Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #8

Game: May 31, 2015

Buzzards take revenge on Solons, 13-3

The eighth game of the season put the NABA divisions into the second round of the schedule. That means the Buzzards play the Solons again. The last time was opening day on March 22nd when the Solons used 20 hits to spoil the home opener, 16-12. The Sacramento Solons (3-4) were a game behind the Gold Country Buzzards (4-3) in the standings. The game was moved to Auburn late in the week due to a league field problem in Rocklin, so the Buzzards were the visiting team at James Field.

On a very pleasant afternoon with temps in the high 70s and a breeze, the pitching match-ups were set. The Buzzards sent their hard throwing righty, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz #26 to the mound. The Solons surprised the team by starting their roly-poly right-hander, Ken 'Wrong' Wright #1.

The Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first with two runs in the top of the first inning. Welzy led-off with a soaring double to left-field. Next, with a big swing, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir scratched out a roller to the right-side between the pitcher and first baseman for an infield hit. With runners at the corners, Dave 'Evy' Everingham banged out a run-scoring single to right-center-field easily sending Welzy across home plate. Wookie advanced to third when an errant pick-off throw to second base sailed into center-field. One out later, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray lifted a sacrifice-fly deep to left-field to score Wook from third for an early 2-0 lead.

The Ol' Buzzards added another crooked number to the scoreboard in the third frame. Kevin 'Flash' Krantz started it off with a bunt single up the third base line. After the aggressive Flash stole second and then third base, Welzy followed with a sharp single to left allowing Flash to cruise home. With Welzy on second via thievery, he then moved to third on a ground-out. Up next, Evy's smash to short was knocked down and he barely beat the throw to first for an error, while Welzy scored for the second run. With two down, the Baron was up to bat and ripped a clutch single to right-center that scored Evy. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley followed with a sizzling double to right-center, but both Buzzards got stranded to make the score 5-zip in the third.

The gold country gang tacked on three more skins in the fourth dig for an 8-0 lead. Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia led it off with a high infield sun-ball that the third baseman lost in the sun. The ball landed untouched 10-feet away for a sunny single. After an out, Mike 'Mickey' Wilson walked. Flash bunted for a single, again, taking advantage of the left-handed third baseman. Batting next, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri reached first on a bouncer to the second baseman that forced the fielder to rush the throw, while Mickey scored from third on the play. Welzy followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center-field to score Flash to finish the scoring.

The Solons battled back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 8-2. An infield error, a walk and two hits was all it took. In the fifth the Solons added another run with a single, a walk, and another hit before a double play ended that scoring threat with the score 8-3 after five frames. The Solons changed hurlers in the fifth and brought in the tall righty, Tim 'Lanky' Mosburger #3 to take the bump.

In the top half of the seventh inning, the Buzzies scored three more to take control of the game. Flash started the rally with a flare to right-center for a single. Flash stole second before Salmo walked to put two runners on base. With Welzy at the plate and the second baseman planted at the base, holding Flash especially close to the bag, the bunt play was on. However, the pitch was unbuntable and even Flash could not steal third without a decent lead, and was out sliding on a close play. With one out, Welzy then singled and put Buzzards at first and second. After two were out, Evy singled into left-field to score a hustlin' Salmo from second. Welzy and Evy then pulled off a double steal to move into scoring position. In response, the Solons intentionally walked the clean-up hitter, Mark 'Thunder' Weathers. Batting next, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny slapped a clutch two-run single through the infield to give the Buzzards an eight-run lead, 11-3.

The Buzzards were looking to add two more runs in the eighth inning and put away the Solons a little early with the 10-run mercy rule. Jim 'Milli' Milligan led-off with a line-drive single to left- field. Tomahawk ran for Milli. Cagey followed with a single to left for his fourth hit of the game. One out later, Mickey got to first base via an error by the shortstop that also scored Tomahawk on the play. Next, Salmo followed the same form and picked on the shortstop for a blunder to get on first base and Cagey scored from third for the 10-run cushion goal.

Welzy and the defense then put away the Solons quickly in the bottom half of the eighth for the 13-3 win. The 2-hour and 45-minute ballgame was a nice sweet victory over the rival Solons.

The pitching was superb as Welzy put-it to the Solons all day. Taylor allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits with two walks and seven strike-outs. Welz faced 31 Solons in throwing 117 pitches (69 strikes & 48 balls). Welzatron was responsible for half of the 24 defensive outs in the game with the seven strike 'em outs and two put-outs and three assists on the mound.

The Ol' Buzzard offense scored the 13 runs on 18 hits, three walks and five Solon errors. The hit club for the game included: Baron, Evy-2, Flash-3, Milli, Surf Dawg, Thunder, Tomahawk, Welzy-3, Wookie, and Cagey with four hits. The extra-base hits (doubles) were muscled up by: Cagey in the sixth, Tomahawk in the third, and Welzy to open the game. The ribbies were knocked in by: Baron-2, Evy-3, Mickey, Salmo-3, Surf Dawg-2, and Welzy-2. The 13 runs were scored by: Wookie, Wezly-3, Salmo, Milli, Mickey, Flash-2, Evy-2, and Cagey-2. The three Buzzards taking free passes to first base were: Mickey in the fourth, Salmo in the sixth, and Thunder's intentional pass in the seventh that set up Surf Dawg's two-out bases-loaded two-run knock to open up the game.

