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Clockwise from back left: Scott, Jamie, Anne-Marie, Ryan, Jessica, Andrew, Keith, Tim, Ruthie, Jami, Sarah and CourtneyDepartures: None How could we forget?: Katie, Sarah L, Ryan L, Ted, Theresa, Shannon and Kim
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Game recap: Hits Don't Match the Hype
May 6th,'08 - 5 innings: BandAids 13, Empty Pitchers 5
Only our fielding errors matched the hype. Doh! Uncharacteristic defense and offense doomed any response to another awesome opening inning for the Band Aids as they hit all the gaps for a 7 run jump. It's a respectable accomplishment we've done a time or two. 
In both games Band Aid bats got chillier after the first inning but they continued playing and sliding hard, contrasting their tamer than usual website recaps. That's because BA's bash brothers did not play - they continue their run from the law in Mexico but will likely be extradited in time for the playoffs.
Our three missing players were in more glorious foreign places so we took advantage of the opportunity to get 3 first time subs some valuable playoff level exposure. EP matches up nicely with BA's when we have our regular lineup playing our normal level of ball. But you want cool EP numbers... I know. Last time we gave up more than 8 runs in a game? The next two teams were held to 8 runs combined.
Last time we scored less than 14 runs? We responded with 26 runs the next game and 19 each of the following weekends. The signs point to us perhaps being too excited to play the Band Aids but that's ok - we have plenty more seasons to play em!
Notables: 2k's, 1 BB for Scott - all pitching to Lauren; Two run HR for Andrew; nice bomb caught by Courtney; more errors by Andrew in this game than all of last season; Keith really didn't get sensitive this game; Sarah's first postgame pitcher-emptying appearance; Gone/Subs: Anne-Marie (Nicole), Ruthie (Alicia), Tim (Isaac) |
Standings [Runs For/Against] 1-0 [13/1] Sluggers 1-0 [13/5] The Band Aids 1-0 [13/6] Doc & Eddy's 1-0 [13/12] Final Round RamRod 0-1 [12/13] Jagerbombers 0-1 [6/13] Rounders 0-1 [5/13] Empty Pitchers 0-1 [1/13] Stingers BandAid Breakdown May 5th - Does another solid opening game 1st inning for the BandAids mean another 5-2 record for us like last season? BandAids 13, Empty Pitchers 5 Sluggers 13, Stingers 1 FR RamRod 13, Jagers 12 Doc & Eddy's 13, Rounders 6 Anne-Marie's Surgery Apr 30th - AM had her appendix removed. She's donating it to Jami for freakish medical experiments. AM should be back June 1st at the latest. Shannon's Injury Apr 28th - Three weeks later her ankle is still swollen. Someone call a doc. |
On Deck Sluggers - Home 0-1 8pm AWOL: Andrew (Ryan L), Jessica (Sarah L)
Last season the Sluggers scored 94 runs and gave up 88 runs so if we put the ball in play on the ground hard, we should create opportunities to win the game.
Their pitcher can throw balls which curve slightly from left to right so be aware in the batters box. It's nothing to freak out about as our hitters are solid twelve deep thru our lineup, except when Keith starts getting sensitive. At that point he takes his sensitivity out on the ball and the rest of the lineup in his aura gets freakishly strong. After last week's game we did learn Keith is not sensitive to baby animals nor rainbows.
Baseline Sports Pub gave us a 20% discount b/c we're a softball team. For those who like enjoy the trifecta of eat, scout and play: food at 6:30, cages at 7:20, scouting and warmup at 7:40.
Slugger to meet: Jorge ZamarripaHe's the captain, err manager of the team. Tell him we want to start a tradition where the losing team elects a player to eat a live slug on home plate. |
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Game recap: Pitchers Sluggish, Not Sluggers
May 18th,'08 - 6 innings: Sluggers 9, Empty Pitchers 5 Pre-game drinks didn't seem to help but c'mon, they don't hurt either! We're the Empty Pitchers and we will learn to excel both with and without. 
Fielding improved from last week even though almost everyone was in a new position.
Jami's and Ruthie's bats provided some spark in the middle of the lineup. Sarah and AM, both dealing with medical ailments, continue getting on-base. The guys just didn't knock the girls in.
GM dropped the ball again getting subs acquainted with the rules. When you meet subs for the first time doublecheck the GM's work by asking if they know our league's goofy rules.
