Archbishop Riordan High School

March 26, 2006

Jim Realini

                  Are you sure we’re not in Seattle?  After two rainouts, a soggy Bakersfield weekend, and breaking ice off home plate in Mesa, the 2006 got off to a great opening day for at least for two teams!!  The weather was great and Ron Isola of Riordan did his usual top-notch job of taking care to give us a great field to play on.  I look forward to recollectin’ this years tussles with new coaches, new faces, and some of the old grizzled vets.  Remember, I play in a lot of these games so I only recollect what I thought I saw and the stats I state are what I scrounge after the game so they ain’t official.  If you’d like to comment, please don’t bother Rob Weber, send me an e-mail direct to jprealini@AOL.com.

St. Louis Giants (Hughey-Weishaar) 15    Oakland A’ (Mello) 5

                  The St Louis Giants (so-called by their coach who spent the first game in Mexico) smacked the Oakland A’s with 16 hits led by Jim Realini with four singles and Jimmy Cullen with three singles.  Heath Keller and Cliff Gray each had two singles apiece while Keith DaCosta, Don Meyer, Dennis and Tom Sanfillippo, and Dr. Guy Peabody each lined singles of their own.  Heath Keller wobbled through the first inning and then mystified the A’s with his plethora of speeds, curves, and funky balls for six innings and 7K’s while Mark Bruzzone snuffed out any Oakland thoughts of a rally with 3 dominating innings around 5 K’s.  Dennis Sanfillippo turned in the play of the year (so far) with a nifty snag of an errant throw from third to complete a tag and toss double play to stifle the A’s.  The over-hyped play of the day was the double-steal by Tom “I can see!!” Sanfillippo and Dr. Guy Peabody.  You can bet we won’t see that for a very long time.

                  The Oakland A’s showed plenty of rust in their first outing but punched the ball around to make it a game after the second inning.  Coach Mike Mello led Oakland with three singles, while Kevin Zimmerman had a loud double and a single.  Sil Krevocheza, Don Luis, Mike Hilton, and Ed “Commish-A” Glover each bumped in singles.  When this teams roster shows up, they’ll be a force to reckon with.

Yomuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 7    Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 0

                  The Yomuri Giants (Sadaharu Oh would be so proud!) spanked the Fresno Giants in both teams home opener in the afternoon.  Matt Schmuck with three bingles and Mike Miller’s double and single led the Yomuri’s 15-hit attack.  Matt Shasky cracked a double, Lorne “Papa” Johnson and Bobby “New Chilly” Hartkop each added two singles while Adam Schneider, Mark Gemello, John Haines, Don De Witt, and the venerable Scott Lueders each slapped a single.  The grizzled sage, Mark Gemello turned in a masterful Kirk Rueter-like (early version) performance on the mound pitching six solid innings getting flawless support in the field.  John Haines turned in two nifty stabs at first base for one out, failing to convert the other because G-man forgot to cover or was he too amazed by John’s deft grab?  Doesn’t matter because he flawlessly took John’s next throw to end the inning.  Bobby Hartkop, who is rapidly gaining notoriety as the “new Chilly” for his proclivity at beaning batters finished the game with three solid innings.

                  The Fresno Giants with coach Terra languishing (with Weishaar?) in Mexico, could only muster four hits by Jim Realini, Rolly Hofstedt, Todd West, and Dave De Cruz.  Except for one just ridiculous inning of non-support for Joe Gagilardo on the mound, this would have been a tightly played game.  Plenty of rust and squeaky wheels were revealed for these wily veterans, but don’t go assuming too, much this early about their future; especially when Angie gets back with Alex and Ben to coax and ride the boys into shape.  Dave Chilcote finished the last five innings with his usual dazzling array of pitches and showed he’s still got a lot of heat left in his heater.

Archbishop Riordan High School

Jim Realini

                  Wow!! Three games in an unscheduled triple-header played under beautiful weather (IT FINALLY DID NOT RAIN!!)  I apologize for the tardiness and brevity of the reporting here but there was some difficulty getting a box score from the St. Louis Giants and I ran out of time going to Las Vegas.

9AM GAME

San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 13  St. Louis Giants (Hughey-Weishaar) 10(7 innings)

                  Frank Weishaar pitched a brilliant game and had a commanding 10-5 lead built on some solid hitting and fielding by the St Louis Giants (why not call them the “Gashouse Gang” instead?)  Then coach Weishaar found out that good pitching in this league means two guys because you can only pitch six innings.  The 7^th inning was a travesty with enough walks and a couple of hits that not only gave SF 8 runs, but used up all the time (mercifully).  It was interesting that while co-coach Mike Hughey was one of the horribly ineffective pitchers in this game, he did pitch a brilliant 9 inning game the next weekend in Las Vegas.  We all hope that John Riley recovers from his shoulder (again JR!! get another doctor!!) injuriy suffered when he inexplicitly blew through the stop sign at third and crashed ineffectually into the tough Kim “Snuffy” Rupert.  If you went to the Bakersfield Berman Tourney Banquet, you’ll remember who “Snuffy” really is; for those that didn’t look up Snuffy Stirnweiss from the early days of baseball.

NOON GAME

Oakland A’ (Mello) 12    Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 8

                  The noon game saw an old fashioned “good game” between the Oakland A’s and the Fresno Giants.  Sil Krevocheza and Mark Fitzpatrick combined to get the win on the mound for Oakland while Dave Chilcote and Joe Gagliardo pitched well until the 8^th to earn the loss.  Kevin Zimmerman turned in a brilliant game ending double play to snuff out the Giants last gambit.  Earlier the A’s pulled off a terrific 9-4-3-2 out at the plate to kill a Giant rally.  David Gamson inspired the A’s with three big base hits while Steve Dennis and Kevin Zimmerman each punched out two singles.  Krevocheza, Yost, Vigil, and Fitzpatrick also chipped in singles to power the A’s.

                  Dave Decruz, Joe Gagliardo, and Jim Realini each had two hits apiece for the Giants with Dave and Joe blasting big doubles each. Rolly Hostedt also punched a double, while Chilly, Michael Simon, Greg Terra and Lynn Harkrider each pasted singletons.

3PM GAME

Yomuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 12    Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 4

Mark Gemello pitched 6 innings, walked only one, gave up 2 unearned runs in claiming the win for the Yomuri Giants.  Mark has now pitched 12 innings and has allowed only two unearned runs.  Yomuri’s tight defense has a lot to do with that!  Rob Weber went 2 for 4 scoring four runs with 2 RBI. Rob also pitched two innings giving up two unearned runs.  Rob's runs were unearned because Michael Miller missed the world's easiest grounder forcing the inning to be extended.  Adam Schnider reached base in each of his five at bats by getting hit by a pitch, walking three times, and punching a base hit while scoring three runs.  Mike Miller drove in 3 ribbies with a 3 hit day.

