GAME OF THE WEEK (Week 5)

An interesting match up.

The rookie captains versus the sophomores.

The Tap Masters have had a nice start to the season, posting a 4-2 record.  At game time they were the only team score 100 runs and were second in the league in plus / minus.  On the field they are getting some great performances from Paul Doyle (.870, 10); Geoff Keogh (.810, 14); Tim Schrank (.778, 12); Dan Routledge (.762, 14); and Mike Roche (.733, 5).  The pitching of Sandy Bell in addition to his .100 point improvement in average has payed dividends as well.  Their last game saw them score 32 runs and they've announced themselves as an offensive machine. 

The Beer Bros. entered this one at 2-3 and very 'middle of the pack' in the standings.  According to my standings, they're tied for 8th; according to league standings their 9th.  Its splitting hairs, but they are definitely in the mix.  So far, through 5 games, The Bros. offense has been led by rookie Peter Holmann (.824, 6); Neil Pendlebury (.800, 7) and Paul Piellusch (.778, 9).  Lou Conforti has been pretty consistent pitching from what I've seen thus far and is settling into the P1 role nicely.  Overall, the Beer Bros are struggling to score runs, but defending very well.   So well that they have held their opponents to under 10 runs for the last two games.  If that seems like a lot, remember that only one team was able to do that for the duration of the season last year.  Rest assured, this team can play some "D". 

This promised to be a match up of a potent offense and a strong defense.

Promises aren't always kept, but this one had some fine moments.  The game opened with the visiting beer Bros. scoring two in the first inning as Dan Routledge and Randy Rose counted on a sac fly from Geoff Keogh and an RBI single from Tim Osmond.  The Beer Bros were quick to answer with Captain's Steve Ross and Paul Piellusch scoring on RBI hits off the bats of Peter Holmann and Al Bales.

Tied at two after two the predicted Beer Bros. defense took over.  They faced only 4 Tap Masters in the 2nd, gave up two runs in the 3rd and faced only 4 batters again the 4th inning giving up nothing.

On offense, the Beer Bros. were lighting it up.  They scored another 2 in the 2nd inning, then rang up 5 in the 3rd and 4 in the 4th.

The score was 13-4 after four and the Beer Bros. looked rock solid.  The Tap Masters looked listless.  To be honest, the game looked pretty much over.

Then the 5th inning happened.  Brian Kononiuk, Mike Roche, Dan Routledge and Paul Doyle all reached safely.  Randy Rose chipped in a Sac Fly before Keogh, Schrank, Osmond, Bowers, Lewin and Bell all reached consecutively.  The aftermath was a 7 run 5th and the score being narrowed 13-11.

But the Beer Bros. didn't have a lot to worry about.  They had last at bats, it was only the 5th inning, they had the lead; and if that wasn't enough, they had the best part of their order up.  Steve Ross led off and grounded out to 2nd, making him a rare 2/4 thus far on the evening.  Neil Pendlebury flew out to right center field making him an equally rare 2/4 on the night.  And Paul Piellusch was had been 3/3 with 3 runs scored to that point grounded out to short.

What the Tap Masters did here was hugely significant and should be remembered in those periods when their defense struggles, as happens to all teams.   After coming off a 7 run inning and making a game of it, they faced three formidable hitters who are consistently well over .700.   And these aren't high average hitters that slap it around; they hit with authority.  I would be willing to bet that you won't see Ross, Pendlebury and Piellusch retired in order again this year without the benefit of a force out at least.

Even though still trailing by 2, the Tap Masters felt the game swing to their favour entering the 6th.  Dwayne Comer, Brian Kononiuk and Mike Roche reached base consecutively.  A fly out by Routledge and a fielders choice by Doyle tied the game.  With two out, Rose and Keogh were scored on a clutch RBI from Captain Tim Schrank.

