B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 57 – November 6, 2023
Weather: Overcast for much of the day, clearing a bit during the final game. Temperature was 77 degrees at the start of the 11:30 game, with humidity at 72%. It was nice not having to battle the sun.
Games of Monday November 6:
10:30 a.m., Gold (4-5) at Gray (3-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gold 1 0 0 3 5 1 10 Gray 1 5 5 2 1 X 14 Pitchers: Gold – Jeff Stone; Gray – Greg Lloyd. Mercenaries: Gray – Tommy Gillis, Eddy Murillo, Jack Spellman, and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home plate – Gary Coyle; bases – Mike Hill, Buddy Gaswint, and Jeff Fisher. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Tim Bruton (3 for 3 with two doubles), Jeff fStone (3 for 3), and Rip Wright (1 for 1 with a double and a walk); Gray – Eddy Murillo (2 for 2 with a double and a walk).
Gold had trouble getting untracked against Gray hurler Greg Lloyd in this one: Ralph Villela led off the game with a single and came around to score on singles by the next two hitters, Tim Bruton and Jeff Stone (both perfect on the day), but that was Gold’s only run over the first three innings. Greg escaped the first-and-third, no-out jam in the first by inducing a 6u., 6-3 double play and a pop to shortstop, then retired the side in order in the second. In the third, Rip Wright walked and Larry Young singled with one out, but Greg got a cheap double play on Joe Dayoc, who forgot he had a pinch-runner from home and ran past the commit line on his grounder back to the box, getting called out in what amounted to a sort-of 1-4-3 double play.
Meanwhile, Gray was having better success against Jeff Stone. Daniel Carvajal’s RBI double scored Tom Brownfield to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first, though that was all Jeff would allow. With runners at second and third and one out, Jerry Mylius’s ground out to shortstop produced no advance. Jim McAnelly walked to load the bases, but Jack Spellman’s god-awful swing produced a dinky grounder back to the box, Jeff throwing home for an easy 1-2 force to end the inning, three runners left on base.
Gray did better in the next two frames, scoring five runs in each, on two walks, two singles, Rick Kahn’s triple and two sacrifice flies in the second (on the second of those sac flies, Ralph Villela made a terrific catch of Daniel Carvajal’s drive to left-center, crossing behind Jack McDermott, but it was so deep that Rick could have frog-walked home from third with time to spare), and on five singles and Eddy Murillo’s double in the third. Gray led 11-1 at this point.
Gold began cutting the deficit in the fourth, scoring three runs in top of that inning on Tim Bruton’s double, three singles, and a run-scoring force out at second. Gray got two back in the home half, on four singles, the last three with two out. Gold broke through in the fifth, putting across five runs on four singles, Larry Young’s sacrifice fly, and doubles by Rip Wright and Tim Bruton, Tim’s third hit in as many at bats. Tim scored the fifth run on Jeff Stone’s third hit.
Gray got a single run back in the bottom of the fifth. Greg Lloyd singled with one out and took third on Tom Brownfield’s double. Rick Kahn also doubled, Greg scoring, but Tom held up to see if the drive to right-center might be caught, and so he only got to third on the play. He held there on Daniel Carvajal’s ground out to shortstop (nice play by first baseman Joe Roche on the short-hopped throw), and the inning ended when Jeff Stone got Jerry Mylius to foul off a two-strike pitch.
Gray led 14-9 entering the buffet. Gold got a rally going, loading the bases on singles by Joe Roche and Jack McDermott and a walk drawn by James Chavana. Joe scored on Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly to Tommy Gillis in left field, Tommy throwing to third to keep the trail runners from advancing. Denny Malloy smoked a line drive down the first-base side, hitting James, who had no hope of getting out of the way, a step or so off of first base. Base hit for Denny, but the second out of the inning for Gold. Greg Lloyd then struck out Larry Bunton swinging for the final out. Final score: Gray 14, Gold 10, Gray posting its first victory as home team this session.
Past and future B-Leaguer Robert Daniels, here with Jack McDermott and Jack’s ridiculously adorable granddaughter, stopped by Krieg. Hoping Robert will be back in action this coming spring.
11:30 a.m., Blue (7-2) at Green (2-7):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 1 5 5 3 5 X 19 Green 0 5 1 0 3 1 10 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Green – Tom Kelm. Mercenaries: Green – Tom Kelm. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Stone; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Dale Fugate (3 for 3), Anthony Galindo (4 for 4), and Fritz Hensel (2 for 2 with a walk).
Close in the early going. Blue scored a single run on three singles in the top of the first, then Spike Davidson blanked Green in the bottom half, after singles by Mike Hill and Donnie Janac put runners on the corners with one out. Spike got Gary Coyle on a hard liner hit directly at shortstop George Romo. Don Solberg hit a hard grounder to the 3-4 hole, but second baseman Mark Dolan made an excellent play moving to his left to field the ball and throw Don out.
