Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #15

Game: August 4, 2013

Buzzards beat-up Yankees, 15-0

The Buzzards were on the road to face the last-place Yankees at C-Bar-C Park. For an August afternoon in Citrus Heights, the temperature was a mild 90° and great for a ball game. So nice in fact, that four of the Ol' Buzzards were playing in their second game of the day.

The MSBL Auburn Pirates had a 10 o'clock (full-nine inning) game in Woodland earlier. The Buzzards were very short-handed due to a heavy early-August vacation impact, plus two more on the DL for recent old man-type surgeries, that made eight-players unavailable. Leaving only eight players for the game, Mike Baker thankfully joined the other regular Pirates - that turn into Buzzards - and filled-in at first base to give the Gold Country 55+ team nine players for the game.

Dean Perkins showed up in shorts to visit for a few innings and coached third base early in the game. Deano showed off the scars on the left arm and the increased range of motion, plus he's getting closer to having a straight arm, again.

The Yankees starting pitcher was the hard throwing southpaw, Tom 'Fazzie' De Fazio #17. On the mound for the Buzzards was the harder throwing righty, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz #26. The Buzzards were the home team on the schedule, so the game started with Welzy on the hill.

The Yankee leadoff batter, radio personality and featured editorial columnist in the Sacramento Bee, Bruce 'Bronx' Maiman #14, opened the game with a full-count walk. Welzy then struck-out two of the next three batters. Bronx stole second base during the first K, and after hopping around the base path toward third base for the rest of the inning, that was the furthest a Yank would tread for the rest of the game.

The Buzzards took the lead with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir walked on six pitches. Dave 'Evy' Everingham was batting next when Wookie attempted to steal second on the 0-1 pitch. Fazzie has a good move to first and threw over as Wook was taking off for second. An uh! oh! was followed by good speed and a hard slide into the bag to barely beat the throw from first for a steal, the hard and semi-lucky way. Evy then singled to left-field driving in Wook with the first run. Evy stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Baker walked with two outs. On ball four, the throw deflected off of the catcher's glove for a passed ball that scored Evy hustling in from third.

Up next, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia smashed a 2-0 fastball down the middle of the third base chock line for a hit that was knocked down by the third baseman preventing an extra base hit, but putting Buzzards at first and second. Norm 'Burner' Tucker walked on seven pitches to load 'em up for Steve 'Cookie' Cook. Cookie took a full-count walk to force in Bake with the third run.

In the second inning, the Buzzards scored one run. Welzy started the inning off with an infield hit to the left-side. Welzy stole second on the first pitch and advanced to third on Wookie's infield hit. Wook took the bag at second standing up with Evy at the plate. Taylor then scored on a passed ball to Dave for the only run of the inning and a score of 4-zip, Buzzards.

The Gold Country Nine scored twice in the third frame. With one out, Burner singled sharply to center-field. Kelly ran for the catcher, Norm. One out later, Cagey was at third base on a couple of wild pitches. Batting next, Paul 'Youngin' Lee on a seven-pitch at-bat bounced a high chopper with lots of top spin over the head of the shortstop for a base hit to score Cagey. Welzy followed with a blast to deep right-center field for a triple with Youngin' scoring on the hit from first base. The score after the third dig was 6-0.

There were opportunities for more runs, but the Yankees made several good plays plus the routine plays to hold the Buzzards to six runs, so far. At the four inning point, Welzy was still mowing down Yanks and had given up only one hit and two walks. The Buzzards were looking for a big inning to go up by 10 runs and make this a seven inning mercy-rule game. The bottom of the fourth was that inning.

Evy led-off with a double to left-center. With one out, Bake doubled over the center fielder's head to drive in Evy. One out later, Burner, hit a 1-2 pitch deep to left-center for a long single to easily score a hustlin' Bake. Cagey replaced Burner at first. Cookie walked next putting runners at first and second. Youngin then laced the second pitch into left and scored KG from second. Welzy, batting next, launched a 3-0 fastball down the left field line for a double that scored Cookie and Youngin' to make the score 11 to nothing and headed into the fifth.

The Buzzards scored for the fifth consecutive inning with four more runs in the fifth frame. Sounding by now like a broken record, Evy led-off with a double, this time to right-center field. Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray got an infield hit on that big swing putting runners on the corners. Up next, Baker slammed a liner to left-center to score Everingham. Garcia then dropped a single into left-field to score the Baron. Burner, batting next, doubled-in Bake with a sizzling liner to center that skipped over and past the semi-diving outfielder, Bronx. Bruce Maiman was much quieter in the outfield after chasing that ball. Wook then ran for Tuck at second base.

Buzzards were now at second and third with no outs. Cookie bounced into the first out with a run-scoring grounder getting Cagey home from third. Next, Paul's baggy? jersey was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, but the dig ended with a strange double-play. Cagey had replaced Wookie at second with Dan on-deck. With one out and runners at first and second, Welzy hit a short pop-up into short left-center field for a tough catch with their shortstop playing toward third base. The shortstop made a good effort, but the ball landed safely on the grass, so Cagey ran for third without tagging-up at second base.

On the play, the field ump called a late and not loud enough infield-fly rule. Since the batter was now out, as if there was a catch, the shortstop threw to second for an easy force-out and double-play while Kelly was at third base. Oh well. After five innings, the score was 15-0

Buzzards and the team was looking forward to early cold ones. Welzy continued to take down Yankees with strike-outs and ground-outs through the last two innings. The Buzzards finally went quietly in the bottom of the sixth inning with righty, big Jim 'Drama' McAdams #26 throwing his slow stuff since relieving Fazzie during the fifth frame for the damned Yankees. The final score was 15-0 in a seven-inning game played in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

On the mound, Taylor was dominate and struck out 10 Yanks. Welzy (2-1) faced 25 batters in throwing 96 pitches (64 strikes & 32 balls) while giving up just two hits and two walks. The excellent complete game shutout lowered Welzy's ERA to 1.21 with his seventh appearance on the bump for the Buzzards this season.

