Oakland Park Baseball

Okay, so I missed the live game due to, uh, Giants tickets.

It sounds like some people think it was a big disaster (not that I would have helped alleviate that much). HOWEVER, we do have a challenge coming up, supposedly.

Don't you guys think we should have MORE live games than just one between now and then? Could we do it this Sunday before or after the regular game? (We could make them 7 innings, perhaps.)

OR, we could simply have a practice session on Saturday (location?) or before/after the game this Sunday for (1) pitching and (2) hitting pitching. We wouldn't need a lot of people -- just a lot of baseballs. We could see who is effective at hitting the strike zone without serving up a lot of hits, because that's probably what we have the least practice doing (and what would probably kill us in a challenge).

Thoughts?

No matter what, I'll be there this Sunday come hell or high water I SWEAR.

Jason

Well, we still don't have a date for this game. Ken proposed Sunday May 15th, if I recall correctly, but the "Titans" (inverted commas my own) have yet to reply to that suggestion.
Next game is at good old Defremery, which I personally will love going back to (so many memories...) so that Sunday is out. Possibly we could do another live game the week after, but we'd need to have a sizeable majority that wanted it, so soon after the last one.
I voted for one more live game and weekday practices - since we don't even have a date for this challenge game there isn't a great rush to get more live games in, but we may need to be ready at fairly short notice so we should keep practicing at least a little.

Oh, and we should be careful practicing on a Saturday, pitching arms usually need more time to recover than one night. Well, mine sure as hell does!
Provided the next day's game is not a live one, it should be OK.

Yeah, it would be helpful to hear from the Titans about when the actual Challenge date is. Or if they are still willing to play us at all, for that matter. Is anyone posting on their bulletin board? Does anyone know what the deal is or have any contact with them?

Assuming the Challenge game is mid-May, hopefully it will be Sunday May 15th. That's 3 weeks from yesterday.

Next week, May 1st, is at DeFremery.

Week after that, May 8th, is at Curt Flood, with a live game first (a mixed doubleheader, like yesterday).

And then it's the 15th.

I think the best bet is to have practices away from game days. We all have various availability, so we should just match up with others with similar availability and practice with them. For instance, Jason and I are looking at going to batting cages this Wednesday during the day. Nick, Pat, Paul, Ken, etc........ you guys should keep doing your thing weekday evenings. I'm down for the Friday day sessions, and actually this Friday (4/29) I'm free in the evening as well. I have to preserve my arm for Sunday, but I can field, umpire, bat, etc. So let's message each other, post, etc. about our availability to do practices away from game times.

And, oh! What sort of interest do we have to practice AFTER THE DeFREMERY GAME THIS SUNDAY ? We could even shuttle over to Curt Flood. It would be easy to check Raimondi availability as well after the game.

I say practicing after this Sunday's Defremery game is a great idea.... I could actually see Curt Flood for the first time (or Raimondi would be fine since it's close).

Mostly I want to try out pitching to someone swinging a bat and actually attempt to get them out....

Practice after this weeks game sounds great!

I've been chatting it up with the titans, but no solid date has come of it yet... I'll kick back over there and see what their plans are.

So the Titans have a hole in their schedule on May 29th... I have suggested this as a good date for the challenge and I am waiting for a reply.

If we play the Titans on the 29th, that might allow us two live games before then. We could even space them out to every two weeks (one on the 8th, and one on the 22nd.) I think this is the best idea, especially since it keeps us at a good tempo, strikes the balance, and assures we play a live game the week before the Challenge.

After our first live game, it's pretty apparent to me that only one more is not going to be enough to get us into shape and used to the style of play that live pitching and baserunning bring. I think 2 games between now and then will increase our performance exponentially. And I'm also down to go live after the DeFremery game. Count me in for the afternoon practice.

So would that mean no doubleheader at Defremery next weekend?

If we ever got hold of live pitching at DeFrem' (meaning people making contact)... , the ball would fly farther than juiced up Rawlings at Coor's Field and we'd all probably end up doing a community service project putting in new windows and shingles on the lady's house accross 16th St.

Hey, I'm all for a DeFrem double-header. But the way I see it, the more live practice the better.

The pitcher would seem to have to be where 2nd base was, ie bases in the actual grass, to do a live setup at DeFremery. Doubleheader, yes; live at DeF, no.

Since this has kind of gotten convoluded (sp?), let me clarify. I was originally referring to this

And, oh! What sort of interest do we have to practice AFTER THE DeFREMERY GAME THIS SUNDAY ? We could even shuttle over to Curt Flood. It would be easy to check Raimondi availability as well after the game.

I do NOT want to practice live pitching at DeFrem, especially since there's no mound.

So the game will not be in May. The babies up in the Whine Country don't want to play memorial day weekend (a weekend without baseball?????) and their next open date is June 26. Until furthur notice I would plan on this being the day of the challenge game.

Well, I'm actually glad it will be delayed. Now we have more time to acclimate to pitching, steals, leadoffs, etc.

Cool, so June 26th it is.

We'll be all the more ready by then.