Sweet (Moral) Victory

Despite my negative prediction last night, I headed over to the game fairly optimistic about getting playing time, and probably starting. With only 12 unhurt guys on the roster (with 10 starting each game), there was a good chance that somebody wouldn't show and I'd get the nod.

That's precicely what happened, and I started the game at 2nd base, hitting in the 8-hole.

9:30 is really too late to be STARTING a game.

Well, that's not exactly true.

But 10:40 is too late to be ENDING a game, especially if you're going out for root beer floats after the game. Which puts you home at 12:30. When you get up at 5:30 for work the next morning. Which makes you kinda tired while you're at work.

We were up against Team Rolling Rock, who are the class of the Park District Rec league. They're undefeated, and have been tending to blow out the opposition. So the mood on the Translative Dick Ripplers (us) was not good going into the game. We got two in the first (I did not bat), but then the siege started. They got 6 or 7 in the first, and the same in the second. After three innings, we were down 14-7, and I was my usual droll self, chirping around the infield that all we needed to do was to score a touchdown and get the 2-point conversion and we'd have the lead.

I'm freaking hilarious.

I'm not exactly sure what the score was after 4, but we were down by 9, I think. I just remember we needed to hold them without scoring and then score at least one run to avoid having the mercy rule enacted upon us. (If you're down by so many runs after so many innings, they'll end the game to put you out of your mercy. It's not good.)

But we scored the one run. And then two. And then a whole slew more . . . 10 in the inning, to be exact. (I came to bat TWICE in the inning, and got on base both times. Details to follow.)

We actually entered the next inning, the last inning, with a 1-run lead and a chance to upset the mighty Rolling Rocks. It was a beautiful thing.

Larry . . . Larry was our pitcher last night. He's a great guy, and he tries soooo hard when he's pitching. He tries way too hard. He tries to steer the ball in there, and you just can't do that. He had some . . . issues with walks during the game, and that hurt us in the long run.

Suffice it to say, it was a winnable game for us, and it shows we can actually play with the big boys.

We lost by one.

I started and played the whole game at second base, which has become my "set" position. It doesn't have quite the glamor of shortstop, but it's a middle-infield position, and Ryne Sandberg was a second baseman, and if it's good enough for Ryno, it's good enough for me, damn it. I actually got some props on my playing second, so that's a good thing.

Highlights in the field last night: Got a couple of great feeds from Steve (at short) to get some put-outs at the bag. Turned a DP, almost got another. He made one really nice feed to me, well-timed and well-placed after he made a great stab deep in the hole.
Unfortunately, there was no runner on first, so it was wasted.

I also caught a liner, ended an inning catching a high pop fly to shallow left field, and made a perfect clean scoop on a grounder, throwing the runner out at first.

I had a good day in the field.

And . . . at the plate?
First at-bat: sharp single through the left side. RBI. Made it around and scored a run.
Second at-bat: Hard liner, but right to the third baseman. Downer.
Third plate appearance: Walk
Fourth plate appearance: Solid liner to left field, scored a single but I took second base on a throw in to third. Came around and scored that time, too.

Ended up 2-3 with a walk, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI. Raised my batting average by a hundred points. Which is not saying much, as it's still below .300, which is downright pathetic in slow-pitch softball. But it's a start. Another couple of games like that, and I'll be just fine.
The important part was getting up there and feeling good at the plate, and getting it done.
I don't know what the future holds for me; despite the struggles at the plate, I fancy myself one of the more athletic guys on the team, and one with the "ballplayer" mentality. I tend to know where to go on each play, when I should be cutting off a ball, where the second baseman should rotate on a dribbler to first, when I cover second and when I backup first . . .

There are some guys on the team who . . . are less at ease with these baseball-oriented details. (I may be flattering myself; maybe I'm as clueless as they are. But at least I look like I know what I'm doing, and that's half the battle right there.) I hope I get more playing time, but, again, when you have 14-15 guys on a team in which you can only field 10, there are going to be some times you're riding the pine.

It's all good.

Next game is 7:30 tomorrow. We'll see if skip pencils me in.