Dom's wedding, a pictorial recap

Frankly, there aren't any photos of Dom's wedding. In fact, the ONLY photo that was taken during Dom's wedding was taken AFTER we were chased out at 11pm with our beers unfinished.

Rube rightfully claims his beer.

After Dom's wedding, H and DT suggested to go to Cafe Iguana to try their delicious tequila (which is half-price after midnight). Here is what happened.

Yummy, nice chips... waiting for tequila.

The only way to drink tequila is to shoot it down!

Tastes goooooood.

Oh wait... did I forget to mention that the Tequila is called "Muy Picante"?

Blamo... that hits the spot!

Gimme the water goddamnit.... Indiana looks quite calm in this picture. The tequila is clearing his valves. He wouldn't have needed the quadruple bypass if he just drank more of this muy picante.

What's the opposite of Brain Freeze?

DT rants about Early Games

This was the first time we played ball on a saturday (that wasn't a public holiday) before noon. It was awesome. We were lucky though, the weather was cool and the sun was covered by clouds.
The field was nice as well, though slightly soggy from the rain, it wasn't as 'lumpy' as the alternate field. The Mick must have done a number on the varsity folks, as they've never agreed to play us before. Kudos to them. The bunch of pricks that used to be NUS varsity have all graduated, and the current bunch are a group of fine fellas. Hopefully, we can arrange to have more games against them. Though I suspect after seeing us, they'd definitely want to hone their skills against us.

Overall, it was a great game. We played outstanding ball. Showing great defense and so-so offence. Our number one and two batters had some trouble seeing the ball, and strangely, it was the bottom of the order that managed to turn on the fast-pitch and score runs. Except for one error that fell into the gap between right field and second, there were no mistakes from the defense. Even poor communication that lead to collisions did not result in dropped balls. Both times when the shortstop ran into centerfield terrority, the ball was caught, even thought two guys were yelling 'mine' and colliding on the play. Friendlies definitely bring out the hustle in us. We could've used the Rube, H and Rugburn to buffer our bats, considering that 3 of our 8 runs were scored by our 'generic catcher'. Although it must be noted that only 1 was a solo HR. The other two runs were batted in by DT. The Mick had possibly the worst game of his career. He was denied in the field (both catches taken away by the immense range of the shortstops) and didn't get a single hit or on base. Nigey Pooh fared similarly poorly, striking out twice and not getting a single ball his direction. Burma Girl was denied a chance at the plate when a poor call ended up with her striking out. That pitch was way too high and the umpire knew it. We should've run in and kicked sand at his feet. Poor poor call.

It was Botak Jones for lunch and burgers for everyone. We went there for dinner as well, post-bowling. I think we need to arrange for a membership card for us since we're going there so often. Maybe get them to sponser our team the next time we enter a tournament :)

Jason and Diana's wedding was lovely. Jason looked uber cool in that tux and Diana looked absolutely captivating (pictures below). It was good to see everyone turn up on time (for ball and for the wedding). It is nice to socialise outside of ball, and the last two saturdays were certainly apt occasions for celebrating.

Post-wedding bowling was awesome. Rickey picked the teams (and for the first time) picked extremely even teams. The TWOs won the first game (by about 40 pins), and the ONEs won the second game by about 60. The final game was hotly contested, though not as hotly contested as the basis for the overall win. Superdad's argument was for final pinfall that determined the winner. Rickey's was for game wins out of 3. Technically, the TWOs had to win the 3rd game by more than 30 pins to take the overall win. It all came to naught when the TWOs let their lead slip away and choked away the victory. The ONEs won 2 games out of 3 AND the overall pinfall.

Dinner at Botak Jones... lovely Jalapenos... deep fried to a crisp, but with moist cheese on the inside with a tangy, spicy kick. Everyone wanted a piece of someone else's sausage.

The award for MBP is questionable. Superdad may have got 3 RBIs, but he dropped the ball. Meanwhile, DT had .500 with 2 RBIs and a DP, Clement had 1.0 at bat with stellar defence, The Generalissimo had .750 at bat and a gold glove in the hot corner.

Getting to the Church on Time

Found on the door of the Church that Jason and Diana got married at. This should totally be the new SAS motto...

Too Close...

Post Wedding bowling ended up in a 1-game all tie, needing a 3rd game to break the deadlock.
And it was close, right down to the wire.... right down to the last frame of the last bowlers of both teams...

ONEs.... 360Pins, 1 bowler left

TWOs.... 360Pins, 1 bowler left

ONEs WIN!

TWOS lose!

To the Victor, go the spoils... Jalapenos at Botak Jones....

Jason and Diana's Wedding, a pictorial recap

The Church

Who's that handsome Dude?

Here Comes the Bride... a preview...

Here comes the REAL bride

They're DONE!

One small step for Jason and Diana, One giant step to FOREVER...

Pop Quiz... How many people in the photo AREN'T married.

Sometimes you just need to meditate in church.

9 December 2006 - Get me to the church on time

SAS: 1B: Indiana; 2B: Aussie Mike/Rickey/Geok/DT; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; SS: DT/Clement; LF: Superdad; CF: The Mick; RF: Nigeypooh/Aussie Mike
NUS Varsity.

SAS: 8
NUS Varsity: 1

We started early (11:00) so everyone could make it to Jason and Diana's wedding. When The Mick showed up at the field, the NUS Varsity team was practicing and the Mick asked them if they wanted to play. Well, they did. NUS provided the pitchers and catchers (fast pitch), and we provided the rest. It was a good game, but many of us were not familar with hitting the fast-pitched ball.

The only real hitter we had was Superdad, who was amazing except for that one dropped ball on a difficult catch. As for the Mick, he got denied. At the plate and in the field. DT and Clement both took Texas Leaguers away from him. But, this also showed the hustle that SAS brings to such games.

The NUS guys were great, and we appreciated the game. Hopefully we can get some more going. We won the game on defense. DT/Clement and the Jaguar were solid on the left side of the infield, and we caught them in a number of running mistakes. NUS' one run came on a homer down the LF field line that was a real boomer. Superdad got them back. All-in-all it was a fun game against a good group of guys. Clement may have even played himself onto their team.

After the game, we all went to Botak Jones and had lots of meat, although DT wanted someone to take the cheese off his meat. Then, we cleaned up and went to Jason and Diana's wedding. Heidi, Sandman and Sandwoman, as well as Guppy, joined us all there. Congrats to Jason and Diana, and we'll see them at the BBQ on the 16th.

Then, we went bowling. It was a tight competiion with the teams being: 1) Superdad, Venezualan Jaguar, Horfun, Heidi; 2) Rickey, DT, Sandman, Sandwoman (who has a wicked spin on her rolls). Individual game winners were Rickey, Superdad and Heidi. The TWOS took the first group game, while the ONES took the second. The third was a nail biter coming down to the last frame. Alas, the ONES pulled it out by only a few pins.

But, we weren't done. We went back to Botak Jones because Rickey wanted a Big Sausage, and DT wanted to pop some spicy jalapenos in his mouth. At this meal we branched out beyond the burgers to have a look at the Cajun chicken dishes as well as Caeser's Salad, although the Jaguar is still looking for his ham. After a long 12-hour softball day, we all made our way home.

