or to quote Antonio

We came second, It was a f**king close second but second.

In classic BD fashion we arived late but not as previously... however this had allowed our opposition a chance to get in the field toss a few practices and look the part as opposed to charging across London, on the very sweaty tube...
Mental Note : get there early(or just earlier so we can have a quick practice so we don't start so slow)

Moral victory BD 1 - Three Blind Mice 0 For getting there nearly almost on time

hang on, we have been here before the other team don't seem to have enough young ladies on the team..
Moral victory BD 2 Three Blind Mice 0

oh- oh we haven't brought the gloves.. ohh booger!!!!
Moral victory BD 2 Three Blind Mice 1

Hang on The Mice had Beer, damn
Moral victory BD 2 Three Blind Mice 2

Having realised that we did not have any beers (leave alone being slightly knacked from the yet again ardous trek) we were slightly deflated

In classsic fashion we batted extremely well and got a number of hits (Chris C and Antonio L and Jess P), however we weren't able to convert this in to a large score...
BD 1 the Mice 0

The lethargy showed and despite what was a Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice K or should that be Cal S type performance) . Calvin S stepped into the fire and played a Ruthian performance (but more of that to come...)

We batted well and hard but could only manage 2 runs.. out we went .. and promptly conceded 8 runs. our typical , we have just arrived rustiness giving us a massive mountain to climb..

BD 1 The Mice 8

But it got better.. really

Another solid batting performance in the second inning capped by Caroline getting on base and then a beautiful arcing deeep line drive by the Calvin S, a thing of beauty (or possibly the most violent swing since they first unveiled Peter Snow's digital swingometer on Election Night )

After a bit of in between tinkerring with the fielding lineup , we seemed to click, a we only conceded a single run.. and the mice were squeaking no roaring,, we definitely were showing all the promise...

Bd 2 The Mice 9

It didn't look good

Suddenly it happened a few tweaks with the fielding lineup , a lot of communication and bang we started to stifle them.. Calvin was warmedup, the team was in the game, and with a solid infield we started to get on top of the mice... metaphorically speaking.

Was the hole too depp.. errr Deep

To be honest ..NO

solid hitting for the retuned lineup including triple form chris C and Antonio L plated 2 more runs..
BD 4 The Mice 9

The quality pitching. and good fielding from both the infield and outfield
Chris C also started some in between batting catching (and boy we started looking the business)

The next round we got one again. Why you ask dear reader , well I'll tell you...
We started reaching base rather than trying to hit the ball out of the park which considering the size of regent's park is possibly only possible if you are either David 'Big Papi' Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez (check the size of the contract), or you are juiced like Barry Bonds, say it with me kids... CHEAT) and even then...
We then gave up one runon a deep deep swirling ball and a ball which didn't get called foul
curses

bd 4 The 10

The Sitch
We needed 5 runs in one inning.. a tall order but if this was a US schmaltzy film it would have been no problem.

The inning started off okay wit a quick single, and then we dug a bigger hole 2 quick outs .. however we had now turned into the BD Cheer squad with Ravi on the first base line calling the runners and pretty much every one not batting calling people to leave or swing lead by Gary andChris C with the the full BD Chorus

With patient hitting comes great reward... we started getting guys and gals on base
having plated runs on a lot of good top of the order innings.. Chris C again, and Antonio Again and Jacki Again....
A couple of walks and hang on we had a bases loaded situation , the pitch was okay a good contact and a dropped catch... then a wild throw for what should have been the end of the inning... but it was thrown past third... into the Dead ball ground (God bless the rules), see previous posts), which meant we got to plate another run..

We were right in it, another good hit and we got ANOTHER run

suddenly from a situation of what should be Game Over man... Game over.. to GAME on..

Unfortunately the hole was too deep... one run short.. but what an inning.. how good were we..!!

Go team!!

The Kissoff
BD Bollux/Bollux/Bollix/Never Mind the Bollocks/Rubbish 9 -10 The Three Blind Mice

Play of the game
Antonio slipping as he charged into 1st...
Opposition play of the game:
Callum W hit an absolutely crunching drive, but wuz robbed when the opposing pitcher stuck his glove out and BAM!!!! he caught it (I reckon he only did it through self preservation...)but robbed Callum , who was super patient at the plate and waited for one to hit., of a sure fire extra base hit..Great Plate discipline.

