One more hit and one less error, that’s been the story in four of the Ducks losses, which have been by three runs or less. The Ducks (3-6-1) season hangs precariously on the brink of irrelevance after a tough loss to their inter-division rival, The Warriors (6-2).

For the second time in two games, the Ducks brought the tying run to the plate in the late innings, only to come up short. Early on, the game was a small-ball contest, both teams sacrificed, stole bases, and played solid station-to-station baseball. Mark Guthrie gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead, in the bottom of the first, when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning.
The Warriors took a 2-1 the lead in the top of the third on one of four Ducks’ errors. South Oakland evened the score in their half of the inning on a double steal, run-and-hit, when Guthrie drove in Ryan Novak.
Then Warriors’ catcher Craig Boley made an appearance, footage below.

The Ducks gave the Warriors two more runs on a botched pick-off attempt at second base, and the Warriors lead 4-2.

In the bottom of the fifth it looked as though the Ducks had figured out Warriors’ stater, Overbaugh. Gwin lead off the inning with a ground rule double, when his shot to the wall lodged in the fence, it was almost the first triple in the history of Spring View Field. Then Ducks’ catcher Jesse Smith hit a 2-0 fastball over the fence into some lucky family’s backyard, but that would be all for the Ducks that inning. Going into the top of the sixth the game was tied 4-4.

Homa had pitched a solid game to that point, allowing only two earned runs, he must have thrown about 90 pitches, if the Ducks had made a few plays behind him 90 pitches might have been enough to finish off the game. On this night, it was not enough. The Warriors opened the inning with four straight ground ball hits, and Boley’s line-drive single off the fence. That was enough for Homa, who was pulled with the Ducks trailing 5-4. Mark Guthrie relieved Homa, and after allowing a single, before he induced a 9-2 double play fly-out to Chris Wojoton. 6-4 Warriors with two outs. Then a dying line drive to center, off the bat of Steve Heckman, barely escaped Eric Lee’s diving grasp, and plated two more Warriors.
The stage was set for another Ducks’ comeback, but it slipped through their feathers in a series of base running miscues. Eric Lee lead off the inning with a single, then Garret Moore moved Lee to third when he reached on an error. TC “Buttermaker” Jones added a pinch hit RBI, on a fielder’s choice. Moore advanced to second, TC was out. Then KT Murphy, added his second hit of the game, and infield hit to deep short. Instead of having the top of the order up with one out and runners on first and third, Moore tried to score from second on the play and was out by a step. Then Chris Wojoton walked, and with two outs, Gwin worked the count full, the lead runner did not take off with the pitch, and did not score when Gwin singled to left.
The Ducks trailed 8-5 with the bases loaded, and the inning ended with a blistering ground-out to short. two feet to the left and it’s a one run game. So it goes. The Ducks would not threaten in the seventh.

Along with Brent Heintzelman’s solid 2-3 performance at the plate, Boley was the only Warrior to really hit Homa hard, going 3-3 with a double and a single off the wall . Steve Heckman went 3-4 and only hit one ball out of the infield, a single to center, he has the keen ability to use his mind to put a certain spin on the ball which results in the perfect swinging bunt, he also bunted for a base hit. He hustled, he beat a couple throws by half a step.
see the Warriors-biased recap of this game at Steveheckmanonline.com

Bullet Points

• We can beat any team in the league.
• Our next three games are against the Rebels, Hurricanes, and Bulldogs, they have a combined three wins as of today.
• The Rebels game this Sunday is a must win.
• As a catcher there is no greater feeling than being run-over, and holding on to the ball, Jesse made such a play for the second half of a key double play, after hitting a 2-run bomb earlier in the game.
• With Lee and Wojoton out there, we have two of the best arms in the same OF in the league.
• The Ducks have already tied last year’s team HR mark, with 3: One apiece from J.Smith, Wojoton, and Novak. Last year it was Oliver with 2, and I think Rick had one.
• I love chewing tobacco….318 and rising.
• The Ducks’ second base rotunda continues to whirl.
• KT has reached base safely in five straight AB’s.
• There are some teams in this league which I despise, the Warriors are not one of them. This game was up for grabs the whole way, and they made one less error, and had a slew of infield hits. They didn’t pull any cheap stuff either. It was smart baseball all around, aside from a couple key errors.
• If I were Homa I’d be pretty frustrated after this one. Again, he did his job and put us in position to win.
• Jim From CMU hit a solid line drive right at the second baseman fro a double play, if that one gets through maybe the wheels fly off the Warriors in the third, that’s bad luck. That’s baseball. Jim is a solid clubhouse guy, who takes a very logical approach at the plate.
• At least Garrett was on base to make the ill-advised attempt at home plate, 80% of the teams in this league throw that ball away, Baker, and Boley made the play.
• Garrett’s base running error was bad, but it was an aggressive mistake, not a bad one to make early in the game, but we, as a team, have to do a better job of knowing situations.
• I make base running mistakes too. I was playing in the NABA World Series in 2005, bases loaded, no outs, I was on second. hard grounder to third, the guy throws to second for one, and the double play is turned, I kept running and was thrown out at home for the third out of a 5-4-3-2 triple play. I killed that rally.
• Congrats on Craig Boley, who is getting married
• Congrats to Heckman and Lesher, on their pending Civil Union…Balls deep indeed.
• MMMMMAAH.

