When I was a kid, I was a big fan of Zorro, the alter ego of Don Diego de la Vega, whose mission was to "avenge the helpless, to punish cruel politicians and to aid the oppressed". In fact, I was so hooked that one time, I was watching the TV show in our basement 'rathskellar' (that's what they call finished basements in the midwest), and my sister was hit by a car on her bicycle, they took her to the hospital (she was OK), and I was completely oblivious to the whole event. Zorro's trademark was, of course, that he wore a mask and sliced a "Z" into the chest of his vanquished foe with his sword when he defeated them - was that cool or what?
Zorro Episode
Well, the Coneheads sliced and diced our way through the playoffs after fall season, culminating in the 23rd Cotton season in team history, the ninth in our last eleven seasons. We didn't do it with our patented Conehead innings, rather we just kept steady pressure on the opponents, and built leads in most every game, until it became futile for the opposition.
The season itself was just too easy. The aberration of the tie game with H.B.F. aside, we just rolled through everyone. Oh sure, we had some close games early, but once we smashed Runner Blue 39-12 the first week of October, it just seemed like destiny had taken over. The combined score of the last tree games was 58-27, and when Cream and Clear self-destructed in the first night of playoffs, the outcome seemed too obvious.
And then...
Joe pulls the ultimate Stink Eye, and strokes out (of course we were and are ultimately concerned about our temporarily fallen leader, but really, Joe, you didn't have to stress over the lineup so much - we needed you!).
And Larry, our very capable bullpen, and co-pitcher in the fall (who led us to glory a couple of years ago when Joe was in Israel praying at the Wailing Wall for a Conehead win instead of on the field), takes just a shot off his knee in the first game and before he can get to the dugout, it's all blown up.
Well, now, fellow members of the BerJudah triangle, thanks for leaving me with the whole weight of trying to get us a win.
Luckily, the weight was placed firmly on the shoulders of our now newly crowned Mr. Conehead, Big D. Big D rose up and pitched his heart out. He even took a ball off his pitching hand in one of the late games, and still threw strikes despite his hand being all swollen up.
And despite the adversity, and the fact that our bats were relatively quiet all day (not a single Conehead inning for three whole games), we really still had a pretty easy time of it. Oh sure we lost a tight one in the first championship game, but really, it's a disadvantage to sit for two hours while the other teams stay hot, as long as it isn't a 100 degree day or something. Several of us were literally napping while we waited for our opponent to be determined for the Championship round, and we stayed napping throughout that game.
You gotta watch out for those eight seeds. They've got nothing to lose. We ended up playing the Hawks three of the four games on Championship Saturday.
But when the chips counted, we showed that the cliche is true - a great team finds a way to win when they aren't at their best, and when they face some adversity. The games we won were not close - 15-8, 17-5, and 17-8, and in the penultimate game we were never really threatened. It helped that D shut down the Hawks for three innings, and by the time they had their one threat with a six run fourth, they already trailed 11-0. And we responded with a five run fifth, and that was pretty much that.
Once again, our defense is what separated us. We just didn't make that many mistakes. The highlight of the day was in the Dub MD game, second inning. Gene dove for a slicing line drive on the right field line, and came up with the ball. There was a runner on first, really fast - he was already at third chatting it up with Randy when Gene showed the ball, and Gene tossed it to me to end the inning with the double play.
In the second game, Randy made a great stop on a dive to get a force out, and the next inning Pope made like a wide receiver and took a long ball away from the Hawks' power hitter.
Even though our bats were relatively quiet and we didn't have a patented Conehead inning, we tried a different MO. We scored in nearly very inning - 15 of 19 in the three wins. So the scores snowballed in each of those games.
Derek led us in RBIs with 10 for the playoffs, and this was despite being basically intentionally walked four times. He even hit one ball so far that he trotted all the way around the bases before they could retrieve it and get it in.
Chuck, except for in the loss, was just a complete nuisance to the other teams, on base all the time. That just illustrates the impact he has - he goes o-fer just once and we lose. He hits, and we win. Set the table, indeed. No pressure though Chuck.
Chopper was a little under the radar, but when you do the final tally, you find he led the team in slugging percentage and average, and doubles and tied in extra base hits. And - there was not a single Chopper base running moment - in fact we almost put him in for the strangely struggling Gene on the bases.
Not under the radar was Bruce - he set what must be a Conehead playoff record with four triples in the five game playoff series. Which was great for me personally, because batting behind him, my bleeders and short liners scored him after each one.
As usual everyone contributed - everyone had at least a couple of RBIs and runs scored - even Larry who was 4-5 before he was felled. The comic relief was provided by Gene, who kept having adventures on the bases. In Game 3 he couldn't win - he ran through one stop sign and was out at the plate. Then he was sent another time, and was out at the plate.
It was good to see order restored after missing the playoff win our last two seasons. And if we ever falter again, maybe we just all don masks and bring out our swords.
And Joe, no comments about Zorro being known as the "Gay Blade".
