CI Softball - '99 Season News

This page is for all team news, game summaries and highlights, and new information on anything else remotely related to our team or of interest to our players. Check for updates every week or so, all year round.

Oct-22-99 (updated 3:21pm)

Yet another stat page released today

Just for fun, I created a 1999 Season Record vs. Opponents page. There's a minor discrepancy in the "Runs For" column that I cannot really fix without the original game scoresheets...which LaRue has.

Oct-21-99 (updated 9:21am)

And the 1999 Golden Razor winner is...

...Paul B., who's overall batting average was .626, just edging out Larue's .625. See the details on the '99 combined stats page. Paul probably will not be playing with us next season since he wants to stay married. But hopefully we will see him at Winter Meetings 2000, so he will get the neck-down dry shaving he's got coming.

Oct-15-99 (updated 10:00am)

Century finale split; 17-16 Loss to Rebels II, 23-22 Win over Budget Painting

Game Notes
I'll take the heat for blowing that 1st game against Rebels II. With 2 runners on in the bottom of the 7th, I pitched to the guy I should have walked. I gave him a pitch right down the middle, instead of something way inside. He hit a gapper that gave them the 2 runs they needed to win. I should have listened to Mark C., who made his 2nd appearance of the year and played some excellent short stop. Our 2nd game against Budget Painting worked out a little better. There was a counting mistake on the scoresheet, so we actually won the game 23-22...a little closer than we thought. Moe said they had problems with my pitch selection all night. Mark C. and Dale each went 5 for 5 in that game. Both were good games, and it was a real nice finish to an enjoyable season.

Etc.
Mark W. showed up with two cracked ribs and played long enough for Dale to arrive, to ensure we didn't play short handed. Now that's dedication....Mark C. spent a roll of film out there last night, so we'll finally have some updated pictures on the webpage. Bummer that we where missing a few players who won't be in the photo shoot. Look for the pics in the coming weeks....Also watch for the combined season stats and 1999 Golden Razor winner in a few days....Softball City's official standings has us finishing at 14-11. That's wrong (we're 11-12), but I'm willing to let LaRue hang his hat on it for the Winter. Rue did another fine job of keeping the team going, and if you didn't do it last night, make sure you say thanks the next time you see him....Winter Meetings is a go this year, so keep checking this page periodically for details....We will also be resuming our monthlyTeam Roundtable Luncheons soon, so again keep an eye here for updates during the Winter....There's a new entry on the Guestbook today...By my estimation, our next game will be in about 181 days....

Oct-10-99 (updated 9:39pm)

Final night's game times

Tonight's team email concerning our last games of the season
Doubleheader, 9:00 and 10:15 diamond 9, this thursday, October 14th. Opponents unknown at this time.

Please respond. LaRue will be calling me on tuesday to check who replied.

Thanks.

Oct-8-99 (updated 2:19pm)

23-17 Loss to RT Tavern, 30-24 Loss to Budget Painting

Game Notes
Softball City did their semi-weekly scheduling screw up, so we wound up playing the same teams that we played last week. This time, we managed to hang with the ogres of RT Tavern, and at least kept the score respectable. We actually had a chance to win it in the final inning, but instead we...um...punted. Budget Painting, whom we mercied last week, had a nice 16 run 5th inning to burn up the clock and beat us 30-24. We pretty much handed them that game with throwing and fielding errors.

Etc.
Next week's game(s) will be announced on Sunday evening, after the Lions game. I'll email you and post the details on this page. We took a vote and decided that if SBC trys to make us play 3 games, we'll refuse to play the 3rd game and take a forfeit if necessary. I want to be a fly on the wall of that conversation....Mark W.'s hand is fine, but his chest was pretty sore from taking a ball off it last week. That's why he wasn't there last night...Somebody please tell Carl to top off the tank before coming to the park next week ;)

Sep-30-99 (updated 12:18pm)

29-17 win vs. Budget Painting, 38-17 loss to R.T. Tavern

Game Notes
In spite of Budget Painting using at least 4 non-rostered players from Dick O'Dowds, we mercied them anyway. We had a great 3rd inning, scoring 20 runs and going through the lineup 2 and 2/3rd times. We were losing 11-1 at the time and only played 4 innings so this one qualifies as a nice comeback win. They had a few loud mouthed assholes, so this one felt pretty good. R.T. Tavern on the other hand, fielded at least 5 class B players, and smacked 8 or 10 balls over the fence. In my opinion putting that number of B players out there is a really low-class scumbag thing to do. Most of their players didn't even know each other. And these guys had no shortage of assholes either. Their first game of the night against Swingers nearly resulted in a fist fight. I hope Lewis Tire punks these guys out with a roster protest if RT overtakes them in they standings. WTF do they even have a class system if there's no enforcement? They might as well just call it an open league. At least then you won't be too suprised when someone pulls out a team full of ringers.

