The Bears took advantage of a short-staffed Team Rake last night with a 9-5 win to finish the season at 8-12. Considering the previous two seasons ended up with 1 and 2 wins respectively, 8 wins is an extremely big improvement for The Bad News Bears.

The Bears compiled 11 hits (3 XBH) and took advantage of 3 walks and 4 Rake errors to collect the 9 runs. Defense was a premium last night as both teams struggled with less than ideal field conditions. A bank of lights was out causing popups to be difficult to track and an infield that had not been raked in quite some time made grounders an adventure for both teams. In fact, Team Rake's shortstop, Rob Sicluna, nearly took a bad hop in the face. Second base routinely became dislodged on slides which led to one turned ankle for the Bears. The only guaranteed good defense was on fly balls to the outfield which both teams were able to track really well.

Next year, we as a league need to do a better job of working with the field managers to improve field conditions - not just commissioners and the board of directors; managers as well. Field conditions speak directly to player safety and since everyone has jobs we need to make sure everyone can be at their jobs.

Good luck to Team Rake in the upcoming playoffs. I am certain that the team that faced the Bears last night will not be the Team Rake their opponents get in the playoffs and they will be a force in the post-season.