B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 44 – August 31, 2023
League president Jack McDermott checks in with a rules update:
It has always been an unwritten rule that if after one extra inning the game is still tied, then game over – courtesy to waiting players. That is now in writing.
Concerning flip-flop, we added a time detail for when the home team is ahead by 8 runs or more at what is presumably their final 5-run inning. The old rule did not specify a time, so if there were, say, 3, 4, 5 minutes left, you could argue that if the inning ended quickly, there could still be time on the clock thus allowing for another inning to be played before the buffet. The rule now states that if the home team is ahead by 8 runs or more and there are 2 minutes or less on the clock, then they will suspend their 5-run inning and the visitors will bat for their buffet inning…. the reasoning being that if the home team is due up to bat in the bottom half of a 5-run inning, it would be reasonable to assume that, with 2 minutes or less remaining, the clock will expire during their at bat and the next inning will be the buffet.
Weather: We’ve been so beaten down by the heat these last eight or so weeks that having the temperature top out in the mid-90s feels like we’ve parked next door to paradise. At the start of the 10:00 game it was 81 degrees with 52% humidity, rising to 90 degrees with 38% humidity at the start of the 11:00 game, and maybe a few degrees more by the time the final game was under way. Not at all terrible.
Injured list:
Gray team: Gary Coyle, hurt his eye socket; Trey Wall, injured shoulder
Unassigned: Alvin Gauna
Gary Coyle played briefly in his team’s C League game, but didn’t feel ready quite yet for B League. Discretion is the better part of valor, and common sense.
Returned to play: Gray team’s Doc Hobar
Games of Thursday August 31:
10:00 a.m., Red (7-11) at Blue (14-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 0 4 0 0 0 9 Blue 1 2 5 5 5 X 18 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Blue – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Red – Pat Scott. Umpires: home plate – Mick Parker and Rick Jensen; bases – Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Red – George Brindley (2 for 2 with a double and a walk; Blue - ?. Homerun: Larry Fiorentino (inside the park).
Red got off to a strong start, scoring five times without making an out in the top of the first, on a lead-off walk to George Brindley, Paul Rubin’s triple, Howard Spates’ double, and three singles. Blue got only one run in the home half, with Larry Fiorentino thrown out 8-6-5 (Pat Cook (whoa, excellent arm) to Jack Spellman to Adam Reddell) trying to stretch a double into a triple. Red did not score in the second, as Blue third baseman Eddy Murillo, who is a friend of Johnny Lee, celebrated his birthday by starting a very nice 5-4-3 double play following Mike Mordecai’s lead-off single. Blue got two runs in its half, which ended with Pat Scott making an excellent running catch in left-center of Bobby Miller’s line drive.
Know your B Leaguer: It’s Pat Scott. Dude can play.
Pat started Red’s four-run rally in the top of the third with a one-out single that was followed by George Brindley’s double and then four more singles and a sacrifice fly to left field by Daniel Baladez. The inning ended with Eddy Murillo, friend of Johnny Lee, snagging Mike Mordecai’s line drive to third base.
Red led 9-3 at this point, but that proved to be the high-water mark, as Red was held scoreless over its last three at bats, Spike Davidson retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced (only George Brindley reached base, with a single with one out in the buffet), while Blue’s offense went into overdrive and put across five runs in each of the team’s final three at bats while making only two outs. It wasn’t a a matter of anything cheap or of Red not playing well defensively, just Blue hitting a bunch of line drives with occasional uncatchable ground balls and pops. The biggest hit was Larry Fiorentino’s inside-the-park homerun in the bottom of the fifth. Final score: Blue 18, Red 9, Blue clinching first place for Session Three.
There was a bit of a Groundhog Day-ish ruckus toward the end of the 10:00 game involving Maroon manager Tom Kelm, who wanted for the rover to be used in his team’s game versus Gray at 11:00. Gray, which had ten players on hand, declined, as is their right, much to Tom’s vehemently expressed displeasure. It did lead to this:
Quote of the Day: Peter Sundquist, at the height of the disputation: “How is this happening and Balke’s not even here?