Etc.
Mark W. was hit on the finger last night, and it sure sounds like it was broken though Mark may not realize it...We might have a tripleheader in the next week or two. I'm getting too old for that crap. I won't mind if we tell SBC that we won't play 3 games.

Sep-24-99 (updated 12:07pm)

Another doubleheader split; 27-11 Loss to Rebels II, 30-17 Win vs. June's Bugs

Game Notes
Okay, let's just say that the first game against the Rebels II was not very good. In fact it was worst game I've ever personally been associated with. In the 2nd game we woke up and hit the ball very well, and managed to pull our fingers out of our asses and started fielding. Gerry N went 5 for 5 in the 2nd game and pulled out in front of the team hitting stats. Jeff went yard twice last night for his first two dingers of the year.

Etc.
This is very important; Softball City rescheduled next week's game times to 9:00 and 10:15, same diamond, same opponents....Dave H. showed up on crutches to hang with us. Good thing he missed the 1st game :)...Dale G hosted a post game gathering at his house after the game last night. Thanks Dale!

Sep-17-99 (updated 5:44pm)

19-14 Loss to Swingers

Game Notes
We blew an early 9-0 lead to the Swingers primarily due to too many very untimely errors. Errors committed with two outs probably cost us at least 5 runs. Our hitting petered out after the 2nd inning's 9 run rally, and we only scored 5 more times in the 5 remaining innings. This is the kind of game that really bugs me, because we really should have beat them. Mark "The Human Vacume Cleaner" Cunningham made his first start with the team this season, and played flawless ball at shortstop...and saw a lot of action at that.

Etc.
Mark C. will be playing a few more games with us this season, but he won't be out next week...There's a new entry on our Guestbook from a fast-pitch player here in Michigan...Softball City "corrected" the standings, crediting us with too many wins this time. We're not saying anything about it. They have us in 4th place...Sorry about the late update this week; The baby is sick and I had to cut out of work early to help the Mrs. take care of her.

Sep-14-99 (updated 3:18Pm)

This week's first game at 9:00pm has been cancelled

GE Sneakers has apparently dropped out of the league. So we only have one game to play this thursday, at 10:15pm on diamond 7.

ESPN is reporting today that the quitter Barry Sanders will return the money he stole if the Lions release or trade him. I still stand by my prediction that Barry will return for one more season with the Lions. But I'll add "if he returns at all". NO WAY IN HELL will Lions management let him get the all-time rushing record in another team's uniform. They'd sooner eat the money and let him rot in retirement (at least, that's what I'd do).

Sep-10-99 (updated 9:12am)

Doubleheader losses to archrivals

Game Notes
We met the Mariners for the first time in several years. That game started out like it was going to be a pretty ugly loss. But our hitting started coming around in the the middle and late innings...Not enough however, as we lost 21-15. Once again, we came pretty close to beating the Loud-mouthed cronic complainers, Lewis Tire. Those guys whine about practically every play that doesn't go there way. Losing that one 21-17 put our overall record against them at 1-5. Paul B. went an impressive 8 for 8 last night.

Etc.
LaRue talked to Softball City about our incorrect won/loss record, and was assured they would correct it. So we're pretty sure we will have a triple header at some point...Our next game is against GE Sneakers, who hasn't actually shown up in nearly a month. So we'll call SBC this week to confirm whether we should actually show up at 9:00 next week. I'll email you all with the info and post it on this page. We will be playing the 10:15 though...I hope to get Mark Cunningham out before the season is over so we can get an updated team picture taken. If possible I will email and/or call everyone and request everyone wear their jersey...Call me or Malloy if you want to go to the Dally in the Alley party at Wayne State U. tommorow evening.

