The Detroit Diamondbacks scored the winning run in the bottom of the tenth with two outs on a ground ball through the hole between third and short. This was a heartbreaking loss for the Braves because it wasted a tremendous effort on the hill by Phil "Mash" Gadomski. Mash held the Detroit club to just 1run through 9 innings, but the Braves offense let him down as they managed to push only one run accross as well. There were many unkind bounces as the winning run was on base on a two-strike check swing single to right. Ted Poleto was robbed of a sure two run double by the D'backs right fielder who made a ridiculous over the shoulder catch at the wall. Randy Craft smashed a screaming liner too near the secondbasemen in the late innings with a runner at second. The team played a great game defensively to keep the game at 1-1 but,in the end it was the same old story. A hard luck loss. We would rather be lucky than good. With an 0-2 start, the Braves take on NJ and Enola in a must win double header. Only a sweep can resurrect the title hopes of this group. Anybody got a lucky rabbit's foot?!
Thanks for the game reports, Mike. I enjoy reading them and I'm sitting here envious and rooting for you guys. Win or lose, I'm sure you are doing our league proud. But, hey, while you are there -- just win, baby. That said, I truly believe that the victory is in the playing. If you are in Florida in November playing baseball at our age, well, you've already won all the stuff worth winning.
Do me a favor. Next outside, chest-high pitch you see, just lay that bat out there and stroke a sinking liner to right. I saw Jim Jordan do that dozens of times, it's what I always admired about him as a hitter. You know, keep the spirit alive. At the same time, if you want to turn on an inside fastball and drive it over the wall, be my guest!
I didn't see many chest high fast balls last week, but I was inspired by Jimmy all the same. The pitching against us was very good. No Nolan Ryans, but it seemed that all the pitchers kept the ball out of the middle without walking many. We were left to pick pitches that were less than perfect to hit. Jimmy's inspiration to me as a hitter was his patience. He always made the pitcher work. Not being an incredibly patient hitter, I tried to get deeper in the counts before taking my hacks. It worked out pretty well. Jimmy would have been proud. I think that he would have been equally proud of our performance at the Tiki Bar's at night. Jimmy liked to have his fun after the games were done for the day, and this team was very successful at that. More than one libation was tipped in his honor!
