The Veins Are A-Bulgin'

So this was a couple of nights ago:

My 12U is playing only second game of season, rainout and a dumb coach (from another town) put me behind. Playing a semi-local team. To put in perspective, they mercied us as an 11U squad last summer.

Anyway, we go down 2-0, come back to tie, go up 4-2. In the 5th, my youngest player is on the mound and with 2 outs and bases juiced, we make an error or two on the same batted ball and now it's 6-4 before you know it.

We come back with some good base-running including a steal of home to tie it up. get out of trouble in the field a couple of times. Get the winning run to 3B in the bottom of the 7th, but the bottom of my order comes up pretty small. Happens.

We give up the go-ahead run top 8. OK, now we need to score 2. With top of my order coming up I feel pretty good.

Leadoff hitter grounds out for 1st out. My #2 goes the other way with a double. #3 hitter (aka OSSS) is up. Fouls off 2 pitches, but he's on it. Pitch 3 comes in, well outside and high - so much so that the opposing catcher has to lunge up and out to grab it to keep it from going to fence and the ump calls STRIKE 3!!!

"WHAT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME BLUE! HE HAD TO JUMP TO CATCH THAT BALL. NOT A STRIKE. YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT IN MY LIFE. YOU ARE TERRIBLE!"

My clean-up grounds out for out 3. Game over, we lose 7-6 in extras. So as I walk in to shake hands with the other team (who deserved it) I did something I have never done:

"THAT WAS SOME CALL BLUE! YOU OUGHTA BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! HORSE-SHIT, THAT IS WHAT THAT CALL WAS! YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE!"

The head ump who was doing the bases tried to give me an explanation, to which I responded "the fact that you two have to explain the call means it was wrong. The only two people who think that was a strike are you two!"

SoulSlam was livid. And I never argue balls and strikes, part of the game. I was still angry when I woke up Tuesday.

Saturday Doings

Lot's of baseball this morning;

10U Squad - went 1-1 in a tourney way up in upper Bergen. Mercied the host team, then lost a 5-1 decision to another team. They play again tomorrow in pool play in the AM, then depending on how they do they play later on in the day.

12U Squad - finally got our first game in...won it 11-8. Other than the bottom of the 7th, we looked like killers out there. We let them have 5 runs to catch up a bit before we sealed the deal. A win is a win though.

Now we are going to some local parties...the sun is out, thought I forgot what it looked like.

ADIOS.

When Your Alpha is an Omega

If you follow me regular-like (I know you all do) you know the weather has been less than stellar around the North Jersey area.

We have so much rain, that even when it's not raining we can't use the fields. Like today. Though to be fair a light mist is falling.

So I'm 5 days in to a summer season with my 12U team and I haven't played yet. And unless the team I'm scheduled (actually rescheduled) to play tonight can move to their field, I'll be behind the 8-ball.

PONDEROUS.

New Link

I have a new link on the side there for Joe Petruccio's MyMetsJournal.

Very cool Joe. Awesome job.

Summer Monsoons

So as not to disappoint after the wettest spring ever...summer has begun even worse. So far we have had local tornado warnings, flash floods, violent thunderstorms, etc. Two days in by my count.

Summer baseball is in half-swing. The 10U team is 3-0 already and making the plays. The 12U team is 0-0 since we have been rained out and on Tuesday night, bumped from the field in another town because the opposing coach is a zip, a nada, a zero.

SoulSlam hisself has a couple of days of work. Need it, townsfolk, 'cause it's hard being SoulSlam.

BOOM.

Good For You Sir

You don't stand in the way of a father, a son and the opportunity of a lifetime.

Read it here.

Good for you Mr. Roth.

Ummm, Embarrassed?

John Wall can play hoops no doubt.

John Wall cannot throw a baseball at all.

Summer Baseball Begins - 2011 Version

What we all wait for...

Summer baseball technically begins next week, but we like to get a jump on it 'round these parts. So 10U opened up away (next town over) to play a quasi-club team with the most gawd-awful uniforms I have ever seen. And if you play enough baseball you will see some really bad ones. These looked like the were designed by a 14 year-old gang-banger from Compton. No lie.

Anyway, we won 4-3. Hit just enough, made the plays we needed to and pitched well. So we start the season 1-0. Better than 0-1.

12U starts Tuesday night...injuries have decimated this team, so it's like a mix and match puzzle now. With three games next week and two pitchers on DL, and one gonna be missing for a couple of games, we may be hurtin'. We'll see what we are made of.

