Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #7

Game: June 8, 2014

Buzzards late comeback falls short, drop one to Dodgers, 9-7

It was a very hot Sunday afternoon in Citrus Heights as the Buzzards gathered at C-Bar-C Park to play the Dodgers. At game time it was near 103° with a warm north wind blowing out to left field. The wind made the day more tolerable as it felt cool on the sweat running down the face and arms. The 42+ Dodgers, playing an interleague game, came at full strength with 18 players in uniform including the manager, Vince Miles (looking like a black Tommy Lasorda), and were ready near game time.

Meanwhile the nine 52+ Buzzards were searching the horizon for wayward Pirates. With no time to spare and two batting line-ups ready for the umps, three of the four Auburn Pirates made it from their morning game in Galt to start the 2 pm Buzzard game. Hardy Pirates are always good to know.

Starting on the hill for the visiting Buzzards was the crafty righty, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6. The Dodgers sent a hard-throwing righty, Jim 'Hothead' Rivera #55 to the mound to open the game.

The Buzzards got off to a good start and scored two runs in the opening inning. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz led-off with a double down the left-field line. A ground-out moved Welzy to third. After a sharp line-out to the shortstop for the second out, Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley came through with a run-scoring single to center-field on a 1-2 pitch that drove in Welzy. Jim 'Milli' Milligan followed with a line drive to right-center-field for a base hit, putting runners on the corners. Up next, Barry 'Crush' Forman took a full-count walk to load the bases with two outs. Batting next, Dave 'mMumbles' Kelley took a strike while the field umpire called a balk. The runners moved up and Tomahawk cruised across the plate, while the ump and pitcher 'went at it' for a short time until Hothead was tossed.

The Dodgers brought in their shortstop, another hard-throwing young right-hander, Will 'Smokey' Redick #24, to warm up, and then get the game going after the long delay. A couple of pitches later, mMumbles hit a solid liner to left that appeared to be a hit off of the bat, but the ball caught the wind and sailed a little and was tracked down by the left fielder rushing in for a huge third out - ouch.

The Dodgers fought right back and scored three runs to take an early lead. The leadoff batter walked on a full-count and was followed by a single, wild pitch, strike-out, run-scoring single, steal, sacrifice fly-out and single before a hot liner to third was snagged by Gregg' Surf Dawg' Novotny at his shoe-tops to end the inning with the Buzzards down 3-2 to Dodger Blue.

The game stayed at 3-2 until the bottom of the fourth frame when the Dodgers tacked on another run with a leadoff three-bagger followed by a sac fly for a 4-2 Dodgers' lead. On the deep drive into the left-center gap to open the inning, Barry was running hard from left-field when he felt a pop in the knee cap area and was then unable to run or walk on the left leg. Barry hobbled off of the field to the dugout and would sit out the rest of this game with ice on the knee.

With the wilting heat and with lots of pitches thrown by Salmo, the Buzzards changed pitchers in the fifth inning and brought in Surf Dawg #1 to face the free swinging, blue-jerseyed Dodgers.

The Fightin' Buzzards were hitting, but not scoring. The eight hits, two walks and one hit batsman in the first six innings, frustratingly ended-up with just two runs and eight stranded runners and one caught stealing, which was clearly and by rule 8.05(c) a balk move.

The bad call later resulted in a between innings discussion with the skipper and the umps. The home plate blue, Donna, listened, while the bumble-head in the infield, Rob, insisted the pitcher could free-wheel from the plate on the mound, if they were 'reacting to the runner'. Well, there is no 'reacting to the runner' clause that could be found in the rule book, and that poor knowledge of the balk rule was highlighted in the umpire evaluations.

In the bottom of the sixth, the pesky Dodgers scored three more runs on three hits, two walks, a throwing error, stolen base and the third Dodgers sacrifice fly-out of the game for a 7-2 lead.

With time running short for the three-hour game, the Dodgers took their time and added two more runs to the scoreboard in the seventh. A one-out walk, then a strike-out, followed by an almost caught foul ball, but then followed by two flare hits for the two runs and a 9-2 score.

When the Ol' Buzzards came to bat in the top of the eighth dig, time was nearly expired, so this was the last inning of the game. Down by seven, the Gold Country gang then began the comeback. With one out, Dave 'Evy' Everingham showed his signature inside-out swing and singled to right-center. Up next, Salmo, batting for the first time, hit the first pitch up-the-middle for a single. Welzy then singled sharply to right-center loading the bases with one out. Batting next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir hit a high looper into right-center-field for a run-scoring single, knocking in Evy and re-loading the bases.

Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray then smashed a 2-2 pitch down the left-field line scoring Salmo and Welzy to make the score 9-5 with two runners on and still one out. Tomahawk, batting next, hit an 0-1 pitch, flare for a single into right-field to re-load the bases again. Milli knocked in the next run with a wild fielder's choice groundball play. The hard grounder was headed to the hole between second and first base, when the speedy second baseman gloved the ball deep in the hole and then turned pirouette-style to threw to second, but just wide of the bag. The shortstop caught the throw, but missed the bag, and may have gotten an 'in the area' call in the major leagues on the play, but in the NABA second base must be touched. Milli beat the throw to first on the attempted double play with everyone safe and a run scored. Still with one out, Surf Dawg, batting for the injured Barry, sent a sharp line-drive to center for a single to drive in the fifth run and tighten the score some more at 9 to 7.

With runners at first and second and one out, mMumbles came to the plate. A wild pitch moved up the runners into scoring position to add extra excitement. However, with a 3-1 count the pitcher, Shane 'Slo Mo' Harrigan #38 and their clean-up hitter, turned and threw to third base and got the tag-out call on a close play from the out of position infield ump. The runner, Tomahawk, dove back head-first to the back corner of the bag and looked safe, but the call sucked. The inning ended soon there-after with the final score: the stinky Dodgers 9 and the Buzzards 7.

There were several points that cost the Buzzards and made it easier for the Dodgers. The Buzzards had three players picked-off to shorten those innings (3rd, 5th and 8th), and one easy double play on a line drive to second base to unfortunately double-up the moving on-the-pitch runner in the seventh. The six steals helped keep the Dodgers out of double plays, the Buzzards' specialty. And three sacrifice fly-outs put three valuable runs across the plate for the efficient Dodgers. The Buzzards did out-hit the Dodgers 15 to 13. A couple of catches of foul balls and some of those Dodger runs don't score, and a key hit or two by the Buzzards make this a different outcome, but on June 8th the Dodgers prevailed in the heat.

The pitching was solid against this good hitting Dodger team. They took quite a few pitches and fouled several off before connecting for lots of balls hit in the air. Salmeri pitched the first four frames and faced 21 Dodgers in throwing 85 pitches (54 strikes & 31 balls). Rick threw 39 pitches in a long first inning. Salmo gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks with three strike-outs. Novotny pitched the final three innings and faced 18 batters in throwing 66 pitches (37 strikes & 29 balls). Surf Dawg gave up five runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and two strike-outs.

The Fightin' Buzzards banged out 15 hits to go along with three walks and a hit-batsman for an offense that produced seven runs. The hit club for the game included: Baron (2), Burner, Evy, Milli, Salmo, Surf Dawg, Tomahawk (3), Welzy (3), and Wookie (2). The six ribbies were courtesy of: the Baron (2), Milli, Surf Dawg, Tomahawk, and Wook. The vital scored runs were by: the Baron, Evy, Salmo, Tomahawk, Welzy (2), and Wookie. Milli took the bruise on the back with a fastball for the team in the third inning to get first base. The 'eagle-eyed' Buzzards obtaining a free pass to first base were: Crush, Mickey, and Milli. Welzy started the game with a double, but that was the only extra base hit for the Buzzards.

The Buzzard defense played well, but did not get many good bounces or umpiring calls. There were only three groundball put-outs in this game and three infield assists, when normally the Ol' Buzzards have assists in the teens. There were lots of fly-ball outs and base hits to keep the outfield squad of Mike 'Mickey' Wilson, Paul 'General' Lee, Crush, mMumbles and Tomahawk busy and panting between pitches on this especially hot day. For the 21 defensive put-outs, there were eight fly-ball outs, four high infield pop-ups, one infield line drive out, three infield put-outs and five strike-outs. Milli made a fabulous, clutch catch of a high pop-up near home plate and made it look easy to end the seventh inning.

A nice comeback in the last inning showed that the Buzzards do not give up, even on a sweltering day, when calling it quits would have been the easy thing to do. Excellent fortitude to go with those ol' baseball skills made for a close game. The Ol' Buzzards were a base hit away from tying that game and sending the Dodgers to panic and tears. This time next year, Dodger meat is on the menu.

Buzzard Note #1: The Reds have forfeited next week's game. They said they can't field a team due to Father's Day. Didn't realize that Father's Day was a Mexican holiday and will prevent the Reds from sending a team to far away, Auburn. Enjoy the day, but not on the field on Sunday afternoon.

Buzzard Note #2: Thanks to Paul Lee for hosting the after game dinner at Felipe's without attending. The Buzzards and wives always love to flock over to Felipe's for excellent food and cold drinks at special Buzzard prices.

Buzzard Note #3: The Radio Game is coming up on June 29th. A request for Bios will be sent separately. Last year's player bio's can be updated.

Buzzard Note #4: The next game will be on June 22nd at C-Bar-C Park again. This game will be a 10 am game against the top 42+ team, the A's.