Season 6: OBI vs. Split City, a Battle for the Sages...

2-0 One Bad Inning,,, errr, 2-0 Split City,,, errr, 2-0 OBI has turned a new page. This battlefront shift leans heavily on youth and teaching old dogs new tricks. OBI won 2 games in Week 1 of 2014 Season 6 mainly due to Jedi Mind Games ... aka, a 5-man infield...

Initially, it was reported that OBI was to be Sacrificial Lambs as a D2 team invited into the D1 divisional play in Season 6. This did not happen,,, yet an interesting thing did happen on the way to last Thursday. Yes, Season 6 will be a season of giving,,, giving our opponents something to think about.

We were all up in 0-2 Empty Pitchers heads so well that by the end of the 2nd game, the EPs were toying with a 5-man infield of their own. 'Nuff Said,,, we be stickin' with this for a while...

Game 1's 14-4 victory in 7 innings as the defense played well and the offense hit consistently. Hitters 8-10 ( JR, Nuta, and Larry) made one out between them and directly produced 5 of the 14 runs.

Clint and Michael both tripled, ok Michael 2x in the scorebook thanks to EP generosity,,, and Spillane drove in 3. OBI's 7 run third inning put the game out of reach at 11-0 starting with 5 consecutive hits thanks to Jayse, Jacob singles and Paul's double to start things off. 11 batters were sent to the plate.

Game 2 was another 7 inning affair with OBI winning 11-7. This was totally due to a First and Fifth inning outburst of 5 runs each. And of course, the 5-man infield...

Michael, Spillane, Jayse and Jacob started each of these innings with hits,,, while Paul and JR helped cap the rallys with a couple Sac Fly's and hits. JR's was the biggest hit of the night with a 2-run Big Fly that pushed across the last 2 runs of the 5 run first inning.

Down 1 in the top of the 5th inning, the five run rally seemed to take the enthusiasm out of the steps for the Empty Pitcher players. They did not score another run...

A good start to another season. A good start at a 5-man infield. Another week with no Base on Balls by an OBI batter... What is this world coming to???

IT IS ALIIIIIIIVE !!!!! Season 5 Stats are here ...

After a season in the wind, the Statistics are almost fully caught up... The YTD Stats still have a bug as moving players around has caused a few issues in resolving calculations...  Okay, truth be told, I am just not sure what I did to totally Fuck It Up !!!

However, I must say that when you want something done well, you can count on me. But, I digress, as usual...

Season 5 stats are dominated by just a few players. Achieving our 8-8 record this season was all due to the top 3 spots in the order: Matt, Clint and Spillane ...These were the only 3 players to play in all 16 games, as well...

Somehow, Clint had 1 more Plate Appearance than Matt. I find this unusual since Matt bats ahead of Clint. I may need to dig further into this one,, or Matt may need to stay injury free so stats like this don't freak me out...

Hitting in the #3 spot, Spillane led 7 of the 14 offensive categories and was top 3 in all but three of them. With Matt and Clint setting the table, who could stop him?

A few interesting stat twists:
-- Paul and the Fill Ins Players finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in both Batting Average and On Base PCT.
-- As a team, only 2 BBs were recorded. Special Note here: Steve played one week this season and did Not record one of the walks.
-- Fill in Players recorded 12 player games and helped us out 5 of the 8 weeks.
-- And best of ALL !!! Season 5 is done and we are 2-0 in Season 6 ... Gooooo OBI !!!

Split City Looks Forward to the 2014 Halloween Party,, and,

Oh ya,,, comes out flat in Game 1 of Season 5 Tourney vs. Mammas Boys. Yet OBI battles in Game 2 vs. Midlife Crisis taking 3rd Place and earning a spot in D1 for Season 6.

The nights are getting longer as we move towards the upcoming Halloween Party and Season 6, but OBI, aka Split City stayed pretty consistent all season 5. This is not about wins and losses as much as it is about replacement players.

That being said, it was fun to have Steven back out on the field, and Chris always fills in well.. Both were good adds with JuanR, Nuta, JohnB, and Paul all out due to various ailments and lame excuses (ok, JuanR gets a pass on the lame excuse as I used Worlds excuse two weeks in a row this season)...

