September 8, 2010:
Game #1
The Schlitz Gusto Guys 16 – Beer Me 10
Game #2
Schlitz Gusto Guys 8 – Eddy’s Bar and Grill 14
September 1, 2010:
Game #1
The Schlitz Gusto Guys 10 – Goodfellows 6
Game #2
Schlitz Gusto Guys 8 – Rounding Second 5
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August 25, 2010. Game #1 vs. Crew’d Up The game went back and forth and the Schlitz Gusto Guys scratched and clawed and fought their way to a tie? What? A tie? Yep, kissed their sister. Game #2 vs. Team Ziegler The Schlitz Gusto Guys were down by more than 10 runs before they came storming back to tie the game. Bases loaded, two outs, and an out. Worth mentioning, for the first time ever, it wasn’t #35 who got out with the game on the line. Another tie. Again, kissed their sister. Should this squad be playing in Kentucky?
We took that success and brought it to Schlitz Gusto Guy Fall Ball. It was a 78 degree semi-humid evening for two! Sans put together some pivot tables to figure out when we won and lost based on opponent, field, time, number of players, number of runs scored, etc. Based on those numbers Game #2 at 7pm on Lac Lavon Field E is the difference between finishing 9-5 and 10-4. The bad news of the evening was Brain pulling a hammy. Let’s hope some time in a canoe heals that wound (not a largecanoe for what it’s worth). I’d also like to acknowledge the dedication of a particular SGG for arriving a bit late, getting some work in, and leaving a bit early….all whilst leaving his tracking device stationary. Good work.
The Schlitz Gusto Guys battled and fought and scratched and clawed for seven solid innings. The game was back and forth. One team would score seven runs, the other would come back with eight. Luckily for the Schlitz Gusto Guys, we practice 12 months out of the year and we are prepared for anything. We are so prepared, we refuse to have our timing thrown off by a pitcher “fake-pitching,” “doing the windmill,” or pretending to throw out of a full windup. And better yet, we don’t have to go to bed at night knowing the “windmill pitch” fooled someone into hitting a triple. As a former SGG would say, “Good things happen to good people, and Bob Huggins broke some ribs in a fall in Las Vegas.” Everyone took a turn watching the ball come out of the clowns paw and roped it somewhere. We beat them up for 19 runs and played enough defense to hold them to 16 runs. It was a good start to the Fall League. Final Score: Schlitz Gusto Guys 19 – Eddy’s Bar and Grill 16 Last out: ?
The Schlitz Gusto Guys tied for 1st Place with Moose Knucklers in the summer league. We played a few competitive / close games against them in the summer and this first night of fall ball was no different. Moose Knucklers jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but the Schlitz Gusto Guys came back with a few of their own. We also locked down the defense with nice plays being made by Niehaus (your 2009 Schlitz Gusto Guy Sportsman of the Year), Ryan, Pint, CW and Pauly, who made a nice catch on a knuckleball with the bases loaded and two outs. In fact, the Gusto Guys locked down the defense so well, we didn’t give an another run, winning a close one 5-2. It’s worth mentioning, for an inning or two we had almost two centuries worth of experience in the outfield. From left to right we went 55 years old, 51 years old, 51 years old, 26 years old. I doubt anyone in this league can boast such stats. Final Score: Schlitz Gusto Guys 5 – Moose Knucklers 2 Last out: Mac Fan of the night: Patsy and Bob (per the norm). There were some good Schlitz Gusto Guy laughs after the games as we remained at the fields until well after the final out. There were some great phrases added to our QUOTES page. It is difficult to believe the Schlitz Gusto Guys wrapped up summer softball already. 24 games are in the books. I believe we finished 18-6 and tied for 1st Place. With any luck we had less total runs than the Moose Knucklers. We know we don’t want to move up a league next summer. We have been in that league before. It’s not pretty. Numbers don’t lie. Sub-plot of the night. Entering the game #35 held an ever-so-slight lead over Brain for the Schlitz Gusto Guy batting title. One of the biggest benefits were those Gusto Guys who did not qualify for the batting title. The batting title essentially came down to whoever got more hits on this final day of the summer season. Game #1 vs. Moose Knucklers The pitcher for Moose Knucklers is up there on the “Most Likeable People” list with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. He’s just a really fun guy to play against. After Cinco hit a ground ball up the middle #35 asked if the pitcher was okay. The reply went something like this, “You tell your *&(@#$% pitcher that I’m coming up the (*&$&$@# middle and I go head (*&$%(*# high.” Let’s take a step back. The Schlitz