Well Draft day is Sunday, I will be attending all 4 drafts this year in the baseball association. You can call me the Cal Ripken of drafts. We start the first 2 in a bar, and then the last 2 in our Clubhouse. Yes, I agree it should be the other way around but what the heck, getting drunk early Sunday should make the T-Ball draft go very quickly!
I waited a week to write again because last night was the 22nd Annual Sport Hamilton Volunteer Appreciation dinner, it is a great event where the City of Hamilton honours it's volunteers of the past year and presents awards, and shows the people of sport just how much they are appreciated. This year the Keynote Speaker was Morgan Wooten who coached at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland for well over 40 years. Coach Wooten has some amazing stories to tell and listening too him was an absolute treat, just seeing how he has touched lives and he has been one of the greatest coaches around. Coach Wooten has over 1200 wins and 192 losses, Incredible! Anyway he was talking about one game in the 1980's, his star player was Danny Ferry (who would become an All-American at Duke and then have a nice NBA career), anyway DeMatha is undefeated at the time, and is taking on the top public school, who is also undefeated. This game would determine who was the best High School team in the Washington, DC area and in the United States. At halftime DeMatha was down 18 points, but Coach Wooten went into the locker room he started with a positive, he said "Gentlemen, they have just made a tragic mistake, they won the wrong half." Now down 18 points it is impossible to comeback in 1 possession, but DeMatha clawed back and was down 1 point with just a few seconds remaining, and then got the game winner with just seconds left, OH MY, what a victory. If you ever get an opportunity down the road to talk to Mr. Wooten, be sure to take advantage of it, and even just to hear him speak, he is an incredible person, who knows what sports and life are really about.
I am going to start up a song of the day feature from now on, these songs could be required listening, but are also a good indicator of moods.
With anticipation in the air, and the drafts coming on Sunday, there are a few songs that come to mind.
Today I feel like some Beatles- "It's Hard Day's Night"
The season is filled with joy and despair, the draft is always a big indicator of that, will Sunday be joyful, or will it be filled with despair? We will find out.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Draft Coverage 2008: How do you pick your team?
With our Draft about 1 week away, a little bit more and recruiting and scouting season now complete, I will gladly explain how I select a team.
It is very simple, I look for a couple of qualities:
1. Character- I would rather have kids with high character than big ego's on the team, and it is hard to tell just by a couple of hours, but believe it or not, some times those teams win big.
2. Parents- The parents can make or break the team, if you have a team of great, supportive parents who get their kids to games and practices on time, it makes a big difference.
3. Skill of the Players- That is right, skill is number 3, I see a lot of coaches who draft on skill first, and then get the hot dawgs on the team, they usually flame out.
4. Emotion- Then I draft on emotion, I know if a kid is good or not, but some choices come right down to whether you like the kid and the kid likes you as a coach, that can make a HUGE impact on their playing and your coaching.
Another question that is asked is how do you build a team? Well this is how I like to build my team:
1st round: Pitcher or Catcher- can hit and field well, rep player
2nd round: Pitcher or Catcher- can hit and field, rep player
The first two picks are going to be the leaders of the team, both on and off the field. Practice is very important, so I want kids that will encourage others to come and will be there themselves.
3rd round: Defensive player- needs to be strong and can play 4 to 5 positions in a game.
4th round: If there are any rep players left, grab them here, if not then you want a decent hitter, one with power but may be rough around the edges.
5th round: A strong offensive player, can bat anywhere from 3rd to 8th in the line-up, and as a bonus can run well.
Repeat in the second half of the draft if needed.
Some teams build their winning on 2 pitchers and hitting, the problem is that pitchers are not always effective and hitters flame out. Defense is usually strong and realisitcally you need 1 Ace pitcher and 5 pitchers that can rotate in and out. On offense, the key is to get base hitters, home runs are nice, but they can not be the basis for an offense, as well small ball is awesome because catcher's make mistakes and runners can easily take advantage of them.
The Mass practice is tomorrow, should be fun. The draft is planned for the following weekend. Talk to you Monday.
