Practices Thursday and Friday

Weather permitting (and the forecast looks decent), we will practice both Thursday and Friday this week from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the high-school softball field.
Our next game is Sunday at either 5 or 6 p.m. It's aggravating to all of us that Little League can't confirm times farther in advance; I'll pass along the final game time as soon as I learn it.
If your Brave will NOT be at the game, please let me know.
Thanks!
Dave

Harvey Haddix's masterpiece

Fifty years ago at the old County Stadium, the Milwaukee Braves were both the victims and the winners of one of the greatest games in baseball history.

Lefthander Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates threw a perfect game against the Braves for 12 innings on May 26, 1959. Thirty-six Braves came up to bat, 36 Braves made outs. No hits, errors or walks.

But Braves pitcher Lew Burdette and his defense effectively scattered a dozen hits, keeping the game scoreless, so it went into the 13th inning.

Here are a couple of excellent anniversary stories about the game.
First up, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story from Frank Clines:

This Tuesday night, Milwaukee baseball fans will head out to a National League game with a good chance of seeing a victory fueled by power hitting. The same was true 50 years earlier to the day.

But the folks at Miller Park for the Brewers' game against St. Louis probably won't see anything like the game that took place on May 26, 1959. The 19,194 people at County Stadium that chilly night - also a Tuesday - got a victory, but only after the hometown Braves were throttled by the greatest pitching performance in major-league history.

For 12 innings, an unimposing Pittsburgh left-hander named Harvey Haddix stymied the Braves' powerful offense completely and astoundingly. Thirty-six Braves batted in those innings and 36 failed to reach base. There have been 17 perfect games pitched in the majors over nine innings, but no one else has ever gone where Haddix did.

And no one else has ever suffered such a heartbreaking loss. Because the Pirates couldn't score against Lew Burdette, the Braves were able to ruin Haddix's night in the 13th inning - in a finish almost as mind-boggling as his performance.

Continued

Next, an excellent and very detailed piece by Bob Dvorchak in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

In his later years with the Pirates, after he was the pitching coach for the 1979 champions and before the baseball bureaucracy no longer recognized his game, Harvey Haddix reflected on the most extraordinary game ever pitched.

"Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't ask me about that game," said the left-handed pitcher known as The Kitten because somebody else bigger than he was already The Tiger. "I think I got more notoriety from it because I lost."

Indeed. Fifty years ago, against the formidable lineup of the Milwaukee Braves, he retired batter after batter, inning after inning, accomplishing what no other pitcher in the game has accomplished before or since.

Continued

The Post-Gazette also has an extensive multimedia package about the game, including a slide show and a video story.

A related New York Times feature on the game

A full box score and log for the game

No practice Sunday (or Monday)

Braves,
An excellent practice Friday! Absolutely perfect weather, some good hitting and good fielding by our guys.
No practice Sunday or Monday. Enjoy the long weekend!
Dave

Little League night at Miller Park

By now I think you all have the form for 2009 Little League night at Miller Park, which will be June 23.
This is a fun outing for players and their parents, in addition to being an important fund-raiser for WFB Little League. I hope that lots of our players - dare I hope all of them? - and family members will be able to take part.
Please return the form and a check for the appropriate amount to me no later than Friday, May 29. I need to get everything to the proper authorities that weekend so that they can order the right number of tickets.
Thanks,
Dave

Practice update: Swing hard, throw hard

Braves,
A good practice in the hot sun Wednesday, but our guys need to become more aggressive when they're batting -- the way they were in the first two games. Many of the players seem to be waiting for perfect pitches before swinging, but perfect pitches rarely come. Our motto for the next game should be "See it and hit it!" Anything you can do to reinforce that message at home would be great.
It was good to have Liam back on the field. He's a little rusty at the plate, but he made a nice catch of a tricky foul fly today.
FYI, it seems likely that the start of our game on Sunday, May 31, will be moved from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. to accommodate a makeup game at 4 p.m. I expect this to be confirmed very soon, but wanted to let you know now for planning purposes.
Practice again Friday at 4 p.m. Location is uncertain. If the high-school girls win their game Thursday, they will have a practice on the high-school field Friday and we'll have to look at Cahill or Cumberland. If the girls lose, however, their season is over and we can have the high-school field Friday.
As loyal WFB fans, of course we will be pulling for the girls to win on Thursday.
Dave, Rick, Ross

p.s. Please find some time to play catch with your Brave. Have him throw the ball back to you hard. We have some guys who have gotten into the habit of lobbing the ball. Runners in the Majors will take an extra base on soft throws, so we need to make sure that all of our throws are crisp and accurate.

