batteh blog-o-rama

Excellent effort in the first game last night. We jumped out to a 9-3 lead only to give up the lead after a rough inning where we couldn’t quite get the last out. But we tied the game up 10-10, only to be behind again 12-10 going into the top of the 7th. But Todd started our rally in the 7th and we scored 5 runs with lots of great hitting to take a 15-12 lead. After they scored a run in the bottom, we got a DP with Jesse sneaking behind the runner to double him off after a caught line drive and Danny made a nice running catch for the last out. Also, thanks to Chaz for coming out to cheer us on- it was nice to see him as he is recovering.

After some discussion, it turns out that game was not a playoff game but was simply the last game of the regular season. Since we were both 8-2 with a 2-2 head to head record, we had to play another game to determine the league champion. In the second game, the hit a ton and made some great plays on the couple of balls we hit hard. It was a rather embarassing 15-0 mercy in 4.

Again, thanks for a great summer and fall season. Rest up for the spring and let’s try to plan a post-season outing.

Here are this week’s points and the ones that will be carried forward to next year. Thanks to Dan W. for providing postgame beverages and snacks. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Since Jesse is 5 points away from 0 on the negative side (first ever), we’ll have him provide beverages first in the spring.

Charlie (6.5) [+2 for K]
Tony (4) [+1 for missed ground ball, -0.5 for DP]
Jon L. (4)
Todd (3.5)
John B. (3.5) [+1 for missed ground ball, -1 for 2 DPs]
Ben W. (2)
Matt (1)
Pete (1)
Chris W. (1) [+1 for getting thrown out at home]
Dan W. (0) [+1 for misjudged fly ball, +1 for getting thrown out at 3rd, -8.5 for beverages and snacks]
Chaz (0)
Ron (0)
Jesse (-6) [+1 for wild throw, -0.5 for DP]

Excellent game last night with a 14-7 victory. The game was close throughout and was tied 6-6 going into the bottom of the 6th. Jon led off with a hit and we rolled from there scoring 8 runs to bust the game open. Jesse continued his HR streak with an opposite field shot and Chris W. made them pay for intentionally walking Jesse thereafter (including twice to load the bases). The gloves were solid too- Tony made an awesome leaping catch of a line drive and then quickly threw to first where Jesse made a nice pick and tag to complete the DP. Also, Tony managed to get his head out of the way after a ground ball took a wicked last hop. Charlie also snagged a hard line drive up the middle. Solid effort- we’ve got one more game next week with the good hitting team so let’s come to play.

Here are this week’s points. Thanks to Chris W. for providing postgame beverages and snacks (actually it was the ghost of Chris W. as he had to run off after the game). As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Also, since we have single 7:30 game next week, perhaps Dan W. could provide some post-game beverages?

Dan W. (6.5) [+1 for dropped fly ball]
Charlie (4.5) [+1 for failing to score runner from 3rd, -0.5 for K]
Jon L. (4)
Todd (3.5)
Tony (3.5) [+1 for missed ground ball, -0.5 for DP]
John B. (3.5)
Ben W. (2) [+1 for bad circa-1996 baserunning to make last out at 3rd]
Matt (1)
Pete (1)
Chris W. (0) [-6.5 for beverages]
Chaz (0)
Ron (0)
Jesse (-6.5) [-0.5 for HR]

Tough night yesterday with the injury to Chaz. We split and lost the second game to a good hitting team. We’ll get them again in a couple of weeks and will be ready to play better. The first game started with our top 4 hitters getting out followed by 11 straight hits, then an out, and then 9 more hits. Wow!! Jesse had three monster bombs and there was solid hitting up and down the lineup. Chaz’s HR was something else.

The games took second fiddle to Chaz’s injury. I’m glad I didn’t see it- it was bad enough to see the faces of those who did. Thanks to Chris W. for his help in getting Chaz some urgent care at the field. The whole scene was a bit surreal as Chaz was all geeked about the HR and seemingly oblivious to the injury. Bad ass!! Happily Chaz responded with an update and I talked to him today. His injury required 13 stitches and he is now on the road to recovery.