It is very simple, I look for a couple of qualities:
1. Character- I would rather have kids with high character than big ego's on the team, and it is hard to tell just by a couple of hours, but believe it or not, some times those teams win big.
2. Parents- The parents can make or break the team, if you have a team of great, supportive parents who get their kids to games and practices on time, it makes a big difference.
3. Skill of the Players- That is right, skill is number 3, I see a lot of coaches who draft on skill first, and then get the hot dawgs on the team, they usually flame out.
4. Emotion- Then I draft on emotion, I know if a kid is good or not, but some choices come right down to whether you like the kid and the kid likes you as a coach, that can make a HUGE impact on their playing and your coaching.
Another question that is asked is how do you build a team? Well this is how I like to build my team:
1st round: Pitcher or Catcher- can hit and field well, rep player
2nd round: Pitcher or Catcher- can hit and field, rep player
The first two picks are going to be the leaders of the team, both on and off the field. Practice is very important, so I want kids that will encourage others to come and will be there themselves.
3rd round: Defensive player- needs to be strong and can play 4 to 5 positions in a game.
4th round: If there are any rep players left, grab them here, if not then you want a decent hitter, one with power but may be rough around the edges.
5th round: A strong offensive player, can bat anywhere from 3rd to 8th in the line-up, and as a bonus can run well.
Repeat in the second half of the draft if needed.
Some teams build their winning on 2 pitchers and hitting, the problem is that pitchers are not always effective and hitters flame out. Defense is usually strong and realisitcally you need 1 Ace pitcher and 5 pitchers that can rotate in and out. On offense, the key is to get base hitters, home runs are nice, but they can not be the basis for an offense, as well small ball is awesome because catcher's make mistakes and runners can easily take advantage of them.
The Mass practice is tomorrow, should be fun. The draft is planned for the following weekend. Talk to you Monday.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Past Season Review Part 4 of 4
It's the final part of the past season review: 2007- Major Red Sox.
Every season has it's controversial moments, and it is good to be on the right side of things, but it is just awful to be on the wrong side of things. An unbelievable season took a great turn, after finishing 3rd out of 4 teams, we drew the 2nd place Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. The Yankees and us were fairly evenly matched, but there was a lot of fuel to the fire in this contest. The game began with the Yankees wanting to wait for their 9th player to show up, we did not approve because it was 8 pm and we had our players, and in our league you can play with 8. But anyway after 15 minutes of waiting we got up to bat and went back to business.
After 3 innings we were leading by 1 run, and in the top of the 4th, something long overdue was about to happen. 2 on and 2 out with 2 runs in, Tyler who had not had an extra base hit all season long stepped into the box. And with with a swing of the bat Tyler blasted a 3 run dinger over the left center field fence. Folks, I have seen airplane rides that have been shorter than that blast. The homer put us up by 3 runs (only 2 counted, due to the 4 run mercy rule). In the bottom half of the inning we gave up 3 runs, then we scored 4 more and the Yankees scored 3 as well. Now leading by 2 and in the 6th inning, controversy came next. With 2 outs and tying run in scoring position, our pitcher Tyson threw the ball in dirt and it got by the catcher- Spencer, Spencer sped to the ball and tossed it Tyson who looked like he got the out, the umpire called him out. From my view in the 1st base dugout, the runner was safe, and by a bit too, but oh well. We escaped with a 13-11 wild victory.
Two nights later we would lose to the Pirates in the semi-final by 10 runs. On the following Wednesday we met up with the Blue Jays, the winner would move on to the finals, and in the first inning the Blue Jays meant business, taking a 3-0 lead. In the home half we roared back with 4 runs to take a 4-3 and never looked back from there, winning 12-6 in a great game.
