Another Lousy Day In Paradise

Going out with a bang! - This Season was a success...

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:16:46 -0400

This is my final article as a first time little league manager. I am proud of having never been a coach or manager for a little league team and accomplished a 9-5 regular season record, finishing second place on the season, but I’m more proud of the vast improvement in skills and knowledge of the game all the children gained from this season. That is what made it a win. I took what I think was somewhat a different approach than many traditional coaches and managers. I believe there is a way to keep the kids, parents and coaches happy during a little league season and I hope I proved it this year...

Well our Rockies went down Saturday. The final score... 16-15. And yes it was that rough a game.

It started off interestingly enough. The Orioles got through the top of their line-up and scored two runs. In fact, to their credit one player stole home when our pitcher turned his back on him. I told the boys, “That can’t happen again.” I understood that the other team really came to play. Or should I say the other coach really wanted every run he could get. His game plan was now made clear, big aggression.

Team	1st Inning	2nd Inning	3rd Inning	4th Inning	5th Inning	6th Inning	Final Score
Orioles	2	5	4	3	0	2	16
Rockies	5	0	3	1	2	4	15

In the bottom of the first we answered with a 5 run inning, our sixth run didn't count due to the little league rules. Only in the last inning can you score unlimited runs. Still we did great in the hitting department. Our 5 runs were all produced on hits which gave me a ...

A win is a win

Lars Hindsley — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:50:36 -0400

Rockies win their first play-off game 9-6! This was a win that didn't come easy either. The Marlin's played great baseball tonight and their starting pitcher was throwing a mean fastball all night!

In the first inning they eked out one run and we answered with two. Then in the top of the second they piled on five runs (the limit of an inning in little league) and the Rockies could only muster two runs. This was very much unlike us and what was troublesome was their pitcher was gaining strike outs.

Team	1st Inning	2nd Inning	3rd Inning	4th Inning	5th Inning	6th Inning	Final Score
Marlins	1	5	0	0	0	0	6
Rockies	2	1	1	0	5	n/a	9

In the top of the third with the score 6-3 in favor of the Marlins our starting pitcher Matt (coach Pete's son) shut the Marlin's down as the hit the end of their line-up. But again we could only muster one run in that inning and the score was now 6-4, but this meant we were keeping the game in striking distance. The next inning I made a pitching change for Mike who has a decent fastball of his own and he was lights out for the rest of the game. We finished the fourth inning with neither side scoring and the score remained 6-4. I gave yet another pep talk about fighting back and we chanted once "Fight Back!" after Mike once again retired the sides.

It was the bottom of the 5th and I knew if we could just get past their hot pitcher we could do some damage. He hit his 70th pitch and I was excited to think they had to change pitchers... then the bad news. He was 11 years old. He could pitch up to 85 pitches. I was concerned. Two runs seemed so tough to get suddenly. But then the tables turned. Our bats came alive as the top of our line-up just hit down the order. My son Declan even hit a double that took him to third on a play at the plate. In the end we scored five runs off the Marlin's starting pitcher and finally they pulled him at near 80 pitches. We entered the final sixth inning up by three runs, the score was now 9-6 and once again Mike pitched famously and we didn't need our final at bat. The Marlin's had our absolute respect and almost took this game as they played great ball once again proving that any team can beat another team on any given day.

After the game we settled into left field for a team talk where I gave game balls to Matt and Mike and the entire team gave the nod to the Marlins. We took a deep breath knowing we come right back tomorrow for a big game with the Orioles. We have beat them twice this year but the old saying is in my head... don't go to the well too many times. They are playing great ball and I don't know if we have tangled with their best pitchers as of yet.

Whatever happens, tomorrow I'll have an entourage of friends at this game. After the game we have a big team pool party at a parents home, and from there we have 22 people going to our Blue Rock's players game in Wilmington. What a day and Father's day weekend this is turning into. We'll gotta go do the laundry. Got to wash our uniforms and get rested for a long day. I would say I'll post lots of pictures and I've taken over 1000 for the team this year but as always I take the privacy of my friends seriously. The people I mention are folks that don't have to concern themselves with privacy concerns.... Like Jordan or Josh or my parents. But other friends, team parents and other family members outside my parents do need to remain out of my blog articles for now.

