Lake Calhoun Flying Muskellunge

Practice?

I almost wept tears of joy when I heard several Muskies talking after the game about the desire to practice, to work out of our offensive funk, experiment with bunts and bunt defense, etc.

Well kids, I've been encouraging you all year to go to the Sunday pick-up games at Kenwood Park hosted by Sonia Grover. She is having one more Sunday game this year, and it's this Sunday, Oct. 3, at noon. If you want to get a few more innings in, be there! If enough of us show up, we can play as a team against everyone else. Or not.

Directions: From Hennepin, take Franklin all the way west. It's right there after you pass Lake of the Isles.

Several Muskies have also talked about various strategies we should try, including how we should handle bunts on both sides of the plate. I will write more on the bunting issue, but if you had any thoughts about our latest game, that's what the Comments are for. Just place a comment here. Come on, do it!

Muskies 3, Ctrl/Alt/Del 3

Before our first game this season, Jennifer found a lucky penny in our dugout and told me to keep it. I've never taken it out of the back pocket of my kickball jeans, which I haven't washed either, because, well, if I wash the pants I'll lose the penny.

Are we just incredibly lucky? Or does it take a little more than luck to survive three straight games like these? I lean toward the latter, but we're sure getting our share of miraculous comebacks.

Yet another low-scoring nailbiter for both sides. Yet another last-minute come-from-behind rally. Yet another opponent in scoring position before the final out.

Or maybe that's just our trademark now: We're just holding our triples and doubles back until the final inning. You know, to make it interesting.

Make no mistake, we are in an offensive slump, at least compared with our gorgeous performance in Game 1. We had way too many soft pop-ups. We scored only once through seven innings and had nearly-fatal one-two-three innings in the sixth and seventh. I haven't been on base since August, and I forfeited my right to critique anyone else when I executed a sacrifice RBI with Scott on third in the fourth inning -- with TWO OUTS! I thought there was one. I may have cost us the win right there.

Ctrl/Alt/Del set the table with bunts and got a few of those runners home (but they stranded a lot of runners too, including in scoring position). Meanwhile we struggled for scoring opportunities. In the third inning, Amy led off with a single and took second on a bad throw. Mike singled her over to third base and Jennifer sacrificed her home. Ctrl/Alt/Del 2, Muskies 1.

That was all we had for seven innings, but fortunately we made it such a fast game that we had time for an eighth. After two consecutive hitless innings, we were down 3-1 and we had to dispense with the little pop-ups and start to blow them away, or else we would lose first place. Fortunately, Scott, Jenny and Dave were due up.

And it happened almost the same way as last week: with a triple -- this time a screeching liner from the foot of Scott, which I think the right fielder dropped. Jenny popped out, but then Dave smacked a textbook double up and over the right field line to make it 3-2. I was next, and the pitcher wrongly accused us of going out of order. They were rattled. But I hit a nice hard liner that went straight to the right-side shortstop. Two outs.

There was no more room for outs. Liz and Geoff each singled to load the bases. Finally Amy came through with an RBI single to score Dave and make it 3-3. And again, like last week, we survived runners in scoring position in the bottom of the inning to shut them down.

So we didn't win, but since a tie was all we needed to keep Ctrl/Alt/Del from taking our top spot, I'm very happy. Presuming we can beat last-place Fire Escape next week (and I would never presume anything), or at least hold them under four runs, we should be a lock for number one going into the playoffs. Yay!

Hits: 13-for-37 (.351)
Runs: Amy, Scott, Dave
Left on base: 10 (again)

Player of the game

She put us on the board with the first run, and she brought us back to life in the eighth with the game-tieing RBI -- the last of three improbable two-out singles. That's why Amy gets this week's honors. Thanks, Amy!

