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Stars of G#2, Tue, 9/11/01
@Baer Park, 7:15 p.m. vs. G.L.Evans (Div.III)
(Loss, 7-5)
Play-Off record after game:
5-2
|
Jeff
Schaeffer
2-for-4,
3-run Homer,
3 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Steve
Julian
2-for-3,
1 RBI
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Dickie
Delp
2-for-3,
1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Game Summary/Notes:
And so marks the end of my Softball career. I'm a little
disappointed with the fact that my last game had to come on the day of
the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, thereby
marking 9/11/01 as a day that I will most surely not remember as
"my last day of Softball." I spent that day with tears
in my eyes, glued to the television set in a conference room at
work. Although I was surprised that we were actually still playing
that night, at the time I was glad to have something to temporarily take
my mind off of the rest of the world. It seems pretty clear in
hindsight, however, that mentally I was not prepared to be playing
Softball. One of my better performances this was not. I
pitched well, but I can do that in my sleep. What requires 100%
focus for me is swinging a bat, and I was not at all in a position
mentally to do that. In that respect it's a shame that my last two
games had to be games where I couldn't think straight, but I guess there
are more important things in the world to worry about than going 1-for-7
which will be long forgotten soon enough.
In some respects I'll miss playing, but I don't feel that there's much
left that I'm capable of accomplishing so it definitely feels like the
right time to stop. 11 years of bad habit stacked upon bad habit
has resulted in one of the world's most embarrassing swings that had
long since become impossible to correct. I'm not getting any
better, and I've finally given up hope that I'll figure out how I used
to hit like I did when I was 16 which was about the last time
outfielders played me with any respect what-so-ever.
The more frequent nagging injuries had also gotten old - my shoulder
which has needed surgery since 11th grade, my thumb, my heal, and my
hip. My occasional bouts of Steve Sax/Chuck Knoblauch disease had
grown tiresome as well. (And Bev won't miss my leg sticking to the
sheets at night after games when I had to slide on the pathetic fields
that we are forced to play on.)
What I will miss most about Softball are the friendships, the
male-bonding, laughing, the mid-game banter and hanging out after
games. I'm sure it didn't hurt that we hardly ever lost, but this
was the best group of guys that I have ever played with. We'll all
meet again on occasion and I hope to stop by to see a few games next
year, but I'll miss the days when I could count on seeing everyone every
Tuesday and Thursday.
If there was one cool thing about my last game, I struck out the last
hitter that I pitched to!
For the record: I was 1-for-3 in The Final Game, my last at bat
was an F-7, the last person I drove in was Steve Julian, and the last
time I scored was on a home run by Jeff Schaeffer.
And so 2001 will forever be remembered as the year Ripken, Gwynn AND
MALINOWSKI retired. I look forward to entering The Hall with Kid
Rip! Hahaha.
Anyway, enough sappy rambling. The game...we just didn't
hit. We were 15-for-36 (.417) as a team, with only one extra-base
hit - a 3-run home run by Jeff Schaeffer that accounted for 60% of our
output for the game. Still, the game was in the bag as G.L.Evans
didn't hit either. The 4 runs we scored in the bottom of the 5th
put us up 5-2! Unfortunately G.L.Evans scored 3 in the 6th to tie
it, and 2 more in the 7th to win. We declined to answer their late
surge. Steve Julian lead off the bottom of the 6th with a single,
but then we proceeded send 6 up and 6 down to end the game.
In reality, despite scoring 14 in the first game, we really didn't hit
all night. Take out the 4th inning of Game #1 (where we scored 10
runs on 9 hits), and we were only 25-for-63 (.397) in the other 13
innings. That, my friends, isn't going to win many games.
Again, I'll miss you guys. Keep me in the loop, and keep in
touch. Your Pal signing out... |
Stars of G#1, Tue, 9/11/01
@Baer Park, 6:15 p.m. vs. G.L.Evans (Div.III)
(Win 14-9)
Play-Off record after game:
5-1
|
Pete
Gabrielli
3-for-4
3 RBI, 3 runs
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Jeff
Schaeffer
3-for-4,
Triple,
2 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Dickie
Delp
3-for-4,
2 RBI, 2 runs
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Honorable
Mention:
Chris Hunter (3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 run)
Mac Zeiger (1-for-2, 2 walks, 1 run)
Game Summary/Notes:
G.L.Evans opened with a single, walk, single, RBI single, RBI
single, RBI single, RBI single which plated four runs and left the bases
loaded. The next hitter hit into a 1-2-5 double play - that's
right, pitcher to catcher to THIRD. The next hitter flew out to
left to thwart what could have been a whole lot more than just four
runs!
