SBC - News Page

I inputted the season's two playoff game scoresheets today, so the 2001 final stats are online. Congratulations Mark C. for winning the 2001 Golden Razor Award. The stats include our tournament games, BTW. An interesting point of fact from that page that I just noticed is Mark S. is the only player that played in every game.

I recovered my lost glove the day after our last game. The guys from Top Dawgs did indeed pick it up. They also picked up Danny's glove that day, so I recovered that as well. Damn lucky for Danny I lost my glove, or he'd have never got his back. The guy that had my glove tried to call me, but the phone number on my glove was the old 810 area code, and he (obviously) didn't think to try 248.

No news on LaRue to report right now, other than he's been home from the hospital since Saturday.

This is a quick note for those who check our site regularly but are not on our mailing list. LaRue has been injured from a fall on his job. He has multiple fractured ribs, a punctured (or otherwise injured) lung, reinjured his shoulder, a fractured vertabre, and a fractured skull (base).

While these injuries are serious, my understanding is they are not life-threatening.

LaRue was advising doctors that he has to play softball and stand up in Mark's wedding this week. He won't be doing that.

He's at Detroit Receiving Hospital. His ex-wife hopes to have him moved to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

Recent Games Notes
Well, we've been smacking the ball pretty good lately. Unfortunately, the fielding has be somewhat lousy. We've lost a number of players to retirement (Gerry, Eric, haven't seen Mike around lately either). But we picked up Danny, and he's helped quite a bit.

Schedule Updated
We're definitely playing in the charity tournament for Scott's family tommorow. We Think we have enough players. Paul B. will be making an appearance in the CI uniform, and we have a number of other fill-ins coming. Hopefully.

We also have playoff scheduled for Tuesday October 2nd. If we win enough games, we'll finish up on Thursday. Please check our online schedule for times, and visit this page for updates over the next few days.

Game Notes
Sorry I'm so late with these updates in recent weeks. I just don't have the time at work And with all the losses, the motivation to get it done aint what it used to be.

Anyhow, we did win a game and that's the important thing. Had to do it in the 7th inning with a lot of help from walks, and a timely sac fly by Mark C..

Game Notes
We lost 2 more this week. That's all I have to say about that.

For our friend
The site is black for the month of September in respect for our friend Scott M. of Grillos Grill (Formerly Team Drunk). He and his family were involved in a horrible car accident a few weeks ago. They lost a son, and their other son is in critical condition. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Scott and his family.

There is a charity softball tournament at Liberty Park on September 29th and 30th for them. We are going to try to play. Even if we cannot play, I would like to at least pass a hat at our next game. If anyone from another team reads this, you are encouraged to contact me if you want more information, and I'll connect you with the organizer of this event.

Photo Page Update
I finally added a few of Mark C.'s many photos taken from our stunning upset victory over Regal Lanes in June. I'll probably add more in the coming months. I still have Malloy's Winter Meetings photos to add, too. I'll get to it.

Don sent me an email today noting that according to our printed schedule, this thursday's games (August 30th) are at 8:30 and 9:45.

Don's right. The webpage had these games incorrectly listed as 6:00 and 7:10.

Sorry about that.

I can't do a game notes section this week, obviously. I hear we got mercied in the first game, and lost by 4 in the second game. I also hear fielding was ok, but hitting-wise we couldn't get any sustainable rallies going.

Hopefully, I can get scoresheets from LaRue this week and do the stats.

If you missed the email, Julie and I (Mostly Julie) were busy thursday giving birth to our third daughter, Laura Nicole.

UPDATE 5:05 PM

GAME TONIGHT IS RAINED OUT!!!!

The rainout number they gave us is wrong. The correct number is 810-268-1055. Too bad we figured that out at 5:00pm. I hope LaRue was able to get a hold of the guys he was supposed to call.

Rainout dates are on Friday and Saturday, I just found out. I am assuming that they are not this friday or saturday though. I'll keep you posted.

I have a piece of news I'd like to share, but I'm not sure LaRue wants it out there yet. I'll give you a hint: brewery.

Below is a map to the field for tonight's 6:10 game. The big green block in the middle is Halmich Park. The rainout number is ~~810-268-0155~~, but don't call until 4:30 or 5:00.

FYI Weigand, the other field we will play at next week, is over on 8 1/2 mile (Toepper) between Hoover and Van Dyke. I'll put up that map next week.

It looks like CIHost has finally restored service on our site's server. Just in time, because we have a new league and we're starting up this thursday. The schedule is online right now. I'll have directions to the fields online, and lots of other important info for you guys who missed practice, with my next update. Check back here on monday or tuesday, or call LaRue or myself.

