14 May 2005

ONES:
Pitch: Rickey, Catch: Hassie, 1st: Sean, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Sandman, SS: DT, OF: TH, WeiXiong(formally known as TNG2), TS, Marvelous

TWOS:
Pitch: The Cheetah, Catch: Diana, 1st: Indiana, 2nd: Yogi, 3rd: Aizad, SS: Boo Boo, OF: Rube, Prof Zen, Fei, Grandpa

Game 1: ONES 8 : TWOS 16
Game 2: ONES 7 : TWOS 9



MBP : none
Gold Glove : Rickey (catching all of Hassie's throws)
Biggest Bat : Princess (standup triple down the line, burning Rube)
Best Play : TS hitting a linedrive right INTO the pitcher's(Cheetah) glove
DY play of the day : Yogi (catching a foul pop-up in the stands against his own team)
Bonehead Play : ONES (dropping FOUR balls consecutively in the bottom of the 4th)

MLB All Porn Mustache Team

Click this LINK for the coolest porn mustaches in MLB history

Taking it like a man

This is taking it like a man, standing straight up!


This is well, something for the queer eye show. (btw, it was ONLY 81mph, not even a fastball)

don't cry, daddy's here...

NEWSFLASH - Disabled List

Gunz, much like "The Big Bond" has been put on the DL for an injured knee. Whether this is due to the roids, the alcohol or the body-sacrificing slide into third, we do not yet know, and we dare not speculate. Gunz will be going under the knife to "repair" his torn ACL. And he is put on the DL list indefinitely. If he will come back for the season is anyone's guess. The question is of Gunz breaking the Hank Aaron record is now in serious doubt, and it is no longer a "WHEN", but an "IF" he will break the record anytime soon.
Gunz was not free to comment at this time, but you can read his progress at www.gunz.com

Rube starts hitting on other men.

A picture (or 6) is worth a thousand words.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.

Meat Burnt Over a Charcoal Fire

A couple of Bdays coming up. So a BarBee might be in the works. Either the last week of May or the first week of June

The Rube turns err... a year older (I'm guessing he's finally making it into puberty, but I could be wrong) on the 15th of May

Lil Guppy turns ONE on June 4th... which means he's legally allowed to drink in Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Nigeria, Portugal, Soviet Georgiz, Sweden, Thailand and Vietnam. Woohoo!

Click on the comments below to send your birthday greetings.

Rube wishes to announce that he is broke till payday(on the 18th), so if people want to buy him a drink, he's not too proud to say "No". He also wishes to mention that he is up for hire if anyone needs a part-time engineer. He will NOT do windows.

8 May 2005 - The Importance of Being First

ONES :
Pitch: Prof Zen, Catch: Guppy, 1st: Rube, 2nd: Diana, 3rd: The Generalissimo, SS: The Groin, OF: TH, Grandpa, TNG1, Horfun, Fei, The Cheetah

TWOS :
Pitch: TS/Rickey, Catch: Jason, 1st: Rickey/TS/JoZ, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Sandman, SS: DT, OF: TNG2, TNC, Gunz, JoZ, Cool Papa

Game 1 : ONES 10 : TWOS 9
Game 2 : ONES 0 : TWOS 2 (Game called in the Top of the First due to injury)



It was a great day for softball, with the field moistened by rain the night before and bright Mr. Sun beating down unrelentlessly on everyone. The humidity notwithstanding, the standard of play was atypical of SAS, one moment brilliant and one more absolutely terrible. Much like the daylight cycle. When it got hot, it was very hot, and when it got dark, you were blind.

The TWOs took off to an exciting lead in the first, with Cool Papa forcing a run down between first and second allowing Jason to score. Of course Cool Papa made it safely back to first avoiding all efforts to tag him. The TWOs scored again at the beginning of the 2nd, but a vicious linedrive up the middle by Rube took out the TWOs starting pitcher and they had to send in a middle reliever early in the game. Rube's hard-hit shot careened off TS's well-muscled left pectoral to leave an outstanding bruise, effectively putting him on the DL. Whether it was intentional of not is up for speculation as TS had pitched a no-hitter right up to this point.

Bringing in Rickey from the bullpen saw the ONEs score 2 quick runs to tie the game. The ONEs scored again at the bottom of the third, beating on Rickey as if he were Kevin Brown (we were glad there were no walls around), taking a 4-2 lead. The TWOs rallied back hard at the start of the 5th, scoring 4, with Rickey getting an RBI (more on this later). Not ONE to sit back, they batted in another 2 runs at the bottom of the 6th to even the score again. Best play of the game came from this inning, as TNG2 made a running-over-the-shoulder-almost-impossible catch off Rube's deep fly ball into centerfield. The ball looked like it was gone for a homerun, but TNG2 had some speed on him and ran down the ball for a magnificent catch.

The lead swung towards the TWOs in the top of the 7th, when Rickey made another RBI (more on this later). They did not managed to pad their lead, and lost it again in the bottom of the 8th when the ONEs scored 2 runs to take it back. Rube made the DY play of the day during the top of the 8th, running down a fly ball deep in foul territory and catching it in the imaginary stands. His play was one of the reasons the TWOs could not score that inning.

With the game on the line, the TWOs dug deep and through ANOTHER Rickey RBI (no more of these later), pulled the game back to a tie to go to the bottom of the 9th. With a tired pitcher on the mound, the TWOs defence upped the ante, and the middle infield combined well to get 2 outs at second. The game would go into extra innings.

The TWOs scored first in the extra inning, going into the bottom of the game with a 1 run lead. This was not enough, as the ONEs brought on their big bats, and beat on a tired Rickey like the Yankees beat on Pedro in years gone by. Loading the bases with singles, the ONEs struck! Hitting a gapper-double into right centerfield for 2 runs to score and for the victory.

Game 2 started out much like Game 1, with the TWOs taking the lead early. However, in the first inning, a show of aggressive baserunning led to a game-stopping injury. Gunz, proving that he has legs as well as an arm, took an extra base from first to second, extending himself to third. Rube made the throw to The Generalissimo for the tag, but Gunz had already slid under it. The slide went awry, and Gunz ended up twisting his knee in a bad way. It was a great effort by the Gunz.

Highlights.
The ONEs were plagued by bad hops all day to the shortstop. It might have been a career E day for the Groin. On the other end of the spectrum, the TWOs were plagued by the lack of an experienced first baseman. With TS going under Rube's knife, he switched to first replacing Rickey, and his inexperience at that position showed. He was replaced by JoZ, who was more used to being at the left side of the infield than the right, and many a play was not completed as he did not get to the base on time. It goes to show that first base is not an easy position to play.

The Cheetah got caught in a hot box between 2nd and 3rd (what is up with SAS and hot boxes? This is the third week in a row). He was tagged sliding into third by Sandman. As usual, textbook example of a run down. It really is something you can learn through training, but never do well unless you practice it during a game.

The 2 TNGs and the TNC showed their mettle. Making excellant plays and showing great hustle. They had good at bats, and we hope to see them coming down every week. We do need to get their names though. However, TNG1 made a contraversial play at the bottom of the 1st. After DT tagged out TS at second, and was returning the ball to the pitcher, TNG1 made a run for second, effectively stealing the base. All on the field were shocked as we'd never seen it happen on SAS. In fact, it was so shocking, DT didn't protest until after the next batter had been called out, and after some discussion, the BLUEs called TNG1 back to first.

