 |
| March 18th SATURDAY (11:00am) SEASON OPENER Game 1 (6 innings): Dan v. Paul v. Joel 8 9 1 Well, as usual, it was homeruns, strikeouts, and terrible pitching. Without the horrendous upsets by Paul (nearly gave Dan the win) or Joel (pitching lost its luster against Paul in the late innings), this would have been more likely a 3 - 2 - 1 game. Dan had difficulty hitting all day against Joel (who gave up only 1 run to Dan) but no problems whatsoever against Paul. One inning of Paul pitching put Dan up 7 runs (mostly through walks), effectively ensuring him the win (which didn't happen anyway). Dan scored his lone home run against Paul. Need more info to guess how the season will turn out. Paul showed a further deterioration from last year in pitching ability. He lasted about 2 innings before he became effectively useless and Bill-like. He refused to be pulled from pitching in the inning in which he practically handed Dan the game. Batting-wise, he could use more practice. No real power shown. One mild homerun and a round of walks and singles put Paul in the lead. Preliminary estimates show that his season looks bleak, except against weak pitchers. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of those. Joel had a terrible start batting-wise, essentially avoiding contact until late in the game. When he did hit, we saw the raw power and consistency we became used to over the years, especially since he had the deepest homerun of the game (clear across the street and onto the lawn, left-of-center). Pitching-wise, he proved once again that he can fool-up Dan, ending his innings quickly. However, pitching is not his strength and forced to continue late into the game gave Paul a round of batting practice (and the majority of runs he needed to close in on Dan). On a side note, BILL completely shafted the other players. After confirming he would be arriving around 10:45am, Bill was completely out of contact with everyone until he finally called Joel back at around 12:15pm with no explanation and saying "I'll tell you later." Very pathetic. FURTHER DETAIL: had the game been ONLY scored as Joel v. Dan, Joel would have won with ONE run to Dan's ZERO. Joel hit his homer off of Dan, while Dan scored 7 runs in one inning (off of Paul) and 1 more (again, off of Paul) later in the game. Note that the pitching was consistently rotated, so Dan can't use that in his favor. Joel v. Dan 1-0, Dan v. Paul 8-2, Paul v. Joel 7-0 Homeruns today: Dan 1, Joel 1, Paul 1 |
| Speedball Update |
| \/---PRIOR GAMES LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER--------------\/---------\/---------\/---------\/--------\/ |
| \/---MOST RECENT GAME RESULTS-------------------------------------------\/---------\/---------\/---------\/--------\/ |
| Season Complete |
 |
 |
| July 27th SATURDAY (10:30am) Game 19 (9 innings): Paul & Gerald & Ian & Rich v. Dan & Joel & Bill 5 3 An off and on match from the very start, the 4-player team was a first for this season. Despite initial estimates of a low scoring, quick game, the homeruns rolled on in and plenty of little dinger singles managed to slip on by. In last inning, Joel popped-up what would have been the tying run, Paul reached over the infield fence and grabbed it, while Rich who was the inner-outfielder, stopped about 10 feet from the ball and watched like a wussy. Rich -"I had the game winning RBI" Game 20 (9 innings): Joel & Ian & Gerald v. Dan & Paul & Rich & Bill 9 8 A very exciting game, with the scores rolling in in clumps. DPRB got ahead at one point by ~5 runs only to let up plenty when Bill pitched. Dan "I just want to play" S. was stupid enough to let Bill "I wanna pitch" G. stay in as a pitcher despite the trouncing he was getting. Joel "I want to win" G. and team managed their pitching well enough to contain any disasters. Gerald -"I won the game for us with a winning grandslam in 9th inning" K. did quite well this game, though his pitching got a little too loose at times. Ian "closeout pitcher" C. finished off the DPRB team on a very close call (he had walked the bases loaded, if I recall). Thank god neither Rich nor Bill could produce anything in the final inning to regain the lead. Game 21 (6 innings): Dan & Ian & Gerald (partial) v. Joel & Paul 11 10 This game was very raucous, with Dan and Joel arguing practically the whole time. Dan felt he could make up the rules regarding the foul