Excellent effort in the 30th Jeremy Rose Tournament this weekend. BGBG made it to the semifinals finishing with a 3-2 record with both losses to the eventual champion Grand Falloon. Dani and Alicia made it back from sunny FL to play in the tournament and it was wonderful to have them back (although they could have left the 90 weather back home). The BGBG squad was solid all weekend. The OF made some tremendous plays with Chris D., Chris W., and Matt making diving catches, Chris D. throwing out several runners at 3B, and Alicia, Kathy, and Megan making some fine running catches. There were some exciting IF plays as well- Michelle did great work around 2B (and Chris D. managed not to throw any balls at her ankle), Jon L. in a patented veteran move faked a throw across the diamond and got a runner out at 2B and also turned a 5U-3 DP, and Dani and Liz did a great job at 1B including nearly getting 3 DPs on throws across the diamond and then home to both Shanthi and Kathy. Brian, in an effort to match leg bruises with Liz, took a hard shot in the shin but managed to shake it off and pitch well in combination with Charlie (including a shutout on Saturday). Solid work!! Jon L. joined the list of walking wounded (Dani and Liz had two good legs between them) on Sunday when he got clocked in the head and semi-concussed by the baserunner when trying to turn a DP. The bats were pretty good too- Matt C. was a line drive machine and the Chris’s repeatedly tested the OFs deep. Jon L. was smoking the ball as was Brian who drove in the game winning run in our last ups in a tie game (I was 5-5 in coin flips). Everyone contributed with the bats up and down the lineup- Shanthi had a big hit to keep a rally going, Dani had some great hits up the middle and down the RF line, and Alicia, Liz, Kathy, Michelle, and Megan all started and sustained rallies. Excellent effort both in the final results and the way in which we played!!
Hope everyone had as much fun playing as we did!! As Liz said yesterday, we really love playing on this team and can’t imagine playing on any other. We truly enjoy the spirit of the Jeremy Rose tournament (softball, fun, food and drink) and feel like our team embodies it (as do most of the others). Hopefully everyone can make it back next year for another run. Thanks to everyone for playing (especially those who made a tremendous effort to do so)!! Also thanks to our intrepid fans who braved heat autumn heat wave to cheer us on- Anne, Ella, and William, the Wooley family, Jennifer, and Chaz who brought us some nice pita wrap sandwiches for lunch. I uploaded the few snapshots to our 2007 BGBG photo gallery. As always, feel free to comment.
Thanks to Jon for hosting the BGBG/GSHAS Postseason BBQ on Saturday. The weather looked gloomy in the morning but cleared nicely for a wonderful afternoon of eating, drinking, and socializing. Jon and Todd did a stellar job manning the grill, and Jon cleaned up the remnants from the previous night’s storms so that we could swim in the pool. The water was a bit chilly but many intrepid souls braved the cold. A competitive game of pool basketball “HORSE” left Jon the last one standing (home pool advantage), but Chaz stole the show with his patented “go under water in the deep end, push off the bottom, come up and shoot the ball from 20 feet out with your eyes closed” shot. Not only was this shot completely ridiculous but Chaz made it 3 times in a row!! Luckily Will was manning the outside of the pool to help us collect the many shots that were missed (badly).
Thanks to everyone who attended and brought yummy food to share!! In case anyone was wondering, the cake was supposed to read “Congratulations GSHAS and BGBG” instead of simply “BG BG” (no slight intended to GSHAS- even though BGBG won both the regular season and tournament championships in an undefeated season, that isn’t a requirement to get on the cake). For some pictures from the event, check out the updated BGBG 2007 Photo Gallery. As always, feel free to comment.
Congratulations to both teams on wonderful summer seasons. As far as I’m concerned, there is no better group of softball teammates than those on these two teams, current and past. Thanks for carrying on the tradition!! Special thanks to Charlie and Liz for handling the managerial tasks!! GSHAS will be in action in the fall league starting this week while BGBG is off until the Jeremy Rose Tournament Oct. 6-7. We’ll try and plan another gathering following the fall season.
