B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 13 – April 23, 2026
Games of Monday April 20 were canceled due to rain.
Games of Thursday April 23:
Start times for today’s games were pushed back about 45 minutes to give PARD time to prepare Krieg 2. (They did a good job, the infield played as well as it has all season.)
11:15 a.m.: Orange (3-1) at Purple (0-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 1 0 5 2 3 16 Purple 0 2 1 1 5 6 15 Pitchers: Orange – Tommy Deleon; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenary: Orange – George Brindley. Umpires: home – Anthony Galindo and Spike Davidson; bases – Ralph Villela and Richard Battle. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Peter Atkins (3 for 3 with a walk, a double, and a triple), Matt Levitt (4 for 4), and Pat Scott (4 for 4 with a double); Purple – Shane Hill (3 for 3) and Patrick Schmidt (3 for 3 with a double).
Weather report: 75 degrees; 78% humidity after several days or rain; wind from the South at 7 MPH; cloudy.
Orange seemed to have this well in hand from the get-go, scoring five times in the first and fourth innings and limiting Red to no more than two runs in any of the first four innings. But Red came charging back and nearly stole a win, coming up just a run short in the buffet.
Orange jumped off to a lead it never relinquished by scoring five runs on six singles and walks to Peter Atkins and Don Solberg in the top of the first, making only one out along the way. Hal Darman drove in the fifth run with a line single up the middle. Tommy Deleon then retired the side in order in the bottom half, Don Solberg making a nice grab of Mike Malay’s liner to left field for the third out.
Purple won the second and third innings, though only by one run in each frame. Orange scored a single run in the top of the second, on a one-out double by Jack Spellman followed by Peter Atkins’s triple to the fence in left-center. Ray Pilgrim stranded Peter at third, retiring Adam Redell on a liner to shortstop Jimmy Sneed and Don Solberg on a fly to right fielder Phil Stanch. Purple then scored twice in the home half. Shane Hill singled and Rick Kahn doubled to open the inning, and Shane scored on Billy Hill’s clean single to left field. Ray Pilgrim hit a sharp grounder to the 5-6 hole, but within reach of shortstop Jack Spellman, who started a 6-4-3 double play, Tommy Langa on the pivot, first baseman Adam Reddell making an outstanding play on Tommy’s short-hopped throw to first. Rick scored on the play. The inning ended with Don Solberg making another good catch of a liner to left field, this one off the bat of Phil Stanch.
Orange loaded the bases on singles by Tommy Deleon, Pat Scott, and Matt Levitt to start the third inning, but came away with nothing, as Ray Pilgrim got Tommy Langa to foul off a two-strike pitch and Hal Darman to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, Jimmy Sneed making a good play toward the 5-6 hole and Rick Jensen turning the pivot beautifully. Tommy Deleon retired Joe Roche and Rick Jensen to start the bottom of the inning, but Purple got consecutive singles by Patrick Schmidt, Larry Shupe, and Peter Sundquist to push a run across.
That cut Orange’s lead to 6-3, but Orange scored five times in the top of the fourth, on five singles and Pat Scott’s double, to give itself some breathing room. The last four runs scored on four hits, including Pat’s, that were made after two were out. Purple got just one back in the home half, as Mike Malay led off with a single, took third on Shane Hill’s single to right, and scored on Rick Kahn’s fly to Pat Scott in right field.
Tommy Langa doubled to open the fifth inning. Ray Pilgrim looked like he would strand him at second, as he retired Hal Darman on a liner to second baseman Rick Jensen, shading Hal up the middle, and George Brindley on a bouncer back to the box. But Orange got a couple of runs across on two-out hits: Jack Spellman’s single to right-center brought in Tommy, and then Peter Atkins’s double to deep left-center drove in Spellman, Peter reaching base for the fourth time in as many plate appearances.
That made it 13-4, but Purple commenced hitting and making a game of it in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs on seven singles, the last four with two out. Shane Hill drove in the fifth run, completing a 3-for-3 game at the plate.
