Let's Play Some Ball!

The MSCR Summer Softball league came to a close on Friday with a championship game between Eat at Joe's and Bowl-a-Vard. You might remember them from this post - they were the too-competitive team - or this one.
Anyway, we went 5-0 the second half of the season, so we played these guys again for a plaque and the pride of being 'champions' - not that valuable, but even so, I was nervous and antsy before the game.
The game was the most intense softball game I have ever been a part of. We were the visitors, and I was batting fifth. With two outs in the top of the first inning, I came up to bat with runners on first and second. I swung at the second offering after the pitcher made a great first pitch. Unfortunately, I grounded it right at him - it wasn't even a slow, bouncy little dribble of a hit that I could beat out. No, I hit a sharp groundball and was out by a step. I then began a pilgrimage around the outfield, playing left-center, left, and then right-center. Defensively, I sat out the first inning. Bowl-a-Vard scored one run after a leadoff double just inside the third-base line. We got out of the inning only down 1-0, so that was a small victory. In the second inning, we tied it at 1 after a string of hits.
In the bottom of the third, I almost made a highlight-reel catch. The other team's leadoff batter was a guy who loved to pull it sharply down the left-field line. I was playing left field when he came up the second time and was expecting some action. He hit a fly ball on the first pitch - it was probably 20 feet behind third base and foul by about 10. I was playing fairly deep since he is a good hitter, so I took off (losing my hat in the process) and dove for the ball...all I got for my effort was grass stains on my shirt and a sore back all weekend.
The game progressed along tied at 1. My second atbat came leading off the fourth inning. Unfortunately, I grounded back to the pitcher again. Gah! Even worse, the inning ended with the bases loaded - if I had been able to get on, I would have scored and perhaps we would have put some crooked numbers up on the scoreboard. Nope. This game was all about Jeff dragging Eat at Joe's down.
At least I left my troubles at the plate. In right-center field I played some solid defense, as the entire team shut down Bowl-a-Vard's potent offense. I caught a deep flyball in right center, and would have thrown a runner out at second on a forceout if the second baseman had held on to the throw. Our pitcher Daniel got some key strikeouts (including the other team's super-competitive pitcher -with the bases loaded! He definitely threw his bat down in the dugout after that gem) and the infielders, although not perfect, buckled down to get the outs when we needed them. My last at-bat of the game came in the top of the sixth. Still tied 1-1, I came up with 2 outs and a runner on first. The other team had a pretty weak defender in right field, so I was hoping to turn on a ball and hit it down the line. Our shortstop Megan was on base, and I was pretty confident she would score if I could come through. Well...there's a reason one of the tags of this post is anti-clutch. I did turn on the ball, but didn't get it in the air enough. The first baseman was able to knock it down and throw to second base for the forceout. Oh well.
Seriously, though, this is slow-pitch softball. It's insane for a game to be tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth. And the top of the seventh. And the bottom of the seventh.
Finally, Eat at Joe's got in business in the eight inning. With two outs, Nick (one of the outfielders) hit a solid single to center field. Our right fielder Somer plated him with a double to center...after Daniel hit a deep double and came around to score on a single, we ended the inning up 4-1. Ecstatic to have our first lead of the game, we still had to get three more outs to be crowned champions. I went to right-center field for the bottom of the eighth. Daniel induced two quick popouts, but then things got a bit dicey. A walk, a single, and an error on a fielder's choice loaded the bags with two outs. The next batter lined a single up the middle - I ran over to field it and threw it back to Rachel at second base, almost catching the girl rounding the bag too far. Two runs scored on the play and now the lead was only 4-3...with their leadoff batter coming up to bat. Luckily, he grounded to shortstop, Megan threw to Danielle for the force at third, and EAT AT JOE'S IS THE LEAGUE CHAMPION WOOO BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE!

We shook hands with a stunned (and oh-so-sportsmanlike) Bowl-a-Vard team - okay, it's not fair to lump them all in the jerk category. Some of their players were actually pretty nice, and I'm sure they're all good people. They just didn't come across that way on the diamond. After we picked up our gear, we celebrated at Villa Tap.

Congratulations, Eat at Joe's. It was definitely a fun year.

Final Stats:
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
0/3 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Season
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
16/24 .667 .680 .917 1.597 9 0 7

Quck recap/box score updates

All right. Eat at Joe's softball team has been moving right along, footloose and fancy-free. We've won 4 in a row. This friday we have a makeup game from a rainout earlier in the season and then, in all likelihood, we'll play in the playoff game. Hooray!


