Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #14

June 27, 2010

Buzzards shutout Sultans, 12-0

The Buzzards had a home game for the first time since May 16. It had been six weeks and six games since we last played at Colfax High. The field was in good shape due to a small work party on Saturday. The Ol’ Buzzards and the Sultans got there early for warm-ups and were thankful we had the early game and at a higher elevation. It was 105° in the Valley for the rest of the league games. The high in Colfax was 94° on Sunday. There were 11 Buzzards, mostly healthy, to take on the last place Sultans.

On the warm morning leading to a hot day, the 10 o’clock game got underway with lefty Dave “Keppie” Kephart #21 taking the hill for the Buzzards. The Sultans countered with their southpaw big Mike “Sidewinder” Bishop #30. Both pitchers are power pitchers with high strike out rates, but most batters like a little zip on the fastball, so the game could be interesting.

The Sultans opened the game going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts. The Buzzards scored a run for an early lead. Taylor “Welzy” Welz opened the game with a base on balls. The crafty Sultan pitcher, appeared to balk, but threw to first to get Welzy in a little run down. During the run down, as Welzy ran past the pitcher on his way back to first base, Bishop standing about 20 feet from first base, grabbed the throw intended for the player nearer to the bag and tagged T-Welz. With the high tag and the tag avoidance move by Welzy, he accidently nailed the pitcher in the face with an elbow. Ouch. After some recover time and apologies, Bishop returned to the mound to face Dan “Wookie” Wukmir. On a 3-2 count, Wook walked. Bob “Woody” Wooden followed with another walk on a full-count putting two runners on. After a strikeout and now two outs, Mike “Bake” Baker drove a sharp single up the middle scoring Wookie from second base for the first run.

In the top of the second, Keppie walked the first batter on a full-count. The next Sultan struck out on four pitches. The following batter hit a grounder to Woody playing second to start a double play. With a good throw to Welzy covering the bag from short and then a strike to Bake at first base, it made for a nice looking DP to end the inning.

The Gold Country gang has had trouble in the past with the lefty sidewinder and Bishop was throwing hard and mixing it up, plus getting the high strike calls. But, ‘no worries mate’- Barry “Brooklyn” Forman leading-off took his big mighty swing and knocked that first pitch a good 50 feet up the third base line. Slimmer (170 lbs) and quicker, Barry, easily beat the throw for an infield hit and advanced to the next bag on the rushed over-throw.  With one out, Don “Redondo” Colbert smoked a nice line drive into right field (right field?) scoring Brooklyn from second base for the run in the second inning.

The Sultans went 1-2-3 in the third with two strike outs and a grounder to Welzy at shortstop for an easy 6-3 to Baker at first base. Keppie had only thrown 35 pitches in facing nine Sultans.

The Buzzards needed to score some more, and they finally put up a crooked number on the scoreboard with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Charles “CJ” Jackson hit a high fly into short left field near the foul line that dropped in fair. CJ stole second before Scott “Donut” Reeves took an outside pitch to right field for an RBI single scoring Charles. Barry, batting next, was winged on the right pinky finger by a high inside fastball, coming within a hair of a hairline fracture of that finger. With two on and two outs, Mark “Ronnie” Wronski walked on a full-count to load the bases for Redondo. Donnie stepped up to the plate and hit a 1-2 sinker sharply down the third base line for a loud double driving in Donut and Brooklyn for a 5-0 lead.

Keppie mowed down the Sultans in the fourth inning by fielding the bunt for the first out, striking out batter number two before walking a Sultan on a 3-2 count. The next hitter popped one up to Woody at second to end the inning.

The Sultans changed pitchers in the fourth. Bishop had strained a back muscle on the mound and was taking first base while moving the shortstop, Steve “Super” Shaw #14 to the bump. Steve, a skinny right-hander, played for the Dragons the last couple of years and his nickname on the Dragons was Super, mostly ‘cause he’s a FIGJAM*. He must have been better when he was younger ‘cause the Ol’ Buzzards scored five runs on eight hits albeit with three Sultan errors in the bottom of the inning to take a 12-0 lead.

