11 Febuary 2006 - The Thong Song

ONES : 1B: Jason, 3B: Generalissimo, SS: Nomah, LF: Cool Papa, CF: Gunz
TWOS : 1B: Marshmallow, 3B: Diana, SS: DT, LF: Patrick, CF: Sandman

Final Score:
ONES 22 : TWOS 15

It was a hot day and even though the numbers were severly depleted, we still managed to have a great time. Real estate was at a premium as the frisbee idiots come really early just to monopolise half the field. And even our alternate-far-field was taken up by a bunch of female rugby players (and god knows we didn't want to mess with them). The cages were also taken up by cricketers so we made the best of the limited space by putting homeplate at the green monster, and batting towards the patch of bowling turf. With our numbers, we totally shut down the right side, and even took our the second base. Rather than play double of nothing, our "normal" game seemed most appropriate with so many big bats present. In the end, The ONEs had the bigger bats, sending it deep past Patrick and Sandman for numerous doubles and triples. And when Patrick and Sandman played deep, they hit shallow flys that still ended up in doubles. The TWOs were simply outplayed.


MBP : NA
Best Bat : Sandman (Who consistanly hit opposite field at every at-bat)
Golden Glove : NA
DY Play : NA
Drama Mama : NA


You might notice that there is, for the first time, a postscript to the SAS adventures. Well, as usual after every ball game, we proceeded to Joe's for a drink, and I must say, I have never laughed so much, and so hard in one sitting at Joe's for such a long time. Cool papa's wit was set on overdrive (must be the fallout from all the meds he's stopped taking), ragging first on the Generalissimo, then Rickey, then the Rube. No one was spared the whiplashing, and it was great to see Cool Papa happy again. Highlights include, crying "Racist" when the Generalissimo got a special bowl of peanuts while the rest of us ate mixed-nuts. Calling Rube "Marshmallow" because he's gone white and soft after hooking up with Jones (and then taking out his lighter to "Roast the Marshmallow" after the Generalissimo told a better joke than Rube). And his dream about Rickey. The Thong Dream as it will now be known, where Cool Papa (still high on meds) dreamt of Rickey in a white wifebeater, his red hat and a black thong, lying on his stomach giving Cool Papa the Daytona Wave....eerrrwwwwww). Patrick, TNG, showed his stuff on the field and off it. To put it in context, Gunz was so impressed with Patrick's arm that he offered to loan his "Gunz" jersey to Patrick while Gunz goes to Iowa. Off the field, Patrick proved his mettle by calling The Duke gay, and NOT backing down even when the Rube threaten him a pounding. Then again, since The Rube is now the Marshmallow, I think not many people will back down from his soft threats again. :) The Beer tab was $192. What a awesome night.

DT Rants

The theme of the day must have been Dom's impending doom marriage. First we played small ball (pre-marriage) because the field wasn't free (think about it), then when the space opened up for us to use, we found the paths drawn and the bases laid. We then played with the strikezone, but no balls (he gave them up ages ago). It was quite evident that the one ring does something to a man. Nigey had a field day a couple of weeks back when he first showed up after his marriage, and Dom was much the same. Dom really wielded his stick well even with the lack of use and showed some incredible control, spraying on all fields.

The annual NUS IHG (Inter-Hall Games) Softball tournament was going on when we arrived on the field, and they took our usual corner and our not-so-usual corner. We were restricted to the little corner by the road and the vending machine. Due to the lack of space, and numbers, we decided to play small ball, and all batters were forced to hit the ball into the ground before the ball was deemed in-play. As long as the ball hit the ground once in the infield, the ball was live. It was quite fun, and though it sounds impossible to score or even reach base, the TWOs managed to pull it off. (H was playing in the tournament by the way, reached the semis, but their pitcher helped them walk away from the finals)

When both semi-finals finished on both fields, we moved to the far corner for our game proper. Since the bases were laid out and the strikezone marked out, we decided to play "Strikes, no balls" or in other words "Domball". It was a good game! we had fantastic weather, coupled with a brilliant, brilliant field (with lines). The field has fully recovered from the rain onslaught from the past few days. The grass was soft and moist. Perfect for diving.

Rube did some major recruiting for us, yelling at a guy walking down the street. "Hey! come play, you're wearing a yankees hat". Good call! Turns out, the one man the Rube recruited is also the one man that can shut Rube down. Patrick proved to be Rube's bane, holding his usually long hits to mere singles, and on one occasion, gunning him down with a brilliant throw to second for the tag out. That guy has got some arm and range! If we have him in CF, Gunz in RF, and Cool Papa in LF and weixiong or fei at Rover, the OF would become an immense impenetrable wall.
Add Rube at first, DY at short, DT at second and the Generalissimo at 3rd. Sprinkle on some of Dom or SWAT to pitch and Monk to catch and SAS could probably sweep this year's Montfort invitational with ease....And that's just a guys team. Though I'm pretty sure if we put together a girls team, they could take down the guys team easily....

It's been a long week and I'm kinda halfway down with this post. This has been sitting in the draft box for the whole week, so I thought I'd post it up first and update later.

BRB.

4 February 2006 - No Balls

ONES: 1B: Rube; 2B: Marv-elous; 3B: Rickey; SS: Sandman; LF: Grandpa; CF: Say Hey Kid; RF: Seven
TWOS: 1B: Heidi; 2B: Horfun; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; SS: DT; LF: Cool Papa; CF: Patrick; RF: Gunz

Game One:
ONES: 10
TWOS: 3

After a lot of false starts due to the inter-hall tournament, we finally secured the "opposite field" for our game, using the pull that certified "Hardest Working Man" (Quantitavely) has over his student, who was running the tournament (if you don't understand this last sentence, you weren't at Joe's). We didn't go to West Coast because the field was simply in perfect condition. Since the tournament bases, etc. were still there, we played "strikes, but no balls" on our pitches. The game was quite even, but the ONES would just score 1-2 every inning until they piled up. It was over when the TWOS loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th with no outs, and only got one run out of it...

NOTES:
1) Everyone was competing for Drama Mama and DY. Sandman and Rube both made spectacular attempts at foul balls, but came up empty. Heidi - playing in her 4th game of the day - made a foul catch for the ages; 2) Horfun has some incredible snags on foul balls behind the plate. A natural catcher; 3) Rickey don't want to play 3B anymore. For the 3rd time this year, someone tried to castrate him for his - sometimes - taunting comments. This time it was Cool Papa hitting. At least Rickey didn't scream like a little girl this time. He is actually a good Third Baseman... to poop on!! (salute to video night at Rickey's after Joe's); 4) Patrick has got an arm. Damn!!! 5) Marv-elous was caught in a number of run-downs; 6) Seven is living up to the newly-married rule. He comes to the field and plays better than he has in ages. It must be the ring.

MBP: Seven (had to give it to him. It's the only thing he'll get for a long time)
Best Bat: Seven
DY: Heidi
Drama Mama: Heidi
Gold Glove: Horfun (while catching, not 2B)
Best Arm: Patrick, but a lot of competition here.

28 Jan 2006

No Game today. Happy Lunar New Year to everyone.
We're not allowed to say Happy Chinese New Year, as everyone knows, that's racist.
So is 'Merry Christmas', the correct nomenclature is "Happy Holidays".

Dom's Big Day

OMG! IT'S TRUE!!!!



Dom's REALLY getting married.

Holy Moley! THere's two of them

There's another living breathing RedSox fan in Singapore....

singaporesoxfan

DT Rants

New photos updated. Hit the links in the "Pictures" on the bottom right.

I didn't play, so nothing to rant about. The EH pitcher took too goshdarned long to make a single pitch. The only reason why we only played 4 innings was because he took like 10 minutes in between every pitch. He pitched too high as well. If I were the umpire of their games, I would give the team a technical for delay of game, then call every pitch from that guy a ball for "too high", till he wised up and pitched properly.

Meanwhile, the sign is open to interpretation. It did say "Team ball games are not allowed to be played", but it did NOT say "Team ball games are not allowed to be played ON THIS FIELD", for all we know, the sign is meant for the bicycle track (afterall, it IS on a lamp post ON the bicycle track and not on the field". Oh well, hopefully the sun will come out more and heal our hallowed ground at NUS. But I'm guessing "NO" because the Hall tournaments are on, so they will definitely be tearing up the ground.

We really need to find an alternate field. Does anyone living out in the west area have any suggestions? Any PUBLIC, open expanse of field we can play some softball?

Our numbers have really been dwindling. We had all of 14 today, and if not for Lloyd and the ex-montfort guys, we would've been in the double of nothing catagory. We really need to do some serious recruiting. Where's the NTU folks?

Next sat is CNY eve, so no game. We've never been successful trying to play on the third day even when it's a holiday, so no one bothered trying this time.

See you all again on February 4th.

By the way, for those of you who are interested, AND free. There will be a protest rally on Feb 2nd, at 10am at the Registry of Marriages down at 7 Canning Rise (S)179869. Don't worry, everything's been cleared with the Police, and the proper papers and warrants have been prepared. Banners have been made, and we just need to stand at the door and not let Dom in. Do your friend a favour and not let him make the greatest mistake of his life. This is a serious plea.

21 January 2006 - Ego Boost

The Team:
P: Seven; C: Rickey/Guppy/Diana; 1B: Rube; 2B: Sarah; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; SS: Clement; OF: Grandpa, Gil the Gazelle, Melson, JD
Reserves: DT, The Cheetah

The Other Team: Eusoff Hall, plus Heidi

Score (around 6 innings):
Saturday Softball: 22
The Other Team: 2

Another game at West Coast, where apparantly it is illegal to play ball games unless you pay someone. No wonder sports is messed up here. Where's the joy of playing? I'll let DT take over the rant on that one.

We dominated Eusoff Hall, but they did play better than most Hall teams we've faced. They had some good fielders, but had trouble getting hits. There was a rainstorm in the middle of all of it, but game continued.

NOTES:
1) We batted around, and more, in the 2nd inning. That's right 14+ people batted in the second inning; 2) Melson had some monster hits, each one sticking a knife in the heart of the other team; 3) The Other Team's pitcher had an arch of about 8 meters on his pitches, and we were calling balls and strikes. 4) Seven was pitching like a pro. Great job; 5) Rickey was running to 3B and was hit smack in the back of the head by the ball being throw in from rightfield. Everyone looked a bit shocked, but Rickey shook it off. He was surprised it wasn't DT throwing the ball. 6) Sarah is the real deal. Drop med school Down Under and come play for us full time; 7) Guppy had his first swinging bunt in years; 8) Heidi looked extremely angry during the second inning rally.

MBP: Seven
Gold Glove: The Venezualan Jaguar
Biggest Bat: Melson
Play of the Day: Rickey gets hit in head by ball
Most likely to have an aneuryism: Heidi

NO GAME ON 28 JANUARY. HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR.

Vacancy

Hey! Maybe our very own Nomah can apply for the position... Plus the party scene in bostan is much better than Singapore. He probably doesn't have to wait in line for MOS.

