The Commish Corner - League Athletics
The Commish Corner Championship Edition! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
The Hot Corner! The Padres, Redlegs, Nationals and Senators vie for the 30+ and 19+ titles! With Mother Nature deciding to put on her own show for the game and grant the teams excellent weather, two very exciting games anoint the possible start of two dynasties! 19+ Division: The Nationals continue to bring their raw power and tough pitching to halt the cinderella-story Senators’ run through the second half of the season. 30+ Division: The Padres once again prove too much for the Redlegs, this time coming from behind to capture their fourth title in three years!
Legends of the Week (Season MVP’s!)
19+ Division MVP: Chris Herald Commish Corner Championship Edition photos by Allie Cortese
30+ Division MVP: “Murph”
Fan Cam!
Game Reports! SENATORS at NATIONALS: 10-6 Nationals’ perspective (by Rich Goad) Wow! What a day for Baseball! November usually brings in the cold weather, falling leaves and from time to time snow. However this wonderful fall Sunday afternoon, two baseball giants were about to clash, the defending Champion Nationals and the Senators. The Nationals quickly took the field after the 30+ Championship between the Padres and Redlegs. The game started about 15 minutes late; however both teams were fired up and ready to play baseball.
If you blinked the top half of the 1st was over. Rich threw 5 pitches to finish off the Senators with two grounders and a pop up. The Senators were not so lucky in the bottom of the 1st when the Nationals came to bat against a usually reliable Wayne. The first two hitters pounded base hits, followed by an error, which scored the first 2 runs of the game. Wayne quickly found his stuff and struck out (Mr. MVP) Chris and got a pop up to finish off the inning, with the Nationals only scoring 2 runs. The top of the 2nd was also a blur for the Senators, with three quick pop ups and out in the field again. The bottom of the 2nd was filled with more Nationals bats, scoring 4 runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 error and a fielder’s choice. It was looking like the Nationals were going to run away with the game at this point, however never count the Senators out. The Senators had 4 batter’s this inning, recording 1 solid line drive hit by Manager Wayne, 2 ground outs and 1 fly ball. The Senators switched pitchers in the 3rd inning and quickly ended the Nationals scoring with 3 up and 3 down. The Senators started the 4th with a quick two outs, however they were not finished. The next batter singled and scored after the next two hitters reached on errors. The Senators finished the inning with 1 run. The Nationals jumped right back scoring 1 run on a hit batter, walk and fielder’s choice, bringing the game to 7 – 1 in the Nat’s favor. The top of the 5th gave the Senators hope, with 1 out the next batter smashed a shot into the left field corner for a double. The next batter grounded out to 1st, moving the runner from 2nd to 3rd. The next batter (Mr. Ball Magnet, Wayne) was hit on the shoulder, giving the Senators 2 base runners. However, the Nationals was able to get out of trouble with a ground out to short. The Nationals continued scoring with 1 run in the 5th with a walk by Darrell and 2nd hit of the day and 3rd RBI by Bobby S. The Nationals switched pitcher’s and brought in closer Bobby, who quickly ended the Senators in the 6th with 3 up and 3 down. The Senators also switched pitchers, bringing in their big lefty Joe Strange, who also made quick work of the Nat’s with 3 up and 3 down. The 7th proved you should never count out the Senators, as they scored 2 runs on a couple of errors, stolen bases and a walk. The Nationals again went quickly in the bottom of the 7th with only a walk, bringing the game to 8 – 3. The Senators had a couple of base runners in the 8th on 2 walks; however a nice double play ended their hopes. The Nationals finally timed the pitching and scored 2 more runs in the 8th. Starting off with Mr. “Legend of the Week” and Game MVP Bobby S. hitting a triple and scoring on a single by Al. Then Kevin with his 2nd hit of the day scored Al from 2nd. The Nationals finished the inning with a 10-3 lead. The Nationals were only 3 outs away from their back to back Championship, but the Senators were not done. With the top of the order up, they started with a single to left and then a strikeout. Now down to 2 outs, the next hitter drove a shot to right, scoring 1. The next batter walked and then a wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position. The following batter singled up the middle scoring two more. The Nationals Manager then made a quick trip to the mound to settle ace Bobby down. The trip must have worked, because Bobby made quick work of the next batter striking him out. The next batter hit a line drive to first, but was snagged by Santos to end the game. The final score was 10–6. The Nationals win! It was a great fall season and was truly a team effort this year, as stated by Nationals Manager Rich! We had injuries, multiple players missing several games for work and many players stepping up to fill key roles. Rich also stated that he wished that he could have given out multiple MVP awards this year, because there were some amazing players this year. So the
Nationals MVP of the Year goes to Chris Herald who had a .400 season batting average, 14 hits, 3 HR’s, 8 runs and 18 RBI’s. The Legend of the Game goes to Bobby Schwier for pitching 4 great innings, going 3 for 4, 1 run, triple, stolen base and 3 RBI’s. The Nationals finished the season with a team batting average of .386 and OBP of .494, 122 hits, 109 runs scored, 34 stolen bases, 6 homeruns, and 87 RBI’s. Those are some incredible numbers! A big thank you to the Senators who never gave up and played hard and also a big thank you for Dave Osbourne and George Marino for umpiring so many games this season. Great Season Everyone! See you all in the Spring.
REDLEGS at PADRES: 13-6 Padres’ perspective (by R.J. Lucciotti) The Padres followed up a disappointing loss in last season's finals by finishing the Fall 2012 season undefeated to win their fourth Legends Championship in the last five seasons. The Redlegs would not make this season's win easy, though. The ‘Legs have some big bats and they picked up a lot of clutch hits, which gave them an early lead. The Padres had trouble getting anything started early off of Redlegs pitcher Ken “Petro” Petrocelli, who held them to one run over five innings. Fortunately, this season's MVP, “The Murph” kept the game close and allowed minimal damage over his five innings on the mound. An unnamed Padres player was quoted after the game: "This guy is basically a senior citizen, and he pitches five innings every single week. He'd pitch all 9 if the rules allowed it; it's pretty unbelievable." In typical Padres fashion, the bats started to wake up around the fifth inning. In the bottom of the 5th, trailing 5-0, newcomer Chris ripped a one out triple to the gap in right center field. Paul
followed with a line drive base hit to left, scoring Chris, and giving the Padres their first run of the game. The Redlegs answered back in the top half of the 6th inning with a run off of the Padres closer, and former MVP, Jayson Putnam, but the Padres started to build some momentum in the bottom half of the inning. Three consecutive one-out walks loaded the bases and set up another former MVP, Tom "The Big Hurtin" Curtin, who hit a clutch single up the middle to score two runs. Another run scored on a wild pitch as the Padres began to close the gap in the game. Jayson allowed the Padres to build on that momentum by shutting down the Redlegs in the top of the 7th inning, keeping the score at 6-4. In the home half of the 7th inning, the Padres took control of the game. Chris and Paul led off the inning with consecutive base hits. Murph, Harold, and Jeff followed with three consecutive walks, which tied the game at 6. John and Jayson followed with two clutch hits, giving the Padres the lead that they would not relinquish. The Padres totaled 9 runs in the bottom of the seventh, and in typical fashion, Jayson closed out the game with a scoreless 8th inning, securing the win for the Padres. When asked about his performance after the game, Jayson reamarked, "Hey .. without Ryan snagging fly balls out in center, I wouldn't be able to close out these big games every season." During the post game interview, Padres' manager responded to the dynasty that his team has built: "Week in and week out, it is someone different who steps up and gets the big hit, has a stellar day on the mound, or makes the key defensive play. There are many guys on this team who deserve to be recognized as MVP because we would not have been able to win year after year without the contributions of every single guy on this team. As long as we keep this core group of guys together, we should continue to compete for the league trophy every season. Guys are going to have to start building more shelves in their homes to hold all their hardware."
