HURTIN' UNITS SCARY GOOD AGAINST GRUESOME.

THE HURTIN' UNITS 

VS. 

THE GRUESOME DEVILS

Game # 18 - July 28th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 19-3

Team Record - 11-7-0

Okay, let me start by saying that I have no idea why the font in some parts of the blog are different, I've tried to fix the problem, but nothing seems to work. I don't ever remember having this issue in previous years. Sorry, this blog is a mess, but I don't have any more time to spend on it. 

Keogh Park- It was only 2 games ago that the Hurtin' Units and the Gruesome Devils played each other, but it sure seems longer. The only team the Units have played is the Tap Masters, way, way back on July 19th. I was thinking earlier this week that the Hurtin' Units really have a strange schedule this season. Coming in to this game, against the Gruesome Devils, the Units had not been on the field in 9 days.

This is not the first time that this has happened this season; it is actually the third time. The Hurtin' Units played on May 17th and then played 9 days later vs. the Dusty Cleats and lost 11-8. The second time was when the Hurtin' Units played the Grisslies on July 6th. The Hurtin' Units had been off for 9 days and it took a bit to get in to the game. The Units would lose the game by a score of 15-12. I really think this puts a team in a little bit of a disadvantage when you don't play for an extended period of time. I believe your timing and rhythm is thrown off and it takes a couple of at bats to get it back. I also believe it puts us at a greater risk of injury.  

Since the last game that we played, on July 19th vs. the Tap Masters, there have been teams that have played three games; the Dodge City Rounders and the Draft Kings have both been on the diamond 3 different times. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't I'm not complaining about the schedule, it will all even out in the end, but I like to play and 9 days off is a lot of time. 

Game Time (8:15):

The Gruesome Devils and Hurtin' Units were the only game on this night. The 7:00pm game was postponed and there was no 9:30pm game. The only show in the Big Smoke on this night. 

The weather was good, the temperature was hovering around 22 degrees, there was a slight breeze and the skies were a sun/ cloud mix. There had been a forecast of thunderstorms for the early evening, but nothing materialized. Earlier in the afternoon, I stopped by Keogh and raked the batters boxes level, I didn't want to be standing in 6 inches of mud if it did rain. Fortunately it didn't rain. 

The Hurtin' Units were the home team in this game. Since there was no 7:00pm game the Units had to put the bases in. The bases were locked in the box, there was a bit of panic, but I managed to find the key. Clayton hammered the bases in, thanks Clay. 

At game time, the Units had 10 players ready to play. Missing on the night were Peter and Mark. Both guys were away on vacation. 

Bev kept score in this game (when Bev keeps score, it's really easy to see how the game unfolds), so I think I'll use the score sheets instead of trying to explain what happened in the game.  I know they are a little blurry (my battery was low, no flash), but you get the picture (the blurry picture). 

Inside the lines:

• Jon and Clayton both played two innings each in

  

  Gruesome? Not!

  left field. We were short 2 fielders and I needed somebody to cover the position. No worries when either of these guys are out there.
• The Gruesome would send a total of 30 batters to the plate. By the innings it reads like this- 5,4,3,3,4,4,7 batters. In the third inning, I threw 2 pitches and it was 2 out, the next batter needed 2 pitches.   
• Clayton made a nice double play at short stop, tagging the runner running from second and then touching the bag for a double play. 
• Jon was a vacuum at short stop. I heard someone (on the Gruesome side), when Jon bobbled a rare ball, "he is human". 
• I drove in the seventh run in the first inning, it seems to be my stick this season. I guess when you bat at the bottom of the order, these chances are going to come up. 
• On Monday I subbed for the Hottub Woodys and on Monday morning there was a heavy rain, the batter's boxes on Monday night were just awful. It was like standing in wet cement when you were in the box, I brought this issue up at the captain's meeting on Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, there was a threat of rain again, so I went to Keogh diamond and I raked the batter's boxes. This way, if it did rain, the boxes would not fill with water and it would not be the same slop as Monday night 
• Bev kept score in this game, so I used the
  
  score sheets, instead of trying to explain what happened in the game 
• Thanks go to Bev for scorekeeping. Nice job as usual.  
• Clayton, Jon, Gord and Robert (everybody really) are all interchangeable parts, I can ask them to play the infield or I can ask them to play the outfield and they all fit in seamlessly.
• Gord and Brad were perfect at first base, not a single error, not a single missed ball and they seemed to have a lot of action. 
• Our offense was good from the start, the 9 day layoff didn't seem to hurt our batting.  
• Two players on the Hurtin' Units, Jimmy R. and Gord D. both went 4 for 4 on the night. 
• Hurtin' Units had very few errors in this game, maybe 2 actual errors, it was a clean night, you don't see very many of these. 
• I ordered hats for the team. Jon was the inspiration
  
  for the hats, he kept wearing this Oakland A's hat and guys liked the color and the yellow trim, so I decided to do Hurtin' Units hats with just the name on the front on hats. 8 of us were wearing the hats. I have never ordered team hats before, I thought it would be something different.  

