The Ale That Cures Ya

The Mr. Conehead trophy is over there, staring at me. Mocking me. It's Larry's now, but it remains on the mantle. It's giving me a different kind of stink-eye, one that doesn't get all sweet and emotional when the season is over, and brings charms from across the world for luck. This one is just constant, it keeps staring at me, accusing me - how could I allow the Coneheads to get to the two thirds point of the season with three losses! Three losses, how dare you! That's the total of all last year!

The low point was unconventional in that it occurred in a win. It actually happened on that cold Thursday night at Wilder 1 at 8:00 against the President's Club. The winds were howling, our fans were freezing. We managed to score all of five runs, and escaped with our lives and our health and a 5-4 win. We hit a very unConehead .414 as a team that night. Usually the low point doesn't come in a win, so we will take it. 

So it was no surprise that we got clocked against the Old Scouts the next Monday, 20-8. Another makeshift outfield. Some key defensive mistakes which gave the Scouts their version of a Conehead inning. It was really over by the second. The Scouts took a 12-3 lead and suddenly coming back with nine runs seemed like a foreign concept. We scored one run in the last four innings.

But the beautiful thing about the bottom of the curve is that it is the bottom. And at the bottom we were still over .500, and in this year, where the Wailisters are undefeated and Areolas had only one loss til this week, anything is still possible.

There were signs to believe in - Chuck and Ol' G and Chopper made one out between them. If the rest of us just returned to normal (and some just returned), anything was possible.

And just in time, on cue, the (former Santa Maria) Reds showed up. A warmer clime at Wilder Monday night. Conehead inning in the first to go up 6-0.11-0 by the top of the third. Derek and Chopper each 4-4, and Haz matched Chopper's team leading four RBIs on three hits. We were downright cocky be the sixth and moved positions around with a 17-2 lead, and gave up five runs. But it did give us the defensive highlight of the night, Chopper just nailing a smash to his left playing third on the turf, gunning a short hop to career outfielder Gene playing first, which he scooped up like he had been doing it his whole life (well there was a popup over my head that I made look really difficult due to age and slowness and Gerry yelling "yours Heffe, yours," with extreme panic in his voice). And of course our comic relief on a mostly routine popup to the catcher, which he ignominiously dropped, and who was....Sting! Doink! Back to the outfield with you sir!

So all is not lost in Orinda this season...remember 2004, we were 8-6 in the regular season, and didn't lose again through the playoffs and all of that fall season.

Three games left, third place is not out of sight, but it's not going to matter much whether we finish 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. It's all about getting in a groove going into the playoffs now. Starts tomorrow night against the Usual Saps, er Suspects.

Milestones:
7/8
Ol' G        350 h (#14)
Markley    50 g (#22)
Chopper   20 2b (#23)
7/11
Chopper   250 ab (#19)
7/15
Pope         800 ab (#8)
Ol' G        600 ab (#14)
7/22
Joe           80 bb (#7)
Sting         350 r (#11)