Mike “Wildman” Hayworth led off the inning with a strike out, but hustled down to first base as the pitch got away from the catcher and beat the throw to the bag. Welzy then singled down the line in left field putting runners at first and second. Wookie, batting next, hit the 3-2 pitch over the right fielder’s head for a long double scoring Redondo, running for Mike, and Welzy hustlin’ from first base. Next, Woody smacked a grounder to third that was misplayed putting runners at first and third with no outs. CJ followed with a hard single to right field scoring Wook. With one out, Donut then lined a shot into left field scoring Woody and CJ.

Batting next, Barry used the same formula as his first at-bat, take a big powerful swing and hit a dribbler 50 feet up the third base line for an infield single. Ronnie followed with a 2-2 blast over the left fielder’s head for a run scoring double. A red hot Redondo then used the Forman Formula with that big swing and singled on an infield dribbler. With two outs, Hayworth hit the first pitch hard and way over the head of the left fielder for a two-run double to finish the scoring.

By the end of the fourth inning, the Sultans were down to eight players and a fading catcher. Scottie went from third base coach for the Buzzards to playing third base for the Sultans in the bottom of the fourth. The day was not that hot yet. At noon, it was probably in the mid-80’s, and the Sultans were fading fast with muscle cramps and brain cramps, so they threw in the towel with just four innings played. Bummer.

It was a quick and easy win, but we would have liked to play more innings. It did allow for more beer time at the Ballpark later, but the Buzzards were playing well today and wanted to continue. Keppie was pitching a no-hitter and was looking pretty dominant against the Sultans. It would have been fun to see how far Kep could have gone with the no-no.  Keppie threw 48 pitches in four innings of work (34 strikes & only 14 balls). He faced 13 batters giving up two walks and struck out six with no hits. Good game.

The Buzzard offense did pretty well against the hard throwing side-winding lefty, Mike Bishop. Pushing one run across in the first two innings and then scoring in every inning, showed a different Buzzard team than the last time we faced the Sultans. There were 15 hits in the shortened game. Ten Buzzards got hits in the game. The multi-hit group this game included: Barry, CJ and Donut with two hits each while Redondo was 3 for 3 with four RBI’s. The other ribbies were courtesy of Bake, CJ, Hayworth-2, Donut-3, Ronnie and Wookie-2.

The victory puts our record at 8-6 with eight games to go. The toughest part of our schedule starts with the next game. The Free Agents on July 11 away; Valley Cats at Colfax on July 18; and July 25 against the Dragons in Folsom makes for some crucial games next month. Dear opponents: Beware of the Buzzard.

Buzzard Note #1: A new Buzzard will be joining the flock in July. Dave Everingham plays for the MSBL A’s and is a familiar team mate to the Phoenix version of the MSBL Braves team. Dave is an excellent infielder and hitter, plus a dam’ good pitcher and a terrific guy and team mate, so he is a nice addition to the team for the stretch run of the 2010 season.

Buzzard Note #2: Mark your calendars for the August 1st KAHI Radio Game. Game time is 3 pm at James Field. Gold Country BBQ after the game. Invite the family and bring a radio.

Buzzard Note #3: For those that want to buy an advertisement ($50) with multiple playing times during the broadcast. The station will produce your ad for free with lead time, so if you are interested give Pete or Wook a call or e-mail to discuss further. The game is also streamed live on the world wide web via KAHI. Last year, a Buzzard bought an ad for a local charity organization. Nice touch.

Buzzard Note #4: FIGJAM means F*** I’m Great, Just Ask Me.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #13

June 20, 2010

Buzzards beat up Astros 19-10

On a gorgeous Father’s Day morning, the Buzzards assembled at Antelope High for a game with the Astros. The Buzzards at 6-6 and needing a win to get above .500 were presented an easier target today with the Astros’ season record at 3-9. However, the last time these teams met in April, Astros’ pitching held the Buzzards to three hits in the nine inning game. Ron Turner threw the first half and Rankin Lyman finished the game. The Buzzards won the game 6-1 on Astros errors and tough Gold Country pitching to limit the Astros to four hits.

