Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Championship Playoffs - Bottom of the inning (9/10)

Playoff Game 1 - Joey vs Dayf - Joey was not able to get a runner in during his half the inning. Let's see if Dayf can bring a batter all the way around to win this playoff game. The Braves come up to the plate, leading off with Number 08. The Rangers pitcher winds up and tosses the ball in there for a strike. The pitcher takes him time setting up for the next pitch. Number 08 gets ready. Here's the pitch and the batter gets a piece of it! It's heading out toward center-right. The center fielder runs, and makes a diving catch! That one landed in the laces as the fielder skidded across the field to snag it up. The Braves have one out as they bring in Number 23.

Number 23 walks to the batter's box. The pitcher takes his sign and gets ready to throw. There's the wind up. The throw comes in and the batter swings and misses. The next pitch is hit deep to the left side, but it's fouled into the stands. That's 0-and-2 with one out. The pitcher throws, and it looked close from here, but the ump calls ball one. The batter's got a good eye. The pitcher really thought he had the out there, and he's not happy. He throws way outside on the next pitch for ball two. He's evened up the count, and the catcher goes out to talk to him. The batter steps out of the box and the coach gives him a few signs. The conference ends and the pitcher sets for the next pitch. Here's the throw. The batter swings but can't catch it, and he strikes out for out number two.

Time seems to be running short here for Dayf and his Braves. If he doesn't do something here, we're going to a whole new level of game play. He looks over his roster and chooses Number 3 to bat third. The Rangers look ready to make that move. The Braves batter takes the first pitch and it's low and away for a ball. The pitcher lets the next one slip a bit and it sails over the catcher's shoulder for ball two. The batter fouls off the third pitch and the count is 2-and-1. Here comes the wind up and the throw is outside of the zone for ball three. The batter, way ahead in the count, takes the next pitch and it's ball four - a walk.

The Braves have a man on base now with two outs. Dayf motions for Number 18 to get in the game. The pitcher finds his rhythm and sends the batter down on strikes to end the inning. The Braves leave a runner hanging on first.

Since my plan for selecting a lot of players to help push some runs across the plate failed miserably, I'm invoking some "arcade-style" rules.

Joey is up to bat in the second inning. Here's what we're going to do: Joey will select EIGHT SPOTS. Outs will not be kept up with. An out at this stage just means the defense blocked the batter from getting a hit. After all eight spots have been scratched, Dayf will get to select eight spots from what's left and I will scratch off those spots. The player with the best score at the end of the inning wins the match. Batters will move around the bases just like we have been playing (Wii rules).

Everyone got it?

Joey, pick your EIGHT SPOTS and let's see how your team does! Pick from these: 01, 02, 04, 06, 07, 09, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31


Playoff Game 2 - Erin vs Joey - Erin scored two runs in her half of the inning. Joey's got to make a great showing, or he'll take a knock here. Joey employs a pair of strategies in his player selection process. Let's take a look:

#15 his softball number
#24 his High School Baseball Number
#16 his High School Football Number Backwards

Lets finish off the picks using a random stack of baseball cards.

#2 Derek Jeter
#28 Prince Fielder
#17 Lance Berkman
#18 Jason Kendall
#5 Pat Burrell
#7 Ivan Rodriguez
#30 Magglio Ordonez

So, starting things off with the batter wearing his softball jersey number. Erin faces Number 15. The Orioles pitcher throws out the first pitch and the batter wastes no time dropping that baby right over the shortstop for a single. His boys jump on it early.

Up next is Number 24, who is sporting the same number as Joey's high school baseball number. The pitcher throws and the batter sends it flying off into the right field crowd, foul. The next pitch hangs for a second too long and the batter gets ALL OF IT! There is nothing for the girls to do but watch that thing g sailing out of the park, giving the Rangers a two-run homer to tie the game!

