Unlike most other “live” music engagements– community radio doesn’t do “sound checks.” What I mean by that is, with dozens of people (DJs, programmers, volunteers) constantly rotating through the studio, the equipment is constantly being set and adjusted to each person’s preferences. And with the 80 seconds we have to swap out shows (and whatever equipment and materials DJs bring), that can sometimes make the first block of any show be… less than smooth. But, I feel like I’m running into a single, easily solvable issue with each show and I’m confident that will turn into zero issues soon.
Show notes: This show was fun. I especially liked the middle 20-minute block of jazz (Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Allen Toussaint, Duval Timothy) and the first block of the 9 o’clock hour (Tammi Terrell, Dee Clark, The Dominoes, Solomon Burke, Nat King Cole).
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here–
This silly blog has recorded half a dozen or so incidents of sandlotters behaving like assholes. This past Saturday night, I was the asshole. It didn’t go beyond me calling a Jardinero a “dumbass,” but I did regrettably do that and was immediately told, by my teammates and the Jarindero third baseman, to “get out of here” with that kind of crap. Apologies were immediately offered/accepted. The game moved on. There was a paltry reason for me to resort to name-calling, but I shouldn’t have jumped the initial exchange’s demeanor from “bristling chatter” to “name-calling asshole.” The silver lining– my lousy behavior was neutralized as fast as it could’ve been.
On to baseball. The Jardineros won the coinflip for home field. We led off the top of the 1st with a small two-out rally leading to a single run (Nick and Steven coming through). The Jards followed that up with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Thi, the Jards starting pitcher, pitched really well changing speeds and arm angles, but The Drag were able to get a rally going in the 2nd by simply hitting them where they ain’t while also avoiding mistakes on the basepaths.
With a nice cushion, Keith Hyndshaw (SP) settled in and pitched the 2nd through the 6th only allowing one run. Keith did mention that he didn’t have “his best stuff,” but he gutted it out and the defense was able to avoid that dreaded inning of defensive collapse. Hard to say the game was error-free, there were a few plays that could’ve been made, but also hard to rule the few minor defensive mistakes as definitive “errors.” All things considered, for both squads, the game was mostly clean.
Carlos took the hill for the Jards in the 3rd or 4th and did a good job of keeping us off the bases. Both teams’ fielding got real sharp as both teams’ bats went a little quiet. The hits were there, but they didn’t come in bunches. Both teams consistently had threats of plating a few runs, but the pitching/defense was able to get out of it unscathed from the 4th through the 8th.
Steven Carrizales relieved Keith in the 7th and also reported he didn’t feel like he had his best stuff. Carrizales was still able to get us out of the jams though. Limongelli (RF) made some good plays including one where, with the bases loaded, he tracked a well-hit ball to right center that saved us a few runs. Gelli also nearly nailed a guy at first that nearly played out a lot like this.
Offensively, as mentioned the hits were mostly scattered, but Steven, Stillman, and RJ all had multi-hit games. Katy, Gelli, Braden, Jeff, Keith, and Simon all recorded hits. Luke gave a pitch a ride, but it was tracked down in deep left center.
The lights went out in the top of the 9th. Post-game drinks and eats at Kinda Tropical. Was definitely a solid Sandlot Saturday night.
Final score — Drag – a good amount Jardineros – a fair amount
7.20.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Arsenal Abejas (SA) @ Pittman-Sullivan – 11am
I somehow managed to allow my Friday evening get away from me. As one famous quote goes, “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” Friday night, I might’ve had both. Anyways, I awoke on Saturday morning (gameday) at the time I had expected to depart Austin for San Antonio (9am).
I bet you’d imagine that getting a fairly late start for a game that was 90 minutes away would make me late? Nope. I arrived at 10:45am and had plenty of time to get loose since the game didn’t begin in earnest until 11:25am. Why the delay? I guess “roster constraints” for the local team was the largest factor. I was the last Drag to arrive and brought our numbers up to 14 for the day.
So, how’d the game go? It went without an umpire. Which is fine for the meaningless baseball we play. There are sports, such as ultimate frisbee, that promote themselves as “self-officiated.” The idea being that sports, especially youth sports, don’t always need an authority figure out there enforcing rules and penalizing infractions. These self-officiated games promote that competitors should be able to resolve any and all conflicts with calm and measured discussions.
