B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 35 – July 31, 2023
Correction: I made an error of omission in this past Thursday’s edition, Issue 34, failing to note that Larry Young was perfect at the plate in Gold’s game, going 2 for 2 with a walk. The Picayune regrets the error.
Weather: Still hot, not so brutally humid: 91 degrees at the start of the 10:00 game, humidity sitting at 53%. Totally blue skies – Joe Roche caught a glimpse of a thin cloud to the west, but we couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a contrail.
Injured list:
Blue team: Stan Fisher – Dupuytren’s contracture
Green team: Jeff Broussard – recovering from heart surgery
Alvin Gauna – broken finger
Games of Monday July 31:
10:00 a.m., Blue (6-3) at Gold (4-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 3 4 0 2 5 1 15 Gold 2 1 1 0 4 0 8 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Gold – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Blue – Howard Spates, Peter Sundquist, and Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Rex Horvath; bases – Peter Sundquist and Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Larry Fiorentino (4 for 4 with a double and a triple) and Fritz Hensel and Peter Sundquist (each 2 for 2); Gold – James Chavana (2 for 2 with a walk), Joe Dayoc (2 for 2), and Gil Delossantos (3 for 3).
Spike Davidson throttled Gold’s bats, holding the visitors to just four runs over the first four innings, stranding seven runners on base over the first three before working a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth. A 6-4-3 double play, Larry Fiorentino to Howard Spates to Dale Fugate, snuffed a rally in the third. An inning later, with the bases loaded and two out, Jimmy Shull made a terrific backhanded snag of Mike Garrison’s liner – off the bat it looked like it would be a bases-clearing extra-base hit, but instead was the third out, Jimmy somehow catching the ball after it looked like it was past him – best defensive play of the day, I think.
Meanwhile, Blue just steadily rolled up the score in its favor: three runs on Richard Battle’s lead-off walk and four singles in the first; four runs on three singles and doubles by Howard Spates and Anthony Galindo in the second. Jeff Stone worked a scoreless third, getting Dale Fugate to ground out to shortstop, first baseman Rip Wright making a terrific catch of Jack Spellman’s short-hopped throw, newly installed base umpire Mike Velaney prefacing his out call with the quote of the day:
Quote of the Day: Mike Velaney: “Damn! On the first play!” (And it didn’t get any easier.)
Spike Davidson and Jimmy Shull followed with singles, but Jeff started a 1-6-3 double play on Howard Spates’ grounder back to the box to end the inning – this was another bang-bang play at first base that went Gold’s way. (In my opinion as an unbiased pretend journalist with no stake in the outcome aside from having both a personal and team stake in the outcome, Mike Velaney got all the close calls right.)
Blue added two runs in the fourth on consecutive two-out hits by Larry Fiorentino (triple), Anthony Galindo (double), and Peter Sundquist (single) – those spots in the Blue order (Peter entered for Fritz Hensel in the third inning, Fritz having removing himself from the game) were a combined 11 for 12 with 16 total bases for the game – and then exploded for five runs on five singles and Larry’s double in the fifth.
Blue led 14-4 at that point. Gold got four runs back in the bottom of the fifth, on five singles and Jack Spellman’s triple, to cut the deficit to six runs entering the buffet. Blue got a run on three singles in the top half, but Spike Davidson definitively slammed the door shut in the home half, posting his second 1-2-3 inning of the game to secure the victory. Final score: Blue 15, Gold 8
Know Your B-Leaguer: It’s Howard Spates, whom you may know from Relentless.
11:00 a.m., Red (4-5) at Maroon (3-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 2 0 0 2 2 3 9 Maroon 2 0 4 5 1 X 12 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Maroon – Joe Bernal. Mercenary: Red – Mick Parker. Umpires: home plate – Gary Coyle and Jeff Fisher; bases – Tim Balke. Perfect at the plate: Red – Adam Reddell and Scott Sovereen (each 3 for 3); Maroon – Peter Atkins (2 for 2 with a double), Billy Hill and Larry Shupe (each 2 for 2), and Peter Sundquist (3 for 3 with a double).
Best game of the day, a hard-fought battle between two evenly matched teams. Both scored twice in the first, Red on Paul Rubin’s lead-off double and three singles, Maroon on Peter Sundquist’s lead-off double, two singles, Chris Villareal’s walk, and Johnny Lee’s sacrifice fly. Neither team scored in the second, each half ending with a double play: Joe Bernal started a 1-6-3 twin killing in the top half, and Red turned an unusual DP in the bottom half. Peter Atkins led off with a triple to left field to start the inning, then held on Marvin Krabbenhoft’s fly to the rover in shallow center field. Tom Kelm came up and grounded a ball to third baseman Daniel Baladez; when Daniel threw to first to get Tom, Peter broke for home, but was beaten by an excellent throw from first baseman Scott Sovereen to catcher Hal Darman, for a 5-3-2 double play.
