Oakland Park Baseball

What a game we played this weekend. After splitting the teams into Contact vs. Power, it was the pitching that made the difference. We saw a pitcher's duel between Will and Josh Q, with only one run scoring in the first half of the game. Josh had 5 strikeouts in 4 innings, and Will recorded all 4 strikeouts for his team in the final 3 innings of a 6-inning start.

There were relatively few fielding errors recorded on the scoresheet, but some interesting baserunning risks were taken:

A player was thrown out at 2nd for each team at critical points in the game. Nick W was thrown out to end the 5th after batting with the bases loaded. Frank was thrown out in the 9th trying to stretch out a lead-off single.
An out was made at home on a close tag play in the 6th.
The spread was never more than 4 runs - the same amount scored by the home team to take the win in the bottom of the 9th.
Will was INTENTIONALLY WALKED with the winning run on 3rd and a man on 2nd. Looking back at the negative effect it had, it will be the last walk we issue. This is the first time we've seen the IBB, and it took the bat out of our biggest slugger's hands in a walk-off situation. The last thing we want to do is discourage people from participating.

The stats for the game are rather interesting:
Both teams had 44 at-bats.
Both teams had 16 hits.
Both teams had 1 extra base hit (Ken doubled in the 1st, Jay doubled in the 2nd)
Both teams reached on error 4 times.
Only 3 fielder's choices occurred (Contact team twice, Power team once).


Chime in, guys! What did you think of this week's game?

I agree with you. I can see strategically why the IBB was done but this isn't a real game. If it had been a live game I would have been ok with it but this is supposed to just be for fun.

Oh, I also think the only reason Power won was cause they were able to pitch to themselves in the bottom of the 9th!

Frank wrote:I agree with you. I can see strategically why the IBB was done but this isn't a real game. If it had been a live game I would have been ok with it but this is supposed to just be for fun.

Oh, I also think the only reason Power won was cause they were able to pitch to themselves in the bottom of the 9th!

While I sort of agree with that last statement, seeing as I served up some meaty shit in that last inning, I would have to say that if not for Josh's 1 strike every 14 pitches, we might have had a better showing early on in the game. Taking pitches is only an advantage to the hitter to a certain point. I know we're allowed to choose location but that was not strategic on his part, he just couldn't find the strike zone.

Also, IMO, if the fly ball to right I hit right were caught, the outcome would have been different.

Frank wrote:I agree with you. I can see strategically why the IBB was done but this isn't a real game. If it had been a live game I would have been ok with it but this is supposed to just be for fun.

Oh, I also think the only reason Power won was cause they were able to pitch to themselves in the bottom of the 9th!

As far as the pitching is concerned, the standard has always been to play with rules for fewer players - in this case, rules for teams with 8 players. Multiple players on the away team were notified of this change, and refused the right to self-pitch. This will not happen again.

If we lose players in the game and have to switch pitching styles from Defensive to Offensive, the change occurs at the start of an inning. If players leave mid-inning, a fielder is lent to the team with fewer players until the inning is completed.