Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #11

Game: July 10, 2011

Buzzards sweep Dragons, 13-3

After that first game win and with the weather cooperating with a day in the mid-80s with a breeze, the Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards were warmed up and ready for the second game of the double-header. For this scheduled seven-inning game, the Buzzards were the home team. The starting pitchers were two right-handers, Mike ‘Slinger’ Peart #6 for the Dragons and #11 Mark “Weeder” Fowler throwing for the Buzzards.

The Dragons jumped on top again early with three runs in the top of the second inning. A walk, two singles and a two-out double accounted for the runs. The Buzzards battled back in the bottom half of the inning with four of their own. Mike ‘Bake’ Baker started it off with a lead-off single to right field on a 3-1 pitch. Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray then hit a rocket shot that hit the top of the left field fence, just short of a home run, for a run scoring double.

Two outs later, Dennis ‘Cover Boy’ Viegas smashed a 0-1 pitch into left field putting runners on first and third. Dennis stole second before Dave ‘Evy’ Everingham took a base on balls to load the bases for Taylor ‘Welzy’ Welz. Still with two outs, Welzy then hit a 3-1 pitch up in the air, foul and heading toward the third base dugout door. The third baseman lost the ball in the sun briefly then barely missed the catch a few feet from the dugout fence. Given new life, T-Welz belted the next pitch deep to left-center field scoring all three runners with a big double to take the lead 4-3 in the second inning.

The Buzzards held the Dragons in the third with a play at the plate for the first out of the inning. With a Dragon (speeded Fenton) at first base on a single, the next batter hit a line drive that Welzy dove for in left-center field. The ball glanced off of the out-stretched glove of T-Welz slowing the ball down a little. Don ‘Redondo’ Colbert playing left field retrieved the ball and fired into Evy deep on the grass in the outfield. Dave threw a bouncer to Dennis to the left of the plate and Cover Boy snagged the throw and laid an immediate tag on the non-sliding runner for the amazing and Dragon demoralizing out.

The Buzzards then scored seven runs in the bottom of the third inning to put the game out-of-reach for the feisty Dragons. The inning started with an eight pitch at-bat for big Tony ‘Mongoose’ Brashear. With a 2-2 count after fouling off five pitches, Mongoose with his quick feet appeared to be dancing in the batter’s box as a slider was coming toward his elbow. Being fooled on the pitch and not being quick enough to get out of the way, the ball tagged his not so ‘funny bone’ sending a sore and bleeding Mongoose to first base. Tony was good big boy and remembered - there is no crying in baseball, but an ice pack was helpful with the ouchie.

Batting next, Mike ‘Bake’ Baker walked on seven pitches. Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray then hit a run scoring single to left field. The Dragons then changed pitchers and brought in knuckle-baller Alan ‘Rocketman’ Van Ness #31. With runners on first and second and the game close, Dan ‘Wookie’ Wukmir got the signal to bunt. After the successful sacrifice bunt moved the runners over, Scott ‘Donut’ Reeves fouled off four pitches before knocking the 0-2 pitch into left-center field scoring Baker. Donut stole second base before Cover Boy followed with a sharp single to left field.

With two runners on, Dave ‘Evy’ Everingham hit a 0-1 flare into right scoring the Baron. Evy then stole second base putting runners at third and second for Welzy. Taylor drove the 1-2 pitch on a line into left field for a single scoring Reeves and Viegas. With two outs, Mongoose then came to bat for the second time in the inning he started. The bleeding had stopped on the elbow, so Tony went to the plate and hit a run scoring single to left driving in Evy. Bake batting a second time in the third, singled for a second time knocking in T-welz for the seventh and last run of the inning. The score after three innings was 11-3 Buzzards.

Meanwhile, Weeder was pitching a gem and getting the frustrated Dragons to hit grounders and fly balls to Buzzard defenders. There were a few light-hearted moments like watching Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman lose a fly ball in the sun playing left field and watching new dance steps being invented as he reacted to the ball. The sinking sun is tough in left field at the Vernon James Memorial Field in the late afternoon.

The Buzzards scored two more in the bottom half of the fifth inning to close out the game. Brooklyn started the inning with a single to right field. Two outs later and Barry at second base, Welzy singled again, this time on a 1-2 pitch, to left for his fourth hit of the game and driving in Barry for his sixth RBI. Wow, what a hot bat to go along with that hot girl friend. Good job, Welzy. Batting next, Woody, knocked a 0-1 pitch deep into the right-center field gap scoring Welzy from first for the 13th run of the game. Up 13-3 in the fifth of a seven-inning game invoked the NABA 10-run mercy rule, so the game ended with two outs in the fifth inning.

