Monday, June 11, 2012

A Pleasant Sunday



It was a short softball week, but a pleasant one.

BOMBERS – 12 Moe Howard Club – 9

BOMBERS – 13 Moe Howard Club – 3


These two wins bring our record in the Sunday league to 3 and 1, firmly in third place (of eight teams.) It’s early in the season, but I really like what I’ve seen of this team thus far. We’ve got a strong lineup pretty much top to bottom. Our pitching staff is deep. I have no doubt we’ll make the playoffs, and then we’ll see what happens.

(Quencher, my weekday team, was rained out. With the rainouts piling up, and the season having already been shortened due to a pending re-sod of the field in August, we’ll now be scheduling make-up games on Saturdays, a first for this league. I thought it would be fine by me, since I have no life, but I do have MY WIFE, and we had just made tentative plans for the weekend when the games are now re-scheduled. Ick.)

Anyway, back to the Bombers. We’ve picked up three new players for this season and I like them all. They all bring good things to the team.

Robby Costello is a pitcher and third baseman. Very funny guy with a live fastball. What more could a manager ask for? He’s pitched well so far. There were some control issues in the first game this week, but while he walked eight, he also struck out eight, so it was fun to watch.

Jimmy Botting is either the younger brother or older brother of three-year Bomber, Billy Botting. Being as ancient as I am, I can’t tell who’s older when two people are both under thirty-five. Hell, I’m lucky I can see them at all without my glasses. Even if I was blind, though, I’d be able to tell Jimmy is a good ballplayer.

(Not really. If I was blind, I wouldn’t have any idea. It sounded good, though, huh?)

Jimmy has speed to burn. Every single is a possible double if he’s in the mood. Sometimes, he’s not in the mood to stop at third base when his coach asks him to do so, but he wasn’t out and he understands why it was a mistake, so I still like him. Besides, he’s got everything else you’d want in a ballplayer, just like his older (or younger) brother, Billy – good stick, range in the field, strong arm, and a great attitude.

Speaking of a great attitude, Bennett is the third new player. He’s a friend of Billy and Jimmy (don’t ask me if he’s younger or older) and – this is a compliment – I don’t think he’d say shit even if he had a mouthful. Due to our numbers, he’s been used sparingly. But he understands the situation and he’s raring to go when he gets in. Every team needs good guys like Bennett who are ready to go when their number is called.

Some of you (although I’m not sure why) like to hear about how I did personally. I’m happy to report I feel like I actually did contribute to a win this week. My bat is still about as useful as… well, I could be carting a piece of taffy to the plate and accomplish as much. I popped up and drew a walk in my two at-bats. But I did a good job behind the plate when I replaced Joey Baszkiewicz in game one. As mentioned previously, Robby walked eight. In the final three innings, while I was catching him, he gave up one hit, walked none, and struck out three. None of that is to diss Joey; he’s a fine catcher. But sometimes it works to change the target when a guy is struggling with his control, and it did in this case. Robby threw what I suggested, hit the glove where I put it, and I was lucky enough to hang on to two foul tips for third strikes.

(Guys always come up to you after the inning and say stuff like, “Good job on that foul tip, Sully!” and other nice things. I appreciate the thought, but it’s about 99% chance and 1% talent. If it hits me in the glove, I might catch it. The only talent is remembering to close the glove. It’s not like any catcher has time enough to react to make that play, or the superman-like reflexes it would take to do anything about it even if he had the time.)

I have one last thing to mention before I go earn an actual living. Big Jay Atton pitched game two. It was his first start since being [LINK] hit in the face with a line drive at M Street last Friday. I’m happy to report he pitched well and he didn’t seem to let what happened to him affect his performance. That’s good news. Aside from being my good buddy, he’s been our ace for a while now and we won’t win any championship without him. If he throws like he did yesterday, we’re in good shape.

BOMBER STATS

QUENCHER STATS

Quencher will be playing Tuesday and Friday, the Bombers take the field for another doubleheader on Sunday, and I’ll be back to tell you about all of it a week from today. That’s sad news for some of you, but too bad. I’ll give you something that’s NOT about softball tomorrow, so the words below might still apply.

Soon, with more better stuff.



20 comments:

not a fan of trolls said...

Wow that atton kid as well as joel........must be batting 1 2. I guess he is not like that 44 kid on the message board where that guy says he blows like wind

Daryl said...

So what plans did you and The Wife make tentatively that might have to be rescheduled?

Suldog said...