LaRue has signed us up for the doubleheader league in Warren. The fields are at (about) 13 Mile and Mound, so technically it's a shorter drive for west side players than Liberty Park was. Here's the details:

12 games total (a six week schedule?). This does not include a 2 game elimination playoff in which all teams participate.
It's class C. If two more teams sign up in the next week or two, we will be placed in the C-lower division. Otherwise, there's one class C league and we'll play in it.
LaRue has paid our entry in full, and he needs 40 bucks per player ASAP.
Before we can play Every player on the roster must have filled out some sort of registration form, or they won't be playing.
You will have the opportunity to pay LaRue and sign your form this Thursday at a manditory practice in Livonia at 6:00PM. You must attend.
If for some cataclysmic reason you don't make it to practice, you will have to make arrangements to get over to LaRue's house and sign the form (and pay him). The registration stuff must be submitted to the league a number of days before our first game, so you can't put it off until our first game.
Our first game is August 16th. More details will be posted later.
Our Liberty Park game for this Thursday has been cancelled.
Though Jeff G. has officially retired, we continue to play as Creative Impressions for the rest of the year.

Jul-20-2001 (updated 11:11 AM)

26- -12 loss to some team claiming to be Atlas Copco

Game Notes
The more I think about it, the more I think we should have taken the protest victory for all those illegal players they recruited. That's two weeks in a row we let that crap slide.

Etc.
I'll update the stats this weekend. It should only take me about 30 seconds, given half the team only batted once....I've got a CD-full of photos from Mark C. to put on the site, not to mention the winter meetings photos from Malloy. I hope to get around to those this weekend too.

Game Notes
Once again, pretty decent fielding but very poor hitting cost us another opportunity to move ourselves up a couple of spots in the standings. I hope that playing doubleheaders in the Fall will solve the hitting problems, since we hit so much better last year when everyone got 6 to 8 at-bats per week.

Game Notes
Sorry about the late update. I've been away for the weekend.....I checked mycalendar, and August 19th is indeed a Sunday. Are we still on for the Mudhens on that date?.....I got a CD full of pictures from Mark C from the Regal Lanes game, and I plan on posting a bunch of them as soon as I can. I still have some winter meetings pics from Malloy that I haven't forgot about too.

By popular request, over on the Members Only section there is now a screen for team members to upload files. It's there for you to send in pictures that I can post on this site. Or you can send other stuff that you think I/we may be interested in.

Files get dropped into a private area on the site, and have to be reviewed by me before they get posted anywhere. So please send me an email after you upload so I know they're there. Also, keep this in mind; you're only going to be able to successfully transmit files that can be sent within 90 seconds (your browser's default timeout period). So if you're on a fast connection, you can send larger files than someone on a 56K modem. If your on DSL or T1, you can probably send 5 to 10MB files. Cablemodems can probably send between 1MB and 5MB, depending on how badly your ISP has throttled your upstream connection. 56K modem? Keep the files under 500kb and they should make it.

After an upload the screen responds with the filename sent, and the filesize. If the filesize equals the filesize of the one you sent, you know it probably made it ok. OTOH, if your browser times out, it might not have got here completely.

Anyway, try it out and let me know when you send stuff so I can look for it.

Game Notes
Quite an impressive defensive effort last night. We held Regal Lanes to no runs through the 5th inning, turned 2 or 3 double plays, and had them strand 9 runners. That was the team that mercied us 14-1 last month. More impressive was the fact that they're the first place team and were undefeated until last night. Our hitting wasn't great, but we did manage double digits ;). Dale played another outstanding game in left, and the infield's performance was flawless.

Etc.
I mentioned this in general at the bar last night, here's the specifics: our record is 9-11 when playing as home team, 20-8 as visitors. My theory on that is when we bat first it's us who usually gets the first lead. When we play catch up, usually induced by our giving up typically 5 or 6 six in the first inning, we have a hard time getting back in the game. There's all sorts of interesting stats, many of which are still undiscovered, over on our Stats program. You have to use the main menu (on the left side of the screen). The Hot Links menu on the right is preconfigured to run the stats for our most recent game...... Please visit the Toledo Mudhens Schedule right now, and identify 2 or 3 July/August Sunday games that you think you can make. Remember those dates, and come out to our next game with those dates in mind. We'll take a quick poll and decide on the date for our annual Mudhens outing. If you won't be at our next game, then please email me or Larue with your choice, and we'll make sure your date is represented.

In a very Softball City-like fashion, Liberty Park did not cancel the games until approximately 6:35. So at least 6 guys that I know of showed up. 5 of us hung out at the bar for a few hours, so the night wasn't a total loss :)

I don't know when the makeup will be, but I'm pretty sure it will be a saturday or sunday in a week or two. I'll post it here and email you ASAP.

Game Notes
While the heat for this 6:00 game was absolutely sweltering, hitting was once again our main problem. That and lack of players. We made a couple of fielding errors which probably cost us a good 4 runs, but 9 runs doesn't win many games anyway. That was only E&R's 2nd win of the season, fellas. Perhaps if we had 10 guys showing up we'd have won it.

