Rickstate

What is Sandlot?

Holidays, work, and other factors have gotten in the way of publishing this belated post.
That said, November brought the Drag four very different games.

11.1.24 – Austin Moontowers vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

I know we 21st-century humans no longer read long-form content.
But there’s a lot to write about this game.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about the Moontowers.
What I do know is that they look and carry themselves like a legit ballclub. I also know that even their hitters with less-than-perfect swings are still able to turn on our Ace’s pitches and authoritatively drive the ball pull side.

They are absolutely a ballclub.
In a league where each organization has their unique sliding scale of social club-to-ballclub ratio, the Moontowers are an organization that obviously put their emphasis on ball. I dig it.

For all the personalities and eccentrics that provide our league with a healthy chunk of fanfare and extracurriculars, it’s refreshing to be able to compete against an old-school ballclub.
However, our track record of competitive competition usually includes an inning or two where we shoot ourselves in the foot and dig ourselves a hole. We’ve showcased shakey bullpens with coinflip command (sometimes they have it, sometimes they don’t), defensive lapses, drunken/clumsy baserunning, bewildering ABs… every facet has contributed to our podiatric gunshot wounds and fresh holes we’ve dug for ourselves.

But on this game, against this competitive club, we played good, solid baseball.
The Drag have been built on Keith Hyndshaw’s favorite adage, “Celebrate our successes. Laugh at our mistakes. Have a damn-good time!” This game’s celebrations outweighed the goofball laughter and slapstick chatter. We had an exceptional time playing quality, solid baseball.
“Not bad for a has been and couple of never will bes huh?”

To be clear, Steven (lefty starting pitcher) has put The Drag in position to win some “competitive” games before, but our defense and/or bullpen has managed to squander a few late-game leads, but on this particular evening, the defense didn’t break and the bullpen remained steady.

Offensively, Keith, Gelli, Jeff, Steven, RJ, and pretty much every Dragster contributed to putting runs on the board. You never know when things are gonna click and go in your favor, but they sure went ours this evening.

To be expected, many adult recreations (especially super social sandlot leagues) provide games that often feel like a foregone conclusion. Teams show up, cleat up, warm up, and thoughts cross one’s mind in one of three ways:
– Welp, though nothing is guaranteed, if we don’t screw up too badly, we should leave here with a W (confidence).
– In order for us to get outta here with a W, they’ve gotta make a ton of mistakes and we’ve gotta play a clean, tight game (doubt).
– This is a coin flip. Can’t wait to see what happens (it’s anyone’s game, let’s play ball).

In a season chockfull of sloppy wins and lousy losses (every one of which, we’re always grateful to be a part of), getting in one super clean, competitive game made the whole squad feel outstanding.
Thank you to every Sandlotter for making it happen!

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11.3.24 – Austin Drag vs. Smithville Baseball Club – Keilberg Park – 12pm

Instagram post about the game.

Not gonna lie, with our previous game concluding a mere 36 hours prior, we were still floating. The Drag were “just happy to be there.” Smithville was great though. Friendly folks, cool, old field. If it hadn’t been for a wildfire threatening the area, it would’ve been a picture-perfect day in every way.
Due to the potential nearby natural disaster, it still remained a pretty-good-to-great day at the ballpark.

Braden went the distance on the hill and the entire Dragster lineup hit.
Good times indeed. Thank you for hosting us Smithville Baseball Club!

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11.9.24 – LovejoyCobraCowboys vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

In our penultimate game of the season, we played the South Austin LovejoyCobraCowboys. The LoveSnakeBoys. The CobraJoyBoys. You get it. It was a collection of players organized by the Lovejoys.

The game moved fairly quickly as it was a lot of defense and pitching. Rallies were kept to a minimum. Keith was sharp on the hill as he went the distance. Our infield, for the most part, had sure hands (including an outstanding pick at first by Big Rig to save a few runs and end an inning). The outfield, Gelli in particular, tracked everything down and we were able to escape the few oppositional offensive threats.

Though we were on top for most of the game, it remained close. And as I’ve previously wrote, some games feel like we’re one inning away from our house of cards collapsing. That acknowledged, the structural integrity remained true, and there are no collapses to report for this day.

Just another outstanding day with our pals at Govalle.

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11.16.24 – ATX Roadrunners vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

Final game of 2024. One last afternoon in the sun with our friends and this incredible community.

Without a doubt, November 2024 provided The Drag with our best month of baseball on record. Our pitching was sharp. The lineup produced. Though our defense may have bended here and there, it never broke. Just an outstanding conclusion to a very satisfying 2024 Sandlot season.

Steven Carrizales started on the hill against our Roadrunner pals and then our bullpen of Rickner, Braden, and RJ (making his sandlot pitching debut) sealed up the game.

Katy Fairlee’s bat remained hot as she had a few base knocks and RJ, Stillman, Steven, and Co. kept the offense moving with extra base hits. Colin made his return from world traveling and we picked up Jacob, a former Roadrunner and current Papervalley Pike, for the game.

“It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.”
This game was played with joy on both sides.
Perfect conclusion to a rewarding season.
Spring 2025 can’t come fast enough.

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As NFL, college football, NBA, trips to movie theaters, and whatever else might help you pass the time ballplayers refer to as “the offseason,” it’s easy to get a little down.

A brief aside – I’m kind of weird about art and media.
If you weren’t aware of that, we haven’t had conversations over beers.
Anyways, many people turn to genre fiction, trash television, top 40 tunes, comic book commercial cinema, or whatever else for “escape.”
I hear it all the time – “Movies/Adolescent Literature/Music is, just, like an escape for me man.”

