B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 19 – June 6, 2024
$2.25 (Prices in Normandy may be higher)
Weather: Austin in June, am I right? Mid-80s with 89% humidity at the start of the 10:30 game, and lots of sun. The temperature rose into the low 90s, and the humidity let up a bit, but there was hardly any breeze. Kind of tough, not gonna lie, though I know we’re going to get worse than this soon enough. Everyone was careful to hydrate. Shout out to today’s umpires, especially David Brown and Jeff Fisher at 12:30. (Jeff did double duty, also keeping score on my behalf, which is a pain in the ass even when it’s not sweltering.)
Peter Sundquist in his brand-spanking-new Beebe RP20 Turf Shoes.
I mean, look at these beauties – exquisite.
Games of Thursday June 6 – three outstanding games today:
10:30 a.m., Orange (2-9) at Gray (6-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 0 0 4 2 1 1 8 Gray 3 0 0 3 3 X 9 Pitchers: Orange – Rex Horvath; Gray – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Orange – David Brown, Hal Darman, Peter Sundquist, Mike Velaney, and Scott Wright; Gray – Rick Jensen, Jack Spellman, Jeff Stone, and Rip Wright (Spellman was selected last, but was dropped before the game began when Ivan Budiselich arrived; when Ivan pulled a leg muscle pinch-running in the bottom of the fourth, Spellman (re-)entered the game). Umpires: home plate – Jack Crosley; bases – Mike Garrison and Trey Wall. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Larry Fiorentino (4 for 4 with a triple); Gray – Hal Darman (3 for 3), Mike Mordecai (3 for 3 with a walk), Jack Spellman (1 for 1 with a triple), and Rip Wright (1 for 1 with two walks).
Both teams picked up a passel of mercenaries and went with not their usual pitcher, Rex Horvath taking the mound for Orange, Jeff Stone filling in for Gray. Jeff held Orange scoreless over the first two innings, working around a one-out triple by Larry Fiorentino in the first (he caught Rex looking at a called strike three and retired Fritz Hensel on a liner to shortstop), and a one-out double by Peter Sundquist in the second (getting Mike Velaney to ground out to shortstop and David Brown to fly out to Gary Coyle in right-center). Gray grabbed an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first on four singles and Johnny Lee’s sacrifice fly to right-center, Matt Levitt making an excellent play.
Gray threatened again in the second, with Rick Jensen and Rip Wright knocking one-out singles. Shortstop David Brown made a nice grab of Tommy Gillis’s hard grounder to his right and threw to third for the force there for the second out. Mike Mordecai singled to left, loading the bases, but Rex Horvath got Gary Coyle to ground to the left side – I have the play marked as 5-6-5, Tommy out at third, can’t remember if the grounder deflected from Scott Wright to David Brown, who threw back to Scott, or if maybe there was a rundown.
Orange got on the board with four runs on five consecutive one-out hits in the top of the third, Rex Horvath’s double to right driving in two runs and Rex scoring the fourth on Fritz Hensel’s single to left. Rex then retired Gray 1-2-3 in the bottom half, and at the halfway mark Orange led 4-3.
Orange increased its lead with two runs in the top of the fourth. Mike Velaney and David Brown led off with singles, putting runners on the corners. Jeff Stone caught Scott Wright looking at a called strike three for the first out. Hal Darman singled to left, Mike scoring; David took a wide turn at second, and left fielder Don Solberg threw behind him as he started to retreat to the base; David then reversed course and raced to third, beating Ivan Budiselich’s throw over. David scored on Matt Levitt’s force-out grounder to shortstop. Larry Fiorentino’s single put runners on the corners for Rex Horvath, who got under a pitch and skied out to Don Solberg in left.
Rex cried out, “Aw, NUTS!” – totally understandable, though technically that’s a Battle of the Bulge quote, and today we’re marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, so I think a more appropriate quote would have been “God Almighty, in a few short hours, we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if You will, use us as Your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world.” But I understand that maybe it’s hard to get that all in before the catch is made.
