B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 20– May 12, 2025
Yet another correction: In this past Thursday’s edition, throughout the recap of the 12:30 game, Blue versus Green, I incorrectly identified Tom Bellavia as Steve Sandall. (Steve was absent.) No reason, and nobody’s fault except mine, just being my usual dumb-ass self. I regret the error.
Roster note: Jim Aaron (above left in a file photo, with Rick Jensen) is back! He’ll be DH-ing for Gray.
Weather report: One last beautiful spring day before the summer swelter hits: 76 degrees, 38% humidity, sunny, light breeze from the southwest at 5 MPH at the start of the 10:30 game, rising into the 80s over the course of the three games, but never too hot (unlike the days to come).
Game of Monday May 12:
10:30 a.m., Green (3-5) at Maroon (5-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 3 3 0 5 5 X 16 Maroon 5 1 3 0 0 1 10 Pitchers: Green – Chunky Wright; Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Green – Peter Atkins; Maroon – Ken Mockler, Ray Pilgrim, and Boo Resnick. Umpires: home – Rick Jensen and Larry Young; bases – Jack Spellman and Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Green – Mike Garrison (3 for 3 with a double), Doc Hobar (4 for 4 with a triple), and Ralph Villela (4 for 4 with a double); Maroon – Ray Pilgrim (3 for 3).
Surging Green team had almost its full roster on hand, missing only Tim Coles and Billy Hill, and continued to gel. Its first three hitters, Ralph Villela, Doc Hobar, and Mike Garrison, were a combined 11 for 11 and scored nine of the team’s 16 runs. Maroon actually led 9-6 through three, but Green put the game away with a pair of five-run innings while holding Maroon to a single run over the last three frames.
Ralph, Doc, and Mike opened the game with singles, Ralph coming around to score. Chris Waddell then grounded back to the box; Jeff Stone made a nice play on the glove, turned and fired toward second; shortstop Scott Wright couldn’t get to the bag before Mike, but his throw to first beat Chris for the first out. Rick Kahn singled up the middle, scoring Doc and Mike, but Jeff retired the next two hitters, getting Phil Stanch to pop out to third base, Ray Pilgrim making a good play coming in, and Donnie Janac on another grounder back to the box that Jeff snagged, throwing to second for the force. Maroon got five runs in the home half, on seven singles and Ken Mockler’s sacrifice fly.
Jeff Stone got two outs to start the second inning, but Peter Atkins and the top four hitters in the lineup followed with singles, three runs scoring and Green briefly taking the line. Maroon tied the game with a single run in the bottom half, as Boo Resnick led off with a single, took third on Bobby Miller’s double to center, and scored on Scott Wright’s line single to right. A walk to Jeff Stone loaded the bases, but Chunky Wright escaped the jam without further damage, getting Don Solberg to hit a foul fly down the right side with two strikes and Tom Kelm to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, Ralph Villela to Johnny Wimpy to Doc Hobar.
Umpire Rick Jensen looks on as Bobby Miller starts his swing, which resulted in a two-base hit in the bottom of the second. Rick wanted me to comment on Bobby’s attire – he has on his Maroon hat (maybe, or anyway it’s maroon-ish), but a non-matching jersey, orange shoes, and golden bat. But what I see is Bobby’s outstanding hitting form: hands back, hips cocked, eyes focused on the ball, his weight shifting forward as he begins his swing. Textbook.
Green went out 1-2-3 in the top of the third and Maroon took the lead with three runs in the home half. Jim Maloy legged out a double to center field to open the inning, took third on Tommy Langa’s ground out to shortstop, and scored on Ken Mockler’s single. Ray Pilgrim singled Ken to second, and both runners advanced on Boo Resnick’s ground out to first baseman Doc Hobar, who tossed to Chunky covering the bag. Singles by Bobby Miller and Scott Wright brought in Ken and Ray’s runner.
