Hey guys, so here's what's up:
I've been contacted by a guy who runs an adult baseball team in Oakland. His team wants to get in a scrimmage before their season starts, and, after some discussion, I told him that we'd be inclined to play them, probably mid February. If it was entirely lopsided, we can easily redistribute the players. The point is not to get our asses kicked (or kick their asses) but rather to play a live game, and to give his guys a chance to remove some off-season dust/rust.
So....... make sure you show up this Sunday, as well as Sunday Feb 5th, so you can have your fielding skills ready for this opportunity in mid Feb.
And, no, I'm not going to convert the 1/29 or 2/5 games into live games. I don't want to get peoples' hopes up only to have inadequate turnout for a live game. (If you don't realize, it takes up to 4-5 more participants to play live.) I'm not particularly worried about going into this mid-Feb scrimmage as is, with maybe some batting cage time thrown in along the way. Like I said, if necessary we can redistribute the players mid game.
Next Live Game
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Baseball=Life
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Next Live Game
"Baseball is like church, many attend, few understand"
- Leo Durocher
- Leo Durocher
yay! real actual competition is yummy.
not... that... what we do on sundays isn't real... actual... competition... but you guys know what I mean...
The best times for batting cages for me are tuesday, wednesday or thursday nights or friday or saturday morning (and for the record, i would LOVE to make this a year round weekly or even biweekly (that's twice a week, right?) if anyone else is interested.
not... that... what we do on sundays isn't real... actual... competition... but you guys know what I mean...
The best times for batting cages for me are tuesday, wednesday or thursday nights or friday or saturday morning (and for the record, i would LOVE to make this a year round weekly or even biweekly (that's twice a week, right?) if anyone else is interested.
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Baseball=Life
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Saturdays are best for me too, since we are probably talking about going up to Pinole, right? They charge $40 for an hour, as compared to $65 for the TriplePlay place in San Leandro. Judging by the previous time a few of us went up there, I'd say two or three people sharing the hour is best, four is OK and more than that is probably too many.
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Batting cage tips
Some news regarding batting cages:
The Bladium in Alameda, having become so tired of them breaking down and taking forever to repair, have decided to tear down their batting cages. This is sad for me, probably no one else cares, but just thought I'd let you guys know in case you were thinking of going sometime.
The Mariner Square Athletic Club, also in Alameda, has a batting cage with user-adjustable speed settings, for the bargain price of $20 an hour. The only downside to this place is that the staff are rather ignorant of the proper steps needed to use it. Plus, the machine is not 60 feet away from you, which takes a few pitches to get used to. Lastly, the feeder for the machine does not have an automatic collection mechanism, once the (150 or so) balls have all been fired, you just collect them up in two crates, and tip them into the big hopper yourself. So you have to work a little bit, but is is very cheap. The staff do not seem to monitor the time you've been in there, so don't rush, and keep hitting until you can't hit no more. Also, they don't have any idea about people sharing it, the time I asked they put their heads together and came up with the bright idea that each person had to pay $20 for the hour, despite the fact that it was being shared. Not the smartest bunch, perhaps. So it is best to go on your own. Next time I go I will push them on this issue to see if they will see sense.
If you go, make sure you take the following steps yourself up front:
The key they give you is for the door to the room, at this point ask if the light is already on (a polite way to remind them to switch it on for you, it is rarely on already). When you go in, check the box on the wall that takes the tokens. There are two little doors on it, the lower one should be unlocked (you may have to partially insert a key or some other tool in order to have something you can grip properly to get it open, it is quite stiff).
You can get under the netting almost anywhere around the room, you will have to do it to feed the hopper so get used to it. Check that everything is plugged in and switched on, and set the speed on the dials to your liking (I recommend 2 on the top, 4 on the bottom to begin with, going up to 3 and 5 later. If you try 4 and 6 you will see a big difference, with the shorter pitch length this speed seems very fast indeed). For kicks I once tried the "curveball" setting, which reulted in a freaking bullet that screamed down at my toes. After adjusting it upwards it might have been hittable to a pro, but if anyone of us can hit that shit, I'll take my hat off to you.
Well, that's it. It's worth it in my opinion, close to Oakland and cheap, too, albeit a little quirky.
The Bladium in Alameda, having become so tired of them breaking down and taking forever to repair, have decided to tear down their batting cages. This is sad for me, probably no one else cares, but just thought I'd let you guys know in case you were thinking of going sometime.
The Mariner Square Athletic Club, also in Alameda, has a batting cage with user-adjustable speed settings, for the bargain price of $20 an hour. The only downside to this place is that the staff are rather ignorant of the proper steps needed to use it. Plus, the machine is not 60 feet away from you, which takes a few pitches to get used to. Lastly, the feeder for the machine does not have an automatic collection mechanism, once the (150 or so) balls have all been fired, you just collect them up in two crates, and tip them into the big hopper yourself. So you have to work a little bit, but is is very cheap. The staff do not seem to monitor the time you've been in there, so don't rush, and keep hitting until you can't hit no more. Also, they don't have any idea about people sharing it, the time I asked they put their heads together and came up with the bright idea that each person had to pay $20 for the hour, despite the fact that it was being shared. Not the smartest bunch, perhaps. So it is best to go on your own. Next time I go I will push them on this issue to see if they will see sense.
