EIGHT MEN OUT FOR KEYSTONE CANNONS
Connecticut Implodes Rather Than Explodes In Playoffs; Set Sites On ’08 Season
Newington, CT (AP)—The Keystone Cops were an insanely incompetent group of policemen who graced the silver screen between 1912 and 1917 in Mack Sennett’s slapstick series of films. The term has since come to be used to criticize any group for its mistakes, particularly if the miscues occur with a great sense of regularity and/or in an activity where excessive amounts of energy are expended, eventually for naught. Saturday’s opening round of the 2007 CNMSBL playoffs saw the Connecticut Cannons stumble and bumble their way to an early exit in the A Division’s second season at Sacco Stadium at Alumni Field in Newington. Less than a week ago, Connecticut played its best baseball of the campaign sweeping the regular season finale against the Eastern Connecticut Cubs while earning the label of championship “contender.” Today the 2007 season has come to a quick close with a faint fizzle rather than a ballyhooed bang and “pretender” seems a more apropos assessment of this season’s Cannons: foiled again, folks. Expectations were high for this team—the franchise felt from the beginning that it was time to “Kick ‘A’ and Take Names” after a successful playoff run in 2006—and despite on- and off-field upgrades including a trio of preseason signings that unquestionably made them better the bite of the injury bug, especially to the pitching staff, showed the Cannons have yet to make the leap to elite status in the league. Questions persist in most facets of the game and Connecticut must address these issues if they plan to compete for the 2008 title (and obviously they do). It has been said that August games are often won in the off-season so it’s time to get cracking, Cannon Nation, and close the gap between nearly-was and almost-ran to perennial powerhouse. If you’re not getting better then you’re getting worse and things don’t get much worse than they did on Saturday.
Game One’s match-up with the second-seeded Hartford Nationals (13-5 regular season) pitted veteran pitcher Mike Patenaude against hard-throwing Pete Erlich, the New Jersey native and late addition to the Nats rotation and playoff roster. Patenaude was staked to an early lead as Hartford’s right-hander encountered control issues from the onset (when discussing the power pitcher’s potential John Mancini postulated: “Well, so far his best pitch is a ball so it’s hard to say.”). Jason Maule led off the game with a base on balls but was erased on Steve Markie’s fielder’s choice. Leo Dionicio and Tom Luby followed with singles to load the bases and Drew McDowell worked a walk to move Markie home with the first Cannons run and the first postseason RBI of his career. However, Connecticut would fail to do further damage as Mark Lynch and Mike Calabrese were handled by Erlich and Hartford came to the plate in the home half of the first breathing a collective sigh of relief to be down just one. Spotty defense—damaging dropped balls, myriad misplays and awful overthrows—marred the first frame for the Cannons as Patenaude was dinked and dunked for three runs on two walks, three hits and three errors as the Nationals made the most of their multiple opportunities. Offensively things became even more botched and blundered in the second for the Cannons. Connecticut initially showed signs of bouncing back as Chris Barsa singled to start the frame (Calabrese entered as a pinch runner), Mike McGann fought pitches off for a free pass and Jason “Truth” Maule (as The Police sing on their Outlandos d’Amour tune: “Truth” hits everybody) stroked a sharp base hit to center. This ball was hit so hard—reaching Juan Rosado almost immediately on a single hop—that Manager Matt Celio was forced to hold Cal at third. McGann, motoring all the way, never noticed that the lead runner had halted and after a ridiculously orchestrated run-down the Cannons, rather than having a bases loaded situation with no outs, found themselves instead with two down and Maule soberly standing on second. Markie grounded out to end the inning extinguishing the proverbial fire that had sparked the Cannons’ fuse in the early going and the team was unable to recover. Patenaude (2 IP, 7 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 BB) surrendered four runs on a walk and four consecutive hits (a double, three singles) in the second and was removed at the end of the inning in favor of Calabrese, the shortest start of the left-hander’s seven-year Cannon career. Cal (4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 K, 4 BB), pitching for the first time since his July 22 loss to John Skinner and the Glastonbury Marlins, was lights out limiting the heavy-hitting Hartford line-up to just two hits over the final five frames. Connecticut rallied for three runs in the fifth as Kevin Quinn singled, Lynch and Calabrese were issued walks and Barsa torched a two-run single as the hustling Cannons’ catcher beat out a bang-bang play at the plate. McGann worked another walk, the twelfth of his post-season career moving him into sole possession of second place on the team’s all-time list ahead of Ed Poland (11) and behind Andy Borst (14), and Maule hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field scoring Cal. Unfortunately the Cannons last two chances amounted to nothing as Erlich, despite nine walks over the first five frames, retired the sides in order over the final two innings for a 7-4 Hartford win (the Nats dropped a 5-4 thriller to the Fish in the afternoon game but both advanced to next weekend’s action with the winner facing the Cubbies for the CNMSBL crown). “We knew we were playing a solid ball club today in the Nationals,” said Celio between games. “But we’re most disappointed that we didn’t give them our best out there today. Running ourselves out of innings, miscues on plays that we make easily during the regular season while at the same time failing to get the shutdown performance we needed from MP (0-1) all contributed to a loss. We gift-wrapped this game for a good team and they’ve got the talent to exploit an advantage every time. We never gave up and guys were giving it their all but it was obvious to all observers that Hartford didn’t beat us as much as we beat ourselves. It’s going to sting a bit but we’ve got a chance to bounce back in the afternoon session by playing better baseball.”