Sep-2-99 (updated 7:36pm)

Tonights games have been cancelled

It seems that the 100+ year old Michigan State Fair caught Softball City by suprise this year. It would have been nice if they told us that before I gave my Lions tickets away. There's no word on whether the games will be made up at a later date.

Aug-28-99 (updated 5:31pm)

Dave's status

Dave has a partially torn achilles tendon. He is having out-patient surgery this week. Then he'll be in a cast for 3 months. The doctor said he could forgo the surgery and just wear a cast, but then he'd have a 40% chance of reinjuring it. With the surgery, his recovery will be 100%. So Dave opted for the surgery. I hear his spirits are real good. He wants to continue playing with us next year. And he plans on coming out ASAP to watch us play and drink a few beers.

If we can track down whoever picked up the gameball, I'd like to have everyone sign it and we'll give it to Dave, along with a getwell card or something.

Aug-27-99 (updated 9:57am)

Another doubleheader win; 12-11 vs. Junes Bugs, 18-14 vs. Budget Painting

Game Notes
I would have to say that we're becoming a very gritty and determined team. We played two teams that have mostly beaten us all year long. Our 1999 record against Junes Bugs prior to last night game was 1-1, and against Budget Painting was 0-3 (I told you guys. Maintaining a webpage like this tends to help with the win/loss short term memory). We just keep on chipping away when we're behind. Our outfield played real well with a lot of hustle. The infield was reasonably tight as well, though there were a few glaring errors. Pitching was pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. Dale's dad, Dale Sr. Filled in last night for injured Dave (see below), and went 2 for 2 performance which included an in-yer-face-and-over-yer-head-for-yer-no-respect double.

On an extremely down note, Dave H. pulled or tore his achilles rounding 2nd base. No doubt he's going to be out for the season. That is a huge loss for us. Let's hope he can recover fully and return to play with us next spring. Let's also hope that Mike and Tom (whose ankle is now healed, according to Carl) can start to make it out regularly.

Etc.
An original 1982 player, Pat McArthy, is moving back to the Detroit Area. We think we can convince him to rejoin the team next season provided he lives close enough and his schedule permits... The annual Dally in the Alley back-to-school party at Wayne State should be coming up on September 11th. A small number of players attend every year. Let's try to make it a larger number because it's a lot of fun.

Aug-20-99 (updated 9:39am)

Doubleheader wins last night

Game Notes
We beat the Swingers in a come from behind 22-12 game. In the 3rd inning we were down 10-1, but by the 5th we were ahead 18-12. The Swingers just sort of tanked with their hitting, especially after our hitters got going. Our defense played pretty well last night. Dave H. finally launched one out last night, confirming all our suspicions that he has that kind of power. It was good to see everyone on the team there last night (except Tom who's still injured). We play much better when everyone shows. Ever notice that? Our 2nd game of the night against Sneakers GE was a forfeit win for us. They only had 7 players, and lost their 1st game pretty badly.

Etc.
The balance of our schedule is now online....Softball City's scheduling screw up of July 22nd has not been corrected in the standings. We still have one more loss than we should, and probably someone has one too many wins. I told you that was going to happen. Unbelievably poor league management, but it's come to be expected because we're so used to it from SBC....I work with Jocko Hughes' daughter-in-law. Jocko is the Lions security guy, and confidant of Barry Sanders. Anyway, I'm hearing now that Barry may be back before the end of this season, despite recent reports in the media otherwise.

Aug-13-99 (updated 9:06am)

Losing skid continues with 17-11 loss to Dez Nuts

Game Notes
Our hitting was a little better last night. Or in other words, it sucked only a little less than our last three games. We had to fill out our lineup with a last-minute addition to the lineup, otherwise we'd have played short again. Dez Nuts was yet another of those teams that you just know you can beat handily if even half the team is hitting. Our infielding was somewhat shaky again last night, but nonetheless better than it was last week.

Etc
I got it wrong last week; Tom is on crutches (ankle injury), and Mike is healthy...We added our fill-in player from last night to our roster, since we've had a little attendance problem...Tuesday marked the 4th year that this website has been online. As you may already know, ours is one of the very first slo-pitch softball sites on the net.

