Ball 8: Walk-Off Piece
Jun. 9th, 2006 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfieldJune 7, 2006
Blue Team (4-2)
LOSS, 20-21 (8 innings)
BATTING: 4-5, 2 doubles, 2 runs
PITCHING: 7.2 innings, 21 runs
FIELDING: 7.2 innings, 2 errors (1 bobble, 1 misthrow)
DRINKING: 3 beers
First at-bat: Infield single, sharply hit to third base, R
Second: Ground-rule double down the left-field line, R
Third: double to center, out stretching at third
Fourth: single, cut down on fielder's choice
Fifth: Fly out to deep right-centerfield.
I can think of at least four ways in which it was my fault we lost this game.
1. In their big fourth inning, there was a tailor-made double-play ball hit right to me, but I short-armed the throw to second, pulling my teammate off the bag. No outs recorded; they went on to score at least four more runs.
2. In my third at-bat, I hit a long fly ball into the left-centerfield gap, a home run or at least a triple in most cases. But I had a slower runner in front of me and I was riding her like Willie Shoemaker around the bases. She was heading into third and I was rounding second at maximum horsepower when I picked up the third base coach, who was giving the stop sign. I thought he meant that I was supposed to stop at third, but the sign was actually meant for the lead runner to stay at third and for me to stop at second. By that time it was too late for me to get all the way back and they tagged me out easily. I should have at least forced a run-down. As the leadoff hitter, with the big bats coming behind me, I've got to avoid giving up easy outs like that.
3. No way should I have given up 21 runs to that lineup. In the late innings, particularly, I left a series of pitches up in the zone -- chest high, middle-in, flat and fat -- that were ripped into the outfield. If I had focused a little more, I could have avoided the center of the strike zone and slowed a few rallies.
4. In the top of the seventh inning, up by only two, I came to the plate no outs and a man on first. What I should have done, with the outfielders playing deep, was dump a single into the shallow outfield. Instead I tried to be all heroic and smack the shit out of the ball. I hit it hard and far, but too high; it landed in the centerfielder's mitt.
We ended up scoring no runs in the seventh, and they came back with two runs in their half of the inning. In the top of the eighth we went down without scoring again, and they scored the winning run -- with two outs -- on a walk-off single in the eighth. It was a real gut-punch of a loss.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, my Green Team (Yes, the same green team that had to cancel this week because only six people had nothing better to do) faces this same team next week. Vengeance (or more humiliation) will be mine, hopefully.
Season-to-Date
BATTING: 39 AB, 25 hits (.641 AVG) 9 doubles, 2 triple, 5 HR (1.358 SLG) 20 runs, 18 RBI
PITCHING: 26.2 innings, 78 runs (20.47 RA, per 7 innings; 26.33 RA, per 9)
FIELDING: 43.2 innings, 6 errors
Blue Team (4-2)
LOSS, 20-21 (8 innings)
BATTING: 4-5, 2 doubles, 2 runs
PITCHING: 7.2 innings, 21 runs
FIELDING: 7.2 innings, 2 errors (1 bobble, 1 misthrow)
DRINKING: 3 beers
First at-bat: Infield single, sharply hit to third base, R
Second: Ground-rule double down the left-field line, R
Third: double to center, out stretching at third
Fourth: single, cut down on fielder's choice
Fifth: Fly out to deep right-centerfield.
I can think of at least four ways in which it was my fault we lost this game.
1. In their big fourth inning, there was a tailor-made double-play ball hit right to me, but I short-armed the throw to second, pulling my teammate off the bag. No outs recorded; they went on to score at least four more runs.
2. In my third at-bat, I hit a long fly ball into the left-centerfield gap, a home run or at least a triple in most cases. But I had a slower runner in front of me and I was riding her like Willie Shoemaker around the bases. She was heading into third and I was rounding second at maximum horsepower when I picked up the third base coach, who was giving the stop sign. I thought he meant that I was supposed to stop at third, but the sign was actually meant for the lead runner to stay at third and for me to stop at second. By that time it was too late for me to get all the way back and they tagged me out easily. I should have at least forced a run-down. As the leadoff hitter, with the big bats coming behind me, I've got to avoid giving up easy outs like that.
3. No way should I have given up 21 runs to that lineup. In the late innings, particularly, I left a series of pitches up in the zone -- chest high, middle-in, flat and fat -- that were ripped into the outfield. If I had focused a little more, I could have avoided the center of the strike zone and slowed a few rallies.
4. In the top of the seventh inning, up by only two, I came to the plate no outs and a man on first. What I should have done, with the outfielders playing deep, was dump a single into the shallow outfield. Instead I tried to be all heroic and smack the shit out of the ball. I hit it hard and far, but too high; it landed in the centerfielder's mitt.
We ended up scoring no runs in the seventh, and they came back with two runs in their half of the inning. In the top of the eighth we went down without scoring again, and they scored the winning run -- with two outs -- on a walk-off single in the eighth. It was a real gut-punch of a loss.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, my Green Team (Yes, the same green team that had to cancel this week because only six people had nothing better to do) faces this same team next week. Vengeance (or more humiliation) will be mine, hopefully.
Season-to-Date
BATTING: 39 AB, 25 hits (.641 AVG) 9 doubles, 2 triple, 5 HR (1.358 SLG) 20 runs, 18 RBI
PITCHING: 26.2 innings, 78 runs (20.47 RA, per 7 innings; 26.33 RA, per 9)
FIELDING: 43.2 innings, 6 errors
