I want one in my bedroom too.

LINK

ANAHEIM, Calif., June 26 — When Amber Willits is cooking dinner — crack! — or putting the baby to bed — crack! — or trying to get a little sleep herself — crack! — she has to wonder why she ever agreed to live in a batting cage.


“I may have thought that a few times,” she acknowledged. “But I never said it.”

Baseball wives are an understanding breed. They endure 12-day trips and meals at midnight, and move their families from minor league towns like Yakima, Wash., to Pulaski, W.Va.

But Amber Willits, the wife of Angels outfielder Reggie Willits, has taken hardball devotion to a new level. For the past three years, she has made a home, raised a son and helped develop a .300 hitter — all in an indoor batting cage.

“I could not have gotten here alone,” Reggie said. “I have an extremely supportive wife.”

At this time a year ago, he was a fringe prospect who had never started a major league game. Today, he is 26, the leadoff hitter for the first-place Los Angeles Angels, batting .337 with 18 stolen bases and a shot at the American League rookie of the year award.

He credits his emergence, at least in part, to the cage he calls home. While other players travel long distances to workout centers in the off-season, Willits merely has to roll out of bed and start taking his hacks.

“It’s very convenient,” said his father, Gene.

Reggie and Amber never planned to live in a cage. In 2003, they decided to build a 3,000-square-foot house on five acres they own next to his family in Fort Cobb, Okla. The batting cage happened to be the first part of the house that they built.

But when the cage was finished, Reggie and Amber saw a way to save money from his minor league salary. They did not have to complete the house. They could simply stay in the cage.

From the outside, it looks like a warehouse, 60 feet long and 32 feet wide. But inside, it has everything a baseball family would ever need: a place to eat, sleep and hit.

When houseguests open the front door, they see a small bathroom and kitchen on the right, and two sofas and a television set on the left. The floors are covered with Berber carpet. The dining room table is adorned with a vase of flowers. There are no closets.

Toward the back, the pitching machine, the weight room and the master bedroom are clustered together. “I did put in one wall,” Reggie said.

When he wants to bat, he pushes aside the sofas to form his personal playing field. He steps inside the net, suspended from the ceiling. If Amber is busy, he hits off a tee.

If she is free, she feeds balls into the pitching machine. Amber stands behind an L-Screen, the kind used to protect batting-practice pitchers. Still, line drives sometimes rip through the screen.

“I know she’s taken a few in the helmet,” said Mickey Hatcher, the Angels’ hitting coach. “But that’s part of the game.”

Two and a half years ago, the Willitses produced a bat boy, their son, Jaxon. They took him right from the hospital to the cage. Jaxon fell asleep to the whir of the pitching machine and the crack of the bat.

When Jaxon was old enough to walk, he helped Reggie collect balls in the cage. And when Reggie left for road trips, Jaxon hit in the cage with his plastic bat.

“He comes out dripping with sweat,” Amber said. “He looks just like his daddy.”

Amber and Jaxon sat at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night, alongside other players’ wives and children. While the wives posed for pictures together, Jaxon showed off an Angels logo painted on his cheek.

The Willitses are staying in a hotel in Anaheim during the season, but Amber and Jaxon will go back to the cage this summer. In addition to helping Reggie with batting practice, Amber is an elementary-school counselor in Fort Cobb, and she cannot be gone all season.

Heading into spring training, the Angels knew they could count on veteran players like Vladimir Guerrero. Reggie, on the other hand, was just a kid in a cage.

He made the opening-day roster as a reserve, mainly because he could run. But after an injury in April to Garret Anderson, Reggie took over a starting outfield spot and never gave it up.

Until recently, he was not even the most famous athlete from Fort Cobb, population 667. He was overshadowed by his sister, Wendi Willits, who was an expert 3-point shooter for the Los Angeles Sparks of the W.N.B.A.

Reggie is 5 feet 11 inches and 185 pounds, still waiting for his first major league home run. He wears No. 77 in honor of Kenny Lofton, a speedster who wears No. 7. But in Orange County, fans cannot look at Reggie without thinking of the former Angel David Eckstein.

Like Eckstein, the shortstop who was the most valuable player of last year’s World Series for St. Louis, Reggie loves to work counts, lay down bunts and hit singles.

Soon enough, Reggie will have his own house. He is making $382,500 this season, and in a few months, the place that he planned to build four years ago will be finished.

Gene Willits, the family contractor, announced proudly, “The batting cage will be a thing of the past.”

The new house has two stories, a large foyer and a view of Lake Cobb, filled with geese. The batting cage will stay in the backyard.

But none of those features count as Amber’s favorites.

“You know what is really going to be awesome about the new house?” she said. “The walls.”

30 June 2007 - Day before the prices go up up up.

ONEs: 1st Rickey, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Rube, SS DT, LF Gunz, CF Cool Papa, RF H
TWOs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Maglite, 3rd DT, SS Rube, LF Rugburn, CF Knees, RF Geok

Game 1: ones 12: twos 18 (6 innings)
Game 2: ones 12: twos 3 (3 innings)

The field was perfect, the grass green and lush, the numbers weren't so great, but we made do. With 12, instead of splitting it 6-6 and playing Indiana rules, Rube and DT volunteered to play all time defense. This brought the count to 5-5 + 2 all time, 7 in the field.

It was hot though. Very very hot. Those who didn't apply sunscreen suffered slight sunburn the next day. Only 6 innings were completed for the first game, as Rickey and Horfun had to leave at 5pm. This led to Rube and DT joining the ONEs permanently.

Rugburn was clearly the MBP of the first game for the TWOs. He singlehandedly drove in at least 10 of their 18 runs with 3 monster bases clearing homeruns. All 3 over Gunz' head. It wasn't that he was standing shallow, it was that Rugburn was crushing the ball. The TWOs also displayed some fine safety hitting. Consistantly batting liners up the middle for singles. All it took was 3 singles, then boom, Rugburn cleared the bases. The ONEs suffered 10 runs within 1 inning from this tactic.

The ONEs also had a trick up their sleeve which prevented them from going down to a mercy loss. Gunz and H combined their efforts to pick on DOCTOR Geok in RF. If we had gone 9 innings, the ONEs might even had won. Gunz bat started lighting up in the second game, and he mimicked Rugburn's display of batting power; this time going to the opposite field. He hit 2 grandslams for a total of 8 RBI.

Best play of the game must have been the TWOs E5-6-3 play on Rickey's at bat. Rickey hit a grounder up the 3rd baseline, DT fumbled the ball, and it rolled into the gap between himself and Rube. Rube managed to dive for the ball, and while on his knees, make a hard throw to first to get Rickey out on a bang-bang play at home.

A new award is up for grabs. The WHIPPED award for the person who doesn't show up for ball because of his wife. You win 3 in a row and you get to keep the trophy. Seven won the award shortly before his wedding date, and he took the first trophy with him to Aussieland. Rickey was the holder of the semi-WHIPPED award for the longest time, and his trophy is sitting on a shelf in Honolulu next to his sofa. It seems the Sandman is trying to hold on to the third pressing of the WHIPPED trophy; how many weeks has he been out 'shopping' with the wife instead of showing up for ball? I guess this is what happens when you get married.

MBP: Game 1: Rugburn, Game 2: Gunz
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Gold Glove: Left side of the infield
DY: Rickey, running into the carpark so many times to pick up wild throws from DT and Rube.


PostBall: We were invited to Thomas' 1st birthday party at Guppy's parents' condo down in Holland Road. A free flow of beer resulted in several misadventures with Rube's wife's camera while she, H and DOCTOR Geok adjourned to the powder room. Several pictures of male genitalia were recorded for posterity. If only Maglite had gone as well, then Knee's specimen would have been captured on film as well.

Alternate Field

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

The Cheah Family

Nigey, Jenny and Lil Ryan

23 June 2007 - Faith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

القرآن الكريم

16 June 2007 - Rained Out

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

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

DrinkingatJoes - Horfun, Uboat, Rickey

CameToPlaybutLeftBeforeRainStopped - DY

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

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

9 June 2007 - So Close

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

ONEs 23: TWOs 22 (10 innings)

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

Updates will be late

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

Sent by Blackberry

2 June 2007 - Extra Innings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Guy that Looks like Rickey goes crazy

Fair or Foul?

