Meeting Old Friends in Citi Park

Look who I ran into at Citi Park!  Mr. Met himself!

And a statue of my all time favorite coach, Casey Stengel, the ol' Professor.  The only man to wear all four uniforms of all four New York team, the Giant, the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets

Defense Catches Up to MBC 14's

Big bats and the occasional flash of leather have masked a problem for MBC too long and on Saturday a price was paid.  The failure to play make routine plays, hit cut-offs, and defend the running game caught up with MBC and brought them down.  

Good pitching stops good hitting and vice verse, as Yogi Berra once said.  He neglected to say good pitching makes bad defense VERY apparent.  Without their now famous ability to score nine runs, the sun shined big on MBC's weaknesses.

Talk radio was all over this team on the drive home.  The Mariners were forgotten and the whole city was ripping coach Cougan and his MBC team.  Four calls stand out in my battered mind.

Randy from Tukwila wanted to know if Coach Cougan even owned a fungo and had ever hit his team ground balls.  Do they ever play catch.  What explains their lack of ability to throw runners out?

Chester from Fall City hinted that Tino Peleti was asleep at his cousin's first communion ceremony and stated that two players told him this in confidence.  It was noted by the talk show host that the rumors could not be verified, but hot headed enforcer Keenan Heller had challenged the two to come forward and fight him behind the dugout!

John from Magnolia (who sounded kind of familiar) said when are these guys ever going to make plays behind their pitchers who are busting their butts every game?

Lastly some old lady from Port Orchard called in and reminisced  about when we only complained about MBC loosing the SECOND game of a double header.

Saturday was not without any good tidings.  In game 1 both Tino Peleti and Jake Hawken were 2-2 with three doubles between them.  Keenan Heller also doubled and Ben Thomson and Stuart Fairchild both had hits.

In the horrible night cap, Stuart's line drive to center kept us from being no-hit, and Jake "Clemente Arm" Hawken was one runner short of the cycle, as he threw out a runner going to third and a runner trying for second both in the same inning.

 

OOOOOH This Makes My Blood Boil

Last night Hanley Ramirez was removed from the Marlins-Diamondbacks game by Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez for not hustling on a defensive play.

Here is what Ramiriz said after hearing he was benched for not hustling, grrrrrr

Do you plan to apologize to the team?
“To who?”
One of your teammates suggested an apology might be good if you did that.
“Do what?”
Apologize.
“For what?”
They thought that you were dogging it chasing that ball.
“We got a lot of people dogging it after ground balls. They don’t apologize"



As the Marlins have a day game today, Ramirez addressed the media about the incident Tuesday morning:

"It’s his (Manager Fredi Gonzalez) team. He does whatever he (expletive) wants. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s brutal. That’s OK. He (Gonzalez) doesn’t understand that (playing hurt). He never played in the big leagues.”

Gonzalez responded to Ramirez’s comment about him not understanding the situation because he never played in the big leagues.
“He’s right. But I know how to play the game. I played six years in the minor leagues and I know what it takes to play this game and I know the effort it takes to play this game and I know it’s hard to play this game. That’s it.

Gonzalez, according to Marlins reporter Joe Capozzi and Clark Spencer will not put Ramirez back in the lineup until the shortstop apologizes for his comments this morning.

Case you’re wondering, it appears the entire organization, from Ramirez’s teammates to owner Jeffery Loria, are firmly in Fredi’s corner.

Capozzi has this from “clubhouse leader” Wes Helms on Ramirez:

To just flat-out not hustle, that’s one of the things, I can’t cope with that. That’s one of my pet peeves. I can’t stand two things in baseball: Guys who don’t hustle and guys who don’t work. We’re trying to go to the World Series here. We’ve got to have all 25 guys on the same path. “I can’t overlook it. I know people say that’s just the way he is. But you know what? That’s not the way it is. That’s not the way the game’s supposed to be played. And that’s what we want from Hanley.

“We want him to be that guy that goes out there everyday and we can sit back and says that‘s who he is – he’s the one who goes out there everyday and busts his butt and does anything he can for this team. That right there will earn the respect of not only his teammates but everybody in the league.”

Lucky Nine Wins Again with Nine Runs

Okay you baby boomers.  Go get your Beatles albums out, go to the White album, second record, side two, last song.  Play it backwards and you will hear Ringo chant "MBC will always win when they score nine runs".  I am not kidding you, its there.

MBC improved to 7-3 with ANOTHER come from behind 9-8 win over the Puget Sound Stars.  Three games this weekend, three one run games and two victories.  MBC is undefeated when they score nine runs, coincidence or 1968 Ringo prediction; you make the call.

John "we are behind you 80%" Peterson made the start and made it through four inning, getting into a little trouble in the fifth.  Chris Luttinen was splendid in relief and MBC's power arm Jake Hawken closed out the seventh.  In between MBC played adequate defense and benefited from a pure desire play in the fifth inning as Mitchell Smith raced "miles" across right field and made a superb catch just prior to running full bore into the fence, ala Pete Reisier, bouncing off the fence, but holding onto the catch.  Magical!

