General Impressions from a Tournament

It was good to be playing tournament ball again. Some of our best moments - beyond the joy of weekly Saturday ball - have come when we play teams that are not familar. Whether it is the Legendary homerun victory or getting kicked out the next year, it often brings out the best in us.

First of all, Lloyd and the Montfort gang did a great job organizing this. We look forward to playing in the 2nd Annual tournament next year. Also, Chris did a great job of organizing things prior to game day for us.

General Impressions, in no particular order:
- SWAT, Rube and the Ipoh Assassin played in every game, and played well. They may have been exhausted by the end of the day, but they anchored a team that went the whole way. Also true for the whole Tan family. TK and TS played every game for Alumni B.
- Weirdest play in a long time: 2nd game, bottom of the 5th (9th), we lose. Wait a second. Cool Papa's bullet throw (btw, misses the cut-off man) gets to Guppy at home. Great throw, but too late. BUT, the winning run doesn't tag the plate. He tries to get back to the plate - juking, feinting, slipping. But "Gup-zilla" just bears down on him. Tagged out. We rally in extra innings to get the #1 seed.
- Good to have DY back (at least for a couple of weeks)
- Tennis court homeruns (out of the park): SWAT and Nomar
- Good Fielding (the key to tournament wins) from all. Particularly notice to SWAT and DT.
- 1st game (other team has 9 runs to start the game). We only have 8 runs in the last inning. Two outs. DT has clutch hit, and Rube puts it to rest with game winning rbi. Got us off to a good start.
- Heidi had some clutch hits in that close 2nd game.
- Who knew so many of us are up at 8:30 on a Saturday morning (doesn't include Gunz who probably didn't get up - never went to sleep)?
- Guppy traded Fei (the Say Hey Kid). To quote Coach from the wedding speech: "What we're you thinking???"
- The peanut gallery (particlarly Rickey, Diana and Princess) enjoyed the shade. Nothing like a super big Gulp from 7-11 to pass the time.

Burying The Ghost of Mercy Past (Eating my words)

I'm going to be breaking up these posts into several sections, so you can read at your leisure. I will be doing it in reverse chronological order, so this post will always remain on top. So please scroll down to the bottom to start from the beginning of the day.

First off, the 'thank yous'
Big thank you to everyone who turned up for the tournament, especially that everyone put in the extra effort to show up on time. We started the day on a brilliant note with our team at full strength, and the day only got better and better.

Also, much thanks for the "volunteers" to helped buffer the other team's numbers. It's not that we wanted to let you go, but in this way, everyone got a chance to play instead of having 10 guys on the bench. Kudos to Fei, Michael, Weixiong, Jeremy, Toh Sen and Toh Ken (and Jason in the semis) for playing your heart out for the other team(even against us)

Thanks to "Captain" Rickey and "Coach" Guppy, for managing the team, keeping score, umpiring, collecting money and other general mundane, non-playing activities. Your efforts do not go unappreciated.

Finally, the biggest thank you goes to Mr. Lloyd "The Cheetah" Yeo for putting this all together, organising and running a smooth tournament. The guys at NUS IFG have a lot to learn from him.

Burying the Ghost of Mercy Past (The Lineup)

Heats

Game 1
Pitch: Swat, Catch: Monk, 1st: Rube, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: DY, SS: DT, OF: TH, Grandpa, Jason, JoZ

Score : SAS 10 : 'C' Boys 9


Game 2
Pitch: Swat, Catch: Guppy, 1st: Heidi, 2nd: Diana, 3rd: Rickey, SS: Nomah, OF: TH, Cool Papa, Rube, Gunz

Score : SAS 12 : Alumni B 10


Semis
Pitch: Swat, Catch: Monk, 1st: Rube, 2nd: Nomah, 3rd: DY, SS: DT, OF: TH, Cool Papa, Heidi, JoZ

Score : SAS 4 : 'B' Boys 0


Finals
Pitch: Swat, Catch: Monk, 1st: Rube, 2nd: Nomah, 3rd: DY, SS: DT, OF: TH, Cool Papa, Heidi, JoZ