And that’s all well and good. Every human needs their preferred form of escape/escapism. But I know myself well enough to understand that there’s no better escape than showing up to a beloved, yet junky ballpark with 30 or so folks, cleating up, grooving fingers into a worn-out glove, loosening up a belabored shoulder, taking a few hacks with a piece of lumber you’re well aware will inevitably fall apart on ya, then march through a ballgame’s ups, downs, and eventually wash the day down with a few beers in the later innings.
It’s what our weekends are scheduled around.

When’s our game?
When are we playing ball?
Who do we have this weekend?
Who’s pitching?
How’s the arm feeling?

December, January, February – these questions turn dormant.
Regardless of how great the music is, there’s only so much satisfaction that listening to LPs while watching televised non-baseball activities can bring.

So we wait.
We tell ourselves that our arms and bodies can use the break, but we know we belong at the ballpark.
Thank God nobody can ever hold back spring.

What is Sandlot?

Due to a lengthy delay, these write ups are a little on the light side.
October did bring the Drag three games though.
Below are a few words + pics.

10.5.24 – Austin Red Onions vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

The Drag bats were alive and kicking all game long. Katy, Tyler, Braden, and others had multi-hit games. The defense was, for the most part, pretty darn clean. Hyndshaw went the distance on the mound.
The Red Onions brought energy and good spirit to the ballpark.
Looking forward to next season.

Perhaps a not-so-quick aside.
As we all know, sandlot is incredibly inclusive (from World Series winners to folks that are brand new to the game). The Drag collectively has a wide breadth of experience and we’re all still working on our fundamentals and such, so – these types of links recently floated around the group chat.
There’s a chance that other folks brand new to baseball may benefit.
I’m no good at putting on a Coachy McCoachFace, but these fellas aren’t so bad.

If you don’t speak Canadian, here’s another video.
In short, throw like Mo…

…not like Curtis.

Of course, every good turn deserves another.
So, for every link shared, there must be another.

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10.11.24 – San Francisco Pelicans vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

These birds flew all the way in from the Bay Area for the weekend and they definitely got in a ton of baseball across Central Texas. Unfortunately, not enough on this particular evening though (more on that later).
The game was tight; very close the entire way through. Sharp defense and challenging pitching made runs difficult to come by for both squads.

Considering these Pelicans don’t usually use modern-day sporting goods while playing baseball, this game had an additional wrinkle. They normally adhere to 1861 rules, so playing with gloves and bats manufactured by Wilson, Rawlings, and Louisville Slugger and the like is a bit unusual for them.
I’m sure someone out there who doesn’t insist on shooting 35mm photography when plenty of technological advances in photography have been made may ask, “Why would anyone choose to do that?” But I get keeping things nineteenth century.

Anyhow, Luke Woody came through with a huge knock.
Steven Carrizales grinded though inning after inning on the hill.
Only trouble is, as we closed in towards 10pm, The Man in Blue (TMiB), got a little tired and ended things a bit on the awkward side.

With the Drag up by two, one out and a runner on second (no runner on first, no force in play) for the Pels in the top of the 9th (Drag = home team), a Pelican sent a sharply-hit ball to third that Justin LaPrairie (3B) speared. The runner on second aggressively broke for third, LaPrairie waved his glove at the runner, it didn’t seem like a tag was applied, but LaPrairie was able to fire to first for the sure out.

Claiming that the runner went outside the basepath, TMiB decided it was a game-ending doubleplay.
There was a brief conversation between the teams and the ump. The ump was determined to be done for the night as he made his way off the field.
At this point, we were just about seven minutes from the lights turning off, and the game just ended on a flat, downer note. For all levels (and most occupations), there are some folks not interested staying on the job any longer than they have to.

Older sandlot photos (album link here).

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10.27.24 – Austin Drag vs. Meat City Smoke – The Wishing Well (Lockhart, Texas) – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

This game was… rough on us.
Baseball is better than not baseball, but we donked this one.
We donked all day.

The Smoke played a significantly better game than us.
That acknowledged, we were collectively fighting demons of our own making.
Like a child, I stupidly left home without my cleats.
Two Dragsters arrived straight from a Galveston wedding that took place the night before.
On this particular Sunday morning, many players on both sides were gracelessly wearing our weekends.
Throw in the fact that, though this season hasn’t included any rainouts, this drought is murdering our baseball fields.

Enough complaining. We got to play baseball.
For that, we are thankful. But, daggum, this was a tough one for the Dragsters.
On a positive note – Mel made an incredible catch in right to kill a rally. Katy continued crushing the ball. Lockhart BBQ is still delicious. And a martini bar just happened to host their grand opening on this lovely evening.

Final score —
Drag = got smoked.
Smoke = smokin’ meats, smokin’ base paths, smokin’ Dragsters.

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Here are some recent odds and ends sandlot pics.

Older sandlot photos (album link here).

What is Sandlot?

Due to a lengthy delay, these write ups are a little on the light side. September did bring the Drag back-to-back weekends against the Tallboys and Ramblers. Below are a few words + pics.

9.21.24 – East Austin Ramblers vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 3pm

Instagram post about the game.

Limongelli made the move to the top of the order and came through with four hits, Grady pitched well for the Ramblers, and the weather couldn’t have been a better.

All in all, an outstanding day at the ballpark.

Final score —
Ramblers = full possum
Drag = full spliff

Post-game photos below.
Older sandlot photos (album link here).

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Took these pics (below) after our 3pm game and before the 7pm game.

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9.14.24 – Texas Tallboys vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm

Due to a wedding (and some other obligations), the Tallboys were missing many of their primetime players. Both teams came through though and played an excellent game.
Keith went eight innings, allowing only three runs. Stillman hit a three-run dinger.
Definitely a nice night at Govalle.

