Beaverball

July 6 Lineup

2011-07-06T16:51:00.002-05:00

In the spirit of Tony LaRussa posting his lineup early, here's tonight's Beavers lineup.

Beavers (11-3) vs. Team America (6-8)

Gee - 1b
Sabo - 3b
Kid - ss
Mobilly - rf
Tanner - 2b
PT - p
Allan - lc
Big John - c
Rake - rc
Dupper - lf

Other games of note tonight:
Golden Sombreros (11-3) vs. Dogs in a Bathtub (8-5-1) 6pm Field #6
Bi-State Meat (10-4) vs. NISA (1-13) 6pm Field #1
Team USA (10-5-1) BYE

Beavers 2011 Summer - So Far...

2011-07-03T13:17:00.003-05:00

It's been an interesting summer. Starting with a couple of rainouts wrapped around a bye week, we have finally reached the last week of the season. Travel schedules have taken their toll on the everyday lineup. There have been "scrubs" in 10 of the 14 games. Those scrubs are hitting a combined .432. We need to look for a new class of reserves!

In fact, only one Beaver has played in every game this year. You'll be surprised to learn that the only one to do so is Big John. He's kinda good, you know. But, like the scrubs, his .450 average is not raising the team average. Big John also leads the club in walks. I am sure that will spark Sabo to watch a few more pitches this Wed. Big John has 9 walks, Sabo 5. Speaking of Sabo, he is not quite hitting in typical Sabo-fashion but his .531 average is still respectable and his 22 runs lead the club (one ahead of Kid).

Kid rode 2 monsterous games (in the same night) where he mashed 2 grand slams and drove in a total of 12 runs. That was just shy of half of his season RBI (26 total). Those are also the only 2 HR for the season for Kid - though he is leading the team in that category. As a team, we have hit only 5 HR, but have hit 18 triples. Not a stat line you would expect from a team whose average age is 37.1 years old. The triples are well disbursed. PT and Sabo lead with 3 each. In total 9 Beavers have fallen just 60 feet shy of a HR.

PT is having a big season at the plate. He is flirting with the .600 mark (just shy at .595) and finds himself in cleanup spot occasionally to get some of that production in the heart of the order. Some people hit better higher in the order, others don't want the pressure. Take Rage for example...he always is asking to hit last and catch, but his .652 speaks otherwise.

There are but two constants in the Beavers lineup; Kid bats third, Jimmy - last. Here's how that is working out. Kid is, well, hitting like Kid at an impressive .681 (leading the club in that category as well). In fact, that means that Kid is pacing to win the Beaver Triple Crown (.681/2/26). Jimmy-D is hitting not quite half of that. Coming in at .308 with all 12 of his hits going for singles.

Unfortunately, Jimmy is not bringing up the rear in avg though. The hits are just not falling this year for Dupper. Struggling at just .294, he's even having a hard time getting the SAC flies (3), tied with Rake.

Rake is having a below average season coming in at .462. And that carried over to SS last week when he tried to hide himself at SS for an inning or two. It is painfully obvious that infield practice would have been as helpful as another visit to the cages. Someone who has hit well this year is the younger of the Richmond brothers. Tanner is slightly outpacing Rage by .003 in the batting avg race (.655 / .652). Tanner also benefited from a huge night when he drove in a total of 11 runs. Outside of that night, he has 5 additional RBI. That night he went 8 for 8. But that was bested by Gee's string of 10 hits without an out. That string of hits raised Gee's average to .541 - quite respectable for someone with one eye. I think he would say that he should be hitting 1.082.

To round out the team you have Allan and Mobilly. First of all, we need to get Allan a nickname. He has played 12 games and nothing has exactly stuck yet. I believe "Protege" is being tried on for size this week. We'll see if that sticks. Allan should focus on his hitting and let us worry about what to call him. He is hitting .475 in his rookie season with the Beavs. Mobilly has been hitting well when he shows. He has made less than 50% of the games so far (6 in total), but is hitting a strong .650 in those few games.

It all comes down to the last 2 games of the season. Beavers play the 6-8 Team America. They might be better than the record implies. They have played the tougher teams in the league with the exception of the Hillitary (who has lost every game, save one against us). So with first place on the line (Beavers and Golden Sombreros are tied with 11-3 records) the showdown is set for 8PM on field #1 (near the tennis courts). The team will be shy our catcher, JImmy-D, and our catcher wannabe, Rage. The other 10 of us have the fate of the season in our hands.

Now you know the stats. Now's our chance to improve upon them.

Only Week 3?

2011-05-31T23:36:00.002-05:00

Here it is the 1st of June and we are just entering our 3rd week of the season. 2 rainouts have hit us so far. Weather looks promising for the June 1 games against the winless Hillitary. May be just what the Beavers need after a few weeks off and several of the main-stays out of the lineup.

Stay tuned for the Beaver Times to make a comeback for the remainder of the season...

Beaver Times 2011 - Edition I -PreSeason

2011-04-24T14:27:00.003-05:00

Welcome back loyal readers. The 18th season of Beaver softball is almost upon us, though it looks like mother nature is going to force us to wait another week before starting the season. 5 straight days of "April Showers" may force the season to start in May this year.

As we begin to handicap the summer session we see that many of the same teams are back again for the 2011 campaign. Teams like The Golden Sombreros, Team USA, Dogs in a Bathtub, Bottom of the Fifth, Bi-State Meat and Sportsman's Park all have reappeared. But there are also 4 new teams this year; The Hillitary, Team America (makes you wonder if Team USA had to split), NISA and Mountain Top. Notable omissions from this years schedule are teams like CJC Transportation, Ivey-Selkirk, FDPD and Cousin Hugos. But let's be honest, only Ivey-Selkirk ever even really showed up...so maybe the league will have additions by subtraction. Does anyone recall opening day last year when the Beavers played FDPD? The combined score for the two games was 40-4. Good to have those public workers protecting the city, not playing ball.

Here's the 2011 Schedule for the Beavers along with Career record against that team
4/27 - 8PM Bi-State Meat (3-0)
5/4 - 6PM Sportsman's Park (4-4)
5/11 - 6PM Bottom of the Fifth (1-1)
5/18 - BYE
5/25 - 8PM Team America (0-0)
6/1 - 6PM The Hillitary (0-0)
6/8 - 6PM Mountain Top (0-0)
6/15 - 6PM NISA (0-0)
6/22 - 6PM Golden Sombreros (5-0-1)
6/29 - PLAYOFFS

The teams in the league not on the Beavers' schedule; Team USA (3-2), Dogs in a Bathtub (5-0-2)

One notable loss for this summer will be the lack of Belle'isms around the ballyard. Belle has decided to spend his Wednesday's with family instead with his adopted family, the Beavers. We'll need to get him out at least once this summer so that he can continue his streak of playing in every year of the franchise.

Belle's absence opens the door for Dupper and maybe Jimmy-D to overtake the lead in all time games played. Currently, Belle has 401 games to Dupper's 384 and Jimmy-D's 373. Could be some movement at the top of the games played list this year.

So, let's play ball! See you all at Shaw Park...but most likely not until May 4th.

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition XII

2010-08-22T13:50:00.002-05:00

With a summer championship added to the trophy room of the Beavers it was off to Fenton for some summer/fall softball. Last week the Beavers had to forfeit two games at Fenton while they made their play for the Clayton Summer Championship. While there is an outside chance that Fenton will allow the games to be made up at the end of the season, we have to live with the fact that the Beavers are most likely 0-2 going into the season.

The Beavers were up against the Long Shots for the first games since finishing 2nd in last year's fall season.

There was a last-minute raid on the active roster as Sabo called at 5pm to say that his sitter was not available and he could not make the games. Then Belle called about 30 minutes later to say that he would be running late due to a sick kid. With Tanner already out due to night court, the Beavers were down to 10 men on roster. The biggest hit was to the IF defense. Sabo has become a cornerstone to the D anchoring 3B, some shuffling was needed.

Santo has recently taken some shots off his body at 3B and admitted that he was a little "gun shy" and would rather play OF. Kid, though side-stepping many a grounder at Clayton said he was ready to play the IF in Fenton. After playing an inning on the IF, it was clear that the Fenton IF was worse than Clayton was. None-the-less, Kid took 3B, Dupper at Short and Rake at 2B. As it turned out, the left side of the IF was fine, it was Rake at 2B that was the gaping wound for this game.

Beavers started off with some early hits. Rake led off with a single and Santo did the same. Kid reached on a E that allowed Rake to score. Mobilly then singled in both Santo and Kid. It was quickly 3-0 Beavers.

PT was able to hang a scoreless frame in the first, but in the 2nd the first of Rake's errors led to a run. Beavers led 3-1 after 2.

The 3rd inning started with the top of the order again. This time Rake and Santo both got out, then came the damage. Kid singled, Mobilly singled and Dupper singled in Kid. Deuce then reached on an E to score Mobilly. 5-1 Beavers. That was just the beginning though. In the 4th, after another scoreless frame by PT, Gee and PT singled to start the inning. Rake singled as well to load the bases. Santo moved everyone up one base with a single and Mobilly singled in 2 more. Dupper followed that with a single of his own before Deuce found the gap in right center and used his speed to round the bases for an inside-the-park homerun. Beavers were up 12-1.

The Long Shots were able to add one run in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th after another E by Rake at 2B. It was a rough day for Rake, where he never could completely commit to a one-hopper or slow roller. It was 12-4 going into the 6th. Beavers kept adding to their lead in the top of the 6th. Santo led off with a single and Kid doubled him to third. With Mobilly at bat, Gee acting as the 3B coach, told Santo to "not score on a single". He was, of course, joking as he saw Dupper on deck and wanted to pad Dup's SAC stats. Mobilly lifted a deep fly to left and Santo was not running home. However, Kid expected him to easily score so he was bearing down on third...still occupied by Santo.

The entire dugout was screaming at Santo to tag and score for the SAC fly and Santo finally took off for home. The shortstop was surprised to see that he had a chance at the lead run threw to the plate where Santo narrowly snuck his foot onto home before being tagged. Dupper followed that mayhem with a single to score Kid. Beavers were up to 14 runs.

Long Shots were only able to chase in one more run, and the Beavers started their "first game" of the Fenton season with a 14-5 win.

Beaver of the game goes to Mobilly for this impressive hitting line: 3-3, 2runs, 5RBI, 1SAC

The tide quickly turned in the 2nd game. As the visitors the Long Shots jumped out to a 6 run lead. They consistently hit the ball up the middle for singles and their cleanup hitter drove one over the fence. Beavers responded with a couple of their own on a single-double-single by Santo-Kid-Mobilly. The Long Shots kept their hitting revival in the 2nd inning with 3 more runs. This time aided quite a bit by shotty defense by Belle and Rake.

Beavers kept chipping away one by one over the middle innings. Kid doubled in Deuce in the 3rd, Rake reached via an error in the 4th to score Dupper and Kid driving in Jimmy-D with a single in the 5th. Going into the 6th it was 11-5 Long Shots. Beavers had a chance to put up some important runs as Dupper led off by reaching on a E. Big John later found his swing and launched a HR. Belle followed that with a single, but was stranded. It was now 11-7.

Unfortunately that was how the game would end. Beavers could not come back from the hitting and E's early in the game and ended up with the split for the week.

Beavers play again next week at 6:30 & 7:30 against last year foes, the Nationals. Games to be played on field #2 this week (the first time for the Beavers).

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition XI

2010-08-17T22:39:00.002-05:00

The playoffs entered week two. The Beavers had reached the semi-finals with a 13-3 dismantling of the 5th place Sportsman's Park. Now they were face to face with the 1st place, 14-2, Golden Sombreros. The Beavers had not met the Sombreros since this exact game a year earlier. The Beavers were victorious in that match and took the 2009 season series 2-0-1. Without facing the Sombreros this year, it was anyone's guess as to what the Beavers were up against.

The Sombreros must have been trying out a new pitcher for the playoffs as he walked the hard-to-walk-except-Sabo-&-Big-John lineup of the Beavers. That is, he walked the first 4 Beavers. Another record, I am sure. Dupper drew the first RBI via the walk then up came Tanner who launched a triple to right center to clear the bases. The Beavers were off to a hot start. But it didn't stop there. Deuce then walked and Big John singled home Tanner. Santo singled home Deuce and PT hit his 4th consecutive SAC fly. Jimmy-D grounded out to score Santo and after the Beavers had batted around, 8 runs had scored.

The Sombreros answered with only one on their own after an error by Rake on a routine slow roller to second. Both teams were kept quiet for the 2nd and 3rd innings and then the Beavers started tacking on runs in the 4th. Jimmy-D led off with a single, Rake walked Sabo singled to load the bases. Mobilly singled in two and Dupper, in typical fashion, hit a SAC fly to score the 3rd run of the inning. It was 11-1 after 3.5 innings. In the bottom of the 4th the Sombreros were able to scratch out one run to keep the mercy run at bay...temporarily.

The 5th started with a single by Big John. Santo singled him to 3rd and Jimmy-D drove in the 12th run.

This was all the Beavers needed as the Sombreros were out of...queso...and fell to the Beavers 12-2. Beavers were on to play in the finals after about an hour layoff.

Beaver of the game goes to Tanner with his 1st inning triple to open up the game.

While the Beavers sat around and drank the 2 vs. 3 game was taking place to decide who was going to the Championship to play the Beavers. Bi-State Meat was playing Dogs In a Bathtub. It was a tight game, but the Meat prevailed and the finals were set.

Beavers were visitors and went down with merely a whimper in the first. That was echoed by the Meat. In the 2nd Tanner led off with a single and was scored on a singled by Big John. Beavers were on their way to a Championship.

Beavers came out of the gates hard in the 3rd with singles by PT, Jimmy-D, Sabo, Kid, Dupper and another triple by Tanner. 5 runs in all for the inning. Beavers were up 6-0. Meat responded with one sole run in their half. The Meat then chipped away a little more in the 4th with one more run and it was 6-2 going into the 5th inning of the Championship game.

It was time to separate the men from the boys. The Beavers had been scraping for runs most of the 2nd half of the season. The worm had turned so far in the playoffs. It was about to do so in the finals. Jimmy-D led off with a walk and Rake singled. Sabo and Kid also singled and scored Jimmy-D. Dupper his yet another SAC fly (I am not making this up) and Tanner hit a double to score 2 more. Mobilly then struck out swinging...it was a thing of beauty...except for the fact he missed the ball. Big John picked up where Tanner left off and singled in 2 more. Santo singled and Deuce finally found his stroke and laced a triple to right center score 2 more. PT singled in Deuce for a grand total of 8 more runs.

The game was all but out of hand. Beavers have been known to cough up big leads and the bottom of the 5th looked ominous. But after 3 runs had scored, the D tightened up and got off the field. Over the last two innings the Beavers were able to hold on while the Meat scored just once more. Beavers win the Championship 14-6!

Beaver of the game again goes to Tanner for a 3-4 game and missing the cycle by the Homer. This 2-fer in awards is sure to go to his head, so expect an o-fer to follow.

Beavers win their first championship in almost 2 years. Fall season starts up next week as the Beavers take their show back to Fenton where they finished in 2nd place last year.

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition X

2010-08-05T19:21:00.002-05:00

The playoffs are underway. The lineup was posted pre-game, but due to some late arrivals, there were some last minute changes to the order. Deuce, who was also on beer duty, was waiting for everyone to show up at field #6. I'm not sure why he didn't think anything was weird when no other Beavers were at the field at 5-10 before game time. We tracked him down with a few minutes to spare and he made the trek over to the correct field, but not in time to lead off. Gee was needing a little extra time as well (as is shown here), so he was not in the field to start the game as expected.

From Beaverball

Beavers took the field first and quickly took care of the visiting Sportsman's Park top of the order. Highlight of the inning was the big lefty grounding one to Big John (filling in at 1B), Vajohnna snapped at it, fielded in cleanly and was even able to get to the bag for the out.

Rake slid into the leadoff spot while the team awaited Deuce and the beer rations for the night. A lead off single was flared to right. Sabo hit into a FC, Kid singled him to 3rd. Up stepped Dupper. Dupper lifted a flyball to left center for a SAC fly (1). One-nothing, Beavers.

In the top of the 2nd PT must have been throwing some nasty stuff. He was able to record 2 strikeouts - looking - back to back. Sportsman's Park, still scoreless.

Beavers rallied in the 2nd. Big John walked Santo singled, Belle singled to load the bases. Gee singled in one run, Deuce hit a SAC fly (2) to score another and move Belle to 3rd. PT then hit a SAC fly (3) to score the 3rd run of the inning. Beavers up 4-0.

In the top of the third Sportsman's Park capitalized on some shotty defense on the infield. Between Kid not getting down on the ball, and Rake coming up to early on a grounder, runners were in scoring position. Kid is still blaming his fear of another black eye on why he does not get in front of grounders anymore. However, this has nothing to do with his lack of flexibility as the ball went under his outstretched arm (to his side). The damage was limited to 1 run.

The Beavers were up to their same shenanigans in the 3rd. Sabo walked, Kid crushed a double down the rightfield hill, setting the table for Dupper. Another SAC fly (4). Beavers regained their 4-run lead.

Throughout the game Misty was acting as documentarian and snapping photos of all of the Beavers at the plate and some doing other things. All the pictures can be viewed on Rake's Picasa album. A player on Sportsman's Park asked her why she was only taking photos of the Beavers. She had them sold on the documentary angle. I guess that is what you can call the Beaver Times. Back to the action.

In the 4th the Beavers struck again. Belle and Gee led off with singles. PT stepped up with a runner on 3rd and lifted a SAC fly (5). Jimmy-D then launched a deep fly to left, catching the left fielder (and most of the Beavers) off-guard. Jimmy-D easily had a double, but was wanting more. He tried to stretch the hit into a triple and was thrown out at third. May I recommend a slide next time, Jimmy? After a lesson or two from the "Gee School of Sliding" you may have made it in there safe and kept the rally going. Beavers up 7-1.

Rake led off the 5th with a smash to center. The left center fielder chased it down to rob Rake of a hit (and his best hit ball in weeks). Sabo picked up the slack and singled, Kid singled him to 3rd...all set up for Dupper, again. This time, instead of lifting a SAC fly he topped the ball and drove it into the ground to the left side of the infield. Kid was retired at 2nd on the force, Dupper legged out the throw to 1st to save an out and grab the RBI. 8-1 Beavs.

From Beaverball

In the 6th Sportsman's Park started hitting. There were moments when it looked like the Beavers might come unraveled. Though they had scored in every inning, the 7-run lead did not feel all that safe. We have seen games go bad before. PT's pitching and some improved defense held Sportsman's Park to 2 more runs. It was 8-3 going into the bottom of the 6th.

This game just had a good feeling about it from the get-go. Beavers were light, having fun, not thinking too much about the outcome. The bats were alive and they kept hitting in the 6th. Big John, Santo, Belle, Gee all singled to start the 6th. Deuce then walked in a run as well. PT was up for the 3rd time with a runner on 3rd. So far, he had no official AB. He was 0-0 with 2 SAC. Again, PT lifted one to left. Another SAC fly (6). Jimmy-D, working on a nice night at the plate himself, did the same for another SAC fly (7). Rake then lined a ball at the 3B that was too hot to handle, but not far enough to score Deuce (though you should be running on contact with 2 outs, but I digress). Sabo then stepped up and lined a single up the middle to score Deuce and end the game with a 10-run mercy rule. Beavers win 13-3.

It was an odd stat night all the way around. 5 Beavers did not record an out (not counting SAC). Four Beavers were credited with only 1 official AB and 1 beaver had 0. Three Beavers went 3-3. The most interesting stat is this. Eight of the thirteen runs the Beavers scored, did so on an out; 7 SAC plus one FC. So while the timely hits may not have been there, manufacturing runs definitely was happening.

After the game, and shortly after we ran out of beer the Beavers decided to make a run for championship of Shaw Park vs. playing next week at Fenton. Rainouts have caused the two leagues to overlap and the 6:15 game at Shaw and the 6:30 game at Fenton are conflicting. Maybe, Fenton will give us another Bye, I doubt it though.

Beavers play the semi-finals at 6:15 next Wed, then if/when they win Championship is at 8:30.

Beaver of the game is difficult to narrow down. With 5 "perfectos", three of which are of the 3-3 variety and one of the 0-0 variety the choice is difficult. Though I hate to do it this way, the award needs to be shared this week.
Kid 3-3, 2B
Belle 3-3, 3runs, RBI (raised his avg over 50 pts
Gee 3-3, 2runs, RBI
PT 0-0, 3SAC, 3RBI, 3 Strikeouts pitching (should have been a 4th, but another bad call by the ump on a foul robbed him)

Bravo Beavers!

Summer Playoff Lineup - Game 1

2010-08-04T16:39:00.003-05:00

In true Birdland Blog form, here is the lineup for tonight's Beavers game against Sportsman's Park - 8pm Field #2 Shaw Park.

AVG/RUNS/RBI
1. Deuce (lc) .395/14/11
2. Sabo (3b) .644/31/19
3. Kid (ss) .588/17/22
4. Dupper (lf).439/13/11
5. Mobilly .533/12/17
6. Big John .462/9/12
7. Santo (rf).532/14/12
8. Belle (rc) .314/7/7
9. Gee (1b) .489/14/7
10. PT (p) .483/8/5
11. Rake (2b) .469/10/18
12. Jimmy-D (c).349/9/11

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition IX

2010-07-31T13:04:00.003-05:00

As the summer regular season comes to a close, the Beavers were able to avoid lightening storms this week and get in two games against the #5 team in the league, Cousin Hugo's.

With two guys out of the lineup, the bench was thin and we were missing our leadoff hitter. Time to juggle the lineup again.

Sabo tried to break the leadoff curse and started the game with a single. Gee, moved up to the #2 hole, did the same. Dupper lifted his first fly ball to the outfield for his 3rd SAC fly of the year. Tanner, BIg John and Santo all singled as well and the Beavers were up 3-0 in the first frame. In the second inning the Beavers witnessed something they had not seen all year, Sabo struck out. He claims he "has never struck out in softball". We will have to look back over the past couple of seasons to see if that is true for his Beavers career at least.

In the 3rd inning the Beavers loaded the bases again and scored only one run on a fielder's choice by Santo. The Beavs were getting plenty of chances, but just not connecting on the RBI hits needed to blow this game open. In the 4th the bottom of the lineup came up big with 2 straight singles and a walk to load the bases yet again. Sabo then singled in Belle, Gee his a SAC fly to score PT. Kid singled to load the bases for Dupper. What transpired was amazing.

