B League Picayune
Always free, and worth every penny.
Volume 7, Issue 23 – May 22, 2025
Correction: Gray manager Jack Kelly on something I missed:
A quick correction that should be acknowledged. On the Gray-Blue game, I benched myself and put Jim Aaron in at second base and moved Mike Malay to pitcher for the last inning. So Mike is the one who got the Blue team to go down in order, allowing the Gray team to come back and win in the bottom of the buffet inning.
Dave Berra’s weather reports:
Game 1: 84 degrees, feels like 92. Humidity 69%. Wind SSE 6 MPH. (Really?) Started partly cloudy, but the clouds burned off as the game went on.
Game 2: 88 degrees, feels like 96. Humidity 61%. Wind SE 6 MPH. (Don’t believe it.) Sunny.
Game 3: 92 degrees, feels like 100. Humidity 52%. Wind ESE 6 MPH, better! Sunny.
Game of Thursday May 22:
10:30 a.m., Gray (4-7) at Maroon (6-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 1 0 5 2 1 4 13 Maroon 3 1 1 0 2 7 14 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly and Mike Malay (took over partway through the buffet); Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Gray – Donnie Janac and Ralph Villela; Maroon – Jack Spellman and Phil Stanch. Umpires: home – Donal Drummer, Jack McDermott, and Jim McAnelly; bases – Gary Coyle and Donald Drummer. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Paul Rubin (3 for 3) and Ralph Villela (3 for 3 with a double); Maroon – Ken Brown (5 for 5).
Terrific game. Gray got a single run in the top of the first, its first three batters – Jim Aaron, Tommy Gillis, and Paul Rubin – knocking singles, Jim coming around to score. That was it, however, as Jeff Stone got Adam Reddell to fly out to Ken Brown in left-center and Jack Crosley to ground into an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play, Jeff to Jack Spellman to Tom Kelm. Maroon then took the lead with three runs in the home half on five singles and Jeff Stone’s sacrifice fly to Jack Crosley in right field.
Maroon won the second inning also, holding Gray scoreless in the top half, as Jeff Stone induced another double play – 6u., 6-3 to shortstop Jack Spellman on Jack Kelly’s grounder on the shortstop side of second base – after Hal Darman and Johnny Lee singled with one out. Maroon scored a single run in the bottom half. Jack Kelly retired Jack Spellman and Phil Stanch on a grounder and a liner to second baseman Mike Malay, then allowed singles to 1-3 hitters Ken Brown, Scott Wright, and Jeff Stone, Ken coming around to score.
Gray won the next two innings pretty handily. They scored five times without making an out, on six singles and Tommy Gillis’s double, in the the top of the third, and held Maroon to a single run on three singles in the bottom half. Then they scored two more in the fourth on three singles and Ralph Villela’s double. Mike Malay, Hal Darman, and Johnny Lee opened the frame with hits, but Mike was cut down 7-6-2 (Don Solberg to Jack Spellman to Scott Wright) trying to score on Johnny Lee’s knock, which I think was the ball that went through my legs at shortstop – should have been a double play. The runners advanced on Jack Kelly’s ground out to first baseman Tom Kelm, then scored on Ralph’s two-bagger. Jack tossed a scoreless bottom half, allowing a lead-off single to Ken Brown, but getting Scott Wright (4-6 force at second) and Jeff Stone (1-6-3 double play, Jack to Ralph Villela to Johnny Lee) to ground out.
Gray led 8-5 entering the final five-run inning. Jeff Stone got two quick outs to start the top half, retiring Jim Aaron on a fly to left-center (good play by Ken Brown) and Tommy Gillis on a grounder to shortstop (hard hit right to Jack Spellman, got a big bounce). Paul Rubin singled, his third hit in as many at bats, and scored from first on Adam Reddell’s double to right-center (I think it was). Jeff stranded Adam by getting Jack Crosley to ground out to second baseman Tommy Langa, good play on a skidding grounder that didn’t come up.
