Orange Crush Strangles White 25-6

In a perfect world, there is some comic relief. Every day. My Dad used to say, "have some fun every day." And it takes a big man to play the clown, whether by design or happenstance. Regardless of intent, I am willing to provide such service for my team.

In Dennis Perrone's highlight of the year, I sent a ball up the middle, and he fielded it on one short-hop. He was so surprised, he stepped on second for the force out, except there was no one on first to force. There was a runner on third, and he broke for home. Dennis started to go that way but - yours truly was so stunned at how hard he had hit it and how nonchalantly Dennis had picked it, when I saw Dennis make the phantom out at second, I stopped to admire the goings-on. And then Dennis could very nonchalantly throw to first to get an easy third out. And my teammates roared. 

And roared. And I think White did too.

Of course, when your team is up 20-5 in the fifth, it's easy to find humor in the coach's lack of hustle and brains.

So, rewind back to square one, Orange spotted White the Curse of the First, relapsing into some early season lack of defense. but we responded with five of our own in the bottom half, and never looked back. Mike Saindon and Greg Wilson hit back to back bombs for a triple and home run, respectively, and we were off to the races. We then scored 3, 5, 5, 2, 4, and 1, and except for a single run in the sixth, we shut out White the rest of the way. Final score was 25-6 after we flipped and flopped and gave up our last two at bats.

Highlights included Mark Edelstone hitting three gappers for two doubles and a triple and six RBIs, Art Oller, Steve Sloat, and Brian Black going 4-4. Edelstone, Saindon, Wilson, and pitcher Mark Narciso all collected three hits. Each of the rest of the lineup had two hits, so no one was left out of the fun.

Narciso, pitched 8 strong innings, throwing strikes despite the gusty wind, and kept White's great hitters off balance. Howard Davis made his season debut after an eight week road trip, and allowed just one unearned run in his one inning. Gabe Tanaka made several highlight stops at 2B after a rough one in the first. Sloat caught a screaming line drive in the later innings keeping the ball from decapitating him, and also grabbed a much tougher chance out of the air when he wandered into the outfield on a softly hit pop-up. The first baseman picked one out of the dirt, and stopped a hard hit grounder for an out. Wilson tracked one down in the RC gap after a long run, and in his one inning at rover also grabbed a hard liner up the middle and knocked down a grounder to his left, stayed with it, and gunned down the batter at first.

But the web gem was Edelstone going to his knees in shallow dead center to pick a ball before it touched green with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. That catch changed to tone of the game.

I do want to congratulate White for playing hard and having fun despite the lopsided score. I'm not sure I would have been such a good sport as their players were, and kudos to them.

Every week someone else steps up on this team. Who's next?

Sweet 16

The play of the game for me: I was sitting in my car, getting ready to leave, minding my own business. The car door was still open, I was talking to Julia.

All the sudden I hear the sound of a ball hitting a car, and the next thing I know, there is a ball bouncing off my car door and landing at my foot by the brake. I picked it cleanly!

Reggie from Big Feet came over to retrieve it. He saw it hit my car on the inbound, and said it looked like I got lucky because there was no dent where it hit.

I have to say I have parked at the dog park parking lot for 100% of the games I have played on Field 5 in the last five years at least. Tonight I was a little early so I parked way down the line on the outside. I think it's back to the dog park!

Now back to the game.

In my other life, I was a mathematician. I know, big surprise. So I like numerical sequences.

Especially this one: 2, 9, 16. That's the number of runs we have scored in the first three games. So the next three will be 23, 30, 37. I like this trend!

Finally shaking off the pandemic rust, the Coneheads  put together a combination of solid defense and timely offense to dominate first place Big Feet tonight.

The Feet dropped two on us in the first and it didn't look good when we left the bases loaded in the bottom half. But Joe started his way to a great game in the top of the second when he stopped a smash up the middle, before it hit the ground, and calmly and quickly flipped the ball to first where all I had to do was tap the runner who was slow to get back to the bag, for the double play.

