March 25 2007

Our first outdoor practice! It was the Indians' best turnout for a practice in a decade, give or take 10 years. Just two guys weren't there. If this keeps up all season, the players who make the long drives to practices will actually be rewarded. It is just the first outdoor practice so we may well be getting ahead of ourselves, but still, we have hope, and hope is good, unless you're hoping you stub your toe, then not so much..

We had infielders taking grounders and outfielders taking flies and occasional grounders and it was grand. It was sunny, but due to the recent rain the field was very soggy. We stayed off the Whalley Field to avoid longterm damage, and trekked to a nearby available area. Brad was late, he "stepped into a marsh puddle and it took 20 minutes to get out of it".

After roughly 40 minutes of flies and grounders we made our way to the cages and took some hacks. There is much enthusiasm watching the newbies in the cage, as they appear able to make contact - quality contact - with great frequency. Our new additions are sure to help us get our playoff legs up and over that final hurdle.

Talk of our first game, versus the Delta Tigers, had some players displaying some trepidation. You see, there are rumors afoot that the Tigers have been practicing indoors three times a week for a couple of months now. But, the game on April 15th is not going to be played in a gymnasium. It's not being played in a gym is it? No, we didn't think so. So with our outdoor practice today, and upcoming outdoor practices on Wednesday the 28th and Saturday the 31st, we feel we have the edge. Some of us feel that way anyway...

March 21 2007

Spring has officially sprung and Spring Training is proceeding at a slow pace. A few batting cage sessions here and there, with the annual start-of-Spring-Training proclamation given by Enrique that he won't be pitching this season. Alright Enrique, so you're good to go in the first game? Or the second game?

We've able to swing the bat at pitched balls a few times, but the weather has been uncooperative when it comes to field time. As of now we have yet to need to don our cleats - which is probably the most poetic sentence we have ever written. But that could change this Sunday! The don our cleats part; it's highly unlikely we'll ever write a more poetic sentence. The weather channel predicts mostly sunshine for this Sunday, which would be very nice for our scheduled not-so-long-ass 10am-11:59am practice. For everyone who has been eagerly awaiting our return after the off-season, a special treat: this practice is an open practice, free to anyone and everyone who wishes to view this practice! (note: tickets required, with a service fee of $2.50, a little something we learned from les 'nucks.)

There are a few changes this season, including a new rule governing the placement of a batters' feet during an at-bat: at least one foot must stay in the box at all times. Getting the signs from the third-base coach? Keep one foot in. Failure to follow this rule will result in a strike. For it's one, two, three times-both-feet-out-of-the-box you're out, at the ollllld balllllll gaaaaame!

Spring Training 2007

As soon as we realized that a whole new baseball season lay just ahead, we thought about our ultimate goal, which is going one step further than last season and winning the championship. And then one thing entered our minds and wouldn't leave:

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
Nobody's gonna slow me down

Imagine, if you will, the entire Indians roster dancing around the clubhouse in our skivvies, chanting the above line (now adopted as a mantra) while beating our chests in a rhythmic beat, and you will have some idea of what is definitely not happening.

Instead we're meeting at night in the bloody cold and trying not to lose appendages to frostbite while hitting BP in a batting cage that isn't fully lit. Afterwards, we decide to postpone future practices until there is no longer snow on the ground. The postponement ends Sunday at 7:30pm.

It should be noted that while our first, and so far only, team BP session was on February 26th, we had actually wanted to start earlier. But we were unable to do so due to squatting hookers that had been living in the cages during the off-season. Whalley had to clean all of the garbage and syringes out of the cages and have them inspected before we could use them. There's a Bonds joke in there somewhere.

Our first game is Sunday April 15th. Mark your calendars.

Team Awards 2006

10 of 16 players have submitted their voting forms. Players were given one rule: no voting for yourself. The number of votes tallied in each category will sometimes be less than 10, sometimes more; some players left a category or two blank, and some voted for two players in one category, which, unlike last season, was within the voting rules. Entries are listed in order of most-votes to least-votes, with the total number of votes, if more than one, in brackets.

Here are the results...


Most Competitive Player

• Robin (6)
• Kelly (2)
• Christopher
• Clayton
• Scott

Most Improved Player

• Jeffrey (3)
• Rodney (2)
• Bradley
• Robert - "that guy used to be all kinds of terrible!"
• Scott
• Tyler

Most Likely To Show Up To A Game Hungover

• Christopher (4)
• Ryan (4)
• Clayton (2) - "obviously"
• Rodney

Best Defensive Player

• Robert (4)
• Clayton (2)
• Jeffrey (2)
• Kelly
• Robin

Best Clutch Hitter

• Clayton (6)
• Robin (2)
• Jeffrey
• Scott

Best Sportsmanship

• Kelly (3)
• Robert (3)
• Rodney (2)
• Adam
• Enrique
• Jeffrey

Funniest Player

• Bradley (5) - "on a dance floor"
• Jeffrey (2)
• Robert (2) - "in writing"
• Christopher

Most Peculiar Injury
("It’s interesting enough that you created this category – we had that many injuries.")

• Josh's punching metal rod and breaking hand - exact same manner that Chris broke his hand (4)
• Sabres pitcher's arm (2)
• Aaron's popped knee
• Bradley blowing out his knee playing frisbee 3 years ago
• Lee's arm
• Scott bailing on third

Unsung Hero

• Jeffrey (6)
• Enrique (2)
• Ryan

Play Of The Year

• "Dirty [Tyler] Sanchez" "making his superman debut in left field" (7)
• Christopher's game ending catch in the semi-finals
• Clayton's sliding catch of a foul popup
• Robert - "you've had too many. Pick one."