Aug-6-99 (updated 9:08am)

Doubleheader losses; 19-7 loss vs. RT Tavern, 21-9 Loss vs. Lewis Tire

Game Notes
With 3 of our 4 regular infielders not showing and one outfielder not showing, we had a pretty difficult time in the infield. The outfield had a very tough time also, as we used 3 outfielders most of the time. Playing 9 players hurt us, big time. That's no excuse for only scoring 16 runs in two games though. It was very disappointing because we've beaten both of these teams in the previous season, and I was really looking forward to playing Lewis Tire with our newly revamped infield.

Etc
A big "thank you" to LaRue for having us all over to his house for a BBQ after the games last night...In case you're wondering, my leg feels great. I thought I'd be hurting big time after taking that line drive off the calf last night, but I'm walking just fine and there's very minimal discomfort...Mike A. is on crutches after injuring an ankle in a tournament last week; that's why he wasn't there last night. And Mike was Tom's ride....We'll be getting on the horn this week to see WTF happened to Paul, and try to arrange transport for Tom if he needs it.

Jul-30-99 (updated 9:54am)

Doubleheader split; 23-4 win vs. June's Bugs, 19-4 Loss Vs. Budget Painting

Game Notes
All you can really say about the 23-4 win against June's Bugs is it was a complete shelling. The 16 run 5th inning was brutal. Everyone hit very, very well. And then came Budget Painting. They scored 10 runs in the first inning. For some reason our hitting just stopped. Budget hits the ball very well but if you take away their one big inning, they were pretty unspectacular. Yet we only mustard 4 runs, and never mounted much of a come back attempt, except purhaps for our 3 run 4th inning. I think it's interesting to note that in the Spring Season June's Bugs beat us 13-9, and Budget Painting also beat us, but only by one run and 3 runs.

Etc.
A few of us are going out to Liberty Park on Saturday to watch the Men's Major NIT tournament, contact Malloy or me if you want to go....Our old rivals the Mariners are in our league, but no game is scheduled with them yet...After next week's game LaRue plans on having the team over to his house for a cook out, so plan on it...This Barry Sanders retirement thing smells real funny to me. I think he'll be back no later than next season. He may not finish out his career in Detroit, but I think he'll play at least one season here and capture the all-time yardage record in a Lions uniform.

Jul-23-99 (updated 9:31am)

Softball City screws up again as last night's game gets rescheduled w/o telling us!

Here's what happened: Softball City called LaRue's old phone number (which now belongs to his ex wife) and left a message (on Wednesday?) that our doubleheader at 8:20/9:30 has been changed to a single game at 6:00pm. Note that for our first games of the summer, they did indeed call his new number. Rue gets a call at about 7:00pm last night from SBC, asking WTF we were, and if we don't want to play anymore they have a team that will! Rue goes off on them, and SBC admitted they must have made a mistake. So our 6:00pm game of last night will be rescheduled, and next week's games are on the Summer 1999 Schedule. How much you want to bet the standings are now forever messed up?

We apologize to any player that may have shown up at 8:20 last night. Getting word at 7:00pm made it tough to get hold of everyone, so we did talk to a few machines. If you did show, hold onto your player slips, and we will make sure SBC gets you an exchange slip.

On a personal note, I was glad I didn't have to play. I have some sort of a nasty stomach/intestinal bug going on and it has me doubled over in pain every 10-20 minutes or so. Even skipped work today because of it.

Jul-16-99 (updated 9:11am)

Summer season opens with doubleheader wins

Game Notes
The addition of three new guys Tom, Mike, and Dave gave us a much needed improvement in our defensive game. A couple of veteran players commented that last night felt like the old PMP days. I have to agree. Counting Carl's performance, the new players combined for 12 of our 39 runs scored last night. The first game against GE Sneakers started us off in a 6-0 hole, but they only scored 7 more in two innings. We won that game 19-13. The 2nd game against Swingers looked at first like it might be a tough one, since nobody on that team looked any older than 25. And they scored 27 runs in their previous game, 11 runs in their 1st inning. Evidently that was all they could do last night, as we started off with 11 runs in our first at bat, while Swingers didn't score until the 3rd inning in this 20-8 victory.