Score : SAS 11 : Alumni A 2


MVP: Swat
Biggest Bat: Rube
Gold Glove: Up for contention
Best Play: Game 2, Score 9-9, bottom of the 9th, Cool Papa makes 1-hop throw to home from CF to Guppy. Guppy blocks the plate, forcing the runner wide to come around from behind to get the base. Guppy (actually) catches the ball and puts down the tag to keep the game alive. And they go into extra innings and finally for the win.
Bonehead Play: Trading away an all-star outfield to the other team (granted we still had an all star outfield, but still...)
Best Hit: Finals, Score 3-2, top of 2, Nomah smacks a 3 RBI HR into the tennis court, totally demoralising the opposition, from which they could not recover.
DY play of the day: Final, bottom 1, Line drive to 3rd, DY catches the ball, it pops out of his glove, travels 6 ft into the air, and DY catches it again.

Score : Finals

Finals : SAS away

Top 1 0-0
JoZ : Single to E5
Monk : Single to CF, JoZ to 3rd
Swat : Sac Fly to CF, JoZ scores : 1-0
Rube : HR to RF, 2RBI : 3-0
Heidi : Ground out to 1st(TK)
TH : Ground out to 3rd, 5-3, out
Bottom 1 0-3
Fly to TH, out
grounder to DY, 5-3, out
single to CF
HR to CF, 2 RBI : 2-3
Fly to DY, DY play of the day, he catches it, it bounces out, he catches it again, out

Top 2 3-2
DT : Single to RF
Cool Papa : Single to CF, DT to 2nd
Nomah : HR to tennis court, 3RBI : 6-2
DY : Fly out to CF
JoZ : Fly out to SS
Monk : Double to LF
Swat : Single to CF, Monk scores : 7-2
Rube : Single to RF, Swat to 3rd
Heidi : ground out to 1st(TK...again)
Bottom 2 2-7
Fly to TH, out
Popup to Monk, out
Single to TH
Grounder to DY, 5-4, out

Top 3 7-2
TH : Fly out to CF (brother vs brother)
DT : Fly out to 3rd
Cool Papa : Fly out to SS
Bottom 3 2-7
Fly to Rube, out
Grounder to Swat, 1-3, out
Grounder to DY, 5-3, out

Top 4 7-2
Nomah : Single to CF
DY : Double to LF, Nomah to 3rd
JoZ : Double on E6, Nomah and DY score, 2RBI : 9-2
Monk : Grounder to 6, 6-3, out, JoZ to 3rd
Swat : Tennis court Foulball (just foul), Fly to LF but thrown out at 2nd, JoZ to score : 10-2
Rube : Double on E8
Heidi : Single to RF, Rube Scores, 1RBI : 11-2
TH : Single on 5-E3, Heidi to 3rd
DT : Ground out to 5-3
Bottom 4 2-11
Fly to Cool Papa, out
Swat gets another K, out
Liner to DT, out

Game called due to 1 1/2 time limit

Final Score SAS 11 : Alumni A 2

Score : Semi-Finals

Semi-Finals : SAS at home

Top 1 0-0
Single to TH
Single to JoZ
Fly to Cool Papa, out
Fly to TH, out
Fly to DY, out
Bottom 1 0-0
JoZ : Ground to pitcher, 1-3, out
Monk : Single to LF
Swat : Triple on E8, Monk Scores : 1-0
Rube : Fly out to 3rd
Heidi: Fly out to 1st

Top 2 0-1
Grounder to Swat, 1-3 out
Grounder to Swat, E1, runner to second
Single to JoZ, runner is caught in hot box, 10-6-5-6, tag out
Grounder to Nomah, 5-10, out
Fly to JoZ, out
Bottom 2 1-0
TH : Fly out to 3rd
DT : Grounder to 2nd, 4-3, out
Cool Papa : Single to 6
Nomah : Single to LF, runners advance
DY : Single to LF, Cool Papa scores : 2-0
JoZ : Fly out to LF

Top 3 0-2
Grounder to DY, 5-3, out
Grounder to DT, 6-3, out
Fly to Rube, out
Bottom 3 2-0
Monk : Single to LF
Swat : Single to 3rd, fielder's choice, Monk out at 2nd
Rube : Fly out to 2nd
Heidi : Single to RF, Swat to 3rd
TH : Grounder to 2nd, E4, Swat scores : 3-0
DT : Ground out to SS, 6-3 out