Both teams scored five runs on six hits in the second. Blue made one out and got doubles by Mark Dolan (driving in the first two runs, and, man, Mark is running so well for a guy with a new hip) and Larry Fiorentino (driving in the fourth and fifth). Tommy Gillis’s triple to left-center was the big hit in Green’s rally, driving in Jeff Fisher with the first run.
Blue scored five times again in the third, again on six hits – five singles and Dale Fugate’s double to drive in the fifth run, on a drive over the outfielders’ heads to left-center. Green did record two outs in the inning, the first when Jeff Fisher made a fine catch, ranging to his right, of Morgan Witthoft’s line drive to left-center.
Green got just one run back in the bottom half, on three singles, and Blue kept pouring it on: three runs in the fourth on five singles (the inning ended with a 6-4-5 double play, George Romo out at third as he didn’t realize the throw was coming for him); then, after Spike Davidson retired the side in order in the bottom of the fourth, five runs in the fifth on a walk to Fritz Hensel (completing his perfect day at the plate), three singles, Larry Fiorentino’s double, and Anthony Galindo’s fourth single in as many at bats.
Green scored three times in the bottom of the fifth, on a lead-off double by Clint Fletcher, four singles, and two sacrifice flies, but trailed 19-9 entering the buffet. The teams flip-flopped. Tom Kelm ripped a one-out double to center that gapped the outfielders and drove in Boo Resnick from first, but that was all for Green. On Clint Fletcher’s grounder to third, the runner from second – I don’t think it was Tom, must have been a pinch-runner, but I don’t recall who – was tagged out by Eddy Murillo. Mike Hill, going for his fourth hit, lined a ball to right-center, but right at Morgan Witthoft, who caught it for the final out. Final score: Blue 19, Green 10, Blue extending its winning streak to four games.
Greg Lloyd celebrated the Texas Rangers’ World Series triumph with a quality adult beverage – if it’s not produced in France, I guess it’s properly called Sparkling Gatorade.
12:30 p.m., Red (5-4) at Maroon (6-3):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 1 0 0 5 5 6 17 Maroon 5 4 1 2 0 3 15 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Maroon – Joe Bernal. Umpires: home plate – Spike Davidson; bases – Larry Fiorentino. Perfect at the plate: Red – Ken Mockler (3 for 3 with a walk and two homeruns), Adam Reddell (3 for 3 with a triple and a walk), and Paul Rubin (4 for 4 with two doubles); Maroon – Ken Brown (4 for 4) and Mike Velaney (3 for 3). Homeruns: Ken Mockler, two, both over the fence.
Red couldn’t get much of anything going off Joe Bernal in the early going: one run on three chippy singles, none hit hard, in the first; out in order in the second; two singles sandwiched by three outs in the third, no runs scoring. Blue, meanwhile, teed off and built a 10-1 lead through three: five runs on six singles and Scott Wright’s double in the first, even the one out a hard-hit liner, by Rex Horvath right at rover Mike Mordecai, playing behind second base; four runs on four singles and Rex Horvath’s double in the second; and a run on three singles in the third.
The script flipped beginning in the fourth. Adam Reddell led off with a triple, and Ken Mockler followed with a homerun over the fence to left-center. Ken said the drive was wind-aided, but I don’t think so – he crushed it.
Ken Mockler in the visitors dugout following his homerun in the fourth inning. Pluckers coupons are back!
Six of the next seven batters singled, resulting in three more runs, notwithstanding a rover-4-3 double play on Hal Darman’s grounder up the middle when Hal, forgetting he had a runner from the plate, overran the commit line. Maroon got two back in the home half, as Scott Wright tripled home Peter Sundquist, who’d singled to start the inning, then scored on Rex Horvath’s second double. Rex made it to third, either on Ken Brown’s single or on Johnny Lee’s ground ball force out, rover-to-shortstop, but was stranded as Jack Kelly got Joe Bernal to foul out to catcher Sam Baker and Marvin Krabbenhoft to line out to shortstop.
Red trailed 12-6 entering the final five-run inning, and got another five. Paul Rubin led off with a double. Howard Spates flied out to Ken Brown in left-center. Uncharacteristically, or maybe he was just being super careful pitching to two great hitters, Joe Bernal walked both Adam Reddell and Ken Mockler. Terry Thompson singled, Paul and Adam scoring. Sam Baker then lashed a triple to right-center, Ken and Terry scoring. Hal Darman’s single brought in Sam with the fifth run, cutting Maroon’s lead to 12-11.
