OBI Remains Consistently Inconsistent ,,,

On a Thursday night where 5-3 One Bad Inning had an opportunity to topple two teams ahead of them in the division standings,,, OBI scored one for the good guys with a 20-5 thrashing of 5-2-1 Aero Skeleton Crew and followed that up by handing 7-1 Runnin' Fools three runs in the bottom of the 7th to lose Game 2 by a count of 9-10 ...

Larry continued his banner season with two more excellent games on the mound. He and the defense allowed only 14 runs in 11 innings. As there will be, a few defensive mishaps occurred to go along with a mental mistake or, few,,, setting up the final inning. As with last weeks theme, them's the breaks (although nothing actually broke this week ;~) ) ...

Our Week 4 sub was Ken, he played well (give or take) and was much less annoying that Michael was pissed about the umpires decision to not verbalize illegal pitches when every other frickin' blue at Victory does that. LOL (btw, thanks for putting up with my antics, can promise that I will also feel this bad when it happens again in the future.)

Steven continued his fine season by Walking thrice, although, he did actually make an out this week. For this, he has accepted permanent exile into the outfield. We will get him to shape up, yes we will.

Matt, KC, Spillane and DC continue to work the pitchers as well. The middle of the order is producing runs at a good clip and these gentleman are a big part of the upside of OBI's offensive production.

The rest of the order aren't to shabby either, we are just being consistently inconsistent throughout the order in too many games,,, especially late. To improve on our consistency,,, share the following with your teammates...

1) If you are one of the last to hit in an inning, be one of the following or prepare to be:
     -- 1st Base Coach
     -- 3rd Base Coach
     -- Pinch Runner
*** I suggest you either take a long pull off your beer or if empty, having a trusted peer fly and you buy ...
2) Hustle out of the batters box and on the bases...
3) Reduce Mental Errors (which we already have few of any ways, but I needed a third bullet point here and as three is a multiple of 9 and well, 9 is a special number in the universe, then... But I digress) ...

Let's all work together and encourage each other to improve in each of these three areas. Since we are unable to do as KC suggest ,,, which is get seriously younger ,,, then, I thought this might help ...

Caution: Stats Ahead ...

Them's the Breaks ...

Them's the breaks

American/Australian slang. Possibly short for "that is the breakdown". It means "that's just how it is" or "that's how the cookie crumbles".

Sometimes rendered as "dems...", "those...", etc.

A: "Ah, that's not fair!"
B: "Them's the breaks, dude."

  

One week you score 33 runs in 9 innings at the plate. The next, you can scratch out only 15 in 12 at bats.

Thems' the Breaks ...

For seven innings in a double header, you can score with consistency (15 runs). Over the last 4 innings, you can put up doughnuts and let Game 2 slip away.

Thems' the Breaks ...

Sometimes Jayse lays out for a B E A Uuuu Tee Fulllll Horizontal-Flying type Diving catch. And sometimes, Nuta gets a late jump on a pop up and ,,,

Thems' the Breaks ...

Hope you heal quickly, Chris ...

Stat Line this week: Continued Good Hitting by Matt and J.R.  Both KC and Spillane had exceptional nights at the plate as well. DC was a Single shy of a cycle in our Game 1 win.  And Steven picked up an extra AB due to a lineup adjustment in Game 2 and helped the OBI cause by reaching base all 8 appearances... Nicely done ...

It's Early Season 3,,, But MVP !!! Chants Abound ...

In recent seasons, these chants have been reserved for the offensive juggernaut DC, our lead off men Nuta and Steve, and even for Michael's Top 10 ESPN Defensive plays combined with consistent offensive production. Season 3 has started a bit differently ...

Following a Week 2 doubleheader sweep of Midlife Crisis and Murphy's Law by scores of 20-5 and 13-1, a look at the stat sheet below gives us clues to where Season 3 may lead us,,, and whom might be our MVP ... (hint: or does it?)

The first thing that jumps out at you may be the top 3 Batting Averages. From the Not Your Usual Suspects list we find Clint atop the list at .800. Matt and JR are 2 & 3 respectively at .786 and .714 ... This consistency has been seen in the past, just not all at the same moment in time. This start is excellent, but alone, not ascending them into the MVP scuttlebutt. 

