Happy Fathers Day, Jack!

Today’s Bombers re-cap is brought to you by the letter C.

C stands for Clutch.

But first, we're going to have a history lesson. This won't mean much to some of you, but I think it's important to have folks new to the team know something about what came before them. What follows are the Top 10 All-Time best seasons by Bombers hitters. This is subjective. These are MY choices. Nobody else had a vote.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R

Jay Atton        09   53   38  4  2   6   30   .717   7   0 .750  1.208 1.958  27
Conrad Pacquette 07   53   26  4  3  10   42   .491   1   0 .500  1.245 1.745  23

Tough call between these two for the top spot. Conrad had the better power numbers, but Jay was more consistent overall. Jay set records for Average, On-Base Percentage, and OPS. Conrad still holds the records for Home Runs, RBI, and Slugging Percentage. Basically, I gave the nod to Jay because he had his year while also giving the team a 3 – 2 record as a starting pitcher (which has nothing to do with being a hitter, but I had to decide it somehow.)

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
P. Stavrinos, Jr. 01  66  40   6   0  7   30   .606    2  1 .618  1.015 1.633  29

Stav was magnificent all-around that year, playing a superb shortstop as well.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Ron Johnson       95  50  28   0   0   8   27  .560    9  3 .627  1.040  1.667 16

Ron was easily the best hitter on the Bombers for the first four years of the team, leading the team in OPS every year. His record of 8 Home Runs - from 1995, the first year of the team - was not topped until Conrad Pacquette hit his 10 in 2007. We won 5 games all year in 1995. Without Ron, we win zero.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Charlie White     05  60   32  4   6   7   32  .533   11  4 .606  1.150 1.756  25

Charlie had 17 extra-base hits, still a record (tied by Conrad Pacquette in 2007.) Charlie also set the standard for triples, with 6 (tied by Cam Zirpolo in 2009.)

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Scott Sarro       97  80   39  6   1   6   33  .488   14  1 .564  .813  1.377  35

Thirteen years later, that 35 is still the record for runs scored in a season. Scott was a magnificent outfielder and had a great eye at the plate, as witnessed by the 14 – 1 walk to strikeout ratio.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Billy Botting    08   70  43   8  1   6    32  .614    1  2 .620  1.014 1.634  31

Billy’s 43 hits are the team record.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Jay Atton        05   52  26   9   5   1   25  .500    8  1 .567  .923  1.490  23

Jay tag-teamed with Charlie White in 2005 to provide one of the best one-two punches in Bomber history.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Matt Stone       04   66  37   8   4   1   31  .561    3  1 .580  .848  1.428  19

Matt was a Bomber for 12 years, and consistently good as a hitter.

Player          Year  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   AVG   BB  K  OB%   SLG%   OPS  R
Jay Atton       01    40   22  3   2   3   24  .550    6  0 .609  .950   1.559 14

Jay’s third appearance on my list. This time, he supported Phil Stavrinos, Jr., in 2001.

There’s always room for argument with these sorts of lists. I’ll list a few more seasons that I considered (just by name and year, no stats – I’m tired of typing in the entire lines.)

Jay Atton '07
Matt Stone '99 & '00
Matt Widiger '04
Jeff Gabriel '97
Ron Johnson '96 & '97

And, of course, there are some guys who had great seasons in the field, or pitching (or who played under adversity while taking one for the team, and whose contributions don’t show up on any stat sheet.)

Now that I’ve filled up enough space, let’s get to the actual ball played this week. We’ll start with M Street and then get to the Bombers.

SWINGERS – 9 MasterBatters – 5
SWINGERS – 16 L Street Tavern – 9

The Swingers have now won 6 of their last 7, and we are firmly in 3rd place in our division. That’s the last playoff spot and we control our own destiny.

These were two particularly important and satisfying wins. The MasterBatters (now there’s a team name that makes me glad I’m a Swinger) are the team directly above us in the standings, so this win gives us hope of possibly catching them before season’s end. Jay Atton pitched, giving up 5 in the first and then holding them scoreless over the final six innings. Jay has been great the past couple of weeks (including his Bombers outings, more on those in just a minute.) Josh Lebron threw for us in the win over L Street and he was swell, too, despite the 9 runs. The Swingers defensive woes continue, but we’re still hitting well enough to overcome the errors. L Street is in the division above ours, so this was our most impressive win to date (think Appalachian State over Michigan.)

