Saturday Softball

3 Dec 2011 - Battle of the Pitchers

2011-12-03T23:35:00.002+08:00

Battle of the Pitchers.
Ones: Chano vs Twos: Erik
Final score 6-5, Walkoff single with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Chano scores the winning run to give himself the W.
Both sides put on an exhibition on defense. It was 5-3 for 6 innings before the Twos managed to pull level at the top of the 9th.
Erik was pitching sticks of butter. He was almost unhittable. Chano on the other hand, went for the 'let them hit, depend on the defense' strategy.
One of the best games of the year, and definitely one of the better turnouts.

19 Nov 2011 - Team Photo

2011-11-19T23:32:00.001+08:00

15 Oct 2011

2011-10-16T09:43:00.000+08:00

As History as proven, after a week of great numbers and superb play, the next week would have short numbers and a shitty game.

Guess we can't fight history.

8 Oct 2011 - The Big Boys Come out to Play

2011-10-09T09:36:00.000+08:00

Standing (L-R): Geok, Indiana, H, Ripken, Baskets, Erik, Pete, Superdad, Cool Papa, Bumblebee
Front (L-R): Gunz, Dr Z, Seven, The Mick, Rich

Only Rugburn was missing, or we would have had an all-star lineup of our biggest bats. As it were, both outfield teams fielded pretty much the scariest arms in SAS history.

One of the best games I've played in a long, long time.

17 sept 2011 - Long time no update.

2011-09-17T22:51:00.002+08:00

Problem with having a real job is the lack of time and energy to update the blog.
We are still alive though, for those of you who are googling us, albeit starting later than ever, and being reduced to one game instead of two.
Just to help with the google search... Softball saturday nus softball singapore national university saturday softball slowpitch beer softball saturday field nus singapore.
Today should have been team photo day. We had a good number of folks, great weather and an awesome field.

A short update for the folks.

Coach has left the building... Or island if you will... For good...
Ripken has found a real job, and coincidentally, so has Marty. Both of them displacing to Kuching.
We are waiting for them to start the Kuching chapter of Saturdaysoftball, so that we can have our 2nd overseas away game.

Over the last couple of months, we had several new folks show up, they found us through the wonders of the internet. Hopefully the new folks are keepers. I've always had faith that the baseball gods look kindly on us, when we lose regulars, we gain new ones and our little saturday softball game rejuvenates itself. People come and go, but the game remains the same.

Отправлено с iPad

New Faces - 20 June 2011

2011-06-20T09:27:00.000+08:00

--
There is no pause button on Life

2 Apr 2011 - New Blood

2011-04-04T13:34:00.002+08:00

New Blood: 1st new guy, 2nd natalia, 3rd chee, ss jamal, lf bumblebee, cf cool papa, rf chris

Older and Wiser: 1st tom, 2nd high tea, 3rd ripken, ss chris, lf sin, cf h, rf baskets.

Final score New Blood 12: Older and Wiser 17.

Ripken hustled around the bases for a hr
High tea injured. Ball to chest, to shin and finally to finger
Old fellas showed their 'experience' by taking a 9 run lead in the first.
Young fellas caught up to take the lead in the 6th.
Old fellas fought back to score 7 in the 8th.
The ground was weird. Causing strange hops and ridiculous bounces.

26 Mar 2011 - Playground Rules

2011-03-26T21:41:00.005+08:00

Ones: 1st Rickey, 2nd High Tea, 3rd Mick, SS Chris, LF Superdad, CF H, RF Seven
Twos: 1st Baskets, 2nd Ripken, 3rd Santini, SS New Guy, LF Gunz, CF Chee, RF Sin/Chris

Final Score
Ones 13 : Twos 14

I'd rate this as the best defensive games of the year. Don't let the high score fool you, there were no errors or fielding mistakes. All the runs came from solid hitting, and all the outs came from solid defense.

Hardly any runs were scored till the 6th inning, and all the runs scored after that was because the cricket monkeys set up in our centerfield and did not have the courtesy to respect the playground rules.

Fuckers.

Every one was trying to hit the cricket monkeys, and they just got in the way of all the plays.

Fuckers.

High Tea made the most insane catch I've ever seen. He made a running, over the shoulder, falling over, arm contorting 270 deg under his body, half-tumble-roll AND managed to keep the ball in the glove for the out. I'd score it an 11.

Immediately after, Gunz tried one as well, rolling a somersault on his head. It was only a 9 cos he didn't contort the arm under his body. Gunz also doesn't need a cut-off.

It turns out I play better under the influence of rage.

Rickey caught everything thrown at him. Take that Mauneau. Baskets did well at 1st too.

Ripken should play 2nd. He plays so much better in that position than any other.

Great to see Seven back.

Chee is a new guy from Sheares Hall. He's shown up 3 weeks in a row, and started bringing his friends. Chee reminds me of Fei. Fantastic wheels, incredible speed and range in the OF, and you have to work to thrown him out on an infield hit. He's a keeper.

PS. We finally broke the boycott of 'Archies' (see this post. They replaced some of the uncomfortable wood chairs with comfortable sofas. And real nice ones too. And the sofas face the TV... which is on MIO, which has ESPN, which means we can actually watch baseball. The sofas also soak up the echos from the wood floors. So the place feels quite cosy now. Looks like Archies will finally get our business.
The wait staff do need to work on their service standards though. Putting the jugs of beer and the glasses on the table is not service. I don't think its too much to expect them to pour the beer.

Check out the comfortable sofa and Rickey the Hutt

Dopo mee gusha, peedunkey?

19 Mar 2010 - Mercy Relief

2011-03-21T13:20:00.002+08:00

Ones: 1st Rickey, 3rd Superdad, SS Chris, LF Mauneau, CF Gunz, Rover H
Twos: 1st Rickey, 3rd Mick, SS Ripken, LF Rugburn, CF Chee, 2nd Baskets

Game 1: Ones 13 - Twos 1 (3 innings)
Game 2: Ones 8 - Twos 18 (6 innings)

The baseball gods are still testing us. Its frigging March and its still raining on Saturdays, and our numbers are frigging pathetic.

We almost called time of death at about 4pm and head over to BarBar. Some of us wanted to go, but some of us really wanted to play. And then the sky stopped falling.

We had to take advantage of the opportunity we were given. Even though we only had 11 people. We had to get in a game. There was a time we could hit 55-60 games a year (52 weekends + public holidays). We barely scratched 40 in 2010 and unless a miracle happens, we won't hit 30 for 2011.

The field was a pond after the heavy downpour and we turned homeplate into a swamp, and 3rd base into a sliding pool. Sliding into 3rd was VERY fun.

The ONEs started the ball rolling with a 10 run 2nd inning in the first game. The TWOs had no answer, and we were calling 'game over' by the 3rd. With the distribution of players, there was no way to make any trades even though it was a mercy score. Both teams were fairly even and any trades would result in an even more lopsided result.

Well, The TWOs soon returned the favoured and they put together run after run after run to get a 18-3 lead going into the bottom of the 6th. The ONEs had a chance to dig themselves out of the mercy hole and managed to put 5 runs on the board. With 18-8 on the scoreboard and 2 runners on base, the ONEs bats suddenly fell apart. 3 consecutive outs ensured that the TWOs would take the mercy victory in the 2nd game.

12 Mar 2011 - Sacrifice

2011-03-14T13:06:00.005+08:00

Ones: 1st New Guy, 2nd Baskets, 3rd Mick, SS Chris, LF Rugburn, CF New Guy, CF Ziegler, RF Swaine
Twos: 1st Rickey, 2nd Ripken, 3rd Mick, SS RL, LF Mauneau, CF New Guy, CF H, RF Sin

Ones 7 : Twos 6 (10 innings)

The weather was lovely, the field was gorgeous, and even the cricket monkeys on the field did not disturb our game. The baseball gods tested us and were well pleased with our sacrifice.

A downpour in the first inning did not deter us from the game. Even the cricket monkeys left the field when the sky opened, but we persevered. The rains stopped, the skies cleared and we had 10 brilliant innings of Saturday Afternoon Softball.

Things looked bleak for the Ones as the Twos took a 6 lead by the end of the 2nd inning. But they could not hold on to their lead as the Ones clawed their way back to tie the game in the 8th.
The tie could not be broken in the 9th and we went into extra innings.

Special mention. The Mick had a gold glove day playing all-time defense. He recorded at least 1 out per inning, even putting up a 3-out inning to help Rickey record a 3 pitch outing on the mound. It was amazing stuff. Strangely, people would not stop hitting to him even as we saw his glove catch fire.

5 Mar 2011 - Pathetic part III - Revenge of the Pathetics

2011-03-08T19:20:00.001+08:00

Bodies : Rickey, Baskets, Cool Papa, Gunz, H.

Time of death : 4pm.

Moved to Bar Bar.

Dr Z joined them there.

5 March 2011 - Pathetic, the sequel.

2011-03-07T18:16:00.002+08:00

Present: Gunz, Dave, Rickey, Baskets, H.

Too many people out of town. On to Bar Bar at 345. Turns out that Ziegler brought 3 other friends. But (b)all was lost. Beer was consumed heartily thereafter.

26 Feb 2011 - Pathetic

2011-02-26T16:25:00.003+08:00

Bodies - Baskets, Contrary, Mick, Ripken, Rickey, Chris

Rained-out.