After that, we nearly batted around in the bottom half of the second. Rich had the hit of the game when he cleared the loaded bases with a double to give us the lead at 3-2, and we never relinquished it. We scored three with no outs and importantly scored another three with two outs when Joe and James hit back to back doubles. We never looked back, adding two in the third on a Jeff Hazel Coneheadish double, and six more in the fourth. Chauncey started that rally off with a gapper triple, and after Heffe brought him in and Lefty singled, Joe tripled home two more.

Joe had a big game. He dominated the Big Feet big and little hitters. He stopped another smash up the middle. All told he was 4-4 with two doubles and a triple. Lefty, James, and Gene added three hits each, and everyone had at least one. Rich made the catch of the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, and James ranged far into shallow left/foul ground to catch the last two outs.

Milestones:

Game 1:

Heffe        650 ab (#2)

Gene        250 h (#9)

Randy      350 ab (#12)

Game 2:

None

Game 3:

Chauncey  50 h (#23)

Three for the price of one, Orange 26 - Royal 11

 After the Orange team had a victory beer, I moseyed over to the Royal pod to gloat.

John Preston said, "Here comes Kravin to gloat."

I was trying not to gloat.

Doug and Gary and Gerry and others said, "You can gloat now."

And I was trying not to gloat!

Well so here goes: No one wants to play Orange right now, we are on a roll, four wins in a row, including taking down two undefeated teams.

Way to jinx us for next week Heff.

This game was actually way closer than the score indicates. It was one of those three games in one games. In the first three innings we scored five twice, and zero in the third, while the talented Royals tallied 4, 1. and 5. So after three innings it was knotted up at 10 and it looked like a 31-30 game.

Thirteen of our first 15 batters got hits. The Marks, Narciso and Edelstone both ended an inning driving in the last runs with a double. I'm sure the scorecard on the other side looked similar.

And then an amazing thing happened - all the bats went silent on both teams. We scratched over two runs in the fifth, and Royal one in the sixth but for innings 4-7 the score was 2-1.

So it was that we took our very slim one run lead into the top of the eighth. Royal got two quick outs. Then Vince Francesci singled, and Mike Saindon doubled and up strode the secret weapon, Greg Wilson, the big lefty. He planted a long line drive way over the right fielder's head for a three run homer. And when we got back to back doubles by Ron Schwab and Narciso and a single from Ike Garcia, it seemed that the game was over.

Royal threatened in the last two innings but didn't score. We batted around in the open ninth and piled on another nine runs for the final score of 26-11 so it looked like a blowout, but really wasn't. We did dominate the last two innings 14-0.

Along the way we had plenty of good defense, which has really been the hallmark of our turnaround. Jay Chafetz made a great catch robbing Gary Namanny with two outs and the bases loaded in the second. Steve Sloat and Gabe Tanaka played two really high hop grounders into outs in the fourth and sixth. Saindon went to his knees at third base to stop a ball ticketed to left field to get a force out at second in the eighth. Then Francesci gunned down a runner at second on a clean single to right and Bob Carver snared a fading hard hit line shot up the middle for the third out.

The play of the day, though came in the fifth. On a little looper in no man's land in the infield, Schwab scooped it up before it touched the ground, and then shot the ball to second to turn a double play.

Narciso was 5-5 with six RBIs, Francesci was 4-4 plus a walk, and Chafetz, Edelstone, Saindon, Wilson (five RBIs), Schwab, Sloat and Carver all had three hits. Tanaka took two walks for the team to go with his hit, something he probably rarely does. Narciso also pitched the middle three innings, allowing just one run, and Garcia allowed zero the last three innings.

It was a great way to spend a Tuesday morning!

Orange Crush Cruises past Green 22-15

 I love Orange Juice. Especially when the team is slashing line drives all over the field, and when not doing that, dropping in bloop singles.

