This One's For You Jerry Franzese

Last week team TPG found out some sad news.  Our star 3B Tony "Married to the Firm" Franzese lost his father Jerry during the off season. Tony is not just one of the best players on the field, but he's also the epitome of a family man - often bringing his wife and kids to the game. While we never met Jerry, it was obvious from the very first time we met Tony that his father was someone special.  So just like Tony's been there for us all these years, we felt like we needed to be there for him last night when we took the field against PEA. A few minutes before first pitch the team handed Tony a card, shook his hand, and said let's win this one for your pop.

After shutting down PEA in the top of the first (highlighted with a stellar double play by RF Frank "The Veteran" Lew), TPG threatened to put up a big number, but some clutch defense ended the first with bases loaded and only one run scored. During the course of a season, there will always be ups and downs. A team that looks championship bound one day might struggle to get a single out the next day. The real test comes when you face adversity, and the true measure of success is in how a team overcomes such challenges. For the next 3 innings the PEA lineup showed off their power, and scored 9 unanswered runs while the TPG bats went quiet. After 4 innings played, TPG found themselves losing 9-1 with daylight quickly evaporating.

Would TPG fold their hand, and give up? Was this going to be one of our worst losses in many years? Time to regroup, make some substitutions, and remember Jerry. A different TPG team took the field in the top of the 5th, ignored the previous four innings, and played ball. P Hernan "The Terminator" Graziano kept his focus and shut down the PEA lineup holding them scoreless for the next two innings. TPG batted in the bottom of the 5th, and after a couple errors and two ground ball outs TPG had two runs in with two outs and the top of the lineup coming to bat. EH Norman "Cricket" Ha continued his (now two year long) hot streak, and blasted a HR (those Cricket players sure are fast).  Five consecutive singles later, a two out rally, and 6 runs scored. A brand new day. Heading into the 6th, the ump announcing this would most likely be the last inning due to darkness, and TPG was trailing 9-7.

We were pumped. You could feel the energy. PEA tried to rally for some insurance runs in the top of the 6th, but TPG escaped the inning and took the plate down 2 in the bottom of the 6th. Our first batter reached on an error, and the next two made outs. So TPG was down 9-7, runner on 2nd, two outs, and C Princess "Senior Moment" Salvacion at the plate. Have you ever tried to throw strikes to Princess? Well the PEA pitcher could not, and princess walked. Top of the order, and fresh off his HR blast, Norman walked and we had bases loaded, two outs with last year's league MVP Justin "Yoga Pants" Aharoni at the plate. A bullet single, and Princess is held at 3rd. Down 1. Two outs. Bases loaded. And who steps to the plate? Of course it is Tony. With his father looking down from above, Tony ripped a game winning, bases clearing double, and at the end of 6 TPG was on top 11-9.  The game was called due to darkness, and the score was final as 10 unanswered runs resulted in one of the greatest comebacks in team history.

This one's for you Jerry Franzese. You will be missed. 

TPG Jumps off to a solid 2-0 start to begin a cold 2014

It felt like the coldest winter on record. It was almost the snowiest winter. As March rolled on, we all kept waiting for some sign that hibernation was over, and that one day - just maybe - we could go back outside again. And then March ended. And there was still snow on the ground in people's backyards. What happened to that whole "out like a lamb thing?".  But now it is April, and April held promise. Not just because we were officially well into Spring. No. For all of us, April holds promise for one reason alone - that's when the SLAM season starts.

After receiving the news that two-time league female MVP Lynee Hastings had taken a job and moved to Mexico, our heads were down.  Perhaps there was one advantage however of such a long, cold winter... In 2014 we have one of the largest rookie crops in memory, with enthusiasm and excitement stemming from rookies all the way to the TPG Graphics & Branding Studio (who designed our new jerseys) and TPG Marketing Department (who is launching a softball social media campaign).

Opening day for TPG was Thursday April 17, and our opponent was FXF. To say we have had some heated games against them in recent years would be an understatement. Game time temperature was in the 40s, and players were literally losing feeling in their toes. This was the game where the new TPG players were about to make a statement to the league that this might finally be our year. New pitcher Hernan "The Terminator" Graziano stepped on the mound and started throwing the type of accurate heat that we have come to expect from the elite teams in this league. And as 5:29 struck, new CF Danny "The Mover" Etkin arrived on the field. You know that moment when you see a player and all you can think of is that you hope he is not playing for the other team?  Yeah. He's playing for us. And no, we did not hire Mike Trout, even if he might look like him. And also no, that foul ball he hit in his first at bat didn't actually knock over a tree several blocks away. SLAM is a coed league, and with diversity becoming the standard in the Architecture and Design industry, TPG is proud that 3 of the 6 new rookies are women.

In what felt like the longest game in history (okay, we were really cold), a battle was fought and the rust was obvious.  Errors on both sides of the field led to a TPG victory of 13-10, and at the end both teams were just happy to leave the field without any injuries.  Notable performances included a 4-4 day by EH Norman "Cricket" Ha, a spectacular diving catch by CF Danny "The Mover" Etkin, and SCF Johanna "Softball is Fun" Devia finally showing the rest of the outfield how you are supposed to hit a cut-off man.

Game 2 was only 4 days later as TPG took the field against RRA/DBB.  This game couldn't be any more different than game 1.  With the extremely underrated RRA/DBB Pitcher Geoff Prisco throwing dominating stuff, TPG was held scoreless for 4 innings. But Geoff was matched with a dominating performance by TPG Pitcher Hernan "The Terminator" Graziano, and after a home run saving catch by LCF Luis "Dancing with the Stars" Herrera the game was 0-0 after 4 innings of play.  When RRA/DBB finally got on the board in the top of the 5th with a SAC fly, TPG needed to get the rally caps going.  RCF Simon "Kung Fu Panda" Yeung hit a game tying double, and EH Andreas "The Athlete" Karales came through with a key ground ball to get the go ahead run.  Clinging to a 2-1 lead, Hernan "The Terminator" Graziano brought his game to the next level and completely shut down the opposing team.  Four insurance runs in the top of the 7th make this game look a lot less exciting than it was, as the final score ended 6-1 in favor of TPG.