Here are this week’s points. Thanks to Ron for providing postgame beverages and snacks. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Also, since we have single 8:45 game next week, perhaps Chris W. could provide some post-game beverages?

Chris W. (6.5) [-0.5 for getting help for Chaz- thanks!!]
Dan W. (5.5)
Jon L. (4)
Todd (3.5)
Charlie (4) [+1 for walk]
Tony (3) [+1 for wild throw, -1 for 2 DPs]
John B. (3.5) (+2 for fielding miscues, -1 for 2 DPs]
Matt (1)
Pete (1)
Ben W. (1) [+1 for walk]
Chaz (0) [-0.5 for HR and -0.5 for sacrificing his body for the team]
Ron (0) [-7.5 for beverages]
Jesse (-6) [-1.5 for 3 HRs]

Nice work last night in taking two games. The first game was a 15-5 mercy while the second game was a hard fought, come from behind 14-10 win. Except for a few innings at the start of the second game, we hit the ball well. Jesse hit a towering blast against the wind in the first game and Chris W. followed with a big HR in the second game. The defense was great all night. Tony had a ton of balls hit to him, most hard and to his backhand, and had a great diving stop and a nice stab on a ball that was virtually past him. Nice work!!

Per last week’s proposal, those who attended the BGBG/GSHAS outing last weekend have a point amnesty this week (although negative points will still be awarded). I know that will save me at least +2!! Anyhow, for those who did not attend, please self-assess as required (I’m still waiting for OF assessments from last week too as I’m sure it wasn’t just IF and P that accumulated points). As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Also, since we have 7:30/8:45 games next week, perhaps Ron could provide some post-game beverages?

Ron (7.5)
Chris W. (7) [+1 for dropping fly ball, +1 for missing throw at home, -0.5 for HR]
Dan W. (5.5)
Jon L. (4) [-0.5 for great play on slow roller]
Todd (3.5)
Charlie (3)
Tony (3) [-0.5 for a full night of great plays, +2 self-assessed in comments]
John B. (2.5)
Matt (1)
Pete (1)
Chaz (1)
Ben W. (0)
Jesse (-4.5) [-0.5 for HR]

Solid effort tonight in a split against a pretty good hitting team. We matched them blow for blow in the first game and won 18-16. The second game got away from us a little bit as they hit well and we gave them some extra outs. Jesse helped seal the deal in the 7th inning of the first game by diving to catch a line drive and then tagging out the runner on first for a DP. There were several nice defensive plays throughout the night- Ron made a nice diving catch, Jon L. snared a rocket ground ball that was nearly past him and fired across to get the PO at 1B, and Charlie had 3Ks. Anyhow, nice work to get a split- we’ll see these guys again, most likely twice if both teams win out. So, get the bats ready.

Also, don’t forget the annual BGBG/GSHAS outing at Jon’s place in Albion this Saturday. Be sure to respond to the evite if you haven’t already. I propose everyone who attends gets point amnesty next week.

I’ve only assessed a few points since I kind of lost track. Please self-assess as required. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc.

Ron (7.5)
Chris W. (5.5)
Dan W. (5.5)
Jon L. (4.5) [-0.5 for snaring hard ground ball, +1 self-assessed]
Todd (3.5)
Charlie (3) [+1 for BB, -1.5 for 3Ks, +1 self-assessed]
John B. (2.5) [+1 for booted grounder]
Tony (1.5)
Matt (1)
Pete (1)
Chaz (1) [+1 self-assessed]
Ben W. (0) [+1 for 3 walks (we’ll assess +1 for 1-3 walks, +2 for > 3)]
Jesse (-4) [-0.5 for awesome DP, -0.5 for HR]

Excellent start to the fall season with two mercy wins on what turned out to be a pretty nice night after some rain earlier in the evening. The bats were on fire- sure, they gave us some outs but we really hit the ball (Jon L. and John B each had 4 triples??). The gloves were solid too- especially Chris W. hopping out from behind the plate to run halfway up the first base line to field a ball going foul only to fire the ball to Tony to get a force out at second. I suspect the other two teams will be a bit more competitive so let’s keep up the good work next week.