It got worse for the Beer Bros.  They had a chance to push back in their half of the 6th, loading the bases with one out.  But Brad Smith hit a bullet to left field that was handled flawlessly by Tim Osmond and Len Wercholoz lined out to first base.

When the dust had cleared, the vaunted Tap Masters offense proved to be who we thought they were.  They had come back from down 13-4 to take a 16-13 lead in only two innings.    

Its funny how these games have multiple swings.  Just when you think you've got it figured out, something happens to make you say, "maybe there's a chance".  And its funny how both teams can prove to be who you thought they were in the same game.

The Tap Masters needed a little insurance in the top of the 7th, but the Beer Bros. defense came out calm and assured.  The inning started with a ground ball to Steve Ross at Short who made the play with ease.  That was followed by single.  Then a little flare to Ross at short and a fielders choice handle by Ross getting the out at second.  Not further damage.

Last call for the Beer Bros.

Because the baseball gods wouldn't have it any other way, it would be an inning of vindication.  With one out, Dennis Short singled to center.  Next up was Steve Ross who singled Dennis to third.  They tying run was now at the plate with one down in the person of Neil Pendlebury.

It wouldn't be there for long.

Neil hit a tricky sidewinder down the left field line that eluded the Left Fielder.  Short scored, Ross scored and Neil who was flying around the bases seemed to find yet another gear coming around third to score the tying run.  Scott Peters and I were in the middle of a "who's the fastest guy in the league" conversation just before this happened.  I don't think either of us will be voting against Neil.

With the game now tied, Piellusch ripped a line drive just to Sandy Bell's right.  Sandy made a fantastic stab on it to get the out.  And the Tap Masters ended the game on a very nice 3rd to first out on a sharp grounder off the bat of Holman.

Final score 16-16.

Points of Interest

• Al Bales was 4/4 with 2 runs scored.
• Al also had a great defensive play saving runs in the 6th when he made great play at first on a hard hit ball by Randy Rose and had the presence of mind to get the lead runner at 2nd.  
• Larry Goosney, Neil Pendlebury and Paul Doyle all had 3 RBI nights. 
• Tim Schrank was 4/4 with a run scored and played great at Short and 3rd. 
• Tim Osmond continues impress with excellent fielding and heads up play.
• This game had another home run hitter as Dennis Short clubbed a two run round tripper in the second inning.  Dennis also played well all over in the infield. 

Players of the Game

Players of the game are chosen for all 'Games of the Week' and are not necessarily driven by stats.  Thanks for submitting to the pics gentlemen.

Neil was 3/5 on the night with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.  He also had the game tying 3 run homer in the bottom of the 7th.

Paul was 4/4 in this one with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. 

GAME 7: Baseball Dream

SCHEDULING NOTE:   i) The BLOG will be covering the game on Wednesday night between the Tap Masters and the Beer Bros.  There will be a complete game review on Thursday morning.  ii)  If you know someone that could really enjoy some comedy in their life and would be a good sport about being 'victimized' in the BLOG, let me know.  Stories abound!

INTRO

Well, its time.  Time for the Grisslie gloves to come off.  Friggin' 4-game losing streak.  Bats made out of cooked pasta, gloves chiseled out of stone.  Maybe I'll feel a bit better if I pick on someone. 

Lance Freakin' Horgan....meet the league.  League, meet Lance Horgan.

If you don't know Lance, he's this guy

Some of you know Lance as the quiet, happy, always smiling Center Fielder of the Grisslies. Not many of you know that he has a past.  A dark past.

I know that there have been lots of rumours that his name has been slightly altered from Hogan to Horgan in order to hide that past.  I get it....lots of famous people including politicians (Stephane Simard) rock stars (Gord Robertson), actors (You'll find that one out in July), wizards (Kevin Boston) and former paper boys (Chuck Cragg) have resettled in Tottenham after their careers have wound down.  Its easy to believe that this would be the case here.