Green dominated after that point, however. They scored five times on six hits in the top of the fourth, all hit on a line: Chunky Wright singled to left, Peter Atkins doubled to left-center, Ralph Villela doubled to left-center (both Chunky and Peter scoring), Doc Hobar ripped a triple to right, Mike Garrison doubled to left-center, and Chris Waddell singled up the middle. Maroon did not score in the bottom half, Chunky Wright working around Tom Kelm’s one-out single, and Green put up another five-spot in the top of the fifth, on six singles and a couple of advancements on throws.
When Maroon didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth (Chunky again working around a one-out single, this one by Ray Pilgrim, completing a 3-for-3 game at the plate), the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Maroon was chasing seven runs. The first three batters – Scott Wright, Jeff Stone, and Don Solberg – singled, loading the bases. Tom Kelm popped out to shortstop. Jim Maloy flied out to Peter Atkins in left-center; Scott tagged up and scored from third; Peter threw in to shortstop Ralph Villela, who relayed home, too late to get Scott, but the throw in tempted Jeff to try for third; catcher Phil Stanch threw to third baseman Chris Waddell, and Jeff was out on a close play – I was in the third-base dugout and had a good view of it, and I thought home plate umpire Larry Young got it right; it looked to me that Jeff’s leading foot was in the air, about three inches up, when Chris caught Phil’s throw. It was an SF-8, 8-6-2-5 double play to end the game. Final score: Green 16, Maroon10
11:30 a.m., Purple (6-2) at Blue (6-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Purple 5 3 0 0 0 1 9 Blue 1 5 0 1 0 3 10 Pitchers: Purple – Jeff Stone; Blue – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Donnie Janac, Don Solberg, Jack Spellman, Jeff Stone, and Chris Waddell; Blue – David Brown. Umpires: home – Tom Kelm; bases – Jimmie Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Matt Levitt (4 for 4); Blue – David Brown and Tommy Deleon (both 3 for 3).
As one would expect of two teams with identical records battling for first place, this came down to the last batter. Purple was playing without Rex Horvath (knee injury, I’m hoping not serious), car-poolers Spike Davidson, Larry Fiorentino, and Fritz Hensel, and Mark Hernandez and Pat Scott (AWOL), and so picked up five mercenaries, but they came out strong (five runs in the top of the first, on five singles and Jack Spellman’s triple while making only one out) and battled well to the end.
Blue got a single run in the bottom of the first (George Brindley led off with a single, took third on Jimmy Sneed’s hit, and scored on Tom Bellavia’s sacrifice fly to Anthony Galindo in left-center field; the inning ended with Tom Brownfield hitting into a 6u., 6-3 double play, his very hard grounder taking a high hop that Jack Spellman wrestled to a draw), then won the second inning, holding Purple to three runs on five singles in the top half, then scoring five times on seven singles to cut Purple’s lead to 8-6.
Then the pitchers took over. Tommy Deleon shut out Purple over the third (1-2-3 inning), fourth (two singles, but he got Rick Jensen to ground into an inning-ending 6u., 6-3 double play to Jimmy Sneed), and fourth (three singles to load the bases, but he got Jack Spellman to hit a two-strike foul and Jeff Stone to ground into an inning-ending 4-6 force). Jeff Stone allowed one run over the same stretch: he worked around Tom Brownfield’s one-out single in the third; gave up a run on three singles, but also got a 6-4-3 double play in the fourth; and worked a 1-2-3 fifth.
Purple still led entering the buffet, by one run. They loaded the bases on consecutive one-out singles by Donnie Janac, (a liner Don Solberg got to in left but wasn’t able to hold on to), Matt Levitt (completing a 4-for-4 game), and Rick Jensen, and Donnie scored on Mike Velaney’s sacrifice fly to George Brindley in right-center field. Jimmy Sneed converted Richard Battle’s grounder into an inning-ending 6-4 force.
