To Be The Best You Copy The Best

A Yawkey League-leading 1.01 team ERA.

A .949 fielding percentage, third best in the league.

16 wins, 0 losses.

It doesn’t take Albert Einstein or Johannes Kepler to determine which team these stats belong to. Do I even need to say it? For the purpose of this space, I have to. They belong to the Somerville Alibrandis.

On the other hand, take a peak at these stats…

A .320 team batting average, good for tops in the Yawkey League.

A 2.29 ERA, good enough for seventh in the league.

A .915 fielding percentage, good enough for (wince) fourth worst in the league

Those statistics add up to an overall record of 9-7, putting the McKay Club five points behind the Dan Tarpey Division-leading South End Astros. Those same Astros that won both match-ups against the McKay Club this year by a combined total of 16-1. Now South End holds the tie-breaker in the division. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves now, we have work to do before we start talking about tie-breakers and division crowns.

Tuesday night at Jim Rice Field in Roxbury, I watched the McKay Club wither up like a grape in the sun. We made four errors, but there may have one or two that were graciously uncounted. Unfortunately, we were participating in the game of the week and airing on the CN8 Channel. Fortunately, whether we lost 9-0, 9-8, or 17-3, it only counts as one game, and I for one have a short memory.

We can put this game behind us, forget about. Not only did we not play well, but we were very unlucky. I can count at least three balls that were driven directly into the plate against us, making routine groundballs infield singles for the opposing team. I can also remember balls hit by Jake Suoto, Brendan England, Dana Levensaler and Jackie Owens that, on any other night would have been base nits, some of them for extra bases have you.

But good or back luck aside, we deserved to lose that game. Actually, I think we had to lose that game. We made mental errors, we made physical errors, we played shi-, I mean crappy and you know what? That’s what we need. A wake-up call, myself included.

Since we won four straight games to improve the record to 8-4, every member of this team has watched our record fall to 9-7. That’s three losses in four games. We only play 34 games and every game is important. There aren’t any that you can just give away. To put it terms of a 162 season, this would be the equivalent of the Bo Sox losing 14 out of 19 games. Not good.

So what do we do to change our woeful ways? We run the bases smarter. We field more thoroughly. We cut down on the mental errors. But most importantly, we need to play as a cohesive unit.

As a group of guys, we’re pretty tight. We go to Tom English’s on a regular basis, have some beers, shoot the shit and for the most part, we enjoy each other’s company. But on the baseball diamond, we need to be more than a group of guys, we need to be a team. A team trusts one another. A team stays positive under even the most undesirable conditions. And a team should know how to win.

It all starts before the game. The preparation for a baseball game is almost as important as the game its self, just as Dave Treska, coach of the Somerville Alibradis told me. “We (The Alibrandis) have a pretty good pre-game routine that we use to get them all ready for the game.” This doesn’t just mean the four infielders taking two grounders each and lollygagging throws to first and second. This should mean a full nine practicing at about 80-85 percent before game time, assuring themselves that all the bases are covered and everyone knows where to be at exactly the right times. Timing and location are everything. Ask Dana, he’s a real estate guy.

Staying positive is another big part of being a successful baseball team. I don’t want to keep using Somerville as an example, but I will anyway (Hey, who else is a better example that those guys?). I only watch two Somerville games a year, and that’s when they play the McKay Club. I’ll tell you what, I’ve never heard any of those guys saying “this sucks” or “you need to do [this] better” or “this guy doesn’t have anything, we should be hitting the hell out of the ball.”

Those guys win games because they are always prepared to play, they stay alert and they are always positive. They don’t act negative on the bench. They stay loose, pick each other up and always seem to stay positive.

You might not want to hear it and it may well be the last thing you want to hear, but to be successful, you need to copy the best. We need to embody the Somerville ways and play smarter baseball. We need to be more prepared to take the field every night and we need to pick each other up, even in the hardest of times.

Other than that, we just need to win and have fun doing it. See you in Malden on Thursday with a new attitude.

The Right Hand of Rejection

Note: names have been left out to avoid embarrassment.

You guys know who you are.

It was your average night at the bar. Chatter and background music filled the air as the fresh scents of draft beer flowed through the dimly lit watering hole. It was late in the evening, after midnight when an ordinary evening in an ordinary bar turned into a classic moment to be remembered.

