New Lenox, IL - At the outset of the night, High Voltage had an opportunity to put itself in a tie for second place if it could win against the resurgent White Horse. The game was close from the gate as High Voltage scored two runs in the first inning with White Horse coming back with a three spot for a 3-2 lead after an inning. The Volts went scoreless in the second while W.H. tacked on a run to take a 4-2 lead after two frames. The Volts briefly tied the game at four before W.H. put up four runs to lead 8-4 after three innings. Both teams went scoreless in the fourth inning but the Volts came back in the fifth with a three run rally to close the score to 8-7. That is when White Horse kicked clear with an eight run outpouring to open up the lead to 16-7. White Horse had a couple of chances to end the game on run rule but the feisty Volts shut the door on both attempts, and played out the seven inning game. The Volts could only muster up two more runs to fall 16-9 against the team that knocked them out of the summer league playoffs. Next Tuesday's game is a 7:30 appointment with Beggars. Bring a loud friend out to the ballpark to support the Live Wires, who have been held mostly silent this fall. Let's make some noise!!!
Notables:
Target Practice - Now you've seen everything. They actually sell fire hydrants that spike into the ground to give your dog a target to shoot for around your house. It is scented no less. What will they come up with next? Screw in urinal?? Air Inflating toilet bowl???
Standings - With the loss on Tuesday, the Volts fall into a tie for 4th place with Ivy League in the very compact field of six. White Horse maintains top spot with the tiebreaker edge over B-Jays while Beggars sits alone in third place. Daytona Turtles bring up the rear.
Slippery Patch - High Voltage has come out of the gate at 2-3. With the summer playoff loss, the team has only won two of its last six games in Tuesday play. Let's examine some facts before reaching a conclusion. The Volts averaged 17 runs in the summer session while giving up 12 runs in route to an 8-2 regular season record. The fall version of the Volts are averaging 16 runs scored per game while giving up 15. One might say that the defense has slipped a bit, and that may or may not be correct even though the numbers suggest giving up three more runs per game. The real concerns are two-fold. One is that the hitting is actually down across the lineup (too many fly outs, too many zero run innings), and second is that the excuse making on defense is up a bit (field too sandy, too wet, too clumpy, too smooth, the wind, the grass, the lights, blah blah blah). After five games, 2-3 in this league at this juncture is not a lost cause, far from it. The Volts are a good team that has to go out every week and play hard and prove itself. What was done in the past is in the past. Beggars are the defending champion from last year so take them seriously and play each at bat at a time with max effort and all will be fine again at the electric company.
Person of Interest - The dude on first base in the cowboy hat is an instant Gazette favorite. He plays for the Daytona Turtles and is seen here in action against Beggars this past Tuesday. The Gazette will throw some feet on the street to get to know this interesting young man and see if we can put a name to the face.
Dog Days - Ken's favorite St. Bernard (Argus) was at the game last night and is clocking in at 43 pounds. The fans need to collaborate an evening when everyone brings their dogs to really liven things up along the third base line.
On That Note - The Live Wires are watching the game in their natural poses. This photogenic group literally watches the game as they appear. Things get really tricky when a ball is hit into the left field corner as they swivel 90 degrees in unison while holding these same poses. And now you know............
Nooooooooooooo - What seemed like a great product turns out to be a bust. That fire hydrant from a minute ago, is smaller than a hand and in danger of disappearing in one dump. Come on man!!! Build the thing BIG. Paint it RED. Triple the current $15 price, and the people will come Ray.
Back To This Guy - As luck would have it, Mr., and Mrs. Blatzo ran into a couple of Turtles on Wednesday morning and got some information on the team, and our new favorite non-Volt. As told, the Daytona Turtles are comprised of a bunch of youngsters who all share the love of the game but few actually know each other. In separate conversations with the catcher and third-basemen of the Turtles, we were told this guy's name is Joe by one guy, and Tim by the other. Thus proves the point that the Turtles really do not know each other. More digging required.
By the By - Bagheera gives us the numbers this week.
Jack - 2 for4, 2 runs scored
Koz - 4 for 4, 3 runs, 4 RBI w 2 homeruns
Stapes - 2 for 4, 2 runs
Sutes - 3 for 4, 2 runs, 3 RBI w 1 homerun
Zlogar - 0 for 4, 1 RBI
Pratl - 0 for 3, 1 walk
Dylan - 1 for 3, 1 RBI
Jeff - 1 for 3
Ken - 0 for 3
Foster - 1 for 3
Not Quite Done Yet - Don't know his name yet but we know one thing. This is the dude who got hit in the face during week one action. We may tend to exaggerate from time to time with a story, but the following is God's honest truth. Our friend with the hat did not break any bones. In fact, he never went to the ER let alone a doctor. His teammates stated that he walked around for two weeks with his eyes crossed due to the hit in the face with the ball. He did suffer a concussion although how could you tell? Anyway, his eyes recently straightened out and he is back to "normal". Good on you cowboy!
Now We Are Done - First off, he never did score. Third base is as far as he would make it. With that name on the back of his jersey, we could call him Hamburger Halper but we will not. Gale is offering to bring her horse to a game as we would LOVE to see this cowboy ride out of the on deck circle and into the batters box on horseback. Since his own teammates do not concur on his name, he shall simply be called Timmy Jo.
You Won't Believe This - Richard Blatzo at the JJC symposium on Softball in the Free Press is seen here answering questions on the most popular editions of The Lions Den Gazette. You will be surprised at the most read articles in the second iteration of the rag, which started back up in May of 2021 after a hiatus. Here are the top three most viewed editions of the Gazette since its inception:
#3 Koz "Slams" The Door On Tri-Star - With 91 views, this is the third most popular edition. Written on May 25, 2021, the Master Batters entered the bottom of the fifth inning against the Sutes led Tri-Star with a 9-8 lead. With the team in rally mode in this close game, Koz came up with the bases loaded and MB leading 15-8 before clearing the bases to end the game quickly with the walk off run rule and a Master Batters 19-8 win over their rival. The notes of the game included scratches of Gary, Stapes, and Zlogar with the real Wade Davis, Greco, and Kerty in as replacements on the evening. Ryno with the victory in the spot start in the stead of Uncle Gary.
#2 We Do - What is wrong with this picture? How is the Gazette version of Lauren and Jack's wedding only the second most popularly viewed edition of all time? Written on June 19, 2022 the edition had 93 views and covered the Ken for Ten where everyone on the team played Ken bingo with his catchphrases. One article timed Ken's speech at 11 minutes and 47 and change seconds; everyone took, and got, the over on that bet. We also got Jack steering Lauren the opposite way coming out of the chute for introductions. The edition is a veritable wedding album and less than one hundred views? Come on, it even starts the trend of poking fun at Thee Reverend Dave.
#1 Gnaturals Delivery Quickly - What is wrong with people? This edition was written on September 7, 2022 with 95 views and features a regular season 14-4 victory over Beggars. Really? This is the number one viewed Gazette edition of all-time? Our readership cannot go over 100 views on any edition in existence?? Huh???
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