playing baseball

you also realize why ballplayers start to decline in their mid-30's

4 dominicans

your team should romp tracer

there's a pickup league in chicago with a bunch of punk rock dudes but it hasn't been warm enough to play yet this year. yesterday's high was in the low 40s for christ's sake. last year's opener began with one guy (2nd baseman) taking a line drive off the temple and having to go for stitches.

i doubt any of our pitchers break 70 mph as the catcher isn't wearing any equipment.

whoa, dispensing with the tools of ignorance = hardcore!

our dominican guys aren't even actually all that good, which is surprising (although they're better than me of course) - our real secret weapon is angelo, the cuban

There was a talk over opening day beers to buy new gloves and balls and bats and head over to the park to play. I wonder what became of that idea?

I'd play if I had the time, I think. Softball couldn't possibly cut it -- it'd have to be hardball.

The idea of spending an afternoon running down fly balls is so appealing.

I am totally in beer-league shape, so dreams of hardball must be deferred until weight-loss / liposuction occurs. Last year, in my intracompany league, I tripped over myself in RF going back on a deep fly (tho I'd like to think the two awkward basket catches I made on shallow flies later that same inning made up for it) (hit it to right again, you dicks).

i remember playing left field last year after making the last out of the top of the inning. when the bottom of the inning came around i knew i wasn't batting so i just stayed out there to finish my beer and cigarette.

When I played Little League I always marveled at the coaches ability to hit balls during infield practice. Never whiffed and the ball was always on target.

Since I'm older than Jsmie Moyer and was never any good, an attempt to do more than have a catch (which doesn't happen every year) would be fraught with peril.

morbs, that's kind of half the attraction! i'm terrible and my lungs are coated with two decade's worth of rj reynold's tar but it's if you don't mind the likelihood of public humiliation it can be fun!

most revelatory thing from recent playing in softball league(other than that most of any hitting ability i used to have is now dead and gone) is how awkward it was to play 2B being left-handed

not the public humiliation, kev, it's the multiple fractures!

yeah, i'm kinda waiting for the time i'm bullshitting with the bench while in the batters box and i take a four-seamer to the melon.

yeah, you'd have to do some kind of reverse crow-hop thing

xposts

another thing i've discovered: i've got a major-league quality arm! if that major-leaguer is johnny damon.

another thing i've discovered: i've got a major-league quality arm!

me too, only it's jim abbot's right arm.

Oh man there was a throw in last night's Sox / Yanks game where anyone besides Damon would've had Manny dead to rights trying to score from 2nd on a single to CF, and the throw four-hopped to 10 feet in front of the plate wide left.

My proudest softball moment -- being part of a relay home to nail a runner trying to get an inside-the-park HR on a ball hit deep to RCF. Chased it down, threw a (relative) strike to the cutoff man, who threw a seed home for a bang-bang play @ the plate.

Not my proudest moment: spiking my hat like Ted Lilly did his glove after an awful throwing error on my part lead to a run scored (against a team of actuarial interns that was talking about scoring more POINTS).

hahaha

i'm surprised damon even got it into the infield, to be honest; usually jeter or somebody runs up into shallow center to collect it

i'll be taking to the field (non-frisbee) for the first time in a decade for my company's softball team tonight!

Last time I shagged hardballs in the back yard my dog got hit in the head really hard with a baseball and staggered around for a few seconds.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/DSCF0286.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/DSCF0292.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/DSCF0328.jpg

How did I miss this thread?

Where do you guys play, Tracer?

I'm starting my 3rd year of playing softball, for a team (loosely) affiliated with 3rnst and Y0ung, of all places. I've somehow fallen into pitching most of the time, 'tho I'd rather be pretty much anywhere else in the infield.

!

I was the worst player in my Little League, they always put me in right field whenever I was played, but with two little incipient tomboys who drive by Shea Stadium (and the new one) all the time, am looking forward to getting involved in batting practice, etc.

^^^tough infield, don't forget yr cup

i played in a wood-bat league in dc a couple years ago. broke a lot of bats at first -- unsatisfyingly, too, cause they splintered slightly instead of exploding and impaling an infielder. i can still field, though my range is for shit. but my arm is horribly horribly nightmarishly inaccurate ;_;

My first year of little league I had zero hits for the entire season, but lead the league in HBP. In my second year I realized that I could pretty much get a hit every time by drag bunting towards third base and basically milked that trick all season because the other teams didn't have advanced scouting.

In my first year, the coach asked us what positions we wanted to play. I said Shortstop, and proceeded to make a terrific catch in our first practice, and then gradually they realized that I run like a slower Benji Molina and slowly moved me farther and farther away from the action.

Also, one time I told my coach "I'll get 'em next time" and he said "Yeah right."

"led" the league, rather.

whoa, ive very impressed tracer! i assumed what you were talking about was a lot more ramshackle than that. what sort of league is that?

i want sidewinders (not tucson) box scores

Also, one time I told my coach "I'll get 'em next time" and he said "Yeah right."