Tremendous work tonight in winning the intraleague tournament and completing a perfect 12-0 season. It was a tough pair of games as our bats were a bit cold though we hit when we needed it. We really started slow against the Puppies as they jumped on us early taking a 4-0 lead. We chipped away at the lead and then, down 5-2, had a big 7 run bottom of the 6th to take a 9-5 lead that held. Clutch hitting and solid defense really saved us in both games. The second game was also a tough one against the blue Cubs team. We eventually won 11-5 though they also jumped on us early before our bats warmed up. We got a couple of runs and then exploded in the mid innings. There were so many great plays throughout the game- both with the bats and the gloves. Amy had several key hits, Megan and Cara kept hitting the ball up the middle, Liz smoked a ball down the third base line, Matt got hits to both the right and left side, Ron had his usual line drive shots, Charlie worked both lines, and Jon L had a nice hit in the RC gap. The middle and bottom of the order started our rallies throughout the night until the top finally broke through- that is certainly a way to have a big inning. Tremendous work!! The gloves were outstanding- perhaps some of the best defense we’ve played all year. Jon L. made a nice pick on a short hop, Liz fielded a ton of balls at second base, nearly made a sweet turn on a potential DP, and had a strong cutoff throw to hold a runner at third, Charlie stabbed a hard line drive up the middle, Megan ran down everything in RF as did Matt in RC (including playing through cramps in both calves), all the OFers made strong throws to keep runners in check, and Cara was making all the plays at first including getting beat up on throws from the IFers, making a tag on a wild throw from me (and getting stepped on in the ankle by the runner), fielding several hot shot grounders, and catching several line drives (not to mention the ones that were just off her glove). Wow- the two teams really tried to work the right side to no avail.
Wonderful work both tonight and all season long. Congrats on a great season!! Thanks to our superfan Tershia for coming out to support us!! Following the game we distributed the spoils of our labor- two sets of T-shirts (regular season and tourney champs) plus we got two trophies that will need to be distributed accordingly. Those that were there got their shirts and we’ve got others for our subs and recently-relocated teammates. Check out the updated BGBG 2007 flickr gallery for some photos of our spoils.
Now that the season has come to an end, we look forward to the Jeremy Rose tournament on Oct. 6-7. Hopefully everyone can make it. Also, we were thinking that it would be fun to have a few post-season outings- perhaps both a dinner/drinks outing (maybe on a Tuesday or Friday) and then Jon volunteered to host a pool party for us out in Albion. Let’s try and schedule the pool party first. Please post a comment with your availability on Sat. Aug. 11th and 25th. I’ll cross check with Jon and we’ll finalize a date and send it out to everyone officially.
Nice work in completing an undefeated season with a 15-3 win over the Activists!! Solid in all phases of the game. The bats were clicking- Matt was a triples machine, no one wanted to pitch to Ron as he walked 3 times and Liz made them pay with several hits, and both Meghan and Meghan had nice hits as did Cara and Amy who legged out an IF single. The gloves were solid too- Cara made several nice plays at 1B on throws from all the IFers, Liz and Jon made some great plays at 3B, Jon nearly turned a DP at 2B, Charlie bare handed two balls and made the plays at 1B, Cara and Amy nearly made a nice putout at home on a 5-4-2 play, and Matt had an awesome catch running from RC to deep RF. Excellent work tonight and all season long.
The post-Dani-and-Alicia era began with a nice 11-6 win over Narcoleptic Puppies. We jumped out to an early 10-1 lead but the bats went a bit cold in the middle innings. The defense was solid throughout- Liz had a great turn on a 6-4-3 DP, Cara made some nice catches and stretches at 1B, Ron tracked down a shallow fly to LF, and Charlie did a nice job keeping their big hitters off balance, including a K on their dead-pull lefty. Lots of hits up and down the lineup- Jon L. and Liz managed to hit several hard balls right at people, Amy had a great opposite field swing going and hit the ball well each time, Cara had several hits as did the Meg(h)ans. Nice work!! Thanks to Chris for coming out and keeping score. Enjoy the off week and the 4th!!
