Member of the Lower Mainland Baseball Association
Stars 8 Legends 8
Posted April 18, 2018
The smell of fresh cut grass. Warm rays of sunshine gleaming beneath a clear blue sky. Songbirds frolicking among the cherry blossoms. These are the signs of spring. And baseball. Yes spring and baseball returned to George Pinter Field this past Saturday morning, but mostly baseball. Spring is reported to still be wintering in some Mexican resort.
Nevertheless(look it up), after suffering though six months of the dark Canadian winter, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night could stay the Stars from taking the field to face off against the Legends to kick off the 2018 season. Whatever Hardcore ate or drank the day before was another matter entirely. The SGR wishes Hardcore a speedy recovery.
New SGR feature for 2018 called “Things I learned at the Game Today.” Baseball players are full of it. Ideas I mean. Some of which are even useful. And they aren’t shy about passing on their perceived wisdom. So here are a few of the Things I Learned at the Game Today:
• The difference between a Wilson A500 glove and a Wilson A200 glove is 300. Thanks to OConn for that.
• Before you go three days freezing because you lost your only winter jacket at school and are too embarrassed to tell anyone, try checking the school lost and found. Wisdom from TrainRick.
• It’s ok if all your worldly possessions end up in the school lost and found, so long as you still have your glove. Well said by Tup.
• Baseball is 90 per cent mental. The other half is physical. Thanks Yogi!
• Goats make better mascots than pets. This guy:
Lurnin’ stuff is always gud, but playing baseball is even better. And Saturday’s game against the Legends was no exception. Not to take anything away from the Legends who played very well, but the Stars really did snatch a tie from the jaws of victory. Yes, the brain farts added up and as Yogi might have said not only do they stink, they are deadly. The Legends started things off scoring a run in the first off of RookieHawk who worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in his pitching debut. Stars racked up 5 runs over the next 5 innings while Physio held the Legends to just one more run. Legends bats came alive in the Seventh cashing in 3 runs to tie the score off of ARob who claimed baby powder kept the ball slipping out of his hand. After the Stars added a couple of more runs, the meat of the Legends order struck again for 3 runs in the top of the ninth to go ahead 8 to 7. In the bottom of the Ninth after OConn and IKat reached base, Crash moved them over on a sac bunt. ARob then hit a single to centre bringing in OConn to tie the score and IKat to third.
Trivia time! Who remembers the last time the Stars were in the bottom of the ninth in a tied ballgame with IKat on third with one out and the Star’s best bunter at the plate and we didn’t try to squeeze the runner home? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Well, if you guessed the 2014 Championship game you would be correct. And just like that game IKat was stranded on third. In fairness this time we don’t even have a squeeze signal this early in the season. Déjà vu all over again.
To paraphrase Mark Twain: "There are three kinds of ties: ties, damned ties, and statistics." Then there was someone who once said “a tie is like kissing your sister,” as though that makes things better. Although I guess it depends whose sister we’re talking about here? As for me I don’t even want to know how that guy thinks that anything is like kissing HIS sister. On the flip side a tie is better than a loss, and technically the Stars are now in the midst of an undefeated season, so there is that.
Starting a new season is always great, and not even a tie can spoil the fun and excitement of being back on the field with your teammates. But the change of seasons brings change. The SGR would like to acknowledge the Champ who retired after the end of last season. The Champ joined the Stars back in 2011 and was a big part of the Stars success and our rebuilding effort in 2014. During that time he was one of the Stars most reliable hitters while making some of the most amazing, if sometimes unorthodox defensive plays at second base and helping the Stars finish in first place 5 of those seasons and making 5 appearances in the playoff championship game. But mostly he was a great and passionate teammate and friend who played hard and made being on the Stars a whole lotta of fun. So, while no one ever truly quits the Stars (except for that bus driver pitcher guy we had who tore his jersey off as he stormed off the field and never came back) the SGR wants the Champ to know we miss him, we wish him well and will keep jersey #7 available in case a comeback is ever in the works. Hey, if Roaseanne can do it…
Next game is at Holly against the former Royals now known as the Sun Devils. Bring your sunscreen.
GO STARS!!!