B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 63 – November 28, 2023
Weather: Another chilly start, in the high 40s and overcast, but it got to 52 degrees early in the second game and then up to 56 degrees by the time we finished up, with humidity at 43%. The clouds moved off and it got sunny – just a spectacularly beautiful day to end the season, and we enjoyed three terrific games to cap the 2023 season.
Games of Tuesday November 28:
10:30 a.m., Red (sixth seed) at Blue (first seed):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 0 5 5 3 2 20 Blue 0 5 1 0 5 3 14 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Blue – Spike Davidson. Umpires: home plate – Terry Watts; bases – Carl Gallagher. Perfect at the plate: Red – Ken Mockler (3 for 3 with a walk and two homeruns), Adam Reddell (3 for 3 with a walk), Paul Rubin (4 for 4 with a double and a triple), Howard Spates and Terry Thompson (each 3 for 3), and Jack Spellman (4 for 4 with a double and two triples); Blue – Eddy Murillo (4 for 4 with a double). Homeruns: Ken Mockler, 2 (both over the fence).
Red came out hot, the first four batters combining to hit a team cycle: Jack Spellman double, Paul Rubin RBI triple, Ken Mockler two-run over-the-fence homerun, the first of two, and then Adam Reddell, David Ferley, Terry Thompson, and Sam Baker each singled, Adam and David scoring the fourth and fifth runs of the inning. Perhaps a bit rusty from their eight-day layoff, Blue did not score in the bottom of the first, Jack Kelly working around Anthony Galindo’s two-out single.
Ken Mockler after the first of his two homeruns for Red.
The teams reversed roles in the second inning: Spike Davidson got two quick outs to start the top half, allowed singles to Howard Spates and Mike Mordecai, then retired Jack Kelly on a grounder to second baseman Larry Fiorentino; then Blue scored five times to tie the game. Eddy Murillo and Fritz Hensel hit back-to-back one-out singles. Spike Davidson hit a foul two-strike pitch for the second out, but Phil Stanch singled, Dale Fugate rocketed a double to the fence in left-center, and Bobby Miller and Larry Fiorentino delivered run-scoring singles.
The top of Red’s order continued to mash when it came up to start the third: Jack Spellman tripled, Paul Rubin doubled, Ken Mockler singled, Adam Reddell walked, and David Ferley and Terry Thompson singled. Spike Davidson struck out Sam Baker, but Hal Darman and Daniel Baladez singled to get the fourth and fifth runs in. Blue got one run back in the home half, on one-out singles by Morgan Witthoft, George Romo, and Eddy Murillo, but Jack Kelly escaped without further damage, retiring Fritz Hensel and Spike Davidson on infield pops (somewhat fraught due to the bright southeastern sun, but the catches were made cleanly).
Red kept raking in the fourth inning. Howard Spates singled, as did, following Mike Mordecai’s fly out to left-center, Jack Kelly, Jack Spellman, and Paul Rubin, Howard scoring on Paul’s hit. That brought up Ken Mockler with the bases loaded and one run in: Ken ended the inning with a grand slam, a big fly over the fence in left-center. That put Red in the driver’s seat, leading 15-6. Jack Kelly then retired the side in order in the bottom half, Ken Mockler in left field hauling in flies for the second and third outs.
Red added to its lead with three more runs in the top of the fifth, on four singles, Daniel Baladez’s two-out double to the fence in left-center, and a single to right field by Howard Spates that scored David Ferley (I think) running for Hal; Terry Thompson, running for Daniel, also tried to score, but was cut down by a strong throw home by right fielder Phil Stanch.
Larry Fiorentino led off the bottom of the fifth with a hard, spinning ground ball to the right side of second base; Howard Spates moved to his backhand to reach it, but it spun off his mitt; unfortunately for Blue, Larry, disgusted with himself, didn’t run it out, and Howard had time to retrieve the ball and throw to first for the out. It ultimately didn’t matter, as that was the only out Blue made in the frame, the next six hitters reaching, and five scoring: Anthony Galindo walked; Geoge Romo singled; Eddy Murillo doubled; and Fritz Hensel and Spike Davidson singled. Every ball was hit hard, as I remember it.
That cut Red’s lead to 18-11 entering the buffet. Spike Davidson got two quick ground outs to start the inning, Mike Mordecai to shortstop George Romo and Jack Kelly to second baseman Larry Fiorentino. But Red’s 1-4 hitters all completed perfect games at the plate: Jack Spellman hit his second triple; Paul Rubin singled him home; Ken Mockler walked; and Adam Reddell singled, Paul scoring Red’s 20th run. David Ferley’s ground out to second baseman Larry Fiorentino ended the inning.