Gray put together a two-out rally and tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jeff Stone singled with one out, and one out later Rip Wright drew a walk. Tommy Gillis singled, I believe to left field; Ivan Budiselich, running for Jeff, was waved home, but stumbled rounding third and hit the ground, having pulled a muscle; he managed to get back to third, but had to leave the game. Mike Mordecai drew a bases-loaded walk, forcing home the pinch-runner’s pinch-runner. Gary Coyle followed with a single that drove in Rip and Tommy, knotting the score at 6-6.
Jack Spellman took over at second for Gray in the top of the fifth. Fritz Hensel drew a lead-off walk and Larry Shupe singled. Peter Sundquist and Mike Velaney both hit into 6-4 force plays, Larry Fiorentino, running for Fritz, advancing to third and then scoring, putting Orange back in the lead, 7-6. On Mike’s force there was contact at second base between Peter and second baseman Spellman, but no interference call – I had no chance of doubling up Mike anyway. David Brown squared up a pitch and lined it up the middle, but Jeff Stone, such a good fielding pitcher, grabbed it for the third out.
Gray reclaimed the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Johnny Lee singled with one out. Jack Spellman, batting in Ivan Budiselich’s spot in the order, drove a low pitch to center field, between the left- and right-center fielders; the ball rolled to the fence, Johnny Lee’s pinch-runner scored, and Spellman wound up at third. Jeff Stone followed with a pop to short right field; Mike Velaney made a good play going back to catch the ball, but as he was moving away from the plate, Spellman was able to tag up and beat his throw home, scoring the go-ahead run. Rex Horvath needed one more out, but it took him five batters to get it, and before he did Rick Jensen singled, Rip Wright walked, and Tommy Gillis and Mike Mordecai also singled, Rick coming around to score what proved to be an important insurance run. The inning ended with David Brown making a good play on Gary Coyle’s hard grounder to the 5-6 hole and throwing to third for the force there.
Orange was chasing two entering the buffet. Jeff Stone retired Scott Wright on a grounder to second base. Hal Darman singled, completing a 3-for-3 day at the plate. His pinch-runner was forced out at second on Matt Levitt’s grounder to shortstop. Larry Fiorentino completed his 4-for-4 day by knocking a double to right-center, Matt scoring from first. Rex Horvath grounded out to shortstop Rick Jensen for the final out. Final score: Gray 9, Orange 8
11:30 a.m., Green (6-5) at Blue (4-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 1 3 2 3 0 7 16 Blue 2 2 1 4 2 0 11 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Blue – Tommy Gillis and Don Solberg. Umpires: home – Gary Coyle; bases – Peter Sundquist. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Pat Scott (4 for 4).
This one was close most of the way, Green briefly leading by four runs before Blue rallied and took the lead, 11-9, going into the buffet. Both teams played solid defense, with three double plays turned over the first two and a half innings. Ralph Villela led off the game with a single down the third-base side, just beating out Terry Thompson’s cross-diamond throw. He then took third on Mike Hill’s single to right and scored on Mike Garrison’s force-out grounder to shortstop David Brown.
Blue scored twice in the bottom of the first, an eventful inning. Pat Scott and David Brown led off with singles, and a walk to Jeff Fisher loaded the bases. Steve Sandall grounded to third baseman David Pittard, who took three steps to get to third and tag the bag for the force there, then threw home, but Pat beat the ball to the line, scoring on a very close play. Joe Bernal singled, loading the bases – I’m calling it a single, but what happened was, Joe grounded back to the box and Tommy Deleon fielded the ball and threw to second for the force, but it was a bit of a lollipop throw and Ralph Villela couldn’t get a handle on it, and everyone was safe. Terry Thompson singled to left; Jeff scored, but Steve was thrown out 7-6-2, Mike Garrison to Ralph Villela to Daniel Baladez. I thought Daniel might have come off the mat to make the catch, but Gary Coyle signalled out. Meanwhile, David Brown, running for Joe, took a wide turn around second and almost halfway to third; Daniel threw to third, David Pittard chased David Brown part way back to second, then threw to second baseman Mike Hill; David then scooted to third and beat the throw there, running through. Gary Coyle initially called him out, but a conclave involving past presidents Rick Jensen and Jack McDermott convened and the ruling was reversed, as in B League you CAN run through going forward on a rundown. Didn’t matter, as Dale Fugate then grounded into an inning-ending 6-4 force.
That was the first inning.