Etc.
Mike Gaden has removed himself from the roster this half, due to extensive travel plans...All the new guys you saw out there last night indicated their intention to play the entire season with us (Woohoo)...I'll have an updated roster printed out to distribute to players in the next week or two... The Mud Hens outing is this Sunday, leaving from Malloy's at noon if anyone else wants to go; contact someone who's going so we know to expect you.

Jul-11-99 (updated 8:45pm)

Summer season game times

July 15th: 8:20pm diamond 12, 9:30pm diamond 6
July 22nd: 8:20pm diamond 6, 9:30pm diamond 12
Tripled-checked for typos :)

Jul-9-99 (updated 9:29am)

Spring season ends with doubleheader split

Game Notes
For some reason we just can't finish Lewis Tire in the late innings. Down by one in the 7th, we went 1-2-3 and lost 15-14. We did better in the 2nd game 15-12 win against Motor City Molars, but they hit an aweful lot of flyouts. So we finish up the season 7-11.

Etc.
LaRue made a very impressive last-to-first run to capture the Summer Season batting title... Look for still more roster changes in the 2nd half. Gone will be frequent no-shows Harold W. and John R.. Danny will be playing only a partial season. We will probably be adding last night's newcomer Carl, but we're still going to need more players... The fine print in the SBC flyer says next season is all doubleheaders, "14 game minimum schedule, 12 game guarantee". That tells me it's 14 games, but if they run short on money, they'll just add a few weeks to our schedule. Typical SBC B.S....Watch your email for the game times for next week...It's going to cost you more than the $11 LaRue originally told you for 2nd season, so bring some money out next week and please don't make LaRue beg you for it. Managing is hard enough without having to ask everyone 5-10 times for the money.

The Detroit Lions sent season ticket holders a cool collection of screen savers/wallpapers. For a limited time, I've posted a zipped up wallpaper of their 1999 schedule, should you also want to use it for your desktop background. If you want the whole 8.5 MB screensaver set, let me know and I'll send you a copy.

Jul-6-99 (updated 9:10pm)

Position round game times announced

Tonight's Team email:

Our final games for the spring half are this Thursday, July 8th at 6PM diamond 6, and 7:10 diamond 5. Players, PLEASE acknowledge.

Also, We've changed the Mudhens outing to July 18th. Let me know if you want to go.

Jul-2-99 (updated 9:51am)

19-6 Loss to Dick O'Dows, 35-10 Loss to Cross Wrockers

Game Notes
The 1st game against 1st place Dick O'Dow's actually went pretty well, except for the fact that our hitting wasn't there. The 2nd game against 2nd place Cross Wrockers started with a 13 run 1st inning for them...all rocketing hits. We took turns making ugly errors and mental mistakes in that game. The nearest thing to a positive statement I can make this morning is that even if we brought our "A" game last night, we still would have lost to these teams. They hit that well. At least we spent enough time in the field to have a nice view of the fireworks display going in the northwestern sky.

Etc.
Our next game time will be announced in a team Email and on this site next week...The Summer season starts July 15th, and dues will be $11 per player...Danny tells me he may not be able to play Summer season due to his CPA studies :(...We have changed the Toledo Mud Hens outing to July 18th...I wrote Worth an email this week requesting they consider co-sponsoring us, in exchange for a Supercell EST or two. So far no reply...Gerry and Kathy have finally moved. Mike has a new email address. I'll wait until the summer roster is finalized before I get an updated copy to you.

Jun-25-99 (updated 2:24pm)

18-17 Win vs. RT Tavern

Game Notes
Another final inning 8 run rally performance for the good guys! That's 2 out of the last 3 games where we came from behind to win with impressive hitting performances. We were down 17-10 in the bottom of the 7th, but pulled it out with a clutch 2 out hit from Danny. The clouds rolled in and rained on us all night. I was so muddy I had to undress outside when I got home. RT Tavern hit pretty well, but going over the homerun limit by 3 hurt them some (those count at K's, by the way, so I technically struck out 4 batters). Infielding was pretty decent for us last night. Solid, aggressive, smart base running helped us out also. This was an all around good performance for us. Possibly our best game all year. I know it was my personal best...4 for 4, a triple short of the cycle (if I touched 1st on my 1st double, it would have been the cycle), 3 runs scored, 4 RBI's (at least). I cannot recommend the Worth Supercell SS-EST enough.

