It was an absolutely beautiful night at JJ Walker field, perhaps the best weather we have had all year. It was unclear if we would have a full compliment of players, and at the time that DLee and PeteB moved to the deliberation chamber to choose up sides, we had only 14 guys. Eventually, some late comers would show up, bringing the final number to 17.
Team names were not used during the game. For the sake of discussion, we will call DLee's team Sgt. Elias and PeteB's team Sgt. Barnes. Those who recall the movie Platoon will note that Barnes ambushed Elias, and the same fate would befall DLee's squad. At first sight, it appeared that Elias was a bomb squad, with mashers like Justin, Hussar, DLee and Deion.
Barnes also had a tough team (PeteB, Lex, Wazzo, Evan, Doug, CSDave, Matt H, Andrew C), but somehow we were confident, too confident, of victory. In the first inning, that overconfidence seemed to be justified; Elias put up 8 runs with only one out, capped off by Justin's massive CSHR that landed on the far side of St. Lukes Place (Leroy Street). Evan came in in relief and put out the fire, but it looked like it would be a laugher for Elias. The movie tagline for Platoon was "The First Casuality of War is Innocence." The first casuality of this war would be arrogance.
Our swagger only brought out the competitive spirit in Barnes. By the end of the second inning, the score was 8-5. Then the wheels came off the Elias cart. Barnes busted out with a 13 run third. Much of the rally was aided by inept defense on the part of the Elias squad, and Team Barnes took full advantage. Balls not booted by Elias, were crushed by Barnes. PeteB hit the first of 2 CSHRs, and I believe Andrew C also had a CSHR.
With the score 18-8, DLee and company finally realized that this was going to be a real battle, one that they would likely lose. You can tell when DLee gets serious by the fact that democratic defensive positioning gets tossed out in favor of a rigid defensive alignment. It didn't help. Team Barnes utilized a trio of tough pitchers to baffle Elias. Doug and Wazzo used the spin ball to great effect, and Matt H. used speed and location (his location-he stood about 5 feet from home plate) to stifle the Elias bats. DLee, still confident of a comeback, allowed
latecomer James to join the already dominating Barnes squad. He promptly crushed a CSHR that earned him the "Better Get Maaco" award by denting a parked car.
On a play that typified the evening that Team Elias was having, Deion, playing left field, lost a ball in the lights. After calling off DLee, he charged in, but then dropped to his knees, and held both arms up in the air. A perfect rendition of the Willem Dafoe's death pose as the ball bounced in front of him. Despite a last inning mini-rally, Barnes crushed Elias 26-16.
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TWIB Notes:1)As mentioned, Pete had 2 CSHR's. The first was a meaty semi-line drive that easily cleared the trees, and the second was a moon shot that traveled a linear distance of 400 feet. He also hit what appeared to be an uncalled HR, but it was ruled foul. That led to a rule change: any
non-called shot that clears the fence ends the inning. We will see if that rule sticks.
2)CSDave had a nice game in the field, especially the infield, making several nice pickups and throws over to first.
3)Andrew C is a fearsome hitter, and his glove was sharp too. He came within one foot or less of a scoreboard shot. He also told me that he has decided to not step into any pitches for fear of another IEHR. He also came through with pork rinds and beer.
4)One bright spot for Elias was Kissel Sr., who hit the highest portion of the center field fence twice, and came just short of a opposite field CSHR. This prompted DLee to ask if he was on the juice. He also made a diving stop at second complete with a throw over to first from his back that nearly caught the runner.5)James hit perhaps the hardest laser-beam shot off the fence that I have ever seen. He blamed his aggression on being stuck in traffic for 2 hours.
6)Hussar was a Hoover at third making some awesome plays.
7)DLee hit a nice shot that looked destined to be a CSHR but was eaten and spit out by the tree
in left field.
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