MBP : none
Gold Glove : none
Biggest Bat : Rickey's 3 predicted RBIs (he didn't even pop it up)
Best Play : TNG2 at the bottom of the 6th
DY play of the day : Rube at the top of the 8th
Bonehead Play : none

Poll Time

Which is Paul's greatest nickname?

a) Pedro
b) Nomar
c) Fubar
d) Money
e) Smooth P
f) Metro
g) Boo Boo
h) Manny

2 May 2005

ONES :
1st: Coach, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Marvelous, SS: Sandman, OF: Jason, TH, Horfun, TNG

TWOS :
1st: Windmill, 2nd: Yogi/Rube, 3rd: Seven/Yogi, SS: Boo Boo, OF: Prof Zen, Rube, Diana, Yogi, Fei

Game 1: ONES 8 : TWOS 7
Game 2: ONES 0 : TWOS 3

MayDay MayDay MayDay

We ARE playing on Monday, 2nd May.
10am.
NUS field.
don't be late.
let's try to start on time for a change.

30 April 2005

ONES :
Pitch: Prof Zen/Sandman/Rube, Catch: TNG1, 1st: Indiana, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Clement, SS: DT, OF: Jason, Grandpa, Sandman, Rube, Marvin, TNG2

TWOS :
Pitch: Cheetah, Catch: Salehin/Yogi, 1st: Coach, 2nd: Yogi/Boo Boo, 3rd: Generalissimo, SS: Boo Boo/Salehin, OF: Diana, Fei, Patrick, TNG3, TH, Cool Papa, Horfun

Game 1: ONES 16 : TWOS 11
Game 2: ONES 15 : TWOS 15 (Game called after tie in extra innings)



It was a sizzling saturday afternoon. The sun shining down on us at full force, threatening to burn our skins with its ferocity. The game play was sizzling as well, with Rube and Clement on a hot streak, one on offence and one on defence.

The ONEs took the field first, taking homefield, but the TWOs pounded on Prof Zen early scoring two runs and getting as many on base. The ONEs struck back at the bottom of the first, hitting on The Cheetah, tying the score at 2 runs. Thus began the pitching duel of the weekend, with Prof Zen facing off against the mighty left arm of The Cheetah, who's control of the strikezone has taken out many a big hitter.
The ONEs were not daunted by the prospect of a left-handed pitcher, and started scoring consistantly every inning. Prof Zen proceeded to shut out the TWOs in the second and third inning, but they managed to score 2 runs in the fourth. But the ONEs had already scored 5 by then, and the inning finished at 5-4 to the ONEs. They scored 3 more in the fifth, and after a 4 run effort by the TWOs in the 6th, they scored another 5 runs in the 6th. Final score ONEs 16, TWOs 11

The second game saw the TWOs coming back with a vengence. Scoring 3 consecutive homeruns and taking a 11-1 lead, threatening a mercy. But the ONEs were not worried, and they produced an enormous rally to take the lead to tie the game at 11 a piece, and even taking the lead the inning after, 13-12. The scoring finally stopped at 15-15 at the bottom of the fifth, and the game went into extra innings to decide the victor. However, at the end of the 10th, no one would score and the game was called, ala ALL-STAR style, as a tie.

Some hightlight plays

Rube does it again! Aggressive baserunning from the Rube at the bottom of the first, saw him getting caught in another hot box, this time between 2nd and 3rd. However, Boo Boo made a booboo and fubbed the throw from the Generalissimo, letting Rube wind past third and attempt to steal home. No one was at home as Salehin was moving forward to backup the rundown. As Rube rounded third, Salehin back-pedalled, and Yogi, backuping up Boo Boo, picked up the ball to fire home. Somehow, Salehin and the ball reached home at the exact same time, and Rube was tagged out by a hair. Brilliant work by Yogi and Salehin to prevent the run.

It was Rube again at the bottom of the 6th, which was the turning point of the game. This time, it was his bat talking, and not his baserunning. With bases loaded, he hits a deep fly ball to Patrick in centerfield. The ball is so deep that all three runners tag up, and take the next base. However, Patrick does not throw the ball in, and DT turns to score from third, Indiana is waved on from second and he proceeds to score as well. Earning Rube a 3 RBI sacfly.

Clement was outstanding at third base, running down and catching foul balls, and making difficult plays off hardhit grounders. DY certainly has some competition coming at him. Who knows, we might change our war cry to "Clement could get that".

Salehin and Fei combined in the second game to make the play of the second game. A double tag at home to get 2 runners out, and prevent the ONEs from winning the game. With bases loaded. Fei picked up a grounder and proceeded to run home to tag Indiana at the plate, he then fired to third to get a double play on Rube, but Rube had already rounded the bases, heading home. Salehin got the ball at third and returned the throw to Fei to make the tag on the Rube for the out. Double outs at the plate to keep the game alive.

MBP : Rube (Offensive and Defensive powerhouse, with a bum elbow)
Gold Glove : Clement
Biggest Bat : Rube (3 RBI sacrifice Fly, 2 back-to-back stand-up HRs)
Best Play : Yogi to Salehin at home to tag out Rube
DY play of the day : Clement emulating a young DY at third with fantastic catches in foul territory and defensive fielding.
Bonehead Play : Patrick holding on to Rube's Sacrifice fly, allowing 3 runs to score.

May I present....

Monday 2 May is a Public Holiday

Should I play or should we play to celebrate this wonderful communist holiday?

23 April 2005

ONES:
Pitch: Indiana/Hassie, Catch: Yogi, 1st: Coach, 2nd: Indiana/Rickey/Hassie, 3rd: Swat, SS: Boo Boo, OF: Sandman, Mary, Rube, Horfun, Hassie/Rickey

TWOS:
Pitch: Prof Zen, Catch: Guppy/Gino, 1st: Heidi, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: TH/Generalissimo, SS: DT, OF: TH, TS, TK, Fei, Mrs Fei??

Game 1: ONES 11 : TWOS 14
Game 2: ONES 2 : TWOS 5 (5 innings)

The TWOs broke out some brand new brooms as they swept the ONEs in two closely contested games. Both games went down to the wire, and the winner was only decided at the bottom of the ninth. Neither side gave any quarter, and the competition was tough, bringing out the best in each individual. However, the spirit of SAS was there, and generous calls were given by both teams to their opponent. A great sense of fairplay prevailed on the field, and it was as usual, another great day for Saturday Softball.

Settling at home, the ONEs had a hard time coming from the TWOs bats, with the TWOs surging ahead by 7 unanswered runs in the 4th inning. The TWO's defence was on fire, with the left side of the infield stopping everything coming their way, and the TAN brothers in the outfield, catching every flyball in sight. The ONEs finally broke the egg with a solo run home by Rickey (the choice of "run home" rather than "homerun" will be made obvious later). The TWOs answered with 3 runs to take a 10-1 lead, but the ONEs rallied hard and scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th to reduce the lead of the TWOs to 3. The TWOs did not rest idly on their lead, and built on it, with 2 runs scored in the 7th, 1 in the 8th and 1 in the 9th. Not one to take a beating lying down, the fought back with infatiguable spirit scoring 2 in the 8th, but when it came down to the crunch in the bottom of the 9th, the ONEs only managed to score 2 before they were shut out for a 14-11 loss.

Game 2 saw the TWOs taking the homefield advantage. The ONEs still sore from their first game loss, came out spitting and snarling, scoring 2 good runs to take the lead. The TWOs answered with 1 run at the bottom of the 2nd and another 3 runs at the bottom of the 3rd to take a 4-2 lead. But the ONEs were not to be dismissed. They put together some magnificent hits to bring the score back to a tie going into the bottom of the ninth. Just when it looked by the game would go into extra innings, the middle of the lineup consisting of TH, DT and Fei strung together a string of singles for Fei to finally hit the RBI for TH to score and win the game for the TWOs.


