959, the Montreal Canadiens were playing the New York Rangers, early in the game, Andy Bathgate of the Rangers fired a shot striking the Montreal goalie Jacques Plante in the face, breaking his nose and cutting his face. Goalies in the NHL in 1959 did not wear masks and there were no such thing as a backup goalie. Jacques Plante had been been wearing a home made mask during the Canadiens practises, but coach Toe Blake would not permit him to wear it during games. After being struck in the game against the Rangers, Plante went to the dressing room to be stitched up and returned to the game wearing his mask. Coach Blake allowed Plante to wear his mask in future games, until his nose healed, but the Canadiens got on a roll and Plante continued to wear the mask. The Montreal Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup this season. Jacques Plante was definitely an innovator...
STOOGED:
I recently installed a high definition antenna for someone and as I was scanning for channels, channel 2, a Buffalo station came up. There were actually three channel 2s, but the one that caught my attention was the one showing old, black and white comedies.
Playing on the channel was a show where the three lead characters named Larry, Curly and Mo were constantly hitting each other on or around the head with either 2x4s, frying pans or a ball peen hammer etc. I laugh at how stupid this show was, these guys in real life would have been concussed 95% of the time. When the show first aired, I wonder how many hospital emergency rooms had idiots who thought that you could actually poke someone in the eye or bonk someone on the head with a shovel and not cause any kind of injury. Of course, I'm speculating about the emergency room visits, but I do know first hand that television, games and movies can lead to injuries.
I remember going to see one of the Rocky movies ( I'm going to say Rocky III, I don't really want to date myself), and when the movie let out there were all kinds of little scuffles and sparring going on and it didn't take long for a fight to break out.
Yo Adrian, pass the popcorn.
TO SERVE AND PROTECT:
Animated photo showing the scars that
Terry Sawchuk received during his career.
I think the most vulnerable position on the baseball diamond (and I'm sure most would agree) is the pitching position. It is my opinion that every pitcher in the T.O.T league should wear a helmet or some other kind of head protection and I'll tell you why I feel this way.
The pitcher stands 50 to 65 feet directly in front of the batter, an object (let's say a baseball) traveling at a speed of 70 KPH (there are numerous batters in our league that can easily hit the ball this hard and fast) will travel an approximate distance of 58 feet per second. At this speed (which really isn't that fast) the ball off the bat could be back to the pitcher in one second and that's not even taking into consideration the reaction and perception time of the pitcher which could be over a second and realistically more like one and a half seconds... The ball could travel 87 feet in this time...Yikes
Before I became a P1 this season, I had already decided, even if I was only going to be a P2, I was going to wear a helmet. There were a couple of close calls last season that swayed me this direction. The first was when the Hurtin' Units were playing the Lucky Stiffs, Roger B.(Kahuna) was batting, he hit a line drive back up the box, striking the our pitcher Bill J. in the forearm. The shot was so hard and so fast that Bill's arm was already bruising before he walked off the field...
The other was during the August Tournament when the Lollipop Guild were playing the Squirtin' Units. I was pitching in this game, the batter was Paul P. and Paul screamed a line drive back at my head, I managed to get my glove up in time and catch the ball, but still a little to close for comfort. These are just two incidents that stick in my mind, I'm sure each team/player could tell us another close call story...
Last week, I went in search of a baseball helmet, I ended up at National Sports, I tried on several different brands and models and there were a few that interested me, there were definitely some helmets that would have served my purpose and I was willing to purchase one of them.
I drifted away from the baseball helmets, for a moment, and in to an area with catcher's masks (the masks that look like the NHL goalie masks), these masks seemed quite heavy (although I did see a pitcher wearing one in the tournament last year), but decided that these were not for me. I was about to go back to the helmets when I noticed something I had never seen before which I thought was the cat's meow.
The mask was the first I had ever seen (probably because I had never looked before now), a protective mask for a pitcher, there were actually several different makes, but I liked the one made by Combat Sports...I chose the Combat brand because it seemed to be the strongest... You can check out the product testing (baseballs hitting this mask and other brands at 80mph) at... http://www.combatsportsgroup.com/combat/pg_GearFaceOffVideos.php
A ball impact to the front of your face can change your life. Teeth, cheek bones and eyes are all extremely vulnerable to an unexpected frontal impact.
Check out this website for the Combat protective mask, really cool stuff, worth viewing a couple of times.
TALES OF THE GRAY DOT...
Eye'll Be Black.