Despite the eerie resemblance I can assure you that Lance Horgan and Col. Robert E. Hogan are in fact, different people.  The reason I know this is that I went to a Hogan's Hero's convention last fall in Lafayette, Louisiana and I paid a small fortune for a strand of the Colonel's hair.  DNA testing proved negative.

So who is this athletic whippet of a man?  I mean, who is he really?

I know!  I thought so too!!!  But no one, and I mean no one knows more about wrestling (pronounced rassling) than Robert Farah and he swears that the size of Horgan's biceps when compared to Hogan's are merely a coincidence.  When I sit back and think about it, he's probably right. I've never seen Lance wearing yellow before anyway.

We dig here at the BLOG. No stone is unturned in uncovering the truth.  The implausible is never dismissed.

Ben Hogan wouldn't be the first celebrity to fake his death and retire to Tottenham in order to play slow pitch in the finest league in the world without any fanfare.  And Lance IS a scratch golfer.  Hmmmmm we might be onto something with this one.  He IS kind of quiet like a golfer.  And I have seen him wearing the funky tam.  However, our Lance would never be caught dead in pleated pants.  For that reason alone, we move on.

Paul Hogan?  What?  To obvious?  Too crazy?  Think about it....maybe Lance is so quiet so that we don't pick up on the Australian accent???  Too thin a rationale?  Well, what about this then:  What did Crocodile Dundee use to kill the croc and save the girl?  If you said a long knife you'd be correct.  Now Websters Dictionary defines a "Lance" as:  A thrusting weapon with a wooden handle and a steel blade.  That can't be a coincidence.

Then it hits me.  The CROC got me on the right page; but there was no Horgan / Hogan relationship at all!  But there was fame or infamy involved with our young Lance.  He really is............

JOE DIRT!

Lance's (Joe's) fame is quite obviously his hair and the notoriety started at an early age.   It's sort of a Sampson thing with Lance, although there are stories that he was bald at an early and his mom crazy glued a toupee to his head.  Personally I don't believe those stories but they're good conversation starters.  

 

Lance took a series of odd jobs as a youngster.  First as an a Floor Cleanliness Technician at a local high school  It was a good gig and paid the bills, but Lance could never seem to stay out of the limelight. 

It was weird how a seemingly innocuous job would still attract attention.  When they had the "shiniest school" in the province award, who won?  Lance.  Who evacuated the school when there was the stink-bomb threat?  Lance.  Who saved the kid with the peanut allergy?  Of Course.  Lance.

The attention just got too much so moved on to something safer and less in the public eye....

 

As Lance describes it, some people are just meant to wrestle crocs.  It was in his third year of wrestling these critters that Lance saved the little boy who had fallen into the croc pit.  Pretty cool, eh?  However, the newspapers total misrepresented his heroism.  The shame of it all is that he was dangling the younger baby to simply DISTRACT the croc from the other kid, not offering a trade.  Lance's joke afterward to the paper was taken out of context too.  He said, "Well, the baby was only 3 months old; the parents couldn't have been THAT attached to it yet.  That little boy was darn near 5 years old.  That's a good trade in my eyes.".  

Poor Lance was asked to leave his gig.  

 

Where does one go after the Janitorial Engineering and Croc wrestling?  The carnival circuit.  Obviously.  Lance's hair was still getting him gigs wherever he wanted.  Being a free agent he had MULTIPLE carnival companies bidding for his services.  Ultimately he worked for company around Hamilton; hoping that his hair would blend into the more established mullet community there.  However; when you have Lance's hair - there is no blending in.  Lance's dramatic rescue of the family stuck on the Ferris Wheel and of the child choking on candy floss are legend.

His attention was world wide now.  In fact Rob Farah's well painted son had a tattoo done in Lance's Honour:

  
That was crazy respect (peace out).  But when other famous people started emulating him, he knew it was time to head to Dodge and find some peace and relaxation.  

Of course, the now well known Andre Agassi copy cat hair cut is what finally pushed him over the top.