                  After four rainouts, the Philadelphia A’s finally got to play ball.  With such a short spring training, the A’s staggered to a shaky start and then tried to make a game of it.   Led by rookie Erik Hoffman’s 3 singles and Ken Calloway’s 2 singles and double combined with two hits by Craig Alexander and Dave Gayner, Don Luis, Sil Krevocheza each adding singles, the Philly A’s showed that they have the bats to be reckoned with, but not enough today.  The Philly A’s had good relief pitching performances by Dave Gayner and Erik Hoffman backed by some great outfield plays by Mike Hilton, Erick Hoffman and Dave Gayner to stop a couple of Giants rallies.

Archbishop Riordan High School

Jim Realini

                  Another fine day at the Riordan High School Diamond courtesy of Coach Ron Isola.  The WCFBL is providing a great way for men to remain boys playing the “old ball game” as opposed to the old bald game.  As soon as the Terralini’s wake up their bats, it looks like each game will be a well-balanced match-up.

9AM GAME #1

Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 9    Fresno Giants (Terralini’s) 2

                  The Philadelphia A’s pounded the Fresno Giants 9-2 behind some great pitching by Sil Krevocheza who finally got the defensive support he deserves.  The A’s shortstops turned in two clutch double plays to snuff out Giant rallies.  David Gayner feasted on Giant pitching with three doubles and a single to go along with Mike Mello’s three singles.  Eddie Contreras and Craig Alexander each stroked doubles to pummel the Giants while Don Luis, Ken Calloway, Mark Rowell, Mike Hilton, and Sil Krevocheza each added sharply hit bingles.

                  Fresno got a gritty pitching performance from the old war horse Michael Simon filling in for the injured Dave Chilcote.  Joe Gagliardo finished up with another workmanlike performance.  Angie Simon finally got to play and she started a nifty 5-3-2 double play with Eric MacAusland to Rolly Hofstedt to spike some energy in the Giants.  The Giants hit the ball hard, but they hit it right at the A’s who simply caught the ball and made the throws.  The Giants could only muster five hits today, a double by Macausland and singles Dave Decruz, Jim Realini, Joe Gagliardo, and the ubiquitous Angie Simon.

NOON GAME #2

Oakland A’ (Mello) 14    Yomuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 12

                  The Oakland A’s faced another tough outing by Mark Gemello who always reminds us of old Sal “the barber” Maglie and for the first time in coach Mello’s memory, the A’s won 14-12.  It was a seesaw battle marked by some shaky A’s pitching and Giant outfielders desperately in need of some fungo time shagging flies.

                  Yomuri jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first behind Mike Miller’s double, even though Miller erased himself getting caught in a run-down.  The A’s answered with three in the bottom half with Mike Mello’s single the big hit.  The Giants added 4 more in the 3^rd inning behind another double by Miller and Ruben Doing’s big single.  Matt Amaro eliminated the Giants rally with a web-gem unassisted 6-3 double play.

                  In the A’s fifth, Russ Greenfield powered a large double to right-center and the A’s pushed three more across to keep it close.  In the sixth, the A’s tied the score with the help of Kevin Zimmerman and Mike Mello singles combined with some spotty Yomuri fielding.  The A’s went ahead for good in the 7^th with two towering three-run triples by Eddie Contreras and Steve Dennis that went only 250’ and 251’ into right field.

                  In the 8^th the Giants came back using some A’s pitching woes and Matt Schmuck’s big double to get the score to the final of 14-12 in favor of Oakland.

3PM GAME #3

St Louis Giants (Weisshaar-Hughey) 9    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 2

                  In the late game, the story was simple; Heath Keller and Mark Bruzzone stifled or maybe baffled the San Francisco Giants throwing a 5-hitter.  Thanks to a game-time trade, I was swapped for Adam Schneider and got to catch these two stellar pitchers.

                  Almost everybody on the Saint Louis Giants (remember Leo Durocher was a member of the Gas House Gang before he played and managed the Giants) got a hit.  Who else but Keller with a single and a double and “BUZZ” with two singles led the Giants?  Keith DaCosta, Mike Hughey, Bill Pederson, Don Meyer, Frank Weishaar, “Doctor Guy” Peabody, Tommy Sanfilipo, Jim Realini each launched singles.

                  San Francisco reeling from the absence of Penney, Riley, and Parsons could only muster singletons from Mike Shafer, Steve Bennett, and Adam Schnieder while John Haines added two hits from the pool.

Archbishop Riordan High School

Jim Realini

                  WCFBA League play closed out another great season series at Archbishop Riordan High School pretty much the way we started, the third game was postponed due to rain.  Coach Ron Isola, our gracious and hardworking host, again worked hard to accommodate our play with hard work whipping the infield into playing shape and he stocked plenty of re-runs of “Love-Boat” in case we wanted to wait it out.  Those of you grateful for the support from Riordan can drop a thank you note or donate to the school athletic fund to show your appreciation.

9AM GAME #1

San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 1    Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 0

                  In one of the best ever games in the history of WCFBA dating back to 1991, The San Francisco Giants bested the Philadelphia A’s on the strength of Bobby Hartkop’s Home Run to deep right center, the only score of the game.  Carl Vargas and Bobby combined for the nine-inning shutout over the equally stingy pitching of Sil Krevocheza and David Gayner of the A’s.  All round fielding was the key to the game as both teams stifled rally attempts with heads up catches and fundamental play, in other words hitting the cutoff man.

                  Bobby cracked a double before smacking the homer while Dr. Guy Peabody, who almost missed the game thinking that the weather in Santa Cruz was the same as San Francisco, smacked a double.  Carl Vargas chipped in a single to round out the Giant hitting.  The A’s could only muster singles by Erik Hoffman, Eddie Contreras, and Craig Alexander who also crunched a double.

NOON GAME #2

St Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 6    Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 5
(Rain-shortened 7innings)

                  The St Louis Giants escaped with a narrow 6-5 win over the charging Fresno Giants who look like their getting their act together in spite of a Oh-fer start to the season.  The rain gods intervened (or maybe followed Chilly from GG Park?) to halt the game after the top of the eighth.  Mark Bruzzone pitched five shaky innings saved by some terrific fielding and Jim Realini’s first inning rally killing blunder getting thrown out by thirty feet at home on a great relay to catcher Doug Rusch.  Frank Weishaar pitched one inning igniting a Fresno rally that was snuffed by the rain.

                  Michael Simon pitched five gutty innings, having to get 19 outs due to some unearned errors behind him.  Joe Gagliardo took over and was pitching for a win when the rains came.  St Louis bashed 11 hits off the Fresno guys with Heath Keller’s two doubles and a single leading the way.  Don Meyer and Dr. Guy Peabody both spanked two singles each while Mike Hughey, Steve Bennett, Doug Rusch, and Bill Pederson each clouted a single.  Rolly Hofstedt, Joe Gagliardo, and Michael Simon scorched two hits each while Dave Decruz slammed a double.  Angie Simon, Greg Terra, Lynn Harkreider, and Mark Travis sliced gritty singles for the Fresno Team.

                  The Fresno Giants were glad to get out of the game and go to the warm dry confines of Billy Wineberg’s sports lounge just up the street after the game and wash the oh-fer start out of their system.  These guys are ready to go on a south bay tear!