Eat at Joe's (6-3)
Game
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
2/3 .667 .750 1.000 1.750 2 0 0
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
3/4 .750 .750 1.000 1.750 1 0 3
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
3/3 1.000 1.000 1.667 2.667 2 0 1
Season
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
16/21 .762 .773 1.048 1.821 9 0 7

In the most recent game, I had several defensive chances, although they were a bit out of position. I was playing right-center one inning when the batter skied a popup to second base. The girl playing there dropped it, but I had sprinted in (out of boredom more than anything else) and was able to throw the batter out at first. That's why you run out everything you hit, kiddos - nobody wants to be on the wrong end of a 9-3 putout.
The second chance I had was with one out and runners on first and second. It was the third inning, so we were already leading 10-1, but whatever. The batter was a decent right-handed guy, and he stepped into the ball and crushed it out to right field. Our rightfielder (coincidentally, the girl who was at second earlier) ran after it. I was playing left center at the time, but assumed (c0rrectly) that a cutoff throw was in the works. I ran over about 20 feet beyond the infield dirt on a line between the pitcher's mound and the rightfielder. Once she threw it back in, I waited for it to get to me and then fired the ball to home plate. It was a one-hop strike and we got the runner from first trying to score. Boo. Yah. Just another 10-8-2 putout...call me Ichiro.

It's been a really fun season so far, and the end of the year has definitely snuck up on me. We've clinched a winning record, and that feels good. With one more win this year I'll have matched the career number of wins with the Shorewest Northeasters - no knock on those guys. As a team we were improving, and we'd probably be 5-4 this year. Jenna and Mike just had to go and have a kid. Priorities, people!

Goals for the rest of the season:
Go 2-0
Win league's playoff
Make a diving catch
Not make any more outs while batting
Hit only doubles or better
Hit a homerun (inside-the-park is fine, I'm not crazy enough to think I can put one out)

Two Recaps and One Terrible Segue

A little bit delayed on the recaps, sure...but I've caught the Common Swift throat/nose bug (we're so sharing)...which put a crimp in my week's productivity. Also, I'm lazy.


Last Friday Eat at Joe's started the second half of our season with a record of 2-3. We won 7-4, bringing us to .500. Yay! It was a well-played game all around; much better than the first time we played the other team. I went 2-3 with a single, double, and two runs scored. The time I got out was on a hard-hit ground ball right to the pitcher. He fielded it cleanly but I was still only out by half a step. I felt out of sorts running to first on the hit - I think I was still shaken up by the previous inning's defensive escapade. The opposing pitcher hit a hard line drive to right center, where I was playing. I initially took a step to my right but when I saw the ball was slicing away from me, I sprinted back and to my left - diving for the ball at the last second. I missed...and hit the ground. It's disappointing, and resulted in a home run for the guy, but really - I don't want to play softball unless I can get grass stains on my shirt. I just wish I hadn't taken that first step to my right - I could've caught it otherwise. Still, we won, and there's a decent chance that we'll finish with a winning record on the year.

Eat at Joe's (3-3)
Game H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
2/3 .667 .667 1.000 1.667 2 0 0
Season H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
8/11 .727 .727 1.000 1.727 4 0 3

On Monday evening I played 4 player whiffleball - Joe and Kyle v. Brandon and Jeff. I pitched the first six or seven innings, giving up the pivotal tying run with ONE OUT TO GO IN THE GAME. PUKE. Brandon and I had a really nice start to the game offensively, but couldn't keep up the pace. On the mound, the Joe and Kyle seemed to make some adjustments midway through the second or third. Until then I had been throwing almost exclusively junk - crappy curves in on the hands and changeups low and away. After they started to hit that stuff I stole Carlos Marmol's delivery and started throwing hard sliders and fastballs. It worked...for a while. Another whiffleball game, another heart-wrenching loss, I suppose.

Anyway, as I was about to take the 'mound,' try to get Joe out, and win the game, I was thinking about how to celebrate/recap the victory. I was pretty sure that there was going to be a victory dance - if my time with the band has taught me anything, it is that I have "awesome" "dancing" "skills."
(I need to preemptively apologize, I think. Jody told me that she thinks I can do four consecutive posts with muppets in them, tops. So...the next two (at least) are going to have hilarious muppet references.

If, by hilarious, you mean barely relevant.)

Well, are you ready for the King? Girls? Here we go!

In play, (runs)

Friday night I finally had another softball game. Last week there were no games because of Memorial Day, and I missed the week before that to judge the battle of the bands in Mount Horeb...it felt like a completely new season this week since it had been so long since my last game. We played at 6:30 at Olbrich Park, which is a nice place to play. The sun was pretty intense behind first base - but there weren't any mosquitoes, so no complaints here.
No complaints about the game, either. I led off again, and this time didn't do anything radically stupid on the basepaths! I started the game off with a single through the right side, but got stranded at first. Oh well. I played center field most of the game, but I think the other team hit maybe one ball to the outfield...nothing happened out there. Pretty boring.