Time of death 4.15pm

Went to Blooies

19 Feb 2011 - What happened to Softball?

2011-02-20T16:29:00.002+08:00

Bodies : Rickey, Rugburn (+ Louie and Molly), Baskets, High Tea, Contrary, H, Gunz, Bumblebee

Cricket field was taken.

Soccer field was kinda taken.

Time of death: 4.30pm.

On to Baa Baa...

18 Feb 2011 - Mission to JB Part Deux

2011-02-18T22:04:00.005+08:00

6 months ago, we went on a gocart slash paintball mission to JB. It was such a success, we really wanted to do it again.
This time, we managed to get more folks, and got a 2 car mission going.

First stop, gocarts.

Contrary watching his back.

Veto about to overtake Mr Daly

Mick

Veto, vetoing Cool Papa's attempt to overtake

The Racers.
From Left: Cool Papa, Mr Daly, H, Mick, Baskets, Contrary, Veto

After 2 rounds of gocarts, we headed over to the mall for some lunch and paintball.

Signing in and getting gear

Getting mission ready

Shake and Bake

The Wild Geese
From left: Mr Daly, Cool Papa, Mick, Veto, Baskets, Rickey, Contrary, H

A little target practice for the first timers.

H showing her stuff.

And Rickey gets away with a nice bruise. This time, courtesy of H.

Rickey bought 60 arrows again. But this time, more folk joined him to shoot. Mick won the redneck archery contest with 98 points.

Going full circle. We started the mission racing, and we ended the mission racing.

12 Feb 2011 - Left Vs Right

2011-02-14T23:41:00.004+08:00

Lefts: 1st Rickey, 2nd Geok, 3rd Indiana, SS Mick, LF Mauneau, CF Bumblebee, RF Sin
Rights: 1st Guppy, 2nd Baskets, 3rd Ziegler, SS Veto, LF Rugburn, CF Cool Papa, RF H

Box Score:
Rights: 10 0 1 0 0 0 4
Lefts: 1 0 4 4 0 0 2 (rained out)

Final Score
Rights 15 - Lefts 11

We pulled a strange count-off this week. Basically everyone paired up, then all lefts were on one team, and all rights on the other. I think this was the most evenly matched teams I've seen ever. Offensively and Defensively. It looked like a great matchup.

The Rights did everything right in the first inning though. Stringing together solid hits and aggressive running to put 10 runs on the board. The Lefts weren't going to take things sitting down. The pulled back a run to avoid a first inning mercy, and then put together more runs to bring the game closer.

It was only in the 7th that the Rights managed to get back on the board. And then came the rain. With heavy rain pouring down. The Lefts gave up, and only 4 out of their 7 players came back out to bat. If their whole team came out, they might have done something more though. So they only managed to score 2 runs to take the loss.

Notes
Rugburn hit the longest HR of the year. It took 2 bounces and landed in the drain.

Bumblebee had his worst 'oh shit' day of his career. There were at least 4 'oh shit' moments over his head. Must be the extra CNY weight he's carrying.

There was a big hole in the Baskets. Maybe the weave needs tightening.

Horfun rule saved a run in the 1st inning.

Guppy's back 2 weeks in a row. He's in the best shape I've ever seen, but his glove hasn't changed a bit.

5 Feb 2011 - Buntiful Bunny Year

2011-02-07T23:08:00.004+08:00

Ones: 1st Indiana, 2nd Sin, 3rd Swaine, SS Chris, LF Rugburn, CF Cool Papa, CF Geok, RF H
Twos: 1st Rickey/Guppy, 2nd Baskets/Marc, 3rd Mick, SS Ripken, LF Superdad, CF Ziegler, CF Marc/Baskets, RF Guppy/Rickey

Box Score:
Twos 0 2 0 0 1 1 2 0 0
Ones 0 1 9 0 2 2 2 14 x

Final Score:
Ones 30 : Twos 6

Hopefully our buntiful sacrifice to the baseball gods will be well received.

We had great weather, good field, good numbers and most importantly a great game.

We saw old faces return and a new face appear.

We picked on lame old men in the outfield and blind young men in the infield.

We pummeled the ball, we made great plays, great catches and turned doubles.

We ran, we scored and we scored some more.

And then after, we drank $300 of beer at Blooies.

29 Jan 2011 - Mudfest

2011-01-30T07:37:00.003+08:00

Ones: Rugburn, Baskets, Ripken, Ziegler
Twos: Mauneau, Bumblebee, JC, me
All-time: Generalissimo, Mick

Ones 6 : Twos 4 (7 innings)

22 Jan 2011 - SausageFest

2011-01-24T23:47:00.005+08:00

Ones: 1st Rickey, 2nd High Tea, 3rd Ziegler, SS Chris/Rugburn, LF Rugburn/Bumblebee, CF Gunz, CF Sin, RF Sin/Chris

Twos: 1st Shane, 2nd Baskets, 3rd Generalissimo, SS Mick, LF Dave, CF Kelson, CF Ripken, RF Scooterboy

Box Score:
Twos 0 1 7 1 5 1 2 0 0
Ones 7 0 5 2 1 4 2 0 0

Final
Ones 21 : Twos 17

Finally, the first REAL game of 2011. Looking back at the blog entries, it seems that we could never start the year till Mid March. WTF. Oh well.

We've never had a game without a female on the field either, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Headed to Joe's home as he was hosting a dinner party. Met Mrs Gunz. She's really cool.

Standing (From left): Generalissimo, Sin, Rugburn, Rickey, Gunz, High Tea, Mauneau, Ripken, Shane
Front Row (From left): Chris, Ziegler, Bumblebee, King of Funk Bass, Mick, Scooterboy, Baskets
Late: Misty
Photographer: H

15 Jan 2011 - What the Fuck???

2011-01-18T01:00:00.001+08:00

3:15pm... Rickey, Chris, Dom.
3:30pm... Rugburn
3:45pm... Ziegler
4:00pm... Bumblebee
4:15pm... Mr Runnerup, Gunz
Game on???
Nope. both fields closed... What the FUCK? NUS has NEVER closed BOTH fields at the same time. The baseball gods are EXTREMELY displeased.
4:30... H meets us at BarBar.

9 Jan 2011 - Sunday Baseball??

2011-01-09T12:26:00.001+08:00

Now where were these people yesterday??

8 Jan 2011 - We need the numbers...

2011-01-08T07:33:00.002+08:00

Bodies: Ripken, Rickey, H, Ziegler, me.

We went to 'archies'. Place sucks. Wood floors, uncomfortable
wood furniture. hollow and empty. loud too, cos the wood reflects all the sound. guy doesn't pour the beer for us. soccer on tv. Incredible fail

We went to Bar Bar for dinner.

1 Jan 2011 - New Year with a Whimper

2011-01-04T23:45:00.002+08:00

Ones: 1st Sin, 3rd Baskets, SS Me, LF Mick, CF H
Twos: 1st Rickey, 3rd Ripken, SS Santini, LF Cool Papa, CF ScooterBoy

All time Pitcher : Gunz

Ones 9 : Twos 6

Right field closed, no 2B. Rain... Rain... Rain...
We came, we stayed, we played.
Welcome back Dom, Congrats on finishing your studies.
Welcome back Gunz, Congrats on getting married.

Where are our numbers? We need our numbers back. The baseball gods were not entirely pleased with our sacrifice.

1 Jan 2011 - GAME ON BITCHES!!! SEE YOU AT THE FIELD!!!

2010-12-28T08:11:00.001+08:00

4 Dec 2010 - Bowling

2010-12-22T03:08:00.002+08:00

Bodies: Baskets, Ripken, Rickey, Mick, Chris

We went bowling before heading to Chano's for his BBQ.

27 Nov 2010 - Respecting Our Elders

2010-11-29T23:54:00.004+08:00

Old: Rickey, Baskets, Ziegler, High Tea
Young(er): H, Sin, Bumblebee, Chris

Score: Old 11 : Young(er) 10 (6 innings)

Considering we only had 7 last week, 8 is quite an improvement. Time-of-death was actually called at 1600 by Ziegler, but somehow, we decided to power through and wait a few minutes more. Upper field was closed, so we moved to the soccer field. With 8, we played 'triangle', 4 to a team.

It seemed obvious to split the teams racially, with 4 white guys and 4 chinese. But little did we realise that we also split the teams according to age. It was above 45s vs below 35s.

The Old folks took an early lead, picking on the two inexperienced infielders; Sin who played 1st but never got on base to receive the throw and Bumblebee who played 3rd and had problems with the bounce. Before the 5th inning, the Old folks were already up 10-4.

The Young(er)s only found their bats in the 4th. Finally putting some runs on the board. If we had played 7 innings, the Young(er)s would've won, if we had played 9, the Young(er)s would've crushed the Old folks.

The Young(er)s are going to find it difficult to live down the shame of losing to the Old folks. Though I guess we should be used to losing to Fat Old White Men by now since we've lost most of our women to them already.

20 Nov 2010 - Blooies

2010-11-23T23:54:00.003+08:00

Bodies: Mick, Rickey, High Tea, Baskets, Bumblebee, Ziegler, Me

Game called at 4.30pm.

We adjourned to Blooies.

San Miguel on tap...

