Spector Group stays undefeated.... Wins 13-1

Team Spector Group has been hot as of late as they have won 2 of 3 and tied our most recent game with a record of 2-0-1 heading into today's game of undefeateds vs the Big Red Machine they call Gensler (3-0).  SG was really looking forward to this game, as last year Gensler was the only team that put a serious beat down of Spector Group by ways of mercy.  SG didn't want a repeat of last year's outcome for sure.....

As with every team, SG looks forward to the after hour sporting event we call softball but dread the NYC's busy rush hour subway system that we all use to get to the Central Park Ball Fields.  With the millions of riders that use the system it's a rare coincidence that you run into anyone you know.  However as the subway doors slid open and as I rolled our heavy equipment  bag into the crowded "B" subway car, we saw a sea of Red uniforms.  It our opponents, Gensler.....There was some friendly chatter amongst the teams but like our day jobs with any project bid walk thru all sides looked at each other as the competition and we couldn't be TOO friendly.  The friendly chatter is for after the game with beer and wings after the dust settles. 

As the clock hit 7pm, Team SG was again awarded by the opposing team with the chance to bat as the home team.  The first inning started with a solid lead off hit by GA's lead off hitter and it seemed as if last year's game was replaying it's self again before it even started.  The next batter came up and hits a sharp line drive to Joe "The self proclaimed, WE have the sexxiest infield in the league" Carretta and as he tried to double the runner on 1st....it ended up in the stands with the luxury box ticket holders, JUST A BIT OUTSIDE but the ump awarded two bases to the lead runner as witnessed by our commissioner,  Dave Solomon who just happened to be walking by (or scouting our team).  A call we seriously questioned but hey, the ump is always right!  The Game goes on as Gensler scores 1 unearned run to end the half inning. 

Team SG lead off the bottom of the inning with the unfortunate call behind us as the lineup from top to bottom batted around to score 6 Runs lead by Ed "Too Tall" Baust (2-3, 3RBIs 2 Runs, HR, 2B) and taking a 6-1 lead after one inning. 

The rest of game, SG was hitting it's stride as hits were coming from top to bottom starting with Jared "Mr.Consistency" Morganstein (2-3, 1 Run) to Ryan "Who's quietly having a great season" Porter (2-2).  For those that know Ryan...he isn't quite. 

The game ended in the 5th inning in walk off fashion as Joe "This is for you Dad" Carretta (2-3, 4 RBIs, 2 HR, 2 runs) hits a bases clearing HR to score the 13th run.  Final score 13-1 in favor of Team Spector Group. 

Hats off to Team Gensler for a good game and their sportsmanship.... Even thought we didn't talk much on the subway ride in...at the end of the day, it's a game we all love to play and wish each other the best ..........In Soft ball at least. 

Game ball goes to.....our very humble, incredibly easy going but eye of the tiger and competitive Pitcher, Josh" Believe the Hype" Feit as he pitched a lights out game with 0 earned runs with 3 Strike outs in 5 innings.  Oh and he also happened to have some hits (2-3, 4RBIs, 1 HR, 2B 2 Runs). 

On to the next game......We are looking at you Dave! 

Spector Group wins second Straight......in walk off fashion.

Coming into the second game of the year,Spector Group faces 3x champion and last year's runner up in SOM.  A very good team that is well coached, disciplined and simply overall well rounded.  SG coming off an opening day win....were Hungry and were looking forward to the match up which would be a good test for this young team. 

The Game didn't start till about 15 mins after 5:30 as both teams faced train issues.  With the dark clouds swarming the skies of Great Lawn and a 7PM game following this match up.....This game was not looking like it could play a full 7 nor could it even start however once the dust settled both teams were ready to play ball.  After SG loses the coin toss, SOM with its players still running to the sidelines decides to be the away team, which meant SG would be the home team and what we call a chance at "Last Licks". 

SG opened with a new face on the mount, Rookie Sensation Josh "The Engineer" Feit who had "SOME" experience pitching but how would he fare against all the mighty SOM team.  The first inning began with a solid start with 1 Earned Run allowed to SOM.  SG lead off in the bottom half by Jared "Mr.Consistency" Morganstein (2-3,1 Run) who has been killing it with his new Usain Bolt Cleats.  The hits followed through out the lineup with SG scoring 3 to take an early lead. 

The game was an up and down battle as there were three ties and six lead changes as the young SG team also had to fight several injuries which occurred in the game (5 players were injured from SG) but the SG team persevered and played through it.  Thru 4 innings, the game was tied with the score 6-6 after Ryan "Shuffleboard Master" Porter (1-1, 2 RBIs, 3B) tied the game on a triple.

