July 30
Fine Wines vs White Hairs
Fine Wines Report – Dan Sanscartier
Ever since I moved to the GTA, as a lifelong Habs fan I have tried to imagine what it’s like being a Leafs fan. Where each season opens with a mixture of Charlie Brownesque optimism and fear which eventually turns into dread and pain as once again Lucy pulls the ball away. The 7th inning of the nightcap against the White Hairs nearly (but not quite) led to me feeling a tinge of empathy for Leaf fans (not really). After giving up 19 runs in the opener on the way to a 19-11 loss the Fine Wines defense came through in game two (or the White Hairs were simply tired out from running the bases in game one) to hold them to 4 runs through six innings. Alas, it was not to be, as it took everything we had to hold them to an 8-8 tie as their bats woke up long enough to rally for 4 runs. Morty proposed going to a shootout to break the tie before I gently reminded him that the world cup is over. This didn’t really happen but I wanted to fit 4 different sports into this week’s recap.
Notable offensive performances from Jonathan Kamin Islands and Jeff² (Palmer & Francis) as they combined for 16 hits and 7 RBI over the two games. Ben Roczniak, fresh off his month-long contract holdout, contributed 4 more hits and 4 RBI. Drew Gandalf Leblanc made a couple of fine plays as did Bill (not John) King once again in the outfield. The true highlight of the day was Steve Isaacs Asimov discussing investment strategies with our third base coach whilst completely ignoring the stop sign on the way to scoring a run.
Focus on infielders including P and C. Next week will feature the outfielders.
The goal is to enjoy the season, regardless of where you finish in the standings.
White Hairs Report – Jeff Morton
The Hairs’ ‘26 season is highlighted by solid defense. Roadrunner Sturm made a couple of outstanding running catches and each of the infielders – Prancer Byj, Morton, Principal O’Neill, Executive Ed Lincz, and Guiness Fratia contributed at least one darn fine play.
Offensively the Hairs started game one by putting up 15 runs in the first 3 innings. The Wines didn’t fold and chipped away narrowing the lead to 4 going into the 7th.
In the 7th, Roadrunner lined out, Prancer got a hit and Roadrunner ran, Morton got a hit and Sturm somehow scored from first while Morton ended on 3rd, Principal followed with a HR and the Hairs restored an 8-run lead.
As the manager, I’m kind of focused on the game and not really paying attention to the bench chatter. This year’s squad is without doubt the loosest Hairs group yet. Prancer, Mus Stang, Teach Schell, Guiness, Detective Dan and Gord hopalong Shields keep our group relaxed with their banter – some of which is related to the game.
Game 2 ended 8-8 with the Hairs putting up a 4-spot in the bottom of the 7th. Wines “slugger” Habnot King made an ok catch to end the sister kisser.
Scott Sinclair pitched great in game 2, racking up strikeouts and dribblers. Mac and Scott opened for each other in an attempt to confuse everyone including their teammates.
Offensively Sinclair hit for the cycle on the day, Executive and Mac had 6 hits each.
And finally, the Hairs’ ultimate goal of being first to the Pump, was once again achieved!
Rusty Royals vs Grey Beards
Rusty Royals Report – John Koopman
There is no crying in baseball. Maybe that is a good thing. Grown men should not be in tears over a game anyway. Rusty Royal bats and gloves failed to make an appearance at this week’s game against the Grey Beards.
In game one the Royals fought stoutly (without bats and gloves) but lost in the bottom of the seventh when Randy Nunn drove in a run that gave the Grey Beards a walk-off win. In five of the seven innings the Royals batted no more than four players. No Royal scored more than one run. There were brief glimmers of hope: Mike Way is coming back from an injury, Dario Pretto is rounding into form, Barny Henderson remains ageless, Randy Heinbecker continues to get on base from the lead-off position and Mike Canham continues to throw strikes. A nameless player coach, who will remain nameless, was caught anticipating a hit and led the field in a “walk of shame”.