6 Nov 2010 - Wearing White after Labour Day

2010-11-08T23:39:00.005+08:00

Ones: Geok, Indiana, Mick, H, Bumblebee
Twos: Monika, Ziegler, Sin, Ripken, HiTea

All-time: Chris, Rickey

Game 1: Ones 0 - Twos 12 (1 inning mercy)
Game 2: Ones 14 - Twos 5

30 Oct 2010 - Scary Field

2010-10-31T09:06:00.005+08:00

Ones: Ripken, Baskets, Hi Tea, Sin, Ziegler
Twos: Rugburn, Indiana, Geok, H, Bumblebee
All-time: Rickey, Chris

Game 1: Ones 17 - Twos 6 (Mercy in 6)
Game 2: Ones 12 - Twos 13 (3 innings, walkoff. Ziegler left for Ones, Bumblebee traded to Ones, Rickey joined Twos)

Highlights

We started the game with 10. 5 on 5, right field dead, score from 2nd.
When H and Bumblebee showed up, Chris and Rickey fielded all-time to open up all fields.
Hi Tea and Sin hit back to back homers over Rugburn in LF.
Rickey advanced to 2nd on a sacrifice by Geok, then stole 3rd when the infield had a meeting at 2nd base. Rickey ran so fast, his cleats fell off his shoes.
Ripken fell 4 times taking the relay from CF. He also fell a couple of times rounding 3rd.
The ground was sloshy, damp and slippery. Really tough to play.
The Twos won game one purely on singles. There was one inning of at least 10 singles that kept loading the bases.
The second game was much closer with Bumblebee traded to the Ones and Rickey playing for the Twos.

23 Oct 2010 - Armageddon

2010-10-23T09:15:00.000+08:00

I was in Melaka for the weekend, but I was told the game was like playing in Armageddon.
The air was so hazy that you could barely see the guy in the outfield.
Everyone was hacking and coughing and spitting.
On top of the haze, there was thunder and lightning.
The guys stopped after 5 innings to go watch Scrubs new movie 'ExTerminators'.
Its been rumoured that the mick would fuck a retard for money to buy a dress.

16 Oct 2010 - Two actual teams...

2010-10-19T05:06:00.002+08:00

Ones: 1st Tom, 2nd Monika, 3rd Generalissimo, SS Chris, LF Mick, CF Bumblebee, RF H, C Rickey
Twos: 1st Rickey/Ziegler, 2nd Geok, 3rd Ziegler/Ripken, SS Indiana, LF Ripken/Kelson, CF Superdad, RF Sin, C Hi Tea

Game 1: Ones 17 : Twos 6 (5 innings)

1. Hi Tea finally got his right-hand glove, and 2 more show up (all year without left-handers, suddenly we have 3)
2. Ripken hit the longest homerun of the year, except it wasn't. The ball bounced on the ground between Mick and Bumblebee and rolled all the way to the drain near the cricket scoreboard.
3. The Ones put together 7 infield hits to load the bases and score 3 runs.
4. We had a strange new ball in the first inning that the Mick brought back from the US. It was the regulation size, but weighed half the standard.
5. New player from Germany, Monika. She came out with her own glove, cleats and mouthguard. We really hope to see her again.
6. Good to see the Generalissimo back in town.
7. The Horfun rule strikes again. Superdad was thrown out at the plate when he tried to stretch a triple into a homerun. The Horfun rule rocks.
8. I left after we mercied the Twos for the win. No idea what happened in the 2nd game.

9 Oct 2010 - RBI Machine

2010-10-12T00:12:00.003+08:00

Bodies: Ripken, Rickey, Rugburn, Indiana, Geok, H, Sin, Bumblebee, Baskets, Cool Papa

All time: Chris

Score: Ones 20 : Twos 19 (extra innings)

1. Same as last week, Right field was closed. We just needed 1 more body and we could've had a full game.
2. The Rugburn shift has stopped working completely.
3. Cool Papa has found his bat back... and it is scary.
4. Rickey choked on 9RBIs. He simply couldn't get past the double digits (He has 3 ABs with runners on base after his 9th RBI, but he couldn't get it done)
5. Bumblebee has re-learnt the 'oh shit' moment.
6. Ripken shaking his head at Sin's lack of hustle is ironically funny.
7. Indiana and Geok play an hour of tennis before ball... and can still kick our ass on the field.
8. Baskets is a pretty decent 1B. At least he catches the ball thrown below his hip.
9. H has a scary arm. Doubly scary when Cool Papa won't run on her.
10. The first at bat broke the game ball, and Rugburn had to break out a brand new one.
11. Pitchers need to learn how... a) Cover 1st on the ground ball up the 1st baseline. b) Cover 2nd if the SS is pulled into the OF. c) Cover 3rd if the Lefty shift is on. d) Cover home for an overthrow, but NOT cut off a perfect throw to the catcher.
12. The Horfun rule is one of the best new rules we've put into effect.

2 Oct 2010 - Everybody plays Short

2010-10-05T03:41:00.002+08:00

Bodies: Ripken, Rickey, Tom, Rugburn, Mr Science, Kelson, H, Sin, Bumblebee, Baskets

All time: Chris

Score : 30something to 30something

1. Right field was closed
2. Chris played all time 2nd and 3rd
3. Everyone got to play Shortstop (including, Rugburn, Ripken, Rickey, Bumblebee...etc)
4. An average of 10 runs were scored per inning
5. The Rugburn shift didn't work this time
6. Ripken went from 2nd base stud to SS dud, he didn't have a good day
7. 3 Outfielders covering 2/3 the OF still leaves many gaps
8. The ball just seemed to find all the holes in the OF
9. Aggressive running pays dividends

24 Sept 2010 - Joe Closes his doors.

2010-09-25T05:03:00.005+08:00

After years of pulling bullshit antics, NUS Faculty Club has finally managed to get rid of Joe. And he went out in style. The place has never seen a larger crowd. If only it didn't take him closing down to get this kind of patronage. Whats going to happen later today after ball.... We can only hazard a guess.

Bumblebee and Ripken, bringing some class to the crew.

Looks like Saturday, but its not

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables

18 Sept 2010 - Another day, another heatwave

2010-09-20T23:57:00.003+08:00

Bodies: Ripken, Rickey, Tom, Scrubs, Geok, Indiana, H, Rugburn, Hi-Tea

All time: Chris, Mick

Score: 9-8

Notes:

1. The Rugburn shift. 3 outfielders standing in the bleachers, SS/2B playing centerfield.
2. Did Mick catch the ball or did it bounce into his glove? The Jury is still out.
3. Rickey's range has deteriorated to 2 steps from his center.
4. The new Horfun rule (named in her honour) proved its worth at the plate. 7-6-2 relay to get the runner out at home.
5. When H plays centerfield, we don't need a right and left fielder. That girl has incredible range... even while coughing up a lung.
6. Hamstring pulls are the latest trend in Saturday Softball Injuries. I think we need to start doing laps before the game to warm up the hammies.
7. Ripken showed some slick moves at 2nd. Looks like we got a replacement for Horfun's missing glove.

11 Sept 2010 - HOT HOT HOT

2010-09-16T23:05:00.002+08:00

I only remember 4 things from Saturday.

1. Pat D played all time D
2. It was HOT HOT HOT.
3. Chanopark got traded in the 7th inning from the losing team... to the other losing team
4. I made a 6-3 double play on two of the fastest guys in Saturday Softball history. Cool Papa on 1st and Bumblebee at bat.

Everything went blank after that play.

4 Sept 2010 - Horfun heads for higher learning

2010-09-05T09:11:00.015+08:00

The baseball gods look kindly on those who have faithfully attended the Saturday game. We've always managed to garner better than usual numbers for 'last games' and 'BBQ weekends', and this Saturday was no different.

This was Horfun's last regular game for the next 5 years (or more if she gets a job somewhere else after her PHD), and everyone came out to say farewell. We had 18, and only missed 20 cos Hi-Tea was out on the DL, and Jor-El was teaching American Culture to an indian call-center.

Johnny Upton's legacy lives on. He brought out Chanopark and Hi-Tea, and Hi-Tea has brought out another 2 new TISH faculty. My favourite quote of the day (from one of the new guys) "When we heard this Englishman waxing lyrical about softball, we definitely had to check it out.". Good job Hi-Tea.

I honestly don't remember much about the game, only that the weather was fantastic, cool and slightly overcast, the numbers were brilliant and the ground was more diveted than the straightaway of the Kentucky derby. I've never seen so many bad bounces and misplays in a long time. Easy ground balls took wild hops, and sure-singles took warped spins into fielder's gloves. That the ground was super hard didn't help.

At the end of it all, it was a great game and a fantastic send-off for Horfun. We will definitely miss her. Good luck Seattle.

Ramadan Dave

Ziegler shows the arm that picked off Ripken at 1st

Horfun looking mighty demure before she hit the seams off the ball.

A black man ALWAYS looks around when a white man in a camouflage trucker hat wants to shake his hand.

Indiana and Geok. Waiting for the game to start... 6 hours later, waiting for people to decide to move for dinner.

Rickey got Tenure... no, Rickey got eighteen years.

Mr Science

Rugburn, making a no-look catch look easy (and cool)

Chanopark quote #431 "This is my line, nothing passes me"

From Left: Back row: Geok, H, Rickey, Ziegler, Cool Papa
3rd row: Santini, New Chris, Sin, Rugburn
2nd row: Dr Scrubs, Tom (who will yet earn his nickname), Indiana, Glove (where I'm supposed to photoshop my picture), Mick
Front row: Chanopark, Horfun, Ripken, Mr Science

Toast to Horfun

CHEERS!

