B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 14 – May 16, 2024
£3.50 (Prices in Ulster may be higher)
Weather: Temperature was 78 degrees with relative humidity at 82% and overcast skies at the start of the 10:30 game. The needle didn’t move much on either number until an inning or two into the 12:30 game, when it began to rain – lightly at first, increasing to a steady shower. Orange and Maroon played through and managed to complete the day’s action.
Game of Thursday May 16:
10:30 a.m., Red (5-2) at Blue (2-4):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Red 4 2 1 5 0 5 X 17 Blue 0 2 4 3 1 0 0 10 Pitchers: Red – Eddy Murillo; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Red – Gary Coyle and Don Solberg. Umpires: home plate – Trey Wall and Paul Rubin; bases – Daniel Baladez and Dave Berra. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Bruton (4 for 4 with a double) and Gary Coyle (3 for 3 with a double); Blue – Steve Sandall (3 for 3 with a walk). Home run: Denny Malloy (inside the park).
Interesting game, in that even though Blue came out on the wrong end of the score, they played a great game defensively. Steve Sandall had a flat-out fantastic game in left field, catching three flies (two of them on balls that off the bat I would have given him about a 10% chance of catching) and recording a baserunning kill, in the second inning. Blue was leading 6-0, having scored four times in the top of the first (the last three on Denny Malloy’s inside-the-park homerun to right field, Denny nearly lapping Gil Delossantos ahead of him), and two more in the second, as mercenaries Gary Coyle and Don Solberg singled with one out, Bobby Miller walked to load the bases, and Tim Bruton driving in Gary and Don with a single to left field. But on that hit Steve made a strong throw to shortstop David Brown, whose throw to third baseman Terry Thompson cut down Bobby for the second out. Morgan Witthoft followed with a single to left-center, but that also turned into an out, Pat Scott gunning down the runner trying for third – my scoresheet says it was Tim, but my memory was that somehow it was Gil. Not sure what the explanation for the difference there is.
Red skipper Donald Drummer was delighted to present Denny Malloy with a Pluckers coupon following Denny’s three-run inside-the-parker in the top of the first.
Blue was held scoreless in the bottom of the first, Eddy Murillo stranding Pat Scott following a lead-off single, and then scored two runs on three singles and a walk to Joe Bernal in the bottom of the second. Red got a single run in the third, as Eddy led off with a double, pinch-runner Tim Bruton advanced to third on Gil Delossantos’s ground out to third base, and then scored on Denny Malloy’s sacrifice fly to right field. Red then put up four runs in the bottom half, on five singles, to draw within a run, 7-6. The fourth run scored on Dale Fugate’s grounder to shortstop – Tim Bruton fielded the ball to his left, tagged second for the force there, and could have ended the inning by doubling up Dale, but his throw sailed over the head of first baseman Hal Darman, allowing Terry Thompson to score.
Red got some breathing room with five runs in the top of the fourth. Donald Drummer drew a lead-off walk and Gary Coyle followed with a single. Don Solberg squared up on a pitch, but lined it directly at second baseman George Brindley. The top of the Red lineup followed with four consecutive well-struck balls: Bobby Miller’s double to right field drove in Donald and Gary; Tim Bruton hit a shot back up the middle that Joe Bernal got a piece of, but deflected far enough away from shortstop David Brown that there was no play he could make, Bobby holding at second; Morgan Witthoft doubled to center field, Bobby scoring; and Eddy Murillo singled down the third-base line, both Tim and Morgan scoring.
Blue got three runs back on four singles and two walks in the bottom of the fourth, but was denied a bigger inning on a great throw by Red left fielder Donald Drummer. With runners on first and second and two out, Donald fielded Joe Bernal’s single and came up throwing, uncorking an arcing, on-the-fly toss that hit catcher Gil Delossantos chest-high and beat Steve Sandall trying to score, by half a step. Blue then held Red scoreless in the fifth, Joe Bernal recording a 1-2-3 inning – both Gil Delossantos and Denny Malloy grounded out to second baseman George Brindley, and Steve Sandall made an excellent catch of Hal Darman’s deep fly to left.