Final score —
Tallboys = weddings, work, other stuff
Drag = puff puff pass

Post-game photos below.
Older sandlot photos (album link here).

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9.25.24 – Ramblers vs. Cobras – Wednesday Night Scrimmage + Hope’s Birthday – Govalle – 7pm

What is Sandlot?

The Drag got to play three fresh, fresh teams in an eight-day stretch.
All three teams bring a fun group to sandlot and we’re all happy to have them aboard.
Recaps below.

9.8.24 – Austin Drag vs. White Rock Mudbugs – Norbuck Park – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

Baseball is always better than “not baseball.” And the White Rock Mudbugs made baseball happen on this beautiful day. But, as we learned, Dallas sandlot, for the most part, is largely unofficiated.
I’ve previously written before that, be it pickup basketball, volleyball, or even the many years I played ultimate frisbee – self-officiated sports aren’t foreign to me. But baseball is different.

Regardless, we played ball. We had a great time. Norbuck Park was pretty darn nice. The Mudbugs were were good hosts and the weather couldn’t have been better.

The Mudbugs cycled through a series of pitchers all with their different styles and that made for unique looks each time up to bat.

The Drag took a nine-player skeleton crew up to Dallas and that allowed many of our Dragsters who aren’t accustomed to playing all nine innings, to gaming the entire way. And you know what? They were incredible. Tyler and Driver made an impact both offensively and defensively and it was exciting seeing them excel.

Final score —
Drag = beers
Mudbugs = pizza

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9.7.24 – Austin Drag vs. Dallas Sheeple – Churchill Park – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

This game was something.
Most of the Dragsters leisurely arrived coming direct from Austin that morning between 10:15am-10:40am. The Sheeple were able to find one of the Sheeple’s fathers to call balls and strikes for the game and, for that, we were grateful. As one of our catchers has phrased it, “Hell no, I don’t want to ump and catch at the same time. This is a recreational day off for me, I don’t to deal with both teams giving me shit.”

With a Sheeple dad as the man in blue, the game proceeded.
Keith was on the hill. Braden made plays at short. The lineup chugged and churned though.

Around the sixth, the Sheeple offered us some outstanding beers during our warmups and, coincidentally or not, the Sheeple mounted a good rally or two after that.

As it was, both teams had a good time. The weather couldn’t have been better and the post-game was even more fun as most of the Sheeple and Drag went to The Libertine and eventually a tiki joint.

Final score —
Drag = steak sandwiches
Sheeple = tiki drinks

Shout out to Brian Morris for leading the post-game hang.
Way to make Libertine, Swizzle, and Lakewood Landing happen.
We had a blast!

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8.31.24 – Red Bluff Cruiser vs. Austin Drag @ Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

Right around his birthday, Keith was determined to go the distance on the hill and prove to Father Time that he aint done yet. He consistently threw strikes and only ran into a whiff of trouble a few times.
Our lineup kept the order moving and the defense, for the most part, was fairly sharp.

The Cruisers are a good group that are definitely finding their form, they bring the energy, and have talent for days.

Final score —
Drag = whiskey whiskey whiskey
Cruisers = bikes and bikes and bikes

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Quick observations that aren’t really that important, but hell, they’re worth having a conversation about. Having just completed three consecutive games vs. “fresh” teams – the Sheeple and Mudbugs are in their second season, the Cruisers are in their first – here are some friendly points.

Many new teams (and sometimes not-so-new-teams) often have an infielder or two who, while playing defense, will stand on or near the bag regardless of whether or not there’s a chance that they’ll be involved in the play. This can turn running the bases into a goofy American Ninja Warrior-like obstacle course (especially if the defender has some size to them).

Watch any instructional video on baserunning (or any real games) and you’ll hear terms like, “catch the inside part of the bag” while making your turns. Regardless if it’s inside the bag or right on top of the dang thing, it’s hard running the bases when there’s a position player just kind of meandering on top of, or very near, the base.

Not a big deal. Moving on.
I previously wrote about dekes and fake tags.
We saw a few of them over the past few weekends.
They are legal at the college and pro-level. And depending on how/when they’re implemented, they sometimes come with the penalty of “baseball justice” (being thrown at). For safety reasons, they are generally illegal in high-school (or lower-level) competition and ruled as interference.

Nothing contentious took place across the past three games – just some simple notes to point out to newcomers. Can’t wait to play these teams again.

What is Sandlot?

On August 3rd-4th, the Austin Drag visited sunny San Diego and played some Southern California Sandlot. I was unfortunately unable to make the California trip (no recaps on my end).
Coincidentally, the Cap City Cobras were playing ball in Oakland + SF at the same time.

Much like the ’58 Giants and Dodgers, both the Drag and Cobras organizations considered relocating to more agreeable climates, but stadium and municipal disputes proved too troublesome to overcome, leading both organizations to return home to the beloved East Austin Govalle Park and compete in a “Welcome Home” game.

8.16.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Cap City Cobras @ Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

For the Drag, the game very much felt like a case of “deja vu all over again.”
It felt very similar to our last Yardbirds game (7.27).
Our offense stagnates while Steven Carrizales impressively stifles the opposition. Carrizales went three clean innings before an infield error helped the Cobras get on the board.
After four innings, the score was knotted up at 1-1.

As it goes, if you give a good team an inch, they’ll take a foot. That’s exactly what the Cobras did. The Drag made our pitching change and, as soon as Carrizales departed the mound, all those previously beady cobra eyes got big. They put together some tidy rallies in the fifth and sixth leading to a few runs.

