HOST CENTENNIALS PERFECT
(click logo to visit official site)
From Diamond Dirt Editor, John Thompson:
Click here to view Issue Number 4 for the Sr. Canadians (PDF)
Other “Diamond Dirt” news at Fastpitchwest.
Text version of this issue after the jump.
HOST CENTENNIALS PERFECT;
BROOKFIELD SOLID START
Two teams are extremely happy with the first half of the round-robin with the bats barking and the bull-pen providing quality outings. The host Evergreen Centennials have rattled off five straight wins to remain undefeated, with Ps Rob Schweyer and Sean Whitten each having two wins and P Scott Wagar with a single, much to the delight of the partisan St. Thomas fans. The Brookfield NS Elks, sitting with three wins, have tasted defeat but once, that at the hands of the hometown Cens. P Cory Avery has two wins while veteran hurler Brian Urquhart has one.
St. Thomas is assured of “double life†for the eliminations which start Friday. The Elks still have some work ahead in order to finish among the top four in the round – robin. Brookfield has yet to face Vancouver, Jarvis and Kitchener – no easy task – and may need a 4th win to be assured of the “double-lifelineâ€. Elks meet Grey Sox today at 2 pm.
The Tale of JUMBO (continued from Monday)
Jumbo was transported from venue to venue around the US and Canada in a specially built carriage. The six ton Jumbo was accompanied by his handler, Matthew Scott.
Jumbo’s skeleton was donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The elephant’s heart was sold to Cornell University. Jumbo’s hide was stuffed and traveled with Barnum’s circus for a number of years. In 1889, Barnum donated the stuffed Jumbo to Tufts University, where it was displayed until destroyed by a fire in 1975. Jumbo’s tail, which survived the fire, is kept in the University archives. The great elephant’s ashes are kept in a 14-ounce Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar in the office of the Tufts athletic director. A statue of “Jumbo” was purchased from an amusement park and placed on the Tufts campus after the fire, however this statue erroneously depicts an Asian elephant, not an African elephant. In honour of Barnum’s donation of the elephant’s hide and more than $50,000, Jumbo became the university’s mascot, and remains such to this day.
Today’s Key Game:
Fans enjoying hometown win streak
8:00 – Charlottetown Fawcetts (1-3) vs
ST. THOMAS CENTENNIALS (5-0)
THURSDAY – “Erie Catch of the Dayâ€
Pickerel Fish Fry – $10 at 6 pm
RESULTS – Monday Aug. 31
Harrah’s Mildmay Picks
(Record to date (13-4)
W 10:00 KITCHENER RIVERSHARK TWINS 7 vs Charlottetown Fawcetts 0
Kitchener Rivershark Twins 7R 7H 1E
Charlottetown Fawcetts 0R 2H 2E
WP – Grant Patterson (1-0) 12 K; Dale Levy 2×2, 2 HR, 4 rbis; Ryan Wolfe 2×3, 2 rbis
LP – Mitch Hardy (0-1); Jamie MacDonald & Kent Poulton 1×2
W 12:00 pm – Jarvis Gamblers vs 0
ST. THOMAS CENTENNIALS 6
Jarvis First Ont. Gamblers 0R 2H 0E
St. Thomas Centennials 6R 9H 0E
WP – Sean Whitten (2-0) 9K; Chris Payne 2×2, 2 rbis; Brad Robinson 2×3; Mike Pullin – HR & 2 rbis
LP – Paul Koert (1-1) 5K
W 2:00 – KITCHENER RIVERSHARK TWINS 9 vs Glace Bay Mets 2
Kitchener Rivershark Twins 9R 5H 0E
Glace Bay Mets 2R 3H 2E
WP – Blair Ezekiel (1-0), 9K, 1×1, 2 runs scored; Derek Shackelton 1×1, 2 rbi; Ryan Wolfe 1×1, 2 runs scored.
LP – Donnelly Archibald (0-2) 3K; consecutive hits by Donald Kennedy, John J. McCarthy & Greg Garrity provided Mets with early 2-0 lead, Twins roared back for the mercy
L 4:00 pm – CHARLOTTETOWN FAWCETTS 1 vs Brookfield Elks 3
Charlottetown Fawcetts 1R 3H 2E
Brookfield Elks 3R 7H 3E
WP – Cory Avery (2-0) 8K; Mike Grant 3×3; LP – Frank Cox (1-2) 10K; hits by Ward Gosse, Kelly Wenstrom & Rob Doiron.
