No More Spitballs

On this date in 1919, the NL voted to ban the spitball's use by all new pitchers. The ban will be formally worked out by the Rules Committee in February.  Just thought you'd like to know.

 

Golds Gym Field

With close to seventy players today, we put together three evenly matched games. The American leaguers played on Golds Gym and Gessler Clinic Fields. The visiting team on Golds Gym Field was ably managed by Tommy Hamilton. His team of Coffman, Hamilton,  Laffoon, Giardano. Toro, DeRitter, Benson, Zelazny, Andrews, Wise, King, and Diaz, started slow going three and out in the top of the first. Meanwhile, The home team Anglels managed by Freddie Gonzalez pushed across four runs in their half of the inning.The team of Gonzalez, Witmer, Held, Jacobson, Scarbrough, Butler, Wiltshire, Smith, Dampier, Schapler, Constantine, Levesque, and Pepin obviously looked like they were going to walk away after Donnie Homered and Mike Wiltshire hit a double. Both teams had more luck in the second. The visitors scored three off an over the fence blow by new comer Jerry DeRidder. Not to be outdone, the Angles tallied five with Ron Pepin and Freddy G hitting triples. The third inning was a snoozer as neither team scored.

The fourth inning saw the middle of the line up come through for the visitors as the scored three off Jack Benson's triple. The Angels again failed to score. In the fifth the first three batters reached base but only one scored for the visitors. Obviously fired up, thr Angels scored their first five batters as Don Scarbrough hit one to the fence. Behind 14 to 6, Tom's team tried to make it close as they scored five off Jack Benson's second triple of the game. They then took to the field and held the Angels scoreless as the game really tightened up.In the seventh, doubles by Hamilton,DeRidder, and Laffoon pushed five across for the visitors and gave them the outright lead for the first time in the game. With the bottom of the lineup hitting  the ball hard, the Angels scored three to knot up the game at 17 apiece.

In the eighth, the Vistors bats went cold (or perhaps they were tired after scoring ten in the last two innings) but put up a goose egg. Not wanting the game to get away, the Angels put together five straight singles to produce their four runs to regain the lead. With the top of the order coming up, the visitors had no quit in them. They scored four but left the bases loaded as the final out was made. All that was left for the visitors was to shut down Freddie's bats one more time. Freddie lead off with a double in the gap and Donnie Witmer then hit a triple to drive in the winning run. Final score Angels 22, Visitors 21.

Key Performances

Tom Hamilton    4 for 5 with two doubles

Juan Toro          5 for 5

Jerry DeRidder   5 for 5 with a home run and two doubles

Jack Benson      5 for 5 with two triples

Russ King         3 for 4

Freddie Gonzalez    5 for 5 with a triple and double

Donnie Witmer        5 for 5 and hit for the cycle

Mike Wiltshire         4 for 4 with two double
Ron Pepin               3 for 4 with a triple

Don Held    winning pitcher

Gessler Clinic Field

The Gessler Clinic field saw a close game, with good defense, good hitting and a bad SUN. The visitors skippered by Richie Marino(Marion,Kline, Guspyt,Reagan, Duff Hill, Zakrowski, Byrd, Shaffer, Ota, LoPiccolo, McLellan, Holden) got off to a slow start, partly due to good defense from the home team(Steve Hill, Herbie O, JD Davis, Lopez, Wells, Hite, Patton, Mohan, Fabian, Witter, Stepp) and partly because the sun was in the eyes of the hitters. This led to a score of 2 to 1 after 3 innings with the home team leading.  It would be the last lead for the home boys(good guys) for the game. 

The 4^th inning saw the visitors score 4 runs on 5 singles and a double by Duff Hill. They added 2 in the fifth on 3 straight singles from Holden, Marino and Kline. The home team made it close in the 5^th when Steve Hill started a rally with a double, followed by 3 singles, before Hite hit a triple down the line to make the score 7-6. 