Taking the hill for the visiting Buzzards was the Fabio look-a-like, right-hander Bob “Woody” Wooden #22. The Astros countered with the tricky Ron “Belly” Turner #13 to start the game.

The Buzzards jumped on the Astros early with seven runs in the top of the first inning. Taylor “Welzy” Welz opened the game with a base hit and stole second base before Dan “Wookie” Wukmir grounded to the second baseman but beat the throw to first on the fielder’s bobble. Wookie stole second before Fred “Freddie” O’Donoghue walked to load the bases with one out.

Mike “Bake” Baker’s hit to shallow left drove in Welzy with the first run. Pete “Baron” Von Zboray followed with a single to left driving in Wook. With the bases still loaded, Barry “Brooklyn” Forman then smashed a 2-1 pitch right down the first base line and into right field for a two-run double plating Freddie and Bake. Barry shouted out “fair ball” right away and said later it was to help the home plate ump make the call without a chalked line on the field. That Barry is such a thoughtful guy.

Mark “Ronnie” Wronski and Ray “Bull Dog” Henry followed Brooklyn’s hit with walks to reload the bases. After the walks, the pitcher, big Turner, was done for the day on the mound. Last time against the Buzzards, Turner struck out four, walked four and gave up only one hit in five innings. This time, it was four hits, four walks, and two errors leading to seven runs in 2/3rds of an inning.

Randy “Coco” Crisp #33 came in from shortstop to take the bump for the Astros. Donnie “Redondo” Colbert then sent a 1-2 pitch into center field scoring Barry with the sharp single. With two outs, Wookie picked on the second baseman again by hitting another hard grounder that he bobbled allowing Wook to beat the throw for the second nearly identical error in the same inning, which also scored Ronnie for run number seven.

The Astros fought back with one run started with a double to the right field fence by their catcher, Craig Burford, and then followed by a flare to short right field by their clean-up hitter, Porter, for the run. Craig got beat up behind home plate more than normal when he was hit by a flung bat three times during the game by Barry’s over-sized and heavy club. Brooklyn was eventually removed from the game after the third time in the sixth inning upon umpire request. Barry apologized to Craig after the game and all is well.

Barry has a seemingly, semi-valid excuse; that grotesque-looking ligament that sticks out from his forearm is restricting the flow of blood to his right hand making it feel numb - to go along with that numb head - hence the occasional loose bat. Barry does have real flying bats at his house and that’s OK, but we don’t want flying Barry bats on the baseball field. Can #5 borrow some stick-um, pine tar or Velcro next game?

In the second inning, the not so Ol’ Buzzards then added three more runs. The Baron led off with a single down the left field line. The left fielder had to run to the foul line to get the ball as Pete rounded first base like he was going to second for a double, but then he remembered his age, and went back to the bag for a long single. Barry followed with a full swing bunt that barely went foul for strike two. On the next pitch, he drove the ball deep over the right fielder’s head for a double scoring the Baron. Next, Ronnie singled up the middle driving in Barry from second. With two outs, ol’ Bull Dog knocked the 0-2 pitch on a line into right field for a single scoring a hustlin’ Ronnie from second base. The score was 10-1 entering the bottom of the second inning, not a bad start with nine hits already.

The Buzzards threatened in every inning except the fifth, but did not score again until the sixth inning. With the score still 10-1, the Buzzards added five more runs and were looking to end the game early on the 10-run mercy rule after seven innings. Welzy started the inning walking to first base rubbing his hip after the first pitch. His hip got in the way of a slooow curve ball and several guys on both sides razzed Taylor as he headed toward first, on getting hit by such a slow pitch. In Taylor’s defense, he is getting older but that ball was waaay inside.