It was one of those highlight reel game days, as there were so many plays deserving of recognition and rememberance. The first contraversial calls of the game came at the top of the 3rd, when a razor sharp three-base drive along the rightfield line was hit by Heidi. Ironically, her own team called it foul, and it was Yogi the bear formally known as Monk that called the ball fair, sending Heidi to third. The favour was returned by the TWOs when a similar three-base linedrive was sent shooting right down the wrong side of the leftfield line. TH could not get to it in time, and a relay was started from TH to DT to the Generalissimo to try to tag Rickey out at third. Rickey intercepted the relay (from watching too much soccer???) from DT to the Generalissimo, kicking the ball into foul territory, and he turned home to score. His entire team called the ball foul and asked him to "do it again", but the TWOs graciously gave him the run (primarily because we did not really want to see Rickey drop dead from heart failure). A check of the video-replay found that the ball was indeed foul. Rickey definitely managed to run home, but it was not a home run

Play of the day came from Rube's tying run at the top of the 9th of the second game. Caught in a textbook hotbox between 3rd and home, Rube outran all the fielders as they closed in on him, and as Rube has always managed to get away from hot boxes, a slip by Fei resulted in a late throw, and it saw Rube evading the tag by Prof Zen and scoring at home. The rundown was so perfectly executed, even the old coach would've been proud. 3 players at third and 3 at home, to box in the runner, and Rube ran the evasion perfectly as well. One of the best plays in the history of SAS.

SAS saw a strikeout after a 6 month dry spell, we finally got a taste of that sweet, sweet strike-out-beer from Guppy's swinging strikeout.

MBP : Yogi
Gold Glove : The Tan Family
Biggest Bat : The Generalissimo (A deep HR into centerfield in the bottom of the 8th)
Best Play : Rube gets out of another HotBox
DY play of the day : Too many to single out one
Bonehead Play : Rickey's Run Home

Taking the gay thing a little too far...

Click THIS link to see how far Johnny Damon has taken the Queer Eye thing...


Tip of the Day: It's SOFT hands, not LIMP wrists....

I hate soccer, I think he hates soccer too

This is what happens when you marry a soccer player and piss her off.

16 April 2005

ONES : Pitch: Indiana, Catch: Horfun, 1st: Guppy, 2nd: Monk, 3rd: Jason, SS: Metro, OF: Rube, Fei, Clement, Suwei, Grandpa

TWOS : Pitch: TS, Catch: Prof Zen, 1st: Rickey, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Sandman, SS: DT, OF: TH, TK, Kin, Cheetah

Game 1: ONES 7 : TWOS 14
(Only one game played due to rain)

The skies were overcast for most of the afternoon, threatening rain. Streaks of lightning flashed through the horizon but we were able to successfully complete one game before the skies finally opened up.

The score does not really do justice to the standard of play on the field. As both teams put up great plays defensively and offensively. Due to the TWOs having their star player inconvenienced (read: pooping in the toilet), the ONEs took the home field advantage and the TWOs started off at the plate.

Though the TWOs hadRickey leading off the cycle and hitting his amazing fly balls into outerspace and DT popping up every hit at the catcher, the TWOs managed to grab an early 6-2 lead by the middle of the 3rd. However, the ONEs fought back strong, and put together a string of hits in the bottom of the 3rd to fall one run behind. They finally evened the score at the bottom of the 4th at 7-all.

Even with Rube and Fei's devestating bats on their team, the TWOs were held scoreless by the middle Tan brother's pitching and the strong defence behind him. Amazing catches were made at whim and the TWOs did not manage to dig themselves out of the 7 run score from the 4th. TS had a great defensive day as well, as many of his pitches were returned to his feet for a easy put out at first.

It wasn't so easy for the ONEs, Indiana pitched, and though he chucked in some difficult-to-hit fast balls with plently of movement, the TWOs hitters pounced on them with ease. Singles were the order of the day, and though the TWOs did not run as aggressively as the ONEs (and thus not getting tagged out on extra base steals), they managed to string together some good hits to score 2 in the 6th, 2 in the 7th, and finally 3 in the ninth.

Some highlight plays include, The Cheetah making a Willie-Mays over the shoulder catch (that we usually see from Fei) from a deep centerfield fly ball, ironically hit by Fei. Horfun getting on base every single time, burning the infielders with a combination of slow rolling grounders to hard hit gappers over their heads. Rickey trying to send one of his balls to Sputnik. Grandpa's amazing arm, throwing out runners at third from centerfield. TH dropping routine flyballs after his one week break to KL. Indiana, making a reflex catch off a hard-hit liner up the middle from DT. Rickey, making an extended stretch to snag a short throw from DT, and then dropping a well placed throw from Kin to allow Horfun on base.


MBP : none
Gold Glove : none
Biggest Bat : Horfun (batting a thousand)
Best Play : Cheetah's over the shoulder catch off Fei's hit
DY play of the day : none
Bonehead Play : none

QEFTSG

In case you're wondering.
QEFTSG, which I mentioned in my previous post stands for
Queer Eye For The Straight Guy

New Characters from Southpark - ANSWERS

If you haven't tried guessing them already (Seems like no one put up their answers in the comments)


SEVEN (the hat, the cross, the cig, the facehair and of course, the bloodshot eyes)


SWAT (the blacksuit, the guns, the alert eyes)


Guppy (The handsfree earpiece, the suit, the jetlagged eyes, clouds cos he's always flying)


Kyle (the dirty singlet, the bottle of beer, and the scarf)


Heidi (the bat, the bear and those dazed eyes when she has too much work to do)


Misty (look at the tears)


Princess (look carefully at the hands, those are claws...)


The Rube (doesn't the halo reveal everything?)


Rickey (The generous smile)



I can't legally show the last one, until QEFTSG airs in june, but you can click
THIS LINK to see it.


Btw, can you guess the characters? or rather who these characters represent from SAS?
These are NOT real southpark characters, I made them up.

come on, no one???

Even Idiots can get lucky

9 April 2005 - The prodigal sons return

ONES: Pitch: Swat, Catch: Guppy/Hassie, 1st: Indiana, 2nd: Monk, 3rd: Generalissimo, SS: Metro, OF: TS, Grandpa, Cool Papa, Rube, Horfun

TWOS : Pitch: Seven, Catch: Prof Zen, 1st: Heidi, 2nd: Ricky, 3rd: DY, OF: Gunz, Sandman, Marvelous, Fei, JoZ

Game 1 : ONES 15 : TWOS 4 (Mercy in 5 innings)
Game 2 : ONES 2 : TWOS 12 (Mercy in 7 innings)
Game 3 : ONES 0 : TWOS 1 (extra innings)

Saturday saw the return of many of our prodigal sons. On a beautiful Saturday Afternoon, with the sun partially hidden behind clouds, a stiff breeze blowing in from the sea and perfect fresh cut grass, hiding soft moist earth, saw the culmination of the single most number of SAS from the old school, who have gone missing for weeks and for some, months.

To celebrate the return of so many who have gone missing, we played 3 games. Not 3 ordinary games mind you, but 2 mercy games, followed by an extra inning, tie-breaking third game. Both teams were very fair and the final game came down to the wire in extra innings.

The Twos played at home for the first game, and the Ones started off strong, pulling off hit after hit after hit, scoring 5 runs in their first at bat. The Twos fought back with 3 runs, but this game did not belong to them. After seeing 2 scoreless innings in the second and third, the Ones' big bats struck again, scoring another 5 to take a 10-4 lead at the bottom of the fourth. Relentless, the Ones punished the Twos again in the fifth with another 5 runs. The Twos had no answer and they lost the first game 15-4, a mercy score after 5 innings.

