7/29/09 by Amber Hutson 2009 Most Memorable Moments Well, it's over! Another KWL season in the books and the playoffs are here. It's been a great season but like they say, all good things must come to an end. I want to take this time to highlight some of those great moments that we soon won't forget.     And in no particular order here are my top 20 for your enjoyment. All Ballad of Wonderment: Do you remember when Metallica came and performed for us? That was awesome. Ok, they didn't actually perform, but their masterful music and well thought-out, moving lyrics could be heard all around Oshtemo thanks to Matt Conroy and his teammates on The Cure (The cure for the Itch, AKA Belly Itchers) and their cooler/radio. Thanks guys for that good music. I don't know what I would have done without, probably listened to N'Sync. week 1 lowlights   Are You Serious?: Do you remember when Johnny Blue Jeans wore batting gloves? That was insert politically incorrect word for homosexual here. I can't believe someone actually wore batting gloves. I would like to thank those who followed the rules of the KWL and ridiculed the hell out of him! I truly appreciate your dedication to the league and your patriotism to this country. Enough Already: The match-up between the Industrials vs the Roos on Flesher west in the final week of the regular season proved to be memorable. These two teams met again to complete the longest game in KWL history, a remarkable 19 innings with the Industrials coming out victoriously with a final score of 2 to 1. For the first 18 innings, Kevin Marszalek and Brian Meyers managed to hold the score at 0 to 0. "I could pitch another six innings!" exclaimed Meyers at Wings Etc. for post game dinner. read more   Four-by Four: Immediately following their continuation of the longest game ever, the Roo's and Indies played out their last two games of the regular season. And if a record inning game wasn't enough for these guys, Don Kern II, Brian Meyers, Daryl Hutson, and Pat Kean wow'd the world with a four by four. Sorry folks, I'm not talking about the secret In-N-Out Burger menu. I'm referring to four pitches, four homeruns... back to back to back to back. After a turkey of homeruns, Joe Brainerd was pulled and replaced by Chris Buerger. With one rotation of the shoulder and a release of the ball, WAM, A HOMA! Number four.   Allstar Postgame at Township Park: Epic! We had nearly 30 people stick around after the AllStar events were over and just BS, hang out, drink beer and make jokes. Before long, darkness came to crash the party! AJ was so... "tired" that he couldn't even make it the woods to pee, so he stopped at the little tree next to left. I'm glad it was towards the end of the night. On a sad note, KWL slugger Bryan Jennings hurt his arm enough to require surgery screwing off during this shindig. Allstar Recap     Take That: Dani Canon (WES) took a line drive right to the face thanks to Johnny "Blue Jeans" Fosberg (SIR). Benny Champagne (WON) hit a foul ball and ricocheted off his face. Those are just a few. Someone gets pegged every game and it never gets old. Hitting people with a wiffleball is probably my most favorite thing to do. Probably because that is what I am best at.   T'wack Heard 'Round the Zoo: Our league is making it big time! We've had our story published in multiple newspapers, including the Kalamazoo Gazette and the Chicago Tribune. Don't forget about the radio interview with national syndicated radio shows. Maybe next year we'll make television. read more   Guy Love: OMG! It's everywhere! I mean seriously, every time I turn around someone's hugging, being caressed, getting poked in the butt with a wiffleball bat, or getting dry humped.   Voted Most Memorable by the Belly Itchers (and most of the league): Josh Whitfield is more man than most. If you missed it, I'm sad for you and you should be sad. Josh mesmerized fans by sporting a navy blue Speedo® at this years Fun-Star game. Nice work! Funstar recap   The Most Disappointing Out: Another epic event, recalls Commissioner Meyers, involved rookie, Travis Branch of the Lemons. Flesher Field, Meyers at the mound. There are two outs, bases loaded, Industrials up by one run, Branch in the box and two strikes against him. Meyers throws a wild pitch behind Branch's head, he ducks in defense but fails to protect his bat (that's a rookie for you), the ball ricochets off the bat and slams right into the strikeboard, Ghey-K'd. This is one of the most failed moments for a team, yet "it was the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of", brags Branch.   