The Hurtin' Units next game is Wednesday August 3rd, 2106.

UNITS CLOSE OFF THE TAPS...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE TAP MASTERS. 

Game # 17 - July 19th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 11-9

Team Record - 10-7-0

Coventry Park- Back on May the 12th, in game # 3 on the season, the Hurtin' Units and the Tap Masters played a tough game ending in a 16-15 loss for the Units. 

Even though the Hurtin' Units lost, I got a real good feel as to how resilient this team really was. The Units were trailing by a score of 16-6 going in to the open inning. The Units would rally for 9 runs in the top of the 7th inning (open) and had the tying and go ahead runners on bases. The Units would lose the game, but showed they were capable of mounting a comeback and had a never say die attitude.

The game on May 12th was the second 1 run loss in the 3 games we had already played. If anyone can remember back to the start of the season, the Units would start the season with a 1-4 record. In those 4 losses, the Units would lose by scores of, 5-4 -Grisslies, 16-15 -Tap Masters, 17-15 -Sons of Pitches and 11-8 -Dusty Cleats. The Units were in every one of these games and with a catch or a hit in the Units favor the standings might look a bit tighter. 

The Units worst loss of the season came last week against the Rusty Rebels, when the Units were hammered by a score of 35-17. Up until that game, the Units worst loss was against the Draft Kings, when the Units lost by a score of 19-13. The Units were still in this game going in to the 7th inning.

Game Time: 7:00pm.

The weather for this game vs. the Tap Masters was very good; The temperature was hovering around 20 degrees, the humidity was low and there was a strong breeze. The winds were definitely a factor in this game; the pitching and balls hit in the air were moving around like they were in a popcorn maker. The sky was also filled with sunshine, shining in to the eyes of the right fielders.  

At game time there were 10 Hurtin' Unit players dressed to take on the Tappers. The only missing players were Gord D. and Jimmy R. Ted was back from England and Jon was back from the western assignment.

The Units were the home team in this game. 

Roman D. was the umpire for this game.

It was great to have Teddy back in this game. I like having Ted in the lead off position and after missing 3 games, he was back. In the first inning, Ted looked a little bit rusty, but it didn't take long before he was on base. Ted went 3-4 in his first game back, scoring 3 of our 11 runs. Not bad for a guy with jet lag. Welcome back Teddy!!

Jon was also back after missing a week. 

The Hurtin' Units started this game slowly, not even getting through the batting order until the 3rd inning. 

The Units defense looked good in the first inning, shutting down the Tap Masters, allowing only 5 batters to come to the plate and stranding runners at 3rd and 1st. 

The second inning wasn't as clean cut as the first inning, the Tap Masters would score 4 runs and in the top of the third inning, the Masters would score another 3 runs. The score after 2.5 innings was 7-0 for the Masters. In the bottom of the third inning, the Units would adapt to weather conditions and we decided to start hitting the ball on the ground and keep it out of the air. The plan started to work, the Units sent 9 batters to the plate and 4 would come around to score. 

In the top of the fourth inning, the Units would shut down the Tappers and in the bottom of the inning the Units would score another 3 runs. The score at the end of 4 innings was a 7-7 tie.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Tappers would send 5 batters to the plate and 1 run would come in to take the lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Units would send 5 batters to the plate and would strand 2 runners on base.


In the top of the sixth inning, the Units shut down the Tap Masters 1,2,3. Change them up boys! In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Units would get the first 2 batters on base, followed by Jon, who would hit a bases clearing, in the park, homerun. The Units would take the lead for the first time in the game. Peter would hit a double and Mark would drive in an insurance run before the inning ended.  

In the top of the seventh inning (open) the Tap Masters would get the leadoff batter on base, Len would hit back to me (Jimmer) for a out at first, Jason would drive in the run, Tim would hit a single and Jason would advance to third base, Gary would pop out, and Rick would foul pop up to Robert (Units' catcher) and the Units would hold on for the win.   