Dupper hit a fly ball to left center. It was recorded as a SAC fly again (2nd of game, 4th of season to lead the team). Sabo kept running from 2nd and scored on a fielding error. Kid kept running from 1st and scored after the fielding error and subsequent throwing error. A 3-run SAC fly. The official scorers looked for ways to credit Dup with all 3 RBI for this unique feat, but alas it was just a SAC fly and a few errors. Beavers were now up 9-0.

Just like most Beaver games of late, the offense seems to go into hibernation at some point. Luckily there was a nine-run cushion this time. The Beavers did lead off the 5th with bases loaded again. With Big John on 3rd, Santo on 2nd and Rake on 1st Belle hit a grounder to 3rd. The 3rd baseman threw home to force out Big John. The catcher alertly recognized that Santo was not running, at all, to 3rd and threw back to 3rd for another force out and a double play. That pretty much killed the inning rally.

All this time Cousin Hugos was managing no runs and very few base runners. In the 6th they struck for their lone run. Beavers held onto the victory for a 9-1 win and improved their record to 9-4-2. Still biding for 2nd place overall in the standings.

Beaver of the Game goes to Kid for his 2-3 line and great baserunning to score the 3rd run on the SAC fly by Dupper.
Several Beavers had 2 hits including Sabo, Gee, Tanner, Big John, Santo.

In the second game the Beavers just rolled the lineup which has been a heated bench debate for a few weeks now. Not known to help the sagging offense, it was time to put it to the test again.

Belle and PT started off the bottom of the 1st with singles, all was looking good for a few runs...then two straight outs and Belle called out at 3rd. Inning shut down, no runs, damn 2nd game curse!

Cousin Hugos chased in 2 runs in their half of the 2nd inning and the Beavers answered with 2 hits to open the inning, then 1-2-3 after that. Again, not able to manufacture runs with runners on.

In the 3rd inning, the bats did come alive. Santo doubled and Rake singled him to 3rd. Belle doubled both of them in and PT singled in Belle. Now they were hitting when it counts! Jimmy-D continued his improved hitting and singled. Sabo walked for the 11th time this year Gee hit into a fielder's choice with PT called out at the plate. Kid then tripled in 2 runs. It was a 5-run outburst. It was the 2nd time in the last 9 games that the Beavers had scored five or more runs in the same inning. The other time was the 1st game of the DH. Things might be looking up.

PT's strong pitching and relatively good defense kept Cousin Hugo's off the board for the remainder of the game. Beavers were able to add an insurance run in the 5th inning on a string of 4 straight singles. Beavers win again 6-2. Pushing their season record to 10-4-2.

This record is good enough for 4th place in the standings and a date next week with Sportsman's Park. The Beavers are 1-1 against Sportsman's Park this year. Allowing only 8 runs total to them Winning 8-4 and Losing 4-1. It should be a good match up next week at 8pm on Field #2. Beavers should be able to take this game, we'll see if the offense can step up and take control. For the season the Beavers are averaging 10.5 runs a game. This number is greatly inflated by some early poundings over the FDPD and The Bucks. The Beavs scored 40 runs over 2 games against the FDPD and another 40 runs in 2 games over the Bucks. So, for the other 14 games the Beavers are averaging 6.3 runs a game. There needs to be HUGE improvements.

Beaver of the Game goes to PT for his 3-3 perfecto and his pitching where he allowed 2 runs in the game.
Other lines worth mentioning:
Belle 2-4, 2RBI, 2B - raising his avg to .314
Jimmy-D 2-3 - raising his avg to .349
Gee Lightening 2-3, 1run
Rake 2-3, 1run

Stats are posted to the team site. There are 3 guys hitting sub .400. I think this has a great deal to do with why the Beavers are scoring 6.3 runs a game against formidable opponents.

Fallball starts in 2 weeks in Fenton. Game times TBA.

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition VIII

2010-07-19T19:38:00.003-05:00

It was time for a little help with the line-up. Quick on the draw was Mobilly to take his stab at the best combination of Beavers to put a victory on the board. It went a little something like this:
Sabo (3B)
Kid (SS)
Deuce (LC)
Tanner (RC)
Mobilly (P)
Big John
Dupper (LF)
Gee (1B)
Santo (RF)
Rake (2B)
Belle
Jimmy-D (C)

Immediately the peanut gallery questioned the three lefties hitting 2-3-4, but since there was no lefty on the Ivey-Selkirk roster, it didn't seem like a totally bad idea (even if Tony LaRussa wouldn't have been caught dead lining up so many lefties). Sabo fell victim to the leadoff curse immediately and was retired. Kid then followed with one of the ugliest, slowest swings of his fabled Beaver career. When he did make contact it was a slow roller to 2B - two outs. Deuce coaxed a walk and Tanner doubled him to third, but both were stranded.

The 2nd inning was equally flat. The lone hit was Dupper's single. After 2 innings Mobilly had allowed 1 run, and the Beavers had offered no support of their own. In the 3rd Ivey-Selkirk went down without a run and the Beavers started hitting. Rake led off with a single, Belle and Jimmy-D quietly flew out, then came the top of the order.

Sabo walked, Kid singled (scoring Rake), Deuce singled (scoring Sabo), Tanner singled (scoring Kid), Mobilly singled (scoring Deuce). The hitting continued in the 4th. Gee singled, Santo singled, Rake walked, Belle singled (scoring Gee), Jimmy-D became clutch again with another single (scoring Santo and Rake). Beavers score 7 runs in 2 innings. Things were looking good.

Ivey-Selkirk then started their comeback. Scoring 2 in the 5th. As the Beavers took the field in the top of the 7th Mobilly offered the ball to Gee to take over on the mound. Gee told him to finish it out. I think Gee should have listened to Mobilly. Five more runs scored and eventually Gee did come in to stop the bleeding. Beavers were down 1 going into the bottom of the 7th.

Before the game Kid had predicted a tie. It was looking all too possible.

Santo singled with one out, Rake did the same. With two outs Jimmy singled in Santo and Sabo stepped to the plate with the winning run at 2nd. Another single - breaking the tie and the leadoff curse. Beavers win 9-8.

Beaver of the game goes to Jimmy-D with a 2-3 night and 3 clutch RBI.

Impressive stat lines:
Tanner 2-3, 1 RBI, 2B (batting 4th for the first time)
Santo 2-3, 2 runs
Rake 2-2, 3 runs, 1 BB

The Beavs started off hot in the 2nd game. Scoring an early 4 runs on another new lineup, this one compliments of Gee:
Kid
Mobilly
Sabo
Tanner
Dupper
Big John
Deuce
Rake
Belle
Santo
Gee
Jimmy-D

Mobilly singled in the first and Sabo reached on an E-6, then Tanner doubled in Mobilly. Dupper, up to his old tricks, hit a Sac fly for an RBI. Big John then tried to restart the rally with a walk, Deuce reached on an E-7 on a routine play, Rake then reached on an E-6 to score Big John (or should I say, his runner, Dupper). Beavers had exposed some shoddy D and jumped out to a quick lead.

Big John was pitching game two and tried his best to give up the lead in the first. Ivey-Selkirk scored 3 of their own. The Beavers responded with 1 more in the 2nd. Santo led off with a single and Gee belted a deep drive over the left fielder's head. This is no easy feat as the OF was playing very deep all night. Gee rounded the bases and was going for the HR. The ball beat him home and to confuse the catcher Gee went into his head first dive about 12 feet shy of home. Somehow the momentum of his speed carried his slide to home plate. Unfortunately the catcher was able to get the tag down foe the 1st out of the inning. The slide looked something like this:

Ivey came back with 2 of their own. It was 5-5 going into the bottom of the 4th. Ivey then started hitting again. Scoring 4 runs, then plating another 2 in the 5th. Beavers were in a hole.

The Beavs began chipping away at the 6-run deficit in the 6th. Sabo, Tanner and Dupper all reached and scored. It was a 3 run game going into the 7th. There wasn't much quit in the Beavers on this night. They had tasted the tie and were not real happy with the taste. It was time for wins. The first two Beavers went down quickly, then Jimmy-D got his 3rd hit of the night. Kid singled Jimmy-D to 2nd. Mobilly walked. Bases were loaded, two outs, tying run on 1st, winning run at the plate.

Sabo lined a single to right center and Jimmy-D scored easily. Kid, running full steam (for him) chased Jimmy-D home and side stepped the catcher's tag and touched home.

However, the ump completely missed the call. The call that was about 5 feet in front of him. Unobstructed. He simply missed it. Kid was called out on the tag (which never happened, or even came close). Jimmy-D blew up at the ump. Clenching his fists, yelling, stomping. An all-out tantrum. Too bad umps never reverse their call, because if anyone deserved to have it reversed, it was Jimmy-D and his antics.

Beavers were left as losers. 11-9. The 10th runner wrongly called out at home and the tying run standing at 3rd. Tanner was up next and Tanner was 5-6 for the night. As we like to say. "He was due for an out".

What a shame. Definitely chalk that one up to the umpire.

Impressive stat lines:
Tanner 3-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 2B
Rake 2-3, 1 RBI and reached on an error
Gee 2-3, 1 RBI, 3B

Next games are the end of the regular season. 6pm against Cousin Hugos. BE THERE!

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition VII

2010-07-11T16:42:00.003-05:00

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

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition VI

2010-06-27T11:25:00.003-05:00

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.

beaverball.blogspot.com

A Tale Of Two Games

2010-06-11T22:10:00.004-05:00

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

2010-06-04T17:07:00.002-05:00

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

beaverball.blogspot.com

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition IV

2010-05-24T19:18:00.003-05:00

After a rainout of the games scheduled for May 12th, the games scheduled for May 19th were not looking too possible either. Rainy day, followed by rainy day finally gave way for 2 straight days of sunshine. Somehow the ground soaked up all of the inches of rain and the field was in great shape for the double header on the 19th.

The night's opponent was another new team; the Bucks. The Bucks entered the night 2-2 in the young season, the Beavers were off to a 3-1 start. Two no-shows for the Beavers left the club with 2 less pitching options as Big John and PT both were out. The Beavers were the visiting team in the 1st game and came out flat. Going down 1-2-3 in the first and trying to put something together in the 2nd. With runners on first and second Gee singled to left center (virtually hitting it to the opposite field for Gee) Mobilly was then gunned down at the plate as he did not have a good jump on the hit. Luckily The Bucks were not ripping the cover off the ball either. After 2 innings it was 0-0 and quite the sleeper.

Tanner led off the 3rd with a single and it appeared he might be stranded there when the bottom of the order could not move him around, then the top of the order began to hit. Deuce lifted a ground-rule double down the hill and Sabo singled them both in for a 2-0 lead. Mobilly, on the mound, kept the Bucks bats silent with another shutout inning in the third as he switched from side to side of the rubber and varying his pitching style with nearly every pitch.

Mobilly led off the 2nd with a double which prompted a "way to pick up your base running" from the Beavers bench. He was moved the third by Dupper and driven home by a Sacrifice fly by Rake for a 3-0 lead. The Bucks started to take advantage of the Beavers slow start. They chased around 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th. This game was way to close for what it should be on paper. But, since we play on dirt and grass, that did not matter.

In the 5th Tanner got on base again with a double and scored on a singe by Santo. Going into the 6th it was a too-close-for-comfort 4-2. Then something changed. It's hard to say what triggers a huge change in momentum. Maybe the beer was kicking in. Maybe the Beavers were just beginning to forget their 9 to 5 and start relaxing, maybe everyone just needed a swing or two to get ready for the night...but it was time to hit.

The Beavers batted all 11 guys in the 6th. A barrage of singles and doubles. Singles by Sabo, Kid, Mobilly, Rake and Jimmy-D. Doubles by Gee (now being called Glee by Kid), Tanner and Santo. Most of the inning was made possible by a mental mistake by the Bucks SS. A grounder up the middle with Rake on first. The SS bobbled the ball temporarily, but still had time to beat Rake to 2nd by a step opted to just throw to first for the PO. The first baseman expected the FC and second and was no where near 1st. That E opened the flood gates for 4 additional runs in that inning for a total of 6.

After the Bucks scored one of their own in the 6th, the Beavers kept the hitting up in the 7th. Hitting around was not enough in this frame. The first 8 hitters all reached base safely. Singles by Sabo and Kid were chased around by a HR by Mobilly. A triple by Dupper was scored easily on a HR by Rake. Singles by Belle, Glee, Tanner and Deuce were then plated by doubles by Kid and Mobilly (his 6th RBI in 2 innings). Dupper then tripled for the 2nd time in one inning (maybe a Beaver record). Rake then drove home Dupper again, this time with a single. At the end of 6 and 1/2 the Beavers were now up 23-4.

Dupper took the hill to close out the game and allowed 3 runs, but not nearly enough to make this game interesting in the box score.

Beaver of the game goes to Mobilly for his 5-5, 6RBI, 2 doubles, 1 HR and 6 innings of 3-run pitching. Honorable mention goes to Rake 3-4, 5 RBI, 1 HR and Tanner 4-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI.

Effort of the game goes to Gee who while playing first base came in on a low looping foul ball. Determined to at least make the play look like it was close, Gee dove headlong for the ball (basically after the ball landed). Missing the catch, but providing plenty of entertainment.

Game two started slow. The first inning there was nothing happening for either team. Again a goose-egg for the Bucks in the 2nd inning. For the Beavers Sabo led off with a single, Kid did the same...and with the entire bench harassing Mobilly about his ridiculously tall black socks Mobilly shut the peanut gallery up with his 2nd HR of the night. Some of the comments which were caught were "does Michelle know you have her knee highs on?", "Michelle will be pissed that you are stretching out her stockings" and "Your mascara is running too". Good times. Good job in answering, Mobilly. Beavers were up 3-0.

The Bucks cut the lead to 3-2 helped by the juggling error by Rake at 2nd base. A potential DP ball was hit to SS, on the flip to 2nd Rake bobbled the ball, not once, not twice, probably at least 3 times plus. Similar to a hacky sack...but falling to the ground in the end.

The game would not be close for long. For the 3rd time in the 2 games the Beavers batted around. Again the 1st 8 Beavers reached base. Primarily singles and doubles...the Beavers were slowing up on the bases and not taking the extra base as this was becoming a blow out quickly. Beavers went out to take different positions in the field. At times it looked like a little league practice with everyone playing out of position. At this time, the team was relaxed and in control. Then the Beavers are like this, they are hard to beat...and sometimes hard to score upon.

The Bucks scored one lone run in the 4th and the Beavers hit around for the 4th time in the 4th. Singles, doubles, errors (which were mounting for the Bucks) kept scoring more Beavers. Perfectos for the night belonged to Santo (3-3), Kid (3-3) and Dupper (3-3).

The game was called by the mercy rule after 4 innings at 17-3.

Due to performance under pressure of the bench, I will award Mobilly the Beaver of the Game for game 2 as well. (2-3, HR, 4 RBI and reached on an error).

Play of the game happened against the Beavers in the 4th inning. Santo led off with a single, Jimmy-D then grounded a ball to the 3rd baseman. He threw to second for the FC, but the ball deflected off his glove and went to the SS who was backing up the throw. The SS, then threw back to the 2nd baseman to still force out the pokey Santo. So if you are scoring at home that out was recorded 5-4-6-4 FC.

Next game is May 26th at 8pm vs. Ivey-Selkirk. This team took the year off last year and seem to be formidable again this year. It should be a good match up and hopefully the Beavers will show up and hit like the did in the 2nd half of both of these games.

beaverball.blogspot.com

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition III

2010-05-08T09:09:00.002-05:00

Hola! Y la bienvenida a cinco de mayo de béisbol.

Fittingly on Cinco de Mayo the Beavers played Team USA. It was another amazing night for softball. Temperatures covering in the upper 60's. Only thing that was working against us was a high wind blowing in from left field. More on that in a bit.

To celebrate our friends to the south the game beer was Corona Light and Tecate...mmm, cerveza! Oh, and don't forget the lime juice for good measure. While chips and salsa would have been a nice accompaniment, we stuck with the liquid-only diet for the games.

Belled spelled Tanner in this game as Tanner came down with some unexplainable eye injury and Belle was back from finishing his Wed night hockey league. Thanks to Tanner for keeping the score book for the night. Most legible book in years...and probably the toughest official scorer on the Beavers with the power of the pen. We'll see how forgiving he was with the hits vs. errors.

Beavers took to the field as the home team in game one and the first batter laced a fly ball to right center. Belle, his first time seeing a fly ball since September completely misjudged the ball...broke in for it as it screamed over his head. A quick adjustment and the runner was held to a triple...and then stranded for the remainder of the inning.

In the bottom of the inning the Beavers loaded the bases on 3 singles only to strand the go-ahead and first run at third as well. Team USA came out hitting in the second. Primarily shooting singles into center field...they were able to chase around 3 runs and take the early lead. The Beavers clawed back. Belle reached on a single, Gee reached on an error, Santo reached on an error then the next two guys walked with the bases loaded giving rather cheap RBI to Jimmy-D and Deuce. Beavers were down by 1.

There was no scoring in the 3rd for either team. For the Beavers, Dupper was the final out for the 2nd time out of 3 innings. In the 4th Team USA plated another 3 runs, while the Beavers led off their half with a triple by Rake...they were not able to score his with a series of outs to the shortstop - PITIFUL!

Team USA added two more in the 5th, while the Beavers bats remained on Siesta. In the 6th Team USA scored one again and the Beavers started off a rally. Sabo doubled and scored on Kid's line drive single. Then came our menacing 4,5 & 6 hitters. Big John jumped on one but hit it high into the left field wind for out #1. Mobilly then looked at strike 3 (I had threatened to bring a Sombrero to the game that had to be worn when someone struck out, lucky for Mobilly I was unable to find a sombrero). Dupper then hit one deep to left that again was held up by the wind. A great chance to come back was thwarted. Dupper ended his third inning in three AB.

Team USA put the nail in the ataúd (coffin) in the 7th scoring 5 more times. The Beavers were deflated and I believe it was Kid who said "we can relax and just have fun now". Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing every week? The now "relaxed" Beavers started a rally in the bottom of the 7th. After Rake popped out to right Belle, Gee and Santo all reached base and scoring one. PT then hit a sacrifice fly to score the 2nd run. With two outs Jimmy-D grounded out to third. Rally over, Game over.

Final score was Team USA 14, Beavers 5. This was the same team that beat us for the championship last year, so they seemed to have our number. MVB of the game goes to ... no one...let's face it, none of us deserved it.

Luckily the Beavers don't stay down for long. Game two started off much better. Deuce was able to get one past the right fielder for a ground rule double, Sabo reached on a FC error, Big John hit a sac fly, then Mobilly singled in one, Dupper doubled in one and Rake singled in another. Then the middle of the lineup hits, it is a beautiful thing. 4 runs early for the good guys.

Big John took the mound in the 2nd game. He breezed through the first inning and according our books was untouched in the 2nd frame as well. According to Team USA later in the game they scored once in the 2nd, but that seems awfully suspicious. Either way, the Beavers were determined to not let that one run decide the game. In the top of the 2nd the Beavers added to their lead. Seven hits brought around another 5 runs. The top of the order all hit and the rally was extinguished when Mobilly tried to stretch a single into a double. But the damage was done...Beavers were up 9-0 (or 9-1).

The Beavers continued to score in the 3rd and 4th. Dupper led off the 3rd with a single and was drove in later in the inning by a single by Santo before PT would have been the 2nd player to wear the sombrero when he looked at strike 3. In the 4th Sabo reached on a error to the Shortstop then Kid made it hurt by driving one to the right center alley. The wind seemed to be aiding fly balls to this area of the field, but let's don't take anything away from this hit. Kid's ball rolled all the way down to the building near the tennis courts. While Team USA tried the "ground rule double" approach, it was a live ball and an easy dinger.

During all of this Team USA was able to find home plate a few times off of Big John, but they were well out of the game. Somehow able to play 7 innings again, the Beavers were win 13-6 (or 13-7). Beavers are now 3-1 on the young season and had proved that they can beat anyone when they play well.

MVB of the game goes to Kid and his 4-RBI night.

One things that can't be overlooked is the defense by Deuce over the night. Deuce ranged in and back to bring in fly balls. He also had two assists on outs at home plate. One throw being a strike to Jimmy-D early in game 1, another in game 2 when he basically rolled the ball through the legs of Rake and Big John only to find Jimmy-D at home to apply the tag. It was a play that took everyone on both sides by surprise. I don't think Jimmy-D has ever had two PO at home in one night. Will have to check the record books on that one.

That's it for Cinco De Beaver. A split is not what the team was looking for, but the renaissance in the 2nd game lifted the spirits and has the team ready for early games next week on May 12 again on field 2. Hopefully the wind is either not blowing in hard from left field, or the team is able to adjust and stop hitting fly balls into the wind. Without that wind, the scores of the games would have been much more lopsided for the Beavers. There were some fly balls that typically would be doubles of homers that were easy fly outs to a deep left fielder...

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition II

2010-04-29T07:36:00.005-05:00

...Play Ball...

It seemed like the season would never get here. While the Clayton softball league starts in late April, many leagues already have a few games under their belts in other leagues. April 28th finally arrived and the fields dried up enough to host opening night under the new lights at Shaw Park.

To get the team fired up about playing the career stats were brought to the game (and pre-game festivities). Last year, while finishing in 2nd place in the summer league and 3rd in the fall, the Beavers for the most part had an off year. The bats were just not there. Many career averages took a hit because of it. Call the career stats a little "motivation".

It was time for the 426th & 427th career games for the Beavers. This year's roster looks quite familiar. In fact, the top nine Beavers all-time in games played were in the lineup. It was good to get much of the old group back together. And this old group hit like they were comfortable.

The opponent was the new team, the FDPD. We did not know for sure if they would show up. It was about 5 minutes to first pitch and no opponent was in sight. Then they started filtering in. Followed by a fire truck of spectators mid-way through the game. What their fans saw was not pretty.

The Beavers were the home team and disposed of the FDPD rather quickly in the first. Sabo set the tone with a diving stop down the line at third and a force out at second. I think this was when the FDPD realized they might be overmatched. For the Beavers the first 4 batters reached base. Deuce led off with a ground-rule double, Sabo walked, Kid doubled and Big John doubled. After Mobilly's first K of the night Dup singled, Rake took a stab at Dup's career lead in SAC flies and Tanner singled in the 5th run.

