June 24 2007

Central Park. 5pm. Vs Burnaby Brewers.

We were rained out. And thundered out. And lightninged out. And hailed out. The sun had made appearances throughout the day, and during warm-up from 4-4:45 the weather was decent. It could even have been called nice and warm. But there were ominous clouds in the area, and at ten to five, the clouds came a-rolling in, opened up, and gave 'er.

So the game was over before it started. So you're probably thinking no pics or vids. And you'd be WRONG!

We learned on Sunday that if the rain is falling, the camera had better be pointed at number forty-two. Enlarge the top two pics by clicking them, enjoy our favorite still-frame from Sunday below, and then view the three new vids in the video box: jeffrey - 06/24/2007, jeffrey II - 06/24/2007, jeffrey III - 06/24/2007.

Today’s iPod.

jeffrey III – 06/24/2007. Kudos.

20 Qs with Aaron Piva

1. What is the most daring thing you've ever done?

Marriage

2. What are your pet peeves?

Bad drivers - seriously how do you expect to merge onto a freeway when they're going 100 and you're going 50 km/h!

3. What Major Leaguer do you most admire and why?

Jeff Francis, cause I hit a double off the wall against him ergo I should be in the majors.

4. If a stranger told me I was hot I would…

Call the nuthouse and report a missing patient.

5. What is your favorite board game?

Mouse Trap

6. What is your day job and what do you like most about it?

Production Manager. They pay me.

7. If there was a fire at your home and you could only save one thing, what would it be?

My wife Shawna.

8. What is your favorite baseball memory?

Winning the league championship at Annieville when I was 12 or 13. Can't remember how old I was but I remember how much fun I had when we won in front of all those people at Annieville Days.

9. Who do people say you look like?

My dad or my brothers.

10. I’d like to confess that I...

am going to be a dad in about 7 months!!! You guys don't know this cause we just told everyone.

11. You’re offered two free tickets to any sporting event in the world within the next 12 months (with airfare and accommodation also included). What sporting event do you choose and who goes with you?

Stanley Cup Finals. Shawna would come with me, we're both huge Canucks fans and 2008 is going to be their year!!

12. What was the last concert you attended?

My brother's grade 7 Christmas concert.

13. Favorite website(s)?

Surrey Indians home site. (Is there any other answer)

14. One book everyone should read is…

Horton Hears a Who!

15. One movie everyone should see is…

Transformers - not out yet but I'm not going to miss it!

16. What is your favorite LMBA park to play in and why?

Robert Burnaby - short porch in left!

17. If you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Pasta

18. When was the last time you ran?

Sunday

19. My greatest fear is…

Failure

20.You are now a suspect in a crime that happened 15 years ago. Where were you, and what were you doing, on the evening of June 19, 1992?

Playing baseball at Annieville. Lets see June 19, 1992 - I threw 5 shutout innings giving up 5 hits and striking out 6. I went 2-4 (single, double) at the plate with 3 RBI's and 1 run scored.

June 17 2007

Whalley Park. 10am. Vs Burnaby Biscuits.

Happy Father's Day!

Many thanks to all the fathers - and nonfathers - who attended today's miserably wet and uncomfortable ballgame. Well actually, maybe it was only wet and uncomfortable for us players as we are not allowed to take umbrellas onto the field. Or maybe we are allowed. We probably should have looked into that, cuz damn it was wet and uncomfortable. Swinging a bat while holding an umbrella wouldn't have looked too ridiculous. And it wouldn't have affected our swing much either. In fact, the at-bat outcomes for some of us (*cough cough* one of us *cough cough*) probably would have been the same.

"ohhhhhhhHHHHHHHH BRAD."

Biscuits took an early-innings lead courtesy us and our bumbling ways. After we spotted them a 3-nil lead our fielding improved, but our bats.. ohhhhhh our bats. We don't think the Surrey Indians franchise has ever been no-hit through the first four innings of a game before... until today! Please note: exclamation marks are sometimes used to mask our tears.

In the fifth inning the no-hit bid ended in dramatic fashion, with great rejoicing, when Ratelle crushed a ball to deep centre for a double. He eventually scored, then a couple of innings later we scored a couple more, and then a couple of innings later we scored a couple more.

Jones pitched the first five innings, and did an excellent job of it. Ratelle then came in and pitched the final three innings (eight-inning game today), doing an equally excellent job of it. Several of Ratelle's pitches that were called balls looked good from centre. Of the three runs the Biscuits scored today, we know at least two were unearned, possibly all three. Through nine games, we have a runs against average of 3.78, leading our division and behind just the Mathers Division's Black Sox's 3.38. We won't compare our runs for average.

Final score was Indians five Biscuits three. One video added to the video box: jeffrey - 06/17/2007.

Today's iPod.
In the top of the eighth the Biscuits had a runner on first with one out. The batter represented the tying run. ping - it's a liner up the middle. It's snowconed by a diving Piva! He gets up. He snaps a throw to first. Double play! Game over! Kudos.

20 Qs with Kelly Grace

1. What is the most daring thing you've ever done?

I stole 2nd in the game against the Dingers

2. What are your pet peeves?

Jerk drivers squeezing you out when you’re trying to merge, junk emails, and telemarketers

3. What Major Leaguer do you most admire and why?

Lou Gehrig – watch Pride of the Yankees and you’ll see why. And of course he wore the number 4

4. If a stranger told me I was hot I would…

Who me? No you! Who me?

