I am beginning to really like Field 6. It's a pain to park far away and shlep everything there, but as my esteemed colleague Mr. King said, there are no sun issues and the infield is usually impeccable.
But since this is about me, I'll just say that coach Larry Rafferty and the great James Del Rio have missed two games, and in both (that I managed) we played on field 6 and won, including 20-15 over Forest yesterday. Can we petition Leadership to always put us there?
And James - you can come back, our outfield was not perfect, but Larry - you may face some push back. You know how these guys are.
Just kidding - we had only 10 players, and even though that can be an advantage since you stay hot at the plate, in warmer weather it may have taken its toll. But it was a beautiful day, and it was pretty easy to manage without having to worry about who was sitting out where and when. We just all trotted out there every inning.
Forest gave us a catcher and two of our highlights were Rich gunning down runners at the plate. The Forest catchers made the plays, and that was good sportsmanship.
On the other hand Bob Muegge, who pitched the whole game masterfully, kept getting into fake arguments (that's a little like Fake News) with the catchers for their throws back to the mound, which were occasionally erratic. Once, the Forest bench started riding him mercilessly, and he threw a ball at the dugout - you just can't control this hothead. It was all in fun though and everyone had a good laugh.
The game was close through in the early innings - our defensive lapses kept it that way, and we were tied 4-4 through two. Howard Davis (more on him later) put us ahead in the top of the fourth with a slicing two run double to right (he bravely hobbled to second as he had injured his hammy). Ahead to stay as it turned out, but it was still just 9-6 going into the fifth. A spate of walks by the Forest pitcher helped (3 in a row) and we got two out hits from Kravin and LT Thompson, the latter of which provided the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
We were in control but it wasn't a sure deal until the last out in the 8th (we stopped after 8 because of the time limit). Our best inning was the 7th - eight straight singles (Brown, Mark Pitzlin, Kravin, LT, Tony Gorgone, Larry Fogli, Davis, and Muegge) to score five with no outs. 20-7 seemed like an insurmountable lead, but Forest answered with five of their own, and it ended up coming down to their last ups.
Brown was perfect with five singles and a bases loaded walk. On a prior Red team when Davis was a teammate, we used to call him Superman or the Secret Weapon - he had four hits including the game winner, and played flawless third base. Fogli just quietly keeps hitting singles relentlessly, and Gorgone had a double as those two joined Howard with four hits. Everyone on the team scored at least run and drove in a run as we pounded out 32 hits. And no one scored more than or drove in more than three - a true team effort.
Pitzlin, a great addition, made perhaps the best contribution to his new team - he brought us post-game beer. This team needed the jolt of energy he brings, and that beer sure tasted good after the win.
Good start to the second half!
But since this is about me, I'll just say that coach Larry Rafferty and the great James Del Rio have missed two games, and in both (that I managed) we played on field 6 and won, including 20-15 over Forest yesterday. Can we petition Leadership to always put us there?
And James - you can come back, our outfield was not perfect, but Larry - you may face some push back. You know how these guys are.
Just kidding - we had only 10 players, and even though that can be an advantage since you stay hot at the plate, in warmer weather it may have taken its toll. But it was a beautiful day, and it was pretty easy to manage without having to worry about who was sitting out where and when. We just all trotted out there every inning.
Forest gave us a catcher and two of our highlights were Rich gunning down runners at the plate. The Forest catchers made the plays, and that was good sportsmanship.
On the other hand Bob Muegge, who pitched the whole game masterfully, kept getting into fake arguments (that's a little like Fake News) with the catchers for their throws back to the mound, which were occasionally erratic. Once, the Forest bench started riding him mercilessly, and he threw a ball at the dugout - you just can't control this hothead. It was all in fun though and everyone had a good laugh.
The game was close through in the early innings - our defensive lapses kept it that way, and we were tied 4-4 through two. Howard Davis (more on him later) put us ahead in the top of the fourth with a slicing two run double to right (he bravely hobbled to second as he had injured his hammy). Ahead to stay as it turned out, but it was still just 9-6 going into the fifth. A spate of walks by the Forest pitcher helped (3 in a row) and we got two out hits from Kravin and LT Thompson, the latter of which provided the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
We were in control but it wasn't a sure deal until the last out in the 8th (we stopped after 8 because of the time limit). Our best inning was the 7th - eight straight singles (Brown, Mark Pitzlin, Kravin, LT, Tony Gorgone, Larry Fogli, Davis, and Muegge) to score five with no outs. 20-7 seemed like an insurmountable lead, but Forest answered with five of their own, and it ended up coming down to their last ups.
Brown was perfect with five singles and a bases loaded walk. On a prior Red team when Davis was a teammate, we used to call him Superman or the Secret Weapon - he had four hits including the game winner, and played flawless third base. Fogli just quietly keeps hitting singles relentlessly, and Gorgone had a double as those two joined Howard with four hits. Everyone on the team scored at least run and drove in a run as we pounded out 32 hits. And no one scored more than or drove in more than three - a true team effort.
Pitzlin, a great addition, made perhaps the best contribution to his new team - he brought us post-game beer. This team needed the jolt of energy he brings, and that beer sure tasted good after the win.
Good start to the second half!
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