Bottoms up (Its small cos its not sharp)

Too... Legit... Too... Legit... To... Quit

Ziegler can't handle his peach schnapps.

The SAS Ladies (H was busy playing pool)

You've heard of 'blue suede shoes', have you seen 'Red Crocodile Boots'?

Indiana, Cool Papa and Horfun. Crotchshot cos of the studs on Cool Papa's pants.

26 Aug 2010 - Mission to JB

2010-08-27T02:06:00.010+08:00

The Premas Track. Fantastic track with up and downslopes, beauty bends and turns, tight chicanes, lots of space for overtaking.

Charles Shumacher... more like Charles Deletraz

Horfun showing us how its done (she was there just last week on a recce mission)

Ripken spins out on the first corner

Chris overtakes Dave (and he overtook me back on the next lap)

Dave taking the inside line to overtake Ripken at the turn

Horfun overtaking Ripken on the power straight

The 2 quickest. Cool Papa and Horfun

They actually had a podium in the 'grandstand'.

In 2010 a crack commando unit was sent to JB by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the city underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the C-Team.

Mad Dog aka Ripken, Hannibal aka Rickey, Face aka Horfun aka Saltier, B.A. aka Cool Papa.
The C-Team

Obviously the big angmos wanted to beat down on the chinese, so it was Horfun and I vs Rickey, Ripken and Dave. How is that fair you ask? Well, it wasn't. Horfun is a stone cold killer. She had the most kills on the board. Her new nickname is 'Saltier', cos she's better than Salt. You don't want to mess with her. While all of us were concentrating on headshots and center-mass shots (we had body armour). She went for the vulnerable apendages (after 'killing' them of course)
We won 3-2 btw.

Saltier takes out Rickey

Saltier takes out Ripken

BBQ Weekend - 8 August 2010

2010-08-12T06:21:00.009+08:00

Ziegler... Needs a nickname

Standing: Jor-El, Whotheffisthisguy?, Rugburn, Mauneau, Superdad, Indiana, Rickey, Geok, Ripken, Contrary, H
Squating: Sin, Mick, Horfun, Ziegler

Marty preparing his Buffalo Wings. The secret is BUTTER....

Jack 'the torpedo' Daly, Nephew of Michael 'Uboat' Daly.

Thomas and Jeffery. Sons of Alvin 'They-cut-my-core-muscles' Hew

Marty showing the right way to eat a buffalo wing

Jack 'The Torpedo' Daly struts his stuff for the White Gold

Jack and Dina. Little Jacky's gonna be a football star.

The little man likes his beer. Root beer.

Marty made the wings without hot sauce, he knows how to cater for kids.

The Vege spread...Meat's on the other table

Little ones enjoying the playground. I've never seen so many kids at a SAS BBQ.

Random Folks.

Marty and Ripken discussing a big trade for fantasy baseball

"Mrs Crosswell, are you trying to get me drunk?"

Coach teaching Ziegler about the 'O' ring.

Ripken's happy trading away Pujols for Brian Roberts.

Camera shy

Camera shy pt deux.

ok. whotheff is that guy behind Claudia? He's in the team photo and the BBQ photo.

The Shot heard around the World - 31 July 2010

2010-07-31T20:45:00.003+08:00

Ones: Rugburn, Ripken, Geok, Indiana, Jor-El
Twos: Bumblebee, H, Horfun, Zeigler, Mr Science
All-time: Rickey, Chris

Game one: Ones 0 : Twos 10
Mercy in 2 innings.

Game two: Twos forfeit.

Damn soccer players intruding on our left-field.

One of the greatest headshots I've ever seen (including my years of competitive counterstrike)

Patriotism

2010-07-31T20:41:00.002+08:00

Quiz Nite at Joes - 28 July 2010

2010-07-31T20:18:00.004+08:00

Quiz Meister DJ Ripken

Das bier ist gut.

And the teams are. Beauty and the Baskets, AnH and Army of One

And the winner (with 35pts)... Army of One

26 June 2010, Dumi's last stand....and Uboat sails away

2010-06-26T18:17:00.005+08:00

Game 1
Ones: 1st Rickey, 2nd Jor-el, 3rd Mick, SS C, LF Uboat, CF Sandman, RF Mr Science
Twos: 1st Indiana, 2nd Geok, 3rd Ripken, SS Billy Ripken, LF Mauneau, CF Dumi, RF Sin

Ones 5 : Twos 18 Mercy in the 5th

Game 2
Ones: 1st Indiana, 2nd Jor-el, 3rd Mick, SS C, LF Uboat, CF Sandman, RF Mr Science
Twos: 1st Rickey, 2nd Geok, 3rd Ripken, SS Billy Ripken, LF Mauneau, CF Dumi, RF Sin

Ones 12 : Twos 1 Mercy in the 7th.

Turning point when Rickey was traded after the first game. Rickey's brought such bad mojo to his team that whichever team he was on got mercied.

Only winning player: Indiana
Only player not to score: Rickey
Only player not to win: Rickey

It was Dumi and Uboat's last day on the field and we finally had some good numbers after weeks of short count.

19 June 2010 - Triangle Rule Rules

2010-06-23T08:02:00.002+08:00

Ones: Chris, Mick, Uboat, Horfun, Jor-El
Twos: Cool Papa, Ripken, H, Sin, Generalissimo
All-time Pitcher: Rickey

Short numbers again forced us to invoke the 3 base rule. We left off batting left-handed this time.

Positions are slightly different from a normal diamond. 2 OF roam the lines, LF and RF. There's a 3rd/2nd baseman hugging the 3rd/2nd base, a 1st baseman, and a rover playing behind the pitcher. The Pitcher stands about midway between 1st and 2nd.

Actually, with less than 12, the 3 base rule is quite fun. Playing in a triangle instead of a diamond, you only have one lane to hit... Right up the middle. There's no funky rules for closed fields, no weird baserunning rules and hardly and difficulties for a newcomer to learn. Pretty much hit and run. If bases are loaded, the rover or 3rd baseman can always move over to pitch. No ghostrunners needed.

Definitely a good option for short numbers.

This week, we played with an extra spongey ball. No idea why, but it seemed apt for the game we had. The ball barely made it out of the infield, and it was only when Cool Papa showed that the ball started getting smacked into the outfield.

We've been having an incredible shortage of numbers since Upton left. Also, its summer so most folks are gone on trips. Hopefully we get better numbers this week.

12 June 2010 Playing in a Wet Triangle

2010-06-19T04:31:00.005+08:00

Ones: Mick, Jor-El, Horfun
Twos: Ripken, Rafiq, Cool Papa (substituted by DT in the 7th)

All time: 1st Generalissimo, Pitcher: DT (substituted by Cool Papa in the 7th)

Rules: 3 bases, 1st, 2nd, home. Bat lefty.

Ones: 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0
Twos: 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4

MBP: Rafiq

We were severely short of numbers this weekend with so many folks out of town or missing. Cool Papa brought his kid, Rafiq, who was only out for BP, but ending up playing. That was how short of numbers we were.

With 8 folks (including Rafiq), we decided to remove one base entirely, and play in a triangle instead of a diamond. To mix things up, everyone hit lefty (except Rafiq). Generalissimo played 1st all time as he had taken a cortisone short to the shoulder the day before and could not lift his arm.

For 6 innings (top/bottom), DT pitched a shutout game, with most hits going back to him for a 1-3 out. Never have we seen so many pitcher assisted outs. Mick led off the scoring with a E1 single-turned HR. Mick was trying to take extra bases on his hit, and Cool Papa'ss throw to 2nd took a bad hop and struck DT's knee and bounced wild. Mick proceeded to take home.

The Twos answered back immediately in the next inning. Rafiq who's OBP was 1.000, was on 1st when Ripken smacked a liner into centerfield (well, since we were playing in a triangle, all hits were to centerfield anyway). He ran home to score the tying run.

It was in the 6th when Mick broke out the big left hand bat and struck a grandslam HR (in this case, 3RBI instead of 4) for the ONEs to take a 4-1 lead. The score pretty much stayed the same till the bottom of the 9th.

Last chance for the TWOs and they put on their rally hats. A string of singles started bringing in runs with no one getting out. With 2 down and the score tied, Rafiq came up to bat with Ripken at 2nd, DT at 1st. Rafiq, exhausted as he was (1hr BP before the game... plus he's only 9), struck a well hit ball into the gap in centerfield. Ripken ran in to score... Walkoff!!!! The Twos Win...

1 June 2010

2010-06-10T00:52:00.001+08:00

The Saturdaysoftball crew made a trip out to Sarawak to partake in the Iban Rice Wine Festival.

Click This Link for commentary and photos from the trip.

10 April 2010 - Cocktails at Joes

2010-04-16T06:05:00.005+08:00

Chilling at Joes post-ball

Uboat

Profile shot of Dumi

Joe pouring the half-yard (while the bartender for the night looks on)

The half-Yard... Only half for senior citizens.

