Saturday Softball

This Blog is not dead.
We will be back in 09.
That's a promise.

We got featured in The Newpaper. Granted, it's not the Straits Times, and only Soccer idiots read it. But at least they might learn that other sports exists besides the EPL and horse racing.


PS>>>> THIS post is a sticky at the top of the page. Scroll down for the latest updates

24 May 2008. Short numbers. Batting practice and fielding drills. Led by The Great Santini.

31 May 2008. Rained out. Attendance - Great Santini, Jor-El, Bumblebee

Where did everyone else go?


7 June 2008. Rained out again. Attendance - Great Santini, Jor-El, DT, Mick, Uboat, H, Rugburn, Wild Thang. Santini and Wild Thang did laps and played catch. The Lords of Death rolled.

Yup. It's that crazy time of year again, when I'm busy at work (right...) and can't really be bothered.
Apologies all round to those loyal folks who check this site often.
We will get back on track. I promise.

Meanwhile, check out...

Hanoi
and
Siem Reap

This is my ball. There are many like it but this one is mine. My ball is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my ball is useless. Without my ball I am useless.

One more Strike to make it a sweep.

Rhythm Nation. Janet's backup dancers.

Rickey on the verge of a shutout-nohitter. No one's gonna talk to him.

3 pins baby....

Rickey hits 297 out of a possible 300 pins. He's retiring from bowling now.

We've been going to Astons for dinner after ball the last couple of weeks.
Fancy food, at a hawker price, in air-conditioned, hot-chicks-in-shorts hostelite food court. Pictures speak a thousand words. Total cost for those 2 plates... Less than $25. And don't get me started on the Double Meat... Double Chicken, prepared 2 ways (your choice) for $10

I know I owe 3 weeks of posts. It's on my notepad, been too busy.
Promise I'll upload it soon.
Meanwhile.

On October 26, 2007 he was claimed off waivers by the Pirates. (All information from wikipedia

Our Man Phil. Partying with Aaron Harang

Found on this website

In Step With: Pirates P Phil Dumatrait
Each day during spring training, Bradenton Herald staff writers will catch up with a Pirates or Rays player for a quick glimpse of things you might not know, and some things you won't find on the back of a baseball card.
Name: Phil Dumatrait
Position: Pitcher
Years with team: None
MLB Experience: 50 days
Stats last season: 0-4 with a 15.00 ERA in six games with the Cincinnati Reds
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 195
Date of birth: July 12, 1981
Born: Jul 12, 1981, in Bakersfield, California
Childhood heroes: Ken Griffey Jr., who Dumatrait got to play with last season. "He was a really nice guy," he said.
Hobbies/Interests: Hunting and fishing
Nickname: None.
Favorite movie: Old School
What's on your iPod: Everything from country to R & B to rock.
Favorite TV show: The First 48, a realty show on the A & E Network.
Favorite pregame meal: None.
First baseball memory: Watching baseball games with his father, which began Dumatrait's love affair with baseball. "I've been playing since I was 5," he said.
Baseball superstitions: None.
First job: Baseball. "I didn't have a job in high school," said Dumatrait, who signed with the Boston Red Sox in July 2000 after they drafted him in the first round of that year's draft. "My dad told me if I made baseball my job (growing up), he'd take care of me."
Most painful memory: Dumatrait underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2004. "It wasn't going through it, because that was gradual," he said. "Not being able to play for a year (was the worst part)."
Funniest teammate: Nyjer Morgan.
First car: A 1991 Chevy Silverado.
Baseball player you'd like to meet: Having already met Griffey Jr., his childhood hero, Dumatrait said he would take any of the current Hall of Famers.
Favorite athletes to watch: A Los Angeles Lakers fan, Dumatrait loves watching Kobe Bryant. "And Tiger Woods," Dumatrait said, "especially this year."

ONES: P: The Cheetah; C: Burma Girl; 1B: Indiana; 2B: Jor El/Iron Man; 3B: The Mick; SS: Big Dick; OF: Rube, Cool Papa, Yellow Shoes, Red Cowboy, The Red Cowgirl
TWOS: P: Yong Yang; C: Rickey; 1B: Gretzky; 2B: Horfun; 3B: Handsomest Man in Singapore; SS: Salehin; OF: Rugburn, Superdad, 36, Anonymous Montfort Player #1

10 Innings:
ONEs: 11
TWOs: 12

It was a game when some of the old school players returned on a beautiful day when we had the whole field. The Cheetah and his Montfort gang showed up, raising the level of play as usual. We also had the return of Big Dick's son, Gretzky, from the Great White North. Finally, who was that pulling up in KITT the car? It's Hassie, with Mrs. Hassie and Little Hassie.

The game was a good one. Despite his initial complaints about his team, the Mick led his gang to a formidable 9-2 lead after 5 innings, getting 2-3 runs per inning using good fundamentals of hitting and baserunning. That's when the dam broke. The TWOs scored 9 in one inning and the ONEs looked shell-shocked coming off the field. The ONEs clawed back with 2, and then for 3 innings the game was tied. No one could get beyond one base runner, and then three outs. Going in to extra innings the TWOs finally pushed one over for the win. Overall, good day on the field.