Etc.
I got a pretty poor response to the team email about our Toledo Mud Hens outing planned for July 11th. By that I mean only 3 players answered; 2 no's (Dale and Mark C.) and one hopeful (Barry D.)...Speaking of Barry, he's still in Chicago, and he's playing ball on 2 or 3 teams; some 16 inch and some 10 inch. I'm not sure I ever saw a 10 inch...Malloy, isn't that those balls the womens teams use? Man, I'd love to hit one of those some time.

Jun-18-99 (updated 10:27am)

25-24 Win vs. Motor City Molars, 30-26 Loss vs. Lewis Tire

Game Notes
In a night filled with horrible officiating, errors, and delays, we scored 51 runs but still managed to lose a game. The 1st game against the Molars was a great come-from-behind-in-the-6th effort. It was nice to see that we never gave up...in both games. In the 2nd game we gave up 12 runs in the final inning but almost came back, scoring 8 runs. That game should have been ours, if it weren't for a game-deciding bad call at 1st with 2 outs, that would have ended Lewis Tire's 12 run inning with 5 or 6 runs. Both games were filled with wild errors by all the teams playing. But again, poor officiating played a major part in last night's games, particularly the last game. The highlights of the evening were Danny's towering homeruns that had to be at least 330 feet or so.

Etc.
It's looking like we'll do the annual Toledo Mud Hens trip on July 11th. Mark your calendar, or contact Malloy, LaRue, or me if that's bad for you; we'll change the date if enough people would otherwise come if we changed the date...Larue has moved into his new digs near Softball City and tells us he'll host an after-game get-together after our next early game. We received our updated schedule last night, and it doesn't have any 6pm games, so maybe he'll have us over in the Summer Season.

Jun-12-99 (updated 7:19pm)

Stats updated

Misc. Updates
Sorry about the delay. It seems that Mark W. is our new stats leader, with a .586 average. Good for Mark...but then again, shouldn't at least one or two of us be over .600?...I was wrong yesterday when I said nobody was better than 2 for 4 because Paul B went 3 for 4 last game....Please take a look at the Toledo Mudhens website and get a date in mind if you want to go to the annual mudhens trip...I yanked 3 or 4 sites off our links page this week since they removed their link to us. Jim's Softball Page, Softball.com, and a couple of others were purged...Our newest fan now has a modest website.

Jun-11-99 (updated 10:30am)

13-8 Loss vs. Junes Bugs

Game Notes
8 runs scored kind of says it all. The best hitting performance was 2 players going 2 for 4. Just about everyone else went 1 for. Fielding again was marginal, with a few severe mental mistakes and misplayed outfield flys. Junes Bugs didn't have any decent hitters past the number 5 batter, and yet they performed better than us and deserved the win.

Etc.
Next week we hope to have a couple of class B ringers joining the team. Both of these guys are infielders and can hit pretty well too. If it happens everyone can expect to AH a little more than usual in order to sqeeze them into the lineup...My stats spreadsheets are at home so I cannot update the stats page until tonight, so check back this evening...Some of us are planning on spectating at the Men's Major NIT tournament coming up soon at Liberty Park, and we're also thinking about weekends for the annual Minor League Baseball road trip to either Toledo, or Lansing to see the Lugnuts. Links to these teams schedules will be put up tonight, and I'll probably send out a team email this evening also.

Jun-4-99 (updated 11:34am)

Loss vs. Budget Painting, Win vs. Rebels II

Game Notes
We really should have won both of these. We blew a 3 run lead in the 7th, giving up nine runs to Budget Painting. Too many unearned runs and critical fielding errors. The 2nd game vs. Rebels II was somewhat better, but still the fielding errors persisted. The Rebels were not particularly good hitters, with perhaps only one player with any considerable power. Only one guy seemed to do their outfielding, covering 3/4th of the outfield with circus catches. Last night's highlights were probably Dale's outstanding over the shoulder running catch in right field, and my handling of the Rebel's power hitter; in a bases loaded 2 out situation, I messed him up with my pitch selections and got him to bounce out in the 6th inning.