Daryl - We were going to go to Portsmouth (NH) for a long weekend. Lovely seacoast town, nice theater in the park, good food, etc., but we'll probably now make it for the week after. Such is the life of a softball bum's WIFE!

Suldog said...

44 - Since most of my regular readers have no clue what you're talking about, I'll explain. There's a message board associated with one of our leagues, and some anonymous jerk has been calling my buddy unkind names. As with most anonymous jerks, he's anonymous because he's a coward. If he told us his real name, 44 would crumple him like a wad of used toilet paper.

Anonymous said...

I kind of figured that they would not....not because I don't think ur followers r dumb (well besides followig u) but shit I don't understand 124 percent of the time

Jackie said...

Good catching skills...not the 99% you quoted; sorry. It's more skill than that. You just gotta accept it. When you got it, you got it.
I'm glad to read that Big Jay Atton is back.

still wonders why they call him big jay atton said...

Thank you Jackie.....in all i was scared getting back on the mound.....glad it was a easy one back so i could get back in the flow of things

Craig said...

Yeah, I can imagine that taking the mound the next time after getting drilled could be a little. . . nervous. Glad it went well for the Big Guy.

And. . .

"I could be carting a piece of taffy to the plate and accomplish as much."

But you're carrying a hunk of Crotch Taffy to the plate with you every single time you hit. . . (*ba-doomp!*)

(Hey, you started it!)

Michelle H. said...

I had something witty and smart with the right amount of egotistical satire you would have loved, until Craig said,"But you're carrying a hunk of Crotch Taffy to the plate with you every single time you hit. . . (*ba-doomp!*)"

What could I possible say to top that? Anyhow, I keep forgetting that you wear specs. Any related stories about that (with photos of you wearing your spectacles)that could fill up blog space on a rainy day?

messymimi said...

While i tell people i'm not a sports fan, that is only true in general, meaning i don't sit down to read the whole sports section or watch game after game on TV. What i am is a fan of specific teams or individuals, and i will keep up with those, including yours.

Congratulations on the wins.

Hilary said...

It figures that Daryl asked about the one part that interested me, also. I'm sorry, Jim.. it's sports. But your posts about you and YOUR WIFE are always a joy to read so I'll look forward to hearing about your upcoming weekend trip.. and most everything else in between.

Suldog said...

Michelle - I haven't worn them while playing this year. The way I'm hitting, I think I have to start. I guess I'm probably stupid for not having done so yet.

Buck said...

What? No post mortem on yer Celtics? I can see why you'd rather focus on the positive thangs in yer life, though.

And summer progresses...

Michelle H. said...

All the manliness men wear specs :-)

stephen Hayes said...

I love reading your posts, even though I know next to nothing about sports. But your enthusiasm and writing skills are providing a useful and pleasant education.

Anonymous said...

Ditto what Stephen says - your enthusiasm is contagious! I hope you and your WIFE can reschedule your weekend!

IT (aka Ivan Toblog) said...

I'm sorry, too, about the Celts, particularly since I don't much care for the guy who bailed on Cleveland. I was only keeping up by way of the scores anyway and sometimes forgetting to do that. I have completely lost interest now that the team that bailed on Seattle is playing the players who decided to create their own juggernaut.

silly rabbit said...

Thump your Big Jay Atton on the back for me please! It is hard coming back from getting smash face in a game and not at least flinching.
Fun as always!

Suldog said...

IT - Yeah, I know what you mean. I hate disloyalty. My only rooting interest is in Kendrick Perkins of OKC, who was a Celtic until Danny "I'm Never Satisfied With Perfection" Ainge traded him.

Babs said...

I grew up listening to sports from a distance because my Uncles or cousins were the ones watching on tv. I never understood a lot of it I just loved the "hum" of the goings on. To this day I love listening to the chatter of the announcers "to dos" . And it also takes me back to warm fuzzy moments with family no longer with us.
All that said, I tried to do the same thing just by reading a lot of the baseball lingo even though I didn't understand much....I get walking, and hitting the bat with taffy lol, but the rest of it is blah blah blah...If the game was closer I'd go as sit on the bleachers with my back to the diamond and love it...not really with my back to the diamond....
My friend Kim grew up bb, her dad was an ump for the local games...I'm going to give her the link to your blog...
My son played bb and I loved it....he was having some issues with ? and my ex knew Ron Karkovic and his wife, he was a catcher for the White Sox...Cory, my son, got a little training with him 1 to 1.....
Sounds like fun....where's the popcorn....