Player of the game:
The whole shooting match was fabulous!!! All stars throughout.
A stellar pitching /batting and fielding from the mound by Calvin S
Chris C whose batting pratice at Northwick Park on Saturday seems to have paid HOOOOGE dividends
Antonio L - he can't field , he can't throw but he can definitely bat a bit
Jacki M - good hitting all day long and some good work at first base
Gorana - just for playing and hitting the ball well
Callum - good hustle and good contact and not swearing when he got robbed of a extra base hit by the opposing pitcher , and some timely hitting,
Ravi - for the dead ball play, and not getting into a shouting match with the umpire , who was actually pretty good..
Caroline for patience at the plate and gettin on the base and scoring...
Jess P for being good at the plate , and playing even when she took a blow on the wrist
Gary for some great play at 1st base.. and good hitting and getting the bench involved in the game
Matt H for being super solid backing up wherever asked and some great hitting to back up Chris C at the plate...

This weeks Team
Jess P
Chris C
Matt H
Jacki
Antonio L
Ravi - splitting time with Gary B at the plate
Caroline P
Calvin S
Callum W
Gorana


Look of the week : Gorana having got her first hot, running down the line on the slippery grass having been shocked at how vociferous we all got..
Quote of the Week Antonio , which made this weeks by line,
Honorable mention: Chris C - I have never been so happy to lose a game before!!

Notes :
Must remember the gloves..

We need to get there a bit earlier
We still need Beer
Have we got a name think we do
see above (BD Bollux/Bollux/Bollix/Never Mind the Bollocks/Rubbish)
Camera , team photos, Facebook , apologies but hopefully from next week we will be flexing the digital cameras and we will have in game photos (I know it's a mad Idea, Team photos...)
We might even start graphing our performance

Team Shirts okay after last nights performance.. we definitely rate team shirst
Foam Fingers.. - this is a genius Idea, and super props to the person who mentioned it!!!
Oh yeah

we f**king rock

Final Notes
When exchanging handshakes a number of the opposing team said : you played better than us
Moral Victories
BD 3 The Mice 0

roll on next week against betgenius

Beer + Pizza = Winning combination
Lance Armstrong + Bike = Winning Combination
The Walkabout and Ravi = Winning Combination

BD + Softball = Work in progress towards a mildly average combination
Mud + Women... and
Jello + Women = Winning Combinations..

A Number of apparently lucid individuals (Stef Dorn and Dee Arthur) got involved in the organisation and participation in a Mud Wrastle for Charideee..

and being all for Charidee...I thought the interweb is a great place for shameless promotion

so get involved .
throw some money , and/or participate or spend money on the Gals of BD
for further details :

http://www.mudwrestle4charity.com

for details of why and how please ask Dee and Stef...

It was hot and sweaty, and that was just walking up and over Primrose Hill (The views were beautiful mind you...) , we arrived at an empty Pitch 2 , set our selves up and got some practice in while we were waiting for BlowUp media..

Caroline playing another fine game as Captain phoned around and eventually discovered them on Pitch 4 as opposed to pitch 2
Moral Victory BD 1 Blowup 0

They had also asked us to bring first base, but ended up not using the base which we had manfully brought along (Props to Matt H for carrying his new Orange security blanket)

Moral Victory BD 2 Blowup 0

then we started...

We started batting, and Lousia discovered she was still nursing injuries sustained playing last week.
we batted well, getting good contact on the ball throughout the order and getting on base, but were not able to turn this in to runs (somewhat like the new york yankees at the moment http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com)

Early mentions for Chris C coming in getting good hits, another solid presence in what could potentially be a a very potent lineup. This was then followed up by Harry kewell loving Jackie M, getting another hit to advance the runner.
However we weren't able to score... curses foiled again dear reader.

Even though we were fielding 6 new players we were just more assured , and played a better game than last week.

To misquote various gameshow hosts Pitching means prizes , and ours is getting there.
We issued far fewer walks, which meant we stayed competitive.