Upton finishes the half-Yard

Upton and the LOD Jersey

27 March 2010 - More Pictures

2010-04-15T09:44:00.006+08:00

Sin

Big Dick

Bumblebee

Johnny Upton

Ripken

Uboat

Geok

Rugburn

Cool Papa (I seem to be blessed to take photos of him striking out)

Mauneau & ChanoPark

Geok hitting Rickey

Horfun hitting Ziegler

Rickey hitting Ziegler

Jor-El hitting Rickey

Slap Hands

Cool Papa down

Getting ready for the team shot

27 Mar 2010 - And then there were twenty

2010-03-27T22:10:00.003+08:00

On the Fence (L to R) : Indiana, The Mick
Standing (L to R) : Horfun, Ripken, Rugburn, Rickey, Jor-El, HiTea, Uboat, H, Geok
Knees (L to R) : Mauneau aka VoodooChild, Bumblebee, Sin, Ziegler, Johnny Upton, Dumi, Big Dick, Cool Papa
Sitting : ChanoPark

20 March 2010

2010-03-26T07:51:00.004+08:00

Ones: 2nd Jor-el, 3rd Ripken, LF Rugburn, CF H, RF Ziegler
Twos: 2nd Horfun, 3rd Sin, LF Mick, CF Voodoo, RF Uboat
All-time: 1st Rickey, SS DT
Spectators: Indiana, Geok

Final Score Ones 23 : Twos 22

The rain must have scared away most of our numbers, cos we only had 12. At least it had stopped raining by the time we started. If February was the driest month, March might be the wettest. Even with the rain, the ground was still nice and even from the intense heat of Feb. The rain only served to moisten the top layer of grass, making the ball slick. Combined with the hard earth underneath, it was like playing tennis on a grass court. The ball would bounce and take off at high speeds.

Short of numbers meant 2 guys played all-time defense, with 5 per team batting. Rugburn put up one of his classic homerun shows. Drilling them into the gaps between the outfielders. It was a case of hit and run home for both teams as they combined for a total of 43 runs in 9 innings.

Its not that our defense has gotten worse, its just that our bats have gotten bigger. Everyone hits, and hits well now, so short of an ground ball to the infield or a fly ball directly to an outfielder, batters are getting on base, and scoring. We really need to take part in another tournament to guage our progess. Frankly, I haven't seen so many good bats at the same time in one generation of saturday softballers.

No box score this week as I stayed in the field and wasn't able to take notes.

On to next week

13 March 2010

2010-03-14T07:51:00.000+08:00

Ones: 1st Upton, 2nd Geok, 3rd Rugburn, SS Indiana, LF Voodoo, CF Dumi, RF Bumblebee
Twos: 1st Uboat, 2nd Jor-El, 3rd DT, SS Ripken, LF Mick, CF H, RF ChanoPark

Box Score:
Ones 6 2 1 4 5 4 0 1 2
Twos 8 1 5 6 1 6 0 0 x

Final Score
Ones 25 : Twos 26

6 March 2010 - Hot, Dry and Dusty

2010-03-09T07:46:00.007+08:00

Roster
Ones: Pitch ChanoPark, Catch Uboat, 1st Ziegler, 2nd Jor-El, 3rd Mick, SS Chris, LF Shane/Voodoo,CF Dumi, CF JC, RF Matt
Twos: Pitch Rickey, Catch HiTea, 1st Upton, 2nd Geok, 3rd Indiana, SS Ripken, LF Rugburn, CF Bumblebee, CF Cool Papa, RF H/Sin

Box Score
Twos: 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1
Ones: 3 1 2 3 2 1 0 0 X

Final Score
Ones 12 : Twos 6

Highlights
Top 1: Chris-Ziegler 6-3 dp
Bot 1: Ziegler long solo HR into left-center-field
Bot 1: Rickey gets unassisted dp at first
Top 2: Chris-Ziegler-Mick, 6-3-5 dp, force out at 1st, and bullet throw from Z to mick to tag Geok running into 3rd.
Top 4: ChanoPark steps in to replace Uboat on the mound. Proceeds to pitch 5 & 2/3 shutout innings before allowing a HR to rugburn in the top of the 9th.
Bot 5: uboat 2RBI HR, 'ohshit' moment over Bumblebee
Top 6: JC-Chris-Uboat relay to beat Rugburn's monster hit to homeplate.
Top 9: Rugburn finally gets his monster HR.

Another week of no rain meant the field was dry and dusty. I was half-expecting to see tumbleweeds drift across our outfield. We seriously need a little rain, not too much, maybe a Wednesday or Thursday downpour to moisten the ground.

Upton did it again. He brought another new body to the field. He is amazing. If we could give an MVP for recruiting, it would go to Upton. It's going to be just awful to lose him in May. We definitely need to start planning his farewell party. We have to reinstate the Yard rule, just for him.

We numbered 22 by the 2nd inning, so both teams played with a rover, pitched and caught, and had to sit one out every inning. I honestly don't remember the last time we had such consistent numbers so many weeks in a row. I'm not complaining, its fantastic.

No rain does mean the field is properly hard, and tamped into a nice flat surface with an even bounce. Infield work meant a quick predictable hop into the glove with plenty of time for the throw, but the outfield had to work harder as the ball would take off like a bullet when it hit the ground.

Like the last 2 weeks, lots of double plays from both infields. The quick ground allowed plays to be turned fast and nary a ground ball made it out into the outfield. ChanoPark dominated the Twos from the mound, and from the moment he stepped in for Uboat to the long homerun from Rugburn in the 9th, he did not allow a single run. That's 5 shutout innings. For Saturdaysoftball, that's no mean feat. Worthy of an MBP award. No doubt his defense tightened around him, but his wiry pitches induced many a groundball and infield flyball.

It was the textbook relay in the 6th that sealed ChanoPark's victory. Rugburn hit a liner into right centerfield that took off like a bullet. It should have been a homerun, but somehow JC snatched the ball before it could get behind him. Fired a bullet to Chris who relayed it to Uboat at home to tag Rugburn out. It was textbook and perfectly executed, and morale-sucking for the other team. Rugburn had no chance. He did finally redeem himself with an even more monsterous hit in the 9th, same spot, but further. JC had no chance to get the ball this time.

Another great game. Looking forward to next week.

Game 2
Ones: 2 3 1
Twos: 2 0 4

Final Score
Ones 6 : Twos 6 (Tie game, 3 innings)

27 Feb 2010

2010-03-05T07:57:00.005+08:00

Roster
Ones: Pitch Ziegler, Catch HiTea 1st Upton, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Rickey, SS DT, LF Rugburn, CF Dumi/H, RF HiTea/Dumi
Twos: Catch Geok, 1st Uboat, 2nd Ling, 3rd Indiana, SS Ripken, LF Shane, CF Bumblebee, RF Geok/JC

Box Score
Twos: 4 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 0
Ones: 0 0 0 6 0 0 3 2 1

Final Score
Ones 12 : Twos 11

Highlights
Top 4 - Chris-Upton 6-3 DP
Bot 4 - 3 back-to-back-to-back 2 RBI HRs, reminds me of the 'score from home' games we had to play not that long ago.
Bot 5 - Rugburn-Ripken-Uboat, 1-6-3 DP
Bot 7 - 2RBI HR between Bumblebee's legs
Top 8 - Ziegler unassisted DP at 1st
Bot 9 - Chris opposite field walkoff single to score Horfun from 1st

It looks like 2010 is starting out better than we've had in years. We're getting better than average numbers, with a high level of quality play and nice (albeit hot) weather and hard, even ground. Upton has definitely contributed to this with his strong recruiting. We will certainly be very sad to see him go when his term is up. Hopefully the guys he's managed to rope into our little weekend game will stay and play even when he's gone.

It was another week of strong comebacks and flashy glovework. Many a doubleplay was turned, including an unassisted DP from Ziegler. He caught an opposite field liner and pounced on 1st to get the leading runner out. It was a magnificent play, considering that the guy just recovered from knee surgery.

The Twos took an almost unassailable 10 run lead going into middle of the 4th, many a 'mercy' whisper was heard and we were even figuring out who to trade to make the teams even. Little did anyone expect the 3 HRs and 6 runs that were to follow. 6 batters came up and 6 batter scored from 3 2rbi HRs. It was almost like our 'score-from-home' games, not too long ago, were being put into practice.

With the lead whittled down. The Ones tightened up their defense and opened up their offense. An unheardof 0 runs were scored in the 5th, and it looked like the beginning of the end for the Twos when the Ones scored another 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th thanks to a rare E8 from Bumblebee. The One finally pulled even going into the top of the 9th, 11 runs apiece. Three innings of solid defense ensured that the Twos could not get back on board. Heading into the bottom of the 9th holding a tie score, Horfun led off to get on base. Chris then hit a perfectly placed opposite field single (kudos to H for that inspiration from previous week) that scored Horfun for the walkoff victory.

As it was still early (who'd have thought we could finish our first game by 5pm), we decided to go another 3 innings. That was a huge mistake as the sun had practically worn our energy levels to 0. We played on nonetheless, but decided to call it a game after 3 innings and a tied score.

Interestingly enough. Game 2 seemed to be a mirror of Game 1. The Twos took an early lead in the first 2 innings, finally leading 6-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. It was the Ones who came back from a 6 run deficit to tie the game before the end.

Is it wrong to pray for a little rain? Maybe on Thursday or Friday. Just a little mind you, not a lot. Just enough to moisten the ground, not enough to make it muddy.

For those interested, it seems that Febuary 2010 has been the driest month in 140 years.

Second Game
Ones 6 : Twos 6 - Tie 3 innings

Some old team photos

2010-02-26T12:44:00.003+08:00

I saw these on Joyce's facebook, and I asked her to send them to me.