The visitors answered in the 6^th by starting the inning with 4 singles from Shaffer, Ota, LoPiccolo and McLellan.  They kept  it moving again in the 7^th, when they score 3 more.  Trailing by 8 the home team try to answer when Steve Hill again started the inning with a double. Followed by 3 singles before Patton hit the big shot, a Home Run to pull it close again, at 14-11 visitors. 

After holding the visitors to 1 run in the 8^th and scrapping to get 3 more runs, the home team trailed by only 1 at 16-15 heading into the 9^th. They got 6 in the 9^th, when Zakrowski and Byrd started the inning with doubles before McLellan capped the scoring with another 2 bagger. The home team’s chances of pulling out the game were shattered in the bottom of the inning when Shaffer and McLellan both made sparkling plays in the field the rob hitters of sure hits.  

The final 22-15.

Top Hitters

Reagan           3 for 5, 2B

Shaffer           4 for 4

Ota                 3 for 5

LoPiccolo       3 for 4

McLellan        3 for 5, 2B, 3B

Steve Hill        3 for 5,  2 2B

Herbie O        4 for 5

JD Davis         4 for 5

Lopez             3 for 5

Hite                3 for 5, 3B

Gatorland Field

 

Team MOOTS vs Team BLOOM

 

Team Bloom took an early 5-1 lead in the first inning and never looked back beating team Moots 18 – 12.

 

Frank Miller, Walt Leggett and Michalski contributed to the winning team going 3 for 4 at bat with strong pitching from veteran Richard Sessink.

 

For the losers, Elmer Black, Jerry Remington and Reg Barnes went 3 for 4 at bat while newcomer Nick Burns hit a triple and a single.

 

No Games Tomorrow(Friday 12/6/2014)

Sorry guys but we've had to cancel our Friday games as well.  Bobby Z and the rest of the board checked every viable option and there just isn't a facility that can accommodate us this Friday.  There's tournaments everywhere it seems and the grounds crews need Friday to prepare the fields for the weekend. And that's just the way it is.

See you Tuesday, provided that the weather and over-seeding allows.

Games Cancelled

We were just informed by the manager of the DiamondPlex facility that we cannot use the fields this week due to winter maintenance projects being conducted there.

Tuesday's games are cancelled for sure but we are trying to find an alternative location for Friday.

Stay tuned for further details.  Also please communicate this to anyone who may not have internet access.  Thanks.

Black Beer Friday

Gessler Clinic Field

The Home team today, captained by Roger Edwards, fielded Rivera, Andrews, Edwards, Jacobson, Pepin, Benson, Hartley, Ayers, Hill, Marino, Levesque and Reagan against the Visitors Team managed by Donnie Witmer and made up of  Gonzalez, D'herin, Duff, jacobs, Wolfe, Giordano, Witmer, Butler, Coffman, Smith, Diaz and Rodriguez.

As the lineups suggest it was one of those close lead swapping games with the team putting up the fewest zeros emerging with the victory.  Team Witmer won the first inning 2-0 thanks to a Gonzalez inside the park round tripper followed by a Chuck Duff triple.  They followed that in the second with  one as Donnie Witmer's single was cashed in by a Ron Butler triple. But then the tide turned as team Edwards posted 5 runs in their half of the second followed up with another 5 run inning in the third to go up 3-10.  

Team Witmer won the 4th inning posting 4 runs to zero for team Edwards but then went down scoreless in the 5th and 6th.  After six it was team Edwards 11 and team Witmer 7.  

In the 7th, team Witmer posted 5 to take the lead by 1 run and then posted 1 in each of the 8th and 9th while blanking team Edwards in the 6th 7th and 8th innings to hold a lead of 14 - 11 going into the bottom of the 9th.

