Practice Recap

The Slugs and the Solid Gold Hits met for the first and only practice of the season. After drills were run with moderate success the two teams scrimmaged resulting in an 8-4 (approximately) win for the Slugs. To be fair, they did borrow the Hits' Sonya as their pitcher and she's awful tough to hit.

Highlights of the day included:

* The debut of "The Bruiser"
* The first slow pitch softball bunt ever
* Z diving for everything
* Coach Nick nearly passing out after having to sprint around the bases
* Like 8 errors in the infield
* John's hair flowing beautifully in the wind as he fielded grounders.
* One bench clearing brawl.

The Most Important Post Ever

Hi Team(s)!

Let's talk bbq. Specifically post-practice bbq this Saturday. This is going to be a potluck style affair. In addition to your softball equipment and a good attitude also bring a salad, appetizer or beverage of some kind (or any combination thereof) with you to practice. Our Team Mom, Libby, will collect the food/drinks at the beginning of practice and transport them to The Party House where we will rendezvous with them a couple hours later.

I am forming a meat team that will be designated to help provide the meat and all the meat-fixin's. If I don't contact you regarding being part of Team Meat then you are free to bring whatever you like. I'm assuming there has got to be at least one vegatarian in the group so Team Meat will also throw in a Gardenburger or two, but don't get too comfortable, Sproutsy, Team Meat will not always be this generous.

If you have any questions, please contact me at nleonti@gmail.com.

Practice/BBQ Update

I hope everybody got the following email:

Howdy Slugs and Solid Gold Hits,

OK, we have decided on our post-practice bbq destination. The Solid Gold Hits' Sheri Graciano has graciously offered up her beautiful home as our party pad. It' a short drive from the park and, unlike the park, her house allows alcohol consumption - it's even encouraged. And I'm pretty sure last time I was at Sheri's I had a margarita that was made in a homemade blender that was fashioned out of a garbage disposal or boat motor or something. What more could we ask for?

Love Forever,
Coach Nick

Suggested Pre-Season Viewing

I know you’ve all been training rigorously this off-season for the upcoming season. But every once in a while you’ve got to step away from the weight room and work on the mental side of the game. By that, of course, I mean you should watch movies. Here is a list of titles I feel will help your game.

Field of Dreams
In Kevin Costner’s trilogy of baseball movies this is one of the two that people have actually seen. It’s also the cheesiest one assuming that the one nobody saw wasn’t cheesy. Also, I’m assuming that “The Postman” wasn’t about baseball, but if it is then Kevin Costner has a tetralogy (that’s a triology plus one – look it up) of baseball movies, but there are still only two that people have seen. Anyhow, I’m tired of all this Kevin Costner bashing. If you want a cheesy movie that might make you appreciate baseball/softball a little more then watch this. Also this is my second favorite movie starring Sacramento’s own Timothy Busfield (#1 is Sneakers). Bonus point to anyone who can name the other actor that’s in both those movies. Not sure what the bonus point will get you, but it never hurts to have a bonus point.

Major League
I’m pretty sure I don’t need to tell you what this is about. Jobu needs a refill.

The Natural
In this movie, a depression-era Robert Redford makes his own bat out of a tree that was struck by lightning. Coincidentally, this is exactly how The Bruiser (see previous post) came to be…except instead of lightning hitting a tree and me carving it – I just ordered it online. To be fair, internet connections were way slower in the 1930s. Remember those old crank-operated modems? Those were the days.

The Sandlot
I’ve never actually seen this movie, but the scene with that huge dog sure looks funny. It’s about baseball right? And what ever happened to that fat kid?

GoodFellas
Ok, so this isn’t a baseball movie, but there are a lot of similarities. You know that scene where Ray Liotta thinks the dude across the street was screwin’ with his wife and he’s just completely crazy-pissed and he grabs the gun he has hidden in the car and you think he’s gonna go shoot the guy, but instead he just pistol whips him…HARD. Well, that’s the kind of coach I’d like to be.

The Best Bat Ever: The Story of The Bruiser
This isn’t a real movie, you ass.

Rocky
Just watch the whole series. There are some great training montages that can show you how to prepare for the season. Like that one scene where Stallone chases that chicken. What a great workout! Also that scene in Rocky IV where “No Easy Way Out” is playing and Stallone shifts his Lambourghini like 100 times without looking at the road is pretty inspirational.