!!!! this is possibly the cruelest thing i've ever heard!

Wasn't that a line in the Take No Prisoners version of "Coney Island Baby"?

for mookie, my 2 K's:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/DSCF0331.jpg

however - WE WON. and i tagged a guy out trying to steal.

deez it IS pretty ramshackle but yeah it's the british baseball federation:

http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/baseballnews.php

I would like to join a fast-pitch or hardball league, but I have no depth perception.

The last time I played in an actual game of baseball was sixth grade gym - kept striking out for the first few at bats so I switched to a longer, heavier bat with everyone laughing it up. Proceeded to make perfect contact, pulling the next pitch over the (high-school size) left field wall.

Retired immediately.

Tracer, if P. G. Wodehouse were alive today, he'd be writing about your team.

!!!! this is possibly the cruelest thing i've ever heard!

One of my summer team coaches would come up with the most terrifying/hilarious shit and we often couldn't tell whether he was joking or serious. A ball got past me in right field, which allowed a run to score, and he yelled "THAT'S YOUR RUN, K*LLM*N -- YOU'RE BRUTAL -- I THOUGHT YOU WERE AN ATHLETE." Another one of his favorites was "DON'T SCREW UP THIS TIME." He was a low-level scout for the Dodgers.

Heard a lot of awful stuff from fathers (and one mother) of much younger players (8-12), worse than Greg Kinnear's character in the newer Bad News Bears. Wish I could remember some of it.

Look at all those walks and wild pitches!

Tracer, are you trying to grow the 80s Red Sox facial hair? If so, kudos!

Should grow one handlebar and change name to Tracer Fingers.

tracer, do you get paid to play

awesome

Congratulations to the Herts Spring League Division 2 champs The Sidewinders!

That score card looks so cool with the Japanese characters mixed in with the normal scoring symbols. Funny how they use a dot for runs instead of filling in the diamonds.

The coverage in the British Baseball Federation website is so adorably Americanized British.

"The Sidewinders got off to the best possible start by putting eight runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning."

teehee "on the scoreboard."

Tracer this is awesome. Do the Sidewinders have a John McGraw/Leo Durocher-esque player manager?

thank you! "our goal is to win all our games" as our language-school administrator and right fielder, eisuke says (the middle guy in the first photo up there).

we do not get paid to play, hahaha as if!! in fact, we have to pay the umpires and also we have to pay for club insurance, in case one of us hits an old lady in the head with a line drive.

yeah it was a sloppy game - first game of the season, everyone was very rusty, and as you can see the pitchers really hit a wall near the end. the dragons' big mistake was bringing in their relief pitcher though - he was garbage.

one thing i have learned all over again is there are probably 1000 gradations of excellence in baseball. i'm somewhere around 120, 130 out of 1000.

So now you understand the units of the batting average.

if only i hit that well :/

I wish I could play baseball!!

I can hit 70mph cricket balls (sometimes)

for parts of middle school and high school, i went to an international school in new delhi, india. i loved it when we played baseball in gym; since i knew how to hold and swing the bat correctly, i was automatically about 50 times better than everyone else in my class, most of whom were like danish and malaysian

I played little league for a few years in grade school, but I had like zero self-confidence. Sure it was fun to be a part of a team and play in a league, but I was usually too shy to even swing at the ball, resulting in me being either the worst or second-to-worst hitter on each team I was on. The coaches usually stuck me in right field for three or four innings and then pulled me when I played the minimum requirement for each game. I believe I averaged two or three hits a season. However I did have one shining RBI moment when I hit a double off a relief pitcher, surprising everyone on both benches.

^ worth it

First game rained out ;_;

that sucks

In our real first game I had to DH, and we lost on a walk-off grand slam ;_;

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/4/42/Arrested_Development_-_Good_Grief.jpg

DH'ing blows. I'd rather play defense and not hit.

I watched friend's son's Little League game last Sat, lol'd at "GOOD EYE!" when pitch is over the batter's head

Tried playing 3rd base today, it was my second game ever. It's harder than soccer if you ask me.

how'd you do

Batting cages, even at the highest speed, is a delight. fielding and pitching is hell on earth. Ted Williams was right, basically

nothing serious, just with friends and such.

once somebody was on the third base i had no idea what to do really, the shortstop and I were quite confused. no putouts.

i also tried pitching but it was under hand and I had no idea where the ball was going (it was softball), i'm okay with pitching more traditionally.

at bat, i'm pretty good to see balls/strikes and i'm a fast runner so it would be fine especially since fielding was generally shabby, but they don't call balls, still two singles and struck out once

. lots of fun anyway, i'd like to play in a beer league.

see i think i would have more fun pitching.