Top 4 0-3
Fly to Cool Papa, out
Fly to DY, out
Single to DY
Grounder to Swat, deflected assist, 1-6-3 out
Bottom 4 3-0
Cool Papa : Single to SS
Nomah : Fly out to 3rd
DY : Fly out to 2nd
JoZ : Single to 3rd, E5-4, Cool Papa scores : 4-0
Monk : Fly out to LF

Top 5 4-0
Grounder to DT, 6-3, out
Grounder to DT, 6-3, out
Fly to DY, out

Final Score SAS 4 : Montfort 'B' boys 0

Scores : Game 2

Game 2 : SAS away

Top 1 0-0
Swat : Single to CF
TH : Fly out to 5
Heidi : Triple to RF, Swat scores : 1-0
Rube : Tripe to CF, Heidi scores : 2-0
Gunz : Double to RF, Rube scores : 3-0
Cool Papa : Fly out to 7
Diana : Fly out to 10
Bottom 1 0-3
Triple on E7
Grounder to Nomah, 6-3, out, runner scores : 1-3
Double to CF
Double to RF, E9, runner scores : 2-3
(I missed the rest, was 2 outs, my apologies)

Top 2 3-2
Rickey : Fly out to 8(Fei)
Guppy : Fly out to 9
Nomah : Double to CF
Swat : Double to CF, runner scores : 4-2
TH : single to LF, runner scores : 5-2
Heidi : Fly out to 9
Bottom 2 2-5
Fly to Rube, out
Strikeout
Grounder to Swat, 1-3, out

Top 3 5-2
Rube : Fly out to 9
Gunz : Triple to RF
Cool Papa : Fly out to 8
Diana : Grounder to 6, 6-3 out
Bottomw 3 2-5
Fly to TH, out
Single to CF
Single to CF, runners advance
Fly to TH, out
Fly to Rube, out

Top 4 5-2
Rickey: Fly out to 10(WeiXiong)
Guppy: Fly out to 7
Nomah: Fly out to 7
Bottom 4 2-5
Single on E5
Double on E1, runner scores : 3-5
Fly to Rube, out, runner scores on throw : 4-5
Fly to TH, out
Single to Nomah
HR to LF : 6-5
Grounder to Rickey, 5-3 out

Top 5 5-6
Swat : Triple to LF
TH : Grounder to 6, 6-3 out
Heidi : Single to RF, runner scores 6-6
Rube : HR to CF : 8-6
Gunz : HR to CF : 9-6
Cool Papa : Fly to 8
Diana : Grounder to 6, 6-3 out
Bottom 5 6-9
Single to TH
Fly to Cool Papa, out
Single to Rube
Triple to TH, 2 runners score : 8-9
Fly to TH, out, runner scores : 9-9
Fly to Cool Papa, Cool Papa to Guppy at home, Guppy tags the runner coming home
Extra Innings

Top 6 9-9
Rickey : out to 8(fei)
Guppy : out to 8
Nomah : single to LF
Swat : Single to 6, fielders choice, 6-4 Nomah out at 2nd
TH : Double to CF, Swat scores : 10-9
Heidi : Double to RF, TH scores : 11-9
Rube : Double to CF, Heidi scores: 12-9
Gunz : Fly out to 9
Bottom 6 9-12
Single to Nomah
Double to Rube, runner is tagged out at 3rd on the throw
Fly to TH, out, runner advances
Single to Nomah, runner scores
Single to Cool Papa, runner is tagged out at 3rd on the throw

Final Score SAS 12 : Alumni B 10

Scores : Game 1

Game 1: SAS at home

Top 1 9-0
Fly to TH, out
Grounder to Swat, 1-3 out
Grounder to DY, 5-3 out
Bottom 1 0-9
JoZ : Single to CF
Monk : K(Out)
DT : HR :2-9
Rube : HR :3-9
Swat : HR :4-9 (Hit past the fence into the tennis court)
TH : HR :5-9
Princess: Single to CF
Jason : Single on E6, Princess to 3rd
DY : Single to 6, no throw, basese loaded
JoZ : Lineout to 6, Jason tagged out at 2nd