NOTES: 1) Superdad pounded a homerun before an audience of the superkids who cheered him around the bases in the 9-run 5th inning for the TWOS; 2) There were six kids under 10 at the field; we need to open a day-care center; 3) Salehin needs to count to three; 4) Yong Yang was pitching like Santana. Good job; 5) The Mick was on fire at 3B. Brought back memories of the Jaguar (although no one can replace the Jaguar); 6) Jor El pulled up after running to 1st in the 1st inning. A shorter appearance than Brando in Superman; 7) Horfun needed some oxygen after a great run from 1B to Home. Good Hustle; 8) Cool Papa had a textbook throw to the Mick at 3B to tag out the Handsomest Man in Singapore (formerly known as Gil); 9) Good to see Hassie, the Cheetah, the Monfort Gang, Cool Papa, Gretzky and the Red Cowgirl. They need to show up more often.

Post-Ball Notes: The Lords of Death went rolling. DT, Ted and Lil' One joined the rest on the lanes. After Rube tried to take out the pin bar (the thing that re-sets the pins), and then left with Gunz, the rest rolled. The Mick had a 170 in the first game, and then seemed to have trouble shaking off some bad mojo. It was so bad that in the second game the Mick came in last (out of 5 bowlers in that game). He did get things back on track with the arrival of Sandman and Lil' One. Rugburn was a model of consistency, winning 3 games, while DT had four strong games. Meanwhile Horfun and Lil' One showed that power wasn't everything by putting on a lesson in spinning the ball. After four games, sore thumbs, and enormous amounts of fried food, the Lords of Death rolled out into the night. Rickey went home. Others went to find love, or at least coffee in Holland Village or Coach's Corner. The Night Riders roll on.

MBP: The Returnees
Gold Glove: The Mick
Biggest Bat: Superdad
Cameo Appearance: Jor El
Satu, Dua, Tiga: Salehin
Least amount of movement possible on field: Rickey
DY: Horfun
Lebowski: Rugburn

PS: No Good Friday game next week. But, playing on Saturday

ONEs: 1st Rickey, 2nd Jor-El, 3rd Sandman, SS The Great Santini, LF Rugburn, CF See, RF Rube, Rover H
TWOs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Burma Girl, 3rd DT, SS Weixiong, LF Superdad, CF Big Dick, RF Red Cowboy, Rover Chintan

Game 1: ONEs 21 : TWOs 11 (6 innings mercy)
Game 2: ONEs 11 : TWOs 3 (5 innings)

Ones: Rickey, DT, Yong Yang, Charlton, Sandman
Twos: The ghost team.

ONEs: 1st Rickey, 2nd Wild Thang, 3rd DT, SS The Great Santini, LF Rugburn, CF Charlton, RF YongYang, Rover

TWOs: 1st Rickey, 2nd DT, 3rd Rube, SS Weixiong, LF Mick, CF Bryan, RF Ben, Rover Horfun

Game 1: ONEs 9: TWOs 5

Rookie of the Game: Ben
Gold Glove: WeiXiong
Biggest Bat: The Great Santini
MBP: The Great Santini (4 back to back to back to back HRs)

ONEs: 1st Rickey, 2nd Red Cowboy, SS Indiana, LF Rube, CF Mick, RF Simon
TWOs: 1st Rickey, 2nd Burma Girl, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Richard, RF DT

Game 1: ONEs 9: TWOs 15

Regular fields were taken up by poofs playing 'touch' rugby. So we adjourned to the alternate field. Ground was weird. Patches of dried out divots in the ground would cause the ball to take off in weird tangents. Easy plays turned into body-abusing hits. And one-bounce throws to home would end up in the catcher's face as often as his mitt.

The trick was to catch the ball in the air and take the early hop. Letting the ball hit the ground was asking for trouble. There were 4 incidents of the ball hitting players. NewJohn got smacked twice, once in the jawline and once in the leg, by a one-bounce throw from centerfield. The Mick got smacked in the shin by a ground ball hit by Simon, Burma Girl took one in the neck from a opposite field grounder from the Rude.

Not all was bad. The game was mostly ESPN replay type catches or ESPN blooper type plays. The bloopers all came from Red Cowboy's virgin debut at 2nd base, and the conflicting instructions taught to him by The Mick. Red's trouble with comprehending the American accent did not help much either. Hearing 'Hold' when the entire field (including the batting team) was yelling 'Home' at him.

The Mick and Rube took the tie for greatest catch of the game. Both hits, ironically, coming from DT. The Mick made a last-shot-hail-mary-turn-around-open-the-glove-and-pray-for-a-miracle catch when DT hit a hard fly ball into centerfield. On DT's next at bat, he pulled one down the line, but that was snagged by Rube with another magnificent, full-speed-over-the-shoulder catch that robbed DT of a hit. It was his best hitting day in months (some say years), and his hits were robbed by superb glove-work from the outfielders. Life is just not fair.