The top half of the innings went about the same as the top of the first. Very little threats - and no runs. The Beavers came back swinging again in the 2nd. The bottom of the lineup starting the rally. Sabo, PT and Jimmy-D all reached base to set things up for the top of the order. I referred to this group as the "meat of the order", I was not let down. The top of the order produced again. As the runs began to pile up most Beavers started slowing down. What could be HR were stretched into triples, Doubles were left for singles. We do need to check Elias Sports Bureau for this, but the Beavers may have set a club record with three triples in one inning; Big John, Dupper and Rake. It was 12-0 and the FDPD was not happy. Especially the lippy second baseman who thought we were running up the score.

In the third inning the "meat" did not fare quite as well. Santo singled but otherwise the bottom of the order went down quietly. For a brief moment, the FDPD thought that they might be able to hang. They celebrated their accomplishment of allowing no runs...it was only temporary.

In the bottom of the 4th the flood gates opened. Again, most Beavers were pulling up a little, but the bats were hot and the Beavers were combining strong hits with poor outfield fielding. The top 5 guys in the lineup reached safely with 2 more triples and 3 singles. Each of them scored along with another 3 as the Beavers batted around. As the 8th run of the inning scored and the 20th of the game, the umpire called the mercy-rule and the first game was in the books. Beavers had a shut-out; 20-0. 4 scoreless innings tossed by a combined effort of PT and Mobilly. While any pitcher on the roster will claim that few runs they have allowed were earned, this shutout was legit. The Beavers were back!

MVB of the game goes to Big John for his "perfecto" 3-3, 3 runs, 3 RBI (single, double, triple) - the triple is not a typo

Game two started right away. While Rake caught a little flack for not "rolling the lineup", Deuce led off game 2 as he did game 1. This game started off quite differently than game 1. The Beavers were silenced for the first 3 innings of the game, only getting two runners as far as 2nd base in that time. The FDPD then pounced first as they scored 2 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Screams of elation resonated from their bench as they scored their first runs of the season and first runs in 7 total innings. I guess that is all that was needed to awake the new bats of the Beavers. The 4th inning started with the first 8 hitters all reaching base. A barrage of singles with and error and walk sprinkled in. When the inning ended the Beavers had taken control of game 2 with 10 runs and 15 batters taking their cuts. The inning was capped off by Mobilly's second strikeout of the night.

While the Beavers' bats were warming up again, the FDPD bats reverted back to their cool states. A quick bottom of the 4th brought the Beavers back to the dish quickly. The hit parade resumed. A run of seven straight reaching base after Rake popped up plated 5 quick runs. Them the top of the order loaded the bases as Mobilly stepped the plate. The Beavers were moving comfortably ahead on the scoreboard and there was plenty of time remaining in the game. Not sure if it was competitive spirit or trying to make up for his 2 Ks, but Mobilly launched one into centerfield. It shot over the FDPD outfielders, it shot past the outfielders of the opposite field. As the right center fielder chased it down, Mobilly was chasing down Beavers on the base path. Big John, about 2mph faster than a human road block, was on first for Mobilly's big fly. Big John was in no hurry to score and was not in favor of running up the score. Mobilly was not going to let that stop him from getting his HR. While a triple would have added to Mobilly's career triples lead (46 total), he was going for the extra bag. Not even Big John and his "extra 10 pounds" was going to keep Mobilly from the HR. A grand slam and a slap in the face to the men in blue of Clayton. It was wise for all to drive cautiously in and around Clayton. The Beavers were not making friends. Dupper followed the Grand Slam with a single and was chased around by a single by Rake and Tanner for the 20th run - before Gee went down with his first K of the season.

In the bottom of the fifth the FDPD found the plate two more times, but it was not enough to save them from the mercy rule for a second time in one night. Beavers win 20-4 in game 2 for a total thumping of 40-4 for the night.

Game 2 MVB goes to Sabo for his 3-3, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 1 BB performance (sorry Mobilly, in most circumstances a Granny gets you the award, but not this time)

Next week's games are at 8&9 on field #2. We play Team USA, the team who won the league last year. Time to exact revenge.

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition I.I

2010-04-26T17:22:00.001-05:00

The schedules has changed since the writing of the 1st Beaver Times this year. Opening night will be on 4/28 at 8 & 9 pm on field #1 - not 6 & 7 pm.

Hope to see you all there.

_rake

Beaver Times 2010 - Edition I

2010-04-19T19:16:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the 2010 Beaver Times. It has been a long winter, but now softball is right around the corner. The Beavers are back at Shaw Park in Clayton for a 3rd straight season. This year, trying to make amends for a tough championship loss to the Team USA. It looks like most of the Clayton teams are back; Team USA, Bi-State Meat, Golden Sombreros, CJC Transportation, Cousin Hugo's and Dogs in a Bathtub are all on the schedule again. New teams like The Bucks, Ivey-Selkirk, Bottom of the Fifth and FDPD replace the old Sportsman's Park and Scared Hitless. There are also more teams this year since it appears that Clayton has decided to put lights up on fields #1 & #2. This means 2X the fun of playing back to back with another diamond. It also means 2X the chance for an outfield collision - stay tuned!

Just as the Beavers did last year, they will open the season against Team USA. The Beavers handled them somewhat effortlessly in the opening week of the season last year, but Team USA grew stronger throughout the season and met the Beavers for the Championship game early last August. Team USA ended up victorious in an 18-12 game. The Beavers will be seeking revenge on Apr 28.

Only time will tell how these new teams fare. It appears to bode well for the Beavers in the pre-season polls as the Beavers were 1-2 against Sportsman's Park and Scared Hitless combined. They were 13-1-1 against those teams returning. I am expecting the FDPD team to be a worthy opponent and can't imagine Ivey-Selkirk is much with the bat. No predictions for the team naming themselves after the Wisconsin NBA franchise or the team whose name may refer more to downing hard liquor than it does coming through in the clutch late in the game.

Sabo enters the game as the reigning 2009 MVB. He will have a couple of past MVBs gunning for the trophy this year. Dupper, Kid and Big John all had off years in 2009. Mobilly also a past recipient strung together some impressive numbers, but not enough to beat out the third sacker. Still need to come up with a penalty for Sabo not posing for the "Annual MVB Photo" with the wait staff at Beavers N Hooters.

First game starts at 6pm on April 28 on field #1. Come on out for opening day - there is nothing like it in St. Louis.

_rake

The Crowning of the 2009 MVB

2010-04-02T07:26:00.003-05:00

Another successful Beaver Winter Warmup has come and gone. 10 of the players got together at Hooters to hand out the hardware for the 2009 Most Valuable Beaver. It was basically a two-person race with Sabo and Mobilly getting most of the votes. Here's your 2009 MVB:

There is a little discontent within the team over the winner, however. Typically...scratch that...always the winner cups the breast of a Hooters waitress with the glove trophy for a photo opp. Sabo refused to do this...and the board is now looking into the official rules and conduct of a MVB to see if he needs to be stripped of his title and trophy. Official word is expected by opening day in late April.

Opening day is within a month. Career stats should be posted soon reflecting 2009 stats. Stay tuned for the opening pitch of 2010 and hopefully some more championships.

_rake
beaverball.blogspot.com

2010 Beavers 'N' Hooters Is Here

2010-03-22T20:23:00.002-05:00

In 3 short days we will celebrate the 2010 Beavers Winter Warm Up, also known as Beavers 'N' Hooters. Every year at BNH we crown the previous season Most Valuable Beaver. The trophy has been ordered and the MVP will be crowned this Thursday. For the first time in Beavers history this ceremony will be video taped and available right here on the Beaver Times Blog. Look for the video and still shots to be posted over the weekend.

If you are following this blog and you can't wait to find out who wins this year, follow my facebook or twitter accounts on Thursday March 25th as I will update once the trophy is presented.

Rake
beaverball.blogspot.com

Spring Training

2010-03-06T18:05:00.003-06:00

Beavers,

I am down in Phoenix taking in a little spring training. Every stadium has their characters selling goods around their stadium. This guy caught my attention...

Just a few short weeks until our season gets going!

beaverball.blogspot.com

Winter Warmup Is Upon Us

2010-03-01T19:21:00.003-06:00

Beavers,

It has been a quiet few months. Looking back, I see that the last time we talked was when Kid took a softball to the eye. That was back in Oct I think. Well, just as Spring Training is starting, it's time to shake off the rust on the Beaverball blog and get people talking again. In 5 short weeks we will be playing ball. Hard to imagine as it is a balmy 36 degrees today. I am sure that you all have been working hard with your hitting and fielding coaches. I expect everyone to come to camp in better shape than they were last year.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, there are some other pressing issues at hand. Like the Winter Warm Up and the MVB selection. For those Beavers on the roster, head over to our yahoo site and let us know when what dates you CAN'T make the Beavers 'n Hooters event. Looks like only 4 have voted so far. We need to get this wrapped up this week so that we have ample time to coordinate. Because the most important part of BNH is the Most Valuable Beaver award ceremony. Time is needed to vote and then have the trophy engraved. The stats will be sent out and a poll will be started soon for your votes on the MVB for 2009.

Season starts on April 7, we have a lot to do before then. If you haven't voiced your opinion on what night you can't attend, do so now. Poll closes this Friday.

More info to follow on the MVB ballots.

_rake
beaverball.blogspot.com

This Softball Stuff is Dangerous

2009-11-24T23:32:00.005-06:00

Sometimes you run across some dillweed who thinks that toughness and softball don't go hand in hand. "What? Why don't you play football, or rugby" or something similar comes out of their mouth. We'll I'm here to tell you (and show you) that softball can be rough at times as well.

Footballs don't fly through the air at the same speed as a softball. You have to be quick, and sometimes when things don't go right you pay the price.

But this is not the first time this has happened to a Beaver. Luckily never happened at a Beavers game, just while "honing our skills for our farm teams and winter leagues". Just a few years ago there was another eye injury.

Luckily there are 4+ months for Kid's eye to heal and for him to make up some much better stories for how he got his black eye ("you should see the other guy", "I actually caught the ball in my eye socket", "that umpire was lucky to get one shot in before he hit the dirt").

In the meantime, stay tough Beavers. This is a man's sport!

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 17 - Playoffs

2009-10-13T18:37:00.004-05:00

With an even 6-6 record the Beavers limped into the playoffs. Luckily, all 4 teams make the playoffs, so it was more a matter of seeding, not IF.

Game one paired us with the Gap Finders. This was our opponent week one of fall, as well as week 4. Our record against these guys was 2-2 (shocking), but as we all know, the playoffs are a new season.

I was called out for the coin flip to determine home team. As the coin spun in the air, I called tails and nailed it. Beavers were to be home team.

The Gap Finders found few gaps in the first and the Beavers held them to 0 runs. There weren't many games this year where that happened in the first inning. Off to a good start. The Beavers came up in the bottom of the first, this time though, it was completely different. To welcome each Beaver to the plate was walk-up music. Some chosen by the individual hitter, some chosen by their teammates. Belle led off to the '70s song Ring My Bell. The umpire was laughing and amazed that we had actually gone through with the music. Maybe that is how Belle walked, doesn't matter, Belle on first. Jake hit second and the theme to Karate Kid escorted him to the plate. He felt the rush and drilled a ball over the left field fence. Theme music working!

Kid walked to the plate with Kid Rock screaming, he doubled. Big John then slowly walked to the plate as the song with the same name played from the bench. Big John, not knowing what his song was going to be could not contain himself and promptly got out. Dupper was next, Mama Said Knock You Out blared, Dupper singled. Sabo then walked to the dish with his Mr. Jones (Counting Crows). Not really sure the significance of this song, but he chose it, and it worked for him this AB - triple. Sonoma edited his song, Down with the Sickness, down to a brief 14 seconds. Almost long enough for his walk to the plate. He lifted a Sac fly to score Sabo. Two outs and Mobilly came to the plate. Since he was not in favor of this activity (music, not softball), we chose for him. Make 'em Say Uhh was chosen for him as he is known for his grunts when hits. It didn't work for him this time. Three outs, but 5 runs scored.

In the second the Gap Finders scored three runs of their own. Beavers led 5-3 for the bottom of the second and the remainder of the walk-up tunes. Santo came to the plate with a little John Fogerty and Centerfield - one out. Rake had to incorporate Beavers somehow, so Wynona's Big Brown Beaver by Primus played while he hit, he was able to reach on an error. P.T. chose 99 Problems but the Bitch Ain't One and used that negativity for good as he singled. The last hitter in the line up was Jimmy-D. Because of his scruffy look at times he has been called Jimmy-C (Christ) and to honor that he chose Personal Jesus. He hit a ball to short. Never would we have expected the SS to try for the play at home, but he did and he threw a perfect strike to the catcher to nail Rake at the dish. Belle then singled in PT for lone run in the inning. 6-3 Beavers.

The third was uneventful for both teams, 1-2-3 each.

Gap Finders added 2 in the 4th and the Beavers came up big again to answer them. 5 hits in a row, including HR by Sonoma and Rake plated 5 runs. Then two outs at the bottom of the order, then the top of the lineup had three straight hits to score another 2 runs. A 7 run outburst. Beavers were up 13-5.

The Gap Finders at this point were done. It was just a matter of time until they were 10-runned. That finally happened in the bottom of the 6th when Big John singled in Jake for the 16th run. Beavers win 16-6 and move on to the Championship game.

Beaver of the game goes to Sabo as he went 3-3 and missed the cycle by only the HR.

For the championship game it was back to the team Robinson, our opponent from the week prior. The Beavers were feeling good and rolled over the lineup from where it ended in the last game. This meant that Dupper was leading off.

Beavers came out as visitors and came out swinging. 5 runs scored in the top of the inning highlighted by a huge homerun by P.T. PT was also pitching well, allowing no runs in the 1st and only 2 in the second. Kid hit a solo shot in the 2nd, Beavers were up 6-2 after 2. In the third the Beavers added another 2 runs; Mobilly and Santo both driving one in.

Then the wheels fell off. Rake grounded a ball to short and the runner was out at second and on the play at first Rake collided with the first baseman who was in the basepath and hit the ground hard. Safe at first, but with a very sore leg. Rake took the brunt of the collision and paid the price. With the leg stiffening up, Big John took rightfield in the bottom half of the inning.

Needless to say, the ball found him, a couple of times. Compound two misplays with many well hit balls in front of and over the outfield the Beavers allowed 12 runs to score. An 8-2 lead was now an 8 - 14 deficit. That was it for the Beavers. Just like the air was sucked out of the Cardinals for the first round of the playoffs, so was it for the Beavers in the last two innings. managing one lone single by Jake the Beavers came in second place with a 19-8 loss.

Beaver of the game has to go to PT for his grand slam. No one saw that coming. It was huge at the time.

So there it is sports fans. Another Beaver season in the books. Beavers ended up 7-7 in the fall league. Some great competition and for the most part, great teams to match up against. There is some talk about getting the team back on the field in November (no, that is not a typo). Fenton offers a wood bat league for 5 weeks. It would be a first for the Beavers to participate in something like that. Stay tuned.

Otherwise, this off season I owe you all information on the annual winter warm up as well as many "Meet The Beavers" entries. I'll try to keep this going over the long 6 months until we start up next season. There has to be something to talk about...

Rake...out
beaverball.blogspot.com

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 16

2009-10-12T23:49:00.003-05:00

My apologies for being so late on this recap. Since I am about 3 weeks out from the games my memory is going to be fuzzy. We played team Robinson (I think I have called each opponent Robinson this season, but this time I am sure). As Gee marked in the score book, they were "Bitches" we were "Cream". We'll just refer to them as Bitches from here on out.

Bitches were visitor in the first game and came out to the tune of 3 runs. Like they did the first time we played them, they were hitters. Beavers had an answer though. The top of the order not only got on base, but also scored. Big John K'd but that did not keep "Cream" from scoring two of our own. The second inning was much quieter, Bitches added one then the Cream stranded runners at first and second and got goose-egged. Bitches kept their scoring streak alive in the 3rd with another 3-spot. Cream was ready to make a game of it however.

Jimmy-D made the first out, Belle then got out for the second...then came the two-out rally: Jake walked, Kid hit a dinger, Big John made contact this time for a single, Sabo singled, Mobile singled, Dup doubled, Sonoma launched one into the trees, Santo reached via an error, Gee singled him in. 8 runs! Beavers (sorry, Cream) were up 10 - 7. In the 4th Bitches tied up the score at 10 before Cream came to the dish again.

Keith led this inning off with a hit, Jimmy-D forgot to swing but reached on ball four, Belle singled, Jake hit a HR, Sabo tripled, Mobile singled and Dup singled. Another 5 runs. A 5-run lead heading into the 5th. The 5th was relatively quiet. Bitches added one run and the Cream answered.

The wheels began to fall off the Cream-mobile in the 6th as Bitches scored 6 runs. The demoralized Creamcicles plated no one even while batting the top of the order. In the top of the 7th the Bitches chased another 3 runners around the bases. They had a 21-16 lead with the Cream due up in the bottom of the 7th.

Sabo led off the inning with a single, Mobilly doubled him to 3rd. Dupper then doubled both of them in (21-18). Sonoma reached on an error, Santo singled Dupper in (21-19). Gee then hit a Sac fly to score Sonoma (21-20) with 1 out. Rake was up and lifted a fly ball to rightfield. It did not slice enough and was caught for the 2nd out. Keith was then walked intentionally to bring up Jimmy-D.

Strike two was called with Jimmy's bat on his shoulder. Then came the next pitch. [Jimmy-D has a history of making some clutch hits over his career. I can think of a couple of occasions at Webster where Jimmy-D drove in the winning run in the last game of the season]. The two strike pitch was thrown and Jimmy-D started moving back in the batter's box. It was a high and deep pitch. Jimmy seemed to have a good eye on it. Then it dropped to the ground without a swing. And it dropped on the carpet for strike three. The game was over. Runners stranded on 1st and third. Beavers lost 21-20.

Beaver of the game goes to Dupper as he went 3-4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI.

Game two started in a few short minutes after the upsetting loss. Beavers were visitors this time and came out swinging. Highlights in the first inning were Kid's 2-run homer and a three run shot for Sonoma. The Beavers scored 6 runs and were dedicated to not losing both. However, Bitches offense and Cream's defense thought otherwise. 4 runs in the bottom assured us that this was going to be a tight game after all.

Cream came up ready for more in the 2nd. Gee doubled, Rake singled, Keith singled (Jimmy hit into a DP), Belle singled, Jake singled, Kid reached on a fielder's choice where no one was retired, Big John walked, Sabo doubled, Mobilly doubled, Dupper singled Sonoma hit his second HR of the game (3rd of the night), Santo singled, Gee doubled (again). It was an impressive offensive inning that totaled 10 more runs. Keith shut them down quickly and without a run scoring, the Cream did the same. Then back came the Bitches. Bringing on 7 runs of their own. After 3 long innings the score was Cream 16, Bitches 11.

From this point on, it was all Cream. We allowed only one more run and scored another 6 of our own. Trying to make up for the demoralizing loss in game one the Cream had won by 10 in the second game 22-12.

Beaver of the game goes to Sonoma with his 2 HR and 6 RBI.

The next games to be played would be the playoffs. Beavers ended the season at 6-6. Very even league. Anyone can beat anyone on any given Wed night. The playoffs were going to be quite even and up for grabs.

Try again next week

2009-09-26T12:26:00.000-05:00

You know that odd feeling of showing up somewhere and what you came to see is not happening? Maybe you showed up to play poker with the guys on Friday night, when the game was Saturday. Maybe you misread the time of a party or flight and missed it by 12 hours. Maybe you showed up to play softball and the lights were off and the parking lot was empty. That’s what happened to the Beavers this past week.

There was rain in the area on Tuesday morning, but this was Wed night. The day was sunny, and there was enough of a breeze that you would think that anything that was wet would now be dry. That was the collective thinking of 12 Beavers who one by one pulled into the Fenton City Park to find no game, but other Beavers hanging out in the parking lot wondering how the field could not be playable.

Who would have thought to call the rain-out line when there was no rain? So the season continues. Make up games are scheduled for 9/30 at 8:30 and 9:30.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 15

2009-09-17T21:27:00.003-05:00

Early games for the Beavers this week. Beavers start off as home team as all are accounted for except Mobilly - suspecting he is off on a business trip somewhere. New line up for these games, part due to a hot hitter, part due to necessity. Jake, who has been hotter than a two-bit whore on nickel night, leads us off and Sabo moves to the two hole. Belle, arrives late with his two kids in tow. Wasn't at the fields for the lineup creation, he drops to the 9-spot.

Top of the order starts producing from the first pitch. Jake doubles and Sabo singles him to 3rd. Kid then singles one in. Dupper then lifts a fly ball to left center. Sabo tags at second and comes all the way around to score. A two-base sac fly. The defense was able to hold team Robinson to 0 runs, so the Beavs were up 2-0 early. Robinson goes down 1-2-3 in the second. This was looking like a good night. Unfortunately that was the end of that good luck. Robinson chased in 6 in the 3rd inning. Mainly good hitting, but helped by Rake losing a ball in the dusk sky and allowing a 2-run triple to right.

Santo led off the bottom of the 3rd with a double and Jimmy-D singled him to 3rd. Both of those guys were hitting around .200, so this was huge! Jake singled in Santo and then the meat of the line up went down 1-2-3. Lots of lazy pop ups. The ball was not carrying for us, though we tried and tried to muscle up. Lots of pop ups.

Beavers were able to scratch out one more run in the 5th inning to bring the score to 6-4. Keith was putting up goose eggs on the Robinsons except that one inning. He even recorded a strikeout.

Top of the 7th rolled around and Robinson started hitting again. This time to the tune of 5 more runs. Beavers were down to their last at bat. Rake led off with a single, then the next three Beavers went down 1-2-3. Losing 11-4. Not an impressive game with the stick. Could not get anything going. Beaver of the game goes to Jake again for going 2-3 with a run and RBI.

Game two needed a shake up. Big John was handed the scorebook and told to make a winning lineup. Jake got the honors of leading off again and singled to start the game. Belle followed with a single then Sabo hit an RBI single. Kid lifted a sac fly as did Santo. 3 early runs. Keith thre up a 0 again on them. Beavers started the 2nd as the did the first. First two guys reached and scored. Sonoma homered and Rake singled, Keith later singled in Rake. In two innings the Beavers had surpassed their first game run total. Beavers were up 5-0.

After allowing 2 runs in the 3rd the Beavers started hitting again. Jake with another single, Kid with an RBI single off the right field fence (way to leg that one out). Santo singled and Dup tripled him in. Sonoma singled in Dup. 4 more runs scoring.