In the finals against the unbeaten and #1 Pirates, we shut them down the in first 2 innings, clingling to a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd the Pirates would tie the game, but in the fourth, with Noah on 2nd and Eric on 3rd- Tyler came up to the plate. Tyler after fouling a couple off, drilled the next pitch down the left field line over the 3rd basemen's should for a 2 run double and a 3-1 lead. Tyler would later score and it was 4-1 through 4 innings. Now in the 5th the Pirates would score 4 times and take a 5-4 lead that they would not give up and won the title, but for a few innings and about 90 minutes there was a lot of hope and belief that the Pirates would fall.
Tomorrow- how I draft a team, my strategy going into the draft, and how to build a Championship team.
Every season has it's controversial moments, and it is good to be on the right side of things, but it is just awful to be on the wrong side of things. An unbelievable season took a great turn, after finishing 3rd out of 4 teams, we drew the 2nd place Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. The Yankees and us were fairly evenly matched, but there was a lot of fuel to the fire in this contest. The game began with the Yankees wanting to wait for their 9th player to show up, we did not approve because it was 8 pm and we had our players, and in our league you can play with 8. But anyway after 15 minutes of waiting we got up to bat and went back to business.
After 3 innings we were leading by 1 run, and in the top of the 4th, something long overdue was about to happen. 2 on and 2 out with 2 runs in, Tyler who had not had an extra base hit all season long stepped into the box. And with with a swing of the bat Tyler blasted a 3 run dinger over the left center field fence. Folks, I have seen airplane rides that have been shorter than that blast. The homer put us up by 3 runs (only 2 counted, due to the 4 run mercy rule). In the bottom half of the inning we gave up 3 runs, then we scored 4 more and the Yankees scored 3 as well. Now leading by 2 and in the 6th inning, controversy came next. With 2 outs and tying run in scoring position, our pitcher Tyson threw the ball in dirt and it got by the catcher- Spencer, Spencer sped to the ball and tossed it Tyson who looked like he got the out, the umpire called him out. From my view in the 1st base dugout, the runner was safe, and by a bit too, but oh well. We escaped with a 13-11 wild victory.
Two nights later we would lose to the Pirates in the semi-final by 10 runs. On the following Wednesday we met up with the Blue Jays, the winner would move on to the finals, and in the first inning the Blue Jays meant business, taking a 3-0 lead. In the home half we roared back with 4 runs to take a 4-3 and never looked back from there, winning 12-6 in a great game.
In the finals against the unbeaten and #1 Pirates, we shut them down the in first 2 innings, clingling to a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd the Pirates would tie the game, but in the fourth, with Noah on 2nd and Eric on 3rd- Tyler came up to the plate. Tyler after fouling a couple off, drilled the next pitch down the left field line over the 3rd basemen's should for a 2 run double and a 3-1 lead. Tyler would later score and it was 4-1 through 4 innings. Now in the 5th the Pirates would score 4 times and take a 5-4 lead that they would not give up and won the title, but for a few innings and about 90 minutes there was a lot of hope and belief that the Pirates would fall.
Tomorrow- how I draft a team, my strategy going into the draft, and how to build a Championship team.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Past Season Review Part 3 of 4
2006- Major Red Sox- Oh So very close.
The 2006 season began in a very good way, this was probably the most talented team that I had ever coached. Of the 11 players on the roster4 played rep that season and 4 more could have played on a rep team or got to the final cut of a rep team. That Red Sox team was awesome. Throughout the season we never lost more than 2 games in a row, and we only did that twice. We were never below tied for 4th (and that was after an Opening Day loss), and we were in 1st place for 3 weeks throughout the year.
The Major season is divided into 3 parts: Before the District Houseleague Playoffs, The stretch to the Playoffs and the Playoffs.
In the first part of the year we finished in 2nd place to the Cardinals, in an amazing couple of games that we played against them. The main game was a tie, 4-4 after 6 innings- the game took 1 hour 10 minutes to play, incredible baseball on that night in June.
The Cardinals would win the Ancaster bid to the District Houseleague Championships in High Park and they would win the Championship over the host squad 2-1 in a tremendous victory.
In the 2nd part of the year the Phillies would get on a tear and would win the league after starting the year 1-3, the Phillies had 2 losses the rest of the way. We finished in 2nd place in the league and earned a first round bye.
