B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 39 – August 14, 2023
Weather: Continues to be plenty hot – 92 degrees with 47% humidity at the start of the 11:00 game, up to 96 degrees with 40% humidity at the start of the noon game (which actually got under way closer after 1:00). Blue skies throughout.
Injured list:
Gray team: Doc Hobar
Green team: Jeff Broussard – recovering from heart surgery
Alvin Gauna – broken finger
Games of Monday August 14:
10:00 a.m., Green (5-8) at Gold (5-8):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 0 4 1 5 5 7 22 Gold 2 4 3 0 4 6 19 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon (odd-numbered innings) and Chunky Wright (even-numbered innings); Gold – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Green – Tim Cole, Rex Horvath, Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Tom Kelm and Marvin Krabbenhoft; bases – Mike Velaney and Peter Sundquist. Perfect at the plate: Green – Buddy Gaswint (4 for 4 with two doubles) and Scott Wright (3 for 3 with a walk and a double); Gold – Larry Bunton (3 for 3) and Gil Delossantos (4 for 4 with a double). Homerun: Tim Cole (over the fence).
It took a few innings, but Green finally located their hitting shoes and put up 17 runs over the final three frames to win this one. Green’s mercenaries went a combined 8 for 10 with two walks and, from Tim Cole, a double and a homer, while Gold’s 1-3 hitters went a combined 5 for 12, those seven outs too much for the rest of the lineup to pick up.
Gold started off pretty strong, holding the lead at the end of each of the first three innings. Jeff Stone worked around a pair of two-out singles to post a scoreless top of the first, and Gold grabbed the lead in the bottom half with four two-out singles for two runs. Green got on the board in the second, scoring four runs on four singles and doubles by Buddy Gaswint (leading off, the first of a pair of two-baggers) and Scott Wright, each of whom reached base in all four of their plate appearances. Gold matched that in the home half, scoring four on a lead-off triple by Rip Wright and four singles. Green got just one run in the third, when Don Solberg doubled leading off and scored on Buddy Gaswint’s single after Buddy refused a walk. Gold then extended its lead to 9-5 with three runs in the home half on a double by Mike Garrison and three singles. The inning ended when Mike, running for Joe Dayoc after scoring, got hung up between third and home on Larry Bunton’s hit to right-center, and was out 9-6-1 (I think it was), Tim Cole to Mike Hill to the home plate area, Tommy Deleon retrieving the throw home and reaching the mat before Mike could get to the line. (Mike had crossed the commit line, started to backtrack, realized he had to try for home, and couldn’t make it in time from a flat-footed restart.)
Tim Cole then led off the fourth inning with a massive homerun to left-center, a no-doubter that cleared the fence by about a good 10 to 20 feet. That seemed to turn the tide Green’s way – they made just four outs the rest of the game while putting across 17 runs. In the fourth they added four more runs on doubles by Rex Horvath and Don Solberg and four singles. In the fifth they scored five times without making an out, on five singles, Buddy Gaswint’s second double, and two walks. And in the buffet, entering with a two-run lead, they batted around, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring seven times on eight singles and Tim Cole’s double.
Gold had gone out in order in the fourth, and in retrospect that was a killer inning – trailing by one, Gold didn’t score, and Green led the rest of the way. Gold got four runs in the fifth. Joe Roche and James Chavana hit back-to-back one-out triples, and Gil Delossantos singled. Jeff Fisher made an excellent catch of a drive to center by Denny Malloy, who was snakebit today, three good swings resulting in outs on good defensive plays. Mike Garrison drew a walk to extend the inning, and Rip Wright’s single loaded the bases. Joe Dayoc’s single drove in Gil and Mike, but Rip was out trying for third, 8-2-5, Jeff Fisher throwing home and catcher Ray Pilgrim throwing to Rex Horvath; Rip ran to the base instead of through, and was beaten on a bang-bang play.