To the Slugger's credit they took advantage of opportunities with several nice hits just over the IF. They had only one deep shot to the fence. Their pitcher matched Scott with strikes all night. Their OF handled our pop flies and their SS and 3B, both collegiate players, fielded most balls cleanly. Their 1B had trouble digging low throws out (unlike our studdette, Jami) allowing a number of our runners to reach base.
Keith's unsensitive spin:
I'm not sure that we got any walks that game. Our baserunning was pretty darn good, with some really good pressure from Scott, Jamie, Jami, Sarah, and esp. smart baserunning from Ryan when that dribbly shot to SS was fumbled all over the place. Jamie and Tim's laser beams to first were pretty sweet, and Jami sure looked the surly, grizzled, tough-girl part at first with her armor, gum, and bandage around one knee. It was pretty awesome. Ruthie had a pretty quiet night at 2B. Sarah made that good pop fly catch at home and Ryan was practically at the fence for that guy! Scott was great again, I think he got one or two Ks, too. Ruthie's hitting has been coming back, and Jami's sure has-she's pretty mean to that poor ball. Courtney's, too; she swings hard, makes me happy. Their pitcher was pretty clever, though, and he caught us reaching for a lot of his pitches.
Notables: 0 BB's for Scott, nice OF catches by Ryan L; Gone/Subs: Andrew (Ryan L), Jessica (Sarah L), Ryan O (Katie) |
Standings [Runs For/Against] 2-0 [33/9] The Band Aids 2-0 [23/9] Sluggers 2-0 [31/28] Final Round RamRod 1-1 [29/24] Doc & Eddy's 1-1 [10/22] Stingers 0-2 [20/23] Jagerbombers 0-2 [10/18] Empty Pitchers 0-2 [10/33] Rounders Slimed! May 20th - Tough 9-5 loss but we got a good look at more quality subs. For an even better look - wow, Jami was sportin hot, new locks! Sluggers 9, Empty Pitchers 5 Stingers 10, Jagers 8 FR RamRod 18, Doc & Eddy's 16 BandAids 20, Rounders 4 Out for season May 15th - Ryan O. is going under the knife for some body modification. Healthy speedy recovery and acceptance of those new appendages which your agent says can each wear a mitt to field a ball. 
1st Documentable RivalryMay 12th - Rivalries make sports better: Sox/ Yanks, Lakers/ Celtics, Cardinals/a curse. Some rival winners take possession of a trophy until the next matchup. Lauren of the BandAids has agreed we should play for a glorious plastic trophy: a beer pitcher with scores written on bandaids and attached to the pitcher for drinking. |
On Deck Rounders - 0-27pm - AwayAWOL: Andrew (Ryan L), Jessica (Sarah L), Keith (Isaac), R.Ozias (no sub), S.Nunes? (no sub)
Many great teams have started slow and won it all. We've missed 6 players the first two games and that number could grow to 11 missed players after three games.
Lucky break - we get the Rounders next. We'll likely roll with ten players using Sarah L, Ryan L and Isaac as subs. Our defense is among the best in the league despite all the missed games, new subs and Andrew's incredible opening day. Our bats will be popping soon.
Worth trying? After cages and warmin' up arms, grab a bat and focus on your swing's mechanics for two or three minutes looking for places to increase bat speed, such as wrists. Don't forget to watch the imaginary ball hit the bat - like mentally shooting freethrows. Ondeck, repeat what you were working on. That sentence ended in a preposition.