Inspired by the loss, the Twos rallied back hard in the second game. Finally swinging their bats and making good contact. The Twos took the lead in the first, with a 3-2 score. Both teams were unbelievably evenly matched, and many a scoreless inning was seens. Defensively, both teams could have been considered dream teams in their own right, and neither side gave any quarter. Finally putting together a string of hits in the 3rd and 5th. The Twos managed to pull ahead with a 7-2 lead. Somehow drawing strenth from the humiliating defeat in the first game, the Twos replied a mighty 5 run inning at the top of the fourth to which the Ones had no reply. Final Score 12-2, mercy in 7 innings.

The third game was to be the tie-breaker, and though players on both sides were exhausted, the standard of play was still top-notch. A 3 inning game would decide the victor for the day, but with both teams playing at their best, 3 innings was not to be. Almost error free, the first 3 innings remained scoreless for both sides. We would have to play extra innings. The Ones could not score on the Twos inspired defense in the top of the 10th, and it looked like the Twos could not score either. But with 2 outs, Dom on second and DT on first, DY hits a single into no man's land and Dom scores to take the win for the Twos.

What a day! Three brilliant games!

MBP : DY
Gold Glove : Sandman
Biggest Bat : None
Best Play : Prof Zen (catching a no-look foul tip off Cool Papa's bat)
DY play of the day : DY (running down everything in foul territory, alas catching none)
Bonehead Play : None





Click for the full sized picture
(Left to Right)
Standing
Legend, Hassie, Heidi, Rickey, Rube, Indiana, Metro(white specs), Cool Papa, Gunz, TS, Generalissimo, Prof Zen, Horfun, Monk, Diana, Jason
Front Row
Fei, Marvelous, Seven, Guppy, Swat, JoZ, Sandman, DY, Grandpa

2 April 2005

My apologies, I have been remiss in the posting of the saturdaysoftball wrapup.
Several factors are out of my control, and finding the time to post the weekly game these last 2 weeks have really been difficult.

I'll cut it short, and post highlights, roster and scores.

ONES : 1st: TS, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: DY, SS: DT, OF: Sandman, Gunz, TK, Horfun, Diana

TWOS : 1st: Indiana, 2nd: Guppy, 3rd: Swat, SS: Metro, OF:JAson, TH, Heidi, Seven, Mary

Game 1 : ONES 2 : TWOS 12 (mercy in 2 innings
Game 2 : ONES 14 : TWOS 15
Game 3 : ONES 4 : TWOS 4 (game called in 3rd inning due to soccer players)

Both teams look well matched, but the TWOS came out swinging, taking a 5-2 lead by the end of the first inning, and totally destroyed the ONES morale by scoring 7 runs at the top of the second to take a 12-2 lead. The ONES had no answer to this onslaught and took 3 outs to end the first game with a 2-12 mercy to the TWOS.

Game 2 started alot better for the ONEs. They took a early lead in the first with 3 runs, and maintained their edge throughout the game keeping the scores tight all through the game. But victory slipped through their grasps even after the first humilating mercy loss, and at the bottom of the ninth, with a 14-13 lead, the ONEs blew it away, letting in 2 runs for a 14-15 loss.

Game 3 saw the TWOs put up big bats to try for a hat-trick of victories, The took a 4-3 lead by the top of the third. The ONEs clawed back with 1 run to tie the score, but the game ended sooner than expected, as some inconsiderate soccer players decided to camp in our leftfield. We took to batting practice instead of completing the game to see who could hit a soccer player first.

Bleacher Creatures

I read in SI that the bleacher creatures at Yankee Stadium can no long use "nineteen eighteen! nineteen eighteen!" as they're chants, it was also mentioned that it wouldn't take long for them to come up with another chant...
here are my proposals.

"noooooo peeeeet! noooooo peeeeet!"
or
"queeeer eeeeyeeeee! queeeer eeeeeeyeeee!"
or
"eightyfive more! eightyfive more!"
or
"tweeeenty Ohhhh four! tweeenty ohhh four!"

Opening Day

Today is opening day.
Baseball season has finally started again.

The best way to open the season is to have a game between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Even better, is to see the Red Sox humbled by the Yankees new pitcher Randy Johnson.
And humbled they were. losing 9-2.

2 April game will be late

Check back on Wed. Meanwhile, some pictures....Click on the picture for the High Rez version


La jambe du softball



Le Scotsman noir du base-ball



Les Femmes du softball



Le Poof du Softball



Plus amélioré du softball



Le Distingué du base-ball



Le gign du base-ball



Le marchand de sable du softball



Le Merveilleux du base-ball

Coach's Corner

Updates from his tournament.


By the way, if we beat Jakarta tomorrow we are in the finals on
Saturday. Too bad the game conflicts with SAS. We play--weather
permitting--Saturday at 3:45.

We lost against Manila in the opener. 'Right Out Orihara pitched a
3-hitter; but blew a hig-risk pick-off play that cost us the game. We
were tight and did not hit. Despite 7 hits, we got shut-out.

A barn-burner against Bangkok. We were down 4-3; and Magnet [who played
2B for you] got a single off the wall to drive in 2 in the 5. Kimura
[the Japanese guy who worked the 2-3 innings for you guys] did a Bab
Gibson. Gave up runs early but shut them down; he was throwing harder in
the 6 & 7th than in the first three innings. Singapore 5-Bangkok 4.

Yesterday we scored 4 in the 1st--two dingers. Then my head-case pitcher
tanked. Perth drew even 4-4. I had to bring in Orihara with one-day's
rest. He gave up a run. We were down 5-4 with two outs in the bottom of
the 6th. Then BB, HBP, BB, and a series of doubles and singles. When the
dust cleared; the score was 9-5.

- Coach

New Baseball Movie

Jimmy fallon sucks.....he should stick to SNL
Fever Pitch
Then again, Adam Sandler probably wouldn't be caught dead as a Sox fan, EVEN if he were only "acting"

From the trailer, I think the movie explains alot...I think I will stick my neck out and watch it...


Newsflash : Reports are saying that the Queer Eyes have actually gotten the sox players to shower.

Good article about technolog in Baseball equipment

Read it here

26 March 2005

Ones:
1B: Monk/Princess, 2B: Diana, SS: TH, 3B: Sandman,
LF: TH/Fei, CF: Jason, RF: Princess/Monk

Twos:
1B: Prof Zen, 2B: Horfun, SS: TS/Metro, 3B: Clement,
LF: Fei/TS, CF: Cheetah, RF: TK

Score:
Game 1: Ones 9, Twos 17
Game 2: Ones 7, Twos 8

1) Seems like the twos can do no wrong in the first
game, with the baseball gods smiling over them. To
paraphrase TS, no matter how crappy your hit,
just run to first base, and chances are, you'll get
onto base anyway. For one moment, it seemed as if
the Cheetah's pop up would be caught in the infield, but
well, it dropped, and he got on first base.

2) It rains everytime the twos were at bat. (first
game)

3) Clement strikes out.

4) The Cheetah's balls are Princess's glove homing-- they fly
to nowhere but Princess's open gloves

5) The Tan brothers score homerun after homerun to the
horror of all fielders.

6) Monk and Horfun get clubbed in the head by
balls. Monk gets hit right smack in the forehead
by a throw from TH, who was trying to get Horfun out. The throw was enough to diminish his enthusiasm for playing first base, and he trades
places with Princess (No chance of TH throwing the ball at her head). Horfun gets hit by a warm up throw to second base from Clement who was in third base. Both victims are now marked with ugly bumps on their heads.

7) Sandman forms an acrobatics team with Metro and Clement,
with the trio making spectacular dives to catch the
ball.

