Saturday, July 28, 2007

walkoff suicide squeeze

Betcha never heard of that before. And if you missed the game then shame on you. It was a thriller,I dont have any fingernails left. It was all in hand until the top of the 9th and the bulls got 3 runs off of Aaron Varnum. His error didn't help either. But all is forgiven. I am sure he is more upset with himself than we are. But he came back in the 10th and shut em down. Then with runners on 1st and 3rd with one out Corey Hodskins layed down a suicide squeeze and the runner on third was running with the pitch and scored easily. I don't know who the last pitcher for Sikeston was but he wasn't much of a hurler. Anyways he took the loss and the RR are the 2007 Kit League pennant champions. Playoffs right around the corner. The fan support for the season was great, and we had a fantastic crowd tonight. See you Wednesday night. Go RR

And the drama continues . . .

Who left the gate open and let the cattle out? Ooops, It might have been me when I left the field after throwing out the first pitch. Having thrown my pitch into the dirt, Mr. Hicks told me “Thanks, but no thanks” then he directed me to watch the game from under the grandstand. Oh well. Those darn Bulls ran all over the place, made a mess out of our evening of baseball. But we’re back at it again tonight and need to get the herd gathered up and put away.

And so where do we stand? The Hounds and Oilers didn’t get a game in Friday because of a rainout and no score after 5 innings, so they a playing a double header tonight. If they beat the Oilers in both those games, we’re in trouble. It’s a mute point though if we win tonight. We do that, the pennant is ours, guys! Yea, it’s true we can’t end up less than a tie with Greyhounds, but that means a sudden death face off with the dogs on Sunday in the dog pound to determine first seed for the playoffs. Tonight is Fan appreciation night at Lohaus. What better way to end the season as it begun, with a win and an added first place KIT League pennant. We do have several boys from Texas, let’s all saddle up and get this job done!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Good Game!

The Bulls really charged into Fulton with that early 7-0 lead. It took the Railroaders by surprise but they quickly recovered and answered back in find fashion. Scoring constantly through the remainder of game and tighten up defense. That final out catch by Craycraft was a thing to behold. I could go on and on about all the great plays tonight, but I need to get my beauty sleep for my appearance at the game tomorrow night. Hope to see every out at the field to watch the Railroaders go for First. One more win, guys, let's corral those Bulls and bring it home! . . . And thanks go to Oilers also.

Bring on the Bulls . . .

Tonight the Bulls run into Fulton and we begin the final 3 games of the regular season with them. The Greyhounds, who remain one behind us, beat the Bulls twice the last 2 nights so I’m sure they will want to take it out on us. We can’t let them do that. With the Hounds so close, we need to keep the steam pressure up and the throttle wide open to finish first. The dogs are running to Owensboro for their final 3 and the Oilers, who I think will slip the canines up with a couple of losses. The race for first seed has narrowed to two, them and us. The Greyhounds continue to chase us from behind by 1 game. With 2 wins and 1 Greyhound loss, we’ve got it!

I want to see everyone out at Lohaus Field in support of the Railroaders. Especially tomorrow night when I’ll be there with Hoghead’s Honeys to throw out the first pitch. Maybe they’ll let me finish the game and get our first place victory. Wish I could wear my matador suit for the Bulls, but I have to return it to the rental place before 4 pm on Friday.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Bad way to win

The incident at tonight's game is very unfortunate and not a good way to win a game. We pray the best for Hunter Nolen and his recovery. The Pirates should not let one man destroy their season or the team. We enjoy your play and hope to see you in the playoffs.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

A chance to strut your stuff

I was honored to receive a call from the Railroaders front office and extended an invitation to throw out the first pitch this Friday at home against the Bulls. I got so choked up I had to drink some drano to clear my throat! I’ve also been allowed escort by a couple of the Railroaders’ Sweeties, as a man of my stature requires a little dressing up. I’ve been told to breakout my uniform for the occasion, so I’ll have to return the matador suit I purchased to confront the Bulls with. But I look forward to finally getting the opportunity to hit the field ready to play, or as close to it as I can.

