RRBS Softball 2 - Game Log
Game #3

July 8, 2008

Players: Rob Baughman, Kelly Davis, Beth Harsany, Andy Lang, Ray Pace, Nichole Phillips Jon Stropes, Laurie Silbernagul, Jamie Tate, Matt Thompson

For the first time since joining a softball team two years ago, I wasn’t looking forward to the next game.  I don’t know if it was the beat down we’d received the week before, or the drama that had taken place afterward, but something kept me from being as excited as usual.  It didn’t help that I was coming off one of my worst personal performances at anything.  I not only had to get my proper form back, I needed to get my head straight.

In the meantime, I also had to replace two members of the team.  Kambria had told us that last week was going to be her last game on the team, but what she didn’t tell us was that she was going to try and take a few members of the team with her.  The only one she partially succeeded in persuading to go was Mike, who sent me a text message on Tuesday night telling me that he wasn’t going to be playing any more.

I spent the next few days trying to piece together what had happened after I’d left BW3’s on Tuesday, and even when I did somewhat find out, it still didn’t make any sense.  I’ll leave the story and the details to your own imagination, but the results were that we were going to be fielding two new players in the next game, and two more RRBS Softball originals were gone.

Finding replacements seemed to be easy enough.  Mike had talked to Jamie’s friend Ray about taking his spot (at least for a couple of weeks), which seemed to be a pretty good fit. Ray was a mainstay of RRBS Kickball and a natural athlete.  He also seemed to like all of us pretty well, so there shouldn’t be any drama there.  Kambria’s spot was supposed to be filled by a girl named Jessica, who had told us for two weeks she was going to play.  She was also supposed to have been on the team from the very beginning, but flaked out as the season approached.  So going in to Tuesday, it seemed like we were ready to go. I should have known nothing could be that easy. 

My bosses were on vacation this week, which meant I was working a fairly easy and early schedule.  That turned out to be a blessing in disguise after Andy called me and said that Jessica had just called and said she couldn’t play.  How nice of her to do that the day of the game, only hours from the first pitch.  I asked him why she couldn’t play, and he said it was because she forgot she’d had other plans scheduled for tonight.  Plans she’s known about for over a week, and chose not to tell us about until THE DAY OF THE GAME!!!  Don’t you just love it when people are able to think about how their actions can and will affect others?  Yeah, me too.

So that left a big black hole where our former 10th roster spot used to be, which meant I was going to be spending the next part of my day finding another girl.  It shouldn’t be too hard though.  We had a number of girls who have played with us in the past, and an even greater number of girls have expressed an interest in playing.  Piece of cake.

Five hours, 100 text messages and about 20 phone calls later I still didn’t have anyone.  This was last season all over again.  Now, a lot of people don’t believe me when I complain about how hard I worked in order to fill this roster spot, but Id like to put that to rest right now.  So to do that, I now present to you the list of people I called in order to find another girl… all of which had some incredible excuse as to why they couldn’t play.  Oh, and the majority of them said that with some advanced notice they would have loved to.  Thanks a lot Jessica!!!  In no particular order, I contacted former RRBS players Ally, Kaitlyn, Jessie, Marlieta, Stacy, Kimmy, Danielle and Julie.  I also tried, Crissy G, Bonnie, Cassidy, Mallory, Lindsay, Jenny, Mandy, Lanie, Rena and Sarah.  Then, I even turned to my mom and my aunt to see if they wanted to play, or if they knew of anyone who did.  Not wanting to hog all the fun for myself, I also enlisted the help of my teammates to see if they knew anyone who’d like to play.  All of them had the exact same success story I did.  That is to say, it was about an hour until we were supposed to be practicing, and we still had no one.

I talked to Andy about the situation, and he suggested that we try some of the girls he used to work with at my step-dad’s bar The Wild Beaver.  I told him that I had given up on them after they never came through when they said they’d join us for kickball.  He convinced me to give them another shot, so out of desperation, I did.  And wouldn’t you know it, the last person on my list was the one that actually said yes.  Nichole P. from the Beaver would be joining us for the game… only problem was she didn’t have a glove.  I didn’t think that boded well for us… but at least we now had some one.