Richard is back from his bloody nose outing not so many weeks ago. And he's ever faster than before. He could not be thrown out at first, even when he hit a direct grounder to Indiana at SS. No matter how clean Indiana played the ball and made the throw, Richard would already on base. His nickname might be 'Mr Speed'

Biggest Bat: The Mick
Gold Glove: DT
MBP: Burma Girl (for taking the ball to the neck, AND making the play before keeling over)
Most Bored Player: Rugburn in LF. NO ONE hit to him.
Bonehead play of the day: Red holding the ball and looking at EVERYONE on the field, while EVERYONE was yelling at him 'home! home! home!'

We came (half at 3pm, half at 4pm), We saw (the rain, the wet, muddy and sloppy field), We sucked (most of us anyway).
Indiana and Prof Zen Rules in Effect.

Ones: 1st DT, 2nd Horfun, SS Indiana, LF Rugburn, CF H, RF Simon
Twos: 1st Charlton, 2nd Geok, SS NewJohn, LF Mick, CF Sandman, RF Red Cowboy

Ones Lost: Twos WON. I didn't really bother to remember the score. Might have been a mercy. Who knows.

On to Next Week. May the year of the Rat bring us better luck (and better numbers).

Ones: 1st Rickey, 2nd Maggie, SS DT, LF Rugburn, CF Jeffri, RF Charlton
TWOs: 1st Rickey, 2nd Horfun, SS NewJohn, LF DY, CF H, RF Red Cowboy

Last week was a bust. Not enough numbers to have a real game. So this week was the REAL first game of 2008. Numbers were still low, but we managed to pull a game with Prof Zen and Indiana rules in effect.

Ones: Rickey, NewJohn, Mick, H, Wild Thang, Charlton, Horfun, DT
TWOs: Ghost runners

First weekend of 2008 was a failure. Just not enough people showed up. We couldn't even muster a 10 man crew to get in a modified rules game. Such a waste.
On to next week.

SAS: 1st Rickey, 2nd DT, SS NewJohn, LF Mick, CF Cool Papa, RF Jeffri
Singapore Women's team: 1st Rickey, 2nd Norleen, SS Jo the shortstop, LF May, CF Superdad, RF H

SAS 1 : SWT 3

Gold Glove: Jo the Shortstop
MBP: Superdad
Awesome award: Richard. Catching a flyball with his nose.

Dean Hooker was the man who made the greatest defensive play in Saturdaysoftball Tournament History. The year was 2001 and we were playing in the Inter-Faculty Softball Finals. The score was tied at the top of the 9th with runners on base. The batter hit a hard ground ball up the 3rd base line. Dean grabbed it barehanded and fired a rocket to 1st to end the inning. Least you say it was a pretty standard play, it wasn't. Even the Generalissimo would've had to had used his glove, so hard was the ball hit, and he made the play smoother than Arod.
Anyway, Dean was posted out of the country (He works for the State Dept) soon after the tournament. We just received an email from him from Libya with the above picture.


Hello Guys
I was one of your periodicals on Saturday during the years 1999 to 2001. The blog is great I feel honored to be included. Wishing all of you a great Christmas and a Prosperous New Year and Chinese New Year too.
I'm currently in Tripoli, Libya. I hope one day to get back to Singapore and play a couple of games. Included a picture of myself in the Libyan desert.

Dean Hooker

ONEs: Uboat, Rickey, H, Rugburn, DT, NewJohn, Wild Thang, Ryan
TWOs: Rain

TWOs win by a billion trillion to 0.

The Mick picking up the split

We were the last ones in the bowling alley. They had to stop us from continuing... at 4am

Final score - a 3 way tie. The Mick, Rickey and DT... 127 each

Horfun breaks 100 for the first time in her career, making a 123 pinfalls to take 2nd place for our last game.

Our Generous Host, The Indiana Jones of Singapore.

Pies, Pies and more Pies. Sadly, the Turkey and Lamb was finished before photos could be taken.

Party people in the house.

The Mick shows how it's done (striking out that is)

Ones: 1st Uboat, 2nd Amanda/Maglite, 3rd Mick/Amanda, SS DT, LF Rugburn, CF Alex, RF Richard, Rover Dave, Catch Horfun

TWOs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Geok, 3rd Yongyang, SS NewJohn, LF Superdad, CF Rube, RF Knees, Rover H, Catch Red Cowboy

Ones 6 : Twos 4

MBP: The Mick

ONEs: Pitch Cheetah, Catch Tiger, 1st Uboat, 2nd Red Cowboy, 3rd Mick, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Rube, RF Knees, Rover May
TWOs: Pitch DT, Catch JJ/Sonny, 1st Indiana, 2nd Supermom, 3rd DY, SS Salehin, LF Superdad, CF Weixiong, RF Gil, Rover David

Game 1: ONEs 11: TWOs 10

ONEs: Catch Red Cowboy, 1st Uboat, 2nd Amanda, 3rd Supermom, SS Mick, LF Superdad, CF Martin, RF Lloyd, Rover JJ, Horfun
TWOs: Catch Geok, 1st Indiana, 2nd Maglite, 3rd NewJohn, SS DT, LF Knees, CF Rube, RF Jeffri, Rover Dave, May

