Beaver Times 2010 - Edition VI

Beavers Split again, team batting average drops below .500.

In what is becoming a very predictably unpredictable season for the Beavers another split was reached this past Wed night. The St. Louis summer heat is here and there was no breeze to speak of in the sky. The was, however, Bahama Breeze in the cooler as Big John decided to bring along some wine coolers and white zinfandel to "reward" the Beavers for their lady-like play in the 2nd game of the DH two weeks ago where only one run was scored upon a team that had not won in several years.

Big John threatened such an assortment of drinks prior to the game, but I was surprised when I was handed a mini white zin as I entered the park. I guess we earned it.

This night's opponents were the Sportsman's Park squad. They had a good team a few years back and challenged the Beavers for the Championship. They have one of the few pitchers in the league who can effectively take advantage of the "unlimited arc" pitch rule and this baffled the Beaver bats all night just as a knuckleballer might to a fastball hitting team. We had nearly a full team in attendance, with only Mobilly missing the games due to a poorly-timed family vacation. [note to Beavers: the schedule is always posted and UPDATED on our team site, feel free to pass this along to your wives when they are planning vacations]

The Beavers tried to warm up amid the heat and wine coolers, many players had to forgo the sweet taste of the punishment for the Bud Lights that were hidden below the ice in the cooler. Though the weather was hot, the bats were not. The Beavers led off and were able to plate one run. Started by a hit by Sabo [editor's note: Sabo's is hitting better than 200 pts above the team average] and driven in by Big John, the Beavers scored first. Sportsman's Park's bats were also not quite ready for action. They went down without merely a whimper in the first and again in the second. The Beavers also went down in order in the 2nd. It was a 1-0 battle going into the third.

Not only was it hot, humid and there was no breeze, but the field looked like it had not been kissed by rain in years. The amount of dust that sat upon the infield was enough to slow down the hardest hit balls. When runners did reach base the dust cloud they kicked up just sat and hovered about 2 feet above where it left the ground. Not even gravity was a match for the humidity that kept the dust clouds lingering. Perhaps this made it hard to see across the infield at times.

The Beavers started hitting in the 3rd. PT led off with a single [don't look now, but his AVG is approaching .600], Deuce doubled him to 3rd. Sabo drove them both in with another single. Kid doubled in Sabo and Big John reached second on an E to the thirdbaseman. Tanner came up with runners and 2nd and third and singled to right. Kid scored and Big John was moving as fast as he could to score as well. Tanner attempted to stretch the single into a double and was called out. He was never tagged, perhaps the dust played a factor, and Big John's run was erased. Not only were the Beavers denied a baserunner with the bad call, but it also nullified the 5th run of the inning. A bad break for the good guys.

Sportsman's Park started nibbling back in the bottom of the 3rd with two runs of their own - primarily on singles falling in front of the Beaver OF. The BEavers added one in the 4th and 2 more in the 6th inning on a mixture of singles and walks. The ball was not flying in this heat and humidity and singles were the only effective way of scoring. Sportsman's Park stayed in the game with solo tallies in the 5th and 6th, the score was 8-4 going into the 7th.

The Beavers were only able to produce one lone single by Sabo and were forced to protect a 4-run lead in the bottom of the 7th. Luckily for the Beavers their defense had shown up and the bats for Sportsman's Park remained cold. No runs - a Beaver win of 8-4.

Beaver of the game goes to Sabo for his 4-4 perfecto with 2 RBI on 4 singles.

Game two picked up where the first game left off - light hitting. For the first 4 innings the two teams swapped goose eggs on the scoreboard. In the 5th the Beavers shut down Sportsman's Park again and scored a lone run on a triple by Gee [flavored by one of his infamous slides into the base - this time without injury] then a SAC fly by Santo. In the 6th Sportsman's Park started hitting and also getting lucky. The umpire, who had been embarrassingly inconsistent all night missed calls, and that was aided by a string of hits allowing them to not only score, but take the lead 4-1. It should not have been an insurmountable lead - it is afterall, slowpitch softball in a recreation league. Runs are meant to be scored. It started out right in the bottom of the 7th for the Beavers. Down by 3, ready to take the sweep with a small rally and the right hitters coming up.