lines, even though no one (including his teammates) seemed to agree with him. DIG (G left early) pulled ahead by a solid margin at one point, only to get rocked back into second place during Ian's final inning of pitching. This time, though, Dan's team wasn't to be denied, and he "got the tying and winning HRs in the bottom of the last inning" off of Paul's pitching, in a one-two effort (while Ian got one out). Homeruns today: Dan 4, Paul 3, Ian 3, Gerald 3, Joel 0, Rich 0, Bill 0 Homerun totals: (1) Dan 25, (2) Paul 23, (3) Gerald 10, (4) Joel 6, (5) Larry & Rich & Ian tied at 3, (7) Bill 1 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| May 24th SATURDAY (12:15pm) Game 2 (7 innings): Dan & Rich v. Paul & Joel & Bill 14 10 Well, Bill once again proved he was a liability -- though he did relinquish his pitching duties without too much effort. Rich was nothing special (though he did score a homer), and overall, there weren't any great plays. PJB would have won, without Bill. Paul complained bitterly about Joel's two fielding errors, only to make nearly the same two errors himself later in the day. Dan threw well and Rich even had a one-two inning. Rich felt his performance earned him a place among the speedball elite -- poor deluded Rich, one homerun and a couple of strikeouts doesn't really do it. The homeruns were really towering today, with almost every one of them landing between the same two houses up the middle (and slightly to the left) of center field. Game 3 (4 innings): Paul & Joel v. Dan & Bill 8 3 Call this game batting practice, because Paul & Joel had no trouble hitting off of Bill or Dan. Joel racked up back-to-back homers off of Bill, and scored one against Dan as well. Dan, despite a good pitching effort, could not help but be dragged to the ground by Bill. Paul knocked in oner more homer as well, but could not keep up with Dan or Joel in the homerun race on this day. This game burned out early with Bill completely spent and Paul complaining vociferously about his sore muscles. Age has taken an expensive toll on the old gang, and it shows in almost everyone. Dan can stil hit, but he can't pitch (like he used to); Paul gets worn out quickly on the pitching mound and his vertical leap is now measured in micrometers; Bill has no energy whatsoever and it shows in everything he does; Joel keeps on bringing the hits and has gotten better at pitching, but has missed too many simple fielding plays. Homeruns today: Dan 4, Joel 4, Paul 2, Rich 1 Homerun totals: (1) Dan & Joel tied with 5, (3) Paul 3, (4) Rich 1, (5) Bill 0 |
| June 1st SATURDAY (12:30pm) Game 4 (5 innings): Dan & Ian & Bill v. Paul & Rich & Gerald 13 3 What a disaster. Hitless Gerald strikes (out) again. Rich contributed nothing. This game was not a shock, except maybe for Bill, who was on his first winning team in 2 seasons. It's safe to say that, despite the kudos Gerald received for his pitching, he is still dismal on the contact side of the balance sheet. Paul, anchored to both Gerald and Rich, didn't stand a chance. The one wildcard was Ian, who couldn't even demonstrate a decent hitting ability when we played wiffle ball recently. If he ever plays again, perhaps he'll get rank in the lower echelons, but who knows where. Dan racked up two homers, placing him at the front of the homerun count for the season (Joel was not present on this day). Game 5 (9 innings): Paul & Ian & Gerald v. Dan & Rich & Bill 7 3 Well, the results of this game would seem to suggest RICH as the inherent problem dragging down his team in the earlier game. As such, perhaps Ian ranks above him, all things considered. That leaves Bill & Gerald flopping around together at the bottom of the speedball barrel. Dan notes that Bill had the catch of the day in the center field (in front of the "bush"). Paul apparently clocked a homer as well, but not one specified which game this happened in. Homeruns today: Dan 2, Paul 1 (note: Joel was not present at these games) Homerun totals: (1) Dan 7, (2) Joel 5, (3) Paul 4, (4) Rich 1, (5) Bill 0 / Gerald 0 / Ian 0 |
 |
|
| Name: Dan S. Height: 6'1" Weight: 185 lbs Age: 30 Batting: 8 Pitching: 7 Fielding: 9 Homeruns (2002): 25 (9 in one day) aka: "fingernails" |
| Name: Joel G. Height: 5'8" Weight: 160 lbs Age: 28 Batting: 7 Pitching: 7 Fielding: 9 Homeruns (2002): 6 (4 in one day) aka: "fired-up son-of-a-bitch" |
