How You Doin' Fall Ball Season

After taking a couple seasons off for marriage and health reasons, this week brought a return to the softball field with the How You Doin' team.

Tuesdays practice was depressing. I was using the new glove which is getting comfortable, though still nowhere near where my beloved black Worth glove was. But my pinkie is still sore, I think it is broken, and my forefinger also hurt. But those are just facts of life as I grow old.

My fielding has suffered greatly. I love playing shortstop but the truth is that year off might have ended my shortstop career for good. I can still go get anything in the air no matter how hard it is hit but balls on the ground seem to elude me every time. Since shortstop has always been my dream position...that really bites. But I am still a good team player and I honestly believe I help the team a lot playing first.

For the game tonight we had exactly 10 players so everyone was going to play every inning. Traffic was HORRIBLE and instead of getting there at 7 I got there about 7:20. I warmed up my arm a bit but did no stretching. All the elements were in place for a classic melt-down of errors, poor hitting, etc. I am seldom a good player when I am rushed and not limbered up.

The plan was to alternate innings with Dan...he would play short and I first in the first inning, then I would play short and he would take first in the 2nd, then I would be first, etc. But first, we were the visitors so we would bat first.

Larianne led off. She drilled the ball but right at their shortstop who scooped it up and threw her out by a few steps. Eric laced the ball, their left center fielder got it on a hop and he was aboard. Becky singled him to second and I came to the plate. I was nervous because I really only got maybe 2 practice swings in and I need to really loosen up to swing the bat well. I planned to take the first pitch and then step out and take a couple more swings to loosen up. I don't fear 2 strikes in slow pitch because I can drive anything. Well, that plan went by the wayside as their pitcher, a woman, lofted an unbelievable lollipop in my wheelhouse...chest high and a bit outside. I stepped into it and crushed it to right center, over the head of their right center fielder. Had I stretched before and/or run hard I would have had an easy triple. As it was, Eric and Becky scored and I coasted into second with a double. I scored easily on a nice rip by Molly but that ended our scoring for the inning. Still, throwing up a four spot is a nice way to start the game.

6 is better. And that is what they threw back at us. They hit the ball hard, a lot of their hits found open space and a few was just too hot for our fielders to handle. Probably 3 plays could have been made but weren't and it was not looking good.

It looked worse when the top of our line-up went down in order in the second. But we held them, too, in the bottom half of the inning, though they did threaten with runners at 2nd & 3rd and one of their top hitters up. Paul made a fantastic running catch to atone for an earlier drop and I led off the top of the third.

She apparently had forgotten where I liked the ball because her first pitch was chest high and outside. This time I obliterated it. A few years ago that ball would have been in the middle of McGloughlin, but these days it landed a few feet short of the fence. I was home long before the ball returned to the dugout with an inside the park home run. I was feeling pretty good about myself.

And we scored again that inning, maybe even 2 runs I think.

In the bottom half of the inning I was perfectly positioned to scoop a grounder about half way to second. I looked to flip the ball to J J but he was a bit slow covering so I took off for the bag myself. To my amazement, I beat the runner to the bag. I was either really, really fast tonight or they were extremely slow.

My next time up they sort of had a shift on to take away the right center power alley. I licked my lips a bit because they had left my true power alley, left center, wide open. Give me something over the heart of the plate and even I might go yard.

And she did.

I started drooling as I saw the pitch coming, it was going to be belt high and dead center over the plate. I came out of my shoes (figuratively speaking) swinging at the grapefruit. And I got under it...popping out to short. I knew I had over swung and felt terrible. We were not having a particularly strong night at the plate and needed every run we could get, and instead I, in the run producing clean up spot, got greedy and instead of doing what I know I should do, a nice controlled swing to put a ground ball right up the middle, gave them a cheap out. It hurt the team and that stunk.

They plated another run before I could come up again and we were down 7 - 5. Once more Eric and Becky were aboard on first and second. We had one out. I elected to try without the glasses for two reasons; 1, the kept fogging up because of my sweat and I was struggling to keep them clean. 2, I figured I was close enough to the pitcher to see the ball. "Stay in your shoes, Barton" I muttered and stepped in. This time the outfield was playing their original spot again. And for a third time she tossed it chest high and outside. I crushed it and took off. By second base I was closing in on poor Becky. I tried to pick up the base coach at third, they were still chasing the ball. He was waving me home so I rounded third just a few steps behind Becky.

Then I paused...the base coach was standing in the field waving. And he was wearing white, not black.

I had followed the call of their third baseman to throw the ball home, not our base coach.

But this year there is a new rule and a "commit" line. I was too close to it to stop but I could not get my speed up again. The ball beat me by about a step and a half and I was out at home.

I made several errors on that play. I did not register the base coach was wearing the wrong colors and standing in the wrong place. I slowed up before I crossed home and did not put out 100% effort. And it meant instead of having a great chance to take the lead I had almost run us out of the inning. We did score a couple more runs but it could have...and should have...been a HUGE inning.

The next inning they were threatening again with 2 outs and runners on second and third. Their guy hit a slow roller to short. Dan picked it clean...and threw it in the dirt. I went to one knee and somehow picked it clean out of the dirt to make the save and kill the threat. It was a spectacular play and I knew it and I felt better about having hit poorly once and run into a stupid out a second time.

In the final inning I thought I had heard the score was 8 - 7 us. They got one runner on with 2 outs. Their guy laced it into short left center. Dan was going out on the ball but it was clearly going to fall when out of nowhere Eric arrived at full speed and made an outstanding shoestring catch to put the game away.

I was wrong about the score, though. Apparently the final was 10 -7.

Over all I feel pretty good. I drove in 5 of our 10 runs and scored 2...total run production of 6 runs (the home run doubles as run scored and RBI). I played flawless defense, turning at least 4 throws from throwing errors into outs. On the downside, I did pop out once and make a stupid base running error...but I feel like without me the team would have been in a lot more trouble than we got into for those things. I am going to call this one a successful return to the field. And more importantly...a fun one.