MBP: Superdad
Biggest Bat: Superdad
BBWNK (Biggest Bat Who's Not Kyle): Generic, interchangeable NUS catcher for us
Gold Glove: DT/Clement/Jaguar
Denied: The Mick
Married: Jason and Diana
Cardiac Consultants: Botak Jones
Lebowski: Superdad

OMFG... what a Shortstop

How to snag 3000 major league baseballs

Scroll to 4min to hear the guy ask for a ball in different languages.

The Yankees could use him in Centerfield. No Doubt he'd have a better arm than Damon

Asian Games : Doha : Japan vs Taiwan (Final)

Asian Games : Doha : Korea vs Taiwan

BBQ

Dear All:
We will be having a Saturday Softball BBQ to celebrate a number of things (particularly weddings) on 16 December. It will also provide for a nice end-of-the-year party.

As I'm sure you know, the BBQ will be at Joe's after ball. You can bring just about anything, but meat is the usual staple. I - of course - will bring my puu puus (if you don't know what that is, you haven't been to a SAS BBQ). In the meantime, write me - and only me - telling me what you might bring so we can get an idea of what will be on the menu. I'll send out another e-mail with the list next week.

Also, if there is someone who should receive this who is not on the list, please forward this message to them.

Rickey

PS. If youu don't have Rickey's email address, Send it to saturdaysoftball AT gmail.com

Has Jim Leyland gone back to the Pirates?

Uncle Sandman

Lil' Thomas is not so little anymore

Taking the leap towards being Cool

Tenure

Jason and Diana's Wedding

Hi Everyone!

We are very honoured to know that ball time will be changed especially for us (and for the 1st time ever as well) :)
Thank you joining us on this very special day, and we certainly look forward to your company.

Also we like to apologise for those of whom we may have missed out with our wedding invitations. Please do come and join us as we celebrate our nuptials.

The details as follows :

Date : 9 Dec 2006
Time : 4pm
Venue : Life Bible-Presbyterian Church @ 9A Gilstead Road.
# posted by Jason and Diana : 3:24 PM

DT rants about the greatest game of 2006

I know I've been saying that 'this was the greatest game of the year' one too many times, but THIS was the greatest game I've played in for 2006. It was not a defensive gem, it was not a monster homerun contest. The weather was so-so, and the field conditions were horrible. The numbers were strained at 14 and the ball was slippery. The were bonehead plays and swinging bunts.

So what made this the greatest game in 2006? The people...

This game was the reason why I enjoy coming out week after week to saturday softball. It made my entire year of driving out to poor numbers and late starts and intruding soccer players and rainouts all worth while.

First of all, the game got off to a fantastic start. Since it was Dom's wedding, a plea was sent out to kick off the game at 2pm, and for the first time in a long while, most everyone was punctual. We actually started our game by 2.30pm, which is a record for 2006.

Adding to that was the appearance of Coach, Martin AND DY on the same field. We haven't seen that for almost 3 years. We sorely missed the Tan family, Gavin, Kyle, Lloyd(although we did get him last week with his bunch of kids) and Alvin, but you take what you can get, and we got a great deal.

The standard of play was equally high, with everyone showing good glove skills, strong at-bats and most important of all, the heart to fight back from behind to take the lead. Even with 13 runs on the board in the first inning, the ONEs would not give up, and they plugged away slowly and surely to take back the game. Their defense held tight for 6 innings letting nary a run, and they scored 17 within 7 innings to take the lead. Even with a complete 6 inning shut out by the ONEs, the TWOs did not give up either. Even with 1-2-3 outs, they still tried to plug away at it, and they finally succeed by taking back their lead and finally the win. Everyone played hard and put in loads of effort. No one slacked because they were 'catching' or 'pitching' for the other team.

Most notable efforts... The Generalissimo making the decisive tag on a text book run down for the OTHER team. Fake Steve and DY catching foul popups while catching for the OTHER team. DT striking out Marvelous while pitching for the other team.

That's not to say that the game went perfectly. There were the usual bonehead plays, but it was the kind of bonehead plays that give you ammo for weeks of teasing. Like Rickey's 'do I stay or do I go' play at first and The Mick's 'The ball has a mind of its own' throw to Marvelous.

Aussie Mike got a taste of being the new boy in right field with a barrage of opposite field hits going his way. He managed to catch one or two, but we picked on him because we like him. And we liked him a lot.

Marvelous and The Mick were having gold glove outings in the outfield for the ONEs. So were the Rube and The Sandman for the twos. Of course, Sandman's run from CF to catch the ball in RF must count as one of the longest sprints in SAS history.

Both infields were tight, though there were still gaps because of the horrid ground and the unpredictable bounces. It's a wonder that the score was so high with everyone putting in so much effort.

On to next week... Remember, first pitch is at 11am. We'll go straight to the alternate field. I will go to NUS first for those in need of transport.

2 December 2006 - Old School, Fake Steve Style

ONES: 1B: Fake Steve; 2B: Rickey; 3B: DY; SS: DT; LF: Marv-elous; CF: The Mick aka White Gold; RF: Heidi; Rover: Geok
TWOS: 1B: Coach; 2B: Indiana; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar; SS: New John; LF: Rube: CF: Sandman; RF: Aussie Mike; Rover: Horfun

ONES: 19
TWOS: 26

Look at that line-up, look at the photos below. It was an old school game. If the Kitty, Lloyd, and Guppy had shown up (and a Tan), we would have had a rip in the time-space continuium. It was a great day for ball. Coach brought his take-no-prisoners style, DY made the plays, Fake Steve (aka Martin) yacked a lot, Marv-elous made some catches, and all was right with the world.

The game started off with a bang. The TWOS - in the top of the 1st - were relentless. They scored 13 runs. The ONES fought back with 7, and the TWOS seemed to go to sleep. They didn't score again until the 6th inning. In the meantime, the ONES passed the TWOs and built up a nice lead by scoring in 7 out of 9 innings. It was all held down by a solid defense. The Mick was pure white gold (no iron pyrite there) in CF. He was giving up the body making spectacular catches among the medical waste on the alternate field. DY and DT held down the infield, while Rickey and Fake Steve talked a lot.

But, the TWOS were too deep in the talent pool. They woke up in the 8th and passed the ONES with a two run lead. Although the ONES got one back in the bottom of the 8th, the TWOS just turned it on. Key to those final two innings were fine hits by Coach, who would then have the Rube boom him in. All-in-all a great day at the field.

Afterwards, we went to Dom's wedding. I'm sure there will be other posts on this one.

NOTES:
1) Great day to see the Old School SAS people; 2) The Mick had a throw that went 90 degrees to the right of where he wanted it to go. Marv-elous picked it up and threw it in; 3) Aussie Mike likes protecting the line; 4) On a grounder to 1B, with Rickey at 1B, DT ran over got the ball and got there before Rickey and Horfun (the batter); 5) It's not a good idea to play ball in Crocs; 6) DY still hustles when he catches against his own team; 7) Textbook run-down pepper play. New John went too far off 1B. The Mick throws to Rickey at 2B, who throws to Fake Steve, then to DT then to the Venezaluan Jaguar (who was pitching). Got him. Coach smiles.

