CELEBRATION!!!

A look at the night in photos as the H-W Demons celebrated their first-ever Division V championship in the program's illustrious history Thursday night at Wavering Park. The Demons finished with a 10-2 record, the best in club history.

Your boys of summer

Back row (from left): Eric B., Big John Studd, Nick the Quick, Kriss Kross, The Weamster, Hitman Hart, Shawny (with beer), Grape Ape/King Carl, Jazzy Jeff.

Front row (from left): Marky Mark, Rob Base, DOB.

Kriss Kross with something Rueb will never get with the Cooler Boyz - his hands on a first-place trophy!! (Reub, join the Demons next year!!!)

Disillusioned Blues fan Marky Mark with the trophy, which is as close as any Blues fan will get to a championship this year.

I could really be mean in this cutline, but I won't go that route. The Weamster uncorks the victory champagne, which cost him about $1.25.

DOB enjoys a sip of the victory brew as Shawny shows off his Bud Light.

A Cubs fan and a champagne man, Shawny may only get to celebrate the Demons' title if his Cubs don't kick it into gear soon.

Kriss Kross tries his best not to catch any germs that might be on the bottle. Considering his brother, the Weamster, had his grubby hands all over it, that's probably a smooth move.

Is that sweat or beer all over Hitman Hart's shirt. Nice look with the old-school Demons throwback jersey, too.

Nick the Quick debates whether or not taking a swig is a good idea.

Eric B., the best damn lead-off hitter in the league, shows Jazzy Jeff's son how to drink champagne. Teach them young!!!

Can we get Jazzy Jeff a real uni next year. After all the team's front-runner for Rookie of the Year deserves one.

After a perfect night in the field, Rob Base makes sure he doesn't fumble his drink.

Once again, the only way Blues fan Marky Mark is going to celebrate with champagne is with the Demons. He could play wing for the Blues.

The first time Grape Ape has ever been photographed drinking anything other than a frosty Miller Lite.

The sweetest kiss of all!!!

* * *

In Memoriam

Ed, 2005-2006

The H-W Demons would like to dedicate this championship-winning campaign to the dearly departed Ed. He was our inspiration this season. He may not get a playoff share or a Division V championship ring, but he was a key ingredient to the building process that made us into champions.

God bless you, Ed. You are missed.

Game 12: H-W Demons 14, Uncle Bob's 1

There was pretty much no way we were going out like suckas. The men in blue decided not to postpone the inevitable last night at Wavering Park. They decided to award us our first-ever championship trophy before the game even started.

Instead of resting on our laurels, we decided to lay the smack down on Uncle Bob's candy asses. Even though we were clowning around in the field, using a different pitcher every inning, the Uncle Bob's boys - who played us so close in Week 1 - had no answer for the Demons.

Welcome to the rest of Division V's dilemma, boys. No one had the answer on how to slow down the ink-stained heroes of the diamond.

As has been the case for most of the season, the Demons dominated from start to finish. The Demons hit up and down the lineup as Uncle Bob's hurler had trouble finding the zone. It was, as the cliche goes, a total team effort at the plate.

The only way Uncle Bob's could stop DOB was when he made like it was 2005 and hit from the left side and fouled out for the first time this season. DOB was 1 for 2 with a run scored, finishing the season with a .500 batting average (15 for 30) with seven runs scored and 10 RBI.

DOB's highlight was taking the mound for the first time in his slow-pitch softball career and promptly striking out the first batter he faced. DOB did allow an unearned run (thanks Marky Mark), but got out of the inning without much damage. Since DOB was on the mound when the Demons reached the 10-run slaughter rule, it figures that he was the winning pitcher with Grape Ape earning a save.

DOB is now 1-0 lifetime pitching with a 0.00 ERA. He walked one and struck out one. Opponents are hitting .286 against him lifetime (2 for 7). What an inspiring performance.

DOB was Jose Oquendo-like in the field, too. Like the Cardinals' "Secret Weapon" of old, DOB was able to play anywhere on the diamond. In addition to his once-again stellar work behind the plate, he went out and played rover in the outfield and easily handled his only chance. (He forgot to throw his hat off though.)

Really, everyone showed up to hit. Eric B. was steady at the top of the order. Jazzy Jeff did his thing. Kriss Kross had a couple of nicely placed hits to right field. Slump-bustin' Shawny broke out with a couple of seeds.
Hitman Hart was solid as were the Weamster and Nick the Quick. Big John Studd, who shunned the postgame paparazzi, had a couple of nice hits. Marky Mark, Rob Base and Grape Ape also had at least one hit each as we flexed our considerable muscle.

