busy busy busy. things have been pretty hectic since last tuesday. ok maybe hectic isnt the right word, jampacked is a better way to put it. between school, practices, games, painting, and let not forget the time i MUST spend with a beer in my hand, there isnt much time left in the day.
last thursday was my first Pitch Hit & Run experience at the school in Tostedt. There was a station for throwing, hitting, and running (hmm, imagine that...) and my station which was putting it all together in a 3 inning game. on this day it was the 5th and 6th grade classes doing battle. The day started out kind of chilly and the wind was swirling a bit, but by about 10:00 or so it died down and got really nice out. the margin of talent was quite wide, but overall pretty evenly matched throughout the classes. there were some kids on each team that were pretty good and there were also some girls on each team that really didnt act like they wanted to be out there at all. i set up the fence about 30 meters away from home, which really isnt far at all but everyone loves the long ball so i made it a hitter's park. this set the stage for some high scoring games. there was a 5 run per inning limit which came into play but more often than not the kids were actually getting 3 outs.
in the final 6th grade game of the day, 6a faced off against 6c in what was to be more of a war of words than a baseball game. 6a was kicking ass but that didnt stop the shit talking from some of the boys on 6c and in the last inning they mounted a comeback. normally im not a fan of bush league play or players but the rally was kicked off by a homerun from the biggest shit talker on 6c, and on his way around third he mooned the other team. he actually dropped his pants in the middle of the field and showed the whole world his little bare ass cheeks. I couldnt help but laugh along with the rest of the 5th and 6th graders watching at the time. the best part is that the teacher didnt even say anything about it, she was laughing too!
when it was determined that 6a and 5b were the respective winners of their classes, it was down the the final faceoff to crown an ultimate champion and give braggin' rights for at least the next two or three days. since there were 4 or 5 actual baseball players in 5b, i was putting my money on them to take the cake. but i guess one more year of life outweighs baseball experience. 6a jumped out to a commanding lead and they played defence well enough to hold off the younger 5b team. the final score was something like 8-5* for the 2009 champions 6a.* now i put an astricks there because i noticed late in the game that whenever bases were loaded this one kid just always happened to come to the plate. at first i just figured it was dumb luck that he was always up with bases loaded, and he hit a homerun pretty much every time. then i realized that the little shitheads were batting at will and not in any kind of order whatsoever. there were even a couple of girls on the bench that never hit once....all day, not just that game, but they never picked up a bat in their previous 3 games either. had i figured this out earlier i would have set them straight but it was too late by that point and i didnt feel like arguing.
it was only 5 hours, but for some reason i was worn out. i think it was all the yelling and screaming...speaking of which, each team had cheerleaders. this was the first time ive ever seen pom poms at a baseball game.
saturday we had games at home against Bremen and we were without our leadoff man and 3rd baseman Hinzy. so i played 3rd, laser was in RF and Tiger led off to fill in the holes created by not having Johannes. we dominated the first game, 12-4. MVP of the game went to Stephan, the old man was 3-3 and had RBIs in every one of his 4 ABs. I went 2-4, scored a few times and i dont remember if i had any RBIs or not. it would help if the stat site was ever updated but for some reason it hasnt been touched for 3 weeks.
I started on the mound the 2nd game and later moved to SS after my 3 innings of work. the pitcher in the 2nd game for the Dockers threw pretty hard, had a good curve and a change up that was the best pitch i've seen all year. I saw one fastball in 3 ABs and i hit it down the 1st baseline for a triple. I struck out in my other 2 at bats. he threw me 3 change ups and the bottom just fell right out of them and i swung over all three of them. i was pissed that i struck out once and vowed to not let it happen again but when he threw me two change ups in a row in my last at bat and i whiffed on both of them, i had to tip my cap, that thing was nasty. the score was tied 2-2 for a long time until we took the lead in the 6th. Laser came in in the 7th and got a ground out and 2 Ks to send the Dockers home with 2 losses on the day. It was great to get the sweep and i think it helped mentally to win a close ballgame. from what ive heard, the Farmers werent too good with close games last year. it all starts with pitching and throwing strikes and we have done a great job coming out of the pen and filling up the strike zone. 3-7 on the day brings my avg up a bit...but im not sure how much since the website hasnt been updated (i dont know if you can sense the frustration through the written words, but trust me i'm pounding the keys right now)
pitching wise, i struggled a little bit. I walked at least 4 guys, hit 1, i even walked in a run in the 1st. thats half of my total from all of last year...and 3 of those walks came in 1 inning! I have got to figure out what my deal is and fix it in a hurry. i am not happy with my pitching at all as of late. I'm struggling a bit to find my arm slot, sometimes i am more over-the-top and other times im more 3/4. i've never had this problem before and im not real sure why or how it all started. maybe its because i'm playing the field again and im using a different arm slot for that than i am when i pitch, but they didnt seem to bother me in high school when i did it. i feel like i'm aiming my pitches a bit too much too, instead of just trusting my body and throwing. It will help that Tony is coming and i can focus a bit more on preparing myself for the mound and let him run practice so i can figure out how to throw strikes again.
speaking of Mr. Hurla, he is on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean right now. he gets to Hamburg at 12:45 tomorrow so me and Beefy's mom are going to the airport to pick him up. and then tomorrow night after pratice we are all meeting at the sportshouse to have a beer or two with the new Gay From Spain like we did when i first got here.
today we went to Hamburg to play the knights and thats about all i want to remember from those games. we got our asses handed to us. 13-3 run rule and 10-3. in the 2nd game they got 8 runs in the 1st before we even got an out. it was not a good day for the farmers' 2nd mans' team...and it rained, so that added to the fun of the day. i only played the 2nd game and was 2-3...but that brings my average down because i was batting .800 going into the game.
so we were on both sides of the broom this weekend, but the right side in the games that are most important.
Also, i hit another milestone over the weekend. I have now been here for 2 months. love this place.
A-Ron
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