B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 45 – September 7, 2023
League president Jack McDermott checks in with “more boring stuff from the board”:
Due to the number of players headed to Arizona for tournament play during the week of our proposed end of year playoffs we will be rescheduling back to the usual week after Thanksgiving with games days on Monday November 27 and Tuesday November 28. Wednesday the 29th will be reserved for rainout if necessary, times and teams will be posted. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Lottery draw: In order to give everyone a chance to play extra games, please remember that once you are selected, you cannot put your chip in again until all others who have not yet been selected have played. This is of course on the honor system, but the umpires and/or managers who are conducting the draw should be aware of who has already played and who has not. This also goes for new players who have priority for one game only – after that, just like everyone else.
Lottery draw part two – Blue chippers: The blue chips are to distinguish pitchers for the pitcher-only draw. Most of us know who the pitchers are, so this is not a big deal. When it comes to the regular roster draw, though, and all the chips are scattered all over the table, it just makes it easier if only the white chips go into the can. Pitchers who want to be part of the regular draw should also have a white chip to do so.
Thanks
Weather: We continue to experience extreme heat: 86 degrees with 69% humidity at the start of the 10:00 game, rising steadily and stultifyingly to 96 degrees at the start of the noon game – it might well have been in triple digits by the time we finished up. (My bicycle ride home, even with electric assist, was not pleasant.) A couple players, either at the behest of teammates or of their own volition, removed themselves from play, as did home plate umpire Jack Kelly during the final game. This is all to the good. Doesn’t matter if you’re not an umpire or a manager or even a teammate – if you see a participant looking wobbly in the heat, speak up on that person’s behalf. Better safe than sorry, for sure.
Injured list:
Gray team: Trey Wall, injured shoulder
Unassigned: Alvin Gauna
Returned to action: Gray team’s Gary Coyle
Games of Thursday September 7:
10:00 a.m., Gray (11-7) at Green (9-10):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 Green 0 2 0 3 5 X 10 Pitchers: Gray – Greg Lloyd; Green – Tommy Deleon. Mercenary: Gray – Pat Cook. Umpires: home plate – Scott Wright and Peter Atkins; bases – Peter Sundquist and Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Rick Kahn (3 for 3 with a double and a triple); Green – Gary Coyle and Ray Pilgrim (both 3 for 3).
A lot of strong defensive play by both teams in this low-scoring battle, particularly by the Green infield (10 of 18 outs came on ground balls) and the Gray outfield (10 of 14 outs came on flies beyond the infield). This pattern was established in the first inning, Gray grounding into two outs and Gary Coyle snagging Doc Hobar’s liner in the top half, Mick Parker in right-center, Pat Cook in left-center, and Rick Kahn in right field running down flies after Clint Fletcher opened the bottom half with a single.
Gray didn’t score in the second inning, either, despite loading the bases with two out. Rick Jensen walked leading off. Tommy Deleon got right-handed pull hitters Jim McAnelly and Tony Viera both to foul out. Singles by Jerry Mylius and Pat Cook loaded the bases for the top of the order, but Mike Hill made a nice play to his left to corral Mick Parker’s up-the-middle grounder and toss to second baseman Clint Fletcher for the inning-ending force at second.
Green broke through in the bottom of the half, establishing a lead it never relinquished. After Buddy Gaswint flied out to right field, singles by Jeff Fisher, Gary Coyle, and Ray Pilgrim loaded the bases. Chunky Wright hit a short fly behind second base that Pat Cook didn’t get to on the fly, but fielded on the short hop and threw to second for the force there, Jeff Fisher scoring. A walk to Tommy Deleon loaded the bases, and another walk, to Boo Resnick, forced in Gary Coyle with another run. The top of the order came up with the bases loaded and two out, just as in the top of the inning, but again a fine defensive play ended the rally – this time, third baseman Jerry Mylius made a terrific grab of Clint Fletcher’s hard-hit one-hoppper and stepped third.
Chunky Wright retired Greg Lloyd on a pop to first and Doc Hobar on a liner back to the box to start the third, but his shutout bid came to an end when Rick Kahn tripled on a drive to center field and scored on Daniel Carvajal’s single through the 5-6 hole. Greg Lloyd then retired Green in order in the bottom half – it may have been a three-pitch inning, I’m not certain. Mike Hill grounded out to second baseman Doc Hobar, Donnie Janac lined out to Pat Cook in left-center, and Don Solberg was out when first baseman Daniel Carvajal grabbed his line drive.