Orange’s lead was at 13-9 entering the buffet, and looked like it would stay there as Ray Pilgrim retired Don Solberg, batting right-handed, on a fly to left fielder Patrick Schmidt and then caught Tommy Deleon looking at a called strike three. But Orange again put together a two-out rally: Pat Scott, Matt Levitt, and Tommy Langa each singled, Pat coming around to score. (Pat and Matt completed 4-for-4 games with their knocks. Matt later allowed that the average exit velocity on his four hits was about ten miles an hour.) Hal Darman’s walk loaded the bases for George Brindley, who lined a single to drive in Matt and Tommy.
I’ve been meaning to publish this excellent piece of AI photojournalism, which shows B League president George Brindley healing Jack Kelly’s upper arm, bruised by a line drive March 30. Is there nothing beyond George’s abilities? (Rhetorical question. The answer is no.)
The top of the buffet ended with first baseman Mike Malay making a good play on Jack Spellman’s hard grounder for the third out. Purple came up trailing 16-9.
Rick Kahn led off with a single. He was forced out 5-4 on Billy Hill’s grounder to third baseman Adam Reddell. Ray Pilgrim hit a ball sharply to the 5-6 hole; Jack Spellman made a clean diving grab to his backhand, but his throw to second was not in time to beat Peter Sundquist, running for Billy, to the bag, and second baseman Tommy Langa, concentrating on making a stretching catch, didn’t think to try for Ray at first. It was a single, the first of seven in a row by Purple batters, five runs scoring, and Patrick Schmidt completing a 3-for-3 game. With runners on the corners representing the tying and winning runs, Jimmy Sneed came up and drove a pitch to right field. I thought off the bat it would go for extra bases, but Pat Scott made a great read and got a terrific jump on the ball and made a beautiful running catch for the second out, Patrick tagging up and scoring to make it a one-run game. Larry Shupe’s pinch-runner – Rick Kahn, maybe? – tagged up and advanced to third, but Peter Sundquist had to retreat to first. That was important, as it set up the final play of the game: Mike Malay hit a ground-hugger to shortstop Jack Spellman, who was able to field it cleanly and make a quick flip to Tommy Langa covering second, just ahead of Peter, for the final out, Orange barely hanging on for the win.
Final score: Orange 16, Purple 15
11:30 a.m.: Red (0-4) at Green (2-3):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 0 0 2 0 5 5 12 Green 0 5 3 1 1 0 10 Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Green – Rex Horvath. Mercenary: Red – Scott Wright. Umpires: home – Rick Jensen; bases – Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Coles (4 for 4). Home run: Ralph Villela (inside the park) (2).
It looked through four innings like Red would, like Purple, remain winless for the session, but they mounted a furious comeback in the final two innings and pulled out a dramatic 12-10 victory.
Rex Horvath held Red scoreless in the first two innings, working around singles by Ralph Villela and Tim Coles in the first. Second baseman Doc Hobar made a terrific play for the second out in the first, ranging back and to his right to haul in Anthony Galindo’s sky-high pop to short right field. Rex struck out Trent Peacock (looking) and Richard Battle (foul pop down the third-base side) to start the second, walked Rip Wright, then caught Marvin Krabbenhoft’s liner back to the box for the third out, a super play on a well-struck ball.
Trent Peacock held Green scoreless in the bottom of the first, getting three ground-ball outs, the third after Mike Garrison’s infield single, a swinging bunt down the third-base side. But Green broke through in the bottom of the second, scoring five runs on six hits, three of them going for extra bases, all the runs scored after two were out. Tom Brownfield led off with a double on a drive to center field. Mike Garrison ran for Tom and advanced and scored on a pair of ground outs, taking third on Rex Horvath’s grounder to shortstop Ralph Villela, and scoring on Gary Coyle’s grounder back to the box. The next five batters hit safely: Terry O’Brien singled past first base; Ivan Budiselic tripled on a deep drive to right field, Terry scoring; Jim Maloy’s pop-fly single to right drove in Ivan; Boo Resnick popped a single behind third base; and Steve Sandall lined a triple to right, gapping the outfielders and driving in Jim and Boo.
Red got on the board in the top of the third, scoring two runs on four singles. Scott Wright led off with a line single to right-center, then was forced at second, 5-4, on Ralph Villela’s grounder to third baseman Gary Coyle. Mark Dolan also grounded to Gary, resulting in another 5-4 force, after some disputation and umpire consultation – second baseman Tom Brownfield dropped the throw, though it was ruled that he did so on the transfer, and that Ralph was out at second, on a very close play. Singles by Anthony Galindo, Tim Coles, and Johnny Lee resulted in Mark and Anthony coming around to score.