No outs and so far, Joey's strategy has paid off well for the Rangers. Erin's Orioles are hoping they can put an end to Joey's run. His next batter is his high school football jersey backwards.... I feel like a particle in the Hadron Collider... Backwards, anticlockwise, see where I'm going here, people? No? Okay, well, so much for the color commentary... Let's just see how Number 16 does. The batter swings at the very next pitch and the ball shoots for the right field corner. It takes a bad bounce off the wall, and the Rangers put a man on third!

The Rangers fans are going ballistic! Their team has no outs, a runner in the ultimate scoring position, and up next is ... Derek Jeter!? Well, let's see how Jeter likes the south... Number 02 steps into the box to face the pitcher. The Orioles have fought back from bigger situations than this, so nothing is a given. The pitcher throws and Jeter fouls the ball off behind the catcher. The next pitch misses high and tight. With the count 1-and-1, the pitcher takes a breath before she sends in the next pitch. Here's the throw.... The batter swings, and Jeter bloops this one into shallow right-center for a run-scoring single!

Joey wins the playoff match! His record is now 1-0, and Erin falls to 0-1. For their work, the Rangers snag Joey a 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones Mike Piazza 1993 ROY (serial # 081/150 - card 79)! The Orioles help Erin walk away from the match with a 2003 Upper Deck Honor Roll Silver Honors JD Drew (serial # 142/150 - card 103)! Both players still have teams playing in other matches, so we'll se how things go!


Playoff Game 3 - Dayf vs Erin - Dayf's Braves were not able to bring in any runs during their at-bat. The Orioles are coming up to bat after a hard loss against Joey's Rangers just a few moments ago. Will the girls pull themselves back up after the loss, or is the devastating blow too much for them? We've seen the Orioles pull off some amazing feats in this tourney... First up is Number 15. The Braves pitcher winds up and throws. The batter swings and pops the ball into the air. The third baseman is under it for the easy out. He tosses it to first and then the ball is returned to the pitcher. Erin sends in Number 09.

The pitcher takes his sign and throws. The ball can't seem to find the strike zone and it's a ball. Number Nine swings at the next pitch, but she misses for the first strike. The home crowd is pretty quiet as they wait to see what this batter is going to do. The pitcher throws. Here's the swing and the ball bounces hard in front of the second baseman. His quick reflexes serve him well, as he turns and throws off balance to first. The runner is out by half a step!

Two outs and no one is on base yet. Number 32 wants to change the momentum of the game right here and now. She steps up to the plate and ... What the!? She POINTS to left field with her bat! She is calling her shot!? The pitcher laughs and shakes his head. He winds and throws. The batter swings, and she hits the ball! Instead of going left, the ball pulls to the right! The right fielder makes a beeline for the wall. He leaps and .... CATCHES the ball to end the inning! Three up and three down.

So, it looks like we're going into the second inning in this game, too. Just like Playoff Game 1, the way this works is that Dayf will choose EIGHT SPOTS and I will scratch off all eight spots. After that, Erin will choose eight spots and I'll scratch those off. The team with the most runs wins. Players advance bases just as they have so far - Wii Rules.

So, Dayf, pick the EIGHT NUMBERS you hope will bring you the best results: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31


TRIVIA TIME! This is open to everyone EXCEPT Joey, Dayf and Erin (sorry guys, but you're getting plenty o' prizes just for makin' it this far!). So, anyone else out there in bloggersville is free to answer: Who was the first Indians player to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in one game? First one with the correct answer wins a prize!

6 comments:

  1. Close! Read the question very carefully... :-)

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  2. Two games go to sudden death... I'm a nervous wreck.

    6, 29, 3, 25, 17, 7, 24, 11

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  3. Bill Bradley did it in 1903 when the Indians were known as the Cleveland Naps. Does that count?

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  4. Man, this round has been a nail biting, exciting scratch game pressure cooker.

    Lets try some arcade style names:

    #07 Lonnie Line Drive
    #25 Hot Corner Harry
    #24 Speedy Sammy Sneedy
    #30 Triple Play Troy
    #02 Homer Hank
    #20 Grand Slam Baker
    #27 Pinch Hit Peter
    #17 Big Fly Moses

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  5. Madding, it does count! But, there was another before Bradley!

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