Other than Marky Mark letting down DOB, we were salty in the field, too. It's worth nothing that Rob Base played a flawless right field (who cares no balls were hit out there.)

Here's the rest of the celebration in pictures. I'll log on next week to do the season-ending awards.

One thing about the pictures. Grape Ape wore Chuck Taylors in memory of the departed Ed, but my camera didn't work.

RIP, Ed, you're missed.

Until next week's awards.

Game 11: Merry Beavers 8, H-W Demons 7

We'll have to keep the Cristal on ice for another week.

With a chance to win the franchise's first-ever outright Division V crown, the Demons gagged like Monica Lewinsky on a humid night at Moorman Main against those pesky Beavers.

The Beavers scored a run in the bottom of the seventh - on a sacrifice fly of all things - to hand the Demons their second loss of the season.

All the Beavers could do was play spoiler after they were upset by Phil Craig last week, giving them four losses and knocking them out of title contention. That left DT Tattoo as the only three-loss team in the league. Since the Demons swept DT Tattoo during the regular season, we own the tiebreaker over them. As a result, the Demons have indeed wrapped up the Division V crown no matter what happens next week against Uncle Bob's Bar & Grill.



The Demons would like to go out with a win, which they could have had on Thursday had they played any defense at all. We misplayed two balls in the outfield that led to five Beaver runs. Nick the Quick, playing out of position in left field, misplayed a ball into a three-run inside the park homer. Later, the normally sure-handed Shawny dropped a ball that was over his head in center field, allowing two Beaver runs to score.

We also came up a bit empty in the key hit department as well. With the game tied at 7 in the top of the six and the bases loaded with one outs, Jazzy Jeff flew out to short center field and Kriss Kross popped out to third base to end the threat.

We couldn't mount any threat in the top of the seventh as the Weamster fouled out to end the inning.

In addition to his struggles in the field, Shawny - the undisputed MVP of Division V - struggled at the plate. The bottom of the order kept things alive, but couldn't get any help from the top.

DOB played a flawless catcher, recording another putout, and went 2 for 3 with a run scored to push his batting average back to .500 (14 for 28) with six runs scored and 10 RBI.

Rob Base, hitting last, also had a solid night. In addition to his fielding gaffe, the pressure of hitting third got to Nick the Quick, who had just one hit.

Regardless of whether we win or not next week, we'll have a postgame celebration of our first title. Game time is 8 p.m. at Moorman Main. Bring your beer and your game. We're not going out like punks with a loss.

Until next week.

We are the Champions !!!! (almost)

The mighty Demons don't even play this week and we're winners.

After pestering the Park District for updated Division V standings today, I found out the best news to ever come out of Demons camp ... We've won the Division.

At the very worst your Thursday night heroes will tie for the prestigious Division V crown for the first time in team history. With a 9-1 mark, the Demons have a two-game lead with two games to play. The worst we could do is tie the Merry Beavers and DT Tattoo for the title. We're 3-0 against those teams, which means the Demons are - beyond a shadow of a doubt - the most dominant bunch in Division V.

And if the Tattooists and the Beavers happen to lose on Thursday, we'll have the crown outright before we even step on the field next week. Even if that happens, all we need to do is win one of our final two games to make the title our own.

If there were ever a beer-league softball team to do a TV movie of the week on, it would be the Demons. Just take a look at our history:

Down in the dumps for many years, the Demons just couldn't get over the hump. Time and time again, the leader of this band of merry men - the Weamster - asked DOB to come out and play with the team. Time and time again, he was rebuffed.

Finally, in 2005, DOB gave in and said he'd join the Demons. From the very first game when DOB was nearly thrown out of the game, the Demons have been a different team. They've been a team with attitude. A team with grit. A team that shouldn't be messed with.

Of course, the Demons weren't without their problems. DOB did bring along some dead weight from the newsroom. But just like when the BoSox dumped Nomar and finally won it all, the Demons have turned the corner since kicking their whipping boy, Ed, to the curb.

Who knows how long the Demons' run of dominance will last?

After talking with one of the lords of the Park District today, it's not a sure-fire thing that we'll be bumped up to Division IV next year. But I'm sure the Park District won't want a dynasty like the Demons to run roughshod over the rest of the losers in Division V. There will likely be teams that don't want to come back to the league next year after suffering the wrath of the Demons.

Can't say that I'd blame them either. We're that damn good.

We'll be making plans on how to celebrate our championship next week. Should we pop some Cristal and light some stogies? Or just go with some of Nick the Quick's Keystone Light and bum a couple of cigs off of Marky Mark?

We'll figure it out.

Until next week.