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

Read the article below.
Link

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Clark scooted away. The ball dropped.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Others agreed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But shouting at fielders as he runs?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 May 2007 - Us Against Them

Locals Vs Expats
Singaporeans Vs Americans
Chinese Vs Caucasians
Fu Man Chu Vs Sherlock Holmes
Charlie Chan Vs Charles Manson
Bruce Lee Vs Chuck Norris
Green Hornet Vs Green Lantern
Jin Vs Vanilla Ice
John Woo Vs Martin Scorsese
Infernal Affairs Vs The Departed
Us Vs Them
Home Vs Away

Hometeam: DT, DY, H, Clement, Gil
Visitors: Rube, Indiana, Uboat, Knees, Maglite

Game 1: Home 17: Visitors 8 (7 innings)

The field was beautiful and practically virgin since it hadn't been touched for 3 weeks. The weather was perfect with the sun behind the clouds and a nice breeze blowing in from the west. Sadly we didn't have enough numbers as too many people had 'other' more 'important' things to do. We ended up with 10 guys, and coincidentally had 5 Singaporeans and 5 Americans.

It was quite strange when DT proposed it to Rube, Rube said, 'we're gonna lose', and when DT told the teams to DY, DY said 'we're gonna lose'. Confidence isn't a strong suit on both sides. The Americans feared the speed and range of the Singaporeans, and the Singaporeans feared the power of the Americans.

It was the Americans who struck first. With Knees, Rube and Indiana leading the charge, taking the visitors to a 4-0 lead with their first at-bat. They were 8-3 ahead by the 3rd inning, and it looked like they were going to power their way to victory. The hometeam were playing a rotational defence, with everyone moving clockwise one position every time they took the field. The visitors on the other hand played a static defence, with Indiana at short, Uboat at 1st, Rube at LF, Knees in CF and Rebecca at RF.

One would think that the hometeam would have tried to pick on Maglite in right field, but strangely, they only started hitting opposite field when they started falling way behind in the score.

The 4th inning saw both teams stuck with their scores. It was only in the bottom of the 5th inning when DY hit a 2 RBI HR over Rubes head that it all went south for the visitors. That brought down the clouds and we had a slight delay of game due to rain. It was a 15minute shower, and that seemed to have brought new vigor to the home team. They managed to string together a few hits and slipped past the visitors for a 9-8 lead.

The bottom of the 6th and 7th saw DY hitting two 3RBI HRs, and another 2RBI HR. He single-handedly batted in 10 runs to take the home team to victory. It was short game and the Americans wisely and uncharacterisically pulled out before more damage was done (Also, Knees and Maglite had to leave).

DY award: DT's glove. H hit a foul tip way behind DT at the plate. He tried to miss the catch by looking away, but somehow the ball dropped into his glove and H was caught out.
Biggest Bat: DY
Gold Glove: Indiana
MBP: DY

19 May 2007 - Numbers

ONEs: Pitcher Ironman/Cool Papa, Catcher Joe, 1st Uboat, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd Gil, SS NewJohn, OF Superdad, Cool Papa/Ironman, Sandman, Rube

TWOs: Pitcher Horfun/Cheetah, Catcher Gunz, 1st Indiana, 2nd Maglite, 3rd Clement, SS DT, OF Rugburn, H, Knees, Cheetah, Andy
(Game 2, TWOs did a infield-outfield switch. Pitcher Knees, Catcher Andy, 1st H, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Rugburn, SS Indiana, OF DT, Cheetah, Horfun, Clement, Gunz)

Game 1: ONEs 21: TWOs 8 (5 innings Mercy)
Game 2: ONEs 14: TWOs 13 (7 innings)

It was a beautiful day and we had beautiful numbers. 21 people showed up. Making a long forgotten appearance was such legendary names as Cool Papa and The Cheetah, who've not graced our pages for quite some time. As our primary field was still closed, we made our way to the alternate field.

The field was relatively dry, but there were some swampy bits in the outfield that sucked the spirit of the players, and sucked the life out of the ball. The moment the ball landed in any bits of the swamp, it would just stick. It didn't roll or travel. Many a fielder was fooled when the ball just stopped instead of rolling towards him. Many batters attained extra bases, getting doubles on singles, or triples on doubles when the fielder could not pluck the ball from the mud's grasp. The infield was lovely though. Nice and dry and relatively even.

The ONEs took the most advantage of the swamp thing. Facing the ONEs heavy batters, the TWOs OF wisely played deep, but the ONEs decided not to hit long, but hit smart. They fired their projectiles with pinpoint accuracy into the swamp thing, and kept the scoring alive with singles and doubles. The TWOs had no answer. If they played shallow, they go burned, if they played deep, they got burned. The ONEs were simply too dominatant in the first game, taking the win with a 13 run-mercy lead by the 5th.

No changes were made to the teams for the second game. But the TWOs tried a new tactic. The infield-outfield switch. And it almost worked too. The TWOs also picked a leaf from the ONEs book and took advantage of the swamp thing. Letting the swamp thing work for them instead of against them. They managed to string together a nice series of hits and the managed to hold the lead in the game for 5 1/2 innings. It was in the bottom of the 6th when it all fell apart. The ONEs managed to score 4 go ahead runs to go into the 9th, and in the top of the 9th, the TWOs only managed to get 3 runs. It was heartbreak for them, but a clean sweep for the ONEs.

Gold Glove: Swamp Thing (The mud. He held on to every ball refusing to give them up once they landed)
Biggest Bat: Rube
MBP: Swamp Thing (He turned singles into doubles and doubles in triples)

PS. Sandman pointed out to me last weekend that I had neglected to nominate one of the greatest over-40 players in the list I published. Well, it's not too late, as he's still over-40 this week.

Presenting... John 'Indiana' Miksec. The oldest-quadruple-bypassed youngster to grace the Saturday Afternoon Softball Diamond. One of the original founders of the game way way back when he was a young lad of 50. He's probably the only one left on the field who would remember the days of yore when Canadians played Swedes on the field (according to rumour), when games actually started at 2pm (This is an urban legend) and Coach actually yelled at people for fucking up plays (It could be true). He's seen the bar change owners, he's eaten pizza hut (another urban myth), Canadian 2for1 and Rockies. He's had chicken burger but he prefers yam rings, and he's seen Lloyd as a young NUS undergraduate (many have heard this to be true). At 61 years of age, he's still quicker than most of us, has better range and bigger bat. He can play multiple positions, excelling at 1st and short, he's even been known to venture into the outfield. He can still hit homeruns (without steroids) and actually make it home on his own steam. If only he'll retire, he'll be a shoe-in for the hall of fame.

Update will be late this week

Hi Folks,

Apologies, the update will be late this week as DT is under sedation.

Meanwhile, we'd like to wish Rugburn, Rube and The Cheetah many happy returns, as they celebrated their birthdays last week.

DT.

oh mama!

Ouch! That's gotta hurt

Life Begins at 40???

LINK


extract
Whatever the reasons, here is my tops of the 40s list -- the best players who are 40 or older this calendar year:

1. Barry Bonds (43 in July). is an asshole

2. Roger Clemens (45 in August). He isn't getting older, he's getting richer. For two thirds of a season and practically no clubhouse face time, he'll receive about $19 million, which is more than any other pitcher in baseball. Though unlike Bonds, he hasn't improved in his 40s, it just seems that way. His ERA was 3.10 entering the year he turned 40, and it's 3.12 since. So we can't really say there's been a dropoff, either.

3. Curt Schilling (41 in November). He doesn't throw 97 mph anymore, but he still can dominate on any given night.

4. John Smoltz (turned 40 on Tuesday). Great in any role, and maybe the best competitor of his generation. He suffered a dislocated pinky on Monday night, but apparently he won't miss even one start.

5. Tom Glavine (turned 41 in March). When he struggled for the first time a couple years ago, he reinvented himself by throwing inside more often and rediscovering his curve. But considering he never threw especially hard and never had a superb breaking ball, nobody's gotten more out of his talent than Glavine, who's still an ace for the best team in the NL in what's likely his last year.

