RECCE ROOM

We played our final games last night. It was the tournament. We won the first game in dramatic fashion: down by 4 runs in the last inning with 2 out, we scored 2. There were 2 runners on base, and one of our guys hit an inside-the-park homerun to win the game. I was 2-2. Also caught a foul ball for an out about halfway up the first base line. We lost the second game: 21-6. It was never close, and the umps were just a bit biased toward the other team. It really demoralized us. My buddy, John, played catcher in the second game. He was 1-2. .

Last week, I was unable to play as I was out of town on business. However, the team forfeited both games as only 5 men showed up. This set us at 9-9 on the year. This week, we played the other team from our church. We beat this team twice in the first week, and they have had a tough season. We won the first game going away: 13-3. The second game provided some dramatics, though! First, our regular pitcher had to leave as his son became ill mid-game. My buddy, John was called in to catch, I was moved to right field, and we shuffled an outfielder to the infield as the shortstop to pitcher.  In the last inning, we were down two runs (we were "home" team). I came up to bat with runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs. We were down only 1 run by then. I hit the ball past the shortstop to tie the game. My good friend, John, lined a screamer to the outfield; which should have been the game-winner: but it was caught on a diving play by one of their better fielders. Still, the g...

The losing streak continues. We lost the first game 15-13 and the second game 18-3. This team we beat in the second week, and should have tonight, but no such luck. Last week, the opposing team was a no-show, so we won via forfeit.  I was 2-2. No RBI, No runs scored. My buddy, John caught the second game and only made it to bat once, going 1-1. I caught a popup, and tagged another man out at the plate, but the ump was blind on the second play (this ump is the worst they have). Stats: BA: (2+22)/(2+36) = 24/38 = 0.631 Runs scored =9 RBI = 11 Team is 9-7 .

Last week's games were rained out, and will be made up next week.  Again, we lost both games, dropping to 7-5 on the season. Scores were 13-12 and 18-9. I was 1-3, and only played the first game. No RBI, no runs scored. Worst night at the plate all season. Stats: (21+1)/(33+3) = 22/36 = 0.611 Runs scored: 9 RBI: 11 Team is 7-5 .

We lost both games tonight to one of the teams that is consistently one of the best. 12-10 and 13-12 were the scores. I personally had a tougher night at the plate: 2-5, 1 run scored, 2 RBI. Stats: Batting Average: (19+2)/(28+5) = 21/33 = 0.636 Runs scored: 9 RBI: 11 Team: 7-3 .

We won both games: 16-6 and 16-12. My good buddy, John, got in the game (he actually played catcher in second game; giving me a chance to be an Extra Hitter) and did very well - going 5-7 with a couple of runs scored and a couple of RBI. I went 5-7. 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Stats: (5+14)/(7+21) = 19/28 = .679 Runs scored on season = 8 RBI = 9 on season Team is 7-1, and tied for league lead in wins. .

We won the first game 17-4, but lost the second game 21-10. That puts us at 5-1 on the season. In game 2, I was able to catch a weak popup to make my second putout of the season. On the night, I was 5-6 with 3 RBI and two runs scored. Stats: BA: (4+5+5)/(7+8+6) =  14/21 = 0.667 Runs scored = 5 on the season. RBI = 6 on the season. Team stats: Runs for: 89 Runs per game:  14.8 Runs against: 53 Runs against per game:  8.8 *

Another good night for the team. We faced another middle-of-the-road team in the league. I went 5-8 at the plate. The team won both games: 11-7 in game 1 and 16-7 in game 2. Stats: (4+5)/(7+8) = .600 Batting average. Runs scored = 1. Season = 3. RBI = 1. Season = 3. Team record: 4-0 .

First games of the season today. 4-7 at the plate. Running bases better than ever thanks to the weight loss. Not tired or sore as I used to be. Got to put a man out in a rundown between home and 3rd base.  Won both games; 23-8 and 12-6. This week we played the other team from our same church. Stats: Batting Avg:  .571 Runs scored: 2 RBI: 2 Team record: 2-0 .

Final games of the regular season. We lost both by wide margins. This team we had split with earlier in the season. Since I've been on this team, this is the most we've lost in a season. We will likely be the last seed. Perhaps second from last.However, when we have everybody, we have the best talent we've ever had. My bat was hot, and first time at the plate, I rifled the ball the other way for the first time in a long time. Next up - post-season. I figure it might not be a long night.

