You Win Some, You Lose Some, Parts I and II

I'm trapped.

I'm like the rat in the cage, or is it hamster, the one who has that wheelie thing and keeps spinning and spinning on it, never getting anywhere. I start writing the blog, and it just spins and spins and spins.

This is because I have been spoiled all year, and most of my teams have been racking up the wins hand over fist. JFT sweeps the playoffs after going 12-2 in the regular season. Transdyn does even better: 12-0 and also on the way to sweeping through the playoffs. The Coneheads headed into the playoffs with four straight Orinda championships under our belts and on the heels of an inspiring win over Cal Bronco in the last week in which we broke out with 19 runs in the first inning.

Then it all unraveled in one lousy week, which since has stretched into two or three. I don't know how to write about losing. The journalist in me wants to single out the reasons we lose - just as I highlight the individual performances that give rise to our wins. But this is no good for team chemistry, who wants to read about their failures? And besides, you may not believe this but some of them are my own failures and I would have to take responsibility for those. Now we can't have that can we?

The one single thread in common between the change of fortune of the two teams, Transdyn and the Coneheads, is a common frustration: We have not had a full team on the field for either team for much of the last month. There are some injuries: Both teams lost the starting pitcher, Joe breaking his hand (and valiantly playing through the JFT playoffs) and Sir Guy with his degenerative knee condition. Reggie has been out for the year with his Tommy John surgery (and yes we miss you Sting), and there have been some personal issues that put softball in its place in perspective. But there have also been no-shows and people committing to playing and then not showing up. I know that not everyone has the level of commitment of those of us that are complete softball sluts, but it is surprising on teams this successful when there are so many no-shows.

Transdyn was bumped up to the higher D "Upper" league after going undefeated in the spring season. We are stuck in limbo land - too good for the lower division but perhaps not good enough for the upper. Or are we? Playing shorthanded, we started out the Fall League with a win, and even though we have lost three straight since, it has been by a total of nine runs. A player or two that missed the game shows up, and then we don't have three guys playing out of position, and just perhaps the result is different. So there is hope but we need to field a complete team.

The Coneheads - well let's face it, the playoff championship streak had to end some time. Just not like this: five projected starters missing the playoffs. You could feel the fall from grace in the air - it felt heavy like the hot muggy (for California) weekend weather for the playoff tournament. After winning the opener against the hapless Reds. we melted down in the Waitlister game. We all saw what happened, bad pitching and no hitting is an awful combination. Even with our two-inning wildness streak by three different pitchers, we only allowed nine runs, but on our end we scored six in the first two innings and then were shut out the rest of the way. What sucks is that the three long time rivals that more often than not have won the tournament (The Heads, Scouts and Cal Bronco) have cemented a mutual respect 'club' in this league and we all went down to the Waitlisters this year, who do nothing but nitpick the small stuff and this year at least managed to wear us all down.

You could tell we had no stomach for coming through the losers' bracket on Championship Sunday in our last game against the Broncos. This was just not our year. I can only think of one highlight worth mentioning for the whole day of three games - Gene made an absolutely tremendous catch on a long fly ball to left. He juggled it what must have been five times on the way to the ground and finally corralled the damn ball. It was truly remarkable concentration.

The beauty of softball is that we have the delusion that it will go on forever. There is always a new season and we started the fall season 0-0 like everyone else last Monday. We faced Pat's Bats - who I unapologetically say is not in our class when we are whole. But they beat us last Fall in the regular season and then again in the playoffs to end the Walnut Creek run of four straight championships - so we owed them and we played like it.

Chuck and Randy and a hobbled Lefty managed three hits each and most everyone had multiple hits. But the hero was one Patrick the Knight, son of Greg the Knight, who made his Conehead debut. He stepped up in the top of the third in a 2-2 game with runners on first and second, and promptly pummeled the ball, sending it nearly to Concord, like the shot heard round the world. Only Brandon Crawford hitting a grand slam in his Giants' debut tops this, but he took three ABs to get to that shot.

It went for the game winning RBI as well as it set the tone for the rest of the game. After we had a 14-3 lead in the sixth, Pat's Bats rallied for seven to make it closer, but the end outcome was never in any real doubt. We had the real Pat's Bat.

So there is hope for both teams - but please get back on the winning track for good. I hate losing, I hate having to write about losing, and really hate that damn wheel.

