Headed for the Dog Pound

The 4 games with the Oilers are over and we took 3 of them. The standings don't change, so our lead is still only 2 games. The Oilers and Greyhounds both in 2nd and chasing us close. We must go now and tame to Dogs over the next 3 nights. Thursday and Saturday are in Union City, and in between on Friday we play them in Fulton. The UC Messenger claims, "Greyhounds find their Groove, and on the Move". . . kind'a catchy don't you think? The Hounds fully intend to put the screws to us and knock us out of 1st. And they believe they are the best team in the Kitty League. I'm not going to waste my time in responding to those type of thoughts. The few loyal fans they have need words of encouragement, so we'll let them have their printed words. After all, they need something to bark about.

I know we have a quality team and they are playing better every game. The Railroaders have been coming from behind, getting more hits when needed, and the defense is looking awesome. And the pitching...well, I don't think there is any better than our crew. It's a downhill run now, guys. No looking back. We can handle the Dogs, so let's spoil their 4th of July weekend and put them in their place . . .Behind Us!

A Mid Season Prospectus

UPDATE (July 1, 2009): Another step up in the standings. No time to rest though, we're heading to Owensboro for a doubleheader with the Oilers. We need to keep the pressure up and move ahead more. The Greyhounds are keeping pace with their 2 wins over the Bobcats, but they are off tomorrow. They are in fact tied in 2nd now with the Oilers, just 2 games back. We can pickup another game on the Hounds with a couple of wins in Owensboro. I know it's a tall order, but I'm seeing some really good things out of our guys. I believe they can do it, and even more! On Thursday, we'll go the Union City and face off once more with the Greyhounds. We have 3 games against them this week. For note, the Pirates lost again to the Bulls, and slide to 3rd, just a game ahead of the Bulls who are starting to make a run also. You know what to do Railroaders, so full throttle ahead! It's a downhill run now, only 24 games left in the regular season.

UPDATE (June 30, 2009): It was an exciting and close game last night as the Railroaders take the first game with a bottom of the 9th, come-from-behind win over the Oilers. As advertised, the 2 teams battled back and forth throughout the night, and fans weren't disappointed. Now we're one step ahead of the pack and need to increase this lead again tonight. The Pirates dropped their game with the Bulls and the Greyhounds beat the Bobcats to keep pace.

As we arrive at the halfway point in the 2009 season, the race for the Kitty League championship has gotten very interesting. I've broken out my ole' crystal ball and see good things happening for the Railroaders. They're coming together as a championship team.

There are a couple of things to consider at mid season. First, it’s a tight race. The top 3 teams, Oilers, Railroaders and Pirates, are all within a half game of each other. The Greyhounds are not far behind only 2 games back. The Bulls remain within striking distance and the Bobcats are certainly not out of it yet. The downhill journey for the second half of 50 games will be something to see.

The second thing making this point in time fascinating, is the schedule. With 2 PPD games from June rescheduled this Wedesday, the Railroaders find themselves going head-to-head with the co-leading Oilers for 4 straight games. The first 2 games are in Fulton on Monday and Tuesday, with a doubleheader makeup in Owensboro on Wednesday. The pressure doesn’t let up on Thursday either with 3 nights against the Greyhounds, with Friday being played in Fulton.

The Pirates? Well, they have a couple of games with the Bulls this week, and then we’ll hand off the Oilers to them on Thursday for a 3 game set. The Bucs also have a couple of PPD games to get scheduled in July.

The Cats are headed for Union City to scratch away at the Hounds for 2 games, and then they’ll have to work on the Bulls for 3. Marion also has several games to reschedule.

So it’s plain to see, this week is going to be a busy and important one in shaping the standings in July. This past week has seen an even positioning of teams, but that will change for several over the next few days. I like the Railroaders match-ups and the Dogs don’t scare me a bit! Let’s fire it up Railroaders!!!

We’ve taken the first battle!

Marlene, Boilerstoker and I are reporting that it was a close battle our first night of fighting in Tradewater. We were successful though and scrapped by with a one to nothing victory over the Pirates. Marlene kept the Pirates occupied with her sexy smile, while Boilerstoker turned up the heat and stream to make it uncomfortable. With the Railroaders doing the rest of the fighting, all I had to do was chow down on the Bucs’ supplies and break wind for our sails to propel us home.

We’ve overtaken the Buc in the standing now, and with 2 more nights of the same results we’ll have more ground to stand on. Let’s keep the pressure on! My spy sources tell me the Oilers aren’t fairing well in Marion, so look out, here we go!

UPDATE: Well, the battles fought in Marion and Sikeston were a bit different from ours. Apparently the Dogs and Cats had bigger cannons than the Bulls and Oilers. With Owensboro dropping their game, we now hold an even position with them in the standings. Holding the high ground can be tough, we're a marked band of brothers now. No time to rest, let's get back in there and give no quarter!

