It's Just Fall Ball, One 13 - Three 5

In the annals of Creakerdom, I am sure there have been fantastic teams galore.

But just for today, Team One sits on top of the heap, after drubbing Team Three 13-5, finishing an undefeated season (yes we did have two ties). And the past Head of Leadership and the new Head can just take that to the Fall Ball bank.

The game started out slow enough. No one knew if it was Thanksgiving food and drink hangover, or the two week layoff or the fact that we skipped BP to start early so we could get the game in before the rains came. But the score stood at 1-0 through three innings and 6-3 through five. We just kept gnawing away and in the end it wasn't close.

Team One played great defense all season. We did not score the most of any team, but our defense brought us to the finish line more than once, including today.

Literally. Julia Gillette caught two tough popups at second base/shallow right, moving to her left on balls hit by the last two batters to finish off Team Three - the first baseman barely moved, he was so sure of the outcome. Gillette also turned a slow roller by the speedy Mark Pitzlin into an out earlier in the game, by the blink of an eye.

Chip Sharpe was the other defensive star of the game. All he did was throw out a runner at home who dared challenge him (via Bob Muegge at the mound), and then nail a runner at second on a 'single' in front of him in right center with rover Charlie Pastor covering.

Pastor led the team with five RBIs on three singles. Paul Lisi was his usual 4-4 including a double. Sharpe was sharp at the top of the lineup scoring four times after reaching base with three hits and a fielder's choice.

Neil Henry and Frank Coppa had perfect days at the plate, each going 3-3 with a double. Frank used his extraordinary speed to continue to third on his two run two bagger as the ball rattled around the plate after Team Three tried to throw out a runner going home. It was a sight to see.

Bob Shipway, James 'Chewy' Little, and Gary King all had a couple of line drive hits- although King's best shot just twisted foul down the right field line.

Last and certainly not least, any time a team holds a Creaker team to five runs, you know the pitching had to be good. Sharpe was pressed into duty on short notice because we started the game before our other pitchers arrived - he merely shut out Three in his two innings. Bill Warren didn't allow an earned run in his three innings - he gave up only three unearned in the fifth when we gave the opponent about eight outs. And Muegge closed things out with a scoreless ninth thanks to Gillette's prowess.

We had our share of controversy this season but like the A's of the 70s we overcame every obstacle to finish a great season. One was ONE.

The Year of the Tie, One 18, Two 18

You've heard of the Year of the Horse, the Year of the Dragon, and the Year of the Dog in the  Chinese zodiac. Monkey, Rabbit, Sheep, Pig, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Ox, and Rooster, they're all there. Or maybe you haven't. Myself, I found out I was born in the Year of the Horse, which of course explains my great speed on the base paths and in the field.

On the other hand this Fall is the Season of the Tie, and I don't mean the thing hanging from your neck when you take your partner to a fancy restaurant.

There have been 16 games this season, and three have ended in a tie. That's almost 20% of the games. Team One has been in two of them including 18-18 today against Team Two, and Team Five has also been in two. Team Four is the only unscathed team.

I've heard of parity but this is ridiculous.

Today, Team One kept spotting Team Two leads as the latter knocked out hit after hit after hit, usually line drives just over the infield. I think the only long ball they had came with one out and the fifth run on third so all it was was a single.

But Team One has shown resiliency all season, and we came back from six run deficits in the bottom of the fifth (11-5) and in the seventh (17-11) and we ended up knotted at 18 going into the open ninth. True to form neither team could muster a run in the ninth and so it ended 18 all.

The big blow of the day for Team One was a two run blast in the second to field five by our own Frank Coppa. Rumor was that it actually settled somewhere in Concord, yet Frank started asking for help rounding the bases at about second base. I was coaching third, you should have seen his eyes go wide when I sent him home.

Of course after that Frank decided he was the fastest runner on the field, and wanted to courtesy run for everyone.

In the two six run innings, the bottom of the order created the havoc for Team Two. Bob Muegge, Coach, and Ed Fieszli had consecutive hits in both frames to set things up, and Chip Sharpe, Paul Lisi, Charlie Pastor and Art Miner at the top of the lineup made sure it all paid off.

The only other extra base hit was a double by Bill Warren that ended the six run fifth. Everyone in the lineup batted exactly four times, and while no one had four hits, Sharpe, Lisi, Pastor, Miner, Coppa and Kravin all had three.

On defense there were a few lapses but also some strong plays. Muegge literally toppled over in the first on a pop up that was just not quite out of reach behind him, and he hung on. Art Oller turned a slick 11U-3 double play from the rover position. Chip and Skip and...Paul made running catches on well hit balls. Coach made a nice grab of a pop up in foul ground by first base. The kind of catch that was routine until you hit about 55 years old, and now takes every bit of effort you can muster. Finally Fieszli had an inning in the eighth getting outs on a hot shot one hopper and another on a line drive at his feet.

But perhaps the best was Julia Gillette staying alive after somehow eluding a twisting smash up the middle by Steve Sloat that nearly decapitated her. She started disco dancing afterward ala Bee Gees and John Travolta ("Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive"). Seriously, she also made a nice play on a slow roller with a fast runner chasing down the line.

As disappointing as the tie was since all we needed was one run in the bottom of the ninth, we remain undefeated. And next week is the colossal showdown with Team Five (although they took their first loss today), in the Season that Has No Meaning, aka. The Season of the Tie.

(Dys)Functional Team One 19, (MIA) Team Four 11

I'm trying to wrap my arms around the nomenclature here.

The Dysfunctional Ones built a 15-4 lead over the admittedly shorthanded though very talented Team Four through five innings, and 19-4 through the top of the seventh. And coasted to victory after that.

We should all be so dysfunctional. We all wish we were that dysfunctional.

Along the way we had three five run innings. Team One does not have a lot of power hitters, but we can be relentless. In the third we put seven singles out of eight batters. Same thing in the seventh, with a double and a sac fly thrown in. In the fifth inning five spot, we did flex some muscles - Charlie Pastor drove a ball past the the left fielder for a three run homer, and Art Miner promptly hit the same ball, but his sore hamstring held him to a double. In the second we scored three on a double by Art Oller sandwiched by hit by Neil Henry, James Little, Julia Gillette, and a clutch two out hit by Bob Muegge.

In the mean time on the mound Muegge and Bill Warren had the Fours eating out of their hands, with notable help from our defense. Warren even got a swinging strikeout. We turned multiple double plays, again. Pastor made a great play up the middle to get a putout in the third. Paul Lisi caught a ball on the run in the seventh.

The Four made a run in the eighth but it was too little too late.

Pastor had himself a game, 4-4, two doubles, the homer, and altogether six RBIs. Lisi joined him at 4-4 withe three runs scored and three driven in. Most everyone else had two hits.

We look forward to more dysfunction after our bye week next week. Maybe we'll get some better meds, but I don't want to change a thing.

Mashed Ball Tip

With our backs to the wall, and missing three of our best mashers (D, Knight and Lefty, and yes, I picked that word deliberately), The Coneheads had our most complete game in, I don't know how long. Final score 16-8 in four innings.

It seemed like every ball we hit was a line drive here there and everywhere. Pope was back with a vengeance - 4-4 with a two run homer in the first that put the Ball Tip Boyzzz on notice. They had taken a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, but this was the statement that that wasn't going to last, and they better find something better than that. We poured on four more, Johnny also had a two run hit, a double screaming down the left field line.

The Boyzzz tied it in the top of the second, and then the real fireworks started. We sent 14 men to the plate in the second and by the time the inning ended, they were just lollygagging their way to the liners we were hitting, and we took extra bases with impunity. In the nine run inning, Bruce had a long triple, and Chuck and Ol' G crushed run scoring doubles.

The rest was just playing out the string until time ran out. Larry held them scoreless for two of his three innings, aided by the  usual strong defense. Haze had a full out running catch with his back to the plate in the second; we would have noticed that he juggled it and caught it ultimately against his chest if we could see the dimly lit right field. In the same inning Chuck "I don't have fun unless I get dirty" went full lunge to wrap up a foul ball half way to home; and Sting had a gapper robbing running catch in the third, just to make sure the Coach knows where his comfort zone is.

Chopper joined Pope at 4-4, Randy was 3-4 and tied Pope with a team high three RBIs. Chuck was a perfect 3-3, and he was matched by Bruce with three hits.

It was do or die, and we ensured that we will end up ahead of the Boyzzz if we win next week. And it's still do or die in our last game to make the playoffs. Win - we're in. If we lose there are scenarios where we still make it but they are not likely. So we know what we have to do to Jupiter Construction. All we need to know is that a win sets up a date with Cream and Clear, and guess who is their only loss this season?

We hit like we did this week, and we will take Jupiter down. You saw it here first.

Milestones:
Chopper        350 rbi (#14)
Haze             150 rbi(#21)
Johnny          150 ab (#28)

Number One! One over Three 17-13

Team One came out of the starting blocks today by hitting for a cycle. Single by Chip Sharpe, double by Paul Lisi, a home run over the left fielder's head courtesy of Charlie Pastor, and Art Miner bombed a triple. Everyone after that hit a crisp line drive - the only out made the rest of the frame was a line shot that found grass by Neil Henry, but unfortunately, Three got a force at second.When Art Oller walked and Bob Shipway singled, we had our five runs.