In game two we failed to even come close. Geoff Coulson went 3-3 and Richard Grudsinki 2-3. Every other Royal got one hit, which also means they got out twice. It was an egalitarian effort.
What goes up does come down. Every team can have an off day. The Royals had an off day. We are confident though that we will be a force in the play-offs.
On the bright side we excelled at the pub afterwards, with a good representation and lots of good cheer, as long as we avoided baseball talk, which we did…
Grey Beards Report – Bill Manson
The boys of summer were in action again today. Due to smoke and timing of our last off week, it seemed like we have not been together for some time. The guys were a little rusty but after the first few pitches and hits we found our stride.
Speaking of pitching, John Kemp was outstanding in both games. He kept the Rusty Royals in check for both. Only 2 or 3 balls reached grass in both games. The remainder of hits stayed on the dirt. Fantastic job Johnny!
Game One
The Beards took a early 2 – 1 lead but then the bats went quiet for a few innings before the Royals went ahead 8 – 7 in the 5th inning. The Beards were down by 2 runs going into the bottom of the 7th with 2 out and bases loaded when Wrecking Ball Randy Nunn stepped up to the plate and hit a walk off single to score the two runs to win the game. Other contributors were Chris Barrett who went 3 for 4, Randy Nunn, Don (buy a vowel) Yaschyshyn, John Kemp, Dave Kozai, Steve Moses and spare Will Thurner all went 2 for 3. Solid defense by all of the Beards propelled them to victory.
Game Two
The Royals were a little bit ticked off that the Beards grabbed a hard-fought victory in the last inning of game one so they came out ready to play. However, the bats and defense that helped the Beards to win game one carried over to game two. The Grey guys took a early one run lead after the first inning but found themselves tied at 5 – 5 after the 5th inning. The 6th inning was all Beards, 5 runs to one run by the Royals. The final score ended up 11 to 6 for the Grey Beards. Solid defense and timely hitting by the Grey guys showed in game two with Don Yaschyshyn going 4 for 5, Will Thurner went 4 for 4, and Dave (tomahawk) Kozai, Chris Barrett, Dave Brinton, Randy Nunn and John Kemp each went 3 for 4.
Honourable mentions go to: Jimmy Fenner, who in game two made a huge catch off a foul tip while playing catcher. Not forgotten is Brock Paterson who flashed leather in right field on a number of occasions. Oh yes, this correspondent made a few errors but made up for them too. All in all, a solid effort by the Grey Beards.
July 23
Fine Wines vs Rust Royals
Fine Wines Report – Dan Sanscartier
Some say that defense wins games. Some also say that defense is boring. Well in this week’s games the former held true and the latter proved to be false. In game one, it was the Fine Wines’ defense, led by Bill (not John) King invoking his inner Ron Swoboda (oh c’mon, look him up) making not one, not two, but three great catches in left center field. Those catches, coupled with some fine infield play led by Jonathan Kamin who plays first base like Vladdy (but hits much better) helped lead the Sublime Sauvignons to a 9-5 win.
Game two was a back and forth affair and this time it was the Rusty Royals who flashed the gloves with some solid defense throughout the game. The turning point in this game was in the top of the 4th. With our team down 7-6 and two men on base the aforementioned Kamin launched a drive to right which surely was going to score at least two if not three runs. Except Royals’ right fielder Doug Hyland evoked memories of Willie Mays’ “The Catch” with a spectacular soul crushing over the shoulder catch. Twas a thing of beauty. Unfortunately…for us. After that the Wines’ bats lost their sparkle and were held off the scoresheet the rest of the way and the Royals took the second game 10-6.
Not a ton of offensive highlights to report although Rob (Dr. Evil) Bentley and Jonathan Kamin led the way with 5 hits each over the twinbill, while Rick (Forkball Murray) Halik banged out 4 hits including a standup double and Dave Morton also contributed 4 hits while doing his best Tony Oliva (oh c’mon, look him up too) impersonation by playing nearly every position over two games.
