The Red Scourge

Here's the new Red MO: Give the opponent false hope by giving away runs in the first few innings, then *surprise* learn to play defense just when the bats wake up.

Ideal game: Errors by inning; 6,5,4,3,2,1,0,0,0
Runs by inning: 0,1,2,3,4,5,5,5,15

While we didn't quite live up to the ideal today, I think you get the point.

What we did was give Burnt Orange five or six outs in each of the first four innings. It started when Mark Pitzlin popped off that we wanted to give BO the 'curse of the first' - so we handed them five runs. Happy to oblige. Bah-Da-Bing! You're welcome. Five zip. We were down 9-2 after two, but got lucky in the third when they could not capitalize on two errors in their half. This allowed us to get seven runs in 'catch-up' mode and tie the score. We again gave it up for four runs in the fourth, but we answered with five and the race was on.

At that point (after four innings) it was 14-13 Red. In the next five innings we tightened up and held Orange to one run, and the final score was 20-14 Red.

While the top of the order produced the key seven run catch-up third, the two five run innings were put up by (primarily) the bottom of the order. Bill Marthinsen, Howard Davis, Bob Muegge, Jerry Ginochio,and Coach Larry Rafferty accounted for most of our runs in the fourth and sixth inning five spots. Davis in particular - he had run scoring doubles in two innings and he and Marthinsen and Muegge kick-started three different rallies with back to back to back singles.

The catchup third featured clutch doubles by Lamont Thompson and James Del Rio and the fourth inning rally was highlighted by a key two out, two run single for our fourth and fifth runs by Pitzlin.

Overall Davis and Marthinsen were 4-4, Rich Brown was 3-4 as a temporary leadoff batter and Muegge and Pitzlin each had three hits. Del Rio led the way with four RBIs.

On defense, Larry Fogli made a nice grab in right in the ninth for that all important first out when you have a lead. Brown and Del Rio and Pitzlin had good running catches. Randy Crase and LT had some great stops in the late innings, and Kravin scooped a low throw to save an out.

Pope John

Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to get the game winning RBI on two teams on the same day, playing one game in the morning and one at night; I thought that was pretty special.

Last night, Pope achieved it in two games of a doubleheader for the WC Coneheads, and there was no luck involved. He blasted three home runs in the two games, and two were in the first innings that accounted for our first runs of the respective games. Since we never trailed all afternoon/evening, he gets the nod for both game winners. What a day - 5-7, a double, three HRs, seven RBIs. He fell just a double short of the cycle in the nightcap.

The long shadow of Pope partially hid a remarkable day for Johnny Steele too. Johnny would have had two HRs, but was ruled out of the batter's box in the third inning of game one. It cost him three RBIs as well, and he still ended up the day with this line: 4-6 a double, HR , and four RBIs.

As far as the team overall, Lefty set the tone early. When Pope came up in the first, he noticed how shallow Who's On First's right fielder was playing, and said "3 Run Bomb". Pope obliged and it was game over. We ended up going 5 1/2 innings and ended the game with a 12-2 win (although the league recorded it as 12-3, maybe I missed a run?), but the Big Hit ended it right there. The game could have been much worse, but Who's fielders made numerous great plays themselves, robbing Pope, Nomar and others of seemingly sure hits.

In the nightcap, sometimes a problem for us Corona was outgunned from the beginning, and aided by our superb defense, we blasted them 17-0. We have now had two shutouts in our last three games, and outscored our opponents 51-2 (or 3) over that stretch, and 81-6 (or 7) over the last five games.

The middle infield played really well. Chuck made two headlong dives into the 5-6 hole and recorded key outs, and played a blooper behind the mound into a double play by letting it drop and then firing to second to start the DP. Knight made several stops on hard grounders up the middle, and turned a double play on one, although Heffe had to bail him out with a long stretch up the line as the hurried throw went toward the runner.

Other hitting stars: Chopper crushed a two run homer among his four hits. Welcome back Nomah for a cameo - he want 4-5 and put himself atop the stats, a place he used to occupy regularly.
Knight was 4-6 with six RBIs in the twin bill - he managed four in the nightcap on just one hit (two run single, SF, and run scoring fielder's choice). Randy and Gene were also 4-6 on the night, Heffe 3-5 plus a walk.