Practices Wednesday (May 20) and Friday (May 22)

Good morning,
True baseball weather has arrived -- finally! -- and we will take advantage of it with two practices this week.
They will be Wednesday (May 20) and Friday (May 22), each from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the high-school softball field.
The coaches realize that not everyone will be able to make both practices because of various conflicts, but we hope that every member of the team can make at least one of them.
Catchers, please bring your gear. And everyone should bring a water bottle because it's going to be sunny, windy, and warm.
Thanks,
Dave, Ross, Rick

Notes from the Dodgers game

I'm going to offer a positive scouting report after the team's loss to the Dodgers' Sunday night. Remember, as always, these are my personal observations, not endorsed or pre-approved by our coaches, Bud Selig, or anyone else.

There are times in this age group when an obviously superior team crushes an inferior opponent through sheer talent and will. While it is clear the Dodgers are superior right now, that is NOT what happened Sunday night.

The Dodgers were efficient in making the Braves pay for many mistakes. Only one ball was hit out of the park. With better defense and baserunning by the Braves, that could have been a 5-1 game, and I don't think any of us would have felt bad about that.

The Braves did not put enough hits together, but that is nothing to be ashamed about this early in the season against a high-class opponent. (You will sometimes see 2-1 and 1-0 games in this league.) More swings and warmer weather will improve the hitting.

Defense can be improved, too. That's why we have practice. It's much better to get this kind of game out of the way earlier in the season, when there is practice time to work on fielding.

It's tempting for a player to get demoralized in such a game, so I want to single out a couple of guys for sustained, passionate effort throughout the night.

As a fielder and pitcher, Jason battled throughout the game, getting to every ball he could and making excellent throws. You could see the fire in his eyes, even when we were down big.

Evan, too, particularly when he's at 1B, makes it a point of pride to catch everything. When he was not able to handle a difficult throw in one play, he got upset, but I could see it was the right kind of upset - he expects to catch everything.

A few other notes. Again, blame me for the observations and omissions, no one else:

Pitching: Connor was effective pitching against a strong opponent. He struck out 5 in three innings, a long stretch of work. He could have gotten out of the first inning without giving up any runs, but an error kept the Dodgers at bat. Connor did what pitchers do when they get bad breaks -- he didn't moan or point fingers, he simply went back to work.

Hitting: Chris had a booming double and a single. Ryan and Anthony had singles. Nick walked twice. (He's walked 4 times in 3 games this year. Either the hair or the glare must intimidate other teams.) Jack also drew a walk.

Fielding: Scott made a nice pickup at second, firing to Tyler at first to end the second inning. In addition to his other fine plays, Jason, while pitching with the bases loaded, grabbed a grounder and fired to the sure-handed Anthony at home to force the runner.

Jim Higgins

Game Day: Coach Dave's reminders

1. Our game against the undefeated Dodgers is at 5 p.m., not 3 p.m. as was listed in an early version of the schedule the league provided.
2. Players should be at Water Tower by 4:15 p.m.
3. It will be VERY COLD at Water Tower by game time. I recommend long-sleeved undershirts for the players as well as jackets or sweatshirts they can wear when they're not on the field. I will be wearing my winter jacket -- honest! -- and I recommend the same for fans. Some fans at Water Tower this evening were wearing mittens, and they were happy they'd brought them.
See you at the game,
Dave