Shortly before the Picayune went to press, Jack McDermott issued a statement and stole my thunder:
I need to apologize to everyone for my participation in a completely ridiculous argument today at the field. My overall failure to de-escalate the situation only made an explosive situation worse. In hindsight, I should have just kept quiet and let it fade out on its own. We all have a right to our own opinions, but arguing about such nonsense on the field is never going to result in any kind of understanding. This is a recreational league here for everyone’s enjoyment, let’s all try to keep it that way.
Thanks,
Jack McD
I’m crediting the super blue moon with causing the day’s encompassing wiseassery. [Photo credit: Tom Kenney]
11:00 a.m., Maroon (7-10) at Gray (11-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 5 5 5 0 3 0 18 Gray 3 0 3 5 5 1 17 Pitchers: Maroon – Joe Bernal; Gray – Greg Lloyd. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Stone and Joe Roche; bases – Mike Garrison, Larry Bunton, and Larry Young. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Joe Bernal, Johnny Lee, and Rex Horvath (each 3 for 3) and Scott Wright (2 for 2 with a walk); Gray – David Kruse and Mick Parker (each 4 for 4 with a double) and Doc Hobar (4 for 4 with a homerun). Homerun: Doc Hobar (inside the park).
Anyway, they played without a rover. Maroon came out en fuego, scoring five runs in each of the first three inninngs while recording only four outs. Ken Brown’s triple was the last of five hits following Peter Sundquist’s lead-off walk in the top of the first and drove in the last two runs, coming after Joe Bernal scored on Johnny Lee’s single to right field – the throw home beat Joe, but was bobbled, Joe said because he landed so hard on the home line that it shook the earth (fact until someone proves it isn’t). Gray got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the first on Doc Hobar’s inside-the-park homerun to right field in his first at bat since returning from injury. The inning ended with Mike Velaney turning a 4u., 4-3 double play on Rick Jensen’s grounder up the middle.
Doc Hobar made a spectacular return from injury today, going 4 for 4 with an inside-the-park homerun.
Maroon scored five more in the top of the second, on six singles and aggressive baserunning, and Joe Bernal threw a scoreless bottom half, getting Jerry Mylius on a two-strike foul and Greg Lloyd looking at called strike three after Jim McAnelly singled with one out. Then Maroon got five more runs in the top of the third, on seven consecutive one-out hits, six singles and Ken Brown’s double.
That made the score 15-3 in Maroon’s favor. Gray is a team that specializes in comebacks, however, and beginning in the bottom of the third they clawed their way back into the game. As they had in the first, Gray 1-2-3 hitters Mick Parker (double), David Kruse (single, putting runners on the corners), and Doc Hobar opened the inning with hits, and all three scored on Doc’s single, due to Maroon throwing the ball around – there were multiple misplays and generalized chaos around home, with catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft first attempting to tag out David trying to score (no tags permitted on plays at home), then flipping to pitcher Joe Bernal as Doc tried for home; initially home-plate umpire Joe Roche called Doc out, but he quickly reversed himself. The whole of it prompted the Exchange of the Day:
David Kruse, when Joe made the out call: “That’s terrible!”
Joe Roche: “I changed it!”
Joe Bernal: “That’s terrible!”
Joe got over his hilarious and performative distress and retired the next three hitters.
Greg Lloyd then worked a scoreless top of the fourth, third baseman Rick Jensen making good plays for the second and third outs: first he made a nice grab of Tom Kelm’s hard grounder and snapped a throw to second for a force out, then he snagged Peter Sundquist’s line drive.
Joe Bernal retired the first two batters in the bottom of the fourth, Frank Delmonte on a fly to left-center (Eddy Murillo: “It was a can of corn. Delmonte corn.”) (I apologize for repeating this.) and Jim McAnelly on a grounder to shortstop, Rex Horvath making a terrific throw and Johnny Lee a big stretch to beat the pinch-runner. But Gray wound up scoring five runs anyway, as the next seven batters hit safely, six singles and a double by David Kruse. That cut Maroon’s lead to 15-11.
Maroon got back on track with three runs in the top of the fifth. Rex Horvath and Joe Bernal singled and Scott Wright walked, loading the bases with one out. Johnny Lee’s single up the middle scored Rex and Joe, and Ken Brown’s fly to Doc Hobar in left scored Scott – that was Ken’s fifth RBI of the game.
