Bomb's Away Tournament
Today is day one of the tournament. We are playing all of our games in Moscow because of the rain and the condition of the Pullman fields. I got over there around eleven am. I started to warm up with some of the other people. I found out I would be pitching the whole thing because the other pitcher would not be there. That was cool because I would get a lot of play time that way.
While I was warming up Matt said "Hi Scott." I was sort of surprised that he said that. After the IM game we played this spring he totally ignored me. I don't know if he was being nice so he could use my bat, of if he was just being nice. But I said hello back and kept warming up.
I saw the line up. I was batting around eighth or ninth. I wanted to bat higher, but I figured I would have to earn it. So that is what I did. I went out in the first game and went two for three with powerful basehits. We were playing a team in our division, the Bulldogs. They were beating us. They were crushing us. A few people from the Tax Dodgers said that we should be able to beat they because they are not a good team.
After the first game we had a few hours for a break. Mark and I sat together and chatted with others from the team. He went and got some food. I gave him money to get food for me. As we sat there the sun and the brightness was getting old. I made my way to the shade for a while to not feel like my eyes were going to burn out.
Then it came time for game two. The new line up had me batting eighth. But the deal was that the second game would be the reverse, so I would be batting third. In the second game I had a couple doubles and hit the ball with a fair amount of power. We were playing a team that was supposed to be the next level above us. Phil hit two home runs, a three-run and a grand slam. We were with them the whole way. We went to the seventh inning and they were the home team. We had tied the score at twenty to twenty. We had just gotten a homerun, so that made it so they could hit another one. The tournament allowed three more homeruns than the other team. I knew the next few batters would all be swinging for the fence. The first guy comes to the plate and he swung away. As soon as it was hit, I knew it was gone. We lost on one long ball.
We had another game right after it. The dreaded Tax Dodgers. They are the rival team of My Office. As their pitcher, Frank, says it is not a season unless we play them at least seven or eight times. I always have a hard time against them because they will not swing at hardly anything. There is also an umpire, John, who is really tight on his strike zone. Couple the two together and I have a bad day. It started out like that. I was not getting the ball across the plate like I wanted to. They scored a couple runs. The batting order was turned upside down from the last game, so I was batting third.
My first at bat I saw they had the right fielder playing in and about ten feet from the line. They know where I like to hit too well. So I had to look somewhere else for a hit. I found an hole. I hit it hard. In the following innings I got more pitches across and we were getting outs. I came up with two guys on base looking for a hard hit, I hit it to center field where it flew out. It was a homerun. Then an inning or two later, I came up with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam to left field. I was hitting the ball well this tournament. We beat them sixteen to three.
After the game I went to field one where my truck was parked. I hung out with some of the other guys and watched the game play on field one. After that I talked with Randy from the Tax Dodgers. He is a really nice guy and we chat a lot. The Bomb Squad was going to play a game and it did not matter if they picked up a few guys. They only had seven, so they got Randy, Ben from My Office, and me to play with them.
They are an A league team. In the A league after the pitcher warms up you throw the ball around the horn. So I threw it down to the third baseman at the beginning of every inning. Those guys were hitting the ball hard. I did not do well at the plate. I did have a walk my first at bat. Then I flew out to left field and followed that up with a bad at bat. I was looking for something a little outside. The first two pitches were strikes. I was looking down getting reset. When I looked up the ball was almost to me and it was looking like a strike. They guy quick pitched me. So I swung as quick as I could. I missed the ball and the bat came around and hit me in the back of the head. I was mad.
Randy was playing first base. A left hander crushed a ball down the left field line and Randy made a play on it. He was on his knees and looked to toss it to the pitcher. But Gregg was standing on the mound still. The batter did not even leave the box. So we had a live play and everyone was just standing there. Finally the second baseman ran over and covered first for the out. I was laughing because it was funny to see no one move during a live play like that.
When the was done I went to Zeppoz. I was going to hang out for a while and see if Ryan would return my call. I was there for only a minute when he called. I sat there and talked for about five minutes then got some lunch from the drive-thru at Dairy Queen and headed to Ryan's. We watched a few episodes of Third Watch that he had recorded.