Year's ago, long before the Hurtin' Units were even a glimmer in his eye, Units co-captain Mike O. was tracking a ground ball, while playing second base and just as he was about to snag (yes, snag, he was a snagger back then) the ball it took a mysterious bounce... The cause of this mysterious bounce is unknown, but what we do know is the ball (the gray dot from hell) leaped over his well positioned glove and struck Mikey Boy on the left side of his face.
This blow to the face cracked Mike's orbital bone around his left eye, it cut, requiring 6 stitches and the eye was so swollen that it was very difficult to remove the contact lens he was wearing... Tales of the Gray Dot...
NOBODY REALLY NOSE.
It was a warm August evening at Coventry Park, the T.O.T August Tournament was under way, Team Extreme had just taken the field and Rob Farah ( yes, the same guy from the championship Grisslies team) was throwing his warm up pitches.
The infield players were throwing the ball around the infield, 3rd toSS to 2nd and then, as if in slow motion the second baseman named Jimmer threw the ball toward first base, but the first baseman was looking toward homeplate and didn't realize the throw was coming. Other players on the field screamed his name, but it was too late... Darren (Lefty) Hall turned at the last second only to be struck square on the nose, he went down in a heap...
Lefty got to his hands and knees, blood was pouring out of his nose like a drain plug hole when changing your oil, someone ran for ice, someone grabbed a towel, things were a little scary for the next couple of minutes. After things had calmed down, Lefty got to his feet and walked off the field, he would not play this again on this night...
Lefty did play the next game of the tournament with a broken nose and a couple of developing black eyes. Lefty was advised not to play on the Sunday... He never played again that weekend. What exactly Darren was looking at down at home plate, nobody really knows...Another tale of the Gray Dot.
FOUL TIPPING.
The game was being played on diamond # 3 at Coventry Park, Donald (Donny) Swabuk, a top 3 umpire in the T.O.T league, was umpiring the game. A left handed batter with determination in his eyes, emerged from the left field dugout with a 28oz Worth bat in his hands. The batter stepped in to the batter's box waiting for his first pitch, the bat cocked and ready to swing... A high lob came in, the batter swung, Donny the umpire yelled "striiiiike !!!". The batter gathered himself, adjusted his batting gloves and stepped back in to the box. The pitcher set and threw a big, fat, juicy pitch, it was headed toward home plate, the batter froze, the bat resting on his shoulder as the ball barely missed the board, Donny yelled " Ball"... The catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher, the batter set again, the next pitch had extra backspin on it, it spun like ninja star, the batter swung with all his might, this time there was contact, the ball went off the top edge of the bat heading back to the left...
The ball hit Donny the umpire flush on his right side jaw bone and mouth, he dropped to one knee in pain.Donny mouth was bleeding, his lip already beginning to swell, someone ran for ice, but it was probably too late. Donny's lip had puffed up like a blow fish, he was no longer the pretty boy everyone had come to know. The game was understandably delayed and another umpire had to finish umpiring the game. Donny would eventually return to the umpiring game, but this experience left him wondering if this was the career for him... A short time later Donny would give up his umpiring gig and join the T.O.T as a player... The Gray Dot strikes again...
Alright, I really think it time to put a stop to this posting, this posting was a lot longer, but it would be crazy to keep going. If you have managed to get this far and you are still bored (you must be bored if you got to this point), I'll give you something else to do...
Last season was the first season with our new logo Bender (the robot smoking the cigar), I inserted a picture of Bender in every posting of the 2011 Hurtin' Units blog, go see if you can find him... Kinda like where's Waldo...
“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
LIKE A ROY HALLADAY FASTBALL, THE T.O.T SEASON IS COMING FAST....
Can anyone remember if Wiaton Willie or Punxsutawney Phil saw their shallow or not on Groundhog Day? I wonder if anyone keeps track of these little rodent's prognostications of how much longer winter would continue, I'm sure that if we checked, Willie or Phil would probably be wrong more often than right. This year one of them saw his shallow and the other didn't. I really think this year is a no brainer, there really hasn't been a winter, so how can we even get six more weeks of winter... Neither one of these rodents probably didn't even care if they saw their shallow or not... I mentioned in an earlier blog that I once worked for a conservation area and let me tell you, every Groundhog day was surrounded by tremendous hype and excitement. Groundhog Day was also a media frenzy .
Every year the curator would dress up in a tux with tails, a ruffled dress shirt and black top hat. There was an area fenced off (probably so the media wouldn't get up in the groundhog's face and risk that little, bucky beaver facsimile taking a bite out of some nosey reporter) and when the time came for Gary the Groundhog ( I'm not kidding, that was his name) to come out (he was always in a wooden box and not a hole in the ground... a wooden box, a groundhog's natural habitat) the photographers would take pictures and then the curator would say something like here ye, on this day, the 2nd of February, yada, yada, yada all from a rolled up scroll and Gary the Groundhog has seen his shallow and winter shall remain for six more weeks.
