Game 9 Recap

The last time we played the Mukwonago Phantoms, we lost by one run. This time we lost 19-5. It wasn’t our day.

What I liked:

• Having Sean and Brian play with us. They’re nice kids.
• The great scoring job by Mr. Thomann – he kept track of pitches and all.
• Jackson’s put-out of the runner stealing second. Nice throw, nice tag.
• Henry pitched great in the 5^th.
• Logan turned an unassisted double play (thereby putting me on the ho0k for ice cream), and Henry had the ball pop loose on an awesome sweep tag.
• Putting the kids in different positions. Caleb caught a great force out at second, and having one of our shortest players at first base was great. Caleb is probably the headiest player we have. He very rarely misses an assignment.

What we could have done better:

• Not being depressed about losing by a few. I told the kids baseball is supposed to be fun, and reminded them that they waited all winter to play baseball outside. I should have given that speech in the beginning of the game.
• I think it was a function of being down three coaches, but we seemed to be in a funk, me included.
• Not much else.

I really hate it when umpires do not show up for games.

Hopefully the rain holds off and we can play today and Saturday.

Game 8 recap

It seems live forever since I had to recap a game. The rains came on Wednesday, but thankfully Nevins Field was up for the water. We actually got a game in under the time limit.

We played a team that was 1-11, but you wouldn’t know it. They are well-coached and made some great plays. It didn’t help that we were stale after an extended layoff. The big key was our fifth inning, where we batted around and scored seven runs, thanks in part to some great base-coaching by Coaches Schaefer and Witty. That inning put us up for good, and we added two more insurance runs in the sixth. In the end, we won, 12-8.

What I liked:

• Our pitching was solid. Each boy did a great job settling down and being accurate.
• We didn’t give up and pulled up by the bootstraps when we were down.
• The delayed steals in the top of the fifth
• Nathan being lights-out in the sixth
• The defensive plays by the Yellow Jackets. Of note was the line drive the pitcher caught just above the dirt.

What we could have done better:

• It took us a while to adjust to the delayed steals. As a result, we threw the ball around a lot.
• Not getting upset when we drill a ball to the outfield and it is caught
• Paying attention in general. I think the layoff hurt us there.

I could have done without the mosquitoes and having to peer through a chain-link fence to see anything.

Five Star Thursdays: Neko Case sings a Tom Waits tune

I am very conflicted about this week’s choice. I have a link on my blog to Christian Internet Links and am a Christian. Yet here I am about to discuss a song called “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” as my song of the week.

I was thinking of Neko Case this evening, and I chose this song whilst alone and chilling out. When I wanted to use this song for the blog, I immediately thought that it would be inappropriate. So I nixed the idea. Then the writer in me knew that to be anything but real would be wrong. So here we go…

I own a lot of depressing and dark music, and this may be is the saddest song of them all. The main character in this song is writing to a guy named Charlie about her past, present and future. She used to be a drug addict, alcoholic, and her profession suggests a sordid past. But she has the proverbial heart of gold, and talks about all of the things that she’s learned along the way through a hard life. So far, so good.

Then in a moment of desperation, the truth spills out: it’s all a lie. She doesn’t have it all together, just the opposite.

I’m just like the hooker. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes, and even learned from some of them. But deep inside, my exterior is a mask hiding a very flawed person. I completely relate. On some level don’t we all? It’s nice to know Jesus made a habit of hanging out with people like her. It’s even nicer knowing that he died for the worst of the worst. Even people like me or you.

My forty-five seconds of fame?

I wasn’t listening to Charlie Sykes when he read my County Parks blog post this morning on the radio. Thanks to my friend Melissa and the wonders of podcasting, I got to hear it after the fact. You can hear the audio here; the topic begins at 1:35 and ends at about 5:00 in.

Two things: Mr. Sykes called me “a writer” and omitted the last sentence of my post because it was “somewhat tasteless”. Given his history with the McGee family, I could certainly understand. I’m honored to think this was worthy of his airtime.