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember (Charlie, Jon L. wrote them in the book so can you provide me anything I missed)- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc.

Ron (7.5) [+1 for hitting the ball to the SS when they didn’t have one]
Chris W. (5.5) [+1 for getting thrown out at home]
Dan W. (5.5) [+1 for now showing up to the game]
Jon L. (4) [-0.5 for showing up for the game all the way from Albion]
Todd (3.5) [+1 for making two outs in the same inning]
Charlie (2.5) [-0.5 for K, should we assess a point for pitching before Matt was in position in RF?]
John B. (1.5) [-0.5 for catch (thanks Jon)]
Tony (1.5) [+2 self-assessed in comments]
Matt (1)
Pete (1)
Ben W. (0)
Chaz (0)
Jesse (-3)

The bats went on strike this evening as we went one and done in the intraleague tourney. The score was 8-3 as we just couldn’t string enough hits together. They didn’t score a bunch but got a few key hits to score some runs. The gloves were solid as there really weren’t any errors- Tony made a great diving stop on a ball up the middle to get a force and Todd ran down a bunch of balls in LF.

Overall it was a solid season. We started slow but started playing good ball towards the end of the season. Now we’ll rest up for the fall. Stay turned for info about a post-season outing.

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Thanks to Ben who scurried off to get beverages after the game. Since he also provided peanuts, we’ll reset his record points total to 0 and give him a fresh start for the fall.

Ron (6.5)
Jon L. (4.5)
Chris W. (4.5)
Dan W. (4.5)
Charlie (3) [+1 for walk, -1 for K (looking), +1 for grounding into DP]
Todd (2.5)
Matt (1)
John B. (2) [+1 for getting hurt playing for another team]
Pete (1) [+1 for failing to score runner from 3rd]
Ben W. (0) [+1 for walk, -9.5 for beverages and peanuts]
Chaz (0)
Tony (-0.5)
Jesse (-3)

Sorry that I was late on the blog post. I didn’t get around to it after the big win over Fenders, then the laptop screen died, and then the blog was hijacked. Thanks to Charlie for letting me know. Guess I need to upgrade my Wordpress install.

Anyhow, excellent work in the win over Fenders. The 13-6 victory was our first win against them in a while. We played a solid game with the bats and gloves. They decided to intentionally walk Jesse every time but once- and the one time he tomahawked a high pitch for a HR. Plus Chris W. and Pete made them pay by getting hits behind Jesse. In fact, we hit up and down the lineup, repeatedly staging rallys with hit after hit. We went one base at a time just like the A’s. The gloves were solid too even with the brutal sun for the left side of the field- Ben managed to snag a smash up the middle (perhaps in self-defense) and Pete made a nice relay throw to get an out at 3rd. Nice way to end the season with a win over the top team in the league. The tourney is in two weeks so enjoy the week off and then come back strong to make one last run in the summer session (I can’t believe it is almost over already).

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Thanks to Matt who also kept the score and the points- I may have to return to his sheets to confirm as it seems like more points were earned. I brought beverages this week and Ben will provide following the tourney (and if his beverages are acceptable, we’ll reset his record point total).

Ben W. (8.5) [+1 for walk, -0.5 for K, -0.5 for catching line drive]
Ron (6.5)
Jon L. (4.5)
Chris W. (4.5)
Dan W. (4.5)
Todd (2.5)
Charlie (2) [+1 for walk]
Matt (1)
John B. (1) [-5 for beverages, -0.5 for 9-6-5 PO]
Pete (0) [-0.5 for 9-6-5 PO]
Chaz (0)
Tony (-0.5)
Jesse (-3) [-0.5 for HR (Matt suggested that you buy beverages whenever you are 5 points away from zero in either direction- I like it!!)]