Game 1: ONEs 5 : TWOs 15 (5 innings Mercy)
Game 2: ONes 6 : TWOs 3 (5 innings)

MBP : Weixiong

Ones: 1st Uboat, 2nd JJ, 3rd DT, SS Newjohn, LF Sandman, CF Knees, RF Jeffri
TWOs: 1st , 2nd May, 3rd DT, SS Mick, LF Rugburn, CF Yongyang, RF Red Cowboy

Game 1: ONEs 19 : TWOs 10

ONEs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Mick, SS DT, LF Rube, CF Sandman, Rover Elijah, RF Bert
TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Geok, 3rd Generalissimo, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Weixiong, Rover Charlton, RF Red Cowboy
All-time catcher: Richard

Game 1: ONEs 12 : TWOs 7
Game 2: ONEs 0 : TWOs 8 (3 innings)

Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Gold Glove: Richard
MBP: Rube

ONEs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Geok, 3rd Generalissimo, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Richard, Rover JJ, RF YongYang, Catch Red Cowboy

TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Horfun/Rube, 3rd Mick, SS DT, LF Rube/Jeffri, CF Cool Papa, Rover Weixiong, RF Jeffri/Horfun

Game 1 ONEs 12 : TWOs 10
Game 2 ONEs 2 : TWOs 5

The title says it all. This blog should not be an avenue for my personal ranting, but this is baseball related. Those who know what I'm talking about will know what I'm talking about. Greed. Greedy greedy bastard. May the first pitch of 2008 hit you in the skull. May the Redsox purchase your contract and not win again for 85 years.

Please join me in a moment of silence to mourn the loss of the Rockies. They fought the brave fight. They were the underdogs. They were the little known franchise that only been in existence for 14 years. They were young and impetuous and exuded the never-say-die spirit of the early Cowboys that tamed the wild west. They were mowed down mercilessly by the juggernaut that is the Boston Redsox. Did the Redsox deserve the victory in 2004? Yes, they did. Did they deserve the victory in 2007? No. The young upstart Rockies should have won it all. Sadly they didn't.

Ones: 1st Indiana, 2nd JJ, 3rd the Mick, SS NewJohn, LF Rube, CF Sandman, RF Elijah
TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Geok, 3rd Charlton, SS DT, LF Andrew, CF Rugburn, RF DY

Game 1: ONEs 11 : TWOs 8
Game 1: ONEs 7 : TWOs 0

Thanks to the New Paper article last tuesday, we welcomed 4 new players to SAS (hopefully they come back). 7 actually responded (8, counting 1 from this week), but 2 of them could not make it this week. SAS hasn't seen such a large one-time renewal of numbers since the Tan family showed up. All 4 supposedly had played in school, many years ago, and the rust was pretty obvious. But we're sure they will be back on form this weekend (if they come back).

Gold Glove: Geok
Biggest Bat: Rube

We were invited post-ball to Lili's place for Hari Raya. It was a wonderful gesture, and we were all looking forward to the fabulous food. Little did we know, there was more than just food.

ONEs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Geok, 3rd Indiana, SS The Mick, LF Rugburn, CF Rube, RF Red Cowboy
TWOs: 1st DY, 2nd Sandman, 3rd Perry, SS DT, LF Andrew, CF David, RF Gil

Game 1: ONEs 4 : TWOs 9
Game 2: ONEs 3: TWOs 0 (2 innings * incomplete)

White man came, White man conquered. White man gave the locals education, medicine, sports and civilisation. White man taught the locals how to play softball. A hundred years later (ok, maybe 10 or so), the locals have mastered the game and turned around and have beaten the white man everytime they faced off.

Gold Glove: Andrew
Biggest Bat: David

Fried Cabbage?? Lettuce?? I dunno, but I love the stuff.

Cool Papa's home away from home... across the border.

The manhole cover right in front of Cool Papa's house.

ONEs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Dr Geok, 3rd Indiana, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Gunz, CF Gil, RF Red Cowboy
TWOs: 1st Rube, 2nd Supermom, 3rd The Mick, SS Bucky, LF Superdad, CF Daniel, CF Craig, RF The Cheetah

Game 1: ONEs 1: TWOs 11 (7 innings Mercy)
Game 2: ONEs 8: TWOs 16 (7 innings *It was actually Mercy at 5 innings 5-15, but we decided to continue and finish the 7 innings)

Gold Glove: Supermom
Biggest Bat: Superdad
Best Play: Superdad fires a torpedo to Indiana from deep left to catch a limping Uboat out before he can reach the safety of the pen.

DT was away in HK for the weekend. Unfortunately, no one picked up the baton to write the blog for this week.

ONEs: Catch Red Cowboy, 1st Uboat, 2nd Maglite, 3rd Mick, SS NewJohn, LF Superdad, CF Knees, RF Jason, Rover Wayne's Wife, Rover 2 Sandman

TWOs: Catch H, 1st Indiana, 2nd Diana, 3rd DY, SS DT, LF Rugburn, CF Rube, RF Craig, Rover Dr Geok

Game 1: ONEs 14: TWOs 16 (11 innings)
TWOs: 0 1 6 1 0 2 4 0 0 0 2
ONEs: 3 3 0 0 4 2 2 0 0 0 0

Game 2: ONEs 3: TWOs 1 (3 innings)
ONEs: 2 1 0
TWOs: 0 2 0

Perfect weather. Perfect field. Perfect numbers. Perfect game. What more can one ask for.

