And the Hits just a keep on a coming…
Last year, beating the Public Defenders was bittersweet because they had so much heart and team spirit (even though they had not won a game) that the old guilt came creeping in when we sent them home. This year not the same feeling. I felt glad to see McNair bring home a victory-a hard fought one at that. The Pubs did some serious recruiting in the off season because they were not the same team we played last year. The Mighty Machine blanked the PD office in the first two innings and in the fourth. As previously noted, we brought our bats to this game and went straight to work. Both Mr. Dependable Bluestein and Jay-Bird hit homers in the first inning as we put 5 runs on the board. We added one each inning and then pulled away with 6 in the fourth inning. Bad news though and I take full responsibility; I forgot to stick a fork in the PD office to see if they were done-they gave us a tough time adding doubles all the way through their line-up which put 10 runs on the board. (BLAST-those one innings where we fall apart!) McNair came back at the bottom of the fifth with 7 runs and 3 more runs in the sixth inning to provide a cushion the Pubs couldn’t break. Final score McNair 23, Public Defenders 15. Our next game will be Thursday, July 14 against Motley Rice.
Dug-Out
Where do I begin? Let's see, the girls (Rhonda, Corbett and Maggie) all batted .500, each earning a RBI for the record book. Jay-Bird (1.000) was swinging "Ol'Blue" again and went long ball twice and put 5 RBI's on the board. We just knew the party was on when his first hit cleared the fence. Mr. Dependable lived up to his name and he not only batted a 1.000, but was one single short of going around the world. Funny, I always thought the single was the easiest of the four to hit. John Rosen (.500) picked up were Brett left off and hit a double. Adam (Stoler-MITE!) batted a thousand as DH and came in for Trabert in the 5th. Craig Blackmon (.750) showed up to hold down Short (stop) and smack 3 doubles. MC-Hammer (.750) held down 1st base and kept his average up with 3 singles and some nice D-Fence. T-Boone (.750) showed off his range in the outfield and went single, double, triple for his rotation. Big Daddy Warren (.250)worked some serious D out in the outfield with Jay as his right-hand man. Trabert(.600) followed Turner's lead with a single, double and a triple as he held down the hot corner.
Bring it Home!
We put up a hard fight and kept things in check to bring home this one and it makes me proud to say this game produced the most runs the McNair Machine has ever scored. Our next game is Thursday, July 21st at the Parkshore Field in West Ashley. We will be playing our old pals from across the river Rice a Ron-i.
Stats
At Bats Hits Single Double Triple Home Run Batting % RBIs
Adam 4 4 3 1 0 0 1.000 3
Brett 3 3 0 1 1 1 1.000 5
Jay 4 4 0 2 0 2 1.000 5
Craig 4 3 0 3 0 0 .750 2
Michael 4 3 3 0 0 0 .750 0
Turner 4 3 1 1 1 0 .750 2
Jim 5 3 1 1 1 0 .600 3
John 2 1 0 1 0 0 .500 0
Corbs 4 2 1 1 0 0 .500 1
Maggie 4 2 2 0 0 0 .500 1
Rhonda 4 2 2 0 0 0 .500 1
Joel 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 0
Team Total 46 31 14 11 3 3 .452 23
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
News Flash-McNair is back! Re-Cap of the Public Defenders will be published tomorrow
In the immortal words of Montezuma, "Who's that out there singing in the halls?" Oh yes, the Machine is back, storming the hard, beach sands of Park Shore like Mr. Williams' Marines. Unfortunately for the folks in the Public Defenders office all of our built up energy was let loose on them. McNair beat the Public Defender's office 23-15! YES! THE MOST RUNS WE HAVE SCORED IN OUR THREE YEAR HISTORY OF SOFTBALL! It was a tough game and the Pubes put up a good fight; they came back to keep it honest, but we turned up the heat in the end.
The update should be posted by Friday-once we get all of our stats in from MC-Hammer. I just want to say thank you all for giving your all. We finally left everything on the field, made the hits and went back to our old school Green Machine style softball-kicking butt, having fun and taking double or hyphenated names.
I haven't heard back from the Commissioner yet, but we should have a make-up game against Rice-o-Ron-i next week. To our fans, I wish you could have all seen this!
Go Mighty McNair!
The update should be posted by Friday-once we get all of our stats in from MC-Hammer. I just want to say thank you all for giving your all. We finally left everything on the field, made the hits and went back to our old school Green Machine style softball-kicking butt, having fun and taking double or hyphenated names.
I haven't heard back from the Commissioner yet, but we should have a make-up game against Rice-o-Ron-i next week. To our fans, I wish you could have all seen this!
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Re-Cap of Game Against Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd
McNair lost to Haynsworth in a grueling game reminiscent of last year's playoff game between the two teams. Unfortunately the Green Machine didn't bring home the victory like we did last year over HSB. Although we didn't put another notch on our belts we did show we have improved three-fold in communication, backing up plays, covering home-good job Brett and all around mechanics in the field. Had we played this well in the field last year, we would have gone to Omaha to play in the World Series against Berkshire Hathawa's in-house counsel. Our hits were solid, but we just happened to hit them, where they happened to be. That's softball for you!
MIA's: We were missing the Admiral, Maggie-May and MC-Hammer. Hammer was out checking out the new bridge at the Gala-yes, we sent him out there to look for Jay-Bird's home-run/game ball.
Dug-Out:
Turner Boone impressed everyone in the stands with his bat-everyone being both Beth and George, who talked about it over a couple of ice-cold DeerParks. Turner went 3 for 3 with 2 singles and a double. He was the only other person on the team who hit as well as Big Daddy Warren-3 for 3 (all doubles.) Thanks to both of you guys for stepping things up and exciting the rest of us. Talk about exciting, Capers made a (sweet) text-book double play that impressed even the other team. Capers went 1 for 3 at the plate, but showed he is getting back into his slap-hitter groove and he will be an asset for us in the future.
CID Davis went 2 for 3 with a double and single and showed us she can still catch the fly foul balls behind the plate. Great job Christina! 'Two-Cans' Coats had a few nice hits and so did Jay-Bird, unfortunately, they (as a few of the rest of us) fell victim to the 5/6 defensive shield their guys put up. Tom and Joel took Rhonda to the batting cages last weekend and boy did she have get into her groove. The book say Miss T was blanked, but she had a few nice cuts on the ball, especially for someone we haven't seen since season #1.
The next game is tonight at Parkshore against the Public Defenders, as usual the game starts @ 6:30. After the game against Moore & Van Allen, Trabert announced he wasn't going to shave his face again until we won. Come on-the guy looks like the shaggy d.a. and it has to be hot under that peach fuzz. It is about to come together for the team-it is only a matter of time, we can still make the playoffs and become the 'giant' killers we were last year. So, let's come out tonight and get some solid base hits, have some fun and bring a W home for McNair!
Go Mighty McNair!
MIA's: We were missing the Admiral, Maggie-May and MC-Hammer. Hammer was out checking out the new bridge at the Gala-yes, we sent him out there to look for Jay-Bird's home-run/game ball.
Dug-Out:
Turner Boone impressed everyone in the stands with his bat-everyone being both Beth and George, who talked about it over a couple of ice-cold DeerParks. Turner went 3 for 3 with 2 singles and a double. He was the only other person on the team who hit as well as Big Daddy Warren-3 for 3 (all doubles.) Thanks to both of you guys for stepping things up and exciting the rest of us. Talk about exciting, Capers made a (sweet) text-book double play that impressed even the other team. Capers went 1 for 3 at the plate, but showed he is getting back into his slap-hitter groove and he will be an asset for us in the future.
CID Davis went 2 for 3 with a double and single and showed us she can still catch the fly foul balls behind the plate. Great job Christina! 'Two-Cans' Coats had a few nice hits and so did Jay-Bird, unfortunately, they (as a few of the rest of us) fell victim to the 5/6 defensive shield their guys put up. Tom and Joel took Rhonda to the batting cages last weekend and boy did she have get into her groove. The book say Miss T was blanked, but she had a few nice cuts on the ball, especially for someone we haven't seen since season #1.
The next game is tonight at Parkshore against the Public Defenders, as usual the game starts @ 6:30. After the game against Moore & Van Allen, Trabert announced he wasn't going to shave his face again until we won. Come on-the guy looks like the shaggy d.a. and it has to be hot under that peach fuzz. It is about to come together for the team-it is only a matter of time, we can still make the playoffs and become the 'giant' killers we were last year. So, let's come out tonight and get some solid base hits, have some fun and bring a W home for McNair!
Go Mighty McNair!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Re-Cap of Game v Moore & Van Allen (July 7, 2005)
McNair played a solid game against Moore & Van Allen holding MVA to no more than 3 runs in any inning. MVA put up 3 runs in the first, 2 in the 3rd, 2 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th and 2 in the 7th giving them a grand total of 10. Although McNair played some great defense, we just couldn't get any hits. As a team we hit (.394) down from (.512) from our game against Barnwell Whaley.
Dug-out
The Capers-Crusader made it back, fresh off the Injured-list to get things going with a solid single in the first inning, Jet followed up with a double combined with two errors by MVA which brought both Capers (.500) and Trabert (1.000) home. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything with the hits we got in the next 4 innings resulting in 9 people left on base. We tried a new concept in the coaching department with MC-Hammer (1.000) coaching the first half of the game and Jet taking over after we subbed. Hammer did a great job directing our people on the field and calling out what MVA's players hit. El Jeffrey (.666) got his first hit in the sixth inning followed with a hit by MC-Hammer. Jet followed with another single bringing home Jeff who scored our third and final run of the game.
Unfortunately, with the heat and humidity scorching the softball fields of Chuck Town our game attendance is down, but Beth, Carla, Tom and Trey all came out to support the gang in green. You can tell the heat is effecting our playing too because even with subs we looked a little sluggish in the field. Don't sweat it team, we'll be fine. Honestly, we haven't played a team that we don't have the ability to beat. We just need to relax a bit, have fun, hit base hits and it will all come together-just like last year. By the way, Jet request we get our next win here in the near future. After the game, he promised not to shave his face until we win again. Beards + Summer=Uncool. Next Game is against Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, July 11 with a 2nd game on Wednesday against the Public Defenders.
Game Stats:
At Bats Hits Single Double Triple Home Run Batting % RBIs
Jet 3 3 2 1 0 0 1.000 2
Michael 1 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 0
Brett 3 2 2 0 0 0 .666 0
John 3 2 2 0 0 0 .666 0
Capers 2 1 1 0 0 0 .500 0
Turner 2 1 1 0 0 0 .500 0
Christina 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 0
Jeff 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 0
Joel 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 0
Chris 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Lindsay 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Maggie 3 1 0 0 0 0 .333 1
Jay 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Team Total 33 14 12 1 0 0 .394 3
Go Mighty McNair!
Dug-out
The Capers-Crusader made it back, fresh off the Injured-list to get things going with a solid single in the first inning, Jet followed up with a double combined with two errors by MVA which brought both Capers (.500) and Trabert (1.000) home. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything with the hits we got in the next 4 innings resulting in 9 people left on base. We tried a new concept in the coaching department with MC-Hammer (1.000) coaching the first half of the game and Jet taking over after we subbed. Hammer did a great job directing our people on the field and calling out what MVA's players hit. El Jeffrey (.666) got his first hit in the sixth inning followed with a hit by MC-Hammer. Jet followed with another single bringing home Jeff who scored our third and final run of the game.
Unfortunately, with the heat and humidity scorching the softball fields of Chuck Town our game attendance is down, but Beth, Carla, Tom and Trey all came out to support the gang in green. You can tell the heat is effecting our playing too because even with subs we looked a little sluggish in the field. Don't sweat it team, we'll be fine. Honestly, we haven't played a team that we don't have the ability to beat. We just need to relax a bit, have fun, hit base hits and it will all come together-just like last year. By the way, Jet request we get our next win here in the near future. After the game, he promised not to shave his face until we win again. Beards + Summer=Uncool. Next Game is against Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, July 11 with a 2nd game on Wednesday against the Public Defenders.
Game Stats:
At Bats Hits Single Double Triple Home Run Batting % RBIs
Jet 3 3 2 1 0 0 1.000 2
Michael 1 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 0
Brett 3 2 2 0 0 0 .666 0
John 3 2 2 0 0 0 .666 0
Capers 2 1 1 0 0 0 .500 0
Turner 2 1 1 0 0 0 .500 0
Christina 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 0
Jeff 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 0
Joel 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 0
Chris 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Lindsay 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Maggie 3 1 0 0 0 0 .333 1
Jay 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Team Total 33 14 12 1 0 0 .394 3
Go Mighty McNair!
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Proper Hydration
If you all think about it, please start sipping water, juice or Gatorade-whatever it is you use to hydrate yourself, because it is going to be pretty warm out there today. Weather.com reports the conditions here in Charleston as being 92 degrees and with the heat index it feels like 98 to 103 degrees. The temperature should come down a little bit, but I would feel a lot better if you all drank plenty of fluids before and during the game. We have water and the usual beverages for the game tonight, but it doesn’t hurt to start early.
See you tonight, Park Shore Field, game starts at 6:30. –Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
See you tonight, Park Shore Field, game starts at 6:30. –Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Re-Cap of Game v Barnwell & Whaley
Our next game is July 7th, @ Parkshore. Enjoy your week off.-Jet
Re-Cap of McNair v. Barnwell, Whaley
Game played at Park Shore Field (June 22, 2005)
Introduction:
For those of you who couldn’t come out last week, it was a tough game for our team to loose. The normal smells and bells the McNair Machine brings to the field were overwhelmed by the Daniel Island Dusters. I am not sure if it was the heat, the humidity or that every Barnwell dog has his day, but something was preventing us from looking like our usual selves. We were missing our rock, but Tom did come out to support the team and to take a few pictures. The Admiral Chris and his guns were MIA-yes; the shirts are intentionally cut as a show of force. Along with missing our gun-boat diplomacy, MAS-“the Italian Stallion” was getting his hair done after work and came late. However, he did send Katherine to join our regular GREEN “Army” of supporters. Unfortunately, we dropped this game, but we have plenty of time to fix some of our problems; our next game will be July 7th against Moore & Van Allen at the Park Shore Field. Scarafile will be sending out the updated batting averages as soon as he can.
Team Scores: Barnwell/ Whaley4 / 4/0 / 7/0 / 0/4 / Total: 19
McNair 0 / 4/2 / 1/3 / 0/3 / 13
Re-Cap:
FIRST: The Green Machine came out a little flat in the first inning allowing B/W to put 4 on the board. The Easton Synergy2 that Tom purchased was a little more bat than both Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein and MC “Hammer” Scarafile were expecting. Both of our start off men flied out at the fence, albeit neither used much force to get it there. Jet started things off with an easy swinging single. Jay-Bird followed up with a line-drive to center field that was mishandled by B/W’s centerfielder. Now normally when this occurs, Jet gets the green light for home and everyone is going to the party with runs on the board. But this time, B/W’s first base-person (Kara Mattingly) dropped into cover home. Note: This is exactly what the first baseman is supposed to do once the runner is by them Cover Home! The crowd is yelling, “Go! Go! Go!” Mr. Dependable is yelling, “Home! Home! Home” and Kara silences us all and ends the inning by tagging out Jet at home. You know, the last name (Mattingly), the knee brace and the Harmon Killebrew signed glove should have been a sign that she was a player. Wait, let’s not over-hype the females of their team because we all know, and B/W soon found out-McNair has some ladies who can handle their own on the field as well.
SECOND:After B/W put four on the board, McNair fought back with a little help from our ladies. Big Daddy Warren had a great hit, but was caught by a lucky tag out at second. Corbett (2-Cans) Coats picked up where Joel left off and smacked one to get things going. John and Turner both punished the ball, John brought in Corbett and Turner’s triple sent Rosie home. We were all delighted to see that two of our steady producers (Rosen & Boone) were back on track. Funny, it reminded me of what Turner told me before the season, “Of course I can play ball, why do you think they named the field after me in Atlanta?” Although Maggie went 1 for 3, her hitting improved more than expected. Had their left-fielder not been dragging behind, she may have hit a triple because the ball had speed and distance. Maggie came early and worked out with our hitting coach Craig Blackmon. Shhh…the other teams don’t know about our hitting coach. Maggie’s one hit was in the 2nd -a double, she then road home on Brad ‘Hondo’ Hiers’ follow up double. Hondo was left on base due. THIRD: We blanked them in the top of the inning and MC Hammer still had too much juice on the new bat to get it in play. Jet started things off for us with a double and Jay-Bird delivered with another double-this time no Mattingly at home to ruin Jet’s day. Jay-Bird was brought home by Big Daddy Warren who took 2nd base as well. (First time in McNair history-three doubles in a row! FOURTH: The wheels came off the Machine both offensively and defensively, as we let them hold us to one run while B/W tacked on seven. CID was the only one to score-off a double by Hondo. Brad was left on base as the Hammer and Mr. Dependable still wrestled with the getting their swings down. The 5th and 6th innings we held B/W and managed to put three on the board. We were all worried after Jet struck out and was mocked by Brandy-burg that the end was near, but McNair turned up the heat and made it a 5 run game in the bottom of the 5th. The three runs came off of three doubles in a row (a second for our team): Jay-Bird, Joel and Corbett followed by a triple from John Rosen put us back in the game. Yes, I did say Corbett Coats hit a double. It was right up the middle, dog-legged left on the South side of 2nd base and dropped between three of their players. If you had seen the look on Corbett’s face I think you would say that even she couldn’t believe it. Never underestimate our girls! Currently, they are carrying the team! SEVENTH: Barnwell Whaley did kick the proverbial dust in our face and put four more runs on the board, making it a 9 run game. We didn’t give up without a fight-MC Hammer finally found his stride, getting a single, which was followed with a single from Jet. With two men on, a runner in scoring position Jay-Bird decided to go long ball. Jay-Bird will be receiving the Game Ball for his 7th inning home-run! –That is as soon as we find it.
Dug-Out:
I hated to loose this game as much, probably even more, than you did. The thing is, a few us had an off night and we still have a couple of kinks we need to work out. On the positive side, we did score the second most runs of any game this season. (The most we have scored was 15 in our win against Pierce Hearns.) Now considering that Brett, Michael and Turner all went 1 for 4, and Jet was the only strike out-how can anyone complain about what we accomplished? We did really well; I promise it will just get better in the last 5 games of our season and we still have a chance to make the playoffs. As you know, we have been tweaking things to see what works, so everyone be patient. I am sorry we didn’t get our subs in last week, and we’ll work on that next time as well.
If the weather lets up anytime this or next week between Tuesday and Thursday, I will gladly go out and work with anyone who needs to practice positioning, hitting or just staying loose since we have this week off. We do need to settle down just a bit, and get back to basics. We need to make sure our throws count by hitting the cut off man, backing up each other and helping each other out as a team. I have two experienced baseball/softball coaches (Craig & Joel) out there to keep an eye on what problems (both mechanically and technically) we’re having. They give me their opinions and we have been moving some people around but a few things may go unnoticed. Please do not be afraid to ask me or one of them for help if something doesn’t feel right or you are not comfortable in a certain position. I want everyone to have fun, be safe and if we want to make the Play-Offs at the beginning of August, Win some ball games! Our next game is July 7th, the first Thursday in July against Moore & Van Allen.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July.
