Roger Clemens was also a Red Sox pitcher

On this day in 1986 - Roger Clemens (who also pitched for that team that shall not be named) set a major league record by striking out 20 as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-1.
 

Since many of our snowbirds have headed back up north, it was great to see thirty-six players come out to play today. We divided up into three teams and selected members of the Lake Wales Legends to manage them. Donnie Witmer managed the hitting team of Miguel G, Herbie O,  Witmer, Zelazny, Lopez, Reagan, Schapler, Marino, Wells, Duff Hill, and Moots.  They jumped off to a solid start by scoring three runs in the first. This was followed up with five in the second and four more in the third. The twelve runs were more than twice the number scored by either of the other teams and was accomplished by seventeen singles and no extra base hits.

Joe D'Herin's sitting team actually had the lead after the first as four of the first five batters scored. Unfortunately for the team of Coffman, Dampier, Shaffer, Butler, D'Herin,Torres, Steve Hill, Kline, Powell, Simon, Ota, and Merritt, they only managed to score three more runs the entire game. It was not for the lack of bats but due to some great defensive play from Donnie and Bob Reagan as they turned four double plays and grabbed everything up the middle.

The fielding team was managed by Freddie G, with assistance from J,D. Freddie G, Hamilton, Scarbrough, King, J.D., Matta, Grabb, Bess,Leggett, Miller, Baker, and Holder found themselves at the bottom after the first while scoring just two runs. Things looked bleak as they failed to score in the second. Then things turned around as they scored five in the next two innings and found themselves in second just five runs behind Team Witmer.

The fifth started with a home run by Richie Marino but that was it for Team Witmer.  Meanwhile Team D'Herin went three and out. When Team G  came up they were a changed team. Doubles by Scarbrough and Davis helped push six runs across the plate to tie the game with Team Witmer. Team Witmer responded with five runs in the sixth to retake the lead on doubles by Zelazny and Lopez. Team D'Herin managed one run on aggressive base running by Freddie Dampier. Team Gonzalez scored four with JD getting his second double. When the third out was made two runners were stranded.

The last inning proved to be exciting as the hitting team enjoyed a one run lead. The first two batters made outs before Duff crossed the plate for their only run. Team D'Herin looked like they were going to finally put up some big numers but another double play snuffed out the rally and they managed but one run. So it was up to team Gonzalez to score three and secure the victory. It was not to be as Team D'erin played great defense and they were out one-two-three. Final score  Team Witmer 19, Team D;Herin 7, and Team Gonzalez?Davis 17.

Key Performances

Miguel G        4 for 5

Bob Zelazny    4 for 4 with a double

Rich Moots        3 for 4

Donnie Witmer    3 for 4

Denny Shaffer     3 for 4 with two doubles

Larry Powell        3 for 3

Freddie G            3 for 4 with three doubles

Donnie Scarbrough    3 for 4 with two doubles

J,D, Davis                    3 for 4 with two doubles

Larry Grabb                4 for 4 with a triple

Frank Miller                3 for 4

Dennis Holder            3 for 3

FWIW

Hibbett Sports has Nike and Under Armor baseball cleats on clearance for $24.95 and $29.95 respectively.

Seems like a good deal, they are the same price online from Zappos and others.  No axe to grind just support your local merchant.

Tough Week

Several of our teammates have lost family members recently.

Chuck Duff's mother, Bob DiPetro's mother-in-law, and Ron Salyer's sister all passed away this week. Please keep Chuck, Bob and Ron and their families in your thoughts and prayers as they move through this difficult time.

You Might Remember

On this Day In 1976 - Cubs center fielder Rick Monday rescued the American flag from two trespassers who tried to set it on fire in the outfield at Dodger Stadium. It happened in the fourth inning of a 5-4, 10-inning loss to Los Angeles.


Today's game, was a three way contest. The hit team managed by Rich Moots had 13 players, the sit team managed by Steve Hill had 12 players and the field team managed by Jeff Simon had 13 players. 

The first inning saw Bob Reagan for the sit team hit a lead-off HR. The sit team scored one on a Finnegan single and RBI. The field team scored 3 runs featuring a Dampier double and a Lopez triple. The field team scored 5 times in the second frame powered by a Tom Hamilton double. After two innings the score was 1-2-8. In the third the hit team came alive with a six run burst featuring a Don Held triple. The sit team answered with four runs of their own on a double by Bobby Z. and a 3 bagger by Mr. Finnegan. In the fourth inning, defense dominated and all three teams put up doughnuts. After four the score was close at 7-6-8.

In the fifth the hit team scored one run on an Ed Gazarek two bagger. The sit team scoed 4 runs on triples by Steve Hill and Reg (the crusher) Finnegan and a double down the line by J.D. The field team stayed in contention with a strong 3 run fifth inning including a Fred Dampier two bagger. The sixth inning proved to be decisive for Hill's sit team as they scored 4 runs featuring a Jim Laffoon double. The hit and field teams went scoreless in the final two frames and Hill's strong sit team carried the day with a final victory of 8-16-11.