The Ones got on the board early and they hit hard, taking a 6-1 lead by the top of the 3rd. But the addition of the Sandman into the ONEs outfield must have put them to sleep because the TWOs scored 6 runs in the 3rd inning, stringing together hit after hit after hit.

Their lead did not last long as the ONEs fought back in the bottom of the 5th with 4 runs.

As usual with perfect games, the teams saw themselves tied at 14 a piece going into the 8th. From then on, it was a defensive struggle of monolithic magnitude as both teams flashed some amazing leather. No runs were scored for 3 complete innings before the TWOs managed to sneak in 2 runs in the top of the 11th. The ONEs had no reply. Their offense was shut down completely and the TWOs walked away with the win.


Quote of the day:
Qn: Why do you play softball?
Ans: To drink beer after.

MBP: DY
DY award: DY 5 years ago
Gold Glove: Leftside of the TWOs infield
Most Improved Batter: Wayne's wife
Strike-out King: Jason (2 Ks)
Most amazing throw: Craig firing an Ichiro-esque one hopper from RF to 3rd base to prevent the batter from advancing.

UPDATE 092707: Rickey is mobile. He's limping around quite well at home. I'll be moving this post down after this Saturday's post. Word of caution, if you visit him, and you see a rock/paperweight on his coffee table, DO NOT pick it up. You don't know where it has been (inside him).

UPDATE 091807: Rickey's gone home. He was discharged today. If you want to pay him a visit, head to his place. Call first cos he'll probably need some time to get to the door to let you in.

UPDATE 091307: The Op was successful, the man is in recovery. Sandman did a good job of bringing him out of unconsciousness.

UPDATE 091207: The man has checked into his room for the week. Procedure is at 5pm today. Email me if you want his room number.

UPDATE 081407: The date for the procedure has been confirmed. I'll post another update closer to actual date. Please email me for details if you want to pay him a visit.

UPDATE 072407: Turns out it's not what it seemed. Surgery is still on the cards, but not quite so urgent. I've stuck this as the top post. All newer posts will appear below this post.


UPDATE 071307: Rickey will be discharged today, and re-admitted next week. Those of you thinking of paying him a visit please hold off. Watch this space for updates.

PS. DL stands for Disabled List.

071107
Hey Folks,

Rickey's been placed on a 60 day DL.
He's currently located in one of our finer medicare institutions under the watchful eyes of the Sandman
Email me if you want to pay him a visit and I'll send you the details.

DT

This is the new 10.1MP dSLR from Canon, called the 40D. I was lucky to get my hands on it for a short preview before its launch.
Check out some of the shots.
Resized for your 56K pleasure

ONEs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Rube, SS DT, LF Mick, CF Superdad, RF Dr Geok
TWOs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Maglite, 3rd Red Cowboy, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Rube, RF H, Rover Lil' One

Game 1: ONEs 14: TWOs 8

It was too hot. Brian wsa freid bofere teh nd fo teh geme.

All I remember was the Newpaper reporter showing up (finally) to interview some of us

The game was pretty fun though, despite the heat. The ground was hard, and the ball took some awkward bounces in the undulating and uneven turf.

It was a close game till the bottom of the 8th, when the ONEs suddenly opened up their big bats, and batted around almost twice, scoring 9 runs to take an unsurmountable lead.

The TWOs had no reply as the ONEs tightened up their defence to take a 1-2-3 9th inning.

The game was too close with too many excellent performances to give out awards.
Everyone deserves an MBP for this game.

TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Maglite, SS DT, LF Ramadan Dave, CF Knees, RF Rugburn


Beautiful day. Sun was shining from behind clouds, the rain had stopped and the field was soft and springy. No cricket monkeys in sight, and the frisbee idiots came too late to get the field.

For the first time in a long time, the diamond was set up at the 'old' corner. The backstop and fencing did not come into play as no one overthrew their targets (rare, I know)

With only 12 on the count, Prof Zen and Indiana rules were in effect. And with no obvious weaknesses in both lineups, the game quickly became a defensive struggle.

For 4 innings, it was the case of leaving men on base, as every inning ended with bases loaded. The ONEs finally managed to get on the boards, leading the way with 1 run in the 4th. The TWOs quickly answered with 2 runs of their own in the top of the 5th, but allowed another 2 runs in the bottom of the same inning. The TWOs finally managed to score a run to tie up the game in the 7th, and that score would remain the same through the normal game, deep into extra-innings.

It was the aggressive running from The Mick in the bottom of the 12th that led the way to a ONEs victory. He tried for 2nd base on a single into LF and was rewarded for his aggression. NewJohn stepped up to the plate and hit a booming liner into the gap between left and center and the Mick scored for the win.

Maglite had the best play of the game. In the 11th inning, with 1 out, and a runner on 1st and 2nd, she fielded a grounder up the middle, stepped on 2nd base to force the runner out and made a perfect throw to home for the DP.