The Buzzards' offense scored 15 runs by knocking 18 hits around the field with six for extra bases on a productive afternoon. The hit club for the game included: the Baron-2, Bake-2, Burner-3, Cagey-2, Evy-3, Welzy-3, Wook-1, and Youngin'-2. The ribbies were courtesy of Dave-1, Kelly-1, Mike-2, Norm-2, Paul-2, Steve-2, and Taylor-3. The eagle-eyed Buzzards taking a free pass to first base were: Bake-1, Burner-1, Cookie-2, Evy-1, and Wookie-1. Every Buzzard crossed home plate. In batting order the runs were accounted to: Welzy-1, Wook-1, Evy-3, Baron-1, Bake-3, Cagey-1, Burner-2, Cookie-1, and Youngin-2. Scoring in five consecutive innings is always good.

The defense was solid and made good plays all game. The scorebook looked peculiar with 20 of the 21 put-outs made by Bake (11) at first base or the catcher, Burner (9). Pete made the only other put-out in center field on a fly ball in the first inning. The catcher, Tucker, got the put-outs credit for nine of the 10 strike 'em outs by Welzy.

On the other one, in the third inning the batter swung at a third-strike in the dirt and Burner cleanly scooped up the pitch, did not need to tag the batter, then after a double-clutch threw to third base to start the infield throw-around for the second out of the inning. However, because the ball was in the dirt and there was no tag, it was not clear to the umps or the hitter, if the batter could try to advance to first after the strike-out. On the double-pump, the Yankee batter moved down the line slyly with his bat and began to run as the ball was in the air from Burner to Wookie playing third base. On the catch, Wook immediately threw strongly across the diamond to nail the runner by a quarter-step for an unusual 2-5-3 put-out call by the umps.

An after-inning inquiry with the umpiring crew of Paul and Paul concluded that tagging the batter was not necessary because the ball was scooped and held by Norm after the batter swung. The play more regularly seen is the catcher dropping the ball after a swinging third-strike in the dirt followed by a tag or throw to first base to register the out.

It was a good win on a nice day. The only team problem was Paul pulled a quad muscle in the left leg during his fourth inning hit down the left field line. After rounding first base and looking for two, it grabbed him. Youngin' had to gimp around the outfield and on the base path for the remainder of the game.

The Buzzards' record is now 10-5 with three more regular season games remaining. More players are due back from vacations starting this week, so a player shortage should not be a problem.

Buzzard Note #1: The next game is August 11th at 2 pm at James Field versus the Gold Country Miners. This is the annual Buzzards' Radio Game on KAHI. The live radio broadcasted game on 950AM 'Voice of the Foothills' is a special game that the family is encouraged to attend. A bbq after the game for the teams and families will be in the picnic area. More info to come and a head-count will be requested later in the week to make sure we have enough food and drink.

Buzzard Note #2: Send the bios to Wook this week. The advertising info for any radio commercial needs to be submitted soonest. Dave Rosenthal, the afternoon radio guy for KAHI, will be the play-by-play announcer. We are following the Oakland A's morning game in Toronto against the Blue Jays. We have experienced an Athletics' east coast game with a rain delay in the past that delayed our start time, but this year their game is in a domed stadium, so no worries mate about a time delay.

Buzzard Note #3: The three remaining regular season games are scheduled at: Home - Aug 11 at 2 pm at James Field vs. Miners Home - Aug 18 at 2 pm at James Field vs. Red Sox Away - Aug 25 at 10 am in Galt vs. Solons Labor Day Holiday - September 1 - No Game Playoffs: Sep 8 at 2 pm in Davis vs. Astros Championship: Sep 15 in Davis with time and opponent TBD

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #16

Game: August 11, 2013

Buzzards top Miners on the air waves, 9-4

The Gold Country Buzzards circled-in on James Field to play the annual radio game. This year the Buzzards (10-5) were battling the Gold Country Miners (11-4) with Auburn radio station, KAHI, broadcasting the game live over the 950AM air waves and on the world-wide web streaming live via kahi.com. The Gold Country game followed the Oakland A's broadcast on the station. The 55+ Ol' Buzzards had been shut-out earlier in the year by the 45+ Miners 10-0 in mid-May at Antelope High, so the task was large, to win the radio game.

The Buzzards have played seven radio broadcasted games and have not lost yet. So with many of the wives, girl friends and family watching and listening, there was extra pressure to win again. The day was excellent weather-wise with temps in the mid-80's and a little breeze. At 2 o' clock KAHI went live from James Field and the game began a few minutes later.

On the mound for the Miners was the hard throwing lanky, right-hander, Tony 'just 50' Madrigal #4. The home team Buzzards sent tough righty, Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe #15 (61 in June) to the hill to open the game.

The Miners are a good hitting team and showed it by threatening to score in the first three innings, but clutch defensive plays prevented any scores. After the leadoff batter got on via a controversial play (bad call) at first base, he was picked-off by a quick move by Big Mac and a strong tag by Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray at first. The next batter doubled and an out later was followed by a short single. No runs scored when the inning ended on a (6-3) ground-out.

In the second inning with a runner on, a sure double was turned into a fabulous out with a jaw-dropping, over the shoulder catch by Barry 'Crush' Forman in left field. Crush took a tough angle on the deep fly ball and was looking into the sun on the run toward the fence in left-center field as the ball sailed over his head, Barry then reached out with his back to home plate and made the 'wow' basket catch.

  In the third dig with runners at second and third and two outs, the pull-hitter went opposite field with a sinking-fast blooper into short right field. Paul 'Youngin' Lee raced in from medium right and went into a slide to catch the ball on his chest with both hands and hung onto the ball for the inning ending 'wow' out. Again, no Miner scored.