Joe Bernal started another inning-ending double play in the top of the third. Singles by Mick Parker and George Brindley put runners on first and second with one out. David Ferley came up and hit a high hopper up the middle – Joe made a terrific jumping play to snag it, turned and fired to shortstop Rex Horvath covering second, and Rex’s strong throw to first just beat David on a bang-bang play. (I cannot recall ever seeing David ground into a double play before, which goes to how perfectly Joe, Rex, and first baseman Johnny Lee had to execute the play.) (Mike Velaney, I know what you’re thinking. Shut up. )
Maroon took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the third, with five of the first six batters hitting safely, the fifth hit Chris Villareal’s two-run double. Red got a couple back in the top of the fourth, but missed out on more as Maroon turned its third inning-ending double play in as many opportunities. Scott Sovereen and Adam Reddell led off with singles, and a walk to Mike Mordecai loaded the bases with one out. Sam Baker’s grounder to second became an infield RBI single when it was dropped at second base. Hal Darman grounded a ball to first; rather than take the sure out at the bag, Johnny Lee threw home, but not in time to get Adam. With the bases loaded, one out, and two runs in, Red was poised for a big inning, but on Jack Kelly’s pop to first base Hal Darman moved toward second – I’m guessing he thought there were two out – and was doubled up by Johnny Lee, for an F-3, 3u. double play.
Maroon put the game out of reach with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Velaney led off with a walk, Peter Atkins doubled, and four singles later Rex Horvath also doubled, but I don’t want to elide those singles – two were by Larry Shupe and Billy Hill, who each were perfect in the game, and it’s hard to beat a team when its down-lineup guys refuse to make outs. Also, props to Tommy Deleon for blasting Salt-N-Pepa’s “Shoop” as Larry’s walk-up song.
It was 11-4 in Maroon’s favor at the end of the sequence. Red got two runs in the top of the fifth – David Ferley ripped an RBI triple and scored on Scott Sovereen’s single – and Maroon one in the bottom half. Johnny Lee came up with Chris Villareal on third (he’d followed Joe Bernal’s pop-fly, just-fair single down the left-field line with a force-out grounder to the pitcher) and Scott Wright on first (on a single lined off Jack Kelly’s foot or shin guard, not sure which, the ball caroming past shortstop into left field). (Jack, whom Mike Hill and I agree is one of the toughest guys in the league, not least because he wears jeans in this hellish heat, just shook it off like it was nothing.) Johnny Lee skied a ball to left field; George Brindley made a nice running catch of it; Chris tagged and scored; but Scott had thought the ball would fall, and was almost to second before he turned tail; the relay, from George to shortstop Adam Reddell to second baseman Mike Mordecai to first baseman Scott Sovereen, beat Scott Wright back to first, for another unusual double play, this one scored SF-7, 7-6-4-3. (I’ve probably misidentified some of the participants, but think I got the numbers right.)
Red was chasing six entering the buffet. Mike Mordecai led off with a single, but Joe Bernal retired Sam Baker on a grounder to second, Mike forced at second, and Hal Darman, on a liner to the rover. Jack Kelly walked and Mick Parker singled, loading the bases for the top of the lineup. Paul Rubin grounded a ball up the middle that Rex Horvath had lined up, only to have the final hop be a bad one, the ball glancing off Rex’s chest and leaving him with no play, Sam scoring. George Brindley singled to center, both Jack Kelly’s pinch-runner and Mick scoring, cutting Maroon’s lead to 12-9, the tying run at the plate in David Ferley. David slashed a ball hard to the right side, but Johnny Lee, despite being partially blocked by the runner at first, made a terrific play with his ginormous mitt and easily beat David to the bag for the final out. Final score: Maroon 12, Red 9
Rick Jensen’s brother-in-law Greg Conover, US-Army (retired), visiting from Smithfield, Virginia to help Rick celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, viewed the games at Krieg and shared tales of Rick’s misspent youth.
Noon, Gray (6-2) at Green (4-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 3 5 3 5 X 16 Green 4 0 0 0 1 0 5 Pitchers: Gray – Greg Lloyd; Green – Tommy Deleon and Chunky Wright, alternating the odd- (Tommy) and even- (Chunky) numbered innings. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Terry Thompson. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Rick Kahn (4 for 4 with a double), Greg Lloyd (3 for 3), and Mick Parker (2 for 2 with two walks). Homerun: Tom Brownfield (over the fence).
