Music Rings Life into Bomber Lineup
BY SPARKY CHALMERS
Guest statistician Linda Albelli went through a full pens worth of ink Tuesday night in Park Ridge. A combination of Bomber bats and well placed balls resulted in a lot of runs – and I’m talking a ton. While fighting off the early stages of Carpal Tunnel, Albelli kept note of every run during a 31-6 victory over HR/Legal.
The Bombers surrendered two runs in the top of the first inning, and that was the last negative thing that happened for the day. Pop-ups found green and turned into doubles, ground balls hit gaps and turned races to first into races to home. It was just the kind of medicine B&E needed after the Barnum and Bailey’s 5th inning from Monday’s loss.
“After the loss to USCG it was nice to bounce back in a big way,” second basegirl Melinda Haggerty said. “After we got a few breaks we got our confidence back, and swung the bat with authority.”
Adding to the party was a huge boombox that echoed each Bomber’s theme music through Park Ridge. Apart from being 35-pounds of fun, the music seemed to relax the batting order and get B&E into a rhythm from the get go.
“When Jason (Calcano) went up to bat and we kick-started our music tradition it was pretty awesome,” second basegirl Susan Osterlitz said. “His music choice was very fitting and reminded me of my time at Mango’s in Miami.”
Calcano led the first inning off with a home-run over the left field fence. Four batters later Michael Barbara added a left-field blast of his own. And the merry-go-round known as the bases didn’t stop moving for a while. The first inning was the first of two innings that the Bombers batted around in.
“We got the snowball rolling downhill and it just kept getting bigger and harder to stop,” Michael Barbara said before being cut off by catcher Janeen Lucius who stated that interns don’t get quoted in the paper and get fined for using cliché analogies.
Every person (except Melinda Jensen and Sam Nicole) on the right side of the field had stats worthy of note. Mack Patterson had a grand slam through the middle of the field, James Heine swears he went 5-for-5, Haggerty reached base three times and Osterlitz hit a well placed ball into right field and ended up on third base.
And so on and so on.
The feel good story of the day was HR/Legal turning down the 10-run rule in the 5th inning and playing the game out until the end – and then joining the team out for post-game festivities. Willie Stargell once said “When they start the game, they don't yell, "Work ball." They say,"Play ball." HR/Legal in cooperation with a boombox full of tunes reminded us of that.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I Post Losses Too
Bad Inning Dooms Bombers
BY SPARKY CHALMERS
PARK RIDGE, NJ: It was all too familiar for B&E (1-1) yesterday. When the mighty squad has fallen there have been a couple of constants in the equation. Their own mental lapses opened up room for their opposition’s big inning – and their opposition is usually USCG.
Yesterday was no different as B&E surrendered a 13 run inning in the bottom of the 5th and fell to USCG (2-0) 16-11.
The Bombers looked like themselves in the first inning, taking advantage of mistakes and driving in runs. They plated five runners in total, highlighted by a line-drive two run homer off the bat of Steve Sartori. Sartori had the only wall-clearing home run of the day.
They resembled like themselves in fact all the way until the bottom of the 5th - strolling into the half-frame with a 10-3 lead. The heart of the order went 11-15 in building the advantage and Elisabeth Scarpa and Eric Svendsen used their speed to cause havoc on the base-paths.
“The wheels really fell off there,” outfielder Mack Patterson said. “I don’t know if we got comfortable, or if it was a lack of concentration. But we should never watch 13 runs cross the plate in a game – let a lone one inning.”
Up until the point of destruction, the Bomber defense looked air tight. On a hot and humid day the outfield managed to play the ball in front of them and get the ball back in quickly. The infield was sound and exhibited the type of range that forces B&E fans to show up in droves. The highlight of the day – and maybe the year, was a catch at short by Jason Calcano.
With runners on second and third, USCG brought up one of their top RBI men. On the second pitch of the at bat he hit a missile in between third base and short. Or so he thought. Calcano used every ounce of his enyay to lay out to his right and snare the ball about 10 inches from the ground. Both teams stopped play to simply clap and remind their lower jaw to return back to normal.
“He is just an amazing shortstop,” his boss and Bomber third baseman James Heine said. “The plays he makes in the field really save our team, and make me proud. The fact that my leadership and guidance is creating such a player is a real credit to my leadership and guidance.”