| Name: Paul B. Height: 5'10" Weight: 185 lbs Age: 28 Batting: 9 Pitching: 6 Fielding: 8 Homeruns (2002): 23 (6 in one day) aka: "the whaler" |
| Name: Gerald K. Height: 5'10" Weight: 165 lbs Age: 31 Batting: 7 Pitching: 9 Fielding: 9 Homeruns (2002): 10 (5 in one day) aka: "silent but deadly" (multiple meanings) |
| Name: Bill G. Height: 6'0" Weight: 200 lbs Age: 28 Batting: 4 Pitching: 3 Fielding: 6 Homeruns (2002): 1 c aka: "chinless wonder" |
| Name: Rich S. Height: 5'7" Weight: 155 lbs Age: 28 Batting: 4 Pitching: 5 Fielding: 3 Homeruns (2002): 3 aka: "ball dodger" |
| June 15th SATURDAY (11:30am) Game 6 (7 innings): Joel & Dan & Gerald v. Paul & Rich & Bill 4 2 A real surprise that this game was actually "close." Joel started off and remained a disaster offensively. While he made plenty of contact, it was amazing how many pop-ups back to the pitcher he chipped. Truly awful. However, his pitching did start to show a glimmer of hope. No one really seemed on the ball today, and this game showed that as much as any other. Game 7 (6? innings): Paul & Gerald & Bill v. Joel & Rich & Dan 8 1 Well this was an utter disaster. Not worth mentioning. Everyone seems to have forgotten the details, thank god. Another ugly display of both hitting and pitching. I've blocked from my memory how the score possibly got this bad, but Dan's horrible pitching effort contributed greatly. He gave up 3 home runs in a single inning, more than I can remember from any other game. Joel & Gerald finally faced off, each batting and pitching against one another. Game 8 (6? innings): Dan & Paul & Bill v. Joel & Gerald 8 4 Dan effectively FORFEITED this game (on a 2-2 pitch, nonetheless) when the ice cream truck showed up. Joel & Gerald made all 4 runs in just one inning, and Joel's pitching was keeping DPB at bay. This game should have been finished. Bill was DEFINITELY proven to be nothing more than a LIABILITY, easily costing his team more by insisting on pitching than he ever contributed through his lone singles here and there. Homeruns today: Paul 4, Dan 3, Rich 1, Gerald 1, Bill 1, Joel 0 Homerun totals: (1) Dan 10, (2) Paul 8, (3) Joel 5, (4) Rich 2, (5) Bill 1 / Gerald 1, (7) Ian 0 |
| Send any inquiries to: questions@thejoelzone.com |
 |
 |
| All pictures courtesy of Jason Gutteridge |
 |
 |
| Name: Larry S. Height: 5'11" Weight: 185 lbs Age: 37 Batting: ? Pitching: ? Fielding: ? --- insufficient game time --- Homeruns (2002): 3 |
| June 22nd SATURDAY (11:30am) Game 9 (4 innings): $20 CHALLENGE MATCH Joel + [Dan & Paul] v. Rich + [Dan & Paul] 6 0 Rich, upset with his lowly rank, taunted and prodded at Joel until he finally relented to a challenge match. Rich was incredibly sure that not only would he win, but that he would achieve an unprecedented shutout. Joel and Rich pitched to one another while Dan & Paul played the field. Gerald (& Bill) umpired the game to ensure against cheating. [Gerald did make one undeniably bad call when he called a strike despite the fact that the ball landed 5 inches from the box... even Paul who was in the outfield saw this.] A dime was flipped, Rich called it and won first at-bats. The game started out slowly, with both Rich and Joel unable to do anything in the first inning. Unfortunately for Rich, Joel was merely adjusting. By the second time Joel reached the plate, Rich had already "blown his wad" pitching-wise. He walked Joel onto first, then Joel knocked a deep center field triple which (according to Dan) nailed the corner of the curb, placing it less than an inch from homerun territory. And so, it was 1-0. Rich proceeded to allow several walks, a double, and other assorted hits until Joel reached 6 runs. At Rich's next at bat, he figured Joel had tired as well and sat back gleefully waiting to be walked to victory. He got as far as 1st & 2nd base before he was shut down. The next inning did nothing for either combatant, and the death knell struck for Rich. It should be noted that Rich had 4 innings of batting while Joel had only 3. With any luck, Rich will be quiet for awhile. Game 10 (3 innings): Paul & Gerald & Dan v. Joel & Rich & Bill 7 0 This game should never have happened. Dan's bright idea to pick names out of a hat may provide greater diversity to the team composition, but it also allows for massacres like this one. Game called off early for obvious reasons. Game 11 (5? innings): Paul & Bill & Gerald v. Joel & Rich & Dan 7 6 