Maroon pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Don Solberg led off with a single. Jack Kelly got both Tom Kelm and Jimmie Maloy to ground into force plays, to the pitcher and shortstop respectively. The next three batters – Tommy Langa, Ivan Budiselic, and Jack Spellman – each singled, Jimmie and Tommy coming across, cutting Gray’s lead to 9-7 entering the buffet.
Mike Malay opened the buffet with a double. Hal Darman flied out to Don Solberg in left field. Johnny Lee, with (I think) Paul Rubin running from home, hit a ball to the 5-6 hole; Jack Spellman got to it, had no chance of throwing out Paul, but Mike unexpectedly (to me, anyway) ran on contact, and I was able to throw him out 6-5, left-handed third baseman Ivan Budiselic reaching across his body to make the catch, a difficult play, for the second out. The third out was hard to come by. Jack Kelly singled to right. Ralph Villela singled, Paul scoring. Donnie Janac singled, I think to left field, Jack’s pinch-runner (Adam, maybe?) scoring. Jim Aaron lined a single up the middle, Ralph scoring. And Tommy Gillis knocked a hit to left-center, marked as a single in Dave Berra’s scoresheet, but my memory is that it was fielded pretty deep; Donnie scored on the play, and Jim tried to score from first, but was cut down 8-6-2, Ken Brown to Jack Spellman to Scott Wright, Scott making an outstanding play on my short-hopped throw.
Those four two-out runs left Gray with a 13-7 lead entering the bottom of the buffet, but having to face the top of the Maroon batting order. Ken Brown, Scott Wright, and Jeff Stone got things rolling with singles, Ken coming around to score for the third time. As he did Monday (see correction at top of newsletter), Jack Kelly removed himself from the game, tapping Mike Malay to close it out. Mike retired the three batters he faced on Monday, earning a save, but wasn’t so effective this time out. Don Solberg greeted him with a two-run triple, cutting Gray’s lead to 13-10. Tom Kelm singled in Don: 13-11. Jimmie Maloy flied out to Paul Rubin in left-center for the first out. Tommy Langa worked a walk, putting the tying run on base. Mike caught Ivan Budiselic looking at a called strike three for the second out. Jack Spellman lined a single to right, Tom Kelm’s runner scoring, making it a one-run game. Phil Stanch drew a walk, loading the bases for Ken Brown.
Ken was 4 for his first 4, and he made it a perfect 5-for-5 game by ripping a hit to right field. The runners were off on contact, Tommy scoring the tying run, and I ran as hard as my bionic knee would let me; I had my back to the play, so I didn’t see the pickup and relay, but I made it home before the ball got anywhere near home. Maroon walked it off on Ken’s fifth hit of the game. Final score: Maroon 14, Gray 13. (Gray has played 12 games this session; seven have been decided by one run.)
11:30 a.m., Red (3-9) at Purple (6-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 1 0 2 1 0 9 Purple 0 2 2 0 0 0 4 Pitchers: Red – Joe Bernal; Purple – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Red – George Brindley, Ray Pilgrim, and Don Solberg; Purple – Daniel Baladez, Billy Hill, Terry O'Brien, and Adam Reddell. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone; bases – Scott Wright. Perfect at the plate: Red – Joe Bernal (3 for 3).
Pitchers ruled in this one. Red scored five times in the top of the first, on seven singles, and that proved the difference in the game: Purple’s Spike Davidson allowed only four runs the rest of the way, the same number Red’s Joe Bernal allowed over six innings. Joe worked a scoreless bottom of the first, working around Larry Fiorentino’s one-out single, and Red increased its lead to 6-0 with a single run in the top of the second: after Spike retired Ray Pilgrim and Jack McDermott to start the inning (good catch by Larry Fiorentino on Jack’s drive to right-center), Jack Spellman singled and Gary Coyle doubled, Spellman running on contact and scoring from first.