As the 5th inning started....Both teams started to feel the pressure since the second game's teams arrived at Great Lawn #3. The ump knew that this was probably the last inning and notified both teams that this may be the last one.  SOM being the veteran savy team scored 2 runs on an error by yours truly and took a 8-6 lead with time running out.  But SG still had some fight as it still had its chance with last licks and as with all good teams, one bad error shouldn't cost the entire team and SG determined to make up for this manager's one mistakes did in fact show why SG is a team to be wreckoned with this year......

In the bottom of the 5th, the top of SG's lineup was up as Jared "Mr.Consistency" Morganstein lead off with a single to give SG hope ...the next 2 batters didn't fare so well as they weren't able to reach  base, so up to the plate was Josh "The Clutch" Feit (3-3, 3RBIs, 3 Runs, HR)  who represented the tying run was up to the plate and with cold water running through his veins......did what Bryce Harper would do.....Hit a game tying 2 run blast.  The Spector Group sidelines were crazed like they just won the lottery....GAME TIED 8-8.  Yet the game wasn't over as Chris "The Cycle" Thibodeau kept the rally up by hitting a single which lead to Ed "The Hero" Baust (3-3, 2RBIs, 1 Run, 2B) who simply just drove in the GW RBI double in walk off fashion.....Amazing Game!!!!

Final Score 9-8 Spector Group.  Spector Group 2-0 and matches last year's win totals.

Congrats to the team for never giving up and for keeping their heads up. Game ball goes to Josh "The Clutch" Feit and Ed"The Hero" Baust who combined for 5 RBIS and provided the late game heroics. 

Hats off to SOM for their sportsmanship and competitive spirit.  Hope to see you later in the year. 

Spector Group Opens Seasons with Team Record 15 runs......for the win.

Spector Group Softball headed into the 2017 SLAM Season with a fresh new outlook on the upcoming season as it reloaded it's roster with some new and some old faces.  With one rookie season out of the way and into the second year of the league, Spector Group Softball could go no where but up as it tries to improve on last year's 2-7 Record. 

Spector Group opens the season against last year's playoff team, HH/GS.  Team SG had a lot to prove in this match up and NEEDED to show that they belonged.   Due to some train problems, SG literally arrived as the coin was being flipped by big blue and as the clock ticked 5:30, all you heard was "PLAY BALL......."

Rushing on to the sidelines, Spector Group didn't get to warm up nor get a few early swings to get the rust out since the weather hasn't been kind enough to allow for any real practice.  After losing the coin toss, Team Spector Group lead off the Top of the 1st with Jared "The Mild Manner" Morganstein" (2-4, 1 Run) with a bloop single to lead SG's new potent lineup and racing out to a 3 run lead as new Rookie Sensation, Josh "The Engineer"Feit, (3-4, 4 RBIs, 3 Runs, HR, 2B) who in his first at bat showed why he was SG's #1 over draft pick by driving an RBI single to start the early hitting.  Team HH/GS followed with 3 runs of their own in the bottom half to end the 1st inning tied 3-3.

The game was starting to blow open in the 2nd inning, when Scott "The undercover Boss" (2-4, 3 RBIs, 3 Runs, HR) showed why he is the boss, when he launched a 3 run homer to give SG a 6-3 edge and team SG never looked back .....and then the hits kept on coming as Chris "The Cycle" Thibodeau (4-4, 4 RBIs, 1 run, 1B,2B, 3B, HR) followed with his own Home Run to show why he was last year's Team MVP to give Team Spector Group a 8-3 lead.

However, HH/GS still had some fight left in them as they closed the gap to 3 runs in the 5th but ultimately Spector Group pulls out the game with solid defense all around lead by Short Stop, Joe "The bachelor NO-MORE" Carretta (2-4, 2 Runs) who grabbed every single ball in site. 

Final Score Spector Group wins 15-10.  As Spector Group scores a team record 15 runs in a single game.  Game ball goes to the Rookie sensation Josh "The Engineer" Feit and last year's team MVP Chris "The Cycle" Thibodeau, who combined for 8 RBIs on 7 of 8 AB.  Congrats to the team for the great start to the season and can only hope to build on this momentum. 

Hats off to HH/GS for a well played and competitive game.  Good luck to you guys the rest of the season. 

Wait - what exactly do the rules say? Run Ratio & League Standings

For as long as I have been involved in this league, we have always had a statistic displayed prominently in the league standings.  SOM's 2015 regular season Runs Scored / Runs Allowed ratio of 4.680 holds the modern day record, and rightfully is a source of pride for an outstanding championship team. 