-Jim Trabert
Go Mighty McNair!
Re-Cap of McNair v. Barnwell, Whaley
Game played at Park Shore Field (June 22, 2005)
Introduction:
For those of you who couldn’t come out last week, it was a tough game for our team to loose. The normal smells and bells the McNair Machine brings to the field were overwhelmed by the Daniel Island Dusters. I am not sure if it was the heat, the humidity or that every Barnwell dog has his day, but something was preventing us from looking like our usual selves. We were missing our rock, but Tom did come out to support the team and to take a few pictures. The Admiral Chris and his guns were MIA-yes; the shirts are intentionally cut as a show of force. Along with missing our gun-boat diplomacy, MAS-“the Italian Stallion” was getting his hair done after work and came late. However, he did send Katherine to join our regular GREEN “Army” of supporters. Unfortunately, we dropped this game, but we have plenty of time to fix some of our problems; our next game will be July 7th against Moore & Van Allen at the Park Shore Field. Scarafile will be sending out the updated batting averages as soon as he can.
Team Scores: Barnwell/ Whaley4 / 4/0 / 7/0 / 0/4 / Total: 19
McNair 0 / 4/2 / 1/3 / 0/3 / 13
Re-Cap:
FIRST: The Green Machine came out a little flat in the first inning allowing B/W to put 4 on the board. The Easton Synergy2 that Tom purchased was a little more bat than both Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein and MC “Hammer” Scarafile were expecting. Both of our start off men flied out at the fence, albeit neither used much force to get it there. Jet started things off with an easy swinging single. Jay-Bird followed up with a line-drive to center field that was mishandled by B/W’s centerfielder. Now normally when this occurs, Jet gets the green light for home and everyone is going to the party with runs on the board. But this time, B/W’s first base-person (Kara Mattingly) dropped into cover home. Note: This is exactly what the first baseman is supposed to do once the runner is by them Cover Home! The crowd is yelling, “Go! Go! Go!” Mr. Dependable is yelling, “Home! Home! Home” and Kara silences us all and ends the inning by tagging out Jet at home. You know, the last name (Mattingly), the knee brace and the Harmon Killebrew signed glove should have been a sign that she was a player. Wait, let’s not over-hype the females of their team because we all know, and B/W soon found out-McNair has some ladies who can handle their own on the field as well.
SECOND:After B/W put four on the board, McNair fought back with a little help from our ladies. Big Daddy Warren had a great hit, but was caught by a lucky tag out at second. Corbett (2-Cans) Coats picked up where Joel left off and smacked one to get things going. John and Turner both punished the ball, John brought in Corbett and Turner’s triple sent Rosie home. We were all delighted to see that two of our steady producers (Rosen & Boone) were back on track. Funny, it reminded me of what Turner told me before the season, “Of course I can play ball, why do you think they named the field after me in Atlanta?” Although Maggie went 1 for 3, her hitting improved more than expected. Had their left-fielder not been dragging behind, she may have hit a triple because the ball had speed and distance. Maggie came early and worked out with our hitting coach Craig Blackmon. Shhh…the other teams don’t know about our hitting coach. Maggie’s one hit was in the 2nd -a double, she then road home on Brad ‘Hondo’ Hiers’ follow up double. Hondo was left on base due. THIRD: We blanked them in the top of the inning and MC Hammer still had too much juice on the new bat to get it in play. Jet started things off for us with a double and Jay-Bird delivered with another double-this time no Mattingly at home to ruin Jet’s day. Jay-Bird was brought home by Big Daddy Warren who took 2nd base as well. (First time in McNair history-three doubles in a row! FOURTH: The wheels came off the Machine both offensively and defensively, as we let them hold us to one run while B/W tacked on seven. CID was the only one to score-off a double by Hondo. Brad was left on base as the Hammer and Mr. Dependable still wrestled with the getting their swings down. The 5th and 6th innings we held B/W and managed to put three on the board. We were all worried after Jet struck out and was mocked by Brandy-burg that the end was near, but McNair turned up the heat and made it a 5 run game in the bottom of the 5th. The three runs came off of three doubles in a row (a second for our team): Jay-Bird, Joel and Corbett followed by a triple from John Rosen put us back in the game. Yes, I did say Corbett Coats hit a double. It was right up the middle, dog-legged left on the South side of 2nd base and dropped between three of their players. If you had seen the look on Corbett’s face I think you would say that even she couldn’t believe it. Never underestimate our girls! Currently, they are carrying the team! SEVENTH: Barnwell Whaley did kick the proverbial dust in our face and put four more runs on the board, making it a 9 run game. We didn’t give up without a fight-MC Hammer finally found his stride, getting a single, which was followed with a single from Jet. With two men on, a runner in scoring position Jay-Bird decided to go long ball. Jay-Bird will be receiving the Game Ball for his 7th inning home-run! –That is as soon as we find it.
Dug-Out:
I hated to loose this game as much, probably even more, than you did. The thing is, a few us had an off night and we still have a couple of kinks we need to work out. On the positive side, we did score the second most runs of any game this season. (The most we have scored was 15 in our win against Pierce Hearns.) Now considering that Brett, Michael and Turner all went 1 for 4, and Jet was the only strike out-how can anyone complain about what we accomplished? We did really well; I promise it will just get better in the last 5 games of our season and we still have a chance to make the playoffs. As you know, we have been tweaking things to see what works, so everyone be patient. I am sorry we didn’t get our subs in last week, and we’ll work on that next time as well.
If the weather lets up anytime this or next week between Tuesday and Thursday, I will gladly go out and work with anyone who needs to practice positioning, hitting or just staying loose since we have this week off. We do need to settle down just a bit, and get back to basics. We need to make sure our throws count by hitting the cut off man, backing up each other and helping each other out as a team. I have two experienced baseball/softball coaches (Craig & Joel) out there to keep an eye on what problems (both mechanically and technically) we’re having. They give me their opinions and we have been moving some people around but a few things may go unnoticed. Please do not be afraid to ask me or one of them for help if something doesn’t feel right or you are not comfortable in a certain position. I want everyone to have fun, be safe and if we want to make the Play-Offs at the beginning of August, Win some ball games! Our next game is July 7th, the first Thursday in July against Moore & Van Allen.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July.
-Jim Trabert
Go Mighty McNair!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Re-Cap of Game against Rosen
McNair v. Rosen & Rosen
(June 16, 2005)
Intro:
After winning two games and dropping one to Nelson Motors, the big McNair Machine came out a little flat against Rosen & Rosen last Thursday. In our last victory against Parker Poe the team fought off P&P’s 5th inning attack which tied the game and later put McNair down by one run. Yes, we took our early lead and sat on it until they caught us. Fortunately the ladies of the Scardato’s 13th Regiment Calvary Unit charged in and saved the day putting 4 runs on the board in the 6th inning. Yes, folks the girls came up strong each getting at least one RBI, Christina (overall .125) and Maggie (overall .250) getting a single a piece and Corbett (overall .417) notched two singles on her belt during the game. The team’s over-all batting average was .452% for the win over Parker-Poe. Unfortunately, the Rosen game was a different story.
Re-Cap:
For some reason I always seem to forget that teams with offices in the building where the Articles of Succession was signed are always a little rowdy. Jay pitched the night before and could barely lift his arms; Joel was stuck out in the country and it sure didn’t help that El Nino turned up the heat out at the Navy Base. On the plus side, we did have a plethora of cold ones, a good looking fan base and Glenn Walker flew in from Germany to catch the game. I digress; the blood shirted team from 134 Meeting came out hard and fast on your beloved McNair Machine. The first inning they put 6 runs on the board and held us to one hit by Bluestein. The second inning, we started to warm-up and held them to 5 runs, but they still managed to blank us again. After we returned the favor, RxR kept us from scoring until the fourth inning. Brett Bluestein (overall average of .666%) came up with our second hit of the game, as well as our first run on the board thanks to John Rosen (overall .333%) earning his first RBI of the year. Brad ‘Hondo’ Hiers (overall .308%) came up with the fourth hit, but did not beat out Romie ‘the Juice’ Bonds’ throw at second. Fielder’s Choice-you gotta love them. The fifth inning brought forth our substitutions and we continued to hold Rosen to a tight leash. The only problem was we couldn’t bounce back from their early lead. Jet led off and got our next hit, a single, with ‘Mad’ Mike Scarafile (overall .666%) following his lead just drilling one into right field-it was “home James, home” in no time flat. We continued to hold RxR to one run in both the 5th & 6th innings and blanked them in the 7th, but we still could not get out of the slump we were in with our hitting. We did earn one run in the bottom of the 7th-an RBI off of another well placed ball from ‘Mad’ Mike. Overall the team’s batting average was .258% down from .628% our first game! Yeah, we definitely need to work on that.
Dug-Out: (We saved the last inning for our best, err most entertaining stuff)
Speaking of well placed hits, Jet’s power swing produced a bunt, which rolled approximately 2.5 feet. Upon looking back from first, he noticed RxR’s Mary-Jordan picking up the ball. It was onto second base, where Jet noticed the slow, lofty throw from home and the third base coach waving him onto the hot corner. RxR put down their crossing signs and blocked off his travel to home, but it was the most exciting bunt/triple our team has had in along time. As mentioned, Scarafile was the next up and his hit made it an easy trot home for Jet. Maggie sacrificed one for the team to move Scarafile to second. Next up was Cid, with a runner in scoring position she hit one to Romie, but the Juice was no match for the wheels on Cid as she was safe at first. Unfortunately, this was too little, too late, because it would be ‘fielder’s choice’ to end the game with the next batter.
Our next game is tomorrow against Barnwell, Whaley at the Parkshore Field. Please do your best to get out there early to warm-up and take a few swings with the bats, especially our new secret weapon. (It’s a secret-I can’t tell you, come see for yourself.) Currently, McNair is 2-2; we’ll have to come out strong to put Barnwell Whaley in their place. Some of their players have already sent Corbett some trash talking about the game tomorrow.
The following are excerpts from an e-mail sent to Corbett.
B/W’s Coach: “I hope you all bring your "A" game, if not we’ll be seeing you in the dust!”
Corbett: “What dust?”
B/W’s Coach: “The dust I’ll be kicking up in your face! The guys at Rosen said it was the thing to do to you!”
Corbett: “Just watch and see buddy, we’ll be doing our trash talking on the field.”
B/W’s Coach: “You’re lucky I am just coaching tomorrow because I hurt my knee. Then again, my knee has a better batting average than Trabert!”
Corbett is right; we’ll be doing our trash talking on the field tomorrow. And to be honest, I would hate to see this guy’s knee in a dark alley.
Go Mighty McNair!
(June 16, 2005)
Intro:
After winning two games and dropping one to Nelson Motors, the big McNair Machine came out a little flat against Rosen & Rosen last Thursday. In our last victory against Parker Poe the team fought off P&P’s 5th inning attack which tied the game and later put McNair down by one run. Yes, we took our early lead and sat on it until they caught us. Fortunately the ladies of the Scardato’s 13th Regiment Calvary Unit charged in and saved the day putting 4 runs on the board in the 6th inning. Yes, folks the girls came up strong each getting at least one RBI, Christina (overall .125) and Maggie (overall .250) getting a single a piece and Corbett (overall .417) notched two singles on her belt during the game. The team’s over-all batting average was .452% for the win over Parker-Poe. Unfortunately, the Rosen game was a different story.
Re-Cap:
For some reason I always seem to forget that teams with offices in the building where the Articles of Succession was signed are always a little rowdy. Jay pitched the night before and could barely lift his arms; Joel was stuck out in the country and it sure didn’t help that El Nino turned up the heat out at the Navy Base. On the plus side, we did have a plethora of cold ones, a good looking fan base and Glenn Walker flew in from Germany to catch the game. I digress; the blood shirted team from 134 Meeting came out hard and fast on your beloved McNair Machine. The first inning they put 6 runs on the board and held us to one hit by Bluestein. The second inning, we started to warm-up and held them to 5 runs, but they still managed to blank us again. After we returned the favor, RxR kept us from scoring until the fourth inning. Brett Bluestein (overall average of .666%) came up with our second hit of the game, as well as our first run on the board thanks to John Rosen (overall .333%) earning his first RBI of the year. Brad ‘Hondo’ Hiers (overall .308%) came up with the fourth hit, but did not beat out Romie ‘the Juice’ Bonds’ throw at second. Fielder’s Choice-you gotta love them. The fifth inning brought forth our substitutions and we continued to hold Rosen to a tight leash. The only problem was we couldn’t bounce back from their early lead. Jet led off and got our next hit, a single, with ‘Mad’ Mike Scarafile (overall .666%) following his lead just drilling one into right field-it was “home James, home” in no time flat. We continued to hold RxR to one run in both the 5th & 6th innings and blanked them in the 7th, but we still could not get out of the slump we were in with our hitting. We did earn one run in the bottom of the 7th-an RBI off of another well placed ball from ‘Mad’ Mike. Overall the team’s batting average was .258% down from .628% our first game! Yeah, we definitely need to work on that.
Dug-Out: (We saved the last inning for our best, err most entertaining stuff)
Speaking of well placed hits, Jet’s power swing produced a bunt, which rolled approximately 2.5 feet. Upon looking back from first, he noticed RxR’s Mary-Jordan picking up the ball. It was onto second base, where Jet noticed the slow, lofty throw from home and the third base coach waving him onto the hot corner. RxR put down their crossing signs and blocked off his travel to home, but it was the most exciting bunt/triple our team has had in along time. As mentioned, Scarafile was the next up and his hit made it an easy trot home for Jet. Maggie sacrificed one for the team to move Scarafile to second. Next up was Cid, with a runner in scoring position she hit one to Romie, but the Juice was no match for the wheels on Cid as she was safe at first. Unfortunately, this was too little, too late, because it would be ‘fielder’s choice’ to end the game with the next batter.
Our next game is tomorrow against Barnwell, Whaley at the Parkshore Field. Please do your best to get out there early to warm-up and take a few swings with the bats, especially our new secret weapon. (It’s a secret-I can’t tell you, come see for yourself.) Currently, McNair is 2-2; we’ll have to come out strong to put Barnwell Whaley in their place. Some of their players have already sent Corbett some trash talking about the game tomorrow.
The following are excerpts from an e-mail sent to Corbett.
B/W’s Coach: “I hope you all bring your "A" game, if not we’ll be seeing you in the dust!”
Corbett: “What dust?”
B/W’s Coach: “The dust I’ll be kicking up in your face! The guys at Rosen said it was the thing to do to you!”
Corbett: “Just watch and see buddy, we’ll be doing our trash talking on the field.”
B/W’s Coach: “You’re lucky I am just coaching tomorrow because I hurt my knee. Then again, my knee has a better batting average than Trabert!”
Corbett is right; we’ll be doing our trash talking on the field tomorrow. And to be honest, I would hate to see this guy’s knee in a dark alley.
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Tips from Dr. Wacko
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #1: Poodle Alert at the Plate
1) As you step up to the plate to hit, think where you are going to stand in the batters box because a poor choice can take you out before the first pitch.
2) To maximize your chances, you've got to be able to hit the strikes. If you can't, a decent slow-pitch hurler will play with you like a poodle shredding Kleenex.
3) During practice, go up to the plate and position yourself where you need to be to take the ball that falls just behind the plate for a quality strike. Insist on strikes during batting practice so that you get in the habit of recognizing and swinging at good pitches.
4) Boiled down, this means that most hitters playing in rec leagues should be standing deeper in the box than they would in baseball.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #2: The Importance of Defence
1. Good defense pumps up a team as a whole more than good hitting. All it takes is one superlative-or even good-play to turn a team around and show it what it's capable of.
2. Although most players concentrate on offensive aspects of the game, good glove-work decides at least as many contests as hitting. It's hard to make such comparisons, but a great catch and throw can be worth as much as a home run.
3. In the outfield, take the time necessary to set your feet, and visually pick up your cutoff man, before making the throw. It is more important to make a strong, accurate throw than it is to get rid of the ball the instant it touches your hands.
4. It is possible to increase the snap on long throws from the outfield by twisting your hand just a little counterclockwise (for right-handed throwers) as you draw the ball back. This forces the person throwing the ball to draw it behind the ear in the classic position, and puts perhaps 15 percent more zip in the throw.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #3: Basic Hitting Tactics
1. Forget the underhanded pitching and metal bats. The biggest single difference between slow-pitch softball and baseball is the extra outfielder. The tenth man tips the averages in favor of the defense, and makes it statistically more likely that fly balls to the outfield will be caught.
2. It's possible to hit for a high average in slow-pitch (in fact, the best hitters routinely hit over .500), but to achieve this kind of success you've got to make adjustments in both the physical and mental aspects of hitting.
3. Once you've ironed out the kinks in your batting stroke, think about the pattern of your hitting through a game. Each turn at bat should set up your following turns at the plate by exposing weaknesses in the defense's personnel or alignment. Remember, you can move the fielders around as much as you move the ball around.
4. You don't have to hit to "all" fields to spread the fielders. Two fields can be enough to give you a temporary advantage. That's why almost any weenie can be a feared hitter in slow-pitch softball.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #4: Control Pitching
1. The first step toward control as a pitcher is standardizing your motion. Find a type of pitch and windup that is comfortable and seems to work, and stick with it until you know it inside out.
2. Every pitcher has streaks of wildness, but there is something you can do about it if you know your own tendencies, or weaknesses.
3. Become familiar with the basic parts of your delivery (stride, release, jump back, etc.) and how each affects your pitching so you can quickly diagnose the problem when things don't go quite right.
4. If you have trouble zeroing in on the strike zone, try using a tree or some other object behind the plate in the distance as your target. You may find that focusing on a target high above the plate also makes it easier to throw high-arc pitches.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #5: Slow-Pitch Softball Stats
1. The better a team's scorekeeping, the better its manager's decisions are likely to be, since the latter is based on the former.
2. Keeping track of what fields batters hit to (on both teams) is a first step, but keeping track of the count and the location of the pitch can give a manager a finer handle on the individual batter's performance.
3. Even though stats can be kept without a computer program, the keenness of computer analysis cannot be duplicated by casual scrawlings. If you already use a database on a personal computer, see if it can be adapted for softball stat use. The crucial test is usually whether the program has enough relational muscle to perform arithmetic computations on summary fields (i.e., can calculate batting averages).
4. The best programs that I have found for keeping track of softball scores are Q&A and Reflex. Q&A is the more well-rounded of the two, but if you don't already use Q&A or don't need a textual database, Reflex is vastly superior for numerical analysis of any kind. It's available for the Macintosh, too. For a template that will allow you to start keeping your softball records in Q&A, see the appendix. (Note: a decade after this was written, neither Reflex nor Q&A existed any more.)
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #6: Overall Offensive Strategy
1. The basic strategic principle of slow-pitch softball can be stated simply: Score runs faster than the opposition. Or, put another way: Good things happen to those who have the lead.
2. It is not necessary to hit tons of home runs to score tons of runs. To score runs faster than the opposition, all you really have to do is put runners in scoring position and avoid outs.
