B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 47 – September 26, 2024
Corrections: I reported that Anthony Galindo started the relay that put me out toward the end of the 12:30 game on Monday, but Anthony credits Mike Garrison with making that excellent throw. The Picayune regrets that its editor is slower than I-35 at rush hour. Also, I failed to credit Tom Kelm with a perfect (albeit truncated) game at the plate, missing that he singled in his only at bat in the 12:30 game. The Picayune regrets the error.
Games of Thursday September 26:
10:30 a.m., Purple (1-4) at Red (2-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Purple 3 4 5 5 X 17 Red 1 0 3 1 0 5 Pitchers: Purple – Jeff Stone; Red – Eddy Murillo. Mercenaries: Purple – Anthony Galindo and Alvin Gauna; Red – Chris Waddell and Scott Wright. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Mike Garrison and Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Tim Coles (3 for 3 with a double), Jim Foelker (4 for 4 with a double and a triple), Anthony Galindo and Jeff Stone (both 2 for 2 with a walk and a double), and Tom Kelm (3 for 3); Red – Morgan Withhoft (3 for 3 with a double).
Know Your B-Leaguer:
It’s Chris Waddell, a Sunday night player who made his B League debut today, as a mercenary for Red.
Dave Berra’s weather report: 79 degrees (Heat Index 81), humidity 52%, sunny, breeze from the north at 8 MPH – delightful.
Yowza, Purple didn’t play like a last-place team, scoring 17 of a possible 20 runs in its four at bats while limiting Red’s strong lineup to just five runs over five innings. Five Purple hitters were perfect on the day, and the team made only ten outs – just one after the second inning – while going 20 for 28 with three walks, a triple, and six doubles, for a team batting average of .714, team on-base percentage of .742, and team slugging percentage of an even 1.000.
Purple led pillar to post, scoring three times in the top of the first while holding the top of Red’s lineup to just one run, on singles by the first three batters, in the home half, Jeff Stone escaping the inning by starting a 1-4-3 double play, Rip Wright on the pivot. Rip bounced the throw to first, but Larry Young made a good play on it. In the second, Rip picked up two more assists, on 4-6 force outs, entertaining us all with his 40-foot underhanded throw to Rick Jensen on the first.
Red finally broke through in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on a single and three doubles, by Morgan Witthoft, Eddy Murillo, and Denny Malloy. But this was after Purple had scored five times without making an out in the top of the inning, on three singles, run-scoring doubles by Anthony Galindo and Gregory Bied, and Jim Foelker’s two-run triple.
Purple got another five in the fourth inning, on Tim Coles’s lead-off double, Rip Wright’s walk, and five singles. That made it 17-4. In the home half Purple infielders did a good job of dealing with the tough sun: following Scott Wright’s lead-off single, third baseman Tim Coles lost Chris Waddell’s pop to the glare, but nimbly retrieved the ball and flipped to second for the force. Rick Jensen made a good play back and to his right to run down Tom Langa’s pop behind third base. Mike Malay and Morgan Witthoft singled, Chris coming around to score (and Morgan completing a 3-for-3 game), but Alvin Gauna caught Adam Reddell’s fly to right for the third out.
With Purple leading by a dozen, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Eddy Murillo singled leading off, but Jeff Stone retired the next three batters to nail down the victory. Final score: Purple 17, Red 5
11:30 a.m., Green (2-3) at Gray (2-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 2 5 0 5 8 20 Gray 3 2 1 5 10 21 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon; Gray – Jack Kelly. Mercenary: Green – Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone; bases – Tom Kelm and Rick Jensen. Perfect at the plate: Green – Jack Crosley and Phil Stanch (both 4 for 4), Paul Rubin (4 for 4 with two doubles), and Jack Spellman (3 for 3); Gray – Ken Brown (5 for 5), Ivan Budiselic (3 for 3 with a walk), and David Kruse (4 for 4 with three doubles and a walk).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 82 degrees (Heat Index 83), humidity 43%. Sunny, breeze from the NNE at 10 MPH. Wonderful in the stands, treacherous in the outfield.
This was a terrific battle that somehow ended up both close throughout while improbably being flip-flopped, and concluding as a one-run, sort-of walk-off.
