Grays kick field goal late in 4th to edge Phillies 16-14 in wild, wild over-50 championship

Holy sh*t!

The Grays came from behind with 3 in the 9th to take the lead from the Phillies, who themselves came from behind with 4 in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead from the Grays, who had a 13-9 lead after the 6th.

Years from now whenever there's a crazy, high-scoring baseball game, people will say 'This is crazy, but it's not as crazy as the night the Grays beat the Phillies." The game featured a total of 30 runs, 37 hits, and resembled the Major Leagues only in that it took more than 3 hours to complete.

Jay Sadowski drove in the game-winner with a 9th inning single, and Stu Clark then drove in Sadowski with an all-important insurance run -- because if this game demonstrated anything it's you can never have too many insurance runs.

Sadowski, who relieved Pres Pieraccini with 2 out in the 8th, then pitched a scoreless 9th, striking out the final batter.

The win by the Grays is their first championship in the league's 5-year history, and it denied the Phillies their 3rd title in the same period.

Miracle Max Strubel came on in the 7th and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing the Phillies to take a 14-13 lead. But three scoreless innings was too much to ask for in this game as the Grays in the 9th would not go quietly into the night.

Starters Mike Whately for the Grays and Ken Sloat for the Phillies each went 7 innings but were long gone from the mound before the game was decided late.

Postscript: This marks the end of a very successful 5th season of TNB-50 baseball. In that time we've expanded from three teams to four and then this year to five teams. The success is due in no small part to the contributions of the membership. This also marks the end of the leadership of Patrick Johnson, who is stepping down as commissioner after 4 years. A successor has not yet been named.

Game Photos

Special thanks to Chris Scanlan, left, and Eric Bennett who worked the PA system and operated the scoreboard during the game. They also provided the musical interludes between innings, walk-up music and introductions for each batter, and provided several moments of improv levity during the game. (hint: Tom Waits really didn't sing the National Anthem, a Ford Pinto did not catch on fire, and there really was no 50-50 raffle. Don't bother looking for your ticket.)