Heading home to run for the pennant.

Looking into my crystal ball, the smoke hasn’t cleared yet and the road trip could have been better, but the wins at the end keep us in contention for the pennant. The train is back on the track and running smoothly. So where are we at and what's the situation look like? The first thing to examine is the league leader, the Tradewater Pirates. They have 8 games left in the season and with a 3 game lead in 1st their magic number is 7 to clinch the pennant. But, that 3 game lead is over the 2nd place Oilers who are sliding into Tradewater for a 3 game series with the Pirates beginning today, Thursday. So when the smoke clears on Saturday, the pennant picture will look a little different.

Where does that leave us? We are 4 games back with 8 games left. The Hounds are in town for 3 games. It’s simple, we win and we gain ground on the loser at Tradewater and keep pace with the winner. There are several combinations in the outcome, but again, we win and we’re in it. Let’s remember, after the All Star break the Pirates are coming into the Yard for 2 games, and we still have a PPD game with the Oilers in Owensboro to make up. That accounts for 6 of our total 8 games left, the last 2 are at home with the Bobcats. With a little help, we have a good chance to take this thing. We just need to win!

UPDATE: As the time gets closer to the game, I can see the cause for the smoke in the distance. I guess the boys are heading home all fired up and ready to roll. We’ll need everyone to help stoke the fire and keep the engine at full steam. So head on out to the Yard for some baseball, it’s going to be exciting. You can count on it!

It appears worse than it is

It looks like a mess, but we can clean it up and get back on the winning track with 10 games to go. We have 2 more games with the Bobcats before heading home for 3 with the Greyhounds. After the All Star break, we’ll finish up the regular season at home in the Yard with the Pirates for 2 and then Bobcats for 2. We need some help from some of the other clubs to take the Pirates down a couple of notches, as we are 3 and half games behind them. We also have to have some help taking the Oilers back a couple of notches, and Greyhounds seem to be doing that. We’ll have to take care of the Hounds ourselves this week to put distance between us, they are just a half game in our rear and wanting to move ahead of us. We must play error free ball when it counts, and not lose games because of them. Let’s get back to basics, clean up our act and do what we have the talent to do. Our fielding at crucial moments of games is not up to par with what needs to be done. No more wrecks, please. Let’s get it going and back to work, Railroaders!