Alternate Field

Just in case...
This is a map to the alternate field.
The RED STAR is where we play if the NUS field is closed/occupied by monkeys/rained out...

The Cheah Family

Nigey, Jenny and Lil Ryan

23 June 2007 - Faith

Before I start the post, I'd like to say that this week was another week that I thought that we would be cursed by low numbers. Why? Because quite a few regulars had left for overseas trips. Rugburn to Aussieland, NewJohn/Wild Thing to FreedomLand, H to Thailand, Knees/Maglite to SomeotherLand, Rickey/Gunz/Rube to FluLand. Leaving us with the grand total of about 4-6. We did get 11 to start, and we laid the diamond for Indiana Rules, adding Prof Zen rules for scoring. But somehow, we managed to get 17 bodies on the field. That was just incredible. To top it all off, the weather was fantastic and the field was in perfect condition. What a lovely day.

ONEs: 1st DT/Cheetah/Clement, 2nd Diana, 3rd DT/Sandman, SS Weixiong/Clement/Gil, OF Clement, Gil, Weixiong, Jason, Sandman, Horfun

TWOs: 1st Rickey/Uboat, 2nd Geok, 3rd Indiana, SS The Mick, OF Superdad, Gunz, The Finnish Girl, NigeyPooh

Game 1: ONEs 19 : TWOs 15
Game 2: ONEs 9 : TWOs 8

If you're thinking the lineup looks skewed, well, it was counted off as Singaporeans vs the rest before more of the rest showed up.

2 interesting facts of the day. The Singaporeans, due to some technical difficulties, lost 6 at bats. Weixiong and Gil only had 1 at bat in the first inning, and their next at bat was in the 7th inning. The score would have been completely different if they had managed to step into the batters box. Not sure how it happened, but it did, and by the time it was noticed, it was almosts too late. Nevertheless, they managed to help the ONEs go from mercy to a decent score. (The ONEs were 18-9 by the 7th).

The second interesting fact, was that the man who did not like to run, ran the furthest. Uboat, who barely gets out of the batter's box on a normal day, not only batted in the most RBIs, he also set the record for the most extra-base hits in a game, and put himself on the SAS HOF for hitting for the cycle. Ironically, it was only his last at-bat that he managed to hit a single. Strangely enough, it wasn't his batting that got him extra bases, but his extremely aggressive running. He reached second on singles, third on doubles and all the way home on triples. It was amazing to see his display of speed on the base paths, and we honestly hope to see it again.

It was good to see some of the 'oldies' reappear, and we welcome back Rickey from his *coughvacationcough* sabbatical. Although, Rickey was up to his old self again, sitting on the bench, leaving after the first game..etc. It was good to see Jason and Diana again. We haven't seen them since they got married. It seems marriage is a curse for SASers. Look at DY, Nigeypooh and Sandman. They've become especially irregular after getting married. Rube managed to stave off the curse somehow, and DT wisely sidestepped the entire situation.


MBP: Uboat
Biggest Bat: Uboat
Gold Glove: Cheetah
DY: Gunz and Rickey for showing up even though they were sick.

القرآن الكريم

16 June 2007 - Rained Out

It rained the whole day, only slowing (and nearly stopping) at about 2pm, which tempted everyone to come out of their caves and go to the field. But no sooner had we arrived at the carpark that the skies opened up again. We adjourned to Joes for beer and pool, but the emptiness that gnaws at our insides when we don't play ball just kept getting worse and worse. We wait the whole week just to play softball on saturday and when we don't, the horrible feeling of being disjointed from the world is just awful. When the rain subsided at about 4pm, we just had to play. Though not everyone wanted to get wet and dirty, there were enough of the stalwarts to get in some batting/fielding/diving/sliding practice.

WetandWildsters - NewJohn, Wild Thing, Knees, Gunz, The Mick, Rube, H, DT

DrinkingatJoes - Horfun, Uboat, Rickey

CameToPlaybutLeftBeforeRainStopped - DY

Overall, it was quite a good day. Even with the rain, we managed 12 without trying. Rugburn was out of town, Superdad probably had to protect his daughters from the thunder and Sandman is just whipped. If not for the rain, we would probably have had 13-15.

We did get in a good 2 hours of batting practice, with everyone taking 20-30 hits. The only rule in the field was every play had to be a dive, and that made it hella fun. Everyone was soaking wet after the session, but it made it worth the while as it was incredible fun. The Mick showed his Glen impression in the infield. He has a better arm than Glen (mostly displaying knoblochitis), but the holes were the same. Wild Thing was showing some power at bat, hitting the ball into the outfield easily and consistantly. We'll definitely have to show some respect when defending against her. Gunz was showing off his arm by bypassing the cutoff man and going straight for home. DT hurt his hand catching one of Gunz's throws. Knees was in his element in the wet. He caught practically everything while sliding on the ground. Not only that but he was showing some power with his bat, hitting deep into left field over the outfielders head. We discovered Rube's weakness at the plate. He just can't throw the ball from home to 3rd. So runners take note, if you're on second and Rube is catching, go ahead and steal 3rd. More likely than not, you'll end up safe at home. DT was competing with The Mick for the best Glen impression in the infield. The Mick won in the end. NewJohn showed some good range in the outfield. We might want to move him out there if The Mick and DT want to continue pursuing the Glen award.