So Blue needed two to tie, three to win. Matt Levitt made a good play to haul in Jim Foelker’s drive to right-center leading off the inning, for one out. David Pittard doubled. Tommy Deleon singled, completing a 3-for-3 game, his third straight hit to the left side (fie on the scouting reports!). Daniel Baladez singled, David scoring to make it a one-run game, Tommy’s pinch-runner (Jim, maybe?) taking third. George Brindley ran for Daniel. Joe Dayoc flied out to Richard Battle in left field; Tommy’s runner tagged and scored on the play, and when Richard’s throw came home, George took second. That proved a crucial play, I realize now, hours later – David Brown was up next, with George on deck. Jeff Stone knew he couldn’t walk David, who would just refuse to accept the base on balls that would result in George/Daniel being out on the bases. Jeff threw a pitch well outside, and David reached over and lined it into right field. George was off on contact and easily beat the throw home to score the winning, walk-off run. Final score: Blue 10, Purple 9, Purple’s first loss as a visiting team this session.
12:30 p.m., Red (3-6) at Gray (2-7):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 3 2 0 5 2 12 Gray 5 0 3 5 X 13 Pitchers: Red – Joe Bernal; Gray – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Red – Daniel Baladez and Jim Foelker; Gray – George Brindley and Mike Malay. Umpires: home – Tommy Deleon; bases – David Brown. Perfect at the plate: Red – Jim McAnelly (3 for 3) and Jack McDermott (4 for 4); Gray – Jim Aaron and George Romo (both 3 for 3 with a double) and Jack Crosley, Jack Kelly, and Adam Reddell (all 3 for 3).
With five batters going 3 for 3 and the 2-3 hitters adding two hits apiece, Gray had the merry-go-round working overtime in this one. They scored five times on eight singles without making an out in the top of the first, DH Jim Aaron returning to B League action and ripping a single in his first at bat. (Hitters gonna hit.) This was after Red scored three runs on four singles and Anthony Galindo’s double in the top of the first.
Jack Kelly retired Red mercenaries Jim Foelker and Daniel Baladez on ground balls to start the second, but the top of the order pushed across a pair of two-out runs to tie the score: Jack McDermott singled, then scored from first on Jack Spellman’s double to right-center. Anthony Galindo’s single brought in Spellman. Joe Bernal then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half. Hal Darman led off with a single to left field, and one-out hits by George Brindley and Jim Aaron loaded the bases for Paul Rubin. Paul hit a sharp grounder past the pitcher and to the left of second base; shortstop Jack Spellman was able to reach it and tag second for the force there; I knew I had no chance of doubling up Paul, so I threw a Hail Mary home – catcher Jim McAnelly caught it cleanly, a step ahead of Hal reaching the home line, for an inning-ending 6u., 6-2 double play. Red wasn’t able to take advantage in the top of the third. Jack Kelly retired the first two batters, Joe Bernal on a deep fly to left-center that Paul Rubin was well positioned to catch, and Dale Fugate on a liner to shortstop George Romo, very nice play to his backhand. Jim McAnelly and Rolando Rodriguez singled, but Jack got Jim Foelker to fly out to Paul to end the threat.
Gray then grabbed the lead with three runs in the home half, on four singles, George Romo’s two-run double, and Morgan Withhoft’s sacrifice fly to Anthony Galindo in left-center. Mike Malay’s single loaded the bases with two out, but Joe Bernal got George Brindley to ground to shortstop, Joe himself taking the throw at second for the force.
Both teams scored five times while making two outs in the fourth, Red on three singles, doubles by Anthony Galindo and Joe Bernal, and Dale Fugate’s sacrifice fly to George Brindley in right-center – George made a good play moving back and to his left to run down the drive, but had no chance of throwing out Joe at home. Gray matched that with five runs back-to-back lead-off doubles by Jim Aaron and Paul Rubin, three consecutive one-out singles (by Adam Reddell, George Romo, and Jack Crosley, all completing 3-for-3 games; Jack was playing his first game since returning from a weeks-long cruise, on which he evidently had access to a batting cage), Morgan Witthoft’s second sacrifice fly of the game (to Jack McDermott in left field), and Jack Kelly’s two-run single.