Word arrived that the third-seeded Marlborough Athletics (11-7 regular season) would be Connecticut’s afternoon opponent and members of management were informed that the A’s would only be able to field a team of eight in this loser’s bracket battle. The Cannons, especially the pitchers, considered a forfeit but the Holy Trinity of Dionicio, Luby and Maule along with others decided to do the honorable thing by playing for the right to move forward (when Dionicio offered A’s Manager Paul Sciano the already-absent Barsa to fill out his roster Sciano jokingly jested: “We’ll take the forfeit instead.”). Game Two witnessed Calabrese’s return to the mound—easily his best pitching performances of the season as he posted a 2.00 ERA in seven strong innings of work, a dramatic drop from his 8.05 ERA during the regular season—for his fourth playoff start and third in the A Division and the Cannons offense was able to provide Cal with a one-run first-inning cushion. Maule mashed a single, stole second and moved to third on Quinn’s ground out to the right side. Dionicio hit a fly ball to left that somehow was secured by Keith Echevarria but still scored the Cannons’ speedy centerfielder for the early advantage. Calabrese was in command in the beginning, baffling Marlborough’s line-up over the first two innings and Connecticut’s batters were able to add to the lead in the third as Maule walked, stole second and scored on Quinn’s double off of the left field wall (Dionicio, lacking his usual hustle, grounded into a double play to end the inning as Quinn tried to take third on a grounder to the left side). With an automatic out built into the bottom of the order, the Athletics were aggressive at the plate in the third managing to put together a three-run two-out rally on a walk, a double, an error and two singles in what would be the final frame for a gassed Calabrese (3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 K, 1 BB). The Cannons came back to take the lead in the top of the fourth as the ball began to fall in against an undermanned A’s outfield. Luby led off with a single (Dionicio was inserted as a pinch runner) and McDowell was able to double the “Dominican Dreamboat” home to tie the score at three. Celio followed with a fast-dropping double to left that moved “Drew Diesel” home with the go-ahead run (and Dionicio was once again put in as a pinch runner). Cal grounded to third for the first out of the inning but Dionicio moved up ninety feet on the play. Craig “Water” Perrier hit a ball sharply to Guido “Whacka” Moleti at second who instead of taking the easy out at first fired a laser to third catching Dionicio in a rundown for the second out and a stop to the scoring threat as McGann grounded to short to end things. Kevin Quinn (2 IP, 0R, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP) entered with a tenuous one-run advantage but was able to battle out of jams in back-to-back innings courtesy of some tough-nosed tosses and solid defense from McGann—diving around the infield like a later day Louganis—Maule and Lynch who cut down Echevarria at the plate to maintain the one run margin. Patenaude pitched the sixth, allowing Derek Bell to cross with the tying tally as four straight runners reached on two walks and two singles following the free out yet fate once again seemed to favor the Cannons in the playoffs with the help of the ’07 recruiting class. Perrier pounded a ball down the vacated left field line and coasted into second with his first postseason knock and the start of a seventh-inning rally. Maule doubled home the fifth Connecticut run on his fifth hit of the day and Quinn provided some insurance as he singled home Maule for a two-run advantage with an automatic out built into the Marlborough line-up in the home half of the final frame. Patenaude (1.1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB) allowed an infield single to the seventh batter Coleman Gary and a throwing error by Cal at short moved the runner into scoring position. Paddy Laughlin followed with an RBI single that put the tying run on the base paths for the A’s but with the ninth batter approaching the plate the Cannons invoked the automatic out rule against Garret Anderson. As was the case all day—Marlborough scored all of their runs in innings with the Anderson built-in out—Bell was able to single moving the lead runner into scoring position. Jimmy Mack muscled a Patenaude (0-2) pitch to the gap in right centerfield with both runners on the move and Marlborough miraculously staved off elimination with just eight players, snatching a game back from the jaws of defeat to take a 7-6 victory over the Cannons, advancing into the second round of postseason play on Sunday while avenging last season’s playoff loss against Connecticut. “You’ve got to hand it to [the Athletics],” stated a subdued Celio after the loss. “They did what they needed to in order to win the game. Six runs should have been enough for us but their pitchers threw well when they had to, the two outfielders made some solid if not spectacular plays and they hung in and rallied against the guy who has been the rock of our rotation this season. You just tip your cap and try to turn the team’s attention to the 2008 season. We’ll be back and better than ever next year, mark my words.”
