Games of 9/23

We're slowly catching up here...

Rosengard 10, O'Connor 2
This game was tied at 2-2 going into the top of the 7th, when Rosengard's team erupted for 8 runs. Sam Melendez's infield single scored the go-ahead run. Ian Parfrey was 4-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Eric Schulman added 3 hits. Dave Rosengard allowed one earned run on 7 hits for the win.

Melendez 8, Lawrence 5
Freddie Melendez was staked to a 6-0 lead after 2 innings, and cruised to a win. He helped his cause with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Phil Ciccone was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI for Lawrence's team.

Mishkin 7, Hewes 7 (5-inning tie)
In the third game, Mishkin's team led 7-5 after 2 innings, but the pitchers eventually regained control. Nel Yomtov was 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and 4 RBI for Mishkin's squad, and Havelock Hewes backed his own pitching with 3 hits and 2 RBI.

Games of 9/16

It looks like I'm never going to find the boxscores for Sept. 9 (don't worry, the stats were already entered), so we'll skip to the 16th.

Rosengard 9, Parfrey 3
Phil Ciccone had 3 hits, and Eric Schulman drove in 3 more runs. Dave Rosengard scattered 11 hits for the win. Ian Parfrey backed his "pitching" by going 3-for-4 with 2 triples.

Melendez 4, Hewes 3 (10 innings)
In an extremely hard-fought game, Freddie Melendez singled home Ian Parfrey (3-for-5) in the top of the 10th for the winning run. Melendez allowed 3 runs, none earned, on 10 hits, and struck out five. Havelock Hewes was almost as good, allowing 4 runs, 3 earned, on 12 hits. Hewes's team scored the tying run in the bottom of the 7th, and stranded the winning run on third base.

Game of August 23

Rosengard 3, Connor 2
Rosengard's team scored three times in the second inning, around a triple by Sam Magnus (3-for-3). Cid Rivera threw out the tying run at home plate to end the game. Dave Rosengard allowed 2 runs on 11 hits, and Tony Connor allowed 3 runs on 6 hits.

Games of July 29

We played a tripleheader at the Dewitt Clinton field, with Heckscher under water. Several dramatic finishes occurred.

Rosengard 7, O'Connor 6
Rosengard's team trailed 5-2 after 5 innings, but rallied to tie on an RBI triple by Sam Magnus, and took a 6-5 lead when Russell Rivera singled him in. A two-out RBI single by Dave Sommers tied the game in the seventh, but O'Connor lost the plate in the bottom of the inning, walking the bases loaded before Sam Melendez won it with a walk-off infield single.

Melendez 4, Parfrey 3
Freddie Melendez prevailed in a pitcher's duel, stranding the winning runs on base in the bottom of the 7th when he induced Joe Geller to ground into a game-ending DP. Parfrey lost despite allowing only four hits.

Martinez 10, Hewes 9
In another dramatic finish, Sam Melendez came all the way around on an infield hit and two errors to break a 7-7 tie in the top of the 6th, and Gil Schmerler singled in an insurance run in the 7th. Martinez's team rallied for three runs and the win, with Bob Holzwasser singling in Ian Parfrey with two outs to end the game. Derek Martinez homered and drove in 3, and Joe Geller was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Phil Ciccone and Sam Melendez had 3 hits and 3 runs scored each for Hewes's team.

Games of July 22

Hewes 4, Rosengard 2
Havelock Hewes picked up his 8th win, allowing two runs, one earned, on 10 hits.

Appell 10, Nilva 2
Freddie Melendez was 3-for-3 with an RBI to back Jeff Appell (3-4), who scattered 8 hits.

Games of June 17

Rosengard 6, Melendez 2
Dave Rosengard scattered 7 hits in a strong pitching performance to pick up his first win of the season.

Appell 8, Lawrence 3
After Derek Martinez's 2-out 2-run HR tied the game for Lawrence's team, Havelock Hewes alertly stole home on an indifferent recovery of a throwing error for the lead in the top of the 6th. Eric Schulman drove in 4 runs for Appell's team.

Martinez 6, O'Connor 5
A bases-loaded walk to Fred Lang was the margin of victory, and Cid Rivera Sr. lined out to Cid Rivera Jr. with the bases loaded to end the game. Freddie Melendez drove in 4 runs to back Martinez's pitching, and Mark Rodriguez had 3 hits.