But now Lance and his hair can play ball away from the maddening crowds and the paparazzi. And most importantly, away from Andre Agassi. 


THE SPEECH

Rob: I'm thinking of retiring the speech.  
Doug:  Shut up, you are not!
Rob:  No, I'm serious.  You probably won't really understand this because you just write that foolishness crap off the top of your head;  but the speech takes a LOT of work.  You know I don't type so good and then here is all that rhyming.  My god, do you know how hard it is to find baseball related words that rhyme with "love".
Doug:  How about "glove?"
Rob:  Oh.  That's actually a good one.  But still.  Its tons of work.  I need a break. 
Doug:  Well, do you want me to do one for you?
Rob:  No, that wouldn't feel right.  Besides, people already suspect that I do the whole BLOG thing and you're just some kind of figurehead.  Face it, people read the BLOG for the speech, not that .... whatever you call what you do.    
Doug:  Yeah, that's a good point.  But I'd hate to see you give it up.  People have come to expect it.  We've done songs for every Grisslie game for over 3 year now! 
Rob:  I know .... that's the problem.  I feel this obligation even though I'm so stressed out with the rhyming crap. 
Doug:  Yeah I get it.  Maybe you need to go back to your roots. 
Rob:  Lebanon? 
Doug:  Not that far.
Rob: Oh, so Brampton then?
Doug:  No, I mean, what do you listen to when you're driving?
Rob: The radio
Doug:  Hmmm, well what do you listen to when you're alone at home
Rob: Computer.  No wait, sometimes the TV music channels.   Okay, I'll go with computer.  Did I get it right?
Doug:  Its not a right wrong thing.  And its not a what I was getting at.  I was more asking about what kind of music you grew up listening to.  What got you motivated?  First dance song?  First kiss song?  Whatever.  Think of what makes you tick with music and you'll have no problem. 
Rob: That's a good idea.  
Doug:  Thanks Rob
Rob: But you better not be thinking that I'm going to start writing your crappy part of the BLOG.  
Doug:  Of course not!

And with that, our Young Robert found his roots.  Without further ado, here is Rob's rendition of Dancing Queen.  Now you know Robbie's musical 'dirty little secret' .  Music ===> HERE

Dancing Queen

You can run, you can dive, having the game of your life

Ooo.. see that guy, making that play, diggin' the Baseball Dream

Monday night and the lights are low

Looking out for the place to go

Where they play the right baseball, getting in the swing

You seem like your a king

Anybody could hit that guy

Pitches are low and the arc's not high

We need a bit of theme music, everything is fine

You're worked the pitcher into a trance

And when you get the chance

You live the baseball dream, you're an athlete, feeling seventeen

baseball dream, feel the beat, balls hit off the back screen, oh yeah

You can run, you can dive, having the game of your life

Ooo.. see that guy, making that play, diggin' the Baseball Dream

You're so fast, you turn the jets on,

They think they have you and then you're gone

Looking out for another, any base will do

You're worked the pitcher into a trance

And when you get the chance

You live the baseball dream, you're and athlete, feeling seventeen

baseball dream, feel the beat, balls hit of the back screen, oh yeah

You can run, you can dive, having the game of your life

Ooo.. see that guy, making that play, diggin' the Baseball Dream

THE GAME

Dog Catchers Part Deux.

Its been a bad patch for the home town Grisslies.  The last 4 games have seen an 0-4 record and getting outscored  61 to 40.  61 to 40!  My only question is how the hell did we score 40?  We needed a shakeup in a bad way so Rob and I made some changes.

First we have our first road game of the season.  We've sucked as the home team, so hopefully this would do the trick.  Just in case it didn't we decided to give the Sagert's and Chuckles the night off.