Green won the inning, though, scoring three runs in the bottom half on four singles, Rex Horvath’s walk, and Tom Brownfield’s sacrifice fly to Scott Wright in left-center.
Red put two runners aboard in the top of the fourth, on a lead-off single by Richard Battle and a one-out hit by Marvin Krabbenhoft. Scott Wright hit a sharp grounder to first baseman Ivan Budiselic, who fielded the ball cleanly and stepped on first for the out; his throw to second drew shortstop Terry O’Brien off the bag, and Mark Dolan, running for Marvin, was safe. Didn’t matter, though, as Rex Horvath got Ralph Villela to line to Terry for the third out.
Green won the inning with a single run in the home half. With one out, Boo Resnick hit a short pop between the mound and first base – Trent Peacock fell going after it, got the ball, but couldn’t crawl to first before Boo beat him in an only-in-B-League race to the bag. Boo took second on Steve Sandall’s pop-fly single to left, and advanced to third on Doc Hobar’s grounder to shortstop Ralph Villela, Ralph tagging second for the force on Steve, out number two. Mike Garrison lined a single to center field to drive boo in.
Entering the final five-run inning, Green led 9-2. Red got themselves back in the game by scoring five runs in the top half, on seven singles and Scott Wright’s sacrifice fly to Jim Maloy in right field. Four of the hits never left the infield, but a hit’s a hit. That cut Green’s lead to just two runs, and they scored just a single run in the home half, on three singles, Ivan Budiselic driving in Steve Sandall, running for Rex Horvath, with a two-out line-drive hit to right field.
Red had the top of its order due up in the buffet. Ralph Villela led off with a drive to dead center field that rolled to the fence and went for an inside-the-park home run, Ralph’s second of the season.
Boston Marathon winners John Korir and Sharon Lokedi and Red mascot Femicular the Speed Maxxer celebrate Ralph Villela’s inside-the-parker in the top of the buffet.
Red’s next four batters singled: Mark Dolan through the 5-6 hole, Anthony Galindo with a pop over third base, Tim Coles with a liner off the end of the bat into center field (completing a 4-for-4 game and driving in Mark), and Johnny Lee with a single to right field after a foul fly on his first swing went in and out of the mitt of right fielder Jim Maloy. Johnny Lee’s hit drove in Anthony with the tying run. Trent Peacock drew a walk, loading the bases. Richard Battle lofted a fly to Steve Sandall in left-center field, deep enough to score Scott Wright, running for Tim, with the go-ahead run. The runners held on Rip Wright’s fly to Larry Fiorentino in right-center. Marvin Krabbenhoft came up and lined a single to right-center that scored Ralph Villela, running for Johnny Lee, from second. Rex Horvath got Scott Wright to bounce back to the box for the third out, but Red was now leading 12-10.
Boo Resnick led off the bottom of the buffet with a grounder to the right side that Mark Dolan scooped up and threw to first for the out. Steve Sandall squared up on a pitch, but his liner was hit directly at Mark, who didn’t have to move to make the catch for out number two. Doc Hobar grounded a ball to shortstop Ralph Villela; as he always does, Doc busted his tail down the line, and Ralph had to hurry his throw, which sailed into the home dugout – Doc was awarded second base. It seemed for a moment that the tide might have turned, as Mike Garrison hit a fly to short right-center field, but Anthony Galindo made a good read on the ball, came racing in, and made a shoe-top catch for the final out.
Final score: Red 12, Green 10, Red posting its first win of the session.
12:30 p.m.: Gray (3-2) at Blue (4-0):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 0 0 1 2 2 5 Blue 2 0 5 1 0 X 8 Pitchers: Gray – Jeff Stone; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Gray – Trent Peacock, Jack Spellman, Jeff Stone, and Ralph Villela; Blue – George Brindley. Umpires: home – Larry Fiorentino; bases – Mike Garrison. No one was perfect at the plate in this game. Home run: Ralph Villela (inside the park) (3).
Gray fell behind early in this one, shut out by Joe Bernal over the first three innings while Blue built a 7-0 lead, but they battled back and made a game of it over the final three innings.