3PM GAME #3

Yomuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller)  vs.  Oakland A’s (Mello) PPD-RAIN

Valley Christian High School

Jim Realini

                  WCFBA League play traveled to the hilltop environs of the Mighty Valley Christian Warriors in South San Jose.  After a long climb up the hill from the “seniors” parking lot, our inaugural double-header on a first-ever artificial surface began.  We all hope we can return for many more to this beautiful baseball stadium.

930 AM GAME #1

Oakland A’s (Mello) 12    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 7  (7 innings)

                  The morning game saw Mark Fitzpatrick tame the Giants before reliever Gary Hooper staved off the Giants in this seven-inning tussle.  Bobby Hartkop submarined through four and two-thirds innings in front of a leaky Giant defense hitting three batters before giving way to a hard throwing mop-up job by the veteran Carl Vargas.

                  Steve Dennis pounded a single and triple that turned into a little league homer by some Giant miss throws.  Pat Macias and Gordie Yost each crashed two singles while David Vigil, Kevin Zimmerman, and David Gamson each added bingles to top off the many on base opportunities the San Francisco Giants provided.

                  Terry Lee, thanks to his chauffeur, smacked two loud singles with Carl Vargas and Heath Keller each stroking a double and single each.  Mike Shafer and the ageless Doug Penney whipped a bingle apiece.  Bobby Hartkop hit a single and his courtesy runner, Rick Venegas got credit for a rare stolen base.

1230PM GAME #2

Yomuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 12    Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 7  (9 innings)

                  The Yomuri Giants powered by team spirit bested the Philadelphia A’s who had the best-looking fans.  Both teams staggered through a strange squibbling, dribbling, nibbler-nubber of a second inning that saw the Giants scratch out several runs, batting around with only one ball hit out of the infield.  The Giants returned some of the favor learning that an infield fly ain’t an infield fly unless the umpire calls it!

                  Rob Weber pitch four innings getting 17 outs and discovering that on this day it was not a good idea to throw strikes, sometimes.  Lorne Johnson came in a settled down the A’s with a flawless inning, it helps when your defense catches the ball!  Mark Gemello, the crafty veteran finished with four solid innings.  Sil Krevocheza pitched a lot better than the defensive support backing him for six innings and David Gayner finished up almost getting a win.

                  Ruben Doing, Lorne Johnson, and Matt Schmuck led the Yomuri hit parade with two singles each, while Adam Schneider, John Haines, Mark Gemello, Mike Miller, and Ray Miailovich each scratched singles.  The A’s had FIVE multi-hit players with Dave Gayner and Mike Hilton leading with a double and single each.  Don Luis, Mike Mello, and Erik Hoffman each added a pair of singles.  Craig Alexander, Mark Rowell, Chris Dorn, and Bruce Gilliat each scored base hits.

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SHAFE                                                           MOOCHIE                                                       HONEY

WCFBA League play continued its annual foray into the south bay with our first scheduled visit to Carney Lansford Field at Wilcox.  We entertained the baseball gods with another sister kissing game and finally every team has at least one victory under their belts.  Dave Decruz entertained many of the Giants at his nearby condo-complex with lasagna, water sports, and tall tales from WCFBA veterans.  In the words of Dave Attel,  “Ya shoulda been there man!!”  I apologize for the late write-up, but New Chilli jammed my plans by losing his cell phone.

9 AM GAME #1

Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 13    Yomiuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 1

The Fresno Giants put an old fashioned whuppin’ on the Yomiuri guys with a 15-hit attack and 10 strikeout pitching by Joe Gagliardo and the irrepressible Dave Chilcote.  Fresno finally pulled it together with timely hitting throughout the order and stout fielding to back up the strong pitching effort.  Turning two double plays and Gagliardo erasing Rob Weber’s attempt to steal home during a run down of John Haines.  Jim Realini led the Fresno hit parade with 3 singles and 4 runs on the day while Michael Simon, Joe Gagliardo, Dave Decruz, and Mark Travis each belted singles.  Todd West smack a monster double to break open the game in the fourth with Geoff Jacobs, Dr. Guy Peabody and Angie Simon slapping singles.

Mark Gemello pitched well but was unable to overcome the unearned run defense offered this morning.  A host of Yomiuri prospects wrapped up the day building arm strength for the rest of the season.  John Haines led the Yomiuri G-men with 3 hits before noon on a Sunday.  Rob Weber, Mike Miller, Ruben Doing, Mark Gemello, Doug Rusch, and Randy Weil each hit a single.

12PM GAME #2

Oakland A’s (Mello) 12    St. Louis Giants 7 (Weishaar-Hughey)  (7 innings)

The league leading Oakland A’s jumped on starter Tom Sanfilippo and coasted to a 12-7 7 inning win.  Mark Fitzpatrick hurled for the A’s with Dave Gamson finishing with the “hold.”  Heath Keller held the A’s in check after relieving Sanfilippo.

Eddie Conteras and Steve Dennis and led the way for the A’s with three solid singles each.  Kevin Zimmerman laced a single and lashed a laser line base clearing triple in the third.  Dave Vigil, Don Luis, Dave Gamson, and Gordie Yost each popped bingles to top off the A’s attack.  The A’s muffled the Giants with a home to first double play to end the second and third innings.

Heath Keller, Dr. Guy Peabody, and Geoff Jacobs blasted two hits each to prop up the Giants from St. Louis and Doug Meyer, Kim Rupert and Dennis Sanfilippo each made a hit.  The Giants found out the scoreboard at Carney Lansford field is in play even if the ball bounces out of the park but off the scoreboard back into play.

3PM GAME #3

Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 12    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 12

 (9 innings out of time)

The A’s and Giants in a close back-and-forth match both rallied in the ninth to go ahead and tie with the time-limit settling the debate.  Dave Gayner and Mike Byron pitched three innings each to start the A’s while Sil Krevocheza was pounded over the last three to earn the tie.  Carl Vargas endured the A’s early onslaught going 5 1/3 innings.  Bobby Hartkop pitched the pellet for the last three Giant innings giving up a run in the bottom of the ninth to hang a tie on his record.

Dave Gayner had a “monster” day with two doubles and a “big fly” off the right cent scoreboard.  Coach Don Luis banged a double to go with his two singles and Sil Krevocheza lofted two singles, the last one tying the game in the ninth.  Eddie Contreras popped a double while Craig Alexander and Mike Mello each cashed in singles to round out the A’s attack.  Wow!! Sounds like the ghost of Simmons, Foxx, and Cochrane stood behind the A’s today!

Carl Vargas had a big day with two doubles and a single.  The Giants earned 12 other hits but they forgot to tell me who got them.  They did tell me that Mike Shafer watered the infield, Terry Lee yelled “play ball,” and that Steve Bennett looked like a gazelle scoring their last run.

It was a great Father’s Day to remember Paul Roman.  Busy family plans made for some heavy pool play.  John Haines opened his bungalow in Sunnyvale for burghers and beer for the guys who did not have traditional plans.

930 AM GAME #1

St. Louis Giants 7 (Weishaar-Hughey) 6     Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 5

                  St. Louis bested the Philadelphia A’s (sounds like inter-league play!) 6-5 in a close one that was fairly well played.  Mark Bruzzone went six strong innings for St Louis but Coach Frank Weishaar was the big hero with a three inning save and the game winning hit.  Frank had two hits along with Doug Meyer, Keith DaCosta, (finally!) and Bill Pederson who had a double and a single.  Heath Keller and Jim Realini each belted doubles while Mike Hughey, Mark Bruzzone, and Tom Sanfilippo each slapped singles.

