That's right: we play in the rain. Only 3 teams canceled, and we hosted a baby shower to boot. Yes, McCarren's favorite hipster, Lance, and his baby's mama, Theresa, brought their beautiful newborn to the field. We had canopies under Lawn Candy's big tree, and there was enough protection from the rain for their families and friends to enjoy.
As for the games, they were slippy and sloppy. Errors abounded, particularly by this writer. But we never cancel, ever. The weather report does not concern me: game is always on.
So let's see: The New Frontiersmen mercied Crucial Taunt, giving them a perfect 100% rating. Prison rocked the mostly Burninator-less Commitments, handing them their first mercy loss ever. I hope Prison felt some kind of inner peace, as if all the pain and misery just washed away. To close out this mercy-ruling report, the Bacon Bits quelled La Resistance, while Never Scared stunned and shunned the Government Kickbacks.
Over the last two weeks, a couple bad plays have me concerned. No names will be used to protect the guilty. In the first bad case, I saw a woman get pegged en route to second, but the ump didn't call her out. I asked her if she was hit, she acknowledged, and headed back to her dugout. Her team protested, saying the ump's call was the ultimate decision. Bullshit. If someone has the honesty and good sportsmanship to call herself out, then the player has the ultimate call. Perhaps your team may not be happy with you, but you'll have more class and pride than all of them.
Second situation (and I see this all the time): play at home, with another infielder (usually a guy covering the plate, but is blocking the basepath, and is about 8 feet away from home. No fielder is allowed to be obstruct the runner (with some exceptions such as pop-flys and run downs), and if you're basically playing the catcher's position, you must be no more than 2 feet off the plate. Yes, the runner should slide, as in this league, it doesn't matter if the catcher drops the ball if the ball hits the runner. Please, use common sense and let's not bowl each other over on tight plays at home.
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Well, the Bacon Bits were the team to beat, but for now, the Ye Olde Fashioneds and their hot new dark(er) blue shirts have the spotlight. They beat their sister team, the Dream Team, to capture second. Good for them and their sweetheart of a captain, John Domingos.
Crucial Taunt is also ascending, and becoming a prominent team. They beat the Commitments, and I'm sure there will be a rematch in good time.
These Sundays seem to get better, but maybe this writer is being a bit solipsistic. However, the complaints are at a very blissful minimum. Enjoy. Sorry, I forgot to bring the camera this week, but that's good, as it did rain. However, it was nice to have everyone huddling under the big tree in Lawn Candy. Those situations elicit a nice intimacy.
Crucial Taunt is also ascending, and becoming a prominent team. They beat the Commitments, and I'm sure there will be a rematch in good time.
These Sundays seem to get better, but maybe this writer is being a bit solipsistic. However, the complaints are at a very blissful minimum. Enjoy. Sorry, I forgot to bring the camera this week, but that's good, as it did rain. However, it was nice to have everyone huddling under the big tree in Lawn Candy. Those situations elicit a nice intimacy.
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Is everyone having a good time? Cause it looks like it. June 15 may have been the best night yet: good laughs and good competition. Everyone keep enjoying.
The Bacon Bits are now the team to beat. In the last two weeks, they beat the Mellancamps, Fun Club, and tied the New Frontiersmen. Must be from all that practice they got in the WAKA league. Good for them. Let's see how they do against the Dream Team.
Quick note: when we have to kick out people off the field, remember (and I have to tell myself this constantly): please employ Jesus-like cheek turning. Unfortunately, there is a racial divide at the Park, and I should have resolved that from the beginning by promoting to all the different peoples in the neighborhood. We should have a Latino team and a Polish team. One day, one day.
Also, would everyone stop playa-hating on Matt Tiger? He's one of the best damn guys out there, and as he is a league official (with good reason), let him play wherever he wants. But to show how serious we are about the purity of our game, Kirk (another league official) called Matt out on a homer because Matt didn't touch second. So if anyone thinks we have some bias or favoritism, think about that play.
The Bacon Bits are now the team to beat. In the last two weeks, they beat the Mellancamps, Fun Club, and tied the New Frontiersmen. Must be from all that practice they got in the WAKA league. Good for them. Let's see how they do against the Dream Team.
Quick note: when we have to kick out people off the field, remember (and I have to tell myself this constantly): please employ Jesus-like cheek turning. Unfortunately, there is a racial divide at the Park, and I should have resolved that from the beginning by promoting to all the different peoples in the neighborhood. We should have a Latino team and a Polish team. One day, one day.
Also, would everyone stop playa-hating on Matt Tiger? He's one of the best damn guys out there, and as he is a league official (with good reason), let him play wherever he wants. But to show how serious we are about the purity of our game, Kirk (another league official) called Matt out on a homer because Matt didn't touch second. So if anyone thinks we have some bias or favoritism, think about that play.
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In a game riddled with errors, the John Cougar Mellancamps beat Prison in their first matchup of the season. But then the Bacon Bits beat the JCMs. Look for the Bits to be kind of Gonzagaesque in the Playoffs. Prison then took out their frustrations on the Kickbacks by Mercy-Ruling them.
Speaking of the Playoffs, my co-founder Jens Carstensen and I have decided that 2008's Playoff format will be World-Cup style, a multi-elimination system. Here's how it would go: there will be 8 brackets of 4 teams each. Every game except the Finals will be 5 innings. The top 8 teams will lead their respective bracket, and like last year, they will choose who is in their division. Then the schedule will go like this:
Sunday, September 7th: All day long, and each team will play twice
Sunday, September 14th (day after the dance): starts at 4, each team will play once
After that, some teams may be eliminated by the third Playoff week, and the start of the day be may be 1pm, or it may be 4.
And going into the last day, Sunday, September 29th, the remaining 8 teams will have their Quarterfinals, then the Semis, and again, the Finals will be 9 innings.
That's right: if your team is gonna win it all, you probably will play a minimum of 19 innings on the Final Night. We never said it would be easy, and it never has been for the Title-Takers.
One of our leaders, Jamilah Pemberton, got injured Sunday night, and we all hope that MRI comes back negative.
One surreal view was watching (from afar) the Continentals - Booze on First game as the the lightning threatened. Their opposing colors of Orange and Teal contrasted nicely. Non-Sequitor: if Stu (of the People's Court) gets to date someone from Booze on First, then it's Stu's on First.
Ok, ok. Anyway, someone asked me Sunday, "Hey, would you stop scheduling by winning percentage and throw the better teams a bone?" - meaning, will I schedule Mercy-Rule games? Sure, why the hell not? I dunno when, but someday, I'll schedule Mercy-Rule day, or Rookie Initiation Day, a one-time event.
Here are some pictures from last night. Yeah, we gotta start thinking about the tournament, but I can tell ya this: Brooklyn will have 3 teams, and we're having a hat lottery of all our All-Stars.
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Booze on First won their first game, and then won another! We're still rooting for the Dolls to follow suit, and that'll happen soon enough. Looks like the New Frontiersmen and the Mellancamps will tango, hopefully they'll figure out who's playing for whom.
Alright, we have a little over a month to put this tournament together. Again, please sign up for this Google group so our guests know they'll save some dough, and have a friendly home to stay in while here over the July 12th weekend:
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