Games of Dec 4

Magnus / Hewes 19, O'Connor 11
The ball was flying out of MS 141 this Sunday. O'Connor allowed 9 runs in the first, including 3 2-run HR's. The game settled down after that, and O'Connor's team closed to within 13-10 at one point. Alex Rivera led the offense by going 4-for-4 with 2 HR's (#19 and 20) and 4 RBI. Sam Magnus also homered twice with 4 RBI, and Eric Schulman homered and drove in 3 runs. Mike Sulyman added 3 hits, and Havelock Hewes had 3 hits and pitched an effective 3-inning save. Bobby Echevarria homered twice for O'Connor's team, and Sal Cipriano was 3-for-3 with 3 doubles.

Melendez 9, Garcia 8
Freddie Melendez (18-10) took a 7-3 lead into the 6th inning, but Garcia's team rallied-- Eric Schulman hit a tying 2-run single, and Rich Rowlands brought in the go-ahead run with a flare down the RF line. Garcia seemed to be on his way to a win, but Josh Balsam reached on an error with one out, and Havelock Hewes walked. Both came around to score on walk-on Nick Bressers' 2-out, 2-run double to center. Melendez retired the side in order in the bottom of the 7th for the win. Sam Magnus homered twice more, and drove in 4 runs.

Rosengard 9, Sulyman 3
Dave Rosengard picked up his 3rd straight win, baffling his opponents with offspeed pitches. He was backed by the hitting of Ian Parfrey (3-for-4, 3 RBI), Cisco Velez (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Eric Schulman, who homered and drove in 3.

This weekend also featured appearances by Larry Savell (2-for-3), Bill Vernick and Bill Weinberg (both DNP), and Ian Parfrey broke Zach Nilva's 1-year old hit record, and now has 155 hits on the year, most of them singles to right.

Games and Notes of Nov 27

We will be at MS 141 in Riverdale next Sunday. The field is on Hudson Manor Terrace between 236th and 237th Streets. Game time is 10:00am and the weather looks playable.

Due to an enormous surplus of players, we played two simultaneous games, and then the winners faced the winners, the losers faced the losers, and anyone who wanted to stick around after that played again. Unfortunately, Paul Geoghan dislocated his thumb in the first inning of the first round. Speedy recovery, Paul!

Round 1
Rosengard 7, Hewes 6
Andy Atkinson's sac fly scored Joe Geller in the bottom of the 7th to give Rosengard the come from behind win. Atkinson was 3-for-4, and Alex Rivera drove in 4 runs. For Hewes's team, Eric Schulman and Ray Hernandez were each 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. Rosengard's team trailed 6-3 in the 6th inning.

Nilva 12, O'Connor 11 (8 innings)
Cisco Velez's sac fly broke a 9-9 tie in the 8th inning, and Nilva stranded the tying run at third in the bottom of the inning. Bobby Echevarria and Zach Nilva had 4 hits, and Sam Magnus was 3-for-5 with 5 RBI. For O'Connor's team, Freddie Melendez was 3-for-5 with 4 RBI, and Bill McLaughlin and Ian Parfrey added 3 hits each.

Round 2
Rosengard 7, C.Magnus 6 (8 innings)
Alex Rivera hit a walkoff double with 2 outs in the 8th to give Rosengard his second win of the day. Magnus's team came back from a 6-2 deficit only to lose in extra innings. Sam Magnus had 3 RBI.

Melendez 7, Connor 1
Freddie Melendez improved to 17-10 with a dominating pitching performance in the consolation game. He allowed 5 hits, an unearned run, and struck out 2.

Game 5
Hewes 8, Parfrey 4
Backed by his own 3 hits, Havelock won his 19th game. Chris Pun added 4 hits. Bill McLaughlin homered and Ray Hernandez was 3-for-3 in a losing effort.

Games of 9/11

1. Melendez 9, Hewes 0
Freddie Melendez (11-7) threw a 5-hit shutout. Ian Parfrey (3-for-3, 2 RBI) and Russ Rivera (2-for-3, 3B) led the attack.

2. Parfrey 5, Appell 2
Parfrey's team scored 4 runs on 5 consecutive 2-out singles in the 3rd inning. Eric Schulman and Russ Rivera (both 2-for-3, 3B, RBI) were the hitting stars.

3. Rosengard 3, Nilva 2
Ian Parfrey's 2-out single plated Alex Rivera to break a 2-2 tie, and Dave Rosengard (3-3) hung on for the win.

Games of 9/4

Back in action after multiple rainouts, SFL played a tripleheader this morning.

Rosengard 3, Hewes 2
Dave Rosengard allowed only 6 hits, and retired Havelock with the bases loaded to end the game. Ian Parfrey was 3-for-3 to back Rosengard's pitching.

Nilva 2, Parfrey 1
Zach Nilva scattered 5 hits, allowing only a solo HR to Eric Schulman, and Phil Ciccone's 2-out single up the middle in the 3rd inning scored Paul Geoghan with the go-ahead run.