Ralph Villela and Paul Rubin were both 4 for 4 and scored four times at the top of the Green lineup, so the team put up crooked numbers in every inning they batted (four of the game’s five). They started in the first with Ralph knocking a single down the third-base side and scoring from first on Paul’s opposite-field double to left. Paul advanced to third on a grounder to the right side and scored on David Pittard’s single.
Gray’s 1-2 hitters, Ken Brown and David Kruse, were also perfect in the game, each reaching base five times, Ken scoring each time he reached, David four of the five times he did. In the bottom of the first Ken singled and David walked. Don Solberg singled, Ken scoring and David taking third; David then scored on Donnie Janac’s grounder to short, Don forced out 6-4 at second. Donnie was forced out on Johnny Lee’s grounder to shortstop. Tommy Gillis drew a walk and Jack Kelly singled, David Kruse, running for Johnny Lee, scoring to put Gray ahead 3-2.
Green survived a baserunning gaffe to score five times in the top of the second. Phil Stanch (also 4 for 4 in the game) and Daniel Baladez started off the inning with singles. Jim McAnelly drove a pitch to left field; Phil scored easily, then, when the relay was thrown around, so did Daniel’s pinch-runner (Paul Rubin, maybe? Not sure). In the excitement of the botched relay, Mike Garrison, running for Jim, rounded the bases and seemingly scored until everyone remembered that a runner from home is automatically out if he advances past first. So that run was erased and replaced by an out. Didn’t matter, though, as the next four hitters singled and three scored, the last on David Pittard’s sacrifice fly to right-center.
Mark Dolan led off the bottom of the second with a hard hit up the middle that gapped Paul Rubin in left-center and Jack Spellman in right-center, rolling most of the way to the fence; Mark wound up at third with a triple, and immediately scored on Ken Brown’s base hit. David Kruse also singled, Ken racing to third. Don Solberg hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Ralph Villela ranged to his left for, fielded, stepped on second, and threw to first – the peg drew Daniel Baladez off the bag, but toward Don coming up the line, and Daniel tagged him out to complete the 6u., 6-3 double play, Ken scoring on the play.
That cut Green’s lead to 7-5, and Jack Kelly threw a scoreless top of the third, escaping a bases-loaded jam following one-out singles by Mike Garrison, Jack Crosley, and Phil Stanch. Daniel Baladez made a conscious and successful effort to put the ball in the air, but his looping ball toward shortstop wasn’t deep enough to escape David Kruse’s grasp for out number two. Jim McAnelly squared up a pitch, but hit it directly at Tommy Gillis in left-center for the third out.
Tommy then led off the home half with a single. He was forced at second 3-6 on Jack Kelly’s grounder to first baseman Daniel Baladez. David Kruse, running for Jack, took third on Ivan Budiselic’s single to right-center and scored on Mike Mordecai’s fly to left-center. That made it a one-run game, Green leading 7-6, entering the final five-run inning.
Both teams had the tops of their orders due up, with mercenary Jack Spellman hitting first for Green, and both scored five runs: Green on six singles and Paul Rubin’s second double while making just one out; Gray on David Kruse’s double, five singles, and consecutive two-out walks to Mike Mordecai and Mark Dolan that pushed across the fifth run.
On to the buffet, which was nuts. Six of Green’s first seven batters singled, with a single force-out grounder mixed in, four runs scoring. Second baseman Mark Dolan ranged to his left and caught David Pittard’s pop for the second out. Tommy Deleon singled to right, driving in the fifth run of the inning. Mike Garrison crushed a ball to left field, scoring both Mike Hill and Tommy’s pinch-runner, the sixth and seventh runs of the inning. With Green now leading 19-11, the flip-flop was invoked.
Maybe we should rethink the eight-run flip-flop? Because Gray made short work of the deficit. Beginning with Ken Brown, Gray’s first eight batters hit safely, six singles and doubles by David Kruse and Tommy Gillis, five runs scoring. David Pittard made a terrific play on Mike Mordecai’s bases-loaded grounder to third, beating Jack Kelly’s pinch-runner (David Kruse again, I think) to the bag at third, then throwing home to catch Tommy Gillis trying to score, for a 5u., 5-2 double play.