Great effort in a 15-1 mercy win over O-Team. We brought the bats and the gloves today. Matt made several nice plays at 3B, Meghan shined around second base picking up ground balls and making a nice tag on an OF assist from Chris, and Liz made a great scoop on my low throw at first. Everyone hit today- Liz smacked three line drives, Meghan picked up the carbon nanotubes for the first time and had several nice liners, and Dani and Alicia chipped in with several hits each as did Ron, Matt, Chris, etc. Great job!!
Sadly, this was Dani and Alicia’s last game with BGBG as they are moving to warmer climes. Fittingly, Alicia caught the last out of the game as she managed to pick up the ball in the dark night sky. Good luck and we’ll miss you. We hope to get you back up for the Rose in September. Here is a link to the photos from the outing on Sunday plus this evening’s photos:
Excellent effort tonight in a tight 6-1 victory over St. Marys!! The bats went a little cold this evening and the game was close throughout- 1-1 and then 3-1 going into the top of the 7th. But our bats woke up and we got a couple of insurance runs. Chris D. had a huge blast in the first that took the LF toppling over the fence, Charlie had a nice triple down the 1B line, and Alicia finally got one over the LF’s head. Overall our defense was solid all night- Jon L. made a nice play in the first on a hard hit ball, the OF ran everything down, and Charlie made some big pitches to strand runners on base. Great effort!! The second game of the DH was not so exciting- our guess is that the other team didn’t get the word about the makeup game and forfeit. So, we got to enjoy our beverages a bit earlier.
For those that may not know, next week is Dani and Alicia’s last game before they move south. So, we thought we’d have a get-together on Sunday afternoon. We threw out lots of ideas (Charlie wants dancing and karaoke) so please vote in the poll as to which outing sounds best (feel free to comment if you want to add anything). We’ll then confirm via email.
What should we do for our Sunday afternoon outing?
In a battle of undefeated teams, BGBG emerged victorious in a thrilling extra inning win over Cubs AC RecSports 10-9. Excellent job all around!! Cubs started hot with 5 runs in the first but we answered right back. Alicia drilled a ball deep over the LFs head for a triple and Matt blasted a ball deep to center. Brian did a great job keeping Cubs off balance and we took an 8-5 lead. The gloves were solid- Jon L. made some great plays at 3B including a ball drilled down the line and noticing a runner leaving early on a tag and calling for an appeal, Brian was a fielding machine up the middle and started two 1-6-3 DPs, and the OF ran down everything including a nice running catch by Alicia down the RF line. Cubs chipped away at the lead and scratched a run across in the top of the 7th to tie the game at 8. We couldn’t push a run across in the bottom half so we played one extra inning. Cubs got a run in the top of the 8th with a couple of hits though we executed a nice run down between second and third. In the bottom of the 8th, Jon L. blasted a ball deep to left for a double, Meghan then came through with a big hit putting runners on first and third with one out. Following a hit to tie the game, Alicia hit a ball down the third base line where the woman made a nice play to get a force at third. She threw across to try to complete the DP letting the winning run get to third. Ron then came through with a huge hit driving a hard grounder right down the 3B line untouched. Clutch!! Great game by everyone with both the bats and the gloves!!
Here is this week’s poll. First, take a look at this awesome baseball video below (go Braves) and then answer (as always, feel free to comment). Why don’t our managers argue like that? Also, check out last week’s post for another fun video poll.
Which part of the managerial blowup was your favorite?
Great work in a DH sweep- 15-3 over O-Team and 11-4 over BRATT!! The bats started slow in the first game but got hot and stayed that way through the second. Jon L. worked the middle and the lines, Meghan and Liz hit line drives, and Alicia crushed the ball over the OF’s heads. The gloves were solid too- Alicia threw a runner out trying to stretch a single into a double, Liz had some nice pickups at 1B including a backhand flip to Charlie covering, Jon L. made a nice backhand stop on a sharply-hit ball to 3B, and Meghan made several nice stops at 2B. There were definitely some strange plays this week- Ron got beaned running to first on a ground ball to the third baseman (who was playing some random position about 30 feet from the 3B bag) but the ball deflected harmlessly off his pipes, Meghan nearly got her feet taken out from under her both running to third on a force out (the guy was so far from the bag that he had to run and dive for it to get the out) and then the next inning on defense on a put out at 2B, and after a triple the SS took the throw from RF, ran partially into the IF, and then winged it to 3B thinking Charlie was his third baseman as the run scored from third (luckily the ball didn’t hit anyone). Great work this week!!