The Hot Corner! The Padres, Redlegs, Nationals and Senators vie for the 30+ and 19+ titles! With Mother Nature deciding to put on her own show for the game and grant the teams excellent weather, two very exciting games anoint the possible start of two dynasties! 19+ Division: The Nationals continue to bring their raw power and tough pitching to halt the cinderella-story Senators’ run through the second half of the season. 30+ Division: The Padres once again prove too much for the Redlegs, this time coming from behind to capture their fourth title in three years!
Legends of the Week (Season MVP’s!)
19+ Division MVP: Chris Herald Commish Corner Championship Edition photos by Allie Cortese
30+ Division MVP: “Murph”
Fan Cam!
Game Reports! SENATORS at NATIONALS: 10-6 Nationals’ perspective (by Rich Goad) Wow! What a day for Baseball! November usually brings in the cold weather, falling leaves and from time to time snow. However this wonderful fall Sunday afternoon, two baseball giants were about to clash, the defending Champion Nationals and the Senators. The Nationals quickly took the field after the 30+ Championship between the Padres and Redlegs. The game started about 15 minutes late; however both teams were fired up and ready to play baseball.
If you blinked the top half of the 1st was over. Rich threw 5 pitches to finish off the Senators with two grounders and a pop up. The Senators were not so lucky in the bottom of the 1st when the Nationals came to bat against a usually reliable Wayne. The first two hitters pounded base hits, followed by an error, which scored the first 2 runs of the game. Wayne quickly found his stuff and struck out (Mr. MVP) Chris and got a pop up to finish off the inning, with the Nationals only scoring 2 runs. The top of the 2nd was also a blur for the Senators, with three quick pop ups and out in the field again. The bottom of the 2nd was filled with more Nationals bats, scoring 4 runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 error and a fielder’s choice. It was looking like the Nationals were going to run away with the game at this point, however never count the Senators out. The Senators had 4 batter’s this inning, recording 1 solid line drive hit by Manager Wayne, 2 ground outs and 1 fly ball. The Senators switched pitchers in the 3rd inning and quickly ended the Nationals scoring with 3 up and 3 down. The Senators started the 4th with a quick two outs, however they were not finished. The next batter singled and scored after the next two hitters reached on errors. The Senators finished the inning with 1 run. The Nationals jumped right back scoring 1 run on a hit batter, walk and fielder’s choice, bringing the game to 7 – 1 in the Nat’s favor. The top of the 5th gave the Senators hope, with 1 out the next batter smashed a shot into the left field corner for a double. The next batter grounded out to 1st, moving the runner from 2nd to 3rd. The next batter (Mr. Ball Magnet, Wayne) was hit on the shoulder, giving the Senators 2 base runners. However, the Nationals was able to get out of trouble with a ground out to short. The Nationals continued scoring with 1 run in the 5th with a walk by Darrell and 2nd hit of the day and 3rd RBI by Bobby S. The Nationals switched pitcher’s and brought in closer Bobby, who quickly ended the Senators in the 6th with 3 up and 3 down. The Senators also switched pitchers, bringing in their big lefty Joe Strange, who also made quick work of the Nat’s with 3 up and 3 down. The 7th proved you should never count out the Senators, as they scored 2 runs on a couple of errors, stolen bases and a walk. The Nationals again went quickly in the bottom of the 7th with only a walk, bringing the game to 8 – 3. The Senators had a couple of base runners in the 8th on 2 walks; however a nice double play ended their hopes. The Nationals finally timed the pitching and scored 2 more runs in the 8th. Starting off with Mr. “Legend of the Week” and Game MVP Bobby S. hitting a triple and scoring on a single by Al. Then Kevin with his 2nd hit of the day scored Al from 2nd. The Nationals finished the inning with a 10-3 lead. The Nationals were only 3 outs away from their back to back Championship, but the Senators were not done. With the top of the order up, they started with a single to left and then a strikeout. Now down to 2 outs, the next hitter drove a shot to right, scoring 1. The next batter walked and then a wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position. The following