I think I have written about this before but the value of old age is that you can do something over again, and if no one catches you, it's like a whole new experience again. Go with me on this one.
The Game Winning RBI was a stat in the 80s and 90s that MLB created to designate the person who put their team ahead for good in a winning effort, thus the 'winning' RBI. It was intended to reward players for clutch performance.
Of course that meant that if you drive in the first run of the game in a 17-0 blowout, you are rewarded as much as if you got a bases loaded two out hit in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied. Thus, the stat piles up for the number two three and four batters in the lineup and is rendered basically meaningless. So they got rid of it.
But I was too lazy to take it out of my stats program, so there is stays.
All this is, is to say, since this is all about me, is that Tuesday I had a rare day. In my morning game, I hit the actual GWRBI hit - runner on second, tie game, bottom of the ninth, and I hit it over the right fielder's head to score the runner from second easily. And then in the evening Transdyn/Kapsch game, I got the meaningless one - we trailed 4-0 after the top of the first, but answered with seven in the bottom. I happened to drive in the fifth and sixth runs, and we never trailed again - so voila.
The real reason I bring this up is not to crow (well...) but that one of the beauties of this game is the weird things that happen - the GWRBI is a rarity for everyone, and I have gone a whole year with fewer, and I got two in a day. How often will that happen?
Of course the real story is that we actually played one of our most complete games of the year against a Ballers team that had knocked off the first place team last week, and beaten us in the first week of the season 6-5, when everyone was still rusty (especially Rusty, who was recovering from surgery). The final score was 14-10,
The key to the win was that every time the Ballers, who almost all seem to hit the ball hard, rallied or put pressure on us, we responded with a great defensive play, and then a few runs in the bottom half of the inning. One inning it was Jason ranging deep into the outfield to catch a blooper over his shoulder for a third out. One inning is was a slick double play. In the seventh, there was a rocket aimed straight at Pauly's head, which he caught possibly out of self-protection but still still was a tough catch.
In the first we set the tone as mentioned above. Down 4-0, after Jas drew a leadoff walk, seven of the next eight batters got a hit, The scoring was closed by Monty, who seems to have a new lease on hitting the ball hard, where they ain't.
The real decider was the sixth. The Ballers opened with runners on first and second with no outs, down 11-9. That was when Brian and Jason turned the DP, and Tom retired the next hitter to keep them from adding to their score. In the bottom half, after an adventure in base running by Mario after his lead off hit on Jason's double, getting into a rundown for the first out, we still managed to get a run when B singled and Cage hit a sac fly. Up strode Gregg who planted the next strike over the left field fence. It seemed like and proved to be the dagger when we held them to a single run in the seventh. Gregg had been building toward that bomb - warning track outs his first two ABs, and then a gapper triple before the big fly.
But maybe the best moment of the game came after Gregg's blase. Bert and D singled, and time was running out - we were within two minutes when Rusty came to the plate. He had been exhorting every to play the clock - take a pitch, even two. And with less than two minutes to go, he proceeds to swing at the first pitch (although he at least hit it foul). Then he ground into a fielder's choice with about 30 seconds left. So it goes for strategy.
The middle of the order big guys were perfect. Bert went 4-4 on one leg in his return from the DL. D, also 4-4, smashed a couple of lasers, one for a double. And you should have seen him taking extra bases! Cage led the team with three RBIs. Everyone had a least one hit.
And of course, we know who got the GWRBI.
Milestones:
None, Zero, Nada
The Game Winning RBI was a stat in the 80s and 90s that MLB created to designate the person who put their team ahead for good in a winning effort, thus the 'winning' RBI. It was intended to reward players for clutch performance.
Of course that meant that if you drive in the first run of the game in a 17-0 blowout, you are rewarded as much as if you got a bases loaded two out hit in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied. Thus, the stat piles up for the number two three and four batters in the lineup and is rendered basically meaningless. So they got rid of it.
But I was too lazy to take it out of my stats program, so there is stays.
All this is, is to say, since this is all about me, is that Tuesday I had a rare day. In my morning game, I hit the actual GWRBI hit - runner on second, tie game, bottom of the ninth, and I hit it over the right fielder's head to score the runner from second easily. And then in the evening Transdyn/Kapsch game, I got the meaningless one - we trailed 4-0 after the top of the first, but answered with seven in the bottom. I happened to drive in the fifth and sixth runs, and we never trailed again - so voila.
The real reason I bring this up is not to crow (well...) but that one of the beauties of this game is the weird things that happen - the GWRBI is a rarity for everyone, and I have gone a whole year with fewer, and I got two in a day. How often will that happen?
Of course the real story is that we actually played one of our most complete games of the year against a Ballers team that had knocked off the first place team last week, and beaten us in the first week of the season 6-5, when everyone was still rusty (especially Rusty, who was recovering from surgery). The final score was 14-10,
The key to the win was that every time the Ballers, who almost all seem to hit the ball hard, rallied or put pressure on us, we responded with a great defensive play, and then a few runs in the bottom half of the inning. One inning it was Jason ranging deep into the outfield to catch a blooper over his shoulder for a third out. One inning is was a slick double play. In the seventh, there was a rocket aimed straight at Pauly's head, which he caught possibly out of self-protection but still still was a tough catch.
In the first we set the tone as mentioned above. Down 4-0, after Jas drew a leadoff walk, seven of the next eight batters got a hit, The scoring was closed by Monty, who seems to have a new lease on hitting the ball hard, where they ain't.
The real decider was the sixth. The Ballers opened with runners on first and second with no outs, down 11-9. That was when Brian and Jason turned the DP, and Tom retired the next hitter to keep them from adding to their score. In the bottom half, after an adventure in base running by Mario after his lead off hit on Jason's double, getting into a rundown for the first out, we still managed to get a run when B singled and Cage hit a sac fly. Up strode Gregg who planted the next strike over the left field fence. It seemed like and proved to be the dagger when we held them to a single run in the seventh. Gregg had been building toward that bomb - warning track outs his first two ABs, and then a gapper triple before the big fly.
But maybe the best moment of the game came after Gregg's blase. Bert and D singled, and time was running out - we were within two minutes when Rusty came to the plate. He had been exhorting every to play the clock - take a pitch, even two. And with less than two minutes to go, he proceeds to swing at the first pitch (although he at least hit it foul). Then he ground into a fielder's choice with about 30 seconds left. So it goes for strategy.
The middle of the order big guys were perfect. Bert went 4-4 on one leg in his return from the DL. D, also 4-4, smashed a couple of lasers, one for a double. And you should have seen him taking extra bases! Cage led the team with three RBIs. Everyone had a least one hit.
And of course, we know who got the GWRBI.
Milestones:
None, Zero, Nada
No comments:
Post a Comment