Yes, all season 5 was about was overcoming adversity. Players missed time with very few exceptions,,, did not find their own replacements. Roster challenges happen. Raise a drink and say cheers to a season of love and understanding and players showing up each week.

But I digress,,, In Game 1 this week, there was pain, popups, and drops. In the top of the 1st, Michael took his eye off a grounder and bruised the tips of two fingers (and not the good kind, Tequila). Fortunately, Fill-in Chris was able to move to the 6 and played admirably in both games.

Fly outs were abundant as 14 of our 21 outs were air bound. And the Drops, well, at least Matt was able to turn an Infield Fly into a FC for both runners on first and second. I still see that play in my nightmares, but an out is an out… Larry gloved a few that would not come out of his glove in time to be thrown to a base,, and Michael left a couple fly ball opportunities lie on the ground.

The final of 16-9 seemed closer than the game really was. Moving to field 1 for game 6 against Midlife Crisis seemed to wake up the beast in Split City as we rolled to a tough fought 1-0 lead after 1 inning. (whew)

Michael led off the bottom of the second with a single thru the middle of the infield. JR promptly forced Michael at 2B and accepted him as a pinch runner. Good Ol' 1-hamstring Larry also forced Michael at 2B. Michael was then given permission to run for Larry and Steve was able to complete the trifecta having Michael make all 3 Outs at 2B on Force Plays. Guinness Book of Records is still researching this authentically created Forced Runner Record…

Then, after Midlife Crisis tied the game in the top of the 3rd,,, Matt and Clint opened the bottom half with hits, and with 2 outs Jayse, Jacob and Michael all had run scoring hits to retake the lead 6-1. The lead shrunk to 6-4 when OBI sent 9 men to the plate,,,

Another 4 runs were pushed across so OBI could continue with the Split City moniker. The book says that Jacob, Michael, JR, Larry, Steve, Matt, and Clint all Tripled in the inning,,, am pretty sure that would be another record. Thus, I have edited the hits all to be singles …

The scariest thing ,,, being October this says a lot,, Steve played an entire DH and did NOT walk once !?!??!?!?????  Wait,, maybe it was Spillane actually DROPPING a Fly Ball. Run for the hills...

O
M
G
!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all, especially the fill-ins, whom we could not have made it this far without…

Split City Perfect at 7-7 Heading into Season 5 Tourney

Well, after some additional time off for the World Master Championships, Michael is back on the prowl and nervously typing an update...

7-7 Split City, aka OBI, aka One Bad Inning, aka (ummm, ya that is all I know about that...) ,,, draws the #1 seed of the lower bracket after the Season 5 Thursday D1/D2 Regular season. We are only 2 wins from a title,,, and also, 2 losses from a tie for 3rd Place !!!

So, what has been happening whilst I have been vacationing over in Vegas? Darn good question, let's check the book and see:

Week 5 -- OBI takes it on the chin, losing 11-12 to McGlovin in Game 1. McGlovin scored 4 in the bottom of the 3rd, 5th, and 6th innings to overcome OBI's late inning rally. Game 2 will not be mentioned here as OBI lost by 2 touchdowns, 14-0. 'Nuff Said...

Week  6 -- All is right with the world again as the opponent was none other than 0-14 No Glove No Love. A thrilling game 2 was taken by OBI 14-13 after a drumming of NGNL 24-1 in game 1.

Chris Spillane hit safely in all 7 at bats. His out in the 3rd at bat in Week 7 stopped his 11 hit streak. (sad face). Mr. NoShow himself, Chris Nuta, bled through 6 straight hits of his own.

Week 7 -- OBI played decent defense and scored a run in the bottom the 7th to win 8-7 in Game 1. Jacob and Paul led off with singles and two deep flies scored the winning run.

Mamma's Boys put it to Split City in the nightcap in run rule fashion 19-9. But we may get another chance to show them who is boss...

OBI's first round bye earns the right to play the winner of Can We Drink in The Dugout vs. Mamma's Boys. Let's have some fun this Thursday...

Stats are almost caught up. Posting to be made on Wednesday !!!