Category: Opinion

5 May 2013 by Rob Jones

The first cracks of the bat

It was a bright, cold and sunny Monday morning. I had slept like a log, but another four hours of sleep wouldn’t have gone amiss. That’s what a couple of weeks of baseball can do to you. My arms ached and my pride was wounded but I had certainly had an interesting start to the 2013 season, writes Rob Jones.

The two games could hardly be more different. In the first, I was with the Raptors as they ran up a football score against Leicester 2Sox. In my second game, I was on the receiving end of a similar thumping as the Eagles were undone at Hemel by the Tonbridge Bobcats.

There was a consistent thread in both games — and that was my bat making lousy contact with the ball. I hit infield dribblers, comebackers, pop-ups and all sorts of rubbish. Horrid. It was crowned by a strikeout in each game, which is galling as two strikeouts is usually my total for a season, not a fortnight! Both were on third strikes which I considered high — especially the first of them — but I guess you live and learn.

Your correspondent Rob Jones hits a sac fly in the closing stages of the Tonbridge game (pic: David Ames)

The bat-on-ball contact did get better as each game went along, so I take solace in that. I hit one decent single at Leicester, and then a single, double and sac-fly in the run-fest against Tonbridge.

My overall performance in the field was of a better standard. OK, yes, I dropped a pop-up on the infield against Tonbridge, and yes I should have been slapped for it. It was a classic lesson in not thinking about the people around you, and not thinking ahead to the impending double play. I failed to close my mind to these things, and paid the price. Duncan, who was pitching, also paid the price, as he had to go through it all over again. A lesson for us all.

Otherwise, I fielded all the ground balls which came my way, and I had put away a couple of outfield catches in my first-week outing. It feels good when you can slip back into baseball smoothly, after a long winter break. Training both indoors and back on the Grovehill diamond really help, but it is satisfying when any good work continues during a competitive game.

I felt that the fielding performance of both Raptors and Eagles was actually pretty good. There was some sloppiness which could be put down to rust, particularly with the Raptors, and to the first “game-time” situations of the year. But there were few howlers. The Eagles are fielding a lot of genuine rookies, who will learn fast, and Raptors eked out a tough win against the Old Timers in week 2, so must have improved!

There is just room for a quick word on my pitching debut for the year. I haven’t taken the mound since 2011, but I felt quite comfortable up there. Apart from walking the first batter, I did stick to my usual mantra of not giving away free passes. At this level, I have often seen walks eat away at a team and while I know I can’t blow away hitters, I also know that I can throw strikes. Unfortunately a hot-hitting Tonbridge team rather teed off on me.

I did get two outs — one thanks to a good stop by Mike Cresswell — and nearly got out of the inning. But we made some fielding errors, and missed fly balls. This isn’t a grumble against my team-mates, as one of the errors was by me when I picked up a bunt cleanly but threw high and wide to first base. But you do really feel the effect of those errors when you are the man on the mound.

I threw one or two curve balls that I was happy with, but probably stayed away from it too much for fear of walks. If the coach lets me get back up there, I must try to work batters more.

So that’s how 2013 opened for me. Barely days after becoming a big money transfer to the Herts Eagles, I found myself all suited up for Opening Day with the Raptors. Life’s full of surprises. And I headed up to a new venue for me, Leicester. Western Park is a nice little diamond. As undulating as most British ballparks, and with its batting circle and bases having the consistency of a slightly pebbly beach. But with a permanent backstop, a decent amount of cover from trees, and an overall good feel.

Milton Keynes and Haverhill will also be new experiences. And I am still looking forward to the year. Although I still need more sleep. It’s hard to tell what the season will be like, or what the story will be when summer fades away. But I like the opening chapters.

16 April 201316 April 2013 by Rob Jones

The Art of Training

The Spring, having finally arrived in the wake of the snow, is now almost over. The National Leaguers and the Double-A Hawks have kicked off their baseball season, and Triple-A will follow shortly after a weather-induced postponement, writes Rob Jones. The Herts Raptors and Eagles will start on Sunday, and as the league action draws closer, I felt it was time to reflect on the pre-season training period.

I made it to three or four indoor sessions this year. It was great to have the help of a conditioning coach, working us out and teaching us new exercises. I’m not sure I have fully grasped the idea of plyometrics, but I learned something. And in a slightly perverse way I enjoyed making my body ache. In the last session, I started off a bit badly and actually felt quite ill. But a break and some water helped overcome the effects of intense exercise early on Sunday morning.

Indoor Training — This was how it all started, indoors in January in Berkhamsted

Many of my erudite followers will also have read the excellent baseball novel which was a minor phenomenon last year, The Art of Fielding. In many ways, it’s not really about baseball — like any novel it is, in fact, about love, frailty, friendship and frustration — but the baseball setting speaks to us players more than it does to the average British Joe.

However, one of the biggest things to strike me was the way the shortstop phenom Henry Skrimshander would physically push himself — “working til you puke” — running up and down the football stadium steps, and doing endless reps with weights. It might be going too far to say that it inspired me, but it did make me want to do more and work harder.

That combination of early morning runs, protein shakes, and constant practise is part of the overall vision of being a professional athlete, which most of us reach for with our involvement in baseball. It’s not the glamour part, but it’s an element in the whole.

Perhaps, as I share Henry’s slight build, I saw it as an example of what work could achieve. And honestly, I have tried to put in some extra hours. That meant running round Regents Park in the snow in my dinner breaks whenever I could, and remembering to do my Powerball exercises at home of an evening. There has been no Skrimshander-like transformation, but I did feel better and brighter. And even more keen for the baseball season to start.

But this masochistic passion for personal pain was never going to last. “Running til you puke” is not really my style. Don’t get me wrong — especially if you are a likely opponent this season — I will give a game my all. But I am not one to drive myself over the edge in pursuit of physical perfection. I’m just too rational, too common-sense. And I often did my Powerball exercises with a glass of red wine on the go. Which may have defeated the object slightly.

And so, in the first weeks of March, we were back at the diamond. A couple of cold and grey sessions were the best we could manage here. But even if you don’t arrive at the field to see its glowing emerald green stretch out before you, like a Major League ballpark, it still lifts the heart a little to be at Grovehill.

And I felt pretty happy with these workouts. Just getting to throw the ball freely was good, and playing the rough hops of the diamond instead of the smooth predictability of a gymnasium floor! I felt I was throwing well, and the masterful Darrin Ward gave a large squad of would-be pitchers excellent tips.

