Pirates 10 Stars 0

Well that was interesting.

Stars endured their worst beatdown since losing 20 to 9 to the same Pirates on July 15, 2015. The Pirates won this game top to bottom front to back left to right and top to bottom. Beatdown seems almost too kind. To add insult to injury some yahoo sat in the stands and took great pleasure in ridiculing us the entire game. Although in fairness he ridiculed both teams.

In hindsight it should have obvious right from the start that this game would be unusual. The teams arrived at Hillcrest on a beautiful sunny day expecting near perfect playing conditions only to encounter an infield that looked more like the track at Churchill Downs after one of those hairy southern thunderstorms that the weatherman always blames on the evil Canadian cold front swooping down and wreaking havoc on the gentle, warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently the GVRD water rationing applies to everybody except the Vancouver Parks Board. The poor The Champ had such a rough time trying to catch in the muck around homeplate stumbling badly on a couple of plays that he would have had to be put down if he were a race horse. If one didn’t know better it was almost as though somebody intentionally turned on the sprinklers in order to get the game rained out. Someone perhaps who couldn’t be at the game because they had to take their family camping and wanted the game to be delayed to another date. Someone familiar with the ‘I can get us a rainout’ technique employed by one Crash Davis in Bull Durham. Just sayin’.

Here’s where the SGR would normally provide game high(low)lights. Suffice it to say that pitching was solid as usual, fielding was questionable as usual, and hitting was sparse which was not usual. The Champ gunned down a runner trying to steal second on a solid throw to Tup in the first and Physio ended the inning by throwing out a runner at home 9-2. KEN threw 5 solid innings followed by Simps for 2. OConn made his 45+ pitching debut that left even the crazy/drunk yahoo in the stands who made fun of us all game speechless. Debut also for New Hawk who had one of the Stars few hits. Welcome aboard.

So let me leave you with a story to help try to make sense of all of this. Why you say? Because that’s what the SGR does. Wrap things up in a nice little bow, just like they do on TV sit-coms. Calm-Crisis-Solution-Lesson-return to calm all in 30 minutes, less commercial breaks.

Most of you will recall the iconic song from the 1960’s “Get Together.” it was written by Chet Powers, best known under one of his aliases, Dino Valenti (or Valente), as the lead singer of Quicksilver Messenger Service. Powers was born and raised on the carnival circuit, where he learned the essential skills of lying, cheating, and showmanship, not to mention ukulele and guitar. A brief stint in the Air Force ended with a psychiatric evaluation that read, in part: “Chester Powers is capable of doing anything he sets his mind to, however, he thinks that the whole United States Air Force should conform to his way of thinking.” Anywho, in the early 1960s, he wrote and recorded “Let’s Get Together” which had little commercial success. Shortly after he was arrested for drug possession and spent two years in Folsom Prison. To raise money for his legal fees, Powers sold the publishing rights to “Let’s Get Together” to Frank Werber, the manager of the Kingston Trio. The Kingston Trio released the first version of “Get Together” on their mildly successful 1964 album Back In Town. Later in 1964, folksinger Hamilton Camp released a version not unlike Powers’ recording, on his Paths of Victory album, but it also made little impact. David Crosby also released a version of the song in 1964 before he had success as a member of the Byrds. The first charting single version of “Get Together” was released the following year by We Five, another folk band managed by Werber. It hit 31 on the Billboard chart. The Jefferson Airplane got in the act including a version of the song on their 1966 debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. It was well reviewed at the time, although it was never released as a single, again leading to it being mostly forgotten. In 1967, the Youngbloods, a band fronted by Jesse Colin Young, released their version, with the simpler title, “Get Together,” on their self-titled debut album. Released as a single, it peaked at 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and seemed destined for obscurity. But in 1969, it was used in a public service announcement for unity from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.  The single was re-released, and it hit #5 on the Billboard charts, starting its march toward becoming a cultural touchstone.

The moral of the story is well, I guess first of all, don't do drugs, especially ones that aren't performance-enhancing. Recreational drugs make you think you're performing better when actually you don't. Kind of like thinking a new glove will make you a better fielder. Or another new glove. Or another. Second, unlike the carnival circuit there is no place for lying, cheating, and showmanship in baseball. Those things are all selfish. Baseball is a team sport where success is measured by how well each member does their part and how well all members work together. Having confidence that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to can be useful, but staying focused on the important task at hand is more important. You can have a great song on your hands or a great glove on your hand and still not have any success. Success depends on not letting things distract you from your goal like umpires, mud,  or bags full of cocaine. It depends on expecting the unexpected by anticipating what is likely to happen in a given situation, and relying on teammates who can be trusted to do their job and help each other out. You may have a good song idea, but need someone else to perform it. You may not know where to throw the ball since you are busy trying to catch it, so your teammates help by letting you know where the play is. It’s all the same thing really. Just 'Get together,' man. That's what it's all about. Far out! And if that doesn’t work you can always change your name and start another band.

In related news, a team of scientists at a research institute in Kenya think peste des petits ruminants, or “goat plague”, could be eradicated too, thanks to their new vaccine. The disease kills up to 70% of the herds of sheep or goats it infects, animals vital to the survival of many of Africa’s poorest people. Preliminary tests also show the vaccine can add 100 points to your batting average. Faster please!

Stars have the weekend off to celebrate “BC.” Best of luck to Tup and Big Lar off to play in the Canadian National Oldtimers tournament 57+ division in Hamilton, ON.

Next up Eagles at GPF.

GO STARS!!!