Rounders Roundup:Batting cages around 6:10pm and Baseline Sports Grill following the game. No change in plan this time, Jami. |
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Game recap: Scott's Cycle, But Read Aloud Misheard As Scott's Psycho
Jun 1st,'08 - 6 innings: Empty Pitchers 15, Rounders 9 Nevermind the crazed looks he shot his SS for booting two easy grounders allowing the Rounders and their ringers to break open an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Scott and the team answered Jamie's request for a bail out in old school fashion as the team may have rediscovered its mojo. A flashback to prior five-run innings brought the team within 2 runs after the top of the 4th. With time getting short, the goal was to quickly finish the inning and bat twice more at the plate. The D did its job retiring 'em 1, 2, not 3, but 4 . The team then jacked 6 runs to start the 5th before the Rounders could record an out and mercifully put the game out of reach before the inning ended. Credit the Rounders with good fielding. Our girls ripped and dropped shots over the leftside and middle of the infield while the guys worked the right side. Jami crushed perhaps the longest shot by a female in EP history to LF but their player made an outstanding stab over his shoulder to prevent her 4-4 performance. In his first at-bat, one of the Rounder's three ringers unmercifully crushed a ball over the RC fence. Scott adjusted and tossed him curve balls the remainder of the night, limiting him to an infield pop up and single up the middle. Neither Courtney nor Ruthie got any attention in LF but both got plenty of action at 2B relaying throws from AM and Ted. The cutoffs withheld throws to Sarah at home plate preventing extra bases for the Rounders and leaving 'em susceptible to a number of forces at 2B and 3B. EP's infield successfully held several runners at 3B while getting outs at 1B. Ted's final at-bat in his first EP appearance answered the Rounders' shot earlier by crushing a triple to right-center. His arm wasn't a wet noodle in the OF and he lives near the park so we may have found another reliable sub. Team finished the night with 20% off food & drinks at Baseline Bar & Grill and then continued the victory parade up to Univ & Mill with pizza cookies. Nice efforts by everyone tonight both on and off the field. And that is a Rounders Roundup. Notables: 3 BB's for Scott - what gives?; One more sweet catch by Ryan L and we can make an OF montage of him and Keith; Scott hits first cycle in team history; Jamie leads the team with 2 strikeouts this season; Gone/Subs: Andrew (Ryan L), Ryan O (Ted), Jessica (none), Keith (none) |
Standings [Runs For/Against] 3-0 [33/11] Sluggers 2-0-1 [46/22] The Band Aids 1-1-1 [24/34] Stingers 2-1 [39/33] Doc & Eddy's 2-1 [32/39] Final Round RamRod 1-2 [25/27] Empty Pitchers 0-3 [29/33] Jagerbombers 0-3 [19/48] Rounders Working 9 to 5 Jun 2nd - All players but Tim reach base at least three times as the team rips 9 runs in the 5th inning, overcoming a 8-1 deficit to win 15-9. Empty Pitchers 15, Rounders 9 BandAids 13, Stingers 13 Sluggers 11, FR RamRod 1 Doc & Eddy's 10, Jagers 9 Can't handle 34" ? May 27th - Tired of choking up on a long one? Try EP's first team bat: a 32" 24oz Catalyst. 
Courtney, Jamie and Keith began breaking it in this morning at Daley Park with 150 balls batted.
Courtney says:The catalyst bat will start a chain reaction of hitting for the girls (and Keith) of the Empty Pitchers! 
The weight feels great...it focuses your power right on the sweet spot! It's easy to handle, swing, grip, and crush a softball over infielder's heads! This bat can do it all--even chores around the house for you! So let's "clean up" at the plate on Sunday with the catalyst!
Keith says:That bat is a menace to society, specifically the people in the field and those spectating the game down the 1B and 3B seats and blankets. 
That's what the sensitive person would say. I say, let nature take it's course on those barreling down our barrel!
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On Deck Final Round 9pm - Away
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Game recap: A Hammer on the Rammers
Jun 8th,'08 - 5 innings: Empty Pitchers 13, Final Round RamRod 8 With EP's defense for the first time intact, A return to great play was a matter of fact. RamRod ladies lasered balls up the middle, But without defensive errors that threat mattered little. Scott was sure charitable: six bases to three batters, But it could have been due to the third baseman's chatter. 
Andrew and Tim were off to the races,As their towering shots cleared all the bases. Tim officially broke out of his slump, Perhaps the spark in our offense's jump. Five runs in the first, five runs in the third, "The offense is back," Ryan Ozias observed. The Ramrods did counter with five runs in the fourth, But it did nothing to damage our playoff berth. The outfield didn't allow anything over their heads, And that, Empty Pitchers, is what kept us ahead. The RamRods were funny and cheered at the end, And all should grab drinks when we play them again. Special contributor Read Andrew Dice Clay's poetic recap of our game by highlighting the text below: Hickory dickory dock, it was a fucking softball game. 