In one session, the equally excellent Geoff Hare taught me a base-running technique I had never heard before. Which impressed me, I can tell you. It’s not that I thought I knew everything about baseball, but that after ten years or so you do assume that further things you learn will be on the next level of the game — wheel plays, hit and runs, delayed steals. But this was something you can use in every situation. Obviously, I can’t reveal it here, it’s top secret, but suffice it to say it was fine advice.

The training part of the year ended on Sunday, with a few final drills and a scrimmage game between the Single-A rivals, the Eagles and the Raptors. I’m not sure I made a dramatic case for getting a second baseman’s job ahead of Raptors’ manager Arnie Longboy (who also likes to play there!), as I distinctly remember bobbling a ground ball which should have been the final out of an inning. But fortunately I became the first of three players involved in getting the last out at home plate instead!

I have hardly swung the bat this year so perhaps should not be surprised that my two at-bats led only to a groundout to short, and a pop-up to third which, luckily, was dropped. At least the first AB went to a full count, which is normal service for my batting! I did manage to hurt my back swinging for a low pitch, but I am trusting that is just the rigours of old age.

The most important thing was to take part, and to feel the ball in the glove after weeks snowed off, rained off, and dominated by weekends of work. Hopefully I — and the other Single-A players — will now be set up for Opening day. The Raptors are away in Leicester. Yes, Leicester. This game can take you places. Some places you never dreamed, some that you always dreamed of…. See you there.

17 February 201317 February 2013 by Rob Jones

2013: A New Hope

The Herts club’s occasional blogger, equally occasional player, and former Chief Correspondent Rob Jones has returned for another year of baseball. Here he offers his random views, glimpses and hopes for the coming year.

The sound echoed around the hall. It was of a loud slap, a loud snap, not unlike the report of a gun. It was a baseball hitting a leather mitt. Baseball season had begun.

Fifty or so players were there on the first week of indoor Spring Training, and the fact that a cavernous sports hall seemed crowded showed how far Herts has come in the past couple of years in expanding its reach. By the time I was there — barely even a few minutes late, which is excellent by my standards — there seemed hardly room to throw. On the second week there were slightly fewer of us, but still dozens of players, all turning out on a cold Sunday morning. The first excellent result of the season.

Never fear, though, about the apparent lack of space. Once the session had got rolling and the coaches had stepped in to organise, every inch of the hall was well used. At the second session, the club’s new strength and conditioning coach made his first appearance and worked the players into submission. Crouching like crabs, jumping like grasshoppers, lunging like refugees from Python’s silly walks sketch. The Herts media department kindly used a photo of the event which showed me as the only player bent double trying to recover from the exertion!

I am by no means a hardcore devotee of exercise. But I do love to play, and the last thing I want to do at a session is stand around waiting for stuff to be sorted. And that doesn’t happen here at Herts. It hasn’t for years now, and we have reaped two benefits from that. Number one — passionate, hard-working club staff. Number two — better players.

Those players include some of the top names in British baseball — Robbie Unsell, Ryan Bird — who now turn out in a Herts uniform and helped take the club to the NBL final in 2012. It also includes some excellent youth players who have begun to pull on the jersey for our adult teams, and who could take us even higher in the future. Guys who already had great talent going for them — Kyle Lloyd-Jones; the Caress brothers — seemed to have grown a foot taller over the winter and to have filled out. They will be an imposing presence on whichever diamond hosts them this season.

Caros Casal argues his case during the Hunlock Series in 2009 There are plenty of new faces, as well as some which have returned from the past. The Casal family, who always play with fire and passion, will be a shot in the arm for the club on the field after a successful sojourn at the Harlow Nationals. A return is also on the cards for Ross Asquith, the King of the Bunt, the Fastest Thing in the South from the early days of the Herts Hawks, I think it was. Because we now have a fifth adult team, we will need a deep bench, but that seems to be a luxury we are developing. Last weekend was the first of many sessions which I will miss this year. Work often keeps me away from Herts baseball, but like so many others I keep coming back. Last season was a bit of a low ebb for me, in terms of playing time. I only made it to five games, I think, and one of them was incomplete. I never really got my swing together and batted only about .440, disappointing after previous seasons. But my OBP remained high, and I felt I was contributing to the team and to a few victories. Who knows what 2013 will hold for me, and for Herts. But that is one of the great things about Spring Training. Anything seems possible. Everything is out there to be worked for, and aimed at. The grainy photos of Herts part-timers in a cavernous sports hall are the equivalent of those sun-dappled pictures from the MLB’s Spring leagues. But although the visual image is rather different, the spirit is the same. It is about hope, and about what it can bring.

5 October 20126 October 2012 by Rob Jones

Heading for the Hunlock

My regular readers — of which I know, there are literally several — will know that I like to write a paean to the Hunlock series every year. One of those articles referred to it as an encore, an extra flourish once the season is over, and something of an added bonus. This year’s event is slightly different for me, as I didn’t have much of a season at all. So it’s not an encore — it’s almost the main event.

Rob Jones in action — Your correspondent, Rob Jones, legs out an infield hit against the Blue Dogs

The Hunlock Series brings together players from all the club’s teams, both youth and adult, and spreads them around in a way which creates four new evenly-matched teams. That makes for great competitions, and you should have no doubt that a friendly series can be genuinely competitive! There is a great atmosphere to the event, but if you think Greg Bochan wants you to get a hit off him, or if you think Glen Downer is after anything less than a home run, you’re mistaken.

One of the best things about the Hunlock is that you get to meet up with players you might not have seen all year. There are guys turning out who were already part of the club when I joined up a decade ago, and in that sense it’s a bit like a class reunion. Rod Naghar has been doing his thing successfully for the Hawks this year — after doing it with various teams over the years — and it is fun to play alongside him for the first time in a long time.

Old faces return, too, including Carlos Casal Jr and Snr who both did so much to make the Herts club a force in British baseball. And for lower league guys like me it is good to play alongside the best that Herts can offer. I’ve never really seen Kevin Niedringhaus play baseball before, but it was a revelation to watch somebody work like that on the mound, and to turn their hand to so many skills so well.

Another fine thing is to meet new talent, and to see guys who could do great things for Herts next year. You can read elsewhere on the site about Guv Bhangal’s exploits, and I think he got one of those hits at the expense of my Red Roosters. Matt Cox — whose surname I admit I only knew after I read the match reports — made a great impact for us, and I know I would want him for any future team. Great speed, good hitting, and great exuberance. All of those contributed to the inside the park home run he notched up against the Black Widows. Straight out of the box, he was clearly going to stretch it as far as possibly could, and it was a perfect example of putting pressure on a defense. A well deserved feat.

