1-3 .714 Happy Birthday

What you might ask would the title to this post be referencing? It's all about Memorial Day baseball.

Game 1: RiverCats come out strong, scoring 10 runs in the second inning, and going on to beat the Narrows Baseball Club for the first win of the tournament. Josh goes 2-3 with a hit by pitch and an RBI.

Game 2: We played one of the better 13 year old teams in the state - the Brewers. There are three kids on this team that Josh has played with before, two on all-stars and one played on his team for the past two years. This team is composed of kids from all over Seattle (North/South/East/West) and is truly a powerhouse. Maybe I'm saying all of this because we got crushed 15-0. Josh went 0-1 with a perfect sacrifice bunt.

Game 3: The RiverCats played one of their best games of the season. Going into the final inning of the game, we were up 2-1. (To give perspective, the SBA Yankees, took the Brewers into extra innings before finally losing by one run.) The RiverCat problem was that two of our best pitchers were unavailable. One with a sore arm and the other on a Caribbean cruise with his family. When our pitcher's arm went "noodly" we had to go with one of our non-regulars. He promptly walked the bases loaded and gave up a bases-clearing double. Ouch! We lose 6-2.
Josh goes 1-1 with a double, a walk and another sacrifice.

Game 4: Playing Power Alley, we are officially depleted of pitchers. Our strong-armed SS pitches after a few minutes of instruction from the coach, but it was the first time that he had pitched - ever. Pretty tough situation for the team. We have six strong pitchers, but without two and the others being used already, you bring in the hardest thrower on the team and try to teach him to pitch a half hour before the game. We lost 8-4. Josh went 2 for 2 with a walk and 2 RBI's.

So, we go 1-3 in the tournament and Josh hits .714. That was Memorial Day Weekend for the Kuest family.

Oh yeah, after the final game we had a big family picnic to celebrate Leslie's 40th birthday! She gets to test the water on the 40's and let me know what it's like before I get there in October.

State Champs!

This weekend, Kyle's high school varsity baseball team won the 4A State Championship, played at Safeco Field in Seattle. Pretty dang awesome. We got to go to the Semi-Final game at Safeco on Friday night, but missed the championship game due to Josh's Memorial Day Weekend Tourney (that's another post).

The Semi-Final game included a bench clearing brawl started by the pitcher of the other team. With the Panthers ahead (that's us) 3-2 in the top of the 7th and final inning, two outs and a guy on third, a ball got past their catcher. The Panther runner attempted to score, but was tagged out at the plate by the pitcher. As our runner got up, he grabbed the pitchers jersey. I'm not sure if he slipped and was grabbing ahold of him for support or if he just was overly aggressive, but the pitcher went ballistic and threw our runner into a headlock and they went to the ground. The benches emptied. The pitcher was thrown out of the tournament. We got them out in the bottom of the 7th. Ahhhh Baseball....

Favorite Jamie Picture

I keep going back and looking at the Ooperman post because it's one of my favorite Jamie pictures. It made me think I should post my other favorite Jamie picture. We were at my parents house and all of the cousins were packed onto one giant hammock. Jamie fell out of the hammock and this is the picture we got as he told us that his hands were dirty.






Enjoy!

Apparantly I'm in the Clothing Business

Found this website and laughed out loud. Let's all buy a few. :)

Emotionally Exhausted

This is my friend Alex. I've known him for two and a half years - pretty much since we started our church. He's struggled with depression and wrestled with the pain of childhood sins that were committed against him. He believes in Jesus, trusts that his promises will eventually come true, but can't quite understand how that makes any sense today.

Two weeks ago today, Alex ended his life. I conducted the Memorial for him on Saturday. His family all lived out of town and they were able to be a part of it. His work associates were there as were his friends from Pathways. There is no easy way to deal with suicide as a community, but it is even more painful when it is someone you all loved, but who could not love himself.

Can I Get Some Residuals?

We're off to a game.

Mets vs. Cardinals today.

Practicing Funny Faces

Or "Ooperman's got a boogy!"

Ooperman

It's not the face of Jesus, but...

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little bit "post crazy" here, but I am confident that the United States of America showed up on Andrew's leg bruise.

All My Ballplayers

Here they are in all their uniform glory!