We have five days off until we play the Rebels. I will post probably every day this week. We can not lose this game on Sunday, the state of the Union depends on it.

This video worked last time.

Also, how does everyone feel about calling TC, “Buttermaker” ala the coach from The Bad News Bears?

Note: I had the 3,000th hit on the Ducks NABA home page.

Tonight it’s gonna be bad news for the Warriors.

This video is not for little kids, Mormons, or people easily offended by profanity.

That’s about how it feels right now.

In what has become typical Ducks’ fashion, South Oakland spotted the opposition a seven-run lead, then put up a furious rally in the game’s dying moments. The Ducks brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh, but on this night, it was not to be.

The Ducks led 1-0 going into the bottom of the first, then the Eagles scored eight straight runs. Trailing 8-1 in the top of the fifth, South Oakland cut the lead to five when Gwin singled ahead of McCray’s walk, then on a well executed double steal, the Eagles’ catcher threw the ball into left field allowing Gwin to score, and McCray to advance to third. On the next pitch the Eagles would balk McCray home.

Trailing 8-3 going into the bottom of the sixth Ducks’ reliever, Smith, after throwing two scoreless innings, had two outs with two runners on, when a somewhat routine fly-ball to right field allowed two Eagles to score. The ball dropped and the Ducks’ right fielder chose to watch the runners instead of throwing the ball to the infield, then he blamed the infielders for not telling him what to do.

I wouldn’t throw that guy under the bus if he didn’t try to blame his teammates for the two runs that scored while he stood around demanding the ball be called foul. I was playing first and I ran out to make a play when it dropped in front of him, I said to him, “CUT FOUR”. I suppose there was a miscommunication. Everyone makes errors, be they mental or physical, but it takes a certain kind of person to blame someone else for their own misreading of a pop-up and not quickly getting the ball into the infield.

He somewhat atoned for this blunder with a single in the top of the seventh.

It was not because of one play or one player that we lost this game. The little things continue to eat us alive.

The late comeback was frantic, the Ducks torched the Eagles’ bullpen for four runs in the seventh, but came up inches short when a would be double skipped foul, before the game ended in a deflating 1-6-3 double play. The inning started when Les Geis (sp.) drew a walk, followed by a single, and a fielders’ choice by Jim From CMU. KT Murphy reached base via walk for the third time in the game, then Wojoton delivered with an RBI single. Gwin walked, then Jesse followed with an RBI single of his own. Then just like that, it was over.

The first three innings were filled with booted grounders, and bat at-bats, for the Ducks.
I don’t think we’ve played a game this year with our best starting infield. (our starting second baseman hasn’t shown up since the third game of the year).

The baseball always seems to find the guy who doesn’t want it, never fails. The outfield was uncharacteristically, fundamentally terrible, except for Wojoton’s 8-3 double play in the sixth.

Bullet points

• We’ve got fifteen games left, I don’t know if that’s a lot or not. The rest of the division has approximately three games-at-hand on us, and it will be hard to gage where we stand until some games get made up and the games-played get squared.
• 3-5-1 is an ugly record, and I mean ascetically as well as in terms of personifying our under-achievement.
• We are much better than we were last year.
• We have to start playing in the first inning, not the fifth.
• I’ve grown weary of alluding to our absent players, I feel as though it takes away from the guys who show up. Still, we played without both our home run and batting average leaders; the two of whom are the starting left-side of our infield.
• We don’t need to hit the panic button, but we have to put a few together before July rolls around and slams us in the balls with a 6-10-2 record.
• Rick played hurt tonight.
• Smith rebounded from a rough start against the OweleZ. He held the Eagles to two runs over three innings, and gave us a chance to pull another one from the jaws of defeat.
• It seems as if we’ve played the whole season tip-toeing around the jaws of defeat.
• Jesse threw out six guys and no one could hold onto the ball, he also had a clutch hit in the seventh.
• KT was on base every time I turned around.
• Jim the mysterious pitcher from CMU will fit in nicely, he plays a mean game of pepper, and he hustles.
• I have as many walks through nine games as I did last season.
• There were many broken bats.
• Where are you, Brett and Chris?

click here for hilarity

Quack, quack

The Ducks (3-4-1) have a road game against the Eagles (4-3) Thursday at 9pm, at Moore Park in Brookline. A win vaults the Ducks into a tie for third place in the division and gives them a 2-0 record against the Eagles, assuring South Oakland of the first tie-breaker against a tough division opponent.

