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)