4/21/98
Softball: The Good Earth
Dear People,
Congratz to all on last Saturday's breathtaking 22-19 paragon of rarefied athletic excellence. Yes, it is true that ESPN and Sports Illustrated were absent, and yes, few within our little community are paid more than a paltry $130,000 a year for their under appreciated and ignored softball acumen. Yet games like that remind us that for all the inexplicable media indifference, we, on occasion, rise to levels of aerobic virtuosity that redefine the very essence of amateur athletic dedication. I get chills just thinking about it, and were it not for the calming presence of Ty Cobb's transcendent inspiration, I would probably crack from the sheer majesty of it all. I guess I'm just that way.
In any case, we cannot rest on past glories, but must continue to build for the day when professional baseball comes calling, drunk with the lust of anticipated profits that we will undoubtedly come to represent. Unfortunately, Kleeberger is taken for all of next weekend, but in order to capitalize on the momentum that is starting to churn deep within the communal bosom, I should be able to reserve San Pablo park for next Sunday at 11AM.
For the record, San Pablo would be the best field that we have ever used as a softball-playing people. It is large, pristine, well cared for, flat, and located in a convenient and lush area of West Berkeley. Yes, I realize that after months of green, chemically bathed rubber, the switch to grass can be intimidating. To be sure, there is always risk in change, and yet, who's kidding who? If Astroturf doesn't represent all that is crass and ruthless about a senseless capitalist system bent on devouring the very environment from which it sprung, I don't know what does. I say we tell Monsanto to take a hike, and return to our natural ecological roots, to the organic soils of our very backyard, where every blade of grass, each with its own distinct personality, cries out to be noticed, cherished, and valued, as a vital part of the softball playing experience.
Thus, there will be a game next Sunday, April 26th, at San Pablo field, at 11AM sharp, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning. The field costs $2 per player to reserve, but that is certainly a small price to pay for the opportunity to return to the agrarian roots of our athletic forefathers....Raymond
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