The Bucs take the second battle. UPDATE (Saturday, June 27): Darn that double cannon shot in the 8th. Another close one but the Bucs fought their way back and beat us. We did a fine job in the 9th to get back 1 of the runs, but we'll have to do better tomorrow night. Let's just ignore the clammering of the Pirates and get the best of 3 over these guys.

Railroaders win the 3rd battle. UPDATE (Sunday, June 28): The Bucs had a false sense of security with an early volley, but the scrapping Railroaders fought back and pounded out a 9-4 win. We did it, the best of 3 in our last trip to Tradewater. The next time we see them, it will be on our ground.

Now it's time to face off with the Oilers, tied with us at the top. We need everyone out at the Yard on Monday and Tuesday to support the Railroaders as they go for control in the standings.

Poor driving will get you every time.

Well it wasn’t pretty for the Hounds tonight, but they didn’t run into our train. Instead, they ran off into a ditch, smashed up their front and couldn’t pull the bus out in 9 innings to overtake us. We’ll take it! The Railroaders had me a bit concerned with an error on the very first play of the game. But they buckled down and finally got the defense working to help Tyler Farley hold the dogs to 2 runs. We were fortunate the bus, which was clearly aimed at us, didn’t plow us under and went off the road instead. We’ll see the Greyhounds 3 more times before the season is over, so they’ll have some time to fix it.

Now we’re off to Tradewater for 3 games. The Pirates loss tonight and slip back to 2nd place with us a ½ game behind in 3rd. The Oilers victory over the Pirates put them back into 1st, just one game ahead of us. So let’s gets some wins over Tradewater, because the Oilers are headed to Fulton on Monday and Tuesday for 2 games. It’s time to MOVE guys! Mid-season is approaching and it’s our chance to take control.

Run over by a Bus!

Did anyone get the number of the bus that ran the Railroaders and me down last night? I'm sure none of us excepted such a smashing loss to the dogs last night, but it happened none the less. I believe the game was even uglier than me! Well, we've just got to get back up off the blacktop and go again tonight. New day, new ballgame. The standings don't chance much, we're still in 3rd, a game and a half behind the now league leading Pirates who beat the Oilers on Wednesday night. The Dogs move up a little and are biting at our heels again. So let's fire up the engine and get back on the track. I know this bus can't survive a collision with a train.

Rain on Our Parade, will you!

Another night, another road trip to Owensboro, and still we couldn't get a break from the rain and lightning. You think the Oilers had it planned that way? Meanwhile, the rest of the league got to play their 2 game series with interesting results. With both the Cats and Dogs, and the Bucs and Bulls split their series causing the League standings to stay the same. In fact, the top 3 teams are in the same position they were before the weather fouled things up on Sunday. The Railroaders remain in 3rd place just 1 game behind the leading Oilers with the Bucs wedged between us by a half a game. Oh, what could have been had we'd been allowed to play the Oilers in the 3 games, now postponed.

Well onward and upward I always say. We face the Hounds now beginning on Wednesday, at home in the Yard. While the the Bulls go off to Marion for a couple with the Bobcats, the 2nd place Bucs head to rainy Owensboro for 2 games. I wonder what kind of weather the Oilers have planned to maintain their position. Not a problem for us though. Let's get pumped back up and take these 2 games with the Greyhounds. Wins will ensure that we move up in the standings and really put the pressure on the remaining leader.

So Boilerstoker and I are headed by to the yard for Wednesday's outing. We did decided to leave our rain gear for Bucs fans to use, and as a reminder to the Oilers "We'll be Back!"

What a Win!

You just can’t ask for more excitement than last night’s game against the Bobcats. All the drama of baseball you can imagine was present in the come-from-behind, extra innings game. In the first 2 games on the series, we pretty much had the Cats pinned up, but last night they got out and took over our early lead. Even after tying them up again, twice, they jumped back out each time and it looked to be a late night with extra innings. Finally, in the bottom of the 11th, Zach Getsee, who hadn’t had a hit all night, put an end to the chase with a base clearing double and bases loaded, scoring 3 RBIs while we were trailing by 2, and gave us a 1 run victory and 3 game sweep of the Bobcats. The crowd went wild . . . I thought the bleachers and grandstand were going to come apart.

With our win and the Pirates falling to the Greyhounds, the race tightens between the top 3 clubs with only 1 game separating the teams. The Oilers won their 3rd straight over the Bulls and move into 1st. The Pirates are a half game back in 2nd and the Railroaders in the mix one game out in 3rd place.

Now that we are fired up and the engine has a full head of steam, the Railroaders are headed to Owensboro to take on the 1st place Oilers who have won 5 straight. There’s one game on Sunday and a doubleheader on Monday. Head to head with the league leader, this is our chance to move forward again in the standings. The Pirates, who dropped 2 or their 3 games with the Greyhounds, will be going up against the Bulls who lost all 3 games they just completed with the Oilers.

As we approach the mid season point this coming week, we have a great opportunity to gain control of the race. The Greyhounds will be coming to town on Wednesday and Thursday for 2 games in our house. It’s time for us to make a statement!!!