Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #17

Game: September 7, 2014

Buzzards crash Astros, 14 - 2

The Ol' Buzzards circled-back home for the last game of the regular season. The 2 o'clock affair at James Field pitted the pesky Astros against the pissed-off Buzzards. The previous game between the two teams on August 10th ended in a 10-10 tie. The Astros were encouraged by the last game and looked to steal a win from a complacent first-place squad. As the Buzzards saw it, they wanted to send a pre-playoff message from the stronger team to the Stros with a convincing victory.

This was a make-up game from the only rain-out of the season, the original opening day on March 30th. So the season got pushed back a week and the NABA playoffs begin a week later in 2014. The Buzzies and Astros have faced each other three times this season. The Buzzards won 7-3 on April 27th at C-Bar-C Park, then again on July 20th 11-1 at James Field and were 2-0-1 against the sometimes Ass-tros. The always improving Astros are managed by, the previous 21-year NABA commissioner, the now short-haired Barry 'Cut-off the 20-year old ponytail' Spiller.

On a warm day in Auburn with no breeze and temperatures officially reaching 89°, the umps finally showed-up and the game began a little late. The starting pitcher for the Astros was the big righty, John 'Linebacker' Schwesel #70. On the mound to open the game for the Buzzards was the right-handed pitchologist, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6.

The visiting Stros jump on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the opening inning. After a full-count walk started the game, the runner was then picked-off by a throw-down from the catcher, Jim 'Milli' Milligan to first base. Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray made the quick tag for the first out of the game. The next batter singled and the following one walked. A wild pitch advanced both runners before a ground-out to the right-side scored the runner from third for the early 1-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the first, the Buzzards waited until two were out before putting a runner on base. Dave 'Evy' Everingham walked and then stole second. The Baron then smashed a 2-1 pitch down the left-field line for a double to score Evy. Up next, Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley drilled a hard hit to left-center field to bring the Baron home. Milli, batting next, lined a single to left putting runners at the corners. Norm 'Fresh from Burning Man' Tucker followed with a full-count walk to load the bases. Too bad the next Buzzard struck-out looking at a curve-ball to end the dig with two runs, all after two were out. The score after the first frame was 2-1 Buzzards.

In the next Astro at-bats and with a runner on second base, Milli alertly picked-off the runner after he took a big lead on the pitch with a strong throw on the bag. After that second out, the next batter singled to left-center field, but there was no runner on base to knock in. Impressive Buzzard defense.

The Buzzards waited again for two outs in the second inning before putting together some hits to get some offensive action going. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz doubled deep to left-center-field. Batting next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir, using a new bat, blooped the ball into 'no-man's land' between third base and the mound for a base hit, and moving Welzy to third. Wookie stole second base before Evy hammered a two-run single to left-center with Welzy and Wook scoring easily. The Baron followed with a first-pitch single to score Evy from second to make the score 5-1 Buzzards.

The Stros changed pitchers and brought in the sometimes 'Buzzard killer', Rankin 'Fireplug' Lyman #01. In the last game, Rankin made the Buzzies look bad for three innings, while the Astros caught-up and tied the game. His slow fastball and late breaking slower curveball make him a difficult pitcher to get solid contact on the swing.

In the third inning, the Gold Country gang of 11 scored a run to increase the lead to 6-1. Milli opened the frame with a base-on-balls. Tomahawk then ran for Milli at first. One pitch later, Keatley is standing on second base. Burner then hit a looper into short left-center-field for a single and put Buzzards on the corners. Up next, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri lined the first-pitch to the shortstop. The force of the screamer made the ball bounce out of the glove before he could close it. After quickly picking up the ball, he fired to second to barely get a hustlin' Burner. The out was made, but on the turn, the second baseman was upended by Norm's hard slide. Tomahawk scored easily from third as the second baseman threw the ball to the plate while sitting on his butt. The score after three digs was 6-1 Buzzies.

The Astros scored a run in the fourth inning to tighten the score. The lead-off batter hit a looping single into left-field. After stealing second, the runner moved to third on a ground-out to the Baron at first. The Astro run scored on a somewhat rare double-assist play. The ball was smashed up the middle. Salmo took a stab at the ball on the mound and deflected it with part of his glove toward the second baseman. Welzy fielded the ball and threw to first for the second out as the run scored from third. The Buzzards did not score in the fourth, so the score after four was 6-2.

The Buzzards changed hurlers in the fifth. The hard throwing righty, Welzy #26, relieved Salmo after four strong innings. The lead-off batter for the Stros singled in the fifth, but he was wiped out by a Buzzard double play. The classic 6-4-3, a smooth looking Evy to Wookie to Baron combo, snuffed out any hope of a rally in the fifth. A ground-out to Evy by the next Astro and it was the Buzzards turn to bat in the fifth frame.

The Baron started off the inning with a sharp single down the line in left. Tomahawk then dropped in a single to short left to put runners on first and second. Milli, up next, blasted a double to deep left-field. Pete easily scored from second and Tom was husltin' hard from first. The signal to 'stop' came late from the third base coach. As Keatley rounded third he tried to stop, but his speed and momentum put maximum stress on the rubber cleats trying to grab the grass, but slipping. Tomahawk's brakes failed when his rubber cleats did not bite into the grass of the field and it landed TK on his butt and then almost crashed into the third base coach as he gained his feet. Tomahawk quickly got up and ran for home, but was nailed in a close play at the plate for the first out of the inning. No more scoring followed, so after five frames the Buzzards had the lead, 7 to 2.

By the eighth inning the Buzzards were gettin' the hang of Fire Plug's pitches and banged-out six hits against Rankin. Before Rankin was relieved later in the inning, the Ol' Buzzards had scored seven times to take a commanding 14-2 lead. Salmo started it off by running hard on a grounder to second. The ball was misplayed and Rick was safe at first. A sharp line-out to the shortstop by Paul 'General' Lee followed. Next, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny hit a high chopper over the third baseman's head for a single to put two Buzzards on base. Welzy then drove the 1-2 pitch down the left-field line for a single that scored Salmo. With Wookie batting next, the defense shifted to the right-side. The Wookster then slapped an outside pitch through the left-side hole for a "hit 'em where they ain't" base hit and scored a run.

