Patrick's Post Game Wrap
- June 10th, 2009
-Submitted by Mike Tollefson
Game Summary
This week saw the return
of veteran Mark Van Zee to the Patrick’s softball team.
Mark didn’t waste any time in making his presence felt as he
unleashed a monster grand slam home run with his first swing of the bat.
The grand slam allowed Patrick’s to jump out to an early 4-0 lead
as they cruised to a 14-4 victory over Hewitt Farms, avenging an earlier
loss of 15-2 in the first game of the season.
Opportunistic scoring and solid defense marked the return of a style of play that over the years has been more typical of “Patrick’s Softball.” Pitcher Gary Schmiesing summed it up beautifully when he was quoted as saying “No one can beat us if we play how we play, when we play.”
Who’s Hot
Sean Mulcahey went 3 for 3 with a walk Wednesday to complete his meteoric
rise to the top of the stats page. Sean
now posts a .722 OBP.
Tom Lippert, while being cheered on by his
parents, went 3 for 3 with a walk, a double, and for the second
consecutive week, threw out a base runner at the plate from left field. Tom now leads the team in outfield assists, doubles, triples,
home runs, and runs scored.
Who’s Not
Last year’s OBP leader Chaun “Foxy
Coxy” has effectively gone from “first to worst” with a .308 OBP and
a batting average that rivals Nick Punto’s.
It’s thought that his trademark gray sweat pants no longer have
the same intimidating effect on the other team as they did when he broke
into the league.
Gary Schmiesing is now 0 for his last 8 at
bats and has not recorded a hit since May 13th (This ain’t
the American League pal, you still need to hit!).
Most Preposterous Statement
Gary Schmiesing was quoted as saying “I always back up plays at the
plate.” While the statement
seemed a lock for this week’s most preposterous statement, a true master
of preposterous statements, Bill Arthur, has in fact surpassed it.
Following Wednesday night’s game, Arthur stated that the reason
for the team’s slow start was clearly the fact that he had not been
playing with the team this year and that the team missed his power in the
line-up. While Arthur holds a
respectable .586 lifetime OBP, the stats clearly show that in 319 career
plate appearances, Arthur actually recorded more strike outs than extra
base hits (7 strike outs vs. 6 extra base hits).
We’ve been missing that kind of power the way Hugh Hefner misses
the days before Viagra. Congratulations
on uttering this week’s most preposterous statement.