 J.D. was the Winning Pitcher

Tom Terrific

On this Day in 1970 - Tom Seaver strikes out 19 Padres, including the last ten in succession, in winning 2-1 for the Mets. To date, only Steve Carlton has struck out this many in a game in the twentieth century. No one had ever struck out ten in a row.

 Gessler Clinic Field

We had enough players to field four teams. The teams on Servicemaster Field had a great game from all reports. Highlights will be provided by their on site reporter. This reporter is charged to cover the game played on Gessler Field, and while the teams looked equal on paper, the outcome was far different.

 

Jeff Simons visiting team started early and never looked back. The team of Simon, Marino, Schapler, Thompson, Miller, Shaffer, Moots, Fabian, Gibson, Morey, and Gene Baker put on an awesome display of hitting and fielding The up the middle tandem of Simon/Moots  turned five double plays as the infield had no errors. Their hitting was equally impressive as they tallied five runs in five different innings, and three in two others. All in all they managed to run up a total of 32 runs on 43 hits. Ron Thompson's three run homer in the first was the hit of the day. The longest ball hit however went to Richie Marino although he only got a double. Denny Shaffer's triple was the only other extra base hit by the team.

 

Larry Powell's home team was comprised of Reagan, Kline, D Hill, Zelazny, J Smith, Merritt, Mills, L Baker, Bowley, McPartlan, and Powell. The top of the line up failed to produce today as they managed to score a scant five runs all day. It was the bottom of the line up that keep them in the game, albeit quite a way back. Down by four in the first, they found themselves down 19 to 10 by the sixth inning. The only really bright spot was when they scored five in the fourth. As to power hitting, Ed Kline's triple was the only extra base hit. In the end it was Team Simon 32 and Team Powell 14.

 

Key Performances

 

Jeff Simon     5 for 6

Richie Marino    4 for 6 with a double

Dean Schapler    6 for 6 with a double

Ron Thompson     6 for 6 with a double and homer

Frank Miller    4 for 6

Richie Moots    4 for 6

Denny Shaffer    5 for 6 with a triple

Lance Fabian    4 for 6

Gene Morey    6 for 6

 

Duff Hill     4 for 5

Ed Kline    4 for 5 with a triple

John Smith    5 for 5

Lee Baker    4 for 5

Bill Bowley    4 for 5

 

Servicemaster Field

Remember playing Rock’em - Sock’em Robots as a kid.  Maybe, you bought that boxing game set for your own kids and battled it out with them. The blue and red fighters would stand toe to toe in the ring and slug it out, until zap, one fighter’s head would spring back, indicating who won the fight.  That’s what happened in today’s American League game, we had a Rock'em - Sock'em game.

Team Nick Matta, (Visitors, Red Robot); Rivera, Gazarek, Coffman, D’Hern, Witmer, Torrez, Jacobson, Herb O, Lopez and Matta.

Took on team Freddie Gonzalez, (Home, Blue Robot); Dampier, Gonzalez, Butler, Smith, King, S. Hill, Laffoon, Davis, M. Gonzalez, DeRidder and Wells.

Forget about the body shots, these teams would try and knock the other teams block off, in a friendly sort of way, of course.

To open up the game, team Matta charged into the center of the ring and threw a few haymakers; they scored 3 runs in the first inning.  The first five batters, Rivera, Gazarek, Coffman, D’Hern, Witmer all singled, or walked, to set up a big inning.  Team Gonzalez countered with a few jabs and scored one run, in their half of the inning.

The Visiting, Red Robot was shut out in the 2nd inning.  However, the Blue Robot came out in the bottom of the round, I mean inning, looking like Joe Lewis, (a nice reference for our Detroit friends).  The Home team scored four runs, in the 2nd, to take the lead.  Laffoon, Davis, M. Gonzalez and Wells all had a nice inning with the bat.  The big rally ended quickly when Freddie Dampier, who smacked a triple deep into the right field corner, was thrown out at the plate by Donny Witmer, for the 2nd out of the inning.  The next batter, F. Gonzalez, then flew out to end the inning.

The score after 2 innings was the Visiting team: 3 – the Home team: 5.

The Visiting team then came back and put the Joe Lewis, (Home team), on the ropes for a few innings.  Team Matta scored 4 runs in the 3rd and 2 runs in the 4th, to retake the lead and give the Joe Lewis, (Home team), a standing eight count. However they could not knock their opponent out. 

After four innings the score was Visiting team: 9 - Home team: 5.

The game stayed that way until the bottom of the 6th, when the Brown Bomber, or in this case, the Blue Bomber, emerged from his stupor and slugged his way back into the match.  Utilizing a 1-2 punch, in both the 6th and 7th innings, Team Gonzalez scored a duce in both frames to tie the game, 9-9, at the end of 7 innings.  