MBP: Fake Steve
Gold Glove: The Mick
Biggest Bat: The Rube
Best Bat: The Rube
DY: DY
Play of the Day: Either the Run-down or DT covering 1B.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Next week, 9 December, we will play at 11:00 so we can all go to Jason and Diana's wedding. Also, 16 December we're having a BBQ.

2006... NOT 2001

Looking at this photo, you'd think it was taken in 2001. Who would've believed that we get these same guys together in 2006

Standing (L-R): Sandman, Rickey, Generalissimo, Rube, Aussie Mike, The Mick, Coach, Marvelous, Fake Steve
Front Row(F-R): New John, Burma Girl, H, Indiana, DT, DY
Taking Photo: Horfun

Fake Steve still has his swing

Can you spot the ball?

Leave your bats at the door.

Photo taken in the airport in Louisville, Kentucky.
link

25 November 2006 - Famous Last Words

Regular field was still closed, so we moved to the alternate field. We had awesome numbers today, with Lloyd's kids showing up in full force. The numbers were just nice to have a SAS vs Montfort boys game. Bad idea.....

SAS:
Pitch: Dom, Catch: Burma Girl, 1st: H, 2nd: Horfun, 3rd: Generalissimo, SS: New John, LF: Superdad, CF: The Mick, RF: DT, Rover: Mike the Aussie

Montfort boys + Lloyd, Clement, Gilbert, Salehin, Ironman, Indiana and Sandman

We started the game with 9 of SAS vs 8 of the boys, so when Indiana and Burma Girl showed up, Lloyd picked Indiana for his team, and consequently, Sandman as well. He needn't have bothered, because at the end of the day, Lloyd had more than 16 guys on his team, having to sit out his kids over the innings. Did I mention that it was pouring. And the alternate field has the same clay consistancy as the NUS field of bygone days of old.

Even with 1 man short at the start of the game, The MBs showed their stuff, taking an early 3 run lead. SAS had no answer, even with the batting lineup of Seven, The Mick, New John and Superdad starting the rotation. SAS only managed to get a run on the board in the second inning, with Patrick showing a little Arod slap off the ball to get called safe at home.

The MBs pushed their lead again in the top of the third, driving in several runs with smart singles hitting and aggressive base running. The SAS had no answer. They finalled clawed their way back into the game in the bottom of the 5th, with only 2 runs behind. But it was not to be, as the SAS fought back to try to stay in the game, the MBs fought even harder to extend their lead. At the top of the 6th, they scored 7 runs to take a 13-5 lead. the SAS finally got their heads in the game for a little while, playing better defense and stringing together some hits to bring the score back to a reasonable 13-11 by the top of the 9th.

The MBs were like great fishermen. They threw out the bait, slowly reeled in the catch, taking up the slack, but never letting the fish strain on the string. They let the SAS believe that they could catch up, and like all great fishermen, the MBs knew when to snap the pole and pull in the catch. They scored 13 runs in the top of the 9th to utterly destroy the SAS. Though not all the runs were due to hitting, some of them were due to horrible errors in the field. The ball was slippery, did I mention that it was raining heavily?

Going into the bottom of the 9th 15 runs down, the SAS did not yet admit defeat. They struggled hard and tried to at least salvage a non-mercy score out of the game. They were very close to succeeding, ending the game at 26-16.

MBP: Lloyd's Boys
Biggest Bat: Lloyd's Boys
Golden Glove: Lloyd's Boys
DY: Lloyd's Boys
Michal Jackson award: The Mick (Wearing one glove, AND throwing his ball into the back of a 13year old kid)
Famous Last Words: The Mick: We're playing the kids? Yeah, we're gonna kick some ass
Redeeming words: DT: We've never beaten them on Saturday, but we win when it counts....when a championship is at stake.

Final Score
Montfort Boys 26 : SaturdayAfternoonSoftballers 16

DT Rants...

It was an old school game of epic proportions. Fantastic numbers (there were more than 26 guys on the field IN THE RAIN). Fabulous wet, soggy, muddy, clayy, lumpy ground. Heavy, bone numbing, sock soaking, underwear drenching downpour. Superb skills shown on both teams. ESPN highlight reel plays from all, dives, slides, impossible catches and plays. Errors of stupendous stupidity. There were no gigantic hits though, as we were using a rubber ball, but there were some superb directional placement. What a great game. It totally brought me back to the games of yore, during the olden days, in the before times. Standing soaking wet, and cold in the outfield, waiting for the ball that would never reach me. Trying to lift my waterlogged, rainsoaked, enormously heavy glove. It was GREAT!
This is the kind of game that makes me drive 30mins every saturday, give up spending time with my loved one, resting from a bad week at work, having a good meal...etc week after week after week. Brilliant.

On to Next Week.

DT Rants

It was a beautiful day, and the field looked perfect... albeit closed. Ever the law-abiding, rule-following members of public, we moved to the alternate field instead of despoiling the NUS field. The alternate field was in much better condition than we remembered. The rain has managed to level many of the bumps, and moisten the incredible, bone-jarring, ankle-twisting hardness of the ground that used to be.

Having only 12, we played our usual modified rules. Rickey did the count-off, and while the teams looked relatively even on paper, it was a world of difference in the game. The TWOS pummeled the ONES mercilessly. Within the first at-bat, they went through their entire lineup TWICE, scoring 9 runs and leaving 2 men on base. That's a total of 14 batters in one inning. Everything that could go wrong for the ONES, went wrong. Even a simple DP with bases loaded turned into a two-run scoring single. And when it was the ONES turn at bat, everything went right for the TWOS in the field. At the end of two innings, the score was the reflection of the luck that the ONEs were having. 13 to nought. Even with the Mick arriving fashionably late and joining the ONEs at the bottom of the second to bat would not change the score. His bat, immunized by Sandman's running-over-the-shoulder-no-look catch.

TWOS win by Mercy in two innings.

Game 2 started with The Mick joining the ONEs full time. Rickey, wisely volunteered to pitch to both teams (though he was throwing the junk to his former team and throwing HR pitches to the TWOS). The TWOs again built up a strong lead, putting in run after run with no answer from the ONEs. DT stole two innings from this game calling the bottom of the 5th as the bottom of the 7th. It was a good theft as everyone was worn out and sitting-on-the-grass exhausted. With no where to go but up, the ONEs mounted an all out attack to try and win the second game. In the bottom of the 9th(actually 7th), the ONEs finally strung together a series of hits (and also wised up to start picking on Jay) and HRs to catch the TWOs to within 1 run. It was not to be though, as even with the two-out rally, the ONEs could not get that 1 decisive run to tie the game. The TWOs won... in 7 innings.

Other News.

December is going to be a pretty packed month. With two weddings and a Barbecue.

Dec 2 is Dom's wedding. We'll be playing ball as usual and skipping the church wedding. We'll head to the dinner place after ball for a night of drinking and debauchary.

Dec 9 is Jason and Diana's wedding. To show our support for them, we've decided to change (for the first time in history) the ball game to the morning. First pitch will be at 11am. We'll grab lunch after and head to the church for the ceremony that'll take place at 4pm. Bowling is planned after for those interested.

Dec 16 is the Grand 2006BBQ. We'll be saying farewell to some, and hello to others. Email will be sent out soon for menu consolidation.