If you really want to know that winter is coming to an end , you just have to look to the T.O.T. Website or somewhere on Tottenham road for some kind of sign. Seriously there is a sign Tottenham road...Again this year we put up a sign to remind returning players to sign-up and attract new players to the league. Last season we recruited over 25 new players and with the addition of the new player we added a new team. With the number of new players there was a risk of one or more of the players being more skilled than the 10 or 9 rating that new players are slotted into in their first season.
This indeed did happen, the Dusty Cleats rated number 10 player was probably more like a 2 rating and the Dusty Cleats had a solid top to bottom team with a 22-2-0 record , they were the dominate T.O.T team for the entire season and the playoffs. The Grisslies had a solid season also, and I remember sitting outside with Rob F., Grisslies Captain, talking shop and the Grisslies had a couple of losses already, Rob said to me “ I can't believe we've lost any games”. This statement actually surprised me a little, but I guess the proof is in the pudding, as they say...
I think the Grisslies excellent 2011 season was overshadowed by the Dusty Cleats going undefeated until (wait for it) the Hurtin' Units finally dealt them their first loss on August 15, 2011 by a score of 15-14... Unbelievable, not a single loss until August 15, the season started in May and it took almost 3 1/2 months before any team could stop them, the Dusty Cleats only lost one other game in the regular season and only a single game in the playoffs as well, unfortunately for the Cleats that game was in the finals against the Grisslies. As a matter of fact, the Hurtin' Units only lost by a single run in first meeting with the Cleats and if memory serves me correctly, the Grisslies kicked the living snot out of Units in both games we played against them...
This upcoming season will be the third season for the Hurtin' Units, and Mike and I have enjoy the whole captaining experience. Our first season saw us win the league, which was more than we could have asked for, but our playoff run fell short of our expectations. Our second season team looked like it was going to contend, but we as a team, we couldn't seem to get everything working together at the same time, when the hitting was there, the defense had a tough time and when the defense was there we couldn't get the timely hits. We had a couple of rough patches during the 2011 campaign and our standings finish was probably a little south of where it could have been. There was actually a stretch in the 2011 season where the Hurtin' Units went 44 days without recording a win, I don't think the Leafs have gone this long between wins. This stretch in the middle of the season definitely contributed to us finishing in 9th place in final standings...
In the 2011 Help the Kids Play tournament the Hurtin' Units looked great, going 4-0 (a free beer after every win) in the round robin portion of the tournament only to lose in the to the Lucky Stiffs 10-9, in the final inning, of the semi finals.
Since we became Captains in 2010, Mike and I have gained a wealth of experience. Our first season saw us have an outstanding regular season, with some bumps in the playoffs. We definitely learned some stuff about how approach playoff games and we tried to apply them going into the 2011 playoffs, a little better result, but we still need to work on a few things...Our second season saw some rough patches in the regular season as well as the playoffs, but again I think we gained more experience which hopefully will help us going forward in the upcoming 2012 season...
The 2012 draft is fast approaching and I must admit, I find the draft an exciting point in the season.
I have been poking along with this addition of the blog for several weeks now (not really a lot to talk about these days), but tonight (March 28) we have a captain's meeting, probably the most important meeting of the season, and tonight a bunch of decisions will be made concerning the teams... i.e. no. of teams, shirt colours, ratings, etc., etc...I will soon be able to add some upcoming season information... Saturday is the draft and then we will have the 2012 roster...
Well the captain's meeting was a long drawn out affair, 3 hours of decision making. In the end, the league has decided to use the green baseball in the 2012 season, there will be 15 teams again this season, two new sets of captains, 12 players per team again, 24 game unbalanced schedule, 75 minute game times and the season will begin on May 1st ( weather permitting). The majority of this meeting was actually centered on the player ratings, we went through all of the levels with a fine tooth comb and in the end I think it really like we got most of it right...
Thursday night is rookie night at the legion and Saturday March 31, 2012 is the draft.
I went to rookie night on Thursday and as usual the it was a fun evening... There was a good turn out of rookies and I thought Paul P. did a great job explaining what our league is all about. There were lots of laughs and I think we have a great bunch of new players coming in this season.
On Saturday the 2012 draft was held and I think the Hurtin' Units came out with a great looking squad for the upcoming season, however I think I have said the same thing over the last two drafts and I really wasn't far off. When we look at all the teams drafted this year on paper they all really look pretty good, but as the season progresses we start to see the cracks and by mid season we'll see which teams are going to lead the way...Less than a month to go until the start of the 2012 season...