In the playoffs we met up with the #3 Cardinals, and with only 8 players and 4 of those players were call ups, we shocked the Cardinals with a convincing victory. 2 nights later we would take on the #1 Phillies.
Heading into the game against the Phillies we were 1-1-2 and +1 on run difference against them, folks, it does not get much closer than that. In that semi-final we got up early and kept pounding on them, now leading 5-3 in the 5th inning with their top hitter coming to the plate, something very special was about to happen.
Darren had played soccer the past couple of seasons, but returned to baseball this year, and all season long we had worked with him, on his hitting, and fielding. Now in the bottom of the 5th with 2 outs and go-ahead run at the plate, this situation unfolded. Johnny for the Phillies was on a tear, almost every time he stepped to the plate he could put it out of the park, now Johnny stepped up and whacked a sharp ground ball right to Darren, he stuck his glove out, the force of the ball spun him around and he threw Johnny out at first. That play got us out of the inning and 3 outs later we were going to the Championship series.
The 6 seeded Pirates had come out of the 4 losing 1st and 2nd round teams to face the Phillies for the right to face us. The Pirates even had a shot to win and go to the Finals, but their top hitter Todd struck out with the go-ahead run on 2nd, to end their Championship run, it set up the #2 Red Sox vs. #1 Phillies, the way that it should be.
In the finals, we needed to win 1 game, the Phillies needed to win 2 games to take home the title. In the first game the Phillies would get every break in the book, I mean with a chance to tie the game, one of our players whacked a line drive to left field, their fielder threw his arm up and blindly caught the ball to kill the rally. The Phillies won 5-3, and forced a Sunday game.
Heading into the Sunday finish, our season series with the Phillies was tied at 2-2-2 and a +1 for us run differential. Talk about high quality baseball. In the finals the Phillies jumped out 2-0, we would then take a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd. We would give up 4 runs and the Phillies would win going away 9-6 in a tremendous final.
Tomorrow we finishe up the past season review with the 2007 season. Until then happy Baseball.
The 2006 season began in a very good way, this was probably the most talented team that I had ever coached. Of the 11 players on the roster4 played rep that season and 4 more could have played on a rep team or got to the final cut of a rep team. That Red Sox team was awesome. Throughout the season we never lost more than 2 games in a row, and we only did that twice. We were never below tied for 4th (and that was after an Opening Day loss), and we were in 1st place for 3 weeks throughout the year.
The Major season is divided into 3 parts: Before the District Houseleague Playoffs, The stretch to the Playoffs and the Playoffs.
In the first part of the year we finished in 2nd place to the Cardinals, in an amazing couple of games that we played against them. The main game was a tie, 4-4 after 6 innings- the game took 1 hour 10 minutes to play, incredible baseball on that night in June.
The Cardinals would win the Ancaster bid to the District Houseleague Championships in High Park and they would win the Championship over the host squad 2-1 in a tremendous victory.
In the 2nd part of the year the Phillies would get on a tear and would win the league after starting the year 1-3, the Phillies had 2 losses the rest of the way. We finished in 2nd place in the league and earned a first round bye.
In the playoffs we met up with the #3 Cardinals, and with only 8 players and 4 of those players were call ups, we shocked the Cardinals with a convincing victory. 2 nights later we would take on the #1 Phillies.
Heading into the game against the Phillies we were 1-1-2 and +1 on run difference against them, folks, it does not get much closer than that. In that semi-final we got up early and kept pounding on them, now leading 5-3 in the 5th inning with their top hitter coming to the plate, something very special was about to happen.
Darren had played soccer the past couple of seasons, but returned to baseball this year, and all season long we had worked with him, on his hitting, and fielding. Now in the bottom of the 5th with 2 outs and go-ahead run at the plate, this situation unfolded. Johnny for the Phillies was on a tear, almost every time he stepped to the plate he could put it out of the park, now Johnny stepped up and whacked a sharp ground ball right to Darren, he stuck his glove out, the force of the ball spun him around and he threw Johnny out at first. That play got us out of the inning and 3 outs later we were going to the Championship series.
