1/15/03
Softball: Abstractions
Dear People,
Congratz to all on last week’s 13-8 excursion into the sensual flora of aerobic release. Indeed, and for the record, there is a stirring passage in my brother’s much beloved book on the artist Robert Irwin---"Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing one Sees"---that seems to have captured the gestalt of this game in ways that my own torpid pen could not possibly have. Yes, I refer to Ren’s prophetic description of Irwin’s canvassed craft as having "an eerie, fluid sense of density, object and shadow playing in and out of co-presence. White becoming color becoming shadow of white. Self-possession divulging itself."
Frankly, I never understood what the fuck any of these words ever meant, if in fact, they meant anything at all. And yet this last Sunday, as I stood there reviewing my outfielders, I saw Ren’s pale and spindly legs with the virgin retina of perspective reborn. The point is that as he proceeded to catch, throw and even bat with utterly respectable mediocrity, I began to feel a true fraternal bond that transformed my fear of familial disgrace into the soothing co-presence of the self-possessed it-thing itself! Alas, though, this startling epiphany at the juncture of art and sport did little for my team, which, in the final analysis, could not overcome the burden of being stuck with me and my bro.
In any case, and as most of you certainly know, this upcoming weekend marks the 134th anniversary of the birth of the great Frank "Piggy" Ward, the legendary Cincinnati Reds shortstop who remains the only player in major league history to reach base eight times in a single nine-inning game! On June 18th, 1893, while ensconced in the dawn of Harrisonian democracy, the porkmeister singled twice, walked 5 times and was hit by a pitch in a 30-12 trouncing of the pitiful Louisville Grays. Well, now it’s 109 years later, but sometimes when I get on base for a second or third time, I’ll still start to think about ‘ol Piggy and his remarkable feat (with all those tiny little porcine toes), and therefore, there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning….Raymond
1/17/03
Softball: Sleepy
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, and as of now there are still three slots left. $2 for the field/See ya there…Raymond 845-7552
PS: I forgot to mention that I have a pair of high-top black cleats and dark blue sweat pants which somebody left behind at Kleeberger a few weeks ago.
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