Sabo singled (again), Kid singled, Big John coaxed a walk (he pulled a hamstring or quad earlier in the game and was relegated to taking walks as he could not run at all - it only took games this year for Big John's first injury a new record of endurance). Sacks were jammed for Dupper, Tanner and Rake.

Dupper hit it hard but right at the SS, no one could advance on the lineout, One Out. Tanner lifted a 2-strike pitch down the rightfield line but foul for a K. Rake fouled out the catcher for the final out. Sad, Sad, SAD.

No self-respecting team should lose a 4-1 slowpitch softball game. No decent softball team should lose 2 out of 3 games by scoring only 1 run in each loss. The Beavers have hit that mid season swoon. It is not pretty. It needs to stop.

Beaver of the game goes to PT. He actually gets this because of his recent hitting and pitching to keep this anemic offense in the game. Honorable mention goes to Gee for his triple and slide.

Next games are June 30 at 6pm. Let's hope that someone can forward this email on to our bats so they will show up as well.

In other notes, Jimmy-D wore a "JD" black arm band to honor the late Jimmy Dean of sausage and "Big Bad John" fame.

Quote of the night goes to Tanner. A beer was spilled behind the backstop and the umpire turned to the Beavers back there and said "I Saw that", Tanner quipped, "That's the first thing you saw all night, blue". So true, so funny.

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A Tale Of Two Games

It was the best of games, it was the worst of games.

All started off well for the Beavers. Playing as the visiting team the Beavers started off with two straight walks - both coming around to score on a 2 RBI single by Big John. The opponents, Bottom of the Fifth, (that's their name...no, you didn't miss the first 4.5 innings) didn't show much life with the bats. PT had them fishing from the beginning. When they did make contact there was not much force behind it and thus, not much damage.

The Beavers began to pull away in the 3rd inning. Sabo drew his second BB of the night, was chased to third on Kid's single and scored on Big John's grounder to the left side of the infield that ate up the shortstop. I am not sure who was keeping score at the time, but Big John was credited with 2 RBI on the E-6. May need to go back and try to relive that one and see if those RBI were truly earned. Rake then lifted one down the left field foul line. It looked like it was going to hook foul for a long strike but then it began to slice back. Somehow it landed fair and fooled the LF. Rake scurried around for a HR driving in Big John. The hits kept coming. Back to back to back to back singles by Gee, Santo, PT and Jimmy-D (no, that is not a typo) followed by a SAC fly by Jonathan and two more singles by Sabo and Kid plated 4 more. It was 10-0 after 2 1/2 innings. Bottom of the Fifth did not have an answer...nor a run. So, back to the Beaver offense.

In the 4th the Beavers went quietly for the first two hitters; Tanner and Rake. Then came the two out rally. the bottom four once again strung together 4 straight singles, the top of the order added two more straight base hits and Kid capped it off with a 3-run homer. Seven more runs on the board and the Beavers were coasting to a 17-0 whoopin'.

Beaver of the game goes to the bottom 4 in the order; Gee, Santo, PT and Jimmy-D. This is the production needed from these guys and they were the middle of both big rallies. Bravo!

If you know anything about your Beavers you know that it does not take much for the winds to turn. Sometimes we are too tight, sometimes we are too loose. Game two is case-in-point.

THe Beavers were home team so they just stayed out in the field to start the 2nd game. Bottom of the Fifth tried to rally in the first but it was not going to happen thanks to Kid (LC) chasing down a ball over his head, firing it to Santo (SS) who threw a laser to Jimmy-D (C) to nail a runner trying to score. Couple that with two K's for PT and the game seemed to be off to a good start. Santo led off for the Beavers with a single and was scored on an RBI by Sabo. Unfortunately those were the last highlights of the game for the Beavers. And also all I care to say about the game, except this...the Beavers lost to a team that had not won in 2 years.

Beavers of the game? Nope

Next games will be on June 23rd at 8pm. Beavers will take their 6-2 record and hopefully show a little life.

Please stop with the rain dances

If you are out there and you are the one doing the rain-dance every Wed will you please stop? The softball season is 6 weeks old and due to your Indian-God connection we have only played 3 of those weeks. The Beavers are 5-1 and are hoping to win a 6th game sometime this summer.

We will try again next week (June 9th) at 6pm on Field #6 at Shaw Park. Hope to see you there on a dry field.

_rake

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