The Buzzard defense without direct assistance from Welzatron made half of the game's put-outs. There were three double plays to brag about. Each one followed base hits and were in brewing rallies, so the DPs were daggers to the Solons' offense.

In the first, the lead-off batter lofted a single into right-field, the next batter bounced one back to the mound. Welzy vacuumed up the ball, threw a strike to Evy covering second base before completing the double play with a strong throw to Thunder at first (1-6-3). In the fifth, the Solons had already scored once and had runners at the corners with only one down and up to bat was the Solons' manager, John 'Grumpy' Mason #11. Grumpy then smacked a full-count pitch up-the-middle. Evy quickly swopped to his left to pick up the ball near second base. Some fancy foot-work nailed the bag and was then followed by a bullet to Thunder at first base to pop the rally balloon and end the fifth inning.

The third double play occurred in the seventh frame with runners at first and second and one out. Surf Dawg, playing third, went to his far left to snag the bouncer headed to left-field. The runner at second was running for third, so Gregg reached out and tagged the runner before firing to Cagey at first base for a close two-out play to end the last Solon rally.

There was only one fly ball out by the Buzzard D in the game. It was a nice running basket-catch by Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman in short left-field to end the first inning. 14 of the outs were ground balls and two were pop-ups. There were 12 assists spread out amongst six defenders: Cagey, Evy-4, Salmo, Surf Dawg-2, Wookie, and Welzy-3. The 24 put-outs were handled by: Brooklyn, Cagey-2, Evy-3, Milli-7, Surf Dawg, Thunder-7, Wook, and Welzy-2.

Terrific pitching, a solid defense and good hitting were the Buzzard ingredients for this victory. That recipe is the simple plan for Buzzard success on the baseball field. Beware of the Buzzards.

Buzzard Note #1: The Radio Game Bios will need to be filled-out before the game. Sending them back updated or prepared is preferred over bringing them to the game on Sunday. The food will cost $10 each. A separate email will go out later this week requesting tables and chairs for the food and gathering after the game.

Buzzard Note #2: Half of the fun of being a fan at the game on Sunday is listening to the radio and watching the game. Remind the family to bring a radio to the game. The recording of the game will be available soon afterwards on kahi.com.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #7

Game: May 17, 2015

Ol' Buzzards shot down by young Colt .45s, 13-12

On a cool and cloudy Sunday afternoon, the Buzzards returned home to James Field in Auburn for game seven of the season. Still feeling down with the loss of Dave Kelley and not quite in sync with missing players, the Buzzards were playing the top team in the 42+ division, the undefeated Colt .45s. The short-handed Buzzards dipped into the Pirates' reservoir and picked up Mike Baker and Scott Reeves for 11 players for the tough game.

The visiting Colt .45s used their nasty southpaw ace, Pat ' Big Chin Whiskers' Taylor #08 to start and pitch most of the game. The Gold Country Buzzards sent veteran righty, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6 and 3-1 on the season to the mound to take on the high-octane team. The Buzzards were going to have to play excellent defense against the running and gunning, Colt .45s team.

The top of the first started with a full-count walk, then a tough-bounce infield error and a looong fly out. A 'no man's land' infield dribbler then loaded the bases before consecutive doubles, blasts to the fence and a deep gaper, put four quick runs on the board for the .45s.

The Buzzards bounced back in the bottom half with two quick scores of their own. Kevin 'Flash' Krantz led-off with a scorcher down the left field line for a double. Up next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir drove a single up-the-middle to knock in Flash with the first run. Dave 'Evy' Everingham then dropped one into right-center-field for a base hit.

Batting clean-up, Mike 'Bake' Baker hit a grounder to the right-side that was heading into right-field, but the ball jumped up and hit Evy as he ran to second for an unfortunate out. With runners on the corners and Flash running for Bake at first, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray was at the plate. The Baron got to watch Flash in a 'pickle' and Wookie score before ending the inning with the score 4-2.

The Ol' Buzzards only notched a run in the second after loading the bases with one out. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley started it off with a crisp single to left. Tomahawk moved to second on a wild pitch. Next, Jim 'Milli' Milligan sliced a single to left-center, but the resultant play was a throw-out of a sliding Tomahawk at home for out number-one. Batting next, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia hit a tough grounder to third that was bobbled for an error. Scott 'Donut' Reeves followed with a walk to load the bases. Up next, Flash bounced an infield hit to the left-side hole to get Tomahawk home for the only run of the inning. The score after two frames was 4-3 with the six-shooters in the lead.

The Colt .45s added three to the scorebook in the fourth frame with eight batters going to the plate. A lead-off hit batsman, three singles, a walk and a bad 'pickle' led to the long inning.

In the second half of the fourth inning, the Buzzards fought back with four runs to tighten the game. Milli led-off with a line-drive to left-center for the hit. Tomahawk ran for Milli. Up next, Cagey slammed a double down the left-field line that scored a hustling Tomahawk from first base. Donut, batting next and swinging left-handed, stroked a single to left-center with KG going to third.

Donut stole second before Flash crushed one into the left-center field gap for a double that scored Tomahawk and Donut. Wookie followed with a flare into right-center for a single to put runners at the corners. Flash then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Evy to tie the exciting game at 7-up.