Well, this game went quite poorly. Enough so that Rich's ranking is surely teetering on a rickety precipice. This game is one more example of a game which should have been finished, but for which old age has weakened the players to the point where one more hour is one more hour too much. Pathetic. Joel (with his new glove) has shown marked improvement in fielding ability. He had the catch of the day -- Joel was pitching to Gerald and Gerald knocked a screaming line drive directly back to the plate - Joel didn't have time to move his glove much less his body, but by some miracle, the ball impacted on his right tit (dead on with the 'nip, unfortunately) and Joel managed to trap it with the back of the glove. It was a tremendous showing of quick reaction time. Homeruns today: Paul 1, Dan 1, Gerald 1, Joel 0, Bill 0 Homerun totals: (1) Dan 11, (2) Paul 9, (3) Joel 5, (4) Rich 2 / Gerald 2, (6) Bill 1, (7) Ian 0 |
 |
 |
 |
| June 30th SUNDAY (12:30pm) Game 12 (7 innings): Dan & Larry v. Paul & Rich 6 2 Well, we have the emergence of Larry S., Dan S.'s long lost brother and a one-time player from the 2001 speedball season. General consensus was that Larry performed admirably, especially given his age and lack of practice. Larry gave up two 1st inning runs after which the S. brothers completely and utterly shut down the Italian team of Paul & Rich. Larry knocked in a homer -- not bad for an old fella'. Game 13 (4 innings): Paul & Larry v. Dan & Rich 9 3 Dan & Rich got absolutely mauled by Paul & Larry, with Larry racking up 2 more homers and Paul scoring 2 more for himself. Dan stated the Larry was clearly the player of the day, and the other players seemed to concur. Will we see more of Larry? Stay tuned. Once he's played at least 3 more games (could all be in 1 day), he'll get ranked. It sounds like he could well be in the upper echelons. We'll see how he survives a long day of game play; apparently, this whole day was over and done with in 1 hour 45 minutes. Homeruns today: Larry 3, Paul 2, Dan 0, Rich 0 Homerun totals: (1) Dan & Paul tied at 11, (3) Joel 5, (4) Larry 3, (5) Rich 2 / Gerald 2, (7) Bill 1, (8) Ian 0 |
| July 13th SATURDAY (11:00am) Game 14 (4 innings): Paul & Rich & Gerald v. Dan & Joel 8 0 Dan & Joel as a team went down miserably. This was the beginning of the worst all around batting day in the history of the game (except for Gerald).... Game lasted 30 minutes at most before it was cancelled. Joel wanted to continue but Dan gave up. Rich's picture perfect moment: "you were supposed to get it!"-Rich (in the infield) to Paul (pitching) regarding a slow pop-up that landed 5 feet in front of him. Duh! Game 15 (? innings): Dan & Gerald v. Paul & Joel & Rich 5 1 Dan & Gerald threw a 1 hitter (a homer for Paulie). Otherwise, a veritable disgrace. Poor pitching by Paulie coupled with lame-ass fielding by Rich (the bush "scared" him), and a dearth of contact for Joel led to yet another horrid display of speedball. This was to be Rich's last game of the day. He picked up two rolling grounders that came right to him and felt that this was now, in HIS words, "the best fielding day of [his] career." Well, if that's the case, then he sucks more than previously thought -- fielding score lowered to a 3 -- dodging, avoiding and not making any effort are not the qualities emboldened by a good fielder. Game 16 (9 innings): Joel & Gerald v. Dan & Paul 4 3 At last, the detritus that is Rich went home for the day and the real match up could take place. Joel picked the teams -- it would be the #1 & #2 HR kings versus the 3rd & 4th ranked players. Dan continued what became one of the longest no run pitching streaks in game history (13 innings, some from prior game). Meanwhile, Joel pitched the first six innings of the game for his team (despite Gerald's higher pitch ranking) and also racked up a surprising number of runless innings in a row (8, 6 in this game, 2 in the prior game). In fact, Joel & Dan caused innumerable one-two innings, making for a very fast game. Gerald poured on the juice early, knocking 2 home-runs in with Joel on base each time. It wasn't until late in the game where Dan & Paul finally managed to rattle Joel's fantastic pitching and pulled in a couple of runs. Joel quickly abandoned the mound and called Gerald up from the 'pen (now long since rested). Gerald made quick work of them. Gerald took the whole next inning as