(from Dan) Well the old team got away with one victory this week, and the team we played also took a W. With the blinding sun on our side, we showed our offseason muscle and came out swinging Orange Crush, Red Dragon, and the Blue Marlin with 6 homeruns in the first game. We took it 16-11. First three innings had us batting through the lineup, and on cue, the #10 hitter took things into his own hands and ended the innings so Pat could start off the next one. With a Copperfield like routine, our regular Octopus of 8 arms in the infield became the Deca-arm unit. The debate is still out on this experiment. One thing not in question is the first inning collapse in game 2. After being down 8-0, the (what hats were we wearing again?) Seeds made a game of it. Only to lose on account of time, the sun going down, Ranch dressing, whatever. We split with the champs from 03. Next week 7 infielders.

Stay in and avoid the rain? Sit home and watch the T-Wolves? Get in a midweek nap? Nah! Let's play ball! Or, in our case, let's at least start playing ball in the second inning. Yes, with the team gelling through three new faces and different positions galore, the Hoggers slumped-out to a 0-9 deficit after one inning. That's hard to overcome. Got ten-runned in the first one. Defensive battle in the second game, but the Hoggers couldn't hold on to a three-run lead in the seventh. Yup, that's a sweep. Power was still up with the Seeds hitting six dingers (you do the math on how many of those are outs), but the team average was nothing to get giddy over (.433). Your "Did You Know?" for the week is the last time the Hoggers had a regular season winning percentage below .500 was July 21, 2002. Chew on that! (bonus fact: nobody took a walk this week)

(from Craig) LIKE BEN AND J LO, OUR TEAM WAS READY TO SPLIT AFTER OUR FIRST MATCH. WHETHER IT WAS COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS, POOR HITTING, OR JUST THE INFIELD LOOKING LIKE A CIRCUS, IT ALL ADDED UP TO THE RING LEADER LOSING HIS COOL IN THE OUTFIELD. YOU GUESSED IT, HEARTHSIDE PIZZA 10 RUNNED US AND WE DAMN NEAR DISMANTLED THE SQUAD. LIKE A HANGOVER, SOME OF OUR PERFORMANCE ISSUES CARRIED OVER INTO THE SECOND GAME, BUT WITH TIME THAT TOO WORE OFF AND WE STARTED PELTING THE BALL. PLENTY OF DINGERS INCLUDING TOOL TIME WHO HAD TWO AND JEFFY WHO WENT YARD ON WHAT APPEARED TO BE A DOUBLE. I CAN'T FIGURE OUT IF IT'S THE LACK OF ACTION AT HOME, OFF SEASON TRAINING, OR EXTRA WEIGHT AROUND THE BELT, BUT THE SEEDS HAVE DEVELOPED A POWER THAT MAKES THE COACH THINK ABOUT TIGHTENING UP THE HR VS. OUT DEBATE. DESPITE THE FIRST GAME WOES, THE SEEDS PUT A DIME ON THEIR OPPONENTS IN GAME TWO. WHAT TEAM WILL SHOW UP NEXT WEEK? WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.

Your "Did You Know?" for the week is the last time the Hoggers had a regular season winning percentage below .500 was last week.

"Just like Tobs!" Fighting through a few weeks of patchwork positions, the Hoggers finally clicked with one of the best team defensive efforts ever. Some couldn't even recall a single error... well, there definitely weren't any of our stereotypically Hogger errors (yeah, you all know what I'm talking about). Ahh... finally back to .500 ball with a clean sweep of relatively easy magnitude. Well done Hoggers! Oh, here's the point where you insert a humorous comment about "The Cardinal" (I personally didn't understand it for a lick). Way to show your moves out on the field tonight... looking forward to seeing them on the dance floor Saturday... Abercrombie it is! Fun fact for the week - First three weeks: 18 over the fence dingers. Last night: Zero.

"There's no freebies!" Other than that last circus half-inning in the field, we played some solid ball to get us back to our winning ways... sweep! Don't remember much, but I do remember the obligatory "who are these guys?" as the infield pulled off some not before seen (dare I say "organized" plays) including Craig with a couple of rally-ending double plays at short, Dan going to two then back to one, a diving Vad covering first on a ball from Tschak and Grant catching a pop-up behind the plate. Stellar! Next week... do we play or postpone? Either way, some of us are going to party like it's 1999!

Moved to July 7th.

Get your vote in! The biggest rule change since the inception of the forward pass is before you. Should homerun outs count as homeruns or outs? I mean, we did only hit six homerun outs tonight. That aside, I'm still a bit surprised we dropped one tonight (giving up a ten-run inning with a half-dozen errors will do that). They pounded it pretty well, but also had plenty of holes in their field (and one catcher that might not have been all there). Personally, I blame the traffic. Ten-runned them in game two for the split.

(from Rainbow) 9.5 guys is better than a 50 year old Bo Derek. Water breaks were essential as the mercury hopped above 85 at beautiful Lexington fields. After the sprinkler system turned off, the seeds turned it on by coasting to a 2 game sweep. Close in the first a 10 run laugher in the second. Other than the debate regarding homers, the most talk this week was regarding Spiderman, 4th of July weekend and a couple of Rich Dad Poor Dad's. Ouch! Some big dude on Park Liquor, Keith and Darren were all hit with errant throws/batted balls. Darren took the worst of it. "Drink through the pain!" cries GW's. After the rest of the team enjoyed some Hoggsbreathery, Fick, like Willis Reed in '72 comes back to the bar after visiting Urgent Care. "My old buddy in 'nam got a hole in his leg. You gotta be careful with them ice hot ice hot ice hot treatments. Good thing the Ump didn't perform my circumcision or else I might be named Sheila. Good hitting tonight from Jeff "Zoolander" (I think I got the black lung pop) and Tooltime to name a couple. Homers from D, Keith and Pat and a lot of great defense all around. Here comes the 4th. Enjoy the weekend. Stay away from Does and Bucks.

Don't ever underestimate the jeans. With the park all to ourselves (make-up game), we should have earned a sweep. Course, giving up eleven in one inning will hurt those chances. So, a split it is. Homers by Tschak (2), D and Dar. Hmm. I don't remember much else. Course, if you skipped the Hogger, you missed "history" in the making with the Twins and more of Grant's insightful BMP research. Next show's at 11:00.

(from D) Nice hit Sally. Way to rip it Suzy. You really crushed that one Beatrice. Way to take a walk when we have six fielders. If we knocked our outfield down to two, then would you swing? We like our eight against your 10 any day of the week. Give us a ninth, (and not just any ninth, but none other than the proud new papa Damon) and we'll kick your ass. Jeff went 8 for 8. Keith hit .750 with a HR (or was it?) and 3 doubles. Pat hit .700 and scored 5. Craig had four hits, 24 extra bases and scored 7 runs - all by himself. You win some, you tie some (note: the 19-19 tie came after we gave-up 16 runs in the first inning - worst Hogger inning ever?)

Really hot. Low energy. Weak bats. Circus fielders. Fun at the Hogger. Ten-runned them in one. Last inning heroics in two. More from Jeffy to follow.

(from Jeff) There was quite a bit of ugly play at the bats and in the field. No one seemed to be sweating the fact that we were down by one in the bottom of the 7th inning. That probably had something to do with the opposing pitcher who couldn't find the plate. I would like to nominate all who were subbs this summer league season as the MVP's. The roster was thin at times. And like craig says are you going to make or not? Let him know so he can call a Hoggsbreath Sub(MVP). Without them where would we be? See you in the fall.

Bye