8) Metro gets betrayed by his partner-- Monk, who trades him for Fei in the second game.

9) Another metrosexual appears on the scene with white
rimmed glasses-- guess who? (for hints, refer to
previous point)

10) Jason stops Prof Zen's attempt to complete the trilogy
of homeruns with his glove.

11) Diana throws the runner out at first.

posted by Horfun.

Fei

Fei stands tall on the extreme left. Easily the best player in the photo. Maybe more of those guys should come out on Saturday to improve.

Fei's new nickname, The Say Hey Kid, which also happened to be Willie Mays' nickname.

All-Star Friday 25 March 2005

What a great day. Brilliant weather tempered by outstanding play, attended by the few, the proud and the brave.

SAS (Saturday Afternoon Softball) :
Pitch: 3 of Coach's, catch: Coach's allstar, 1st: Beyonce, 2nd: Coach's allstar, 3rd: DT, SS: Coach's allstar, OF: Rube, Sandman, Prof Zen, Jason, Seven, Gunz, Bullpen: Horfun and Diana

SAS (Singapore American School) allstars

First all, much thanks to Coach for organizing this brilliant holiday afternoon baseball session. As usual the hosts were great, providing us with a core of their players to even out the shortage of numbers we had. Pity we could not get batting practice against the pitching machines, as the baseball store was locked for this week's tournament.

Thanks also go out to the few dedicated souls who made the effort to come on and have an all round good time on the ballfield. Especially to those who showed up but didn't get a chance to play the actual game.
Attendance was (according to appearance) : DT, Beyonce, Seven, Prof Zen, Horfun, Jason&Diana, Sandman, Rube, Gunz, TeckPiaw

As we really short of numbers, coach provided us with his starting catcher, pitcher, shortstop and 2nd base. Along the way, coach substituted in 2 other pitchers, traded from the other team.

We took the field first, suprisingly as we were the guest team, with a mighty lefthander leading off the inning for us. Taking barely 12 pitches, it was a 1-2-3 out to end the inning. Coach's imports took up the top 3 bat positions scoring 1, Prof Zen batted 4th (he was smashing the ball during batting practice, hence coach's decision), and got on base. With runners at the corners, DT stepped up to the plate and actually made contact with the ball, hitting a blooper into right field that should've been a single if not for the glovework and legs of the rightfielder, who made a THesque catch. No matter, the runner on third tagged up and scored, giving DT his first career RBI. Score 2-0

Top of second saw us starting a new righthanded pitcher. The first batter got on base, due to an error by Beyonce on first (she dropped the ball from the SS), but she more than made amends for it by making a unassisted double play on a opposite field line drive from the second batter. She leapt high into the air, caught the ball and tagged first to get the runner out. Outstanding play. Sadly, we were unable to get on base this inning to work on a wider lead. Score 2-0

The allstars got back on the scoreboard in the third, with classic offensive baseball, first batter walked, and the next batter bunted him to advance. The next batter hit a terrific linedrive up the middle which led to the Rube's 15secs of shame. Rube was in centerfield, and he ran down the ball but when he was within inches of it, instead of putting his body to the ground and diving for the ball, he stopped short and the ball bounced through his legs and went to the wall. The allstars scored 2. Score 2-2

The allstars came back in the 4th to take a 4-2 lead, but we pulled it back to 4-3 with snappy singles hitting and walks from our batters. Rube narrowly avoided hitting into a double play at the bottom of the fifth, advancing the runner on first and getting himself on base at the same time due to an error by the SS.

The score remained at 3-4 for the next 3 innings, and our imports performed brilliantly to control the middle infield. There was even a 6-4-2 double play to end the fourth till the top of the seventh, when the allstars scored 1 to take a 3-5 lead. As we had never won a baseball game in history, losing by 2 runs was an extremely decent scoreline for us. But we still had a chance at bat. Rallying hard at the bottom of the 7th. Rube and Gunz again hit singles to advance runners and bringing the score to 4-5. Gunz scored the tying run from a hard single from Doug, our imported SS. Victory was not to be however, and we finished the 7th inning at 5 a piece. More importantly, we played hard, hit well (practically everyone made contact with the ball) and enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

Final Score SAS 5 : SAS allstars 5

As it was still light, we took the field for some batting practice with Teck generously pitching for us. (note : Gunz smashed the ball during this session, with 2 hits reaching the wall)

Lost Glove

Jason left his glove on the field 2 weeks back, so if someone picked up a wilson glove, please bring it this weekend.

Thanks.

A Great Friday

We've been invited for our annual Baseball Game against Coach's kids from the American School.

Date : 25 March
Time : 3pm
Place : Singapore American School (near Marsiling MRT)

Best to show up at about 2, and we can use the batting cage to warm up against a pitching machine to learn to see the fast pitches

For those of you who have never played at the american school, it's a worthwhile experience. As per normal, everyone's invited.

Check your email for more details, or call me.

19 March 2005 - Dy got that!

ONES:
Pitch: Swat, 1st: TK, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: DY, SS: DT, OF: TH, Rube, Sandman, HF

TWOS:
Pitch: Rickey, Catch: Prof Zen, 1st: Beyonce, 2nd: Jason, 3rd: Generalissimo, SS: Metro, OF: Fei, TS, Grandpa, JoZ

Game 1: ONES 19 : TWOS 24
Game 2: ONES 6 : TWOS 7 (3 innings)

The teams did not really look even when they walked onto the field, in fact, it looked like Rickey loaded the ONES when he counted off. But appearances can be deceiving. The TWOS rocketed off to a 6 run lead by the end of the second inning with plently of singles and aggressive baserunning. ONEs defense was tight was somehow the TWOs batters found the gaps. The TWOs fought back strongly though, within the next few innings and succeeded in tying the score at 10-10 by the bottom of the sixth. However, another round of strong batting from the TWOs, and they took the lead again in the seventh with a 16-10 lead. Not to be outdone, the ONEs put together a string of hits to claw back to 16-15 by the bottom of the eighth. The ONEs came unravelled at the top of the ninth, with botched plays to allow the TWOs to take a commanding 24-15 lead, with many of the runs scored with two outs in the bag. But showing the never-say-die spirit typical of SAS, the ONEs used the the last inning at bat to bring the score back to a dignified difference. Final Score 24-19.

Game 2 started off with everyone mixing up their positions. Infielders from game one, taking the outfield, and outfielders coming to play infield. A good way to learn new positions and make fools of ourselves. The lineup.
ONES:
1st: Rube, 2nd: Prof Zen(traded), 3rd: TH, SS: Sandman, OF: Swat, DT, TK, Princess

TWOS:
1st: TS, 2nd: Fei, 3rd: Grandpa, SS: JoZ, OF: Metro, Rickey, Beyonce, Jason

This time, the ONEs, batting first, took the lead and held it for the 3 innings. But a defensive lapse in the bottom of the ninth, saw the TWOs recover to tie the game, and finally win it when a runner on third was allowed to score on a two out forced play.



MBP :
Gold Glove : Sandman
Biggest Bat : Fei
Best Play : TS (He fielded an opposite field grounder from DT, and beat him out to first, holding on to the ball after DT took him out Latin American style)
DY play of the day : DY at 3rd
Bonehead Play : DT (assuming grandpa could not catch the ball and getting caught on a DP)

You go girlfriend!

What to do after winning a world series?

Get a makeover!


The Red sox proving that they do listen to fans. The question now is, will they ALL sport white glasses?

click the picture to read the story. I promise this is not a landmine, it's a real story, not Mr Metro's picture.