The start of the Tottenham Oldtimers Playoffs are only a day away and there seems to be a real buzz in the air going in to these games... The Dusty Cleats have to be the favorites going in, but as we have seen many times before the favorites have a tendency to grip the bats to tight, try to hard, throw the ball around, etc...The pressure is squarely on their shoulders. Last season the Hurtin' Units won the league, we were one of several favorites going into the playoffs, but as I mentioned in the last posting of the blog, we were taken out behind the workshed and had our collective asses spanked. Our first two games in the playoffs last season were total disaster, we lost 27-12 to the Rusty Rebels and 22-11 to the Dodge City Rounders. We gave up 49 runs in two games...Yikes!! I don't think you could combine any 2 games in the regular season and come up with this total, almost an average of 25 runs per game and this was playoff baseball...I'll say it again...Yikes!!
I'm not saying this is going to happen to the Dusty Cleats, they may go unbeaten through the playoffs and win the championship without being challenged by any team. Only time will tell, but what I can say, based on experience, is that the pressure is on the Cleats to play as they did most of the season...I think that when the Hurtin' Units beat the Cleats on August 15 by a socre of 15-14 and handed the Cleats their first loss of the season, we put some doubt in their heads...In fact the Cleats had some tough games after that night, they won their next game against the Brew Jays by a score of 22-18, were handed their second loss by the Dogcatchers on August 22 by a score of 20-19 and won by a single run against the Red Dogs, 10-9 in their final game of the season... The pressure is clearly on the Dusty Cleats shoulders...
UNDERDOG
Based on last year's experience, I think I would rather be in the position where we (the Hurtin' Units) are positioned, we are definitely the underdogs going into the playoffs and I feel that the pressure is off. This is not to say that I don't think we can win, I think we have an amazing group of guys, solid defense, great bats and our record is not indicative of how we have played recently...The only down side, to the position we finished in, is that we will play two home games and two visitor games. Our record has shown that we play better as a home team, but I won't mention a thing to anyone, hopefully nobody remembers this little stat during the round robin...
This guy looks like Cam Clark. I can't recall seeing him with his shirt off, maybe it is Cam... Boston Bruins did win the cup.
So with the beginning of the playoffs, I'm sure most players have started growing there playoff beards. I know the playoffs only last for a week and some guys will basically grow a little bit of stubble, but aren't you glad you don't have the hair issues of the guy in the picture...This guy make Austin Powers look like a hairless cat... How can anyone have this much hair on their body, this is ridiculous, I guess it could be worse...it could be a woman! So this is how it looks for the Hurtin' Units for the Round Robin games...
Monday September 12- Coventry Park vs. Lucky Stiffs at 7:15pm.
Wednesday September 14- Coventry Park vs. The Wild at 8:45pm. Saturday September 17 - Coventry Park vs. The Banshees at 8:00am. Saturday September 17- Coventry Park vs. The Beer Bros. at 12:30pm.
Monday September 12, 2011.
This week is the start of a full harvest moon...
Round Robin game # 1 vs Lucky Stiffs.
Hurtin' Units lose 12 - 4
Well, the first night of the playoffs can be a little nerve racking for some players, I really wasn't nervous, but there were a couple of things that kept popping into my head, mostly at how the playoffs started for the Hurtin' Units last season...And the second was which Hurtin' Units team would we be seeing this evening? So, this game was a little better start than the first game last season, but the result was still the same in the win/loss column.
The weather was great for this game, it had beening calling for thunderstorms, but they didn't happen, but I do recall seeing lightening in the distance during the game. It was really to far away to have any worries, at least not in our game.
At game time we had all 12 of our players, Bill was the last to show and I was getting a little nervous...
This game against the Lucky Stiffs was not our finest hour (actually an hour and fifteen minutes), our defense was like Dr. Jekyull and Mr. Hyde, one inning we looked great and the next we couldn't make a play. Our defense had a couple of bad innings and our batting had headed south for the winter already. Our batting was not good, we in fact had six batters who only batted twice in the entire game. OUCH!! I really think we were trying to do to much individually and gripping those bats way to tight. Jerry W., the Lucky Stiffs pitcher, had more plays on the field than anyone else on the diamond... I think our last 3 batters all hit to Jerry.