The end of that first inning seemed to breath life into us...or, at
least, took the offensive life out of G.L.Evans. They did not
score again until the 7th inning. Giovanna's, meanwhile, sent 14
to the plate in the top of the 4th inning which scored TEN runs.
Pete Gabrielli and Jeff Schaeffer both had two hits in that inning. |
Stars of G#2, Thu, 9/06/01
@Baer Park, 8:15 p.m. vs. Steelers (Div.III)
(Win 9-8)
Play-Off record after game:
4-1
|
Pete
Gabrielli
4-for-4,
Double, Homer,
FOUR RBI, 2 runs
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Chris
Hunter
3-for-3,
Double,
1 RBI
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Dave
Engle
2-for-3,
Walk,
2 runs
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Honorable
Mention:
Jeff Schaeffer (Game winning walk-off 2-run single in 7th inning)
Steve Julian (1-for-2, Walk, 2 runs)
Game Summary/Notes:
Was there a problem or something you guys didn't enjoy about just
blowing everyone out of the water like we did during the season?
These two games took a few years off of my life. This was the 2nd
game in two hours that we won in the 7th inning. Unlike the first
game of the night, we were the home team in this game, and won it on a
walk-off 2-run single by Jeff Schaeffer which came with the bases loaded
after singles by Metcalfe, Engle and Gabrielli.
This game was close from start to finish...
After T1: Flanagan's 1-0
After 1: Giovanna's 2-1
After T2: Tied 2-2
After 2: Giovanna's 4-2
After T3: Tied 4-4
After 3: Still tied 4-4
After T4: Still tied 4-4
After 4: Giovanna's 5-4
After T5: Flanagan's 7-5
After 5: Tied 7-7
After T6: Still tied 7-7
After 6: Still tied 7-7
After T7: Flanagan's 8-7 (thanks to a solo homer)
After 7: Giovanna's 9-8!
Now THAT was one hell of an exciting game!
Pete Gabrielli has now reached base seven consecutive times:
Single, Double, Walk, Home Run, Single, Double, Single.
Scott Metcalfe played a VERY good defensive game in left-field in these
2 games.
Flanagan's mustered only 11 hits in 7 innings - 6 of those by their #3
and #4 hitters. |
Stars of G#1, Thu, 9/06/01
@Baer Park, 7:15 p.m. vs. Steelers (Div.III)
(Win 13-12)
Play-Off record after game:
3-1
|
Jeff
Tantum
3-for-4,
2 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Pete
Gabrielli
2-for-3,
Walk, Double,
1 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Chris
Mal
2-for-3,
1 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Honorable
Mention:
Steve Julian (2-for-3, Sac-Fly, 2 RBI including a go-ahead RBI
single in the 7th, 1 run)
Dickie Delp (2-for-3, Sac-Fly, 2 RBI, 2 runs)
Jeff Schaeffer (2-for-4, double, 2-run single in 7th)
Chris Hunter (2-for-4, triple, 2 RBI, 1 run)
Scott Metcalfe (2-for-3, 1 run)
Mac Ziegler (2-for-3)
Yeah, I know, my 2-for-3 wasn't any better than anyone else's
2-for-3. If you want your picture on the Internet, make your own
website. Hahaha.
Game Summary/Notes:
OK, this was better. 20-for-37 (.541) as a team. .541 is
a solid above average performance, but I think this was made even more
impressive performance because it was spread throughout the
line-up. 9 out of 11 starters had two or more hits. 8 out of
11 starters drove in at least one run.
You guys are going to give me a heart-attack though. We made this
game interesting by waiting until the last two innings, scoring 3 in the
6th and FIVE in the 7th to come from behind to win 13-12. We were
the away team since we finished 2nd to Steelers during the regular
season, and entered the 7th inning down 12-8...
Single by Metcalfe
Double by Engle
Walk by Gabrielli
2-run Single by Schaeffer
RBI Single by Delp
RBI Single by Tantum
Great grab on a line-drive to RF by Hunter for an out (if the guy
doesn't catch it, it's a HR)
Sac-Fly by Barzd to tie the game
RBI Single by Julian to put us up 13-12. |
Stars of Tue, 9/04/01
@Angelica Hardball, 7:15 p.m. vs. Gilbert's Furniture (Div.III)
(Win 14-2 in 6 innings)
Play-Off record after game:
2-1
|
Jeff
Schaeffer
4-for-4,
Double,
3 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Pete
Gabrielli
3-for-3,
Walk,
1 RBI, 3 runs
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Dickie
Delp
3-for-4,
3 RBI
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Honorable
Mention:
Scott Metcalfe (2-for-3, 2 runs)
Game Summary/Notes:
I'm starting to think that we played SO well in the first half of
the season, that I got a bit spoiled. Outside of the last game of
the regular season - which was against a Division IV team, so does it
really count? - I can't remember the last time I did the stats and
concluded that we hit really REALLY well.