Purple got on the board with two runs on four singles in the bottom of the second, Adam Reddell and Terry O’Brien coming through with two-out run-scoring hits. Spike Davidson worked a scoreless top of the third, with Matt Levitt in left-center making a good catch of Jim McAnelly’s lead-off liner. Purple then scored two more runs in the bottom half, as its first four hitters singled, Spike Davidson and Rick Jensen knocking in Larry Fiorentino and Mark Hernandez, cutting Red’s lead to 6-4. Purple had two in, two on, and none out, but Joe Bernal escaped the jam. First he got Larry Young to ground into a 6u., 6-3 double play. Daniel Baladez chopped a ball that I think actually first landed in foul territory, but, without being touched, spun fair, a a couple-three inches in front of the mat. Catcher Jim McAnelly picked it up, could have tagged Daniel, who thought it was a foul ball and didn’t run, but Jim lined up first baseman Dale Fugate and made a good throw to the base for the third out.
Purple didn’t score again. After Red scored two runs on four singles in the top of the fourth, Joe Bernal retired the side in order in the bottom half, getting Adam Reddell and Terry O’Brien to fly out to Jack McDermott in left-center and Don Solberg in left.
Red got a single run in the fifth, as Donald Drummer and George Brindley led off with singles and Donald scored on Don Solberg’s sacrifice fly to Matt Levitt in left-center. Spike Davidson got Ray Pilgrim to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, Rick Jensen to Terry O’Brien to Mark Hernandez. But Red still won the inning, as Joe Bernal worked around singles by Matt Levitt and Mark Hernandez for a scoreless home half.
So Red was up 9-4 entering the buffet, with the top of its order due up. They got nothing, Spike Davidson retiring the side 1-2-3 on two flies and a grounder to third baseman Adam Reddell.
Larry Young led off the bottom of the buffet with a single. Joe Bernal retired the next two batters, getting Daniel Baladez to fly out to left field (fine play by Don Solberg) and catching Billy Hill looking at a called strike three. Singles by Adam Reddell and Terry O’Brien loaded the bases and turned around the lineup. But the game ended with leadoff batter Matt Levitt hitting a humpback liner (Dave Berra’s excellent description of it) back to the box that Joe caught for the final out. Final score: Red 9, Purple 4, Red snapping its three-game losing streak and extending Purple’s to five games.
12:30 p.m., Orange (6-5) at Blue (8-3):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 0 1 0 1 1 2 10 Blue 0 4 0 0 0 2 2 8 Pitchers: Orange – Joe Bernal; Blue – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Orange – Joe Bernal, Matt Levitt, Adam Reddell, and Ralph Villela; Blue – Jack McDermott, Jack Spellman, and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home – Spike Davidson; bases – Larry Fiorentino. Nobody was perfect at the plate in the first seven-inning game of this season.
This was a crisply played defensive battle. As in the 11:30 game, the visiting team scored five times in the top of the first, on six singles, Marvin Krabbenhoft’s walk, and Terry O’Brien’s two-run triple, then struggled to score the rest of the way. Blue, after Joe Bernal worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the first and retired the first two batters in the bottom of the second, managed to score four runs on four singles and Jeff Stone’s double.
After that, though, the runs were hard to come by.
Orange didn’t score in the second and managed just one run on three singles in the third. They won that inning because Joe Bernal retired the side in order in the bottom half. Which he did again in the bottom of the fourth – that’s three 1-2-3 innings over the first four of the game. Orange didn’t score in the fourth, either, as Tommy Deleon started a 1-4-3 double play on Ray Pilgrim’s high hopper back to the box after David Brown singled leading off.
Orange got a single run in the fifth, as Terry O’Brien and Ken Mockler singled leading off, putting runners on the corners. Ken scored on Larry Shupe’s grounder to third baseman David Pittard, who threw to second for the force there. Tommy Deleon retired Ralph Villela and Matt Levitt to end the inning.
Blue didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth, but there was a great oddball play that I’m going to write about at extreme length because it’s about me and this is my newsletter and you’re a captive audience. Jack Spellman led off the inning with a hard grounder up the middle, through Joe Bernal’s legs and into center field. Ralph Villela was playing me crazy deep, so I thought I might have a chance for a double, and I started for second; but Ralph charged the ball, fielded it cleanly and came up throwing, and his peg to Terry O’Brien covering second (terrific, clean catch of the short-hopped throw by Terry) had me beat by 15 feet. So I put on the brakes and retreated toward first. Terry threw to Ray Pilgrim, and I reversed again and started for second. Terry, Joe Bernal, and shortstop David Brown were all pretty close to the bag, so I set out on a direct path to a point about eight feet to the right-field side of second base. I ran in a straight line. Ray threw to David, who was a couple steps off the bag, on the right-field side; he went to tag me, but I did a shimmy move to my right, not anywhere near a full three feet, to evade the tag (the runner is not obliged to run into a tag), which I did, then reaching the second-base line. I was safe.