Ultimate frisbee doesn’t have balls and strikes though. As someone who has volunteered umping dozens of games, it’s not particularly fun, and it’s damn-near impossible to be impartial. So, an already meaningless game without an umpire reduces the game’s “meaning” even further as the 3-5 players volunteering to ump are all going to have varying degrees of game command, knowledge, and considerably different strikezones.
Lastly, as far as I know, most of the sandlot umps we use employ a “three hours or 8/9 innings– whichever comes first” rule. You know what umps are usually good at doing? Keeping the game moving. This game drug. The heat clearly affected gameplay and pace. “Hustle” isn’t something I’d say either team was employing. With the offensive team providing the umpire, it’d be false to say that the strikezones were “pitcher friendly,” which only intensified the game’s dragging (smaller strikezone = more walks = longer innings).
Hey, hey! Are you done bitching yet? Well, no. The delayed start time.
The game lasted from 11:25am to 2:20pm which somehow only netted six innings. The heat certainly got to the hungover and hangry sandlotters that had just about had enough by 2pm.
I’m not even certain if this stupid post is playing these circumstances up or playing them down, but there honestly wasn’t too much bristling between the teams. Most exchanges were pleasant. Understandably, a few disagreements popped up. They were mostly handled in a fine and reasonable manner.
Late in the game, while I was umping from behind the mound, there was a play at the plate that I didn’t actively hustle to get in position to have a good perspective. Even if I had hustled down there, it would’ve been like trying to see what happens when two children dive in an oversized sandbox for a dinnerplate during a dust storm. Who’s to say what actually happened? Braden, the runner, thought he was safe. The catcher thought he was out. I explained that all I saw was a dust cloud and that they should figure it out. Shotgun suggestions were made and not particularly well-received. Then Braden quickly proposed Ro Sham Bo (best 2 out of 3). Braden won. Never dance with the devil.
Did yall actually play baseball? Yeah, and Nick Stillman let everyone know that he knows how to hit. Man went 4-4 with double-digit RBIs. Jeff pitched two good innings. I managed to get through a single iffy inning. Keith was steady as ever, finishing the rest of the game on the mound.
The Drag built a tiny cushion early and maintained it. It was a game of rallies and The Drag were able to record just a few more than The Abejas.
Final thought: a midday game at Pittman-Sullivan in July feels more like an Arizona Ironman Competition (or a scene from Jarhead) than it does a recreational booze-fueled baseball game.
7.20.2024 – South Austin Parakeets vs. North Austin Space Cowboys @ Govalle – 7pm
Godbless. Following the game in San Antonio, I got some much-needed tequila and texmex with some Dragsters in San Marcos, dipped in the river (thank Christ), hustled home, then booked it for Govalle’s friendly confines.
In these dog days of summer, many sandlot rosters tend to experience slight reduction (travel, heat, obligations, whatever). As was the case for the Keets, I got the invite to be their 10th man.
The Keets have arms and bats. Because it’s sandlot, pretty much all our gloves fall asleep from time to time, but the Keets always seem to have a really strong pitching rotation and their lineup catches barrels and puts up runs.
Without a doubt, Saturday was a tale of two games. The evening’s conditions were favorable. Umpire Studebaker kept things moving. Both teams swung lumber and made plays. Honestly, an exceptional Sandlot Saturday night.
The Space Cowboys started a fella in left that I had never seen prior to this game and is someone I can only assume whose moniker is “Big Country.” I have no idea if he’s “country” or not, the dude just looked and moved like a DII weakside linebacker (apologies if he was actually a DI linebacker). Big Country started the game in left and killed The Keets’ first-inning rally by throwing a dart to home to nail a runner. Very impressive throw.
After that, the game featured a lot of offense and pitching (Carlos, Rob, Bryce) on the Keets’ side. The Space Cowboys put together some strong rallies late, but, for the most part, the Keets cruised.
An exceptional Sandlot Saturday night.
My last roll of film was destroyed by operator error (I made a film mistake– dammit). No new photos this time, but here are some older photos (and the google photo folder can be found here).