Jack Kelly then worked a scoreless bottom half. He got Peter Atkins on a hard grounder to second baseman Howard Spates, who played a terrific game in the field – five putouts and two assists, by my count, and everything hit his way was hit hard. Tom Kelm’s grounder up the middle was fielded by rover Mike Mordecai and would have been a single, but Tom forgot he had a pinch-runner from home and became the third player of the day called out for overrunning the commit line. Singles by Mike Velaney and Larry Shupe put runners on first and second for the top of the order. Peter Sundquist hit the ball hard on the ground down the third-base side, but Adam Reddell made a terrific play to knock it down, retrieve it, and tag Mike out a step before Mike reached the foul line. (Mike tumbled to the ground and rolled toward the visitors dugout, but was okay.)
That meant it was still 12-11 in Maroon’s favor entering the buffet. Mike Mordecai and Gene Nelson singled to start the inning. Jack Kelly grounded to second baseman Tom Kelm, who threw to second for the force there; Jack’s runner from home, Terry Thompson, beat the relay to first. Jack Spellman lined a single just inches over Tom Kelm’s leap, Mike scoring the tying run. I didn’t see the play, but per Dave Berra’s scoresheet, Terry was out at third, 9-6-5 – Peter Sundquist to Rex Horvath to Scott Wright. Paul Rubin and Howard Spates followed with two-base hits, two runs scoring. Jack Spellman ran for Howard and scored on Adam Reddell’s single. Ken Mockler then stepped up and socked his second homerun of the game, another over-the-fence shot, putting Red ahead 17-12. The inning finally ended with Terry Thompson popping out to Tom Kelm at second.
A completely different picture of Ken Mockler, which I fancied up with a filter, plus Adam Reddell has a different expression.
Chasing five, Maroon got a lead-off single by Scott Wright to start the home half. Rex Horvath squared up on a pitch and lined it, but Howard Spates speared it on his backhand for the first out. (Rex absolutely crushed the ball in each of his four at bats, but came away with “only” two doubles. Let us all repeat: “It’s the process, not the result.”) Ken Brown, Johnny Lee, and Joe Bernal each singled, Scott and Ken scoring, Red’s lead cut to 17-14. Marvin Krabbenhoft hit the ball hard to the right side, but Howard Spates made the play, throwing to rover Mike Mordecai for the force at second. Peter Atkins singled, Johnny Lee’s pinch-runner scoring, making it a two-run game, the tying run on base. But Jack Kelly got Tom Kelm to loft a foul pop on the third base side, and Adam Reddell had enough room to run it down and make the catch for the final out. Final score: Red 17, Maroon 15, Red moving into a tie with Maroon for second place for the session.
Standings – Session Four:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 8 2 .800 — 140 104 +36 W4
Red 6 4 .600 2 141 124 +17 W2
Maroon 6 4 .600 2 132 117 +15 L2
Gold 4 6 .400 4 123 136 -13 L2
Gray 4 6 .400 4 110 133 -23 W2
Green 2 8 .200 6 120 152 -32 L5
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 4-0 4-2 1 0-0 2-0 2-1
Red 2-2 4-2 2 0-0 2-0 2-2
Maroon 3-3 3-1 2 0-1 1-0 3-1
Gold 3-2 1-4 0 0-0 1-0 0-2
Gray 1-4 3-2 0 0-0 0-4 1-1
Green 1-5 1-3 0 1-0 0-2 0-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 6 6 8 4 2.5 6 32.5
Gold 3 X 4 7 4 1 4 23
Gray 2 6 X 5 4 2 6 25
Green 3 4 4 X 4 4 4 23
Maroon 5 6 4 4 X 3 6 28
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 4 4 5 4 3 X 24
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 18.5 27 24 29 21 15.5 28 162
Schedule for Thursday November 9:
10:30 a.m.: Red (6-4) at Green (2-8), Blue umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Gray (4-6) at Blue (8-2), Red umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (6-4) at Gold (4-6), Gray umpiring
Preview: Blue has a two-game lead over Red and Maroon with four games left in the session. It’s up to Gray to try to poke a stick in Blue’s spokes and slow ’em down, in the 11:30 game. Green, at 10:30 versus Red, and Gold, at 12:30 versus Maroon, can play the spoiler and keep the second-place teams from making up ground. Will we get Thursday’s games in before the rain hits? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
League President Jack McDermott has details about the end-of-season tourney:
Our end of year playoff is scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving with the first round of games on Monday November 27 and the semi and final championship games on Tuesday November 28. Wednesday is reserved for playoff rain out games.
The format is to be determined but we should have that schedule by this week.
Thanks to A League President Scott Sovereen, who located this picture of the great, and now greatly missed, Brian Flynn. He remains alive in the hearts of those who knew him.