6. Trevor Hoffman (40 in October). He has had a couple bad games, but his WHIP is 0.878, lowest of his career. With his style, this could go on awhile.

7. Jamie Moyer (45 in November). His repertoire of finesse pitches has lent itself to longevity. Since he never had any velocity to lose, he's actually gotten better with age and experience (4.22 ERA before he turned 40, 4.02 since).

8. Greg Maddux (turned 41 in April). He's not what he was, but he'll still win his 15, as always, and help several on his staff (see Jake Peavy).

9. Moises Alou (41 in July). One of the most consistent hitters over the past couple decades, he was hitting .301 entering the year he turned 40, and has hit .305 since. His only drawback is he gets hurt even more now.

10. Tim Wakefield (41 in August). His current 1.79 ERA is less than half his career mark (4.25). The knuckleballer has no known expiration date.

11. Randy Johnson (44 in September). He's lost some velocity and the slider doesn't dive like it used to. About the only constants are height, back pain and the scowl. Yet he won 17 last year and can still dominate at times.

12. Orlando Hernandez (42 in October). The Mets are listing him at 37, and if this makes them feel better, who's it going to hurt? The man has a complete bag o' tricks, apparently including a fake birth certificate.

13. Luis Gonzalez (40 in September). Funny career, with an odd home run spike in his prime years. He is still being counted on as one of main Dodger power suppliers, though he isn't what he was. His .413 slugging percentage is his lowest since '97.

14. Mike Stanton (40 in June). The former Braves and Yankees stalwart has made a big comeback after he seemed to have lost it. He became the Giants' unlikely closer late last year, saving eight games (his highest total since '93), and the Reds liked enough of what they saw to give him a two-year deal. So far he isn't duplicating what he did as a Giant (7.50 ERA).

15. Omar Vizquel (turned 40 in April). He's the only middle infielder on the list. Not quite Ozzie Smith, even in his prime, but not that far behind.

Other fortysomethings (or soon to be 40s) still hangin' in there: Woody Williams (40), Craig Biggio (41), Roberto Hernandez (42), Julio Franco (48), David Wells (43), Doug Brocail (turns 40 today), Tom Gordon (turns 40 in November), Kenny Lofton (40 later this month), Mike Timlin (41), Jeff Conine (40), Steve Finley (42), Reggie Sanders (40 in December), Jose Mesa (40).

Best News Headline EVER

Royals To Get A Taste Of Angels' Colon

LINK

A Blink of an Eye

All it takes is a small accident, a momentary lapse and entire futures could be changed. If not for a wild throw, maybe the headline would be 'Melendez sets shortstop double-play mark', and we'd call the Generalissimo, Dr Vizquel...


Link

Vizquel sets shortstop double-play mark
Giants Gold Glover passes Smith for all-time record

DENVER -- Omar Vizquel of the San Francisco Giants was offered a base -- yes, an actual base, square and white with a small post meant for sticking in the ground -- to commemorate his latest achievement.

Said Vizquel, sounding extremely practical, "What am I going to do with a base?"

However, Vizquel was perfectly happy to accept the Major League record of most double plays participated in by a shortstop. The 11-time Gold Glove winner turned the 1,591st of his career, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, in the seventh inning of the Giants' 15-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Vizquel, whose 11 Gold Glove Awards rank second to Smith's 13 among shortstops, paid tribute to the former Padres and Cardinals star.

"It's an honor to me to be above him in double plays because everybody knows how great he was," said Vizquel, 40.

Vizquel jokingly added, "I can finally say that I have quicker hands than him."

The tiebreaking play came with Omar Quintanilla on first base and one out in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Steve Finley smacked a grounder to second baseman Kevin Frandsen, who fed Vizquel to start the double play.

Vizquel also contributed to the Giants' offense, going 3-for-6 and scoring two runs.

12 May 2007 - Double or Nothing

ONEs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Maglite, SS NewJohn, LF Superdad, CF Sandman, RF Knees
TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Rube, SS DT, LF Rugburn, CF DY, RF H

Game 1: ONEs 13: TWOs 12

It was good news bad news. Good news, they were tearing up the cricket bowling green. Bad news, they were tearing up the cricket bowling green, so the field was closed. We moved to the alternate field. As it was extremely sunny, the ground was nice and dry, except for some patches of swampland in the outfield. Unfortunately, the person scouting the field doesn't play in the outfield, so when he found a nice dry turf to lay the infield diamond, he was satisfied.

DT did not make the traditional 1-2 count off as he's more familiar with 1s and 0s. Instead, he tried to spilt the teams evenly without going the random 1-2 route. The teams looked pretty even with the ONEs looking stronger offensively and the TWOs looking better defensively.

As it was, the ONEs led all the way with their bigger bats.. Leading 3-0 in the first, 6-1 in the second and 7-2 in the third. The TWOs tried to claw their way back, and they only managed to tie the game at 11 runs in the 8th, and take a slim 1 run lead going into the middle of the ninth. It was not to be for the TWOs, as the ONEs laid the smackdown on them with 2 outs and 2 runners on base. It was Maglite, the MBP who won the game for the ONEs with a double right up the middle and right through DY's legs. She had been denied a double in the previous inning when she overran the base and was tagged out, but she was not to be denied this time.

It was a game of double plays, and not because of Prof Zen rules. There was only 2 base to home DPs, but plently of infield DPs. Rube made the most DPs, with a couple of 4-4-3s and even a unassisted DP.

Maglite has finally got her eye on the ball. Her strikeout waiver is now revoked. She's always had a hard swing, but could never make good contact with the ball. She hit two doubles today, one in the 8th and 1 in the 9th for the win. She burned DY both times.

Indiana was hustling so much, we might have to change the DY award to the Indiana award. He was relentless even when pitching and catching for his own team. He ran down all the fouls tips, and was only a hair away from making the catches.

The big bats were stifled by the swamplands in the OF. Every deep fly ball that went into the outfield was stopped by the ground. It didn't even bounce. The infield was nice and dry, but the outfield was terrible. Even the outfielders decided to play shallow and let the ball go over their head, knowing that the ball would not take off after hitting the ground.

Rube was awesome at 2nd base, but he suffered from a spat of injuries for no apparent reason. He was like the carl pavano of the TWOs, but with a lot more heart and a lot more hustle. He pulled his groin, his hamstring and possibly his back, just walking around the field. He even sprained his ankle while taking off his boots. It was not a good day for the Rube.

We welcome back DY after a 9 month hiatus. He was not his old self. The 9 months on Paternity leave totally took its toll. He has certainly lost a step or two, and his bat has lost quite a bit of pop. Its good to see him back though, and he promised to come out every other week.

Gold Glove: Rube (3 DPs)
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
MBP: Maglite (2 down, bases loaded, Maglite hits a double up the middle for the win)
DY: Indiana

Great Compilation

Cheating gets it Faster

Gaijin Love

What do you do...

When you plonk a batter and he charges the mound? Fight? or Run?

Fight Fight Fight

Something to Learn

Link

Arod could learn something about executing a perfect rundown if he came down to SAS.

NUS Idol 2007

THE GENERALISSIMO WINS NUS AWARD. Click here to Vote NOW

5 May 2007 - Alternate Field

ONEs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Maglite, SS Fisk, LF Rugburn, RF Knees
TWOs: 1st Indiana, SS DT, LF Rube, CF Sandman, RF H

Pitcher: Wild Thing

Game 1: ONEs 11: TWOs 14

The rain over the past week without the benefit of sun left our primary field in an awful condition. It was so awful that the frisbee players even moved to the lower soccer field instead of hogging their usual spot. We decided to move to the alternate field since the chances that it would be less wrecked was higher. We had to move deeper into the field that we usually did, and with some creative placement of the diamond, managed to find ourselves a nice, relatively dry, mud-free spot.

It was a late start, even for us. Numbers only started streaming in after 3, and we didn't start the actual game till 4. Even so, we should've been able to squeeze in at least 1 game + 3 innings. But somehow, we seemed to play at a sloths pace and we only finished 9 innings after 6. Game was called and we moved to Joes.

