After a well attended BP session, we jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead without even swinging a bat (our opponents forgot to bring a new ball). We did add four more our first at bat and had a quick 7-0 lead. They added 11 in their first at bat. We tied it at 11 and then some other stuff happened. When it was all said and done, we lost game one 25-13. Not great, but not nearly as bad as game two. We batted a sweet .261 and didn't score our only run until our last at bat (which extended the game about three minutes as our opponent then 10-runned us with yet another dinger, this particular player's fourth, in their next at bat). Caven was drilling the ball all over the park. Craig had some sweet grabs in left. I don't remember too many other highlights from us. Ho hum... it was a nice evening to start the season and chatter at the Hogger was lively. Now that we've got some game under our belt... we're ready to roll! And, who's setting up the Twin's outing for this year?

It was a night of firsts (course, it was only the second week of the season so you might expect some firsts). First night at Sensor's. Mark's first night with the squad. First night with someone other than Caven hitting a dinger (although he still did have a bomb!). The team sustaining the first major injury, Tschak's dislocated finger, at the end of the first game. Craig wrongly called out at first. Playing at the first Vic field. And most importantly... getting our first wins! Not too shabby. We hung on to win a one-run game in the first (ended on a basket catch by Jeffy) and ten-runned them in five innings with nine guys in the second (see the aforementioned missing Tschak). The team batted an impressive (especially compared to last week) .571 with Caven, Keith, D and Suks all batting over .500 with dingers (Keith had two!). Mixed around our improved play was talk of the legendary arm of our opponents left center fielder, a poorly edited blooper reel, and the musket war style of the redcoats with their X marks the spot jackets. You had to be there. Let's keep it rolling into next week! And Craig, you're off the hook for C league for at least one more week...

(Coming soon from Rainbow) Unusual that a .427 team batting average can make a headline. But, in C league ball, you take your hits when you can. Another solid day of fielding and hitting. Took both games, the second one quite easily. 4 - 2 now this season. We have a week off to rest. A lot of nice defensive plays out of Lee and Caven on the left side and Craig had a few terrific plays in the outfield, sans the juggling play, but that was atoned for with the game winning hit. The biggest surprise of the night came with Grant ordering Pizza at the hogger. It may not sound like much, but it blew my mind. Enjoy your memorial weekend. Remember, drink, fish, sleep.

BYE

Even though we swung the bat well tonight (.527 team average), we were only able to squeak out a split. Won the first game pretty handily, but our opponents stepped up their swings in the flip-flopped second game (including three dingers and 11 RBIs by one player in his first three at bats!). We ran them hard at the end of game two and could have overtaken them with one more inning, but, like so often, the ump mumbled something and everyone stood around confused. Dingers were hit by John, Mark, Pat and Dar(?) and Keith played some sweet one bag including numerous diving stops and catches. Overall, not too bad a showing after a week off. As an FYI, an informal team survey shows that in order for one of us to give up meat and alcohol for the rest of our life, drink a glass of urine, lose two fingers (on a sliding scale), do a horse, be done by a dog, something with a chicken, get cable television, win The Apprentice, watch a frantically paced WNBA game, and order seasoned sour cream (for an up charge!) with our criss-cut fries they would need to be paid approximately $7.2 million. Just some food for thought.

And, for what it's worth, it does appear that when two runners are on the same base when the ball is in play, a runner does indeed need to be tagged in order to enforce the out. I believe Tschak is right in this argument.

7.03 - Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching a base, the following runner shall be out when tagged. The preceding runner is entitled to the base.

.548 team batting average. Earned a split versus a team that was previously 1-9. (from Johnny) The good guys met at Sensor’s to continue the ‘would you rather..’ conversation that has been perplexing team members for the past few weeks. We’ve evolved to, use of legs vs. arms, which sense would you lose first (smell for most, G-Dubs would rather not ever taste his beer or burger again if he had to choose), and since we were at a sports bar watching tennis the; do you think Maria Sharipova is not dialogue. After we concluded who was the best female tennis player was (based on skill of course) we adjourned to our softball game where we managed to give up 6 runs in the final inning with a 5 run lead in the first game. Some good all around play in the second game and some HRs and timely hitting set us back in the right direction for next week. Highlight to Dan who played every position, almost turned a double play at short and retired the only batter he faced as the relief pitcher.

