The purpose of my Backyard Baseball 2003 game between the Humongous Melonheads and the Pittsburgh Pirates was supposed to be to showcase the opener strategy, which works wonders when used effectively. The focus became something completely different.
Yes, utilizing the opener worked. The purpose of it isn’t just to have someone different throw the first inning. The opener succeeds when you have two wildly different types of pitchers lined up to go in succession, ensuring the opposing lineup won’t be able to get into any sort of rhythm. It doesn’t work if the purpose is just for someone different to face the top of the lineup.
I made it work by having Maria Luna, a lefty, throw the first inning before Ashley Webber, the right-handed starter, came in. She ended up going 6 2/3, allowing just one run in the process before Gretchen Hasselhoff labored her way to a four-out save. The only run Pittsburgh (1-9) scored was in the eighth as Gwen Sears doubled and scored an error. As it turns out, she would’ve scored on the following play anyway as Cheryl Reynolds singled at the end of a long at-bat, but Sophie Meyer popped out to end the inning and Gretchen struck out the side in the ninth to end the game.
That really didn’t matter, though. The game, and the entire season, for that matter, was all about what happened in the bottom of the third inning.
Watch for yourself.
You’re not tripping. That’s a Ricky Johnson home run. It wasn’t Aluminum Power. He was indeed boosted out of his mind, with his hitting going from 1/10 to 9/10 for the game.
Ricky Johnson hit a real home run on Hard with no Swing Spot or Pitch Locator. The only time I had homered with him before was a fluky play at Cement Gardens on a grounder that kept rolling. This is the first time I’ve ever managed to hit a ball over the fence on the fly with Slick Rick.
Who said 2020 wasn’t a great year?
We ended up winning 3-1, with the other runs scoring on a Billy Jean Blackwood single in the first and on a throwing error in the third that allowed Maria to score.
WP: Ashley Webber (3-2) LP: Sophie Meyer (1-6) SV: Gretchen Hasselhoff (2)
Backyard Soccer 2004 was once again intense, with the increased difficulty of the A Division providing problems for yours truly. Trailing the Super-Duper Hornets 2-1 in the second half, Dmitri Petrovich scored off a rebound when a Kiesha Phillips shot hit the crossbar, but we couldn’t capitalize on chances for a game-winner and settled for a draw. We did round out the first half of A Division play by beating the Dallas Burn 4-1, conceding an early goal but absolutely dominating the rest of the way. We enter the Off the Wall Indoor Tournament in first place with 19 points (6 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses).
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