Leading Off, Steve has been consistently on base and has been pushed across the plate 8 times in 4 games. And then we have DC with a 3 HR night in Week 2, atop said category plus RBIs at 10. Expected production from these two,,, not overly excited...

Jayse and Michael have done the job defensively. Jayse laced a walk off single in Game 1 last night to clinch the 4 inning run rule. And Michael's shoulder is once again healthy, allowing him to drive the ball in much improved fashion ... Good, yet nothing to write home about here ...

Hmmm,,, Nuta and Spillane and KC all have missed a week, although were productive during their time on the field... Dean was 7-7 this week, though, he Is just a fill-in... Who have I missed here ...

Oh yes,,, he is 5 for 13 (.385) this season and has walked once (.429 OBP). His 6 runs scored and 2 RBIs do not really lead the team,,,,, HOWEVER, on the mound, Larry has been an Ace. With a solid D behind him, when the teams where not hitting lazy fly balls,,, OBI and Larry gave up 6 runs in 2 games over 9 innings this week. MVP !!! MVP !!! MVP !!!

In four games this season, OBI has given up an average of 7 runs per game. With consistent offensive production and continued Ace pitching performances, OBI looks towards another banner regular season, a possible good seeding, followed by another top flight tournament run. It Could Happen !?!?!!

Season 3 Opening Night Split

1-1 One Bad Inning started Season 3 much like Season 1 with a split against 1-1 Warning Track Power. Actually, OBI has earned a split in Week 1 of each of the 3 Seasons in 2014. This time, I don't think I digressed.

Anyways, two good battles this past week against a good Warning Track Power squad. Game 1 went back and forth with OBI coming out on top 12-10, while Game 2 was lost 9-12 by the virtue of WTP's 8 run first inning.

The top 3 hitters in the order scored 7 of Game 1's 12 runs. Steve, Clint and Jayse were on base 8 of 12 at bats leading the way to OBI's victory. Matt and Spillane each collected 3 hits in the game. The biggest hit came in the bottom of the 6th inning with 2 outs and a 10-10 tie score. Michael lined a Double up the middle driving in 2 runs that held up in the top of the 7th.

As mentioned, Game 2 was all about WTP's bottom of the first 8-run inning. OBI scored fairly consistently from the second inning on but was never able to completely close the gap and fell 9-12 in 7 innings.

OBI scored 5 in the top of the 5th to pull within 2 at 8-10. However, the lack of 2-out production at the plate was costly as we left 14 runners on base in the seven innings at bat. Ouchitty !!! We also hit into 3 force and one double play,,, ok, I am depressing myself ... Prescott was windy but only about 80 degrees this weekend for the 50+ AAA/AA tournament that Larry and I played in with the AZ Legends... Ahhh, that is better ... Now I am really digressing ...


Defensively, the outfield was ravaged by absence and a quad injury to Spillane. Having Michael roam around in RC is not an ideal scenario at his age. 'Nuff Said ...

Steve, here are your,,, errr, the stats...

One Bad Inning Battles yet falls to Coyote Towing in First Round of Season 2 Playoffs ...

The Repeat was just not meant to be... Back2Back eludes OBI... Coyote Towing hauls away OBI hopes for D1 Tourney title...

Oh, the headlines across the country were lyrical, concise, yet accurate. After a slow start to Season 2 given the injuries and Season 1 Championship hangover,,, OBI won 7 of the last 8 regular season games including the final 6 in a row. Our 8-5-1 record tied us for 5th place in the 16 team D1 division and that is where we ended the tourney, tied for 5th as well ...

The 6-12 loss to Coyote Towing was disappointing as we led 5-3 after three innings. The Coyotes outscored OBI 9-0 over the next two innings and that was that ... OBI left 11 runners on base in our 6 innings at bat.

On the good side of things, OBI picks up the leather and bats again tonight, Thursday, May 1st, and will do battle against Warning Track Power on field #6 ... Season 3 is ready for us ...

Here are the Season 2 and Year to Date stats ...