I think this was from 2000 or 2001

Front (from left): The-one-who-cleated-Rube, My cousin Jo, Chris, VRman, Mr Slow, Latinis, DY (of DY-would've-got-that fame), Grandpa
Standing (from left): Indiana, The Generalissimo, some folks from NTU, Hassie (in A's Hat), Linda, Some random dude, Guppy, TohHean, Coach(hidden in the back), Sandman, Windmill, Rickey, Rube, Mr Furious, Irish, some other random dude.

This was 2006 or 2007, I think it was when Rickey was on sabbatical
Front (from left): Jason and Diana, Scooterboy, Cool Papa, Clement, Horfun
Standing (from left): Geok, H, The Generalissimo, Indiana, Mick, Superdad, Jeremy, Irish, Bert, Rube

20 Feb 2010 - Tish vs Farts

2010-02-23T08:04:00.006+08:00

Lineup
Tish - 1st Upton, 2nd Chano, 3rd Indiana, SS Ripken, LF Shane, CF VoodooChild, CF John, RF JC
Farts - Catch Rickey, 1st Ziegler, 2nd Jor-el, 3rd Rickey/Sandman, SS DT, LF Uboat, CF H, CF Horfun, RF Geok.

Box Score
Tish: 0 10 0 2 2 1 2 3 2
Farts: 2 0 6 7 5 0 0 3 X

Final Score
Tish 22 : Farts 23

Highlights
Top 1: Jor-El to DT to Upton 4-6-3DP
Bot 3: Uboat Grandslam into deep left field
Bot 7: Chano to Ripken to Upton 4-6-3DP
Bot 8: H 3RBI opposite field linedrive HR
Bot 8: Ripken to Upton 6-3 DP

It was a very good day. Clouds were out to filter the sun, field was dry but not overly hard. Numbers did look iffy at 3pm. We did a mental count and it seemed that we only had 10 (Rugburn, Mick, Bumblebee out of town, Ripken banned from playing - ARI rules, Dumi and Sin celebrating CNY.... etc). But as usual, we showed our faith by lacing up and taking the field, and the baseball gods rewarded us with a fantastic turnout.

Thanks to Upton and his inspired recruiting (We haven't seen such wonderful recruiting since Ferrell and Coach). He managed to get almost his entire Tish faculty out for some fun in the sun. We decided to do a Tish vs SAS friendly with a couple of additions from the SAS side. We should have done Film vs Others, but if we had swapped out Voodoo+Indiana for Rickey+Jor-el, the teams might have been a little too lopsided.

As it was, the teams were fairly even, leaning slightly towards the Tish team. With Voodoo's big bat to buffer them. The put up 10 runs in the 2nd to take a monster 10-2 lead. As usual with SAS tournaments and friendlies, the home team did not give up, and came back strong, scoring 18 runs while allowing 4 in the next 3 innings.

Uboat led the charge pulling a bases-clearing grandslam into deep left field. Even Rickey got in on the action, hitting a solo HR that was not charged for fielder's indifference.

The visitors did not let up though. They hammered our centerfield mercilessly, plopping hit after hit into the space between 2nd base and CF. Too deep for the infield to get to, and too short for H (even at full speed). They advanced on every hit and scored from 2nd at every opportunity, closing up the game to a tie by the middle of the 8th. These Tish guys may not be SAS regulars (yet), but they sure showed the SAS spirit.

It was H's bat and DT's glove that finally broke them down. H (continuing her dominance from last week) lined a beautiful opposite field hit straight down the 3rd baseline, past the left-fielder to bring in 3 runs to allow the home team to take a meager 23-20 lead going into the top of the 9th. It was just enough. The visitors then ran into the wall (usually a gappy fence) that was DT's glove who got all 3 outs to secure the final victory.

We definitely need more games (and numbers like this). Here's looking forward to next week.

13 Feb 2010 - Last day of the Year of the Ox

2010-02-13T17:37:00.002+08:00

Ones: 1st Ziegler, 2nd Jor-el, 3rd Indiana, SS DT, LF Mick, CF H, RF Geok
Twos: 1st Rickey, 2nd Horfun/Uboat, 3rd Generalissimo, SS DT, LF Ripken, CF VoodooChild, RF Uboat/Horfun

Box Score
Twos: 0 0 0 1 4 1 1 1
Ones: 10 2 4 2 3 1 4 3

Final Score Ones 29 : Twos 8

The weather was way too hot, the ground was way too hard and the ball was way too live. 3pm first pitch and we almost made it. Thanks to everyone who got there in time. First pitch was at 3:15, but it was close. We need to try to do this every week. 3pm first pitch.

The teams looked quite even when Rickey counted off. Who knew the awesomeness that is H would display her majestic bat on the last day of the ox year. H was unstoppable. She hit for a thousand, with 5 HRs, 8 runs and uncountable RBIs. She hit line drives down the right field line, down the left field line. She smacked deep fly balls over the rightfielder's head. Her bat breathed fire, and her feat ran rings around the bases.

On paper, the Twos looked like they had the edge, with a more powerful albeit slower lineup. Who'd have predicted the Ones taking a 10 run lead in the bottom of the 1st. We should have mercyed, but the Twos decided to play on. VoodooChild was traded for Ziegler after the end of the 2nd when the Ones tacked on another 2 runs. Even with the swap, the Twos didn't put a run on the board till the 4th.

H pretty much led off almost every inning, and scored every time. She definitely burned her calories in lieu of CNY feasting. The Twos were unstoppable, piling on the runs. They had their tactics right. The ground was hard, and the ball was live. Instead of pounding deep fly balls, they drove the ball into the ground and let the errors get them on base.

The Twos did managed to get some baby steps into the fray with 4 runs in the 5th, but it was the last time they managed to string together any hits. They were entirely shut down and shut out. The Mick put the nail into the coffin with a final HR in the bottom of the 8th, making the final score 29-8, for a double-mercy victory for the Ones.

Horfun got taken out again, this time at home, by her own team. A perfect relay to Horfun to tag Rickey out at home. Rickey smacked Horfun's glove so hard that she was flung onto the ground, landing on her backside. It was an awful play. The ball dropped out, and technically Rickey scored the run, but no one was going to argue that call. He was out on the tag. Horfun seems to be getting the short end of the straw week after week with the big boys just steamrolling her over. Guys, the woman's got a black belt in taekwondo. You don't want to mess with her.

MBP: H - 8 runs, 5 HRs, 10+ RBI

6 Feb 2010

2010-02-10T07:28:00.002+08:00

Ones: 1st Rickey, 2nd Horfun, 3rd DT, SS Ripken, LF Mick, CF H, RF Sin
Twos: 1st Generalissimo/Uboat, 2nd Jor-El, 3rd Uboat/Generalissimo, SS Rugburn, LF VoodooChild, CF Bumblebee, RF Dumi

Box Score

ONES: 0 2 2 6 1 4 3 2 3
TWOS: 0 0 2 8 4 4 0 3 0

Final score: Ones 23 : Twos 21

What a game. Considering that the Twos looked much stronger than the Ones, the score was much closer that it should have been. It was a see-saw battle with both teams fighting hard to take and hold a lead (and failing miserably in the next inning). One might assume that it was an offensive battle since the final score was so high, but it was also tight defense and superb glovework that won the day.

The Ones pulled ahead with an early lead going into the 3rd. At the top of the 4th, it seemed like everything was gelling for the them as they drove in 6 runs to take a 10-2 lead. But it was not to be. No sooner as the teams switched sides, the Twos pounded back 8 runs to tie the game. This set the precedent for the rest of the game as the lead swung to and fro between the Ones and the Twos.

If the Ones scored at the top of the inning, the Twos would answer back in full. If the Twos took the lead, the Ones would swipe it back. It wasn't till the 9th when the Ones finally managed take and hold a 2 run lead for the victory.

Notable mentions. Dumi showed not only his bat, but also his leg speed. Extending many a double into a triple (although his first attempt was foiled one of the best relays in SAS history... more on that later). Ripken hit probably the furthest homerun of his career, deep, deep, deep into right centerfield between H and Sin. Who'd have seen that one coming.

It was as much of a defensive game as an offensive one. No surprises that there were many defensive lapses (this is saturdaysoftball after all), but there were more than a few brilliant plays.

Play of the day belongs to the relay from H to Ripken to DT at 3rd to tag Dumi out. His first at bat, Dumi smacked a liner into left centerfield. He was easily safe at 2nd, but decided to stretch the hit into a triple. H got to the ball, relayed to Ripken at short, who fired a pinpoint missile into DT's glove for the quick tag. Dumi had no chance.

Horfun was sorely (no pun) tested at 2nd as well. Both times on forced-plays at 2. DT fielded the ball and threw for the force out to Horfun. First Jor-El, in an entirely unsupermanfatheresque move bulldozed into Horfun, smashing her into the ground. In the next inning, in an almost identical play, DT threw to horfun, but this time, it was bumblebee, sliding into the bag and sweeping Horfun off her feet (with her landing on his back.)

Gold Glove belonged to the Mick in Leftfield. He was running down everything. No ball in leftfield landed on the ground.

Jack turns One

2010-02-07T20:56:00.013+08:00

Little Jack Ezra Daly

The Chaos that is a kids party

"The Winner"

One cake for the kids, one cake for the adults. (The adult cake was 'magic')

Happy Birthday to you....

Chano jr, Tekken Queen, Upton Jr

Jack is not impressed

Jack and his daddy.

Ripken acting all grown up

"You don't have no ice cream!
You didn't get none ! You didn't get none !
'cos you are on the welfare, you can't afford it, you can't afford it"

"I have some ice cream, I have some ice cream,
and I'm gonna eat it all, I'm gonna eat it all..."

