Drama, Temper Tantrum and a Come Back

AP - Beacon Hill

The Fog had their final regular season game last night and it lacked nothing. The game already had the added bonus of being a true away game as the Fog were playing their first ever game on Beacon Hill at Maple Wood. As game time approached both the Fog and Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub (KKP) had only 8 players. Joe had missed an exit thus delaying his and Graeme's arrival. Tonight also marked the first game of the season for Dante, having been activated from the injured reserve only hours before, Dante was eager to see his first action and earn his 2006 Fog Softball letter.

With only 8 guys the Fog fielded a make shift defense: Boyd behind the plate, Peter on the mound, Nolte at third, Cook at short, Nate at first, Derek in left, Dante in center and Aaron in right. Just as Peter was beginning to take his warm ups, Graeme was seen sprinting to the field and able to make it in time before the first pitch. Quickly Graeme was moved to short and Cook to second. 9 is better than 8. At this time it should be mentioned that Boyd was already having issues with the umpire, during warm ups prior to the start of the game, the umpire had set up closer to Boyd than he would have liked and placed an knee or elbow to his ribs. Boyd took offense to this and demanded the umpire to move. A heated debate ensued, denying Peter further warm up pitches. Boyd, seeing that Joe was sauntering to the field, delayed even further to have our 10th man added, but the umpired said "Play Ball", Boyd wanted a clarification as to when Joe could join, hoping that this dialog would allow the sauntering fancy boy enough time to make the field. The umpire retorted play ball, and already having gotten Boyd's goat, he now had his entire herd. Meanwhile, Peter was motioning to Boyd to receive his 5 practice pitches prior to the start of the inning, Boyd locked in a epic battle of wills, refused, finally Peter released a practice pitch. Boyd picked up the ball and hurled it as far as he could into the outfield. The temper tantrum was complete with the umpire saying to Boyd, one more and you are gone. Order may have been settled, but the inning was far from over.

Any pitcher will tell you that without proper warm up pitches, it is tough to find a grove. Likewise, any pitcher will tell you that having less than a full defense will make pitching hard. Peter had the blessing of both events, and before the inning was over, the KKP had scored 10 runs.

KKP also had their issues, namely only 8 players, thus they had only three outfields and three infielders. The Fog, still feeling that the best out is a fly out, only managed 3 runs in the bottom of the inning as other 2 batters found the fly ball to be to their liking.

Joe returned to the mound in the second, thought it was his first, and having failed to listen to his key's, treated the inning like it was the first and gave up another three runs. The Fog scratched out one in the bottom of the 2nd to trail 13-4 after two. Having returned to earth following his pregame episode, Boyd pulled Joe aside and reminded him that the sun was in the batters eyes and that his pitches needed some height and depth. Joe allowed two runs in the 3rd before shutting down the KKP for the final three innings.

Down 15-4 heading into the bottom of the third, the Fog finally got the offense going, with a 5 spot to make it 15-9. After a scoreless top of the 4th, the Fog added 3 more to make it 15-12 and KKP knew that any flirting they had of winning was likely hopeless. After a scoreless top of the 5th, the Fog took their first lead at 16-15. Joe, having settled down into a Felix like groove, again keep KKP off the score board and the Fog finished off KKP with 6 more in the bottom of the 6th for a huge come from behind 22 to 15 victory.

The game wasn't without it's comedy either. In the bottom of the 5th, with one out and one on, Boyd his a ball to third. The third baseman fielded it cleanly and let look a rocket of a throw. Two problems: one, the first baseman had gone to second for the force, leaving no one to receive the throw and two, the ball and Boyd were on a collision course. It was as if the third baseman had a flashback to his kickball days when you could get a runner out by hitting them with the ball. Fortunately, the ball didn't hit Boyd and no one on the Fog strained a rib cage muscle from laughing so hard.

The Fog's first playoff game is Monday, July 10th, game time and opponent to be determined. The Fog will either be the #3 or #4 seed.

