Softball: Pt. 8

Honestly, I only keep categorizing these blogs as 'Sports' because they don't have a distinction for 'Excercises in Futility".

Swept again.
0-8
Surprisingly, I had a decent night though. Game 1, I took a walk, but was stranded at first. Game 2, I got an RBI single and scored a run. We still lost. I caught everything that was hit my way.....all two chances I got stuck out in rightfield.

I'm actually kind of excited that we only have three more weeks of this.....I haven't really enjoyed getting pounded every game this season. I think my biggest problem is that our "coach" (better yet, team captain), Seth, is out of sorts. He shows a lot of enthusiasm and hustles his ass off on every play.....my problem is this. I get corrected or yelled at on basically everything I do. "There's two outs, you should have tried to score from first the second you hear the crack of the bat!!!!!", or "Move in! A right-handed hitter isn't gonna hit it to deep right!" (Crack.....ball flys over my poorly positioned head....grumblegrumble). Further more....he never yells at the guys on the team that really suck.

Look....I know I'm not A-Rod, or Junior, or even Mario Mendoza (the guy who they coined the phrase "The Mendoza Line" after.....which means to hit around .200, which is not good). I'm just a guy who likes to play and have fun and hopes to win at least once in a while. But some of these guys can't even catch a ball!!!! The guy they have playing third base has a glove slightly smaller than my glove......FROM WHEN I PLAYED TEEBALL WHEN I WAS 7!!!!!! How the hell do you expect to make any plays with that glove?! I make my share of mistakes.....but when I'm stuck in rightfield, with nothing better to do than stare at all of the errors that my team commits....I get severely frustrated.

And I hate to be THAT GUY, but for some reason, I always get stuck at the bottom of lineups. In both leagues....what the hell? What's a guy gotta do to hit in the top of the order and see the plate more than twice a night?! In the men's league, I'm hitting .571 with two walks, two runs batted in and two runs scored......you know why I've only got 2 RBI's and 2 runs? Because I'm stuck at the bottom of the order where the other guys around me pop up the first pitch that is thrown to them and then go back to the dugout and smoke a cigarette!!!!

SERIOUSLY!!!!

In the men's league, I have a .667 OBP (On-Base Percentage (OBP): The total number of hits [6] + Bases on Balls [2] + hits by Pitch [0] DIVIDED BY at bats [7] + Bases on Balls [2] + hit by Pitch [0] + Sacrifice Flies[0]=.667).

In the Co-ed league, I'm batting .533, with three RBIs and a run scored, and an OBP of .533.

Combine the two and I'm at .545 avg, 5 RBIs, three runs and an OBP of .583.
Not too shabby. I know of two guys off the top of my head who have yet to even reach base safely in a game this season.

My point being is that I'm not the greatest softball player. I'm not the Babe Ruth of Nashville Slowpitch. But I could be a contributor. I could set the table or help clear it.

I'm just sayin'......

Softball: Pt. 6 & 7

Ok.....sorry about not writing last week.
Last Thursday: Men's League.....
I went 2-3 with a walk and a run scored.

Got the ol' Batting Average up to .500 in that league!!

Game one: we jumped out to a nice 3-0 lead....but couldn't hold it. We lost like 15-5.

Game two: we did not jump out to a lead. I think we scored one run.........on an inside the park homerun by a guy who was just filling a roster spot for us.

So we're 0-6. But we know we're terrible and we've resolved to just trying to get a few runs and keep the other team from having too many huge innings.

After the games, I hustled back to my truck and stripped off the hideous uniform and threw on some clothes and headed to the Station Inn to hear the Red Stick Ramblers!
It was an amazing show. Those guys are so incredibly talented. I didn't even know I liked Cajun Music and Western Swing until I started working with Glenn and went to see them play about 5 years ago. Through lineup changes and just years on the road, they are as tight as a band can be.

It was really great to see Glenn.....I miss that guy. I also miss cruising the streets of BR in his 1967 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Good times, indeed.

So tonight: Co-Ed league......

Game 1: horrible!
Not only did we get creamed.....it wasn't close.....and a lot of it was my fault!
I was playing in right/center field (four outfielders) and I committed at least five errors......I kicked the ball while trying to field it......and on one particularly bad play, i booted it twice! I yelled "F***" so loudly that I got a warning from the home plate umpire!!! oops.