9 June 2007 - So Close

ONEs: 1st Rube/Gunz, 2nd Maglite, 3rd Rube, SS DT, LF Superdad, CF Knees, RF Cool Papa
TWOs: 1st Rube/Uboat, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd Mick, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Mick/Sandman, RF WeiXiong, RRF Johannes

ONEs 23: TWOs 22 (10 innings)

It was another game with extra innings. SAS is getting so damned competitive (it's a good thing). If Coach were to show up, he'd be damned proud. Even 7 runs down, the losing team would not give up and tried their darnest to bring the score back.
The standard of SAS is another great improvement. There used to be a time when there were a wider spectrum of player standards, ranging from the godawful to the great. But now, there are lesser players at the lower end, and even the weaker players know their jobs in the field, and they can still hit. Cut-off men are getting the ball from the outfield, rundowns are executed with textbook precision. It's definitely become a lot more competitive than when I first joined, but the improvement in standard doesn't detract from the fun. There are less bonehead plays which result in less heckling, less 'haha' funny plays and more 'woah' good plays.

Updates will be late

DT is in camp doing his two weeks reservist, protecting the beloved foreign talent, so he's unable to update the blog this week.
It will be updated when he finally gets out this weekend.

Sent by Blackberry

2 June 2007 - Extra Innings

ONEs: 1st Rube, 2nd Maglite, 3rd H, SS DT, LF Superdad, CF Knees, RF Cool Papa
TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Horfun, 3rd DT, SS Newjohn, LF Mick, CF Sandman, RF Rugburn

Game 1: ONEs 25: TWOs 28 (11 innings.

Tied at 8 in 5
Tied at 14 in 8
Tied at 17 in 9
Tied at 21 in 10
TWOs scored 7 runs top of 11
ONEs scored 4.

The field was green and soft and beautiful and there was no sun. It was a tough game. I don't remember most of it because I was exhausted by the end, but it was a tough game.

By the time we got to the 9th inning, it got so competitive that both sides stopped talking to each other. The field took on an eerie silence as everyone was focusing on their roles. Fielders were trying not to make mistakes and batters just wanted to get on base. I haven't seen the teams have so much dedication to ensure a win in a long time.

The opposite team were no longer friends. They were foes to be destroyed, and one could tell that both teams were serious about it by the grimaces on their faces. Even with Superdad leaving in the 9th, the ONEs weren't going to give up the goat. The TWOs magnimously supplied a temporary fielder for the ONEs to continue the game.

Maglite proved her mettle in the end, coming up with 3 fantastic, extra base clutch hits to keep the ONEs alive in the 9th, 10th and 11th. Cool Papa made the longest hit of 2007, way, way, way over Rugburn's head. Knees pulled one as well, deep past the left field wall. It was a career distance for him.

We welcome the Mick back from his long 'work trip' back to the US. We also welcome a pretty, well dressed and articulate Singaporean Chinese girl who came to watch our game from the sidelines in the 9th inning. Turns out that she was The Mick's 'friend'. As her father said 'Appearances are Important', or as Kitty's mother-in-law said 'He's so ugly, I can't look at him'


GoldGlove: Knees
Biggest Bat: Knees/Cool Papa - Tie
MBP: Everyone

Guy that Looks like Rickey goes crazy

Fair or Foul?

Fair or Foul?
The runner yelling 'mine' to distract the fielder from catching a popup?
An infielder dropping a line-drive to get a force doubleplay?
A fake throw to first to tag an advancing runner?
Swatting the ball from the fielder's glove?

Read the article below.
Link

Rodriguez Keeps Straddling Baseball’s Foul Line
Left, Julie Jacobson/Associated Press; right, Adrian Wyld/Associated Press

It was clever or childish, cunning gamesmanship or borderline cheating, or maybe something in between. But when Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees shouted something to a Toronto Blue Jays infielder Wednesday night, helping cause a pop-up to drop and leading to three runs, the debate began.

The only certainty is that the play further blurred the line between what is fair or foul in the unwritten code of baseball — and solidified Rodriguez’s reputation as a player willing to test boundaries. Players, coaches and baseball observers interviewed yesterday routinely struggled to articulate what was permissible and what was not, and why.

“If I could explain it clearly, there would be no fine line,” said the Fox baseball broadcaster Tim McCarver, a former major league catcher. “You just have to be there. That’s how fine the line is.”

Deception in baseball has long been alternately applauded and cursed. Games are filled with attempts to trick the opponent, like children in the outfield imploring the batter-batter-batter to swing and fielders applying a tag without a ball or trying to steal signs.

Baseball lore is filled with memorable examples of bamboozlement, from a minor league catcher carving a potato to look like a baseball to infielders serving as decoys to help win the World Series.

On Wednesday, with the Yankees leading, 7-5, in the top of the ninth inning, Jorge Posada hit a two-out high pop that third baseman Howie Clark settled under. But as Rodriguez casually ran behind him toward third, he shouted something — “Ha!” according to Rodriguez; “Mine!” according to Clark.