Gray trailed 2-1 entering the fourth, but was unable to score. Jim McAnelly led off with a single, but Tony Viera and Jerry Mylius hit into force plays (to third baseman Gary Coyle and second baseman Boo Resnick, respectively), and Pat Cook popped out to first baseman Buddy Gaswint. Green scored three times in the home half on six singles – nothing fancy, just a station-to-station rally, Greg Lloyd getting all of the frame’s outs on fly balls, to Rick Kahn in right, Pat Cook in left-center, and Mick Parker in right-center. Green again left the bases loaded.
Gray cut Green’s lead to 5-3 with two runs in the top of the fifth. Mick Parker and Greg Lloyd led off with singles. Mick was forced out at third on Doc Hobar’s grounder to shortstop Mike Hill. Rick Kahn’s double scored both Greg and Doc. Daniel Carvajal reached on a pop single between third base and the pitcher, Rick holding at second. Tommy Deleon then got Rick Jensen to ground into a 6-5 force for the second out and Jim McAnelly to fly out to Don Solberg in left for the third.
Green iced the game with five runs in the bottom of the inning, on doubles by Donnie Janac and Buddy Gaswint’s (Buddy’s a drive off the fence in center field), a walk to Jeff Fisher, and singles by Gary Coyle and Ray Pilgrim (completing their 3-for-3 days), Chunky Wright, Boo Resnick, and Clint Fletcher.
That left Gray chasing seven entering the buffet. Tony Viera led off with a single, but both Jerry Mylius (grounder to third baseman Gary Coyle) and Pat Cook (hard shot to second baseman Clint Fletcher, who made a terrific short-hop play to his backhand, then got the unassisted out at second) hit into force plays. A single by Mick Parker extended the inning, but the game ended with Greg Lloyd grounding into a 4-6 force out. Final score: Green 10, Gray 3
Quote of the Day: Johnny Lee, on seeing Mike Gideon in the Beer Garden: “Is that Mikey-Mike? That work-release is something else, isn’t it?
11:00 a.m., Red (7-12) at Maroon (8-10):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 0 0 0 1 5 10 16 Maroon 2 5 0 0 5 5 17 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Maroon – Joe Bernal. Mercenary: Maroon – Tommy Gillis. Umpires: home plate – Spike Davidson and Richard Battle; bases – Anthony Galindo and Eddy Murillo. Perfect at the plate: Red – Hal Darman and Donald Drummer (each 3 for 3) and Jack Spellman (3 for 3 with a triple); Maroon – Peter Sundquist and Scott Wright (each 4 for 4) and Tommy Gillis (3 for 3, I think); may have been others, not sure.
I’ve said it before, I know I’ll say it again: Joe Bernal’s just about the toughest pitcher to face in the B League, both because he’s just so good at working all four quadrants (inside, outside, front, back) of the strike zone and because he fields the position so well that he amounts to a fifth infielder, as he showed today, converting grounders up the middle into outs in each of the first four innings, including starting a 1-4-3 double play in the third inning, and twice taking throws for force plays at second base, those outs ending the first and fourth innings. Joe wound up shutting out Red on five hits until there were two out in the fourth inning, when Gregory Bied finally got his team on the board with an RBI single that scored Sam Baker from second.
Meanwhile, Red’s Jack Kelly was very solid in his own right, holding Maroon to just two runs over the first four innings except for the second, when a double by new guy Tommy Gillis was the big hit in a five-run inning. Jack got help from Howard Spates, who made a very nice pivot on a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the fourth, and managed to keep Red in the game despite receiving negligible offensive support until the fifth, when Red finally figured Joe out. In that inning six singles and a couple of errant throws resulted in Red putting across five runs, briefly cutting Maroon’s lead to 7-6.
Maroon came right back in the home half, however, scoring five of their own. There were only two minutes left on the clock at the end of the inning, so the game proceeded to the buffet inning, with Maroon leading 12-6.
Red commenced to rally in a big way, its first ten batters knocking hits – four singles, Jack Spellman’s triple, Terry Thompson’s double, then four more singles. (A total of 13 consecutive base hits, as the final three batters in the five-run fifth also singled.) Seven runs scored in that sequence, Maroon taking the lead 13-12. Sam Baker hit a sacrifice fly to right-center that scored Mike Mordecai, making it 14-12. George Brindley popped out to first baseman Johnny Lee for the second out, but Paul Rubin delivered a triple to score two more runs. Gregory Bied flied out to right-center to end the inning, Red now leading 16-12.
