Riley's Eying .600

July 11, 2007

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Could this be true?  Bryan Riley has always been known for his command of the strike zone on the mound, and his computer savvy on the team’s website.  He has never been known for his bat.  It was only two short years ago that he would usually be seen throwing his bat in disgust after yet another shallow pop up to the left fielder.  2007 is another story.  Bryan has not had much luck with fishing in the 2007 season and it is thought that he may even be making up stories about catching pike and 5.5 lb bass since he is always alone and has no photo evidence, but he is really turning it around at the plate.

The emerging slugger has his eye set at the .600 mark.   He was surrounded by swarms of reporters and autograph seekers after Tuesday’s game at Marvin field.   When asked about the .600 season batting average, he was quoted as saying, “I think I can do it.  These days it is virtually impossible to get me out.  I can hit it anywhere and everywhere.  I have been a notable performer on our website the entire season.  The team sucks without me.  They are 1 and 6 in the games that I have missed over my career.  They can not get any run production without me.  Let’s not even get into how dominant I can be in the playoffs.  Have you seen my playoff stats?” said the humble player after last night’s game.  Bryan has worked his average up to .571 after the Dogpound’s first 11 games.  Last night Bryan had 2 hits in his first 2 at bats and then decided that he was not going to take the bat off his shoulder for fear of dropping his dog pound leading average.  He instead took 2 walks without even a thought of swinging at a pitch.  The biggest threat to his first career batting title this year is that he missed 30 percent of the first 10 games.  With the at bats that he has lost he is in danger of not having enough at bats to be considered for his first dog pound batting championship.  He is still shy of the 2.41 at bats per dog pound game that is required to be in consideration.

When asked by Peter Gammons what he has done differently in the 07 season, Bryan shared with the world his new pre-game ritual.  Bryan let the man in on his secret.  Before every game, Bryan demands that Jen cook him something special.  It took some prying, but Peter eventually got him to unseal the secret, “I just eat a little piece of steak”.