B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 33 – for August 5, 2024
Crediting the umpires (and shaming the slackers): This past Thursday’s 11:00 game was umpired by Gary Coyle and Donnie Janac, and at noon Rick Jensen and Larry Shupe stepped up to umpire when no one from assigned Red team did so.
Weather: Dave Berra reports, more succinctly than I can ever manage:
Mid-nineties; oppressive humidity; surprise inch of rain on Sunday had us on K2.
Games of Monday August 5:
10:00 a.m., Blue (6-3) at Red (4-5):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Blue 1 2 0 0 3 4 2 12 Red 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 7 Pitchers: Blue – Joe Bernal; Red – Donald Drummer. Mercenaries: Blue – Tim Coles and Peter Sundquist; Red – Peter Atkins. Umpires: home plate – Spike Davidson; bases – Larry Fiorentino and Rex Horvath. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tom Langa (4 for 4).
Hard-fought, low-scoring game, with Blue’s Joe Bernal shutting out Red on five singles over the final five innings after Red had jumped to an early 7-3 lead by winning each of the first two innings.
Blue scored a single run in the top of the first when Pat Scott led off the game with a single, advanced on Jeff Fisher’s walk, took third on a force play at second, and scored on George Romo’s sacrifice fly to Mike Malay in left-center. Red’s first five batters reached in the home half, on four singles and Adam Reddell’s walk, three scoring, but with runners on first and second and none out, Joe Bernal worked out of the jam, getting two ground balls to shortstop George Romo, who started a double play (6-4-3 or 6u., 6-3, I’m not sure which) on Denny Malloy’s and then threw out Mike Malay to end the inning.
Donald Drummer returned that favor in the top of the second: he allowed three singles and a walk to the first five Blue batters, the bottom half of the lineup, two scoring, then retired Pat Scott on a liner to second baseman Boo Resnick and Jeff Fisher on a grounder to first baseman Tom Langa, stranding two runners. Red then extended its lead to 7-3, scoring four times in the bottom of the inning on Boo Resnick’s lead-off walk, three singles, Peter Atkins’ two-run double, and Adam Reddell’s sacrifice fly to Terry Thompson in right field.
Then the pitchers and defenses took over, neither team scoring in the third and fourth inning. Donald Drummer worked around George Romo’s one-out double in the top of the third, Joe Bernal around Boo Resnick’s two-out single in the bottom half. Dale Fugate and Billy Hill singled to open the fourth, but Donald retired the next three hitters, Jerry Mylius on a liner back to the box, Tim Coles on a liner to left fielder Rick Kahn, and Peter Sundquist on a grounder to shortstop for a force at second. Joe gave up two-out singles to Tom Langa and Rick Kahn in the bottom of the frame, but got Adam Reddell to fly out to right field again.
Blue drew to within a run by scoring three times in the top of the fifth on singles by five of the first six batters. Donald Drummer stranded two more by retiring Dale Fugate on a fly to left-center and Billy Hill on a liner to shortstop. Denny Malloy tripled with one out in the bottom half, but did not score, as Joe Bernal retired Mike Malay on a grounder to shortstop George Romo and Boo Resnick on a line drive to left fielder Jeff Fisher.
Blue took the lead in the sixth inning as the first five batters singled and four scored. With three runs in, none out, and runners on the corners, Tim Bruton turned an excellent 6u., 6-3 double play on speedy George Brindley’s grounder to his left; Tim called off Boo and made the play himself.
Quote of the day, by Tim Bruton, a.k.a. El Diablo del Rojo: “I had a lot of moral support from Boo.”
George Romo followed with a single, but Donald Drummer got Joe Bernal to ground into an inning-ending 6-4 force. Joe then turned around and retired Red in order in the bottom of the inning.
Blue led 10-7 entering the buffet, and tacked on two more, thanks to three two-out singles, by Jerry Mylius, Tim Coles (driving in Billy Hill’s pinch-runner), and Peter Sundquist, whose single to left field drove in Jerry; Rick Kahn made a terrific play on the ball, throwing directly home to catcher Denny Malloy to cut down Tim trying to score from second.
Red was chasing five in the bottom half. Tim Bruton led off with a single, completing a 4-for-4 day at the plate, but he was erased on a 6u., 6-3 double play turned by George Romo on Rick Kahn’s grounder. Joe Bernal then got Adam Reddell on a fly to Jeff Fisher in left field for the final out. Final score: Blue 12, Red 7
11:00 a.m., Orange (4-7) at Green (6-3):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 0 2 0 0 0 3 10 Green 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 5 Pitchers: Orange – Spike Davidson; Green – Tommy Deleon. No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Adam Reddell; bases – Donald Drummer. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Spike Davidson (4 for 4), Tony Garcia (4 for 4 with a triple), and Fritz Hensel (3 for 3); Green – Mike Hill (3 for 3).