BUT..... Just when you thought you understood how the league standings work, you read the rules again (for the umpteenth time), and there it is spelled out in front of you:

It turns out the overall season ratio is NOT what is used to determine tie breakers!  Instead it is the ratio "for only those games played among those teams that are tied".  Woah.  So for those of you trying to follow along at home, the famous "ratio" on the standings page has absolutely no effect on the final standings.  Yikes.  If you are one of the teams that are tied (and in 2016 there will be at least 3 of these such teams), ignore the overall ratio.  Focus instead on the ratio of only the games you played against teams with whom you are tied.  And by "focus", I actually mean calculate manually, since there is nowhere on the website that actually displays this :)

What does this mean? For one thing, the website is not accurate in how it handles tie breakers (it currently shows in order of overall season ratio).  For another thing (and obviously related to the first one), this writer now has some work to do on the underlying code that generates the standings.

Anyone want to buy a round of beer?

Spector Group Softball has Arrived....Wins 1st game of season (That we actually played)

Coming into the 2016 season, Spector Group Architects (SG) was invited to the Softball League Apres Modern .....otherwise known as. S.L.A.M.   As all of you know, SLAM is a softball league made up the world's top renown Architecture and Design firms. So on behalf of SG, it is an honor to be included as the 10th team of this prestigious and successful Architecture League of 37 years.

As the SLAM season opened Spector Group was notified of its inclusion on March16th and with training camp opening in 2weeks …Co-managers Ryan "thinks he's as cool as Ryan Reynolds" Porter, Keribeth "The CFO"Rokeach and Simon "formerly known as the Panda" Yeung had the tough task of putting together a competitive roster that could be respectable in this league. There was a long line for try-outs around Madison Ave of would-be potentials who wanted to be a part of team SG but at the end Spector Group had finally put together a team of the best Architects and designers…… who had a little somthin somthin of softball skills too.

On opening day, the newly formed Spector Group team with their newly minted navy blue and white jerseys looked sharp … you couldn't tell that theses were the new kids on the block playing former 2 time champion HMRAMSA, but sadly SG didn't play as good as they looked as it lost its first ever game. All was not lost though as the young rookie team was competitive for most of the  game with the exception of one bad news bears inning. There was hope for this team and lots of promise.

Ready for the second game of the season SG was scheduled to play against GS/HH……a newly merged team in the league but it was over before it started as GS/HH was not able to make the game so team SG had its first win under its belt due to a forfeit. It wasn't the way we pictured it but a win is a win.  Beers all around!

Now with a record of 1-1 in the league, team Spector loses its next 3 games (TPG , GA, PEA) One of which is under review by the commissioner and umps over a misunderstood rule.  Things were not looking so bright  and a few adjustments were needed to the new team.

Still Confidence was never lost with this team as it entered the game against KPF, SG knew how to play but just needed to put it all together.

Leading off the game was David "Speedy" Beauchamp (2-3) who has continued his hot hitting as one of the best lead off men in the league. Hits followed from Jared "not Fogle" Morganstein (2-4, 2b), Joe "Taking candy from his little sister" Carretta (1-3), Chris "mr.perfect" Thibodeau (1-3, rbi) and Brian "The Magnet" Chernick (3-3, rbi, 1 run)which led to an early 2-1 lead.

The game stayed close till the 4th when the middle of the lineup started to hit its stride led by Scott "the undercover boss" Spector (2-3, 2 runs), Lauren "my brother used to steal my candy"Carretta (2-3, rbi) and Dan "mr Gardner" Setnikar taking the lead 5-1.

The true highlight and bright spot came in the 7th when the thrift shop crew, Karen "the workaholic' Fung and Lauren "the Alcoholic" Gardener combined for the much needed 6th insurance run.

Solid defense all around and Great pitching by Ryan "Porter Potty" Porter (1-3, triple, rbi) who threw for 7 strong innings allowing 1 earned run.

Final score a 6-2 victory by Spector Group. Hats off to KPF for a great competitive game.

 Game ball goes to The entire SG team because we haven't given up and for always staying positive.  Season is far from over………

Earl Weaver Once Said....

....“The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.”  Game 5 against TPG arch rivals, Gensler, proved yet again that sometimes you don't need the most athletic or the strongest person to carry the team, but rather unity, bravery, and energy will do just fine to get the win.

Half way thru the season, TPG is undefeated and creating a buzz around the league and on Twitter. Fans from around the world are coming to Central Park to watch the talent and the dynamics that each week brings. 