This post has been recorded for thos that with to listen on your ipd

2006 Final Regular Season Stats

Joe's Keys to the Game - June 28

Fog Flashbacks

The year was 1999, in fact it was the last year the Fog would play softball in the SPU summer league. Sit back and enjoy this Fog Flashback from June 4, 1999.

What was to be a doubleheader turned out into a scrimmage and then a general whooping. The scrimmage saw parts of the Fog pitted against the half of the opponent and Darin and Nathan. Probably the only moment worthy of flashing back to occurred late when Mikey G nailed a screaming line drive that appeared to be headed to center field before it was caught by the diving second baseman. Normally the thought would be what a great defensive play, but upon looking closer one would realize that the second baseman was really a hick who moonlights as the umpire and was wearing jeans. After the catch, Mikey G was quoted as saying, "I'm outta here"

The second game presented many hilarious moments. Nolte was thrown out at home by a country mile, while coming into home and seeing that the ball had beat him by a half hour Nolte was heard to utter "Oh sh*t" Not to be out done, Nolte followed up his lead off hit by going a collective 1 for 6 the rest of the way, what a lead off hitter.

This weeks show stopper has to go to Steve Boyd. Boyd set a new Fog record by K'ing in both the scrimmage and the second game therefore becoming the first Fog member to strike out in two games in one day. But Boyd wasn't done there. Since Darin had to leave to study, Cooker was moved from 2nd to 1st and Boyd replaced Cooker at 2nd. Almost immediately Boyd made his presence felt. Doing his best Patrick Roy impersonation of a kick save, he sent a grounder headed for right into dead center. The very next inning with a runner on first a grounder was hit to Cook who fielded it and immediately threw to second where both Gerlitz and Boyd decided to cover the bag. Boyd tried to get out of the way but he was too late, the throw hit him directly in the butt. Boyd 2 Ball 0. Home run.

Fog Recap: Game 9

AP - Ballard, WA

Looking to make a move in the standings, the Fog took on 2nd place Hoggs last night. After losing by two runs earlier in the season, the Fog had a score to settle. The Fog seemed to be on the right track, scoring two in the first, but the Hoggs came back with a vengeance and put up 8 in their half of the inning.

Failing to score in the top of the 2nd, the Hoggs added 2 more for a 10-2 lead. The Fog managed 4 in the top of the 3rd but went 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth innings. Trailing 13 to 6 the Fog managed 2 more in the 6th and had pushed 5 across in the 7th with the tying run on 2nd when Nolte had his blooper speared by the shortstop to end the comeback.

One highlight of mention occurred in the 2nd, when a ball was hit between Will and Brent. As the batter turned from third, Brent threw a strike to Graeme, Graeme, from shallow left center threw a perfect laser to Boyd at home, who caught and applied the tag. 8-6-2 for those scoring at home.

The Fog have their last regular season game next Wednesday, June 28 at 7:30 at Maple Wood

Season Stats

Joe's Keys to the Game - June 19

Fog Take to the Road

Loyal Heights Playfield will be closed beginning June 22, 2006 for the remainder of the 2006 softball season as upgrades and improvements are preformed. Most notably a new field turf will be added along with new lights.

What does this mean? Our last regular season game, Wednesday, June 28 at 7:30pm vs Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub will be at Maple Wood. Maple Wood is on the corner of Corson S & S Angeline. If you are familiar with the south end of the city, it is 4 blocks north of Cleveland High School.

As soon as I learn where our playoff games will be held, I will pass along that info as well.

Playoff Update

We are currently in 3rd place, a half game ahead of the Excitable Boys. This Monday we play the #2 team, The Hoggs. As of today, they are a game and a half ahead of us, though they play first place Cooper's tonight.

What does this all mean? We have two games left, the top 2 teams get a first round bye. We have a shot at the #2 seed, though we need some help from Coopers. I am confident we will beat The Hoggs in our rematch on Monday. We have struggled the last few weeks, I know we are a much better team and I believe that we can beat anyone in our league. It is equally important that each of us believe this.