Numbers was quite dismal, with only 10 fellows showing up. Not sure what happened, as rumour has it that there were 14 last week. Guess it must be because it was the Spiderman 3 weekend, and many a parent might have taken their children to watch the crapfest rather than come onto to field. Too bad for us as we had to make do with Indiana and Prof Zen rules.

It was a unique situation in the field as both teams decided on different strategies for defense. Numbering only 5 a team, the ONEs decided on a 3-infield, 2-outfield lineup while the TWOs went for a 2-infield, 3-outfield. The bats on the opposing team probably played a big factor in the defensive strategy with the ONEs having the bigger bats of Rugburn and NewJohn.

However, it was the TWOs that opened up accounts early, taking a 6-0 lead by the first inning. They were not about to give up their lead at any point in the game, and even came close to winning by mercy twice. It wasn't till the 8th inning that the ONEs finally struck back. They managed to score 6 runs to bring the score from 12-5 to 12-11. But the TWOs were not about to give up the goat. They put on 2 insurance runs to take a 14-11 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.

Lili showed up in the 4th inning, and she earned herself her nickname of 'Wild Thing'. She went 7 scoreless innings pitching all time for both teams. She was merciless on the mound, even striking out NewJohn, for his first career jug. Not only was her location superb, she also varied the speed of her pitches causing batters quite a bit of discomfort. Strange enough, the only person who could effectively hit off her was Maglite. Everyone else was having difficulty reading her pitches.

The 9th inning was all about Indiana. Playing 1st/2nd. He singlehandedly stopped the ONEs rally by making 2 beautiful diving grabs for the assisted out to 2nd. Meanwhile, DT was having the worst case of knoblochitis ever. While he showed good range at short, none of his throws were even close to 1st base. Several spectators were hit by wild throws.

Due to the creative positioning of the diamond, right field was short, leading to the drain and a 20 foot drop into a huge storm drain. In order to prevent the bigger hitters from taking advantage of the short porch, any hit that went past the drain was ruled a ground-rule-double instead of a HR. Even with this rule, Rube went to the drain twice, and so did Rugburn. In fact, Rugburn managed to get one down the slope. Thankfully, it stopped right before the storm drain, or that would've been another ball lost to Indonesia. It was one of his attempts at the short right field when H made the best catch of the day. She was so focused on getting to the ball that she was inches away from stepping into the drain. It wasn't till after the play that we told her how close she was to falling in.

Looks like NewJohn picked his own nickname. He had trouble straighening out his hits, pulling the ball foul at least 3 times at every at-bat. He must have hit about a dozen balls down the wrong side of the foul line. Rube and DT were more tired running to pick up the foul ball than hitting and fielding throughout the entire game.


DY: Wild Thing (Struck our Fisk)
Gold Glove: H (Best catch of the day off Rugburn)
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
MBP: Indiana
Play of the day. Indiana dives for an opposite field ground ball from Rugburn. Snags it, and tosses it backhand lying facedown to DT to get NewJohn out.

28 April 2006 - Strippers

DT was away in KL for the weekend. He's hoping someone who showed up for the game could provide him with the lineup, final score and highlights of the game so that He can update the blog.

Meanwhile, according to the word on the street, a certain wife of one of our esteemed players with 2 of our very own female players and a bunch of her female stripper friends went for a post-post-post-wedding hen night at a male strip club. Sadly, the word also mentioned that bananahammocks were in use and no dangly bits were partaken. We can neither confirm nor deny the word.

Movie Night

We HAVE to go watch this.

Link

21 April 2007 - Asians rule

ONEs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd Handsomest Man in Singapore/Clement, SS NewJohn, LF Clement/Handsomest Man in Singapore, CF Gunz, RF H
TWOs: 1st Rube, 2nd Maglite, 3rd DT/Uboat, SS The Mick/DT, LF Rugburn, CF Knees/The Mick, RF Uboat/DT/Knees

Game 1: ONEs 30 : TWOs 29

It was a weird day. The field was gorgeous, soft and springy from the rains the previous week, but not at all damp nor muddy. The sky was black and threatened heavy showers, but the baseball gods looked down on our resolute faces and were pleased, and blew the clouds away.

With several requests for couples to be counted together (NewJohn and Wild Thing, Maglite and Knees, Gil and Clement, The Queer Bros), the count went more like, 1-1, 2-2, 1-1, 2-2, rather than 1-2, 1-2, 1-2. Even DT got confused trying to make head or tail of the count. The strange outcome of the count was that almost all the asians were on one team, and all the white people were on the other. Although, if one considered the number of years NewJohn and Indiana had in Asia, they could be counted as Asian too. And with DT's intimate knowledge of Friends and mayonnaise, he'd easily pass as the whitest man on the field.

One would think that with the lineup of Rugburn and Rube on the same team, that the TWOs would be scoring themselves silly. One would be wrong. The ONEs took the lead early, scoring 6 runs in the first inning, and only gave up their lead in the top of the ninth. No matter how hard the TWOs tried, they simply could not put enough runs on the board to catch up to the ONEs. And it wasn't that either team were making fielding errors. The ONEs were just hitting extremely well, stringing together hit after hit, and placing the ball well out of reach of the TWOs defense.

The TWOs even tried switching around their players to try to attain the optimum defensive positioning, but to no avail. The ONEs like, another Asian in VT, were merciless. They scored at least 1 run in every inning and they were simply unstoppable. By the top of the 4th, the ONEs already had a 14-5 lead, but the TWOs managed to pull away from the jaws of mercy scoring 5 runs in the 4th. By the 9th inning, the ONEs were 27-22 ahead with no hope in sight for the TWOs.

Digging deep within themselves, the TWOs mustered, and managed to score 7 runs to finally take the lead for the first time in the game. They strung together a succession of hits that saw runners advance one slow base at a time until finally a deep fly ball from Rugburn was caught by Gil to end their last chance at bat. 2 runs down, the ONEs went up to bat. They managed to tie the game at 29 a piece, when with bases loaded, 2 down, NewJohn puts in the coup de gras with a walk off HR over the Mick in CF to seal the game.

Notes:
Rugburn had 2 chances to test the Gunz. He took neither, choosing to remain at 3rd base rather than try to run home on Gunz arm. The choice was wise, as Gunz made both throws with time for the catcher to grab a drink before tagging the running Rugburn (if he had chose to run).

Good to see Gil back from his modelling stint. His knee looks well healed and we're starting to see the speed again. He will be a force to be reckoned with come tournament time. He didn't play for the Montfort Alumni last year because of the operation, which gave us an advantage. Looks like we've gotta break other players legs if we want to win again.

NewJohn fully deserved the DY and Gold Glove award. He was unstoppable at short (much to Maglite's chagrin. And even when pitching and catching for the other team, he showed no mercy to his own team, especially to Lili, constantly throwing her out.

Maglite was hitting well today. Sadly, all her hits were played out by NewJohn. The only time she got on base was when she hit a blooper past the pitcher, and DT threw the ball into Indiana's head. (PS. Maglite is the lady formerly known as Rebecca. She earned her nickname today)

Knees was trying (unsuccessfully) to prove that he could make plays standing up. As usual, his best plays were made on his knees. He did make a beautiful display of baserunning, avoiding a rundown between Rugburn at catch and Clement at 3rd. He WAS on his face at the end of the play, but that's beside the point. He was called safe at 3rd avoiding the tag from Clement. We definitely like the hustle in this guy.

Rube was back in the batter's box. He has lost a little power, only hitting doubles and triples into right-centerfield, instead of his usual homeruns.

H was batting for a thousand. No one in RF seemed to be able to pick up her shots all day.

The TWOs displayed what we would like to call 'The Rotational Error' in the 3rd inning. We ALL took turns to make errors from simple plays that let the ONEs score 6 runs.

Sandman showed up at 5pm at the top of the 9th inning.