Milestones:
Transdyn
8/4
D            250 h (#12)
Bert        50 h (#35)

8/11
Brian       50 ab (#50)

8/18
D            50 2b (#6)
Pauly      650 ab (#8)
D            400 ab (#12)

8/25
Cage       120 2b (#1)
Monty     80 bb (#4)
Jas          250 r (#7)
Rene       150 ab (#27)

Coneheads
8/15, Game 1
Gene        550 h (#7)
Lefty        150 r (#19)
Haz          150 h (#21)

8/16, Game 2
Chuck      1700 ab (#1)
Ol' G        300 r (#13)

8/16, Game 3
None

8/24
Chuck        900 r (#1)
Chuck        60 3b (#1)

Larry          600 r (#3)

D                450 ab (#17)

Lefty           100 g (#19)Knight (sr)  250 ab (#26)
Bruce         100 ab (#31)

Lucky 19

Ommmmmmm...Ommmmmmmmmmmmmm

This is the sound of Heffe meditating on the playoffs this coming weekend. After Monday's game against the Buddha's Cal Bronco, I'm thinking Zen Buddhism is the way to go. I'm meditating on the number 19.

But first...

Nineteen has been my lucky number since I was nine years old. Long story, but I won two straight bingo games at a resort on family vacation in Estes Park CO, in a room full of a couple of hundred people, on the number I-19. I think I won something like twenty bucks, a huge sum for a nine year old. Boxes and boxes of baseball cards could be bought with such a fortune. Therefore I wear number 19 on almost all my teams. Tony Gwynn, my hero, the master of the 5-6 hole as a lefty, wore number 19. But I'm not superstitious. Much.

Monday night the Coneheads erupted for 19 runs in the first inning. Every game I have to scramble to get enough players, and we are missing many of our best hitters, the rest of the team steps up, and uncorks a huge offensive output. Monday the buzz-saw hit our sometime teammate Buddha's team, Cal Bronco. On paper they should have out-slugged us - they have a veritable murderer's row in the middle of their lineup. They even exploded for their own big inning, a 12 run second, but it was not enough to overcome our great start. We ended the time shortened game (four innings) up 26-17.

Buddha, who plays with our alter-ego teams in the Fall League and in Spring in Walnut Creek, is married to one of my tribe (she's Jewish - does that make them a Bujew family?). This means he loves to suffer. When he talks about facing the Coneheads in the summer, he sounds like he is already beaten, and it is like Henny Youngman talking about his wife ("Take my wife...please!").

Monday he suffered an ultimate indignity. And I am not talking about hitting into a double play to end the first. He later received a walk from Doc Larry, on the mound filling in for Joe. Buddha strained a calf muscle while taking ball four. He had to have a courtesy runner, and invoke the Joe Fuchs rule (runner from home for the batter) his last time up with the game on the line. He smoked it, but right at Gene to end the game. Take my bat, please.

In between there were some highlights and a lot of hitting in the middle of the order. Chopper made a run saving catch - I think is was the inning after the Broncos twelve run outburst, and kept them at two runs in the third, and our lead intact at 23-17. That was as close as the Broncos got. We added on three in the top of the fourth. It should have been more but the Bronco's super star outfielder Patrick _ ran down a blast by Chopper and it limited the damage. However, with so much offense, time was running out in the bottom of the fourth. We shut them down on three easy outs to get the win.

A few more notes about the breakout nineteen run first: Bruce had the defining blow - his three run homer as the third batter of the game set the tone. Haz had two doubles, driving in three. Larry C had a critical at bat - he came up with two outs and four in and hit a two run single. It doesn't seem big now, but it opened the gates, after that we got twelve more two out hits (!), so we had 15 altogether. We may have had a couple of bigger innings but I don't recall ever getting 15 straight two out hits. Definitely need to channel that energy for the weekend playoffs. Ommmmmmmm.

Ol' G and D had perfect 4-4 nights with G driving in four runs. Doc Larry, Bruce and Heffe rounded out the guys with three hits.

Milestones:
Heffe        1500 ab (#2)
Ol' G        400 rbi (#7)
Haz          100 rbi (#23)

Flatheads

The facts:

Coneheads played Waitlisters Monday in a game between two of the four teams tied for first at 7-1 with two games left.

Coneheads for the most part comprise the JFT team that completed a victorious playoff tournament in Walnut Creek over the weekend.

