Season over, Grover

My Hurricane's got beat bad Saturday by the lively, feisty Mariners, and our season is over. We were never really in the game and were down to 8 players by the 4th inning. Meanwhile, in Shanganah, the Spartans treated their last game against the Blacksox interestingly, fielding 8 players from the start, and promptly losing, ending any hopes we had of making the final even if we hadn't sucked immensely against the Mariners.

So, game over, no more credits for 2006.

The Hurricanes drifted off into the sunset. Here follows a season review and future preview.

Steve Divito (Captain) SS/DH
Steve trained with the Irish Team in 2006 with a view to joining the team if his passport application came through on time. Despite numerous enquiries to the passport office this didn't come about, Steve didn't get to spend two weeks in Belgium with the lads and his wife Elaine knows nothing about the strange envelope buried in the back garden. Steve went on to become the Vice President of State Street and moved to the Cayman Islands where the locals have come to know him as a God of some description.

Picture: Steve returning to Ireland in 2020 in his new role as Vice President of State Street.

Tom Kelley (vice Captain) C/CF/LF
TK had an eventful 2006. Whilst playing his usual superb outfield for the 'Canes and Ireland he was on the Prague trip, made it to Belgium and set up his own business, smuggling young American students into Ireland in order to intoxicate them. TK went on to become captain of the Hurricanes with Divito's move to the Caymans. In 2012 he set a record for 'most spectacular catches made while ending up on your ass'. He married for the 5th time in 2027 and called his first child 'Karlovac'.

Picture: TK accepts 2009 MVP award at the Helix



Chris Foy 1B/CF
Chris played for both Ireland and the Hurricanes in 2006, and showed that, when the going gets tough, the Foys get going. In the infamous 'Belgian Brawl' Chris was kicked 'quite hard' in the back of his leg. The injury did not prevent him from killing the ball in the home stretch. The injury also did not prevent him from hitting a ball in Prague that went 'really far' and Chris made it into second standing. This 'double' as they are known occurred roughly two months before the injury. Chris moved to the States in early August without telling Janice and is now on the run from men with 'Northern Irish accents'. He regrets nothing.

Andy Martin SS/2B/RF
'The handy man' spent 2006 hitting the ball hard for the Hurricanes, any time he played the Hurricanes lineup was infinitely more dangerous. Andy went on to become an advisor to Paddy Powers with the introduction of betting into the Irish League in 2010. After a season successfully predicting the outcome of Irish League games, Andy and family disappeared following the great 'Twins v Hurricanes' season ending finale in 2011, where the Hurricanes lost 39-0 to the 12-1 underdog twins, playing without 'One Pitch' Woody Woodburn who had been called up to pinch hit for Derek Jeter in the World Series. Authorities in a Bermudan island paradise would later investigate a man fitting Andy's description but closed the case after receiving a large briefcase that did not hold over 1 millions dollars in sequential bills.


Picture: Martin (right) discusses game lines with an associate, circa 2010





Rafael Diaz (President) 2B/RF/LF/Bouncer
Rafael brought his game to a new level in 2006 and chipped in big hits in the Hurricanes wins over the course of the season. His amazing ability to grunt 'No!' at the incoming pitches, forcing them to dive down and away out of the strike zone was something he picked up from his time working the doors of Dublin's bars, shouting 'No!' at potential underage drinkers. Rafael would go on to move back to South America with Carlos, and both men would become instrumental in overthrowing the current Venezuelan regime, replacing it with a democracy which then in turn voted Rafael in as 'President for Life'.

Radek Prochazka C/SS/OF
The Crazy Czech led the Hurricanes in 'times a single leads to two stolen bases and scored on a past ball in the space of four pitches' in 2006. Radek also brought the 'Canes to Prague, and it was there we found out he was actually the mayor of said City. After moving back to the Czech Republic Radek became the leader of said country in 2010 and was instrumental in brokering several Middle East Peace deals, three Hurricanes trips back to Prague and catapulting the phrase 'Two Times' into the public domain.

Pete Routolo LF/RF/2B
DJ Routolo, founder of 'Pete Pamf' and endorser of the shaggy beard, helped strengthen the Hurricanes lineup in 2006. He was also the sender of what would become 'Best team text'. Pete sent me this text at 4:15 am the morning of a game.

''Yo 22, if we're short give me a call, but otherwise, I am in a heap, worthless, f%$%ed''

Note: This text won out in a narrow victory over umpire Jimmy Regan's text sent from Dublin airport:

'Mac, is Rafael a huge black dude with a shaved head?'

Pete was also instrumental in bringing the Hurricanes image up in leaps and bounds in terms of 'cool' rating. His plastic bag and jeans would become standard issue down the years. Pete would go on to become bigger than Justin Timberlake, and cooler than Vince Vaughn. He accepted both titles from a webcam broadcast.

Luke Barkemeyer C/LF/RF
The Aussie catcher who broke both pinkie fingers during the 2006 season was an instant success with the Hurricanes. He brought stability and the ability to catch the ball to the catching position, and taught the Hurricanes new words such as 'Kazwogga' and 'Schwaznoodle'. Luke, named after the Jedi Master, went on to move to Moscow, where he started a small but successful mail order bride service.