Wookie, batting next, took two high pitches for strikes and then hit the third high pitch into the right-center gap driving in T-Welz and putting a runner at second base. Bobio followed with a run scoring single to left field. With one out, Baker hit a high looping spinner to shallow right that put the Astros second baseman on the run. Barry “El Presidente” Spiller gave chase and appeared to have a good angle, but the ball landed several feet from his grasp. The ball hit near the foul line and spun back toward second base when his momentum carried him the other direction into foul territory. While the Astros scrambled for the ball, Bake never broke stride and pulled into second base with a stand-up double. Batting next, the Baron knocked two runs in with a hot shot down the line for his fourth hit of the game. Barry followed with a flare to left-center for another hit and RBI. With two outs, Ray hit a line drive to center field for a run scoring single. The extra five-run lead made for a comfortable last inning, or so we thought.

The Astros stormed back with nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Astros took advantage of five singles, five walks, and an infield error for one long inning. Ol’ Bull Dog started the inning on the mound, but struggled with a stiffing left shoulder and gave way to Welzy with two outs to finish the sixth inning. That long inning did stop short enough with four minutes remaining in the game time to start a new inning.

The Buzzards came to bat in the top of the seventh and saw a change of pitchers had put Mike “Sad” Laughbridge #24 on the hill. The Buzzards tacked on four more runs to widen the lead. Welzy started it with a two-out walk. Wook followed with a base on balls. Woody then knocked in T-Welz with a hot grounder to a deep-playing shortstop. With Bobio hustlin’ down to first and his ponytail wigglin’ out the back of his cap for aerodynamic control, he beat the throw putting runners on first and second. Next, Freddie walked on a full-count to load the bases. Bake followed by hitting the next pitch into left-center field for a single scoring two runs. Pete then stepped to the plate with four hits in four at-bats today and smacked a 2-2 pitch down the left field line scoring the final run with his fifth hit of the day. Now, the Baron did seemingly turn two doubles into singles, but we sometimes forget how old he is, but what a day at the plate.

Welzy pitched the seventh inning and quickly faced four batters by throwing 12 pitches in retiring the side to end the game with the final score 19-10. The game lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes, but what a great way to start Father’s Day.

Wins are always good. We played well for most of the game even with the lopsided score for much of it. It was good to get Jim “Wags” Wagner out on the field again. This was his first game of the season. His Arthroscopic surgery on the left shoulder was in March. He figures he’s at 80%, so he gave it a try on Sunday in the outfield and batting. He looked rusty at the plate, but BP (or is that now called hitting practice since the Gulf oil blow-out) will help with more swings. Thankfully his family gathering, that came to the game, did not take pictures of that rusty swing.

Also thankfully, the game ended before it got hot, and the cold drinks and snacks were nearby as we enjoyed the victory. Next week we finally get a home game again. This ends our streak of six consecutive away games. Last home game was May 16. Of the remaining eight games, six are home games. Taking us out of the Valley heat for much of July and August, should work out well.

Buzzard Note #1: All-star ballots will be passed out next game. Please fill them out promptly and return. This year the game is July 7th, Wednesday, 7 pm, probably at Playfields in Davis.

Buzzard Note #2: Next Sunday’s game will be at 10 am at Colfax against the last place Sultans. We almost lost to these guys last time. We were down 8-1 after five innings before scoring 10 runs in the next four innings to win 11-8. Beverages and snacks after the game at the Ball Park. The Coyotes play the Free Agents in the following game at Colfax High.

Buzzard Note #3: The KAHI radio game is coming August 1st. If you wish to advertise during the game, contact Wook or Pete. The radio station will produce them for free and the ad will play several times during the live broadcast to the Gold Country listeners and to the world via the streaming web. The game will be recorded and CD’s passed out to everyone who wants one, so the ad and the game will be recorded for posterity. According to FCC rules there can be no swearing during the game, and financial advisers, lock smiths and environmental companies must buy multiple ads.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #12

June 13, 2010

Dragons burn Buzzards on hot day in Folsom

The Buzzards found themselves on the road again. This Sunday the game was at Lembi Field in Folsom against the third place Dragons. At 10 am game time the day was already warm and it would get down-right hot by the end of the game. The grass was long, the infield base path was powder on top of hard pan with nuggets, the mound was low and the temperature was high at 97° by the afternoon, just a perfect setting for a NABA game.

