“Missed It by That Much” - Secret Agent 86, Maxwell Smart.
TOTTENHAM - Well, it's been over 5 months and it's time to put Rusty Rebels 2007 season blog to bed. The shock of the playoff elimination has passed and I'm using the motto “there's always next year” to help get me through. Of course, I'm only joking and even though the Rebels didn't make it to the finals or the semi-finals or even the quarter finals for that matter, we still had a good season finishing with a .500 record, 11 wins, 11 losses, 0 ties and having some fun along the way...
Like most teams, the Rebels had some ups and downs throughout the season, in fact they started the first half of the season with a 7-4 record, but the second half saw inconsistent hitting, lackadaisical fielding at times and the focus seemed to decline over the dog days of the summer. But the we are told over and over again, “it's all practice until the playoffs”. I've said it before and I'll say it again, winning and confidence are contagious, that's why teams get on winning streaks and keep on winning.
The Rebels playoff run started offensively strong, beating the Hot Tub Woodies in game one by a score of 17-16. There were certainly some tense moments, in this game, but in the end the Rebels managed to squeak this one out.
The second game of the playoffs had the Rebels up against the Mighty Banshees. The Banshees, in four games played over the 2007, had claimed victory over the Rebels every time. Four wins for the Banshees, two wins in regular season play and two games in 2007 tournament play. The Rusty Rebels came out in the TOT playoffs and upset the Banshees with a 10-8 victory.
The third game of the 2007 playoff run had the Rebels up against The Recycled , another team the Rebels had a difficult time against during the regular season . The Recycled took it to the Rebels and the end result was the Rebels first playoff loss. The Recycled hammered the Rebels by a 11-4 score.
The forth game had the Rebels playing the hottest team over the last 4 regular season games. The Lucky Stiffs were playing some great baseball and the Rebels came out swinging, but a rally in the early innings was foiled by the hit to right field, with runners on 1st and 2nd , no one out, the hit was caught and the Stiffs turned a triple play to end the inning. The triple play seemed to deflate the Rebels and change the game. The Stiffs went on to win the game by a score of 9-5.
After 4 games in the playoffs, the Rebels spirits were high, after all they had won 2 games and the top 8 teams had a birth in the quarter finals. The Rebels, on Saturday afternoon, were tied with several other teams with two victories in the playoffs and with only two games left to be played, by other teams, in the round robin, the Rebels looked like they would be playing on Sunday. Two games remaining, only one that could affect the Rebels playoff run, start preparing for Sunday... Right??? WRONG!!! The Rebels were eliminated from playoff contention, not by games won or lost, but by the Plus/Minus or runs for and against..... “ Missed it by that much”!!
Well there's always next year, but the difference next year will be a different Rusty Rebel team on the field. It really wasn't about the team on the field or whether you win or lose, it's really about just playing the game of baseball, bonding with your team mates and having fun. There are things that will stand out about the 2007 season, as there were about the 2006 season. The Rebels, like most teams, had an eclectic group of guys and when I think back about the season and the guys on the team, I think about how everyone had little things I remember; Andy with his sunflower seeds, Glen with his cigars, Mikey Boy with his tooth picks, and everytime I see a Coke, I'm reminded of Captain Hugh. Yuck!!....I don't like Coke.
The final installment of the 2007 Rebels blog seemed to take some time to be written, I kept thinking about finalizing it, but just never got around to it, probably because the season had ended and my interest had diminished . But now, the new 2008 season is getting closer and the T.O.T draft is less than a month away, it seems hard to believe with the long winter we've had, that we will soon be back on the diamond.
Most of the 2007 Rusty Rebel team will be dispersed to their new 2008 teams, but memories of the 2007 Rusty Rebels team will remain with us. I will probably leave the Rusty Rebel blog online, I hope the people who took the time to read it were somewhat entertained. Have a great 2008 season!!! REBELS REBUILD!!!!
TOTTENHAM - Well, it's been over 5 months and it's time to put Rusty Rebels 2007 season blog to bed. The shock of the playoff elimination has passed and I'm using the motto “there's always next year” to help get me through. Of course, I'm only joking and even though the Rebels didn't make it to the finals or the semi-finals or even the quarter finals for that matter, we still had a good season finishing with a .500 record, 11 wins, 11 losses, 0 ties and having some fun along the way...
Like most teams, the Rebels had some ups and downs throughout the season, in fact they started the first half of the season with a 7-4 record, but the second half saw inconsistent hitting, lackadaisical fielding at times and the focus seemed to decline over the dog days of the summer. But the we are told over and over again, “it's all practice until the playoffs”. I've said it before and I'll say it again, winning and confidence are contagious, that's why teams get on winning streaks and keep on winning.
The Rebels playoff run started offensively strong, beating the Hot Tub Woodies in game one by a score of 17-16. There were certainly some tense moments, in this game, but in the end the Rebels managed to squeak this one out.
The second game of the playoffs had the Rebels up against the Mighty Banshees. The Banshees, in four games played over the 2007, had claimed victory over the Rebels every time. Four wins for the Banshees, two wins in regular season play and two games in 2007 tournament play. The Rusty Rebels came out in the TOT playoffs and upset the Banshees with a 10-8 victory.
The third game of the 2007 playoff run had the Rebels up against The Recycled , another team the Rebels had a difficult time against during the regular season . The Recycled took it to the Rebels and the end result was the Rebels first playoff loss. The Recycled hammered the Rebels by a 11-4 score.
The forth game had the Rebels playing the hottest team over the last 4 regular season games. The Lucky Stiffs were playing some great baseball and the Rebels came out swinging, but a rally in the early innings was foiled by the hit to right field, with runners on 1st and 2nd , no one out, the hit was caught and the Stiffs turned a triple play to end the inning. The triple play seemed to deflate the Rebels and change the game. The Stiffs went on to win the game by a score of 9-5.
After 4 games in the playoffs, the Rebels spirits were high, after all they had won 2 games and the top 8 teams had a birth in the quarter finals. The Rebels, on Saturday afternoon, were tied with several other teams with two victories in the playoffs and with only two games left to be played, by other teams, in the round robin, the Rebels looked like they would be playing on Sunday. Two games remaining, only one that could affect the Rebels playoff run, start preparing for Sunday... Right??? WRONG!!! The Rebels were eliminated from playoff contention, not by games won or lost, but by the Plus/Minus or runs for and against..... “ Missed it by that much”!!
Well there's always next year, but the difference next year will be a different Rusty Rebel team on the field. It really wasn't about the team on the field or whether you win or lose, it's really about just playing the game of baseball, bonding with your team mates and having fun. There are things that will stand out about the 2007 season, as there were about the 2006 season. The Rebels, like most teams, had an eclectic group of guys and when I think back about the season and the guys on the team, I think about how everyone had little things I remember; Andy with his sunflower seeds, Glen with his cigars, Mikey Boy with his tooth picks, and everytime I see a Coke, I'm reminded of Captain Hugh. Yuck!!....I don't like Coke.
The final installment of the 2007 Rebels blog seemed to take some time to be written, I kept thinking about finalizing it, but just never got around to it, probably because the season had ended and my interest had diminished . But now, the new 2008 season is getting closer and the T.O.T draft is less than a month away, it seems hard to believe with the long winter we've had, that we will soon be back on the diamond.
Most of the 2007 Rusty Rebel team will be dispersed to their new 2008 teams, but memories of the 2007 Rusty Rebels team will remain with us. I will probably leave the Rusty Rebel blog online, I hope the people who took the time to read it were somewhat entertained. Have a great 2008 season!!! REBELS REBUILD!!!!