Team Edwards managed to get a couple of runners on but only scored 1 run to end the game with the score Team Witmer 14 to Team Edwards 12.  Winning Pitcher - Diaz

Top Hitters
Edwards 3 for 3 BB
Jacobson 2 for3 BB
Pepin 2 for 2  2-BB
Ayers 2 for 3 BB

Gonzalez 3 for 5 HR 2-DB
Duff 3 for 4 Triple
Jacobs 3 for 4 BB DB
Witmer 3 for 4
Smith 3 for 4

ServiceMaster Field

The Nationals had a very competitive and fun game on the ServiceMaster Field. Maybe it was the cool temperature or too much turkey but both teams started slow.  The visitors (Merritt, Waddell, Duff Hill, Lopez, Mohan, Byrd, Black, LoPiccolo, Moots, McPartlin, Morey, Yarletts and Hooper) got off to a sluggish start, leaving the bases loaded in the second, but not able to score until the 4^th inning.  In that frame they scored 4 runs with hits from Merritt and Waddell before the big hits, a triple from Hill and double from Black.  The home team (Bess, Kline, Thompson, Remington, Hite, Taylor, Zakrowski, Witter, Fabian, Wells, Mills and Baker) faired only slightly better in the first 3 innings, scoring just 2 in the first on 3 straight singles from Kline, Thompson and Remington. 

In the home half of the 4^th the home team answered the bell with 3 runs on 5 singles from Remington, Hite, Taylor, Zakrowski and Witter. So after 4 the score was V-4 and H-5. The score and the game went back and forth for the next 4 innings.  The visitors scored 13 runs, with big hits from Mohan and Lopez, as the rest of the team did their part and put runners on base for the big bats.  But, the home team was a little better scoring 15 runs with every player contributing with at least one hit.

Top Hitters

Waddell 3 for 5

Lopez 3 for 4, HR

Mohan 3 for 4, HR

Byrd 3 for 4

Moots 4 for 4

Bess 3 for 5, 2B

Kline 3 for 5

Thompson 3 for 5, 2B

Remington 5 for 5

Hite 4 for 5, 2B, 3B

Taylor 4 for 4, 2B

Zakrowski 3 for 4,2B

Witter 3 for 4

RAIN OUT TODAY

Bobby reports that we're rained out today (Tuesday) so we'll try to convene again on Friday where we'll try to run off that last piece of Thanksgiving pie.

See you then.

Joltin' Joe Deforge celebrates 90

Everyone helped celebrate Joe DeForge's 90th birthday today with a cake, a poem reading, and a great rendition of Happy Birthday. It was great to see Joe come out again to root us on. 

Another unexpected surprise was a visit by George Radlein. It was super to see George and to witness his recovery. He looked great and indicated he is back in training in preparation for his return to play. We can only hope that day comes soon as we can use his spirit, his pitching, and the sneaky hit down the first base line.

ServiceMaster

The Nationals played on Servicemaster Field and had a very very competitive game. The visitors (Black, King, Thompson, Duchan, Bess, Moots, McPartlin, Smith, Lau,  Morey, and Gibson) broke out to an early lead as their first five batters scored  on doubles by King, Thompson, and Moots. The home team (Merritt,Bloom, Mahon, Remington, Duff Hill, Frank Miller, Taylor, Yarletts, Mills, Gene Baker, and Restrepo) responded with three of their own in the bottom of the inning. That was the total run production of the visitors until the fifth inning as they were shut out for the next three innings. The Home Boys on the other hand did much better as they scored two runs in both the  third and fourth innings to take the lead away from the visitors. Dick Mahon's double was the big hit.

The fifth inning saw the visitors bats return as they managed three runs off six singles. They could have scored more except that the home team turned one of their five double plays to stop the rally. In the bottom of the inning, Duff Hill reached base on a fielders choice and navigated the bases to score the only run for the home team knotting the game at 8-8.

The bats went cold again for both teams the rest of the way. The Visitors did not have a runner reach second base in the last four innings. The Home Team didn't fare much better as they managed a single run in the seventh. So with the pitchers (and fielders) taking control the game came to an end with the Home Team winning by the narrowest of margins. Home Team 9, Visitors 8.