Melendez 13, Nilva 7
The bats finally came alive in the third game. Nilva's team scored 4 in the top of the first, but couldn't hold the lead. Ian Parfrey was 4-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI to back Freddie. Nilva was 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored.

Milestones

June 4-- Jeff Appell beats Havelock Hewes 7-2 for his 100th win as a pitcher.
July 24-- Ian Parfrey's 500th hit is a single to right off of Jeff Appell.

Also this season:
Havelock Hewes, hit #1700
Gil Schmerler, hit #1200, probably on July 17. I will check on this.
Mike Palma, hit #600
Derek Martinez, run #500
Dave Rosengard, 500th win as a player

Opening Day 2011

We opened the season the right way today-- good weather, exactly enough players, and two one-run games. Havelock Hewes beat Freddy Melendez 5-4, and Dave Rosengard's team got him a comeback victory in game 2, 10-9 over Adam Garcia. Hewes's team scored 4 times in the 1st, and just barely held on. Bill McLaughlin's single to center was the first hit of the year, and he came around to score the first run, driven in by Ian Parfrey. Melendez's squad chipped away at the lead, and stranded the tying run on second base when Justin Stotsky flew out to right.
In the second game, Stotsky came through, delivering a 2-run single to short center to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th. Gil Schmerler grounded a double down the left field line to score Mike Sulyman for the decisive run. Seven straight batters reached base during this rally, which started with Ken Walker's 2-out, 2-run HR to left-center.
Thanks to Zach Nilva and Tony Connor for getting us the field and the turnout.

GAMES OF NOV 14

It was a historic morning, as Havelock Hewes got his 6,000th plate appearance in game one-- he reached on an error; and Zach Nilva went 8-for-8.

Rosengard 10, Appell 9
Rosengard's team led 8-0 after 2, but Appell's squad chipped away at the lead. In the 7th inning, Zach Nilva (4-for-4, 2B, 3B, 5 RBI) doubled home two runs to tie it, took third on a throwing error, and scored on Adam Garcia's sac fly. In the bottom of the inning, Alex Rivera (2-for-4, 3 runs, HR, 2 RBI) homered to straightaway center to tie the game up again, and Ian Parfrey then walked, went first to third on a groundout, and scored on Joe Geller's 2-out single to center. Bill McLaughlin was 3-for-4 for Appell's team.

Melendez 9, O'Connor 6 (8 innings)
Another thrilling finish occurred when O'Connor's team, trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the 7th, suddenly woke up to tie the game. Jaime Orochena singled in Marvin Cohen, and Alex Rivera's throw home brained catcher Dave Rosengard, allowing Bill McLaughlin to score the tying run. Freddy settled down to get Ken Walker to pop out to short with the winning run on third, and his team went to work in the top of the 8th. Joe Geller singled to start the rally, Havelock Hewes followed with a bunt single, and Gil Schmerler walked. Nate Sillman's groundout plated the go-ahead run, and then Glen Lawrence singled to score Hewes. Schmerler came around on an outfield error, and Alex Rodriguez then hit a sacrifice fly. O'Connor's team didn't go quietly, scoring once in the bottom of the 8th, and bringing the tying run to the plate. Nilva had 4 hits in a losing cause, and Jeff Appell had 3. For the winners, Freddy Melendez backed his pitching by going 3-for-4.

GAMES AND NOTES OF 10/24

SFLOI record broken! Freddy Melendez won his 44th game of the season in today's Game 3, breaking Joe Gerber's record of 43 wins as a player in 1995. Zach Nilva has 41 wins this season, so it isn't guaranteed that Freddy will keep the record for very long. Freddy currently holds a 1.5 game lead in the pennant standings.

As for the games themselves, Tony Connor and Josh Balsam stacked their side with Riverdale players, but dropped a tripleheader to Ian Parfrey and Havelock Hewes's Brooklyn-Manhattan squad.

Melendez 7, Appell 4
Freddy Melendez (13-8) prevailed in a contest that was tied at 1 after 6 innings. Ian Parfrey's 2-run double to shallow right broke the tie in the top of the 7th, and then the floodgates opened. Melendez's team scored 6 times, and then had to hold on in the bottom of the inning when Sam Magnus smacked a 2-run HR to left-center. Alexander Rodriguez was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI for the winners.

Hewes 2, Martinez 1
Havelock Hewes (12-18) won a pitchers' duel. Parfrey had an RBI single in the 1st, and Alexander Rodriguez tripled to right-center in the 5th, and came around to score on a throwing error. Havelock's only spot of trouble came in the bottom of the 5th, as two singles and an error loaded the bases. Jaime Orochena's groundout drove in a run, a walk to Eric Schulman reloaded the bases, and Sam Magnus grounded out to end the inning.