Wow, two wins against the Dragons with the second game a mercy-rule game was not expected. The Ol’ Buzzards are good team and beating the Dragons all three games this season shows we are going to be even tougher going forward.

Fowler beat a good Dragon team with 70 pitches, throwing 40 strikes and 30 balls, while facing 22 good hittin’ Dragons. Mark gave up three earned runs on seven hits, two walks and one strikeout. Good job, Weeder.

Defense was solid again with no errors and the double play to end the Dragons last inning was a nice touch by the infield. The Evy to Welzy to Baron double play combination worked nicely on that play. It was great to see the Buzzards not rest after the first game victory and come hard early at the Dragons in that second game. A good Dragon team was demoralized early and easier to defeat. Beware the Buzzards.

The Buzzard hittin’ sticks came alive with 16 base hits in the five inning game. Aggressive running set the table and lots of singles and three doubles drove in the 13 runs. The Buzzard hit club for the second game included Brooklyn, Donut, Evy, Mongoose, Woody, and Wookie with one hit each; Bake, Baron, and magazine Cover Boy Dennis had two hits each; while Welzy had four hits in the five inning game. Single RBIs were knocked in by Bake, Donut, Evy, Mongoose, and Woody. The Baron knocked in two runs while Welzy was responsible for six runs batted in. A season high for the team.

Buzzard Notes #1: A great double-header sweep was followed by equally great smoked and barbecued ribs by Jim ‘Wags’ Wagner. Those Buzzards able to stick around enjoyed fabulous ribs that Wags set-up that morning in his smoker (six racks) and then ran home after the game to bring them back for consumption. And boy was there consumption of lots of ribs with potato salad. There was even enough food for the Dragons, which they really appreciated. Thanks Wags for the treat that really hit the spot with beer and munchies after that long day of baseball. Dragons and Buzzards drank beer and BS’d until about 8 o’clock at James Field.

Buzzard Note #2: The team voted for their all-star game representatives at the last game. The game was held Wednesday night, July 6, at Playfields Park in Davis. The Buzzards got five-spots for the all-star game. The top vote getters in order were Everingham, Steiger, Viegas, Wooden, and Welz. Steigy was on vacation so he turned the invite down. Jackson was the next high vote getter, but he turned the game down due to work. Digging deeper, Wukmir was next and available for the game. The Buzzards played well and contributed to the National Team’s 8-5 win.

Buzzard Note #3: It appears our next double-header will be on July 24. That is the day of our radio game on KAHI. The new schedule shows us playing at 10 am against the Mudville Nine at James and then the 3 o’clock radio game against the Gold Country Miners. The live broadcast of our game on 910 AM will follow the Oakland A’s game at the New York Yankees that day. The game is also streamed live on their web site kahi.com. Copies of the game will be available afterwards. We intend to have another BBQ after the game. We should have lots of smoked tri tip and pork shoulder with buns and potato salad and other fixings after the radio game. Family and friends are invited. More details to come.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #10

Game: July 10, 2011

Buzzards shoot down Dragons, 7-5

On another gorgeous Sunday morning in the Gold Country, the Ol’ Buzzards circled-in onto James Field in Auburn to take on the tough Dragons (6-3) in a two-game affair. With vacation season conflicting with baseball season, the Buzzards only had 11 players for the game. It appears that Dragons don’t take vacations ‘cause they came in full force with 16 players dressed out in their dark green jerseys, white pants and green and black caps with their Dragon logo ready to clip the Buzzards’ wings.

These games were originally scheduled as a home double-header for the Dragons at Lembi Field in Folsom. Lembi was being used this weekend for a regional youth tournament so the Buzzards offered James Field for the games. The Dragons were the home team for the first game. The starting pitcher for the Dragons was righty, big Jeff “Nasty’ Hansen #11. Throwing for the Buzzards was the bulging biceps right-hander, Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden #22.

The Dragons started the scoring for the day with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Woody sent the early message though by breaking a bat on the first pitch. Freddie Fenton broke his lucky bat on the outside fastball when he pulled a liner foul. Later with one out, an E-6 on a nice dig but a short throw to first base was followed by a deep double to the right-center field gap putting the Dragons on top early 1-0.

The Buzzards tied the game in the top of the third inning. With two outs and runners on second and third, Taylor ‘Welzy’ Welz hit a 0-1 pitch sharply to left field for a single and knocking in the tying run. A base running blunder added some run-down excitement to the end of the inning, but the score was now 1-1.

