We played with 11 of the expected 12 so we only had 4 players on defense playing out of their normal spots.  Although we started out well with 3 runs, the 76ers answered back with 5.  The good news is, the next 4 innings we held them to 2, 0, 2 and 2 runs respectively.  The bad news is we went scoreless those 4 innings.  Down 8 we had our best inning in the 6th scoring 6 and batting around.  We held them to only 1 to put us right back in it.  In the 7th we needed 3 to tie and 4 to go ahead into the bottom of the inning.  We started off with 2 on and the tieing run at the plate.  A sac fly got 1 run in, another hit put the tieing run on 1st with 1 out.  An infield ground ball gave us our 2nd out but scored another run and put the tieing run at 2nd.  However that was how far we would get got our 3rd and final out.  Final Score:  WPFF  11   76ers  12.

What a close game.  Our defense keep it close until our bats finally woke up.  There was great sportsmanship throughout and no one gave up.  We may not have ended a rough season with a win but in my opinion we ended it on a great note with momentun for our next season.

Rest up and we’ll see you at the end of the month for the summer league.

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For the 2nd game in a row we played The Garage.  Although they beat up on us the last time we only had 8 regulars.  I’m glad to say that at game time we had the 11 we expected.

We started off great holding them on defense to 0 and scoring 2 to take an early lead.  In the 2nd they took the lead back scoring 3 but we batted around in the bottom of the 2nd to score 8 and get the lead right back.  In the 3rd they had their biggest inning scoring 6 and they held us to 0.  THey scored another 3 in the 4th and again held us to 0 to take the lead back.  In the 5th they started the inning with 3 to up their lead to 5.  Then something happened that we haven’t seen as a team all season.  WPFF Offense.  It’s as if we saved up all our runs for this inning.  We started with 12 up and 12 in.  It wasn’t until our 13th plated appearance that we got our 1st out.  We had 19 plate appearances before our 3rd out scoring an amazing 15 runs.  They got 4 runs in the 6th and as we came up to bat with 2 minutes left in the game the umpire had seen enough and called it.  Final Score:  WPFF  25   The Garage  19.

Wow.  Great turnaround from our last game 2 weeks ago.  Thanks to Gary for subbing and to Gary, Tom, Ken and German for joining me at BJ’s after.

It may have taken us 9 games to get our 1st win but it was a great one.  We’ve struggled this season on both offense and defense and sometimes both in the same game.  But when all was said and done we dusted ourselves off and did great.  Let’s take that momentum into the season finale and keep the winning steak alive into the summer season.

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We started with 10.  That included heroics from Greg who cycled with his bat bag on his back all the way from Santa Fe Springs.  Hopefully Greg will get his car out of the shop soon but I’ve got to be honest.  He got to the game earlier than any other game this season when he drove. 

We ended the 1st inning tied 2-2.  In the 2nd we got another 2 but their bats woke up scoring 11.  In the 3rd we didn’t score and they got another 9.  In the 4th we were only 2 runs from a 4 inning 20 run mercy.  We got 4 runs and held them to 0 to keep the game going.  We only got 1 run in the 5th and that put us only 2 runs away from a 5th inning 15 run mercy.  We did great again on defense holding them to 0 and again keeping the game going.  In the 6th we scored 2 and had 2 runners on base when we got our 3rd out and time ran out.  Final Score:  WPFF  11   The Wild Bunch  22.

What I liked about this game was we scored every inning except 1, we tried our best and never gave up and after they had 2 big innings with their bats, we shut them down the last 2 innings on defense by not allowing a run.

I have good vibes about next week’s game and predict our 1st win of the season.  Sadly I’ll be in Toronto and won’t be there to be a part of it.  Good Luck guy.  I’m rooting for you.  Also, thanks so much to German for stepping in to coach.  I know he’ll be in good hands.  Especially with Dave B. as the assistant coach…  or is that assistant to the coach?  (a reference from the TV show the Office in case you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about).

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The good news is after phone calls and emails I got us moved down to the middle lead per everyone’s request.  The bad news is…  I thought we’d be too good and kick everyone’s ass so I didn’t make the strongest line-up and fielding assignments.  I hope you all forgive me for this.  We did lose but losing the battle I feel assures us of winning the war to stay in the middle league next season.