The rest of my pre-game day consisted of going to Wal-Mart to once again pick up a blue shirt, and then go home and try to figure out what I steps I had taken in week one to have such a good game, while at the same time avoiding things I did in week #2.  First off, I didn’t take a nap.  Secondly, I didn’t eat dinner.  Thirdly, I switched back to all of my old gear, except for the new cleats, I really liked those.

I headed in the car, and left for Andy’s at around 5:45, as we had all agreed we needed a nice long practice this week.  I always love leaving for Andy’s during rush hour; it’s such a nice soothing drive.

When I got to his house, Stropes was already there.  We went in, drank a beer, and waited for some others to arrive.  Beth was the next to walk in the door, sporting her authentic White Sox Jersey she had promised to wear just to taunt Stropes.  It worked.  Rob also showed up, as did Laurie.  By that time, we knew we needed to head to the practice field.

Upon arriving, I was still nervous about pitching again, which is why I tried to insist that we grab the field that didn’t have the raised pitching mound because that always bothered me on the other field.  Nobody else really wanted to do that, and it didn’t help that there was a father and daughter having a great old time out there throwing the ball back and forth, not giving a damn that I was having a nervous break down just a few yards away.

While the others started to loosen up, I ask Beth is she would help me pitch.  She took her spot behind the plate, and I took my first few throws (with the new balls I had to purchase because I’d left my others on the practice field last week.)  To say my pitches were awful would be an understatement.  All I could hope was that nobody had seen those first four balls I’d thrown.  The only thing that even remotely made it so that you could call what I did a pitch was that I was aiming for the plate.  Beth told me that it was going to be all right, but I felt otherwise.  By then, Jamie and Ray had shown up, and Stropes wanted to do a little batting practice.

With all my courage, and everyone looking at me, I once again attempted to pitch the ball toward the plate, only this time, I did something different with my arm.  By adding a little twist at the end, I realized that last week I had totally changed up my style.  As if by magic, the pitch went flying over the plate and into the strike zone.  It was perfect.  Thinking it was a fluke, I tried it again, and wouldn’t you know it, it was another perfect pitch.  I would have done a flip if I knew how to do such a thing.

With this newfound confidence, I continued to place balls in a perfect location for Stropes who started belting them out into the field.  Hoping to get some to Ray and Jamie but Rob kept stopping them.  After about 50 pitches, Stropes finally gave up the bat to Laurie who had been waiting patiently.  She was followed by everyone else there, with me pitching them great ball after great ball.

While I was still hot, I decided to step away not wanting to tire out my arm.  Andy and Stropes took over while I went to the dugout to drink a celebratory beer, and check the time.  IT was a good thing I did because we were running late and needed to get moving. Everyone hoped in their cars and we peeled out for the field, glad to know that we felt a lot better about this week than last.

When we got there, I was excited to see that we were going to be on field #1, where we last played during the famous crazy hat game.  Beth and Andy had made it a personal goal to get the dugout that provided the most cover from the sun, which just so happened to be along the first base line.  Andy had to basically cut the other team off to get it, but didn’t look like cared at all.

I was busy collecting my league fees from Laurie and Kelly who both finally came through for me.  I was happy, and yet a little sad that I no longer could hold that over their heads.  Nichole also showed up around that time, and walked in without any equipment other than her cooler of beer.  So maybe she had played softball before.

As the team walked into the dugout, I decided that I was going to choose to be visitor regardless of the way the coin flip turned out.  The smart move is to always take home because you have the advantage in the later innings, but we were not a smart move kind of team.  I’ve noticed over the years that we tend to do better when we get to bat first, to get the nerves out of our system.  It also helps that that way we’re not down by 10 the first time we step up to the plate.  So while Andy warmed up with Nichole and Stropes and Rob stretched, I walked over and talked to the ump.  I was praying that we lost the toss so that I wouldn’t be looked upon as a softball novice, but of course, we won.  I called visitor, and walked back.

I was also happy about this move because I like making the other pitcher have to start the game cold.  It’s just a mental game I like to play.  Too bad the ump and the other team counteracted this by breaking the rules.  Apparently, over half of the opposing team plays in other leagues, and they all looked to be playing right at that moment.  Now, the rule is, if your team doesn’t show at the scheduled time, the clock starts running, and after 10 minutes, it’s called a forfeit.  I guess that’s not the case when you know the ump.