Clark scooted away. The ball dropped.

It was ruled a hit for Posada, not an error on Clark. Hideki Matsui scored and Rodriguez was safe at third. Jason Giambi singled to drive in Rodriguez and Posada, and the Yankees went on to win, 10-5.

The play infuriated the Blue Jays. As Clark watched sheepishly, shortstop John McDonald had to be restrained from going after Rodriguez. Toronto Manager John Gibbons argued with the umpires. He later called the play “bush league.”

Their complaints had little to do with the rules and everything to do with an unwritten code of sportsmanship. According to Rule 7.08(b), a base runner is out if he “hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball.” But the rule equates interference with contact. That leaves a void, open to interpretation. Can players shout anything? What if Rodriguez had moved closer, or shouted it louder?

“That’s what makes baseball so great,” McDonald said yesterday before the Blue Jays played the Chicago White Sox. “There’s the rule book, and there are other things that are passed down from older players when I was first starting my career. So it's something I may take offense to, but other people may not.”

Apparently, the code permits some words or noises but not others. It may also depend on where the play occurs. It is telling that there is some discrepancy over what Rodriguez said. He denied saying “mine,” though Clark repeated that accusation yesterday.

“Maybe that’s a little bit out of line,” Rodriguez said.

Others agreed.

“It’s not like he said, ‘I got it,’ ” Yankees Manager Joe Torre said after the game, suggesting that such a claim would be inappropriate. “He just made a noise.”

Players and coaches differed widely on how common the practice was. San Francisco Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel, in his 19th season, said that he had never had an opponent try to distract him from catching a pop-up, and was not sure it was legal. But White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillén, a former shortstop, said that it happened all the time. “It’s the first time it worked at the big-league level,” he said.

“Why not do it?” he said. “We all do everything to win games.”

Torre, Rodriguez and others said that such attempts to break the concentration of fielders, if not fool them completely, were common, at least in foul territory.

“When a catcher comes over to the opposing dugout, everybody yells, ‘I got it. I got it,’ ” Torre said.

There is little doubt that the play has been scrutinized because it involved Rodriguez, always a magnet for controversy who has been accused of schoolyard antics before.

“I think it’s more because it’s A-Rod than anything else,” said Fernando Viña, who spent 12 years mostly as a second baseman and is now a baseball analyst for ESPN. He said he did not think that Wednesday’s play was a dirty one.

Last week, as Rodriguez slid into second base to try to break up a double play, he gave a forearm to Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who called the action “a little cheap.”

In Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the Red Sox, Rodriguez swatted the ball loose from the glove of pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who was trying to apply a tag. Rodriguez was called out for interference and was lambasted by the Red Sox for his tactics.

But shouting at fielders as he runs?

“From what I’m hearing from other guys, he does it all the time,” said Ryan Klesko of the Giants, in his 16th season. In the minor leagues, he said, he once ran past a third baseman preparing to throw out a runner, and the throw was wild. Klesko was struck in the back by a pitch his next time at the plate, he said. He, too, called shouting at fielders bush league.

It is not clear how such codes are kept straight in the minds of baseball players. It is O.K. to steal signs by the catcher from second base, but not to look back at the catcher while hitting, for example. It is fine to bowl over the catcher when trying to score at home plate, but not if the catcher has left room to one side to try to slide safely. A middle infielder who pretends to catch a ball from the catcher on a steal attempt when the ball actually flew into the outfield is simply playing smart.

In the eighth inning of a scoreless Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, Lonnie Smith of the Atlanta Braves was on first base, and he ran toward second as the pitch was thrown. He saw Minnesota Twins second baseman Chuck Knoblauch crouch to field the batted ball and fake a throw. He did not immediately see that Terry Pendleton had hit the ball toward the wall between two outfielders. Smith should have scored on the hit, but he stopped at second momentarily before scurrying to third.

Smith was stranded there, and the Twins won, 1-0, in 10 innings. Smith was widely criticized, and Knoblauch’s play was complimented. McCarver worked the game as a broadcaster, and he still considers it a great play by Knoblauch.

Why? “Because that’s a decoy,” he said, explaining that it was Smith’s fault for losing track of the ball’s flight and having to rely on the fielders for an indication of where it went.

Jerry Manuel, a coach for the Mets, differentiated between a decoy and other attempts at deception, although the difference is difficult to delineate. “Decoy is part of the game,” he said. “When you scream or yell, that is not a decoy.”

A true decoy was used by a minor league catcher named Dave Bresnahan. In 1987, with the Williamsport (Pa.) Bills, he carved a potato to look like a baseball. With a runner on third base, Bresnahan threw the potato into the outfield in an apparent pickoff attempt. The runner raced home, and Bresnahan tagged him out with the real ball.

After some confusion, the runner was declared safe, and Bresnahan — whose number was later retired by the minor league team — was cut the next day by the Cleveland Indians organization.

Rodriguez will not face the same fate. But he again finds himself where he spends most of his time — in the heart of the controversy, at the center of the debate, alternately applauded and cursed.