07/30/2010
The Kats host Vermin
Yes, the Kats had vermin but we took 'em to the cleaners and now we are rid of them!
Our last game of the regular season, yes the season that lasted forever, was a flurry of activity that resulted in removing all Vermin from our Kat-House. In beating them 20-8 during the bottom of the sixth inning with a walk-off single by Cori, they were eliminated from the playoffs.Unfortunately, Vermin's usual picture, Don, was out of town and we were hard-pressed finding pitches that were hittable, resulting in 9 walks for the Kats. With Kelly not gracing our dugout, some of us had to resort to our bats to be offensive. Cori hit 4-for-4 and a walk; Tim the Tutu hit 4-for-5 with 2 homeruns; Bob hit 4-for-5 with singles, a double and a triple; Dan hit 1-for-1 and a walk and with two booming sacrifice flies; and Rachel hit 2-for-3 and a walk and a sac fly.
Cori played a fantastic game in the hot corner, well complimented by Elasti-Dan in the opposite corner. Marc and Rachel turned some double plays and Coach Ron commented that it looked like softball. Tim came in from the outfield in relief of Bob and continued the shutdown, allowing only three runs in the last few innings.
Except for Tim (who needed to get home to polish his en pointe shoes) and Cori (who took a brief time out to play in another softball game), we all retired to the Oasis. While there, a beautiful ice cream cake with a picture of Laura and Jeremy mysteriously appeared along with a present. Laura claimed she was somewhat suspicious because Matt was making an appearance at the ‘O’ even though it was after his 8pm bedtime. The cake was delicious and Laura was quite delighted that we picked an item from her registry. The purple Boombah cleats were exactly what any blushing bride would want for her honeymoon (she might even wear them with her wedding dress). Nice job, Liz, in organizing everything and doing all the work.
Shenanigans hosts the Kats
The Shenanigans hosted the Kats, and that's just what they put in our litter box. Their high-jinx resulted in us begging for mercy after five innings.
We started well with three runs scored but two runners left on base, and we held the Shenanigans to two runs. We each added a run in the second inning, followed by a horrid third inning. We went three up, three down, and the Shenanigans scored eight. We made a decent showing in the fourth inning with three runs scored and two runners left on, bringing the game easily within reach at 7-11 (which is where we should have stopped for an blueberry ICE-E). Then they had their at bats and they scored another seven runs. After one more inning, the game was ended 7-19.Offensive highlights were Cori's 2-for-2, Ron's 1-for-1 and a walk, Audrey's 2-for-3, Mark Schleger's 1-for-1 and a sacrifice fly, and Christy's1-for-2 (a double). Dan had two walks and Marc went 1-for-2 and a walk.
Defensive highlights included Dan's great scoops and splits at first base (but not simultaneously), acrobatic catches by Mark and RJ in the outfield, Marc's smoothness at shortstop, and Bob's always great pitching.
Thanks to RJ, Mark and Christy for playing. We're very glad Christy didn't get injured before her wedding, which is in two weeks and we're all looking forward to our invitations.
07/20/2010
Kats Make It Three In A Row!!!
The Kats made it three in a row at El Camino Field on Tuesday night. Coming off lopsided victories the past two weeks, the Kats added another big margin victory over the Blue Team. After getting a late start, the Kats and the Blue team had a very quiet first two innings with neither team scoring any runs until the third inning. Both teams made solid defensive plays in the early innings with Bob shutting down Blue Team’s early hopes. The Kats had their usual third inning explosion where they batted around and scored 10+ runs in the third to take a commanding lead which gave Bob and Tim the cushion they would ultimately need to close out the victory. Blue got a few back in the top of the fourth inning on solid hits. Everyone on the Kats participated in this hit parade – everyone having multiple hits and in several cases perfect nights at the plate. Tim added a homerun with runners on-board to put this game well out of reach. The game was called in the 5th or 6th inning either because we ran out of time or because of the mercy rule. The night, however, was not without its usual strangeness though. The newest residents of El Camino Park, most who had likely imbibed a few too many, got a little lively in the late innings and insisted they should be inserted into the game prompting the League’s official scorer to exercise his authority and chase the resident(s) with Rachel’s bat in an effort to evict the resident(s) from their home. The Kats ‘circled their wagons’, collected their bats and guarded their children, pets and fans. Fortunately, the night ended without incident and the Kats retired to the “O” to discuss the MLB All-Star Game and draw parallels of their softball league in Palo Alto and David Lynch’s films like “Blue Velvet”, “Wild Heart”, and “Mulholland Drive”. Word is Lynch is working on another new film called, “El Camino Park”, loosely based upon the Kats’ experiences over the years. Oh yeah, missing Kats, Laura and Jim were toasted several times. Everyone talked about Laura’s upcoming nuptials. But all is not well in Katville. There seems to be some discontent regarding Coach Ron’s favoritism for Rachel - - - turns out that before every game and throughout the game Rachel tells Ron where she will be playing. Several, more mediocre players like myself, called Rachel on her special “Bonds” treatment and Laura responded with a “solo digit”. So you have a All-Star year like Rachel and I guess you can “come and go as you please” and “call your shots”. So stay tuned as this saga continues. Hats off to Robin who joined us on Tuesday she banged out a couple of key hits despite getting in a “lover’s spat” with Coach Ron. Most of the congrats to Robin for passing her nursing boards. It’s great to have Tim back in the mix following his dance season. And as usual, Audrey didn’t show up to the post game --- she had some lame excuse. Oh yeah, she said she had to “darn her socks”.