But base umpire Larry Fiorentino called me out. There was a consultation between Larry and home umpire Spike Davidson, and the ruling on the field was that I’d run out of the baseline. Which: no. I did not run out of the line I established when I reversed and began running from first to second for the second time. I ran that line straight until the very end, when I evaded David’s tag, remaining within the three-foot corridor I’d established. Them’s the facts, as is B League’s base-running rules, which mandate avoiding contact and allow the runner when moving forward to run to the line rather than the base in order to avoid the fielders. (Running back to a base, you have to go to the actual base, and that’s a tag play. It’s also the one time a runner can slide in B League.) With an advancing runner, the fielder can either tag the runner or tag the base. David tried to tag me and just missed. I was safe. (Gentlemen, commence the disputation.)
In any case, Blue had one out and none on.
Quote of the Day: Greg Lloyd: “You could have just stopped at first.” (True. But what fun would that be?)
Jack McDermott singled, but Joe Bernal retired Jeff Stone on a force-play grounder and Steve Sandall on a foul pop caught by first baseman Ray Pilgrim, and the score was 7-4 Orange through five.
There were still over six minutes on the clock when the fifth ended, so the teams were playing seven, the first time this season a game has gone the full seven innings. Orange pushed across a single run in the top half. Adam Reddell singled with one out and was forced at second on David Brown’s grounder back to the box. Ray Pilgrim ripped a single to left-center, and David never hesitated in scoring from first on the hit.
Blue rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth. George Brindley led off with a single and, similar to David, scored from first on Tom Brownfield’s single, which I’m kind of recalling as a deep fly to right-center that nobody could get to; George read it perfectly and raced home on it. Daniel Baladez hit a low liner to right-center but was robbed of a hit by Ralph Villela, who made a terrific read of the ball and raced in and caught it. (In the Beer Garden afterward (see picture below), there was a general consensus that Ralph is an outstanding shortstop, an outstanding outfielder, and an outstanding good guy, and this is hard to countenance.) Tommy Deleon extended the inning by drawing a walk, and Joe Dayoc lined a single to left field, Tom’s pinch-runner (Steve Sandall, I think) racing home. Jack Spellman came up and drove a pitch to deep right field, but Larry Shupe, dang him to heck, made a terrific catch to rob me of extra bases and end the inning.
Orange led 8-6 entering the buffet. They got two more runs, and there was another crazy, only-in-B-League rules controversy. Tommy Deleon retired Terry O’Brien (fly to George Brindley in right-center) and Ken Mockler (hard grounder to second base, good play by Tom Brownfield) to start the frame. Larry Shupe, dang him to heck, knocked his third hit of the game, a line single to left. David Brown (I’m about 90% certain) ran for Larry. Ralph Villela doubled. Matt Levitt singled through the 5-6 hole, a ball I thought I had lined up, but its last hop was a big one, over my glove and futile leap, that I couldn’t react to fast enough, David scoring. Joe Bernal singled to right field, Ralph scoring and Matt taking third.
At that point, Larry asked Joe if he wanted a runner, and Joe said yes. So Larry took over on first base, literally stepping on the base. But that’s against B League rules: a runner who takes a pinch-runner cannot serve as a pinch-runner in the same inning. Orange was set to replace Larry before a pitch was thrown, which I thought was kosher, but the umpires correctly called Larry out because he’d taken possession of first base by stepping on it – it’s not an appeal play, just a straight umpire’s call. (I repeat: Spike Davidson and Larry Fiorentino got this one right, 100%, no doubt about it.)
