History and Spring elevator battles of Epic proportions

Spring is in full swing and we haven’t had the chance to catch up with the S.L.A.M blog. So, in order to do so we will cover a battle of epic, deity proportions and a historic win. Let us start with the epic one:

It is undoubtedly good when victory happens 2 years in a row against the same team, and it is especially good (in epic, Egyptian mythology proportions) when our opponent’s new name signifies the presence of 9 deities. That would be the newly Christened “Ennead Architects”, our downstairs neighbor. One would think that Gruzen Samton would succumb to the wrath of the so-called Gods, right? Well no, the story went more along the Greek-pop mythology of Perseus in Clash of the Titans: The deities succumbed to the power of their opponent. It was a close, well-fought battle that ended up in a 10-9 Gruzen Samton victory over Ennead.

However, the best part was that coveted “elevator bragging rights” title. The following day, those rights were fully embraced (yet again) by adding some life to the elevator of our building in the form of celebratory street art; the type that would make Banksy recoil with envy.

We wish Ennead good luck for the rest of their season and look forward to future matches in this now classic rivalry that can only be compared to that of the NY Yankees against the Boston Red Sox (only really, really small in comparison).

And now, on to the historic one:

After our victory last night against Gensler I later found out at the bar that Gruzen had never beaten Gensler before; and to that historic effect many names should be highlighted through the game coverage:

- Starting with 2 runs in the first inning we intended to get an early advantage over our opponents.
- On the second inning, our secret British weapon; Simon Smith, crushes a ball deep in between left and center field for a home-run with 2 RBI.
- The offensive attack continued in the 3rd inning with the help of Vickie Vigil taking a walk to load the bases. Then, our newcomer Diane Moseley (at her second time batting ever!) grounds a ball for a 1 RBI, followed by Jeff Gillers for a single with 1 RBI.

All in all it was a good battle, with Gensler having a comeback of 4 runs in the last 2 innings backed up by one of the better pitchers of the league. However, the defensive game of Gruzen Samton was in full swing with great plays by Jeff DeLong in 1st base (with great backwards fly-ball catches and on double duty at home plate for a nail-biting out); Joe Illuzzi with several clean plays as well as good plays by Vickie and Anthony Colella on 2nd and Shortstop respectively. Adding to that, several struck-outs by our pitcher Jeff Gillers and a good outfield defensive game (by Robert Lucas, Ed Bolivar, illich Mujica and the secret British weapon) ensured that one of the better teams fell short of a victory. In the end Gruzen Samton won 6-5 over Gensler.

It is Spring, and our 9th button of the elevator trumps any group of 9 deities.  
It is good to press that button. Everyday.

HMA/RAMSA SHUTS OUT POLSHEK IN 12-0 ROMP

The formula that had worked 7 times previously this season, seemed to hold true on the Great Lawn #3 yet again: HMA/RAMSA put up 4 runs in the first inning (now 22 runs in the first inning of 9 games) and never looked back in a 12-0 blowout victory over Polshek. Now at 8-1 on the season , HMA/RAMSA has all but locked up a first round bye in the playoffs—assuming there isn’t a colossal meltdown in the final two games of the season.

Jon Fukutomi led off the game with a double, and was quickly brought home on a single by SCF Pete Garofalo. Eric Hofmann and Brian Barney also joined in the hit parade as the top 4 batters each got on base and scored in the first inning. After a quiet second inning on both sides, the middle of the order was at it yet again as two more runs came across to score on a Brian Barney single (and help from the defense) to extend the lead to 6-0. As impressive as the offense has been this season for HMA/RAMSA, the defense (particularly in the outfield) has been not good, but great--lockdown, mistake-free great—and this game proved to be no different in the first shutout of the season. In nine games this season, HMA/RAMSA has allowed 25 runs, and only once have they allowed more than 4 runs in any one game. More impressively (and to a certain pitcher’s delight) is the fact that only 4 times in 61 innings of softball this season has the opposition scored more than one run in the inning. But I digress.

The final dagger in this game came in the 6th inning as 10 batters came to the plate and 6 came back across to score. Final score, 12-0.

Next victim on the schedule….The Philips Group coming off a very controversial victory two week ago. I assure you, TPG, LeBron and Kobe aren’t available today (trust me, I tried). This should be quite a test for the vaunted defense/pitching as TPG is the second-highest scoring team in the SLAM league with 9.6 runs per game. Something’s gotta give.