Very annoying loss last night to a classless, bush league team. After playing them in the first game, we pretty much knew they were idiots. In the vein of Elizabeth Barrett Brownings “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” here is my list of “How bush league are you? Let me count the ways…”:

• You decided to take infield while the other team is warming up on the IF. When Jon L. asked if they were taking IF and if they were going to ask us to move, you respond “No. I thought you would notice.” Jon L.- feel free to correct the quote.
• You take the bench even though the other team has already put their stuff there.
• You don’t allow your opponent to add their guy who showed up late to the end of the roster even though every other team (and even the umpire) ignores the rule that you can only add someone before you have gone through the entire lineup.
• You run into an IF who was clearly in the baseline and then argue that you shouldn’t be called out for obstruction.
• You don’t pitch to Jesse the entire game (which is fine, I suppose) but then intentionally walk him without even throwing a pitch when you are up by 9 runs in the 5th inning.

There were some sweet plays- Jon L. had a nice triple and made some spectacular plays with the glove, and Pete knocked in our two runs with a liner down the line. Oh well, on to Fenders next week in the last regular season game.

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Thanks to Matt who provided beverages this week and to those who stayed to enjoy them after a late game. After last night’s sorry performance, I’ve jumped ahead of Jon L. and will bring beverages next week.

Ben W. (8.5)
Ron (6.5)
John B. (6.5) [+1 for horrendous throw, +1 for failing to score Jon L. from 3rd]
Jon L. (4.5) [ -0.5 for great stop in the hole and putout at first]
Chris W. (4.5)
Dan W. (4.5)
Todd (2.5) [+1 for getting doubled off first]
Matt (1) [-5 for providing backup beverages]
Charlie (+1) [+1 for mistimed jump on ground ball up the middle]
Pete (0.5) [+1 for failing to score Jon L. from 3rd]
Chaz (0)
Tony (-0.5)
Jesse (-2.5)

The excellent work with the gloves and the bats continued in a 10-5 win over Cubs AC. Jesse provided the big hit with a 2 out grand slam and the gloves did the rest. The left side of the IF was just tall enough as Jon L. (thanks for the correction, Todd) and Tony snagged two leaping liners, Tony also made a great diving stop, and the OF caught everything.

Surprisingly there were lots of points to assess this week in a win. Oddly we hit into 2 3U-6 DPs. Once again Ben was a 5 tool points-earning machine as he tried to earn points in all categories. We almost had to take him out to provide beverages immediately. Due to his exceptional performance, we decided to take Ben back to 0 points the next time he provides beverages no matter how many points he accumulates in the mean time- go for the record!! We also decided to only assess one point for walks in a game. Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Thanks to Charlie who provided beverages this week and Matt who provided the backup beverages. Excellent work by the crew on the beverages- very few brought back home. Tony, Jon L., and Danny were especially noteworthy with the beverages (I still think we should have an outing to a skate park to thrash). Matt will bring again next week.

Ben W. (8.5) [+1 for walks (there were 2 but we’ll limit), +1 for grounding into DP, +2 for K]
Ron (6.5)
Matt (6) [-0.5 for providing backup beverages]
Jon L. (5) [+1 for failing to drive in run from 3rd, -0.5 for solid defensive plays]
John B. (4.5) [+1 for booted grounder]
Chris W. (4.5) [+1 for getting thrown out at 3rd]
Dan W. (4.5) [+1 for failing to drive in run from 3rd]
Todd (1.5) [+1 for failing to drive in run from 3rd]
Chaz (0)
Charlie (0) [-5 for beverages- thanks!!]
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-0.5) [+1 for grounding into DP (I would give -0.5 for great leaping catch but you are already negative!!), +1 for error (self-assessed)]
Jesse (-2.5) [-0.5 for grand slam (I suggest we only subtract points for grand slams until Jesse gets back into positive territory]

Excellent work with the gloves and the bats in a 17-13 win. Jon L. had several key 2 out hits and Jesse hit 3 HRs. It was the revenge of the gloves- we turned 3 DPs, Tony made a great diving stop in the hole to get a force out at 3B and turned 2 DPs including an awesome turn on a ball hit up the middle, Chaz made a great stop on a ball up the middle to save a run, and Pete (or was it Todd?) made a great throw from CF that Ben cut off and threw to 2B to get a putout. I think the awesome glove work can be attributed to Tony’s use of duct tape on his pants- it should be mandatory for all IFs.

