Crushed!

Aloha A’s,

The stifling humidity and scorching sunshine yesterday afternoon weren’t enough to beat down the ARPC Crushers, who torched the A’s in Barry’s back yard last night, 17-9.

The afternoon started out like any other below sea level at the equator.  The heat started claiming victims even before the festivities began, and only with a robust and steady rotation of substitutions were we able to play the entire 7 innings.  The old One-Two played their traditional role of spark plug for the offense, going a combined 5-6 with a run scored.  Co-MVPs Killer Kelly Trout and “Miss October”/LBR each batted 1.00 on the day and combined for two (nearly three) RBIs and another run scored.  Unfortunately, all this stellar production wasn’t enough to fend off the Crushers, who abused the gap on the right side of the infield to have two big innings that really separated them, scoring 4 in the second and 6 in the 7^th to really punch the nail into the coffin. 

The A’s also saw valuable contributions from newcomers Nina “The Pinta and the Santamaria” and “360” L.J., while Nate Dogg earned his first MVP beer for picking off a searing line drive at third base and nearly breaking PickyPants’ hand (the latter being the much more important factor in the MVP determination).  The vets got in on some good action, too – Pattycakes, Red Five, and Will Abbott all batted perfectly on the day, and three others were one hit away from doing so.  All in all, I’d say we played a really good game.  Just not quite good enough to get off the schneid. 

While the Crushers ended their losing streak with the victory, the A’s kept right on rolling with theirs.  We’re now nearing the point of no return, where we won’t be able to achieve a .500 record on the season.  Basically, we’ve got to win out in our remaining 8 games to hit that mark, so it’s time to tighten up those belts, pull up the stirrups, and tap off the cleats kids.  It’s time to get effing serious about this campaign.  I think we haven’t had enough bonding time as a team, so I’d like to go do a little more tomorrow.  We don’t have a game but that doesn’t mean we can’t drink (let’s do a happy hour at the Big Hunt)!  If anyone would like to come out to the best team building exercise possible (multiple reps of the 12-ounce lift), let me know.

Beyond that, we do have a game next Tuesday, which means we have yet another chance to right the ship.  We’ve had 6 losses by four runs or fewer, so let’s get over the hump and go take control of this game and the remainder of our 2012 season.  We’ll take on the Non-Pros, from the Dept. of Energy, Nuclear Non-Proliferation section, one of our oldest and best foes, around 6:30 on the mall.  Let me know if you’d like to take part in our glorious resurrection (that Jesus guy’s got nothing on us)!

Effing A, Mike