On Saturday the Connecticut Cannons at times resembled the bumbling black-and-white Bobbies of the baseball world. Pitching pratfalls, batting blunders, running ramblings and fielding fiascos all played a part in the team’s early exit from postseason play. Still, the Cannons were competitive in both ball games and one has to wonder where Connecticut might have finished if they played their best baseball this weekend? The 2007 season has come to a crashing halt for the citizens of Cannon Nation but hope springs eternal and the sunny Sundays of 2008 are not that far away. Will management tender the needed transactions to take Connecticut to the CNMSBL A Division championship or are there enough pieces in place already to take the title? The core of Cannons Baseball remains intact and expectations will once again soar to stratospheric levels next season. The goal, as always, remains the same: bring a title to Newington. The ’08 champ will not be crowned until next August more than a year from now but the title will be won starting today. Connecticut's sites are set so be a part of it as the Cannons reload and reach new heights in the upcoming campaign. Despite the outcome it goes without saying that today, tomorrow and always CANNONS FOREVER!
Cannons News and Notes: Maule was five-for-five on the day becoming the first Cannon to bat 1.000 in the playoffs since Steve Markie in 2004…in two seasons with the Cannons the star centerfielder is a mind-boggling sixteen-for-twenty-one (.762) in postseason play; Luby’s seventy-nine at-bats, thirty-three hits, ten doubles, five homers, twenty runs and thirty-two RBI are all playoff tops on the team; Lynch, McDowell, Perrier and Quinn all saw the first playoff action of their careers…all four scored runs; Barsa, McDowell, Maule and Quinn had two RBI apiece on Saturday; Perrier’s Game Two seventh inning double was the 250th hit for the Cannons in the postseason; the Cannons hit .302 as a team in the ’07 playoffs, up from a regular season average of .274…Hartford and Marlborough hit a combined .418 (twenty-three-for-fifty-five) against Cannons’ pitching; Quinn pitched seven innings for the Cannons after his August call-up allowing just one unearned run; twelve of the sixteen players eligible to cast votes for the 2007 Cannons Awards did so before the 11:59 p.m. deadline on Friday, August 10…winners of the fourteen regular and postseason awards will be announced at Weber’s End-of Year Extravaganza and J-Ocktoberfest (scheduled for Saturday, October 6 beginning at 6:00 p.m.); Celio “shaved the Youk,” his Civil War-era beard, on Sunday; no rest for the weary: Celio, McGann and Perrier reaped rewards from a recruiting trip to Holyoke, MA, signing thirty-two year old right-hander “Nice Guy” Teddy Prajzner whom they watched countless hours of video on (a side stop was made at the world famous Mardi Gras strip club where McGann, in his Mike’s Hard Lemonade promotional giveaway cap, was called “the sexiest f***er in the place” by exotic dancer Rebecca…Celio paid for his private dance…Perrier received a lap dance from Autumn though she explained unnecessarily over chilled Jägermeister shots that this is not her Christian name); Celio, McGann and Weber will continue to rework the roster this week at Newington’s Mill Pond as they attempt to pen soon-to-be twenty-eight year old pitching prospect Matt Guida from West Hartford; women truly weaken legs: McGann spent his hour and forty minute break between games banging Fan of the Year nominee Sarah Akhtar, going hitless (though turning in some highlight-reel defense at second) before being lifted in favor of Patenaude.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
BIG GAME HUNTERS
Cannons Kill Cubs, Set Sites on CNMSBL Championship
Manchester, CT (AP)—Hunting is the practice of tracking animals for products—food, fur, etc.—or simple recreation. Conversely, big-game hunting is the sport of trophy hunting for large and often dangerous beasts involving the heightened excitement of a kill or be killed atmosphere. Hunters of all ilks persistently bait, drive, stalk, track or trap their prey until eventually only one is left standing, winning in the basest form of the word. On Sunday, the proverbial hunters became the hunted as the Eastern Connecticut Cubs (11-7) hungrily welcomed the Connecticut Cannons (4-14) to their den at Mt. Nebo Field in Manchester in the regular-season finale of the 2007 campaign. Expecting easy pickings and a pair of Ws, the Baby Bears instead found themselves staring straight down the barrel of a fully armed and dangerous Cannons team and, before the day was complete, were subsequently nagged, scragged, tagged and bagged in a pair of losses, a 3-2 thriller and an 8-3 laugher. As August enters its second weekend, the Connecticut Cannons will engage in a different sort of trophy hunting: the all-important, all-consuming task of taking their first CNMSBL A Division title. The road will be fraught with danger but this team resoundingly showed that it is more than up to the challenge. Tally-ho, Cannon Nation!