Rusty Royals Report – John Koopman
On Thursday the Rusty Royals battled the Fine Wines for second place. Unfortunately in game one, despite some fine pitching by Mike Canham, the bats were not there and the Rusty Royals fell 9-4. Dario Pretto was 3-3, and Randy Heinbecker, Darrell Northcott and John Koopman all had two hits in the losing effort. The Rusty Royals have a fine defensive squad, but they did have a messy third inning in which the always hard-hitting Fine Wines were allowed to score five. That inning was the difference.
Game Two was a different story. Their pride hurt, the Rusty Royals responded with vengeance. Darrell Northcott, Don Brown and Geoff Coluson each had three hits and most other Royals had two. Tony Lima scored three times to lead the Royals to a 10-6 victory. The play of the day was made by Doug Hyland who initially looked “burned” by a towering Fine Wine hit to RF. Doug turned on the backwards after-burner and made a great catch over his left shoulder to stop a potential Fine Wine rally. His teammates were awed, but not wanting this to go to his head, we limited our praise. Robert Cookish led us on the mound and Mike Canham, in his first game at 3B since midget baseball in the 50s, played flawless defensive baseball (and happily he had no plays to make there).
The Royals are clearly rounding into fine form as the regular season end approaches, and have their eyes set on the Fine Wines in the playoffs.
Red Faces vs White Hairs
Red Faces Report – Tom Hunter
Finally the weather was just right for the delicate Red Faces. Not too cold, not too hot. No rain or smoke. Unfortunately, the Red Faces didn’t show up – figuratively, and also to a significant extent, literally. Good teams don’t make excuses. We do. Five of our regulars were missing, including some of our best hitters. Not saying we would have won a game with a full team, but it might have been within the realm of possibility.
There was some hope early in game one. With men on second and third and two outs Tony Foscarin hit a towering shot to right field over the head of the White Hair’s Rudy Gauer. Except Rudy did a 180, sprinted like a gazelle toward Glenashton East and made an astonishing over-the-shoulder catch. TSN Turning Point?
Bruce Best pitched well in the two losses, as did Denis Bosc for a few innings making his season debut on the mound. We were fortunate to have the services of shortstop Bill Craig on loan from the Grey Beards, who did what Bill Craig does – sucking up grounders like a vacuum cleaner and hitting balls hard or long, or both. Bill finished the day 4-5 with a walk. Denis and Andy Kozai were each 5-7. Everyone else was around the Mendoza Line.
Most of the conversation at the pub was about curling.
White Hairs Report – Jeff Morton
“Rudy Finds a Way – Chapter 124”
The Hairs’ full 14-man roster and the best coach in the league Al King assembled for some ball in very pleasant conditions. After reintroducing each other, Roadrunner approached the plate with a puzzled look. Perhaps his 3-week layoff created his uncertainty. It’s likely Frank couldn’t remember Mac, who arrived at game time after missing several weeks due to injuries. Regardless, it was standing room only in the dugout. The banter from the boys was unprecedented led by Mus Stang.
The Hairs managed to score 2 in the first and 5 more in the 2nd despite 2 K’s. In total we had 4 K’s and the lads were salivating as they anticipated free post-game beverages.
Frank sat the 3rd inning and was replaced in right center by fan favorite Rudy Gauer. The Faces had scored two and had two on base with 2 out. Foscarin or some other nameless Face connected with a line shot over Rudy’s head. Rudy calmly scampered back several lengthy steps and stuck his glove up for an outstanding over the shoulder 3rd out catch. Roadrunner Frank muttered he wouldn’t have made that catch (and no one disagreed). The Hairs coasted after that and won by 8.
The Winers and Rust Buckets finished their first game well before the West diamond. Playing with a 0-0 count in game 2, it seemed the Hairs wouldn’t be first to the Pump. However, after getting out to a 5-0 lead after one the Hairs played good D. We stopped hitting in bunches and won game 2 quickly enough to get the best table at the Pump.