The gold country gang used the fifth inning to take the lead with a two-out three-run rally. After two ground outs, Milli started it off with a sharp single past a diving third baseman. Tomahawk ran for Milli. Cagey bounced an infield hit into two on and two out. Donut followed with an infield hit to load the bases for hot-hitting Flash. Kevin's smash toward the left-side hole was flagged down by the third baseman, but he was staggered a little on the play and had to rush his throw. The wide throw got past the first baseman as Tomahawk and Cagey scored on the play. Batting next, Wookie choked-up on the bat with an 0-2 count and hit a hard grounder through the hole on the right-side for a single to score Flash easily from second and gave the Buzzards a lead at 10-7 after five digs.

The feisty .45s stormed right back with three runs in the sixth to tie the game again. Three singles, a double and sloppy defense allowed the runs. Salmo was up to 113 pitches by this point, so the call to the bullpen brought the versatile, righty Scottie Reeves #4 to finish the sixth. A three-pitch strike-out later and the sixth was over with the score knotted at 10-10.

The Ol' Buzzards put up a good fight and scored twice in the seventh to take a late lead. Cagey started it off by getting on first via an infield error. Up next, Donut bunted toward third and a rushed low throw allowed him to get on first base and moved Cagey to third. Flash's chopper to third put Cagey in a 'pickle' that did not end well. Wookie followed with a sizzling laser toward the left-field line for a double that rolled to the fence and scored a hustlin' Donut and Flash to give the Buzzards a 12-10 lead.

Due to time, the eighth inning was going to be the last. The swinging .45s dropped-in the first hit to short center and followed that with two more singles to quickly load the bases with no outs. The revolvers scored the first run on a terrible bounce grounder that could have been a double play. On the next play, the Buzzards did get a strange double play.

The play started with a slow roller between the Baron at first and the pitcher, Donut. They both went for the ball before Donut found the handle first and tossed the ball to Wookie covering the bag for a close out. The runner at third took a wide turn, so Wook fired over to third base. On the throw, the runner broke for home. Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny, who was playing third base, took the throw, turned and threw a strike to Milli at home to nail the rabbit with a 1-4-5-2 double play.

Two hard line-drives followed, though, to finish putting three runs on the board. The inning ended with runners going on a 3-2 pitch and Tomahawk making a fabulous diving catch in right-field to wow the teams and fire-up the Buzzards for their last at-bats.

Alas, the relief pitcher and another lefty, Dave 'Pokey' Poling #00, had the Buzzard batters hitting just off of the sweet-spot and ended the inning with no runs. The final score of the eight-inning, 3-hour and 15 minute game was Colt .45s 13 - Buzzards 12.

That was a tough game and a tougher loss. A key hit, better defense or better running could have made for a more pleasant ending. The .45s were a good bunch of guys, who really appreciated and raved about the tough competition as they shared the parking lot corner with the Buzzards after the game. Still, that close ... to knocking off the young brats, even when the Buzzards did not play their best. Next time will be different.

There was a lot of action in the game with a high number of batters (93) going to the plate (49 Guns & 44 Buzzards). Both teams hit the heck out of the ball and bruised up the pitchers. The Buzzards banged out 20 hits, while the Colt .45s had 19. Buzzard pitching gave up the hits, but not many earned runs.

Salmo pitched into the sixth and faced 35 pistols. He threw 113 pitches (70 strikes & 43 balls) in giving up 10 runs (3 earned) on 13 hits, two walks and a hit batsman with one strike-out. Donut finished the game after putting out the fire in the sixth. Scottie threw 48 pitches (28 strikes & 20 balls) to 14 batters. T-Rex gave up three runs (none earned) on six hits with one walk and one strike-out.

The Buzzard bats did damage all day. 20 hits is a lot of base knocks, but it still was a few short of a win. The hit club for this game included: Bake-2, Baron, Cagey-2, Donut-2, Evy, Flash-3, Milli-3, Tomahawk-2, and Wookie with 4. The run-scoring extra-base hits were doubles by: Cagey, Flash-2 and Wook. The RBIs were interestingly bunched up in the top of the batting order in this game. The runs were knocked in by: Cagey, Evy, Flash-5, and Wookie-4. The first two spots in the order accounted for 9 of the 12 runs. The 12 runs were scored by: Cagey-2, Donut-3, Flash-3, Milli-3, and Wook. The lone eagle-eyed walker was Donut.

The Buzzard defenders were busy, but missed a couple of opportunities to shorten some innings. The good hitting Colt .45s also flew-out five times, but there were no easy catches. Cagey chased a few in the outfield and caught the last out of the second inning in deepest left-field. Flash in center had two put-outs, one for the first out of the game was a hot liner and the other was a nice grab also on the run in the fourth. Tomahawk in right-field had two put-outs, both at full sprint speed in making the tough catches.

The Baron at first base had 10 put-outs, nine on throws, so the big glove was working hard during the game. Six other put-outs were made by infielders. Evy caught two high evil pop-ups at shortstop and Bake, playing third, caught a sky-higher in foul ground in the second. And there were three put-outs on throws to Wook at second base. There were a high number of assists with 15 to get the 24 outs of the game: Bake-3, Donut, Evy-5, Salmo, Surf Dawg, and Wookie-4. It was a fun and very competitive game and no one got hurt.

The balls were also bruised from all of the hits in the see-saw affair. The lead changed hands five times during the eight-inning game. The schedule shows the .45s and the Buzzards meeting again on July 26th at Playfields Park in Davis.

