by Jeff
5/18/2010 5:29:00 AM
Ball Busters Come Up Short Momentum was on our side, we were playing a team that was in last place, significant upswing within the divisional leader board was there for the taking and we took a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th inning in a 7 inning game. The sun seemed to be shining on this gloomy night, the path to victory seemed assured and our spirits were high. Then the unthinkable happened. As far as I could see there was no Near Earth Object hurtling towards the Great Lawn of Central Park, there were no Alien sightings with glove piercing lasers or blinding ray guns that made it impossible for the Ball Busters to field their positions or a nearby telephone booth that the McGarry Bowen team ran into to change into Super Heroes. We just fell apart at the worst possible time and let a clearly inferior team score 8 big fat runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to take a 9-5 lead culminating with a Grand Slam homerun that shook the Ball Busters franchise to its core. Did we try a valiant comeback in the final innings to try and recapture the lead we so brazenly took in the first 5 innings; of course we did. Bottom of the 7th and down to our last three outs, the Ball Busters tried one more time to exorcize the demons of the 5th inning and we got close. We cut the deficit to 9-6 and had runners in scoring position when our appetite for scoring runs allowed us to be too free wheeling with the base runners and the managers of the team (all of us) made some ill-fated decisions that sealed the Ball Buster defeat and took any hope of a comeback away. We take full responsibility that. In the end the score remained the same and we were defeated 9-6. A humbling defeat after thinking we were moving forward with another victory and moving up in the standings. However, someone said last night that we win as a team and we lose as a team. No finger pointing here. Were there balls that should been caught? Could we have hit better? With a little luck could an umpire’s call have gone either way? The answers to all these questions are a resounding yes; but that would just be belly-aching and what-iffing and no body wants to hear that. We have 10 days off to recoup and get beyond this loss. Is it the end of the season? Is it over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell No!! J We will rebound and be ready for the next opponent. Game BallsSo maybe no Game Balls should be awarded in defeat but there were still significant contributions to the cause even if our collective effort came up short. Jeff remained our catalyst by getting on base almost every time and turning three singles into doubles by just being aggressive on the base paths and using his God-given speed. Matt clobbered another two-run homerun. Larry made a triple out of single by just using his pure speed. Alan kept us in the game long enough for us to win and when you are winning 5-1 in the 5th and lose; its defense not pitching. Kim scored her first RBI of the season in her first appearance of the season by driving in a run in the 5th inning. Alex and Ray Ray showed steady improvement with the bat and Jules played an expert right field and began a three person relay throw from right field that resulted in throwing a runner out at 2nd base. James made an outstanding catch in left field on a bomb rocketed off the bat of their best hitter. Jason, the professional designated hitter, actually played 3rd base for half the game and represented very well. We came away with four pulled hamstrings including James, Oliver, Ray Ray and Jeff Segal that really hampered our mobility in the final innings but they all gutted it through to the end. So that’s it. A numbing defeat but there were parts of our effort from last night that we can build on. This is no time to sit under a tree and sulk. 10 days. That’s the marching orders. 10 days to put this behind us and get ready to play again. The Park will be there….will we??? Jeff
Ball Busters
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