Big Win without Big Al

Tuesday night, the Wally's A's outplayed the Guzzlers to win and end their longest losing streak of the year. Desperate for a win, the A's were able to produce runs in many different innings throughout the game. With a 10-6 victory over the first place Guzzlers, the A's have regained some of their lost confidence. The A's were able to hit up and down the lineup, and were able to produce runs off of all 3 pitchers they faced.
At the plate, Shelley seemed to have regained his powerful stroke as he was very solid. Will Mood provided the team with a solo homerun at a critical point in the game. Solid hits were provided by TJ, Eric, and Yves. Mike had a clutch hit to drive in a couple runs with a blooper into centre field. As for me, I got 2 RBIs with 2 walks, a double, and a groundout that I am pretty sure that I beat out.
Pickle started the game and pitched admirably. Will Lowe came in to close the game and got the job done. Defensively there were no errors by the A's.
It should be noted that the A's started the game without 2 of the cancers that have plagued the team. Big Al and JL were not in the lineup and they are not expected to be with the team going forward. Their defectious attitude was not welcomed and hurt the team during their recent slide. The A's are looking forward to continue their strong play heading into the playoffs. It will be needed as the Knights are one of the hottest teams in Blackburn.

Baseball Cancelled

The most recent scheduled game for Wally's was cancelled due to rain. I was quite hungover and tired, so I was somewhat pleased that I didn't have to play on that sloppy Sunday. The next game for the A's will be against the Knights on Thursday. This game can have huge implications for the final standings, but not for the playoff match-ups.

With a win for either team, they get to claim 4th seed in the playoffs. The other team gets 5th. It is a virtual lock that these teams will then have to play each other in the first round of the playoffs. Instead of a 3-game series, there will be four games. If Gary Bettman ran the league, he would be happy to see these rivals play each other. The crowds are usually bigger for these games. Let's hope we get to see some good fastball.

Blue days for Wally's A's

The Wally A's are fading fast. Without question, they would be swept away by any team in the BMFL, if the playoffs started today. They even deserve to be swept away. The end of the season cannot come soon enough.

The A's lost again last night to the Blues. In their second consecutive game against Borho's Boys, the Blues outplayed the A's in all facets of the game. The A's defence was suspect, their pitching was ineffective, and their bats produced a meager 2 runs in a 8-2 loss.

The A's saw the return of disgruntled outfielder J.L.. J.L. showed his enthusiasm for playing when he had let a lazy fly ball drop between Mike and himself. It was not the fact that the ball had dropped between them, but the fact that Chad Featherstone was almost able to pick up the dropped ball to throw it in when he was playing the opposite field. With a lack of desire to play, the A's would be much better off without this cancer on our team. In fact, it appears as if this cancer is contagious, as there was another member of the team that left the team because of selfishness.

Big Al left the game early last night. He was apparently scheduled to work, then he was off, but, TJ, our team captain, was forced to find extra players for the game due to the lack of uncertainty. Appearing dissatisfied with his playing time, Big Al decided that he didn't want to play at all. He left the game early and has perpetuated the negative atmosphere that has surrounded the A's in recent weeks.

The A's have talent. Big Al has talent, but the attitudes on the team need to be fixed. The A's are self-destructing and they need to support each other to get through this mess. I would suggest, during the off-season, the A's make some trades for players that want to play ball. There is a great core of players on the A's, and all the A's need to do to be successful is to be non self-destructive. They need to find players that are happy to sit one or two innings a game for the benefit of everyone.

Championship teams are not built with the Terrel Owens type of players. They are built with the Steve Yzerman's, Rod Brind'Amour's, Dave Andreychuk's. Guys who have put their teams before themselves. Last year, the A's performed better with weaker talent. We have more talent this year, but the A's are failing in all aspects of the game. The first thing they need to change is the attitude. Right now it sucks.

A's continue to struggle

The Wally's A's fastball club participated this weekend in the Blackburn Men's Annual Fastball tournament. In hopes of rebuilding their team confidence, the A's may have slipped into a deeper hole. The A's defence, which had been traditionally their strength, acted as their achilles heel during the weekend tournament.

Game #1 - A's vs. Stan's Diner

On Thursday night, the A's finally broke their hitting slump by outscoring their oppenents 13-4. This game was a huge confidence booster for the A's, although Stan's Diner was a heavy underdog. The A's came out swinging, and got key contributions from unlikely sources. Mike got his first homerun of the season, and the A's played a solid all round game. The game, however, was not completed without some controversy. While the A's were up by a fairly healthy margin, the third base coach gave Yves a bunt call at a poor time. The A's are usually better about their sportsmanship and hopefully the mistake will not happen again. Goodfellow seemed pissed about it and hopefully there will be any retributions in the near future.

