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Last night, I played three more games in my Strat-O-Matic Winter League. Which, with my Roswell Grays, means three more losses.
In my last 21 games, my team is 2-19. My season record is 32-58.
This is why I've formulated "Plan B" for next year's Winter Strato season. Mercifully, I have just six more winter games to go this year.
Luckily, March 9th is Draft Day 2002 for our regular season Strato league, the Bad Ass Strat-O-Matic League. I'm expecting a good year out of my DC Dragons.
Well, tonight featured the fourth week of my softball league. So, here's the rundown:
The Good: I went 3 for 5, with a double, a run scored, and two RBI. The double was a pretty good rip to center, too - my first really good hit of the league, I think. I'm now batting .471, with a 1.000 OPS.
The Bad: My team lost 30-24. How's that for a "football score?"
The Ugly: Our pitcher was a walking machine. In the first inning he walked in a run four times. His control didn't improve as the game went on, either. I thought I was watching Kerry Wood of my winter league Strato team.
So, a tough evening in a way. I did well, the team lost. Ah well. We're 1-3, hopefully we'll turn it around.
I'm a Jose Canseco fan. He's just so amusing, and the Bash Brothers were all the rage in baseball when I was collecting cards growing up. And, he's been on my Dragons Strato team since it's inception.
So, I'm glad the Expos are giving him a chance. Perhaps that's one reason I'm trying to buy the Expos.
However, it seems not everyone believes he can still play the outfield. From Jayson Stark's column on espn.com:
For the sake of entertainment alone, we're always happy to have Jose Canseco around. But every baseball person we've asked if Canseco can possibly play in the National League has burst into laughter within seconds.
"Why don't they see if he can play shortstop while they're at it?" said one scout.
For the record, Canseco has played a total of 13 games in the outfield in the last three seasons combined.
So, this fan says, good luck Jose!!
This rules absolutley!! Ever want to own part of a real live MLB team? Well, would you settle for the Expos instead? Click here for details.
Update 2/23: I've pledged $100 bucks. I just want to move them to DC.
Well, after another evening of my winter Strat-O-Matic baseball league, I've finally been officially mathematically eliminated. The 2-16 record I've put up in he last month sure hasn't helped. A couple good points out of this evening, though: 1) only nine more games to go, and 2) I have mathematically guaranteed myself the first overall draft pick in next year's winter draft (or, as we in the league call it, the Albert Pujols Sweepstakes)!! Shoot for the stars, young Hoggatt...
Well, I played my third softball game tonight. Finally, my team recorded our first win! We're now 1-2. I played second base again, and did a pretty good job. At the plate, I was 2 for 5 with a run scored and two strikeouts. I'm now hitting .417 on the season.
Happy Birthday, Ryan!!
Boy, I can't believe I've gone so long between updates. I guess that's what happens when my girlfriend visits from Sacramento for a three day weekend that features a wedding and two birthday events. However, a fun time was had by all. Look for another update tonight after my third softball game.
Saturday morning, my cousin Todd is getting married. Congratulations to Todd and Jesse, the happy couple!! May their life together be happy, healthy and successful.
You thought you got bad telephone service? Check this out.
Yup, a third entry in less than 30 minutes. Lots of news. Anyway, I had my second company team softball game tonight. It was a heck of a game. A lot of fun, and an exciting match as well.
For the team, we lost 24-18. Since we lost 23-5 last week, this can be looked upon as a huge improvement. We were able to walk off the field happy with the way we played the game and confident we could build on the improvement.
Personally, I was shifted to second base for tonight's game. I actually managed to field pretty darn well. I had only had two real plays to make, since everyone on the team we faced was right-handed. But, the first, a shallow pop into the 3.5 hole, I snagged cleanly to end the first inning, and the second later on earned me praise from my teammates. I snagged a quick one-hopper to my left cleanly and made an accurate, unhurried throw to first to record the out.
At the plate, I was much improved over last weeks performance (0-3, K). Tonight, I went 3-4, with 2 runs scored. The first at bat, I hit a well placed bloop into shallow center to reach first and move the runner from first to third. I moved from first to third on the next single, but was then stranded on the third out. In my second at bat, I worked the count to 3-2, then on a likely strike swung and made contact, if not a lot of contact. I got enough of it to dribble it down the third base line and ran it out to reach first. I was then driven around the diamond by my teammates and scored. Amazingly, my third at bat was exactly the same as my second. Dribbler down the line, ran it out, scored. Hey, I'll take it. Then, my last at bat led off the last inning. I worked the count to 2-2, then swung on a likely strike and grounded a solid shot to short. I ran it out as hard as I could, but was thrown out by a quarter of a step. My play on the evening earned me praise from my teammates, and that felt pretty good after my poor showing last week, let me tell you.