We spent the rest of the game fighting off the Curse of the First. In the second, Team Three came roaring back to knot it up at five each.We added on with two in the fourth and one in the fifth and another five spot in the sixth. In the mean time our pitchers were holding the powerful Three lineup at bay. We looked good at 13-5 going into the bottom of the sixth but Three chipped away with eight runs while we zeroed out in the next two and a half innings. They finally had tied it up. But in the ninth, yours truly singled to start a four run rally, and when Sharpe, Lisi, and Bill Warren came up with run scoring hits, we had a four run lead. Good Defense and Bob Muegge's pitching shut down Team Three in the bottom of the ninth, and that was all she wrote.

Team One had some fine defense (and pitching, by Muegge, Sharpe and Warren), and that may have made the difference. Shipway took a hot shot up the middle and turned it into an 11U-3 double play. Lisi showed the range that makes him one of the league's best outfielders in the third with two running catches. Julia Gillette made a huge running catch in right in the seventh. Chewy Little handled a hot shot in the hole at shortstop and got a force on the lead runner at third. Miner and Pastor combined for one of those outfield forces at second when Miner came up throwing and zinged it to Pastor who barely made it to the bag in time.

The play of the day runner up made the manager look really good. In Henry's single inning behind the dish, he came springing out and lunging to catch a little popup up the first base line in foul ground. Thanks, Neil! Right man, right time, right place.

The actual play of the day was a throw on a hit to the outfield. Mark "I never stop running" Pitzlin rounded third and made for home. The ball was tossed to Little, who fired an absolute bullet to Muegge at home and it nailed Pitzlin by two steps.

Warren paced us with four hits. Sharpe, Pastor and Miner had three. Heffe had a 2-2 plus a walk day in returning from injury. Mike Natali hit a couple of laser shots.

Pastor led the way with four RBIs. Of note was that we had three Ks, in a rarity in softball we had more strikeouts than walks. Maybe we should strike out more often!

At Long Last, the Conehead Inning

Granted the Dusty Nuts will never be confused with Jupiter Construction or Cream and Clear, but...

We broke out of our season long slump with a tidy eleven run first, and the game was over from there. Seven straight singles to start the game - Randy, Sting, Pope, Knight, D, Ol' G, and Lefty-Righty, and the train was moving. Haze, Joe (!), and Randy again made it 7-0. Sting topped it off with a grand slam to deepest center (how great is it to have Reg back???).

In the second it was more of the same. Five straight hits, then four more after an out. All singles. The mini Conehead inning - seven runs.

Granted, we had some help from the Dusty Nuts' defense or lack thereof, but still. Another five rounded out the scoring in the fourth and after five the slaughter was on.

Besides the Sting Salami, extra base hits included triples by Randy, Pope and Lefty-Righty. This caused the latter to turn around and bat right handed, and it was glorious to see him strike out with a mighty cut in the last inning. Maybe the cages?

D set the pace with five hits, and Randy, Knight and Ol' G were right behind with four apiece. On defense, we adjusted our defense with Sting moving back to his comfort zone in left center, and Randy back to SS. The next two innings were identical - two fly outs to left center and a fielder's choice 6-4 putout. The ball will find you and we will find outs with it.

All in all a good rebound from our debacle last week. As we sit here with two games left, we actually have a small shot at the playoffs but obviously we will need to win out. Starts this Monday.

Milestones:
Pope        300 g (#7)
D             450 h (#14)

The One Engine That Could, One 11 - 2 Over Four

As the other two teams were pummeling each other with 50 total runs on field one, Team One turned timely hitting and great defense into an 11-10 squeaker over Team Four. Team One was like the little engine that could, I think I can I think I can, I think I can, and ultimately I knew I could.

The teams were locked in a pitchers' duel through three innings, with Team Four taking a 3-2 lead in the first that stood up through the first third of the game. Our big hit in the first was a gap double by Art Miner. In the middle innings our clutch hitting and shutdown pitching by Chip Sharpe enabled Team One to increase the lead to 5-3 and then 7-3. RBI at bats came from Mike Natali, Julia Gillette, Paul Lisi, and Chewy Little. Bob Muegge came back in to close it out, and held the Four juggernaut to nothing more through eight.

Defensive highlights included a nice stop and force out by Charlie Pastor at 3B, and a great running catch in right field by Gillette. Little made a controversial double play when he received an offline throw and swiped the second base bag and nailed the runner at first. Art Oller made a good catch in right center in the sixth.

In the bottom of the eighth we broke through with five runs, finally, on a one out hit by Natali, and then consecutive hits by Ed Fieszli, Muegge, Sharpe, Lisi (a two run bloop double), Little, and Miner.

It was all we needed as it turned out, but barely, as we enjoyed a 11-3 lead going into the ninth. The Four finally broke through themselves in the top of the ninth with eight runs, but alas. In the end Oller went from hero to goat - he made an error that set up the tying run at third and the lead run at second, and then finished the game with a great stop on a hot grounder to the hot corner - he willed that ball into his glove and stepped on third for the final out. Contrary to what my esteemed colleague wrote, we had it all the way. Well, at least we had the hammer if it came to it.

A very good game, and when you retire Lee Namanny twice in a game, you know you did something right!

Kapsching Off a Great Year

I've never been able to wrap my arms around our team name being Kapsch. It was hard enough being Transdyn, that took a while too. I always thought we should be the Controllers, or the PLCs or Ladder Logic, or Control Algorithms. But we never really gave it much thought.

Such is the life of a sponsored team I suppose. We do owe Transdyn/Kapsch and our GM Monty a debt of hundreds of dollars (of gratitude) each in team dues.

And now we made the Austrians (Kapsch is an Austrian company) proud again, with our second Cotton winning season in a row. We got nice Royal Blue hoodies too.

I am hoping Tuesday night's sweep of the playoffs is taken not as a signal of dominance of the Lower Upper D or whatever they are calling our division, but as testament that we are playing at the right level for us. We won the first 15-11 over a Pleasanton Auto team that should be better than they are, and the second 15-10 over a Blue Dots team that, while they claim to be as old as us, I don't think have a chance to be less than five years younger than us in average age. Not exactly dominant, just victorious.

The closeness of the games made them actually really good to watch and play in. In both games we took a lead, only to give it up, but ultimately come through in the clutch to rally for victory. There were heroes up and down the lineup.

In the opener, we jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two. Five in the first when we batted around. A two run double by Cage to start the scoring. Clutch two out hits from Tom, JT, and Coop. But in the third the Auto club had other ideas. They used it all up hitting line drives all over the field with the aluminum bats.They ended up with eight but it could have gotten worse. Gregg Made a great shoe-top catch in left field, his first of two in the game, to get the first out. Later, I saw JT playing really shallow in right center. I was about to call out to him, but on the next pitch the batter hit a line drive 'single' right in front of him, and he slung the ball to second to turn it into just another fielder's choice. Those two outs kept it from getting completely out of hand, and we came into the dugout just down two.

That was when Gregg completely took over. He hit two mighty blasts - both three run homers - in the fourth and the sixth. The latter took us from 12-11 to 15-11 with about a minute left. After a Bert 'single' over the fence, D hit the hardest ball of the night - the right center fielder took a step in, and then watched helplessly as the rising line drive sailed over his head to the fence. Time had run out, literally, on Pleasanton Auto.

Jay and B were perfect table setters with three hits each plus a J walk. Cage added a couple more RBIs and ended up with four on two hits and a sac fly.

On the way in to the park, I told Tom and Coop that the key to victory was the two of them getting hits - they needed to go 5-8 or better. Well, they went 5-5 plus a Coop Sac Fly. A good coach knows when to put the right kind of pressure on.

On to the Championship game. Blue Dots had upset a shorthanded M.A.R.A. in the playoff opener. I was glad, they have been a friendly rival over the years. I mentioned earlier that we have now played them more than any other team in our 20+ years. We have owned them 20-8 in the regular season, but were only 2-2 in the playoffs against them coming into Tuesday.

The game followed a similar script, with some of the names shifted around. We started off 2-2 in the first as Gregg and Bert had run scoring singles to answer their two top of the first runs. This time we only took an early 4-2 lead as the same pair drove in runs in the third. Sure enough the Blue Dots answered with three and they had their only lead of the game at 5-4.

This woke us up. My Mantra "the bottom of the order hits, we win" kicked in. With one out, singles by Coop, JT, and Monty tied it up and set it up for the top of the order. J, B, and Cage all singled and then with two outs, Bert erased all doubts with a tremendous three run blast. It was only 11-5 but the air was out of the Blue Dots tires. We added on with a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth (Bert with another homer, this time two runs). And even though they rallied with five in the seventh to make it 15-10, that just made it respectable - we were never worried.

