Softball: Snippets from The Campaign
Dear People,
In a wondrous return to our Codornices homeland, Alan Shabel's team gently asphyxiated my own, 12-9. Alan Miller (no relation) was in prime form both on the mound and at the plate, and indeed, just five minutes after striking out the fearsomely lethal Steve Powers, the Millster blasted a 2-RBI 5th-inning double over his discombobulated little head. In brief, Alan M. was a veritable DaVinci of the game-batting .800, darting about the bases like a man half his age (sort of), and of course, quelling my side's joyous but tragically ephemeral late-inning rallies with his usual mélange of curve, knuckle and Florentine spit balls.
In any case, as grand as it was to be back, I fully admit that it felt a tad tawdry and even demeaning to be forced to wait until noon for the 'privilege' of frolicking on our own ancestral soils. I honestly don't get the mindset of the people who do this to us, but regardless, our usual 11-1 time slot is set to be cleaved one more time as part of their sinister plot to break the spirit of our bold yet emotionally delicate league. To be sure, I'm well aware that most of you are bitterly opposed to another round of city-sanctioned humiliation, and if I'm to have any chance of maintaining your broad aerobic support, I should probably go ahead and just cancel this week's game. Believe me, I get it.
Nevertheless, I think you people understand that I'm not one of those well-lubricated weather vanes that will do anything for your love (alluring and erotic as that may be). No, my friends, I'd like to think that I have a basic philosophical core, and while it would be easy to give in to the populist craving for rest, dignity and an alternative brunch of bangers and bacon, I believe that it's more important to wake earlier than we ever have and to play with more fervor than we've ever played before.
For then, at 12:30, when we're kicked off the field by that presumptuous cackle of prepubescent imperialists from the Berkeley-Albany Girls Softball League, we can walk off with our pride in tact and our heads held high. And even better, we can do so while gently but sternly accusing the youngest amongst them of poaching, feigned innocence and most seriously of all, playing a pivotal and shameful role in the collapse of the credit markets that we're still enduring to this very day. Yeah, the currents of occupation reflect an admittedly ambiguous zeitgeist, and therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 10:25AM SHARP, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning….Raymond
11/4/11
Softball: 10:25, Clocks set Back (as in 10:25, Clocks set Back)….
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 10:25AM SHARP, and as of now, there are still five slots left. While I realize that this is inhumanely early, remember that you have to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night, so in some ways, you're getting more sleep than ever! In any case, PLEASE do not diss your fellow players by arriving late since the Berkeley-Albany Girls Softball League officially has the field at 12:30, and as we all know, beneath that veneer of flexible all-girly sweetness lies a voracious clowder of land-snatching mafia.
This week's field fee is $4, but that includes my personal pledge to you that if I ever enter the 1%, I will end this confiscatory and bitterly resented tax once and for all….Raymond 845-7552
PS: If climatic conditions are ambiguous that morning, you will need to check email around 9:30.
PPS: There are rumors of batting practice starting at 10.
PPPS: Finally, Paul Horsepool is both a quasi softball God and an eminent musician with the Oakland Jazz Choir. If you'd like to see Paul and his peeps perform Saturday night in downtown Berkeley, here's the info you need…
http://jazzschool.inhousetickets.com/events/163405/oakland-jazz-choir
11/6/11
Softball: Sunday 9:03AM: Courage, slight peril and destiny!!!
Dear People,
Codornices is a bit damp in the outfield, but she's also puddleless, gorgeous and totally playable. She is officially “closed” as well, though the sign was left over from Friday and my gut tells me nobody from the city will bother to show up. Probably.
Life is risk!/See ya at 10:25/One slot still left….Raymond 845-7552
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