Buzzard Note #1: The remembrance service for Dave Kelley on Saturday, May 9th, on James Field was touching and worked out well for his family. The Kelley Family sends their thanks.

Buzzard Note #2: The Radio Game is coming soon. We are looking for sponsors to get radio commercial time for their businesses for $50. Previous sponsors can expect a phone call from the Skipper. The BBQ or Mexican feast will cost a few dollars this year. The Miners will be joining us after the game. The Radio Game is on June 7th at 2 pm at James Field.

The following is the tribute to David Kelley that was printed with two touching photos and distributed at his Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 9th, on the Buzzards home baseball field in Auburn.  Lots of family, co-workers, friends, teammates, former teammates and opponents came together on a nice afternoon for fellowship and sharing memories of Dave.  

Gold Country Kelley

May 4, 1957 - April 29, 2015

David Kelley the father of gold country baseball David Kelley was Mr. Baseball to adult hardball in the region. His regular baseball team, the Gold Country Buzzards, was staggered by the news, but has recovered enough to put together some interesting information about Gold Country Kelley from our perspective and expressed to us from other baseball friends of Dave.

The baseball community and ball players from the Sierra foothills, the Sacramento flatlands and around the world have expressed their deepest sympathy to the Kelley Family for their difficult loss and to the Gold Country Buzzards team for losing a great teammate and long-time friend. David Kelley meant a lot to many people locally and internationally. He used baseball as the entree to meet many, soon to be friends, in wonderful places around the world including the Gold Country of California.

David may have worked long and hard for that fine company, Pacific Gas and Electric, but he really just pretended to be interested in engineering and construction. He loved to talk, think and play baseball and plan the next international baseball trip.

David was known locally as a passionate baseball promoter and skilled player. There were many condolences with comments received from locals that said how his passion for adult baseball is what got them interested in playing again. And how they really appreciated him for bringing the enjoyment of playing baseball back into their lives. Baseball teammates begat baseball friendships, which became lasting friendships, and enriched many lives in exponential ways - thanks to 'Dive', which is Dave in Aussie speak.

Besides being a player for a mind-numbing number of teams, David was the founder and a manager of the Gold Country League at the start of this century. The older ballers in that league, with David as a founding father, eventually formed the current old man’s team, the Gold Country Buzzards. Also, affectionately known as the Ol' Buzzards, Dave was the original manager in 2006. The team plays on Sundays in the 52-years old and over division in the National Adult Baseball Association. Home games are played at James Field in Auburn, not far from his house. With David playing on the team, the Ol' Buzzards have won the Sacramento NABA championship the last two years, 2013 and 2014.

Dave took the Buzzards to Sydney, Australia in 2009 to attend the World Masters’ Games for the top highlight of the team. David organized the local team together, added some Canadian and Australian all-stars plus a smiley cop from Chicago to the squad, to create a formidable flock of Buzzards. That team went 10-0 during the tournament in November 2009, early Spring down-under, and brought home a special gold medal and terrific memories, along with lasting Aussie and Canadian friendships.

Ironically, Dave did not come back with the cherished gold medal. Dive wanted to play with the Australian guys he had played with before, the famous Downunders, for their last tourney. The D Unders are the fun-nest bunch of interesting older mates, but were not likely to win a medal. That team actually did remarkably well with David's bat and glove leading the way, but lost in the bronze-medal game. To David, he got the important win, a deeper friendship and the best of times with his Aussie buddies.

David and the D Unders go back to 2002, and he had lots of good times, baseball and otherwise, including many other medals with his favorite Aussie Mates. Yet, David smiled, proud as a papa, when the National Anthem was played and the Buzzards had gold medals hanging from their necks at Blacktown Olympic Park, the same site of the American gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Baseball International was Dave's biggest baseball joy. Through fund raising tournaments played in the USA and private donations, Baseball International sponsors baseball exhibitions in foreign countries and brings new equipment along for the kids. They play in 3 or 4 cities per trip, passing out baseball gear as they go. David was always encouraging ballplayers to go on a Baseball International trip. Fun and rewarding.

David loved to play baseball so much, and wanted to play in Auburn in a weeknight recreation league, so he formed one. Then he devised a way for a small group of guys, like six, to form a team and play baseball in this league. He invented a fun game that would have three teams playing each other, spreading out pitchers and catchers amongst teams. Then spreading players in an organized fashion amongst teams during a game, so everyone played a lot and no one team lost. This only lasted a while, but it was interesting and fun, and got some guys to join the adult baseball league.

David, the Auburn boy, played baseball on a lot of local youth and adult teams and is well-known and respected around the region. However, David is even more renowned internationally and was a big wig in the baseball hierarchy of the enormous World Masters' Games (over 28,000 participants in Sydney in nearly every Olympic sporting event in multiple age groups) with the next huge, every-four-year event, in Auckland, New Zealand in 2017. David would often say to the Buzzards and others, plan for the WMG on April 21 - 30 in New Zealand in '17. The Buzzards will be going to the world tournament in Kiwi Land in 2017 and DK will be there also.

David played ball in many parts of the world, but by far his favorite was Australia. He did warn us, before the Buzzards went, that Australia is addicting, and you can't just go once, or twice, or in Dive's case, eight times. The land is amazing, the animals are all different, the Great Barrier Reef is famous for lots of reasons, and the people are fabulous. They speak a funny, some say cute, version of the English language and are very easy to fall in love with. David played last Fall in the Pan-Pacific Games on the Gold Coast in the Land of Oz with close Australian and American baseball friends, again.

