It was a Transdyn season to be jolly.
It has been a couple of weeks since our season ended at the hands of the Blue Dots in the championship game, yet again. It gives us time for a little perspective. This puts them ahead 2-1 in the postseason against us in the last three seasons. Which just gives us extra incentive for fall season.
But never mind. This season we continued to improve. We accomplished a lot, and our chemistry is at an all time high, in my ever so humble opinion. There were some great victories, starting with scoring over 30 in our opener, and taking it to Blue Dots in the second game. In the last regular season game, we finally got the Big Kahuna monkey off our back - I don't count the forfeit earlier in the season. We beat a pretty good BASBHAT team to reach the finals, and when you are on the field for the last game of the season, even without reaching the Cotton, you have to consider the season a success. The cliche goes you can't win them all, and it is true, and we won most of them this year so far. In fact, nine regular season wins was the most since 2005, and tied for the second most in this team's history.
The memory has faded of the plays and the highlights from the Kahuna game and the playoffs. So instead, a season perspective on who did what this season:
Starting with: RB, rookie of the year, never mind he was the only rookie. What a great addition. All he did was lead the team in hits, runs, doubles, homers, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Gave us an infusion of youth and energy, speed, showed up without fail (they say that 50% of success is just showing up), and was the consummate team player.
Jason continues to be the best leadoff hitter that I have seen. He gets on, he runs, plays great defense, and leads the league in never being satisfied with his own performance.
Timmy is Timmy. A bit of a down year, but if you need a hit at any given time, he is the guy you can count on. And he can play very good defense for an old guy. And you never need to worry about a quiet dugout with Timmy on your team.
Cage. I can't remember one argument with an umpire or the opposition this season. Could it be Nick has finally grown up? Say it ain't so! Seriously, when Nicage misses a game (and he did twice), I worry, because he is our anchor. There might be one or two players in the league faster than Nick, now that he is a grizzled 30 something, but no one gets a better jump on the ball and therefore covers as much ground, and no one has a better arm, and Nick has learned (mostly) when to use it. And he has great perception about the strategy in this game. Now, if he ever learns to go 'oppo' as in perhaps center field...
Big D or Heavy D. No one hits the ball harder, period. No one in the league is as feared. And no one is a better teammate. And no one wants to be on first base when he is up. Nearly caught RB for the RBI lead and he missed two games, and just off Hama's pace for the batting title.
Hama - the super sub, went out of his way to make games when we needed him, which was all the time with Pauly in the field working all season. Very creative defense at third base. OK, it drives me nuts, there, I said it. But it almost took as many outs away as it cost us, hahaha. Marc is a hitter's hitter - he can place it anywhere any time, with power or a pooch single if that is what the situation calls for. No accident he took the team batting title. In my dreams I hit like Hama. And - I think we've got him thinking that he needs to be a regular on this team.
Woody. That old fart can really scoot. Or could until his heel problem sidelined him again. Woody never has ceased to amaze me since I started playing with him, damn was it 25 years ago really? A pure hitter. And still has a cannon shooting down runners from right field.
Mario. No one prances like Mario. I think I could take him in a race, but we forgot to have post season races this year, so no one got hurt. Mario is a the kind of hitter that you want up in the clutch. He will put it over their heads on occasion, or confound them with an opposite field shot in the gap. And he is Hama's model for playing D (2B) in the short outfield. This season he picked his spots to do that, and it largely worked extremely well.
Coop. Coop has struggled this year, and it doesn't help to say it, but it's all in his head. He just needs to get a few knocks and get his confidence back. You can always rely on Coop, and he's a great team player, talk about always showing up. Handled being moved back and forth from the OF to 2B without a word. A couple of important stats for Coop though it was a down season: he led the team in walks, and had more RBIs than hits, that is clutch hitting.
Monty. Monty has the best attitude I have ever seen on a softball field. He is always positive to his own team, and can needle the opposition without them knowing that he is doing it. To someone with kind of an edge who probably takes it all too seriously (i.e. me), I am amazed by this. And one thing you can guarantee - when Monty hits, we win. Not to mention he brings in the Transdyn cash. But no pressure, Jim.
Rams. Another super sub that is having so much fun, I just know he wants to play all the time, and I think you said you would with Woody out for the fall? Rams is one of those players it takes to win a championship, consistent on both offense and defense. You just don't notice him until suddenly you see him running down yet another tough catch, or hammering a double in the gap.
Sir Guy. Singlehandedly keeps us in every game with his pitching. Did you know when we started playing together he was our center fielder way back in the ancient days of the Chevron sandlots? He had/has a great arm. But then we got a couple of speedy outfielders, and needed a consistent pitcher. Sir Guy took that as a challenge, and has been on the bump ever since. And I swear, he gets better every single year. It's only slow pitch softball, eighteen miles an hour, but the way he mixes it up, he gets more off balance swings than anyone I have seen. He is the master of hitting the front lip. So many times lately, I have seen guys just walking off groaning after popping. up. He is a force.
And me? Well, that is for you to say. I had an off season, just on Tuesday nights this year it seems. Which just means I am due for a better fall.
Milestones:
7/3
Heffe 1100 ab (#2)
Heffe 300 rbi (#2)
7/10 Game 1
Jason 10 bb (#20)
7/10 Game 2
Mario 400 ab (#10)
Hama 10 2b (#25)
Hama 50 h (#31)
It has been a couple of weeks since our season ended at the hands of the Blue Dots in the championship game, yet again. It gives us time for a little perspective. This puts them ahead 2-1 in the postseason against us in the last three seasons. Which just gives us extra incentive for fall season.