Show notes: This show was fun. I especially liked the final 20-minute block of jazz and the entire second hour of soul/funk/blues. I’ll try to keep that loose format for the 2nd hour for the next few weeks: -20 mins soul -20 mins funk -20 mins blues
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here–
Quick note– On the final 20-minute block, the Spotify playlist is missing the digital versions of Ike Turner’s tracks “That’s Alright” and “Neckin'” as well as Slim Harpo’s “Lovin’ You the Way I Do” (spotify doesn’t have them). Lowell Fulson’s “Low Society” was the final track to air. The final four tracks on this playlist (those after the final “Feelm Intermissions”) didn’t hit the airwaves. I included Kaki King’s “Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers” as part of a funny anecdote about Keb’ Mo and Kaki King touring together in 2004.
Show notes: This show featured one full minute of stupidity as my second track, Ramsey Lewis’s “Little Liza Jane” was played on a faster speed due to the turntable being at the 45 rpm setting and not 33. That took an embarrassingly long time to figure out. There were a few other minor technical mistakes as well as some silly moments while speaking into a microphone, but that’s a solo radio show for ya.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here–
The Spotify playlist is below. Quick note– Della Reese’s version of “Sunny” from her album One More Time! isn’t available on Spotify. For the playlist below, I substituted the Reese’s “lounge” version with the commonly-known Bobby Hebb version.
A note about the Rick’s Canteen spotify playlists– the repeated tracks such as “Thank You All the Same” and “Feelm Intermission” and other similar often-repeated tracks are what I use for the “bed” music (the tunes used when a DJ is chatting about whatever).
For the most part, Episode 6 went fairly well. Curating playlists has always been fun, but I’m still noticeably trying to figure out how to perform off-the-cuff intros + recaps as well as manage even the simplest aspects of broadcasting without error. It’s been enjoyable and I’m learning that I’m much stupider with a hot mic in front of me than without. With time and practice, that should improve.
Since late January/early February, I’ve been taking the required steps towards getting a radio show on the upstart community radio station in Lockhart (107.9, KLKT.org).
It’s been a process. With my live-event DJ experience, I thought being a radio DJ would be simple/easy, but I’m finding out there’s a whole lot of room for improvement.
My initial show proposal to the KLKT board was: “Rick’s Canteen will focus primarily on Jazz, Soul, Blues, Swamp Pop, and Doo Woop (85% focus), with an occasional Classic Country, Americana, or 21st Century Indie (15%) sprinkled in from time to time to mix things up while also noting spheres of influence and any other interesting connections.”
As things have progressed, I’ve tried to play jazz for the first hour and feature mostly soul, R&B, blues, and funk for the back half of the two-hour program.
For the most part, I construct the playlist through Spotify. I mostly play vinyl and often come across situations where the vinyl tracks included in the set aren’t available on Spotify. That said, I still try to piece the sets together digitally before spinning records in the studio.
You can find Episode Five‘s digital playlist without any live on-air ramblings or any of the radio station’s underwriting below here on Spotify. Or…
A note about the spotify playlists– the repeated tracks such as “Thank You All the Same” and “Feelm Intermission” and other similar repeated tracks are the ones used for the “bed” music (the tunes used when a DJ is chatting about whatever).
…Or you can listen to how my set was recorded live– complete with all my blathering and such here (file below).
If your device’s media player doesn’t work well with WordPress’s audio player, you can also find all the live audio files in this google folder (provided Google treats you better than WordPress).
A note about the recorded files. The first bit of audio you’ll hear is the tail-end of the 6pm-8pm program belonging to DJ Russet Burbank. Rick’s Canteen doesn’t generally get goin until three or so minutes after 8pm.
Episode Four – 6.25.24
And the spotify playlist–
Episode Three – 6.18.24
My first three shows were cut to one hour due to scheduling concerns for the board members. The recording below is two hours, but my show only ran from 8pm-9pm. It’ll be easy to tell once it cuts to automation.
Episode Two – 6.11.24
Same as Episode Three. One hour of Rick’s Canteen and another of automation.
Episode One – 6.4.24
Same as Episodes Three and Two. One hour of Rick’s Canteen and another of automation.
6.23.2024 – Gulf Coast Sugar vs. Mashup of Ramblers + Playboys + Smoke @ Wishing Well – 3pm
Fun game. I had previously never taken the field with The Sugar and hadn’t taken the field against them since some time before 2020. Players began showing up for the mashup squad and as those numbers approached 16, since the other dugout looked a little on the light side, I jumped over to The Sugar.