We clinched first place for the regular season with these wins, so next week's final regular season game has no meaning, other that to continue this roll we are on into the playoffs. That's enough incentive for me!

Milestones:
Game 1:
Heffe        550 ab (#2)
D              250 ab (#14)

Game 2:
Chopper   10 hr (#2)
Heffe       200 r (#3)
Gene        200 h (#9)
Johnny     50 r (#18)

Zero

On the one hand - eight hits total (Pope 2-2!).

On the other hand - no extra base hits.

On the other hand - we didn't even get Joe up twice.

I'm running out of hands.

I got all excited - I thought .296 had to be a team low in batting average, time to hit the archives!

Then I saw last fall, in our playoff tune-up, we hit .269 in a game. No wonder we didn't win the fall league.

What happens to us at times like these? We are too good to have clunkers like this, yet we seem to do it at least once a season, lately. Already we had it in the early part of the Walnut Creek season, losing to the Polar Bears 4-2 . Is it as simple as that game Sunday in 107 degree WC heat took it out of us? Is the Waitlisters' Chris that good a pitcher? I doubt it and I doubt it.

It remains a mystery, but the result was a 12-2 loss to the Waitlisters, the team we love to hate.

In other news, Sting is back and looked fine in his first at bat, slashing a single up the middle and generally being a dugout pest. We need you Reg!

That's all I got this week, nothing more to say. Except this Monday's game against 12 Angry *deleted expletive* looms larger than before.

Milestones:

Seriously?

Ball(er)s Out

The Pleasanton D Upper league got tougher this season, but Transdyn/Kapsch has come out like gangbusters with a 2-0 start. Latest victim the Ballers put up a fight but went down 21-16 in our second straight win over them.

We held them to one run over the first three innings, and this allowed us to take an 8-1 lead into the fourth. From then one, every time the Ballers would make a run, closing to 8-4, 9-5, and 13-9, we did what you're supposed to do - add on. Finally in the bottom of the sixth, we batted around for eight runs, with the exclamation point being Rusty's grand slam with two outs. And even though they again responded with seven in the top of the seventh, the 21-9 score at that point was too much to overcome.

Rusty had quite the game at the plate, with two doubles, the grand slam, and seven RBIs altogether. And to top it off he struck out in his other AB.

Speaking of which, at least he didn't take a called third strike. That honor belonged to Pauly. In possibly a first in softball history, he anticipated it by bringing a 12-pack of beer to the parking lot.

D had a perfect 4-4 night with three RBIs, and hit one of the hardest balls I have seen, a rocket double down the right field line. He also wins the magic award - now you see it now you don't. On a routine throw to first, he allowed the ball to pop out of his glove, yet sold it to the ump that it popped out on the exchange. I want that exchange rate next time I travel overseas. When the Ballers objected, the latter told them, "I've seen everything I need to see to make the call." And I've been to the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, and the moon.

Cage also had a perfect night, 3-3 with a walk. He and Jay hit one hop doubles to the fence in left. Jay's was very clutch - it came with two outs and a man on first in the sixth, and ignited the two out eight run inning (seven straights hits) that put the game away.

Tom came off the mound to make a tough putout in the third, and we turned a J to B to D DP in the 5th. But the play of the game was a smash off D's mitt that B corralled in shallow right and fired to first with Tom beating the runner there by a millisecond and catching it. Our defense was as important as our offense in this game, as always.

Up next the Sons of You Know Whats, and a chance to really make a statement for this season.

Milestones:
Cage         1000 ab (#4)
Jay            60 2b (#6)
Jay            650 ab (#10)
B              100 r (#18)
B              50 g (#29)
Rusty       100 ab (#38)

Red Tsunami

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I was going to embed the Red box score from yesterday's slugfest betweeen Red and Gray, which we won 40-30 in perhaps one of the highest Creaker games in history.

Alas, I can't figure it out or it is not possible to embed it here. So I will have to list the multitudes of heroic hitting performed by our team yesterday (below).