For the time being, we need to confront and take 2 games from the Pirates tonight and tomorrow. The Greyhounds will be tangling with the Bulls in Sikeston at the same time. The Bulls come here on Thursday for our final 3 game, 3 night series before the playoffs. The Hounds will still be on the road and headed for Owensboro who are still in the hunt for a 1st or 2nd seed, as are the Pirates. Time to push for the finish line, no holding back or slowing down now. See you on Friday!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Defense, Defense, Defense

Despite the RR going 4-2 over the weekend, their defense was spectacular. Coach Hicks sure does know how to change around the positions,when needed. Everywhere the ball was hit was a RR. Except for the one that landed on top of the police station. Wimsatt got all of that one. The only bad pitch that John threw in the whole game. We must have hit all we could in the first game because we didnt hit much in the 2nd. But you can't say enough about our DEFENSE. Making running grabs, diving stops, diving catches. WOW.
Unfortunately I have a prior engagement and will not be able to attend the season finale on Saturday. But I enjoyed the season and look forward to the playoffs. Attention to any team that may enter Lohaus field for the playoffs, You guys are in trouble.

All Star break . . . the weekend is over

The 3 doubleheaders weekend are over. We went into it a ½ game behind the Greyhounds and come out 1 game ahead. Thank you’s go out to the Firebirds for beating the hounds 2 of 3, we’re glad you enjoyed your stay in Union City, sorry you didn’t find easy pick’ins in Fulton. I’ve looked over the stats for the Railroaders over this weekend’s 4-2 set for games and one interesting number standouts. 5 homeruns: an increase of 38% over our total going into the weekend, from 13 to 18. Also 5 doubles included in the 36 total hits. What the stats don’t show is the high caliber of defensive play witnessed by cheering fans over the three days. If the guys keep this up, the dogs are going to have hard time catching us.

Good luck to the All Stars and their game today. Tomorrow the Railroaders assault the Pirates in their port. Only 2 days of battling there and we want the wins! Thursday begins our last 3 home games and the regular season. It’s the Bulls coming back to town and will try to chase us around. See you at the ballpark this week!!!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Rollin' along

Despite losing the 2nd game last night we still have the lead in the standings. We only had 4 hits total in both games but the hits counted. A 3 run shot by C3 in the first game and a solo shot by Zakdaddy in the 2nd. The Oilers came out smokin in the 2nd game from the first pitch. A solo HR about 340 ft. from the plate, that must have been the 96 mph pitch Cory said he was gonna show everyone. Hey take my advice it is only a good pitch if it is a strike. He had a ice pack on after the 3rd inning, I hope he is o.k.
All right RR fans games 3 and 4 today starting at 5pm. Come out and enjoy the games. As we play to maintain a slim lead in the standings. Go RR

Ahead by a game

Those Oilers may be short on the roster, but sure play hard! Would have been nice to have beaten them both games, but there’s 2 more today and our chance to keep everyone else chasing us! Yes, that’s correct, the Railroaders are a full game ahead in first. The Firebirds flew from Fulton to Union City on Saturday and soiled the Greyhounds in a close game. The Birds will stay in UC again today for a doubleheader while the Railroaders face off with the Oilers again for the last of our 3 weekend doubleheaders. We’re 3 or 4 after the first two this weekend and the guys are playing good ball. I have full confidence they will continue their winning ways today. The second game last night was a bit disappointing, but it’s behind us. Seven games left in the regular season and two of them tonight. Let’s keep the boiler pressure up and the train steaming toward first place!

NOTE: Although the KIT League site list a double loss for us last night, it is incorrect. Confusion may have occurred because in our first game with the Oilers, we were the visiting team. The game was a make up for a rainout in Owensboro, allowing them to have the home team spot for the game. So the box score page for the game is correct showing us as the visitors. The Railroaders site is correct.