It was the worst weather for kickball in nearly five years, but that didn’t stop several powerhouses from punishing rivals in mud-slicked McCarren Park.
Top-ranked Brooklyn United continued its unbeaten streak with easy wins draining Booze on First, 11-2, and hemming Salute Your Jorts, while eighth-ranked Majesty smote Ramrod and adjourned a depleted People’s Court.
The field may have been washed out, but the spirited Booze on First didn’t quit after its disheartening first-game loss, bouncing back with two crucial wins, including an 11-–1 romp over Ramrod before pissing all over Diddy’s White Party, 7–2.
“We feel good,” said Booze captain Dan “Wine Sorbet” Borbet, citing his team’s bright uniforms and resilient spirit for its recent 8–2 record over its last 10 games. “We’re ready to take on whoever they throw at us. You start winning and people get excited.”
The sixth-ranked Lobos also added a crucial win over Zeus’ Beard, keeping alive its hopes for a high seed in the playoffs. The club held off a furious three-run rally in the fourth inning with early run support from Neil “The Power and the Glory” Rabinowitz and Jesse “Brandy” Alexander on its way to a 6–5 victory.
In other games, Balls to the Wall sunk the Pirates, 10–3, and Sons of Pitches cooked the aptly named Lightning Turtles by a respectful margin.
Few other games were played during the rain-shortened Sunday, which was interrupted repeatedly by lightning and monsoon-like conditions with gale-force winds.
“It was just hot enough so that it wasn’t totally uncomfortable, but it was torrential,” said League Commissioner Kevin “Commish” Dailey. “The last one was nearly five years to the day, which was right before Katrina.”
Several teams including the Wrecking Crew, the John Cougar Mellencamps, Pony Boys and the unfortunately named Licensed to Thunder did not even attempt to play, depriving kickball fans of a weather related smackdown between the Thunder and the Lightning Turtles.
“I’m very proud of the people who played came out and braved the monsoon and it makes me happy that people have such a love of the game,” said Daley adding that members of the no-show teams were “wusses.”
This weekend, which Dailey has dubbed “Rematch Weekend,” will have critical playoff implications as teams will battle against bitter rivals for a high seed in next month’s postseason tournament.
Brooklyn United, which has had a stranglehold on the number one seed for much of the season will face off against the red-hot second-ranked New Frontiersmen and the struggling defending champions, the John Cougar Mellencamps, who are in 10th place and find themselves facing a difficult road.
“For the Mellencamps to get into the top eight, they’ll have to fight for it,” said Dailey.
Fourth-ranked Bacon Bits, champions from two years ago, could face the Lobos, and possibly Majesty, while third-ranked Never Scared, a popular preseason pick to win it all, will play the Frontiersmen and fifth-ranked Crucial Taunt.
The Never–Taunt game will likely be an entertaining rematch. Last year, Never Scared team members made “Beat Crucial Taunt” T-shirts and followed-through on its promise.
This year, Never Scared is retiring those shirts, but it has a few other intimidating tricks up its purple sleeves.
“We’re not really making predictions, we’re just going to go out and play hard,” said an extremely coy Never Scared captain, Dan “General Wesley” Clark.
Brooklyn Kickball at McCarren Park ball fields (Bedford Street at N. 14th Street), Sundays, 5–11 pm.