Gusto Guys and Moose Knucklers play in Wednesday night D/E Recreational league. Further, I’m not sure anyone on the Schlitz Gusto Guys would try to go up the middle to hurt anyone. It’s just not how the Schltiz Gusto Guys roll. I don’t want to say karma plays a role in this, but he might be the only pitcher in the league to occasionally pitch between his legs or behind his back. On to the game…It took a while for the bats on either team to get going. We headed into the 4th inning tied 0-0. It was back and forth in the final few innings, and the Schlitz Gusto Guys gave away a few runs en route to a 5-9 loss. Brain ended 3×4 with two singles and a double / #35 finished 3×4 with two singles and a double. Final Score: Schlitz Gusto Guys 5 – Moose Knucklers 9 Last out: Pub Krull Game #2 vs. Ziegler After scoring 17 runs in their first game of the night Team Ziegler didn’t have much left. The Schlitz Gusto Guys, on the other hand, had PLENTY left on this final night of summer ball. It was one hit after another. Team Ziegler, usually a solid defensive club, gave us a few freebees, which always helps. There was quite a bit on the line for this game. If Moose Knucklers lost in their second game (which they did) and the Schlitz Gusto Guys won, we’d tie for 1st Place. The runs came early and often for the Schlitz Gusto Guys as we batted around in the 2nd and 3rd innings and the game was really never close. Everyone in the lineup had a minimum of four at-bats in Game #2 (in five innings). Pub Krull slid over to shortstop and immediately had three of the next four put outs. We also owe a thank you to Pub Krull for extending the game an extra at-bat by throwing just a bit wide of second base. This biggest impact of this went to the “last out” of the game / summer. Speaking of Pub Krull….He hit one of the best singles of the season. A long fly ball, to DEEP left-center field….off the fence. Nobody has a better “single” trot than Pub Krull. Nobody. He looked so graceful trotting to first on that single. It was almost as if he thought the ball was gone (for a homerun). Brain ended 4×5 with three singles and a double / #35 finished 4×4 with two singles and a homerun. Final Score: Schlitz Gusto Guys 22 – Team Ziegler 7 Last out: FNG (Silkey) – In the second to last inning (we had a walk off 15 run rule win) Fan of the night: Kurt Student, “like it’s spelled.” Final batting stats were as follows: Brain was 48×84 for a 0.571 average. #35 was 50×86 for a 0.581 average. DISCLAIMER…If Brain’s last at-bat was scored a hit instead of an error he would have finished 49×84 for a .583 average. Ol’ #35 owes the score keeper a TALL BOY! Worth mentioning: As of August 3rd, 2010, there are 267 days until Summer Balm-2011 Also worth mentioning: There are 19 days until FALL BALL (not to be confused with Foul Ball…or Fowl balls).
Game #1 vs. H-Bombs This was the first meeting between the Schlitz Gusto Guys and H-Bombs sporting their new jerseys. It’s worth mentioning, the H-Bombs new uniforms are the second best uniforms in the Burnsville D/E Recreational league. Also worth mentioning, they are a very distant second to our very own Schlitz Gusto Guy threads. The Schlitz Gusto Guys got after it early, scoring six in the first and 10 in the second. In fact, every one of the Schlitz Gusto Guys scored at least one run in this game. We fielded well as a squad and managed not to give up too many extra bases. Solid games at the plate for CW (3×4), Brain (4×4), Kurty (4×4), CP (3×4), Pauly (3×4 with a HR), Steve/Ryan combo (4×4) and Sans (3×4). Final Score: Schlitz Gusto Guys 22 – H-Bombs 10 Last out: CW Game #2 vs. Televent DTN We scored two runs early and then took a couple of innings off. Televent DTN kept it close throughout the game. In the end the Schlitz Gusto Guys would not disappoint their fans at a sold out Lac Lavon Field E escaping with a 10-6 win. There are not too many teams in the Burnsville Wednesday night D/E Recreational league that can hold their focus in front of a sold out field. The Schlitz Gusto Guys, however, are one of those teams. Kurty continued his perfect night at the plate going 2×2 with a walk (and finishing just a couple of at-bats shy of qualifying for the batting title). The original Schltiz Gusto Guy (and the 2009 Schlitz Gusto Guy Sportsman of the Year), Brian Niehaus was a perfect 3×3 at the dish. Final Score: Schlitz Gusto Guys 10 – Televent DTN 6 Last out: CW Fan of the night: Far too many fans to name individually. I’d highly recommend checking out the BBQ page and looking at all of the pictures of “Processed Food Night 2010” at South Beach, Lac Lavon. Thanks to everyone who attended and a special shout out to Kurty for grilling and to Schlitz for the beverages and signage. It was definitely a successful night. At least judging by the time we finally departed “South Beach.” |
