B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 41 – August 21, 2023
Weather: Geez Louise, when will this end? Another extremely hot day, temperature near triple digits by the time the noon game finished. Lots of sun, a bit of breeze, not the worst humidity.
Injured list:
Gold team: Larry Bunton, troublesome knee
Gray team: Doc Hobar
Green team: Jeff Broussard, Tommy Deleon
Alvin Gauna – broken finger
Games of Monday August 21:
10:00 a.m., Gray (9-5) at Red (6-9):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Gray 0 0 2 0 5 15 1 23 Red 2 5 5 5 1 4 0 22 Pitchers: Gray – Greg Lloyd; Red – Donald Drummer (1-6) and Jack Kelly (extra). Mercenaries: Gray – Don Solberg and Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Spike Davidson and George Romo; bases – Jack Crosley and Richard Battle. Perfect at the plate: Red – Mike Mordecai (2 for 2 with two walks), Howard Spates (4 for 4), and Jack Spellman (4 for 4 with a double and a homerun). Homeruns: Donald Drummer and Jack Spellman (both inside the park).
Good gravy, what a ballgame. Sadly, I don’t have a scoresheet for Gray, so I really can’t do justice to their tremendous 15-run buffet inning, which followed a double flip-flop and resulted in them turning what had been a 17-2 deficit through four into a 22-17 lead.
Donald Drummer returned from hiatus and pitched the first six innings for Red, holding Gray to just two runs over the first four, those coming in the top of the third, when David Kruse tripled in Gray’s first run and scored its second. Red backed Donald with some good defense in the early going, with second baseman Howard Spates starting a 4-6-3 double play to end the top of the first inning.
Meanwhile, Red came out hitting, scoring three runs on four hits in the first inning, and following that with five runs in each of its next three at bats. In the second inning, an excellent throw home from right-center fielder Mick Parker cut down Mike Mordecai trying to score on Jack Kelly’s single, but George Brindley and Paul Rubin followed with singles and David Ferley with a line double off first baseman Frank Delmonte’s mitt, all three hits coming with two out to get Red to five runs. Red’s five runs in the third came on seven singles, only one out recorded. And in the fourth Red’s five were all scored with two out, the big hits off the bats of Jack Spellman (homerun to right field, just past the reach of Jerry Mylius) and Howard Spates (double to left-center to score Adam Reddell with the fourth run, Howard then scoring the fifth on Daniel Baladez’s line single to left). Both Howard and Jack were 4 for 4 in the game.
Trailing by 15 runs, Gray scored five times in the top of the fifth without making an out, just a succession of well-struck hits. Still trailing by ten and with just a minute remaining on the clock, Gray agreed to flip-flop, and in their buffet inning just hit and hit and hit. Everybody hit. I think at least dozen runs scored before the first out was recorded. Hits of all kinds: line drives, fielder-evading grounders, at least three Texas League pop singles to right field, deep drives between outfielders. It’s all a blur to me. Red didn’t make any mistakes on defense, simply didn’t have any opportunities to record outs until after Gray had gone ahead.
At the end of Gray’s magnificent inning, they were ahead 22-17, and Red had two innings in which to try to catch up and win. Donald Drummer got things off to an auspicious start by driving a ball between the left and left-center fielders and circling the bases while the ball rolled to the fence. Mike Mordecai followed with a walk, but Greg Lloyd retired Sam Baker on a two-strike foul, then got Hal Darman to ground into an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play, David Kruse on the pivot.
Red’s homerun hitters, Jack Spellman (cheap shot) and Donald Drummer (legitimate drive).
That left Red needing four to tie, five to win in its half of the buffet. They got four, on a one-out walk to George Brindley and four singles, the last three with two out. (Jack Spellman’s “single,” was hardly that – it was a grounder to David Kruse at second base, whose low throw to first baseman Don Solberg, who’d entered as an injury replacement, couldn’t be corralled.) Daniel Baladez came up with Howard Spates at second, having advanced on the late throw home on Adam Reddell, who’d scored the tying run, but Daniel fouled a two-strike pitch to end the inning and send the game into overtime.
Gray scored a run in the top half, a pair of base hits, the second by Rick Jensen, bringing in Tom Brownfield from second. Red started the home half with Paul Rubin, Daniel Baladez’s runner from home in the previous inning, at second and Donald Drummer at the plate. After some not at all well-disguised discussion among Gray’s strategists, Greg Lloyd effectively walked Donald intentionally, throwing a single pitch way outside and short. A one-pitch walk to Mike Mordecai, completing Mike’s perfect day at the plate, loaded the bases. Sam Baker took a called strike three that the Red bench thought was flat, and that was essentially unhittable, nicking the front of the mat, for the second out. Hal Darman came up and swung at Greg’s offering, but pulled it foul down the third-base side for the third out. Final score: Gray (in an epic comeback) 23, Red 22. I believe this is the first game this season in which the team that was ahead when the flip-flop took place did not win the game.