After a good amount of draft beers and three shots of liquor, a young baseball player was sitting on his stool. This particular baseball player was qiuet-minded and usually he kept to himself. He never had too much to say, but most of the time, there wasn’t much to say. Slightly hunched and mulling over his next drink selection, he noticed two young ladies who had just arrived. Maybe at a dance club in the heart of Boston, these two lasses may have been run of the mill, but in this particular bar, they stood out like two diamonds in a sea of black.

“Whoa, check out these two at the bar,” the buzzing baseballer said to one of his older teammates.

“Well well well, what do we have here? This may be my lucky night. Not only did we win our game, but I’m gettin’ a number tonight.”

This older teammate, he had been around the block, he knew how to work the situation. With a stumbly wingman by his side, the two dirty, smelly ball players worked out a quick and decisive game plan to woo the two lookers at the bar.

“Ok, let me do the talking dude, because it looks like you’re not in prime shape to work your words,” the older teammate told the buzzed one.

“You know what?” he mumbled to his older counterpart, “you watch me work, I’ll show you how it’s done my friend.”

“Ok skip, whatever you say,” the elder of two chuckled as they both approached the young ladies who were waiting for their drinks. He didn’t feel fighting over whose game plan would be used. After a short meander over to the bar, the two teammates realized these two ladies were not run of the mill at all. They both seemed to be in college, and in seriously good shape, if you get my drift. The two bunnies were certainly dressed for a night out on the town with their short skirts and matching halter tops seemingly magnetizing all eyes towards them.

Our two baseball lads on the other hand, they weren’t quite dressed to go out on the town for a night. Fresh off a victory earlier in the evening they thought they smelled fresh, but in reality their aroma was similar to that of a gym bag. Unbeknownst to the two ballplayers, they approached the lovely ladies with one goal in mind: To score.

“Hi” the two stumble-bums said simultaneously to the girls. If the aromas of the two pairs were any more polar opposite, they would have been from different planets. The girls smelled fresh and sexy, like you’d find in a perfume ad in a Cosmo magazine. It seems at this point, the girls started to become weary, even before sentences were uttered. You could tell by way their smiles disappeared faster than a speeding locomotive.

“Yea, hi, can we help you?” one of the two cutie pies said quietly to the younger of the two ball players.

“I’m sure you can” he said with a laugh as he leaned over to inspect a little bit closer.

Names were exchanged, but after that, the sailing got rough. It seems as though these two women may not have been looking for a few guys quite like these two.

“So,” the buzzed baseball player half-mumbled to one of the fine ladies, “where are you from?”

“Um, I’m from around here. I live in the city” she replied, not seeming too interested.

At the same time this “conversation” was occurring, the older of the two ball players was trying to think of a way to salvage what was left of this debacle. He pulled the young shortstop away for a quick moment, told him a few words of encouragement and returned him to salvage what was left of the wreckage.

“So where you from?” he said again, not remembering that he had just uttered these same words no more than thirty seconds ago.

“I told you, I’m from Boston.” Nearly rolling her eyes into the back of her head, she fidgeted, looked at her friend and was quiet and stoic.

The older ballplayer, using his wisdom and knowledge to try and salvage the desperate situation, turned to the girls and made a futile attempt at a one-liner. They were not interested. Like two full fish looking at hooks with dried on worms crusted around, they were not interested at all.

The younger ball player, trying once again to whirl his magical words together, asked the young dame where she was from. No response. That’s never good. Anything is better than nothing.

Times were getting tough for the two guys, and their opportunity had just escaped out the front door. Walking like they just committed a crime, the two had grabbed their purses, paid their tab and left the bar quicker than you could say “shut down.”

In obvious anguish and half drunk, the younger of the two said “what just happened?”

“You screwed it up bad, that’s what just happened. We had a chance at those women,” the older ballplayer said to the younger one. “You should have just let me do the talking.”

“Wait,” the drunken one said. “Where were they from again?”

“Nevermind,” he sighed to him in disgust.

A beer or two later, they were talking again, still on the topic of the two fine young women who had evaded their Bond-like allure.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t pick those two up, it would have been a great end to this night” the young ballplayer said.