Gray kept hitting in the bottom half, seven consecutive singles resulting in five more runs without an out being recorded.
Going into the buffet, Maroon led 18-16. They were unable to add to their lead in the home half: Rick Jensen made another good play on Mike Velaney’s grounder to third base leading off, for out number one. Dave Jaffe, in his first game back from an out-of-town hiatus, got his second hit, a single to left field. Larry Shupe grounded up the middle; David Kruse made a nice play to get to the ball and step on second for the force, but his throw to first pulled Frank Delmonte off the bag and Larry, who always hustles, was safe. Billy Hill grounded a ball to the 5-6 hole; Rick Jensen made a good play to field it, but threw past second baseman Mike Velaney. Larry Shupe raced to third – he actually never touched the second base bag, but no one on Gray noticed this, none of the onlookers said anything, and there was no appeal. Didn’t matter, as Tom Kelm flied out to Tom Brownfield in right-center to end the frame.
Gray came up needing two to tie, three to win. Doc Hobar led off and continued his hot hitting, knocking a single to center field to complete his 4-for-4 day. Tom Brownfield hit a fly to deep right-center that was caught (I think) by Ken Brown, Doc able to tag and advance to second. Daniel Carvajal singled up the middle, Doc scoring to make it 18-17 and Daniel advancing to second when the relay back to the infield was boxed around. Rick Jensen grounded a ball to the 5-6 hole; Rex Horvath made a terrific play moving to his right to field the ball, then a strong throw to first, where Johnny Lee stretched for it, Rick beaten by half a step for the second out, Daniel (or his pinch-runner, can’t remember) holding at second. Frank Delmonte came up and lofted a fly to left-center that Peter Sundquist was able to corral for the final out, Gray’s comeback falling just short. Final score: Maroon 18, Gray 17
Noon, Gold (7-11) at Green (8-10):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gold 2 2 2 4 0 10 Green 5 1 1 5 X 12 Pitchers: Gold – Jeff Stone; Green – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Green – Pat Scott and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home plate – Tom Kelm and Rex Horvath; bases – Scott Wright and Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Larry Bunton (2 for 2), Joe Dayoc (2 for 2 with a double), and Jeff Stone (3 for 3); Maroon – Donnie Janac (1 for 1 with two walks), Ray Pilgrim and Pat Scott (each 2 for 2 with a double), and Don Solberg and Peter Sundquist (each 2 for 2).
A well-played, hard-fought game. Gold jumped on top with two runs in the top of the first, on a double by Jack McDermott, a single by Jeff Stone that scored Jack, a double that rolled to the fence in left by Tim Coles, and Joe Roche’s sacrifice fly to left-center. Gold scored five times without making an out in its half, on a walk to Donnie Janac, three singles, and back-to-back two-run doubles by Jeff Fisher and Ray Pilgrim.
Gold got two more runs in the top of the second on Joe Dayoc’s double to left field, then won the inning by holding Green to a single run on four singles in the bottom half, coming close to turning a triple play. Chunky Wright and Tommy Deleon opened the inning with singles, putting runners on the corners for Boo Resnick. Boo grounded a ball up the middle that normally would be a hit, but instead was fielded by rover Tim Bruton, who stepped on second and threw to first for an Ru., R-3 double play; Chunky broke for home on the play, and only barely beat the relay from Larry Bunton to Joe Dayoc. That left the bases empty, one run in, and two out. Peter Sundquist and Pat Scott singled, but were stranded when Denny Malloy ran down Mike Hill’s fly to right field.
Third inning: Two more for Gold, would have been more except Tim Bruton, leading off, was thrown out when he got hung up between second and third on his double to left field – Don Solberg made a strong throw to shortstop Mike Hill; Tim was about halfway to third, realized he’d be out by a mile if he continued, so he reversed course; Mike made a snap throw to second baseman Boo Resnick, who tagged Tim out as he came back to the bag. (It was a close play, but the peanut gallery was in agreement with the umpires.) The next four batters singled, two runs scoring. Gold won the inning, again, by holding Green to a single run in the home half: Donnie Janac drew another wallk, took third on Don Solberg’s single to right, and scored on Ray Pilgrim’s single to left-center.