As Jeff Broussard is fond of saying, in that situation the team that’s leading can only lose by one. Also, slow-pitch softball is a hitter’s game. Maroon came up in the bottom of the buffet and hit. Dave Jaffe beat out an infield hit. Mike Velaney singled. Billy Hill grounded a ball to second baseman Howard Spates, who fielded it cleanly and tagged Mike Velaney advancing from first. Mike basically ran into Howard – not out of any ill intent, but because he was running hard and directly toward second and really couldn’t stop – and as a result Howard wasn’t able to throw to first. Howard and all of Red team asked for an interference call which, following consultation with home-plate umpire Richard Battle, base umpire Eddy Murillo declined to make. Trying to step outside of my self-interest as a member of Red team, I’m honestly unsure whether that call should have been made. (Where are Terry Watts and Gil Delossantos when we need them?)
Tommy Gillis was next, and he delivered a line single, I believe his third hit in as many at bats, Dave Jaffe scoring to make it 16-13. That brought up the top of Maroon’s lineup. Peter Sundquist singled, driving in Peter Atkins, Billy Hill’s pinch-runner, to make it 16-14. (If I’m recalling correctly, Peter’s single was a hard-hit ball to the left of third baseman Terry Thompson that Terry managed to get a glove on; he had no play, but saved a base advance.) A single by Scott Wright, I think partially knocked down by first baseman Mike Mordecai, scored Tommy Gillis, making it a one-run game. Joe Bernal singled, Peter Sundquist scoring the tying run. And then Johnny Lee rifled a hit cleanly through through the 5/6 hole to score Scott with the game-winner. Final score: Maroon 17, Red 16
Noon, Blue (15-4) at Gold (7-12):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Blue 2 1 3 4 4 14 Gold 0 1 0 5 1 7 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Gold – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Blue – Mark Dolan and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly and Jeff Fisher; bases – David Ferley. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Eddy Murillo (2 for 2 with two walks) and Jack Spellman (1 for 1 cheap-ass single); Gold – Larry Bunton, Jeff Stone, and Rip Wright (all 3 for 3).
Another game that was low-scoring in the early innings and evolved into a bit of a slugfest. Blue broke on top with two runs on four singles and Morgan Witthoft’s sacrifice fly in the top of the first, and added a single run on three consecutive two-out singles in the second, by Mark Dolan (making his 2023 season debut after undergoing hip-replacement surgery in the spring), Bobby Miller, and Richard Battle (on a ball that Jack McDermott in left-center got to, but couldn’t keep hold of).
All-around great guy Mark Dolan made his season debut today, playing second base for Blue.
Spike Davidson kept Gold off the board in the first inning, getting outs on three fly balls that sandwiched a pair of one-out singles, and allowed only one run in the second after Denny Malloy, Rip Wright, and Larry Bunton opened the inning with singles. Spike got the next three batters to ground to shortstop Ralph Villela, who got one force at third (Denny scoring) and two at second.
Blue scored three runs in the top of the third on a bases-loaded double by Dale Fugate. Excellent defensive plays kept Blue from scoring more, as Tim Coles made a terrific play and throw on Ralph Villela’s grounder to third base, and Tim Bruton an excellent play on Mark Dolan’s grounder to short. As he had in the bottom of the first, Spike Davidson worked a scoreless bottom of the third, allowing a pair of one-out singles and retiring the side on three fly balls, two to Richard Battle in left field, one to Anthony Galindo in left-center. (I’m about 50-50 on whether I’ve got those players and positions right.)
Blue led 6-1 entering what proved to be the final five-run inning, in which both teams’ offenses came alive. Blue’s first eight batters reached base in the top half, though only four scored. Bobby Miller led off with a double to left-center, but was thrown out 8-6-5 (Jack McDermott to Tim Bruton to Tim Coles) trying for a triple. Richard Battle followed with a double, and walks to Anthony Galindo and Eddy Murillo loaded the bases. Jack McDermott was unable to hold on to Morgan Witthoft’s fly to left-center, which fell safely for a single, Richard scoring. Fritz Hensel lined a ball to left field that Rip Wright got to, but also was unable to catch cleanly, two runs scoring on the hit. A walk to Spike Davidson loaded the bases again for Dale Fugate, who knocked a single up the middle, Morgan scoring the fourth run of the inning.