Trailing 12-9 entering the bottom of the fifth, Blue only managed to score one run. Dale Fugate and Billy Hill led off with singles. Jerry Mylius grounded to second baseman Morgan Witthoft, who threw to second for the force there, Dale advancing to third. Pat Scott hit a ball up the middle, just to the left of second base, but Tim Bruton made a balletic move to his left to get to it and flipped to Morgan for the force, Dale scoring. David Brown singled, but Bobby Miller ran down George Brindley’s fly to left-center for the third out.
Red scored five again in the top of the sixth, though they had to earn it, Blue making a couple more great outfield plays. The first five batters hit safely, four singles and Gary Coyle’s double, three runs scoring. With runners on the corners, Morgan Witthoft drove a ball to deep left field, but Steve Sandall, moving at full speed back and to his left, fully extended and made an outstanding catch, the best defensive play of the game – one of the best catches all season, really. Bobby Miller tagged and scored easily, and Tim Bruton advanced to second. Eddy Murillo then drove a ball to left-center, and Pat Scott, moving back and to his right, ran that down – a difficult, terrific play in its own right. Tim tagged and took third, and then scored the fifth run on Gil Delossantos’s single up the middle.
Blue did not score in the home half. Steve Sandall completed his perfect day at the plate with a single and Terry Thompson walked with one out, but Eddy Murillo escaped the jam by getting both Joe Bernal and Dale Fugate to hit into force plays.
Though Red led by only seven runs, the teams agreed to flip-flop, as the day was already running late (C League’s second game went long) and the skies were threatening. Eddy worked a quick buffet, catching Billy Hill looking at a called strike three that just clipped the front of the mat, and then getting Jerry Mylius to swing through a third strike. Pat Scott walked, but David Brown’s hard grounder to the right side was hit right at Morgan Witthoft, who tossed to Tim Bruton for the game-ending force at second. Final score: Red 17, Blue 10
11:30 a.m., Green (3-4) at Purple (4-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 2 3 1 5 4 2 17 Purple 2 0 2 0 5 0 9 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon; Purple – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Green – Anthony Galindo; Purple – Don Solberg. Umpires: home – Terry Thompson; bases – David Brown. Perfect at the plate: Green – Mike Hill (4 f or 4 with a triple) and Ralph Villela (5 for 5 with a double and a triple); Purple – Clint Fletcher and Mike Velaney (each 3 for 3).
How long before we start hearing calls to “Break up Green!”? They were again a lean, mean, hittin’ machine today, scoring in every inning, crooked numbers in all but one. They scored two runs on four hits (three singles and David Pittard’s two-bagger) in the first, but saw that rally short-circuited when Purple second baseman Tom Kelm started an inning-ending double play, snagging Tommy Deleon’s liner and snapping a throw to first baseman Daniel Carvajal to double up Mike Garrison, unable to reverse gears and get back in time.
Purple tied the game with two runs on three singles and Daniel Carvajal’s sacrifice fly to right-center in the bottom half, but Green took the lead for good with three runs in the second, the rally starting after Jeff Stone had retired Jack McDermott (on a grounder to shortstop Rick Jensen, whose strong throw to first beat Jack by half a step) and Trey Wall (on a liner back to the box). Daniel Baladez lined a single to center, Anthony Galindo drew a walk, and both scored on Ralph Villela’s triple to left field, almost caught by Clint Fletcher, but glancing off Clint’s glove and going to the fence. Paul Rubin’s single drove in Ralph, and Paul took third on Mike Hill’s single to right, but both were stranded as David Pittard lined a ball to Tom Kelm at second – Tom couldn’t hold on for the catch, but recovered and threw to first for the out.
Tom then led off the bottom of the second with a single to left field. But Tommy Deleon retired both Rip Wright and Jim Foelker on balls in the air to the left side (shortstop and left field, respectively), then got Don Solberg to hit a hard grounder down the right side that Trey Wall made a good play on, to his backhand, throwing to second for the inning-ending force.
