Well, after a nice regular season break after a first half where the Lions only played 3 of 8 scheduled games (thanks to a rain out), the 2nd half begins. The Lions will need to get in two great practices this week, because after a leisurely 2 games in 6 days starting May 4th, the team faces an MLB-like Sunday/Tues/Wed grind to end the regular season.
***"thanks, schedulers"
This will test both their stamina and pitching rotation, and includes the schedulers' dream scenario - a season finale against Ephiphany (the team tied atop the standings with the Lions). This one could be for the regular season title and a #1 seed in the playoffs! Provided of course, the Lions meet the rigors of the 4 games leading up to it. Is this enough end of regular season drama for everybody?
Meanwhile, the Parish League did miss out on a fun outing this year. They weren't able to come to agreement with the Giants on the game day and ticket prices in order to resume the annual Parish Family Day and Long-Toss Competition at AT&T Park. A real pity as it was so much fun last year and generated a lot of attention for the Parish League and SHB. Hosted and run by Giants PA Announcer Renel Brooks, the on field competition culminated in an awards presentation by Barry Zito:
May 2010 Winners - Barry Zito is a lot bigger in person!
SHB was the big winner last year: of the 3 Stuart Hall entries (Stephen Bird - 5th grade, Jack Hanley - 6th grade, and Stephen Everest - 7th grade), all made the two-man finals and Stephen Bird and Stephen Everest won, with our Stephen E. making the 2 longest tosses of the day for any grade.
This seems like too good an event to miss again, so please drop the league a note (Brian"at"Stableford"dot"com) encouraging every effort be made to make this happen next year. The current 5th, 6th and 7th graders will appreciate it, even if we'll be gone!
To have a good blog you need a good subject. When you have a group of seasoned veterans playing a game we all love, for the last time together, and playing in never boring, often edge of the seat fashion, well it becomes pretty clear that even a trained monkey could produce quality with this group (or even a guy who loves commas the way these guys love playing baseball).
But even with a great subject, text alone can't make a good blog, and the success of this one is due mostly to the graphics. And those, dear readers, are due mostly to Joe's Dad, Jack.
And Jack is all about raising his game. How serious is he? Did you know we lost him for game 2 so he could go get some professional photojournalistic-type training? That's right, our guy Jack took himself off to some desert locale in Nevada or New Mexico or Arizona somewhere, meeting up with group of long-time colleagues (college drinking buddies) who share his same passion for photography (and companionable story telling). And these guys spent hours per day in intensive training (of a photographic nature). Frankly the results are incredible, lending total credibility to Jack's claim to Adrienne that he and the lads spent their week in serious study of photo taking, and not (just) drinking and playing cards.
Want proof? How about some before and afters, starting with the classic Profile shot:
Morgan L - batting, Game 1
Game 1 - Morgan L. Great looking kid, great subject. Now let's throw in some chain link, some backstop, a couple cars, maybe a house or three.
Morgan L - feel the sun, smell the cut grass, Game 3
Game 3 - Morgan L.
Field of Dreams, baby, Field of Dreams! Goodness gracious, you can hear the theme song from Chariots of Fire looking at this pic!
How about the classic Action shot?
John C - has to be on a base path, Game 1
Game 1 - John C. Another great looking kid, probably a base runner... on a basepath... focused! Ready to do... something, just as soon as it's called for!
John C - Layin' down the tag!!! Game 3
Game 3 - John C. At second, playing second, having caught the throw on the fly (literally, he hasn't reached ground yet!), laying the tag on a base-stealer. Dirt flying, runner avoidin', tension everywhere! Wow!
And finally, the classic At Bat shot:
Joe L - Batting, Game 1
Game 1 - Joe L. at bat, waiting for Pitcher to throw pitch... maybe a catcher there too, blending into the background...
Nick S - Here it comes! Game 3
Game 3 - Nick S. at bat, ball on way, all eyes locked in, decision to be made, pre-swing movement underway...
So, I love the Game 1 pics (they're better than I could ever hope to take). And I miss the Game 2 pics (thank goodness the Flip was working and we got some good clips). But I am in awe of the upgraded Jack the Photog v2.0 that we got for Game 3. And as importantly... beyond! Well done Jack, and can't wait to see what you cook up for us next game!
Epiphany beats St. Stephen, making them mathematically tied with the Lions for first, but the undefeated Lions remain one up in the all important Loss column. Mark your calendars for Wed, May 18 - the last regular season game - Epiphany vs. Stuart Hall for their only regular season match up.
Also, coming off their strong performance against the Lions, St. Cecilia gets into the win column by defeating St. Phillip.
This means every team has at least 1 win, and no team is more than 2.5 games back, with lots of baseball left in the regular season. Things are tightening up. As they should. After all, the Lions aren't the only team playing together for the last time!
