WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT’S BEEN
Cannons Split Season Series with Nats, Await Sunday’s Results for Playoff Pairings

West Hartford, CT (AP)—The traditional CNMSBL season opener falls on the final weekend of April as expectations in towns around the league are finally acted out on the field of play. In Newington the 2008 season began as soon as the Marlborough Athletics final run crossed the plate, knocking the Connecticut Cannons from championship contention on August 11, 2007 in walk-off fashion. Almost immediately members of management went to work to make sure that the ’08 Cannons would be more competitive, challenging for that elusive and much-sought-after A Division crown. Bringing back a core of capable players was the first step (thirteen of the Cannons ’07 roster invitees were locked up to long-term contracts heading into this season). Focusing on team-first free agents was the next step (Connecticut spent millions signing IF Bill Balcerzak, P/OF Tom Clark, P/IF Adam Pallone and P Jack Vanasse and brought back “Father of Cannons Baseball” Andy Borst in an incentive-laden deal as an insurance policy behind the plate). Finding a way to make all the pieces of the puzzle fit was the final step, one that proved to be more difficult in practice than on paper. Injuries played a part as unofficial team captain Tom Luby (back) missed the whole season and Mark Lynch (ankle/foot) played in only two games. “Commitment concerns,” a term coined by members of the media, then reared their ugly heads as Connecticut players averaged just 13.4 games apiece (not a single Cannon played in all twenty games on the season, an A Division first). Yet through it all the team was clearly improved, winning an A Division-best seven games (including four of its last seven) while not falling prey to the catastrophic and spirit-crushing losing streaks that have marred each of the past two campaigns (a five-game skid was the longest of the season and all but one of those games were winnable until the final out was recorded). August brings optimism and often incredible results for the Connecticut Cannons and the frenzied fan base known as Cannon Nation is counting on that being case again this season. Can a sixth- or seventh-seeded Cinderella slide on the glass slipper to secure its first championship since 2005? Leo Dionicio certainly thinks so: “Truth be told, we didn’t have the roster to win it all in 2007. One pitcher wasn’t going to be enough and though [Mike] Patenaude gave us everything he had, he couldn’t carry the load all by himself (the left-hander pitched back-to-back complete games on several Sundays down the stretch last season). With [Tom] Clark and Patenaude—each started eight games for the team in 2008—we now have two pitcher who can go out and shut down an opponent. The top-seeded teams are going to be overconfident against the Cannons in the early rounds. They think playing us will be easy and that is when the true anaconda is going to strike. I guarantee we are going to get to the top again this season. Championship or bust!”

After a half hour delay during which the Hartford Nationals field crew cleaned up after heavy downpours in the pre-dawn hours, game one saw the vastly improved Cannons offense (twenty-five runs in the last three wins) go to immediate work against hard-throwing right-hander Paul “Butterfly Effect” Ehrlich. Mike McGann, looking more comfortable with each passing game as the Cannons lead-off batter, belted a base hit to centerfield and was followed by back-to-back walks for Drew McDowell and Jason Maule. Tom Clark, Connecticut’s leading hitter, helped his own cause as he batted a ball back up the middle that shortstop Anthony “Night Breed” Cacavale could not come up with, scoring two and moving Maule into scoring position. The speedy centerfielder stole third and before the next pitch Clark took off for second. Ehrlich stepped off but threw wildly into the outfield pushing Maule across with the third run of the inning (Clark advanced to third on the miscue but was stranded ninety feet from the plate as Mike Weber struck out, Andy Borst lined to short and Chris “Wacky Iraqi” Barsa grounded out to a diving Jimmy Gonzalez at first: “Story of my season,” Barsa stated as he trotted off the diamond though his teammates seemed to recall different results in his at-bats. Weber responded, “The only part of the story that was the same was the ‘final chapter’ in which Barsa returns to the dugout without a hit.”). Clark was impressive in the early going, facing the minimum number of batters through the first two frames. In the third the Cannons were back at it offensively as McDowell walked with one out, got his now famous walking lead and took off for second (an overthrow allowed him to move to third). Maule hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score McDowell with the second out of the inning but the Cannons were not satisfied as the next three batters—Clark, Weber and Borst—took bases on balls and two scored as Barsa reached on an error at first (Borst would later come across as a pick-off throw sailed into the outfield). In the middle of the third the Cannons had a comfortable 7-0 advantage and it seemed the team would coast to victory. The Nats had other plans in mind and the bottom of the order eventually got to Clark in the home half of the third inning. T.R. “Texas Ranger” Walker led off with a hit and moved into scoring position on a grounder to the hole at first that Barsa played brilliantly into an out (as the grounder left the bat the fleet-footed first baseman was heard saying “Oh, s**t!” all the way in the third base dugout). Dakota Fanning was hit by a pitch and David DeJesus followed with a run-scoring single to put Hartford on the board (DeJesus was then picked off by the potent move of Clark, though the Nationals argued the Cannon pitcher had balked). Eleventh batter John “Issue Number One” McLaughlin had a base hit to score Fanning but Clark got Guy “Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven” Lombardo on a strike out to keep the cushion at five, 7-2. Connecticut was quiet until the sixth when they received another rally courtesy of one-out walks to Adam Pallone and Jack Vanasse and a two-out two-run double to the wall by “Bono” McGann. Lombardo responded with a solo home run to right off of Clark (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP) but the pitcher was able to make the lead stand up, scattering two hits over the final one and two-thirds innings, earning his first victory in Cannon crimson since May 18 against this same Nationals ball club. Though the Cannons only got three hits against Ehrlich it was fifteen well-earned walks, clutch hits, solid defense and Clark’s pitching that carried the day for Connecticut. “I’m glad we could get a win for Tommy,” Manager Matt Celio said briefly between games. “He’s had a lot of hard fought games that haven’t gone his way since mid-May so it feels good for the team and the pitcher to get this victory.”

