1) U.S. Exporters vs Sponsor Needed played on 08/24/10
We lost Wes Yeary for Game 2 and had to play with only nine men. We couldn’t produce hits.
(Note: Rich Bernstein tied a team record with five hits in Game 1.)
Rich pitched game 1 and walked at least 9 batters in 3 innings. Skylar pitched the last 2 innings and the first inning of game 2. I think he walked at least 2 batters. Glen finished game 2 walking 2 batters.
Plagued with problems. I lost 3 players within 90 minutes of the start. We continue to not be able to get the team to the field in time for the games. Also, injuries continue to be a problem. Jason has a nagging foot injury since early spring. Dan has had a foot problem since 2009, but won’t rest it so it might get better. Glen calls me 15 minutes before the game to tell me he is still in Reston. Tiko has a family emergency about an hour before the game. Thus, we began with 9 players including the gimpy. Right after we get our tenth player with Glen in the second inning of game 2, Rich gets injured in the outfield. While tracking a fly ball, he lost his footing in a rut as the ball was hitting his glove. It glanced off his glove to hit his face. The game was stopped for several minutes while Werner used his EMT training on the cut that opened up under Rich’s eye. Rich was patched up and reentered the game.
But you have to give the Foul Balls their due. Their outfielders made some great plays at all the positions robbing us of hits.
I continue to hope and dream that my regular roster shows up for a game healthy and on time.
Bungalow wins 2 by forfeit. Hot Action only had 6 guys.
Once again, the Exporters fail to get a full team to the field by game time and pay the price. With only 3 in the outfield, the Rounders exploited the gaps. Joe Kennedy turned in an excellent defensive performance as the Exporters turned two regular infield doubleplays in each game. We would have had a fifth DP in the evening, but I dropped the ball. Joe could anchor the position like we haven’t seen since Gordon Hawley was our SS. Note that Joe also had an inside-the-park HR.
9/16/10 Announcement: I am happy to report that the new owners of The Bungalow have generously agreed to continue The Bungalow’s sponsorship of our team as they have done since 2001. Please patronize our sponsor when you have an opportunity. Several of us stop by after our games on Tuesday nights.
We’ve had a few people drop out for the fall season (Jim Duffy, Sean Dolan and Dave Wheeler).
The fee for the fall season will be $40. That covers the team registration, field maintenance, umpires and new softballs.
5) U.S. Exporters vs Dawgs played on 09/21/10
We split. We lost a game because [the Grand Poohbah wasn't] the manager. I was in charge and I was soft.
We had 13 bodies to the field before the first pitch. Unfortunately, the Dawgs could only muster 7. To prevent the forfeit, I gave them Rich Bernstein because they needed a pitcher. Jason Boyd reinjured his foot and Dan Mitchell has a variety of injuries, so they were the EH’s. We creamed them the first game.
I had people complaining that people weren’t getting enough at bats with 12 in the line up. So for the second game I gave them Skylar Senius so they would have 9. We still had 11.
In the first inning, Max Wagenblast pulls a groin muscle and can’t continue. I have no spares so he becomes an out. I now have to put Dan and Jason into the field. I could hide only one at first base (Dan) and the crippled Jason said he could still hobble in the outfield. That left us with an UGLY outfield of Dennis Potter, Roger Morse, Jason and Tim Fratto. It did not go well. I misjudged 3 flies myself. We gave them LOTS of extra outs. Plus, our batters ignored hitting at holes and instead hit easy flies to left. We failed to score runs.
Thus, because I was soft and did not accept a forfeit or force them to play with only 8, I lost the game for us. Had [the Grand Poohbah] still been the manager, [He] would have told the Dawgs where to go and accepted the forfeits proudly.
(Ah, the lessons learned. The lessons learned. ~ Grand Poohbah)
This has been a frustrating season in attempting to get a full team to the field ON TIME. Granted, I had 3 players decide to drop out a couple weeks into the season so I have added 2 new players. I understand that a number of you are travelling out of town and out of the country on business. That is unavoidable. However, I need to know on a more timely basis who can be counted on to get to the field ON TIME. Many of your teammates have voiced their frustration to me that we have started a majority of our games short of players.
We have 3 weeks left in the season. Please let me know your status as soon as you can. If the situation changes on the day of the game, I need to know as soon as you know to make sure we have enough players.
We have LATE games this Tuesday [at Virginia Highlands].
7) U.S. Exporters vs Lollygaggers played on 10/12/10
It was a strange night that began with me seeing my roster shrink from 13 down to 10 after 4:30. The team begins arriving at the field around 8:00 and find it empty and dark with one of the dugouts still locked. Just about at game time, the county field manager shows up to unlock the gate and turn on the lights. An ump finally shows up as the lights warm up. We start about 10 minutes late with little warm ups. We had solid hitting early, but gave away the game in the 3rd inning by misplaying two very catchable pop ups. They scored 5 runs after we should have been out of the inning. However, we came back strong in game two and never let up on our attack.
We had an excellent night winning both games as we try to finish the season strong.
We struggled in the first game against a team with only 9 men. Solid defense helped us shut them down. We had one regular infield DP in game one. We might have had 3 more, but the First Down Bar/Grill was filled with young, fast players. All of our home runs were inside the park. This may be the first year that the home run title may be won with no homers actually clearing the fence.
9) U.S. Exporters vs HPCC played on 10/26/10
Men - Stay home. The other team just forfeited the games for tonight.
From: Ed Robinson
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 4:19 PM
To: R Morse
Cc: Lagowski, Matthew CTR /WHS/PENREN/HPCC
Subject: RE: Game score reporting
Roger,
This will serve as official notification that HPCC is forfeiting both games
to your team on tonight, 10/26/10 at 8:00 p.m. at VA Highlands #3. Your
team does not need to show and we are cancelling the need for an umpire. Thank you.
Ed Robinson
Sports Programmer
PRCR-Sports & Recreation Division
3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive
Arlington, VA 22206
Final Standings, Fall 2010
W L T Pts
Lollygaggers 12- 4- 2 13
Gray Plant Mooty 11- 3- 2 12
Hot Action 11- 4- 1 11.5
Foul Balls 11- 5- 0 11
Rounders 11- 7- 0 11
U.S. Exporters 10- 7- 1 10.5
Waterproofers 9- 8- 1 9.5
Dawgs 8- 10- 0 8
L&M Residential 5- 8- 1 5.5
Sponsor Needed 5- 11- 0 5
First Down Bar 2- 14- 0 2
HPCC 1- 15- 0 1