Patrick's Post Game Wrap
- May 27th, 2009
-Submitted by Mike Tollefson
Game Summary
Patrick’s called upon their fourth starting pitcher in as many games
when they lured veteran knuckleball pitcher and future Patrick’s Hall of
Famer Dave “Z” Zeller out of retirement this Wednesday night.
However, the outcome of the game remained the same as Patrick’s
was shelled for 20 runs in five innings, loosing by a final score of 20-9.
The team’s lack of
offense was highlighted by the fact that they stranded 10 base-runners in
five innings of play. Patrick’s
inability to hit the long ball again reinforces the idea that the only
performance enhancing drugs this aging team is taking might be Viagra.
However, there was a bit of good news on this front.
After the game, outfielder Sean Mulcahey postulated that Joe
Mauer’s recent power surge was a result of him turning 25 years of age
and thus getting his “man strength.” “Just wait guys, I turn 25 in a couple weeks and when I
get my man strength, I should be hitting them out too” exclaimed Mulcahey.
Congratulations Sean on receiving this week’s “Most
Preposterous Statement” award.
The only power came in
the form of three doubles recorded by Patrick’s own M&M boys Moline,
Madsen, and Mulcahey. Madsen’s
double came under scrutiny when he raced from first to second base at
approximately half the speed of smell (copyright Ron White), arriving
there at roughly the same time as the ball.
Madsen’s failure to slide on this close play brought on a warning
from the umpire. However, the bench was able to successfully argue that Madsen
had not generated enough forward momentum to be able to execute a slide
and thus Madsen was not called out.
During warm-ups, Mulcahey,
in reference to Patrick’s 1-3 start posed the question “Isn’t
this when the manager should do or say something to fire the team up?”
One could not help but be reminded of what some of the great MLB
managers have done in the past. Lou
Panella would have gotten himself thrown out of a game, arguing with an
umpire to stir his squad to action. Twin’s
manager Ron Gardenhire sent infielder Alexi Casilla down to the minors to
send a message to his team that sloppy defensive play would not be
tolerated. In this same spirit, team manager Rob Moline chose to lead
the team by example in the top of the third when he laced his double to
the center field fence. Upon
arriving at second he promptly pumped both fists, looked skyward and
loudly exclaimed “Oh Baby!” As
noted above, the team is now 1-4.
Mulcahey was also
involved in a fielding incident in which a lazy fly ball was hit between
him and fellow outfielder Mike Tollefson.
However, rather than catching the ball, the two outfielders engaged
in what was later described as a “debate club.”
The two outfielders were still debating about who should catch the
ball when it dropped harmlessly between them.
Key Stat
In the fourteen years prior, Patrick’s has only had one loosing season
(2002). In that time span,
they have posted a record of 111-49 (W/L information for the 2000, 2003,
2004, and parts of 1995, and 2002 seasons are missing).