Ten, mostly healthy, Ol’ Buzzards came to take on the tough Dragons on their home turf. On the hill for the visiting Buzzards was southpaw Dave “Keppie” Kephart #21, while the Dragons countered with their big righty Jeff “High Socks” Hansen #11. This would be our first game with only one umpire this season.

The first defensive inning started out well for the Buzzards; a nice catch by Barry “Brooklyn” Forman in left field to open the game and then after a base hit, the runner tried to steal second with Scott “Donut” Reeves behind the plate. Donut is not the regular catcher, nor the back up, but today Scottie was the man shooting down Dragon runners all day from behind the plate and showing that donuts are a good breakfast. The Big Donut nailed the first runner for out number two with a strike to Taylor “Welzy” Welz covering the bag from his shortstop position.

Irritatingly, after the two outs, the Dragons scored three runs. An ugly combination of three hits - mostly the bloop type, first to center then right then left field - a walk and an error delivered the three run lead. The Dragons added one run in the third inning on three hits, a wild pitch and another error. Meanwhile, the Buzzards got runners on base in every inning except the seventh, but could not get a key hit to knock in some runs until late in the game. Two running miscues were costly, but the Buzzard had plenty of chances to score runs.

The Buzzards finally put two runs on the board in the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Welzy singled to right field and then stole second base. Dan “Wookie” Wukmir then laced a 2-2 pitch down the right field line for a double scoring Welzy. Wook moved to third on a deep fly ball to left and scored when Charles “CJ” Jackson smashed a grounder over the third base bag and down the left field line for a nice double.

The Dragons scored two more in the bottom of the inning on a double, an error and two singles. With the Dragons leading 6-2, the Buzzards had one more at bat to add some runs and tie or win this game. Four runs is definitely doable. As Pete “Baron” Von Zboray stepped into the batter’s box, the umpire called time and said he wasn’t feeling well and needed to sit down. Well, John was assisted to a shaded corner by the back stop for awhile before he had the strength to leave the field and sit down in a chair. The game was called and everyone shook hands, picked up their stuff and left the field with a couple of Buzzards staying with John, the ump.

Due to the circumstances and with plenty of time remaining, the Buzzards requested that the league declare the game suspended and continue it on July 27 when the teams play each other again. The league has received our formal request and will rule on the issue after researching the matter with national NABA. I figured, what the hell, let’s play nine full innings.

The Dragons are a good team with pitching depth. We have not beaten either pitcher yet this season. Game three will be a different story. The Buzzard pitching was excellent, Keppie got ticked at those dying quail base hits and later kicked the bats in frustration entering the dugout, but the pitching was fine. Now the fielding and hitting part; that needs some work. Kephart faced 39 Dragons in throwing 131 pitches, 82 for strikes with 49 balls. There were seven strike outs and two walks to go along with 13 Dragon hits.

Teams always like versatile players like Donut, but this day behind the plate was special. Scottie gunned down a runner trying to steal second base in the first, fourth, and fifth innings, then they stopped trying to steal second. He also picked-off a runner at first base in the seventh. Donut nailed one more runner at third in the eighth inning, but the catch and tag part didn’t work very well this time. Keppie picked-off a runner at first base with a nice tag by the Baron in the sixth frame. All excellent defensive plays to pump up the team. Those Dragons sure were jumpy and aggressive all game. It appeared the Dragons downed some amphetamines or double energy boosters, yet the Buzzards nailed them five times on the base paths. That part was fun to watch. Great job behind the dish, Donut.

The Buzzard offense consisted of nine hits and two walks with one hit batter. Bob “Woody” Wooden got plunked pretty good by a fastball in the middle of his lower back in the first inning by the amped-up pitcher. At the time the team was worried ‘cause it was a loud thump, but Woody made us laugh when he returned to the dugout later and said he was fine and that he’d been hit harder by his mother. Maybe he meant dropped by his mother. Anyway, the ball was taken out of play due to the bruise to the ball by the hard-bodied, Bobio Wooden.

