The July 17th SweatSox vs Cornwall game was one of our more memorable nights in recent history, not just because of what happened on the field, but of what happened off the field, and then on someone’s leg; but lets talk about the game first.
Having just played in the Brewers tournament, the SweatSox were short on healthy arms which meant GLE Cory Bond, who was hoping his next start wouldn’t be until Game 5 of the 2014 Tier 2 Finals, had to take the mound and stop the all-purpose losing streak at “14”.
With the game still scoreless in the 3rd, Cornwall struck first after the SweatSox committed their 1st of 7 errors on the night. With the way both the River Rats (not giving up runs) and the SweatSox (not scoring runs) had been playing lately, that easily could have been the game, but the SweatSox showed the type of championship resolve that’s been missing this year, and answered with 2 runs to take the lead. It was almost 3, but Armando Navarro was caught stealing home by about 80 or so feet to end the inning.
GLE was in top form over the next 3 innings, getting out of multiple jams the defense got him into, even picking off two River Rats in the same inning. Unfortunately for #14’s chances at a 3rd Tier 2 Sportsmanship & Ability award, Angry Cory made his return somewhere between 4th and 6th stupid SweatSox error; leaving some of the newer SweatSox who’ve never met AC before stunned and speechless.
With the score tied 3-3 in the 6th and the GLE finger blister out in full, acting co-manager Marc Lett made the call to bring in Eric White to finish the inning off. After recording 2 outs in 2 batters, the stage was set for the SweatSox breakout inning of the season. 5 runs on 3 hits, including a clutch 2RBI bases loaded single by Craig Cornell, and the SweatSox were 3 outs away from #W1. THC didn’t have his best stuff, but it was enough to get the final 3 outs and his first (dirty) win of the season. SweatSox win, SweatSox win!!
The co-winners of the 2004 A&W Kamloops International Baseball Game MVP award are: Cory Bond and Craig Cornell. GLE threw into the 6th and gave us a chance to win it, while The Consultant went out and won it with his first hit in exactly 69 days. Sexy Eyes also gets a shoutout for making the winning lineup since The Authority doesn’t do anything else when he pitches; The Greatest Hair in the League does not get managerial credit for the win however.
Now that the Odlid is jammed deep in the woods, it can no longer be awarded, which is great news for #12 and his attempt at stealing home.
The Après Baseball Hyjinx got off to a very special start for me (Shaun Keay) personally. While I’m usually on top of things and rarely astonished, imagine my surprise when the team officially knighted me for all my hard work on the SweatSite, and as a reward they told me not to work on any more updates. They said I earned the rest of the season off, and if I disobeyed their orders I’d be shipped to the Knights; I was still allowed to Tweet though. The SweatSox also said from this point forward, I am to be referred to as: Sir Shaun Keay:
It was also during this Hyjinx that we had to explain to Army #12 how the standings work. This wasn’t a championship boxing fight, so just because we beat the first place team doesn’t mean we’re in first place, in fact we’re still in last, by far. So the answer to your “who’s ahead of us” question is: “everybody”.
As for the rest of the evening, as much as I’d like to tell you how & what exactly went down (someone’s leg), I’ve been issued a gag order preventing me from doing so. Much like everything else SweatSox, the story wouldn’t live up to the hype anyways, or would it?
Shoutout to one of the Mark’s who sent me this the following morning:
Looking to build on the momentum of the Cornwall win, the SweatSox took on the Braves 4 days later at the Sportsplex. I don’t remember much about this game, but the boxscore says Eric White had 3 hits including a double plus a stolen base, so lets go ahead and give him the 2004 A&W Kamloops International Baseball Game MVP Award. Honourable mention to Cory Bond for a 2RBI double in the 7th inning that made the final score look like a realatively close game. SweatSox lose 6-4.
The Après Baseball Hyjinx was hosted by OMG, and featured Chris Lidstone getting a little OMS love. What Lidstrom doesn’t know is that this maneuver can not only cause you to have trouble swallowing (insert your own joke here), your immune system can and will completely shut down, flu-like symptoms will develop, you’ll have to leave work early the next day, and not be able to play baseball the next night.
Apparently, Groves also brought meat:
Later, the SweatSox and Braves put their differences aside and combined the Hyjinx so we could get a front row seat on how you become a Brave. For one reason or another, the Shostappa wanted no part of this at all.
Hours later, the SweatSox found themselves at Summerhays, while the Braves made their way to Summerwelfs. I don’t know who I feel more sorry for, the Braves for leaving before the arm wrestling showdown, or John Groves who missed the world politics & conspiracy theory discussion with the Russian delegation.
The next night, we played the Mudd at Brewer, although “played” could imply that we showed up in some way other than physically; we didn’t. The hitting, pitching, and defense was all questionable; usually at least one part of our game shows up, nothing this time.
Things were so bad, Bus Cop almost convinced us (not really) that the cars at the end of field of dreams were ghost cars, or driven by ghosts, or ghost cars driven by ghosts. Something like that anyways.
Things we so bad, nobody was even in the mood to order a real drink at the bar afterwards:
Looking for the glass half full, Mark Bond took home the 2004 A&W Kamloops International Baseball Game MVP Award for recording one of the two SweatSox hits, going 1/1 with an HBP. Honourable mention to John Groves who had the other hit, and to Cory Bond who suspected the mercy was coming and snuck into CF in the 5th to extend his Ironman streak to 140 consecutive games.
3 days later, the SweatSox played the Winchester Sox at the Stadium. This game was weird because after a Mark Bond single tied the game at 1 with two outs in the bottom of the 4th, the game just stopped…
#PROTEST2014