B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 22 – June 1, 2026
Games of Thursday May 28 were canceled due to wet field conditions.
Department of Corrections: I wrote that George Romo scored the winning run in Blue’s 11-10 walk-off win over Orange on May 26, but it was actually George’s pinch-runner Lawrence Page who was off on contact on Mike Garrison’s fly-ball single and scored the winner.
President’s message — George Brindley checks in:
The Purple team has been hit hard with injuries – Peter Sundquist is having knee-replacement surgery and Rick Kahn tore his meniscus. Unfortunately for the Maroon team, they will be moving Jack McDermott and Super fan Lisa to the Purple team, effective June 11 after they get back from vacation. This will bring all teams to 11 players, except Green will have 12 players. We look forward to some of the players that we are still waiting for their return to play this season.
I will be on a Mission trip to the Dominican Republic helping build a Church from June 2-9; Jeff Stone will fill in for me as President.
Games of Monday June 1:
10:30 a.m.: Maroon (9-2) at Blue (10-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 2 2 0 1 1 0 6 Blue 1 4 1 2 0 X 8 Pitchers: Maroon – David Pittard; Blue – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Maroon – Jack Spellman and Ralph Villela; Blue – Ray Pilgrim, Patrick Schmidt, and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Dave Berra, Peter Atkins, and Adam Reddell. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Jack Spellman (2 for 2 with a walk); Blue – Ray Pilgrim and George Romo (both 3 for 3, Ray earning an Ohtani Award). Home run: David Brown (inside the park) (2).
Weather report: 77 degrees, felt like 78; 80% humidity; wind from the SSE at 5 MPH; partly cloudy.
I wrote a preview of this game before this Thursday’s games were washed out, better than my usual dreck (low bar, I know), and I’m loathe to let the fired neurons go to waste, so here’s the gist of it:
A big showdown between Maroon and Blue will go a long way toward determining the winner of the Session Two title. Look for a low-scoring pitchers duel between the two stingiest teams (ranked one and two for fewest runs allowed in the session) and two of the league’s best pitchers, Jeff Stone and Joe Bernal, with a high likelihood of fine defensive play.
Would I prove prescient? Only time would tell, and the time has come. History reveals… well, it wasn’t Jeff versus Joe, but with results much as predicted – low-scoring contest, neither team managing a five-run inning, and good defensive play.
Maroon broke on top, scoring two runs on four singles and Allen Phillips’ sacrifice fly to Peter Sundquist in right-center in the top of the first, David Pittard holding Blue to a single run on three singles in the bottom half, the inning ending with Ralph Villela starting a 6-4-3 double play, George Brindley making a very good pivot, on Daniel Baladez’s hard grounder to Ralph’s right.
Maroon scored two again in the top of the second. Ralph Villela singled and Jack Spellman walked with one out, both advanced on Jack McDermott’s grounder to second baseman Donnie Janac (good play), and then both scored on George Brindley’s single to center field. The throw home nearly beat me, as I’d slowed down when someone mistakenly told me there was no throw; I did just beat the play, but George tried to take third on the throw in and was gunned down by catcher Larry Shupe, who made a good throw to third baseman George Romo for the final out of the inning, completing an 8-6-2-5 relay that began with Patrick Schmidt throwing to David Brown – see above re: predicted fine defensive play.
Blue then took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the second on singles by six of its first seven batters. With the fifth run on second and one out, David Pittard worked out of the jam, retiring Donnie Janac on a pop to shortstop Ralph Villela and Larry Young on a fly to Allen Phillips in right field.
Ray Pilgrim held the heart of the Maroon lineup scoreless in the top of the third. He made a good play on Ken Brown’s hard grounder back to the box for the first out, allowed a single to Steve Browne, then got David Pittard to ground into a 6u., 6-3 double play, David Brown moving to his left to field a grounder up the middle. Ray Pilgrim got two quick outs on grounders to Ralph Villela to start the home half, and almost made it three in a row – David Brown lined a ball to center field that Ken Brown made a try for, moving to his right from right-center, but couldn’t quite reach – the ball sailed past and rolled to the fence, and David circled the bases for his second home run of the season, Blue increasing its lead to 5-3. Here’s one interpretation of the event…
…according to which David interrupted the Boston Tea Party (252 years ago today), to the delight of Blue team mascot Aquatic Fury and Marilyn Monroe (looking pretty good on her 100th birthday).