What teaching at NUS will do to you

BEFORE                                  AFTER

12 March 2005 - The Marvelous Return

ONES :
1st: Rickey, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Swat, SS: DT, OF: TS, Sandman, Gunz, Marvelous

TWOS :
Catch: Horfun, 1st: Rube, 2nd: Monk, 3rd: JoZ, SS: Metro, OF: Beyonce, TH, Fei, Prof Zen

Game 1 : ONES 9 : TWOS 25 (8th inning mercy)
Game 2 : ONES 8 : TWOS 0 (3 innings

For two very evenly pitched teams, the score does not reflect the game's standard of play. Taking an early lead, the TWOs dominated both offense and defense, taking an eight run lead by the third inning. The ONEs clawed their way back with four runs at the bottom of the third, and even manged to come within one run by the end of the fifth. Feeling the pressure, the TWOs struck again, scoring five at the top of the sixth, two more at the top of the seventh, and finally putting the nail into the ONEs coffin by scoring ten unanswered runs at the top of the eighth.

8 of those runs can be credited to the Rube, who hit three homers with runners on base. It could have been 5 homers, except for the vigilance of TS in right field. The Rube was picking on TS all day with five RF hits at five at-bats. Could it be that TS has bigger biceps than the Rube? Welcome to the guns show.

While on the subject of Gunz, he had the best hitting day of his career, knocking out 3 homers....that could've been. All his hits were run down and caught by outstanding outfield catches (and in my [edited: originally 'this reporters] humble opinion, the best I've even seen in a long time). Two were made by TH in LF, with one being his patented run-down-while-catching-the-ball-millimetres-off-the-ground. The third was one of the greatest catches ever seen in SAS history. A deep deep fly ball into centerfield, and Fei runs it down, catches it on-the-run, over-the-shoulder Willie Mays style, AND turns and throws it to second to hold the runner. Many forget that famous play by Mr Mays consisted not only of the great catch, but the quick and accurate throw as well. And Fei did it all. I think we have Fei's nickname. We'll call him Mays. Gunz did finally get on base, thanks to an unselfish sacrifice of his body by TS. Taking a liner in the arm, to deflect the ball deep into play allowing Gunz to get to first.

The second game saw a resurgance in the ONEs, scoring 8 runs and letting in none, to win the game in three innings. Though the change in fortunes could be accredited to 2 factors. Both teams lost their whitemen. The TWOs lost the Rube, and the ONEs lost Rickey. Who contributed more to the change I will not speculate, but The Marvelous, in his debut return (again for the third time), hit a grandslam homerun to give the ONEs an insurmountable lead.


MBP : Marvelous
Gold Glove : TH
Biggest Bat : Rube (3 HRS)
Biggest Bat (that could've been) : Gunz (3 HRs stolen by outstanding catches)
Best Play : Fei (Willie Mays lives)
DY play of the day : TS (taking one for the team so Gunz could finally get on base)
Bonehead Play : Gunz (Holding the ball in CF for 2 runners to score)

Apologies

The Blog will be late this week due to certain unforseen circumstances.
I promise it will be up by Wednesday.

5 March 2005 - The Power of the 'Fro

Classic Saturday Afternoon Softball game this weekend. Tight contest, great plays, a few goofy errors, and a ninth inning comeback. Nomar/Money/FUBAR was playing out of his mind at short. Whether its the glasses - which have gotten him a lot of grief from the non-metrosexuals - or the 'fro, is hard to say. The line-ups may be a bit off (sorry if they are), but here's how I remember it. Misspellings of the Monfort Men are on purpose:

ONES: C: Rickey; P: Izod; 1B: Shaun; 2B: Jason; SS: Teck (Mr. Wong); 3B: Male Jo/Jesson; LF: Jesson/Male Jo; CF: Sandman; RF: UNC Andy; Rover: Beyonce and Horfun
TWOS: C: Monk; P: Cheetah; 1B: Non-Assassin TH; 2B: Princess; SS: Money; 3B: Desmond; OF: TH, Grandpa, TS (The Smiling Assassin), X-mas (Noel), Diana

Final Score: 12-11 (ONES win)

We only played one game, but it was a good one. The twos led the entire game, until the ninth inning, but were never ahead by more than 4 runs. Among the highlights:
1) Money was leaping like Jordan. He caught a number of line drives over his head. He also had an unassisted double play; 2) Grandpa swung at a first pitch. Mark it down. Only happens once a year; 3) Jason hit his first homerun. He also contorted his body on a grounder to second. He picks up the ball, thinks about throwing to second or third, realizes that is not the right play, and twists strangely to get it to first in time. Learning in action. Shaun makes good grab on throw too; 4) Base running SNAFU: Jesson and Sandman keep running, while Shaun stays on 3rd. Oops. Comedy hijinks ensue. Eventually Sandman is tagged out at 2nd, allowing Shaun to score. Cheetah yells like Old Coach; 5) Hassie stops by for a visit with Emily; 6) Patented 9th inning SAS comeback.

MBP: Money
Best Bat: No one stood out, but props to Jason
Gold Glove: Money
DY: No one
Bonehead Play of the Day: Baserunning

How to hit the ball on the ground

Which one was a homerun?

Brown Sugar...

Just for the Rube, and anyone else who likes the dark skinned girl.
the photo is quite big, so I put in a thumbnail. Click it for full size.

Avert your eyes, don't look directly at it

Click on this link ONLY IF YOU ARE FULLY PREPARED FOR THE EXPERIENCE.


Wear Sunglasses. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunglasses would be it, oh, and be seated, on sturdy chair. The long term benefits of sunglasses have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. If you have a daughter below the age of 80, hide her. If you have sons older than 4, hide them too. Do not look directly at the picture. Looking directly at the picture has been known to cause irreversible damage to your sanity and your cornea. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Always listen to your basecoach, he will not guide you wrong. When he says stop, you stop, when he says run, you run. Never throw behind the runner. Always hit the cutoff man.
But most importantly, trust me on the sunglasses.


Click on THIS when you are ready

Photos of Kyle's farewell BBQ

There were too many great shots, so I have created an account in a free photo-hosting site to upload the pictures.
follow this link Kyle's BBQ to view them.
I do have the originals in high-rez format (thanks to TS), so if there are any photos you'd like, email me, and I will send it to you. Btw, the weird letter/number combo is the actual file name of the image, so just give me that reference number.

edit: I just looked through the photos, and I just realised that they were taken by our most sober person of the evening.

Men from Montfort

This is a special thank you to the young men from montfort(past and present), though we may not remember all your names(takes awhile) and some of your feets of skill on the field have gone unrecorded, we still appreciate your dedication to the game and your weekly attendance. Your youthful exuberance and boundless energy definitely put some of us old foggies to shame, and pressure us to perform to greater heights. As the roster at saturday afternoon softball is a dynamic one, with names and faces ever-changing, we hope that you will be next generation to carry on this proud tradition. Thank you for participating.

26 Feb 2005 - Humidity Takes Its Toll

It hadn't rained for weeks. The field was brown. Then, on Saturday morning, the skies opened up and there was some serious rain. The humidity was back, and we all got smacked by it. We only played one game, but it felt like two. A lot of people showed up, and I was so out of it I can barely remember who played for which team. The final score was:
ONES: 14
TWOS: 9

Below are some of the highlights...

1) Lloyd's kids continue to show up. Clement had some nice hits and catches, and the rest had some highlight moments too; 2) Money has been money on the clutch hits. He came up a couple of times with two outs and someone on base, and knocked them in. Must be the new glasses; 3) Horfun makes some key catches; 4) Fei continues to be the silent superstar; 5) Rube needs to be checked for the clean and clear. 6) The ONES threatened a mercy all game, were even up by 9 after 8 innings, but the TWOS held them off; 7) TS (or perhaps the "Smiling Assassin") and Seven get beaned. Both happened at first base. TS, running from 1st to 2nd, gets popped by a throw from the 1st baseman to the 2nd. Head gets in the way. As for Seven, he goes past 1st and DT tries to get him stepping too far off. Throws to the Rube, get Seven directly in the back. General response to both beanings: "Ooooh. That'll bruise".