Then we moved Rick Cudnik to Short Stop and batting lead off.  We moved Lance Horgan to Second base.  Giving up your two starting Center Fielders is a bold move!  So we moved Dave Argue to Center to play along side super sub Anicete.  We brought Jamie McClean up from the minors to handle RF duties.  I was supposed to hit the bench but ended up playing 3rd because we were short. 

We changed the batting order too.  Ricky leading off.  Gary batting cleanup.  Everything else was sort of similar.  Sorta.

Funny thing happened.  We scored 3 runs in the 1st inning and then played some good defense.  We had a really "Grisslish" type of game.  The infield defense was crisp.  The outfielders hit the cut off men and the Grisslies won one!

I've got to admit, I hate pointing out when Ricky-Bobby does well, because we have to hear about it over and over and over and over and over and over.  Just in case you didn't know, Rick is pretty self assured.  In fact he brings an extra chair to the bar for his ego to sit down and have a drink.

KIDDING people!  Ricky is a humble man.  And Rick had a night to remember.  Mr. Cudnik hit for the cycle!  He got the homerun leading off the 7th inning!  Nice game Rick, you might get a star out of it!

I did pretty well going 4/5 with two doubles and a triple and 3 runs and Gary Basso had the exact same hitting line as well while he played great in a pretty busy left field.  We were aided hugely by two super subs on this night.  Anicete Goncalves and Jamie McClean were fantasitc fill ins for Charlie O'Leary, Jeff Sagert, Art Sagert and Scott Pritchard.  They did the work of 4 guys!

Not that the monkey is off our backs....here is what needs to happen for the next game....

• Rob and Doug need to wear retro Grisslies jerseys again. 
• Ricky hits lead off
• The superman hat stays.

 I think we're back on track, but we'll find out for sure next Thursday against the Hot Tub Woody's.   

  Did I mention the final?  Grisslies 17; Dog Catchers 10.

Week #4 Review + Stats + F.A.N.

That's why god made sunflower seeds.  So we could talk about baseball.

More Stats

Lets get rolling with the standings:

Not much different from our normal league standings although there are some slight ranking changes.  

There are lots of guys off to good starts this year, but this continues to be the story.  Still a couple of games away from Geoff Keogh's start from last season, but when you combine Scott's last year with this beginning, he's now hitting .905 over his last 126 at bats.  WOW.

Here are your top 10 in total hits for the year.  Nice to see Eric Hipken leading the charge, he's off to a torrid start.  Rookie Steve Lahey is off to a wicked start as well.  

So far this is still just the attendance record, but it'll start to spread out.  There's a disproportionate number of Grisslies on this list due to more games played.  

 There seems to be growing interest in this one.  Here is the top 12 including ties.....NOTE:  I noticed too late, but Justin McBain is the replacement for Jimmy the Wadd, that's Jim's 10 run.  I'll get it sorted out next week.  (Welcome aboard Justin, most guys don't get their name mentioned in the 1st week). 

Again, the rookie crop is VERY impressive.  I've cut it off at those hitting over .700 for the current time.  These guys all have different strengths, but seem to be doing really well.  Keep it up guys. 

 So far this stat is producing exactly what I hoped and that is having 12's compete on equal ground with 1's - and everything in between I might add.   This is cut off at people with 200 points or better improvement from last year.  Congrats to Rick and Cliff who are over 300 points better!


Week 4 Review

Okay, its been a rough week and I'm behind and late getting this out.  No summaries this week, Just scores and perfect hitting lines.  Sorry. 

Stiffs 13; Dogs 19 - Steve Lahey 4/4 (3runs); Brad Young 4/4 (4runs), Mark Kolsen 4/4 (3runs), Rick Hjelholt (3runs), Jon Hardy 3/3, Robert Quadrini 3/3.

 Dog Catchers 20; Grisslies 14 - Cal Russell 5/5 (3runs), Vince Basacchi 5/5 (3runs), Phil Glecoff 5/5 (4 runs), Ingo Bartens 5/5 (1run); Rob Farah 4/4 (1run), Neil Pendlebury.  You can get a game review and read about what makes Don Swabuk tick, HERE.