The Bombers don’t have to wait long to shake off their loss to Corporate Accounting. The squad will be back in action this afternoon against HR and Legal in Park Ridge.
BY SPARKY CHALMERS
PARK RIDGE, NJ: It was all too familiar for B&E (1-1) yesterday. When the mighty squad has fallen there have been a couple of constants in the equation. Their own mental lapses opened up room for their opposition’s big inning – and their opposition is usually USCG.
Yesterday was no different as B&E surrendered a 13 run inning in the bottom of the 5th and fell to USCG (2-0) 16-11.
The Bombers looked like themselves in the first inning, taking advantage of mistakes and driving in runs. They plated five runners in total, highlighted by a line-drive two run homer off the bat of Steve Sartori. Sartori had the only wall-clearing home run of the day.
They resembled like themselves in fact all the way until the bottom of the 5th - strolling into the half-frame with a 10-3 lead. The heart of the order went 11-15 in building the advantage and Elisabeth Scarpa and Eric Svendsen used their speed to cause havoc on the base-paths.
“The wheels really fell off there,” outfielder Mack Patterson said. “I don’t know if we got comfortable, or if it was a lack of concentration. But we should never watch 13 runs cross the plate in a game – let a lone one inning.”
Up until the point of destruction, the Bomber defense looked air tight. On a hot and humid day the outfield managed to play the ball in front of them and get the ball back in quickly. The infield was sound and exhibited the type of range that forces B&E fans to show up in droves. The highlight of the day – and maybe the year, was a catch at short by Jason Calcano.
With runners on second and third, USCG brought up one of their top RBI men. On the second pitch of the at bat he hit a missile in between third base and short. Or so he thought. Calcano used every ounce of his enyay to lay out to his right and snare the ball about 10 inches from the ground. Both teams stopped play to simply clap and remind their lower jaw to return back to normal.
“He is just an amazing shortstop,” his boss and Bomber third baseman James Heine said. “The plays he makes in the field really save our team, and make me proud. The fact that my leadership and guidance is creating such a player is a real credit to my leadership and guidance.”
The Bombers don’t have to wait long to shake off their loss to Corporate Accounting. The squad will be back in action this afternoon against HR and Legal in Park Ridge.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Company Softball Deserves Ink
BABY BOMBERS REPRESENT 10-9
BY SPARKY CHALMERS
PARK RIDGE, NJ – Whoever is responsible for scripting sporting events is getting lazy, especially with their grand finales. The Bombers first game of 2010 ended in similar fashion to the championship game of 2009.
For those in attendance at last years Championship, this will be familiar (but don’t skip down).
Tied 9-9, and with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, pitcher Ian Gold doubled through the left side of the infield. One pitch later rookie first baseman Michael Barbara hit a double to right field, letting Gold jog home to give B&E a 10-9 victory over PT in Park Ridge.
“Of course there wasn’t as much celebration as last year, but it felt great to get the win, and to get it with so many of our key pieces out made it a special game,” Gold said. “It was fun to watch new people step up.”
By now the readers of this rag have figured out that Patrice Jones and Eric Svendsen are pretty good. But without them (amongst others), in the scarlet and gray - new names and fresh faces contributed to the victory.
Barbara, holding up his end of the intern bargain, drove in the winning run of the game and used his near blinding speed for an inside the park homer to center. Elisabeth Scarpa, Brian Reilly and Dan Sandin joined Barbara as rookies of note.
On the first play of the game Scarpa tracked down a rocket hit to right field and then later had an RBI to bolster a lead in the bottom of the sixth.
Reilly, a third baseman, made the decision to forgo plastic surgery and catch a rocket line drive – and then by Scarpa’s example, contributed offensively with an inside-the-park Home Run in the sixth.
Reilly’s homer was followed by a triple from rookie outfielder Dan Sandin, who then scored the final run of the inning beating a throw home after a hit by Susan Osterlitz.
“I thought everyone played well,” Osterlitz said. “I usually measure the rookie’s worth by how quickly they bring me water between innings, but today they made the difference in the game.”
Last year the Bombers lost their first game of the year in similarly dire straits. They fell behind early and were never able to fight back and regain the lead.