Indiana easily won the award from Most Beatup Player. He was elbowed at first by a runner, crashed heavily into the ground while rounding 3rd and was hit in the spectacles by a liner going back up the middle. We had to stop the game so many times to check if he were ok, we might have to change his name to 'Time-out'. The spill he took going around 3rd base was the worst. We were worried he broke his collarbone or hip, but he gamely got up and carried on playing. In fact, after being throw out at home, he went on to pitch for his team for the next batter... and took a line drive that bounced out of his glove into his spectacles.

Prof Zen rules is hard when the outfield consists of people like Ramadan Dave, Rube, Knees, H, Rugburn and The Mick. No homeruns were allowed, and doubles were easily reduced to singles.
And with those arms, even doubles with a runner on 2nd were easily thrown out at home.




Gold Glove: Both shortstops
Best Play: Maglite (4-2 DP)

ones: 1st uboat, 2nd Jialin,3rd Generalissimo, SS DT, LF Sandman, CF Rube, RF H
twos: 1st Rugburn, 2nd Maglite, 3rd Wayne, SS NewJohn, LF Mick, CF Knees, RF Red Cowboy
game 1: 12-12 (9 innings), Twos lead 14-12 (going into middle of 10th, game called on account of the security guy asking us to leave)

Went to Insomnia post-ball. Dave's new gig. He rocked, his band rocked, and the hot little number fronting his band likes the hard ball. She also called us 'Dave's foreplays'. No clue why. Rumor has it that Party Rambo Mick made an appearance late into the night. No confirmation though, as this writer was too busy celebrating his singlehood with a Margarita Party.

For the beautiful Asian Woman....

For the first time in SAS history, there were only white men and asian women on the field. Too bad the reporter didn't show up, or it would've made a hell of a story.

Waiting for the real blog entry.

Winners: U-boat, Burma Girl, New John, Indiana, Rube, Gunz, H
Losers: Rube, Maglite, The Mick, Wayne pending nickname, Rugburn, Knees, The Red Cowboy
Crippled: Kernel

Game 1: 12-10
Game 2: 2-1

In game one, a big inning by the winners gave them a lead they would never relinquish. A combination of bloops and blasts got them through their lineup twice. H laced a triple down the right field line that the Kernel initially called foul. If not for her Keystone-cop speed, she might have had a home run. The winners also benefited from an "Ole!" by the Mick ending his run as Ozzie Smith, and a meltdown by Rube first. Unfortunately, with big innings, come big consequences. The Kernel came up lame and will be put down by Michael Vick.

In their failed attempt at a comeback, the losers were lead by the Red Cowboy who was crushing line drives, including one that easily cleared Rube in left. Knees and the Mick managed back to back triples and were a consistent source of baserunners, until they decided to start getting out every at bat. Rugburn launched two shots over the left fielder, both ending up as triples all but all was not well. A poor baserunning decision by Rugburn forced the Red Cowboy home where he was easily thrown-out.

Again, there were a number of noteworthy throw-outs on the basepaths. After a clean single to Knees in center, Gunz rounded first too wide and got picked off by a series of quick throws from Knees to the Mick to Rube. Also, Rugburn threw U-boat out at second when he had no business taking two. On another errant adventure, U-boat again was out at second with Rube quickly coming over from first to cover. And finally, to end the first game, Gunz threw out the Red Cowboy at first after a line drive to center! Perhaps the Red Cowboy needs a mathematician other than Wayne to guide him to first. Instead of the long parabola, a straight line might have been more appropriate.

Why did Derek Jeter (swallows) give Jessica Alba herpes? And where did he get it from? (answers to be provided next week)

Not that it won them the game but the losers turned three DPs while the winners got the pattened 1 - 8 - 3 DP...thats a grounder to DT on the mound, turns to Gunz covering second, and fires on the U-boat. Uboat booted a throw from newjohn on what should have been another fine double play. There are moments when it almost looks real out there. Ahhh, but they are fleeting.

DT was called in to pitch from about the 7th inning on and pitched the best relief since Pedro shut down the Indians for 6 perfect innings back in the day. His knuckle-slider-cutter is just plain nasty.

Geok, The Mick, and Rugburn are trying out for the New Al - catchers who make questionable efforts at the plate in the pursuit of victory. Thankfully, none of their efforts seemed to impact the outcome of the game.

Maglite felt up U-boat at first. She was out...but yet safe.

Did I mention that we had the best weather in forever? The second game lasted 5 innings. It was awesome.

MBP: DT & his knuckleball
Biggest Bat: New John
Gold Glove: H
Golden Gun: Gunz
DY: The Red Cowboy

After game activities included pizza and Tony Jaa at the Mick's. It seemed to be going well, and then it was over. Maybe the wine fairy would have helped. or just a healthy dose of porn?

After Sandman's wedding, we found a midnight arcade open, and they had Daytona...

New guy walks into Joes. Looks around receives a warm welcome from the crowd.
New guy says to Red Cowboy, "I wanted to come today, but it was raining so I didn't think you guys would play."