btw this Sunday is Pregame Catch on the Field Day in Coney Island

HEY MOOKIE

or MOD

VHS is it a weekly pickup game or is it organized? my hardball team just got booted out of the playoffs & i kinda wanna play some more ball & i kinda wouldn't mind if it were with a new group of ppl (need a lil' break from a few of those personalities).

oh i missed the part where you said nothing serious etc.
anyway we will probably start again with our overhand pickup games in like a week or two, i can let you know if that's more your speed (ha)

beer leagues are so fun. I think I played every position but 3rd in my last one. We were 2-10. Good times.

i only play OF on account of being left handed + there are like 4 people who are slower & better ball-catchers than me to play 1st

wish i could play 2b/ss/3b tho :( seems so fun

it would be a little awkward on balls hit to your right, but jeez it's not the majors -- make them let you play third or short sometime

hey Will M. can I come just to watch the game and see how it goes?

Speaking only of softball here. 2nd is my primary position and indeed it is fun. You don't get a whole lot of balls your way so you won't tank your team if you're having a bad night but you usually get like 4-6 plays plus you get to attempt double plays sometimes (key word here is attempt). Also the throw to 1st is much shorter which is important, you don't often sky it over the 1B's head like so many SS and 3B's do. In their defense a slow hit ball to the left side of the diamond is really tough to hurt into an out if the runner is fast at all.

it would be a little awkward on balls hit to your right, but jeez it's not the majors -- make them let you play third or short sometime

it's less the catching and more the turning my ass to the plate to throw the ball that makes it tough... i occasionally try it but it fucks w my throw pretty bad

yeah, that's what i meant -- you definitely don't want to be moving to your right, and a total spin takes time and will fuck you up. but maybe guard the line a little bit at third/circle the ball a little bit at short so that you're at least moving toward first. still have to turn slightly to get your arm clear, but it's not at all insurmountable

From what I understand playing 2nd is harder than 3rd at major league level, but from personal experience, mainly because of the throw to first, 2nd base is easier.

in rec leagues/beer softball leagues etc playing third is much more difficult because the majority of right-handed hitters pull the ball and the fact that there are very few double play opportunities

VHS - send me a webmail! I'll give you all the details. we're playing sunday at 11am :)

I remember 3rd being the most nerve-wracking position I played in my yout' and 2nd being the hardest work.

yeah the ball comes in a lot hotter and it's a tough throw because you don't get much time to get set and it's way too easy to miss the 1B and give up an extra base.

i have recently once again started to play baseball, in the back of our house with our six yr old. We started by playing catch with those sticky flat velcro mitts and he's throwing apparently extremely well for a kid his age. i had no context for it until his teacher told me he was really good.

he imitates Kris Bryant at the plate now. Last week he had a breakthrough w/r/t keeping his right foot fairly well-planted and he's started sending lasers past my ear. he's also demanding that i throw my sad imitation of "fastballs" and he's starting to hit those pretty well.

we're using a small foam baseball, so we don't kill anyone or break anything, and i keep telling him it's good to try and hit the smaller ball since it's helping his hand/eye coordination.

it's fun! i get all misty like field of dreams sometimes but that's just a dad thing.

time for some switch-hitting!

sounds like he's getting pretty confident – might want to send a little chin music his way!

I already told him that when a player is hit by a pitch, sometimes they attack the pitcher. He seemed mortified but then I plunked him and he chased me around waving the bat.

has he been to a batting cage?

they often have special machines for smaller kids that pitch relatively slowly and/or use softer balls

hmm i should check that out. i'm still trying to get him out of the occasional habit of diving forward as he swings, he's hit the ball a couple times off his hands.

he tried switch-hitting a couple times and hit the ball, i didn't start from the left side til i was in middle school so he's way ahead of me.

<3

omar, wd like to see footage of kid goin' Piazza on your Alejandro Pena

ha speaking of Mike, after he chased me around (as described upthread) i told him that whenever a batter fights someone he's not supposed to bring his bat (i didn't talk about Marichal) but mentioned once a pitcher threw a bat at a guy "on accident" and he said "i think it was on purpose."

lol otm

Wanted to buy two new non-used gloves, one for a gift and one for myself but boy these are very expensive.

nice gloves are so expensive. i got a nokona amg 1200 a few years back on super clearance (i think it was like 75% off) from a random sports store that was closing. consider myself lucky on that one.

I use the same glove I've had for ~25 years, but the Brooklyn Cyclones' pregame catch on the field promos appear to be over for the season, so it may not get used this summer.

yeah if you invest in a nice glove hopefully it's a one time purchase that lasts a lifetime.

I've had the same glove I've used since high school. it's holding up well but I'd be devastated if I had to get a new one!

i had a wilson a3000 -- technically an outfielder's glove, but i used it in the infield -- that ultimately fell apart on the inside, and it was gonna be more to fix than get a new glove : /

sad

Have a really big (like 15 inch?) Mizuno I got at the swap meet for about 20 bucks and it rules. I do use it to play infield sometimes.

good for first base!