About this time Big John asked to pitch and came in to relieve Keith. Team Robinson was able to bring in but one run that inning. The second potential run was throw out at third on a single to right. Rake came up gunning and nailed the baserunner trying to go first to third.

The Beavers played the rest of the game to the beat of 2's. Two runs scoring in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. Highlights were a blast from Sonoma in the 5th, Jimmy-D getting ahold of one left handed for a deep sac fly, and the middle of the line up producing every time around.

In the 6th inning Team Robinson tried to make a game of it by putting a 5-spot on the scorecard. It was a rough inning, but with the lead the Beavers had padded there was little drama in it. When it was all over, Beavers landed a split of the night winning 17-8.

Beaver of the game goes to Sonoma. Going 4-4 with 2 HR. Honorable mention to both Jake and Dupper for fine offensive nights as well.

Next games are at 8:30 & 9:30 on 9/23. It is the last week of the season. We are 0-2 against our opponent. Time for some paybacks.

Beaver Times Edition 14

2009-09-16T12:41:00.001-05:00

First of all, yes, I am a slacker. Here it is six full nights after the last Beaver games and I am just now starting to write this blog. I blame my two weeks off for getting me out of the rhythm. No more excuses, time to bust into week 14 of the 2009 season.

Gap Finders were our opponent again. If you look back to Edition 11 you will see that we split with them last time. They started this game off just as they did 3 weeks ago - abusing our rightfield. Damn, do they love to hit to right! So off they went. Liners to right and right center. Many of them, some caught, some not. When we finally were able to secure 3 outs we were down 4. Our outfield has a hole. Sorry fellas, but OF practice needs to be in the agenda. But who are we kidding?

So how do Beavers answer 4 runs? Well, this time we came roaring back. Well, kind of. Belle started the game with a single (have I mentioned how hot he has been?), Santo then killed that hit with a DP (wait until you hear how cold he is). Then came the hits. Kid, Big John, Mobilly, Sabo, Sonoma, Rake and Jake all reached safely. Capped by HRs by Kid (solo shot - should be a fine) and Sonoma. Beavers plated 5. We had a game on our hands.

The Gap Finders were not done, however. They added 3 in the 2nd, 3rd and in the 4th, then only managed 2 in the 5th. All this time the Beavers bats went cold. For instance, the second trip through the Beavers' lineup produced but 2 singles (Belle and Gee).

In the field the Beavers continued to struggle. Dropped flyballs in the OF stung us hard this game. But there was one flyball that stung especially hard. The SS for the Gap Finders came up for the second time. The first time up he laced a single between 3rd and short. Sabo even commented "you know it is hit hard when you hear it go past you". His second time up he hit one every bit as hard. This one though with a little higher trajectory. It was lined directly at Belle in LC. Belle had but two choices; pray like hell he got his glove in the way of the ball or let this ball light him up in the chest like a Christmas Tree. Luckily the glove found the ball and Belle did all he could do to not fall backwards after catching the ball.

At bat Big John was hitting into some bad luck. After walking in the first (his team-leading 11th walk on the fall season already) he grounded a ball back up the middle. In his mind this ball was going to find its way into centerfield. In everyone else's mind he had better hustle his arse off to make it to first to beat a possible throw by the shortstop. There were not many that the SS missed, and this one fit that category. Big John could not believe that he got to it and about 2 steps out the batters box he turned for the bench already congratulating the SS on his fine play. Later in the game, after the Beavers had already launched their 3 allowed HR, Big John let one fly, only to be recorded as an out. Over the past few weeks it seems like this has been happening a few times. Looks like some of the Beavers have found their power strokes.

The Beavers were able to scratch together runs in the 2nd, 6th and 7th but not enough to compete. Final score Gap Finders 15, Beavers 8. We were now 1-2 against them. Before the game Mobilly suggested that there were a few people in the lineup that were in need of a swap. Let's see how that lineup swap worked out. Sabo went 2-2 with 2 RBI and a walk. Sonoma (or Sanoma as Molbilly wrote it down) went 2-3 with a HR and 2 RBI. Good production from both, unfortunately not enough to keep us in the game.

Beaver of the game goes to Sabo. Reaching base all three times (other plate appearance was a walk). Honorable mention goes to Kid who was 2-3 with 2 HR. Only problem was both HR were solo shots. We need to get some baserunners!

Now, with a losing record for the fall season, we started game 2. It was apparent to the manager (and your blogger, who is one and the same this week) that the lineup and defense needed to be juggled to get something going on this team. I don’t fashion myself to be Tony LaRussa, Tommy Lasorda, Earl Weaver or Casey Stengel, but I do feel that I can juggle a lineup to get some production. This juggling was more defensive than offensive. Kid was shifted to LC, Santo to RC, Belle to RF and Rake to SS. We needed more D in the outfield, I hoped this would do the trick.

Before we expose what happened with that “D”, the Beavers were Visitors so we took our hacks in the top of the inning. We got lucky. Belle reached on an error, Kid did the same. After a K by the slumping Santo and a fly out by Big John, Dupper drove one deep to left for a 3-run dinger.

Now to the defense. The one other change was on the mound. Big John took the hill instead of Keith. And what do you know? No runs allowed (earned or unearned). That was in spite of an alligator-armed attempt at a ball by the new (actually old) shortshop, Rake. The Beavers went down quietly and quickly in the 2nd. The Gap Finders did just that in their half of the 2nd. Plating five runs by some well hit drives to the gaps and over the fence. One of those drives going off Big John’s glove and dislocating his finger. For those of you who know Big John, you know that each of his fingers has been dislocated before. Not one of those digits can point straight. Add another to the list. He removed himself from pitching to deal with the pain and Mobilly took over for a few pitches.

The Beavers responded well this time, however. The bottom of the lineup fueled the out-burst. Gee, Keith, Jake, Jimmy-D, Belle, Santo all reached safely before an out. Jake’s 3-run HR being the big blow. Beavers had scored 5 of our own and were back on top 8-5. Another quick inning for Big John back on the hill. Beavers kept hitting. This time Sonoma cranked a 2-run HR and a series of singles and errors added two more runs. Beavers were up 12-5 going into the bottom of the 4th.

Don’t expect the Gap Finders to go quietly. And they didn’t…racking up another 5 runs of their own with more line drives and another HR. The good news for the Beavers was that the “D” was improving. They were just hitting. When we lose, we usually lose because we give the other team too many outs. If this defense stays tight, we had a chance for the sweep.

Beavers kept adding to the lead in the 5th and 6th innings. Mobilly chased in two with a fly ball error to right field. That scored two runs. In the sixth the bases were loaded with no one out. Only one run was able to score on a force out. It was enough, the pitching and D held up and the Beavers took the game and the night split 15-11.

Beaver of the game goes to Jake. He went 2-3 with the big 3-run HR in the 3rd, adding a 4th RBI on a single in the 4th.
Other stats to mention; Jimmy-D has improved his average all the way up to .190 for the season. Santo is rivaling him for the low average on the team. His 1-3 second game kept him above the Mendoza line at about .210. Sonoma has a comfortable HR lead. Jake leads the team in SLG %. Big John has a slim 1 walk lead over Sabo. Jimmy-D leads the club with 5 K’s.

Next game is Sept 16 at 6:30 & 7:30 against the Nationals.

Beaver Times Edition 13

2009-09-06T11:43:00.002-05:00

Well it was the third week of fall ball in Fenton. This week we were brought back to reality playing against Robinson. Lets just say the first game did not go the Beavers way. Before I get into detail about the game, let me tell you the final score was 27-6 and only lasted 4 innings.

To start the game off team Robinson didnt score in the first inning. Beavers came up and scored 1, so far the game was looking pretty good. The second inning was where it fell apart. Team Robinson came up and scored 10 runs, Beavers went down 1-2-3. The third inning Team Robinson came up and put a 13 spot on us. Score was 23-1.

The 3rd inning looked to be promising, Jimmy D comes up with the longest single of the year. The best way to explain this long single is if you have ever seen Pujols or Barry Bonds hit an without a doubt homerun and they watch it until it clears the fence. Jimmy D hits it, then watches the ball for a few seconds and breaks out into a homerun trot. The one problem? It only hit off the fence and therefore since Jimmy D was not sprinting or running very fast he only got a single. I do have to say though, Jimmy D's bat was on fire this week. He went 4-5 in the 2 games. Next was MoBilly who showed up late to the game. He hits a single, 2 runners on for Santo who makes the first out of the inning. Gee is up and walks to load the bases. Kid comes up and hits a Grand Slam, 4 runs this inning. Next up Big John out, then Dup up and out inning over. 4 runs not too bad in one inning, but definitely not enough to keep up with Team Robinson.

4th inning, Sonoma leads us off with an out, Jake doubles. Belle out and Keith brings Jake in with his single. Jimmy D with a single and MoBilly makes the last out. Game over, Beavers lose 27-6.

Just a couple of notes in the game, OUR DEFENSE SUCKS. If we had a player of the game it would have to be Kid with the Grand Slam, but since we lost by 21 runs no player of the game awarded.

2nd game was better. We still lost but this time by only 4 runs. Final score was 17-13. First 5 players up scored, Gee, Jake, Sonoma, MoBilly, Belle. Big John makes the first out, then Santo Then Dup hits the first homerun of the game, Kid singles and Prison Tits makes the 3rd out of the game. 10 of our 11 batters up in the inning, score is 6-1 after the first inning.

2nd inning starts off with another single by Jimmy D, Gee makes the first out, Jake triples Sonoma singles Jake in. MoBilly comes up and hits the 2nd homerun of the game. Belle makes the 2nd out, Big John comes up and hits a solo homerun, all 3 of our homeruns allowed are gone in the 2nd inning. Santo reaches on an error Dupper makes the 3 out. 2nd inning over score is 11-2 Beavers.

Beavers score one more run in the 3rd inning, Team Robinson comes up and scores 5. Score after 3 innings, Beavers 12-Robinson 7. This is where our defense falls apart. Robinson shuts down the Beavers in the 4th inning, and the Beavers lose it in the field. Robinson comes up and scores 10. Now score is 17-12 in favor of team Robinson. Beavers only score 1 more run after the 3rd inning. Final score 17-13 them.

Couple key highlights of the game:
Jimmy D goes 2-3 with a run
Jake is a homerun shy of the cycle-Remember up above when I said Big John hit a solo shot. Well if he doesnt hit that solo shot Jake gets his cycle because he hit a homerun in the 3rd inning that was an out because we are only allowed 3 homeruns per game. He goes 3-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI's
MoBilly is a single shy of the cycle-he goes 3-4 with 3 RBI's and 3 runs
Kid goes 3-3
Sonoma goes 3-4 with 3 RBI's and 2 runs

Games next week are at 830 & 930 against the Gap Finders. See you all there.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 12

2009-09-01T19:35:00.003-05:00

Hello Everyone, Welcome to the 2nd week of Fall Beaverball. We were missing our manager this week because of some traveling he wanted to do. I dont know about you guys but I always schedule my trips Thursday thru Tuesday so I can make the Wednesday games. Apparently our manager wasnt able to do this. So who was going to step in and run this team????

To answer that question it was MoBilly. MoBilly wrote down the lineup and had nothing but smiles after he did so. To quote MoBilly-"This is the best lineup we had all year"! OK he may not have said that, but we all know he was thinking it. Was he right? Lets find out.

Our opponent was the Nationals and they were batting first. Not really sure I would want to play for a team with the name Nationals, we all know they are one of the worst teams in the MLB, but this team was different. They won the league last year and had a lot of tools, speed, solid defense, and of course uniforms that matched. They put up 6 runs in the first inning, of course the early defense of the Beavers OF was once again suspect.

So the lineup went like so for the Beav's...Belle, Sabo, Sonoma, Santo, Big John, MoBilly, Kid, no nickname Jake, Dupper, Prison Tits, Gee, and Jimmy D. The Beavers scored 2 in the first by putting together a few singles, slowly closing the lead that The Nationals had. The first inning proved to be the best by The Nationals with them not scoring more than 2 runs in any other inning except the 5th inning where they scored 4, and no runs in the 4th inning. Beavers plugged away with at least a run in every inning. So we enter the bottom of the 6th inning with time running out, this would be the Beavers last chance of the game. We were down 14-9 with MoBilly starting the inning off with a single, next up was Kid who hits a 2 run homer putting us within 3 runs of tying the game. Next up was no nickname Jake who doubles, then Dup follows with a double himself, Keith better known as Prison Tits with a single, Gee with a single to bring in the tying run of the inning, this was 6 straight hits for us. We havent seen many innings like this this year. So Jimmy D reached base on a fielders choice, Gee out at 2nd. Let me remind you, only 1 out in the last inning with the winning run, Jimmy D, on first. Now I cannot really remember how Jimmy D scored and the book isnt marked well enough to figure it out, but Jimmy D used his blazing speed to come around the bases and score the winning run..BEAVERS WIN 15-14 in 6 innings. Let me remind you, this was the returning champion team.
Player of the game going to Gee, with steller defense at first and a 3 for 3 game with 3 RBIs.

Game 2: Started with the same lineup. This time we do not score any in the first 2 innings and The Nationals score 1 in the first and 2 in the 2nd. They are up 3-0 in the top of the 3 inning. Here come the Beavers!!! Prison tits starts us off with a double, Gee follows him with a single, Jimmy D follows with a K, but wait Belle continues the inning with a single, then Sabo with a Double, Sonoma with a single, Santo with an out. 2 outs and 1 runner on, Big John up and hits a smashing HR. MoBilly and Kid follow with 2 singles, could a 2 out rally be started? Unfortunately not, next batter no nickname Jake makes the 3rd out. Inning over, 11 batters up, 6 runs scored. Beavers leading 6-5 at the end of the 3rd inning. Beavers Defense steps up, we havent said that much this year, and only allows 2 more runs in the game while scoring 8 more runs, winning 14-7. Player of the game going to Big John with 2 big homeruns, 4 RBI's, 2 runs and 1 BIG FAT K (A huge swing and a miss after hitting 2 dingers).

Beavers play 2 early games on Sept 2nd at Fenton. Lets go take 2 more wins this week! MoBilly you get to set the lineup again after getting 2 wins last week.

Cya!

Schedule Is Posted

2009-08-25T17:21:00.001-05:00

http://fentonsports.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!612C9CBA8A21DAF6!201.entry

Other teams in the league are Gap Finders (week 1 opponent), Nationals (week 2 opponent) and Robinson (week 3 opponent).

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 11

2009-08-22T09:14:00.007-05:00

It's fallball time, right in the heart of summer. The second season started this week and the Beavers found themselves playing at a new venue, Fenton City Park. After being shut out of the Webster Blackburn league on Wed and Thur nights, the Beavers broadened their search for a league and found Fenton.

The first game was delayed slightly due to a tractor trailer jackknifed and a professional women's soccer game getting out just before game time. Both teams had late arriving players - few were able to warm up before the Beavers took the field for game 1. Jake was a last minute scratch, so the lineup and fielding had to be juggled to find a second baseman.

Our opposition was the Gap Finders and they came up first and started shooting liners to the outfield. Maybe they knew something about our team, maybe they knew something we didn't, they were abusing our outfielders. Sonoma was tested early and often. A few getting down in rightfield around him. Dupper was tested in left with a deep fly that he gave up on early, but it stayed in the park. We are playing with 300ft fences, so there is some serious room out there. When it was all done, we were down 3-0 early.

The Beavers came up with Belle leading things off. He continued his hot hitting and lined a double to center. Rake tried to do to them what they did to us by lifting a fly ball to right. It was caught easily, but Belle was able to tag and get to third. Mobilly hit a sac fly and the Beavers were on the board.

In the second, Keith was able to limit the Gap Finders hits and allowed only 1 run. This time the infield was tested a little and Sabo, playing out of position at short, could not come up with a ball cleanly to lead to a run. The Beavers threatened in the 2nd. Santo, back on the team for the first time in a few years, led off with a single, Sabo singled, Keith walked - bases loaded, no one out. Gee, back for his first game of 2009, pulled a grounder to 3rd (actually if you have see Gee hit, that was like going to the opposite field for him). The third baseman stepped on third for first out, then threw home to get Santo tagged out at the plate. A smart, huge, play for them. A rally killer for the Beavs.

The Beavers defense locked down in the 3rd with Keith throwing 3 harmless flyballs. The score was 4-1 badguys going into the bottom of the third. Belle singled, Rake singled, Mobilly tripled to right center scoring two. Dupper lifted a fly ball to score Mobill (another sac). Beavers had tied the game up at 4.

That was short lived as the Gap Finders started abusing our OF again. Liners shot past them, fly balls got over their head and when throwing the ball in nary a one hit the cut off. The Gap Finders were able to score 3 more times. The Beavers were flat, the OF was having a rough game, the sun was setting and it was going to get harder to see balls in the air.

The Beavers flatness carried over to the plate as the Beavers could not move Keith around the bases after his leadoff single. 7-4 Gap Finders

About this time Kid showed up and something changed. The defense looked better, players seemed to awaken. Not sure if it was Kid catching for an inning or just the players having shook the cobwebs. Either way, another scoreless frame for the Gap Finders. Kid was inserted into the lineup in the 11 spot and led off the 5th. He lined a triple to right. Belle singled him in, Rake singled, Mobilly singled then Dupper lifted a high fly ball to left center. It kept carrying, and carrying and carrying just out of the reach of the outfielder and over the wall for the first HR of the fall for the Beavers. A three run shot, the Beavers had taken the lead with a 5 run inning. To cap off the inning both Keith and Gee were called out looking at strike 3. A rare feat in slow pitch softball. But due to the rules at Fenton where a 3' high pitch is legal, they were frozen at the plate.

Gap Finders were able to score one in the 6th and the Beavers went quietly in their half as well. Low lights of the 6th included a DP hit into by Jimmy-D and Kid striking out. What was going on?

It was all that was needed though as the Gap Finders were not able to score their runner from second in the 7th and the Beavers pulled off the come from behind victory 9-8.

Beaver of the game has to go to Dupper with his clutch 3-run HR. But honorable mention to Belle with a 3-3 and Mobilly with a 2-2 with 4 RBI, a triple and a double.

Game two started about 5 minutes later. This time with the Beavers playing the role of visitor. The lone run in the 1st was a shot to right center by Mobilly for his first HR in the fall. Kid posted to the team before the season that if anyone hits a solo HR that they should be charged with beer duty for the following week. There are only 3 over-the-fence HR allowed per team/per game, so we want to maximize the effectiveness of each. While asking them to pony up for bee the next week may get a little expensive for the HR hitters, I liked the idea and have implemented a version of the penalty. Once everyone on the team has had their week of beer duty there will be two weeks of the season left. One of those games, the responsibility of bringing beer will go to the player with the most solo shots. The other game the responsibility will go to the player with the most Ks (includes foul outs). Back to the game.

The Beavers looked solid in the first inning in the field in game two. A lone hit, but no runs scored. Only problem was that the Beavers went down 1-2-3 in the 2nd so it was a slim 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the second.

Open the Beaver Dams here.

Remember the statement above about our OF being a little "off" on this night. It continued. Now with the sun setting, it was hard to pick up the flight of the ball, and the Gap Finders took advantage. Again, balls shooting past outfielders, outfielders taking bad routes to try to catch fly balls, balls going over their heads, missing cut offs. It all happened again, this time to the tune of 7 runs. I wouldn't say that we have the best defensive OF in the league, but this was an uncharacteristically poor night. It happens.

But wait, the Beavers found out how to play the changing sky as well and started roaring back. Sonoma launched a solo HR. And when I say launched, I mean destroyed. I believe there was even a Monica Seles type grunt to punctuate it. Mobilly was both proud and jealous. Kid walked with two outs and then came four straight hits; Belle a triple, Rake a single, Mobilly a single, Dupper a double then rounded the bases on a series of errors. The inning ended with another K - this time by Santo - looking. But the score was tied 7-7.

Kid was fed up with the outfield play and asked to be moved from SS to OF. The switch was made and Santo went back to 3rd, Sabo to short, Kid to LC Belle to RC, Mobilly to RF. I would like to say that those moves changed things. But they didn't. One ball got under Kid's glove along with more balls to the OF eluding our fielders. 3 more runs - and a pissed off Kid.

Belle, who has nothing if he doesn't have bad timing, decided to get on Kid about his "cure" for the OF. The first mini-fight almost broke out in the dugout. Something was obviously eating at Kid, more than just the shotty defense. But, Belle about pushed him over the edge. Was the edge that the Beavers needed to take over the game?

Not exactly. Beavers threw up a goose egg in the 4th and allowed another 3 runs in the home half. Now down 6 it was catch up time. Kid walked again in the 5th (with no Big John at the game, someone had to take multiple walks), Belle singled him to 2nd, Rake hit into another force out - replacing Belle on the bases, but beating out the throw to first. Mobilly continued his hot hitting with a single driving in Kid. Then Dupper lined one to the wall. Rake scored and Mobilly was right behind him. Only problem is that Dupper got tagged out at third before Mobilly could touch home plate. No run, three outs. Beavers cut the deficit to 4.

That was temporary though. The Gap Finders started crushing the ball even more. Now launching some over the fence. Another 5-spot for the bad guys. This one was getting out of hand. Beavers kept trying for the second straight comeback in the 6th. Santo singled, Sabo walked, Sonoma hit his second HR of the game to score three. It was not enough though. The game was called due to time at the end of the 6th. Final score Gap Finders 20, Beavers 12.

We sat around and drank the two remaining beers and watched as Belle and Kid tried to find a middle ground. Beaver of the game goes to Sonoma for his two bombs. This time he just edged out Mobilly's perfect 3-3 and Dupper's 2 doubles.

Next games are Aug 26 at 8:30 & 9:30. Same field. The keyboard will be handed off to another Beaver for the next two weeks as Rake will be missing the games. The show will go on...

Marvin Gaye Gets the Fall Season Going

2009-08-21T19:52:00.002-05:00

This is just to get start off the fall season right...stay tuned for the recap of the first week's action to be posted this weekend...

take it away Marvin....

Second Season - Week 1 Preview

2009-08-18T23:25:00.003-05:00

With the summer season behind us and a secondplace finish not sitting well on the taste buds, the Beavers embark upon a new season and a new league. Over the years the Beavers have played at Kirkwood, Webster, Crestwood, Manchester, Brentwood and Clayton. Fenton will be a first for the team.

Playing along the beautiful Meremac River in Fenton, the Beavers will be found on field #1 in the competitive league. Playing again on Wednesday nights, and again in doubleheaders. This league has a fence. Which I am sure is a blessing and a curse. We already have requests on raising/lowering said fence to accommodate our power. We'll see how it all plays out. Kid offered up the challenge that anyone who hits a solo HR should have to buy beer the next game as only 3 HR are allowed over the fence.