                  Mike Byron (6) and Sil Krevocheza (2) hurled for the A’s letting in one run too, many for the potent Philly hitters.  Ken Calloway led the A’s with a double and two singles followed by the dangerous Dave Gayner’s single and “monster” double to the right field fence (I knew I shoulda played deeper on that one!)  Sil Krevocheza and Chris Dorn cracked doubles with Gary Hopper, Erik Hoffman, Don Luis, Mike Mello, and Doug Rusch chipping in singles.

1PM GAME #2

Yomiuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 12    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 11 8innings

                  After lunch, Yomiuri and San Francisco took turns at playing for the ugliest game contest with Yomiuri pulling it together in the end to eke out the win.  Rob (strikes are a bad thing) Weber (4) and Sugar Ray Miailovic (4) pitched the pelota for Yomiuri while hard throwing Carl Vargas (5) and latecomer Bob Hartkop (2) threw for San Francisco.

                  Sugar Ray had a single and the GWH double to lead Yomiuri along with Mike Miller’s two hits and a triple.  Matt Schmuck also had a single-double day to power the Yomiuri guys.  Doug Rusch continued his loud line drive hitting with two scorching singles and Mike Hughey dazzled a dizzy Jim Realini in centerfield (don’t put him there again guys!) with a towering two-base hit.  John Haines, Lorne Johnson, and Rob Weber each put singles on the board for Yomiuri.

                  Jim Realini led San Francisco with two hits and Steve Conroy crushed a triple.  Dave DeCruz, Mike Desjardins, JC Penney, Dennis Horn, and John Riley each hit singles.  TRIVIA QUESTION:  of the singles hitters for San Francisco who got hurt running, who showed up hurt, who was hurt, who turned a double into a single by stopping at first, and who just plain can’t run?

3PM GAME #3 -CANCELLED

Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini)    vs.    Oakland A’s (Mello)

                  Ran out of pool players.

WHEW!!  We all know the “Beer Game” in LODI is a hot game day, but this last Sunday was three “Beer Games” WITHOUT the Beer.  You must love the game to have endured the triple digit temperatures in San Leandro.  Many kudos and awestruck unbelievable thanks to the umpires and the two Giant knuckleheads who played all three (and lived!!)

9 AM GAME #1

St. Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 7    Yomiuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 5

                  The morning tussle started with a pitching duel between Heath Keller and John Haines.  John baffled the St Looie boys with and array of Noah Lowry-like slo-speed stuff while Heath messed with the Yomiuri Giants (particularly Mike Miller) using hi-speed stuff.  Mark Gemello relieved John after he suffered Heath’s fate in the fifth when he was betrayed by the leather gloves around him as the St Louis batters started whacking the ball.  After six innings, the score was tied until coach Mike Hughey (one of the Giant 3-game knuckleheads) ripped a double for one of his five hits on the day.  Mark Bruzzone got the win in relief of Keller after he found out that hot weather does not automatically warm you up.

                  Mark Gemello led Yomiuri with three solid singles while Matt Schmuck slapped two of his own to go with Doug Rusch’s two loud bingles.  Don Dewitt, Ruben Doing, and John Haines each stroked a single, too.  This marked the last game for Adam Schneider who is moving to N’york and we will miss him.  Lorne Johnson was found missing after getting picked off first by the other Giant 3-game knucklehead, Jim Realini.

                  Doug Meyer led the St Louis team with two booming doubles; one almost cleared the right field wall.  Heath Keller, Mark Bruzzone, Frank Weishaar, and Moochy each powered two hits apiece while Keith DaCosta, Dave Decruz, Steve Bennett, and Jim Realini smacked singles.

NOON GAME #2

Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 5     Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 3   

                  The nooner was the most heated affair of the day highlighted by Joe Gagliardo’s excellent retirement from the game after claiming the home plate umpire was missing an eye… truth is I don’t know how anybody could see through the heat and sweat in this game.  Joe started on the mound for the Giants and survived several heat-induced errors yielding to Dave Chilcote in his MSBL refugee uniform in a wild 6^th inning for the A’s.  Sil Krevocheza threw six shut out innings in front of a solid Philly defense and Mike Byron saved the final three innings.

                  Mike Byron’s four base hits and Eddie Conteras two loud doubles and a sharp single led the A’s on the day, but it was Ken Calloway’s base clearing, monster triple that won the game for Philly.  Dave Gayner made two singles; Ed Glover ripped a double with Ken Rowell and Erik Hoffman chipping in singletons each to round out the A’s attack.

                  Jim Realini and Mike Hughey (those knuckleheads again!) led the Giants with two bingles each.  Don Hahn, Dave Decruz, Angie Simon, Keith DaCosta, and JC Penney slammed singles to round out the Giant effort.

3PM GAME #3 -CANCELLED

Oakland A’s (Mello) 13    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 11

                  Oakland outlasted the San Francisco Giants in a thrilling three-hour test of endurance and survival.  Michael Simon very nearly melted in his umpire togs while John Haines was unable to avoid a scorching line drive off Bobby Hartkop’s bat and took a big hit on his throwing arm.  We sincerely hope they recover in time for their next games.  Mark Fitzpatrick started for the A’s giving way to we can’t remember it was so hot.  Bobby Hartkop began for San Francisco and wilted early letting Sugar Ray Miaihlovic come on with a truly inspiring performance as he rallied the Giants from an 11-3 deficit.

The A’s were solar-powered on the day by Kevin Zimmerman’s two doubles, while Steve Dennis and Mike Mello each blistered a double.  The loudest double of the day belonged to Mark Fitzpatrick who broke open the game with a monster shot to deep left center that even the fleet Steve Bennett couldn’t track down.  Pat Macias, Gordie Yost, Eddie Conteras, and Gary Hooper also banged singles to drive the A’s attack.

                  Steve Bennett’s four base hits (unfortunately erased by Jim Realini’s four fielder’s choices) and flat-out diving catch led the San Francisco Giants.  George Parsons ripped a big double and a single, as did John Haines before being struck out by Hartkop’s liner.  Terry Lee, Bobby Hartkop, and Sugar Ray Miaihlovic stroked two hits each to stoke the Giant rally hopes.  Don Dewitt and Mike Hughey each cracked a single to round off the day for San Francisco.

Washington Park

It was a beautiful summer day devoid of the withering heat from last week.  We even had some extremely light rain during the first inning of the morning game.  Several players availed themselves of refreshment after the games at the nearby Steel Head Brewing Company for camaraderie.  It was really nice to see so many fans in the stands, many of whom were just there to enjoy a game, not because they were related to some old guy.  Note and apology to Ray Miailovic and Ruben Doing for misspelling their names last week.

9 AM GAME #1

St. Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 8    Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 6

                  The morning affair was an exciting tussle between two scrappy Giant teams.  St. Louis prevailed by catching the ball more than Fresno.  Mark Bruzzone staggered through six innings with Heath Keller stuffing two Fresno late-inning rallies for the win.  Dave Chilcote and Joe Gagliardo struck out nine between them in a valiant effort for Fresno.

