Winter was back with a vengeance for week two of the Herts Spring League.
The first games to be postponed were the HSL1 games in North-West London. Within minutes the venues in
Everyone involved will be hoping for better weather conditions next week.
After 11 years of wearing the famous Falcons pinstripe jersey and black pants, the club will unveil the new uniforms which will be worn by the three adult teams. This will take place this Sunday when the Falcons, Hawks and Raptors play in the seond round of games in the Herts Spring League.
The old Falcons pinstripe jersey will still be used by the Herts teams in selected games to celebrate the club's history.
Herts Baseball Newswire Correspondent, Hunter Devine, writes
The first game in the history of the Herts Raptors commenced last Sunday during week one of the Herts Spring League, hosted at
Mark Hoffman, who had already made contributions with the bat (finishing the day 3-3 with 3 stolen bases and 2 RBIs), relieved Kikel in the 4th and pitched well, striking out 4 and giving up 3 runs, 2 earned.
Though the game did not end up the way the Raptors’ had hoped it would, there were many positives for the young team to take away from the loss as they hope to make some noise in BBF’s Single-A division this season.
| Herts Raptors at Richmond Dragons | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
| Herts Raptors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Richmond Dragons | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0 |
| Richmond Dragons 10, Herts Raptors 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Dragons | Herts Raptors | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Player 1 p | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Ilya Dimitrov lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player 2 c | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Jonathon Lewys 3b-rf-1b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 3 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Nick Russell cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 4 2b | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Mark Hoffman 1b-p | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Player 5 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Pete Cox ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 6 ss | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Hunter Devine 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 7 lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Andrew Slater rf-3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 8 cf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Kal Dimitrov c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player 9 rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jake Kikel p-rf | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 27 | 10 | 12 | 7 | TEAM TOTALS | 23 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| E: Kal Dimitrov. LOB: Richmond Dragons 7, Herts Raptors 11. 2B: Player 3, Player 4. SB: Player 4(4), Player 1(4), Player 2(3), Player 5(2), Mark Hoffman(3), Ilya Dimitrov, Jake Kikel. |
| Richmond Dragons | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Player 1 W | 6.00 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Herts Raptors | ||||||
| Jake Kikel L | 3.00 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Mark Hoffman | 2.00 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| HBP: by Player 1 (Andrew Slater). . . . WP: Jake Kikel. T: 2:55. A: 90. |
The arrival of the sunny Spring weather was very well timed for the Opening Day of the Herts Spring League. The HSL1 games took place in Hertfordshire while HSL2 was in
In HSL1 the Herts Falcons have the advantage after winning both their games vs
|
Burgess Hill @ Northampton |
|||||||||
|
Score By Innings |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
R |
H |
E |
|
Burgess Hill Redhats |
0 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
|
23 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
|
In HSL2 the Bracknell Blazers impressed with a 8-5 win against the Herts Hawks (See separate game reports, box scores and more).
Next weekend the HSL2 games will be held in
Photos from Opening Day:
Posted on behalf of Herts Baseball Newswire correspondent, Lee Manning
Yuji Endo is calling it time on his Falcons career on Thursday when he moves back to his homeland of
The Herts Falcons started the 2008 HSL with a home game against
|
|
|||||||||
|
Score By Innings |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
R |
H |
E |
|
Northampton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
8 |
|
Herts Falcons |
3 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
15 |
0 |
|
Herts Falcons 15, Northampton 3 |
|||||||||
|
Herts Falcons |
Northampton |
||||||||
|
|
ab |
r |
h |
bi |
|
ab |
r |
h |
bi |
|
Lee Manning 1b-lf |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Player 1 p |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Player 2 c |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Jason Greenberg c |
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
Player 3 1b |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Peter Kikel 3b-p |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
Player 4 2b |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Greg Bochan lf-3b |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
Player 5 3b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Yuji Endo ss |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
Player 6 ss |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Aspi Dimitrov cf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Player 7 lf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Dave Hamilton rf |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
Player 8 cf |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
(t5) Paul Auchterlounie rf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Player 9 rf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
John Oliver p-1b |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bruce Dullea dh |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TEAM TOTALS |
31 |
15 |
15 |
9 |
TEAM TOTALS |
23 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
|
E: Player 4(3), Player 6(2), Player 9(2), Player 1. LOB: Northampton 6, Herts Falcons |
|
Herts Falcons |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
|
John Oliver W |
3.00 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Peter Kikel |
3.00 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
|
Northampton |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player 1 L |
5.00 |
15 |
15 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
|
HBP: by Peter Kikel (Player 1). , by Peter Kikel (Player 8). WP: Player 1(2). PB: |
Posted on behalf of Herts baseball Newswire reporter, Kal Dimitrov
The first week of the Herts Spring League could not have gotten to a more auspicious start – the expected showers and cloudy skies never materialized, and the whole day was played under sunny skies, with the temperature almost balmy at 15o C.