Web Wednesday: The Science of Baseball

My father’s use of e-mail is restricted to forwarding different jokes, and other junk onto his family and friends. Apparently some retired people have nothing better to do (sorry, dad). I read about 5-10% of what he sends me (sorry again, dad.) But this time he sent me something good.

The Science of Baseball is a cool and interactive site dedicated to America’s National Pastime. The specific link my dad sent was Can you Hit a 90-MPH Fastball? It explains just how hard it is to hit the easy pitch in baseball. Also included are tutorials on breaking balls, a time machine to move players (like Babe Ruth) into different eras, and too much other good stuff to mention. Check it out.

The Pepsi toilet in the Harley Davidson stall in the Associated Bank Men’s room, brought to you by Miller Coors…

The Milwaukee County board is discovering something any regular parks user knows: many bathrooms are in bad shape. I’m sure some people will blame this on Scott Walker. But the fact is Tom Ament and his board cronies were letting these facilities deteriorate while considering free needles for addicts and voting themselves fat pensions. Those fat pensions are crippling our budget and leave Mr. Walker with few options.

I don’t know what the proper solution to fixing up the parks is. But I smirk when I hear the idea of naming rights in bathrooms as suggested by Supervisor Coggs in this article. What company would shell out $500 to put its name on a urinal? Doesn’t Kohler already have that covered?

I personally like the idea of naming the facilities after politicians. The Lee Holloway toilet has a nicer ring to it. Don’t forget to wash your hands in the Michael McGee sink. Just don’t drop the soap.

Famous Lutherans

I need to give props to my friend Paul Streufert (a fellow Lutheran) for sending this video to me. Lost and Found is an acoustic band that is best described as a cross between They Might be Giants and the Violent Femmes. This song is about famous Lutherans, and if you are one (like me) you will relate. If you aren’t, we are always looking for a few more, so ask me how to join. We’d love to have you on our team!

Five-Star Thursdays: West End Blues

I was rummaging through my best-rated iPod playlist to find a song for this week. It took 21 songs to find something, but it was worth it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you “West End Blues” by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five.

At worst, it’s one of the most influential jazz recordings ever. At best, it defies all descriptions and superlatives. Some call it the greatest piece of recorded music in history. All I can do is tell you that this song is moving and amazing each and every time I hear it. I taught Jackson to love this song, and I will repeat with the two girls.

For your edification, I have enclosed four links for you: the first two are YouTube excerpts from Ken Burns’ Jazz series that highlight the significance and importance of West End Blues. The third is the entry of WEB in the NPR 100 (100 Greatest Songs of the 20^th Century.) The final link is from the Smithsonian and includes a brief listening guide. My favorite part is the opening trumpet call and the beginning of the trumpet solo where he plays the same note for four chords.

If you get one thing out of this post, it is to know that Louis (pronounced Lewis) Armstrong’s greatness comes from his trumpet and being the most influential jazz musician ever. Since I come from a generation that knows Satchmo mostly from “What a Wonderful World” many may not know this already.

Ken Burns’ Jazz - West End Blues Part 1: Includes commentary by Wynton Marsalis

Ken Burns’ Jazz - West End Blues Part 2: Includes full recording of song to montage of footage from the late 1920s

NPR 100: West End Blues

Smithsonian Jazz - Louis Armstrong Class

Web Wednesday: AllMusic.com

With so much music available today, it’s hard to know where to start. First of all, there are probably bands one would love if one only knew about them. Do you like the Black Eyed Peas? Try Wyclef Jean’s The Preacher’s Son. AllMusic made that link for me. Or let’s say that you wanted to buy a Frank Sinatra album. He recorded for over sixty years; with a catalog that big, which one should you buy?

