What a truly gorgeous baseball opening day at redoubtable Riordan High School. Season 8 for the WCFBAL opened WITHOUT rain and the friendships camaraderie and valiant attempts to hold back the ravages of time play on. Many thanks to Ron Isola who was nearly finished setting up his pride and joy ball park at 805 AM when I was the first to arrive. Remember, this webpage does not purport to be an official record of league statistics, you need to consult with Michael Simon for your "Official" statistics for this FANTASY league. This year I will definitely report on any game that I participate in or witness; but if you do not see me there, feel free to send your bon mots and three dots for consideration. Also, check the Kangaroo Court page to see if you have earned your way into the infamous tales of this eighth season of Fantasy Baseball.

930 AM GAME

by Jim Realini
This years edition of the San Francisco Giants demonstrated what it takes to win at this level of aged competition: hit the ball (somewhere, make-um have to catch it) catch the ball (when it's hit to you and when it's thrown to you) and throw the ball (strikes, strikes, and more strikes -- no walks). San Francisco pounded out 14 hits made only one error and saw some great outfield catches by Frank Weishaar and Greg Terra on the way to a 14-9 rout made close by an experimental pitching change in the fifth inning that allowed 9 Elk Grove runs. Heath Keller showed he's ready to baffle opposing batters for another season with four flawless innings (backed by deft fielding) while John Haines floated butterflies for the last 3 an a third innings to gain the dubbullyou.
Rob Lanterman and Count Montellato led the Elks with two hits while Terry Lee, Carl Vargas, and Dr. Guy Peabody each chipped in singles on the day. Terry Lee also made some nifty catches of some twisty fly balls in left field to keep the Elk Grovers in the game.
Jim Cullen had three hits (one a double) as did the leagues greatest self-professed hitter, John Haines. Ray Mialovic (playing on a gamey left leg) and Don Dewitt each had two hit opening days. Heath Keller stroked a double and Ruben Donig, Frank Weishaar, and Jim Realini stroked singles to also get their seasons off to great start.

On a personal note, it was most satisfying to knock in the first run of the year with the first hit of the year, but even sweeter was fooling Chilly by calling on Heath to groove a perfect change-up that could only have been greater if I'd hung on to the foul tip.

1 PM Game

by Mike Miller
"This week in FAT ball". I'd like to say we all ran to our positions in the first inning, but it was more like waddling.
The game didn't end up like we would have liked, but we did make a showing. As you may have noticed we aren't exactly stocked with Pitchers. Buzz would be our best arm, but he was out this week, so the rest of the team pitched… almost. Little Johnson started the hill for us, followed by Mr. Meyer and Skipper (Mike Miller). Just in case we needed the closer Michael was standing by in the ninth.
Our Defense was pretty darn good today, with only three errors, all throwing, and our pool guy this week had two of those throwing errors. Bill made a great catch in center on a dead run. We also had a great put out at the plate on a 14-player relay. Does anyone on this team have an arm… I know I don't. 8 to 6 to 1 to 2 for the out. Skip also had a great put out while on the hill, stepping off the rubber, spinning and firing, ok maybe tossing to me at second. The A's runner was long gone, we totally caught him off guard, then I didn't know whether to step on the bag or tag the runner. Damn, I'm fat and stupid.
I almost forgot, we also had a great pick-off at first, Skip fired to Leuders-Line from behind the plate to first, where Leuders-line dived… I mean fell down on the bag and caught the ball while tagging the running. Nice!
I will normally add the batting stats from the week, but I don't have them, and not to mention we had less than a handful of hits. Obviously that was our down fall today, just no hitting. Bill and Michael both had clutch hits just to get us on the board, Riley also got a timely hit.