The one we lost...

 Quarterfinal - In which Storm is eliminated

Storm started out pretty well. They managed to put up four runs in each of the second and third innings and trailed 10-9 going into the fourth. Hanet helped Storm out with a few errors and Storm got some well-timed hits, and scored sic to lead 15-10 going into the final three innings. In the top of the sixth, Hanet took full advantage of a ball lost in the sun, and scored seven runs to take the lead. Storm then promptly forgot how to hit and put up a goose egg in the sixth. Hanet got a couple home runs in the top of the seventh to go up three. Storm looked like they had a decent chance to come back based on the spot in the order, but they had run of steam. This was how the season ended, not with a bang, but a whimper.

Notable Boxscores:

Duran - 3 for 4, HR, 3 RBI

Lance - 3 for 4, 2 runs, RBI

Bob - 3 for 3, 2 runs

Brad - 3 for 3, 3 RBI

The one we won

Roundrobin Game 4 - In which Storm wins a game they’re not sure they should have

The playoffs didn’t turn out quite the way it might have been expected to, but the A’s and Storm were still playing for the top seed in the final game of the round robin. There was some discussion before the game about whether or not they should win, because that would put them in line with Hanet, the team that beat them quite easily the day before. Storm had handled the Falcons fairly easily in the first game of the round robin, but anything can happen on any day. Storm decided to just play and see what happened.

Storm started slowly, scoring just two runs in the first three innings, but they erupted in the fourth for six runs. Jeff was feeling a little like a leadoff hitter again, since Craig kept ending innings, and he led off the sixth with a single. Nine consecutive runners would reach base after that and Storm scored six runs without recording a single out. If only they were able to score that easily every inning. They had brought the score to within one run after four innings.

They could not find that magic again in the fifth, but they also managed to keep the A’s off the board in the fifth, so they went into the sixth trailing by one run. Jeff, leading off again (way to go Craig), singled to start the inning. Storm put together a few more hits, and then Duran launched a three run home run to cap off an eight run inning. Storm was now ahead by seven. That lead would be safe. Right?

Wrong. Storm coughed up seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. It almost seemed like Storm wasn’t sure they wanted to win.

Going into the top of the seventh, George requested that Craig hit a solo home run. Craig responded by saying not a chance. Then promptly launched the ball over the fence. At least he wasn’t the last out of the inning again. Storm would add a couple more runs, which was good, because the A’s got one back. But it wasn’t enough. Storm held on to win 19-17. They were now set up for their rematch against Hanet.

Notable Boxscores:

Rene - 4 for 4 3 RBI, 2 runs

Duran - 3 for 4, HR, 3 RBI

Jeff - 4 for 4, 4 runs

Al - 4 for 4, 3 runs

Kevin - 4 for 4, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Bob - 3 for 4, 3 RBI

Brad - 3 for 4, 3 RBI, 2 runs

 

Storm storms back

 Round Robin Game 3 - In which Storm gives up the lead in the seventh inning so they could have the dramatic experience of coming back with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Storm and Broadway played a tight back and forth game. Storm had the edge for most of the game leading 3-2 after the first, 4-2 after the second, 9-7 after the third, 11-9 after the fourth. 14-11 after the fifth and still 14-11 after the sixth. Then Broadway exploded for seven runs in the top of the seventh to take their first lead since the top of the third. Up 18-14, they retired the first two batters for outs. Rene then stepped up to the plate and worked the count full before watching ball four fall inches from the plate after sailing miles into the sky. Duran, Lance, and Joey all followed with singles. Joey was the tying run at first base. They pitched Craig carefully, and he walked, moving the tying run to second. Al then doubled, and Joey scored, tying the game. With runners on second and third and Jeff up, Broadway elected to intentionally walk Jeff, creating a force play at every base hoping to hold on to the tie. Dave then came up and, full of rage from two earlier calls from the umpire, smacked the ball over every fielder’s head, clearing the bases and giving Storm the win. All the damage was done with two outs. Two out walks always come back to haunt you.

Notable Boxscores:

Rene - 3 for 3, 4 runs, 3 RBI, HR, triple, 2 out walk to extend the game!

Duran - 4 for 4, 4 runs, RBI

Lance - 4 for 4, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Dave - 3 for 4, 4 RBI (game winning hit!)

Cycle Watch: 

Rene missed the double

Storm Slumps

Round robin Game 2 - In which Storm forgets how to hit and Hanet plays excellent defense.