During this close matchup, both pitchers, Matta and Davis, were on top of their games.  Matta pitched 4 scoreless innings and Davis had 5 zippos.  Davis was aided by some nice defensive plays from players like F. Gonzalez, who raced in to catch a sinking fly ball.  J. D’Hern and J. Rivera also made outstanding defensive plays for the Visitors. 

The eighth inning was scoreless for both teams and set up a classic 9th.  

Allow me a little more creative license to describe this finish.  Both fighters touched gloves at the center of the smoke field ring, to start the last round.  Both fighters were bruised and bleeding, but neither pugilist had any quit in him.  Matta’s Red Robot, slugged their way into the lead, scoring 4 runs in the top of the ninth.  Big hits came off the bats of D’ Hern, (who was a perfect 5 for 5 in the game), Witmer, Jacobson, Herb O and Matta. 

Could Joe Lewis come back and beat the Matta Big Blue Robot?  Hey, we are talking about Joe Lewis, the boxer who won all 27 of his first fights, knocking out 23 of his opponents.  Here is a little more history on Joe Lewis.  In June of 1935, he fought Primo Carnera, the former champion, who stood 6’ 6” and weighed 265 lbs. Lewis had a nine inch reach disadvantage.  The fight took place at Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 62,000.  Carnera was intimidating; he once knocked out Ernie Schaaf in the 13th round of a bout.  Schaaf was so badly beaten that he died two days later. Joe Louis defeated Carnera, knocking him down 3 times in the 6th round.  Louis followed this win with a pairing against Max Baer, who he defeated by knockout, in the fourth round.  Ernest Hemingway described this fight as "the most disgusting public spectacle, outside of a public hanging" that he had ever seen.  

Team Gonzalez lifted themselves off the canvas and fought their way back into the match, in the bottom of the ninth.  After the first batter was retired, Davis singled, M. Gonzalez doubled and DeRidder drove in two runs, with a single.  The Blue Robot, Joe Lewis, Team Gonzalez, the Home team, whatever you choose to call them, had scored 2 runs and needed 2 more runs to tie the game.  

With a pinch runner, (S. Hill), in for DeRidder on first, the next batter, Larry Wells, flew out to Herb O, behind 1st base.  Herb made a nice play on the ball ranging far to his left, from his position as the 2nd baseman, to catch the ball. 

Now with 2 outs recorded against them, the “Blue Bombers” looked like they would get knocked out.  The sounds grew faint, the gloves were heavy, images were fuzzy and they were ready for a mat nap.  Fred Dampier would not give up.  He smacked a double into right center field and on a close play at the plate, pinch runner S. Hill just scored just ahead of the throw, to record the 3rd run of the inning for the Blue team.

It was now up to Home team manager, F. Gonzalez, to tie the game; his team now trailed by one. Flashing back to the top half of the 9th inning, Visiting team manager, Nick Matta, had driven in the 3rd and 4th runs for his team.  Would that 4th run hold up and be the game winner?

Fighting Freddie answered the call with a fly ball to right center, which fell in for a hit and tied the game.  Ron Butler and Terry Smith finished off the fantastic come from behind win, with base hits, to score the 5th and winning run. 

As losing manager, I will go back and quote Ernest Hemingway, it was “the most disgusting public spectacle, outside of a public hanging" that I had ever seen.  Just kidding, you win some and you lose some.

Everyone who has ever played Rock’em - Sock’em Robots has had their blocked knocked off, more than once.

Visiting team: 3-0-4-2-0-0-0-0-4

Home team:   1-4-0-0-0-2-2-0-5

WP:Davis

Visiting team’s leading hitters:

Gazarek: 4 / 5 with a triple.

D’Hern:  5 /5 with a double.

Witmer: 4 / 4 and a SF.

Home team’s leading hitters:

M. Gonzalez: 4 / 4 with a double.

Good Friday Softball

 ServiceMaster Field

With the threat of showers heading our way and expected  to arrive around 1000 o'clock, thirty six players showed up and played one heck of a game. While it looked like a lopsided early on, the outcome was not determined until the last batter came to the plate.

 

The hitting team of Herbie O, Zelazny, Witmer, DeRidder, Matta,Simon, Thompson, Moots, Hartley, Miller, Mills, and Baker were managed by Jeff Simon. They started strong and built a solid lead through the first four innings..While establishing the lead, one could sense disaster coming as their run production went from three in the first, to two in the second, one in the third, down to zero in the fourth. The big hits  being a homer by Zelazny, a triple by Witmer, and a double by Hartley

 

The Kirk Coffman managed sitting team of Coffman, Dampier, Butler, Finnegan, Ayers, Lopez, Kline, Marinancci, Wells, Terry Smith, and Merritt went three and out in the first and third innings, while scoring one in the second and fourth. Two doubles by Reg Finnegan provided the power.

 

The fielding team managed by Steve Hill consisted of Regan, S Hill, Giordano, Scarbrough, Davis, Marino, D. Hill, J Smith, McPatlan, Fabian, Taylor, and Morley. In the first inning, Scarbrough had a triple to score two and then scored on a Marino single. They went three and out in the second and third, and then erupted for five in the fourth. They did this with six singles and a double by D Hill. So going into the fifth inning the score was Team Hill 8, Team Simon 6, and Team Coffman 2.

