B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 37 – August 19, 2024
Weather: Crikey, it was brutal out there. Dave Berra says he’s not our weather man, and I didn’t check out the conditions on my phone’s app until almost the end of the noon game, when it was 98 degrees with 34% humidity (seems low, but I guess that’s right). Nothing but high sun beating down on us. Everyone did a good job of hydrating and sitting out an occasional inning.
Games of Monday August 19:
10:00 a.m., Gray (7-5) at Red (5-7):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 3 2 1 0 2 8 Red 1 5 1 5 X 12 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Red – Tim Coles. Mercenaries: Gray – George Brindley, Jack Spellman, and Scott Wright; Red – Tim Coles. Umpires: home plate – Chunky Wright and Joe Roche; bases – Alvin Gauna. Perfect at the plate: Gray – George Brindley (1 for 1 with a walk) and Gary Coyle (1 for 1 with two walks); Red – Tim Coles (2 for 2), Gil Delossantos (1 for 1), Mike Malay (3 for 3), Jim Maloy (1 for 1), and Denny Malloy (3 for 3 with a double). Home run: Tommy Gillis (inside the park).
This game was nuts. The teams combined to score only 13 runs through three innings, at which point there were only a handful of minutes left on the clock, owing to a series of time-sucking controversies, not all of which I can even remember. It wasn’t that each was more ridiculous than the last, but they were all pretty ridiculous.
Gray jumped to a quick lead thanks to an inside-the-park home run by Tommy Gillis on a drive to the fence in left field that drove in Donnie Janac and Gary Coyle ahead of him after they’d opened the game with a single and a base on balls.
Tommy Gillis is greeted by teammates Donnie Janac and Mike Mordecai following his three-run inside-the-park home run in the top of the first.
Red got one run back in the home half when Rick Kahn knocked a lead-off double to right and scored on Mike Malay’s two-base hit to left. Jack Kelly got three outs on fly balls, to left, left-center, and right-center, stranding Mike.
The craziness really got under way in the second inning. Gray’s first four batters reached to open the top of the inning, on three singles and Jack Spellman’s walk, Jack Kelly’s runner and George Brindley scoring on Scott Wright’s single to right field. With runners on the corners, Donnie Janac lined a ball to shortstop that Mike Malay fielded, the controversy being over whether Mike caught it on the fly or the short-hop. Most everyone on the Gray side of things thought it was short-hopped, and Scott, off on contact, ran to second; but most everyone on Red and, crucially, base umpire Alvin Gauna thought it was a clean catch, and Mike threw to first to double up Scott. It took United Nations Security Council-level discussions to sort everything out. (Notably, nobody bought my explanation that Scott had tagged up and should be called safe at second.) In the end, Alvin’s call stood, and both Donnie and Scott were declared out on an L-6, 6-3 double play. When play finally resumed, Gary Coyle drew a walk, but Tommy Gillis grounded into an inning-ending 6-4 force. (Remember this; most of Gray did not.)
Red took the lead by scoring five runs on eight singles in the bottom of the inning, all the runs scoring after two were out. (Gray had a good shot at another out when Jack Spellman, playing second base, made a diving stop of Gil Delossantos’s grounder to my right, but the ball bounced out of my mitt and I couldn’t find the handle in time to get the force at second. Not an error, but a missed opportunity.) I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I think that Gil, managing Red, then asked Hal Darman to take a runner from home. Hal, totally within his rights, declined to do so, and wound up knocking a single to left that loaded the bases and set up run-scoring hits by Rick Kahn, Boo Resnick, and Mike Malay. Gil, unhappy, removed himself from the game, though I didn’t notice at that point, as Red was playing with 11 players and was able to cover all positions. (We’ll get back to this.)
So Gray came up in the top of the third after a very long inning in the field, and a couple of guys on the bench told Tommy Gillis he was up. (See two paragraphs above.) Tommy didn’t think this was right, but, hey, when everyone tells you to go hit, you go and hit. Tommy did, and smacked a single to left-center. Don Solberg then singled to right field. Then, with Johnny Lee up, all and sundry realized there was something amiss – basically, that Gray had batted out of order. So there was another long discussion to determine what happened and how it should be resolved, with everyone agreeing that, yeah, Gray batted out of order, Tommy should be called out. But then someone realized that Red hadn’t appealed the batting-out-of-order until after the next hitter had batted. Home umpire Chunky Wright then made the correct call, that, the window for appealing having been missed, the plays on the field should stand. (Chunky did not rule that everyone should tease Tommy the rest of the day about taking extra at bats; we did that on our own.)