Notables: Shannon made her 1st appearance of the season and is still battling a gnarled mangled ankle; Katie did a great job at catcher and got her first EP hit. Gone/Subs: Ruthie (Shannon), S. Nunes (Katie), R. Ozias (no sub)
Season Recap:
Halfway Thru
With 3 games left, the Sluggers remain the seasonal surprise. The beat a sub-stuffed Pitchers team 9-5 and down 15-5 used a late-inning rally to beat the Band-Aids. If we continue regaining our form we should contend to win the playoffs.
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Standings [Avg Runs For/Against] 4-0-0 [13/7] Sluggers 2-1-1 [16/10] The Band Aids 2-1-1 [8/11] Stingers 2-2-0 [13/11] Doc & Eddy's 2-2-0 [10/9] Empty Pitchers 2-2-0 [10/13] FR RamRod 1-3-0 [11/10] Jagerbombers 0-4-0 [6/16] Rounders Who's hot? Jun 8th - Courtney with 7 consecutive hits; Jami crushing more shots into LF going 4-7; Anne-Marie and Katie both sport hot new locks; everyone wearing long sleeves during games. 
Sluggers and Pitchers are the only teams giving up less than 10 runs/game. Last two games offensively: Sluggers & Band-Aids 29 runs, Pitchers 28 runs.
Empty Pitchers 13, RamRod 8Stingers 7, Doc & Eddy's 0 Jagerbombers 14, Rounders 6 Sluggers 18, Band-Aids 16 Rival update Jun 8th - Did you catch The Band-Aids new score board? If our fanbase grows beyond one, let it be proposed we mark runs by drinking pitchers of beer with our fans and hanging them below the team's name on the fence behind us. Games against the Band-Aids could require 40 or more beer pitchers. No more second jobs! Jun 4th - Following our game 
Sarah injured her ribs in an incident police refuse to specify. She'll miss our next game and police expect crime to increase over the next few days. Someone call a doc.
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On Deck Stingers 6pm - Home
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Game recap: Now it is time for the matador to dance with the blind shoe-maker
Jun 15th,'08 - 5 innings: Stingers 14, Empty Pitchers 6 Why did we lose the game like this? If you were in the outfield or in the stands, you probably didn't hear the infield discussions the first four innings that led to the agreed speculation that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK to steal the jack ruby. Those discussions rattled the thoughts of every infielder except Katie, who grabbed every pitch regardless of its bounce. To explain all the crazy bounces, the past few games Scott's been adding a curveball for the more dangerous batters. As he adds the pitch, the fast adjustment back to the regular automatic strike pitch might take another game or two. Just in time for the playoffs! 
The Stingers are surely the most aggressive baserunners. Couple that with the sun and the Lee Harvey Oswald talk, it was the first 60 minutes of The Bad News Bears.
Next time we play them, we should focus on being ready for the quick relay to the next base. Should be able to catch one or two in a run-down. They didn't sting us, we stung ourselves, just like this guy who let his pet fire-ant sting his arm 50+ times in a desperate plea for attention.
XY's did little at the plate, while the XX's continued their excellence. All four pitches Jamie saw were perfect strikes with lots of counter-clockwise spin. They were mesmerizing. He went 0-2. Aside from two more jacks by Andrew and Tim, in the words of Coach Morris Buttermaker: "Hey, Ahmad - even Hank Aaron peels the ol' eyelids before he takes a swing!"
After the game, Hodori was hit and the squishy seafood supper served was squid, the natural progression from our last meal of octopus, which are ranked among the ten most intelligent animals along with dolphins, dogs, pigs and primates. Stuff that in your bacon-wrapped hot dog! Hodori is Korean and probably one of the tastiest Asian restaurants around. Good thing Oreganos is in the same lot to cool taste buds with pizookies. Both places had large TVs showing the Lakers prevail in Game 5. Sorry Andrew. The Celtics will have to win it at home so they can party with their fans.