 

In the fifth inning, Team Simon responded with four runs to retake the lead. Gerry DeRitter's triple drove in three of the runs. Not wanting to fall farther behind, Team Coffman was unable to score despite hitting four singles.Team Hill managed one run as Bobby Reagan had a lead off home run. In the sixth, Team Simon went four and out, while Team Coffman got right back into the game with three runs as Reg Finnegan hit a hard shot in the gap for a triple. Team Hill managed to score one  lonely run.

 

With the scored tied between Teams Simon and Hill and Team Coffman a scant five runs behind it was anyone's game. Unfortunately for Team Simon it was a three and out inning so they took the field trying to save at least a tie. Team Coffman got their first two batters on and were looking pretty good for making a run at the leaders when the wheels came off. They failed to score leaving the bases loaded. Team Hill started the seventh with their first two batters making outs. These were followed by a single by S Hill. Needing a lone run to win, you know nothing was going to stop "the rocket" if the ball gets out of the infield. Giordano did not disappoint as he hit one to the grass and Steve motored around the bases to secure the victory.

 

Final Score Team Hill 11, Team Simon 10, and Team Coffman 5.

 

Key Performances

 

Herbie O    3 for 4

Zelazny    2 for 3 with a homer

Witmer    3 for 3 with a triple

 

Reagan    2 for 4 with a homer

S Hill        3 for 4

Giordano     3 for 4 with game winning triple

 

Finnegan    3 for 3 with two doubles and a triple

Tax Day

I know you guys have already filed your 2013 tax returns but just in case you haven't, the post office is open until 10pm today so get 'er done!

We had enough players today for 4 teams of 11 each ... after things got sorted out.

ServiceMaster Field

ServiceMaster field hosted the Russ King All Team selections today and believe it or not he put together two very equal teams and not just on paper.

JD Davis, managed and pitched for the Home Team of Torres, D'Herin, Butler, Gonzalez, Wolfe, King, Oesterreich, Lopez, Fabian and Hartley against Tom Hamilton's Visiting Team of Coffman, Gazarek, Witmer, DeRidder, Giordano, Rivera, Wells, Hill, Matta and Powell. 

The line score shows how things went but neither team committed any serious errors and hit the ball in the gaps pretty well ending up in one of those one-run ball games decided in the last half of the last inning.  The wind did influence a few balls hit to the outfield but only in the hitter's favor.

The big hits came off the bats of Gerry DeRidder with a long bomb for a homer in the third,  Raul Torres who did the homer thing the hard way in the second and Dave Hartley who hit one of those tape measure grounders to the fence for a homer in the sixth.

Visitors    2  0  5  5  0  2  1  0  4    19
Home       5   1  3  0  3  2  3  0  3   20

Key Hitters 

D'Herin  3 for 5 3b
M. Gonzalez 3 for 4 SAC 3b
Wolfe  5 for 5   2-2b
Lopez 3 for 4 2b
Witmer 4 for 5
Rivera 3 for5
Matta 4 for 4

Winning Pitcher JD Davis

 

Gessler Field

 

The home managed by Ed Kline, with a line up of Kline,Miller, Maranacci, Schapler, Mohan, Bloom, Leggett, McPartlin, Morey and Gibson defeated the team of Hill, Taylor, Thompson, Shaffer, Moots, Smith, Merritt, Bowley, Millls and L. Baker 18 to 12.

 

The first four innings were very close with visitors holding a one run lead, but in the fifth the home team scored three run runs with Kline, Miller, Maranacci, Schapler and Bloom getting hits. After that the game was won.

 

Key Hitters

Ed Kline 6-5

Frank Miller 6-5

Hector Maranacci 6-5

John Merritt 5-4

Duff Hill with a home run

 

Babe Ruth Beats the Yankees

On this day in 1917 - Babe Ruth beats the Yankees, pitching a three-hit, 10-3 win for the Red Sox in the opener. He is on the way to a 24-13 record and a league-leading 35 complete games in his best year as a pitcher.

We played softball lite, at WHSS, on Friday. That’s 30 percent less players, but the same great game. Quite a few players have headed back up North for summer ball. A few of the regulars that normally stay and play year round did not show up for Friday’s games. So, the NL and AL combined for a 3 team game. Although several guys had to play out of position, the game was close and there were several nice plays in the field.

Ron Butler’s (Hitting Team): Scarbrough, Marinacci, Miller, Matta, Hartley, Butler, Smith, Moots, Wells, Gibson and McPartlin.

VS.

Jeff Simon’s, (Sitting Team): Dampier, Coffman, Giordano, Smith, Lopez, Simon, JD, Hill, Michalski, Bess and Bowley.

VS.