From the bleacher creatures on the bench cheering and booing, to the NYPD’s beautiful officers making sure no one got out of control or maybe even reliving childhood magic at the field of dreams, to Hernan "Yo Momma" Graziano wanting to rip Patrick’s “Mini Danny” head off for throwing a wild ball to the outfield that almost hit the hot dog stand guy, GAME 5 of the season proved that you could be a kid for as long as you want when you play and watch softball.

Gensler started off with several quick runs but TPG hung in there by chipping a run at a time like the great Billy Beane would have coached. Small balls can win games and championships.  As the sun was setting, TPG kept looking up at Gensler like the Giants that they are in the League. It almost seemed that Gensler once again would destroy TPG’s dreams and hopes and send us to the bar to drink and forget.  The very nice umpire (yet wouldn't give me the low strike, whatever) notified both team coaches that due to getting dark TPG would have its last change at the bottom of the 6th to either tie or go home crying to its family or dogs.  Some players’ heads were down, some up, and some looking at the LIRR schedule, as the bottom of the order was getting ready to bat.  The bench was going bananas, creating the energy that once in a while is projected to the batters. Being down by 2 runs didn’t scare Chase "The Mack Truck" Hodge. He finally learned NOT to swing at the first pitch. Yay! He once again used his speed to run and slide to first in which he almost injured the first basemen. The science of sliding is that you slow down not gain speed (just saying).

 

Erin "Marathon" McCarthy followed and delivered a power shot that barely passed the pitcher but caught everyone by surprise and miss played it. Next up was Chelsea “Turtle” Cheng. Gensler was going for the double play as "Turtle" hasn’t shown her true talent this season. As the ball was pitched the bleacher creatures were yelling, “Smack it out of the park!”, “Turtle” swung and the breeze of the bat caught the ball. Using her speed she outran two missed plays and barely reached first base. Oxygen tanks were provided in order to try to keep "Turtle" in the game as no other girl was available to pitch run for her.

 

Bases loaded, no outs, and Norman “Cricket” Ha is thinking he will be the hero of the game and get carried on player’s shoulders, but no!  Gensler’s first basement made the best play of the game by jumping 4 feet off the ground and catching "Cricket’s" line drive. Chris “The Walker” Gutierrez took Hernan "Yo Momma" Graziano's advice and walked. He may have been punched if he swung at a 3-0 pitch. His selflessness allowed a key run and put the pressure on Ben “D-Train” Saltzman.  "D-Train" seized the opportunity to close out the game with a winning line drive that drove in Erin and "Turtle".  "Turtle" rounded 3^rd base as though the LIRR train was closing its doors on her.  All you could see is dust from "Turtle’s" cleats and a roar that sounded like choo-choo. As her feet touched home plate everyone ran to the field like the 96’ Yankees. No horse riding was allowed as Central Park has strict rules but the inner kid in all of us went crazy, tears were shed, high fives, hugs and chest bumping occurred.   Final score 8-7, as TPG establishes themselves as a contender this season and ready to put a stop to championship 4-peats.

Written by Hernan Graziano of TPG.

TPG's Anticlimactic (sort of) Season Opener

The season for TPG started by having its season opener postponed due to the umpire not showing up. Glad both teams had a full squad to at least practice and get the rust and spider webs out. I would like to thank the umpire that didn't bother telling us he wasn't going to show up for our season opener but at least the practice allowed us to see the rookies and put a new game plan into affect for the 2016 season. 

Last week's practice paid off as we cruised past FXF this week, in 4 innings. Batters 1 thru 5 were unstoppable, using legal softball bats to hit rockets and powerful speed to run the bases. Steve A. "the Freak" continued to lead off, getting on base at no cost. Chris finally showed his softball skills and hit the ball well and continued his leadership in the outfield. Andreas "The Athlete" continued to stumble as he ran the bases and showed how not to slide to second (dude, invest in longer shorts PLEASE). Tony hit nothing but triples and allowed Hernan to drive him in at every bat. 

The game ball wasn't handed to any of the first 5 batters, even though they contributed 10 of the 15 runs in the game.  Instead, it was handed to our all-star second basewoman, Erin "Marathon" McCarthy. She used her swift speed, hitting a triple and a single and had 3 big RBI's that put the nail in the game coffin. 

Thank you FXF for your sportsmanship and to all of TPG players for playing your butt off.

I'm glad to be one of your managers and let today's game show you that all it takes is a team playing together and having fun. Sometimes you don't need all of your best players to show up, but players playing their best, supporting each other and having fun. 

 

This blog is written by TPG's new co-manager and esteemed pitcher, Hernan Graziano, whom we are proud to welcome in our management team. Well said, Hernan!  We couldn't agree more.