On to Next Week

Fwd: Fake Steve, Fake Alex, and Emely are coming to town

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Martin Bazylewich <>
Date: Nov 18, 2006 6:41 PM
Subject: Fake Steve, Fake Alex, and Emely are coming to town
To:

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to update you all that we are going to be in Singapore for a holiday.  We arrive in Singapore on Nov. 25th at 11.30pm on A Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu-Singapore.  Yes, this is Saturday and it means I will have missed softball, but it is the only flight from Cebu that we can take.  Not to worry, I'll be able to play the following Saturday.  We're staying until December 5th, but during this time we will also be going up to Malaysia for a holiday.  Marvin has graciously agreed to host us while we are in Singapore, and a friend of ours will host us up in Malaysia.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.  My mouth is watering already at the various food places I'm going to gorge at.  I'm interested in this new hawker place that serves beauty burgers as well.  Maybe we can try it like Chris suggested after ball the following week?

Anyways, I gotta run.  I'll email more news if things change, otherwise we'll be seeing you soon.

Take er easy.

Fake Steve

18 November 2006 -

ONES: 1B: Rickey/Heidi; 2B: Horfun; SS: DT; LF: Superdad; CF: Heidi/The Mick; RF: Marc
TWOS: 1B: Indiana; 2B: Geok; SS: Clement; LF: Rugburn; CF: Sandman; RF: Jay
All Time Pitcher (Game 2): Rickey

Game One (2 Innings):
ONES: 0
TWOS: 13

Game Two (7 Innings, although we claimed it was 9):
ONES: 17
TWOS: 18

It was nice, hot, clear day for the first time in two months. The main field was roped off to let the grass recover, so we went to the alternate field, and played Indiana/Prof Zen rules. The first game was just sad. If it could go wrong for the ONES, it did. The TWOS, meanwhile, were making spectacular catches. The Rugburn/Sandman combo in the outfield was particularly effective. In game two, the TWOS really took control, often leading by 8 or 9 runs, but they couldn't put away the mercy. In the top of the 9th, the ONES came back with 8 runs but couldn't get the tie or lead.

NOTES:
1) Great catches by Rugburn, Indiana and Sandman made the TWOS defense quite solid. Doesn't hurt when you have Clement at SS too; 2) When Heidi batted, the TWOS did a "Ted Williams" shift. She still wouldn't hit it to Left; 3) On one hit between Superdad and the Mick, the Mick was a spectator. But, he offered verbal support as Superdad ran down the ball; 4) Jason delivered wedding invitations; 4) Indiana had some wicked hits to RF.

MBP: Indiana
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Gold Glove: Rugburn/Sandman
Laziest: Rickey

DT Rants stuffing meat into his mouth

After a fantastic (but extremely chilly time) at the bowling alley, we moved on to Botak Jones for dinner. I had heard about this place from my beloved, but since it was located way out in Tuas, it could not fit in the SAS dinner menu. Thankfully, they've recently opened a branch in Clementi, and since I was driving, heartily recommended the place for dinner.

Squeezing Rickey, Rugburn, Sandman and Horfun into the back of my Mazda 3 was no mean feet. Luckily, we were heading FOR dinner. It was a tighter fit AFTER dinner when I gave JUST Rickey and Rugburn a lift home.

The wait was long, but worth it. We got there at about 7ish, and only got food about 8ish. If this were blooies, we would've been bitching about the wait. But since it was only a coffeeshop, the coffeeshop was packed (I figured that they must have had about 50-70 orders before us) and the food was prepared fresh, we didn't complain. As with coffeeshop food, it did not arrive all at one go. First to show up at the table were the hot'n'spicy bratwursts ordered by Rickey, Sandman and my beloved. It was a massive plate covered in onions, fries, coleslaw and bun. Sadly the sausage was dwarfed by the rest of the stuff. It wasn't a very large sausage. Next came the deep fried jalapenos. They were delicious. Much much better than the ones served in Blooies. They were super crispy on the outside, and spicy, moist and cheesy on the inside. Super yum. Next came the Ribeye for the princess. It only cost $13 but it was huge and looked mighty yummy. Finally, our burgers arrived. But they screwed up the order. Rugburn and I ordered the botak double normal, and Horfun ordered the botak double with cheese. But they took her order as a botak burger with cheese (maybe the guy saw her ordering and didn't think she could finish a double). The burgers were HUGE. 150g patties, TWO of them. Rugburn couldn't fit it into his mouth, and I cheated. I removed the veges before I tried a bite.

Total bill came up to $69 for 7 people. It was american food at coffeeshop prices. This will make a great post ball dinner destination. And the crowd winds down at about 8ish, so if we hang around at Joes till about 8 and head there, we'd get a table and also not have to wait too long for our food. The variety is pretty good too. And beer is CHEAP... coffeeshop prices for the bottled tigers.


The Double Botak, covered in Cheese. Horfun wanted this, but only got the single. Rugburn and I had it without the cheese.

This is what a single botak burger looks like.

H's airflown Ribeye.

Delicious Stuffed Jalapenos.

Rickey and Sandman had this. But as a set, with fries and the works. Imagine this plate, covered with fries and coleslaw.

11 November 2006 - Rain Rain Rain

ONES: Rugburn, Horfun, Sandman, Seven
TWOS: DT, H, Rickey

Game 1: ONES 214 : TWOS 262
Game 2: ONES 389 : TWOS 341
Game 3: ONES 442 : TWOS 269

There was a thunderstorm brewing and at 2pm, the skies opened up and the heavens rained down on us. Through the use of modern technology aka SMS, messages were sent out to almost everyone to inform them to stay at home, and to call off the game. However, since most of us live only for saturdaysoftball and have no other plans on a saturday afternoon, alternate plans were concocted. More SMSes were sent out and a new time and place to meet up was decided. 4pm, Henderson Road SAFRA, Bowling Alley... Those do look like cricket scores... but no, we only went bowling.

Game 1 saw utter domination by Rickey and DT, both cracking the century mark to carry H. H had probably the worst game of her entire bowling career, but thankfully, she did not let it affect her as she picked herself up to score well in the second and third games. Rugburn showed that he had some power, but the pins were not falling well for him. Horfun and Sandman showed good consistancy, but sadly the drains saw more of their balls than the pins.

After a 50 pin win, Seven, the late arrival was assigned to the ONES. It was a mistake. The TWOs should have traded for Horfun or Sandman. Seven had some skills on the lane, and he combined well with Rugburn. Even so, the TWOS managed to get at least hundred points each to take the (Average) win, but not the total win. This time, Rugburn, Horfun and Seven were showing their stuff, with Sandman falling far behind.

Game 3 belonged to Rugburn. He took The Lebowski award with an astonishing 140 pin game. Seven was close behind with 132 pins and both Horfun and Sandman put up high 80s numbers to seal the win for the ONES. Sandman was the king of 9s in game 3. He constantly dropped 9 pins in each frame and could not drop the last one for the win. The TWOs started off strong with a strike a piece, but struggled to maintain the lead. They even moved on to lighter balls as the balls got heavier with each roll.