07/13/2010
EBC visit the Kats
In Palo Alto, the fireworks continued on Tuesday evening until the EBC begged for mercy. The game ended after four innings with the Kats leading 23-6. There was great Kat offense, headlined by Tim "the Tutu" Bowler, who hit 4-for-4 including two home-runs. Ron went 3-for-3, all doubles, and Jim and Matt went 3-for-3, all singles. Marc hit three doubles in four tries, and Bob, Liz and Mary each went 2-for-3. After Bob made all the defensive plays in the first inning, he let the rest of the infield play a solid game. The evening was ended by Laura in left-center field -- as with all great firework shows, the best was saved for last in an extravaganza that had Laura sprinting to the fence.
Hollywood Swingin' (AKA Naomi's Team) visit the Kats
They DID come out swingin', starting the game with two runs. The Kats came out walkin', with Marc, Bob and Jim all taking walks in the first inning, scoring one run on Laura's sacrifice fly. Naomi's Team didn't do much swingin' after that, although they added two runs in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth, for a total of 8 runs on Bob's usual great pitching. The Kats continued doing a lot of walkin' -- with 10 BBs in five innings. They prevailed with a total of 18 runs, including a particularly satisfactory fourth inning of 10 runs. The game ended after five full innings because of time and, unfortunately, Jim didn't get to bat again. His plate appearances, in order, were BB, 1B, 2B, 3B and no doubt he would have completed a cycle. Cori won the contest of patience with three walks in four appearances. Other offensive highlights included Ron's 3-for-3 and a walk, Bob's 2-for-2 and 2 walks, Laura's 2-for-3, Mary's 3-for-4, Mark's 2-for-4 and a walk, and Liz's beautiful 2RBI single in the fourth.
07/06/2010
05/28/2010
Jim exchanges his rocks for a pen!
Hey Kats
Just my opinion... I'm not sure Dan should do the recap blog this week.
He won't adequately describe the ball he scalded up the middle with his new bat... only those watching would have remembered that ball ... the one that not only terrified the pitcher, who had no time to scream "mommy", let alone even consider getting out of the way ... the ball that then nearly destroyed Cori's knee [it might have if she weren't so tough, Kat-like], and as Rachel and I watched from the bench, first in stoic amazement at the power, then horror, then amazement again, as the ball then left a "Piranha" and "ASA certified softball" tattoo above Cori's knee cap, just before it deflected into the air so high it just missed a stunned seagull and then a 747 just before eventually losing the battle against gravity and landing on the roof of Nordstrom's, in a molten ball of string and leather. Then of course, what some of you might have missed -- just before Dan swung, he quietly muttered "flame on", and just as the ball was struck, his bat turned incandescent red as time and space bent. What we all didn't know until the next day was that in the southern hemisphere, every alarm clock (even the wind-up ones) went off, and every sailor and economics professor looking at the sky at that moment said "what the hell was that?" I understand that, more than a week later, they are still mumbling to themselves, and modeling softball fields out of mashed potatoes, and being pulled irresistibly to an upscale shopping mall in Palo Alto. I don't want to exaggerate, I didn't actually get a great look - the plane may have been a 707 or 727, but it was definitely at least a 2-engine jet, because it had to divert to Oakland to land when the right engine went out due to the softball "jet wash". I missed the news that night because of the time shift (or was it the "O"; could be both come to think of it). Actually, we all missed the news that night, you just don't remember (that's what happens when time shifts...it's a physics thing, just like when a tree falls in the woods; it happens even though we don't hear it! [Mary can probably explain it better]). Anyway, I'd say Dan hit the ball pretty good.