We need to take a renewed confidence onto the field, and play the way we are capable. Likewise, we need to extend this to our at bats. We need to focus on hitting line drives. When you make 19 outs in the air, that is fundamentally an approach issue at the plate. If it helps, use the pitchers head as a target, that will keep the ball down.

The playoffs start the week of July 10 and are single elimination.

Here is the playoff schedule:

Mon	7/10/06	7:30 PM	#3		#6 (Game 1)		PLAYOFFS
Mon	7/10/06	8:45 PM	#4		#5 (Game 2)		PLAYOFFS
Wed	7/12/06	7:30 PM	#1		Winner, Gm 2 (Game 3)		PLAYOFFS
Fri	7/14/06	6:15 PM	#2		Winner, Gm 1 (Game 4)		PLAYOFFS
Wed	7/19/06	8:00 PM	Winner, Gm 4		Winner, Gm 3 (Championship)		PLAYOFFS

Fog Recap: Game 8

AP - Ballard, WA

The Fog returned to the diamond looking to wash away the taste of their ugly lose last Friday. Facing the Excitable Boys, a team they had already beat once, but it wasn't to be a second time. For the second straight game their defense struggled, committing four errors. Falling behind 7-1 after the second, the Fog managed to creep back in to the game and trailed by 3, 11-8 after 5 innings.

After scoring 1 in the top of the sixth, the Boys added 4 in their half. The Fog tallied 2 in the top of the 7th for a final score of 15-11. Prior to the game, Graeme proclaimed that the team that hit more balls on the ground would win, and his prophecy was fulfilled. The Fog had 18 of their 21 outs recorded in the air, while the Boys had only 6.

Casey Warren forfeited to the Fog in the night cap, making the Fog winners 7-0.

2006 Fog Stats

Fog Recap: Game 7

AP - Ballard, WA

The Fog returned to action following 9 days off last Friday and were looking to even the score with 1st place Cooper's. The Fog enjoyed an early leads of 3-0, 4-3 and 8-7, but after the third they would score no more. Able to manage only 2 hits after the third and allowing a seaons high five errors in the field (4 in the infield) was more than enough for Coopers to saddle the Fog with a 20-8 lose. A lose even more painful as the mercy rule was enforced.

One game doesn't make a season, and the Fog return to the field tomorrow for a double header. The best thing the Fog can do is put the game in the rearview mirror and focus on the games to be played.

FOG player's son almost becomes a tasty morsel

We all know what happens to each of us after a bad game. Some get quiet, a few get surly, but for Nathan Watson last Friday... it got ugly. Fog cameras were there, after Nate came home from the shellacking.... to a (gasp) house with no food. Some say it pushed him over the edge. Thank goodness his wife came home when she did, otherwise
little Joshua was about to be a delcious, toasted ciabiatta sandwich.



Everyone just breathe, it was only one game. I'm positive we'll be back on Wednesday with our old Fog swagger.

Kneeling at the altar of Ben

I really can't expand or improve on anything Ben just said. It was eloquent as much as it was precise. I hereby appoint Ben as official Fog scribe...given the torch of writing game recaps and all other related responsibilities...and I'm not just saying this because I'm one of the 2 guys on the team that is memorable. For the record Ben Jamin', I'm not a Nats fan...I bought the hat for the old guy baseball team that me, Gram and Joe (our slick fielding, Mark Lemke-hitting pitcher) play on. However, the team decided to get new unis this year making my hat out-of-date...much like Steve Avery in the mid-90's.

While we're discussing team fashion, can someone in a position of authority pass a resolution or law or something that says Pete has to bring back the argyle socks?

Also for the record, I voted for Gram in the heat check poll just ahead of Boyd, mainly because 3/4 of Boyd's hits have the trajectory of an egg tossed by a 5-year old at the county fair.

Holler.

Heat Check

Over the past three games the Fog is averaging 18.67 runs a game, so to say the offense is clicking is an understatment. With only one person hitting below .300, there isn't much to complain about. That being said, 4 individuals have been playing at another level the past three games, Brent, Derek, Boyd and Graeme. Check out these lines:

Brent: 10 for 12 with 2 HRs and 10 RBIs
Derek: 10 for 14 with 8 RBIs and 7 Runs
Boyd: 10 for 15 with 5 Runs
Graeme: 12 for 15 with 5 HRs and 12 RBIs

You decide.