After leading the league in runs and scoring 24 runs in their first game, Storm simply forgot how to hit. That’s not entirely true. Hanet made some nice plays. But: 

Storm’s leadoff hitter didn’t bat a second time until the 4th inning.

Storm didn’t get a runner past first until the fifth inning.

Storm was in danger of being shut out until Duran hit a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 7th inning.

It was far too little, far too late.

Kudos to Hanet on their incredible defense.

Notable boxscores:

Duran - HR, 3 RBI

Cycle watch: nobody even batted four times, so nobody had a shot!

 

Storm Starts Strong

 Round Robin Game 1 - In which two VERY unlikely home runs are hit.

Storm started strong in game 1. The defense kept the Falcons off the board in the top of the first, and the bats came alive in the bottom. Jeff led off with a single. Duran flew out and Craig got some help from some sloppy defense. Joey, Bob, and Al all singled. Then Brad came up and smacked a three run home run over the fence. Yes, you read that right. Brad hit his first home run since.... Well, statleaders is down and nobody can actually remember when Brad last hit a home run.

The second was more of the same as Storm held the Falcons to two runs, and then batted through the lineup for six runs with Craig knocking in half of them with a three run blast. 

The script flipped in the third. Joey was perched under a fly ball in short left, until he realized he wasn’t under it, and the ball bounced off his glove. The Falcons took advantage this rare miscue and scored six. Storm couldn’t manage any, and all of a sudden it was 11-8 and a tight game.

Storm blanked the Falcons in the fourth, and then had a very strange inning offensively. With runners on first and second, Al hit a hard ground ball. He sauntered to first and stopped until the throw went home, at which point he went to second. Bob, being as aggressive as ever, rounded third, and when he saw the ball bounce away from the catcher, ran home. He took the pitcher and third baseman with him and beat the throw to the plate. At this moment, Al decided he could sneak into third, since there wasn’t anyone covering. One of the many Falcons surrounding home plate saw this, and threw the ball to the short stop who was now attempting to cover third. But the ball got away from them and went to the outfield. Al then sauntered home. This play was so confusing to our scorekeeper that she circled 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR and then eventually wrote a large question mark beside the whole thing. After the dust settled, Storm got five more hits and three more runs for a mercy inning. 

The fifth and sixth inning were fairly uneventful and Storm went into the final frame leading 20-8. In the seventh, however, Storm decided to get generous. After six innings of solid baseball, Storm decided to bobble a few. This led to the Falcons putting up nine runs. They only pulled to within three, so it was never THAT close, but it was close enough to invoke the annoying rule that the home team has to bat if they aren’t winning by seven. It makes you think the league should remove runs for and run differential from time breaking procedures to avoid this type of situation.

Notable Boxscores:

Craig - 5 for 5, HR, triple, 5 RBI, 5 runs 

Joey - 4 for 5, 3 runs, 2 RBI

Al 4 for 5, 7 RBI, 3 runs, single turned inside the park home run via three base error

Brad - 3 for 5, HR, 3 RBI

Jeff - 4 for 5, 2 runs, RBI

Kevin 3 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI, run

Dave - 4 for 4

Cycle Watch: Craig missed the double

In other news….

Storm Award Vote - In which Brad votes for himself and STILL wins most sportsmanlike player

Storm award voting is much like AGT or an American election. In the MVP race, Duran’s heart wrenching story of recovering from a heart attack and then leading the team in eight different offensive categories pulled at the heartstrings of his teammates, and he won the MVP award.

There were calls for a recount after Brad won the MSP award, and then jokingly mentioned how he had voted for himself, or rather his nom de plume, but it called into question the integrity of the vote.

A Covid-19 shortened Year in Review

 Season Writeup

The league had a different format this year which led to less variety and more consistently challenging competition. The rust was apparent early in the season, and Storm definitely had trouble with the doubleheader format as they rarely won game 2 of the doubleheader. We’ll see how that plays out in the playoffs when it will take three consecutive wins to win the tournament on a day with four games. 

Storm had its lowest winning percentage since 2011 when, gasp, Storm had a losing percentage. But most players were just glad to be out at the park playing ball and drinking beer with other people again. 

It was still a good year for Storm, finishing second in the division and leading the league in runs scored. The major difference is that Storm was third last in runs against, which is strange for the team, and will have to be fixed if they expect to go on an extended playoff run.