Notables: It's hot mid-June at 6pm. Gone/Subs: Anne-Marie (Katie), S. Nunes (no sub), R. Ozias (no sub)
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Standings [Avg Runs For/Against] 5-0-0 [13/7] Sluggers 3-1-1 [16/9] The Band Aids 3-1-1 [10/10] Stingers 3-2-0 [10/12] FR RamRod 2-3-0 [14/10] Doc & Eddy's 2-3-0 [9/10] Empty Pitchers 1-4-0 [10/11] Jagerbombers 0-5-0 [7/14] Rounders More injuries to report June 17th - Jessica's leg from a wicked grounder, Andrew's thumb from his horizontal flight for a ball, Sarah's ribs from classified activities. Those are excuses. Stormy Waters' absence is no excuse. It's fact and he'll be back for the next game. Stingers 14, Empty Pitchers 6 Band-Aids, 17, Jagerbombers 5 FR RamRod 10, Rounders 9 Sluggers 15, Doc & Eddy's 7 Air connections out Jun 12th - Sarah's ribs and AM's work trip may drop us down to playing with 9 regulars and one sub. Keep cool in this critical game by drinking lots of water: it'll be 110 degrees. |
On Deck Jagerbombers 9pm - Away
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Game recap: Victory in 30 minutes or less
Jun 22nd,'08 - 3 innings: Empty Pitchers 23, Jagerbombers 1 Anonymous submitted recaps: "Solid hitting all around combined with some serious base running. Multiple times we advanced bases where usually we would not have. People were able to turn singles into doubles thanks to the runner ahead of them advancing to third instead of just stopping at second. We forced them to make plays, was great to see. Andrew did some serious base cleaning." - EP basecoach "We did it mostly with singles and aggressive base running. It just shows what ground balls (they had a couple errors throwing to 1st) and base hits can do. Scott had the most efficient night pitching ever. I think we'd beat that team normally, but I don't think we'd beat them as badly as we did last night. Jamie made some nice plays at 3B, and they hit some line drives right to us." - EP waterboy Scott rarely used the curve ball tonight but here's why he's added it: With two strikes, a girl fouled a regular pitch to the right of Teresa. Scott anticipated the spin on a curve would cause another foul. Scott tossed the curve, got the foul and she was out. In the pictures below, which were taken around 10pm when the game should have been ended, what's going down? 
Notables: Most Jagerbombers batters batted only once; At the plate: Jessica (4/4), Andrew (4/4), Scott (4/4), Keith (3/3), Ted (3/3), AnneMarie (3/3); Andrew nearly won a $1 hamburger but was one HR short of three; Court & Jamie scouted the night prior drinking Jager;
Gone/Subs: Ruthie (Teresa), Tim (Ted), S. Nunes (no sub), R. Ozias (no sub)
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Standings [Avg Runs For/Against] 6-0-0 [15/7] Sluggers 4-1-1 [17/9] The Band Aids 4-2-0 [10/11] FR RamRod 3-2-1 [9/10] Stingers 3-3-0 [11/8] Empty Pitchers 2-4-0 [12/12] Doc & Eddy's 1-5-0 [8/13] Jagerbombers 0-6-0 [7/16] Rounders People asked for this? June 25th - Chicago's own in Okinawa inspiring a hard habit to break. Shame on anyone who watched until the end, unless of course you planned to rent TKK2. You just saved 93 minutes less than the four just wasted. You're the best around Anonymous voting for Most Valuable, Most Improved and Most Sensitive begin next week on this site! No more GM favoritism. Technical Knock Out Game called after 3 innings when Pitchers score 4 in first, 4 in second and 15 in third. Sluggers 23, Rounders 6 FR RamRod 8, Stingers 7 Band-Aids 21, Doc & Eddy's 7 Empty Pitchers 23, Jagers 1 Stingers loss is good news. BA's should beat FR RamRods and if the Rounders pull off the upset of the season over the Stingers, EP's gets the #3 seed. |
On Deck Doc & Eddy's 7pm - Home
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Game recap: Andrew goes for the jugular
Jun 29th,'08 - 3 1/2 innings: Empty Pitchers 9, Doc & Eddy's According to Doc & Eddy's thirdbasewoman, this could have been D&E's last regular season game after six seasons. A shortage of girls, the retiring of several players and a lack of winning may have drained the team of its essence to live. Empty Pitchers brought a boxful of nails to shut the coffin. 
EP took the field and, oops, we're the visiting team -- we bat first.
With gusty monsoon winds blowing in from RF, EP's top of the lineup started the game working both sides of the field. We scored 3 runs in the first and stranded two baserunners before Scott began painting another masterpiece in tough conditions.
Scott continued introducing opposing batters to his curveball when he got ahead in the count. The defense backed him up with clean fielding and solid relays to cutoffs. Only the SS made an error. Jessica easily took defensive player of the game by running back to rope in a fly to shallow right field which she turned into a double play and almost snared a laser which she still converted into a firstbase forceout.