For the third week in a row, Team Orange took it out on the opposition, this time avenging our opening game loss to Green, 22-15.

It was a good sign (for us) when Ike Garcia retired the first three batters for a one-two-three first. And then we put up five, two of them on a monster shot by Greg Wilson over the right center fielder's head. In the second, two picks by the first baseman kept Green from tying it up, but in the top of the third our defense got a little too relaxed and allowed Green to get things even at 8-8. It was as close as they got to a lead in the whole game.

Mark Narciso came in to pitch the middle innings. Steve Sloat made a nice catch on a popup behind second that was whistling in the breeze. Garcia, in his time off the mound, went out to play second base for an inning in the fifth. Immediately the ball found him and he made a two nice plays to keep Green off the board.

In the bottom half we got five straight hits to open the inning, and after a sac fly, Gabe Tanaka plated the last run with a bomb to right center field. He was bummed it wasn't a home run (I suspect it was him that secretly snuck up and filled in his square on the scorecard), which it would have been had not the fifth run been on first.

That gave us a 20-9 lead and we kind of went on cruise control until the end. There were some nice catches in the outfield along the way by Sloat, Brian Black and Mark Edelstone.

The whole lineup hit well, but we were led by Wilson, Ron Schwab, and Garcia, who were all 4-4, and Mike Saindon, Tanaka, Bob Carver, Art Oller, and the coach who all had three knocks. Garcia led the way with 4 RBIs.

It was a long road but Team Orange got to .500 with the win.

I coulda had a V8

Or been anywhere else when the Coneheads got hammered by Advance Construction Sunday. One of the Advance Construction team members is on my Creaker team this year. He's always telling me how they have dominated the league the last few years. And looking at yesterday's game, you might be inclined to believe him.

14-2. Not pretty.

So I had to look it up. Covid has stretched out our concept of time. In 2019, indeed they were 10-4 and we were a distant third at 6-7-1. And in 2018 they were 12-1 and we were in third at 8-5-1. But that year we tore through the playoffs, and took down Big Feet and them. Before that of course we ended the season in first place four straight years.

Not exactly Advance dominance, but judging from Sunday afternoon the torch may have been passed.

We are in a period of transition - coaching change, Joe retired. And we added a lot of talent but talent takes a while to gel. That's where we are today.

We started off well enough. Loaded the bases in the first with no outs, D got us on the board with a hit. And then - two popups and a ground out. Advance didn't start any better, only scoring once in the first two innings. We took our first (and last) lead in the second. It was a Chopper special - he doubled and when Gene grounded out to third, he just kept running, drew a throw that should have been the faux pas third out at third, and of course they airmailed it to get him off the hook.

But unfortunately that was it for our scoring - Advance shut us out the rest of the way. 

Defensive highlights included a 6U-3 double play by Randy, the new Joe's first Conehead K, and Gene and Pope making tough catches with the Field 3 sun in their eyes in the 6th.

Hopefully we will start hitting next week.

The Orange Purple People Eater. 25-22

"Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky

It had the twelve long horns, and twelve big Orange eyes

I commenced to shakin' and I said "Ooh-eee"

It looks like a purple people eater to me

It was a twelve-eyed, twelve-horned, flyin' Orange purple people eater

(Twelve-eyed, Twelve-horned, flyin' Orange purple people eater)

A Twelve-eyed, Twelve-horned, flyin' Orange purple people eater

Sure looks strange to me (one eye?)"

(If you remember this tune, you are probably even more ancient than me)

This is now Frank Coppa's nightmare.

The short handed Orange Monster came out of the sky and ate up the Purple People, 25-22 on field 4 today.

We only had 11 1/2 players, but sometimes having fewer in the lineup just keeps everyone hot and that we were, up and down the lineup.

We dominated the early going. Mark Narciso held the powerful Purple lineup to seven runs in the first five innings. Twice he set down the top of the order - that includes Chip Sharpe, Mark Pitzlin, Gary Tryhorn and Raul Delgado - with zero or one run.