My own performances were rather less dramatic. On the couple of occasions I have turned out this autumn I have played like a 40 year old who has barely played any baseball this year. So, no great surprises, but I’d rather be able to make a more flattering comparison! I did actually get a couple of RBIs, but I think there was only one proper hit in there. The rest were luck and nonsense. As for fielding, I missed both of the balls which came my way in the course of the day. On a routine ground ball, I singularly failed to “get my ass down”, and it went right by. I have a clear mental image of myself as that stiff 40 year old, tightened up further by lack of game time. No excuses, really — I always marvel at those guys who just show up and just do it, whether they be young or old — but instead a fresh determination to try to get the most playing time I can.

Maybe this coming week will find that I have worked some of the old man stiffness out of my system. That’s assuming the coach even dares put me on the field this week! This year has been disrupted by weather, work, and family issues, and the plan to get lots of playing time before moving my old legs into management needs a bit of rewriting. Whatever turns out, I shall hope for another good day at the diamond this Sunday, definitely my last of 2012. For the real beauty of the Hunlock is that the good parts of it far outweigh any grumbles about results or booted ground balls. It’s about playing for the fun of the game and whatever else happens, it’s always fun.

22 July 201222 July 2012 by Rob Jones

The true value of the cliche

It’s been a rich and varied baseball season for me so far — but only when I have had the chance to play baseball, writes Rob Jones. And because those opportunities have been rather sparse, I have had far too much time to simply mull over the beautiful game, instead. Games that I have played in have had highs and lows, swings and roundabouts, and plenty of talking points. To that end, I have been considering the validity of various truisms — some might call them cliches — about baseball, and about life.

Pitching and defense win ball games

I can’t claim any great insight in this one – any coach will tell you it’s true. Perhaps it’s the greatest cliche of all for anyone who plays the game. But it is worth highlighting, and here’s why. You often think about the differences between baseball at the Major League level and where we play it, at the nether reaches of the British game. Stealing a base is a very different proposition, for example. And the positioning of fielders is far more sophisticated – think about how often you have seen an MLB outfielder stand patiently to receive a room service catch, having already assessed the matchup and the situation.

Falcons v Mustangs — The Falcons defense comes up trumps against Southampton - but only by an inch

But this one is a truism which is equally true at all levels of the game. The fewer mistakes you make, and the more strikes you throw, the better your chance of getting a win. Even in a high-scoring league like ours, it is the defense which will make all the difference. In this year’s game against the London Marauders this was particularly true. Our first three hitters got bat on ball, but their fielders made every play. None was spectacular, perhaps, but they could all have gone wrong, and they didn’t. On the other side of the coin, we failed to make a succession of close plays.

We were undone by walks too — in a previous year I remember us opening a game with six consecutive walks. You just can’t do that and get away with it. When the average viewer watches Major League pitching, you don’t appreciate how hard it is. Watching guys like us makes it abundantly clear! I should point out that I am not just criticising from the sidelines here — in my only pitching start last year I walked two of my first three guys, and I have always made it my special purpose on the mound NOT to give free passes. Once you are up there, it’s a different scenario.

Young pitcher Zack Longboy has been a boon for us this season with his tremendous consistency. More of him later, but let me give this final thought about pitching and defense. No matter how good the man on the mound is, he will need help. When the San Francisco Giants’ Matt Cain threw his first perfect game last month, it was made possible by Gregor Blanco making a phenomenal diving catch in right field, and by Joaquin Arias making a series of excellent plays from third. Pitching and defense go hand in hand if they are to succeed.

It’s a game of inches

It’s been said that the set-up and measurements of the baseball diamond are perfect, and that this can be seen in the way a close play fifty years ago is still a close play today — even as fitness and strength and equipment improve, the margins of success and failure remain consistently small. Once again, this truism can be neatly transposed onto the rough and ready amateur game. We may be consistently less fit and powerful than Major Leaguers, but that means we end up just as close!

Stealing bases against the Essex Archers, I was often an inch from being out. My second time on base, the pitcher knew I was going to steal. He threw over four times, and the third time I was only just able to dive back, safe by an inch. An inch away from embarrassment. (I would have been more comfortable, except that I caught the peak of my helmet in the dirt — there are lots of reasons that the inches count!) Later, as a runner at third base, I was pushing my luck as far off the bag as I could, and when a grounder went back to the pitcher, he looked at me, and I looked at him. He waited, just a few heartbeats, then went for the out at first. As soon as he did, I was off, going for home. I slid in, clattering into the catcher and scraping skin off my arm. But, by an inch, I was safe. As it was, a vital run scored. Had I failed, it would have been a foolish wasted out.

The cliche isn’t just true of base-running, either. A pitch which paints the corner can be given either way, depending on how the umpire sees it. How many times have you seen a pitch which just needed to be an inch higher, an inch lower? And it’s true when batting. Against Essex, Glen Downer just missed out on a couple of big hits, because a potential homer becomes a pop-fly because the contact is just an inch further up the bat. In the same game, Gilberto Medina hit a beautiful drive out to left field. I was running from second, and stopped half way down the line to watch what happened to the ball. It carried past the fielder, onwards towards the fence, onwards, and then — by just inches — it fell short of being a homer. I think it was only a single. I am delighted to say that, since then, Gilberto has deservedly hit one all the way out.

Young stars — Longboy and Caress - two rising young stars for the Raptors

Age ain’t nothing but a number

Herts has some tremendous veteran players, and the Falcons have picked up some with golden track records this year. But the club is perhaps best known for its youth set-up, and the youngest stars have been some of the biggest for the Raptors this year. Zack Longboy has been a revelation on the mound. The league-leading Essex Archers marveled at his poise and accuracy, after he had pushed them close to defeat for the first time this year. He has secured key strikeouts, thrown a variety of pitches for strikers, and fielded his position calmly. His perfromance belies his years, and he has put a lifetime of preparation to good use.

And Zack is not the only young star in the ranks. Brodie and Jake Caress have made the step up to adult baseball, with Jake closing out the win against the Old Timers with the game on the line (the Raptors had never beaten the Old Timers, and the come from behind victory was vital to playoff hopes). Both have performed well with the bat, while Jose Morillo has matured enormously as an offensive weapon, and the team also had a little pitching help from GB’s Tom Everex-Armstrong in the win over Tonbridge. These players have shown a fearlessness and a technique which we can all look to emulate.