.392 team batting average (we also scored only nine total runs the entire night and Tschak, the last batter in our lineup, only had one plate appearance in the second game). (from Johnny) I’ll get to the point. We lost both games with terrible play and forgot to hit. Perhaps it’s that large field or that 13 year old that went 4 for 6 with a wooden bat. Enough said. We almost made it a full team effort at the Hogger and broke in the new waitress Melissa with some witty banter about “Questionable calls in the field”. With a late game next week I think we’ll have enough time to focus on coming out tough and winning two.

.450 team batting average. Perhaps it was the stinging email from "never even seen an email from this guy" Caven prior to our match, the newfound "Buckhunter", or the State Fair style Menu of B-Dale... but we actually did come out with a bit more fire, focus, hard running, and two handed catches (at least compared to last week). Although we played them pretty even for most, our opponents were a strong hitting team squelching our comeback attempt in game one and coming back to 10-run us with a seven scores in the sixth inning in game two (personally, I blame the change in momentum on Dan and his loosey-grip, bat throwing play that clipped D as he strutted out to coach third. Mark... be sure to keep that head on a swivel!). Back to a good old 6:00 game with fences in our range next week... ahhh... home.

Despite our .411 team average and both teams starting the game with 17 total players, the Hoggers found our way back to the win column and a .500 record. Both games were fairly tight until we opened them up in the late innings. I don't remember too much... big nights for Keith (.750 batting) and Craig (.875 on base) with each hitting dingers, Rainbow was fueled on Rum and Cokes, and I threw one into the trees (course, I also, with a bit of help, finished the entire plate of "big boy" nachos). Enjoy your fireworks and patriotic fun! Let's keep the win train rolling in a couple of weeks!

Well, someone really set our tone for the game by striking out swinging in the very first at bat of the game. Yup, it's as impressive as it sounds. Mix that in with the sticky heat and our hobbled squad, and even Johnny's cooler full of Gatorade couldn't save us from losing two to a familiar foe. We didn't hit so consistently (.439 team average). They hit lots of homers (and when they hit their homer limit, they hit 'em two feet from the top of the wall). One more week to get to .500... and hopefully a tournament bid!

(from Craig) 406 miles outside Chicago a couple of buddies met for some suds and a little morsel. Plastic leather chairs, a slight scent of old person sweat and smoke and the picnic style eatery provided for the perfect surroundings to make this night something special. Curds, Tacos, Kraut & Sausage Za, and some Poppers were just the beginning of the upset stomachs for these boys. After removing themselves from the confines of the barred establishment their hand and arm movements were restricted. Some with both hands around the throat, others with turtle arms, and even more of the fellas pointing fingers at the chowder biscuit that got doubled up on first. Neither bats nor gloves were operational in what turned out to be yet another loss on our least favorite field.

Game two had a different feel and I think Buster Poindexter put it best....

See people rocking -- Hear people chanting -- Feeling hot hot hot
Keep up this spirit -- Come on let's do it -- Feeling hot hot hot
It's in the air - Celebration time
Music sweet - captivate your mind
We have this party song - This fundamental jam

Into the single elimination tournament.......

So we go rum-bum-bum-bum
Yeah we rum-bum-bum-bum
Feeling hot hot hot -- Feeling hot hot hot

WE 10 RUNNED THEM BE-OTCHES!

(team average of .456 for the week)

We won our first round playoff game (via forfeit... not even one guy from Brady's showed-up!) advancing to the semis. We jumped on our Goliath opponents 5-0 to start the game, but dropped off quickly after that... losing 17-5 in five innings (and approximately 45 minutes). At least we saved lots of energy to help D move on August 19th. And, be ready for some heavy lifting... we need to do at least $800 worth of work! Enjoy your break! See you in the fall... uh hum... as defending champs!

(surprisingly, team average of .500 for this week... even though almost half of the guys only batted twice)