Bulldogs Squat on Rockies

And in the process, beat Revere, 12-3 behind a bevy of walks and a hefty nine-run first inning at Maplewood Park in Malden.

After missing the playoffs by three points in 2007 (even though they won 9 out of their last 10 games), the Bulldogs are off to a quick 2-0 start in 2008, outscoring Revere and the Brighton Black Sox a combined 15-2.

"I think we have the best offense in the league," veteran outfielder Chris Deane said after his Bulldogs beat the Rockies, last season's number-two seed in the Yawkey League playoffs.

Malden worked eight walks in the victory, with second baseman Troy Ingemi leading the way with three while driving in two runs for the Bulldogs. Ingemi led Malden last season with a .473 on base percentage in 28 games.

Mike Barthel, a member of the McKay Club Beacons in 2007, pitched the final three innings of the game to pick up his first win of the season. Barthel allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two.

How important was this game to Malden? "It's huge," Deane said. "That's the kind of team that will be in our way in the end of the season."

Deane, who spent more than a dozen years with the McKay Club, has added leadership, some offensive pop and a good glove to an already deep Malden team this season.

Two Firsts in One Game For Young Sox Pitchers

It was last night at Jacobs Field in Cleveland that marked the return of Jon Lester. We all know and will always remember his heroic story, his battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and his victory over it.

I am fairly certain in my statement when I say that everyone reading this right now has heard all the details about the disease and how Lester was treated successfully and has made a full recovery. And most of you watched the Red Sox-Indians game last night – maybe not with as much emotion as Jon Lester’s mom – and saw what most Sox fans had been waiting for since spring training: a chance to see Jon Lester pitch in the big leagues again.

Well, there he was last night, the center of attention atop the loneliest circle a baseball field has to offer, surrounded by almost as many Red Sox fans as Indians fans. Lester came through with the win, his first in the Major Leagues since he was diagnosed with Aniplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.

Here was his pitching line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR. 96 pitches, 55 strikes.

Lester got the win, and all the publicity. Of course he did, and it was well deserved publicity. What he has accomplished was extremely courageous and there will probably be a five minute long, ear-ringing, foot-stomping standing ovation for him when he takes the mound at Fenway Park for the first time since his return. There’s actually a good chance that Fenway will collapse from all the excitement.

But what got lost in the shuffle of Jon Lester’s return in my vision was a 25 year-old fire-baller from right around the corner. West Roxbury, actually.

After logging 79.2 innings of relief for the Boston Red Sox over parts of three seasons, Manny Delcarmen got his first career major league save. Usually this would just be a nice story about the local kid who grew up a Red Sox fan, had talent, got drafted and pitched for the home town team. A dream come true of course.

But for me, my teammates, the other teams and all the alumni of the Yawkey Baseball League, we’re collectively proud of Manny Delcarmen for putting us on the map for future talents that happen to swim through the kettle known as the Yawkey League.

The next time someone happens to ask me or anyone else who happens to play in the Yawkey League, how the talent is, we can say to them:

“You know who Manny Delcarmen is?”

“Yea, the set-up man for the Sox.”

“Well, he played in the Yawkey League when he was 18 years old.”

Now, I wasn’t there to face him, and I’m glad I wasn’t because I may have soiled myself in the process. He was an elite Yawkey League player, but nonetheless, there are still a few guys on my team that can say that they played against him before the spot light shone bright on him.

The key to Delcarmen’s successes this year has been simple. He’s throwing first pitch strikes on a consistent basis and he’s locating his pitches. That’s really all you have to do to be successful at the Major League level. And throwing 95 miles and hour seems to help too.

The point of this is to be proud that you have a chance to play in the Yawkey League. Whether you’re a potential Yawkey league HOF’er, a middle of the road guy or you’re just sitting on the bench waiting for your chance to play, think about who sat down on that very same bench at one point in the past.

And you never know when another Manny Delcarmen or Rich Hill is going to appear in the Yawkey League, leave his impression and give you another name to drop on your friends in the future.

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.

The McKay Club Beacons are Officially Fun to Watch

Well then, back to business as usual. Memorial Day has come and gone. And what a Memorial Day it was. In Boston, we saw weather with timing as impeccable as the Boston Red Sox offense. And speaking of those Red Sox, they just keep sweeping right along as the New York Yankees keep getting swept away.