The scored remained tied until the sixth, when the Buzzards broke thru for five runs. The inning started with a Wezly walk after fouling off five pitches for a great at-bat. Woody, batting next, stroked the second pitch deep into the left-center field gap for a double scoring Welzy from first base. Up next, Tony ‘Mongoose’ Brashear smacked the first pitch for a base hit to left field putting runners at first and third with no outs. But, two outs later with runners at second and third in this close battle, the oldest Ol’ Buzzard, Dan ‘Wookie’ Wukmir stepped to the plate. On a 2-2 low fastball, Wookie hit a hard one hopper skipping thru the right side of the infield to drive in two runs with the clutch hit.

Batting next, Scott ‘Donut’ Reeves hit a tough grounder to short that was misplayed on the throw to second base with the ball sailing into right field. Wook, after a hard slide into the two bag, jumped up and ran to third base with a trailing throw coming in. Another hard feet-first slide and another wild throw into the out-of-play area allowed Wook to slowly get up and jog across home plate for the score. Donut advanced to second base on the play. Dennis ‘Cover Boy’ Viegas then singled up the middle on the first pitch to drive in Scottie to make the score 6-1.

Meanwhile, Woody was doing a terrific job of holding down a potent Dragons team to one run. There were several Dragon threats throughout the game, but Woody and the defense would come thru in every tough situation. The Buzzards added one more in the top half of the eighth inning. The youngest Buzzard, Mongoose, led off the inning with his third hit of the game, a liner to left field. Welzy then ran for Tony and stole second base a couple of pitches later while Mike ‘Bake’ Baker was flailing away at pitches. Batting next, Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray grounded to third but beat the throw to first on the misplay by the infielder. In the following excitement Welzy scored and the Baron was standing on second base. Wookie then walked on four pitches putting two runners on before the inning ended with the score 7-1 Buzzards after eight innings.

In the last inning, the Buzzards relaxed a little and the Dragons made the score closer by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth. Two doubles, an infield error, a hit batter and a single amounted to the four late runs to make the final score 7-5 Buzzards.

Terrific pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting were the recipe for this victory. Woody pitched a heck of a game. Ol’ Bobio threw 110 pitches (78 strikes & 32 balls) to 38 Dragons in the three hour game. Woody gave up no earned runs with nine hits and no walks but two hit batters. Woody’s only strikeout, to the last batter of the game, put a nice exclamation point on the big win. Nice job Woody, a complete nine-inning victory against the motivated Dragons is just what the Ol’ Buzzard team needed.

The Buzzard gloves were tight. It was those damn easy throws that didn’t work out a few times. New rule: Never yell out “plenty of time” to any infielder from now on, OK? Making the plays and including two double-plays helped Woody shoot down the Dragons. The first DP was in the fourth on a come-backer to Woody on the mound and a quick throw back to Everingham covering second base and the solid throw to Baker at first to end a Dragon rally. In the sixth with runners on, Woody snagged a liner up the middle and then threw to first base to end the inning.

The Buzzard offense was out-hit by the Dragons 9-8, but the timeliness of hits is always critical. The Buzzards’ hit club for the first game included the Baron, Cover Boy, Welzy, Woody and Wookie with one hit each, while Mongoose had three hits. The ribbies were courtesy of Cover Boy, Donut, Welzy, and Woody with one, and Wook with two.

What an excellent game with clutch plays all game long. Now the Buzzards could rest on their laurels for 45 minutes until game two against the now ticked-off Dragons.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #9

Game: June 26, 2011

Buzzards fall to Reds, 9-6

The Gold Country Buzzards hit the field on Sunday at 2 o’clock to take on the Reds at James Field in Auburn. On a gorgeous day with temps in the mid-80’s, the Buzzards had a short squad of 11 players to play a full Reds team. The Reds beat the Miners last Sunday at James with only eight players (8-7), but for this game they doubled their team size with many familiar Reds from last year’s championship team showing up.

The Reds’ top pitcher, right-hander Danny “Smiley” Harvey #25 was their starter. The Buzzards sent their ace, lefty Jim “Moxie” Steiger #13 to the bump to start the game.

The Buzzards got off to an excellent start by scoring five runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Dennis “Cover Boy” Viegas started it off by working Harvey for an eight pitch at-bat before taking a curve ball in the back shoulder and then taking first base. Next, Dave “Evy” Everingham singled sharply to left field on a 0-1 pitch with Cover Boy stopping at second. Batting next, Taylor “Welzy” Welz was hit by a 2-2 curve ball to load the bases.

With one out, Charles “CJ” Jackson battled Smiley for nine pitches before blasting a fastball to the fence in left-center field to clear the bases with an impressive double. Mike “Bake” Baker then was hit by a 0-1 curve ball to put two runners on base. Later with two outs and runners at second and third, Barry “Brooklyn” Forman smashed the first pitch fastball over the first base bag and down the line for a clutch two-run single to make the score 5-0. Barry yelled ‘fair ball’ after the hit and before the plate umpire signaled fair ball. Ol’ Barry likes to help the umpire whenever he can to get the call right. Good hit Brooklyn.

