|
May Day Magic at Confederation Baseball Park
- E.K. Men's Baseball Action in Cranbrook
May 1st often seems to be a magical day for baseball. On
this day in 1991, with his 939th career steal, A's outfielder
Rickey Henderson passes Lou Brock as baseball's all-time stolen
base leader.
However, May 1st is even more magical for pitchers in this
greatest of all games.
On this same day in 1991, Ranger right-hander Nolan Ryan
pitches the seventh no-hitter of his career, striking out
16 Blue Jays as Texas defeats Toronto, 3-0.
May 1st, 1955: Indian starters put on a 'pitching clinic'
during a doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox. Veteran Bob Feller
holds Boston hitless for 6+ innings and hurls his major league
record 12th one-hitter in a 2-0 victory and in the night cap,
rookie left-hander Herb Score strikes out the first nine batters
(he will whiff a total of 16) en route to a 2-1 four-hitter
win.
May 1st, 1959: At the age of 39, White Sox hurler Early Wynn
pitches a one-hitter striking out 14 and hits a double and
home run to beat the Red Sox, 1-0.
May 1st, 1984: Dwight Gooden becomes the first teenager to
strike out a least ten players since Bert Blyleven accomplished
the feat in 1970. The Mets 19-year old phenom, who will set
a rookie record with 276 Ks, will have a total 15 double-digit
strikeout games this year.
May 1st, 1985: Jimmy Key becomes the first left-handed starter
in 614 games to win a game for Blue Jays.
May 1st, 2007, at Confederation Park in Cranbrook, the opening
shots were fired in the East Kootenay Men's Baseball League
as Cranbrook's Finnegan's Wake hosted their same-town rivals,
the Cranbrook Eagles. Taking the mound for Finnegan's was
their ace, Jeff Kirkhope. If you weren't there, you missed
some local May Day magic as Kirkhope pitched a complete game
masterpiece defeating the Eagles 4 to 2.
Kirkhope started out with a perfect first inning striking
out Jason Frederick of the Eagles to start the game and getting
Jordan Torgerson to ground out to Wayne Hollingshead at second
base and inducing Jeff Young to fly-out to Joel Kaiser in
deep centerfield.
Eagles' starter, Jeff Young, answered with a three up, three
down first of his own popping up Kaiser, getting Eric Yeo
to ground out to Torgerson at short and striking out Jaymee
Kitchenham.
Kirkhope answered right back in the second striking out Shawn
Jensen and Clint Eaton and getting Travis Holmes to ground
out to Sean Rae at first.
In the bottom of the second, the wheels came off for Young
and the Eagles as Finnegans pieced together a single by Kirkhope,
a double by Jared Granville-Martin and singles by Gerrid Lemire
and John Facey to plate three runners for an imposing 3-0
lead.
That was all Kirkhope would need as he spun a gem, striking
out seven Eagles and scattering four hits for a complete game
4 to 2 victory. The only Eagle batters to reach were Jensen,
on an error, Troy Self with a base on balls, Gene Zackowski
and Holmes with singles and Young and Devon Howarth with doubles.
Howarth relieved Young in the fourth, with the score 4 to
one, and held the Finnegan's Wake scoreless from there but
the Eagles batters could not solve Kirkhope. They managed
to plate Howarth on Holmes's RBI single in the fifth but Shawn
Daniels' double in the sixth was the only other noise the
Eagles were able to make.
Finnegan's manager, Kitchenham, credited his players' hard
work preparing for the opening game for the teams success
this night. "We've held a number of practices and I can
really see the batting coming around. It makes a big difference,"
he noted, adding that the defense only made two errors in
support of Kirkhope's performance.
First blood is always sweet but as Jackie Robinson once said,
" Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit
when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead."
There will be a tomorrow. For now.
Next League action sees Finnegans host the Kimberly Pirates
at Confederation Park in Cranbrook on Friday, May 4th. Game
time is 6:30. Kimberly is showcasing an exciting squad composed
of several experienced players in key positions and a crop
of young rookies eager to prove themselves and master this
game.
Drop around to Confederation Park and enjoy some exciting
baseball action. Everyone is welcome. It's outdoors and it's
free! Who knows: maybe there's more magic in May yet to come.
See you at the Park!
-30-
For more information contact:
Jeff Young
Men's League Baseball Spokesperson
info@kootenaybaseball.com
|