Bert had the two homers and seven RBIs in a 4-4 game. B had three knocks, and Cage stayed hot with two hits and a walk. Jay had two knocks and two RBIs. This time the bottom of the order meant JT and Monty. JT had two hits and Monty, who had been hitting it hard but right at people, was rewarded by having his hits fall in this one as he went 3-3. One started the scoring in our seven run fourth, and the next was a clutch two out RBI single in the next inning.

Both middle infielders had great plays to highlight the defense. J went way behind first to get a diving catch in the fourth. But the play of the day was in the third - B snaring a back-handed shot in the 5-6 hole, quickly firing to Jay at second, who snapped a throw to first for the double play. These guys came to play.

Very satisfying wins, and Cotton. Many thanks to Sir Guy for keeping us lubricated after the games, and to Mario for relieving me of some of the stress of rounding everyone up from week to week. But let's face it, I can't get away without taking some credit. The hit of the year was my corkscrew dribbler that went 70 feet in slow motion around third base for an infield single. Top that.

Milestones:
Game 1
Coop          1550 ab (#1)
Cage          500 rbi (#1)
Monty        1150 ab (#3)
Jay             200 g (#10)
B               300 ab (#18)
Gregg        50 r (#35)

Game 2
Jay            200 rbi (#14)
B              30 2b (#16)
Gregg       10 2b (#32)

An All Time Thriller!

36-5. The Coneheads Lost.

But not to worry, I think we did, in fact, set a team record. I looked in the way back machine - I have scores going back basically to 2000 when I joined the Coneheads.

I know I am sick but I have a spreadsheet where I record every game I play in which one or both teams score at least 30. The Coneheads have 51 of the 122 entries. Our record in those 51 games is 44-7.

Well, had. Now it is 52 and 44-8.

A mere two years ago, we lost a game 35-9. It was against 12 Angry Men. I guess we made them extra angry that evening.

And until last night, that was our worst drubbing. And nothing before that was even close to that bad a defeat - ,most of them had scores like 22-31. Congratulations, Honkers. Ya done us good.

Funny, You Don't Look Like My Sister

In what was really a pitching and fielding duel, Team One parlayed a 6-1 lead after four into an 8-8 tie. Leave my sister out of this, it's not her fault.

Solid pitching by Bob Muegge and Chip Sharpe kept Team Five down for most of the game. But by not adding on, we gave them hope and in the top of the ninth, a sun-blinded fly ball was dropped, and it set things up for the tying run to come across. We couldn't answer in the bottom of the ninth, and it was kiss your sister again.

Lost in the shuffle was a very solid game by our infield - we must have turned three or four double plays. James 'Chewy' Little was in the middle of most, either starting a 6-11-3, or a 6U-3 or taking the throw from Rover Charlie Pastor. Bob Shipway and Ed Fieszli also had a hand and a glove it them, and Skip Spragens, playing out of position at the hot corner turned a couple of plays in.

Chewy, Paul Lisi, Art Miner and Skip led the way with three hits apiece. Art drove in more than half of our runs with five RBIs. 

A Two Fer

Since I missed the last game and there was no blog the week before, you get a partial two-fer this week. The important thing of course is that they were both wins, 11-5 over M.A.R.A. and 22-3 over the Blue Dots, and this sets us up to go into the playoffs on a roll.

Looking at the book and with anecdotal evidence, it appears that Gregg carried the day. Two bombs and seven RBIs. Of course not everyone saw it that way. Tom wasn't bragging to me, just giving me facts when he crowed to me in texts about his five RBI game Wednesday morning. At 6:08 am. No not much. Except when he said that if no one else had an RBI we would have still won (presumably 5-3 because of his stellar pitching. Just remember there is no Tom in Team. At most half a team. Get over it.

Oh and by the way Gregg's game was tainted - he used an illegal bat the first time, but wasn't caught. Apparently his words were, "How did that bat get in my bag?" Uh, Gregg, I think I know who put it in your bag - there is no divine intervention in at least that aspect of softball.

Everyone contributed. Bo was 5-5, scoring on four of those hits, and we will miss that in the playoffs. D had four hits and got on on an error, but my bet is he was talking about how he isn't hitting well after the game. Greg and Tom were the others with four hits, with the twelve RBIs between them. The team hit so well we hardly mention B, Mario, and Hama with three hits each.

The week before, it was not such an offensive explosion, but we handled M.A.R.A., who ended up in second place, 11-5. Does anyone know what M.A.R.A. stands for? Sounds like one of James Bond's enemies.

The reason I wanted to make sure I cover it is that Cage was a one man wrecking crew. We are used to Gregg, or Bert or D going off, but there's a reason Nick bats third. He gets on, gets over and gets home. In this game he was merely three for three with a Sac Fly, a two run homer that put us up 9-3 taking away M.A.R.A.'s hope, a double, and he threw out a runner on a fly out for a double play. He also made a diving catch in shallow center. Have a game.

Others did all right too. The pitcher just keeps churning out those singles* - Tom was 3-4. Six others had two hits - one was a monster shot over the fence by Bert.

But the highlight of the game through all of that was when Monty scored from first on what - a sac fly? an error? It was funny, I looked away when Bo hit the fly out, but when I looked back, there was Monty gleefully trotting around third with a big grin on his face. He scored from first by being awarded three bases when the pitcher threw his glove at the ball coming in from the outfield - and made contact. Sometimes the weirdest plays are the ones that make it that much more fun, and the ones you remember.

Now it's playoff time. We'll miss Bo, but if everyone keeps up the effort we have had lately, I like our chances. We are the team to beat but we won't let that happen.

*Skipping even watching and coaching the game Tuesday because of my injury, my biggest fear was that I might miss history. When I heard from Tom that he was 3-4 with five RBIs, my first, panicked thought was that I missed Tom getting an extra base hit. When he said one of them was a liner down the right field line with only three outfielders, my heart sunk. Could I have missed Tom's second extra base hit out of 400+ at bats? Sigh of relief, he said his sore hammy prevented any hopes of extra base hits. Whew!

Milestones:
9/25
Bert           40 hr (#1)
Monty       400 g (#3)
Cage         1100 ab (#4)
Tom          400 ab (#14)
Brian        150 r (#14)
Bo            50 h (#35)

10/2
Cage         160 2b (#1)
Coop        750 h (#2)
Bert          300 ab (#17)
Gregg       50 rbi (#35)

If Not Creamed, At Least Cleared

The Coneheads MO has been to get a Conehead inning somewhere along the line and then watch the other team press to come back. It's a time worn plan, working most of the time.

On a night that was humid, but the ball was going nowhere, we scored three in the first on two out RBI hits by Lefty, Bruce and Chopper, and called it a Conehead inning.

Luckily, between Joe and Larry's pitching and the heavy air, Cream and Clear couldn't do much, and we carried a 3-1 lead into the top of the sixth. It was as if we were waiting for a hero to emerge.

And so he did; Chauncey dumped a ball over the left fielder's head for a triple, and was central to another three run rally. Bruce added some insurance with a two run two out single in the seventh for the final 8-4 score.

Randy left us with a perfect 4-4 night, but the leadoff hitter could only score once as we stranded him three times. Lefty and Bruce had three hit games, with Lefty's double being our only other extra base hit.

On defense, with two on and no outs in the sixth, on a one hopper back to the mound, Larry swiveled quickly, and Randy caught his throw on the second base bag and fired to first for a pretty 1-6-3 double play. Remember this was after we turned a 3-1 lead into 6-1, so it was important to hold back their answer, and it provided just the recipe.

Joe came back in for the save and it was a key win. We'll take it as it brings us back into the playoff picture at 2-2.

Milestone:

Randy        150 h (#25)

Milestones:
Randy        150 h (#25)

Coneheads Snort Snorts

The demise of the Coneheads proved to be premature as we took care of business against the Snorts Monday night, 11-6. It was the kind of win that we needed, journeyman like. We didn't exactly tear it up with Conehead innings, given that we were nearly full strength, but we got the key rally when we needed it.

It came in the fifth, in a tight 3-2 game. We loaded the bases on hits by Lefty, Chopper,and Chuck. Johnny hit a Johnny rocket above the SS, but the guy made a great play. It was probably the hardest hit ball of the game. Miraculously, Chop chop did not get doubled off of second.Then Haze and Larry hit run scoring singles, and Bruce hit a sac fly. Randy topped it off with a triple, our only one of the game, and the final two runs were in for an 8-2 lead.

We let the Snorts creep back in as they scored the next three runs, but in the bottom of the sixth we put together a nice two out three run rally that extended until Sting hit a run scoring single and time had run out on the Snorts.

On defense, D had a good third inning, as he scooped one low throw, and was on the receiving end of a Sting to Johnny to first double play. In the fifth, the Snorts dared to test Bruce's arm and he fired a bullet to third to get the last out. They had plated three and were climbing back into the game, so that was a huge out.

Randy and Sting batted one-two and led the way with three hits each, Sting with two doubles. Bruce, arriving late and batting last, was two for two with a Sac and three RBIs, and seemed to come up and come through at all the right times. Larry was 2-2 with a walk, and Chopper and Lefty and Haze joined him with two hits. Chopper had the distinction to get the first K in Conehead history by hitting a ball into the pitcher's net with 2 1/2 strikes on him. It was the first K of his Conehead career, at least in Orinda or fall ball.

