LAST GAME RESULTS
BERKELEY NEWS
10
29TH ST 29ERS
6
RECAP: Ughhh, where to start? The day started off so well, too. I woke up to a group text from Will talking about getting with Louie's mother (crude but funny), a tinc'd out Bobby and a plain ol' Dave picked me and Ricky up before we cruised ebulliently across the Bay's expanse, and we landed in Berkeley in high spirits as if nothing could go wrong. Well, nothing did go wrong for the next forty-five minutes or so.
All right, so we drew Raf again (not a surprise based on how he pretty much shut us down last time), and he continued to display his weird and almost sorcerer-like power over our lineup, while we got a somewhat shaky start out of Bobby. Apparently the mound at Willard has a crater in it, although that didn't seem to bother Raf as we continually popped up first pitch after first pitch.
The News had about five runners on base at all times it seemed, and look, I don't want to get into the hijinks that occurred with some of the inherently News-ie baserunning that followed (read: do want to, but won't), they were able to get their guys in and we weren't. So what if they scored three runs while the umpire wasn't looking? IT COUNTS.
We made it sorta interesting in the ninth with two guys on and no outs but then I struck out against their "closer" on a high 3-2 pitch and that just sorta set the mood for the rest of the inning.
But overall guys, it was just a bad game for us. We know we're better than that. Pretty much everything you can do wrong in a baseballing game, we accomplished it. Shaky pitching, poor ABs, questionable baserunning, and (this one kinda stings) not our usually foolproof tight D. Whatever, though, we're over it.
Let's keep this in mind going forward: when you play this team, they are relying on you to make mistakes. They're not relying on themselves to actually hit the ball (except Raf really). From his spot leading off, I counted ONE swing from David Blanco all day, and he probably got up five times. Can't do that on these guys. That has been their game plan since the league began. They could probably go an entire season scoring 100 runs on like, five hits and just wait for walks and errors. (Ed.: This is not a diss Newsites ((since I know you are out there, reading, analyzing, breathing)) --- just observation.)
Let me tell you this News: YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF THE TWENTY NINERS.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Based on his day at the plate, I think it's clear Bobby takes the cake. I'm gonna throw in here quickly that as much as he and that mound mighta put us out of this game, he did his damnedest to bring us right back in. 2-3 with a 2-run jack, a double, a walk, and what? 3 RBIs overall? (Stats not with me at the moment.) Dude looked poised at the plate; fierce yet somehow ... gentle. Give me your secrets I will do anything. (Ray is found curled up in a ball in the corner of the Rock Bar, crying and sucking on Bobby's batting gloves)
HONOURABLE MENTION: S/O to Zack for coming in and pitching like his regular beast-like self. Velocity actually looked a bit up, and he, as always, stayed chill and did his job.
DRIVE OF THE GAME: Clearly already mentioned, but Bobby's blast on a 1-0 pitch "right where he wanted it" for his and the team's first HR is DOTG. Deep left center, and in Bobby's own words "not a cheapie, either" (it wasn't). If there were any icing on the cake of a loss to the News, I'd say watching that thing sail out of Willard would be it, especially on a day when they had one hard-hit ball. (Burn.)
PLAY OF THE GAME: As I haven't been getting a lot of love lately (read: giving myself any) I'm going to include myself on this one and go with that sweet 5-4-3 double play that Dave, myself, and Pat turned. MmmMmm so so tasty. People have described that play as being "smooth as silk" --- do you disagree? First 5-4-3 of the season if you're keeping score. Dave fielded it cleanly, perfect feed to me at second, and a dandy little pivot throw on to Pat. Let's do that every time, k?
SCOREBOOK IS STILL AT PAT'S SINCE THE POST-GAME RAGEFEST. STATS TO COME.
NEXT GAME
Saturday, 3 August
vs
The Lovable Nobles of the Sunset
feat. Billy Sandberg & The Gamechangers of Thrones
Field TBD
"Hi News, bye News"
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