Unless you played baseball at Klein Forest in the mid-90's you will have no interest in this blog . . .

My good friend Jim "I hit the ball harder than Josh Hamilton" Russell sent me an email prediction that I wrote in early 2007 this morning and I thought, "hey, I spent a lot of time on that email and I need a new blog" so here goes. There had been some emails going back and forth between my High School buddies and I in regards to our annual alumni baseball game back then and what follows is my prediction on what was at the time an upcoming game.

For the homerun derby Jim Russell will rip a few to the fence before finally getting one over. His one homerun looks to stand as the rest of the guys fail to reach the warning track. (Yes, Matt Mertins included) As Brett Murphey takes his ten cuts he gets a little frustrated that his first eight cuts result in popping up straight into the batters cage the hangs over his head. He feels a little better as he rips the next one over the scoreboard to tie Jim, but gets a little cocky and completely misses the next pitch. Brandon Clarke forgets to take his ten swings because he is too busy arguing with Jim Kretlow that Mitt Romney is a better Republican candidate than John McCain. No one really challenges Jim's of Brett's total of one homerun, until Mike Lateur strolls to the plate and hits the first two pitches out of the park. Mike refuses his other eight cuts and proceeds to Mrs. Rutchi to collect his $20 gift certificate to Mr. Subz. (He's happy until the next day when he realizes Mr. Subz closed in 1997) As the game begins Brandon and Brett get into an argument about who gets to bat first only to realize that Matt Mertins has snuck behind him and is already in the batters box. It doesn't seem to matter because Jim Kretlow strikes out Matt, Brandon, and Brett in the first frame on nine pitches. Jim Russell throws a water cooler in disgust, partially due to the fact that no one got on and he's in the clean-spot and partially because Jeff Sanford has still not shown up. Mertins strolls to the mound and pumps in some 68 mph heaters and surprisingly gets out of the inning with no runs scored. Coach Ray then announces the winner of the first door prize, a $20 gift certificate to Pancho's, and a 2005 graduate gladly accepts the prize. Jim Russell tears down a shelf in the dugout in disgust. As the second inning begins Brett Murphey decides to strip down to just his sliding shorts and heads to the booth and promptly turns on the PA system. He remains there the rest of the game. Jim Russell hits Kretlow's first pitch over the right field wall and as he enters the dugout he breaks his TPX over his knee as the excitement overcomes him. Valerie Murphey captures the moment on her digital camera as she hangs from the backstop with one arm. Wayne Horak then steps to the plate and hits a shot to third where Brian Horak fields the groundball and fires one to first where Patrick Horak makes a nice scoop. Mr. Horak is sitting in his lawn chair over by the chain link fence and he nods his head a few times in approval of all three of his sons. Ed Bailey then steps to the plate and smashes one up the middle, but as he rounds first he pulls up limping. He calls for a pinch runner and heads to the dugout with an icepack. He remains laid up on the bench for the remainder of the game. Brandon Clarke asks for a replacement because he has now entered into a conversation with one of the High School players (whose required to be there) about his pursuit of one of the vacancies in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The High School student doesn't know what to say as Brandon discusses President Bush's conservative dominance in the 4th Circuit so Brandon switches the conversation to how good of a college ball player he was until he blew out his knee. Not too much happens in the game except for Jim Russell hitting homeruns and breaking things. The game ends and everyone proceeds to eat sloppy joes, homemade cookies, and fritos and Coach Ray continues to hand out gear and uniforms from the 70's.