So, I'm happy both with my team's performane tonight, and my own. For those keeping score at home, I'm now 3-7, 2 R, 1 K on the season. That's an .857 OPS, for you SABR-maticians out there.
Check in next Tuesday for a new softball update, same Bat-time, same Bat-website!!
My mom's birthday is the 13th. In case I don't get a chance to post this tomorrow, I'm doing it now:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!
Most people checking this site will already know I'm a Jew. Well, there's a holiday soon called Purim, and someone in Israel is celebrating it in very poor taste.
Finally!! I found the new Angels "Red Dawn" gear today - or at least some of it. While at the Tustin Marketplace for dinner with my folks, I went by Chicks Sporting Goods and they had replica home jerseys ($70), authentic on-field jackets ($110), and polo shirts ($40). Unfortunately, no caps. I was going to go back to the store after dinner to get a jersey, but it being 7:05 PM on a Sunday in Irvine/Tustin, the place was already closed. D'oh!! I'll have to get back there.
My friend Mike has added a third web cam to his site. The dude's crazy!!
It's windy at my house. I mean 20 mph windy. I'm guessing that's about how windy it was this morning when I was playing softball with my friends.
We were dumb.
Once again, I am a Strat-O-Matic Baseball fan. But I am by far not the only one. See here for details.
My lovely and talented girlfriend is now webmastering her own site. It's still in the really early stages, but espark.org will be pretty spiffy soon.
As noted on my sidebar, I play Strat-O-Matic baseball. I have a regular season American League based team, the DC Dragons of the Bad Ass Strat-O-Matic League. Some of my league mates and I also play a National League based Winter League. In the Winter League, my team is the Roswell Grays (no web site for them - yet...). They suck. Hard. Mostly against one team, though. Against Ryan, Adam, and Eric, my team is 27-27 on the season. Ok, not bad. However, there's one more team - Joe's team, the Castle Rock Dark Towers. Against the Towers, I'm 3-18 on the season. I have no clue why. But, my record against Joe drags my overall record to a last place 30-45. The good news is, I've only got three more games against Joe this Winter League. The bad news is, I do still have three more games against Joe.
Well, I had my first real softball game today with my company team. We lost. And I mean really. 23-5 really. But, we played a team that had obviously played together before, and my team mostly introduced ourselves to each other at the field. I'm sure we'll be decent. I hope. As far as my performance, I played an adequate right field, though we were a man short and only had three outfielders (normally in softball, you have four). At the plate, I went 0-3 with a strike out and two ground outs. It's the first time I've faced "real" pitching and a ball/strike count. I'm sure I'll improve as the season progresses. I'll keep you posted.
I like the Gypsy Den. I mean really.
I went there this evening for dessert with Mike, Chris, and Phaedra. It's a great vegetarian-friendly place for non-chocolate meals as wells. Try the vegetarian soft tacos. You'll be glad you did.
I finished Ross Newhan's The Anaheim Angels : A Complete History today. Despite my complaints about the availabilty of the new Red Dawn merchandise, I truly am a big Angel fan, and this book was wonderful. Anyone who considers themselves an Angels fan should read it, especially if you're younger than the club. Since I'm 23, my earliest memories of the Angels feature Wally Joyner and Bob Boone. I learned a lot about the early club history from this book. Go buy it now!!
For those who don't know me (and that's probably a small number of people reading the page at this point), I'm a huge Anaheim Angels fan. Well, the Angels unvieled spiffy new uniforms on January 9th, and here it is, almost a month later, and you still cannot find the new gear in stores. Unless you go to Edison Field, where the team store keeps very difficult hours, there's no way to get the new "Red Dawn" stuff. Even online, it's "back-ordered" Spring training starts in two weeks, in case sporting goods stores and the Angels online store didn't realize it. I want Red Dawn stuff!!!
How's that for a rant?
Hey all. I'm now back from Sacramento. Boy, travelling can tire a guy out. I'm glad I live just a 5 minute drive from the airport. Still, not a long post tonight - I've got some stuff to do, then I'm going to sleep.
I need a haircut. I mean really.
Greetings from Sacramento!! Yes, my banner says I'm a Southern California man, but currently I'm here visiting my girlfriend. This is a situation that has resulted in my friends giving me the charming nickname, "Mr. Fly to F---." Ah, the acceptance and openmindedness of a group of 20something men... it's okay - Chris Clark also has earned the nickname, as he lives in Orange County and his girlfriend goes to school at the University of Portland. This means Chris and I, well, "spend a lot of time together," if you know what I mean... ;-)