It was a must win win, and who knows, maybe we will turn the season around after our 0-2 start. Stranger things have happened.

Milestones:
Sting        100 2b (#6)
Sting        550 h (#9)
D             350 rbi (#13)
Lefty       500 ab (#18)

One, Two, 13-11

Fall Ball started today, and the new Dead Ball Creaker era was on.

In a tight seesaw battle, Team One overcame Two's late lead to prevail 13-11.

Team One only scored in three innings, four in the first, five in the fourth and four in the ninth. But by holding Team Two to seven innings to zero or one run, it became enough.

We jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first. Three straight two out RBI hits, by Bill Warren (a Creaker newcomer who was added to our roster last night - well HELLO BILL!), Skip Spragens, and Art Oller. Skip's was the highlight, a two run triple.

Team Two crept back to 5-4 after three, and then we sent eight hitters up without making an out in the top of the fourth. Consecutive hits by James 'Chewy' Little, Charlie Pastor, Warren, Spragens, Oller, Frank Coppa, Bob Shipway, and Ed Fieszli produced five runs. Bill's was the biggest, a booming two run double in the gap.

Two answered in the fifth, catching us at 10-10, and then adding single runs in each of the next two innings while holding us to nada. After a scoreless eighth we came up in the ninth needing two to tie, three to get the lead or hopefully more. Paul Lisi started the rally with his third hit, and then with one out, Pastor singled, Warren walked and Spragens got his second huge hit of the day, this time a two run double to tie it. With the lead runs on second and third Oller did what he needed to do, get a fly ball deep enough to get at least one in. But the normally reliable center fielder dropped it and that enabled us to get insurance run RBI hits from Coppa and Shipway.

Soragens led the way with the 'mini' cycle (single double and triple) good for four RBIs. Joining him with three hits were Lisi, Pastor, and Warren.

On defense Chewy made several good plays at SS including a grounder, step on second and throw to first at a key time (right after our five run  fourth when they tried to answer). Pitcher Chip Sharpe got one backward K. Coppa made a nice catch on a popup behind the plate, always a challenge. And Warren made a good play o a foul pop up at 1B.

Overall we played good defense and had timely hitting, a good formula for a win in the new low compression ball age. and a great way to go into a bye week, 1-0!

The Jaws of Defeat

How does the saying go? Snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory? That is what the Coneheads did last week to a T.

We marched along with a four run first, added on with three in the third, added a couple more in the fifth and sixth, and even though we should have put them away in the seventh with the heart of our order up, we were feeling pretty confortable with a 10-5 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, and the bottom of the Reeelaax order coming up. But as I always say, if the bottom of the order hits, you win. Their bottom loaded the bases with no outs, and the top and middle finished us off with six runs to walk off with an 11-10 win.

We had some highlights. It was great to see Sting back, and he played really well at 2B in G's absence. He laid out to get a force out on a throw from third that nearly pulled him off the bag, and corralled a pop up in the shallow outfield. Johnny made several hard plays at SS, as did Knight at third. Their glove work looked professional. Gene and Bruce made tough catches in the outfield, and Chopper scooped an errant throw in the third.

On offense it was good to have Johnny back. He mashed a couple of balls to left, one in the gap and one over the left fielder's head. They were both doubles and one was a two out two run hit. He led us with three RBIs.

Bruce slashed a couple of hits, good for a triple and a double, driving in two in the first to get us a lead. Pope got his daily serving of a double and a single. Joining those guys with two hits were Chuck, Knight and Haze.

We just didn't hit enough as a team to get that Conehead inning, and therefore let Reeelaax think they were still in it. Five runs means nothing in softball. And ultimately they were in and we were out.

Milestones:
Sting        450 r (#8)
Johnny     10 2b (#30)
Johnny     50 rbi (#31)

We Need a Hero

I really tried to think of a theme for this post that doesn't involve making me the hero, as Tom so eloquently put it. Let's face it, how can there be a hero in a 16-0 loss to the former arch rival Sons of Pitches?

But I can think out of the box, so here goes: I kept myself out of the lineup for various reasons, one of which was to shorten it so everyone could get more at bats. And we couldn't score a single run. Now I am not saying I would have made a sixteen run difference, but these are the facts: No Heffe, no runs. It won't happen again.

There really were no offensive fireworks to speak of. Brian (batting second and getting two ABs), was 2-2. Woohoo! That's all she wrote.

Bo did have an exceptional game in left field, and he singlehandedly kept SOP to two runs in the first. Coop made a couple of fine catches as well. Derek showed a quick glove on one scorcher at the hot corner.

I'm not worried about our offense - we just have too many good hitters to repeat this. SOP just owns us right now (we used to beat them as much as they beat us). But watching them send it must have been about eight balls over the fence by guys up and down the lineup shows that we are in the right division this season. This game will be Exhibit A if they try to bump us up.

It turns out we didn't clinch the division when Pleasanton Auto lost to the Brew Bros last week. It just eliminated them. MARA technically can catch us, so the magic number is still one. They would have to beat the Brews Bros, us and Pleasanton Auto, and we would have to lose twice. It is likely that we will clinch the division tomorrow, while we are scattered about. Lift a glass.

Milestones:
None, quelle surprise!

Kapsch Leaves No Dot

Tonight Kapsch/Transdyn achieved a team milestone of sorts. We tied a former opponent for the most game played against in our long history, at least in the last twenty years I have been on the team. Before that there were just a few years in Concord, so I am pretty sure it covers the entire history. Twenty seven games against the Blue Dots.

(Trivia question for the veterans on the team, what team did we tie? Answer below.)

And, thanks to tonight's 14-2 win, our record is now 19-8 over them, we have had ownage over them the last few years. Not surprisingly, that is the most wins over one team.

The game was pretty much decided in the first inning. The Dots got two runners on with no outs, and then Tom induced a hard grounder to B, and he and Hama got the ball from SS to second to first in no time, and it was a double play. The next guy lined out to Paul, and the threat ended.

We proceeded to bat around in the bottom half. Hama and Tom each had two run singles, and we scored seven times. The rout was on.

In two other innings, great plays kept the Dots scoreless. In the fifth, another B to Hama to Bert DP was possible because B and Hama showed tremendously quick hands getting their throws off. In the sixth, I think with the bases loaded and two outs, B playing in shallow left, gunned out a guy trying to get to second base.

Paul also made several plays, keeping his glove down on hot shots and coming up clean with the ball and firing to first. The infield tonight was like a clinic.

Tom must have been dealing some nasty stuff too, allowing only two runs in a softball game is pretty rare. And one of them, while not unearned resulted in the comedy highlight of the game. A ball that looked like it was clubbed way over the fence in left center died and fell short of the warning track. In fact only a few feet behind Cage in left center field. He had the best seat in the house and even though he had a glove, did not go for the souvenir. So Bo, who was not far away himself, assuming Cage would get it, also looked on with great interest. Then he realized Nick was not moving and made a last ditch panicky run to get it, but it fell in and rolled between them. By the time they retrieved it, the batter had a triple and ultimately scored one of the Blue Dot runs. But given the score, it was regarded as light entertainment, and we wished we had highlights to watch after the game.

We didn't have the long ball (Cage did have two doubles) but just got enough add ons that the Dots never were in the game after the 7-0 first.

We scored three in the fifth on consecutive hits by Cage, Bert, Hama, Paul and Tom. In the fourth, Bo had a clutch two out two run double to the fence to plate Heffe's CR and Monty, who had started the two out rally with hits.

Overall Bo, B, Cage, and Heffe had three knocks, most of the others two. Tom led the team with three RBIs.

The magic number is now one. Let's hope it can come with a win over Sons of Pitches next week!

Milestones:
Hama       200 rbi (#13)
Bo            10 2b (#31)

Trivia answer: Simpson Hangers

MVP!

MVP! MVP! MVP!

The crowd roared as they cheered the hero. No one could remember Pleasanton fans erupting like this. The team wanted to carry me off the field but, being so humble, I told them it wasn't necessary, and, after all, it is a team game. The great ones are always humble.

Yes, I was the only one who didn't make an out tonight as Kapsch beat the Blue Dots 14-2. Three for three. The opposition was dumbfounded, trying where to play me. But I snuck every ball between them, and the rest is history.

And on defense? In my one inning, I made every play, with two putouts, and that is just one short of the world record for putouts in an inning. How many putouts did Albert or Derek make in their innings?

Brian threw the first one right at my gut, and I had to make a tremendous play to avoid getting crossed up. It's the hardest play for a first baseman. But I hung on. On the second Hama was playing too deep in right field, and I had to stretch all my 5'7" frame, bad leg and all to get the out.

The rest of the team did manage to score 13 runs other than the one I scored, and we held them to two. But the fans knew what was what.

A Kiss is Just a Kiss

Twenty plus years of Transdyn-Kapsch softball, and one tie. Then two this year. Sometimes they feel like a loss, a missed opportunity, but this one felt like a win.

