HOWARD COUNTY LUCKS OUT

Fortunately for Howard County, in the fifth inning Carroll Blue lost Pete Morano as the result of a severely sprained ankle, leaving Carroll with only ten players for the last five innings. Carroll Blue has faired quite well against the Division A clubs and had Howard on the ropes for eight innings even using just the ten players, but in the end succumbed to a good Howard team. After Pete exited, Murph moved from second to right-center, and made some good catches there. Howard failed to capitalize on the wide gaps in the infield, and Blue looked as though they might pull it off, even executing a couple of double plays. Now if Evers could learn to hit, maybe the homer calls which started on the second batter of the game (when Jr. was called out on appeal for leaving second too soon, by the infield ump who had turned to watch the outfielder catch the ball and did not even see Jr.), would not seem so obtuse. - Blue's game with Harford has been postponed, but as of this writing has not been re-scheduled.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS RIGHT FIELD?

Evers here, following up on my article of earlier today. As noted near the end of that article, Tinker instructed that when I was finished writing the article, I was to click on the "Publish Post" button at the bottom right of the screen. (The "Publish Post" button is actually at the bottom left of the screen.) As I reflect on all of this, since he doesn't seem to know his right from his left, perhaps it is not so surprising that when trying to find right field, Tinker wandered around like Moses in the wilderness. He'll probably end up in the promised land when he heads back home from France.

Bonne Chance

DUNDALK DUN IN BY CARROLL BLUE

O.K. sports fans, today you have a substitute reporter (Evers) standing in for Tinker, so hang on cause I don't know Who's on first. Dundalk made a game of it for three innings, but in the end Carroll Blue showed why they are on the top of their division, settling for a 19 to 13 victory. Jim Pugh looked to be a bit winded as he rounded third on the way to the plate after hitting his second dinger of the day. (Jim contends that he really enjoys making those Brooks Robinson defensive plays at third base more than hitting home runs, but this writer will have none of it. And this, coming from a preacher. Go figure.) Then Jim prevaricated again when he told the writer that he stood no chance of pegging out the lollygagging Dundalk runner at home after Jr. caught a fly ball in medium deep left and launched a rocket shot to Mel at cut-off. The picture at right began as a photo of me and my grand-daughter; however, Jim said that he too was a bearded infielder and deserved to be in the picture. I had no idea what beards had to do with anything, but acquiesced saying he could be in the picture if he did not look directly at the camera. Moments after the picture was taken, Jim tried to take my dolly from me. The nerve of this guy. -- Evers (Mel) filling in at shortstop for Tinker (Greg), did his best to make Murph a little taller, with a throw to second in the fourth inning designed to stretch Murph several inches. Later in the game Tinker headed east to see if he could find right field. (This was tough for him as there were no bases in this general area.) Instead, he ended up in France, still toting the six-pack he had carried with him to right field.

I think Tinker must have had a few of those beers when he gave me the instructions for how to operate this blog. At this point I am supposed to go the the bottom right corner and click on the "Publish Post" button. I guess he means my other "right" as there is no such button on the bottom right.

One Small Step For Man

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Eagle landing and man walking on the moon. Where were you at 10:56p.m. 40 years ago? I remember the moment like it was yesterday! Today also marks yet another victory for the Blue and keeps Dundalk behind our sister Gray. I apologize for not remembering details of today's game to report as our manager disoriented me in right field. The good news is that you'll soon be receiving a new prospective of the games. (P.S. to P-T Mike: Where's the respect Man, I give you good press and you can't handle my strike from RF).

Tinker Tosses to Evers

In Tinker's absence the next two weeks, the pen has been tossed to Evers (just so you know who to cozy up to). Best of luck at Howard and Harford!!!! Keep Hank's perfect managing record intact during Larry's absence as well! Amis de Bonne Chance et au revoir.

Wasn't Pretty

With only 12 show-ups today Blue stationed players out of position, did not employ designated runners and saw lefty Ray bat right handed. When starter Sain got touched up for three runs midway through the game our lead appeared to be in jeopardy (less than 20). Larry, always a picture of calm and a supreme strategist brought Mel (Evers) in to pitch the final three innings.
Mel flummoxed Gold batters for the remainder of the game. (As great of a friend as Mel is he proved to be a greater gentleman when he refused my request to brushback the 82 year old firstbaseman who challengened me to meet him on the parking lot after the game). All Blue hitters contributed at least three hits apiece with the exception of two. Had Hank "The Yank" made even a faint effort on my "mildly" errant double-up throw to first base, I would not have mentioned his two hits. 29-3 is another Blue victory but lets play seriously on Monday against Dundalk. A win over Dundalk will help our Gray counterparts and get us one step closer to exceeding 33 wins.