Maroon got one run back in the top of the fourth. Fritz Hensel drew a one-out walk, and his pinch-runner (Steve Browne, I think) advanced on a single by Dean Hector and and scored on a double by Ralph Villela. Jack Spellman hit a sharp grounder to the right side that Donnie Janac knocked down; Spellman just beat the throw to Larry Young first, but Blue got an out on the play when Larry saw that Ralph was hung up between second and third, as Dean had held up at third. Larry snapped a throw to David Brown, who tagged out Ralph for the second out. David then fielded Jack McDermott’s grounder and threw to first for out number three.
Blue wound up winning the inning by scoring twice in the home half on three singles and Donnie Janac’s sacrifice fly to Jack McDermott in left-center, which actually turned into a fly-out double play: Jack threw in to Ralph Villela, who snapped a throw to second to put out Ken Mockler, who’d tagged up and tried to advance from first on the play.
Maroon won the fifth inning, barely, scoring a single run in the top half – George Brindley doubled leading off, advanced on Ken Brown’s ground out to shortstop David Brown, and scored on Steve Browne’s sacrifice fly on a drive to Peter Sundquist in right-center, Peter making the defensive play of the day by diving to his left to rob Steve of extra bases. David Pittard then held Blue scoreless in the bottom of the frame, working around two-out singles by Ray Pilgrim (completing a 3-for-3 game at the plate) and Peter. David Brown made a good play on Patrick Schmidt’s grounder toward the 5-6 hole, throwing to Donnie Janac covering second for the inning-ending force out.
Maroon came up in the buffet needing two runs to tie. Ray Pilgrim retired Fritz Hensel on a liner to left fielder Ken Mockler to start the inning. Dean Hector singled. Ralph Villela flied out to Patrick Schmidt in left-center. Jack Spellman’s ground single past second base extended the inning, but the game ended with Ray getting Jack McDermott to hit a two-strike foul.
Final score: Blue 8, Maroon 6
Ray Pilgrim earned his fourth Ohtani Award of the season with his performance today, tying Joe Bernal for the season lead.
11:30 a.m.: Orange (6-6) at Green (6-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 2 0 0 0 4 0 6 Green 1 3 4 2 0 X 10 Pitchers: Orange – David Pittard; Green – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Orange – David Pittard and Ralph Villela. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Larry Shupe and Larry Young. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Jack Spellman (3 for 3 with a home run); Green – Gary Coyle (3 for 3 with a double). Home run: Jack Spellman (inside the park) (2).
Weather update: a couple degrees warmer.
Spike Davidson threw a gem in this game, holding Orange to just 12 hits over six innings, only two of those going for extra bases. After Orange scored two runs on four singles in the top of the first, Spike retired ten of 11 batters through the top of the fourth while his teammates built a 10-2 lead, scoring a single run in the bottom of the first (Doc Hobar singled, took third on Mike Garrison’s hit, and scored on Larry Fiorentino’s sacrifice fly to Peter Atkins in right-center); taking the lead with three runs on four singles and Gary Coyle’s double in the second; effectively putting the game out reach with four runs on six singles in the third, the last five hits and all the runs coming after two were out; and tacking on two more in the fourth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Larry Fiorentino and Rex Horvath.
The fourth inning ended with a 5u., 5-3 double play on Terry O’Brien’s one-hop smash to third baseman Jack Spellman. I’d set the play up by mishandling a hard grounder moments before off the bat of Steve Sandall. Terry’s shot I caught on a big hop, tagged third, and when I saw Terry had thought that was the third out, I was able to take some steps toward first before tossing to Adam Reddell to complete the play.
My good luck continued in the top of the fifth when I came up with Hal Darman and Ralph Villela on base, having singled to open the inning, and I knocked a fly down the right-field side, fair by a couple feet, that rolled to the corner for an inside-the-park home run.
Worst AI picture ever. Good gravy. Anyway, RIP, Sonny Rollins.
Orange added a fourth run when Adam Reddell singled with two outs and scored from first on Don Solberg’s double to right field.
David Pittard blanked Green in the bottom of the fifth. Gary Coyle, completing a 3-for-3 game, and Spike Davidson singled to start the inning. Jim Maloy drove a ball to right-center, but Peter Atkins made a fine running catch, robbing him of extra bases. Boo Resnick, trying for a 3-for-3 game, lined a ball toward right field, but second baseman Tommy Langa, moving to his left, snagged it and snapped a throw to first to double up Steve Sandall, running for Spike.