5. What is your favorite board game?

Scrabble

6. What is your day job and what do you like most about it?

Receiving Manager for Ikea – I like that I’m off for 6 months on parental leave

7. If there was a fire at your home and you could only save one thing, what would it be?

Besides the obvious (my family) I would save my wallet

8. What is your favorite baseball memory?

Ripping the winning hit to get us to the Canadian Championship in 88

9. Who do people say you look like?

Brad Pitt - lol

10. I’d like to confess that I...

look nothing like Brad Pitt

11. You’re offered two free tickets to any sporting event in the world within the next 12 months (with airfare and accommodation also included). What sporting event do you choose and who goes with you?

Lets head down to watch the World Series (wherever it may be) with my family – hey how did we get 4 tickets?

12. What was the last concert you attended?

Wow it’s been so long. I think it was Kiss on New Years Eve – can’t remember what year

13. Favorite website(s)?

http://www.teamfolio.net/ and http://www.graceschedules.com/ are 2 awesome websites!

14. One book everyone should read is…

Don’t bother – rent a movie – here’s one…

15. One movie everyone should see is…

Tango and Cash

16. What is your favorite LMBA park to play in and why?

Blue Mountain is a good one – seem to recall hitting at least one shot out of there

17. If you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Steak

18. When was the last time you ran?

Friday, stole 2nd remember?

19. My greatest fear is…

Getting five holed on the most routine grounder possible

20. You are now a suspect in a crime that happened 15 years ago. Where were you, and what were you doing, on the evening of June 10, 1992?

I’m not saying anything until I see my lawyer!

June 8 2007

Minoru (Latrace) Park. 7pm. Vs Richmond Dingers.

A rare Friday night game. A rare game for the Indians at Minoru. Some players had to pay for parking. Where do they get off? And by they we mean the parking chargers, not the players. And we don't actually wanna know where they get off - that's a little personal.

We had heard rumors last week that right field at Minoru was f***ed up, and the rumors proved true. We'd like to describe for you exactly what makes it so, but......... yeah. Piva started on the mound, and pitched well for the first five innings. Then Ratelle came in for four innings of relief and also pitched well.

Our bats showed improvement. Patience at the plate combined with timely hits resulted in many baserunners and runs batted in, moreso than usual. We'd go so far to say that we had more baserunners this game than any other game this season, but we have nil stats to back that up, so we won't say it.

In the top half of the eighth inning, Ratelle received a very dubious strike call during an at bat - it looked up and in to everyone but you know who. On the first batter Ratelle faced in the bottom of the eighth, he received the same call in his favor. Blush, eye shadow, lipstick: make-up!

With the win (12-2?), we are now currently alone in first place! We just have to wait to see how the Delta Tigers fare on Sunday. Just one picture from today's game - night games and our camera don't play well together.

Today's iPod.
Once again a base-clearing extra-base hit. This go 'round it was Neidert up with the sacks juiced in the top of the sixth. He hammered one to the gap in left-centre and tallied a 3-RBI double. Kudos.

June 3 2007

Whalley Park. 10am. Vs Newton Rockies.

During warmup we welcomed our newest teammate, Tyler. After losing McBoyle to an injury, and Paz leaving after today's game, we needed a pickup. Turns out Tyler pitched against us during last year's championship game. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Or something like that. Warmup also included fond reminiscing of Brad's unnecessary long-weekend drive to Chilliwack. He tells us that what made it much worse was each time he drove past a gas station and its gas price sign. drive drive drive D'OH! drive drive drive D'OH! drive drive drive D'OH! drive drive drive D'OH!

At 9:55am both teams lined up as Rockie (and one-time Indian) Pete was given a ten-year award. The formation of the Rockies team was primarily his doing. Congrats dude.

Our pregame cheer was really something. And then it was the day of the K. Our two pitchers today - Ratelle and Paz - combined for a phenomenal 16 K's. Yes, 16 of the 27 Rockies' outs were of the strikeout variety. Their pitchers were also on top of their game. Unofficially, the combined K total for the game was 27. (Perhaps someone can chatter an official total.) So, with 51 total outs made in the game - we didn't bat in the bottom of the ninth - over half were K's. As one Indian pointed out, lately the pitching in the league has been a little ahead of the hitting. In our games at least. 'kay?

Interesting play today. We were in the field, runners were on, and the batter put the ball in play. The homeplate ump called "infield fly" and the opposing team's captain stormed from the dugout in protest. After consulting with the base ump, the infield fly call was overturned! Has anyone reading this ever seen an infield fly rule get overturned? We're too lazy to look up the rule, but we're thinking it can't be overturned. Maybe it's not even in the rule book as unoverturnable as no one could possibly foresee anyone attempting to do such a thing. But today someone attempted and someone did - you never know what you're gonna get at an Indians' game. 'kay?

And that was after another interesting play with us in the field. A groundball to the secondbaseman hit the runner heading to second and ricocheted to short left field. The runner continued to third and then to home and the batter/runner went to second. Most of the team was moving at half speed, using their energy to point out repeatedly to the umps that "the ball hit the runner!" Usually that results in an immediate deadball with the runner being out. But not at an Indians game! At an Indians game, the play continues to its natural end, then the umps have a powwow, then the umps declare the runner out and send the batter/runner back to first. 'kay?

One video added to the video box. clayton - 06/03/2007. 'kay?

Today's iPod.
In the second inning, with us up just a couple of runs, we work the bases loaded. With two outs, up steps Paz. Bang, a drive to rightcentre. It drops in, the bases clear, and Paz ends up on third. We never relinquish the lead and win 7-3. Kudos.