Game 22: Time of My Life (Gruesome Devils)

INTRO

Does everyone know time Tim Schrank?  League, meet Tim; Tim, meet the league.  

Tim while subbing for the Dog Catchers 2 weeks ago

So, what can I tell you about Tim that you wouldn't already know?  Let's start with the 'guy'.  He's about as friendly as you'd want to meet.  Doesn't have a bad word to say about anyone.  He's a captain of the expansion Tap Masters club and he literally plays every position to make sure that his players get opportunities to play a few innings in their favourite spots.  He digs reggae and has been known to jam some Shabba Ranks or Buju Banton on the long ride to work in the morning.  Pretty cool dude.  Maybe not Kevin Moon cool, but right up there.

Then there's the ball player.  

Let's see, is he any good?  Well, a the time I started writing this he was #22 overall in the league in average.  #1 in the league in hits, #3 in the league in at bats, #18 in the league in runs scored....this just in:  Schrank is a pretty damned fine baseball player.  In other news, a guy at the Olympics ran really really fast and jumped into sand.  

Good guy, good baller....is there anything negative to say about him?  Not really.  Well.....

There might be one thing, and sure I'm being a little picky.  The guy is a number #2 player which means his one of the best 30 players in the league.  I think if anyone wanted to argue, you could have a long discussion about putting him in the #1 pool but he is without a doubt living up to or exceeding his current rating.  But this conversation isn't about playing ability or ranking.  No, its something much more grave than that.  Much more grave indeed.  

Its the shorts.  

You look at our other #1's and #2's.  Guys like Casullo, Doyle, Cudnik, Dickson, Gee, Moon, Pendlebury, Argue?  What do they have in common?  Baseball pants..maybe a nice breathable pair of athletic shorts.  Even Cam Clark rocks his 1982 Adidas track shorts now and again.  

Don't get me wrong, you don't HAVE to wear baseball pants.  I have a pair, but I only wear them when its cool out....I'm not running around in long pants on a hot night.  But I wear sports shorts....not DRESS shorts!  Face it Timmy, those shorts are wholly inappropriate for baseball and the sad part (and I mean really sad part) is that the baseball diamond isn't the first place that I've seen you wear them. 

The first occurance was when I was watching the Obama Inauguration Day (Tuesday January 9th, 2009 to be precise).  Who do I see on CNN standing there between the Obama's and the secret service?  Yeah, Tim and his "inappropriate for every event" shorts.

 

It was after the pictures came back from Lisa Piellusch (Check her website  http://www.pictureyourlifephotography.com) that I realized that Tim that was using his IDS (inappropriate dress shorts) as a free pass to everything!  Notice him almost cutting out poor Bill Sallustio from last years Championship Pic. 

I'm sure you've all been watching the Olympics?  Well, I didn't get to watch the countries march in because I was late getting home from work that night, but I did have the good sense to PVR it.  When I got to Canada I had to freeze frame....ARE YOU KIDDING ME?   This guy is relentless!

Then I started thinking.  Is this a new thing?  Has Schrank recently started popping up in memorable events in his IDS's?  Is this a new phenomenon or is it like the striped hair guy at football games that you're so used to seeing that you don't really notice anymore?

So I did the only sensible and started checking the archives of significant events.  It didn't take long to figure it out.

The last episode of Oprah?

AND the last episode of the Sopranos?

Who was front and center for Ricky-Booby's classic melt down?

Look very closely off the front fender of O.J.'s white Ford Bronco. 

I thought I was doing good just being in the stadium for the homerun to win the World Series; but Mr. IDS (Inappropriate Dress Shorts) has show me up again!

Where were you when Ben Johnson won gold in Seoul?  Tim had the best seat in the house.  And the best part?  Look at Ben looking at him and waving as sprints by.  Thats respect.

Oh, ring side isn't good enough for Mr. IDS...noooooo.  Not for Rocky Balboa Vs. Apollo Creed it isn't!

It doesn't end there....Who was U2's lead roadie and Bono's personal valet?  Yeah, you know it .... Here is Tim and Bono at Live Aid.  Its because of Tim that the last baseball blog of the year is called Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

Tim, long known as "THE ULTIMATE" wedding crasher, shows that not even the Royal family is immune to his crashing expertise.  Here he is at Chuck & Di's wedding.  According to Tim, once he helped her with the garter issue, mooching dinner was like taking candy from a baby (because, well, babies can't really grip things - you know; like candy for instance)

If there was anyone happier than that guy in the pink sweater to see Berlin wall come down, it would have to be Timmy grinning in the background.

I'm afraid to go back any further than this....can you believe our Tim was at the Moon Landing?

Oh, last one...the showboater is also in the Avengers.  His super power is his shorts.  Obviously. 

The SPEECH

On the Donini Deck at the Farah Family Fortress, last Monday night.