Our pitcher hurt himself on a boneheaded slide/tumble into second and had to go to the hospital (possibly broke his wrist), so they pulled me from right and stuck me at shortstop, as our SS went to pitch.....I dread playing shortstop.....I know it's softball, but shortstop is a tough position and I always imagined myself being terrible at it.

Surprisingly, I wasn't that bad. I only made one bad throw and six putouts.

I somehow managed to go 1-2 at the dish.

Game 2: HEARTBREAKER!!!!!

I played 1st base this game. I liked first! I didn't look like a schlub out there. I maintained a 1.000 fielding % at first base. I had 8 putouts, mostly popups to shallow right.

This was by far our best game of the season. We jumped out to a 5-0 lead. We even held that 5-0 until the 5th inning. Jeff stated that if we one the game we'd all go for beers after the game and stipulated that if we somehow managed to keep the game a shutout, he'd buy the first two rounds!!!! WHOOO HOOOOOOO!!!! Free Beer!!!

Bottom half of the inning, the score 5 runs.
Bottom of the 6th: they score 3.

Top of the seventh. We're down 8-5. We've had to take an automatic out because our pitcher is unable to play. Down 3, 1 out. .......the tension builds.....for about twenty seconds. Pop out, Groundout. Game over. Sonofabitch!!!!

I went 2-4 on the night with an RBI in game two. Average is down twelve points to .533

So we're 2-6....but could have been 3-5.
And I didn't get any free beer.......or any beer for that matter.
Damn.

Softball: Pt. 5

I can't say i forgot to post last night, there just wasn't any news, stats or the like to report......plus I totally crashed nearly the second I got home.

Our whole team showed up, full uniforms (well, jerseys and shorts) ready to go.
Most of us got to the park early to get a little more throwing and fielding practice before the game and to take a little BP so we could try and score some runs.

So we get to the point where we're feeling good and confident.....and game time is around the corner.....and the other team never shows up.

Sons-of-bitches.

I, needless to say was very very very very bummed.
The good news is that we got our first "wins" of the season and brought our record to 2-4. Plus we all (mostly) stuck around for the better part of the next two hours and got in more BP and fielding......albiet at a less than 100% effort.....at least I know that I wasn't running top speed during practice.....

so.....still batting .545 (6-11)......and just waiting for tomorrow's game(s).

Softball: Pt. 4

Our team is 0-4.
4 Mercy rule killings.
But we actually got the team three up, three down in the first game tonight and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd on a RBI single by yours truly.

I, however, was stranded at first base.

The second game, I flew out to left field.

So my average sits at .333 (1-3) with 1 single and an RBI.

We suck.

Softball: Pt. 3

Ok....I'm gonna make this one really short. Mostly because my leg hurts and I'm tired.

Still out of shape....so much so that I got a wicked leg cramp in the middle of Game 2 tonight.
It's Tuesday which means Coed league, which means a better team and more fun.

We, sadly, lost both games again tonight......but we were yet again, down an outfielder and thus had to not only run around like crazy people in the outfield, but also had to take an automatic out each time we cycled our batting order......which sucks.

Game 1 was a bit more of a one sided affair, as the other team beat us 13-3.
I hit two singles, but never reached second base either time.

Game 2 was a tough game for us as it seemed everybody started to cramp up. Adam and Tara could hardly run by the end of the game and my left quad has a knot the size of a ping pong ball in it.

I did go 2 for 3 with two singles, and RBI and a run scored. We still lost, but the score was a more acceptable 10-8.

My Batting average is up to .545 (6-11), I've hit six singles, as I've learned to pull the ball through the hole between short and third. I've scored twice and have 1 RBI.

Rock on.
Sleep well.
Stay Hydrated!!!!! (leg cramps suck)

Softball Pt. 2.....or How it feels to bleed from the Ear.

Thursday night men's league was an absolute disaster!

We got thoroughly embarrassed!
As the home team, we played the field in the top of the 1st inning.
Let me take you through their offensive first inning:
Solo Home Run (1-0)
Single
Single
Single
Grand Slam (5-0)
Double
2-Run HR (7-0)
Single
2-Run HR (9-0)
Solo HR (10-0)
Solo HR (11-0)
Fly Out
Solo HR (12-0)
Fly Out
Ground Out

This sucks.
We played two three inning, mercy-rule shortened games in which we lost by a combined score of 68-3.

