Softball
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The Robots lost for the third time this year, losing to Papacito’s All Stars, 13-4. The game was pretty forgettable from our point of view. We didn’t get the hits when we needed them, and we didn’t play very well in the field. The Papacito’s hitters smacked the ball around in the middle of the game and led by as much as 9-0 before we scored our first run on a throwing error from the outfield.
Although most of us had multiple-hit games, we didn’t get key hits when we needed them.
Three games remain before the end of the regular season. We face off against the Levee Cheeseballs, Archive(d) Bears, and the K&M Swingers in the remaining weeks.
The third day of my long softball weekend was a pretty dour day for the Gibson Robots, as we lost to Papacito’s, 13-4. My feeling on the game was that I didn’t pitch too poorly, and that I needed to use my change up more to get those outs! I held many of their hitters to one or two hits each, but too many of their hits went for extra bases and that did a lot more damage than our scattered hits.
Although I was a bit more chipper about the loss than some of my teammates, knowing that it was just one regular-season game, the loss was a bit deflating. But what can you do? We move on, and work on winning the next game. It’s really all we can do.
It’s still not fun to lose.
On the second day of Weekend of Softball, the Librarians played a home-away double header against Juicy Lucy. Juicy Lucy is one the league’s best teams, a certain “final four” contender, and last year’s champions.
We played very poor in the first game, and in fact, should have won. There were some key defensive errors and a couple of costly base-running blunders, but my poor play at second base basically cost us the game. I was having a very hard time making even the most routine plays. We lost the game 13-8, wasting a solid pitching effort by Kevin.
I was going sit to let Kevin pitch the second game because I was feeling down about being so bad in the first game, but he convinced me that I should take the ball. It was one of my better pitched games, scattering a handful of hits, and getting a lot of fly outs. The game ended with a dramatic flourish. We came into the bottom of the seventh leading by two runs. The leadoff hitter hit a triple and scored on a single by the next batter. The next two batters are a bit of a blur, but we got them both out. The next batter hit a double, putting runners on second and third with two outs. The tying run was at third, and the winning run on second. Once that happened, I decided to intentionally walk the cleanup hitter and load the bases. The next batter, the team captain and a very good hitter ended up taking a first pitch strike, swinging at and missing the second, and ultimately hitting a pop-up in foul territory that our first baseman caught for the final out. The final score as 3-2.
We were very down after losing the first game, but winning the second in such dramatic fashion was a big boost for the team’s morale.
As I mentioned earlier, Eddie asked me to sub for his team Thursday night, and as I try to cling on to summer’s waning days, I obliged him and rode my bike to Murry Burgtraum field in Lower Manhattan.
It was a pretty easy assignment since they were not very short-handed after all. I played the role of the extra hitter and didn’t have to play the field. As the EH, I took three at-bats grounding out twice but hitting a sharp line drive that split the right and center fielders. The hit was good for a three-run home run.
The New York United did quite well in this game, winning 17-3. The subs Eddie recruited, many who were players from the Librarians, played very well and were key in the victory.
Sarah left today for a weekend trip to see her family in Kentucky and also to go to a bridal shower for a high school friend. Since I’m poor for the next few weeks, as I usually am during this stage of the summer, I thought I would have a quiet, productive weekend while Sarah is gone, spending time at home, cooking for myself, and maybe even doing some writing.
I still plan to do all that, but it also happens to be a very busy softball weekend. On the docket so far are no fewer than six games over the next four days:
- It begins with a double header on Friday morning with the Librarians taking on Juicy Lucy in a fierce battle on the artificial turf of East River Park.
- On Saturday, the Robots take on the always bothersome Papacito’s All Stars in McCarren Park. We want to beat them so bad, and I know they’re looking for a competitive game. I’m looking forward to this game.
- Sunday is going to be a grueling day. The Ball Busters begin the first round of the Lower Manhattan Softball League playoff tournament on the Great Lawn in Central Park. It’s a best-of-three series against the enigmatically named Awkward Times. We enter the tournament with the number-one seed so we want to carry our winning ways from the regular season to the postseason.
- Finally, on Monday, things will be a bit more relaxed with the weekly Wilson Softball game on Central Park’s North Meadow. On most Mondays, I can barely walk after most weekends of softball. But I imagine playing this game is akin to a recovery ride after putting a lot of miles on my bike, like a century’s worth of miles.
And earlier today, as if he sensed that I didn’t have enough softball this weekend, my friend Crazy Eddie asked me to sub on his team tonight. I was planning on seeing M.O.T.O. this evening at Saint Vitus in Greenpoint, as I just found out about the show this morning.
But I’m ready to play. Summer is going to end in three weeks, and I won’t have this opportunity again.
Earlier this week, we learned that my Sunday softball team, the Ball Busters, finished in first-place in the Lower Manhattan Softball League, and we clinched the top playoff berth for the second year in a row.
Our record this year stands at 19-3 with two games to play, which isn’t too different from last year’s record, 20-2.
We have a pair of game left on Sunday, July 31, and then we start the playoffs on Sunday, August 6.
Congrats to my teammates for another great year. Now let’s win the whole thing!
In a highlight from this week’s All Star Game, the manager of the National Division team, on the left, blocks the manager of the American Division, far right, from batting in the bottom of the eighth inning. The American Division ultimately defeated the National Division, 4-2.
As the East Village Softball Association has done for the last fourteen years, the league’s best players got together for the annual All Star Game and home run derby. This year’s game however was a little different because we used the game to honor longtime umpire, Nelson Troche, who stepped down from his umpiring duties late last year. From now on, the annual All Star Game will be named in his honor.
Nelson came to the field on an oppressively hot day and once he was in sight, he received a standing ovation from every player on the field. He was hugged by several players, and after a few minutes to greeting him, he came to the middle of the field, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. It didn’t matter that it came just before the bottom of the second inning.
Nelson saw a good deal of the game from the American Division bench, but he left before the conclusion of a hard-fought and close game. The Nationals held on to beat the Americans, 4-2, in a nine-inning softball game.
It was a little hard to see Nelson in his weakened state, but it appears that his spirits were lifted by visiting the field he presided over for 14 years. It was worth taking the day off work to see him.
I was invited by a friend at NYU to use the rooftop batting cage at Coles. Yes, that’s right, there’s a batting cage in the middle of the Greenwich Village-SoHo neighborhoods. One of everyone’s biggest complaints is the distance you have to travel to get to one or how expensive it is. This solves both problems since I’m at NYU at least three times a week.
I might have to come here again. And by that I mean every workday!
Thanks, friend…. This is not a bad way to spend St. Patrick’s Day.
A few weeks ago, while trying to find clips of old radio variety shows, I found an episode of the Royal Gelatin Hour, featuring multi-talented entertainer Rudy Vallee, who interviews a young girl from Brooklyn and tries to understand soft-ball.
Some highlights include Vallee not understanding how softball is supposed to be played, that the ball can be pitched fast from an underhanded delivery, and that companies sponsor teams. He also doesn’t understand why the girl wouldn’t stop playing ball in favor of chasing boys. Oh that Vallee! The reference to the Connecticut Yankees refers to Vallee’s own band, which evidently have their own team.
You can listen to the entire episode on the wonderful Internet Archive.
