B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 60 – November 20, 2023
Weather: Worried we might get rained out after Sunday night league’s final game was a washout, but we moved to Krieg 2 and got all three games in, start times pushed back half an hour or so. Overcast and 66 degrees for the first game; for the finale the skies cleared and it warmed into the 70s. Very humid throughout.
Games of Monday November 20:
10:30 a.m., Blue (9-3) at Maroon (6-5):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Blue 0 0 4 0 1 1 2 5 13 Maroon 0 0 0 0 2 4 2 1 9 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Maroon – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Blue – Tommy Gillis, Ray Pilgrim, and Jack Spellman; Maroon – Rick Jensen (entered for Rex Horvath in the buffet). Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Hal Darman. Perfect at the plate: Blue – George Romo (4 for 4); Maroon – Ken Brown (3 for 3 with a double and a walk).
Pitchers duel between the Session Four champions and the second-place team entering the final day’s play, neither team scoring in the first two innings. Blue got two-out hits in the top of the first from Morgan Witthoft and George Romo, but Morgan was out trying for third on an 8-6-5 relay, Peter Sundquist to Rex Horvath to Scott Wright, Scott applying a swipe tag just before Morgan reached the foul line. Peter then led off the home half with a single, but was forced out on Scott’s grounder to second baseman Mark Dolan, and then Rex grounded into an around-the-horn double play, Eddy Murillo to Mark to Dale Fugate. Eddy and Phil Stanch singled for Blue in the top of the second, but Dale grounded into an inning-ending 5-rover-3 double play, Scott Wright to Mike Velaney to Johnny Lee. In the bottom half Spike Davidson gave up a two-out double to Ken Brown, but Ken was stranded when Phil Stanch in right field made a good catch of Peter Atkins’ opposite-field drive.
Blue broke through in the third, scoring four runs on Mark Dolan’s walk and five singles. Maroon did not score in the bottom half, Spike Davidson working around singles by Dave Jaffe and Mike Velaney. Neither team scored in the fourth, Blue managing only a two-out single by Ray Pilgrim in the top half, Maroon going out 1-2-3 on three pitches in the home half.
The game was flying by – there was over 20 minutes left on the clock as the fifth inning got under way. Blue got a run on three singles, extending its lead to 5-0. Maroon finally got on the board in the bottom half. Johnny Lee led off with a single and Ken Brown drew a walk. Peter Atkins grounded back to the box, Ken forced at second, pitcher to rover, Johnny Lee’s runner advancing to third. Marvin Krabbenhoft then knocked a run-scoring single. The next three batters hit ground balls to the right side for force outs, Peter scoring (I think) on the first of them. That cut Blue’s lead to 5-2 entering the final five-run inning.
Spike Davidson led off the sixth with a single. Phil Stanch and Dale Fugate both hit grounders to shortstop resulting in force outs. (I think Rex Horvath was still at short for Maroon at this point.) Ray Pilgrim knocked a single up the middle, maybe a bit to left-center, that gapped the outfielders; Dale, running on contact, went all out and scored from first on the hit, the relay home drawing catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft off the mat. Maroon had its best inning of the game in the home half, scoring four runs on six singles, knotting the score at 6-6 entering the buffet.
Rex Horvath took himself out of the game due to a torn calf muscle after batting in the bottom of the sixth. Some barking between George Romo and Scott Wright over whether the proper procedure for selecting a replacement (Rick Jensen) had been followed, but after I stepped in and advised “No retuerzas tu chones,” everything was cool, am I right, Eddy Murillo?
Joe Bernal got two quick outs to start the buffet, retiring both Jack Spellman and Mark Dolan on grounders to rover Mike Velaney. Anthony Galindo smacked a triple to the fence and scored the go-ahead run on Morgan Witthoft’s single. Singles by George Romo (his fourth in as many at bats) and Eddy Murillo brought Morgan around to score. The inning ended with Spike Davidson grounding into a rover-4 force, Mike Velaney to Tom Kelm.
