The call from Coach Freddie came as a voicemail message. "I want you to play for the 37s this Sunday." Pretty exciting. From the beginning I was told that the over 30 team was the one I'd be playing for as I'd "have a better chance of getting some playing time." The younger team (counterintuitively for me) was the lesser quality team as it was in a less difficult league bracket. Getting to play on the 37+ team was unlikely, but here we are heading into the second game of the season and I'm being asked to play. I was thrilled and nervous again since I'd be playing under a new scrutiny and the stakes were a little higher.
Saturday came around after another rainy Friday and it was pretty cold. May in New England can be like March in an instant. As we went through batting practice guys were out raking around the infield and trying to get the puddles to a manageable condition. I took batting practice and to my own amazement tagged a couple of balls deep to center field. I had been thinking about keeping my head on the ball and completing the swing during the week and it paid off in a solid showing in BP - but anybody can hit in BP it's what you do in the game that counts.
At first it looked like we would be lucky to get 9 to have enough for a team, but in common fashion for this team several veteran players showed up seconds before game time. We had 14 as Freddie told us to get ready to go out to our positions. I thought about going up to him and letting him off the hook by saying "looks like you got enough I can sit this one out - no problem." But instead he announced the line up with me starting in left field. Left field?! Just as I mentioned in a previous post right field is for your weakest player, the fact is left field is for your better outfielder. Jesus, I thought, "Freddie must be trying to prove a point to me that this is no kid's game." Watch me flub a catch or two, pull me out for good cause and maybe I'll have the good sense to quit. He was missing his normal left fielder but you'd think he'd move things around to get me in a spot where I couldn't hurt the team.
Anyway I played the position the entire game pretty much flawlessly, though I nearly gave the coach a heart attack again. We're up by one in the top of the eighth and bases are loaded with 2 outs. A leftie batter takes the ball to the opposite field (towards me) on a pretty strong line. I see it and take 3 quick steps to my left and the ball starts to spin back the other way. I take a quick shuffle to my right and catch the ball cleanly eye-high. Nerve wracking - as it was a hard hit ball. Guys are smiling as I run in, since again, I catch the ball a little unconventionally. Coach Freddie says "Jesus,I almost had a heart attack again." I smile and say - "I had it all the way"
I grounded out and struck out in the early innings but my hero chance came up in the bottom of the seventh. We were down 3-2 and scored a run to make it 3-3. We have a runner on third and first. If I hit into a double play we're out of the inning and I'm the goat. To prevent that a good batter will try to take the ball the other way, that is to the right side of the infield. This minimizes the chances for a double play and gives the runner on third a better shot at going home. With the count 1-2 on me I decide whatever the next pitch I'm going to go to the right. Luckily the guy throws a slightly outside pitch and I put good wood on the ball -a rocket- just to the left of the first baseman. The guy makes a good play on the ball but can't get it cleanly. No play on the runner going home, no chance at the double play but he beat me to the bag for the out. I drove in the go ahead run which is the winning run if things hold up. Freddie and a few teammates give me the high five and knuckles saying "hey, you got an RBI". I'm tickled but try to show little emotion as my plan is to make this kind of great contribution all the time. Heh.
So in the top of the ninth our shortstop makes 2 errors leading to 3 runs and my claim to driving in the winning run is squelched. We lose by 2 and my batting averages stays a .000.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Full Court Thank God
Eight guys down from a peak of 18 earlier. I guess the good weather is keeping people away, but praise the basketball gods, eight guys is enough to play full court.
And we did, in a hot gym, but it was a blast. I wore my knee brace and while the pain was still substantial I was able to play. Half way through the night I switched it to the right knee as it was acting up. Maybe I need 2 braces. I lucked out and got on Bob B's team for the evening and we went 6-0. I made a few buckets got a few rebounds and had a generally pretty good night. Beat last time by a mile. We're hanging on and promising to make sure we get at least 8 next week so that we can go full court for at least 3 more weeks.
The knees are still discouraging to me. Again, I guess it's baseball but the knee pain is persistent. I'm still using ibuprofen but I'm trying to keep it minimal. Sleeping sucked again. I have to lay off the NSAIDs because I'm doing my regular platelets donation at the cancer center Friday. You have to be off the stuff for 36 hours because of the blood thinner that they infuse into you during the process.
Maybe the chondroitin/glucosamine combo will start kicking in soon. I'm icing the knees at work to see if that helps. Finally a benefit of being the boss.
