As of today the Silver Spring - Takoma Thunderbolts, my extended-neighborhood amateur baseball team, hold a won-2 lost-2 record for Clark Griffith League play. A fifth encounter hangs suspended in limbo, the Tbolts leading Reston 2-0 after six innings on 9 June "... when the sprinkler system at the field came on and could not be turned off before the field became unplayable ...". That game will be concluded ("sprinklers willing") in a few days.

Alas, I haven't been privileged to witness any Thunderbolt victories this year. The three home-field contests thus far have been rather the opposite ...

Wicked Weather

(2 June 2004) In pre-season exposition play versus the Maryland Hurricanes, louring clouds are the prime attraction: gray-green and ominous, scudding overhead so fast that the stadium lights appear to be toppling. Turbulent winds make for erratic pitching on both sides. Three Hurricane hurlers garner 11 strike-outs while walking 10; the four Tbolt tossers — Bill Konecny, Tom Ballenger, Mike Anton, and Ben Meador — achieve an incredible 17 K's but give up 12 bases-on-balls. Rain sprinkles the players briefly during the first inning; later lightning flickers in the distance. A monster moon, nearly full, rises between cloud layers in mid-game behind center field. The lead see-saws for the first few innings but then the Hurricanes start to storm, eventually producing their 11-2 win.

Cicada Backstop

(3 June) Opening Day versus the Maryland Bombers features good pitching. The Tbolts see Matt Peterson, Justin McClanahan, and Jim Belt on the mound, who between them make 14 strikeouts and give up only 3 walks. But strong fielding by the Bombers neutralizes the Thunderbolt bats: 13 hits produce only 1 run. The visitors cluster 4 of their 6 hits in the fifth to produce 3 runs, and then score again in the ninth. Dozens of seventeen-year locusts cling to the net behind home plate until the second inning, when a foul tip blasts back to rattle them loose. The final score is 4-1 Bombers.

Senatorial Privilege

(10 June) Heavy rains soak the field and preempt play on Saturday 5 June, so the next home game occurs on a Thursday evening when the Vienna Senators come to town, and also go to town. Visiting pitcher Ryan Belanger has a perfect game for the first four innings and maintains a shutout until he leaves after six, while his teammates get good wood on the ball repeatedly and bring home 6 runs in the fourth and 4 more in the sixth. Thunderbolt fielders execute sweet double plays in the fifth and seventh innings, but closing time finds them behind 14-3.

(see also TboltMonkeysOnMyBack (29 Jul 2002), SummerBall2002 (3 Sep 2002), KeepingScore (13 Jun 2003), MoreTboltSnapshots (12 Jul 2003), ...)

TopicRecreation - TopicPersonalHistory - 2004-06-10

(correlates: TboltSignoff2003, ToProtectAndToServe, SemiAstrophysicist, ...)