Hey, how’d the Drag do offensively?
Well, Thomas “Cy Young” Slanker simply carved us up. Topping that off, with the exception of two or three hits, when we did catch a barrel, the Cobra defense covered ground and made plays.

For the most part, Slank was inducing soft contact by grooving all his pitches, including the kitchen sink, for strikes. He controlled counts and got comfortable serving up a variety of breaking balls that our lineup was mostly unable to square up.
On the Drag’s side, Carrizales kept his fastball down at bottom of the strike zone while effectively mixing in his lefty hook.

Did anyone else play besides those two pitchers?
Sure, Reid Meyer came in after Slank and exhibited a completely different way to carve our lineup up.
Marc Segal, of the Drag, came on in relief and threw a very sharp 7th inning. With the clock closing in on 10pm and with the game already in hand for the Cobras, it was agreed to play a lil bit of meaningless bonus baseball as I got to pitch the bottom of the eighth.

As what’s becoming all too common, I was wild. Again. I think I threw to five hitters. Issued 2-3 walks. Converted one or two outs before Studebaker had seen enough and called the game due to time + home team was already in the lead + he was tired of watching the ball wildly fly out of my hand.

Defensive highlights include:
In the fourth inning, with a few Cobras on base, there was a drive to the left centerfield wall that the Drag relayed perfectly to nail a runner at the plate. Harrison Davis (CF), Nick Stillman (SS), and RJ (C) combined to execute a damn-fine relay. That was our defensive highlight.
For the Fangs, shortstop Hunter Ward made a few great plays. Same can be said for second baseman Tom Ligh.

Offensively, Steven Carrizales (Drag) hit the ball to the wall that he felt, considering he’d been pushing so hard and carrying such a heavy load on the mound, should only be limited to a John Kruk/Mo Vaughn single.
Stillman (Drag) caught a barrel or two.
Tom Ligh (Cobras) got a barrel.
Grace Coronado (Cobras) hit an RBI liner up the middle.

And that’s about all she wrote.
Final score —
Drag = 1 lonely run scored in the top of the first
Cobras = a 6-pack of Ice Cold Cobra Brews

Post-game reports:
The following remark is true – the Cobras have been playing very, very good baseball recently.
The following remark is less than true – during a recent booze-fueled discussion with a contingent of high-ranking Cobra officials at Kinda Tropical, the Cobras are decidedly taking a hiatus from dumpster diving the dregs of the sandlot world. For their next series, they are considering reaching out to the Boerne Little League team so the Fangs can get an opportunity to face some real competition.

Game photos below.
Older sandlot photos (album link here).

What is Sandlot?

7.27.2024 – Austin Yardbirds vs. Austin Drag @ Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

Yardbirds are a good team. They swing lumber. They put the ball in play. If you’re going to beat them, you’ve got to have arms (pitchers), and you can’t make mistakes in the field.
Our starting pitcher, Steven Carrizales, once again showed that he can compete against their tough lineup, but our fielding wasn’t sharp and our bullpen struggled with their command*.

The game remained tight after four innings, but the Ybirds opened things up in the fifth, and The Drag did our best to climb out of the hole we got ourselves in.

[*Here’s the asterisk*]
Everyone, more or less, knows what they’re getting and what to expect when Umpire Studebaker is plopping around Govalle. To be clear, an “ump” is better than “not an ump,” but it is fair to say that, as the game progressed, his zone got tighter. Just before sundown, I was pretty damn close to home plate taking photos and I had a front-row seat observing Stude ringing up a few hitters on pitches that were well out of the zone and off the plate.

Not to come across as whiney here (regardless of the strikezone’s size, we would’ve lost this game– that’s not the point), but as soon as that sun set, the zone did shrink (which didn’t affect the game’s outcome but it did prolong an inning or two). But, hey, who cares? That’s sandlot. And I’ll repeat this time and time again– I’m all for having a big strikezone. A big zone encourages hitters to be aggressive and keeps innings moving. Both good things.

Enough complaining. Baseball is baseball. Sandlot is sandlot. And Stude calling balls and strikes is still better than volunteer umps or player-umps, so, we’ll take what we can get. Even if some situations/calls look and feel a little strange, a little goofy (which, if I’m not mistaken, A Little Strange, A Little Goofy is the title of Stude’s memoir).

All in all, the game was a good natured, good spirited, good time. It’s a drag that The Drag didn’t play well, but that’s alright. We haven’t been able to put a complete game together vs. the Ybirds… ever, but maybe we’ll figure out how this fall?

Final score —
Yardbirds = 1.5 dozen
Drag = <1 dozen

Post-game Notes: I don’t care what RJ says, fernet is just a gussied up, rich man’s Mediterranean answer to Jagermeister. “Go ahead, it’s a digestif. It’ll help your tummy” says the bartender.
I was unaware that “digestif” meant that it functions as an ejector button for my organs.
My god, just a terrible idea to end the evening with fernet chunked on top of however many IPAs I consumed that day. I’ll take whiskey any day over fernet. Lesson learned.
Perhaps RJ’s in depth descriptions of his “morning constitutionals” and “scha-poopies” contributed to the ejector button activating? Regardless, the ejector button was activated. Never again.

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Other sandlot photos (album link here):

What is Sandlot?

7.13.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Jardineros Baseball Club @ Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

This silly blog has recorded half a dozen or so incidents of sandlotters behaving like assholes.
This past Saturday night, I was the asshole. It didn’t go beyond me calling a Jardinero a “dumbass,” but I did regrettably do that and was immediately told, by my teammates and the Jarindero third baseman, to “get out of here” with that kind of crap.
Apologies were immediately offered/accepted. The game moved on.
There was a paltry reason for me to resort to name-calling, but I shouldn’t have jumped the initial exchange’s demeanor from “bristling chatter” to “name-calling asshole.”
The silver lining– my lousy behavior was neutralized as fast as it could’ve been.