Because, we were down 8-3 after the first inning, and 10-3 after two. We chipped away on a solo by Bert, before bursting out with five in the six to come within one, and tying it in the seventh. The salient point though is that we held Pleasanton Auto to zero, that is none, nada, zilch, runs after the second inning. Five straight zeroes on the scoreboard, including saving the tie in the bottom of the seventh.

This is a testament to Tom's pitching and our defense which woke up after some trouble in the first. JT had himself a game in right center; a fine running catch on a twisting fly over his head in the first to even keep PA from scoring more, and then the play of the game in the fifth. With one out and runners on first and second, he came in on a sinking line drive and dove and caught it. The runner on second had hesitated at first, then decided no way and was almost to third when JT nailed it. JT had the presence of mind to come up throwing, and the runner tripped over his feet turning to go back to second, and he was toast. End of inning.

Pauly had a great game over at the hot corner, making great plays in the third and the sixth to turn back rallies. And I think we had one or two other double plays, one going B to Hama to me at first. No one gets the ball out of their glove faster than Brian.

If you look at the box score, it looks like yet another game Bert carried us on offense. Two doubles and a home run, three RBIs. But everyone contributed. Hama and Bo also had three hits, and the team worked six walks, some of which were critical to rallies. For instance Tom took four balls with the bases loaded in the first notching an RBI. Pauly loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth that kicked off our five run inning. I have a teammate elsewhere whose mantra is "A walk's a hit". Everyone wants to get that great hit, but a true team player will take four bad ones instead of swinging at a bad pitch, and turn it over to the next guy.

The tie ruins our hopes of going 10-0, but keeps us undefeated. Magic number is two to clinch the division with four games left.

Milestones:
Bert        200 rbi (#12)
Tom       100 rbi (#21)
and Bert passing Cage for #1 in HR with 39
He passed the Load earlier this year to move into second.

All That Glitters is Vegas Gold

White lost a heartbreaker yesterday, 30-26 to Vegas Gold. We blew leads of seven and nine runs, the latter going into the eighth.

Every team in Creaker land is special but White was a very cohesive group this season, win or lose. I was going to skip the usual write-up and instead write a paragraph on each player, but it would have read the same for each and every player: Contributed on both offense and defense, played without any ego, and was a positive influence on the team throughout the season. The only drama we had this season had to do with our pregame habits and it came from outside.

Before I get all teary-eyed, I will launch instead into some highlights.

I have to admit, even though it was a heartbreaker, it was a great game. Every time we threatened to put them away, Vegas Gold came storming back. We won six innings, usually a formula for success - but they won the right three in big fashion. We helped them with some gaffes in the field but that favor was returned in kind. There were some bad calls, but they went both ways. They just won the last inning, and that is why they are moving on to next week.

Rich Brown had an unbelievable defensive game with multiple running catches robbing V. Gold of extra base hits. Without him they may have scored 40 runs.

Mike Saindon knocked down several balls headed to the outfield. Didn't always get the out, but saved extra bases on the hits. How many Creakers have skinned knees from diving after our games?

Speaking of which, so did Clay Kallam - who made a couple of stops on hard liners just inside the third base line. On one he flung it over to first and the first baseman scooped it but it went off his glove and his chest and then he grabbed it before the runner's foot was down. Unfortunately the Gold umpire didn't see it that way.

Seemed everyone playing the hot corner for White had a good game. Bruce Spencer stopped another hot shot, stepped on third and threw a strike to Rover David Partridge covering second for a double play.

There was another great play I think started by Saindon where the throw to first shorthopped Barry Gronenberg, and he skillfully scooped it up.

On offense we were led by Saindon, Mike Guerrero, and Charlie Uhlman with four hits apiece. Saindon's included two doubles good for three RBIs. Uhlman's included the White bomb of the game. He split a couple of really fast Gold outfielders who then had to chase the blast into field five. The two run homer gave us our fourth lead of the game at 18-16 in the fifth. Guerrero was nearly automatic with his four singles, as he has been all season. But the most impressive at bat may have been on the only out he made. Playing with a pulled groin, he hit a double play ball, and hustled to first to stay out of the DP. What a gamer!

Brown, Lisi, Partridge, Kravin, Spencer, Kallam, and Dave Siegel all had three hits. Siegel had a rough beginning of the game on defense, and then with a bases clearing three run double in the second and RBI singles in the fourth and seventh, made up for it and then some. He led the team with the 5 RBIs. Spencer had a really clutch two out hit to put us ahead in the third. Lisi was on base all but one time (he took a walk for the team as well) and that was a liner to left right at the left fielder. Brown had an 'off' game for him, which means 'only' 3-5.

Everyone else had two hits (Dave Rose, Gronenberg, Coach Neil Henry, and Helen Kostoff). Rose's include a deep drive for a triple, Kostoff scored three times as she got on on fielder's choices a couple of times. Gronenberg (and Siegel too) pitched better than the number of runs allowed - we made errors at the worst times in their two comeback innings of seven and nine runs.

As for Coach Henry, it's a testament to his leadership how well we all got along, and what fun we had. And, at times, we played like champions. The only sad thing about Creaker ball is when you have a team put together like this one, at the end of the year, you all go your somewhat separate ways, and can't build upon what you accomplished.

Hmm. Guess I got everybody!

Free the Coneheads

That is, Sunday was a free day for the Coneheads. They weren't sure what to do with it.

This is because we played four games Saturday, and in the end were eliminated almost into the evening, going 2-2 to end our tournament. It was only the third time in my 19 years on the Coneheads we did not make Sunday.

I blame Joe and me. He suggest that he would not hit in the playoffs, shortening the lineup so other players could get more at bats. And I agreed.

If Joe hits, he goes 9-10, and inspires us to sweep into Sunday and into and beyond the finals. I have no doubt of this and you can't prove otherwise, unless you have an alternative universe machine.

As it was we beat the two easy teams, getting our revenge over Johnny's Gang, for our ignominious defeat last week 16-8, and easily handling the Reds 23-7.

But against the Cal Broncos and Old Scouts, we just didn't show up, falling 20-9 and 14-2, respectively. Each game started off slow enough. We were down only 5-3 after three to the Broncos and 3-2 after four to the Scouts. But we never had the famous Conehead inning that puts so much pressure on the other team. I don't know what happens to us when we kind of disappear.

Derek tried to carry us on his shoulders, but it wasn't enough. He had seven hits and three walks in 12 plate appearances, including three triples. Chuck was hot all day, leading us with eight hits and seven RBIs. Craig led us in slugging, with three doubles, a triple and a homer. Bruce also had a double and a homer, and Chris had a double, triple, and homer. Chopper hit his usual .700 in these playoffs. Haze also had a good day, continuing his hot streak from the regular season.

I wanted to say a word thanking our rookies, Chris and Chauncey. They are our youth movement. Chris fits in perfectly with his sharp wit, and solidifies our infield. Chauncey was not supposed to play in the playoffs, he was a sub. But he showed up, just as he showed up all season in Walnut Creek, and contributed as much as anyone.

So it's wait til next year, again, or fall in Walnut Creek, depending. It was a good year - we had some fun going 9-2, and in first place until the last week.

Competition

There is a new competition among Kapsch players.

That is, who can hit the longest single. Bert and D are neck and neck after this week.

The corollary - who can get thrown out at first base on the longest ball hit. D is way ahead on this one after nearly doing that deed Tuesday.

They both involve aging players who have a lot of power, and love to admire their long balls. It gives us all something to be entertained by.

Me, I won't be joining either competition. I am too busy trying to set the team record for weak-ass grounder double play balls. It takes a lot of concentration and focus, and I am unable to partake in other such trivialities.

We had several balls hit Tuesday that looked off the bat like no-doubters and died in the weird winds on Field 4. But Bert finally connected one high up in the trees in left in the bottom of the sixth, and even though it only tied the game and the game winner came three hitters later when Pauly knocked in D with the winning run, it pretty much settled the score.

Likewise our defense showed up in the late innings to save the game, especially the final one. It seemed the team was on a mission to not get to the bottom of the seventh. Cage made a nice play running back on a deep ball. Hama playing left had adventures all night with the wind knocking down the ball in front of him but wrestled down one last fly for the second out. And B made a nice play on a hot shot to end it.

Other highlights were a sliding catch by JT in shallow center in the fifth, and a crisp 6-4-3 double play, B to B to D in the fourth.

The top of the order carried us, which is of course why they get the big bucks. Bert was 4-4, D 3-4 and they combined for half of our RBIs. Cage and B set them up and along with Bert all scored three times. Pauly had a couple of clutch run scoring singles. JT and Tom also added a couple of hits.

After crushing them 30-7 in the first round, Cup Check gave us all they had in this one so it was a good win to keep us undefeated at 5-0. We can reduce our magic number to one with a win next week.

Maybe I can get them to let me hit from the shallow outfield so I can join the competition!

Milestones:
D            600 ab (#12)
JT           50 ab (#55)

White Pales Compared to Gray, 16-19

The deck was stacked.

