Dirty Pirate Hookers Post Season
Dirty Pirate Hookers: 2009 Playoffs, North Semi-Finals
Softballs: 16
DPH: 4
9/25/09, Friday, 9:00 PM @ Fireman's Field
The Pirates boot the loot.
The game plan was simple: defensively, keep their girls off the bases, minimize mistakes, and make the outs that are given; offensively, avoid excessive fly outs, put runners on, and smart base running. The plan worked perfectly--for Softballs. The Pirates played a most un-DPH-like game with many offensive fly ball outs--10 out of 16 not including two Automatic Outs, many defensive mistakes, few base runners--only 7(!), and poor base running. In short, Softballs out Pirate-d the Pirates.
The Pirates, who typically feast on Softballs' pitching, were held to a meager seven hits by cheeky L Jackson and solid Softballs defense. The Pirate slash lines tell the tale (Avg/OBP/Slg): .549/.615/.922 in the regular season victory and .318/.318/.591 in the playoff defeat where half the line up combined went 0 for 13.
The Pirates played hard, but at times fell prey to over-aggressiveness. This was evident early on as noted by the following top of the 1st play: after moving to second on a 5-3 force out, Justin V darted to third drawing a throw. A clean pick made for an easy out, but luck was on his side. The ball squirted past third and Justin made a mad dash home. Once again, good luck prevailed--the ball was dropped and the run scored. The risk, however, was unwise with two out and John C--in the midst of a cartoonish offensive post season: .800/.900/2.100--due up. On the second pitch, John C blasted a solo-shot deep over the fence in right.
Aggressive base running wasn't going to win the game; the Pirates desperately needed runners on base and few were coming. "You appreciate good, hard play..." said manager John C, "...but you need to stick with the plan that won 15 games. 7 base runners weren't winning this battle."
The Hookers scored in only 3 innings and were shut out in 3 innings. There were two 5 batter innings, three 4 batter innings and one 3 batter inning. The Pirates offense was stalled the entire game and as a result, Softballs played largely pressure free.
The Pirates wasted a strong pitching effort by Garry S who was victimized by poor defense and the lack of offense. Garry gave the Hookers sufficient opportunities to take command of the skirmish, but his team--lacking not in effort, but in results--failed him.
Two 5 run innings doomed the Pirates and an anemic offense secured defeat thus ending the Pirates 2009 campaign.
Automatic Out also inflicted much damage to the Pirates' effort. John C made the best of a bad situation by structuring his lineup with four men in a row before Automatic Out, but in no way does that compensate for the absence of a good hitter.
The numbers limn the negative impact: with no Out in the lineup, Pirate lassies reached base greater than 40% of the time and produced around 20% of team runs. With Out in the lineup, the lassies OBP plummeted 12+ points to about 28% and their run production to 11.5%. While some believe taking the automatic out to bat 4 men in a row is an absolute advantage, the argument is ludicrous--on both sides of the ball.
"I encourage other managers to employ the strategy when playing against my team..." said DPH manager John C, while adding "Offensively, you can shoot for big gaps and on defense, I'll take a guaranteed out any day."
Defensively, the Pirates were designed to take advantage of 4 men in the outfield. Automatic Out precluded this advantage and opened gaps in the outfield for good teams to exploit. In fact, the Pirates were 2-2 with Automatic Out--beating mediocre teams and losing to decent or good teams able to take advantage of the empty space in the outfield.
At the post game press conference, manager/GM John C was asked about the Pirates' season. "It was very good. We had 15 wins and a decent seed for the playoffs. We played well through the playoffs despite Automatic Out in the lineup. The playoff structure was a bit odd in that the 1 seed (Softballs) played the 3 seed (DPH) and the 2 seed (Cafe Hollywood) played the 4 seed (Gold Coin Runnings). I'm not really sure how that happens...but we had a very good season with the misfortune of playing a bad game at a bad time. Not having our complete team for the playoffs ultimately truncated our run."
Now, after a long season, the Pirates go home to ponder what could have been.
Softballs: 16
DPH: 4
9/25/09, Friday, 9:00 PM @ Fireman's Field
The Pirates boot the loot.
The game plan was simple: defensively, keep their girls off the bases, minimize mistakes, and make the outs that are given; offensively, avoid excessive fly outs, put runners on, and smart base running. The plan worked perfectly--for Softballs. The Pirates played a most un-DPH-like game with many offensive fly ball outs--10 out of 16 not including two Automatic Outs, many defensive mistakes, few base runners--only 7(!), and poor base running. In short, Softballs out Pirate-d the Pirates.