Red was chasing three runs to tie entering the buffet. Jim McAnelly led off with a single, completing his 3-for-3 day at the plate, but Jack Kelly got outs from the next two batters, getting Rolando Rodriguez to ground into a 6-4 force and Jim Foelker to hit a two-strike foul. Daniel Baladez singled to right-center. Jack McDermott knocked his fourth hit in as many at bats, Rolando scoring. Jack Spellman lined a single to left field; Jim, running for Daniel, scored from second to make it a one-run game. It was the situation Red wanted, with Anthony Galindo up and the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but Jack Kelly won the battle – he got Anthony to fly to right-center, where George Brindley made a fine running catch for the final out. Final score: Gray 13, Red 12, Gray snapping its three-game losing streak.
Session 2 standings:
| Session 2 | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 7 | 2 | .778 | 0 | 109 | 79 | 30 | W1 |
| Purple | 6 | 3 | .667 | 1 | 103 | 98 | 5 | L2 |
| Orange | 5 | 4 | .556 | 2 | 99 | 98 | 1 | W1 |
| Maroon | 5 | 5 | .500 | 2.5 | 119 | 118 | 1 | L2 |
| Green | 4 | 5 | .444 | 3 | 117 | 117 | 0 | W3 |
| Red | 3 | 7 | .300 | 4.5 | 118 | 127 | -9 | L1 |
| Gray | 3 | 7 | .300 | 4.5 | 108 | 136 | -28 | W1 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins: | wins: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 4-0 | 3-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 1-1 | ||
| Purple | 2-2 | 4-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | ||
| Orange | 3-2 | 2-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2-0 | ||
| Maroon | 2-2 | 3-3 | 2 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | ||
| Green | 2-3 | 2-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | ||
| Red | 2-4 | 1-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0-2 | ||
| Gray | 2-3 | 1-4 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2-3 |
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | X | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Gray | 1 | X | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Green | 1 | 2 | X | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Maroon | 1 | 3 | 2 | X | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Orange | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Purple | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | X | 2 | 10 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | X | 7 |
| TOTAL: | 5 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 60 |
2025 season home run leaders:
Bobby Miller – 4
George Brindley – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Anthony Galindo – 3
Tommy Gillis – 3
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Rex Horvath – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
David Brown – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Tony Garcia – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Matt Levitt – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Terry O’Brien – 1
Ray Pilgrim – 1
Jimmy Sneed – 1
Jack Spellman – 1
Jeff Stone – 1
Mike Velaney – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Schedule for Thursday May 15:
10:30 a.m.: Red (3-7) at Blue (7-2), Green umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Green (4-5) at Purple (6-3), Blue umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Orange (5-4) at Maroon (5-5), Purple umpiring
Red has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Each of Thursday’s first two games sees a visiting team trying for its first win of the season against its opponent – Blue, coming off a walk-off victory versus Purple today, is 2-0 versus Red; Purple is 2-0 versus Green, which has the league’s longest active winning streak, now at three games. The best game of the day might be at 12:30 between Orange and Maroon, which are 1-1 in their season series to date and both have +1 run differentials for the session. Will Tommy Deleon blast “The Heat Is On” from his PA system during this contest? Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
This CNT Stealth bat was left behind today – it’s in the league cart, awaiting reclamation.
I’m going to be out of town this coming Thursday and Monday, on vacation with Mrs. Keggy to Cooperstown, New York. I’ll get play-by-play accounts from ace scorekeepers Dave Berra and Terry Watts, supplemented by reports from team managers, but the Picayune likely will be published later than usual while I’m traveling. Stay hydrated and safe!