Top 2 9-5
Fly to Swat, out
grounder to DY, 5-3 out
Fly to DT, out
Bottom 2 5-9
Grandpa : Double on CF Error
Monk : Single to 6
DT : Fly out to 3rd
Rube : Fly out to CF
Swat : Fly out to CF

Top 3 9-5
Grounder to DT, 6-3 out
Grounder to DT, 6-3 out
Fly to Swat, out
Bottom 3 5-9
TH : Fly out to 1st
Princess: Single to LF, steals 2nd on throw
Jason : Single to CF, Princess Scores : 6-9
DY : Fly out fo RF, Jason tags up to take 3rd
Grandpa : Single to LF, Jason scores : 7-9
JoZ : Single to SS, runners advance
Monk : Single to SS, runners advance, bases loaded
DT : Single to LF, Grandpa scores : 8-9
Rube : Fly out to 3rd

Top 4 9-8
Fly to Swat, out
Single to LF
Single to CF
Grounder to DT, 6-5, runner out at 3rd
Strikeout
Bottom 4 8-9
Swat : Fly out to LF
TH : Single to CF
Linda : Single to LF, runners advance
Jason : Fly out to 3rd
DY : Fly out to SS

Top 5 9-8
Fly to Swat, out
Grounder to Swat, 1-3, out
Fly to DY, out
Bottom 5 8-9
JoZ : Fly out to LF
Monk : Fly out to LF
DT : Double to CF
Rube : HR for the win : 10-9

Final Score SAS 10 : Montfort 'C' Boys : 9

Some tips on reading the games

Positions Numbers are as follows

1 : Pitcher
2 : Catcher
3 : First Baseperson
4 : Second Baseperson
5 : Third Baseperson
6 : Shortstop
7 : Left-fielder
8 : Center-fielder
9 : Right-fielder
10 : Rover

Other shortforms
HR : Home run
RF : Right field
LF : Left field
CF : Center field
SS : Shortstop
DP : Double play

Expressions commonly used

ground to 6-3, out : ground ball to shortstop thrown to first baseperson for the out.

1st Annual Monfort Secondary Invitation Tournament : UPDAT

UPDATE 23/6
Game Schedule



I guess we might as well declare the first game a walkover now since we'll only have abt 5 people who'd show up on time anyway.


Here are the rules for this tournament
Tournament Softball Rules

1. Tournament begins at 845 AM. Registered players are to pay $5 for registration, and an additional $5 if they are staying for the barbecue

2. All wins are worth three points. All ties worth two points. Losses earn no points.

3. Each division will have one (1) champion. In case of two-way tie in standings, revert
back to games played between tied teams. If A beat B only one game played
between them, A is champion. If three or more teams are still tied, the team allowing
the fewest runs will advance. If teams are still tied, the team with the most runs will
advance.

4. A game ends when any of the following occurs:
• Five full innings are completed; or
• The time reaches 1hr 30 min
• Or Lighting or weather conditions make it unsafe to continue the game.

3. The defensive team shall field nine players, including a catcher, with one substitute.

4. The offensive team shall bat all players present at the game in an order that is
predetermined by the team’s coach or coaches. The batting order shall not change
during the game.

5. Team Captains are to select or themselves serve as umpires.

6. All players shall play in every game.

7.All Teams playing against the C team boys play with a nine run handicap.

8. No walks. A hitter will bat he she strikes out, fouls out or bats the ball into fair
territory. A team’s turn at bat ends when three outs are recorded by the defense.

10. A legal pitch is a pitch that is delivered
• With an underhanded motion
• With an arc of 5 feet.
• With a speed at a medium/ slow speed deemed suited for Saturday Softball non-competitive games by the Umpire.

11. The Strike Zone is enforced in the tournament. The Strike Zone is that space over home plate which is between the batter's armpits and the top of his knees when he assumes a natural stance.

12. There are no bunts in the tournament rules. All intentional bunts count as automatic
outs. A bunt is a batted ball not swung at, but intentionally met with the bat and
tapped slowly within the infield.

