Repeat!

We da champs again in 2009!

NEXT OUTING

NEXT TIME, WE'RE GOING TO SACRAMENTO, TO SEE THE TRIPLE AAA AFFILIATE OF THE A'S, THE SACRAMENTO RIVERCATS. WE WILL BE GOING BY TRAIN FROM RICHMOND, THERE'S LOTS OF SHOPS IN OLD SAC WALKING DISTANCE TO THE RALEY FIELD. THE TRAIN RIDE IS VERY NICE. BUT I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE ON LOCK DOWN AND HAVE MICHAEL VICK BRACELETS ON AND CAN'T HANG OUT. JUST LETTING YOU'ALL KNOW. HAVE A NICE DAY!!!

Stockton Ports Game

Grandpa (Gary), Darlene, Mamie, and I went out to Stockton last night to see a minor league baseball game. The Stockton Ports are the Oakland A's Single-A level farm club in the California League. They hosted the San Jose Giants, the Single-A farm club of the San Francisco Giants. The Ports' play at Banner Island Ballpark which sits next to the deep water channel in the Port of Stockton.

Master Batters vs. Terminal Digits

I took a bunch of pictures at yesterday's game which you can find here.

There was some discussion in the stands about three controversial rulings in yesterday's game. I witnessed two of them and one of them was definitely a blown call by the umpire. I didn't have a clear view of the second one but my impression was that the umpire made the correct call. The third one I did not witness because I was beyond the centerfield fence taking some pictures. I'll get to that one last.

From the Bleachers at Nicholl Park

I thought I'd share some pictures from Wednesday's game. We have a pretty good time watching the other teams play. Come out and join us Tuesday for the game between the Terminal Digits and the Master Batters.

A Request

When I set up this blog, my primary goal was to establish a place where we could chat and exchange ideas freely. Another goal was to reduce our use of office email for non-work related communications since it's frowned upon by management. In recent weeks, I have received requests from a couple of our teammates (who shall remain anonymous) who wish to reduce the junk email generated by our team. Basically, it goes like this: I don't appreciate coming to work and opening my email to find my inbox filled with junk. Sometimes there's 20 or 30 messages of you guys putting each other down and LOLing. I shouldn't have to sort through these junk messages to get to my job related messages and messages from my family. So can you tell everyone to save it for when we get to the park or take it to the blog? While I personally enjoy the banter (most of the time), I respect this point of view. We do let it get out of hand sometimes and I can see where management (should they ever become aware of it) might wonder if they're giving us enough work. It's possible to set up filtering in Outlook to direct messages with certain content or senders to a specific folder but it may not be something everyone knows how to do. Besides that, the burden should be on the senders, not the recipients. So to accommodate our teammates who don't want to receive these messages, I'm asking everyone to please restrict their use of the "Reply to All" button to those situations in which your message really needs to be seen by everyone. Also, if you just want to joke around or pile on Grandpa, let's do it here on the blog. It won't hinder anybody's work or communications with their family. Let's please respect the wishes of our teammates. Much obliged.

Interested In Batting Practice This Weekend?

Last week we considered meeting at Blue Sky Sports in Pinole for a Sunday afternoon BP session. Scheduling conflicts and short Sunday business hours at Blue Sky kept us from following through. How about this Sunday? I'm working overtime on Saturday and I'd be free after that also. The batting cages are open until 6pm on Saturday and 5 pm on Sunday. It's a 35 mile ride for me but if we can make a team outing of it, I'll be there. Saturday would be easier because I'll be in Richmond for OT but Sunday would be cool too if that works better for everyone else. There's a poll in the right column to show where you stand.

PLAYOFF GAME VS MOD SQUAD

THE COACH/GRANDPA HAS TWO THINGS TO SAY. ONE: WE WANT MR. BLUE TO UMPIRE OUR GAME NOT THE LIGHT SKINNED UMPIRE WHO LOOKS LIKE SMOKEY ROBINSON. TWO: ALL PC BRICKS IT'S TIME TO STOP SLEEP WALKING ON DEFENSE AND LET'S PLAY SOLID BRICKS DEFENSE. WE NEED TO SETTLE DOWN AND STOP DOING ALL THESE CHANGES. ALSO WE NEED TO TALK ON DEFENSE AND LET ME POSTION THE OUTFIELDERS BECAUSE I KNOW THE HITTERS ON THE TEAM. THE MOD SQUAD WILL BE GUNNING FOR US. IT TIME FOR US TO PLAY LIKE WE USED TO (CHAMPIONS). WE NEED TO BE FOCUSED. NO MORE JOKES. SERIOUS BUSINESS, NO MORE TALKING TO THE OTHER TEAMS. JUST SAY HELLO AND GOOD LUCK. OTHER THAN THAT NO MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ENEMIES. IN THE IMMORTAL WORDS OF BIG DADDY KANE; "LET'S GET THE JOB DONE". P.S. IF WE DON'T WIN THIS WEDNESDAY, NO FOOD AFTER THE GAME AND GRANDPA/COACH WILL NOT SPEAK TO ANY OF YOU AGAIN AND WILL RETIRE.

