Game 7: Telerep 21, Oxford 14

"It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!" The famous words of Ernie Banks aptly described the mood of the Oxford Blues yesterday. On a sun drenched field, the Blues played their first ever game on the immaculate Great Lawn. We even had two photographers to capture the momentous occasion. Click on the photo above for a link to Jared's photos and the photo below for a link to Justine's photos. Don't for get to click on each pic once you get to their flickr pages to read the captions.

Although we were defeated, everyone enjoyed the game and some of the Blues faithful were even on hand to cheer on the team. There were many great plays yesterday but one that cannot go without mentioning is the catch of the year that was made by Glenn "Magic Glove" Mathes in right center field. Back pedaling to catch a fly ball and realizing that it would go over his head, Glenn turned his back to the infield at the last minute, took a couple quick steps to get deeper, stuck his glove straight up, and caught the ball as it came down directly over his head to get the third out of the inning. It was simply amazing and pandemonium qucikly ensued in the Blues dugout.

Game 6: Oxford Shuts out Scripps, 7-0

The rumors were correct. The "59th St. Field/Queensboro Oval-#1" is actually a red clay field located directly under the Queensboro bridge. Unfortunately, our opponent did not have enough players to field a team so they had to forefeit which gives us an official win with a 7-0 score. The Blues made the best of the situation though and got in some batting practice on the dangerously slick field. Since there isn't much else to report, I'll leave you with the immortal words of the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

I don’t ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way

Under the bridge downtown
Is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge downtown
I could not get enough
Under the bridge downtown
Forgot about my love
Under the bridge downtown
I gave my life away

Game 5: Oxford-6, CSTV Slammers-14

The Oxford Blues held their own against a good team on Wednesday to enter the last inning with a 6-6 tie. However, the CSTV Slammers were able to hit the gaps in the top of the 7th inning and produce 8 runs.

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The Blues didn't hang their heads though and took pride in a solid outing with all around hitting throughout the order and tough defense. In fact, second baseman Matt "Mad Dog" Greene, pictured above with that crazy look in his eye, was so intense that he couldn't contain himself from exploding at the umpire with a profanity laced outburst. Although the play in question was actually a clean play, the expletive put fear in the hearts of CSTV.

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Catharine Rae had a great game and with two outs and the bases loaded, drove in 2 runs in the 4th inning to tie the game back up.

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Our next game is Wednesday, June 13th on a clay field located directly under the Queensboro bridge. I know that sounds like some sort of weird joke but it's true. I can't make this stuff up.

Blues 21, Tulane Green Machine 20

With a dramatic three run rally in the bottom of the seventh, the Oxford Blues beat the Tulane Green Machine 21-20, improving to 2-2. Facing the Tulane alumni association's lineup of power hitters was no easy task, but the Blues relied on their trademark defense and responded with a newly-awakened offense, scoring a franchise record 21 runs.

The game was a nail-biter from start to finish, with both teams batting around around multiple times in the early innings. When Tulane jumped out to an unanswered 20-12 lead late in the game, things seemed a little grim for the Blues. On-field tensions hit their peak after a Tulane baserunner interfered with a double-play attempt, leading Captain Kyle Taylor to charge in all the way from centerfield to argue the non-call. On the Tulane bench, a call could be heard to slide "spikes up" in the future.

Still the Blues rallied again, only trailing by two as the game pushed into the seventh inning. Shortstop Dan "the Wizard" Ozzi and Taylor tied the game on third baseman Ken Foye's double. With one out, and the theme from "The Natural" playing, outfielder Andy Fargnoli hit a flair that fell in for a hit as the Tulane infield collided with one another, scoring Ken easily and winning the Blues the game. Pitcher Robert "the Rocket" Repino was given the game ball not just for pitching defense, but also for setting the tone for the offense from the leadoff spot. But it was a true team effort, with hits and RBIs up and down the lineup.

After the game, the Blues retired to McAleer's for beer and wings to watch the Yankees beat the Red Sox.

Game 3: Blues-3, AARRGHH-2, Other Dude-2

The Blues played sharp ball yesterday and carried over their excellent defense from the end of Game 2 to allow AARRGGHH only 3 runs through seven innings. However a game winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning gave our new rival team the victory. It would only be a moral victory though, since they admittedly cheated which gave the Blues their first official win of the season.

Facing a forfeit due to lack of players before the game started, AARRGGHHH despicably grabbed a player from another field to fill out their mandatory 8 player roster. Their ringer ended up scoring half of their runs and ultimately won them the game. Afterwards, they acknowledged the foul and the technical loss.

The Blues had plenty to cheer about and even though their bats still haven’t heated up, their gloves have been red hot. Kate Brown played a stellar first base and earned this season’s first game ball. She was involved in one of the top plays of the game when Eric Stannard made a great stop on the line at third and threw a one hop rocket to first base which was scooped up by Kate. Eric “Ice Man” Stannard stayed cool in the tense bottom of the seventh and made another great play that would keep the game alive. With a tied score, two outs, and a runner on first and third, he got the 5-4 (third base to second base) force out to keep the game winning run from scoring.

The team headed to Jake’s Dilemma after the game to recap the tense action and come up with nicknames and at-bat songs for the players. Notable creations were Robert “the Rocket” Repino and Ben Keene’s new theme song, “Peaches” by the President of the United States of America.

Game 2

Well, another game is in the books and although the final result was a 16-0 loss, the Blues kept their spirits high. This was due in part to an outstanding defensive performance in the last half of the game to hold SG Bank to 1 run in the last three innings. There were great catches in the outfield by Natanya and Glenn, solid fielding and throwing by the infield, and even an outfield assist from Andy “don’t-you-dare-tag-up-from-second-on-me” Fargnoli. Also helping to ease the loss was a generous gift from the umpire who allowed us to play all seven innings and gave us an extra out at the end so that we could get more batters in. We only have a couple of pics from yesterday and since there was no team photographer at the game they were both taken at the bar.

While at the bar, the topic of cinema came up and the team debated and then determined that Tim Buton directed a better Batman film than Chris Nolan, although Christian Bale played a better Batman than Michael Keaton. I found out that apparently I’m the only person who’s ever seen the movie Money Talks. We all learned that Martin has an unabashed man-crush on Michael Caine.

Our next game is Thursday at 7pm on the North Meadow in lovely Central Park. We’ll be playing “AAARRGGGHH!!!” who we faced off against last year and should be much closer to our level of competition than the last two teams.

Here's one last tip: running full speed, coming to a complete stop, catching the ball in an embarassingly awkard fashion, and then rolling on the asphalt is not recommended. If you are confused please see Dan Ozzi for a vivid reinactment.

Game 1

The first game of the season is in the books and although we didn’t win (mercy ruled 15-2) there sure were a lot of us there! A record setting 27 players came out to the park. I think our opponent, Coach, either brought in some ringers or hit the weight room hard since last season. They didn’t look like the team we beat 8-7 last year. Highlights of the game include Joe C’s giant hit to right field which brought in our only two runs of the game and a 4th inning mini-rally by our second wave of players that got the Blues dugout roaring.

Afterwards, we moseyed on down to the Bull Moose Saloon and dominated their upstairs seating area. A good time was had by all. Especially those who stuck around for the 25 cent buffalo wings. Outstanding!

Check out Jared’s awesome camera skills and be sure to click on each picture instead of watching the slideshow so that you can read the captions.

Next game: Thursday, May 10th