Tommy wound up scoring Gray’s only run of the inning. Red then reclaimed the lead with a single run in the home half, Morgan Witthoft knocking a one-out single and scoring from first on Denny Malloy’s two-out double to right. Gil Delossantos was due up (see two paragraphs above, again), but designated Larry Fiorentino to take his place in the lineup. The problem with this being, a manager doesn’t get to choose who he wants to have come into the game. There’s a process. In this instance, the process was essentially that Jim Malloy had initially been picked out of the bucket prior to the game, but removed from consideration when George Brindley showed up, George getting priority because he’s on the bye team, Blue. When a player was needed to step in mid-game, Jim had to be offered the slot first. This took a while to sort out, but finally Jim went up to hit and came through with a single to right-center. Denny tried to score on the play, but a clean 9-6-2 relay, George Brindley to Jack Spellman to Mark Dolan, cut him down.
Not saying the sun was setting, but that was three innings played, and the clock was well into the single digits of time remaining. Even with Tim Coles shutting out Gray in the top of the fourth, working around a lead-off walk to George Brindley, time ran out as Red scored five runs on eight singles in the home half, once again all the scoring coming after two were out.
Gray trailed 12-6 entering the too-soon buffet. Gary Coyle and Tommy Gillis singled to open the inning (both reaching base for the third time, but only Gary was perfect in the game), and both scored on Johnny Lee’s single to right-center after advancing on a ground out. That was all Gray could manage, however, as Tim Coles got Mike Mordecai to ground into a 5-4 force, then retired Mark Dolan on a pop to shortstop, Mike Malay making a fine running catch for the final out. Final score: Red 12, Gray 8
11:00 a.m., Maroon (2-11) at Orange (7-7):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 5 4 2 3 3 3 20 Orange 4 2 2 1 1 0 10 Pitchers: Maroon – Chunky Wright; Orange – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Maroon – Tommy Gillis and Don Solberg. Umpires: home – Eddy Murillo and Adam Reddell; bases – Morgan Witthoft. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Anthony Galindo (4 for 4 with two doubles and a triple) and Tommy Gillis and Marvin Krabbenhoft (both 3 for 3); Orange – Fritz Hensel and Jim Maloy (both 3 for 3). Home run: Joe Roche (inside the park).
Both teams scored in each of the first five innings, but Maroon turned four double plays in the game, limiting Orange’s damage, and was never outscored in any individual inning.
Maroon scored five runs on seven singles and Anthony Galindo’s double in the top of the first, the only out in the inning coming on an atrocious bit of baserunning by Jack Spellman. Scott Wright led off with a single, and I followed with a ground single to right-center. Scott raced to third on the hit, and I thought Larry Fiorentino would throw for him, so I took a wide turn and a step toward second. Instead, the throw went to first baseman Ray Pilgrim. I knew I couldn’t get back to first, so I tried for second, and Ray easily gunned me down.
Orange got four back in the home half, all with two out. Doc Hobar led off with a single, but was erased when second baseman Tom Brownfield made the defensive play of the day on Tony Garcia’s hard smash to his right – Tom made a great backhanded, short-hop catch, his momentum took him to the bag for the unassisted force out there, and then he made a strong throw to first to get Tony. The next seven hitters reached base, on Larry Fiorentino’s double, five singles, and Matt Levitt’s walk, four runs scoring.
Second inning, more of the same: Maroon scored four runs on six singles, then held Orange to two runs on four singles, the inning ending with Jimmy Sneed turning a 6u., 6-3 double play on Ray Pilgrim’s grounder to his left.
Both teams scored twice in the third inning. Maroon got three consecutive two-out singles for its runs, the inning ending with Jack Spellman running into another stupid out on the bases: Don Solberg’s single to left field scored Marvin Krabbenhoft’s pinch-runner with the second run; when the throw went home, I (running for Joe Dayoc) tried for third, but catcher Fritz Hensel threw me out on a very close play. (The next time I came up, Fritz asked, “What were you thinking, running on this gun?” I had no answer.) Orange scored two runs on three singles in the home half, Matt Levitt racing first to home on Jim Maloy’s hit, but the inning ended with another double play, Jimmy Sneed starting a 6-4-3 twin killing, Tom Brownfield on the pivot, on Larry Shupe’s grounder.