With two on and one out, Evy hit a hard, twisting liner to right-field that hit the fielder's glove, but bounced out for an E9 and put two runners again on base and scored another run. The Baron's fourth hit of the game was of the infield variety and also scored a run.

One out later, Milli launched a rocket to deepest left-center for a long double to knock in runs five and six of the inning. Tom ran for Jim. Batting next, Burner singled to left to drive in Tomahawk from second to end the scoring for the dig with the score Buzzards 14 - Astros 2.

That big seven-run inning in the bottom of the sixth to give the Buzzards a 12-run lead, put huge immediate pressure on the Astros With the league's 10-run mercy rule, the Astros had to score three runs in their next at-bat or the game was over after the seventh inning. Welzy mowed 'em down 1-2-3 from the hill in the last inning to finish the seven inning game in 2-hours and 10-minutes with the final score 14-2 Buzzards.

Buzzard pitching was excellent and made it tough for the Astro hitters to make good contact. Salmeri started the game and threw four innings on 63 pitches (35 strikes & 28 balls). Rick faced 17 Stros and gave up two earned runs on five hits and two walks with two strike-outs. Welz finished the game by pitching three innings and facing just nine batters. Taylor threw 21 pitches (16 strikes & 5 balls) in giving up no runs on one hit with one strike-out.

The Ol' Buzzard offense looked pretty spry, must be those little blue pills, in scoring in all but one inning. The 18-hit assault on the three Astro pitchers was effective and sent the team to the cold beer celebration sooner than expected. Members of the hit club for this game included: the Baron (4), Burner (2), Evy, General, Milli (3), Surf Dawg, Tomahawk (2), Welzy (2), and Wookie (2). The ribbies were knocked in courtesy of slugging Buzzards: Baron (3), Burner (2), Evy (2), Milli (3), Tomahawk, Welzy and Wook. The always-important runs were scored by: Baron (3), Evy (3), Milli (2), Salmo, Surf Dawg, Welzy (2), and Wookie (2). The three free passes to first base, given to eagle-eyed Buzzards, went to: Burner, Evy, and Milli.

The Gold Country defense continued to impress and with no errors the Astros received no help in trying to score runs. The Buzzard outfield was active through the first three frames. Four of the first nine outs were fly balls. Then, there were no more fly-outs for the remainder of the contest. In the third inning, each outfielder caught a fly-ball for an out. Surf Dawg went first with a nice catch playing right-field in a rarity due to injuries. The second catch was made by the General looking into the sun in left-field, and the third out was a running catch by Tomahawk in center.

The air-tight infield had 13 real chances and made every play to the pitchers' delight. Evy had three assists at short, while Welzy had four assists and one put-out playing second and pitching. Wookie made one put-out and had two assists at second base while Welzy was pitching. The Baron had a busy afternoon at first base with 12 put-outs. Two grounders, one pop-up and nine infield throws. Behind the plate, Milli was awesome with two picks in the seven-inning game. One at first in the first and the other was at second in the second. Good tags applied by Baron and Welzy assured the out calls. There were also three strike-outs and one Buzzard double play in the fifth inning to speed up the game.

This was an excellent Buzzard game and a nice victory to end the 2014 regular season. Now the trick is to stay sharp and get healthy during the next two weeks. The pirated Buzzards will be able to keep playing, but the others need to keep swinging at a batting cage during the lay-off until the championship game on September 21st.

Beware the Buzzards.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #16

Game: August 24, 2014

Buzzards claw Solons, 7-1

The Ol' Buzzards were up early and landing at James Field for a Sunday morning match-up with the second place Solons. The Gold Country Buzzards were facing the Sacramento Solons for the fourth and last time of the regular season. The Buzzards stomped the Solons in the Opening Day game on April 6th, 21-4, at C-Bar-C Park. The Buzzies also whopped the Solons at James Field in the morning on May 4th, 11-4; and recently on August 3rd, 9-2, at home. The Solons brought a large contingent of players and they got to the field early and eager.

The morning was fabulous with game-time temps in the low to mid 80s for the battle of the top two teams in the ol' man's division. The starting pitcher for the visiting Solons was their all-star MVP and tough righty, John 'Freckles' Hagen #24. On the hill for the Buzzards was veteran right-hander, Fred 'Freddie' O'Donoghue #32.

The Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first with a run in the opening inning. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz led-off with an infield bouncer for a hit. Welzy then stole second and moved to third on a grounder to the right-side by Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir. The hard hit ball was heading toward the hole between first and second, when the big Italian, Frank 'Mafia' Smith, playing first base, stuck out his over-sized right (bare) hand to knock down the sizzling ball. Big Frank then made a nice play for the out as Welzy moved to third. It was nutty to use a bare-hand on the play, but it shows the Solons were pulling out all-the-stops to beat the Buzzards.

Batting next, Dave 'Evy' Everingham pulled a 1-2 pitch into left-field for a line-drive single to score Welzy. Evy was thrown out in a close play trying to steal second base by the new Solons catcher, Jurg 'Chiseled' Ramal. Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray walked before the inning ended with a 1-0 Buzzard lead.

The Gold Country gang of 12 struck for one more run in the second dig. With one out, Freddie walked on a full-count. Tom ran for Fred. One out later, Paul 'General' Lee walked on five pitches to put two runners on with two outs and Welzy coming to the plate. On a 2-1 pitch, Welzy lashed a single to left to score Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley and make the score 2-zip.

In the bottom half of the third frame the Ol' Buzzards put a nice crooked number, 5, on the scoreboard to add some breathing room to the score. Evy started it off with a hot grounder through the left-side for a base hit. The Baron then smoked one at the shortstop. The lefty, Tom DeFazio filling in for the regular shortstop, misplayed the bouncing bullet to put two runners on. One out later, Jim 'Milli' Milligan hit a laser right back at the pitcher for an almost double play. Out of self-defense on the mound, Freckles caught the heater, and then turned to throw to second base to try to get a hustlin' Evy. Evy was safe on a close play at the bag, but the Baron was off first base by a long way still. The Solons did not quickly take advantage of the Buzzard predicament and threw too late to first to get the retreating Baron. On the throw, Evy advanced to third leaving Buzzards at the corners. The Baron stole second base before Freddie walked again on a full-count.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia stepped into the batter's box. On a 2-2 pitch, and after fouling-off another offering, Cagey laced a low liner into left-field for a big single to score Evy and Baron. Up next, the General took a stroll to first base via a base on balls to load 'em up for Welzy at the top of the order. Taylor did not disappoint when he crushed the second pitch into the left-center field gap for a long double. The hit and tough relay cleared the bases sending all the runners home to complete the five-run inning. The score after three innings was 7-0 Buzzards.

After the third frame, the Buzzard bats suddenly got quiet. Freckles found his stride and struck-out seven Buzzards while facing only four batters over the minimum, with 19 during the last five innings. The Buzzards did not come close to scoring again after the third frame.

Meanwhile, the Buzzard pitching and defense were putting on a historic shutdown of the Solons offense. The Solons had gone down 1-2-3 in each dig through the first seven innings. There were four hits, so the innings were not perfect. However in each case, the Buzzards were able to effectively erase the transgressing Solon with: 1) a stolen base attempt in the second; 2) a pick-off at first base in the third; 3) a stolen base attempt of third base in the fourth by Bruce 'Radio Man' Maiman; and 4) another stolen base attempt at second in the seventh.

The Solons brought four batters to the plate in the eighth to break the 'three and out' pattern. And they finally scored in the ninth on a lead-off single, walk, strike-out, and walk to load the bases. Left-hander, Ken 'Wrong' Wright then hit a grounder to short for a force-out at second as the lone Solon run of the game scored. Two batters later the game was over with a pop-up to short. It took a little more than 2 1/2 hours to beat the Solons, 7-1, in the nine inning affair.

The Buzzard pitching was superb. Freddie handled the first four innings and threw 52 pitches (32 strikes & 20 balls) to 12 batters. O'Donoghue gave up no runs on four hits with no walks and four strike-outs from the bump. Welz covered the fifth and sixth frames from the mound by throwing only 18 pitches (14 strikes & 4 balls) and facing just six batters. Taylor gave up no runs and no hits and struck-out two in the quick two digs. Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny was the game's closer and got the three-inning save from the hill. Surf Dawg threw 49 pitches (34 strikes & 15 balls) in facing 14 Solons. Gregg gave up one run (unearned) on three hits and two walks while striking out three batters.

The Ol' Buzzard offense looked good early, but did not adjust well to John Hagen finding his groove. After the third inning, the Buzzards struggled to put runners on base. Four batters went to the plate in the fourth; only three in the fifth and sixth; four batters in the seventh; and five in the last frame. The hit club for the 11-hit game included: Baron, Cagey, Evy (3), General, mMumbles, Tomahawk, and Welzy (3). The seven ribbies were courtesy of three Buzzards: Cagey (2), Evy, and Welzy (4). The all-important runs were scored by: Baron, Cagey, Evy, Freddie (2), General, and Welzy. The three eagle-eyed Buzzards receiving free passes to first base were: Baron, Freddie (2), and General (2).

The Buzzard defense was excellent and held the Solons in-check for most of the game. Of the 27 outs, there were 9 strike 'em outs, leaving 18 put-outs required. There were three fly-ball put-outs in the game. A can of corn hit to the Baron in right-field to end the first frame. Tomahawk caught a deep fly to center in the fifth, and a high fly for the first out in the eighth inning.

After narrowly avoiding a Solon double play in the third frame, the Buzzards pulled one off in the fourth. With runners on first and second with no outs, Bruce was dancing far off of second base. He then decided to try and steal third. Milli, behind the plate, threw a one-bounce strike to Surf Dawg in front of the bag for the tag out. Bruce could have slid to the outside of the bag and may have been safe, but he slid into Gregg's ankle and shin with his metal cleats for the out. But leaving the Nike cleat pattern on the shin. With one out, Welzy snagged a liner then threw-out the runner at first before he could get back for the easy double play to end the inning.

The two dangerous pop-ups were handled without incident. A high pop-up at shortstop to end the sixth was caught by Evy, and the last out of the game was a pop-up to Wookie at short. There were two come-backers in the game. They just happen to be the first two outs of the game with dribblers to Freddie, half-way up the first base line, for easy put-outs.

Infielders were playing out of position in the game due to injuries and Burning Man, but the group was solid. Cagey had six put-outs at first base, one great pick-off throw and tag in the third (Freddie to Kelly), and the rest were throws from the infield. Welzy had one assist and three put-outs playing second base. Evy had two assists and the pop-up put-out for a slow day at the office. Wookie played second, third and short in the game and had two assists and one put-out, all at shortstop.

Three Solons tried to steal a base and three Solons were thrown out by the Buzzard catching corps. Milli had two notches added to his belt with throw-outs at second for the first out in the second inning, and at third base for the first out in the fourth. Freddie O nailed the runner at second for the first out in the seventh frame. Impressive stuff, including good jobs by the pitchers holding the runners on - it does help.

Evy made a nice grab at short of a tough bouncer in the fifth. In the eighth, Wookie playing short made a surprisingly slick short-hop snag of a wicked low liner hit by lefty, Phil 'Speedy' Gunther. As Wook made the throw, howls of 'come-on' and 'give us a break' and others were heard. Wook responded light-heartedly by saying his eyes were closed. In returning to the dugout, one of the nicest compliments from a teammate when Milli said, I thought for a minute that Evy was playing shortstop. Good stuff and a good team with a bunch of great guys.

Beware the Buzzards. 

Buzzard Note #1: No game on Labor Day weekend. The next, and last regular, game of the season is on September 7th at 2 pm at James Field versus the Astros. A team photo will be taken, so showers and shaves are encouraged on that day.

Buzzard Note #2: The Buzzards have a playoff bye on September 14th and no game that day. The championship game will be on the 21st. The time and place to be determined.

Buzzard Note #3: The team party is still on for September 28th at the Salmeri's in Rescue. The plan is lunch at 1 o'clock catered by Felipe's with margaritas, cold drinks and more.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #15

Game: August 17, 2014

Buzzards do the Yankee stomp, 28-6

On a warm Sunday afternoon in Auburn with temps in the low 90s, the first place Buzzards were up against the last place Yankees in their final regular season meeting of the season. The Yanks brought a large contingent with some fans and actually travel quite well, especially for an 0-14 team. The Yankees are a friendly bunch of older guys that like to chit-chat with the other team. They have two players over 70 and several in their late 60s that start, so they are easy pickings for the Buzzards and the rest of the league. Some of the fans were not as nice and were taunting the Buzzard batters throughout the game with stuff like, hey batter, batter, ..... swing. Which probably never worked, even in the old days in Little League? Pretty funny actually.

The starting pitcher for the visiting Yankees was a rubber-armed right-hander, Mike 'McMuffin' McHenry #14. The Gold Country Buzzards sent the hard-throwing righty, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1 to the hill with a 7-0 record this season as a starting pitcher.

The Buzzards started the scoring with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. The lead-off hitter, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz doubled on a 1-1 count to right-center and then advanced to third base on the throw from right-field. Batting next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir hit the second pitch sharply through the right-side for a base hit and scored Welzy for the first run. A hit parade then followed with the next five Buzzards getting hits and the sixth a walk before the first out was registered.

Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley led the hit barrage with an infield hit down the third base line. Fred 'Freddie' O'Donoghue followed with a liner to center to score Wookie. With a smooth easy stroke, Norm 'Burner' Tucker, knocked a run-scoring single to right-center-field sending Tomahawk across the plate. Up next, Dave 'mMumbles' Kelley smacked a line-drive into left-field for a single to load the bases. Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia then looped a single into left for a hit to score Freddie and re-load the bases.

With no outs, Mike 'Mickey' Wilson walked on a full-count to push in Burner for the fifth run. The next two batters hit into fielder's choices driving in one more run before the inning ended with a long fly ball out and a six to nothing lead.

The Buzzards scored two more in the second inning for an 8-0 lead. Tomahawk started it off with a screamer to left-field for a single. Two outs and one steal later, Tomahawk was on second. mMumbles then knocked in Tomahawk with an infield hit through the left-side. Up next, Cagey sent a scorcher down the third baseline for a run-scoring single. Mickey walked on a full-count again to put two runners on before the inning ended on a running catch in right-field of Paul 'General' Lee's long drive.

The Yanks scored three runs in the top half of the third frame. The Yankees' hitting sequence to score the three runs was interesting. Base hit, strike-out, base hit, strike-out, base hit, eight-pitch walk for a run, and a first-pitch single to score the final two runs. Score: 8-3 Buzzards.

The Gold Country gang of 10 scored those three runs back in their half of the third dig. Welzy led-off with a first-pitch bunt single. Taylor then stole second and moved to third on the over-throw by the catcher. Wookie walked on a full-count before Tomahawk knocked in Welzy with a single to left-field. Next, Freddie singled to load the bases with Ol' Buzzards. Paul ran for Fred. Wook then scored on a fielder's choice by Burner. With one out, the General scored on a fielder's choice by Cagey to end the scoring in the inning. The Buzzards now led 11 to 3.

The Yankees bounced back in the fourth with three more runs to make the game closer at 11-6. After an out, four straight singles followed by a tough infield pop-up for Welzy on the outfield grass playing short, then a two-run single to right-field closed the Yankee scoring for the day.

With only a five-run lead entering the fourth frame, the Buzzards were determined to add more distance on the scoreboard and end this game early with the mercy-rule. The General led-off with a hard single to left. Surf Dawg hit an infield single before Welzy sent a flare to right-center to load the bases with no outs. Wookie then bounced a single through the left-side to knock-in General Lee. Tomahawk followed with a run-scoring fielder's choice. Freddie, up next, banged out a liner to left-center for a single and scored Wook from second to make the score 14-6 after four frames and over two hours of time.

In the fifth dig, the Ol' Buzzards dumped a boatload of runs on the Yankees to tilt the score board with 14 runs and make for a long inning with three pitchers. The run parade started with a leadoff walk to mMumbles. The next batter struck-out, but the following four: Mickey, General, Surf Dawg and Welzy walked on 16 straight balls. Up next, Wookie swung at the first pitch and sent a liner into left-field for a hit and scored Lee. Tomahawk then hit a 1-1 outside offering to right-field for a two-run single that scored Surf Dawg and Welzy.

Still in the fifth, an error by the third baseman put Freddie on board first and scored Wookie. Burner then hit a high pop-up that fell in the infield untouched for a single. mMumbles batting for the second time in the inning, singled up-the-middle on a tough hit. Cagey then hit a flare to left for a single to drive in Freddie. Mickey walked for the fourth time in the game before the General laced a two-run single to right-field. Surf Dawg, batting next, blasted the first-pitch into the left-center field gap with the ball rolling to the fence to score Mickey. Batting next, Welzy doubled to deep left-field and drove in the General and Surf Dawg for the final two runs of the inning.

The Yankees did not score in the top of the sixth, but the three-hour time limit was just about up, so the umps called the game with the final score 28-6.

Buzzard pitching was excellent and consisted of three pitchers with Wilson getting his Buzzard debut on the mound. Novotny pitched the first four innings and faced 24 Yankees in throwing 85 pitches (60 strikes & 25 balls). Surf Dawg gave up six runs (three earned) on 10 hits with two walks and five strike-outs. Freddie threw the fifth frame and faced three batters in throwing 12 pitches (8 strikes & 4 balls). O'Donoghue gave up no runs or hits and had one strike-out. Mickey pitched the final inning for his Buzzard debut. Wilson threw 19 pitches (9 strikes & 10 balls) in facing five Yanks. Mickey gave up no runs on one hit with one walk and one strike-out to end the game.

The Buzzard's swung their hittin' sticks with aggressive patience. The 26 hits showed good hard contact and kept the line moving for much of the game. The hit club for the game was impressive with lots of base hits for: Burner (2), Cagey (3), Freddie (3), General (2), mMumbles (3), Surf Dawg (2), Tomahawk (4), Welzy (4), and Wookie (3). The many RBIs were knocked in by: Burner (2), Cagey (3), Freddie (2), General (2), Mickey (2), mMumbles (3), Surf Dawg (2), Tomahawk (3), Welzy (4), and Wook (3). The always important runs were scored by: (in batting order) Welzy (4), Wookie (4), Tomahawk (3), Freddie (3), Burner (2), mMumbles (3), Cagey (2), Mickey (2), General (3), and Surf Dawg (2). There were 10 walks issued by Yankee pitchers. The Ol’ Buzzards using their eagle-eyes were: General, Mickey (4), mMumbles, Surf Dawg, Welzy, and Wookie (2). The bats stayed hot and the Buzzards scored in every inning.

The Buzzard defense was solid and supported the good pitching. With only six defensive innings played, there were only 18 outs made. There were seven strike-outs, six for outs. Surf Dawg had to get four outs in the second inning. After the second batter got aboard via a wild pitch strike-out in the dirt, he was eliminated by the only Buzzard double play of the game. Welzy fielded the up-the-middle grounder behind second base and then stepped on the bag and threw a strike to Cagey at first to end the inning.

There were two fly ball outs during the game. The first out of the fourth frame was a ‘can of corn’ for mMumbles in right-field. The other fly-out, the first out in the sixth inning, was more challenging as a running catch in right-center with Tomahawk looking into the sun. It was a tough catch made to look easy by a hustlin’ Keatley.

There were two plays made at third. Wookie made a good play on a slow chopper by charging hard and throwing a strike to Cagey to end the fourth. mMumbles made a nice play on a tough bouncer in the fifth and threw to first to complete a rare - Kelley to Kelly play. At shortstop, Welzy had only two assists to go with the one pop-fly put-out. Burner had the only assist at second base, showing off his range with a hard grounder to his right, for the first out of the second inning.

The pitchers also defended their position with come-backers and pop-ups. Surf Dawg snagged a come-backer in the third frame for the final out, and Freddie made the third out in the fifth inning with a nice play and throw to Cagey at first base. Not to be out-done, Mickey made an excellent catch of a high pop-up standing on top of the mound in the sixth. Freddie and Burner did fabulous jobs, as usual, calling and catching this game.

Good game Buzzards, plus no one got hurt. Game number 16 is in the books with a 13-2-1 record. Just four games left to play including the playoffs.

The next game is Sunday at James Field at 10 am against the Solons.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #14

Game: August 10, 2014

Buzzards shocked by Astros in late tie, 10-10

On a cool morning in Davis, the Gold Country Buzzards circled-in on Playfields Park for a 10 o'clock match against the Astros. The Ol' Buzzards were 12-2 and comfortably in first place in the 52+ division. The Astros with only a 3-11 record have generally played well against teams in the old men's division. They are short of quality pitching and get out-scored late in their games. The Stros have lost some real close games to the Phillies and Solons, but they still have only beaten the Yankees this season.

This year the Ol' Buzzards beat the Astros on April 27th 7-3 in the afternoon at C-Bar-C, and at James Field on July 20th 11-1. However, the Astros in the past seem to find a way to tie or beat the Buzzards once a season. This 15th game of the 2014 season was only the third morning game on the road for the Buzzards. The Buzzies were 1-1 away from home before noon, losing to the A's at C-Bar-C in June and beating the Yankees in July in Rocklin.

The day began cool, but slowly heated up as did the game. Temps were nice and in the low 80's for most of the game. The starting pitcher for the visiting Buzzards was the right-handed, mix 'em up specialist, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6. Taking the bump for the Astros was a pretty good righty, Roy 'Duke' Van Kempen #10.

The Buzzards hopped on the scoreboard first with a run in the opening frame. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz started it off with a leadoff bunt single. After stealing second and third, and with one out, Welzy scored on Dave 'Evy' Everingham's ground-out to the shortstop on a 'bang-bang' close play. Evy appeared across the bag when the ball arrived from the Buzzards' angle in the third base dugout.

The Astros scored two in the bottom half of the first inning to take an early lead. The inning started with the leadoff batter hitting a high fly to deep center field. The ball carried surprisingly well in the cool air and it forced the center fielder, Paul 'General' Lee, while battling the sun to reach up and then back at the last second. The ball hit the heal of the glove and bounced out for a two-base error. After a quick strike-out, a double was launched over the left-fielder's head to drive in the first run. Then a looping single to right-field scored the second run. With a big Astro rally brewing and with just one out, Salmo then wheeled and threw back to second base to nail the runner on a good tag by Welzy for the second out. That put a damper on the Astro feistiness as the next batter, Duke, grounded into an infield, 6-3, out. The score was 2-1 Astros after the first inning.

The Astros filled in the diamonds in the scorebook with two runs in the third inning. A leadoff single was followed by a walk and two base hits for a 4 to 1 Astros lead.

The Buzzard bats finally woke up in the fourth frame. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir led-off with a sharp single to right-field. With Evy at the plate, Wookie stole second base, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. On an eight-pitch at-bat, Evy sent a liner into center for a run-scoring single. Dave immediately stole second base and moved to third on the catcher's over-throw. After a strike-out for out number one, Fred 'Freddie' O'Donoghue pounded a slow dribbler into 'no-man's land' toward first base for an infield single that scored Evy. Pete ran for Fred. Norm 'Burner' Tucker followed with a full-count walk, his second of the game, to put two Buzzards on.

Up next, Dave 'mMumbles' Kelley hit the first pitch into left-field for a flare single that scored the Baron from second base to tie the game. Pete then turned left and ran for DK at first. Batting next, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia hit a hard grounder that was snagged by the third baseman for a possible double play. Burner, running from second, stopped when the ball was caught and then backed-up toward second base to make the third baseman chase him down for the tag out, as the only out on the play.

With two outs, Salmo on a 2-2 count, dropped-in a looper to left to score the Baron. Salmo stole second base before the General hit a slow roller toward second base. Paul beat the throw for an infield hit and scored Cagey from third. The rushed, wild throw to first by Barry 'ex-Commish' Spiller allowed a sliding Salmo to score from second base on the play. Kelly then ran for Paul and stole second base.

Next, Mike 'Mickey' Wilson bounced a slow roller to Barry at second base. Mickey beat the throw to first as the ball skipped past the first baseman. Cagey scored from second on the play for the seventh run of the inning. Welzy walked before the inning ended with the score, 8-4 Buzzards.

The Gold Country gang of 12 added another run in the fifth and looked to be in control of the game. Evy led-off with a single to left. Next, Dave stole second and third before the Baron walked on four-pitches from a tiring pitcher. Pete stole second before Freddie lined a 1-2 pitch into left-field for a single to score Evy and put the Baron on third. Wook ran for Freddie and proceeded to steal second base. After a strike-out for the first out and a big rally still brewing, mMumbles came to the plate with runners at second and third. Kelley hit a bouncer to first for a force-out, but the ensuing throw home to get the standing Baron on a close play at the plate was ruled an out by the ump, believing a force-out was made. On a 'no-way play', the ump then ruled that Pete was somehow tagged out by the catcher before being tripped-up by the glove, after he ran-over home plate. The umps then exchanged their blurry-vision versions to each other before announcing it was a double play for the Astros. Now that's a rally killer.

The Astros changed pitchers in the sixth and brought in the ancient righty, Rankin 'Fire Plug' Lyman #01. Rankin then mowed down the Buzzards 1-2-3 during the next two innings with his super slow fastball and slower curve and slower, yet, change-up. The Buzzards also changed pitchers in the sixth and sent ol' veteran, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1 to the hill. Surf Dawg gave up one hit in his first two innings of work to match the quick Astros innings.

In the eighth, the Ol' Buzzards finally score again, but with a single run for a 10-4 game. Surf Dawg batting for a departed Evy, singled sharply on the first pitch to left-center to start-off the inning. Surf Dawg then stole second base. Batting next, the Baron singled to left putting runners at the corners. One out later, Surf Dawg scored on a ground-out by Burner for a six-run lead with 20 minutes left in the three-hour time limit game.

The Buzzard defense in the bottom of the eighth was playing several players out of their regular positions, but the task was do-able - to get three outs - and maybe bat again or go home a winner. The inning started off well with a sharply hit grounder up-the-middle by ol' Fire Plug Rankin. The ball got through the infield but was fielded by a hard charging General in short-center. On a rarely seen play, General Lee's throw was strong and straight as it barely beat Rankin for that first important out.

Initially, the Buzzards were excited for the out, but knowing a 'mean out' can stir the 'baseball gods' to do funny things. The skipper, Wookie, looked up for any dark clouds. The Astros then sent nine players to the plate before the Buzzards could get two more outs.

And that last out was made on a line-drive catch by Salmo, playing second. Rick timed his jump nicely to make the one-handed catch of a hot-liner with an Astro from second base running on the play with a potential winning run. The second out was also noteworthy, five batters earlier. Cagey was playing first base with one on and one out, when a rising liner was hit and headed down the right-field line for a double. Cagey leapt up and with a back-hand grab, snagged the ball for the second out.

The six runs were a result of a walk, a hit batsman (on a 0-2 pitch with the batter hanging over the plate), two singles, three errors (two throwing, one fielding), and topped off by an 0-2 pitch double, hit way-over Pete's head in left-field by Dave 'Blind in one eye' Harden to tie the game and put the winning run at second base. For a while the Buzzards were giving away outs like it was Christmas. Whoa, what an inning to forget.

The nice catch by Salmo ended the eight-inning, three-hour game with the score 10-10. The Astros jumped for joy like they had just won a big game, while the Buzzards were ticked-off that the Astros had tied the game, even though they came very close to losing this game at the end.

The Buzzard pitching did a good job and the game was in-hand until a brutal defense showed how quickly a game can turn. Salmeri pitched the first five frames and faced 23 Astros while throwing 69 pitches (46 strikes & 23 balls). Salmo gave up four runs (two earned) on 10 hits and one walk with one strike-out. Surf Dawg pitched the final three digs. Gregg threw 75 pitches (45 strikes & 30 balls) in facing 19 batters. The Astros scored six runs (none earned) on four hits with three walks, one hit-batter, and three strike 'em outs with Novotny on the mound.

The Ol' Buzzard offense could only score 10 runs against the Astros' pitching duo with the 13 hits, four walks, four Astro errors and 16(!) stolen bases. The Buzzards had two 1-2-3 innings and two digs with just four batters, along with seven strike-outs for a thoroughly frustrating offensive game. The hit club for the game included: Baron, Evy (2), Freddie (2), General, Mickey (2), mMumbles, Salmo, Surf Dawg, Welzy and Wookie. The ribbies were knocked in by: Burner, Evy (2), Freddie (2), General (2), mMumbles, and Salmo. The runs were scored by: Cagey, Evy (2), Freddie, General, mMumbles, Salmo, Surf Dawg, Welzy and Wook. There were four base-on-balls awarded to eagle-eyed Buzzards: Baron, Burner (2) and Welzy. The seven struck-out Ol' Buzzards will remain name-less.

The usually great and always reliable Buzzard defense disappeared for part of an inning, and actually was not that strong during the game, hence only two earned runs. The Buzzards should have scored more than 10, but 10 runs should have been enough to win the ballgame.

There were no put-outs made by the outfield. The one outfield assist came on the General's throw-out to first base in the last inning. There was one short fly ball out in the third inning. With one run already scored and one out with two runners in scoring position, the flare to right-field initially appeared to be a base hit. However, a fabulous catch by Welzy, playing second, showing off his range, speed and no fear of the sun - glimmering off of his eyes and teeth - in making the running one-handed catch. Liz was in the stands enjoying the huge catch.

There were plenty of ground balls for 13 infield assists and eight put-outs at first base keeping Cagey busy at the corner bag. Evy had one put-out on a liner and four assists at shortstop while Salmo had four assists playing second and pitching. Welzy had four put-outs and three assists playing second and short before also departing early for a 1:30 Pirates game. Wookie had two good back-to-back plays at third base in the fifth to help with the only 1-2-3 Buzzard defensive inning for his two assists in the game. Freddie's assist occurred in the third inning when a wild pitch sent Freddie sliding into the backstop fence toward the third base dugout to grab the ball. Freddie got shook-up on the play, but recovered in time to get the runner trying to advance to third.

The five errors, all at inopportune times, put a damper on the game. The three boo-boos in the last inning prevented a win, but taught the Buzzards a good lesson. That every team is loading up with their best to try their damnedest to knock-off the Buzzards - all game long. It sure made the Astros day and season to tie the Gold Country Buzzards.

It was a tie, even though it felt like a loss while commiserating and drinking beer after the game. No one got hurt and the game is in the books to make the Buzzards record 12-2-1 with three regular season games to go.

Next week, the Yankees are doomed. The game is at James Field at 2 pm.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #13

Game: August 3, 2014

Buzzards claw Solons, 9-2

With summer temps in the 100s for quite a while and a Saturday at 107° in the valley, it cooled off surprisingly well by Sunday to a mild 86° in Auburn for a hot match-up of the top two teams in the 52+ division of Sacramento NABA. The second place Sacramento Solons were up from the valley floor to take on the first place Gold Country Buzzards in the 2 o'clock game at James Field. The Buzzards are comfortably in first place, but the intent was to still kick some Solon tail and send a message for the upcoming playoffs. Beware the Buzzards.

The starting pitcher for the Solons was their ace lefty, Tom 'The Fazz' DeFazio #31. Taking the mound for the home team and starting for the first time as a Buzzard was veteran right-hander, Fred 'Freddie' O'Donoghue #32.

The Ol' Buzzards hit the scoreboard first with a hard-earned run in the bottom of the first inning. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley led-off with a walk. Next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir swung late on a 1-1 fastball, but looped a single into left-field to put two runners on. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch before Dave 'Evy' Everingham on a 3-2 pitch hit a frozen-rope to center-field. The liner was run down for a sacrifice fly with a diving-rolling catch by Bruce 'Bronx Loudmouth' Maiman. Tomahawk tagged up and scored on the roll, but Wookie had to stay at second.

Batting next, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray walked on five pitches to put two Buzzards on with one out. A strike-out and a ground-out ended the dig without further scoring, but The Fazz threw 27 pitches and the Buzzards were up, one to nothing. The Solons struck back with a run in the second inning. Two singles and a strike-out, followed by two more hits to score the run. Next was another strike-out and then a close fielder's choice play at second base (6-4) left the bases full of frustrated Solons to end the inning with the score tied at 1-1.

The Buzzards threatened in the second and third innings and left five men stranded on base. The Buzzards also made two outs at home plate in the third inning, one thrown out and one forced out. In the fourth frame, the Buzzards took some risks to put some runs on the board in this close ballgame.

Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri opened the inning by getting hit on the top of the right (back) foot and taking first base. It was an impressive and growing welt after the game when his shoe came off. Salmo moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground-out. Batting next, Wookie hit into a fielder's choice with Salmo trying to score from third, but was thrown-out at the plate on a close sliding play. Wook then stole second before Evy walked. With runners at second and first with a tie score, the Solons were pre-occupied with Wook at second and either faked a throw or attempted a pick-off before each pitch to the Baron. On the fourth pitch and with the third baseman playing deep, Wook stole third. On the play, the throw from the catcher bounced and hit Wookie on the left wrist and the ball bounced away deep into foul territory. Wookie got up and scored easily as the Buzzies took a 2-1 lead. Evy was put back at second by the umps after the play. The umps were wrong.

The Baron, still at-bat, then took another base-on-balls. The Buzzards' scary (looking?) clean-up hitter had his third walk by the fourth inning. Up next, Freddie hit the first pitch into right-center field for a single that scored Evy from second to make the score 3-1 after four. The Solons changed pitchers in the fifth and brought in righty, Ken 'Pudgy' Wright #1.

The Gold Country gang of 10 players, then nine after Paul 'General' Lee injured his calf muscle early in the game, added a nice crooked number (4) to the scoreboard in the fifth frame. Dave 'mMumbles' Kelley started it off with an infield hustle hit. Tomahawk ran for mMumbles and immediately stole second base. Norm 'Burner' Tucker followed with a flare into left-field for a hit to put runners at the corners. Burner stole second before Salmo walked to load the bases. With the bases full of Ol' Buzzards, Tomahawk chopped a fielder's choice to the third baseman for a force-out at home.

With the bases still full, Wookie smacked a long drive to center-field that for a moment looked catchable. The ball hooked away from the outfielder as he ran with his back to the infield as the ball landed for a hit. Wookie was robbed by the same fielder, Bronx Bruce, on a similar line-drive in the second inning. Meanwhile, Burner scored easily from third, but Salmo was still scurrying for home after heading back to second a moment earlier to tag up. The ball caught up with a sliding Salmo at the plate for the fifth Buzzard out at home in the game.

Next, Evy crushed a 2-0 pitch down the left-field line for a nice double to score Tomahawk and Wook. With Evy at second, the Solons tried a pick-off move that back-fired on the over-throw and Evy hustled home to score on the play. The Baron then sent a blast to the left-field fence for a double before the fifth inning ended with the score: Buzzards 7 and the Solons 1.

The Solons added a run in the seventh inning on a lead-off single and stolen base followed by a run-scoring hit to left by The Fazz.

The Buzzards tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning before the game was called due to the three-hour time limit. After fouling off two two-strike pitches, Freddie led-off with a sharp single to right. Pete ran for Fred. With one out, mMumbles lined a single to right to put runners at first and second. Tom ran for Dave. Burner then hit a shot down the third base line for a single to load the bases.  Salmo, batting next, knocked the 3-1 pitch into left-field for a base hit and scored the Baron and Tomahawk. The umps then stopped the game with the final score 9-2.

The Buzzards used their ol' tried and true recipe for the victory - terrific pitching, solid defense and good sticks. The game was close in the beginning, but the Buzzards pulled away in a strong, dominant fashion. Another good Buzzard win.

The pitching was awesome as usual. Freddie started the game and went four innings for the win before pulling a butt cheek muscle while warming up on the mound before the start of the fifth frame. Before O'Donoghue was relieved, he faced 21 Solons in throwing 68 pitches (43 strikes & 25 balls). Fred gave up one run on eight hits with two walks and four strike-outs. Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny threw the last four of the eight-inning game. Surf Dawg threw 52 pitches (31 strikes & 21 balls) in facing 14 batters. Gregg gave up one run on three hits with one walk and one strike-out.

The Buzzard offense knocked in 9 runs and left 13 stranded on 16 hits with the help of seven walks and two Solon errors. The hit club for the game included: the Baron, Burner (3), Evy (3), Freddie (3), mMumbles (3), Salmo, and Wookie (2). The seven ribbies were courtesy of: Evy (3), Freddie, Salmo (2), and Wook. The always important runs were scored by: Burner, Evy (2), Freddie, mMumbles, Tomahawk (2), and Wookie (2). Seven free passes to first base were issued to four watchful Buzzards: the Baron (3), Evy, Salmo, and Tomahawk (2). The Buzzard defense was excellent.

There were 24 Solon outs in the game, so with five strike-outs, that leaves 19 fielding outs. For the second week in a row, there was only one fly-ball out during the game and each went to Tomahawk playing center field. There were two key pop-ups for outs to Pete at first base as each ended an inning with runners on base. Grounders to Fred at first base in the sixth and to mMumbles at third in the eighth were the other unassisted outs.

There were 14 infield assisted put-outs where direct team work resulted in valuable outs. Evy at shortstop had five assists and two put-outs. Wookie hung in there for five assists and two put-outs at second base until a collision in the eighth caused muscle cramps in his calves and the game came to a stop for a while.

The play started with two on and no outs with a sharply hit grounder by Pudgy right to mMumbles playing close to third for a potential triple play. mMumbles stepped on third for the out and fired at second base, when he should have thrown to the second baseman's glove. Wookie went to his knees to block or maybe catch the two-hopper just as the runner, Al 'Mad Max' Luger slid hard and crashed into Wook. Max went tumbling over the bag with the ball and Wookie ended up on the first base side of the bag on the ground grabbing at his feet for muscle cramp relief. Max and Evy rushed over and applied the pushing pressure on the feet until the cramps subsided. Wook then hobbled over to the dugout for hydration on orders from the ump and returned fairly quickly to second base due to the lack of any other healthy Buzzard player, and that there were just 15 more minutes to play.

When the game resumed in the eighth, it was two on and one out. With a 1-1 count, Wook called time-out and switched positions with Freddie at first, as his legs were getting that crampy feeling. As luck would have it, the next pitch was hit to Freddie's right where he cleanly fielded the ball and tossed it to Evy covering second to start a double play to end the Solons' last inning.

Freddie had three assists and five put-outs playing first base and pitching. The best assist was a great pick-off move to nail the Bronx Loudmouth at first base in the opening inning. The pick-off for the second out was followed by two base hits, but no runs. The first out of the game was an excellent play by a hard-charging Wookie on a short chopper to just get the lefty, Phil 'Speedy' Gunther.

The Buzzards kept Speedy off of the base paths. Phil went 0 for 3 with a strike out and broke his bat in frustration in the sixth during his at-bat. After swinging at two low curves and hitting his bat on the plate during his second swing, Speedy slammed his bat on the plate and it clearly cracked. Phil then had to speedily change bats and ground-out on the next pitch to first base.

Burner caught the entire game and was credited with five put-outs for the strike-outs and one assist. The assist in the fifth inning was a fun one as Tucker nailed the runner, Mad Max, on a throw to the bag. Wookie was on his knees to catch the ball and make a tag on a slide play, but Max did not slide, so Wook applied a hard tag in the middle of his thigh. Max went tumbling over the bag and to the ground for the out.

There were two Buzzard double plays in the game. In the seventh it was a 6-4-3 with Evy to Wookie to Freddie and in the eighth it was 4-6-3 with Freddie to Evy to Wook. On the offensive, offensive side, the Buzzards made five outs at home during three innings (actually five of eight outs). Two in the third inning, one in the fourth, and two in the fifth, which must be some kind of record.

A little short-handed, but another nice Buzzard victory for a season record of 12-2. Good job,

Buzzards. Buzzard Note #1: The next game is at Playfields Park in Davis at 10 am on August 10th against the Astros.

Buzzard Note #2: Al 'Mad Max' Luger, who collided hard with Wookie a couple of times in the game is a recently retired shark attorney who works professionally as Max. Interestingly, Wook and Al are buddies and have been roommates at Phoenix the last two years playing on the over-60 Solons.