11:00 a.m., Green (7-8) at Blue (12-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 3 4 5 0 0 12 Blue 3 3 5 4 X 15 Pitchers: Green – Chunky Wright; Blue – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Green – Rex Horvath and Frank Saldana. Umpires: home plate – Tom Kelm and Peter Atkins; bases – Mike Velaney and Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Green – Rex Horvath (3 for 3); Blue – Richard Battle (4 for 4 with a triple), Spike Davidson (3 for 3), and Philip Stanch (3 for 3 with a double).
Green more than held its own with first-place Blue over the first three innings. Each team scored three in the first. Blue opened the game with four straight hits, three singles and Buddy Gaswint’s double, and had runners on the corners with none out and two runs in. On Ray Pilgrim’s grounder to third, however, Jimmy Shull threw to second for the force there, and second baseman Larry Fiorentino went home, gunning down Buddy for a 5-4-2 double play. Jeff Fisher, Chunky Wright, and Boo Resnick followed with singles, Ray scoring, but Green left the bases loaded. Gray scored its three on five singles and George Romo’s sacrifice fly to left field, all the scoring taking place two out.
Green kept hitting in the second, scoring four runs on six singles and Mike Hill’s triple. Blue kept close with three runs in the home half on four singles, a bases-loaded walk to George Romo, and Morgan Witthoft’s sacrifice fly to left-center.
Third inning saw seven more hits by Green, resulting in five runs. Blue matched that in the bottom half, scoring five times on four singles, Richard Battle’s triple to lelt, and George Romo’s double to center. Green led 12-11 at that point.
The first seven hitters in Green’s batting order went a combined 19 for 21 through the first three innings, and the team overall was 22 for 27 over that stretch, but after Frank Saldana and Rex Horvath opened the fourth with singles, Spike Davidson turned off the tap, retiring six of the last seven batters he faced, three straight to get out of the fourth, then working around Ray Pilgrim’s one-out single in the buffet. Green did not score in either inning, while Blue took the lead with four runs on five singles and Philip Stanch’s double (completing his 3-for-3 day) in the bottom of the fourth, the third out coming when Richard Battle was thrown out 9-6-2, Donnie Janac to Mike Hill to Ray Pilgrim, trying to score the fifth run on Larry Fiorentino’s single to right-center. Blue took a 15-12 lead with that outburst, and that was the final score: Blue 15, Green 12, Blue extending its winning streak to seven games.
Know Your B-Leaguer: Frank Saldana made his B League debut today, filling in for Green and collecting his first hit.
Noon, Maroon (6-8) at Gold (5-10):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 4 2 5 4 1 16 Gold 4 5 2 5 1 17 Pitchers: Maroon – Tom Kelm; Gold – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Maroon – George Brindley; Gold – Jack Spellman. Umpires: home plate – Tommy Deleon and Mike Hill; bases – Tim Balke. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Tom Kelm (3 for 3), Marvin Krabbenhoft (4 for 4), and Mike Velaney (4 for 4 with a double and a triple); Gold – James Chavana (2 for 2 with a double and a walk), Denny Malloy (2 for 2 with a double, a triple, and a walk), Jack McDermott (4 for 4 with a triple and two doubles), Joe Roche (3 for 3 with a double), and Jack Spellman (2 for 2 with a walk and a triple).
Another close, hard fought game, the biggest lead at any point belonging to Gold after two innings, when they led 9-6. Each team scored four runs in the first, Maroon on three doubles (by Ken Brown, Mike Velaney, and Peter Atkins) and three singles (the top half ending with Tim Bruton turning a 6u., 6-3 double play), Gold on a walk, two singles, Joe Roche’s double, Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly to left field, and Denny Malloy’s two-run triple. Maroon briefly took the lead in the top of the second, Ken Brown driving in a run with a double, then scoring on Rex Horvath’s single up the middle. (It hardly seems possible, but I thought Ken was running as well today as I’ve ever seen him. Where the hell is the aging curve when we need it?) But Gold broke through with five runs in the home half, back-to-back triples by Tim Bruton and Jack McDermott the big hits.
Maroon responded with five runs in the top of the third on five singles and doubles by George Brindley and Rex Horvath. George’s two-bagger drove in Larry Shupe with the second run, but Tom Kelm’s pinch-runner (Peter Atkins, I think) was out at home trying to score, on a play that went 9-6-2, Mike Garrison to Tim Bruton to Joe Dayoc – Tim’s relay home skipped past Joe to the backstop, and (I’m just going to say) Peter tried to take advantage, but Joe alertly retrieved the ball and made it to the matt before Peter reached the line. Didn’t matter, though, as the top of the order came through with hits to bring across the final three runs.