Team Leaders

AVG. : Duran - .824, Rene - .775, Lance - .694

HR: Duran - 19, Craig - 18, Joey - 11

RBI: Duran - 65, Craig - 58, Joey - 53

Runs: Duran - 62, Joey - 59, Craig - 57

2B: Rene - 20, Bob and Joey - 16

3B: Duran - 6; Bob, Joey, and Jeff - 2

Hits: Duran - 70, Craig - 68, Joey - 62

SLG: Duran - 1.812, Craig - 1.366, Rene - 1.254

OPS: Duran - 2.643, Rene - 2.051, Craig - 2.045

Single Season Records

Percentage based records are easier to maintain in a shortened season, so these records come with an asterisk. But Duran had an incredible season smacking extra base hits almost every time he came up, and broke the single season records for OPS (2.643) and SLG (1.812).

MVP Race

The same player won the Storm team MVP all but three years from 2006-2019. And usually it was pretty much default. But this year there is not a clear winner. Storm MVP candidates will be listed below in alphabetical order to avoid perception of bias.

Craig - Criag had a dominant offensive start to the season. Then someone told him we keep track of statistics, after which he struggled a little. But he still had an excellent offensive season finishing third in the league in home runs and in the top three on Storm in home runs, RBI, runs, hits, slugging percentage, and on base plus slugging. In addition to his excellent offensive season, Craig was arguably Storm’s best defensive player. Not only did he catch nearly anything in the air in his direction, he also made some excellent throws from the outfield, hitting his cutoff throws with precision. If you’re taking both sides of the ball into consideration, Craig has a very strong case for MVP.

Duran - Slo-pitch is primarily an offensive game, so if it’s offense you’re looking for, Duran led the team in eight different categories including every percentage based category and every power based category except doubles. And Duran also has the sentimental  vote going for him. He started the year on the IL after suffering from a heart attack. Disappointed with how the team was playing without him, he started by playing the minimum innings and worked his way up to full games. And he got married this year.

Joey - The team’s perennial MVP had a down year for him, but still had a year that most players would dream about. While he had a rough start and didn’t finish at the top of any percentage based statistic, he finished in the top 3 on the team in home runs, RBI, runs, hits, doubles, and triples. He also plays shortstop, a very demanding position. In his one game in the outfield he demonstrated just how strong his arm is with hard and accurate throws from the outfield to home plate. 

Rene - Rene hit 20 doubles in 19 games, and finished in the top 3 in every percentage based statistic. He led the team in walks. He also played solid defense after sustaining an injury on his first play of the season. 

Most Sportsmanlike Race

Unlike the MVP, Storm has had a different MSP almost every year. And every year the vote is so spread out, that occasionally two votes can get you the trophy. And again, this year there are many players who deserve the award. But is the award limited to players? Or could Scoops Jockovitch, supply sports reporter be eligible? And if he is eligible, is he deserving of votes? Always good for a laugh, even if you might have no idea what happened in the game (or even if a game was played) after reading his writeups. But he’s a good guy. Wears a fedora like nobody’s business and is never short on Cubans (either the cigars or the sandwiches). We have learned far too much about his wedding night, his interest in dominatrixes, and his fetish for monkeys with cymbals. But he’s certainly good for a laugh. Vote Scoops Jockovitch.*

*This message was paid for by Scoops Jockovitch. 

I’m  still waiting for my paycheque Bra… I mean, Scoops. 

Storm Splits meaningless double-header

 

Game 1  In which the season standings are already determined, but the home run title is still on the line. 

Storm had one goal for the game. Give the home runs to Craig and Duran and keep Lu on the A's from hitting any. Joey even brought Tinky out of retirement to stop himself from hitting the ball too far. However, things didn't go quite as planned. Duran did knock a home run, but Craig struggled to hit anything other than fly balls in the infield. Then, after coaching Jeff on NOT letting Lu hit a home run, Al served one up that Lu launched over the fence. 

Storm won the game, but lost home run race in game 1

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
A's	2	0	0	2	0	3	0	7
Storm	4	0	4	4	4	0	x	16

Game 2- In which nothing matters.

Storm waited like Godot aftergame 1 for the second game to start. And for what? Nothing. The game didn’t matter for the standings and Lu had likely pulled too far ahead in the home run race to be caught. Nothing that would happen in the game would truly matter. And when you think about it, does anything that happens in a recreational slo-pitch game TRULY matter? For that matter, does anything truly matter? Does anything bring any meaning to life, or are we all just spinning aimlessly on a planet in the middle of a universe so vast that nothing that anyone does here could possibly have any consequence? 