Winning isn’t everything

This was an issue I began to chew over as I considered the contrasting experience of winning at a stroll against the Tonbridge Bobcats, and then losing by a narrow squeak against Essex. Winning is a wonderful thing, don’t get me wrong — I am not here to extol the virtue of the gallant defeat! When we thumped Tonbridge last season I thoroughly enjoyed it, as my first victory for two years. But whether you win easily or lose disastrously, you can come away with a similarly empty feeling.

It’s the competition which gives life and meaning to a win. It’s one of the reasons we always want to see a World Series go to seven games, or a Wimbledon final go to five sets. Winning a tough game is the best feeling of all. In that sense, I suspect the Raptors’ defeat of the Old Timers was an absolute corker. Sooooo sorry to have missed that one. The Eagles victory over the Essex Redbacks was the best game I have had this year, coming from behind to take a late lead, then clinging on for an 18-16 win. Those are the most exhilarating games. Just winning isn’t enough — we want to win with style, and after a battle.

18 July 201219 July 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

The greatest ever?

by Ken Pike

One of the wonderful things about popular sports is the debate that it causes. No matter whether listening to my girlfriend’s brother discussing the merits of the latest round of walk spoiling (golf), or hearing the commentators of Euro 2012 hailing Spain as possibly the greatest football team of all time, there is endless debate to be had thanks to the endless supply of ways to measure greatness.

Spain have won two world cups and a Euro competition back to back now and entered the record books for most goals in a final and many other reasons too, whereas the magical abilities of Pele et al in 1970 remain football legend over 40 years later. Whether Spain 2012 or Brazil 1970 is the greatest team of all time could only ever be settled by pitting the two sides against each other, but unless time travel is invented and applied to the use of measuring sporting greatness, it is both a sad fact and a beautiful thing that we shall never know.

The simple thing is that winning margins, statistics of accuracy, efficiency etc are all determined not only by the winning team, but by the class of the teams they face. It could be argued that Spain were phenomenal in 2012, but frankly much of their opposition was mediocre at best with their expected big final opponents Germany getting knocked out by the same France side that barely beat a poor England side.

In the world of motor racing, for much of the 90s Michael Shumacher dominated the championships winning race after race by enormous margins. He has records that will likely never be broken over a glorious career. However, his comeback into the sport three years ago have put all of that into question as he now races in a less potent car than the blistering Ferrari, he is regularly out qualified by his young compatriot teammate, and he has failed to get a win since his return. Was his amazing form in the 90s due to having by far the fastest car and weak opposition or was it due to a greatness and spark that he has now all but lost?

There are countless more examples I could go through of seemingly unbeatable records getting smashed: Mark Spitz’s five Olympic golds got ruined by Michael Phelps getting eight, youngest racer to win a grand prix Fernando Alonso got beat by some German lad called Sebastian who might be quite good some day, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron no longer have their names next to home run records thanks in no small part to medicinal advances helping the likes of Bonds to achieve improbable muscle mass, and so on and so forth. But does that mean the modern versions that superseded them are better, or do they face weaker opposition and are they helped by better sport science (or possibly steroids in some cases – let’s face it, some cases have been pretty clear cut, but even unproven accusations mean that whether Usain Bolt is a force of nature or a force of medicine is likely to be debated long after his career is over and he is just one current example of many such allegations among current sporting excellence.)

So it is rare the be able to unequivocally say that a team or player is the greatest ever. What is more possible is to say that a team is having its greatest year or period ever. The Spanish football team are certainly claiming that one right now, Bolt must be looking at London 2012 with a feeling of supreme confidence and young Mr Vettel can look back at last year as being an early pinnacle in his career that he can aim to surpass in future years.

It gets even harder when you talk baseball. Most wins in a season? 1906 Cubs/2001 Mariners. Most hall of famers? Complicated: as one of the oldest teams Giants have 56 that ever played for them, Yankees have 21 whose names are associated with them primarily, and 1927 Yankees had the most at one time including some blokes called Ruth and Gherig. Some recent current teams, notably the 98 Yankees, have line-ups that include a lot of future hall of famers but they are not yet eligible and can’t be discounted. Biggest winning margins? Again the ‘27 Yankees outscoring opponents by almost 400 runs. Win streaks? Dynasty eras? Overcoming the toughest opposition? Who knows.

Best players, let alone their best years are just as hard if not harder to measure even if you boil it down to position. Would you rather have hall of famers Aaron, Ruth, Gherig, Dimaggio, Young, Ryan, or current greats like Rodrigues, Puyols, Halladay, Hamilton or Lincecum on your dream team? Let’s face it, a large part of your decision making process in this question will be based on what shirt you choose to wear on your days off watching ESPN. Being a D’backs fan I would probably pick some names that would have experienced pundits (and many of you) in fits of laughter.

Some will analyse further looking at the stats, but do these take into account developments in the sport? Hamilton and Lincecum are pitching against the grain with modern sports science helping batters extract every last ounce of speed and power from every hit. Pujols and Rodrigues are certainly more athletic opponents than Ryan or Young faced back in the day. There are other metrics which can’t even be reasonably compared, for example the fastest officially recorded pitch is 105 mps by Aroldis Chapman in 2010 at PETCO ballpark, but anecdotally Nolan Ryan hit that speed regularly.

So what about Herts baseball club? I don’t have access to individual player records so I won’t go into that at this level but throughout the relatively brief (in baseball terms) history of the club, there have certainly been some impressive highs. The Falcons have won the double A league in 2004 and 2007 and the Triple A in 2008. The junior teams have had recent success with the Herts All Stars winning the Under 14s Futures Tournament and the 2010 National Baseball Championship heralding a very bright future. The club has been the largest club in the leagues by membership numbers, and in amateur sports that alone is a measure of success.

This year however, with the playoffs only a few short weeks away, all four senior teams have hit highs that were never expected 12 months ago. The Hawks and Falcons are fighting tooth and nail to gain top spot going into the post season, while in the single A both the Eagles and Raptors are in with a shout of making the playoffs. Admittedly the Eagles are facing very long odds that would require a mixture of other results going their way and some impressive upsets against top of the league teams, the Raptors have one toe in the door with a win against the mid table Mavericks next weekend all but securing their passage to the playoffs and a second win against barrel scraping Richmond sealing the deal.