First there was, ahem, the little controversy over White's pre-game rituals, which took us out of our game. And left us thirsty. Miss that orange juice. Then we came out and scored five in the top of the first, and in this game the Curse of the First was restored.

All during the game I kept an eye out over on Field 4, and Vegas Gold was giving us the help we needed to gain second place in the overall standings. But in the end, we didn't take care of our own business and fell to Gray, 19-16. They leapfrogged over us and Teal to get the bye next week.

Of course this means we get to play next week, so as far as I am concerned that's all good.

You could say that there were a lot of bloopers and bleeders for Gray, and we hit a lot of line drives right at people, and you'd be telling the truth, but the fact is Gray played exceptional defense at key times (like Randy Crase's catch to end the eighth and Al Munoz' on a pop up to end the game), and had better hitting throughout their lineup.

So despite Barry Gronenberg's 3K performance, we fell, but we had some highlights.

Rich Brown went from the heights to a low in the third. He made an absolute web-gem shoestring catch on a sinking line drive and then the next guy up hit a ball in the exact same spot, which Rich misses by about an inch, and it got past him for a triple.

Dave Partridge had his own gem on a hot shot up the middle, which he turned into a step on second throw to first double play. And he was the middle man in a Mike Saindon to second to first double play in the fourth that kept Gray out of a big inning.

Bruce Spencer turned a shot to third into an out by firing to first. The first baseman made it look like a tough play by falling down as he stretched out and hung onto the ball.

On offense, it was again the Paul Lisi story. Paul had a bases clearing three run triple in the fourth that gave us our last lead at 10-7. And he hit another bases clearing hit, this time a two run double, in the eighth, that gave us a shot at a comeback. He had six RBIs in all.

Dave Rose joined Lisi with four hits, mostly solid line drives down the left field line. And speaking of line drives down the line, Mike Guerrero had the hit of the day. He had two strikes and the next pitch came in low and short and Mike was determined to not strike out, so he reached down and poked the ball on a line past the bewildered third baseman. Everyone gasped.

Gronenberg had three hits including a booming deep fly double on which Kevin Kane nearly robbed him with a great catch, but just managed to get a glove on. Brown was again a thorn in the side of the other team with three singles, a walk and a sac fly. Vince Franceschi and David Partridge each had three hits with an extra base knock included, a triple and a double respectively. Partridge had probably the hardest hit ball all day, but it was a line drive out right at the left center fielder.

The loss ended a good second half for White, and this year the playoffs are anyone's for the taking. We are looking forward to pre and post game celebrations starting next Tuesday!

All Hands On Deck, White 17 - Green 15

It was brought to my attention that last week, I did not mention every single player in White's great win over Vegas Gold. My bad. Not that there's any ego in Creaker Ball.

After all softball is a team game, and everyone contributes something. So here goes:

Barry Gronenberg, Dave Siegel, Mike Guerrero, Mike Saindon, Howard Davis, David Partridge, Dave Rose, Helen Kostoff, Paul Lisi, Vince Franceschi, Bruce Spencer, Rich Brown, and Jeff Kravin. And for good measure, Neil Henry, Clay Kallam, and Charlie Uhlman, who missed this game.

There. Never let it be said that I didn't give equal coverage.

In fact, everyone did contribute to our win over Green, 16-15, which is important in a one run game.

The game started out with lots of offense, with both teams scoring four in the first, and White putting up five in our second. The biggest blow was a blast off Spencer's bat. It landed almost all the way to field 5, and Green's outfielders kind of just let it go. Bruce couldn't believe it, and ran from base to base as though he thought the throw would come in any moment. We had to urge him forward ("Run, Bruce, Run!"). Wish I had a stopwatch - it had to be the slowest home run in Creaker history.

The top of the lineup produced the first rally, and the bottom the second. As I said, everyone contributes to White. But then with a 10-4 lead, we played a little sloppy D, and let Green back in the game. They closed it to 12-12 after five and actually took a lead 15-14 after six. But Gronenberg came back in to pitch the last few innings and his pitching combined with our usual solid defense to shut them out over the last three frames.

In the meantime, our offense woke up just enough to take a precarious one run lead going into the ninth. The big blow was a gap triple by Lisi, which brought us within one, and then he scored the tying run on a Guerrero single. Siegel knocked in the game winner an inning later.

It stood up because of an outstanding defensive ninth. Spencer sprung out of the catcher's box to nab a foul ball for the first out. Then Guerrero made two spectacular plays at second base. On the first he knocked down a ball headed to right field, right to Davis playing rover. He caught it and released it in one motion to nail the runner in a bang bang play. Then on another ball ticketed to right, Guerrero lunged to his left, fielded the hot one hopper, and spun and threw to first, game over.

Guerrero had a total game - he also went 4-4 with four RBIs to lead the team. Lisi was a pest - besides the triple, he had a single and two walks and scored in all four plate appearances. Brown, Partridge, Rose, Gronenberg, and Siegel all had three hits. Gronenberg had one of his patented slicers past first base for a thing of beauty. And he duplicated Spencer's effort in his one inning behind the plate, retiring a Green hitter on a pop to the catcher.

The other outstanding defensive plays included Partridge gunning down a runner trying to go first to third on a single, where Kostoff stretched high to corral the throw, and a Willie Mays type basket catch by Spencer in his one inning in right center.

Now We've Seen It All

This is a test. Pick the most unique play of the night as Kapsch routed M.A.R.A. 23-8:

1) Greg hitting a ball a mile over the fence to put us up 3-0 in the first. We never looked back.

2) Cage gunning down a runner at home in the top of the second. Monty coming off the plate to grab the ball and tag the runner. This only seems to be an out in Pleasanton.

3) Albert doing his best Greg impression in the bottom of the second, our second two run homer.

4) Heffe hitting a pool cue shot: 70 feet squibber straight toward left field, then taking a left turn to wrap abound the bag. Look up squibber, it is an actual baseball term. According to the Wikipedia Glossary of baseball, it's also called a nubber. I hit a squibber and a nubber. It sounds a little dirty. It's hit off the end of the bat and "This puts a side spin on the ball...and is difficult to catch and can be trouble for the infielder to make a play." Base hit all the way.

Remember who writes this thing. If you ever want to be mentioned again, weigh your choice carefully.

That was the chief entertainment of the evening. The rest was a lot of action running around the bases and making plays in the field. Ho hum.

Bert had a perfect 4-4 night adding a double to his two run homer, and scored four runs.

Tom was also 4-4: four line drives over the infield. I did a double take when I looked at his record: Tom has had exactly one extra base hit for Transdyn/Kapsch. And it's not like he can't hit or run. That's out of 210 hits. He's just got that line drive down so well, it's just what he does. No accident that on three of his hits a run scored. I think we will call him our Duane Kuiper.

Bo also had four hits, and went to second on three of them. Every time I looked up he was rounding a base. Gregg, Pauly and Heffe had three hits apiece.

Besides Nick's throw and Monty's tag, the other defensive high(low?)lights came on their last batter, who arrived late. The first time he popped it up half way between the plate and the mound. Monty and Tom ran circles around each other and the ball like Keystone Kops, and finally picked it up. They were saved by the Infield Fly rule, which was subsequently called since there were runners on first and second.

The next time up it got even better. This time he muscled up and put it between Tom, Mario at second and Bert playing first. They debated it, looked at it, had coffee, watched a movie and finally no one made a play on the ball. "SAFE" yelled the ump. Luckily it didn't hurt us, and these were side shows as we poured it on with innings of 5, 8, and 7 runs, and put it away early.

Next game bring your pool cues and I will teach you how to really hit.

Milestones:

Tom           100 r (#20)

Bert           20 2b (#20)

Gregg        50 h (#34)

The Perfect Dote

It's not an antidote, because one of those would only be needed to reverse bad fortunes. Since we won the weekend in Walnut Creek, there was no need.

What there was need for was a relaxing game to rest injured and tired bodies and minds. The Reds were happy to provide the foil for that to the tune of 25-7. We were up 25-2 after four innings, and it only lasted five and a half innings.

There were no real highlights just hitting, hitting and more hitting. The Reds didn't help themselves by showing up with only eight players and then nine after a couple of innings. The gaps were just too easy to hit for a team that had played four games over the weekend.

Ol' G, Bruce, Chopper and Haze had the perfect games, the first three with 4-4 and Haze 3-3. Pope had his daily three run homer in the first, which effectively ended the game, among three hits. Bruce's line shot triple down the right field line had the game high exit velocity - Statcast estimated 140 mph. Everyone else had at least two hits except Chris who was still moping over his bronze medal MVP for his weekend. Oops I am not supposed to call out people by name for that sort of thing.

A good time was had by all in our second last tuneup before playoffs. Next week we have Johnny's Gang to wrap it up. Win and finish first, that simple. They started out improved but have reverted to form lately. Although not all the results are in, it is likely that if we beat them, they will be our first round opponent in the playoffs.

Milestone:
Ol' G        600 h (#8)

White Happened in Vegas, 29-23

The most important takeaway from Tuesday's 29-23 White win over Vegas Gold is this: We BROKE the CURSE of the FIRST! It's a myth, after all!