Rebs 12; Units 11.  The game sheet is lost in translation, but it'll turn up.  In the meantime you can read about the game HERE

 Banshees 7; Gruesome Devils 12.  Paul Koolhaus 4/4 (2runs), Brian Richards 4/4 (1run); Robin Dickson 4/4 (2runs). 

 Cleats 3; Rounders 16.  Scott Barton 4/4; Al Fry 4/4 (4runs), Scott Peters 4/4 (3runs), Mark Bickford 4/4

Beer Bros. 7; Woody's 9.  Neil Pendlebury 3/3 (1run), Steve Ross 2/2 (1run); Jeff Dancey 3/3 (1run).

Devils 18; Jays 14.  Kevin Tobin 4/4 (2runs), Simon Smith 4/4 (2runs), Mike Douglas 4/4 (3runs), Keith Dell 4/4 (2runs);  Tito Presenza 4/4 (3runs).

Joints 18; Grisslies 10.  Martin Ranby 4/4 (3runs), Terry Doucet 4/4 (2runs); Doug Dwyer 4/4 (2runs)

Tap Masters 19; Dogs 20.  Tim Osmond 4/4 (2runs), Dwayne Comer 4/4 (1run); Rob McCarron 5/5 (4runs), Mark Kolsen 5/5 (2runs), Bob Candy 5/5 (1run).

CLOSING


Thursday night was Grisslie Fan Appreciation Night.  It was the biggest and best one yet.  There are many thanks to go around; Cora's, Cogveyor, Doucet Auto (Napa), Neighbours Country Depot were the major sponsors.  Individuals who gave time and energy are too many to name.  Thank you all.  Here are some pics supplied by Samantha Del Greco, enjoy:

 Down Town Billy Brown

 Doris in motion

 Jens after ANOTHER double

 David, always in the game

 The Crowd Gathers

 The Food is Awesome!

 League, Community, Family

 Lots of fun for a Thursday Night

 Love this pic...figure out the feet and win a prize

 Steve ready to get down to business

 Sue-Z-Q's rocket's red Glare!

The WAVE!

And here are some pictures from Megan Dwyer and her not so good photographer father:

 Rob & Jim

 The aerial view

 Martin & DTBB (game planning)

 Sam, Dave and Mark; Cheers boys

 Things to check out:

Check out the Donini Three Stars of the game here ==> STARS
Check out the Dislocated Joints game notes from DTBB ==> JOINTS
Check out the Tap Master's game notes from Jason Bowers ==> Tapped Out
Check out the Brew Jays game notes from Rod and Bo ==> Jays Squawk
Check out the Hurtin' Units BLOG ==> Hannibal Lecter
The League's Official Website ==> League

 

GAME 6: Down Town Billy Brown

INTRO

I know that everyone thinks they're an expert when it comes to manly things like driving and parking and BBQing and baseball stats.  But there are times when we turn to the experts and get their opinions.  If you're too cool to acknowledge that someone may actually know more than you, then why don't you just stop reading now?

Okay, now that we got rid of Steve De Land, the rest of you can enjoy:

Parking Tips with Harley Sherman:

Harley has renown parking ability.  He's managed to squeeze into spots that were previously thought to be unimaginable.  We've shown him some pictures and he's given some commentary and advice.  We have expert resources in this league, we ought to use them more.  Off we go.....

CASE STUDY #1

HARLEY SAYS:  Its well documented that 45% of all parking lot accidents happen within 30 feet of a Ford Fiesta.  Parking next to one is just begging for trouble.  No one could have predicted a lake beneath a car, but honestly, if that car had been hit by a meteor wouldn't have shocked me.

CASE STUDY #2 

 

HARLEY SAYS:  You drive a HONDA PILOT!  You DO NOT need two spots to protect your precious automobile.  If someone hit you, they'd be doing you a favour.  Seriously, if you had a Bentley or even a Ford Fiesta, I could cut you a little slack.  But you deserve to be hit.  

