This past Thursday was an Opposite Day. OBI Played a split doubleheader and won the back half instead of the standard front half going back several years,,, errr, I mean months ... This was an unfortunate happening as game 1 was lost to first place and now 8-0 BISP ...
Fortunate OBI scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th and final inning to take the second game 17-16 on Spillane's 2-out single... The loss-win combination leaves OBI 6-2 at the halfway point of Season 3 and in good position for a late season run as we look for an opportunity to play BISP again in the post-season tourney.
Well,, am now in paragraph three and it is probably time to mention our sponsor... Call A Awesome Painting for all you internal and external wall recoloring needs. (There Steve, mentioned you in the article) ... lol
Game 1's loss to BISP was especially painful given OBI took a 10-4 lead into the bottom of the third inning riding Larry's inside-the-park Grand Slam. BISP scored 4 and then 2 in the bottom of the 3rd and 4th innings respectfully, taking an 11-10 lead.
This held up as the final score as OBI was 2 for 12 after Larry's GS in the last 2 2/3 innings. Excellent defense helped hold down BISP including Spillane's catch of a line drive whilst heading back to the LC field wall.
Game 2 was highlighted by Steve-Os 2 Home Run game. His personal back-to-backs drove in 3 runs igniting the OBI offense. Juan made it for the late game and collected his first 3 hit game of 2013.
Though, most of the praise has to go to Matt as he took a called 3rd Strike to open the game winning 5-run inning. OBIers were definitely motivated by the impending beer purchase...
Following are the Season 3 stats (thru week 4) and the current YTD OBI stats:
With a YTD update due out during Season 3's mid season arrival, am instituting a new rule for Team Leader designations on our stat sheets.
--> To qualify as a team leader during a Season or in YTD percentage statistics, the following qualification has been instituted: A player needs to have 2.0 Plate Appearances (PA) per Scheduled Team Game.
This value was calculate utilizing the following formula:
MLB PAs Required for Batting Title: 3.1 per Scheduled Team Game ...
PA has been adjusted down based upon Innings Per Game and Players In Lineup... Note that am estimating and average of 10.5 batters in the lineup per game as typically, we have either 10 or 11 batting. Also, I round the final Minimum PA value down by removing .0669 from the value as ,,, well, my reasoning is given below ...
MLB = 9 Innings
Softball = 7 Innings
Adjustment = .778 ( 7 / 9 )
MLB = 9 Batters in Lineup
Softball = 10.5 Batters in Lineup (Average Est.)
Adjustment = .857 ( 9 / 10.5 )
Minimum PAs calculated as 2.0669 ( 3.1 * .778 * .857 )
The Minimum PA value is rounded down to 2.0 since I didn't want to work with decimals ;~) ...
This qualification is up for discussion with anyone who cares to debate its merits ...
Yes, David, you definitely have been missed. And OBI is happy you are not missing on your swings. DC's 5 for 6 performance included producing 44% of week 3's runs by launching 3 bombs, scoring 5 runs and driving in 6.
OBI had timely hits when they were needed and played excellent defense culminating in a game-saving, sliding catch by RF'er Ryan with 2 outs in game 2's bottom of the 7th inning...
There were several good plays made on hard hit balls. Defense definitely helped lead the way to OBI taking both games, 11-7 and then the 8-7 finale. This was OBI's first 2-0 week when hitting and on base pct. both were below .500... The team average was .478 and we had an on base pct. of .493 ...
Spillane also chipped in with 2 big flies. His first was a Game 1 bottom of the first inning blast that help us begin to erase We All Paid's 5 run top of first outburst. Chris' other shot was in the top of the 7th in Game 2, unfortunately, we were out of HRs as Dave had already maxed us out...
Larry pitched two excellent games, especially given he has about 15 stitches in his chin from this past weekend. In fact, after WAP scored 5 in the top of the first inning of Game 1,,, then they only scored 9 runs over their last 11 innings...
Looking towards Week 4, OBI plays a split double-header on Field 2. Games are vs. BISP (7:15) and Midlife Crisis (9:15) ... Mind your extracurricular activities between games my fellow OBI freaks ;~) ...
Season 3 stats can be found below:
For a second week in a row,,, OBI welcomed back an oldie but a goodie, as Juan Carlos (aka JC) returned to the playing field. His priorities have been set on family for the past 4+ months and we are more than happy to help him fix his Thursday Night attitude problem ...
On the field, OBI played hard yet proved that softball players should not play with guns... As we are very adept at shooting ourselves in the foot. The infield attempted to give away Game 1 vs. BMW Scottsdale. However, the OBI Offense was consistent throughout the game and a 15-9 victory was secured.
Game 2 was going swimmingly as OBI led AAA AZ 8-2 after two innings of play. Then, the wind shears started and the outfield opened the flood gates, the offense couldn't get around the dam,,, and AAA AZ began rolling enuf to take the game 13-10.
The OBI Offense was shut down from the 3rd thru 5th innings. Combined with our Defensive let down, cost us Game 2. However, the good news is ,,, the remainder of the schedule is out and we don't play Greenside Up during Season 3's Regular season (whew) ...
Offensively, it must be noted that we saw a huge increase in extra base hits this week. Two games combined we collected 11 Doubles, 4 Triples, and 1 Inside-the-Park Home Run ... The new OPS stat sent an email,,, needless to say, it is ecstatic about the production...
Again, welcome back to both Juan and David. We are very happy to see your faces once again on Thursdays...
Following are the stats thru Week 2:
As he steps into the batters box, the fielders instinctively move back towards the fence. The pitch arcs gracefully, dipping into the hitters wheelhouse, the ball already screaming noooooooo,,, as the batter smoothly swings his long unused hitting instrument of DESTRUCTION ...
Hitting in the cleanup spot in his first game back, David Craycraft evoked fear amongst the defense and brought smiles to each face in OBI's dugout. A crisp, clean 3-3 2RBI with a Double workmanlike performance was unexpected by only David. Welcome Back, my friend...
OBI was efficient on offense and played well enough defensively to pull off a doubleheader sweep of Mammas Boys with two 2-run wins, 13-11 and an amazing 5-3 victory. Though not as windy as anticipated, the breeze did affect the balls flight on the big #5 field. Interestingly, the wind was actually blowing out to CF,,, sooooooo, not sure exactly why there was no offensive explosion.
The most interesting happening on the field all night was ,,, well, which way the call would go... The Blue was consistently inconsistent, and that is putting it mildly. At least both teams saw the humor in the situation. Something that would never happen in D1 ... LOL
A new offensive category has been added to the stat sheet, OPS. This is OnBasePct + SluggingPct. Prior to officially adding the stat, I researched and calculate that an Average OPS for slowpitch softball is 1.300. Currently, our team average is 1.325, thus, I feel that the research is accurate enough to replace the SB category with OPS ...
There are 7 OBI players currently above 1.300 during 2013. Here is the list ...
1.843 Juan Reynoso
1.559 KC
1.530 Michael
1.500 David
1.447 Chris Nuta
1.400 Chris Spillane
1.326 Clint
Ok, fingers are tired of typing,,, here are the week 1 stats for Season 3. I still find it hard to believe, but yes,,, we scored 18 totals runs last night and are 2-0. Nicely done, OBI !!!