Rich Marino, (Fielding Team): Marino, Gazarek, Wiltshire, DeRidder, Drouillard, Kline, Thompson, Dvchan, Taylor, Bloom, Merritt and Morey.

Butler’s team, which had the most guys playing out of position took the lead in the 3^rd inning and stayed in the lead until the 6^th inning. It was in the 6^th that Simon’s team exploded for 8 runs, to tie the game at 11.

That set up a dramatic 7^th inning, the final inning, in the 3 team game. Butler’s team scored 5 times in the top of that inning to grab a big lead. There were several key hits in the inning by Marinacci, Miller, Matta, and Hartley. However, it was team captain, Ron Butler, who had the big blow, with the bases juiced, Ron hit a screaming line drive in the gap in right center, to clear the bases with a grand slam.

Simon’s team was now down by 5 and needed to mount a rally of their own. They were up for the challenge. Kirk Coffman lead off the inning with what looked to be a line drive single off the 3^rd baseman’s glove. Ron Butler, who was playing shortstop, tracked down the ball and fired a strike to 1^st base, to throw out the speedy Coffman. That turned out to be the game saver, because the next five batters (Giordano, Smith, Lopez, Simon, and JD) all had base hits. Michalski and Bess also joined the party with hits later in the inning. With 2 outs the bases were loaded and the tying run was at 3^rd.  Josh Wells was able to retire the final batter, getting a grounder to force out the runner at 2^nd base, to preserve the win.

Team Marino who led early in the game, but trailed the other two teams late in the game, could not mount a rally and finished with the tarnished Bronze metal.

Box Scores:

Butler:   2-1-5-0-3-0-5       16

Simon:   1-0-0-1-1-8-4       15

Marino:  5-0-1-0-2-1-1      10

Congratulations to Ron Butler who had the game winning grand slam and then the game preserving defensive play in the last inning.

Leading Hitters for team Butler:

Scarbrough: 3 / 4 with two doubles.

Marinacci: 4 / 4.

Miller: 4 / 4 with a triple and a double.

Matta: 3 / 4.

Butler: 2 / 3 with a Grand slam and a SF.

Wells: 3/ 4.

Wells was the winning pitcher.

Leading Hitters for team Simon:

Dampier: 3 / 4.

Terry Smith: 3 / 4.

Leading Hitters for team Marino:

Wiltshire: 3 / 4.

DeRidder: 3 / 4.

Drouillard: 3 / 4.

Kline: 3 / 3 and a walk.

Ducham: 3 / 4.

Merritt: 2 / 3.

Morey: 2 / 3.

Frank Vincenzo Passes

The following was copied from The 'Hood River News' submitted by Fred Dampier

Frank Vincenzo

Frank William Vincenzo

February 7, 1941 - January 22, 2014

Frank William Vincenzo, 72, passed away Jan. 22, 2014, at his residence in Hood River, Ore., surrounded by family. Frank was born Feb. 7, 1941, in Chicago, Ill., to Frank Anthony and Angelina (Melone) Vincenzo.
Frank grew up near Odgen and Taylor avenues in Chicago’s “Little Italy,” and graduated from Chicago St. Ignatius High School in 1959. While in high school he ran cross country and pole vaulted on the track team.
He served our country proudly in the United States Coast Guard from 1960-62. He was stationed at Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay.
Frank married Charlene Odessa and they had five children: Cheryl, Joe, Tony, Chrissy and Christopher. They divorced in 1977.
Frank lived in Chicago most his life but had also lived in Lebanon, Va., Winterhaven, Fla., Manassas, Va., and for the last 11 years Hood River, Ore. He worked as a project manager and general superintendent in construction during his working career throughout the country.
He enjoyed softball, golf, scuba diving, jazz music, Woody Allen movies and civil war history. Frank traveled the world competing in softball tournaments.
Frank married Lyn Shires on Sept. 6, 2003, in Hood River, and together they enjoyed trips to the Oregon Coast and spending time with family and friends.
Frank is survived and will be dearly missed by his wife, Lyn Vincenzo, of Hood River; children, Cheryl (and Bruce) Keller, of Trout Lake, Wash., Joey Vincenzo, of Tacoma, Wash., Tony (and Becky) Vincenzo, of Warrenton, Va., Chrissy Matzig, of Chicago, Ill., and Christopher (and Jessica) Vincenzo, of Hood River; 10 grandchildren: Samantha, Joshua, Jeff, Allison, Frankie, Cameron, Alex, Lauren, Eamon and Eli; other distant family and many, many friends that he has collected over the years.
In addition to his parents Frank was preceded in death by two sisters, Francis Cosentino and Angelina Liaci.
Services were held Jan. 25 at Anderson’s Tribute Center.
Memorials may be made in Frank’s name to Celilo Cancer Center.
Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson’s Tribute Center (Funerals, Receptions, Cremations), 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River, OR 97031; 541-386-1000. Please visit andersonstributecenter.com to leave a note of condolence for family.
Condolences are being received online.