Rosengard 7, Stoeth 3
Dave Rosengard (5-7) was in control throughout, and didn't allow an earned run. Nel Yomtov's 2-run HR to left in the 5th (on an 0-2 pitch with 2 outs!) broke open a 1-run game, and Rosengard's team scored 3 more times after that, taking advantage of two key outfield errors. Rosengard retired Marvin Cohen and Zach Nilva on grounders to snuff a 7th-inning comeback.

GAMES OF SEPT 26

Rosengard 7, O'Connor 1
Dave Rosengard (4-6) tossed a 5-hitter, and Phil Ciccone and Don Weiss each drove in two runs.

Appell 2, Melendez 1
Jeff Appell (6-3) also allowed only 5 hits, but Freddy Melendez almost matched him. Alex Rivera drove in Zach Nilva for both runs, with a double and a sac fly. Melendez's team didn't score until the bottom of the 7th, when Ian Parfrey tripled and Brian Hernandez's sac fly plated him. Appell is 2/3 of an inning short of qualifying for the ERA title.

Nilva 15, Hewes 5
Zach Nilva (4-3) continued his run of good pitching performances, allowing 2 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings. He also had 3 hits. Alex Rivera (2-for-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) and Eric Schulman (3-for-4, solo HR) led the offensive attack, and Eddie Fernandez also homered. Hewes allowed 11 of the runs in the top of the 4th. His team was led by Jaime Orochena (4-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Freddy Melendez (3-for-4, 2B, RBI).

Next Sunday is the LAST DAY at Heckscher.

Recovery of All Time Pitching Stats

With a huge assist from Tony Connor, who kept all the scorebooks and SFLOI yearbooks necessary to compile this information, I was able to fill in the blanks in our pitching stats and arrive at a reasonably close approximation of lifetime totals. This is for all pitchers with 50 or more decisions, as of the end of the 2009 season.

1. Havelock Hewes W 453 L 436 (.510)
2. Dave Rosengard W 272 L 370 (.424)
3. Peter Bochan W 157 L 129 (.549)
4. Jeff Appell W 89 L 81 (.524)
5. Jorge Loarte W 84 L 64 (.568)
6. Gil Schmerler W 82 L 49 (.626)
7. Bobby Naranjo W 74 L 65 (.532)
8. Tony Connor W 46 L 26 (.639)
9. Derek Martinez W 35 L 21 (.625)
10. Lee Lowenfish W 27 L 45 (.375)

Jorge Loarte's 1995, when he went 27-11, may be the best SFLOI pitching season ever. Havelock went 27-19 in 1998, and has 9 20-win seasons under his belt, as well as the only 34-loss season ever, in 1994. Dave Rosengard and Bobby Naranjo had one 20-win season each, though Rosengard's is somewhat dubious, as he went 21-25.

GAMES AND NOTES OF 8/8

O'Connor 17, Stoeth 11
Jim O'Connor (9-6) prevailed in a wild slugfest of a game. O'Connor's team scored 7 two-out runs in the second inning to take a 10-6 lead. An Alex Rivera 2-run triple and a Phil Ciccone (2-for-3, 4 RBI) single brought Stoeth's team within 13-11 in the 5th, but that was as close as they would get. The winners were led by Jaime Orochena (3-for-3, 2B, 4 runs, 3 RBI). O'Connor and Don Weiss also drove in 3, and Ian Parfrey scored 4 runs. Eric Schulman had 3 hits in a losing cause. Stoeth's control issues finally caught up with her, as she walked 7 batters, and all but one came around to score.

Rosengard 4, Hewes 2
Dave Rosengard (3-4) pitched well, scattering 7 hits, and Don Weiss (2-for-2) hit a 2-run double in the third that proved to be the decisive hit. Phil Ciccone was 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI for Hewes's team, who stranded 5 baserunners over the final two frames.

Games and Notes of Memorial Day Weekend

Sorry this took so long to put up, but I was haunted by my epic meltdown in Game 4 (see below), and it wasn't until now that I was ready to focus on the positives. Despite the fatigue and occasional frustration of playing 5 games in a weekend, we managed to get some good ones in.

Game 1
Sunday 5/30
Rosengard 9, Appell 1
Dave Rosengard returned from the DL to baffle Appell's team with an 8-hit gem. Ben Indek and Bill McLaughlin were each 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. This game also marked the return of Phil Ciccone (ankle) and Marvin Cohen (eye surgery) to active duty.