That inning was an interesting statistical oddity with three batters getting hits and three batters getting hit for five runs. The Buzzards’ bats went to sleep for most of the rest of the game. Actually, Harvey smiles so much ‘cause he gets outs - as he keeps hitters off-balance and out in front on many of his pitches. We saw lots of infield pop-ups and worm killers in front of home plate from Buzzard bats today. His slow curve was working and he was getting the strike zone calls, so we had a tough afternoon and helped make Danny and his defense look good. Harvey pitched all nine innings for the Reds.

Moxie was throwing hard-to-hit strikes for the first three innings and setting the Reds down effectively with 38 pitches, while facing 10 Reds and striking out five. But during the fateful fourth inning, the Reds’ bats came alive and started placing little flairs just out-of-reach of running fielders and found holes in the infield to get the first eight batters on base before an out was made. The ‘out’ was a strikeout and it took four more batters to get the third out, but not before eight runs scored on eight singles, one walk and a fielding error at third. Ouch.

Steigy threw 44 pitches (31 strikes & 13 balls) in that nightmare inning. Moxie thought after the inning that he might be tipping his pitches, but the balls were not hit that hard. Those damn Reds just “hit ‘em where they ain’t” in that inning. The Reds only got three more hits and five total base runners for the rest of the game.

The Reds scored another run in the sixth inning starting with a flare to short center field with the ball just eluding a hard charging Welzy’s shoestring catch. The next batter struck-out on a wild pitch that bounced away, but the throwing error to first base made him safe, and then a sharp groundball single thru the hole between third and short to knock in their last run.

The Buzzards had plenty of time to recover from that fourth inning, but Smiley made it tough by putting the Buzzards down nearly in order in five straight innings during the game. The Ol’ Buzzards finally got a couple of hits and scored a run in the seventh inning. Wezly led-off with an infield single on a 0-2 count and moved to third on Bob “Woody” Wooden’s looping hit to right field. T-Welz tagged up and scored on CJ’s 2-2 count, long sacrifice fly to center field to make the score 9-6 Reds.

The Buzzards threatened in the eighth after Barry was hit by a 2-2 curve ball and a single up the middle by Ray “Bull Dog” Henry. In the ninth, Welzy got another hit, but the Reds’ defense was making the plays and held the Buzzards down to six runs in the game after an early five-run Buzzard lead in the first. A freaking unbelievable game.

We even talked about it as a team before the game, how we don’t understand how Danny Harvey is so effective with his stuff. He doesn’t appear that hard to hit from the dugout or in the stands, but in the batter’s box it’s another story. He hit four Buzzards at the plate in the game, so maybe one of his strategies is to keep hitters jumpy in the batter’s box ‘cause they may get hit. An extremely frustrating game and a motivator for next time.

The defense played well with six outfield fly outs (one to Barry in left and the rest to Welzy in center field). The infield was solid with 10 chances and nine clean outs recorded. The first groundball out was not made until the fourth inning. On the not-so-smooth infield, Evy had four assists, Scott “Donut” Reeves had three, Woody and Steigy had two assists each. Noteworthy plays were: Dennis’ perfect throw from behind the plate to nail the sliding speedy Gonzalez at the bag (actually an even faster Bo Correa was running for Gonzalez) in the second inning with a nice catch and hard tag applied by Donut. Evy’s back-handed catch of a sinking liner near the ground looking into the sun to end the nightmare of the fourth. And a hot come-backer to Moxie in the seventh that ricocheted high to Evy at short then a nice, quick flip to Donut covering second base for a good looking (1-6-4) teamwork out.

Moxie pitched a complete game that looks terrific in the books - without the fourth inning. The Buzzards did not get any breaks from the strike zone or the umps at critical times. Steigy threw 138 pitches in facing 39 Reds (99 strikes & 39 balls). The Reds only got 12 hits, but the eight singles in the fourth were really timely and were back-to-back to ad nauseam. Jim also walked three and struck-out nine.  Excluding the fourth inning, the Reds had four hits and only seven base runners.