Grittiest Player

• Kelly (3)
• Josh coming back from broken hand (2)
• Robin (2)
• Ryan (2)
• Clayton

Most Valuable Player

• Clayton (7)
• Christopher
• Robin

[editor: But where's Pooh?]


Best Quote

• Kelly: "Man, we're gonna get smoked!" (2)
• Pick any one of Brad's classic cheers (2)
• Clayton: "I sometimes do a #2 in urinals"
• Jeffrey: "Jazz Hands"
• Leaverd: "Is it okay if I leave?" (seventh inning of the semi-final game)
• "He really HF'd that one"

Sexiest Batting Stance

• Kelly's "shimmy" (3)
• Jeffrey (2)
• Leaverd (2)
• Clayton
• Scott
• "We're the sexiest team in the LMBA"

Song That Best Represents This Season

• Backstreet Boys: "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"
• Britney Spears: "Oops!... I Did It Again"
• Garth Brooks: "Friends In Low Places"
• Metallica: "Turn The Page"
• The Ohio Players: "Love Rollercoaster"
• U2: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• The Wedding Song

Exclusive Ensemble

All the exclusives, all in one post. Links to them at least. In chronological order:

Enrique -- Josh -- Jeffrey -- Kelly -- Adam -- Rodney -- Robin -- Clayton -- Robert -- Bradley

There have been a handful of award submission forms returned. We're hoping to get a few more before the deadline of noon tomorrow. As we said, the results will be posted by, uhhhh.. 4pm Sunday. Okay okay, we originally said noon Sunday, but an unexpected offer of Sunday morning brunch came our way, and believe you me, we're not ones to turn down crepes. Therefore, the results will be posted either sometime Saturday night or after brunch on Sunday. Once they're posted, an email will be sent to all Indians, all Surrey Indians that is, and the other couple thousand of our readers will just have to keep checking in.. Trust us, from what we've seen so far, it'll be worth the hourly check-in.

To the several Indians who haven't emailed in your entries: email in your entries!!

September 10 2006

We were that close (we touched it).

It was definitely a beautiful day for a doubleheader. 'Tis a shame only one game was scheduled. At least it was the championship game, that kind of made it okay that we were only playing one game. In the end though, we would have liked to have played a best-of-seven, like the big boys do when it's playoff time. Even a best-of-three would have suited us fine. However many best-ofs until we are crowned champions. I think we even had it in us to do a best-of-one-hundred-and-thirty-nine. Et toi, Sabres?

The Sabres sure did bring their bats to the game. We'd become used to our pitchers being able to shut down the opposition, allowing just a few hits here and there. On this day, however, the Sabres jumped on our pitching early, driving hits to all fields. We kept pace early on, thanks in part to Jeff and Enrique's back-to-back extra base hits. We think we heard Jeff saying that it was his first career triple. Kudos Jeff; well-timed.

There was nothing really that stood out as reasons why they won or reasons why we lost. It was a well-fought game and in the end they had more runs on the scoreboard. A few more timely hits, and a few less baserunning errors, on our part and maybe, just maybe... Suppose we can play the what if game all off-season.

To the Sabres pitcher: Get well soon.

That's about it. If anyone else has anything to add, more specifics for the absent RobE perhaps, you're more than welcome to chatter. For mental health reasons, we can't get more specific about the Sabres' pitcher; we've said too much already and we're getting lightheaded again. Clay can tell you about it.

The team awards submission forms have been emailed out; results will be posted here by Sunday noon at the latest. In the meantime, check out the videos found on the left sidebar. We got our hands on some good footage taken during Sunday's game.

Bradley: A CC Exclusive

Clubhouse Chatter: What is your favorite post-game hangout?

Bradley Cumiskey: The closest watering hole with the team

CC: It's 11am Saturday. What are you likely to be doing?

BC: Cleaning the waffle iron in my skivvies

CC: Fill in the blank: I wouldn't sell ___________ for a billion dollars.

BC: my wife.

CC: You've been called up to The Show; what is the first thing you do?

BC: my wife.

CC: What stopped you from winning the grade five spelling bee?

BC: Cynthia f*#king Voo

CC: As a baseball player what is your baseball goal this baseball season?

BC: Come up with the best pre-game cheer.

CC: If you were a WWE wrestler, what would your wrestling name be?

BC: The Red Menace

CC: What person do you most admire and why?

BC:

CC: What is your favorite sports movie?

BC: Raging Bull

CC: What is your favorite non-sports movie?

BC: Casablanca

CC: Describe an average Sunday in your life 20 years from now.

BC: Chillaxing

CC: What is your deepest darkest secret?

BC:

CC: Compose a haiku of your baseball career thus far.

BC: snake bit with the bat
with resolve the hits will come
if not, I just bunt

CC: Let's say that Barry Bonds hits #756 and you end up with the ball. What do you do with it?

BC: I would throw it back, and use the publicity to make more money than I ever could selling the ball. I would release a book titled "Why I threw it back," and try and be really charming and marketable on the morning talk show circuit. I'll further make a name for myself by making fun of Matt Lauer while on the Today Show.

CC: Do you prefer scary movies or comedies?

BC: Comedies.

CC: You can invite four dinner guests, dead or alive. Who are they?

BC: Al Einstein, Willy Shakespeare, Izzy Newton, & Leo DaVinci.

CC: What country that you've never been to would you most like to go to and why?

BC: The Phillipines. I've heard so much, I would love to go.

CC: Tell us a good joke. Keep it clean.

BC: George Bush after a bath.