MBP: Fei
Catch of the Day: Horfun
Big Bat: No one stood out
Bonehead Play of the Day: There were several mental mistakes, but the biggest was Rickey letting Fei move to the ONES after the first inning to "even" things out.
DY: No one. Too humid

Where Matt REALLY went

Click This Link

Just Who is Kyle?

Great question.

The first time I met him was up Fort Canning. The moment I walked in, I saw this scruffy-looking, loud dude in a bumble bee shirt dominating the conversation in the lab. He just never stops, and after a while, I decided to take a breather, after all, sorting a zillion sherds and a non-stop talking guy don't really mix. I really wasn't impressed with what I saw, the first time I met him.

The second time I met him was at Joe's. That night, between a few beers and talking, he asked me for my name. "Mei Feng", I said. But guess what? The next time I went down to the site and saw him again, he very cheerily called out, "Hey Horfun!" (no, I wasn't doing a take-away of hor fun) That basically sealed my fate from then on-- I was "Horfun", doesn't matter what I was called before then.

So, what does one have to say about a guy who calls you "Horfun"? Lots, this dude is one of the coolest that I happen to know, that seriously, he's an institution himself. Do you know anyone who is the subject of a bet of when he'll lose his handphone next? I do. Do you know someone who can tell you that he saw two old ah-peks at the coffee shop starting a fight using Wong Fei Hong moves, only to degenerate to a cat fight most often used by girls? I do. And do you know a guy whose daughter uses a skull for her pillow? I do. In fact, a term has been coined to summarise this unique gentleman's brush with life-- "It could only happen to Kyle!"

Back to the issue of coffee, yes, he likes his coffee dark, except he forgets his coffee just as soon as well. I have lost count of the bags of coffee tied to the various nooks and cranies of his office which he has forgotten, and simply left to ferment for months on end. Oh, and did I mention that 2000 year old skeletons aren't simply found in his home, but in his office as well?

Much as he'll be missed, I do also believe that he'll be one happier dude in the friendly land of Cambodia. Except the next time the dude comes back, people, please remind him that John Miksic is NOT a supir. (driver in indonesian)


-HorFun

Dear Daniel, I'm leaving - Hello Kitty

All goods things must come to an end, and it's matter of how you end it. You can choose to end it on a sour note, or to bring it to a climax with a big bang. And as typical of the saturdaysoftball family, we chose the latter.
A BBQ of epic proportions was planned to bid farewell to one of the greatest hitters to grace the field, David Kyle Latinis, also known as Hello Kitty. Much has been said about him, his generosity, his spirit, his strength, and he has forever carved himself a place in the annals of the SAS history.
We'll always remember his wife-beater shirts, his thermal underwear, his jihad scarves, his pots of bitter coffee. We'll always remember his leaking pens hooked precariously on his t-shirts, the same pens digging into his chest when he slides headfirst into home plate. His glasses, that multitude of fragile glasses that he's broken, bent and lost. We'll always remember his hustle, even when he hasn't slept all night because "my kid kept me awake man!", abusing his body for the sake of getting the run or catching the ball, watching him wince in pain throwing that 200pound body into the ground to make the play.
The first time you meet the kitty, you see a tatoo covered musclehead with wild hair, a devilish goatee, tattered clothes and scary eyes. Don't be fooled. His personality is Yin to the Yang of his appearance. To say that Kitty is one of the nicest guys I've known is quite an understatement. He is the epitome of "Don't judge a book by it's cover". And those that fail to realise the depth to his character are would definitely be at a loss.
There are many other stories to tell about Kyle, the parties, the costumes, the motorcycle accident, the car chase... Sadly, there are few of us left who would remember the halloween party where Kyle appeared as the Hello Kitty from hell, the four-faced kitty, most memorable being "Coach Kitty". The most famous proposal in Saturdaysoftball history took place in Kyle's 2 room flat in Clementi, where he played host for New Year's Eve, and the guppy was finally reeled in.
I have 2 personal memories of the Kitty to share, the first, being the huge slab of kansas city beef that he brought back and grilled on a habachi during a very special public holiday softball/bbq at the NUS field. He has always promised to bring back another slab of that delicious meat, but I have yet to taste it again. The second, which is particularly special to me, revolves his managerial decision during the Inter-Faculty Tournament that gave me my nickname. It was his confidence in me, and his encouragement as manager to leave me in the field of play after an error-prone 3 innings that allowed me to hit that home run. Any other manager would have benched me when I volunteered to be taken out, but Kitty didn't, and I will forever be grateful to him for that.
"A man is known by the company he keeps" and I have been blessed count Kyle as my friend.

- Chris

To Quothe the Coach
"KYLE [Hello Kitty] Latinis

Latinis would be a strange cookie in anybody's box of Animal Crackers. Given his east coast Stallone verbalizations and California laid-back persona, it is appropriate Kyle comes from Kansas. The same internal contradiction dogs his hitting—Latinis either cranks one or hits a weak dribbler to third. After a stretch of playing pepper with the third baseman, Latinis was christened "Hello Kitty." He now receives plaintive meows whenever he steps to the plate. Kyle is also famed for his outlandish apparel. Just when everybody figured he had reached the depths, he wore a full suit of thermal long johns—naturally with the arms cut out to display his tats. And remember we are playing on the equator."

An Eulogy for Kitty

Now, I do wish I was present for Kyle's send off. Kyle is pretty much like a brother to me. Hell, Kyle did a fine job as my best man at my wedding. Kyle stepped in admirably, as did Alvin. My two groomsmen did us all proud --- Guppy and Kitty drank so many doubles in their hotel through room service that the staff had run out of appropriate glasses and had to clear the room before refilling their orders! According to Alvin, Kyle also had a malaria relapse in Manila, so I guess you can say Kyle is the kind of guy who will go through anything to help a friend out.

There are other stories worth mentioning. Now, most people will surely have their own Hello Kitty stories to tell, but I was fortunate to be the only other guy Swee Chiang felt would be crazy enough to actually wear a Hello Kitty t-shirt to ball. Kyle and I did have matching shirts and that were worn to ball, I wore mine hesitantly, while Kyle wore his enthusiastically . . . fortunately mine was blue whereas Kyle's was pink. I still have that t-shirt . . . I don't think I'll ever get rid of it.

And then there was the time I used my influence as a G-man to get Kyle invited as a guest participant to a conference in Thailand. I'm sure many of you were wondering how it was that I could pull something like this off, but then again, I did work within a government bureacracy, and it should not surprize anyone that resources can be allocated dubiously at times . . . Anyways, I had Kyle join me on a junket to northern Thailand, where he did an admirable job relating his experiences and understandings of conflict in eastern Indonesia. Kyle did a great job, and his participation was very valuable. Even more valuable was his assistance in drinking rye whisky with me and another Canadian meeting organizer after the regular meeting sessions ended. Kyle was so hung over the next morning, that he missed the conference wrap-up. He swore he'd never again drink Canadian whiskey ever . . . but we all know that he wouldn't live up to that promise. His frequent participation in whiskey shots at Canada Day Parties, Halloween Parties, and Ukrainian Christmas Parties proved that his promises made while under the influence of a hangover cannot be taken too seriously.