Vacancy

Sox Prepared to Start Season with No Shortstop

Vacancy_1In a shocking announcement yesterday, Red Sox co-GMs Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer said that if it came to it, they were quite comfortable beginning the season with no one playing shortstop for the Sox. Hoyer and Cherington made the announcement together, speaking simultaneously in a show of unity.
“Everybody is so worried about what we’re going to do at shortstop,” laughed a smug Cherington after making the announcement. “Sure, Alex Cora is a possibility, and we might even make a trade for a shortstop. But let me…us…state quite clearly that we are perfectly comfortable with no one playing shortstop. Hoyer then explained that the team had reams of statistical evidence to back up its claim that a shortstop, while a convenience, is certainly not a necessity. “You could well argue that we played without a shortstop last year and still won 95 games,” argued Hoyer, referring to the calcified Edgar Renteria and his 30 errors. “For crying out loud, we paid another team $11 million to take our shortstop away, so I think that was a pretty strong statement that we believe we can make it without a shortstop. Who knows? Maybe we’ll play with four outfielders instead.”
When it was pointed out that the team also does not currently have a centerfielder—hence only two outfielders—Cherington and Hoyer, nodding at the same time, acknowledged that that could be a problem. “Statistical data does indicate that you need a centerfielder or you’re going to have a hell of a lot of inside-the-park homeruns on routine singles up the middle,” the GMs explained. “So we’ll have to take care of that.” Hoyer could then be seen writing on a notepad: “Get a centerfielder!”
Still, the GMs are convinced that the need to have some positions filled are vastly overrated. “Look, we had no GM for more than a month, and now we’re using this ridiculous co-GM scenario,” they whimsically noted. “And everything’s going just fine! Isn’t it?”

DT Rants

Sorry for the late rant. It's been a hectic week. For those of you who are interested, Microsoft released a couple of critical patches for their Windows systems last week. PLEASE install them on your PC.... NOW. look for MS06-001 and MS06-002. For more info, read February's HWM. There is a commentary piece on backdoors and what not (I'm sure Rube would approve of the title)

On to the Rant.
I can't believe I overran the ball. That's like impossible, but somehow it happened. One moment, I see the ball bloop behind second base, I run like crazy, turn around, and when I look up, it's gone missing. Next thing I know, the ball drops right in front of me. It must have been the weeks of no ball.

Rickey's "almost" play at third must have been the most memorable of the day. Rube's on third base, DY up at bat, Rube stands slouched over the baseline, so Rickey warns him... "Becareful, DY hits it right down the li......eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". The scream is because DY hits one right at Rickey's jewels at the same moment. In half a nano second, the ball reaches Rickey before he can finish saying "line", Rickey sticks out his glove to protect his nuts, makes a catch, but drops the ball because he's still moving away from the path of the ball and screaming in a ridiculously high pitch.

It's great to have Cool Papa back. Although everyone seems to be trying to victimise him. Rube smacked a couple down the line, deep, deep down the line, and when he stayed close to the line, Fei would smack the ball up the middle, along Rubane's foul line. Cool Papa may have run his 5k that day.


footnote: Those of you who weren't at Joe's after ball, be prepared for a surprise when you meet The Generalissimo on Sat. His new nickname should be "Mr Expressions" or "Mr Marie France"

14 January 2005 - Short, sweet and dry

ONES: 1B: Heidi; 2B: Horfun; 3B: Marv-elous; SS: DY; LF: Rube; CF: Ru-bane; RF: Say Hey Kid
TWOS: 1B: Nigey-pooh; 2B: Diana; 3B: Rickey; SS: D-"I'm Quicker than I thought"-T; LF: Cool Papa; CF: Ru-bane; RF: Seven

GAME 1 (3 Innings):
ONES: 16
TWOS: 16

That's right: we played three innings, had 32 runs and it was not even the small ball. Played at West Coast, since the NUS fields are swampy, nasty. Played "Rube Rules", with the CF dead. Game started out with the TWOS getting 10 in the top of the first. The ONES fought back valiently and tied the game before the rains came (again). At Joes, Latino (and Gringo) Heat dominated on the pool table as the Generalissimo returned. He's back and in fighting shape...

NOTES:
1) Heidi was hitting with authority; 2) Diana made the only play in the infield all day, with a grounder that she tossed to Nigey-pooh; 3) Rube and Cool Papa were running all over LF. They got a good work-out and both had nice throws throughout the game into homeplate or the infielders; 4) DY had some masterful hits along the cones in RF, over 3B, and then trying to take his position back from Rickey, who screamed like a girl; 5) The Say Hey Kid was quietly (as usual) getting great hits and running all over the bases, always going for that extra base; 6) Rube had a hit that was leaving the park, but the winds from the sea blew it back in. 7) Rickey: Never out.

MBP: Ru-Bane (made at least 8 of the 18 outs)
Gold Glove: Diana
Best Bat: DY/Heidi (tie)
Biggest Bat: Rube
DY: Cool Papa (catching a foul pop)
Best Arm: Cool Papa
Bonehead: DT runs back for a high pop up, and runs too far.
Cisco (Protecting the Jewels) Award: Rickey

The Sun will come out tomorrow

The sun'll come out Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck in a day
That's gray, And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin, And Say,
Oh!

The sun'll come out, Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on 'Til tomorrow

10 January - Damn this infernal Rain

3 days of almost nonstop rain. Oh baseball gods, why hath thou forsaken us?

DT Rants

1.50pm : Was leaving the House, received SMS. "The weather is very bad over here"
1.55pm : Replied SMS, "I'll wait for a little while more before leaving home"
2.45pm : Send SMS, "How's the situation"
2.55pm : Received SMS, "No one's here"

7 January 2006 - Convention of Sissies (but at least they showed up)

At 3:00 there were only 4 people there (Rickey, Horfun, Heidi and Rube). By 3:30 there were finally 10 (Nelson, Gil the Gazelle, Clement, Diana, Jason and Seven).

The field was a lake, due to the constant rain over the past week. By the time Rube made a very muddy survey of playing fields, all had pretty much given up. Dark clouds on the horizon, our spirit broken. We adjourned to Joe's, for perhaps the worst - and longest - game of pool ever played.

THERE WILL BE A GAME ON TUESDAY, 10 JANUARY (A PUBLIC HOLIDAY). MEET AT 10:00. I SUSPECT WE WILL PLAY AT WEST COAST PARK, BUT GO TO THE USUAL GATHERING PLACE FIRST. IF WE ARE NOT THERE, CHECK WEST COAST.

DT Rants

For the Record, the first Homerun of 2006 was hit by Jason.

2 January 2006 - Like Pigs rooting in s***

ONES: C: Guppy; 1B: Rickey; 2B: Diana; 3B: Don't-know-his-name; SS: Mr Wong; LF: Rube; CF: The Cheetah; RF: Nigey-pooh; Rover: Shaun
TWOS: P: Gunz; C: Horfun; 1B: Heidi; 2B: Don't-know-his-name 2; 3B: DY; SS: DT; LF: Gil the Gazelle; CF: Cool Papa; RF: Grandpa; Rover: Jason

Game ONE:
ONES: 21
TWOS: 12

Game TWO: (3 Innings)
ONES: 5
TWOS: 10

Man it was muddy. It was nasty on that field. DT was upset that his brand-new pillow bases - a nice maroon - were almost ruined. First base was a nasty, smelly, pig-sty. It stank of manure. It was bad. The first game was dominated by the ONES, while the second was by the TWOS.

NOTES:
1) Nigey-pooh was on fire. The wife sends him out of the house - welcome to married life - and he dominates with the bat. He gave the ONES the early lead, which Rube solidified. 2) Rube shows up late, and proceeds to hit 3 booming homeruns. He also caught a Cool Papa epic homerun in the middle of a soccer game. Amazing catch. 3) DY is back. Good to see him hitting well. 4) Horfun had nice smacks right up the middle. 5) Jason is on the 'roids. His homerun was something the Kitty would have hit 5 years ago. His highlight of the year, and it's only a day old. 6) While they are testing Jason, might as well check Heidi too. 7) Guppy made major league moves behind the plate. 3x he caught someone out on a foul ball in key, game-changing situations. 8) DT is still fuming over a foul ball he hit. He claims it was fair, and we await the rant on that one. 9) Heidi hits ball to Rickey. Ball stops next to 1B, and Rickey tries to pick it up. Ball is stuck in muck, and Heidi is safe. 10) Cool Papa had some rough moments in the field, but his arm held runners and in the second game he hit a game changing triple.

MBP: Nigey-pooh
Biggest Bat: Rube
Play-of-the-Day: Rube (catching Cool Papa's hit)
Golden Glove: Guppy
Hit-of-the-Day: Jason
DY: Has to be DY showing up.
Bonehead Play of the Day: Either Rickey not picking up Heidi's hit in the muck, or Rickey's base-running (does it qualify as base-"running" if he is going so slow?).

Lightning Crashes

Oh how the baseball gods mock us. 6 weeks without ball, and when we finally start our worship, the skies open. Heidi momentarily became Donald Blake, as she called down the lightning when her bat struck the ball. It was a magnificant line-drive, but no one saw it as everyone ducked and covered. The crack of her bat on the ball became the crack of thunder and the flash of lightning carried the ball down the line. We didn't see the hit, but we definitely saw the ball land way out in rightfield.

We welcome back Cool Papa, from his hiatus, though Rickey had of take advantage of his semi-medicated state. We also welcome back Fye from Changmai, and the missing couples, Jason&Diana and Paul&Thaddeus. We haven't seen them in awhile.

We play Monday, 2nd Jan, 10am. Hopefully the baseball gods will smile on us this time. DY is back and he'll be playing.

31 December 2005 - "Oh, how I wish it would rain"

For the first time in weeks we have plenty of people and mother nature laughs at us.

Final score:
Humans: 0
Mother Nature: 1

We were in the 2nd inning of the game, when the skies opened on us. Man, it rained. Lightning too.

NOTES:
1) Good to see Cool Papa back, even though Rickey had to school him on fielding; 2) New lady - a friend of Heidi - can play. Major skillz. She must come back; 3) Jason had a nice snag on a Cool Papa line drive; 4) Lightning was hitting a bit close to home; 4) Joe's was a nice refuge, although the pool playing left a lot to be desired

New Year Eve Game

Due to the poor turnout on Christmas Eve Morning, New Year's Eve will be played at our usual 2.30pm time. Hopefully, we can get a good turnout this time, so that we don't have to cancel Monday's game.

See you there.

DT Rants

We finally play, after FOUR weeks of no ball. In all my years of playing at SAS, this is the longest dry spell we've ever encountered. We've lost a lot of good folks this year, and hopefully the bleeding will stop soon. We need to do some recruiting as well.
It was a pretty good game though, we started game 1 with the small live ball from 5 weeks ago, and it rocked West Coast Park. We switched to the normal sized ball for the second game, and it showed that our international ladies were much more adept at the regulation sized ball.
Btw, the line drive Jo hit through Ricky, was a home run. It got by Sandman as well. Of course, Rickey's famous last words were "I want it my way.", then POWWWWW.... the ball cuts through the air aiming for his head. The last time I saw rickey move that quick was in Malaysia when he got off the boat from Tioman looking for a loo to release 2 cups of coffee and a diet coke.
The quote of the day was "No, I'm not ok. What kind of fucking question is that?" After Noorlin puts her foot down on her relationship with Rube..... literally, with metal cleats...

24 December 2005 - "I want it that a way"

MANLY MEN: 1B: Rickey/Rube; 2B: Guppy; 3B: Rube/Rickey; SS: DT; LF: Sandman; RF: Male Jo
LADIES WITH BATS: 1B: Nurlin; 2B: Horfun; SS: Female Jo; LF: Heidi; RF: Mei
All Time SS/3B (Game one): DT
All Time 1B (Game two): Rube

Game One: (Mercy, 5 innings)
MM: 10
LWB: 0

Game Two: (Just played 5 innings, but would have been mercy)
MM: 2
LWB: 12

We played at West Coast Park, and it was hot. We played "Rube Rules", which is when the center-field (marked by cones) is dead - an automatic out. In game one the Manly Men got off to a great start, while the Ladies with Bats were trying to figure out how to hit to the corners. In Game two, the Ladies with Bats got their revenge. Fair games, good play.

