Bibliotechs 2005 Schedule

Serious Slow Pitch League, Offshore Division (7)

Team 2005, a talented and civilized Biblio-incarnation, in form and moving how express and admirable, in apprehension how like a Google, started last season strongly, but then ran into some technologically-enhanced opponents and endured some tough, one-run defeats, which left the balance of the season and likely playoff elimination riding on the outcome of the final game. This game turned out to be one of the finest wins in Bibliotech history! enabling them to return to the playoff level (where, unfortunately, they could not get past the perennial heavyweight Biohazard team.) That final regular-season game, and the whole 2005 season, will shine from now until the end of Bibliotech history, and these are the people who made it happen: Dan Belich, Ronnie Broadfoot, John Delancey, Debbie Douglas, Jon Eichman, Charlene Follett, co-captain Steve Gass, Bill Guarente, Kathy Hamilton, Virginia Johnson, Luc Lucas, Joe Martinez, Ted McSweeney, John Melczer, Rob Mitchell, Christine Moulen, Tony Moulen, Greg Padilla, Pat Page, co-captain Walter Powers, Sam Sadow, Beth Siers, Suzanne Sloan, Rick Smokovich, Jos Wanschers, Bev White, Mat Wilmott, and Rob Wolfe.

(All games on Tuesday at 5:30)

                                                                       
May 17        Sweet Medicine at Bibliotechs       (W, 13-2)
             

May 24        Bibliotechs at MTL Piranhas         RAINED OUT
            
May 31        Un-Colas at Bibliotechs             (W, 17-14)
            
June 7        Contractors at Bibliotechs          (W, 21-13)
 
            
June 14       Clippers at Bibliotechs             (L, 3-9)
           
June 21       Bibliotechs at Contractors          (W, 5-1)
             
June 28       Biohazards at Bibliotechs           (L, 5-6)
           
June 28 (2d game) Bibliotechs at MTL Piranhas
                  (make-up for May 24 rain-out)   (W, 7-1)  
   
July 12       Bibliotechs at Dawgs                (L, 9-10)
            
July 19       Bibliotechs at Clippers             (L, 6-7)
            

July 26       Bibliotechs at Un-Colas             (W, 12-10)
            

August 3      Bibliotechs vs. Biohazards (SEMIFINAL)   (L, 4-9)
August 8      Dawgs defeat Biohazards for Division Champioship 
 

Here is the field map.

Contact co-captains Walter Powers (253-0600, wpowers@mit.edu) or Steve Gass (253-7058, sgass@mit.edu) for content enrichment.

• May 17 - The sun shone brightly on the Bibliotechs' home opener against MIT spinoff Momenta Pharmaceuticals' Sweet Medicine team, who succumbed to the potent Bibliotech thunder and clinically efficient defensive play by a 13-2 margin. Some Bibliotech firsts: a home run over the left field fence (by Pat Page) and an aluminum bat torn apart with metal fatigue, as if by a supernatural force. (see ill.) Are these the signs we have been expecting for so long? At the end of the game, co-captain Gass stressed caution, advising members of the team to "put a cup on it."
• May 31 - On a nippy May evening, when the chill makes the ball sting in the glove, and the turf feel like #3 grit sandpaper, and the impact of bat upon ball similar to hitting a cinderblock with a length of pipe, the Bibliotechs dug deep against the young and assured Un-Colas, the Leaders For Manufacturing's summer project team, employing the long ball to take a big early lead (leadoff HR by Ronnie Broadfoot setting the tone,) heading off opposing rallies with glittering defense (Greg Padilla covering a lot of ground in RCF,) and withstanding a dismaying final-inning surge to carry the day, 17-14. Like the 8-Ball sez, "All signs point to maybe."
• June 7 - Facing off against old nemeses Contractors on a hot afternoon on the simmering synthetic turf, the torrid Bibliotechs smashed a team record 6 home runs! (by Ronnie Broadfoot, John Delancey, Bill Guarente, Rob Mitchell, Greg Padilla, and Rob Wolfe) and also benefited from a valorous running catch in right field by Mat Willmott to thunder to an inspiring win. I know nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, but this is Astroturf we're talking about!
• June 14 - Just like the day, which cooled off like a bucket of penguin droppings, with the temperature plummeting 30 degrees, the heretofore blazing Bibliotech bats were rendered dull and lifeless by the MIT News Office's veteran Clippers, and the Bibs suffered their first loss of the season. Aberration, or entropy? Stay hungry, Bibs!
• June 21 - The first day of summer saw the bruising Bibliotechs play their first "away" game (on real grass,) a rematch with the DOT's Contractors. Sparkling defense, particularly by Jon Eichman, Esq. at 3rd base, who at one point combined with Jos Wanschers to snuff out a run at home and kill a Contractors' bases-loaded rally, kept the score low enough for the Bibs to edge past with rallies of their own. With half the season done, the Bibs are "in the hunt!"
• June 28 - A double-header on a hot, humid day brought out the biggest Bibs turnout of the season, as they went up against the Whitehead Institute's Biohazards and the Microsystems Technology Lab's Piranhas in two officially sanctioned short (5 innings) games. In game one, the undefeated, league-leading, and no doubt hormone-enhanced Biohazards led throughout most of the game, but never really pulled away from the tenacious Bibliotechs, who came within one run of tying the game in their last at-bat. It seemed as if the Bibs just ran out of innings, and might have prevailed in a regulation-length game. In game 2, the Bibs cruised, albeit in atypical low-scoring fashion, to a win over the young, enigmatic Piranhas. So the Library legation enters the July 4 break with a decent 5-2 record, and a good chance to qualify for the playoffs, if each Bibliotech searches deep within...wait, not that deep...and brings to the surface his or her essential winner. What a feeling!
• Returning from their holiday hiatus, feeling good about their 5-2 record and playoff chances, the Bibs were uncharacteristically shaky in the field against the inveterate (and non-coed) Delta Tau Delta Dawgs, and could make up only 9/10ths of the run deficit at the plate, to lose a squeaker that they should have won. Suddenly the remainder of the season looks like an uphill climb! Perhaps the portents of the Bibliotechs' run-to-the-playoffs, if not an image of the Blessed Virgin, can be found in the Bruise On The Captain's Leg (see ill.) Sick!
• In this season's rematch with the venerable Clippers, the battling Bibliotechs found themselves behind by 5 runs early in the game, but clawed their way back, with thunder and lightning accompanying their resurrection, to tie the game, only to lose by 1 monster home run. Another tough one-run loss, but perhaps something good was taken away. The playoff picture seems pretty clear: the Bibs must win their next (and final) regular season game to advance. Our fate is in our hands - let's not let it roll between our legs!
• In the final, and hottest, game of the regular season, the full-bodied and sun-burnished Bibliotechs faced off once again against the UnColas, the youthful and arrant Leaders for Manufacturing team, i.e. Sloanies, in a crucial game for both teams, with a playoff position at stake. The game was a tough and spirited seesaw battle, with the lead exchanged several times; glittering fielding by the Library team, notably Joe Martinez, Pat Page, and Rick Smokovich, and a nice infield catch by Kathy Hamilton, kept the hard-hitting UnColas within striking distance. The 2 teams finished the regulation 7 innings in a 10-10 tie, and proceeded into an extra frame, in which, with 2 outs and none on, Debbie Douglas singled over a drawn-in infield to "set the table" for the top of the order, and Ronnie Broadfoot, Greg Padilla, and captain Steve Gass delivered, the latter getting the game-winning hit, for the 12-10 final score. For igniting the 2-out winning rally, Debbie was awarded the season's sole Golden Haddock (are sole and haddock the same thing?) in a secret ceremony, and all agreed that the Bibs manifested a sublime spark, a profound power, that even they may not have suspected they had. The Bibs are playoff-ready!
• Entering the playoffs after a roller-coaster season, the surging, thrusting Bibliotechs seemed to have momentum on their side, facing off against the undefeated, division-leading Biohazards. All the signs pointed toward Bibliotech glory: the sun was hot, the beer was cold, and the field was real grass. Unfortunately, reality intervened, aided perhaps by the dubious superbats (declared illegal mid-game by the presiding umpire, a decision subsequently overruled by the Commissioner) of the young Whitehead Institute team, and the Bibs went down, 9-4. The future remains the future, but it is not a dark one, because it is certain that, one day, the Bibliotechs will walk in the light, and then will be the jubilation and the dancing, and the voice of the people will be heard, singing, "Bibliotechs forever!"

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Updated on 060510