Game One featured a match-up of the league’s old and new—with red beating blue—as Connecticut’s cagey veteran Mike Patenaude squared of against Eastern Connecticut’s Eddie Murphy. The Cannons’ elder statesman surrendered a first-inning run on a Leif Ericson walk and a Brooks Dunne single as Leo Dionicio’s throw to first on a ball hit to the hole with a clear-cut force at second extended the inning for the Cubs (in classic Dionicio fashion after the third out the “Dominican Destroyer” entered the visiting dugout and promised Patenaude, “I owe you one,” prompting Manager Matt Celio to recall the numerous instances that this very pledge has been made saying, “You maxed out that line of credit so long ago that your nickname should be Visa.”). Patenaude resoundingly responded, holding Eastern Connecticut scoreless over the next four frames while allowing just three runners to reach safely on two singles and a double. Murphy was equally as effective scattering five hits through the first five innings before being touched for the tying run in the top of the sixth on singles by Dionicio and Tom Luby, a base on balls to free agent acquisition Kevin Quinn and a two-out bases loaded walk to Mike Weber. The Cubs came back in the home half of the sixth as lead-off batter Mike Kakalow walked, stole second and scored on Paul Verboven’s double before Patenaude (7 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP) struck out Erle Stanley Gardner and Dunne flied to Jason Maule in center, one of six put-outs for the Cannons’ speedy Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Connecticut, no strangers to late-inning letdowns, found themselves on the right side of a rally as Craig “Water” Perrier and Drew “Louisiana Lightnin’” McDowell singled with one out and Mike “Big Mac” McGann worked a two out walk to load the bases for Dionicio. The “Hitter From Hispaniola” balanced the books and came through in the clutch with a two-run single that gave the Cannons a 3-2 advantage (McGann was eventually tagged out in a rundown as he attempted to score on Dionicio’s advance to second). Patenaude (3-7) ran into some difficulty in the bottom of the seventh as Royce Bentley singled to start the inning. An amazing stop by Luby on a hot shot to third gave the Cannons’ hurler a much-needed out but the tying run moved into scoring position with only one away. At 0-2 Patenaude plunked an overpowered Stavros Mikos before another fly out to Maule in center brought the tenth batter Rouge Moulin to the plate. An error by Dionicio on a ground ball to short loaded the bases with the hard-hitting Kakalow approaching the plate. Pitcher and shortstop exchanged words and the “Gringo From Santo Domingo” exhorted the left-hander to direct his anger toward short: “Get mad at ME!” Dionicio demanded in an attempt to pump his pitcher up. When his son Bryan was asked if he was loud like his Dad on the diamond, the younger Dionicio replied, “No. I don’t say stupid things like he does.” On his one hundredth pitch of the contest Patenaude popped the Cubbies’ Manager to center to secure a hard-fought, well-played, one-run victory. Designated hitter Chris Barsa was impressed with the team’s performance: “Mike has been throwing the ball well over the second half of the season and today was another example of why we will be tough to beat in an elimination game. Defensively we were solid and offensively we are starting to hit better top to bottom.” When Barsa was asked about Dionicio’s big hit, his longtime teammate quipped, “I was less surprised that Leo got a hit in that situation than I was with the fact that a Latino actually paid a bill in a timely fashion.” Laughs and a light-hearted milieu marked this Cannons clubhouse, an energy that has been lacking in large quantities since last August seemed to reinvigorate the team carrying over into the final regular-season contest.