After seeing three girls from the other team give the ump a hug, I began to get a little suspicious.  Then I saw their pitcher take about 50 warm up pitches while the clock started running.  So much for my making him start cold idea.  If I had known they could conduct an entire practice while we waited, I’d have chosen to be home.

My team began wonder aloud why the clock kept ticking and we weren’t playing.  In passive aggressive terms this meant, Thompson go ask the ump what the hell is going on.  Not wanting to let them down, I walked over and asked if our game clock was ticking away.  The Ump said no, and then went back to not wanting anything to do with me.

I walked over and told the team of the Umps informed response, then had Beth go out with me and practice more pitching.  Low and behold, the pitches were right on the money.  Except, I knew in my heart that this field has a shorter pitching distance than the others.  I’ve thought that before, and I think this again.  Someone in the front office is dicking with me, and I’m sick of it.

Anyway, eventually the other team showed up, including one chick that was actually wearing a catcher’s mask.  That’s right, a full-blown full head covering catchers mask… and she wasn’t even the catcher.  Here I am standing on the mound with people whacking balls at me wearing nothing but a cup for protection, and she’s out there in the field with a catcher’s mask.  To make things even funnier, she bats with it on.  I guess she must have seen me pitch last week and was fully expecting me to hit her.  Later on in the game, I really felt like doing it.

So we’re back in the dugout ready to start with our new and improved batting order.  Their team finally takes the field and we’re ready to go.  And just like clock work… 1-2-3 and out.  We were back in the dugout getting ready to field.  So much for getting warmed up.

I wasn’t worried though.  We were looking good so far, my arm felt great, and we were ready to win this thing.  Ray had taken over Rob’s usual spot in right-center field, and Rob had moved over to Mike’s spot in left.  Nichole was now on second, filling Kambria’s void, and everyone else was in their usual spots.  After allowing everyone ample time to get to their positions (something I was told by Rob I failed to do last game) I threw the first pitch, and it was a strike.  Yes!

The next pitch was hit into the sweet spot just over Andy’s head and into the outfield.  This would become the first of many doubles hit that day.

This was followed up by a shot out toward Ray deep toward center field, which Ray misjudged and ran underneath.  This led to a score and another double play.  The following was a shot to Jamie who made the throw to first for the out.  Then a pop up to Andy for another out, followed by three consecutive pop flies to the outfield, which were all dropped, misjudged or flubbed.  Leading to three more scores.  Finally, a girl dribbled one to me on the mound and I was able to make the play at first ending the inning.

Not too bad, I thought.  Only down by five.  I yelled to the team that this was a win in my book; it’s half the total the last team got in the first.  The team agreed and we were once again up to bat.

Our batting started off strong.  We were able to get a few base hits and actually even score a run.  But eventually we started popping the ball too high in the air and got three outs just like that.

I should mention that during this time the Umpire looked like he would rather be doing anything else than umpping our game.  If you had asked him to name the 1000 places he’d like to be, I’m guessing the baseball field wouldn’t even have been a thought.  This was no more apparent than when the other team was up to bat and got their first batter on base.  This was followed by a pop fly to Stropes, who looked like he caught the ball, then was able to run up and tag the base runner.  Should have been a double play.  But nope, instead the ump made no call.  He just stood there with both teams looking at him.  When we asked what the call was, he got pissy and said “he’s out.” 

I guess that meant the guy batting was out, but for some reason the guy on base was still safe.  That ump just cheated us out of an out?  That turned out to be bad news for us as they were able to run up another four runs before we could get them off the field.  Once again, they kept picking on our outfield.  Rob in particular was having a rough.  Not only did he misjudge a few by running under them, he also let a few roll past him, and dropped a couple more.  Needless to say, he wasn’t playing like himself. We could all tell that he and Ray were getting frustrated which is why we tried to reassure them that we’ve all had days like that before… me especially. 

The next time out, our fielding got a bit better thanks to Jamie who not only caught a ball with her glove, she also stopped a line drive with her knee cap, and still almost made the play at second base. 

That same inning, Andy decided to take matters into his own hands by chasing down a pop fly into right field.  Keep in mind, he’s the short stop.  The ball went flying over Ray’s head, and all of us were surprised to see Andy out there throwing it in to Nichole at second base.

To finish out the inning, Ray redeemed himself by getting a ball in deep right field then chucking it to Stropes, he continued the play to Beth at home who made the tag for the out.  That was probably the most spectacular play of the day… it was also probably the last time the other team gave any effort.