Offensively MBC went up 2-0 early with a walk to Mitchell, and RBI single from hot hitting Spencer Hogger (2-2, 2B, 3 RBI). Spencer later scored on an RBI single from Mr. Clutch, Ben Thomson (2-4).

MBC soon lost the lead and found themselves down 7-2 in the sixth.  A walk to Tino Peleti (4 walks, they would not pitch to him at all) started the ball rolling. The catcher then interfered with Stuart Fairchild's  swing and Jake Hawken singled to load the bases.  Campbell Queen hit an RBI single, Mitchell walked with the bases loaded and Spencer drove home two more with a booming double.  Mitchell scored to tie the game on Chris Luttinen's infield out.

The Stars walked Tino, again, to lead off the seventh.  Big mistake as Stuart Fairchild then hit a towering triple to the wall in center.  Stuart scored the final and BIG insurance run on Campbell Queen's second RBI hit in as many innings.

Jake Hawken came in throwing bb's in the seventh striking out two to seal the deal.

Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine........

Unfinished Business Haunts MBC in 5-4 Loss

Baseball is a funny and thus wonderful game. Sometimes you win, sometime you loose and you just never know until the last out is made and the last pitch is thrown. It is what keeps us coming back for more, and I hope you all get hooked like I have. It is fun to win, but that is only because it can be so hard to win, and so unpredictable.

MBC and Rips played a fairly quiet game last night. Again two pretty good pitchers went at it with each other. MBC scored first, but not until the fourth inning. Nick Reeves led things off with a single, and after a walk to Tino Peleti and a single by Stuart Fairchild MBC was in business. Jake Hawken then hit an RBI single and Tino came home on Campbell Queen's ground out.

Tino took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but is was hard to notice based on his allowing five walks and the team making a few errors behind him. A lead off walk stole second and third and was looming large at third base with only one out. MBC had a big chance after a blown squeeze play, but failed to nab the runner in the ensuing run down. The runner then proceeded to score on a wild pitch and a close play at the plate. Tino then struck out the batter and the team ran off the field.

As Dirty Harry would say, "I know what you are thinking. Did we get three outs, or only two. In all the excitement, I kind of lost track myself. But seeing how baseball is a powerful game and can blow your mind clear off, you gotta ask the scorekeeper. Did we get lucky, well did we?"

And the scorekeeper said only two.

And oh if we could have just run off the field, things would have been so much better for us.

Tino promptly gave up a double to lose his no hitter and before Nick Reeves could get loose he had walked the bases full. Nick came on to face the pesky Rips lead off hitter who spooned a great pitch and sent it down the right field line, just fair. The spooned ball took a "Bill Buckner" type bounce past our right fielder and poof, we were down 4-2.

MBC responded in the sixth to tie the game. Ben Thomson led off with a single and after Tino Peleti was hit by a pitch they both moved up on when Ben stole third. Ben scored on Stuart Fairchild's ground out and Tino scored on another passed ball.

Rips scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. MBC got a runner to second in the seventh, but could not get the timely hit to tie the game.

MBC Sock's it to the Sockeyes

What a crazy night for the home team. MBC ran into one tough pitcher, but stayed close and finally beat the Sockeyes by getting to their bullpen. Stuart Fairchild battled hard against a very good hitting team, bent some, needed more help than he got at times (what's new) and suffered some tough luck but kept MBC close through almost five innings. Power arm Jake Hawken relieved in the fifth and pitched a good sixth, using strike-outs for three of the four outs he needed to get. Jimmy Sheldrup made his 2010 pitching debut and threw a perfect seventh inning to set the stage for the big comeback.

The Sockeye pitcher was tough. He had a dominant fastball and a pretty nasty curve. He threw them both for strikes all night striking out nine over five innings of work. MBC nibbled on him scoring one run in the third on Stuart Fairchild's (2-3) RBI double and a gift run in the fourth on a two out error. MBC finally chased him out of the game in the fifth with two more runs on a walk to Tino Peleti (2-4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI), a double by Jake Hawken (2-3, 2B) and a clutch two out single by Spencer Hogger (2-3, 2RBI).

MBC scored five runs in the seventh for a walk-off victory. Down 8-4 the inning got really started with a two strike single by David Becker (extending his hitting streak to eight games, yes EVERY GAME this year). Spencer followed that with an RBI single driving home David. The game ALMOST ended when Jimmy Sheldrup scorched a line drive that was snagged by the Sockeye second baseman, but Spencer scrambled back to first just in time.

With two outs Keenan Heller walked, and after two strikes birthday boy Mitchell Smith was plunked in the back loading the bases. Campbell Queen (2-4) stroked an RBI single up the middle setting the stage for Tino Peleti. Tino scorched a vicious line drive into the left center gap that got by the Sockeye center fielder and we all went nuts as we watched Campbell Queen race around the bases (ala Ken Griffey Junior in 1955) sliding home with the walk off run.

