Back on the Winning Track

This week, the Flames reversed fortunes with a hard fought 26-21 victory over Chico’s Bail Bondsmen.

The game began with an eery standoff after Flames’ manager Ho won the coin toss for home field advantage. Ho explained “I won the toss and he (other manager) looked at me for a few seconds. What was he expecting me to choose – visitors’ side?”



Chico’s showed more raw power but the Flames defense stood strong for most of the game – bending but not breaking. On the offensive side, the Flames version of small ball led to three 5 run innings (1st, 4th, 6th) and a game breaking 8 runs in the 5th inning.

Chico’s cut the Flames lead to 21-19 in the top of the 6th inning but the resilient Flames team scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th to take a commanding 26-19 lead – with the help of a 3 run HR blast to deep right field courtesy of Anthony (also 6 for 6 at the plate).

The game also marked the return of Sean Cameron to the lineup who had missed the previous two games. Cameron had a mammoth HR blast of his own in the 2nd inning.

With the victory, the Flames moved into a two-way tie for first place with the hated Bat Wings and face the Degenerate Playboys in their next game. Kris Borg-Olivier is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last two games while Joseph, Sean and Tanya are expected to miss the game.

Attendance: (2)

Another Loss to Rivals

In what is turning out to be a rivalry reminiscent of the Yankees-Red Sox, the Flames faced the Bat Wings for the 4th time this season. But once again, the Flames came out on the short end with a heartbreaking 17-15 loss.

The Flames fought back from a 10-6 deficit after 4 innings, with 8 runs (mercy rule) in a bat-around 5th inning to take a 14-10 lead.

The Bat Wings added 3 runs in the 6th and 4 runs in the 7th to take a 17-14 lead going into the bottom of the 7th inning. The Flames could only scrape 1 run in the bottom of the 7th inning, losing once again to their hated rivals.

The last time these teams faced off was in the Spring championship game where the Bat Wings held off the Flames to win 8-7.

Boozing It Up After Championship Loss

Shocking photos of a few Trump Tower Flames players celebrating after their heartbreaking loss in the spring championship game were acquired from anonymous sources.



The players who were seen canoodling several young ladies included Joseph Raso, Kristian Borg-Olivier and player/manager Irving Ho. The unidentified woman below was allegedly elbowed (or De Rossi'd) at some point during the night by Ho, but details were sketchy regarding the incident.



Several sources indicated that the players were lounging in a roped off area of a bar in Little Italy, with $500 bottles of champagne flowing, culminating in a bar tab of several thousand dollars for the night. These sources also indicated that champagne was not the only thing flowing back there, as there was an abundance of attractive young ladies (possible groupies).



According to patrons of the bar, late in the evening, a scuffle ensued between the members of the Flames’ and a few hecklers obviously disappointed with the Flames loss in the final. What apparently sparked the dispute was a heckler’s outburst at Borg-Olivier. The inebriated fan was also a Brebeuf high school alumnus like Borg-Olivier and brought up a sore point in Borg-Olivier’s once promising career, which derailed in his senior high school year. (The photo below shows Borg-Olivier flexing his muscles before the scuffle)



Unidentified team officials indicated that the owners of the franchise were livid that the three team members were not only celebrating after such a heart-wrenching loss but they also got involved in fisticuffs, tarnishing the team’s community friendly image. Disciplinary measures were being discussed by the owners.

When confronted with the details, player/manager Ho had these comments “If I want to booze it up and lick beer off a woman’s butt, I will. Now, if I were licking it off of Raso’s hairy ass then you’d have a story to print.”

Flames Improve to 2-0

In a game delayed by the Billabong Bombers’ late arrival (for the 3rd time in 3 games this season), the Flames displayed enough offensive prowess to win 13-9 which brings them into a tie for first place in their division.

The Flames got off to a fast start, scoring the maximum 8 runs in the bat around first inning. The team had to hang on as the Bombers cut the lead to 9-8 at the end of 3 innings.

The Flames iced the game in the 5th inning on a 2 run double by Kris, which extended the lead to 13-8.

Offensively, the Flames were led by good days at the plate by Ted (5 for 5), Kris (4 for 4 with 3 runs scored), Kelly (3 for 4) and Julia (2 for 5 with 2 runs).

This week, the Flames face their archrivals – the Bat Wings, who defeated the Flames 8-7 in the spring championship game. The Flames will be shorthanded as Joseph, Kris and Sean are expected to miss the game. Call ups from the farm team are expected to be announced shortly.

Attendance: (2)

Flames Ignite Offense in Summer Season Opener

The Flames won the opening game of the 2006 summer season 20-12, displaying their juggernaut offense which disappeared during points of the spring season.

Falling behind 9-5 at the end of 3 innings, the Flames chipped away at the Sneaky Deekers lead, culminating with an 8 run bat around 7th inning.

Anthony led with the way with a 5 for 5 day including 2 monster home runs and hit what would have been his third home run except for the archaic ground rules which stipulated that anything landing on the soccer net in right field on the fly would be a ground rule double.

The females also had a potential breakout game – Tanya (4 for 6), Kelly (3 for 6), AC ( 3 for 5). The team was minus the services of standout Julia Peters who was AWOL for the game and could potentially face fines in the kangaroo court.

The Flames will face tough competition in the Thursday Summer Intermediate A division, as 4 of the 8 teams advanced to their respective championship games in their previous seasons with 3 teams finishing first in the regular season standings.

Heartbreak Hotel

The Flames lost an excruciating 2006 Spring Championship game to the Bat Wings 8-7 which featured high drama late in the game.

The game itself was in doubt to be played as the original field of play was taken over by renegade carnival workers who parked their trailers and amusement rides directly on the field. Luckily, another nearby diamond was found to be suitable and vacant. This marks the 2nd time this season the Bat Wings and Trump Tower Flames have encountered acts of God. During a doubleheader to end the regular season, the lights failed to turn on ending the second game prematurely.



In what could have turned out to be the turning point of the game, before the game, manager Ho won the Rock Paper Scissors battle for home advantage in a convincing manner matching his paper to the opposing captain’s rock.

The Championship game saw the Flames fall behind early with some shaky defense. But their trademark championship game defense re-emerged as the Flames held the Bat Wings to just 2 runs over the last 4 innings, with “Final Game” Wael making at least 3 nice catches in RF.

The Flames fought back offensively to make it a 1 run game going into the bottom of the 6th. The Flames’ power slugger Anthony hit a rocket to deep RF which was snagged by a leaping rightfielder which surely saved the potential tying run.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Flames dissipated – going out 1-2-3 to end their hopes of a third championship banner.

While disappointed, the Flames held their heads high after the game as their pundits did not expect them to make it to the championship game after going 2-4 in the regular season.