The site is the online home of the All Music Guide – you may have seen one of their publications at a library or bookstore. There are artist bios, album lists, album reviews, song ratings, and links to similar artists. Search for your favorite artist and explore. Be careful; it could be addicting.

The third scorer

We went to the Brewer game last night with Jackson’s Cub Scout pack, and as usual, I brought along one of our scoring books. We have two books, one of which we take to every pro baseball game we see. The two books have been to 30 combined games in three cities and three ballparks (Miller Park, Yankee Stadium, and Wrigley Field). We even scored a Class A game at Miller Park with some guys named Weeks, Fielder and Gwynn.

My dad would keep score from time to time when we went to County Stadium. I began doing it myself. Jackson learned to score when he was four. I try to teach anybody who will learn. I think out two books have been written in by about ten different people.

Last night was Ilsa’s first time scoring. She mostly wrote in the book what, where and when I told her to. She did a job befitting of her fastidious personality. She doesn’t know a strikeout (K) from an SS-2B-1B double play (4-6-3), but that’s OK. At least she paid attention to the game.

         

Five-star Thursday (rain date from last week): “Like You’ll Never See Me Again”

The Fourth of July weekend came up so quick and I missed an installment of Five-star Thursdays. I was going to skip it, but in honor of our third weather cancellation of a game (don’t get me started), I will post it under the “rain date” exception.

Onto the song: “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” is the fifth track on Alicia Keys latest album As I Am. U2 won a Grammy in 2001 or 2002; when Bono got up to accept the award, he remarked that he expected Alicia Keys to win. I filed that away in my head and discovered Ms. Keys two years ago. Her last two albums are good enough to play as released without omitting any songs. This song is a great mix between modern and old-school R&B. Enough said.

Web Wednesdays

Another new installment for my seven readers: Web Wednesdays. This will feature a link to a blog or website that is interesting (to me at least).

This week’s entry is Clem’s Baseball Stadium Field Dimensions. This site offers a visual representation of what fields look(ed) like from the 1910s through today. It’s cool to see how Yankee Stadium has changed from its opening to the present. It’s also cool to see the uniqueness of today’s parks. Of particular interest would be the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, and Milwaukee County Stadium. (I never knew they added on through the years.)

Game 7 Recap

“Well, a wiser fellow than myself once said, sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear well, he eats you.”

There are many points at which a game can be lost, but one play sticks out from last night:

Bottom of the third inning, two outs, one run in for the Mustangs. Soft grounder to Nathan on the mound. He fields, and lobs it over to Jackson at first. The ball falls short, and the runner is safe. Instead of walking in to hit, we’re stuck out there, and six more runs come in. Both are two of our more experienced players. Nathan could have thrown it better; Jackson could have caught it. Oh well. Such is life in U9 baseball.

After that it was a see-saw game; in the end, we lost on a walk-off single with one out. We went toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in the league for six innings and came up one run short. There is no reason to hang our heads. Tense games like that make me appreciate the easier games for what they are.

What I liked:

• Watching our hitters stay alive with two strikes
• The way we made contact with the ball at the plate
• We stood perfectly in the batter’s box
• The tag-ups by Tre’Vaughn and Nathan in the 2^nd
• Our pitching was solid. Nathan gave us 2.3 solid, got tired, and battled to the end. Jackson is just beginning to find himself as a pitcher. Tre’Vaughn was old reliable.
• Kellen caught the whole game and did an excellent job. He is turning into a great catcher.
• We had several force plays work well, including a force at the plate.
• We slid well into the plate. Textbook work.

What we need to work on:

• Not getting upset when we do not get a hit
• Picking each other up
• Ball routing when it gets into the infield
• Trying to throw out runners stealing
• Shutting up (coaches). They shut down one inning as we were barking instructions.
• Asserting my position in discussions concerning rules

What I could have done without:

• The mosquitoes
• The long drive
• This next one has a disclaimer.  I think the game was called in a fair and impartial manner.  That being said, it seemed like the ump was part of their team. He spent much of the time between innings over at their bench. I know it is not his fault that he knows the coaches on a first name basis, but I thought he could have eliminated many questions about his calls had he acted more like an ump during the game.  Even the kids noticed.  All that said, please act in a sportsmanlike manner and don’t question the umpire’s calls.  It’s hard work, and he is the authority during the game. 