W 6:00 pm–JARVIS GAMBLERS 7
vs St. John’s Kelly’s Pub 2
WP – Paul Koert (2-0), 12K; Gamblers notch only 3 hits, with Jeff Ellsworth Grand Slam pacing a 7 run B2;
LP – Darrell Tilley (0-1); Brad Ezekiel 2×2 and 2 rbis; Justin Gill 2×4
W 8:00 – Vancouver Grey Sox 1 vs
ST. THOMAS CENTENNIALS 8
WP – Rob Schweyer (2-0), 6K; Tyler Lessard 2×2, HR, 2 rbis; Mike Pullin 1×1,2 rbis; Troy Rick 1×3, 2 rbis
LP – Tyson Barkman (0-2); Calem Gardner 2×2
STANDINGS
Wednesday morning September 2
TEAM W L
Playoff Double Life
St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials 5 0
Brookfield NS Elks 3 1
Kitchener Hallman Rivershark Twins 3 1
Jarvis First Ontario Gamblers 3 2
Playoff Single Life
Charlottetown PEI Fawcetts 1 3
St. Johns NL Kelly’s Pub Canadians 1 3
Vancouver BC Grey Sox 1 3
Glace Bay NS Mets 0 4
HARRAH’S MILDMAY
PICKS FOR Wed. Sept. 2
(Winners BOLD UPPER CASE UNDERLINED)
(Record to date (13-4)
12:00 pm – JARVIS GAMBLERS vs
Glace Bay Mets
2:00 pm – VANCOUVER GREY SOX vs Brookfield Elks
4:00 pm – KITCHENER RIVERSHARK TWINS vs St. John’s Kelly’s Pub
6:00 PM – VANCOUVER GREY SOX
vs Glace Bay Mets
8:00 – Charlottetown Fawcetts vs
ST. THOMAS CENTENNIALS
SCORE BOOTH AUCTION
In follow-up to yesterday’s SUPER DUPER DEAL on the score box, here are the details for the minimum bid for purchasing these ballpark items: (Cost of Materials and minimum bid of 50%)
Score-box – $836 – min. bid $418
Ticket Booth – $110 – min. bid $55
Dugout roofs – $387 – min bid $193
Total – $1,333 cost all materials, min bid of “devishly appropriate $666â€.
YOGIsm – “I ain’t gonna buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.†Yogi Berra
BASEBALL QUOTE
Pitcher Jim Kern, relating story from on the mound. “I told my manager I wasn’t tired. He told me ‘No, but your outfielders are!’â€
50/50 – Tuesday September 1
Draw #5 – #02320-$323-Cindy Earhart
Draw #6 – #02756-$516-Carol Goodhue
Unclaimed
Sunday Draw #2 – #00822 – $559
Monday Draw #4 – #01564 – $337
HEY THERE AL – Al Doran, friend of fastball and known throughout the world for his Al’s Fastball website and News blog, is missing one of the few major tournaments in his career. Al is nursing a gimpy leg and is unable to attend the Canadians, but sends his regrets and appreciates following this Championship on the internet. Get well Al – from friends at the Tarry Complex.
TOURNAMENT RULES
Int.Tie-Breaker – Correct ruling
International Tie-breaker – if a game is tied after 7 innings, each following half inning, teams will start with a runner at 2B (the last out from prior inning) to assist in generating offence.
The correct ruling is that “the offensive team shall begin its turn at bat with the player who is scheduled to bat last in that respective half inning being placed on 2nd baseâ€. This could be the player in the last completed batting position in the previous inning, or a substitute player (i.e. if a speedy runner was deemed to be offensively advantageous).
CANADIAN NATIONALS
*T*R*I*V*I*A*
(answers to Tuesday Trivia)
1. Andrew Phibbs, Pat Graham and Ryan Thompson
2. Alberta and Saskatchewan
3. PEI and Newfoundland
4. Newfoundland won the 2009 Jr. Men’s Canadians in Owen Sound – future looks bright!
5. Swiss Chalet Restaurant, 1014 Talbot Street, St. Thomas
TODAY’S QUESTIONS
1. What city/province is hosting the 2090 Canadian Sr. Men’s Nationals?
2. This week, what food sponsor is offering 10% discount to ball fans? 3. Two competing teams this week won medals at the 2008 Nationals. Which teams?