By this time, we were getting close to mercy rule time, and the other team wanted to continue their game.  They were up by nine, and going up by 10 at this point meant the game would be over.  I’m guessing they all had more games to play that day on other fields, and they wouldn’t want to just walk aimlessly around the park, so they decided to toy with us a little longer.  I should mention at this point that by now, the Ump would have liked nothing better than to call this came so he could go back to hating life while sitting on the bench, rather than doing it from behind the plate.  His calls on pitches had become very inconsistent.  A couple of times, I would throw a pitch that would land on the plate, and he’d call it a ball, but when the other team would do it, it was a strike.  This was something Beth asked him about after the inning and he said “Anyone who calls a strike when the ball hits the plate is an idiot.”  Remember this.

Their fielding eased up a little bit, and we were able to squeeze out another run thanks to good solid hitting by the back of our lineup including myself, Beth and Laurie.  The inning started to unravel when Andy stepped up to the plate and immediately got a pitch that bounced off of the plate.  Strike!  What?  Didn’t that guy just say that anyone who did that was an idiot?  I guess he proved his own point.  After that, Andy struck out, and the inning came to an end not long after.

Back in the field, the taunting began. The other team had decided it would be fun for all of their players to start hitting with their opposite hand.  This would have been okay if it had helped us at all, but it didn’t.  They continued to kick our ass with their non-dominant hands.  They even started giving me pity swings when my pitches started to falter.  Yup, that’s right, it was the return of noodle arm.

After pitching what seemed like my 1000 pitch of the day, my arm finally gave out, and I started throwing pitches like a man with no fingers.  The ball was going all over the place.  I almost hit the girl in the facemask, and she was in the dugout!  I called for Stropes to take my place, and I took over first base.

Stropes took his warm up pitches while I got used to being on a base.  It never feels right for me to be off the mound, but I was going to make due.  I wasn’t about to put my team through that again.  Then it happened.  Stropes threw a pitch, it dribbled over to Jamie and she quickly picked it up and threw it toward me.  I’d been here less than two minutes and was already in the position to make a play.

The ball came in low, and I stretched to get it, but I must have stretched in the wrong direction because the ball went past me.  Then, as I leaned to get it, the base runner came crashing into me with the force of a freight train.  Soon I was being smothered into the dirt by a woman that looked like the world’s first lesbian.  She was old, liked women, and was pinning me to the ground. 

As I got up and dusted myself of, Stropes yelled encouraging words to me about how I was in the wrong there, but I was too bruised and battered to argue the point.  The lesbian was a little nicer about it as she adjusted her coke bottle glasses.

I don’t remember a whole lot after that other than we were able to get out of that inning quickly, and begin our routine of three and outs.  During our quick trip to the dugout, I heard Jamie say to Ray not to worry because he wasn’t a natural outfielder.  I asked him if he’d be more comfortable on first base, and he said yes.  Where was this information before?  I quickly made the move to switch places with him, putting him on first and me in the field after we had gotten our third out.

Much like my time on first base, the action came right to me when I went into the field.  The ball came to me twice in a row and both times I had to throw it into Nichole at second.  Somehow we got out of that inning quickly enough, and that was the end of the game.

This was probably the happiest I was to have had a game come to an end.  I was, however, happy to see that everyone else was taking the loss better than me, and were in higher spirits than the week before.  But for some reason, this loss stuck with me longer than many of the others.  Maybe it was my hours spent on the phone looking for replacements, or maybe it was the loss of two of our key members that just set this one apart.  Regardless, it was tough.

I didn’t join the group as they left for BW3s, as I wasn’t in the mood to drink any more.  I hear everyone had a good time, and no one decided to quit the team, which was good news to me.

As I drove home I thought about the next week.  Laurie and Kelly were going to be on vacation, which meant two new subs.  Julie was going to become our permanent replacement for Kambria, which would also be new… and Ray was going to move over to first base, which meant Me, Andy or Stropes would be moving to the outfield.  It was going to be different, but I was also looking forward to starting anew.  It was time to forget about RRBS Softball past, and instead focus on the future.  This is one of my great joys in life dammit, and I needed to remember that.

As I pulled into the driveway and turned off my engine all I could think to myself was, “we’ll get ‘em next week.”