“Yea, it would have. But you know what? We won tonight, just not here. We’re 9-5, on a roll and I’m happy with that. Not satisfied, but happy.” You could tell that the older ballplayer was still a bit bothered by the whole situation that had transpired, but he looked at the bar one last time, and told his teammate “hey, at least we got the team, you know?”

“Yea,” the other replied. “I just wish I could remember where that girl was from.”

Oh So Perfect

Time for a bit of Yawkey League house cleaning here on the Boston Boy’s Sports Page. Not even a month and a half into the 2007 Yawkey League season, we have already seen one no-hitter by Sean Sullivan of the McKay Club Beacons. He threw against the Cambridge Spinners, striking out 11 in his seven innings of no-hit work.

On Saturday afternoon at damp, cool Trum Field Marc DesRoches threw the Yawkey League’s first perfect game of the 2007 season. He threw against the Brighton Braves, achieving his perfecto status in only 73 pitches, while striking out 10.

This was DesRoches’ third start of the season and the second start in which he has yet to allow a run. Currently, His ERA stands at a dental floss-thin 0.41, making even Paris Hilton’s waistline jealous. DesRoches has been one of the best Yawkey League pitchers not only this year, but for the last three seasons as well. In 97.2 career Yawkey League innings Marc DesRoches has a whittled-down ERA of 0.50 while striking out 131 batters and allowing only 44 hits. In his three plus years of service for the Somerville Alibrandis, DesRoches has a record of 15-2 with three saves in the regular season.

What makes Marc DesRoches the best player in the Yawkey League is not just his pitching prowess but his offensive production. While throwing his perfect game, DesRoches went 2-3 at the plate with a double, a triple, four RBI’s and a run scored to help lead his team to the 7-0 win. DesRoches is batting .379 this season, which is actually below his career .393 average. With 76 RBI’s in 91 career Yawkey League games, I think it’s safe to say that you just don’t see players like this come around everyday, whether it be in the Yawkey League or anywhere else for that matter.

Number 514 may not be of too much relevance to you, or to you, or to you either. It wasn’t to me either until Dan Mahoney of the Brighton Brewers got selected by the New York Yankees in the 16^th round of the 2007 MLB draft at number 514. congratulations to Dan and I hope the best for him. And when I say that, I hope that the Yankees trade him away as part of a package deal so that he never has to wear those dreaded pin stripes. Could you just imagine the range of emtions this kid felt as the New York New York Yankees drafted him?

‘Wait, so I just got drafted by Major League Baseball?’ WOW!

‘What’s that you say? It was by the New York Yankees?’

‘I want to be traded.’

Military All-Stars Defeat Yawkey League All-Stars 8-6

On the 63^rd anniversary of D-Day, a defining moment in American history, representatives from all branches of the military congregated in Roslindale to remember those who have fallen in years past, but also to hear two words that everyone was familiar with: “Play Ball!”

On Wednesday night Fallon Field hosted an annual All-Star game that pitted the best of Boston’s Yawkey Baseball League against some of the best athletes that the U.S. Military had to offer. Members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard were outfitted with full camouflage uniforms under the lights as they took a break from fighting for their country to play the American pastime we all know and love, baseball.

As Dave McKay, the president of the Yawkey Baseball League announced that Gulf War veteran and Yawkey League All-Star Chris Deane would be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, some in attendance may have wondered why. Chris seemed like the perfect candidate to perform such an honor. But believe it or not, there was someone else who was even more deserving of the honor.

Shane Burke, an Iraq war veteran and native of Dorchester who lost his left leg below the knee in 2006 was scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to U.S. Navy member and starting catcher for the Military All-Stars, Caleb Robbins. Unfortunately, Burke got lost on his way to the field and was not able to make it in time to toss out the first pitch.

For the Yawkey league All-Stars, Somerville Alibrandi Jon Morse got the start on the mound and looked good in his two innings of work, allowing one run. So far this season, Morse has not allowed a run while strking out 18 in 15 innings of work for his Somerville Team. Coming on to start the third inning was McKay Club fire-baller and staff ace Sean Sullivan who recently threw a no-hitter for his Yawkey League team. Sully had quite an impressive first inning on the mound for the Yawkey League All-Stars, as he allowed just one squib hit to start the inning.