3. The double is the most valuable hit in slow-pitch softball because it specifically addresses these needs. It puts a runner in scoring position, eliminates the force or double play, and in most situations causes the defense to bunch up, making it easier for the next batter to both drive in a run and avoid making an out.
4. A lot of batters think their job is done when they get to first. In reality, they should be thinking double all the way, and scanning the field as they round the bag for a sign-such as the outfielder's bobbling the ball-that they can make it. Not everybody can hit homers, but just about everybody can hit doubles if they work at it.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #7: Advanced Pitching Styles
1. Advanced pitchers are able to throw both a variety of pitches and pitches that move differently from the same motion and apparent spin.
2. As in baseball, the grip is the key to making the ball move in and out. With backspin pitching, you can make it move differently by throwing it with, or across, the seams.
3. Sidespin pitching is a little harder to master, but is much more mutable than backspin, and therefore can add several pitches to the pitcher's repertoire.
4. The knuckleball is the only pitch in slow-pitch softball that can be overpowering. It is thrown with a sort of stiff-wristed putt-and poot-off the fingernails. The idea is to release the ball with no spin. If the pitcher's hand is too small, a similar pitch can be thrown by holding the ball in the palm.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #8: Coordinating Pitching and Defense
1. One of the simplest ways to increase the effectiveness of a pitcher is to have the defense positioned correctly for the pitches thrown.
2. Once a pitcher has gained sufficient control to be able to put the ball where he or she wants it more than half the time, it's important to set up a system of signals to inform the fielders where the ball is going to be pitched.
3. The signals can be given either by the pitcher directly, as in the case of Raoul's theatrical chicanery, or by a second person such as the catcher or shortstop. The only requirement is that they be visible to everyone on the field, yet not obviously a signal.
4. It is equally important that the fielders-especially the infielders-not tip off the batter by breaking too soon. If they wait until the pitch is in the air, and then break correctly (to their right if the ball is inside to a right-handed hitter; to their left if it's outside to the same batter), they will catch a lot of balls that normally would go through for hits.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #9: Defensive Shifts
1. The strongest defensive alignment is usually straight away, with all four outfielders spread evenly.
2. There are certain exceptions, however, where the correct defensive shift can work well. In general, defensive shifts work best against a limited batter who is well known to the defense.
3. Even teams at the highest level of slow-pitch will sometimes employ a radical shift (such as bringing an outfielder in to play as a fifth infielder) to try to shake things up, and introduce an element of chance.
4. Just when it all begins to seem too complicated for any mortal to master, remember that paunchy men with chewing tobacco running down their chins can do it, and so can you. If you're lucky, like me, the things you don't do may be crucial to success.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #10: Coed Softball
1. Coed softball is another realm entirely from the men's game, and in many ways I think it's harder. 2. Rule changes intended to even up men and womensuch as playing with different-sized balls, and attaching penalties to walking men-change the basic geometry of the game. An inadvertant result of this is that the pitcher's task is made much more difficult.
3. Women are more important to winning at slowpitch softball than men, both because of the rule changes and because the men more or less even out, putting a premium on the superior woman player.
4. If you're alert (and heaven knows, the world needs more lerts), you can sometimes snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by keeping your eyes peeled for runners who carelessly round bases too widely in the heat of the fray. The pitcher is usually responsible for making the defensive call, but manymen and women alike-don't even know it's an option.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #11: The Power Stroke
1. At the highest levels of slow-pitch softball, power hitting is perhaps the most important aspect of the game. You often hear people scoff at softball sluggers as beer-bellied dreamers, but actually the slow-pitch softball stroke is a special enough thing that even big-league hitters have to learn it.
2. Ted Cox, who played in the American League for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue jays, told me that the basic trick to power hitting in slow-pitch softball is to strike the ball slightly below the middle, in order to give the ball backspin and loft it. "In baseball you are taught to hit the top part of the ball. Now you slow your hands down so you make contact, and then snap the wrists to get the spin to make it
3. When the power game is on, it can be absolutely overpowering. I watched a game in the 1989 ASA super-slow-pitch national championships in which one team, Steele's Silver Bullets, hit fifty-six homers, winning by a final score of 74-21. It is worth noting, though, that Steele's didn't win the superslow-pitch national championship that year. They were beaten by a team that featured speed and an all-around game.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #12: A Few More Things...
1. One way to seriously hit to the opposite field (right field for a right-handed batter) is to try to hit the "inside comer of the ball." That is, waiting long enough on the pitch so you can hit an inside slice of the ball as it falls through the strike zone.
2. Less seriously, softball in the snow can be great fun as long as you don't expect it to resemble dry-land softball too much. If you want to try it, you'll need orange balls, and orange traffic cones or rubber tires may serve as better bases than the bags used during the summer. It also helps to have some sort of warming shed. Major snow ball tournaments have been sponsored for many winters in Omaha and Chicago by the March of Dimes.
3. Although it may not happen often, you occasionally may want to do something besides play softball. (Did I say that?) Just remember the lines from the eighteenth-century British poet William Cowper: "Absence of occupation is not rest, a mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd."
Go Mighty McNair!
1) As you step up to the plate to hit, think where you are going to stand in the batters box because a poor choice can take you out before the first pitch.
2) To maximize your chances, you've got to be able to hit the strikes. If you can't, a decent slow-pitch hurler will play with you like a poodle shredding Kleenex.
3) During practice, go up to the plate and position yourself where you need to be to take the ball that falls just behind the plate for a quality strike. Insist on strikes during batting practice so that you get in the habit of recognizing and swinging at good pitches.
4) Boiled down, this means that most hitters playing in rec leagues should be standing deeper in the box than they would in baseball.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #2: The Importance of Defence
1. Good defense pumps up a team as a whole more than good hitting. All it takes is one superlative-or even good-play to turn a team around and show it what it's capable of.
2. Although most players concentrate on offensive aspects of the game, good glove-work decides at least as many contests as hitting. It's hard to make such comparisons, but a great catch and throw can be worth as much as a home run.
3. In the outfield, take the time necessary to set your feet, and visually pick up your cutoff man, before making the throw. It is more important to make a strong, accurate throw than it is to get rid of the ball the instant it touches your hands.
4. It is possible to increase the snap on long throws from the outfield by twisting your hand just a little counterclockwise (for right-handed throwers) as you draw the ball back. This forces the person throwing the ball to draw it behind the ear in the classic position, and puts perhaps 15 percent more zip in the throw.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #3: Basic Hitting Tactics
1. Forget the underhanded pitching and metal bats. The biggest single difference between slow-pitch softball and baseball is the extra outfielder. The tenth man tips the averages in favor of the defense, and makes it statistically more likely that fly balls to the outfield will be caught.
2. It's possible to hit for a high average in slow-pitch (in fact, the best hitters routinely hit over .500), but to achieve this kind of success you've got to make adjustments in both the physical and mental aspects of hitting.
3. Once you've ironed out the kinks in your batting stroke, think about the pattern of your hitting through a game. Each turn at bat should set up your following turns at the plate by exposing weaknesses in the defense's personnel or alignment. Remember, you can move the fielders around as much as you move the ball around.
4. You don't have to hit to "all" fields to spread the fielders. Two fields can be enough to give you a temporary advantage. That's why almost any weenie can be a feared hitter in slow-pitch softball.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #4: Control Pitching
1. The first step toward control as a pitcher is standardizing your motion. Find a type of pitch and windup that is comfortable and seems to work, and stick with it until you know it inside out.
2. Every pitcher has streaks of wildness, but there is something you can do about it if you know your own tendencies, or weaknesses.
3. Become familiar with the basic parts of your delivery (stride, release, jump back, etc.) and how each affects your pitching so you can quickly diagnose the problem when things don't go quite right.
4. If you have trouble zeroing in on the strike zone, try using a tree or some other object behind the plate in the distance as your target. You may find that focusing on a target high above the plate also makes it easier to throw high-arc pitches.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #5: Slow-Pitch Softball Stats
1. The better a team's scorekeeping, the better its manager's decisions are likely to be, since the latter is based on the former.
2. Keeping track of what fields batters hit to (on both teams) is a first step, but keeping track of the count and the location of the pitch can give a manager a finer handle on the individual batter's performance.
3. Even though stats can be kept without a computer program, the keenness of computer analysis cannot be duplicated by casual scrawlings. If you already use a database on a personal computer, see if it can be adapted for softball stat use. The crucial test is usually whether the program has enough relational muscle to perform arithmetic computations on summary fields (i.e., can calculate batting averages).
4. The best programs that I have found for keeping track of softball scores are Q&A and Reflex. Q&A is the more well-rounded of the two, but if you don't already use Q&A or don't need a textual database, Reflex is vastly superior for numerical analysis of any kind. It's available for the Macintosh, too. For a template that will allow you to start keeping your softball records in Q&A, see the appendix. (Note: a decade after this was written, neither Reflex nor Q&A existed any more.)
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #6: Overall Offensive Strategy
1. The basic strategic principle of slow-pitch softball can be stated simply: Score runs faster than the opposition. Or, put another way: Good things happen to those who have the lead.
2. It is not necessary to hit tons of home runs to score tons of runs. To score runs faster than the opposition, all you really have to do is put runners in scoring position and avoid outs.
3. The double is the most valuable hit in slow-pitch softball because it specifically addresses these needs. It puts a runner in scoring position, eliminates the force or double play, and in most situations causes the defense to bunch up, making it easier for the next batter to both drive in a run and avoid making an out.
4. A lot of batters think their job is done when they get to first. In reality, they should be thinking double all the way, and scanning the field as they round the bag for a sign-such as the outfielder's bobbling the ball-that they can make it. Not everybody can hit homers, but just about everybody can hit doubles if they work at it.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #7: Advanced Pitching Styles
1. Advanced pitchers are able to throw both a variety of pitches and pitches that move differently from the same motion and apparent spin.
2. As in baseball, the grip is the key to making the ball move in and out. With backspin pitching, you can make it move differently by throwing it with, or across, the seams.
3. Sidespin pitching is a little harder to master, but is much more mutable than backspin, and therefore can add several pitches to the pitcher's repertoire.
4. The knuckleball is the only pitch in slow-pitch softball that can be overpowering. It is thrown with a sort of stiff-wristed putt-and poot-off the fingernails. The idea is to release the ball with no spin. If the pitcher's hand is too small, a similar pitch can be thrown by holding the ball in the palm.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #8: Coordinating Pitching and Defense
1. One of the simplest ways to increase the effectiveness of a pitcher is to have the defense positioned correctly for the pitches thrown.
2. Once a pitcher has gained sufficient control to be able to put the ball where he or she wants it more than half the time, it's important to set up a system of signals to inform the fielders where the ball is going to be pitched.
3. The signals can be given either by the pitcher directly, as in the case of Raoul's theatrical chicanery, or by a second person such as the catcher or shortstop. The only requirement is that they be visible to everyone on the field, yet not obviously a signal.
4. It is equally important that the fielders-especially the infielders-not tip off the batter by breaking too soon. If they wait until the pitch is in the air, and then break correctly (to their right if the ball is inside to a right-handed hitter; to their left if it's outside to the same batter), they will catch a lot of balls that normally would go through for hits.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #9: Defensive Shifts
1. The strongest defensive alignment is usually straight away, with all four outfielders spread evenly.
2. There are certain exceptions, however, where the correct defensive shift can work well. In general, defensive shifts work best against a limited batter who is well known to the defense.
3. Even teams at the highest level of slow-pitch will sometimes employ a radical shift (such as bringing an outfielder in to play as a fifth infielder) to try to shake things up, and introduce an element of chance.
4. Just when it all begins to seem too complicated for any mortal to master, remember that paunchy men with chewing tobacco running down their chins can do it, and so can you. If you're lucky, like me, the things you don't do may be crucial to success.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #10: Coed Softball
1. Coed softball is another realm entirely from the men's game, and in many ways I think it's harder. 2. Rule changes intended to even up men and womensuch as playing with different-sized balls, and attaching penalties to walking men-change the basic geometry of the game. An inadvertant result of this is that the pitcher's task is made much more difficult.
3. Women are more important to winning at slowpitch softball than men, both because of the rule changes and because the men more or less even out, putting a premium on the superior woman player.
4. If you're alert (and heaven knows, the world needs more lerts), you can sometimes snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by keeping your eyes peeled for runners who carelessly round bases too widely in the heat of the fray. The pitcher is usually responsible for making the defensive call, but manymen and women alike-don't even know it's an option.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #11: The Power Stroke
1. At the highest levels of slow-pitch softball, power hitting is perhaps the most important aspect of the game. You often hear people scoff at softball sluggers as beer-bellied dreamers, but actually the slow-pitch softball stroke is a special enough thing that even big-league hitters have to learn it.
2. Ted Cox, who played in the American League for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue jays, told me that the basic trick to power hitting in slow-pitch softball is to strike the ball slightly below the middle, in order to give the ball backspin and loft it. "In baseball you are taught to hit the top part of the ball. Now you slow your hands down so you make contact, and then snap the wrists to get the spin to make it
3. When the power game is on, it can be absolutely overpowering. I watched a game in the 1989 ASA super-slow-pitch national championships in which one team, Steele's Silver Bullets, hit fifty-six homers, winning by a final score of 74-21. It is worth noting, though, that Steele's didn't win the superslow-pitch national championship that year. They were beaten by a team that featured speed and an all-around game.
Dr. Whacko's Notebook #12: A Few More Things...
1. One way to seriously hit to the opposite field (right field for a right-handed batter) is to try to hit the "inside comer of the ball." That is, waiting long enough on the pitch so you can hit an inside slice of the ball as it falls through the strike zone.
2. Less seriously, softball in the snow can be great fun as long as you don't expect it to resemble dry-land softball too much. If you want to try it, you'll need orange balls, and orange traffic cones or rubber tires may serve as better bases than the bags used during the summer. It also helps to have some sort of warming shed. Major snow ball tournaments have been sponsored for many winters in Omaha and Chicago by the March of Dimes.
3. Although it may not happen often, you occasionally may want to do something besides play softball. (Did I say that?) Just remember the lines from the eighteenth-century British poet William Cowper: "Absence of occupation is not rest, a mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd."
Go Mighty McNair!
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Reminder for Commisioner's Ball & Championship Game
Everyone is welcome to come and bring a friend to the party at Salty's tonight. In case you are looking for something to do before the party. The Championship Game will be played at the Park Shore Field, 6:00 between the Solicitors (They lost to Mc Nair 9-6) and Nelson Mullins (We never played them.) I hope you all can make the shin-dig at Salty's. By the way, Today's word at Rosen is [KARMA].. Just kidding. -Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
Go Mighty McNair!
Friday, August 06, 2004
A Message from the Top! (Re-Published article from Mr.Youngblood)
Team McNair,
Just a note to congratulate all of you who played on and supported our Firm's softball team this year. The comradirie was contagious and such a healthy thing for the Charleston office. I am proud to be associated with such a team of winners. A special thanks to coach/publicist/equipment manager Trabert!
Go Mighty McNair!
Just a note to congratulate all of you who played on and supported our Firm's softball team this year. The comradirie was contagious and such a healthy thing for the Charleston office. I am proud to be associated with such a team of winners. A special thanks to coach/publicist/equipment manager Trabert!
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Re-Publish of e-mail from Frank w/ Rosen (Season 2)
-----Original Message-----From: Trabert, Jim Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 12:42 PMTo: 'Frank B*******'Subject: RE: cinderellas?
Frank,
I sent around your e-mail to my team this morning; I did not send it to get them fired up, but to give them a good laugh-Cinderellas with pumpkins, that was pretty good. I understand why you sent the e-mail. If I were in your shoes, I too would have been scared and started talking trash when I found out I was playing Mc Nair.
I spoke with Amy at Seekings' office and she said the fields will be ready for tonight. I told her you were worried about the fields because you have a lot of hired gun-prima donnas who don't like to get their uniforms and shoes dirty. (I do my best to accommodate the other team.) Her solution, if possible, could your team bring their hair dryers to dry the field around 5 P.M. I thought y'all would have them in your softball bags anyway, so it sounds reasonable to me. Also, she said if any of your players have out-of-state tags they will receive a ticket for parking in the Palm's Apartment lot. I know you have a lot of players from Georgia and Florida, so If need be, I am sure I could get Scarafile to bus half of your team in from the church parking lot down the street. (He has an Expedition-seats 8.)
By the way, now that we have established a certain comity for tonight's game, Good Luck Tonight! You are going to need it...
-Jet
-----Original Message-----From: Frank B*******
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 10:07 AMTo: Trabert, Jim
Subject: cinderellas?
Jet,
So you guys this year’s Cinderella story or what? Just so you know, your carriage turns into a pumpkin at 6:30! You better bring your A-Game.
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This electronic mail transmission and any accompanying
documents contain information belonging to the sender which
may be confidential and legally privileged. This information is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is
addressed. If you have received this transmission in error, please
immediately delete the message. Thank you.
Go Mighty McNair!
Frank,
I sent around your e-mail to my team this morning; I did not send it to get them fired up, but to give them a good laugh-Cinderellas with pumpkins, that was pretty good. I understand why you sent the e-mail. If I were in your shoes, I too would have been scared and started talking trash when I found out I was playing Mc Nair.
I spoke with Amy at Seekings' office and she said the fields will be ready for tonight. I told her you were worried about the fields because you have a lot of hired gun-prima donnas who don't like to get their uniforms and shoes dirty. (I do my best to accommodate the other team.) Her solution, if possible, could your team bring their hair dryers to dry the field around 5 P.M. I thought y'all would have them in your softball bags anyway, so it sounds reasonable to me. Also, she said if any of your players have out-of-state tags they will receive a ticket for parking in the Palm's Apartment lot. I know you have a lot of players from Georgia and Florida, so If need be, I am sure I could get Scarafile to bus half of your team in from the church parking lot down the street. (He has an Expedition-seats 8.)
By the way, now that we have established a certain comity for tonight's game, Good Luck Tonight! You are going to need it...
-Jet
-----Original Message-----From: Frank B*******
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 10:07 AMTo: Trabert, Jim
Subject: cinderellas?
Jet,
So you guys this year’s Cinderella story or what? Just so you know, your carriage turns into a pumpkin at 6:30! You better bring your A-Game.
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This electronic mail transmission and any accompanying
documents contain information belonging to the sender which
may be confidential and legally privileged. This information is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is
addressed. If you have received this transmission in error, please
immediately delete the message. Thank you.
Go Mighty McNair!