Orange came up in the buffet needing four to tie. Spike Davidson got two quick outs on pops, Matt Levitt to shortstop Terry O’Brien and Tommy Langa to third baseman Gary Coyle. Hal Darman and Ralph Villela knocked back-to-back singles, but the game ended on David Pittard’s fly to Larry Fiorentino in right-center.
Final score: Green 10, Orange 6
12:30 p.m.: Gray (4-9) at Purple (3-9):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 4 2 5 0 4 X 15 Purple 0 0 0 1 2 4 7 Pitchers: Gray – Luis Sanchez; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Gray – George Brindley, Larry Fiorentino, and Steve Sandall; Purple – Gary Coyle, Doc Hobar, Rex Horvath, Jack McDermott, and Don Solberg. Umpires: home – Spike Davidson; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Gray – George Brindley (3 for 3 with a double), Scott Rokita (3 for 3 with a double and a home run), and Paul Rubin (4 for 4); Purple – Ray Pilgrim (3 for 3). Home runs: Scott Rokita (inside the park) (1) and Steve Sandall (inside the park) (1).
Weather update: a bit warmer still.
Nothing going right for Purple team just now. Manager Peter Sundquist played his final game before he undergoes a second knee replacement later this week that likely will keep him out of action through most of the summer. They picked up five mercenaries, all excellent players, but got from them just 5 hits in 13 at bats, plus a walk and a sacrifice fly. Mostly they were flummoxed by Gray pitcher Luis Sanchez, who shut them out over the first three innings while Gray built an insurmountable 11-0 lead.
Gray pushed across four runs on six hits in the top of the first, Jim Foelker’s two-run triple to center and Mike Velaney’s RBI double to left field the key knocks. They added two runs on three singles and an overthrow in the top of the second, with a fine play by Joe Roche on Daniel Carvajal’s one-hop smash down the third-base side for a 5-4 force limiting the damage.
Gray scored five times in the third on a pair of inside-the-park home runs. Stan Rokita came up with two on and one out and pulled a ball to the corner in right field for a three-run homer, his first of the season. (You may recall that Scott was deprived of a homer on March 12 when he was called out for running too close to the mat at the end of his circuit.)
Dr. Henry Heimlich looks on with the Gray team mascot on the anniversary of the publication of his description of his maneuver (nice ego, man!) as Scott Rokita, whom ChatGPT absolutely will not depict batting left-handed, homers in the third inning. Pat Scott didn’t make Orange’s game today because he’s dealing with a raccoon invasion, as very realistically depicted here.
Larry Fiorentino followed with a double to right-center. George Brindley singled up the middle; Larry tried to score, but was thrown out 8-6-2 (Patrick Schmidt to Rick Jensen to Billy Hill), a very good relay and a close play at the plate. Gray got their fourth and fifth runs anyway and moments later, as Steve Sandall lofted a deep fly to left-center that gapped the outfielders and rolled to the fence for a two-run inside-the-parker, Steve’s first of the season.
Gray team mascot and public-domain Simon & Garfunkel and Anne Bancroft, celebrating that “Mrs. Robinson” went number one on this date in 1968, look on as Steve Sandall knocks his first homer of the season. Tremendous, hilariously untrue rumor circulated prior to today’s games that Rex Horvath would be missing the remainder of this season due to nerve damage in his replaced knee. When I told him I was sorry to hear the news, Rex said, “It just needs a new starter, no big deal” – he thought I was referencing his truck. Not to blame anyone for the misinformation (*cough*chrisvillareal*cough), but Rex is in fine cyborg fettle and not going anywhere.
Luis Sanchez was very sharp on the mound for Gray. He gave up two singles in each of the first two innings, but each time stranded the runners. Doc Hobar singled to start the bottom of the third, but Luis retired the next three batters.
Ray Pilgrim worked a scoreless top of the fourth inning for Purple, working around singles by Paul Rubin and Daniel Carvajal. Jack McDermott made a terrific catch of Luis Sanchez’s drive to right-center for the first out of the inning. Purple finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning, scratching out a run on three singles.
Gray resumed hitting in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs on Larry Fiorentino’s walk, two singles, and doubles by Scott Rokita (completing a 3-for-3 day), George Brindley (ditto), and Luis Sanchez.