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. This time it is hard to remember all the negative points. Wow!! It seemed as if Ben was trying to get 5 points by himself in the first inning. We decided on a new rule: if anyone gets 5 points in one game, they will be removed from the game so they can go purchase beverages immiedately. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Chris W., any OF points to assess?

Ron (6.5)
Matt (6.5) [+2 for errors two weeks ago (see comments)]
Charlie (5) [+1 for walk]
Ben W. (4.5) [+1 for walks (there were 3 but we’ll only count one though I know they weren’t intentional), +1 for getting thrown out at home, -0.5 for cutoff and putout]
Jon L. (4.5) [+1 for fielding (self-assessed), -0.5 for 5-4-3- DP, -0.5 for 2 out RBI idea]
John B. (3.5) [-1 for 2 DPs]
Chris W. (3.5) [+1 for error two weeks ago, +1 for being late with the OF points (see comments)]
Dan W. (3.5) [+1 for grounding into DP, +2 for points two weeks ago (see comments)]
Chaz (0) [-0.5 for 5-4-3 DP]
Todd (0.5) [+1 for letting runner advance to 2nd base]
Pete (-0.5)
Jesse (-2) [-1.5 for 3 HRs (hmm, we need a Jesse HR rule)]
Tony (-2.5) [-1 for 2 DPs, -0.5 for diving stop in the hole]

Per Jon L’s suggestion in the comments, the polls are back. Here is this week’s poll.

buy cialisbuy cialisbuy levitrabuy levitrabuy propeciabuy propeciabuy somabuy somabuy levitrabuy cialisbuy propeciabuy levitrabuy somabuy cialisbuy propeciabuy levitrabuy somabuy cialisbuy levitrabuy propeciabuy soma

Tough loss to Fenders this week. They just barely mercied us but they hit the ball a ton. Plus, the strike zone was jumping around a bit. There were some highlights: Tony drove in some key runs with 2 out hits, Todd made an awesome diving catch in LF and also tagged up from second on a fly out to the first baseman, and Jesse hit one HR and nearly hit another one as the LF caught it going over the fence.

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Did someone hit into a DP? Since the points have been skewed towards the IF due to more consistent self-assessment, Chris W. is now in charge of assigning OF points. He will be going back a few games to reassess. If you have any problems with this process, see him (at your own risk).

Ron (6.5)
John B. (4.5)
Jon L. (4.5)
Matt (4.5)
Charlie (4) [+1 for walk (there were several but most were iffy at best), +1 for failing to score run from 3rd]
Ben W. (3) [+1 for getting caught off 2B, -5 for awesome beverages (thanks!!)]
Chris W. (1.5)
Chaz (0.5)
Dan W. (0.5)
Todd (-0.5) [-0.5 for diving OF catch]
Jesse (-0.5) [-0.5 for HR]
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-1)

Nice work in a DH split this evening (12-4, 13-25?). The bats were solid all night long and the first game was pretty much flawless in the field. In the second game, they just hit a ton. Nothing much you can do about that. Some highlights: Chris W. throwing a guy out at 3rd and making several nice running catches, Tony working his magic at 2nd base including catching a ball I threw at his ankles from about 5 feet away and nearly turning several DPs, and Jon L. fielding some hard liners.

Here are this week’s points as best I can remember- feel free to self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc. Also, it looks like we have an early game next week so I propose Ben bring some nice beverages. Ben, OK with you?