My second at bat came in the third inning I think. Our team had a pretty successful second, so we were up something like 5-0. In the third, I was up fourth. I batted with one out and runners on first and third base...I took a pitch up in the zone and lined a solid shot into center field. Eric stopped at second, so I had to stop at first (probably for the best). The next batter grounded to third, where the other team got the forceout. I was standing at second with two outs as the batter hit a grounder to the third baseman. I am not exaggerating here - she beat me to the bag by ONE STEP...and I sort of hit the brakes about five feet from the bag so I didn't run into her and hurt somebody.

My last at bat was in the fifth with runners on first and second, one out. We were leading 10-2. I stepped into the pitch and pulled it down the right field line for a two-RBI triple (briefly entertaining thoughts of bolting for home before I decided otherwise). Unfortunately, the next two batters couldn't get me home, so I ended the day stranded at third.

Eat at Joe's (1-3)
Game
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
3/3 1.000 1.000 1.667 2.667 0 0 3
Season
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
6/8 .750 .750 1.000 1.750 2 0 3

One cool thing about this game was that the opposing team's manager was blind. Twice in the game he came up in the lineup, so they brought out a tee for him to use to hit. He had somebody run with him to first base, and somebody was ready to run for him should he reach safely. Both times he grounded into a forceout at second. It was a cool situation that I've never seen in a softball game before.

Forgetting How to Stop

Game Two:

This was a bad game. We got killed by the team I mentioned last week - the one that would "feel good to beat." I was right; they were kind of dickish to us. Which is worse - being a poor sport in a heated contest, or when you're blowing the opponent out of the water (or Warner #3)? I'm inclined to say the blowout - why trash talk a completely random coed softball team with whom you have no history? The history part matters, because when I play Joe in whiffleball, I will trash talk no matter how many fingers and toes I need to count my lead.

By the way, that sound was the gauntlet being thrown down.

Anyway, back to the softball game. I led off for Eat at Joe's (we have shirts now!) and swung at the first pitch. That's a little frustrating. Even more frustrating is that I'm really not making good contact at all right now. This hit went about 15 feet down the first base line. I took off down the line and would have been on first base with a single easily - except for two things:
1. I am an aggressive baserunning idiot.
2. I heard the pitcher (the old dad who needs to loosen up) yell "Let it go"!

When I heard that...I don't know what happened, all of a sudden I was a third of the way to second base and gunning hard for the weakest double of 2009. They threw me out, but it was close. I was probably out by a step. Still a dumb, dumb move. I figure I get one per season, so at least it's out of the way.

Besides getting thrown out needlessly and ruining a potential rally before it even started, there was another negative consequence of my mistake. Sometime between turning on the jets at first and sliding into second, I tweaked my right hamstring fairly badly. Not cool. I really don't get hurt - ever - playing games. I can think of once getting tackled by Ryan Cessna that put me out of a football game for a while, and...that's it. So I kept playing, but I could probably run during the game at about 60%. I was playing mostly left-center or center field, but unfortunately, the other team was hitting balls so far that not even full-strength Jeff could've caught them. My second atbat I grounded into a force play at second, and my last one I grounded back to the pitcher. Maybe another day I would beat it out, but not on half of a leg.

Eat at Joe's (0-1)
Game
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
1/3 .333 .333 .333 .666 0 0 0
Season
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
3/5 .600 .600 .600 1.200 2 0 0

Calli convinced me to take some painkiller at the euchre game later that night. By that point in the night, my leg was throbbing, and probably at 30%. I looked like an idiot walking down the street, I'm sure. The pills must have helped, though, because it's pretty close to normal again. That's nice, since we'll be walking all over Green Bay this week again.

No game next week for me; I'll be judging a battle of the bands in Mount Horeb. That should be interesting!

Remembering How to Run

This past Friday I played slow-pitch softball for the first time since, oh...labor day? Sometime back early last fall. The team I've played on the last three years, the Shorewest Northeasters, disbanded this year after a pregnancy and other inconveniences prevented enough people from signing up. After putting myself on the MSCR free agent list (I was a free agent! Sadly, I had to settle for the league minimum), I received several calls and found a coed team in the friday night league. I hadn't made it to any of the practices due to job-related travel, so the first-game-jitters were amplified by the new-team-jitters. Here is my Friday night of softball.

9:30 AM - I get strange looks from Rodney, Elizabeth, and Krysta as I bounce up and down in the parking lot of a city park in Green Bay. I also throw some small pebbles around and swing a couple of branches, trying to figure out what my batting stance was.