We had no umpire this week , so no sarky comments about the lack of beer... the second inning was something of a minor triumph, We got on bases and advanced runners, and Ravi scored an RBI (Runs Batted In meaning he is now hitting just shy of .500 (very good in terms of Baseball))

The 3rd inning was the highlight, and previous at bats gave no clues to how this would turn out, Alex lead off but was again called out on strikes, Jemma entered and again hit well advancing to first Rob S came in and hit the ball hard, and Jemma DH (Not designated hitter) ran , mid way through the run, she stumbled (possibly a deliberate ploy to bamboozle the opposition), but in a sublime moment turned the stumble in to a magnificent Cagney and Lacy style roll, and got to second.


Generally the experience of having played a game or in some cases going to the training is paying off, Alex G played well at first base, and made 2 good catches.. however was just beaten to the not at all coveted player of the game award

Play of the Game, Jackie M and Richard W for the catch they managed between them. It would have been worth the admission fee if we charged.

Honourable mentions : Louisa H for playing hurt , Alex G, for a well played game at first base, in his first competitive outing.

New dark horse: Richard W bringing his silky cricket skills to to BD softball team

Must Try harder : Antonio L for crying of at the last minute for having something of a Hangover...

Major props for helping the team without even meaning to: Christophe Taddei for giving Ravi a ask.com T-Shirt...

What ever happened to: Alex G he was just there and then disappeared on the way home via the pub???

Apologies to BlowUp but the lure of beer and football at The Pembroke on the way back to the tube was too great , we might have to try a different drinks night..

Dark horse redux: Gary Bonsels for bringing bd brasil hustle to the softball team

Potential new team name
bd softies (suggested by G Bonsels)

The Kissoff
The final score Blow Up won 23 - 6 (though we need to learn to do better scoring)

Notes:
We need to come with more beer
Learn to score (gawd bless the interweb - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_scorekeeping)
Better communication on the field
Learn the rules about baserunning (this includes me...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softball

BD
Louisa Harker (playing injured)
Chris Clarke
Jackie M
Alex G
Jemma DH
Rob S (not Sellers but Swainson)
Matt H
Caroline P (Captain)
Ravi (Umpired this week)
Gary Bonsels
and Richard W

Having arrived full of the joys of summer(despite being late) , our lofty hopes were soon dashed.
Baseball, Softball, and home buying are all about location, location, location and in our case we couldn't seem to throw a strike .

This meant that the first inning lasted for..EVER. and we had conceded 10 runs, of which they only actually managed to hit 2 balls.

Despite this humbling, we took to the batting really well.
Louisa Harker, lead off, and got on base with a good drive, this was followed by some more good hitting by Antonio..

Jenny stepped in to the batters box, and with some extremely dodgy umpiring was given out on strikes..
Matt H stepped in and on the 2nd pitch made a great contact , and drove in both Louisa and Antonio.

10 -2 we then had some more interesteing umping, but despite this we got another run.
Score
10-3

The second inning was carbon copy of the first , though we tried a pitcher change, despite some good play we conceded another 9 runs

19- 3 The game is pretty much over

BD stepped in and the troops under Caroline's captaincy , and with Rob S and Ravi shouting instructions , and occasionally making the umpires calls did magnificently and we scored another 2 runs all off the bat

19 - 5

Matt Horobin took over the pitching duties and started getting the zone, which improved our competitiveness

We eventually rounded out the game 30 - 6

Yes it was a defeat , but we had at least 2 moral victories
1. All our runs came from good batting, and good base-running
2. We got the drinks in first despite them getting to the bar first.. BD RULE
3. They had already played 1 extra game than us.. and it showed


Note: to team: let's pitch better

Play of the game: Matt Horobin brilliant line Drive in the bottom of the first to score BD 2 runs..
Player of the game: Caroline Page, for organising the whole shebang!!

Notes:
Must take throat lozenges if I am going to shout so much!
Must take beer to pacify the umpire...

The Team:

Louisa H
Antonio
Jenny L
Matt H
Caroline (captain)
Rob S (Hence forward to be known as Sellers)
Steph D
Ravi
Jackie
Simon