Not that the second wasn’t eventful in its own right. Tommy Deleon led off with a single over first base. Very uncharacteristically, Joe Bernal walked the next three batters (Jack Crosley, Phil Stanch, and Trey Wall), a run scoring. Daniel Baladez ripped a single to left, Jack (or his pinch-runner, not sure) and Trey scoring. Ralph Villela grounded to shortstop, David Brown throwing to third for the force out there. Mike Hill grounded back to the box, and Joe Bernal started a very nice 1-6-3 double play, David Brown pivoting.
Billy Hill opened the bottom of the second with a single on a short pop that fell in front of shortstop, his pinch-runner (Steve Sandall, I think) beating it out. Tommy Gillis hit into a 4-6 force, but the next three hitters – Don Solberg (batting left-handed), Pat Scott, and David Brown – each singled, Tommy and Don coming around and scoring. But that was all Blue could get, as Jeff Fisher hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Mike Hill, who started a 4-6-3 double play, Ralph Villela on pivot.
After all that, it was a 4-4 game.
Green went ahead when the first four batters of the third inning reached base: Mike Garrison singled, David Pittard walked, Jack McDermott singled (Mike scoring), and Tommy Deleon walked. Jack Crosley’s sacrifice fly to Don Solberg drove in David. But Phil Stanch grounded up the middle, and Joe Bernal, backtracking after releasing the pitch, made a good play on the ball, turned and flipped to shortstop David Brown – I could see Joe was considering making the play himself, but thought better of it – and David threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.
Blue got one run back in the bottom of the frame, leaving the bases loaded. With one out, singles by Joe Bernal, Terry Thompson, and Dale Fugate loaded the bases. Joe (or possibly a pinch-runner) scored on Billy Hill’s force out grounder, shortstop Ralph Villela throwing to David Pittard at third. Tommy Gillis hit an infield single, a topper toward shortstop, to re-load the bases, but the inning ended with Mike Garrison making a terrific catch going back of a drive to left field by Don Solberg (batting right-handed).
Green loaded the bases to start the fourth, on a single by Trey Wall and walks drawn by Daniel Baladez and Ralph Villela. Mike Hill’s sacrifice fly to Jeff Fisher in right-center scored Trey. Mike Garrison hit into a force out, pitcher to shortstop. David Pittard singled, Daniel’s pinch-runner scoring, Green now leading 9-5. Jack McDermott singled through second base, David taking third, but Joe Bernal got Tommy Deleon to foul off a two-strike pitch for the third out.
Blue rallied and tied the game with four runs in the bottom of the fourth on six singles and Jeff Fisher’s sacrifice fly to Trey Wall in right-center. Three of the hits were balls in the infield that couldn’t be handled – Steve Sandall reached on a grounder to shortstop Ralph Villela’s left that hopped and hit Ralph’s glove off center, leaving him unable to make a play. The final hit was a drive by Dale Fugate that glanced off left-center fielder Jack McDermott’s glove. It was one of those innings.
Joe Bernal retired the side in order in the top of the fifth, and Blue looked poised to take control of the game when t he first three batters – mercenaries Tommy Gillis and Don Solberg, and Pat Scott, completing a 4-for-4 game, singled to start the bottom half, Tommy scoring. Ralph Villela fielded David Brown’s grounder and tagged second for the force there. Don advanced to third on the play and then scored on Jeff Fisher’s second sacrifice fly of the game, again to Trey Wall in right-center. Steve Sandall hit a sinking line drive to left field, and was robbed of a hit by Mike Garrison, who made his second outstanding catch of the game, this time an inning-ending, run-saving shoestring grab.
Green was chasing two runs entering the buffet. Their first eight hitters hit safely – seven singles and a double by Mike Hill that was nearly caught by Jeff Fisher – and six scoring. Joe Bernal finally got an out when Phil Stanch lined out to shortstop David Brown. A walk to Trey Wall – his second of the game, and the eighth issued by Joe in the game, something I’m certain I’ve never seen before – loaded the bases. Daniel Baladez, batting for the second time in the inning and looking to complete a perfect day at the plate, squared up on a pitch and lined it up the middle, but Joe grabbed it; he threw to first trying to double up Trey, who dove back to the bag; the ball wound up beneath Trey and first baseman Dale Fugate, and in the confusion, Tommy Deleon’s pinch-runner (Mike Garrison, maybe?) tagged up and scored Green’s seventh and final run of the inning.