Joe worked out of jams in each of the first three frames, giving up two singles in each, but always able to strand the runners – on ground balls in the first inning, inducing a two-strike foul from Trent Peacock in the second, and getting Jim McAnelly to hit into a 5-4 force to end the third.
Meanwhile Blue scored two runs on three singles in the first inning. Jeff Stone worked Blue’s power hitters high in the zone and got a number of fly ball outs, including one by Ken Mockler that had a minutes-long hang time during which I was counting Starlink satellites, observing Artemis II’s re-entry, and tracking Omuamua, as seen here:
(Sad that Blue’s mascot, a.k.a. Aquatic Fury, was unable to mediate a happy resolution to the Megan Rapinoe–Sue Bird quarrel.)
Jeff held Blue scoreless in the second, stranding David Brown after David doubled with one out and took third on Daniel Baladez’s liner to left fielder Jim Foelker. But Blue broke through in a big way an inning later, scoring five runs on seven consecutive singles, not making an out.
That basically decided the game, though Gray actually outscored Blue 5-1 the rest of the way. Both teams scored a single run in the fourth, Gray on Ralph Villela’s second inside-the-park home run of the day, a drive to center field, as seen here:
Blue matched that in the bottom half, as Daniel Baladez singled past third base with one out, his pinch-runner took third on George Brindley’s double to center field, and then scored on Joe Bernal’s sacrifice fly to right-center field.
Gray won the fifth inning, scoring two runs on five singles in the top half, the inning ending on a nice 7-6-2 relay, George Brindley to David Brown to Donnie Janac, that cut down Jim Foelker trying to score from second on Mike Velaney’s hit. Jeff Stone retired Blue in order in the bottom half, recording the season’s first three-pitch innings (as the Bingo Card Foretold), getting Ken Mockler to fly to Dave Jaffe in right field, Tom Bellavia to fly to Jack Spellman in right-center, and Lawrence Page to ground out to second baseman Mike Velaney. Here’s the updated 2026 Bingo Card:
| B LEAGUE BINGO 2026 | ||||
| B | I | N | G | O |
| Hit for the cycle | Mad beef re: infield fly rule | Triple play | Ken Brown scores from first on single | Walk-off grand slam |
| Jim Aaron home run for last-place team | Acclaim and adoption of Johnny Lee-created nickname | Batter takes a runner from home, runs past the 1B commit line (April 6) | Both teams score 5 runs in each of the first 3 innings | Spellman plays 5 games (C and B) in one day |
| New guy pops a hammy | Double play, second out at home (March 12) | David Brown makes a great defensive play up the middle | 7-inning game | 3-pitch half-inning (Jeff Stone – April 23) |
| 3 Ohtani Awards in 1 day | Over-the-fence home run at Krieg 2 (April 16) | Base runner hit by batted ball (March 23) | Don Solberg throws out a runner trying for an extra base | Rick Jensen delivers St. Crispin’s Day speech |
| Line drive hits Jack Kelly, he brushes it off (March 30) | Ralph Villela hits 2 inside-the-park home runs in one game | Team flip-flops opponent but loses game | Inside-the-park home run at Krieg 3 | Shutout |
Gray trailed 8-3 entering the buffet. It’s first four batters, the mercenaries at the bottom of the order, all reached base to start the inning, as Jeff Stone walked and Ralph Villela, Jack Spellman, and Trent Peacock singled. Gray almost ran into an out on Spellman’s single, a pop fly that fell in just fair in short right field: thinking Jeff’s pinch-runner would score on the hit, Ralph headed for third and I headed for second, but the pinch-runner (Jim Foelker? Dave Jaffe? I’m not sure!) held at third, and Ralph and I were hung up. I retreated to first while Ralph got into a rundown, then got back to second ahead of the throw and tag, though he jammed his knee half-sliding into the bag and left for a pinch-runner. Fingers crossed this isn’t a serious injury.
Jeff’s runner scored on Trent’s single, and Ralph’s came in on Scott Rokita’s sacrifice fly to Lawrence Page in right-center, which was the second out of the inning. Jim Foelker hit a grounder to the 5-6 hole, but David Brown got to it and flipped to Joe Bernal covering second for the game-ending 6-1 force.