Green still led by three and needed one more out, but it was a hard time coming. Mark Dolan singled, loading the bases. Ken Brown hit a grounder to the left side, but it got between third baseman David Pittard and shortstop Ralph Villela – David wasn’t able to pick it up in time to get an out, Ivan (or his pinch-runner, not sure) scoring to make it 19-17. David Kruse ripped a double to left field, his third two-bagger of the game, Mike Mordecai and Mark Dolan scoring, tying the game. Don Solberg hit a fly to Jack Spellman in right-center, and I botched the catch – had it in my mitt, just couldn’t hold on. Sun was tough, wind knocked it down a bit, but those are lame excuses, it was totally a misplay at my end, and it resulted in both Ken and David scoring and Gray going ahead 21-19. Tommy Deleon got Donnie Janac to ground out to second baseman Mike Hill for the final out, but the damage was done.
Green had a chance to come back, as it resumed its top of the buffet with Mike Garrison on second, two out, and Jack Crosley at the plate. Jack promptly delivered a single to right field, Mike scoring to make it, once again, a one-run game. Phil Stanch singled, his fourth hit in as many at bats, putting the tying run – Paul Rubin, running for Jack – in scoring position. Daniel Baladez came up and lined a ball to right field, but too close to Donnie Janac, who got a good jump on it and caught it cleanly (because he’s a real outfielder) for the final out of a tremendous game. Final score: Gray 21, Green 20
12:30 p.m., Orange (3-2) at Blue (4-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 0 1 0 3 3 12 Blue 0 1 3 3 5 1 13 Pitchers: Orange – Spike Davidson; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Blue – David Kruse and Don Solberg (Don replaced Billy Hill in the fourth inning). Umpires: home – Jack Kelly; bases – Scott Wright. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Peter Atkins and Doc Hobar (both 4 for 4) and Ray Pilgrim (3 for 3); Blue – Billy Hill (1 for 1) and David Kruse (3 for 3 with a double).
Another terrific game. Orange jumped to an early lead, scoring five runs on six singles and two walks in the top of the first, three of the hits not making it out of the infield. Spike Davidson then worked a scoreless bottom half. He got two quick outs, allowed Blue to load the bases on a pair of singles and a walk to George Brindley, but got Joe Bernal to ground out to second baseman Doc Hobar to escape the jam.
Joe Bernal then settled in for a stretch of typical high-quality pitching, allowing Orange just one run over the next three innings, a singleton in the third on Spike’s sacrifice fly. He stranded one runner in the second, two in the third, and left the bases loaded in the fourth, getting Rex Horvath to line out to third baseman George Romo.
Meanwhile his teammates took over the lead. Blue scored a single run in the bottom of the second after Spike Davidson retired the first two batters. Billy Hill smacked a clean single to right field, and his pinch-runner George Brindley scored from first on David Kruse’s double to right field. Then Blue put across three runs in both the third and fourth, to grab the lead, 7-6. Blue’s first four batters hit safely in the third: Steve Sandall singled; Tony Garcia doubled, and when the relay was mishandled, Steve scored and Tony wound up on third; George Romo doubled in Tony; and George Brindley singled. Rex Horvath turned Joe Bernal’s grounder up the middle into a 6u., 6-3 double play, George scoring, but the rally ended.
Spike Davidson got two outs to start the fourth, but the next four Blue batters hit safely, three scoring: David Kruse, Pat Scott, and Steve Sandall each singled, David and, all the way from first, Pat scoring on Steve’s hit – the throw home arrived in time to put Pat out, but drew catcher Fritz Hensel’s foot off the mat; Jack Kelly was well positioned and got the call right. Steve took second on the play and then scored the go-ahead run on Tony Garcia’s double to right field.
Orange reclaimed the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth inning, on five singles and Matt Levitt’s walk. Somewhere in there, Rex Horvath made me laugh:
Quote of the Day: Rex Horvath to Don Solberg, playing catcher in place of Billy Hill, after a wayward return throw to Joe Bernal: “Come on, Knoblauch, you’ve got one job.”
But Blue responded with five runs in the home half, on six singles and Chuck Knoblauch’s Don Solberg’s double. (Don was batting right-handed, and I’m easily confused.) There was nearly a baserunning gaffe on Don’s hit, as George Brindley, running from first for Jerry Mylius, came up on and ran into Terry Thompson, who’d taken a wide turn at third but stopped. Terry regrouped and headed for home, and made it, and after consulting with rules maven Terry Watts, Jack Kelly confirmed that the contact was incidental and didn’t affect the play – in fact, if I understand correctly, it doesn’t matter if two runners make contact, as long as the trailing runner does not pass the front runner – so the run counted.