4. Which player of the Fawcetts of Charlottetown made the 2008 Sr. Men’s Canadian All-Star team?
5. Which player on the Jarvis Gamblers hit 4 HRs and was named the top batter at the 2008 Nationals?
(Hint – he hit one last night as well)
COMMENTARY FOLLOW-UP FROM A FAN
Maybe it was my imagination, but Tuesday’s schedule unfolded smoothly and seamlessly (the mercy-ended games assisted). Good work everyone. Here are some simple suggestions to shorten the length of games and thus enhance the pace of a day in the life of a fastball tournament, in this case the Canadian Nationals.
PRE-GAME
(1) Rather than wait for perfectly groomed diamonds to have the teams’ managers meet with the umpires, have this meeting while the diamond is being groomed.
(2) Shorten the Managers/Umpires meetings – what ground rules have to be repeatedly covered when all teams are playing on the same diamond for all 38 games?
DURING GAME
Between innings –
(3) During the 12+ transitions from offence to defence, managers, coaches & umpires politely, with enthusiasm encourage players to hustle off & onto the playing field.
Between pitches and between outs –
(4) Allow only one “catcher-pitcherâ€conference per half inning
(5) Encourage batters to minimize time getting “set†in the batters box
(6) For some pitchers, put the clock on the time allowed for theatrics between pitching deliveries
Let’s not eliminate these idiosyncrasies, but simply try to decrease or minimize them – what are the results?
What would be the amount of time saved?
(1) – If a four-minute managers/umpires meeting is held while diamond is being groomed, 4 minutes saved .
(2) – Sub-set of #1 – if meeting is held during grooming, there is no need to shorten this pre-game tradition.
(3) – If teams could hustle in and out just 15 seconds more quickly on twelve half-innings, and the between innings warm-up of pitcher and catcher readiness could be decreased by 15 seconds – 6 minutes saved.
(4) – Assuming that each pitcher-catcher conference is 20 seconds – if each team eliminated three per game, which is one every two innings – 2 minutes saved
(5) – Assume that each of a team’s 24 plate appearances has an average of 4 pitches, and half of those players (12) need extra time to get “set†every 2 pitches. If those “sluggish†players would decrease “get set†time by 10 seconds to once every plate appearance rather than once every two pitches, the savings would be 12 x 10 seconds = 2 minutes per team – 4 minutes saved.
(6) Assuming each team throws about 12-16 pitches per inning, and one of the team’s pitchers consumes an extra 15 seconds for theatrics between 25% of those pitches, that’s 45-60 seconds per inning. If the theatrics were cut in half this would be about 30 seconds per half inning which is about – 3 minutes saved. Total – 19 minutes saved.
If umpires, managers/coaches, pitchers/batters and all players add a bit of Pete “Charlie Hustle†Rose to their efforts, sluggish games would be minimized.
The Tale of JUMBO (continued from Monday)
Jumbo was transported from venue to venue around the US and Canada in a specially built carriage. The six ton Jumbo was accompanied by his handler, Matthew Scott.
Jumbo’s skeleton was donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The elephant’s heart was sold to Cornell University. Jumbo’s hide was stuffed and traveled with Barnum’s circus for a number of years. In 1889, Barnum donated the stuffed Jumbo to Tufts University, where it was displayed until destroyed by a fire in 1975. Jumbo’s tail, which survived the fire, is kept in the University archives. The great elephant’s ashes are kept in a 14-ounce Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar in the office of the Tufts athletic director. A statue of “Jumbo” was purchased from an amusement park and placed on the Tufts campus after the fire, however this statue erroneously depicts an Asian elephant, not an African elephant. In honour of Barnum’s donation of the elephant’s hide and more than $50,000, Jumbo became the university’s mascot, and remains such to this day.
The Tale of JUMBO (final)
A guy went into a restaurant in St Thomas, Ontario on September 15, 1885. He passed a sign that said that anyone who can order a sandwich that the restaurant cannot supply will get $1000. He sits down, thinking this could be the easiest money he has ever made, and without even looking at the menu, he asks the waiter for an “Elephant Ear on Rye Sandwich”. The waiter returns ten minutes later with a check for $1000 and hands it to the guy. The guy says, with a smirk, “Out of Elephant Ears?” “No,” replies the waiter, “we’re out of rye bread.”