                  Heath Keller, Doug Meyer, and Frank Weishaar each blasted three hits with two of Meyer’s being doubles.  Dennis Sanfilippo had two hits out hitting his brother Tom by one.  Mike “Let’s Make A Deal” Hughey, Keith Dacosta, and Mark Bruzzone also belted singles.

                  Todd West, Chilly, and Jim Realini led the Fresno boys with two hits each with Todd leading off the 4^th with a towering double to right center.  Greg Terra, Lynn Harkreider, and Gus Manning each smacked singles for the day.

NOON GAME #2

San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 8     Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 4

                  The San Francisco Giants late game rallies helped them prevail over the Philly A’s.  I wish I could say more about how the Giant’s did it, but I only caught the last inning after a great lunch at the nearby Steel Head Brewing Company with the guys from the morning game.  I know Ray Miailovic pitched pretty darn good at the end to get the win.  Steve Bennett departed the field so quick after the next game (read-on) and was unable to fax the stats from 33,000 feet between Denver and Cincinnati…

                  Don Luis did let me know the following efforts about the Philadelphia A’s.  Dave Gayner (again) led the A’s with two singles and a double while Craig Alexander, Ken Calloway, and Mike Mello (a five hit day!) each banged two singles.  Mike Byron, Eddie Contreras, and Erik Hoffman each made a hit apiece.  The A’s also managed two nifty double plays before succumbing to the San Francisco team.

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3PM GAME #3

Oakland A’s (Mello) 21    Yomiuri (Schmuck-Miller) 3  (6 innings NO MERCY)

                  “Excellent play in the infield this weekend by the A's Rookie 2nd baseman Russ Greenfield along with Great infielding by Kevin Zimmerman and Eddie Contreras as well.  Flawless pitching by the A's Mark Fitzpatrick 4 innings giving up 1 run with 3 hits and Bob Moore 2 innings of 0 runs and 3 hits.  The entire A's team this weekend played an exceptional game of nearly flawless baseball in the field and at the plate.  My opinion as a player and Coach for the entire time I've played in this league, you better play your best ball when facing teams with guys like Gemello, Schmuck, Terry Lee, Realini Schafer, Haines and Rusch playing against you.  At any time these guys can explode and you'll find yourself always trying to play catch up.  I know this from experience.  Fortunately the game went the A's way for this one.” Coach Mike Mello’s kind words after his A’s served up a crate of WHUPAZZ on the hapless Giants.

The A’s were led by Giant-trader, Steve Bennett’s three singles and a double for five RBI’s.  Bob Moore also had three singles and a double for only four RBI’s.  Mike Mello had 3 singles, Dave Vigil and Eddie Contreras each had 2 singles while Commish Ed Glover chipped in a double and a single as did Steve Dennis and Kevin Zimmerman; 21 hits!!!

                  Matt Schmuck and Mark Gemello led the Giants with two base hits each while John Haines slapped a double.  Mike Shaffer, Ruben Doing, and Mike “PUT DOWN THE CELL-PHONE” Hughey each safely hit.

In front of a large flock of geese at our only appearance at the College of Alameda, the teams of the West Coast Fantasy Baseball Association played three exceptional games marked by timely hitting, some great pitching, and the continuation of inopportune misplays by the leather wrappings festooning the players hands.

9 AM GAME #1

Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 5    Yomiuri (Schmuck-Miller) 4 

            Mark Gemello pitched a masterful 6 inning, seven strikeout shutout for the Yomiuri Giants, unfortunately the Philadelphia A’s came alive with a four run rally in the 7^th and added the winner in the 8^th and rode Dave Gayner’s three relief innings for the win.  Veteran Sil Krevocheza held the G-men to three runs while G-Man was shutting the A’s down.

                  Dave Gayner also led the A’s hitting with a double and two singles and Ken Calloway and Gary Hooper followed with two big base hits of their own.  Erik Hoffman, Mark Rowell, and Sil Krevocheza topped off the A’s day bashing bingles.  John Haines crushed a double and a single to lead the Giants with Ruben Donig chipping in two hits, too.  Scott Lueders, Geoff Jacobs, Lorne Johnson, and Doug Rusch each added solid hits to the Yomiuri G-men.

NOON GAME #2

Oakland A’s (Mello) 9    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 7

                  The league leading Oakland A’s overcame suspect fielding and rallied behind reliever Kevin Zimmerman’s superb effort, discarding their leaden gloves in the process to come from 6 runs behind and beat the San Francisco Giants.  The scrappy Giants were unable to hold on to the hard-throwing Carl Vargas’ most excellent effort on the mound.

                  Pat Macias, Gordie Yost, and Mike Mello slammed three hits each with Macias stroking a double.  Sil Krevocheza and Dave Gamson belted two hits apiece adding to the A’s attack.  Eddie Contreras, Kevin Zimmerman, Don Luis, Dave Vigil, Gary Hooper, Russ Greenfield, and Ed Glover topped off the A’s 20-hit day with single singles.

                  “JR” Riley led the Giants with three hits.  Mike “DJ” Desjardins and Doug Rusch smacked two hits each with DJ slapping a double.  Mike Shafer and Carl Vargas both stroked two-baggers while Dennis Horn and Dave Decruz sliced singles for the day.

3PM GAME #3

St. Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 5    Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 3

                  The afternoon game saw the St Louis Giants work through a strong pitching performance by left-handed pool player, Josh Lewis for Fresno and back their own stellar effort of Heath Keller (after figuring out what the leather thing on the left hand was for!) to eke out a 5 to 3 win and keep pace with the Oakland A’s.  This sets up a potential thriller for first place after LODI at Albert Field in San Rafael.

                  The St Louie boys cracked twelve hits led by Keith DaCosta’s, Mark Bruzzone’s, Heath Keller’s, and Frank Weishaar’s two hit days.  Weishaar's double was the loud hit of the day.  Mike Hughey, Mike Vargas, Kim Rupert, and Cliff Gray also made hits for the day.  Jim Realini led the meager hitting Fresno Giants with two hits while Angie Simon, Josh Lewis, Dave Decruz, and Todd West knocked out hits adding to the fray.

Post Lodi in beautiful San Rafael found quite a few quiet bats as the “ping” of metallic contact was replaced with the most “doink” of handle hits off the wooden clubs of most players.  A historic event came and went in a flash, as Mark Gemello became only the second player in WCFBA play to reach the 300 hit mark, Michael Simon is the other.  Instead of a big ceremony and a moment to reflect, G-man’s moment was eclipsed by recently acquired Yomiuri player Don Hahn’s overrunning second base on the hit a getting thrown out.  Oh well, when you see Mark shake his hand, pat him on the back, or buy him a beer.

