Just a few closing notes about the game and the season:
* You can't help but admire the way the Marlins play. And yes, John Martin put it well, Chuck Sohl was a one-man wrecking crew last night. A good man and a hell of a ballplayer. But three other long-time Marlins, aged as the hills, made small plays that not only made a big difference, but showed why the team in teal is so tough:
1) Tom Maney is on second base with one out. It's the bottom of the 1st inning. Mike Girard hits a line shot that Jim Jordan snares at short. Jim quickly throws to second one step too late to double off Maney. I've seen many runners get caught in that situation, myself included. Just heads-up baserunning that kept the inning alive. Next batter, Chuck Sohl, hits a two-out, two-run homer.
2) Bottom of the 4th, 2-0 game. One out, runner on first. Jim Ansel - healthy and happy to be back on the field after receiving the scare of his life -- perfectly executes a hit-and-run, grounding a ball into the vacated second base spot. The Marlins go on to score their final two runs of the game. Just a solid piece of hitting.
3) Randy Craft played a great short all game. Top of the 5th, Ron Smaka hits a one-out double. I get up and hit a hard grounder into the hole between short and third. Randy backhands the ball and in one motion turns and fires, getting me by a step, robbing us of any momentum we may have gained. A lot of shortstops don't make that play. Randy does. And frequently, too.
A tip of the hat to all of you guys. You've played a lot of baseball over the years and it shows.
As for the Pirates, we conclude the regular season 12-6-2. Amazingly, over five seasons, our record has improved every year, bit by bit. Of course, it helps if you start out 2-19 in that first season; there's only one direction to go. We've still got six guys from the original team: Tryon, Smaka, Kane, Yakatan, Moreau, and me. When we started, not one of us had played in over 20 years. I'm proud of them, my guys, and the way they come to play every practice, every game, every year. It's a cliche to talk about a team as a family, but I really do feel that way. Now we all face the crapshoot that is single-elimination baseball. Anything can happen, and any team on any given day can win in this league. We'll all need a little luck to survive.
Also, lastly, a word of thanks to John Reel for starting this crazy, imperfect league 14 years ago (correct? 14?) and providing the steady leadership to guide us through. And thanks to all the guys who put in the work to keep things clicking along, the Board Members, and particularly Jim Dalton for his work with the umpires and 38 commissioner Kevin Jackson for performing a thousand thankless tasks. Well, not exactly thankless. Because speaking for all of us (if I may): Thank you.