GAME BALLS:

Pete Garofalo: 3-4 on the day with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI; not in the stat sheet were a juggling catch in the outfield and a brilliant hustle play in the 6th where he beat out a play at second base on a groundball to 3B and then continued over to third when no one was covering the bag.

Brian Barney: 2-4, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI (and just the usual brilliant play in CF)

ORANGE & BLUE (7-1) DEFEAT ORANGE & BLACK (4-2)--FINAL SCORE, 9-2

Just days after fireworks poured over the Hudson River on July 4th, HMA/RAMSA celebrated its independence atop the SLAM standings with a convincing 9-2 victory over the once-mighty triumvirate that is SSC in a battle for orange supremacy. For coach David Solomon, perhaps his best move of the day was letting pitcher David Solomon bat (3-3 with 4 RBI) in the #6 spot rather than DH for the senior member of the team as he had for 3 of the previous 4 games.

The first inning has proved to be very fruitful for the Orange Crush as they scored 4 runs in the top of the inning to take an early lead they would never relinquish. On the season, HMA/RAMSA has now scored in each of its 8 games in the first inning with 18 runs total in those innings. After scoring the first run of the game with a walk to SS Doug Houstoun, David Solomon singled to left field with the bases loaded to plate 2 more runners. Another run would come to score on a fielder’s choice by 2B Cara Graf.

A couple innings later, that same duo of Solomon and Graf would single home 2 more runs with base hits up the middle to bring the lead to 6-0. SSC was shutdown in the early part of the game as the first 9 hitters that came to the plate were retired in order. In the bottom of the fourth, SSC broke up the perfect game with a few hits and errors and forged a threat of their own. With a run already in and the bases loaded, that rally was quickly squashed on a hard smash to the left side of the infield. Third baseman Jon Fukutomi fielded the hotshot cleanly, stepped on the bag and threw over to first to get 3B Hugo Corvalan, who was doing his best Pete Rose impersonation with a headfirst slide into first base. “A” for effort, Hugo….

HMA/RAMSA was able to add another pair of runs in the 5th inning, and yet another in the 6th inning to extend the lead to 9-2 which is where the game ended shortly before 8PM. Now 7-1 on the season, the Orange Crush has a couple of weeks off to prepare for its next challenge against Polshek on July 20th.

GAME BALLS:

Cara Graf – 2-2 with 2 RBI

David Solomon – 7 well-pitched innings and more impressively 3-3 with 4 RBI on the day

PPA 12, TPG 8

Editor –In-Thief: Adam “Slippity Slide” Mead

July 8, 2009

A Little Mascara, and a Dose of Thunder Push Polshek Through


I am not sure what was in our blood last night, but maybe it was the shoes…we started earlier and often again The Phillips Group. Even a whirling Dervish would’ve been amazed at how we seemed to score at will, all the while looking as if we had no idea what we were doing. We went backwards, then forwards, we almost ran the bases twice just for kicks. The sun was in our eyes, and it came as no surprise that TPG would not give up but we kept TPG at bay, each time they crept closer we answered with 2 or 3 or 4 runs. David “Thunder Pants” Coxson ran the bases like he had, well thunder in his pants, Graeme “I am going to spin myself into the ground” Reed almost ran over Monica Yuki, in his mad dash to home plate. In the end 12-8 was the score, the minutiae and minor facts were a bore, but as usual we pushed our victory farther as we entered the halls of McAleer’s Pub, the cold pitchers kept a-coming, and at their side the Chicken Wings were dead & done running. We even met an over-sized friendly giant at the bar, he came from the east, he told us that was far. Some left early, some stayed late, but in the end, both our victories, on the field and at the bar, were great!

Polshek Partnership write-ups

here are excerpts from game write-ups of PPA's last four games...

The Polshek Breeze
Substitute-Editor: David "Stretch" Coxson
Mid-Day Edition
Team Polshek Back on Track:
Return of ‘His n’ Hers Flood Pants’ Chang Emboldens Group for Victory
The seas were angry last night, my friends. Well, at least the skies were. But luckily the showdown between Team Polshek and Team Mitchell Giurgula went off without a hitch and ended without a hitch. (It did end an inning early, but none seemed too displeased to head to their respective après-softball locales before reaching the seventh inning).
Playing shorthanded with only 9 players in the field, Team Polshek looked sharp in the field and aggressive at times at the plate. Newcomer Frank "G$" Guittard had a nice base-knock down the right field line— as he ran down to first, I couldn’t help but think that those short shorts could be slightly longer…but they do make him look like a 7-footer rather than 6’-8". So, I guess for intimidation purposes, keep wearing those in the future, Frank. In other standout play, Natasha is now hitting the ball hard and straight rather than hard and backwards—which is good.