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Re-Cap of 1st Playoff Game v Haynsworth
Introduction:
Some might ask, how does a team go from being 2-8 one year to turn around and go 6-4 the next? Others might call us Cinderellas, an over-rated team who barely beat an 0-9 team, Moore and Van Allen our last game. I call these people what they are naysayer. Naysayers are those people who believe with out extremely talented players the team will never win. These are the same people who were shocked to see the United States Olympic Basketball Team-perhaps the most talented b-ball team in the Olympics, get beat by the team from Italy. Wait a minute, bad example; I was shocked by that as well. I digress, Haynsworth beat us in the regular season 19-7. They thought it was going to be a second verse, same as the first routine when they played us again. Once again, someone made the mistake of underestimating our team. We were missing a few players, but had an ample turn-out to "cover our bases", with a combination of determination, will and the support of our fans! (Thanks for sticking around when Alex let loose the torrential downpour.) Folks, I am happy to say; We did it! Our first Playoff Victory. We had a little trouble getting our offense going, but our defense picked up the slack and we held them, pulled away and then won! This has always been a team effort, my success and ability to keep Donald Williams from firing me as the captain has been because of you. The Team also gave me the best gift-opportunity I could ask for. To score the winning run in our first playoff win! (See 'Highlights' below) Great Job to all, and a special thanks to the fans! Mc Nair's record is now 7-4!
Haynsworth: 0 / 3/0 / 2/3 / 0/4 /12
Mc Nair: 1 / 0/ 0 / 4/4 / 2/2 / 13
Dug-Out:
Mr. Dependable went 3 for 4 at the plate and played some excellent defense in LF. He scored three times, including the run which tied the game in the 7th inning. Great Job Brett! Jay-Bird's first at bat was a single home-run, followed by two doubles and a line-drive that was caught by their 3rd baseman in the final inning. Trust me folks, when a hit comes that fast towards the hot corner, it is plain old reflexes and luck to catch a ball while blocking your face. Excellent job! Chris Williams held down 3B, went 2 for 2 at the plate, and got us back in the game with a 4th-inning triple. Tom Mc Tighe was 1 for 2 at the plate, falling victim to a heck of a play by their short-stop. Tom played some great defense in Short-Right and he keeps on getting better and better. Do I hear most improved player of the year? Joel had a little trouble at the plate, but played stellar defense and put in some great pitches. Also, I would like to point out that he showed a lot of leadership on the field, kept everyone up-beat and played with an injured-elbow that I hope, but doubt, looked worse than it felt. Corbett was 1 for 3 at the plate, scored once, and did a great job in deep Right. Ted Huge did a great job on first, but had a little trouble getting his hits. Don't worry Ted, it is nothing that can not be fixed. You were just not following through on your swing. Covergirl-Mary Shahid showed she still has the wheels to get around the bases, and played a great game, running faster than anyone without cleats should have in those slippery, muddy, wet conditions. Great Game Mary! Christina Davis went 1 for 2 at the plate, scoring once and did a great job playing a new position on 2B. Adam Stolamite! did a great job subbing for Tom, and it was his off of the fence hit that knocked in the winning run! Great job Adam! Craig came in as the designated hitter, and kept the momentum going for us, as well as, giving great advice on what we needed to fix. Craig has a lot of experience and a great eye for these things; if Donald Williams doesn't re-new my contract, I would recommend him to fill my shoes. Capers played aggressively and kept us on track to bring home the win. He went 2 for 3 at the plate, scoring in the 6th-CRUCIAL RUN…MC Hammer went 2 for 2 at the plate, getting two RBI's with his 6th inning double. Also, he did a great job playing 1st base. Great Job Scarafile!
Highlight:
As you can see from the stats, Haynsworth came back in the 7th inning and took the lead by one. But by all means allow me: Mc Nair was winning 11-8 at the top of the 7th inning. With bases loaded, HSB's batter, Trop smacks a grand-slam that hit off of the top of the apartments behind the field. Mc Nair tightens up and gets the next three batters out. Bottom of the 7th, down 12-11, Mc Nair has "Mr. Dependable" Brett Bluestein up to bat. Brett cranks one into the outfield and gets a double. Next at bat is Jay-Bird Alexander who slams one towards third base. As he was blocking his face, their 3rd baseman, Captain Cary, accidentally caught the ball, giving Mc Nair one out. Next at bat is Jet. Captain of the Mc Nair squad, he cranks one back to the fence but it goes foul. Will this be a walk-off homer for Jet? Absolutely not, as his next hit goes straight down into the mud, advancing Mr. D to 3rd and Jet makes it to first. Next at bat, with one out, Adam Stolomite cranks one to left field right over the glove of the HSB's hero Trop. Bluestein comes into tie the game and as the ball bounces off the fence, Jet comes home from first to score the winning run, Stoler ends up at 3rd. Nice wheels, awesome hit and great team effort for Mc Nair to bring home another victory!
End Note:
For those of you who did not know, I worked for Haynsworth, Marion, Mc Kay and Guerard (before their merger) during my years at El Cid. A friend of mine at HSB asked me; how could I turn on my Haynsworth blood and score the winning run? The answer is simple. I am a Mc Nair Man and on August 15, I will have been so for four years! Thanks for playing and cheering as hard as you did. This victory meant a lot to me, and I could not have written a better ending! Corbett told me a while ago, that despite all of the work that goes into "running the show", it would be worth it in the end. It's the smartest thing she has ever said to me. You guys make my job easy and I enjoy every moment of it! Stay tuned for the re-cap of our final game this season against Rosen…Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
Some might ask, how does a team go from being 2-8 one year to turn around and go 6-4 the next? Others might call us Cinderellas, an over-rated team who barely beat an 0-9 team, Moore and Van Allen our last game. I call these people what they are naysayer. Naysayers are those people who believe with out extremely talented players the team will never win. These are the same people who were shocked to see the United States Olympic Basketball Team-perhaps the most talented b-ball team in the Olympics, get beat by the team from Italy. Wait a minute, bad example; I was shocked by that as well. I digress, Haynsworth beat us in the regular season 19-7. They thought it was going to be a second verse, same as the first routine when they played us again. Once again, someone made the mistake of underestimating our team. We were missing a few players, but had an ample turn-out to "cover our bases", with a combination of determination, will and the support of our fans! (Thanks for sticking around when Alex let loose the torrential downpour.) Folks, I am happy to say; We did it! Our first Playoff Victory. We had a little trouble getting our offense going, but our defense picked up the slack and we held them, pulled away and then won! This has always been a team effort, my success and ability to keep Donald Williams from firing me as the captain has been because of you. The Team also gave me the best gift-opportunity I could ask for. To score the winning run in our first playoff win! (See 'Highlights' below) Great Job to all, and a special thanks to the fans! Mc Nair's record is now 7-4!
Haynsworth: 0 / 3/0 / 2/3 / 0/4 /12
Mc Nair: 1 / 0/ 0 / 4/4 / 2/2 / 13
Dug-Out:
Mr. Dependable went 3 for 4 at the plate and played some excellent defense in LF. He scored three times, including the run which tied the game in the 7th inning. Great Job Brett! Jay-Bird's first at bat was a single home-run, followed by two doubles and a line-drive that was caught by their 3rd baseman in the final inning. Trust me folks, when a hit comes that fast towards the hot corner, it is plain old reflexes and luck to catch a ball while blocking your face. Excellent job! Chris Williams held down 3B, went 2 for 2 at the plate, and got us back in the game with a 4th-inning triple. Tom Mc Tighe was 1 for 2 at the plate, falling victim to a heck of a play by their short-stop. Tom played some great defense in Short-Right and he keeps on getting better and better. Do I hear most improved player of the year? Joel had a little trouble at the plate, but played stellar defense and put in some great pitches. Also, I would like to point out that he showed a lot of leadership on the field, kept everyone up-beat and played with an injured-elbow that I hope, but doubt, looked worse than it felt. Corbett was 1 for 3 at the plate, scored once, and did a great job in deep Right. Ted Huge did a great job on first, but had a little trouble getting his hits. Don't worry Ted, it is nothing that can not be fixed. You were just not following through on your swing. Covergirl-Mary Shahid showed she still has the wheels to get around the bases, and played a great game, running faster than anyone without cleats should have in those slippery, muddy, wet conditions. Great Game Mary! Christina Davis went 1 for 2 at the plate, scoring once and did a great job playing a new position on 2B. Adam Stolamite! did a great job subbing for Tom, and it was his off of the fence hit that knocked in the winning run! Great job Adam! Craig came in as the designated hitter, and kept the momentum going for us, as well as, giving great advice on what we needed to fix. Craig has a lot of experience and a great eye for these things; if Donald Williams doesn't re-new my contract, I would recommend him to fill my shoes. Capers played aggressively and kept us on track to bring home the win. He went 2 for 3 at the plate, scoring in the 6th-CRUCIAL RUN…MC Hammer went 2 for 2 at the plate, getting two RBI's with his 6th inning double. Also, he did a great job playing 1st base. Great Job Scarafile!
Highlight:
As you can see from the stats, Haynsworth came back in the 7th inning and took the lead by one. But by all means allow me: Mc Nair was winning 11-8 at the top of the 7th inning. With bases loaded, HSB's batter, Trop smacks a grand-slam that hit off of the top of the apartments behind the field. Mc Nair tightens up and gets the next three batters out. Bottom of the 7th, down 12-11, Mc Nair has "Mr. Dependable" Brett Bluestein up to bat. Brett cranks one into the outfield and gets a double. Next at bat is Jay-Bird Alexander who slams one towards third base. As he was blocking his face, their 3rd baseman, Captain Cary, accidentally caught the ball, giving Mc Nair one out. Next at bat is Jet. Captain of the Mc Nair squad, he cranks one back to the fence but it goes foul. Will this be a walk-off homer for Jet? Absolutely not, as his next hit goes straight down into the mud, advancing Mr. D to 3rd and Jet makes it to first. Next at bat, with one out, Adam Stolomite cranks one to left field right over the glove of the HSB's hero Trop. Bluestein comes into tie the game and as the ball bounces off the fence, Jet comes home from first to score the winning run, Stoler ends up at 3rd. Nice wheels, awesome hit and great team effort for Mc Nair to bring home another victory!
End Note:
For those of you who did not know, I worked for Haynsworth, Marion, Mc Kay and Guerard (before their merger) during my years at El Cid. A friend of mine at HSB asked me; how could I turn on my Haynsworth blood and score the winning run? The answer is simple. I am a Mc Nair Man and on August 15, I will have been so for four years! Thanks for playing and cheering as hard as you did. This victory meant a lot to me, and I could not have written a better ending! Corbett told me a while ago, that despite all of the work that goes into "running the show", it would be worth it in the end. It's the smartest thing she has ever said to me. You guys make my job easy and I enjoy every moment of it! Stay tuned for the re-cap of our final game this season against Rosen…Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Introduction:
The word on the street is Mc Nair Law Firm, with the excellent recruiting we have from other firms as well, are the turn-around team, giant killers and all around tough team to beat on the Charleston Area Legal League Softball Circuit. To quote the great Samuel L. Jackson, "Mc Nair are some bad mothers". I don't know this for sure, but it is the word on the street. Samuel L. might be on to something as the evidence is in the show of force from teams such as H.S.B. and Moore & Van Allen-who both brought 20 players to their game against Mc Nair. Our Playoff fate rested in our ability to defeat Moore & Van Allen last Wednesday night. When playing an 0-9 team, it is easy to forget that these are the type of teams that end playoff dreams. It appeared that we had forgotten this valuable lesson, as we had a little trouble putting points on the board and nails in their coffin. Thankfully, our skill and determination overcame their few lucky points. Mc Nair won 10-8 and is headed to the playoffs tomorrow night! Currently, our record is 6-4!
Stats:
Innings:
M.V.A. 1 / 0/ 3 / 0/2 / 1/1 / 8
Mc Nair 3 / 1/1 / 0/2/ 3/X / 10
Dug-Out:
Our game came down to the very end, a nail bitter if you will. Even the fans were tense, Penny was so moved she locked her keys in her car. (Remind me to bring metal hangers to the games.) I don't think it had anything to do with whom was the better team; I believe it was the old rounders luck helping out the folks at Moore and Van Allen. They had a lot of lucky hits, and our hits went straight to them. Chris "Hot Hands" Williams played some serious defense at third, and went 3 for 4 at the plate. He put points on the board in the first and sixth inning. Mr. Dependable went 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring in the first inning. Brett had a busy day out in left field, but played quite well. The Caped-Crusader aggressively swung the lumber, going 2 for 4 at the plate. He was the victim of 2 fielder's choice tag-outs at 2nd base due to Jet's tendency of hitting it to MVA's short stop. Sorry Capers; You did great in the field though, and defense is what won the game. Jet went 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring in the first (RBI to Corbett), third and fifth innings. Jet did a great job trying to motivate the team and playing defense. Tom came in for Jet to play RC in the 6th and 7th innings, but did not make it to the plate. To continue his progress at the plate, Tom went to Sammies' this weekend and blasted about 137 pitches. Whoever pitches to him this week, needs to put some heat on the ball just like the machine. Joel "Commando Roll" Warren went 3 for 4 at the plate, with two doubles. He would have/could have/should have scored in the fifth inning, but their catcher had some serious kung-fu grip and held on to the throw that put him out at home. Joel's best performance was in the outfield, playing some serious defense. The highlight of the game was his diving commando-roll-catch which ended their at bat in the sixth inning. Corbett "Two Can" Coats had a great game at 2nd base and went 1 for 3 at the plate, racking up an RBI in the 1st inning and scoring a much needed run in the fifth. A newcomer Joseph Belton had a great game for someone who has not swung a bat in over a year. He and Jay switched things up in the infield, and played some great defense. Joseph went 1 for 3 at the plate, and did an excellent job at first and short-stop. I have a feeling Joseph is about to find his groove at the plate tomorrow evening. Think about it, he played college baseball and his last name is Belton, as in Southern Lingo for Beltin 'dem over the fence. (I don't know, just an observation-am I reaching?) Momma Jo' had a little trouble at the plate due to a cramped calf and their defense turning up the heat on her. JoAn did a great job in Right field making a couple of stops that prevented runs. Jay-Bird played some great defense at short, then switched things up with Joseph and went back to his natural habitat at first base. Jay went 2 for 3 at the plate, scoring in the 2nd and the much needed 6th innings. Christina did a great job at home plate, had a serious battle cry on the field, and burnt one to 3rd base in the 6th inning. It was a great hit, their 3rd baseman just made an excellent snag. Brad joined us again as our designated hitter, going 3 for 3 at the plate, and scoring in the 6th inning. Brad did not have a chance to get subbed in, but we'll get him some playing time tomorrow.
Next Game:--We made the playoffs!!!
Our next game is Tuesday, August 3rd at the Orange Grove Field v. Haynsworth. Please try to be there as close to six as possible. I'll send out a reminder/roster tomorrow! See you tomorrow night! Go Mc Nair! -Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
The word on the street is Mc Nair Law Firm, with the excellent recruiting we have from other firms as well, are the turn-around team, giant killers and all around tough team to beat on the Charleston Area Legal League Softball Circuit. To quote the great Samuel L. Jackson, "Mc Nair are some bad mothers". I don't know this for sure, but it is the word on the street. Samuel L. might be on to something as the evidence is in the show of force from teams such as H.S.B. and Moore & Van Allen-who both brought 20 players to their game against Mc Nair. Our Playoff fate rested in our ability to defeat Moore & Van Allen last Wednesday night. When playing an 0-9 team, it is easy to forget that these are the type of teams that end playoff dreams. It appeared that we had forgotten this valuable lesson, as we had a little trouble putting points on the board and nails in their coffin. Thankfully, our skill and determination overcame their few lucky points. Mc Nair won 10-8 and is headed to the playoffs tomorrow night! Currently, our record is 6-4!
Stats:
Innings:
M.V.A. 1 / 0/ 3 / 0/2 / 1/1 / 8
Mc Nair 3 / 1/1 / 0/2/ 3/X / 10
Dug-Out:
Our game came down to the very end, a nail bitter if you will. Even the fans were tense, Penny was so moved she locked her keys in her car. (Remind me to bring metal hangers to the games.) I don't think it had anything to do with whom was the better team; I believe it was the old rounders luck helping out the folks at Moore and Van Allen. They had a lot of lucky hits, and our hits went straight to them. Chris "Hot Hands" Williams played some serious defense at third, and went 3 for 4 at the plate. He put points on the board in the first and sixth inning. Mr. Dependable went 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring in the first inning. Brett had a busy day out in left field, but played quite well. The Caped-Crusader aggressively swung the lumber, going 2 for 4 at the plate. He was the victim of 2 fielder's choice tag-outs at 2nd base due to Jet's tendency of hitting it to MVA's short stop. Sorry Capers; You did great in the field though, and defense is what won the game. Jet went 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring in the first (RBI to Corbett), third and fifth innings. Jet did a great job trying to motivate the team and playing defense. Tom came in for Jet to play RC in the 6th and 7th innings, but did not make it to the plate. To continue his progress at the plate, Tom went to Sammies' this weekend and blasted about 137 pitches. Whoever pitches to him this week, needs to put some heat on the ball just like the machine. Joel "Commando Roll" Warren went 3 for 4 at the plate, with two doubles. He would have/could have/should have scored in the fifth inning, but their catcher had some serious kung-fu grip and held on to the throw that put him out at home. Joel's best performance was in the outfield, playing some serious defense. The highlight of the game was his diving commando-roll-catch which ended their at bat in the sixth inning. Corbett "Two Can" Coats had a great game at 2nd base and went 1 for 3 at the plate, racking up an RBI in the 1st inning and scoring a much needed run in the fifth. A newcomer Joseph Belton had a great game for someone who has not swung a bat in over a year. He and Jay switched things up in the infield, and played some great defense. Joseph went 1 for 3 at the plate, and did an excellent job at first and short-stop. I have a feeling Joseph is about to find his groove at the plate tomorrow evening. Think about it, he played college baseball and his last name is Belton, as in Southern Lingo for Beltin 'dem over the fence. (I don't know, just an observation-am I reaching?) Momma Jo' had a little trouble at the plate due to a cramped calf and their defense turning up the heat on her. JoAn did a great job in Right field making a couple of stops that prevented runs. Jay-Bird played some great defense at short, then switched things up with Joseph and went back to his natural habitat at first base. Jay went 2 for 3 at the plate, scoring in the 2nd and the much needed 6th innings. Christina did a great job at home plate, had a serious battle cry on the field, and burnt one to 3rd base in the 6th inning. It was a great hit, their 3rd baseman just made an excellent snag. Brad joined us again as our designated hitter, going 3 for 3 at the plate, and scoring in the 6th inning. Brad did not have a chance to get subbed in, but we'll get him some playing time tomorrow.
Next Game:--We made the playoffs!!!
Our next game is Tuesday, August 3rd at the Orange Grove Field v. Haynsworth. Please try to be there as close to six as possible. I'll send out a reminder/roster tomorrow! See you tomorrow night! Go Mc Nair! -Jet
Go Mighty McNair!
