Nutz withdraw from Cav Manning fan club

Cutz' captain stops bleeding long enough to power team to Game 7 glory

SANTA CLARA -- It was believed--OK, hoped--every member of the McGillicuttys/NumbNutz series would treat Game 7 as the biggest game of the season, or in some cases their careers. A Game 7 has only happened one other time in league history, and BAB deserved to have this one taken very seriously.

Well, when several BAD ASSes, including yours truly, rolled up to Goodson Field to find 10 guys already on the field, their first thoughts were, naturally "Shit. They really are comin' out guns blazin'. These mo-fo's wanna WIN this thing."

No offense intended, but when all the men looked like Soonam Chowdhury upon closer inspection...let's just say thoughts changed.

Cav's McGillicuttys 16, NumbNutz...5    McGillicuttys win series 4-3

For the first time in the 15 Sundays BAB has used Goodson, the league arrived to find the field occupied--by freakin' cricket players. After a collective groan the members decided today wasn't going to be the day it drove all over the county to find a diamond; these guys would have to go. After a 30-minute delay they did.

That delay proved this Game 7 was nothing like last year's Sanchez/Steamers Game 7. Today Cutz and Nutz alike fraternized, swapping stories and laughs. Last year the two teams wouldn't even approach one another's members.

Finally, the full squad of Nutz took the field, as the Cutz--minus bopper Ryan Ledee and Chowdhury--stepped up to bat. A flurry of doubles--at least two were directly caused by Ridley errors at buck--capped by a Manning 2-run homer put the Nutz in an instant 5-run hole. That may not seem so bad but remember, this team twice scored but 4 runs in a game this series. The Nutz did threaten in their half of the 1st, but scored zero.

After Matsui contributed a 2-run bomb of his own in the 2nd, the Cutz led 7-0; in the 3rd the Nutz finally got on the board when Minor drove in the late-arriving Stauffer, who'd tripled to centerfield. A few hitters later the Nutz lost 3 precious runs when Trinh's moonshot landed a yard foul.

Over the next 4 innings, the Cutz continued to tack runs onto their lead, while the Nutz could do precious little. Finally, in the 7th the weak-hitting Nutz began to hit like the series depended on it, posting 3 runs to make the score 11-5 Cutz. With the bases loaded, however, Hamilton K'd for the third out, the last serious noise the team would make.

In the 8th, the Nutz used D to fend off the Cutz, including a sweet Flores/Lynas/Davis relay from buck to cut down Bush at home, and an incredible one-hop stab of a Collins laser at short by Trinh. But they went down 1-2-3 offensively. When the McGillicuttys put up a 4-spot in the 9th, boosted by Manning's 2-run single and extended by a pair of Trinh bobbles, this series was for all intents and purposes, over. Minutes later, the Nutz' Davis lined out to centerfield with two men on to seal the McGillicutty's historical win.

SERIES GAME NOTES:

• Lynas was NOT messing around when he said he wanted to win today. After Ridley's lousy 1st inning on D, the BAD ASS vet--who hadn't played since July 9 and was clearly rusty--found himself on the bench for the rest of the game with Flores replacing him.

• Flores two+ year streak of winning series, of which he was quite proud, came to a crashing end this afternoon. After beginning this season 18-4, Rob is now 1-7 since.

• Following the final out, the Cutz, like last year's Sanchez, participated in a champagne-soaked dugout celebration. Their captain, Manning, had intentionally scarred his face in preparation for the game. You can ask him why.

• Manning's 1st inning homer was his first "legitimate" homer of '06, not counting the Home Run Derby. "It's the first time all year my shoulder wasn't killing me," the superstar said after the game.

• Today's contest, which was attended by Lynas' dog Max, was the first of the series to be won by the road team.

• For the 3rd time in the last 4 games, Collins was robbed of an ITPHR when his hard liner rolled under the fence.

• Lynas, who struggled offensively as much as any NumbNut this series, had to single in his last AB to break an oh-fer.

• Hamilton's K was the only one of the game, his 10th on the year to lead BAB.

With half the guys in euphoric bliss, and the other half eager to erase the bad taste of a Game 7 loss, all players except Stauffer--the last to arrive and first to leave, one BAD ASS was quick to point out--hung around for an exhibition game. Yes, that's right, Collins even stayed for two!

Minor and DaRosa were selected as captains.

Pretty Roses 12, Ed's Reds 16

The Roses led 6-2 after three, as a fantastic sliding catch by Collins in the 2nd help squelch an early Red rally. However, Trinh's 2-run homer in the 4th helped cut that lead down to 1; an RBI triple by Bernal and a ground-rule 2B by Kuzmiak an inning later gave the Reds an 8-6 lead that they wouldn't give up.

Despite its' lineup chock full of stars, the Roses went 5 innings without a run, making more than one baserunning blunder as Minor, who rested himself by playing only some of the game on D, gritted his teeth. In the 8th, the Reds extended their lead by 5, taking advantage of many Rose errors. The rally didn't end until DaRosa was tagged in the head on a rundown.

Finally, the Roses broke through with 6 in the 9th but it was too little, too late.

EXHIBITION GAME NOTES:

• Hamilton earned his first career BAD ASS of the Day award, as he was front-and-center in every Red scoring rally; the BAB sophomore was very proud of his achievement.

• Davis K'd twice, giving him 9 for the season. 6 of those came since this series began, and 4 of those came in Game 2's of doubleheaders. He attributes the most recent 3 to not having his regular bat, angrily discarded at Goodson on July 16th.

• Simas suffered a PLK in the 1st; 3 innings later SS Ridley turned a nice unassisted DP on him.

• Bush had to leave in the 7th to pick up someone from the airport. Collins was originally going to bounce after the first game, but after making a phone call decided to troop on like a true BAD ASS.

• Davis had to double with 2 down in his final AB (made possible only by the late rally) to avoid his first career oh-fer. He came into the inning due to bat 9th and all hope was lost.

• Yow comically, but strategically as well, employed a special shift on Davis--near the picnic tables behind the home dugout, where Davis had fouled 3 balls off over the course of the game. It didn't work. JD

* Players of the Week *

BAD ASS of the Day

Cav Manning, McGillicuttys (1)

stats not available

Bryan Bush, McGillicuttys (1)

stats not available

Brandon Hamilton, Reds (2)

stats not available

Gold Glove

* none (1 & 2) *

Small Penis

Greg Lynas, NumbNutz (1)

narrowly missed oh-fer

Brandon Hamilton, NumbNutz (1)

narrowly missed oh-fer; left bases loaded in 7th with K

 Cav Manning (2)