And we did, in a hot gym, but it was a blast. I wore my knee brace and while the pain was still substantial I was able to play. Half way through the night I switched it to the right knee as it was acting up. Maybe I need 2 braces. I lucked out and got on Bob B's team for the evening and we went 6-0. I made a few buckets got a few rebounds and had a generally pretty good night. Beat last time by a mile. We're hanging on and promising to make sure we get at least 8 next week so that we can go full court for at least 3 more weeks.
The knees are still discouraging to me. Again, I guess it's baseball but the knee pain is persistent. I'm still using ibuprofen but I'm trying to keep it minimal. Sleeping sucked again. I have to lay off the NSAIDs because I'm doing my regular platelets donation at the cancer center Friday. You have to be off the stuff for 36 hours because of the blood thinner that they infuse into you during the process.
Maybe the chondroitin/glucosamine combo will start kicking in soon. I'm icing the knees at work to see if that helps. Finally a benefit of being the boss.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Basketball - Where's Tough Guy?
Okay so I show up at basketball though my knees are for some reason absolutely killing me. I don't understand, the knees have felt great all year through twice a week full court basketball but once I started baseball a few weeks ago the knees (primarily the left with a newfound interest in the right)are uber painful. I started back up on the MoveFree gluco/chondro pills a week ago but it's too early to see any help. Hell, they even hurt at night, WTF? There's a major story I need to relate about joint pain and gluten and me that will get a full airing out soon.
Anyway so I'm here because I don't miss a basketball night unless someone in my family is dying. And we better be in the last 24 hours or see ya tomorrow. We're shooting around and I remember that I need to confront smartass guy from last week who left me feeling like I want to take his head off. A wave of kindness spreads over me and I decide I'll make a light hearted wise crack about our intimacy under the boards and move on. Actually it is how you have to play it in pick up basketball because last weeks villain could be this weeks team mate. Truth is it has prevented a lot of hard feelings. As I may have said before this group of guys, trite as it sounds, has become kind of an extra family over the decades of play. We watch out for each other. With this group, and a Sunday morning group, and the baseball team I've got a bunch of these other sports families. Truth is, I'm making this effort to try to pad the stats at my wake, otherwise it could get lonely in that funeral home.
So anyway, smartass old wiseguy doesn't show up and while I was going to be nice I did want him to be on the other team for a little extra motivation. Numbers were very small AGAIN and it was half court. I was sluggish, the half court game being so lateral the knees took an extra beating, and I was unremarkable if not actually sucky. Went home did a little icing of the knees and was generally unhappy with the evening. Maybe I should drop basketball and give it over to baseball since the knees are barking so loud - but far as I know everyone's healthy in my family so...
Anyway so I'm here because I don't miss a basketball night unless someone in my family is dying. And we better be in the last 24 hours or see ya tomorrow. We're shooting around and I remember that I need to confront smartass guy from last week who left me feeling like I want to take his head off. A wave of kindness spreads over me and I decide I'll make a light hearted wise crack about our intimacy under the boards and move on. Actually it is how you have to play it in pick up basketball because last weeks villain could be this weeks team mate. Truth is it has prevented a lot of hard feelings. As I may have said before this group of guys, trite as it sounds, has become kind of an extra family over the decades of play. We watch out for each other. With this group, and a Sunday morning group, and the baseball team I've got a bunch of these other sports families. Truth is, I'm making this effort to try to pad the stats at my wake, otherwise it could get lonely in that funeral home.
So anyway, smartass old wiseguy doesn't show up and while I was going to be nice I did want him to be on the other team for a little extra motivation. Numbers were very small AGAIN and it was half court. I was sluggish, the half court game being so lateral the knees took an extra beating, and I was unremarkable if not actually sucky. Went home did a little icing of the knees and was generally unhappy with the evening. Maybe I should drop basketball and give it over to baseball since the knees are barking so loud - but far as I know everyone's healthy in my family so...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Rookie's First Official Game
I was nervous again. I showed up in the parking lot and the coach was there with a few of the veteran players walking over to the field as the game before ours was ending. The coach gave me a T-shirt it was not the team colors but it had a Mass Baseball logo on it and it would have to do until he got me a shirt for the next game. I was the only guy without the green and yellow shirts of our A's team. That hurt a little. Before the game started a guy with an extra shirt gave me his and it helped alot. I felt wanted.
Truth is, the guys on the team have been great. It's a real assortment of ages from 30 - to one guy who is one year older than my 57. They're pretty supportive and I'm getting a little good natured ribbing which is a sure sign of acceptance. We had 14 players, and I was told I would rotate with Benny for the right field position. I batted next to last. Oddly that was comforting, at least one guy was deemed by the coach to hit worse than me.