Here is this week’s poll. First, take a look at the video below and then answer (as always, feel free to comment).
BGBG continued its good work with a 13-1 mercy win over BRATT. The bats were on as everyone contributed 1-10: Jon L. worked both lines, Alicia kept crushing the ball over the OF’s heads. The gloves were solid too- Brian kept them off balance all night including making a great play on a hard hit up the middle, Megan had a nice play at 2B, and we turned a TRIPLE PLAY- 6-5-4-3. Wow- first time I’ve ever seen a triple play in softball. Nice work!!
Here is this week’s poll. As always, feel free to comment.
BGBG broke in the new unis with a nice 12-7 win over the Narcoleptic Puppies. We started off a little slow but really picked it up in the later innings where both the offense and defense really clicked. The Puppies got some hits, including some deep blasts, but we limited the damage and made solid plays. There were tons of hits up and down the lineup- Ron scorched some balls into the gap, Matt hit his normal LF line drives, and Charlie and Amy really kept us going. Plus we hit into lots of bad luck. Alicia and Matt were both victimized by nice OF catches and Dani was robbed by the second baseman. The gloves were solid with Meghan making tons of putouts at 2B. Some other highlights of the evening were Matt nearly making a catch in deep RF and going over/through the fence (got room?), Ron making a juggling catch while falling down on the LF line, and Jon L. sitting down and missing the bench (too bad we don’t assess points for co-rec). Great start!!
New this year- polls!! Here is this week’s offering.
Looking for things to do now that fantasy baseball is over (whohoo- I finished ahead of the three teams that did nothing all year long)? Want to vent about the 2006 MLB season and the ongoing playoffs? Here is your chance- just chime in via the comments and we’ll have an ongoing baseball thread that continues throughout the rest of the season. Richie beat me to the punch this morning:
I hate f-ing Derek Jeter. I don’t really even know why. I don’t really care that the Yankees beat the Tigers yesterday, other than I don’t want the Yankees to win. But I really hate Jeter, and I hate his 5-for-5, and I hate all the press he’s getting for it. I always thought of Jeter and Kobe in the same terms. I sort of feel redeemed about how I felt about Kobe. Maybe Jeter isn’t a rapist, but I still don’t like him. I feel like I’m the only person on the planet who doesn’t. I think he just seems smug about everything. I’ve always thought he’s a bit overrated offensively too. I like A-Rod, and it seems I’m the only person who likes A-Rod. Oh well.
BGBG had a great run in the 39th Jeremy Rose Tournament. We played very well all tournament and made it to the semifinals. We finished 2-1 on Saturday with wins over Tom’s Team and Legal Eagles and a loss to Grand Falloon. We were solid with the bats and the gloves. Jon L. continued his hot hitting, Chris W. and Ron were spraying line drives all over the field, and Kathy burned some OFers who were creeping in. Alicia and Liz were smoking balls but hit into some very bad luck. The gloves were solid too as both the OF and IF kept making plays. Thanks to Shanti and Megan who filled in for us at the last minute and to Jon L. who made it happen. To make matters worse, Shanti took a hard throw off the elbow while running the bases- thanks for playing and I hope you are doing well!! Also thanks to Chaz who subbed for us at the last minute, even while missing a substantial part of the LSU-Auburn and MI-ND games!!