Game Two saw the Cannons jump out to an early three-run lead courtesy of the Holy Trinity’s “Son” and “Father Almighty,” Dionicio and Luby. McGann reached when he was hit in the right bicep by a Kakalow fastball—though bruised and battered, he is listed as day to day—and moved to second on a passed ball. Dionicio, in search of his first batting title with Connecticut, smoked a double that moved McGann around to score with the first run of the game. Luby followed with a towering two-run blast down the left-field line for his first home run of the season—the team-leading eleventh of his colorful career—and a 3-0 Cannons lead. Patenaude (2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 1 HBP), starting for the tenth time in the team’s final twelve games, relinquished two runs to the Cubs on a Kakalow single, an Ericson RBI double and a Dunne run-scoring single to pull the home team back within one but the Cannons offense was far from done for the day. In the second, Mark “Keyser Soze” Lynch singled and Barsa walked before Maule and McGann stroked singles that plated the pair. In the third, Luby doubled deep to the corner in left, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a Perrier ground out to the right side to put Connecticut comfortably ahead 6-2. The home half of the third inning saw the much-anticipated mound debut of Quinn, the highly-touted pitching prospect out of Central Connecticut State University (expected to be a big part of the ’07 recruiting class along with McDowell and Perrier, the right-hander battled through some early season arm problems before his call-up to the club on Sunday). “K-Dog” as he is affectionately known baffled the Bears with his quirky motion, allowing an unearned run to cross in the third before silencing Eastern Connecticut’s sticks almost entirely. The Cannons were able to add a pair of runs in the sixth on a two-out Weber single and a bomb by Jason “Holy Spirit” Maule to deep to right field to give the righty a five-run cushion. Quinn (5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 5 BB) didn’t disappoint as he used solid play from his defense—a pair of double plays started by Luby at third and some strong snags by Barsa in left after he replaced an injured Patenaude—to secure his first victory in a Cannons uniform. Quinn (1-0) was quoted after the game: “It’s been awhile since I’ve been on the bump. I didn’t have my best stuff out there and I was short-arming a lot of my off-speed stuff. It felt great to be playing ball at a high level again, especially to be part of two wins which I know are the signal to the start of a memorable August. It was all that I expected and more and I really enjoyed playing with these guys. I wish I could be a part of the Championship run this season but I’ll definitely be back in 2008.” As the rookie right-hander expressed, there is still much to be done in 2007’s eighth month before the Cannons turn their attention to next season as the playoffs loom largely ahead.
August has arrived and on a weekend marked by major historical moments on the diamond—Barry Bonds tying Hank Aaron atop the career home run list with 755, Alex Rodriguez becoming the youngest player to reach the 500 homer plateau and Tom Glavine pitching his way into the exclusive 300 win club—every eye in the baseball world was focused on miniscule Manchester, the Connecticut Cannons and their upcoming quest for immortality. Does this team have the firepower to compete for and ultimately capture the CNMSBL Championship in 2007? If Sunday was any indication, then the answer is a resounding YES! An opening round match-up against the second-seeded Hartford Nationals (13-5) this Saturday (10:00 a.m.) at Sacco Stadium at Alumni Field—a.k.a. Newington High School—marks the beginning of what should be an epic journey on the path to greatness. Limited tickets for the first and second games on what sports fans call the CNMSBL’s Super Saturday are available at 1 800 CANNONS or on-line at ctcannons.blogspot.com. Connecticut, bored with conventional prey like the antagonist in Richard Connell’s classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” has come to see Hartford as the only quarry—the most dangerous prey—worthy of their skills. Pick up your balls and load up your Cannons for a twenty-one gun salute, AC/DC fans. Ready! AIM! FIRE! Let the hunt for RED August begin.
Cannons News and Notes: With six hits on Sunday, Dionicio (.484) became the team’s first minority member to win a batting title—including the Cannons’ one hundred fiftieth and final hit of the regular season—a feat on par with Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the Major League color barrier sixty years ago…Dionicio on Sunday stated: “I hate white people. The members of Los Fraternity Blanquitos—Lambda Lambda Lambda—are always trying to keep me down. But white woman are freaks!;” Luby and Maule tied for the team lead with twenty-two hits each; Maule led the team in seven other offensive categories as well: at-bats (56), doubles (8), home runs (2), runs (20), RBI (15), slugging percentage (.643) and on-base + slugging percentage (1.120); Luby is the Cannons’ lifetime leader with eighty-one RBI; Celio, Dionicio, Luby, Steve Markie and Maule all finished the season with batting averages above .300; Celio is the Cannons’ all-time leader in hits (119), doubles (26), walks (39…tied with Andy Borst) and runs (71); with a base-on-balls and a hit-by-pitch, McGann took over the team lead with ten free passes in 2007, surpassing Maule and McDowell (9 each); Mike Calabrese did not strike out in his twenty-six at-bats this season…Maule struck out only once in his fifty-six at-bats…in the first inning of the first game on the