6/13/2011 Split a pair with the team that we won over via run-rule earlier in the season. I had a very bad game at the plate - 2-6. Mr. Macho Man did not try anything foolish with me, though he did mouth off to the ump, and nearly got ejected for bat slinging after making contact. 6/20/2011 Split the games this evening. I made a put out at home. The opposing catcher made 2 put-outs at home - one on a force play (bases loaded, grounder to 3rd), and one catch. Despite several games with bad results at the plate, my average is hovering around .500, and I've had a hit in every game. With 3 or more RBI's next week, I'll have at least 20 RBI in 20 games played. Not bad for hitting dead-last in most of those games.

Last night, we played a team that we were more evenly matched against. We sprang out to a 4-0 lead in the first game of our double-header, and things went downhill from there. I was a miserable 1-5 at the plate, dropping my average below .500 for the first time in over three years. Not many of my teammates did any better. We scored 11 runs in the two games. Usually, a team should score at least that much per game to stay competitive.

We played the same team from two weeks ago. First game was close - 9-7. 2nd game, not so much: 12-1. We lost both. I played the first game and sat the second as we had 14 players show. Coulda used one or two of them a week ago when we were forced to play a man short.

Last night we played one of the other perennial powers in the league. As expected, we did not win either game. Unexpectedly, we kept it comparatively close and were not "run-ruled"  in either game. We played with only nine men (typical is ten in the field). This created an unusual situation. The opposing team was hitting the ball hard to the outfield. With only three outfielders, we were giving up more bases than usual. So, in the second game, the coach had us use four outfielders and only three infielders. The game plan was to have one man be the shortstop, or second-baseman, depending on whether the batter was right-handed or left-handed. It worked, because the score was much closer and we only "got burned" once by an opposite field ground ball. I tagged two men out at home, and threw another out at first base. There were also three unsuccessful attempts to throw men out at home. I was responsible for one, not fielding a ball cleanly. Two other throws were w...

Last night we played one of the perennial powerhouses in our league. As expected, we did not win either game. No unusual things happened. However, there is some fun and some notes worthy of mention in my son's little league games of late. Saturday, he was playing center field. A ball was hit out there. My son played it perfectly off the fence, and rifled the ball back to second base - getting an assist as the base runner tried to stretch the single into a double. To be fair - most 6-year-old plays do not go as this one did, so it was a smart move on the part of the opposing coach to send the runner. Last night, my son had two assists on put-outs at first base, and he tagged another boy out. In the last two games, he has gone 4-6 at the plate, and so he was awarded the game ball again (3rd time this year) last night. To top it off, the coach's wife asked my wife to sign my son up for the summer (All-Star) league. What an honor!

Last night, we played the make-up games from Monday's rain-out. Really, the only remarkable thing about the games is the fact that we played our church's other team. We won both, despite my worst offensive production of the year (3-6 at the plate).

Well, last week we won two games by wide margin. This week, we didn't do as well. First game the other team jumped all over us, up 21-5 at one point. We finally got things together, but just ran out of innings, losing 24-16. Second game, we jumped out to an early 17-2 lead. That was the score going into the 4th inning (our games are sheduled for 7, or 1:15, whichever comes first), and time was waning. We allowed them to pull to 17-14. In our half of the 5th inning (top half) our bats came alive again. I got a hit. Then I was thrown out at second on the next play as part of a double-play. Actually, the Shortstop dropped the ball, but I accidentally over-ran the bag, thinking I was out. The SS applied a tag, which I sidestepped nimbly. I got back to the bag without being tagged, only to hear the ump calling me out. Mea culpa - I should never have given him the opportunity to blow the call. I should have stayed planted on 2nd. That double play ended the inning. The bottom ha...

Last night, I played in my first softball double-header of the year. My team won both games by run-rule (also sometimes known as a mercy rule): 16-5 and 22-0. I had four hits in six at-bats with three runs scored and five RBI. At one point in the second game, I noticed the opposing pitcher getting quite frustrated. He was arguing with his catcher because the poor man couldn't quite throw the ball back to him perfectly. He was arguing with the umpire a lot on ball-strike counts, how many outs there were, and various other ticky-tack items. His control had been lacking all game - at this point, he had walked a number of my teammates. This character, sporting the number 22, was pitching to me. The count was 3 balls and a strike. He told the ump that the count was 2-2. The umpire, frustrated with arguing with the man, gave in and agreed. Didn't matter - we were up 16-0 at the time. Umps often give the benefit of the call at that point to whatever will make the game shorter. O...