Starting for the Homers yesterday were Raul at pitcher, Mary at catcher, Richard at first, Beth at second, Chuck at shortstop, Lela at third, Don in left, Jeff in center, Jerry in right, and Betsy, in her premiere, at rover. Junior, Alex, and Mark formed a second outfield shift, Debbie rotated in at the second/third/rover position, Joe shared catching duties, and Betsy's friend Bill split the shortstop/first job. 16 players is a season-high for us, and it's a good sign of team morale that no one complained or even seemed disappointed with their playing time. Good job at time-sharing, Raul.
The Homers hit three home runs yesterday, the dingers coming from Chuck, Alex, and Richard. The last came in the bottom of the sixth; after Alex tied the game at 12-12 with a double, Richard hit the home run to center to put us up at the end of the sixth. The scores after the first five innings had been 8-3, 10-7, 10-8, 11-10, 12-11, with the Homers always on the short end. The Heavy Hitters started at the top of their order in the seventh. Their first big boy hit a double, but their second batter lined out to short. Their third batter popped a ball to right field that fell in between the first baseman, the second baseman, and the right fielder, but Jerry in right caught the ball off the bounce and threw to first where Raul had the presence of mind to cover. Yo, BABY! Their last batter was their other big boy, who had hit one or two home runs already and was trying to tie the game with a third. This time, he hit a rocket to third, where Beth caught it in the palm of her glove to end the game. Yo, BABY #2!
But there were Homer highlights throughout the game to bring us back from the dead and get us in position to win. Joe continued to improve with at least one solid hit, a single to center. In her first game, Betsy also got hers. Chuck pounded the ball to right field all day... Defensively, but for the last inning Don would have been our player of the game with a good running knee-high catch of a foul ball. Alex made some good catches off deep drives to center.
Don't forget the Luau at the Hawaiian Hut in two Saturdays. If you haven't gotten a flyer, Raul swears that it's not a snub but an oversight. Just think about volleyball and food.
Next victim is the Wild Turkeys next Wednesday on field H4, which is the field on the west side of the Rose Bowl. Anyone who might have to play defense on the left side (shortstop, third, or left) should bring sunglasses or a hat. This is our last game of the year as the home team, so let's go out with one final rousing fifth-inning stretch as good as yesterday's.