Notes:
1) Good to see our international ladies back. They definitely raise our level of play; 2) Rube got spiked by Nurlin; 3) Horfun is showing some good batting skills; 4) Rickey was on fire in game one. 5 rbis, 3 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 hr, and he turned a 3-6-3 double play on defense; 4) Female Jo - tired of the Rickey taunting - slammed one down the 3b line in game two. Somehow, Rickey couldn't handle it. Impressive; 5) Sandman and Male Jo had good hitting days too; 6) Male Jo got caught in 2 run-downs on the same play. Got out of the first one, got caught in the second; 7) Guppy on Defense. Ball hit to Rickey at 1B. Ball deflects off Rickey's glove, into Guppy's, who throws it back to Rickey. 3-4-3 put-out.

MBP: The Ladies.
Biggest Bat: Rickey
DY: Female Jo
Play of the Day: Either 3-4-3, or Female Jo shutting Rickey up.
Bonehead Play of the Day: Everyone hitting inside the cones...

PS: NO GAME ON 26 December (Boxing Day).

17 Dec 2005 - Batting Practice

We didn't have enough numbers for a game, so we did some batting practice.

Lineup: Rube, Horfun(Welcome back), Seven-in-Chains, Fei, Jessen, Sandman, Auguste(Welcome to SAS), DT

Auguste is a friend of Seven's. Boy can he hit the ball deep.

Christmas Eve game at 10am. Confirmed. Hope everyone can make it.
Boxing Day game in the morning as well, 10am.

Upcoming Games

Dec 17 - Usual time 2.30pm
Dec 24 - Morning? or afternoon?
Dec 26 - Morning 10am
Dec 31 - Morning? or afternoon?
Jan 2 - Morning 10am

10 Dec 2005 - In the Immortal Words of Madonna

Holiday! Celebrate!

List of SAS currently out of Singapore

1. Rube - Bali
2. Rickey - South Africa
3. Horfun - China
4. Heidi - Langkawi
5. Sandman - Canada
6. The Generalissimo - Venezuela
7. Guppy - Australia
8. Nigeypooh - Honeymoon
9. DT - KL

Meanwhile, we play on the 17th Dec!


POLL: Christmas eve is on Sat. I propose we play in the morning instead of our usual afternoon game, as most of us would have dinner/church/family activities in the evening and might be forced to leave early. If we play in the morning, we can get in a couple of proper games and get better numbers
If you approve, vote in the comments field.

3 Dec 2005 - No Rain, but Misty Came

Waited till 3pm, No Frisbee players, but not enough numbers so game called.

MVPs: Guppy, Marvelous, Misty, Prof Zen, Fei, Cheetah, DT

Game on DEC 10 is CANCELLED due to lack of numbers.

We play again on DEC 17.

26 Nov 2005 - The Rain in Spain came to Singapore

Rained out. No game.
Numbers at 3pm, Heidi, Rickey, Guppy, Prof Zen, DT.

Drinks at Joes on Friday 25 NOV 2005

Hey All:
As many of you know, Martin (aka "The Contrary"; aka "The Flamingo", aka "Dear Daniel") is in town. He - unfortunately - can't make ball on Saturday. For those of us who have played with him (and his "Canadian rules"), we remember him well, and not always in a mocking manner. For those of you who haven't met him, it's a good time to meet one of the "old timers". On Friday, he'll be at Joe's for drinks beginning sometime between 5:00 and 6:00, until who knows when.

Come one, come all. Bring the family and friends.
Rickey

DT Rants

The ball wasn't THAT hard to catch. Well, not really...
The ball was a size 1, which makes it slightly larger than a baseball and smaller than a softball. It's actually a brilliant size for our game because we play a larger field than standard softball, almost baseballesque dimensions. And since it's rubber rather thn leather, it hurts a lot less to catch barehanded. And it travels! Boy does it travel. So batters get a good 'zing' when they make contact, and fielders feel good catching it as well.
No Rants today.
it was a great game, and 61 runs is an ALL-TIME SAS record. Never in SAS history have we hit 50, much less 60. I believe we've smelt 50 a couple of times, but we've never gone over the half-century mark.

I do have ONE rant, but that's got nothing to do with softball. Rather, its about the arrival of a distinguished, honored member of the original saturday softball crowd. Martin the Contrary aka The Pink Flamingo aka Thrower of the Best Parties this side of Asia. HE lands on Sat evening, and leaves the following Sat morning! Which means he won't get to play a single game! What the hell was he thinking! Man!

UNLIKE BOSTON FANS, this guy keeps his promises

This is a REAL MAN! piss off dennis leary! You owe your left testicle, and how many firstborns are in hiding?

19 November 2005 - 61

ONES: C: Guppy; 1B: John; 2B: Diana; 3B: Gil the Gazelle; SS: DT; OF: Say Hey Kid; Gunz, The Cheetah; Rover: Jason
TWOS: C: Rickey/Monk; 1B: Heidi/Rube; 2B: Burma Girl; 3B: Rickey/Leo; SS: Nomar; OF: Prof. Zen, Sandman, Rube/Heidi; Rover: Monk/Rickey/Leo

Game One: (10 Innings)
ONES: 29
TWOS: 32

Just look at that score. That says it all: 61 runs scored. This was a game for the ages, one of the all-time classic Saturday Softball Games. Everyone (except maybe the outfielders) had a great time, and didn't want the game to end. All can be attributed (or blamed) to the ball DT brought. It was a baseball-sized rubber softball. It made catching the ball hard - it kept falling out - since we have big gloves for that little ball (a bit of the "Enrique" factor discussed at Joe's and over dinner). The outfields had to go waaaaay out there to guard against long balls so there were a lot of pops in-between. Throughout the game both teams would surge ahead, just to be caught the next inning. If we had played another inning I have no doubt the TWOS would have gone ahead. It was just a see-saw game. By the time it was over, everyone was too tired - and thrilled - to play a second game.

NOTES:
1) Diana knows her small-ball. She scored at least two runs on advancing from base-to-base on sacrifices; 2) Prof. Zen and the Sandman communicated all day with "go back..."; 3) John opened up play with the first real smack; 4) DT shut down a bases-loaded rally with a Jordan-esque leap to nab a hard Rickey line-drive; 5) The Cheetah was back with his classic slides; 6) Rickey - under the taunting of Guppy - ties the game with a two-rbi double in the top of the 9th. Rickey, however, tries to make it a triple and gets nailed on a Gunz-DT-Gil put-out.

MBP: The ball
Biggest Bat: Anyone who swang
Best Bat: Anyone who swang
Smartest base running: Diana
Dumbest base running: Rickey (twice got caught going from 2B to 3B)
Drama Mama: Prof Zen - Caught a ball and then had it pop out when he went to grab it for the throw in.

PS: The week before we played "double-or-nothing". Normal game, but the ball was warped, so it would float all over the place when hit or thrown.

DT Rants

I'm still in camp, protecting the country.
2 weeks of softball in a row missed.
what is happening to me.
I've missed more games in the last 6 months than I have in the last 6 years.....

Kill Bill NOW!

DT Rants

Missed Ball again. Probably cos the force is strong in me and I felt that the jackass was coming. Also, I really didn't want to show up after that downpour to lose the field to dogs.
oh well. Had a productive day sleeping at home. Need the rest as I'll be off to protect the nation on Monday. 2 weeks of protecting the country. Bah!

PS. I think Rickey made a mistake, I think he went to school with HER instead.

5 November 2005 - Eating Soup with a Fork

ONES: Infield: John and Burma Girl; Outfield: Rube, Say Hey Kid, Rickey
TWOS: Infield: Windmill and Diana; Outfield: Grandpa, Sandman, Jason

Game One (11 Innings)
ONES: 6
TWOS: 5

Due to low numbers we played a game of "Double or Nothing". The field was wet and spongy and the three balls we had were all soft. Thus, it was like eating fork with a spoon. Very little happened. Even Windmill and the Rube couldn't hit it very far. No homeruns. Realize how rare that would be in a game of "Double or Nothing". It was so bad, John was pitching a no-hitter into the 5th against his own team. The only time someone got on base was when there was an error (usually a bad throw to or catch at 2nd). Finally, the ONES won it in the bottom of the 11th on a series of controversial plays. But, no one had the energy to argue it.

NOTES: 1) Diana is a true Saturday Softball goddess. Although "Double or Nothing" is not suited to her, she wanted to play both Saturday and Thursday. She just wanted to play. That makes her MBP in my book; 2) Good to see Grandpa and Windmill back; 3) Major controversy arose, and continued at Joe's over the "force rule"; 4) Say Hey Kid "performs" for Rickey; Rickey hits, the Kid runs; Rickey claims credit for a triple; 5) Jason had some good catches in RF; 6) Very enjoyable time at the Joe's after the game. Topics under discussion: plastic surgery, waxing "sensitive parts", "force rule"; Cheng Ho (Zheng He) and his voyages; Topics were often mixed together...

By the way - if you haven't heard the story - Ashley Judd was a 1st year student at the University of Kentucky when Rickey was in his last year.... (that's about the whole story....)

MBP: Diana
Gold Glove: Windmill (believe it or not...)
Best Bat: No one. Ball too soft
Drama Mama: Rickey's triple
Bonehead play of the day: Anytime Rickey got near the ball
Master Debaters: John and Rube on the "force rule".

1 thing you'd want do in Kentucky

5 things you can do in singapore

Number one. Catch a lecture by an unknown, unnamed white man who's an expert on southeast asian history

Hassie?

Click THIS LINK ONLY if you are VERY Brave and have seen Paul's White Glasses

The Brushback

You guys gotta read this. from The Brushback

My favourite line...

“That Renteria signing was tough,” Clement said in defense of Epstein’s decision. “Who knew he was going to play this bad? He’s been great his entire career. But I still say the $40 million was worth it. The leadership Edgar provided was key to us getting into the playoffs. You know, that quiet, stoic leadership style where he sits in the corner and doesn’t interact with anybody and then takes the field and muffs an easy grounder? You can’t put a price tag on that.”

DT Rants

Numbers weren't too good, so we ended up playing double or nothing. Double double or nothing in fact, with back to back 7 inning games.

The Odd Months had the numerical superiority so we had to give up Ted to the Evens. Though that wasn't the deal from Tuesday. Seems the Sandman missed the epic first game because he was out "rollarblading". Oh Well. Nomah and Yogi probably had a late-head-nodding-night at zouk as they didn't show up. We missed Guppy as well, but that wasn't surprising since we all had to take a drug test today before the game. Ramadan Dave was missing as well, cos he's back to being Cool Papa.

Both games were closely fought, and playing only 7 innings did not offer alot of room for catching up to a big lead. There were several contravesial calls as well. Primarily because we setup the field with a short porch facing the fence and carpark, instead of our usual location. Also, with the temptation of being able to hit over the fence, many tried, and many succeeded. Rickey hit 3 homeruns, but only 2 of them went over the fence. Indiana hit about 2 or 3 as well. Rube hit a couple and I hit one myself. Though, in my opinion the best hit of the day must have come from Jason. He was struggling all day while he was on the Odds team, but at the start of the second game, the Sandman had to leave, so Rickey took Jason over to the Evens. He was the first at bat, first inning, first pitch, and he blasted the ball over the fence. Now why didn't he do that for the Odds when we needed him? If he had done that, we wouldn't have lost the first game.