Monday, July 26, 2004
Re-Cap of Game v. Buist Moore (Season 2)
Game Re-Cap:
After only putting one run on the board, we gave up three runs in the first. Things did not look all that great. Especially with Jet hitting a slow ground-out to first (more of Jet's humorous hits to come,) but moving Brett to third allowing Jay-Bird to bring him home. I just want the folks who could not come out and see the game, we played really well, and everyone played hard. Here's the re-cap: MC "Hammer" Scarafile went 3 for 4 at the plate, and did a great job playing first. Brett "Mr. Dependable" Bluestein went 4 for 4 at the plate, just abusing the ball all day long and did a great job playing defense in left and left-center. Jet went 2 for 4 at the plate, doubles on both hits, but did not have the wheels or it seems the landing gear to make it to third base before being thrown out. They made him eat crow on that play. Or was it clay on that play? You have to admit, they made a great play. Seriously, the ball went from short to first throwing out "Two Can", then to third throwing out Jet. They made a nice play. Jet held down the hot corner with no overthrows, no missed catches and the feeling he took care of things while CLW was out of town. Jay-Bird went 3 for 4 at the plate, and played a mean short-stop-throwing out ten batters. Yes, 10 batters is a confirmed and accurate number. The man is packing a missile for an arm; why would they test him? Corbett went 1 for 4 at the plate, scoring one run and getting one RBI. Also, she played some mean defense at 2nd Base. Going 3 for 3, Joel swung the lumber like he wears flannel and carries a chainsaw to work. Unfortunately, he was left on 3rd twice and 2nd once. As usual, Joel did a great job mixing things up in the outfield, and put some peaches across home plate for us to smack. Christina/Nichole had a little trouble at the plate. Unfortunately, I am not sure which inning the substitution took place. But I do have some defensive notes to share. Christina is playing the catcher position, a ball is popped-up right in front of her, she yells, "I got it, I got it"; but her legs would not move forward just up and down. Runner safe, ball rolling away and Christina got a talking to from Hammer. (Christina, we are laughing with you, not at you.) Her roommate, Nichole, made up for it by snagging one of Buist, Moore's pop-ups when she took over the position. Great job ladies! MAS had a little trouble at the plate, but did a great job in the outfield. For those who do not know, MAS has a cannon hid up his sleeves. Oh yes, I almost forgot; His hair was perfect! He asked me to mention it. Rhonda played quite well. She needs to work on her swing a little, but she is coming in late and does not have the practice of a season behind her. Also, she is preventing a forfeit by playing, so, I'll forget my commentary on Tap-Water. Tom Mc Tighe just keeps getting better and better. We definitely have a contender for most improved. I like Brad right behind him in the line-up, they seemed to hit as one the other night. Tom went one for three at the plate, due to a couple of great plays by their short-stop. Tom, I have to tell you. I get excited when you get up to the plate-you just keep surprising me each week. Brad Hiers stopped by to lend us some bats and knock one out of the park for us. You might remember him from last year, big guy that always seemed to hit shorter than what you would expect. Well, last week, I talked him down at the plate and his next swing knocked one out of the park. Mark that as the 2nd over-the-fence homerun for Mc Nair.
Play of the game that you just could not help but laugh: As mentioned, Christina put smiles on all of our faces. But, Jet's foul ball just made me smile. His 2nd at bat in the 3rd inning was a deep hit ball that got stuck under the fence and was ruled a ground-rule double. Knowing this, the outfield stood at the fence for his next at bat. (Choke! Choke!) After getting a beautiful pitch, Jet fouled one back right into the glove of one of the Kristens. All we could do was shake our heads, the outfield thought it was going deep, but their catcher knew better.
Next Game:
The aforementioned next game is Wednesday night against Moore and Van Allen at the Park Shore Field. Please try to be there at six to warm-up. I'll be putting the roster together tomorrow, so please respond (unless you already have) either yea or nay on whether you can play.
Great Job Everyone!!!
Go Mighty McNair!
After only putting one run on the board, we gave up three runs in the first. Things did not look all that great. Especially with Jet hitting a slow ground-out to first (more of Jet's humorous hits to come,) but moving Brett to third allowing Jay-Bird to bring him home. I just want the folks who could not come out and see the game, we played really well, and everyone played hard. Here's the re-cap: MC "Hammer" Scarafile went 3 for 4 at the plate, and did a great job playing first. Brett "Mr. Dependable" Bluestein went 4 for 4 at the plate, just abusing the ball all day long and did a great job playing defense in left and left-center. Jet went 2 for 4 at the plate, doubles on both hits, but did not have the wheels or it seems the landing gear to make it to third base before being thrown out. They made him eat crow on that play. Or was it clay on that play? You have to admit, they made a great play. Seriously, the ball went from short to first throwing out "Two Can", then to third throwing out Jet. They made a nice play. Jet held down the hot corner with no overthrows, no missed catches and the feeling he took care of things while CLW was out of town. Jay-Bird went 3 for 4 at the plate, and played a mean short-stop-throwing out ten batters. Yes, 10 batters is a confirmed and accurate number. The man is packing a missile for an arm; why would they test him? Corbett went 1 for 4 at the plate, scoring one run and getting one RBI. Also, she played some mean defense at 2nd Base. Going 3 for 3, Joel swung the lumber like he wears flannel and carries a chainsaw to work. Unfortunately, he was left on 3rd twice and 2nd once. As usual, Joel did a great job mixing things up in the outfield, and put some peaches across home plate for us to smack. Christina/Nichole had a little trouble at the plate. Unfortunately, I am not sure which inning the substitution took place. But I do have some defensive notes to share. Christina is playing the catcher position, a ball is popped-up right in front of her, she yells, "I got it, I got it"; but her legs would not move forward just up and down. Runner safe, ball rolling away and Christina got a talking to from Hammer. (Christina, we are laughing with you, not at you.) Her roommate, Nichole, made up for it by snagging one of Buist, Moore's pop-ups when she took over the position. Great job ladies! MAS had a little trouble at the plate, but did a great job in the outfield. For those who do not know, MAS has a cannon hid up his sleeves. Oh yes, I almost forgot; His hair was perfect! He asked me to mention it. Rhonda played quite well. She needs to work on her swing a little, but she is coming in late and does not have the practice of a season behind her. Also, she is preventing a forfeit by playing, so, I'll forget my commentary on Tap-Water. Tom Mc Tighe just keeps getting better and better. We definitely have a contender for most improved. I like Brad right behind him in the line-up, they seemed to hit as one the other night. Tom went one for three at the plate, due to a couple of great plays by their short-stop. Tom, I have to tell you. I get excited when you get up to the plate-you just keep surprising me each week. Brad Hiers stopped by to lend us some bats and knock one out of the park for us. You might remember him from last year, big guy that always seemed to hit shorter than what you would expect. Well, last week, I talked him down at the plate and his next swing knocked one out of the park. Mark that as the 2nd over-the-fence homerun for Mc Nair.
Play of the game that you just could not help but laugh: As mentioned, Christina put smiles on all of our faces. But, Jet's foul ball just made me smile. His 2nd at bat in the 3rd inning was a deep hit ball that got stuck under the fence and was ruled a ground-rule double. Knowing this, the outfield stood at the fence for his next at bat. (Choke! Choke!) After getting a beautiful pitch, Jet fouled one back right into the glove of one of the Kristens. All we could do was shake our heads, the outfield thought it was going deep, but their catcher knew better.
Next Game:
The aforementioned next game is Wednesday night against Moore and Van Allen at the Park Shore Field. Please try to be there at six to warm-up. I'll be putting the roster together tomorrow, so please respond (unless you already have) either yea or nay on whether you can play.
Great Job Everyone!!!
Go Mighty McNair!
Monday, July 19, 2004
Re-Cap of Game v Usual Suspects (Season 2)
The Mc Nair softball team is a democratic institution and the people have spoken concerning what should be written in this week's update.
JAY ALEXANDER HIT THE FIRST OUT OF THE PARK HOMERUN IN MC NAIR HISTORY!!!
Great job J-Bird!!!
Our next game is this Wednesday, July 21st against Buist Moore at the Orange Grove Field in West Ashley. I would like to know ASAP if you can or can not make it. I am trying to have the roster together by Tuesday.
Play-Off Update:
Currently, we are 4-4. Seekings wrote to inform me, we are in the running for one of the eight play-off slots . We have two games left for our season, play-offs begin August 5th. We have games the next two consecutive Wednesdays. This week we play Buist, Moore. Currently, they are 3-2 with rain-out games to make-up. The Usual Suspects beat them 31-7. The following Wednesday, we play Moore and Van Allen. They record is 0-7. T.U.S. beat them 24-0.
I am not saying we have an easy go for the rest of the season, we need to stay intense and play these teams as though we were playing the Solicitors. Also, I would like to thank everyone that made it to the game this past week, especially our new additions, Ted, Nichole and Charlie. Game is this Wednesday, hope you all can make it.
P.S. In case you missed the game, The Usual Suspects beat us 19-8.
Go Mighty McNair!
JAY ALEXANDER HIT THE FIRST OUT OF THE PARK HOMERUN IN MC NAIR HISTORY!!!
Great job J-Bird!!!
Our next game is this Wednesday, July 21st against Buist Moore at the Orange Grove Field in West Ashley. I would like to know ASAP if you can or can not make it. I am trying to have the roster together by Tuesday.
Play-Off Update:
Currently, we are 4-4. Seekings wrote to inform me, we are in the running for one of the eight play-off slots . We have two games left for our season, play-offs begin August 5th. We have games the next two consecutive Wednesdays. This week we play Buist, Moore. Currently, they are 3-2 with rain-out games to make-up. The Usual Suspects beat them 31-7. The following Wednesday, we play Moore and Van Allen. They record is 0-7. T.U.S. beat them 24-0.
I am not saying we have an easy go for the rest of the season, we need to stay intense and play these teams as though we were playing the Solicitors. Also, I would like to thank everyone that made it to the game this past week, especially our new additions, Ted, Nichole and Charlie. Game is this Wednesday, hope you all can make it.
P.S. In case you missed the game, The Usual Suspects beat us 19-8.
Go Mighty McNair!
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Re-Cap of Game against Haynsworth (Season 2)
Sorry this late getting to you all. Enjoy.-Jet
Re-Cap of Game v. Haynsworth, Sinkler Boyd July 7, 2004
Introduction:
There was much hubbub and questions circling the halls of 140 East Bay Street on July 8th. What happened to the team? How did they get beat by HSB? Where were Corbett and Jay? Does Coors Light actually taste like real beer in Colorado? (Where was MAS?) Corbett was at her annual retreat in (Sorry, my Buckeye-ness prevents me from typing the name of the worst state of the Union.) Jay’s “20” was throwing a shut-out game in his baseball league. Luke writes that Coors Light actually does taste better in Colorado.[1] The answer to the question of how Haynsworth beat us is simple. The combination of us not having any subs, their team hitting 3 home-runs, the weather being hotter than the hinges on the gates of the 7th level of Dante’s Hell, HSB subbing half of their team in the fourth inning and simply that luck was just not on our side are the catalyst that led to our defeat. We dropped a game to HSB 17 to 9. Our record is now 4-3.
Bull-Pen
Mc Nair played well; we held with them until the 5th Inning, but they pulled away after subbing in fresh players. You could tell that the heat was doing a number on all of us, and our normally well placed hits just did not seem to fall. We will begin with the top of the line-up: MC “Hammer” Scarafile went 3 for 4 with three singles, scored one run and made an excellent effort to fill Jay’s shoes. His play of the game was stopping a shot hit down the line, getting up and tagging the bag for the out. Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein went 1 for 4 at the plate with a single and a lot of action in left field. He missed two that slid under his glove, but I doubt anyone of us could have done better considering the sun glaring down on that side of the field. Joel went 2 for 4 at the plate, scoring once, but was left on base in the 7th due to a pop-fly-out by Jet. Joel played excellent in the outfield and pitched; once again, we tip our hats to him. Jet went 2 for 4 at the plate with two doubles. However, as mentioned before, our hits just did not fall and he was left on base each time. Jet had a little trouble out in Right-Center, with a pop-up bouncing about 6 feet out of his glove. Give him some credit though, with the A-Team taking care of business in left field, and Jo playing short, he was covering more real estate than Sid Boone at a Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting. Chris Williams did a great job at third and scored one run. He had a little trouble swinging the wood, going 1 for 3. Then again, that one hit led to a run scored. A newcomer to the team, Carla, came all the way from Louisiana to play for Mc Nair. Good scouting job Hammer! She scored one run, going 1 for 3 at the plate. She snagged a line-drive at second base, showing us that she could play at our level. Good Job Carla; or should I say, Geaux Carla! Jordan pitched and went 0 for 3 at the plate. Also, he stepped up to fill Luke’s position at short, and did a pretty good job. In his defense, I believe, that just like the Biblical Sampson, cutting off his flowing locks of hair depleted his strength at the plate. Tom went 1 for 3 at the plate, and scored a run, showing that he still has the wheels to get around the bases in a hurry. The word on the street is that Mc Nair has some short haired blonde lady that bunts, then runs like crazy to first. There is truth to these rumors as our “secret weapon” a.k.a. Momma Jo uses this technique time and time again. Unfortunately, the boys at HSB had their ears to the ground and caught on to JoAn’s methods early in the game. She went 0 for 3 at the plate, and did her best in the outfield. Finally, “Cover-Girl” Mary Shahid went 2 for 3 at the plate-scoring twice. Also, she did an excellent job at home plate despite not having a glove. I would like to commend you all on the great effort by everyone that came out. Don’t worry; we’ll get them next time.
Next Game:
Our next game is this Thursday, July 15, at the Orange Grove Field. I will send directions and a roster list Thursday morning as a reminder.
[1] For the record, Michael Scardato believes Coors Light is an actual beer, not watered down and taste great now matter where it is served.
Go Mighty McNair!
Re-Cap of Game v. Haynsworth, Sinkler Boyd July 7, 2004
Introduction:
There was much hubbub and questions circling the halls of 140 East Bay Street on July 8th. What happened to the team? How did they get beat by HSB? Where were Corbett and Jay? Does Coors Light actually taste like real beer in Colorado? (Where was MAS?) Corbett was at her annual retreat in (Sorry, my Buckeye-ness prevents me from typing the name of the worst state of the Union.) Jay’s “20” was throwing a shut-out game in his baseball league. Luke writes that Coors Light actually does taste better in Colorado.[1] The answer to the question of how Haynsworth beat us is simple. The combination of us not having any subs, their team hitting 3 home-runs, the weather being hotter than the hinges on the gates of the 7th level of Dante’s Hell, HSB subbing half of their team in the fourth inning and simply that luck was just not on our side are the catalyst that led to our defeat. We dropped a game to HSB 17 to 9. Our record is now 4-3.
Bull-Pen
Mc Nair played well; we held with them until the 5th Inning, but they pulled away after subbing in fresh players. You could tell that the heat was doing a number on all of us, and our normally well placed hits just did not seem to fall. We will begin with the top of the line-up: MC “Hammer” Scarafile went 3 for 4 with three singles, scored one run and made an excellent effort to fill Jay’s shoes. His play of the game was stopping a shot hit down the line, getting up and tagging the bag for the out. Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein went 1 for 4 at the plate with a single and a lot of action in left field. He missed two that slid under his glove, but I doubt anyone of us could have done better considering the sun glaring down on that side of the field. Joel went 2 for 4 at the plate, scoring once, but was left on base in the 7th due to a pop-fly-out by Jet. Joel played excellent in the outfield and pitched; once again, we tip our hats to him. Jet went 2 for 4 at the plate with two doubles. However, as mentioned before, our hits just did not fall and he was left on base each time. Jet had a little trouble out in Right-Center, with a pop-up bouncing about 6 feet out of his glove. Give him some credit though, with the A-Team taking care of business in left field, and Jo playing short, he was covering more real estate than Sid Boone at a Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting. Chris Williams did a great job at third and scored one run. He had a little trouble swinging the wood, going 1 for 3. Then again, that one hit led to a run scored. A newcomer to the team, Carla, came all the way from Louisiana to play for Mc Nair. Good scouting job Hammer! She scored one run, going 1 for 3 at the plate. She snagged a line-drive at second base, showing us that she could play at our level. Good Job Carla; or should I say, Geaux Carla! Jordan pitched and went 0 for 3 at the plate. Also, he stepped up to fill Luke’s position at short, and did a pretty good job. In his defense, I believe, that just like the Biblical Sampson, cutting off his flowing locks of hair depleted his strength at the plate. Tom went 1 for 3 at the plate, and scored a run, showing that he still has the wheels to get around the bases in a hurry. The word on the street is that Mc Nair has some short haired blonde lady that bunts, then runs like crazy to first. There is truth to these rumors as our “secret weapon” a.k.a. Momma Jo uses this technique time and time again. Unfortunately, the boys at HSB had their ears to the ground and caught on to JoAn’s methods early in the game. She went 0 for 3 at the plate, and did her best in the outfield. Finally, “Cover-Girl” Mary Shahid went 2 for 3 at the plate-scoring twice. Also, she did an excellent job at home plate despite not having a glove. I would like to commend you all on the great effort by everyone that came out. Don’t worry; we’ll get them next time.
Next Game:
Our next game is this Thursday, July 15, at the Orange Grove Field. I will send directions and a roster list Thursday morning as a reminder.
[1] For the record, Michael Scardato believes Coors Light is an actual beer, not watered down and taste great now matter where it is served.
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Re-Cap of Game against the Solicitors (Season 2)
The Big Mc Nair Machine continues to win! Our record is now 4-2. Good job everyone!
Re-Cap of Mc Nair’s Game vs. The Solicitors from June 22, 2004
Introduction:
The Solicitors defeated Young Clement 31 to 14. They beat Haynsworth 20 to 12, and beat the Public Defenders 24 to 9. Their only loss was to Rosen (1st place in the Division) 17 to 5. Obviously, with this kind of record, they were going to have their hands full playing Mc Nair. The game was poetic with a level of comity heretofore never seen on a softball field. It was written in the stars that this game was ours, as we won our first coin toss and took home field advantage. The game reminded me of one of Donald Williams’ “Irish Blessings”. “May your bats always have a smack, whilst playing defense, may the wind always be at your back. Let the rain fall softly on your fields (at least for 30 seconds, twice, we had a rain delay to soften the clay of the Navy Base.) And until we meet again may God put their pop flies in the palm of your glove.” Despite their efforts and abilities, Mc Nair was victorious 9 to 6. To quote the loquacious Commissioner, Mike Seekings, responding to my e-mail about our victory, “Very Impressive!!!” I’d like to thank everyone that came out and played, our fans-who were led to safety from the rain by MAS and Tom for teaching some of us a new word “comity.”
