Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:23:43 -0600 http://oslopretenders.com/ PostNuke Powered Site en-us http://oslopretenders.com/images/logo.gif http://oslopretenders.com/ dr@oslopretenders.com, glenn.wells@marlink.com http://oslopretenders.com/Article338.html The 2009-2010 offseason has been dominated by a long, dark and cold winter. If you look out the window now, it looks like it will still last for a long time to come. But we are now 9 weeks away from the season opener and the players are starting to come out of hibernation from their cocoons and lairs to get ready for a new and exciting season. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:23:43 -0600 http://oslopretenders.com/Article337.html Oslo, Norway The Pretenders had their season-ending party in downtown Oslo last Saturday to celebrate their 15th Norwegian Championship title (NM). At the same time, the prestigious P-awards were presented. With a total of 26 awards for P1, P2 and PL combined, there were many candidates in attendance - in the hope of capturing some of the spotlight. And the winners are....... Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:49:59 -0600 http://oslopretenders.com/Article336.html The Pretenders’ youth team has completed another successful season of baseball. Twenty different kids took part in the fun this season; 14 of them paid the membership fee and attended practices regularly. May 25th saw a record number of youngsters – sixteen! – show up for P-kid baseball practice, some of them veterans now in their third season of Norwegian kidball. Ranging in age from 7 to 13, the enthusiastic sluggers turned out all summer long to scoop grounders in the infield, roam the outfield, take mighty swings at coaches’ pitching, and burn up the basepaths. (And to eat some ice cream donated by supportive father Petter, the team’s leading recruiter of neighborhood talent.) Budding Farm Team Volunteer P-kid coaches Darren McKellep and Bob Mainardi founded the P-kid team in 2007 with equipment donated by the Oslo Pretenders Baseball Club. Pretender veterans Jim Dudek (now in his second season of coaching) and Rune Hofsløkken have “pitched in” at several practices. Field time at Rud Hauger Idrettspark is provided by Bærum Kommune. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:49:17 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article335.html NM Finals, best-of-five, Rommen September 20, 2009 The Pretenders combined tough pitching, some stellar defense, tactical small-ball and raw power to earn their 15th Norwegian Championship in baseball. RHP Glenn Wells (2-1) pitched five innings to earn the win with 2 strikeouts, allowing 7 hits, no walks and 2 HBP – all the while wincing through a painful left shoulder hyperextension from last weekend’s games. Leif Petter Sandvik closed out the season’s final two innings to seal the 3-game sweep. The Pretenders, after suffering five losses to the Royals this season, handed the their ace his second consecutive loss of the season. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:08:59 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article334.html Rommen, Oslo The Oslo Pretenders looked like true Champions for the first time this season and demolished the Royals’ Ace in the first game of the NM Finals (best of 5) to end a 5-game losing streak vs. the flamethrower from Bærum. The whole team contributed in a power-demonstration from the greatest team in Norway as the Pretenders outclassed the Royals 18-3 (in 5 innings) in the first game and took another giant step towards the club’s 15th NM title in the 2nd game as they won an exciting game 6-1. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:18:10 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article333.html Round Two: Norges Mesterskap at Rommen Field, Oslo September 5, 2009 Game 1: Defense (and some luck) made the difference in comeback Starting pitcher Håkon Jåtun and the Pretender defense began shakily – falling behind 6-0 – but finished strong when it mattered most. In this first game of a playoff dubbelheader, the Alligators started lefty Stijn Dubbelman on the mound. With the early lead, the Dutchman had P-batters worried when he cruised through the first two innings. But the Pretenders stayed cool, tightened their defense with some clutch plays, and began chipping away at the deficit – countering for 3 runs in the 3rd inning, another 3 in the 5th, and taking the lead with 2 more in the 6th. Stijn pitched an excellent complete game – keeping P-batters off-balance, hurling 6 strikeouts and inducing a great many pop-ups. The outcome of this contest could easily have fallen the other way if some luckily-placed Pretender pop-ups had fallen into more Alligator gloves in the late innings. Both teams logged 8 hits each, but the final score of 8-7 favored the Pretenders. Hawk got the complete-game win, collecting 6 Ks while surrendering 5 walks, 5 WP and 2 HBP. Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:44:48 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article332.html 2009 Norges Mesterskap at Rommen Field, Oslo August 30, 2009: The Oslo Pretenders Division II team entered the NM fray with a Sunday matchup vs. the young upstart Kristiansand Suns. Kazuhiko Yamada started on the hill for P2 and threw plenty of strikes but fell behind 4 runs to none. Rune Hofsløkken relieved Kaz in the 4th but K’sand chipped away with more hits, including a two-run bomb by Kristiansand’s starting pitcher and head coach Andy Johnson. The P2 squad played generally solid defense but was overmatched initially by Johnson’s sizzling fastball. Gradually the P2 hitters tuned in to its velocity and scored a total of 5 runs – all off two home runs. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:03:11 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article331.html Antwerp, 19 June 2009: The Oslo Pretenders won three of five games in the CEB European Cup Qualifier in Belgium. Proving their steel with consecutive nail-biting victories over the Lausanne Indians then the Espoo Expos, plus a convincing defeat of the last-place White Sharks of Portugal, the Pretenders secured the prestigious tournament’s bronze trophy. Oslo lost only to the tournament’s top two finishers, the undefeated Mannheim Tornados and host club Hoboken Pioneers. Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:32:39 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article330.html P2 traveled to Trondheim for their season opener. They had a tough schedule ahead of them with 3 games in 2 days. Two against the home team Knickers and one against Ballkam. Due to a fatal crash in the reporter's memory, the details from each game are long gone - here is a recap of the weekend. Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:46:10 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article329.html The NBL season of 2009 is about to start, and we look forward to a fun-filled season in which - hopefully - P2 will do even better than last season. On the other hand, we can finish no worse than 3rd. Fri, 08 May 2009 05:44:43 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article328.html Oslo, Norway Every vote has been registered and we are now ready to announce our new members of the Oslo Pretenders Hall of Phame. The election was between Eddy Haavik, Steinar Kjus, Rommel Lagmay and Ron Whitehead. In total we had 13 voters - 7 from the P-board, 5 from the HOF members and the last one from the rest of the players in the club. This year’s HOF voting turned out to be the closest ever as two of the contenders ended up with 24 points, So let's welcome the 7th and 8th members of the Oslo Pretenders Hall of Phame! And they are..... Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:23:28 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article327.html Oslo, Norway Oslo Pretenders Baseball Club is proud to present the candidates for the Pretenders Hall of Phame 2009. In the class of 2009 we have one newcomer in addition to three other candidates who have been in the battle before. Two of them were absent from the last year’s vote due to a short comeback in 2007. But since neither one of them played in 2008 they are back in the race of becoming the next Pretenders Hall of Phamer. The voters are the members of the P-board (7 votes) plus the members of the Hall of Phame (5 votes). In addition, the rest of the players in the organization together will count as one voter. And the candidates for the 2009 Hall of Phame are.... Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:27:31 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article326.html A terrorist attack Tuesday morning attempted to damage Pretenders' crib, Hangaren, by ramming a car through the door of their facilities. Police describe the attack as Kamikazical, but cannot yet give a clear description for the motive behind the action as the perpetrator is currently in medical care. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:58:31 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article325.html P2 took home the tournament trophy (even though there was none) by beating both Ballkam and Fredrikstad. The tournament was played with a time limit 1.5 hours instead of the regular 9 innings – and with a little twist – a half inning will end after 3 outs OR 5 runs. The last rule actually hurt us quite a bit… Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:01:15 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article324.html The year of 2008 has now entered the history books and it is now time for us to look back at yet another great year in Pretenders' history. 2008 represents the year the Oslo Pretenders clinched their 12th League title, 14th NM title and 11th Double. P2 fought hard all the way to the end and collected the silver medals in the 2nd division. In NM, P2 made Norwegian baseball history as they beat the Tåsen Hitmen in the bronze final to make sure the Pretenders could bring home two medals from the same NM. Internationally the Pretenders had their worst record since 2002 and scored the fewest runs ever in the club’s e-cup history. This mainly had a lot to do with the fact that 4 players withdrew from the competition right before the tournament started. In addition, the team struggled with several injuries during the e-cup. But off the field the team had a great trip. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:52:27 -0600 http://oslopretenders.com/Article323.html Kampen, Oslo The annual P-awards were presented last Saturday at Terje’s new Den during the traditional Pre-party before the Federations banquet. With a total of 26 awards for P1, P2 and PL combined, there were many candidates in attendance - in the hope of capturing some of the spotlight. And the winners are..... Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:05:29 -0600 http://oslopretenders.com/Article322.html Rommen, Oslo The Pretenders beat the Royals 12-6 and 5-1 to take a giant step towards their 14th NM title in the first showdown in the NM Finals. With solid hitting in the first game and a season-best performance by Ultra-Leif on the hill with a one-hitter in the second game, the Royals had little to show up for. The Royals are now forced to win the three games remaining in the NM Finals in order to claim their first NM title since 1997. Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:00:31 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article321.html Rommen, Oslo Ole Kristian Nylund became the big hero last Saturday as he smacked a liner in the left-center gap for a walk-off single, plating Luis Manololo Lars Lara Perez with the winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning. This represents the 2nd walk-off victory for the Pretenders in a row and the third last inning come-backer of the season over the Royals – 5th in the last two seasons. With the score 3-6 going in to the bottom of the 7th inning the Pretenders were forced into a corner but Michael led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch to start the amazing rally…. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:21:03 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article320.html Ole Kristian Nylund’s ultra-clutch line drive to left center scored the winning run from second base to snap a 6-6 tie and lift the Pretenders over ØHIL on Sunday. The improbable came in the first match-up against the rival Royals for the 2008 NM playoff gold. The Royals took an early lead with two runs in the first inning, and held the lead until the deciding 7th... Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:50:17 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article319.html In one of Norwegian baseball history’s most tense games ever, it was a spectacular 2-run, walk-off home run that propelled the Oslo Pretenders over the ØHIL Royals. With two outs in the bottom of the 8th, Leif Petter Sandvik’s tremendous shot gave Glenn Wells the complete-game win. Glenn struck out 4, walked 3 and plunked 2 batters. The regulation 7 innings had ended in a scoreless tie, testimony to the dominant pitching and solid, errorless defense of both teams. ØHIL’s starter Chris Abrahamsen, after having just scored the game’s only run in the 8th, took the mound to close out the contest. C Terje Hoaas led off with a walk but... Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:55:13 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article318.html Osterøy After a great last-inning-performance versus the Royals earlier in the same week to reclaim the top spot in the 1st division, the Pretenders went to the west-coast to battle against the Cheese-Eaters for a three-game-series. But with only 8 players they fell short to an aggressive hitting machine. With two loses they gave away their lead in the division and are now in need of a win against the Royals to manage to capture the League title in the last showdown next week. Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:19:10 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article317.html Rud Field, Tuesday, 05 August 2008: In a close contest in which every run proved critical, SP Glenn Wells pitched 4 and 2/3 innings to keep his Pretenders in striking range. Glenn struck out 4 and scattered 8 hits, but tired in the 5th and walked 3 consecutive batters (2 more walks than he surrendered in all of 2007). RP Kazuhiko Yamada took the mound with his squad down 4-2 with the bases loaded and two outs. The Japanese control artist pounded the strike zone with his consistent fastball and mean hook. Kaz got the final 7 outs, allowing just one run. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:27:23 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article316.html On Saturday P2 squared up against the Kristiansand Suns for the first time ever. Kristiansand is the other new addition to the league this season, and came to Rud ready to play P2 in their second game ever in NBL. In their first, they had lost to Tåfis aka “los cubanos”. Their duel with P2 would only worsen their record (PS this report was written without the benefit of available scorecard, so it is recreated based on the reporter's [sometimes dubious] memory). Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:23:06 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article315.html Sandvika, Bærum The Oslo Pretenders held their annual Hall of Phame party this past Saturday to celebrate Shaq and Mark as their 5th and 6th members of the Oslo Pretenders Hall of Phame. The party took place at Darren's Party House in Sandvika as the club had a nice BBQ party for the guest of honor. The party started after the 2nd P-League of the season. The Infidels beat the Redfox 10-6 and both teams are now tied with a 1-1 record for the season. Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:03:31 -0500 http://oslopretenders.com/Article314.html P2 beat BI comfortably in their second meeting this season and won the series between the two teams 2 games to none. In their second meeting of the season, P2 decided not to overrun BI, but to let the bats do the speaking. Unfortunately, BI was only able to field 7 players, so the outcome was pretty much set before the game. Fri, 23 May 2008 04:22:40 -0500