August - Yokohama Country & Athletic Club

SPORT
Iron Chief to Blue Finger: Over and Out!
The boys of summer
are back at it, with a
double-header every
Saturday, usually starting from
11a.m., through September.
The team had an excellent
finish to the 2010 season by
winning the YC&AC Baseball
Tournament for the first time in
nine years. The best part was
the fact that we beat our archrivals,
Tokyo Eagles, in the final.
The 11 th annual nine-inning
season finale, the YC&AC U.S.
versus UN fall classic, was won
by the UN, who now lead the
series 6-5, and have bragging
rights until we do it again at
the last game of the 2011
season. The fact that our team
has been fairly evenly split between
Americans and the Rest
of the World has enabled us to
enjoy this friendly intramural rivalry
for many years now. The
R.O.W over the past eleven years has included, in no particular
order, players from Japan, Korea, Switzerland,
Turkey, the Philippines, Canada, Venezuela, India, China,
Australia, New Zealand, England, the Czech Republic,
and if I’ve left anyone out, I’m sure to hear about it.
About half way through the 2011 season, the team is
off to one of its best starts in living memory, with a record
of twelve wins and four losses. This is no doubt
due to the excellent fielding and batting demonstrated
by the entire team (avg. .402!), led by Todd Wiley, the
2010 co-MVP (somewhere in the .600s!). Quite a few
uncharacteristically low-scoring games have been won
with no errors committed in the field by the YC&AC
Weekend Warriors.
But every once in a while it’s the pitching that stands
out, and that is what happened on July 2, when in Game
2 against the Eigens (who had won the opener), Yachi
Another one for the YC&AC record book: Yachi Altinbay’s
two-hit, complete game shutout on July 2. The Iron Chief is
kneeling second right alongside catcher Blue Finger.
Proud winners of the YC&AC Baseball Tournament, tamers of the Tokyo Eagles, YC&AC
BASEBALL
Altinbay, a.k.a., the Iron Chief, in about his 30 th season
for the YC&AC, pitched a two-hit, complete game shutout
14-0 gem. After getting through the opposition’s
batting order once, yours truly called primarily for his
junk, which he threw mostly for strikes, to keep the batters
off balance. The only potential threat to the blanking
was snuffed out in the 6 th inning, when former captain
and third baseman, Chris Corron, making amends
for a couple shaky moments earlier in the game, speared
a line drive down the left field line that initially looked
like he had no chance for. Much to the Chief’s relief!
For the third straight year, YC&AC and the Eagles
have come together for a combined U.S. versus UN double-header.
This year’s midsummer classic, usually held
on one of the weekends close to the U.S. Independence
Day, resulted in a win for each team.
As we enter the dog days of summer, and the second
half of the season, with people taking summer holidays,
the team is often challenged to get enough players to
field a team with a few to spare. If you are interested in
playing, or know someone who is, please come on out
and introduce yourself or your friends, or contact
Ignacio Lara, the 2011 team captain (his contact details
may be obtained through the front desk). We are always
looking for new players of all nationalities.
And if playing is not your thing, come on out to
enjoy a game or two, or even a few innings, between
dips in the pool. And when the games are over, you can
always find the players congregating around a dice table
outside the new Sports Bar, where cold beers and other
fine foods and beverages are served by a friendly
YC&AC staff!
Play ball!
Blue Finger
YC&AC CONNECT August 2011 15