The Pirates, who typically feast on Softballs' pitching, were held to a meager seven hits by cheeky L Jackson and solid Softballs defense. The Pirate slash lines tell the tale (Avg/OBP/Slg): .549/.615/.922 in the regular season victory and .318/.318/.591 in the playoff defeat where half the line up combined went 0 for 13.
The Pirates played hard, but at times fell prey to over-aggressiveness. This was evident early on as noted by the following top of the 1st play: after moving to second on a 5-3 force out, Justin V darted to third drawing a throw. A clean pick made for an easy out, but luck was on his side. The ball squirted past third and Justin made a mad dash home. Once again, good luck prevailed--the ball was dropped and the run scored. The risk, however, was unwise with two out and John C--in the midst of a cartoonish offensive post season: .800/.900/2.100--due up. On the second pitch, John C blasted a solo-shot deep over the fence in right.
Aggressive base running wasn't going to win the game; the Pirates desperately needed runners on base and few were coming. "You appreciate good, hard play..." said manager John C, "...but you need to stick with the plan that won 15 games. 7 base runners weren't winning this battle."
The Hookers scored in only 3 innings and were shut out in 3 innings. There were two 5 batter innings, three 4 batter innings and one 3 batter inning. The Pirates offense was stalled the entire game and as a result, Softballs played largely pressure free.
The Pirates wasted a strong pitching effort by Garry S who was victimized by poor defense and the lack of offense. Garry gave the Hookers sufficient opportunities to take command of the skirmish, but his team--lacking not in effort, but in results--failed him.
Two 5 run innings doomed the Pirates and an anemic offense secured defeat thus ending the Pirates 2009 campaign.
Automatic Out also inflicted much damage to the Pirates' effort. John C made the best of a bad situation by structuring his lineup with four men in a row before Automatic Out, but in no way does that compensate for the absence of a good hitter.
The numbers limn the negative impact: with no Out in the lineup, Pirate lassies reached base greater than 40% of the time and produced around 20% of team runs. With Out in the lineup, the lassies OBP plummeted 12+ points to about 28% and their run production to 11.5%. While some believe taking the automatic out to bat 4 men in a row is an absolute advantage, the argument is ludicrous--on both sides of the ball.
"I encourage other managers to employ the strategy when playing against my team..." said DPH manager John C, while adding "Offensively, you can shoot for big gaps and on defense, I'll take a guaranteed out any day."
Defensively, the Pirates were designed to take advantage of 4 men in the outfield. Automatic Out precluded this advantage and opened gaps in the outfield for good teams to exploit. In fact, the Pirates were 2-2 with Automatic Out--beating mediocre teams and losing to decent or good teams able to take advantage of the empty space in the outfield.
At the post game press conference, manager/GM John C was asked about the Pirates' season. "It was very good. We had 15 wins and a decent seed for the playoffs. We played well through the playoffs despite Automatic Out in the lineup. The playoff structure was a bit odd in that the 1 seed (Softballs) played the 3 seed (DPH) and the 2 seed (Cafe Hollywood) played the 4 seed (Gold Coin Runnings). I'm not really sure how that happens...but we had a very good season with the misfortune of playing a bad game at a bad time. Not having our complete team for the playoffs ultimately truncated our run."
Now, after a long season, the Pirates go home to ponder what could have been.
| Boxscore | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| DPH | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 7 | 4 | |
| Softballs | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | x | 16 | 20 | 0 |
| Player | Slot | Pos | PA | AB | H | BB | IBB | HBP | ROE | CI | OS | K | SF | S | EB | CA | GIDP | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | ROB | Avg | OBP | Slg |
| Katie S | 1 | C | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.500 |
| Justin V | 2 | LF/CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.667 | 0.667 | 1.111 |
| Colleen B | 3 | 1B | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.273 | 0.417 | 0.273 |
| John C | 4 | RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.800 | 0.900 | 2.100 |
| Christina C | 5 | 2B | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 |
| Garry S | 6 | P/LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.800 | 1.400 |
| Mike F | 7 | 3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 |
| Scott J | 8 | SS | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.556 | 0.556 | 1.222 |
| Steve F | 9 | CF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.556 | 0.600 | 1.111 |
| Warren S | 9 | P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.600 | 0.600 | 0.800 |
| Auto OUT | 10 | --- | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Gm Totals: | 22 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0.318 | 0.318 | 0.591 |