Key Performances

Elmer Black     5 for 5

Ron Thompson     4 for 4

Vassearl Bess    4 for 4

Dick Mahon    4 for 4 with two doubles

Duff Hill    4 for 4

Jerry Remington    3 for 4

Ray Mills     winning pitcher

Gold's Gym

Steve Hill's American League Team ( Herbie o, Steve Hill, Scarbrough, Wiltshire, Constantine, Zelazny, Reagan, Fabian, Davis, Hearn, and Zakrowski)  gave Curt Coffman's Team (Coffman, Chrest, Laffoon, Shaffer, Poke, Levesque, Lopez, Byrd, Marino, Waddell, and Bowley) all it could handle on Golds Gym Field. Hill's visitors scored three in the first inning and never looked back as they built a nine run lead before the Home Team managed to score.two runs in the bottom of the fourth.

In the fifth the visitors continue to build on their lead as Bobby Reagan had a triple that sailed over the left fielder and ran to the fence. In the sixth, Herbie O hit a home run that provided the lone run for the visitors in the sixth. After being shut out in the fifth and sixth innings and believing the game was getting away from them, the home boys got serious in the seventh and sent ten batters to the plate and tallied six runs to close the gap to a scant two runs. The following inning saw the game tighten even more as the visitors were again outscored. Going into the final frame, the score was 13-12.

The final inning was one for the record books as the visitors matched their run production for the game. Seventeen batters game to the plate and produced 13 runs. Mike Wiltshire and Claude Hearn had home runs and Bob Reagan and Bob Z had triples.Unfortunately, the Home team only managed to get their lead off batter on in the ninth. They were unable to push the run across so the game ended with the score Visitors 26 and Home team 12.

Key Performances

Herbie O     5 for 6 with a home run

Steve Hill    4 for 6

Don Scarbrough    4 for 6

Bob Zelazny    4 for 6 with a triple

Bobby Reagan    4 for 6 with two triples

JD Davis    5 for 5 plus winning pitcher

Claude Hearn    4 for 5 with a home run

Curt Coffman    4 for 5

Sam Lopez    5 for 5

Gatorland

Gatorland Field was very kind to the Home team as Freddy Gonzales led his team (Rivera, Gonzalez, Jacobson, Wolfe, Giordano, Witmer, Pepin,Diaz, Wells, and Kline) to a clear victory over Juan Toro"s Visiting Team (Hamilton, Edwards, Busch, Held, Toro, Jacobs, Allenbaugh, Smith, Grabb. Witter, and LoPiccolo).The visitors feel behind as they manged a lone run in the first two innings as Don Held's triple was the big hit. During the same period, the Home team seemed to score at will. They tallied four in the first and five in the sceond. Doubles by Jacobson and Giordano helped as did Rivera and Giordano's home runs.. In the third Juan Toros helped propel his team as they scored five. Freddie Gonzalez's double pushed his teams two runs across the plate.

The bats went silent for the visitors for the next hree innings as they were shut out. In the meantime, the Home Team scored ten runs as Freddie had a home run and Juan Rivera and Charlie G had doubles. In the seventh Juan T had another double as his team scored three runs. Ron Pepin was the lone runner for the Home team but was unable to score in the bottom of the seventh. Both teams manged to score in the eighth, three by the visitors and four by the home team. Going into the last frame, the visitors were chasing thirteen runs. Their first four batters reached base and you could sense that big things were about to happen. Unfortunately the big thing was solid pitching and defense as the next three batters went down swinging. They manged to score three but it was not nearly enough as the final score read Home Team 25, Visitors 12.

Key Performances

Juan Toro    3 for 4 with two doubles

Don Held    3 for 5 with a triple

Larry Grabb    3 for 4 with a double

Jose Rivera     5 for 6 with a home run and two doubles

Freddie Gonzales    5 for 5 with a homer and double

Les Jacobson    4 for 5 with a double

Charlie Giordano     4 for 6 with a homer and double

Ron Pepin     4 for6

Don Witmer    4 for 6

Eddie Kline     4 for 6

Josh Wells    winning pitcher

Still Phunny after 70 years

A Couple of Admin Notes

Reminder that the 29th is rapidly approaching and that is the last day to register, request to play out of league, and to designate yourself to be a rostered or pool player. As of today the break between Leagues appears to be 1945. That is if your birthday is 1945 or earlier you will play in the National League unless you request otherwise.