9:30 AM GAME #1

St. Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 7     Oakland A’s (Mello) 5

                  In a tense game played in a supposedly “non-competitive” spirit, the Saint Louis Giants edged the Oakland A’s behind some crafty pitching by Heath Keller and Mark Bruzzone.  The win displaced the A’s from the league lead by half a game with six weeks to go.  The Giant’s spotted the A’s an early lead as Mike Hughey looked like”moochy” (remember the old Mickey Mouse Club series “Moochy at the bat”?) lost his glove.  Maybe if he would just imagine catching the ball like closing escrow and throwing the ball like pitching his cell phone.  The Giants recovered mostly due to the zillion pop flies to first base caught by a host of Giant corner men.

                  Moochy and Keith DaCosta led the St Louis Giants with two singles each while Heath Keller and Doug Meyer smashed long, loud doubles.  Bill Pederson and Mark Bruzzone powered the Giants win with clutch bingles of their own.

                  Coach Mike Mello is keeping his team’s official stats a secret and most off their hits (when Moochy wasn’t erring to the A side) came when I went next door to get lunch at Safeway.

1 PM GAME #2

Yomiuri (Schmuck-Miller) 10     Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 4

                  This game was all about good pitching.  Crafty veteran Mark Gemello celebrated his 300^th hit day by baffling the Fresno sticks for six wonderful innings, backed up by some solid fielding.  Mike Miller finished off the Giants by fighting through the walk monster.  Dr. Guy Peabody tossed five commanding innings working through several “seeing-eye” hits that produced short rallies for Yomuiri.  Michael Simon worked the end of the game showing that he still can fling the horsehide with the best in our league.

                  Steve Bennett and Mark Gemello led the Yomuiri attack with three hits each while John Haines, Mike Miller, and Matt Schmuck powered two hits each; Matt smacked a big double in the second.  Doug Rusch and Scott Lueders topped off the Yomuiri day with sharp singles each.

                  The mighty Fresno Giants only managed three hits on a day of “ATEM” ball.  Jim Realini, Dave DeCruz, and Todd West were the lucky strikers on the day.

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WCFBA play finished playing this year’s East Bay venue with a triple-header at College of Alameda where we thought we’d already said “Tell it good-bye”.  Morning play started with overcast, calm weather no geeseand rabbits scurrying about right field.  By 3PM, we had sunny skies and mild temperatures for a most enjoyable day at the park.  However, you could detect that most of the players were looking forward to a break over Labor Day after so many great weekends of ball.

By the way, we are in desperate need of East Bay baseball fields for next year, if anyone knows of someone in the East Bay (Alameda-Contra Costa) who could help us acquire a field for games next summer, please let Rob Weber know.

9 AM GAME #1

San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 15    Yomiuri (Schmuck-Miller) 2 (8 innings)

                  San Francisco smothered Yomiuri behind the four hit pitching of Carl Vargas and Guy Peabody.  Today was not Yomuiri’s day as a combination of too, many walks, fielding miscues, and missing key veteran’s Weber, Gemello, and Haines; who were off walking around (a golf course?), proved to be too, much to overcome.

                  Terry Lee, Don Luis, and Dave Vigil paced the SF hitting attack with two hits each while John Riley, Mike Shaffer, Carl Vargas, and Guy Peabody slapped singles to push the fifteen runs across the plate for the happy guys from San Francisco.  Mike Miller, Matt Schmuck, Scott Lueders, and Gary Hooper stroked singles for Yomuiri on this longest of days.

NOON GAME #2

St. Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 9    Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 8

            St. Louis bested the scrappy Philly A’s in a close contest featuring 37 hits.  The back-and-forth tussle included a couple of close plays at the plate featuring some text-book safe slides by Mike Byron and Elaine Ortiz, and a seemingly endless set of pop-ups to all five Giant’s who played first on the day.

                  Doug Rusch with three solid singles and Mike Hughey smashed a loud double to go with a single and a fleet footed infield single led the Giant attack.  Frank Weishaar busted out of a mini-slump by crushing a double and a single to lead a procession of two hit days by Mark Bruzzone, Guy Peabody, Doug Meyer, Bill Pederson, and Dennis Sanfillippo.  Don Dewitt and Kim Rupert also knocked bingles to top off the St. Louis barrage.

                  Dave Gayner had another monster day for Philly with three singles and a fence bustin’ double.  Sil Krevocheza, Elaine Ortiz, and Mike Hilton punched out two hits each to back up Gayner while Mark Rowell, Chris Dorn, Mike Byron, Erik Hoffman, Ken Calloway, and Craig Alexander stroked singles.  Bruce Gilliat launched a masterful right center field double to keep the A’s in the game.  Our best wishes go to Mark Rowell who we hope only suffered a minor injury to his knee hustling to first base.

3PM GAME #3

Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 10    Oakland A’s (Mello) 7

                  Fresno beat the Oakland by stranding twenty-two A’s on base over nine innings.  Mike Simon dazzled the A’s with a baffling array of breakin’ balls and corner catching hard stuff and then “Smokin’ Joe” Gagliardo came in to overpower the Oakland batters for the final four innings to get the win.  This game also saw two “web gem” plays of the day:  Todd West made a great running grab in centerfield to rove that he’s fully recovered from last year’s knee injury and Dave Gamson made a behind the back “Globetrotter” flip to force a runner at second and stifle a Giant rally.

                  Greg Terra blasted three hits to break out of a slump to lead the Giants on the day.  Michael Simon ripped a double and a single to fire up the Giant’s rallies and Jim Realini scrapped out two more hits to add to the Fresno attack.  Todd West hit a terrific game-winning double in the 7^th for the “drive of the game.”  Dave Decruz, Joe Gagliardo, Angie Simon, Lynn Harkreider, Doug Rusch, and the venerable Willy Wineberg each thumped singles to join the Giant fun for the day.

                  Pat Macias and Dave Vigil each walloped three hits to lead the Oakland hit parade.  Dave Gamson, Ed Glover, and Boomer Aboumrad joined in with two hits each.  Steve Dennis, Kevin Zimmerman, Mark Fitzpatrick, and Ken Calloway who each bashed singles bottomed out the A’s hitting array.

Next games are at Albert Field in San Rafael, followed by more meetings at the Flat Iron.

Albert Park, San Rafael

September 10^th, 2006

By Jim Realini

WCFBA moved back to beautiful Marin County and is headed for the homestretch.  The fans from Saint Vincent DePaul on B Street were dumbfounded by the continual grasping at the belts by many Giant players sporting new cream-colored pants until they were informed that those size “38’s” still needed some shrinking in the wash.  Congratulations to the Saint Louis Cardinals for attaining the titular distinction of achieving the ephemeral league championship, so I guess that means Moochy and Tom Sanfilippo will be throwing batting practice to the rest of us this weekend, who knows maybe the Colonel will throw a few.

9 AM GAME #1

Philadelphia A’s (Luis) 12    Oakland A’s (Mello) 2

                  The morning contest forced the A’s to play against each other so they couldn’t gang up on the Giants.  Philadelphia spanked the Oakland squad bustin’ Mike Mello’s dream of an A’s championship this season behind the stalwart pitching of Sil “Red Bull” Krevocheza and Mike Byron.  The Philadelphia guys backed their pitchers with great plays by Craig Alexander, David Gayner, Mike Byron, and Erik Hoffman.