I went 1 for 5 in the two games, catching both, drew a couple of walks, had 3 RBI, a run scored, and a double. If I can pick it up a little over the final part of the schedule, I have a chance to post some decent numbers at M Street. I have to pick it up, though. I’m not getting good wood on the ball lately (more on that during the Bombers segment, too.)

M Street Softball Website

Swingers Stats

BOMBERS – 8 Dot Rats – 6
BOMBERS – 9 Dot Rats – 8

A couple of really satisfying wins. We came up big when it counted, securing the wins by scoring 3 in the 7th inning in the first game, and 2 in the 7th in the second game. The Dot Rats (“Dot”, for those not from Boston, is what some people call Dorchester) were the runners-up last season. We have now completed what should have been the toughest part of our schedule with a 5 – 1 record. We should cruise into the playoffs barring some sort of decimation of our roster.

(I know that sounds cocky, but it’s true. We won these while missing two of our biggest sticks – Robbie Rogers and Josh Lebron – and without the flexibility afforded by having Josh Lebron on hand to pitch. We fielded just enough healthy players for game two.)

Since this post is already stat heavy, I may as well continue in that vein. Here are the outstanding performances from Sunday.

Cam Zirpolo 6 for 8, 3 runs scored, RBI
Pat Atton 5 for 8, 3 runs scored, RBI, double

I mention those two first because it was Fathers Day. Here’s what their Dads did.

Emilio Zirpolo 3 for 7, run, walk, 3 RBI
Jack Atton 1 for 6, run, walk, strikeout, 2 RBI

Jack’s line doesn’t look all that great, but his hit was the biggest one of the day. We trailed the second game, 8 – 7, going into the bottom of the final inning. Jay Atton (Jack’s nephew, 4 for 7, run, walk, 2 RBI, pitched both ends) led off with a single to right. Emilio Zirpolo then drew his walk, and he represented the winning run at first base. Following an out, Manny Dominguez – playing hurt all day – reached, loading the bases. That brought Jack to the plate.

Jack took a strike. Then another. The second strike appeared to be both high and outside, and Jack stepped out of the box.

(The umpire was calling a pretty expansive strike zone all day, but that one still appeared just a bit outside of it.)

The next pitch came in slightly low and outside, not Jack’s pitch, but Jack had to protect against the strikeout. He lashed at it and scorched it into left center, Jason and Emilio scoring, game over.

Happy Fathers Day, Jack! And Happy Fathers Day, Emilio, too! On a day when they got to play ball with two sons who had marvelous days, one dad got the winning hit, and the other scored the winning run. How excellent is THAT?

(Even better, the doubleheader started with Pat Atton singling and ended with his dad’s single for the win. The second batter in the first game was Cam Zirpolo, who singled, and, as I said, his dad scored the winning run. Talk about storybook stuff. Could any of those guys possibly have asked for a better Fathers Day doubleheader? I doubt it.)

A couple of other guys deserve mention. Danny Espinosa continued his great play, going 4 for 7 with 6 RBI. Check out the stats page and compare his stats and Big Jay Atton’s stats. Fascinatingly similar. Fast Freddy Goodman, who went 3 for 4 and drew 2 walks, had the other nice day.

Interesting stat of the day: The Bombers accomplished these two wins while getting only two extra-base hits - two doubles. It was all grind it out and guts.

Me? Last week I said that, barring injuries, this team needs me like you need a third nostril for your nose. That’s still true. However, this week we had some injuries and some guys who couldn’t make the games, so I was needed. I didn’t do as well as I might have liked at the plate – aside from a walk my first time up, I did nothing but hit weak grounders – but I caught the second game, played first for the opener, and if I’m not there we don’t have enough players to fill the field in game two. And that’s why everybody on a roster is important. You never know.

BOMBERS STATS

If you got all the way to the end of this, I thank you for that. No more softball talk until next Monday, I promise. But I'll have an interesting tale about my mask!

Soon, with more better stuff.