Our first game on Sunday was a win against the Youngbloods, 6-5. Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were down to 4 women on Sunday so we played the first game with only 9 in the field and took an automatic out. But, we fought hard and escaped with a win. Our OF of Ron, Todd, and Alicia was tremendous. Overall our gloves really kept us in the game as did some timely hitting. Our second game was a rematch against Legal Eagles. We picked up Kelly so that we were back at full strength. The game was nip and tuck all the way through. We were up a couple of runs but they game back in the bottom of the 6th to take a 6-4 lead. We mounted a comeback in the top of the 7th but were thwarted by some excellent defense on a great hit by Liz. It was a great effort and our OF was again tremendous. Todd and Ron both had great throws from the OF resulting in assists and Jon L. with an ailing shoulder kept making play after play at 3B. Jon L. again showed why BGBG is the toughest team around- in the bottom of the 6th he took a nasty spike that nearly ripped his toenail off. He toughed out the last 2 outs and then was scheduled to lead off the next inning. After taking a few minutes to tap his, now bleeding toe, he stepped right up and continued his hot hitting with a base hit to RF. In a move probably never seen before, Charlie relieved Jon on the bases (Jon- hope your toe is doing better). Also it was nice to have support from the police presence as Chris W., who was working a day shift, stopped by to support us (and surely frighten the other teams). In the final game, Grand Falloon really took it to Legal Eagles on their way to a championship repeat. Our two losses came to the two teams in the finals- great work!!
Again, thanks to everyone who played, both our regular BGBGers and our super subs!! Hope everyone enjoyed the Jeremy Rose again. Make sure to set aside Sept. 29-30, 2007 for next year’s Jeremy Rose!!
We had our end-of-season softball BBQ this weekend to celebrate excellent seasons from BGBG (11-1, regular season and tournament champs) and GSHAS (intraleague champs, interleague runner-up). It was great getting the two squads together and enjoying a nice, summer evening. We had a great time and hope everyone else did as well. Jon L. wins my vote for best shirt of the night, and his multi-functional shoes drew great admiration as well. Here is a photo gallery from the BBQ (feel free to leave a comment here or on flickr if you want a full res version of any of the photos).
Thanks to everyone who played on the two teams this summer- no better teammates than on these two teams.
Awesome work in the intraleague tournament as we beat Cleveland Indians and Narcoleptic Puppies to win the championship!! With the two wins, we avenged our lone loss of the season and won both the regular season and the tournament. Tremendous work!! Tonight’s games were probably two of the best we’ve played all year. In the first game, we beat the Indians 16-5. The second game was awesome as we beat the Puppies 11-0. My recollection of the details might be a little hazy after Ron and I collided in short LF- thankfully Ron turned away at the last minute, both of us are fine, and I am only semi-concussed. In both games the bats and gloves were outstanding- I actually can’t recall an error in either game. Jon L. turned a sweet 5U-3 DP, Michelle and Liz scooped up all the balls on the right side and even fed Charlie just like we practiced in spring training, the OF ran down all the balls with Matt and Alicia making nice running catches, and Charlie kept the hitters off balance all night, including some big outs on the Puppies’ power hitters. The bats were equally stellar- Matt was a hitting machine and was a triple shy of the cycle in the second, Jon L. blasted a triple over the LF’s head, Michelle wore out the hole between SS and 3B, Ron wore out the middle, and our lineup kept hitting up and down. Great effort tonight and all season!! Congrats (and way to shut out the team that said they were “going to win but it would be hard” before the game)!! Here is a photo gallery from the tournament (as always, feel free to comment here or on flickr). As you can see, we all received two T-shirts, a keychain, and a pretty cool trophy (we’ve got them for all those who played but weren’t there tonight- we’ll hand them out at the BBQ). Thanks to Dani and Alicia for providing the excellent post-game beverages!!
Now that our summer season is over (click on the BGBG category on the RHS to relive the memories), we’ve got the End of Season BBQ coming up in a few weeks (you should have received an evite) and the Jeremy Rose in September so stay sharp!!
We finished our BGBG season with two wins- 15-4 over Photons and a forfeit by Esperion!! Congrats on winning the league- excellent work!! The game we played was solid- Ron crushed a ball to the fence, Dani kept painting the RF line, and there were lots of hits up and down the lineup. The left side of the IF (i.e. John and Jon) had some “throwing issues” that led to runs but overall we were solid. Matt C. made the play of the game by ranging to deep RC to catch a ball and then wheeling to make a perfect throw to second to complete the double play. Awesome!! Nice work in the regular season- on to the intraleague tourney!!