The Lebowski Award: Rugburn
The Firststrike Award: DT
The 9pin Award: Sandman
Most Hats Thrown: Rickey

We went to a new place for dinner after bowling. Looks like this might be the new 'chicken burger'/'blooies' destination for post ball dinner. The food is as good as blooies, but as cheap as chicken burger. American food with American portions at coffeeshop prices.

Link here for Menu

DT takes a break

Sorry for missing the rant, but I don't have time this week.

one comment before I go... DY's kid has bigger muscles than he does. Must be all the clean and clear that they're applying on his skin.

Ninja

4 November 2006 - Horfun the Diplomat

ONES: 1B: Rickey; 2B: Geok; SS: New John; LF: Superdad; CF: Nigey-pooh; RF: Indiana
TWOS: 1B: Heidi/Rube; 2B: Horfun; SS: DT: LF: Rugburn; CF: Rube/Heidi; RF: Marc

ONES: 20
TWOS 14

We played Indiana/Prof. Zen Rules. It was a fairly close game until the last inning when the ONES pulled away in the bottom of the 8th for the win. Most of the ONES runs were scored on 2-out rallies, which raised Rube's blood pressure. Overall, it was a good day, but nothing spectacular. We did have quite a bit of "intrusion" from soccer players. On one side Horfun showed off her diplomatic skills by speaking Vietnamese and getting the fools to move. On the other side, Superdad almost hit someone with a hard line drive in the head.

NOTES:
1) Nigey-pooh scored 4 of the first 5 runs for the ONES, keeping them in the game until the others could get going; 2) Horfun stopped a rally with a great double play. She caught a Rickey line-drive, and then got Indiana who had already stepped off 2B; 3) DY showed up with the wife and kid, who is on the 'roids (for a rash); 4) Went bowling after Joe's. Without the Mick, no one stood out although Superdad got high scores.

MBP: Nigey-pooh
Diplomat of the Year; Horfun
Play of the Day: Horfun
DY: Keagan
Lebowski: Superdad

Joe

On 11/2/06, Kari Heggelund wrote:

Hi,

Fun to read the updates on the site!
However, I think you should post a picture of dear Joe on the site too
- after all, he is a great guy who loves the team;)

I will probably miss sneaking in on the BBQ the 16th!

All the best,
Kari (who is thinking Karl was right about me staying in Singapore,
since it is -15 degrees and too much snow outside, and it is clearly
not a nice temprature to watch a game of softball - nor play)

--
Kari Heggelund
Norway

Cardinals Win

This post is for the Rube. Congrats on the Win.

opps. This is the national T-ball champions.

DT rants

What a great day. Perfect weather, perfect field, perfect numbers.
Superb!!
Glad to see the return of Marc and Jay. Looks like we have a couple of stayers.

Tan Brother Number 2 appeared as well. He led off the game for his team with a Homerun and he contributed with mighty offensive numbers throughout.

Teams looked even on paper, but the TWOs batting order was unstoppable. They put all their batters in a sequence and it was hard to stop. Marc had a tough time in center-right. It's only his second time playing and he had difficulty judging the ball. Nigeypooh, who has played more than Marc, was picked on as well, as TanNo2 and Rube struck deep hits over his head (and he was standing deep).

New John was moved to 3rd as Clement played SS for the TWOs. You would think that this combination would be an unstoppable wall, but New John had difficulty picking up the slow rollers at 3rd. He's much better taking the hard hit grounders at short.

Clement's Bat was amazing. He was not only hitting deep, he was spraying the ball to all corners. NUS life is agreeing with him. Too bad he'll never get into the varsity squad no matter how good he is. It's all politics and favouritism.

Indiana should be called "Quick Draw McGraw". New John hit a screaming liner down the third base line, and Indiana didn't even flinch. His glove is moved (barely a couple of inches) and caught the ball. It looked exactly like he drew a gun from his holster in one smooth, quick action.

Guess my phlegm power must have rubbed off on some people from last week. Quite a few who showed up (and one who DIDN'T show up) suffered from phlegm power too. H hits better on phlegm power. But Rickey's glove was severly affected.

Both teams scored 14 runs in ONE inning each.

Can't wait for next week. Even DY's promised to come out.

Post-Softball note. We watched Jackass2 at Indiana's place after ball. The show is gross. And it was extremely apt that we paused the movie right when the camera zoomed in on a piece of warm turd to break for pizza. Of course, no one realized that it was a piece of shit till AFTER we finished our dinner and started asking... "What is THAT on the screen". Meanwhile, prostetic saggy-knee-tits and balls-outside-shorts make good comedy any day.

BBQ notice. To celebrate 3 weddings, and to bid farewell to some regulars, we're going to be planning a BBQ on the 16th Dec.

Married (or to be Married)
Seven and Benchbreaker
Jason and Diana
Sandman and Lexus

Leaving
Seven(4 years to get a degree)
The Generalissimo
Rickey (1 year on honeymoon or sabbatical... aren't they both the same?)

Fake Steve's son, Fake Frank

The official Record for highest scoring game was 61.

Pardon me for my oversight, I kept thinking 62, but hey, in my defence, I'm not a historian.
Btw, the link to the highest scoring game is here http://saturdaysoftball.blogspot.com/2005/11/19-november-2005-61.html

28 October 2006 - "60"

ONES: 1B: Heidi; 2B: Diana; 3B: Indiana; SS: DT; LF: Rugburn; CF: Nigey-pooh; RF: Jason; Rover; Marc
TWOS: 1B: Rickey; 2B: Geok; 3B: New John; SS: Clement; LF: Rube; CF: The Cheetah; RF: Tan Bro #2; Rover: Jay; Rover: Horfun

ONES: 26
TWOS: 34

"60" is an important number in baseball. It is Babe Ruth's home-run total that has only been broken by Roger Maris [everything in the past 10 years doesn't count - that's "clean and clear"]. Well, we had a historic moment on Saturday: 60 runs were scored. However, this was not our highest total ever, according to DT, who claims we've had 62.

A lot of the game was a home-run derby between Rugburn and Rube. Very impressive boomers. I think Rugburn may have hit them farther, but Rube won for hitting impressively to all fields. The ONES opened the game with a 6-1 lead, and then the TWOS just took off. Rube set up a nice back-to-back hitting line-up that put guys on for him to hit in, and things took off. The key inning was the 7th, when 24 total runs were scored. Yes, that's "24" runs in an inning (ONES had 10, TWOS had 14). Twice the ONES were threatened with mercy, and they valiantly fought back. Once, they were even down by 17 runs, and came back. Overall, it was another great game. When we get the numbers, it just happens.

NOTES:
1) It wasn't all Rube and Rugburn. All were hitting well. Tan Bro had a opening homer that took those unfamilar with the Tan family by surprise; 2) Good to see a Tan out there; 3) DT, Geok, Heidi and Rickey were playing on phlegm power; 4) Congrats to Cardinal fans on the World Series victory.

MBP: Rube
Biggest Bat: Rube and Rugburn
Best Bat: Nigey-pooh
Gold Glove: If 60 runs are scored, there is no "gold glove"
DY: DT

PS: We will probably be having a BBQ on 16 December. There are number of things to celebrate....

DT Rants about not being able to rant this week

Wasn't able to Rant this week, though I had quite a few things to say.
Well, better late than never.