Mike and Tom were up first in the bottom of the buffet, and both grounded out, to third baseman Eddy Murillo (after Eddy was unable to reach Mike’s foul pop in front of third base) and second baseman Mark Dolan, respectively. Peter Sundquist walked, and singles by Scott Wright and Rick Jensen loaded the bases for Joe Bernal, who delivered a tying two-run single. Johnny Lee came up and lofted a fly to right field that Phil Stanch hauled in, sending the game to extra innings.
The top half of the extra frame started with Spike’s pinch-runner, Anthony Galindo, on second base with one out, one-pitch rules in effect. Anthony scored on Phil Stanch’s single. Dale Fugate popped out to shortstop. Ray Pilgrim and Tommy Gillis each singled, Phil coming around to score. A walk to Jack Spellman loaded the bases. Mark Dolan singled, one run scoring. Anthony Galindo then doubled, Tommy and Jack scoring; Mark tried for home, but was cut down 8-1-2, Peter Sundquist to Joe Bernal to Marvin Krabbenhoft, a perfect relay, Mark’s foot in the air above the home-plate line when Marvin made the catch. But Blue had five runs in.
The bottom half started with Johnny Lee at second base, one out. Ken Brown singled, completing his pefect day at the plate, Johnny Lee advancing to third. Peter Atkins hit a hard grounder up the middle that Spike Davidson got a piece of glove on, deflecting it to second baseman Mark Dolan, who threw to rover Jack Spellman for the force at second, for the second out, Johnny Lee scoring. Marvin Krabbenhoft took a walk on a pitch that I think just about every other B League player would have swung at, off the plate by centimeters, if that. Dave Jaffe came up and grounded a ball up the middle, to rover Jack Spellman, who flipped to Mark Dolan for the game-ending out. Final score: Blue 13, Maroon 9, Blue posting its tenth win of the session.
Joe Bernal had his grandson Benji with him today.
11:30 a.m., Gold (5-6) at Red (6-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gold 1 4 5 5 1 X 16 Red 2 0 2 0 3 0 7 Pitchers: Gold – Jeff Stone; Red – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Red – Donnie Janac, Rick Jensen, and Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Spike Davidson; bases – Anthony Galindo. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Tim Bruton (4 for 4 with a triple), Mike Garrison (3 for 3), and Ralph Villela (4 for 4); Red – Adam Reddell (3 for 3).
Red led briefly in this one, holding Gold to one run in the top of the first – Ralph Villela led off with a double and scored on Tim Bruton’s hit, and Jeff Stone also singled, but Joe Roche grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, Howard Spates (perfect feed) to Jack Spellman to Adam Reddell, and James Chavana grounded out – and then scoring twice on three singles and a force out in the bottom half. After that, however, Gold dominated, knocking the snot out of the ball and outscoring Red 15-5 over the next four innings before flip-flopping for the buffet.
Gold scored 14 of a possible 15 runs over the second, third, and fourth: four runs on six singles in the second; five runs on six singles and Jack McDermott’s triple without making an out in the third; five more on Tim Bruton’s lead-off triple and seven singles in the fourth. Over that stretch Red managed just two runs, in the third on four consecutive one-out hits by the top of the lineup, the inning ending with Jeff Stone starting a 1-6-3 double play, Tim Bruton on the pivot.
Gold got one more run, on three singles, in the fifth, a larger rally avoided when Howard Spates again started a 4-6-3 double play on a hard grounder by Joe Roche. Red scored three runs in the home half, on six singles, but still trailed by nine, so the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Red went down in order in that frame, the game ending with Jack Spellman lamely fouling off a two-strike pitch. Final score: Gold 16, Red 7, Gold leap-frogging Red to finish tied with Maroon for second place for the session.