Inside the Lines:

• Jason B. was tagged out at second base by
  
  Clayton who tagged Jason in an unpleasant area. Let's just say Jason's voice seemed to be a bit higher.
• I forgot the lineup/position sheet at home, but found an old one and with a couple of changes... made it work.
• The Units don't play for 9 days, perhaps this is a good thing... for this game, Ted was jetlagged, Jon had a head cold, Mark has a boo boo on his elbow that seems to get worse every game, Peter has aches and pains...everywhere and Brad forgot his baseball stuff at home. All good reasons to look forward to a 9 day break.
• Mark and Robert both went 4-4 in this game.
• Ted went 3-4, scored 3 runs in his return from England.
• Jon hit a 3 run, in the park, homerun.
• The Units showed resilience and adaptability in turning this game around after a slow start.
• There were some difficult catches made by the Units' defense. Jon and Peter both made spectacular over the shoulder catches. Clayton had to back pedal a long way to make a catch at behind 2nd base. The outfield was challenged all game with balls that were twisting around in the strong wind.
• I usually don't talk about myself in our games (mostly because there is nothing to talk about), but in this game, I went 3 for 3 and scored 2 runs. Way to be Jimmer!!  
• This game was a total team win with contributions from everyone on the field. Nice win Units. 
• In this game, I was super impressed with
  
  the play of Robert J. Robert started the game catching a foul tip and ended the game catching a foul pop up at home plate, what I like to call baseball bookend outs. Two big outs in this game. Robert also went 4-4 batting, hitting the ball hard at every at bat, he also scored 2 runs in the game. Good game Robert.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Thursday July 28, 2016 at Keogh Park at 8:15pm. 

HURTIN' UNITS DEVILISHLY GOOD.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRUESOME DEVILS.

Game # 16- July 14th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 18-10

Team Record - 9-7-0

Keogh Park- Last season the Hurtin' Units and the Gruesome Devils played each other twice. The Hurtin' Units would defeat the Devils in both games. In game #9, of the season, the Units would defeat the Devils by a 23-6 score and in game #11, two games later, the Units would beat the Devils 30-4. 

Hurtin' Units co-captain, Peter H. played on the Gruesome Devils last season. The Devils would only win 3 games all season. It would be an understatement to say the Devils did not have a good season. 

This season the Gruesome Devils are playing better baseball, but are still struggling a little. Coming in to this game the Devils record was 5-8-1. 

Game Time (9:30pm):

The weather for this game was hot, stinky hot and the daytime temperature was 34 degrees, with the humidity it felt like over 40. At game time the temperature had dropped slightly, but the humidity was still hanging around, just thinking about being outside made ya sweat. There was a strong breeze that would come up from time to time, cooling us down a little. 

At game time, we had 9 Hurtin' Units players dressed and ready to take on the Devils. Jon, Ted and Gord were all missing from this game. The Units picked up Kevin C. (Skippy) for the game.

The Hurtin' Units were the visitors in this game.

After the hangover on Tuesday night, the Units needed a better performance to renew our confidence, after the 35-17 beating from the Rusty Rebels. 

Game Sheets:

Between the Lines:

• The Units defense played well; on one occasion the Gruesome had the based loaded, no outs, and the Units would not allow a run. The Gruesome also had another inning were the 2 runners on, but the Units stopped them again.
• Ingo made a nice double play at third, catching a line drive and then throwing to first to double up the base runner who had left the bag. 
• I had a mosquito get caught in my throat and in took several innings to stop coughing and feel better.
• I (Jimmer) hit a ball, over the left fielder's head, all the way to the fence for a double... probably should have been a triple.  
• Several Units players were still hobbled in this game (still feeling the effects of the tournament weekend and Tuesday's game).
• After allowing the Gruesome to score in the first 3 innings, the Units held the Devils off the score sheet for the final 4 innings. 
• Jim R. went 5/5, and Robert, Mark and Clayton all went 4/5 in this game. Clayton would score a team high 4 runs in the game.
• Kevin C. (Skippy) went 3/4 and scored 2 runs. 
• The Units were only shut out in one inning.

The Hurtin' Units next game is July 19th vs. The Tap Masters. 

THE HURTIN' HANGOVER...

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE RUSTY REBELS.

Game # 15 - July 12th, 2016

Hurtin' Units lose 35-17

Team Record - 8-7-0

THE HANGOVER:

Over the past weekend the Hurtin' Units would play in the HTKP tournament. The Units would play 5 games and come away with the HTKP championship. Now 5 games doesn't sound like a lot of games, but they probably played a part in this loss to the Rusty Rebels. We are talking 5 very intense and emotional games, filled with up and downs, beer and Sambuca, players that played in both divisions and guys that have nagging injuries from both the regular season and the tourney. 