That was as far as luck went for the Herts Hawks. The squad was depleted due to illness and call ups to the Falcons. The Hawks were able to get sufficient number of players thanks to the kind assistance of the Herts Raptors. This, however, was not a problem. Calamity struck in the 1st inning, when starter Humberto Goncalves had to come off the mound with what some medical experts diagnosed as a pulled rib muscle, while others determined to be cramp in the pectoral area.
This required a hasty reshuffle in the field, as well as having to bring in Darrin Ward to pitch cold (which was not helped by his catcher calling for a number of weird pitches, such as sliders, screwballs and changeups after he had barely thrown 8 pitches to warm up). The fallout was the Bracknell Blazers team taking a 5 to 0 lead at the bottom of the 1st.
The Hawks rallied, and were able to keep the score at a respectable margin, finally loosing 8 to 5 to a Bracknell team that contained a number of top class players, as well as some promising rookies of all genders (hats off to the Blazers). Solid pitching by Darrin and some good hitting by Tim Elkins, Humberto Goncalves and Nick Russell kept hopes alive.
At the top of the 5th, Herts Hawks hopes for a comeback were revitalized, when, with the score 8 to 1, Darrin Ward hit a massive bases clearing double that made the score 8 to 4. Darrin was undoubtedly the man of the match for Hawks, with a total of 4 RBI’s and 10 stikeouts. This performance was complemented by the always stylish fielding and batting of young Luis Goncalves, as well as by the gritty determination of the rest of the team.
Bracknell, on this showing, will be tough opponents for any of the teams in the HSL 2 Bracket. In a post-match interview they expressed the view that they were happy with being able to execute their game-plan and give a lot of their players some game-time.
| Herts Hawks at Bracknell Blazers | ||||||||||
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Herts Hawks | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Bracknell Blazers | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 1 |
| Bracknell Blazers 8, Herts Hawks 5 | |||||||||
| Bracknell Blazers | Herts Hawks | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Player 1 p | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Nick Russell lf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Player 2 c | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Tim Elkins 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Player 3 1b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | Humberto Goncalves p-3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Player 4 2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | (b1) Jake Kikel 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 5 3b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Darrin Ward 3b-p | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Player 6 ss | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Kal Dimitrov c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 7 lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Jonathon Lewys cf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 8 cf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (t6) Ilya Dimitrov cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 9 rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mark Hoffman 1b-3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Goncalves ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Hunter Devine rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 26 | 8 | 9 | 7 | TEAM TOTALS | 25 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| E: Player 2, Humberto Goncalves. LOB: Herts Hawks 5, Bracknell Blazers 6. 2B: Player 1, Player 7, Player 8, Darrin Ward(2), Tim Elkins. SB: Player 5(3), Player 4, Player 1, Player 6, Player 2, Jonathon Lewys(2), Nick Russell, Luis Goncalves, Mark Hoffman. |
| Bracknell Blazers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Player 1 W | 7.00 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| Herts Hawks | ||||||
| Darrin Ward | 5.67 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Humberto Goncalves L | 0.33 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| HBP: by Player 1 (Luis Goncalves). . . . . . PB: Player 2(2), Kal Dimitrov(3). T: 2:55. A: 90. |
(continued)
Article posted on behalf of Herts Baseball Newswire correspondent, Lee Manning
The second game of the day for the Falcons was against Premier League rivals Burgess Hill Redhats. The Redhats are the team that relegated the Falcons in the 2006 playoffs. This was an opportunity for payback for the Falcons. Against Great Britain National Team Pitcher, Gary Davison, the Falcons were looking to get an early lead. First up was veteran Lee Manning who ripped a 0-2 outside pitch to the right field and slide safely into 3rd base. Manning scored off a sack fly from Kimiyoshi Saionji setting the standard for the rest of the afternoon. Aspi Dimitrov pitched 3 innings before handing the ball to Bruce Dullea with a 6-5 lead, but bases loaded and no one out in the 4th. Dullea then got the next three batters out in superb style without giving up a single run. After Dullea’s 2 innings, Yuji Endo took to the mount with the game tied at 8-8 to pitch the last 2 innings. He showed great control and great pop to keep the Redhats quite. The Falcons started hitting the ball hard and everyone played great defence which was helped by Manning doing an over the shoulder catch but only to be outdone by former Falcons player now playing for the Hawks, Paul Auchterlounie, sprinting 40ft to chase down a hard hit drive to centerfield for the play of the day. Falcons won the game 13-9. Yuji Endo picked up the Win.
