June 7, 2013

GOLDEN YEARS UPSET RED FACES

Charges Fly Over Tampered Bats

Game One: Red Faces 14 ……………………..Golden Years 11

Game Two: Golden Years 25 ……………….Red Faces   14

It was shoulder to shoulder on a cold and windy morning at Glenashton East as an enormous crowd of fans huddled together in the stands awaiting this contest between the OMMSPL leaders versus the 7th place team. The cold was no deterrent however and the fans were not to be disappointed.  

Both teams came out slugging with Red Faces winning the first game 14-11 against a surprising Golden Years.  The Golden Oldies actually had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the 7^th, but the Red Faces held on for a closer than expected victory.

For Golds, Bob Rose started off his almost perfect 6 – 6 day (barely marred by a Sac. Fly), and Laurence Drew veritably flew around the basis with 2 triples. Les deux Dougs (McArthur and Briscoe) successfully fought the wind to make many sterling catches.

After a break between games, which itself caused considerable controversy (more to come on this later), Golden Guys stormed back in the second game, starting with a 5 – 0 lead after one inning. They then increased the lead to 12-0, only to find their margin severely abated to 14 -11 entering the 7^th inning.  Suddenly they put on a hitting display that may never have been witnessed in the OMMSPL, finding every hole in the field and scoring 11 more runs to whip the first place team 25 -14 by game end.

For the Reds, Max Crocker and Bill Maver were the big hitters, making a difference every time they went up to the plate. Fielding, which has been the mainstay of the Reds, took a day off, falling victim to the “slings and arrows” of outrageous winds.

Notwithstanding the barrage in the last inning, the play of the game came in the 5-run 4^th inning.  With two runs scored and 2 out and the bases loaded, Gold’s Doug McArthur hit what he claimed was a grand Slam homer, almost passing speedy Drew in a futile attempt to score the 6th run of the inning. Hitting stars were Dave Tomlinson and replacement Donnie Evans each 4 – 4. Bob Barnard went 3 – 3 and Al Nielsen went 3 – 4.

The Golden Years celebrated with a team record 12 players heading for Fionns after the final out.

At the bar, upon hearing of the low scoring Gold’ s scoring feats, OMMSPL Executive held a special meeting to discuss other Managers’ calls for urine tests and a petition to break up the Golden Oldies. While the other teams’ requests were denied, a Red faced Les Mayer did not let the matter rest.

While Mayer denies making the actual call to Gawker (the notorious blogging source for Oakville’s sporting smut and gossip) he did admit speaking with them.  Apparently Gold’s Manager Norton was seen hovering over the Gold’s bats between games with a drill press and a strange compound material. When questioned, he claimed it was some kind of Voodoo ceremony.  Mayer took issue with that and says he has seen a video which has since mysteriously disappeared. It didn’t take a Gawker reporter long to pick up on the controversy.

June 7, 2013

BLUE PILLS CRUSHED BY GREEN GIMPS

Pills Just Couldn’t Get It Up

Green Gimps 15 – Blue Pills 2

Green Gimps 15 – Blue Pills 2

The preseason wind tunnel practices that Manager Ev Lucenti arranged are starting to pay dividends for the Green Gimps.  Some claim Lucenti is a visionary beyond his years; while others suggest he just likes to have the wind blow through his hair.

In any case, the Gimps played almost errorless ball during both games and the rock solid defense paved the way for the victories. Dave “Scoop” Robertson picked three throws out of the dirt and Dave Adams caught anything his way. Overall the outfielders were like cats in heat and pounced on every fly ball or line drive.

There were was key hits by Ian Schell (3), Dave Robertson (4), Doug Ford (3), Jim Craig (3) and many others in the wind blown affair won 15 to 2  by the Gimps.

In the second game behind great defensive work the Gimps took an early lead to a lopsided win in a shortened game 11 to 1. The magical bat of Dave “Sweetie” (the most nick named player in the OMMSPL) Robertson with another three hits combined with Manager Lucenti’s three powered the Gimpers .

Richard Sammons, Brock Peterson and Dale Whitacre each chipped in a pair finding holes in the field.  Let the wind blow --the Gimpers love it!   Of special note was the absence of Al Baskett who was missing in action after all those stretches he took last week.