As a club, rather than four individual teams, the Herts are experiencing a real renaissance after a difficult couple of years. Last year’s departure of many top players thanks in no small part to departing players forming their own team and pulling top class players with them left all three remaining teams struggling to compete at their respective levels. The Falcons finished 2011 with a 4-19 record that was not much to sing about, the Eagles taking a sabbatical from appearing at all thanks to a lack of players, the Hawks marginally bettered the Falcons record with 5-15 and the Raptors had started the season depleted of experience and getting beaten up by teams that should have arguably played at a higher level though they turned around the second half and finished with three wins to their name providing a glimpse of things to come.

The Falcons started the season with a win against Bracknell. Can they keep the momentum going as they face the Blazers again this Sunday?

This year has been a case of night and day. Impressive big name acquisitions in the pre season at the Falcons level had the effect of solidifying all the lower teams, allowing the Hawks and Raptors to cling on to players that might have ordinarily been asked to do their best at a higher league. The Falcons now boast some of the best players in the leagues and as such are fighting a pitched battle with the Nationals and the fading Mets for top spot.

The Hawks led ably by the managing partnership of Andy Cornish and Greg Bochan who both provide hitting power coupled with catching and pitching might respectively, are joint top with the Mammoths and Sidewinders with everything to play for in the last few games.

The Raptors started slightly shakily in their first two games but soon moved up the gears and now play with ever increasing confidence with a stunning win over the Old timers putting their playoff future in their own hands courtesy of a homer from powerhouse Gilberto Medina, 6 for 6 batting by yours truly and a composed and solid pitching performance by young Jake Caress adding to a season accented by the impressive performances of the young additions to the squad. They go into a must win game against the Mavericks knowing that if they can take the Archers to the wire and beat the grumpy men from Enfield, they can bring the fight to anyone in the league.

The newly reformed Eagles settled in to the single A with low expectations placed upon them as supposed training grounds for new and young blood. New manager Duncan Hoyle had different ideas from being the whipping boys though and benefitted from some very talented new players including the defensive powers of pitcher Reagan Wood and offensive abilities of the current Eagles home run leader Aidrian Smithers (he has 1). They now sit level on games with the supposedly superior Raptors (who they fought well against earlier in the season despite ultimately losing) however facing much tougher opposition for their final games and head to head results against the Raptors and other nearby teams going against them.

Could one, two or perhaps three of the Herts teams be national champins again this season?

The Falcons, Hawks and Raptors all hold the reigns now and can decide their own futures by winning from here on in. The Eagles face a battle, but having already far exceeded expectations, I would not be the one to bet against them, and just how great would a semi final playoff between the Eagles and raptors be? What are the chances of all four teams getting to the playoffs? Slim, admittedly, but possible. The chances of winning the whole lot and finishing with three new trophies in our cabinet? The chances of making the best year in Herts history? The chances of turning the 2012 Herts into a three league winning club?

The greatest season ever can only be determined by history, by ultimate results, and the names on the trophy at the end of it. With equal parts steel, determination, teamwork, skill and importantly luck Herts can achieve staggering heights. In this country, August is when baseball history is made.

What might be the greatest Herts season ever, has only just begun.

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

Falcons

Falcons face double headers against rivals Mets and Nationals next followed by easy games against bottom of the table Croydon Pirates and Bracknell Blazers. Four out of four against the Mets and Nationals would put them in top spot and leave their fates in their hands. Four losses would leave them with a good chance of playoffs but the Diamondbacks and Mustangs would likely be taking them to the wire. With this many games left there are too many permutations to list them all.

Hawks

The Hawks also face the Sidewinders and Mustangs in their fight to make the playoffs but with several rain postponements there are still a lot of games to play. Wins against the top teams would put them in a strong position but there are not many easy games left for them with the Brentwood Stags providing the only bottom three club for them yet to face, the rest are mid table must winners. Again, with 7 games left, there are too many permutations to list.

Raptors

The win against the Old Timers puts them in the driving seat. With head to heads largely going their way with their opponents, a win against Guildford next week puts them firmly in charge of the wildcard spot. Head to head results against the Eagles, Old timers, and Mavericks makes a win against bottom of the table Richmond would guarantee passage regardless of results, but even a loss in the second game would need freak results elsewhere to knock them out. A collapse by Hove Tuesday could even get them top wildcard place, but the Marauders and the Archers have pretty much sealed the top spots. However, a loss to Mavericks spins that on its head and leaves them needing results elsewhere to go their way whether they win the following week or not.

Eagles

The Eagles sit level with the Raptors on wins and losses, but behind in the table having lost their head to head. To make matters worse, their final opponents are Hove Tuesday and London Marauders, both teams they will have a tough time beating. For the Eagles to progress they would likely have to win both games and other results would need to go their way. Either Hove would need a complete collapse for the rest of the season paving the way for Raptors and Eagles to both qualify, or the Eagles do it at the cost of the Raptors, but they need to better the Raptors record not equal it.

26 June 201226 June 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

In search of perfection

written by hertsbaseball.com correspondent Ken Pike

“You can’t be afraid to make errors! You can’t be afraid to be naked before the crowd, because no one can ever master the game of baseball, or conquer it. You can only challenge it.”

– Lou Brock, Left Fielder, St Louis Cardinals, 1977

I find baseball a truly unique and in many ways perplexing sport because of something that you will never actually find in baseball…perfection. Ok, don’t worry I haven’t been on mind altering substances, and I will explain.

Let’s start with a contrast: football (yet again). If you consider a football player and what would constitute a ‘perfect’ season, perhaps winning the Champions league, domestic league and cup, and maybe, every other year, a major international competition. Maybe throw in being PFA player of the year as well as the league’s top scorer.

The list of teams that have had unbeaten seasons is longer than you would think and includes Arsenal (ghhhhwah pfft – I spit their name), Juventus, AC Milan, Galataseray (who still finished second! Should have tried scoring goals as well as keeping clean sheets) , Benfica, Porto, SC Internacional, Rosenborg and bizarrely Preston North End (a very long time ago). Individually, and within living memory (for most of us) Gilberto Silva was on the World Cup winning Brazil ‘02 squad before going off to join Arsenal and have an unbeaten domestic season. The Champions League went to Real Madrid that year though, and Arsenal crashed out at the second group stage so maybe he had a way to go, but still a good shot at it.

Where am I going with this analogy? Well, I know you might be able to get the perfect one off event like a hit or pitch, and even extend that over several innings or a game or two, but what would constitute a perfect season in baseball? There’s no way in god’s green earth that you could have an undefeated season like Arsenal, ghhhhwah pfft. The Mariners and Cubs who jointly own the record with 116 games still lost 46 games in the season, nearly 30% of their games. Pretty pathetic really when trying to reach perfection (har-di-har). As for winning every competition, if baseball comes to the Olympics, I don’t think MLB players would realistically give a hoot.

