The 2010 Sea Kittens carried the largest roster in team history-17 players- and all but two were ready to go for a 9 PM opening night against Floyd & Donna’s Packer Inn. Player-manager Joe Hennessy obsessed over that opening-night lineup, the only certainty in all the iterations being that Erin O’Brien would take the first hacks in team history.
Doc Kornis in his inimitable windup
The forecast for May 9, 2010 was iffy, but a 70% chance of rain clearly left a window for the game. It rained off and on through the day but let up, and games were ON, despite the wind and cold: 45°, 10-15 MPH winds from the east with gusts to 30 MPH at 8 PM. The weather didn’t stop the early games from playing, but when the wussies who were scheduled to play at 8 PM didn’t show, the ump called off the 9 PM games and the Cats were officially rained out. A fitting beginning to the Sea Kitten adventure.
A week later, the softball gods smiled upon this merry troupe, and May 19 dawned an idyllic late-spring day, perfect for a ballgame. Sea Kittens squared off against Jackalopes at 7 PM on Olbrich Field #1, and emerged from their first on-field tussle unbeaten. The archives contain a brief description of that affair, and on May 20, 2010 the first Salmon Snacks in team history were awarded.
When the Cats got rained out the next two weeks, the rain began to become ingrained as a major pain in team lore.
Sea Kittens won four of their first five games, but a little June swoon saw the team drop to 5-3 and miss out the Pittsburgh League first-half title by a single game.
The team rebounded for its season finale- a double header against Packer Inn and Jackalopes- two teams the Cats had rallied to beat by one run earlier in the season. Sea Kittens did it again- this time rallying from 11-1 and 6-1 deficits in the two games to win by one run again and cap a 7-3 inaugural season.
And dang it was fun.
Fall League Recap
Buoyed by the summer league experience, the Cats enthusiastically signed up for fall ball. The 2010 fall season pitted Sea Kittens against a mish mash of opponents. After romping through the first two games 2-0 by a combined score of 56-11, Sea Kittens got their comeuppance, dropping the next three games against quality opponents- including the Cats’ first-ever tussle with Harmony Dogs. But Sea Kittens evened their slate for the fall season in the finale, beating Packer Inn for a third time to finish the fall slate with a 3-3 record.