I'm not making excuses for the Rebel game, all I'm saying is that the teams the played in the tournament were probably hurting on Monday and Tuesday. The Rusty Rebels did not enter a team in the tournament. I did see Hughie playing for the Draft Kings, but I don't remember seeing very many Rebels over the weekend. 

On Monday evening, I subbed for the Dusty Cleats (I actually subbed for the Tap Masters in the 7 o'clock game also) and the Cleats also had a tournament hangover. The Dusty Cleats, who are currently sitting in 2nd place, in the standings, did not look like the Dusty Cleats that have won 9 games in a row and were the current Beer Cup holders. 

The Grisslies hangover saw them lose to the Dogcatchers, who for some reason didn't have as big of a hangover (probably because they had a surge of confidence after making it to the semis on Sunday). The Cleats, the Grisslies and the Hurtin' Units (who played on Tuesday evening), all had very similar games and none of the games were pretty to watch. 

On Monday evening, the field conditions at Keogh Park were awful; it was like running on patterned concrete in the first game. My legs and feet were already sore, from the weekend, and if I had known how bad the infield was prior to the Cleats game, I would not have subbed. The hit balls were bouncing horribly and on several occasions, balls hit guys or came close to hitting them...just awful field conditions.
  

I knew coming in to this game against the Rebels, it was going to be a tough match. The Rusty Rebels are stacked, yes stacked, with a lineup of hard hitting and very smart ball players. They are not a fun lineup to pitch against. The Rusty Rebels currently sit in the 3rd position in the standings and they are there because they are well coached, have strong bats and they eat their Wheaties.   

Back on May 10th the Rusty Rebels and the Hurtin' Units played each for the first time. The Hurtin' Units would defeat the Rebels by a score of 14-10 for their first win of the season. 

GAME TIME (8:15).

The weather for this game was good, there was a sun/cloud mix to start, the temperature was about 32 degrees, feeling like 36 with the humidity, and there was a light breeze. 

At game time, we had 10 players almost all dressed in Hurtin' Units shirts (except for Jimmy R., who was wearing a throwback shirt from the 90s) and ready to battle the Rebels. Missing from the lineup were Jon D. and Ted B. Jon had gone out west on an assignment and Teddy was still in England watching his son in win a gold metal in the Under 18, Juniors ball hockey tournament. Congratulations Guys!!

I am going to say that this was the Hurtin' Units worst game of the season. Up until this game, the largest differential in game score, for a Units loss was 6. In this game it was 18, which will hurt us in the plus/minus and runs against stats in the standings. I don't really care about stats, but sometimes season stats can tell a story of how the season is going, this game tells a nightmarish story.

The Hurtin' Units would still score 17 runs, keeping pace with Rebels in the early innings, but the weekend hangover started to rear it's ugly head later in the game. By the 7th inning (open) the Units had nothing left to give and it shows on the score sheet, giving up 9 runs and 13 hits. I think that there was a point when some of the Rebels were trying to get out just to end the top half of the inning. In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Units went down quickly (there was honestly nothing left) sending only 4 batters to the plate. Tough game guys, let's have a beverage and lick our wounds. 

There was one thing I forgot to do after the tournament; I forgot to smudge our bats again. The bats need to be resmudged for different reasons, I will definitely smudge the Units' bats for the next game. 

I will use the game sheets to tell the story of this pounding the Hurtin' Units took in this game.

The Hurtin' Units next game is Thursday July 14th at 9:30pm at Keogh (hopefully the diamond field conditions are better than Monday night).  

WE'RE GOING TO GRISSLIELAND.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRISSLIES.

Are we going to Grisslieland or Jimmerville? Either way, it should be fun.

Game #14 - July 6, 2016

Hurtin' Units lose 15-12

Team Record - 8-6-0

Keogh Park- Our last game was the mid point of the regular season, which means we start playing teams for a second time. This game with the Grisslies is the first time we will play a team for a second time. 

On May the 4th, the Hurtin' Units played their first game of the season vs. the Grisslies. Our game was the 2nd game of the season for the Grisslies, who lost their first game to the Dodge City Rounders by a score of 27-7. Are we confused yet? 

In our first game with the Grisslies, the Hurtin' Units would be defeated by a score of 5-4. The Units had a 4-2 lead going in to the bottom of the 7th inning, but could not hold off the Grisslies. 