Another defensive battle, the teams combining for only ten runs scored after Orange’s five-run outburst in the top of the first. That came on eight hits (seven singles and Ray Pilgrim’s double to deep center field) and Rex Horvath’s sacrifice fly to left fielder Mike Garrison – if I’m reading the scoresheets correctly, Mike threw out Eddie Ortiz trying to advance to second on the play, I’m guessing an F-7, 7-4 double play, Mike Hill on the back end.
Green got one run back in the home half. Ralph Villela led off with a base hit up the middle, but was thrown out 8-6-4, Peter Atkins to Tony Garcia to (I think) Jim Maloy, trying to stretch it into a double. One out later Mike Hill singled and then scored on Jack McDermott’s triple to center field. David Pittard made an opposite-field bid to drive Jack in, but Larry Shupe made an excellent catch for the third out.
Neither team scored in the second. In the top half, Orange manager/third-base coach Dave Berra had Larry Shupe try to score from second on Tony Garcia’s two-out single to right field, but a good 10-4-2 relay, Jack Crosley to Mike Hill to Jim McAnelly cut Larry down. (I wasn’t there, but I approve Dave’s send – with two out, make ’em make a good play, and tip your hat when they come through.)
Green manager Jeff Broussard looks on approvingly at his squad’s perfectly executed outfield-to-home relay.
In the home half, Spike Davidson allowed a lead-off single to Tommy Deleon, then retired Mike Garrison on a fly to left-center and got Jack Crosley to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, Rex Horvath to either Doc Hobar or Jim Maloy to Ray Pilgrim. (Dave Berra, as ever, juggled his defensive configuration to ensure everyone both played the field and sat out equitably.) That was the first of three consecutive innings in which Orange turned infield double plays. In the third, after Orange scored two runs on four singles in the top half to extend its lead to 7-1, a 4-6-3 double play erased Trey Wall, who’d led off with a single. Green did not score in that frame, but did get across three runs in the bottom of the fourth, after Tommy Deleon held Orange scoreless in the top half, on singles by five of the first six batters. Spike Davidson got Jack Crosley to ground into a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Neither team scored in the fifth, Tommy Deleon working around Tony Garcia’s single and Eddie Ortiz’s walk in the top half, Spike Davidson allowing singles by Daniel Baladez and Ralph Villela in the bottom of the frame, but getting a fine defensive play by Peter Atkins on Paul Rubin’s liner to left-center for the third out.
Orange loaded the bases on singles by Spike Davidson, Jim Maloy, and Fritz Hensel in the top of the sixth inning, but Tommy Deleon got Larry Shupe to pop out to shortstop Ralph Villela. Green managed one run in the home half. Mike Hill singled leading off, completing a 3-for-3 day at the plate, then was forced at second on Jack McDermott’s grounder to second (Doc or Jim, I dunno). Jack took third on David Pittard’s single to right field, then scored on Tommy Deleon’s grounder back to the box, racing home when Spike Davidson threw to second for the force there.
Orange led 7-5 entering the buffet, with the top of its order up, and tacked on three runs. Doc Hobar led off with a single and scored on Tony Garcia’s triple to right field, Tony completing a 4-for-4 game. Larry Fiorentino’s single to right-center brought in Tony. Larry took third on Peter Atkins’ double to right, then scored on Eddie Ortiz’s ground out to second baseman Mike Hill. Orange wound up loading the bases on singles by Rex Horvath and Spike Davidson (Spike’s fourth single in as many at bats), but Tommy Deleon got Matt Levitt to pop out to shortstop Ralph Villela (a.k.a., Death to Flying Things) for the third out.
Green was chasing fine, then, entering the bottom of the buffet. Larry Fiorentino made a fine running catch of Jack Crosley’s fly to right-center to start the inning. Trey Wall and Daniel Baladez both singled. Jim McAnelly flied out to left-center (not sure who was out there at this point, probably either Tony Garcia or Peter Atkins). Ralph Villela grounded a single to left field to load the bases, getting the potential tying run to the on-deck circle in the person of Mike “The Hit Man” Hill. But Spike Davidson denied Mike the chance at glory time by getting Paul Rubin to ground into a game-ending 6-4 force. Final score: Orange 10, Green 5
Noon, Maroon (1-8) at Gray (6-3):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 2 0 0 3 3 3 11 Gray 5 2 5 0 4 X 16 Pitchers: Maroon – James Chavana (innings 1-3) and Chunky Wright (innings 4-5); Gray – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Gray – George Brindley and Adam Reddell. Umpires: home – Trey Wall; bases – Jack Crosley. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Marvin Krabbenhoft (3 for 3); Gray – George Brindley (2 for 2 with a walk), Gary Coyle (4 for 4 with a double), and David Kruse (4 for 4).