On to baseball.
The Jardineros won the coinflip for home field. We led off the top of the 1st with a small two-out rally leading to a single run (Nick and Steven coming through). The Jards followed that up with two runs in the bottom of the first.

Thi, the Jards starting pitcher, pitched really well changing speeds and arm angles, but The Drag were able to get a rally going in the 2nd by simply hitting them where they ain’t while also avoiding mistakes on the basepaths.

With a nice cushion, Keith Hyndshaw (SP) settled in and pitched the 2nd through the 6th only allowing one run. Keith did mention that he didn’t have “his best stuff,” but he gutted it out and the defense was able to avoid that dreaded inning of defensive collapse. Hard to say the game was error-free, there were a few plays that could’ve been made, but also hard to rule the few minor defensive mistakes as definitive “errors.”
All things considered, for both squads, the game was mostly clean.

Carlos took the hill for the Jards in the 3rd or 4th and did a good job of keeping us off the bases. Both teams’ fielding got real sharp as both teams’ bats went a little quiet. The hits were there, but they didn’t come in bunches. Both teams consistently had threats of plating a few runs, but the pitching/defense was able to get out of it unscathed from the 4th through the 8th.

Steven Carrizales relieved Keith in the 7th and also reported he didn’t feel like he had his best stuff.
Carrizales was still able to get us out of the jams though. Limongelli (RF) made some good plays including one where, with the bases loaded, he tracked a well-hit ball to right center that saved us a few runs. Gelli also nearly nailed a guy at first that nearly played out a lot like this.

Offensively, as mentioned the hits were mostly scattered, but Steven, Stillman, and RJ all had multi-hit games. Katy, Gelli, Braden, Jeff, Keith, and Simon all recorded hits. Luke gave a pitch a ride, but it was tracked down in deep left center.

The lights went out in the top of the 9th.
Post-game drinks and eats at Kinda Tropical.
Was definitely a solid Sandlot Saturday night.

Final score —
Drag – a good amount
Jardineros – a fair amount

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7.20.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Arsenal Abejas (SA) @ Pittman-Sullivan – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

I somehow managed to allow my Friday evening get away from me.
As one famous quote goes, “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” Friday night, I might’ve had both. Anyways, I awoke on Saturday morning (gameday) at the time I had expected to depart Austin for San Antonio (9am).

I bet you’d imagine that getting a fairly late start for a game that was 90 minutes away would make me late? Nope. I arrived at 10:45am and had plenty of time to get loose since the game didn’t begin in earnest until 11:25am. Why the delay? I guess “roster constraints” for the local team was the largest factor. I was the last Drag to arrive and brought our numbers up to 14 for the day.

So, how’d the game go?
It went without an umpire. Which is fine for the meaningless baseball we play.
There are sports, such as ultimate frisbee, that promote themselves as “self-officiated.” The idea being that sports, especially youth sports, don’t always need an authority figure out there enforcing rules and penalizing infractions. These self-officiated games promote that competitors should be able to resolve any and all conflicts with calm and measured discussions.

Ultimate frisbee doesn’t have balls and strikes though. As someone who has volunteered umping dozens of games, it’s not particularly fun, and it’s damn-near impossible to be impartial. So, an already meaningless game without an umpire reduces the game’s “meaning” even further as the 3-5 players volunteering to ump are all going to have varying degrees of game command, knowledge, and considerably different strikezones.

Lastly, as far as I know, most of the sandlot umps we use employ a “three hours or 8/9 innings– whichever comes first” rule. You know what umps are usually good at doing? Keeping the game moving. This game drug. The heat clearly affected gameplay and pace. “Hustle” isn’t something I’d say either team was employing. With the offensive team providing the umpire, it’d be false to say that the strikezones were “pitcher friendly,” which only intensified the game’s dragging (smaller strikezone = more walks = longer innings).

Hey, hey! Are you done bitching yet?
Well, no. The delayed start time.

The game lasted from 11:25am to 2:20pm which somehow only netted six innings.
The heat certainly got to the hungover and hangry sandlotters that had just about had enough by 2pm.

I’m not even certain if this stupid post is playing these circumstances up or playing them down, but there honestly wasn’t too much bristling between the teams. Most exchanges were pleasant. Understandably, a few disagreements popped up. They were mostly handled in a fine and reasonable manner.

Late in the game, while I was umping from behind the mound, there was a play at the plate that I didn’t actively hustle to get in position to have a good perspective. Even if I had hustled down there, it would’ve been like trying to see what happens when two children dive in an oversized sandbox for a dinnerplate during a dust storm. Who’s to say what actually happened?
Braden, the runner, thought he was safe. The catcher thought he was out.
I explained that all I saw was a dust cloud and that they should figure it out. Shotgun suggestions were made and not particularly well-received. Then Braden quickly proposed Ro Sham Bo (best 2 out of 3).
Braden won. Never dance with the devil.

Did yall actually play baseball?
Yeah, and Nick Stillman let everyone know that he knows how to hit. Man went 4-4 with double-digit RBIs.
Jeff pitched two good innings. I managed to get through a single iffy inning.
Keith was steady as ever, finishing the rest of the game on the mound.

The Drag built a tiny cushion early and maintained it. It was a game of rallies and The Drag were able to record just a few more than The Abejas.

Final thought: a midday game at Pittman-Sullivan in July feels more like an Arizona Ironman Competition (or a scene from Jarhead) than it does a recreational booze-fueled baseball game.