The Buzzards were able to jump on the scoreboard in their first at-bats. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz led-off with a bouncer up the middle for a base hit and advanced to second on a passed ball by the catcher. Welzy moved to third on an infield out and scored on a ground-out by Dave 'Evy' Everingham.

In the third inning the Buzzards scored again, this time with a crooked number. Steve 'Cookie' Cook started it off with an eight-pitch walk after fouling-off several tough pitches. Cookie moved to second on a wild pitch. Up next, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri slammed a full-count pitch on a line to deep left field for the only Buzzard double of the day and scored Cookie. Salmo received a cortisone shot in his throwing arm last week, but the way that ball jumped off the bat did look like a PED hit. One out later, Welzy singled through the infield sending Salmo across home plate. Surprise - not, Welzy then stole second. With two outs, Evy knocked his patented base hit to right field and Welzy scored for a 4-zip lead after three innings.

The Miners fought back and scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game up. In the inning, a leadoff double by Madrigal, a ground-out, a run-scoring single by Alton Cooper, a walk then a double by Wes Boulware down the left field line scored two more. Wes moved to third on a dropped third-strike play with a catcher throw-down to first (2-3) for the second out of the dig. Wes scored later on a wild pick-off throw from catcher to third base.

The next batter, Johnny 'Speedy' Vlassopoulous, the catcher, took first via a base on balls. Johnny V then tried to steal second base, but catcher Norm 'Burner' Tucker would have none of that. On the play, Johnny V got a good jump despite Big Mac throwing over several times to hold him closer to first. Speedy went diving back two times to the bag, so he was anxious to steal and showing it. The strong throw by Burner was right on the bag for Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir, playing second, to apply the tag on the head-first slide to end the inning. Later, speedy Johnny revealed that he had not been thrown-out stealing for the over six years of playing lots of men's baseball including World Series tournaments in Phoenix. That information made Norm's day, and maybe season, and added to the defensive gems of the game.

The Miners changed pitchers late in the fourth inning and the tough lefty Mike 'High Kick' Vargas #11 got through that frame and the next two with no Buzzard runs scored. The Buzzies went down in order in the fifth and sixth. Tom 'TK' Keatley started it off in the seventh with an infield hit. Big Mac, batting next, hit a 1-0 pitch hard up the middle. The hot one-hopper aimed at his belt buckle, hit off of the pitcher's glove and knocked him in the nuts (without a cup) and sent him and the ball to the ground. Vargas scrambled for the ball and from his knees, next to the mound, threw high to second base and everyone was safe. Mike then took a while before proceeding to the mound. At the time, the Buzzards thought the ball had hit High Kick in the belt area because he was acting like the ball hit him somewhere. He did not look comfortable pitching and left the game three batters later. Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia ran for Big Mac at first.

Up next, Burner hit a line-drive single to left on the first pitch to load the bases. The Baron ran for the Burner. The next two batters walked, Cookie and Salmo, on five pitches each to force in TK and KG with the go ahead runs. The Miners then brought in Bret 'Red' McCourt #17 from shortstop to relieve Vargas. Mike revealed after the game that he was hit pretty good in that bad place and it did bother him, hence the walks. After one out, Welzy singled to left to drive in Pete with the last run of the inning. The score after seven full innings was 7-4 Buzzards and the clock was ticking with about 20 minutes left. A nice three-run rally late in the game to take the lead is always a good thing.

The Miners got a couple of hits, but no runs in the top of the eighth. In their half of the inning, the Buzzards scored two more runs to burn up the clock before the game ended at the three hour mark. With one out, the Baron started it off with a sharp single to left field. Cagey then lined a single to left before TK singled up the middle to load up the bases. McCabe, batting next, knocked in two runs with a sharp single to left. Before Tucker could get in the batter's box, the umps called the game with the final score Buzzards 9 and the Miners 4. The radio station was caught by surprise and the announcer, Dave Rosenthal, quickly explained the time limit to the radio audience as the players shook hands after the game. An outstanding game by the Ol' Buzzards.

Buzzard pitching was excellent and one of the keys to the victory. Big Mac threw the entire eight-inning game. Welzy was warming up for the ninth, but it was not necessary. McCabe faced 39 Miners and threw 127 pitches (78 strikes & 49 balls) in giving up four runs (three earned) on 13 hits with two walks and five strike 'em outs. The Miners left 12 runners on base in the eight frames.

The Buzzard offense was up to the challenge in facing tough young pitchers. The Big O had 16 hits with eight walks. The hit club for the game included: the Baron-2, Big Mac-2, Bull Dog-1, Burner-1, Cookie-1, Evy-1, KG-1, Salmo-1, TK-3, Welzy-2, and Wookie-1. Those important RBI's were knocked in by: Big Mac-2, Cookie-1, Evy-2, Salmo-2 and Welzy-2. The scored runs were accounted to: Big Mac-1, Burner-1, Cookie-1, KG-1, Salmo-1, TK-2, and Welzy-2. The eagle-eyed Ol' Buzzards getting on base via walks without walkers included: the Baron-1, Burner-1, Cookie-2, Crush-2, and Salmo-2. A nice offensive production against the Miners.

The defensive gems were also key to the win. Other plays not mentioned so far were Welzy's jumping snag at shortstop of a high screaming line drive, with white ball showing on the catch, for the first out of the sixth inning. In the seventh frame with the score knotted at four and with the bases loaded from three consecutive singles and no outs and the infield playing up on the grass, Welzy tracked down a little looper near the left field line for the first big out. The next play was another lopper into shallow left field that Taylor had a longer run and made a spectacular running catch for two 'wow' plays in a row. Those were very difficult catches especially with the infield drawn in. Big Mac struck out the next batter for no runs scored. The Buzzards then took the lead for good in their half of that inning.