That left Blue chasing nine in the home half. Phil Stanch and Dale Fugate each singled to start the frame. Shortstop Jack Spellman fielded Bobby Miller’s grounder just to the left of pitcher Jack Kelly and tagged second for the force there, but Bobby beat the relay. Larry Fiorentino hit a fly to left-center that Paul Rubin was well positioned to catch for the second out. Anthony Galindo, Morgan Withhoft, George Romo, and Eddy Murillo (Eddy’s fourth hit in as many at bats) each singled, Phil, Bobby, and Anthony scoring. But Jack Kelly recorded the last out when he got Fritz Hensel to fly out to Paul Rubin in left-center. Final score: Red 20, Blue 14
11:30 a.m., Green (fifth seed) at Maroon (second seed):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 5 5 2 0 4 8 24 Maroon 0 0 5 5 2 3 15 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon (innings 1-4) and Chunky Wright (5-6); Maroon – Joe Bernal. Umpires: home plate – Terry Watts; bases – Carl Gallagher. Perfect at the plate: Green – Gary Coyle (4 for 4 with two doubles), Jeff Fisher (4 for 4), Buddy Gaswint (2 for 2 with a homerun and two walks), and Boo Resnick (3 for 3 with a walk) [Note: this is based on my reading of the scorecard Jack McDermott kindly kept; there's a non-zero chance that Boo was 2 for 3 and Tommy Deleon was 4 for 4 – one or the other had a perfect day, and the other made just one out in four plate appearances); Maroon – Tom Kelm (3 for 3). Homerun: Buddy Gaswint (over the fence).
Once again the higher-seeded/underdog team burst out of the gate, only even more so, Green scoring five times in each of the first two innings while keeping Maroon off the board altogether. Joe Bernal retired the first two batters of the game, Clint Fletcher and Mike Hill, on a fly to Peter Sundquist in left-center and a grounder to second baseman Scott Wright, but the next four batters singled (giving generous scoring to Gary Coyle’s grounder to third baseman Tom Kelm, whose throw to second for the force there was dropped by pitcher Joe Bernal covering), two runs scoring, and then Buddy Gaswint skied a homerun over the fence for the third, fourth, and fifth. Tommy Deleon issued a one-out walk to Scott Wright in the bottom half, then got both Pat Cook (playing his first B League game in some while, so likely a bit rusty) and Joe Bernal to hit two-strike fouls.
Buddy Gaswint’s homerun in the top of the first was but a preview of what he delivered in the tourney final.
Joe got Tommy Gillis on a liner to Peter Sundquist to start the second, but seven of the next eight batters singled (six well struck to the outfield, Donnie Janac’s a hard grounder up the middle and off Joe to shortstop Peter Atkins, who had no play), the sequence interrupted only by Clint Fletcher’s sacrifice fly that drove in Boo Resnick with the first run. Four more followed, and Green was up 10-0. They maintained that advantage thanks to strong defense in the bottom half. Don Solberg in left field ranged far to his right and made a terrific backhanded grab of Johnny Lee’s fly down the left-field line for the first out. Ken Brown singled. Peter Atkins slashed a ball to the right of second base, but Clint Fletcher made a terrific play to glove it and flip to shortstop Mike Hill for the force. Marvin Krabbenhoft lined a single to left-center, but Don Solberg hauled in Dave Jaffe’s fly for the third out.
Gary Coyle doubled and Buddy Gaswint singled him in to start the third. After shortstop Paul Atkins snagged Tommy Gillis’s liner (Tommy’s second squared-up swing, with nothing to show for it) for the first out, Boo Resnick walked and Tommy Deleon singled to right, loading the bases. Buddy scored on Chunky Wright’s grounder to shortstop, with Peter Atkins throwing to third for the force there. Tom Kelm then fielded Clint Fletcher’s grounder to third and stepped on the bag to end the inning, Green now up 12-0 and seemingly in control of the game.
Maroon got back into it, however, scoring five times in both the third and fourth while shutting Green out in the top of the fourth. Maroon got eight consecutive hits in the third, the only out in the inning coming when Dave Jaffe, running for Tom Kelm following Tom’s lead-off single, tried to score on Scott Wright’s base hit to right field. Dave hesitated rounding third, and then, with Peter Sundquist about to run up on him, tried for home, but was out on a perfectly executed 9-4-2 relay, Tommy Gillis to Clint Fletcher to Boo Resnick. It didn’t matter, as the next five batters singled to bring across the five runs.
Joe Bernal worked a 1-2-3 top off the fourth, the third out coming on an excellent catch by Dave Jaffe of Don Solberg’s fly to right field. Tommy Deleon retired Marvin Krabbenhoft on a grounder to Clint Fletcher to start the bottom half, but the next seven batters reached base, on five singles and a walk to Peter Sunquist, for five more runs, Green’s lead cut to 12-10.