It looked early on like this might be an upset in the making, as Tommy Deleon, pitching the odd-numbered innings for Green (Chunky Wright hurled in the even-numbered frames), kept Gray from scoring in the top of the first, working around a lead-off walk to Mick Parker, and Green scored four times on five hits (Clint Fletcher’s lead-off triple, three singles, and Ray Pilgrim’s double to left) in the home half. But after that it was pretty much all Gray, scoring 18 of a possible 20 runs over the second through fifth, knocking 23 hits, while holding Green to just one run the rest of the game.
Following Ray’s Pilgrim’s two-run double in the first, Greg Lloyd retired 13 out of the next 16 batters, including eight in a row to finish the second and get through the heart of the Green batting order in the third (three straight outs in the air) and fourth (two more fly outs, then a grounder to first baseman Daniel Carvajal). Meanwhile Gray scored three times in the third (Rick Kahn started the rally with a one-out double to right), five times in the third (Tom Brownfield’s two-run homer, a moonshot to left-center that everyone present knew was gone off the bat, the big hit), three in the fourth (four singles and Jim McAnelly’s sacrifice fly to left field), and five in the fifth (David Kruse’s two-run triple the key hit).
Tom Brownfield has been frequenting the muscles gym, is where he must be getting his power.
That left Gray up 16-4 entering the bottom of the fifth. Tommy Deleon led off with a single. Chunky Wright flied to right-center, and Reed Durant lined out to second, Tommy’s pinch-runner advancing to second on Tom Brownfield’s errant throw to first. Boo Resnick drew a walk, bringing up the top of the order. Clint Fletcher rifled a double to right-center, Tommy’s pinch-runner scoring, but a strong 10-4-2 relay, Jim McAnelly to Tom Brownfield to Frank Delmonte, beat Boo home, Boo’s foot still in the air when Frank made his catch for the third out.
The team’s flip-flopped for the buffet. Mike Hill led off with a single, but was erased when Greg Lloyd made a terrific play on Donnie Janac’s high hopper up the middle and started a 1-6-3 double play, David Kruse on the pivot. Gary Coyle flied out to right-center for the final out. Final score: Gray 16, Green 5
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Gray 7 2 .778 — 126 103 +23 W3
Blue 7 3 .700 .5 140 112 +28 W1
Maroon 4 5 .444 3 93 102 – 9 W1
Green 4 6 .400 3.5 119 129 -10 L4
Red 4 6 .400 3.5 113 124 -11 L1
Gold 4 6 .400 3.5 110 127 -17 L1
Purple 0 2 .000 3.5 29 33 – 4 L3
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Gray 3-2 4-0 1 0-0 2-0 2-0
Blue 2-3 5-0 0 0-0 5-1 0-0
Maroon 2-2 2-3 0 0-0 1-3 0-0
Green 1-3 3-3 0 0-0 1-2 1-1
Red 2-4 2-2 0 0-0 0-3 0-1
Gold 1-4 3-2 0 0-0 1-1 1-1
Purple 0-1 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 4 3 2 2 2.5 2 15.5
Gold 2 X 2 6 1 1 3 15
Gray 2 3 X 3 3 2 4 17
Green 2 1 2 X 1 4 4 14
Maroon 3 4 1 4 X 3 2 17
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 1 1 2 3 3 X 14
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 14.5 14 11 17 11 15.5 16 99
Schedule for Thursday August 3:
10:00 a.m.: Red (4-6) at Gray (7-2), Green umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Blue (7-3) at Green (4-6), Gold umpiring
Noon: Gold (4-6) at Maroon (4-5), Blue umpiring
Preview: We are halfway through Session 3, and Gray and Blue are starting to put some daylight between themselves and the other four teams, which are stuck in a scrum, three or three and a half g ames behind. A big part of what has vaulted Gray and Blue to the top of the heap is that they’re road warriors, 4-0 (Gray) and 5-0 (Blue) as visitors so far this session. Gray will be the home team at 10:00 on Thursday, Red looking to end Gray’s three-game winning streak. Blue is visitor again at 11:00, Green looking to end its four-game losing streak. Maroon hopes to reach .500 with a victory at noon; Gold hopes to escape sinking into last place. As I write, Rhode Island is expecting a higher-than-normal high tide, or a “king tide,” tonight, per the Newport tide gauge, which could cause flooding in low-lying areas. Will the water reach the steps of Matunuck Oyster Bar? Only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Lots of great food in the Beer Garden following today’s games, as we celebrated Tom Brownfield’s 72nd birthday. Here’s who stuck around: Front row, left to right: Daniel Baladez, Greg Lloyd, Tom Brownfield, and Tommy Deleon. In back, left to right: president emeritus Larry Bunton, Reed Durant, Johnny Lee, Larry Shupe, Jeff Fisher, and Jack Spellman.