[Barkeep49]

Before the Game

As the kids trickled in, we had said 15 minutes ahead of time, Steve and I realized 20 was more like it and so we will be changing that for future games. BS2’s father was mildly upset when he started loitering in the dugout and I said that we don’t really allow parents to stay there during games. He said that the coach last year had done it and chatted with him during the games. I said I don’t mind talking during the games, but think it’s important to have space for the players to go without a million fathers around.

Our pregame speech was on focus and taking advantage of the little moments that come so often in baseball. It will not ever be captured on film as one of the all time greats, but was short and effective I believe.

The umpire also came over and gave a rather lengthy speech about the strike zone and that they should be swinging at balls. This umpire spent far more time with our team then the other team, and even at one point stopped the game to coach one of our players, which while it burns me inside on the one hand, can’t hurt us on some kind of unconscious level. So I act as friendly as I can muster to a guy I think pretty clearly is treating us differently, whether for good or ill, because of our age. I remember this ump from last year and he’s one of the more consistent umps, which is good, and he lived true to his word with a very generous strike zone.

Game Recap

We were the away team and so we bat first. We get off to a nice start with JS getting on base thanks to a, surprise surprise, a walk, so far, so good. On our next play TG hits a little blooper to the 2B that I didn’t quite know what to say. I had a feeling he was going to drop it, which he did, but didn’t want to get doubled up either. According to JS’s little brother, who was videoing whenever JS was at bat, I didn’t look too good there. Regardless, the end result was that TG beat out the play at 1^st and JS was called out, on a force, at 2^nd. Living up to our promise, we had TG steal 2^nd at the first available opportunity. ES then ripped one past the 2^nd baseman’s reach, easily scoring TG and which turned into a double. BS2 then struck out, without ever taking a swing, and PW hit a hard liner to the 1^st baseman to end the inning. 1-0 Good guys.

TG performed as expected, striking out 2 and forcing a weak dribbler to 3 for the last out. We created some more noise in the 3^rd, eventually loading the bases with 2 outs, but were unable to capitalize as KS hit a grounder right back to the pitcher. In the bottom of the 2^nd, AK hit a batter and gave up a base hit, but then they hit the very end of their order and he struck out and then forced an easy put-out at 2^nd to keep it 1-0 us. AK continues to think he’s better then he is, but he should get some chances to pitch.

In the 3^rd inning JS hit a ball to the pitcher who made an amazing dive to get the ball and then throw him out at first. TG singled and we got him to 3^rd while ES was up. ES then hit one back at the pitcher which scored TG, and then BS2, like seemingly everyone else, hit one back to the pitcher to end the inning 2-0 us.

It’s the bottom of the 3^rd when things came apart. JS was pitching against the top of the order. We knew he was hittable, but he would get the ball across. This is what happened. They hit on him and sadly he suffered from truly lousy fielding which ended up in a big 6 run inning. When JS is on the mound, it’s a good reminder that we need a better infield as there will be balls put into play, unlike say when TG is pitching. After getting shelled, I went out and reminded JS that he was pitching great and it was a couple bad bounces which turned this from a 1-2-3 inning into a big inning. Of particular note was a play PW made at short, where he attempted to tag a player rather then just get a force out at 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd. Steve and I debated after the game a little whether it was the right play, before deciding that if he had gotten the runner out it would have been the right play, but because he dropped the ball on the tag, it would have been better to listen to us and get the easy out at 1^st. On the positive side TG, who was playing shallow, had a ball hit over his head. In no time at all he got to the ball and lasered it in to 3^rd base to change what should have been a base clearing double into a 2 run double. In the end 5 runs ended up scoring, when it should have been more like 1 or 2, putting us down 5-2.

The 4^th saw us go down 1, 2, 3. Up came BS1 to the mound. Somehow he only letup 1 run, despite having almost no control of the ball. BS2, who was catching, did not help matters by letting far too many balls get by him at home plate. He improved during his 2 innings as catcher, but isn’t nearly as solid as I had originally thought. BS2, however, did make a great play. With runners at 1^st and 3^rd, I told him if the runner at 1^st went to fake throwing the ball and then to hold on to and just let him advance. Well BS2 did exactly this, except the ball slipped out of his hand and rolled towards PW at short. PW was, thankfully, aware enough to get the ball and throw it home where BS2, whether through design or providence, was blocking the plate preventing the runner at 3^rd from scoring. In the end BS1 struck 2 people out, how I’m still not entirely sure, and got somebody to ground out to SS. If BS1 is to pitch again he will need a LOT of work. With 1 run scoring the score stud at 6-2.

FO had a great at bat in the 5^th. At his first at bat he swung at a few balls over his head, and ended up getting a pretty nice lineout to 3^rd base. I talked to him about lying off the high ones and he did exactly that. He ended up having about a 7 pitch at bat, thanks to his fouling off of balls and working it to a full count. His patience was rewarded with a single. Sadly that was the extent of our offense that inning. ES started the bottom of the 5^th by striking out the first two batters on 7 pitches. He then letup a couple of singles to the top of the order before getting somebody to send an easy roller to 2^nd base.

This brought us to the do or die 6^th. And frankly we died. TG walked and then used his speed to eventually steal home, but both ES and BS swung at bad balls in the dirt, and this combined with JS grounding out, ended the game 6-3.

Post Game Analysis

The game ball went to FO for his great hustle and at bat. Steve and I work hard to get everybody a game ball so for a player like FO we try and take the opportunities we can to recognize good performance, even if it stretches who really was the player of the game. Hence why we don’t call it game MVP or such.

Well this game causes me great concern about our hitting. Neither of us had a kid who could really rocket the ball, and when we do face a team with a player like that I worry about our ability to handle him. But more then that, I think we’re going to be scratching out every run all season long. Which is what I expected, but still has me more pessimistic about our chances then at the start of the game.

However, this game DID show us a lot of the information we wanted. Steve and I knew that we weren’t necessarily putting our kids in the best position to win, and this was true. The fielding, on both teams, was twenty times better then expected. The pitchers also all worked quickly and so we were able to play out a full six inning game, much to EVERYONE’s surprise, including the Park District guy at the fields. I don’t think that this team was particularly good. So we can either look at it as a bad sign, or as a bad inning costing us the game.

Here is our batting order and field chart for the next game.

JM continues, we think, to be the only person who can catch TG, so hopefully they will continue their nice rapport. JM continues to act as a team leader as well which is so great to see. We’re giving EG a chance to pitch, as EG asked Steve if he could, and frankly while I agreed to it at the time now I think it was a mistake. We are coming out with a much stronger pitching line-up, however, so as to give us a better chance to win. We are still trying a lot of the things in the field, so players are getting a chance to try all sorts of positions, though Steve and I already have a fairly good idea of where we will really end up slotting people.