"You want some of my ice cream?"

"Psych...

"I'm gonna eat it all.
I'm gonna eat... all... of... my... ice cream.
You cannot have some, you cannot..."

Time to open the gifts.... Jack still not impressed

The best present is the one that's not wrapped.

Jack's ready to shoot some hoops, but we need an MIT trained engineer to open and put together this toy. Oxford Phd Fail

Presenting the Nikoon D95

Present Fail.

Mommy with the Nikoon D95

CHERIOS!!!.. Best..... Gift..... Ever!!!!!

Yeah, That looks like a week's supply for lil Jack.

Uncle Boat gets caught trying to nip one of the gifts.

Really tough to impress this kid.

"Where's my drumset?"

Uncle Ripken trying his 3 pointer (he missed btw)

Mr and Mrs Marvelous

2010-02-02T08:10:00.005+08:00

More picts and writeup on the trip on my travelblog Chriswalks

30 Jan 2010

2010-01-31T20:05:00.000+08:00

Rugburn, Upton, British John (High Tea): 11

Mick, Jor-el, Charno: 10

Uboat, Indiana, Burma Girl: 2 (I think)

4 innings each. Mick et al were up 6-2-1 when Rugburn et al had a blazing 10 runs innings thanks to some outfield hits and not enough hustle in the infield in getting the ball to home. Upton ran like the real Rickey. Mick et al came back with a 4 run innings, but Jor-el tried to hit over Rugburn’s head in outfield and was caught to end the game. Needed the pole.

Jor-El

23 January 2010

2010-01-24T04:58:00.003+08:00

Ones: Rickey, Big Dick, Sin, Dumi, Rugburn, Bumblebee
Twos: Mick, UBoat, Jor-el, H, Ripken, Upton
All-time: Horfun, DT

Final Score: Ones 18 : Twos 11

First 'real' game of the year. Just enough people to play a proper game. Horfun was playing with an injured foot, and Uboat passed out in the 7th. Not the best start to the year.

16 January 2010

2010-01-17T04:56:00.004+08:00

Ones: Bumblebee and Dumi
Twos: H and Uboat
Threes: Jor-El and Rugburn

All-time: Rickey and DT

Special Rules: Score from Home

Final score: Ones 2: Twos 7: Threes 10

Classic Moments:

Rugburn went for the pole twice, and Jor-El once. One might say, the Threes liked stroking the pole very much.

The Twos launched a major comeback in the bottom of the 9th. Scoring 6 runs to take 2nd place. They were so close to overtaking the Threes for the lead, but the defence finally kicked in and shut them down.

Upton Returns from the minors

2010-01-14T06:22:00.001+08:00

After a short return to the minors for rehab, Upton has returned to
Singapore, healthy and ready to play his game..his way.
Old time hockey! Dit Clapper! Toe Blake!...wait a minute, this is
softball! Okay, he's ready for that too!

9 January 2010

2010-01-10T04:57:00.001+08:00

Players: H, Sin, Marc, Boat, Ripken, Rugburn, Marcus, Bumblebee, Angmoh Jason, Horfun

3 teams of 2, 2 all time. Lineup was switched around.

Special Rules: Score from Home

Final score: No one seems to recall.

January 2, 2010 - Breaking in the New Year... with a Tie

2010-01-07T08:13:00.005+08:00

What a fantastic way to start the New Year. The weather was lovely, the ground was (relatively) good, and thanks to Weixiong, the numbers were superb.

Weixiong, a SAS alumni, brought his NTU hall 7 team down for a friendly against the crew. We haven't had a proper scrimmage in ages, and it showed. Our defense was sorely lacking, lots of unforced errors and lack of hustle on fly balls cost us the win. Our bats did well to prevent the loss, but this was one game that we could've won.

Serious games are when we're supposed to shine. Having won many a tournament and friendly game, this tie-game should serve as a wake-up call that we should not get complacent. If Coach were on the field, he'd have our heads. Our fundamentals were rusty and glove-work sloppy.

No doubt the 7s did very well. By far, they were one of the best teams SAS has ever faced. They had a good pitcher, strong bats and a well-oiled defense. They were also young, fast and aggressive on the base paths. No credit should be taken away from this team. Their aggression gave them the runs they needed and our lapses didn't help. We definitely need some games back in to hone our glovework. No gold gloves this week.

Rickey pitched an Cy-Youngesque game for SAS. He was hitting the strike zone with ease and working the plate. I've not seen so many whiffs in slowpitch softball. If we had played tournament rules with a strike-plate, he would have definitely gotten more outs, and he would have had several inverted-Ks in his pocket. Needless to say his 15+ ERA is no reflection on the game he pitched as many a ball should have been caught.

Biggest bat of the day belonged to the 7s shortstop. He hit a monster 2 RBI HR deep into left field in the 3rd.
Nothing we could've done about that one. We elected to walk him the next 2 times he was up at bat, and then ask for a urine sample. All props to the guy for joining in on the joke. Good man.

Best bat though, belonged to Marc (With a C not a K... that might be his nickname). He hit for 1.000. Pity he did not hit leadoff, as he put Bumblebee to shame. Bumblebee ledoff but had an OBP like Granderson, 0.200. Sin did not do too well in the number 2 spot as well. Seems he smacked his quota of HRs for 2009 AND 2010 in that pre-christmas game. Poor Mick connected solidly with the ball, but the 7s LF had his number, making the type of running-shoe-string-catches that only the young and extremely agile can pull off.

All things considered, it was a really close game. The 7s started the scoring with 2 runs in the first. Quickly answered by 4 runs by SAS. Top 3 saw the double 2RBI HRs from the 7s, and we immediately replied to tie the game back. We managed pull slightly ahead in the bottom of the 4th with a one run lead but that was soon displaced when the 7s had a monster 7 run inning.

14-8 was the score when we went into the bottom of the 5th. Somehow, we dug deep, and I mean real deep, and strung together a series of hits to produce 6 runs to even the score again. You could hear the sighs of relief when we tied up. The 6th inning saw both teams eek out a single run each, and 2 each in the 7th to bring the game to an end.

Before the 7th inning, both team captains had agreed to end the game even if the score was tied. And so it was to be. Overall, it was a good ending to a tough game. And a great way to welcome in the New Year.

NTU Hall Seven 17 : SAS 17

Box Score
7s 0 2 4 1 7 1 2
SAS 0 4 2 2 6 1 2

Lineup
Rickey, Mar(with a C not K), Horfun, Jor-El, Mick, DT, Uboat, Bumblebee, Sin, Ripken, H, Big Dick

Photos here, all credits to Horfun
Click on this to see photos

26 December 2009 - Christmas Break

2009-12-24T09:37:00.001+08:00

Folks, We break for Christmas.

Next game Jan 2, 2010.

We need to kick off the New Year with a great game.

19 Dec 2009 - Fucking Rain

2009-12-19T13:47:00.001+08:00

The weather outside is frightful.
Last week was so delightful.
This assfucking rain screwed the show
screwed the show, screwed the show, screwed the show.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Its these cards, and the movies and the pop songs, they're to blame
for all the lies, and the heartache...everything.

12 December 2009 - Score from Home

2009-12-12T04:28:00.000+08:00

Ones - Horfun and Voodoo Child
Twos - Jor-el and Sin, (first inning Uboat and Jor-el)
Threes - H and Marcus, (first inning Sin and H)
All-time - DT and Uboat (2nd/3rd inning)

Ones 8 : Twos 15 : Threes 5

Homeruns - Sin 6, VoodooChild 4, H 2, Uboat 2 (first inning), Marcus 1.

Twas two weeks before Christmas and no one's around
an empty diamond, no game to be found
Where were the players that once graced our game
'Gone for the hols', most said the same
But where were the rest, we knew we had more
pinkeye and baseball, excuses galore

The faithful had gathered on this bright sunny day
Only 7 people, were ready to play
But play-on we did, we held ourselves proud
not like the missing baseball crowd
'How do we do this?', our questions abound
'Score from Home', was the game-changing sound

We counted off numbers, three teams of two
How do we score? None had a clue
The strategy was simple, no mucking about
if you don't score, you're automatically out
Homeruns aplenty, our best hitter was Sin
6 big hits, amazingly all fell in

Boat almost suffered an asthmatic attack
when he rounded the bases, twice going back to back
"If you die you lose" was the impartial call
As everyone seemed almost ready to fall
Ian made it home 4 times from first
I swear I heard his feet mumble a curse

Even Horfun got in on the run-scoring action
I hear next day, her back needed traction
H hit 2 homeruns, her legs were soon tired
Marcus hit 1 before his batteries expired
Voodoo hit 4, we thought he'd hit more
but the outfield played deep, to hold off the score.

We finally ended, 3 long innings we played
these few, these proud, these brave who stayed
28 runs, 3 innings this week
Saturday softball is not for the meek
So as 2009 sees her twilight
we wish you all Merry Christmas and good night

5 December 2009 - Too wet to play, hit the lanes instead

2009-12-07T12:55:00.003+08:00

The storm started earlier than last week, and we could not achieve
critical mass to start the game before we lost visibility of the
towers (the true test of rain intensity). So the game was called,
texts were sent out, a message left with Joe (for stragglers with no
phones) and we headed over to our alternate haunt for some saturday
bowling instead.