Blue was chasing five in the home half. Joe Bernal led off with a line drive down the third-base side that (tall guy) David Pittard reached high for and grabbed for the first out. Terry Thompson followed with a liner up the middle that Tommy made a terrific play on, snagging it for out number two. Singles by Dale Fugate, Billy Hill, and Tommy Gillis loaded the bases, but the game ended when Tommy got Don Solberg (batting right-handed) to hit a two-strike foul. Final score: Green 16, Blue 11
12:30 p.m., Red (7-4) at Maroon (6-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 2 1 5 1 2 16 Maroon 0 1 5 3 5 3 17 Pitchers: Red – Donald Drummer; Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Red – Tommy Gillis, Denny Malloy, and Jack McDermott; Maroon – Johnny Lee, Larry Shupe, Jeff Stone, and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: Home plate – David Brown; bases – Jeff Fisher (also kept the scorebook). Perfect at the plate: Red – Jack McDermott (4 for 4) and Adam Reddell (4 for 4 with a double); Maroon – Larry Shupe (3 for 3).
Y’all are killing me with these eventful, hard-to-recap contests. Red had the better of it in the early going, building an 8-1 lead through the top of the second, scoring five runs on eight singles while making just one out in the top of the first. Donald Drummer retired the side in order in the bottom half, and Red scored twice more in the second on three singles and Donald’s walk.
Maroon got on the board with a single run in the bottom of the second. Joe Roche singled to left-center leading, and hits by James Chavana and Marvin Krabbenhoft loaded the bases. Peter Sundquist hit a grounder to third baseman Adam Reddell, who had to make several steps to get to the bag at third for the force there; Adam threw home, but Joe was able to beat it, barely, scoring Maroon’s first run. Donald Drummer got Jeff Stone on a fly to right and Johnny Lee on a bouncer back to the box. Johnny Lee, swinging a lighter bat later in a very hot day, pinched a nerve with his big cut, but gutted it out and stayed in the game.
Red looked poised for a big inning in the third when the first four batters singled, lead-off batter Boo Resnick coming around to score. (Boo and Morgan Witthoft played as mercenaries for Maroon on Monday, and struggled at the plate, going a combined 0 for 7. Today, against Maroon, they were 6 for their first 7. Maddening.) But that proved to be the only run Jeff Stone would allow in the frame, as he got Donald Drummer to pop out to shortstop Jimmy Sneed and Tim Bruton to hit a hard grounder to third baseman Joe Roche, who stepped on third for the force and then made a strong, accurate throw to catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft to complete the inning-ending 5u., 5-2 double play.
Maroon then got back into the game by scoring five times in the home half, on five singles and Jimmy Sneed’s double. (Actually, Marvin Krabbenhoft’s hit, which drove in Jimmy from second and Joe Roche from first, was a drive to left-center over the outfielders’ heads, but counted as a single as Marvin was taking a runner from home.)
That cut Red’s lead to one, but the Crimson Tide responded with five runs in the top of the fourth, the inning starting with doubles by Rick Kahn and Adam Reddell and concluding with four singles and then a double by Donald Drummer. Maroon got three back in the home half, on five singles, and trailed 13-9 entering the final five-run inning.
Red knocked four more hits in that inning, beginning with a lead-off double by Tim Bruton, but came away with just one run, Tim’s, as Red recorded a lucky out on a baserunning gaffe. With Morgan Witthhoft on first and Adam Reddell on second with one out, Hal Darman lined a single to left center. Scott Wright charged the ball and came up throwing for Morgan at second; Scott’s throw drew second baseman Jack Spellman off the bag, and didn’t beat Morgan in any case, but rather than run through, Morgan ran TO the bag, stepped on it, and then took a step or so off. Catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft hollered at me to tag the runner, which I did, and Morgan was called out. Jeff Stone then got Boo Resnick to hit a two-strike foul to end the inning.
Maroon took full advantage, scoring five times in the bottom half, the first seven batters reaching, on lead-off walks to James Chavana and Marvin “The Eye” Krabbenhoft, and then five consecutive singles. With four runs in and the bases loaded, all Jack Spellman had to do was hit a ball in the air to the outfield, and I did so, barely, my short fly to center just deep enough to bring in the fifth run.
