Rain has been the villain all summer, and while we were able to kick off the playoffs, we didn’t get far before the sky opened up. Lets try this again.
Divisions that had teams with byes, or divisions that had some of their series played Sunday will push through this week. We will wrap up the first round, and complete the second, with the Division finals set for August 21. Other divisions will be pushed back an entire week, with the finals set very early on August 28. I know a lot of teams and players start flag football or their fall softball leagues in September, so we’ll make every effort to finish the season by the end of August.
Here is the schedule for this upcoming Sunday. If rain is in the forecast, be prepared!
Cambridge
8am – #4 Angry Pandas v. #5 Cine Negro, Danehy #2
11am – #1 I’d Hit It v. Winner of #4/#5
2pm – #3 Injured Reserves v. #6 Sons of Pitches, Danehy #2
5pm – #2 Dizzy Llamas White v. Winner of #3/#6
Boston
9am – #4 Scared Hitless v. #5 Dizzy Llamas Red, Ebersol
10:45am – #1 Bad Romance v. #8 Buccos (continued), Ebersol
3pm – Winner of #1/#8 v. #4/#5, Bunker Hill
9am – #2 Balls Deep v. #7 Where my Pitches At?, Bunker Hill
Noon – #5 Green Ballers v. Winner of #2/#7, Bunker Hill
Watertown
11am – #1 D Leaguers v. #8 Flyin’ Platypi, Arsenal
2pm – #2 Project Badass v. #7 Dizzy Llamas Orange, Arsenal
Noon – #3 Dirt Dawgs v. #6 Laser Show, Bunker Hill Base
3pm – #4 Dorn’s Interior Decorating v. #5 Big Ten, Bunker Hill Base
Burlington
9am – #4 Dizzy Llamas Blue v. #5 Wombats, Marvin Field
Noon – #1 Unexpectables v. Winner of #4/#5
3pm – #3 Aristocracy v. #2 Flaming Chickens, Marvin Field
Tewksbury
9am – #3 Gryphons v. #6 Boozers, Tewksbury Elks
Noon – #2 Cobra Kai v. Winner of #3/#6,
3pm – #4 Piglets v. #5 Gang Green, Tewksbury Elks
6pm – #1 GFY All-Stars v. Winner of #4/#5
Somerville
Starts August 21st
Talk about home field advantage for the 1 and 2 seeds! The first round winners might have to play 6 straight games on the same day if both rounds go the distance?!? Why don’t we have the semifinals and finals on the same day too and play til midnight?
Why not play #4/#5 at 9, then have #3/#2 play at Noon, then the Winner of #4/#5 vs. #1 play at 3 so they can at least regain their bearings a little bit? The possibility of 6 straight games seems like pretty poor scheduling that could have been easily avoided.
Rey, having a team that just played 2 or 3 games wait 3 or 4 hours is ridiculous. Rookie.
The league should provide a BBQ at the field for the early round teams that have to play again at noon. I love playing while exhausted and hungry!
Wow that is crazy. I like the idea of playing till midnight, why not at this point? Lets make them best of 5 while were at it Is there no way to play on a Saturday or just extend the season another week?
Why not just play single loss elimination for the first round. In most cases, it’s obvious who the better team is, and you don’t need a best of three to figure it out. So fucking stupid!
You all do realize that if you want to have a prayer of winning the league interdivisional tourney, you better be ready to play many games over long hours, right? Championships are not for those who wanna quit after 2 games. And then you want to cut it down to single elimination!!!!??? You want to play fewer games? That’s just sad. We’ve already seen 3-game series, with huge upsets. The best-of-three-tourney style really is one of the best parts of this league!
And you want to extend the season another week, or play on a Saturday? Many people plan around the season’s dates…Saturdays, and Labor Day especially, take a lot of people out of town. Personally, I’d like to win it all when all teams have the ability to field their real team rather than skeleton teams. No pussy wins…more fun…more glory. Or something like that.
Obviously, none of this is all that important to whine about either way cause it is what it is, and ya might as well just find a way to make it fun, but some acceptance of the tough scheduling climate we got flooded into, as well as an interest in getting to play softball, needed to be voiced.
With all of this shitty weather and more for Sunday afternoon. I think the first round teams (8am and 2pm) should get thier games in first. Then worry about the bye teams playing.
I don’t think it’s fair if the 2pm games get rained out and the other first round team has to wait another week to play and possibly nine games?
We love the idea of 2 series in one day. Especially with all of these teams who want to be babied with BBQs and live entertainment. This league gives you the most bang for you buck in Boston with 18 games plus playoffs, a website with statistics, post-season awards, and a winner take all tournament.
Also, I don’t think anyone can comment on what it takes to win a championship considering the only team to win the tournament the last 2 years has been the Dirt Dawgs. Can anyone on the Dirt Dawgs tell us how it is done?
It’s called buying a shaved bat. No coincidence that without their red Miken bat from last season, they picked up 8 losses (4 division, 4 inter) this year. With the exception of one guy, their power numbers are down all across the board. Looks like the Dirt Dawgs will need to buy another shaved bat for next year.
We won our championships with solid defense and by not making mistakes. The Recoil we used last year was NOT shaved but it’s probably the best ASA bat out there. You should have bought one yourself. That’s pretty bold of you to anonymously accuse us of using an illegal bat. Besides Comtois, we never had big power numbers so I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.
We lost Comtois (2009 Watertown Male MVP) to Balls Deep and Lauren Rappoli (2009 Watertown Female MVP) has been injured all year. We’ve had a few more big injuries and have had trouble getting everyone to show up. Also, the competition is tougher this year with Project Badass joining the division and the D Leaguers adding the probable MVP to their roster this year.
It was a disappointing regular season for us but we’re looking forward to making up for it in the playoffs. That’s really the only thing that matters anyways.
-Jay Stark, Dirt Dawgs
The Recoil is a great bat. I know several people that own one and have swung one at BP myself. I’ve just never heard of one only lasting one season unless it’s been altered. Those things are normally tanks and last for years. It did crack right? Unless whoever owned it left the team and took it with him.
http://www.worldshottestbats.com/miken-recoil-maxload-review.php
BallsDeep, of course you love the idea of playing 2 series in one day, you guys are playing 2 teams with a combined record of 6-21. You’re going to have 5 hours of batting practice on sunday. Some teams have a slightly tougher road ahead….
Fan of Playing, I think single loss elimination is a great idea for the first round of the playoffs. Isn’t THAT what the labor day tournament is all about. At least in the tournament every team is above .500.
Teams in Cambridge and Tewksbury are getting bent over. It seems like the commissioner could have put a lot more thought into this decision.
John Dasilva,
I don’t know what division you are in because I couldn’t find your stats anywhere, so I also don’t know how cushy your road through the playoffs has been or will be, or if you’re even still alive in them. What I DO know is that in the Boston division, where we have 8 teams, half of which are over .500, & the other half have the unfortunate luck of being trapped in a division with Bad Romance (16-2, inter 4-0), Mass Mutiny (11-3, inter 3-1), & Balls Deep (16-2, inter 4-0). If you didn’t notice, before WE got our cushy road lain before us for the playoffs we actually had to win 16 games, which also including breaking 4, that’s right, FOUR UNDEFEATED TEAMS, that were considered power houses & still remain ahead of us on the power rankings. Do you know another team in any league to have done that? -Just curious. So as for play 2 teams with a combined record of 6-21, yeah, fine, we’ll take that, because we earned it. What have you done lately? Also, please notice that we would have had to play Mass Mutiny, who have done pretty damn well in EMAAC history, in the 2nd round if they had not lost to one of those under .500 teams.
Which, by the way, is why we will be taking any team that can beat one of Boston’s big 3 VERY serious. -SO, in close, I’m sorry we performed for 16 out of 18 weeks and maybe you or your team hasn’t, I’m sorry you may have to face us in the tourney, I am NOT sorry you have handlebar mustaches, and please get your facts straight, because we will be here for a while.
-Just saw Cia’s comment, this is not an attack, just a clarification. BTW, I do agree with the previous comments from other, this is a great league with a lot of upside & even more bang for the buck. Thank you.
We borrowed that bat from another team which is why we haven’t used it this year. I don’t want to drag them into this asinine conversation so I won’t mention which team. I can assure you that it was not shaved. You can take my word for it or not.
Good luck in the playoffs. I hope we get to play you guys, whoever you are.
Apologies for going 16-2 and obtaining the number 2 seed in our division. Which probably would’ve gotten the 1 seed in any other division after playing multiple undefeated teams.
Also, apologies for one of those teams upsetting the number 3 seed in our division on Sunday. The number 3 seed who went 15-3. Probably better than your team. A team that also beat Balls Deep once this season.
Hey Jibjab2011,
If you’re confident enough to throw out that kind of accusation, why don’t you grow a sack and put a name to it?
I played on a Dirt Dawg rival team the past two seasons and lived with two of their players for the past year. Full disclosure, I’m currently on the team. The suggestion that they cheated last season is foolish. It’s sour grapes. They beat us in 3 games in the Watertown finals because they hit, and fielded better than we did.
I’m very familiar with the bat in question…great bat, not shaved. Not using it anymore because it belongs to a friend, whose team at the time last season was already out of playoffs when the Dawgs used it to beat us. I know these guys as well as anybody and they’re not cheaters. Point at the results all you want…as Jay mentioned this season we’re without a past male and female MVP. Our best remaining hitter missed a solid 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury. We’ve been playing with a skeleton crew all season long and our record has suffered because of it. The discrepancy has nothing to do with a bat.
If you care about a co-ed rec league enough to cheat, you’ve got serious problems.
I know for a fact the Dawgs did not last year and have not ever used a shaved bat. Feel free to disagree further, but why don’t you stop being an anonymous puss and put a name to it.
Have a wonderful day
-Rory Duyon
Hey dude it was my bat it wad used by ten different teams last year. It cracked because it wad used in a game when it was like 50 degrees out. Miken sent me a new one but i have been away most if this summer deployed for the military. From my understanding if you alter or pay someone to alter the bat then mike doesn’t give you a new one. I hope the new one works as well as this one but good luck i am sure you will play against one of the three teams who may use the bat
Brian Glynn, you’re a good American
Thank you Rory that was very nice of you. I pride myself on being a good American
You still couldn’t take me in a sprint
Haha ofcourse not no one can take white lightning in a foot race
Hey buddy,
Grow a sack and put your name under your anonymous, classless accusations next time you want to act like a tough guy. We have always won using solid defense and timely hitting with EMAAC-approved bats. I have literally seen Claffey walk over to our bench multiple times to check our bats…we are simply good at hitting. Any team in the league would take a step back offensively if they lost both the male and female mvp. Next time you want to touch yourself at the thought of being a tough guy, you might want to at least act like a man when you do it.
Celli
Dirt Dawgs
EMAAC is the best softball league in Boston, hands down. We all should be grateful for the long season. In addition, we get stats, a website, entertaining write-ups, power rankings, and the small divisions lead to competitive, healthy rivalries. Inter-divisional play is fun too. Getting the chance to play unfamiliar teams from other divisions is an added bonus. EMAAC does it right. They understand what makes a fun softball league.
Regarding the accusation of cheating, that is completely asinine. The Dirt Dawgs have been one of the most consistent and respected teams in EMAAC. They win with great pitching, solid D, and timely hitting. Show some respect. Whoever the accuser is, you really ought to identify yourself.
Mike Grant
D Leaguers
I appreciate the spirited debate. I don’t blame folks for being frustrated with the circumstances but please refrain from personal attacks against other players. We are all a family here, and paraphrasing another commenter, “If you care about a co-ed rec league enough to [be rude], you’ve got serious problems.”
In regards to the scheduling, these are obviously tough decisions, and we are in a position were not everyone can be happy with whatever is decided. I know there are many reasons why people enjoy playing with the EMAAC, but I feel the number of games we play compared to other leagues is a big factor. I will not remove or reduce the number of games played unless it’s the only option. It’s why we fought to get almost everyone all 18 of their regular season games after all all-around wet summer and why we will fit in all of the post season games.
I don’t think 4-6 games on a Sunday is out of line. It’s difficult, no doubt, but I’ve played in many weekend tournaments or Men’s league postseasons that require successful teams to play that many games in a day. In a USSSA tournament last weekend, the winning team played 2 games on Friday, 8 games on Saturday and won after slogging through the loser’s bracket.
If the weather holds out, it should be an exciting Sunday. Hopefully everyone can overcome the adversity and have fun, if not win a few games too.
Michael Grant, you too are a good American
Thank you, Mr. Duyon, I appreciate that. Same to you.
Insult me all you want, but leave the mustache out of it, sir. Good luck to everyone this weekend!
-use shaved bat…check
-take extra outs at the plate…check
-steal candy from children…check
-donate funds to the Taliban…check
-particiapted in neo-nazi rally…check
-win playoff series in straight games…check
Dirt Dawgs softball baby!!