Coneheads came out flat, and got flatter, and then ended in total flatulence losing 10-6.

The lone highlight was a total blast for a three run home run by Ol' G. On another night, I would be waxing poetic about the majestic qualities of his hit. Although a little wind-aided, it was probably the longest ball I have seen Ol' G hit in over 10 years playing together.

Only two others had multiple hits and there were no other extra base hits. While we singled St. Mo's to death the week before, we just died this week.

The good news is that we will be in the upper half seeds for the playoffs; cotton is awarded for the playoffs, not first place in the regular season, and there is no reason to doubt our ability to defend our four straight championships.

Milestones:
Joe          1250 ab (#4)
Gene        900 ab (#9)

It began with a kiss...

...and it ended in a group hug.

I was one of the first to get to the field on Championship Sunday. I wasn't that early, but I was third after Joe and Chuck, twenty minutes before game time. I suppose that is a sign of a confident, veteran team. Next to arrive was Chopper, and he came bursting upon me all smiles with Happy Birthday wishes. He gave me a big hug and then leaned in to kiss me (!). I was struggling, and panicked, and then I made the fatal error - I turned in! I was like the runner going down the line to first, and there was an overthrow but not too far, and he turned in and thought, "Oh shit, I turned in!" And gets tagged out. Well the next thing I know, I got tagged on the lips - and there was some sort of liquid.excretion - I think that qualifies as a French Kiss! It's a good thing we are not homophobic on this bus. Just know that a Golden Retriever has nothing on our Chopper.

But I got ahead of myself, it all started on Saturday morning...

Once the league actually settled on a schedule, the weekend started off with promise of an easy run. Arch-rival Advance Construction went down with a whimper as we slaughter ruled them in five innings 14-2.After Joe set them down scoreless in the first, we scored three with two outs to go up four zip. Bruce had the key hit, a two run double. In the fourth, starting with five straight hits, a mini-Conehead inning erupted for six runs. The highlight spawned a new rallying cry. Buddha tagged up at third on a medium deep fly by our fearless leader, and Chopper led the dugout: "Shake your Buddha, Shake your Buddha!" Great hustle, Scotty scored.

And then we awoke to Championship Sunday. I love the smell of birthday coffee and Cotton in the morning. After we watched Big Feet crush the Crushers in the early game, the Polar Bears overcame Big Feet's hot start and wont and then were gunning for us. They even drew home field advantage - I will never understand why the higher seeded team doesn't get it in each game in the playoffs.

Trouble was brewing. Our rock, Chuck, was hobbling around like the hobbit Bilbo Baggins at his hundred and eleventh birthday party at the beginning of Lord of the Rings. His back was tweaked in a major way. Well, no problem, we have Randy, normally at third for us but a born shortstop, and D plays 3B in most of our Conehead games anyway. We would survive even Chuck going down.

Well, go to the top of the second, still scoreless and Randy, leading off, does the two step shuffle as he hit the ball, and wrecks some muscle in the back of his knee and after gutting it out to make it to first, goes down in a heap, literally. He's done. Now we have to go to Johnny, also a very capable SS, but his hamstring has been tight all weekend.

It's the teams in the losers' bracket that are supposed to come up lame as they play in their fifth game of the weekend. We have had six innings in and we are already deep into the depth chart. The effect was delayed though as Randy kick-started (bad pun) our offense and we put up eighteen runs in the next four innings to win going away 18-4. The hitting was spread out as seven guys went 3-4. Now we got to rest and watch the Polar Bears tire themselves out against Big Feet and then try to beat us twice.

The Polar Bears just kept on getting more batting practice as they dispatched Big Feet. They were hot, hot, hot, and started our game by putting up four in the first against Joe, who by the way, as we know now, pitched all weekend with a broken left hand. By the third it was 7-2, and it seemed like we were the ones who had already played four games. Johnny was tightening up and switched with Knight at schmiddler, and Greg became our fourth SS of the weekend.

And then things started to turn. It started with defense, as it usually does. Bruce was playing shallow against one of the Bears who crushed a ball. At first it didn't seem like Bruce got a good break; this thing was travelling. But he hit his long-stride stride, and somehow glided out to the warning track and reached up and there it was. Runs saved. In successive innings I scooped one errant throw backhanded and then went off the bag for another and tagged the runner coming down the line. Both saved runs. In the top of the fifth Gene went sprawling in a dive to snare a blooper he had no business catching up to. More runs saved. Derek ended an inning falling down and stopping a shot down the line - and provided comic relief as he scrambled all over the bag to tag it while he actually had the ball in his glove. More runs saved.