In the top of the first, Mike Saindon made two of his patented great stops at third base to get outs. In the bottom half, Mark Edelstone hit a gapper triple to score a hobbling Kevin Hopkins. Mark ended the day with the 'mini-cycle', a homer, triple, double, and a walk. Gabe Tanaka finished the scoring with a shot down the left field line past the speedy Sharpe and only stopped at second because the fifth run had scored.

In the second we traded four run innings. In the third, Tryhorn smashed a deep fly to dead center that Edelstone tracked down after a long run, and squeezed his glove when the ball rattled around for a while. Then Mark Narciso induced a comebacker from Delgado and made a nice play to get the third out. 

In the fifth we turned over the lineup with six straight hits sandwiched around a bases loaded RBI walk (look it up Frank) to yours truly - the capper being a left center gapper by Hopkins that plated the last two.

There we stood with a commanding 19-7 lead, but we knew the Purple people would make a comeback. And sure enough they did, scoring 12 in the next two frames to tighten the game to 20-19, Suddenly it was anyone's game. 

But in the bottom of the seventh, we answered with five. The game turned on a two out grand slam by Edelstone - again down the left field line. It turned a one run inning into five just like that. Have a game Mark!

In the eighth we traded zeroes - the only time they held us scoreless. It was the right side of the infield's time to shine. The first baseman fell/dove (and then even managed to get up and run to first!) to steal a hit away from one Purple Player, and then Tanaka ranged far to his left to rob another and get the third out.

In the top of the ninth, Delgado did his thing and mashed his second home run, but it was too little too late, and we walked off with the 25-22 win. Purple is undefeated no more! Yum Yum, Eat 'em up!

Brian Black was a perfect 5-5, Art Oller was also perfection at 4-4, Saindon was 4-5, Edelstone led the way with six RBIs.

I voted three MVPs - Edelstone on offense, Tanaka on defense (he also caught a troublesome popup) and Narciso on the mound for making the Purple People look largely ordinary.

Orange 28 Crushes Scarlet 16

There are lots of new players in the American Division this year (and from last) making their debuts this season. So every team is loaded with hitters. No one notices the defense, except when we give the other teams five or six outs in an inning.

In the battle today of the winless Orange and Scarlet, Orange finally put together a few innings of good defense and the very solid pitching of Ike Garcia to soundly defeat Scarlet 28-16. Putting up 28 runs didn't hurt either.

The game was a lot closer than that in the middle innings. The Orange Crush went 1-2-3 in the top of the first but then tallied ten in the next three innings to take a commanding 10-2 lead. The offensive highlight was two run shot over the right center fielder's head by Greg Wilson who touched them all. The defensive highlights were snag/putouts at rover by Mark Narciso and Mike Saindon at third in the fourth and just a crazy good catch in left by Brian Black, on a ball that was seemingly smashed over his head until he reached up and snared it.

In the third we scored five runs on five two out hits by the Coach, Black, Mark Edelstone, Kevin Hopkins, and Vince Francesco. We were on our way.

Ike was dealing and shut out the tough Scarlet lineup for three innings. But Scarlet pecked away with two in the fifth and when we had a defensive relapse in the sixth, they scored six to narrow our lead to 12-10. Our only runs in the middle were on a booming run scoring triple by Saindon, who then also scored on a sac fly by Steve Sloat.

Unlike last week though, this week we were determined to keep our lead. We tallied five in the seventh and four in the eighth punctuated by a triple to left by Narciso. In the ninth we put it away when we batted around with nine of the first ten batters reaching base. We netted seven in the open inning and the 28-16 lead held in the bottom of the ninth.

Francesco was a perfect 5-5, Wilson and Gabe Tanaka had four hits, and Black, Hopkins, Edleston, Saindon, Garcia, Narciso, and Kravin all had three hits to lead the offense.