Blue Outfielders

The last line of defense and the swiftest in the league. "Sleeping Beauty" claims to be the fastest.

It's A Girl

Nineteen years ten months and one day ago my youngest daughter Maggie was born. Because of Maggie's absense, having pursued studies in Argentina since February, this blog was created to help keep her abreast of life "back in the States". Today, Mag's Mother & I retrieved her from BWI which was the reason for my absence. What started as a personal reflection shared with only Mag and my buddy Evers has grown to this. My on-the-scene reporter has furnished me with today's game capsule via that new fangled cell phone technology.

19-13 BLUE! Words of wisdom to both Blue and Gray.....don't cause umpires problems with close calls! Rob Kidd was credited with the win and went 3 for 3. Offensive contributions also came from Pete 2-2(who must be leading in batting average?), Mike Price going 3 for 3 (Mike does like the press apparently), and Murph with yet another home run. It must have been a close game to the end as I was told the score going into the bottom of the 8th was 15-9. Let's take the "Gold" on Wednesday!

New Goals Lie Ahead

First Mission Accomplished! With todays doubleheader victory we have exceeded last year's wins total. Now the Goals....first things first, and as much as we wish success for our "Gray" friends, we need to take them seriously on Monday. Secondly, we need 8 wins from our 12 remaining games to establish a new team record. Thirdly, we need to stay healthy to enable us to take the tournament championship. In a very subtle fashion, our beloved manager, showed his confidence in us today by changing the pitching rotation by starting Sain ahead of Spahn. Furthermore, he chose to have three rookies starting in the first game lineup for which he pitched. Lots of MOXIE Larry! Let's recall the gauntlet laid by Mr. Bair at the first meeting of the season....Division Championships Two for Two, for Gray and Blue. I know it must be a challenge to keep 18 active prima donas' egos happy with playing time but I believe Larry has a great strategy (note, I'm sucking up here in hopes of getting playing time). On a personal note, I thank Mr. Hoffman for taking the turn at 3rd making a homer outta my legs double.

Lead Widens

Today's 18-7 victory avenges another of our early season losses to Old Liners. Our lead has now extended to 5 games over Bel Air! PT Mike must have been serious about wanting more press as his bat was hot today! Once again we had production from top to bottom of the lineup and demoralized the opponents with our speed and defensive prowess. Hard to bestow defensive accolades today as there were so many....from Jim (The Hoover)'s portrayal of a diving Brooks to Neal's sprinting shags while fighting the sun and to the middle infielders turning double plays.

Two W's tommorow can pretty well lock it up, AND, we will surpass last year's win total with 12 games yet to be played. Yet another item of note......shine your shoes and press your shorts for Monday's game against Gray, for we may see our sponsors in attendance.

Road Weary Victory

Enduring the ride to Greenbelt makes one appreciate the endurance of minor leaguers. Fortunately, our two remaining games with Greenbelt are home games! 28-10 victory with all fifteen Blues contributing both on the field and at the plate. Defensive gem of the day goes to 2b
Mel (Evers) for the over the shoulder catch! Offensive statistic of the game goes to Tom, albeit, only half of his four hits were homers. Let's revenge our earlier loss when we travel to
Old Liners on Wednesday and then dispose of Catonsville at home Thursday for our make-up doubleheader. One other note worthy item, our opponents will soon learn not to try to go up the middle with the sure hands of Larry and backed up by Ray.

Taste of the Bitters

Had we had a little whiskey and vermouth to accompany the bitters, game one would have put a smile on the face of the Chairman of the Board of our sponsor. Lacking the aforementioned ingredients, our Manhatten project imploded. 12-16, with the game being reminiscent of earlier outings where we allowed Bel Air to rally in the final inning. Post-game analysis reveals that we had too much time after warmups causing our bats to be lethargic and our defensive focus lacking. So the streak stopped, but, a new streak has begun. We whomped 'em in game two by a score of 7-2. To PT Mike, iffin' you come fulltime you'll get more press! To Evers from Tinker, you need never apologize, just focus on the next play. To Frank, from yours truly, thanks for your legs for the round-tripper (I would have made it to 2B). Sterling defensive plays from Neal, Dave and Frank from the OF are to be applauded. All-in-all 22-6 ain't bad! We continue leading the division with a four game margin! The other memorable item....must have had the largest fan contingent to date....thanks to the Gray players who came to support (spy on) us.