Thursday's game

The best measure of the character of a team is not how it wins, but how it loses.
The short-handed Braves lost to the Cubs Thursday, 20-4. But the coaches couldn’t have been prouder of the team. Our pitchers – and really, everyone on the team – showed lots of courage in the face of adversity.
We had only eight of our guys available, and were given a third grader as our ninth player (more about him later). Nonetheless, we competed hard. The breaks just didn’t go our way.
Four close calls, including three plays at the plate, went against us. It seemed that every ground ball the Cubs hit found a space between our infielders and dribbled into the outfield for a hit. Meanwhile, the Cubs made a couple of amazing plays on defense to rob us of hits that would have driven in runs.
What sticks in my mind is the courage of our guys. Consider the three players who pitched for us Thursday.
Connor was sick as a dog this week. He missed school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But he went to school Thursday and wanted to play against the Cubs. His parents said OK, and I put him in his habitual role as starting pitcher. He struggled, but just when it seemed that he was destined to give up his first runs of the season he reached back and found the strength to strike out a batter with two outs – and the bases loaded. A nice moment for him, and the team.
Matt took over in the middle of the second inning. With a runner on third, a pitch got past Anthony, who was catching. The runner sped for home. Matt raced to cover home. Anthony scrambled to the screen to retrieve the ball. AP made a great throw to Matt, who caught it and slapped the tag on the runner for an …. What – not an out? The ump called the runner safe.
Meanwhile, the runner had slid directly into Matt’s ankle. Matt was in a lot of pain. I have seen kids get broken ankles in such situations, and we made Matt sit down to take the weight off of his ankle. He was able to move his ankle, and he refused the ice that was rushed over. Through his tears – yes, it’s OK for guys to cry – he told me not only that he wanted to stay in the game but that he wanted to keep on pitching.
Guts.
An inning later Evan took over and pitched the rest of the game. What control! He just kept throwing strikes. He induced the Cubs to hit lots of grounders, most of which unfortunately slipped through our infield for hits. But Evan didn’t get rattled. He kept throwing the heat, and helped out his own cause by making several nice defensive plays, including catching a tricky pop fly behind the mound.
You’re wondering about that third grader? A third grader playing in a game with fifth and sixth graders – what’s going on?
The protocol for a short-handed Majors team is to ask the Minors commissioner to provide the name of a Minors player who wants to play up. We were given the name of third grader Cade Garcia. And it turned out that Cade did a great job for us!
With Connor on the mound in the first inning, a Cub hit a fly ball to right center. Cade ran over, and with the bright sun shining directly into his eyes, made the catch. It was a huge play at that point in the game. Cade also batted in one of the Braves’ four runs with a based-loaded walk. He is a player to watch for the future.
Our other runs were batted in by Alec, who knocked in one with a single, and by Ryan, who sent two guys home with a double to the fence in right-center field.
We would have scored more, except that the Cubs center-fielder made an amazing desperation-dive catch of Matt’s long drive to left-center field. It would have gone for at least a double. And with two outs Scott gave 110% to beat out an infield hit to drive in a run ….. except the base umpire, who was between second and third base, called him out at first. Everyone in both dugouts and the stands questioned that call.
But the ump is always right, at least in the scorebook. And overall, I thought the game was a good lesson for the Braves. We have won big, and now we have lost big. This is how sports, and life, works.

Thanks to Joe Kimple for filling in as first-base coach, and to the parents who came to cheer us on.

Next game: The undefeated Dodgers Sunday at 5 p.m. You will not want to miss that game! Please have your Brave at Water Tower by 4 p.m. so that we can get ready.

Thanks,

Dave

Updates from Coach Dave

Everyone,
First of all, thanks to Karen Kimple for organizing the California Pizza Kitchen outing this evening. We had four families there, unfortunately NOT including Ms. Kimple herself. Karen had to stay home to tend to Connor, who is sick. We hope he gets well in time for Thursday's game against the Cubs!
Second, I believe that we now have the final, definitive version of our schedule. Here it is:

Sat 5/2/09 9-11am Braves: 17-Orioles: 4

Fri 5/8/09 6-8pm Pirates: 1-Braves: 9

Thu 5/14/09 6-8pm Cubs vs. Braves

Sun 5/17/09 5-7pm Braves vs. Dodgers

Sun 5/31/09 5-7pm Braves vs. Rays

Fri 6/5/09 6-8pm Braves vs. Brewers

Sun 6/7/09 1-3pm Yankees vs. Braves

Tue 6/9/09 4:30-6:30pm Braves vs. White Sox

Fri 6/12/09 6-8pm White Sox vs. Braves

Sat 6/13/09 11am-1pm Braves vs. Phillies

Tue 6/16/09 6:30-8:30pm Orioles vs. Braves

Thu 6/18/09 4:30-6:30pm Phillies vs. Braves

Sat 6/20/09 5-7pm Braves vs. Pirates

Mon 6/22/09 6:30-8:30pm Braves vs. Yankees

Sat 6/27/09 11am-1pm Rays vs. Braves

Mon 6/29/09 6:30-8:30pm Braves vs. Cubs

It's an interesting schedule. We play four games during the first five weeks of the season, and then 12 games in the last 30 days of the season. Note that the May 22 game is gone from the schedule, and that the time of the May 17 game has changed from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

If any of the Braves have conflicts with any of these games, please let me know (if you haven't already).

Thanks -- see you Thursday at the game against the Cubs!
Dave
p.s. Don't forget to put Friday's practice, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., on the calendar.

Modified stance helps Counsell heat up at the plate

Nice feature story by Anthony Witrado on the Milwaukee Brewers' (and Whitefish Bay's own) Craig Counsell:

Modified stance helps Counsell heat up at plate

As he rounded first base, having just watched a ball off his bat clear the right-field fence, Craig Counsell pumped his fist.

He immediately regretted the gesture.

"I shouldn't have done that," Counsell said. "Matt Williams always used to get on me (when we played for Arizona) because he said I fist-pump every home run. And I always said that's because I don't hit enough home runs. I'm always so excited when I hit one."