Green got itself some breathing room with a four-run rally in the top of the fifth, the bottom half of the lineup doing the heavy lifting, all the runs scored with two out. Jeff Fisher and Gary Coyle opened the inning with singles, and Buddy Gaswint walked to load the bases. Tommy Gillis hit a sharp grounder to third base, which Tom Kelm fielded cleanly and then demonstrated his smarts on: Tom stepped on third to force out Gary coming from second; Jeff had started for home on the grounder, but stopped short of the commitment line; Tom ran toward him, forced Jeff over the commit line, and then made an unhurried, chest-high throw to catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft to complete the 5u., 5-2 double play. Green’s next four hitters – Boo Resnick, Tommy Deleon, and Chunky Wright – followed with singles (Tommy’s really was an extra-base hit, a liner that gapped the left and left-center fielders that scored both Tommy Gillis and, all the way from first, Boo, but Tommy’s pinch-runner had to stop at first), four runs scoring, Green’s lead back to a relatively safe 16-10.
Chunky Wright took over on the mound for Green in the top of the fifth and held Maroon to two runs in that inning, on three singles and Peter Sundquist’s double. (Marvin Krabbenhoft’s hit has to be scored as a single, but, like Tommy Deleon, he gapped the left and left-center fielders and Peter Atkins was able to score from first.) That made it 16-12 in Green’s favor entering the buffet.
Green proceeded to put the game out of reach, as 11 of the first 12 batters reached base by single (seven of them), double (Gary Coyle and Tommy Gillis), or walk (Buddy Gaswint, his second of the game). Eight runs scored before the flip-flop was invoked with Green leading 24-12, with runners on the corners and two out.
Chunky Wright got Pat Cook to (squinting to read the scorecard) pop out to second, maybe?, to start the bottom half. Joe Bernal smacked a triple, and Johnny Lee, Ken Brown, and Peter Atkins followed with singles, Joe, Johnny Lee’s pinch-runner, and Peter all scoring. Chunky then retired Marvin Krabbenhoft and Dave Jaffe to secure the victory for Green. Final score: Green 24, Maroon 15
The great Kenny Jordan and his son Frank were in attendance today, to the delight of all.
12:30 p.m.: Red (sixth seed) at Green (fifth seed)
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 4 2 1 1 0 7 20 Green 5 0 5 0 5 4 2 21 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Green – Tommy Deleon (innings 1-2) and Chunky Wright (3-7). Umpires: home plate – Terry Watts; bases – Rick Jensen. Perfect at the plate: Red – Paul Rubin (4 for 4 with a double and a triple); Green – Tommy Deleon (4 for 4), Buddy Gaswint (5 for 5 with a double and a homerun), and Tommy Gillis (4 for 4 with two doubles). Homerun: Buddy Gaswint (over the fence – way, way, way over the fence).
So the giant-killing highest seeds met for the final, and it turned into a barn-burner of a game.
Red, as it did in the first two games of the tourney, scored five times in its first at bat, on three singles, Paul Rubin’s RBI triple, and run-scoring doubles by David Ferley and Sam Baker, Sam driving in the fourth and fifth runs with a liner to center field that gapped the outfielders. The only out of the inning came when Ken Mockler was forced at second when Adam Reddell’s short fly behind second base was dropped – nothing Ken could do about that. Green responded with five runs on seven singles in the home half, Red managing to record only one force out at second.
Red added four more runs in the top of the second, as the first four hitters (Hal Darman, Daniel Baladez, Howard Spates, and Mike Mordecai) singled, Hal and Daniel’s pinch-runners and Howard all scoring. Jack Kelly hit into a 6u., 6-3 double play, turned by Mike Hill, but a walk to Jack Spellman and singles by Paul Rubin and Ken Mockler got a fourth run across. Jack Kelly then tossed a scoreless bottom half, working around singles by Tommy Deleon and Clint Fletcher.
Red got two more across in the top of the third on a big hit by Hal Darman following singles by David Ferley and Sam Baker. Hal drove a ball to the fence in left-center, both runners scoring, though Hal’s runner from home had to stop at first – it was the third would-have-been-an-extra-base-hit-but-for-the-runner-from-home of the day. That put Red up 11-5, but Green got back into the game with five runs in the home half, on a bunch of long hits. Donnie Janac led off with a triple, held at third on Don Solberg’s hard ground out to second baseman Howard Spates, then scored on Jeff Fisher’s single. Jeff was forced at second Gary Coyle’s grounder to second, Gary beating the relay to first to extend the inning. Buddy Gaswint and Tommy Gillis both doubled, Gary and Buddy scoring; Boo Resnick walked; and Tommy Deleon followed with another not-technically-an-extra-base hit that scored both Tommy and Boo.