Trailing by nine entering the bottom of the buffet, Gold made it interesting. The first four batters hit safely: singles by Larry Bunton (completing a 3-for-3 day) and Larry Young opened the inning, Jack Spellman dinked a double just fair down the right-field line, one run scoring, and Jack McDermott singled, a second run scoring. Buddy Gaswint made a good play to grab Jeff Stone’s short fly behind first base; Spellman tagged and scored on the play. Joe Roche and James Chavana singled, Jack McDermott coming around to score. A double by Gil Dellossantos, his fourth hit in as many at bats, drove in Joe Roche. Denny Malloy hit a hard grounder to the right side, but was robbed again, Buddy Gaswint making a terrific play to field the ball cleanly and beat Denny to the bag. Mike Garrison’s single scored James and drew Gold to within three, with Rip Wright representing the tying run. Rip hit a sharp grounder to second that was fielded cleanly by Scott Wright, who threw to first for the final out. Final score: Green 22, Gold 19
Tim Cole, newly returned to B League, takes a load off after belting a homerun in the 10:00 game. Tim got up and pitched for Blue in the noon game.
11:00 a.m., Gray (9-3) at Maroon (4-8):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Gray 2 0 5 2 5 0 1 15 Maroon 2 0 0 0 5 7 2 16 Pitchers: Gray – Greg Lloyd; Maroon – Joe Bernal. Umpires: home plate – Eddy Murillo and Richard Battle; bases – Jack Crosley and Larry Fiorentino. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Rick Kahn (4 for 4 with two triples) and Greg Lloyd (4 for 4). Homerun: David Kruse (inside the park).
Call this the best game of the 2023 season, I won’t argue with you. Tied through two, each team scoring twice in the first inning. Rick Kahn’s triple was the big hit in the top half – it drove in David Kruse, who’d singled, and Rick scored on Daniel Carvajal’s base hit up the middle. Maroon third baseman Larry Shupe then made a nice play on Jim McAnelly’s sharp grounder, getting a force at second for the second out, and, after Frank Delmonte singled, Joe Bernal retired Rick Jensen on a two-strike foul for the third. Gray immediately tied the game, as Peter Sundquist led off the home half with a single, Rex Horvath tripled Peter home, and Rex scored on Ken Brown’s base hit. Greg Lloyd got three of the next four hitters to hit into ground outs, second baseman Alex Valles making a very good play on Joe Bernal’s two-hopper.
Neither team scored in the second, Joe Bernal getting three ground outs to the left side in the top half, Larry Shupe making another good play, throwing out Jerry Mylius leading off, and Greg Lloyd working around two singles. With Larry Shupe on first with one out, Tom Kelm hit a ball hard to third base; it glanced off Jerry Mylius’s glove to shortstop David Kruse, whose snap throw to second just beat Larry, another bang-bang play.
Gray then broke through and scored 12 runs over the third, fourth, and fifth while blanking Maroon in the bottom of the third and fourrth. In the top of the third, the first five batters singled before Joe Bernal struck out Rick Jensen swinging for the first out. Jerry Mylius’s single drove in the fourth run. Alex Valles hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored the fifth, but somehow the count had been lost, and Greg Lloyd came up to bat and singled in Jerry with what everyone initially though was the fifth run – it was actually the sixth, but you only get five. Maroon in the bottom half put runners on second and third with one out on a double by Scott Wright and a single by Joe Bernal, but Greg Lloyd got Mike Velaney to hit a two-strike foul, then retired Johnny Lee on a fly to right-center.
Gray got two in the fourth, Rick Kahn’s triple driving in Tony Viera, Rick then scoring on Daniel Carvajal’s sacrifice fly to left-center. Maroon again did not score in the home half. Marvin Krabbenhoft led off with a single, but Rick Jensen in left-center made a very good catch of Larry Shupe’s sinking liner for the first out, and then Jerry Mylius made nice plays on consecutive grounders to third base, getting force outs at second to end the inning.
In the fourth, four of Gray’s first five batters singled. (Frank Delmonte led off, and his hit actually was a drive over the right-center fielder’s head, but he had a runner from home.) This put one run in with two out after Joe Bernal retired Tony Viera on a two-strike foul. David Kruse then ended the inning with an inside-the-park grand slam on a ball he lined between the left and left-center fielders.
Oh, for the halcyon days of earlier this summer when Plucker’s coupons were still valid and David Kruse would humor me by pretending to accept one after hitting a homerun.