In other news it was noted that MBC executed a sacrifice bunt, a more rare event than a player hitting for the cycle, or a month with two full moons, or a penalty shot in hockey.

Something About Double Headers, MBC Falls to Bellevue in Nightcap

This team has two losses this year.  Both have come in the evening game of double headers.  And these are tough double headers.  We have hours between games.  It is hard to stay hungry.  Hard to beat a fresh opponent who is waiting to play their first game of the day.

Our game against the Bellevue BBC was a frustrating exercise.  We came off an earlier game where we bashed the ball at will and were rewarded with hits, runs and all the glory that comes with running around the bases.  Tonight we hit balls right at defenders who made plays and sent us back out to the field.

Conversely, their balls seemed to find holes, places where we ain't.  They scored about a run an inning and before we knew it, we were down six, and then they threw down a big inning and we were down fourteen runs.

The only positive thing that I can say was that there was one nervous team over there HOPING for a mercy shortened game.  Down fourteen runs our club battled back and got the run that would have extended the game (boy do I sound lame here, but really the Bellevue team was desperate to end it because they feared our ability to come back) to second base, before they got the third out. 

Tino Peleti  and Jake Hawken were 2-2, an injured Ben Thomson still came through with a double, Stuart Fairchild hit a deep double and David Becker and Chris Luttinen both joined the hit parade

Fire and Ice Top PBC Vipers

MBC's fire and ice combined to beat the PBC Vipers 14 - 0.  The ice was always there, and as usual the fire had to smolder some before exploding to flame.

Stuart Fairchild supplied the ice.  Throwing five strong innings, striking out nine Vipers and allowing two hits for his shutout.  Hmm, something the Man behind the program did to the Atlanta Braves the night before.

And as Jamie Moyer has his Ryan Howard, well Stuart has both himself and Tino Peleti and the rest of the team did their best Philly batters impression.

Tino Peleti was 3-4 with six RBI, this included TWO (count'em, TWO) opposite field OUT OF THE PARK home runs.  Tino looked like Joe HomeRun Trot today!

Stuart Fairchild was 3-4 with 2 RBI (poor guy had to hit twice AFTER Tino cleared the bases or he would have had more RBI.

Jake "the Rake" was 2-2 with a double.

Nick Reeves was 3-4 with an RBI and a double.

Campbell Queen and David Becker both had 2-3 days and John Peterson, Mitchell Smith (who called an exceptional game*) and recently called up (from the Seattle Prep JV) Chris Luttinen added to the hit parade.

Did I mention that Stuart struck out NINE BATTERS in his five innings of work?  That is one way to get good defense behind you!  Do the math that is nine outs out of fifteen.  WOW!  as Yogi might say, "That is almost half the outs!"

* Just in case you do not know, I let the catchers call their own games.  Bish and I go back and forth on this, and most coaches do not let them call the game.  I think that it is a good thing to work on.  We talk with them about the opposing hitters.  I believe we have two VERY smart guys back there and I want them to develop a feel for this part of the game.  My hat is off to both Mitchell and Campbell, two very smart, leaders who do a masterful job handling our pitchers and leading this team.

MBC Walks Away with Victory

Again, two out of three things were good enough for the MBC 14's at home.  Great pitching and great offense sent the Kent Bulldogs home early as MBC wins again, 11-3. The scary news is that I know this team can play defense, and they will.

The team gave up three unearned runs to Kent, but the defense IS starting to come together. Stuart Fairchild made two big catches in center.  One required him to run almost to the next field to catch a towering flyball.  The other required him to stare down an umpire inquisition and answer truthfully that he did catch the ball on a diving catch.  Good thing the umpire did not ask him if he caught it "in the air".  

Tino Peleti pitched well going five innings allowing just one hit.  John Peterson closed out the sixth, and threw well while receiving his normal poor defensive support.  Just when it looked like he was getting no help at all, Nick Reeves stretched out to catch a line drive for a double play to end the inning.

MBC actually started slow offensively tonight.  Ben Thomson (2-2, 2BB's) led off with a walk, and after two outs the Kent pitcher walked four more hitters bringing in two runs.  After working the count full, David Becker (2-3 3RBI) then came through with a hit with all runners in motion to score three more. 

MBC added two more in the third.  Stuart Fairchild (2-3 2RBI) led off with a single.  After a walk to Campbell Queen, Mitchell Smith (1-2 3RBI) drove them both in to score.

The eight run mercy rule came into effect in the sixth.  Keenan Heller led off with a walk, followed by a single from Ben, and walks to Nick and Tino.  Stuart Fairchild singled to drive in two and then John Peterson singled. With the bases loaded Campbell Queen lined a ball up the middle to score the game winning walk off run.