The Buzzard offense was quiet for too long. The hit club for this game was way too small with just five players and eight hits. The hitters were: Barry, CJ, Evy and Woody with one and Bull Dog and Welzy with two each. The six RBI’s were knocked in by two Buzzards: Forman-2 and Jackson-4. It is hard to win games in this league with just six runs. As they say in Australia, ‘No worries mate’. There are plenty of games ahead, but next time against those Reds …

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #8

Game: June 19, 2011

Buzzards drop Free Agents from their claws late, lose 19-13

Fathers’ Day and baseball are usually a great combination, so the Buzzards gathered in Auburn at James Field to take on the always tough Free Agents. The Ol’ Buzzards have played a morning game on five of the six Sundays so far this season, so it did seem a little odd to be starting a game in the middle of a hot afternoon. It was the first day of the year over 95° and it was windy - that’s right, it‘s baseball weather - at least no rain. The nice part of a morning game is the field is prepped and fresh. The game prior to ours (Reds 8, Miners 7) lasted way over three hours and did not allow adequate time to get the field properly prepped for a second game. So, with a rundown mound and moon-scaped infield plus a bright sun in a cloudless high sky and with some decent wind, good ol’ James Field was about to become an adventure and would make for a difficult day for fielders and give pitcher’s a serious headache.

The Free Agents are a tough team especially when they bring their horses. They have a deep, solid pitching staff with lots of good hitters. The Buzzards only loss this season was an afternoon game against the Free Agents at Antelope High in the second week of the season 6-5. The Free Agents lost last week to one of the new young teams in our division, the Mudville Nine and were 3-4 this season. For this game the Free Agents started ol’ veteran right-hander, Phil “Mad Dog” Gelhaus #25. The Buzzards sent Mr. Bulging Biceps, Bob “Woody” Wooden #22 to the bump to get this game started.

The first couple of innings went quickly with no score. The Free Agents scored the first run in the third inning with a single, sacrifice bunt, and single. They scored two runs in the fourth on two hits and a tough, long fly ball error in center field. The good hittin’ Free Agents added to the scoreboard in the fifth inning with four runs on six hits and a walk to make the score 7-0. The lead increased to 10-zip in the bottom of the sixth on three singles and a fielding error by the shortstop for more unearned runs. An unbelievable six innings, from both teams perspective.

Mark “Weed” Fowler #11 came in to replace Woody on the mound at the top of the sixth inning. Containing the Free Agents on 15 pitches in the seventh and 14 pitches in the eighth inning put zeros on the board and allowed the Buzzards the chance to get back into this game.

But so far, this was turning into a Buzzard nightmare. It was also going to be a short day unless the Buzzards scored in the next two innings and held the Free Agents. The league’s ‘mercy rule’ ends a game after seven innings if one team is ahead by ten or more runs. With only four hits thru six innings and the pressure on, the Buzzards battled back with five runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter.

That rally was started by Pete “Baron” Von Zboray with a line drive single to center field. After the Baron was forced out at second by Scott “Donut” Reeves’ grounder to third, Donut then moved to second base on Don “Redondo” Colbert’s hustlin’ infield hit. Batting next, Dennis “Cover Boy” Viegas fouled-off lots of pitches before he walked on eight pitches. Dave “Evy” Everingham then smacked a 3-2 pitch single into left-center field for the first Buzzard runs of the game - scoring Donut and Redondo. Next, Taylor “Welzy” Welz hit a 1-2 pitch for a single into short left field knocking in our MSBL Magazine Cover Boy, Dennis, or as some of his friends refer to him on the field as ‘Little Ball of Hate or LBH”. I did say friends didn’t I. What do your enemy’s call you on the field? I’m sure it’s not printable.

The Free Agent manager, Dave Sutherland, then changed pitchers and brought in the grizzled righty veteran, Tim “Big” Burkitt #27. Woody, batting next, hit the first pitch for a single into left field. Next, CJ knocked in a couple of runs with a looping single to left. Tony “Mongoose” Brashear then used his anti-quickness to not get out of the way of the first pitch (good team player) and is now wearing a bruise, and trotted on down to first base. The inning ended before anymore scoring, but the five runs were a good sign that the bats may be getting hot.

The Buzzards came to bat in the seventh inning down by five runs. The first batter, Dan “Wookie” Wukmir walked on four pitches. The Baron then hit a big full swing, little infield squirter that rolled just far enough away from the catcher to get an infield hit. Donut then drilled the first pitch sharply into left field for a single to load the bases for Redondo. Donnie then blasted a 1-0 pitch to deep right-center field for a two-run double. Nice big hit.

Dennis batted next and hit a hard grounder to third base that was misplayed for an error. Evy next hit a sacrifice fly to right allowing Donut to tag up and score. Welzy, batting next, hit the 0-1 curve ball down the line in left field scoring Viegas and Colbert to tie the game at 10-10. After the huge hit by T-Welz, the Free Agents changed pitchers again.