Gold got two runs back in the bottom half on Jack Spellman’s two-run triple to left-center (note to league: everyone should play me straight away with your backs to the fence; the rover, when employed, should also play at the fence). That left the game tied 11-11 through three innings.
Six of the first seven Maroon hitters singled to open the fourth inning, four runs scoring, but Jeff Stone got Ken Brown to hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Tim Bruton that pretty much was the only grounder today that didn’t take a ridiculous hop*, Tim throwing to third for the force there for the second out; and then Rex Horvath lined a ball that Tim caught going to his left.
* I don’t recall who hit it, but someone on Maroon hit a grounder to second baseman Larry Young that looked like it would be playable about four inches off the ground, but on its last bounce it hit I can’t imagine what and hopped over Larry’s head – literally, it was a six-and-a-half-foot hop.
Gold took control of the game with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jack McDermott led off with a double and, after Jeff Stone flied out to right-center, scored on Joe Roche’s double. James Chavana doubled Joe to third. Mike Garrison grounded a ball to third base and was thrown out by Peter Atkins, who’d only just switched to the position. There was some barking in the home dugout, prompting the…
Quote of the Day: Base umpire Tim Balke, scolding us: “Gold bench, don’t start going Bad News Bears on me.”
Denny Malloy followed with a double to score Joe and James. A single by Joe Dayoc and a walk to Larry Young loaded the bases for Jack Spellman. After he delivered the pitch, Tom Kelm scooted toward the right side, but I managed to ground a singlel up the middle, Denny and Joe’s pinch-runner scoring the fourth and fifth runs. (See note above concerning how defenses should play me.)
Maroon trailed by one entering the buffet. Denny Malloy made a nice play on Scott Wright’s line drive to right field for the first out. Mike Velaney absolutely torched a line drive down the third-base side, fair by inches, for a triple, and scored the tying run on Peter Atkins’ sacrifice fly to left-center. Marvin Krabbenhoft continued his hot hitting with a single to left-center, his fourth hit in as many at bats, and his pinch-runner took second on Johnny Lee’s base hit. Larry Shupe hit a sharp grounder that Tim Bruton stayed with, tossing to second for the inning-ending force.
Gold needed one run to break its four-game losing streak. Tim Bruton led off with a fly to short left field that George Brindley made an excellent catch on, getting a good jump and charging in. Jack McDermott followed with his fourth hit of a game, a line drive to left field, and he made it his third extra-base hit, legging out a double. Jeff Stone then stepped up and made himself the winning pitcher by lining a single up the middle, Jack racing home with the winning run. Final score: Gold 17, Maroon 16
Larry Fiorentino is the latest B Leaguer to acquire a pair of Beebe cleats.
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 13 3 .813 — 242 188 +54 W7
Gray 10 5 .667 2.5 220 196 +24 W1
Green 7 9 .438 6 200 211 -11 L1
Purple 0 2 .000 6 29 33 – 4 L3
Maroon 6 9 .400 6.5 157 191 -34 L1
Red 6 10 .375 7 213 215 – 2 L3
Gold 6 10 .375 7 184 211 -27 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 5-3 8-0 2 0-0 7-1 2-0
Gray 5-3 5-2 1 1-1 3-0* 4-2
Green 2-5 5-4 0 0-0 1-4 1-1
Purple 0-1 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Maroon 3-4 3-5 1 1-0 1-4 2-1
Red 2-7 4-3 0 0-1 2-5* 0-5
Gold 2-6 4-4 1 0-0 2-2 2-1
* Gray won a game in which it was flip-flopped by Red.
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 5 4 4 3 2.5 3 21.5
Gold 2 X 2 6 3 1 3 17
Gray 2 4 X 3 3 2 6 20
Green 2 2 3 X 2 4 4 17
Maroon 3 4 2 4 X 3 3 19
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 2 1 3 3 3 X 16
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 14.5 18 14 20 15 15.5 20 117
Schedule for Thursday August 24:
10:00 a.m.: Blue (13-3) at Gray (10-5), Red umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Gold (6-10) at Red (6-10), Green umpiring
Noon: Green (7-9) at Maroon (6-9), Gold umpiring
Preview: Five dates remain in Session Three, and Thursday will be the last time Blue and Gray meet, which means this is a must-win for Gray at 10:00 if it is to have any chance of winning the Session title – a Blue victory would put them three and a half games ahead with four to play. (Weird statistical note: Blue is 8-0 as the visiting team this session.) At 11:00, Gold and Red will battle to escape last place. The winner of the Maroon-Green game at noon will take over third place, with an outside chance of catching Gray for second.
On this day in 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo became Seii Tai Shōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan. Will losing B League managers ever embrace the culture of seppuku? Doubtful, but only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Today is National Senior Citizens Day. Keggy celebrated by complaining about what a stupid holiday it is. Hats off to Minamoto Yoritomo, though, now 876 years old.