The 6 seeded Pirates had come out of the 4 losing 1st and 2nd round teams to face the Phillies for the right to face us. The Pirates even had a shot to win and go to the Finals, but their top hitter Todd struck out with the go-ahead run on 2nd, to end their Championship run, it set up the #2 Red Sox vs. #1 Phillies, the way that it should be.
In the finals, we needed to win 1 game, the Phillies needed to win 2 games to take home the title. In the first game the Phillies would get every break in the book, I mean with a chance to tie the game, one of our players whacked a line drive to left field, their fielder threw his arm up and blindly caught the ball to kill the rally. The Phillies won 5-3, and forced a Sunday game.
Heading into the Sunday finish, our season series with the Phillies was tied at 2-2-2 and a +1 for us run differential. Talk about high quality baseball. In the finals the Phillies jumped out 2-0, we would then take a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd. We would give up 4 runs and the Phillies would win going away 9-6 in a tremendous final.
Tomorrow we finishe up the past season review with the 2007 season. Until then happy Baseball.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Past Season Review Part 2 of 4
It's Tuesday April 9- the evaluation day is 4 days away, let the countdown continue. Today a review of the 2005 season: One Shining Moment. The 2005 season began with a wimper but ended with a bang, we were chasing the #1 Athletics all season long, and finished in a distant 4th out of 5 teams, no more than 5 wins, but a surprising number of losses of 2 runs or less, so we were right there.
A few games and moments come to my mind when I smile fondly back on this amazing season. Before I begin though, a couple of years ago CBS aired a special before the Final 4 of College Basketball called "The Moment: 25 years of College Basketball", it was 8 stories told by broadcasters and their favourite memories of the NCAA Tournament. Well Jim Nantz began with the following lines: "25 years....a quarter century of great moments and stories, to me each tournament, each season has it's own moments...it's own stories..."
Well said Mr. Nantz, and he is dead on right abou that, each season does have it's own moments, and it's own stories, and "what a please it has been to bring them to you for the past 25 years."- Jim Nantz.
After 11 weeks our team finally began to click, here we are, no chance at 3rd place, but the 3rd place Orioles (our opponents) have a shot to win first place, by winning out against us and then getting some help. 3 wins to that point in the year, and a home and home against the Orioles. What would transpire next was unbelievable. Through 4 innings of play the score was knotted at 2, this was 9 and 10 year olds playing! Then something unbelievable happened, the Orioles scored 4 runs against our ace Ben, and then we answered right back to tie the game at 6. As it looked like time had expired, the umpire declared, that there was enough daylight and that this game MUST continue. The Orioles were in firm control in the top of the 6th, as they hammered our pitcher Conner (making his 6th appearance, ever) for 6 runs. Now in the bottom of the 6th inning, we had scored a bunch of runs, I had sort of lost track, I was preparing my speech at the end of the game in my head. Then with two outs and two on Jared (1st year player and mid-season addition) came up and popped up to third base, and the ball fell, base hit, and an overthrow, scored 1 run, then they threw out the second run at the plate, 3 outs, inning and game over. I went to check with our scorekeeper to find out how many runs we put across the board, and she told me. So I go back to our team and we shake hands. I knew what the score was, no other coaches did, no players did. So I take the book over and I start to explain what had happened. When Jared popped up, the ball was dropped, Brad scored, he was safe, and then Conner came around he was out at the plate. Conner was the third out of the inning, but the 7th run had crossed the plate, in a wild 13-12 win for the good guys. The next night we blew out the same Oriole team 11-2, in 2 games we scored 24 runs, only in Little League!
The following week the playoffs began and we (Blue Jays) were 4th, the Orioles were 3rd thanks to us, and the we drew the #5 team Red Sox in the first round. The umpires did not show, so the Sox coach, took home plate duties and I took base duties. The game got off to a bad start, the Red Sox had scored 12 runs in 3 innings, to take a commanding 12-7 lead heading to the 4th. With time running out- Ben came into pitch, and threw 3 perfect innings, in the bottom of the 4th and 5th we scored 5 runs to tie the game. Now in the bottom of the 6th inning Jared came up to the plate and promptly slapped a single. With Lee coming up the stage was set.