Defensive hilites

If you can't score, then you need defense, and I could scarcely be happier with everyone's play in the field. Several great pop-up catches by Geoff, Scott, Scotty, Liz and others. Sarah continued to force 'em and tag 'em in the hot corner. Pitcher Dave threw out a guy who overran third base for a key third out. (It was okay to throw at point-blank range, although Dave probably could have just run him down, since he was way off the basepath.) Dave and I completed a clean 3-1 putout at first base in the first inning. And I added a new favorite play to my scrapbook: I went on my knees to field a roller up the first-base line, then tagged the speeding runner. I held onto the ball, but when I got up the guy was on his back behind first. I was like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. I think he was okay though.

About the only major defensive shortcoming we've had has been beating the bunt. More on that later.

After the game Dave confronted some of the other team's hecklers. Better after the game than during, I guess. Good-natured heckling is part of MUSA kickball, but some of them may have gone too far. One guy's reply was that he was still bitter about that time in June when we hit 10 straight singles to their pitcher -- as if it's our fault that their pitcher couldn't field 10 straight ground balls! I thought I was the only one who actually remembers stuff like that!

Anyway, we made peace, which is good, because they're a good group, and we might face them again in the playoffs. Let's worry about our game, not other people.

Sorry (and thanks) to those who sat out a bunch of innings because we had 14 players. Before the game I had a sit-out schedule worked out, but it fell apart because three people came late due to Bob Dole in town or something. We shouldn't have anymore 7 p.m. games this season, so it shouldn't be a problem again.

We're #1 (so far)

The division standings page has been updated, and look where we are:

Tuesday Night Pac-Man Division	W	L	T	PTS	HR	RUNS FOR	RUNS AGNST	GB
Flying Muskellunge	3	0	0	6	0	22	15	0
Ctrl/Alt/Del	3	1	0	6	0	27	19	0
Grass Kickers	2	1	0	4	1	13	8	1
Blue Balls	1	3	0	2	0	11	19	2
Mighty Milfoil	1	2	0	2	1	24	26	2
Fire Escape	0	3	0	0	0	7	17	3

Take in the glory of these statistics for a second, but don't get too complacent yet. Our primary challenger for the top spot (which affects playoff seeding) is Ctrl/Alt/Del, the team we play tomorrow. They did not get rained out on Sept. 14, so they have played four games and have beaten last-place Fire Escape, whom we don't play until next week. Another potential challenger is Grass Kickers, who seem to have the best defense so far (only 8 runs allowed).

In other words, we need to tie or win tomorrow to maintain our top seed. If we lose, we still have a good chance for a two- or three-way tie for first. But the tiebreaker would be determined by head-to-head matchups and the teams with the lowest numbers in the "RUNS AGNST" column.

The lesson here: Offense wins games, but defense wins the division. We have to be tenacious on defense to keep that number low. Let's beat Ctrl/Alt/Del, but if we don't, hopefully it's a close, low-scoring game. Aw, screw it, someone still needs to hit a homer around here!

Isn't speculating on nonsense fun?

Game 4 preview

Saturday night I had a dream that I saw a UFO, experienced missing-time phenomenon and missed our our next kickball game at 7 p.m. Tuesday 9/28 vs. Ctrl/Alt/Del.

Under the name Dangerous Machines with a different captain, they played with us in the Smurfs Division in the spring. They were previously known as The Lighter Side of Betty Ford and have a lifetime record of 9-16-2.

We played Dangerous Machines twice in a row on June 14 and 21. The first time, it was a meeting of two teams that had not won a game yet. We should have won, but defensive blunders led to a painful 10-6 loss, and their first win of the season. The following game we finally broke through. Here was the legendary inning in which we hit 10 consecutive singles to the pitcher with two outs, scoring 7 runs. I still don't know how we did that, but Jennifer deserves credit for starting it. We ended up with an 8-5 win -- our first.

The important thing is that we finally learned how to win on that day -- it was something we were always capable of, but we just had to do it -- and we haven't lost in four games since. Meanwhile, we have gotten demonstrably better.

The Machines changed their name to Ctrl/Alt/Del and have gone 3-1 this season. They have a slightly different roster and I don't know if we can count on hitting 10 straight singles to the pitcher again (but when in doubt, a hard drive into the pitcher's shins can work wonders). I still want us to practice a strategy of "careful agression," because someday we're really going to need that style of play, but in order to hit for power you also have to keep your eye on the ball.