13. Infield flies are enforceable in the tournament. The Infield Fly Rule will be in effect when there are less than two outs and
• there are runners on first and second or
• the bases are loaded
The umpire will announce, “Infield Fly” when one of the above conditions exists and a batter hits a pop-fly in the infield. Please note that an infield fly is a judgement call by the umpire and NOT subject for controversy. When the Infield Fly Rule is declared, the batter is automatically OUT. The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught. The runner may also tag-up and advance after a defensive player has touched the ball.

14. Captains are encouraged to remain on the playing field at all times to instruct and keep the game fair, friendly and safe.

15. This is a non-competitive division. Captains should focus on sportsmanship, fun, enjoyment and playing to the best of your ability. That way, teams stay together longer.


ADDITIONAL RULE :
FOUL BALLS: INFIELD --> WHERE THE BALL ENDS UP/STOPS/DIES/FINISHES/HALTS, OUTFIELD --> WHERE THE BALL LANDS



UPDATE 22/6
Lloyd just informed me that there is only 10 medals for first place and 10 for runner's up. So it would be best if we can send 2 teams, rather than just 1 and have 10 ppl sitting on the sideline. I hope everyone can arrive on time so that we can decide on the spot to enter 2 teams or just 1.


UPDATE 21/6
Those who replied, your names have been submitted to the guard house at the school, please register when you come in. Just tell them you are from the NUS team coming for the softball camp. If there are any problems, call Lloyd or Alvin.
Attire is FFA(Free For All), wear whatever you're comfortable to play in. If you want to wear the jerseys, go ahead. If you don't have a jersey, our team colours have always been navy blue.


UPDATE 18/6
Dear all,

These are the details of the Softball minithorn held at MSS.

If you're staying for the BBQ, its $10. I'll collect on Chris behalf
tommorow at NUS.
If you're there for the games, its $5. Same deal tommorow. I need confirmed
names by Sunday because I need to get clearance with school administration
to provide a name list.

Date: 25th JUNE, Sat.

Time: Games start at 9AM till late.

All Teams playing against the C team boys play with a nine run handicap.

5 inning game.

No Walks but enforced strikes. (between armpits and knees)

Infield flies in play. Ump calls it. (Some of us will have to be prepared to
serve as umps when we're not playing

Regular speed pitches like the kind we play on Saturday.

LLoyd

Update 16/6
The people who have replied. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE AND YOUR EMAIL FOR FURTHER UPDATES, for TIMINGS, MAPS, LINEUP etc.

Those who can make it.
1. DT
2. Rickey
3. Guppy
4. Fei
5. Cool Papa
6. Nomah
7. Monk
8. Rube
9. Heidi
10. Jason
11. Diana
12. Swat
13. Michael Sim (Fei's friend)
14. JoZ
15. WeiXiong
16. Seven
17. Gunz (DL)
18. Grandpa
19. Special Guest Star

Those who cannot make it.
1. Sandman
2. Lil' One
3. Prof Zen
4. Jo the shortstop
5. Linyu

Thos who haven't bothered to reply
1. You know who you are, I really can't be bothered.

Lloyd has asked if we could donate an entry fee for this tournament. It's $10 per person, which will go to the medals and prizes for the tournament and also the food for the BBQ. No Alcohol will be provided (but IT IS ALLOWED, so BYOB)

There will be a 9 run handicap for all teams that play the 'C' division boys.

Holy Identical Twin Brother, Batman

Rod Carew
California Angels
July 14, 1983: .402

A career .328 hitter, Carew made his final run at .400 at age 37. The seven-time batting champ carried a .402 average into the All-Star break before tailing off in the second half, finishing at .339. Of his 160 hits in 1983, 132 were singles.

MAP

50 Hougang Avenue 8 (S)538785

link to bigger map

1st Annual Montfort Secondary Invitational Softball Tournament

Clear your calender guys.
Uncle Lloyd aka The Cheetah has invited SAS to participate in the First Annual Montfort Secondary Invitational Softball Tournament.