Maroon outscored Orange 3-1 in both the fourth and fifth innings, getting back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fourth by Anthony Galindo and Jimmy Sneed, and a lead-off double by Tom Brownfield to open the fifth. The bottom of the fifth ended with Larry Fiorentino, running for Spike Davidson, out trying for third on Jim Maloy’s single (Jim completing a 3-for-3 game) on what I think was a 10-4-6-5 relay, Alvin Gauna to Scott Wright to Jimmy Sneed to Jack Spellman, Jimmy throwing a laser to just beat Larry to the bag.
Maroon led by seven entering the buffet and needed just three batters to make it a ten-run game and invoke the flip-flop. Anthony Galindo led off with his fourth hit in as many at bats, a triple to the fence in left-center, then scored on Jimmy Sneed’s single. Joe Roche then drove a pitch over the head of right-center fielder Larry Fiorentino; Larry didn’t chase the ball down, and Joe circled the bases for a two-run inside-the-park homerun that made it 20-10.
As delighted teammates Scott Wright and Tom Brownfield look on, Joe Roche poses following his two-run inside-the-park home run.
Larry Shupe led off the bottom of the buffet with a hard-hit grounder that took a nasty hop over shortstop Jimmy Sneed’s glove for a single. Tom Brownfield reached Dave Berra’s grounder up the middle and flipped to Jimmy at second for the force; Jimmy overran the bag and had to take a step backward to get the force, then threw off balance, practically falling backward, to get Dave on a bang-bang play at first base for Maroon’s fourth double play of the game. Tom caught Doc Hobar’s pop to second for the final out. Final score: Maroon 20, Orange 10
Noon, Purple (7-6) at Green (9-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Purple 5 0 0 5 2 2 4 18 Green 2 3 2 5 1 1 1 15 Pitchers: Purple – Tom Kelm; Green – Tommy Deleon (innings 1-2, 4-6) and David Pittard (inning 3 and 6-end). Mercenaries: Purple – Tommy Gillis, Mike Malay, Mike Mordecai, Adam Reddell, and Scott Wright; Green – Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – Dave Berra; bases – Jim Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Tim Coles (4 for 4 with a double), Mike Malay (4 for 4), and Adam Reddell (4 for 4 with two triples); Green – Ralph Villela (4 for 4 with a home run). Home run: Ralph Villela (inside the park).
B League’s first extra-inning game since April 25 (when Green edged Red 16-15) was a barn-burner.
Purple broke on top, scoring five runs on seven singles in the top of the first, but Green methodically clawed back, putting up crooked numbers in each of its first three at bats while holding Purple scoreless in the second and third. David Pittard and Mike Hill hit sacrifice flies in the bottom of the first to get Green on the board. Tommy Deleon got three straight outs after allowing Mike Mordecai a lead-off single in the top of the second, and Green tied the game with three runs in the home half on four singles, Phil Stanch’s walk, and Jack Spellman’s two-run double to left-center. (On Jeff Broussard’s single to right the at bat before, third-base coach Tommy Deleon waved Phil home, ill-advisedly, as a strong 9-4-2 relay, Tommy Gillis to Mike Velaney to Mike Malay, beat Phil by two full steps.)
David Pittard took the mound in the top of the third. Tim Coles knocked a one-out single, but took off for second when Tom Kelm lined a ball to right-center; the ball stayed up for Jack Spellman, who threw to first to double Tim up, an L-9, 9-3 double play.
Green forged ahead with two runs in the bottom half. David Pittard walked and then scored from first on Mike Hill’s double, a drive to right-center. Singles by Tommy Deleon and Jack Crosley brought Mike in.
Both teams scored five times without making an out in the fourth inning. In the top half, Tommy Gillis doubled and Adam Reddell tripled to open the frame, Mike Malay and Mike Mordecai singled, Scott Wright walked, and the 1-3 hitters, Jim Foelker, Mike Velaney, and Daniel Carvajal, completed the rally with singles. In the home half, Green loaded the bases on singles by Jim McAnelly and Jeff Broussard and a walk to Jack Spellman, and Ralph Villela cleared them with an inside-the-park grand slam on a drive to right field. Jack McDermott singled and scored the fifth run, coming all the way around from first on David Pittard’s double to right field.
Yeah, still giving away Pluckers coupons. Ralph Villela accepts his prize from Green skipper Jeff Broussard following his inside-the-park grand slam.
Green led 12-10 entering the final five-run inning. Purple cut that lead to one, scoring twice in the top of the fifth (Adam Reddell tripled in Tim Coles and scored on Mike Malay’s single – these three all went 4 for 4 for Purple in this game), and holding Green to one run on three singles in the bottom half.