After a stolen base put the leadoff batter on second base, Sean struck out his next opponent looking. Unfortunately, the ball bounced in the dirt and got by catcher Tony Iafolla, leading to a first and third situation with no one out. Now, some pitchers have an “extra gear” they can go to when in tough spots, and Sully has that gear. And he shifted into it as he struck out the next batter swinging, induced a harmless fly out to the centerfielder and then finished off the downshift by striking out the next batter looking to end the inning. The pitching performance for the inning was very impressive, as Sully really bore down, threw quality strikes and made the most out of what was dealt his way.

After the YBL All-Stars collected two more runs in the bottom of the third with some help from powerhouse Alibrandi Marc DeRoches’ opposite field triple and an error on the shortstop, it was time for Sully to get back to work on the mound. The top of the fourth inning did not prove to be as tidy as the third for Sean. After three walks and a groundout, Sully balked in a run after the man on third spooked him by breaking for the plate.

Aidan Powers, a member of the Al Thomas Athletics who got a win against the McKay Club on opening day, relieved Sully of his duties and did not fare much better. He threw a passed ball while facing his first batter, leading to another run for the Military All-Stars. After two more walks loaded the bases again, a sacrifice fly was hit to give the Military All-Stars a 5-4 lead. Powers eventually forced a pop out to third baseman Marc DeRoches, but not before four runs had scored with the help of five walks.

Entering the bottom of the fourth down a run, the Yawkey League All-Stars scratched a run across the board. After Kevin White, a Somerville Alibrandi (see a recurring theme here?) reached on a strike out, he stole second, was moved over on a fly ball and scored on a groundball single by none other than Somerville Alibrandi David Scioli. Scioli put on quite a battle at the plate to tie the game up at five runs apiece.

As Kevin White crossed the plate to score the game-tying run, McKay Club bench coach Billy Cunningham, whom I was sitting next to, cheered as the run crossed the plate and then abruptly stopped. I looked over, and he told me he couldn’t believe he was actually cheering for the Somerville Alibrandis’ players. I nodded in agreement, then compared it to rooting for a New York Yankee in an MLB All-Star game.

Aidan Powers stayed in the game to pitch the fifth inning and looked a lot more like the pitcher I remember seeing on opening day. He made quick work of the Military All-Stars, striking out the side looking by mixing up his pitches very well and most importantly, controlling them too.

The two teams swapped runs over the next few innings, leading to a 6-6 tie going into the ninth inning. For the ninth inning, Kevin Christina of the Brighton Brewers was in to pitch. In three starts this season in the YBL, Christina had rung up 22 batters in 20 innings of work, leading to a respectable 2.45 ERA.

To lead off the ninth inning of the All-Star game, Christina allowed the silent killer, a lead-off walk. Just a quick aside here. I don’t have a stat for this, but I have to say that at least 50 percent of the time, when there is a leadoff walk in the seventh inning or later of a game, that player ends up scoring one way or another. I’ve watched a lot of baseball, and it is a recurring theme. Don’t walk the lead-off batter, it will kill you.

After a force out at second, steals of second and third, a walk and a theft of second by the base runner at first, the Military All-Stars had two men in scoring position with only one man down and outfielder Ronnie Stahl at the plate. Stahl, a member of the U.S. Navy and graduate of Old Dominion University knocked a two-run single up the middle to plate two runs, giving the Military All-Stars a two-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

With one out in the ninth, the Military All-Stars went to their apparent closer, the 6’ 2” right-hander out of the U.S. Navy, Will Zavala. Zavala entered the game and struck out the first batter he faced on a knee-buckling curve. He retired the final batter on a groundball to the second baseman to end to game and give the Military All-Stars an 8-6 victory over the Yawkey League All-Stars, improving their record to 6-1.

Now I know that Dave McKay was disappointed that the best of the Yawkey League didn’t win, but from the perspective of a baseball fan this was a great game. Aside from one inning that was filled with bases on balls, this game was about as clean as they come. There was good hitting all around, like the screaming RBI liner that DeRoches hit to the opposite field or the bomb that was hit about 400 feet to dead center by one of the Military All-Stars.

