ATHLETICS CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT
By OttawaAthletics.com Writer | 2010-07-27 17:54:32 Tweet
 It hasn't been the season many expected. Marred by player absences and two forfeits, the Athletics have stumbled to a 9-10-2 season thus far, good enough to clinch at least 6th place in Tier 2 and guarantee a playoff spot. A strong showing in their final three games could see the Athletics climb as high as 4th place, but nonetheless the 2010 season can hardly be classified as anything but a step back for the boys in green. It's been several weeks since the last update, so there are a few running storylines to share.
From June 21st to July 14th the Athletics played exactly one baseball game. The team followed up back-to-back forfeits on June 25th and 27th, by being on the receiving end of a Chief's player shortage on July 4th. The only completed game in the stretch came on July 8th against the Sweat Sox, in a game that had Dustin Paquette and Corey Bond locked in a 2-2 pitchers for 8 innings, only to see the Sweat Sox put up 7 runs in the top half of the 9th. The Athletics responded with a crooked number of their own, throwing 5 runs on the board, but falling just short with the tying run on base. July 9th and July 13th games against the Braves and Sweat Sox were washed out by rain (3 innings and a 3-1 lead in the Braves game be-damned), and when the A's finally took the field again in Aylmer on July 15th the team was excited to play some baseball. That excitement lasted precisely one inning. In the bottom of the 1st the Tribu put 12 runs on the board via 9 hits, 3 home runs (two of which were grand slams), 4 walks and more errors than the A's care to remember. The pain continued for the remainder of the game, as the Tribu preceded to add 4 runs to the board in each remaining inning they came to bat. A game which started with optimism quickly became the single worst baseball experience most A's players could ever remember being a part of. Of course I would be remiss for not mentioning that the game was being played in the softball field that is the Tribu's home park. With an outfield wall that measures a mere 295 feet to dead-center (see below) and stands only 6 feet high it's safe to say that none of the four home runs that the Tribu hit over the course of the game would have been more than a high fly out in any park north of Winchester. In fact during their pre-game warm-ups the Tribu players can be seen polishing the back side of the outfield fence as a tribute to its ego boosting power - each white scuff mark from a wall-scraping "home run" taunting them with proof of illegitimate success and internally stripping them of their own masculinity. Sour grapes over the home runs aside the Athletics were outplayed from the start by the Tribu and never really got anything going in this game.  The two parks above are to scale. On the left is Aydelu with the paths of the 4 home runs hit against the Athletics. On the right is the Sportsplex, with those same paths transfered over. It is fairly obvious that the 4 home runs hit would have been nothing more than fly outs in a regulation diamond.  In this second photo, the properly scaled fair territory of Aydelu (greyed area) has been superimposed over Sportsplex to clearly show the impact that playing in a park like Aydelu can have. The Athletics followed up their 24-4 loss to the Tribu by squeezing out two-run victories over the Mudd and Raiders in back to back games. The 6-4 victory over the Raiders was sealed by a tremendous diving catch by Graeme Nichols in centerfield with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 7th. The game was nearly marked by controversy back in the 4th inning after Paul Stoddart was called out at home plate for failing to slide despite the fact that the only contact between he and the catcher was initiated by the Raiders catcher on the tag. Make no mistake, I'm no fan of putting players in harm's way, but the ridiculous rule that was put in place to avoid "trucking" the catcher has apparently evolved into the disgusting offspring of the slow-pitch home plate rule. Get the lime ready for the field cause we'll no doubt see the "no touching home plate" rule in affect in the NCBL for 2011 - that or every player required to wear bubble-wrap body armor at all times. The Athletics followed up their thrilling victory over the Raiders with another dud against the Tribu. After having both their field and umpiring crew downgraded prior to game-time (Ottawa Stadium > Sportsplex; Ray Charles > Quebec Umpires), the Athletics fell to the Tribu 11-1. The game marked the one-game returns of Dave Fenn, Tyler Dren and Justin Caravaggio, but they were no match for the powerful bats of the Tribu. Pitcher Justin Crepin didn't see eye-to-eye with the home plate umpire after receiving a warning after his first hit-batter despite the fact that he was clearly struggling with control in the first. Things only got worse between the two as they continued to disagree over balls and strikes, with the home-plate umpire ultimately accusing Crepin of throwing a ball at him. Despite all this Crepin managed to avoid ejection and pulled himself due to fatigue mid-way through the 3rd inning. Monday night marked the Athletics' first opportunity to clinch a playoff spot and the team wasted no time in doing so. The Athletics jumped out to an early lead that they would not relinquish. The Athletics were, however, once again victim to the not-so-consistent application of the NCBL slide rule, this time ceding a run to the Braves on a sacrifice fly where even the umpire admitted the runner contacted the catcher and did not attempt to slide. Catcher James Lewis became the second A's player in as many games to be warned by the umpire, as he attempted to point out inconsistency of the application of the rule using some colourful language and the Raiders game from a week previous as an example. The debate overshadowed a stellar throw from right fielder Rich Nichols to almost nab the runner at the plate and make the point moot. A's starter Graeme Nichols made a strong return to the rotation, throwing 6 innings of 3 run ball to pick up the win. The bottom of the A's order continued to produce at the plate and Paul Stoddart continued to find ways to make fist basemen look foolish with their matador defense. By clinching a playoff spot the A's guarantee at least 2 post-season games, although they hope to buck their trend of first round exists and make 2010 a deep run. The Athletics have 3 games left on the schedule before the playoffs begin and will hope to ride a hot-streak into the post-season. Next up for the Athletics is a match-up with the first place Outlaws on July 29th at 8:30pm at Faulkner. Worth Noting: - The standings table doesn't always tell the full story. While the Athletics appear lucky to be hovering around .500 given their -44 run differential, that isn't exactly true. The Athletics were credited with 14 runs against in their two forfeits during the fourth week of June, and two other blowout losses at the hand of the Tribu (24-4) and the Chiefs (14-2) account for a -46 run differential. Outside of these outliers the Athletics have a +2 run differential, a total which looks more reasonable for a .500 team. - Following the previous two games the Athletics can now confidently declare that they lead the league in "one-more word and your gone" warnings without a single player being tossed this year. - The Athletics are all about quality over quantity when it comes to post-game beers. Despite their propensity for forgetting the booze the Athletics continued their run of impressive performances when the beer does arrive. Dustin Paquette has to be the MVP of Monday's post-game festivities for his ability to go from "zero to unruly" in just over and hour. Dustin followed up an impressive display of southern vocabulary with the most violent trunk packing in NCBL history. Dustin also really wants you all to know that he is "PUMPED TO PITCH AGAINST THOSE GUYS ON THURSDAY" and that he really loves all his teammates and wants them to drive safe. ...the feeling is mutual buddy. |