Since the schedules are not posted yet, I know nothing about the competition. So, we will go into this one blind. Hopefully it will be posted for week two. We do know this, we are playing at 6:30 and 7:30. We also know that there are some new faces for the Beavers...well, not new...but new in 2009.

Making his first appearance this season is a member of the original Beavers team, Shawn "Gee" Hagan. He claims he has not his a softball since last year. Last time we checked he only had one good eye. We'll see what we get from the veteran. The other addition to the roster for fall '09 is another Beaver from the past; Ron "Santo" Harrington. Scouts say that he has been on fire in his Thursday night summer league. Climbing his way up the order as his hits mount. To make room for these two guys the Richmond brothers have decided to be on the reserve (sub) list for the fall. Sorry to see those guys go. Will need many hits and lots of bitching to fill their shoes.

PLAY BALL

Meet Your Beavers - Chris Sabo 2.0

2009-08-17T19:26:00.003-05:00

Let's just say that Sabo is the polite version of Chris' nicknames. With a last name like Smuda and a group of sophomoric Beavers, you can guess where the names go as the beer flows. But Sabo is a good name for our thirdbaseman. Where it lacks in originality (let's see, his name is Chris and he plays 3rd base...hmmm), it scores high in accuracy. Actually, I don't know if that is true. I really can't recall much about Chris Sabo except for his rec-specs and that he had some pop in his bat. I don't recall if he was known for his glove work.

Our Sabo is. He has shored up the left side of the infield with impressive plays week in and week out. It's a good thing too, putting Rake at third has its drawbacks defensively and putting Kid at third left shortstop as a question mark.

Sabo is only in his second year with the Beavers. He saw two championships in his first two leagues with the team. I guess you could say that defense IS the key. But, that is not where this Sabo stops. At the time of publishing this blog Sabo is also leading the team in average. OK, OK his average has dropped about 100 points over the last few weeks, but still, leading the team by a healthy margin.

Sabo, I don't know if it is hour commute to softball that gets you ready to play, or getting pissed at those Beavers trying to get other variations of Smuda to stick as your nickname that fires you up. What ever it is, don't let it stop. As deep as Dupper plays, we can't afford to have grounders going through 3rd anymore.

Summer 2009 Stats

2009-08-09T19:05:00.005-05:00

As can be somewhat made out from the fuzzy image above, the leaders for the summer of 2009 are quite well distributed. Is this because we have a well-rounded team? Or because not one player stepped up like happens so often to run away with the hitting leadership and an early edge on the 2009 MVB.

Let's take a quick look at what did transpire.

Sabo led the team in AVG and OBP. Hitting right around .650 is a good season. He tailed off a bit over the last few games but still led the team in hitting by 100 pts. He is a singles hitter with only about 12% of his hits going for extra bases.

Sonoma led the team in HR, but did not hit one after game #8. He also shared the lead in RBI with our cleanup hitter, Big John. Wonder if Johnie Walker could have taken the RBI leadership without that one game of 5 walks?

Newcomer, Jake, led the team in triples with his inside-out swing. Kid led in doubles. Kid also continued his impressive SLG with nearly 1/2 of his hits going for extra bases. However Kid's average was about 200 points below his average and that hurt him in SLG this year as Sonoma's 7 HR powered him to the top of that category.

Rake took advantage of hitting second in the lineup most of the year and scored 31 runs. His average slipped fast and dropped over 100 points over the last 5 weeks. Ending up near his career average of .530.

Dupper kept up his reputation as being the Sac King. He led the team with 4, though Keith's 2 in the playoffs gave him a run for the title. Dupper also struggled at the dish, also hitting about 200 points lower than his typical season.

Last, and in this case also least, is Jimmy-D. I have to say I have never seen a sub-.200 average in softball. Even last year, 2-buck Chuck hit over .200. Jimmy-D showed everyone the opposite of "hit 'em where they aint" and combined that with not running some plays out and not being able to decide if he should hit right or left to come in at .169. I hope, that is the only time you will ever see anyone hit below Mario Mendoza in a softball league.

In my opinion the MVB (Most Valuable Beaver) award is still up for grabs. Will Sabo ride his 100 pt AVG lead to the coveted trophy? Will Sonoma be able to hit it over outfielders heads and add to his HR lead? Will perennial leaders step up in fall ball and take what they have claimed as theirs before? Will a new face steal the show in the fall? Games start in about 3 weeks.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 10 - Playoffs

2009-08-09T17:39:00.003-05:00

Week 10 of the season brought with it the final week of Clayton's Shaw Park playoffs. The Beavers had the opportunity to win the championship at Shaw for the 2nd consecutive year (out of two). The Beavers came into the playoffs in second place and dispatched of our first round opponent 13-2.

Game 1 of the night, game 2 of the summer playoffs began at 7pm against the Golden Sombreros. The Sombreros had played the Beavers tough this season. The Beavers winning one on a come from behind win and tying the other. It was not going to be a 10-run win again. The Sombreros knew how to keep the Beavers close.

The game got off to a rocky start. Their leadoff hitter reached base and the second hitter rolled a grounder to short. Kid scooped and flipped to Jake at second. Jake made the pivot to turn the double play and the runner went in to second with his hands in the air to throw off the concentration of Jake. Jake's throw was late to 1st. The Beavers recorded one out, but it should have been two. Baserunners in slow pitch softball are not allowed to attempt to interfere with a play. The batter should have been called out due to interference. He was not...and he eventually score after another two hits. I asked the umpire after the inning why he did not call the batter out. "Listen, I don't know all of the little, in particular rules", he said. I was shocked. Isn't that his job? To know the rules! There was no winning this argument, just making a point that he blew a call. It would not be the last. Shocking!

Belle led off the Beaver half of the first with a single. Let's see, that makes 9 straight singles for Belleman. Totally embracing the leadoff position. Rake forced him at second, but scored on Big John's single. Big John would later score on a single by Mobilly. Beavers were up 2-1 after one.

The Beavers built upon their lead in the second. Once again on a parade of singles and walks. When we play on this larger field we are transformed from a power team to a punch & judy team. Might be why we struggle playing on field #6. Takes an awful lot of hits to build a decent number of runs. Rage walked, Jake singled, Sonoma singled, Belle singled (10 in a freakin' row!), Rake singled...after all of that four more runs had scored. The offense was looking good. The bats were hot.

Sombreros answered with some help from our (their) umpire. The middle of their lineup was up and Keith was pitching. The pitch rules for the league are 6' minimum arc from the ground to unlimited height. Keith was throwing lower strikes to keep the ball out of the wheel-house. Each pitch, easily amassing more than 6'. But the umpire kept calling the illegal. This gave two very good hitters another pitch or two, and they made the most of it. When the umpire was done calling "illegal pitches" and the Beavers were done "bitching" the Sombreros had scored four runs of their own. It was 6-5 Beavers after two and a half innings.

The Beavers singles hitters went to town again. Mobilly, Rage and Jake all singled and after a sacrifice fly by Keith it was another 2 runs for the home team. Unfortunately the "bitching" or the hot air was wearing down the Beavers because over the 4th and 5th innings we sent a total of 7 batters to the plate. The only one to reach...Belle. This time, it was a walk, not a single. The streak was snapped. 10 straight hits, all singles. Impressive Belle!

In the top of the 6th the Sombreros eeked across another run to cut the lead to one run. The Beavers were running on fumes. Of the past 9 hitters, only Belle's walk was not an out. Dupper started the 6th with a hit, Rake singled for the 3rd time in the game. Jake grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Dupper. The Beavers had a little bit of insurance.

To the top of the 7th went the game. Time running down. The season's clock running down on one of the two teams. The next game's opponent was sitting in the stands watching, waiting to know who they were going to play. The team sitting there was the team the Beavers destroyed back in week 1 of the season. Team USA. They had put together a great game just before the Beavers took the field to oust the #1 team, Sportsma's Park. The #4 seed was in the finals. Who would they play? The Beavers, who were holding onto a lead, or the Sombreros, coming from behind?

The Sombreros came out hitting and had a plan. The leadoff hitter reached and the second hitter lined one into right field. Big John was patrolling out there and he started off after the ball. It seemed like there was no way he was going to catch it. Somehow, someway he opened his mitt down by his left knee and the ball fell right into it. A potentially game saving catch. The momentum left the Sombreros and jumped to the Beavers. The Sombreros were deflated and didn't score. Beavers win 9-7. On to the finals.

Beaver of the game again is a tough call. Rage went 2-2. Belle 2-2 with a walk as well. But due to the importance of the catch in right. Big John takes home the award.

The finals started about 5 minutes following the first game. The Beavers decided against rolling over the lineup like they usually do since this game was for it all. Needed to get the top of the order as many ABs as possible. Another shakeup was moving Sabo up to the two-hole and Rake down to the 9-hole.

Team USA came out ready to play on this night. They ran up 6 quick runs on the Beavers in the first inning. Highlighted by a 3-base error by Belle in LC. It was a single that skipped under his glove allowing the hitter to circle the bases. Team USA either had a different roster for the finals, or they all took some Tom Emansky hitting classes over the summer. They kept dropping hits in front of the outfield and their team speed could stretch most singles into doubles. If you have been following the Beavers, you know that our outfield is good at allowing extra bases by throwing to the wrong base at times at well. It was not a good combination for this game. Team USA ran at will.

The Beavers began chomping into the 6 run deficit with 2 of their own in the first. Highlighted by a double (yes, it has been a long time since I typed that word describing a Beaver hit) by Kid. Team USA came back strong again in the 2nd with two more runs. This time aided by the umpire who refused to hustle from behind home plate to make an accurate call at 2nd base. Beavers were down 8-2.

Team USA tacked on another run in the 3rd before the Beavers started doing their damage.

Keith (sorry, P.T.) started off the inning with a single. Jimmy-D then also singled (his first hit in 5 games) and Belle reached on a E. Sabo hit a sac fly before Kid, Big John, Dupper and Mobilly all did some damage. Beavers had scored 6 runs and were right back into the game. Only down one run.

Well, that was short lived. Back came Team USA, more singles stretched into doubles. More balls thrown into the infield by our outfield - directed to the wrong base, allowing more runners to advance. It was long, it was ugly. It was capped by another missed call. Seven more runs!

Rake singled in the bottom of the 4th and was chased around by Sonoma and plated by a P.T. sac fly. One lone run. Not enough to keep pace. The Beavers were losing their steam again.

At this point Team USA also began to come back to earth. One run in the 5th and one in the 7th. They had scored 18 runs in total. They were doing all they could to win the 14 Clayton Parks & Recreation T-Shirts. The Beavers did not score again until the bottom of the 7th.

With a record-sized crowd on hand for this season, including 3 generations from Belle's family and a non-playing Tanner it was time to pull off a little Beaver-magic. Sonoma started off the 7th with a single, Jimmy-D replaced him on the base paths with a force out. There were two quick outs, but don't say "die" yet. Belle walked, Sabo singled in Jimmy-D, Kid singled in Belle, Big John singled in Sabo. Dupper then stepped in. A grounder to the left side...fielded and Kid was forced at 3rd. Three runs in, not enough though. Beavers lost 18-12 to Team USA. Two single innings did us in. 6 in the first and 7 in the fourth could not be overcome. Beavers had to settle for 2nd place in what was once called a "church league". Congrats to Team USA for coming alive at the right time. Congrats to several teams for improving quite a bit over the past year. This league is competitive now (some of the team) and is fun to play in.

Beaver of the game goes to Kid who went 3-4 with 3 RBI. Hopefully his hot bat will carry over to fall ball.

The fall season will be played in Fenton. League will be a Wed night league again with games expected to start the first week of Sept.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 9 - Playoffs

2009-07-31T18:09:00.003-05:00

It was a singles party.

Both for the Beavers and for the Dogs In A Bathtub. The Beavers brought out the entire roster for this game, first time this has happened in some time. The extra players kept the bench full (and lively).

Beavers having the higher seed got the HOME designation for the game and took the field first. Dogs in a Bathtub started things off with several singles up the middle scattered between their outs. A single to center drove home their first run. More than likely the run could have been avoided with some louder infield help as there was plenty of time to gun the runner out at the dish. But the Beavers, confident they can score more than one run, opted to keep the other runners at their bases and allowed the run to score unchallenged.

In the bottom of the first the Beavers used most of the 10 bats that we have accumulated throughout the season and all 13 Beavers took their swings with their favorite bat. Belle singled to lead off the game (his 6th consecutive single over 3 games). Rake took advantage of the left centerfielder abandoning his position to play a short-centerfield and lined a triple into the vacancy. Kid singled in Rake, Mobilly later singled as did Dupper, Rage, Sonoma, PT and Jake. The inning came to a close with Jimmy-D sharply grounding out to thirdbase. Eight runs had crossed the plate with 8 singles, a triple and an error. 8-1 after one inning.

PT shut down the Dogs in the second inning with the help of some strong infield play on the left side. The Beavers brought up the top of the line up again and Belle singled again (7 in a row). Rake legged out a force out and Big John, Sabo all Dupper singled scoring another 4 runs.

In the third the Dogs scratched out a couple singles of their own, nothing really getting through the infield or alluding the outfield, just well placed hits over short and second. They scored one of their own. In the 3rd the Beavers answered with one of their own. An RBI triple by Jake scoring Sonoma who was standing on first after his second single. After three innings the Beavers were up 13-2.

Over the first couple of innings Beavers traded in and out of the fielding. Mobilly starting on the bench, but going into first in the second and then to the outfield for the 3rd and 4th innings. Big John starting out as the catcher, to be spelled by Sonoma behind the dish later in the game. Jake starting on the bench, but sliding into secondbase to alternate with Rage. Everyone was getting into the game.

Big John happened to ask the umpire what he knew about the name Dogs in a Bathtub. I will let the Urban Dictionary define it, similarly to how Big John informed the Beavers. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dog%20in%20the%20bathtub)
Funny, but almost too obscure. None of us knew what it was...which might be a good thing.

The umpire was our old friend "Mr. Infield Fly". Right on cue, in the first inning with runners on 1st and 2nd for the Dogs, he yells out "infield fly is in effect". I tell ya, he never misses announcing that potential. Always entertaining.

Back to the action...well, really the reason I stepped away from the action was because it was all but over. The Beavers score none in the 4th and Dogs went down without a run in the top of the 5th. The Dogs were threatening in the 5th, but a sharp grounder to Sabo's left was snared by his glove on a diving play and a force out at second (that was a very close call) ended any threat. Mr. Infield Fly called the game by the mercy rule of 10 run lead after 5 innings. Beavers had won game one of the playoffs.

Following the game the Beavers attempted to put a dent in the 2+ cases of beer that Rage brought. A fine potpourri of Stag, Beast Light, Bud Select and Busch. I would venture a guess that he went home with more Stag and Beast than anything else...but the Beavers do like their crappy beer...

Beaver of the game is a tough call. 15 singles were spread out well over the lineup. But the nod has to go to Belle who in the 4th extended his singles streak to 8 straight ABs. He was the lead off hitter in the two innings that produced 12 runs in total. It's good to have our leadoff hitter hot...finally.

Next game is Aug 5th on the same field at 7pm. The playoffs continue with the Beavers facing the winning of the #3 vs #6 game played this week. If (when) the Beavers win, they will play immediately following that game for the championship.

Plenty of good seats still available for this playoff series. Bring a cold one and join us at Shaw park.

The answer is...

2009-07-24T14:28:00.002-05:00

Matt Holliday will be wearing #15. The quiet tribute to Jimmy Ballgame is over. It took a year and a half.

While Holliday is no Edmonds in the OF, he should be able to offer up more at the plate that Edmonds did since about 2005.

Now let's get on to Holliday growing a 'stache to match his new teammates.

...momesso.blogspot.com...

Summer Playoff Schedule Released

2009-07-23T11:07:00.003-05:00

The summer playoffs are set for the Clayton softball season. The Beavers finished in second place 1.5 games behind Sportsman's Park. The Golden Sombreros were able to springboard from their tie against the Beavers into a 3rd place finish as they ended the season .5 games above Bi-State Meat. Rounding out the final standings Was Team USA then Cousin Hugo's followed by Dogs in a Bathtub, Scared Hitless and finally CJC Transportation with their lone victory.

Sportsman's Park 14-2
Beavers 12-3-1
Golden Sombreros 10-5-1
Bi-State Meat 10-6
Team USA 8-8
Cousin Hugo's 7-9
Dogs in a Bathtub 5-11
Scared Hitless 4-12
CJC Transportation1-15

In a one-game play-in, CJC Transportation did notch their second victory over Scared Hitless to win the right to play the #1 team in the playoffs.

The Beavers will match up against Dogs in a Bathtub. These two teams met back in week 2 of the season when the Beavers' bats were smokin' hot. Beavers were able to pound out 42 runs in the two games. Let's see if history can repeat itself when the two teams meet again at 9pm on July 29th on Field #6.

With a win on the 29th, the Beavers would be poised to play the winner of the #3/#6 matchup (Golden Sombreros/Cousin Hugo's). That game is scheduled for the following week at 7pm on the same field. The winner of that game will go on to play for the Championship immediately following. The league champion will be crowned at 9pm on Aug 5.

By the time the first round of the playoffs rolls in, the Beavers will have had two weeks off from softball. Hopefully the few injuries will have healed by then and the bats have had a chance to rest up for the sprint to the finish.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 8

2009-07-15T19:07:00.003-05:00

The Beavers roll into the last week of the season in second place, but with a lot on the line. The first place Sportsmans Park is only 1 game up in the standings and the 3rd place Golden Sombreros is a mere 1.5 games behind the Beavers. The Beavers need a sweep to contend for first place and must not get swept to stay in at least second. To make it even more interesting, the Beavers are battling the Golden Sombreros. The standings are up to us.

Game one starts off slow. Rake singles with one out and tried to stretch it into a double. Here was the first bad call by the ump "OUT". That was the lone hit of the inning, needless to say, we did not score.

Golden Sombreros came up and made things happen. It was a combination of well-placed hits and poor defense. A ball went through Sabo's legs, the batter went for second and Dupper overthrew second. The ball went past Kid, who was playing 1st and the batter kept running. Kid threw home, too late. 1 batter 1 run, 3 errors. Not good. Then they started hitting. When we finally recorded 3 outs they had score 5 runs. It was going to be an uphill battle.

In the second inning Sabo singled, followed by a single by Dupper and another single by Kid to drive in a run...but that was it...a run. A classic quote by Kid when he was lifted for the pinch runner, Jake. Kid meant to say "Jake you had better not get out running for me", but it came out like this, "Jake, you had better not get me off!". Nice! The Beavers were loosening up.

The Sombreros countered with one of their own, but the bottom of their lineup did not muster much. There was hope.

In the 3rd inning the top of the Beavers' order was back up. Belle singled, Rake singled, Big John singled, Sabo singled and Dupper hit a sacrifice fly (shocking). 3 runs, on some well placed hits. The defense had been watching us over the season and was playing pretty deep. The Beavers were doing a good job of adjusting to expose the defense. Beavers were down 6-4.

The next inning with any scoring was in the bottom of the 4th. The Sombreros were threatening again. A double was shot to left field with runners on first and second. Dupper chased down the ball while the runner on first was gaining on the runner on second. He hit Rake on the cut-off and Rake turned and fired home for a play at the plate. Jimmy-D caught the ball and tagged out the first runner. The second runner was only about 20 ft behind him. He quickly put on the brakes and got into a rundown. The Beavers executed the hot box flawlessly and recorded the doubleplay at home. Well Done!

The Beavers took advantage of the change in momentum as the top of the lineup came through again. Another hit by Rake followed by singles by Mobility and Sabo again drove in two more. The Beavers were down just 7-6 through 5 innings. In the 5th inning Sonoma showed up and was inserted into the bottom of the lineup. With a runner on first, Sonoma reached on an error. Belle drove home the tying run. It was a new game.

The Sombreros answered the call with a lone run in the bottom of the 6th, and the stage was set for an important 7th inning. Mobility led off with a single, Big John walked (at this point Big John also was given a new nickname; Johnie Walker. He has walked about 8 times over the past 3 games - a record in slow pitch softball we presume). Sabo, completing his 4-4 night singled in a run. Dupper reached on an E, and Kid singled in 2 runs of his own. The inning culminated with a strikeout of Jimmy-D. But the Beavers had built a 2-run cushion going into the bottom of the 7th.

The air was taken out of the Golden Sombreros at this point and they went down easily in the 7th, leading to another Beaver victory. Another close game, another poor offensive showing, but another victory none-the-less. The Beavers were now 11-4 with this 10-8 victory. Second place was secured, now it was time for the sweep and hope that Sportsmans Park lost their doubleheader.

The player of the game goes to the pitcher, Keith (P.T.). After the wheels fell off early he allowed only 3 runs to score over the final 6 innings. His knuckleball was working and baffling the Sombreros. Honorable mention to Sabo with his 4-4 night and 3 RBI, but he lost his way in the field early in the game.

Game two.

The Beavers took to the field in the second game with a chance to win first place. It started off great, Sombreros down with not much more than a whimper. The Beavers struck first. The first 4 guys reached base and scored. Once again with a line of singles and sacrifice flies. We told the ump we scored 4 runs. It was immediately challenged by our opponents, we convinced them we were correct and that our scorebook was sound. They responded with their bats. Singles, doubles, errors, more doubles when it was through they had scored 5. At least that is what they first told the ump. So we proceeded thinking we were down one run after one and a half innings. It wasn't until about 2 innings later that we heard that they scored 6 in the first inning. I guess they "counted" wrong in the second, but the ump believed them, and we had to live with it. Both teams scored a run in the 3rd then we were able to shut them down for 3 straight innings.

During that time, we could hear the band performing at Parties in the Park. A Journey song came on. Belle chimed in with something you could only appreciate from Belle..."what is this slow jazz they are playing?"

The Beavers took the lead in the 4th with 3 runs. A string of hits and an error mounting the 3 until the middle of our lineup could not keep the hit parade alive. Keith, Jimmy-D and Belle all driving in runs. Jimmy-D even proclaimed that he got tired just running to first base. I think next year's training program should include the catcher as well.

We added our 9th run in the 5th and were sitting on a 9-7 lead going into the 7th. The Sombreros started off slow, but were able to chase in 2 runs to tie the game as it headed into the bottom of the 7th. Time was running out, it was about 8pm but this game had playoff implications.

