Flames Hold On for 16-15 Victory; Dreadful 6th Again

A week after salvaging a disappointing 14-14 tie vs. former rivals, George Bells, the Flames once again held off a late charge for a 16-15 victory over the JHR Wolverines.

The 6th inning proved to be another trouble spot for the Flames as they gave up 7 runs to make it a 16-13 game in their favour. The Wolverines added another 2 runs in the top of the 7th and loaded the bases with 1 out but couldn't bring in the tying run.

The Flames got off to a quick start, scoring 5 runs in the 1st inning led by home runs by Teddy (2 in the game), Anthony (2) and Ryan (1). Steve added his own solo HR in the 2nd inning.

The Flames never trailed in the game after any inning, for the 2nd consecutive game.

The Flames play their final regular spring season game this week vs. the last place Diamond Demons.

Trump Tower Busts Balls

The Trump Tower Flames gained a piece of first place in their division with a convincing 24-8 victory over the Ball Busters at Roding Park (where the Flames have applied to the league to play all their games).

The Flames were led by a 3 home run night by Ryan and home run blasts by Anthony and Kris (some may question this as the outfielder jumped and missed the shot into RF - essentially a 4 base error) into the deep dark forest in right field.



Three big innings by the Flames (8 runs in 1st, 7 runs in 3rd and 8 runs in 4th) were more than enough as the team displayed its championship defense by holding the Ball Busters to 8 runs.

The Flames seek to extend their winning streak to 3 this week, with an early 6:30pm start at Fairbank Park (Dufferin/Eglinton). The quest for a third championship continues.

Flames Squeak Out Victory; Anthony KO'd

The Trump Tower Flames won their first game of the spring season, 8-7 (in 5 innings, shortened by darkness) over the Master Batters, but any celebrations were marred by the line drive that struck Anthony in the back of the head.

As in the first game of the 2007 season, the Flames jumped out to a quick start scoring 6 runs in the first inning.

Anthony was hit while pitching to his team in the top of the 2nd inning. He lay on the ground for a few minutes before making his way to the dugout with the assistance of a few teammates. Luckily, he was able to turn his head just before the ball struck him or the injury could have been worse. He was transported to a local hospital where x-rays were negative. Miraculously he is expected to play this week although pitching is probably not in the cards for the near future.



The team pulled together after losing Anthony and Mark (who accompanied his beloved cousin to the hospital) but could only muster 2 more runs the rest of the game. Unofficially, the Flames did bust out for 5 runs in the 6th inning but this did not register in the final boxscore as the park lights went out before the teams could complete the bottom of the 6th inning. The Master Batters did score 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th inning before the lights went out.

The Trump Tower Flames' next game is on Wednesday May 23 at 8pm at Roding Park, ironically Anthony's favourite park - as there is a short right field porch bounded by an infamous forest (rumoured to be home to mountain lions and other beasts of nature).

Hitting highlights: Teddy (2 for 3), Ryan (2 for 3), Steve (2 for 3), Lesley (3 for 3), Julianna (2 for 3)

2007 Flames Seek Ignition

The Trump Tower Flames opened their 3rd season with a disappointing 18-8 loss to the Hitmakers. Moving to Wednesday evenings in 2007, the Flames sought a change of opponents and scenery but the result in week one was similar to hard luck losses in 2006.

The Flames got off to a fast start with a leadoff home run in the first by Sean "Slim" Cameron and added another run in the first before scoring 4 runs in the 2nd inning to take a 6-4 lead after 2 innings.

From there, the bats went silent as Trump Tower scored only 2 runs the rest of the game (including being shut out in the last 3 innings), to lose 18-8.

While the Flames showed flashes of excellence, the team will need to tighten up its defense and get its big bats going if it wants to compete for the league championship.

The game also marked the debut of new additions to the 2007 Spring team: Steve (now part of the Maltese connection with Kris Borg-Olivier), Lesley, Julianna and the ex-cowtown duo of Ryan and Jenn.

It is Over

The pin drop heard after last week's game was the only audible sound in the Trump Tower Flames locker room after the game. Needing just a tie or win to finish in the top 4 of the standings (and make the "real" playoffs), the Flames came up short - losing 13-12 to the Beavers.

Once again, the Flames' bats were silenced for most of the game. Down 9-4 after 5 innings, the Flames busted out for the maximum 8 runs in the top of the 6th inning to take a 12-9 lead. The lead was short lived, as the Beavers responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to tie the game at 12-12.

In the top of the 7th inning, the Flames had runners on first and third but could not bring any runs home - due in part to solid defense by the Beavers' right fielder (who had several snags of hard liners throughout the game).

In the bottom of the 7th, the Beavers put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and ended the game 2 batters later with a fly ball past the drawn in outfield.

The Flames third straight loss brought the disappointing summer season to end (except for two consolation games). The Flames were in a tie for first place after four games with a 3-1 record and were on track for an unprecedented 4th straight trip to the big dance. Two one run losses, both in the bottom of the 7th, and a 4 run loss - dashed any hopes for another championship run.

There is no joy in Mudville tonight.

Flames Lose Amid Controversy

The Flames suffered their 2nd loss of the summer season 12-11 to the Degenerate Playboys.

Several Flames players were fuming after the game as a Degenerate baserunner was clearly leading off 2nd base before the batter made contact with the ball. The runner was warned twice but continued to lead off, then allegedly slid into 3rd base (another violation of the rules) on a grounder to the shortstop (Kris) who fired his throw wide of Teddy at third base.



On the next pitch, with the infield and outfield playing in, the Degenerates hit a deep sacrifice fly to end the ball game.

A dejected Flames squad walked off the field, as the team fell to 3-2 for the summer season and are in a dog race for one of the top 4 spots (and a spot in the real playoffs) in the standings.

It was a slow start for the Flames, as the majority of the team arrived 15 minutes late for the game – delaying the start time. They fell behind 5-0 after the 1st inning before adding 4 runs in the 2nd, closing the deficit to 6-4 after the 2nd.

The Flames busted out for 6 runs in a bat around 4th inning to take a 10-6 lead but could only muster 1 more run the rest of the game.

The Flames also fell to 0-4 for the combined spring/summer season when the team’s OBP for a game was less than 0.500, while scoring an average of 6 runs in those games.

Next up for the Flames are the Angry Huggybears, who defeated the Flames 10-4 in the spring season.

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.