Dream Team Quits, PC Bricks win 7-0

I've seen some crazy things in softball before but never have I seen a team throw a hissy fit and walk off the field during a playoff game. If anyone can top that, please share. For those who weren't there to see it, the first round of our league playoffs started this week and we were matched up with the Dream Team. The game barely got underway as the Dream Team had trouble gathering enough players to meet the minimum requirement. When they put a player in their lineup who was widely recognized as someone who isn't employed by SSA or otherwise employed at the FHFB, we notified the umpire we were playing the game under protest. After the game started, the Dream Team slipped another recognized ineligible player into their lineup. At the end of the second inning, we were up 4-3 and at that point the Dream Team decided they didn't want to play any longer. They walked off the field, packed up their equipment and left. One of their more vocal players tried to blame us for their decision to quit. Why would they do something like this? A certain contingent within the Dream Team was displeased that the validity of their roster was being challenged. Rather than play the game and let the protest sort itself out afterward, this contingent decided to cheat their teammates and us out of a game. This is the only softball team I've ever seen that gets so much satisfaction from not playing softball. They forfeited two of their seven games during the regular season and now they've added a forfeited playoff game. The decision to quit amounts to an admission of guilt. If their players were legitimate and the Dream Team won the game, their victory would stand. Our protest would be turned down and we'd have to pay a $50.00 fee to the City of Richmond for our failed protest. You don't walk away from a game like that if what you're doing is righteous. But they knew what they were doing was wrong and rather than deal with any possible consequences, they decided to pack it in and go home. What do you make of this, PC Bricks?

Umpire's fee

As you may recall, we had to pay the umpire for Tuesday's makeup game. I'm not clear on exactly who paid and how much. I know I paid $10.00 and I'm almost positive Gena paid $8.00. I'm pretty sure Lena put in $2.00 and I think Superfan Leretha contributed $5.00. When the umpire's fee turned out to be only $20.00 instead of $25.00, I had money leftover which I gave back to Leretha. If I didn't give her enough back, we still owe her some. Before we sort out the tab, can I please have everyone who paid, confirm the amount here?

How was Pete's Place?

Did anyone go to Pete's Place after Tuesday's game? I don't drink and I find bars depressing so I decided to pass. If we have a postgame gathering at a pizza joint or something similar, I would like to hang out with my fellow softballers. But if we're meeting at a bar, you can most likely count me out.

We were crushed but there's no need to panic

Hey, folks. Let's not get down on ourselves for the butt kicking we took from the TD's yesterday. The TD's played a great game. We just have to tip our caps to them and prepare ourselves for our next game. If you play enough games, you'll have days like that no matter how good your team may be. There's no need for us to lose confidence or try to fix things that aren't broken. I think we may have overreacted a bit when the TD's took early command of the game. I'm not sure what the reasons were but we reacted to the TD's hitting barrage by shuffling our defense around. In one instance, I think it was in reaction to Gena getting hurt. I understand that one. But when we started putting our players at positions they hadn't played before, I'm not sure what this was supposed to accomplish. I don't mean to criticize the decision. I'm just trying to understand it. I'm open minded and if someone can make sense of it for me, I'll get on board. Otherwise, I think this is something we should avoid in the future. When people are asked to do things they haven't done before, they tend to struggle. This is just my opinion but I don't think the TD's were going to stop hitting no matter what positions we were playing. James tried to take the blame for it but we can't let him do that. Perhaps his control wasn't as sharp as it usually is but it's not the reason we lost. We were beaten because the TD's outplayed us in every phase of the game. They hit better. They ran the bases better. They fielded better (despite them booting a few balls at shortstop). And on top of all that, Mr. Brown pitched an outstanding game. There's always room for improvement so there are some things we can work on at practice next Monday besides our usual routine. Maybe we should make it a lighter workout this time. We worked really hard at our last practice and with a game the following day, it may have been too much. Ideally, there would be a day off between our practices and our games but Tuesday games eliminate that possibility. (Maybe next year we can schedule our games on Wednesdays and Thursdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays.) Let's have a light workout and walk-through Monday so we don't wear ourselves down. Then we can get back to doing our thing in the playoffs.