When our defense was Jekyulling we were very good, Bob made several brilliant plays and Mooner was cleaning up at second. The Hyde side saw some routine plays get bobbled (bobbled, now that's a funny word, I should use that for plays that BOB makes- the hit was Bobbled and then thrown to first for the out), and let's just say we had some butter fingers on this night. I think we need to relax when batting, take a deep breath, hold it for a count of 5 and exhale slowly...
This game was a little like last year's playoff start without the huge number of runs. We are a much better team than we showed in game #1. On the positive side Mooner hit a towering homerun over the LCF fence, but it wasn't quite enough.
There have been a ton of runs scored in the 7 playoff games played already. We had the lowest number of offensive runs scored with only 4 runs... No team is going to win with only 4 runs scored! The Hurtin' Units average runs per game over the last 5 regular season was 12.5 runs per game...We can do much better...
Monday's game sheet
Box score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total
Hurtin' 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 4
Lucky 2 0 0 7 1 2 X 12
Wednesday September 14, 2011
The weather on Tuesday evening was a bit chilly, I subbed for the Torn Ligaments and from the moment I got out of my van I realized how cool it was. The sad thing is I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and I couldn't find a jacket or a pullover in the van, yet in my other vehicle there are probably 8 kicking around on the back seat. D'oh! I wasn't really all that bad once the game got going.
The Ligaments were missing 4 regular players, two gone for the season, so Donny (Mr. Sub) and I were called to fill in. The Ligaments struggled defensively in their game, the Dogcatchers seemed to like Andy G's pitching and sprayed the ball all around the field, stockpiling a lot of runs early. The Ligaments put up some runs of their own, but in the end it would not be enough.
At the beginning of the forth inning I was asked if I wanted to pitch and somewhat unprepared, I accepted the offer and went in to pitch the next three innings. I managed to slow the bleeding a little and I loved the experience of pitching in a playoff game...I was quite surprised to actually be asked, Andy is a very good pitcher in this league, this was a playoff game and I was subbing. I thank the Ligaments for the opportunity, I just wish we could have come back to win, but in the end the deficit was just too great...
Hurtin' Units vs. The Wild... September 14, 2011.
Round Robin game # 2 vs. the Wild.
Hurtin' Units lose 18-12
Law of Distraction.
Coventry Park- I’m sure most of you can remember back to last season and the problems we encountered with the lights at Keogh and Coventry Parks. I recall the first game of the 2010 playoffs, the Hurtin`Units vs. The Rusty Rebels, it was a good night for baseball, but the lights on diamond no. 2 were not coming on, this really distracted me from focusing on the game. The game had already started and the Hurtin`Units were on the playing field, a couple of guys were over by the switch box, jiggling keys, trying to reset the breakers, etc. Meanwhile, the Rebels were kicking the snot out of us and all I could think was I hate distractions...The lights finally came on, but by the time they did the game was really out of hand…
Well, I gotta tell ya, I had the “Law of Distraction” going on big time in the Hurtin’ Units game against the Wild. What is the “Law of Distraction” you ask? The Law of Distraction is my way of attracting things that take my focus away from the task at hand. The task at hand was our game…I’m sure everyone experiences this on a daily basis, I just have a name for it… Kinda like Chris L. being distracted by a bug on the playing field or Kramer seeing Sue Ellen Mischke walking down the street wearing just a bra…Law of Distraction!
On Wednesday morning the sky was clear, not a cloud in site, but by 8:00pm on Wednesday evening a light rain had began to fall. On our way to the park, Mike and I decided to stop by Tim Hortons, as we sat in the drive thru the rain started to fall even harder, the girl on the mic could hardly hear me…We got to the park, the rain had let up a little, we carried our equipment and waited in the pavilion…I put my cleats on and broke a shoe lace, I fixed it the best I could, but I was worried about breaking the it again, so I let up a little on tightening my shoes, not a great idea on a muddy surface… The early game ended and we took over the dugout, we warmed up in a light rain with the infield starting to become muddy… I warmed up and went to the dugout to finish preparing for the start of the game…I looked in to my bag and realized I forgot to bring the Sambuca, it was in the cooler in my van…We need the Sambuca!! I was the leadoff batter, so Mike ran back to the parking lot (still raining) and retrieved the Sambuca. He poured and we actually drank the sweet nectar before the game started…I realized after the game we drank the black Sambuca, we were supposed to finish the white Sammy first, they were both in the cooler, but Mike was unaware and we had the black…
Our first inning was good, we scored 4 runs, as many as in the whole first game against the Lucky Stiffs. The Wild countered in the bottom of the inning with 2 runs… In the second inning we scored another 4 runs, the Wild countered with a single run. In the third inning we scored another single run, but in the bottom of the 3rd inning, with myself in to pitch an inning, the Wild hammered the ball around the field to score 6 runs… During the Wild’s batting, I looked at my glove and noticed the webbing lace had broken, this got me distracted again, especially as the pitcher. All I was thinking about was the line drive, at my head, off the bat of Paul P. in the August tournament and on Tuesday, when I was pitching for the Torn Ligaments, Lynn W. hit another ball at my head which I managed to get a glove on and deflect away, not the greatest position for a defective glove. We managed to get out of the inning and Bob, Mike and myself patched up the glove to get it through the game… The rain continued to fall, at the end of 3 innings the score was 9-9.