Trey then came through with a key two-out single in the top of the third that extended the inning and set up Daniel Baladez’s run-scoring single to center. Purple got two back in the home half. Gregory Bied drew a lead-off walk, and Clint Fletcher followed with a bad-hop single to shortstop, Gregory racing around to score when the ball caromed into short center field, Clint taking second on the late throw home. Clint advanced to third on Jeff Stone’s fly to right-center and scored on Daniel Carvajal’s second sacrifice fly in as many at bats, this one to Mike Garrison in left.
Green’s offense exploded over their final three at bats, Green hitters going 14 for 16 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, and four extra-base hits over the the fourth, fifth, and first two batters of the buffet inning. Five runs scored in the top of the fourth, Mike Hill and David Pittard driving in the first two runs with a triple and a double, Trey Wall capping the rally with a drive to center that I scored as a double even though Tommy Deleon’s pinch-runner scored from third on it, relieving Trey from having to run beyond first. Four runs scored on six singles and Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly in the fifth, a nice 10-6-5 relay (Jim Foelker to Rick Jensen to Mike Velaney) cutting down Paul Rubin trying for third on Mike Hill’s fourth hit of the game and keeping Green from maxxing out. Jack McDermott walked and scored from first on Trey Wall’s second two-base hit to start the buffet Jeff Stone retired Daniel Baladez on a grounder to shortstop and Anthony Galindo on a pop to second base, but Trey scored Green’s final run on Ralph Villela’s fifth hit of the game, a double.
Purple, meanwhile, was retired in order by Tommy Deleon in the fourth. They scored five runs on seven singles without making an out in the fifth, cutting Green’s lead to 15-9 and preventing the game from being flip-flopped. Chasing eight in the bottom of the buffet, Purple got a lead-off single from Tom Kelm, but both Rip Wright and Jim Foelker grounded into 5-4 forces, and the game ended with Don Solberg hitting a hard grounder to second, but right at Mike Hill, who is death to such balls: he fielded it cleanly and threw to first for the final out. Final score: Green 17, Purple 9, Purple’s four-game winning streak snapped.
12:30 p.m., Orange (0-6) at Maroon (4-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Orange 1 1 5 5 0 12 Maroon 5 5 4 5 X 19 Pitchers: Orange – Ray Pilgrim; Maroon – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Orange – Daniel Baladez, George Brindley, David Brown, Jim Foelker, Jeff Stone, and Rip Wright; Maroon – Jeff Fisher, David Pittard, and Ralph Villela. Umpire: Tom Kelm, solo, and he did an outstanding job. Perfect at the plate: Orange – George Brindley, Jim Foelker, and Tony Garcia (each 3 for 3); Maroon – James Chavana, Joe Roche, and Chunky Wright (each 3 for 3), Anthony Galindo (4 for 4), and David Pittard (2 for 2 with a walk).
Maroon scored 19 of a possible 20 runs over its four at bats, early on owing to good hitting (five runs on six hits and a Marvin Krabbenhoft walk in each of the first two innings, Alvin Gauna’s two-run triple in the first, a line drive to that rolled to the fence right field, the only extra-base hit), and later on aided by the increasingly worsening field conditions, which made it hard on both team’s defenders. Maroon put across four runs on four consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the third, then scored five times without making an out in the bottom of the fourth, Alvin Gauna drawing a lead-off walk, the next six batters hitting safely, Ralph Vilela and Jeff Fisher knocking doubles.
Orange more than held serve in the third and fourth, scoring five times in each frame, on six singles in the third and six singles and Daniel Baladez’s double in the fourth. In each of those innings there were ground balls to second base (in the third) and shortstop (in the fourth) that normally would have resulted in force plays at second, but on the first Jack Spellman made a poor throw to Ralph Villela, and on the second Ralph threw wide to Jack, and you’ve got to score those rain-slickened plays singles. The problem for Orange was that they were playing catch-up, having been held by Chunky Wright to single runs in each of the first two innings thanks to key double plays. Matt Levitt, Tony Garcia, and Ray Pilgrim opened the game with consecutive singles, Matt scoring. Larry Shupe squared up on a pitch and hit it hard, but third baseman David Pittard reached up and snagged the liner, then snapped a throw to second to double up Tony, unable to get back after an aggressive first step toward third. David Brown then grounded into an inning-ending force.