Gray’s lead stood at 14-2 at this point. It seemed like…
But, like Sigourney Weaver in Aliens but (not going to lie) uglier, Maroon did not give up. They inserted coins and scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, the rally started by Rex Horvath, who tripled on a ball to left-center, six of the next seven hitters knocking singles, and Tom Kelm delivering the fifth run with a sacrifice fly to right-center.
Ripley details Maroon’s strategy. Maroon manager Tom Kelm seems dubious.
Gray team, still leading by seven runs, declined to flip-flop for the buffet, hoping to bat again and run up the score. That looked like a good play when Rick Kahn and Daniel Carvajal led off with singles, Rick’s his fourth hit in as many at bats. But Jim McAnelly’s sharp grounder to second base was converted into a picture-perfect 4-6-3 double play, Mike Velaney to Rex Horvath to Johnny Lee, Jim’s runner from home out by a step and a half. Rick took third on the play, but was stranded when Mike Velaney made a clean grab of Frank Delmonte hard grounder and snapped a throw to first to beat David Kruse, running for Frank, for the third out.
Maroon entered the bottom of the buffet trailing by seven, but with the top of its order due up. Peter Sundquist singled. Rex Horvath doubled to the fence in left field, Peter scoring from first (14-8). Ken Brown singled to right field. Scott Wright hit a ground-ball single up the middle, Rex scoring (14-9). Joe Bernal lined a single to left, Ken scoring (14-10). Mike Velaney hit a sharp grounder to the right side, off Alex Valles’s mitt and into right field, Scott scoring (14-11). Johnny Lee singled to right field, both Joe and Mike scoring (14-13). Marvin Krabbenhoft hit a Texas League pop-fly single to right field, putting runners on first and second. Larry Shupe popped out to shortstop for the first out of the inning after eight consecutive hits. Tom Kelm ripped a single up the middle, Ken Brown, running for Johnny Lee, scoring to tie the game at 14.
That brought Peter Sundquist back up with runners on the corners and one out, Scott Wright, running for Marvin, representing the winning run at third, Larry Shupe running for Tom at first. Gray asked to intentionally walk Peter to load the bases, but that’s not allowed in B League. Greg pitched to Peter and semi-intentionally walked him. Peter elected to accept the walk, loading the bases for Rex Horvath. Rex grounded to shortstop David Kruse, playing even with the second-base bag; David fielded the ball cleanly, tagged out Larry Shupe (who really didn’t have much chance of not being tagged out, I don’t care what the second-guessers say), and made a strong throw to first double up Rex and end the inning.
Hindsight is perfect, especially in the Beer Garden, where all the folding-chair experts agreed Peter Sundquist should have refused the walk.
On to the extra inning, with one-pitch rules, a runner at second (for Gray in the top half, David Kruse, who’d run for Frank Delmonte an inning earlier), and one out. Rick Jensen avoided taking the collar for the day by instead taking a one-pitch walk. A single to center by Jerry Mylius loaded the bases. Alex Valles also singled up the middle, David Kruse scoring, but a strong 8-6-2 relay, Peter Sundquist to Rex Horvath to Marvin Krabbenhoft, gunned down Rick Jensen trying to score. That was out number two. Greg Lloyd then came up and lined a single to right-center. Jerry Mylius rounded third and started for home, but doubled back before reaching the commit line. Maroon shortstop Rex Horvath took Ken Brown’s throw from right-center and threw to third baseman Larry Shupe. Jerry got back to third before the throw, but his momentum carried him past the bag, and Larry turned and tagged him out to end the inning. (All of this was way more dramatic and entertaining than most 2023 Major League Baseball.)
Maroon came up needing one run to tie, two to win, with Rex Horvath on second base and one out. Ken Brown led off with short fly to shallow center field that Gray shortstop David Kruse got a glove on but could not corral; Rex held at second and Ken was safe at first with a single. Scott Wright fouled off a pitch for strike three, out number two. Joe Bernal (B-E-R-N-A-L, as I was reminded) ripped a single to center field, Rex coming around to score the tying run, Ken Brown racing to third. Mike Velaney laid off an outside pitch and took the walk, loading the bases for Johnny Lee. Greg Lloyd’s pitch to Johnny Lee was inside and deep; Johnny took it, the walk forcing in Ken with the winning run.