The weather was amazingly good, cool with a nice stiff breeze. Not as hot as Tuesday, with the sun finally relenting and not burning us to a crisp. Overall it was an enjoyable morning, with good hitting from everyone. I personally love the concept of double or nothing, but it should only be played once in a while, because it helps train directional hitting. You have to learn how to hit into gaps so that you make doubles, and this helps in normal games. I'm looking forward to the next time we get to do the "shut-down-center-field" cones thingy again. That was fun as well.

Odds have the lead in the series with 2 games. Hopefully we can win two straight on saturday to take the series.



Meanwhile, I dug up this rule from MLB.com
"A TAG is the action of a fielder in touching a base with his body while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball, or with his hand or glove holding the ball, while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove."

3 November 2005 - Tournament Day 2 (Double or Nothing)

ONES: Infield: DT and Burma Girl; OF: Heidi, Say Hey Kid, Jason; P; Rube
TWOS: Infield: John and Diana; OF: Rickey, Sandman and Prof Zen
NOTE: For the second game, Sandman left so Jason went to the TWOS. Rube played infield and DT was in the OF.

Game 2 (of the tournament):
ONES: 5
TWOS: 9

Game 3:
ONES: 7
TWOS: 4

STANDINGS: ONES: 2, TWOS: 1

It was a day of "Double of Nothing". The field had the "Green Monster" set-up. In the 1st game, Prof. Zen was hitting it down the 3B line for nice doubles. He set the TWOS rolling and a big lead was put up (7-2, I think). ONES came back but ran out of innings. In the second game, both sides were tired. But, Rube had some big hits that pushed Heidi and DT over the plate a couple of times. The Say Hey Kid had a "traditional" "Double or Nothing homer", and Rube had 2. But, Rickey was tempted by the Green Monster. He hit 3 (yes, three) homers, with 2 coming in the second game. Jason also hit one on his first at bat (first pitch too) for the TWOS. Heidi was a bit upset at chasing balls in the corner (particularly those hit by Prof Zen and John).

MBP: Prof Zen
Biggest Bat: Rickey
Best Bat: Prof Zen
DY: Jason
Angriest: Heidi

DT Rants

What a great game. If it were raining, it would've been a traditional game of ye olde schoole saturday softball. There was some problems sorting teams as we didn't want to do a standard ONES and TWOS. We tried birthday months, first half of the year against the second half, and ended up 11 vs 5. Gosh, there are alot of spring babies.
We tried even birthdays vs odd birthdays, and that ended up like all vs 2. Finally we tried even month of birth vs odd month of birth. And it almost evened out. The odd months being short by 1. The lineups looked quite even, but Nomah and his bf showed up in his bf's mother's car, and rather than risk getting the two lovebirds, the Odd Months decided to take Jason and The Sandman (we were under the impression that he would come soon), giving the Even Months Nomah and Yogi. This put the Odd Months at 7, and the Even Months at 9, but we figured The Sandman would show up anytime soon (he didn't and the Odd Months played the whole game 2 men down)
Even with two men down, the Odds proved their pluckiness with small ball singles-hitting. The choice of taking Jason proved fruitful as he was hitting singles and doubles all day, advancing runners. The Odd Months did take 2 9 run leads, but we could not capitalise on it and take the winning stroke with a mercy. The Even Months were fantastic though, they did not give up, even at 9 runs down. They fought and fought, bringing back the score to respectable levels. In the 6th inning, the Even Months finally took the lead, but it was not to be, as the Odd Months regained a one run lead in the 7th, and their defense held up. Last out of the game was a "Homerun" by Rickey.
Guppy was amazing. I've never seen him this good in the last 7 years I've known him.
He's finally caught up with the ball, and he was pulling like crazy. He's NEVER pulled the ball before in his life. He was making some good throws in the right field too. NO ONE took extra bases on him. I don't know what he's taking, but I want some of it. CK and Weixiong had a little batter-LFielder Duel of their own. And Weixiong finally won out with a catch deep in foul territory to put CK out. Rickey had a bad glove day, and he should get a Rant for it. I supposed he didn't get a date night on Monday, which accounted for his defensive lapse. He had ONE good hit though. A typical Rickey HR if ever there was one. He slammed the ball deep, way, way past Heidi in LF, but he only made it to 2nd when the ball came back in.
I can't wait for game 2 tomorrow.

1 November 2005 - Let the Tournament Begin

ONES: 1B: Rube; 2B: Burma Girl; 3B: CK; SS: DT; LF: Heidi; CF: Say Hey Kid; RF: Jason
TWOS: P: Andy; C: Monk; 1B: John; 2B: Diana; 3B: Rickey; SS: Nomar; LF: Weixiong; CF: Ramadan Dave; RF: Guppy

ONES: 20
TWOS: 19

What a great day to start our 2nd annual holiday period tournament. We play 7-inning games. This one was so epic we couldn't play a second one. Everyone was worn out by both the game and heat. This tournament may have to last more than the three scheduled days. The ONES consist of people born in odd-numbered months (January, March...), while the TWOS were born in even-numbered months (Feb, April...).

The ONES almost blew this one. They had 9-run leads in both the 1st (9-0) and 3rd (12-3) and still couldn't get the mercy. The TWOS came roaring back, riding the newly revived Guppy to a number of runs. Now that's it's been brought up, what's with Guppy? He's on the Juice. He made a spectacular DY play on a foul pop and was hitting like never seen before. By the 5th inning it was a 15-15 tie. The TWOS took the lead on a massive Ramadan Dave homer to right field (the field was set up so the right field fence was the walkway where the softdrink machine is). He hit over the roof of the walkway for a 3-run homerun. Rube did it an inning before. By the final inning, the ONES finally took the lead back for the win. Heidi had a great game in LF. She also had key hits, with one shooting down the 1B line.

MBP: Heidi
Biggest Bat: Ramadan Dave/Rube (tie)
Best Bat: Guppy
Most Foul Balls: CK
Most Angry at having to chase Foul Balls: Weixiong
Gold Glove: No one stood out
Bonehead play of the day: Letting Rickey play 3B
DY: Guppy

BBQ - No Drunken Debauchery

What a great BBQ.
The numbers were slightly lacking, (the numbers has been lacking for the last couple of months at ball too) but the usual stalwarts were there.
Hassie showed up with a marvelous dish, with ample toppings and a delicious looking spread... oh and he brought roasted garlic cloves too. Rickey as usual brought his PuuPuus, cept this time, they were a little wet. I've never been a fan of the wet puu but it went down well with the rest of the crowd. Jason and Diana brought salad. It was green. The Generalissimo brought his usual delectable choice of meat cuts. Beef, Pork and Fish marinated to perfection. They were quickly grilled and consumed with non left over. I did sambal chicken wings with an "Extra-special" batch with a special sauce. Those who unknowingly ate those particular wings without warning, I apologise. :D I say Fei eat a whole piece, I swear, that guy can smile through anything. He was chomping on a special-hot-wing, sweating buckets and smiling. Heidi bought(keyword) sausages. Those were pretty good, and were quickly consumed as well.
Surprisingly, there were no leftover meats. Usually for an SAS BBQ, there is an abundance of meats and much of it is wasted and not consumed. This time, there was a perfect amount. I guess the loss of Kitty and Guppy made the difference as they usually bring alot more meat as well.
Coach made a guest appearance, and it was great to talk baseball with him again. The Windmill also made a guest appearance with his wife and very cute daughter. I caught The Generalissimo carrying her around making cooing sounds to her. Awww. it was so cute!
The Beer Tab ran into about $400, which Rickey generously picked up to "share the wealth" of his promotion. Though, the $400 did not include the 4 Jugs of Beer Rickey had to ante up as part of his poor choice in team-backing. Rickey also brought a bottle of 15 year old single malt, and The Generalissimo donated his "little drops of heaven" Venezulean Rum. Good stuff!
Prof Zen downed his yard of beer most sportingly, and he was none the worse for it. Somehow, we managed to get Geok to show off her powers (as the current yard record holder) to down one as well. Last time we checked, she was still sprawled in the driveway in front of BBQ pit.
Overall a great night! No over consumption of alcohol leading to memorable discussions, yet a wonderful crowd, a fantastic atmosphere and a brilliant party!

Notes: We celebrated
1. NigeyPooh's last few days as a free man, come Nov, he will become Mr Jenny
2. Prof Zen's departure to the states, (and not Canada as Rickey would have us believe)
3. Indiana's Birthday! The guy is like 60, with a quadruple bypass, and the way he plays ball puts those of us half his age to shame!
4. Rickey's Tenure. Yes, he's stuck here for the rest of his life, which is not surprising considering....

DT Rants

I HATE FRISBEE PLAYERS. Hey, get a clue, you wanna run around a field and play a real sport, play rugby. Then again you fags probably couldn't get into the rugby team, or another team that plays a real sport. You know what runs down a frisbee to catch it? Dogs!

29 October 2005 - The Green Monster

ONES: P: Burma Girl; C: Monk; 1B: Rube; 2B: Diana; 3B: John; SS: Nomar; OF: Gunz, Jason, Andy, The Boss
TWOS: P: Ramadan Dave; C: Say Hey Kid/Rickey; 1B: Heidi; 2B: Soo-eey; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; SS: DT; OF: Sandman, Weixiong, Spider, Fei-ette, Rickey

Game One: (Mercy, 4 innings)
ONES: 1
TWOS: 11

Game Two: (9 innings)
ONES: 11
TWOS: 5

It was a hot day. Due to playground rules, and the frisbee people taking up ground, we shifted the field. We had a short left field fence with extra rules involved. A "home run" over the fence was a double, but a foul ball of the neighboring fence - which led to the steep slope and that nasy, hole-filled grass - was an out. There were plenty of doubles, but there were even more foul outs, with Weixiong being particularly guilty in the first game. In that game the TWOS masterfully used the fence to advance runners, while the ONES floundered. The game ended when Rickey flubbed an easy Gunz pop foul (little league stuff). Gunz smacked the next pitch over the fence for the mercy. In the second match-up the ONES had control throughout the game, and Ramadan Dave even pitched a shut out into the 8th inning.

NOTES:
1) Fei-ette still gets on base almost everytime she bats. An alternative nickname may be Mojo; 2) Nomar had some good plays to impress his lady-friend; 3) Rickey smacked a hard line drive right at Burma Girl's head (she was pitching). She handled it with non-chalance; 4) Channeling the spirit of Ozzie Guillen - but perhaps not the religious beliefs - the Venezualan Jaguar was magnificent. In several innings he handled every out the ONES were getting. He was responsible for much of Ramadan Dave's shut out into the 8th of game two; 5)Heidi made some good stretches on throws; 6) Jason did a great job at rover. He was nailing runners at 1st and 2nd (not just Rickey) with his throws; 7) Sandman was bouncing off the Green Monster like a pinball.