The Free Agent’s brought in Greg “Lightning” Lichtenberger # 24 from center field. Greg, a good guy and former Buzzard from the championship season of 2008, used to be one of the hardest throwers in the region. However, a million pitches later on that right arm, has now made him only real tough. After Greg gingerly warmed up, he then let loose on that first pitch to Woody and yelped as the ball left his hand. He immediately garbed his right arm and went to his knees in pain next to the pitcher’s mound. Greg was done for the day with one pitch and it was painful to watch. The next pitcher, Mike “Big Mouth Bass” Wilson #91 came over from third base to replace Lichtenberger.

Back in the batter’s box with a 1-0 count, Woody then hit a line drive single into left field putting two runners on base. Next, Charles “CJ” Jackson hit a mega-clutch single into left field scoring Welzy to take the lead 11-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With seven minutes left in the three-hour game limit, the Buzzards started the bottom of the eighth inning. The team scored twice more in the eighth inning to extend the lead. Ol’ Wookie led-off with a multi-hopping ground ball to the second baseman and beat the throw to first. With one out, Donut singled for the second time putting two runners on. After two were out, Cover Boy received a four pitch, base on balls to load the bases. Next, Evy singled to right on a 0-1 pitch driving in Wook and Donut to complete the scoring. The inning ended a batter later with the score 13-10 Buzzards.

The Buzzards were aware of the time limit and thought we worked the clock sufficiently by scoring runs, taking pitches and other semi-slow down maneuvers. According to the nearly blind and lamo plate umpire, before the bottom of the eighth inning started, he told Pete and Wook separately there were seven minutes left in the game. He said later he forgot the game did not start on time and when the last out was made at 5:01, there were three minutes left. Brandy, the base ump reminded him at the end of the inning. The start time was 2:04. Damnation.

So, the fateful ninth inning started with a bunch of tired ol’ guys on a hot day and way past the normal beer drinking time. Because we thought the game would be over, no one was in the bullpen when the inning started to help out Weeder, just in case. Well, 42 pitches later another nightmare inning was over, and the score card had way too many diamonds filled in for the Free Agents. They scored nine times on five hits, three walks and an error. Ouch.

The Buzzards tried to comeback in the bottom half of the inning with a walk to Woody and hits by Mongoose and Bake, but it was not to be today. Those damn Free Agents got us again in the last inning. Curses to them and their antics. Next time, there will be no mercy.

The Buzzards had 13 runs on 21 hits – usually good enough to win, but the Free Agents did have more hits (23) and did play better defense. New rule for the Buzzards: Do not eat buttered popcorn before a game – we need non-slip hands and gloves next time. The field conditions sucked but maybe no slippery glove or hands will help, or maybe new glasses.

The pitching was fine and we almost won a remarkable comebacker. The pitchers were forced to get more than three outs in too many innings. Woody threw five innings and faced 27 batters, throwing 87 pitches (59 strikes & 28 balls). The F-ing Agents got 11 hits and one walk while striking out three times. Weeder pitched the last four inning and the FA’s got 12 hits and three walks with two strike outs. Mark faced 26 batters and threw 96 pitches (52 strikes & 44 balls). Wow, 183 pitches for Bobio and Weeder in this game. Now that’s a lot of pitches.

The Buzzard offense woke up late. Four hits thru four innings followed by 17 hits in the next five innings looks like we suffer from a bipolar disorder. With 21 hits, every Buzzard got at least one hit. The hit club for game #8 of the 2011 season looks like this: Baron-2, Bake-1, Cover Boy-1, CJ-2, Donut-2, Evy-3, Mongoose-2, Redondo-2, Woody-2, Welzy-2 and Wook-2. The ribbies were courtesy of: Redondo with 2, CJ and Welzy with 3 each, and Evy with 5 big ones.

The good news is there are a lot more games to play this season and we will see the Free Agents again.

Buzzard Notes #1: Greg Lichtenberger’s arm is OK.

Buzzard Note #2: Even though Bear is a good nickname for Tony Brashear. It does fit his look, waddle and strength, but bear is his brother’s long time family nickname. Until we come up with a better one and to avoid Brashear family issues and future litigation, we will adopt the Brashear’s nickname for Tony – Mongoose – in future publications. I’m guessing he must have been a lot quicker when he was younger or it’s an opposite-type nickname.

Buzzard Note #3: The NABA schedule is still in flux from the rain-outs. This week’s game will be against the Reds at James Field at 2 pm. Some of the Reds will be playing in a 10 o’clock in Roseville prior to our afternoon game. The weekend after the July 4th holiday, we will play a double-header against the Dragons, probably at Lembi Field in Folsom (7/10).