Red won the fourth inning 1-0, Paul Rubin driving in Jack Spellman from first (on a fielder’s choice after I hit into a 4-6 force) with a two-out double, Jack Kelly tossing a scoreless bottom half, working around singles by Clint Fletcher and Donnie Janac.
Red scored a single run again in the fifth (not sure how exactly, the scorecard goes a little squirrely), and then Green grabbed the lead for the first time with five runs in the bottom of the frame. Jeff Fisher led off with a walk and Gary Coyle singled, and then Buddy Gaswint tied the game with an absolutely titanic three-run homer over everything in left-center. Honestly, I can’t do justice to it – Buddy absolutely crushed the ball, and I think it cleared the fence by 20 to 30 feet. Tommy Gillis followed with a double, and then five of the next six hitters singled, Chunky Wright interrupting the streak with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Now down by two, Red went out in order in the top of the sixth, and Maroon in the home half increased its lead to six with four more runs, though right fielder Terry Thompson singlehandedly prevented it from being more. After Don Solberg led off with a single…
Quote of the day: Don Solberg, asked whether he wanted a pinch-runner: “I want a cold beer.”
…Jeff Fisher flied out to Terry for the first out, and the next six batters (Gary Coyle, Buddy Gaswint, Tommy Gillis, Boo Resnick, Tommy Deleon, and Chunky Wright) singled, Tom, Gary, Buddy, and Tommy scoring. Clint Fletcher came up with the bases loaded and sliced a fly to right field; Terry came in to make the catch, and uncorked a perfectly accurate throw home to catcher Sam Baker, who caught the ball as (from my angle at shortstop, anyway) Boo’s foot was in the air above the home line, for an inning-ending F-10, 10-2 double play.
Green led 19-13 entering the buffet. Leading off, Jack Spellman lined a hit to center field; Jeff Fisher made a good play to keep it from getting past, but lost his footing, and Spellman was able to take second on the play. Paul Rubin (his fourth hit in as many at bats) and Ken Mockler singled, Spellman scoring on Paul’s knock. Adam Reddell popped out to shortstop Mike Hill. David Ferley and Terry Thompson singled, Paul and Ken scoring. Sam Baker hit a grounder up the middle, just to the left of second base, that Mike Hill made a good play on, flipping to Clint Fletcher for the force at second; Sam busted his tail down the line and beat the relay to first, extending the inning. Hal Darman, Daniel Baladez, and Howard Spates each singled, four more runs coming across, Red reclaiming the lead, 20-19. The inning finally ended with Mike Mordecai grounding into a 6-4 force.
It’s a big ask to try to hold a B League team scoreless in the bottom of the buffet. It became an even tougher task when Mike Hill led off with a Texas League pop fly single to short left field, perfectly placed. Donnie Janac hit a hard one-hopper that Jack Spellman caught on the backhand and threw to second for the force; Howard Spates’s throw to first drew Daniel Baladez off the bag, but Donnie had beaten it out anyway. Don Solberg popped out to Howard for the second out, Red just one out away from the championship. But it was not to be: Jeff Fisher singled up the middle, about a foot beyond Howard’s reach, Donnie taking third (I think) on the play. Gary Coyle lined a single, Donnie racing home with the tying run. Buddy Gaswint then stepped up and capped an epic day at the plate with a sharp single to the right side, again only a few inches beyond Howard’s grasp; Jeff was off on contact and easily scored the winning run, the outfielders understandably all playing pretty deep for Buddy. Final score: Green 17, Gold 12
It was a terrific effort by Red, a great victory by Green (in their tourney champion shirts above), and a tremendous ending to a great season. You couldn’t ask for a better set of games, or for a more exciting finish to the championship game than a go-ahead rally in the top of the buffet and a walk-off victory in the bottom.
Not to be forgotten: Thanks to Terry Watts, Carl Gallagher, and Rick Jensen for umpiring today’s games – superlative work all around. And thanks to president Jack McDermott for filling in for Dave Berra and keeping scoresheets for Red’s games, and to all those who’ve responded to my semi-panicked texts and emails tonight as I’ve tried to piece together the day’s action – couldn’t have done anywhere near as complete a job without your assistance.
Keggy’s Korner:
This is the final full edition of the Picayune for 2023 – I’ll be sending out some end-of-season material later this week (probably, or maybe early next week). Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. I always say, and I mean it, that I do this because it’s fun, and it’s fun because of you all – a great bunch of guys working together on this wonderful project.
As you think about your wish lists for the holidays, keep in mind Picayune sponsor Beebe Sports, who’ve been so wonderfully supportive of us.
www.beebesports.com
Happy holidays and New Year, good luck and health to those undergoing off-season surgery, and we’ll see you in February.