Hairs’ Hitting Heroes were Principal O’Neill, Executive Ed Lincz, Morton, Mac, Guinness Fratia, Scott Sinclair and Gord hopalong Shields.
A pretty good day with 2 wins and first to the Pump and last to leave.
July 16 – no games due to wildfire smoke
July 9
Fine Wines vs Grey Beards
Grey Beards Report – John Kemp
Gee whiz, fellas, buckle in — this week’s tale is a real lulu.
The skies over the old ballyard were grey as a Beard’s chin whisker all morning — overcast, sullen, threatening — the kind of morning that makes a fella wonder if the baseball gods were sore at the Beards. Although the sun eventually peeked out, the Grey Beards were swept in the doubleheader sweep the wrong way.
But hold the phone, just because we lost both games, doesn’t mean there weren’t some hi lights along the way.
Game 1- Teamwork comes through when Bill Manson steps in without hesitation in relief of the tardy starter who was delayed in traffic. In an equally sporting way, he let’s the late starter enter the game in the second inning. At bat we scored five runs in the first inning — Dan Cooper, Bill Manson, Bill Craig, Chris Barrett and Simon Everitt. A great start indeed. Later that game we had more run contributions from Dan Cooper, Bill Manson Don Yaschyshyn, Chris Barrett, Simon Everitt and Steve Moses. Our total offence in game one totaled 15 runs, not bad but it just wasn’t enough to take down the Fine Whiners (who really did whine quite a bit) after they scored 21 runs.
Game 2- I’d like to say things changed, and they did change, just not for the better. We lost 12 to 3. Our only runs came from Bill Manson, Jim Fenner and Steve Moses.
Other highlights:
In game one Dave Brinton leapt into the air to make a great out when he caught a fly ball in the infield, a lot of guys said “he really caught some air” on that jump and he did, at least 2” between the bottom of his spikes and the safety of the ground below, either way, it was a great catch.
Bill Craig, we all hope he’s okay, took one for the team when a ball from the infield bounced off his glove or the field right up into his throat. He left to get medical attention, but we all know just downing a few cold ones after the game would likely have kept the swelling at bay.
Who knew Bill Manson’s yellow batting gloves would be the talk of the town in high baseball fashion terms this season. To put it into context, as I was coaching first base, the other team’s first baseman said ‘man, look at those yellow batting gloves, they match his bat beautifully”. Sure enough, when Bill showed up on first base after getting a hit we asked him about the yellow batting gloves, and without hesitation he says “I bought them because they match my bat”. Filling in for delayed pitcher, scoring a ton of runs, and setting fashion trends – this guy’s doing it all this season.
Don Yaschyshyn was also part of the highlights from this week’s game, at one point we thought he was practicing a move ready for his try out with the Savanah Bananas, demonstrating a new defensive move he threw the ball underhand, backhand through the legs that almost got a runner out at second. Fantastic stuff folks. I think this guy’s got a shot with the Bananas if he just made that out.
Lastly, one of the players on the red whiners mentioned to me in passing that that although we lost both games to them, that I had a no-hitter going from the bump this week. Confused, I asked him to clarify his response. “You had a no hitter on me, one batter, over two games”. I’m not sure that’s what we were looking for as a team, but I suppose between that and some of the good hitting and defence the Grey Beards demonstrated this week, we have something to build on.
So that’s the ballgame, folks — two Ls, one traffic jam, one stand-up teammate, and a sunny finish that almost made it all worth it. Tip your caps to Bill, let’s hope Bill Craig is good to go next week and that we get Randy back. In the meantime we stay positive, have fun and with any luck we’ll get ’em next week.