Red Cowboy says "We play baseball, not cricket"

Winners 8: Indiana, [editor's note] Lili's nickname is Wild Thing (earned after striking out the Bruiser), Bruiser, The Mick, Knees, Burma Girl
Losers 7: U-boat, Horfun, Kernel, Rugburn, H, The Red Cowboy

The best thing about the rain is that it kept the cricket players off the field – which leads to the question of why do cricket players have an aversion to water… hummmm. It also lubed the field up for a day of crazy sliding, muddy splashes, and dying groundballs. We actually had to switch balls because it was determined that the game ball was too damned heavy to hit – like swinging at a bowling ball with a whiffle ball bat.

Sticking to the trend of recent weeks, the winners broke out to a healthy lead during the first few innings, set up by some good hustle and small ball with Bruiser setting a fine tone, and highlighted by a powerful home run to the gap in right center by Knees. However, the Losers clawed their way back into the game with hard running, harder flopping in the mud, surprising speed by the Kernel, and a home run by rugburn that actually went over a fence way out in left field. The Mick backed up to the wall and could only watch helplessly as it soared majestically overhead. The Rube kindly offered to play full time, and did an excellent job at short, making some fine plays, and earning gold glove honors (against an admittedly weak field of competition). Horfun took advantage of the lack of respect the defense was showing her by punching a solid line drive into left field in a key at bat, and handcuffing a confused defense with 2 RBI infield single in the 9th (more about that later). The Mick and Red apparently were engaged in an intense personal battle to see who could make the most outs by hitting the ball right to an infielder: they both lost. Perhaps one of the veterans needs to step in and explain to them the rules and objective of play a little more clearly… Horfun is becoming like Chuck Knoblauch – only she got game. It is good to see her settling into her position, and her latino swagger starting to come to the fore. A kid like that can really bring energy to the clubhouse as the team goes down the stretch.

Overall, the game was ultimately defined by a number of close calls, brought on by muddy hustling, including some controversial ones, and oddly enough, really poor pitching. Was the Mick’s diving catch to end the 3rd inning with bases loaded legitimate or a trap? A number of people slid in just under tags (Kernel, Burma girl…) while others were tagged out trying to stretch another base (Kernel, the Mick – on a fantastic throw from big Red, and Uboat who inexplicably rolled off the base when he was safe, and pounced on the Mick only to get tagged out). There was a hit batter. Uboat managed to both light AND piss out the fires of a 9th inning rally. In the bottom of 9th, it was 8-5 game w/ runners on 2nd and 3rd. Horfun smacked a grounder to Indiana at first who picked it up and up and tossed over the U-boat covering first from the mound...who failed to turn around and catch the ball, allowing two runs to score. We can only assume that as a kid in NY he spent his summers at the Hideki Irabu camp for Hustle and Fielding Excellence. [www.iamafattoad.org.jp] With his defensive gaff putting him in the perfect situation to be the hero and win the game, U-boat weekly popped out to the pitcher for the final out.

Overall, it was a hard played game, and the weather did nothing to dampen the hardcore spirits of the SAS crew.

Oh yeah, Rugburn dropped yet another routine fly ball in left field, and had no one to blame this time around.

Game two started with several desertions, and after some discussion, Saturday softball fielded it first ever ‘all time’ outfield’, and called up numerous ghost runners from the minors. It seems that ‘ghost month’ is like September in MLB[editor's note] It is actually the 7th month of the lunar calender. This is when the gates of hell are opened and the spirits are let out to roam the earth according to ancient chinese beliefs. We had to call a Code Ten Abort (you need to check out the new Bourne flick to be hip with our lingo), due to disputes about both the location and nature of our supernatural supporting cast. They were accused of dogging it, difficult to see, and one side argued for the ghost of Ricky Past (Henderson) who could go first to third, while the other for the ghost of Ricky Present (who can’t get off his day bed). The game disintegrated under the weight of helpless confusion and flagging enthusiasm for the ‘new guys.’

MBP: Kernel for the Slides, and Horfun for the clutch hitting and solid D
Biggest Bat: Rugburn (WOW)
Goldern Glove: Rube
DT: Geok
Ozzie Smith: The Mick and the Red Cowboy
Notes:
The Mick needs a ghost batter…maybe his new eyes are so good he is seeing through the ball…

The Red Cowboy could not buy himself a break – all hard hit balls right to a fielder. Hey Red – white shorts on a rainy day. Yeah, not a good call. But the guy's got fire in his belly, and it is GREAT to see him becoming a regular.

H proved in the later innings that she is learning to go the other way (by hitting to left field – COME ON people, stay with me here!!!!)

After locking in her place at second base, Horfun was seen in practice trying to catch the ball while holding her glove in both hands like a basket. You pull that out in a game and your ass is going straight back to the minors, i don't care how much good press you got this week!

Burma Girl has just about perfected ‘the bounce’ – it is an inspiration to see how hard she goes into third, and viscerally sickening to watch as her body awkwardly slams into the ground, knees carving out deep divots, as her face smacks down on the bag just ahead of the tag. Safe? Maybe… Coach's advice for the week is to rent “La Marche De l’empereur” and see how the pros do it.