UPDATE 3PM - The glorious weather since this morning's rain means practice is ON!
Remember when this wasn't a Lions baseball blog - it was a weather blog? Remember having one great practice and then having every other one, and our Opening Day, rained out? Looked out your window today, have you? It's pouring. Now the official word hasn't come out from Marjorie yet, but I'm thinking what you are - the likelihood of practice at Ft. Scott today is not high.
So, what's different today than those near panic days of March when a team of Lions wasn't preparing for their last season of baseball together, but were instead stuck inside doing meaningless non-baseball stuff, like, you know, studying and homework (hmmm, on how many levels did I just get myself into it with that one)? Or in Morgan and Stevie P's case, surfing, cause you can surf in the rain (which is why I grew up surfing and not playing baseball)!
1. The Lions have 3 wins. They've scored 8, 11, and 10 runs in those wins. They've given up 6 (or 7!), 1 and 4 runs respectively.
2. The Lions have no losses. They've been played tough twice, but are showing a lot of resolve and confidence.
3. The Lions are in first place. Even using that "half the difference in losses plus half the difference in wins" formula to calculate games behind, the Lions are half a game up on Epiphany and a whole game up in the Loss column (see #2).
4. We've got Coachie, and Coach E., and our opponents don't.
Our coaches watched a number of those galloping 12 stolen bases on Saturday end in awkward slides (or even, ahem, one non-slide). So for yesterday's practice, the boys were told to bring sneakers and old trousers, and they got themselves a lesson in proper sliding. I wish I'd been there - the photo ops would have been priceless.
It is very clear that these coaches sat down in pre-season and laid out a team development plan that was going to take a collection of talented players and turn them into a baseball team, executing in all facets of the game. In spite of the many missed practices, progress is apparent.
So let it rain today (but not for another 3 weeks straight, thank you very much). The Lions are going to keep getting better. And they had better, because so will their competitors. If there wasn't a target on the Lions' jerseys before, there is now.
Caption Contest! My entry: "I don't care about the streak, this rally thong is killing me." to enter your caption: comment to this post, or email dan.everest@me.com
10-4 sounds like a solid win, but this one was anything but easy. St. Cecilia came to play and gave the Lions all they could handle Saturday at McCoppin.
How good were they? Over 6 defensive innings, they gave up 3 hits, rendering the Lion offensive juggernaut fairly toothless. Their 5 walks were also reasonable, for a total of walks plus hits of 8, or 1.33 per inning (WHIP this is called - and now you're on your way to being a stats geek!). This is a pretty reasonable number, and combined with the fact their pitchers struck Lions batters out 9 times means the Lions should have expected to score only one or two runs at best.
So how did the Lions win? St. Cecilia's spotty fielding meant the Lions got 9 guys on base via errors. This plus the other 8 means we had 17 base runners. And emphasis must be placed on the word "runners"! What the Lions did on the base paths this game was more akin to grand larceny than base stealing. We're talking 12 Stolen Bases! And this is not counting guys advancing to the next base because a catcher dropped a ball. Heck, there were 2 double steals! The Lions were running so much they were winded, and we're talking baseball here, not some track meet! So with all that running, one would expect some guys would eventually make it home, and that's what happened - a lot (heck, Stephen E. even stole home, which is a rarity in baseball!).
We're gonna run...
...and run...
and run some more...
Lesson for Lions opponents: If you let us on base, we're going to run like crazy. We are fast, and have aggressive Coaches who seem to derive great pleasure and entertainment from sending guys. You really don't want us on your base paths.
What else? Oh... we're shaking the rust off too, and trying new things, such as:
Nick S - pitched for the first time since 6th grade, striking out 3 and giving up a hit in two innings of solid work. Andrew F - took a game off from pitching and played 4 innings of shortstop including a couple of brilliant plays John K - took over Catcher from John C (sore arm) for innings 3-6, and played brilliantly, including taking a collision at the plate for an out, and throwing to Andrew to put out a runner trying to steal second.
Joe - Focus!
This team also got what they needed this game. A defensive workout. They had to deal with their opponent's own base runners; there were hits and walks, and balls put in play. Outs to be made, errors to be avoided. And while mistakes were made, progress was clear.
Coachie
Coach E.
This team is coming together, and their coaches are pleased.
PS - to see all of Jack's fabulous pics... go here
A full game summary to come on Sunday. For now, we'll relish the 10-4 victory, which felt MUCH closer than that score would indicate. St. Cecilia is as tough a team as the Lions have faced yet, and how their record was 0-2 coming in to today is a mystery.