I’m sure that McKay Club outfielder Dana Levensaler won’t be too happy about the Yankees, but he has a team closer to his heart than those hapless Bronx Bombers. And that team would be our McKay Club Beacons. Dana has been a great example of how this team has already seemed to have come together more cohesively this season that at any point during all of last season.

This past Friday night proved to be a prime example of how this team sticks together and, above all else, just wants to win and have a great time doing it. I mean, how many times do you see a team get three runners gunned down, at home plate have you, and still end up pulling out the win, 8-4? If you were thinking ‘not too often,’ then you were right.

I digress. Dana is an old man. It had to be said. Now for the good part. He is an old man who can swing one hell of a bat, even under the weather. Suffering from a neck injury that, earlier in the day had limited him from scoping women on Newbury Street in Boston, came through with three hits in our 8-4 come-from-behind victory. Two of the three hits Dana delivered were a few of the hottest, hardest scorched balls I have seen in my two years in the Yawkey League.

That’s just one of the many finer points from Friday night that I believe solidified our team and put into our minds that, much like the 2007 Red Sox team, this team can come from behind, score runs and win games with ability and with timely hitting. This year, more hits seem to be falling and the stats are showing it.

Through six games, the Beacons’ offense has been putting out like a, um, well you guys know here I’m going with that one. I’ll just leave it at that. The team is currently ranked fifth or better in team batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS (ob-base-plus-slugging for those of you who might not know) doubles, hits and runs scored. Now, some of these stats may have been inflated by the eight-run, 17 hit performance on Friday night at Towne Field, but I can say this much. This team, as constituted, is much more gifted offensively than last year, and I don’t mean gifted in a special-ed kind of way either.

Last season, I looked at Dan Ciocca as a pitcher first, and an offensive player second. This season, not so much. Ciocca has absolutely been hitting the cover off of the ball, spraying hits to all gaps and fields so far this season. His biggest hit of the young season by far occurred after an intentional walk of Chris Deane to load the bases. Fearing the Yawkey League power threat, Savin Hill chose to pitch to Dan Ciocca instead of Deane and he made them pay for it big time. That was the biggest hit of the season so far for the team, as it gave us a 5-4 lead that would not be relinquished.

What allowed us to come from behind, and what will allow us to come from behind again and again is the pitching. Adam Kuils, Friday’s starter, didn’t get the win that he deserved, but he pitched well enough for it and that’s what has happened for the most part this season. Good pitching performances by the group I am officially deeming The Four Horsemen have allowed us to rank seventh in the Yawkey League in ERA while allowing only 10 earned runs while striking out 40 in 41 innings. The Four Horseman are as follows: Sean Sullivan, Adam Kulis, Dan Ciocca and Ryan Thomas. With three consistent starters and one very reliable bullpen arm, this team is poised to shut down opposing offenses and win ball games.

The only troublesome area, the one that may have cost us a game or two already, is the defense. In particular the infield. Now i’m not pointing fingers, but the infielders have allowed all 11 errors so far this season, leading to our rank of 13^th in the Yawkey League in fielding percentage. What can be done to fix this? A longer infield practice before games, or games of pepper to strengthen muscle memory and reflexes? Sure, whatever works. Maybe the kinks are out and more ground balls will start finding gloves. I’m an optimist, what can I say?

With a 3-3 record, a top-five offense and solid pitching, I can’t bitch about much. Yes, the defense needs a little bit of work. That will come. The important part is that, as of now, we know how to win and we believe that we can win no matter what. Three run deficit in the seventh? Big deal. With Chris Deane, Rob Linn, Dana Levensaler and Dan Ciocca in the middle of the line-up, bring on your closer. Or your starter after six innings. I know we can win and my team mates know we can win. Come to the games and watch, drink with us afterwards at Tom English’s Pub and enjoy the ride.

Reflections of a pitcher

As I sat on the bench at Trum Field in Somerville Tuesday night I had a chance to reflect back somewhat on last season. The weather was nice on Tuesday night, somewhat windy and partly cloudy. And dry. Ask anyone who was there, they saw the dustbowl-esque clouds of faux infield blowing around making the air cloudy and the view impaired. For whatever reason, after I made my appearance in the game and as I was sitting on the bench, I began to think about last season, how it went, how we have improved our team and why we will be better this season than last.

Baseball is a game of adjustments. As an athlete and baseball player, one has to look upon themselves with a judging eye and ask what am I doing, how can I do it better and how can I improve on my game? Whether it is a pitcher making mechanical adjustments in their delivery, a batter tweaking his stance just the slightest bit to create better bat speed or enable them to see the ball better, or a fielder changing his footwork or working on taking better routes to the ball, the game of baseball means constant change. It’s Darwin’s theory of evolution in a way. Change or perish, it’s as simple as that.