Gold Glove: NewJohn
DY: NewJohn
Biggest Bat: Rugburn
MBP: NewJohn

We went bowling after ball, and in the spirit of couples day, we matched up singles vs couples. Sandman/LilOne-Rube/Jones/Knees/Maglite vs Uboat-Horfun-DT-H-Gunz
The Singles swept both games easily winning by at least a hundred pinfalls. The couples were too busy snuggling, arguing and telling each other "nice try baby" to put up any real competition. The Strangest part of the bowling expedition was when Sandman only score 50 pins in the first game, and LilOne scored double that. Oh the Shame. The Mick didn't join us for bowling as he was on a date.... with his date's FAMILY... I don't know where to go with this one.

The Bazylewich Family says hello

Butuan Boys Win City Championships

NOTE: The team is nicknamed 'The Blue BOYS', not 'The Blue BALLS'. The Blue BALLS is Dom's team in Aussieland

The Score

Finally... The Butuan Sluggers have released the scoresheet for the game we played them on our overseas tour last year. You can read about our trip HERE, or you can read about the game HERE and see pictures of our visit HERE

As you can see, we won 12-2, instead of the 8-1 posted in the original entry.

Butuan Sluggers


SAS Overseas

14 April 2007 - Back to Pathetic

ONEs: 1st Rube, 3rd Horfun, SS: Indiana, LF Gunz, CF H
TWOs: 1st Rube, 3rd Wild Thing, SS NewJohn, LF DT, CF Superdad

Game 1: ONEs 5: TWOs 9

Guess our streak couldn't last long. Muster has returned to pathetic numbers. Ground was in a terrible condition, and the sky was black as death with streaks of lightning flashing across the sky. We soldiered on, regardless of the sad numbers, no shows, horrendous conditions and absolutely bad weather. With a count of 9, we shut down right field entirely, counting it as foul territory. The second baseman position was removed as well, leaving each team to supply 2 infielders and 2 outfielders. Rube generously volunteered to play 1st all time.

Ghost runner ruled the day, scoring more than half of the runs. He was tough, fast, but fair. Scoring equally well for both teams. He showed gifted baserunning, scoring from first base easily from doubles hit into the outfield. Neither Gunz nor Superdad's arm could put a stop to him.

Horfun and Wild Thing were forced to play the hot corner, and they made excellent an showing for themselves. Unfortunately, while they may have the glove of Arod, they had the arm of Johnny Damon. With the slower, wetter, muddier, oilier conditions, they had no problems stopped and knocking down the hits down the line, but they had problems making the throw to first base. To their credit, they threw a lot better than Damon from centerfield.

Indiana won himself the Gold Glove this week, with a over-the-shoulder catch of a blooping fly ball with his non-glove hand.

NewJohn is showing an aptitude for hitting the foul ball. He should hook up with Martin for a game of Canadian Rules softball. They would probably run the left and right fielders ragged chasing fouls.

H hit switch to make up for the lack of a right side of the field. She was putting in good numbers, hitting singles past the infield.

Superdad and Gunz competed for the hit-the-moon award. Both came close. Luckily, the ball was already egg-shaped, so it was aerodynamically suited for re-entry.

MBP: Ghost Runner
Biggest Bat: Gunz
DY: Rube
Gold Glove: Indiana

We adjourned to Indiana's place for Movie and Pizza Night. As a tribute to the Indians playing at home in another stadium, we watched 'Major League'. Pizza was from Rocky's, the standard Boston and a special order, Mexican with Chicken instead of Beef.

On to Next Week.

7 April 2007 - New Blood but Old School Spirit

ONEs: 1st Rube, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd DT, SS NewJohn, LF Rugburn, CF Gunz, RF Horfun

TWOs: 1st Rube, 2nd Rebecca, 3rd Knees, SS Indiana, LF Superdad, CF H/Sandman, RF Burma Girl/H, Rover Burma Girl

Game 1: ONEs 14 : TWOs 13
Game 2: ONEs 3 : TWOS 4 (3 innings)

The sky was dark at 2.30pm, so dark that Rube and I thought that no one would show up. Little did we know that although most of the chaps in SAS are relatively new (less than 1 year), they were imbued with the toughest of the old school spirit. By 3pm, the rain started coming down hard, with streaks of lightning flashing across the sky. We were resigned to leave the field of glory. But more and more people started showing up. Even while it rained, people showed up. I felt a big tear welling up.

At about 3.30pm, we had 14, and the rain decided to give us a break, receding to a light shower. In true SAS spirit, the call was made to continue the game. Rube walked out in the rain to start laying the bases, and DT started counting off. It wasn't rainwater than streaked down my face at that moment. I remember a time when the hardy fellows of SAS would have played regardless of the weather, and I also remember a time when pansies called the shots and the game was called when drops of water was felt. It was good to feel the old school spirit again. Except for Indiana and Burma girl, no one else taking the field would've have seen the muddy games with Kitty, Martin the Contrary, The Cheetah, The Kiwi and Coach having sliding contests in the downpour. Yet, even if they had never met them, these new faces taking the field resonated the same never-say-die spirit of SAS, the same body-sacrificing, get-to-the-ball, team-before-self, all-out-fun soul that's made me return to SAS week after week for the last 10 years. The faces may have changed, but the spirit remains the same. Kitty, Martin, The Cheetah, The Kiwi, Coach...etc may have left the field of glory, but the new names, NewJohn, Gunz, Rube, Rugburn, Superdad, Clay, Rebecca, H, Horfun, Wild Thing... they have picked up the mantle and carry it proudly.

It was one of those games where everything went right. Defense was tight, but the bats were strong. Both teams were equally matched and neither team would give up even a single run. There was endless acrobatics as both sides slid, dived, ran and jumped to get their gloves on the ball. Everyone was fighting to get the gold glove this day. It was finally decided between Gunz and Indiana. Both made the most plays, Indiana running all over the infield and wandering deep into the outfield to catch flies, and Gunz showing the circus freak side of his nature, making impossible catches inches from the ground. Indiana even made all 3 outs in one inning unassisted. In the end, Gunz won the gold glove by a whisker, but there were no losers here.

Rugburn won the biggest bat easily when he crushed the ball (literally) into leftfield, way past Superdad's head. When the ball was returned to play, we found that it had turned egg-shaped. He's going to get the bill as well when I buy new balls for the game. (ed: on a serious note, we're left with ONE good ball for SAS games. I will be making a shopping trip to get supplies soon). Superdad was sending the ball deep too, but that one hit from Rugburn went from end to end. He may have taken the distance record from Kitty.

The game started off well, with both teams putting runs on the board early. The TWOs scored 2, and the ONEs replied with 2. But the ONEs decided to put on the turbocharger early, taking a 6-2 lead in the 2nd inning. They managed to hold on to this lead, piling on runs till the 5th with a 10-3 score. In the 6th, the TWOs finally answered back, scoring 3 runs, but the ONEs were not about to let the lead slip away, and they pulled ahead 12-6 by the end of the inning. The score remained the same till the 8th when the TWOs rallied hard to put 2 runs on the board. Continuing their efforts, the brought the game to a 13-13 tie going into the middle of the 9th. The ONEs had one last chance to seal the victory. With 2 outs, 2 strikes, and the winning run on 2nd. DT turns on a outside pitched from Horfun, yanking the ball down the right foul line. It was a fair, bouncing on the line and spinning away sharply to the right. H got to it milliseconds after it hit the ground, but it was too late as the runner comes home.

The second game started the same way, with the TWOs taking the early lead with 3 runs. This time however, the ONEs had no reply, and the TWOs, playing at home, piled on the lead to 4 runs by the end of the 8th inning. The ONEs were not about to give up though. They put on their rally hats and drove in 3 runs in the top of the 9th before they were finally shut down by the TWOs.

Another week, another TWO 1 run games. We've had 1 run games for the entire month. That is how much everyone is fighting for the games.

Notes:

Clay has earned his nickname. He will henceforth be known as 'Knees'. He played 3rd base this day, and still dropped onto his knees to make catches. He's all hustle, all the time. If anyone could put the Rube to shame, Knees will be able to. He even had a knee-sliding catch at home to win the DY award. He's gunning for The Cheetah's speed-sliding trophy as well, and if The Cheetah doesn't come back to defend his crown, we might have a new speed-sliding champion.