                  Dave “Chavey” Gayner pounded Oakland with four hits to lead the Philly attack.  Mike Byron followed with two singles and a double while Mike Hilton (2 hits), Eddie Contreras (2 doubles), ageless Don Luis (2 hits), and Steve “Rolo Tomasi” Bennett (2 hits) plastered Oakland.  Craig Alexander smacked a double with Sil Kevocheza and Ken Calloway slapping singles topped-off the A’s hitting array.

                  Dave Vigil paced the Oakland boys with two hits on top of one hit a piece by Mike Mello, Matt Amaro, Gary Hopper, and “Boomer” Aboumarad.

NOON GAME #2 (8 innings)

San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 12  Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 5

            If you ignore the first inning of this game when Fresno didn’t exactly shine behind the “dart throwin” Mike Hughey to let 6 runs cross the plate, this was a pretty decent game.  Carl Vargas and Bobby Hartkop put in solid innings to pace San Francisco while Smokin’ Joe Gagliardo pitched really well, especially when the Fresno boys needed him in a rough inning number six.

                  Mike Shafer and Steve Bennett led the San Francisco hit parade with three each while Terry Lee, Tad Consani, and John Maitlin had two each.  Carl Vargas, Mike Desjardins, and JC Penney slipped in singles each.  Big powerful Bobby Hartkop shook everybody up with a surprise BUNT with a 6 run lead in the seventh for the amusing play o’the day!

                  Joe Gagliardo and Don DeWitt kept the Fresno team in the game with two hits apiece.  Dave DeCruz, Eric MacAusland, Rolly Hofstedt, Lynn Harkreider, Greg Terra, and Mike Hughey tried vainly to stoke the Fresno fire with solid singles each.  Don DeWitt made the play of the game with a running sliding catch in centerfield to stifle a San Francisco rally.

3PM GAME #3

St. Louis Giants (Weishaar-Hughey) 1   Yomiuri (Schmuck-Miller) 0

                  In a game for the ages, the Saint Louis Giants were held to only three hits by the masterful arms of Mark Gemello and Rob Weber; unfortunately, one was a 333-foot “big fly” by Saint Louie slugger Doug Meyer.  Heath Keller and Mark Bruzzone masterfully spread the eight Yomuiri hits over nine innings finished off by Bruzzone”s acrobatic diving stab of a loopy, lazy fly to the right of the mound and whip throw to first for the game ending double play.

                  Meyer had a hit and a homer while the only other hit was a bingle by Denis Sanfillippo.  That’s it. Three G*D D*MN HITS!!! (kudos to HOFer Bob Uecker!)

                  Yomuiri played a rare but inspired defensive ballgame behind their crafty pitchers and it looks like those casts on Weber’s arms since San Diego actually strengthened his 41 MPH fastball!  Donny Hahn led Yomuiri with three hits while Don Dewitt, Mark Gemello, John Haines, Bill Londeree, and Jim Realini each stroked hits to no avail.  This was the second 1-0 game in WCFBA league play this year and both were decided by home runs!  Whew!! Whatta blast!!  The post-game wrap at the Flat Iron was great!!

Albert Park, San Rafael

A very nice day at Albert Park.  Not many fans.  Good cheer at the Flat Iron afterwards.

9AM GAME #1

San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 9  Saint Louis Giants (Hughey-Weishaar) 4

                  The San Francisco Giants took advantage of the St Louis Giants.  St Louis manager started Tom Sanfillippo in what many thought was a “charity” move to let Tom have a day on the mound.  Unbeknownst to every one was that Tom was dazzling with a baffling array of slow, slower, and motionless pitches aided by the incessant harassment by his battery-mate Jim Realini.  Tom left with the game tied after six innings followed by Coach Moochy who walked five in a disastrous 8^th inning to hand San Francisco the win.  Mike Shafer (2 inn), Bobby Hartkop (3 inn), and the redoubtable Randy Wallace (3 inn) kept SF in the game until Carl Vargas nailed down the victory in the ninth.

                  Steve Bennett led the SF hit parade with three bingles, while Mike Vargas and Mike Shafer chipped in two hits each.  Rolly Hofstedt had the “WCFBA Drive of the Game” with a two-ribbie double in a wild fourth inning.

Guy Peabody slapped two singles for Saint Louis followed by individual hits of differing dimensions by Keith DaCosta, Eric Macausland, Heath Keller, Frank Weishaar, Bill Pederson, Tom Sanfillippo, Cliff Gray, and Jim Realini who got a hit by lining a shot into his own runner’s exposed flank.

1PM GAME #2 (8 innings)

Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 20    Oakland A’s (Mello) 2

                  The Fresno Giants exploded and the Oakland A’s imploded.  Guy Peabody stiffed the Oakland men for three solid innings and then Smokin’ Joe Gagliardo silenced them over the last six with a bedazzling array of stuff.  Sil Krevocheza and Kevin Zimmerman pitched like journeymen in front of their fielders’ untimely eight errors, five in the last inning alone, mercifully ended by the league’s time limit.

                  Greg “Diablo” Terra stung the A’s for four loud hits to lead the Giants along with Big Bill Londeree who also smacked four hits on the day.  Dave Decruz, Lynn Harkreider, Guy Peabody, and Todd West each collected two hits to pummel the A’s with West cracking a long double for one of his hits.  Joe Gagliardo blasted a big hit into left field and Willy Wineberg ended up on third after his single hit of the day.

                  Kevin Zimmerman led the A’s with three hits in a valiant effort with Mike Mello, Gary Hopper, and Pat Macias keeping up with two hits each.  Don Luis, Sil Krevocheza, Eric Hoffman, and Russ Greenfield added singles to the Oakland attack for the day.

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LODI

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PARTY TIME

You sure can tell the season’s winding down.  Could it be the flood of new pool players (MSBL must be over), Sunday afternoons at the redoubtable FlatIron consuming Fat Tire, and anxious talk about a rendezvous in Sacramento.  After Sacramento, we’ll have our final two-week ends of play.  Hopefully it won’t rain....

9AM GAME #1

Yomiuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 14    Oakland A’s (Mello) 3

                  This was an interesting, tense game for seven innings before the floodgates opened on the hapless A’s.  Yomiuri was riding the wily darts of Rob Weber when the A’s imploded under a twelve run onslaught in the final two innings that left coach Mike Mello at a loss for words.  Maybe it was Steve Bennett crushing his Oakland buddies with a line drive double that caromed off first base to clear the bases or maybe it was the excitement of talking up A’s playoff tickets, while the Giants are doomed once again to peering into the winter talks wondering if the Barry days are over?

                  Rob Weber socked three singles to go with his stellar pitching performance, while Mike Miller, Randy Wallace, Scott Lueders, and John Haines each slapped two solid singles each.  Don Hahn, Tim Cullen, and Lorne Johnson also chipped in a bingle apiece with Matt Schmuck topping the dog pile with a loud double.

                  Sil Krevocheza contributed two hits to go along with singles by Pat Macias, Dave Vigil, Mike Mello, Matt Amaro, and Boomer Aboumarad.  Better luck at Raley Field guys.