The tears from Australia poured out early and often after the sad news. There were lots of caring messages and questions and deepest, heart-felt sympathies to the Kelley Family. They have sent flowers, notes and remembrances that have brought more tears to the eyes. They love to brag about David and how many times they have played with him, or he stayed at their house, or he knew more about Australia than most Aussies, or about their interesting travels and tournaments, and on and on. So cool.

David made quite an impression in the land down-under. On Friday, the 8th, Dave's Aussie teammates organized a memorial gathering at the Knox Baseball Club, in a suburb of Melbourne. They said the turn-out was amazing with lots of good stories and Tinnys (cans of beer) rose in Dave's honor.

One noteworthy story that shows his caring and that only DK would think to do. On these International Baseball trips he would get carried away in the giving department. Besides the baseball gear intended to be given, David also gave away his stuff to those in need. One time, reported by teammate Mike Radey, Dave was traveling back on the bus from a tourney site, shivering in his seat, while wearing close to nothing, just his sliding shorts and undershirt. Even his shoes and socks were given away, besides his baseball gear. Wow! Now that's the David Kelley that we know and will miss so much, and actually - so will Baseball International.

It is easy to tell that David was addicted to baseball. There are worse addictions than the National Pastime, but David was afflicted bad with the baseball juju. He just could not get enough of it. We all benefitted from him immeasurably with the leagues and teams he formed, both locally and on the international stage. David talked many into playing baseball overseas with travel to cool places and combine site-seeing with a baseball tournament. He even talked wives or girlfriends into letting us go or coming along. That organization and salesmanship will really be missed.

Being a non-stop baseball promoter and prolific player was a great joy in his life. And he shared that joy with so many others. He always wanted to talk about baseball and was always excited when someone new joined the baseball team or league.

David played in too many places to remember. He was in Antigua earlier this year, and played in Aussie Land and Florida late last year. He played in Cuba a couple of years ago, loved it and was pushing for a return trip next year. Kelley’s baseball focused passport also had stamps from Canada, Hungary, India, Italy, and Russia.

The Gold Country Buzzards were as stunned as everyone else to hear the sad news. A couple of the guys had lunch with David the previous day and commented on how good he looked and how he was looking forward to getting better, and back on the field. We are still shaken, lost our focus at the first game since his passing, but have dedicated this season to him, as the special teammate and friend he was to us. Because David wore several numbers as an Ol' Buzzard, we will wear a black DK patch on the uniforms.

After seeing many of the comments and remembrances from around the globe for David, it made the Buzzards realize how lucky we were to be able to call him a teammate on a regular basis. He was a very special man.

The Ol' Buzzards held a nice memorial to David prior to last Sunday's game in Davis. After many kind words were said, the bagpiper came onto the infield playing Amazing Grace. The tune filled the air as the ball players from both teams circled the mound and tried to hold back tears. The touching song was followed by a long moment of silence, and then followed by a 'Thank You David'.

We will miss him dearly and cherish his memories until we meet again on the heavenly baseball fields. Probably in a league formed by Dave.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #6

Game: May 3, 2015

Teary-eyed Buzzards stumble against Rays, 11-10

With David Kelley in our mind and hearts, getting together to talk and play in his honor was easy and helpful. The hard part was playing focused baseball, as the Buzzards were not sharp on a nice, but breezy afternoon in Davis. The pre-game memorial service for DK was well done and touching. Pete said lots of wonderful things about David as both teams gathered around the mound. Then Hayden Tucker, stepped onto the field with his bagpipes and played a touching rendition of Amazing Grace, followed by a long moment of silence. Tough way to start a game.

At Playfields Park where the mound is flatting-out, the starting pitcher for the visiting Gold Country Buzzards was the crafty right-hander, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6. Taking the mound for the new NABA 42+ team in snazzy teal blue and white uniforms was 57 year old righty, Luis 'Stylin' Hernandez #53.

The Buzzards hopped on the scoreboard first with two runs in the top of the second. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley opened the inning with a nice liner into the right-center field gap for a double. Up next, Jim 'Milli' Milligan popped-up a 'sun ball' that landed next to the first baseman to put runners at first and second. Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman followed with a drag bunt that looked good, but was called out by the home plate umpire for being out of the batter's box at contact. It's a pretty rare call because it is really hard to be at the back of the batter's box and move-up out of the front of the box while a fastball is coming at ya. Barry is not that fast in his dreams and the call was the first of several bad calls at key times.

The runners then moved up on separate stolen bases before Mike 'Mickey' Wilson was hit by a pitch on the side of the chest, ouch, to load the bases. Later with two outs and the top of the order up, Kevin 'Flash' Krantz launched a sky ball to right field that found the precise sun-angle to throw painful sunrays into the right-fielders eyes for the temporary blindness effect necessary for the ball to hit the fielder and miss the glove. Two runs scored on the play to give the Buzzards an early lead.

The Rays stormed back with five runs in their half of the second dig. The inning did not start well with Salmo getting ahead in the count and the ump would squeeze the strike zone. The Rays took advantage and hit the 'down the middle' strikes for five solid hits plus a walk and a valiant try in left-field of a sinking flare by a sliding Mickey. The score after two was 5-2 Rays.