Manger Jason Greenburg must be having a hard time on who to play where and when but has the next two weeks looking at players who are all fighting for a starting spot. Every Falcon player showed that they wanted to win the games and hope to keep this going forward next week when they play at the AmericanSchool Of London.
Hitter of the day: Jason Greenberg going 7-7
Pitcher of the day: John Oliver
Play of the day: Paul Auchterlounie making a great catch on his horse in Centerfield.
Moment of the game: Bruce Dullea inheriting a bases loaded jam, no outs to shut down the Redhats not allowing any runs and preserving the 1-run lead.
|
Herts Falcons at Burgess Hill Colts |
||||||||||
|
Score By Innings |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
Herts Falcons |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
13 |
19 |
2 |
|
Burgess Hill Colts |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
11 |
3 |
|
Herts Falcons 13, Burgess Hill Colts 9 |
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|
Herts Falcons |
Burgess Hill Colts |
||||||||
|
|
ab |
r |
h |
bi |
|
ab |
r |
h |
bi |
|
Lee Manning ss |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
Player 1 p |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Player 2 c |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Jason Greenberg c |
4 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
Player 3 1b |
4 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Peter Kikel 3b |
4 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
Player 4 2b |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Greg Bochan cf-rf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Player 5 3b |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
(b3) Paul Auchterlounie cf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Player 6 ss |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
Yuji Endo lf-p |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
Player 7 lf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Bruce Dullea dh-p-rf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Player 8 cf |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
John Oliver 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Player 9 rf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Dave Hamilton rf-lf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aspi Dimitrov p-rf |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TEAM TOTALS |
39 |
13 |
19 |
9 |
TEAM TOTALS |
28 |
9 |
11 |
8 |
|
E: Lee Manning, Aspi Dimitrov, Player 1, Player 3, Player 5. LOB: Herts Falcons 10, |
|
Herts Falcons |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
|
Aspi Dimitrov |
3.00 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
12 |
5 |
|
Bruce Dullea |
2.00 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
Yuji Endo W |
2.00 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Burgess Hill Colts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player 1 L |
7.00 |
19 |
13 |
9 |
4 |
7 |
|
WP: Aspi Dimitrov(2), Player 1(3). PB: Jason Greenberg(3), Player 2. T: 2:00. A: 65. |
A Rat Named Sue
He was a painfully shy player in a very public arena.
Tall and powerfully built, he hit prodigious home runs. 442 of them, which is 34th all time. One of them, which was hit in Wrigley Field on April 14, 1976, went over 600 feet, which is the longest ever recorded HR hit there.
He also struck out quite a lot. 1,816 times, which is 10th all time.
His fielding was atrocious. Whether he played 3B, 1B, or the outfield, he had a great deal of difficulty catching and throwing the ball. I seem to remember that he wore a batting helmet while playing in the field, which was probably done for safety reasons. He was a tailor made DH, but unfortunately spent 13 of the 16 years of his career in the National League.
Dave Kingman was an enigma. He only hit .236, he struck out quite a lot, but when he connected, the ball went a long, long way. This was probably why he hung on in the big leagues for so long. Signed out of college by the Giants, he also had stints with the Mets, Padres, Angels, Yankees, Cubs, Mets (again), and Athletics.
Everyone saw his massive potential, but no one could harness it.
Of all the major league ballplayers, he probably had the worst time of anyone with the press. Nicknamed King Kong, columnist Mike Royko of the Chicago Sun-Times derisively called him “Ding Dong”. Columnist David Israel staged a sit-in in protest over having to deal with him. One of his teammates on the Mets said “he had the personality of a tree stump.”
During his three year tenure with the Chicago Cubs, the press finally relented and decided to let him write his own column so that they didn’t have to talk to him. His columns were a literary disaster, so this particular experiment didn’t last very long. In 1979, still with the Cubs, he had his best season, hitting .288 with 48HRs and 115RBI.