The other team had full uniforms, complete with matching warmup jackets. We were the Little Sisters of the Poor, comparatively. They all looked young, not a gray hair on the squad from what I could tell. They put up a 5 spot on us in the first inning. We made 3 infield errors. It's hard not to see that and not think that I would have made all of those 3 plays cleanly. But alas, I'm thought of as an outfielder where I almost never played growing up.
My first at bat came in the 3rd inning, we were down 7-2 no one was on base. My first official at bat! I took the first pitch, fastball down the middle, strike one -
I topped a foul for strike two (contact, yeah) took a high pitch for ball one and then made the mistake that you're not supposed to make. I decided I was going to swing at this pitch unless it was over my head. Whiff. Strike 3 at the knees and a K on my first official at bat. Damn.
I made two clean plays in the outfield chasing down balls hit through the infield. For some reason I played the rest of the game not rotating with Benny but playing the outfield each inning. Then came the weird fly ball. A right handed batter hit a fly ball out my way, usually the ball coming off the bat of a right hander will spin away toward the foul line a bit (sometimes alot)I held my ground waiting for the turn and the ball never turned it was going to come right toward me. Good. But I had overestimated how deep it was. I was a step or two too deep. At the last second I put my glove down and made a clean basket catch of the ball. Very unconventional. One guy shouted out "nice catch Willy" a reference to Willy Mays who always caught fly balls this way. Most people think it's a showboating way to catch the ball. Believe me, I wasn't showboating. I caught some wisecracks on the bench and the pitcher said "Hey, you almost gave me a heart attack". I hate playing in the outfield.
My next at bat I felt a little more comfortable and drew a walk. I came around to score my first official run as we rallied to tie it at 9-9. They scored 4 more runs in the top of the eighth as our infield made 2 more errors. I came up in the bottom of the eighth and struck out on a high outside fastball after getting myself in an 0-2 hole. We lost 13-10 but I was glad to get the first one out of the way. I'm hoping to feel more comfortable the next time out.
Truth is, the guys on the team have been great. It's a real assortment of ages from 30 - to one guy who is one year older than my 57. They're pretty supportive and I'm getting a little good natured ribbing which is a sure sign of acceptance. We had 14 players, and I was told I would rotate with Benny for the right field position. I batted next to last. Oddly that was comforting, at least one guy was deemed by the coach to hit worse than me.
The other team had full uniforms, complete with matching warmup jackets. We were the Little Sisters of the Poor, comparatively. They all looked young, not a gray hair on the squad from what I could tell. They put up a 5 spot on us in the first inning. We made 3 infield errors. It's hard not to see that and not think that I would have made all of those 3 plays cleanly. But alas, I'm thought of as an outfielder where I almost never played growing up.
My first at bat came in the 3rd inning, we were down 7-2 no one was on base. My first official at bat! I took the first pitch, fastball down the middle, strike one -
I topped a foul for strike two (contact, yeah) took a high pitch for ball one and then made the mistake that you're not supposed to make. I decided I was going to swing at this pitch unless it was over my head. Whiff. Strike 3 at the knees and a K on my first official at bat. Damn.
I made two clean plays in the outfield chasing down balls hit through the infield. For some reason I played the rest of the game not rotating with Benny but playing the outfield each inning. Then came the weird fly ball. A right handed batter hit a fly ball out my way, usually the ball coming off the bat of a right hander will spin away toward the foul line a bit (sometimes alot)I held my ground waiting for the turn and the ball never turned it was going to come right toward me. Good. But I had overestimated how deep it was. I was a step or two too deep. At the last second I put my glove down and made a clean basket catch of the ball. Very unconventional. One guy shouted out "nice catch Willy" a reference to Willy Mays who always caught fly balls this way. Most people think it's a showboating way to catch the ball. Believe me, I wasn't showboating. I caught some wisecracks on the bench and the pitcher said "Hey, you almost gave me a heart attack". I hate playing in the outfield.
My next at bat I felt a little more comfortable and drew a walk. I came around to score my first official run as we rallied to tie it at 9-9. They scored 4 more runs in the top of the eighth as our infield made 2 more errors. I came up in the bottom of the eighth and struck out on a high outside fastball after getting myself in an 0-2 hole. We lost 13-10 but I was glad to get the first one out of the way. I'm hoping to feel more comfortable the next time out.
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