Tie game entering the buffet. Jeff Stone got two quick outs in the top half, getting Denny Malloy (finally) on a fly to Scott Wright in left field and Tommy Gillis on a two-strike foul. Jack McDermott singled, completing a 4-for-4 day, and so did Donald Drummer. Tim Bruton drove a ball to right field; Larry Shupe got a somewhat late jump on it, came in aggressively, but the ball fell in front of him and skipped past; James Chavana, backing up the play, retrieved the ball and was able to hold Tim to a triple, but both Jack and Donald scored easily, putting Red up two. Rick Kahn got under a pitch and hit a major-league pop to second base, caught for the third out.
Needing two to tie, Maroon’s first two batters, Jimmy Sneed and Joe Roche, both singled. Donald Drummer got James Chavana to hit an infield fly to third base and Marvin Krabbenhoft to hit a two-strike foul. Down to its last out, Red turned to its mercenaries. Peter Sundquist singled to left-center, Jimmy scoring to make it a one-run game. Jeff Stone knocked a single to right-center: off on contact, Jimmy scored easily, and Peter turned second and made for third; when the ball wasn’t handled cleanly in the outfield, third-base coach Jack Spellman windmilled Peter home. Peter never hesitated, made a great cut at third base and raced for home; the throw was up the first-base side and Peter scored the winning run from first on a single. (Screw you, Enos Slaughter.) Final score: Maroon 17, Red 16
Peter Sundquist post-game, after I about killed him. Was it the Beebe cleats that enabled him to fly around the diamond? I’m saying yes. Yes, it was.
Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Gray 7 4 .636 — 130 116 +14 W1
Purple 6 4 .600 .5 131 109 +22 W2
Red 7 5 .583 .5 180 161 +19 L2
Green 7 5 .583 .5 155 143 +12 W2
Maroon 7 5 .583 .5 161 154 + 7 W2
Blue 4 7 .364 3 129 140 -11 L2
Orange 2 10 .167 5.5 124 187 -63 L2
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Gray 4-1 3-3 2 0-0 2-1 4-2
Purple 3-3 3-1 0 0-0 1-2 0-1
Red 2-2 5-3 0 0-1 4-0 1-3
Green 2-4 5-1 1 1-0 1-1 1-2
Maroon 3-5 4-0 2 0-0 1-2 2-0
Blue 2-5 2-2 1 0-0 1-1 1-0
Orange 2-3 0-7 0 0-0 0-3 2-3
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 1 1 1 2 1 1 7
Gray 2 X 2 1 3 0 1 9
Green 2 0 X 1 1 1 2 7
Maroon 1 2 2 X 2 0 2 9
Orange 0 0 1 0 X 1 2 4
Purple 1 1 2 2 2 X 0 8
Red 2 1 1 1 1 2 X 8
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 8 5 9 6 11 5 8 52
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Gregory Bied – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
David Brown – 1
Ken Brown – 1
Tim Bruton – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
David Kruse – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Eddie Ortiz – 1
Dave Pittard – 1
Pat Scott – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Monday June 10:
10:30 a.m.: Blue (4-7) at Purple (6-4), Gray umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Gray (7-4) at Red (7-5), Purple umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (7-5) at Green (7-5), Red umpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: This time for real, the penultimate games of Session 2, all of them important, with four teams trailing Gray by half a game. The seven-win teams face off at 11:30 and 12:30 after Purple tries to join that club at 10:30. They shall fight on the beaches, they shall fight on the landing grounds, they shall fight in the fields and in the streets, they shall fight in the hills; eventually someone might surrender. (Sorry, that’s Dunkirk, not D-Day.) Will we have a clear favorite for Session 2 champion at the end of the day Monday? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
David Brown retrieved this batting glove by the home dugout at the conclusion of today’s games. He left it in the equipment cart. By the way, recapping David’s day: he played stellar shortstop in each of the first two games, umpired the third, then singlehandedly hauled the equipment cart back to the storage shed, totally putting the rest of us slackers to shame.
Go see Mike Mordecai at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Mondays from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Boo Resnick and Hotcakes will be at Donn’s Depot, 1600 West Fifth Street, on Saturday, June 15 from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.