After breaking out with hits from six of our first seven hitters, punctuated by Charlie Uhlman's two run double in the gap, it didn't look good when V. Gold scored nine of a possible ten runs through two to take a 9-5 lead.

Then what happened in Vegas - White won six of the final seven innings (and the other was scoreless). A good formula for success!

Clutch hits abounded. Mike Saindon, a two run single in the third. He repeated that in the fifth, when we scored five runs after the first two batters made outs. Coach Neil Henry kicked that one off with triple to left. In the sixth, it was Kravin's two run double with two outs. In the seventh, Saindon's third straight two run single.

It didn't dawn on us at the time but between the seventh and ninth innings.White had 20 STRAIGHT batters reach safely via hit or walk. That has to be some kind of record. All the hits were singles too, except when Mike Guerrero hit a double over John Banker in right center for our final run of the game.

So - eight runs with two outs in the sixth and seventh, and 13 with no outs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. That's a winner!

We hit .704 as a team. Saindon led the way with his five hits and seven RBIs. Guerrero added 4-4 plus a walk. Leadoff Rich Brown had his usual 4-5 day with a great catch and four runs scored. Vince Franceschi also had four knocks, good for four RBIs. Three hits from Paul Lisi, Superman Howard Davis, Henry, and Kravin rounded out the all out team effort.

And, separately, we have to acknowledge Helen Kostov, 3-3 with a walk, continuing her hot pace since returning from Italia. Because she does it against the severe shift and players playing shallow. There is no needle she can't thread.

Great defense all around, particularly Lisi on a running catch in the first robbing Brian Black of a home run, Kostov on a hot shot liner at third in the third, Saindon on a dive in the sixth on a liner, and a throw from Franceschi to Davis to Partridge nailing Rich Schuler as he tried to stretch a beautiful liner down the right field line into a double.

White Shines!

Proud to be a Conehead

Momentum is a funny thing.

In the first game Saturday, we lapsed into our bugaboo of not scoring in the first few innings. We found ourselves down 4-1 to Big Feet after four innings, 4-2 after five. But our defense kicked in, held them, and we tied it in the sixth. Time had run out, and we had two outs and one runner on third. Clutch hits from Chuck, Gene, and Heffe tied it, and the momentum changed. A six run rally in the top of the extra inning seventh took care of the rest.

That gave us momentum, we topped Advance Construction 8-4 to advance ourselves to the finals. Jeff H carried us in this game. His bases loaded two run single put us ahead in the second, Lefty followed with a second two run single, and we never looked back, winning 8-4. Haze was 3-3 with half of our RBIs.

Along the way were Chauncy's bobble-turned-throwout-at-second, Chris going all out on a slide in foul ground on a popup, Knight making all three outs in an inning, and Randy starting a 5-4-3 double play.

So we felt pretty good going into Sunday. Sure, Advance had gone 13-1 and were missing a couple of key players Saturday. But they had to win three straight, and thus we were hoping for hot weather to drain their energy.

What do we do? We let them hold us scoreless for six innings as they built an 8-0 lead, and then pile on four more in the seventh. We had SEVEN hits through those six innings. Sure, we produced a mini-rally in the last inning, scoring two. Sure we played good defense. Chauncy made a couple of great plays behind the plate, Joe got a K, and Chopper made a great snag in the first inning.

The big M had taken up residence in the other dugout. This is where Conehead Pride comes in the door. We could have rolled over, and taken solace in the fact that we were only the third place team this season. But we never gave in or gave up, and everyone was going all out, and the results showed it. Gene goes into an all-out dive in the shallow outfield, re-injures his FU finger but makes the catch. Heffe picks Randy's low throw out of the dirt. Chris makes play after play at SS despite a groin pull.

So when it's 2-0 after two innings, then three, then four, then 2-1 after five, it feels like it could be 20-1 but we also know that Advance could break out at any time. Then it's Ol' G time. "I'd like to get five runs please." Well sure, G never mind we haven't scored five all day, no problem at all.

Then Pope breaks out of his series long slump with a booming triple. We've been waiting for that. Then a double by Chris, sharp single by Knight and a double by Chopper and we had a couple. Playoff MVP Chauncey, who had overslept late the first day and hadn't even made game time, hit another double, and when a Haze single brought him in, we had our five.

It wasn't over yet. Advance quickly loaded the bases with no outs. Their biggest power hitter up. A grand slam and it's a one run game. Even a double makes it a two run game with no outs. Instead he smashes it to Chris, and a flip to second and turn to first and Advance Momentum was taken right out of the park. It was a Conehead reclamation project. The hard grounder to Randy at third was just a formality; But Randy stood tall and made sure this throw was right in my mitt, and it was over, 7-2 good guys.

A word about the unofficial Playoff MVP award - Chauncey had shown up to every game all season, and even though he was a little late to start the weekend, he made several tough plays behind the plate, threw out a guy at second from right field, and hit and hit and hit - 7-8 overall with two doubles.

Joe was a close second. He pitched a hell of a series, allowing only 25 runs in four games, including the two in the finale. After not swinging a bat for a few games, he was 7-9 in the playoffs.

Chris was an even closer third. He made every play at SS, including many that looked impossible, all with a pulled groin. He led us in hits, triples, RBIs, and slugging percentage.

Not bad - two rookies and the Old Man of the C(oneheads).

Honorable mention: Gene, 7-10, with the catch in center field.

This was one of the sweetest Championships out of the many in Conehead lore. We were definite underdogs - Advance was 13-1, Big Feet had taken two of three during the season. Joe had to scramble constantly for players - we had 26 different guys in the line up for at least one game. Yet we persevered, and the Cotton is once again high!

Milestones:
Game 1
Lefty        250 rbis (#1)
Randy      300 ab (#12)
Randy      100 g (#14)

Game 2
None

Game 3
None

Game 4
Pope        10 gw (#6)
Chopper  400 ab (#10)

Dang Whippersnappers!

There's a cliche in baseball - you have to be strong up the middle to field a championship team: Pitcher, catcher, shortstop, second base, and the middle outfield.

Monday we had the old school middle infield, Chuck and Ol' G manning their positions, SS and 2B, and they have both had their injury problems of late. I had to ask the opponent, the Ballbarians, who suspiciously field a team that certainly looks like they are mostly under 40, whether we could send out our middle infielders with some 'helpers'. Chuck had a cane and G had his arm in a sling, and a walker. The Ballbarians looked on quizzically.

Then something happened in the middle of the game: A couple of bad calls by the home team umpires, and Chuck and G got a little hot under the collar. The calls stood - we may be just as competitive but we are old enough to let them go, knowing it will all even out in the end. And then, Chuck lifted his cane, and yelled out "take this, you young whippersnappers," and cast it aside derisively.  We all started playing like 39 year olds! He made a leaping catch in the third inning, just like the Chuck of old. G threw off his walker and his sling, and went on to hit a two run double in the gap in the sixth that increased our lead from 13-10 to 15-10, and it was all downhill after that, and we finished 17-11 victors.

Pope led the way as usual with four RBIs on two hits and a sac fly. Larry was 3-3 plus a walk and led with three runs scored. He made the play of the game snagging a foul tip over his shoulder behind the plate. Lefty and G joined him with three hits. Joe got a swinging K, although the fans thought there may have been a foul tip there.

Two more to go, and we are in position to finish with the best seeding possible for the playoffs; we are a half game up on the Old Scouts, just win out and first place is ours.

Milestones:
Pope        50 gw (#1)
Gene       500 rbi (#5)
Gene       1100 ab (#7)
Gene       650 h (#7)

Booze n Toonz! (White 28, Cardinal 22)

This may be NSFW (not safe for work), but since most of us are retired, NEVER MIND!

Here's the secret formula for defeating the Cardinal juggernaut, who had two losses all year coming into this morning's game:

First and foremost, get Helen Kostoff on your team. After our inconsistent play the last few weeks, one great game followed by an egg, repeat and rinse, she determined that it was time for the secret formula. A shot before the game, followed by, in some cases, a second dose as required. She has a secret blend of Irish whiskey and some other stuff, which I will not divulge for obvious reasons, followed by a healthful cup of OJ and a Bacon kicker. It was delicious! Add to that a background medley of rock and roll from the seventies, and you are ready to go. Of course, I was late, and didn't get my shot until after my first AB. Let's just say, I flew out the first time, and then had three straight hits.

Next, leave behind your nominal best hitter (as well as your anchor at SS) and your head coach for a week; both of them missed the game. Then EVERYONE else steps up, and feels the vibe.

Have your assistant coach tell you to just score in every inning, and you will win (which we did, at least two runs per inning, and which we did, by a final score of 28-22). This was just a rumor that Rich Brown was spreading, but it sounds good.

Add in a dash of the curse of the first and you are all set. They started with a five run outburst top of the first.

