Sluggers Game Summary
STATE STREET
June 3
State Street Outlasts Sluggers
Sluggers comeback falls short in 6-5 loss to State Street
--BOSTON, June 3, 2003
"In a close game like this, every play counts," said Sluggers coach,
Tony "Skip"
Vinciguerra during the post-game press conference. "We did a lot right. We
played great defense and [Isaac]
Pudge [Taylor]
threw a heck of a game in his pitching debut."
Unfortunately, the Sluggers just couldn't live up to their name in this
tightly played conflict.
"We were like a sponge tonight," Sluggers shortfielder,
Steve "Wheels"
Baer said during his post-game rubdown. "We prevented a lot of runs and
dribblers, but we didn't squeeze out many either."
In fact, the Sluggers managed just five runs on 14 hits. Most notable is
that the State Street Capitalist Pigs held the Sluggers scoreless in four
consecutive innings. The Sluggers held State Street scoreless for four innings
as well, but the Capitalist Pigs were able to eek out one more run than the
good guys.
Offensive Play of the Game
Tonight's Offensive Play of the
Game occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs. The Sluggers
were trailing by three runs, and had two baserunners in the form of
Peter "Howe The
Heck Are Ya?" and
Will "The
Natural" Jamieson, both of whom reached on singles.
Matt "The Rock"
Ronzio stroked a worm-burning single through the middle to score Howe and
Jamieson, and cut the Capitalist Pigs' lead to one run.
Other Offensive Highlights
Doubles by
George "The Hit
Man" Hart and
Robert
"Stretch" Orleman were the only extra-base hits the Sluggers could muster
this evening.
As evidence of the paltry offense in tonight's game, not one of the
Sluggers batted 1.000 on the day:
Defensive Play of the Game
This week's Defensive Play of the
Game occurred in the top of the third inning when
George "The Hit
Man" Hart fielded a grounder hit by "Illinois Chick" (as the official
scorer called her), and beat the runner to the bag for an unassisted putout. It
was one of four putouts on the day for Hart.
Honorable Mention
The first putout of the game looked like a
standard 6-3 (shortstop to first) groundout, but as the largest home crowd of
the year for the Sluggers will tell you, it was anything but an ordinary play.
Shortstop, Tony "Skip"
Vinciguerra scooped up a slow rolling grounder and tossed a soft wide throw
to first baseman George "The Hit Man"
Hart, who stretched like
Silly Puddy and scooped the lob out of the dirt. With one out in the top of the fifth inning, third baseman, Teddy "Ballgame"
Johnson nabbed a "laser" line drive off the bat of "Tall Mesh" as he is known by the official scorekeeper.
Teddy Points
After each game, at
the Red
Hat, Ted
"Ruxpin" Johnson hands out points given for the little things that
don’t show up in the box score but still contribute greatly to the
team’s success. Here’s what Johnson had to say after the game:
"The sole Teddy Point for week number three--in an otherwise uninspiring evening--belongs to George "Keith Hernandez" Hart. George made several scoops worthy of Web gems. At one point, George came as close to doing a split as I have seen since he was a middle schooler taking weekly gymnastics class. (Being a gymnast was George's lifelong dream at one point. True story.)"
Stats from the Maniacal One
Here are this week's off-beat
stats from the Maniacal One:
- The Last Stand: State Street left nine
runners on base; the Sluggers left seven.
- Everything's In Order: The Capitalist Pigs
were set down in order in the second and third innings. The Sluggers have not
fallen victim to a 1-2-3 inning this season.
- Pitching In: Starting pitcher,
Isaac "Pudge"
Taylor helped his own cause by being part of eight putouts in this
seven-inning contest.
Player of the Week
It's very unusual for a designated hitter
to receive Player of the Week honors, but that is exactly what happened this
week. Matt "The
Rock" Ronzio obviously has some sort of vendetta against softballs. In the
first three games of the season, Ronzio is punishing the ball as though he had
some sort of "Clockwork Orange"-esque experience where he had to watch
films in which softballs tortured his childhood playmates. He is leading the
team in batting average
(minimum three games played) with .800,
on-base percentage (also
three-game minimum) with .727,
RBI with nine, and he is
tied for the lead in hits,
triples, and
sacrifice flies.