12:30 p.m., Green (4-8) at Gray (5-7):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 5 0 0 3 5 3 16 Gray 3 0 4 1 0 4 12 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon (innings 1-3) and Chunky Wright (innings 4-6); Gray – Greg Lloyd. Mercenary: Gray – Anthony Galindo. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Stone; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Green – Clint Fletcher (3 for 3 with a double and a walk); Gray – Tom Brownfield (4 for 4).
Hard-fought game. Green came out hitting, scoring five times on six hits in the top of the first, Buddy Gaswint and Gary Coyle smacking doubles – Buddy’s one-hopped the fence in center field, Gary’s gapped the outfielders in left-center. Gray got three back in the home half as the first four batters hit safely: Doc Hobar singled, David Kruse and Greg Lloyd hit back-to-back triples, and Tom Brownfield singled in Greg.
Neither team scored in the second. In the top half Greg Lloyd walked Chunky Wright with one out and gave up a two-out double to right field by Clint Fletcher, but retired Donnie Janac on a looping pop to behind second base that David Kruse ranged back for and caught. Jerry Mylius singled leading off the bottom of the inning, but the next two batters grounded into force plays, shortstop Gary Coyle to second baseman Buddy Gaswint, and Don Solberg caught David Kruse’s line drive to left field.
Green didn’t score in the third, either. Don Solberg singled with one out and took second on Jeff Fisher’s fly to right field. Buddy Gaswint drove a pitch to deep left-center field, would have been a homerun or high off the fence at Krieg 3, but Tony Viera was playing deep and, back to the fence, gathered it in to end the inning. Gray scored four times in the bottom of the frame, on five singles and Tony’s walk, and took the lead, 7-5.
Green reclaimed the advantage in the top of the fourth, thanks to three clutch two-out hits. Gary Coyle singled leading off and, after Ray Pilgrim flied out to Doc Hobar in left, took second on Boo Resnick’s Texas League single to right. The runners advanced on Chunky Wright’s grounder back to the box, Chunky thrown out at first. (Or did he take a runner? I don’t remember.) Tommy Deleon drove a pitch past right fielder Donnie Janac that scored both runners, though his pinch-runner had to stop at first. No matter: the runner came around and scored on singles by Clint Fletcher and Donnie Janac. Green was back ahead, 8-7.
Chunky Wright took over on the mound for Green in the bottom of the fourth. He allowed four singles but only one run in that inning, making a terrific play on Greg Lloyd’s line drive up the middle for the first out, after David Kruse had singled leading off. Tom Brownfield singled to left-center, David taking third, and then Rick Jensen golfed a ball over shortstop, driving in David with the tying run. Frank Delmonte’s single to left-center loaded the bases, but Chunky got Jim McAnelly to pop out to third baseman Clint Fletcher and Tony Viera to fly out to Don Solberg in left.
Green took control of the game with five runs on seven hits in the fifth, the final five-run inning. David Kruse, who’d swapped positions with Tom Brownfield and was playing second with Don Solberg up, made a terrific play to glove Don’s one-hop smash; Don barely got out of the batter’s box by the time David’s throw reached first. But: Jeff Fisher tripled to left-center, gapping the outfielders; Buddy Gaswint singled, Jeff scoring; Gary Coyle doubled; and Ray Pilgrim singled in both Buddy and Gary. Singles to right field by Boo Resnick and, after Chunky Wright’s infield fly, Tommy Deleon loaded the bases for the top of the lineup. Clint Fletcher walked, driving in Ray with the fourth run, and Donnie Janac lined a single to center to bring in Boo with the fifth. Chunky Wright then retired the side in order in the bottom half, getting pops to shortstop, third base, and first base.