Aaron Breaks the Record

1974 - In the fourth inning of the Braves home opener against the Dodgers, Hank Aaron parks an Al Downing pitch in the left-center field stands for career home run No. 715, breaking Ruth's once thought to be unapproachable record.  The Braves win, 7-4.

Gold's Gym Field

Today's game in the national league featured the visitors, managed by Moots, vs the home boys managed by Simon.   The visitors scored a total of nine runs in the first two innings led by a Denny Schaeffer HR.  The home team scored their first five hitters in the first inning and one more in the second frame.  The visitors led 9 to 6 after two innings.  The home team exploded for five runs in the third inning  on a HR by Hill, a double by Simon and a triple by Schapler.  The score after three innings of play had the home team ahead 11 to 9.  

Both teams were scoreless in the fourth.   In the fifth the visitors scored five times on on doubles by Ducham and Thompson.  The home team responded with four runs of their own by doubles by Schapler and Frank Miller.  Both teams were held scoreless in the sixth frame.  

The visitors broke the game open by scoring a total of nine runs in the last three innings.  They featured a Remington and Ducham triples and a Mohan HR.   The home team only scored three times total in the final three innings.  Mills was the winning pitcher. It was a close game most of the way and fortunately we beat the rain.  A good time at the ballpark was had by all.  It should be noted that Marshall Bloom on the home team had a career day going five for five at the plate.

Gatorland Field

Team Matta, (Visitors): Coffman, Dampier, Held, Wiltshire, Jacobs, D’Herin, Gonzalez, Lopez, Marino, Waddell, Shinholt, Wells and Matta.

Vs.

Team Witmer, (Home): Rivera, Witmer, Butler, Wolfe, DeRidder, Pepin, Constantine, King, Hartley, Reagan and Powell.

I when I saw my lineup today, for team Matta, I thought, this team is a treasure. Apparently the other team felt the same way, because they promptly went out and buried us.

The Home team started fast, in a slow sort of way. They had 5 hits that barely went 70 feet. The little Texas Leaguers were effective though, they went just far enough to reach the outfield and fall in for hits. When you string enough of those hits together, you score 5 runs. When you do the same thing the next inning, you score another 5 runs and before you know it, you are leading 10-1.

It was sort of like playing softball on Bikini Bottom, that’s the place SpongeBob lives. I doubt many of you are SpongeBob viewers, if you need help on this reference ask your grandkids, they will know what I am talking about.  Things were out of kilt for the visiting team, we were eating chum. For the home team, things were fine and dandy, they feasted on crabby patties.

Speaking of Bikini Bottom, that place was probably drier than the field we competed on. As the game went on today, the rains increased steadily. By the end of the game you could drown if you tried to look up and field a pop fly.

Team Matta never quite made it into a competitive game. Although Rich, the Yankee Clipper, Marino gave it his best shot, smacking three timely hits, including a triple. If Rich was DiMaggio, then Don Held was the great Babe Ruth. Don smacked out 2 long home runs, deep over the right field fence, to try and make it a game.

Team Witmer had too much hitting, solid pitching and they made some timely fielding plays, turning 3 DP’s on defense. They would not allow Team Matta to get too close. After a game like that, I guess it's appropriate to quote SpongeBob’s friend, Patrick, "The inner mechanics of my mind are an enigma..."

A quick look at the box score will tell the tale.

Team Matta:       0-1-0-3-2-3-1-4-4

Team Witmer:    5-5-0-5-3-1-2-3---

Final Score: Visitors 18- Home: 24

 

Leading hitters for the Visitors:

Dampier: 4 / 5

Held: 4 / 5 , two HR’s and a triple.

Jacobs: 3 / 4 with a double.

Gonzalez: 3 / 4.

Marino: 3 / 4 with a triple.

Matta: 2 / 3 and a walk.

Home team outstanding players:

WP: Powell

Rivera 3/ 5, with a double.

Witmer: 3/ 5 with a triple.

Butler 3/ 5

Wolfe: 3/ 5.

DeRidder: 3 /5

Constantine: 4 / 5 with a double.

King: 4/ 4 with a triple.

Hartley: 4/ 4.

 

Aaron Ties the Babe

On this Day in 1974 - In his first swing of the season, 'Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits a three-run home run off Jack Billingham as the Braves lose to the Reds, 7-6. It is home run 714 for Aaron, tying him with Babe Ruth's career total.

It was obvious that this weeks tournament and the departure of our friends up north had an impact on the number of players today. I said the number of players but not necessarily on the competition. We had 48 show up and it worked out that there were exactly twenty four signed up in each league so it was easy to make up the teams today. Depending on which end of the final score you were on, you might say "easy maybe, but equitable no". You see both games were not even close.