We'll let's hope tomorrows article has some good news.... Although I don't think I'll have time to pen one until late at night and I have plans til well into the evening and a day trip Sunday... you may not get to know until Monday if we won or not! LOL

The Play-offs Take-Two

Lars Hindsley — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:02:13 -0400

Last night we had a team slumber party. It was really amazing. Parents dropping by, friends spending the night... so much. The boys practiced in the back yard, cooked hot dogs in our fire pit; we made pretzel dogs, played groups of video games (yeah the coach can play Kung Fu Chaos too! LOL), a friend made a scratch marinara with fresh garlic over pasta (which was amazing)... My youngest son Dalton was having a blast too with his own friends spending the night. My buddy Jordan visited too, the house was mayhem and it sure was fun. All of this because of little league.

In just a few hours I’ll be a part of my first play-off experience in little league play. There is not much I can do, and there is plenty I can do.

My place is to put our best pitchers into play to enable the rest of the team to relax, get their hits and score more runs than the other team. That is it at it’s simplest.

But in reality my role has been that of a teacher and supporter all season long. I’ve seen every single young boy on this team grow and that to me is a big deal. In our first practice I shared with them that if they were a better player at the end of the season, then the season was a success. I know already it has been.

No matter if we win or lose the game I will be happy for the kids. They can go on to another manager next year with a better understanding of the game, better mechanics, and improved play. I’ve heard from other coaches all season ...

Why does it rain more in the evening?

Lars Hindsley — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:39:43 -0400

Tonight our little league play-off game suffered a rain-out. After a full day of pleasant weather and blue sky, rain showed up at dinner time. It’s not the first time in my life that rain showed up at game time and then checked out after the game was cancelled.

So the question I once knew the technical answer to popped up into my mind again. Why does it rain at the dinner hour, what causes rain to finally burst down upon us between the hours of 4 pm and 7 pm? There is a reason. Well there are scientific theories. It has to do with air pressure.

Some rain is caused by high air pressure; some rain is caused by low air pressure. It’s like you can’t win. One of them is going to cause the clouds to dump on you. In short you need three ingredients for rain:

1. Moisture

2. Unstable Air

3. Lift

These three elements come together at dinner for a reason. I’ll get to that next.

Convection Rain from Low Air Pressure – the evening rain

Warm ground + low pressure = rain

These are the short showers that show up, ruin your game and are out of here right after everyone has agreed the games are cancelled and have driven off home; and yes the sun comes out wouldn’t ya know it!

Why it happens is simple and unavoidable. The sun takes the whole day to warm the surface of the earth. That warmth of the earth warms the air. That warm air rises up to the clouds and meets the cold air. Bang, the rain dumps on us. ...

The Canal Little League Minor A Play-offs

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:47:01 -0400

What a season it has been! Yesterday was a great finish in a great game with the Cubs. I had family and a number of friends show of our last game. My son Declan was 4-4 in on-base percentage as was the entire top of our line-up! Declan scored four times as well with a good outing as pitcher too.

The game was up and down early. The cubs scored one run in the top of the first and we answered back with five! Then they scored five of their own in the top of the second and we answered with three. With the score 8-6 in the top of the third inning I thought this game would be bitter battle until the end, they scored two runs in the top of the third and we again answered with the inning limit of five runs. Now with the score 13-8, I felt we could out-pace the Cubs and we did. The final score was 20-11 and this was a great way to head into the play-offs. Only Declan pitched his limit so all our remaining pitchers are available for Tuesday's game.

Here is what the season's final standings look like. Hat's off to Bill's Dodgers. They have been consistent all year and are clearly the team to beat in the play-offs.

Team	Wins	Loses	Points	Runs For	Runs Against	Percentage
Dodgers	13	1	26	137	90	0.929
Rockies	9	5	18	154	118	0.643
Orioles	8	6	16	130	116	0.571
Mets	8	6	16	127	143	0.571
A's	7	7	14	135	132	0.500
Yankees	5	9	10	116	114	0.357
Marlins	3	11	6	117	164	0.214
Cubs	3	11	6	94	133	0.214