We have a week off, and then return next week with two games. Have a Happy Fourth!  The dude abides. 

Game 6 Recap

This was the second of three games in four days, and so far, we are faring well. We were down five kids on 14 hours notice, so I had Dax bring three kids from his North Central Little League team. We were playing a team that was 1-5.

Cole started the game on the mound for us and gave up five in the top of the first. We got eight back (with two homers in a row) in the bottom as we batted around. Cole pitched a scoreless second, and we exploded for 13 runs in the bottom of the second to make it 21-5. Jackson pitched the third and gave up one; we answered with two. That’s 23-6. At that point, it was time to shake things up a bit and put different kids in different positions. Sam was tighter than the previous day and gave up four runs. No biggie. We scored 7 more with another outburst that included a long shot by Tre’Vaughn.

Caleb came in to pitch and the inning ended in the wildest of fashions. There were three runs in and men on first and second with no outs. A long fly ball was hit between Tre’Vaughn and Sean (one of our subs). They collided as Sean caught the ball. As the opposing coaches began shouting for the runners to return to their base of origin, I noticed we had a shot for a double play. Sean threw from his back into the cut-off man, who threw it to second to double off the runner. Then the kids threw it to first for a triple play. I was so wrapped up in the play that I had to ask the ump if I had in fact seen a triple play. He answered incredulously “Yes, a triple play.” I still didn’t believe it, so I asked him again.

I have to take you all back to a practice in mid April. We were working on defense, and I explained to the kids that I would spring for ice cream if they turned a double play. They tried to negotiate pizza for a triple play, and as I hesitated, Mr. Alles agreed to buy pizza for a triple play. I joked with him about switching bets, as his promise was like betting the field in the Kentucky Derby.

As I celebrated with the kids, I was slow to realize Tre’Vaughn’s knee was hurt from the collision with Sean. We carried him in and iced the knee. I hope it’s OK.

In the end, we won 31-13. I appreciated the break from a tight game.

What I liked:

• The offensive barrage. Everybody smacked the ball around.
• The triple play.
• Playing in the sun on a perfect day with the nice breeze.
• The collective aplomb of our pitchers, both seasoned and new.
• The way the new kids fit in.
• Dax’s coaching at third base
• Watching the ball sail long and deep off of our bats.

Another day, another number

I turned 37 yesterday.

I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean. Am I wiser? Perhaps. Do I look older? Probably.

I used to make a big deal of my birthday, but that went out long ago. The kids think it’s pretty cool. I’m blessed to have a good family and great friends. What more can I say?

For the record, I spent my birthday at church, cleaning, entertaining and grilling. I got to use my new bar, and our home was filled with beloved guests. Then I woke up this morning, and it was just another day.

We’ll see what my 38^th year on earth brings.

Game 5 Recap

When the rain started at 5, I was a bit nervous. But the field withstood the water, and we played.

This was a mixed bag for planning. It did not count in the official standings, but when two teams wear uniforms, it’s a game. All said I used this as a chance to try different people in different positions. I could not be happier; everybody impressed me by making the most of the opportunities given. In the end, we won 12-11.

What I liked:

• Pitching was great. Nathan and Jackson found their groove. Logan, Henry, Caleb and Sam did great. Logan got two outs, Caleb two, and Sam three. All did good enough to deserve another chance. Tre’Vaughn was old reliable and earned the save.
• We all hit the ball well. Many extra base hits, two home runs, and good hustle down the line.
• The fielding was good. We did not throw the ball around, and we didn’t give away many free bases. We had some good putouts that saved runs.
• We acted like a team. Enough said.