The Game:
Everyone played and played excellent, except for MAS who decided to sit this one out to keep the ladies both dry and entertained . As everyone knows, this was Luke’s last game as he is moving to Colorado for school. Luke told me beforehand, he was leaving with another victory for the E.Bay Street Bombers. Corbett and Luke’s friend James kept the books was our designated hitter and pinch runner. Unfortunately, he designated all of his hits to their short-stop. Don’t worry James, you should have seen Jet hit last year, the result was quite similar. Amanda "Birthday Girl" Callander went 1 for 3 at the plate, but held down a mean second base. One of their “ringers” Nathan smacked a skyscraper, but Amanda (with much excitement from her fellow players and the crowd) caught his pop-up and ended the innings. What a clutch player. Great job Amanda! Although, she had a little trouble swinging the lumber, Corbett kept numerous hits into short right field from becoming triples and played excellent defense. On her behalf, Corbett blames her lack in the hitting department on foregoing her ceremonious “Two-Can” warm-up with bottled water. Before the game, MC “Hammer” Scarafile told me that we should start charging people for errors. Hmm, unless we accept his Expedition as collateral for payment, perhaps, we should institute this new system during our next game. Then again, Hammer says, “It doesn’t count as an error if you fall while going for the ball.” I’ll let you all be the judge. Our young barrister, Chris Williams had a stellar game, going 2 for 3 at the plate, and holding down the hot corner. Good job Chris! Christina “Les Bonnes Temps de Roullez” Davis was a real trooper playing on 2 hours of sleep, went 2 for 3 at the plate, and took the “Strike-out Monkey” off of Jet’s back. As usual, Joel Warren was taking care of business in left center, went 2 for 3 at the plate, and notched a few more RBIs on his belt. Jet missed a line drive in center, as the “ Tarheel Curse” a.k.a. too much junk in the trunk kept him from making the play of the game. Jet had two doubles, backed up “Two-Can” and did not miss another ball that came to him. Our very own epistemologist, Tom Mc Tighe took over for Jet in Right-Center, but suffered James’ malady of hitting to their short-stop. Obviously, Tom deserves the patience award for suffering directions of which brown patch to line-up with from the dug-out. He did not say it, but something tells me he was about to extend me “Cheney’s Congressional bed-side manners”. Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein went 4 for 4 at the plate, racked up a couple of RBIs and signed autographs for the fans afterwards. Silent but deadly, Jay-Bird went 2 for 3 at the plate and made some ever so crucial snags at first base. Luke Jeter-mini went 1 for 3 in his last game due to a 1st Inning injury at first base, hence James playing the pinch-runner role. Although playing hurt, Luke did an excellent job at short-stop. I wonder, who will fill your shoes. I would like to extend a special thanks and Good luck to Luke as he travels out West to tap the Rockies. And I am sure that softball fields throughout Colorado will wonder from where that echoing “MINE!!!” is coming.
Conclusion:
The odds were against us, but we showed Ralph’s boys never to underestimate the underdogs. I have never been as proud of a victory as I was after this game! Good Job Everyone! You all are great team players which makes it easy to be your Captain. You have met the challenge of playing one of the best teams in the league, were tenacious and did your best. It seems Mc Nair wins games the "Old Fashioned Way"-We earn them. We have this week off. Our next game is July 7th at the Park Shore field against Haynsworth, Sinkler Boyd. Our record is now 4-2. I’ll send you an update of our league standings as soon as I get the information. Thanks again to everyone, including “Covergirl” Mary Shahid and Momma Jo for taking care of Miss Rylie, so her Mom could play!
"Whether your name is (Lou) Gehrig or (Cal) Ripken, (Joe) DiMaggio or (Jackie) Robinson, or that of some youngster who picks up his bat or puts on his glove, you are challenged by the game of softball* to do your very best day in and day out. That's all I've ever tried to do." -Cal Ripken
*The word softball was substituted for baseball in this quote-sorry Cal
Go Mighty McNair!
Re-Cap of Mc Nair’s Game vs. The Solicitors from June 22, 2004
Introduction:
The Solicitors defeated Young Clement 31 to 14. They beat Haynsworth 20 to 12, and beat the Public Defenders 24 to 9. Their only loss was to Rosen (1st place in the Division) 17 to 5. Obviously, with this kind of record, they were going to have their hands full playing Mc Nair. The game was poetic with a level of comity heretofore never seen on a softball field. It was written in the stars that this game was ours, as we won our first coin toss and took home field advantage. The game reminded me of one of Donald Williams’ “Irish Blessings”. “May your bats always have a smack, whilst playing defense, may the wind always be at your back. Let the rain fall softly on your fields (at least for 30 seconds, twice, we had a rain delay to soften the clay of the Navy Base.) And until we meet again may God put their pop flies in the palm of your glove.” Despite their efforts and abilities, Mc Nair was victorious 9 to 6. To quote the loquacious Commissioner, Mike Seekings, responding to my e-mail about our victory, “Very Impressive!!!” I’d like to thank everyone that came out and played, our fans-who were led to safety from the rain by MAS and Tom for teaching some of us a new word “comity.”
The Game:
Everyone played and played excellent, except for MAS who decided to sit this one out to keep the ladies both dry and entertained . As everyone knows, this was Luke’s last game as he is moving to Colorado for school. Luke told me beforehand, he was leaving with another victory for the E.Bay Street Bombers. Corbett and Luke’s friend James kept the books was our designated hitter and pinch runner. Unfortunately, he designated all of his hits to their short-stop. Don’t worry James, you should have seen Jet hit last year, the result was quite similar. Amanda "Birthday Girl" Callander went 1 for 3 at the plate, but held down a mean second base. One of their “ringers” Nathan smacked a skyscraper, but Amanda (with much excitement from her fellow players and the crowd) caught his pop-up and ended the innings. What a clutch player. Great job Amanda! Although, she had a little trouble swinging the lumber, Corbett kept numerous hits into short right field from becoming triples and played excellent defense. On her behalf, Corbett blames her lack in the hitting department on foregoing her ceremonious “Two-Can” warm-up with bottled water. Before the game, MC “Hammer” Scarafile told me that we should start charging people for errors. Hmm, unless we accept his Expedition as collateral for payment, perhaps, we should institute this new system during our next game. Then again, Hammer says, “It doesn’t count as an error if you fall while going for the ball.” I’ll let you all be the judge. Our young barrister, Chris Williams had a stellar game, going 2 for 3 at the plate, and holding down the hot corner. Good job Chris! Christina “Les Bonnes Temps de Roullez” Davis was a real trooper playing on 2 hours of sleep, went 2 for 3 at the plate, and took the “Strike-out Monkey” off of Jet’s back. As usual, Joel Warren was taking care of business in left center, went 2 for 3 at the plate, and notched a few more RBIs on his belt. Jet missed a line drive in center, as the “ Tarheel Curse” a.k.a. too much junk in the trunk kept him from making the play of the game. Jet had two doubles, backed up “Two-Can” and did not miss another ball that came to him. Our very own epistemologist, Tom Mc Tighe took over for Jet in Right-Center, but suffered James’ malady of hitting to their short-stop. Obviously, Tom deserves the patience award for suffering directions of which brown patch to line-up with from the dug-out. He did not say it, but something tells me he was about to extend me “Cheney’s Congressional bed-side manners”. Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein went 4 for 4 at the plate, racked up a couple of RBIs and signed autographs for the fans afterwards. Silent but deadly, Jay-Bird went 2 for 3 at the plate and made some ever so crucial snags at first base. Luke Jeter-mini went 1 for 3 in his last game due to a 1st Inning injury at first base, hence James playing the pinch-runner role. Although playing hurt, Luke did an excellent job at short-stop. I wonder, who will fill your shoes. I would like to extend a special thanks and Good luck to Luke as he travels out West to tap the Rockies. And I am sure that softball fields throughout Colorado will wonder from where that echoing “MINE!!!” is coming.
Conclusion:
The odds were against us, but we showed Ralph’s boys never to underestimate the underdogs. I have never been as proud of a victory as I was after this game! Good Job Everyone! You all are great team players which makes it easy to be your Captain. You have met the challenge of playing one of the best teams in the league, were tenacious and did your best. It seems Mc Nair wins games the "Old Fashioned Way"-We earn them. We have this week off. Our next game is July 7th at the Park Shore field against Haynsworth, Sinkler Boyd. Our record is now 4-2. I’ll send you an update of our league standings as soon as I get the information. Thanks again to everyone, including “Covergirl” Mary Shahid and Momma Jo for taking care of Miss Rylie, so her Mom could play!
"Whether your name is (Lou) Gehrig or (Cal) Ripken, (Joe) DiMaggio or (Jackie) Robinson, or that of some youngster who picks up his bat or puts on his glove, you are challenged by the game of softball* to do your very best day in and day out. That's all I've ever tried to do." -Cal Ripken
*The word softball was substituted for baseball in this quote-sorry Cal
Go Mighty McNair!
Monday, June 14, 2004
Re-Cap of game against Young Clement (Season 2)
Re-Cap of Monday, June 14th’s Game vs. Young, Clement, Rivers & Tisdale
Introduction:
Normally, I try to relate the re-cap with something in the news, but there has not been much other than the “coverage” this past week in the papers and on the tube. So, to begin my diatribe, let me paraphrase a question Reagan asked America in his 1980 Campaign. I ask, “Is your softball team better off than it was a year ago?” Abs-o-lut-e-ly! Yes, it is official folks; we have beaten our record of two games from our freshman season. We are playing smarter, getting better hits, getting on base and putting more runs on the board than we did last year. After losing a close game last week[1], we won our third game for the season in a final inning finish. Corbett called “heads” in the air, the coin landed “tails” and we became the visiting team. If you ever was interested in why teams like to be the “home” team and have the last at bat. (See below)
Mc Nair
1-run/3 runs=4
1 run/4 runs=9
0/1run=10 runs
3 runs, final 13
Young/Clement
3-runs/0 runs=3
4 runs/2 runs=9
0/1 run=10 runs
1 run, final 11
The Game:
Young, Clement are the defending champs from last year; they took down Motley Rice in the finals. When you see three bases, especially first, being played by females (wearing softball pants) you have to consider that their females must be good. Their ladies were good, not as good as ours, but they knew how to play their positions. Also, their “1960’s So-Con-All-American” on third, has the same arm he had in college-three out of five batters hitting to third-base were thrown out at first. JoAn Mc Daniel holds the two safe at first stats. Then again, she made him work for it. Luke Jeter-mini (playing his 2nd to last game) held down short-stop and went 3 for 4 at the plate. Also, he was our first run scored-Brett earned the RBI. Luke is leaving us after our next game, but will leave us with “Mini-Jeter-mini” as both a runner and a new female in the line-up. (She has very big shoes to fill both on the field and in the office.) Jay-Bird prevented errors at both first base and home. He went 3 for 4 at the plate, hitting three doubles. As a pitcher, J-Bird earned our team’s second strike-out of the season. Top of the 7th, 2-outs, Jet performs the “Mighty Casey” routine and struck out-one whiff on an inside pitch, two fouled away-Jet, you only get three pitches. Then again, all of Jet’s hits last night were pop-flies and easy outs. Sorry guys, someone should have sat down and let Tom be the designated hitter. (That is what I get for being greedy.) Sorry Tom. Christina scored twice, held down home and went 3 for 4 at the plate. MC “Hammer” Scar-Sacrifice led the team with 3 RBIs-closely followed by Mamma-Jo and Brett both with two. Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein came through once again. He played left field very tight, went 3 for 4 at the plate hitting two singles and one double with two-RBIs. Also, Brett continued to show our opponents why he is a “Distinguished C of C Communication Alumni” by giving the “batter some chatter” throughout the game. Capers “The Caped-Crusader” went 4 for 5, with three singles and a double. Also, he caught more flies than Mr. Miyagi with a pair of chop-sticks on the top floor of the Amityville Horror House. (I bet you did not see me throwing a Jay Anson book/Horror film-Karate Kid analogy in on this recap.) Young, Clement knew who that masked man was holding down left-center and called him everything from Benedict Arnold to #%@@**. (This is a PG-13 recap, if you wanted to hear the name calling you should have attended the game.) Regardless, Capers played a great game, and made a gutsy slide into home which put another run on the board. MEDIC!!! Jordan had the wheels to cover right-center and whatever Mamma-Jo let by her. Jordan went 3 for 5 at the plate, with two doubles and a single. Also, he did a wonderful job pitching and will have to inform the person at Garibaldi’s he has a family emergency for about an hour and half every Tuesday when we have a game. “Two Can” Corbett went 2 for 4 at the plate and played some mean “D” at second base. Just to clarify, “Two Can” is a reference to how she warms up-with two cans of Miller Lite®, not anything derogatory. Chris our new young attorney from Teck Law played an excellent game! He had a hot hand at third base, catching a missile in the fourth inning from one of their ringers “Big Mike”. Chris went 4 for 5 at the plate and ran the bases like, well, just like Jet. He was exposed to an interesting display of rule bending because he “faked” a tag on someone who did not have the wheels to make it home. Sorry Buster; only Mc Nair hits in the park homers. Finally, Mamma-Jo, who leads the team with the best on base percentage, went 3 for 3 at the plate, showing everyone she still has the wheels to beat the throw from third and make it around the bases. Someone get that girl a Diet Coke or a Game Ball which ever is closer! Well folks, it was not pretty, but it was a WIN! Adding to our usual fan base and filling our stands, O’Dessa and Teresa came out for the game. O’Dessa told me that the games are much more exciting than reading them the next day. Thanks for reassuring my writing skills O’D. Let us celebrate with pizza and smiles as Mc Nair is now 3-2.
Next Game:
Our next game is against our old friends the Solicitors. Despite the clearly placed sticker on our door, which reads, “No Soliciting”; we will be playing Ralph’s boys out at the Navy Base next Tuesday, June 22 (6:30 P.M.) Please try to be there as close to six as possible to warm-up. I am going to put our roster together on Monday. Please let me know as soon as you can if you can make it. GOOD JOB EVERYONE!
[1] Mc Nair lost to Pierce Hearns by one run (13 to 14) on June 8, 2004.
Go Mighty McNair!
Introduction:
Normally, I try to relate the re-cap with something in the news, but there has not been much other than the “coverage” this past week in the papers and on the tube. So, to begin my diatribe, let me paraphrase a question Reagan asked America in his 1980 Campaign. I ask, “Is your softball team better off than it was a year ago?” Abs-o-lut-e-ly! Yes, it is official folks; we have beaten our record of two games from our freshman season. We are playing smarter, getting better hits, getting on base and putting more runs on the board than we did last year. After losing a close game last week[1], we won our third game for the season in a final inning finish. Corbett called “heads” in the air, the coin landed “tails” and we became the visiting team. If you ever was interested in why teams like to be the “home” team and have the last at bat. (See below)
Mc Nair
1-run/3 runs=4
1 run/4 runs=9
0/1run=10 runs
3 runs, final 13
Young/Clement
3-runs/0 runs=3
4 runs/2 runs=9
0/1 run=10 runs
1 run, final 11
The Game:
Young, Clement are the defending champs from last year; they took down Motley Rice in the finals. When you see three bases, especially first, being played by females (wearing softball pants) you have to consider that their females must be good. Their ladies were good, not as good as ours, but they knew how to play their positions. Also, their “1960’s So-Con-All-American” on third, has the same arm he had in college-three out of five batters hitting to third-base were thrown out at first. JoAn Mc Daniel holds the two safe at first stats. Then again, she made him work for it. Luke Jeter-mini (playing his 2nd to last game) held down short-stop and went 3 for 4 at the plate. Also, he was our first run scored-Brett earned the RBI. Luke is leaving us after our next game, but will leave us with “Mini-Jeter-mini” as both a runner and a new female in the line-up. (She has very big shoes to fill both on the field and in the office.) Jay-Bird prevented errors at both first base and home. He went 3 for 4 at the plate, hitting three doubles. As a pitcher, J-Bird earned our team’s second strike-out of the season. Top of the 7th, 2-outs, Jet performs the “Mighty Casey” routine and struck out-one whiff on an inside pitch, two fouled away-Jet, you only get three pitches. Then again, all of Jet’s hits last night were pop-flies and easy outs. Sorry guys, someone should have sat down and let Tom be the designated hitter. (That is what I get for being greedy.) Sorry Tom. Christina scored twice, held down home and went 3 for 4 at the plate. MC “Hammer” Scar-Sacrifice led the team with 3 RBIs-closely followed by Mamma-Jo and Brett both with two. Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein came through once again. He played left field very tight, went 3 for 4 at the plate hitting two singles and one double with two-RBIs. Also, Brett continued to show our opponents why he is a “Distinguished C of C Communication Alumni” by giving the “batter some chatter” throughout the game. Capers “The Caped-Crusader” went 4 for 5, with three singles and a double. Also, he caught more flies than Mr. Miyagi with a pair of chop-sticks on the top floor of the Amityville Horror House. (I bet you did not see me throwing a Jay Anson book/Horror film-Karate Kid analogy in on this recap.) Young, Clement knew who that masked man was holding down left-center and called him everything from Benedict Arnold to #%@@**. (This is a PG-13 recap, if you wanted to hear the name calling you should have attended the game.) Regardless, Capers played a great game, and made a gutsy slide into home which put another run on the board. MEDIC!!! Jordan had the wheels to cover right-center and whatever Mamma-Jo let by her. Jordan went 3 for 5 at the plate, with two doubles and a single. Also, he did a wonderful job pitching and will have to inform the person at Garibaldi’s he has a family emergency for about an hour and half every Tuesday when we have a game. “Two Can” Corbett went 2 for 4 at the plate and played some mean “D” at second base. Just to clarify, “Two Can” is a reference to how she warms up-with two cans of Miller Lite®, not anything derogatory. Chris our new young attorney from Teck Law played an excellent game! He had a hot hand at third base, catching a missile in the fourth inning from one of their ringers “Big Mike”. Chris went 4 for 5 at the plate and ran the bases like, well, just like Jet. He was exposed to an interesting display of rule bending because he “faked” a tag on someone who did not have the wheels to make it home. Sorry Buster; only Mc Nair hits in the park homers. Finally, Mamma-Jo, who leads the team with the best on base percentage, went 3 for 3 at the plate, showing everyone she still has the wheels to beat the throw from third and make it around the bases. Someone get that girl a Diet Coke or a Game Ball which ever is closer! Well folks, it was not pretty, but it was a WIN! Adding to our usual fan base and filling our stands, O’Dessa and Teresa came out for the game. O’Dessa told me that the games are much more exciting than reading them the next day. Thanks for reassuring my writing skills O’D. Let us celebrate with pizza and smiles as Mc Nair is now 3-2.
Next Game:
Our next game is against our old friends the Solicitors. Despite the clearly placed sticker on our door, which reads, “No Soliciting”; we will be playing Ralph’s boys out at the Navy Base next Tuesday, June 22 (6:30 P.M.) Please try to be there as close to six as possible to warm-up. I am going to put our roster together on Monday. Please let me know as soon as you can if you can make it. GOOD JOB EVERYONE!
[1] Mc Nair lost to Pierce Hearns by one run (13 to 14) on June 8, 2004.
Go Mighty McNair!