batter singled up the middle scoring two more. The Nationals Manager then made a quick trip to the mound to settle ace Bobby down. The trip must have worked, because Bobby made quick work of the next batter striking him out. The next batter hit a line drive to first, but was snagged by Santos to end the game. The final score was 10–6. The Nationals win! It was a great fall season and was truly a team effort this year, as stated by Nationals Manager Rich! We had injuries, multiple players missing several games for work and many players stepping up to fill key roles. Rich also stated that he wished that he could have given out multiple MVP awards this year, because there were some amazing players this year. So the
Nationals MVP of the Year goes to Chris Herald who had a .400 season batting average, 14 hits, 3 HR’s, 8 runs and 18 RBI’s. The Legend of the Game goes to Bobby Schwier for pitching 4 great innings, going 3 for 4, 1 run, triple, stolen base and 3 RBI’s. The Nationals finished the season with a team batting average of .386 and OBP of .494, 122 hits, 109 runs scored, 34 stolen bases, 6 homeruns, and 87 RBI’s. Those are some incredible numbers! A big thank you to the Senators who never gave up and played hard and also a big thank you for Dave Osbourne and George Marino for umpiring so many games this season. Great Season Everyone! See you all in the Spring.
REDLEGS at PADRES: 13-6 Padres’ perspective (by R.J. Lucciotti) The Padres followed up a disappointing loss in last season's finals by finishing the Fall 2012 season undefeated to win their fourth Legends Championship in the last five seasons. The Redlegs would not make this season's win easy, though. The ‘Legs have some big bats and they picked up a lot of clutch hits, which gave them an early lead. The Padres had trouble getting anything started early off of Redlegs pitcher Ken “Petro” Petrocelli, who held them to one run over five innings. Fortunately, this season's MVP, “The Murph” kept the game close and allowed minimal damage over his five innings on the mound. An unnamed Padres player was quoted after the game: "This guy is basically a senior citizen, and he pitches five innings every single week. He'd pitch all 9 if the rules allowed it; it's pretty unbelievable." In typical Padres fashion, the bats started to wake up around the fifth inning. In the bottom of the 5th, trailing 5-0, newcomer Chris ripped a one out triple to the gap in right center field. Paul
followed with a line drive base hit to left, scoring Chris, and giving the Padres their first run of the game. The Redlegs answered back in the top half of the 6th inning with a run off of the Padres closer, and former MVP, Jayson Putnam, but the Padres started to build some momentum in the bottom half of the inning. Three consecutive one-out walks loaded the bases and set up another former MVP, Tom "The Big Hurtin" Curtin, who hit a clutch single up the middle to score two runs. Another run scored on a wild pitch as the Padres began to close the gap in the game. Jayson allowed the Padres to build on that momentum by shutting down the Redlegs in the top of the 7th inning, keeping the score at 6-4. In the home half of the 7th inning, the Padres took control of the game. Chris and Paul led off the inning with consecutive base hits. Murph, Harold, and Jeff followed with three consecutive walks, which tied the game at 6. John and Jayson followed with two clutch hits, giving the Padres the lead that they would not relinquish. The Padres totaled 9 runs in the bottom of the seventh, and in typical fashion, Jayson closed out the game with a scoreless 8th inning, securing the win for the Padres. When asked about his performance after the game, Jayson reamarked, "Hey .. without Ryan snagging fly balls out in center, I wouldn't be able to close out these big games every season." During the post game interview, Padres' manager responded to the dynasty that his team has built: "Week in and week out, it is someone different who steps up and gets the big hit, has a stellar day on the mound, or makes the key defensive play. There are many guys on this team who deserve to be recognized as MVP because we would not have been able to win year after year without the contributions of every single guy on this team. As long as we keep this core group of guys together, we should continue to compete for the league trophy every season. Guys are going to have to start building more shelves in their homes to hold all their hardware."