Lee was drafted by us in 2004, and the dad really liked us and he was picked up again in 2005. Lee had mild autism and in the 2 seasons with us had a total of 6 hits, countless strikeouts, and many walks. 2 years later, here came the big payoff.
Lee got the ball of the end of the bat down the 3rd base line, and the Red Sox threw Jared out at 2nd, 1 out, Lee on 1st. Lee runs on the first pitch which was not cleanly caught and was then overthrown at 2nd, so Lee is running to 3rd, and the ball was overthrown, so now he is heading to the plate, and the throw is not in time, and Lee is SAFE at the PLATE, winning run scores Blue Jays 13- Red Sox 12 in another wild come from behind victory.
Two days later we would draw the #1 Athletics, and another battle would ensue. In the 1st inning, the A's scored 4 runs, 2 of which were on controversial plays at first, which allowed the runs to score with 2 outs. After the 1st inning, the A's had exactly 1 base runner the rest of the night. We would score 2 runs in the 5th to cut the deficit, and then in the 6th inning, the bottom of the order was up, and time was running out. We got to the top of the order, but our batter struck out with the tying run on 2nd, we would lose 4-2 in an epic battle.
The next week, the Orioles (you remember them) would beat us 6-2 behind some outstanding pitching and a rally to put us away in the 6th.
Still an amazing year, and oh my, what could have been.
Tomorrow 2006.
Until then enjoy a great summer day in Southern Ontario.
A few games and moments come to my mind when I smile fondly back on this amazing season. Before I begin though, a couple of years ago CBS aired a special before the Final 4 of College Basketball called "The Moment: 25 years of College Basketball", it was 8 stories told by broadcasters and their favourite memories of the NCAA Tournament. Well Jim Nantz began with the following lines: "25 years....a quarter century of great moments and stories, to me each tournament, each season has it's own moments...it's own stories..."
Well said Mr. Nantz, and he is dead on right abou that, each season does have it's own moments, and it's own stories, and "what a please it has been to bring them to you for the past 25 years."- Jim Nantz.
After 11 weeks our team finally began to click, here we are, no chance at 3rd place, but the 3rd place Orioles (our opponents) have a shot to win first place, by winning out against us and then getting some help. 3 wins to that point in the year, and a home and home against the Orioles. What would transpire next was unbelievable. Through 4 innings of play the score was knotted at 2, this was 9 and 10 year olds playing! Then something unbelievable happened, the Orioles scored 4 runs against our ace Ben, and then we answered right back to tie the game at 6. As it looked like time had expired, the umpire declared, that there was enough daylight and that this game MUST continue. The Orioles were in firm control in the top of the 6th, as they hammered our pitcher Conner (making his 6th appearance, ever) for 6 runs. Now in the bottom of the 6th inning, we had scored a bunch of runs, I had sort of lost track, I was preparing my speech at the end of the game in my head. Then with two outs and two on Jared (1st year player and mid-season addition) came up and popped up to third base, and the ball fell, base hit, and an overthrow, scored 1 run, then they threw out the second run at the plate, 3 outs, inning and game over. I went to check with our scorekeeper to find out how many runs we put across the board, and she told me. So I go back to our team and we shake hands. I knew what the score was, no other coaches did, no players did. So I take the book over and I start to explain what had happened. When Jared popped up, the ball was dropped, Brad scored, he was safe, and then Conner came around he was out at the plate. Conner was the third out of the inning, but the 7th run had crossed the plate, in a wild 13-12 win for the good guys. The next night we blew out the same Oriole team 11-2, in 2 games we scored 24 runs, only in Little League!
