Let it be said, there wouldn't have been a game today if Don Terpstra wasn't there.
There wouldn't have been
a game today if
Don Terpstra wasn't there.
This was one of those games where everybody got hits, everybody drove in a run, everybody gave up a run. Everybody gets a juice box, today.
Some people got more hits than others. Some people gave up more runs than others. But still, only one juice box to a man.
Matt, Peter - 13 runs, 20 hits
Don, Kurt - 2 runs, 11 hits
HR: none.
[The stats keeping was a little wonky on one side, I might suggest. We played five innings, which means 15 outs. There were only 7 outs tallied, however, but that is compensated for in the stats, which are .. current.]
There are two nouns in this club name, after all, and it is only right that someone blog about the "A" in OWAC. We have many experts, aficionados and savants of beer here in the League, but since none of them are here to write it, I'll share my recipe for
SHANDY!!!
As you are all aware, I know, the shandy is a beer-juice mixed drink, typically made with lemonade. Other variants include use of apple juice or cider, or even carbonated sodas. These have alternative names as well, such as the Biermischgetränke, the Potsdammer, your Whizz Peach, a Berliner Weisse mit Schuss, or the Radler. Broadly known in the industry as "shandies" here in the States, these are the fastest growing segment of the beer market in both the large commercial segment as well as the "craft" brews genre.
1. Choose your ingredients. And choose wisely. You're looking for a lighter beer - a wheat beer, a lager, or even a pilsner for a more complex shandy. As for your mixer, tradition says lemonade, but many prefer a carbonated lemon drink, such as a San Pellegrino. You can choose according to your taste, but if you want a carbonated lemon drink and your only choice is Sprite or 7-Up, I recommend you go with ordinary lemonade.
2. Mix. The correct proportions are 1:1, and it is proper to pour the lemonade first and then the beer, so as to make sure the drink has a "head." Shandies get presentation points, beyond their refreshing palette.
3. (Optional) Ice. Some add ice to the beverage and then stir to blend the flavors. A vigorous pour and create a sufficient blending, however.
4. Enjoy!
Remember: Wiffle Season is also Shandy Season! Here-Here!
Another beautiful spring morning for wiffle. Another five men bestrode the pavement for the game.
It was close until the bottom of the second.
With a 31-7 final score, there is both a lot and not much to talk about. Coincidentally, that was also the final score when the Israelites played Pharaoh's Army at the Red Sea.
New guy Don was denied entry into the stats for one week because those in attendance chose not to keep stats. He was a double shy of the cycle for the day. And then he had this...
Be sure to watch to the end. Nothing like lefty-on-lefty action to enliven the day.
Brent, Don, Tim - 7
Fred, Kurt, Matt - 31
HR: Tepstra
The stats remain current. Theory stats are current to the best of my knowledge.
.. and we do it quite well. There's no doubt our Saturday gatherings and monthly homage to the "Ale" part of our name are testament to our collective dedication to our craft of Bat-and-Ball play.
I declare this the best Wiffle and Ale Club in the world!
I ask ye partisans of plastic to attune your mind to the assessment of a different focus of dedication, and to determine for yourselves and from there to develop a consensus on this simple question:
Which of these groups are the superior Trekkies?
Group one: FIVE YEAR MISSION
Yes, that is a glockenspiel.
Five Year Mission is an indie rock band that has set for themselves a simply stated goal: to write a rock song for each of the 79 episodes of the original Star Trek television show. Thus far they have released 3 albums covering just over half the series, plus a special EP with four different songs for "The Trouble with Tribbles."
Here is a good representative sample of their musical stylin's:
Group 2: STAR TREK CONTINUES
Star Trek Continues has set themselves another seemingly simple task. To make the final two years of the Original Star Trek series five year run. They intend to write, produce and release (apparently free and without commercials) on the internet two full seasons of Star Trek. Here is a sample of their work (two full-length episodes already produced):
So, again I ask you, again. Who does Trekkie better?
Oh, there was a game today. Eric and the Commish bested Tim and Krash Mosser. Once again, Kurt homered.
