...and like you were always a Conehead.
This last is a tribute to the latest merger of JFT and the Coneheads (Tim), and of course the subject of the subject is Pope, in his return.
Pope's return to the Heads is bittersweet - his hand is all healed up, but he will be out of town for the playoffs, and he insists that he cannot be a regular any more. Can't risk re-injury. He is now officially a Conehead sub. It's a shame, and I won't let this news go down easily. We all know how many times Greg has carried us on his back, and what an infectious and glad attitude he brings to the team. It won't be the same - it hasn't been, no matter how much fun we have had without him.
But for a night, it was just great to watch him hit his patented gappers, a little rusty to start, but when he settled in, he hit two of them for a double and a triple. And took second on a third hit when the outfielder lagged a little on getting the ball in. Everyone held their breath - would he slide? But luckily he did not need to.
And he agreed that he should play catcher in the field in his return. You should know that Joe and I had a side bet (but not for money) on what inning would he want to go out and play the outfield. I think I said the second or third, and Joe said no way, it would be sooner. But Greg fooled us - he didn't ask until the fourth inning.
Timmy just had to find out what the Conehead experience is all about. It is not quite the same now, what with umpires and all. But putting him in front of Joe so he could pinch run from home gave him a little flavor of Orinda softball. You never notice Timmy out in the field - he plays such solid defense, and he held down that spot effortlessly in the continued absence of Pope and Gene gone for an evening.
The game went as expected - the Presidents' Club is not even close to us, and they were shorthanded too. But Lefty brought up a good point after the game - how many years have they faced us and failed to adjust at all to the way some of us hit. Gerry had a field day lacing the ball to shallow right, and they played me deep too. It's no wonder neither of us made an out.
Sting had another great night as well. He hit five of six balls hard - one a line shot hit away from the right fielder, who made a great play to snare it and rob Reg of extra bases. He would still be running. He made up for that with a 'heffe' hit his last time up though. The game giveth and the game taketh away.
Markley continued his quiet relentless pace. He is now 19 of his last 21 and has vaulted near the top of the batting title race. He and Chopper tied for a team high five RBIs in the game too. Maybe Derek will be afraid to show up to the last game to defend his lead in the batting race.
Speaking of which, the importance of beating the Presidents' Club 29-8 is that it officially puts us in position to claim another division title. All we have to do is beat the Waitlisters Monday night. One game at a time and the game is Monday hence. Pretty easy, and it would be sweet to get the top division seeding for the playoffs. Even the Presidents' Club who will finish fourth in our division is a lot better than whoever will finish fourth in the other division, Aereolas or Johnny's Gang.
So one more night and then gear up for the playoff tournament.
It appears that there is enough interest to hold a practice Thursday night, should we get a field. I have not heard back from the league; hopefully by Monday I will have an answer.
Milestones:
Gerry 10 gw (#8)
Gerry 350 r (#9)
*name the musician who released an album with this name
This last is a tribute to the latest merger of JFT and the Coneheads (Tim), and of course the subject of the subject is Pope, in his return.
Pope's return to the Heads is bittersweet - his hand is all healed up, but he will be out of town for the playoffs, and he insists that he cannot be a regular any more. Can't risk re-injury. He is now officially a Conehead sub. It's a shame, and I won't let this news go down easily. We all know how many times Greg has carried us on his back, and what an infectious and glad attitude he brings to the team. It won't be the same - it hasn't been, no matter how much fun we have had without him.
But for a night, it was just great to watch him hit his patented gappers, a little rusty to start, but when he settled in, he hit two of them for a double and a triple. And took second on a third hit when the outfielder lagged a little on getting the ball in. Everyone held their breath - would he slide? But luckily he did not need to.
And he agreed that he should play catcher in the field in his return. You should know that Joe and I had a side bet (but not for money) on what inning would he want to go out and play the outfield. I think I said the second or third, and Joe said no way, it would be sooner. But Greg fooled us - he didn't ask until the fourth inning.
Timmy just had to find out what the Conehead experience is all about. It is not quite the same now, what with umpires and all. But putting him in front of Joe so he could pinch run from home gave him a little flavor of Orinda softball. You never notice Timmy out in the field - he plays such solid defense, and he held down that spot effortlessly in the continued absence of Pope and Gene gone for an evening.
The game went as expected - the Presidents' Club is not even close to us, and they were shorthanded too. But Lefty brought up a good point after the game - how many years have they faced us and failed to adjust at all to the way some of us hit. Gerry had a field day lacing the ball to shallow right, and they played me deep too. It's no wonder neither of us made an out.
Sting had another great night as well. He hit five of six balls hard - one a line shot hit away from the right fielder, who made a great play to snare it and rob Reg of extra bases. He would still be running. He made up for that with a 'heffe' hit his last time up though. The game giveth and the game taketh away.
Markley continued his quiet relentless pace. He is now 19 of his last 21 and has vaulted near the top of the batting title race. He and Chopper tied for a team high five RBIs in the game too. Maybe Derek will be afraid to show up to the last game to defend his lead in the batting race.
Speaking of which, the importance of beating the Presidents' Club 29-8 is that it officially puts us in position to claim another division title. All we have to do is beat the Waitlisters Monday night. One game at a time and the game is Monday hence. Pretty easy, and it would be sweet to get the top division seeding for the playoffs. Even the Presidents' Club who will finish fourth in our division is a lot better than whoever will finish fourth in the other division, Aereolas or Johnny's Gang.
So one more night and then gear up for the playoff tournament.
It appears that there is enough interest to hold a practice Thursday night, should we get a field. I have not heard back from the league; hopefully by Monday I will have an answer.
Milestones:
Gerry 10 gw (#8)
Gerry 350 r (#9)
*name the musician who released an album with this name
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