That ended the top of the buffet, a pretty lucky break for Blue, as Adam Reddell lost a chance to bat with a runner on third base. Blue was chasing four runs to tie in the bottom half. Jack McDermott led off and squared up a pitch and lined it up the middle, but Joe Bernal made an outstanding grab for the first out. Jeff Stone and Steve Sandall followed with singles, Jeff’s pinch-runner Jack Spellman ending up at third and Steve advancing to second on the throw in. George Brindley popped out to second baseman Terry O’Brien for the second out. David Pittard singled to right-center, both Spellman and Steve Sandall scoring. A single by Tom Brownfield put the tying run on base. Daniel Baladez came up and lined a ball a bit to the left of second base, but David Brown was perfectly positioned (I would have been more toward the 5-6 hole) to nab the liner for the final out, securing the victory for Orange. Great game. Final score: Orange 10, Blue 8, Orange defeating Blue for the first time this season, and handing Blue its first home loss of the session.
I played in all three games today (#humblebrag), so I didn’t get much opportunity to take pictures, but here’s a nice shot of Tom Brownfield batting in the bottom of the buffet of the 12:30 game, about to knock a single. Left to right: Runner from home Jack McDermott, catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft, plate umpire Spike Davidson, and Tom.
Session 2 standings:
| Session 2 | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 8 | 4 | .667 | 0 | 144 | 108 | 36 | L2 |
| Orange | 7 | 5 | .583 | 1 | 134 | 128 | 6 | W2 |
| Maroon | 7 | 5 | .583 | 1 | 142 | 138 | 4 | W2 |
| Green | 6 | 5 | .545 | 1.5 | 151 | 127 | 24 | W5 |
| Purple | 6 | 6 | .500 | 2 | 128 | 141 | -13 | L5 |
| Gray | 4 | 8 | .333 | 4 | 135 | 163 | -28 | L1 |
| Red | 4 | 9 | .308 | 4.5 | 134 | 163 | -29 | W1 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins: | wins: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 5-1 | 3-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 4-0 | 1-2 | ||
| Orange | 4-2 | 3-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2-0 | ||
| Maroon | 4-2 | 3-3 | 3 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3-1 | ||
| Green | 2-3 | 4-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 4-1 | 2-1 | ||
| Purple | 2-4 | 4-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0-1 | ||
| Gray | 3-3 | 1-5 | 2 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 3-4 | ||
| Red | 2-5 | 2-4 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 0-2 |
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | X | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Gray | 2 | X | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Green | 1 | 2 | X | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Maroon | 1 | 4 | 2 | X | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| Orange | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | X | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Purple | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | X | 2 | 10 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | X | 8 |
| TOTAL: | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 69 |
2025 season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 4
Bobby Miller – 4
George Brindley – 3
Anthony Galindo – 3
Tommy Gillis – 3
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Mike Garrison – 2
Rex Horvath – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
David Brown – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Tony Garcia – 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
Ralph Villela – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Schedule for Thursday May 29:
10:30 a.m.: Red (4-9) at Orange (7-5), Purple umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Purple (6-6) at Maroon (7-5), Orange umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Green (6-5) at Gray (4-8), Maroon umpiring
Blue has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: We’re off for Memorial Day– enjoy your holiday weekend. When we resume play next Thursday, first-place Blue will have the bye, creating an opportunity for the four teams behind Blue in the session standings to further narrow the gap. If Orange can defeat Red at 10:30, they’ll be just half a game out of first. Purple and Maroon meet at 11:30, Purple looking to end its five-game losing streak, Maroon hoping to extend its two-game winning streak. Green has the longest acting winning streak, five games, and faces a much improved Gray team at 12:30. Will my left wrist, off of which I took a grounder in the 10:30 game this morning, be sufficiently discolored by tomorrow morning that I’ll be able to take a gross picture of it to share with you ghouls? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
League president Anthony Galindo checks in:
This ice chest was left in the 3rd-base dugout so it was put in storage with the wagon.
Look at this bunch of knuckleheads in the Beer Garden after the day’s action: from left, Larry Shupe, Jack Spellman, Jack McDermott, Johnny Lee, Dave Berra, and Tommy Deleon. In the background, Anthony Galindo can’t escape us fast enough. Photo by Greg Lloyd. Man, I love this league.