Thanks to an impressive 6th inning we scored EIGHT runs to blow the game
open, this game could be considered a mediocre hitting
performance. Yes, we 12-runned them, and 19-for-36 (.528) is OK I
guess, but we had just two extra-base hits and those were doubles.
And prior to the 6th inning, we were a sub par 11-for-26 (.423).
Thankfully, Gilbert's was offensively inept and scored only 2 runs the
entire game. Despite that, the score was 2-1 Gilberts going into
the bottom of the 4th, after which we scored a whole 2 runs to jump
ahead 3-2.
For Gilbert's: Jarred Sadlowski was held hitless (0-for-3) which
was huge. Gary Lloyd who said he loved my pitching and always hits
me well - and also told me it doesn't matter who is pitching in Slow
Pitch (wrong, wrong, wrong!) grounded back to the mound and flew weakly
to left-center. Chad Shrawder was 0-for-2. |
Stars of Thu, 8/30/01
@Baer Park, 6:15 p.m. vs. Moyer's (Div.III)
(Lost 18-14 in 8 innings)
Play-Off record after game:
1-1
|
Dave
Engle
3-for-3, Walk,
Sac-Fly,
2 RBI, 2 runs
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Chris
Hunter
2-for-3, Walk,
2 RBI, 1 run
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Pete
Gabrielli
2-for-4,
Home Run,
4 RBI, Sac-Fly
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Honorable
Mention:
Chris Malinowski (2-for-3, Walk, Double, 1 run)
Jeff Tantum (2-for-4, Home Run, 3 RBI)
Dickie Delp (3-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 run)
Game Summary/Notes:
If you looked up "Let them hang around too long" in the
baseball dictionary, you'd see a picture of this game...
After 1: Giovanna's 5-0
After 2: Giovanna's 7-2
After 3: Giovanna's 7-2
After 4: Giovanna's 10-4
After 5: Giovanna's 13-7
After 6: Giovanna's 13-12
...G.L. Evans scored 2 more in the top of the 7th to finally take the
lead 14-13. A Sac-Fly by Dave Engle scored Jamie Schiesinger (who
pinch-ran after a double by me-me-me-me-me) to tie the game 14-all.
That's when it got ugly...Top of the 8th: Single (that should have
been fielded), Error, Single, Single, F7, Double, F4, Single (with
running out trying to score - yet another assist for Jeff
Schaeffer.) G.L. Evans scored FOUR runs in the top of the
8th. Giovanna's went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
After getting only 27 hits in our last two games COMBINED and winning
both, we actually had 22 hits in this game alone (22-for-44 which still
isn't that great actually), but lost.
Sorry guys...Pitching and defensively I really felt like I let everyone
down this game. I'm not going to miss this feeling next
year. (If it's any consolation, I have given up more than 8 runs
in a game only TWICE before this since mid-July.) |
Stars of Tue, 8/28/01
@Baer Park, 7:15 p.m. vs. Moyer's (Div.III)
(Win 3-2)
Play-Off record after game:
1-0
|
Pete
Gabrielli
1-for-2, Walk,
Safe-on-Error,
Double
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Chris
Hunter
2-for-3,
Run Scored
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Mac
Zeigler
1-for-2, Walk,
Knocked in 1st
run in the 7th
(Click on photo for
a larger picture) |
Honorable
Mention:
Dave Engle (2-for-3)
Game Summary/Notes:
This game was definitely a nominee for weirdest game of the
year. We were actually SHUT-OUT going into the 7th inning.
Moyer's scored 1 run in the 4th on 3 singles. The score was
actually 1-0 going into the 7th before Moyer's scored their second run
in the top of the 7th on a solo home run.
We left runners on base EVERY single inning thru the 6th:
1st inning - runner on 3rd with 2 outs
2nd inning - runner on 1st with 1 out
3rd inning - runner on 1st with 2 outs
4th inning - runner on 2nd with 1 out
5th inning - runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs
6th inning - runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs
...until finally in the BOTTOM of the 7th Giovanna's strung together
five singles without making an out to win the game THREE-TO-TWO!
Dickie Delp, Chris Hunter and Jeff Schaeffer all singled to load the
bases. Mac Zeigler singled to knock in one run. A bloop
2-run single ended the weakest hitting Slow-Pitch softball game of the
year.
As a team we were a paltry 11-for-29 (.379), and a horrific 6-for-24
(.250) thru 6 innings. Three people were hitless, five people had
just one hit, and only three people had two hits. |
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