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.