1. I finally managed to convince my friend Marc to show up for Ball. As I had predicted, he should be quite adept at the game since he plays with his own balls and stick all the time. All joking aside, he hit really well for a firsttimer...wait, better than well, he hit awesomely (including a HR). He didn't get much action in RF since Rube was not around, but I'm waiting for this weekend when the Rube plugs some down to him.

2. It was a game of errors, but I can't complain since for the first time in so many weeks, we finally get to play normal rules. We haven't played normal rules for so long that we've almost forgotten how to. Loads of silly, bonehead plays, but that makes the game all the more fun.

3. Good to see the reappearance of New John. He's been coming out two weeks in a row, and we hope to keep seeing him. He's got superb range at short, and a mean bat too. May be one of the best shortstops that have come our all. He has the complete game.

4. Where is SuperDad? Ever since SuperMum met us at the BBQ, SuperDad has gone missing. Ground control to SuperDad, take your protein pills and come out to the field.

5. Rickey's learning how to play cricket, and not doing that bad a job. Soft hands...it's all about the soft hands.

6. Not sure about the Seven MBP call. He had a good game, but New John was booming the homers and holding the infield.

7. You'd think using Tennis shoes on hardground would be a good idea.... Well, you'd be wrong.

DT will rant later...but for now

This post's for the Rube...

21 October 2006 - Deepavali Game

ONES: 1B: Indiana; 2B: Horfun; 3B: Seven; SS: New John; LF: Heidi; CF: Sandman; RF: Mark
TWOS: 1B: Rickey; 2B: Diana; 3B: Jay; SS: DT; LF: Rugburn; CF: Jason; RF: Geok

ONES: 17
TWOS: 16

We finally had a game with a full field. No cones, no Prof. Zen rules, no ghost runners. And, it was a great game. There were weird plays, great hits, great fielding. All was fine in the world. The TWOS got out to a big early lead, but the ONES wouldn't give up. By the 3rd, the TWOS were ahead 10-3. But, the ONES finally took the lead in the bottom of the 8th. The TWOS scored to take a one run lead into the bottom of the 9th, which ended on a screwed-up play. With the game tied, Jay - a rookie - threw to second as the play was cooling down. Nothing wrong with that, just that there was no one to catch it. The ball rolled into RF, and Indiana walked home for the win. It was a bit strange, but the game was over.

NOTES:
1) The ground was really hard. How hard? Well, Rickey hit a homer that was a grounder. Once it started rolling, even he could make it around the bases; 2) The outfielders also spent a lot of time running after balls that got through. Not an easy job; 3) Good to see the new guys, Mark and Jay. Mark, who has never played, was hitting like a pro by the end of the game, and caught one of DT's fly balls; 4) Weird play of the day: Rickey was standing on 3rd and Rugburn hit a scorching line drive at Rickey's (his teammate) torso. Rickey looked like he was trying to catch it. The ball deflected off his right hand, hit his knee and then shot off towards the track. All happened as he stood on base, so ball in play. Rickey and DT scored. Rugburn stopped at 3B although no one had touched the ball yet, thinking it was not right to score on such a goofy play. Rickey has a bruised middle finger, and stitch marks on his knee. Damn. Took a couple of innings to get the feeling back in the fingers. 5) DT played on phlegm-power; 6) Seven hit some nice line drives, but Rugburn hit the boomers.

MBP: Seven (had key defensive plays, and key hits)
Best Bat: Mark
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Gold Glove: Outfielders. They were tired running those balls down
Play of the day: Line drive off Rickey. Ball in play.
DY: DT

WOWEEEE

Vote NOW for Gilbert

Received this in the mail from Gil, check it out. Our little boy's all grownz up.
Vote for him HERE




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: gilbert song
Date: Oct 20, 2006 9:04 PM
Subject: Hi
To:


Hi guys,

Long time no see.. As u all know.. My ligament tear and now I am still recovering.. Miss the sat game alot.. Anyway, I am recovering le.. Now can walk but cant run yet. Hope can join u guys soon.. Another few mths ba..

Anyway, needa u guys to do me a favour.. I am in a competition ah.. So need ur votes !! www.female50gp.com I am no 36.. Can vote both the Female and Nokia category each time and every 24hrs for another new vote. Dont worry.. It's FOC.. Yeah.. Thanx dude !!


Regards,

Gilbert Song

IT IS HIM GOSHDARNIT!!!

Coach's Doppelganger

Is it just me or does the Tiger's Jim Leyland look a lot like Coach?
Then again, all white man look alike to me.


PS. I totally forgot that this blog has hit the 2 year mark. More Good Years

I Drink Beer - Dan Reeder

The man who was usually careful
Met the man who just didn't care
They went to the house
Of the man or a mouse
And met the mailman there

Man with a plan
Man on a mission
Man who could do no wrong
They all stood around in the kitchen
And sang the following song:

I drink beer to improve my mind
Win the war, help mankind
Through these dark and trying times
Hey batter, batter, batter, hey batter hey
Swing batter swing, swing away
Swing for the fence
Live for the day
Put your life in Jesus' hand
Shut your eyes as tight as you can
And swing like a man, like a man, like a man

I drink beer to boost retail sales
Save those dolphins, save those whales
I drink beer for the revolution
Hey batter, batter, batter, hey batter hey
Swing batter swing, swing away
Swing for the fence
Live for the day
Put your life in Jesus' hand
Shut your eyes as tight as you can
And swing like a man, like a man, like a man

Cos we are men
Men who shall remain
We shall remain men till we go home
We are men
Men who shall remain
We shall remain men till we go home.

Fwd: VERY HAPPY TO KNOW YOU GUYS

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: brian_yang
Date: Oct 15, 2006 9:25 PM
Subject: VERY HAPPY TO KNOW YOU GUYS
To:saturdaysoftball

I am brian yang. I enjoyed a lot with you on sat day when I visited the univesity of NUS. I hope I can enjoy softball game with you wheneve I can have time.

Thanks everybody.

Brian Yang ex korea

14 October 2006 - Hazy shade of Gray

ONES: Indiana, New John, H, Brian From Korea
TWOS: DT, Horfun, Burma Girl, Rugburn
All time: Rube

Game 1: ONES 12: TWOS 11
Game 2: ONES   5: TWOS   0

We were about to call the game. At 3.15pm, there was only Rube, Rugburn, Horfun, H and myself. But when Burma girl called and asked if we were on the field, we decided to get in some batting practice. Turns out, that was a wise decision as New John showed up and Brian, a Korean Traveller on a business trip asked if he could join us. He was actually seeing the sights in Singapore, and NUS was one of his stops (crazy... I know, but it was a blessing in disguise as he put on an awesome batting display) Seeing us warm up, he asked if he could join us, and we never turn anyone away (especially when we have no numbers). With 9+1 and only 4 batters per team, we decide to play Indiana and Prof Zen rules with a ghost runner thrown in if runners were on first and second.