CASE STUDY #3

HARLEY SAYS:  What is this?  Parking for Hoarders?  I fail to see the need to launch your car into a garage.  There is no rational explanation for this one.  It must have been foggy. 

CASE STUDY #4

 

HARLEY SAYS:  This one is completely plausible.  I've seen it a few times.  Obviously the woman in the picture was NOT the driver.  Its a common misconception what women can't park.  That is wholly untrue. Women are great at parking.  Women cannot however give backing up instructions to their husband.  When they do, this happens.  Shame on him for listening.  Shame on her for trying

CASE STUDY #5

HARLEY SAYS:  I blame the town for this one.  What in the name of god were they thinking putting a fire hydrant that close to a house????  Hydrants are supposed to be 3 ft from the road.  This is just irresponsible civic planning. 

CASE STUDY #6

HARLEY SAYS:  I remember this from the Die Hard movie.  I'm not just protecting the police here, they are capable of bad parking like everyone else.  But when an Austrian terrorist lands on the roof of your squad car, stuff happens.  

CASE STUDY #7

HARLEY SAYS:  Yes, this is known as the Hammel Avenue effect.  This name is based on the disproportionate number of public transit drivers who live on that street.  Clearly there was enough room to park here, but bus drivers are greedy with their lane spacing.  The real story in this picture are Cal Russel and James Taylor sitting together on the curb, although that's probably just a coincidence.  

CASE STUDY #8

HARLEY SAYS:  There are a couple of reasonable explanations for this.  1.  The female directions again.  2.  Fog again.  3.  Stuck accelerator.  4.  The Ferris Bueller effect; they're all rational answers.  Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  This gentleman obviously gave his wife an ultimatum, "the cat or me".  When he saw the cat in the garage, he saw his opportunity.  Sadly, those little buggers have 9 lives.  

CASE STUDY #9

HARLEY SAYS:  Why do people take these pictures?  If you were to look from the front, this is the "perfect" police stakeout.  I don't believe this was a mistake at all, just good detective work.  I just hope the bad guys weren't coming from the back.  

CASE STUDY #10

HARLEY SAYS:  I've had an explanation for every one of these, but this one is quite obviously a fake.  Getting to that spot with the car still intact is impossible.  And those skid marks were clearly added in after the fact.  Sorry, I'm too experienced to fall for that one.

That you are Harley, that you are.  Next time you see Mr. Sherman, please be sure to thank him for his helpful advice!

THE SPEECH

Sitting around with Rob Farah on a Saturday can be an experience.  This one day we had a Farah threesome, that's where we invite the Colonel over and have fried chicken!   So the two of us are sitting there eating the colonel's finest, sipping a pop and talking baseball.  Does life actually get any better?

Rob:  Who's "Downtown?"
Doug:  Are you kidding?
Rob:  Yeah. Of course I'm kidding. Had you going though didn't I?
Doug: Okay, I'll admit it, I totally fell for that one. You got me. 
Rob:  [laughs] [quiet for a minute]  So....  Say I wasn't joking.  What would you answer then?
Doug:  I'd say you're an idiot.
Rob:  Yeah! [laughs]  Good one. [quiet for a minute]  Then what?
Doug:  The what, "what?"
Rob:  Then would you tell me who this "Downtown" guy is?
Doug: ROB!!!  Come on man, its Bill Brown!  He's been nicknamed "Downtown" for 3 years at least.  He even has that as the name on his shirt!
Rob:  OHHHHHHH!  Right, right, right, right. 
Doug: This is getting a little ridiculous Rob.  You know this stuff.  You're getting forgetful or something. 
Rob:  Oh, I know.  Can't you tell I'm just pulling your arm?
Doug:   Leg?
Rob:  No I'm good, I have a wing. 
Doug:  Never mind. 
Rob:  Doug.  I'm joking.  I get it.  Pulling your LEG!  Haha. 
Doug:  Ok.  Well, I never know anymore.
Rob:  Geez...you're getting really sensitive lately.  Relax!  Have a thigh.
Doug:  Alright, thanks.
Rob:  So listen.... [quiet] ... Who's Bill Brown?