The nine hits including two doubles were hit by only six candy-corn orange jerseys. The multi hit players for the game were Barry, CJ and Welzy. The RBI’s were knocked in by CJ and Wook. Important Buzzard Announcement: Bring your hittin’ sticks next time. We must score more than a couple of runs to win in this league. We score more, we win more. Now slowly, watch the watch, watch the swinging watch and repeat after me, we score more, we win more. Good.

Buzzard Note #1: Next game on June 20 is Father’s Day. The game is at 10 am at Antelope High against the Astros. Hopefully, most of us will have a little time after the game to enjoy a cold one before heading off to family plans to make the Dads - king for the day.

Buzzard Note #2: August 1st is the KAHI radio game at James Field in Auburn at 3 pm. Mark the date on your calendar and invite the family and bring a radio. BBQ after the game in the picnic area with the Coyotes.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #11

June 6, 2010

Buzzards clipped by Reds, 11-6

After high-fives on the field after beating the Reds in the first game 5-4, most of the Buzzards chewed on some meat, chips and fruit (Barry had his curry rice) for energy for game two. The dugout was nicely shaded plus a gentle breeze, but the sun was brutal on the field. The weary Buzzards were down to 10 players while looking across at the 18 rested Reds ready for revenge and action. It looked like they had two platoons of players.

The Buzzards were the home team for the second game. The pitching match-ups were: for the Buzzards, the chiseled right-hander from Lincoln wearing number 22, Bob “Woody” Wooden and for the Reds, the big and chubby righty wearing number 41, Mike “Dudley Do” Wright.

The Reds jumped on the score board first with four runs in the first inning. Two walks, one hit, two infield throwing errors after nice pick-ups, and a fielder’s choice giving the Reds those runs was not a good start.

The Buzzards came back with one run in the bottom of the inning. Taylor “Welzy” Wells led off with a base on balls. With one out, Woody looking more like Bobio than Bob with that long flowing naturally wavy hair, drove the first pitch to left-center field putting runners on first and third. Dave “Keppy” Kephart batting clean-up this game hit the eighth pitch on the ground to the second baseman scoring T-Welz from third for the run.

In the second inning, the Reds put two runners on with singles, but all three outs were made by Keppy catching fly balls in right field. The Buzzards counter-attacked the Reds with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead 5-4. Scott “Donut” Reeves started it off with a walk. Donut stole second base before Mark “Ronnie” Wronski got on base via infield error. Batting next, Barry “Brooklyn” Forman lined a shot into left field on the first pitch for a run scoring double.

With runners at second and third, Welzy hit a line drive single to left field scoring both runners. Welzy moved to second on a misfire at first on a pick-off play from the pitcher. Bobio followed with a hard smash grounder to third that bounced up and hit the fielder in the chest leaving a big bruise and scoring T-Welz from third base for the go-ahead run.

However, the fresh squads of Reds just kept coming. In the third inning, the Red Legs scored three runs on four hits. In the fourth, they scored two runs on four hits. The two Reds who got on base in the fifth via muffed plays at third were erased by a nice double-play of a grounder by the third baseman, Ronnie.

The not quite boiled in the sun yet Buzzards, fought on and put across another run in the sixth inning. With one out, Welzy singled to right. Next, Dan “Wookie” Wukmir walked. Woody followed with a flare to left field loading the bases. Batting next, Keppy knocked in T-Welz with a fielder’s choice grounder to short. The score after six was Reds 9, Buzzards 6.

The Reds tacked on two more in the seventh inning with two doubles and two infield hits, a bloop and a dribbler, to make the final score 11-6. A not so short-handed Buzzard team could have swept these guys. The Reds are good and with a large team, adding Dennis Viegas and Gary Stonebrook to last year’s championship team, they will be formidable later, but the Ol’ Buzzards were feeling pretty good about the split of this twin bill.