Richard Moots managed the visiting team of Marinacci, Kline, Thompson, Michalski, Hill, Miller, Duchan,Moots,Bloom, Mills, Baker, and Morey: while the home team of Black, Simon, McLellan, Chrest, Barnes, Stepp, Bess, Bowley, Merritt, Fulton, Lee Baker, and LeMay were lead by Jeff Simon. The visitors broke out front early with three runs in the first on Hectors lead off  triple followed by six singles. The home team failed to score in the inning. The second saw both teams retired without crossing the plate. In the third, the first five batters scored with Stan driving in the fifth run with a homer. This was followed up with four more in the fourth with Duff Hill hitting a home run to propel his team. The home team managed just one run and fell farther behind.

In the fifth, Ron Thompson scored the lone run for the visitors while the bats came alive for the home team. They managed to bat around while scoring eight runs. Reggie Barnes Grand Slam was the big hit of the inning (if not the game). In the sixth, seventh, and eighth the visitors continued to build on their lead. by scoring nine additional runs. As the home team was only able to score two and finding themselves down by eleven, the flip flop rule was put  in effect. With Jeff's team continuing to bat, they managed to score four more before a great game ending double play.

Final Score Team Moots 22 and Team Simon 15.

Key Performances

Ed Kline    5 for 5

Stan Michalski    4 for 5 with a homer and double

Duff Hill          4 for 5 with a home run

Frank Miller    4 for 4

Ray Mills        4 for 4 and winning pitcher

Elmer Black    4 for 5

Bill McLellan    4 for 5

Reg Barnes     4 for 5 with a GRAND SLAM

Meanwhile, on Servicemaster Donnie Witmer lead the home team to a huge victory. His team of Dampier, Giordano, Witmer, DeRidder, Scarbrough, Pepin, Smith, Hill, Hite, Reagan, Wells, and LoPiccolo seemed to score at will after the second inning. and had a comfortable lead going into the fifth. The score stood at eight to two.

The scoring in the fifth started and ended with a home run by Freddie Dampier for the visitors. I don't know what Tom Hamilton said to his team of Gonzalez, Herbie O, Hamilton, Laffoon, Coffman, Poke, Wiltshire, Marino, Constantine, Lopez, Borelli, and Powell; but they came out swinging and when the dust settled had tied the score at  nine a piece. Poke bases clearing home run knotted the game. In the next two innings, Freddie D's double and sixteen singles by the rest of the team resulted in nine runs. Their defense and solid pitching By Pat Lopiccolo held Tom's team scoreless.

With both teams scoring one in the eighth, the score stood at 19 to 10  going into the final frame. The first four runners scored for Team Witmer as Bob Reagan hit a triple to right field. Unfortunately, as fast as the inning started, it was over equally fast as the next two batters made outs to end the inning. Finding themselves down (but not  out) Richie Marino lead off with a triple and was quickly followed by Sam Lopez who also got a triple. After that however they went three and out. Final Score Team Witmer 23 and Team Hamilton 12.

Key Performances

Poke     3 for 4 with a double and home run (great last game)

Richie Marino    3 for 4 with a triple

Freddie Dampier    3 for 5 with a triple and home run

Charlie Giordano    4 for 5

Steve Hill                4 for 5

Bobby Reagan        5 for 5     with two doubles and a triple

Pat LoPiccolo - winning pitcher and base hit to close out his season.      

April Fools Day

Some folks must have thought my announcement of an early start time was an April Fool's joke, so we had more than a few stragglers show up late. The good news was that they indeed showed up and we were able to field  six very competitive teams.

 

Gessler Clinic Field

The American contingent played on Gessler field. The visitors (Rivera, Gazarak, Wiltshire, Wolfe, Hamilton, Davis, Pepin, Constantine, Dampier, Andrews, Lopez, and Droulliard) were managed by Tommy Hamilton.. Donnie Witmer managed the home team of Gonzalez, Busch, Witmer, DeRidder, Carpenter, Jacobs, Smith, Zelazny, Hill, Hartley, wells, and Borrelli. The visitors started strong by scoring ten runs in the first three innings. They accomplished this by precision hitting as they hit fifteen singles during that period. They had an eight run lead before the home team scored their first run and it looked like it was going to be a long day for team Witmer. But in the bottom of the third, Team Witmer put together a couple good hits including a home run by John Carpenter to close the gap and make it a one run game.

 

Unfortunately for team Hamilton their bats went cold and they were shut out over the next four frames .Meanwhile, Team Witmer put up thirteen unanswered runs to build a substantial lead. Key hits were John Carpenter's second home run and Bob Zelazny's second double  with every batter in the line up getting at least one hit. The eighth started strong for team Hamilton as the first two batters reached base and scored. Unfortunately the inning ended too soon as they stranded three. With Team Witmer unable to score it was Team Hamilton turn to score some runs and get back in the game. Unfortunately for them they were four and out so Team Witmer did not have to bat to preserve the 22 to 12 victory.

 

Key Performances

 

Mike Wiltshire    3 for 4

Fred Dampier      4 for 4

 

Freddie Gonzalez    4 for 5

John Carpenter        3 for 5 with two home runs

Terry Smith             3 for 4

Bob Zelazny             3 for 4 with two doubles

Steve Hill                 4 for 4

Dave Hartley            3 for 4

Josh Wells                winning pitcher

..