No I'm not kidding.

And no, none of us played for the Baltimore Orioles at anytime in the recent past.

To top off my night....I took a solidly-hit line drive on a wicked hop, straight to the left ear. It hurt like god-awful hell! It split my ear down near the lobe and I was bleeding rather immediately. I took a few seconds to get my bearings and realized that I wasn't right. I've had concussions before....and although I don't think that was what this was, I decided to go ahead and sit down. Granted, I WAS PISSED. It hurt like hell. I know I've said this already, but it was not a comfortable moment in my life!

In all of this, the other team were terrible human beings throughout the whole ordeal. They laughed at our inability to play on their level. I understand it's a game and the competitive nature of the game, but these guys were poor sports. Their sportsmanship was about as believable as Lindsay Lohan's sobriety. ZING!

So in my one at-bat, I popped out to short. 0-1. That sucks. So does our team. But that's a whole different twenty paragraph complaint.

Cumulative Stats.

2-7, .286 AVG, 2 1B

Softball: Pt. 1

Howdy Sports Fans.
I'm pretty excited about the next two months.
I'm playing with two softball teams this fall and I have a good feeling about both teams. For each team, the season is seven weeks long with a doubleheader everyweek.

On Tuesday nights, I'll be playing with a Coed team called 'Squeeze Play'.
We had our first two games last night and even though we lost both games, I think we played well, showed a good bit of hustle, and made solid contact. We also made some errors, both fielding and mental, but I think we can learn from those mistakes and make up for them in the long run.

In the first game, I played right field and went 2-4 at the plate.
My first at-bat was lame. I took the first pitch for a called strike. It was a good call by the umpire, I just couldn't have done anything with it, as it was letter high and on the inside part of the plate. The second pitch was a huge meatball and I swung like an idiot and popped out behind second base.
My second at-bat I lined a pitch right at the pitcher's feet. Now here is where I f*ed up. In the rules, it says that if a ball is hit at the pitcher and they make a play at the ball, it is in play and the force or tag out rules apply, but if the pitcher makes a defensive move, the batter is out. I didn't run the play out and was called out. That's my fault and I'll run hard on every play next time.
I did get two solid singles later in the game and was on first base as the winning run, down 4-3 in the bottom of the 7th, but we weren't able to make anything else happen that inning.

The second game was a mess. I was tired and felt like my blood sugar was tanking. I ran and bought a Powerade from the concession stand, but as it happens, the drink didn't do anything for me because I m plain out-of-shape! (Aerobically speaking.....I have the svelte body of a 12 year old....with diabetes).
I made some decent catches in the outfield. There was one play that particularly pissed me off though. We played last night down a player. You can play ten and we just didn't have an extra female. So not only did we have to take an automatic out at the end of our batting order every time, but we were covering a very large outfield with only three players.
I know, I know....."Baseball players always play with only three outfielders!", you say. But here is the difference: Baseballs are hit harder, and usually higher than, and less frequently than softballs. Oh, and did I mention I was out-of-shape? (Again, aerobically speaking).

Ok, so the play I alluded to earlier. Down 4-2, late in the game, two on, one out....The other team had two left handed hitters, and we (all three of the outfielders) would shift accordingly. This worked to perfection as those particular hitters only flew out whenever they would pull the ball. (I said I was out-of-shape.....I never said I was slow!)

The problem arose when a right-handed hitter stepped in and we shifted back to shade him to left field......this asshole, knowing we're an outfielder short, pokes the ball down the rightfield line. I had one hell of a run to get to that ball and I think I tweaked my groin muscle while running it down (uneven outfield). Anyways....I thought that was a little dirty on that hitter's part, but kudos to him for having the bat control to take a pitch the other way. I wish I could do it.

And much to my dismay, I went 0-2 at the plate in Game 2, as I lined out to the pitcher and popped out to short. I let my anger get the best of me after that last AB and threw my bat on the ground....I then quickly got a warning from the Umpire.

ok.
So that's update 1.
I'll do my best to keep this up and give you a stat line at the bottom. Honestly, this blog is more for me anyways, just to keep up with my own progress through the season.
Wish me luck, as tomorrow I start play with a men's league.....That double header is gonna be tough, 'cause I'm already sore as hell!!!

STATS:


Game 1: 2-4, 1B
Game 2: 0-2

Season Average: .333