I left his place after the last showing and went home. I had to be at the playfields at nine in the morning so I wanted to have as much sleep as I could get.
While I was warming up Matt said "Hi Scott." I was sort of surprised that he said that. After the IM game we played this spring he totally ignored me. I don't know if he was being nice so he could use my bat, of if he was just being nice. But I said hello back and kept warming up.
I saw the line up. I was batting around eighth or ninth. I wanted to bat higher, but I figured I would have to earn it. So that is what I did. I went out in the first game and went two for three with powerful basehits. We were playing a team in our division, the Bulldogs. They were beating us. They were crushing us. A few people from the Tax Dodgers said that we should be able to beat they because they are not a good team.
After the first game we had a few hours for a break. Mark and I sat together and chatted with others from the team. He went and got some food. I gave him money to get food for me. As we sat there the sun and the brightness was getting old. I made my way to the shade for a while to not feel like my eyes were going to burn out.
Then it came time for game two. The new line up had me batting eighth. But the deal was that the second game would be the reverse, so I would be batting third. In the second game I had a couple doubles and hit the ball with a fair amount of power. We were playing a team that was supposed to be the next level above us. Phil hit two home runs, a three-run and a grand slam. We were with them the whole way. We went to the seventh inning and they were the home team. We had tied the score at twenty to twenty. We had just gotten a homerun, so that made it so they could hit another one. The tournament allowed three more homeruns than the other team. I knew the next few batters would all be swinging for the fence. The first guy comes to the plate and he swung away. As soon as it was hit, I knew it was gone. We lost on one long ball.
We had another game right after it. The dreaded Tax Dodgers. They are the rival team of My Office. As their pitcher, Frank, says it is not a season unless we play them at least seven or eight times. I always have a hard time against them because they will not swing at hardly anything. There is also an umpire, John, who is really tight on his strike zone. Couple the two together and I have a bad day. It started out like that. I was not getting the ball across the plate like I wanted to. They scored a couple runs. The batting order was turned upside down from the last game, so I was batting third.
My first at bat I saw they had the right fielder playing in and about ten feet from the line. They know where I like to hit too well. So I had to look somewhere else for a hit. I found an hole. I hit it hard. In the following innings I got more pitches across and we were getting outs. I came up with two guys on base looking for a hard hit, I hit it to center field where it flew out. It was a homerun. Then an inning or two later, I came up with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam to left field. I was hitting the ball well this tournament. We beat them sixteen to three.
After the game I went to field one where my truck was parked. I hung out with some of the other guys and watched the game play on field one. After that I talked with Randy from the Tax Dodgers. He is a really nice guy and we chat a lot. The Bomb Squad was going to play a game and it did not matter if they picked up a few guys. They only had seven, so they got Randy, Ben from My Office, and me to play with them.
They are an A league team. In the A league after the pitcher warms up you throw the ball around the horn. So I threw it down to the third baseman at the beginning of every inning. Those guys were hitting the ball hard. I did not do well at the plate. I did have a walk my first at bat. Then I flew out to left field and followed that up with a bad at bat. I was looking for something a little outside. The first two pitches were strikes. I was looking down getting reset. When I looked up the ball was almost to me and it was looking like a strike. They guy quick pitched me. So I swung as quick as I could. I missed the ball and the bat came around and hit me in the back of the head. I was mad.
Randy was playing first base. A left hander crushed a ball down the left field line and Randy made a play on it. He was on his knees and looked to toss it to the pitcher. But Gregg was standing on the mound still. The batter did not even leave the box. So we had a live play and everyone was just standing there. Finally the second baseman ran over and covered first for the out. I was laughing because it was funny to see no one move during a live play like that.
When the was done I went to Zeppoz. I was going to hang out for a while and see if Ryan would return my call. I was there for only a minute when he called. I sat there and talked for about five minutes then got some lunch from the drive-thru at Dairy Queen and headed to Ryan's. We watched a few episodes of Third Watch that he had recorded.
I left his place after the last showing and went home. I had to be at the playfields at nine in the morning so I wanted to have as much sleep as I could get.
posted by Scotty at
11:54 PM
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