Boxscore: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total
Hurtin' Units 4 4 1 0 3 0 X 12
The Wild 2 1 6 7 2 2 X 18
the Wild
By my next at bat, the batters box was muddy, and the front foot groove was getting deep, I felt like I was standing on an angle, if you have ever golfed on a slope, this is what it felt like to me…Just another frickin’ distraction! In the forth inning both teams when down 4 batters, 3 outs…In the fifth inning the Units took the lead again with 3 runs, but in the bottom of the fifth the Wild opened things up with a 7 run inning. In the sixth inning the Units went down quickly with the pressure and distraction of the time running out and the possibility of this being the open inning…In the bottom of the inning the game was called, the Wild win and then the Wild played for the plus/minus, they would score 2 more runs before the Units ended the inning… The final score after only 6 innings of play, Wild win 18-12. The time issue was another distraction, in the past we played 7 innings in the playoffs…
Hurtin' Units
Well, I don’t know what to say, we are down two games in the round robin and we are fighting for our playoff lives. My suggestions to the Hurtin’ Unit players is to dry out your gear, grab a hot coffee on your way to the park and be prepared to play hard in our next game.
As for my distractions on the eve of the Wild game, I have taken care of most of them and I’m ready to play. I fixed my glove (and bought a new one, that I probably won’t use), I put new shoe laces in my cleats, the Sambuca is on ice ready for the next game and the weather is supposed to be dry, although the morning temperatures for Saturday are 3 degrees, definitely a morning for pants…and a shirt, (say this part in a yoda voice)… a little nipplie it will be.
See ya at the park on Saturday… Hurtin' Units vs. The Banshees- Saturday September 17, 2011
Round Robin game # 3 vs. The Banshees
Hurtin' Units tie 11-11
At 8:00 am the temperature had climbed to a comfortable 5 degrees, 2 degrees higher than the overnight of 3 degrees... The cold temperatures actually weren't that bad, the nice thing was there was no wind... The Hurtin' Units were the home team in this game for the first time in the round robin.
The Banshees started strong in the first inning and the Units kept pace, but after only the first inning it looked like the this was going to be a see-saw battle. It really shouldn't surprise anyone that this game ended in a tie, afterall we were 9th and 10th in the final regular season standings and it came down to the last games to decide these two standings positions... We were the only teams to tie in the playoff round robin and in the end it probably kept us from moving on...We had a chance to win this game, but so did the Banshees...Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Banshees had a 2 run lead, but the Units scored twice, in the bottom of the inning, to tie the game and with the winning run (Chris L.)on third base and Paul G. on second base, with 2 out, Cal S. unfortunately got out, leaving each team with only a single point...
HURTIN' UNITS vs. THE BEER BROS.- Saturday September 17, 2011.
Round Robin game # 4
Hurtin' Units win 10- 4
At 12:20pm we were at diamond #1 warming up, pouring Sambuca and preparing for what could be our last game of the season. I could sense a tense atmosphere, we needed a win to even give us an outside chance of making it to the elimination round...The Beer Bros. already had a win under their belt, but they would need a win to get themselves into the elimination round also... The Units had beat the Beer Bros. in their two previous matches, but this was playoff baseball and some teams have a tendency to step it up when the heats on... Fortunately, it was the Hurtin Units who stepped up in this game and with some solid defense and some timely hitting the Units would record their first win in the playoffs, but would it be enough to get us through?
And so it ends...
round robin summary
The Hurtin' Units and the Banshees would both finish the Round Robin with 3 points. After the our two games on Saturday it became a waiting game with our fate in the hands of other teams. We needed the Dislocated Joints and the Dogcatchers to both lose for the Units to get in to the elimination games.The Banshees were also playing a waiting game. We both finished with the same record, 3 points (1win, 1tie), same plus/minus, but the Banshees would edge out the Hurtin' Units with runs scored which was the next tie breaker. The Dislocated Joints and the Dogcatchers would both win, knocking out the Hurtin' Units and the Banshees from going on the elimination rounds.