The Buzzard offense scored six runs on seven hits and five walks with two Red Leg errors. Only three Buzzards got those seven hits. Barry’s double in the second, Welzy had two singles, and romance book cover material, Bobio, was four-for-four with two stolen bases. Bobio also pitched the entire game throwing 107 pitches (64 strikes & 43 balls) to 39 batters striking out two and walking two. What a stud Buzzard. The ribbies were knocked in by Barry, Woody, Keppy-2 and Welzy-2.

The ten tired Buzzards then grabbed the gear and the score keeper and found shade for a few cold ones and snacks nearby. It was a long day of playing baseball, but that’s the fun of it also.

The rest of the regular season is single games. We have four games away and six at home remaining in the season. One of the home games will be played at James Field in Auburn (August 1), the rest will be at Colfax. Next week, the game is in Folsom at Lembi Field at 10 am against the Dragons.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #10

June 6, 2010

Buzzards make Reds blue; win 5-4 in extra innings

The Sunday began warm and got hotter as the Buzzards gathered at the home field of the Reds for a double battle at Inderkum High between the last two Sacramento NABA champs. Last year’s title holder, the 9-1 Reds, have won nine straight games after losing their season opener against the Valley Cats. The Buzzards were in fourth place with a 5-4 season record.

Against the noisy background of the North Natomas Little League end-of-season festival with several thousand kids having fun nearby, a limited number of Ol’ Buzzards were available to take-on the 20 Reds that were suited up for this double dip of baseball on the hottest day of the year, so far. The temperature hit 94°.

Twelve Buzzards were available for the first game and ten for the second. Coach Wook got the Reds to agree to two seven inning games due to the shortage of Buzzards for the twin bill on this hot day. The shorter game allowed Freddie and Charles to play the entire first game before needing to leave for their family commitments.

The Reds were the home team for the first game and sent righty, Danny “Smiley” Harvey #25, to the mound. Danny’s slow curve and sneaky fastball beat the Buzzards in two of the three championship series games last year. The Buzzards countered with their ace lefty, Dave “Keppy” Kephart #21, to cool off the red hot Reds.

Reds scored first with two runs in the first inning. It was a crazy inning that started with a leadoff double by Dennis Viegas down the left field line. The next two batters struck out on nasty pitches. Then big Andres Gonzalez slugged a run scoring ground-rule double that bounced over the right field fence. With two outs, Pablo Gonzales swung at a wild pitch in the dirt for strike three but as the ball rolled to the deep backstop, Pablo sped toward first. Fred “Freddie” O’Donoghue, the catcher, quickly retrieved the ball and threw to first base. However, the tough angle for the throw and the non-harmonic convergence of runner and moving first baseman and ball and base trying to share the same air space at the same time, didn’t work out well and the runner was save at first, while the runner on second scored on the play.

Bob “Woody” Wooden, playing first base, was knocked down hard on his tush in the collision with the runner. Keppy then calmly struck out the next Red batter on five pitches for the rare statistic of four strike outs in an inning. Wow. And the baseball day was just beginning.

Danny Harvey was sharp for the Reds on the mound so the offense sputtered until the fifth inning when the Buzzards stormed back with four runs to take the lead. Dan “Wookie” Wukmir led off with a single to right field. Scott “Donut” Reeves then laid down a nice bunt that resulted in a base hit. Keppy, batting next, hit a two-strike pitch on a line to left field for a run scoring single. Mark “Ronnie” Wronski was then hit on the thigh by a pitch putting runners on all the bases.

With no outs the Buzzards needed to strike now and Barry “Brooklyn” Forman was coming to the plate. On a 2-2 count, Barry hit a clutch line drive to right-center scoring two big runs. The curveball pitch hung up a little and Forman waited on it before smacking it into the outfield for the go-ahead runs. With one out, Mike “Bake” Baker then hit a sacrifice fly ball to left field scoring the fourth run of the inning.