On the individual level, it gets even harder. 20 pitchers have now managed perfect games (well done Matt Cain for the most recent entry) and that would certainly be the pinnacle of a career and a direct express first class ticket to a Cy Young award and the hall of fame, but perfect season? There is always more to strive for. Cy Young’s own perfect game was part of a hitless streak of 24 or 25⅓ straight innings—depending on whether or not partial innings at either end of the streak are included. It was also part of a streak of 45 straight innings in which Young did not give up a run, which was then a record. No matter how remarkable that is, he still lost 16 games that year and remained as far from perfection as anyone.

A pitcher throwing a perfect game, EVERY game of a 162 game regular season and potentially 11 wins needed in post season games, would frankly be the result of either impressive advances in doping technology or extraterrestrial/divine intervention (delete according to own theistic beliefs). As for batters, Ted Williams managed 16 base reaching plate appearances in a row while Di Maggio managed a 56 game long hitting streak. Records, yes, but also a million miles from a perfect season. Hitting a homer with every at bat while never making a single fielding mistake all year and scooping up every single play that is within his area? Maybe one day a muscular Jedi will pick up a Louisville and a glove and sign for the Alderaan Athletics, but I doubt it will be in my life time.

The problem being one of baseball’s most specific and unique principles: statistics. The sport is utterly ruled and filled by them. I am not talking English Southern Division Single A here, as those records are of dubious statistical value at best, and hardly indicative of anything over a 12 game season. Combine this wealth of metrics by which to measure success with the sheer length of the season, and you have a situation where attaining true perfection is impossible.

So how does that translate to the English leagues? They are infinitely shorter seasons so it should be much easier to go the whole way never giving up a hit. However, we also play alongside amateur team mates with huge variations in the quality of your backup from game to game, and none of us train on a daily basis (no you don’t, don’t even start fibbing about it.) so personal consistency is quite unlikely in itself at the level needed to get multiple perfect games or 1.000 batting averages.

Throwing or batting a dozen perfect games, is certainly more doable than the 162 MLB games required, but in the real world, just as unlikely, unless some superstar takes early retirement and decide that a spell in Hertfordshire is just the ticket. Over 12 games with the ensuing 348 outs required (admittedly less if mercy rules come into effect), even an NBL pitcher from the Falcons, Nationals, or Mets dropping down to single A is going to get someone along the way who gets a hit, even if it is through pure dumb luck or poor fielding from the defence. Even I have hit off NBL pitchers in the Hunlock series and while being ok on the batting front, I ain’t all that. I imagine that hitting 1.000 is more likely over 12 games but it would still need someone to be playing at very much the wrong level of the game. Getting home runs for each of those hits is flat impossible. Even roid-freaks in home run derby’s with pitchers throwing perfect balls for them don’t hit over the fence every time let alone 60 or so times in a row.

So where is this going? Well, one of my Raptors team mates was dissecting his own performance after our (glorious) win against the Eagles. For once it wasn’t me, and the advice I gave that person was simple: “You may not have been perfect in every part of your game, but you did your own job perfectly.”

The pitcher did his job, the catcher did his, the fielders did theirs, the contact hitters got on base and the power hitters got the big slams, and that’s how you win games. Dropping one or two balls here or there or getting struck out a couple times is utterly irrelevant in the grand scheme of a game if you do what you are needed to do. In various positions you face a varying number of throws, hits or catches to field or dish out getting all of them is an issue of percentages. Percentages none of us doing this sport for free are ever going to be able to keep at 100 (or 0 depending on the target end of the metric). So what do we count as perfect here in blighty-baseball?

Being someone who kicks themselves more than I should for much of the time, and in light of my recent article about starting to enjoy myself again, it is quite clear I can’t be perfect at every part of the game. Well, duh, no great revelation there Ken, thanks, but the fact is I am dreaming if I want to be perfect in even one part of the game. You could be the best the team has at one particular thing, even a league leader, and finding a fault or shortcoming somewhere will still be very easy.

One could say that winning a game means you did what you needed to do, and that is perfection. Let’s face it, if you have that kind of easy going attitude then there is a very good chance that you lack the competitiveness to become good enough to achieve it. Sweeping generalisation alert, but if you are good and claim that you are THAT relaxed about it, I don’t believe you. Sorry. Every competitive person I ever met constantly wanted to improve their own performance in whatever they were aiming themselves at irrespective of win or loss. I bet Cy Young, Ty Cob, Babe Ruth and all the others were never truly 100% happy with their performances. Even after their careers were over, and despite ego’s the size of small countries (large countries in some cases) I bet each and every one of them wished they had done at least one thing better or at least differently. Cy Young even said he should have become a doctor instead of playing baseball, though without having heard the tone it was spoken in, I safely assume it was a joke.

You could say that enjoying yourself and doing the best you can is perfection, but frankly, you’d be the kind of tree hugging fairy that enjoys sports like synchronised swimming and campaigns for school sports not to be scored so kids don’t get downbeat by losing, and I would really rather go and stand on the other side of the room from you now.

Conclusion? I think that deep down, that’s what people actually love about baseball, whether playing or watching. I have not met a person in Herts yet who didn’t want to win, and who didn’t want to be better than they are, irrespective of how good they actually are, and even watching stars at work I hear people talking about so-and-so-won-but-you-see-that-drop-by-whotsitsface? I have seen our best NLB pitchers cursing themselves beneath their breaths for a bad throw and monster hitters dump their helmets and bats in anger after strikeouts. It’s the striving for constant improvement that is one of the biggest draws of the sport. Its always trying to find that marginal edge. You can go home really happy after a game in which you won and did well, but you will always be thinking, hmm, I hope I can do that again next week and just maybe even a little better.

If Tim Keefe (WHO?!?!?!…he played in 1880) has the single season ERA record of 0.857 while Ed Walsh has a career ERA of 1.82 and while Tip O’Neil (1887 this time) has a single season batting average record of .485 and Ty Cob’s career record is 0.366, we got a way to go before someone gets 0.00 or 1.000 respectively.

Doesn’t mean we will ever stop trying.

20 June 201220 June 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falling (back) in love with the game

written by Herts Raptors player, Ken Pike

Whenever I hear stories in the news about top class athletes having problems because they are not enjoying the game or finding the stress particularly difficult to cope with I used to scoff and wonder how people could get stressed at doing something that most people did for fun or enjoyment. They even had the added benefit of getting paid to basically take part in a hobby!