The Karate Kid
Try to be best cuz you’re only a man and a man’s gotta learn to take it. Try to believe though the going gets rough that you gotta hang tough to make it. History repeats itself. Try and you’ll succeed. Never doubt that you’re the one and you can have your dreams! You’re the best around! Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down.

Between that song and the infamous “I hate this bike!” scene there are many lessons to be learned here. Also, there is no pain in the Solid Gold Hits dojo.

Sense and Sensibility
When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave the bulk of his estate to the son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in straitened circumstances. They are taken in by a kindly cousin, but their lack of fortune affects the marriageability of both practical Elinor and romantic Marianne. When Elinor forms an attachment for the wealthy Edward Ferrars, his family disapproves and separates them. And though Mrs. Jennings tries to match the worthy (and rich) Colonel Brandon to her, Marianne finds the dashing and fiery Willoughby more to her taste. Both relationships are sorely tried. But this is a romance, and through the hardships and heartbreak, true love and a happy ending will find their way for both the sister who is all sense and the one who is all sensibility.

Just kidding, get Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure instead. He rides a cool bike and builds this awesome machine that makes breakfast for him! Wouldn’t it be awesome if we rode cool bikes to our games!?

Okay, I guess that’s it for now.

Practice w/ The Slugs

In the past when the Solid Gold Hits have needed a ringer, we've turned to our sister team, The Slugs. Now we find ourselves in the same league.

I've been in contact with The Slugs coach, Tamara, and we have decided to organize a joint pre-season practice. In a perfect world we could get a real scrimmage going, but that all depends on attendance.

The practice will be at Tahoe Park on Saturday, March 24th at noon.

Following the practice there will be bbq and adult beverages at an as yet unspecified Tahoe Park house. Keep an eye out for further details and an Evite.

Bruiser Update

Ok, it's not a donation jar, it's a donation box and it's already got $6.50 in it. Also, there's a bake sale in effect. A donation may score you a delicious snack.

Come Together for "The Bruiser"

No team can compete without proper equipment. I'm pretty sure that's why we lost so many games last year. It wasn't because we couldn't hit, catch, throw, run or remain sober for the duration of a game - it was because we didn't have really cool equipment - specifically, a bat.

After asking people to let me know if they had any bats and/or balls and not getting any response, I have decided that it's time for action.

An exhaustive search has resulted in the discovery of a little thing called "The Bruiser." With it's 34 inches of pure aluminum power, totally bitchen logo and pleasingly moderate price, it's the perfect bat to put the Solid Gold Hits over the top.

It's $69.99 from the Sports Authority and I'll be starting a donation jar at my desk if you're interested in investing in the future of our team. With the deal we got on registration, I'm sure you can find a few extra pennies to toss into the jar. I mean, look how cool this bat is.

Team Photographer Announced

Proper documentation of this historic season is crucial to the education of future generations. Therefore tiny Melanie Light (photograph at right) is volunteering her time and artistic vision to become the Solid Gold Hits official team photographer.

And while we all want to look good on camera let's try to keep showboating to a minimum...unless you do something really, really cool.

NOTE: Melanie's skills are already on display on this page. Look for her in the reflection of Coach Nick's glasses below.

Siino Appointed to Team Mom

Libby Siino (seen here in an artist's rendition) has been appointed to the position of Team Mom.

Just like real Team Moms in little league, it will be Siino's job to cheer us on and encourage us even though, secretly, she is ashamed of us and knows we'll never amount to anything. In addition to being a cheerleader, her tasks will include securing tables at the post-game drinking destination and collecting money for post-game food. She will also complete other logistical tasks as needed.

Spring Training Extended

A call has come from the league office! Here's the deal: there are currently two nights scheduled for our division (the very competitive Coed D-league...and, no, there is no E league) and those nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are currently signed up for Tuesdays, but they are extending the registration deadline to see if a few more teams will sign up. If more teams do not sign up then the Tuesday and Thursday leagues will be combined into one night - I would assume Tuesday or Thursday.

Either way, games should start the week of April 9th. So we have some time to prepare our skills (e.g. hitting, catching, drinking). Keep checking back for info on a practice/bbq. It'll be fun. Trust me.