In the eighth dig with Miners at first and second, a sharp bouncer was hit up the middle that appeared would easily get through to score a run, when Cookie, not giving up on the play, hustled to deep behind second base and with outstanding back-hand glove work, snagged the grounder and flipped to Welzy covering the bag for the inning-ending force-out and again no Miner runs scored. Players and fans said 'wow' a lot during the game, too bad this wasn't a televised game.

There were three fly ball outs, all nice plays including Cagey's catch in center in the sixth. There were lots of ground ball outs with 11 put-outs by Pete at first and one by Mike covering the bag on a grounder to Pete in the fifth. Good D and the good pitching all game long made it tough for the Miners to score.

After the game over 40 players, family and friends got together in the picnic area for the catered barbecue meal from the fairly new barbecue restaurant in Auburn, Bam Dazy. The ribs, brisket and potato salad were especially awesome. Family and friends, cold drinks, good food and a nice baseball victory made for a really good day to be a Buzzard.

Buzzard Note #1: Thanks to the sponsors for buying radio time for advertisements. It made the radio game and festivities possible. Thanks to: Back to the Drawing Board (Barry), Felipe's Mexican Restaurants (Paul), Keys Plus (Pete), Mount Pleasant Farm and Gardens (Gregg), RAH Environmental (Ray), RE/MAX Gold (Kelly), Vintage and Pioneer Clothing (Pete & Dan), Welz Financial Services (Taylor) and NABA.

Buzzard Note #2: Just two games left in the regular season. The next game, August 18th, is the last home game of the year. The Buzzards play the Red Sox at 2 pm at James Field. The following Sunday, August 25th, the team has a 10 am game in Galt against the Solons. The playoffs are on September 8th at 2 pm and the 15th. Mark those calendars.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #15

Game: August 4, 2013

Buzzards beat-up Yankees, 15-0

The Buzzards were on the road to face the last-place Yankees at C-Bar-C Park. For an August afternoon in Citrus Heights, the temperature was a mild 90° and great for a ball game. So nice in fact, that four of the Ol' Buzzards were playing in their second game of the day. The MSBL Auburn Pirates had a 10 o'clock (full-nine inning) game in Woodland earlier.

The Buzzards were very short-handed due to a heavy early-August vacation impact, plus two more on the DL for recent old man-type surgeries, that made eight-players unavailable. Leaving only eight players for the game, Mike Baker thankfully joined the other regular Pirates - that turn into Buzzards - and filled-in at first base to give the Gold Country 55+ team nine players for the game.

Dean Perkins showed up in shorts to visit for a few innings and coached third base early in the game. Deano showed off the scars on the left arm and the increased range of motion, plus he's getting closer to having a straight arm, again.

The Yankees starting pitcher was the hard throwing southpaw, Tom 'Fazzie' De Fazio #17. On the mound for the Buzzards was the harder throwing righty, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz #26. The Buzzards were the home team on the schedule, so the game started with Welzy on the hill.

The Yankee leadoff batter, radio personality and featured editorial columnist in the Sacramento Bee, Bruce 'Bronx' Maiman #14, opened the game with a full-count walk. Welzy then struck-out two of the next three batters. Bronx stole second base during the first K, and after hopping around the base path toward third base for the rest of the inning, that was the furthest a Yank would tread for the rest of the game.

The Buzzards took the lead with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir walked on six pitches. Dave 'Evy' Everingham was batting next when Wookie attempted to steal second on the 0-1 pitch. Fazzie has a good move to first and threw over as Wook was taking off for second. An uh! oh! was followed by good speed and a hard slide into the bag to barely beat the throw from first for a steal, the hard and semi-lucky way.

Evy then singled to left-field driving in Wook with the first run. Evy stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Baker walked with two outs. On ball four, the throw deflected off of the catcher's glove for a passed ball that scored Evy hustling in from third. Up next, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia smashed a 2-0 fastball down the middle of the third base chock line for a hit that was knocked down by the third baseman preventing an extra base hit, but putting Buzzards at first and second. Norm 'Burner' Tucker walked on seven pitches to load 'em up for Steve 'Cookie' Cook. Cookie took a full-count walk to force in Bake with the third run.

In the second inning, the Buzzards scored one run. Welzy started the inning off with an infield hit to the left-side. Welzy stole second on the first pitch and advanced to third on Wookie's infield hit. Wook took the bag at second standing up with Evy at the plate. Taylor then scored on a passed ball to Dave for the only run of the inning and a score of 4-zip, Buzzards.

The Gold Country Nine scored twice in the third frame. With one out, Burner singled sharply to center-field. Kelly ran for the catcher, Norm. One out later, Cagey was at third base on a couple of wild pitches. Batting next, Paul 'Youngin' Lee on a seven-pitch at-bat bounced a high chopper with lots of top spin over the head of the shortstop for a base hit to score Cagey. Welzy followed with a blast to deep right-center field for a triple with Youngin' scoring on the hit from first base. The score after the third dig was 6-0. There were opportunities for more runs, but the Yankees made several good plays plus the routine plays to hold the Buzzards to six runs, so far.

At the four inning point, Welzy was still mowing down Yanks and had given up only one hit and two walks. The Buzzards were looking for a big inning to go up by 10 runs and make this a seven inning mercy-rule game. The bottom of the fourth was that inning.

Evy led-off with a double to left-center. With one out, Bake doubled over the center fielder's head to drive in Evy. One out later, Burner, hit a 1-2 pitch deep to left-center for a long single to easily score a hustlin' Bake. Cagey replaced Burner at first. Cookie walked next putting runners at first and second. Youngin then laced the second pitch into left and scored KG from second. Welzy, batting next, launched a 3-0 fastball down the left field line for a double that scored Cookie and Youngin' to make the score 11 to nothing and headed into the fifth.