The Buzzards put one on the board in the third. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir led-off with a two-strike flare to right-field. Wookie was thrown out trying to steal second base on a close play with a hook slide and an ump out of position to make a correct call. Of course, Dave 'Evy' Everingham followed with a deep double to right-center field. Later with two outs, clutch Tomahawk singled in Evy with a liner to right. The Rays answered with a run in the bottom of the third. The pattern continued with Salmo getting ahead in the count with two strikes, then the strike zone becoming the size of a child's shoe box. Three hits and a walk resulted in the run to make the score Rays 6 - Buzzards 3.

The Ol' Buzzard manager let the pattern go on too long as Salmo and the home plate umpire just were not working on the same wave-length. The pitches that the Rays' hurlers were getting, were not going the other way for the Buzzards. In the fourth frame, the calls continued to get even worse and the Buzzards became distracted and not play sharp baseball.

The Rays put four runs in the scorebook on four hits and a bad hop infield error. The score after just four innings of play was 10-3 Rays.

The Buzzards added a run in the fifth frame. With one out Evy ripped a singled to right-field. Up next, Mark 'Thunder' Weathers walked. After two were out, Milli drove a liner into left-center for a run-scoring single.

The Buzzards changed pitchers in the fifth and brought in the veteran righty, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1. The pitching change was made earlier than planned, hoping to get off of the umps wrong wave-length and start getting some calls.

The Rays also scored a run in the their fifth inning after two were out. A flare single, walk and a looping single scored the lone run. The Rays were now ahead 11-4 after five innings.

The fightin' Buzzards jumped back into the game with three runs in the sixth. After one out, Salmo got on base when the third baseman bobbled the smash. Under a surgical dentist's orders or was that a suggestion, not-to-play, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray was added to the batting order. The Baron then crushed the ball to deep, deep left-field where the fielder made a stupendous and crappy catch for the second out of the dig. Batting next, Flash sliced a single to right-field to put two runners on. Wookie, up next, walked to load the bases. Evy followed by picking on the third baseman again in this inning to score a run and leave the bases full for the clean-up batter. Thunder then proceed to clean two bases of runners with his patented sizzler to right-center field to tighten the score at 11-7.

The pitching change seemed to work and Surf Dawg was getting better calls from the plate ump, only to be burned later by the field umpire, Jimmy. Jimmy is high on the umpiring food chain and the scheduler of officials, and needs glasses. Surf Dawg held the Rays scoreless from the sixth inning on, allowing the Buzzards to play catch up.

With time running out, it appeared the eighth inning was going to be the Buzzards last opportunity to score runs. Salmo led-off with a well-earned walk. The Baron, batting next, hit a sinking looper to left-field. The young fielder charged, dove at the grass, appeared to trap the ball at best, then laid in a crumpled heap on the ground momentarily, while the infield dumb-pire appeared to freeze. Salmo was screaming at the ump to make a call, as he was hung-up between first and second base on the play. The ump claimed later to have signaled 'out' with his fist out in front (hidden from Buzzards view), so the Rays had plenty of time to throw over to first to double-up Salmo and put two controversial 'outs' in the books.

The Buzzards were short-handed players, and it took a lot of restraint by some of the hopping mad Ol' Buzzards to not get kicked-out of this game, right about now. With the yelling stopped and the bases empty, Flash re-started the rally with a smash to left for a single. Wookie followed with a sharp grounder through the middle for a single. Flash took third on the hit with the outfielder's throw on the play, way too late, but it did allow Wook to advance to second. Evy then hit a flare for a single to right-center to score Flash and Wookie. Evy moved to second on the play at home. Thunder, looking to make some more noise with the bats, knocked in Evy with a frozen-rope to right-field to make the score an exciting 11-10.

Up next, Tomahawk hit a line-drive single to right to put two runners on with two outs, still, and the line continuing to move. The game tension was high with 'hot bat' Milli at the plate. The long at-bat led to a walk on a full-count with ball four too high and inside to swing at. The bases were now loaded for Brooklyn, fresh off of the DL and playing with a hurt something nearly everywhere, but loving it. Barry was quickly ahead 3-0 and taking pitches like a good teammate, but suddenly the strike zone was accommodating the next two 'off-the-mark' pitches. At 3-2, it was a tough situation with a hard-thrower. Casey swung and missed at the next high-heater to put another 'downer' on the day.

The end result of the game sucked, but the unrelenting nature of the Buzzards, when down by seven after five in an eight-inning game, was impressive. The last six runs were scored off of their hard-throwing closer, big righty Frank 'Highball' Costa #22. The Rays got lucky this time. The Buzzards were about to steal this game, but the umps prevented a fabulous comeback. Next time will be different, which is: July 12th at James Field at 2 pm.

Buzzard pitching was solid. The home plate ump, though, not so good. The Rays were tough to defend in the outfield for this game with four long doubles and six short flare singles. Salmo pitched four innings and faced 26 Rays in throwing 92 pitches (74 strikes & 28 balls). The Rays banged out 12 hits in scoring 10 runs (4 earned) with two walks and two strike-outs in those four long innings. The Buzzards gave up three errors in those four frames. Surf Dawg pitched the last four innings and faced 18 Rays in throwing 66 pitches (38 strikes & 28 balls). Gregg gave up one run on four hits with two walks, one hit-batsman, and one strike-out.