Rugburn had the biggest hit and the best slide of the game. He slid into 2nd base, throwing mud on not one, not two, but three opposing players. He got Rebecca, Indiana and The Sandman nice and muddy.

Everyone loves girl on girl action (especially in the mud), and we were not disappointed, when H ran smack into Burma Girl at home. It was a close facsimile of the last time those two ladies met at 3rd base not so many weeks ago.

H showed that she can compete with the best of them on her knees. She made a meter long slide to catch an opposite field liner from Gunz. It was a beautiful play, sadly overshadowed by Gunz's antics for the other team.

Gunz finally lived up to his name and showed the folks who joined in the last year, and never met him, why he got that nickname. He picked up a blooping grounder past second base from Rebecca and fired a bullet home from short outfield to get her out. The most common reaction was 'wow'...

One would think that batters would be picking on Horfun in RF. One would be wrong. Even H and Sandman were sending the ball to the opposite field rather than hit to Horfun. After the first couple of batters tried going opposite field, and getting caught out by Horfun, the message was received. Don't mess with her. Better to try your chances with Rugburn.

Indiana never ceases to amaze. He was playing shortstop but making catches in left and centerfield. He was everywhere. Kinda like Bugs Bunny playing Baseball.

DT was playing the fart game with Rube at 1st base. They combined for a textbook tag play when Rube fired the ball to DT to catch Superdad trying to steal 3rd. Strangely, Rube was having problems throwing home. He made two knoblauchesque throws to home on relays that would have gotten the runner out otherwise.

Looks like our newer ladies are turning into lean mean batting machines. Wild Thing, Horfun and Rebecca were hitting singles and getting on base consistantly. Wild Thing's driving the ball right up the middle everytime, and Horfun is learning the delicate art of spraying the ball into gaps. Rebecca has got the meanest swing of the bunch. She still needs practice making contact, but when she starts getting her timing down, she's going to burn a lot of folks in the leftfield.

Sandman showed up after 4pm. And he was on the phone talking to Lil'One during the game... (and btw, she was sitting in her Toyota in the carpark, barely yards away). Can we please change his nickname to 'Whipped'??

Biggest Bat: Rugburn
Gold Glove: Gunz
Best Slide, Rugburn at 2nd Base(putting mud on Sandman, Rebecca and Indiana)
DY: Knees


We went to John's to watch Eddie Murphy's Delirious. DT *coughdownloadedcough* it after having the goonigoogoo conversation with The Mick and Uboat about Dom's wife. Kudo's to Horfun for having the brilliant idea to get Botak Jones. She made the order, and we sat around and watched Eddie Murphy at his hilarious best till the food was ready. Then she kindly drove over to collect the food. It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by all. Yup, everyone except Superdad adjourned to Indiana's place for post-ball activities. We even had ice-cream for dessert.

I wish I had said this first when I broke my finger

"It's no big deal. It's sore, but I've got nine other ones" - Derek Jeter when asked about his sore toe after having a ball fouled off it.

This guy is amazing.

All his strikeouts from ONE game.





He struck out Ichiro 3 times in one game in this one

The Riddle of Matsuzaka

7 pages long and a good read
LINK

My favourite line is from Page 2...
"Fact is, Matsuzaka would not be this Matsuzaka if he had been born in the States."

Baseball Photos

http://todayspictures.slate.com/ballgames/index.html

Too Busy to Throw out the First pitch

Washington Post has a story on Mr Bush not throwing out the first pitch for opening day.

Link to Story

31 March 2007 - April Fool's Eve

ONEs

1st Rube, 2nd Horfun/Guppy, 3rd DT, SS Newjohn, Rover Burma Girl, LF Rugburn, CF Mick, RF Uboat

TWOs

Pitcher Sandman, 1st Rube, 2nd Karl, 3rd DT/H, SS Indiana, Rover H/Wild Thing, LF Superdad, CF Gunz, CF Clay Aching

Game 1 ONEs 17: TWOS 17 (bottom of 8, none down 2 runners on base, Guppy to bat)

Yup, you read it right. Guppy showed up to play. Actually, he showed up to say hi, but the call of the ball field was too great. He ended playing 4 innings, replacing Horfun at 2nd.

The sky was pitch black and lightning was striking all over us, but out faith in the baseball gods managed to stave off the rain for 8 full innings before it came down hard in the bottom of the 8th. It was a controversial call that ended the game as the ONEs were at bat, with the scores tied, none out, with a man on 3rd and 2nd. Guppy stepped up to the plate when the rain started coming down. We should've give Guppy a chance to bat to seal the victory for the ONEs, but seeing that the score was tied and we had already played 8 solid innings, calling the game at that point seemed fair.

Both teams put up brilliant batting performances, though defence was kinda dodgy on both sides. Occasional missed plays and bad throws marred an otherwise beautiful ball game. The TWOs took the lead right from the start with 6 runs in the 1st inning. And they went up to 8-5 by the 3rd. The ONEs struggled for dominance, but it seemed like every time they put some runs on the board, the TWOs would come out blasting in the next inning and take the lead again. The ONEs never even managed to take the lead in any of 8 innings. They managed to tie the game at 12 runs in the 5th, then tie it again at 16 runs in the 7th. And finally tie it one last time with 17 runs in the 8th. Just like the last 3 weeks, it was a 1 run game all the way.

Notes.

The uboat got sunk by the gunz. Gunz caught a deep fly ball to centerfield, and Uboat tagged up at 3rd. Rugburn gave him to sign to take home as he saw that Gunz was falling off balance on the catch. It was a bad test, as Gunz fired a 12in bullet home for NewJohn to sink the Uboat.

Right centerfield was getting picked on mercilessly by both teams. Everyone on both sides were hitting into that gap, hitting for doubles and triples.

Newjohn was destroying the ball. I should bill him, Superdad and Rugburn the next time I go to the shop to buy new balls. But Newjohn especially was getting some fantastic contact. He hit two booming should've-been homeruns, if only the ball had straightened out or at least hit the new light pole.

Karl (the player formerly known as Rebecca) is getting some good bat on the ball as well. We may probably have to lift the strike-out waiver soon. She even tried to test Indiana's 30 year old reflexes, but he caught the liner without flinching. She did show that she had a better glove than bat, making tough plays at 2nd, and even trying to turn a double twice.

Clay was Aching in RF. We think he may have pulled something, running as hard as he does, but he showed his aptitude again while on his knees, sliding for a tough catch.

Guppy showed up for ball, and he hit one over superdad. Nuff said.

Sandman showed up so late that he had to pitch. Actually we had 10 by 3pm, and we started at 3.15, which is kind of record. We ended the game with 18. Hope we can keep it up.

The ethics prof was played by a non-ethical 3rd baseman. Superdad was on 3rd and Gunz was on first when a short grounder was hit at DT. DT made the fake throw to 1st, and Superdad took off for home. DT threw it to Sandman to tag out Superdad, and Sandman made the DP to 2nd when Gunz slipped trying to get off 1st base.

Horfun gallantly sat out to let Guppy play in the 4th. She helped keep score cos there were so many people that DT couldn't keep the count, the score or even remember who played where.

It's good to be playing with both hands again.

No one got hit by a throw today.

Biggest Bat: NewJohn
MBP: Superdad
DY: Guppy
Gold Glove: None



We went bowling after ball.
Right lane: Uboat, DT, Gunz, H, Horfun
Left lane: The Mick, Wife, Rube, Sandman

The mick had lost quite a bit of form after a 3 month absence from the lanes. He only managed a high of 186, and suffered 2 under-130 games. The Right lane on the other hand was bowling very well, with everyone averaging in the high 90s. Yes, even Horfun. She must either be having some secret training, or not be tired out from ball helped. She was bowling an excellent game, scoring above 85 in 3 games. H and Sandman had bad days as well, but Gunz was a bowling savant. He was bowling the angry ball, and we were worried that he would break some pins. If you thought Bert bowled a hard game, you gotta see Gunz roll. He threw so hard, we think a couple of pins might've gone shooting in the neighbouring lanes. The newwife showed some bowling skillz as well, under the tutelage of The Mick. The Rube looked kinda jealous. Especially when the mick saddled up behind the newwife and showed her how to 'bowl' ala Jacques the french bowling instructor from 'life in the fast lane'. The uboat is a hookmeister. Not as good as the Mick, but he showed how he sinks his brother's cruisers.