Final score: Blue 8, Gray 5
2026 standings:
| Session 2 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 64 | 37 | 27 | W9 |
| Orange | 4 | 1 | .800 | 1 | 65 | 51 | 14 | W2 |
| Maroon | 3 | 1 | .750 | 1.5 | 54 | 33 | 21 | W2 |
| Gray | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2.5 | 68 | 86 | -18 | L1 |
| Green | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3.5 | 75 | 75 | 0 | L3 |
| Red | 1 | 4 | .200 | 4 | 53 | 70 | -17 | W1 |
| Purple | 0 | 5 | .000 | 5 | 55 | 82 | -27 | L5 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 3-0 | 2-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Orange | 2-0 | 2-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-0 | ||
| Maroon | 2-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Gray | 1-2 | 2-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-0 | ||
| Green | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 0-2 | ||
| Red | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | ||
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| Gray | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| Orange | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| Purple | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Red | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| TOTAL: | 1 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 39 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Ralph Villela – 3
Tony Garcia – 2
Mike Garrison – 2
Richard Battle – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
Tim Coles – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
Allen Phillips – 1
George Romo – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 4 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16)
Ray Pilgrim: 3 (March 5, March 23, March 26)
Tommy Deleon: 1 (April 6)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Jeff Stone: 1 (March 2)
Schedule for Monday April 27:
10:30 a.m.: Blue (5-0) at Orange (4-1), Maroon umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Maroon (3-1) at Gray (3-3), Orange umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (0-5) at Red (1-4), Gray umpiring
Green has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Blue and Orange square off in a battle for first place at 10:30. Orange will have to find a replacement shortstop, which actually should give them a better chance at ending Blue’s nine-game winning streak. Maroon, if it can defeat Gray at 11:30 and Blue wins at 10:30, will move into second place. Gray with a win can get back over .500 and move to half a game behind Maroon for third. The session also-rans meet at 12:30, Red looking to ride its momentum from today, Purple looking to post its first win of the session. I will be absent Monday, as I’m going with Mrs. Keggy to New Orleans (my first-ever visit to the Big Easy) for Jazzfest. The Picayune will be a day or two late. Will I have time, per Keggy Junior’s imprecations, to visit Nicolas Cage’s Pyramid Tomb? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Reminder that Johnny Lee and Arctic Blues Band will be at Lighthouse on the Lake, 513 Sleat Drive in Briarcliff, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm this Saturday night April 25.
Podcast review: The Big Dig
This WGBH production, written and hosted by Ian Coss, is one of my favorite podcasts ever. Each of its three seasons has explored a New England economic driver, in tremendous detail and with great and often hilarious humanizing insight. Season one was about the titular Big Dig, the construction of an interstate bypass and Boston Harbor tunnel that was first imagined in the 1950s, formally proposed in the early 1960s, fought over in the 1970s and ’80s, and finally constructed from the 1990s into the 2010s (coinciding with my employment at WGBH and the birth and growth to adulthood of Keggy Junior). We didn’t think we’d ever see the end of this project, and the podcast gets into that, and all the associated politics and politicians who made it happen (Tip O’Neill, Fred Salvucci, and Jim Kerasiotes chief among them) or failed to stop it (Ronald Reagan, so many angry East Bostonians). The accents alone would be worth the listen (though, hilariously, Ian himself has no accent to speak of), but it’s also a wonderfully well told story. Season two, Scratch & Win, tells the tale of the Massachusetts state lottery and the innovation of scratch tickets. More great accents (salute, Bob Crane), plus a pretty good overview of the New England Mafia in its many permutations. Season three, Catching the Codfather, moves the action to New Bedford, one of the great New England shitholes (I say this with love, and also fear), and goes in depth on the New England fishing industry. The accents do not stop, nor does the incredibly imaginative criminal activity – the eponymous Codfather, Carlos Rafael, is someone you couldn’t fictionalize, his life is too wild to be believed. Also, shout out to the DEA guys posing as Russian mobsters. Recommended listening speed: All three seasons must be listened to and savored at regular speed. New England content: Wicked. You can smell the Dunkies. Canadian content: Plenty in season three as those Nova Scotia fuckers do their damnedest to horn in on the Georges Banks action.
Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