Tremendous effort tonight in a huge mercy win over St. Banfields- the score was something like 25-3!! It was a satisfying/frustrating win with the “walks”, side-arm pitches, and complaing. We scored 7 in the top of the first and just kept rolling!! The bats were (obviously) on fire- Matt was a line drive hitting machine, Katie painted the third base line a few times, Chris D. and Ron provided the deep pop, Jon L. had a sweet inside the park HR, Charlie worked the left and right field lines, Michelle had several line drives into LF, Liz walked and drove a liner to RF, and all our women made them pay for pitching around the guys. Though we didn’t have many outs to get, the fielding was solid- Jon, Matt, and Dani combined for some nice IF plays, Katie made a tremendous running catch in the OF, and Chris took the opportunity to stretch out his arm without the threat of assessed points. All in all a great effort!! Let’s take care of business in our DH next week and win the regular season.
Thanks to Chris D. for sending out the link to the Zidane head butt game. You gotta play it and see how many red cards you can get. Be sure to post your high score in the comments- you know you want to be the red card champion!!
BGBG returned to form this evening with two mercy wins over Esperion and Photons by the scores of 16-0 and 14-1 respectively (the first team decided to forfeit before the mercy was even official- first time I’ve ever seen that happen). Charlie and Katie kept the opposing hitters off balance all night and Katie was especially effective with a couple of Ks as she tested the pitch ceiling. The bats were solid up and down the lineup- Matt was a line drive hitting machine and repeatedly started us off with hits, Alicia and Dani both had deep hits to LC, Chris D. had his usual hard hit balls all over the field, Ron had several nice hits up the middle, Liz had her line drive swing going, Michelle used the spot between short and third, and Katie hit her usual spot down the third base line. Not to be overshadowed by the hitting, the defense was stellar as well- Dani made a great running catch in shallow left center, Michelle vacuumed up all the grounders at second, and both Charlie and Katie fielded the pitching spot with aplomb. There was one issue though- Ron managed to do another impressive “Mighty Casey” imitation which led to a new rule for those who also play on Monday: K’s count towards the Kangaroo Court total. So, I’ve updated the count accordingly. In addition to the fine victories, Alicia brought yummy cake which we consumed between games in celebration of Dani’s birthday (happy birthday, Dani!!). Thanks, Alicia- I know that the cake was appreciated since I overheard one teammate expressing the desire to consume another piece of it sans utensils!!
Remember, no games next week (have a happy 4th)- we’re back at it in two weeks with another DH against the same two teams.
Tough loss tonight to Cubs AC-Puppies with a final score of 15-9. It was one of those days where everything they hit seemed to fall (and take some crazy hops) and we couldn’t quite string enough hits together. The bottom of their order seemed to really kill us with lots of dunkers that kept finding holes. We had some nice defensive plays- Liz made several nice plays on hard grounders at 1B, Michelle made plays at 2B, Dani and Alicia ran down balls in the OF, and Alicia made a great throw on a putout at 3B after a towering fly ball nearly took her glove off. The bats were pretty good too- Ron smoked a ball to LC, Jon had several line drive hits, Liz got a good hit up the middle, Amy started a rally, and Michelle hit the ball hard. In fact, Michelle hit the ball so hard that Liz couldn’t get out of the way at 2B- that was one out in a very strange inning where Ron just missed a third strike with a gargantuan cut. Oh well, tough loss this evening- sometimes that is the way the ball bounces. After postgame beverages at the car, we shook off the loss and are ready to regroup next week as we head into the second half of the season.
Great work in the 13-1 mercy win over the Cleveland Indians. The dynamic pitching duo of Charlie and Katie kept the hitters off balance all night long. Jon L. was masterful at 3B including plays involving tricky short hops and sharp backhands. The OF made several nice plays including some putouts at second. Once again the bats were strong- Matt C. blasted a triple over the left fielder’s head, Jon L. continued hitting line drives to all fields, Liz had a solid liner to RF, Michelle had a hard line drive that was caught (but experienced baseball karma by hitting a little dribbler that stayed fair), and Chris D. had a walk-off single to complete the mercy. Great work!! Also, thanks to Chris D. for providing post-game beverages (a drinks DH)- solid work on the opening technique sans an opener!!