MBP: Venezualan Jaguar
Best Bat: Fei-ette/Mojo
Biggest Bat: Gunz
Gold Glove: Venezualan Jaguar
Most Equivalent Speed runner to replace the Jaguar: Ramadan Dave
Bonehead Play of the Day: Rickey on foul pop
Play of Day: Burma Girl snags the line drive
Drama Mama: Sandman on the fence
Most likely to be drunk at BBQ: Rube/Seven (tie)

REMINDER: Games on Tuesday and Thursday this week

BBQ UPDATE - Sticky

Dear All:
There will be a BBQ at Joe's after softball on Saturday. For those who have been to one before, you know the usual drill. For those of you who haven't attended one before, just bring a little of something for all. We will be having the BBQ for a number of reasons, ranging from Andy's imminent departure to Ted's return to general enjoyment.

Please write me (and ONLY me) with what you will bring. We could probably use some potatos, pasta or some type of salad.

Here's a list so far...
Rickey: Puu Puus (of course)
Alirio: Marinated meats (and VENEZUALAN RUM, for toast to the next president, Ozzie Guilen)
Hongyan: Sausage
John: Some meat
DT: Sambal chicken
Jason/Diana: Salad
Geok: Noodles
Hassie: Roasted garlic (and then a new potato dish if he has time)
Andy: Corn
Dave: Anything you'd like...
See you on Saturday.
Rickey

BBQ

Dear Saturday Softball-ites:
There has been an incredible drop in numbers recently, and it is even getting difficult to play "double or nothing". While some of this is related to people having to make trips, etc. overseas, the numbers are definitely down. One of the problems is the time that people arrive. We didn't play this past weekend, because there were only 5 people at the field by 3:15. We went to Joe's, and by 4:00 there were 10 people. Although complaining about when softball starts has become a broken record (for those who are "old school"), let's try to start at 3:00. That means warmed up, boots on, ready to go.

Not all is complaining. There are two big events coming up. The first is a BBQ on October 29. Why? Well, there are a number of things coming up. 1) Andy (Prof. Zen) will be leaving us; 2) Nigey-pooh is getting married in November; 3) Ted (the Sandman) will be back from his frequent trips to the States; 4) Marv-elous is back; 5) Chris (the Legend) will allow Linda the Law to throw objects at his head, and; 6) Finally, we haven't had one in a while.

Second on the agenda is the 2nd Annual Holiday Tournament. If you remember, last year we had a convergence of holidays (Hari Raya Puasa [Shout out - salam - to Cool Papa] and Deepavali [shout out to Gunz]). The tournament was "old school" v. "new school", and "new school" dominated with a star making performance from Heidi in the outfield and a game in a downpour. Well, we're having the same thing happen again. This year the tournament will be on 1, 3, and 5 November. It will be a best-of-5 format. During the BBQ we will decide how the teams will be formed (such as odd/even birthdays, like last year, etc.).

Finally, if you want to hear DR. Kyle Kitty Latinis on the BBC, here's the link (Kyle start speaking at 1:51)….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/worldtoday/news/story/2005/10/printable/051004_cambodia.shtml

Have a good week
Rickey

The Venezuelan Barrio machismo

full story here


Added Guillen: "I wish she would have grabbed something and broken his head. If that happened to my family, it would have been a big problem. ... People should just go to the game and not bother people next to you, or you're not a White Sox fan or a baseball fan. Just enjoy the game. Drink if you want to drink; just respect the people next to you."



Nonetheless, Guillen did not hide his disgust at the treatment Patty Biggio received.

"On behalf of the White Sox organization, I just don't think we could control that," Guillen said. "But I think the family is a big part of my life. I think especially the kids. And when that happened in the ballpark, you feel you need to be supportive.

"When you're a man and you hit a lady, no matter whose wife it is or whose sister it is, you respect them. But it's something that's tough to control. It happened so quick."



'Bring him to me'
Maybe so, but Guillen insinuated that he would have definitely defended anybody in the Astros' traveling party.

"I know the security in Chicago is doing a great job," Guillen said. "And when something happens so quick, you can't blame anybody. And the guy that did it, he should be brought to Biggio, and he's the one that can hopefully get him back.

"I told the police, 'Don't put him in jail. Bring him to me in the dugout.' But hopefully, that won't happen again."

DT Rants

Nothing to rant about today.
Beautiful weather. Not too hot, little bit of cloud and a nice breeze.
Fantastic numbers. Old School Numbers. And we started at 3pm. Brilliant!!!
I got my boss to show up since he's in town for 2 weeks. He shook off the rust in no time, pounding the ball for extra base hits, and making good catches and throws from centerfield. I had to be on the opposite team, just in case I get the chance to throw him out at first. Which of course happened, he hit a slow roller to short, and I got him out by a couple of steps.

"Fei-ette" was superb. Rickey neglected to mention that she almost got him out at first. She was playing rover, and he hit a roller up the middle. She fielded the ball, took one boggle and threw to rube at first. Rickey stepped on the plate at exactly the same time. Giving the runner the tie. If she hadn't boggled the ball, Rickey would have been dead out. She almost pulled the same thing on the next runner as well. Plus she was hitting, always into the gaps, always for singles and RBIs. Good stuff. The funny thing we noticed. She has only shown up the weeks that Nomah doesn't. She prolly knows something the rest of us don't. Plus she's cute to boot!

Rube hit the shit out of the ball. He must be taking some extra juice.

22 October 2005

ONES: P: TS; C: Heidi/Rube; 1B: Rube/Heidi; 2B: Soo-ee; SS: Sandman; 3B: Venezualan Jaguar; LF: Spider; CF: The Boss; RF: Jason; Rover: Adeline (Fei-ette)
TWOS: P: Rickey/Prof. Zen; C: Burma Girl/Rickey; 1B: John; 2B: Diana; SS: DT/Tony Montana; 3B: Clement; LF: Weixiong; CF: Ramadan Dave; RF: Say Hey Kid; Rover: The Cheetah

Game One:
ONES: 23
TWOS: 17

Game Two (4 innings):
ONES: 1
TWOS: 2


Great turnout for great games. In the first game, the ONES were simply excellent. When lineups were fixed, it looked like they were at a disadvantage (look at the TWOS Hall of Fame outfield!). But the ONES had consistent hits. There were no major defensive lapses, just good, solid hitting. Twice the ONES threatened to Mercy the game. In the 5th they had a 9-run lead, and two men on, but the TWOS finally got the out. In the 8th, they were ahead by 10, but the "no mercy from the 8th inning onwards rule was invoked".

By game two everyone was tired. There was some shifting of positions, but the offensive explosion of the first game was not there. The winning run was Weixiong running in on a Say Hey Kid triple.

NOTES:
1) Adeline (who DT dubbed "Fei-ette" cuz she has speed, arm, and an amazing bat) tore up the TWOS in the first game. She's got skillz. 2) Speaking of Fei, the Say Hey Kid has the lock on Drama Mama of the year (plus Rookie of the year). On a routine pop up (to him) for the 3rd out, the ball goes into his glove and pops out. He then juggles it 4 or 5 times bouncing it between his hands before he applies "the claw". 3) Special award to Cool Papa. For a month every year he doesn't eat of drink during daylight, transforming himself into the superhero Ramadan Dave. How he continues to play is amazing. On Saturday the Rube hit a massive boomer. Huge homerun. As soon as it left the bat, Ramadan Dave took off like it was a 100-yard dash, and he had it. One of the greatest fielding plays of all time. But, it hit the very end of the glove (so very, very close) and bounced out. 4) DT had a great play in the same inning. Jeter-esque dive for ball, spin around, and throw from the knees to 1B. A bit off though, and it slides out of John's glove. Great play, and if John couldn't get it, no one could. 5) DT's boss was there. Great catch in the outfield, and he hit a "Rickey homer". Not his fault though. Fei-ette was camped out at 3B and he was stopped from advancing. 6) TS' pitching was excellent. He had us hitting easy pop ups. 7) Spider and the NTU gang continue to impress. 8) 8-1-6-5 put out. Rube hits one to Ramadan Dave, who throws it in and it gets past everyone. The Jaguar (at this time pitching against his own team) scrambles to get the ball in 1B foul territory. Jaguar throws it to DT, who throws it to Clement to tag the Rube at 3B.

MBP: Spider
Gold Glove: No one stood out
Best Bat: Fei-ette
Biggest Bat: Rube
Play of the Day: 8-1-6-5
Drama Mama: Say Hey Kid
Thirstiest: Ramadan Dave
DY: The Venezualan Jaguar

And the results are in

Astros vs White Sox. Also known as "The Battle of ex-Yankee pitchers"
Astros are making their first appearance in the World Series, while the White Sox last tried for the crown in 1959. The last time the White Sox won the ring was in 1917, followed by the subsequent Black Sox scandal in 1918.

So who to root for....
I'm rooting for the Astros. Cos my better half works for a company based in Houston, and she bought me a Astros hat.

PS. BBQ update. Who's bringing what? Email me or Rickey, and we can get the food list going.

Home Made Beer Cooler

If you have the engineering skills. This is worth a try. Click the picture to see how it's done.

DT Rants

It was a damn hot day. mindnumbingly hot. bonesearingly hot. muscleachingly hot.
on a high note, we had 10 by 2.45, and started the game by 3.
We ended the game with 14. 2 more would've been great, but I can't complain.

Twos rocked the One's world with a mercy win in 5 innings in the first game. Rickey then traded Jason for Nigeypooh and it made a difference. Nigey's bat stole the show. But Jason had an uncharacteristic poor fielding day in centerfield. He's usually quite steady, but the ball did not bounce for him at all that day. Meanwhile, his better half was owning the right side of the infield. It's HER house, and no one was gonna get by.

There's great suspicion that nomah went on queer eye during his visit to boston. He came out in a 3quarter sleeve top and 3quarter pants that would have made Rupaul proud....the jury is still out on that one.

Indiana put everyone below 55 to shame with a ballsout performance at short. Though he may not have gotten all the balls going his way and he might've errored on a couple, but boy did he try. Hustle was the name of his game, diving left and right to try for everything within (and sometimes outside) his range.

Fei...oh man! what else is there to say about Fei? we should change the name from softball to feisball. The rest of us were there as the supporting cast to The Fei Show. He is simply amazing. He hit, he ran, he caught, he threw, there was nothing he could not do, and do well.

15 October 2005 - The Difference

ONES: 1B: Seven/Rube; 2B: Burma Girl; SS: Nomar; 3B: Rickey; LF: Rube/TK; CF: Jason/Nigeypooh; RF: TK/Seven
TWOS: 1B: Heidi; 2B: Diana; SS: John; 3B: Tony Montana/DT; LF: Say Hey Kid; CF: Nigeypooh/Jason; RF: Prof Zen
NOTE: Rickey played 3B for both teams for the first 4 innings of the first game (until Heidi showed up). After the first game, Nigeypooh and Jason switched teams.

Game One (5 innings):
ONES: 1
TWOS: 11

Game Two (7 innings; 6, plus extra 1):
ONES: 14
TWOS: 12

What's the Difference? The Say Hey Kid. On an unbelievably hot day, he dominated the game to such an extent that by the second game the ONES refused to hit to Left Field (except for Nomar, who was continually out). On the bases, he was so fast that on a single he would end up at second. He completely dominated. Fielding, running, hitting, throwing. He owned the TWOS. Only Cool Papa a few months ago could have competed with this performance.

The first game was an old fashioned ass-whupping. The 5th inning was one of those that will never end. Nothing went right for the ONES. Due to dropped balls (some followed by shakes of the head), the ONES needed 6 outs in that inning. But, the Say Hey Kid was at his all-time dominating in this game.