The following week the playoffs began and we (Blue Jays) were 4th, the Orioles were 3rd thanks to us, and the we drew the #5 team Red Sox in the first round. The umpires did not show, so the Sox coach, took home plate duties and I took base duties. The game got off to a bad start, the Red Sox had scored 12 runs in 3 innings, to take a commanding 12-7 lead heading to the 4th. With time running out- Ben came into pitch, and threw 3 perfect innings, in the bottom of the 4th and 5th we scored 5 runs to tie the game. Now in the bottom of the 6th inning Jared came up to the plate and promptly slapped a single. With Lee coming up the stage was set.
Lee was drafted by us in 2004, and the dad really liked us and he was picked up again in 2005. Lee had mild autism and in the 2 seasons with us had a total of 6 hits, countless strikeouts, and many walks. 2 years later, here came the big payoff.
Lee got the ball of the end of the bat down the 3rd base line, and the Red Sox threw Jared out at 2nd, 1 out, Lee on 1st. Lee runs on the first pitch which was not cleanly caught and was then overthrown at 2nd, so Lee is running to 3rd, and the ball was overthrown, so now he is heading to the plate, and the throw is not in time, and Lee is SAFE at the PLATE, winning run scores Blue Jays 13- Red Sox 12 in another wild come from behind victory.
Two days later we would draw the #1 Athletics, and another battle would ensue. In the 1st inning, the A's scored 4 runs, 2 of which were on controversial plays at first, which allowed the runs to score with 2 outs. After the 1st inning, the A's had exactly 1 base runner the rest of the night. We would score 2 runs in the 5th to cut the deficit, and then in the 6th inning, the bottom of the order was up, and time was running out. We got to the top of the order, but our batter struck out with the tying run on 2nd, we would lose 4-2 in an epic battle.
The next week, the Orioles (you remember them) would beat us 6-2 behind some outstanding pitching and a rally to put us away in the 6th.
Still an amazing year, and oh my, what could have been.
Tomorrow 2006.
Until then enjoy a great summer day in Southern Ontario.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Past Season Review Part 1 of 4
Our Pre-season marches on today with a past-season review! Today: 2004- Rookie Ball Red Sox. Our first year coaching, not a banner year by any means. In fact the season started off wierdly, one of our players Jaered, who at the start of the year did not really like to throw the ball, turned an unassisted triple play from 3rd base. Incredible right? Well, yes and no, here was the situation. Runners on 1st and 3rd, nobody out, there was a line drive hit, with the runners moving, right at Jaered, makes the catch (1 out), then touches 3rd to get the tag-up out (2 outs), then runs across the diamond to first and touches 1st base (3 outs), inning over, no harm done. Great individual play, that was by far the most spectatular play of the season, especially on the defensive standpoint. But the one thing I always like to stress is teamwork, now granted when you are dealing with 7-9 year olds and the ball being thrown across the diamond is not really a good thing to begin with, that play worked out really, really well, but I am a traditionalist. We worked on Jaered and he was the throwing the ball and making outs the rest of the year, so it was a great thing to happen.
That 2004 season was not great, we lost a lot of ball games, we were 4-12 through the regular season, not exactly a great year. But anything can happen in the playoffs. Amazingly we finished 3rd out of 4 teams that year, the 4th place team had 3 wins, and the other two teams had more than 8 wins apeice and dominated the league. We had a round robin playoff and somehow, the 4th place Yankees upended the 2nd place Athletics in the round robin, and all of a sudden heading into our final set of games all 4 teams were 1-1. Winners would move on to the finals. The Blue Jays had finished 2-1 with wins over us and the Yankees, meanwhile we had to face the Athletics. the 2nd place team. We were up 3 runs in the final inning, hey we were going to play for a championship after a poor season, all right, well now in Rookie Ball there is a safety circle around the pitching machine, well it was not chalked on the diamond all season long. So now here we go, in the bottom of the 6th with 1 out, we get a routine ground ball the pitcher fields it, throws it to first, and we are about to head to the championship game. Well not so fast, the Athletics coach comes out of the dugout and challenges the fact that our pitcher was in the circle, that was not drawn on the diamond. Now, normally the umpires make their call and leave it, not this time, the ump reversed his decision and put the runner on 1st, 1 out. The Athletics began a rally and won the game by a single run. Two days later we would lose to the Yankees in the consolation final.