Belle led off with a single to right center, completing his perfect 4-4 night. It was set up for the middle of the order. Rake lifted one to right center - one out. Mobilly also shot one to the right side, only to be caught by the secondbaseman. Big John stepped to the dish and lifted one high into the hot summer air. Unfortunately it did not travel far and the 3rd baseman moved into foul territory and made the catch for the 3rd out.

Game tied at 9. The ump was not going to even consider us playing one more inning to decide the game, it was called at a tie. Disgusting!

Beaver of the Game goes to Belle for his perfecto at the dish.

The spring season is over except for the playoffs. Still a few teams are finishing up their regular season rainout makeups. Playoffs will now start on 7/29. Times and field to be announced on 7/23.

Check back to beaverball.blogspot.com for times.

End of the Regular Season Preview

2009-07-07T22:46:00.003-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Beavers limp into the last week of the summer season with a battle for 2nd place on their hands. Late scratch of Rage with a broken finger will leave the Beavers short as his brother, Tanner, will also miss the match ups due to night court. No word yet if Bull will let him out early.

Also, still banged up, is Kid. Kid has deemed himself ready to play, though his defense will be limited to 1B, C and bench. Kid will be in the lineup, but will have some speed stacked ahead of him ready to pinch run when necessary.

As mentioned above, the Beavers find themselves in a battle for 2nd place in the league. Just a few weeks ago it seemed like a walk in the park for a first place berth. However, a 3-3 record over the last 6 games has silenced those hopes. The Beavers come in with an 11-3 record trailing the Sportsmans Park team with their 12-2 record by one game (and still within reach if SP stumbles). The Beavers' opponents, the Golden Sombreros, are only 1.5 games behind the Beavers with an 9-4 record. They have one remaining game if necessary against Team USA who they beat in their only matchup.

So it all comes down to this final week. This is what it is all about. Two games to decide playoff positioning. Where will the Beavers wind up at the end of the season? Will the bats and defense come together and bring in two final victories? If so, will Sportsmans Park feel the pressure and cough up their lead by losing two? Or will the Beavers continue to have trouble stringing together hits with the Richmond brothers out of the lineup? If they are unable to lay double digits on the Sombreros in each game, 3rd place may be the final resting place.

In honor of the game date, 07/08/09 the Beavers will stack those spots in their lineup. The expected lineup looks like this:

Belle
Rake
Mobilly
Big John
Sabo
Dupper
Jake
Sonoma
Kid
Keith
Jimmy-D

One final note, this week is also Parties In The Park at Shaw Park. Be ready for some post game excitement over at Kilkennys after the fireworks on the field.

Game times 6 & 7p. Field #6.

Meet Your Beavers - Big John

2009-07-05T15:15:00.003-05:00

"I'm a pretty good ball player" is his mantra this year. Big John, not really known for his glovework, has played several positions over his Beaver career. Primarily a pitcher before Keith joined the squad, then playing 1st base when not on the mound, Big John finds himself most at home sitting on the bench and yelling at our players when a ball is missed.

Over the years Big John, or VaJohnna as he is also known, has amassed the second most homeruns on the team. He is also second in freak injuries, only trailing Gee. His most memorable injury came about 5 or 6 years ago when he said he was doing some yard work and the rake he was using snapped and a splintered portion of the rake handle shot through his shin.

While sporting some "pipes" of which he is quite proud he has neglected the lower portion of his body and typically is limping around the bases with some near-pulled hamstring. Luckily for Big John, there is usually someone with superior speed who just got out ahead of him to pinch run.

Things you might see or hear around Big John at a softball game:
- a lead pipe as his warm up bat
- a pipefitters union hat/bag/shirt
- "want two tickets to the gun show?"
- "I don't have any cash, can I get you back next week?"
- "Does anyone have a cigarette?"
- "You know I don't text, just call me"

Most recently Big John was awarded Beaver of the Game in an 18-17 loss in which he drew 5 straight walks. We don't need him to walk though, his lack of speed is only clogging up the bases. Swing the damn bat Meert and challenge Kid for the homerun title!

[editor's note] I did not forget his one MVB award. Since he forgot to take the trophy with him, it was left off his official bio...until now.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 7

2009-07-02T16:11:00.003-05:00

Let's just cut right to the chase, the Beavers were able to score 17 runs in each game last night. Some of the offense funk seems to have lifted with the humidity.

The opponent was "Scared Hitless". As game time approached, many of us wondered if they were going to be able to field a team. At just about 8:00 we counted 5 players wandering around their bench. It was a late arriving team and by the time the ump said "Play Ball" they had their 10.

The Beavers were home for game 1 and we trotted out a little different defense with the absence of Kid and Jake. Dupper took the call at SS and Belle moved over to LF. Scared Hitless put a couple of runners on thanks in part to the ump missing two calls at first base. The first was grounder to 3rd where Sabo nabbed the hitter by a step - "SAFE", then as the Beavers tried to turn a double play another throw beats the hitter to first - "SAFE". Are you seeing a trend here? Seems that the Beavers get the short end of many calls. Last game it was Tanner, this time it was our defense. All in all, we escaped with no runs as Keith (new nickname to be debuted later) K'd their shortstop to end the inning.

The Beavers started the climb to their 17 run game with a nice 6-spot in the first as they batted around. We need to get a promotion with Mobil On The Run and those horrible TV and radio commercials that says "When the Beavers score six runs in an inning, win or lose, you get a fountain drink for only $0.25 the next day at Mobil On the Run". Now I have that stupid song in my head...I digress.

Belle led off with a double and Rake singled him in. After a dupper force out, Big John walked (#1). Mobilly doubled in Dup and Sonoma singled in Big John and Mobile (yes, that is singled, not homered). Rage capped the first inning scoring with a 2-RBI single. An impressive start to the evening.

Have you ever gone out to field grounders on pavement with a little sand sprinkled on top? If so, you know how the infield played last night. Huge hops! Most of the D was on their heals playing the bad hop...and it hurt us. In the second Scared Hitless came out swinging...lining a couple over the infield, chopping several on the ground only to elude the Beavers' mitts. When the inning mercifully came to an end, the score was tied. In the bottom of the second the too of the order was up again for the Beavers...this time to be retired 1-2-3...Allanis-style.

In the third we held them to no runs and Big John led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk (#2). Mobilly singled and Sonoma tripled - Sabo singled him in - three quick runs before the bottom of the order fizzled the attack. Beavers were up 9-6 and the top of the order was set to lead off again in the 4th.

Scared Hitless chipped away with one run in the 4th. The umpire was quite proud to know the score...and mentioned it many times during each inning. I had never seen this before. Usually the ump just records the score, he does not keep it. Maybe he should have paid less attention to the number tallying and more to the plays at first. Also, the umpire was obsessed with announcing that the "Infield Fly Is In Effect". I think that maybe he just learned about this rule in his umpiring class last week and he was eager to use the term at every opportunity...and he did.

For the bottom of the 4th it started very similar to the 1st. Belle and Rake on base, Dup with a force out, Big John with a walk (#3), Mobilly with a hit. Sonoma then hit a Sacrifice Fly and Tanner drove in 2 runs with a single. A nice 5-run inning to stretch the lead to 14-7.

Just as Scared Hitless did after the Beavers exploded for 6 in the first, they exploded again after the Beavers hung 5 on the board. Again, shotty defense, well placed line drives and a BOMB by their shortstop to leftfield (this is the same guy who look terrible in the first on a strikeout...we got hustled!). Beavers' new lead was down to a thin 2 runs.

Keith led off the 5th with a walk and Jimmy-D popped out to the pitcher. Belle liked that pop up so much that he tried to emulate it and popped up to the 2nd baseman. Rake walked before Dupper doubled in 2 on what is labeled in the score book as "weak RBI". Big John then walked (#4) then the inning came to a close with a vintage Mobilly grunt...however this grunt was well after he weakly hit a grounder back to the mound. I hope that grunt made him feel better about that swing.

The game continued on into the 6th. Another 3 runs for Scared Hitless. This team was not going to give in. They were sensing blood and they were circling for the kill. The Beavers mounted a small attack in the bottom, but were unable to get a runner home from second. Beavers 16, Scared Hitless 15.

The 7th started off innocently enough. Two outs with no runs having scored. Then, like they had been doing all game, they started hitting with 2 outs. 3 runs scored to put them up by 2 going into the bottom of the 7th.

Jimmy-D, the leadoff hitter once everyone else has batted, grounded a single through the right side - a great start to this important inning. Belle singled and it was 1st and 2nd, no one out for Rake. Rake lifted a flyball to leftfield. Deep enough to move Jimmy-D up to 3rd, but not deep enough to score him. Dupper then did the same thing, a Sac fly scoring Jimmy-D. Now there there 2 outs and Belle was at 3rd with the tying run. Big John came up and...walked (#5). The game was in Mobilly's bat...it was not to be. A ground out to end the game. Beavers 17 Scared Hitless 18. It was the 3rd loss of the season for the Beavers and one that did not sit well. If you can award a Beaver of the game in a loss, it would go to Big John. I have never seen anyone take 5 walks in a game. Actually, I am not sure why you would want to actually, especially when you are the cleanup hitter. So he gets this award for two reasons 1) just because of the oddity of it 2) because if he would have swung the damn bat once we might have scored 18 or 19 instead of 17.

Quote of the game goes to the 1-2 punch of Belle and Dupper. Belle yelling at Rage to "Don't Get Mad", brought on the response from Dupper "Get Glad". Send endorsement checks to the blog...

Big John not only amazed us with his batting eye, he was also on with his humor. Every time a fielder would get ate-up by a ball, Big John was quick on the "you need me to play ____ position for you?". He also was trying to convince Jimmy-D that he had the ability to hit a bases empty grand slam.

Game two started up right away and we rolled the lineup over giving the leadoff duties to Sonoma. He singled (yes, again no homer), Sabo reached on an error and Tanner ripped a double to right scoring both. Rage then singled in Tanner and the Beavers were off to a 3-0 start. Nothing for Scared Hitless in the first, and again nothing for the Beavers in their half of the second. As I look closer at the book Belle, Rake and Dupper were a combined o-fer in the 2nd innings this night. Just an interesting observation.

Scared Hitless got on the board in the 2nd with 2 of their own, cutting the lead to 3-2. The bats came alive again in the top of the 3rd. Big John walked (#6), Mobilly singled, Sabo singled, Tanner tripled in 2 more runs, Rage singled, Keith singled then Jimmy-D tripled over a drawn in left-center fielder. This triple caused the crowd to erupt. Bi-State Meat was hanging around to watch the action and they were quite impressed with Jimmy's sudden power. You see, Jimmy was not looking like the athlete for these games (with the exception of his Webster Softball Championship t-shirt from many years ago). Along with the t-shirt (sleeves cut off), he was wearing camo shorts and a bucket hat. Add to this his scruffy beard and he looked like a better fit for Survivor than Clayton softball fields. Another reason why the bench jumped on the Jimmy-D bandwagon is that he had just grounded into a doubleplay in the first inning and did not run it out. He was the underdog, he was down on his luck...they were pulling for him. He answered.

In typical Scared Hitless style, they answered our big inning with one of their own. Plating 4 runs, including another blast from their shortstop who played opossum with us in the first at bat in the first game. Beavers were up 9-6.

In the 4th the Beavers started hitting again. Big John led off and was hearing it from the crowd about this lack of swinging the bat. The pitcher laid a fat pitch about chest high and VaJohnna crushed it. Refusing to be outdone by their power hitter or called out by the team watching from the Bleachers, Big John stopped his walk streak at 6 and went yard. A bunch of singles, doubles and walks followed and the Beavers added 4 more runs.

Scared Hitless stayed close with 3 runs of their own in the 4th. Through 4 it was Beavers 14 Scared Hitless 9. The Beavers kept hitting in the 5th. Dupper got in on the action with a double, Mobilly tripled, Sonoma reached on an error, Sabo walked and Tanner hit a sac fly that scored Sonoma from 2nd. The Beavers were able to shut down Scared Hitless in the bottom of the 5th. As the Beavers were coming up to hit in the 6th the ump called the game. Beavers Win! Beavers 17, Scared Hitless 9.

Beaver of the game goes to Tanner. Tanner went 3-3 with 2 doubles, a triple and a sac fly. He had 7 total RBI to show for those at bats.

Sitting around after the game we found out that some of the crowd/fans/hecklers were commenting about the way the number "00" looks on the back of Keith's jersey. I believe the quote was something to the effect of "that's what they would call prison tits". Keith, I hate to say it, but Prison Tits or PT might just be the winner.

In other Beaver news. There was a Gee sighting at Kilkennys before the game. He assured us that his retirement is only temporary. No timetable is set yet for his return. Also, as this season is winding down, we are looking into possible venues for summer/fall ball. The leader so far is Fenton on Wednesday nights. Stay tuned.

Next games are July 8 at 6pm & 7pm.

July 1 Game Preview

2009-07-01T08:36:00.003-05:00

The Beaver's bats have virtually wilted in the early summer heat. Hopefully this day of reasonable weather will awaken the bats once again. Losing two games a few weeks back to Desloge (now Sportsman Park) seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the early-surging Beavers. However, Sportsman Park has lost two games in their last 3 weeks and they are now 12-2 compared to the Beavers' 10-2. First place is once again in reach with the help of the opponent of Sportsmans Parks last games.

On to tonight's game.

The Beavers will be slightly shorthanded tonight as Kid has removed himself from the lineup. Some kind of leg injury is what is being reported on the wire. The team will not put him on the DL in case of a miraculous recovery before 8pm tonight. Word also just came in that Jake will not be at the game either. There will be some defensive juggling to find a shortstop for tonight's action. Other than those two absences, all of the remaining Beavers should be in their new uniforms and ready to take on Scared Hitless.

Scared Hitless seems to be able to swing the bat a bit. Looking back at their early season results they were able to routinely post 10+ runs, however it took them until week 3 to post a win. Recently their bats have appeared to cool off a bit as they have had more games under 10 runs than over. It is not certain if this is truly an indication of their hitting capability or the lack of defense by their opponents. Overall, Scared Hitless comes into tonight with a 3-9 record, second from the bottom in the league. Like the Beavers they were able to take two from CJC Transportation. Their other victory came last week against Dogs in a Bathtub when they were able to plate 18 runs.

The Beavers will have Sonoma back in the lineup for tonight's game after missing a week. He will need to offer some middle of the order support in terms of reaching base. The Beavers' scoring drought can be attributed to the lack of stringing hits together. A consistent approach of reaching base will be needed to bring home two victories tonight under the cooler air.

Game time is 8pm on field #6.

Expected Lineup
Belle LF
Rake 1B
Dupper SS
Big John RF
Mobilly RC
Sonoma
Tanner LC
Sabo 3B
Rage 2B
Keith P
Jimmy-D C

Stay tuned to beaverball.blogspot.com for post game reactions and recaps.

Spending 20 hours a week on the team is not rare

2009-06-25T10:30:00.003-05:00

I came across this article today in the Onion and I think it shows that our (read: my) obsession with the Beavers is not all that uncommon.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/co_worker_just_a_little_too?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

"Don't Hit it to the guy in the tight pants"

2009-06-19T08:49:00.004-05:00

On a muggy summer night the Beavers took the field trying to avenge a double-header loss the week before. This week the Beavers would at least look better than the previous weeks as we are now sporting our new Beaver jerseys. While these jerseys are rockin', they are also 100% polyester - so note to Beavers, if you have beer duty for the remainder of the year, you had better also think about packing water. To say that these black, poly jerseys are warm is an understatement.

The Beavers were set to face CJC Transportation. CJC came into the week's action with only one win. It seemed like this was the week to snap out of the hitting funk that has mired the team for a few weeks now.

In the first game CJC led off the game with an empty frame though they did get two on. The Beavers jumped out of the gate. Belle doubled, Rake homered (partially in thanks to the left fielder slipping), Big John tripled (yes, you read that right...oxygen for the big guy, please!), Dupper and Sabo singled and Rage doubled. Once the dust settled it was 2nd and 3rd for Tanner with two outs. Tanner grounded a harmless dribbler to second. The secondbasemen took his time in fielding and throwing the ball to first. Tanner was hustling all the way and trying to make something of this pathetic hit. Tanner crossed the bag and about 2 seconds later the firstbaseman caught the secondbaseman's throw. "OUT!", yelled the umpire. Tanner's momentum had taken him a ways down the rightfield line and when he heard the call he was in total disbelief. The Beavers bench erupted in laughter as Tanner had just been hosed. The worst call we had seen in years. The ump was determined to try to give CJC any and all chances to stay in the game. Rake asked the ump if we would at least get credit for the run in return for that gift out. It was not going to happen. Beavers 5, CJC 1, Ump 1 after 1 inning of play.

The next action came in the third inning. The Beavers led off with a double by Kid and followed it with 3 singles...all to score one lone run. To ruin a potential crooked number Big John was gunned out at third on a Mobilly pop up. Big John may be "a pretty good ballplayer, but it is not because of his speed".

The game sped up considerably during the middle innings. CJC plated one run in each of the 3rd and 4th innings, the Beavers plated 2 of their own in the 3rd and 5th. After 5 it was Beavers 7, CJC 2, Ump 1.

In the bottom of the 6th the Beavers were able to string together several singles to plate two more runs. Trying to stretch a single into a double Tanner was again called out, this time at second, and again where he was quite obviously safe. The game was called for some reason with the Beavers up by 7 after 6 innings. Final score Beavers 9, CJC 2, Ump 2.

To say the ump was not really sure what was going on is a huge understatement. Missing blatent calls, calling the game after 6 innings with plenty of time remaining and then putting down the final score of 8-3 on the score card. He was obviously there to just pick up a check.

The Beaver of the game for game 1 is a tough one. No one completely took over the offense or defense. It was a solid 7 run victory, but the one consistent performer was Rage. With a 3-3 night including 2 singles and a double and also turning a doubleplay, Rage gets the honor.

Somewhere amidst the first game the CJC bench was overheard saying, "guys, don't hit it to the leftfielder, the guy in tight pants. With pants that tight he has to be good". So early in the season we get an email about our players in long pants and everyone carrying bat bags, now we have guys calling Dupper out again. The pants are most likely the same ones Dupper wore in his teens, so they are a little tight. We have all learned to just look away.

The Beavers retired to the beer cooler for a few minutes before stepping to the plate in game two. To punish the Beavers for our poor play last week, Kid brought Natural Light, Busch Light and Colt 45. We might have to have restrictions on the beer selections for next season...

In game 2 the Beavers started off hot again. Rake doubled, Kid doubled off the top of the tree down the rightfield hill, Big John hit a sac fly to score Kid from second, Dupper tripled, Mobilly and Keith singled. After all of that, the Beavers were on the board with 4 runs. CJC answered with one of their own. They seemed to be getting better as the night went on. Their offense had a few guys who could place the ball perfectly between the infield and outfield and their defense had started to become more cohesive. Especially their left centerfielder who pretty much played everywhere from left to right. If the ball was in the air, he was near by.

The Beavers virtually tood the second inning off, Tanner and Jake both hit singles but no one else could bring them around. After 2 it was Beavers 4, CJC 1, Ump 0.

In the 3rd the Beavers' bats came alive. Rake singled, Kid lifted one to rightfield, down the hill again. This time the rightfielder camped under it, only for it to bounce off his glove. Kid stopped at first, Rake to third. Big John singled then Mobilly hit a 3-run homer. The rally started again with Keith singling, Rage tripling, Tanner hitting a double (and not getting called out), Jimmy-D also lined a single to rightfield. The Beavers were up 11-1. Keith kept CJC at bay with good defense behind him for the most part. With the exception of two throwing errors by Jake in his inning at first and a wild throw by Sabo to try to get a lead runner at second the defense obliged and kept CJC to minimal runs.

In the top of the 4th, Kid reached on yet another error. Big John then launched a screamer to left centerfield...and deep. Kid slowly jogged around the bases as Big John was in over drive determined to not get held at 3rd again. He basically caught Kid between 2nd and 3rd and the two ran home a step a part, just beating the relay in from the outfield. Beavers were now up 13-1. CJC went down easily again and once again the umpire called the game. I think the ruling is supposed to be 10 run lead after 5 innings, 15 after 4. Well, according to our book we were up 12 after 4. That was good enough for the man in blue. He handed Rake the scorecard to sign and read 13-3 Beavers. Hmmm. Soon after that, we found out what was really on his mind. He asked us for a Colt 45. Now it all makes since. Billy D. Williams was in his head for the hour and a half of softball games. He just wanted to get to our cooler of ice cold Colt 45.

Beaver of the game goes to Big John. A deep sac (o' shit) fly ball to score kid from 2nd, an RBI single and the HR.

Next week the Beavers have a bye. In two weeks we are playing again on the good field (#6) at 8 & 9 pm.

Game Preview 6/17/09

2009-06-17T13:14:00.003-05:00

Tonight, weather permitting, the Beavers will look to snap their 2-game losing streak as they face the last-place team, CJC Transportation. "This may be just the opponent we need to revenge our anemic run production from last week", says Serge Traylor, manager and firstbaseman.

CJC enters the night with a record of 1 win and 7 losses. Their one win came against Cousin Hugo's back in week two. Of their losses, they have been shutout twice. "Even I think I can get a couple of hits against these guys", Jim Haynes was overheard saying. This is really telling as Jimmy-D's average is presumed to be in the .100 area. To our knowledge, there is not a catchy name for an average in this range. Mario Mendoza owns the .200 average, I think that "minor leagues" might be the best way to call a .100 hitter.

The two losses last week to team Desloge were managed by Kid. "I think I have beer duty this week, I think I will bring O'douls based on the way we hit.", says Kid. Not sure if this has anything to do with his rumored sponsorship with the A-B/Inbev non-alcoholic brew. Will have to wait for "beer-thirty" to arrive to find out whether or not the Beavers will have any substantial alcohol content in their beer tonight. Kid was also in charge of the last Beaver Times entry. Special Kudos go out to his Alanis Morrissete metaphor. Even if he had to google "metaphors + going down", it was still classic. Pitcher Keith Miller was heard saying "I will start calling my 1-2-3 innings 'Alanis'".