Once again, B&E fell behind 0-3 after the top of the first inning – but this time no heads were hung, and they chipped away and tightened up the defense.
Gold, the pitcher who watched three PT runs just cross the plate, got the comeback started and didn’t let up until crossing the plate in the 7th. He hit home runs over the left field fence in his first two plate appearances and started off his Cy Young bid with a strong performance on the mound.
Besides for an opposite field homer in the first for PT, Gold teamed with star catcher Janine Lucas to keep a majority of PT hits in the infield and direct them at vacuum shortstop Jason Calcano (who could have been mentioned earlier and is also pretty good).
“I was mixing up signals and got into a pretty good rhythm,” Lucas said. “Slider, curve, 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball – yeah right, get real.”
The Bombers will be joined by the rest of their squad Monday at 5:30 when they take on familiar rivals USCG at Park Ridge.
BY SPARKY CHALMERS
PARK RIDGE, NJ – Whoever is responsible for scripting sporting events is getting lazy, especially with their grand finales. The Bombers first game of 2010 ended in similar fashion to the championship game of 2009.
For those in attendance at last years Championship, this will be familiar (but don’t skip down).
Tied 9-9, and with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, pitcher Ian Gold doubled through the left side of the infield. One pitch later rookie first baseman Michael Barbara hit a double to right field, letting Gold jog home to give B&E a 10-9 victory over PT in Park Ridge.
“Of course there wasn’t as much celebration as last year, but it felt great to get the win, and to get it with so many of our key pieces out made it a special game,” Gold said. “It was fun to watch new people step up.”
By now the readers of this rag have figured out that Patrice Jones and Eric Svendsen are pretty good. But without them (amongst others), in the scarlet and gray - new names and fresh faces contributed to the victory.
Barbara, holding up his end of the intern bargain, drove in the winning run of the game and used his near blinding speed for an inside the park homer to center. Elisabeth Scarpa, Brian Reilly and Dan Sandin joined Barbara as rookies of note.
On the first play of the game Scarpa tracked down a rocket hit to right field and then later had an RBI to bolster a lead in the bottom of the sixth.
Reilly, a third baseman, made the decision to forgo plastic surgery and catch a rocket line drive – and then by Scarpa’s example, contributed offensively with an inside-the-park Home Run in the sixth.
Reilly’s homer was followed by a triple from rookie outfielder Dan Sandin, who then scored the final run of the inning beating a throw home after a hit by Susan Osterlitz.
“I thought everyone played well,” Osterlitz said. “I usually measure the rookie’s worth by how quickly they bring me water between innings, but today they made the difference in the game.”
Last year the Bombers lost their first game of the year in similarly dire straits. They fell behind early and were never able to fight back and regain the lead.
Once again, B&E fell behind 0-3 after the top of the first inning – but this time no heads were hung, and they chipped away and tightened up the defense.
Gold, the pitcher who watched three PT runs just cross the plate, got the comeback started and didn’t let up until crossing the plate in the 7th. He hit home runs over the left field fence in his first two plate appearances and started off his Cy Young bid with a strong performance on the mound.
Besides for an opposite field homer in the first for PT, Gold teamed with star catcher Janine Lucas to keep a majority of PT hits in the infield and direct them at vacuum shortstop Jason Calcano (who could have been mentioned earlier and is also pretty good).
“I was mixing up signals and got into a pretty good rhythm,” Lucas said. “Slider, curve, 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball – yeah right, get real.”
The Bombers will be joined by the rest of their squad Monday at 5:30 when they take on familiar rivals USCG at Park Ridge.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950). Spoon River Anthology. 1916.
60. Fiddler Jones
THE EARTH keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
What do you see, a harvest of clover? 5
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove. 10
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
How could I till my forty acres 15
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
And I never started to plow in my life 20
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, 25
And not a single regret.
60. Fiddler Jones
THE EARTH keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
What do you see, a harvest of clover? 5
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove. 10
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
How could I till my forty acres 15
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
And I never started to plow in my life 20
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, 25
And not a single regret.
I'll Start Blogging Now
For the most part I intend to wisely rant - but if you immerse yourself in my musings, you'll pick up incredible knowledge of sports, music, weekend happenings and life in general.
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