- Dan Peterson for league president, and equipment manager (write-in). I've worked with Dan this season and can attest to his passion and commitment for the league and the game. He put together a late-season clinic which was very good for all involved. I'm writing Dan in for equipment manager, just in case he doesn't win as President. The league needs Dan involved.
- Ron Franklin for VP. Ron's been around youth baseball for a very long time and brings a wealth of experience. He left Granger many seasons ago, but has come back. I think his Taylorsville experience will be a great resource.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Board elections -- IMHO
Saturday morning all parents will be able to vote for the board membership for next year. I'll vote for:
All Stars
All Stars will be named Saturday at the closing ceremony.
Granger baseball is considering two teams from our league. The first team will play in the 10-under primary tournament. The second team will either play in a 10-under secondary tournament or a 9-year old primary tournament. I think the second team will have that option because it's expected to be comprised entirely of 9-year olds.
Our league has an outstanding group of 9 year old players. Nine of the 14 players on the White Sox are 9, and several are among my best players. I think we can make a very respectable showing in All Star competition.
Granger baseball is considering two teams from our league. The first team will play in the 10-under primary tournament. The second team will either play in a 10-under secondary tournament or a 9-year old primary tournament. I think the second team will have that option because it's expected to be comprised entirely of 9-year olds.
Our league has an outstanding group of 9 year old players. Nine of the 14 players on the White Sox are 9, and several are among my best players. I think we can make a very respectable showing in All Star competition.
Two in a row!
Our playoff win over the Astros was, by far, the best we've played all season. I'm sure it was the most exciting, too.
I loved the way all our guys played. AG pitched strong in closing out the game, but SB and KN also pitched their best ball of the season in getting through the 3rd and 4th and giving us a chance to win the extra inning game.
My highlight was the delayed steal of home in the 5th. SB was on 3rd and GS was on first. The idea here is to bait the defense into throwing to second to try to get the runner attempting to steal. If the runner takes off when the pitch is caught, they let him go, everybody is conditioned for that. But on the delayed steal the runner doesn't go until the ball is on its way back to the pitcher. The element of surprise is in the timing of the play. GS took off at exactly the right time, and everybody on the Astros' side started yelling "He's going! He's going!" The pitcher wasn't ready for this to happen and threw to second. When he did SB, our runner on third, broke for home, easily beating the late throw from second. GS was also safe at second, because the Astros' 2B abandoned him for a throw to the plate. It worked perfectly.
I was as exhilarated by Wednesday's win as I had been deflated by our worst defeats.
We play the Red Sox Saturday morning at 8:30 for the playoff championship. A nice little 3-game win streak to end the season sure would be sweet.
I loved the way all our guys played. AG pitched strong in closing out the game, but SB and KN also pitched their best ball of the season in getting through the 3rd and 4th and giving us a chance to win the extra inning game.
My highlight was the delayed steal of home in the 5th. SB was on 3rd and GS was on first. The idea here is to bait the defense into throwing to second to try to get the runner attempting to steal. If the runner takes off when the pitch is caught, they let him go, everybody is conditioned for that. But on the delayed steal the runner doesn't go until the ball is on its way back to the pitcher. The element of surprise is in the timing of the play. GS took off at exactly the right time, and everybody on the Astros' side started yelling "He's going! He's going!" The pitcher wasn't ready for this to happen and threw to second. When he did SB, our runner on third, broke for home, easily beating the late throw from second. GS was also safe at second, because the Astros' 2B abandoned him for a throw to the plate. It worked perfectly.
I was as exhilarated by Wednesday's win as I had been deflated by our worst defeats.
We play the Red Sox Saturday morning at 8:30 for the playoff championship. A nice little 3-game win streak to end the season sure would be sweet.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The last six games
If you think the absence of postings on this blog is related to our end-of-season losing streak, you're probably right. It has been tough for me to write much.
What I have been doing over these last 2 1/2 weeks is try to develop pitchers, so we could compete when IG didn't pitch. Results have been mixed.
AB, SB and KN have all gotten much better at throwing strikes, but the fielding behind them has been spotty. MF and KL have each shown flashes of potential that were followed with bouts of wildness.
So it was great to win our last game on the schedule last Wednesday. IG pitched two innings of shutout ball keeping us in the contest until we could get a few runs on the board. That big lead gave me the chance to let a couple kids that have worked very hard on their games to pitch in a situation where we were in a good frame of mind and the game was not on the line. Hopefully their successes will condition them and their mentality in future opportunities.