Ben W. (7) [there were two walks but I propose we forget about them if Ben brings beverages next week]
Ron (6.5)
John B. (4.5)
Jon L. (4.5) [+1 for ground ball in the first game (self-assessed)]
Matt (4.5)
Charlie (2) [+1 for failing to score run from 3rd]
Chris W. (1.5) [-0.5 for throwing runner out at 3rd]
Chaz (0.5)
Dan W. (0.5) [+1 for grounding into DP]
Todd (0)
Jesse (0) [+1 for not finding the bag (self-assessed)]
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-1)

Good: We scored 18 runs.
Bad: They scored 23 runs.

Good: We kept coming back after they had big innings.
Bad: They had several big innings.

Good: Jesse was hitting BBs, including one ball off an OF in LC. All around there was lots of good hitting.
Bad: I twice made the 3rd out of the inning with runners on base and Jesse up next. Doh!!

Good: Extra innings are free softball.
Bad: It seemed like we had this game in regulation.

Tough loss this week but we’ll be back at it in two weeks. As for this week’s points, I’ve entered the easy ones but I hope others will self-assess as needed. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc.

Ben W. (7) [+1 for OF ground ball]
Ron (6.5)
John B. (4.5)
Jon L. (3.5) [-0.5 for awesome start to 5-4-3 DP]
Matt (4.5) [+1 for grounding into DP]
Chris W. (2)
Charlie (1)
Chaz (0.5) [-0.5 for awesome turn on 5-4-3 DP, +1 self-assessed in comments]
Todd (0)
Dan W. (-0.5)
Pete (-0.5)
Jesse (-1) [-0.5 for HR (only 1 this week?)]
Tony (-1) [+1 self-assessed in comments]

Great win this week against the Roys. Final score 11-6. Jesse led the offense with 2 HRs and lots of guys filled the bases in front of him. Gloves were solid too- Jon L. made some nice plays at 3B, Jesse had some good stretched at first, and Tony made a great turn on a 6-4-3 DP. For anyone struggling with the bat, I suggest new batting gloves as the nanotubes apparently don’t slump.

Here are this week’s points. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc.

Ron (6.5)
Ben W. (6)
John B. (4.5) [+1 for booted grounder in 1st, -0.5 for 6-4-3 DP]
Jon L. (4)
Matt (3.5)
Chris W. (2) [+2 for K]
Charlie (1) [-1 for 2 Ks]
Todd (0)
Chaz (0)
Dan W. (-0.5) [-0.5 for great diving catch]
Jesse (-0.5) [-1 for 2 HRs (should we limit Jesse so he doesn’t go negative?)]
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-2) [-0.5 for 6-4-3 DP]

Short blog posts this year due to time constraints (guest bloggers are always welcome). Tough loss this week in our first action- we gave up big innings in the first and last innings so the final score was not really indicative of the game throughout. I certainly felt rusty and hope to shake my new “Rally Killer” moniker. I’m blaming it on the old batting gloves which apparently have no more hits in them. I’ll bust out the new ones next week.

Here is the point update based on last year’s final tally. As always feel free to comment, correct, add, etc.

Ron (6.5)
Ben W. (6) [+1 for getting thrown out at 3rd]
John B. (4) [+1 for failing to score runner from third, i.e. repetitive rally killing]
Jon L. (4)
Matt (3.5)
Jesse (0.5) [-0.5 for HR (did we ever agree on a modified HR rule for Jesse?)]
Dan W. (0)
Todd (0)
Charlie (2) [+1 for walk, +1 for HR]
Chaz (0)
Chris W. (0)
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-1.5)

Wish you could play your favorite indie rock songs on Guitar Hero (oooh Mudhoney, Superchunk, Versus, Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney- check out these indie Guitar Hero wishlists)? While you can’t rock out to many indie rock songs on Guitar Hero (there is Kool Thing by Sonic Youth), you can at least decorate your guitar like a true indie rocker. I created a page of stickers from my favorite labels that you can print at home (try Avery 8165). In addition to the PDF file, the original Word document includes various sizes, but you can also resize them to fit your needs.