The disappointed Pills managed only three runs in 13 innings of baseball, prompting one of the Pill players to suggest that perhaps they need a few more in attendance post game at Fionn MacCool’s where all teams strategize for the following week’s games.

So far this season the Pills have not played well when the weather is cold, rainy, windy, cloudy, or sunny. That leaves only hot and humid, which should be coming soon. Photos courtesy of Jim Uttley.

White Hairs Split Again

Royals Happy With One Win with Short Staffed Team

Game One: Rusty Royals 18 – White Hairs 10

Game Two: White Hairs 23 – Rusty Royals 14

On a cold and blustery June day where offense was aided by some shaky defense due to a very gusty wind,a much depleted squad of Rusty Royals were able to pound out a decisive 18-10 victory over a full staffed White Hair squad.   

Game 1 was a fairly tight affair until the 5th inning when the big bats of the Royals came to life and they ended up laying a whooping on the White Hairs.  

Some pretty adventuresome ball occurred when normally routine flies became frantic adventures as players raced after wind diverted balls.  On one did result in a collision between retreating Short Stop and an oncoming fielder which was a bit scary for a minute but all were fine.

Rusty Royals Neil Donaldson had 4 hits including a triple and Bob Parsons picked up 5 RBIs.   The resounding hit of the game was a massive triple by Manager Harvey Hewgill into the teeth of the wind.  Spare Larry Stacey (Royals are thankful for his filling in) had 3 hits and an RBI. 

The 2nd game saw the Whites get their just retribution when they pounded out 33 hits.

For the rusted Royals, Greg Aubert and Ron Linklater were 4 for 4 and were supported by Greg Sportun and Paul Lemmon both going 3 for 4.

Royals were appreciative of the White Hairs for providing a catcherto bring them up to 11 in the field.

FINE WINES SHOW VINTAGE IN WINS OVER RED FACES

Wines Go “Wild”

Game One: Fine Wines 14 – Grey Beards 9

Game Two: Fine Wines 16 – Grey Beards 5

The Fine Wines put together their finest effort of the year in snipping the Grey Beards decisively in both games at a very windy and cold Millbank Park.  While the Grey Beards do have a good choice of past games to choose from, the windy day of June 6 proved to be their worst outing of the season.  While their batting went from good (5 runs in the 1rst inning of Game One) to bad, it was surpassed by their fielding which went from bad to even worse. 

Leading the charge was for the Winers was Jack Pang who crushed the ball going 9 for 9— more on Mr. Pang later.  

Eddy "Sure Hands" Schnurr was also almost perfect at the plate. When later asked by Grey Beards manager LLoyd Johnston what his secret was to his phenomenal hitting this year, Schnurr replied without hesitation: “I owe all my success to the improved managing style over last year”.

Another hitting star for the Wines was clean-up hitter Bill Burchett whose towering shots inflicted damage to not only the Beardies’ Right Fielder Al Stokes but also at least one car in the parking lot. 

Unfortunately we still don’t have a picture or a baseball card of the elusive Burchett and the Grade 2 photograph (see top row —extreme right) he cherishes from over 50 years ago is not suitable for our purposes. 

The limited Offence by the Grey Beardies was led by Al Baker, Bert Therrien, Cubby Hubert, Glenn Marshall and Al Stokes.

The Hi-light reel play of the day also goes to Jack "Dine & Dash" Pang whose perfect day elevated from 9 for 9 at the park to 10 for 10 on the day as he forgot to pay for his lunch and left the team to take care of his check.  Not to worry Jack, Rick "Deep-Pockets" Wilcox picked up the tab. By the way Jack, the waitress was very appreciative of the $25 tip you have  left her.

While no formal protest of the game was launched by the always “good sport” Grey Beards’ Manager Lloyd Johnston, there were some strange things going on in the Wines’ dugout that just might be linked to the team’s .717 batting average over the two game assault.  

Players were seen using a strange spray that smelled like wild life and an alert Grey Beard (and there weren’t many on Thursday) snapped a photo. 

One Fine Wines’ player who obviously wished to remain anonymous passed along a photo apparently taken in Manager Kitching’s backyard shed earlier in the week.

He's apparently got an "in" with pharmaceuticals. 

It also has been suggested that when the Winers discovered their alleged supplement was exposed, they wisely ensured any scent of “game” was replaced by “Budweiser” before leaving Fionn MacCool’s. This story may well lead to a further “Gawker” expose.