Before I stumble any further down this existential crisis (nihilistic crisis?), here’s what happened (whether it matters or not).

Duran batted with the bases loaded twice. The first time he doubled. The second time he grounded into a fielders’ choice. No home runs. No home run title.

In the third, the September call-up Dave Hobbs stopped two hard shots to first and flipped to the covering pitcher for the outs. 

In the top of the 4th, Joey stopped using Tinky and knocked a solo home run, demonstrating why he needed Tinky. I guess he figured he’d given Duran and Craig six shots each to hit home runs and it was time to pad his own stats.

Al gave up another home run to Lu

And Storm was winning until three consecutive two out errors in the 5th allowed the A’s to score 10 runs. 

Storm lost. Not that it matters.

Notable boxscores:

Is anything truly notable in a recreational slo-pitch game?

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	6	5	2	1	1	3	0	18
A's	4	4	0	0	10	4	x	22

Storm Updates!

Both Games against the A's were washed out due to Rain Storms! 

They have been rescheduled to Sunday Sept 12th at 8pm & 9:30pm on K2.

The schedule for the playoff's is now up, please sign out if you will not be able to make any of the games.

We are having a "Storm team only" BBQ (Sorry Everyone Else) after our Playoff games on Saturday Sept 18th at approximately 6pm in the parking lot. We will be having Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Chicken, Pulled Pork, Jerk Chicken,  Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, and Coleslaw.

Bring your own beverages!

Storm gets squashed

Game 1 - In which the ball is apparently very hard to see

The Falcons had a lot of solid singles and some well-timed homers against Storm in game 1 of the doubleheader. They definitely deserved the victory. But Storm also helped the Falcons out a little. There were a number of miscues.

Joey was out in right centre field and early in the game a fly ball went up in that direction. Joey charged hard for it as if he was heading for the ball and then stopped. The ball then landed behind Brad in right field. Apparently neither of them had ever seen the ball.

Brad had a few more adventures in the outfield. He seemed to be tracking a line drive perfectly, but when he raised his glove, the ball didn’t go in. He also tracked a ball to the right field line, but then didn’t catch it. Thankfully, it was foul. He himself quipped that, “he was without his dog and couldn’t see a thing.”

Sight wasn’t as big an issue in the infield as communication. A fly ball went up slightly to the right of second. Rene said, “you got it?” to Duran, who then promptly stopped tracking the ball because all he heard was, “Got it.”

That pretty much summed up the game for Storm, who fell 17-12.

Notable Boxscores: 

Duran - 2 for 3, two solo home runs, which were Jeff’s fault for getting out

Rene - 4 for 4, 3 doubles, 4 runs

Craig - 3 for 3, HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs

Cycle Watch: Craig missed the single, and was really regretting the first inning walk.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Falcons	3	4	2	0	2	0	6	17
Storm	2	1	3	0	3	0	3	12

Game 2 - In which Storm forgets how to hit for the first half of the game, and how to field in the second half of the game

The second game started a little better defensively. Brian turned a double play by himself. Storm didn’t hit, scoring a grand total of two runs in the first three innings.  They finally started to hit in the final three innings, scoring six in each of the fourth and fifth, and five more in the sixth. They actually climbed back to tie the game at one point, but in the fifth and sixth they just couldn’t get outs. At all. The Falcons scored nine in the fifth, and then ran out the clock scoring thirteen runs in the sixth inning. Near the beginning of that inning, one of their players quipped that they could end the game right there by hitting until the game ended. One of their other players said, “you think we can hit for almost half an hour?” As it turns out, they could.

Notable Boxscores:

Duran - 4 for 4, 2 HR (thankfully Jeff was on base for both of them; you know you’re slumping when the team cheers because you were finally on base for Duran’s homer!), 6 RBI, 4 runs

Rene - 3 for 4, 4 RBI, 4 runs

‘Joey - 3 for 4, 3 runs, RBI

Craig - 3 for 4, 3 runs, RBI

Jeff - 2 for 3, 3 runs, 

Al - 3 for 4, run, RBI

Cycle Watch: Duran missed the triple, but hit 2 HRs!

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	2	0	0	6	6	5	X	19
Falcons	3	3	2	2	9	13	X	32