Milestones Game 1:
Larry 1300 ab (#3)
Heffe 20 gw (#4)
Ol' G 30 3b (#8)
Randy 50 g (#25)
Buddha 50 ab (#38)
Milestones Game 2:
Chuck 1150 h (#1)
Chuck 120 2b (#3)
Pope 650 h (#6)
Chopper 20 bb (#18)
Knight 150 rbi (#20)
Milestone Game 3:
Zorro Episode
Well, the Coneheads sliced and diced our way through the playoffs after fall season, culminating in the 23rd Cotton season in team history, the ninth in our last eleven seasons. We didn't do it with our patented Conehead innings, rather we just kept steady pressure on the opponents, and built leads in most every game, until it became futile for the opposition.
The season itself was just too easy. The aberration of the tie game with H.B.F. aside, we just rolled through everyone. Oh sure, we had some close games early, but once we smashed Runner Blue 39-12 the first week of October, it just seemed like destiny had taken over. The combined score of the last tree games was 58-27, and when Cream and Clear self-destructed in the first night of playoffs, the outcome seemed too obvious.
And then...
Joe pulls the ultimate Stink Eye, and strokes out (of course we were and are ultimately concerned about our temporarily fallen leader, but really, Joe, you didn't have to stress over the lineup so much - we needed you!).
And Larry, our very capable bullpen, and co-pitcher in the fall (who led us to glory a couple of years ago when Joe was in Israel praying at the Wailing Wall for a Conehead win instead of on the field), takes just a shot off his knee in the first game and before he can get to the dugout, it's all blown up.
Well, now, fellow members of the BerJudah triangle, thanks for leaving me with the whole weight of trying to get us a win.
Luckily, the weight was placed firmly on the shoulders of our now newly crowned Mr. Conehead, Big D. Big D rose up and pitched his heart out. He even took a ball off his pitching hand in one of the late games, and still threw strikes despite his hand being all swollen up.
And despite the adversity, and the fact that our bats were relatively quiet all day (not a single Conehead inning for three whole games), we really still had a pretty easy time of it. Oh sure we lost a tight one in the first championship game, but really, it's a disadvantage to sit for two hours while the other teams stay hot, as long as it isn't a 100 degree day or something. Several of us were literally napping while we waited for our opponent to be determined for the Championship round, and we stayed napping throughout that game.
You gotta watch out for those eight seeds. They've got nothing to lose. We ended up playing the Hawks three of the four games on Championship Saturday.
But when the chips counted, we showed that the cliche is true - a great team finds a way to win when they aren't at their best, and when they face some adversity. The games we won were not close - 15-8, 17-5, and 17-8, and in the penultimate game we were never really threatened. It helped that D shut down the Hawks for three innings, and by the time they had their one threat with a six run fourth, they already trailed 11-0. And we responded with a five run fifth, and that was pretty much that.
Once again, our defense is what separated us. We just didn't make that many mistakes. The highlight of the day was in the Dub MD game, second inning. Gene dove for a slicing line drive on the right field line, and came up with the ball. There was a runner on first, really fast - he was already at third chatting it up with Randy when Gene showed the ball, and Gene tossed it to me to end the inning with the double play.
In the second game, Randy made a great stop on a dive to get a force out, and the next inning Pope made like a wide receiver and took a long ball away from the Hawks' power hitter.
Even though our bats were relatively quiet and we didn't have a patented Conehead inning, we tried a different MO. We scored in nearly very inning - 15 of 19 in the three wins. So the scores snowballed in each of those games.
Derek led us in RBIs with 10 for the playoffs, and this was despite being basically intentionally walked four times. He even hit one ball so far that he trotted all the way around the bases before they could retrieve it and get it in.
Chuck, except for in the loss, was just a complete nuisance to the other teams, on base all the time. That just illustrates the impact he has - he goes o-fer just once and we lose. He hits, and we win. Set the table, indeed. No pressure though Chuck.
Chopper was a little under the radar, but when you do the final tally, you find he led the team in slugging percentage and average, and doubles and tied in extra base hits. And - there was not a single Chopper base running moment - in fact we almost put him in for the strangely struggling Gene on the bases.
Not under the radar was Bruce - he set what must be a Conehead playoff record with four triples in the five game playoff series. Which was great for me personally, because batting behind him, my bleeders and short liners scored him after each one.
As usual everyone contributed - everyone had at least a couple of RBIs and runs scored - even Larry who was 4-5 before he was felled. The comic relief was provided by Gene, who kept having adventures on the bases. In Game 3 he couldn't win - he ran through one stop sign and was out at the plate. Then he was sent another time, and was out at the plate.
It was good to see order restored after missing the playoff win our last two seasons. And if we ever falter again, maybe we just all don masks and bring out our swords.
And Joe, no comments about Zorro being known as the "Gay Blade".
Milestones Game 1:
Larry 1300 ab (#3)
Heffe 20 gw (#4)
Ol' G 30 3b (#8)
Randy 50 g (#25)
Buddha 50 ab (#38)
Milestones Game 2:
Chuck 1150 h (#1)
Chuck 120 2b (#3)
Pope 650 h (#6)
Chopper 20 bb (#18)
Knight 150 rbi (#20)
Milestone Game 3:
Bruce 10 3b (#21)
Milestones Game 4:
Chuck 1750 ab (#1)
Gene 450 rbi (#5)
Gene 950 ab (#8)
D 350 h (#13)