The Buzzards scored for the fifth consecutive inning with four more runs in the fifth frame. Sounding by now like a broken record, Evy led-off with a double, this time to right-center field. Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray got an infield hit on that big swing putting runners on the corners. Up next, Baker slammed a liner to left-center to score Everingham. Garcia then dropped a single into left-field to score the Baron. Burner, batting next, doubled-in Bake with a sizzling liner to center that skipped over and past the semi-diving outfielder, Bronx. Bruce Maiman was much quieter in the outfield after chasing that ball. Wook then ran for Tuck at second base.

Buzzards were now at second and third with no outs. Cookie bounced into the first out with a run-scoring grounder getting Cagey home from third. Next, Paul's baggy? jersey was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, but the dig ended with a strange double-play. Cagey had replaced Wookie at second with Dan on-deck.

With one out and runners at first and second, Welzy hit a short pop-up into short left-center field for a tough catch with their shortstop playing toward third base. The shortstop made a good effort, but the ball landed safely on the grass, so Cagey ran for third without tagging-up at second base. On the play, the field ump called a late and not loud enough infield-fly rule. Since the batter was now out, as if there was a catch, the shortstop threw to second for an easy force-out and double-play while Kelly was at third base. Oh well. After five innings, the score was 15-0 Buzzards and the team was looking forward to early cold ones.

Welzy continued to take down Yankees with strike-outs and ground-outs through the last two innings. The Buzzards finally went quietly in the bottom of the sixth inning with righty, big Jim 'Drama' McAdams #26 throwing his slow stuff since relieving Fazzie during the fifth frame for the damned Yankees. The final score was 15-0 in a seven-inning game played in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

On the mound, Taylor was dominate and struck out 10 Yanks. Welzy (2-1) faced 25 batters in throwing 96 pitches (64 strikes & 32 balls) while giving up just two hits and two walks. The excellent complete game shutout lowered Welzy's ERA to 1.21 with his seventh appearance on the bump for the Buzzards this season.

The Buzzards' offense scored 15 runs by knocking 18 hits around the field with six for extra bases on a productive afternoon. The hit club for the game included: the Baron-2, Bake-2, Burner-3, Cagey-2, Evy-3, Welzy-3, Wook-1, and Youngin'-2. The ribbies were courtesy of Dave-1, Kelly-1, Mike-2, Norm-2, Paul-2, Steve-2, and Taylor-3. The eagle-eyed Buzzards taking a free pass to first base were: Bake-1, Burner-1, Cookie-2, Evy-1, and Wookie-1. Every Buzzard crossed home plate. In batting order the runs were accounted to: Welzy-1, Wook-1, Evy-3, Baron-1, Bake-3, Cagey-1, Burner-2, Cookie-1, and Youngin-2. Scoring in five consecutive innings is always good.

The defense was solid and made good plays all game. The scorebook looked peculiar with 20 of the 21 put-outs made by Bake (11) at first base or the catcher, Burner (9). Pete made the only other put-out in center field on a fly ball in the first inning. The catcher, Tucker, got the put-outs credit for nine of the 10 strike 'em outs by Welzy. On the other one, in the third inning the batter swung at a third-strike in the dirt and Burner cleanly scooped up the pitch, did not need to tag the batter, then after a double-clutch threw to third base to start the infield throw-around for the second out of the inning.

However, because the ball was in the dirt and there was no tag, it was not clear to the umps or the hitter, if the batter could try to advance to first after the strike-out. On the double-pump, the Yankee batter moved down the line slyly with his bat and began to run as the ball was in the air from Burner to Wookie playing third base. On the catch, Wook immediately threw strongly across the diamond to nail the runner by a quarter-step for an unusual 2-5-3 put-out call by the umps.

An after-inning inquiry with the umpiring crew of Paul and Paul concluded that tagging the batter was not necessary because the ball was scooped and held by Norm after the batter swung. The play more regularly seen is the catcher dropping the ball after a swinging third-strike in the dirt followed by a tag or throw to first base to register the out.

It was a good win on a nice day. The only team problem was Paul pulled a quad muscle in the left leg during his fourth inning hit down the left field line. After rounding first base and looking for two, it grabbed him. Youngin' had to gimp around the outfield and on the base path for the remainder of the game.

The Buzzards' record is now 10-5 with three more regular season games remaining. More players are due back from vacations starting this week, so a player shortage should not be a problem.

Buzzard Note #1: The next game is August 11th at 2 pm at James Field versus the Gold Country Miners. This is the annual Buzzards' Radio Game on KAHI. The live radio broadcasted game on 950AM 'Voice of the Foothills' is a special game that the family is encouraged to attend. A bbq after the game for the teams and families will be in the picnic area. More info to come and a head-count will be requested later in the week to make sure we have enough food and drink.

Buzzard Note #2: Send the bios to Wook this week. The advertising info for any radio commercial needs to be submitted soonest. Dave Rosenthal, the afternoon radio guy for KAHI, will be the play-by-play announcer. We are following the Oakland A's morning game in Toronto against the Blue Jays. We have experienced an Athletics' east coast game with a rain delay in the past that delayed our start time, but this year their game is in a domed stadium, so no worries mate about a time delay.

Buzzard Note #3: The three remaining regular season games are scheduled at: Home - Aug 11 at 2 pm at James Field vs. Miners Home - Aug 18 at 2 pm at James Field vs. Red Sox Away - Aug 25 at 10 am in Galt vs. Solons Labor Day Holiday - September 1 - No Game Playoffs: Sep 8 at 2 pm in Davis vs. TBD and Championship: Sep 15 in Davis with time and opponent TBD

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #14

Game: July 28, 2013

Buzzards upset by Astros in shocker, 12-8

The Ol' Buzzards were at home at James Field for the game against another playoff-bound team in the 55+ division, the Astros. On a nice summer afternoon with temps in the low 90s, the league commissioner's team, managed by Barry Spiller, arrived extra early for the contest between the second and third place teams in the division.