The Tournament will take place on the 25th of June, at Montfort Sec School Grounds, from about 9am till evening. It should be a round robin format. And there will be a Barbeque at the end of the evening followed by the Prize Giving Ceremony.

Hopefully, we can enter 2 full teams into this event. Please email to me your confirmation (or time of arrival, if you're coming later), so that we can let Lloyd know how many will be attending. Those of you working on Saturday morning, please join us in the afternoon at the usual time.

Boston's new starting lineup

From Left
Metro, Fag, Fag, Fag, Fag, Fag


They got this guy to replace Pedro

11 June 2005 - Rickey Makes it to the Show

ONES:
Pitch: Swat, Catch: Justin, 1st: Rube/Indiana, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Sandman/Rickey/JoZ, SS: DT, OF: Rube, Fei, TK, Jason, Guppy

TWOS:
Pitch: Grandpa, Catch: Steve, 1st: Richard, 2nd: TS, 3rd: Rickey, SS: Nomah, OF: TH, Jean, Heidi, Lloyd, Horfun, Nigey Pooh

Game 1: ONES 2 : TWOS 8
Game 2: ONES 10 : TWOS 4

It was an excellent day for softball, with the sun hiding behind clouds and a nice cool breeze blowing in from the sea. The first game started off as a defensive battle, with both teams fielding 5 outfielders, and showing some classic defense to keep the score tied at 2-2 throughout 6 innings.
The TWOS blew the game wide open scoring 5 runs in the top of the 7th and another run in the top of the 8th. The ONEs had no answer and the score ended at 8-2
Coming back from a huge loss, the ONES' bats opened up mercilessly on the twos, scoring 1 and 4 in the first two innings, and 3 and 2 in the last two innnings to take a massive 10 run lead. The TWOS almost made it back in the bottom of the 8th, scoring 4 runs, but the ONES defense proved too strong to be cracked.
Rickey finally got called up from the minors to replace Sandman at 3rd base during the 4th inning. He finally made it back to The Show. But no sooner had he stepped onto the field when he got traded away for JoZ. The management had felt that Rickey had lost a step or two on his speed, and his bat wasn't as big as they needed. To prove a point, Rickey grounded into two double plays. First one to Sandman at third for a 5-3 DP, and then to DT up the middle for a 6-3 DP.

MBP:
Biggest Bat:
Gold Glove:
Best Play of the Day:
DY Play of the Day:
Bonehead Play of the Game:

Official Rules of Softball

International Softball Rules


Sec. 29. FOUL BALL.
A foul ball is a legally batted ball which
a. Settles on foul territory between home and first base or between home and third base.
b. Bounds past first or third on or over foul territory.
c. First touches on foul territory beyond first or third base.

In other words.

1. In the infield, it is where the ball ENDS UP.
2. In the outfield, it is where the ball lands.

WATCH THIS SPACE

In a special third-season premiere scheduled to air on June 7, Bravo's "Fab Five" will perform makeovers on five key members of the 2004 World Series champions Boston Red Sox. As first envisioned a few weeks ago, Queer Eye's makeover negotiations had centered solely on Red Sox first baseman/outfielder Kevin Millar but by the time the episode was filmed at the team's Fort Myers spring training location it included Millar, catchers Jason Varitek and Doug Mirabelli, pitcher Tim Wakefield and centerfielder Johnny Damon.

Damon, who coined the term "idiots" to describe the world championship team.

PLEASE REPLY TO GUPPY!!!

Please reply to Guppy's invites so that he can cater for an approximate crowd.
Thanks

Best in Class

Although it should, life, for some of us does not revolve around saturdaysoftball.
In this series, we look at other stuff we excel at. Best in Class

Best in Bowling : With a score of 159, topping the ladder 2 games out of 3... Heidi aka Beyonce aka H

Best in Daytona : Whupping Rickey's 'expert' ass, winning every race, 7 out of 7...Cool Papa aka Da Bassist of the Best Band in Asia

Best in Archery : Shooting a lefthand bow right-handed, killing several birds perched atop the target...Rickey aka "I teach people to watch movies" aka The Professor

Best in Secondplace : Running-up everytime, in driving, bowling and life... Barry aka "SaturdaySoftball is my life" aka The Legend