Gulper Eels Don't Poop!

A second grade boy's animal report doesn't get any better than when you find information like this! Gulper Eels just vomit whatever is left over from their meals. That is just too good.

Panther's Season is Over

Well, I didn't really do a great job of updating you on individual games throughout the season (you got some great pictures though). Now we're done.

At the second to last game, Kyle was given the Defensive Game Ball for an amazing catch he made at first base. It was in foul territory up the right field line and he made a catch with his back to the plate running full speed. It was awesome. He then came in to close out the game in and pitched a three up three down inning. He was stoked.

In the last game of the season he went 2 for 2 at the plate. He was also thrown out at the plate for the last out of the game. It was awful, because he was obviously safe (to everyone from our team). He tried to score from first base on a double and it would have put us within one run from tying the score. Instead, it ended the game. Bummer, but that's baseball.

He ended the year with a .421 batting average and a .608 on base percentage which is pretty outstanding. I never hit like that in high school. I'm proud of him, not just for his stats, but the courage and character he has shown through the year.

Rick, The Waver

Today I met Rick, the Waver. We’ve crossed paths hundreds of times, but never met before this morning. Rick is a guy who walks his dog along a street that I drive daily and everytime that I pass him, he waves with a smile. Today, as we passed and waved at each other, I felt this compelling need to tell this guy that he encourages me daily even though we don’t know each other. So I whipped the old Pathfinder around, stopped, and hopped out to greet the man who has waved at me hundreds of times. I think I may have startled him at first as I walked up, shook his hand and thanked him for waving with a smile. He told me that he’s from the Midwest and can’t help himself. (Does everyone in the Midwest wave?) It started when he was jogging in Chicago (there for a doctor’s conference he was attending). He went out for a jog (he used to jog until he had back problems and had a disc removed - it’s amazing how much you learn about someone in a short conversation) and was flipped off by dozens of people. He decided that he would wave and smile back at them.

Well, Rick is an encouragement to me. When I see him coming along the road, it changes my mood instantly. Thanks, Rick.

How can you be an encouragement to someone today?

Baseball Update

Kyle: His season is almost over for the high school. He has two games this week and then the annual "Bean Bowl" in which the Freshmen play the Junior Varsity next Monday. It has been a really good season for Kyle as he has never played on a team of this caliber before. It has challenged him and stretched him (see pictures below). I'm really proud of both his character and his performance.

Josh: His team is perhaps only half-way through their season. They play about three games a week and the work is paying off. The RiverCats are really coming around. The team is made up completely of 13 year olds and they are playing quite a few 14 year old teams in the mix. I think that has really paid off when they face teams their own age. Josh bats either lead-off or second generally and probably has one of the highest On-Base Percentages on the team. Recently, he has been unconscious at the plate (in a good way), roping the ball all over the field and playing a solid second base. Josh is also becoming a catcher - out of need. The team has one of the best catchers I've seen at this age, but he also pitches and he likes to pitch to Josh, in spite of the fact that he's never caught before.

Andrew and Brett: Their season is just getting started. I'll get some pictures posted soon. Currently, we are 1-2, but much better than our record suggests. We have another game today (weather permitting) and Andrew is scheduled to pitch. They are having so much fun. Andrew has two doubles already and Brett has made a few outstanding defensive plays. Brett is only eight and is playing on a team with 9-11 year olds. He's tiny out there, but he knows what he is doing and is improving weekly.

Just Call Him "Stretch"

How to Get Out of Trouble...

Last week, I was home alone with Andrew (9) and Jamie (3). I was upstairs, they were downstairs. I heard a cracking sound and Andrew bursting into tears. I correctly interpreted the sound as a toy being cracked over Andrew's head. Andrew, crying loudly, began the trek upstairs to report the crime to me. Jamie, in spite of his mere three years of age, already knows what is about to take place and devises a plan in head to avert the tragedy that may soon fall upon him. What I encounter is Andrew coming up the stairs with Jamie following behind him, pleading, "Jesus loves you, Andrew. Jesus loves you". When he saw that this was not working, his pleading turned to anger, "ANDREW! JESUS LOVES YOU! ANDREW!"

It was everything that I could do to keep from laughing.