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7.20.2024 – South Austin Parakeets vs. North Austin Space Cowboys @ Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game (I’ll update it once the post-game ig post has been posted).

Godbless. Following the game in San Antonio, I got some much-needed tequila and texmex with some Dragsters in San Marcos, dipped in the river (thank Christ), hustled home, then booked it for Govalle’s friendly confines.

In these dog days of summer, many sandlot rosters tend to experience slight reduction (travel, heat, obligations, whatever). As was the case for the Keets, I got the invite to be their 10th man.

The Keets have arms and bats. Because it’s sandlot, pretty much all our gloves fall asleep from time to time, but the Keets always seem to have a really strong pitching rotation and their lineup catches barrels and puts up runs.

Without a doubt, Saturday was a tale of two games.
The evening’s conditions were favorable. Umpire Studebaker kept things moving. Both teams swung lumber and made plays. Honestly, an exceptional Sandlot Saturday night.

The Space Cowboys started a fella in left that I had never seen prior to this game and is someone I can only assume whose moniker is “Big Country.” I have no idea if he’s “country” or not, the dude just looked and moved like a DII weakside linebacker (apologies if he was actually a DI linebacker). Big Country started the game in left and killed The Keets’ first-inning rally by throwing a dart to home to nail a runner. Very impressive throw.

After that, the game featured a lot of offense and pitching (Carlos, Rob, Bryce) on the Keets’ side.
The Space Cowboys put together some strong rallies late, but, for the most part, the Keets cruised.

An exceptional Sandlot Saturday night.

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My last roll of film was destroyed by operator error (I made a film mistake– dammit).
No new photos this time, but here are some older photos (and the google photo folder can be found here).

What is Sandlot?

6.23.2024 – Gulf Coast Sugar vs. Mashup of Ramblers + Playboys + Smoke @ Wishing Well – 3pm

Fun game. I had previously never taken the field with The Sugar and hadn’t taken the field against them since some time before 2020.
Players began showing up for the mashup squad and as those numbers approached 16, since the other dugout looked a little on the light side, I jumped over to The Sugar.

As stated, really fun game. The Sugar are some old-school ballplayers and long-time pals. It shows on and off the field. Great guys and good ballplayers. Happy they let me hop on.

It was a close game all the way through but The Sugar went home with the sugar bowl.

Post-game note: Godbless. The Wishing Well is a great time, but boy howdy, it’s also pretty darn hot out there.

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6.29.2024 – Town Lake Nightcrawlers vs. Austin Drag @ Govalle – 3pm
Game’s instagram post.

We were able to put up some runs in the first.
Then our offense cooled way off as Brandon Terrell (The Nightcrawler’s SP) got settled in. At one point he sat down eight (or so, maybe nine) consecutive Dragsters.

Chill Hand Luke thankfully broke that streak to begin a much-needed two-out rally that plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Defensively, Steven Carrizales (RJ’s best friend) was lights out on the mound. He threw strikes while avoiding barrels. It felt like anytime there was a threat, Steven would bare down and get us out of it. 

Defensive highlights:
With a runner on second, Sever (RF) fielded a groundball that got through the right side, then quickly got the ball to Braden (SS) who was behind second. The runner sort of took a second to consider staying at third or breaking for home. The runner broke and Braden fired a strike to nail the runner at the plate.
He’s good at that. As a Dragster, he’s fired home to nail at least three runners now (maybe four or five).

“Scotty Doesn’t Know” had an exciting catch in left off the bat of The Worms’ big-swingin’ cleanup hitter, Willie. Braden also made an incredible on-the-run scoop + throw to first to kill a rally.

On the Dragster downer side, we stranded quite a few runners (our 2024 trend) and had a baserunning error or two (another emerging 2024 trend).

No big deal. I have no doubt that we’ll have this whole baseball thing figured out by October (only to forget everything we’ve learned come December).

Final score —
Nightcrawlers – an amount
Drag – a fair amount

Post-game notes: both games I attended were super clean. I don’t remember any goofy chirping or side-eyed mean mugging or any mumbles or grumbles. Just fun baseball and cold beers. Hear hear!

Photos from Nightcrawlers game + our previous SA game (album link here):

What is Sandlot?

6.2.2024 – Austin Drag vs. East Austin Ramblers @ Govalle – 3pm
Game’s instagram post.

Pitching can be really fun.
Sometimes your command is off and you just can’t seem to get out of an inning without issuing a few walks. Sometimes you execute bad, fat pitches that are left middle-middle in the zone and good hitters square you up and drink your milkshake. Sometimes you execute great pitches and the hitters still find a way to put the bat on the ball to make things happen. Dying quails or groundballs with eyes can turn what was a productive outing into dogshit real quick. Sometimes your defense lets you down. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes.

Luckily, for this outing, I threw strikes and the Drag defense was really, really sharp.

Game notes– Tyler had two huge hits. Marc and Gelli both had doubles. The defense turned two doubleplays. All in all, a really fun afternoon at Govalle. The Ramblers brought a raucous, fun squad.

Final score—-
Drag – a fair amount
Ramblers – an amount

Postgame notes:
The Cobras got dealt a rainout Friday night, so they managed to slide into the Govalle 7pm timeslot following the Saturday Drag/Ramblers game.
The Cobras put the word out that there’d be an open practice/pickup game going on and players began trickling in. I let myself believe there’d be 20+ players coming so that I could just hang out and maybe get a single AB or something like that. Dragsters RJ, Marc, and myself all decided to hang out while thinking the pickup game wouldn’t really need extra ballplayers.