In the second game, the ONES thought they had it wrapped up with a 11-5 lead in the 7th inning (if you think of 9 innings). Well, of course not. The TWOS tied the game, and in the bottom of the 9th they even had bases loaded. In the 10th the ONES took a two-run lead, due to good solid hitting and running by TK (he didn't do anything spectacular in the game, but was solid as a rock. Got the job done). Nomar had a great play throwing home to stop a run in the bottom of the 10th.

MBP: Say Hey Kid
Biggest Bat: Say Hey Kid
Gold Glove: Diana (she's becoming a solid 2B)
Best Bat: Nigeypooh (some of those great cricket-style hits)
Drama Mama: Say Hey Kid (On the run, ball lands in glove, pops out, and he grabs it in the air with the "claw")
DY: John (sliding on knees into foul territory, loosing his glasses, he snags soft pop up while pitching against his own team)

Biased Umpiring

This they call SAFE???
and when Robinson Cano did it, they called him out. Get your head in the game blue!

Rickey chases a curve ball

The change-up that got away

8 Oct - Not even enough for Double or Nothing

Only 5 guys on the field, Rickey, Guppy, Gunz, Prof Zen and DT, so we did some batting practice and called it a day at 3:40pm and headed to Joes.
Indiana and Geok show up abt about 3:45, The Generalissimo shows up at 4 and Jason and Diana show up at abt 4:15

DY WOULD'VE HAD THAT!!!

The Generalissimo would've had that. Heck! Even Rickey could've made that play.




HERE is his contract. HERE is Rickey's contract.
You do the Math!

Killed by a Long Wang

I know it's not supposed to be funny.
but heck, naming a typhoon "longwang"???
full story here

The Claw

Tellytubbies....Not just gay

They're cokeheads too...

DT Rants

Met THE parents, and the aunts and their husbands, and the cousins, and the sisters and the brother....
and I survived.

Thank god for cable. Thank god malaysia has cable. Thank god her folks don't wake up early to watch TV. Thank god for ESPN.
Yankees win! Yankees win! Yankees win!

Another week missed.

1 October 2005 - Sandman wakes up

ONES: 1B: Heidi; 2B: Diana; 3B: Rickey; OF: Cool Papa, Sandman, Jason
TWOS: 1B: Seven; 2B: Soo-ey; 3B: Jesson; OF: The Say Hey Kid, Spider, Weixiong
All-time SS: Nomar

Game One:
ONES: 10
TWOS: 7

Game Two (5 innings):
ONES: 4
TWOS: 5

The Sandman got back from one his quick trips to the Great White North, and he brought back some game. It was old school Sandman out in CF. He had some spectacular catches to rob the Say Hey Kid and Spider, and some clutch hits. With Cool Papa and Sandman in the outfield, it was hard for the TWOS to get anything to go for more than a single. In the second game, the ONES were clearly tired (nice excuse), wanted to head to Joes for Oktoberfest,and the Say Hey Kid hit two homers. Beyond that, typical SAS games.

NOTES:
1) Spider - once again - had one of his running errors. But, this one ended with Diana slapping in the head with the glove for the tag. That will teach him. 2) Fei nailed some guys (and kept others from advancing) with really nice throws. 3) Seven had a spectacular hit down the rightfield line for a homer. 4) Nomar was having trouble with his release. 5) Heidi had some nice scoops on a couple of Rickey throws (weren't his fault, of course). 6) Jason finally had one his nice hits get through. He ran for a triple, and even listened to the base coach. 7) Rickey got caught in a rundown between 1B and 2B. Out-jukes Spider and Soo-ey, stumbles back to 1B. Needs Oxygen

MBP: Sandman
Gold GLove: Sandman
Biggest Bat: Say Hey Kid
Best Bat: Seven
Play of the Day: Rickey the baserunner
Drama Mama: Sandman and Cool Papa continually waving each other off on a pop-up

Always let the Wookie Win

Make your Own Beer

Meatfest 2005

DT Rants

No Rants today.
It was a brilliant game on Saturday. I only got the ball thrice. Once on a relay that helped Nomah hit on a girl, and twice from grounders from Rickey. Fubbed the throw to get Rickey out on a DP, but Heidi saved my ass with a heads-up play to tag out Fei. Rickey tried to test the gap between 3rd and SS, thinking that only Jimmy could make that play....oh well..

Looking at the lineup, one would've expected the TWOs to have swept the series, but the ONEs showed that a great glove can beat a great bat.
The TWOs had a stacked offensive lineup, with Cool Papa, Rube and the Say Hey Kid, but the outstanding outfield glovework of Weixiong, Anthony, Spider and Seven made mincemeat of the huge bats. Cool Papa had to dig deep to smack a couple past Spider in LF, and the Rube was caught by Weixiong everytime. Maybe Weixiong's nickname should be Rubane.
The ONEs then strung together singles and doubles to build up a lead that the TWOs could not catch, try as they might.
Gotta give credit to the TWOs as they did not go down fighting, putting up a strong 2-out rally in the bottom of both games. But the effort was for nought, as the ONEs defence easily shut them out.
Oh, the Generalissimo hit one over Cool Papa for the HR. awesome stuff.

24 September - The Importance of Small Ball

ONES: 1B: Heidi; 2B: Diana; 3B: The Jaguar; SS: Tony Montana; LF: Spider; CF: WeiXiong; RF: Seven; Rover: Anthony
TWOS: 1B: Rube; 2B: Soo-eey; 3B: Rickey; SS: Nomar; LF: Cool Papa; CF: TS; RF: The Say Hey Kid; Rover: Jason

Game One:
ONES: 12
TWOS: 6

Game Two (5 innings):
ONES: 11
TWOS: 7

A really good game was played under sunny skies. Not quite the classic of last week, but still a good one. The ones had very few spectacular hits (the Jaguar had a boomer to LF though), but had lots of singles and speed. They rarely advanced more than a base, but it more than enough to bring shame to the big bats (read: pop-ups) of the TWOS. It was the same story in both games.

NOTES:
1) Spider had a huge bat in the first game. But, he also has the normal running errors that he can pile up. Once he was caught advancing to 3B on what was double. Shot down. Later he was on 3B and ran home on a pop up without tagging up. 2)Weixiong was his typically speedy self. He was tearing up the bases, covering on defense and making good throws. Although Spider had the bigger bat, I got to give Weixiong the MBP. 3) Cool Papa was all the Twos had. He hit one of the fastest line drives I've ever seen. It was like a bullet coming off the bat. He, of course, turned it into a homerun. 4) Diana had glove in the first game; bat in the second the game; 5) Jason had to make some potentially dangerous relationship ending decisions several times, on throws or calls. Each time, he strengthened the relationship. 6) Nomar on the tag at home. He's catching and Soo-eey is coming round the bend. When he makes the tag (knee height), she tumbles into the half-mud, half-dirt. Soo-eey shakes it off like a pro, but it looked scary. 7) Play of the day had to be Heidi and the Say Hey Kid. Didn't see most of it, but people were talking. Rickey hits into potential DP. But, Tony Montana touches second and then his throw - dare I say it - is a bit off. The Say Hey Kid goes wheeling around 3B, Heidi runs towards home and runs down the speedy one.

MBP: Weixiong
Play of the Day: Heidi and the Say Hey Kid
Gold Glove: Diana
Biggest Bat: Spider
Best Bat: Heidi
Drama Mama: Nomar and Soo-eey
DY: Rube

A place Rube calls Home

DT Rants

Call me what you will. I've made my nickname. DT is just the online persona I used to create this blogspace. It's not like I called myself Jeter. I do have some pride.
DT isn't my SAS nickname, just the initials I use cos I don't like to refer to myself as "The Legend".

Another week missed.

who the fuck is tony montana?

17 September 2005 - Showdown in CF

ONES: 1B: Nigey-pooh/Rube; 2B: Soo-ey; 3B: Jesson; OF: Gunz, Rube/Nigey-pooh, The Cheetah
TWOS: 1B: Spider; 2B: Monk; 3B: Rickey; OF: Weixiong, Cool Papa, Heidi
All Time SS: Nomar

Game 1 and only (12 innings):
ONES: 14
TWOS: 12

What a game... We started a little late, and in fear that there would be no bats (since among the no shows were Indiana, the Jaguar and "Tony Montana" [the new nickname for DT. He can no longer use DT. No one gets to pick their nickname at SAS. Due to the unneccesary f-bombs he uses, he is now "Tony Montana". It was either that or INAM, short for "In Need of Anger Management"). Thankfully, the NTU crew showed up with a bat. But, oh what a bat...

It was a beautiful sunny day. Ideal. Most of the field was being used by an NUS Centennial Fair, so we played in the far corner. The game was a see-saw affair, with big bats, big plays, and big smiles on the faces of all. The TWOS tied the game in the top of the 9th on - hold your breath - a Rickey homer. The score was then 10-10. Each team scored one in the 10th, was scoreless in the 11th, and then the TWOS scored one for the win, so they thought, in the 12th. With two outs and two on, Gunz hit an amazing homer to right-center for the win. It went amongst the various Fair tents and scared workers, but it would have been a homer any day. We didn't want to ruin it all with a 2nd game, so a group went to Coach's Corner.

NOTES:
- Nomar is back. He may have gone to Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park to watch games, but he must have gotten training in somewhere. He was making amazing plays, even backing up Rickey on a few flubs. He turned 2 double plays on his own.
- Rube hit a homer, and we couldn't find the ball. It was such a monster, he pulled something (insert joke here) and had to play 1B the rest of the day.
- Heidi was hitting opposite field. The game from last week must have stuck. She got on base every time at bat.
- Defensive play of all time. The play you've been waiting for. The showdown: Gunz v. Cool Papa. The Papa hit a long shot to CF and took off. Gunz had to run down the ball; he reaches it as Cool Papa is approaching 3B; Gunz fires it like a bullet past Nomar and it one hops to Monk at the plate who puts the tag on a sliding Cool Papa. The Rifleman shoots him down...

MBP: Gunz
Gold Glove: Nomar
Best Bat: Heidi
Biggest Bat: Rube
Play of the Day: Gunz, the Rifleman
DY: Monk

DT Rants

The first rant I have, and it's a big one, is with the goddamn grandpa and baseball. Look, I understand the baseball is the priority for grandpa and joZ, which is fine with me, they don't show up 6months out of the year anyway due to their baseball season. But trying to poach players from the SAS to make up numbers for his baseball game is just uncalled for. If we had too many players, and you needed one or two, that's fine. but we had short numbers, and then you still had the fucking audacity to try to pull players over to your game. fuck off, you're not welcome at SAS. If you play your friendly on sunday and you need players, sure, plenty of people will volunteer. But you have come long enough to know that 2pm to 6pm is SAS time. You wanna go, fuck off, go ahead, but leave our guys alone. If someone from SAS wants to go and play, sure, I understand, no one will stop them BUT YOU DO NOT CALL PEOPLE AND ASK THEM TO JOIN YOU. If your team is short of numbers, its because you can't get them. We don't try to poach from your game when we are short of numbers? Do you understand what poaching means? or do you want me to link a dictionary to this post?
To Fei...I'm really disappointed in you.
To Dave, thank you for staying. It was a damn fun game.

Second rant, and this is out to everyone, we really need to start earlier. We really are getting later and later, and while we still get in at least one game, it gets really uncomfortable, as those soccer nazis start intruding on our space. SAS used to be at 2pm, it moved to 2.30pm. Now, we don't even start till 3.30, and that's just plain ridiculous. If everyone could show up between 2.30 and 3, we could get our game going by 3, and get in some fun before we lose light, and lose the field. We've even lost the field to the frisbee ppl, who've started showing up at 2pm, just so that they can dominate the side of the field in which we usually play.