Buzzard Note #4: The live broadcast of the July 24th game at James Field against the Miners on KAHI 950AM is set on the radio station’s calendar for 2 o’clock. We will follow the Yankees vs. Oakland A’s game that day on KAHI. It is a fun game with radio play-by-play being heard in the dugouts and in the stands during the game. Copies of the game will be available later. Buzzard business owners need to write up some company info for a 30-second commercial spot that will be professionally produced by radio station staff and played that day during the game. The cost is $50 to have your commercial played numerous times. See Pete or Dan for more details or bring company info to a game. It is likely we will have some type of BBQ afterwards with the Miners in the picnic area. Families are encouraged to attend and bring a mobile listening device for the game. The entire world plus your relatives, friends and military members serving overseas will be able to listen to us play that day on the radio station’s web site, kahi.com. The radio station also offers free apps for Androids and iPhones to listen on mobile devices that are not called transistor radios.

Buzzard Note #5: The Buzzards are now tied for first place with the Valley Cats at 5-2-1. The Dragons (5-3) lost to the Valley Cats last weekend 6-3.

Buzzard Note #6: The NABA all-star games are played during the first two weeks of July at Playfields Park in Davis. The date for the 45+ game has not been announced yet, but the team needs to vote on its representatives. The number eligible from each team is based on their position in the standings. We may have as many as five slots on the team, if we win this Sunday. Ballots will be passed out before the game and you will need to vote on Sunday.

Buzzard Note #7: Our web site gets a good number of hits each week during the season. We have a pretty good following in Australia – from the Buzzard trip to the World Games in 2009 (gold medalist) plus playing with Aussie’s in other international Games in Canada and Aussieland. Our web site gets its hits primarily from the Sacramento area, Australia and my mom in LA.

Gold Country Buzzards Game Report #7

Game: June 12, 2011

Ol’ Buzzards beat young Giants 8-4

The sun was shining and the ground was dry on Sunday, which has been a recent rarity this spring, so the morning game was on between Team Giants and the Gold Country Buzzards at Mahany Park in Roseville. So far this season, the team has lost five games to rain-outs and played six. The Giants are new to the 45+ league and carry a few underage players. With the average age of the orange clad Giants (2-2) being almost 10 years younger than the Ol’ Buzzards (4-1-1), the advantage should belong to the younger team. The Scott brothers, Mike and Kevin, managers of the Giants, have put together championship teams before in the younger age divisions.

The home turf Giants sent big righty, Anthony “Ozzy” Osborn #00 to the mound, while the Buzzards started their ace southpaw, Jim “Moxey” Steiger #13. During the week, the Buzzards added a player to the roster, looking for a solid consistent catcher, to replace the injured Milligan. The Buzzards were fortunate to pick up one of the most versatile and best players (for his age) in the Sacramento area, Dennis Viegas. Dennis, on a recent cover of MSBL national magazine - making a play for the Sacramento Tribe at the World Series in Phoenix - will catch primarily and play infield. He also played with the Buzzards in the 2008 championship year. With his wife Shari, they are a great addition to the Buzzard flock.

With both teams wearing orange jerseys, gray pants and black hats with orange bills, the game would occasionally turn into a little optical confusion for the players and fans. The Buzzards’ black sleeves helped and the Giants orange was a brighter color, but generally the faster person in orange was probably a Giant. A nice day, a good field with short porches (300 feet in the corners) and a good showing of family and friends made for a fun day for the Ol’ Buzzards.

The Buzzards jumped on the score board first with two runs in the top of the first inning. With one out, Dave “Evy” Everingham started it off with a looping single to right field. Taylor “Welzy” Welz then took a base on balls, putting two runners on for Bob “Woody” Wooden. Woody sometimes referred to as Bobio (like Fabio) with his ripped body and flowing ponytail, smashed a single down the third base line scoring Evy and sending Welzy to third. Woody stole second base before the next batter; Tony “Bear” Brashear launched a 2-1 fastball to left that hit high on the fence for a double scoring T-Welz and Bobio. The Bear was stranded at second base, but the two runs felt good to start the game.

The Buzzards scored again in the second inning. Dan “Wookie” Wukmir led-off with a first pitch single through the right side. With one out, Jim “Wags” Wagner walked. After a groundout, Wook and Wags were on third and second base. On a 1-0 pitch, Dennis “Little Ball of Hate” or “LBH” Viegas singled sharply to right-center knocking in both runners. LBH then stole second and third before Evy walked on six pitches. Dave stole second base but both runners were stranded when the inning ended with the score 5-0.