Turns out, they did.
The pickup game started with Lance throwing on the hill and some Roadrunners and other sandlotters goofing around. At some point, Marc, RJ, and I had just about had as much Govalle as one can have. There’s a chance that Marc may have even OD’ed on Govalle.
You be the judge–

Thankfully, Elliott arrived and nursed him back to full strength. The three of us Dragsters somehow held down Govalle from 2:30pm -10:30pm though. Few days are better spent than a full day at the ballpark.

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6.8.2024 – Austin Drag vs. ATX Roadrunners @ Govalle – 3pm
Game’s instagram post.

I was not there. I had a wedding.
Here’s a paraphrased recap though:
Steven got the start and was excellent.
Simon, Harrison, Marc, Scotty, and Ash brought the lumber.
Defense was impressive including a sweet up-the-middle play by Stillman that included a nice pick by The Big Cat at first.

Final score —
Drag – a fair amount
Roadrunners – an amount

Post-game notes: there was a garden party that will be discussed for years to come.

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6.15.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Los Slowpokes de San Anto @ Pittman-Sullivan (SA) – 11am
Game’s instagram post.

Pitching can also be a complete bitch (more on that later).
Keith started on the hill and was consistent as ever. With Mike Limongelli devouring every ball that took a trip into leftfield as well as throwing out a runner at home trying to score from second on groundball that made it through the hole on the left side, he showed out as the defensive player of the game. Guy made plays all day. With all those plays, Keith never really got into any trouble.

Defensively, we got through most innings without incident. Offensively, with the exception of one inning, we weren’t able to materialize a legit rally. Their starting pitcher, Luke/Lucas, threw really well. We’d get a hit or two, and then the bats got real cold real quick. We continued our 2024 tradition of stranding runners and relying a lil too much on our pitching to bring home a W.

That strategy has been better than bad for us this season.
Keith pitched six efficient innings. Jeff threw a quality seventh. With a three-run laed, I got the ball in the 8th, and, for whatever reason, couldn’t find the strikezone. I could point to a few “factors” (read “excuses”), but I won’t bore you with those. The first responsibility for pitchers is to throw strikes and whatever the hell left my hand did not end up a strike.

My best/fattest pitch was undoubtedly a 3-0 or 3-1 meatball to their athletic lefty slugger who had been taking Big Daddy Hacks all game, but on this particular AB, he felt it was time to lay down a bunt. I get it. You’re down a few runs. There are two runners on. You’re hitting from the left side.
Cool. Lay it down. I understand this to be a “good baseball play.”
That said, I can’t sit here and talk favorably about Whiteyball and then knock a guy for bunting. I get it.

However, if you ever catch me laying down a bunt during a beer league social sandlot game, I expect someone to question me about whether or not I have intentions to retire from all forms of recreation in the immediate future. I know The Drag has a player or two that love laying down a tasty bunt. I get the appeal. But me? Me? I’ll be swinging.

Anyhow, bunt or no bunt, I biffed the save opportunity and simply didn’t have it.
The last time I couldn’t throw strikes was on November 4th. Here’s hoping I can make it the rest of the year without having dreadful control issues.

I deservedly got the quick yank off the hill and Steven tried to clean up my mess. With runners on and one out, they hit a flare into shallow left. Like he had done all game long, Limongelli made a terrific play to make the catch and had an opportunity to double off the runner on first (who thought the ball was dropping in and was making his way to second). Gelli’s throw to first from the outfield came up a little short. The ball short-hopped our first baseman and made its way into foul territory. We complete that play, double off the runner, that would have been a game-saving doubleplay.

It wasn’t meant to be though. The runners advanced. With runners at second and third, the next batter hit a comebacker that bounced off Steven’s leg (the pitcher) and softly kicked towards me at third. Once I got my hand on it, there was no play to be made and the winning run had crossed the plate.
That’s baseball. We got baseballed.

Final score —
Drag – 7
Los Slowpokes – 8

Luckily for us though, the San Marcos River just so happens to be one of the best places to wash off a bad loss, a bad day, or to redirect your mood if you feel like you’re in a funk. So that’s exactly what we did. We washed that stank off. Drank a few beers. And had ourselves a time.

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Photos from Ramblers game + a few other sandlot photos (album link here):

What is Sandlot?

5.24.2024 – East Austin Jardineros vs. Austin Drag @ Govalle – 7pm
Weekend’s instagram post.

I got to the park early to get as much cordless string trimming (weed whacking) done.
The battery died 12 minutes before game time.

Our bats showed up for the first inning and then got real quiet for the 2nd through the 6th.
It had been a good, long while since I (Rickner) actually drove a damn ball, but in the bottom of the 1st, I finally barreled an RBI double to left center. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
Hobson followed my double up with an up-the-middle laser into center that drove me home.

After that, The Jards gave us a few different looks by mixing in different pitchers. They executed their pitches and we also had our moments of loose plate discipline. Well, everyone except for Ash, who barreled two singles in her first two ABs as well as Stillman who caught a nice barrel off what I believe was a “Get Me Over” curveball thrown by Carlos.

Some of us tried to do too much and “didn’t let the game come to us” so to speak. We jumped out too early at good pitches– didn’t allow the ball to get deep enough in the zone to put a good swing on it. When we weren’t doing that, we were swinging at pitches out of the zone and losing the AB battle by forfeiting any advantage by swinging at pitches that could’ve/would’ve/should’ve been declared “balls.”
Call it projection on my part if you will, but these tendencies were displayed by many at the ballpark that evening.

On the defensive side, Steven Carrizales took the hill, Keith Hyndshaw geared up behind the plate, and we all just kind of watched them work. Except for Braden, who was too preoccupied snagging liners and making plays at second. The few times The Jards’ bats began threatening and/or The Drag defense made an error, Steven dug in and neutralized the threat with some much-needed strikeouts.