As stated, really fun game. The Sugar are some old-school ballplayers and long-time pals. It shows on and off the field. Great guys and good ballplayers. Happy they let me hop on.
It was a close game all the way through but The Sugar went home with the sugar bowl.
Post-game note: Godbless. The Wishing Well is a great time, but boy howdy, it’s also pretty darn hot out there.
6.29.2024 – Town Lake Nightcrawlers vs. Austin Drag @ Govalle – 3pm Game’s instagram post.
We were able to put up some runs in the first. Then our offense cooled way off as Brandon Terrell (The Nightcrawler’s SP) got settled in. At one point he sat down eight (or so, maybe nine) consecutive Dragsters.
Chill Hand Luke thankfully broke that streak to begin a much-needed two-out rally that plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Defensively, Steven Carrizales (RJ’s best friend) was lights out on the mound. He threw strikes while avoiding barrels. It felt like anytime there was a threat, Steven would bare down and get us out of it.
Defensive highlights: With a runner on second, Sever (RF) fielded a groundball that got through the right side, then quickly got the ball to Braden (SS) who was behind second. The runner sort of took a second to consider staying at third or breaking for home. The runner broke and Braden fired a strike to nail the runner at the plate. He’s good at that. As a Dragster, he’s fired home to nail at least three runners now (maybe four or five).
“Scotty Doesn’t Know” had an exciting catch in left off the bat of The Worms’ big-swingin’ cleanup hitter, Willie. Braden also made an incredible on-the-run scoop + throw to first to kill a rally.
On the Dragster downer side, we stranded quite a few runners (our 2024 trend) and had a baserunning error or two (another emerging 2024 trend).
No big deal. I have no doubt that we’ll have this whole baseball thing figured out by October (only to forget everything we’ve learned come December).
Final score — Nightcrawlers – an amount Drag – a fair amount
Post-game notes: both games I attended were super clean. I don’t remember any goofy chirping or side-eyed mean mugging or any mumbles or grumbles. Just fun baseball and cold beers. Hear hear!
Photos from Nightcrawlers game + our previous SA game (album link here):
6.2.2024 – Austin Drag vs. East Austin Ramblers @ Govalle – 3pm Game’s instagram post.
Pitching can be really fun. Sometimes your command is off and you just can’t seem to get out of an inning without issuing a few walks. Sometimes you execute bad, fat pitches that are left middle-middle in the zone and good hitters square you up and drink your milkshake. Sometimes you execute great pitches and the hitters still find a way to put the bat on the ball to make things happen. Dying quails or groundballs with eyes can turn what was a productive outing into dogshit real quick. Sometimes your defense lets you down. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes.
Luckily, for this outing, I threw strikes and the Drag defense was really, really sharp.
Game notes– Tyler had two huge hits. Marc and Gelli both had doubles. The defense turned two doubleplays. All in all, a really fun afternoon at Govalle. The Ramblers brought a raucous, fun squad.
Final score—- Drag – a fair amount Ramblers – an amount
Postgame notes: The Cobras got dealt a rainout Friday night, so they managed to slide into the Govalle 7pm timeslot following the Saturday Drag/Ramblers game. The Cobras put the word out that there’d be an open practice/pickup game going on and players began trickling in. I let myself believe there’d be 20+ players coming so that I could just hang out and maybe get a single AB or something like that. Dragsters RJ, Marc, and myself all decided to hang out while thinking the pickup game wouldn’t really need extra ballplayers.
Turns out, they did. The pickup game started with Lance throwing on the hill and some Roadrunners and other sandlotters goofing around. At some point, Marc, RJ, and I had just about had as much Govalle as one can have. There’s a chance that Marc may have even OD’ed on Govalle. You be the judge–
Thankfully, Elliott arrived and nursed him back to full strength. The three of us Dragsters somehow held down Govalle from 2:30pm -10:30pm though. Few days are better spent than a full day at the ballpark.
I was not there. I had a wedding. Here’s a paraphrased recap though: Steven got the start and was excellent. Simon, Harrison, Marc, Scotty, and Ash brought the lumber. Defense was impressive including a sweet up-the-middle play by Stillman that included a nice pick by The Big Cat at first.