Game two saw the Cannons take another early advantage as Dionicio dropped a double down the left field line and Barsa scored the “Gringo From Santo Domingo” with a single and a 1-0 Cannons lead (Dionicio, after being inactive for almost a month, claimed the need to “find [his] mojo” al la Austin Powers though he contradicted himself somewhat, saying “I don’t need many at-bats because I’m The Natural of this team.” He later added that it wouldn’t take long to get back in game shape: “I am a Dominican. The last time I checked I don’t have any Anglo-Saxon DNA in me.” Celio’s retort, “If there are any white girls or guys for that matter on the [University of Hartford] campus for summer classes they better be careful. It won’t take much more than a wayward glance to get some Dominican DNA inside them.”). The Nationals battled back to tie the game in the home half of the second as Cacavale singled off of Patenaude and scored on Will Farrell’s two-out bloop base hit into no man’s land. Connecticut added a run in the third as Pallone led off with triple and was plated on a McGann ground out up the middle to give the Cannons a one-run advantage, 2-1. The Nats took their first lead of the afternoon in the fourth as Gonzalez singled to start the frame. Pinch runner Basilio Ortiz moved to second on a pick-off throw that bounced off of Barsa’s glove and scored on a double by Jose Rosado (who advanced to third on a fly out to center). Patenaude uncorked a wild pitch into the netting behind the plate to allow the go-ahead run to cross the plate before picking Cacavale off after a walk and getting Walker on a ground out to third to the end the inning with Hartford on top by one. After loading the bases—Pallone singled, McGann doubled and Maule was intentionally walked—the Cannons got more two-out magic as Clark promised to make the Nationals pay for pitching to him. The clean-up hitter slammed a first-pitch fastball to left field scoring Pallone easily. Celio waved McGann around in an attempt to reclaim the lead but a strong throw from DeJesus reached the plate in the instant before McGann to end the threat, leaving Connecticut and Hartford deadlocked at three going into the bottom of the fifth. After only three pitches induced a Farrell come-backer and a diving stab to his right by McGann at short, it looked as if the Cannons were going to get a chance to break the tie in the top of the sixth. Then DeJesus doubled to right on a three and two pitch that Dionicio lost in the high sky and McLaughlin followed with a dink-and-dunk base hit to score the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run. In the bottom of the sixth, Tony Letizo laid a perfect bunt down the third base line that was overthrown at first (Dionicio hustled to back up the play holding Letizo to first but in an effort to get the ball back in quickly the second baseman lost his grip and sailed his throw across the artificial turf infield, moving the runner up ninety feet). Lombardo followed with a sacrifice bunt that was played into a single and a balk moved fifth run of the day across against Patenaude (6 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP). A double by Ortiz scored Lombardo and after a stolen base the former Orioles farmhand scored on a sacrifice fly to center to push the Nats lead to four, 7-3. Pallone was hit by a pitch to start the seventh but Weber (pinch hitting for a physically exhausted Mancini, the Hartford firefighter who had come off a double shift to attend the games) popped out to center, McGann followed with a fly ball to left and after a McDowell single Maule grounded to his good friend Lombardo to end the game. Celio’s post-game press conference was peppered with positives as the playoffs approach: “Over the past few weekends we showed the world what kind of team we can be when we are at or near full strength: good pitching, solid defense and clutch hits will undoubtedly follow. Solid contributions from everybody out there today—a few “cheapies” got Hartford game two—and that is what has made us successful in the past and will be the key to our immediate future. It hasn’t shown quite as much as we would like in the wins column but we have been playing with a high level of consistency in the second half of the season and that confidence has been the trademark of Cannons Baseball, especially at this time of year. I’m excited about our prospects in the upcoming playoffs. I know I wouldn’t want to face us in an elimination game.”

August is just a few short days away and with it the Connecticut North Men’s Senior Baseball League postseason tournament (Saturday and Sunday, August 9 and 10 and Saturday and Sunday, August 16 and 17…if necessary). Have the Connecticut Cannons assembled the necessary firepower to compete for and ultimately capture the CNMSBL Championship in 2008? The citizens of Cannon Nation and the other CNMSBL enclaves wait, watch and wonder with bated breath. To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, the 2008 season has been a long, strange trip, one that ain't over yet. It has been said that the journey to one’s final destination is half the fun. It goes without saying that the other half of the fun is what one does when arriving at one’s final destination. The Cannons have worked hard and had fun along the way but now is the time for the lit fuse to finally ignite the gunpowder, as the team explodes against any and all A Division foes faced in the ’08 postseason. Connecticut has plenty of firepower. Limited tickets for the first and second games on what sports fans call CNMSBL Super Saturday are available at 1 800 CANNONS or on-line at ctcannons.blogspot.com. Ready! AIM! FIRE! Let the hunt for RED August begin once again.

Cannons News and Notes: Connecticut finished 5-7 in conference and 2-5 outside the division this season; the Cannons offense finished with a .295 team batting average, twenty-one points better than the previous A Division-best of .274 at the end of the ’07 season; forty extra base hits is an team record since making the move to the upper level; with a three for five performance on Sunday, Clark won the batting crown (.444) beating out Maule (.419)…Clark also led the team in hits (20), doubles (5), walks (11) and on-base percentage (.554); Maule was the Cannons’ leader in runs batted in (11), slugging percentage (.698), on-base + slugging percentage (1.198) and fewest strike outs (2 in forty-three at-bats) while tying for the team lead in triples (1 with Dionicio, McGann and Pallone) and homers (2 with Balcerzak); McDowell was tops for Connecticut with 52 at-bats and 13 runs scored; with four walks this season Borst (73) regained sole possession of this category as Connecticut’s lifetime leader (Celio is second with 71); McGann’s game one double was the three hundredth career extra base hit for the Cannons; original Cannons Weber (368), Celio (332) and Borst (299) have nine hundred ninety-nine at bats among them; in three seasons, Maule has averaged just one strike out every twenty-eight at-bats (5 in 140 ABs)…Connecticut’s centerfielder leads ten of thirteen offensive categories in A Division play (Clark qualified with the top batting average and on-base percentage while former Cannon Mike Calabrese had the fewest strike outs with just four); Clark led all Cannons pitchers in strike outs (25), batting average against (.240) and earned run average (3.28); Patenaude led the throwers in appearances (10), innings pitched (58.2), wins (4) and walks + hits per innings pitched (1.69); among qualifiers, Kevin Quinn surrendered the fewest hits (16), runs (23), earned runs (16), walks (21) and losses (2); Patenaude has eight of the team’s seventeen A Division victories; two hits in the season finale, Pallone raised his rookie season average to .226 meaning he will be able to participate in the postseason rather than leaving for his honeymoon; Celio, McGann and Weber attended Irish-Fest ’08 on Friday evening in Glastonbury, taking in a concert by U2 cover band The Unforgettable Fire—a large Irish flag was waved during “Sunday Bloody Sunday” leaving McGann wanting more: “I want these guys to play my wedding.” Will he be tying the knot with a girl or a guy?—and running into ’05 Fan of the Year and former McGann girlfriend Marybeth Smiley (Celio and Weber actually spoke to Smiley while McGann ran for the cover of his many male admirers, further fueling speculation on “McGann is gay” rumors that have been reported in many supermarket tabloids…McGann promises to contact Smiley if Celio can get her contact information…McGann’s black Guinness t-shirt and matching black shorts were repeatedly referred to as “Garanimals” by super agent John DeMorais…the lead-off hitter claims he will never wear the combination again); Borst went out into Sunday morning’s super-storm, claiming he often does so: “I feel the power of the storm and it’s how I want to go, returned to nature after being blown to a million bits. If that’s what God has in store for me and it’s the way I’m supposed to go then I don’t want to miss it.”; Dionicio detailed his affinity for The WB’s Emmy Award-winning Pinky and the Brain, going so far as to say he set his college schedule around the Steven Spielberg-produced cartoon about genetically-enhanced laboratory mice…the show’s famous tagline: Pinky-“Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?”; The Brain-“The same thing we try to do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world.”; Dionicio, discussing the flatness of Celio’s derrière on his otherwise round body said, “You’re losing it coach. You’ve got a white-girl’s a*s now.”; “Michael Scott” Barsa likes to take first dates to Chili’s…on one memorable occasion he ran into ESPN’s Peter Gammons, leaving the future ex-Mrs. Barsa behind with her Bottomless Tostada Chips; Lombardo was Maule’s college roommate and teammate at Central Connecticut State University; Hartford’s Gonzalez, a former Mets Minor Leaguer and neighbor of “Mr. August” Tom Bogiatzis, came close to signing with Connecticut prior to the 2005 campaign but opted for an A Division offer instead (the Cannons would go on to win the ’05 B Division Championship and would make the move to the upper level the following season); Bogiatzis recently contacted Cannons World Headquarters with his annual State of the Cannons call; former Cannon standout Kevin McGann was in attendance at the University of Hartford; ballots for the 2008 Cannons Awards were issued to voters on Sunday (11:59 p.m)… polls are currently open—three full ballots have already been cast—and will remain so until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 1.