To the casual sportsman a day playing baseball, or football, or whatever sport floats your boat, is a way of relaxing, blowing off steam , and clearing your mind. It is fun. Maybe the aches and pains the next day take a bit of grimacing to get through, and the occasional more serious injury can put a damped on your enjoyment, but for the most part, hearing a multimillionaire complaining about playing is at least confusing and at worst galling and infuriating for those whose jobs are much less savoury.

However, over the past couple of years I may have found some empathy for them. For those who don’t know me, and those particularly new to the club (welcome) I used to manage the Herts Raptors. By further admission, and I am sure those who do know me will nod emphatically, I am not particularly easygoing or relaxed owing to being massively competitive.I generally want everyone and everything to go in the direction of a win. Not at all costs, but certainly at high cost (having myself been at the receiving end of a very serious, and nearly baseball career ending injury three years ago, I fought through hell and high water to get back into the sport).

Let me just point out that this article may read in parts as a confessional, and in parts like a whinge. It isn’t one, it’s an explanation of a journey from love to hate and back. Over the past two years of managing a rookie team I have discovered there is a point where it does start to matter so much that it causes you sleepless nights, stress, gnashed teeth and tense shoulders. A sad point where ultimately, you wake up one day realising that you are not looking forward to going to play baseball.

The Raptors were never expected to achieve much other than train new blood to feed the more senior leagues, but when you are part of the team, and in charge of the team, that expectation is out of the window. You do care, and you want to win, and my opinion is that the day I no longer win is the day I walk away.

I recall heated debates and arguments with the other managers in the club over team selection (I apologised after, and do so again). I also recall being the first at the field and the last off it at every game and every training session, and several more occasions too in a hope to put as much of my soul and energy into the Raptors. I’d like to think I was never the kind of manager to ball people out for not playing well, and hope that the times that I did raise my voice were only ever taken to be the encouragement that I intended them to be, but I imagine that is probably naive, and it is almost certain that at some point people have felt downbeat and sometimes even insulted. (Again, I apologise to them – it wasn’t meant that way). Whether I was right or wrong is now irrelevant, and not the point of this little story anyway.

The end result is that two years in management of a team was hard work. Don’t worry, I am not looking for sympathy, as there is also plenty I gained from it including some good friends, some real experience in teamwork, and even management that has even been translatable to my workplace in small degrees, and a feeling of achievement. Granted, we never won the league, but in both seasons the Raptors went from a team with potential but without any skill or experience to a team that won games and progressed players up the leagues. That was the point of the Raptors at the time so in a way, we were successful.

However, at some point last year, I have to admit I was not enjoying it. It was adding to pressure elsewhere in my life (young family, new job, empty bank account) instead of relieving it. I wouldn’t say it was turning into a job, as I wasn’t getting paid, but it was certainly not the fun pastime it had started out as. I spent hours after the game and even into the next few days analysing my performance and that of the team. Figuring out how we were going to get wins. Figuring out how to get the performances I knew we were capable of. I couldn’t get it out of my head and lost plenty of sleep as a result.

So, one day, after a rather heated argument with one of my own team mates which nearly came to blows, I realised the time had come to step down. Properly. I had done so after my first year in charge to make way for someone else, but was persuaded to give it another shot when no one stepped up, but this time I was certain that if I continued to manage it would damage my relationship with the sport.

The result has been night and day. Now, several months, one Hunlock series, one offseason, one pre-season and one HSL later and a few games into the season and the Raptors are a different kettle of fish. Thanks to some excellent work by various members of the board and the generally fantastic reputation of the greater club, some wonderful talent was recruited to bolster the upper teams, and the knock-on effect has been that the Raptors were put together with the intention of creating playoff (and possibly title) contenders.

The new Raptors manager in the shape of Arnie Longboy brings a much deeper tactical knowledge to the position than I did, and also a much calmer and more pragmatic style of leadership. These are things that are starting to pay off much earlier in the season as we sit on a .500 record with two of the next three games being very winnable. Despite a wobbly start against high quality opponents, hindered by long spells of not having any games thanks to a mixture of timetable, weather and other factors, the Raptors look powerful. Solid defence and a powerful offence. They look like they could be contenders.

For my own part I can concentrate on my own game again, and while parts of my game are still not where I want them to be (notably pitching) other parts have returned in full force (I seem to be able to catch again and ground balls no longer fill me with any fear) and others are returning nicely (I’m getting bat to ball more often than not again).

The insertion of confidence from the first win, hopefully followed by a straightforward fixture against league struggling Tonbridge next week may be enough to kickstart a roll. There are at least three fixtures that the Raptors should be well capable of winning, and another that will be close. If we put those in the bag then we are facing postseason.

However, that’s a paragraph full of ‘ifs’ ‘hopefullys’ and ‘shoulds’ and ultimately the end position is not the point. It is not always getting the result and league position that counts in making a game enjoyable. That’s not to say winning isn’t important though. I think the hardest thing for someone with my competitive streak was not being competitive. Not being in with a shout at all is harder than narrowly missing out on what could have been. Spending every game looking for the little victories and sometimes scraping the barrel when trying to find the positives is not easily sustained. Sooner or later morale starts to sap.

The long and short of it is, that without the burden of management, and coupled with a real prospect of competing for wins, means that slowly but surely that passion for the game is re-igniting in my heart. I had a smile on my face for the whole of Sunday’s hard fought win against the Eagles, and for the first time in a long time my head was not racing for the rest of the evening with things that I or the team could have done better, because for the large part…there wasn’t really anything. Instead it was filled with dreams of the Raptors playing that well again (as Eagles manager Duncan Hoyle said, the Raptors made few mistakes and were clinical in everything they did.)

Maybe I do understand how people fall out of love with the game now. When the desire to win, or to achieve a certain target, even if that target is just to play to your best irrespective of results, does not meet up with reality it can feel a bit like a kick in the teeth. Maybe some of those MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL/Premier League superstars that swap from team to team hoping for a solution are not looking for more money or glory, but just trying to re-set their focus and find a place they enjoy being at (maybe).

I have now re-set my focus, and have been hit with the wonderful fortune that it seems the whole team have turned a new page at the same time. Some habits die hard, and I am sure there will be times when I feel frustrated and downbeat if we blow a close game for example. I still want to win more than ever, and with the potential of doing so being closer than ever part of me burns for that success. But for the most part, I am not just back to enjoying the game…I am back to sitting at my desk on a Tuesday afternoon, barely over the aches and pains from the last game, dreaming of next Sunday. Of hitting that ball one more time, of running the paths, and making those outs…all for the love of the game.