Our offense had kind of disappeared, but Gene's catch inspired us in the bottom of the fifth. After two were out, Johnny got a hit - he led the team in hitting on the weekend at 8-9, bad hammy and all - and Haz walked to load the bases. Here was Joe's first brilliant move. He sent up Chuck to pinch hit for him. We didn't know if Chuck had any strength to even hit the ball. But he shot the 5-6 hole and two runs scored. When Lefty followed with another run scoring hit, it was suddenly only a 7-5 deficit and we had a shot.

When you come back from behind to take game, there is a moment when you know it's going to happen. It could be a little thing or a big thing. But in this game, it was the Dive in the sixth. A sinking liner up the middle with runners moving, Lefty came out of nowhere and in an ESPN highlight dive, went full length and caught the ball just before it hit the ground. I don't remember seeing another player in all my softball years extend that completely, horizontally. That's when we knew we somehow would not let the Bears extend us to an elimination game.

But it was not to be easy. Both teams went out in the sixth and the Bears in the seventh without scoring. In the bottom half, Chopper started out the rally, as he had all weekend, with a hit. He was 3-3 in this game and was just nosed out by Johnny for the playoff hot hitter award. And he led the team in hitting this year. After a flyout, Buddha and Johnny followed with hits to load the bases. Appropriate as these three were the team hitting leaders for the weekend. Up came Larry who along with Haz sacrificed their time in the lineup to platoon without complaint. He had had two ABs in two games to that point. So what happens? He's up in the most crucial moment in the playoffs to that time. He steps up and gets the Big Hit, a slicing line drive to LC, in the perfect spot to score Chopper and also Gene (running for Buddha) from second with the tying run.

Significantly the Polar Bear outfielder airmailed the throw home to try to get Gene and both runners moved up. This was crucial because hobbler #3, Johnny, was now the runner at third, and it would take a hit or a long fly to score him from third. But now we could put our rabbit Gene in again to pinch run. Naturally, Lefty came up knowing this and tried to hit the ball to Mt. Diablo. Predictably instead it was a very shallow fly ball, but Gene beat the throw anyway, and the Championship was ours.

Those are the highlights we all remember - because it was close, because it was a walk off 8-7 win, because it was the Championship game, because we were dropping like flies, because everyone had their moment. It had been a long time (2009) - and Pinky's or no Pinky's - it was sweet to get the Championship Cotton; it won't go straight to garage rag like the last several runner up shirts.

Milestones:
7/26
Gene       300 ab (#10)
D            100 h (#15)

D            10 2b (#16)

Bruce      50 h (#20)

8/1
D             10 k (#1)
Lefty        250 h (#4)

8/2 G1
Heffe        10 gw (#4)
Joe           150 h (#10)
Chopper   250 ab (#13)

8/2 G2
Knight       400 ab (#5)
Chopper   150 h (#11)

Mo' Singles

It was a classic trap scenario where there could be a letdown. We beat the monster tournament team Monday. Only Thursday game of the season. Missing many of our power hitters and defensive stars. No Chuck for God's sake. He never misses a game.We played with three subs and there was no alternative better than yours truly batting cleanup.

And, to top it off, we were playing St. Mo's, who in the past, both in the regular season and in the playoffs, has beaten us when they have no right to, church and God aside.

So what did we do?

After spotting them the first run, we came up in the home half and scored twelve runs. Classic Conehead inning. The only out through thirteen batters was a hot line drive by Gene right at the left fielder. Right after that supersub #3 Bill drove in two with a single.

In fact I think it was one of only two times in the game that anyone took two bases on a hit. We clobbered St. Mo's (final score 18-8) with 24 singles and a three walks. Not a single extra base hit. Who needs power hitters anyway? The line just kept moving and turning over. Personally three times I was on third with Chopper on second and Haz on first. It felt like deja vu all over again.

After we let St. Mo's think they were back in the game at 12-7, we added four in the fourth and and two in the fifth to take an 18-8 lead that held up. No St. Mo's freaky comeback this time.