First - the game summary. In the top of the first inning Paul Lisi made two incredible catches to rob Rich Brown and Lamont LT Thompson on balls to the LC gap, and Gray held us to two runs on a Randy Crase home run. This enabled Gray to build a 10-3 lead after two, as we were up to our usual early game defensive high jinks. But then we stormed back with a seven run third to tie it and shut down Gray No Matter in the bottom half. In the up and down game we seemed to take control as we turned it up to a 20-12 lead after six, and feeling a little too comfortable. But Gray had other ideas and their fine lineup produced the second comeback inning in the bottom of the seventh - eight runs after holding us in check in the top half. We took a small lead going into the ninth, and then just exploded. Batting around nearly twice, we broke it open with a 15 run open inning, highlighted by a Mark Pitzlin grand slam among other great hits. But you have to give Gray credit - they didn't lie down and they responded with an eight run bottom of the ninth, and the outcome wasn't certain until Larry Fogli made a nifty running catch in right field to end it.

Believe it or not but the high scoring game had some defensive highlights as well. In the middle innings we held Gray to two runs in four innings. In the fourth alone, Brown and LT robbed two different hitters that hit line shot base hits at Rich and he fired to Rover LT covering second to get force outs. And LT had to short hop one of the hurried throws and twist to the side to corral the other. He also made a stop on another play to get all the outs in that inning. Brown was everywhere, as he also threw out a guy who dared to challenge him going to third on a hit in the fifth. This also went through LT to Howard Davis covering third. And late in the game we turned a Tony Gorgone to LT to first double play.

But this game was all about hitting and here are the stats:

1. I guess we will keep Pitzlin. He merely went six for seven with four doubles, two home runs, including the grand salami, and 13 RBIs. Yes that is not a misprint: 13 RBIs.

2. A new nickname was born: "Seven for Seven Kevin" for Kevin Kane, whom Gray couldn't keep off base or from scoring as he scored on each hit, including a deep home run to the left center gap.

3. Unfortunately "Seven for Seven Randy" doesn't really have the same ring, yet Crase also accomplished the feat. He also hit a home run, and drove in seven in the two hole, and scored every time. 7 for 7 with 7 and 7?

4. I didn't do too badly, 6 for 6. I spoiled my admission to the 7 & 7 club with a walk. I don't have their pop but I managed 4 RBIs and three runs, which is another lucky 7.

5. Rich Brown kept repeating to everyone that a "walk is a hit". We took it to heart as we earned 11 altogether, and he avoided swinging at bad pitches to claim 3 BBs himself. I guess they were walking him to get to Pitzlin. Rich scored five times, and drove in two - another 7.

6. Larry Fogli amassed four hits as he continued his consistent hitting.

7. Bob Muegge was 3-5, drove in the tying run in the catchup third, and kick started our 15 run open inning with a nice slice single down the right field line. He also pitched the whole game for the second straight week, although his ERA suffered in the slugfest.

8. LT probably hit the furthest but was robbed once by Paul Lisi in the first, and then Gray was playing him so deep that two more of his blasts were caught, once again by Lisi in the fifth and once by Barry Gronenberg, who was standing nearly in the bushes in right field in the ninth as if he knew that's where it was coming. And it was. If not for that last out in the top of the ninth we might still be batting. LT still managed three hits and a couple of RBIs.

9. Gorgone, Davis, and Coach Larry Rafferty all contributed hits, runs, and RBIs as everyone on the team notched at least one in all those categories. "Holy Moly" Tony in particular had a huge hit - his double in the catchup third drove in runs five and six, and he scored the tying run.

We were luckily spared the worst of the heat wave, which ended Monday, in the afternoon game, but we were all ready to get to the showers by the end. First we had a celebratory beverage after the game - post game beer never tasted better!

OCD

For those that are a little short on edumacation, OCD is obsessive compulsive disorder. I'm sure we don't know anyone like that on the Coneheads...hmmm...

One instance is when you look online at the standings and results of your softball league and you notice that the scorekeeper recorded your game as 22-0 when you know damn well it was 23-0 (yes the headline should have been SHUTOUT!)

It can be helpful if you are, say, a politician, or a businessman, etc. but maybe not so much in rec league softball.

On the other hand.

What about that poor guy who scored but never got the credit in the official book? If he just knew, he might head into a depressive tailspin from which he would never recover.

What if a tie in the standings at the end of the season comes down to run differential and we are one short??? Let's put it this way, you just can't call the commissioner and tell her to fix the score when you won by more than 20 runs...it's just not done. But how would it look at the end of the season if you demanded a score audit? You see my point here?

Like I said, no one on this team...

