I played two baseball games today in the weekend league I'm in. I don't want to call it a doubleheader because there was a long enough break in between that two other teams in my league played their game while we rested. However, it feels like I did play a doubleheader.
What baseball game ends in a tie? Who allows baseball games to end in draws? I suppose when you rent a field for the day, and the league schedules games to begin one after the other, extra innings aren't really possible. I was so upset we tied: "I feel like Yale after that game in '68." I said to our team captains. Naturally, they had no idea what I was talking about o_O
Towards the end of our second game, I hit a deep fly to left field that was good enough for a double. I rounded first base, and the lead runner, who stood on first base rounded second. I didn't hit a double all day, and I was looking for to getting into scoring position for our next batter because we were behind at the time. Unfortunately, after rounding first base, I looked up and saw the runner ahead of me CHANGED HIS MIND! (My hand decides to cramp at this moment) Thank goodness for molded plastic cleats, because without them I would slide into center field; I run back to first base, and slide headfirst into the base just eluding the tag. As the umpire calls "time", I sit up and bang both hands on a dirt like a five-year old having a tantrum in Wal-Mart. Three singles later, I score the second run of the inning, and we go on to win the game.
Even now, I shake my head and wonder how the defense didn't tag out either of us in that exchange. I suppose when the season is over, I can bring up that play at the team dinner, and have a heated exchange with my teammate about how he couldn't MAKE UP HIS MIND! Just kidding...
If Anton is reading this, I am sorry for pounding the ground like a little kid. I didn't see the obvious humour of that moment, and perhaps in time I can learn to laugh it off...perhaps.
I notice things like eating out, purchasing a drink from Starbucks, and then shopping at Wal-Mart are more difficult after playing two baseball games in one day. The cashier at the local Starbucks said I looked really tired -_- I felt like one of those adorable anthropomorphic animals from Nintendo's "Animal Crossing" that sleeps while standing upright. If I wasn't in a lineup of people I would totally do that o_O
Well, that's all for me. I'm going to bed -_- Zzz...
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Riggleman: Did He Jump or Was He Pushed?
Minutes after a walk-off sacrifice fly victory over the Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman resigned from his post citing contract issues. The news came as a shock to everyone close to the organization, as the Nats are currently an above .500 baseball team under Riggleman's leadership in 2011. Nevertheless, the stalemate over the issue of Riggleman's employment with him and General Manager Mike Rizzo forced Jim Riggleman to resign. Bench boss John McLaren will become the interim manager until the Nationals find a permanent replacement.
Both sides of the argument already have different interpretations of the event. This is how GM Rizzo announced to the media Riggleman stepped down.
Outgoing manager Jim Riggleman fielded the questions this way:
The frustration concerning the current fallout on both the faces of GM Mike Rizzo and the outgoing Jim Riggleman. Mike Rizzo looks more displeased with Riggleman citing numerous occasions during the season in which he demanded Rizzo to pick up the option year in his contract for 2012. However, when asked about those conversations with GM Mike Rizzo, a sombre Jim Riggleman explained how he needed to sit down with the general manager, and have a "conversation" or dialogue about the contract issue.
Contracts take time to prepare and mediate, and to stop an employer in the hallway and make demands does not sound like good business sense. I have more faith in Riggleman's answer because having a sit down to negotiate options or a new contract would seem the logical thing to do. GM Mike Rizzo knew where those conversations would lead, and when Riggleman resigned Rizzo offered up the failure to take up the option "that morning" as the reason for Jim Riggleman leaving the club. Rizzo does have the right to feel upset about the situation because the decision came down that day, and there was not enough time for public relations to put the proper perspectives on the situation. This author feels if given more than enough time to prepare an adequate statement for the media, the current situation need not have unfolded in this way.
On a sidenote, Washington should never wear that jersey with that hat on the road! The red is too bright to be worn with road greys. The Nats wore this awful arrangement one Sunday against the San Diego Padres a couple of weeks ago. What happened to the road uniform with the "Washington" script; they shrank at the dry cleaners? Fashion faux pas!
Both sides of the argument already have different interpretations of the event. This is how GM Rizzo announced to the media Riggleman stepped down.
Outgoing manager Jim Riggleman fielded the questions this way:
The frustration concerning the current fallout on both the faces of GM Mike Rizzo and the outgoing Jim Riggleman. Mike Rizzo looks more displeased with Riggleman citing numerous occasions during the season in which he demanded Rizzo to pick up the option year in his contract for 2012. However, when asked about those conversations with GM Mike Rizzo, a sombre Jim Riggleman explained how he needed to sit down with the general manager, and have a "conversation" or dialogue about the contract issue.
Contracts take time to prepare and mediate, and to stop an employer in the hallway and make demands does not sound like good business sense. I have more faith in Riggleman's answer because having a sit down to negotiate options or a new contract would seem the logical thing to do. GM Mike Rizzo knew where those conversations would lead, and when Riggleman resigned Rizzo offered up the failure to take up the option "that morning" as the reason for Jim Riggleman leaving the club. Rizzo does have the right to feel upset about the situation because the decision came down that day, and there was not enough time for public relations to put the proper perspectives on the situation. This author feels if given more than enough time to prepare an adequate statement for the media, the current situation need not have unfolded in this way.
On a sidenote, Washington should never wear that jersey with that hat on the road! The red is too bright to be worn with road greys. The Nats wore this awful arrangement one Sunday against the San Diego Padres a couple of weeks ago. What happened to the road uniform with the "Washington" script; they shrank at the dry cleaners? Fashion faux pas!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Fashion Faux Pas; Part 2
I didin't forget you guys; I was busy doing stuff. Just some hockey related business involving the television...