What a tough way to lose in the first year, tomorrow 2005- Minor Blue Jays and one amazing game.
Countdown is on- Mass Practice- 5 days away!
That 2004 season was not great, we lost a lot of ball games, we were 4-12 through the regular season, not exactly a great year. But anything can happen in the playoffs. Amazingly we finished 3rd out of 4 teams that year, the 4th place team had 3 wins, and the other two teams had more than 8 wins apeice and dominated the league. We had a round robin playoff and somehow, the 4th place Yankees upended the 2nd place Athletics in the round robin, and all of a sudden heading into our final set of games all 4 teams were 1-1. Winners would move on to the finals. The Blue Jays had finished 2-1 with wins over us and the Yankees, meanwhile we had to face the Athletics. the 2nd place team. We were up 3 runs in the final inning, hey we were going to play for a championship after a poor season, all right, well now in Rookie Ball there is a safety circle around the pitching machine, well it was not chalked on the diamond all season long. So now here we go, in the bottom of the 6th with 1 out, we get a routine ground ball the pitcher fields it, throws it to first, and we are about to head to the championship game. Well not so fast, the Athletics coach comes out of the dugout and challenges the fact that our pitcher was in the circle, that was not drawn on the diamond. Now, normally the umpires make their call and leave it, not this time, the ump reversed his decision and put the runner on 1st, 1 out. The Athletics began a rally and won the game by a single run. Two days later we would lose to the Yankees in the consolation final.
What a tough way to lose in the first year, tomorrow 2005- Minor Blue Jays and one amazing game.
Countdown is on- Mass Practice- 5 days away!
Friday, April 4, 2008
8 days till Baseball Season Begins
Coach Jake here, and I welcome you to a new baseball season, as I hope you will join me on our road to the 2008 Ancaster Little League Championship. This year will be my 5th year coaching, and my fellow coaches and I are looking forward to great year filled with fun, excitement and of course lots fantastic moments to look back on.
The one thing that I will be doing during this pre-season will be looking back upon the previous 4 years, with great memories and sharing the great moments. The season begins with an evalution day on April 12, and there will be an update here following that, then a special draft blog. After all of that the excitement of a new season begins and I will take you down to road of a Little League Baseball season.
Within the Ancaster Little League, I am an umpire, convener of Rookie Ball, exective member and a coach in the Major division.
It is with great pleasure as well that I announce my coaching staff to you today.
Manager: Jake Parkhill, 3rd year as a Manager
1st Assistant: Brian Last
2nd Assistant: Andrew Seroski
Should be a tremendous season.
Tomorrow marks the start of the umpire season with a "Super Clinic" in Oakville, and then next Saturday is our Evaluation day! Sometime after that, usually about two weeks afterwards, will be the draft day for Major, and then, practices begin. Opening week will be May 10-17, with the first pitch being thrown on May 13, should be something very special.
The one thing that I will be doing during this pre-season will be looking back upon the previous 4 years, with great memories and sharing the great moments. The season begins with an evalution day on April 12, and there will be an update here following that, then a special draft blog. After all of that the excitement of a new season begins and I will take you down to road of a Little League Baseball season.
Within the Ancaster Little League, I am an umpire, convener of Rookie Ball, exective member and a coach in the Major division.
It is with great pleasure as well that I announce my coaching staff to you today.
Manager: Jake Parkhill, 3rd year as a Manager
1st Assistant: Brian Last
2nd Assistant: Andrew Seroski
Should be a tremendous season.
Tomorrow marks the start of the umpire season with a "Super Clinic" in Oakville, and then next Saturday is our Evaluation day! Sometime after that, usually about two weeks afterwards, will be the draft day for Major, and then, practices begin. Opening week will be May 10-17, with the first pitch being thrown on May 13, should be something very special.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)