Hockey Goalie Mikayla Demaiter Celebrates Her Birthday Via Bikini Content, Mud Balls & Phil's Rough Start
We might not win another game this season, but last night we took out a team with the walk-up rap music & player introductions after being down 11-6 in the bottom of the 6th and there might not be a better feeling in the world as a baseball coach
Was it pretty? No.
Did they (my team) drive me absolutely nuts for 4 ½ innings? If only I had a heart monitor to measure how fast my blood was BOILING. A cardiologist probably would've told me to take a seat in the shade.
But, we learned something about this team last night: They're not quitters.
That was a big hurdle to overcome considering they were down 11-0 in the bottom of the 4th after a disastrous top of the inning with the ball flying everywhere to the point where I just had to let them flail because they were on full tilt.
In the bottom of the 4th, the boys wore down the opposing starter. I could see his cheeks turning bright red as he began to suck oxygen. He was laboring. He was gassed just like Tom House says happens after 60 pitches, especially on an 85-degree night.
Balls were left high in the strike zone.
With two outs, the kid batting in front of Screencaps Jr. took a borderline 3-2 pitch that was called high & loaded the bases. I couldn't believe it wasn't called strike three. Huge relief there.
With the count 1-0, Screencaps Jr. perfectly timed one and blasted a rocket one-hopper to the right-center fence & cleared the bases after a crazy play at the plate. We tacked on another run and it was 11-4.
We're not dead yet. Chip and a chair. Just survive and advance.
Eventually, their starter was pulled and in the bottom of six, down five, I told the kids that there was a reason why the opposing coach pitched her starter 85 pitchers (that's the max) — there were no other over-powering pitchers. We had to take advantage and that's what happened. We scored five runs with no outs and the game-winner came on a hard-hit ball between short and third.
Who scored the winning run from second base?
The kid who quit in the first scrimmage because he was cold.
Final: 12-11
Quick observations:
- Team Burg is 2-0
- We now have five pitchers who have pitched at least two innings. None of them have thrown 60 pitches. Three haven't given up a run. Thank you, Tom House. Nothing good happens after 60 pitches. I'm sticking to the plan.
- Last night's opponent was against a private school that brought two teams into our league for the season. It was my first experience coaching against a team with the rap walk-up music and player introductions. It's a wannabe-travel organization with fancy jerseys and four coaches in the dugout against my team of rec boys who show up 10 minutes before first pitch. I got to the field 30 minutes before the game & the entire opposing team was in the batting cage. Five minutes later I look up from filling out my lineup and they're doing high leg kick calisthenics from the right-field foul pole to center.
- Meanwhile, Zap, who I had penciled in as our starter, rolls in 10 minutes before he's supposed to be on the mound. "You're starting," I said. "Sounds good," he fires back like it was just another day of life. He's 11. He'd never started a baseball game in his life. Then he goes out and pitches two scoreless innings.
- Daddy Ball Report: Screencaps Jr. started at short, made a very nice backhand play on a ball in the disastrous 4th inning & decided he was going to make some great play by throwing the ball to Zap at 3rd only to throw the ball away instead of taking the easy out at 1st. If I had a heart monitor, it would've not been a pretty sight. BOILING. But then, he had the huge hit in the bottom of 4 and pitched two scoreless innings to keep us in it late. 1-for-2, a big boy double, 3 RBI, a walk and a K looking. He was batting fifth.
- These kids are really growing on me. I have a basic rule when we're down in the final at bat. Nobody swings until the pitcher throws a strike. Zap swings at the first pitch he sees in the 6th inning and lines a base hit. He eventually makes it to third and I say, "You swung at the first pitch. Remember what we talked about?" He looks right at me, smiles and replies, "Yeah, but it was a strike wasn't it?" Touché.
Conclusion:
I'm starting to realize why coaches get into the profession & then never leave. This is a drug. Can I take these kids, some who are in situations for the first time in their lives, and make them believe that they can beat the teams with the walk-up music and the fancy jerseys?
Can I win the mental game? Can we outsmart and outlast the other teams?
I'm finding out that it is a hard drug to quit.
Can Mrs. Screencaps help a Screencaps reader's wife get started?
— Brent P. asks:
Several days ago you mentioned that Mrs Screencaps was going to contribute by writing about her grow operation. My wife is very interested in getting started in the hobby. A suggested first contribution would be to write about how to get started.
Kinsey:
I'll ask Mrs. Screencaps to give me five key points to starting a grow op. Now, before the weed enthusiasts ask if she'll be providing information on how to start a weed grow op, NO, SHE WON'T.
Mrs. Screencaps is strictly an ornamental plant grow op enthusiasts. She's pretty much Mother Teresa.
Readers share Pete Rose memories
— Zach in Nevada tells me:
I had the fortune to meet Pete Rose later in his life. The man was still a stud, walked and talked like a true man. At the time he was 77 or 78. He was so focused on sports, we talked baseball (of which I know little), basketball, and football. We then shifted to talking about family, and he is asking me about my three boys who then all played Rugby and Football (American, not the Euro ‘sport’). Anyway, he asked if my boys would like an autographed baseball. I said absolutely. He walks out to his white Rolls Royce, pops the trunk, and pulls out three 14 Forever baseballs and autographs them. Anyway, I present them to my boys, and I realize I have totally failed as a father as they don’t know who he is, as they had no interest in baseball at all. Totally crushed their grandfather who grew up in Ohio during the heyday of the Reds when he found out. I realized then that I must do better!
— Nathan Brown, one of my old high school baseball teammates, remembers:
Cincinnati beer
— Team Screencaps Ragnar Runner Greg writes:
Hey Joe, not sure if it's too late by the time you get this, but while you're picking up some Cincy Light you should grab a sixer or two of their Mango Bubbler. If you're into shandies or radlers, this is a great option that my beer league softball team has raved about.
Kinsey:
The only thing that I didn't accomplish during my time in Cincinnati was that I didn't pick up beer. I never drank a beer. Never got close to a legit beer store. I stopped at some gas station along the Ohio River about eight miles west of downtown to take a leak & never even looked at the beer cooler.
I need to go back to Cincinnati without a schedule to just live a little.
Swiss beer
— Steve wants to help on this topic:
Jonathan in Mobile should definitely try Cardinal lager. It’s been a minute, but twenty years ago, I lived outside Geneva for a summer with 500 international college students and no televisions. We spent every night out on the patio downing half-liter steins of Cardinal at three francs a piece from the cafeteria (cheaper than milk). Have to love European priorities. My information is dated, but it used to be the equivalent of Budweiser in the US in terms of popularity.
#######################
That's it for this crazy week in mid-May. I'm exhausted, but life goes on and now Mrs. Screencaps and I get to conduct a much-needed two-day garage sale, but first, I have to do the Dan Dakich Show, and then I still have Thursday Night Mowing League to finalize.
Survive and advance. One foot in front of the other. Another day of life just like Zap.
Let's get after it. No quit out there today.
Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com or use my personal Gmail