We ( the Hurtin' Units) did what we needed to do on Saturday, we needed to play well and hope that the other teams lost to help us climb back in to the playoff race. If we had managed to win the Banshee game, even by a single run, we would have edged out the Hot Tub Woodys with a better plus/minus and taken the last elimination position... It was not to be... The two teams we played earlier in the week (the Wild and the Lucky Stiffs) both went on to play in the semi finals. In fact, the top four teams, in the regular season, played in the semis. The finals were played by the top two teams in the regular season, the Dusty Cleats and the Grisslies. In the final game the Grisslies played a solid defensive game and with several early runs in the game, the Grisslies would go on to upset the Dusty Cleats by a score of 7-5. Congratulations to the Grisslies for a well deserved Victory...
Coventry Park-Well, here we are playing our 24th game of the season, the last regular season game. I remember the Captain's meeting when we decided to play 24 games (last season we played 26 games) and I wanted a balanced schedule with 28 games, playing each team twice, I like to play, what can I say. It was motioned and voted on that the season would be 24 games...We only got to play some teams once on the season and that's a shame.
This game against the Lucky Stiffs was a rescheduled make-up game that was canceled on the 24th of August due to an incredible thunderstorm that came through town that evening...This game against the Stiffs will actually determine something in the over all standings, for both of our teams...As I write this part of the blog, we have not yet played the game. The Lucky Stiffs have played 22 games and they have 2 rescheduled make-up games on September 6... The Stiffs currently sit 2 points behind the Grisslies and if they were to win even one of these games would end up in second place and in B pool. The Hurtin' Units and the Banshees both have our final games remaining, the Units current have a single point lead on the Banshees, if the Units lose and the Banshees win the Units will drop down to 10th position and the Banshees 9th. If the Units win against the Stiffs the Units will end up in 9th place.
Anyway we look at it, the Hurtin' Units will end up in pool "C". If the Lucky Stiffs win even one of their two remaining games they will end up in 2 place, in pool B and the Grisslies would end up in pool "C" with us. So it would be in our best interest to win our game against the Stiffs, just in case we have to play them again in the playoffs...Let's get in their huge heeeads!!!
We played the Lucky Stiffs back on June 21, the night of our doubleheader, and we lost by a score 8-2. Only 2 runs in the whole game, we were really struggling back then! We having been playing much better since the HTKP tournament, when we seemed to get our confidence back...
As I have mentioned before, Mike and I were first year captains last season and we had such a great regular season that we thought we were going to breeze our way through the playoffs and in to the Sunday games. Our first two games in the playoffs last season were total disaster, we lost 27-12 to the Rusty Rebels and 22-11 to the Dodge City Rounders. We gave up 49 runs in two games...Yikes!! I like to think that we are more experienced, and that we know what we need to do to win...I think we have the a great group of players this season; we have shown that we can play with any team and we have really played much better than our record would indicate. Mike and I have a better idea of what we did wrong last year in the playoffs, we will hopefully get it right this playoff run.
The weather over the Labour day long weekend was, for the most part, hot and Saturday was wicked humid, so what the heck happened on Monday, the temperature drop like a stone...I looked at the temperature on Monday evening at around 6:30 and it was 13 degrees...The high for Tuesday was to be 19 degrees and the evening temperature for our game was around 15 degrees, with clearing skies...Roman D. was the umpire for this game... Speaking of Umpires...I think it's time for another video... Click on anywhere on the green for video viewing
This was our last home game of the season and as Mike had pointed out a couple of weeks ago, we have a better record as the home team. If the Banshees lose their last game or if we win our game against the Stiffs we will finish the season in 9th place. If we finish in 9th place, we will be home team twice in the playoff round robin.
Well, it took all 24 games to decide the final seedings. The early game on Tuesday evening saw the Banshees and the Dislocated Joints playing, the Banshees needed a win to jump ahead of the Hurtin' Units in the standings. The Banshees were a single point behind the Units and unfortunately for them they could not pull it out and the Units go on to hold nineth position going in to the playoffs. The results of the Banshee/Dislocated Joint game were there right in front of us as we prepared to take on the Lucky Stiffs and now the game against the Stiffs would not matter to us as far as our positioning was concerned. The Lucky Stiffs could move themselves into second place if they could pull out a win against the Hurtin' Units or if they won in their second game against the Beer Bros. The Stiffs would not win either game and would end up in 3rd position in the standings...
At game time we had 11 players warming up, Paul E (the other Paul) was still away.