This was the third and final regular season game between the teams. The Buzzards have beat-up the Astros twice this season, 28-14 in April at C-Bar-C Park and 12-2 in June in Galt.

The Astros sent the righty with the rubber arm, Henry 'Fire Plug' Torrez #26 to the mound. Taking the hill for the Gold Country Buzzards was the tanned, right-hander Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1.

The Astros opened the game by scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. The early rally started with a single, sacrifice bunt, then the left-fielder fell down trying to make the play on a deep fly for a run-scoring double, a single, sacrifice fly-out, and a run-scoring long double accounted for the quick 3-0 lead.

The second inning started out well with a strike-out and a routine infield grounder (4-3) for two outs. Then eight consecutive Astros got on base with a tough sequence of seeing-eye grounders, short looping hits landing just in front of charging outfielders, and one solid hit for five total hits, plus two walks, and an early infield error made all but one of the runs unearned. The defense just needed one more out for the whole damned inning, and came close several times until finally a good play on a tough grounder at third by Dave 'Evy' Everingham ended the inning.

Before the Buzzards batted for the second time, the score was 9-zip. Fire Plug had the Buzzard batters off-balance early. In the third dig, the Buzzards finally put a notch on the scoreboard. With two outs, David 'Mumbles' Kelley singled sharply to left-field. Paul 'Youngin' Lee ran for Mumbles at first. Paul promptly stole second base. Batting next, Steve 'Cookie' Cook slapped a bouncer to the second baseman. The throw was rushed, with the speedy Cookie leaving a vapor trail down the base path, and in the dirt and past the first baseman for an error. Youngin' hustled from second base and scored on the play.

The Buzzards changed pitchers in the third inning bringing in Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe #15 over from first base. Mike threw the next seven innings and held the Astros to three runs. The Astros scored those runs in the fourth on the following sequence: K, three singles, K, single, K. The score was now 12-1 Astros.

The Ol' Buzzards were finally getting the rhythm and timing down for Torrez's mix of pitches. The Gold Country boys scored in the next four innings to tighten the gap starting with one run in the fifth dig. With one out, Big Mac got on base via an infield error. Mike was replaced at first by Tom 'TK' Keatley. TK then stole second base. One out later, Youngin' doubled to left-field to score Tom to make the score 12-2 after five.

In the sixth, the orange and black added two more runs. Cookie led-off the inning with a base-on-balls, After a fielder's choice play, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz was on first with one out. Welzy stole second before Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir laced a liner to right-field for a hit that scored Taylor. Wookie then stole second on a close play. Up next, Dave 'Evy' Everingham singled to short right putting runners at the corners. But not for long as Evy stole the second base bag on the next pitch. Batting next, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray knocked in Wookie with a grounder to the left side for the second run. The score after six innings was Astros 12 - Buzzards 4 and closing.

The Buzzies scored another run in the seventh. TK opened the inning with a line-drive single to left and then stole second base on the next pitch. Tom moved to third on a ground-out. Up next, Norm 'Burner' Tucker knocked in Keatley with a ground-out to the left side. 12-5 after seven.

In the eighth inning the Buzzards put three runs in the scorebook to continue to draw closer, but the time and innings remaining were getting very short. Mumbles started it off with a lead-off walk. Paul ran for David. Youngin' was then called out at second base on a close play trying to steal. From the dugout he clearly was safe as the tag was applied at the waist after the slide. To hurt more, Cookie then singled to left-field.

One out later, Wookie walked on a full-count. Evy then lashed a single to right-center putting Buzzards on the corners. Evy stole second before Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray smashed a 2-2 pitch grounder through the left-side hole for a two-out, two-run single scoring Wook and Evy. The score was now 12-8 with one inning to go and the Buzzies were still looking to pull it off.

In the ninth the Astros brought in a new pitcher, right-hander Tim 'Pudge' Barsetti #44, brother of infielder Jim 'Pudgyer' Barsetti. Pudge's high stuff was getting the strike calls, so it was not going to be easy. Fire Plug Torrez threw 126 pitches in the eight innings before being relieved.

In the bottom of the ninth with one out, Big Mac walked on five pitches. On a full-count, Burner hit a line-drive single to left-center field putting runners at first and second. However, a strike-out and fielder's choice ended the inning and the game at the three-hour mark with the final score 12-8.

Unbelievably, even though we saw it, the Astros beat the Buzzards with pitching, defense and 17 hits. The left-fielder for the Astros saved the game for them with several tremendous catches and battling the sun. His two catches in the seventh with runners on base were key. The first one was a deep smash by Welzy that was sailing over his head.

The fielder, Terry Porter #6, appeared to get twisted up initially but somehow quickly recovered to move back and while looking-back straight into the sun, stuck his glove high and behind himself to make an unbelievable catch. The home plate umpire shook his head and mumbled wow, while the pitcher looked skyward and did the sign of the cross.  Later in the inning, Kelley 'KG' Garcia's screaming liner to left was snatched out of the air by Porter over his head while looking into the sinking sun to end the Buzzard rally way too short.

Buzzard pitching was good enough to win this game, even though the Astros surprised the Buzzards with the louder bats. Surf Dawg threw the first two frames and faced 18 batters while throwing 56 pitches (31 strikes & 25 balls). The Astros scored nine runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks with one strike-out. Big Mac pitched seven innings and faced 27 batters in throwing 85 pitches (58 strikes & 27 balls). Mike gave up three runs on eight hits with no walks, but one hit batter, and struck out eight Astros.

The Buzzard offense was over-anxious and frustrated most of the afternoon. The Buzzards swung hard and often at what Fire Plug was delivering. He was up to only 97 pitches through seven innings of work and faced 31 hitters (under 14 pitches per inning), until the Buzzards struck for three scores in the long (29 pitch) eighth inning. Still, Torrez faced 37 Buzzards and threw 126 pitches or an average of about 3.5 pitches per Buzzard. There were 25 at-bats with three pitches or less in the game. There were five at-bats with six pitches (the most by any Buzzard). Of those five at-bats, all but one got on base (three walks and a hit).

