Beaver Times 2010 - Edition VII

I'm not going to lie. I have been dreading the writing of this Beaver Times Edition. While we did not lose either game in the scorebook, I feel that the Beavers were dealt two more moral losses. It has been an interesting season. One that is completely salvageable, still. But it seems that there is no spark. When I think about it, I liken this season to the Cardinals' season thus far. The Beavers are punchless offensively, especially when runners are on. Defense has been spotty this year compared to some of the previous years.

Not sure what it is going to take to snap out of this. I have tried to juggle the defense (that trick used to work without fail), nope, not this year. We have gone away from "rolling the lineup" for the second game as many players thought this was hampering our chances of scoring more in the second game. Hell, we even had a player bring wine and wine coolers to the games for us to sip on.

If you have suggestions, please send them along in the comments below or email me directly. This manager is struggling to find the key to this ignition.

So with that, I bring you a shortened version of the Beaver Times - mainly because it has been more than 10 days since these games and my memory of the night's events that are not recorded in the scorebook are hazy.

The Beavers were up against the Dogs In A Bathtub, if you don't recall what that means, click here. The Dogs had a record of 6-6, while your Beavers were 7-3.

The first inning was predictable, the Beavers allowed a run in the first then Sabo got on base and was drove in by Dupper. 1-1 after 1. The Beaves held the dogs scoreless in the 2nd and added one more run on singles by Mobilly, Rake and Belle with Mobilly scoring on a SAC fly by Santo. Santo's SAC was actually a foul ball that would have counted as a K, had the rightfielder known the situation and the rules better. He caught the ball, then was late in throwing Mobilly out. This was the first uproar by the Dogs against the ump.

The scoring really began in the 3rd when Dogs plated 4 runs. The Beavers, not to be outdone, came up ready to do some damage of their own. Sabo singled (again), Kid walked, Dupper singled in Sabo, Big John singled as well. At this point, Big John was lifted for a pinch runner (Deuce) as Big John is still suffering from a bum hammy from last week. This irritated the Dogs as they claimed it was BS that we could replace our slowest runner with our fastest. I thought it was about to get heated. Cooler heads prevailed and Rake was able to single in 2 more runs. Beavers still held onto their 1-run lead through 3. In the 5th the Dogs tied the game, only to face the top of the Beaver lineup. Sabo (again) singled, Kid singled then Big John singled as well to chase Sabo home. Two more runs in the 6th for the Dogs and one driven in by Jimmy-D brought the game to an 8-8 tie. Dogs went down quietly in the top of the 7th. It was the Beavers game to win as the top of the order was lined up. Sabo got his 4th single, Kid singled as well, Dupper was intentionally walked to get to Big John with the sacks jammed.

Big John did his best Yadier Molina imitation and grounded out to short. Since Big John has the sore hammy he was easy to double up at first. TIE 8-8.

No Beaver of the game, but let's call out some nice box score lines of the game.
Sabo 3-4 2runs
Kid 2-3
Dupper 2-3 2RBI
Rake 2-3 2RBI
Belle 2-3
Jimmy-D 2-3 1RBI

As you can see, it is more about timely hitting than it is just hitting, we were getting on base...just not prolonging the innings.

The umpire disappeared for about 15 minutes between games - this is the same guy who talks during the game on his phone via his wired head piece. Also the same guy who typically blows calls at 2nd because he is nowhere near being "in position".

After the human rain delay, we began game two. Beavers were visitors and did not start out with much. Actually, let's just skip to the scoring...in the 6th! That's right, the Beavers were once again being shut out in slow pitch, beer league softball.

In the top of the 6th, the Beavers were posting goose eggs, but still in the game. Big John was pitching and holding the Dogs to only 2 runs. Jimmy-D led off the 6th with a single (for those of you keeping track that is 3 hits in one night), Sabo followed with another single (his 5th of the night) and Gee singled as well. Unfortunately this only loaded the bases. Kid delivered 1 RBI on a SAC fly. Dupper did the same. Mobilly and Big John then both singled and the sacks were jammed again. So far, we had 5 singles, only 2 runs to show for it. Rake stepped up with a chance to take the lead and laid another egg. It was 2-2.

The Dogs were not much better as they could not score any runs and in the 7th Deuce led off with a walk. Belle then hit into a DP (that was the 2nd 7th inning DP of the night for the Beavers), Santo ended the Beavers' hopes with the 3rd out. Fortunately for the Beavers nothing happened in the bottom of the 7th either. It was another TIE, this time 2-2. UGH!

Again, no Beaver of the game as I just can't bring myself to award that on a tie.
Interesting box scores:
Sabo 2-2 1run, 1 walk
Santo 2-3
Jimmy-D 1-2

Next game is on July 14 at 8pm vs. Ivey-Selkirk. They are 4-7-1 this season. Here's a quick look at the league standings:

Golden Sombreros 10-2
Sportsman's Park 10-4
CJC Transportation 10-4
Bi-State Meat 8-4
Beavers 7-3-2
Cousin Hugo's 6-5-1
Team USA 6-6
Dogs in a Bathtub 6-6-2
Bottom of the Fifth 5-7
Ivey-Selkirk 4-7-1
The Bucks 3-11
FDPD 0-12