Our start time remains 0900 with sign in no later than 0830. please help us by being on time so we can get the lineups together and meet our goal of 0900 start. 

The Entertainment Book sale is on going please support the league by purchasing one from Donnie Witmer.

Please keep Nick in your prayers as he goes in for another knee operation this Friday.

 

Gessler Clinic Field

The game between National league teams was waged on Gessler Clinic Field. Marshal Bloom's visitors (Duchan, F Miller, Remington, B. Miller, Leggett, Bloom, Bess, Black, McPartlin,Fabian, and Gibson) came out swinging and managed to tally three runs in the first. Rich Moots home team (Hill. Kline, Thompson, Moots, Stepp, Podbielski, Merritt, Mills, Morey, and Restrepo) however won the inning by posting four runs. In the second, John Gibson scored for the visitors and knotted up the game. In the third, the visitors scored three off triples by Moots and Thompson, while Walt Leggets triple helped the home team. Both teams were shut down in the fourth and failed to score a single run.

The fifth inning saw the visitors score the max off doubles by Bess and Black. Wayne Mundy's double propelled the home team as they scored three in the bottom of the inning. The sixth saw an explosion of the bats for both teams. The visitors tallied five runs off eight straight singles.The home team responded by batting thirteen players in the inning and scored seven runs to pull with within one run. The following innings saw the visitors continue to score with 3 in the seventh and 5 in the ninth. Doubles by Leggett and Gibson aided their cause. Meanwhile, the home team's bats went ice cold and they did not manage to get another runner past first base. Final score was Visitors 25, Home team 16.

Key Performances

Ron Thompson     4 for 5

Freddie Duchan    6 for 6

Frank Miller    5 for 6

Walt Leggett      5 for 5 with a double and triple and winning pitcher

Vasir Bess     5 for 6

Elmer Black5    5 for 6

Gold's Gym Field

Golds Gym Field provided some very exciting play between two evenly matched teams (at least on paper).The visitors were managed by the skipper, Richie Marino (with help from Freddie Dampier). His supporting cast was Marino, Chrest, Laffoon, Zelazny, Lopez, Constantine, Byrd, Mohan, Ota, Zakrowski, and Witter. Despite the line up they only managed to score one run in the first. Obviously smelling blood in the water, Juan Toro's team of Herbie O, Reagan, Toro, Smith, Hartley, Wiltshire, Pepin, JD Davis, Bombard, and Bowley took advantage and posted a quick five runs and never looked back. Both teams managed a lone run in the second, so going into the third, and only down four the visitors were juiced and ready to put up some big numbers. Unfortunately, nobody told the home team. During the next four innings they managed to  shut out the visitors while scoring at will during their half of every inning. They scored four in the fourth off a Toro home run and Smith double. They scored an additional run in their fifth and two in the sixth as Terry Smith continued his torrid hitting by collecting a triple.

In the seventh, there was a glimmer of hope as the visitors sent nine players to the plate. Sadly, it resulted in just three runs. They ended the inning with the bases loaded for the second time in the game. Doubles by Herbie O and Smith helped the home team to a quick five runs as they continued to build on the lead. Unfortunately there are no additional highlights as the visitors could only manage to get one runner on base in the final two frames..In the eighth inning Greg Bombard put one to the fence to ignite a rally that resulted in five more runs for the home team. Since they were up by a substantial number of runs, the home team was denied the opportunity to score anymore runs and  turn this rout into an all out slaughter. Final score Visitors 5 and Home 23.