Geok was gold glove. Clear as day.

Actually, there WAS one opportunity for the "Claw". Soft grounder to Rickey who COULD have tossed it to the SS to make the DP. But then, he was so suprised he had the ball, he plum forgot to throw it.

Seven must have been in cricket mode, cos all he saw was cones, and all he tried to do was hit the ball past the cones for six.

I think we should get some cones.

10 September 2005 - Insert Muddled Metaphor Here

ONES: 1B: John; 2B: Rickey; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; OF: Heidi, Prof Zen
TWOS: 1B: Nigey-pooh; 2B: Burma Girl; 3B: Marv-elous; OF: Cool Papa, Seven
All Time SS: DT

ONES: 12
TWOS: 11
(10 Innings)

A very interesting dilemma faced SAS on Saturday. The cricket crowd took up much of the field, but was playing in a very restricted circle since they were playing 6 a side. To deal with this, and our reduced numbers (I'm sure there will be a rant about that), we played in the extreme corner near the drink machines. Center field was dead (even if the ball rolled into the cricket circle), meaning that you had to go either left or right. This led to some strategic batting, with even Heidi trying to go left. The award for most "dead ball outs" to CF goes to Seven with 3. This new system was quite enjoyable, and the game went well.

The TWOS started off strong, riding on the back of Cool Papa. They built up a 7-run lead, but the ONES started coming back in the 7th inning. One of the key plays was Rickey not covering home on a run-down. The Jaguar got caught in a run-down between 3rd and Home. As John (playing catcher at the time) chased the Jaguar back to 3rd, he tossed the ball to a waiting Marv-elous; Rickey forgot to cover behind John, being too busy watching the play. The Jaguar scored, leading to a 5-run, 2-out, 7th inning rally.

The tying run in the bottom of the 9th occured with 2 outs. Heidi scores, and seconds later Professor Zen is tagged out at 3rd trying to stretch a hit. Inning over, but game tied. The Prof came back in the bottom of the 10th to hit the game winning rbi.

Notes:
- Cool Papa had a good day, with both bat and glove. He robbed the Jaguar of a sure HR. He also had 3 HRs, the first coming off a Rickey yell to Heidi, "Come in, the ball is soft". The ball flew like a bird. Cool Papa was home before Heidi picked up the ball. Heidi was not happy.
- Nigey-Pooh was hitting with a wicked bat. With center field limited by cricket cones, he would hit a pop up to the edge of the area (since there were no fielders there; balls usually rolled into the cricket area, and thus were out). But, Nigey-pooh hit them with a spin. The balls would come back to 2nd base. Masterful.
- John was fielding all thrown at him (of course, never the fault of the SS). He also kept the ONEs going when they were not getting any hits. His triple started them on the path to victory.
- The Venezualan Jaguar continues to be the fielder of choice. He also had a good bat today, but needed oxygen in the 7th when he scored 2 runs.
- Rickey fields a 4-3 double play. Seven hits it up the middle, Rickey scoops it up, steps on 2nd and fires to John. Ends the top of the 10th, and keeps the TWOS off the scoreboard.
- Burma Girl shows real grit when catching and pitching against her own team.
- DT did a good job, but no chance for "The Claw" with Rickey.

MBP: Cool Papa
Drama Mama: Cool Papa (easy foul pop is dropped)
DY: Burma Girl
Biggest Bat: Cool Papa
Best Bat: Nigey-Pooh
Bonehead Play of the Day: Rickey

3 September 2005 - Sleeping Single in a Double Bed

ONES: P: Grandpa; C: Anna-something; 1B: John; 2B: Burma Girl; 3B: The Jaguar; SS: DT; OF: WeiXiong; American Alex; Jesson; TK
TWOS: P: New guy Nick; C: Andy; 1B: Heidi; 2B: Soo-eey; 3B: Rickey; SS: Sandman; OF: Gunz, Say-Hey Kid; CK; Spider; The Cheetah

Game 1:
ONES: 12
TWOS: 15

Game 2 (4 innings):
ONES: 9
TWOS: 3

Rickey's Rambles:
The story of the game was that the TWOS got all of their runs from hitting singles. Small ball all the way. The ONES were swinging for the fences, and the fine TWOs outfield would just run them down. The ONES were also helped by a wet, puddle-y infield. Many hits just stopped cold with a huge splash of water, which made it hard for DT or the Jaguar to get to them. The TWOS built up a huge lead (8 or 9 runs) by the 4 inning and maintained it until the 8th. Then the ONEs came back with a fury, helped by good, hard hits as well as idiot cricket players wandering out outfield (Fei would have caught two massive hits by American Alex - they were routine for the Say-Hey Kid but not anyone else - if he didn't have to negotiate a maze of guys standing out there). The TWOs came back, but were still one run down by the top of the 9th. Spider secured the victory with a nice hit, which I think had 2 rbis.

Other Notes:
Grandpa loses it. Goes insane on the brain at the cricket players; Rickey also yells at one of them (I believe for the first time); American Alex shows no respect for the Say-Hey Kid when he's batting: Result is booming triple over AA's head; Lot's of sliding. John had particularly good form; Rickey molests player at 3rd. Makes play with his typical grace, runs to base to beat runner, and tumbles all over Anna-something.

MBP: TWOS outfield (collective award)
Biggest Bat: AA
Play of the Day: Rickey on 1st. Heidi hits grounder to John, who throws it to DT at 2nd and back to John. Textbook. Simple, not spectacular, but that's how it is done.
Bonehead Play of the Day: CK. When cricket player walks between him and Rickey in the middle of a play. He doesn't throw it.

DT Rants

Nothing much to rant about this week. Had Marvelous, Heidi and Fei at first, they caught everything I threw, and I didn't throw wild.

Though, I do disagree with 2 rankings.
Biggest bat should be the Generalissimo.
San san should be the best bat
Weixiong should get the gold glove. He had a much better game in the OF.

Since when did Guppy think he could outrun the Sandman to tag him? Gosh! We could've had him. We were all lined up for the rundown.

San San had the most consistant bat I've seen this side of SAS for a long time.
The Generalissimo was stupendous, but his exploits were overshadowed by a monster hit from Melson. That ball went from one corner of the field to the other. It's probably somewhere in Indonesia by now.

Nomah had ONE play the entire DAY. ONE. I have it all on tape. I can't wait to make a highlight reel, put it right next to Guppy's. There should be a Nomah Rant right here in this blog too. It would've scored a 0 on the DT rant scale. Either he botched it with his glove or with his arm. Meanwhile, the real Nomah is doing just as badly playing for the Cubs at 3rd base. He's so bad that MLB.com is showing his error clips on the highlight reel. Amazing.

Weixiong is a scary outfielder. He's like a young Swat and a young TH combined. Fantastic range, brilliant timing and excellant glovework. I can't wait for him to turn 30 (like the rest of us), and say "I could've had that...when I was younger"(quote from Swat)

I wish I hadn't missed last week's game. oh well.

PS. Heidi had a good hitting day too. Cept she met her nemesis, Diana, who fielded her hits and threw her out a couple of times.

PPS. Jason made an amazing play throwing out a batter from his position at Rover. Great throw! Great play!

PPPS. Best play of the game was a 1-4-6-3 double play to get Diana and Rickey out in the 2nd inning. Rickey hit a hard ground ball up the middle, in true Nomahesque fashion, Nomah deflected the ball to the right side of the infield. San San showed some amazing reflexes to adjust to the deflection, fielded the ball and made a perfect feed to DT who was on the bag, and he made the throw to Marvelous to get Rickey by half-a-step.

27 August 2005 - Mercy, Mercy Me

ONES: P: Grandpa; C: Guppy; 1B: Heidi/Say Hey Kid; 2B: Marv-elous; SS: DT; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; OF: T1, T2, WeiXiong, Gil the Gazelle, San San
TWOS: P: SWAT; C: Jason/Rickey; 1B: John; 2B: Diana; SS: Nomar; 3B: Sandman; OF: Male Jo, Melson, The Cheetah, Jason, Burma Girl, CK, Rube

1st Game (6 innings):
ONES: 17
TWOS: 7

2nd Game (4 Innings):
ONES: 3
TWOS: 1 (Thanks Melson)

The scoreline says it all. It was a good day, once again, and the turn out was strong. The games were lopsided, mainly due to a leaky defense on behalf of the Twos and good hitting (it has to be said) for the Ones. Tans are also slowly drifting back. The only positive thing for the Twos was Melson, who must have had good coaching as a secondary school student. Without him, the ones would have mercy-ed their opponents in the 2nd or 3rd inning.

NOTES:
Take that Pat Robertson!! The Jaguar was on a tear. He had at least 2 home runs (I think) and other multi-base hits. He also may have gone through a tank of oxygen; DT was very good at short. No rants needed today; On the opposite side, Nomar needs his Boston/NY vacation. I'm sure he'll come back fired up (and perhaps a Yankees fan); Diana made some great plays at 2nd; There was an easy pop-up in the infield. Heidi and Marv-elous let it fall in-between each other after making a play for it; Jason threw someone out at 1st (no, not Rickey) from the outfield; Melson hit a kitty-length homer in the 2nd game; Rube graced us for a couple of innings. It was old Rube: dress pants, no shirt, no shoes; San San reached base every time she came to bat.

MBP: The Jaguar
Golden Glove: DT
Biggest Bat: San San
Best Hit: Melson
Drama Mama: Heidi and Marv-elous

Happy Birthday Julio Franco

From ESPN


Happy Birthday, Julio Franco. He turns 47 today, which makes him older than Ryne Sandberg, who was inducted recently into the Hall of Fame, the same age as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sweet'N Low, Pizza Hut, the Hula Hoop, Toyotas, VISA and American Express, and nearly 30 years older than Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez.

Franco is the oldest non-pitcher in major league history (not including stunt appearances such as those by Minnie Minoso). Last season, Franco became the oldest player to get 50 hits in a season, and had more than twice as many RBI (54) as any 45-year-old in history (Pete Rose had 25 in 1986). This season, Franco became the oldest player (by more than four years) to hit a grand slam, the oldest to hit a pinch-hit home run, the oldest to have a multi-home run game and the oldest to steal two bases in one game. If he hits another homer, he will replace pitcher Jack Quinn (1930) as the oldest player ever to do so. And he'll become the oldest to hit 10 homers in a season (Carl Yastrzemski hit 10 in 1983 at 44).

“ He takes a power nap every day on the couch in the clubhouse. He's dead to the world. That must be his secret. ”
— Former teammate Paul Byrd
Franco will hit another home run because he can still really hit, which is the most amazing part of his being 47, especially when you consider that he still uses one of the heaviest bats in the game. He has always been able to hit, back to the days when he was smoking line drives to right center as a 160-pound shortstop for the Phillies' Class A team in 1980. He is a career .300 hitter with 2,513 hits (3,240 counting those he accumulated in Japan, Korea and Mexico), a batting title and the distinction of being the only major leaguer we've ever seen who sometimes takes batting practice with a batting donut on his bat, and yet still rifles balls all over the field. Bobby Valentine, one of his former managers, was once asked how Franco could do that. "I have no idea," Valentine said, incredulously.

Franco is a medical marvel. Even when he was a skinny teenager, his hands, wrists and forearms were as strong as men 100 pounds heavier. Now he's listed at 210 pounds (he looks bigger than that), thanks in part to being a demon in the weight room for the last 26 years.

