Have Mercy

Undermanned and Under the Weather Dreams Send Fans Home Early w/Route of BST

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On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 2:06 PM, Will wrote:

missing some big bats today but excited to go 3-0

(I'm a little under the weather today, so it would be a great night to invoke the mercy rule and go home early)

hope everyone is up for that...

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 9:42 PM, Rob wrote:

For those who missed the game we won 12-0! Mercy rule in the 6th. Judging by the score you can tell who were the stars, BP and his D.

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Nothing dramatic happened last night. No crazy highlights. No defensive web gems. No late inning rally.

Tough game to write about but as I looked at the boxscore and reflected on last night's game, it is clear that something has happened. 

We went into last night's contest missing a quarter of our roster - a lot of hits and a lot of heart absent for our first road game of the year. We also had not played in weeks and were going against an inferior team with soft throwing hurlers. In year's past, this would've made us ripe for an upset. Jeff D was ill and told me earlier in the day that he would've called in sick to work if we didn't have a game (although he summoned all of his energy when it came to yelling at Blue). Yesterday, I  too would've called in sick to work - if I had work to call into. 

So - how did SD respond?...To my delight and prophecy...A methodical 5 1/2 inning mercy rule victory. Perfect and a distinct difference from teams' past.

SD has matured and put in a workman's effort last night - surgically dismantling BST, scoring in every inning except the first.

"This team may be the only team we've played that is older AND more Jewish than us" - observed Jeff D as the wily veteran southpaw pitcher warmed up prior to the first inning. Jamie Moyer has amassed over 2K strikeouts in the majors and the Yorkville version slow pitched us, keeping us contained through the first 2 innings. The turning point in the game may have been the call to the bullpen as we put up bunches of runs against a washed up righty in the 4th, 5th and 6th to seal our victory and improve our mark to 3-0.

Stars of the Game:

- BP: Brian pitched a 5 inning shutout and worked his way out of jams in the early innings before cruising in the late frames. Outstanding. He made a few nice plays in the field and was also an unheralded offensive star with the bat - going 3/3, RBI, 2 Runs. Special nod to Robbie for donning the catchers gear, framing the pitches and not missing a beat in Jerry's absence.

- Team Defense: Everyone played great. We had no bad innings and limited the minor miscues. Lock down D that propelled us to the championship was present last night. If we keep playing like that - we'll be back there again.

- Seltz / Collins / Duff - share the 3rd star for their hitting last night. Everyone contributed last night w/ 8 guys notching RBIs, and 9 scoring runs but these 3 stand out a bit. Jon (2/4, 2RB, 2Run, 2B, HR) was lamenting his lack of power this year prior to opening pitch. Looks like he found it last night, with two monstrous shots to CF for extra base hits. Collins (3/3, BB, RBI, run) reached base all 4 times and a batting glove-less Duff (3/4, 2RBI, 2 runs)  was in a groove and had a big 2 out poke to give us momentum that we never let go of. After this performance, I think Mike should give his gloves to Flat for gardening and just start peeing on his hands.

Also - kudos to the top of the lineup as a whole: #1-4 (Will, Hans, Jeff, Seltz) continued to do their job, going a combined 8-16, with 7RBIs and 5 runs. Nice production!

Finally - the stat I love most from this game was that we once again have fallen in love with the 2 out rally. EIGHT runs were scored with 2 out. How about that? In fact, over our first 3 games nearly 60% of our runs have come from 2 out RBIs. That's astonishing, ridiculously clutch and unbelievably demoralizing for opponents. That is huge -  and to me marks the biggest difference in this team from year's past. 

We are 3-0 and one of 3 unbeaten teams in the league. Lots more work to do but I am looking forward to it.

Next Thursday. Same time. Same place.vs. The Situation (1-1). 

see ya'll there

until then GTL and SD4L