RIDING OFF IN THE SUNSET

EXPLAINATION OF PRIOR COMMENTS. I WILL BE IN FULL UNIFORM IN CASE OF INJURY. I WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO RIDING OFF INTO THE SUNSET WITH ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP. I WILL DO A CARTWELL OR FLIP FOR YOU GUYS AND THEN YOU ALL CAN LIFT THE COACH AND CARRYING HIM TO KAISER. I WILL BE SMILLING ALL THE WAY.

JULY 28 GAME VS DREAM TEAM

GREAT GAME BY ALL THE LADIES. YOU DESERVED ALL GAMES BALL. GREAT HITTING AND DEFENSE. AS FAR AS THE COACH/GRANDPA. MY PLAYING CAREER IS OVER. MY PERFORMANCE WAS TERRIBLE. I'M RETIRED CAN'T DO IT KNOW MORE. I'M OLD, FAT, BALD LOOKING LIKE MY TWIN BROTHER CARL WINSLOW FROM NOW ON THE COACH/GRANDPA WILL BE A SCOREKEEPER/FAN. THE TEAM IS IN GOOD HANDS AND YOU ALL SHOULD GO ALL THE WAY TO CHAMPIONSHIP AND BE UNDISPUTED CHAMPS FOR 2009. LATER COACH/GRANDPA

How would you like a new bat?

I'm having a drawing at Monday's practice for a new softball bat. It's a 34 inch, 26 ounce Worth Silencer in our team colors. To be eligible, all you have to do is be at Nichol Park #2 and ready to practice by 5:00 sharp. Your name will go in the hat for the drawing to win the bat. That means cleats and glove on, ready to throw at 5:00. Not walking across the park. Not sitting on the sidelines, chatting on your phone while your softball gear remains in its bag. (Now let me try my Billy Mays impression. Pretend I have a thick black beard and an annoyingly loud voice.) BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! IF WE HAVE AT LEAST SIX PC BRICKS PRESENT AND READY TO PLAY AT 5:00, I'LL THROW IN A SURPRISE MYSTERY GIFT! YOU WOULD EXPECT A PACKAGE LIKE THIS TO GO FOR AT LEAST $60.00! OR $75.00! MAYBE EVEN $100.00! BUT FOR YOU, IT'S FREE! WE'LL EVEN PAY THE SHIPPING AND HANDLING! THIS OFFER WON'T LAST FOREVER! YOU MUST ACT TODAY! OPERATORS ARE NOT STANDING BY! YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN!

We Could Clinch Next Week

With two games to go, we find ourselves in first place by a slim margin over the Mod Squad. Next week's games could determine our final place in the standings before we play our makeup game with the Terminal Digits. If we take care of business with the Dream Team and the Mod Squad knocks off the Terminal Digits next Tuesday, we clinch first place. We would be 5-1 and the Mod Squad would be 5-2. Every other team would have at least three losses or two losses and a tie. The worst we could do is finish 5-2 which would tie us with the Mod Squad. Since we beat them in head-to-head competition, we would win the tiebreaker and claim first place regardless of the outcome of our game against the TD's. If we win but the Terminal Digits defeat the Mod Squad, the TD's would still have a chance of claiming first place. They have played only four games because of their postponements with us and SWAT. Their record is 2-1-1. If they beat Mod Squad and SWAT, they will be 4-1-1 and we would be forced to beat them in our final game to keep them from overtaking us with a 5-1-1 record. If we lose to the Dream Team, we'll definitely have our work cut out for us. We would have to defeat the TD's and hope SWAT could knock off the TD's in their makeup game. So as you can see, losing to the Dream Team would put us in a most uncomfortable position. I recommend we avoid it.

Clueless Critics Continue to Show Their Ignorance

Gary got an earful from one of our Mod-mates today. The peanut gallery continues to complain about our tactic of using walks to our advantage (drawing many ourselves while giving up almost none to our opponents). I guess 22 hits (1 triple, 5 doubles, and 16 singles) isn't enough to satisfy them that we do a lot more than walk. Because we drew 13 walks between those 22 hits yesterday, we're still not playing the game right. Yeah, we'd be so much better off making outs between those hits like their teams do. Let's hope our opponents keep thinking that outs are better than walks.