"Look at him with his shirt off,'' teammate Chipper Jones said recently. "He's built better than anyone on our team."

Julio Franco
Franco made his major-league debut in 1982 with the Phillies.

Former teammate Paul Byrd attributed Franco's amazing success at such an advanced age to lots of sleep. "He takes a power nap every day on the couch in the clubhouse,'' Byrd said. "He's dead to the world. That must be his secret.''

His secret also is eating a lot of food. Franco told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap that he eats six to seven meals a day, starting with a normal breakfast of 12 egg whites, raisins or strawberries. He drinks a protein shake at 10 a.m. every morning. He eats a steak or fish for lunch, takes his dinner (mostly protein) to the ballpark, then eats dinner again after the game. At 3 a.m., he wakes up, drinks another protein shake, and goes back to sleep.

Eat, lift and be merry. That has been Franco for most of his 24-year career. Franco made his major-league debut in 1982 (Michael Jordan was then a freshman at the University of North Carolina, 39 active major leaguers weren't even born yet) with the Phillies. Other members of that team included Stan Bahnsen, Del Unser, Pete Rose, Bill Robinson, Steve Carlton, Ron Reed and Sparky Lyle, all of whom are now in their 60s. Gary Matthews was on that team; Franco has also played against Matthews' son. And, yes, Franco is old enough to have a grandson.

Franco has been traded twice in his career, once in 1982, from Philadelphia to Cleveland in a deal involving Manny Trillo, George Vuckovich, Jay Baller, Jerry Willard and Von Hayes, and from Cleveland to Texas in 1988 in a deal involving Pete O'Brien, Jerry Browne and Oddibe McDowell. None of those eight players has played in the last 10 seasons.

The year Franco was born -- 1958 -- America was at war in Korea, Elvis joined the Army, segregation was ruled unconstitutional, Dwight Eisenhower was the president of the United States, gas cost 24 cents a gallon and Ted Williams, Sal Maglie and Mickey Vernon were still active. Now Franco is 47, and still a key member of a team that is on its way to the playoffs. Franco says his goal is to play until he is 50 years old, which seems ridiculous. But with the way he's going now, it's entirely possible.

Hair Raising Spectacles

Now, can anyone guess who's the guy on the left? The prize is a beer.

PS. the amazing things one can find on the internet....without even trying...

PPS. btw, the guy on the left shaved his head for charity, so this is not a poke at him.

20 August 2005 - Who's your Cool Papa?

ONES: P: Burma Girl; C: Yogi; P: Indiana; 2B: NTU Chick; SS: Nomar; 3B: Venezualan Jaguar; OF: Cool Papa, Wei Xiong; Rube; NTU Dude, Pao (aka Distraction #2)
TWOS: P: Jesson/Grandpa/Rickey; C: Hor Fun; 1B: Andrew/Jesson/Rickey; 2B: Guppy/Andrew; SS: Sandman; 3B: Rickey/Grandpa; OF: Grandpa, Say Hey Kid; Heidi; Nelly; Gunz; TS (that's right, a Tan sighting!!!)

1st Game:
ONES 16
TWOS 11

2nd Game:
Rickey don't know. He goes to Malay Vampire Movie.

Great game on a great afternoon. It was Cool Papa's day, but more on that later. There were great hits, almost a comeback, a return of a Tan, speedy running, and a good crowd. What more could you ask for?

Well, first of all, apparantly DT slept through the game. A bit shocking, but he does have a busy work schedule (almost as full as Rickey's). Without DT, who to rant at? 1st basemen of course, unless I'm playing the position. Also, TS came back. Good to see a Tan in left field again. However, if no other Tans come soon they will have to be re-classified as rookies, and TS moves up to Tan Brother #1.

The game itself was a Cool Papa-fest. He had 2 homeruns, a triple and a double. Did I mention the fielding? Well, he had some great catches and throws, although a few bordered on "drama mama" (making the easy look difficult) status. He was simply amazing, and it was good to have Cool Papa back. The Ones had a Murderer's Row line-up. In two different innings they scored 5 runs on huge homers, fast baserunning and relentless pressure. By the 8th inning, the Ones had a nine run lead (and could have easily had a mercy). The Twos fought back with 4 runs in the top of the ninth, but then ran out of gas.

Notes:
1) Gunz had the best hit in years, but looking back a day later it was probably foul. It was so incredible though, everyone was stunned. He hit a line drive like a bullet down the 1B line, after 50 meters it curled around the soccer goalposts (which were on the line). Cool Papa had to field it some 30-40 meters into foul territory. Only Cool Papa's speed and arm (and Gunz' bare feet) kept it from being a homer. Gunz ended up with a triple; 2) Hor Fun had a clutch hit over the entire defense, right on the line to advance runners. But, when Hor Fun taught her friends how to bat they did worse than they had done at their 1st at bats...; 3) Cool Papa's 2 homers were to the exact same place; 4) Grandpa had a great hit right down the 3rd baseline. Cool Papa [are you picking up the pattern?] holds him to a triple; 5) The Jaguar, once again, with the double play. Hard hit at his feet. Impossible snag. Catches runners advancing, and calmy throws to Indiana at 1st; 6) But, play of the day was WeiXiong's running. He needs a new nickname (either Flash, Lickety-Split (for us southerners), or just Speed). He hit a hard grounder to Grandpa at 3B, who fields it perfectly and throws it perfectly. But, WeiXiong beats it. Perfect fielding, but the speed was jaw-dropping. Even Cool Papa was shaking his head.

MBP: Cool Papa
Biggest Bat: Cool Papa
Drama Mama: Cool Papa
Play of the Day: WeiXiong
Hit of the Day: Gunz
Gold Glove: Venezualan Jaguar and Cool Papa (tie)
Bonehead Play of the Day: Not turning on the alarm clock
DT Rant Scale: 0 (no one else to blame)

DT's Rant

I forgot to bring the score sheet with me to work, so I can't update the blog yet, check back in a couple of days for the saturday game.

It was an old school game, with all the old guys coming out, faces we haven't seen in ages. All we needed was Coach, Martin and Kitty to show up to complete the lineup.

We're still missing the Tan family and Gavin, but everyone else is back.

on to the rants....
My arm was not working properly, I did not make a single throw to first during warmups. Luckily, I only had a couple of plays and I managed to get the ball to Heidi. No complaints of the firstbasepersons today, both teams had brilliant, brilliant firstbasepersons. Indiana was my gold glove, playing first for the TWOS.

Jason hit for distance, a career HR IMO, except he hit it into a Fei/Rube/Seven relay, that tagged him out at him. Textbook relay from amazing arms.

Dave was back, playing with a broken arm. He missed us so much, he decided to share a base with Horfun, and promptly got tagged out at first on a rundown. And it was his first at bat...

Of course the week Paul returns, all the NTU girls go into hiding.

more to come when I get my hands on the scoresheet.

9 August 2005 - National Day

It was hot then rainy then humid. Don't remember much that happened. Gino was there for the first game. DT and Rickey played all time (SS and 1B) in the 1st game. The Jaguar replaced Rickey in the 2nd game.

Can't fully remember the lineups: But, present were:
Gino, Sandman, The Say Hey Kid, Michael, Diana, DT, The Venezualan Jaguar, Nomar, Yogi, Hor Fun, Heidi and Seven.

No awards, just a good time.

DT's Rants

Nothing to Rant about today. Well, maybe the shortfall of numbers from SAS regulars. If the NTU guys didn't show up, we would only have had 10. Hopefully, we'll get some good numbers on Tuesday morning.
Rickey forgot to mention that Fei sold us out and went to play for the NTU team, making some fantastic (typically feiesque) catches.
With Heidi at first, all bad throws were caught, and later when Rickey took first, I spoilt him with good throws...till he got a bad one (not from me) and totally fubbed it.
The ladies did own the game today. And I definitely suffered some paulititis when the NTU ladies came up to bat for the first couple of innings. Our ladies did well too, with Diana making some good stops, and Heidi catching everything chucked at her from the Generalissimo and myself. Horfun was great at the plate as well, and she's definitely getting good improvement on her skills. Of course, not forgetting the NTU ladies making their men carry their gloves out for them... :D
To elaborate on the Generalissimo fake (I am watching the tape in slo-motion now...I'll make a clip for download). Runners on one and two. Ball is hit to the General and he gets the ball, steps on third and makes the throw to first to try for the double play. Batter is safe, but Spider steals third on his throw, Heidi returns the ball to try to get Spider out, too late. The General then makes the buenoest fake throw to first and Spider is caught trying to make it home. In one smooth motion, the General turns, and tags Spider for the third out, making it a 5-3-5/fake3-5 double play. Awesome.
It was great to see Marvelous and the Sandman come out, but we're still missing quite a number of our regulars... Where's Prof Zen, and Indiana, and the Tan Family. And strangest of all, the Rube went missing...

PS. forgot to mention, when Diana was modeling for my video shoot, she was knocking the ball OUT OF THE PARK. Easily home run type hits, great contact, fabulous power. Standing about 2 meters from the fence, she could actually smack the ball over the fence, past the trees and deep into the carpark. One of the best swings I've seen.... THEN...the game started....

6 August - Revenge of Hall 5

Today was another NTU Hall 5 v. SAS showdown. The Hall 5-ites got the best of us this time.

Lineup:
SAS - P: Rickey; C: Hor Fun; 1B: Heidi; 2B: Diana; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; SS: DT; LF: Grandpa; CF: The Sandman; RF: Jason; Rover: Marv-elous

Hall 5: Still unfamilar with many of their names, but WeiXiong, Rabbit, Fei (traitor of the week) and a newby (San San) played for Hall 5.

Game 1:
SAS: 5
NTU: 10

Game 2 (3 innings):
SAS: 2
NTU: 3


The day was hot. There were a number of really nice plays, and all played well (except for a few hiccups). NTU scored 4 in the top of the first, and SAS had a hard time digging themselves out of the hole. By the 5th, it was tied. Then, the wheels fell off the bus. NTU would load the bases and keep getting them across. They had good team play.

Notes:
Welcome back to Marv-elous and the Sandman, who just ended rehab stints in the minors in the Great White North; The Jaguar brought the glove this week. Great plays throughout the game. Highlight was a 5-3-5 double play. On this one, the final out was the patented fake throw back to first. Guy at 3rd takes two steps. Inning over. Classic moment; Diana as camera model for DT; Without Grandpa SAS probably would have had no runs. Good day for him at the plate, He is a classic leadoff man. Right mix of bat and aggressive baserunning; Sandman had a great catch in the outfield; Horfun had some good stops at home and at 2nd (in the 2nd game); SS for NTU was making great plays also; San san was solid in RF; Don't forget: Game on Tuesday (National Day) at 10:00.

MBP: Somebody on NTU probably
Gold Glove: The Venezualan Jaguar
Best Bat: Grandpa
Play of the Day: Jaguar Fake
DY: San San backing up first on plays.
Bonehead Play of the Day: 2 choices -- WiexXiong's Homerun. At least 4 errors led to a pop-up being a homerun. Or, Horfun giving away San San.
**New Category -- DT Rant Scale. This scale is based on how much justification is their for a DT rant. Scale is from 1-10. 5 is neutral. The closer to 1 means that DT is at fault; Closer to 10 is the fault of the fielder or someone else (such as Guppy plays 1B or Rickey is CF). This week: DT Rant scale - 5 (He had some Paulie-isms [distractions], but most throws were on target. All misses at 1st were not his fault. Balanced out].

Brushback

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