Well, it was a busy offseason for us. Caven (who went 6 for 6 tonight) got married. Craig and Steph got pregnant (of which, we might see the results this week), Grant's got one on the way, Jeff had another, Dan got divorced, D moved to Hong Kong, Vad (who hasn't lost a step) came back and had a kid, Keith got another dog (and broke his thumb... bummer... yesterday) and we got new shirts. Yup, we looked pretty sharp with our red sleeves, and took those threads to the field sweeping our double-header (the first time we've started 2-0 since the fall of 2003). I guess that's what champions (fresh with their t-shirts and unmarked trophy) do. Easy night at the Hogger as we welcomed in new staff as well. Let's keep it rolling all summer!

Our captain (yes, excused) and our assistant captain (that's Grant by the way, if he hasn't already told you) were out tonight. Although lacking serious leadership, we still brought some hot offense (.588 team average tonight) and enough defense to beat-up on a sluggish opponent. Our "old-timer" ump had some interesting rule modifications as well, but they didn't really affect the two blowouts. Thanks to JV and John for subbing. Anyone sensing a perfect season yet (gulp... is mentioning it a jinx)?

(from Rainbow) Best day of the year. 68 degrees, sunshine. Just gorgeous. Short a few regulars as Pat and Grant decided to take a breather. Two victories over a much better club than we have faced so far this year. 6-0 on the season. Topped off by Craig's herculian effort out in left (and he procreates ladies). Not much excitement, but I can tell you that Lee ate for free. (damn Randy Bush and his 14 homers) and Jon (Imran) lost two out of three in darts vs. Dan as they finished off an extra pitcher. Why do we order so many?

Hodgepodge. Maybe we were all disheveled because of that once in a lifetime email from Dar, but we were a mess at the start of the night. We were missing a few of our best hitters this season (I might add, one of which is our best fielder too) and everyone got a shot at multiple positions. Our confusion carried to the field as we were handed our first defeat in game one, including a last half inning in the field where we were a complete circus throwing the ball around like a water balloon fight. We were finally ten-runned. We calmed down in game two, and after trading a couple of runs back and forth, strung together some nice two-out rallies to pull comfortably ahead. Defense regained a bit of composure as well, only giving up scattered runs here and there. Tough start. Nice finish. And, beers mysteriously popped out of Craig's bag. That seem like a good thing.

The crew met early at the field for some brews. I'm sure there were some stories, but I only showed up five minutes before the start. Nonetheless, whatever Jobu pregame rituals they engaged in didn't work (except for the three free runs we were given since our opponents forgot to bring a new ball). We had pop up after pop-up (15 of our 18 outs in game one were fly balls). We did though, somehow, put together a ten-run sixth to actually ten run our opponents. Course, other than that ten-run inning, we never quite strung it together, and dropped game two in unexcited, uninspired fashion. Highlights included dingers by Lee and Imran, a sweet catch by Jeffy out in right, Grant showing some flow at second and Caven stopping one with his chest.

Man, a couple guys have babies and all chaos break loose (although, a new baby does also earn you a free pitcher!). Another week scrambling as we started the game with eight (including two subs) and played the majority of the night with nine. No matter in game one, we played well enough (well enough included five homerun outs... yes, the ball was sailing) and our opponents threw it around the diamond enough for us to ten run them in five innings. As often happens, we had an energy letdown in game two and couldn't get over the hump. Unable to pull off the comeback, we lost by two to a lesser team. Half of a dozen of us went to the Hogger. We enjoyed the aforementioned free pitcher, reminisced about the old days with one bat and borrowed gloves and someone cracked a joke about Lee's man boobs (I should note, Lee would have went 8 for 8 if not for a miss sacrifice opportunity). That's all I got.

Good old Northwest Lexington Field... and with it, our favorite absent minded, at times ornery, inconsistent ump. Good times. Overall, kind of a low energy night for our crew considering how beautiful it was outside. Our (undefeated) opponents had solid bats and showed-us in taking game one, despite our seven runs in the first inning. We started game two with another seven run first inning (and no runs in our last three at bats), but still hung on to split for the fourth time in the last four weeks. Off to the playoffs!

Not sure why I'm starting with this, but does anyone else find it funny that last week Grant went to the Hogger after our game and promptly ordered two pitchers not knowing that nobody else was showing up. Plus, he then drank a pitcher and joined another team. And, none of us knew about it until tonight. Nice! Course, not as much luck for Grant this week (or Vad, who almost took a painful one while baserunning on second). Grant, hope that ankles feeling okay. On to tonight's tournament action. We faced off against a fairly strong hitting opponent (although their infield had some holes). Scraped out a four run win in game one (note, we advance with total runs from both games). Still didn't feel great, but we came alive in game two and finished with a barrage of strong hits to ten-run them (18-2) in game two. Back-to-back season championships? Why not?