Our old friends the 76ers came out strong and stayed strong throughout.  We were down 0-4 after 1, 3-8 after 2 and stayed even with them after 3 scoring 3 each.  In the 4th we got outscored 6-3 and they had their biggest inning in the 5th scoring 9.  In the bottom of the 5th we only were able to get 2 runners on base  before our 3rd out with time running out.  Final Score:  WPFF  9     76ers  26.

As they said in the “Office”.  It’s On…  Like a prawn…  Who yawns…  At Dawn…  No more messing aroud with the fielding or batting order.  Let’s kick some ass the rest of the season in the middle league.

Rob, Tom W. and Ken are out.  Please call if you can’t make the game.

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We started off with 2 runs but Strange Brew answered back with 8.  In the 2nd inning the held us to 0 and got 2 additional runs.  Down by 8 it looked like another mercy rule might be in our near future.  Then for the 1st time this season our bats got hot.  We had 15 batter come to the plate and scored 9 to take a 1 run lead.  They scored 5 in the bottom of the inning to get the lead back.  We only scored 1 in the 4th to their 3.  Last inning and we were only down 6.  All we needed was another inning like the 3rd and we could claim our 1st win of the season.  We did get 2 runners on base but a double play and fielders choice ended our hopes for a come back win.  Final Score:  WPFF  12   Strange Brew  18.

So strange Brew got their revenge after beating them in the championship game last season.  We’re 0-4 and we start round 2 next week against the Steamers.

We had a great turnout after the game at Avenue #3.  Things were going great and we were watching some good March Madness when the air quality started to degrade.  Our pals wanted to go home and pulled out the good ‘ol ammonia.  I saw it coming.  5 minutes before the guy came out and asked if I wanted a to go bag for my wings while I was still eating them.  I guess he had to go from a slight hint to poisonus gasses to get us to move.

In any event…  I hope everyone is having a great time this season.  I know I am.  It’s a tough league and we’re paying our dues for winning the upper league last season.  Depending on how we do next week and how the middle league is doing we might switch to the middle league either mid season or next season.

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Well heck we started out with 3 runs to their 0 at the end of 1.  Our defense took them down 1-2-3.  Great start considering we only got 1 run all game.  Then something happened in the middle.  I’m not sure what but they scored 4, 8 and 7 to our 0, 0 and 0 again.  Down 3-19 after 4 we could at least to into the 5th inning down less than 20.  Which is something we couldn’t say last week.  In the 5th they scored 1 to take a 17 run lead.  If we wanted to see the 6th inning we needed 3 runs to keep from the 15 after 5 innings rule.  We got 2 runs across and had runners on 1 and 2nd with 2 outs.  A hit would keep the game alive but sadly is wasn’t meant to be.  Final Score:  WPFF  5   Regulators  20.

On the down side it’s another big mercy rule loss.  On the bright side, we were up after 1 and only down 1 after 2 innings.  They got hot and we didn’t.  We in a slump now but we’ll either get out of it or get out of the upper league.  Which ever comes first.  It was also great just to get out and play.  The other thing I liked was it got us to BJ’s sooner were we had very stimulating conversations.  I’d go into details but those of you that were there all had a good time and those of you who weren’t, we missed you.  Try to come out next time if your schedule permits.

Next week is a rematch of last season’s upper league championship game against Strange Brew.  Expect them to be looking for revenge.  Time to get back to the win column.  So far I think we have all 13.

Rest up and enjoy the college hoops.

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As visitors we got our lead off batter on base but could only move him to 2nd.  On defense we held them to 2 to make it 0-2 after 1.  In the 2nd we got the bases loaded with 1 out but between my sad pop-up to the pitcher and a fly out we stranded them.  They answered back with a 14 run inning to take a 16 run lead after 2.  In the 3rd we had runners in the corners with 2 outs and left them hanging also.  On defense we gave up another 7.  In the 4th we needed 4 runs to keep the game going.  They changed their fielders all around and put in a new pitcher.  We lead off with a walk, got another walk with 1 out and 1 out base hit erased the goose egg from our score.  1 down 3 to go to stay alive.  Unfortunately the next 2 batters were out ending the game and giving us our 1st 4 inning/down 20 runs mercy rule.  Final Score:  WPFF  1   JRF Collision  23.