Final score — Drag – a fair amount Roadrunners – an amount
Post-game notes: there was a garden party that will be discussed for years to come.
6.15.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Los Slowpokes de San Anto @ Pittman-Sullivan (SA) – 11am Game’s instagram post.
Pitching can also be a complete bitch (more on that later). Keith started on the hill and was consistent as ever. With Mike Limongelli devouring every ball that took a trip into leftfield as well as throwing out a runner at home trying to score from second on groundball that made it through the hole on the left side, he showed out as the defensive player of the game. Guy made plays all day. With all those plays, Keith never really got into any trouble.
Defensively, we got through most innings without incident. Offensively, with the exception of one inning, we weren’t able to materialize a legit rally. Their starting pitcher, Luke/Lucas, threw really well. We’d get a hit or two, and then the bats got real cold real quick. We continued our 2024 tradition of stranding runners and relying a lil too much on our pitching to bring home a W.
That strategy has been better than bad for us this season. Keith pitched six efficient innings. Jeff threw a quality seventh. With a three-run laed, I got the ball in the 8th, and, for whatever reason, couldn’t find the strikezone. I could point to a few “factors” (read “excuses”), but I won’t bore you with those. The first responsibility for pitchers is to throw strikes and whatever the hell left my hand did not end up a strike.
My best/fattest pitch was undoubtedly a 3-0 or 3-1 meatball to their athletic lefty slugger who had been taking Big Daddy Hacks all game, but on this particular AB, he felt it was time to lay down a bunt. I get it. You’re down a few runs. There are two runners on. You’re hitting from the left side. Cool. Lay it down. I understand this to be a “good baseball play.” That said, I can’t sit here and talk favorably about Whiteyball and then knock a guy for bunting. I get it.
However, if you ever catch me laying down a bunt during a beer league social sandlot game, I expect someone to question me about whether or not I have intentions to retire from all forms of recreation in the immediate future. I know The Drag has a player or two that love laying down a tasty bunt. I get the appeal. But me? Me? I’ll be swinging.
Anyhow, bunt or no bunt, I biffed the save opportunity and simply didn’t have it. The last time I couldn’t throw strikes was on November 4th. Here’s hoping I can make it the rest of the year without having dreadful control issues.
I deservedly got the quick yank off the hill and Steven tried to clean up my mess. With runners on and one out, they hit a flare into shallow left. Like he had done all game long, Limongelli made a terrific play to make the catch and had an opportunity to double off the runner on first (who thought the ball was dropping in and was making his way to second). Gelli’s throw to first from the outfield came up a little short. The ball short-hopped our first baseman and made its way into foul territory. We complete that play, double off the runner, that would have been a game-saving doubleplay.
It wasn’t meant to be though. The runners advanced. With runners at second and third, the next batter hit a comebacker that bounced off Steven’s leg (the pitcher) and softly kicked towards me at third. Once I got my hand on it, there was no play to be made and the winning run had crossed the plate. That’s baseball. We got baseballed.
Final score — Drag – 7 Los Slowpokes – 8
Luckily for us though, the San Marcos River just so happens to be one of the best places to wash off a bad loss, a bad day, or to redirect your mood if you feel like you’re in a funk. So that’s exactly what we did. We washed that stank off. Drank a few beers. And had ourselves a time.
Photos from Ramblers game + a few other sandlot photos (album link here):
I got to the park early to get as much cordless string trimming (weed whacking) done. The battery died 12 minutes before game time.
Our bats showed up for the first inning and then got real quiet for the 2nd through the 6th. It had been a good, long while since I (Rickner) actually drove a damn ball, but in the bottom of the 1st, I finally barreled an RBI double to left center. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut. Hobson followed my double up with an up-the-middle laser into center that drove me home.
After that, The Jards gave us a few different looks by mixing in different pitchers. They executed their pitches and we also had our moments of loose plate discipline. Well, everyone except for Ash, who barreled two singles in her first two ABs as well as Stillman who caught a nice barrel off what I believe was a “Get Me Over” curveball thrown by Carlos.
Some of us tried to do too much and “didn’t let the game come to us” so to speak. We jumped out too early at good pitches– didn’t allow the ball to get deep enough in the zone to put a good swing on it. When we weren’t doing that, we were swinging at pitches out of the zone and losing the AB battle by forfeiting any advantage by swinging at pitches that could’ve/would’ve/should’ve been declared “balls.” Call it projection on my part if you will, but these tendencies were displayed by many at the ballpark that evening.