Word Document
PDF File

Have fun and don’t go abusing these copyrights. For that matter, print out the stickers and go buy some albums from these awesome labels:

Simple Machines Records
Matador Records
Teenbeat Records
Dischord Records
Sub Pop
Touch and Go Records

It’s that time of the year again. Time to constantly refresh your home page to see the latest scores, hide the streaming video when the boss comes by, and root like crazy for teams like University of Maryland- Baltimore County.

Last year we had a good time picking our teams and talking smack. I won’t remind you who was the picking champion but you can check out last year’s post to relive the fun. So let’s have another fun year in the 2008 version of the “We Hate Tim” league. To enter, click the link below and read further for our league name and password (the usual, of course):

Our League

Or, if you have problems with the link above, enter through the main page:

Game Front: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage
Group: We Hate Tim
Password: timrocks

Ten entries are allowed so go ahead and use one to pick your underdog to go all the way. Also, be sure to come back here and join in the conversation through the NCAA tournament via the comments. Have fun!!

The GSHAS post-season gathering at Leopold Bros. was a big success. We celebrated the end of another fine year of softball and also gave Chris D. a big send off. Lots of folks ponied up cold hard cash to get rid of some points and there was much rejoicing!! Here are a few things we learned:

• football traffic doesn’t clear out by 7:30 for a 3:30 football game (my bad) and people stuck in it drive like idiots
• lots of folks go to Leopold Bros. either to watch the football game or hang out until the traffic clears
• bringing in 5 trophies and lining them up in the window gets you some strange glances by passers by on the street and, while impressive to your waitress, cannot be traded with the establishment for free beverages
• Todd is a swell guy for coming out to celebrate with us and watching the Sox beat the Rockies again on a relatively small TV without much sound (though that is a blessing in disguise with Tim McCarver doing the game)
• though lots of folks were dressed in Halloween costumes, Rocky Balboa was the best (in my opinion)
• officers in uniform quickly draw the undivided attention of the local establishment owners (thanks to Chris W. for stopping by)

To commemorate Chris D’s time as a GSHAS, we presented him with a framed version of his final game’s scoresheet with his last K clearly written in large red ink. We also grabbed some photos from some of the past years and glued them, largely unmanipulated (save for the doctored photo of Jon L. looking longingly at Chris D.’s goofy hitting stance), on the mat where we all wrote some good luck wishes. For those of you who couldn’t make it, there are some pictures from the festivities in the link below (check out the softball set for more photos from past events). Also, feel free to use the comments on this post to roast Chris D. one last time as I’m sure it will make him feel loved.

2007 GSHAS Photo Gallery

Softball Set

Here are the final points from this season which we’ll carry over to next. Looks like we’ve got a solid start on next years post-game beverages.

Ron (6.5) [-2 for point payoff]
Ben W. (5)
Jon L. (4)
Matt (3.5)
John B. (3)
Jesse (1)
Dan W. (0)
Todd (0)
Charlie (0) [-7 for point payoff]
Chaz (0) [-7 for point payoff]
Chris W. (0) [-3.5 for point payoff]
Chris D. (0) [-5 for final team debt]
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-1.5)

Great job this season!! It is now time to officially start counting down the days until spring training next year.