So it came down to Ol' G hitting a bases loaded bases clearing double in the top of the first. 3-0, game over. In the second Pope hit a majestic blast into the bushes in RC for a grand slam, and that slammed the door shut. 9-0.

And then...we scored 14 in the third. It wasn't really fair. It was 107 degrees at game time, and our bats were that hot, and they played without a shmiddler, and they had to run around chasing our hits all over the place, while we were jogging around the bases. In the mean time, Joe had them popping up, and hitting into easy outs on the infield (although in one inning Randy and G made great back to back plays on hot shots). He had a one hitter going into the last inning and ended up with a three hitter. Not bad in softball, no matter who the opponent is.

To top it off the Chico Bail Bonds' pitchers couldn't throw strikes and they walked about eight guys, including two with the bases loaded preceding Pope's salami. Their relief pitcher wasn't much better than the starter, but by then we were fake swinging with three balls, and swinging at anything close just to put it in play.

We did have a Chopper slide into second for our entertainment to give him a double to go with his own bases clearing triple that was kind of the exclamation point of the 14 run inning. He had 4 RBIs in that inning.

Buddha, Ol' G, and Johnny had three hits each and the list is too numerous to mention of those that had two plus a walk or two. Mostly we just wanted to get to the post game refreshments in the heat. That certainly gave us incentive to keep it to a 15 run lead after five!

The Polar Bears and Advance Construction both lost games they should have won, so we are in first place alone once again. Magic number for first place seed for the playoffs is 2, which we can get with next week's doubleheader.

Milestones:
Heffe          50 bb (#2)
D                40 bb (#3)
Ol' G          150 rbi (#6)
Chopper     200 h (#8)
Randy        150 h (#12)

This One's for You, Jimmy Sue

This column is dedicated to the memory of Jim 'Jimmy Sue' Dial, a former Transdyn employee and player in the classic age of Transdyn softball in Concord, who passed away last weekend. Jimmy played 57 games in the 'stats' era but was on the team before that in the 90s. He didn't lead the team in anything but always kept things loose at work and on the field with his southern charm and slow drawl. One of the great ones.




They call him Coach at his real job. I offered the job to him on the Transdyn-Kaptch softball team, after all, isn't there a term limit for me here (18 years and counting)? But he politely declined, and I guess I will carry on.

That didn't mean he couldn't carry us to victory over the just concluded playoffs winner the Brews Brothers on Tuesday.

Greg hit a three run bomb to left to spark us to a nine run first inning, and then when the game turned seesaw, clubbed a rocket to deepest right center, also a three run job, to put us ahead to stay in the top of the seventh, in a game we eventually won 19-17. It was, indeed, a great start to the fall season.

He wasn't alone though. Our defense was outstanding, especially on the infield. Greg did make perhaps the catch of the game, ranging far in to swoop up a sinking liner in left late in the game. But it was Pauly, Jason, and B who made play after play to save us from big innings and ultimately turned a double play to end the game, and Brews Bros' hopes for a walkoff win. Pauly must have stopped five or six hot smashes at the hot corner. J and B seemed to be competing in who could make the best turn on a DP, and fire it harder to D or me at first to nail a runner by 1/4 of a step. Everyone won.

Theses weren't even the only great plays. Monty got out of the box in a hurry to catch a popup near our dugout in the second inning. And Cage got in his usual throw to nail someone errantly deciding to run on him - it was a nineteen hopper to third, no doubt, but was right on the money and the runner was out by two steps.

The Brews were without their starting pitcher, and to be sure they helped us out with eleven walks, five in the first as we jumped out to that 9-0 lead. But the Bros kept coming back, and there were lead changes in the second, fourth (twice), sixth (also twice), and finally in the seventh. Every time we took a lead they showed why they are now the team to beat, until J and B shut them down with the DP in the bottom of the seventh.

Pauly had four crisp singles, and D, Tommy, and Jas joined Gregg with three hits. Mario made the most of his single hit, driving three with it plus a sac fly. D, robbed of his RBI chances by Gregg's HRs, became a rally starter as he or his surrogate scored three times. B had a perfect slice on the line in RF, so perfect he was robbed of a triple when it skipped out of bounds and he had to retreat to second with a ground rule double. He scored anyway when Cage followed with his own two-bagger.

The league appears to have gotten even more competitive so this was a great start. More next week.

Milestones:
None