Singles by George Brindley and Jeff Stone put runners on the corners to begin the second. But Daniel Baladez’s sharp grounder to second resulted in a 4-6-3 double play (very nice turn by Ralph Villela), George scoring on the play. Rip Wright then grounded back to the box.
So Orange’s big innings in the third and fourth wound up only cutting Maroon’s lead to seven runs entering the buffet. George Brindley led off the inning with a single. Jeff Fisher made a nice catch coming in of Jeff Stone’s line drive to right-center for the first out. Daniel Baladez singled to left field; George, running conservatively, halted at second. Rip Wright popped out to shortstop Ralph Villela for out number two. A single by Jim Foelker, completing his perfect day at the plate, loaded the bases. Matt Levitt popped a ball between the pitcher’s mound and shortstop that Ralph somehow, despite the slippery infield dirt, was able to get to, making an outstanding, low-to-the-ground basket catch for the final out. Final score: Maroon 19, Orange 12
Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Red 6 2 .750 — 123 105 +18 W1
Gray 4 2 .667 1 84 61 +23 W2
Purple 4 2 .667 1 90 74 +16 L1
Maroon 5 3 .625 1 118 103 +15 W1
Green 4 4 .500 2 97 100 – 3 W2
Blue 2 5 .286 3.5 76 93 -17 L1
Orange 0 7 .000 5.5 74 126 -52 L7
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Red 2-1 4-1 0 0-1 3-0 1-1
Gray 2-0 2-2 1 0-0 1-0 2-2
Purple 2-2 2-0 0 0-0 1-1 0-0
Maroon 2-3 3-0 1 0-0 1-1 1-0
Green 1-4 3-0 1 1-0 0-1 1-1
Blue 1-3 1-2 1 0-0 0-1 1-0
Orange 0-3 0-4 0 0-0 0-2 0-2
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 0 1 1 1 1 1 5
Gray 2 X 1 0 2 0 1 6
Green 1 0 X 1 0 1 1 4
Maroon 0 2 2 X 2 0 1 7
Orange 0 0 1 0 X 0 1 2
Purple 1 0 2 1 2 X 0 6
Red 2 1 1 1 1 1 X 7
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 6 3 8 4 8 3 5 34
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Gregory Bied – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
David Brown – 1
Tim Bruton – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
David Kruse – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Eddie Ortiz – 1
Dave Pittard – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Monday May 20
10:30 a.m.: Green (4-4) at Red (6-2), Blue umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Blue (2-5) at Gray (4-2), Red umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (4-2) at Orange (0-7), Gray umpiring
Maroon has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: All three games feature opponents squaring off for the third time this season. Surging Green faces first-place Red at 10:30. The teams are 1-1 in their two 2024 encounters. Gray has won both of its first two games versus Blue, whom they face at 11:30. Likewise, Purple is 2-0 versus Orange, their 12:30 opponent. If Green, Blue, and Orange all pull off upsets by being opponents with better records, the day will end with three teams tied for first, and Maroon, idle on Monday, one-half game back. Is this when Orange ends its session-long losing streak? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Keggy leaves the western hemisphere for one day and J-Lo and Ben Affleck are on the rocks?!?
What the actual heck, do I have to do EVERYTHING?
I guarantee you’ll feel better about this if you go see Mike Mordecai at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Monday from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Today’s edition was pulled together in London. Scott Wright is somewhere in the metropolitan area, and I understand Buddy Gaswint was recently here as well, but I’ve missed both of them. I was surprised to run into Mike Velaney in Hyde Park this afternoon. Hyde has fewer diamonds than Krieg, but more ravens and Urdu-language hip-hop. (Same number of never-get-old jokes.)