BOOM.

Bloopin' to 3000

Mr. Jeter got 2 more today to inch ever so closer to 3,000 hits. The only Yankee ever to do this heroic feat.

Four more games on the homestand means:

He has to get 7 hits over four games. With an average of 4 at-bats per, he's gotta go 7-28. And you know nobody is gonna want to throw the meatball he hits for the 3,000. So as he gets closer, look for guys to work outside and around the strike zone.

Not hitting it on the homestand means:

That the Yankees and Steiner Sports and whoever else is lined up to make dough off the milestone will not have a captive audience at the stadium if he goes big (bloop single) in Wrigley. Can't sell those Jeter 3000 t-shirts at Wrigley

BTW, the SS for the NY Mets is hitting .346. Tearing it up. Just sayin'...

Pool Better

Not sure why, could be the fluctuation in heat, but me pool was pretty cloudy this week. Which makes me nuts. So I tended to the water like a skilled surgeon for a couple of days and now we are crystal again. Awesome.

On another note, SoulSlam was using a powerwasher this AM and in my haste, powerwashed my left thumb during the activity. My left thumb is pretty much hurtin' now. I guess no pies later.

C-YA

Being Scottie Pippen

Now, don't take this as a dis' to Scottie Pippen, who was one of the most talented players in history. He just wasn't His Airness - he was the second guy on a great team playing behind the greatest ever.

So when Lebron announced (amidst incredible fanfare) in primetime that he was joining the Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, the usual thought process was "wow, he's gonna be like Mike" and drive that team to the winner's circle.

Well the winner's circle can certainly be reached, but it's D-Wade in the driver's seat, with Bosh riding shotgun...the "King" is sitting in back; and he appears to be in the trunk when the 4thQ rolls in. Let's just say the words "Lebron" and "difference maker" are not being said in the same sentence during the NBA Finals.

Headin' back to Miami (with all the fans in white - creepy!) we shall see what this guy is made of. Funny how legacies can be changed.

Whaaa!

One of my favorite punching bags is the always-sensitive Joe Girardi, manager of the glorious NY Yankees. He's not happy with Big Papi...

Some advice for Joe:
1. Do you really believe everybody that plunks a Yankee is doing it on purpose, but when a Yankee pitcher hits somebody, it was just a bad pitch?
2. If Papi upsets you with his histrionics, why doesn't that fat tub Joba when he pumps the fist in the 7th inning?
3. Stop making excuses for Jorge Posada. Oh, that's right he's raised his average to .195!
4. Anybody can look like a genius with a $220MM payroll and all-stars everywhere. Right, Joe?

How To Get One In The Ear

Check it out:

Homerun and a kiss

Love the mustache.

Bottom Line

If the Mets trade David Wright, as everybody is talking about, I am officially D-O-N-E as a Mets fan.

Fair warning.

Stomach of Chaos

Not sure why but I have a stomach of chaos today. Not good.

Could be the 9th inning in last night's Mets game, but I don't think so.

Forever Awesome

That's me. There, I said it.

Sitting here watching youtube videos while I wait to go p/u OSSS and his best pal at a social scene. Now I'm the AWESOME CHAUFFEUR.

Did I mention we missed playoffs at 12U? I wasn't too awesome there. Tried to schedule a game but had a lot of "we're no around's". So we didn't play. And missed playoffs. Now my ventingly awesome self is gonna have to piece together a summer schedule, around everybody else's vacations. The House of SoulSlam vacations in August like all right-thinking baseball families.

Awesome.

Venter

OK. So I just got people's vacation schedules for summer. And in doing my 12U calendar, it's looking more and more like we may not play much. It always amazes me how people who commit to baseball have no problem taking vacation during baseball season (games), but the same people can't miss any football practices (not games) in August.

Whatever.

The Where, The Who, The How

Random ramblings:

LeBron will probably get his ring...Mavs are a player (shooter) short

Now they say Jose Reyes is staying and David Wright is getting traded. Don't believe the hype.

Deadliest Catch is appointment TV again. Hope that skel Jake gets his.

NJ climate - mid-summer already. We had about 3 days of spring.

12U team is waiting to find out of we made spring playoffs.

I am not a fan of air-conditioning.

Whatever happened to the stars of Baywatch? Except the 'Hoff, I mean?

Best hot dog in NJ is at Rutt's Hut.

Thinking about a new pair of shades.

Pool is perfect.