I suppose we should be discussing the incredible pitching (Andrew 12 strikeouts, no hits!) or the big, big bats (8 hits in 20 at bats) or the stirring 11-1 mercy rule victory in 4 innings, but anyone at the ballpark last night (and there were LOTS of us) knows the real star was the weather.
I don't know the exact formula for what wind velocity does in creating wind chill, but there is no doubt that 40mph wind creates a "feels like" that is ridiculously cold. And I'm not talking about the players - they're young athletes running around with limitless internal combustion - they're on their own as far as I'm concerned. No, I'm talking about us poor parents and school members (thanks, Mr. Phillips!) who had to sit in the stands for 4 Candlestick Park-like innings (anyone remember baseball games there?).
How cold was it? A number of us found the top of the west wall provided the best wind break, and crowded together in a tight little line with blankets covering as many legs as possible. Others, scattered in small groups, looked to be in need of a Saint Bernard (or at least that little cask of brandy - hmmm... note to self for next game...).
So who were the heroes last night? The Coaches! They realized parents' lives (ok, comfort) were at stake, so they decided to run and run hard for the mercy rule finish (eternally grateful, Coaches). Here's how it went down:
Top 4, score 8-1, sun setting and temperature continuing to plummet.
-Ryley ropes a single to start. While Joe bats, Ryley steals 2nd, then advances to 3rd on the missed throw.
-Joe works a hard walk. Runners 1st and 3rd.
-Stephen E ropes a single, scoring Ryley, Joe to 2nd. Score 9-1
-With one out and John K batting, Joe and Stephen E pull off a double steal to 3rd and 2nd. Joe then scores on a pitch missed by the Catcher (passed ball), with Stephen moving to third. John K works a walk. Score 10-1.
-Stephen P up. Stephen E at 3rd and John K at first. John K takes a big lead, initiating a bad pickoff throw to first, and heads for 2nd, running at "please try to throw me out" speed, which the First baseman accommodates by throwing to 2nd. John reverses, putting himself into the classic "pickle" with distracted fielders trying to throw him out. All the while Stephen E is inching down the third base line toward home... and as John makes his dive back to first just in front of the throw, Stephen E is streaking home safe! Score 11-1. Game over. Parents survive.
There was a lot of good baseball played this game, most from the mound and batter's box. I think 23 strikeouts in his first 8 innings this season may be some kind of record set by Andrew. He has been simply dominating. He and John C behind the plate did most of the work on defense, with Ryan executing the only defensive out of the game.
Noteworthy at the plate (click on vid after it starts to get full screen view):
-Stephen P's bases clearing double into deep right field (3 RBI's)
[Tweetrespondent flubbed the filming, and SO owes Stevie P!]
-Nick S's two big hits: a triple (scattering a bunch of Lacrosse players in Center Field like a flock of birds - see clip), and a double (for a total of 3 RBI's)
-Stephen E rocking the wood bat for a perfect day (2 for 2, walk, RBI, 3 runs)
This team can pitch. They can hit. They are unproven when facing a lineup that can put the ball in play, and have to make stops. Some decent innings last game, but 1 tough inning. They are improving, but there are still questions. Stay tuned!
PS - and a big shout out to Joe Ferrero for keeping the scorebook, and letting the coaches and players concentrate on the game. Joe will hopefully be correcting any of the numbers I got wrong above.
More decent weather and a great workout yesterday. We've got more arms rounding into shape (pitching staff now looking like 5 players and counting) and started to see some crisp defense that we'll hope carries into tonight's game!
Which is against St. Stephens at W. Sunset #1 this evening (5:30PM). Can't wait!
Jack says he's going to take a class so he can learn how to take good pictures instead of just "pointing and clicking"... I guess we'll just have to disagree:
Stephen Page - Locked In
Joseph Ladd, Coachie (3rd Base)
The rest of Jack's pics from that incredible first game can be found here. Enjoy!
And just like that, the endless (3 wks!) rain ended, fields dried out, and the Lions got in an exciting game and productive practice the next day.
A final thought on the game. Salesian is the very (intensely) well-coached team that surprised the Lions last season for their only loss against a non-St. Cecilia team. They are going to bring it every time we play, and notice was served last Tuesday.
To that end, we need Dads or Moms to volunteer to keep a scorebook during the game so the coaches and players can focus on playing the game! Last week, the coaches and at one point, Nick Stinn, were trying to keep book, and if the Sales had managed to push another run across in the 6th or 7th, we'd have been arguing a one-run lead (according to us) and a tie (according to them). This would have been a painful controversy that we need to avoid in the future.
Due to tweeting and attempts to film the guys (total fail last week), I can't do it, but I know we have a number of Dads and Moms who can, and if you guys would approach the coaches before games and volunteer, you could end up being heroes!