FIRST OF ALL, WE WIN AS A TEAM AND WE LOSE AS A TEAM. ALSO WE'RE THE CHAMPS AND NOBODY CAN BEAT US BUT OURSELVES. EVERYBODY HAS TO CHEAT TO DEFEAT US. ALSO AS A TEAM IF THE PITCHER IS NOT THROWING STRIKES DO NOT SWING. WE HAVE TO COME TO THE GAMES ON TIME AT LEAST 30 MINUTES EARLY SO WE DON'T HAVE TO SCRAMBLE AND PUT A LINE UP TOGETHER. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES HAS MARK HAS SAID THAT. WE ALL HAVE TO GROW UP AND BE ADULTS. YOU KNOW THE GAME TIME AND SCHEDULE. I UNDERSTAND FAMILY EMERGENGIES OR CHILD CARE ISSUES BUT WE NEED TO INFORM SOMEBODY BY 12:00PM IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE. ALSO EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THE RULE BOOK INSTEAD SAYING THINGS IN THE DUG OUT WHEN YOU DON'T WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. THIS WHAT PRACTICE IS FOR TO DISCUSS THE RULES. NOT IN GAME TIME WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT. ALSO ON A PERSONAL THE LEAGUE IS FALLING APART JUST LIKE THE BUILDING POOR MANAGEMENT AND LACK OF COMMUNICATIONS. WE NEED TO ALL SHUT UP, PRACTICE AND PLAY BALL. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE FANS AND THE OTHER TEAMS COMMENTS. WINNING THE GAME SHUT UP ALL THOSE HATERS. ALL THE OTHER TEAMS IN LEAGUE ARE GARBAGE. WITH ALL OUR PEOPLE WE ARE 10 RUNS BETTER. EVEN IF WITH NOT ALL OUR PEOPLE WE STILL ARE BEATING THEM. WE DON'T MAKE KNOW EXCUSES WE JUST PLAY BALL. I CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT. I KNOW WE PLAYED AS HARD AS WE CAN. WE DIDN'T CHEAT LIKE THE TSC OUTLAWS. TRUST ME WE NEEDED THIS LOSS. CHAMPIONS REBOUND. JUST ASK THE MOD SQUAD WHO GAVE US LOSS LAST YEAR AND WE BEAT THEM 20-5. THEN IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WE WERE GETTING TDS OUT 1-2-3. THE TSC OUTLAWS GOT A BUTT KICKING COMING. I HOPE THEY GET TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. THATS WHERE I WANT TO GET ALL OF THEM. THEIR STAFF AND THEIR BOSS. I GOT SOMETHING UP MY SLEEVE FOR THEM. BUT WE GOT TO GET THAT EYE OF TIGER AND FOCUS BACK.

TSC Outlaws Seize Opportunities, Prevail 9-8

I covered most of yesterday's events here so I won't repeat myself. I'm interested to know how everyone feels about it, though. I'd would like to go over some of the rules that were abused yesterday -- not to dwell on the affect they had in our defeat but to be aware of them so we don't get screwed again in our future games. First, let's go to the play where Derric was called out after over-running first base because he rotated to his left, rather than his right when returning to the bag. At the time, I said the rule book states very plainly that he can turn in either direction so long as he does not make any effort to advance to second base. Here's the proof from page 119 of the ASA rule book: "After over-running first base, the batter-runner may legally turn to their left or their right when returning to the base. If any attempt is made to advance to second base, regardless of whether the runner is in fair or foul territory, they are liable for an appeal out if tagged with the ball by a defensive player while off the base." As it was perfectly obvious to anyone with at least a few functioning brain cells, Derric made no effort whatsoever to advance to second base. He turned a 180 and was heading back to first base when the Outlaws used their mob rule technique to coerce Sammy into his uninformed decision. If we had a proper umpire present, it's not likely that call would have been made. If it was, we would have certainly played the remainder of the game under protest. But Sammy was out there on his own time doing us a favor by umpiring so we let it slide. From this point forward, let's always turn to our right after over-running first base. It's obvious we can't depend on the umpires to know the rule and we certainly can't depend on our opponents to play fairly. In the third inning, the Outlaws again made an effort to flout the rules by attempting to use multiple courtesy runners in the same inning. Playing Rule #7 states quite clearly that only one courtesy runner is allowed per inning. "7. Courtesy Runner: One courtesy runner is allowed per inning in all leagues. The courtesy runner must be the same sex as the batter. If the courtesy runner’s turn to bat comes up while on base, the runner will be called out and the player will come to bat. " There were some other minor infractions such as not pitching from within six inches of the pitcher's plate and an attempt to circumvent the strikeout rule but I expect a proper umpire will be on top of those. It's pretty irritating that most of our opponents in this league can't or won't familiarize themselves with the rules of the game. It's even more irritating when they complain as we try to stop them from cheating. We waste so much of our game time dealing with blowhards who argue the rules without knowing them. Apparently, they think yelling the loudest makes them right.

Good luck!

I want to wish all my teammates good luck in tomorrow's game, i'm sure you'll make me proud.