So heading into the buffet, Orange needed three runs to tie. Joe Bernal got Rex Horvath to fly out to left fielder Tony Garcia to open the inning, but Peter Atkins (completing a 4-for-4 game), Spike Davidson, and Matt Levitt each singled, Peter coming around to score on Matt’s hit – the throw into the infield skipped through to the visitors dugout and hit a bat just inside of it (almost hit me, standing hear the entranceway taking pictures), so Matt was awarded second base.
Here’s Matt Levitt knocking a single to left in the top of the buffet. I should take more pictures.
Joe Bernal got Larry Shupe to ground back to the box for the second out. Ray Pilgrim then stepped up and lined a single up the middle, his third hit in three at bats and his second in a row that drove in two runs, Larry Fiorentino (running for Spike) and Matt coming in to tie the game 12-12.
Joe got Fritz Hensel to hit into an inning-ending 6-4 force, so Blue came up needing one run to win. George Romo hit a sharp grounder down the third-base side, fair by inches, and legged out a double. George Brindley flied out to Peter Atkins in left-center, George holding at second. Joe Bernal lined a single to left, George advancing to third. Terry Thompson then came up and drove a hard ground ball through the 5-6 hole to drive in the winning run. I still haven’t figured out how to embed video into the Picayune, so here’s a link to Terry’s hit, viewable on Facebook (this might be the last thing Facebook is good for): https://www.facebook.com/jack.spellman/videos/1600249917223683
Final score: Blue 13, Orange 12
Standings – Session Four:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 5 1 .833 — 78 59 +19 W4
Maroon 4 2 .667 1 79 67 +12 L2
Gray 3 3 .500 2 95 91 + 4 W2
Orange 3 3 .500 2 75 83 – 8 L3
Green 2 4 .333 3 78 75 + 3 L1
Purple 2 4 .333 3 69 83 -14 W1
Red 2 4 .333 3 78 94 -16 L1
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 2-1 1 0-0 2-0 1-0
Maroon 2-1 2-1 1 0-0 2-1 1-1
Gray 2-1 1-2 1 0-0 2-0 2-0
Orange 1-2 2-1 0 0-0 1-2 1-1
Green 1-2 1-2 0 0-0 1-2 0-2
Purple 1-2 1-2 0 0-0 1-2 0-0
Red 0-3 2-1 0 0-0 1-3 0-1
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 3 2 4 5 3 4 21
Gray 4 X 4 4 4 0 5 21
Green 3 2 X 4 3 5 4 21
Maroon 2 3 4 X 5 1 3 18
Orange 1 3 3 2 X 4 3 16
Purple 4 3 3 5 3 X 2 20
Red 4 2 3 2 4 4 X 19
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 18 16 19 21 24 17 21 136
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 6
David Kruse – 6
Ken Brown – 3
Tim Bruton – 3
Peter Atkins – 2
Gregory Bied – 2
George Brindley – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Clint Fletcher – 2
Doc Hobar – 2
Gary Kubenka – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Ralph Villela – 2
David Brown – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Tommy Gillis – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
Eddie Ortiz -1
David Pittard – 1
Joe Roche – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Monday September 30:
10:30 a.m.: Red (2-4) at Orange (3-3), Gray umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Gray (3-3) at Blue (5-1), Orange umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (4-2) at Green (2-4), Blue umpiring
Purple has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Monday’s marquee game will be at 11:30, Gray and its session-leading offense (95 runs in six games, 16 more than Maroon, which has the second-most) taking on first-place Blue and its session-stingiest defense (59 runs allowed, 8 fewer than Maroon). Gray has won its last two games, Blue is working on a four-game winning streak. The other two games pit teams that have lost their most recent games. One of Red or Orange will get back on the winning track at 10:30; Maroon and Green complete the day’s play at 12:30. Could the great Kenny Jordan be Eric Adams’ unindicted co-conspirator? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Johnny Lee and Arctic Blues Band will be at The Lighthouse on the Lake, 513 Sleat Drive in Briarcliff this Saturday (September 28) from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.