Obviously the problem was our hitting.  I know most of us struggled with the pitcher who through 5-7 foot arch knuckle balls.  If they hadn’t switched pitchers I wonder if we would have even scored?

Best thing to do is shake it off.  Although it wasn’t a great game.  For me just being able to play and go out afterwords made it a lot of fun.  Thanks to Gary and German for joining me at BJ’s.

This is a really tough league so let’s keep doing our best and see if we can rise to the level of our opponents.

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After almost 2 months since our upper league championship it was great to see everyone again and get back out on the field.

We have heard of the Steamers but I don’t believe we’ve polayed them before.  They jumped off to a 5 run lead with lots of long balls but we answered back with 6 to take the lead after 1.  What a great start.  Too bad for us it wouldn’t last.  In the 2nd they scored 13 and we didn’t score.  In the 3rd they only scored 3 but again we didn’t score.  In the 4th they scored 5 to give them a 20 run lead after the top of the 4th.  If we don’t score in the bottom of the inning we would for the 1st time in our team’s history be mercied by 20 after 4 innings.  Fortunately for us this didn’t happen as we had our best inning of the game.  We batted around and scored 9 runs to cut their lead to 11.  In the 5th they scored 3 to take a 14 run lead.  With time running out this would be our last chance.  We got the 1st 2 batters on base but followed with 2 outs.  We did get another hit and run but that ended our come back.  Final Score:  WPFF  17   Steamers  29.

Although we lost by 12 we played pretty well considering we had players out and the ones who were they had injuries and illnesses.  The main difference was either their amazing bat speed or possibly the fact that they had juiced bats.  They crushed the ball the entire game.

The only down side to the game in my opinion was the ump.  He called a good game the 1st 4 innings but then he asw we might go over so he called everyone out.  Leaving early, stepping out of the batter’s box, dropping the ball but saying he had control.  He basically was time driven and not quality driven.  At least I had the honor of batting and having him call a high pitch on the pitcher for going over the new 16 foot rule.

We’ll see how the season goes.  In the upper league they are all great teams.  We’ll have to be at our best each week and even that might be enough.  Let’s do our best and hang in there.  The bottom line is to follow out team motto:  Have Fun, Do our Best, Celebrate win or lose and win…  In that order of importance.

No game next week.  See everyone (except Ken) on 3/4/2010.

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OK.  Show of hands.  Who thought at the beginning of the season we would be playing for the upper league championship?  Yeah, me neither.  But here we are none the less.

We started off 4-4 after 1.  In the 2nd both the offense and defense kicked in.  We not only scored 5 but held them to 0.  In the 3rd we outscored them 4-1 and we did it again in the 4th 6-4.  In the 5th we tied at 1-1 and for the 1st time in the 6th inning they outscored us 2-7.  Once again we found ourselves only up 5 going into the last inning.  This time we were visitors so we needed one more big inning.  We scored 4 to give us a 9 run lead.  All of a sudden the impossible seemed possible.  They scored 2 and had a runner or two on base when they tried dumping one into shallow right field.  Too bad we were cheating in on them since they did it all night.  Catch, out, game, season & Championship.  Final Score:  WPFF  26   Strange Brew  19.

Wow.  Way to go.  Average team age of 47 years old and we win a double header playoff to take our 14th championship as a team and our 1st in the Cerritos upper league.  It was a tough and fun season and I’m looking forward to the next one in February.  Ron is out so we’re currently at 12.  Rest up and have a great holiday season.

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We played the Garage for the 4th time this season.  We took the 1st 3 games 2-1.  With all of them we agreed to unlimited runners.  In this one they insisted on only 1.  As mentioned before, more and more teams are asking this of us.  Why?  In my opinion it’s because we use 3 runners over and over.  Our oponents are feeling more and more that we’re taking advantage of them and their only option to defend themselves is to insist on 1 runner per inning.  I can’t blame them.  Perhaps we should spread this out some more next season.

We started off with a 5 run lead after one 7-2.  After that we had some ups and downs but after 6 1/2 innings we were still up 5 runs and as home team didn’t need our last at bats.  Final Score:  WPFF  17  The Garage  12.

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