Heffe led the way with a 4-4 night, and supersub #1 Bobby and Chopper had three hits, and Heffe, Gene and Bill drove in three runs each. Bobby did a great Chuck impression as he started two 6-4-3 double plays in the first two innings that largely held St. Mo's in check. Unfortunately the first baseman dropped his throw on his best play cutting off a ball heading to center field. Doc Larry at 2B made the double play turns with flair (flaring out his shoulder in the process) and made a great leaping catch to end the third with runners stranded on second and third. Check his birth certificate, not to be racist but what was that saying about white boys?

It was a game we needed. We are now probably in a four way tie for first (the league is very slow getting the game scores to us). We own the tiebreaker against MTC55, and have the other two (Waitlisters and Broncos) in the last two games. It's pretty simple - win out and we will be the top seed going into the playoffs. Anything else, we will be anywhere from first to fourth. Keep the hit singles coming!

Special thanks to Bobby, supersub #2 Gerry and Bill for saving us. Gerry walked twice on a night when team walks leader Chuck was AWOL as I said. At this rate he will catch him on the leaderboard in about 2150. Stay tuned.

Milestone:
Bill        100 ab (#30)

And David Slew the Giant...

In the biblical story of King David, who as we know slew the monster Goliath, the latter is said to be nine feet nine inches by some accounts, and a mere six foot nine in others. But the point is David took his single slingshot, and Goliath went down, and then David cut the monster's head off and the Philistines went running off into the hinterlands, never to bother the Jews again. At least not for a while, they always eventually came back, but that's another story.

We all know the story of this year in Orinda Senior softball. The Philistines, er MTC55 or speedzone.net or whatever they really call themselves, is a top level tournament team sandbagging in our back yard. They have mowed down everyone they have faced this season so far, and that includes the Scouts and the DC's, two of our traditional rivals. They loaded up for our game - I saw at least three players that I hadn't seen in the two games I watched them play earlier. That is the MO of these tournament teams slumming in the rec leagues. I play against two of them, one in Pleasanton and the other far away in the City, and those two roughly combined to comprise this team. They create a roster of 25 tournament players, and pick the 12 available for any given game, and depending on the competition, bring their "A" players or "B" players.

But we have our David - Joe has his own slingshot, a wicked curve unlike anyone else's in slow pitch softball. In the first inning they were clubbing everything he threw up there, and they jumped to an 8-0 lead, and I don't think there was an out yet. We held there but this looked like it was going to be a long night, even if it only lasted an hour and fifteen minutes.

Then a funny thing happened. Joe 'figured it out' as he put it. The Ringers all seem to move up in the box, so they can jump on the pitch. Since they are mostly all as large as Goliath, they can hit any pitch from there. Well Joe combined throwing deep with his patented curve, and MTC was rendered helpless. They are too arrogant to adjust.

The turning point may have been when he faced Tim Millette, who is a nationally ranked player, and although currently somewhat injured, possesses one of the most lethal swings in slowpitch softball. Joe induced him to pop up near the third base dugout and Chopper couldn't quite reach it, but this Goliath was done.
Joe got him out twice, and he may as well have swung with his head in his hands. At the end of the second as we walked off the field down 10-3, Joe told me he's got this one, that is he figured it out.

You will forgive me if I didn't quite believe him at that point - they were still up by seven, and had the hammer, and there was a lot of game left. But with one out in the top of the third we clobbered six straight hits around a walk, and it was punctuated by one of the three key hits of the game - Doc Larry sliced one down the right field line with the bases loaded, and when he scored to complete the grand slam, suddenly we were tied ten all.

At that point we believed we were at least going to be in the game. Then Joe shut them down three straight innings. He OWNED them, he was right! And in the fourth Lefty crushed a ball for a solo home run and we clung to a one run lead for a couple of innings.

You could see the panic showing in their faces and they were pressing at the plate, and they don't play defense anyway. In the top of the sixth, we loaded the bases with no outs, and up stepped up our long lost three hitter, Pope. He sent one nearly to Lafayette, over the right center fielder's head, and it was off to the races for the second grand slam and our third big hit of the game.

We held them to one in the bottom half and then got some insurance in the top of the seventh - appropriately on a double by Joe and his surrogate scoring for him on D's sac fly. They had a short rally in the bottom, but they were all trying to hit seven run home runs, and this translated onto pop ups to end the game at 17-12. Sweetness.