24 March 2007 - There is no corruption in the govt

Not if your starting salary is 1.2 mil a year going on to 2.2 mil. Oh No. There is no corruption. It is the cleanest govt in the world. Where the president makes more per month than the president of the United States. F@#!%*^ hell

Game 1:
ONEs: 1st Rube, 2nd Rebecca, 3rd Rugburn, SS Uboat/Indiana, RF Clay, CF H, LF Superdad, Rover Uboat
TWOs: 1st Rube, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd Generalissimo, SS NewJohn, RF DT, CF Sandman, LF Gunz, Rover Burma Girl

Game 2:
ONES: 1st Generalissimo, 2nd Rebecca, 3rd Rugburn, SS Indiana, RF DT, CF Clay, LF Superdad
TWOs: 1st Generalissimo, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd Rube, SS NewJohn, RF Burma Girl, CF Sandman, LF Gunz

Game 1: ONES 13 : TWOS 12
Game 2: ONES 1 : TWOS 2 (Middle of 8th, game called on account of injury)


The sun was hot, the field was empty and the grass was green. No frisbee idiots, no cricket monkeys, no soccer hooligans. We started late as everyone only started streaming in after 3.15. We did get solid numbers though. It was a record for late starting, but it didn't deter us from bringing in 2 solid games. We really need to start earlier.

Looking at the teams, you must have thought that whoever counted off had a loose screw. Putting Rugburn and Superdad on the same team? Was he crazy? No, not really. As the TWOs put pressure on the ONEs early in the game by taking a 2-1 lead by the 2nd inning. They further extended their lead to 7-1 by the 3rd inning, and it seemed that they would run away with the game. The big bats of the ONEs were silent.

Out of nowhere, the ONEs suddenly blasted out of the gate. Back to back homeruns by Rugburn and Superdad in the 4th suddenly put their team back into the game. And by the 7th, they had overtaken the lead and went into the 8th with a 13-8 score. The TWOs found themselves struggling at bat and managed only 1 run in the 8th to bring the score to 13-9 going into the 9th. With 2 outs and 2 runners on base, the TWOs tried valiantly to take back the game. DT hit a liner over Uboat's head in RF for a 3 run HR to get the game back to 13-12, but to no avail as the ONEs took the win.

With the sun still shining brightly, we decided to play our second game. Although we lost H and Uboat (who finally sank to the heat). Rube wanted to hit and Generalissimo volunteered to play all time. However, giving Rube to the ONEs to buffer their already powerful batting order did not make sense, so DT was traded over to the ONEs and Rube went to the TWOs.

The TWOs again took the early lead in the first inning, going into the 8th with a 2-1 score. The ONEs did not get a chance to recover from the game however, as the game was called in the middle of the 8th due to Burma Girl being hit by a ball. I swear I didn't do it. Burma girl was on base when NewJohn hit a grounder to Indiana, Indiana fielded the ball, went for 2nd base and tried to make the DP throw to first. Little did he know that Burma Girl was running along the baseline, and instead of sliding into the base, she tried the oogabooga to disrupt the DP. Indiana's throw went smack into Burma Girl's head. Luckily, she had her hands up (the oogabooga position), and the ball deflected off her palm before connecting with her forehead. Much of the force of the throw was thus absorbed, and Burma left the game with only a bruise rather than a concussion. Again, I iterate, I did not make the throw.

Notes:
Rugburn and Superdad hit two towering homeruns into right field, way way over DT's head. I don't know why they insisted on picking on the handicapped instead of testing the newblood in LF (Gunz)

The Gunz is back for good, but he didn't get to show off his arm, nor his bat. He wasn't tested at all. People are afraid of Gunz because of his nickname. Quoth Rugburn, "I don't want to hit at a guy who's nickname is 'Gunz'" When Saurabh was asked "How do you spell your name", he said "G, U, N, Z"

Burma Girl was hit on the head with the ball, but I swear I didn't make the throw (this time)

Good to see Rebecca and Clay back. Clay bought a pair of golden boots which helped tremendously. He was playing like a man possessed, running the bases aggressively, taking extra bases all the time and making fabulous plays. We noticed that he works best on his knees, making two spectacular sliding catches. Rebecca has been given the no-strikeout bonus. We decided on letting her have a 2 month pass to get used to the 36-incher.

The Generalissimo celebrated his 40th birthday today. He showed up in normal shorts, but the ball was still going through his legs. He played much better last week in DY's shorts.

Indiana plays shortstop like a 30 year old. Making diving snags and great plays. He also throws a little like DT...

Uboat got sunk today by the heat. He left a torpedo on the field. a very wet one.

Rube gets play of the day, diving for a one-hop gapper by DT between Rube and Newjohn. He fields the ball and makes a beautiful throw from his knees to get DT out at first.

Wild Thing is becoming a force to reckon with at 2nd base. Making good plays to get batters out. She almost had a tag out on an extra base hit, but the ball got to her a half second slow. Lili's new nickname might be 'chopped liver', the committee has yet to make a ruling.

The Sandman was Mr Invisible today. He was lost amongst the cricketers in center-field. He and gunz were playing so deep for Rugburn and superdad that they moved to the other field. No one hit to Mr Invisible as well, centerfield was quite boring for him.

We adjourned to Joes post-ball, and as it was The Generalissimo's 40th birthday, a bottle of single-malt was opened up and customary shots were consumed. We moved over to Botak Jones for dinner and was joined by Jim Leyland.

On to Next Week.

17 March 2007 - New Faces, Old Faces, Same Game

ONEs: 1st DT, 2nd Rebecca, SS U-boat, RF Clay, CF Sandman, LF Rugburn
TWOS: 1st DT, 2nd Lil One, SS The Mick, Rover Horfun, RF Robert, CF H, LF The Generalissimo

Game 1: ONEs 12: TWOs 11

The game started quite evenly with neither team managing to take a substantial lead. Every run put on the board by the TWOs was easily answered by the ONEs in the bottom of the inning with Rugburn's superhuman effort of hitting 3 homeruns in 3 consecutive at bats in 3 consecutive innings. With 4 runs apiece going into the 4th inning, a change of location was called as the Cricket monkeys had set up shop in our outfield. Ordinarily, we wouldn't move, however, they were actually using a hardball rather than their usual tennis ball and there was plenty of space in the field, so we moved.

The change in fengshui (and the addition of Horfun's bat) did wonders for the TWOs. They suddenly exploded and scored run after unanswered run in the 6th inning to take a mighty 11-4 lead. The ONEs tried to reply with some power batting from Rugburn and U-boat, but The Generalissimo showed no mercy with some hard running to catch the deep flies. Finally, in the 7th and 8th, the ONEs managed to string together some hits to bring the game back into rein and they went into the 9th only 1 run behind.
With 2 down and Rebecca at bat, the game looked like it was in the bag for the TWOs, but U-boat played both Hero and Villain. He muffed Rebecca's grounder at the mound, and sent a wild throw past DT at first. Sandman stepped up, and sent a single to centerfield to keep the ONEs in the game. He would be the winning run. U-boat then stepped up to the plate and became the Hero and Villain again, sending a deep fly ball past Robert for Rebecca to tie, and Sandman to score the run for the win.

Notes.
It was a beautiful day with the sun hidden by the clouds and the field wonderfully green and moist. There were no frisbee idiots either. Too bad so many of our regulars missed the game. We would've had an awesome game with our normal crowd with the addition of the 3 new bodies.

Good job to Coach for recruiting Clay and Rebecca. They are new to Singapore, and should be here for another 2-3 years. Hopefully, they will be part of SAS for the length of their stay.

The Mick did some recruiting as well and we'd like to welcome Robert. That guy swings the bat like a lumberjack. He was testing The Generalissimo's reflexes and the score stands at 1-1. The Generalissimo caught one in the glove, and caught one in the shin.