That left the bases loaded, one out, and the fifth run on third. Ralph Villela hit a grounder to shortstop Tim Bruton, and I want to take a moment to expound upon the beauty of this play, on which everyone executed perfectly – all our Little League coaches should be proud. Fritz’s pinch-runner – Bobby Miller, I think, not 100% certain – broke toward home, but delayed crossing the commitment line, keeping Tim from committing too soon to throwing home, but also making it impossible to double up any runners. In retrospect, I see that Tim didn’t need to wait, as the runner was forced, but he took his time and made a good throw home to catcher Joe Dayoc to be sure to get the out there and extend the inning. Both fielder and runner played this perfectly. Jeff Stone then retired Mark Dolan on a line drive to right fielder Denny Malloy, leaving the bases loaded.
Gold then scored five times on seven singles in the bottom of the inning to cut Blue’s lead to four runs heading into the buffet.
Jack Spellman had entered the game in the bottom of the fourth in place of Bobby Miller, who removed himself due to the heat. I somehow managed to not embarrass myself despite being a beer-and-a-half into my post-11:00 a.m.-game rehydration regimen – mmm, that lemon shandy was really good – though I did try to switch dugouts in between innings, confused by my own gold cap and all. I led off the buffet with a weak grounder to second base that Larry Young couldn’t get a handle on, which (a) I’m calling a single and (2) led to the following exchange:
Dave Berra: “If you had any integrity at all, you’d score that an E-4.”
Jack Spellman: “Have you even read the Picayune? I have no integrity whatsoever. That’s a single.”
I was forced out on a grounder to shortstop Tim Bruton, but the next six batters reached, on a double by Anthony Galindo, two walks, and three singles, and though Eddy Murillo was thrown out 8-6-3 (Jack McDermott to Tim Bruton to Larry Bunton) when he was slow to return to first after rounding the base on his hit, four runs scored, extending Blue’s lead to 14-6.
Gold briefly threatened in the home half, as Denny Malloy drew a lead-off walk and came around to score on singles by Rip Wright and Larry Bunton (each 3 for 3 in the game). But Spike Davidson got Joe Dayoc to foul out to third baseman Eddy Murillo, Larry Young to pop out to first baseman Dale Fugate, and then made a terrific play to nab Jack McDermott’s liner back to the box for the final out. Final score: Blue 14, Gold 7
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue* 16 4 .800 — 299 228 +71 W2
Gray 11 8 .579 4.5 259 249 +10 L2
Green 10 10 .500 6 243 251 – 8 W2
Maroon 9 10 .474 6.5 217 246 -29 W3
Purple 0 2 .000 7 29 33 – 4 L3
Red 7 13 .350 9 265 273 – 8 L2
Gold 7 13 .350 9 225 257 -32 L3
*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 10-0 2 0-0 7-2 2-0
Gray 5-5 6-3 1 1-1 3-0* 4-3
Green 4-5 6-5 0 0-0 1-4 2-1
Maroon 4-5 5-5 2 1-0 2-4 3-1
Purple 0-1 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Red 3-8 4-5 0 0-1 2-6* 0-6
Gold 2-8 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 6 5 4 3 2.5 4 24.5
Gold 2 X 2 6 3 1 4 18
Gray 2 5 X 3 3 2 6 21
Green 2 3 4 X 3 4 4 20
Maroon 4 4 3 4 X 3 4 22
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 2 1 4 3 3 X 17
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 15.5 21 17 21 16 15.5 23 129
Schedule for Monday September 11:
10:00 a.m.: Gold (7-13) at Maroon (9-10), Green umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Blue (16-4-) at Green (10-10), Red umpiring
Noon: Red (7-13) at Gray (11-8), Blue umpiring
Preview: Final games of Session Three! It’s all kind of exhibition play in advance of resetting for the final session, but Maroon is playing for a chance to finish .500, Green to finish above .500, and Gold and Red to avoid finishing in last place. Will any of these teams be able to parlay success Monday into a good start in Session Four? Only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Picture Day was a bust, and it’s mostly my fault – I had a fractured morning, wasn’t ready to take team photos today. Let’s try again on Monday – I’ll take a picture of each team following their game, and I’ll try to get as many individual pictures as I can. If you can’t make it Monday, let me know, and I’ll try to catch up with you later.