The Ducks beat the Eagles 4-3 on Garrett Moore’s walk-off single, for their first win of the season. That win is the Ducks only division win thus far, South oakland is 1-3 in division play.

“It’s been a long night, and I hate the fucking Eagles, man“
-J.L.

Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of all-time, coached the Washington Senators after his playing days were over.

“Pepper is a great warmup game for any hitter, and as a coach I’m going to insist the Senators do more of it“
-Ted Williams

Also, Barry Pepper played Roger Maris in the film 61*

In an unrelated note; there is no excuse for the “Owlz” using a “z” in their name. take a peek at their team page, try not to vomit.

Inspiration.

Ducks 8, Matadors 7

This is the kind of win that can change the course of a season.

The Matadors scored seven runs in the first two innings. Ducks’ starter Nick Homa (2-1) was struggling with his command, and the South Oakland infield looked shaky, committing key errors, forcing Homa to throw too many pitches to work out of bases-loaded jams in the first and second.
Entering the bottom of the sixth inning, South Oakland trailed 7-0 and had recorded only one hit, an infield single. Going back to the bottom of the first inning of Sunday’s loss to the Owls, the Ducks had been outscored 24-0 over the last nine innings, and at 2-4-1, they were swimming on the fringe of the playoff picture.
For five innings, it seemed as though everything the Ducks hit went to the Matadors’ shortstop, who played like Troy Tulowitzki. Homa had settled down, and was lights-out after the second inning. No more than 3 of the Matadors’ runs were earned. The Ducks were poised to waste another solid performance, but this time there were no excuses, we had almost all of our regulars in the starting lineup, and we were getting handled by a finesse pitcher and an NL rookie of the year shortstop.
Then it started, it started slowly when Coby was hit by a pitch, then Wojoton was beaned, and Guthrie singled. Ryan Novak drew a bases loaded walk to drive in the first Ducks run, and that was it for the Matadors’ starting pitcher.
Just when the Ducks were liking their chops at the chance to face the Matadors starter for the third time, Tulowitzki came into pitch and the infield was shuffled. Troy was throwing noticeably faster than the starter. Jesse Smith welcomed him with a marathon at-bat, fouling off twelve pitches and working the count full before drawing another bases loaded walk, cutting the lead to 7-2, bases still loaded.

Ben Gwin was 1-13 with 2 RBI heading into the game; the worst slump of his baseball existence, earlier in the game he’s made an error at first which lead to two unearned runs, he had grounded out weakly in two earlier at-bats, five innings and nothing more than a broken bat for his efforts.

Redemption came in a three-run double to right center. 7-5. Tulowitzki would load the bases on a walk and a hit-batsman, but worked out of the jam by getting CF, Eric Lee to pop-up, and striking out two Ducks. He hadn’t seen the last of Eric Lee.

The top of the seventh came and went with a walk, a double play, and a strike-out.
Chris Wojoton lead off the Ducks’ half of the inning with an infield hit to deep short, Tulowitzki maybe makes that play, but Chris booked to first, barely beating the throw. Guthrie was hit by a pitch, bringing the winning run to the plate. After a fly-out, and a questionable called third strike, the Ducks were down to their final out.
Gwin came through again, singling to center, driving in Wojoton. Eric Tans drew a walk to load the bases, and Eric Lee came to the plate.
Down by one bases loaded, two outs, Eric Lee was a super hero.
The Play of the Game:
Lee smashed one to the right side the ball hit off the Matadors’ first baseman and dribbled into shallow right field, Guthrie scored to tie the Game and Gwin raced around from second to score the winning run.

Comeback complete.

WOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!

Bullet Points:

I’ve never been so happy to be hitting .250

Gutsy performance by Homa, who was rightfully upset at how we played the first five innings of this game, he hung in there and he bailed us out when a lesser pitcher would have quit. That is leadership.

This is the second game that we’ve won on our last at-bat.

The Matadors hit seven batters, Garrett almost charged the mound, that would have forced TC to pinch run, no one wants that.

This is our highest run total of the season

The Ducks are undefeated in June

3-4-1 and we’re right in the thick of things

We beat a good team, the Matadors are no joke, they play the game the right way

Jim, the pitcher from CMU, does exist. Go Pens.

I don’t think they had more than four hits to the outfield.

The Ducks are eager to get the foul taste out of their mouths after a historically bad 15-run loss to the Owls on Sunday. With almost 1/3 of the season in the books, and a scarcity of rain dates, every game has playoff implications in the highly contested Monongahela Division. South Oakland will look to fire-baller Nick Homa, and the infusion of Ducks starters who were unable to compete in Sunday’s game, to stop the losing streak before it starts.

Last season the Matadors beat the Ducks on a seventh inning home run to eliminate South Oakland from playoff contention. That might mean something to the five returning players from last year.

Either way, it’s gonna be bad news for the Matadors.