IMDB LINK

The secret is out – Brusier is using ‘Dapper Dan’ hair treatment. Too bad it does not come in dark brown...

It took Uboat a full hour to satisfy all of the autograph groupies that have been hounding him on this current home stand. Apparently he is big in Japan.

The Kernel has the perfect beer league softball physique, a veritable keg shaped Adonis. Serious students of Chinese medical science knows that is where he stores his ‘chi’ - a vital component for transcendental softball excellence.

How come no one ever comments on Indiana’s crazy rock and roll glasses? F**king groovie man.

When being interviewed about his ‘out of the park’ bomb, Rugburn offered the reporter a tube of something called ‘the clear’, saying it is good for building self esteem…

Comments ARE starting to come in about the road kill that has fastened itself onto the Rube’s face. Outstanding – and a further reminder of why the North won that last war…

Lili is starting to fatigue – Brusier needs to stop putting her through intensive ‘two a day’ softball training sessions at home.

People are whispering that maybe Magite was right to be worried about the flashlight that Knees keeps by the side of the bed… Well, she could always come back as a ghost runner...

Yeah, i should be working on tomorrow's lecture.

Winners 13 (Maglite 4, The Mick 6, Horfun 5, Rugburn 7, Knees 8, Red 9)
Losers 12 (Indiana 3, Burma Girl 4, Bruiser 6, U-boat5, Cool Papa 7, H 9)
(All time Rube 3 & 8)

U-boat may or may not have a 16 year old bride in the heart of darkness. It was a dark and stormy night. Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Lone gunman? Grassy knoll? Back and to the left, back and to the left...

Stay on target. Fake wife brought the bat. Game on.

It was hot. The field was hard. Our heads throbbed.

And out of the swirling dust rode the Red Cowboy. He did stuff.

We set up the field, braved the elements, and began what turned out to be a competitive game, in spite of the frisbo fellas and the crew of crazy cricketting fellas loitering in the field. Yep, this is the direction we are going in.

The Winners jumped out quick on some fine hitting by Maglite and Knees, who laced a hard line drive over Rube's head for a base clearing home run. Then the game settled into a defensive display, with double plays, fine catches in the outfield, and a one-time-only all-star performance by The Mick at short. He was the white Ozzy Smith - making all sorts of defensive plays while meekly grounding out every at bat.

Aggressive base-running led to some fine throw outs: Rugburn gunned down H trying to go first to third; Uboat and the Rube connected to nail Horfun, also at third. Bad day for chinese girls.

Karma finally reared its ugly head as the Rube caught a poor throw by Rugburn in the throat, which momentarily rendered him speechless. The resident medical committee, consisting entirely of doctors of non-medicine, determined that chewing tobacco and softball don't mix. This ain't the big leagues. A frustrated Papa delivered a 'ricky' and rocked one off the Mick's shin. Both had it coming.

The losers proved their lack of class by attacking the new guy, unaware that he is actually The Red Cowboy, and had a son who played in the NHL. While his bat might have cooled down, Big Red made a few fine catches in the outfield, and has proven to be a fine addition to the gang.

Oh yeah, the losers tried to crawl back into the game with an 8th inning rally. As the name implied, they failed. History is written by the winners, bitches.

Points of note:
Uboat is a defensive wiz when girls hit soft line drives right at him.
Clay NEVER looks like he is actually going to catch the ball.
Paying attention to the warning terrorist warning videos in the MRT, Bruiser immediately responded when a suspicious looking fella left a black bag in left field.
Maglite is becoming a fine second basewoman, assuming positioning and cheery demeanor are not required.
Rugburn dropped a routine pop fly, and tried to blame it on the cricket players. We can't remember anything else he did today.
Indiana is very excited about the arrival of the Red Cowboy - now has someone to reminsce about the Revolutionary war. It is good that those who were once enemies can enjoy a fine game of softball together. The red coats have arrived.
H is clearly hooking up with a rich rich man (NOTE THE MERCEDES SHE ROLLS IN) -->[editor's note]It's her real daddy, and not a sugar daddy. Sugar daddy drives a Porsche
Cool Papa was not getting a lot of action in left field - we hope this changes for all of us once his gig at Chijmes begins.
New eyes make the Mick a new man, but he sure can't hit.
Horfun showed up with a stolen car. Never saw that coming


Awards:
MBP: DT - cause he never gives himself the belt.
Biggest Bat: Knees
Gold Glove: The Mick
Best after game outfit: The Red Cowboy
DY: Knees

Kindly posted by Horfun w/ assists going to The Mick, U-boat, and Rugburn

[Editor's questions] Has the Uboat finally returned? We all thought he retired after that display of incredible offensive prowess several weeks ago when he hit for the cycle and ran like someone offered him a job.

[Editor's note] For those less baseball/softball savvy of readers...
1 - Pitcher, 2 - Catcher, 3 - 1st Baseman, 4 - 2nd Baseman, 5 - 3rd Baseman, 6 - Shortstop, 7 - Left fielder, 8 - Center fielder, 9 - Right fielder
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