On the defensive side, Steven Carrizales took the hill, Keith Hyndshaw geared up behind the plate, and we all just kind of watched them work. Except for Braden, who was too preoccupied snagging liners and making plays at second. The few times The Jards’ bats began threatening and/or The Drag defense made an error, Steven dug in and neutralized the threat with some much-needed strikeouts.
In the top of the 3rd, The Jards hit two balls to the wall scoring one run + The Drag’s Stillman (SS) caught a Jardy in a pickle, then we (The Drag) biffed the pickle that allowed another run to score.
That takes us to the top of the 7th. With the score at a 2-4 Drag advantage, I (Rickner) misplayed a backhand at third then overthrew 1b (good God). With one out and runners at 1st and 3rd, Steven induced a groundball that Braden, Stillman, Hobson converted into a much-needed 4-6-3 DP.
All in all, pitching and defense was pretty darn clean for both sides. Our botched pickle + my misplay at third are the only combined errors that I recall. We were lucky to drive just a few more balls than The Jards.
Really fun game. Studebaker mustered the strength to make it through six or seven innings before the heat, his age, and pressure of such high stakes sandlot made him retire long before the lights did. The captains put in a request to the Sandlot Umpires Union to review the situation. Word is that he made it home just in time to put on some reruns of Night Court on Nick@Nite.
Final score—- Jardineros- 2 Bull the Bailiffs Drag – 6 John Larroquettes
5.27.2024 – Town Lake Nightcrawlers vs. Austin Drag @ Historic Downs Field – 10am Weekend’s instagram post.
Onto the games- Gahdamn it was hot. It is Texas, and from now until October, it’s only gonna get hotter, but this “heat dome” was something else. Never mind the heat, how was the baseball?
It varied throughout the day. For the first game, it was a tight and contested game until the later stages. Runs proved hard to come by as the Drag runners made a few errors on the basepaths (myself/Rickner included) as well as the mutual agreement to not take home on passed balls.
Our first runner to reach first safely didn’t stay there long. He promptly got hidden ball tricked. That was pretty cheeky, but these things happen. A trick play is usually not utilized right out of the gate like that, as most “trick” plays are generally used as a late-inning desperation move in a tight situation, but never underestimate the element of surprise right? Perhaps they were trying to “set a tone,” or simply steal an out as early as they could, or maybe something else entirely. I’m not sure. But, it’s all part of the game. A few Dragsters were perceptively miffed (not me), but we collectively got over it in 5-10 minutes.
Though our offense was a little slow out of the gate, Keith’s pitching wasn’t. He was sharp. In seven innings, The Worms plated one run. They threatened late, but Keith was able to get out of the one real jam he faced. Exceptional showing on the hill.
The Worms’ starting pitcher, Brandon Terrell, was also really sharp. He pitched at least five, maybe six innings while avoiding any significant rally. Going into the final stretch, the score was 4-1 with The Drag on top. Given that the heat was sort of slowing things down, we were down to 30 mins left when The Drags’ bats woke up and started putting together a final rally.
Quick Break to Nag About Rules/Etiquette. Apologies.
During my second (or third?) AB, I saw a second needless fake tag in as many games vs. The Nightcrawlers. I already wrote about fake tags.
In college (NCAA) + professional competition (MLB/MiLB), fake tags = up to the umpire’s discretion to determine whether or not there was obstruction. In high school + youth competition fake tags = obstruction. Regardless of contact or intent,runner advances.
So we’re all clear on this matter– There are no lower-level leagues than Sandlot. If you were to look at all baseball being played by humans older than 18 years, this is the lowest-level, lowest-stakes baseball in existence. Less competitive, more social leagues don’t exist. For the majority of sandlotters that are simply trying to enjoy playing a goofy-ass, recreational game– this “league” is it. It doesn’t get more meaningless or more recreational than this. As far as competition/talent goes, we’re the nadir.
Suffice it to say, whatever rules I remember the game having when my competitive baseball days ended in 2002 (high school), it’d feel odd to all of a sudden play up to professional rules and ask for even more interpretation from our overworked, overheated one-man umpire “crews” that certainly don’t want to babysit adults who either a) don’t know the rules or b) refuse to follow the rules.
