Game 2 Well, you've read the account of our arrival, first night and first Game. A great game, a WIN even, on a perfect field in South Florida in the middle of the New England Winter. What could be better?!?
Due to the quick first game, we had more than 2 hours the hit the spread, hang out in the Clubhouse, or in Manny, 2-Tee and Nail's case; go to the beach.
After the catered lunch over by the Stadium, (BTW, the only day the food sucked.."Mike" Mahan can explain) the Nor'easters decided to hang out by their lockers. Except, like I said, the Three Amigos. After briefly chilling in the Clubhouse, our 3 heros went to the beach in full uniform, to play air guitar, strike baseball poses, take "spy" pictures of unsuspecting women and cavort naked (Nails).
By looking at the photos of the Clubhouse in Part 1 and checking out the Clubhouse movies in this episode, you can see how much fun it was hanging out in there. But, we had to tear ourselves away from the "Knucklehead Jamboree" to play game 2. We needed another pelt today to make the beer (Pepsi 1) taste colder. The day had warmed up to about 70 degrees (the only day that the game temperatures weren't in the low 80's) and we moved to the field on the Stadium side of the complex (you can see it in the background). We settled into a cool open dugout with a shell covered floor and watched the other players file into their dugout on the third base side. I pitied them, they were about to play "The Nor'easters". So with no further adoo, I present to you:
Game 2 Our bats were hot, and we had Bullet on the mound. I had NO doubt that Bullet would do exactly what 2-Tee had done this morning...shut our opponents down. I was happy we had the sticks first.
Since we just continue our batting order from where it left off from the last game, Bullet was our leadoff man. The only other change was Fluff. He decided to take his at bats. It was better than going insane.
Bullet was retired by the 3rd baseman, but Ice, Joltin' and Duse greeted their pitcher with base hits, and a run. Duse getting the ribbie. Bullet K'd their leadoff hitter, and finished them off in 5 minutes. After 1, 1-0 Nor'easters.
The Nor'easter statement inning in Game 2 was the 3rd. 2-Tee and Supe led off the 3rd with base hits, and both Bullet and Ice lofted long windblown fly balls to left that fell in. Their left fielder probably should have had both, but it was no picnic catching fly balls in that high blus sky, with a shifting wind. Their pitcher was pissed. Joe and Manny followed with ribbi base hits. The pitcher, even more pissed, started bitching at his 3rd baseman and the umpire. I think their third base coach was bitching about us as well. He was the only semi jerk I met in 5 days down there. I forget what his problem was, other than being behind 7-0 after 3.
Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, Bullet was retiring 12 of the first 13 batters. Their first 5 hitters were good hitters; big hard swingers. They finally scored in the 5th on a triple and a fielder's choice. But after 6, it was 10-1 Nor'eastes, the Fat Lady was warming up. But our opponents did not give up easily.
In the home 7th, their leadoff hitter poked a 1 out single. Their second batter then smoked a titanic Blast over the dumpsters in left center, rolling into the neighborhood. This scribe was in center at the time, and this Tater was tagged. To get an idea of the majesty of this shot, check out the picture "Blast Zone", and check out where the dumpsters are. With the aid of 2 Nor'easter errors and a 2 out double, our opponents crawled back into the game, 10-5 Nor'easters after 7.
Supe came on the pitch in the 8th for the Nor'easters. Supe heads up the Nor'easter bullpen called the "Omlettes". The "Omlettes" will have to get some outs in the next few days. 2-Tee and Bullet can't pitch every inning; and besides, 2-Tee's arm already hurts. But, Supe did just fine, gave up a couple cheap runs in the 9th. The Nor'easters hung on for a 10-7 win. Close Call.
Picture Gallery Game 2, Thursday January 19, 2006 1:15 PM