The Buzzards were out-hit by the Astros(?) 17-9. The hit club for the game included: the Baron-1, Burner-1, Cookie-1, Evy-2, Mumbles-1, TK-1, Wookie-1, and Youngin'-1. The ribbies were knocked in by: the Baron-2, Burner-1, Cookie-1, Evy-1, Wook-1, and Youngin'-1. Five Buzzards did take a base-on-balls: the Baron, Big Mac, Cookie, Mumbles, and Wookie. The eight runs scored were recorded to: Big Mac-1, Cookie-1, Evy-1, Mumbles-1, TK-1, Welzy-1, and Wook-2.

The Buzzards did have the highest pop-ups and the longest fly-outs in the game, but those don't count except in frustrations. Tough day with the bats.

The Buzzard defense made only one error and pulled-off three double-plays. In the third dig, a 4-6-3 from Wookie to Welzy to the Baron ended the inning. In the sixth, a good looking 6-4-3 with Welzy to Cookie to the Baron closed the inning. And in the seventh a come-backer to the pitcher resulted in a 1-6-3, Big Mac to Welzy to the Baron combo.

The hurlers provided nine of the outs with K's. There were five fly ball outs, so the infield had 13 put-outs for a solid defensive game. But there were a high number of hits, just out of reach of fielders, so it just did not feel like a good defensive game, when statistically it was.

The next time the Buzzards face the Astros, it will be in the playoffs. And the next time will be a different result. Beware the Buzzards.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #13

Game: July 21, 2013

Buzzards late come-back downs Reds. 9-6

On a hot afternoon in Auburn with temperatures in the high 90's, the Ol' Buzzards (8-4) circled-in on James Field to take-on the mighty, first-place Reds (9-3). This was the third and final regular season match-up between these two historic NABA rivals. The Reds had won the previous two games against the Buzzards this season, 2-1 on opening day in April in Auburn and 9-2 in June at Antelope.  It was not a must-win game for the Buzzards since the playoffs are assured and the Reds have the tie-breaker for first-place, but the 12 Buzzards at the game, despite the hot sun, were determined to show the Reds that Ol' Buzzards are tough meat and could beat the Reds this season.

The rivalry goes back to 2006 with an upset victory by the then new Ol' Buzzards over the hardly-beaten Red machine, and continued through the seasons with close games and playoffs to include the 45/48+ championship series' in 2009 through 2011. It is likely the Reds and the Buzzards will meet in the 55+ division championship game at the end of this season.

The Reds were the home team on the schedule and started the game with the tricky, right-hander Robert 'Ponytail' Stormont #30. On the hill for the Gold Country Buzzards was the tough, righty Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe #15. Both pitchers are in their 60's and still two of the best in the league.

The Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first with three runs in the top of the opening frame. The lead-off batter, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz sent an 0-2 pitch on a line into left-field for a single. With one-out and Welzy standing at second via a stolen base, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray hit a hard bouncer down the third base line for a single scoring Welzy. Batting clean-up, Barry 'Crush' Forman hit a hard grounder to the first baseman wide of the bag. With Barry barreling down the base path, the covering pitcher missed the toss as the players converged on the bag.

Now with two on and one-out, Norm 'Burner' Tucker hit a flare to left-field for a single to load the bases. With one out and the bases full of Buzzards, Tom 'TK' Keatley was coming to the plate. Ponytails' first pitch was ripped by TK to the opposite field for a big hit to right scoring the Baron and Crush. Big Mac then walked to re-load the bases, but a hard hit grounder turned into a well executed double-play, 6-4-3, to end the inning.

The Reds bounced back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first to tie the game. After the lead-off batter struck-out, the good hitting Reds got four consecutive hits including a Gilberto Banuelos' #35 double. Both teams scored three runs and had the bases loaded on the last play of the inning.

The Reds took the lead in the second with two runs. A lead-off walk, then a stolen base, a single, a run-scoring ground-out, a seven-pitch walk and a run-scoring single with two outs accounted for the runs.

The Reds added a run in the fifth frame with another double by Gilberto (3-for-3 with 2 runs scored and a walk) to lead-off and was followed by a single and an infield error for the run. The inning included a nice pick-off at first base with runners on the corners and one out.  Big Mac spun quickly and threw a low strike to the Baron at first base to nail the runner for a big out.

The third out was a nice stab at third of a hot grounder going down the line. The back-handed catch of the grounder carried Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir into foul ground and a long way from first base. Wookie's high throw took Pete off of the bag on the close play, but with two big bodies trying to avoid occupying the same space at the same time at first base, the runner clearly missed first base in jumping over bag. The Baron alertly touched the base before the runner got back. The base umpire got confused and declared the runner safe because Pete did not tag the runner when they both rushed back to the bag. A Buzzard manager appeal by Wook and an umpire huddle solved the problem and the fifth dig was over with just the one early run scored. After five innings, the score was Reds 6 and the Buzzards 3.

The Buzzards tightened the gap by scoring a run in the sixth. Barry led-off with a base on balls. One out later, TK singled sharply to left-field putting Buzzards at the corners. Big Mac then smacked a single to left-field scoring Barry from third. The score after six, 6-4 Reds.

In the seventh inning, the Gold Country gang crossed the plate four times to take back the lead, 8-6. Welzy started it off with a perfect, bunt single. T-Welz stole second base before Wookie's infield hit put runners at the corners. Wook stole second before the Baron grounded-out to deep short with Welzy scoring from third on the play. With Danny now at third, Crush hit a bouncer to the deep playing second baseman that scored the tying run, then was bobbled in the rush to make the play at first base. Barry reached first via the error and the score was now tied at seven.