For comparison’s sake (as far as rules and intentionality is concerned), a baserunner stealing + relaying signs (at any level) is technically “legal.” It’s also a dickmove (nobody is accusing anyone of doing this– just a comparison of “rule breaking” and the stigma attached to some on-field behaviors). Faking a tag, at any level below college + pros, is illegal and it’s a dickmove. In the majors, faking a tag is a dickmove that warrants its own form of baseball justice. But, as they say, the way you do anything is the way you do everything.
No grudges. No leftover attitudes. Every sandlotter espouses they “love baseball.” I look forward to seeing that sentiment put into action.
Enough nagging. Enough soapboxing.
Final tally – Worms – 1 Grandpa Glizzy Drag – 9 D. Branch Boudin Balls
God bless. I am admittedly learning a few things about 35mm photography. It was a little too bright and cloudy for my settings at high noon (see the overexposed photos above). But… pretty darn perfect for the sundown shots (see below). Link to sandlot google photo folder.
Thanks again Joel, Marcel, Huston-Tillotson, Grandpa’s Glizzys, D. Branch Boudin, Mom & Pops Frozen Pops, Austin Drag, Town Lake Nightcrawlers, Space City Cowboys, Meat City Smoke, Austin Grackles, Texas Playboys, Cap City Cobras, and Austin Yardbirds. We’re definitely looking forward to the next sandlot event at The Historic Downs Field!
Even though jokes may have been said about sandlotters ripping names from professional baseball organizations, I’m not going to hold it against these fellas that they share a name with a AAA team. Maybe they just really, really like Steve Miller Band? Who’s to say?
What can be said is that the NASC are a solid bunch of guys.
Both starting pitchers– NASC’s Ben Kwiatkowski and Drag’s Steven Carrizales had both lineups tied up and off balance. After three innings, the score was knotted at 1s. Notable defensive plays included David Rhodes making a quality play at first base to snare a liner and Ash tracking down a flyball in left. Offensively, Keith flew around the basepaths all game long manufacturing a few runs along the way. RJ hit one to the wall but just couldn’t get his legs to produce more than a single (that happens). Simon had an RBI rip to the right side. Steven caught a barrel or two. Stillman and Rickner also got themselves a barrel.
Judging by all these barrels, you’d think we put up a ton of runs. Nope. Not really. The Space Cowboys’ pitching and defense stepped up when they needed and the Drag continued our long-standing tradition of stranding runners.
We love and value a spacious dugout. It’s pretty important. That in mind, we strategically keep our runners on the basepaths as to not cluster up and crowd the dugout. It gives us a little more breathing (and drinking) room on the bench.
Our pitchers stayed sharp. In a rare and brief relief appearance, Keith pitched the 4th and 5th. Marc Segal handled the 6th and Jeff Waterman the 7th. The Drag pitchers did an exceptional job of avoiding walks and barreled balls.
The score was 4-2 heading into the 8th. I (Rickner) pitched a clean top frame. The Drag scored three much-needed runs in the bottom half of the 8th. The top of the 9th went a little goofy. There was a walk, a K, a towering popfly that found grass between left and center, then a well-hit liner over SS by their lefty leadoff man that scored two, a K, a swinging bunt that goes in the book just the same as a rifled single, and a final K.
That may read as boring, but I assure you, it wasn’t.
All in all, it was a sharp game played by both teams that was concluded in an expeditious fashion.
The final tally – Space Cowboys – 4 gangsters of love Drag – 7 Maurices
The last few leftover pics from Tulsa that were recently developed:
We get to bookend Memorial Day Weekend with two games against the Jardineros (Friday night and Monday morning). Looking forward to it.
The Austin Drag hit the road and made it up to Tulsa. Thankfully, The Rumblers put a tarp over the infield as most of the region had been fighting rain, thunder, and tornadoes for most of the week leading up to the game.
Derek from The Rumblers had a welcome party at his incredible home Friday night. Most of The Drag had some drinks there. We all shot the proverbial breeze (not the Tulsa Breeze) with The Rumblers and simply had a great time. As always, outstanding hosts.
I swung by The Mercury then Whataburger after hanging at Derek’s because– of course I did.