Bowling lineup was shirts vs noshirts. In this case, LOD baseball
shirts - Rickey, Mick and Boat vs DT, Superdad, H and horfun. Noshirts
won all 3 games, by total and by average. There was hardly any contest
even with some stellar frames from the shirts. The no-shirts
dominated. Even when horfun (who had carried the team in game 2) bowed
out, no-shirts still took game 3 with a resounding victory.

Next week might be the last official game of 2009, we will still show
up to get in some batting practice and fielding work, but it looks
like too many folks flying off from the 13th till 2010. That said,
let's make the coming weekend's game one to remember.

See ya'll in the diamond.

--
Sent from my mobile device

LOD Golf - 20 December 2008

2009-12-05T06:37:00.015+08:00

We don't just play softball and bowl. Some folks golf, play video games and even play music. The Saturdaysoftball crew is a multi-talented bunch (There are some who are even REAL doctors.)

The LOD crew hit the links.

Check out Rugburn's sweet swing. Not just for hitting Homeruns.

So who's ball was closest to the hole?

H... Enigma. Hits a softball left, hits a golfball right. (insert swings both ways joke here... and then prepare to DIE...)

Mick, doing a Tiger woods impersonation. Now will he cheat on his wife?

Superdad, showing he has control as well as power.

I call that the caddyshack view.

Misc Bowling Picts

2009-12-04T07:36:00.004+08:00

For the Record...

Redneck Bowling

Lords of Death Fantasy Baseball 09

2009-12-03T02:56:00.000+08:00

28 November 2009 - Wet and Wet and Wet and Wild

2009-12-03T02:30:00.008+08:00

St ONEs: 1st Jupton, 2nd Jor-El, 3rd DT, SS Ripken, OF Bumblebee, Mike, John, Superdad
TWOs: 1st H, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Rickey, SS Mick, OF Boat, Rugburn, Chano, Matt

ONEs 6: TWOs 9

I honestly don't remember the last time we played in the rain. And when I say rain, I don't mean the dinky showers that occasionally choose to ruin Saturday. I mean full-downpour, can't see the clock tower, lightning and thunder, warning-bell, category 1 storm. IT WAS AWESOME. The rain was so heavy, the ball barely left the infield. The rain was so heavy, several folks chose not to wear shoes. The rain was so heavy if you dug in to the batters box, you couldn't dig yourself out. The rain was so heavy, there were more nipples slipping than people sliding. IT WAS AWESOME.

The best part of playing in the torrential downpour that passes for rain (and yes, it was a freak rain that only happens once every 50 years... or so say the overpaid multimillion $$$ so-called minister/dictator) was that everyone played and everyone stayed. No one pussied out, no one 'called the game off' for bad weather. No one ran to the shelter. No one went to Joes till the game was done and the last out was recorded. There was a tarp, but no one hid beneath it. It was only used to cover our bags to keep our other stuff dry. Meanwhile, the balls were out on the field (And I say that with all meanings of the word).

9 innings we played, 6 innings in the storm, 9 innings in the mud, and the lightning warning only stopped blaring to signal that we had started the top of the 9th. 9 innings we sloshed, slid, dived, hit, threw and caught just like we were playing game 7 of the world series in Yankee Stadium. It was like we had achieved a zen-like state. It was raining, but there was no rain, there was no mud, there was only Saturday Softball.

14 November 2009 - Mudbath

2009-11-17T05:06:00.002+08:00

ONES: 1st Johnny Upton, 2nd Jor-El, 3rd Rugburn, LF Uboat, CF Rube, RF Chano
TWOS: 1st Horfun, 2nd Rickey, 3rd Ripken, LF Mick, CF Superdad, RF Bumblebee
alltime SS: DT

ONEs 15 : TWOs 28 (5 innings)

Too much rain over the week meant the field was half-mud, half-water. Usual field was closed so we used the soccer field instead. NUS finally did something smart and properly closed the upper field. They actually put REAL banners that could not be removed so no soccer idiots would use the field and ruin it. In the long run, this would be much better than the annual shitlaying that NUS used to do every November/December.

On paper, the teams looked pretty even, but paper doesn't play softball. The TWOs bat's were on fire and the combination of soggy ground and the live ball did not help the ONEs. The Mick had 8 at-bats, and hit 7 homeruns, scoring more than a dozen RBIs. The ball just leapt off the bat and got stuck in the mud. It was a demon to play and predict the flight and bounce. The TWOs had some great opportunities at bat too, but they failed to capitalise on their power.

It was a massacre with the ONEs leading throughout the game going into the bottom of each inning leading by a mercy score, and the TWOs trying to claw their way back from conceding the game.

Hardly any defensive gems as the ball pretty much slopped into the mud and died. Those that carried went into the gaps. A couple of textbook relays to hold runners (we're actually getting good on these) but nothing noteworthy.

The longest hit of the day belonged to Rugburn. We had set up with LF in the short corner. Any ball landing on the track was an automatic homerun. The Mick had 2 legitimate HRs that way, and Superdad had 1. Rugburn's hit was not a HR though, as it landed foul, but it landed PAST the track, on the grass patch on the other side. By far the longest hit on that particular corner.

31 Oct 2009

2009-11-03T20:15:00.002+08:00

Post-ball’s Saturday activity was Indiana’s birthday party at Soulout, Geok’s brother’s restaurant near Pasir Ris, along Farmway 1. Most of you would think... 'where the hell is that?', to that I’d say 'only 10mins from my home'. It was a fantastic night. Delicious (and wonderfully authentic) Peranakan food, wine, beer and, yes... song.
The karaoke machine saw heavy use from all parties present, including a classic david and goliath face-off between professional singers and the Daly brothers. Who won? The verdict is still out.

Only the Daly’s and the Rugburn’s are missing.

Everyone’s here. Bring on the food!

Cheers!!!

My favourite dish of the night, Ayam Buah Kulak (English translation, Chicken cooked with toxic nuts)

Dinner over, Ripken lays down the first track. A Chinese song no less.

No kidding, he was reading the chinese characters from the screen. We’ve given him grief all through the Philippine trip, but the dude can sing.

Next up, Allan shows what is is what is.

The Daly boys take up the challenge.

The expression on Boat’s face pretty much summed up the night.

Challenge accepted. Allan and Ripken combine forces to take on the Daly’s.

How old is Indiana one might ask. Well, 2 cakes were needed to put all the candles.

The Birthday (err) Boy.

He’ll huff and he’ll puff, and he’ll huff and he’ll puff, and he’ll huff and he’ll puff....

It's 09 and I haven't updated

2009-10-31T04:45:00.001+08:00

Gosh. update fail.

Not Dead

2008-12-22T07:33:00.003+08:00

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

Red Cowboy at his Ranch

2008-06-10T07:07:00.001+08:00

Missing

2008-06-10T02:05:00.003+08:00

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.

Lack of Updates

2008-05-27T00:38:00.002+08:00

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

Lords of Death Celebrate Communist Holiday

2008-05-01T22:41:00.001+08:00

He can dress as badly as he wants cos SuperMom is not in town.

Notice his outfit matches the house shoes.

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.

Astons - Cheap and Good

2008-04-16T01:36:00.002+08:00

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

12 April 2008 - Wet and Wild

2008-04-16T01:26:00.003+08:00

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

Baseball Without Steriods

2008-03-22T06:57:00.001+08:00

Our Man Phil

2008-03-18T06:07:00.004+08:00

Phil Dumatrait(pronounced "doo-MAH-tray")

Dumatrait was drafted in the first round by the Boston Red Sox in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft.

On July 30, 2003, Boston traded Dumatrait, Tyler Pelland, and cash to the Cincinnati Reds for Scott Williamson.

Dumatrait made his Major League debut in 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds. On September 9, 2007, Dumatrait made his shortest Major League appearance, giving up four runs on five hits to the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning (including three consecutive home runs by Rickie Weeks, J. J. Hardy, and Ryan Braun to start the game). Dumatrait surrendered the mound to pitcher Tom Shearn without recording an out.

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."

15 March 2008 - Pictures

2008-03-18T02:23:00.009+08:00

Click the Above picture for the FULL-SIZE.

15 March - Night Riders

2008-03-16T09:51:00.006+08:00

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

A picture speaks a thousand words.

2008-03-11T04:48:00.001+08:00

8 March 2008 - Santini's Kryptonite

2008-03-09T04:15:00.000+08:00

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)

1 MAR 2008 - Day of the Dead

2008-03-02T05:14:00.000+08:00

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

23 Feb 2008 - The Great Santini

2008-02-24T18:07:00.004+08:00

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)

16 Feb 2008 - Its a hard knock life

2008-02-18T02:09:00.002+08:00

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!'

02 Feb 2008 - Suckage

2008-02-05T06:10:00.000+08:00

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).

Mick's gets a taste of Horfun extra spicy

2008-01-31T01:19:00.000+08:00

12 Jan 2008 - First REAL game of 2008

2008-01-13T04:33:00.000+08:00

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.

5 Jan 2008 - First game of 2008

2008-01-06T04:32:00.000+08:00

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.

29 Dec 2007 - SAS vs Singapore SEA games Women's Team

2007-12-31T12:30:00.000+08:00

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.

22 Dec 2007 - No Game

2007-12-23T12:28:00.000+08:00

Gaddafi says hello...

2007-12-19T12:15:00.000+08:00

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

15 Dec 2007

2007-12-18T07:50:00.000+08:00

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

TWOs win by a billion trillion to 0.