Primarily due to the holes in his game, his longest tenure with any one club was three years. Two years after his career best effort with the Cubs, they traded him to the Mets.
Extremely thin skinned and unwilling to accept any type of criticism, his second stint in
He finally reached the
He finally decided to get even. One game Ms. Fornoff was sitting in the press box at Oakland Alameda stadium, and while covering the game, she received a box. She opened it, and much to her horror and chagrin, she found a LIVE RAT.
The rat had a tag which said “My name is Sue”.
Unfortunately for Kingman, this practical joke backfired. The 1986 MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement did not cover sending live rodents to sportswriters.
Kingman was released shortly thereafter, and never played MLB again.
He now lives in relative obscurity.
Because of King Kong, I’m always very judicious in my criticism of thin skinned ballplayers.
I thought I’d share this bit of baseball history to young, aspiring sportswriters.
Be careful with any gift wrapped packages from ballplayers, at anytime.
Enough said.
The Biggest Bully on the Block
Ennui. That was my state of mind last night. I was flopped down on the couch, feet up, glass of wine in hand, wondering what to do next. I then turned on the TV to catch Baseball Tonight on NASN. I could not believe who was in the studio with Karl Ravech. None other than Bobby Knight! Bobby Knight! I thought I was hallucinating.
For those of you who aren’t aware, Bobby Knight is a BASKETBALL coach. He is the all time winningest college coach in the history of NCAA basketball, but he carries quite a bit of baggage. He is mercurial, combative, and has a hair trigger temper. He has gotten away with all of his documented transgressions due to his enormous success, and it has enabled him to spend the majority of his career bullying and intimidating anyone who either didn’t agree with him or crossed him. His primary targets have been the press. Amongst other notable achievements, he has a) slapped a Puerto Rican policeman, b) stuffed an opposing fan in a trash can, c) threw a chair at a referee, and d) choked one of his own players.
Over the course of his 42 year career, he has kept his most brutal derision and contempt for members of the press. Among other things, one of his most notable quotes was, “If there is reincarnation, I want to come back as a sportswriter because they have never used their brains”.
Well, he may have a point there.
With Bob Knight, there is no in between. You either love him or hate him. Despite his shortcomings, he has won, graduated his players, and shown a high level of integrity and veracity.
One thing he has never been is a hypocrite. That’s why I had a difficult time seeing him on the Baseball Tonight studio. Over the course of his career, I always enjoyed his repartee with the press. He was extremely clever, and always had the last word. The press always played the part of the deferential whipping boy, and it made for good copy. And in many instances, he was correct. Many members of the press are indolent, ill-prepared, and biased. Some of those who attempted to stand up to him faced subsequent professional repercussions.
Even though Knight always had the upper hand, his press battles were always very entertaining.
Knight recently retired from coaching after a stellar 42 year career. I always assumed he would walk away from the limelight and spend his retirement fishing and hunting, which seemed to be his main passions away from the court.
I didn’t have a problem with him criticizing the press. However, it did shock me to see him in the studio, in essence a becoming committed press member himself.
It was interesting hearing about his love for baseball, and his friendship with Tony LaRusso. They also showed an interview with the late Ted Williams, who was effervescent in his praise for Knight. Knight then stated the reason he admired Williams so much was that they both had an adversarial relationship with the press.
Am I missing something?? There he was, biting the hand that was feeding him.
This whole episode is very reminiscent of John Thompson, another highly successful basketball coach, who, throughout his career, was highly combative with the press. At 6’ 10” tall, over 300 pounds, with a deep baritone voice, he was indeed very intimidating. Now that he is retired from coaching, he to has joined the press corps, and has a highly successful radio and TV gig in the
I guess if you are successful, you can recreate yourself in a positive manner
Knight has always been highly intelligent, and provides keen insight. At 67, he seems to have mellowed. His methods were always excessive and controversial. He was the biggest bully on the block.
With age comes wisdom. Knight has a lot to offer, even in baseball.
It’ll be nice to see him share his baseball insights with us on a more regular basis.
The Herts Spring League commences this Sunday and it looks like it is attracting significant interest from the media. The Hemel Gazette is expected to have an extensive coverage of the 2008 HSL over the three Sundays of the League. Below you will find an extract from a preview of the HSL published this week. The article was also published in their online publication HemelToday.co.uk