Final score: Maroon 16, Gray 15
Noon, Blue (10-3) at Red (6-7):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Blue 5 5 3 5 3* 21 Red 3 0 3 5 9 20 * The team's flip-flopped for the buffet, so Red batted first in that inning. Pitchers: Blue – Tim Cole; Red – Jack Kelly. Mercenary: Blue – Tim Cole. Umpires: home plate – Jim McAnelly; bases – Jerry Mylius. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Tim Cole (2 for 2 with a walk), Jack Crosley and Morgan Withhoft (each 4 for 4 with a double), Larry Fiorentino (3 for 3 with a walk, a double, and a homerun), Dale Fugate (3 for 3 with a double), and Fritz Hensel (2 for 2 with two walks); Red – David Ferley (3 for 3 with a double and a walk), Adam Reddell (3 for 3 with a walk), and Paul Rubin (2 for 2 with two doubles and two walks). Homerun: Larry Fiorentino (inside the park).
Good gravy, another exciting, hard-fought game that went down to the last batter. Blue, with six of its ten hitters (including the entire bottom half of the batting order) not making an out in the game, scored 20 of a possible 23 runs over the first four innings. Facing a relatively inexperienced pitcher in Tim Cole, Red struggled a bit in the early going, Tim recording four strikeouts over the first two innings (while also issuing four walks in those frames, and nine over the course of the entire game, pretty much the working definition of effectively wild).
Blue’s five runs in the first inning all came with two out, after George Brindley in left-center robbed Anthony Galindo of extra bases with a fine running catch to his left following a one-out walk to Larry Fiorentino. The next three batters singled to center field, Fritz Hensel drew a walk, and singles by Jack Crosley and Dale Fugate brought in the fourth and fifth runs. Red got three back in the home half: George Brindley singled and Paul Rubin hit the first of his two doubles to start the inning, and David Ferley and Adam Reddell took walks, George scoring. Howard Spates took an unhittable called strike three that ticked the front of the mat for the first out. Terry Thompson drew a walk, Paul scoring. Daniel Baladez lofted a sacrifice fly to left field, David scoring. Mike Mordecai got caught looking at a called third strike for the third out.
Blue scored five again in the second, while making only one out, on two walks, five singles, and George Romo’s double. Red did not score in the home half, Tim Cole catching Hal Darman looking at a called third strike for the first out, then getting George Brindley on a two-strike foul to end the inning.
In the third Blue scored three runs on Larry Fiorentino’s three-run inside-the-park homerun. (I didn’t get a picture of Larry, but do not despair – I’ve got a plan for the next edition of the Picayune.) Good catches by David Ferley in right-center of drives by Anthony Galindo and George Romo ended the inning. Red got three runs in its half, the first three batters reaching base and scoring: Paul Rubin walked, David Ferley doubled to right, and Adam Reddell singled, Paul scoring. A walk to Howard Spates loaded the bases for Terry Thompson. Terry hit a hard grounder to shortstop George Romo, who threw to Larry Fiorentino at second for the force there; Larry then threw to Eddy Murillo at third, beating Adam to the bag for a 6-4-5 double play, David Ferley scoring on the play. Daniel Baladez ripped a double to center that rolled to the fence, Terry scoring from first. Mike Mordecai lined a ball up the middle; Tim Coles got a piece of it, but it went through the infield for a single. Sam Baker also lined a ball back to the box, but this time Tim held on for the third out.
Eddy Murillo popped out to shortstop to start the fourth, but the next seven Blue batters hit safely, Morgan Witthoft starting the rally and Larry Fiorentino ending it with two-base hits, five runs scoring, giving Blue an 18-6 lead entering the bottom of the last five-run inning.
Red in the bottom half got their five, on five singles, Paul Rubin’s second double, and a walk to Howard Spates. The fourth run scored on Terry Thompson’s grounder back to the pitcher, Tim Coles taking the sure out at first. Daniel Baladez followed with a line-drive single to right to drive in the fifth run.