After the second inning, the Giants’ pitcher, Ozzy, got into a groove and got the next 18 outs in facing the next 19 batters. Evy spanked a line drive to left field in the sixth and stole second, but was doubled-up by an infield catch of a sinking liner to end that inning. The catch by the first baseman looked like a trap but once the ump called a catch, Evy was a dead duck at second base. Dave’s single broke a streak of 11 consecutive outs. Ouch! Wookie walked in the eighth inning and stole second base, but the rest of the side was struck out by Ozzy. Other than those two batters, every other Buzzard was retired for the middle six innings.

Thankfully, the Buzzard pitching was shutting down the Giants with one run through seven innings. Moxey was relieved by Mark “Weed” Fowler after finishing six strong innings. Weeder was sharp in the seventh, but struggled with his command during the eighth inning. The Giants scored three runs on an error, two walks and two hits to make the game closer at 5-4 with one inning to go.

The Buzzards broke through in the top of the ninth with three runs to add some breathing room to the score. After Moxey lined a long out to center field, Don “Redondo” Colbert hustled out an infield single and then stole second base on the first pitch. Next, Cover Boy battled an eight pitch at-bat, including tossing the bat at an outside pitch to stay alive with a foul tip while the bat went flying toward the mound, before knocking a full-count single into left field and putting Redondo at third. Dennis stole second before Evy walked to load the bases. Welzy then battled Ozzy for a nine pitch at-bat with five foul balls before walking on a full-count and pushing Donnie in from third. Woody batting next, hit a 3-1 pitch on a line into left field to score Dennis. With one out, Bear came to the plate and blasted the first pitch, a deep drive to the left field warning track, for a sacrifice fly to easily score Evy from third to end the scoring with eight runs.

Woody came into the game to pitch the bottom of the ninth. The first Giant singled and the next batter walked on four pitches, but then a strike-out and a double-play on a grounder to Mike “Bake” Baker playing third – he then stepped on the bag for the force and threw to Dennis at second base for the other force out - to end the almost three hour game. Good job Buzzards.

Buzzard pitching was again solid and limited the young guns to four runs. Steiger threw six strong innings in facing 26 batters and throwing 89 pitches (62 strikes & 27 balls). Moxey gave up one run on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts. The scoring runner struck out in the fifth inning, but advanced to first on the wild pitch in the dirt. He later scored after a couple of hits. Fowler threw two innings and faced 11 Giants throwing 47 pitches (22 strikes & 25 balls). Weeder gave up three unearned runs on two hits, three walks, and one hit batsman with two strikeouts. Woody finished the game in facing four batters and throwing 15 pitches (9 strikes & 6 balls). A solid nine innings by this Buzzard trio gets win number five.

The Buzzard offense started strong with five runs on five hits and two walks in the first two innings, but stopped almost completely until the top of the ninth. Young Ozzy pitched a heck of a game. The Buzzards were out hit 10-9, but the nine hits were clutch with runners in scoring position, partially as a result of the aggressive running and eight stolen bases. The hit club for the game included Bear – nice double driving in two, Evy (2), Redondo, Woody (2), Wookie and Cover Boy (2). The RBI’s were courtesy of Welzy, Woody (2), LBH (2), and Bear with 3. Good game.

Buzzard Note #1: Skinnier Baker keeps losing weight on the Atkins Diet. It works and it has been lots of years since he played at this weight. Well, it didn’t work out well today as Mike had one of his worst games as a Buzzard, O-fer with an O-lay at third. Hopefully, ‘this too shall pass’ as Bake gets used to his springy legs, looser pants, smaller shadow and a happier Joan. Baseball players: Use the Atkins diet at your own risk.

Buzzard Note #2: This was the first week where the older established teams played the new younger teams in the 45+ division. The Buzzards and Miners won. Miners neat the RC Dodgers 18-8. That game was 7-7 in the fifth. The Dragons lost to the Bulldogs at Lembi Field 9-7. And the Free Agents got beat by the Mudville Nine 12-6 at the Bradshaw Christian field. The Valley Cats beat the Reds 17-7. That puts the Buzzards in first place with a 5-1-1 record. The Dragons are now 5-2 with the Valley Cats at 4-2-1. The Miners are (3-4) along with the Free Agents and the defending champs, Reds, are a startling (0-7) this season.

Buzzard Note #3: The KAHI 950 AM live radio game is coming up on July 24th. The game will be at 2 pm at James Field. The playing teams need to sell commercial time during the game on the station. See Pete for more details. If you have a business or want to give a radio plug to a charity, this is a great opportunity. It was around $50 for a 30-second spot last year. The radio spots play a lot during the game and they can be professionally produced for free by the radio station and recorded for posterity.

Buzzard Note #4: Next game is at James Field at 2 o’clock against the Free Agents. It is Fathers’ Day and many Buzzards will have to leave promptly after the game to join family plans. However, for those others there will be cold drinks and snacks after the game.