In the top of the 3rd, The Jards hit two balls to the wall scoring one run + The Drag’s Stillman (SS) caught a Jardy in a pickle, then we (The Drag) biffed the pickle that allowed another run to score.

That takes us to the top of the 7th. With the score at a 2-4 Drag advantage,  I (Rickner) misplayed a backhand at third then overthrew 1b (good God). With one out and runners at 1st and 3rd, Steven induced a groundball that Braden, Stillman, Hobson converted into a much-needed 4-6-3 DP. 

All in all, pitching and defense was pretty darn clean for both sides. Our botched pickle + my misplay at third are the only combined errors that I recall. We were lucky to drive just a few more balls than The Jards.

Really fun game. Studebaker mustered the strength to make it through six or seven innings before the heat, his age, and pressure of such high stakes sandlot made him retire long before the lights did. The captains put in a request to the Sandlot Umpires Union to review the situation. Word is that he made it home just in time to put on some reruns of Night Court on Nick@Nite.

Final score—-
Jardineros- 2 Bull the Bailiffs
Drag – 6 John Larroquettes

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5.27.2024 – Town Lake Nightcrawlers vs. Austin Drag @ Historic Downs Field – 10am
Weekend’s instagram post.

I know it’s already been said, but huge, HUGE thanks to everyone who made this Sandlot Memorial Day happen at The Historic Downs Field. Baseball feels different when played on historic grounds that legends like Satchel Paige played on. Thanks to Joel Manzo, Marcel, Huston-Tillotson, and everyone else involved in allowing the sandlot community to get four games in at that incredible facility.

Onto the games-
Gahdamn it was hot. It is Texas, and from now until October, it’s only gonna get hotter, but this “heat dome” was something else. Never mind the heat, how was the baseball?

It varied throughout the day.
For the first game, it was a tight and contested game until the later stages. Runs proved hard to come by as the Drag runners made a few errors on the basepaths (myself/Rickner included) as well as the mutual agreement to not take home on passed balls.

Our first runner to reach first safely didn’t stay there long. He promptly got hidden ball tricked. That was pretty cheeky, but these things happen. A trick play is usually not utilized right out of the gate like that, as most “trick” plays are generally used as a late-inning desperation move in a tight situation, but never underestimate the element of surprise right? Perhaps they were trying to “set a tone,” or simply steal an out as early as they could, or maybe something else entirely. I’m not sure. But, it’s all part of the game. 
A few Dragsters were perceptively miffed (not me), but we collectively got over it in 5-10 minutes.

Though our offense was a little slow out of the gate, Keith’s pitching wasn’t. He was sharp. In seven innings, The Worms plated one run. They threatened late, but Keith was able to get out of the one real jam he faced. Exceptional showing on the hill.

The Worms’ starting pitcher, Brandon Terrell, was also really sharp. He pitched at least five, maybe six innings while avoiding any significant rally.
Going into the final stretch, the score was 4-1 with The Drag on top. Given that the heat was sort of slowing things down, we were down to 30 mins left when The Drags’ bats woke up and started putting together a final rally.

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Quick Break to Nag About Rules/Etiquette. Apologies.

During my second (or third?) AB, I saw a second needless fake tag in as many games vs. The Nightcrawlers. I already wrote about fake tags.

In college (NCAA) + professional competition (MLB/MiLB), fake tags = up to the umpire’s discretion to determine whether or not there was obstruction.
In high school + youth competition fake tags = obstruction. Regardless of contact or intent, runner advances.

So we’re all clear on this matter–  There are no lower-level leagues than Sandlot. If you were to look at all baseball being played by humans older than 18 years, this is the lowest-level, lowest-stakes baseball in existence. Less competitive, more social leagues don’t exist. For the majority of sandlotters that are simply trying to enjoy playing a goofy-ass, recreational game–  this “league” is it. It doesn’t get more meaningless or more recreational than this.
As far as competition/talent goes, we’re the nadir.

Suffice it to say, whatever rules I remember the game having when my competitive baseball days ended in 2002 (high school), it’d feel odd to all of a sudden play up to professional rules and ask for even more interpretation from our overworked, overheated one-man umpire “crews” that certainly don’t want to babysit adults who either a) don’t know the rules or b) refuse to follow the rules.

For comparison’s sake (as far as rules and intentionality is concerned), a baserunner stealing + relaying signs (at any level) is technically “legal.” It’s also a dickmove (nobody is accusing anyone of doing this– just a comparison of “rule breaking” and the stigma attached to some on-field behaviors).
Faking a tag, at any level below college + pros, is illegal and it’s a dickmove.
In the majors, faking a tag is a dickmove that warrants its own form of baseball justice.
But, as they say, the way you do anything is the way you do everything.

No grudges. No leftover attitudes.
Every sandlotter espouses they “love baseball.”
I look forward to seeing that sentiment put into action.

Enough nagging. Enough soapboxing.

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Final tally –
Worms – 1 Grandpa Glizzy
Drag – 9 D. Branch Boudin Balls

God bless. I am admittedly learning a few things about 35mm photography.
It was a little too bright and cloudy for my settings at high noon (see the overexposed photos above). But… pretty darn perfect for the sundown shots (see below).
Link to sandlot google photo folder.

Thanks again Joel, Marcel, Huston-Tillotson, Grandpa’s Glizzys, D. Branch Boudin, Mom & Pops Frozen Pops, Austin Drag, Town Lake Nightcrawlers, Space City Cowboys, Meat City Smoke, Austin Grackles, Texas Playboys, Cap City Cobras, and Austin Yardbirds.
We’re definitely looking forward to the next sandlot event at The Historic Downs Field!