That made the score 18-11, but the teams agreed to flip-flop for the buffet. Red continued hitting and walking, its first ten batters reaching base: Mike Mordecai singled. Sam Baker walked. Hal Darman lined a double to left field, Mike scoring (18-12). Jack Kelly singled past/through the first baseman, Sam and Hal scoring (18-14). George Brindley doubled and Paul Rubin walked, loading the bases. David Ferley singled to left-center, Jack’s pinch-runner and George scoring (18-16), Paul advancing to third. Adam Reddell singled to right field, Paul scoring (18-17) and David advancing to third. Howard Spates ripped a double to center field, both David and Adam scoring, Red going ahead 19-18. Terry Thompson singled to left, Howard scoring, Red ahead 20-18. Daniel Baladez grounded to shortstop, and George Romo started a 6-4-3 double play, Larry Fiorentino on the pivot, Dale Fugate taking the throw at first. Mike Mordecai came up and knocked his second single of the inning. Sam Baker lined a ball to left, but Richard Battle was perfectly positioned and caught it for the third out.
That left Blue needing two to tie and three to win in its half. Anthony Galindo led off with a fly to center field, between left-center fielder George Brindley and right-center fielder David Ferley. Here’s the quandary: Red had two equally excellent outfielders; if one or the other had not been there, the other would have been able to take charge and make the catch. Instead, the ball fell between them, and Anthony wound up at second with a double. George Romo then came up and doubled to left, Anthony scoring to make it a one-run game. Eddy Murillo was next: he squared up on a pitch, but lined it directly to third baseman Adam Reddell, who made the catch for the first out. Morgan Witthoft came up and hit a grounder up the middle; second baseman Howard Spates was perfectly positioned behind the bag at second and made the play, but his throw to first was off line, Morgan safe at first and George able to take third. Fritz Hensel followed with a line single up the middle to score George with the tying run, Morgan advancing to second. Jack Crosley came up, and, as he does, drove a pitch to right field. Sam Baker initially seemed to have a bead on it, but the ball carried past him and fell safely, Morgan easily scoring the winning run. It was a rare walk-off win by the visiting team. Final score: Blue 21, Red 20,
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 11 3 .786 — 215 170 +45 W5
Gray 9 4 .692 1.5 189 164 +25 L1
Red 6 8 .429 5 181 181 0 L1
Green 6 8 .429 5 178 188 -10 W1
Purple 0 2 .000 5 29 33 – 4 L3
Maroon 5 8 .385 5.5 130 164 -34 W1
Gold 5 9 .357 6 161 183 -22 L3
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 3-3 8-0 2 0-0 7-1 2-0
Gray 5-2 4-2 1 0-1 2-0 3-2
Red 2-5 4-3 0 0-0 2-4 0-3
Green 2-5 4-3 0 0-0 1-4 1-1
Purple 0-1 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Maroon 3-4 2-4 1 1-0 1-4 1-0
Gold 1-6 4-3 0 0-0 2-2 1-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 4 4 3 3 2.5 3 19.5
Gold 2 X 2 6 2 1 3 16
Gray 2 4 X 3 3 2 5 19
Green 2 2 2 X 2 4 4 16
Maroon 3 4 2 4 X 3 2 18
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 2 1 3 3 3 X 16
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 14.5 17 13 19 14 15.5 18 111
Schedule for Thursday August 17:
10:00 a.m.: Gold (5-9) at Blue (11-3), Red umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Maroon (5-8) at Red (6-8), Green umpiring
Noon: Green (6-8) at Gray (9-4), Maroon umpiring
Preview: Gold, not playing badly, but struggling to post a win, tries to end its three-game losing streak at 10:00 against first-place Blue, which has won five in a row. Maroon and Red, both playing well yet still under .500, square off at 11:00. Gray, a game and a half out of first, tries to gain ground on Blue at noon versus a Green team that looked sharp today. Will Thursday be the last day we play in triple-digit heat? Probably not, but only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Left behind today: this water bottle. I put in the cart for its owner to reclaim on Thursday.