BONUS BLOG - Musings

Intro, Midtro and Extro

Well, the Piero BLOG will be a tough act to follow. So I’ve decided to do an “in between” BLOG that will capture a few bullet items, some updates on people and teams and be completely without humour. The rationale of course is that my next “real” BLOG will most assuredly be funnier than this one and even if its nowhere near as funny as the Piero BLOG, it will still be considered an upgrade.

You see? There is a madness to my method!

Bullet1. There is a tab on the BLOG page called League News and Notes. That is kind of a running BLOG of the BLOG and is sort of my brain dump area. Therefore, it can get kinda messy. I update it whenever I think of it. Sometimes several times a day. Check it out. There are requests from me to players, updates on other teams scores and games (send me a blurb and I’ll put it in) and just stupid or interesting facts.People1. Steve Ross mentioned in the ‘clubhouse’ the other night that I’m going for the Donnie Booth award for most times subbing. Truthfully, I think I have subbed A LOT & have loved seeing the personalities of the other teams. However, I think my 10 games subbing (guessing) is probably about 10 behind David Polny and 15 behind Bob Pearce. Those guys should have ALL the team logos on their shirts! I’m pretty sure we’re top three though in games played. (Just played, not necessarily played well!)

Bullet2. As I go through all the teams I’ve subbed for this year, you get a bit of a feel for personality and ability. Generally though, people don’t call for subs when their missing their 11 and 12. They call when their missing their 11, 12, 1 and 2! So when a couple of 7’s show up its balanced and fair but far from a true team perspective. You’re seeing a different flavour without a 1 and 2.

Team Update1. Earlier in the year, when they were REALLY struggling, I subbed a couple of games for the Red Dogs. We split the games which gives a good view of a team too. In the first game (loss) they didn’t have Matt Foerster or Mike Candy, not sure who else was missing. In the second game (win) they did have Mike but were missing 4 others. First of all, who wouldn’t want to be on a team that has Down Town Billy Brown and Billy Clouthier on it? These guys had a great time in both games and their mood didn’t swing with the score. Picking up Jamie MacLean is huge! And hopefully for the Dogs, Matt is back in full swing for the playoffs. The line up will look a lot different when you have quality extra base power hitting around good OBA guys. 

People1. Best in field arm in the league? I have this debate with Doyle all the time. For me there are three measurements for this. 1. Velocity 2. Accuracy 3. Release. All the points are linked but you can get away with a less hard throw if you are accurate and have a fast release. So this will start a debate but here are my picks 1. Velocity – Roger Burton, 2. Accuracy – Doris Casullo, 3. Release – Billy Cloutier. Feel free to debate in the comments section. 

Team Update2. I’ve played for and against the Dusty Cleats this year as a sub so I’ve been in games involving them five or six times. Its a good thing sub stats don’t count because I can’t hit Pully worth a damn. I won’t say too much here because I wrote about them a few weeks ago and you can look it up if you’re really super interested in the Cleats (I know there’s a cult following). The biggest single issue with the Dusty Cleats (that I’ve seen) is injuries. They are so beat up that almost everyone is a potential fielder’s choice victim on the bases. The middle infield has potential and the outfield looked pretty solid last game. I still think this team is “one to watch” in September. Something tells me they are playing a little possum. Not that they’re losing on purpose or anything crazy like that, but they’ve lost SO many games in the last at bat that people forget that they are in almost every single game!

People2. Best outfielder “ball tracker”. What is a “ball tracker”? This is a person who sees the ball from the crack (or the ting) of the bat and is at cruising speed to meet it within a couple of steps. They never THINK they can make a play. They know its possible and what it takes to make it or they know its pointless and pull up. This doesn’t mean that they are fast or have great arms, but they have just have that knack for tracking the flight of the ball. Any suggestions? Post in the comments. 

Team Update3. I played for the Brew Jays last week. I gotta admit it was LITTLE intimidating. Not that I’m a great hitter, I’m strictly a singles guy, but I’ve been leading my team in OBA for most of the year. Again, that’s in no way to be thought of as bragging (I’ll let you know when I’m bragging – I’m not shy); however, on the Brew Jays I’d be no better than 5th in OBA and everyone above me (and below for that matter) would have more speed AND more power! I have no power and I knew a guy once with speed, but it wasn’t me. There are some really good guys on this team that I know a little bit Chris, Francis, Wayne and John. The rest of the team I don’t know so well. They are pretty quiet and pretty purposeful. One thing I’ll tell you is that I’m WAY too chatty for them. That probably rattled them a bit and threw them off. I could see this team running the table in the playoffs. Honestly, I’d prefer not to face them so if somebody else wants to knock ‘em out and give us as pass, I’m okay with that!

Bullet3. We got our 5th win last week!!! You can stop applauding... According to team rules, as stipulated in issue 2 of this year’s BLOG, rookies are required to buy pizza after a team’s fifth win, “A team’s 5th win of the year is commonly referred to as rookie pizza night“. Tim. Gregg. We’re hungry AND we have a double header next week!

Team Update4. So this week I played for the Hurtin’ Units. These guys reminded me a lot of my team in their demeanour, their defence and their camaraderie during and after the game. They didn’t remind me of our team offensively OR in how they overcome adversity. Twice they had easy ‘sure’ third outs to get out of an inning that were thrown away (once by their sub, ugh!); and both times they didn’t rattle, buckled down and got the next guy. Offensively, the word that best describes them is “YIKES”. Like so many teams, this team is filled with good guys, (and Robin too) and they all bring something to the table and contribute. Anything can happen in September and especially in elimination games, but the Units look like a FOR SURE to punch a Sunday ticket!

LAST POLL RESULTS

This one is a little fishy if you ask me.  Sure, Robbie's got a good 'stache, but it ain't Wayne Caldwell good!  I can't help but think that there were some shenanigans here!

IF THERE WERE A MOUSTACHE DRAFT WHO WOULD WIN?

Wayne Caldwell  43%
John Harrett          0%
Jim Rouleau           6%
Dave Argue           0%
Rob Farah            50%
David Polny           0%


I might have a little something on the Team Extreme crew on Sunday.  Depends how much material I find out there!

dd