Tucker then walked to put runners at second and first before out number-two was registered with a K. Big Mac then walked to load the bases. Pete ran for Mike at first. With the game on the line, pinch hitter, David 'Mumbles' Kelley stepped up to the plate. Mumbles drove the first pitch sharply into right-field for a two-run single scoring Crush and the Baron. Batting next, Jim 'Kuchie' Kuchar walked before the inning ended on a force-out at second base with the Buzzards taking a nice 8-6 lead.

With two innings to go in the hottest part of the day, the dozen hot and sweaty Buzzards were not done basting yet, even though stuck-forks may have indicated differently. Big Mac was still doing well on the mound and the defense dug-in to hold the lead.

The Ol' Buzzards added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. With two outs, McCabe launched a deep space drive to outer left-field for a stumbley, sliding(?) double. Tom ran for Mike at second base. Up next, Kelley got on base with a bouncer to the left side. Steve Moreno #21 at shortstop was over-worked and rushed this off-line throw to first base, due to Mumbles' remarkable speed, while a hustlin' Keatley scored on the play from second base. Kuchie followed with a line-drive single to left-field putting runners at first and second before the inning ended on a force-out at third base.

The Reds went down a tough 1-2-3 in the bottom of the last inning with the pitching and defense doing a great job to stop the Reds scoring machine and win 9-6 in the nearly three-hour, full nine-inning game.

McCabe's pitching was fabulous in the long, hot afternoon and the velocity seemed to increase and be sneaky-fast later in the game. The Buzzards and Big Mac had a bumpy start with the high-powered Reds' offense. Big Mac threw 54 pitches in the first two innings. In the game, Mike faced 41 batters and threw 135 pitches (86 strikes & 49 balls).  McCabe got the complete game win in giving up four earned runs on 10 hits and two walks with seven strike-outs.

The Buzzard offense did not 'tee-off' on Stormont like the team should, but it did get him out of the game in the seventh inning. The reliever, Hugo 'Another' Lopez #10 was not sharp initially and the Buzzards took the lead for good, later in the inning. The Ol' Buzzards out-hit the Reds 12 to 10. The Buzzies' hit club was good enough for the win and included: the Baron-1, Big Mac-2, Burner-1, Kuch-1, Mumbles-1, TK-2, Welzy-3 and Wookie-1. The always key ribbies were courtesy this game of: the Baron-2, Big Mac-1, Crush-1, clutch Mumbles-3, and TK-2. The runs were accountable to: the Baron-1, Big Mac-1, Burner-1, Crush-3, Welzy-2 and Wook-1. The walking Buzzard offense, putting runners on base five times, consisted of: Big Mac-2, Burner-1, Crush-1, and Kuchie-1.

The Buzzard defense included only one fly ball out in the game with TK's catch in center-field in the third dig. With the seven strike-outs, the remaining 19 outs were by the infield and only one of those was a pop-up, which was a terrific running back-handed catch by Welzy in short left-field to end the long second inning. The 18 ground-out statistics are interesting. Six of the plays were from Mike on or near the mound to Pete at first base (1-3), and seven of the plays were Taylor at shortstop to Pete at first (6-3).

The other five outs included: the Welzy and Cookie force-out at second (6-4) in the first inning; Wookie and the Baron got the last out in the fifth (5-3); Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny played third base for the last three innings and made a tough play look easy with two outs in the seventh by grabbing a chopper to his left, then fired a quick strike to Cookie covering second (5-4) to end a Reds' threat; and then Cookie and the Baron got the key first out of the ninth frame (4-3) on a good hustle play by Steve on the slow grounder and flip to first, just in time. The last play of the game was a hard-hit bouncer off of the heal of McCabe's glove that caromed over to Welz. A quick throw to Von Zboray nailed the runner on a close one for a 1-6-3 play to multi-share the final out.

The Baron had a hard-to-believe 18 put-outs at first base including two dropped third-strikes with put-outs from the catcher to Pete. With seven strike 'em outs and six assists, Big Mac was responsible for 13 outs, and he pitched a hell of a game.

A great come-back victory against a real good team, on an easy day to give up because of the heat and tired legs and feet. Great job in playing through it for the nice win. The Gold Country boys sent a strong message to the Reds. Beware the Buzzards. Season record is now 9-4.

Buzzard Note #1: The Ol' Buzzards had a fairly good-sized audience of college ball players watching the last half of the game. The Auburn Wildcats with Zach Welz playing in the summer Golden State Collegiate Baseball League and their opponents from Tri-Valley watched our game waiting for their turn on the field. The kids said good things about the caliber of baseball played and Zach's team got to see Welzy flawlessly field his position and make lots of tough outs at shortstop. They saw the Buzzards come from behind and some were amazed to actually see old men still playing baseball and doing it well. They were impressed. The Wildcats then prepped the field, so we left and drank our beer with snacks and enjoyed the win in the shade of the corner of the parking lot.

Buzzard Note #2: Here is the remaining posted NABA schedule: July 28th - 2 pm at James Field vs. Astros August 4th - 2 pm at TBA vs. Yankees August 11th - 2 pm at James Field vs. Miners *Live broadcast on KAHI with bbq after August 18th - 2 pm at James Field vs. Red Sox August 25th - 10 am at TBA vs. Solons September 1st - Labor Day Holiday - no game September 8th - Playoff game at 2 pm. Site and opponent TBD. September 15th - Championship game

Buzzard Note #3: Another after-game Buzzard gathering is planned for this Sunday, July 28th. Norm has invited the team and wives/friends to his interesting acreage nearby in Auburn for a quick grilling of burgers and dogs, with potato salad, chips, cold drinks and dessert. Norm is getting ready for Burning Man in late August and his collection of 'Burner' stuff is gathering and includes the famous flame-shooting Phoenix bird. No fire-shooting on Sunday, though. Tucker also has some cool big-boy toys worth seeing. To make it easier, the team will provide the food and drink for a low, TBD cost.