road at Bristol and has only struck out three times in two full seasons (ninety-seven at-bats); with a batting average of .418, Ed Poland still holds the all-time team mark despite missing much of the season with a knee injury; Weber (325) and Celio (308) are the only Cannons with more than three hundred at-bats (Luby has 297) accounting for nearly seventeen percent of the team’s seven-season total; Quinn became the first Cannons rookie to win his first start since Calabrese in ’05…he allowed just one hit in fourteen at-bats for a batting average against of .071; Patenaude pitched in twelve games this season and had three of the team’s six wins; McDowell appeared in all twenty games for the Cannons (starting nineteen), the only player to do so this year; when recalling last season’s games at Mt. Nebo, Maule mentioned: “It was like two or three years ago that Cal hit [Bill] Lageman with a pitch to force in the game winner. Oh wait, I’ve only played on the Cannons for two seasons…it seems more like ten;” the Cannons averaged 3.95 runs per contest while allowing 7.1; the team belted 7.5 hits each game while surrendering 9.7; with six victories the Cannons posted their top win total in A Division play; Patenaude, after three full seasons playing alongside Barsa, still refers to the veteran as “Bozrah,” a small town in Connecticut; Italian-Fest ’07 was held on Friday evening at Cannons World Headquarters in West Hartford and was attended by twelve current and former players (eight arrived on Sunday for some post-game carbo-loading)…the team has never lost on a Sunday following this annual event though this marked the first time the Cannons have swept a double header after the gathering; Perrier claimed Celio was “throwing down pasta like a mob boss” at Italian-Fest; at the party, Celio discovered from Kathy Patenaude that she has to “blow [Mike] every Sunday after games” to which the pitcher responded “it costs me more and more money each week;” after Patenaude’s muscle pull in the fifth inning of Game Two, it was announced that although he will be fine to pitch there would be no more hitting or running for him this season…Celio called this “the perfect injury;” MP earned rave reviews from the team for his two new styles of leading: 1) the arm-out Zoolander; and 2) the arms-on-hips Captain Morgan; while watching Gladiator at World Headquarters on Saturday evening, McGann informed management that he “like[s] Russell Crowe…he dated Meg Ryan;” McGann also announced that it is difficult to keep his private life under wraps because of the close personal relationship between Perrier and girlfriend Sarah “Splinter Cell” Akhtar; Perrier, after a one-for-six performance on Sunday, has scheduled an eye examination for 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday in Springfield…new contacts are expected to arrive within forty-eight hours just in time for the playoffs; Luby sipped a Sam Adams Light between games, saying that John Mancini’s newly-formed affiliation with Budweiser forced a change; polls for the 2007 Cannons Awards are currently open—three full ballots have already been cast—and will remain so until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 10.
Cannons Kill Cubs, Set Sites on CNMSBL Championship
Manchester, CT (AP)—Hunting is the practice of tracking animals for products—food, fur, etc.—or simple recreation. Conversely, big-game hunting is the sport of trophy hunting for large and often dangerous beasts involving the heightened excitement of a kill or be killed atmosphere. Hunters of all ilks persistently bait, drive, stalk, track or trap their prey until eventually only one is left standing, winning in the basest form of the word. On Sunday, the proverbial hunters became the hunted as the Eastern Connecticut Cubs (11-7) hungrily welcomed the Connecticut Cannons (4-14) to their den at Mt. Nebo Field in Manchester in the regular-season finale of the 2007 campaign. Expecting easy pickings and a pair of Ws, the Baby Bears instead found themselves staring straight down the barrel of a fully armed and dangerous Cannons team and, before the day was complete, were subsequently nagged, scragged, tagged and bagged in a pair of losses, a 3-2 thriller and an 8-3 laugher. As August enters its second weekend, the Connecticut Cannons will engage in a different sort of trophy hunting: the all-important, all-consuming task of taking their first CNMSBL A Division title. The road will be fraught with danger but this team resoundingly showed that it is more than up to the challenge. Tally-ho, Cannon Nation!
Game One featured a match-up of the league’s old and new—with red beating blue—as Connecticut’s cagey veteran Mike Patenaude squared of against Eastern Connecticut’s Eddie Murphy. The Cannons’ elder statesman surrendered a first-inning run on a Leif Ericson walk and a Brooks Dunne single as Leo Dionicio’s throw to first on a ball hit to the hole with a clear-cut force at second extended the inning for the Cubs (in classic Dionicio fashion after the third out the “Dominican Destroyer” entered the visiting dugout and promised Patenaude, “I owe you one,” prompting Manager Matt Celio to recall the numerous instances that this very pledge has been made saying, “You maxed out that line of credit so long ago that your nickname should be Visa.”). Patenaude resoundingly responded, holding Eastern Connecticut scoreless over the next four frames while allowing just three runners to reach safely on two singles and a double. Murphy was equally as effective scattering five hits through the first five innings before being touched for the tying run in the top of the sixth on singles by Dionicio and Tom Luby, a base on balls to free agent acquisition Kevin Quinn and a two-out bases loaded walk to Mike Weber. The Cubs came back in the home half of the sixth as lead-off batter Mike Kakalow walked, stole second and scored on Paul Verboven’s double before Patenaude (7 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP) struck out Erle Stanley Gardner and Dunne flied to Jason Maule in center, one of six put-outs for the Cannons’ speedy Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Connecticut, no strangers to late-inning letdowns, found themselves on the right side of a rally as Craig “Water” Perrier and Drew “Louisiana Lightnin’” McDowell singled with one out and Mike “Big Mac” McGann worked a two out walk to load the bases for Dionicio. The “Hitter From Hispaniola” balanced the books and came through in the clutch with a two-run single that gave the Cannons a 3-2 advantage (McGann was eventually tagged out in a rundown as he attempted to score on Dionicio’s advance to second). Patenaude (3-7) ran into some difficulty in the bottom of the seventh as Royce Bentley singled to start the inning. An amazing stop by Luby on a hot shot to third gave the Cannons’ hurler a much-needed out but the tying run moved into scoring position with only one away. At 0-2 Patenaude plunked an overpowered Stavros Mikos before another fly out to Maule in center brought the tenth batter Rouge Moulin to the plate. An error by Dionicio on a ground ball to short loaded the bases with the hard-hitting Kakalow approaching the plate. Pitcher and shortstop exchanged words and the “Gringo From Santo Domingo” exhorted the left-hander to direct his anger toward short: “Get mad at ME!” Dionicio demanded in an attempt to pump his pitcher up. When his son Bryan was asked if he was loud like his Dad on the diamond, the younger Dionicio replied, “No. I don’t say stupid things like he does.” On his one hundredth pitch of the contest Patenaude popped the Cubbies’ Manager to center to secure a hard-fought, well-played, one-run victory. Designated hitter Chris Barsa was impressed with the team’s performance: “Mike has been throwing the ball well over the second half of the season and today was another example of why we will be tough to beat in an elimination game. Defensively we were solid and offensively we are starting to hit better top to bottom.” When Barsa was asked about Dionicio’s big hit, his longtime teammate quipped, “I was less surprised that Leo got a hit in that situation than I was with the fact that a Latino actually paid a bill in a timely fashion.” Laughs and a light-hearted milieu marked this Cannons clubhouse, an energy that has been lacking in large quantities since last August seemed to reinvigorate the team carrying over into the final regular-season contest.
Game Two saw the Cannons jump out to an early three-run lead courtesy of the Holy Trinity’s “Son” and “Father Almighty,” Dionicio and Luby. McGann reached when he was hit in the right bicep by a Kakalow fastball—though bruised and battered, he is listed as day to day—and moved to second on a passed ball. Dionicio, in search of his first batting title with Connecticut, smoked a double that moved McGann around to score with the first run of the game. Luby followed with a towering two-run blast down the left-field line for his first home run of the season—the team-leading eleventh of his colorful career—and a 3-0 Cannons lead. Patenaude (2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 1 HBP), starting for the tenth time in the team’s final twelve games, relinquished two runs to the Cubs on a Kakalow single, an Ericson RBI double and a Dunne run-scoring single to pull the home team back within one but the Cannons offense was far from done for the day. In the second, Mark “Keyser Soze” Lynch singled and Barsa walked before Maule and McGann stroked singles that plated the pair. In the third, Luby doubled deep to the corner in left, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a Perrier ground out to the right side to put Connecticut comfortably ahead 6-2. The home half of the third inning saw the much-anticipated mound debut of Quinn, the highly-touted pitching prospect out of Central Connecticut State University (expected to be a big part of the ’07 recruiting class along with McDowell and Perrier, the right-hander battled through some early season arm problems before his call-up to the club on Sunday). “K-Dog” as he is affectionately known baffled the Bears with his quirky motion, allowing an unearned run to cross in the third before silencing Eastern Connecticut’s sticks almost entirely. The Cannons were able to add a pair of runs in the sixth on a two-out Weber single and a bomb by Jason “Holy Spirit” Maule to deep to right field to give the righty a five-run cushion. Quinn (5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 5 BB) didn’t disappoint as he used solid play from his defense—a pair of double plays started by Luby at third and some strong snags by Barsa in left after he replaced an injured Patenaude—to secure his first victory in a Cannons uniform. Quinn (1-0) was quoted after the game: “It’s been awhile since I’ve been on the bump. I didn’t have my best stuff out there and I was short-arming a lot of my off-speed stuff. It felt great to be playing ball at a high level again, especially to be part of two wins which I know are the signal to the start of a memorable August. It was all that I expected and more and I really enjoyed playing with these guys. I wish I could be a part of the Championship run this season but I’ll definitely be back in 2008.” As the rookie right-hander expressed, there is still much to be done in 2007’s eighth month before the Cannons turn their attention to next season as the playoffs loom largely ahead.
August has arrived and on a weekend marked by major historical moments on the diamond—Barry Bonds tying Hank Aaron atop the career home run list with 755, Alex Rodriguez becoming the youngest player to reach the 500 homer plateau and Tom Glavine pitching his way into the exclusive 300 win club—every eye in the baseball world was focused on miniscule Manchester, the Connecticut Cannons and their upcoming quest for immortality. Does this team have the firepower to compete for and ultimately capture the CNMSBL Championship in 2007? If Sunday was any indication, then the answer is a resounding YES! An opening round match-up against the second-seeded Hartford Nationals (13-5) this Saturday (10:00 a.m.) at Sacco Stadium at Alumni Field—a.k.a. Newington High School—marks the beginning of what should be an epic journey on the path to greatness. Limited tickets for the first and second games on what sports fans call the CNMSBL’s Super Saturday are available at 1 800 CANNONS or on-line at ctcannons.blogspot.com. Connecticut, bored with conventional prey like the antagonist in Richard Connell’s classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” has come to see Hartford as the only quarry—the most dangerous prey—worthy of their skills. Pick up your balls and load up your Cannons for a twenty-one gun salute, AC/DC fans. Ready! AIM! FIRE! Let the hunt for RED August begin.
Cannons News and Notes: With six hits on Sunday, Dionicio (.484) became the team’s first minority member to win a batting title—including the Cannons’ one hundred fiftieth and final hit of the regular season—a feat on par with Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the Major League color barrier sixty years ago…Dionicio on Sunday stated: “I hate white people. The members of Los Fraternity Blanquitos—Lambda Lambda Lambda—are always trying to keep me down. But white woman are freaks!;” Luby and Maule tied for the team lead with twenty-two hits each; Maule led the team in seven other offensive categories as well: at-bats (56), doubles (8), home runs (2), runs (20), RBI (15), slugging percentage (.643) and on-base + slugging percentage (1.120); Luby is the Cannons’ lifetime leader with eighty-one RBI; Celio, Dionicio, Luby, Steve Markie and Maule all finished the season with batting averages above .300; Celio is the Cannons’ all-time leader in hits (119), doubles (26), walks (39…tied with Andy Borst) and runs (71); with a base-on-balls and a hit-by-pitch, McGann took over the team lead with ten free passes in 2007, surpassing Maule and McDowell (9 each); Mike Calabrese did not strike out in his twenty-six at-bats this season…Maule struck out only once in his fifty-six at-bats…in the first inning of the first game on the road at Bristol and has only struck out three times in two full seasons (ninety-seven at-bats); with a batting average of .418, Ed Poland still holds the all-time team mark despite missing much of the season with a knee injury; Weber (325) and Celio (308) are the only Cannons with more than three hundred at-bats (Luby has 297) accounting for nearly seventeen percent of the team’s seven-season total; Quinn became the first Cannons rookie to win his first start since Calabrese in ’05…he allowed just one hit in fourteen at-bats for a batting average against of .071; Patenaude pitched in twelve games this season and had three of the team’s six wins; McDowell appeared in all twenty games for the Cannons (starting nineteen), the only player to do so this year; when recalling last season’s games at Mt. Nebo, Maule mentioned: “It was like two or three years ago that Cal hit [Bill] Lageman with a pitch to force in the game winner. Oh wait, I’ve only played on the Cannons for two seasons…it seems more like ten;” the Cannons averaged 3.95 runs per contest while allowing 7.1; the team belted 7.5 hits each game while surrendering 9.7; with six victories the Cannons posted their top win total in A Division play; Patenaude, after three full seasons playing alongside Barsa, still refers to the veteran as “Bozrah,” a small town in Connecticut; Italian-Fest ’07 was held on Friday evening at Cannons World Headquarters in West Hartford and was attended by twelve current and former players (eight arrived on Sunday for some post-game carbo-loading)…the team has never lost on a Sunday following this annual event though this marked the first time the Cannons have swept a double header after the gathering; Perrier claimed Celio was “throwing down pasta like a mob boss” at Italian-Fest; at the party, Celio discovered from Kathy Patenaude that she has to “blow [Mike] every Sunday after games” to which the pitcher responded “it costs me more and more money each week;” after Patenaude’s muscle pull in the fifth inning of Game Two, it was announced that although he will be fine to pitch there would be no more hitting or running for him this season…Celio called this “the perfect injury;” MP earned rave reviews from the team for his two new styles of leading: 1) the arm-out Zoolander; and 2) the arms-on-hips Captain Morgan; while watching Gladiator at World Headquarters on Saturday evening, McGann informed management that he “like[s] Russell Crowe…he dated Meg Ryan;” McGann also announced that it is difficult to keep his private life under wraps because of the close personal relationship between Perrier and girlfriend Sarah “Splinter Cell” Akhtar; Perrier, after a one-for-six performance on Sunday, has scheduled an eye examination for 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday in Springfield…new contacts are expected to arrive within forty-eight hours just in time for the playoffs; Luby sipped a Sam Adams Light between games, saying that John Mancini’s newly-formed affiliation with Budweiser forced a change; polls for the 2007 Cannons Awards are currently open—three full ballots have already been cast—and will remain so until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 10.
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