24 May 2012 by Rob Jones

If you build it, Herts will come

In the United States, there are baseball diamonds in most parks and at most schools. In the UK, you find them in the strangest of places. Such as the Essex Redbacks new field in Billericay. Yes, it’s next to a football club, so that’s not so strange.

But it is in fact in a farmers field, bordered on two sides by rapeseed crops growing so high you fully expect the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson to emerge from them at any moment. The recent weather and its farming heritage combined to make the surface look pretty lumpy and threatening, but once the game got started there were absolutely no complaints about it. It’s great that Essex, just like Herts, have been able to expand their facilities and provide more chances to play ball.

I blame rust

I can’t blame the surface for any of the fielding mistakes I made, certainly. The most glaring bonehead play was dropping a routine pop-up in foul ground having called off Theo, who had been playing a blinder. I can’t find any reason for that one. More generally I will blame rust, and a lack of baseball this year.

Rob Jones at bat — Rob Jones, poised at the plate. He doesn't actually look TOO skinny in this picture...

Definitely I am going to blame rust for me missing out on a sliding catch in the outfield. I had started in right field, and had a pretty quiet time. Essex got very few big hits, and those that did make it to the outfield headed for left and centre. But finally a batter shanked a ball into the air in my direction, and it was time for action…

I think it was always going to be a tough one, falling in the in-between zone that separates infield and outfield. But at first I thought it was carrying pretty well. Then, maybe held up by the wind, maybe by its spin, I realised it was dropping very short and I was nowhere near it. At least that left me in no doubt that I had to run hard. So I did, and slid at the last moment in a way which has produced catches in the past. Not this time, though – it got away.

Huffed from a pea-shooter

It wasn’t my only “nearly spectacular” moment of the game. Having moved over to third base, I attempted a goalkeeping dive towards a line drive which came through at a good height. I think I was just a bit too slow on that one, because it felt like I got close. I did finally manage to get something to show for my diving around — in the eighth inning, I think, I slid to my left to snare a sharp ground ball. It was one of those where you aren’t sure the ball is in the glove until you look but, when it is, you feel pretty satisfied.

From a position on my backside, I alertly looked to second to force out the runner who had been on first base. Somewhat bathetically I capped off this moment of athleticism by giving Duncan a throw which bounced three times before rolling the last distance like a pea huffed out of a pea-shooter. But the runner was out, so I am looking on the bright side.

The big pluses

My batting showed perhaps a slow improvement on last week. It all started off with another walk, predictably enough. But after that there was sometimes too much enthusiasm to hit. The umpire had a pretty big strike zone, so I felt it would be risky to count on getting the calls you want – and I also came up with men on base quite a lot, when a walk is of more limited use.

I popped it up twice — once to the catcher and once to the pitcher — which might suggest I was swinging at high stuff. But I got a couple of hits, and scored a couple of runs. My best contact was a fly ball out to centre. I got on base, but since it was clearly dropped by the outfielder I really have to admit that I reached on an error.

There were many things I should have done better, but once again I felt good for having been in the game. Even if I was not crucial – Adrian’s home run and Theo’s pitching were the big pluses — I felt that I had helped the team win. I won’t be able blame rust for much longer! There is a good spirit in the Eagles, relaxed but competitive, with constant ribbing and a good chatter to keep guys focused. And that makes it fun to show up. The aches and pains — even my fingers ached, for heaven’s sake — did little to encourage me back, but I am definitely looking forward to the next game.

24 May 201228 May 2012 by Rob Jones

Back to the ballpark

It was a cold, grey and wet Monday morning as I took the children to school. It was like many other days for the past month (not all of them were Mondays, though a disproportionate number felt like a Monday!) But I was sure that just hours before, I had been playing baseball at a sun-dappled Grovehill ballpark. Was that just a hallucination? A mirage?

Maybe not… The evidence is there to back up the mental images. There is the uniform, smeared with red dust, piled in front of the washing machine. There are my aching legs and arms. And there is the typical collection of bumps and grazes. Yes, it was real. Finally, for the first time in 2012, I had played baseball.

After a cancellation and a couple of washouts, this was –in effect — Opening Day for the Raptors. The resurrected south coast franchise, Hove Tuesday, was coming to visit Hemel Hempstead. And Arnie Longboy’s men were ready to meet them. So prepared were they, that most of the players had chosen their own songs to boom out of the PA as they walked up to bat. This was Major League, baby.

Rob Jones archive — Rob Jones pops one up in his younger days

I started my tenth season of baseball positioned out in left field, amid the daisies and buttercups which still festooned the playing field. It started pretty quietly, but in due course an arcing fly ball came my way. The alert centre fielder shouted me back, but part-way through my retreat I slowed, thinking I had gone far enough. I had not. When I headed backwards again it was too late and the ball went past my despairing glove.

A frustrating start, then, and I hope that my weeks of inactivity don’t do too much damage to my rusty “skills”. Not long afterwards I was able to securely catch another hit to the outfield which, as a line drive, was probably much harder to judge. But there you go — this game doesn’t always make sense.

I hadn’t got as far as choosing an At Bat Anthem for 2012. When Arnie suggested it I thought jokingly about “He’s Not There”, or “The Invisible Man”, since I had never showed up to training or pre-season. But instead I left it, so against Hove I came up to bat listening to someone else’s random selection of heavy rock.

And I made my traditional start by getting a walk. In fact, my batting season started by receiving eleven straight balls — adding up to two walks and a 3-0 count. After the pitcher finally grooved a strike, I then made an error by swinging at the next offering, which would probably have been ball four high and away. I had put myself in a hole which I duly finished digging by striking out. Respect to the pitcher for his recovery, but as I said earlier, baseball doesn’t always make sense — and neither did my batting line of two patient walks, and then a flailing strikeout.

This was an odd game. The Raptors started badly, giving up a stack of runs. But they immediately got them back, with both starting pitchers giving up a lot of walks. Raptors were ahead after the first, but bit by bit Hove took control. The Herts bats were unusually quiet, and there were some unwise choices on the base paths. Perhaps the weeks washed out by rain had affected other players too, and I fully expect the machine to click into gear as the season gets going.

I had to leave before it was over, but it had been an enjoyable start. There were some good points, both for me and for the team. There is a lot of will to win, a lot of creativity in how to achieve it, and I think this will be a very interesting year.