Rube volunteered to play in the field all time (he said he didn't want to run too much...which was ironic since he probably ran more than if he had actually hit). DT did the count, and trying to balance Rugburn's bat, he elected to put Burma Girl and Horfun on the same team. With Brian an unknown quantity, and New John not yet proving his bat, DT thought that this would make the teams more even. Little did he know that Brian from Korea had a massive bat, hitting two home runs back to back (including a base clearing 3 run HR), over Rugburns head. New John also showed his stuff, finally getting accustomed to the slow pitch. He made some monster hits deep into left and centerfield. Defensively, both Johns built a brick wall in the infield. Nothing that hit the ground within the diamond got by them. The TWOs had to depend on Rugburn's big bat to score runs. Ironically, it was DT who scored the first 3run HR for the TWOs. But all the other points were put on the board by Rugburn. To counter this, the ONES decided to put up the most interesting defensive shift I've ever seen. They did an infield-outfield shift. Rube, H and Brian in the OF, and Indiana joined them, leaving only New John to defend the infield. The strategy worked as Rugburn was held to singles, and on his final at-bat, he was caught out by Indiana.

The ONES actually led the entire first game. Putting runs early on the board within the first 3 innings. However, in the 4th when DT switched from SS to CF with Rube, the TWOS defense suddenly took on a whole new life. For 3 consecutive innings, the TWOS made 1-2-3 outs with barely 6 pitches made. Rube stopped everything bouncing to him, and DT and Rugburn caught everything flying towards the OF. The TWOS finally caught up, one run at a time, and actually tied the game at the top of the 9th (with a 3run HR from Rugburn... there were about 4 of them today). However, the batting lineup of New John, Brian from Korea, Indiana and H proved too strong. With Brian getting on base, he was finally knocked in by a huge hit from New John.

Moving to the second game, it was the same thing. The ONES combined strong hitting with solid glovework to hold off any chance of the TWOS winning a game. Looking back, tweaking the lineup by trading H for Burma girl might have made the teams more fair.

Sadly, we will be losing Brian this weekend, as he returns to Korea on Friday. However, his company will be sending him to Singapore quite often, and he promised he will join us whenever he's in town. We lost the Generalissimo for 6 weeks while he's on a study trip, and we've also lost The Mick for 3 weeks as he goes back to New York to NOT watch the world series. Rickey had to give a talk to his groupies at some museum and Sandman's folks are in town, but hopefully we'll see them next week. Superdad needs to start showing up. We haven't seen him for a long time... (but if he's busy, he should send SuperMom instead)

The Haze was not that bad, although it got pretty awful come late evening. Hopefully it will clear up by next week. Our rule is quite simple, unless there is lightning threatening to strike our bats, we play.

On to Next Week.

Who REALLY should've been on the plane

Two words.... Pavano and Brown
ESPN NEWS

Fwd: can you post this?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patrick Daly
Date: Sep 12, 2006 4:01 PM
Subject: can you post this?
To: saturdaysoftball

 

I think we need to hire this coach to get us playing the game right.

 

the mick

 

 

 

T-ball coach to stand trial for $25 offer to bean player

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- A T-ball coach accused of offering an 8-year-old boy $25 to bean a disabled teammate is unlikely to receive a fair trial because of intense media coverage, the man's lawyer said. Mark R. Downs Jr., 29, of Dunbar, was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in Fayette County on a string of charges, including solicitation, corruption of minors and reckless endangerment. He refused a plea agreement in December. The charges against Downs drew the attention of media outlets around the world. Many columnists expressed disgust at what they considered adult corruption of a child's sport. "We feel he's been persecuted by the media," defense attorney Thomas Shaffer said. "[The case] was on from the nightly news in Japan to every syndicated network broadcast across the country." Prosecutors have argued that Downs did not want Harry Bowers Jr., then 9, to play in a June 2005 T-ball playoff game because the boy wasn't as good as his teammates. Bowers has autism and mild mental retardation. Keith Reese, 8 at the time, testified at a preliminary hearing that he hit Bowers with baseballs first in the groin and later in the ear. Reese said he did it because Downs offered him $25 to make sure Bowers wouldn't be able to play. League rules require each player to play at least three innings. Prosecutors did not return several phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment on the start of the trial. Shaffer said Downs had joked at another game about paying players to hit an umpire with a ball. His words were later taken out of context and used against him by Reese, Shaffer said. Bowers was hit because he misplayed balls while warming up with Reese, Shaffer said. "[Bowers] was terrible. ... It's not like he got blinded-sided," Shaffer said. "He put his glove up, he missed it and it went off his glove and hit him." The Falcons, the team Downs coached, are part of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League. Bowers was hurt before a game in North Union Township, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. League officials have said they investigated the matter and could not confirm whether Downs had done anything wrong. But they said he wouldn't be allowed to coach again if he were convicted of criminal charges. "He didn't ask to return, which was a good thing," said Eric Forsythe, president of the league. "I'm just curious to see what comes out in trial."

DT Rants about Difficulty Breathing

I woke up sunday wheezing and coughing. I guess Rickey may have been right after all. Who cares though. We can add a new environmental hazard that SAS would play through. We've played through lightning and rain and mud and searing heat and now haze.

 

We had decent numbers today, but because we started so late (past 3.30pm) the field was almost fully occupied and we didn't have much room to manuveur. With not much choice, we played Indiana Rules and Prof Zen rules combined with a little switch hitting.

 

It was a humbling and leveling experience. Not everyone was designed to hit switch and it showed.

 

Meanwhile, the yankees are out of the playoffs. They got badly scratched up by the Tigers. Heads need to roll. They haven't won a championship in *gosh* 6 years. That's like 516 in boston years.

 

7 October 2006 - Bizzaro World

ONES: 1B: Indiana/Rube; 2B: Geok/Sandman; SS: DT/Rugburn; LF: Rugburn/DT; CF: Sandman/Geok; RF: Rube/Indiana
TWOS: 1B: Rickey; 2B: The Mick; SS: Horfun/Clement; LF: Clement/Horfun; CF: Swiss Miss; RF: Heidi

ONES: 6
TWOS 13

We played - and if you don't understand you haven't played Saturday softball recently - Indiana/Prof. Zen rules with opposite batting. The haze was really bad (the PSI was probably over 100), and there were cricketeers and frisbee-ers out in the field. So we batted opposite our normal side of the plate. No need to run around too much in the muck. The TWOS did well because they had three players who swing both ways (The Mick, Singapore Clement [not the French one], and Heidi), while the ONES only had Sandman. That's basically the story of the game.

1) It was Swiss Miss' last official game. He may be able to play when he's back through town later this month, but he's off to Java and Bali for now. A great "playa", he even makes the Rube appreciate the French. He'll be missed; 2) Most of the swings were embarassing today; 3) The ONES switched their outfield and infield half-way through the game; 4) The Mick had some good homers during the game. The only one really hitting for power; 5) Rickey was pathetic on fielding the swinging bunts.

MBP: The Mick
Best Bat: The Mick
Worst Swing: Rickey

30 September 2006 - Missing

Not enough numbers showed up today, so there wasn't any game. Not even enough for Home Run Derby.
On to Next Week....

23 September 2006 - Home Run Derby

Stars: Jason and Diana, Rugburn, Horfun, Clement, Rube, Sandman, DT

Not enough guys today to have a proper game, so we had some batting and fielding practice. 7 in the field, and 1 at bat.