Etc.
The 9 man lineup has reared its ugly head for a 2nd week in a row, even with Gerry returning. LaRue and Malloy are working on a couple of big guys to add to the lineup.....With player attendance being as bad as it is, LaRue is no longer planning on registering us for that tournament coming up next month. Can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I were him.

Game Notes
Welp, we didn't hit too well last night. And it's hard to be competitive when you're not hitting. Fielding wasn't particularly good either.

Etc.
We only had nine players last night. A few personnel issues have arisen in the last couple of weeks that might actually put us in need of recruiting.....I'm just dragging today and don't have the energy to input last night's scoresheet, so I'll do it some time this weekend.....I'll be sending out an email in the next few days concerning the annual Toledo Mud Hens Trip. I think we're going to solicit each person's vote for their preferred Sunday game, take the top three, and then vote for one and come up with a date.

Game Notes
This was our best all-around performance of the year, and there were good number of players who had outstanding games. Eric and Don both went 4 for 4. Dale went 3 for 4 scoring 4 runs, and filled in with a great effort in left field. We had one of those fairly rare "pitcher's umpire" who allowed high and deep pitches. Both team's pitchers took advantage of it, but I think I did a much better job of throwing bad pitches for strikes. The infield turned 2 (or was it 3?) double plays, and the outfield kept everything in front of them and got the ball in quickly. We did this with 10 players instead of the usual 14.

Personnel
Matt S. is out of the lineup indefinitely due to his knee injury, which we're hearing is probably going to require surgury....Malloy was out of town at his family jamboree down south, and will miss next week's game also....Jeff G. was out, but should be returning next week as far as I know.....Gerry didn't play last night, and I hear he is considering retirement. Huge bombshell. I have to call him.

Etc.
LaRue now has an internet account and an email address, so he'll be emailing everyone with his new address soon. It's also available on our Roster....Don celebrated is 31st birthday last night...with many beers and many base hits :)

Game Notes
Well at least we ended the losing streak. This was a come from behind effort, so we can hang our hats on that too. But still, we should have won this game. There were two or three occations where a single base hit would have won the game for us. Our infield played very well, and Eric had a fine hitting performance.

Etc.
No game next week due to a bye, so we will practice in Livonia, 6:00PM.....Ok, I fixed the problem with the stats. The problem turned out to be operator error. I entered the scoresheet with the wrong date....Please note that Mark W's. email address has changed, and is updated on the Roster.

Game Notes
OMG WTF was that? We've been playing this game for too long to be scoring only one run. Yeah, their infielders played ok, though Malloy wasn't too impressed. Thing is, there's this other type of hit that I've seen other teams do, besides flyballs and grounders. I think the're called "line drives". When the're hit about 10-15 feet off the ground the're almost always a base hit. We should try that some night.

Game Notes
Lackluster hitting and early innings fielding weakness were the cause of this otherwise winable game going into the loss column. It looked to me like a slightly improved version of our season opener loss. Mark W., completely exhausted from overwork during the week, had perhaps the best hitting performance going 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored. Mark C. made a remarkable play at shortstop in a later inning.

Game Notes
Well it sure felt good getting our first win of the season under our belts last night. It was raining more than water in E&R's outfield last night. We broke out the bats and dropped 6 extra base hits on them and 17 singles. Malloy went 4 for 5 with 1 single, 2 doubles, and a triple, upping his average to .850 at 7 for 8 overall. Our Fielding was pretty good last night too, especially the infield, and I think we're only going to get better if we can keep the positions consistent.

Etc.
It sounds like we are seriously considering registering for that class "D" tournament in July (14th and 15th, I think). I don't know how many players have committed at this time.

Apr-20-2001 (updated 10:12 AM)

Season opener 12-6 loss to Butch's Treedogs

Game Notes
Our 19th season began with a 12-6 loss to Butch's Treedogs. Butch's scored 6 of their 12 in the first inning when our fielding was probably at it's weakest. That was probably the reason we lost; we tried to play catch-up the whole game...with weak hitting for all but one inning.

Last night's game marked the return of Mark C. and Jeff G. to the lineup. With those two back, and Don replacing MIA Rocco at third, the infield had a whole new look to it.

Etc.
The Spring Schedule was put online this morning. PLEASE help me out and double check it for errors/typos....I updated the poll today....Just noticed a new entry in our guestbook from Coach Dave....Found the Liberty Park 2000 Rules & Regulations online over at mysportsdetroit.com, a website which co-sponsors a Liberty Park class "C" team AND is put together by a fellow DCI employee.

I finally got around to summerizing the website this morning. The Hot Links margin is updated appropriately, and I've archived the winter's news. I've also put the Liberty Park rainout number over on the left margin under the menu. Thought that might be handy, especially this time of year :) I have a number of other minor updates I want to make, including a new graphic with our updated jersey logo, but those have to wait. I also have 8-10 Winter Meetings photos from Malloy to post.