Fortunately for Ronzio, corked bats are not illegal in the MDC Co-Ed Softball
League, and neither are Super Ball bats.
See Ronzio's Player of the Week stats and photo
here.
In the Running
Isaac "Pudge"
Taylor was awe-inspiring in his pitching debut. His pitching line (see
below) tells the whole story.
Catcher,
Robert "Stretch" Orleman said it best during the post-game
Slip 'n
Slide contest. "Pudge's cut fastball was outstanding. His location was a
bit off, but it's simply an unhittable pitch. He got a lot of shallow flyball
outs with it."
Injury Report
Tamara "T Stop"
Stanley (knee) may be headed for the 60-day disabled list. In a
controversial incident, T Stop apparently slipped on some ice this winter,
despite the fact that her contract includes the following clause: "Section 27B:
The undersigned player is strictly forbidden from engaging in pedestrian
activities on surfaces that are below the freezing point of dihydrogen
oxide."
Matt "The
Rock" Ronzio (knee) was relegated to DH duties this evening (forcing the
Sluggers, against their better judgment, to keep
Ted "Ballgame"
Johnson at third base for all seven innings) due to a nagging knee injury
that he claims to have suffered during spring training.
Isaac
"Pudge" Taylor (ego) learned the hard way that mimicry is the best form of
flattery when he fouled out to the catcher tonight, just one game after he
caught four foul balls in two innings as a catcher.
The Rumor Mill
Matt "The Rock"
Ronzio claims to have injured his left knee in a spring training game this
year. However, witnesses say that he was favoring his right knee during
tonight's game. One fan at tonight's game swears that she saw Ronzio injure his
right knee in a roller hockey game this winter. Like all Sluggers contracts,
Ronzio's contract has the same clause as
Tamara "T Stop"
Stanley's (mentioned in the injury report above). If Ronzio is found guilty
of breaching his contract, he could be fined $12,520, and suspended for eight
games. Since the Sluggers are
rolling in more green than their coach's dog, Ronzio's fine
would be donated to a charity of his choice. Checking with a team official,
this reporter discovered that Ronzio's charity of choice is listed as "The
People's Elbow".
Quotes of the Week
- "You're going yard tonight. I can feel it."--Teddy "Ballgame"
Johnson, Sluggers third baseman, in a pre-game e-mail to his coach and
shortstop, Tony "Skip"
Vinciguerra, who went 0-2 with a walk
- "I washed out the win. If we lose, blame it on me."--George "The Hit Man"
Hart, Sluggers first baseman, admitting that he washed his jersey after
last week's win during pre-game warm-ups
- "Isaac get ready to pitch."--Tony "Skip"
Vinciguerra, Sluggers coach, telling
Isaac "Pudge"
Taylor to take the mound for his first ever start three minutes before the
first pitch of the game
- "Did I make two five-star plays tonight?"--George "The Hit Man"
Hart, Sluggers first baseman, trying to get fit his head between Field 1
and Field 2 during the fifth inning stretch
- "You've got a great group of guys, and opinionated too!"--Erin "M"
Muhlhan, Sluggers utility infielder, giving her take on the Sluggers after
her first game with the team
- "We argued about everything under the sun, including: Is America the
cultural
capital of the world? Do the
French hate us? Is
Michael Jordan more recognizable world-wide than
David Beckham? Who is responsible for the looting of the
Iraqi Art Museums?"--Teddy "Ballgame"
Johnson, Sluggers third baseman, explaining what he and starting pitcher
Isaac "Pudge"
Taylor argued about at
the Red
Hat after the game
Next Game
The Sluggers take on the CRP Wednesday, June 11 on
Field 1. Any fan wearing a "Flush the Crappers" shirt gets a free beer at
the Red
Hat after the game.
Batting Summary
| Linescore | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | | R | H | E | | State Street |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 | 0 | |
6 |
15 |
1 | | Sluggers |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 | 2 | |
5 |
14 |
1 |
Pitching Summary
| No. | Name | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | | 7 | Isaac Taylor (Loss) | 7 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0
| | Totals | 7.0 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0
|
| 
Sluggers