Etc.
The stats page is now completely up-to-date, as the May 20th doubleheader scoresheets have been added to the stats...OK, will someone please tell me why does Mark W. manage to have 8 walks when many guys have one or less? Could it be some of us are not selective enough? I think so...Next week's opponent is June's Bugs who are one of the top teams in our league. Please arrive with your "A" game...Those of us who mingled at The Upper Deck Lounge after the games last night were treated to what I think was the best softball game I have ever seen. Two Metro Majors women's teams played absolutely flawless softball. Only a few outfield flys dropped for hits, not a single error anywhere, outstanding defensive and offensive efforts. Turned out one team was the USSSA National Champion, and the other was the USSSA World Champion. Very inspiring softball. It would have been nice if everyone on our team had been able to stay and watch.

May-28-99 (updated 10:29am)

Another ugly loss, this time to the Mechanics 20-4

Game Notes
The Mechanics are definitely a very good team...but 4 runs? Sheesh. Only two players batted more than twice. The game started promising, where we jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the 1st inning with a couple of homeruns. But that was it for the offense. Defense was even worse, except perhaps for some nice plays by Paul in left field.

Etc.
The stats page is updated, but still does not include last week's doubleheader data. I'll get the scoresheets from LaRue sometime before next week's game and update then...We were in 9th place of 12 teams before last night's games; not good...I don't know about you guys, but I'm pulling for the Dallas Stars to beat Colorado. I hate Patrick Waah. I was figuring on the Wings winning the Colorado series, and then going on to play Dallas in a 7 game pick 'em series. Dallas is due, and deserves to go to the finals, even though I hate "Psycho" Eddie Balfour as much as Roy.

May-22-99 (updated 12:02pm)

Double header losses last thursday

Game Notes
Obviously I cannot comment on the games since I was not there. I understand it was pretty ugly, and the final scores where both mercy decisions. Here's Malloy's analysis:
I think I can describe it in two words "We sucked". We didn't field and we didn't hit. Sort of reminded me of the avalanche wings series, nothing went right for us and everything went right for the other team. We have to catch the ball and after make the right play, in other words think about what your going to do with the ball before the ball is hit to you not after.

Etc.
The stats will not be updated until I get the scoresheets from LaRue; We're both real busy this week, so you'll probably have to wait till next friday.

May-19-99 (updated 9:47pm)

Birth Announcement!

Julie, Elizabeth, and I are very pleased to announce that Christina Katherine Hiotaky was born this morning at 11:26am, tipping the scale at a healthy 8 pounds, and measuring 20 inches.

All toes and fingers are accounted for, and I'm happy to say she seems to favor sucking on her left thumb.

May-14-99 (updated 10:29am)

20-8 Win vs. Swingers

Game Notes
In my opinion that was our best all around game in over a year. Hitting was great, fielding was much, much better than I've seen it in a while. John R. at 2nd played very well, and was awarded the game ball. Another performance like that will probably earn him a permanent position somewhere on the horn. Danny and Harold each went 4 for 5 scoring 3 runs apiece. Paul in left field displayed an awful lot of hustle, and his aggressive fielding made many a base runner think twice about taking the next base. Gerry did a good job at his first pitching appearance of the season, walking none and recognizing early on that the Swingers were swinging at almost every pitch.

Etc.
When's the last time our stats looked this damn good? Averaging 17 runs per game is generally an excellent way to compete for 1st place...Yeah I was wrong, the Wings won't do it in 5, but Malloy was more wrong with sweep prediction...I'll revise mine now with the Wings in 7 on the observation that the home ice is a disadvantage...I will probably miss my first softball game in over 2 years next week, as the Mrs. is scheduled for induced labor next wednesday...During the pregame confusion 3 players paid up their 11 bucks; Malloy, Dale and ???. Please message me if you were the 3rd person because I don't remember who it was.

May-7-99 (updated 6:34pm)

Doubleheader wins vs. Lewis Tire and RT Tavern

Game Notes
Both of these games boiled down to who made the fewest errors. Lewis Tire looked like they had a couple of guys that were in their 60's. They started the game with 7 players, and we actually did not score a run until the 4th inning, when their 8th and 9th players showed up. We won that game 17-11. In the 2nd game against RT Tavern we hit a bit better, though our fielding demonstrated a big need for some infield practice. We won that game 21-12.

Etc.
LaRue's probably going to call a mandatory practice for next weekend, I think he said Sunday...Our stats indicate only two players are hitting below .500 right now...We have our schedule online now... next week game is at 9:30pm (not 7:10 as I erroneously reported earlier today)...My Wings/Avs prediction: Wings in 5.