In the top of the first inning the Lucky Stiffs scored 2 runs, but in the bottom of the inning the Hurtin' Units scored 3 runs to set the tone...We were here to play! In the top of the second inning (with myself in to pitch an inning, really prefer the third inning) the Lucky Stiffs, as their name implies, scored 7 runs on a handful of lucky breaks, we probably should have stopped them a bit earlier in the inning, but there were a couple of near misses that prolonged the inning. In the bottom of the second the Stiffs shut us out with only 4 batters going to the plate. In the top of the third inning the Stiffs went down quickly, Paul G. made the first two outs at first and had a chance for the hat trick, but just couldn't come up with the ball cleanly, the next batter came up and hit in to a fielder's choice for the third out. In the bottom of the inning the Hurtin' Units chipped away at the Stiff's lead scoring 3 more runs. The score at the end of 3 innings 9-6 for the Stiffs.
In the top of the forth inning we shut the Stiffs down again, 4 up 3 outs. In the bottom we scored a single run and inched a little closer. In the fifth inning the Stiffs put up 3 more runs on the scoreboard and shut the Units out in the bottom. In the sixth inning the Units defense shut the Stiffs down again and the Units bats fired up for 4 huge runs to make the score 12-11 for the Stiffs...
The seventh inning saw the Units shut down the Stiffs for the forth time in the game... In the bottom of the seventh, with the Stiffs leading by a score of 12-11, Chris L came to the plate and hit a line drive up the right center field gap, the ball went all the way to the fence, Chris hit third just as the ball came in to the infield, Chris was going for home, the ball was thrown to the catcher, Chris came to a stand up sliding stop, he was in a run down, he ran back toward third, fell to his knees as the ball was thrown to third, and managed to crawl back to third safely, umpire Roman calling him SAFE!!!
Still nobody out, tying run at third, Mooner coming to bat, Mooner got on with a walk (probably intentional), our next batter was Mikey Boy, Mike hit in to a Fielder choice getting Mooner out at second...One out, runners at third and first and Cal S. batting, Cal hit a single bringing Chris in for the tie and moving Mike to second. Still one out with the winning run on second, the next batter Brad flied out and the runners advance on the tag...2 out, runners on second and third and Bill (Billy the Kid) coming up to bat...Bill took the first pitch as it hit the board, both teams could feel the tension in the air, the next pitch Billy made solid contact and a line drive cleared the second baseman's head hitting in RCF in to no mans land, a solid single, Mike came home and the game was over, UNITS win 13-12...
Boxscore 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total
Hurtin' Units 3 0 3 1 0 4 2 13
Lucky Stiffs 2 7 0 0 3 0 0 12
Highlights:(not all are highlights, but more things I remember about this game).
Yea, like I said these are not really all highlights, but they were things definitely worth mentioning... Cal R. and Cal S. both had some great defensive catches in the outfield, playoff form if you ask me... Mike made a heads up play on a bunt hit by Woody, Mike threw the ball to first for an out, when the umpire doesn't say anything make the play... Paul had a good night at first base, a position he is new to, almost had a 3 play inning, missed it by that much!...Chris L , Bob M. and Richard G. all had great nights batting, Chris and Richard 3-4, Bob 4-4... Bob also made a great double play in the game... I have to mention MOONER who went 1-4 on the night and the one was an intentional walk, Mooner hit the ball probably the best I recall all season, sending the Stiff's fielders to the warning track on at least two occasions, Mooner has found his stroke, I'm looking forward to seeing him in the playoff run... And last, but not least, I tip my cap to our pitcher to Bill J.( Billy the Kid) who has been a solid contributor to our team since returning from his injury, his game winning RBI in this game was a great lead in to a hopefully successful playoff run...We have a great team here, capable of beating anyone in this league, let the playoffs begin...
Team Games Wins Losses Ties Points
1 Dusty Cleats 24 22 2 0 44
2 Grisslies 24 16 8 0 32
3 Lucky Stiffs 24 15 9 0 30
4 The Wild 24 14 9 1 29
5 Dog Catchers 24 14 10 0 28
6 Brew Jays 24 13 9 2 28
7 Hot Tub Woody's 24 13 11 0 26
8 Torn Ligaments 24 12 12 0 24
9 Hurtin' Units 24 10 12 2 22
10 Banshees 24 8 13 3 19
11 Red Dogs 24 9 15 0 18
12 Rusty Rebels 24 9 15 0 18
13 Beer Bros. 24 8 15 1 17
14 Dislocated Joints 24 8 15 1 17
15 DC Rounders 24 4 20 0 8
The Hurtin Units had a record of 10-12-2. We played in 7 one run decisions and had 2 ties... Hurtin' Units Roster Stats...
