Inglourious SB Basterds

I not a big Quentin Tarantino fanbut his latest movie Inglorious Basterds is a cinema masterpiece and I Highly recommend it to everyone. Without giving away the movie, there is one part of the flick that reminds me of softball. Brad's Pitt who brilliantly plays the character Lt. Aldo Raine tells his team of recruits "I need me eight soldiers. Eight Jewish-American soldiers..... we're gonna be doing one thing and one thing only... killing Nazis..... I sure as hell didn't come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, fight my way through half Sicily and then jump out of a fuckin' air-o-plane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity. Nazi ain't got no humanity.... they need to be dee-stroyed..... that's why every son of a bitch we find wearin' a Nazi uniform, they're gonna die. ...... Sound good? "

This is what a good SB managers does. Recruits loyal motivated players with a common goal. After all let's be honest, aren't most of us softball players inglorious basterds to some extent?

PS OK so the softball connection is the clearest in this blog, but go see the movie anyway you will love it.

Little Bit of Luck

Skill, confidence, and proper execution of plays decides most games, but there is an element of a little Bit of Luck

that factors into games.

Top Ten Plays where Luck factors into the game

10. Line Drive Out vs Bloop Hit - Different sides of the same coin ... both involve bad and good luck.

9. Bad Call in the field - even good umps make mistakes. Sometimes it makes you sometimes it breaks you.

8. Strike Zone - You say tomato I say tomatoes. One man's strike is another man's ball. It's all arbitrary.

7. Rain out - Ever hear the expression pray for rain? Maybe you were short guys and rained helped you or vice versa. The Softball gods work in mysterious ways

6. Bad Bounce - Field conditions cam make a routine play a game changing adventure at anytime. I've seen bad bounces on immaculate fields like the Great Lawn. It happens

5. Fluke Play - Blown Run down play, outfielders collide, line drive hits one fielder and rebounds directly to another for a double play, 2 guys tagged out at home on 1 throw.

4. Lucky Seeding - I've seen 8 seeds upset by 1 seeds and 4 seeds play terrible 5 seeds.

3. Guys Show Up Factor - A stacked team might be missing a pitcher or players go on vacation that changes the dynamic of their roster. It's all luck
2. Karma - did you sneak a player on your roster, diss a loyal player, get gully on an umpire, talk shit, pick on a scrub, start trouble? .. if so that's all bad Karma and pay back is just around the corner.

and the Number One Play were Luck comes into play

1. Effort - good things happen when you hustle, run everything out, support your teammates, and never quit. Little things like that add up and pay off. It's a very humbling game and you make your own luck.

SBI Note

Please note that going forward ALL Anonymous comments, NO EXCEPTIONS, will be immediately deleted from this site. I love the feedback and appreciate your readership but either you have a google account that lists your name or sign your name to a comment. This is not a bulletin board to post derogatory comments and hide behind anonymity.Real men sign their name and stand by their words.

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!!!!!!!!!

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!!!!!!! as Hells Kitchen "HK" advances to the Big Apple Semi-Finals for a 3rd consecutive season.

The two clean victories over Empire are almost an after thought as the fighting, cursing, arguing, rowdiness, and the overall intense goon behavior again gains center stage attention. Even the most hardcore Yankee fan has to agree this team resembles the bad boy 1986 Mets

with all the shenanigans that go on. Thank god we win otherwise we might get arrested.

Our players were wild fighting each other, the umpires, and our opponent while our beloved manager John "Championship Manager" Sheppard resembled Will Ferrell in Old School http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hixONU_IJh8 as he was completely out of control!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have earned the worst reputation in the league.

It's embarrassing.....It's annoying......It's unacceptable.

But we have persevered and are never boring!!!!

We are so close to the finals that I really don't give a Fuck.

Saphire next week

Hell Tidbits

Very good team contributes all day up and down the lineup.... Empire is a talented team that should only be better next year ... Edgar Jr and Jimmy Meyers were very solid all day ... George Colon is on Fire ....Jimmy Meyers made an amazing play on the last play of game 2 as he deflected a line drive hit at him on the mound that went straight up in the air and he caught before the ball hit the ground ... Hector is a difference maker ... John Sheppard left in the middle of game 2 and the remainder of the game was managed by committee of Ricky/Tommy/Edgar ... These guys love to win and don't hold grudges ... Saphire swept the Bombers to advance to the semi's ... Saphire swept HK during the regular season ..... Saphire is hungry ... Next week series will be tight

U know your league is Ghetto when

Top Ten Reasons You Know the Softball League You Play in is Ghetto

10. Every batter starts the game with a 1-1 Count. It's all about rushing the game so you can get more games in and make Mo' Money ... Mo' Money ....Mo' Money

9. The Ump yells "Keep it Fair or next foul and your out" - a foul ball limit is ghetto and you know the ump wants you to make an out so he can get his money faster.