Tremendous work last night in a triple header sweep to round out the fall season. Having enjoyed warm weather throughout the season, we finally got the fall weather that was coming to us as we played three games in the cold and wet. Despite the weather, morale was sky high, and the bats were in fine form as we won 16-6, 19-9, and 26-8. As if the balls weren’t juicy enough, the cold weather made them even harder which in combination with the pock marked IF led to some wicked hops and slightly-frightened IFs. Jesse led the hitting onslaught with 4 HRs, Matt was a machine hitting line drives to LF, Chaz had a ton of hits up the middle and to the right side, Ron burned their LF by hitting a ball over him to the wall, Chris D. and Jesse played pepper with the OF wall on back to back ABs (oh and Chris D. also played pepper with the pitcher who absorbed two hard shots up the middle), Todd hit the ball hard and then outran it multiple times, Jon L. returned to hit leadoff and sparked a bunch of rallies, and Charlie worked both lines like a wily veteran (even hitting 3B once). The gloves were equally solid- Chris D. made a nice sliding catch on a foul fly and then threw the ball back in from his knees, Charlie stabbed some hard hits up the middle after the other team started hitting there (you can blame Chris D. for that one), Chaz made several nice plays on hard grounders to second (including nearly completing a 3-4-1 putout at 1B) and turned a 4U-3 DP, Matt and Chris W. kept their baserunners at bay with nice catching work, and Todd made an outstanding run and full-extension diving catch in deep CF to end the second game. In a dramatic final at bat with GSHAS, Chris D stepped to the plate in the last inning of the final game, took three huge swings and…struck out (fouled out). Outstanding work tonight and all fall season. Also, thanks to our intrepid fan Tershia who decided to come out and cheer for us on the coldest, most miserable night of the fall season- hard core!! With our 8-2 record we finished second in the league and received another huge, garish trophy (I think the eagle has landed again). Jon L. feigned taking it but surreptitiously slipped it into Chaz’s car before he left. Rumor has it that Chaz will let his student’s touch it for good luck on the MEAP and that it will re-emerge for the end of the year team outing (see below).

Since it was the last game of the year and Chris D’s last game with us, I decided to go the extra mile and post some stats. Here are the stats from last night’s games. Curiously, there was no score keeping in the final inning when Chris D recorded his K but I tried to add some stuff by memory and know I didn’t get everything right. So, for what it’s worth here are the batting averages, slugging percentages, runs scored (divided by 10), and total bases (divided by 20). Click on the picture to get a larger version. Note that Jesse’s slugging percentage was off the chart (literally) as I scaled it for readability but it is noted. In case anyone else wants to play around, here are links to the Excel sheet and the raw score sheets (for posterity). Feel free to analyze via the comments.

Here are the final points for the season. I tried taking notes but they were coming fast and furious. Please help me out with additions, modifications, etc. via the comments.

Ron (8.5) [+2 for failing to score runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs]
Charlie (7) [+2 for K, -0.5 for striking out a guy]
Chaz (7) [+1 for wild throw last week (self-assessed), -0.5 for 4U-3 DP]
Chris D. (5) [+2 for K, +1 special assessment for leaving the team]
Ben W. (5)
Jon L. (4)
Chris W. (3.5) [+1 for failing to score runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs]
Matt (3.5) [+2 for failing to score runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs]
John B. (3) [+2 for two errors (at least), +1 for failing to score runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs, -0.5 for LF catch]
Jesse (1) [-2 for 4 HRs (we gotta change this rule for Jesse- maybe every hit that isn’t a HR should accumulate a fraction of a point)]
Dan W. (0)
Todd (0) [+1 for running into out at 3rd, -0.5 for tremendous diving catch in CF]
Pete (-0.5)
Tony (-1.5)

As per the GSHAS bylaws, we’ll be having another post-season get together. This will also serve as the send off for Chris D as he is leaving us for the great heartland (apparently on a Vespa). So, hopefully everyone can come out and we’ll have a good turnout. Leopold Bros on Sat. evening seemed to work well for most people. I’ve proposed Sat. Oct. 27th (home game versus Minnesota) in the poll below so please respond as to your availability (if not that week, we’ll probably try Nov. 10). Also, since we’ve got quite a bit of point accumulation over the fall session, we’ll take this opportunity for some point relief. I’ll start a tab at Leopold Bros, we’ll all order off it, and then whomever wants to get rid of some points can throw in some cash towards the bill (we’ll figure out how to divide up the rest of the bill- I’m sure it won’t be a problem given the number of economists and engineers on the team). I propose $3 per point. Chris D will be required to get back to 0 but everyone else can buy as many points as they want with the rest carrying over to next summer. Also, I propose -0.5 point relief for the person that comes up with a “Jesse Rule” that is fair regarding HRs and points. As always, feel free to comment if you have any suggestions on the get together and point mitigation.