Sorry about the
delay, but the all-star game, wedding anniversary,
vacation,honey-do's, etc. yeah yeah all excuses with a
maximum effective range of zero meters.! We're still
looking for a few good men to go to Tuscon... this could be
your chance to pitch or play that position you never get
enough of, let me know ASAP (that still means NOW!)
jprealini@aol.com. I found out some
amazing things that have been going on for years this last
week at the games, one good thing, one bad... First, Drew
Greenlee has lived 300 yards as the crow flies from me
without each of knowing... wow what a small world. Second,
some players do not wear cups in the field. Ouch. Third, the
time-limit for our games needs a little tweaking, maybe.
Both games ended by time just when they were gettin'
good. The
Oakland A's graciously accepted an 8-run gift in the 3rd
inning to beat the otherwise happy San Francisco Giants.
According to the "blue crew" any ball hit up in the sky in
the infield was painfull to watch. Their actually was a
sneaky breeze blowin' above the trees and the hazy, bright
sun didn't help either; or the fact that most of us, nah,
none of us pracices catching pop-ups after we hit he batting
cage. Sil Krevocheza slung 6 solid innings and Dave Vigil
mopped-up for the A's while Bobby Hartkop survived the
horrible 3rd giving way to Heath Keller who stymied the A's
over the last four. Dewitt
led the A's with two singles and a double. Sil Krevocheza
and Dave Vigil had two singles each while Matt Amaro's
two-hit day included a double. Dave Calhoun, Ed Glover,
Boomer Aboumrade, and Dave Scola each chipped in singletons
for the A's day. Ruben
Donig came up big for the Giants with three singles on the
day. Keith McWilliams and Gordon Simmons belted out two
singles each to bolster the Giant attack. Todd West, Heath
Keller, Bobby Hartkop, Steve Bennett, and "Trader" Horn
slapped singles to round off the San Francisco
day. This was
an exciting match-up that was relatively well-played
throughout. It started with Mike Miller having to start at
pitcher with no back-up in site (where's Chilli? Did Gemello
really sabotage the pool?) and he threw well matching G-man
pitch for pitch. When Chilli's Camaro screeched up to the
sidewalk, Mike relaxed, but the '62 Giants kept up the fire.
Like the morning game, every pop-up was an adventure in fly
catching. Randy Wallace had to leave early as a bad hop hit
his cup, oops! He didn't have one. Clutch hitting by Miller
with a bases-loaded double that would have cleared most of
the other fences we've played with and Steve Conroy tripled
and chased Realini around the horn on a cardiac arresting
dash to the plate. Scott
Lueders continued to lead the Yomuiri guys hitting a solid
double and single. Mike Miller's double was backed up by
singles from Lorne Johnson, Ben Chen, Mark Travis, Perry
Gibson, Matt Schmuck, and Mike DesJardines. Oh yeah, Chilli
added a new guy to his hit list - Don Dewitt. Joe
Gagliardo led the '62 Giants with three big singles. The
trio of Greg Terra, Don Dewitt, and Jim Realini slapped two
singles each, although Realini's were more like his patented
"Ichiro Lawn Darts." Pool Boy Steve Conroy had the big hit
of the day with a monster triple to left
centerfield. #1. Randy Wallace, no cup.
Pain. Get well, soon. #2. Matt "Tenner" Schmuck.
Let him relive this totally painful moment. Man on first and
third, third would be me. Two outs, full count. BALL FOUR!
As the batter walks to first I decide I would walk home from
third. The funny thing was no one noticed until I realized
my mistake about half way home and stopped. Trying to be
cool I started walking back to third but by then everyone
noticed. What a D@@K! That's a BUCK!
RETURN
TO BASEBALL PAGE
JIM
REALINI
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA
July 8th, 2007
note: This happened because everyone on the field thought it
was strike three, third out... except the man in
blue.