Rugburn hit 3 HRs in 3 at bats. Power hitting at its finest. He hit one so far, it was almost a wicket. So close...

DT is still playing with one hand.

Sandman and Lil One were early this week. DT was shocked to see their car in the carpark when he pulled in.

It was brother vs brother as the Mick went head-to-head against U-boat at shortstop. The Mick was the better shortstop, making tough plays and good throws. U-boat was the villain most of the time but when it counted, he made a bad play to keep his team alive and pulled a clutch hit to win the game for his team. Score to U-boat.

We missed Rube to Kuching and NewJohn and Lili to 'another function'. We also missed Indiana and Burma Girl to 'deadlines'.

Gunz is back. He'll be out for ball next week. He had a look of shock on his face as he walked into Joes and didn't recognise more than half the crowd. We welcome him back.

MBP: Rugburn
Gold Glove: The Generalissimo
Best Play: The Generalissimo to The Mick to U-boat relay to get Rugburn out at home
DY Award: The Generalissimo for wearing a pair of DY's shorts.

10 March 2007 - Never Retreat, Never Surrender

ONES: 1st Rube, 2nd Wild Thing, SS NewJohn, 3rd Burma Girl, RF DT, CF Sandman, LF Rugburn
TWOS: 1st Rube, 2nd Horfun, 3rd U-boat, SS Indiana, RF H, CF Mick, LF Superdad

Game 1: ONES 4 : TWOS 3
Game 2: ONES 2 : TWOS 7

It was hot, sizzling hot. The sun shining down as hard as the rain poured last week. With our normal field taken up by frisbee idiots and cricket monkeys, we were forced to move to the alternate field. It wasn't that bad as the rain has smoothed out most of the ruts, and the sun had dried the ground to a consistant smoothness. There were still cases of brick and mortar sticking out of the earth, but it did not affect gameplay at all.

With the memories of last weeks epic defensive battle fresh in our minds, we voted to use a slower, softer ball to combat the hard ground (just like we used a small rubber ball to combat the wet conditions), it made all the difference as we had another two memorable games with neither team giving quarter.

The TWOS put runs on the board early in the game, scoring 2 runs in the second inning that lasted almost till the end of the game. It took the ONES 6 innings before they managed to tie the score, and it wasn't till the bottom of the 8th that the ONEs managed to take a lead. Both teams were defensive powerhouses, putting up impregnable walls that the other team could not score on. Neither team was really hitting that well though, which might have contributed to the low score. Considering the ground conditions, it would come as a surprise that not a single homerun was hit throughout both games. Even with the likes of Rugburn and Superdad at bat, we only saw triples or doubles.

The second game started much like the first, with the away team putting early numbers on the board. This time, the ONEs did not have a 9 inning buffer to tie the game. And the TWOS put the final nail in the coffin with a 5 run inning at the top of the 8th, which the ONEs had no reply.

Notes:
We finally saw the return of the Mick, and he brought along a fresh body, Mike, his brother, also known as U-boat. He had a career day at 3rd base. Debuting in the hot corner making error after error after error. We're sure he'll grow into that position, if not, we'll move him to the outfield.

With some great coaching from NewJohn, Wild Thing is making some fabulous plays. She's not afraid of hard throws and has settled into her position nicely. She still has a lot to learn about baserunning, but that will come with time.

Rube does NOT have bone chips in his elbow, as the x-ray as confirmed. The Doctor is stumped as to why his elbow still hurts as nothing shows up on the x-ray. We reckon it's the weight of the One Ring.

DT is still playing one handed catch, and still getting picked on by the spray hitters in the opposite team.

H had possibly the worst hitting day of her career. She hit everything on the ground to the Rube or Wild Thing and got on base 1 out of 9 at bats. We're checking on blown veins at this juncture.

Burma girl won her first gold glove playing 3rd base. She was a wall. Nothing got by her, and every hit she caught was thrown out at first.

Rugburn had the biggest hit of the game (which only got him to 3rd base). Both teams were actually hitting the cutoff man.

After ball, we went to Indiana's place to sip fine wines, eat pizza and watch 'Idiocracy' and 'Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny'. All in all, a great weekend.

On to next week.

Little Nigeypooh

BTW, his name is not yet confirmed. Mommy wants Ryan, and Daddy wants Toby. So I'm guessing his name will be Ryan.
Check out the second photo, little nigeypooh already has a mobilephone attached to his ear.

3 March 2007 - Wet and Wild

ONES : 1st Rube, 2nd Horfun/H, SS Indiana, Rover H/Horfun, RF H/DT, CF Doug, LF Superdad
TWOS : 1st Rube, 2nd Geok/Lili, SS NewJohn, Rover Geok, RF DT, CF Sandman, LF Rugburn

Game 1 : ONES 1 : TWOS 4

The NUS field was closed (although there were frisbee idiots who can't read signs playing on it), but being the law abiding citizens that we are (and also because the Mick and Generalissimo were not around to argue with the security guard), we moved to the alternate field to play. No sooner had we set up and counted off numbers when the sky opened up and bestowed us with a shower of heavenly blessing. Surprisingly, even with the heavy downpour drenching us, no one walked off the field. Everyone stood fast and braved the rain.

We even started while it was still raining. Possibly everyone remained in place because there was no shelter nearby, but I'd like to think that there was the old SAS spirit in all of us and we chose to defy the weather. The game itself reflected the hardcore spirit of all present. There was no give from either team, and both sides showed hustle aplenty. We played Prof Zen rules, with foul lines pulled in and scoring from second in effect.

The Twos took the lead early, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 2nd. And the score would remain the same till late into the 7th when the ONEs finally put one run back on the board. One could assume that neither team was producing offense, which is why the score was so low, but one would be wrong. Both teams consistently put runners on base, but when push came to shove, the defense on the field refused to budge and runners were halted at Second base. The TWOs did manage to score another 2 runs in the top of the 8th, and the score was to remain the same till the end.

The hustle on the field was nothing short of outstanding. Ignoring the rain, everyone threw their bodies into the fray with slides and dives. Everyone ran hard, threw hard and hit hard. We even used the small rubber ball that is a favourite of some, and a veteran of the highest scoring game of SAS history. To no avail. Quarter was neither asked or given on both sides and the 4-1 score does not do justice to how close the game was.


Notes:
Horfun made the best play of the game. Rugburn had overrun 2nd, and the throw was made to Horfun to try and tag him out. She used her body to physically block him out of the base (possibly elbowing him and headbutting his chest) and make the tag. It was the best reflection of how much effort both teams put in. She also made a beautiful play from a hard-hit grounder to second.
Rube played all time at 1st. He's been diagnosed with bone chips in his elbow.
DT played all time RF. He's still using the glove on his right hand and switching to throw. Everyone was picking on him, but he's handicapped not useless. 4 flys caught, and 2 relay assisted outs.
Superdad was a super mudslider. He was sliding and diving into second base much like The Cheetah from days of yore. He made the catch of the day from a beauty of a hit from NewJohn.
H and Geok try their hand at throwing like DT on DPs. H almost makes it, but Geok succeeds. Both throws took triple bounces on the ground before reaching Rube, but in H's defence, the batter was slightly faster in that play.
Good to finally see Rugburn back, but the Mick is still missing. The verdict is not out, but word on the street is he was caught smuggling sand up his arse to Singapore.
Second appearance of Doug a visiting fellow from Psych. Good to have him, and he's got the old school hustle as well. He was the second dirtiest person after the game (from slip and sliding) after Superdad. Too bad we only get him for 6 months.
Sandman showed up with fresh whipscars, also known as 'shopping on saturday afternoon'. Can anyone say 'old Rickey'? *wwpish*

Gold Glove: Rube
Biggest Bat: NewJohn
MBP: Rugburn
Bonehead play: Rugburn getting boxed out by a chick 1/3 his size
Best play: Horfun boxing out a dude 3 times her size
DY: Everyone, for staying and playing in the rain
Worst Driver Award: DT, for almost crashing into H's car (and killing everyone on the softball team) while trying to kill an ant on his windscreen.
Best Save: NewJohn for warning DT and preventing the horrendous death of everyone on SAS.