Oh yeah, and let's keep the acrimony to a minimum. These guys are pretty nice, although one of them mocked us on June 21 when we had our first-victory celebration on the field, which was ironic since they had their own player pile-up one week earlier. That's okay -- here comes the tiebreaker.

Muskies 4, Blue Balls 3

Whew -- another really tight, low-scoring, kinda ugly win. We were rusty after three weeks without a game, but we overcame a lot to get the win and we should be happy. But there was a bit of unnecessary stress on the way to the win. So before the hoorays, let's get that stuff out of the way. Leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this stuff:

- There was too much bad blood on the field for a freakin' kickball game. This was not all our fault, but we should take a slightly higher road. Yes, the umpires tend to doze off and get things wrong, but then only the player involved in a play and the manager (me) should be arguing vocally with the umps. But gently. I just want to have more good, clean fun wins and less scary, ugly ones.

- Some blamed all this on the attitudes of some of the Blue Balls, who were pretty loud hecklers and complainers. I like all of our opponents (even the Ball Stars), but this seemed to be our most contentious match since we tied the Dusty Balls in June. Said Amy, "There you go, any team with 'balls' in their name is not gonna have class." Maybe since Blue Balls were drunker than us, they didn't really care anyway.

- We have a slight female attendance problem this season. In week one, we had the four-girl minimum only at the last second. In week two, I had to draft Amanda and extort an ill Amy to keep us legal. This week, poor Jennifer, who only came to cheer because of a sprained ankle, was forced to play catcher. I mean, geez! What a trooper! But geez. We'll have to figure this out.

- Some of us could still use to go over the rules and the Kickball Ten Commandments.

- There were a lot of frustrations early on, when we should have been blowing the game open. They scored two runs in the first three innings while we stumbled around. I hit a potential double or triple down the right-field line, but it ricocheted off of Patrik's knee while he was standing on first. (It was a reflex action so I understand, but runners should always avoid touching a kicked ball.) Jenny had a potential RBI taken away because she crossed the plate before kicking. I flied out to short with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. (Bad Simon!)

Okay, that's all in the past. Heal, poor Muskies, heal. Now for the good stuff:

Out of this adversity, we finally settled down and got it going. In the fifth, Dave and Scotty led off with singles. I'm a little foggy on what happened next (feel free to correct me), but I think Mike moved Dave and Scotty over to second and third on a sacrifice grounder. Then Jenny must have hit a liner to shortstop for the second out. Dave alertly tagged up on third and slid into home safely as the catcher bobbled the ball above him.

Scotty moved to third, and when the Blue Balls catcher let the ball roll gently away, Scotty super-alertly came home. Beautiful execution by Dave, Scotty, Mike and Jenny to tie the game 2-2!

Blue Balls made it 3-2 in the fifth or sixth inning, courtesy of a hard line drive that I took off of my face. (It didn't hurt, but it was kind of tingly for a while.)

So we had to get it done in the 7th and final inning, and we did, with more great teamwork. Patrik led off with a single, and I moved him over to second by grounding to the pitcher. Then Dave finally delivered the lethal blow: a soaring high liner that dropped into center field. It took a lot of screaming to get Patrik home, but he finally came around to make it 3-3 as the pitcher fumbled the throw to the plate and Dave pulled into third. That's what I'm talking about!

To cap it off, Scotty hit a nice-and-easy sacrifice to the pitcher, who played right into our hands by throwing to first for the out -- allowing Dave to run home and make it 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh Blue Balls got to second and third with two outs before we shut them down.

So there you have it: Four runs on four hits and four sacrifices, with some excellent baserunning. That's the kind of stuff you have to do to win a close game.

