Game 5: Hopkins V. Minneapolis South

What started as an uncomfortably cold day turned out to be a pretty nice day to play baseball. The sun was out, the grass was somewhere between brown and light green, and your own Hopkins Royals geared up to take on the Tigers of Minneapolis South.

Right off the bat, the Tiger-kitties committed one of my biggest pet peeves. When they were warming up, they had their jerseys off and hanging up in the dug out. I've always been of the school of thought that teams should be ready and fully dressed right when they hit the field. The Kitties join the Skippers in this dumb practice.

Our guys were calm and loose. Pre-game activities included playing catch, fielding ground balls and fly balls, stretching, and dancing. Ben Christopher and I were dancing the "Cat Daddy" and the "Bernie". If you'd be interested in joining us, check out this video to learn how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb8RSVD3rQ0&feature=related.

In the first inning of the game, I was up to bat and Kyle was on second. Kyle took off from second early to throw off the pitcher. The pitcher jumped out of his skin as if Matt "Dino" Molzahn had let out a terrifying roar. The pitcher clearly balked, but the umpire thought differently and Kyle was thrown out because of it. Coach Lerner called time, walked out and gave him the famous line, "Can you tell me what you saw on that one?" The umpire was taken aback, and I think he realized he had made a mistake. He said that the pitcher might have moved his front foot, which, in that case, would be the plate umpire's call. The umpire was quick to pass the buck.

Umpire Chit Chats for Coach
1.5

In the middle of the game, the poor umpire got hit right in the babymaker by a foul ball. He took a quick breather and got back to business, but every strike call after that was an octave higher.

The good guys (us) came away with a resounding 6-0 victory. Hammy was able to "Step over the chair, Skip" and pitch a 2 hit shut out. Conference play is coming up next, so come out and support your favorite ball club.