After that remarkable things started happening. We had a walk inspired three run response in the bottom of the first, which Barry Gronenberg followed with the first of TWO three pitch innings. Cardinal failed to punch us in the gut. Dave Siegel came on in the third and repeated the insult, zero runs across. This was Vince Franceschi's inning in LF. He got handcuffed but caught one ball in the middle gut area, and turned and did a little pirouette, and got ready to juggle it, realized there was only one ball to juggle, and then dropped it trying to throw it back to the infield. Luckily we got the call, the right one, that he was in the act of throwing not catching when he dropped it.

In the second, the gift-walks continued, and we worked it into our first lead at 6-5. In the third, more of the same - a single and three walks, followed by the patented Heffe bloop double behind the third baseman for two runs, and Howard Davis and Gronenberg followed up with run scoring singles for five runs total.

In the third, there was a miracle for a double play. Davis overthrew me at first after a force at second trying for the double play, and despite my prematurely old and injured body, I managed to corral it near the dugout and muster everything I could to throw to second to nail the advancing runner by half a step. Just like we practiced!

It didn't stop the Cardinal from tying it, however, but this is where Paul Lisi stepped up. He drove in three runs each in his next two at bats. First on a double to take the lead again 14-11 in the fourth, and in the sixth with a triple to make it 20-17.

In between we had a two out rally that produced three runs. Davis was again the hero, with a two run bases loaded double as the highlight.

Cardinal kept after us - before Lisi's second 3-RBI hit, they tied it at 17. His hit and two more following his in the sixth caused them to play catch up the rest of the way, from down 22-17. We answered their two runs with two of our own in the seventh, and their three with four in the eighth. The big blow was Franceschi's two run double to right.

Along the way, Dave Partridge made the play of the game in the seventh. From SS, he ranged far up the middle to snag a hot one hop line drive ticketed to center field, and neatly flipped it to Clay Kallam covering second, who spun like a youngster to nail the double play. Kostoff shut off the rest of the inning with a good play on a grounder to her left.

In the ninth, I found myself on the bench with coach Dave Rose, and Kostoff. I mentioned that we had our best third baseman, our best right fielder, and best first baseman on the bench when you should put your best defense out there in the last inning of a game such as this. But it took me so long to say it, Gronenberg had already pitched his second three pitch inning and the game was over! He induced a fly to Brown in right center, a grounder to Kallam at rover, and a grounder on which Siegel made a nice play at second base. One-two-three, and hat's off to the coach who clearly knows more that I do!

Kostoff co-led the team with four straight hits against the shift. She is now 8-9 with a sac fly in three games since returning from vacation in Italy. Bellisima! And I believe her non-productive out was actually a grounder through the infield where a slow runner was put out at third.

Davis, the secret weapon, was also 4-4, with three RBIs.

Three hits were had by Brown, Lisi, Franceschi, Partridge, Rose, and Kravin. Lisi led the way with his six RBIs and Franceschi added five. Mike Guerrero, Kallam, Charlie Uhlman, and Siegel had a combination of hits and walks that added up to three times on base. That's twelve players with at least three times on. Of the other two, Gronenberg had two knocks and three RBIs, one on a sac fly, and Bruce Spencer had two hits and was robbed on a shot to the left field gap.

Good day at the office. This was one to savor and we did. Neil who? Saindon who?

Signature Win

Our new signature - the walk off double play (two weeks in a row).

This one had a little help from the ump - I think he had to use the facilities. But a DP is a DP and a win's a win, you make your own breaks, or any other cliche you want to invoke.

So when Pauly stepped on third and fired to second and the runner was declared out, Kapsch had its  fourth win in a row (going back to 2015) over Pleasanton Auto, 15-12, but it wasn't really that close.

That's because we broke out like gangbusters to an 11-1 lead. It started with a monster solo shot off Gregg's bat way up in the trees in the bottom of the first. Then we added on four more, with the clutch hit being a two out, two run double by Coop.

In the second more of the same, bases loaded this time for Gregg with one out. He just missed this one, and only got a sac fly, but then Bert stepped in. He hit a three run moon shot, prompting Gregg to tell him, "you complete me". Maybe they should get a room.

Add to that another clutch two out two run hit in the third, this time a Monty bases loaded single, and the energy drained like oil from the PA motor. They did manage to scratch back to make it close, but we never had doubt, and we had the hammer to boot.

Along the way, Hama had a lot of hitters eating out of his hand. He mixes front and back and side to side and high and low and back spin and knucklers as well as any pitcher around, and there were a lot of popups and weak grounders to show for it.

In the mean time, our defense helped him as well. The ESPN play was a hot shot to D's back hand at third, a quick step to the bag, and throw to Mario at second. It was so quick, Mario's relay to first only missed the triple play by a step.

Runner up was a nice stop by Jason and throw home with the bases loaded to get the lead runner and save a run in the sixth when PA was getting within striking distance.

The heart of the lineup (Gregg, Bert and D) was 8-8 with eight RBIs, and three sac flies. Mario, Coop and J had the other multi-hit games.

Of note: There are three players hitting 1.000 through two games. Pentony has the HR, while D has seven RBIs. But heffe is 1-1 with three walks, so the only one that hasn't made an out yet (they each have a sac fly). Who would you build your team around? (Don't answer that)

Milestones:
Cage        120 bb (#3)
Gregg      10 hr (#10)

Teal's Day Ends Brighter Than White, 19-16

In retrospect, we should have let that fifth run in in the top of the first. Then the Curse of the First would have kicked in at some point, and White would easily have won the game over Teal.

As it happened though, we clawed our way back from 4-0, 7-5, 11-6, and 16-11 deficits and tied it with five run sixth and seventh innings, only to go scoreless in the last two innings. Teal's lineup scored three in the top of the ninth and that was the difference.

We had our moments. Six straight hits in the second, including back to back doubles by Bruce Spencer and yours truly. Bruce led the team with team high four RBIs, and I led with four hits.

In the sixth inning rally, seven of the top eight hitters reached and produced our five runs. The only extra base hit in that stretch was a double by Paul Lisi.

In the next frame, the bottom half took their turn when, with two on and two outs and none in, we got a sac fly (Neil Henry), a Clay Kallam walk, and consecutive two out hits from Dave Siegel, Helen Kostoff, and Rich Brown.

The pitching was generally excellent, but Teal was able to hit a number of bloopers and bleeders. Barry Gronenberg hit corner after corner (including a taken strike three) but the opposition got several two strike hits, to their credit. Siegel pitched the middle innings and kept Teal off the board in the fourth and fifth, enabling our comeback.

Our ESPN moments on defense were a great catch running in by Lisi in LC, a nice catch running out in RC by Brown, and a great spear and catch on a hot liner at SS by Mike Saindon. We also turned a double play on a low liner that Saindon caught, and quickly fed to Kallam covering second, and the throw beat the runner getting back.

Besides my four, we were led by three hit games from Brown, David Partridge, Spencer and Howard Davis.

Take Care Bears

Yesterday was a special day. The Middleton family celebrated the 27th wedding anniversary of Ol' G and Deb. Gary talked to Deb about skipping the game, and Deb told him what's what: "I'm going to the Conehead game, what are YOU doing?"

This lead to the unveiling of a new/old nickname for G. He came up to take his swings one time and Deb called out, "c'mon Gare Bear, get a hit!" It cracked us up and general hilarity broke out in the dugout.

The new name of the band: Gare Bear and the Heads.

I can't remember if that resulted in G's patented right center gap double or his flyout, I was too busy laughing to write it down.

Yesterday proved that one Gare Bear with Coneheads is greater than 11 Polar Bears, as we clobbered them 16-7.

I don't know what happened to the Polar Bears. Last year they had the same record we ended this year with: 8-5-1. Two years ago they made the championship game against us. This year: 5-8 going into the last week.

But we had Pope, who had a two run homer that pretty much settled things with one out in the bottom of the first, and later added a single and a triple. And secret weapon Chauncy, who had another bases clearing triple that cleared the left fielder's outstretched glove.

Add a couple of ESPN highlight plays in the outfield. Gene going full dive to grab a ball off the goose poop before it hit the ground - unfortunately we have to hold our breath because he bent back a finger. And Chauncy repeating the feat without the injury in right field a couple of innings later. For the infield, Chuck was back in his former home at SS and stole a hit from one Bear deep in the hole, where he spun and got a force out at second.

Joining Pope with three hits were Randy (plus a walk), super-sub Mike S, and heffe, who had a 50 foot double among his knocks. All but one of the rest had multi-hit games.

The game threatened to get away early, but we were feeling generous, so we let them close to 10-7 with a six run top of the fifth. Joe was in a giving way, so even though he also had a foul-out K, he  walked in two runs. Eventually we got out of the fifth with our lead reduced but still there, and instead of risking further damage, just batted until time ran out in the bottom of the fifth, as we plated six more. We might still be hitting it there were no clock. Chopper gave us the drama moment of the night as he tried to talk the ump into one more batter since he was on deck when time ran out. No luck, and Knight's preceding single ended up the walk-off hit.

Next week, we tune up for the playoffs with...wait for it...a bye. Who makes these schedules?

So next time you can't sleep at night, instead of counting sheep, try counting Gare-Bears!



Milestones:
Heffe         600 ab (#2)
Stink Eye  450 ab (#5)
D               100 g (#13)