GSHAS Fall #9, #10, #1
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.
Related Posts (perhaps)
October 11th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
In the interest of points accumulation and fairness, you can tack on a point for me for running into a third out at third base in the first game.
October 11th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Hmm, why can’t I vote for “Yes I am available, but I hate Chris D for leaving (because I really love Chris D, and thinking of his departure makes me cry)”?
As for Jesse, I think a declining point value would not penalize us weaklings, but would keep Jesse from amassing enough negative points to wipe out a terrible day where he, say, jumps out of the way of 2 grounders and gets hit in the leg with a third. (by the way, I jumped out of the way of like 2 grounders, and got hit in the leg by a third last night, so I should probably get some points for that) How about something like :
-[X / (Sum of that player’s HRs this season)] ?
If X = 2, then guys like me will always have a 2-point dream, guys like Chris (take your pick) will likely end up reducing their HR payoffs somewhat (but not too much)over the season, and Jesse will be hard pressed to end up with more than like - 9 points. . .
October 11th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
To solve the “Jesse rule” conundrum, I have a plan that will not only balance the playing field, but help the infield as well.
The plan: There can be no throwing errors to first base from the infield. Any missed ball at first will be considered a fielding error. (The exception is when Chaz plays first.)
Jesse will be held responsible for any missed ball at first, his error or not. Jesse is tall, and great with the glove (he’s saved me from multiple points this season), which is no doubt in his favor. None of the infielders would intentionally make an errant throw, so there’s no malice involved.
If we follow this plan, infield points are limited, and Jesse is brought down to the earthly realm with the rest of us mere mortals. I can think of five players who might back this option.