The Buzzard offense banged out 16 hits, but came up short a key hit several times in the game. The hit club for the game included: Brooklyn, Evy-3, Flash-3, Milli-2, Thunder-2, Tomahawk-3, and Wookie-2. Two doubles were slugged by: Keatley (in the 2nd) and Everingham (in the 3rd). The runs were scored by: Evy-3, Flash-2, Milli, Salmo, Tomahawk, and Wook-2. The RBIs were knocked in by: Evy-3, Flash-2, Milli, Thunder-3, and Tomahawk. The four eagle-eyed Buzzard walkers were: Milli, Salmo, Thunder and Wook.

The defense made lots of good plays and some tough plays, but the D was not as sharp as usual. There was only one double play. In the seventh, the Rays were in position to score again with a runner at third and one out with the top of the order coming up. The batter then hit a line-drive to center. Flash, playing deep, charged the liner, snagged it at chest level, and threw a long bullet to Milli. The runner got a good jump, but the throw was on the money, as both came together with Milli looking to make a tag. The collision created a cloud of dust and Milli went rolling backwards, but held onto the ball for the important out and prevent a run.

The game had plenty of high-lights and more low-lights than usual. The ballgame did not come off as planned. We'll chalk it up to the Ol' Buzzards being partially distracted and carrying that lingering tune of Amazing Grace with a heavy heart.

Buzzard Note #1: The Celebration of the Life of David Kelley will be this Saturday, May 9th, at 2 pm on James Field. Buzzards are asked to wear their jerseys.

Buzzard Note #2: There is no game next Sunday on Mother's Day, May 10th. Next game is May 17th at James Field at 2 pm versus the undefeated Colt .45s. There is no game on May 24th with the Memorial Day weekend.

Buzzard Note #3: The Radio Game is next month on June 7th.  Circle that date and invite the family.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #5

Game: April 26, 2015

Ol' Buzzards pounce on young Miners, 12-8

In the ol' days, a Gold Country match-up of the Miners and the Buzzards usually meant the Buzzards returned home with clipped wings or a singed tail. The Buzzies would play well, but the Miners would prevail. They won the 38+ division and were a hard to beat team in the Buzzards' early years. However, the Buzzards gained the upper hand in the rivalry recently and have not lost to the Miners since 2009. This season, the Buzzards will be playing the Miners twice, but in previous years the teams have met usually just annually. Since 2010, that annual Gold Country match has been broadcast live on radio station KAHI.

With temperatures comfortably in the high 60s for the 2 o'clock game at James Field, the visiting Miners' starting pitcher was their new righty, Brett 'Jester' McCourt #2. On the mound for the Buzzards was the crafty right-hander, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6.

The game started 15 minutes late due to the previous MSBL game delayed by 40 minutes due to the wet field conditions caused by that rare weather phenomenon called rain. Johnny V, the Miners' catcher, started the game with a walk. After stealing second on a close play, he advanced to third on an infield ground-out. The clean-up batter then hit a tough grounder that was fielded cleanly and thrown out on a close play by a strong throw from short. And a base dancing, Johnny V, was left stranded at third.

That was pretty much the theme of the game as the Miners got 15 hits in the eight-inning affair, and stranded 11 runners as the Buzzards came up with sparkling defense in many two-out and runners-on situations. The Gold Country ol' boys made the plays and left many younger boys on the base paths as the third-out was registered. The Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first with three runs in their first at-bat. Kevin 'Flash' Krantz opened the inning with a walk on five pitches. Before pitching to the next batter, Jester, used his rusty pick-off move to try to get Flash at first. The quick throw missed its target and bounced away from the first baseman. Flash advanced to second quickly, but sprained one of his wheels back at first base. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir then walked on a long nine-pitch at-bat. Next, Dave 'Evy' Everingham got to first on an infield error. A potential double play throw was mishandled by the second baseman as a hustlin' Wook was sliding into the bag as he was trying to make the play.

With the bases loaded on the dropped ball, the team's RBI leader, Mark 'Thunder' Weathers, came to the plate and walked on a full-count to push in Flash with the first run of the game. Batting next, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray bounced into a fielder's choice to score Wookie. With one out, Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley got to first base via an error by Alton 'Alice' Cooper at third. Jim 'Milli' Milligan followed with a smash into left-field for a single to score Evy. The inning ended with the bases full of Buzzards, but the Miners made the plays to shut the inning down with just three runs scored.

The Miners stormed back with two two-out runs to make the game close. The key play was ruled a two-run error, but was noteworthy for its efforts. Mike 'Mickey' Wilson, playing right-field, charged a sinking liner and dove to get the ball into his glove. However, in the side-ways roll-over, the ball came out of the leather and was lying right behind Mickey. In the haste to make a throw to the charging second baseman for the relay throw, Mickey, still on his ass in high clover, launched an air mail delivery to no-man's land toward the opponent's dugout. Almost a great play, but two runs scored and the batter, Jester, was especially thankful because the score was now 3-2 Buzzards.

The Buzzards tacked on one run in the second dig. Flash ripped a single to right on a 2-2 pitch as the lead-off hitter. Flash stole second before Evy walked on a 3-2 count with one out. After a fielder's choice, the Baron was at the plate with two-outs and runners at the corners. On a wild pitch, Flash, got a good jump and zipped across the plate from third for a vital run. The Baron then took a six-pitch pass to first base before the inning ended with the score 4-2 Buzzards.