Last season can’t be looked at as a success, that’s for sure. But looking back on last season and looking at what we had constituted on the field Tuesday night against the uber-dynasty known as the Somerville Alibrandis, I came to the realization that we are a much better ball club. Win or lose Tuesday night, that wasn’t important, it was elementary. What Tuesday night did for me, and I’m sure for the rest of our team, was that it gave us a chance to gauge what we had and where we needed to be, going forward.

I saw Sean Sullivan pitch three innings. He has a small rib cage tendon issue, so he’s not 100%. It didn’t matter though because for three innings, he threw very well and I’m sure he impressed everyone on each side of the infield. The mere fact that he only threw five innings for his Bridgewater State College team this season bodes extremely well for us. He is very fresh and I for one can’t wait for the regular season to start because when Rusty, or Big Red, or Sully, or whatever you choose to call him is on his game, not even the Alibrandis can make him flinch.

After Sully threw his three innings, he was followed by Adam Kulis for one inning, Ryan Thomas for two, Geoff Wiech for an inning and then, I’m sorry for this, a new addition to our team threw the last inning of relief. Your name escapes me right now, you can chastise me for it later on. The end result was a 2-0 defeat, but I don’t think it was a defeat at all. What I saw on the field on Tuesday night made he happy, excited, intrigued, and most of all – it made me confident. Confident that the team Dave McKay put together for 2007 will be a contender in the Yawkey League.

Our pitching staff is young and ready to go. Sully is our team ace and we all know that. He knows that. (Don’t let it get to your head too much, ok Sull?) Last season was the first for Sully, Adam, Ryan, and Dan Ciocca, whom arguably was the best and most consistent pitcher for us last season. With one year under our belts, this season looks to be better for all of us because we are more comfortable here and we have some experience against the Yawkey League teams.

The addition to the pitching staff that intrigues me the most is that of Geoff Wiech. Geoff got a chance to pitch in the game on Tuesday and I have to say that he has very good stuff. His fastball has good velocity and good movement, his curve is big and slow like John Ratkauskas (just pokin’ some fun Johnnie) and he has a nice cutter and a change-up. If Geoff can keep consistent he will become another valuable chip in the poker game I like to call baseball.

The problems that reared their ugly heads most often last year were a lack of timely hitting and sloppy defense at times. From what I’ve seen, this season looks like it will be an improvement on both fronts. The additions of Rob Linn and Dana Levensalar will bolster a line up that already includes the likes of Chris Deane, Andy “Deuce” McCallister, Josh McDonnell , Jackie Owens and John Ratkauskas. From what I have seen so far, these additions will give the McKay Club more of a chance to drive in runs on a consistent basis.

Everyone involved in the pitching staff last year will tell you that the defensive play created sleepless nights and headaches for all involved in the game. The McKay Club used a lot of different combinations in the infield last year and I think that was the root of the problem defensively. This season, we have players who are committed to showing up and want to play baseball the way it is supposed to be played. The nicest addition to the defense I have seen has been shortstop Jay Suoto all the way from friggin’ New Bedford. If he’s not dedicated, then I don’t know who is. What I have seen from him in the infield impresses me very much. He has good hands and foot work and his throws to first are accurate. Between him, Josh McDonnell and Dan Ciocca, the McKay Club seems to have a good core of middle infielders.

The outfield defense was good last year and it has become even better with the addition of Dana Levensalar, who will prove to increase the depth of the outfield tremendously. Dana will contribute this season in all facets of the game, including pitching, fielding, and hitting. He will also prove to be a veteran presence on our bench and out on the field. I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say that I welcome the addition of Dana with open arms.

The overall ability of the McKay Club has been heightened over the last year in all facets of the game. Our pitching staff is deeper and more experienced, our offense is now well-balanced, and our defense has been upgraded in key areas. Not only that, but our overall team comradery will improve dramatically with the introduction of our new team sponsor Tom English, owner of the Tom English Pubs in South Boston and Dorchester. This sponsor gives us a chance to spend more time together and become more of family than just a team. I am looking forward to more laughs and more continuity, but most importantly, I am looking forward to more wins for the McKay Club Beacons in 2007.

Our team is poised to take the Yawkey League by storm this season.