Round 1.
Batter has to hit and run at every bat. As many at bats till 3 outs. Basically a condensed version of our usual game. It was quite fun actually, but tiring.
Each base counts for 1 point. Rugburn scored the highest, hitting for the cycle, and also with about 3 home runs over Jason's head. DT scored the lowest with only one single.

Round 2.
Too much running in first round, so we decided to hit without having to run. Same rule, 3 outs per at bat, but in this case, grounders weren't counted as an out. Only linedrives or flyballs caught.

Round 3.
Batting practice. Hit as much as you want.

All in all, we had a pretty good non-competitve practice session. Everyone got to work on their hitting and fielding. In fact, we probably got more at bats, and fielded balls than in our normal game. We really could've done with extra numbers though. Too bad too many guys were away at the same time.

16 September 2006 - Oogggleee, Oogggleee, Ooggleee

ONES: 1B: Seven; 2B-Rover: Horfun; SS: The Venezualan Jaguar; LF: The Mick; RF: Rugburn
TWOS: 1B: Rickey; SS: DT; LF: Rube: CF: Swiss Miss; RF: Nigey-pooh

Game One:
ONES: 14
TWOS: 12


We played Prof. Zen/Indiana Rules. The game was very low scoring and tight until the bottom of the 8th inning. At that point, the score was tied at 8-8. The ONES spent the majority of the game hitting grounders or line-drives to DT, while the TWOS hit pop ups to The Mick and Rugburn. Even without a CF (albeit with restricted foul lines), the ONES didn't need one. The Mick and Rugburn covered the ground well. The real superstar was Horfun with the bat. She kept the ONES alive with strong singles, until finally the other boys finally woke up.

The game went fast, except for a long, drawn out-argument between everyone and Rickey over whether or not a person should be tagged at home when people are on 1st and 2nd,and the runner has been thrown out at 1st under Prof. Zen/Indiana rules (It's actually a hard one to call considering how the rules work. If you don't know what the issue is, you haven't played Prof Zen/Indiana). Alirio acted as arbitrator, while Swiss Miss and Nigey-pooh slept in the outfield. Everyone else argued.

After watching "Talledaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" at Joe's, we went bowling. All sucked; many a baseball cap was thrown in frustration. The only exception was the Mick, who bowled a remarkable 177 in both games.

NOTES:
1) When Rugburn wants to break up a play, he chants the ritualistic, "Oogggleee, Oogggleee, Ooggleee"; 2) Swiss Miss had a certain "I don't care to go after that ball" quality on certain hits; 3) Seven had some base-running/fielding challenges; 4) The Jaguar's first 5 at-bats all went directly to DT; 5) Horfun led off at least 4 different innings; 6) Everyone won "DY" today. When catching against your own team, everyone made the plays.

MBP: Horfun
Best Bat: Horfun
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Tired Arm: DT
DY: Everyone
Lebowski (MBP at bowling): The Mick

9 September - Kind Chris

ONES: 1B: Indiana; 2B: Geok; 3B: DT; SS: New John (proposed name: George Hamilton); LF: Rugburn; CF: Rube; RF: The Cheetah; Rover: Seven
TWOS: 1B: Rickey; 2B: Horfun; 3B: The Venezualan Jaguar/Sandman; SS: Clement; LF: The Mick; CF: Heidi/Venezualan Jaguar; RF: Swiss Miss; 4th OF: Sandman/Heidi

Game One:
ONES: 11
TWOS: 5

Game Two (5 Innings):
ONES: 10
TWOS: 9

It was a great day. Good weather and completely empty field. We may owe that to the cricket players, who had played earlier. They scared off everyone, so it was all ours. The games were defensive gems. In Game One, the ONES scored 8 in the 6th inning. Without that, it would have been a 3-5 game. People were making catches, hitting the cut-off man, doing it all. In the second game, the TWOS took an early lead, as the Mick tried to single-handedly will them to victory, but the ONES were just toying with them. The ONES came back in the bottom of the 9th (or 5th) to score 4 runs for the win.

The weird part of the games was that we had two new shortstops. Sure, Clement (not French Clement, but Lloyd's boys' Clement) has been around for a while, but he came as a NUS student for the first time. He made some amazing plays. On one - the new play of the year - he dove for a ground ball and snagged it somehow, rolled over, and threw it like a bullet while laying down. Batter out. Everyone was stunned. Just stopping the grounder was amazing. To back it up with the throw was one of the most incredible plays I've ever seen in Saturday Softball. For the ONES, they had a new guy show up. DT deferred to him. (Re-read the last sentence.) What a nice guy. The newbie actually does have some skills. After a couple of innings, he was making great plays also.

NOTES:
1) Even though the ONES had some big guns, their 8-run rally came on small ball; 2)Horfun consistently got on base; 3) Nice slides by Heidi and Indiana (Must of been in honor of the Cheetah); 4) Rugburn and the Mick both held down LF like the days of the Ipoh Assassin. Almost no balls were going there for hits; 5) Seven played Rover very well. Went unappreciated during the game, but looking back on it he was always where he needed to be.

MBP: Clement
Best Bat: Rugburn
Gold Glove: New Guy John
Best Play: Clement
DY: Indiana

2 September 2006 - Mojo (and the lack of it)

ONES: 1B: Rickey; 2B: Horfun; SS: DT; LF: Rube; CF: Grandpa; RF: Heidi
TWOS: 1B: Indiana; 2B: Geok; SS: Sandman; LF: The Mick; CF: Swiss Miss; RF: Rugburn; Rover: Mary

Game One (3-inning mercy)
ONES: 3
TWOS: 14

Game Two (5 Innings)
ONES: 4
TWOS: 9

We played Indiana/Prof. Zen rules. For one team - The TWOS - everything went right. For the other team, everything went wrong. Balls popped out of gloves. Hit balls were easy pop ups (almost like they were in a children's book). It was sad. Even though both teams looked even on paper, the difference was remarkable. The TWOs just pounded the ONES at will. It was so bad - and hot - that everyone just called the game in the middle of the second one. Nasty bad. But, Coach stopped by. Didn't play though. Just said "Hi".

After a stop at Subway, and drinking at Joe's, everyone headed to bowling. Individually the Mick was amazing. Rickey put up a fight in the first game, but the Mick just sped past him with three strikes to end it. In the second game, the Mick still dominated. There were also teams (Team 1: Indiana, Heidi, DT/Seven, Sandman, Swiss Miss, Horfun; Teams 2: Rickey, The Mick, Rube, Geok and Mary). Team 2 won both times. In the 2nd game, when Team 1 had a shot at winning, a series of strikes by Rube, Rickey and the Mick put them away. To twist the knife, Mary rolled a strike in the last frame. Cold blooded.

Notes:
1) The Mick had the catch of the year. He went horizontal on a Grandpa hit and caught it mid-air; 2) Rugburn caught everything Rube hit at him. Some quite far; 3) DT had "the vapours" mid-way through softball; 4) Swiss Miss bowls in anger; 5) With Indiana on the lanes, it's feast or famine. He gets a strike or gutter ball; 6) Subway's vegetable supplier's job is in jeopardy.

MBP: The Mick
Gold Glove: TWOS (entire team)
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Play of the Day (if not year): The Mick
Bonehead play: Everything for the ONES