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Re-Cap of Game v Pierce Hearns (Season 2)
Introduction:
For horse-racing fans, this weekend brought to our country a heart-breaking defeat. Not only had we lost the "Gipper", but the horse that had not been beaten, the "Cinderella" from Philly also narrowly lost at the end. You might ask yourself; how does this tie into our softball game? Just like Smarty Jones, the Mc Nair Team was coming off a two win streak. Just like Smarty Jones, the Mc Nair Team was being chased by a field of hungry, young opponents that had only been in the business for three years. Finally, even though both Mc Nair and Smarty led the entire time, ran a great race, we both would loose at the very end. Hold your heads high Mc Nair, you should be proud of your accomplishments. There is no shame in losing by one point to a team that earned 7 runs off of homeruns. (Mc Nair 13-Pierce Hearns-14)
The Game:
Game time, many questions still hover above us, will it rain? will the restrooms be un-locked? Mc Nair is short a female player; Who would come to our rescue? The answer to the first two is no. The answer to the second is Mamma Jo' strapped on her tennis shoes, threw on a glove and jumped in the game until reinforcements arrived. JoAn played some excellent defense in Right Field, and had a great hit--Call 9-1-1!--which was robbed from her by Pierce, Hearns. She returned the favor with some "psychological warfare" towards Bob's roommate. Bob's gal "Mapquest" Megan would come to our aide and give Joanie a break once she found the field. Megan played exceptionally well for someone who had not picked up a bat in six years-just like riding a bike. Scar-maggio would hold down R.C.-Field and prove to Pierce, Hearns that he still had heat in those arms. Unfortunately, MAS could not lay the lumber right where he wanted it, and had trouble getting on base. Once again, "Cover-girl" Mary Shahid did a great job behind the plate, and made it to first base 1 for 4. I think they knew her reputation for hitting short and running fast because they crouched in on her left. Of course with Adam and MC "Hammer" Scarafile in front of her this strategy would backfire on P & H as she earned two R.B.I.s. "Hammer" had a good night at the plate, smacking two doubles, and a triple. Unfortunately, he would be left behind on the bases a couple of times-with haunting words of his own biting his heels at second. (See Jet) Lil' Cub Adam stayed busy working his magic on the mound, albeit almost striking out yours truly and a few other teammates. Adam played the "Hot Corner" for Jet after the fourth inning. Seems though the boys/girls at P & H had his number because he got a lot of action both from the ball and the ground. Good job Adam! Folks, I spent some time this weekend with Corbett and let me tell you, her skills on the softball field are only matched by her ability talk us out of a ticket in Quantico, VA. (She sang the Marine Corp Anthem and did a round-off, back hand-spring--in the rain.) Corbett had one of the most spectacular plays of the game. One of their "ringers" smacked one right up the middle, Corbett dove and caught it for what she calls and easy out! Unfortunately, all of the driving and gymnastics from this weekend tired her down for her swings. She could not quite put them where she wanted, then again, P & H played some serious defense on her. Bob "Flash" Ailstock played a great game, showed P & H not to mess with his cannon in the outfield, but was robbed at the plate. Sorry you were robbed Bob, P & H would have been in awe at the speed of your base-running! Joel went 2 for 4 at the plate, added a couple of R.B.I.s to his belt, saved us on the mound and controlled the outfield-playing some great defense! Joel, I loved it when their bench, boys on base and hitter thought it was over the fence before you snagged it from them! Brett "Mr. Dependable" Bluestein, with beautifully placed hits in the outfield, went 3 for 4 at the plate. Brett scalped a few of their hits that should have been extra points for P & H. As always, Great Job Brett! Yours truly, went 4 for 4 at the plate, but was thrown out at 2nd due to an early take-off on a fly ball. I tried to do the back to back in-the-park-homers, but one and a triple was all I could get. Well, Jet did get an ear-full from "Hammer" for testing the arm of their outfield and running to third and for my dumb-headed out at second base. Hence, Scarafile's words biting him when he did the same at second. Jay-Bird played wonderfully at first, preventing numerous errors and went 3 for 4 at the plate-serving more singles than Wendy's on a Tuesday afternoon. Also, he worked the mound before Joel came in to relieve him. Luke Jeter-mini played excellent. He did a great job as our lead-off man and held down short-stop. A special note, he is the only person on our team that has turned a double-play single handedly! Great Job Luke! I hate to see you go. Just like Smarty Jones we had the lead until the 5th inning, tied in the 6th, but lost by one in the 7th. Like I said, be proud, we played well, they just got lucky!
Closing:
Thanks to everyone who came out, the players, the fans, even George for making a guest appearance. There were so many great plays, I don't know who we should vote for as player of the game. Give me a response on who should get the "game ball", also, I need to have everyone vote for the last game's POG.
Our next game is Monday, June 14th @ Parkshore vs. Young Clement.
Please respond if you can or can not make it! We are 2-2, tied for third with Pierce, Hearns in our division. Keep up the good work!-Jet
"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club wont be worth a dime." -Babe Ruth
Go Mighty McNair!
For horse-racing fans, this weekend brought to our country a heart-breaking defeat. Not only had we lost the "Gipper", but the horse that had not been beaten, the "Cinderella" from Philly also narrowly lost at the end. You might ask yourself; how does this tie into our softball game? Just like Smarty Jones, the Mc Nair Team was coming off a two win streak. Just like Smarty Jones, the Mc Nair Team was being chased by a field of hungry, young opponents that had only been in the business for three years. Finally, even though both Mc Nair and Smarty led the entire time, ran a great race, we both would loose at the very end. Hold your heads high Mc Nair, you should be proud of your accomplishments. There is no shame in losing by one point to a team that earned 7 runs off of homeruns. (Mc Nair 13-Pierce Hearns-14)
The Game:
Game time, many questions still hover above us, will it rain? will the restrooms be un-locked? Mc Nair is short a female player; Who would come to our rescue? The answer to the first two is no. The answer to the second is Mamma Jo' strapped on her tennis shoes, threw on a glove and jumped in the game until reinforcements arrived. JoAn played some excellent defense in Right Field, and had a great hit--Call 9-1-1!--which was robbed from her by Pierce, Hearns. She returned the favor with some "psychological warfare" towards Bob's roommate. Bob's gal "Mapquest" Megan would come to our aide and give Joanie a break once she found the field. Megan played exceptionally well for someone who had not picked up a bat in six years-just like riding a bike. Scar-maggio would hold down R.C.-Field and prove to Pierce, Hearns that he still had heat in those arms. Unfortunately, MAS could not lay the lumber right where he wanted it, and had trouble getting on base. Once again, "Cover-girl" Mary Shahid did a great job behind the plate, and made it to first base 1 for 4. I think they knew her reputation for hitting short and running fast because they crouched in on her left. Of course with Adam and MC "Hammer" Scarafile in front of her this strategy would backfire on P & H as she earned two R.B.I.s. "Hammer" had a good night at the plate, smacking two doubles, and a triple. Unfortunately, he would be left behind on the bases a couple of times-with haunting words of his own biting his heels at second. (See Jet) Lil' Cub Adam stayed busy working his magic on the mound, albeit almost striking out yours truly and a few other teammates. Adam played the "Hot Corner" for Jet after the fourth inning. Seems though the boys/girls at P & H had his number because he got a lot of action both from the ball and the ground. Good job Adam! Folks, I spent some time this weekend with Corbett and let me tell you, her skills on the softball field are only matched by her ability talk us out of a ticket in Quantico, VA. (She sang the Marine Corp Anthem and did a round-off, back hand-spring--in the rain.) Corbett had one of the most spectacular plays of the game. One of their "ringers" smacked one right up the middle, Corbett dove and caught it for what she calls and easy out! Unfortunately, all of the driving and gymnastics from this weekend tired her down for her swings. She could not quite put them where she wanted, then again, P & H played some serious defense on her. Bob "Flash" Ailstock played a great game, showed P & H not to mess with his cannon in the outfield, but was robbed at the plate. Sorry you were robbed Bob, P & H would have been in awe at the speed of your base-running! Joel went 2 for 4 at the plate, added a couple of R.B.I.s to his belt, saved us on the mound and controlled the outfield-playing some great defense! Joel, I loved it when their bench, boys on base and hitter thought it was over the fence before you snagged it from them! Brett "Mr. Dependable" Bluestein, with beautifully placed hits in the outfield, went 3 for 4 at the plate. Brett scalped a few of their hits that should have been extra points for P & H. As always, Great Job Brett! Yours truly, went 4 for 4 at the plate, but was thrown out at 2nd due to an early take-off on a fly ball. I tried to do the back to back in-the-park-homers, but one and a triple was all I could get. Well, Jet did get an ear-full from "Hammer" for testing the arm of their outfield and running to third and for my dumb-headed out at second base. Hence, Scarafile's words biting him when he did the same at second. Jay-Bird played wonderfully at first, preventing numerous errors and went 3 for 4 at the plate-serving more singles than Wendy's on a Tuesday afternoon. Also, he worked the mound before Joel came in to relieve him. Luke Jeter-mini played excellent. He did a great job as our lead-off man and held down short-stop. A special note, he is the only person on our team that has turned a double-play single handedly! Great Job Luke! I hate to see you go. Just like Smarty Jones we had the lead until the 5th inning, tied in the 6th, but lost by one in the 7th. Like I said, be proud, we played well, they just got lucky!
Closing:
Thanks to everyone who came out, the players, the fans, even George for making a guest appearance. There were so many great plays, I don't know who we should vote for as player of the game. Give me a response on who should get the "game ball", also, I need to have everyone vote for the last game's POG.
Our next game is Monday, June 14th @ Parkshore vs. Young Clement.
Please respond if you can or can not make it! We are 2-2, tied for third with Pierce, Hearns in our division. Keep up the good work!-Jet
"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club wont be worth a dime." -Babe Ruth
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Re-Cap of Game against the Public Defenders (Season 2)
Subject: Mc Nair Continues Winning Streak! -E-Mail from 5/26
Re-Cap of Mc Nair Win Against the Public Defenders
Introduction:
Let me begin my diatribe by saying that last night we played the best team that we have faced this and last year. To clarify: we have lost to teams that have better individuals and losses because of our own mistakes, but we have not played a “better team” than the Public Defenders. They have not won a game this season, still they remain positive, tenacious and never forget the main reason we are out there-to have fun! They talked trash to us about Jay and Corbett (their intern), but Tom centered our team by pointing out the naturalistic beauty of the field, Jay could not be ran over at first by an 80 lb. girl and that although she interned with their office, Corbett was PAID by Mc Nair during that time. People often wonder why Coach Phil Jackson and Tom Mc Tighe make the "big bucks"; it is due to their "Zen Style of Leadership" that clears their team's heads and brings focus. Tom inspired our bats to do our trash talking. By the way, I asked Corbett to add an inspirational-victory quote for our team to today’s absentee list; I believe she chose the perfect one. “Victory is sweetest, when you have known defeat.” –Malcom Forbes
We were in a bind this week, with M.A. Scar-DiMaggio and M.C. “Hammer” Scarafile unable to attend. Fortunately, Brett (Mr. Dependable) Bluestein was able to make it, and J. Donahue-Walden score keeper (part-time scout) recruited Capers Owings, esq. to play last night. Janet excellent job scouting! The Dynamic-Duo of “Cover-girl” and “Callander-girl” played to complete our list of attorneys. These four barristers played wonderfully and gave us an exciting-suspenseful game!
THE GAME:
At the bottom of the second inning we were up 10-0. Everyone batted great! Aggressive base running added numerous extra points to our score. Going into the fifth inning the score was 17-7. Everyone was able to play last night, and we finished off the Defenders (23-11). Luke Jeter-mini held down short-stop and was 5 for 5 at bat. J-Bird Alexander went 3 for 4 at bat-getting at least a double on everything except his pop-fly. His skills playing first base were excellent; turning numerous high throws from extra bases into easy outs. Brett "Mr. Dependable" Bluestein took advantage of their poor grounding ability up the center and in short left field. JET had back to back in field home-runs (I told you we had a aggressive base running) and one out before being Tom Mc Tighe took over in the fourth inning. Tom played excellent and ran the bases harder than I do. For those of you that missed it, before Tom came in for me, he batted clean-up putting him in front of Luke Jetermini. Here's the set-up, Tom's on second, Luke's at bat. Luke gets a double; as I am telling Tom to bring it home from third, I happen to be telling Luke as well, since he was about 6 inches behind Tom. They both came home to score-excellent base running by both of you! Capers Owings helped Brett out in left field and went 2 for 4 at bat. Corbett played a mean second base and made to base 2 for 5. Jordan (You can never leave us) Bowers wore many hats during the game, and wore them well. Jordan continued his excellence in pitching, held down third base and was 4 for 5 at the plate. Paul Callander played short-out and then left-center, with a double and a single before Ms. Rylie pulled him out of the game. Bob "Charlie Hustle" Ailstock took over for Paul and continued his excellence playing right-center and going 2 for 3. Bob's aggressive base-running combined with his super speed added a few points to the Mc Nair tally. (I bet you never thought you would read Bob and super speed used in the same sentence-just kidding Bob) Speaking of fast wheels, "Covergirl" Mary Shahid brought home the bacon at home-she was 3 for 4 and what she missed at home was covered by Jay-Bird. Amanda "Callander-girl" did an excellent job in right field. She went 2 for 5 at the plate, but she did have 5 R.B.I.s Excellent job Amanda!
Dugout:
This has to be one of the most humorous plays of the season. Let me set this up for you (queue the Circus music): Bob is on second base, Mary is on first and Amanda is up. Amanda smacks one high to their short-stop (His name escapes me, but it is fitting that she hit to him; as he is their version of the covergirl attorney-he is a model for Ben Silver-yes, that is where you have seen him before.) I digress, he misses the ball, tries to grab it out of the sand and tag Bob. Bob does a human slinky to miss the tag and stays on third. Mary is safe on second, but Amanda thought she was being waved to second. After grabbing on to Mary, she realizes that something is not right and heads back to first-where she is thrown out. Obviously, with no umpires and at least 8 attorneys on the field this needs to be discussed. Mr. Ben Silver believes he had a cuff-link tag on Bob's bow-tie; to prevent further discussion we call Bob out, and the ladies stay on base. I did not think that we should argue with them when we were up by 16 runs. The Defenders did rally in the sixth inning putting 7 runs on the board, but we were too far ahead to be caught. Final score Mc Nair 23, Defenders 11.
NEXT GAME IS TONIGHT!!! JUNE 8th @ PARKSHORE
Tonight we face Pierce, Hearns, Sloan & Mc Leod. They beat Haynsworth last week by two runs. As of today, the North Division standings are as follows:
1.) Rosen 4-0
2.) Solicitors 3-1
3.) Mc Nair 2-1
4.) Pierce, Hearns 1-1
5.) Haynsworth, S & B 1-2
6.) Hood Law Firm 1-2
7.) Young, Clement 1-3
8.) Public Defenders 0-3
As you can see this is a big game for us as we are in third. Pierce, Hearns could tie us with a win tonight, but if we stay focused, play well and have fun-WE WILL BE TIED FOR SECOND PLACE! In addition, Bob's roommate plays for Pierce Hearns-we need to give him bragging rights for his house! We have Joel and MC-Hammer back in the line up tonight. I still need to hear from MAS. Make sure you send me an e-mail for player of the game. See you tonight at six!
P.S. Mr. Williams has extended my contract as team Captain.
Go Mighty McNair!
Re-Cap of Mc Nair Win Against the Public Defenders
Introduction:
Let me begin my diatribe by saying that last night we played the best team that we have faced this and last year. To clarify: we have lost to teams that have better individuals and losses because of our own mistakes, but we have not played a “better team” than the Public Defenders. They have not won a game this season, still they remain positive, tenacious and never forget the main reason we are out there-to have fun! They talked trash to us about Jay and Corbett (their intern), but Tom centered our team by pointing out the naturalistic beauty of the field, Jay could not be ran over at first by an 80 lb. girl and that although she interned with their office, Corbett was PAID by Mc Nair during that time. People often wonder why Coach Phil Jackson and Tom Mc Tighe make the "big bucks"; it is due to their "Zen Style of Leadership" that clears their team's heads and brings focus. Tom inspired our bats to do our trash talking. By the way, I asked Corbett to add an inspirational-victory quote for our team to today’s absentee list; I believe she chose the perfect one. “Victory is sweetest, when you have known defeat.” –Malcom Forbes
We were in a bind this week, with M.A. Scar-DiMaggio and M.C. “Hammer” Scarafile unable to attend. Fortunately, Brett (Mr. Dependable) Bluestein was able to make it, and J. Donahue-Walden score keeper (part-time scout) recruited Capers Owings, esq. to play last night. Janet excellent job scouting! The Dynamic-Duo of “Cover-girl” and “Callander-girl” played to complete our list of attorneys. These four barristers played wonderfully and gave us an exciting-suspenseful game!
THE GAME:
At the bottom of the second inning we were up 10-0. Everyone batted great! Aggressive base running added numerous extra points to our score. Going into the fifth inning the score was 17-7. Everyone was able to play last night, and we finished off the Defenders (23-11). Luke Jeter-mini held down short-stop and was 5 for 5 at bat. J-Bird Alexander went 3 for 4 at bat-getting at least a double on everything except his pop-fly. His skills playing first base were excellent; turning numerous high throws from extra bases into easy outs. Brett "Mr. Dependable" Bluestein took advantage of their poor grounding ability up the center and in short left field. JET had back to back in field home-runs (I told you we had a aggressive base running) and one out before being Tom Mc Tighe took over in the fourth inning. Tom played excellent and ran the bases harder than I do. For those of you that missed it, before Tom came in for me, he batted clean-up putting him in front of Luke Jetermini. Here's the set-up, Tom's on second, Luke's at bat. Luke gets a double; as I am telling Tom to bring it home from third, I happen to be telling Luke as well, since he was about 6 inches behind Tom. They both came home to score-excellent base running by both of you! Capers Owings helped Brett out in left field and went 2 for 4 at bat. Corbett played a mean second base and made to base 2 for 5. Jordan (You can never leave us) Bowers wore many hats during the game, and wore them well. Jordan continued his excellence in pitching, held down third base and was 4 for 5 at the plate. Paul Callander played short-out and then left-center, with a double and a single before Ms. Rylie pulled him out of the game. Bob "Charlie Hustle" Ailstock took over for Paul and continued his excellence playing right-center and going 2 for 3. Bob's aggressive base-running combined with his super speed added a few points to the Mc Nair tally. (I bet you never thought you would read Bob and super speed used in the same sentence-just kidding Bob) Speaking of fast wheels, "Covergirl" Mary Shahid brought home the bacon at home-she was 3 for 4 and what she missed at home was covered by Jay-Bird. Amanda "Callander-girl" did an excellent job in right field. She went 2 for 5 at the plate, but she did have 5 R.B.I.s Excellent job Amanda!
Dugout:
This has to be one of the most humorous plays of the season. Let me set this up for you (queue the Circus music): Bob is on second base, Mary is on first and Amanda is up. Amanda smacks one high to their short-stop (His name escapes me, but it is fitting that she hit to him; as he is their version of the covergirl attorney-he is a model for Ben Silver-yes, that is where you have seen him before.) I digress, he misses the ball, tries to grab it out of the sand and tag Bob. Bob does a human slinky to miss the tag and stays on third. Mary is safe on second, but Amanda thought she was being waved to second. After grabbing on to Mary, she realizes that something is not right and heads back to first-where she is thrown out. Obviously, with no umpires and at least 8 attorneys on the field this needs to be discussed. Mr. Ben Silver believes he had a cuff-link tag on Bob's bow-tie; to prevent further discussion we call Bob out, and the ladies stay on base. I did not think that we should argue with them when we were up by 16 runs. The Defenders did rally in the sixth inning putting 7 runs on the board, but we were too far ahead to be caught. Final score Mc Nair 23, Defenders 11.