8. Pollution on and around the field

145th street is the dirtiest softball environment as rats are everywhere. Surprisingly, the Great Lawn has been disgusting on the weekends this year which is proof that people who live below 96th street litter as well.

7. Your game starts after 8:30PM. No game should start after 8:30 unless it's game two of a double header that began at 7pm or earlier. EMS starts double headers at 8:45 and Yorkville starts games at 9PM frpm April - November. This is abusive and flat out ghetto.

6. Chelo is your groundskeeper

You don't get any more above 96th street ghetto than Chelo

5. Players ask "What's the Pot" and Commissioners either changes or won't talk about the prize money. Everyday I'm hustlin' hustlin' hustlin'

4. Mercy Rule is 10 runs after 4. The Mercy rule has always been 5 innings, the 4 inning hustle was put in finish the game early so the umps can get paid. I laugh when umps complain that the Mercy rule should be 4 innings. Hurry Hurry Hurry is a common ghetto softball theme. What are we rushing for? Do we have to get back to the lab to save humanity? Ghetto

3. Teams share equipment - catcher's mask (nasty), bases, bats, gloves, score books page are ripped out of the book and shared (funny). So ghetto.

2. Players play with their jock strap outside (on top) of their pants/shorts .. disturbing and obviously a cry for attention

and the Number One You Know the Softball League You Play in is ghetto

1. There are more fans standing near the field drinking than players on the field playing

The Hell With it

Yesterday Hell Kitchen "HK" swept Brother Jimmy's to capture 1st place in their division and earn the 2nd overall seed in the Big Apple League. http://esportsdesk.com/leagues/front_pageesd.cfm?clientID=1322&leagueID=2106

Nice job but needless to say to Hell with the regular season as everyone knows it's the post season that really counts. As Gil always tell me it reveals "la Verdad" .. the Truth. Throw out the seeding numbers attached to each team as next Sunday everyone is all even and HK has a 1st round match up with an incredibly talented Empire ball club. This series will be intense, a grind, and a sure fire barn burner.

Other Great Big Apple 1st round match ups include:

Brother Jimmy's vs Choice Parts - Brother Jimmy has a lot of heart and pride and the Parts have been primed to defend all season.

Saphire vs. Bombers - Saphire, the 2009 version of the Tampa Bay Rays of the Big Apple league, have youth, speed, defense, heart, line drive hitting, and are very hungry. If you haven't accepted it by now well face reality they are for REAL!!!!!!!!The Bombers standout starting pitching always makes them a force to be reckoned with so this series has the makings of a good one.

Working Class vs. Contact - any series with Fran on the mound is bound to be exciting, intense, and entertaining. Contact has been lying in the weeds all season and will come stacked and prepared for the playoffs. This will be a classic.

and this is only round one...

A picture is worth a 1,000 Westlanders

It's Over!!!!! The Westlanders outlast the gritty and talented young Violators to Win the Saturday Central Park Softballl Championship!!!!!!!! As Team MVP and Softball King of the Hill Franny Donovan Delivers and adds another chip to his SB Resume!!!!!

Congrats to the Westlanders and their manager Dio Jackson!!!!!!!!!




Rather than bore you with a lot of nerdy talk I'll let you enjoy the happy after game images as Westlander pictures are worth more than words and business was good for Smokey as the party was on!!!!!!!!!

















HOLLER!!!!!!!!!!!

Citysoftball.com - Happy Anniversary

The Citysoftball.com 2009 Fall Softball Season begins September 13th.
For information contact me or Juan Moreiras at “rickysoftball2 (AT)yahoo.com” and "jm212nyc (AT)yahoo.com" , respectively.

This years mark our Tenth Year Anniversary!!!!!!!

How the hell did that happen?
Top Ten Reasons Citysoftball.com has lasted 10 years

10. Pure Luck
Not a "Little Bit of Luck"

But Pure luck.
9. A96 Factor - we are above 96th street,so we're in the hood where anything goes.
8. Citysoftball.com Employees groundskeeper Chelo and head ump Looch They may not be perfect, but they are reliable.
7. Loyal teams - West, Highlanders, Chaos, Sidewinders, Hawksquad, Bizcocheros.
Loyal customers. You are appreciated.
6. Our team rarely wins the league so we never get accused of cheating. being losers gives us credibility
5. The Pastelito/Lemonade/Beer Concession stand - some people say it's better than Shake Shack at Citifield
4. Stud Players
3. Tight competition2. We can laugh at ourselves and have fun

and the Number One Reasons Citysoftball.com has lasted 10 years


1. Niche Factor - it's the fall, and a lot of other leagues have wrapped things up and there is nothing else left for people to do but stay home and watch football. So we've created a nice little boutique softball niche. A lot of other leagues have tried to copy us but that's OK, as imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but we do things fairly and right.

Check us out