Game 2
Melendez 5, Martinez 4
Melendez's double broke a 2-2 tie in the 4th, and Solomon Sarway drove in 2 runs. David Sommers had 2 hits and 2 RBI for Martinez's team.

Game 3
Nilva 7, Hewes 5
Zach Nilva recorded his first win as a pitcher, after going a hard luck 0-7 over the last two seasons. Fortunately, unlike 1990s Met hurler Anthony Young, Zach had his outfielding and hitting to fall back on. Derek Martinez backed Nilva with 4 hits including a solo HR. Jaime Orochena homered in a losing cause, and Ian Lebowitz drove in 2. Nilva stranded the tying run on base in the 7th.

Game 4
Monday 5/31
Stoeth 9, Parfrey 5
Crusing with a 5-1 lead in the 6th inning, Ian Parfrey surrendered 8 runs. The first 4 came on Ken Walker's grand slam. Freddy Melendez's 2-run single broke the tie later in the inning. Bill McLaughlin was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Parfrey's team, and Laura Stoeth ran her record to 3-0 on the year. Havelock Hewes recorded his 100th career sacrifice bunt in this game, on an amusing play where pitcher Parfrey accidentally kicked the ball right into the waiting glove of Marvin Cohen.

Game 5
Hewes 7, Martinez 2
Alex Rivera broke a 2-2 tie with a solo HR to lead off the 6th inning. Rivera was 3-for-4 in the game, snapping out of a slump. Hewes pitched masterfully, scattering 6 hits.

Dave Sommers' LP2 team dropped a 4-0 decision to the ridiculously named Lawyertime.com, and are now 5-1 on the year. LP2 is off this week, and resumes action Wednesday June 9th.

THIS WEEK IN SFLOI

1. As some of you already know, veteran pitcher Dave Rosengard had a heart attack last week. He is doing well, and is expected to be home by midweek. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Dave!

2. Dues are $30 for the season and can be paid to Secretary of the Treasury Gil Schmerler.

3. The Easter weekend will be our last in Westchester. We may play Saturday, we may play Sunday. Zinsser Park is the probable location.

4. Recaps of Sunday 3/28:

Game 1-- Hewes 12, Martinez 5

Havelock had another good outing, backed by Zach Nilva's 3-for-3, 4-RBI game. Zach's 3-run triple broke a 3-3 tie, and Hewes's team never looked back.

Game 2-- Parfrey 24, O'Connor 16
Both teams scored 7 times in the 1st inning of this slugfest. Parfrey's team scored 5 times in the 5th and blew it open with 8 more in the 7th. The big play of this game was Carl Weinberg singling into a double play in the 6th inning. O'Connor's team was threatening, with first and second and none out. Carl lined a single up the middle, and Mike Sulyman got hung up between second and third. He slid back into second, and appeared to be out, though as later events would prove, he had been called safe. Nate Sillman broke for the plate and was thrown out. Carl advanced to second on the throw, and now there were two runners on second! Carl was tagged out returning to first. Derek Martinez led O'Connor's team, going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, and the winners were paced by Freddy Melendez's 4-for-4, 6-RBI performance, Robert Rodriguez Sr's homer and 6 RBI, and Parfrey's 3 hits and 4 RBI.

SFLOI Classics-- 6/28/09

With Sal in Chicago and Havelock busy writing haikus, it's time for another classic game of 2009. This game went 10 innings, and featured an 11-run explosion-- by the losing team!

Dave Rosengard and Havelock Hewes were the pitching antagonists in this matchup, and Rosengard's team jumped out to a 9-1 lead after 2 innings, sparked by back-to-back HR's from Brian Hernandez and Ian Parfrey in the first inning. Of course, no lead is ever safe in SFLOI, and in the bottom of the 3rd, Hewes's team exploded for 11 runs. The monster inning featured two costly errors by yours truly, a 2-run triple from Dave Sommers, and a bases-clearing tie-breaking triple from Chris Hall.

Both pitchers settled down and hung up zeroes until the top of the 6th, when two infield errors allowed Rosengard's team to tie it. The pitchers went back to work, and no further runs scored until the top of the 10th, when Hernandez and Parfrey went back-to-back for the 2nd time, Hernandez's blast coming with Phil Ciccone on base and clearing the bleachers of the next field. This gave Rosengard a 15-12 lead, which he held onto in the bottom of the 10th.

The winning team got 2 HR's and 6 RBI from Hernandez, 2 HR's and 3 RBI from Parfrey, and Phil Ciccone was 5-for-6 with 3 RBI. On the other side, Chris Hall drove in 5. All told, 27 runs scored on 37 hits.