Game # 2 - A's vs. Ball Bangers

I was not in attendance at this ball game, as I was celebrating a night out with friends after the company picnic. I heard that the A's were up 9-6, with 2 outs, in one of the final innings, when the Ball Bangers rallied to tie the game. Apparently, there was a fly ball out to the field that was misplayed by one of our outfielders that gave the Ball Bangers a second life. This error was critical in terms of maintaining our team confidence and points for advancing into the "A" side of the next round. The game ended 9-9 and cost the A's one very valuable point.

Game # 3 - A's vs. Guzzlers

The A's were in tough against the Guzzlers since the Guzzlers are currently leading the BMFL. In addition, the Guzzlers opened the game with 3 runs against one of the A's better pitchers, Denis "Pickle" McNicol. To his credit, Pickle stayed in the game and pitched solidly for the remaining six innings. The A's, with batting troubles in recent games, came back firing with some key hits from nearly all of the members in its lineup. The A's stormed on to win a 10-7 game. With another win, the A's can be playing on the "A"-side on Sunday.

Game # 4 - A's vs. Knights

With an ailing pitcher, the A's were not much competition for the good-hitting Knights. The A's defence was poor, and the bats were ineffective against Ryan Cox, the pitcher for the Knights. After a couple of innings, the Knights had blown their lead to 10-1 when the lights went out at the park. The lights were never turned back on. As it was already "lights-out" for the A's, the game was never resumed. In addition, Stefan Sklepowicz had a solid, line drive, 2-run homerun that deserves mention for the Knights. The A's were relegated to the "B"-side of the tournament due to this loss, and their tie against the Ball Bangers.

Game # 5 - A's vs. Blues

The first game of the "B"-side was supposed to be a great game. With these two teams chasing one another in the BMFL standings, this game had the potential to be a very fun game to watch and play in. In the first inning, Pickle pitched a perfect set and the A's bats were prepared to provide him with a lead. First pitch swinging, I pulled a ball to left-field into the gap where it slipped by the Blues' outfielder. With cheetah-like speed, I rounded the bases and walked to the plate with a stand-up, inside-the-park homerun. The A's continued to put pressure on, but failed to score any runs after they had loaded the bases. The game remained tight and close for a few innings, but then the wheels fell off. With some untimely errors and questionable calls from the umpires, the A's fell behind and could never regain their composure. The A's ended up losing 6-3 in a game that has created many questions leading into the final games of the season. The A's are barely playing as if they are in pre-season form. They need to pull things together if they plan on doing well this year in the playoffs.

Home Sweet Holy Fuck that's a lot of $$$

I just bought a home. My uncle sold his house in Stittsville to me, and the deal closes August 31. It's a lot of money, more money than I have made so far in my life.

I do not plan to live there. I want to rent it out and make money. I can't believe that I am 22 and be a homeowner. I'm working on my "Freedom 35" plan. I want to have the option of retiring by that age. I doubt that I will, but the option would be nice. Hopefully, I can do a semi-retirement type thing.

I think I had just forced myself to mature about 5 years too. I'm not going to be able to party like I used to. I'm going to have to have a better budget and be all responsible. I will go out, but I will have to choose my rye-diculous nights more carefully. My social life will not be as pleasant, but, at least, my liver will love me.

A's are failing

What's wrong with Wally's A's? The Blackburn Hamlet Wally's A's have been slumping to say the least. With a season-high four game losing streak, the A's aren't exactly showing their best form heading into this weekend's fastball tournament. They are hoping, with this tournament and 3 games remaining in the regular season, that they can regain their status as a team that can win any given Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday before the playoffs begin.

There has been inconsistent pitching, mediocre defence, but the main culprit seems to be the lack of run production from Wally's bats. The A's have not been able to hit consistently, since Will "Hollymood" Mood broke his 25 oz. bat early in the season. Is it bad Karma that is keeping the A's bats silent? The A's have been close in most of their games, but it is clear they need to pick things up after a much needed drubbing received from the Good Ol' Boys last weekend.

The up and down season has taken its toll on players and tested the strength of our team chemistry. In fact, one player has seemed to have given up on the team due to a lack of "feeling it". With the Blackburn tournament approaching, hopefully, the A's will find a way to regain their competitive form, and solid team chemistry.