Aside from one quick inning, the offensive continued putting tough balls into play. Tim jacked another homerun with multiple runners on base keeping him on pace in the RBI race with Andrew. We got a couple walks as batters displayed more patience at the plate watching for the right pitch. All batters reached base in this abbreviated game.
In the top of the 4th, with Anne-Marie on 2B and Jessica at 1B, Andrew slapped a hard grounder towards second base. The ball took a last nasty bounce up into the fielder's throat. The runners held at 1st, 2nd and 3rd to halt play. Paramedics were called but luckily the girl was able to leave on her own with ice to keep her throat from swelling.
Already playing short a girl with the monsoon weather deteriorating slightly, Doc & Eddy's decided not to continue with 8 players.
For the second consecutive game, EP's opponent did not make it past the 35 minute mark of the game.
We would have likely scored two runs on Andrew's grounder making it 11-0 with only one out. It's probable we would have mercy-ruled this team as well, but some things in this world are just not meant to be found out.
Notables: Teresa has continued to hold good on her promise to reach base safely 50% of the time and Ted continues reaching base over 50% of the time. Sarah showed up to cheer us on and she showed up to drink us off to sleep.
Gone/Subs: Ruthie (Teresa), Ryan (Ted), S. Nunes (Katie)
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Standings [Avg Runs For/Against] 7-0-0 [14/6] Sluggers 6-1-1 [17/8] The Band Aids 4-3-0 [11/7] Empty Pitchers 4-3-0 [9/12] FR RamRod 3-3-1 [9/10] Stingers 2-6-0 [10/12] Doc & Eddy's 1-5-0 [8/13] Jagerbombers 1-6-0 [7/15] Rounders Rounders upset Stingers July 1st - The big upset moves EPs into third place setting a potential first-round rematch with Doc & Eddy's. Band-Aids 19, FR RamRod 7 Empty Pitchers 9, Doc & Eddy's 0 Rounders 11, Stingers 9 Sluggers 11, Jagerbombers 4 More on Doc & Eddy's June 29th - Keith's unsensitive spin (aka Temporary Keeper of Storm the Fence-Climbing Monkey Dog): Hardly the kind of season-ending victory we wanted, with an injury to their second base-lady off the bat of Lady Killer Gattuso. The EPs still executed 3.5 innings of great play. Strong batting from our regular ladies and some seriously excellent shots from our not-so-regulars helped the cause. Scott was MVP material all-around with great hits, a great play to 3rd base, and at least a couple of strikeouts. Tim and Andrew must enjoy running around those bases. If I recall correctly, they both got a HR this game. Both Jami(e)s at the corners proved to be a great combo with a great snag and side-arm throw for the out at 1B. Andrew was solid at SS and Jessica also at 2B, and there was a play that I was hoping desperately would turn into a brilliant double-play, but for some reason the guy running to 2B slid like 10 seconds after the play was over and collided with Jessica. Weird. Not much to talk about in the outfield because the infield combined with the pitching turned into a brick wall that pretty much relegated the OF to back-up duties. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Back-up was still wildly unnecessary because I'm pretty certain there were zero errors. If anybody had told me that was going to be the case, I would have spent some time gazing at the lovely sunset and looking for clouds shaped like unicorns. It's a little-known fact that I found my first four-leaf clover while being bored stupid in RF in a little league game at the age where nobody hits it into the outfield. We had some good aggressive baserunning that certainly helped extend our innings and lead, despite the best efforts of the not-so-great hitting that game from two of the team's most senior members. Batting cages, anyone? My pick for favorite play of the game was the tag-by-a-mile by Jamie at 3B on their pitcher who for some reason felt safer off the bags than on them. It was rather mysterious as to why he did it, but I picked that play not for their pitcher's sheer bravado of running the bases like that, but for Jamie's puzzled expression after he caught the throw and was looking for the runner to tag. Runner-up, so to speak, would be the great catch by Jessica and the got-her-by-way-more-than-a-step throw to first base. The throw was just off enough to pull Jami from the bag, but she took the easy route and let the runner come to her for the tag out. I think probably Doc & Eddy's single biggest setback was that each player was playing a single-person game and got frustrated, causing a few errors in our favor. However, it was clear from the individual efforts from several of their players that they have the skills for serious contention if they come back next season. I hope their second base girl recovers quickly and nobody holds a grudge. All in all, well done Empty Pitchers in the 9-0 shutout; let's stay sharp for the playoffs. No sense in getting rusty over the next 13 days! |
On Deck Opponent? Time? - Home/Away?