Dan - just remember - no matter how old you are, you'll always be younger than me and Ron, and Mary, even if we usually look younger. I don't include Bob because he always looks younger.
All the best, for at least 50 more...Jim
05/27/2010
Game 4 RECAP: Someone has been hanging with the Dogs
Kats Defeat EBC 25-22
In what can best be described as a slugfest, the Kats defeated EBC 25-22 in a shortened 4 inning affair called because of time limit. Cori was at the yard at the prescribed time to get her warm-ups and stretching but had to wait until the middle game of the evening ended before finally taking the field versus EBC. Kats hit first and Cori had a single in her first at bat, only to be blasted in the knee by a batted ball by a fellow teammate, ending the inning. Nursing a badly bruised knee, Cori limped out to play right field in the bottom of the first inning. In the second inning, Cori grounded out to short and played right field in the bottom of the inning. In the third inning, Cori singled again and moved to second base. In the final inning, Cori roped a tripled and played second base. At second she made a very nice play that was almost a game ending double play. In what can be best described as a classy and sportsman-like move, Cori helped out the umpire by letting him know that she wasn’t able to tag the runner going to second base on the double play. Kats then got the final out on the next play and game over. Kats are 4-0 on the season.
KATS win bragging rights over friendly foes
This was a fun game as the Kats played against ex teammate Naomi and her team, Hollywood Swingin’. The Kats are very familiar and friends with most of their players, as we’ve played with or against them on many occasions.
Because of travel schedules and rainouts, we missed Mary and Jim for the third consecutive game. Matt also missed the game because of an early bed check, and Tim (yes Cori, there really is a Tim. He’s not some mythical leotard wearing figment of our imagination) had a basketball clinic. Thanks to our super sub, Ken, for coming out to give us a full squad.The Kats started off slow in the first inning by giving up 5 runs in the top of the 1st. The offense also started off slow with Dan drawing a walk and Rachel getting a hit, but no runs to show for it. In the second the Kats scored 3 runs on consecutive hits from Bob, Liz, Ron, Laura, Marc and Audrey.
They stayed hot by batting a round in the third, scoring 5 more runs, and 2 more in the 4th, but couldn’t put the opponents away, as they only led by a score of 10-9 through 4 1/2 innings. At that point everybody got thirsty, tired and grouchy for missing American Idol and decided to put an end to it. They scored 11 runs in the 5th inning, with the walk off hit coming on a base hit to right from Ken, scoring Audrey from second.
Defensively, Bob pitched a masterful game. The opponent had several offensive weapons, and to hold them to 9 runs was quite an accomplishment. He also had help, as the Kats turned 3 double plays in 5 innings.
The Tough as Nails award this week goes to Bob and Liz. Bob hobbled around the field on a very sore knee, getting a pinch runner whenever he reached base, which was often. Liz, who injured her leg during the game (probably due to fatigue from her intense workout regimen), couldn’t get a pinch runner for most of the night and toughed it out on the base paths. Bob actually ran for himself after he walked in the 5th inning so Liz would get a pinch runner.
There were many offensive highlights from this one:
Marc went 4 for 5 with 3 singles and a double and an RBI.
Audrey went 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 RBI’s.
Dan was1 (a triple) for 3 with 2 walks and 3 RBI’s.
Cori had a walk and hit the ball hard all night, but couldn’t get any breaks.
Bob was 3 for 3 with a walk and 2 RBI’s.
Liz was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s.
Ron was a home run shy of the cycle, going 3 for 3 with a walk and 3 RBI’s.
Laura was 3 for 4 including a triple that gave left fielder Dempsey whiplash, and 3 RBI’s.
This was a game that allowed Ken, Mary (even though she wasn’t there, they know she’s a Kat) and Ron to walk around SRI with our heads a little higher, as we defeated many of our co workers. Many of them were impressed with our abilities, and my personal favorite was Mandel going from trash talk to dead silence in one inning.
Sorry if I left anything out or missed some stats. Remembering things from two weeks ago is tough on these diminishing brain cells.