What I learned:

• Each position has its own nature, and just because a kid may not be good at one “critical” position does not mean he can’t handle another.
• Each of my assistant coaches could handle the team on their own. I am blessed to have them to learn from.
• Dropping the kids in different positions is not “settling” and does not mean one cannot field a competitive team.

Off to plan the game tomorrow morning. I might just live on the edge and wing it.

Five-Star Thursday (a day late): Freight Train

I thought of this on Tuesday, but the week got away from me.

This week’s selection is Freight Train by Elizabeth Cotten. With no formal training in guitar, her big musical break came when she happened upon the Seegers and the rest is history. If you’re expecting to hear this butter-smooth vocalist, you’re in for a disappointment. Her voice is raspy, and her music is as authentic as can be. Her unorthodox style of playing was dubbed “Cotten picking” and can be found on Michelle Shocked’s “Anchorage,” which is another five-star song worthy of its own treatment. Two songs in one post – lucky you!

Game 4 Recap

Last night was by far our tightest game of the year. There were many lead changes, and in the end we lost 15-14.

What I liked:

• Our hitters looked better than in the last game. There were few strikeouts and our pitch selection was good. There were several line drives, and the opposing team commented on our hitting.
• The arm of the opposing catcher. The kid has a rocket gun and used it to pick us off.
• We did a good job standing in the back of the box this game, as well as measuring distance from the plate.
• Our pitchers did a great job in making the other team hit and not walk.
• Nathan did well at keeping runners at third on wild pitches.
• Riley was alert and almost made a great catch in right field.
• Logan made a great backup of a throw to first and prevented a runner from advancing to second.
• We had some nice put-outs off of grounders.

What we could have done better:

• Not being afraid to get the bat on the ball. Our kids can hit and need to swing the bat
• Triaging balls coming in. When the ball comes in to the infield, it doesn’t always go to home. I need to coach that better. I’ll start by reviewing field assignments and seeing if we can cut throws
• Not getting tense when the other team is scoring runs. It takes three outs to head back to the bench, and we need to play them the same if there are six runs in or no runs in.
• Pre-game prep. I need to really work on that.

 What I could have done without:

• A long drive out to Waukesha West.
• Muddy dugouts – it doesn’t take a civil engineer to figure out the grading there could use improvement.
• The long trek to the bathrooms.
• The narrow bench area.
• Hearing the deep thud of the baseball hitting Riley in the back. 

Onto play FOG on Friday and Blazers West #3 on Saturday. I’ll bet we have tired kids come Saturday afternoon.

The shake-down for a Twix

To all of you outside the Milwaukee area, a brief back story. Former Alderman Michael McGee Jr. is on trial for extortion and bribery charges. The charges allege he demanded money, prepaid cell phone cards, and other compensation for liquor licenses and other government action.

Apparently money and cell phone minutes were not enough to satisfy his appetite. Literally. This morning’s Journal Sentinel describes one “meeting” in which he asked for cash and a Twix bar. It reminded me of the Seinfeld where George is fascinated with the Twix in the vending machine.

Five-star Thursdays: “When you Come Back Down”

Introducing a new feature on the least-read blog in the world: Five-Star Thursdays. It’s simple: I pick a five-star song from my music collection and highlight it. Of course the rating is completely subjective, but it’s my blog, so suck it up, and leave a comment telling me I am a fool.

The first entry is “When You Come Back Down” by Nickel Creek off of their eponymous album. Nickel Creek’s music can best be described as acoustic. To my knowledge, there is only one song they recorded that uses drums. On their other songs, they achieve a drum vibe by percussively playing their stringed instruments. It’s definitely an interesting sound.

Their debut album consists of bluegrass or folk songs, and “When You Come Back Down” falls into the latter category. Check it out on iTunes (or your music provider of choice) and enjoy!