Tourney Tales

My body has identified every muscle that it possibly has.  After three games playing with a great group of guys and gals at the Dodger Bloggers Tournament, I now realize that even the joints of my toes have muscles screaming at me.

Team Opinion of Kingman's Performance, 2012 Front row (L-R) Brett Bladh, Ron Lenatti, John Beyer, Benjamin Bladh, Jeanine Lussier, Emma Amaya, Esperanza Bladh, Evan Bladh  Back Row (L-R) Taylor Bladh, Joshua Bladh, Tom Hanks, Patrick Gurierrez, Rob Robinson, Jim Polder, Ron Cervenka

We left sore, sunburnt and a happy group.  We got our hats handed to us twice.  In one of the routs we played the ’27 Yankees of Softball.  They had a roster made up of players about half our age and with 20 times our talent.  But in game number two, we actually got a “W” with a gritty 11-5 victory over LF Pavilion 1 that buoyed the spirits of everyone.  It helped a bit that our opponent walked about 10 batters in the game.  But our defense was steady and there were some timely hits that broke the game open.

First Baseman Rob Robinson rips a single past third base in the first inning of game vs. Vin Scully is My Homeboy 2

It was a day when I reunited with family and friends, reminisced with some old friends that I had known since elementary school, made new friends with some fantastic readers of this blog and laughed at great jokes, stories and our overall antics on the diamond.

Pitcher John Beyer delivers a pitch while yours truly is in the background at shortstop.

We watched Josh Macciello hob nob with the fans and bloggers, Jon Soo Hoo blast a 3 run homer out of Tiger Stadium, Roberto Baly battle against us in a game one blowout in our first game.  My wife got bragging rights over me in game one while reaching base twice and scoring our only  run while I lazily flied out in my two trips to the plate.

Ron Cervenka singles to left.  Ron chronicles his day over at his ThinkBlueLA.com forum.  He had a very interesting conversation with Josh Macciello ( LINKED HERE)

In between games, we talked a lot of Dodger baseball.  Someone pulled up footage on their I-Phone of the Lasorda rants about Kingman and Bevacqua.  Ron Cervenka of the ThinkBlueLA.com forum showed up and laced a single in his first at-bat.  Rob Robinson batted .800 on the day.  My nephew Joshua Bladh flashed the leather at shortstop with his photo showing up on Jon Soo Hoo's Dodger Photo blog.

My nephew, Joshua Bladh, fields a grounder and turns two.  This photo is from Jon Soo Hoo, the Dodger photographer who was on the opposing team.  He took some time out at take pictures while sitting on the bench.   Jon Soo Hoo's photos are linked here

In game number three, as the '27 Yankees from the LF Pavilion 2 routed us.  We decided to order pizzas by the third inning.  The general consensus was that we might as well have some decent food while the route was on.  After the first three hitters smashed absolute ropes all over the field, my first baseman Rob turned to me (playing 2B) and said as prophetic a statement as I ever heard on the day:  "I think we might be in a little bit of trouble here."  

Ron Lenatti smahes a line drive to right field, unfortunately for him, it was a shot right at the rightfielder for a line drive out.  Ron has been playing in a softball league with me since 1996 and he also made the trip from San Francisco.  Yeah, he's a Giants fan...but a man that respects baseball history and a knowledgeable follower of the game.

I have no idea who won the tourney, though if I were a betting man, I probably would have put my money on the '27 Yankees that smoked us in Game three, (LF Pavilion 2).  I understand that Dodger Thoughts had a fine record and also VSIMHB2 as well.  But I'm fairly certain that LF Pavilion 2 was on their way to winning the tournament.  

We had Emma on our side.  She is probably the biggest Dodger fan I have ever met in my life.  NOBODY is more diehard Dodger than Emma.  Her blog is fantastic too. ( Linked here)

Donations to the LA Regional Food Bank were plentiful.  Emma Amaya, one of our catchers brought a few shopping bags worth of food alone.  There was a lot of stuff donated that are going to the LA Regional Food Bank and word has it that Josh Macciello himself donated $5,000 to the cause.

My wife, Esperanza, flashing her cute smile.  

Next year we'll do it again.  Our thanks to Mike Brown of LFPavilion for organizing the event.  It was a great day and all the soreness was definitely worth it.