Green led 13-8 entering the buffet. They added three runs on six singles, but left the bases loaded (a lot of stranded runners in this game, by both teams – eight by Green in their four non-five-run innings, ten by Gray in their six innings). Gray came up in the bottom half chasing eight. David Kruse led off with a double (he missed the cycle by a homerun). Greg Lloyd grounded back to Chunky Wright for the first out. Tom Brownfield singled, his fourth hit of the game, David scoring. Rick Jensen singled to left-center, Tom barely beating the throw in to second. Frank Delmonte grounded to shortstop Gary Coyle, who threw to second for the force there for the second out. Jim McAnelly, Tony Viera, and Jerry Mylius each singled, each driving in a run. (Tony’s hit was a kind of cue-ball shot that spun to the left when it hit the ground and glanced off third baseman Clint Fletcher’s mitt.) Trailing by four with two runners on base, Gray actually had a decent shot at tying the game, with Anthony Galindo up and the top of the order to follow. But Chunky Wright got Anthony to pop up between the mound and the first-base line, and Chunky made the catch himself for the final out. Final score: Green 16, Gray 12, Gray avoiding finishing alone in last place for the session. The visiting teams, for the second date in a row, all won.
Mike Velaney’s cleat, what done me wrong this past Thursday. Wouldn’t have happened had he been wearing Beebe gear.
Final standings – Session Four:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 10 3 .769 — 177 138 +39 W1
Gold 6 6 .500 3.5 157 153 + 4 W2
Maroon 6 6 .500 3.5 149 145 + 4 L4
Red 6 7 .462 4 157 164 – 7 L3
Green 5 8 .385 5 166 176 -10 W3
Gray 5 8 .385 5 138 168 -30 L1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 5-1 5-2 1 1-0 2-0 2-1
Gold 3-2 3-4 0 0-0 2-0 0-2
Maroon 3-5 3-1 2 0-2 1-1 3-1
Red 2-4 4-3 2 0-0 2-2 2-2
Green 2-5 3-3 0 1-0 2-2 0-1
Gray 1-5 4-3 0 0-0 0-4 1-1
Final full-season standings:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 34.5 19.5 .639 — 718 623 +95 W1
Maroon 28 23 .549 5 601 611 -10 L4
Gray 26 26 .500 7.5 637 621 +16 L1
Gold 25 27 .481 8.5 628 636 – 8 W2
Green 26 29 .473 9 667 702 -35 W3
Red 24 30 .444 10.5 672 702 -30 L3
Purple 6.5 13.5 .325 11 231 255 -24 L1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 13.5-11.5 21- 8 3 2.5-1.5 11- 4 4- 4
Maroon 14-12 14-11 7 1-2 6 -6 11- 4
Gray 10-15 16-11 3 1-3 8- 6 7- 8
Gold 11-14 14-13 5 2-0 8- 3 8- 7
Green 12-16 14-13 4 1-1 6-11 6- 3
Red 12-16 12-14 4 1-2 6-12 4-10
Purple 5- 7 1.5-6.5 1 1.5-0.5 0- 3 1- 4
[Purple and Blue tied their game of May 11; it is counted as half a win and half a loss in the standings.]
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 6 7 8 5 2.5 6 34.5
Gold 4 X 4 7 4 1 5 25
Gray 2 6 X 5 4 2 7 26
Green 3 4 5 X 5 4 5 26
Maroon 5 6 4 4 X 3 6 28
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 4 4 5 4 3 X 24
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 19.5 27 26 29 23 15.5 30 170
President Jack McDermott checks in regarding the post-season tourney:
First day/round will be: game #1 – Red (seed 6) at Gray (seed 3); game #2 – Green (seed 5) at Gold (seed 4). Weather forecast for next week has shown consistently to be a bit chilly, but rain chances have been changing. We are going to wait a day or two, but thinking about changing days, maybe Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Thursday as it looks like it might warm up a little. Will make a final decision before the weekend.
The Picayune will report the schedule (days, times, and match-ups) plus details concerning umpiring assignments, etc.
So when will we play? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Larry Young forwards some good news: A blood clot saddling both of Larry Bunton’s lungs was successfully removed with same-day surgery, and Larry was able to return home Saturday. Johnny Lee mentioned today that he has spoken with Larry B., who is in good spirits. We all are wishing him well.
Unrelatedly, Keggy demands that you respect Snoop Dogg’s privacy at this difficult time. And enjoy your Thanksgiving!