After the game the league informed me that we will play the Astros next Wednesday at 5 pm in the first game of a single-elimination mini-tournament. The Red Sox and Braves will play after our game, and the winners will meet next Saturday before the closing ceremony.
What I have been doing over these last 2 1/2 weeks is try to develop pitchers, so we could compete when IG didn't pitch. Results have been mixed.
AB, SB and KN have all gotten much better at throwing strikes, but the fielding behind them has been spotty. MF and KL have each shown flashes of potential that were followed with bouts of wildness.
So it was great to win our last game on the schedule last Wednesday. IG pitched two innings of shutout ball keeping us in the contest until we could get a few runs on the board. That big lead gave me the chance to let a couple kids that have worked very hard on their games to pitch in a situation where we were in a good frame of mind and the game was not on the line. Hopefully their successes will condition them and their mentality in future opportunities.
After the game the league informed me that we will play the Astros next Wednesday at 5 pm in the first game of a single-elimination mini-tournament. The Red Sox and Braves will play after our game, and the winners will meet next Saturday before the closing ceremony.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Six games left
With six games remaining our record is 3-11-1.
A .500 season is out of our reach, but we are in the position to play "spoiler" and beat the teams vying for first place. To this end:
A .500 season is out of our reach, but we are in the position to play "spoiler" and beat the teams vying for first place. To this end:
- Tomorrow's make-up game will have no pitcher for us get more than two innings of work. This will maximize our pitching options Wednesday.
- For the remainder of the season I'll do my best to put players in any/all defensive position I think they have a reasonable chance at succeeding at.
- There are five guys who have shown potential to succeed on the mound, and they will get the innings and work in practice.
- There are four guys that have catching experience or interest. I will do my best to see they all get a fair opportunity behind the plate.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Practice Dust-up
An incident happened in practice that I wish had not occurred.
I felt obligated to send one player off the practice field for throwing a bat and helmet after striking out in scrimmage. We have that rule for practice, this is the first time I've had to enforce it.
In the immediate aftermath things were said and it was an uncomfortable few minutes for all involved.
As per league rules I've reported the incident to the player agent, an officer of the league.
The league by-laws say:
I felt obligated to send one player off the practice field for throwing a bat and helmet after striking out in scrimmage. We have that rule for practice, this is the first time I've had to enforce it.
In the immediate aftermath things were said and it was an uncomfortable few minutes for all involved.
As per league rules I've reported the incident to the player agent, an officer of the league.
The league by-laws say:
"Managers will be allowed to discipline players for (1) one game for the following:It is not my intention to suspend the player for what happened yesterday. As far as I'm concerned the incident is over with.
- Missing practice consistantly without excuse.
- Disrespect of teammates, managers or coaches.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A little more snug
After Friday's games, the standings got a little more snug.
The Astros beat the Braves, and we beat the Red Sox. What this does is moves the Astros to second at 6-5, and us a little closer to the pack at 3-8. We're now 4 1/2 games out of first, and 2 1/2 games out of third.
* * * * *
I know many of our fans were miffed that I was not more aggressive with our runner in the third inning, not sending him while that ball was loose in the short OF. Please allow me.
They did gave us a courtesy runner when the first batter of the inning was HBP. They didn't have to, but they did. In all fairness to that batter, he's not a fast runner, and I didn't think sportsmanship would be served by taking advantage of their charity. I had the runner take one extra base on the play, coming from to third from second. But I knew I would not have sent the original runner home on that play had he been forced to run the bases. Thus I told the courtesy runner to stop at third.
I also remember that they let the kid that got subbed for take a couple easy steals without throws last time we played. They didn't need to do that, and I think turn about is fair play.
The Astros beat the Braves, and we beat the Red Sox. What this does is moves the Astros to second at 6-5, and us a little closer to the pack at 3-8. We're now 4 1/2 games out of first, and 2 1/2 games out of third.
* * * * *
I know many of our fans were miffed that I was not more aggressive with our runner in the third inning, not sending him while that ball was loose in the short OF. Please allow me.
They did gave us a courtesy runner when the first batter of the inning was HBP. They didn't have to, but they did. In all fairness to that batter, he's not a fast runner, and I didn't think sportsmanship would be served by taking advantage of their charity. I had the runner take one extra base on the play, coming from to third from second. But I knew I would not have sent the original runner home on that play had he been forced to run the bases. Thus I told the courtesy runner to stop at third.
I also remember that they let the kid that got subbed for take a couple easy steals without throws last time we played. They didn't need to do that, and I think turn about is fair play.
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