Going into this game vs. the Grisslies, the Units were in a bit of a disadvantage; The team had not been on the field in 9 days. The Units' last game was Monday June 27th, when we beat the Dodge City Rounders by the score of 37-8. The Grizzlies last played on July 4th, two days before this game vs. the Units, so they had lots of at bats coming in to this game. 

In the first meeting with the Grizzlies there was a similar situation; The Grizzlies played the Hurtin Units in their season opener, and other than a practice, weeks before the opener, the Units had not even swung the bat. The Grizzlies season opener had been two days earlier when they were beaten up by the Dodge City rounders 27-7, but they still had some at bats before the Units game. Now I'm not making excuses for this game, in fact I am writing this on July 4th, two days before we even face the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies still have to play the Dodge City rounders tonight before playing the Units on Wednesday night. I will probably mention the score of the Grizzlies and the Dodge City Rounders before talking about our game....Update: The Grisslies would beat the Dodge City Rounders by a score of 29-12. 

The game between the Dodge City Rounders and the

Grizzlies would be a nightmarish game for the Rounders, who took a beating from the Grizzlies. I don't really get it, the Rounders look good (not physically, but as a ball team),I can't figure out why they are having such a tough time. I guess all teams go through this at some time in the season, but this one seems to be worse than most. 

Okay, let me stray from all that I have been babbling about and talk about a sub game for a minute. So, I subbed for the Hottub Woodys on Monday night, July 4th, and Hurtin' Units' player Jon D. also subbed. I played at second base (for the first time in a long time, I might add) and Jon D. played in the field. Jonny D. was awesome in the field, making two spectacular (Pillar like) catches and multiple other plays (why is this guy not on the All-Star team??). 

Late in the game between the Woodys and the Dogcatchers, it looked like the Dogcatchers might be in line for their first win of the season, leading by 6 runs going in to the bottom of the 6th inning. The Woodys would score 7 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning and then shut down the Dogcatchers, in the top of the 7th, to win the game. This was a fun game to play in. 

STARS of the GAME: Units vs. Grisslies.

I don't usually picks stars in our games. With all of our players being rated, I think it would end up being the top players more often and this really is a team game. I thought just to change things up for this posting I would do a 3 star selection.

First Star:  I have to pick Donato as the first star in this game.  Danny went 5 for 5 , scored 4 runs, 3 doubles, and 2 singles. And even with all of these hits and runs, the boy managed to entertain us with a foul ball off the fence, in to the trees and in to a garbage can. It was like watching Superman play. 

Second Star: My second star pick would be Peter H. Peter went 4 for 4, with a Homerun, 2 doubles and a triple and 4 runs scored.

Third Star: My third star would be a tie (this is why I don't do 3 stars). The tie would be between Neil and Jon. Both these guys had really good nights.

Game Time:

The weather for this game was stinky hot; the day time temperature reached 32 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 37. There was a risk of thunderstorms around 7:00pm.

At game time the Hurtin' Units had 11 players. The only missing body was Ted who was in England for his son's ball hockey tournament.   

The Hurtin' Units were the home team in this game. 

After looking at the boxscore on Thursday morning, it would not have been surprised me if this game had ended in a tie. The game was close thoughout and possibly with a hit or catch in the Units favor, it could have gone in a different direction. 

I will post the game sheets for this game to esplain what happened Lucy.

Between the Lines: 

• Before this even began, Brad told us a bird shit on his head (hat). Everyone told Brad this was lucky, but it really didn't work on this night. Brad is some what entertaining with his stories. i.e fishing naked. 
• Jon D. is still looking to turn a triple play this season and came close in this game. Jon caught the ball at short, tagged the runner running from second, touched second for the force and threw to first, just missing the out at first.
• Doug Dwyer made an excellent over the shoulder catch for an important out.
• Donato was a Units killer on this night, as I mentioned before in the stars section, the guy went 5/5, 3 doubles, 2 singles, scoring 4 runs, making multiple catches in the field and even hit a foul ball over the fence, off a tree in to a garbage can. He could do nothing wrong on this night.
• I thought the defense, on both sides, was a little sloppy at times, on the night.
• The Units had a 9 day layoff, which I think hurt the batting and timing a little. The Grisslies had played 2 days before against the DCRs.
• Peter H. had one of his best games of the season. Peter went 4/4, scored 3 runs, hit a 3 run homerun (2nd of the season) and was solid in the outfield.
• Neil was a machine again on this night. I hate (okay hate is a bit of strong word), don't enjoy playing against Neil, he is such a tough out and if he gets a hit (which is quite often) he is usually at second or further. Good game buddy.

The Units next game is in the HTKP tournament on the upcoming weekend.