As for the playoffs in a couple of weeks, it could go either way. They may have more weapons we haven't even seen yet, and you just never know in this game. But two things we know - we can hang with them, and we have our 'slingshot' - Joe's combination of his arm and brain. He may not be young like David was in the story, but he is just as deadly.

Milestones:
7/20
None
7/27
Lefty        10 hr (#15)

Over Under

It has long been rumored that JFT and the Coneheads are one and the same team. It is not quite true; there are at least a couple of players that are different. However, over the years we have merged into pretty much the same team, although (even though some players are still confused by this) there are two different coaches, ol' Stink Eye and yours truly, at least for the Summer Orinda league.

But - once the Head season starts, and we play back to back nights, what we do on Sunday as JFT and Monday as the Heads are inextricably linked.

Last Sunday, JFT had one of those Nightmare Games. We played our old arch-rivals Advance Construction. Advance has advanced in age faster than we have - they are not the same team they once were. We have dominated games recently. In fact Sunday we had the game in hand through four innings. Lefty returned to the team and stepped up and clobbered gappers to left center his first two times up - one for a triple and one for a double. These hits were largely responsible for inspiring two rallies in the first and third. In the fourth we loaded the bases with two outs, and up stepped Bruce, who was batting near the bottom because he arrived late. He promptly unloaded them with a bases clearing double, and the rout was on. Up 8-1 with nine outs to go.

Then the softball gods turned against us. In the top of the fifth, balls found holes under the gloves of normally extremely reliable infielders, and two balls found the sun in left field and were missed. Eleven runs poured in, and even the Stink Eye couldn't stop the deluge.

Normally a 12-9 deficit wouldn't make us blink. But the gods were not through with us. We acted as if we didn't know how to get out of the hole, and we hit into a double play to end the fifth, and when we loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs, on the verge of yet another epic comeback, we hit into another DP, and then took strike three looking and could only add one run. And then because of the length of the eleven run nightmare, time was out and the game ended with us down 12-10.

All is not lost; we are still in first place and we should be able to win out to stay in first place for the best seeding for the playoffs. Despite our defensive lapses, we did turn three double plays of our own, and perhaps we got the nightmare out of our system at the right time. But it is a wake-up call; we are not immune to the whims of the softball gods.

The next night we had to take on one of our arch-rivals in Orinda, the former Pennini's now called the DC's after their fallen leader Dave Caraska. It's been testy a few times between us, but it's always a good game and there is mutual respect between the teams.

But I think we had learned a lesson the night before. Even though the DC's took leads of 2-1 and 6-4 we kept putting on the pressure, scoring in every inning through the fifth. After the third we shut down the DC's until garbage time in the sixth and final inning when they scored two to make the game seem closer than it was (final score was 11-8).

The statement play came in the fourth. The DC's had a couple on with one out, and their next hitter hit a line drive out to Bruce in LF. The runner on second strayed only a few feet off - not even half way. But Bruce unleashed a fierce strike to G covering second, and the guy was toast. The old 50 year old legs don't react quick enough and Bruce simply nailed him. It shook up the DC's, and as I said didn't score again until the last inning.

In fact they shouldn't have scored then either. Mark Hayes of the DC's had the audacity to try to go first to third on Bruce's arm in that frame and he nailed a strike again - this time it even was down on the bag where Hayes was sliding head first and D took the throw and punched him out on the head. Alas the umpire, who initially called him out, changed his tune for some reason, and overruled himself. But we all know what truly happened, and the rest of the league better take note not to run again on Bruce.

The hitting was balanced as it often is when you score almost every inning. Bruce led the way at the plate too with two doubles among three hits. Gene and Chopper both went 3-3 with a double, and Haz had three RBIs on a two run single and a sac fly. A bunch of us had two hits, and I won the entertainment award with a slow motion slide into third that set up Haz' run scoring single. Perfect form, I might add, and my first ever on turf.

The fate of the two teams remains forever intertwined now - on the rare occasion when we go down on Sunday, it's important to make a statement the next night, and we did. Not so much to the other team, although it never hurts to hurt Pennini's, but for ourselves and to the softball gods too.

Milestones:
(JFT)
Knight        30 2b (#2)
(Coneheads)
Doc Larry  1250 ab (#3)
Doc Larry  750 h (#3)
Bruce         10 2b (#29)
Bruce         50 h (#33)