Whose swinging the hottest bat?
	Brent
	Derek
	Boyd
	Graeme
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Game 6: Fog 15 Prost 8

AP - Ballard, WA

Fresh off their 28-8 spanking of Kiwi and Kangaroo Pub, the Fog faced cross division Prost. Prost entered the fray with a 4-1 record and was leading the lower division. The Fog immediately flexed their division A muscle with 3 runs in the first courtesy of a 3 run jack by Derek. Joe returned to the mound following a one game hiatus and sported a new, Fog shirt (more on this later). Joe pitched two scoreless innings, including starting a 1-6-3 double play to end the second. The Fog would score in every inning, added 1 in the second, 3 in the third to take a 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 3rd.

After a lead off single, the next batter hit a sharp grounder to short, Graeme flipped it to Nolte who wanted nothing of it and dropped the ball. Runners safe. The next batter sacrificed the runner from second to third. The following batter grounded again to Graeme and this time he flipped the ball over Nolte's head. At this point, Nate turned to Ben on the bench and said, this is just like Monday's Dodger/Brave game, to which Ben replied, don't remind me, I was at that game. By the way, Ben made news, when he was part of the first Air Tran flight from Seattle to Atlanta, the same flight that Matt Hasselbeck was at SeaTac for. Joe finally righted the ship but only after the lead had been cut in half. Fog 8 Prost 4.

The Fog continued their scoring ways with 2 more in the 4th, Joe retired the side in order and the Fog added another in the 5th. Joe put down Prost again, this time allowing a 2 out triple.

Leading off the sixth it was time for comedy. Graeme was providing support as third base coach when Will lead off with a single, after Peter got out, Brent smashed the ball over the left center fielders head, as Brent was heading to third, the outfielders were only getting to the ball, yet Graeme yelled out HOLD THREE to which Brent hit the brakes to the laughter of the entire bench, Brent looked back to see the ball still not being relayed and trotted home with a home run. Prost would score 3 in their half of the sixth and in the 7th Graeme hit a bomb only to see Brent return the favor, again after many laughs, Graeme trotted home with his 8th home run of the season.

Joe put down Prost in the ninth allowing a single run for a final of Fog 15 Prost 8

As mentioned earlier, Joe was sporting a new shirt. Turns out his new shirt was a little bigger than he would have liked as it fell to mid-thigh. When asked why Joe's shirt was so big, Nate replied, I thought he was bigger. Turns out the XL should have been a Medium.

The Fog 2006 Regular Season Stats
Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SF	GIDP	AVG	Total Bases	Slugging Percentage	On-base Percentage	OPS
Graeme Hanson	25	15	19		4	8	20					0.760	51	2.040	0.760	2.800
Derek Kensinger	23	9	16	2		1	11			1		0.696	21	0.913	0.667	1.580
Brent Amsbary	21	10	14	1		2	10					0.667	21	1.000	0.667	1.667
Peter Watson	18	11	11	1		2	9	3				0.611	18	1.000	0.667	1.667
Aaron Sorenson	15	5	8			1	6			2		0.533	11	0.733	0.471	1.204
Joe Gerlitz	14	3	7		1	1	8			1		0.500	12	0.857	0.467	1.324
Steve Boyd	25	7	12	2			4			1		0.480	14	0.560	0.462	1.022
Will Stroud	19	8	9	1			7	2				0.474	10	0.526	0.524	1.050
Dan Houser	18	7	8	2	1		5		1			0.444	12	0.667	0.444	1.111
Ben Byrd	21	4	9				5					0.429	9	0.429	0.429	0.857
Matt Cook	8	0	3				2	1				0.375	3	0.375	0.444	0.819
Nate Watson	14	3	5	1	1		2					0.357	8	0.571	0.357	0.929
Eric Nolte	24	10	7				1	2				0.292	7	0.292	0.346	0.638