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Game recap: In rematch, Andrew injures another player, this time a teammate
Jul 20th,'08 - 5 innings: Doc & Eddy's 11, Empty Pitchers 10, Would the Pitchers have won had the game not been postponed a week by a summer monsoon? The loss still showed why Empty Pitchers are on the verge of an elite D-League team. EP had just beaten D&E 9-0 and the EP lineup was bolstered with Kim returning to 3B and Ryan eppearing to DH. Jamie forgot the bats at home which may have been a bad omen. When he returned in the top of the 1st, EP was in the field, the bases were loaded and by inning's end D&E scored a few runs. After two innings, the deficit was 10-2. The manager reminded the team in the bottom of the 3rd we've responded in the past to similar deficits and we once again did it - or nearly. In the final inning, we scored a tying run with no outs and 2 runners on. Before our next batter, the blues penalized us a run for not adjusting the batting order properly with Jami's injury putting us one run down. The season's magic somehow ran out on our next three batters and the season ended. What really hurt EP's run production were the long innings in the field. Over two seasons have passed since a game with so many players making blooper reel moments. And we still almost won. Late in the game, Jami badly dislocated her throwing thumb scooping an infield throw. The pregame lines were Kim 2:1 and Andrew 5:1 to damage Jami's hand and the other line 2:1 for Jami's catching hand to be hurt, 15:1 her throwing hand to be hurt. It's why we gamble and play softball: the thrill of the upset! A good number of EP players, when asked for postgame comments were very upset at their individual performances. The editors, balancing honest news vs team propaganda, left those comments on the editor's floor. But we still had a great comeback, tightened up defensively in the second half of the game and got another great game from Scott on the mound. Notables: Jamie's new softball cleats help him go 2-3 with two doubles; Gone/Subs: Ruthie (Kim) |
Standings [Avg Runs For/Against] 7-0-0 [14/6] Sluggers 6-1-1 [17/8] The Band Aids 4-3-0 [11/7] Empty Pitchers 4-3-0 [9/12] FR RamRod 3-3-1 [9/10] Stingers 2-6-0 [10/12] Doc & Eddy's 1-5-0 [8/13] Jagerbombers 1-6-0 [7/15] Rounders Roster updates July 25th - Sunday night several of us will practice with Melissa, who may be joining us. She's pitched both fast/slow and plays all infield positions. It's been a few years and needs to shake the rust off. We'll likely start at Daley, hit Kiwanis cages and watch the BandAids finale with maybe a few Casey Moore's postgame drinks. This could be Anne-Marie's last season - she potentially may move to Florida in late October. Injury updates July 23rd - Andrew begins rest on his arm/shoulder. Jami begins reconstruction on not just her hand but her entire hand and lower arm. Perhaps Andrew should look into this. 
Playoff ResultsJuly 22nd - RamRod's to challenge Sluggers? Sluggers 12, Rounders 6 FR Ramrod 16, Stingers 8 Doc & Eddy's 11, EP 10 Band-Aids 16, JagerB's 1 |
On Deck Rest and relaxation |
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Either this team is down to its last shot or they're after limited edition autos. If they're down to their last shot and we're down to our last pitcher, who's in the most trouble? Either way everyone will be swinging away. It'll likely come down to fielding which could be our edge.
For the second straight game, the team will roll with ten players. EP nearly returns it's entire lineup for the first time since late last season.
The RamRods 9-1 loss to the Sluggers followed 13 and 18 run performances the prior two weeks. Our OF should get plenty of work along with the relays.
Before the Sound of the Final Round:
Batting cages around 8pm and warmup at 8:30pm. We can continue chugging flies to OFs during warmups. Maybe OF's should start playing games of 500. Good for developing arm strength, catching lots of flies and knocking players out before the real game starts.
Botanical Name: Jagera pseudorhus (Sapindaceae)
Common Name: Foambark. 
This place has solid sportsbar food and TVs.
New Video Scouting
Ted will take Ryan Ozias' spot in the playoffs, joining AM, Courtney, Jamie, Keith and Tim in the OoMEP.