If you go, make sure you take the following steps yourself up front:
The key they give you is for the door to the room, at this point ask if the light is already on (a polite way to remind them to switch it on for you, it is rarely on already). When you go in, check the box on the wall that takes the tokens. There are two little doors on it, the lower one should be unlocked (you may have to partially insert a key or some other tool in order to have something you can grip properly to get it open, it is quite stiff).
You can get under the netting almost anywhere around the room, you will have to do it to feed the hopper so get used to it. Check that everything is plugged in and switched on, and set the speed on the dials to your liking (I recommend 2 on the top, 4 on the bottom to begin with, going up to 3 and 5 later. If you try 4 and 6 you will see a big difference, with the shorter pitch length this speed seems very fast indeed). For kicks I once tried the "curveball" setting, which reulted in a freaking bullet that screamed down at my toes. After adjusting it upwards it might have been hittable to a pro, but if anyone of us can hit that shit, I'll take my hat off to you.
Well, that's it. It's worth it in my opinion, close to Oakland and cheap, too, albeit a little quirky.
Rule Britannia!
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Baseball=Life
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Jeez guys, even the limey gets this one. DF = designated fielder. Peter has the bizarre request to field and not hit. Silly boy. It's against The Rules.
Another thing, we may need to borrow a starting pitcher or reliever from these guys, if we want to avoid a walk-fest. Bear in mind how much more it may look like one if only one of the two teams is walking a lot of hitters, instead of both (as is usual for us). Scott, do you think this would fly?
Another thing, we may need to borrow a starting pitcher or reliever from these guys, if we want to avoid a walk-fest. Bear in mind how much more it may look like one if only one of the two teams is walking a lot of hitters, instead of both (as is usual for us). Scott, do you think this would fly?
Rule Britannia!
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Baseball=Life
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Hey Ken I just now noticed the "so let's do it tomorrow then" comment you made in this thread. Hahaha only like 4 days too late. Anyway, I'm actually going to be out of town this Saturday, so I can't do it this particular Sat morning, but I'm definitely down a week from this Sat., if people want to start anticipating some Sat morn Batting Cages action. I'm talking about Feb 11th.
Note: The league averages and slugging are way down for Season 3, so what's up people, let's line up for some fuckin' BP!
Note: The league averages and slugging are way down for Season 3, so what's up people, let's line up for some fuckin' BP!
"Baseball is like church, many attend, few understand"
- Leo Durocher
- Leo Durocher
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Baseball=Life
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- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:16 pm
- Location: SF, CA
Yeah, Richard, you're definitely off to a great start..... but it's just you that has numbers that are up thus far in S-3. Almost everyone else is down so far, except a few who are at pretty much the same productivity level as S-2 (such as me).
"Baseball is like church, many attend, few understand"
- Leo Durocher
- Leo Durocher
The Mariner Square Athletic Club is here:
http://www.google.com/local?f=q&hl=en&q ... 2,0.020728
Note that the best way to get to it is from Constitution Way, if you are inside Alameda already, anyway. Basically you proceed as if you were going to use the Tube to Oakland, but instead take the right hand exit just before the tunnel. You then follow the signs, going around the back of the tunnel entrance.
Do NOT try and approach from Webster St, you cannot get to the exit from it and you will end up going through the tunnel.
If you are coming from Oakland, just take the tunnel (reached from Broaday or Webster St, then take the left hand fork right after you get out of the tunnel, stay in the left land and when you get to the lights, you can either:
1) obey the law like a little pussy, and go into the little minimall you see ahead of you, turn around in the parking lot and come back to the lights, now making a right and going round the back of the tunnel entrance, or
2) save yourself quite a bit of time and just make a left at the lights. I've done this myself, seen others do it, but I am not sure if it is legal. Maybe it is, I don't know.
Hope this helps.
http://www.google.com/local?f=q&hl=en&q ... 2,0.020728
Note that the best way to get to it is from Constitution Way, if you are inside Alameda already, anyway. Basically you proceed as if you were going to use the Tube to Oakland, but instead take the right hand exit just before the tunnel. You then follow the signs, going around the back of the tunnel entrance.
Do NOT try and approach from Webster St, you cannot get to the exit from it and you will end up going through the tunnel.
If you are coming from Oakland, just take the tunnel (reached from Broaday or Webster St, then take the left hand fork right after you get out of the tunnel, stay in the left land and when you get to the lights, you can either:
1) obey the law like a little pussy, and go into the little minimall you see ahead of you, turn around in the parking lot and come back to the lights, now making a right and going round the back of the tunnel entrance, or
2) save yourself quite a bit of time and just make a left at the lights. I've done this myself, seen others do it, but I am not sure if it is legal. Maybe it is, I don't know.
Hope this helps.
Rule Britannia!