Key Performances

Herbie O     5 for 6 with a double

Bob Reagan    4 for 6

Juan Toro     4 for 6 with a homer

Terry Smith 4 for 5 with two doubles and a triple

Mike Wiltshire    4 for 5Greg Bombard    5 for 5 with a double

JD Davis    winning pitcher

Jimmy Laffoon     4 for 5

Sam Lopez     4 for 5

Chris Constantine    3 for 4

Jerry Witter    4 for 4

  

Servicemaster Field

Two powerful lineups took to the ServiceMaster Field, for an American league game. At first blush, the batting orders looked like a loaded gun in the hands of a sharp shooter. It looked like runs were going to cross the plate, like gravy rolling off of mashed potatoes; nice and easy. The teams looked like Goliath versus Goliath. But if I know my bible stories, and I better know them, or preacher Freddy Gonzalez will pull me into his office. There is a character named David who won that battle. Two pitchers, Pat Lopiccolo, and Larry Wells played the role of David in this story.

Here are the lineups:

Visitors: Coffman, Hamilton, Witmer, Duff, Rivera, Jacobs, Wolfe, D’Herin, Benson, Matta and Lopiccolo.

vs.

Home: S. Hill, Butler, Scarborough, Jacobson, Held, Parker, Gonzalez, Shaffer, Diaz, Poke and Wells.

The visitors started off hot enough, they tore through the line up like a fox in the hen house. The first 4 batters in the lineup, Coffman, Hamilton, Witmer and Duff all reached base and scored.  Coffman started things off with a sharply hit single to left. Then Hamilton drove a double into right center. Witmer singled them both in, with a hit up the middle. Like a top 40’s play list, the hits just kept coming; Jacobs drove in Witmer, with the 4^th run. Wolfe moved Jacobs to 2^nd, with a single to right center and D’ Herin loaded the bases with a single to left. Jack Benson just needed a fly ball to knock in run number 5; instead he had a base hit up the middle.

I told you these lineups were loaded. So, when does the David story unfold amongst the pitchers? That story started to unfold in the bottom of the first. Lopiccolo blanked the Home team in their half of the first inning. Larry Wells took note and he allowed one run in the top of the 2^nd. The Visitors scored in the 2nd, after Hamilton smacked a triple into deep right center, to score Coffman. The Home team broke through the ice and scored their first run in the bottom of the 2^nd . Jacobson singled, Don Held ripped a double and Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly, to score Jacobson. However, Lopiccolo closed the door quickly and no more runs were added that inning. Both teams threw up goose eggs in the 3^rd.

What looked like a slug fest on paper, actually turned out to be a fairly low scoring game. The Visitors lead the Home team after 3 innings, 6-1.  

Due to solid pitching and defense, the score stayed low for the rest of the game. Two defensive gems were turned in by Don Witmer, one in particular stood out as the play of the game. Playing shortstop, Don went way back into shallow left field to catch a dying pop fly, over his shoulder. Ed Diaz, Kirk Coffman, Jack Benson, Jose Rivera and Chuck Duff also made some difficult plays look easy on defense.

The Visiting team had one more big inning, in the 8^th, scoring 4 runs. The inning started off with Jose Rivera hitting a home run. Jacobs, then doubled and Wolfe tripled, making it 3 extra base hits, by the first three players batting that inning. Benson and Matta added singles to complete the scoring in the 8^th.

After 8 innings, the score was Visitors 14- Home team 6.

The Visitors added 2 more runs in the 9^th, when Jose Rivera hit his 2^nd home run, in two innings. (Remember Jose hit a HR in the 8^th inning). Chuck Duff also scored on the Rivera homer. The Home team added one run in the 9^th and the books were slammed shut.

Final Score: Visitors 16- Home team 7.

Leading players:

WP: Lopiccolo.

Duff: 3/5.

Jacobs: 3/5 with a double.

Wolfe: 4/5 with a triple.

D’Herin: 3/5.

Matta 3/5.

Benson: 3/5 with a HR.

Rivera: 2/5, two homeruns.

Held: 3 / 4, two doubles.