Bandits 20, Challengers 17

The last time the Challengers played the Jona Bandits, things did not go well. Not only did the C's lose both games, but they were actually mercied in the second game. Suffice to say that this writer was none too pleased about it, and was definitely looking forward to extracting a bit of revenge when the Bandits visited the C's home field. While the Bandits extended their winning streak to 3 against the Challengers in Game 1, Yusuke Azuma made sure that the home-team emerged victorious in the second game.

The first sign that something was amiss came when I began looking for the key to the garage that houses the tractor. After asking coach Rob Sedin for the keys, I was handed one set for the tractor itself, and another one that allegedly opened the garage door. I say allegedly, because normally that key has a black cover and this one had a green one. Hey Rob, are there any other keys? Cause this one doesn't look right. Rob shrugged, so I decided I'd better check with the grounds-crew. After walking to the clubhouse, I asked the guy in the office whether the green-covered key also worked for the garage door. Ja, he said, which was great since I didn't want to, you know, walk all the way out to the garage only to find out that the key didn't actually work. But since the guy had said Ja, I figured I was in the clear.

One thing I learned back in high school was to never assume, because it makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me' - at least that's what one of my math teachers told me. As a result, I had only myself to blame for assuming that someone who worked at the field would, you know, actually have a clue whether a particular key would fit into a particular lock. Never assume!! In this instance, the green-covered key did NOT work, which led to my having to walk all the way back to the clubhouse sans tractor (the very situation I had intended to avoid by speaking to the maintenance guy in the first place). After about 10 minutes - during which the guy convinced himself that the key did not in fact work - the remote control was called in and I finally took the tractor to the field where I was greeted by Nick Lehmann: You are always late for warm-ups. Yeah well, talk to the guy in charge of the keys!!!

Now at this point you may be asking yourself: Why is he telling me this stupid tractor story? Isn't this supposed to be a report about a baseball game? To that I would respond, first, that the story is NOT stupid, and second I am only trying to protect myself from having to relive the trauma that was Game 1. But since you insisted...

With Dean Scherbaum having departed Switzerland for the Far East, the Challengers turned to Oli Christen to pick up the Swiss Pitching Baton. Oli's outing began innocently enough, as he surrendered a first-inning run on a Sac-Fly by former Challenger Halvar Dil. The C's offense got that run back in the bottom of the first, primarily due to what is technically known as a major brain fart by the Bandits' pitcher. With a runner on third and two outs, Carlos Nepomuceno grounded back to the pitcher. For some inexplicable reason, rather than throwing the ball to first for the third out, the pitcher tried to throw out Yusuke Azuma, who was running towards the plate. The throw was late, and the game was tied. After a stolen base and a fielding error, Nepomuceno scored to make it 2-1 Challengers. Had it not been for a diving catch by the shortstop on a little flair by Oliver Bernet, the lead would have been greater. So far so good. Then the top of the 2nd inning started...

Despite two prior excellent performances against the Barracudas, it soon became clear that Christen just did not have his best stuff. After two singles and a HBP, the next better drew a walk, which forced in a run. Following a strike out, for out number 1, Christen gave up a run-scoring single, and then proceeded to hit the next three Bandit batters. At that point, the score was 6-2, and the bases were still loaded with only one out. Nonetheless, when Christen induced the next batter to hit a come-backer to the mound, it appeared as if he would be able to escape the inning without further damage. Unfortunately, he wasn't.

Rather than throwing the ball home for the force-out (and then hopefully the subsequent throw to first for the double play), Christen froze, first turning towards second before ultimately throwing wildly to first. The ball caromed off the wall and rolled towards the right-field batting cage. By the time it was finally retrieved, the bases had been cleared and the batter was at third. One batter later, Christen was lifted for Greggy Zingg. When the inning finally, mercifully, came to an end, 10 runs had scored at the Challengers were in deep trouble.

Later, Oli would explain that he knew that he should've thrown the ball home, but had somehow just frozen. Now I emphasize this play not to pick on Oli (trust me, we all make mistakes on this team), but to highlight an issue that has plagued the NLB team all season (and in previous seasons as well), which is a disturbing lack of awareness by fielders of what to do with the ball if it is hit to them (this problem also extends to the base-paths, but one thing at a time).

Physical errors, such as missing a ball, or making a bad throw are part of the game. Since we can assume that no one is trying to make errors on purpose, such errors are generally not worth freaking out about. Mental errors, on the other hand, are different, at least in my view. Hitting a baseball, or fielding a batted ball, requires talent. Knowing what to do with the ball when it is hit to you does not. That's what makes mental errors so back-breaking, because they should be much easier to prevent. Again, to be clear, this is not some sort of critique of Oli, merely an illustration of a team-wide problem. We, as players, HAVE TO know what to do with the ball BEFORE it gets hit to us. Until we as a team get to that point, NLB is unlikely to achieve much more than perhaps a shot at a .500 record.

Heading into the bottom of the 5th, it was 14-4 Bandits, and things were looking bleak. Suddenly, however, the Bandits' pitchers lost complete track of the strike zone. Despite managing just two hits in the inning (run-scoring singles by Hendrix don't call me retired Kaempfer and Bernet), the Challengers put up 8 runs, drawing to with 2 at 14-12. The Bandits had to use 3 different pitchers in that inning, and were lucky to escape with the lead (the inning ended with a runner doubled off first on a pop fly).

Having clawed their way back from a huge deficit to make a game of it, and with reliever Lehmann pitching effectively, it was disheartening to see the Challengers give most their gains right back in the top of the 6th. The Bandits scored 6 runs on just 3 hits, and benefited from two fielding errors.

With the score 20-12, the Challengers mounted one last comeback in the bottom of the 7th, scoring 5 runs with no hits (you read that correctly), drawing within 3. But that's as close as things got, and Bandits prevailed 20-17. Once again the Challengers were left shaking their heads at how they had faced such (statistically) atrocious pitching and yet still failed to win. Having issued 15 walks in Game 1 at Jona, Bandit pitchers issued 20 in this game...20!!!! In fact, the Challengers put up 17 runs on just 4 (4!!!) hits. Sigh.

Fortunately, there was still another game to be played, and the Challengers had something that the Bandits didn't: Mr. Yusuke don't call me Ichiro...and don't call me Hideki Matsui or Hideo Nomo either!! Azuma. Advantage Challengers.

by Alex Gordon