Luis was working with a 14-run lead when he returned to the mound for the bottom of the fifth. He walked Gary Coyle and gave up three straight singles with one out, one run scoring and a second coming across on Mike Malay’s force-out grounder to shortstop. With Gray leading 15-3, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet.
Billy Hill, Joe Roche, and Ray Pilgrim singled to start the inning, loading the bases.
Ray Pilgrim was 3 for 3 in the game, and won a not-coveted No-Tahni Award. Can’t believe I had to convince ChatGPT that it didn’t make Ray sad to win it. It’s a rec league, ChatGPT.
Rex Horvath got a run in with a sacrifice fly to Steve Sandall in left field, Don Solberg drove one in with a single down the first-base side, and Jack McDermott’s double – Purple’s only extra-base hit of the game – drove in a third. Gary Coyle lined a ball to shortstop Scott Rokita that Scott couldn’t catch cleanly, but recovered and threw to first for the second out, Don scoring Purple’s fourth run of the inning. Doc Hobar popped a ball up that third baseman Daniel Carvajal caught in foul territory for the final out.
Final score: Gray 15, Purple 7
2026 standings:
| Session 2 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 11 | 2 | .846 | 0 | 159 | 117 | 42 | W2 |
| Maroon | 9 | 3 | .750 | 1.5 | 166 | 107 | 59 | L1 |
| Green | 7 | 6 | .538 | 4 | 162 | 149 | 13 | W3 |
| Orange | 6 | 7 | .462 | 5 | 145 | 160 | -15 | L4 |
| Gray | 5 | 9 | .357 | 6.5 | 167 | 196 | -29 | W1 |
| Red | 4 | 8 | .333 | 6.5 | 155 | 169 | -14 | W1 |
| Purple | 3 | 10 | .231 | 8 | 151 | 207 | -56 | L2 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 6-1 | 5-1 | 1 | 0-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 | ||
| Maroon | 5-1 | 4-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Green | 3-3 | 4-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 4-1 | 0-2 | ||
| Orange | 3-3 | 3-4 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2-1 | ||
| Gray | 2-5 | 3-4 | 2 | 1-0 | 2-4 | 2-3 | ||
| Red | 0-6 | 4-2 | 0 | 1-0 | 1-3 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 0-7 | 3-3 | 0 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 1-1 | ||
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | |
| Gray | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | |
| Green | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | |
| Orange | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| Purple | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |
| Red | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| TOTAL: | 3 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 66 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Ralph Villela – 4
Steve Browne – 3
Tony Garcia – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
David Brown – 2
Tim Coles – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Terry O’Brien – 2
Allen Phillips – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Jack Spellman – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Richard Battle – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
George Brindley – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
Scott Rokita – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Pat Scott – 1
Hit for the cycle:
Ralph Villela – May 26
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 4 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16)
Ray Pilgrim: 4 (March 5, March 23, March 26, June 1)
Tommy Deleon: 2 (April 6, April 30)
Spike Davidson: 1 (May 4)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Jeff Stone: 1 (March 2)
Schedule for Thursday June 4:
10:30 a.m.: Orange (6-7) at Gray (5-9), Green umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Green (7-6) at Blue (11-2), Gray umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Red (4-8) at Maroon (9-3), Blue umpiring
Purple has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: A good set of games in store for Thursday, I think. At 10:30, Orange tries to escape its funk – a four-game losing streak has left them under .500 for the session and the season – with a game against Gray, which won today. Orange is 3-0 versus Gray so far in 2026. The 11:30 contest between Green and Blue should be a good one, as both teams played very well today and are riding winning streaks – three games for Green, two for Blue, which is 4-0 versus Green so far this season. Red will try to win its second in a row at 12:30 versus Maroon, which had its four-game winning streak snapped today. Maroon is 2-0 versus Red so far this season. Thursday is the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, 42nd anniversary of Bruce Springsteen releasing Born in the U.S.A., and the 86th anniversary of the completion of the Dunkirk evacuation. Which of these will best describe B League’s action? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Podcast review: Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Lot of buzz around this weekly interview podcast, currently among the most highly downloaded in the U.S., but I’m finding it kind of meh. It started out as a vanity project for Amy Poehler to interview her friends and talk a lot about Parks and Recreation and her Saturday Night Live era, but it’s evolved (maybe better to say devolved) into a run-of-the-mill celebrities-doing-PR-for-