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The Polshek Gazette
Rainy Days and Mondays Edition
Editor-In-Boxers or Briefs: Adam Mead
They came quick and they came often, before team Polshek new what hit them, we were facedown on the matt sucking wind, 6 quick runs came flying from Pei Cobb Freed/Hart Howerton something like the fists of Sonny Liston. Our heads were spinning, if it weren’t for losing, we’d be winning. Well I’ll make this short and sweet, we got one big hit, in the end it didn’t matter one bit, but it kept our heads from falling, you see here I’m stalling. Standing side by side it was obvious our opponents were on steroids. By the end of the game I couldn’t even tell if I had any deltoids. One thing became clear, if it weren’t for the beer, my memory of the game would be clear. As we left the field, we knew at 16-6, we had been forced to yield. Losers or winners, it’s all the same, for in this game our real talents are shown later, when we take pints of beer, and continue to show such great balance without a once of fear. Here’s hoping we get some more cheerleaders next game, you can all look on as I personally take on a wild lion, with one challenge, to tame!
See you then, same Bat time, same Bat channel!

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Polshek Post
Late-Afternoon Pre-Holiday Rendition
Volume 1 of 1
Substitute Editor- David "Gimpy" Coxson
The Polshek bats came alive against local foe Gruzen Samton on a sunny, warm Thursday evening- an evening that brought out our first fans of the year! Under the shadow of Foster’s Hearst building, the marketing team and a few other good souls from the office came out to cheer on team Polshek with wild, reckless, raucous abandon. Oh, and they brought cookies and Fritos—nutritious and still delicious. What they saw was softball at its finest—base hit after base hit, great outfield snags, some gutsy pitching, and Matt(ingly) Dionne’s throw from the outfield that hit a wandering spectator on top of the head. Good aim!
Gruzen’s one and only run came after a routine pop-fly somehow made it beyond our left-fielder’s (*name withheld for embarrassment purposes (Dionne)) field of vision. But after that, it was all Polshek! Like the good sportsmen we are, we ran up the score and refused to enact the ‘Mercy’ rule, winning 13-1. In fact, there really wasn’t anything clumsy or overly embarrassing that I can relay…hmmm, well except for Graeme falling down again and doing some sort of roll in centerfield and Hillary’s catch-and-throw routine (she’s lefty and played with a righty’s glove). That’s really it…well, except for Dionne’s trip and tumble at home plate with all of his catcher’s gear on. But seriously, that’s it. (Steve is still wearing his flood pants).
We fought like titans and played fundamentally-sound softball in unbearably bright and hot conditions—conditions that made us run for the local bar where we were called sinners by some suits and had some good, cold beer and snacks—a general merriment of mingling Polshekians reveling after a good win.
For this year, the elevator bragging rights belong to us...

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Polshek Post
Earlier-Afternoon Rendition
Volume 1 of 1
Substitute Editor- David "Button-Down" Coxson
Polshek’s Rally Comes Up Short (or tall) Against SOM/SHCA/CooperRobertson.
Wow! It was a thrilling (at times) first game of the 2009 season. Donning our digitally-charged new jerseys, Team Polshek stormed the Central Park field against one of the league’s perennial powerhouses in SSC on a beautiful, sunny day—a day when all walks of life decided to plop down to sunbathe, chant in unison, read, have a picnic smack dab in the middle of our outfield. In fact one group of semi-clad soccer jugglers decided to practice their trade directly in front of Adam Sheraden (our new left fielder). Seemingly excited, he didn’t protest but actually joined in on the fun causing our manager Steve Chang to ruffle his flood pants.
As the game went on, SSC amassed a 6-0 lead by the 6th inning. We looked lethargic, rusty, just trying our best to shake the hibernation fog…then…it happened! We started to hit, run, slide, cheer, fall down all in one inning! The score was suddenly 6-4 as yours truly came to bat with 2 men on and 2 outs. I hit the ball as far as I think I could hit anything, but the SSC center fielder (all 6’-9" of him) wheeled back, pirouetting as he did, tripped on some Frisbee players and sno-coned the ball to cut the rally short. Gimme a break!
We played our Polshek hearts out and saw great strides of progress already in just one game. Our after-game celebration started the season off right as well: 7 pitchers of the finest lager and 6 platters of hot wings. Not bad.