Last night TRx took on their inter-office nemesis Verilogue, as well as a biased umpire, in a battle for use of the elevator and stairs at 220 Gibraltar. With another late game, TRx took to the Iron Abbey en masse, for a pregame drinking showdown with the few unfrightened 'Logue-ers. After each team attempted to buy their opponents multiple shots and intoxicate them, Dempsey took matters into his own hand and drank all of them. Due to these pregame shenanigans, Old Demps made wholesale changes in the field, putting himself in right center, with TO playing first, and KB taking on the shortstop duties, in what was at least the fifth iteration of the lineup. And these changes did not necessarily pay off early in the game...
After flashing some nifty glovework on a ground ball deep in the hole, KB was unable to complete the throw to first while falling towards the third base line, despite a valiant effort. Later, a woman on their team hit on a routine pop up towards short, with GLG playing slightly behind second base. KB contemplated doing the GLG-patented throw off your hat while catching the ball, but in the midst of all this contemplation, the ball hit off just the tip (of the glove), just for a second, just to see how it feels, before glancing off of Greg's glove as well. As this was one of the few times there wasn't a swirling wind, the trajectory of this ball must have been altered by the gravitational pull of Greg's bulbous head, leading to the miscue. Later, GLG did his Mad Elf impression, on an attempting sliding catch in the outfield that didn't quite work out as the ball trickled past him. However, perhaps this was just Greg getting used to the feel of the grass on his knees, in preparation for a similar, more important play later in the game. Dempsey also got in on the action, as he dropped a routine fly ball after being "distracted" by David yelling out "You got this Sean!"
The team settled down after that, as the only other miscues were a slow nonchalant throw by KB that appeared to beat the runner, yet the umpire called him safe, and a screaming shot towards shortstop that KB was unwilling to sacrifice the family jewels for. Those piercings hurt going in, and would hurt even more getting hit... that, combined with the plate in his ankle make it interesting when going through metal detectors, on of which would be needed later that night. Besides these plays, the rest of the team played excellent defense, with Aaron being a magnet in left field, and David fielding his position perfectly, and TO scooping everything at first base. While the defense got stronger as the game advanced, Terry's ace pitching kept TRx in the game, despite Verilogue building a 5-0 lead. Terry set a new TRx record, recording almost double-digit strikeouts, including a tired Kozloff 3 times. His dominant pitching performance held Verilogue scoreless in the last 3 innings. In fact, Terry's pitching was so spot on that we didn't even see one of Christin's patented kick saves, though we did see her mastery with the glove, and an attempt at the barehand save. Perhaps she is saving her best for the Stanley Cup finals.
Once again, the TRx bats went limp early in the game, partially due to user error, partially to to impartial umpiring. On one play, the Brain was clearly safe by two feet, yet Mr. Hawaiian Tropic called him out. The umpire also was in love with the other team's female pitcher, calling many of her questionable pitches strikes, while Terry had to fight for calls on pitches right over the plate. Yet TRx continued to battle. KB took this game as an opportunity to pick on the man who initially hired him at TRx way back in 2003, Jeff Kozloff. KB peppered Kozloff in center field with balls just out of his reach, and later made him run for a foul ball when he moved to left. After that long run, Jeff luckily made a bobbling catch to get KB out. Dempsey had a hard hit up the middle, that Verilogue somehow fielded to get the force, as TO ran 10 feet past second base. Christin finally saw the benefits of running all the way through first base, beating out a throw and later scoring one of TRx's early runs. Krysta and David both powered the lower half of the lineup, helping keep TRx in the game. Terry proved to be the hero, as he had the game winning hit, and even slid into third, as an excuse to try to kick dirt on the other team. Terry was the Christ-like savior, and in his spare time, he even hunts vampires (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311361/). A tagline has never been truer...
In the end, with TRx up 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the defense finally made up for all of their previous miscues. Greg's second chance at sliding catch was picture perfect, and KB snagged a hard line drive by perfectly positioning himself. TO had the perfect stretch on a close play at first, and TRx had their third victory, moving to 3-1 (3-0 after pregame happy hours). This time, they actually had fans too, including GLG's wife, Aaron's GF, and former catcher LD. With the victory, TRx gains building bragging rights, and Verilogue employees now must use a latter to climb in their windows, as they are banned from the elevators and staircases.
After the game, TRx celebrated. Krysta, Aaron, David, and Christin took their cue from Christin's fans (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5198646), and attacked the car's of Verilogue. Dempsey was also in a celebratory mood, and threw his keys high in the air. Unfortunately, no one saw where they went, as Greg, KB, Demps, and Dana spent the next 20 minutes scouring the field to find the keys before the wood fold came out with their medal detectors searching for unknown treasures. Hopefully, Demps will be more careful when he has a kid and won't be like this guy (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/05/18/2010-05-18_man_tries_to_trade_infant_for_beer_or_crack_cocaine_at_gas_station_minimart.html). No game next week, as the holiday will be spent in memory of TRx's unprecedented start.
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