Doug: Robbie, how's it going?
Rob: I'm sad.
Doug:  Another disease?
Rob:  What?  Oh, no...I'm over that.  I'm sad about winning streak being over.
Doug:  Over?  Why do you say that?
Rob:  Steve DeLand told me.  And everyone knows he can predict the future.  He's like Doug Henning. 
Doug:  I think Doug Henning was a magician, not a sooth sayer.
Rob:  Yeah, he did have big teeth didn't he?  But what instrument did he play?
Doug:  MAG-cian not MUS-icion; and its 'sooth' not 'tooth' 
Rob:  Well....whatever, DeLand kind of looks like Doug Henning that's probably why our winning streak is going to disappear!
Doug: Rob, you're taking this way too seriously.  DeLand is just trying to get in your head, you know, get you off your game.  We've still won 8 in a row.  If they beat us, big deal, its 8 out of 9.  That's pretty good isn't it?  Just think happy thoughts. 
Rob: You know what?  You're right.  I'm going to let it go this time.  He's no Magic Man!  He can't influence the future.   
Doug: Good for you.
Rob: Hey, you know what I did last night?
Doug:  Nope.
Rob: I watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.
Doug:  I heard it was like watching paint dry.
Rob: Are you kidding?  You didn't watch?  Oh My Gawd, the Spice Girls were there!  They were incredible.  I especially liked Basil and Garlic - smokin' hot. 
Doug:  I'm not playing your mixed up name game on this one. 
Rob: You're a fun sucker. 
Doug:  You're not the first to say that, have you been talking to the Hugh?  So did you like the music at the games?
Rob: Not really...it was too modern.  Except the Spice Girls naturally. 
Doug:  Naturally.   
Rob: You know what bugged me about the Olympics though?
Doug:  What?
Rob: There's no medals for 4th place.  When did they stop doing that?  Is it because of the economic issues in Europe?  If there were still medals for 4th we might have led EVERYONE!
Doug:  Rob, there's never been medals for 4th. 
Rob: Oh sure there was.  When I was a kid the had quartz medals for 4th, granite for 5th and I think tin for 6th. 
Doug:  Tin?
Rob: Yeah.  Canada won so may 6th place medals that they used to sell them on the black market. 
Doug:  On the tin medal black market, eh?
Rob: Oh, you've heard of it?  It was kind of like a less automated e-bay.  Anyway, that's where the expression "pushing in" came from.
Doug:  And you're where the expression "lost your frickin' mind came from".
Rob:  That's not an expression; its a locution. 
  The winning streak was great...and Rob wanted to put it in perspective....it was the time of his life.  Music can be found ===> HERE

GAME OF MY LIFE

Now I've had the game of my life

No I never played like this before

Yes I swear it's the truth

and I owe it all to you

'Cause I've had the game of my life

and I owe it all to you

I've been waiting for so long

Now I'm finally a third baseman

That bag is for me

We saw the writing on the wall

The Grisslies can always counsel

Clumsy

Now he's a brazen kind of guy

There's no way to disguise it

Secretly

Its now time to take a stand

'Cause we seem to understand

The urgency just remember

This is one thing

We can't get enough of

So I'll tell you something

We trust your glove, because

(CHORUS)

Now I've had the game of my life

No I never played like this before

Yes I swear it's the truth

and I owe it all to you

With my body and soul

I want you more than you'll ever know

So we'll just let it go

Don't be afraid to lose control

Yes I know the rain is on your mind

When you say "throw to me

tonight." Just remember

You're the one thing

I can't get enough of

So I'll tell you something

We trust your glove, because

CHORUS

Now I've had the game of my life

No I never played like this before

Yes I swear it's the truth

and I owe it all to you

'Cause I've had the game of my life

and I owe it all to you

THE GAME

We buried the streak.  In a respectful and somewhat glum (if not morbid) pre-game ceremony the streak was laid to rest to the wonderful harmonic sounds of Lance "Stinger" Horgan who played Amazing Grace.  The lyrics the rest of sang were slightly altered.  

Then the lovely game started.  Six batters up in the first, no runs.  Then we got the Devils in order in their half.  It sure felt like our kind of game.  Uh, it wasn't.

The game was close throughout but all we did was threaten, not score.  When we needed to be patient at the plate we were aggressive.  When we needed to be aggressive we seemed too timid to swing.  It was just one of those nights with the sticks i guess.

You're not going to score a lot when only 3 guys manage as many as 3 hits on the night, and truthfully, other than Cudnik who continues to swing a blistering hot stick (.815); everyone had more than their fair share of force outs.  3 stinking runs.  Ugh.

Now the Gruesome Devils only scored 7 on the night as at least one Grisslie streak survived the night.  That was our 9th game in a row where the opposition didn't get to double digits in runs.  Our defense played to its regular form.  A nice double play anchored by Argue and a busy night with the glove for Cudnik as well.

Now where it gets strange is that the Devils only had 2 hitters get on base 3 times and they managed to get 7 runs out of it!  Strange indeed.

Stranger still, the current longest winning streak in the league is owned by these two: