Mid Season Status Report

We have played eight league games and three non league games. We are 3-5 in league and 6-5 overall. And do not forget we started 0-3. Since then we are 3-2 in league and 6-2 overall. Not bad. But we still have a long way to go.

Overall I am seeing progress in each and everyone of you guys. We are playing better defense, I am seeing more "heart and guts" on display, and we are beginning to swing the bats a little bit.

But as we sit here mid season I would like to air what I would call my two biggest disappointments and see if we can begin to correct them.

Parents, I am not sure your boys even read this blog, but this is a good one to print out and have them read.

1. SWING THE BAT!
FYI the reason I played this game, and the reason this game got such a hold on me was hitting. There is nothing in the world like that two-second feeling one gets after great contact. That bliss you feel when you swing and make sweet spot contact and the ball just takes off. Nothing like it in the world. For this to happen, ya gotta swing!!!!

Here is the deal, guys, NO ONE COMES OUT TO SEE YOU GET A WALK. A walk is a poor consolation prize. I used to get sooooo mad when the pitcher walked me, and believe me he had to really try, because I was up there to hit. I will grant you that strategically walks have their place. But I will say it again, there is no prize for winning these games, and these games are much more fun when you hit the ball hard. Your future high school coach is not going to ask you how many times you walked at 13, and years from now you are certainly NOT going to remember that close pitch you took with a full count to "get that walk" You are going to remember the ball you hit over the center fielders head. Lastly, Jack Cust is never going to be anyone's favorite Mariner because he has such a great eye. A walk at this level is a consolation prize, GO FOR THE REAL PRIZE, a hit.

No one on this team is swinging too much at bad pitchers, trust me, I will reign you in if this starts to happen, but for the love of Pete (that's my son), stop taking SO MANY FASTBALL STRIKES.

2.For crying out loud will SOMEBODY TRY TO STEAL THIRD BASE!!!!!

Sometimes the other team just camps there and there is nothing we can do. Most of the time, the other team just leaves us alone and we DO NOTHING. Please get some courage up and start being aggressive at second base. When I tell you it is clear, please try to get your three secondary steps in, and when the pitcher lifts his foot, turn you hips and steal third. THIS IS THE YEAR to learn this valuable skill. Learning this turns you into a dangerous baserunner for the rest of you career. Please try it, please get thrown out a couple times and soon you will have it down.

If you watched the Mariner game against the Yankees the other night you may have seen Adam Kennedy get picked off first. It was a GREAT play on his part. He is older now and just an average runner. He took a chance to get a walking lead, in a close game with one out. If he had been successful, he would have been in scoring position, but he had the bad luck to run into a move to first just as he was taking a very good risk. It happens, but I loved the desire it displayed.

New Friends Help MBC Win on Island

MBC & Company barnstormed over to Bainbridge Island to play the Spartens on Sunday and came home with a win. Short regular players due to injury and Memorial Day Weekend travel plans, MBC added three ringers to their roster, Nephew William, the fourth Lane quadruplet Kyle, and a player so cool that like Sting he only goes by one name - Tim-O.

In a holiday mood, and ready to showcase their deep talent to the Island crowd, MBC used nine pitchers and two left handed catchers over the course of ten innings. A sharp eyed spectator may have even noticed a left handed second basemen.

MBC let the home to score first (a common practice of flashy barnstorming teams) and then quickly roared to a 6-4 margin in the "regulation" contest. Then, again in true barnstorming practice, MBC allowed the home team to score four charity runs prior to their departure letting the home town team save a little face.

Big bats abounded in the regulation game. Joe "birthday boy" Carey belted two hits, including a double, and the other Joe, Joe Eskenazi duplicated this hitting feat. Both boys added hits in the following game. Thomas Carey also received a clean single on his birthday.

In other big hitting news Eddie Lane started his run for the team RBI crown by belting two clutch singles and driving in three of our six runs in game one. Arther Lane added a hit and the game was stopped when we presented Daniel Hunt the game ball for his first hit!.

MBC Meets the Rebels With a Cause

MBC ran into a tough Rawlings Rebel team on Sunday and played them tough, but lost 7-2.

Landon Fletcher struck out three in his three innings, but the Rebels had some big bats in their line-up and they touched him up for four runs. Eddie Lane came in for the next three innings and did what he could to keep them off balance. He kept them in check other than their six plus foot first baseman who took a ball out of their short fenced field.

Guthrie Morrison stayed hot with two hits. Joe Carey, Cole Burcham, Thomas Carey and Jake Welch all added hits as MBC tried valiantly to keep up with the Rebels.

While the Coach is Away, This Team Will Play!

First of all, I want to go on record that the team was AHEAD when I had to leave. We had a commanding 5-1 lead. But I will say I was deeply hurt that after my departure, the team went on to crush the Senators 18-2. Wow!

Joe Carey (chosen by Coach Cougan to start the game) pitched a complete game victory limiting the Senators to three hits.

MBC came out hot scoring three runs in the first. Guthrie started the ball rolling with a single and stole second and third. Joe Eskanizi walked and Landon Fletcher and Thomas Carey followed with hits.

In the third the Senators started to fall apart. Too many walks combined with a Joe Eskenazi single plated two more runs. Coach Cougan then left for another game and the fun really started. When the dust settled, MBC had 18 runs, Guthrie and Thomas had three hits each, Joe Eskenazi had two hits and Landon and Arthur Lane each added a hit.

Pitchers Carey MBC to Win Over Wave

My wife makes fun of my spelling, my grammer and my overall writing skills. She can, she writes for a living. But the title is not a typo. Joe and Tom Carey combined for an almost shutout last night against the Woodinville Wave. Joe started and threw four scoreless innings, and Tom completed the last three innings, surrendering a run with an 7-0 score to for an easier out. Had we needed to shut them out, Tom could have, but he chose the smart play over the shut out.

Joe was masterful in his pitching and his moves to first. In the second he gave up back to back singles, and picked both runners off as soon as they reached first. I guess he is no longer reluctant to use his magic move to first.

Tom also pitched with ease and breezed through his three innings.

We are still waiting for the offensive explosion that I know is coming. Last night MBC struck for three runs in the second and four runs in the sixth, but we have yet to start pummeling the ball.

In the second Landon Fletcher reached on an error and after a single by Jackson Hirch and a walk to Joe Eskenazi, Eddie Lane laced a beautiful single to right to score two. The third run scored on a ground out by Arthur Lane.

Jake Welch led off the sixth with a walk and after a single by Guthrie Morrison and two walks to Tom Carey and Cole Burcham, MBC was in business again. Landon singled home two runs and the final run scored on a clutch two out single by Joe Eskenazi.

Nice Win Over Columbia City Reds

MBC 13's beat the Columbia City Reds 8-5 on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The offense woke up and joined the good pitching and fielding and the team was rewarded with a win.

Eddie Lane started and after giving up two hits to the first two Reds he proceeded to retire the next twelve Reds hitters in order (actually 13 if you count one Red reaching on MBC's only error of the day). Eddie fanned three batters and left the game with a big smile.

Jake Welch pitched the next two innings, gave up some hits and a few runs but overall held the Reds in check. Jackson Hirch pitched a perfect seventh to bring home the win for the hometown fans.

Offensively, compared to previous games, this could be called an explosion. MBC recorded eight hits and reached bases on some errors by the Reds. Landon Fletcher lead the way with two hits, and Cole Burcham, Tom Carey, Joe Eskanzi, Jake Welch, Guthrie Morrison and Eddie Lane all had hits.

Sunday, May 14th - NO GAME

Sorry, folks.
No game at 9 am.
I have just learned that the fields in Bellevue are closed due to weather conditions.

Looks extremely doubtful

Their coach is going to call me at 7 am. Call me before you leave home.

206 932 5734 or 206 793 0085.


Don't leave before 7:15 even if you live in Montana.

MBC Suffers Tough Loss in Hurracaine

MBC lost a tough one last night 5-4 against Rips. The game was played on the evening of one of the better days in Seattle this spring. Too bad by game time the temperature had dropped 10 degrees and the wind blew very hard in from left field the entire game.

MBC again played error less baseball. The defense is really starting to come together. The infield made all the plays all night and the outfielders raced around grabbing everything in the air. The pitching was tremendous with the exception of a disappearing strike zone in the 7th inning which proved fatal.

Landon Fletcher threw three great inning. His one mistake, a lead-off walk in the first, was scored via a surprisingly early squeeze play in the first inning. Landon blanked them after that through three innings. Arther Lane dazzled the Brewers for the next four innings as MBC fought back to tie the score.

Guthrie Morrison came in for the seventh and after striking out the first two Brewers had the strike zone disappear on him. After two walks and runners on second and third a Brewer batter fouled off at least ten pitches to load the bases with a walk. A tired Guthrie then walked in a run and a pesky Brewer hitting placed a hit and MBC was down three runs.

In a very exciting finish MBC battled back. Guthrie singled and with two outs the Brewer shortstop could not handle Joe Eskenazi's hard shot. With two on and two out Cole Burcham launched a huge double over the left fielder's head to put the tying run at second. But that was as close as MBC came and the Brewers fought out of the jamb.

Cole finished the night with two hits, as did a resurgent Joe Carey. Jake Welch also added a strong hit.

Painful Loss for MBC 13's

Illegally obtained actual X-ray photo of Danny's arm










Actual photo of "the beaning", bad film has altered the colors










Danny after surgery, a little dazed but still feeling squirrelly.



MBC played a non league game last night against the Bellevue Warriors. Sadly the team lost the game and in sadder news may have lost premier lefty Daniel Hunt for a part of the season. Victim of a beaning in the seventh inning Daniel suffered a fracture to his pitching elbow.

Eddie Lane started the game and threw two innings allowing a couple of runs but left with a 4-2 lead. Joseph Carey threw an inning and surrendered the two more runs. Daniel Hunt came in to pitch innings four and five, but needed Cole Burcham's help to get out of the fifth and pitched the rest of the way. When the dust settled in the seventh MBC was down 11-5.

But MBC did throw up some big offensive numbers on Mother's Day. A late inning rally that made Bellevue nervous made the final score 11-8. The final out was recorded with the tying run on base and Bellevue needed a fine play to retire Ryan McAloon.

Jackson Hirch and Thomas Carey were the big weapons tonight with two hits a piece and four RBI between them. Eddie Lane also had two hits and Guthrie Morrison, Cole Burcham and Ryan McAloon each added to the hit totals. Many others hit balls well, but right at waiting Bellevue fielders.

Say Hey to 80, By Quin Hillyer

There was something about that baseball card. For one thing, the 587 under the "HR" column, far and above the corresponding number on any other player's card, absolutely wowed a five-year-old who thought that home runs were the primary measure of a player's greatness. For another thing, there was that incredibly broad and engaging smile on the photograph. Finally, there was, as I remember it, some sort of "fun fact" about how this player was particularly known for going out of his way to be nice to children.
Somewhere around that time came the greatest catch I ever saw. No, it wasn't "The Catch," the famous Polo Grounds snag of the ball blasted by Cleveland's Vic Wertz; that one came ten years before I was born. This catch was even better. My memory might embellish the reality a little, but it went something like this: A drive to right-center in Candlestick Park. Two incredibly fast outfielders at full sprint in pursuit. Bobby Bonds, from right field, arrived at the ball and the fence at the exact same time. So did my player, streaking over from center. He arrived at the same place at the same time. Two players, at full sprint, hit each other and the fence simultaneously. Both players fell in disheveled, oddly angled heaps. One of them may even have been temporarily knocked unconscious. Then came the dawning realization: Nobody seemed to know where the ball was.
Then, from the centerfielder, still in a heap on the ground, the gloved hand raised up, like that arm in the promo for the movie Deliverance. The glove opened. The world could see: The ball was snugly inside. The batter was out. Willie Mays' glove once more had become the place, as an opposing team's executive once said, "where triples go to die."
I was hooked on Willie Mays for life. And the more I learned about him, the more I liked. I found out that the stories of his manifold kindnesses to kids were true. I saw him act as a peacemaker in the 1973 League Championship Series when Mets fans were throwing objects at Cincinnati's Pete Rose. I read about how he had run to the aid of opponent Johnny Roseboro, rather than joining in the brawl, when his teammate Juan Marichal beat Roseboro on the head with a bat. I heard how he had taken time to take a troubled, athletic gang member named O.J. Simpson around San Francisco one day, by Simpson's own testimony turning the youth's life around. (Okay, okay, I didn't know in 1973 that O.J. would revert to form two decades later.)
Everything about Mays seemed admirable. And, of course, his record as a ballplayer, even as he faded into mediocrity on the field by the time I was nine years old, remained absolutely nonpareil.
Today (as indicated by the headline), the Say Hey Kid turns 80 years young. I happen to be reading, thoroughly enjoying, and marveling at, Mays' official biography by James S. Hirsch, Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend. What I am finding is that it was all true: Just about all the heroic qualities that my younger, innocent self had ascribed to Mays turn out to be qualities Mays usually exhibited. He was an ever better player than can be imagined -- and a good and kind and generous man.
His remarkable career statistics, especially the 660 home runs when all was said and done, actually understate his brilliance. He lost nearly two full seasons to military service; the year he returned, he hit 41 home runs. Give him just 30 in each of the two previous years and he would have passed Babe Ruth before Henry Aaron did. But wait: There's more. He played almost his entire career in two of the worst home parks ever for home run hitters. New York's Polo Grounds did have an incredibly short left-field foul line, conducive to homers, but Mays' power was to the "alleys" -- and the Polo Grounds' right- and left-center alleys were cavernous. No park today has fences remotely as deep. Then there was San Francisco's Candlestick Park, plagued by winds that particularly beat back drives to left field, which is exactly where the right-handed Mays pounded the ball. Author Hirsch reports that today's sophisticated statisticians estimate that Candlestick alone cost Mays between 80 and 160 home runs during the course of his career (Mays himself estimates it was around 120). Put Mays in Milwaukee's park or Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, and he might have approached 800 career homers, even without recouping his two military seasons.
And that was during some of the tougher years for hitters in Major League history. Throughout much of the 1960s, pitchers had a statistical advantage, especially in Mays' National League. Those were the years when Sandy Koufax was tallying ERAs of 2.54, 1.88, 1.74, 2.04 and 1.73, while Bob Gibson (a few seasons later) was posting ERAs of 2.44, 2.98, 1.12 and 2.18.
Mays led his league in hitting once (and second three times), walks once, on-base percentage twice (including at age 40!), stolen bases four times, home runs four times, triples three times, runs twice, slugging five times (and second-place twice). Ten different times he led the league in the stats-nerds' new favorite category: wins above replacement player. He won Gold Gloves for the first 12 consecutive seasons the award was given (and surely would have won in the three previous years if the award had existed). His 7,095 career putouts easily lead all outfielders in history. And, by all accounts, he made more visually spectacular plays, with his glove and with his arm and with his base-running, than can easily be fathomed. Scoring from first base on singles, repeatedly. Advancing from first to third on ground-outs, repeatedly. Scoring from second base on sacrifice flies. And always doing so with a showman's flair.
"I'm not sure what the hell charisma is," said slugger Ted Kluszewski, "but I get the feeling it's Willie Mays." Or, as the actress Tallulah Bankhead said in 1962, "There have been only two geniuses in the world: Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare."
It's quite possible, however, that not even The Bard's poetry could have done justice to the Say Hey Kid.


- - - - -
Thank you to Steve Lane for passing this on to me. I have to admit, I was a Mantle guy, the Giants had left New York prior to me becoming old enough to be a fan. But I will always have a Giant soft spot in my heart for Willie, especially for his return as a Met.

Walk-Off Win Over Rockies

The MBC 13's won their second game in a row in dramatic fashion. It was an exciting walk off win against the PBC Rockies, 3-2. Again the recipe was good pitching, solid defense and tonight they used a little more offense.

Landon Fletcher pitched three solid inning and tired slightly in the fourth. Walking two players to lead off the fourth he needed help from Daniel Hunt to get out of a jamb. Daniel pitched well and carried the team into the seventh with a chance to win. Guthrie Morrison closed the game out with a perfect seventh.

Offensively MBC got on the board early after Cole Burcham lead off the second inning with a walk. A hit by Landon Fletcher took him to third and he scored on a ground ball by Thomas Carey.

The Rockies tied the game after one of the lead off walks came around to score, also on an infield ground out, and a close play at the plate.

In the fifth Thomas Carey lead off with a solid single, stole second and third and scored on his brother Joseph's ground ball.

The Rockies tied the game in the sixth, scoring while MBC picked a runner off first.

In the bottom of the seventh Jackson Hirch boomed a one out single to left and stole second and third as the Rockies recorded the second out of the inning. Joseph Carey immediately went 0-2, but rallied to foul off pitches and work a walk bring pesky Guthrie Morrison to the plate. As the crowd held their breath, Guthrie laced a single to right to bring Jackson home with the winning run.

You couldn't ask for a better night weather wise. And you could ask for a better time to have a better game. A large crowd was on hand to see the game, even Coach Cougan's lovely mother in law Sally Santuci. Coach Cougan's beautiful wife arrived just in time to see the walk-off hit accompanied by two French media correspondents.
Last of all, ESPN had sent out one of their top baseball experts to cover the game. Coach Cougan stayed up until the wee hours and finally saw the segment on our game at 3:30 am on ESPN 15; you have to pay extra for that channel.

Big Win for MBC 13's

The MBC 13' played a near perfect game on a wonderful Saturday night to record their first win of the season. Great pitching and solid defense were the keys to the game. Joseph Carey and Guthrie Morrison combined for a shutout and the MBC team walked away with a 1-0 victory.

Joseph was masterful in his first start pitching four innings allowing just three hits and striking out two. Solid defense was on display behind him all the way. Ryno "the Hitting Machine", playing the hot corner, showed that he was not just another pretty bat with a fantastic backhand of a would be double to stop a Wolfpack rally. Joe Eskanazi tied the major league record by running all over center field in the fourth inning to nab three fly balls.

Guthrie Morrison came in to close the game with three dynamite innings, allowing just two hits and striking out four. He too was backed by solid defense, in fact the team played error less baseball; a rarity for a 13 year old game.

MBC put the ball in play, and with a combination of walks and just three hits put the pressure on the Wolfpack all night long. Guthrie, Cole Burcham and Ryan McAlloon each had hits and Cole scored from third on a passed ball in the fourth inning to seal the win.

Base running miscues are what kept MBC from scoring more runs. Twice the Wolfpack made errors that would seem to extend innings and twice our "too nice of boys" gingerly stopped running to first to avoid collision with the first baseman. Running hard through the bag would have placed two more MBC players on base and delayed two outs that slowed our progress. We also learned the importance of freezing on a line drive the hard way in a two on/ no out situation!