Tuesday Aug, 29 th

Games are on. Let's play ball.

Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone

Tuesday, August 22nd

With the temp nearing 95 the old guys in the National braved it out for 9 innings. I am not writing this from my usual sports writing desk, but from a breakfast table at Embassy Suites anxiously awaiting my 22nd radiation which will be half way. 22 down 22 to go. Double deuces, the number I wore while playing ball in Colorado for 20 years. Ha!!  

King's Kruisers took on Strait's Smashers and it was 2-1 after 2 innings and looked to be a fast game. But then in the 3rd, the Smashers plated 5 while Dudley, Dampier, Morton, Laffoon and Schapeler all scored. The margin never got closer than that as they scored in every inning after that except the open 9th when they did a flip flop, were up 18-8 and King's did manage 2 in their 9th to make the final 18-10. 

The Kruisers did put up a fight in the bottom of the 5th when they could have scored 11 and did plate 5 with Bess, S. Hill, Coffman, Acetta and Boswell crossing the plate. The visitors scored 5 again in the 7th as they had their hitting shoes on. 

King hitters. S. Hill 2-4 HR. Boswell 2-4. King 4-4. Hite 2-4. Thompson 2-4. 

Strait hitters. Dampier 4-4. Morton 4-5. Laffoon 2-3 Sac, BB. Schapeler 2-5. Strait 3-5. Morino 3-5. Learn 3B and Sac. LoPicollo 2-4 WP. L. Baker 2-4. Dudley 2-3 BB. 

The American League sends a team over to play the Solivita boys Friday August 25. That is always a good time. Wish I could be there. Rest well my comrades. 😎👍👍👍

Write up by Loren Fabian

And now for the American League. We finally managed to get enough players to have four teams. The National League had 11 players per team and the American League had 10 players per team. The American League played on Field B because the sun is not a factor for the batters in the summertime. The Visiting team started out pretty slow and did not score any runs until the 4th inning. The Home team had plated 8 runs by then. Things started slowing down for the Home team in the 4th, 5th and 6th inning where they did not score any runs. The Visiting team plated 7 runs by then. At the top of the ninth inning the Home team was ahead by 3 runs. The Visiting team scored 4 runs to take the lead and put the pressure on the Home team. The Home team score one run early in the inning and managed to get one more run across the plate with two outs and a bases loaded single by Dave Shirer. Final score was 12-11 for the Home team.

Visiting team was made up of: Jose Rivera, Rad Pcholinski, Tony Quinones, Luis Abreu, Bob Zelazny, Don Scarbrough, JD Davis, Pete Gutenberg, Chris Constantine and Larry Wells.

Home team was made up of: Steve Hicks, Dave Shirer, Dave Shipley, Larry Book, Bobby Reagan, Miguel Gonzalez, Don Witmer, Bobby Skidmore, Bob Vandenberg and BJ Kallister. 

Write up by Don Witmer  

Tuesday, August 15th

Its hot in Florida. The temperature at game time is usually 90 degrees and by the time the game is over the heat index is over 100 degrees. We still managed to get 39 players today. We continue to have three team games so everyone gets to have an inning off to cool off under the shelter. We hope to start having four team games soon. 

 

A very entertaining 3 team game won by Witmer's Wonders. The final was Witmer 13, JD's Jammers 10 and Zelazney's Zingers 10. 

Good news for 3 new knees as Bob Hite returned from the DL to play for the first time in weeks with one new knee. He had a bit of a tough day at the plate but did eek out a walk and go on to score a run. He also leaped high at second base to snag a line drive. By high, I mean you could have slid at least 3 pages of the Winter Haven phone book between the ground and his feet. The other 2 new knees arrived when Tom Copozzi drove up and emerged from his car to watch the game. He is on the mend from getting both knees replaced. He emerged from his car with the aid of only one gold-plated cane. I'm sure Tom is chomping at the bit to get back on the field. Sammy Lopez also visited the fields today. Sammy was in a car accident about two months ago and is still recuperating from an injured back.

Hitters for Witmer. Scarborough 3-3 w/BB. King 2-4.  Shirer 3-4. Book 2-3.  DeRidder 2-3.  Witmer 2-3.  Reagan 2-3 w/HR. S. Hill 2-3. L. Baker 2-2

Hitters for Zelazney's. Laffoon 3-4. Dampier 1-2 W/3B. Strait 2-3. Learn 2-3. Wells 2/3

Hitters for JD. M. Gonzalez 2-3. Shipley 3-3. Vandenberg 2-2. Hicks 2-3. BJ 3-3. Skidmore 2-3. 

JD also snagged a line drive at middle infield leaping high much like Bob Hite but could only get 2 pages of the phone book between JD's feet and the ground. 

Write up by Loren Fabian. 

Tuesday, August 8th

Sorry I've been out of pocket lately but I am going thru 9 weeks of daily radiation at Tampa VA. 34 more treatments to go. I drove back to WH yesterday for the board meeting which I forgot had been moved to next week.  I'm glad I did tho as I found out I can make that game each Tuesday to keep the books and do a write up. See!!! Nothing wrong with a good honest mistake. 

Now on to the game from the desk of self proclaimed world renowned sportswriter Loren Fabian.  (I don't really have a desk). Final score was JD's Jammers 20, Vandy's Varmints 19 and Strait's Smashers 11. It was very close all the way with each team holding brief leads at various innings. Going into the open inning Vandy's held a 19-11-11 lead then JD's batted around plus 1 batter to score 9 in the middle of the 7th and Strait's Smashers didn't live up to their name not plating a single run. It was a very entertaining game. 

Two brand new players to our league Willie Padilla who was 1-2 with a BB and his first HR and Herb Lawrence who also was 1-2 with a BB but no home run. Welcome new guys. 

Hitters for Strait. Gutenberg 2-3. Rad 2-3. Book 2-3 with a 3B. Boswell 2-3. Dampier 2-3 with a 3B. Pepin 2-3. 

Hitters for Vandenberg. Hicks 3-4 with a HR. Laffoon 2-4. Doerbaum 2-3. M. Gonzalez 3-4. Vandy's 4-4. Schapeler 3-4. D. Hill 2-3. Marino 2-3. Navarro 2-3 and Padilla with his in the Parker to RF. 

Hitters for JD. Witmer 3-4. Shirer 3-4 with HR. JD 3:4. Constatine 2:4. Regan 3:4. S. Hill 2-3. Ortiz 3:4. Tonto 2-4. New guy Lawrence 1-2. L. Baker 1-2 with BB. 

 It was fun. See y'all next Tuesday. Write up by Loren Fabian. 

Note to Readers: Loren Fabian is under going daily radiation for prostrate cancer at the VA hospital in Tampa. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday Aug1

Games are on. Let's play ball.

Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone