Yeah, right they cursed me. That’s how I went to Hartford and outpitched their ace and team captain, Casey Lane. The thing is, after that game is when Doc had his press conference. So no one knew the details. Well, now we know more.

And I know more than that. Doc’s number is still in my phone. So I called him. I wanted to find out about it. And you know, he apologized to me. He didn’t mean for it to get as serious as it did, but he and the other guy were both being macho and neither wanted to be the one to back down. So they egged each other on into doing this.

He was genuinely sorry. So I made a date with him for dinner next time I’m in Hartford so we can really talk. That’ll be the end of the month.

And I know who the other guy is. None other than Hottie. I haven’t called him yet. Since he’s the one who stole my ball. From when i beat Alex Williams. I need to simmer down before I call him or I will call him names.

Now Doc said he kept my ball for me. That he liked me too much. That’s one of the things we’ll be doing in Hartford–he’ll give me my ball back. I dunno what ball they gave to the voodoo lady and If it’s not my AW ball or my first win ball, etc. then I’m okay. But it’s the idea that Hottie would do that — help me get stuff packed and then take something that means so much to me. I just …. grrr.

I don’t believe in voodoo. Oh, I believe in bad luck and in charms and stuff to break it, but I don’t think you can cause someone else to have bad luck. And the way to break their alleged curse …. I need to sleep with each of them … that wouldn’t be too bad, actually. They’re both hot and they’re both good guys (except for this curse nonsense). I can’t believe they thought the only way to get me would be to put a whammy on me. I guess some guys just don’t pay attention. A nice dinner, some dancing, a few margaritas ….

I don’t know what to say. When I’m losing, I can always find something to write about–something I’m doing wrong or that I could be doing better. But now it’s hard to write much of anything except “wheeeeeeee!” I love winning. And I love how it all seems to be going right for me right now.

One of the things that’s going right is a poll on NEBL.com. The question is: Who will win the AC CM? There are four choices–Alex Williams, me, Casey Lane and Sauli Vanhanen. And I voted for Alex Williams. Who wouldn’t?

A lot of people wouldn’t. Right now, I’m leading with 60% of the vote. Now, Williams has more Ks and a lower ERA–that’s why I voted for him. But I’m projected to win 9 more games than he is (actually, I’ve already won more games than he’s projected to win). I’m tied with him for shutouts. And I’ve got more innings and complete games. Also, I’m second everywhere else but K/9. And the ‘Hawks will win the conference. So a case could be made for me. I’m probably not going to win, but it’s great to know the fans support me. Even when I didn’t vote for myself.

And to all of y’all who haven’t voted–vote now! Click up there where I link to the poll. I’ve also got everyone’s name linked up there so you can look at our stats. The Adams Conference leaderboards can give you the rest of the story. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for.

There’s not much else to say, but wheeeeeeee! this is fun! I’ll do my best to keep doing my best. Skip always tells me I’m “awesome” and I want to be as good as he says I am. And I always tell him I’ll do my best. And right now, my best is pretty damned good.

These players were selected for the AC OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Chris Ball from Hartford
P Casey Lane from Hartford
P Shannon Young from Hartford
P Ryan Moore from Hartford
P Luke Kennedy from Hartford
P Ike Smith from Hartford
C Pierre LaVillenuve from Hartford
3B Jesse Vargas from Hartford
LF Michael LeClair from Hartford
RF David Ramirez from Hartford
CF Grady Chalmers from Hartford
3B Brad Wilgus from Hartford

And some guys from other teams, too. But that’s practically a whole team right there. Another middle infielder and we’d be able to do it cuz Hottie can play MI. That’s pretty darned impressive.

And you notice, I’m there too. Well, I was Pitcher of the Month for April but lately I’ve been struggling. It feels good to be chosen. It helps me remember that everyone struggles sometimes but that the great ones pick themselves up. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Speaking of picking up and moving on, someone e-mailed me and asked how I could play on the same team as Billy Madison. Look, he made a mistake. He looked at me and saw a girl, not a pitcher who was his teammate. He’s not ever going to see me like that again so I’d bet money that he doesn’t ever lay another hand on me. If I lose, I get the opportunity to kick his ass. He may have 40 pounds on me, but Alex taught me to fight and to fight dirty.

Casey posted this in our clubhouse:

To all of my Hartford teammates,

Recently there has been a lot of trash talk going on around this clubhouse. And it’s not the kind where we tell the world that the ‘Hawks are the best. Or that other teams suck. Not the kind that brings the team together to fight a common foe.

No, this is the other kind of trash talk. The kind where ballplayers say things about their teammates. This is the kind of talk that tears a ballclub apart.

And I thought that everyone here wanted to win us a Patriot Cup this year. I was under the strong impression that that was our goal.

How are we going to pull together to defeat Elmira if we’re busy trying to tear each other down? The answer is, we can’t.

I’m not asking you to like everybody on this team. I just want you to treat everyone with respect. On and off the field. If we can do that, we can win. It’s that simple.

If you want to talk trash, fine. But not about the guys in your dugout. Talk about the guys in the other dugout. Talk about how we’ll bring them down.

Because if we work together, as a team, we WILL prevail. We WILL win that Cup. And we will become a part of history as the team that took Elmira down.

Patriot Cup or Bust!

Because I pitched the last game against Bangor, I was scheduled to pitch the fourth game against Elmira. That game was in Elmira. The first two were here. Neal came over. And, well, it didn’t go very well. I don’t know what he was thinking, that I’d always be there for him when he wasn’t always there for me. All that Hollywood stuff. He loves the camera more than anything except pitching. I still have the purple baseballs.

Anyway, I have to digress a little here, speaking of Neal. He pitched game three and lost. He gave up only two runs and neither of them was earned. He was scheduled to pitch game seven but Rachel pulled him in favor of Alex Williams. So maybe Neal is cursed. That’s okay, it’s not my problem anymore.

What is it about guys? I guess it’s because I’m the only woman in a male environment.

First I’ll start with the baseball Andies. Or whatever you call male Annies. Everywhere I go, there are fans who would be more than happy to keep me company in an intimate sort of way. Sometimes when I’m on the road, they find my hotel room (even though we all use different names). I think hotel clerks are less careful about my information getting out because they’re not fans and they assume that a woman traveling with a team is a different kind of player, if you see what I mean.

What is it with lefty pitchers on our club? I’m sure you all know that Casey and Bear tested positive for steroids. And now I guess I can tell you more about the talk I had at the beginning of the season.

Y’all know I complained about Ike blowing two of my games. Ike’s a good guy. I know he’s doing his best. And I can fully appreciate going out to the mound and not being able to get it done.

Casey Lane isn’t as forgiving as I am.