4:30 PM - Leave work, walk to the car. Still wearing an ironic all-khaki archaeologist uniform, I go to Michael's Frozen Custard. Not my ideal pre-game meal - a burger and malt - but my car's brakes are not happy at the moment, so I wanted something in between MAP and Olbrich Park. Michael's fits that bill. I sit there for a while, feeling dumb about my outfit and reading a book about the Gnostics while visualizing swinging a bat.

6:00 PM - Head to Olbrich.

6:05 PM - Trade in my archaeologist duds for an equally ridiculous uniform - that of a dorky slow pitch softball player. High blue socks, gray (for now) baseball pants, and a #23 St. James jersey. I try and put contacts in, but my left eye will have none of it. Glasses today. Also, a blue bandana.

6:30 PM - The first game of the season starts...mine is at 8:30. I probably would have gone home, but the less driving I can do for now, the better. I sit in the bleachers and 'scout' - really just keep reading my book.

6:40 PM - One of the teams is full of a bunch of young guys and their wives/girlfriends - they're good, and their pitcher is this hardcore old guy. Later, I find out he's the dad of the left fielder. He seems way too competitive for this. Wouldn't mind having a nice day against him at the plate. The other team is fairly young overall, but has way more fun out there.

7:30 PM - Game 2 starts, and by now I'm cold. The sun has set and I'm freezing. I hang out in my car until 8, when I get out and try and find my new team - Eat at Joe's. I know what one guy looks like - that's it.

8:15 - I find the team. We're mostly young people too, with two older guys and one lady. 7 guys and 7 girls in all. I warm my arm up with a guy Eric, and we start.

8:30 - We're the home team, and I start in center. We play guys at catcher, second, left, center, and rover. Inning one goes quickly, and we head to the plate.

8:?? Who keeps track of the time during the game? - I am the seventh batter in the lineup, and the sixth batter ends the first inning. Not a bad deal, really...I like batting with nobody on base.

Top of the Second - Several walks/infield singles to third (frustrating as hell, btw) lead to the other guys scoring a couple of runs. With two outs and runners on first and second, the batter ropes a hit by the second baseman. I run over from center field to cut the ball off. I slide, grab the ball, and fire it to the rover. He makes a good throw to the third baseman, and we get the runner from first. Inning over.

Bottom of the Second - I lead off. First pitch is a strike, deep and on the inner half of the black. Probably a decent pitch to hit, but I'm too nervous on the first pitch of the year to do anything. It's good to see one. Second pitch looks like it'll be close, so I make contact and push it to the left side of the infield. Not a strong hit by any means, but I'm fast. I think the fielder might have bobbled it, but it doesn't matter. I wasn't getting thrown out. Now I'm on first base with no outs. The girl right after me lines out to third base, and I jump three steps off the base before heading back. Ah, baserunning. The next batter grounds to the third baseman, and unfortunately they throw to first. If they had gone to second to try and get the lead runner (me) I'd have beaten it. Still, I feel slow. Haven't really ran bases in a while.

With two out, I am definitely trying to score on this next hit if at all possible. The batter grounds sharply to the third baseman, and the ball glances off of his glove. I started running at contact, but paused for a split-second while the ball dribbled through to left field. Because I hesitated, my stride was off as I hit third base. I tried to shorten a step and still hit third with my right foot, but basically just succeeded in tangling my feet up. My momentum kept me going around the bag and miraculously I stayed upright. I stumbled into home with our team's second run.

I got a break and sat out the next inning defensively...it was good because I could barely breathe after my baserunning escapades. I didn't have any defensive opportunities the rest of the game.

In my second at bat, I swung at the first pitch and grounded to the second baseman. I tore down the line and beat the throw...but I also hit the dirt. About one foot in front of first base, there was an area of really soft dirt. My left foot came down right in this patch of loose soil, and while my momentum was enough to get my right foot on the bag, after that it was all tumbling and rolling. Thanks for the rubber ankles, dad! No injuries, just a little dizziness after I popped back up off the ground. I moved to second after a single. A strikeout and popout later, and we were back to me on second base with two outs. However, this time it was a solid line drive to center that scored me - with no embarrassing display of "running" either.

Going into the top of the sixth, we were down 9-6 with the top of our order up in the bottom of the inning. However, our pitcher's control disappeared - after a lot of walks and a couple of timely hits, we were down 16-6. I was up fifth or sixth in the bottom of the inning, but we didn't get to me again. So, the 2009 MSCR season looks like this for me:

Eat at Joe's (0-1)
H/AB AVG OBP SLG OPS R HR RBI
2/2 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 2 0 0

Should be a fun year.