well, with Joel coming back in the 8th inning. After Dan & Paul scored run #3, Joel once again turned the mound over to Gerald to finish off the 8th & 9th innings. Paul was the last at-bat for the day, with massive pressure to pull something off. He struck out. An upset of tremendous import had come true. 9 innings made it official. No crying to mama on this one boys. [See Game 8 for the first time in 2002 that Joel & Gerald faced off versus Dan & Paul. That time D&P also had a 3rd player.] All-in-all, Joel & Gerald played much harder than Dan & Paul who probably thought they had the game wrapped up before it even began. On two separate occasions, Joel & Gerald made great strides to catch fly balls. Joel (while pitching) ALMOST caught a double in the outfield (by himself), but lost it in the sun. Gerald in a later play, hopped the infield fence and came within a foot of catching another pop-up. Fielding scores are rising on this. 'til next time. Homeruns today: Gerald 5, Paul 3, Dan 1, Rich 1, Joel 0 Homerun totals: (1) Paul 14, (2) Dan 12, (3) Gerald 7, (4) Joel 5, (5) Larry & Rich tied at 3, (7) Bill 1, (8) Ian 0 |
| July 20th SATURDAY (10:00am) Game 17 (9 innings): Dan & Paul v. Joel & Gerald 14 0 Well, this matchup has turned into a best of 3 challenge (Dan & Paul v. Joel & Gerald) and this game made it a solid 1-1. Gerald came in on the weak side (pitching) and Joel continued to lag on the batting end. Before the first inning was over (1-0, D&P), Gerald was complaining about his arm. He had been painting the evening prior, which he forgot to disclose prior to the game. Dan repeatedly wanted to call off this game due to the trouncing they were issuing, but Joel wanted all 3 games to be the same ~ 9 innings, no call-offs. I'll spare you the rest of the game history, as it was a disaster. Anyway, this was the dawn of a new age -- or rather, a new BAT. After last week's game splintered the old white KOHO hockey stick, a new stick was needed. Joel picked up a BLUE/BLACK KOHO and cut it about 2-3 inches longer than the prior stick (though there were initial complaints that the bat was too long and heavy to swing properly, this didn't hinder Joel or Dan from using it -- Paul & Gerald primarily stuck with the old stick, heavily taped up as it was). The new bat helped Joel out of his slump and propelled Dan to a staggering 9 homeruns on the day. In fact, this day's games were some of the highest scoring games ever AND they had more homeruns (for one day) than anyone can ever remember (16 in total). Game 18 (9 innings): Joel & Paul v. Dan & Gerald 11 10 This game was even MORE exciting than the Dan&Paul v. Joel&Gerald game of LAST week (not this week). In fact, perhaps this will be the 'other' best of 3 matchup for next week. Paul believes this was easily the "best game of the year." Gerald's pitching did improve over the first game, but Dan faltered in a bad way, giving up all 11 runs to Joel & Paul. It was a close match for most of the game, with Paul's homeruns and Joel's little dingers keeping them a nose ahead of Dan's ongoing homerun rally for the first 8 innings. Joel complained bitterly that Paul insisted on pitching late in the game, despite the fact that he was having much longer innings than Joel. By the end of the 8th inning, Paul's pitching allowed Gerald and Dan to take the lead. In the 9th inning, the stage was set for a major play. J&P were down by one run (9-8) to D&G. Joel and Paul both managed to get on base (against Dan). Finally, Joel stepped to the plate and Paul said, "if you ever were gonna come out of the homerun slump, now's the time to do it." One pitch later... HOMERUN! The first for Joel since the beginning of the season. The score was now 11-9 going into the bottom of the 9th inning. Joel was pitching. The tension was high. Joel got one out, but soon after, gave up a run; he quickly retreated and handed Paul the ball to get the game finished. One strikeout later (by Gerald) and it was all over and done. Another amazing game for the recordbooks. Homeruns today: Dan 9, Paul 6, Joel 1, Gerald 0 (Ger wishes to note that he didn't give up any of the HRs) Homerun totals: (1) Dan 21, (2) Paul 20, (3) Gerald 7, (4) Joel 6, (5) Larry & Rich tied at 3, (7) Bill 1, (8) Ian 0 |
| Name: Ian C. Height: 5'11" Weight: 190 lbs Age: 26 Batting: 6 Pitching: 6 Fielding: 7 Homeruns (2002): 3 (3 in one day) aka: "slinky" |
 |