The score remained 4-2 Buzzards into the bottom of the seventh. In the Reds’ at-bat, they scored the two runs to tie the game. It started with a leadoff double by Danny Harvey, hit way over Barry’s head in left field. After a walk and strikeout, the next batter hit a sinking fly ball to right field that was fielded by Charles “CJ” Jackson. CJ quickly threw the ball to Bake for the relay throw to third base to nail the hard sliding runner for the second out. Good throw and excellent tag by Ronnie on the cleats high slide that spiked Mark on the arm. It wasn’t too bad, just blood and wounds that look like bite marks. In a couple of months, he’ll probably forget how those scars got there. Great play. The next batter struck out to send the game into extra innings.

The Buzzards scored one run in the top of the eighth inning to re-take the lead. With one out, Baker, who pulled the ball all day long, hit one right down the line for a sure double until the third baseman, Pablo, dove a long way to back-hand snag the ball deeep behind the bag. Pablo then jumped up from the amazing catch and promptly rushed his throw and he sailed the ball way over the head of big Andres at first. Bake didn’t break stride rounding first and took second on the over throw. Don “Redondo” Colbert then came in to run for Mike.

Taylor “Welzy” Welz, batting next, hit a weak grounder fielded by the pitcher, who then threw to third base trying to nail the hustling Redondo racing from second base on the play. The play was close, but Redondo’s hard head-first slide beat the ball and sent Donnie’s head ramming into the third baseman’s left knee. Ouch for both of them. Well, the ball went rolling to the fence while both players lay on the ground. Wookie, the third base coach, is yelling at Redondo to get up and score the go-ahead run, not realizing that Donnie’s bell had been rung real good. Again, these non-harmonic convergences of sliding runners, fielders and thrown balls and bases competing for the same space at the same time can be dangerous.

Before resuming the game, Donnie was asked what his name was and what year this was - and his answers were kinda close, at least close enough to keep the speedy guy at third base. He did know which way was home plate. Both players got up slowly rubbing the hurt, which for Redondo was his head. He probably only black-out for 30 seconds after conking his head, but give the ol’ scout a few extra minutes and he’s ready to go. Who said Donnie was hard headed, well you’re right.  With the bases loaded, one out and the game on the line, Freddie then hit a slow roller to the shortstop driving in Redondo with the go-ahead run. With the one run lead, the Buzzards went on defense looking for three outs.

The first two batters went down on a grounder and a pop-up to Wook at second. So far, so good. Then Hughey, batting ninth, on a 1-2 pitch sent a mini blooper just over the mound that landed before any fielder could get to it for a single. The next batter got on via an infield throwing error. So with two on and the tying run in scoring position, Keppy decides to put an end to this game with a three pitch strikeout for the victory. Good job Buzzards.

Keppy pitched a hell of a game. He threw 142 pitches (86 strikes & 56 balls) while facing 35 ugly Reds. Keppy struck out 14 Reds, four in the first inning, to hold a good hitting team to seven hits and to go along with three walks and one hit batter for their four runs. The Buzzards had 10 hits.  A peculiar offensive stat: all Buzzard batters got one hit each (all singles) in this game except for the team’s leading hitter, Welzy (0-4). Taylor rarely goes o-fer. The ribbies were driven in by Bake, Freddie, Keppy and two by Barry with none to spare.

The defense played well with only one error and that coming with two outs in the eighth. Welzy showed off his range at short by racing down a couple of difficult pop-ups and Freddie was solid at catcher handling Keppy and holding down the aggressive Red runners. Hayworth handled first base nicely with four put outs. Another peculiar game stat: All of the outs were made by Keppy or infielders. Strangely, no outfield put outs.

This was a good team victory, now on to game two.

Buzzard Note #1: Bring complete uniforms to the game. No matter how proud you are of your package or legs, do not forget to bring your pants. This includes the Irish as well.

Buzzard Note #2: Mike Baker is such a team player that he gave up his pants to Freddie O’Donoghue at the start of the game. Freddie left his behind, his lil’ son, Danny, had his pants at least and Fred had extra diapers, but no gray baseball pants in sight. Mike then ran off to stimulate the local economy at the nearest Sports Authority for new pants. You know you can never have enough gray baseball pants; they go so well with the gray hair. Thanks Bake.