Homerun Robs: It has become a weekly occurrence to watch players make amazing plays on balls that should long be forgotten. Whether you were robbed or you were doing the robbing, it's always a favorite topic at post game get togethers.   Epic Arguments: Every year there are always arguments between teams because of bad calls or whatever reason got their panties in a twist. There were a couple times this year I thought someone was going to get hit! Most notable would be the Diablos and Indies game after the allstar break. If you were within 2 miles of Flesher East, you heard what was going on!   Now That's What I Call Love: There are three people who will remember this next event for the rest of their lives. Of course, I speak of Brian Meyers, Mike Raber, and Daryl Hutson and their wiffleball tattoos. These three will forever be wiffle brothers. One magical Friday, these three die-hard wifflers forever engraved themselves with the imprint of a wiffleball somewhere on their body. The league photographer and this articles author got the exclusive and went back stage to get your story. They chose some of the most sensitive spots and their pain faces were priceless. Brian and Raber's made mostly "oow" or "ah" faces, but Daryl showed little emotion. I'm pretty sure he drifted off into a coma. When it was over, we had Sonic, it was pretty good.     Watch Out For the Photographer: So I'm sitting at third base on Flesher West, someone hit a fly ball right towards me. I look up and remember seeing Kevin Marz of the Roo's heading right for me. We see each other at the last minute, I duck to avoid a collision, he leaps over me and catches the ball...one handed. His first web gem of many. There was also a time when I was at third base on Flesher East (I see a pattern, hmm), where I was snapping pictures of the Lemons. I was pretty sure Mike Raber of the Lemons was going to stop at third. Well I was wrong. He decided to try for home and of course I was right there. He almost took me down, but managed to run around. The sucky part was that the pitcher threw the ball and got him out at home. If I wasn't there, he probably would have been safe and won the game. L Sorry Raber. "If you were anyone else I would have taken you out" pouts Raber. I told him he should have. My bad. The Columnist of the Year's Visit: Did you miss him? Well he was here. He came out for the first Wonder's versus Weasels game. It was spectacular. I miss Jacques!   Our Most Returned Player Didn't See It Coming: Nate Ouellette of the Belly Itchers had no idea what he did. He swung in defense and hit the ball. "I thought I popped it up and it hit the board." Nope, wrong. That sucker flew right over the right field fence. Our most returned player was most confused after his defensive check swing homer.   Don't Forget Your Towel: Or umbrella. There were 8 rain games this season. That's probably the most ever (confirmed). My favorite is sliding on your way to first coming out the batting box. I swear about twenty people almost broke an ankle. New rule for 2010, Slip 'n Slide from 3rd to home required for rain games and you must slide!     The Six Beauties of the KWL: Melissa Brink, Dani Cannon, Katie Meyers, Dani Sarzyneski, Shevonne Tellado, and yours truly are by far the best part of this league. Without us, it would be a major sausage fest. And who wants that? Unless you're involved with "Guy Love" mentioned earlier. On behalf of these ladies, we would like to request the fences be lowered six inches to reduce the risk of deflation. This actually is a benefit for everyone. So, thanks in advance.   Record for Most Lost Games in a Season: Goes to the One Hit Wonder. Sorry we're not better. Maybe next year we'll get a win! Maybe.   Loose Nuts beat the Belly Itchers.: What?! With 2 outs and 2 on in the Bottom of the 5th inning, Justin Knecht connected for possibly the biggest homerun in his entire career. A three run blast to put the loose nuts up 5-6. Werty sealed the deal retiring the Belly Itchers in 1-2-3 order. Way to go guys! I would brag about that if I were you!   Well that's it. I want to thank everyone who gave us these moments and look forward to what you will give us next year. And if your moment wasn't mentioned, it just wasn't memorable enough to remember. Sorry. Better luck next year!