MLB Shop began selling their special "Turn Back the Clock" edition authentic jerseys on their online store. The popular baseball internet shop also released team jerseys with the scripts of different major league teams in Spanish! The Oakland Athletics, for example, are now the "Atléticos" ^_^ Don't believe me? Here is the pic!
What an opportunity to honour the Spanish language and heritage in the sport of baseball! How come they didn't do this when the Montreal Expos were around?
Let's be honest: The love affair with everything "Columbia Blue" officially ran its course in the 1980s. Sure, the return of the colour to the alternate home jerseys of the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays is to be expected, but along with the odd white trim running up the shoulders like Julia Roberts in "Runaway Bride", this looks ridiculous. Some things from the past should stay in the past!
On top of that, it says Brooklyn. Anyone younger than Justin Bieber wouldn't know why Brooklyn is on that jersey to begin with, unless that kid was me. Well, from years ago; before there was a Chapters, I went to the library, and I read about the Brooklyn Dodgers in an old baseball book. Yes, I remember a time before the internet: Everyone was friendlier then.
Have a great weekend, and watch some baseball.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Buckner Moment #34 or "Diet Pepsi in the Shower"
I don't want to talk about it...
Every two or three years, I have a Buckner moment. Why it involves baseball, I will never know, but if you ask a fan of baseball what a Buckner moment is, or if they have a Buckner moment they don't mind sharing in public without crumpling to the floor, assuming the fetal position, and crying, that person will say "Yes".
Well, I had mine today. I was half decent at the plate batting right-handed, however I wasn't getting elevation on the pitches that I would like. I did like how I fared in practice batting left-handed. When it was my turn to bat in the last inning, with one out, I chose to bat left-handed. I bat on the other side of the plate before with higher than moderate success. That year, I bat left-handed twice and reached successfully on both attempts, so my teammates knew I could switch hit.
Three different pitches, three wacky swings, one foul tip, and an at-bat ending in a strikeout. We went on to lose the game by one run (again). If I decide not to be stupid, and hit the right way from the right side of the plate, and hit the ball right in the open area or behind the fielders and into the grassy knoll behind the fence, then we tie the game and put us in position to win our first game. I didn't do that though, because instead I did something 'daring', something 'gutsy', and something STUPID.
No one wanted to talk to me after the game; I get that. What remains to be said is what they will think the next time I play, whether it is in the field or in the batter's box. I can't be trusted, I can't deliver, and I can't be called upon in the clutch. I cost my team it's first win of the season. I'm sorry; I don't think you heard that: Our FIRST WIN of the SEASON!
I didn't cry, thank goodness, yet I wasn't the first to leave the field either. As I left, a dude from the other team, who was walking behind me, thought I was going to impale a neighbouring trashcan with the two bats I held in my grip. Eventually, after driving at a ridiculous slow pace, I got home; I don't talk about my games with my parents, but Momzo makes it a point of trying to get under my skin and prod me until I give her an answer. Dad can tell when I had a bad game; I don't invite him to watch my games anymore (if you read the previous blog post, you may now a little bit as to why), nevertheless my body language is a good indicator that I'm not in the mood to talk -_-
I had my chocolate milk within thirty minutes of the game, which is nice as it builds up the proteins, and a shower. An Internet Troll said to me, "Diet Pepsi in the Shower!", so I decided to do it. Hooray for Internet Trolls...they tell it like it is...almost o_O
Every two or three years, I have a Buckner moment. Why it involves baseball, I will never know, but if you ask a fan of baseball what a Buckner moment is, or if they have a Buckner moment they don't mind sharing in public without crumpling to the floor, assuming the fetal position, and crying, that person will say "Yes".
Well, I had mine today. I was half decent at the plate batting right-handed, however I wasn't getting elevation on the pitches that I would like. I did like how I fared in practice batting left-handed. When it was my turn to bat in the last inning, with one out, I chose to bat left-handed. I bat on the other side of the plate before with higher than moderate success. That year, I bat left-handed twice and reached successfully on both attempts, so my teammates knew I could switch hit.
Three different pitches, three wacky swings, one foul tip, and an at-bat ending in a strikeout. We went on to lose the game by one run (again). If I decide not to be stupid, and hit the right way from the right side of the plate, and hit the ball right in the open area or behind the fielders and into the grassy knoll behind the fence, then we tie the game and put us in position to win our first game. I didn't do that though, because instead I did something 'daring', something 'gutsy', and something STUPID.
No one wanted to talk to me after the game; I get that. What remains to be said is what they will think the next time I play, whether it is in the field or in the batter's box. I can't be trusted, I can't deliver, and I can't be called upon in the clutch. I cost my team it's first win of the season. I'm sorry; I don't think you heard that: Our FIRST WIN of the SEASON!
I didn't cry, thank goodness, yet I wasn't the first to leave the field either. As I left, a dude from the other team, who was walking behind me, thought I was going to impale a neighbouring trashcan with the two bats I held in my grip. Eventually, after driving at a ridiculous slow pace, I got home; I don't talk about my games with my parents, but Momzo makes it a point of trying to get under my skin and prod me until I give her an answer. Dad can tell when I had a bad game; I don't invite him to watch my games anymore (if you read the previous blog post, you may now a little bit as to why), nevertheless my body language is a good indicator that I'm not in the mood to talk -_-
I had my chocolate milk within thirty minutes of the game, which is nice as it builds up the proteins, and a shower. An Internet Troll said to me, "Diet Pepsi in the Shower!", so I decided to do it. Hooray for Internet Trolls...they tell it like it is...almost o_O
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