Play/Player of the Game

In the second inning, with Blue Balls leading 2-0, shortstop Scotty chased down a baserunner between third and home and drilled him in the back just in time, for the third out. It was the perfect time to throw at a runner in accordance with the ninth commandment, because he had good point-blank aim, he had no other out options, and we really needed to prevent that run. Scotty also scored a run, got the winning sacrifice RBI, and made a running catch of the final out of the game. Thanks, Scotty!

Hits: 14-for-35 (.400)
Left on base: 10 (ouch)
RBIs: Jenny, Dave, Scotty
Runs: Dave (2), Scotty, Patrik

Next game: 7 p.m. Tuesday 9/28 vs. our spring rivals Ctrl/Alt/Del, previously known as Dangerous Machines. We have to umpire the 8 p.m. game.

Play ball!

Here's what the MUSA weatherline says right now:

"It is Tuesday, Sept. 21. All games will be played as scheduled
regardless of rain. If lightning is present on the playfields, games
will be canceled at that time. Otherwise they will be played as
scheduled with the rain."

Nice! See you at 8:30-8:45. The winning team will be the one that shows up more!

The forecast is for a 40-50% chance of rain -- light rain. The Fort Snelling fields have great drainage so they dry up well and don't get all puddly. But in case of lightning, I'd call 612-290-8862 before you leave home.

Let's wear good shoes, stay in the dugout, and get off the field quickly with eight or nine 1-2-3 innings.

Make sure your muskie-buddies are aware of this in case you think they won't be checking the blog.

Game 3 preview, take 2

Our next scheduled game is at 9 p.m. on Tuesday 9/21 versus Blue Balls.

Blue Balls are another veteran team, unless there have been other teams in the past that thought "Blue Balls" would be a great name. (There's one in every town, I'm afraid.) They are a friendly, fun-loving, beer-on-the-field kind of gang with a 2003 record of 6-11. They started this season 1-1, scoring only 4 runs in the first two games. They did play last week, but the result hasn't been posted yet.

So they are beatable, but their main advantage is that we have not played in three weeks. My strategy is similar to the one we would have employed last week against Fire Escape: Go aggressive; just be a little more careful. Work on your power kicking if you want. Someone on this team has to homer first. On pitching, take advantage of their tendency to foul a lot. Follow the defensive commandments.

The forecast for the next 2 days has a bunch of rain in it. It seems possible that Tuesday's light rain will abate by game time, and lightning is not forecast for then, but it's impossible to know yet. We must be ready to field a full team in the event that it goes on.

So, like last week, we'll need to play it by ear, and call the MUSA weatherline at 612-290-8862 if it's unclear. I will also update you late in the afternoon. A second consecutive rainout would be devastating, so focus your psychic energies toward driving the rain away.

Rained out

Hey, you missed a great game on Tuesday. Since the rainout was finally called at 8:10 p.m., hopefully I was the only one who showed up at the field in the pouring rain (all of the 8:00 teams were there though, taking shelter). I parked my car, closed my eyes, and Johan struck out eight. Then I used "Sex and the City" therapy: I went to Nordstrom's Rack and bought the cutest pair of shoes.

Fire Escape really dodged a bullet there; they'll have to wait until Oct. 5 to feel our wrath, I presume, and the playoffs will be pushed back a week. Our next game is at 9 p.m. Sept. 21 against Blue Balls.

What's really annoying is that last Tuesday was perfectly beautiful, but we weren't scheduled because it was Labor Day week. This same situation happened to us around Memorial Day. The league should just schedule games during holiday weeks; I know several of you were jonesing to play.

In related news, the LCFM Kickball Academy in Punta Gorda, Cuba, has closed its doors for the week to recover from a thorough drenching from Hurricane Ivan last weekend. No word yet on how this might affect our spring prospects.

"Defense wins championships"

The league website finally posted the scores/standings in the Pac-Man Division, and we are listed in first place. Technically, we are in second place because of our high number (12) in the "Runs Allowed" category. Half of that figure is the result of one inning against the unpredictable Milfoil, so I expect things will even out soon. But it shows that we have to keep the Runs Allowed number down if we want to contend.