Tonight's action marks what would have been the end of the regular season. However, due to 2 rain outs we will continue to play. Games tonight begin at 6pm on the field by Brentwood Blvd. Next week is a bye week. Tonight's performance should tell a lot about this team and the collective makeup. Can we regain some swagger and find out bats against the cellar-dwellers? Will the hitting funk that finally did the team in last week hang over us like the humidity in the air today? One thing is for certain, the Beavers will be without their new power hitter, Sonoma. Sonoma is nursing an ailing hamstring. This opens the door for the homerun race for the season. It is a gutsy move to sit out against the last place team when stats could be padded. We'll see how this works out for his power status as well as his hammy.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 5

2009-06-15T18:10:00.004-05:00

Well Hello Everyone! In Rake's absence I was asked to keep the book, bat, and most importantly write this weeks BeaverTimes. This is my first ever blog I have written so please no heckling. If you want to heckle come to the games and heckle me there, after this past week I deserve it. Well here goes nothing, and I really mean nothing....

On June 10th The Beavers 8-0 were matched up against Team Desloge who was 6-0. It was the match up of the year so far against two undefeated teams. It was such a big game Belle had to bring his 2 boys out to be the teams bat boys, Jimmy D had to dress up for this game with a T-Shirt with a tie design on it, Jimmy D it was quite impressive. Not sure I would be caught dead in that T-Shirt but you definitely pulled it off or actually kept in on, thank God. Jimmy if you are trying to dress up for the games, maybe you should take some instruction from Tanner and show up in black slacks, dress shoes and a blue collared shirt. He says he was in night court but I think he was trying to pick up some ladies at parties in the park. But he showed up alone, guess he shouldnt have asked those girls if they wanted to go see some beaver playing with balls across the park.

The Beavers were away for the first game and had a shuffled lineup, turns out it was not the best move to make. Kid started off the game as the leadoff hitter, starts the game with a single. Then the next 3 hitters went down faster than Alanis Morrisette in a movie theater 1-2-3. Beavers take the field, and went down by one run in the first inning, it could have been worse but with Keiths pitching he was able to keep control of the game.

Beavers back up to bat top of the 2nd, MoBilly starts us off with a single. Dupper flies out MoBilly does not advance. Next up Jake, grounder to the infield MoBilly out at 2nd Jake on first. This started a small little 2 out rally, next 3 hitters come up and all of a sudden 3 singles in a row by Rage, Belle, and Keith, 2 runs score putting the Beavers up 2-1.

Top of the 3rd inning, Kid starts us off with a HR, gotta love the back to back fields. The next 5 batters reach base scoring 2 more. All of a sudden inning over, it looked like a big rally was about to start but all of a sudden Desloge puts an end to it. Beavers up 5-1. Desloge once again shut down in the 3rd.

No runs for either team in the 4th or 5th inning. MoBilly starts off the 6th inning with a double and Dupper repeating Pujols hits a deep sacrifice fly scoring MoBilly from 2nd, I dont think MoBilly had any thoughts about stopping at 3rd especially the way we were hitting. That proves to be the last run for the Beavers in this game. Beavers up 6-1. Desloge comes up and scores 4 in the 6th inning thanks to the help of the less than stellar Beavers defense. Beavers up 6-5 going into the top of the 7th inning, not really a good thing if you saw our defense the inning before.

Top of 7, Jimmy D starts us off with a the first out of the inning, Kid reaches base on an error the next 2 batters make outs, and just like that the top of the 7th inning is over. Beavers still up 6-5. Desloge comes up to bat in the bottom of the 7th inning down by 2 runs. Pressure is on them, right? Wrong! Beavers defense started off decent to start the game and slowly became suspect as the game progressed, the defense eventually crumbles in the bottom of the 7th and Desloge comes up and scores 2 to keep their undefeated record while taking away the Beavers hopes for a undefeated season. Desloge 7, Beavers 6. At least there is always a second game, right?

Game 2:

Desloge starts the 2nd game with a single run in the 1st inning. Beavers come back up to the plate after rolling the lineup over. This time Big John is leading off and starts the 2nd game off with a single with the next 5 batters coming up and reaching base while only hitting into one fielders choice. All of a sudden bases are loaded with only one out. Keith is up to the plate and hits a sac, scoring our 3rd run of the inning. 2 outs down and 2 runners on, unfortunately the Beavers luck runs out and their brief run comes to an end only scoring 3 runs in the first inning. Beavers up 3-1.

2nd inning, Keith is able to shut them down...Desloge posts a goose egg. Typically this is a good sign for the Beavers. Time to take advantage and score some runs. Kid starts us off in the 2nd inning and records the first out, Sabo and Sonoma able to reach base both score from Big Johns big single. 2 more runs for the Beavers, we are now winning 5-1. It's starting to look pretty promising, so we think. Next 2 batters both record outs to end the inning, so much for our little rally.

3rd inning: Keith at this point in the game is pitching a gem allowing only 1 run. Desloge throws up another goose egg. Beavers coming up to the plate bottom of the 3rd inning. This is the time to jump on Desloge and throw up a big number. Or so we thought. Beavers throw up a goose egg themselves and end the 3rd inning up 5-1 still. After the first game we shouldnt be comfortable with this lead.

Desloge scores 1 in the 4th, 1 in the 5th and 2 in the 6th inning all while Beavers not putting up a single run. End of the 6th inning it is all tied 5-5. None of the Beavers would admit it but you could definitely tell there was some nervousness around. Not scoring a run since the 2nd inning everyones bat has gone cold. Beavers did not score since the 2nd inning but we only had 1 hit in the last 3 innings. Not impressive at all.

Here we go into the 7th inning. Once again, Mr. Clutch comes to the rubber and shuts Desloge down. Time to get excited Beavers tie game in the bottom of the 7th, time to show this undefeated team who's boss. Jimmy D starts the inning off with the first out, Kid reaches base with a single. Sabo up to bat hits into a fielders choice, kid out at 2nd for the 2nd out. Sonoma then comes up to bat with Sabo on first with 2 outs. Sonoma tears into the next pitch, the ball is hit deep, back goes the outfielder he is running after it balls to the wall, he is doing his best to track it down, he dives just like Jim Edmonds and makes an amazing catch, unbelievable the outfielder makes a game saving catch. OK OK, so I lied, Sonoma's hit wasnt that amazing, I was making sure I had your attention. Honestly I cant remember how he ended the inning all I know is we ended the 7th inning with no runs. 7 innings completed and the game is still tied at 5.

Desloge comes up in the top of the eighth inning and puts a 4 spot up. They are now leading 9-5 in the top of the eighth, I cannot remember the last time we went into extra innings. Here come the Beavers, Big John leads us off and makes the first out. The next 4 batters come up and BOOM we score 3 runs. Beavers down by 1 run and only 1 out recorded. It looks like the Beavers bats have finally woken up in the bottom of the 8th inning of the 2nd game (thats 14.5 total innings in the night if you cant count). We only need one run to tie it back up, 2 runs to bring home a winner. Rage is on first with Belle digging in at the plate. Belle, the winning run, was focused and ready to hit, its been awhile since I saw him this focused. Here comes the pitch, Belle makes contact puts his head down and starts running for first. Unfortunately he hit it on the ground and Desloge was able to get Rage at 2nd. Belle on first 2 outs with Keith coming up to the plate. Keith who has kept us in both games with some awesome pitching is up, can he save the Beavers with his bat? He swings, hits a high pop up, unfortunately that is all it was, high! The left fielder catches it game over, 8 innings down and the Beavers lose their 2nd game by 1 run.

And so there it is. Beavers lose their first 2 games of the year. Its pretty disappointing considering our defense was very shakey and our bats were quiet for most of the night. The highlight of the night has to be Tanner writing down the percentages at the end of the 2nd game. Let me share...

Fielding%-them 39%, us 32%

OBP%-them .123%, us .074%

Asshole%-them 62%, us 84%

Losing%-them 0%, us 100%

All I can say is that I hope next weeks game has a different turn out.

Meet Your Beavers - The Nickname Switch

2009-06-07T17:26:00.003-05:00

Few players have pulled off the full nickname switch. Many players have added new names to the list of that they may be called, but few have actually seen one name virtually die and another rise up.

Once known as "Burrelli" - a variation of Burrell...meaning Pat Burrell...since his name, too, is Pat - a ritual began while going out to or in from the field. A slamming of the mitt to the ground, usually followed by a place kick of said glove. The reason...not quite sure. I suspect it originated from watching some sub-par Beaver fielding, but am unsure of the real reason. I guess Belle had been watching the Bad News Bears for some reason and recalled that there was a player on the Bad News Bears that always threw his glove to the ground. Tanner was his name...Tanner quickly overtook Burrelli as Pat Richmond's nickname. A new name was born.

Tanner has been with the Beavers since 2002. We he joined the team he brought a left-handed stick as well as some much needed speed. He has hit at a clip of over .550 since joining the team and has logged 157 games. Since his early days on the team he has lost his speed as he has lost his hair - but not to the same degree as that would mean that he would now have no speed.

Tanner has been one of the most versitile defenders since coming on board. Usually playing one of the middle outfield positions or manning the infield at secondbase. Tanner also has filled in at short. Usually playing error free softball...usually.

If you find yourself in trouble with the law, he is also your man. Starting his own law firm a few years ago he has also become the resident knowledge of the law for the team...and probably owes a decent part of his salary to the Beavers and our connections.

Wearing #33 since starting with the Beavers and switching to #3 in the 2009 season, Tanner may not wow you with his blazing speed anymore, and he may not answer to Burrelli either, but if you find a way to insert "TAN" with any other combination of words and you'd be talking about Tanner. Just ask Big John about all of the possible variations of Tanner...he'll give you a list as long as your arm.

I can't stop the rain, here it comes again

2009-06-03T20:33:00.002-05:00

For a second straight week softball was rained out today. Last week the storm rolled in about an hour before first pitch, this week, it rolled in over a day before first pitch. So the Beavers remain stuck at 8-0 this season.

Next games will be on June 10th (weather permitting) at 6pm. The games scheduled for May 27 and June 3 will be added to the end of the season.

In other news, most Beavers will be wearing new uniforms later this month. All but one Beaver ordered a new jersey and they are expected to be in for the June 17th game. That one Beaver who abstained...our catcher who claims he will continue to wear collared shirts for the remainder of the season. If that keeps him getting at least 2 hits a night, we'll live with it, though it shows no team unity.

May 27 Matchup - Preview

2009-05-27T13:06:00.003-05:00

Tonight the Beavers take the field against the 2-4 Scared Hitless. That is weather-permitting. The forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms in the area all afternoon and evening. Let's hope that, once again, the rain misses Clayton.

Scared Hitless sits near the cellar in the summer league standings. They started off 0-4 before sweeping CJC Transportation last week. CJC Transportation is 1-7 for the record and in last place.

In all 4 of Hitless' losses they have allowed 20 or more runs. They did show a little spark against the other undefeated team in the league, Desloge, by only losing 22-18 in their second game to them. So, maybe Scared Hitless is coming around. They battled against the 2nd place team, then rattled off 2 straight 10-run wins. I would not take them lightly.

And the Beavers won't take anyone lightly. After struggling in the opening game in each of the last two weeks, the lineup may get a little bit of a shuffle to spread out the boppers and get some runners on before the meat of the order. Look for Sabo in the leadoff spot tonight and Sonoma to be dropped down a bit to offer some power deeper in the lineup.

The Beavers are off to an 8-0 start in 2009. Dating back to 2008, the Beavers have won 14 straight and 33 of the last 34. This is a winning streak that has not been matched before in Beaver history (to the best of my memory).

The Beavers are also looking at sporting new jerseys for the remainder of the 2009 season. Beavers will be asked to request their uniform # tonight so that we can have the new duds in time for the June 10th games.

Game time tonight is 8 & 9pm on field #6 (by the high school).

Meet Your Beavers - That is if you can see him

2009-05-26T22:40:00.004-05:00

Our third highlighted Beaver has been on the team since 1995. Since joining the squad, and adding to the Kirkwood contingency, he has primarily manned left field. Craig "Dupper" Dupske and his trademark baseball pants has been a steady offensive and defensive force for years. During his tenure he has amassed more hits, doubles and RBI than any other Beaver as well as topping the leaderboard in Sacrifice flies.

Not a game goes by that Dupper does not find himself sliding to catch a flyball. I am sure that he is doing this purposefully ala Jim Edmonds trying to make it look better - but whatever...he catches the ball, so who are we to judge.

Several years into his career Dupper was donned with another nickname; White Shadow. He earned this nickname as he always seemed to disappear after the games. His childhood home just a nine-iron shot from home plate at the old Kirkwood fields, you would hear the screen door slam shut at his parents house before you knew that he had once again pulled his disappearing act. The White Shadow was born.

In 2007 Dupper brought home the coveted MVB hitting .622 with 10 HR and 35 RBI. It was his first MVB and further established himself as one of the stars of the Beavers.

When not roaming in left field, Dupper can be found filling in at SS, 3B or even pitching. Offering a unique defensive alignment as he throws from the left side.

So come on out to the ballpark and watch for Dupper playing leftfield, you can't miss him. He'll be wearing his baseball pants with grass-stained knees and most likely sporting a Beavers jersey from the late 90's. He may not have fashion sense on the softball field, but does it really matter if when you turn around to see him he is already gone?

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 4

2009-05-23T10:04:00.002-05:00

Maybe you recall last week when I bragged about our defense...maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Ugh, we started off a little rusty to say the least. Not to take everything away from Bi-State Meat, they also did a great job of lining balls up the middle - just over secondbase. You combine perfectly placed singles and doubles with several fielding errors and you have yourself a bad start to a softball game. And so it was, 6-0 Meatheads before we got a chance to prove what we could do.

The Beaver half started strong with Belle singling, Rake reaching on an error and Kid doing the same - bases were loaded on none out. Sonoma grounded into a fielder's choice - 1 run, 1 out. Dupper lifted a sac fly - 2 runs, 2 outs. That was all there was in the first. In the top of the second the Meatheads again placed some hits up the middle, forcing the Beavers to contemplate using a "short centerfielder" instead of a left center and right center. Beavers answered with nothing in the 2nd, capped by a Jimmy-D K.

The offense started again in the 3rd with a double by Belle, that is labeled in the scorebook "softest double ever" (it looks like Tanners scribbles if you ask me). Rake doubled him in, Kid tripled in Rake...then the center of the lineup went cold again. We just could not sustain a rally. We plated 3 more and trailed this 2-4 team 8-5. Then it got ugly.

Defensive let downs and well-placed hits again tormented the Beavers. Bi-State Meat basically batted around and scored another 5 runs. They were hitting the ball well. Mobilly, making his first start on the mound due to Keith's absence, was not used to the "unlimited arc" rule. His pitches were in the customary 6'-12' arc and they were ready for them. They plated 5 more runs.

On the other side, the lefty going for them knew exactly how to throw a high arc pitch and that 15'-20' arc he was throwing was really bothering the Beavers. He would get 2 strikes on us and had this pitch that seemed to hang in the air forever, then land close enough to the plate/mat that you had to swing. We had a lot of ugly swings - either driving the ball straight into the ground or replicating the arc on a hit - leading to a harmless fly ball. We were stymied.

In the 4th we were able to once again get runners on and in, only to have guys later in the inning strand them. The killer to this inning was a doubleplay ball for Jimmy-D. His frustration was mounting. Leading to the comment, "I don't understand what is going on, I kill the ball at the cages". Jimmy, life cannot be lived in the cages...

In the 5th something happened, something changed. Mobilly began fooling their hitters. Our fielding sharpened. They stopped hitting the ball where we were not fielding. We held them to 1 run for the final 3 innings. Maybe their pre-game BBQ was wearing off, but they lost their energy and their stride. They were up 13-7 going into the bottom of 6th. The Beavers were in trouble still.

Again in the 6th the Beavers started off hot, the first 5 guys reached base - only to be followed by 3 straight outs. As hot as it was at the beginning of the inning with a HR by Mobilly and a couple singles and a couple errors, it was equally as cold at the end of the inning with Rage, Belle and Rake all retiring 1-2-3. Bi-State 13, Beavers 11 after 6.

Bi-State plated one more in the top of the 7th, as Mobilly and the defense behind him effectively shut the door. We entered the bottom of the 7th.

Kid flies out, one down.

Sonoma singles, dupper reaches on an error, Mobilly singles - bases loaded.

Jake reaches on an error plating two. Bi-State 14, Beavers 13

Sabo steps to the dish and comes through...a linedrive to right center dropping in-between 2 of their 3 outfielders (yes, they were playing a man down all game). Sabo touches them all, a game-winning 3 run HR. BEAVERS WIN!

For obvious reasons Sabo picks up his second Beaver of the Game honor. Beavers 16, Bi- State Meat 14. Beavers move to 7-0 and truly earned that victory. It did leave us to wonder though, would the game have turned out differently had the Meatheads had that 4th outfielder? Who cares, we are still undefeated.

Rage, who arrived at the game in the 4th, pointed out that since his arrival we outscored them 11-1. Maybe he is like our good luck charm. We'll continue to watch for trends.

Also, somewhere buried in the game, was another Belle-ism. This time our lovable plumber mistakenly said "Ergonomics" instead of "Economics". Don't ask me why we were talking Econ in the middle of a comeback victory, that is just a glimpse of the odd dugout conversations that take place with the Beavers...it's all about Ergonomics...

In game two we took the role as visiting team and started off with a 3-spot. For those of you not at the games, we "roll over the lineup" for the second game. Meaning that whomever was ondeck when the last play took place in game one, is the lead off hitter for game two. This accomplishes two goals; 1) everyone should get to hit the same amount of times over the course of the night and 2) Rake does not have to labor through mixing up two lineups. Everyone is happy.

Jimmy-D, back to batting left-handed, drove a ball over first and down the line. Even he was able to leg it into a double. I should insert something here about how Jimmy reminds the team that back many years ago (maybe 9 or so), Jimmy raced Mobilly and Lumpy (an ex-Beaver) at Kirkwood Park after a game. Jimmy won the race, but the others both claim that something interfered with their running - beit slipping or whatever. That is Jimmy's claim and he brings it up monthly. He is fast, if only in his own mind.

Back to the game, Belle followed Jimmy's double with an opposite-field triple and Rake followed that with a HR to rightcenter. Not a bad start.

Rage took the hill for game two to see if he could master the +12' arc allowance. He was able to keep Bi-State relatively quiet with the bats allowing one run in each of the first two innings. He would later point out, as is customary for any Beavers pitcher, that both runs were unearned. I think I will give him the benefit of the doubt on one of them. Here's what happened.

With runners on 1st and 2nd a line drive was hit between Sonoma in right and Rake in rightcenter. Sonoma didn't seem to think it was too close to him, so he stayed put. The ball, however, was slicing back to rightfield. Rake tried to cut it off, but took a poor angle at it and it skipped by. The runner on 2nd was going to score on the hit. The runner from 1st tried to score while Rake chased it down. A relay throw from Rake to Jake (2B) to Tanner (C) nailed the second run. Our pitchers would argue that Sonoma or Rake should have dove like superman to catch that ball, thus unearned. I will call it earned.

The Beavers scored another 3 in the second inning. Sonoma launched his 7th HR of the year followed by three straight hits by Mobilly, Jake and Sabo brought in 2 more.

The Meatheads were done at this point. Their bats went cold and Rage did not allow another run (earned or unearned) for the last 3 innings. The Beavers were just starting to get things going again. Their pitcher all by abandoned the extremely high arc pitch and the Beavers jumped on him. Four in the 4th, five in the 5th. In the 4th two triples did the damage; one by Jake the other by Rage. Inbetween, Jimmy-D k'd again. He said his goal was two hits for the night, he was halfway there with the 1st inning double - don't give up yet, Jimmy!

In the 5th Rake led off with his second HR of the game. Basically to the same spot as before - right center. Kid tripled, Mobilly tripled (you do realize that 4-5 years ago this would all have been homeruns...we are getting old and slow). Jake doubled, leaving him only the HR shy of the cycle. The inning ended with another K, this time to Rage, and this one a legit swing-and-a-miss. Before Rage, Jimmy-D came to the plate. He drove a ball between first and second, driving in a run and reaching his target of 2 hits for the night. His first 2-hit game. This could be the beginning of Jimmy-D breaking out of his slump. You are no longer just hitting in the cages my friend.

Another glimpse into the Beavers dugout brings up this quote. Mobilly's triple in the 5th was like putting english on the ball as it hit off the end of his bat, over first base and spinning into foul territory. Jimmy chimes in with our word for the day, "masse' ". I believe the line was "he put some masse' on that ball", or something to that effect.

Beavers win again. Beavers 15, Bi-State Meat 2.
Beaver of the game goes to Rake with 2 HR and an outfield assist.

What has not been documented until now is the beer selection that was brought to the game by Jimmy-D. Let's see if I remember this correctly...Strohs...yep, Olympia...yep, Old Style...yep, Natural Light...yep one 24oz, Bud Light....yep (wait, how did that get in there!?) Let's just say Thursday was not so pleasant. Keith, you have beer duty next week, please make up fo this...

Next games are May 27th at 8pm on the same fields (near the highschool).

May 20 Matchup - Preview

2009-05-20T11:58:00.000-05:00

I have a few minutes while I devour my lunch to offer a look ahead to tonight's games. The Beavers will take on Bi-State Meat at 8pm & 9pm on field #6.

Bi-State Meat enters the 4th week of the season with a 4-2 mark. They have taken care of the opponents they should have and lost to those above them. In week 1 Bi-State took on the Golden Sombreros and handed them a 10-run loss in game one, only to squeak out a 2-run victory in their nightcap. In week #2 Bi-State took on the only other still-undefeated team in the league, Desloge, and suffered two losses. In game one they were handed an 18-10 defeat and in game two the suffered a 15-9 loss. In week #3 Bi-State swept CJC Transportation, one of the two worst teams in the league, 18-2 & 14-4.

So, against teams above .500 they are 0-2 and against teams at .500 or below they are 4-0. They show the ability to hang double digit runs on the scoreboard, as they have scored 10 or more in 4 of 6 games (3 of them victories).

Which Beavers offense will show up tonight? The offense that scores near 20 runs a game, or the offense that eeked out 2 runs in a pitching duel victory? Either way, we are hoping the opposition lives up to their name and brings along plenty of food for the pre/post game BBQ.

A Glimpse Inside Our Career Stats

2009-05-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

As was mentioned in the 1st Edition of the 2009 Beaver Times, we are in our 17th season...ouch! Over 16 years for several of adds up to quite a few ABs, Hits, RBI and even ejections. Gee and Rake have been tag-teaming the stats since the first game in 1991. Before releasing the complete stats to the team in a week or two, here is your sneak peak at some of the career highlights and of course a few low lights.

Without further ado...

Leading in games, AB and Runs - BELLE - 357 games, 1199 AB and 518 runs - he is also sporting a .504 lifetime average.