To the tune of Jim Croce's Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Rob has come up with the best one of the year so far!  Music ===>  HERE.  There's only two chords, you could probably play it on a rubber band between two paper clips; but it is still a WAY FUN song!


Down Town Billy Brown

Well on the North side of the 'Hammer
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go up there
You better just beware of a man named Billy Brown

Now Billy's, more than trouble
You see he stands 'bout six foot four
All the Nottawasaga ladies call him Treetop Lover
All the men just call him Sir

And it's Down, Town, Billy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than Terry singing a song
And meaner than those nasty Red Dogs

Now Billy, he's a comedian
And he likes his fancy clothes
And he likes to wave his championship rings
In front of everybody's nose

He got a custom Continental
He got an Eldorado too
He got a 32 ounce bat in his pocket for fun
He got some stickum in his shoe

And it's Down, Town, Billy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than Terry singing a song
And meaner than those nasty Red Dogs

Well, Legion, 'bout a week ago
Billy shootin' sh*t
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris and ooh, that girl has sharp wit.

Well, he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
'Cause Billy Brown learned a lesson
'Because that Doris was a man!

And it's Down, Town, Billy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than Terry singing a song
And meaner than those nasty Red Dogs

Well, the two men took to verbal sparing
And when they pulled them to the door
Billy's humour looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

And it's Down, Town, Billy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than Terry singing a song
And meaner than those nasty Red Dogs

And it's Down, Town, Billy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than Terry singing a song
And meaner than those nasty Red Dogs
Badder than Terry singing a song
And meaner than those nasty Red Dogs


THE GAME

Its getting a little tough to write about the games.....

Lets give it a whirl, shall we?  The Grisslies accomplished a rare feat getting the 4-0 Dislocated Joints in order in the 1st inning.  YaY Grisslies!  We also scored one of our own in the 1st on a clutch Art Sagert 2-out hit, to take a 1-0 nothing lead!  YaY again Grisslies!

Then we gave up 6.

Then we had 2 shut out innings.

Then we gave up 4.

Then we gave up 2.

Then we gave up 6 again.

All the while we could muster no more than a single run in any inning through the first 6 and were trailing 18-4 entering the bottom of the 7th.

Its not like I can say that we were "nickle" and "dimed" by the Joints.  Sure, they had a few bleeders.  And we missed the cut-off man a few times and that caused us bases and ultimately runs.  But the Joints were full measure for their 18 runs.  They had a 3 triple inning in the second.  They had doubles galore and ran the bases aggressively.  Maybe too aggressively.  In a closer game, it might of mattered, but the Joints had 3 runners thrown out on the bases.

In this game though, up by two touchdowns, no one cared.

While there was damage inflicted from all points on this night, Super rookie Martin Ranby and Captain Terry Doucet led the charge; both were 4/4.

Oh, that Grisslie bottom of the 7th?  We scored 6 runs! It brought the final to 18-10.  I believe that still counts as a loss though.

Up next, we'll try to regroup against the Dog Catchers who got their first win of the season earlier this week.  I wonder who they beat in that game?  Oh yeah....it was us.

Things to check out:

Check out the Donini Three Stars of the game here ==> STARS
Check out the Dislocated Joints game notes from DTBB ==> JOINTS
Check out the Tap Master's game notes from Jason Bowers ==> Tapped Out
Check out the Brew Jays game notes from Rod and Bo ==> Jays Squawk
Check out the Hurtin' Units BLOG ==> Hannibal Lecter
The League's Official Website ==> League