Facing a Gray team that was tied for first place entering the day’s action and bolstered by two excellent mercenaries in George Brindley and Adam Reddell, who combined to reach base in five of six plate appearances, Maroon didn’t quit after falling behind 12-2, outscoring Gray 9-4 over the final three innings. (Mr. Glass-Half-Full, that’s me.)
Maroon scored two runs on four singles and Jimmy Sneed’s sacrifice fly in the top of the first, but Gray responded with five runs on Ken Brown’s lead-off double and six singles in the bottom of the frame to establish a lead it never relinquished.
Jack Kelly held Maroon scoreless in the second and third, at one point retiring eight out of ten batters, two on third-strike fouls. Gray meanwhile scored twice in the third, Tommy Gillis’s double to left field driving in Ken Brown and David Kruse, and five times in the third, Ken Brown’s three-run double, following bases-loading walks drawn by Jack Kelly and George Brindley, the big hit. Ken then scored on David Kruse’s single to right field, and David scored the fifth run of the inning, racing home from first on Gary Coyle’s two-out double to center.
I’m assuming this is more or less what all four runners looked like on Ken Brown’s bases-clearing two-bagger.
Through a combination of Maroon regrouping and, I’m intuiting, Gray coasting, the visitors had the better of things over the final three innings. Maroon scored three runs in each of its last three at bats, knocking 16 singles (though also stranding two runners each inning). Chunky Wright took over on the mound from James Chavana in the bottom of the fourth and held Gray scoreless in that frame. In the fifth, with its lead down to 12-8, Gray put the game out of reach with four runs on six singles and Tommy Gillis’s sacrifice fly. George Brindley, David Kruse, and Gary Coyle all hit safely in the frame to complete perfect days at the plate.
Chasing eight, Maroon got singles by its first four hitters in the buffet, Marvin Krabbenhoft completing a 3-for-3 game and his pinch-runner scoring. Chunky Wright scored the second run of the inning on Anthony Galindo’s sacrifice fly to Tommy Gillis in left-center (I’m guessing it was a deep drive). Jimmy Sneed’s single drove in Scott Wright with the third run of the inning and the final one of the game, which ended with Tom Brownfield flying out to Ken Brown in right-center. Final score: Gray 16, Maroon 11
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 7 3 .700 — 125 105 +20 W1
Gray 7 3 .700 — 122 120 + 2 W1
Green 6 4 .600 1 131 109 +22 L1
Purple 6 4 .600 1 105 106 – 1 W2
Orange 5 7 .427 3 140 145 – 5 W2
Red 4 6 .400 3 129 133 – 4 L2
Maroon 1 9 .100 6 95 129 -34 L9
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 4-1 3-2 1 0-0 0-0 1-1
Gray 3-2 4-1 1 0-0 1-2 1-0
Green 2-3 4-1 1 0-0 4-0 1-0
Purple 2-3 4-1 1 0-0 0-3 1-1
Orange 1-5 4-2 0 0-0 2-2 1-1
Red 1-4 3-2 1 0-0 2-1 1-1
Maroon 1-4 0-5 0 0-0 0-1 0-2
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 1 3 4 1 3 14
Gray 3 X 3 3 4 0 4 17
Green 2 1 X 3 2 4 3 15
Maroon 1 2 3 X 3 0 2 11
Orange 0 1 2 2 X 2 2 9
Purple 4 1 2 4 3 X 1 15
Red 3 1 2 1 3 3 X 13
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 13 8 13 16 19 10 15 94
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Ken Brown – 3
Gregory Bied – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
David Kruse – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
David Brown – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Eddie Ortiz -1
David Pittard – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Thursday August 8:
10:00 a.m.: Orange (5-7) at Blue (7-3), Red umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Red (4-6) at Purple (6-4), Blue umpiring
Noon: Green (6-4) at Maroon (1-9), Purple umpiring
Gray has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Surging Orange has yet to beat Blue this season, but could knock them out o f first with a win at 10:00. That would put idle Gray in first place; a Blue victory would drop Gray half a game back. Red and Purple, separated by two games in the standings but only three runs in run differential, square off at 11:00. One of Green (one game) or Maroon (nine) will ends its losing streak at noon. Green has the session’s best run differential, Maroon the worst, but Mr. Glass-Half-Full believes in Maroon. How long might iceberg A23a continue to spin counterclockwise while stuck in a Taylor Column north of South Orkney Island in the far south Atlantic? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Correction: I missed telling you in this past Thursday’s edition that Johnny Lee and Arctic Blues played at Mr. Catfish on Airport Boulevard last night, Monday August 5. I now have failed to alert you on time twice.
Mike Mordecai emcees and plays at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Mondays from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.