Gold took the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth. Larry Bunton, Joe Dayoc, and Larry Young opened the inning with singles, Larry B. coming around to score. Jack McDermott’s liner to left-center was caught by Jeff Fisher, Joe’s pinch-runner advancing to third. Tim Bruton then tripled for real, a drive to left field rolling to the fence, two runners scoring ahead of him. Tim then scored on Jeff Stone’s third hit of the game, a liner to right-center that rover Peter Sundquist was unable to hold on to.
That put Gold ahead 10-7, but the lead was short-lived, as Maroon scored five times in the home half. Tommy Deleon drew a lead-off walk, and Boo Resnick and Peter Sundquist followed with singles, Tommy’s pinch-runner scoring. Pat Scott followed with a double past third base, fair by inches, Boo scoring and Peter halting at third. Left-handed third baseman Joe Roche made a nice play on Mike Hill’s grounder and threw him out, the runners holding. But Donnie Janac sliced a spinning grounder past second baseman Larry Young and through to right field, driving in both runners, then scored on Buddy Gaswint’s double to right.
Gold was chasing two entering the buffet. Third baseman Ray Pilgrim made an excellent play on Mike Garrison’s grounder leading off the inning, first baseman Buddy Gaswint handling the low throw cleanly for the first out. Denny Malloy hit an opposite-field single to left field. Rip Wright hit a hard grounder up the middle, normally a hit, but once again rover Peter Sundquist was perfectly positioned – he fielded the ball cleanly, stepped on second and threw to first for a game-ending Ru., R-3 double play. Final score: Green 12, Gold 10
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue* 15 4 .789 — 285 221 +64 W1
Gray 11 7 .611 3.5 256 239 +17 L1
Green 9 10 .474 6 233 248 -15 W1
Maroon 8 10 .444 6.5 200 230 -30 W2
Purple 0 2 .000 6.5 29 33 – 4 L3
Red 7 12 .368 8 249 256 – 7 L1
Gold 7 12 .368 8 218 243 -25 L2
*Blue has clinched first place for the session.
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 6-4 9-0 2 0-0 7-2 2-0
Gray 5-5 6-2 1 1-1 3-0* 4-3
Green 3-5 6-5 0 0-0 1-4 1-1
Maroon 3-5 5-5 1 1-0 2-4 3-1
Purple 0-1 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Red 3-8 4-4 0 0-1 2-6* 0-5
Gold 2-7 5-5 1 0-0 3-2 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 5 4 3 2.5 4 23.5
Gold 2 X 2 6 3 1 4 18
Gray 2 5 X 3 3 2 6 21
Green 2 3 3 X 3 4 4 19
Maroon 4 4 3 4 X 3 3 21
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 2 1 4 3 3 X 17
_____________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 15.5 20 16 21 16 15.5 22 126
Schedule for Thursday September 7 (no games scheduled for Labor Day):
10:00 a.m.: Gray (11-7) at Green (9-10), Maroon umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Red (7-12) at Maroon (8-10), Blue umpiring
Noon: Blue (15-4) at Gold (7-12), Red umpiring
Preview: After everyone rests up over the Labor Day weekend, we return for the final two games of Session Three, with both first place (Blue) and second place (Gray) for the session already clinched. Green and Maroon are battling for third and for finishing .500 for the session: Green faces Gray at 10:00, Maroon takes on Red at 11:00. Red and Gold are fighting to avoid the cellar; Gold takes on Blue at noon.
On this day in 1909, the A. J. Reach Company patented the cork-centered baseball. I’m failing to find a way to connect this to the B League. But is Maroon manager Tom Kelm on the hot seat? Only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Heads up that next Thursday, September 7, will be B League Picture Day, organized by Daniel Baladez – if possible, please wear your team jersey and cap and maybe bathe 48 to 72 hours beforehand so’s ya look presentable. If you’re not able to make games of September 7, Daniel will look to get a photo of you on Monday September 11. Hopefully the pictures that are taken will come out a bit better than that of the 2013 Red team, above.