NEXT GAME IS TONIGHT!!! JUNE 8th @ PARKSHORE
Tonight we face Pierce, Hearns, Sloan & Mc Leod. They beat Haynsworth last week by two runs. As of today, the North Division standings are as follows:
1.) Rosen 4-0
2.) Solicitors 3-1
3.) Mc Nair 2-1
4.) Pierce, Hearns 1-1
5.) Haynsworth, S & B 1-2
6.) Hood Law Firm 1-2
7.) Young, Clement 1-3
8.) Public Defenders 0-3
As you can see this is a big game for us as we are in third. Pierce, Hearns could tie us with a win tonight, but if we stay focused, play well and have fun-WE WILL BE TIED FOR SECOND PLACE! In addition, Bob's roommate plays for Pierce Hearns-we need to give him bragging rights for his house! We have Joel and MC-Hammer back in the line up tonight. I still need to hear from MAS. Make sure you send me an e-mail for player of the game. See you tonight at six!
P.S. Mr. Williams has extended my contract as team Captain.
Go Mighty McNair!
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Here is a re-cap of our scrimmage/game. Mc Nair's record is now 1-1.
RECAP OF GAME- MC NAIR VS. HOOD
INTRODUCTION
For those of you looking for a great book to read check out Money Ball by Michael Lewis (when I return it to the library.) In this book, he writes about the clever, patient and intelligent General Manager of the Oakland A’s Billy Beane. Beane has a belief that you should find the perfect position for each player, help players get over their mental hang-ups to play better and have fun while playing. He also is a firm believer in letting the other team make the mistakes first.
One hour before the game, we still were short one attorney-with all of our regulars either tied up by Wal-Mart, leaving town or Town Council meetings. I found myself calling Mary Shahid’s husband Peter, Rivers Jenkins, newly elected shareholder Lisa Philp’s husband Graeme and the Governor himself to play. Peter had to go to their son’s game/banquet; Rivers was the “snack dad” at his daughter’s game, Graeme was caught in Mt. Pleasant traffic-he could have made it though, and the Governor said “Jet the helicopter is in the shop, but if need be I’ll ride my horse “Doc” or the mule ya’ll got me for my 80th down for the game.” Just then the phone rang, it was the captain over at Hood, explaining to me that they only had one attorney and would have to forfeit. I had a beep, on the other line it was Kenny Rogers, he said “Jet, you got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em and know when to accept a forfeit and just go out and scrimmage”. I accepted their forfeit and told them we would still scrimmage. Called Graeme and the Governor, told them they did not have to come out unless they wanted. Did you notice Corbett’s quote this morning was about luck- we had it in spades last night. To make sure everyone knows we are playing by the rules, I was in the process of lining up another attorney (Daniel) and sending him directions when Hood called.
DUGOUT
Last night, we were short; Scarafile, Joel, Jay, Adam, Mary, George and Christina could not make it-notice three of the aforementioned are pitchers. The other team had one female attorney playing and the rest of their “A Team” was in attendance. Their “A Team” was not all that, they had some good bats, scored some runs, but had their attorneys been there they could not have fielded the team they did, and certainly would not have stopped the “Big Mc Machine”. Most of their points came from poor fielding by our in-field, lucky bunts and short hits. A lesson for us to learn here is that getting a short-line drive single pays off in the end. [1] These lucky hits got them on base due to the A.D.D. spreading from third to short, etc. Three of their swings produced bunts that buried themselves in the sand.[2] Mistakenly, Luke had his “fire-arm” set on “Outfield Artillery” and not “Infield Rapid Fire”, he earned just as many errors as Jet and put a few over Paul’s head-this scared the other team as they parked in the front row. I was visiting Corbett the other day and happened to notice above her fireplace the Fishburne Coat of Arms (Mother’s family Coat of Arms.) This is probably of little significance to most of you, but I noticed the shield had two softball bats and a large glove below the lion’s chest. Obviously softball runs in her family’s blood. Corbett played well; she kept everything hit to right field at least to a base hit and got on base a few times with a couple of great hits. Camaron (Corbett’s Cousin) played second and held it down pretty tight. She led the team in R.B.I.s last night hitting in Jet four times and Luke twice. She got banged up sliding and receiving contact at second, but she walked it off and turned down treatment from (Juris) Doctor MAS. Great Job Camaron! Thank You for helping us out last night. Amanda came out last night, got a couple of good hits and played (foreign to her) catcher. Give her props for doing so well and getting an RBI (She knocked in her husband) her first time out. Paul played first and seemed to be frustrated his first few at bats. (Remember the book Money Ball?) I told Paul, this is just a scrimmage, relax, nothing here counts, just get up, take your pitch and get your hit. I could tell you that he is over his “mental block”, but I think his hitting the fence in right field and getting a double said it better. Bob filled Joel’s shoes and made some excellent plays in the outfield, as well as some great hits to get on base. Bob has a cannon for an arm, and I think his bat is about to take off. Jordan rallied us, with another in-the-park home run and played some serious D. Luke had an in-the-park home run and his handiness with the bat made up for the errors on the field. Brett hit the ball hard last night, really hard. He still has a couple of kinks to work out, but his defense is top notch and I can’t wait to see him get a hold of one in the next game. Finally, Mr. Scardato, where have you been hiding those skills? MAS told me if your name ends in a vowel, you automatically have amazing baseball skills.” I think that he might be on to something. His highlight last night was very Garciaparra-esque. Michael runs for the ball snags it off of the bounce, spins, jumps in the air and throws it to second base. (We were all stunned.) Between that play, his three hits, five snags playing defense, and his generous offer to play doctor for Camaron-sorry if that is worded funny. (He got his first aide bag out of the car for her) The player of the game is MICHAEL SCARDATO. If you get the chance congratulate Michael on his performance.
Our next game is next Wednesday the 26th of May at the Navy Base against The Public Defenders! We beat those folks at the same field last year. So far, I have Joel and Christina as not being able to make it. If you can, please confirm if you can or can not make it by next Tuesday. Thanks, Jet
P.S. After a few games, I’ll spend an evening working on our statistics.
[1] Their on-base percentage was significantly higher than ours, with their “star” player, Citadel classmate of yours truly Shane Brionis, getting on base 7 of 8 times.
[2] Also, I think that my being 14 lbs overweight and dating a “tarheel” prevented me from getting to the ball and earning errors
Go Mighty McNair!
RECAP OF GAME- MC NAIR VS. HOOD
INTRODUCTION
For those of you looking for a great book to read check out Money Ball by Michael Lewis (when I return it to the library.) In this book, he writes about the clever, patient and intelligent General Manager of the Oakland A’s Billy Beane. Beane has a belief that you should find the perfect position for each player, help players get over their mental hang-ups to play better and have fun while playing. He also is a firm believer in letting the other team make the mistakes first.
One hour before the game, we still were short one attorney-with all of our regulars either tied up by Wal-Mart, leaving town or Town Council meetings. I found myself calling Mary Shahid’s husband Peter, Rivers Jenkins, newly elected shareholder Lisa Philp’s husband Graeme and the Governor himself to play. Peter had to go to their son’s game/banquet; Rivers was the “snack dad” at his daughter’s game, Graeme was caught in Mt. Pleasant traffic-he could have made it though, and the Governor said “Jet the helicopter is in the shop, but if need be I’ll ride my horse “Doc” or the mule ya’ll got me for my 80th down for the game.” Just then the phone rang, it was the captain over at Hood, explaining to me that they only had one attorney and would have to forfeit. I had a beep, on the other line it was Kenny Rogers, he said “Jet, you got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em and know when to accept a forfeit and just go out and scrimmage”. I accepted their forfeit and told them we would still scrimmage. Called Graeme and the Governor, told them they did not have to come out unless they wanted. Did you notice Corbett’s quote this morning was about luck- we had it in spades last night. To make sure everyone knows we are playing by the rules, I was in the process of lining up another attorney (Daniel) and sending him directions when Hood called.
DUGOUT
Last night, we were short; Scarafile, Joel, Jay, Adam, Mary, George and Christina could not make it-notice three of the aforementioned are pitchers. The other team had one female attorney playing and the rest of their “A Team” was in attendance. Their “A Team” was not all that, they had some good bats, scored some runs, but had their attorneys been there they could not have fielded the team they did, and certainly would not have stopped the “Big Mc Machine”. Most of their points came from poor fielding by our in-field, lucky bunts and short hits. A lesson for us to learn here is that getting a short-line drive single pays off in the end. [1] These lucky hits got them on base due to the A.D.D. spreading from third to short, etc. Three of their swings produced bunts that buried themselves in the sand.[2] Mistakenly, Luke had his “fire-arm” set on “Outfield Artillery” and not “Infield Rapid Fire”, he earned just as many errors as Jet and put a few over Paul’s head-this scared the other team as they parked in the front row. I was visiting Corbett the other day and happened to notice above her fireplace the Fishburne Coat of Arms (Mother’s family Coat of Arms.) This is probably of little significance to most of you, but I noticed the shield had two softball bats and a large glove below the lion’s chest. Obviously softball runs in her family’s blood. Corbett played well; she kept everything hit to right field at least to a base hit and got on base a few times with a couple of great hits. Camaron (Corbett’s Cousin) played second and held it down pretty tight. She led the team in R.B.I.s last night hitting in Jet four times and Luke twice. She got banged up sliding and receiving contact at second, but she walked it off and turned down treatment from (Juris) Doctor MAS. Great Job Camaron! Thank You for helping us out last night. Amanda came out last night, got a couple of good hits and played (foreign to her) catcher. Give her props for doing so well and getting an RBI (She knocked in her husband) her first time out. Paul played first and seemed to be frustrated his first few at bats. (Remember the book Money Ball?) I told Paul, this is just a scrimmage, relax, nothing here counts, just get up, take your pitch and get your hit. I could tell you that he is over his “mental block”, but I think his hitting the fence in right field and getting a double said it better. Bob filled Joel’s shoes and made some excellent plays in the outfield, as well as some great hits to get on base. Bob has a cannon for an arm, and I think his bat is about to take off. Jordan rallied us, with another in-the-park home run and played some serious D. Luke had an in-the-park home run and his handiness with the bat made up for the errors on the field. Brett hit the ball hard last night, really hard. He still has a couple of kinks to work out, but his defense is top notch and I can’t wait to see him get a hold of one in the next game. Finally, Mr. Scardato, where have you been hiding those skills? MAS told me if your name ends in a vowel, you automatically have amazing baseball skills.” I think that he might be on to something. His highlight last night was very Garciaparra-esque. Michael runs for the ball snags it off of the bounce, spins, jumps in the air and throws it to second base. (We were all stunned.) Between that play, his three hits, five snags playing defense, and his generous offer to play doctor for Camaron-sorry if that is worded funny. (He got his first aide bag out of the car for her) The player of the game is MICHAEL SCARDATO. If you get the chance congratulate Michael on his performance.
Our next game is next Wednesday the 26th of May at the Navy Base against The Public Defenders! We beat those folks at the same field last year. So far, I have Joel and Christina as not being able to make it. If you can, please confirm if you can or can not make it by next Tuesday. Thanks, Jet
P.S. After a few games, I’ll spend an evening working on our statistics.
[1] Their on-base percentage was significantly higher than ours, with their “star” player, Citadel classmate of yours truly Shane Brionis, getting on base 7 of 8 times.
[2] Also, I think that my being 14 lbs overweight and dating a “tarheel” prevented me from getting to the ball and earning errors
Go Mighty McNair!
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Re-Cap Game against Rosen (1st Game of Season 2)
Here is the re-cap from our first game.-Jet
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Monday’s Game Recap: Remember when I wrote you and I noted that we have seen what Rosen has in its' arsenal? Well, I did not know about two weapons of mass destruction (that are so good they don't go to practices) on the Rosen team.[1] The first inning we went three up and three down, due to some deep fly balls off the bats of Bluestein, Luke, and Jay-Bird. We held them to three points at the bottom of the first-even though their three lead-off batters hit a triple, two- singles and “Romie” popped out, as well as we played a man down due to some miscommunication. The second inning Joel got things going with a base hit, Corbett followed with another base hit and our team’s first R.B.I. [2]Scarafile got another base hit, but it came at the expense of losing Corbett at second. Michael “Too Sweet” Scardato (who was late due to a problem with his hairdryer) hit a base hit as well. Next up was our very own Mary “Cover girl” Shahid. Her first at bat, unaware of the three pitch rule, ended with a foul out. Her second, in front of ten maybe fourteen screaming fans (including her children) she hit a ground ball to their short-stop, Frank “ex-Commish” Blanchard. In spite of Frank’s missile to first, Mary slid into first and beat the throw[3]. Good Job Mary! We fell apart in the sixth inning allowing the team from Meeting Street to pull away with a twelve point lead. This was partly due to Jim “where is the fence” Trabert missing two in a row at the back fence. Brett Bluestein facing his older, less handsome, brother at the plate missed a pop-up that looked like it was going right in the glove. Brett chased it down over the pitcher’s mound to prevent things from getting uglier. We did come back in the seventh inning scoring seven points.
Personal Highlights: Christina had her softball debut for Mc Nair and played quite well for someone totally alien to the game. I was amazed that Brett’s brother (playing first base) dropped the ball after Christina let out her battle cry and ducked away from being thrown out. In case you did not know, both Christina and Mary Shahid have serious wheels going around the bases. Christina is so fast she over-runs every base. (Actually that is my fault for not explaining that you could not over-run third and still be safe) Bob got his first R.B.I. this year-knocking in yours truly from second base. Special Note: As Bob was coming home, he tripped and prematurely went for his “Charlie Hustle” face first slide, Ray-Bans, shirt, shorts and a freshly made strawberry left an imprint that was made even more humorous by the claw marks as he scratched to get up and cross the plate. Way to hustle Bob! Adam did a great job multi-tasking by pitching, batting and playing outfield. My favorite multi-task/play of Adam’s was when a fan noticed his Cubs hat; he asked “what’s the name of the fan that stole the ball during the Cub’s playoff game.” Adam smacked a line drive and replied “Steven Bartman” as he ran to base. Bravo Adam! Jordan and Scarafile let it be known that Paul Callander left pretty big shoes to fill at first base. Luke “Jetermini” played excellent at short had a single and an In-the-Park homerun, and yes, his homer was the catalyst for Bob’s slide. Joel played some major defense in the outfield, as did Jay Alexander!
Finally, I leave you with this Highlight: Jordan fouled off his first pitch, swung and missed his second. A comment was made, “you don’t want to miss this next pitch!” Jordan replied. “You don’t know how bad I don’t want to miss this next pitch!” He stepped to the plate, smacked an In-the-Park homerun, made Corbett run harder than she has since the last Bridge Run and pumped some Spirit back into the Team at the end of the game! Thanks Jordan, we needed that!
It was our first game. We will work out the kinks, play with positions and people the first couple of games. Don’t worry; the mistakes we made are easily repaired. Our next game is Wednesday, May 19th at Parkshore. Please contact me if you can not make it. Thanks, Jet
[1] One of their players “Romie”-played Professional Ball, now plays for Rosen; he hit two homeruns and a double. “James” hit four to the back fence, getting at least a double each time.
[2] Corbett’s hit knocked in Joel Warren for our first score and first Run Batted In this season.
[3] Despite Mary’s success, you should never try and slide into first base. You should run as hard as you can because this is the only base you can over-run (as long as you beat the defense’s throw) without being out.
Go Mighty McNair!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Monday’s Game Recap: Remember when I wrote you and I noted that we have seen what Rosen has in its' arsenal? Well, I did not know about two weapons of mass destruction (that are so good they don't go to practices) on the Rosen team.[1] The first inning we went three up and three down, due to some deep fly balls off the bats of Bluestein, Luke, and Jay-Bird. We held them to three points at the bottom of the first-even though their three lead-off batters hit a triple, two- singles and “Romie” popped out, as well as we played a man down due to some miscommunication. The second inning Joel got things going with a base hit, Corbett followed with another base hit and our team’s first R.B.I. [2]Scarafile got another base hit, but it came at the expense of losing Corbett at second. Michael “Too Sweet” Scardato (who was late due to a problem with his hairdryer) hit a base hit as well. Next up was our very own Mary “Cover girl” Shahid. Her first at bat, unaware of the three pitch rule, ended with a foul out. Her second, in front of ten maybe fourteen screaming fans (including her children) she hit a ground ball to their short-stop, Frank “ex-Commish” Blanchard. In spite of Frank’s missile to first, Mary slid into first and beat the throw[3]. Good Job Mary! We fell apart in the sixth inning allowing the team from Meeting Street to pull away with a twelve point lead. This was partly due to Jim “where is the fence” Trabert missing two in a row at the back fence. Brett Bluestein facing his older, less handsome, brother at the plate missed a pop-up that looked like it was going right in the glove. Brett chased it down over the pitcher’s mound to prevent things from getting uglier. We did come back in the seventh inning scoring seven points.
Personal Highlights: Christina had her softball debut for Mc Nair and played quite well for someone totally alien to the game. I was amazed that Brett’s brother (playing first base) dropped the ball after Christina let out her battle cry and ducked away from being thrown out. In case you did not know, both Christina and Mary Shahid have serious wheels going around the bases. Christina is so fast she over-runs every base. (Actually that is my fault for not explaining that you could not over-run third and still be safe) Bob got his first R.B.I. this year-knocking in yours truly from second base. Special Note: As Bob was coming home, he tripped and prematurely went for his “Charlie Hustle” face first slide, Ray-Bans, shirt, shorts and a freshly made strawberry left an imprint that was made even more humorous by the claw marks as he scratched to get up and cross the plate. Way to hustle Bob! Adam did a great job multi-tasking by pitching, batting and playing outfield. My favorite multi-task/play of Adam’s was when a fan noticed his Cubs hat; he asked “what’s the name of the fan that stole the ball during the Cub’s playoff game.” Adam smacked a line drive and replied “Steven Bartman” as he ran to base. Bravo Adam! Jordan and Scarafile let it be known that Paul Callander left pretty big shoes to fill at first base. Luke “Jetermini” played excellent at short had a single and an In-the-Park homerun, and yes, his homer was the catalyst for Bob’s slide. Joel played some major defense in the outfield, as did Jay Alexander!
Finally, I leave you with this Highlight: Jordan fouled off his first pitch, swung and missed his second. A comment was made, “you don’t want to miss this next pitch!” Jordan replied. “You don’t know how bad I don’t want to miss this next pitch!” He stepped to the plate, smacked an In-the-Park homerun, made Corbett run harder than she has since the last Bridge Run and pumped some Spirit back into the Team at the end of the game! Thanks Jordan, we needed that!
It was our first game. We will work out the kinks, play with positions and people the first couple of games. Don’t worry; the mistakes we made are easily repaired. Our next game is Wednesday, May 19th at Parkshore. Please contact me if you can not make it. Thanks, Jet
[1] One of their players “Romie”-played Professional Ball, now plays for Rosen; he hit two homeruns and a double. “James” hit four to the back fence, getting at least a double each time.
[2] Corbett’s hit knocked in Joel Warren for our first score and first Run Batted In this season.
[3] Despite Mary’s success, you should never try and slide into first base. You should run as hard as you can because this is the only base you can over-run (as long as you beat the defense’s throw) without being out.
Go Mighty McNair!
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