Sweeter (Actual) Victory

Wow, was THAT a great game last night, or what??

We've been in a rut of those beautiful Chicago spring thunderstorms, and there was a very good chance that the game was going to be stormed out last night. But it in fact turned into a beautiful, clear, warm (if slightly muggy) evening and the field, while wet and muddy in places, was certainly playable.

I'm not one much for recounting an accurate play-by-play of the game, primarily because that kind of detail is for the most part lost on my memory. So you'll have to be contented with a general recap, a broad brushstroke from which you can glean the atmosphere, punctuated by highlights starring . . . me.

My first at-bat, which I believe came in the top of the second, did not start well.
I was trying to remember to just relax and let the bat do the work, and to just put a nice, smooth stroke on the ball.

I watched the pitch sail in. It was kind of high. I waited . . . waited . . . and then made a too-late, lunging, over-my-head abortion of a swing, missing it by a mile.
Now, adult slow-pitch softball tends to foster an atmosphere in which open, free communication is encouraged. By which I mean to say there is constant, if good-natured, trash-talking.

Which makes the eerie silence immediately following that swing all the more pronounced. There was a beat, in which nobody said a word, each person trying to comprehend the true ugliness we had all just witnessed. Then, from my bench, an unnamed voice said, "What the hell was THAT?"

Another beat.

Then, in response, again from my own bench, "That was the ugliest swing I have ever seen."

A flash of panic, but then on the next pitch, I made a clean rip (aided by an E-6) which was generously scored a hit. 1 for 1.

Next AB was a genuine hit. I think. Maybe I'm getting out of order. But I poked one good knock through, getting an RBI.

My third at-bat was a very weak pop-up to the left side of the infield. But I ran it out, and it dropped. Three for three.

Unfortunately, my last at-bat was an even weaker popup, which was caught for my only out of the evening. Still, 3-4 on the night. Raising my batting average a whole nother 100 points. After game six, I was a miserable, pathetic .167. After game seven, I was up to a still pathetic .267. And now, after last night, I've raised it to .368, a decent number in the majors, but still among the bottom-third on the team. That being said, another 3-4 in the next game will get me over .400, which I can live with.

I just looked at my season, and maybe it's my fallable memory, or maybe I've blocked it out, but through the first six games, I had a total, a total of two hits. Yikes. And now I've gone five-for-seven in the last two games. That's a good sign, right?

And, as I've been saying all along, I'm primarily a glove man, anyway. I shouldn't be counted on for the power.

In the field, I again started at second base, and Chris (the erstwhile manager/captain) has seemingly locked certain guys in certain positions, so I should be the second bagger for the duration. Steve (the shortstop) and I are comfortable with each other around the bag, and seem to be handling the covering/cutoff duties satisfactorily.

Again, it's only due to injuries that we're keeping a one-body to one-position ratio. We should get 2 or 3 guys back in the next couple of games, possibly pushing some of us "starters" back onto the bench. Jason, our other 2B, has been subbing at catcher while Art's been out. Of course, if Art doesn't come back, Jason may take on the role of regular catcher, and I'll get even more stability at 2B. The guys coming back don't have set spots, so it will be interesting to see how Chris fits them in.

Anyway I made all of the routine plays which, in slow-pitch, basically means a lot of cutoffs from the deep outfield on balls that were rocked. The real excitement came in our final inning in the field, the bottom of the sixth.

Larry, good ole' in-his-own-head Larry the Pitcher, had it going last night. The talking to the ball was kept to a minimum, and he was getting the balls up and out there, and our opponants were, as a team, hackers. So not too many walks.
Until the last inning, when he started tightening up, knowing the game - and our win - was on the line, and he put a couple of guys on base.

We were up by a few - 4 maybe? - and with a couple on and two out, there was a hard shot up the third base line. With the ball to the left side and a man on first, it was my job to cover the second base bag. Which I did. But the third baseman put a bad throw on it, and I missed it. Looking back, I should have gotten off the bag and made sure of stopping the ball, even if it meant missing the out, but I tried to stretch and the ball scooted out into right field, scoring a couple.

A couple of batters later, the lead was two, and the tying run was on base. Same play - a grounder to the third baseman. I again covered the bag, and he again put the throw in the dirt. This time, however, I dug it out, keeping my foot on the bag, and - on a bang-bang play - we got the out.

Game.
Over.

That was a great way to end a good night. Pats on the back all around, and I actually felt like I contributed to the win, both at the plate and in the field.

Unfortunately, our team record is still a sad 3-5. But it should be 4-4, and could easily be 5-3. We're a much better team now than at the start of the season (when we were really more of a collection of guys than a "team") . . . and we have a good shot of finishing the season over .500, which - I think - will be the best finish ever by a Park District team.

Anyway, we have a better shot of getting to .500 than the Cubs do.