Green came oh so close to protecting that one-run lead and winning the game in the top of the buffet. Scott Wright drew a lead-off walk, but Tommy Deleon retired both Jim Foelker and Mike Velaney on fly balls to left fielder Mike Garrison. Daniel Carvajal singled to left field to extend the inning, bringing up Tim Coles.
Tommy worked Tim carefully, throwing six straight balls, as Tim refused the walk. Plate umpire Dave Berra waved in David Pittard to take over on the mound. Tim got a pitch he liked and drove a ball to deep left-center. Off the bat, both Mike Garrison in left and I in right-center thought the ball would reach the fence, and we called for Jack McDermott in left-center to move back, which he did. But the ball died somewhat, and Jack had to come back in a bit and get low to try to make the catch. The ball glanced off the heel of his mitt and fell in safely, both Scott and Daniel scoring to put Purple ahead by one. David got Tom Kelm to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
Jim McAnelly led off the bottom of the buffet with a clean single to left field. Both Jeff Broussard and Jack Spellman flied out, Green now down to its final out. Ralph Villela and Jack McDermott both knocked singles to left field, Jim’s pinch-runner coming around to score the tying run. Tom Kelm pitched around David Pittard, who accepted the bases-loading walk, giving Mike Hill a chance to drive in the winning run. But Mike got under a pitch and popped it up to the right side, Mike Malay moving back and to his left to make the catch in short right field, sending the game into an extra inning.
The top of the extra frame began with Tom Kelm at second, one out, one-pitch rules in effect, David Pittard still pitching for Green. He got Tommy Gillis to line out to left field for the second out, but the next five batters singled, four runs scoring, before David finally got the third out, on another fly to left.
Green opened the home half with Mike Hill on second base. Mike Garrison popped out to shortstop Tim Coles for the second out. Tommy Deleon and Jack Crosley each hit unplayable short pops to the right side for singles, Mike Hill coming around to score. Phil Stanch was up next, representing the tying run. He took Tom Kelm’s pitch, which just clipped the matt for a called strike three and the final out. Final score: Purple 18, Green 15
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Green 9 5 .643 — 194 169 +25 L1
Blue 8 5 .625 .5 170 155 +15 W1
Purple 8 6 .571 1 169 162 + 7 W1
Gray 7 6 .538 1.5 152 164 – 8 L3
Orange 7 8 .467 2.5 187 191 – 4 L1
Red 6 7 .462 2.5 169 174 – 5 W1
Maroon 3 11 .214 6 161 187 -26 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Green 3-4 6-1 2 0-1 4-0 2-0
Blue 4-2 4-3 1 0-0 1-1 1-2
Purple 2-5 6-1 1 1-0 1-4 1-2
Gray 3-4 4-2 1 0-0 1-3 1-0
Orange 1-6 6-2 1 0-0 4-3 2-1
Red 2-5 4-2 1 0-0 2-1 1-1
Maroon 1-6 2-5 0 0-0 1-2 0-2
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 1 4 4 1 3 15
Gray 3 X 3 3 4 0 4 17
Green 3 2 X 4 2 4 3 18
Maroon 1 2 3 X 4 0 3 13
Orange 1 1 2 2 X 3 2 11
Purple 4 2 3 4 3 X 1 17
Red 3 2 2 1 3 4 X 15
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 15 11 14 18 20 12 16 106
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
Ralph Villela – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
David Brown – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Tommy Gillis – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
Eddie Ortiz -1
David Pittard – 1
Joe Roche – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Thursday August 22:
10:00 a.m.: Maroon (3-11) at Purple (8-6), Orange umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Orange (7-8) at Red (6-7), Purple umpiring
Noon: Blue (8-5) at Gray (7-6), Red umpiring
Green has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Three dates remain in the session. First-place Green has the bye, giving the three teams that are within a game and a half of first a chance to close the gap. Purple, coming off a big win against Green, at 10:00 faces a Maroon team that has won two of its last three, its defense gelling, but has yet to defeat Purple this season. The winner of the 11:00’s Orange-Red contest will get back to .500 for the session. Once again the marquee game is at noon, with Blue looking to tie for first place, Gray seeking to end a three-game losing streak that has seen them drop from first to fourth place. Will any B League anglers catch a sturgeon while fishing under this week’s Super Full Moon? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
You’d think I’d know that the Piss Tree (above left) is the BIG tree out beyond third base. The Picayune regrets the error.
Heads up that, following Thursday’s games, I’ll be heading back to Santa Fe for the rest of the month, which means you’ll be getting the Picayune a day or two after games are actually played.
Mike Mordecai emcees and plays at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Mondays from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.