Eric, Peter - 10 runs, 22 hits
Tim, Kurt - 6 runs, 18 hits
"How can a wiffler start opening day 6-for-6 at the plate, go 8-for-11 on the day and NOT be the story?" Good question.
It can happen when some other wiffler hits a walk off grand slam to win the game.
Then you might ask..
"How can a wiffler hit a walk off grand slam to win an opening day game and NOT be the story?" Better question.
That can happen if and only if there are two wifflers playing in tweed hats.
Today Jeremy and Fred strode upon the asphalt in true gentlemen's chapeaux. Their pitcher-batter confrontations, beneath those sterling boaters, were moments of civility and style. The woolly bonnets elevated the whole affair, as the homers beat the guests on a grand walk-off homer, by Dr. Mosser.
Headpieces make the man; tweed makes the wiffler. The millinery work on these tams were a sight to behold, blending browns, grays and blues into classy toppers, worthy of opening day pomp and bunting.
You can have your bowlers, your sombreros, the odd fedora, pork-pies. A skimmer, or even a ten-gallon can be fine, too. Nothing wrong with a Stetson, nor for that matter a Panama or a stove pipe. But for a wiffler - it simply must be tweed.
So, did the sidewalk fairy come to your house this week?
These orange X's are a rite of spring in our fair Oakwood. But let it be said, smooth sidewalk surfaces are the oWAR of city service metrics, because they are indicative of soooooo many other positive parameters. Like sidewalk plowing. Like fewer school days missed because of said cleared sidewalks. So I support the sidewalk inspection regime. 100%. I do, however, wish some cheeky public servant would be more creative in marking the derelict squares:
That. Would. Be. Eeeepiiiic.
I note as well that our sidewalk fairy did make a pass along Aberdeen Avenue, as well:
Do you recognize this beloved driveway apron as the motor entrance to historic Nance Bradds Field? Note you the X's on said apron?? Looks like the schools will need to do a little work on the sidewalks.
Oh, would that the sidewalk fairy had taken just a few minutes to walk around our beloved asphalt. What would s/he have seen...?
Here's a suggestion from the Jolly Green Sidewalk Giant:
In other words: FIX THE PAVEMENT, SCHOOL BOARD. Whomever gets this done, gets my vote for 2014 League MVP.
******* In other news, today was the final day of Wiffle Spring Training, with a very Grapefruit score of 11-0. Here are the cumulative Spring Training stats (noted here alphabetically and then to be forgotten since Spring Stats don't count):
Name
BA
SLG
OPS
AB
1B
2B
3B
HR
BB
RBI
Berwald
0.444
0.444
0.889
27
12
0
0
0
0
3
Campbell
0.417
0.542
0.958
24
8
1
1
0
0
3
Lindsay
0.517
0.793
1.310
29
8
6
1
0
0
9
Mosser
0.550
0.600
1.150
40
20
2
0
0
0
7
Zamonski
0.545
0.727
1.273
11
4
2
0
0
0
1
It's a sluggers' league, gents, so make sure you come out for Opening Day next weekend!!
This is the key for playing wiffle - gotta be above forty degrees and not raining. This is also a typical description of a wiffler - above 40 and no training. Both conditions were largely in play today and five wifflers got in some spring training wiffle this morning.
#springtrainingdoesntcount
This is a good thing from Kurt's and Eric's points of views, since each of them allowed five run innings today.
#seasonofleisure
Low key stats this year. The boys will be counting up the hits, homers, and RBI, but not the pitching stats. We'll know who had monster years at the plate, but we won't know who gave 'em up. Keeping stats today was a little rusty, but here's what got tallied:
Eric - 6-for-11, 1 RBI
Kevin - 5-for-11, 3 RBI
Matt - 5-for-11, 2 RBI
Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy!
Kurt - 12-for-20, 3 RBI
Peter - 7-for-19, 3 RBI
So a 6-6 tie.
#whyget2outswhenyoucanget1?
Not withstanding our annual meeting of the rules committee, the basic rules of this game have not changed in any appreciable way since the dawn of this league. Nevertheless, Eric, who really was just looking to get his Spring work in, eschewed not one, not 2 but three opportunities to turn double plays in the final inning. This is what let the duo of Kurt and Pete back in the game.
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