I was rooting for the Yawkey League All-Stars too, but I know good baseball when I see it. I know quality baseball when I see it too. This game was both. Win or lose, I was happy just being able to watch the best of the Yawkey League face off against the best of our country’s military on the 63^rd Anniversary of D-Day. It was a historic day for our country and fun evening for all involved. For next year, let’s just get Shane Burke better directions so he can throw out that first pitch and we can honor the way he deserves.

No-No's, Cold Weather and Offense Galore

June 3^rd. A Sunday evening. One would think that in Boston, you could relax for a few hours watching a good ole’ Yawkey League baseball game in just a shirt and pants, maybe a jacket if there was a breeze blowing off of Dorchester Bay. Not last night though.

If I were to look behind me into the bleachers last night, I would have seen two girls huddled up in a blanket like a couple hotdogs. It was cold. It was windy at times. It was wet. It was Field of Dreams meets Gorillas in the Mist last night at Ronan Park. Most of the time, for my teammates and I anyways, we didn’t notice the cold, or the wet or the wind. We were too busy winning.

Back to back games against the sub par Chelsea Nationals this weekend provided two wins for our McKay Club Beacons as we brought our record to an acceptable 6-4. Now, these Chelsea Nationals are anything but national. Come to think of it, we can compare them to the Washington Nationals of MLB. They’re a lower level Yawkey League team, but we don’t play the games on paper, as they say, so wins are wins. We needed to win those games. And win we did.

We won with pitching, we won with hitting. But most importantly, we won our games by playing solid defense behind our pitchers. These last two games have produced only three errors, a more acceptable number than the 11 we committed previous to the weekend of the home-and-home series versus the Nationals.

Why the turn around in defensive play you might ask? More practice? Nah. Mr. Iverson said it all. "We talkin’ ‘bout practice?" What has made the difference is one of the newest members of our team, Shawn Raposo. Raposo can play three infield positions (shortstop, second base, third base) and his presence at the hot corner these last two games has made a huge difference in the way our infield in constructed. He takes pressure off Jake Souto and Dan Ciocca and makes our defense much improved.

Sunday night in the mist, Ciocca and Souto turned the niftiest double play I’ve seen in quite some time. If I remember correctly, it was a web gem on Baseball Tonight last night. Here’s how it went down. There was a bounding ball to shortstop that Ciocca had to wait on, he played the high hop, shot it over to Souto covering the bag where he bare-handed it ala Roberto Alomar circa 1995 and threw on to first baseman John Rutkauskas for the twin killing. It was velvety smooth.

What’s really been making headlines for the McKay Club is the offense. Yea, that offense. The one that struggled mightily at times in 2006. How about leading the league in batting average, hits and runs scored now? Much better? I thought so too. As of right now, the McKay Club has nine players hitting over .300 with Dana Levensaler leading the way at a robust .533, putting him eighth overall in the Yawkey League. Dana, Rob Linn, Chris Deane, Dan Ciocca, Deuce McAllister and the rest of the McKay Club have all been driving the ball, producing runs and playing to win.

Speaking of producing runs, I need to give John Rutkauskas lots of credit for laying down a gorgeous bunt last night on a squeeze play. John has been struggling to find his groove at the plate so far this season, but he plays hard all the time, is a beast in the field and hopefully that bunt can give him the boost he needs to start hitting like we all know he can.

7 innings pitched. 1 run. 2 walks. 11 strikeouts. NO hits allowed. Big congratulations to Sean Sullivan, our token redhead and staff ace for tossing only the second no-hitter in McKay Club history. John Nee was the only other player to do so, accomplishing the feat in 2005 against the West Roxbury Devils. Even though Sully was mildly agitated with the sub par defense behind him, he overpowered the free-swinging Cambridge Spinners for seven innings.

Contrary to what Sully may think, he couldn’t have done it without the defense behind him, as they made some key plays to keep the feat intact. I have a feeling that we may see another one of these performances out of Sean before the season is over. With his overpowering fastball and knee-buckling curveball, he is certainly a no-hitter waiting to happen in the Yawkey League. Hey Sean, next time, we’ll try and help you with a perfect game.