 Gold's Gym Field

This turned out to be a great and close game but it did not start that way.  The visitors, managed by Taylor, scored 5 runs in the first inning on doubles by Marino and Torres.  The home team, managed by Simon, responded with only one run.  The visitors scored twice in the second and two more in the third frame to take a 9 to 1 lead.  The home team scored 4 runs in the bottom of the third on a D'Herin double to tighten the score to only a4 run deficit.  In the top of the fifth inning the visitors scored five times and featured a grand slam by Torres.  The home team managed only one run in the bottom of the fourth.  

 

After four innings of play the visitors held an eight run lead.  The lead did not last long.  After the visiting team went three and out in the fifth inning, the home team bats finally caught fire.  They scored eight runs to tie the contest at 14 apiece featuring power doubles by Hite and D'Herin.  The visitors responded with four runs of their own in the top of the sixth to regain the lead.  In the bottom of the inning Simon,s team scored three  times and only trailed by one run.This was shaping up to be a real tifght contest.  Both teams scored twice in the seventh inning and the Taylor's visiting squad continued to hold onto a slim one run advantage.  

 

Both teams played excellent defense in the eighth inning and neither team scored.  Taylor's visiting squad went down in order in the top of the ninth and with  the home boys trailing by a single run it was do or die in the bottom of the ninth.  The leadoff hitter, Miguel Gonzalez, smashed a home run to tie the contest.  The next batter, Poke reached first base and represented the winning run.  The next hitter, Duff Hill, smashed a gapper and Poke scored the game ending final run.  

 

The final score was 21-20 and Simon's home team won a squeaker.  Miguel Gonzalez was the winning pitcher. 

 

Leading hitters for Taylor's visitors were Schaeffer 4-5, Torres 3-5, Butler 3-5, and Hanbaker 4-4.  

 

The leading hitters for Simon's home team inc.  Herbie O  4-5, Simon 4-5, D-Herin 4-5, Bess 3-5 , Poke 3-5, D. Hill 3-5  

 

It should be mentioned that the lineup for the visitors was Schaeffer, Burns, Torres, Marino, Butler, McLellan, Pinneck, Zaklowski, Mohan, Ota, Taylor, and Hanbaker.  The home team inc. Herbie O, Simon, Reagan, Coffman, Schapler, D'Herin, Hite, M. Gonzalez, Bess, Poke, D. Hill, Witter.

 

 

Servicemaster Field

A great day for a ball game.  Let's play two, oh, Ok we'll play 9 today.  The visitors traveling from the north liked the conditions with blue skies and the temp somewhere in the low 70's.  

 

Barnes managing the visitors consisting of Michigan or former Michigan players Michalski, Ducham, Miller, Thompson, Miller, Morey, and LaMay with a lot of help from Fulton, Marinacci, Merritt, Barnes, Gene Baker and Mills.  

 

The home POWER team managed by Moots had Stepp a M. man, Black, Fabian, Kline, Altemose, Moots, Bloom, McPartlin, Bowley, Gibson, Lee Baker and Walt Leggett. 

 

Visitors manage a hit from Michalski in the first.  Stepp, Black, Fabian, Kline, and Altemose all single for the home team.  After a fielders choice and an infield out, home team has 4.  Visitors out 123 in the second inning.  Homers lead off with Gibson who has his first of 3 hits.  Leggett and Stepp follow suit.  Then an infield out followed by singles from Fabian, Kline and Altemose bats in the 5th run of the inning.  

 

Here come the V guys, Barnes, LaMay and Gene Baker all single, and Mills ground ball brings in the second run of the game for the Vees.  Home team scoreless.  After 3 it Home 9 - Visitors 2.  Visitors warm up scoreing 2 in the forth and 3 in the fifth inning.  Home team got one in the 5th. Home team adds 3 in the 6th on singles by Bloom, Gibson, Stepp and Black.  Visitors score a single run in the 6th and 7th inning.  

 

After the V's got 3 in the 8th on singles by Fulton and Miller, Hector Marinacci triples and Morey.  At the end of 8 the score is Home team 16 Visitors 12.  9th inning LaMay lead off with a single, then two infield outs later 5 straight singles from Michalski, Ducham, Fulton, Miller and Marinacci, and a walk to Thompson, Merritts singles in the 5th run of the inning.  Visitors are now up by a run.  Kline singles to lead off the last of the 9th, after two outs Bloom reaches on a double to right field.  Runner now on 2nd and 3rd with two out.  Jim McPartlin at bat and he lines a hit to left center scoring both runners for the win.  

 

Final score Home team 18 Visitors 17. 

 

Hitters

Michalski  3 for 5

Ducham 3 for 5

Miller 4 for 5

Marinacci 4 for 5

LaMay 3 for 4

Black 4 for 5

Kline 4 for 5

Altemose 3 for 5

McPartlin Game winner hit

Gibson 3 for 4

 

Submitted by Don LaMay