Softball: A Case Study in the Variations of Celerity
Dear People,
Anthony's team ambushed my own as if they were nothing more than a ruthless cackle of Capone-era mobsters who took shameless pleasure in denuding our last vestiges of basic aerobic dignity, 20-14, and I'm not saying that just because I like to toss in variants of the discomfiting suffix nude whenever the narrative opportunity arises. The fact is that our hitting and fielding were every bit their equal, and yet our base-running-“the vital third leg of the softballian stool” (yeah, 'stool')- seemed to suggest that as a team, we may have failed to appreciate the multiple imperatives of line, speed and judgment.
And no, I'm not just talking about the usual variety of unsightly garden-variety pick-offs, as best exemplified in this case by Jim McGuire's 6th-inning 2-out decision to dart from 1st to 2nd and then, curiously, straight into the ball-clutching bosom of Stefano at 3rd. In fairness, the throw back from shallow left to the Stefanator was only a scant 6.07 seconds earlier, so while I could theoretically speculate that Jimmy had failed to “pay attention” to the pertinent dynamics at hand, I'm simply not going to do that. Indeed, as captain I had personally failed to provide the guiding sagacity of a 3rd-base coach, and with that as the proper context, I think we can all agree that blame first goes to me (if by 'me' one means the abstract sentience of my being in a logicless alternate universe).
Regardless, I think we have to accept that the presence of a 3rd-base coach can't always guarantee that every play ends in a cheerfully salubrious dénouement, and for a compelling paragon of such, I refer you to the bottom of the 7th. With one out, runners at 1st and 3rd and my team in the process of rallying from an oppressive 16-13 deficit, Ben unleashed a staggering line drive to deep center right that sailed straight over Dave Snyder's shell-shocked little head and into the succulent-laden tundra of the grand central bush. And thus, as I joyously skittered from 3rd to home, I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Reece and Ben would follow suit in tying up the game. Of course, I'd forgotten about the multiple imperatives of line, speed and judgment.
In any case, and for reasons I don't pretend to understand, Reece's advance from 1st to 3rd appears to have been somewhat slowed by a curve in the baseline-continuum (or maybe she's just a tad terrapin in accelerative potential-I honestly don't know). The point is that by the time they got to 3rd and looked to Donny's go-ahead from behind the base, the Reester and Bernanke-Boy appeared to be racing neck and neck, and even worse, the throw back from the deep bush was now under way. At this point, Donny could've stopped Reece right then and there and told Ben to skedaddle back to 2nd, but instead, he grabbed the advisory bull by the metaphorically intrepid balls and sent both runners on their way to a rendezvous with destiny. Pity.
Now look, it would be easy to say that just because the throw to Alan Shabel at home arrived a full two feet before our heroes did, theirs was a transformative failure that killed our rally, ended the inning and cost us the game by any fair reading of proximate causation. Fair enough; I think we all get that. But the real story is---and I shit you not---that Reece and Ben were the first two players in the history of this league that barreled straight into a nearly simultaneous double force-out at the plate, and if that isn't the essence of impavid kinesiological glory in every sense of that ceaselessly abused expression, then I don't know what. And therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning . . . Raymond
9/4/14
Softball: Super Quick from Boalt----Our Curious Biannual CommitaBlitz....
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, and as of now it is already full. As always, please let me know ASAP if you committed and need to cancel, and if you still want in, feel free to get on the wait list or contact me later for news of reopened slots.
$4 for the field/Organizational courage....Raymond