Fine Wines Report – Dan Sanscartier
We’re going to work backwards this week, starting with the game two recap before featuring the first game. I don’t know if anyone in our league is old enough to remember Dale “forkball” Murray…ahh who am I kidding… we’re all old enough to remember him. Well, we have our own version of him pitching for the Fine Wines team. Rick (forkball) Halik has baffled opposing hitters most of the season and this week he came close to posting a rare shutout in game two of our twinbill against the Grey Beards in a game which we eventually won 12-2. Another unusual occurrence for us was that Rob (Dr. Evil) Bentley actually made an out. While Jeff squared (Francis & Palmer), Jonathan Kamin et al get the big contracts and most of the press, Rob flies under the radar with his remarkable hitting. There are three certainties in life – Taxes, More Taxes, and Rob Bentley getting a hit.
While the second game wasn’t very close the first one was a nailbiter with both teams exchanging blows right to the end in a game where the Grey Beards never gave up even after losing their star shortstop. (Bill Craig, who also happens to be one of the great guys to play with or against in this league.) The game ended with the tying run on second base as we held on to win 17-15. Worth noting here – the Grey Beards somehow reported us as winning 21-15. This may explain their record so far this year … they may need an auditor to come in. They may discover that they’re actually in first place…
Other highlights for the day: Jeff Palmer had 6 hits including the overlap cycle while the aforementioned Rob Bentley had 5 hits along with Jonathan Kamin, Mike Bryant, Bill King and Drew Leblanc who also drove in 5 runs.
Rusty Royals vs Red Faces
Red Faces Report – Tom Hunter
The Red Faces took another big step toward our season goal of winning a participation award.
Game 1 had some positives, including several crisp defensive plays by third baseman Tony Foscarin and rover Andy Kozai. Andy used both contact lenses this week which might have helped.
For a brief, glorious moment in the middle of game 2 the Red Faces actually held a 2-run lead … or was that just a hallucination. However, going into the bottom of the 7th found we ourselves in a familiar predicament – down by 8 runs. The first two batters were quickly retired and some of the more pessimistic (or realistic?) guys started to pack their bags. Then a hit. And another. A run crossed the plate. Then two more. Could this be the start of an epic OMMSPL seventh inning comeback? The next batter smoked a grounder between 1st and 2nd which eluded the Royals’s defence… but not the baserunner from 1st who suffered the emotional pain of being the final out along with the more tangible pain of a bruised ankle. Umpire Howie called him out, reluctantly.
Thanks to spares Frank Sturm and Warren Pantrey for helping us out!
The Red Faces’ offensive output in both games showed some improvement, led by Denis Bosc 6-7 with a walk, Frank Sturm 4-6 with a walk, Andy Kozai 5-7 with a walk and Tony Foscarin 4-7 with a walk. Inbetween games Jeff Biren found a bat which works and promptly went 4-4 in game two – make a note of that bat, Jeff!
Rusty Royals Report – John Koopman
The Rusty Royals are rounding into playoff form. In game one, which the Royals won 12-5, Randy Heinbecker, Richard Grudzinki were 3-3 and young Barny Henderson 2-2. Showing great consistency through the lineup each Royal starter had at least one hit in the game. Mike Way led the way with three runs scored, young Barny again and Darrell Northcott each scored twice. Ten Royals cross the plate. As usual Mike Cannes hurled a great game, walking no-one (that I can remember!). Defensively your Royals played a clean game with particularly good defensive plays by the ever-reliable Randy H, Dario Pretto and Richard Grudzinki.
As the heat mounted in game two, the Royals seemed to wilt. By the end of three your Royals were down 10-8. Mike Way, perhaps the only Royal with significant musculature, managed to pull something, and hobbled through the rest of the game. Two other Royals had appointments with either girls or doctors (it was not clear which, or maybe they were women doctors). Their numbers were thus reduced to 10.5 with two gone and an ailing Way still playing. Our gallant lads though, battled on. With many of our sluggers gone or ailing others needed to carry the torch, and they did. Barny Henderson, Robert Cookish, Tony Lima, John Koopman, Richard Grudzinski, Mike Way, Randy Heinbekker, Darrell Northcott, Cario Pretto, and Richard Grudzinki all reached base three times. The Red Faces hit well too – but they stalled out at 14, while the Royals scored 19.
Look out White Hairs! The Rusty Royals will be ready for you!