Leading in hits, doubles and RBI - DUPPER - 659 hits, 202 doubles and 572 RBI - Dup is carrying a .577 avg into the 2009 season.

Leading in K's and swinging bunts (un-official stat) - JIMMY-D - 26 k's & probably 325 swinginng bunt hits - his lifetime average is .418

Our leader in HR, Avg, Slg and Ejections - KID - 100 HR, .631 avg, 1.220 SLG and 2 ejections

Leading the team in walks - BIG JOHN - 80 BB - had he swug the bat a little more he might be closer to Kid in the HR race, instead he is 31 behind.

Other Avg. for the 2009 starters: Rake .530, Gee .514, Mobilly .517, Big John .586, Tanner .554, Sabo .570, Rage .667 (39 AB), Keith .469 - Jake and Sonoma - no AB prior to 2009.

In an ode to Beavers Gone By:
Seavus .584 avg in 153 lifetime games
Coon .468 in 151 games
Pudge .690 in 130 games (2nd highest lifetime slg with 1.086)
Lumpy .529 in 128 games
Rookie .553 in 76 games (averaging 1 HR every 4 games - Kid 1 every 2.4 games)
Ripper .455 in 19 games
Jaws .367 in 23 games
Juice .711 in 14 games with 14 HR
2-Buck Chuck .214 in 10 games

Finally, for the team we have a lifetime .524 avg and have hit 491 HR with 5,379 runs scored. Our career record is 234-138-2 for a .626 winning percentage. We have won 13 championships and ask any of our pitchers...we are still without allowing an earned run - IMPRESSIVE.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 3

2009-05-15T08:50:00.000-05:00

Before diving into the recaps from this week's games, let me quote an email from a guy on the opposition last week that was forwarded onto one of the Beavers.

we played a team that was ridiculous last night

score 15 runs in the first inning we played....we didn't make one error.
on the fields that are right by shaw park tennis courts, one guy hit the other backstop on 3 bounces. Our outfielders were playing in the other infield.

Followed by this...

they were all ripped, baseball pants, each had their own bats / bags

Good stuff! The Beavers are back...or so we thought.

Game 1, week 3 was karma getting us back. As the quoted email stated we were hanging 15 on the opposition just 7 days prior, this game was to be quite the opposite. The wind was blowing in as a storm was blowing through town. Somehow the rain missed Clayton and the games were on. In the first inning both teams went up 1-2-3. Not very Beaveresqe for our opening inning. It marked the first game that we did not score at least 3 in the first frame. In the second Sabo reached on an error that chased Big John in for our first run...and our only run until the 7th. In the field, though, we were playing as well as ever. Sabo fielded up to his nickname, scooping up anything that came near him - to the hole, to the line, charging - whatever, he was there to scoop and throw out the runner. I would take a guess that he had about 8 plays over at the hot corner. On the mound, Keith [still no nickname, but one might have rose to the top at the post game celebration - more on that later] also played an impressive game. Throwing two legit K's in the first 3 innings and keeping the opposition off base in most innings. He even fielded his position with a couple of come-backers.

In the 5th the Beavers were still clinging to a 1-0 lead when the visiting team, Cousin Hugo's, put a runner on second. A fly ball was lifted to left center and Belle took off after it. Now, he claims that he "overran the ball", all I can tell you is that it clanked off the tip of his mitt and fell to the ground, allowing the tying run to score. This was immediately followed by Dupper yelling from leftfield, "that's alright Mobilly, you'll get the next one". Keith shut down Cuz Hugo for the remainder of that inning and the next 2.

The game sped into the bottom of the 7th, the Beavers with only 4 hits so far. It was a amazingly sad display of offense, especially after circulating that email from the previous week. Something changed in the 7th though and the Beavers finally woke up at the plate - Sonoma singled, Big John walked, Dupper singled to load the bases and with none out Tanner delivered the game winning hit. As many baserunners in 4 at bats as the entire game up to that point - the Beavers walked away with a relieved 2-1 victory.

It is an on-going line from our pitchers that they have never allowed an earned run - an obvious jab at the fielding of this team and a glimpse into the ego of our pitchers, this was the first time that I can recall a true 0 ER game. For that, the Beaver of the Game goes to Keith for keeping us in the game long enough to mount that rally in the 7th.

Game 2 started immediately after the walk-off single. This time the bats stayed alive. Though not scoring a run in the top of the first we did load the bases, we were finally hitting again. In the second inning the damn burst open and we batted around, scoring 9 runs. Highlights in the inning were a 2-run HR by Sonoma, 5 straight singles by Tanner, Sabo, Keith, John "Rage" Richmond (making his 2009 debut in game one tonight), and Belle. All of this happed before the first out. Then Rake lined a bases clearing single (it should be a double to whomever was keeping the book). Beavers 9, Cousin Hugo's 0. Again Keith shut down their offense in the second with more spectacular plays from our third-baseman, Sabo.

In the 3rd and 4th the Beavers added on a total of 5 more runs, two off the bat of a HR by Kid. We were back on our game and getting good cuts. I think the wind died down a bit for game two which allowed for the balls to not hang up in the air forever. The Cuz kept pace with us in the 3rd and 4th, scoring 5 of their own - mainly on a handful of singles and doubles. They hit more balls that landed in short center - perfectly placed. Their achilles heal was their base running. Twice a baserunner tried to stretch an extra base. Both times against Belle. The first time was a play at the plate. Belle unloaded his throw for home which was plenty early to gun down their runner. The runner realized this and put on the brakes. Rake cut off the ball before it got to home and ran the runner back to Sabo at third starting the hot-box. We pulled it off to perfection saving a run. Later, a runner was going to third when Belle threw a strike to 3rd freezing the runner between 2nd and 3rd. Another hot-box, another out. Our defense was on for the most part.

In the 5th Tanner grounded out to the secondbaseman, prompting a teammate to yell out, "6 years ago Tanner would have beat that out!", only to be followed by "that's because he was getting laid 6 years ago.". You have to have thick skin to play on this team.

The game went into the 6th with the Beavers leading 14-5. In the Beaver half we plated 6 more, highlighted by an opposite-field 3-run HR by Rake, and capped off by a K by Rage (yes, it was a foul out, but that is a K in our book, Rage).

In the bottom of the 6th we needed to keep them from scoring 6 runs to end the game. Big John found himself in left center and was tested quickly. As only Big John can he was able to snap off a fly ball for the catch. It is not a thing of beauty, but it worked again. Imagine how a frog attacks a fly - that is the best way to describe Big John's catching style. He even told us that when teaching his son how to catch, he specifically told him "not to catch like Daddy" - the best advice you can give, Big John. Sonoma had been picking clovers in right field as not one ball had been hit to him in either game. In the 6th one found him and bounced a few feet in front of him...and skipped under his glove. His reaction was priceless - hitting himself on the forehead before turning and chasing after the ball. After all of the OF hijinx we held onto the victory and won 20-6.

Beaver of the game goes to Sabo and his gold glove night at 3rd. In addition to a stellar defensive showing he also went 4-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs.

At the end of game two a new option for a nickname for Keith came from Jimmy-D. He called to him as "No nick", as in no nickname. Jimmy-D kept trying to get it to stick at the post game headquarters, Kilkennys. Not sure if it is going to stick just yet, but it seems to have more traction than the one that Big John is trying to offer up, "Big Unit" or "The Unit". I am assuming there is a reference in there to Randy Johnson, but yours truly does not see the similarities between a 6'-10" ugly-arse pitcher who throws upper 90s and our pitcher who sets up hitters with a knuckleball. But I refuse to get any further into Big John's head as to the real reason he wants Keith's nickname to have the word "unit" in it...for now, he still remains the enigma.

Next game, May 20 field #6 at 8pm and 9pm. Beavers carry their 6-0 record into the game against Bi-State Meat (huh?)

Meet Your Beavers - Mobilly/Mobility/Mobile

2009-05-12T17:42:00.000-05:00

Our reigning MVB, Gary Mobley put together the best season of his Beaver career last year. Hitting over .700 in 20 games Mobilly brought home the hardware with an impressive 6:1 ratio of votes to any other singular Beaver. Adding to his 2008 hardware was the 2008 summer softball championship trophy. This trophy is handed out when we win the championship to the Beaver with the most tenure.

For many years, Mobility was the elder statesman of the team. He even threatened "this season will be my last" for several summers along the way. Something about bringing an older guy to the team in '08 seemed to have positive effects. Gary can typically be found in right center for the Beavers but he has also pitched his share of games.

Mobile is best known by his teammates for his popular sayings, such as... "oh...my...God", or "Do you guys want to go to Helen's?", or "I'm going to take a shower before going out after the game", or the trademarked grunt he makes when trying to hit the ball harder than usual. He is also known for his steel glove, but since he is the reigning MVB, we won't dig any deeper on that subject and cut him some slack this year.

He's number 13 on his jersey and number 1 in your hearts. Take your pick if you want to call him Mobilly, Mobility or Mobile...just don't call him Gary - that would lead to a Beaver fine.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 2

2009-05-09T11:21:00.000-05:00

It started off innocently enough. Belle grounded out harmlessly to the secondbaseman. Then three straight singles brought in one run, another fly out and the Beavers were up 1-0 with two down in the first...then it happened. Thirteen straight Beavers reached base and when the dust settled the Beavers were up 15-0 after one half inning. Mixed into the hit parade were homers by Mobilly, Sonoma, Kid and Big John. To pour salt on the wound, the home team posted a goose-egg. In the top of the 2nd our newest addition, Sonoma's cousin Jake led off with a drive to right center, he was about to hold at third when he realized that he could beat the relay home, another homerun and an upset ondeck hitter, Pat "Tanner" Richmond yelled out, "YOU TOOK MY SAC!". Read into that as you may...

The Beavers added another four runs that inning and had a comfortable 20-0 lead after 1 1/2 innings. In the second inning our third-baseman arrived, Chirs "Sabo" Smuda. Until he arrived we played our lefty infield reserve, Dupper at third. With a runner on first a grounder was hit down the line of third. Basically, the only time a left-handed third sacker would be of benefit, Dupper fielded the ball while sliding and turned and threw to Tanner at second for the forceout. This play was glimpse of what was to come from our defense. Where the defense was a sore point in the opening week, it was incredibly sound this week. Sabo stepped in at 3rd in the second and fielded several balls without error. In fact, the only error was an over throw to first, which had minimal impact on the final score. Kid played an inning in the OF early in the first game and made a difficult play over his shoulder look routine. For the most part we were sound all the way around.

Dogs in the Bathtub was the name of our opponent, a hold-over from last season. Though they came into the game with an identical record of 2-0 as the Beavers, they were absolutely no match. They plated a total of 7 runs late in the first game, but it was not near enough as the Beavers rolled to a 22-7 victory. Beaver of the Game is a tough call for game one. There were so many good box score lines and fat stats due to the 22 runs. Rake went 2-2 with a walk and a sac/error and scored each time, Kid missed the cycle by a triple, Mobilly hit the first HR of the first inning and really propelled the onslaught, Jake went 3-3 with a 2B & HR and Tanner went 3-3 in his first game of the season. I will give the nod to Mobilly with his big HR in the first.

Game two started off relatively the same way. The Beavers were able to chase around 7 runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by the longest homerun of the year; Sonoma launched one to straight centerfield that rolled to the backstop of the opposite field. Needless to say, he was able to jog around the bases (maybe twice). It was his 4th HR of the early season and by far the most impressive. The first inning ended with a whimper as Big John took a hefty swing, only to dribble the ball back to the pitcher. Tanner appropriately labeled that AB in the score book as "Dribbler to Pitcher".

Big John's antics did not end there. After two fly balls soared past Belle, our left fielder, Big John yelled out, "I gotta tell ya, I'm a pretty good ballplayer!". Those of you who know Big John know that he is not on the team for his glove. Little did we know that his inflated ego would haunt him at the plate as well as in the field. After proclaiming his prowess as a ballplayer, we let him play left field as well as shortstop. For the most part the ball did not find him at either position...except for a ball to the hole at short. Big John lumbered over towards it and slid to make the play - only to have the ball strike his knee and bounce towards the left field line. He proudly showed off the immediate lump on his knee upon returning to the bench. At bat he fouled out for a strikeout and popped out to left field. Big John, just keep your machismo to yourself!

Back to the game...

In the second Sonoma launched yet another HR and extra base hits by Jake and Jimmy D (this week sans mustache...BOOOOO!!!!) brought in another four runs. The Beavers were able to score in every inning of the second game - putting a total of 20 runs on the board for a second straight game. About half way thorugh the second game we decided to start taking it easy on the Dogs. Balls that could have been HR or triples, were cut to singles and doubles...except for Sabo. This guy, I guess, does not know how to "play down". He kept stretching singles into doubles and scoring from 1st on singles. Good thing there are not bean-balls in softball.

Late in the game when the defense was shuffled significantly there was a single to left center. Rake was out there that inning and fielded the ball and let loose on the throw home to try to nab the runner headed for the plate. Tanner was playing C for this inning and caught the throw from Rake and applied the tag to a surprised runner - first put out at the dish this year.

To round out the game the Dogs were able to put together one strong inning where they scored 5 runs, but again it was not enough to over come the surging Beavers. Even with 4 K's against the Beavers; Kid & Keith in game one and Jimmy D and Big John in game 2 the Beavers were able to score a combined total of 42 runs in two games.

Final score of game 2: Beavers 20, Dogs in a Bathtub 9
Beaver of the Game: Sonoma for a 3-3 performance - 2 HR and a single (where he stopped running).

Next games are Wed May 13 at 6 & 7 on Field #6 (the good field). Also, it is Parties in the Park night in Clayton, so come join us for a double header and then roam over to downtown Clayton for the rest of the festivities.

Meet Your Beavers - "We'll Just Call You Belle"

2009-05-05T18:26:00.000-05:00

It was the first ever Beaver game, summer of 1991. The roster was made up of mainly guys from Kirkwood High and Parkway South grads; with one exception. A roommate of Rake's from college was going to join the squad. Dave Petlansky go to the game and introduced himself to Gee, who was making out the roster. After several attempts of pronouncing his name, Gee says, "We'll just call you Belle". Dave just said, "whatever" and played the game. When Rake make it to the next game I had to ask why "Belle?", it made no sense that I could figure out.

Turns out all along Gee heard something like "Bellansky", not knowing how to spell that, he shortened it. Here it is 2009 and the name lives on. There have been many iterations of Belle, basically think of anything that has Belle or Bell in it and that was his nickname. One other nickname worth mentioning is "Boots" - he earned this moniker when he forgot his cleats to a game and had to play wearing his steel-toed work boots.

Belle has spent most of his Beaver career manning left field and left centerfield. Known more for his "Belleisms" than his bat he has been a steady player in the lineup from the beginning. He leads the team in games played as well as stories that seem to start out of no where and end much, much later.

Wearing #86, in honor of "86ing things", Belle gets the nod as our leadoff hitter for the Meet Your Beavers segment.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 1

2009-05-02T10:21:00.000-05:00

Welcome to opening day, 2009, the 17th season of Beaverball. This summer the Beavers find themselves back in Clayton playing at Shaw Park. With all of the league's flaws, the Beavers decided that the close proximity to our sponsor, central location, Wednesday night games and last year's record of 14-2 warranted a return to this league. We were quickly reminded of what we disliked most about the league - playing on field #1 or #2 where the fields back up to one another and the outfielders basically stand shoulder to shoulder with the outfielders from the other field. It is just a matter of time before there is a bad collision out there.

Before jumping into the stories of the night, I want to shed a little light on the history of the Beaver Times. Started back in the early 90's, Shawn "Gee" Hagan would write a very descriptive and incredibly humorous recap of the previous night's games. This recap would be highly anticipated each week by players and fans alike. Unfortuneately this recap had its downsides - it took hours to prepare. Making the tough decision of work before Beaver Times, the Times met its demise after a few seasons. The legacy of the Beaver Times has remained strong. This is my attempt to honor Gee's huge contrinbution off the field to the Beavers. I hope that I can bring a fraction of the entertainment that the original Beaver Times provided. With the blog, we have a better means to capture and allow comments on the annals of the games. I hope that Gee can step in and even write some of these recaps as well. The Beaver Times is making a comeback.

This season started off like many of the past seasons - in a last minute scramble to field a team. Though carrying 13 players this year, we were already in need of a 14th. A mixture of poorly-timed trips, a last-minute injury and one player leaving after game one of the doubleheader to play hockey left us with an email frenzy at noon to find a 10th player for the game. Stay tuned for a "meet your 2009 Beavers post" to get to know the players better.

The Beavers jumped out of the gate in the first with 3 runs to answer the 1 run that the home team, Team USA, put on the board. Capping off that 3-run rally was the first homerun of the season by John "Big John" Meert. The make-shift defense responded with hanging a goose egg in the visitor's second inning and the Beavers stepped back up to the plate. Our newest addition to the team Will Summers, started the 2nd inning's hit parade with a single in his first at bat, then Jim "Jimmy-D" Haynes stepped up to the plate - left handed.

Jimmy-D had always been a right-handed hitter throughout his career - until last pre-season when goofing off in the batting cages he found that he hit the ball better left-handed. The team encouraged Jimmy to hit from the left side, stating that "you can't hit any worse than you do on the right". This switch hitting carried through most of the season and was on display again early in 2009. But Jimmy brought more to the game than just some switch hitting, he was also sporting a mustache that would have made Tom Seleck jealous. Thus, a new nickname for Jimmy; Jimmy-P.I.

Jimmy-P.I. reached safely on an infield error, then Dave "Belle" Petlansky followed with a walk. Serge "Rake" Traylor stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. A line drive to left froze the left fielder and the ball glanced off his glove - clearing the bases. Big John then did some damage again with his second homerun in as many innings. Beavers now led 8-1. In the 4th inning Team USA began their attack. Donned in white jerseys with collars (never seen that in softball before) they chased around 3 runs on top of the 1 they plated in the 3rd. The Beavers' defense began to spring a leak. Obvious that most of us have not thrown a ball or taken grounders since last fall several errors mounted, included a long fly ball to right field that Big John snapped at - deflecting down the hill and allowing the hitter to round the bases. This was a harbinger of what was to come in game 2.

The Beavers got back a few of their own in the 4th, back to back hits by the #3 & #4 hitters and drove in by Craig "Dupper" Dupske's 2-base error the score was now 10-5 Beavers. Team USA added single tallies in both the 5th and 6th innings, but fell short as the Beavers lumped on 6 more runs of their own. Highlighted by the first homerun of the season by our newest member - Will. It was about this time, that Will earned his nickname. While Will was at bat, Big John was searching for a nickname when the first thing that "Will" reminded him of was "Williams Sonoma". "Sonoma" was born.

Big John's glove did a little talking as well. To say that Big John is not a smooth fielder is an understatement. But every once in a while the blind squirrel finds a nut. Our squirrel found his late in game one. Playing rightfield and the steep drop-off that exists about 250 ft down the line a fly ball was lifted back to the edge of the drop-off. Big John lumbered after it. Worried, and rightly so, about a potential collision with the one tree that stands in rightfield. He got to about where he thought the tree was and lept (yes, he was off the ground for all of about 2") for the ball - amazingly coming down with it and avoiding the tree. As we learned from Sonoma, he was a good 10+' from the tree, but the real story is that he caught it, and saved what would have been a sure homerun.

In the bottom of the 6th, the frustration of Jimmy-P.I.'s left handed hitting climaxed. He grounded a ball to the right side of the infield for the 3rd time of the game (he also launched a ground-rule double). So disgusted with his groundball to first, he didn't run out the play - AKA Gary Templeton in the 1980 season. Jimmy did not end the at-bat with an obscene gesture to the crowd, but the razzing for not at least trying to run out the double play was relentless. Especially upset with the next batter, Belle who may have had one more opportunity to swing the bat before he abandoned the team to play a hockey game. Game Final - Beavers 16, Team USA 7. Star of the Game: Big John 3-3 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, one big catch, one bad error.

Game two followed immediately with the Beavers being the visitors this time. Another great first inning posted by the Beavers. The lineup was missing Belle our lead-off hitter and we were forced to play with only 9 guys in total. The first 4 hitters all reached safely and all scored. The inning once again was capped by a homerun by Sonoma, his second of the season and night. Beavers batted around, up 6-0 with Team USA coming to the plate. We must have been in a giving mood because we handed back all 6 runs. An incredibly poor defensive inning plagued most of the team. Rake booting some at first, Big John not catching some at first, Gary "Mobilly" Mobley dropping one in the outfield, the wheels came off in our patented poor-defensive inning of the night. Somehow we stopped the bleeding at 6. Game tied after one 6-6.

The defense was quickly shuffled. We needed more speed in the outfield as we only had 3 players out there. Our starting SS, Jerry "Kid" Farrar went to CF, Mobilly to 2B, Rake from 3B to SS and our superscrub, Pete "Pistol Pete" Anderson from 2B to 3B. The switch must have been intimidating as our pitcher Keith [still no nickname] Miller made all three fielding plays in the second. Over the next two innings the Beavers plated two and were answered by Team USA. We had ourselves a fight on our hands.

The bats awoke in the 4th with Dupper, Mobilly, Keith, Pistol Pete and Sonoma all getting consecutive hits. Three more on the board for the good guys. In the bottom of the inning Team USA chipped away for 2 of their own. It was time to take ownership of this game, and that is what the Beavers did in the 5th. The sun was setting (and since it was already cloudy it was getting very dark), and the top of the lineup started the rally. Rake doubled, Kid doubled, Big John walked. Dupper flied out, then came Mobilly with a double, Keith with a double, Pistol Pete with a single, Sonoma with a single - six runs scored as we hit around. Team USA was only able to counter with 2 runs of their own - the game was ours. Beavers 17, Team USA 12.

It is Team USA's first year in the league and they are a decent team. I expect to see them high in the standings when it is all over. Their thirdbaseman's glove was just long enough to snare anything hit near him. Later found out that he was just filling in, which is good for us because he cost us about 5 hits and also launched a bomb onto the adjoining field.

Beaver of the Game: Sonoma with his 3-4 game including a HR that landed near secondbase of the opposite field and another shot that would have been ruled a HR on many teams, but the outfielder did get a glove on it - a 4-base error. Even Pudge and Rookie would be envious of the power Sonoma displayed. Maybe he will hit higher than #9 next week.

Next week's games are at 6 & 7 on the 6th. With a record of 2-0, the Beavers are off to a great start. Stay tuned for next week's 2nd Edition of the 2009 Beaver Times.

_rake