Now, I'll end by saying that there are many other great stories that involve Kyle. I'm sure Coach will tell the "Top 5 Story" . . . if he doesn't, be sure to ask him. While the stories are indeed memorable, even more memorable to me was simply having a friend like Kyle in Singapore, who no matter what, would drop what he was doing to help me out. Kyle would never fail to show up for a "thinking" session at any number of hawker centres through-out the island, even if it meant listening to the ramblings of me and the Coach. Kyle always helped me move (how he and Guppy ended up carrying all the heavy stuff always made me laugh afterwards). And finally, Kyle always put on a fresh pot of coffee whenever I wandered over to his HDB down the canal from me. I have gotten to know lots of people in my life, but I can say I have few true friends in life, and most of those friendships were made with people I met in Singapore. Kyle is one of those people who I can reliably call a friend, and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. I suspect I'll be booking a ticket to visit him in Cambodia sometime soon . . . It wouldn't be a surprize to find out many others feel the same way.

Singapore, or "The Mall", as Kyle liked to call it, will not be the same without Kyle wandering the streets in his trademark thermal underwear. And thrid base will be much less fun for whoever plays that position, knowing a hard, one-hopper wasn't going to be happening as frequently for an easy out at first.

Best wishes Kyle, Swee Chiang and Mina! Emely and I will see you again soon!

Martin

19 Feb 2005 - Goodbye Kitty

What a day to say farewell to the Kitty. On an extremely hot day, on a parched field, we had more players than ever before. The first game was against Lloyd's kids - which of course they won - and then we split up into 4 teams for a playoff series. It was a nice day of friendly softball. So many people showed up, there is no way we can list lineups, or even provide highlights or commnentary. Thus, the day, and the MBP, would have to be the Kitty.

Kitty has always been our living cartoon character. With his outrageous dress, no understandable means of support, and affection for his family, he is our Johnny Bravo. He has always maintained that Saturday Softball is for fun. We should never take the game too seriously, and should always remember why we are there: to meet with friends, get out in the fresh air, and get away from the stresses of our daily lives. Give our best and if we make a mistake, no worries. Thus, to have over 35 people playing ball over a huge area of our normal field was a fitting tribute to the Kitty.

I'm sure that there will be a number of posts about the post-game BBQ, but the afternoon of play itself was great.

MBP: Kitty

Kitty's Farewell BBQ

The food

1. Guppy - Steaks
2. Alirio - Steaks and pork chops
3. Tim - Puupuus
4. Princess and the Tan associates - sausages and ready-to-cook meat
things
5. Hassie - Patented Potato(e) salad
6. Linyu - ice-cream
7. Chris - Pies
8. Andy - Corn on cobs/butter/salt
9. Jason & Diana - Prawns

Happy Day-After-Valentine's Day

The link is actually a desperate plea for companionship, it's not just a picture, so I suggest you click the link.

Name The Baby

Gino Junior, who still needs a name.
Congrats to "The Shark", may your kid never hit his teacher with a chair.

Butter and Paper Towels

Due to Rickey's humble nature, he did not write too much about his incredible display of offensive and defensive prowess on the field. To further elaborate on Rickey's outstanding performance.

1. Rickey started the game as all-time shortstop, a position that has only been filled by an elite few, because of uneven numbers. Granted he did not get any plays whilst he was at that position, we have high confidence that he would have made those 5 grounders that were fielded by the alert pitchers (definite DY awards here).

2. Pitching for the 2s, Rickey made 2 reflexeque saves for liners at his feet to put out the batter. If you do not think this is spectacular enough for notable mention, you have no idea of Rickey's weak knees (and not cos of his knee guards)

3. Rickey's opposite-field-line-drive-homerun travelled from The Legend Corner all the way to the end of the grandstand, past the athletics-judges-photo-finish-seats, almost into the archery targets. At least 250 feet.

4. Rickey scored FOUR, not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR runs, which means he's prolly run more distance on saturday that the entire 2004 combined.

That's 2 homeruns in 2 weeks, back to back. Will we see a career high batting season from Rickey? Only time will tell. Meanwhile what IS our stand on roids? And where do the rest of us mere mortals get some?


edited : previous post should read "The Legend Corner" as opposed to "the legend corner".

12 Feb 2005 - The Zen of Coach

It was a blazing hot day, and it was the fourth day of Chinese New Year. There was some nice fielding and hitting, and we saw the return of the Coach. Play took place inside the track from the legend corner. Rickey played SS - for both teams - for the first two innings of Game 1 (to give each the same disadvantage). Afterwards he joined the Twos.

Ones: P: Seven; 1B: TH (from Lloyd's kids, not the Ipoh Assassin); 2B: Pian Zhe; SS: DT; 3B: Sandman; OF: Andy, Aizad, Fei (2nd Game); Horfun (1st Game); Sandwoman; Guppy
Twos: P: Rickey/Jason; C: Jason; 1B: Coach/Rickey; 2B: Princess; SS: Money; 3B: Desmond; OF: Gunz, Fei (1st game), Beyonce, Diana, Noel, Horfun (2nd Game)

Game 1: 4-17 (7 inning mercy)
Game 2: 5-6 (6 innings)

Highlights: 1)The return of the Coach. The Twos were getting beaten until the Coach showed up. He steadied them, getting them to think about fundamentals, and led them to victory; 2) Calm Coach: The Twos tempted Old Coach to come out, but he stayed inside. On one play at least 4 errors occured: through the legs, missed cut-off man, overthrow, and then another overthrow. A single turns into a homer. Coach remains zen-like in his calm. Amazing; 3) Sandwoman makes some nice catches in the outfield; 4) Gunz hits two homers; 5) Fei continues to field and hit well, and never says a word - suggested nickname: "The Mime" or "The Mute"; 6) Rickey needs Oxygen II: miracles do occur. Rickey hits one down the first base line, which then spins out onto the track. Second homerun in two weeks. He's only got one more in him for the year; 7) The arms of Beyonce and Gunz keep runners in check.

MBP: Coach
Biggest Bat: Gunz
Gold Glove: No one
Play of the day: Coach remains calm
Bonehead play of the day: Seven - running from 2nd to 3rd - runs into Money as he fields a grounder. Bodies are tangled like a scene in "Caligula". Seven tagged out.
DY: Horfun - Always volunteers to catch against her own team. Take a break sometime.

5 Feb 2005 - Old School

Today was an old school pair of games. Each side won, and there were a number of memorable plays and hits. Good Weather, empty fields (for the first game) and good games. Nothing to complain about.

Ones: 1B: TK/Beyonce, 2B: Diana, 3B: Swat, OF: Monk, Money, Beyonce/TK, Sandman
Twos: 1B: Rickey, 2B: Princess, 3B: The Generalissimo, OF: TH, Jo (male), TS, Horfun/Jason, C: Jason/Horfun (Jo [male] plays SS once DT moves to Ones)
Goes both ways: DT at SS (but plays for Ones once the Sandman takes off).

Score:
13-4
3-7 (5 innings)

Highlights:
1) The Princess hits for power. She hit a homerun down the 3B line that went all the way to the sidewalk. She carries the Twos to victory in the second game. Also had some nice fielding. 2) DT had some really nice plays at SS for both sides. 3) Jo (male) shuts down the Ones in bottom of the 9th (second game) with amazing range. Runs the ball down, hurls it to Rickey for the second out. 4) 2B is dangerous. Both Princess and Diana get injured on bad bounces or tosses. Both play through the pain. 5)Rickey needs oxygen. Mark it on the calendar. He only hits 2 or 3 homeruns a year. This is the first.

MBP: Princess
Hit of the Day: Princess
Gold Glove: DT
Play of the Day: Jo
Bonehead Play of the Day: No one
DY: Horfun. Tremendous hustle shown at rover and catcher