1PM GAME #2

Philadelphia A’s 5     Fresno Giants (Terra-Realini) 4

                  The scrappy Fresno Giants played a tough game and the Philadelphia A’s made it a tough loss in spite of Dave “Prodigal Son” Chilcote’s 9 straight K’s to finish the A’s day.  The A’s rode a big two-run third inning, two timely double plays, and tight pitching by Scott Wagner and Mike Byron to snuff the Fresno rallies throughout the game.  Joe Gagliardo turned in another fine pitching performance in spite of the Giants lack of run support.

                  Ken Calloway, Mike Byron, and Craig Alexander led the A’s 13-hit attack with two hits each.  Chris Dorn, Don Luis, Erik Hoffman, Scott Wagner, Sil Krevocheza, Pat Macias, and Dave Vigil added their singles to the Philly day.

                  Fresno had plenty of base runners but could only manage four hits on the day.  Chilly had a lead-off double and then only Dave Decruz, Mark Bruzzone (on his virginal pool experience of the year!), and Todd West could punch out hits for Fresno.

The next games at Albert Field in San Rafael followed by more meetings at the Flat Iron.

Reminder to all regular players, do not forget to tell your coach by Thursday morning, before NOON if you are going to play or you will lose your spot on the team for the weekend to a pool player

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Yomuiri and Saint Louis finished their seasons this weekend, winning their games but celebrating in far different fashions.  Mike Hughey, in a bid to become the G. Steinbrenner of WCFBA, took his guys and several “fillers” on a wonderful bay cruise on Saturday night to watch fireworks arranged by Mark Bruzzone’s careful reading of “coming attractions” in the Chronicle Pink Section.  The crusty old veterans of Yomiuri sheltered an obviously “under the weather” John Haines to a wild ruckus at the Flat Iron bidding adieu to the North Bay for 2006 (except we’re all coming back to Bruce Gilliat’s Mill Valley Estate in November.)  Which team had the better time?  Doesn’t matter, they both had fun

9AM GAME #1

Yomiuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 4    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 3

                  Yomiuri won behind another extremely accurate outing by the cunning veteran, Mark Gemello, the best unearned and unsupported pitcher of the year and rubber armed Rob Weber who garnered the win.  The San Francisco boys threw up a trifecta of redoubtable slingers who kept Yomiuri at bay: Mike DesJardins, Richie Thomas, Randy Wallace, until Bobby Hartkop got tagged for four runs to receive the loss.

                  Donny Hahn and the surging Scott Lueders belted two hits each in the Yomiuri cause.  Rob Weber, Lorne Johnson, Mike Miller, Ruben Donig, and Don Dewitt slapped singles to pound SF under the Yomiuri cleats.  Mark Gemello made his 306^th hit on the day.

                  Ole one-armed JR Riley and coach Steve Bennett led SF with two hit days, while Bob Hartkop, Craig Nelson, Elmer Studer, DJ, Richie Thomas, and Randy Wallace cracked singles to no avail.

1PM GAME #2

Saint Louis Giants (Hughey-Weishaar) 6    Philadelphia A’s (Don Luis) 2

                  St. Louis finished on an upbeat note silencing the Philly A’s behind the four-hit pitching of Frank Weishaar (6 inn-3 hits) and Mark Bruzzone (3 inn-1 hit.)  Sil Krevocheza warmed up for Tuscon with six innings to absorb the unsupported loss and Mike Byron went the final 3 on the day.

                  Doctor Guy Peabody and Bill Pederson slammed two hits each to lead the St Louie day followed by a plethora of one hit wonder days by Doug Meyer, Moochy Hughey, Frank Weishaar, and Keith DaCosta.  Cliff Gray earned the big hit of the day taking an inside curve to the ribs.  The game ended with St. Louis walking off to a salute from the Blue Angels finishing up their Fleet Week review.

                  The Philadelphia men only managed four hits from Craig Alexander (2), Mike Byron, and Dave Vigil, but they did bring their gloves!!  Erik Hoffman and Mike Hilton turned in WEB GEMS in the outfield while Don Luis sparkled on a play at first.

The next games are the season finale at Albert Field in San Rafael followed by more meetings at the Flat Iron.  Reminder to all regular players, do not forget to tell your coach by Thursday morning, before NOON if you are going to play or you will lose your spot on the team for the weekend to a pool player

Albert Park, San Rafael

Another fantabulous season finally ended with Terry Lee singing the National Anthem and a great post-game party at Bruce Gilliat’s (for the A’s) and the Giants at the redoubtable Flat Iron.  The morning game saw the A’s using major league rules from the 4^th inning on with no appreciable, noticeable difference except maybe they were all bearing down a little more...no steals.  The afternoon tussle played under WCFBA rules was also a taut last inning thriller because both teams were pulling out all stops to wring out a last victory before the hot stove league.  We’ll meet again on November 18^th at Bruce’s house to remember through the fog of time about our thrilling stranglehold on youth over the past season and debate what is a hit versus an error in the old score book.  It has been fun remembering these weekly struggles and I hope to keep tellin’ stories from the stands, but now it’s time to finish up and get to them chores we’ve all been neglectin’.

930AM GAME #1

Oakland A’s (Mello) 6    Philadelphia A’s (Don Luis) 4

                  The Oakland A’s woke up from their late-season foibles and pounced on their league rival Philadelphia A’s to finish over .500 for this season.  Wagner, Gamson, and Hooper stymied the Philly team and used Russ Greenfield’s acrobatic, diving catch to win the game.  Oakland parleyed three doubles by Yost, Wagner, and Bennett with singles by Dennis and Greenfield to push six runs across to master the A’s.

Gayner, Krevocheza, and Byron pitched stalwart games each but the 10-hit attack by their mates could only squeeze four insufficient runs for the day.  Gayner’s triple and single along with Byron and Luis, Jr. two hit days led Philly on the day.  Contreras, Alexander, Gilliat, and Don Luis, Sr. each ended the day with a hit-a-piece.

1PM GAME #2

Fresno Giants 7    San Francisco Giants (Bennett-Lee) 6

                  Despite their record, the Fresno Giants showed that they weren’t ready to go quietly into the foggy bay today.  Behind the steady 17-hit, too many LOB pitching of Joe Gagliardo and Dave (what time is the game?) Chilcote and some nifty fielding behind them, the scrappy Fresno boys hung in there until a dramatic bottom of the ninth when Joe Gagliardo singled home Dave Decruz (running for Todd West who had singled to lead-off) for the GWH!  The San Francisco men threw a crafty quartet of veteran slingers led by Carl Vargas, Kevin McCroskey, Randy Wallace, and Bob Hartkop who limited Fresno to only seven hits.

                  Todd West led Fresno with a big triple and the last inning single, while Joe Gagliardo (GWH!), Craig Nelson, Greg Terra, Dave Chilcote, and Elmer Studer each slapped singles.

The San Francisco Giants certainly had a great day at the plate led by Hardtop’s booming home run and double followed by Carl Vargas’ double-single day.  Steve Bennett, Matt Schmuck, and Terry (Oh Say Can You See) Lee blasted two singles each to keep up the SF fire.  John Riley smacked a double to go with bingles by John Haines, Randy Wallace, JC Penney, Todd Hudson, Dennis McCroskey, and Dennis Horn.