Stars 9 Eagles 8

Late SGR this week. Been busy breaking up fights between nazis and communists and dealing with a case of vertigo, but mostly dealing with a case of vertigo. Ironically the symptoms of vertigo are the same as watching the news these days, your eyes spin around in your head, you get dizzy, and nauseous and you can't find the tv remote control fast enough. 

Speaking of things that make your eyes spin around the Stars and Eagles tangled again Saturday in a game of good ol’ fashion Sticky McShnickens. Stars-Eagles Sticky McShnickens matches have become very competitive games of strength, speed, and strategy this year with the past three games being decided by one run and two on walk offs.

There was no justice for Big Lefty who took on the Ball Thrower position for the first time this season. After beaning the first batter of the game he promptly got the next two batters to ground out and pop up. The next batter then hit a weak grounder to ShortSimp (“Ha! That’s your new name forever! ShortSimp! ShortSimp! ShortSimp!)  who charged hard and made a throw that Big Lar couldn’t dig out of the dirt. The flood waters opened at that point for the Eagles who had four hits in a row to max out the five run inning.

Down but not out the Stars came roaring back in the bottom of the First. ShortSimp led off with a free base after receiving four non-strikes. The Champ then used his sticky to hit a single to score ShortSimp. After Crash followed with a base hit of his own, Razor promptly knocked them both in to close the score to 5 to 3 after one.

ARob took the hill in the second inning and set the Eagle batters down 1-2-3. The Stars matched the Eagles in the bottom of the inning also going 1-2-3.   

The third inning saw the return of Ball Thrower TrainRick back from self imposed kitchen renovation exile. Proving that Ball Throwing is just like riding a bike, RR allowed just two hits over two innings of work while popping a wheelie and laying a scratch. (Sadly, he also stuck a Mickey Mantle Topps Rookie card in his spokes to make his bike sound like a motorcycle. Could have paid someone to do those kitchen renovations with that!) In the meantime the Stars managed to push across two runs to tie the score in the third. With two outs ShortSimp got another four non-strike pass to first. OConn knocked him in with a single and scored on a double sticky by The Champ.

Eagle stickys came alive again in the Fifth scoring three runs on ShortSimp. After allowing three runs on a four non-strike and four base hits, ShortSimp closed the door getting a ground out force at third followed by two strike outs. In fact ShortSimp retired the side 1-2-3 the next two innings and allowed just one hit in the Eighth.

Stars pecked away at the Eagles lead with The Champ scoring on a blast to deep center by Razor that by rights in a real Sticky McShnickens game would have been a homerunner. Then in the Seventh Big Lar hit a Texas League single to left that scored ARob to cut the Eagles lead to 8 to 7 going into the Eighth.

With time running out the Stars rolled the dice in the bottom of the Eighth to try and tie the score. With one out ShortSimp was cut down at the plate trying to score from Third after OConn hit into a 6-4 putout. After some momentary confusion about the amount of time left, the game continued into the Ninth inning because, well, because those are the rules of Sticky McShnickens.

Here’s where things get interesting partly because nobody bothered to fill out the scorebook(?) in the top of the Ninth. But best I recall ShortSimp continued his Ball Thrower dominance allowing no baserunners. As the Stars took to the bottom of the Ninth a lone Bald Eagle was seen slowly circling over the field causing one Star to remark that “George is with us.” At that The Champ began the Stars Ninth with his fourth basehit of the day. This was promptly followed by Crash’s single and four non-strike passes to Razor and Tup forcing in a run to tie the score at eight apiece. Hardcore followed with a shallow flyball to left. Crash attempted to tag and score from third but was thrown out by a country mile. And not one of those little countries like Malta or Liechtenstein. We’re talking a Brazil or Russia mile. YUGE! Some close enough claim that as Crash was about to be tagged out he smiled, winked at the catcher and said “I'd best be getting home. Alicia will think I've got a girlfriend.” The drama continued as the catcher tried to figure out who Alicia was, and Physio worked the count to a four non-strike pass to load the bases. ARob then strode to the plate, sticky in hand. And here, unlike in Mudville, the sun was shining bright, the band was playing, and hearts were light as ARob drove the ball out of the reach of the right fielder to knock in Razor for the winning run in a walk off to end the game. Why? Because as everyone knows in Sticky McShnickens nine innings is enough. Don’t ask dumb questions.

Exciting game with lots of highlites. Stars allowed just one error on the day. ARob, RR and ShortSimp had solid outings as Ball Throwers. The Champs wielded his sticky going four for four with a RBI and three runs. ShortSimp drew three four non-strike passes and scored twice. Hardcore did a great job behind the plate after a long absence.  

As I sit here watching the room spin I'm reminded that Sticky McShnickens, like vertigo, is a game of ups and downs. The trick is not how you start, but how you finish. On top.

Next up Pirates at GPF.

GO STARS!!!

(For more info on Sticky McShnickens go here.)