May-3-99 (updated 9:48pm)

This week's game times (doubleheader)

Game times for May 6th
6:00PM diamond 9
7:10PM diamond 8

Stats updated
You'd think it be the first place I'd check. I found the missing scoresheet from last week's 2nd game against Budget Painting in my car...in the trunk. Duh. So the stats are updated now. If you think your personal stats look wrong, it's because they probably are. Budget's scorekeeper did a lovely job of coloring in the little diamonds but didn't record much else. Walks, errors, and hits all looked alike so I had to tally them all as hits.

Apr-30-99 (updated 10:02am)

Doubleheader losses on opening night

Game Notes
Our first game of the season was a 15-9 loss against the Cross Wrockers. The lack of Spring training on behalf of most of our infield was pretty evident. Not that the outfield didn't mess up a few times too. Fielding generally improved quite a bit as the evening progressed. In the 2nd game game we found ourselves in a deep hole after the first inning but managed to crawl out of it by the 7th inning. But we came up one run short and lost that game too. The best hitting performance of the night probably came from Danny who poked two out. Man, was I glad to see Danny, since it didn't look too promising that we'd see him this season.

Unfortunately I can't give you complete stats today, since I only came home with the 1st game's scoresheet. I do have the first game's stats online though, and I'll try to get a hold of LaRue today for the other sheet.

Schedule
In typical Softball City fashion, we don't have a schedule yet, nor do we even have our next game time. I expect we'll have that by tuesday, at which time you will receive an email and I will also update our schedule page.

Etc.
Looks like we've added Paul's brother John to the roster last night...Dues are $11 per player, please pay LaRue next week if you haven't done that yet...Softball City looked shabby-er than ever last night (no chalked lines, unraked field, several inches of standing water in dugout, etc.)...I may suggest to LaRue that he contact the Michigan NSA office and complain about the chalk situation ('Course that may just put SBC out of business if they can't afford it ;)).

Apr-27-99 (updated 7:57pm)

Thursday's games moved to diamond 11

Our 9 and 10:15 games this Thursday have been moved to Diamond 11.

Apr-22-99 (updated 1:48pm)

Tonight's Games CANCELLED

Rained out
I just called the Field Conditions Hotline (313-892-3210) and evidently they cancelled all games for today and tonight. The recording also said "Next week's games will be the 2nd week on your schedule". I assume that means our next games will be 9:00 and 10:15 on diamond 7 next Thursday.

Apr-20-99 (updated 7:14pm)

Game times scheduled.

Game times
The first four games on our Spring 1999 Schedule have been announced:

Doubleheader April 22nd 6:30PM Diamond 3, and 7:47PM Diamond 7
Next week doubleheader header again, 9:00PM and 10:15PM both on diamond 7

Don't forget, we're playing at Softball City.

Etc.
In case you miss the Jeffy Sighting I posted yesterday, Jeffy Ku. says he misses the hell out of us and wants as many of us to crash...errrr....attend his batchelor party. Check with me or Malloy for details.

Apr-19-99 (updated 5:43pm)

Season update, Site update

Season Update
Practices are done. Our first game will be this Thursday, and the time and diamond will be announced on or after tuesday. An email will go out as soon as we have the info.

Site news
I've moved the 1999 Winter Page to the archives. Changed the color scheme from green to purple, since our new uniforms are gray with purple numbers. Also I've prepared the Spring 1999 Schedules and Spring 1999 Statistics pages, so the're ready to go for friday's update. With all the moving and changing of pages you may find a broken link here and there until I discover them all and correct them.

Links
Here's a rarity for our site; an unreciprocated link has been added to the Michigan NSA. Their site has some technology built in that permits managers to access detailed information about team stats and other info of local interest.

Jeffy sighting
Seems Jeffy Ko. is gettin hitched. Here's a little excerpt from an email he and Malloy exchanged today:
"May 8th and that I'm having a bachelor party within the next couple of weeks and would love it if you guys from the team showed..........My kid brother is the Best Man so if your interested call him and get the details..."

Malloy and I both have the particulars if you're interested in attending the party.

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Created: November 19, 1995 Updated: October 22, 1999