25 or 6 to 4 – April 28^th Game

Waiting for the break of game
Searching for someone to play
Catching balls against the sky
Batting up I close my eyes
Pitching cross-legged on the floor

25 or 6 to 4

The B61 Lineup, Sponsored by Polygon Furniture, Makers of Fine Wood Furniture

Catcher: “Coppertop Amy”

Pitcher: Jonathan “Hoover” and Ca-pone

1^st Base: “Oh Henry”

2^nd Base: “BGs” Betsy

Shortstop: Chris the “Willie”

3^rd Base: Jason “The Rookie”

Left Field: Steve “The 40-Year Old Rhino”

Center Field: Capone and The Czar

Right Center Field: Roberto and Whippit

Right Field: “Tam Tam” Tamara

DH: “I’m a Puker” Raible and Apeman “Adam”

Our Fans: Rascally Renee, Terrific Tracey, Cool Cooper, Ailing Alyce and Perspicuous Pieces

The Game

Well, the shad-y boys were off in Pennsylvania working on their red necks, so Steve and Tamara stepped up to lead the team.  Despite their not putting a pitcher into the lineup, we eagerly awaited their pearls of wisdom as they called a pre-game huddle.  "The beer’s over there.  Let’s have some fun!”  Ah, they knew how to inspire confidence.  Lead by example too as Steve opened his third.  It was going to be that kind of game.

And it was.  B61 went to bat first, and Steve, Raible Yell and Willie quickly loaded the bases with no outs.  Oh Henry did what he does best and knocked a dinger into right center field.  A grand slammer!  Not to be outdone, BGs followed with a rocket over the left fielder's head for a double.  Tam Tam's base hit advanced BGs to 3rd and the rookie's sacrifice fly brought Betsy home.  When the Dirt Dawgs finally stopped us, it was 8-0.

Undaunted, the Dirt Dawgs went to the plate.  The first batter knocked a line drive straight at my nuts.  It might have been payback since Willie smacked a Dirt Dawg square in the back with a bad throw during warmup.  Fortunately, my Matrix-like reflexes and a Darwinian instinct for self-preservation enabled me to turn my glove and catch it in time.  Even the ump was surprised, “You might want to check that they’re still there.”

Dirt Dawgs followed with a shallow pop fly that Williie sprinted back and snagged with a reach-out basket catch.  They rebounded with two base hits, but we shut down their two out rally with a swinging strikeout.  That’s how B61 rolls.

In the 2^nd inning, Raible, Willie, Henry and I got a two out rally going in the 2^nd inning to score 3 more runs.  Betsy proceeded to pepper the 3^rd base line with about 10 line drives in a row, but they were all just foul, so we retired our side at 11-0.  The Dirt Dawgs bounced back and scored 3 runs to make it 11-3.

I guess the 3 runs made them cocky because they started saying how they could catch us because we were “hitting the bottom of the order” and, “We’ve got these guys.  They’re already wasted.”  Little did they know that we don’t have a bottom of the order.  Blue wasn’t buying it either and told us, “They’re just jealous ‘cause they’ve got 5 guys on the bench with no beer.”

And the hits just kept on coming.  A double by Capone, a triple from Rob, and so on.  Henry got 2 RBIs for his single, Amy got an RBI when Rob beat the play at the plate.  Just too many hits and runs to write down.  When the Dirt Dawgs finally got up, we shut them down with 4 at bats – 1 sprinting foul ball catch by the Rookie, 1 running catch by Willie and an ESPN highlight catch by Rhino.  At the end of the 2^nd inning, it was 21 to 3.  Ouch.

The 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th innings were more of the same, and the Dirt Dawgs couldn’t do much about it except laugh and enjoy their beers.  When Blue finally called the slaughter rule, the final score was 25 or 6 to 4.  Special thanks to Whippit for pointing out the significance of the score.  Maybe, that’s what Chicago really meant.

The Dirt Dawgs were great sports, and we continued to play, even after Blue left.  That gave Apeman his chance to hit a bomb of a home run.  He asked if his HR would make it in the scorebook, even though it was after the slaughter rule was called.  Unfortunately, no, but it did make it to this writeup so the memory can live on forever.

Memorable Moments

·         The Rookie making a JJ-like dive to stop a line drive at 3^rd.   He missed the ball, but we love the effort

·         My hitting 2 home runs.  Hey, if I don’t mention them, no one else will.  J

·         Betsy hitting all those line drives by 3^rd base.  When she gets that aim right, she will be deadly

·         Steve’s ESPN highlight catch while running back and catching with a little leap

·         Raible “sticking the landing” to be safe during a very close play at 3^rd base

·         Acting as 3^rd base coach, Capone telling people to stay at 3^rd so less runs would score

·         Blue telling Amy and Raible that I should be called “Hoover” because I was sucking up all of the ground balls that came my way.  I hope that was the reason and not just because I spy on people and wear women’s underwear

·         Oh Henry’s grand slam.  How sweet it was

Player of the Game

Player of the game goes to Steve Reinert.  He continued his streak of strong base hits and smart base running.  He had that ESPN highlight over-the-shoulder catch, and he stepped in as interim coach.  On top of all that, he turned 40 the day before the game!  If I ever grow up, I want to be just like Steve. 

Commentary

I get pretty intense about softball.  Not in the "I gotta win at any cost" intense, but the 'I want to do my best and have fun" way.  Ask most people on the team, and they'd probably agree with me.  Playing well and having fun with your team is such a great experience.  Even if you can’t play well, having a fun team can dull that sting.

Enter the Dirt Dawgs.  A team just looking to have fun.  They seemed pretty serious at first, but I think that's just because they were rationing their beer.  They had lost games on several occasions, but never lost their good spirits.  I think Ant said it best, "I hope we can use the Dirt Dawgs as a model.  Even if we're not doing well in a game, we have to remember to have fun."

You can read the writeups at www.redhooksoftball.com/b61/ or through the B61 softball blog at www.blogger.com.