But never mind. This season we continued to improve. We accomplished a lot, and our chemistry is at an all time high, in my ever so humble opinion. There were some great victories, starting with scoring over 30 in our opener, and taking it to Blue Dots in the second game. In the last regular season game, we finally got the Big Kahuna monkey off our back - I don't count the forfeit earlier in the season. We beat a pretty good BASBHAT team to reach the finals, and when you are on the field for the last game of the season, even without reaching the Cotton, you have to consider the season a success. The cliche goes you can't win them all, and it is true, and we won most of them this year so far. In fact, nine regular season wins was the most since 2005, and tied for the second most in this team's history.
The memory has faded of the plays and the highlights from the Kahuna game and the playoffs. So instead, a season perspective on who did what this season:
Starting with: RB, rookie of the year, never mind he was the only rookie. What a great addition. All he did was lead the team in hits, runs, doubles, homers, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Gave us an infusion of youth and energy, speed, showed up without fail (they say that 50% of success is just showing up), and was the consummate team player.
Jason continues to be the best leadoff hitter that I have seen. He gets on, he runs, plays great defense, and leads the league in never being satisfied with his own performance.
Timmy is Timmy. A bit of a down year, but if you need a hit at any given time, he is the guy you can count on. And he can play very good defense for an old guy. And you never need to worry about a quiet dugout with Timmy on your team.
Cage. I can't remember one argument with an umpire or the opposition this season. Could it be Nick has finally grown up? Say it ain't so! Seriously, when Nicage misses a game (and he did twice), I worry, because he is our anchor. There might be one or two players in the league faster than Nick, now that he is a grizzled 30 something, but no one gets a better jump on the ball and therefore covers as much ground, and no one has a better arm, and Nick has learned (mostly) when to use it. And he has great perception about the strategy in this game. Now, if he ever learns to go 'oppo' as in perhaps center field...
Big D or Heavy D. No one hits the ball harder, period. No one in the league is as feared. And no one is a better teammate. And no one wants to be on first base when he is up. Nearly caught RB for the RBI lead and he missed two games, and just off Hama's pace for the batting title.
Hama - the super sub, went out of his way to make games when we needed him, which was all the time with Pauly in the field working all season. Very creative defense at third base. OK, it drives me nuts, there, I said it. But it almost took as many outs away as it cost us, hahaha. Marc is a hitter's hitter - he can place it anywhere any time, with power or a pooch single if that is what the situation calls for. No accident he took the team batting title. In my dreams I hit like Hama. And - I think we've got him thinking that he needs to be a regular on this team.
Woody. That old fart can really scoot. Or could until his heel problem sidelined him again. Woody never has ceased to amaze me since I started playing with him, damn was it 25 years ago really? A pure hitter. And still has a cannon shooting down runners from right field.
Mario. No one prances like Mario. I think I could take him in a race, but we forgot to have post season races this year, so no one got hurt. Mario is a the kind of hitter that you want up in the clutch. He will put it over their heads on occasion, or confound them with an opposite field shot in the gap. And he is Hama's model for playing D (2B) in the short outfield. This season he picked his spots to do that, and it largely worked extremely well.
Coop. Coop has struggled this year, and it doesn't help to say it, but it's all in his head. He just needs to get a few knocks and get his confidence back. You can always rely on Coop, and he's a great team player, talk about always showing up. Handled being moved back and forth from the OF to 2B without a word. A couple of important stats for Coop though it was a down season: he led the team in walks, and had more RBIs than hits, that is clutch hitting.
Monty. Monty has the best attitude I have ever seen on a softball field. He is always positive to his own team, and can needle the opposition without them knowing that he is doing it. To someone with kind of an edge who probably takes it all too seriously (i.e. me), I am amazed by this. And one thing you can guarantee - when Monty hits, we win. Not to mention he brings in the Transdyn cash. But no pressure, Jim.
Rams. Another super sub that is having so much fun, I just know he wants to play all the time, and I think you said you would with Woody out for the fall? Rams is one of those players it takes to win a championship, consistent on both offense and defense. You just don't notice him until suddenly you see him running down yet another tough catch, or hammering a double in the gap.
Sir Guy. Singlehandedly keeps us in every game with his pitching. Did you know when we started playing together he was our center fielder way back in the ancient days of the Chevron sandlots? He had/has a great arm. But then we got a couple of speedy outfielders, and needed a consistent pitcher. Sir Guy took that as a challenge, and has been on the bump ever since. And I swear, he gets better every single year. It's only slow pitch softball, eighteen miles an hour, but the way he mixes it up, he gets more off balance swings than anyone I have seen. He is the master of hitting the front lip. So many times lately, I have seen guys just walking off groaning after popping. up. He is a force.
And me? Well, that is for you to say. I had an off season, just on Tuesday nights this year it seems. Which just means I am due for a better fall.
Milestones:
7/3
Heffe 1100 ab (#2)
Heffe 300 rbi (#2)
7/10 Game 1
Jason 10 bb (#20)
7/10 Game 2
Mario 400 ab (#10)
Hama 10 2b (#25)
Hama 50 h (#31)
So when is the first Fall season game?
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