5.4.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Tulsa Rumblers @ Historic Lacy Park (Tulsa) – 11am
First things first– I will recognize that I’ve been critical of other hosts/teams/communities in the past. I am guilty of this. But these are weekends we’re talking about. Whether it’s 50 miles or 500, it’s still travel. And there are costs. So, why not make the experience as mutually beneficial as possible?
This need not be explained to Tulsa. These guys get it and, in my experience, they have yet to be surpassed in making goofy sandlot baseball entirely worthwhile (Lockhart easily comes in second). Back to Saturday Sandlot Baseball.
Know what’s better than ending 5+ hours of drinking with a Whataburger? Starting your morning after with a Whataburger taquito. It had been a good, long while since I’ve bookended six hours of sleep with Whataburger meals, but that’s exactly what kind of trip this was shaping up to be.
All The Rumblers’ hard work paid off. The tarp kept as much water as it could off the infield, and we’re grateful for the time + effort. All things considered, save for a few troublesome puddles between the infield and outfield, the conditions were pretty darn good. Game on.
Considering that our games with The Rumblers always seem to go down to the wire as well as the fact that it was RJ’s birthday, we all felt like a damn-good time was sitting right in front of us. We collectively took advantage.
The Rumblers’ tall starting pitcher carved up our entire lineup for the first three innings. Keith (Drag Captain + Starting Pitcher) answered with some strong innings of his own overcoming some infield throwing errors.
Thanks to Steven Carrizales’s big RBI double to right center, The Drag and Rumblers were knotted up at two runs a piece after four innings. From there, both teams clustered runs here and there intermittently.
Defensively, Ash and Steven both made good grabs in the outfield. Braden put a few innings in at second and gave us this highlight– with a Rumbler runner on first, a lil flare made its way into right field. Braden hustled it down and made a turnaround throw that was a dead-eye strike to third nabbing the runner attempting to motor from first-to-third. It was pretty darn impressive.
Steven and RJ provided most of our offense going a combined 6-8 and accounting for at least half of our RBIs.
The Rumblers’ biggest rally came in the 7th. Keith pitched exceptionally for the first six innings, but then ran into a slight bit of trouble in the 7th. He gave the ball to Rickner (the author of this write up) and I gave up a flare that dropped into shallow right center that proved to be a big hit. Rumblers ended up plating four that inning. Drag responded with two runs in the 8th, including Diana Driver running very aggressively on the basepaths. She ran through so many stop signs and forced her way home on a play at the plate that miraculously ended in our favor. This gal slid home in her leopard-print shorts and created a highlight that is pretty hard to beat (incredible pic featured on the ig post).
In the top of the 9th, down 8-9, we were able to load up the bases, but their closer executed down the stretch to hold it down and shut the door.
The final tally – Drag – 8 casino buffets Rumblers – 9 ballpark dogs
With everyone full well anticipating heavy storms that evening (late Saturday/early Sunday), the decision was to get in as much baseball as we could– right then and there. We had every indication to believe Sunday was going to be a wash, it was determined to “get while the gettin’ was good.”
We divided all the players in attendance and put together a very loose, goofy, laid back scrimmage. It was perfect. The beer, bourbon, and mezcal consumption went from leisurely to John Daly.
Steven pitched some innings. A handful of Rumblers took their turn on the hill. It was a great way to kill the last few remaining dry hours we had left in Tulsa. Even though it was only a goofy pickup game, Mike Hobson, putting in some time at second, made a fully horizontal, backhanded layout to snare a hard-hit liner by Dan McClintock. One of the cooler plays I’ve seen this year.
After the ballpark, it was all casino buffets and bad beats. Everyone seemed a lil burnt out by the 6+ hours at the ballpark followed by the 6+ trips to the prime rib table followed by the 6+ trips to the craps tables.
To reiterate: The Tulsa Sandlot community is incredible. Hands down, the best group to host and take ownership of whatever this goofy, burgeoning culture is. I’ve been lucky enough to make the trip twice now, and each time I’ve been so very grateful and happy to put in those highway miles because this community truly makes it worth it. Great people. Great attitudes. Outstanding baseball experiences. Thanks Rumblers! Can’t wait to catch yall for a Sandlot Sunday down at Lacy Park!