Counsell, the Milwaukee Brewers' utility infielder not known for his pop, had just hit his first home run of the season against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday to inspire the hand motion. At the time of that home run, Counsell had already scored a run and set up another by moving a runner over earlier in the game, so he figured into three of the team's four runs at that point.

It isn't surprising Counsell didn't approve of his own spur-of-the-moment action. He is soft-spoken, low-key and not great at talking about his own success.

Continued

And, if you like a little baseball humor, check out The Onion's satirical story:
Turns Out Craig Counsell Was Actually Best Baseball Player of the Steroid Era

California Pizza Kitchen

Dear Braves families,

In case you don't have enough going on this week...I wanted to let you know that I am trying to get a group of Braves' families together to attend the California Pizza Kitchen fundraiser this Tuesday night (May 12). The flyer for this fundraiser was posted on the Concession Stand and if you need a copy, just let me know and I will forward it to you. (I would attach it to this note, but I don't know how to attach another e-mail's attachment and I don't have all of your e-mails).

Anyway, the way it works is CPK agrees to donate 20% of the amount of our restaurant bill that night. May 12 is designated for Pee Wees and Juniors and May 19 is for Majors and Minors, but we can't make it on May 19 and it doesn't matter in the least because all the money still goes to the WFB Little League. Everyone is welcome--siblings, friends, neighbors, etc.

Let's meet at 6:30 at CPK. We'll try to get two tables, one for the adults and one for the players. Please let me know if you are planning to be there and how many will be in your group. So far it is the Kimples and the Pritchards. Here's another fun social event for the Braves involving pizza--hope to see you there!

Karen Kimple

Updates: Band-O-Rama, practice schedule

Braves,
Please let me (Dave) know ASAP whether your Brave will be at Thursday's game. We are already down two players for Thursday because of Liam's foot injury and the fact that Jack K. will miss the game because of a family event.
I am concerned about having enough players because I just learned that there is a conflict between our 6 p.m. game against the Cubs Thursday and the 7 p.m. Band O Rama at the high school, which features kids in WFB public schools who are in the 5th through 12th grade bands.
I know that at least a few Braves are members of bands that will be in Band O Rama. If they all opt to take part in Band O Rama, we will have to ask at least a couple of younger players from Minors to play in our game.
Meanwhile, we will not have a practice Monday or Tuesday. We would have had to practice over the dinner hour on a school night, and we've done too much of that. So let's rest up for Thursday's game.
We will practice Friday, May 15, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. to get ready for our game Sunday against the powerful Dodgers. Sunday's game will begin at 5 p.m.; we would like the players to be at Water Tower by 4:15 p.m.

Moms & Baseball

Q. What's does a baseball player usually say when a TV camera catches him by surprise during a game?
A. Hi, Mom.

Both the big boys of Major League Baseball and the little boys of Little League know that Moms make baseball possible. Mom gave us life, and Mom also took us to a million practices, celebrated victories with us and consoled us after losses. In many families, Mom gets out on the field and helps with the game. (I can't tell how proud I was to see Karen get out on the field and play in the season-ending Mother's Game at Water Tower Park.)

In Whitefish Bay, we honor this day for Moms by not having Little League! In recent years, Major League Baseball has collaborated with Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Mother's Day breast cancer awareness and fundraising. In 2006 cooperating MLB players started using special pink bats on Mother's Day; the game-used bats were auctioned off later on.

The Brewers' Bill Hall is both a leader and a star of this new tradition. In 2006, he swung a mighty pink bat in the 10th inning to beat the New York Mets. TV cameras showed his proud mother Vergie in the crowd. Here is a low-quality (but still enjoyable) fan video of that moment:



Hall hit another pink bat homer on Mother's Day, 2007. As has become his tradition, Hall is also making a $25,000 contribution to Komen this year.

---

"The Chicken Runs at Midnight"
On a day devoted to family, I commend to you a heartwarming, yet sad, story from the Palm Beach Post of a major-league coach and a player from another team (and country) who bonded over their lost children:

"They met for the first time on a cold morning in an empty baseball stadium — the 62-year-old coach from Steubenville, Ohio, and the 25-year-old pitcher from Maracay, Venezuela.

"Rich Donnelly and Anibal Sanchez had spoken once before over the phone.

"They knew enough about each other to understand they share a common bond that extends beyond baseball.

"Both are fathers who lost a child."

Continued

The special bonus in this story for us is that Whitefish Bay's Craig Counsell plays a key role in the middle of it.

Happy Mother's Day, Everyone

Jim Higgins

Happy Mother's Day to all our Braves Moms