In the third inning, the clutch Buzzards put another crooked number in the score book with all three runs scoring with two outs. A sizzlin' Milli started it off with a lead-off blast deep down the left-field line for a stand-up double. Up next, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia took advantage of Jester 'just missing' again for a base-on-balls. Later with two outs and two on, Wookie fought off a 3-2 curve-ball and punched a base hit into right-center to score Cagey from second. Evy followed that with a scorcher down the left-field line to score Mickey from second. Not to be out-done, the clean-up hitter, Thunder, pulverized the Diamond brand-name on the ball and showed-off his now patented, screaming liner into right-center field, for a hit to drive in Wook and make the score 7-2 in favor of the Buzzies.

The Miners bounced-back with two runs of their own in the fourth frame on two hits, two walks and a ‘sun ball’ infield error to put the score at 7-4 Buzzards.

After not scoring in the fourth off of the new Miner hurler and quirky southpaw, Mike 'Quick Pitch' Vargas #11, the Buzzards put two runs on the scoreboard in the fifth. Wookie led-off with a spinning bloop between the pitcher and the first baseman and beat it out for an infield hit. Evy's grounder to short resulted in a throwing error to the second baseman with everyone safe and Wook moving to third on the over-throw. After a fielder's choice put runners on the corners, Thunder stole second base. With both runners in scoring position, the Baron slugged an 0-2 pitch high into the right field sky. The outfielder, playing deep, misplayed the sky ball while Wook easily scored from third. With two-outs and two-on, the Mill-machine cranked out his fourth hit of the game to knock in Thunder with a smoking line-drive to center. The score after five innings of play was Buzzards 9 - Miners 4.

The Miners fought back with four runs in the sixth to make it a squeaker. The Buzzards used Salmo a little too long and the Miners started the inning with four hits mixed in with a walk before Rick was relieved. The right-handed reliever, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1, took the bump with no outs, three-runs scored and a runner at second via a double. The next batter hit a short infield blooper near the line halfway between home and first. Surf Dawg tried a sliding catch, but the ball found the ground for a hit.

It appeared the 'worm may be turning' with plays going the Miner's way and now runners on first and second and still nobody was out. During the pitching change, Mickey was also called in to warm-up in the bullpen and be ready for a call-up. He was replaced in left-field by Cagey.

To prove the axiom that the ball finds the new guy, the next batter, Miners' heavy hitter, Arturo 'Buster' Castillo, then ripped a sinking liner to left. Cagey got a terrific jump on the ball and after a long run, caught it at his shoe tops. Both runners, going on the 'sure-hit', also got a good jump heading toward the next base. Both runners then went scrambling back to their bases. With a chance for a double play at second, Cagey threw to the relay man, Evy, who then threw a strike to Wookie stretched out like a first baseman to nail the runner in a close play at the bag. The runner on third scored on the double play to make the score close at 9-8 Buzzards entering the home half of the sixth inning.

The Buzzards answered back with three tough runs to get a scoreboard cushion. Mickey, playing the sinking sun angle, led-off with a 'sun ball' to left-field for a base hit. Two outs later, Evy crushed a double to left-center that scored Mick. Next, Thunder with his ramblin' speed made the shortstop rush his throw for an error that put Buzzards at the corners. Thunder stole second on a signals mix-up before the Baron walked on four pitches to load the bases. Tomahawk, on the first pitch, then knocked in two runs with a sharp single to center for the final Buzzard runs of the game.

Buzzard pitching and defense held the Miners scoreless in the last two innings, and leaving two runners stranded on-base in each frame. The seventh inning ended with one minute left on the clock, so playing the eighth inning took the game out to 3 hours and 15 minutes with the final score Buzzards 12 and the Miners 8.

Buzzard pitching withstood the barrage of Miner runners on base via 15 hits and six walks plus two errors. The lead-off batters in five of the eight innings got on base with the second batter in two other frames reaching first base. The fifth was a 1-2-3 inning. Salmo got the win and faced 31 Miners while throwing 121 pitches (78 strikes & 43 balls). Rick pitched into the sixth and gave up eight runs (four earned) on 11 hits and five walks with three strike-outs. Surf Dawg earned the save with three innings of shut-down pitching. Gregg helped wiggle the Buzzards out of that jam in the sixth and faced 13 Miners in throwing 46 pitches (31 strikes & 15 balls). Novotny gave up zero runs on four hits and one walk with two strike-outs.

The Ol' Buzzard offense got the 12 runs on 13 hits with seven walks and surprisingly eight uncharacteristic Miner errors. The members of the Buzzard hit club for the game were: Cagey, Evy (2), Flash, Mickey, Tomahawk, Thunder, Wookie (2) and the Mill-machine with four (three singles & a double). The always important ribbies were knocked in by: Baron (3), Evy (2), Milli (2), Tomahawk (2), Thunder (2) and Wook. The winning total of 12 runs were scored by: Cagey, Evy (2), Flash (2), Mickey (2), Thunder (2), and Wook (3). There were 48 Buzzard at-bats in the game. 13 hits in 48 plate appearances was enough - this time.

The Buzzard D was solid with assists and put-outs spread-out amongst most of the Defenders. There were 12 assists in getting those 24 outs. The put-outs were spread out so much that there were only five put-outs at first base.